Injury update + Arsene talks transfers and Rosicky

Evening everyone.

Our next Premier League game is still a couple of days away, but there are bits and pieces to keep us going for now.

First of all, Arsene updated us on the squad condition and it looks like we are going to be better off, than expected. Giroud and Ozil are completely fit and I expect both of them to start. Oxlade-Chamberlain is also back in contention, but, even though he played forty-five minutes with the reserve team, it's still early days for him. It's going to take some time to get back into the swing of things and he's definitely not ready to fill Theo's shoes right now.

His style of play is a bit different, he's not a finisher like Theo (at least, not yet), so it's interesting to see, what role Arsene holds for the Ox.

Whatever it is, we need to somehow step it up in terms of goals, seeing as Theo was one of our goalscoring threats (in fact, I think only Bendtner (!) has currently scored more than Walcott at Arsenal). I've seen a rather interesting suggestion of how we can solve this problem without the need to revert to external solutions.

With Walcott, our set-up was simple: on one flank we had a skilled midfielder, who drifted infield to create an overload (usually, Cazorla), on the other we had a finisher, who found space behind the defenders (Theo). Now we can keep this scheme by introducing Podolski on the left and shifting Cazorla to the right flank. The Spaniard will then be able to switch places with Ozil, while Podolski will become a genuine goal threat by making runs behind defenders' backs.

Of course, there's one flaw to this set-up right now: Podolski is our only remaining alternative to Giroud (at least, for the duration of Bendtner's injury, which should be around three weeks), thus starting both the Frenchman and the German is a bit of a gamble.

I somehow don't think we'll revert to a scheme we used earlier this season when Walcott was out, namely, playing two creative midfielders on the flanks. With Oxlade and Gnabry it will be a bit strange if we do. Both are more natural wingers, than anyone else on the team (except, maybe, Podolski), so keeping both of them on the bench will look odd. At the same time, both may not be ready to deliver on a consistent basis, due to their relative inexperience. All in all, an interesting problem for the manager to wrap his head around.

And he may do so by finding an external solution. In his interview to Goal.com, Arsene stated, that losing Walcott accelerated his desire to sign cover, as Arsenal have lost a goalscorer, first and foremost, so he'll try and find a replacement in that department. I would not rule out a winger, but, then again, I won't be surprised, if we sign nobody this January.

In other news, Wenger has revealed, that Rosicky is likely to re-sign his contract and I think it's a right decision. The Czech has been really good this season, showing he still has a lot to contribute on numerous occasions, so fair play to Thomas. I would be as happy as him, should he finish his career at Arsenal. Even more, if he does so by becoming a part of a team that finally ends this trophy drought.

Apart from that, not much else going on. As I have another exam coming up, I'll only be back on Monday with the usual preview of the game.

Until then

Walcott knackered + FA Cup draw

Hello everyone. It's been some time, but, unfortunately, exams are coming up and I have had little free time.

Results of Walcott's scan have emerged yesterday morning and, frankly, I was shocked. Theo has torn his anterior cruciate knee ligament and will spend six months out of the game. This means he won't be able to help neither Arsenal for the rest of the season, nor England during the World Cup.

It's a real shame, because Theo has been in great form lately, scoring five league inside a month. He has also shown he can be a capable central striker against teams with certain style of play.

It must also have been a shock for the Englishman himself, because he didn't look all that bad, when leaving the pitch on a stretcher. Quite the opposite, his behavior suggested he was in a very good mood and his gesture to the away fans have already become iconic.

Now we'll have to make do without Theo. There's talk already, that Wenger has instructed his scouts to search far and wide for an attacking player. I don't know, how much we can trust these reports, but with Walcott and Bendtner out they look logical. We are definitely short up front, with Podolski being the only person, apart from Giroud, who can play the lone striker role. And mind you, he may not be the best solution. His display against Cardiff was bleak, though I still hope it's down to him spending four months on the sidelines, rather than being a poor striker.

Luckily, we'll have players to fill the gap on the right-hand side. That's not to say Theo won't be missed, far from it, but I think we'll manage to cope. Gnabry revealed himself to be a genuine option with a wonderful display, while the Ox is also close to full fitness. He's started training with the main group, I gather, so he should be available for a clash against Villa.

In other news, a draw of the 4th round of the FA Cup has taken place and Arsenal will face Coventry. We've put six past them last season, so I don't think we'll have any difficulties progressing. It will also provide the manager with a chance to rotate the squad during a busy schedule. A good trade-off for playing Spurs this early in the Cup, in my opinion.

