Bayer Munich preview: mind games

Hi.

Tonight we face Bayern in the return fixture and the odds are against us. Heavily.

But does that mean we don't have a chance to go through? Absolutely not. True, the current holders are strong, they ship in goals like no one's business, but they will have the weight of expectation in their shoulders. We won't. As soon as the draw pinched us against the German champions everyone was quick to voice their opinion that we are done for. And yes, we have lost our home game, giving these opinions further basis. And yet the first fifteen minutes of the clash at the Emirates were the best from Arsenal I've seen this year. Had Ozil converted the penalty, who knows how that game would have ended?

Back to Bayern's, dare I say, obligation to win and I'm pretty sure we can exploit this. With nothing to lose, Arsenal is a fearsome opponent to anyone. If we open the scoring, the Germans will most likely experience panic. Such as they have experienced a year ago when Koscielny's header made it 2-0 in the latter stages.

Both managers view ball retention as a key factor to success. Pep Guardiola says:

"If we have the ball, we will be in the next round. If Arsenal have the ball, they will be in the quarter-final."

He elaborates this thought by saying that we have top-notch players, for whom it's easy to create moments of danger and cause Bayern's defence problems as a result.

Arsene, meanwhile, identified Ozil as the man who can help us beat the Bavarian giants:

"I think he is over it [the penalty miss]. He has a good opportunity to show on Tuesday night how good he is".

On essence, both mangers want their players to keep the ball, because both know how hard it can be to park the bus and try to hit the opponent on the counter, especially against such quality opposition. Both sides have enough players to break down one others defenses, and both fear they do not have enough resources to fend off each other for long.

That's why I think Rosicky will start ahead of the Ox. As much as we need the Englishman's drive and energy, Tomas it's just a better playmaker. And the more playmakers we have on field, the merrier.

Flamteta axis worked well enough against Everton and that's due to Arteta playing closer to Giroud, than to his own goal. He did return to help Flamini out, but the Spaniard's role was different nonetheless. Basically, Flamini was tasked with most of the dirty work, while Arteta's part was to try and intercept passes higher up the pitch and to distribute the ball to his teammates. It worked rather brilliantly, so the duo will continue in midfield today.

It's the other area of the pitch I am most concerned about, namely: who will play at left-back. Both Monreal and Gibbs are out (the latter with a kick on his ankle), so Vermaelen sends the only viable choice.

Our skipper had a good game against the Toffees (bar that slip-up Barkley nearly took advantage of) and should be good to go. His physique also means it's unlikely Thomas will be bullied by that Dutch diver and Co, cause the captain just won't tolerate it.

The natural concern is, of course, that he's not a full-back in the true sense if the word. His weakest performances came, when Vermaelen was forced to play on the flank. Let's hope he cuts out the mistakes and delivers when we truly need him to. He may not be add good at crossing the ball as Gibbs or Nacho, but he's a great header and a tough guy. Which, in it's turn, means advantage in the box at corners. It'll be beautiful, should the Belgian net a goal.

All in all, the scene is set up nicely for a showdown. It'll be interesting to see, what strategy Bayern will adopt and how much their mental hurdle will affect the way they play, but if Arsenal demonstrates the same ruthlessness and desire going forward as we did on Saturday, we might just be able to sucker-punch Bayern on their turf. Come on you Gunners.

That's it for today. I'll return with a review on either Wednesday or Thursday.

Until then

Wenger's contract + FA Cup draw

Hello everyone.

Starting with the big news today, namely, our semi-final clash in the FA Cup. Before City played Wigan at the Etihad, the seeding took place and Arsenal was paired up with the winner of that pair. To which my first reaction was: "That's it, we'll have to play City". Have I considered the possibility of Wigan beating the moneybags at their own place? No. The only thing that stopped me from saying we'll definitely face City was faint hope we won't, based solely on the fact I didn't want us to. I understood how strong Pellegrini's team was and that they would, in all probability, sweep aside last year's winners. One look at the starting line-up told you all you needed to know about the outcome of this match.

Except it didn't. The first shot on target came from the Latics in the 27th minute, when Jordi Gomez converted the penalty after Demichelis made a mistake in his own area. City, meanwhile, didn't register a shot on target in the entire first half.

Right after the restart, Wigan scored again and City found themselves 2-0 down.

