Good evening.
It's Anderlecht tomorrow and a win will (barring Dortmund's loss to Gala at home) guarantee us a place in the last sixteen. But firstly, of course, we need to win.
Arsene's press-conference has already taken place and the boss has given the injury update. There are no new injures from the game against Burnley (thank God), though there's also a downside: Wilshere will not be involved tomorrow night. The Englishman is down with an illness and should be fine for the weekend, but he's out of the equation for now. So let's try to figure out the squad Arsene may put together.
The back five
Don't think we can expect any changes here. Szczesny in goal, as usual, and the same back four. Chambers was outstanding on Saturday, Monreal seems to be adapting quite quickly to his new position and, finally, AW just doesn't have the trust in Bellerin. So the same it remains until Koscielny's return. Which shouldn't be too far away.
The midfield
There were a lot of moans from Arsenal fans before the last two games regarding the Flamteta axis, however, I have stumbled upon an interesting and quite possible explanation for this. To put it shortly, both our holding midfielders covered the full-back positions, which allowed Chambers and Gibbs to spend more time attacking. And we've seen what an impact they can have further upfield.
Nonetheless, I still think we don't need that kind of caution against Anderlecht at home. Bottom line is, Flamini was far from impressive on his last outing, while I'm pretty sure Ramsey can do a good job covering for Chambers or Gibbs. As you may recall, he has played at right-back against Sunderland in 2012-2013 after one Koscielny (I think) was sent off. So I'd play Aaron from the first minutes. He has the legs to work in both attack and defense and is much better than Flamini in one sense at least. Arteta should complete the base of our midfield.
After talking up Sanchez in the number 10 role, I think it's only logical for the Chilean to continue there. He has been terrifc under the striker in the last two games and this kind of energy may bring about errors from Anderlecht.
The attack
Welbeck should start once more. With Giroud still out, Sanchez busy wreaking havoc in a deeper position and Walcott still not at his best, Danny is our only viable option. Notice the word "viable". I'm not excluding Poldi or Sanogo from making an appearance in that central position, but both are far from convincing there, though for different reasons. As for Campbell, I have given up on the idea of him playing. He'll be lucky to make the bench tomorrow, let alone start in a lone forward position.
On the flanks we have a wealth of options. Oxlade, Cazorla, Posolski and Rosicky can all start there, with Walcott bound to make an appearance if things go well. If it was up to me, Rosicky and Podolski would start. Poldi had a fantastic impact from the bench in his last two appearances (scored a winning goal against Anderlecht too), while with Rosicky it's easier. The Czech didn't play a lot and Cazorla's form should open the door for Thomas.
However, we all know how Wenger trusts his players to come through the bad patches by regularly giving them playing time, so I won't be surprised to see the Ox and Santi get the nod again. Good thing is, we have options and these are good options.
The verdict
This game is of utmost importance to our hopes of qualifying. Win, and we almost certainly ensure an early passage into the last sixteen. Anything less can be quite damaging.
But I don't think we can expect anything less than a win. We have found some kind of form, balanced the defense and the attack better and, with all due respect, it's only Anderlecht at home. We should, by all accounts, take the three points.
Elsewhere, Arsene has given his thoughts on the new seeding system:
Assuming Liverpool won last year and the system was introduced immediately, what would have happened? Liverpool in the first pot. They would have got a weaker group. And now look how they struggle. I'm not sure they'll make it out of the group, what good will it have done to allow them an easier passage into the knockout stages, if they are clearly not up to scratch?
Of course, they didn't win the league, so all of this sounds highly hypothetical. But I'm not talking about one team, rather about a concept. Imagine Zenit or Juventus in the top pot. They are good teams, but Zenit has only just qualified for the last sixteen with six points (an all-time record), while Juve was overpowered by Galatasaray altogether.
Giving too many opportunities to lesser teams devalue the competition. So UEFA needs to think before introducing major changes. It's them who'll ultimately lose money, and money seems to be the only thing they care about.
That's it for now. Here's for the win tomorrow and I'll be back with the customary review.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
It's Anderlecht tomorrow and a win will (barring Dortmund's loss to Gala at home) guarantee us a place in the last sixteen. But firstly, of course, we need to win.
