Everton preview: walk the walk

Morning everyone.

We play Everton tomorrow and there are two obvious reasons why we need the three points badly:

1. Teams around us will drop points. Chelsea and Tottenham play one another in the Cup, thus we have a chance to catch up on the former and widen the gap from the latter; City play Liverpool. One of them will drop points (both, hopefully) and thus we'll be presented with yet another chance to cement our place in the top 3. I'm not even excluding Sunderland and West Brom causing problems to United and Southampton respectively. Fingers crossed
2. Psychological reasons. We need to put that debacle of a performance behind us, the only way to do that is winning as many games as possible

All of this brings us to team news update

We'll have to make do without Jack Wilshere for at least another week:

"Jack Wilshere had a little surgery to take his two buttons off his ankle because they were irritating him but it’s a very minor procedure...Next weekend will be a bit quick. I don’t know exactly. It’s days, not weeks."

Very unfortunate and highly exasperating. Jack is one of the few with an actual spine, we could use it (and him). It is what it is, no point moaning about his absence and wondering what might have been.

But we have a positive bit of news on Ramsey and Flamini:

"They come back into normal training today and tomorrow. They are nearly there, not completely there."

"Tomorrow" means "today", as the presser took place yesterday. Both haven't been out for long, so I hope both can be reinstated in the squad. Rambo is our most pressing need, we can't, it seems, carry on with Cazorla in such a deep role.

Alright, I usually try to guess, which squad Arsene will put out, but this time I decided to go about it another way: I'll give you the squad which makes most sense to ME and explain my choices. Starting with

The attack

Funny as it may sound, choosing who will play on the wings depends on whether we decide to actually play through the wings or not. If Arsene will try crowding the middle of the park, then we should pick Welbeck and Alexis once more. However, playing people in not the most natural positions to them will hardly bring about the desired effect. I don't know what position Alexis Sanchez prefers, but Welbeck is definitely not a winger and he shouldn't be used on the flank.

And so, going from the personnel we have, I'd introduce Walcott for Welbeck and Oxlade for Alexis. In case with the Chilean I just think he needs a rest. Sanchez looked absolutely knackered against Monaco. We might also ponder the idea of giving Gnabry a go, though it would be a bit controversial with a fit Walcott. However, it has to be said Theo likes to drift inside. Less so, than Welbeck, but more than Gnabry. And so the German becomes our second most natural winger after Oxlade.

Up top I definitely wouldn't play Welbeck. Bar his pace, he's inferior to Giroud in every single way. It's what Goodplaya said in this piece and I agree with it wholeheartedly. He also argued that subbing Giroud was the wrong decision, because, though the Frenchman was having an off day in terms of finishing, he was getting into the right positions. Something that Welbeck didn't. It leaves us with a question of where exactly Welbeck fits in in this Arsenal side, but that's a subject for another day.

The midfield

I've seen one too many posts recently crying to deploy Alexis in the middle, with people pointing to Sunderland and Burnley performances as the example. And to such people I say: you are insane.

Alexis is simply not the material for a №10. He is too erratic. He loses the ball a lot, fails dribbles, gets dispossessed and, most importantly, he cannot dictate the tempo of our play with his passing. The Chilean is frenetic, he often both holds onto the ball for too long or makes a rash pass. Alexis is brilliant when it comes to creating space for himself, he has an outstanding sense of positioning and his finishing ability is second to no one at Arsenal, but these are not the attributes you are looking for in a CAM.

With that settled, we can move onto the midfield and I don't see how it can be changed from the previous four games. That means another outing for Cazorla in a deeper position, something I don't like. Ideally, I'd play Ramsey alongside Coquelin. Question is, will the Welshman make it in time for the game and if he will, should he be thrown in right away? I think that if he's fit, than yes. In Wilshere's absence he's the best №8 we have.

I don't want to see Oxlade there and I don't think Rosicky in an option either. The Czech is a playmaker, not a defensive midfielder. Cazorla also isn't for that matter and that brings us back to Ramsey.

Supposing he makes it, Ozil and Cazorla will fight it out for the only position left and I don't know, who should play there, if both are fit. Cazorla is on brilliant form, but so is Ozil. Bar the Monaco game (when everyone was bad, mind you), the German had a flying return from injury. Personally, I'd pick him over Cazorla with both fit.

The back five

Monreal on the left please. Why Gibbs was picked over the Spaniard in the Champions League will forever remain a mystery to me. Nacho was (and still is) on top form, Gibbs was plucked out of the cold and asked to perform in the last sixteen. Bollocks.

Most importantly, you just don't play two romping full-backs at the same time, and so a Bellerin-Gibbs duo won't do. You can play Bellerin with a more conservative Monreal, or Chambers with Gibbs, but playing Hector and Kieran simultaneously is suicide. So bring Nacho back and keep Bellerin.

Whether we drop or keep Mertesacker for me hinges entirely on what approach we take. If it's a high pressing line like against Monaco, then Gabriel should get the nod. If we, for whatever reasons, will opt to sit back and absorb the pressure, then the German suits us better. For now, at least, till Gabriel hasn't adapted and we haven't seen what he's capable of.

Finally, the goalie. Szczesny or Ospina? Ospina had two shaky games now, but Chezza had a whole lot of these this season. If we drop Ospina after one bad performance it will send the wrong message to both keepers: that one bad game can be your last. Which is not what we want, do we? So I'd play the Colombian and see how he recovers.

The verdict

It will be tough, but we need to bounce back as quickly as possible. Everton, despite sitting just six points above the relegation zone, have a lot of quality players and they, unlike us, won their midweek game. We, right now, are a Schrodinger's cat. I really hope tomorrow shows that we are alive.

So come on you Gunners.

Back with a review on Monday

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 1-3 Monaco: blown it

"I cannot express how tired I am of seeing Arsenal struggle. Tired of analysing bad results and bad performances. Tired of us making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Tired of fighting for fourth/third every year... I badly want this to change, for Arsenal to become a major force again, but for now I see no light at the end of this long and gloomy tunnel."