Pellegrini made a triple sub in the 53rd minute, but his side's first shot on target came only in the 60+ minute. It may even have been the goal from our old friend Nasri.

However, City failed to get another (though they went close a couple of times) and, as a result, Arsenal will play Wigan approximately a month from now. What a touch of good fortune, eh?

And I think it's about time we got some. We did our damnedest from the very start, had to play Spurs, Liverpool and Everton and just about deserved an easier draw. Somewhat surprisingly, it comes in the very late stages of the competition, but no one will say we didn't deserve it.

Yes, we still have to win two games. Yes, we'll have to turn up with our usual quality performance and be at our best to win the cup, but there's a whole world of difference between being at our best and this will definitely suffice and being at our best and still having a good chance to lose.

Overall, we are now in a strong position to finally end this trophy drought. While some may point out how we lost to Bradford and Blackburn (and Birmingham, let's not forget) I'd say we're a much better side now than we were even a year ago.

The fact, that Arsene Wenger will be the man at the helm to lift the Cup (in case we win it) is hugely satisfying. He's done a very good job on the team in less, than a year and this should not go unnoticed. We may fall just short of winning the title or the Champions League, but even snatching the FA Cup will be a step forward. More like a leap forward. I'm sure that with a couple of summer additions we'll be even better placed to challenge for the title next season.

But before that, we have to sort out a few problems, not least of which is our manager's contract. I thought it was a done deal, the Mirror reported we were only waiting for Wenger to guide his side in his 1000th game (against Chelsea), but it turned out nothing is signed yet. The same Mirror reported there's a sticking point in negotiations, namely, players transfers. Arsene wants for things to stay the way they were, that with him having the last word in any deal, but the board seems to take a different stance. They want to exert some control over that particular area, so that they would decide on the comings and goings.

Another theory I've heard, is that Wenger wants to show his worth and guide Arsenal to their first trophy and is reluctant to sign a new deal, unless he achieves exactly that.

Winning the FA Cup will provide Arsene with an ace up his sleeve. This, in it's turn, may lead to the Board of Directors to softening their position, something that will benefit all parties concerned. So let's just win the goddamn cup.

Back tomorrow with a preview of our game against Bayern.

Until then

Arsenal 4-1 Everton: back to our öld selves

Good evening.

Just a couple of hours ago Arsenal booked a trip to Wembley, qualifying for the semi-finals in a glorious fashion.

Before the game, it was obvious we have to deliver. To put Stoke behind us and to set the tone for the upcoming tough games. The players also needed to restore their confidence. I would have taken any win, but such an emphatic demolishing of a good Everton side, coupled with our (probably) best performance all season is a dream come true.

Arsene made a slew of changes, with Ozil, Giroud and the Ox returning to the side, while Fabianski and Sanogo were given somewhat surprising starts. Vermaelen and Flamini replaced the injured Koscielny and Wilshere respectively. A dazzling seven changes, if you think of it.

Everton started brightly, but it were the hosts who took the lead in the 7th minute. Cazorla escaped his marker in midfield, fed Ozil and the German slotted a perfect shot into the bottom corner. A very welcome goal for Ozil and a much needed one.

Arsenal started to dominate. Sanogo and Oxlade-Chamberlain took it in turns to test Robles, but the keeper did well. Gibbs goalbound effort took a deflection and then Sagna's vicious cross was tipped onto the bar.

Everton replied with a number of counter-attacks and one of these paid off. Arteta's shot was blocked and Everton stormed up the pitch at lightning speed, Barkley's low cross found Mirallas, whose cutback found Lukaku. The Belgian prodded the ball into the empty net.

The equaliser came completely against the run of play, but not much changed after it. Arsenal pressed, Everton tried to break. Fourteen minutes after the goal, Clattenburg whistled for half-time with the teams level.

Everton returned from the dressing room a very different beast and could have gone ahead in the opening minutes, but, thankfully, Barkley's shot went over the bar, after Vermaelen's mistake provided the Toffees with a brilliant opportunity.

Cazorla nearly put the Gunners in front shortly after the incident, but Robles got down well to parry. The game was pretty even, though, and it was obvious something needed to change if we were gonna get that win.

Or, rather, someone. On the hour, Wenger gave Giroud the green light and the Frenchman replaced his compatriot, Sanogo. This brought about the desirable effect immediately, when Olivier got on the end of a dangerous cross and could have converted with his first touch, only for some bloke to, erm, block his shot. Shortly after, we went ahead nonetheless.

