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)
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)