This is what I said after we drew with Liverpool two months ago. And yet here I am, once again facing the task of analysing a debacle of a performance.

As you might have noticed, I'm an optimist at heart. I always hope for the best and try to find positives in every performance, however small and insignificant these may be. I do this because the opposite is simply unbearable for me. Being pessimistic (or, as some will put it, realistic) will get you nowhere and won't make your (already hard) life any easier. Such people lose the ability to see the good side of things even if it far outweighs the bad. They are constantly dissatisfied, they have nothing to look forward to and their life becomes the never-ending circle of misery and anticipation of something bad. I'm not even sure being proved right brings such people any kind of happiness. As they never predict good things they don't get the chance to enjoy these. And it takes a special kind of crazy to enjoy the bad ones.

And so I'll start with the teeny tiny positives from yesterday's game. God knows there were very few.

The good

We had moments. That's something, we've at least been able to conjure these up. They were mostly half-chances, but still there were several occasions when we should have scored. Welbeck in the 2nd minute, Cazorla when he opted to pass instead of having a go himself, Sanchez after being set up by Ozil. The crime of the first half was not hitting the target. The story continued in the second half. Our first effort on target happened in the 55th minute when Sanchez's fierce low shot stung the goalkeeper's palms. The second happened after Walcott came on for Giroud, past the 60 minutes mark, that is.

And there were some players who, while far from their best on the night, got much more stick than they deserved. I mostly have Cazorla, Ozil and Oxlade in mind. Cazorla "led all players with 72/77 passes, completed 23/27 passes in the final third, created 1 shot for a teammate, made 6/6 dribbles, 3/3 tackles, and drew 2 fouls. He also almost never turned the ball over, just 1 time, and was only dispossessed twice." The stats courtesy of @7amkickoff.

Ozil, who was once again accused of laziness, ran the most of all Arsenal players and was third in this regard overall, just behind some Monaco blokes. Oxlade, meanwhile, scored the only goal, which he did all by himself, so blaming him for losing the ball some 70 yards from goal is ingratitude at its finest. He at least tried to make something happen and, lest you forgot, it was his first game since some 6-week layoff.

The bad

Everything else was bad. Mertesacker and Giroud were just the tip of the iceberg. Not that I don't think they shouldn't be dropped after THIS, but they aren't the only people responsible.

The biggest problem for me yesterday was how we approached the game. Our mentality. We were abject the entire game, absolutely listless and disinterested. We took Monaco for granted, we thought showing up would do the trick. We did something that no team should do in the Champions League: we underestimated the opposition. And we paid the price for it. Few would argue we didn't get what we deserved yesterday. We got exactly that.

The most terrifying thing about yesterday's defeat is that we had an almost full squad. Debuchy, Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere were the only absentees, but we've played without them the whole January. We've played almost the entire season without the former two, so when we have Ramsey and Wilshere back we can say we have a fit squad.

The problem yesterday wasn't the quality of the players on the pitch (or, to be more exact, it wasn't the biggest problem), it was that nobody took responsibility. No one stepped up and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. We have a quality squad, but, paradoxically, few would argue we couldn't do better in every position. We were spineless yesterday and it wasn't the first time this season either. I can name at least two more games where we just didn't care: Borussia away and Swansea.

At times like these I really wish we had Wilshere. He wouldn't have let such a game pass the team by. He has his shortcomings, but lack of guts isn't among these. His best performance this season was against City and that's saying something. He doesn't go missing, he doesn't shy away from doing any work and, in my opinion, he should be captain. He's far better suited to the role than Arteta and Mertesacker combined.

The verdict

So what do we do now? Well, start from scratch, obviously. We play Everton in three days and we better win that game. And then the next after. And the one after that. And then we go to Monaco hoping for a goddamn miracle. Which right now seems just that.

Oh, and one last thing. While pinning all the blame on Wenger is wrong, simply because he cannot kick the ball about for his players, I have to admit that Arsene remains the common denominator in our Champions League failures. One final, one semi-final and a couple of quarter-finals in 18 years is hardly head-turning.

That's it, back on Saturday with a preview.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Monaco preview: this is our chance

Evening everyone.

European football for us Arsenal fans returns tomorrow and it's Monaco we'll have to entertain at the Emirates. The game brings back all kinds of memories for both parties. We all know Arsene trained the French outfit for seven years and it's there where he first tried his philosophy out. The diet, the training regimes, the style of football and a lot more.

But tomorrow's game leaves little room for sentiment. It's a competitive fixture (the last sixteen of the Champions League is as competitive as it gets) and should be treated as such. Any team can cause you plenty of trouble at this stage. Right now Monaco are on the way up, 4th in the league and they have one of the best defenses in both the domestic championship and in Europe.

Team news update

Well, not much has changed since our last game. Ramsey remains out, Oxlade is back in full training, though it's yet unclear whether he's fit enough to make the squad. The bad news is that Wilshere will probably sit the game out:

"The only uncertainty I have at the moment is Jack Wilshere but everybody else is available. He was rested [at training], because he trained hard until now. No, it's not a setback but I don't think [he'll play against Monaco]."

Not very encouraging. I was really counting on the Englishman for this one, but it is what it is. At least we should have Flamini back.

The back five

I'm certain Ospina, Mertesacker and Koscielny will keep their respective places. Our situation with full-backs is not this crystal clear, however. Bellerin took part in full training today, so I'd reinstate him at right-back. In the meantime, who should we play at left-back? Monreal looked a bit dodgy against Palace, but dropping him on that account would be stupid. He's been brilliant otherwise, so I suggest we field a more-or-less stable back four, the one that did so well in January.

The midfield

Really don't see something being changed here. Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere are all out so, unless we want to play a pivot of Flamini and Coquelin, any tweaking is unnecessary. Coquelin, Cazorla and Ozil are all on top form, omitting them is hardly going to do anyone any good. Moving on.

