Good evening.
Starting with bit that has everyone's minds: Lukas Podolski has joined Inter Milan on loan. It will last till the end of the season, Inter will pay Poldi's wages in full, while Arsenal will receive around £2 million for this deal. I'm not sure there's a buy-out clause, but it's not the important thing right now.
The essence of it all is that Poldi's stint at the Emirates has effectively drawn to a close. He may or may not return in the summer, but I doubt he'll feature in a competitive game for us again. And it's a bit sad, really. Podolski is not a bad player by any means, in fact, he's our best finisher, but his main problem is that the German isn't suited to our system.
Poldi is not someone in Giroud's mould, he's not that typical centre-forward who can play with his back to the goal. As such, he'll always have Giroud and Welbeck in front of him. But he's also losing (lost?) the contest to play on the left, with the likes of Sanchez, Oxlade and the same Welbeck all preferred to the German. And that's the sticking point. All three, while not possessing Poldi's hammer of a left foot, contribute more to our game, by either tracking back, being better with the ball or just having electric pace.
In an ideal world, Poldi is best suited to a 4-4-2, which relieves him of his defensive duties, while also presents with more opportunities up front. But few teams rely on a 4-4-2 these days. Fewer still will accept one of their players not tracking back to help, even if we are talking about a striker. And so Poldi has become surplus to requirements. Could it have panned out differently? Maybe yes, had the German realised the importance of working hard in defense, but there's no telling. I wish him all the best, though, and sincerely hope he gets his chance to shine at Inter. He didn't get that chance with us, for reasons I've mentioned above.
However, while a move away is probably beneficial to the German and his career, I struggle to see in which way it is beneficial for us. In short, we've just lost a powerful weapon from the bench and, given our current dearth of options in attack overall, the timing of this deal is downright harmful. With all the whispers about Campbell's and Sanogo's potential loan moves, I would be not just surprised, but furious if we don't target a decent winger in this transfer window. After we've bought a CB and a CDM, of course.
All of this leads us back to the task at hand: Hull. The press conference took place today, so we have some bits to chew on.
Team news update
In short, we'll most likely have exactly the same squad (bar Szczesny) and that's genuinely scary. While some measure of rotation can still take place at the back, with Bellerin, Chambers and Monreal all healthy, the midfield and attack have a fat chance of getting some rest.
Of course, the official site says that Welbeck, Sanogo, Ramsey, Flamini and Ozil are all "doubts", meaning some of them can actually make it, this bit from the manager is terrifying:
"The two keepers, Ospina and Martinez, will come in. After that, we will see. I cannot rotate too much either because we need stability. Who comes back? We have the 18 players [that played against Southampton] - nobody else will play."
This gives me the creeps. It's obvious guys like Cazorla, Oxlade and Alexis are on the brink, in the red zone or whatever you call it, yet if they all have to play a 5th game in 14 days I'm not sure anyone will benefit from it. Not us, not them. Though Hull might.
The back four
Ospina will come in, while Martinez takes a place on the bench, so this bit we can be sure of. However, I think that, in case Ospina does well, we need to give him a run of games in the Premier League. This will serve the double purpose of showing Szczesny childish mistakes will not be tolerated, while also ensuring we have a calmer goalkeeper between the sticks. The one who doesn't have these frequent and rather damaging rushes of blood.
I would also rotate the back four. Chambers for Mertesacker and Monreal for Gibbs (both Mert and Gibbo has played a lot) and, depending on Debuchy's energy reserves, introducing Bellerin may also be a good idea. One of the few games Bellerin started this season was against Hull and the Spaniard did pretty well.
The midfield
Didn't like how Chambers looked alongside Coquelin, moreover, Calum will most likely be needed elsewhere. So Rosicky seems the best option. He's relatively fresh, and also happen to be a brilliant playmaker, so the Czech should play in central midfield, in my opinion.
Cazorla, meanwhile, must be bracing himself for another 90 minutes under the striker. There's a slight chance Ozil will return, but even if it happens, it'd be foolish to think the German will start after spending so much time out. An appearance from the bench is possible, but I wouldn't count on it.
The attack
Alexis needs a rest, pure and simple. He looked knackered against the Saints, moreover, I'm not sure CF is his best position. For now, at least. That's why I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Welbeck or even Sanogo to return.
Assuming they don't, the only replacement we can offer is Campbell, It's either him as a lone striker with Walcott on the right or vice versa. And Oxlade comes in on the left to complete our attacking trio. Stupid, stupid Giroud.
The verdict
I honestly don't know what to expect from this game. All the talk of how we were not fulfilling our potential and should bounce back went down the drain two days ago. Then again, I don't exclude the possibility of that loss being a freak occurrence. It's hard to get 9 points out of 9 in such a busy period, so us getting 6 is actually not that bad. Chelsea has four, while United has five, for instance. The most most accumulated is seven. Nobody has nine.
But tomorrow we have to win. It's vital for our confidence, self-belief and psychology to do that. It's a home game, the first round of the FA Cup, to go out would be a catastrophe, one which can easily send us in a freefall. Give it your all, win it by hook or crook and then there'll be a nice long rest with Ozil, Ramsey and Co providing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Come on you Gunners.
