Borussia preview: lessons learnt

Good evening.

We play Borussia today and this fixture will go a long way towards deciding just who will qualify for the play-off round.

Both teams are at their peak right now, with Borussia winning eight home games in a row and Arsenal being unbeaten in 14 away games (with only one draw), so the match will be a tight one. I do hope we'll see a more open game, than the first one, but ultimately we may not. The managers know, what's at stake and both won't be looking to press for that winner, should the scores be level late in the game. Both also have a quality midfield at their disposal, so the teams just might cancel each other out.

There was a lot of talk before the game, that we've learnt from our mistakes and I do hope, we did. Overconfidence played a huge part in our late downfall last time, in my opinion. Don't dribble near your own box, track runners and we'll be a tough team to beat. When we get the basics right, we have plenty of quality in our side to deal with anybody.

I don't expect a lot of changes to our Saturday squad. Gibbs, mercifully, is all right and Gnabry has also recovered from his ankle knock and has travelled to Germany (along with Eisfeld, it seems). Whilshere, however, remains sidelined and his participation in the upcoming fixture against United is unlikely. Flamini and Walcott should both make the trip to Old Trafford and with them back, we'll finally have a strong bench.

The one we have now, though, is also not that bad. Jenkinson and Monreal (especially) have proved themselves as capable wingers, we've all seen Gnabry's potential and even Bendther is not bad. He's a bit hit-or-miss, but when he's on his game (see Norwich), he still has enough petrol left in the tank.

So, by no means will this be a walk in the park, but that's what you get, when pinned against the Europe's finest. That's what we love football for. I see no reason, however, why we can't have all the three points for ourselves. Bayern game has been mentioned on numerous occasions already, but that's really a blueprint, a defensive masterpiece. We've added some verve to our attack since that day in March, the players we have gelled together wonderfully, some of the others reached new heights (Ramsey and Giroud, for instance), so it's not unrealistic to hope for a win. Come on, you Gunners.

In other news, we seem to have agreed new terms with Wojciech Szczesny, whose contract was on course to expire at the end of this season. If press is to be believed (ha), he has become the highest paid young goalkeeper (under thirty) in the league and now earns around 100k a week. Now, I don't care, how much he earns, as long as he puts in performances like the one against Crystal Palace on a consistent basis, which he's doing just fine. Aston Villa aside, he's been consistently brilliant, pulling off crucial saves, when we needed them most. There's been a lot of talk about players not living up to their salaries, so it's nice, when someone gets the plaudits, he deserves. Now all that's left' is to offer Rosicky and Sagna brand new contracts they have been working their socks off for this year. Come on, Arsene, just do it.

That's it, back tomorrow for a review

P.S. Seen this picture this morning, it made my day. Have a look

Liverpool review: magnificent

Evening everyone.

So, we've beaten Liverpool yesterday in a convincing fashion and that made my day. Actually, it'll keep me happy until we face Borussia on Wednesday. A win of that magnitude sends out a clear message: we really are title contenders. To face runners-up with two strikers in bang form and demolish them they way we did...a thing of beauty. This win means we top the chart by five points, seeing as Chelsea lost to Newcastle and Tottenham produced a goalless draw against Everton.

Arsene Wenger made only one change to the side that has beaten Crystal Palace with the same score: Rosicky found his way into the team at the expense of the injured Flamini. It was unclear, just who the manager would play (the Czech or Whilshere), but the matter took care of itself, when Whilshere suffered an injury. The Englishman didn't even make the bench and is a major doubt for our midweek game.

Both teams started brightly enough and both had opportunities to score an early goal. A quick interplay between Cazorla and Rosicky saw the latter run into the box to produce a low shot, but Mignolet got a hand to it. Several minutes later Conor Henderson missed a brilliant chance to open the scoring. Cazorla lost the ball in midfield, Henderson picked it up and ran half the field only to shoot straight at Szczesny.

Just when the game started to calm down, Arsenal scored. Arteta fed Sagna on the right, the Frenchman crossed the ball into the box and Cazorla, of all people, headed it goalwards. His effort hit the post, but Santi was first on the rebound to smash it home. He celebrated his first goal for Arsenal with gusto.

Liverpool tried to respond, but our constant pressing (especially Rosicky's harrying) made life difficult for the Mugmashers. The closest they came was when Sturridge's low shot was easily claimed by Szczesny.

Arsenal looked like they could score another and Mignolet had to work hard to parry first Cazorla's shot, which was heading into the top corner and then Ramsey's effort, after the Welshman found his way into the box after some quick passing from Rosicky and Ozil. In the dying seconds Cazorla rolled another shot just wide.