The attack

Here we have some interesting choices to make. Or, rather, AN interesting choice: should Walcott start for Welbeck? Giroud and Alexis are guaranteed starters, both are in bang form (alright, Alexis a bit less so), but might we just adopt a more attacking approach by utilising Theo on the flank?

We needed a hard defensive worker against Palace, thus Welbeck was a better option. However, I expect us to take matters into our hands tomorrow right from the start and Walcott's pace and sense of positioning can come in handy. Welbeck, while a brilliant team player, isn't such a natural finisher as Theo.

The verdict

This is our big chance to progress beyond the last sixteen for the first time in five years. We've been really unlucky with the draw recently. Barcelona in 2012, Milan in 2013, and then Bayern Munich. Twice. We were a whisker away in 2012 by beating the Catalans at the Emirates, only to then lose 3-1 at Camp Nou, suffered a humiliating defeat against Milan, but almost bounced back in the return leg, while we have shown we can beat Bayern at their turf. But all our efforts were in vain, mostly because we've put ourselves in a hard spot in the first tie already and had to fight against the odds in the second.

We mustn't repeat this mistake tomorrow. We must take the game to Monaco, we must press and suffocate them in their half. We must create as many chances as humanly possible and we must make the most of these chances. We must take as big an advantage as we possibly can to France.

So come on you Gunners. Don't screw this up.

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal: massive three points fire Arsenal to 3rd

I'll start with what I consider to be the right thing to say: Arsenal fully deserved to win yesterday's game. No one can convince me otherwise. In my opinion Crystal Palace didn't even deserve the goal they scored, had they nicked a point it would have been a footballing crime, a robbery in the daylight.

So what if Palace saw more of the ball, had twice as many shots and managed to swing in ten corners to our 1? The most telling stat is shots on target: the Eagles only managed three from 22, while we had four from 12. They didn't even muster a single shot on target until the 82nd minute, by which time we should have put the game out of their reach.

As not much happened for me to write a fully-fledged review, I'll just cover points of interest.

The squad and tactics

I guessed the side right in my preview. Ospina, Mertesacker, Monreal and Coquelin came back in, Bellerin was left on the bench as a precautionary measure and Welbeck was preferred to Walcott. All in all, four changes to our last game. Wilshere made the bench at Flamini's expense, while one of our defenders replaced Akpom.

Did we intend to sit back from the beginning or was it a combination of Palace's pressure and the atrocious quality of the pitch that made us? It's hard to say really, Selhrust Park heavily reminds me of Britannia Stadium in that it's a hard place to conquer. The pitch, quite a few despicable players and disgusting fans on top complete the picture.

The performance

All of this contributed to one of the most defensive performances I've seen from us. Arseblog's usual "by the numbers" section looks at it at greater detail, I'll just go over several things here. We've made 75 clearances, the most in a single game by a Premier League side since 2009. 19 of these were completed by Mertesacker and I've seen a shady number "7" which related to headed clearances from the German. I say "shady" because I think Mert hit double figures, only for some of the others to be written down as "aerial duels won".

That being said we looked much more dangerous on the counter than Palace did with all their possession football. In fact, we should have been ahead in the 3rd minute already, only for the linesman to wrongly flag Ozil offside. Replays showed the German was on, so here we have another example of horrible refereeing. Gosh, I'm writing about refereeing standards every week.

However, in a piece of divine retribution, Santi put us ahead four minutes later, after Welbeck was fouled in the box. It's hard to say whether the Englishman was really fouled inside the box or just outside, but, like I said, we deserved this goal in the previous episode.

We should have been further ahead come 21st minute. Cazorla whipped in our only corner that day, Giroud flicked the ball wit his head towards an unmarked Alexis on the far post and the Chilean blasted his effort wide.

A minute from the whistle it was 2-0. Alexis's clever pass released Welbeck down the left, the Englishman's effort was saved by Speroni, but Giroud was first on the rebound. Olivier poked home his 50th goal for Arsenal.

The second half was more of the same. Palace had the ball, we had the chances. First Ozil's header was saved by Speroni and in the 56th minute came our best opportunity to make it 3-0. The move was simple: someone (probably Mertesacker) booted the ball long towards Ozil, the German tricked the defender and then sent Alexis one-on-one. Though the angle was tight, I think it's fair to expect Alexis to bury such chances. Instead, he missed both the target and the onrushing Olivier Giroud.

After that we fell back and Palace continued to turn the screw. Gayle's header in the 70th minute fizzed just over, Puncheon's free-kick did likewise in the 75th and then, when everyone thought the game was over, the Eagles nearly got a point for their trouble.

The scuffle in the box in the 94th minute saw Murray pull one back and then he almost made a brace a minute later, but, fortunately, his effort hit the post with Ospina out of the picture. We held on and got the three points and, I repeat, we fully deserved those. Despite being dominated it terms of territory and possession we created more chances and used them better.

The aftermath

"I believe that the players know that maybe they switched off a little bit too early. Overall I still must say that our central defenders played very well today against a very direct and a very physical game at the back. They did well so overall I’m pleased to have won three points in a place like this."

That win sees us move into third, as United lost to Swansea (haha) and Southampton is losing to Liverpool as we speak. Tottenham also dropped points at home, so we are now four points ahead of them.

Now onto Monaco.

I'll be back with the preview of that game, most likely, so stay tuned.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Crystal Palace preview: emulate our last performance

Hello everyone.

Gosh, it's been a long and hard week. Good thing it's finally over and, though, the exam didn't go down particularly well and I'll have to retake it I'm not going to study for it anywhere near as hard. So normal service resumes starting today.

And today Arsenal travels to Selhrust Park to take on a resurgent Crystal Palace side. The Eagles have won 5 out of their last 8 games (in all comps), such is the effect Pardew has produced. However, they are far from being invincible, even at home. So if we show up with a performance we can win it.

Team news update

"My team selection will not be influenced at all by the Champions League. The most important game is Palace because it is the next one."

That being said, there are some question marks over Bellerin's and Flamini's involvement:

"We have some uncertainties about Flamini and Bellerin - they are doubtful for Saturday."

