Stoke preview: rotation

Good evening everyone.
Tomorrow the Orcs come to the Emirates and while we are on a strong run, I don't think Stoke can be underestimated. They present a problem every time we face them and I doubt a manager swap changed that greatly.
Last year we got four points from two encounters and though I do not recall Stoke having chances to win either game, their defensive line is something to beware. The Orcs usually park the bus, when sensing any danger and we all now how hard it is to get around a defense, which consist of ten people.
But a solution may be a simple one, albeit it also being risky. We may give the ball away, let the Orcs come to us and hit them on the break. We have plenty of players, who can hurt the opposition on counter-attack and should we pull it off correctly, we may be well out of sight by half-time.

Question is, does Wenger want to deploy such a strategy before Arsenal's own fans? We are the favourites, after all, a team on top of our game. After today's blunder from Liverpool, a win would suffice to elevate us (deservedly so) to the top spot. How will the fans take it, when their team behaves as underdogs at home, facing a much weaker (on paper) opponents?
Anyway, it's a problem the manager will have to wrap his head about (if he hadn't done this already) and we'll see, what shape the game will take in less than 24 hours. For me, counter-attacking may well be a better solution, because our defensive department is not that light at the moment. After the manager has confirmed, only Arteta will return to the squad, ahead of Stoke game (plus Bendther for our midweek encounter with WBA), we are still short on attacking options. The next one coming back is Cazorla, but we won't see him in action before the international break. Should we utilise a defensive strategy for the next five games? Will we still be getting positive results, if we do so?
We all know, how the manager likes to adopt an aggressive style of play, and I don't think, he'll change it every time a couple of players go down. Last year was the exception, because our defence was a more cohesive unit, than our attack, thus we had to rely on our back four to keep a clean sheet, while trying to get the maximum out of our few chances up front. It worked, but it wasn't a pretty picture at all, as we were cacking our pants till the final whistle of the final match.
This time around, our attack looks much better, much more capable of the style of play, Wenger loves so much and only something disastrous will see him revert to what we saw during the run-in. The team has grasped, what the balance of play should be and, it seems, there's no going back. Which may be a good thing.
In terms of team news, Arteta is the only new face and, if he really returned to full fitness, I expect him to start alongside Ramsey. Their partnership was key to our successful run-in, now it will also present a much more potent force, when it comes to going forward. Ramsey's phenomenal progress, which allows him to effectively carry out his duties at both ends of the pitch, will see to it.
While I don't have anything against Flamini continuing at our DM position, Arteta, as the manager rightly pointed out, is a leader and we need him. He brings that inexplicable calmness to our proceedings, while also making our midfield work like clock, minimising the errors in passing and such. I say start him, if he's ready.
Apart from that, I don't expect much rotation (surprised, eh?), but the players we have are more than capable of getting the three points. Time to improve our home stats.
Until later