In the second half, Liverpool came flying out of the blocks and created two real chances in the opening five minutes. First Suarez poked the ball wide after being clear and then he set Henderson up, only for the latter to (mercifully) fire over. Arsenal responded with a chance of their own, when Giroud failed to hit the target in a one-on-one situation. He then spurned another chance, this time because his shot lacked power.

On the 59th minute we finally broke the deadlock. Ozil's pass found Ramsey some 20 yards away from goal, Aaron took his time and then smashed home an absolutely gorgeous goal over a helpless Mignolet to make it 2-0.

We were then put under some pressure from Liverpool, who were desperately trying to get something out of this game. First Sturridge headed over and then Suarez hit the outside of the post after a corner. We looked most likely to concede during this period, but, luckily, we kept our goal under lock and key.

Sensing danger, the manager brought on Jenkinson, Monreal and Vermaelen, with the Belgian coming on for the injured Gibbs. Nonetheless, Liverpool was threatening and Szczesny had to work hard to prevent them from scoring. He first relieved Sturridge of the ball and then blocked Henderson's effort after some clever interplay from Gerrerd and Coutinho.

The best moment fell to Suarez, though. He was sent clean through and Sturridge waited for his pass for a tap-in, but the nasty little biter decided to score himself and in the end, he didn't. Sturridge went mental, which was as lovely to watch as Ramsey's goal.

We had the last word in this encounter, when Ozil's shot was blocked, but, overall, it was a very convincing display even without the third goal.

After the game Arsene heaped praise on our defense, which was no less than they deserved. Though Livepool had their chances, we looked in control for the duration of the game, with every player making his contribution. Cazorla has found his form, Giroud did splendidly, Ramsey was his usual self. A very neat performance from back to front, so a win well deserved.

Enjoy it

Liverpool preview: time to show how ambitious we are

Good morning.

Today we play Liverpool at the Emirates and a win will go a long way towards boosting the confidence of both the team and the fans.

The Mugmashers trail us by only two points and that in itself shows, that they are on a strong run. The Suarez-Sturridge partnership cripples defenses time and again and that's a problem we'll have to solve if we want to beat Liverpool today. The answer may be as simple as to cut out the supply from their midfield, so Flamini will be sorely missed during this encounter.

The Frenchaman`s groin injury will also keep him out of the Dortmund  game and only when we visit Old Trafford a week from now, will he be able to help us out. A pity, given how organised and disciplined our whole team looks, when Mathieu is on his game, but a Ramsey-Arteta duo should manage. They were, after all, key to our defensive improvement during last year's run-in.

Gnabry joins Flamini on the sidelines, so our flanks will have to, once again, be filled up with central midfielders. We'll see either Cazorla and Whilshere or Cazorla and Rosicky, depending on who got through the midweek clash better. It does not matter much, because, whoever plays out wide does so only nominally. With Ozil`s acquisition we seem to have finally nailed the concept of seamlessly changing positions (total football, anyone?), so I expect to see our midfield all over the pitch today.

We are even more likely to do that further still, seeing how Giroud has turned into a great provider. His smart flicks and passes do not always come off, but when they do, they usually create opportunities for others. And we have a lot of finishers on our hands who can make it count.

So I think we have plenty of players, who can hurt Liverpool`s defense. Hitting them on the break may be even more effective, than with our usual opposition, cause their defense is definitely their weakest link, being as immobile as they are. The key to our success will, therefore, lie in keeping Suarridge quiet. This will no doubt be the hardest part, because both strikers are firing on all cylinders and represent a threat from in and around the box.

Apart from that, news is, Podolski is back in training, which can only be a good thing. Still no word on how soon he'll be able to play, but he shouldn't be far from full fitness now. My sincere hope is, he'll be included in the team, that travels to Dortmund and will be a genuine option, when we visit United. Our flanks desperately need reinforcements and the same is probably true for our striker position.

Not much else going on, so here's for a win today and I'll be back tomorrow for a usual review.

Until then

Chelsea review: a bit scary

Before the game, I've said several times, that I couldn't care less about the result. Both managers were supposed to field those with little to no practice and, come on, no one cares for the CoC anyway, right?

Not exactly. While Mourinho stuck to his promise and played Willian, Eto`o, De Bryune and the likes, Arsene Wenger`s side only fell a couple of players short of resembling our usual squad. We didn't see Hayden, Akpom or even Gnabry. The only young and promising face, who fails to make the bench under normal circumstances, was Miyachi. He and Bendtner (and Jenks, as it later turned out) were our only weak links in an otherwise very competitive side. These three guys, however, prevented our entire team from finding our rhythm.