Don't know about Flamini (he wasn't likely to start anyway), but Bellerin took part in full training yesterday, so that should mean the Spaniard is likely to make it.

However, there is positive news in regards to Oxlade and Wilshere:

"Jack is fine. He could be back in the squad because he’s available again. He’s a bit ahead of schedule and he’s worked hard with no big problems, so it’s good to have him back.

Oxlade Chamberlain is close. He will join in normal training today."

Both have trained and I'm sure at least Wilshere will make the bench. The manager has already gone on record saying he contemplated picking Jack against Boro and I'll be hugely surprised if we don't see the Englishman on the team sheet today. With Oxlade the situation is different, though I have a gut feeling he'll be involved against Monaco if not today. Ramsey remains out, his hammy will keep Aaron sidelined for something around ten more days. No walking on water for him today or midweek, I guess.

With all that out of the way, time to try and guess the team.

The back five

Ospina should come straight back in for Szczesny: the Pole didn't do anything to convince he should stay in goal after the Middlesbrough performance. Sure, he had little to do, but then it was the same story with Ospina for three of four games and the Colombian wasn't removed, which culminated in his brilliance performance against Spurs. So for me David should start.

Defense is another story altogether. Chambers, Gabriel and Gibbs all did brilliantly and it will be hard dropping any of them. Gabriel maybe not so much, he still has to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League, but Chambers and Gibbs provide Arsene with an almighty headache. I think we should keep faith in our best back four, which now consists of Bellerin, Per, Kos and Nacho. If there's a chance Bellerin aggravates his injury, then he needs to sit this one out. Otherwise Hector deserves to regain his spot. As does Nacho.

The midfield

With Ramsey absent and Jack unlikely to start I think a trio that destroyed Middlesbrough can do the job. Coquelin and Ozil play magnificently in their respective preferred positions, while Santi has shown great potential as a link between the two. Besides, the scarcity of options is such that, unless we want to try Rosicky there, we really don't have a choice.

Can Santi do a job in almost a holding position on a permanent basis? That is the question. The author of this article argues the Spaniard is up for the task. He definitely looked comfortable there against Boro and, while it's not even a Premier League team we are talking about (thogh they should become one next season), the makings of playing deeper infield are present. Brilliant close-qurters control, very good distribution, the ability to quickly change the direction of an attack: it's all about Santi Cazorla. At this rate he'll quickly become our new Arteta. There remains the question of where Jack and Ramsey fit into this nice picture, but it's up to them to trove they deserve to start games when fit.

The attack

Giroud and Alexis will play, no doubt about that, but I'm really interested in who will get the nod to start on the right: Walcott or Welbeck. For me it's the latter, simply because Danny can combine his pace with tracking back and helping Bellerin out, whereas Walcott often leaves the full-back exposed.

Theo has been questioned a lot lately, truth be told and I can get why: at this moment in time, Theo still hasn't become a very good all-round performer. In fact, he strongly reminds me of Podolski and that's not a compliment. I sincerely hope injures took their toll and we are yet to see the best of Theo, but with his contract due to expire next summer, some started wondering whether we need to replace the Englishman with a more complete footballer like Reus or Dybala. You can have an in-depth read here and here (the article is in two parts). As for me, I think Theo will need to show a drastic improvement on his current performances by the end of the season to convince the masses we need to keep him.

The verdict

Should our attack click the way it did against Boro I'm sure we can get the win. It will be particularly handy with United visiting Swansea and Tottenham and Southampton facing West Ham and Liverpool respectively. It presents us with a decent chance to break into the top four and we should take it with both hands.

Come on you Gunners.

Finally, I wanted to touch on the FA Cup draw. We didn't have any luck with it this time: we'll have to face United away on the 9th of March. United scraped past Preston North End in the last sixteen due to a mix of appalling refereeing from Phil Dowd and a blatant dive from Rooney. This side has zero class, with Van Gaal quickly becoming more of a joke than Moyes and all this should hint at a win at Old Trafford, only for a small "but".

It's Arsenal they play. We have an atrocious record against United away from home. We've managed to lose to the Devils under Moyes and are yet to face them in the league under Van Gaal. Fingers crossed we show up with a performance on the day. If we do, we should be too much for them to handle.

That's it for now. Back tomorrow with a review.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 2-0 Middlesbrough: can we always play like this?

Yes, I'm still buzzing from our yesterday's performance. In fact, it has set my mood for the upcoming week. Just as you can reply to the question "Why are you grumpy?" when there's no apparent reason with an "Arsenal lost", you can say you're happy because Arsenal won. Even if your current situation wherever (at the uni, work) is nothing short of abysmal, saying the magical words " but still, Arsenal won" makes it that much better.

The squad

Arsene made a whopping 6 changes compared to our last game, four of these to our back line: Szczesny, Chambers, Gabriel and Gibbs all came in and all did brilliantly. Though I'm pretty sure Ospina will return against Palace, everyone else will provide Arsene with a nice selection headache.

Further up field Flamini came in for Coquelin and Welbeck replaced Walcott. Ozil moved infield to give way to Alexis on the flank and Cazorla was basically tasked with performing Ramsey's functions, something he did with aplomb. The Spaniard was also named captain in Mert's absence.

The first half

We took the game to Boro immediately and could have opened the scoring as early as in the 4th minute when Cazorla's clever effort from the free-kick forced Mejias into a save. Our next real moment of danger came ten minutes later when Giroud's curler was palmed away by the same Mejias, before Alexis's rebound hit the side netting.

Giroud looked in a goalscoring mood and the Frenchman's desire got the better of him in a situation when a simple pass to Welbeck seemed more promising, but Olivier's efforts were duly rewarded in the 27th minute. In a move, which saw EVERY Arsenal player touch the ball, the Frenchman found himself on the receiving end of a low cross from Gibbs after the Englishman was set up by a sublime pass from Santi. Giroud made it 1-0.

