Evening everyone.
All right, I take my words back: the Internet connection here is atrocious. It's slow, you cannot log in two gadgets simultaneously and logout procedure is a pain. Also, you can just forget about watching videos and downloading music. Hell, even the pictures take a while to pop up in your news feed or elsewhere. This hotel won't be getting a positive review from me.
Anyway, onto matters more interesting and we face Crystal Palace tomorrow in a season opener. We play at the Emirates and the kickoff is a late one: at 5.30. Taken into account we play Besiktas away on Tuesday, the situation is far from ideal, but we have to knuckle down and try to win both games.
We'll have to do so without at least Walcott, Ospina and the Germans (Gnabry included). During his press-conference today, Arsene has confirmed Theo won't return until late September, while Ospina is out for two to three weeks due to a thigh injury he sustained against Brazil. Ah, damn these international games.
Ryo also won't play for a while (the manager refused to give a time frame on him), but I've basically given up on him. Same with Diaby. The Frenchman has resumed normal training, but I just don't know. He's only played once during this pre-season (as far as I can remember) and then sustained an 'insert any body part here' injury and went straight to the hospital. I'm sure the staff there greeted Abou as one of their own, given him his usual room and assured his belongings haven't been sent out yet. Cozy.
However, in a good piece of news, Koscielny will be available and there are even whispers Mert can feature. I won't rush our vice-captain back if it was up to me, seeing as Chambers looks very good and shouldn't be unduly troubled in a pair with Kos. I even look forward to how well they will interact.
With Ospina out, Szczesny should start and Martinez (who've been promoted to the first team and given number 26 shirt) will provide backup. In defence, it's Debuchy-Koscielny-Chambers-Gibbs who should get the nod. Again, Mertesacker may be an option (having only featured during the group stages for Germany), but I see no point in rushing him back. We can manage without him for now.
The midfield also shouldn't be much changed. It's Arteta-Ramsey-Wilshere for me and it looks sensible. With Ozil unavailable and Cazorla being utilised on the left (especially in the absence of both Walcott and Podolski), this trio looks the best we can get.
Wilshere wants to prove himself, so he will start at every opportunity, Ramsey is, well, the Welsh Jesus with a haircut to rival Giroud and Arteta is the captain. I expect the Spaniard to start every game by default. Which basically means we're unlikely to buy a 'DM' everyone so craves for. One of my readers raised a point that it's unacceptable, that a DM should definitely be bought, as Arteta tends to be overrun in big games and you can see the logic behind his thinking. However, Arteta is no Vermaelen and I don't think the manager has entrusted the Spaniard with the armband to then unceremoniously drop him. So the issue of big games remain and Arsene will have to find a solution. Especially after all the talk of how we should improve on our record against the top six.
In attack, it'll probably be Cazorla, Alexis (why has he opted to write Alexis instead of Sanchez on his shirt?) and either Giroud or Sanogo. I've been thinking about this decision two days ago and ploughed for Giroud in the end. After all, the elder Frenchman possesses valuable experience in the BPL and, as much as you can see why Arsene puts so much faith into Sanogo, I don't think Yaya is ready yet. He will, of course, play during this season (and I suspect he'll play a lot), but he's not yet first-choice.
I'm also interested where Campbell will fit in. He's definitely behind the likes of Sanchez and Giroud, but right now it seems he's even behind Sanogo. Which means, he's just an afterthought, should everyone stay fit, which makes me dubious once again as to why we haven't loaned the Costa-Rican out. Guess we'll see soon enough. Arsene said he has plans for Joel and I hope that involves actually using him for something else other than (occasionally) letting him warm up the bench. Otherwise it won't make sense.
I haven't bothered to look up what kind of Orcs Pulis will throw at Arsenal come tomorrow evening, but should we catch our rhythm it won't matter. Arsene has himself admitted we are just too much quality, so let's prove it on the pitch tomorrow. A win in front of our fans will be the best way to start a season.
As always, I'll watch the game tomorrow and give my thoughts on it in two days, so stay tuned.
Until later and c'mon you Gunners
Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin