Villa preview: do what we must with what we have

Hello everyone.
So, Arsenal kick off tomorrow with a game against Aston Villa and, needless to say, three points is a must. If we do get them, it will give the players some breathing space and allow the manager to play his mind games a little longer.
In terms of availability, the boss has confirmed, that Arteta has sustained a serious injury, that can keep the Spaniard out of action for up to six weeks. Not a pretty picture at all, and I'm not just talking about this injury making our short numbers even shorter. Arteta is, at the moment, one of the most important players (if not the most) we have. His metronomic passing (92% - that's how many of his passes found their target last season), tactical awareness and the amount of defensive work he shifts in, made him a constant presence in our midfield. Remember a spell two years ago, when we only just scraped our way into the top four, winning two or three games out of last seven or eight? We played these games without Arteta. And mind you, van Persie was in top form back then.

Into the darkness

Hello everyone,
A lot going on, little of it good, so I'll start with the good tidbits.
Yesterday all friendlies and qualifiers were played, meaninig the players have all returned by now and will start prepping themselves for the opening game against Villa. Quite a few of them were involved too, with Cazorla and Walcott scoring some very nice goals, while Whilshere's appearance was restricted to 45 minutes only, which is a good thing. It's refreshing to see the national manager (Hodgson, that is) making good on his promise, understand the delicacy of the player's situation and listen to Wenger all at once. And just a few more words about Walcott. His goal encapsulated everything good about his game in recent months (a year, maybe). Firstly, it was an equalizer. A crucial goal, that needed scoring in a match so hotly contested for obvious reasons. He stepped up, took the responsibility and delivered. Secondly, the goal was all about timing the run from behind the defender, and Theo nailed it. We all can recall, how often he was caught offside, when failing to time one of these runs even last season. Now, however, he seems to have got the hang of it, and even when caught offside, isn't miles away from being onside. And thirdly, the finishing. The english winger waited for the defender to run past and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, while making it all look ridiculously easy, when it was anything but. A true masterpiece of a goal.

Tick-tock

Good morning to you,
Not much going on, so it'll be a short one.
So, as you're well aware by now, Friday's draw pinned us against Fenerbahce and that worries me. The runners-up in their domestic league are no pushovers. They may well be the hardest opposition for us, but hey, we're always lucky, when it comes to the draw. Just remember Udinese two years back. The manager himself acknowledged the class of the Turkish side, before stating, we can pull it off even with the squad we have. I, personally, still have Galatasaray defeat in mind to think clearly. I'd very much like to share this belief, but things are never easy with Arsenal. Fingers crossed, we'll be primed and ready for this one.

No, not again

Hello there,
So, today Arsenal has cocluded their pre-season in style, beating Man City 3-1 in a friendly in Helsinki. I haven't seen the game (the TV company that decides, what to translate, chose France's Ligue 1 over Premier League this season. Useless bastards), but the result left me shaking my head in disbelief. I know, it's a friendly, but still. Both managers went for as strong line-ups as possible. You can look them up, if you like, but suffice to say, Man City started both Fernandinho ans Negredo, with Jovetic and Navas coming on as late substitutes. We opted to have Giroud and Cazorla in reserve, in case of emergency, with Podolski spearheading the attack. Walcott scored the early goal and, I guess, that set the tone for the game. Giroud and Ramsey added two more around the hour mark and it was game over for Man City. They did restore some dignity with a late Negredo goal, but that was it. After the game, the manager said:

It was a game of good intensity with two teams who were really putting all the effort on. We had a good tactical discipline. I'm pleased with many aspects of our game, even if there are some points to work on. Overall it's positive tactically [and] attitude-wise. We scored goals, created chances and were always highly focused. That's good.

That's definitely good, there's no denying that. However, there is another side to the proceedings. This win, which, I emphisize, was achieved in a friendly,  may hide the fact we only have a core of fifteen-or-so players, that can go out and do the job. Beyond these players, there's nothing. You need to look no further, than today's bench to realise that. Fabianski, Jenkinson, Cazorla and Giroud are all tried-and-tested, of course, but Zelalem is too raw for first-team action, while the other two guys, well, I've seen their names for the first time. Rosicky and Sanogo were left out for some reason, while we also shouldn't forget the injured Vermaelen and Monreal, but that makes it only nineteen senior players (and I have my reservations about Sanogo), assuming everyone stays fit. And they are not at the time of speaking.

Loyalty

Hello,
Not much was going on for the last two days, but today a bomb dropped. A minor one. The one we could see coming. So it wasn't very scary. But still.
I'm talking, of course, about Suarez and his latest antics. To be completely honest with you, I'm up fed up with the whole situation. Regardless of how it all ends, it's going to be a huge relief, when it does. That being said, it's nice to see how things play out from the other side of the fence, for once.
I'm talking, of course, about the interview Suarez gave in the Guardian. A guy, who has put blame on newspapers and named the English press as one of the factors, that influenced his decision to change clubs, went public. So if there was any doubt, whether he wants to stay at Liverpool, there's none now.