Less than two minutes later he made it 2-0. Him and Sanchez took advantage during a corner when all Boro defenders fell asleep. The Chilean swung the ball to the near post having spotted Giroud making a run. Olivier sidefooted the ball into the net.

We could have scored a third straight away when Alexis chipped the keeper after being sent clean through by Ozil. The defenders, however, cleared the ball off the line. Truth be told, I don't think Alexis was at his best yesterday. Don't get me wrong, Alexis was very good, but a have a feeling he is still not at his best.

After such a strong start we've slowed down a bit and nothing of note happened for the remainder of the half, bar, maybe, a late shot on target from Adomah. Which hasn't troubled Szczesny at all.

The second half

We started it on a bit of a back foot and I feared the repeat of what happened at Leicester, but nothing of the sort occurred, despite Boro seeing more of the ball in the first 15 minutes or so. In all honesty we could have further extended our lead after Boro's corner, but Welbeck blasted his shot wide after making a good run.

Ozil was next up with a chance to score, only for his effort to be well-saved by Mejias. Shortly after Gabriel received his first booking in English football, after he had to cynically foul Reach, who was racing through on goal. I really liked the manner in which Gabriel blocked Reach: he did so with exactly the intention to stop a dangerous attack and knew he would receive a yellow card. This heavily reminded me of Arteta, who is always ready to commit such fouls for the good of the team.

Ozil and Alexis combined once more only to see the danger averted at the last possible moment, before substitute Walcott snuffed two chances in succession. His second was particularly tasty, with Rosicky sending the Englishman through, but Mejias got down well to save.

We also could have scored through first Alexis, whose headed effort was tipped around the post and then Cazorla, whose cracking effort went over the bar.

We put our foot off the gas in the closing stages and that could have cost us the clean sheet. First Adomah's shot fizzed just wide with Szczesny stranded, and then Kike's header smashed against the post. This last moment, however, happened in the 93rd minute. Shortly after, the whistle blew.

The aftermath

"We controlled the game from the first to the last minute. They had one chance at the end from a header, but overall I’m pleased with the way we attacked, the way we defended and with the way we played together with a good focus for 90 minutes. That’s basically it."

Yes, that's it. I don't want to single anyone out in what was a brilliant collective effort. Maybe Gabriel is worth a mention, but purely because it was his debut. Had Mertesacker played the way the Brazilian did I wouldn't dwell on that after such a display.

"He (Gabriel) has shown three important qualities - great concentration levels, great urgency to defend and good pace, especially on the recovery tackle he made in the box...From what I’ve seen there’s a lot to come from him because technically he is good at passing as well."

The Brazilian was really good at aerial duels, having won the air completely (with the exception of that last episode), he made a couple of sharp interceptions and there were quite a few through-the-line passes from him. A very good package for a first game.

Right, that's your lot for today. I hope I'll return on Wednesday, but, as I have an exam on Friday, I'm not sure about this bit. If there's nothing from me on Wednesday, then expect me to be back for a preview of our away game at Palace.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Middlesbrough preview: keep the concentration

Hello everyone.

We face Middlesbrough in the last sixteen of the FA Cup tomorrow and it's a game that will require complete focus from our players. Firstly, because any team which has beaten City at the Etihad should be reckoned with. Secondly because of our last year's exploits in the cup. Do you remember how everyone thought we've done the hardest bit by knocking out Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool only to then be pushed all the way by Wigan and Hull?

Luckily, this isn't our first game after the North London derby. It would have been psychologically very hard to deliver a performance in the cup straight away, so thank God for Leicester. We've beaten them ugly, but the win was very important for our mentality. We've overcome this hindrance and can now breathe easier.

Team news update

As usual we've a bit of everything. Ramsey is definitely out, with the boss confirming the Welshman has suffered a grade one hamstring strain. This means two weeks on the sidelines and that would have been a big blow had Wilshere not returned. However, it's not the injury itself that worries Arsene:

"We haven’t found the underlying reason (to Ramsey's continuing injuries). There is an underlying reason that is certainly medical or bio-mechanical because he is a guy who is serious, works hard, has a controlled and disciplined life, so there’s no obvious reason why he should have muscular problems."

A third hamstring injury in a season definitely hints at some underlying reason. I only hope we find out what it is quickly enough. Fingers crossed on that one.

In further news, Sanchez may be short to take part, but even if he can make it doesn't mean he should play. I'd keep him wrapped in cotton wool till our clash with Crystal Palace next week. We have enough players up front even without the Chilean and Oxlade.

Wilshere, Szczesny and Gabriel, on the other hand, are all likely to be involved, the Englishman probably from the bench only:

"Jack Wilshere's back in normal training but has been out for [more than two] months and misses competition. He worked very hard and is focused, committed, but it will take him a while to get back to competitive level."

Szczesny and Gabriel are likely to start, on the other hand:

“He (Szczesny) is ready to play. At the moment I feel I left Ospina in because he has done well but Wojciech is completely ready and has impressed in training."

“[Gabriel is] a player who has the ability and likes to defend - it’s more and more difficult to find people like that. He’s a player who has good qualities - he has good pace, he’s good in the air and is good in one against ones."

On the overall, Wenger promised to make some changes to the squad (apart from the aforementioned, I guess), but promised to take this game seriously:

"Some players will play who have not played recently, but we treat this game exactly the same as a Premier League game.”

With all that finally sorted out, let's try guessing the squad.

The back five

Szczesny will start, that bit is certain. I'm really interested to see whether he keeps his place in case he does well tomorrow, but that's a debate for another day. By the way, if you want to gain some useful insight on the goalkeeper situation, you can check out this article from Tim Stillman. Quality stuff as always.

I'm also pretty certain our back four will be heavily changed. Chambers and Gibbs should come in for Bellerin and Monreal respectively (both have played quite a few games lately, Bellerin especially should be carefully managed, he's 19 after all) and it looks likely Gabriel will be handed his first start, though for whom is a question I really like to know the answer to. My completely uninformed hunch tells me Gabriel will come in for Mertesacker after being lauded for his aerial prowess. We'll see.

