Manchester United preview: win it

Evening everyone.

Tomorrow night we take on Manchester United and it's our best chance in years to finally grab all the points.

I don't know how well we've done against them before 2005-2006 season, but our head-to-head against the Devils since then is appalling. While we've done well enough at the Emirates (only two losses from eight games), our away record is unacceptable (four points out of 24). Luckily, we play these guys at home, where we've been terrific as of late.

Moyes side has, undoubtedly, struggled this season. I don't think they are capable of a top-four finish anymore, but even 5th and 6th positions seem to slipping away from them. The Red Devils had time and again dropped points against lesser teams (e.g. Fulham and Stoke) and look in a bad spot. Their squad might just fall apart in the summer, should they fail to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League. Not that I care.

My point is that if there ever was a perfect time to face United, it's tomorrow. I've seen someone liken Moyes side to a wounded animal, but it's just laughable, in my opinion. United has been spineless for the duration of the season (they reached their all-time low after crashing out of the League cup) and I can think of no incentive that may sparkle them into life come tomorrow. Other than pure hatred towards the Gunners.

Will all of the above make our job easier? To some extent, yes. However, the pressure will certainly be on us to deliver the first home win in three years, especially after we were demolished by Liverpool. I still think, there are some benefits to be gained from this loss (like we shouldn't rest on our laurels and let our guard down), but even if they sound weak, it's still only one game we've lost. I'll take a one-off beating over a couple of narrow defeats anytime.

In terms of team news, we have no fresh injures and no comebacks, so we'll have to make do with the players we have. Vermaelen remains out, Flamini serves the final game of his suspension, while Ramsey and Kallstrom are still some way from full recovery.

It's hard to see the manager making any changes to the starting line-up. Gibbs may be back, but that should be it. There was talk Ozil should be dropped (in the light of his recent form), but it's nonsense from my point of view. He is our all-time record signing for a reason, besides, we all know Wenger puts a lot of trust in his players and lets them play through bad patches. Ozil may just produce a piece of magic, that will benefit both him and the team as a whole.

As for others, may Wenger be tempted to play Podolski up front or will he stick to Giroud? Again, I'd put my money on the latter option. Podolski is a more technical player, probably a better finisher, than the Frenchman, but his umconvincing cameos as a lone striker coupled with the manager's reluctance to play the German as the spearhead of our attack tells its own story.

Should everything go well, I see no reason not to win it. United's midfield look stale and out of ideas (with time, Mata may change that, but not yet), Rooney and the Dutch Skunk are clearly uncomfortable to have to play so close to each other, while United's defence is also no longer a bastion it once was. Vidic especially seem to already have completed his move to Inter.

That's not to say they can't punish us for our mistakes or produce something out of nothing, but it seems highly unlikely. United no longer resemble themselves, we have to make sure it stays that way tomorrow. Run them into the ground.

That's it for today, back later with a review.

Until then

Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal: fall from grace

I don't even know where to start today. Yesterday's game is a perfect illustration of yet another Murphy law, because everything, that could have wrong, went wrong. It pains me to have to write about a defeat in my 100th post. I hoped (and not without reason) that I'd have something much more enjoyable to write about. And now I sit in front of my PC and the horrifying images of our trip to Anfield is the only thing that springs to mind.

I will be completely honest with you: I haven't watched the entire game. My nervous system refused to take any more 17 minutes into the game and I switched the TV off. We were 3-0 down at that point.

Watching Arsenal play has become an integral part of my life over the course of the previous couple of years; this need turned into a downright necessity after I've started writing this blog. I could not fail my readers and come up short, because I know they look forward to reading what I've written.

Thus, there are only so many things, that can stop me on my way to a live broadcast of Arsenal's game. When I tell my fellow students I intend to skip a class to be back home in time for the game, most of them look at me as though I suddenly announced I'm going to be crowned king of Great Britain. Yet the ones who support a football team understand my passion. They share it.

Yesterday I skipped my German class. Though my future profession will be the one of a lawyer, I study in the uni which places a lot of emphasis on learning languages. Maybe even more than on law disciplines. Luckily (for me) I suffered a heavy nose bleeding during the previous class and was relieved of the necessity to go to my next by a doctor. So I got home on time for the game. I wish I didn't.

Arsene made only one change to the side that has beaten Crystal Palace, with Wilshere subbing Podolski. Oxlade-Chamberlain shifted to the right flank, Cazorla to the left, and Wilshere started alongside Arteta. Almost the same group of players, but what a stark contrast to our last game in terms of performance.

Liverpool scored immediately. Someone was fouled on our right flank, Gerrard crossed the ball, Toure got a touch to it and Skrtel slotted it home from close range. Replays showed both he and Toure were offside when the cross came in.