The Ox tore down the right flank, got into the box, rounded off Barry and the latter had no other option but to foul. Clattenburg pointed to the spot, Arteta stepped up and sent the ball into the bottom corner. Just as he was celebrating, the ref cancelled the goal, cause Giroud rushed into the box before the shot was taken. Arteta stepped up again and placed his effort into the top corner this time.

I gotta admit I admire the Spaniard's nerve. Scoring a penalty is hard, doing it twice (all the while with such aplomb) is nothing short of heroic. Man of the match to me.

Everton now needed  to score, but came up short, although McGeady was brought on for the ineffectual Mirallas. Our change (Rosicky for the Ox) yielded better results.

Thomas fed Sagna on the right, the Frenchman found Giroud in the box and our striker dispatched the ball with ease to make it 3-1.

Olivier doubled his manning in the 85th minute. Cazorla robbed Deulofeu of possession in the defensive half, produced an inch-perfect pass to Rosicky, the Czech squared the ball for Ozil and the latter laid it off on a silver platter for Giroud. The Frenchman made no mistake. 4-1 and game over.

This is what Arsene said afterwards:

"We had a quality performance from the first to the last minute against a good side. The first half was all us and we were unlucky to be 1-1 at half time. The second half, Everton started well and had a good moment in the game where they had the chance with Barkley. We scored the second goal and then controlled the game well. We always looked like we could score more."

On Ozil:

"Of course it's important for him he took his chance because sometimes you want him to take the chance because he always looks for the good pass. I hope that will encourage him. What I liked with him is that physically he looked regenerated, having more power in his runs. As well I liked that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him, that means he tracked back in the first half - especially on the counter attack he came back with long runs. When he behaves like that of course you have a better chance to win the game. "

I cannot express, how happy I am for Ozil. He was under a lot of pressure recently and to produce a performance of such a quality, well...it's amazing. Hope this game kick-starts his form and we'll see some more of the same against Bayern.

Overall, a brilliant game for the Gunners. We controlled it from start to finish, were ruthless in the final third, put in a quality performance and all of this against a very good Everton side. Just what was needed.

You have to give credit to Everton, though. They played some very good football and conceded two goals after they had to go all-in. The Toffess made an obvious step-up from last season and I sincerely hope they make at least the Europa League. Not at our expense, though.

So, a good day to be a Gunner. Enjoy the win and I'll get back to you with more thoughts on Monday.

Until then

Everton preview: FA Cup the priority

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow FA Cup's first quarter-final takes place and Arsenal stands a decent chance to inch closer to that Wembley showdown.

Our slip-up against Stoke seems costly enough even now, while overturning the deficit in Munich is as unlikely as it was last year. I don't rule anything out, of course, because our fate is still pretty much in our hands, but right now the FA Cup seems our best shot at a trophy this season.

And should be treated as such. Which means putting the Bayern game at the back of our minds and fielding the best starting eleven possible come tomorrow.

This, in its turn, brings us to who can play and who'll miss out. The most glaring omission is, without doubt, Jack Wilshere. The Englishman did sustain a serious injury, despite his earlier thinking it was just a bruise, and will miss at least six weeks. The medical staff examining Jack during the game threw caution to the winds and played him for another 50 minutes. Perhaps, they genuinely believed there was nothing wrong with Jack, but wasn't it better to make sure? Why risk a player in a meaningless friendly?

As it is, we'll have to make do without Wilshere. While I've seen suggestions that this injury couldn't have come at a better time (considering Englishman's poor form), I cannot agree with these. Yes, Jack was off the pace, out of form and not up to scratch, but the simple truth is, we need as many fit players as humanly possible to end this season on a high and losing a regular like Wilshere will not, in any way, make our task easier. Form is temporary, class is permanent (sorry, couldn't resist) and having out one of our key players, however bad his form is, doesn't play into our hands.

However, Wilshere's loss will be somewhat cushioned by the respective returns of Aaron Ramsey and Kim Kallstrom, though both are unlikely to take any part in our next two games. I sincerely hope they could at least be available in our return leg against Bayern Munich, but rushing them to full fitness is not an option, considering what games we'll have to play after that. We have plenty of fit bodies and should hold out until next week.