The midfield

Is Jack ready to start after spending ten weeks out? Personally, I'd start him and then sub with Rosicky around the 60th minute. It'll be a like-for-like, only the Czech is at a better fitness level. No point risking Wilsh if he isn't at 100%, which he obviously isn't.

Coquelin has become so integral I'll be surprised a great deal should Arsene drop the Frenchman for Flamini. However, the question of who plays at ten is more interesting. I wouldn't start Cazorla, the Spaniard looked knackered against Tottenham and only marginally better on Tuesday and with Rosicky likely to be deployed elsewhere, my money is on Ozil to finally getting his hands on the number 10 position. Mouthwatering prospect.

The attack

With Alexis and Oxlade out and Ozil (hopefully) utilised under the striker our best trio is Welbeck-Giroud-Walcott. Looks a nice one, plenty of power, speed and hardworking guys in it. Akpom should make the bench in this case. Can he get a start? It will certainly be against the odds, but then Sanogo was thrown in at the deep against Liverpool last season and Akpom, at this point in time, looks better than the Frenchman.

The verdict

In the end, a lot will ride on how we take the game. If we start well, score an early goal and continue pressing then we have more than enough to come out on top and get into the last eight. If we fail to make our pressure count and give Middlesbrough the opportunity to hurt us on the counter, there's no telling how this game might end. I no longer feel confident with Szczesny between the sticks, so those in front of him should really put in a shift to ensure the ball won't get to our keeper.

Come on you Gunners.

Back with a review on Monday.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 2-1 Leicester: back on track, if only just

Before the game most Gunners hoped we would be in for an easy ride. But some, and not without reason, adopted a more cautious approach: they feared the knock-on effects our Saturday's loss could produce. So the fact we played a side that sits bottom of the league helped a great deal: if we had to play West Ham or Liverpool, for instance, I fear we could have dropped points. As it is, we bagged all three and moved back above Tottenham who, coincidentally, went down to Liverpool. And those who said even Leicester can prove a tough opponent were completely right. Not because they are mighty and scary (they would not be bottom in this case), but because we fought a battle with ourselves, as much as with them. Even Arsene later acknowledged it:

"Yes it (the North London derby) was a bit in their head, especially in the second half in the legs. Tottenham lost in the last minute as well. It was a very intense game on Saturday and three days later, it’s not easy."

Glad we have overcome this psychological hurdle and won the game. And now, onto the game itself.

The squad and approach

Arsene made three changes to our Saturday's squad: Rosicky, Alexis and Walcott replaced Ramsey, Giroud and Welbeck respectively. The back five remained unchanged, presumably to give the guys a chance at redemption.

The changes added up to a mouthwatering trio of Ozil, Alexis and Walcott up front, but it soon became clear this trident was largely ineffective. The idea was clear: the manager wanted to cut Leicester's defense open by combining Ozil's laser-guided passes with Walcott's and Alexis's blistering pace. Whether we are just not used to the system or it's simply the wrong system for us to adopt is open to debate: the resulting bleak performance was there for everyone to see and it lasted right up to the point when Giroud was introduced. When the Frenchman came on he did what he always does: provided our attacks with a focal point and won most aerial duels, something that allowed Ospina to breathe easier and just boot it long in case of emergency.

I'm pretty sure this isn't the last time we've tried playing without a target man, I cannot even guarantee we won't do this in our next game, but I'd rather we didn't. Use our usual system until the end of the season and in the summer there'll be plenty of time to practice whatever Arsene deems worthy of practising.

The first half

Rather unexpectedly, we could have found ourselves down twice inside the first fifteen minutes: first Mahrez's deflected shot bobbled inches wide with Ospina stranded, then the same Mahrez found himself one-on-one with the Colombian, only for his effort to be wide off the mark once more.

Our first chances came seconds after. Ozil's beautiful through ball made his way to Walcott, only for the Englishman to hit it straight at Schwarzer. Alexis headed over from a resulting corner.

Several minutes later we went ahead nonetheless. Ozil has found space on the edge of the box and poked the ball towards the far corner and Schwarzer could only palm it away for a corner kick. Ozil stepped up, flung the ball in and an unmarked Koscielny slided the ball home from point-blank range. 1-0.

Despite Mahrez's best efforts we soon doubled the lead. Bellerin won the ball on the right, passed it to Ozil and the German produced a fierce drive some 25 yards away from goal. Schwarzer only managed to parry the ball into the path of an onrushing Walcott and this mistake proved costly. 2-0 and the teams went into the tunnel.

The second half

We started the half in a bleak manner, unsure of whether we should continue to attack or just defend our lead. As a result, we didn't particularly succeed at both.

We had a strong claim for a penalty early on, then Rosicky's shot was saved from a corner that ensued, before Leicester seized the initiative.

Kramaric fired an effort wide, Matty James miscontrolled a pass which would have seen him one-on-one with Ospina and you could sense something coming.

Leicester attack which led to the goal started with Kramaric almost chipping Ospina. It took a combined effort from the Colombian and Mertesacker to avert the danger for a corner.

From it a scuffle in the box ensued, Cambiasso kept the ball alive (despite claims for a handball) and it ended up with Kramaric. The Croatian's fierce low shot went in at the near post and I do wonder could Ospina have done better on that one. Sure, the ball dilli-dallied through a lot of legs, besides, I'm not sure Ospina saw the moment the shot was taken, but a near post is a near post. It should be better protected by the keeper.

Arsene immediately introduced changes. Giroud came on for a knackered and (probably) injured Alexis, while Ramsey subbed the inefficient Walcott. I do hope Alexis is OK, he was on the receiving end of a dirty tackle from Upson. Ramsey, unfortunately, is less likely to escape another injury spell. He pulled his hamstring ten minutes after making his entrance and was taken off for Flamini. Arsene later rued the decision to let Ramsey play:

"I basically left him out today because I wanted to be cautious with him. I had to bring him on - I had a hesitation between Flamini and him - because we lacked a a bit of offensive power. It was not the best of decisions."