And I'll be back with a review on the 5th.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin). And subscribe using a form on the right
Starting with bit that has everyone's minds: Lukas Podolski has joined Inter Milan on loan. It will last till the end of the season, Inter will pay Poldi's wages in full, while Arsenal will receive around £2 million for this deal. I'm not sure there's a buy-out clause, but it's not the important thing right now.
The essence of it all is that Poldi's stint at the Emirates has effectively drawn to a close. He may or may not return in the summer, but I doubt he'll feature in a competitive game for us again. And it's a bit sad, really. Podolski is not a bad player by any means, in fact, he's our best finisher, but his main problem is that the German isn't suited to our system.
Poldi is not someone in Giroud's mould, he's not that typical centre-forward who can play with his back to the goal. As such, he'll always have Giroud and Welbeck in front of him. But he's also losing (lost?) the contest to play on the left, with the likes of Sanchez, Oxlade and the same Welbeck all preferred to the German. And that's the sticking point. All three, while not possessing Poldi's hammer of a left foot, contribute more to our game, by either tracking back, being better with the ball or just having electric pace.
In an ideal world, Poldi is best suited to a 4-4-2, which relieves him of his defensive duties, while also presents with more opportunities up front. But few teams rely on a 4-4-2 these days. Fewer still will accept one of their players not tracking back to help, even if we are talking about a striker. And so Poldi has become surplus to requirements. Could it have panned out differently? Maybe yes, had the German realised the importance of working hard in defense, but there's no telling. I wish him all the best, though, and sincerely hope he gets his chance to shine at Inter. He didn't get that chance with us, for reasons I've mentioned above.
However, while a move away is probably beneficial to the German and his career, I struggle to see in which way it is beneficial for us. In short, we've just lost a powerful weapon from the bench and, given our current dearth of options in attack overall, the timing of this deal is downright harmful. With all the whispers about Campbell's and Sanogo's potential loan moves, I would be not just surprised, but furious if we don't target a decent winger in this transfer window. After we've bought a CB and a CDM, of course.
All of this leads us back to the task at hand: Hull. The press conference took place today, so we have some bits to chew on.
Team news update
In short, we'll most likely have exactly the same squad (bar Szczesny) and that's genuinely scary. While some measure of rotation can still take place at the back, with Bellerin, Chambers and Monreal all healthy, the midfield and attack have a fat chance of getting some rest.
Of course, the official site says that Welbeck, Sanogo, Ramsey, Flamini and Ozil are all "doubts", meaning some of them can actually make it, this bit from the manager is terrifying:
"The two keepers, Ospina and Martinez, will come in. After that, we will see. I cannot rotate too much either because we need stability. Who comes back? We have the 18 players [that played against Southampton] - nobody else will play."
This gives me the creeps. It's obvious guys like Cazorla, Oxlade and Alexis are on the brink, in the red zone or whatever you call it, yet if they all have to play a 5th game in 14 days I'm not sure anyone will benefit from it. Not us, not them. Though Hull might.
The back four
Ospina will come in, while Martinez takes a place on the bench, so this bit we can be sure of. However, I think that, in case Ospina does well, we need to give him a run of games in the Premier League. This will serve the double purpose of showing Szczesny childish mistakes will not be tolerated, while also ensuring we have a calmer goalkeeper between the sticks. The one who doesn't have these frequent and rather damaging rushes of blood.
I would also rotate the back four. Chambers for Mertesacker and Monreal for Gibbs (both Mert and Gibbo has played a lot) and, depending on Debuchy's energy reserves, introducing Bellerin may also be a good idea. One of the few games Bellerin started this season was against Hull and the Spaniard did pretty well.
The midfield
Didn't like how Chambers looked alongside Coquelin, moreover, Calum will most likely be needed elsewhere. So Rosicky seems the best option. He's relatively fresh, and also happen to be a brilliant playmaker, so the Czech should play in central midfield, in my opinion.
Cazorla, meanwhile, must be bracing himself for another 90 minutes under the striker. There's a slight chance Ozil will return, but even if it happens, it'd be foolish to think the German will start after spending so much time out. An appearance from the bench is possible, but I wouldn't count on it.
The attack
Alexis needs a rest, pure and simple. He looked knackered against the Saints, moreover, I'm not sure CF is his best position. For now, at least. That's why I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Welbeck or even Sanogo to return.
Assuming they don't, the only replacement we can offer is Campbell, It's either him as a lone striker with Walcott on the right or vice versa. And Oxlade comes in on the left to complete our attacking trio. Stupid, stupid Giroud.
The verdict
I honestly don't know what to expect from this game. All the talk of how we were not fulfilling our potential and should bounce back went down the drain two days ago. Then again, I don't exclude the possibility of that loss being a freak occurrence. It's hard to get 9 points out of 9 in such a busy period, so us getting 6 is actually not that bad. Chelsea has four, while United has five, for instance. The most most accumulated is seven. Nobody has nine.
But tomorrow we have to win. It's vital for our confidence, self-belief and psychology to do that. It's a home game, the first round of the FA Cup, to go out would be a catastrophe, one which can easily send us in a freefall. Give it your all, win it by hook or crook and then there'll be a nice long rest with Ozil, Ramsey and Co providing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Come on you Gunners.
And I'll be back with a review on the 5th.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin). And subscribe using a form on the right