Liverpool piled the pressure and got another one in nine minutes. The ball was cleared for a corner, Gerrard crossed, Skrtel headed the ball, 2-0. As much as it was poor positioning from our defenders it was a brilliant header from the Liverpool man.

Suarez could have made it 3-0 from yet another corner, but his shot rattled the post.

We managed to conjure up a response, but Giroud's technique let him down when he should have scored. Mertesacker headed the ball wide from a corner shortly after that.

The third goal came on approximately 16th minute. Ozil lost the ball in the centre of the pitch (no foul), Suarez raced towards the goal and then passed the ball to Sterling for a tap-in. This was the moment I switched my TV off. Everything else I know from a live text coverage (on Arseblog).

The guy there was as downhearted as every Arsenal fan was. He was telling the world about badgers, fashion and his food preferences for what remained of the first half, because he couldn't stand describing the stuff happening on the pitch. And I don't blame him. The fact he persevered right until the end is worthy of a standing ovation from Arsenal fans.

We made a triple substitution at some point. Completely reasonable, in my opinion. Our best players came off and the ones who are a bit out of shape came on. This sub served a double purpose of resting key players, while giving the others a chance to find their form. The game was lost after 17 minutes, so what difference does this sub make?

Arsene took to press (as always) after the game and here's what he said on the result:

"What is important is that we respond to the result, especially that we respond with a different performance because our performance overall was poor today - on the concentration level and on the pace. Our defensive stability was very poor, we looked always vulnerable defensively. Congratulations to Liverpool, they were the better team today and we were very poor today. Only our fans were good for 90 minutes, that's all".

And on the first 20 minutes:

"We conceded two early goals on set pieces and then we are always in a position where you have to come out but we knew that you need to be better focused in that kind of level. Overall our performance was just not good enough. Maybe it's better if I don't talk too much, go home and respond well on Wednesday night because I include myself in that performance. It raises the questions that we have to answer on Wednesday night".

Well, what can I add? I've already said, that it's an extremely rare occurrence, when I miss a game. Turning it off is basically the same thing. There were only a handful of those over the years. Our heavy defeats to Milan and United spring to mind. I turned both games off at 3-0. Yestarday's game was among the worst ones I've seen in a long, long time.

And yet it was only one game, let's not forget that. Yes, Chelsea have won and now they are top, but City have not, thus we hold on to the second spot. Either way, there are only two points between the top three, so we're still in the race. However bad we played yesterday, it was only one game. There will be thirteen more, 39 points to fight for, so it's important to remember that. We still have Chelsea and City to play, so the fate of the title is in our hands.

Now we need a response. Our next fixture will be a home one, we'll get a bit of rest before it (more than United, anyway), so don't get your heads down. Yesterday's result looks like a freak occurrence to me, nothing more. We've seen the real Arsenal this season and this was not it.

That's it for today. I wish I had better news to tell you about, but I don't get to choose, unfortunately. I'll be back later, as soon as something new pops up.

Until then

Liverpool preview: the fun begins

Good evening to each and every one of you. It's been a long time since my last post, but I was  completely cut off from the outside world, so I hope you'll excuse me this forced silence. Oh, and if you're planning for a winter holiday somewhere warm, whether next year or later during 2014, I strongly recommend you consider going to the Maldives. It's not for everyone, since it's a quiet place with no Internet and no guided tours of interest, but if you just want to get away from all the hustle for a while, this place is for you.

I missed on a fair bit of action during these two weeks, which included our cup win over Coventry and a surprising draw against  Southampton. This result saw us drop to the second place, but courtesy of Chelsea we have regained what we've lost in less than a week.

I did, however, watch the Crystal Palace game. Our midfield options were quite limited for this one, but we've got the result in our usual fashion once again. Keep the ball in the first half, step up the passing during the second, score two goals, see the game out. It's extremely satisfying to watch Arsenal play this way.

Our best player on the day was Oxlade-Chamberlain, who started his second game (out of three) in central midfield and marked with a brace.

For his first, he made a great run into open space (Giroud played his part by drawing defenders to himself), Cazorla spotted the Ox and chipped the ball over the defence. Oxlade took a touch to get the ball under control before sending it into the net on the volley.

For his second, the Ox played a clever pass to Giroud and continued his run. The Frenchman held the play up and then returned the pass. Oxlade curled the ball home from the edge of the box to make it double.

We were occasionally troubled by Crystal Palace, but Scszesny dealt with everything well and got his 11th league clean sheet as a reward for his (sometimes heroic) efforts.

I forgot to mention that our midfield crisis basically forced the manager's hand to sign back-up. Kallstrom joined us on loan on the last day of the transfer window, but will only be available at the end of the month, due to his fitness not being up to scratch.

