Tottenham preview: go for it

Evening everyone.

Tomorrow we have a game against Spurs in the FA cup and it's the last game before a bit of a break.

This means we'll be able to throw everyone forward, something that Wenger acknowledged:

“I just consider that it is our next game - we are Arsenal Football Club and we want to win the next game, that is vital for us.
"In this case I consider it a top level Premier League game, that means I have to play a team who has a chance to win a top level Premier League game."

Which is really good to hear. We've treated cup games as a chance to rest some key players in seasons past and sometimes it just didn't come off. Our exits to Blackburn and Bradford last year still hurt.

On the downside, we don't quite have a lot of players to choose from. Gibbs and Ramsey remain sidelined, while Giroud and Ozil may also fall short. Not to mention Bendtner, who is out for several weeks, though the manager cannot yet pinpoint the exact amount of time the Dane will miss.

We can still put out a pretty combative starting eleven (with Walcott up front, I hope), but the bench is going to look pretty empty, apart from a couple of defenders and Rosicky.

It's not catastrophic because it's for one game only. Giroud, Ozil, Gibbs, the Ox and maybe even Ramsey should be available for our next game. This does mean, however, that we'll have to win it with basically the starting eleven.

Another problem is that we are definitely short up front with Bendtner out and the manager may have to think about buying a striker. There were reports all over the press that Berbatov is our target (he's not, thankfully) and rumors persist about Diego Costa, but Arsene seems to view Bendtner's injury as key to his activity in the transfer market. After the Dane's outing against Cardiff, I think he deserves to be considered a genuine back-up to Giroud.

The manager has also touched on how he'd like to win the FA cup to end this trophy drought. At the start of the season, I would have said it is our most realistic chance to have a go at a trophy. Now I think it's the best, but not the only chance. We shouldn't treat the game lightly, because we may win something else, though. In a way, we are lucky to play a relatively strong team right from the start to keep our concentration levels up.

Tottenham will arrive on the back of a win at Old Trafford, so they'll be up to the challenge and can punish us for any mistakes we make. We don't have to fear them, hell no, but we should be wary.

Hope we'll win tomorrow and go into this mini-break with a draw and four straight wins to show for our effort during Boxing Day period. That's what we deserve.

Back later with a review

Arsenal 2-0 Cardiff: big Nick saves the day

Yesterday's game saw Arsenal start the new year in splendid fashion as Cardiff became the first team we've beaten twice this season. They won't be the last, I suspect.

Something like half an hour before the kick-off at the Emirates, City has won their game, so the pressure was on Arsenal to deliver and regain the top spot. The Gunners set out to do just that from the very start.

Luckily, apart from Giroud and Gibbs, we had everyone who played at Newcastle available. Monreal slotted in on the left, Arteta returned at Rosicky's expense and Podolski led Arsenal from the front.

Interestingly enough, the German was our lone striker on paper only. He constantly fell back to try and get the ball, so Walcott became our de-facto goal threat and as such he had the better share of the chances in the first 45 minutes.

To name a few, he was wrongly flagged offside, then failed to hit the target after weaving through Cardiff's defence, before driving the ball into the side netting from a Wilshere cross. Theo also missed a good opportunity, when Cazorla set him up, but Walcott's weak foot didn't do him any favours. The only other moment of danger was created by Wilshere, but his shot was blocked.

I say "only", because Arsenal dominated the Welsh side completely and could have created a lot more, had they stepped up their passing game. Cardiff had only a shot from Mutch to show at the break. I did, however, enjoy the sight of Solskaer being fed up with Tan just minutes before the break, which saw the ex-striker leave early.

After the restart, we looked a lot better. Passes became crisp and quick and Cardiff's house of cards began to crumble.

Wilshere was at the heart of everything good that came off for the Gunners and his fierce shot was the closest we came to breaking the deadlock. The Englishman fooled three defenders, stormed into the box and fired a shot, which rebounded off the post. Replays showed Marshall got a hand to the ball, otherwise it would have been in.

Moments later Wenger introduced Bendtner and Rosicky for Podolski and Flamini. The German didn't impress at all, something that is even more worrisome due a turn of events I'll mention later, while Rosicky for Flamini was clearly a statement of intent. Wenger went all in to try and win the game.

The momentum changed drastically. Walcott stopped drifting inside, instead trying to find Bendtner with crosses, while Rosicky proved a valuable asset in terms of passing and creating opportunities through the centre.

Our best moments in the following minutes were a direct result of Walcott's crosses. Both saw Mertesacker fire wide from a must-score positions. Frustration was mounting, but the story had a happy ending.

An interplay on the left resulted in a beautiful cross from Monreal, which found Sagna. The Frenchman's header was saved by Marshall, but Bendtner was on hand to smash the rebound home. The Dane didn't get a chance to celebrate, as he has sprained his ankle in the process and was immediately substituted. He limped off like a hero he was, with the stadium chanting his name.