Marseille review: job done

Good morning everyone.
Yesterday saw us take the crucial three points at stadium Velodrome in some style. Due to technical problems I missed the starting fifteen minutes, but from what I gather, they were almost as uneventful as the rest of the half.
The manager stuck to the more conventional back four, which saw Vermaelen, Monreal and Jenkinson all benched. Mertesacker returned to the side after illness and once again wore the armband. The midfield and attack were exactly the same as four days ago.
The first half was very tight, with few chances to score for both parties. Marseille looked the better side, spending more time on the ball and being much quicker, when moving it around, but had little to offer in terms of end product. Szczesny dealt well with any potential threats.
Our attack looked a bit off the pace, failing to use a high defensive line, Marseille adopted to our benefit. It was a tad surprising, seeing how Walcott wreaked havoc with such a line against Tottenham, but here you go. It was all set to end in a draw after half time. Both teams tried to catch one another on a mistake of some kind. The best chance of the half fell to the hosts, when they nearly opened the scoring through Fanni`s shot from just outside the six-yard box, which fizzed wide.
After the restart, the game opened up more, with chances being created left and right. Marseille threatened again two minutes into the half, though a corner, which saw some bloke head inches away from the post.
The response came almost immediately, when Gibbs played a one-two with Ozil and rushed into the box, only to see his effort parried away.
A few minutes later Mandanda was the hero again, when Sagna`s cross was nearly put away by Whilshere, but the keeper was there. A bit later, Giroud`s header almost broke the deadlock, but the shot was just wide.
Marseille, in the meantime, tested Szczesny with a couple of shots from distance, and there was that heart-in-mouth moment, when Gibbs headed away from danger.
However, it was Arsenal, who scored the opener.
Gibbs cross fell to Walcott, after a bad clearance from Morel, and the Englishman smashed home on the volley. A fine finish and well done indeed for Theo. He deserved this goal more than anyone.
After that, the game calmed down a bit and, six minutes from time, Ramsey put the worries about the outcome to bed, when his deflected shot ended up inside the net. A sixth goal for Aaron in seven games. He's in truly great form. Just keep it up.
We were, however, to suffer the bitterness of conceding, when Ramsey was adjudged to trip Ayew inside the penalty box and the other Ayew put the shot away to give the home crowd something to cheer about. It happened, however, in the last added minute. After the game, the manager said:
" Marseille had a very good first half but we didn't make big mistakes at the back and were patient enough to win it in the second half. I felt we were a bit within ourselves in the first half, a bit timid, and Marseille were more mobile and first on the ball. They dropped in the second half and we took advantage of our strong moments. That got us three very important points."
Exactly as he says. We were biding our time, capitalized on their mistakes and got the crucial points. Well done everyone.
So, what now? Now we recuperate ahead of Stoke game, hope Arteta makes it and enjoy the fact Walcott broke the deadlock. 10th consecutive win away for us and sixth straight win this season. It's good to be a gooner today.
Until later

Marseille preview: almost there

Hello.
It's been a rather uneventful period of several days, but today football returns with an away game against Mareseille. It presents a good opportunity to pick up the points on the road (not a simple thing in our group) and keep our wonderful run going.
What makes this run even better, is the fact that we haven't dropped a single point away from home in all competitions for nine games already. This succession of wins started all the way back to March, when we've beaten current Champions' Cup holders, Bayern Munich. A monumental achievement, come to think of it.
The scale of this achievement is further underlined by the fact, that should we win our two next away games (starting today), we'll set a new club record.
The team should be more focused on the task at hand, though. It's much more important to get the points not for the sake of record, but because, as I've already said, it'll be hard to pick up those precious points elsewhere.

