Evening everyone.
We face Stoke at Britannia Stadium tomorrow and, as always, it's a tough place to go to.
Injury update
And we seem once again short of defensive players. Debuchy will only be available against Gala, Monreal is out, Gibbs is also a doubt and Koscielny's involvement (God help us) is under question:
"We have to assess a few players today because we had some bad surprises with Nacho Monreal being out for tomorrow’s game. Hopefully Kieran Gibbs will be available and back in the team. We have to assess some other players like Laurent Koscielny and a few bumps and bruises that we got after the game".
That means we only have two 100% fit defenders - Mertesacker and Chambers. Throw in Bellerin (though I doubt Arsene will throw him in) and we have three. Keeping all fingers crossed that at least Gibbs makes it.
We also have some problems further up pitch, as Rosicky and Sanogo were both mentioned in a rather gloomy way:
"We might also lose Tomas Rosicky for a thigh problem and Yaya Sanogo for a calf problem."
Campbell for Sanogo is obvious, but Rosicky was our only fit midfielder on the bench. His absence not only means a fourth consecutive start for Cazorla and Ramsey, it might also create rotation problems for Tuesday. And we do need to rotate for our final group game, no doubt about it.
And to make matters worse (funny word, considering we already have 6 players out and 5 on the verge), Walcott is out, both for today and for Gala. Brilliant.
"Walcott is still struggling with his groin inflammation. I think he has an injection today to take care of that. Hopefully he can be available again after that. Galatasaray will be too early for him."
With all that, the usual guessing game becomes absurdly (and worryingly) easy.
The back five
Did I mention Szczesny might not be avaialable? My bad. While I have no problem with Martinez between the sticks, it'd good to have a proper keeper on the bench. Just in case, you know.
The back four. More like the back two-and-a-half. Chambers and Mertesacker will definitely start and, while Mert cannot be deployed in any other role, than a CB, Chambers will be plugging any hole that will be required of him. If Koscielny's unavailable, than Chambers becomes a centre-back. If it's Gibbs who's out, Chambers will play at left-back. If both Koscielny and Gibbs are okay, Chambers will remain at right-back.
I'm more than a little worried about the lad. He's got 21 games under his belt already and that's not taking his caps for England into account. And even though Debuchy is on the brink of returning and might be up for selection starting next Tuesday, there's no guarantee Chambers will get a nice long rest he deserves. Why? Because Koscielny is not completely fit and both our left-backs will soon start walking on crutches. I guess that's the price you pay for not buying another defender. Or letting Jenks go, when Bellerin isn't ready yet.
The midfield
We have three. Fit. Midfielders. Three. Flamini, Ramsey and Cazorla. For Cazorla, like for Chambers, it'll be game №22. For Ramsey №20. And for Flamini? №19.
I don't think Arsene will introduce changes to this set-up, however. Tuesday is our rotation day, tomorrow a win is crucial. Luckily, we have more room for manoeuvre in midfield, as both Oxlade and Sanchez can play there. It's easier to find a winger right now, than a central midfielder, so Ox in midfield won't hurt our chances elsewhere.
By the way, no word was said on Arteta and this genuinely worries me. He wasn't training with the main group at the very least, which means he may not be available for Tuesday. Which hampers our rotation ability to the point of "abort rotation, abort rotation!" Just imagine the worst-case scenario: 7 guys (4 defenders + 3 midfielders) who have played 4 games in 11 days (4th tomorrow, an away trip) will have to return to London and then immediately leave for Turkey and there play their 5th game inside two weeks. Scary prospect.
The attack
Arsene on Alexis:
"He is in the red zone. You can see that when he plays but he can dig deep. He played his 27th game on Wednesday."
27 - that means 22 for us and five for the national side. But, again, I don't think the Chilean will be rested tomorrow. Tuesday, yes, definitely, it'd be mad to start him, but tomorrow? Unlikely.
As for the other two in our front three, I'd very much like to see Welbeck and Giroud start together. They played some good football at West Brom and then some devastating one for a short period of time against Southampton (between Giroud coming on and Welbeck coming off), so I want to see them together.
However, what I want and what the manager thinks is right is two different things, though in this case I think there's a good possibility of my wish coming true, Either way, I figure Giroud should start definitely. He's physically stronger than Welbeck and we'll need that against Stoke. Whoever starts on the right (Oxlade or Welbeck) will depend on our midfield crisis.
The verdict
We are on a good run and we should do our best to prolong it. A third successive league win would be very welcome indeed, while if we can keep another clean sheet I'd be over the moon. And I won't be alone in that.
Can we win? Yes, I think we can. Even with all the injures we should still see a capable side out there. Just stick to our organized style of play as of late and we should be fine.