I don't like to point at any specific players as a reason for a loss or a poor performance. I am firmly of the opinion, that football is a team game and you only win or lose matches because of a combined effort of all the players. True, sometimes a moment of brilliance from an individual can save us the points or bag a winner in the dying seconds, but the end result almost always depends on how good the whole team fared for ninety minutes. Almost.

We gave the ball away right from the start for Chelsea to knock it about. They didn't come up with much, but neither did we. We tried hitting them on the break, something that worked extremely well with other teams recently. This time, however, our right flank was basically non-existent, thanks to erratic Jenkinson and out-of-his-depth Miyachi. To be fair to them both, they tried hard and Miyachi was actually quite good at getting himself into dangerous positions, but couldn't, for various reasons, make it count. Bendtner, meanwhile, represented a beta-version of Giroud, unable to pull off passes, that could have opened up the opposition. He was useless, in other words.

It was unsurprising that, when the goal came, Jenkinson was at fault. He tried to pass the ball back to Fabinski, under-hit it and it fell to Azpilicueta. The Spaniard made no mistake.

After the restart, we looked only marginally better. We dominated possession and territory, but were just as ineffective up front.

Chelsea allowed us to take the ball and let us come at them. Cazorla and Ramsey had some half-chances, but not much came out of it. And, just when we seemed in control and on course to equalise, Chelsea scored again.

The throw-in fell to Mata and he produced a quite brilliant shot from outside the penalty box, which ended up in the net.

Wenger, in a surprising move, threw Giroud and Ozil for Bendtner and Miyachi, but it didn't bring about the desirable effect. Our midfield looked exhausted after putting in a lot of effort trying to set up either Bendtner or Miyachi up.

The best chance of the half fell to Giroud, only for his shot to be blocked by Schwarzer. It was soon clear, we won't be able to get back to level terms. Park (!) came in for Ramsey and it meant even Wenger had given up.

So, out of the cup, which didn't mean much anyway, but the manner in which we crashed out, is a bit unnerving. Chelsea didn't exactly played a bunch of kids, but our side wasn't light on experience either. Maybe it's Bendtner, who is to blame, because our midfield worked relentlessly to supply our attack. I think the team on the whole looked legged and exhausted, which is another troublesome thing, given we play Liverpool in two days.

I do hope, this game is really nothing to worry about. That it is another competition and that by no means will this result influence our future performances. However, I can't help but think it's not that simple psychologically-wise. The same players as always played the game and lost it. That must have had an impact on them. Let's just hope, they'll get over it and bounce back quickly.

Until later

Chelsea preview: indifference

I know it's a bit early for a proper preview, but as I'm not sure I'll be be able to post anything tomorrow, this will have to do.

Word is out, Flamini`s groin injury got bad, and the Frenchman is looking at two weeks on the sidelines. This means, he'll miss Liverpool, Borussia and maybe even United. Given how we looked without him in the last two games, I can't help but think we'll be somewhat exposed defensively. Let's hope, the injury isn't so serious after all. We have enough players out and the last thing we want is to find ourselves without Mathieu for any period of time. He has at least a cup game to recover, so fingers crossed he makes it in time for the clash against the Mugmashers.

He seems to be the only one out as a result of our last game (him and Arteta, obviously), but I don't think the manager would use either of them even had they been fully fit. Despite facing a side as strong as Chelsea, we will probably give run-outs for those, who need them. This means starts for Vermaelen, Monreal, Bendtner and others.

And I don't think, there's anything wrong with it. Carling Cup doesn't top our priorities list, and it never did. We give our youngsters a chance to develop, while giving our senior players a chance to properly prepare for their next game.

Even Mourinho said he will rotate, back when the draw pinned two teams against one another. The level of indifference demonstrated by both managers is understandable, given how many important games their sides will have to play in the upcoming weeks.

I always thought it strange, that English teams have two domestic cups instead of one. The best teams are the ones who suffer most, so it's little wonder they reached an unspoken consensus of considering one of these cups expendable. That's just rational.

So I don't expect a thrilling contest tomorrow. I will, of course, watch it, but I'm not particularly happy about it.

In other news, Gnabry had just signed a brand new contract and, given how he played in recent weeks, I'm happy he did. His talent is obvious, he's becoming a real option from the bench already, so he should develop into a great player. With time, but the signs are there. A clinical finish against Swansea, some clever movement in the box in Saturday, and his overall work rate all bode well for the future.

That's it for today. Back later with a review. Until then