He also expressed his concerns, as it the third muscle injury Rambo sustained this season:

"I don’t know how bad it is yet. Just visually, it didn’t look good. When a guy stops straight away and sits down, that’s not good news. There’s a recurrence now of a few muscular injuries and it’s difficult - we haven’t found out why."

Whichever way you look at it, we'll probably have to make do without Aaron for a couple of weeks. At least we have Wilshere back, otherwise the situation would be looking dangerous again.

Meanwhile, Leicester continued the search for an equaliser. They went ridiculously close twice, first when Mahrez curled an effort just wide, then Kramaric fluffed his chance when clean through. We only had Cazorla's effort to show for it, though our hold up play got much better with Giroud on. In the end, we clung to our three points and that's the most important thing.

The verdict

A few short notices on individual performances. First up, Walcott. Maybe he hasn't reached his peak conditions just yet, but it was another game that slipped him by. Apart from the goal and a missed chance early on, the Englishman was invisible. He's only completed 6 passes and made less touches than Giroud and Olivier played fifty minutes less. Theo is looking increasingly like Podolski at the moment and unless his overall involvement drastically improves he may well find himself used as a power sub only. Especially with Gnabry and Oxlade on the way back.

I also wanted to single out Ozil. The German has been massive since his return, with 3 goals and 4 assists in four games and the fact that he plays on the left doesn't seem to affect his overall contribution at all. He's made himself undroppable lately and you could see why.

Anyway, despite a shaky performance at home we have moved back above Tottenham and in the light of yesterday's results sit only a point behind Soton and two behind United. We face Middlesbrough at the weekend and our next league game is an away fixture against Crystal Palace. We have plenty of time between now and that game, let's hope we use it wisely and give some key players a rest in the Cup. They could use it.

And I'll be back with a preview, most likely.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Leicester preview: it's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you

If you've been reading my posts more or less consistently then you know I love the Dark Knight series enough to quote it every now and again. This time I feel the situation calls for it: pre-game there's been all the usual talk about bouncing back and putting things right. It's all well, it's part and parcel of the game, it needs to be said and no one should be surprised to see such quotes, but, in the end, the only thing that matters is the next game. If we go out there, play good football and deliver a result, then words will be backed by actions, if we drop points, words will remain just that: words.

Team news update

As always, Arsene gave the usual update:

"Alexis will be back in the group and we don’t have any injuries from Saturday. Everybody else looked fine yesterday."

There was also some good news on Wilshere:

"He’s back in full training this week. I don’t know exactly [how long until he returns], we have to monitor him on a daily basis and see how he develops."

A bit strange to hear a player has returned from injury with no return date pinpointed. Maybe Arsene is just playing his cards close to his chest and we might even see Wilshere today, as a sub of course? Sounds a bit far-fetched, I know, so I'd probably settle for a cameo against Boro and something along the same lines against Crystal Palace.

With that bit out of the way, the usual guessing game is in order.

The back five

I wonder if there's room for rotation in today's squad. Arsene usually prefers to rotate in cup games, but this time cup and league games are swapped and, besides, I'm not sure some players will manage yet another full game, being only three days out of the last one. I've seen suggestions, though, that sticking to our last starting last XI as closely as possible will provide players with a chance to make amends and restore some confidence after a defeat. They sound pretty sensible, but I don't think the manager can ignore the exhaustion issue entirely. And thus I expect a couple of issues.

While Ospina, Bellerin and Monreal haven't played an awful lot and can take another game before being provided with a rest in the cup, the same isn't true for Mertesacker and Koscielny. Especially since Kos still hasn't overcome his Achilles problems. We are going to need the Frenchman in more important games even this month, and so the Leicester game provides us with an opportunity to drop him.

The natural solution if Arsene really decides to rest Koscielny? Our new boy Gabriel of course. The Brazilian has been around for a couple of weeks now and is due a debut, introducing him against the side that currently sits bottom seems a good idea. However, if Gabriel is really set to play, I think we can safely assume Mertesacker will also play. It'll be way too risky to field a central pairing of Chambers and Gabriel.

The midfield

Cazorla looked knackered against the Spuds, that bit I'm sure of. With 28 starts and five appearances from the bench this season, the Spaniard is second only to Alexis in terms of minutes played, so giving him a breather today won't harm Santi. Shifting Ozil inside is the obvious option in this case.

Who do we play at the base? No question about Coquelin, but shall we perhaps drop Ramsey for Rosicky? Yes? No? Thing is, the Welshman also had his fair share of football this season, making 28 appearances in total. And this is considering he's spent minimum six weeks on the sidelines. For me, we can try and have Rosicky do all the stuff Ramsey usually does.

The attack

Oxlade isn't back and he won't be in the next two weeks, but having Giroud, Welbeck, Walcott and Alexis hardly calls for desperate measures, does it? I wonder whether Giroud should be restricted to a bench role, though. Not because of his performances (he's been brilliant upon his return from injury), but because he limped heavily after Rose drove his studs in the Frenchman's ankle. Welbeck up front should be good to go, with Alexis and Walcott flanking him. Sanchez, Welbeck and Rosicky can all compensate nicely for Walcott's and Ozil's defensive shortages (should this be required) and, overall, complement a pretty balanced squad nicely.

The verdict

Anything less than three points simply won't do. If United has beaten Leicester at home, we simply have no excuses. Besides, we really need a win to prove Saturday was a freak accident (which I think it was). A thorough bashing can restore some much-needed confidence and also help us move back into fifth and above Tottenham. For all Liverpool's poor play this season, I simply don't seem them losing to Spuds at Anfield.

So come on you Gunners.

And I'll be back with a review tomorrow or Thursday.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal: tried to do a City, but did a Liverpool

So, we lost. We produced a bleak performance. We could have won, but we really didn't deserve it. This game had echoes of the Liverpool game about it, not the trumpeting horn of the Etihad win.