Vermaelen came on and Walcott became our striker in the earnest. This paid off almost immediately. Szczesny's long clearance found Sagna, whose header, in its turn, found Rosicky. The Szech didn't hesitate in passing the ball to Wilshere and the Englishman's side-footed through ball found Walcott, who chipped it over the goalkeeper to seal the game. A deserved goal for Walcott and no less deserved assist for Wilshere.

Poor Cardiff were denied a consolation goal by brilliant Szczesny in the dying seconds and the Gunners returned to the summit with the final whistle.

The win was a bit blighted by Bendtner's injury, who the manager confirmed will be out for several weeks due to an ankle injury.

This loss leaves us in a pretty bad spot. While Giroud will definitely be ready for our Villa game, he may be short for the Tottenham clash, which will take place two days from now. Podolski didn't impress and it's unclear, whether it's because he was out for four months or because he just isn't suited to playing the front man.

It may also be the case, that we are not suited to having the German up front. We like to use Giroud as a springing board, as just one of the links (admittedly, one of the more important ones) in our passing game, and Podolski is just not that type of player.

It was noticeable, how much did the momentum change, when the Dane came on. And now he's out. And let's not forget he's not as good as Giroud in his all-round play.

The obvious solution is to play Walcott up front, if Giroud doesn't make it in time. The Englishman looked great, netted his fifth goal and should be of more use to us than Podolski.

We also now have to think about buying a striker, cause to have only Giroud going into such a busy period is suicidal. But it's something that clearly cannot be done right now, so we should wait until at least the Spurs game is behind us to do some business.

In the meantime, enjoy the win and the top spot in the table and I'll be back tomorrow with a preview.

Until then

Cardiff preview: injury scare

Hello.

Tomorrow we have a game against Cardiff and things aren't looking good.

Arsene Wenger held a usual press conference today and, among other things, touched on the squad condition. While Ozil and Ramsey were expected to miss the game, this list was drastically expanded.

Giroud and Gibbs, for instance, are definitely out. Though both have short-term problems (ankle and calf respectively) their absence may prove costly.

While Giroud can be substituted by Bendtner (that's not to say the Dane will be a complete replica of the Frenchman) or even Podolski (who is another type of forward altogether), replacing Gibbs won't be quite as easy, seeing as Monreal is a doubt because of his illness.

The Spaniard is, unfortunately, not the only doubt. Vermaelen, Rosicky, Walcott and Wilshere have question marks floating over their heads too. If none of these can help us out tomorrow (and I dread the idea), we'll be down to bare bones. The squad will basically pick itself for the clash against Cardiff.

Of course Gnabry can slot in on the right, but central midfield can become a true headache for the manager, especially should Monreal prove unavailable, forcing the manager to play Flamini at full-back. This situation looks all the more depressing, considering we had an almost clean bill of health just a week ago.

We may see the effects of the Newcastle game here. I've touched a couple of times on how much of a physical challenge that was, and it was probably silly of me to expect us to come through unscathed. Not that anyone could have predicted such a down fall, but still.

On a lighter note, Cardiff wasn't all that successful for the last ten games, netting only nine points (only two of them away from home) and sitting only two places above the relegation zone. They should not be taken lightly, of course, but they won't be as tough as some of our recent opponents. If we had a better injury situation, I suspect the manager would look at this game as a chance to rest a couple of key players. As it is, he doesn't have much choice.

In his press conference, Arsene was also quizzed on whether we can expect new signings, but, though he was as elusive as ever, I got the general feeling we won't be happy customers in January. Which doesn't make much sense in light of recent events. We'll get a chance to discuss it in more detail after the Spurs game, so I'll leave it here.

Hope we get the three points tomorrow to start a New Year in a positive way.

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal: resilience

Good day to you.

Yesterday Arsenal have picked up a second straight win on the road, this time triumphing over Newcastle.

It was a game of few chances. Arsenal battled hard, but was mostly denied by a very physical and tactically astute Newcastle side. Our work rate ensured the teams were more or less equal, but it always felt (for me) like they could step up the rhythm, while we struggled to cope even with how things were.

Newcastle pressed high up the pitch, trying to deny us space and force errors, but came up short with chances of their own. We, on the other hand, always looked dangerous, when we broke through their ranks, but failed to make it pay.

In the end of the first half, Newcastle almost scored. Almost, because Szczesny was brilliant in goal. He first punched away a distance shot, then got a hand to the ball from a resulting corner.

The second half was again a scrappy affair. We looked more exhausted, being fouled all over the pitch also didn't help, especially as the ref considered we weren't.

When he finally saw Cazorla cringe in pain from a nasty foul, we scored. Walcott swung in a delicious free kick, Giroud got in-between defenders, rose up high to meet the ball and sent it home from close range. He was as happy as Podolski was in the last game.

We could have been further ahead moments later. Wilshere put Walcott through, the Englishman's shot was blocked, his header was cleared off the line and Giroud failed to get a proper foot to the ball with the goal at his mercy.