Sunderland review: Ramsey the savior

Evening everyone.
Yesterday Arsenal has continued their streak of four wins and six straight away wins in the league by adding another success. This is also the first win over Sunderland since 2005-2006 in which we've finished the game leading by more goals than one. This fact, though, shouldn't fool you into thinking it was an easy game. Those of you, who've seen it, will agree that, had the cards fallen the other way, we could have easily lost that one. As it stands, however, we now sit top of the league.
The fans didn't have much to cheer about before kick-off. In addition to Mertesacker, who's gone down with a cold, we've lost Santi Cazorla to an ankle injury. It was later stated by the manager, that the Spaniard will be out until the next international break (which will take place at the beginning of October), meaning Santi will miss five more games. Not a pretty picture, given our dearth of options on the flanks, but there's not much we can do about it. Bottom line, Santi deserves this rest, even it comes at such a price. He's been omnipresent in our squad for forty straight league games and God knows how many cup games, friendlies, internationals and what-nots. The speediest of recoveries to him.
Cazorla`s (and Rosicky`s) absence made way for Ozil to start the game but no complaints here. The German international started under the striker, with Whilshere covering the left flank.
It took Ozil only ten minutes to adapt to English football. In the eleventh minute he laid the ball off for Giroud, after controlling a tricky high ball and the Frenchman slotted home with his left. Fourth league goal in just as many games.
Before that, Sunderland had a couple of chances, even hit the bar from a corner, but after the goal it was all Arsenal for the remainder of the half. Ozil was the creative hub, moving all over the pitch finding space and opening up for passes. He exploited Walcott`s pace time and again, cutting Sunderland`s defence open to create opportunities for Walcott to take advantage of. The Englishman`s finishing left a great deal to be desired, though (again). He spurned two chances by shooting straight at the keeper, before missing from a couple of yards with a headed effort. Because of this complacency we were only 1-0 up before half-time and it proved costly.
Sunderland players have apparently got a kick up the arse from Di Canio during the break and came back much more focused. This resulted in Koscielny`s foul in the box, following a corner and the ref pointed to the spot. Whether it was a dive, I cannot tell, but Koscielny really should have done better anyway. It was a stupid foul to commit and the resulting penalty was sent home as a harsh lesson.
Sunderland continued to pile on the pressure, but it was Arsenal, who scored, basically creating this goal out of nothing. Jenks sent the cross in from the right and Ramsey smashed the ball home on the volley. A brilliant finish from the Welshman, who clearly is in top form and is ripping all the benefits from it.
The home side didn't give in and created some moments of true danger, which saw them hit the post, and had two goals disallowed (the first was scored from an offside position, the second was preceded by a foul).
Their efforts were in vain, as it was Arsenal who put the finishing touches on. This time an Ozil pass found Giroud, whose sublime flick saw Ramsey get one-on-one with the keeper, and Aaron made no mistake.
The game was essentially over after that, those Sunderland probed till the final whistle for a second goal. The real moment of scare came when Giroud limped off in the dying minutes, nursing his knee, but he later said on Twitter, that he's all right.
This win catapults us to the top, and only Liverpool can overthrow us, should they take any points on Monday night. Our next game will be played on Wednesday in the Champions League. We'll have a chance to discuss our options as the week progresses.
Until later

Sunderland preview: back on track

Morning everyone.
Today football returns, as we travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland.
Last time we played them happened to be during that wonderful run-in, and saw us get three points. We went 1-0 up, lost a man to a red card and finished with our backs to the wall, Sagna filling in as an emergency centre-back and Ramsey covering the right-back position.
It was one of these games we won through sheer will and determination, cause we didn't have much of a team back then. Now we do, and should be able put the Black Cats on the defensive relatively easy. It won't a walk in the park by all means (remember the unacceptable quality of their pitch?), but we do have enough resources to win (even win comfortably). So fingers crossed, we'll have something to cheer about, come 8 p.m.
In terms of the team, the news is mixed. Rosicky and Sanogo are definitely out, there were also some troubling reports Mertesacker and Ozil will miss out through sickness, but these are just rumors, so I won't put much faith in them, till I see our team sheet.
The good news is, Vermaelen, Walcott and Whilshere are all fine and should make the squad, which gives us some breathing space. Defense is packed to the limit, so the manager will have a pleasant task picking his back four. Assuming, Mertesacker is fit, I suspect we'll see a Sagna-Mertesacker-Koscielny-Gibbs quartet, with Monreal, Jenks and Vermaelen all making the bench.
In midfield, the situation is close to breaking point, due to Arteta and Rosicky absences, but we are not just here yet. Should Ozil be all right, he'll start alongside Ramsey and Whilshere. Though I won't be surprised, if Flamini is played before the Englishman, seeing how Jack looks off the pace. We'll see.
In our attacking line things aren't going to change for a long time, so Giroud, Walcott and Cazorla remain or only viable options. It's easy to see, how another winger may have strengthened us, but there no point in moaning now. What we have, we hold and all that.
A surprise awaits us on the bench, though, cause TGSTEL himself will be there. He's fit and ready to play, and Wenger even said that, an in-form Bendther may still be of use to us. It should have been Higuain. Or Ba.
The squad we have is no doubt a strong one, it will be head-spinningly strong with Ozil in it, so I see no reason, why we shouldn't get all the the points. Come on you reds.
Not much going on, apart from that, so I'll leave it here. Back with a review either today or tomorrow.
Until then