As is often the case after a loss, I'm in no mood to follow my usual structure. Instead, I think quoting myself and analysing what has happened yesterday through the prism of these quotes is the best possible way to present you with my review. So here goes.

The tactics and the squad

"I won't be surprised should we stick to a cautious approach tomorrow. In other words, I expect us to deliver something along the lines of City's game, only to a lesser extent, because Eriksen and Kane aren't nearly as scary as Silva and Aguero."

This is what I said two days ago when writing a preview for the game. And this approach was exactly the one we adopted yesterday. Only, however baffling it sounds, I'd rather we faced Aquero and Silva than Kane and Eriksen. We gave both time and space and paid the price for that. We dropped too deep after scoring the goal, thus inviting even more pressure. That was a mistake, both because we couldn't cope with that pressure and because we were woefully inefficient on the counter.

"Do they have an edge over the current Hispanic trio? The only edge I can think of is experience (in case with Chambers) and a better understanding of a derby atmosphere (Szczesny and Gibbs). But I don't think these are convincing enough reasons to omit Ospina, Bellerin and Monreal. If our Spaniards can do it at the Etihad, they can do it anywhere."

Seems I was wrong with at least one player: Bellerin. Maybe I wasn't watching too closely, but I don't think he had a good game. His starting minutes were particularly atrocious, as Spurs successfully pulled off a couple of attacks down our right flank. And I think it won't be totally off the mark if we blame him (at least partially) for both conceded goals. He failed to close Kane for the first, he allowed an easy delivery for the second. I'm not saying others couldn't have done better (Ramsey at marking Kane, Walcott for the cross), however, part of the blame goes to Bellerin.

I'm not so sure about what kind of game Monreal had (pretty solid, I guess), but in this case Gibbs could have fared better due to sheer enthusiasm and better understanding of how important a derby is. But I definitely was wrong about Ospina. This is what I said on Twitter a couple of weeks back:

"I think we'll never find out, how good Ospina is. Our defense is keeping it in great secret for a third consecutive game."

Well, yesterday our defense was shaky and Ospina finally got to show just how good he really is. He pulled off save after save after save and they were all gorgeous. When he finally succumbed to pressure, there was nothing he could do. He parried a hard shot in the attack when the equaliser was scored and Kane had a tap-in, and was left stranded with Kane's late header in the episode with the second. I rarely watch the highlights after a loss, but this time I did to enjoy the brilliance of our Colombian goalkeeper. I suggest you do the same.

"As such, I'd prefer to introduce Rosicky for Ozil, as Walcott can be devastating on the counter, something that'll play to our strengths. Rosicky, meanwhile, can compensate for Theo's defensive shortages in his usual manner: by harassing and tackling and pressing and intercepting and forcing mistakes and whatnot."

Wenger found a way I haven't thought of: he combined Walcotts' and Rosickys' strengths and put on Welbeck. And the Englishman rewarded the manager with a brilliant run for the first and the sheer drive and energy he put in. He also had the best moment of the second half with a venomous shot, but Lloris did well to parry. Had it not been Danny's first game upon returning from injury, keeping him on the pitch would have been a better idea than letting Walcott come on.

The conceded goals

"The concept of zonal marking always made me feel uneasy, but when it worked, it worked. The problem is that, when is doesn't work (like on Sunday) we suffer the consequences.

I also don't like the fact we no longer put men on posts during corners. Skrtel's header, as good as it was, could have been blocked or cleared off the line if somebody was just physically standing on the post. No one was there, so no one stopped the effort from going in."

This is what I said after we drew with Liverpool back in December. And once again our lapse on a corner proved costly. Not only did no one close down (or, indeed, marked) Kane, no one was standing on the post. I'm sure we wouldn't have conceded this goal if someone had the sense to cover the post.

Meanwhile, on the second goal:

"Seriously, how can you leave any midfielder in any team with so much time and space to make a pass? But the way the situation was handled after that still makes me want to cry."

It's the bit from the Southampton game, if you are interested. Then we let Warden-Prowse make a cross, this time it was Bentaleb. Walcott and Bellerin has given him way too much time and space and Bentaleb used it to great effect. But even when the cross was put in all was not lost: Kane had to beat Koscielny first. That he did is as much of a compliment to him, as it is a reproach to Kos.

The aftermath

This is what I said in the preview prior to the game:

"Tomorrow's game is a derby and derbies screw with the odds. They have very special atmosphere and rules of logic rarely apply to the results. You can go the whole season undefeated and then lose in a derby and no one will bat an eyelid, however good you've performed up to this point.The chips are down when a derby kicks off."

And this is yours truly on Twitter after the game:

"I don't think any definitive conclusions can be drawn based on today's game. Except that Ospina is a brilliant keeper. It's derby and, though having not been brought up in England, I will never fully grasp it's meaning, I do realise derby is a special occasion. Anything can happen during a derby. It doesn't mean that one team is sh*t and the other is a newly-crowned champion. And so I'm not going to chastise the Gunners for that loss. I will if they drop points on Tuesday, but not today"

With this taken into consideration, I still want to say that Tottenham were much, much better than us and fully deserved their win. They showed up with the right attitude, we didn't show up at all and so there can be few complaints about the result.

This loss sees us slide to 6th, one point behind Tottenham, but the situation doesn't look in any way dangerous. We are just seven points of second-placed City (who miraculously rescued a point against Hull yesterday), three behind Southampton (who miraculously nicked all three against QPR) and trail United and Tottenham by a solitary point, with United yet to face West Ham at Boleyn Ground today. Fingers crossed for a draw there and, in the light of Liverpool's draw in the Merseyside derby, we are not really threatened by them.

Now we need to bounce back quickly and that's why I'm happy we play on Tuesday. And, by the way, we face Leicester at home, while City play Stoke away, West Ham visits St. Mary's and Spuds go to Anfield. Thus we are presented with a chance to restore the equilibrium. Hope we take it.

And I'll be back with the usual preview tomorrow or on Tuesday.

Until then, don't hang your heads in despair

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)