Ramsey is the guy the Swede was signed to replace, seeing as Aaron suffered a setback in training and can spend six weeks out of the game. It's sad, really, he was one of the reasons we started the campaign so strongly, so let's hope the Welshman returns sooner, rather than later.

In the meantime we have a matter of four games across three competitions to keep us entertained. We play Liverpool away tomorrow, before taking on United, Liverpool again (this time, in the cup) and Bayern Munich. Luckily, we play away only tomorrow during this month. Even Sunderland, who we face after Bayern, is a home fixture.

Another good thing is, of course, our record at the Emirates. We have only three losses there, the last one being in October. Furthermore, we have last conceded a goal at home against in early December, something that makes our run even better. Let's keep it going.

As for our Saturday encounter against Liverpool, we seem to be the only team who stopped both Suarez and Sturridge from scoring, when they started together, so here's another encouraging bit for you. It was also no coincidence that we did, because the way we deprived the Mugmashers of the ball and stopped the supply to their strikers was down to a good team  performance.

The manager has emphasised the importance of keeping the ball under control, saying Liverpool can hurt us not only with Suarridge. This also means putting in a shift defensively, but I'm more more or less relaxed on that front.

In terms of team news, Vermaelen and Flamini remain out, the former with a knee injury, the latter through suspension, but Wilshere is back and Arteta, who hobbled a bit after receiving a nasty knock against Crystal Palace, is also available. Arsene will have a decision to make about our central midfield, but I suspect Jack will start if he's ready. The Ox had a great game, though, so I'm not ruling anything out.

I'm also curious as to who will play at left-back. Gibbs seem to be number one choice, but he was on the bench during our last game and may find himself there once more, in case he's still nursing an injury.

Apart from this, we have a pretty good squad, even with a couple of knocks and strains. Should we play the way we did at the Emirates and the way we did for the duration of the campaign, I see no reason not to pick up all the three points.

As usual, I'll be here on Monday with a full review. Until then

Coventry preview: all the right faces

Hello.

It's been some time since I last wrote, but exams were coming hard and fast, so forgive me this interruption.

Arsenal plays Coventry today in a rather unusual Friday game, but, from a footballing point of view, that should change little.

It seems Bendtner is back and training and is likely to feature in the starting eleven today. Arteta and Ramsey are due to return next Monday, while Vermaelen's and Rosicky's involvement remains under question. Rosicky will probably miss this game, but should be available against Southampton and Vermaelen's participation wasn't brought up.

All of this hints that we should have a full squad next week (with only Diaby and Walcott out) and it's both good and bad news. Good because our tough schedule kicks off on the 8th February against Liverpool, bad because we're unlikely to bring anyone in. Arsene keeps talking about only buying special players (Draxler?), but Schalke are hell-bent not to sell the German in January. Perhaps, we can nick Draxler in the summer, but with both Fabianski and Viviano likely to go their own ways and the whole thing with Vermaelen's future, we may have a lot to worry about in the summer. Though the manager is keen to tie the Belgian down to a new contract, the player himself may not want to do so. He's down the pecking order and with Mertescielny playing the way they do, only an injury to one of them may see him change his mind.

In a nutshell, we can have quite a busy summer, searching for a goalkeeper and a couple of centre-backs. Add the World Cup and Draxler to the mix and our task seems nigh on impossible. Anyway, as the man here says, the manager is aware of any problems (even potential) way before we are, so for now let's just concentrate on the task at hand and worry about everything else in the summer. We do have a pretty balanced squad after all, even with Walcott and Diaby out.

And the task at hand is beating Coventry. Wenger said he's keen to avoid last-year's disaster and so will take our current opposition seriously. That doesn't mean we shouldn't rotate, in my opinion. If we pulled this off against Spurs, we can certainly pull this off tonight. I expect to see Fabianski, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chaberlain, Podolski and Bendtner all start. It's a bit of a gamble to rotate quite as much, but it's not like these players make the squad a lot weaker.

Gibbs is a regular starter when fit, Podolski proved he can be lethal on the left, while Bendtner is a like for like replacement for Giroud and the Frenchman can use a breather before taking on Liverpool, Bayern and United.

I also expect Gnabry to start in the light of his recent performances. He's still a long way from a finished article and it's another chance for the German to prove his worth.

There was talk from the manager he may play the Ox centrally (something that's going to happen sooner or later anyway), so Cazorla and Ozil will probably be given a rest. I don't know, whether it's wise to leave us without a true playmaker, but it's all guesswork and I may be completely wrong. Arsene can always throw a couple of surprises, he may even play as strong a squad as he can, but I don't think he will. We have a lot of players with something to prove, Coventry isn't that much of a threat, so providing these players with a chance may not seem the worst idea in the world. We shouldn't take Coventry lightly, but it's not like we are talking about playing Chamakh and Squilaci, so I'm sure that, whoever plays, they'll be fully switched on.