So come on you Gunners
And I'll be back with a review on Sunday or Monday.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
We face Stoke at Britannia Stadium tomorrow and, as always, it's a tough place to go to.
Injury update
And we seem once again short of defensive players. Debuchy will only be available against Gala, Monreal is out, Gibbs is also a doubt and Koscielny's involvement (God help us) is under question:
"We have to assess a few players today because we had some bad surprises with Nacho Monreal being out for tomorrow’s game. Hopefully Kieran Gibbs will be available and back in the team. We have to assess some other players like Laurent Koscielny and a few bumps and bruises that we got after the game".
That means we only have two 100% fit defenders - Mertesacker and Chambers. Throw in Bellerin (though I doubt Arsene will throw him in) and we have three. Keeping all fingers crossed that at least Gibbs makes it.
We also have some problems further up pitch, as Rosicky and Sanogo were both mentioned in a rather gloomy way:
"We might also lose Tomas Rosicky for a thigh problem and Yaya Sanogo for a calf problem."
Campbell for Sanogo is obvious, but Rosicky was our only fit midfielder on the bench. His absence not only means a fourth consecutive start for Cazorla and Ramsey, it might also create rotation problems for Tuesday. And we do need to rotate for our final group game, no doubt about it.
And to make matters worse (funny word, considering we already have 6 players out and 5 on the verge), Walcott is out, both for today and for Gala. Brilliant.
"Walcott is still struggling with his groin inflammation. I think he has an injection today to take care of that. Hopefully he can be available again after that. Galatasaray will be too early for him."
With all that, the usual guessing game becomes absurdly (and worryingly) easy.
The back five
Did I mention Szczesny might not be avaialable? My bad. While I have no problem with Martinez between the sticks, it'd good to have a proper keeper on the bench. Just in case, you know.
The back four. More like the back two-and-a-half. Chambers and Mertesacker will definitely start and, while Mert cannot be deployed in any other role, than a CB, Chambers will be plugging any hole that will be required of him. If Koscielny's unavailable, than Chambers becomes a centre-back. If it's Gibbs who's out, Chambers will play at left-back. If both Koscielny and Gibbs are okay, Chambers will remain at right-back.
I'm more than a little worried about the lad. He's got 21 games under his belt already and that's not taking his caps for England into account. And even though Debuchy is on the brink of returning and might be up for selection starting next Tuesday, there's no guarantee Chambers will get a nice long rest he deserves. Why? Because Koscielny is not completely fit and both our left-backs will soon start walking on crutches. I guess that's the price you pay for not buying another defender. Or letting Jenks go, when Bellerin isn't ready yet.
The midfield
We have three. Fit. Midfielders. Three. Flamini, Ramsey and Cazorla. For Cazorla, like for Chambers, it'll be game №22. For Ramsey №20. And for Flamini? №19.
I don't think Arsene will introduce changes to this set-up, however. Tuesday is our rotation day, tomorrow a win is crucial. Luckily, we have more room for manoeuvre in midfield, as both Oxlade and Sanchez can play there. It's easier to find a winger right now, than a central midfielder, so Ox in midfield won't hurt our chances elsewhere.
By the way, no word was said on Arteta and this genuinely worries me. He wasn't training with the main group at the very least, which means he may not be available for Tuesday. Which hampers our rotation ability to the point of "abort rotation, abort rotation!" Just imagine the worst-case scenario: 7 guys (4 defenders + 3 midfielders) who have played 4 games in 11 days (4th tomorrow, an away trip) will have to return to London and then immediately leave for Turkey and there play their 5th game inside two weeks. Scary prospect.
The attack
Arsene on Alexis:
"He is in the red zone. You can see that when he plays but he can dig deep. He played his 27th game on Wednesday."
27 - that means 22 for us and five for the national side. But, again, I don't think the Chilean will be rested tomorrow. Tuesday, yes, definitely, it'd be mad to start him, but tomorrow? Unlikely.
As for the other two in our front three, I'd very much like to see Welbeck and Giroud start together. They played some good football at West Brom and then some devastating one for a short period of time against Southampton (between Giroud coming on and Welbeck coming off), so I want to see them together.
However, what I want and what the manager thinks is right is two different things, though in this case I think there's a good possibility of my wish coming true, Either way, I figure Giroud should start definitely. He's physically stronger than Welbeck and we'll need that against Stoke. Whoever starts on the right (Oxlade or Welbeck) will depend on our midfield crisis.
The verdict
We are on a good run and we should do our best to prolong it. A third successive league win would be very welcome indeed, while if we can keep another clean sheet I'd be over the moon. And I won't be alone in that.
Can we win? Yes, I think we can. Even with all the injures we should still see a capable side out there. Just stick to our organized style of play as of late and we should be fine.
So come on you Gunners
And I'll be back with a review on Sunday or Monday.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)