The interesting part, though, came a bit later. Our match will be held on Friday's evening, on the 24th January. It's the first time in my memory such a thing happens. This illustrates once more, that fans are just an afterthought, when arranging such events.

The broadcasting companies made it so, because it's more profitable for them this way. How about stretching a round for four days? And the fact, that many fans in England won't be able to get to the stadium in time after a full day's work worries no one.

It's not in England we live in, but I'm a bit disheartened, when I see a half-empty stadium. The atmosphere changes, the fans aren't able to support their side in a more effective way. And the fact, we'll have to wait for a kick-off after a day's work cannot also be dismissed.

It's something we'll have to put up with, though.

Until later

Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham: great job

When I saw the line-ups for this game, I was baffled. The manager promised the strongest side possible and instead we saw Mertesacker, Ozil and Podolski benched, while Gnabry and Fabianski got their first start in 4 and 9 months respectively. Vermaelen also returned to the side (at the expense of Mertesacker) which, I feared, could come back to haunt us, since Spurs got an advantage in the air. What happened over the ninety minutes that followed showed me once again, that the manager often possesses the information we don't.

The first chance of the game fell to the visitors. Eriksen stormed into the box after a lucky rebound, but was denied by Fabianski at the near post.

Arsenal responded with a flurry of chances, Walcott being our star performer as a lone striker. He first fired a shot from outside the penalty box which Lloris got down to well and then curled another effort just wide. Gnabry also had a great moment, but his shot flew inches over the bar.

Eriksen had another pop at goal, this time from a freekick, but by then Arsenal seemed in control of the situation. Cazorla swirled his effort just wide, before Walcott failed to convert his chance from a one-on-one.

We have finally broken that deadlock in the 32nd minute. Gnabry received the ball on the flank, drove forward, gathered two defenders around him and then laid the ball off for Cazorla. Cazorla, completely alone, smashed home his first-time effort with his left.

We had another moment in the dying seconds of the first half, following a freekick, but Sagna could get a proper foot to the ball.

During the break, Mertesacker replaced Vermaelen. At the time I thought the manager didn't want to take any chances with the Belgian, as he was on one yellow already. It turned out, the substitute was a forced one, as our skipper sustained a knee injury.

Tottenham piled men forward, but failed to make it pay. Or, rather, Arsenal didn't let Spurs do anything dangerous. The only moment they had was when Adebayor (who was whistled at by the home fans constantly) miskicked the ball in the box with Mertesacker stranded.

By the 60th minute Arsenal was done playing cat-and-mouse with Spurs. The warning signs were there for Tottenham, when Gnabry fed Walcott, who rounded off Lloris, but missed from a very tight angle.

Two minutes later the goal came. Rosicky robbed Rose of possession on the halfway line, ran half the pitch with the ball under his complete control, and just when it seemed that either Lloris or Walker would take the ball away, Rosicky dinked his effort over the goalkeeper. It was one of these moments when a high line of pressure paid off and I'm glad Rosicky was the one ripping the benefits.

Again, Tottenham needed to conjure up a response, but were as ineffective as earlier. Arsene took off Wilshere and Arteta to give them some rest and put Ozil and Flamini on. We nearly scored a third shortly afterwards, but Walcott's curled effort went just wide. He probably could have passed the ball on (to Cazorla, I think), but the Englishman was desperate to get a goal he thoroughly deserved.

He wasn't meant to, however. With seven minutes to go, Theo was stretched off the pitch, having caught his studs in the turf and sustaining a knee injury as a result. He left the pitch with fans chanting his name and throwing scarves to him. It was quite funny to watch him piss off Spurs fans in the process. Hope he gets well soon.

As Arsene had used up all of his substitutes by then, we were down to ten men. Spurs, hilariously, conjured up nothing with Arsenal fans singing "We only have ten men" all over the stadium and Ozil nearly stole a third in stoppage time, but his low effort was well saved.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

"The game was played at a good pace and I think we controlled quite well both sides of it: the defensive and the offensive. We always looked to have a good discipline and to be tight at the back. Every time, when our game is based on movement and quick, sharp passing, we looked dangerous".

And on Gnabry:

"I'm a strong believer in Serge, because I integrated him at the start of last season, but let's not make superstars with one game. The top level is about consistency but I believe the ingredients are there. He has to show he can turn up with these performances in every game".

All in all, it was a very good game. A lot of changes were introduced, but they didn't disrupt the fluency, while some of them were just brilliant and people will be wondering, why Gnabry wasn't involved more during the season. Something, I hope, the manager will rectify.

Now we play Aston Villa away, but it won't be until 13th January. We can now have a bit of R&R we deserve.

Until later

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