Arsene's press-conference has already taken place and the boss has given the injury update. There are no new injures from the game against Burnley (thank God), though there's also a downside: Wilshere will not be involved tomorrow night. The Englishman is down with an illness and should be fine for the weekend, but he's out of the equation for now. So let's try to figure out the squad Arsene may put together.
The back five
Don't think we can expect any changes here. Szczesny in goal, as usual, and the same back four. Chambers was outstanding on Saturday, Monreal seems to be adapting quite quickly to his new position and, finally, AW just doesn't have the trust in Bellerin. So the same it remains until Koscielny's return. Which shouldn't be too far away.
The midfield
There were a lot of moans from Arsenal fans before the last two games regarding the Flamteta axis, however, I have stumbled upon an interesting and quite possible explanation for this. To put it shortly, both our holding midfielders covered the full-back positions, which allowed Chambers and Gibbs to spend more time attacking. And we've seen what an impact they can have further upfield.
Nonetheless, I still think we don't need that kind of caution against Anderlecht at home. Bottom line is, Flamini was far from impressive on his last outing, while I'm pretty sure Ramsey can do a good job covering for Chambers or Gibbs. As you may recall, he has played at right-back against Sunderland in 2012-2013 after one Koscielny (I think) was sent off. So I'd play Aaron from the first minutes. He has the legs to work in both attack and defense and is much better than Flamini in one sense at least. Arteta should complete the base of our midfield.
After talking up Sanchez in the number 10 role, I think it's only logical for the Chilean to continue there. He has been terrifc under the striker in the last two games and this kind of energy may bring about errors from Anderlecht.
The attack
Welbeck should start once more. With Giroud still out, Sanchez busy wreaking havoc in a deeper position and Walcott still not at his best, Danny is our only viable option. Notice the word "viable". I'm not excluding Poldi or Sanogo from making an appearance in that central position, but both are far from convincing there, though for different reasons. As for Campbell, I have given up on the idea of him playing. He'll be lucky to make the bench tomorrow, let alone start in a lone forward position.
On the flanks we have a wealth of options. Oxlade, Cazorla, Posolski and Rosicky can all start there, with Walcott bound to make an appearance if things go well. If it was up to me, Rosicky and Podolski would start. Poldi had a fantastic impact from the bench in his last two appearances (scored a winning goal against Anderlecht too), while with Rosicky it's easier. The Czech didn't play a lot and Cazorla's form should open the door for Thomas.
However, we all know how Wenger trusts his players to come through the bad patches by regularly giving them playing time, so I won't be surprised to see the Ox and Santi get the nod again. Good thing is, we have options and these are good options.
The verdict
This game is of utmost importance to our hopes of qualifying. Win, and we almost certainly ensure an early passage into the last sixteen. Anything less can be quite damaging.
But I don't think we can expect anything less than a win. We have found some kind of form, balanced the defense and the attack better and, with all due respect, it's only Anderlecht at home. We should, by all accounts, take the three points.
Elsewhere, Arsene has given his thoughts on the new seeding system:
"I think yes [it is a surprise], because the logic is not respected. Logic for me is when you play in Europe, you should be judged on the results in Europe."I've already given my thoughts on the matter, but I'll say this again: national championship is one thing and European tournaments is another. Clubs are sufficiently rewarded for winning the title. A greater number of their games is aired next year, giving the clubs more income from TV rights, they get a one-off (huge) payment and a cup to go along with it. And almost the same happens with the winners of the Champions League, bar, maybe, television rights.
Assuming Liverpool won last year and the system was introduced immediately, what would have happened? Liverpool in the first pot. They would have got a weaker group. And now look how they struggle. I'm not sure they'll make it out of the group, what good will it have done to allow them an easier passage into the knockout stages, if they are clearly not up to scratch?
Of course, they didn't win the league, so all of this sounds highly hypothetical. But I'm not talking about one team, rather about a concept. Imagine Zenit or Juventus in the top pot. They are good teams, but Zenit has only just qualified for the last sixteen with six points (an all-time record), while Juve was overpowered by Galatasaray altogether.
Giving too many opportunities to lesser teams devalue the competition. So UEFA needs to think before introducing major changes. It's them who'll ultimately lose money, and money seems to be the only thing they care about.
That's it for now. Here's for the win tomorrow and I'll be back with the customary review.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)