Liverpool preview: not a second time

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we take on Liverpool for the second time in eight days and I hope we'll see a marked improvement on our first outing.

In terms of team selection, the Mugmashers have the upper hand, as their schedule allows them to play their strongest side possible with no midweek fixture to worry about.

Arsenal, however, have to have one eye on the Bayern game, because it's absolutely necessary to carry an advantage (however minimal) in the second leg. So rotation is inevitable.

Question is, to what extent should we shuffle our squad? Too many changes to a rather successful formula may well lead to an even greater thrashing, something we'll be keen to avoid for several reasons, momentum being the most important in the long run.

However, I think there are a couple of subs, that could benefit our performance. Wilshere, for one, seemed off the pace in the last two games. For now, he cannot be that link between Arteta and Ozil, as he plays too far away from both of them. This prevents us from passing the ball around quickly, which, in its turn, has influenced two last results.

The Ox and Flamini seem obvious choices, but the former may be needed on the flank following Cazorla's illness. Also, Flamini provides a better cover for the back four, something that allows Arteta to play further up the pitch, linking defence and attack. The Spaniard is not your typical box-to-box midfielder, but given Ramsey's absence and the relative inexperience of Oxlade-Chamberlain, he's our best option. For this game, at least.

Also, I'd be tempted to play Podolski up front. He's been unconvincing, I know, but right now Giroud seems knackered (worrying, cause he's our main attacking threat), besides, the German provides a better outlet for Ozil. I've already touched on how we tried to involve Giroud as much as possible against United and when it didn't pay off, we ran out of ideas.

Ozil's bad form had been discussed at length by others (some of them went as far as to say he doesn't provide value for his money), but the fact, that the German international needs a different kind of man in front of him to get the maximum out his abilities seems forgotten. Giroud likes to play with his back to the goal (mostly) and this leaves Ozil in a difficult spot. Podolski may be the answer (again, at least for this game).

Besides that, I somehow don't think the manager will rotate much. Sure, we need someone to fill the void left by Cazorla (Wilshere?), and there's a Gibbs/Monreal dilemma, but apart from that, I don't see Arsene taking any risks. The FA cup probably remains our best chance at a trophy, so we can't take opposition easily, especially when they have showed they can beat us. Comprehensively.

In other news, Vermaelen seems to be on his way out. The skipper is not getting enough playing time, due to how well Mert and Koscielny learned to interact and probably would have left in January had he not been injured and we short on defenders. Coupled with Sagna's likely departure, were going to be very busy in summer. On the last day of the window, to be exact.

I'll leave it at that. Here's for a win and a good performance tomorrow, which can  jump-start our season.

Until later

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United: a missed opportunity

Hi everyone.

So, yesterday we failed to capitalise on Chelsea's mistake and return to the top. It's hard to take this for granted, as we faced the weakest United side in years. I've already talked about this yesterday, but talking is one thing, while seeing it with your own eyes is entirely different. In the immediate aftermath this point seemed unacceptable. In the cold light of day, it makes a bit more sense.

It was obvious right from the start Arsenal tried to pull off a back-to-basics performance, focusing on keeping a clean sheet, rather than going for a win. United also didn't force the matter, since losing a second game out of three would surely have been disastrous. Thus we had to witness a rather tedious 0-0 draw.

Arsene made two changes to the side that was well and truly beaten at Anfield. Gibbs replaced Monreal and Rosicky came in for Oxlade-Chamberlain to set a frenetic pace right from the first whistle.

He managed to do just that. There were quite a few things not to like about our performance yesterday, but the way we played without the ball is not one of them. I cannot recall when was the last time we closed players down with such efficiency. As soon as we lost the ball (something that happened a bit to often for my liking), two or three players pressed a United player in possession at once. I cannot give you the total number of interceptions, but Arteta alone managed five.

However, it was the things we we did (or rather, did not) do after recovering possession that resulted in so few moments to kill the game.

Firstly, the pace. Probably United were just cautious going forward, but it looked like we didn't make the transition from defence to attack quickly enough. The weapon we utilised so effectively earlier during the campaign was rendered useless due to our own sluggineshness.

Secondly, and this surprised me most, our passing was a bit off. Though we had a whole bunch of quality midfielders from the first minute to the last, we seemed unable to produce that killer pass.

There's only thing, which was duly noted by the manager later, that can explain these factors, namely, nervousness. Our notorious handbrake was on the entire game and this prevented us from pulling United's defence apart.

We stepped up the tempo during the second half and should have scored that winning goal in the last 15-20 minutes, however, Giroud proved once again unable to make his efforts count during such an important game. Cazorla tried to fill this void and produced two wonderful shots, but De Gea was equal to it. Koscielny came closest to scoring (as has become his trait during important games in the last couple of seasons), but his shot was cleared of the line by Valencia.

Now, I have to say we could have conceded. The Dutch Skunk did his damnedest to upset us, but Szczesny seemed ready to die on the pitch, rather than allow him to score again. He has, once again, helped us to get at least a point, when the game could have either way. He deserved this clean sheet as much as everyone else on the team.

A couple of words about Giroud. I have been returning to him throughout the season, giving him credit where it was due, but last night he was that difference between one point and three. I hate to say this, cause I like the Frenchman a lot, but it was obvious the team tried to get him involved as much as possible. I've talked a lot how he needs service from his teammates to score, that he rarely can create moments of danger for himself and yesterday he was provided with plenty of service.

Which also brought out the second weakest fundamental flaw in his game: Giroud is not a clinical  finisher. He had at least two good chances from corners and a brilliant low cross from Ozil late in the game, but he failed to make it count. Giroud put both headers wide, when he should have buried at least one and, had he been quicker in the box, he only needed to put his foot to the ball in that low cross moment. He didn't.

Now, I have always talked up Giroud's other qualities. He's honest, hard working, a real fighter, is always ready to get back and help defensively. He's a good passer and is always ready to pass the ball to a teammate in a better position. On his day, he's a decent finisher.

However, his drawbacks were thrown into the light yesterday and never had I wished for us to have a different kind of striker on the bench more. We need a mobile, quick,  technical kind of forward, one who can make runs behind defenders. Who can thrive off Ozil.

Though I hate to say it, van Persie was good last night. He was provided with little to no service, but still conjured up a couple of decent opportunities and was a whisker away from becoming that difference between a draw and a win. We need to try and find such a guy in the summer. For now, we'll have to make do with what we have.

In the end, a draw was probably a fair result. We obviously wanted to win more, than United, but lacked the means to do so. However, we kept a clean sheet and it was a good thing psychologically.

This result leaves us in the second spot, as City's game was postponed. We now have to ready ourselves for another clash with Liverpool and then there will be a small matter of Bayern to keep us on our toes. As for me, I'll get back to you when something new pops up.

Until later

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