Do we have enough to beat Everton this weekend? I think so. I expect some rotation, but it should mostly concern those, who've played a lot of minutes in their midweek games. Luckily, there are just so many players, who has done that and it shouldn't be much of a problem. Everton will be in the same position, so it all evens out.

I expect the Toffees will be hard to beat. I still remember that December game. We were at our best, but can still consider ourselves lucky to have got a point. That fixture could have gone either way and a draw was, in all probability, a fair reflection. So I think we are in for a beautiful game of football tomorrow.

Apart from that, the manager has touched on how good we usually are in March and his desire to lift the FA Cup again. Also, I've stumbled upon a quite fascinating article, where the author talks how our season WON'T be a failure even if end up outside the top two. Give it a read, it's well worth your time.

So, hope we smash some heads tomorrow and I'll get back to you on Monday.

Until then

Some Stoke thoughts + the run-in

The dust after our loss to Stoke is starting to settle a bit, but I think there are a few things of note I failed to mention yesterday.

Firstly, I haven't touched on some rather poor performances from Wilshere and Giroud. While singling out individuals in a team game seems a tad unfair, the qualities I don't like at all in these two have been there for some time and were just thrown into stark contrast during our game against the Orcs.

Giroud, for example, was taken out of the game too easily for my liking. He's, after all, a tall and strong guy and I think he should throw his weight around more. He went down at every contact, instead of standing his ground, and tried to draw the ref's attention. Sure, Adam and Co acted like jerks (Adam was later charged by the FA for deliberately stamping on Giroud), but that doesn't change the fact the Frenchman needs to toughen up and not play into our opponents hands by tumbling to the ground. His link-up play suffered because of that, and so did the fluency of our passing, as a result.

Wilshere, meanwhile, was poor sitting alongside Arteta again. Careless in possession, sloppy in passing and, perhaps most importantly, lousy defensive-wise. Jack seemed unwilling to get stuck in challenges. It it was up to me, I'd play Flamini there, until Ramsey returns.

The Welshman will, most likely, participate in our next league game (against Spurs, mind you) and, if he's fully fit, he should start. We got through January without him alright, stumbled in February and started March with a completely avoidable loss. We miss Ramsey and it shows in both the way we play and the results we get.

In the meantime, we should deploy a Flamteta axis. With the Frenchman doing the "dirty" work and sitting back, Arteta can be moved higher up the field and serve as a link between Flamini and Ozil. We used this strategy quite recently (unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact game), buy I do remember we won that one. And played rather some good football.

Of course, putting the Ox alongside Arteta is another option, especially taking into consideration his best games came when the Englishman started in the centre of the park. This will, however, cripple our flanks. Podolski demonstrated why he can't start on the left on a regular basis, so it'll have to be Cazorla + someone else. Rosicky cannot play out wide week in, week out. He's 33 and, what's far more important, he's not your typical winger. The Czech doesn't have the same speed and aggression going forward, so he tends to drift inside. When it works, it's great, when it doesn't (like against Stoke) it can be disastrous. For this reason, the Ox must play on the right to try and replicate Walcott's qualities.

Should everything go well, Flamini will be paired with Arteta for two games only (and in both we'll have to be at our best), before Ramsey returns. I don't think, there's anything wrong with this setup. If we approach these games like we did during the final stages last season, we should be all right. Not conceding is a virtue, that will enable us to win the lion's share of the remaining games.

And while we're on the subject of the run-in, the boss backs Arsenal to finish strongly, while Rosicky says we still can become champions.

Arsene pointed out that, for the last couple of seasons, we showed brilliant resilience and ended up victorious twice. Well, third and fourth places respectively aren't exactly my idea of being victorious, but, under those circumstances, it was quite an  achievement. I don't think we'll be able to replicate last year in terms of points gathered (26 from 10 games, remember?), but we may not need to. Besides, with everyone (bar Diaby and Walcott, of course) available, we may just pull off something in similar fashion to last year. Not likely, but not impossible.

And, to end it on a high note, Rosicky and Mertesacker have signed new deals with the Club. That makes it three (Cazorla has also signed his contract) and there's talk Ramsey will soon follow suit. These are all integral cogs in our well-oiled machine and I sincerely hope they'll spend many more (successful) years with us.

That's it for today. More as it happens here.

Until later