And finally, Arsene has also touched on the matter of Rosicky's, Mertesacker's and Sagna's contracts. He says we're close no agreeing a deal with most of them, but not all of them. I suspect Sagna is the problem here, which is a bit strange, as the manager was quite positive about the Frenchman's contract a couple of days ago, but we can only wait and hope that everything goes well. Fingers crossed here.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch Coventry game myself, as I'll be airborne for the duration of the match, but I'll try to give you some post-match thoughts after. If the wi-fi connection there allows it. If it doesn't, then I'll be back with a preview of our trip to the Mersyside on the 7th February.

Until later

Arsenal 2-0 Fulham: Santi keeps us at the top

Good evening.

Arsenal's splendid fashion of putting lesser teams to the sword continued yesterday with another fine win, this time over Fulham. The Cottagers has thus become the second side Arsenal took six points from over two games.

Arsene named an identical side to the one that got the job done at Villa Park. Monreal (despite all the doubts over his health) started on the left, while Rosicky was among the substitutes.

The first half was a rather uneventful one. Arsenal had one clear-cut chance in the 4th minute, when an interplay between Wilshere and Ozil allowed the latter to fire a low shot which was cleared off the line.

Fulham created a couple of decent chances, but, fortunately, our keeper was up for it. Szczesny first saved from a good Sidwell shot and then had to race Dejagah and Kacaniklic to the ball, after they have found some space.

We had the last word when Sagna's fierce shot was parried by Stekelenburg, but the game was still an even-shared one, though we dominated territory and possession.

After the restart, however, Arsenal upped the tempo just like they did against Cardiff, and it worked again. Gnabry saw his effort saved, then there was a scrap in the box as Arsenal almost got the ball into the net, but were denied by some last-ditch defending.

Fulham cracked under pressure soon enough. Cazorla cut inside from the left, Giroud and Wilshere combined and the Englishman returned the ball to Santi who smashed it home from the penalty spot. A great goal fro an in-form Spaniard.

Five minutes later, Cazorla doubled our lead. Monreal's cross fell to Santi just outside the box, he took a touch and sent a low shot flying towards the far corner past Stekelenburg.

After that, the game died down. Fulham was finished, we knew it, they knew it, so no one really tried to pull anything off.

Except Podolski. He came on for a tiring, but brilliant Gnabry and had two very presentable chances. His first effort was blocked by one of the defenders, his second was pushed onto the post by Stekelenburg.

Fulham could have nicked a consolation goal, something that could probably have sent Mertesacker into overdrive and force him to kill everyone responsible for ruining his second clean sheet in a row, but, luckily for his teammates, Bent wasted his chance, followed by Kasumi. In the end, we got the win and the clean sheet.

Our brilliant defence apart, I would like to give the props to Wilshere, Cazorla and Podolski. A run of games in his favoured position has clearly benefited Jack as he was, again, at the heart of every good Arsenal move with his trademark bursts of speed and close control of the ball. He will now give the manager a real choice headache, seeing as Arteta and Ramsey are set to return against Southampton. A situation that will, no doubt, only benefit everyone.

Cazorla seems to finally find his form, something the manager was quick to acknowledge:

"He was out for a long time at the start of the season and had some injury problems. After that he had an ankle problem and only recently, since mid-December, has he come back to his level".

His brace means he now has three goals in three games. Let's see how things progress over the course of the next couple of games, but the signs that the Spaniard is returning to his best, are encouraging.

And Podolski. When he came on, he always looked dangerous on the ball. He also put in a shift defensively, retracing his steps to help Monreal out. It's a pity the German didn't score, but at least we know he's all ready to play if the manager needs him.

And Arsene said, that's exactly, what he'll do:

"Every player who is on the bench is frustrated. But Lukas has a fantastic spirit and attitude and he showed that when he came on. He will play. He has been out for four-and-a-half months and it takes time, but he looks sharp. When he comes in he gives us something. First of all his occupies the flank well, his left foot is intelligent and dangerous. He is now physically ready".

That's another competitive player back to his best and the returns of Arteta, Ramsey, Bendtner and Vermaelen a week from now will make our bench packed with quality players.

This win ensures we stay top, though both City and Chelsea have won their respective games and we still have no margin for error. And we shouldn't, for the time being, need it. We play Coventry, Southampton and Crystal Palace in the upcoming weeks and should be looking to win all of these. Before all the hell breaks loose in mid-February. In the meantime, we can just enjoy being top.

Oh, and one last thing. I'm leaving for Maldives next Friday, so I won't be able to cover Coventry game. As for our next two Premier League fixtures, I'll do my best to find steams and watch them there. So check back often in case anything pops up.

Until later