We fell back after that and soaked up the pressure for the remainder of the game. Jenkinson and Arteta came to shore things up (Arteta substituting Gibbs, something that hints at an injury) and Bendtner subbed a tiring Giroud.

The best moment for Newcastle came when Szczesny tried something fancy, but mercifully, Remy's header went wide.

Apart from that moment of madness, we coped well against a very physical Newcastle side. There were a couple of tricky loose balls in the box, but never any danger. We held on in the end.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

« It was a very intense game against a good Newcastle team. We got a big physical challenge today. Overall I felt that we were in control of the game until we scored the 1-0. We missed a second chance that would have certainly sealed the game. In the last 15 minutes we have shown another aspect of our team - resilience, fight. We threw our bodies in the box. You have seen today a technical aspect of our team that was quite good but as well a mental aspect that was needed in a game of that stature».

In other words, we have shown (once again), that we are fighters. The ability to get results, when things aren't going your way is what separates champions from everyone else. And we've shown, we can do that. Repeatedly.

The downside is that we've lost Ozil and probably Gibbs. The former will miss games against Cardiff and Spurs, while no word had been said on the latter, but I suspect, we will hear something far from ideal, regarding his health, rather soon.

So, another win under our belts, a very good defensive performance and we remain top of the league as 2013 draws to a close.

I'll be back tomorrow with Cardiff preview. In the meantime, have yourselves a good Monday

Newcastle preview: more of the same

Tomorrow we have another tricky away game to play. But if West Ham was more a test of our mental toughness, Newcastle is going to push our abilities to the limit.

True, they are no Chelsea or Liverpool, but they sit sixth and that, combined with fact that it's going to be our third game inside six days poses a challenge.

Today's results have not gone our way, as both Manchester clubs won their respective games. Because of this we now occupy the second spot and in order to return to the top we need to win. Luckily, Chelsea play Liverpool tomorrow and one of them (hopefully, both) is gonna drop points.

It's still a bit early for the usual squad update from the manager, so we'll have to more or less guess, who'll play.

It definitely won't be Ramsey who, as we know, will be out for a couple of weeks (if not more). On the bright side, we have Podolski and Wilshere back. The former has already shown he can score goals, while the latter is presented with a chance to play on a more regular basis alongside Arteta.

I got to admit, I don't like the idea of those two playing side-by-side. For some reason this relationship just hasn't worked out, making our midfield too leaky for my liking. I think we'll see a more balanced duo of Arteta and Flamini paired up for the foreseeable future. This midfield contributes a tad less to our attack, but is rock-solid when it comes to protecting our back four.

However a Wilshere-Flamini pair looks pretty good, so, should the Spaniard need a rest, I think it's a rather interesting partnership. Not that we'll have many options in that case, but still.

Speaking of which, it looks high time to me to give our lego-haired skipper a breather. He played two full matches inside four days and now is definitely not the time to risk losing the Spaniard. Ramsey is enough, thank you very much.

All of this makes me wonder, whether we need reinforcements in this department. It's something Mertesacker noted in the wake of Ramsey's injury. While the message is a bit of this and a bit of that on the whole, we definitely need to add some players in January. I've already emphasised the need for a striker, but it's hardly the only position we should strengthen.

Sagna, for example, is very likely to leave during this window. Contract talks with him have been ongoing, but with little effect. In the summer, he'll be able to leave on a Bosman, so January transfer window is realistically the last for us to get something for the Frenchman. But we have no one to substitute him with, cause Jenks isn't yet ready.

We may also have a goalkeeper case on our hands. Viviano hasn't played once and will most likely leave after his loan spell expires, Fabianski has featured only twice, so I'll be surprised if he stays beyond January.

Anyway, I got a bit carried away. Our lack of depth is obvious, but we'll have plenty of time to discuss it further, when the window is well and truly open.

Back to our tomorrow match, Arteta is not the only one, who needs a rest. Same is true for Gibbs, Ozil and maybe even Giroud. Gibbs looked lively enough during the game, so he may still have some petrol left in the tank, but Ozil and Giroud are nearing that fabled red zone, in my opinion. We have Podolski back and firing, we have a fresher Bendther, if needs must, so give the Frenchman a rest. While Cazorla is perfectly capable to play under the striker, seeing as how he is rediscovering his form.

These are the changes I do expect, although it's hard to rest your best players against such a strong side as Newcastle, so a balance needs to be found.

One thing I forgot to mention is Koscielny. Laurent will most likely return and if you ask me, should be paired with Mertesacker once more. Vermaelen wasn't bad, but he also wasn't terrific. He's also not the last guy responsible for Carlton Cole's goal, though he's not the only one.

Overall, even with Ramsey injured, we have more than enough players to get a result. He have got a result there last year, despite the circumstances being much more complicated, so no reason not to repeat this feat.

I'll leave it here. Back with a review on Monday.

Until then