Wigan 1-1 Arsenal (2-4 on penalties): turning point

So, we're through to the final of the FA Cup with a win over Wigan, but it was by no way a pleasant ride. With nine minutes to go Arsenal were trailing and could have gone out. We didn't, luckily.

The manager made only four changes to the team, with Fabianski, Ramsey, Oxlade and Sanogo replacing Szczesny, Flamini, Giroud and Rosicky respectively. Gibbs made the bench, while Gnabry and Rosicky were left out due to their injures.

Arsenal started brightly enough, with Oxlade nearly putting us ahead in the first minute following an interchange with Sanogo. The Frenchman himself then tested the keeper, but his headed effort was saved.

Arsenal then fell into a kind of lull, enjoying lots of possession, but failing to create chances. We only had two more before the break, first when Podolski's effort from a free-kick went wide, then when Sanogo shot straight at the keeper from a one-on-one. But basically Wigan's defence worked like clock.

Little changed in the opening stages of the second half. Arsene made no changes and Arsenal continued to look like they were sleepwalking. Just when I thought we started to find a foothold in the game, Wigan scored.

McManaman stormed into the box, Mertesacker hacked him down and the ref pointed to the spot. Gomez stepped up and converted coolly, despite Fabianski going in the right direction.

This had shaken Arsenal out of their coma. They started to pour men forward, however nothing exciting happened until 80th minute. We had a succession of corners, Sagna hit the post from one, then Gibbs saw his effort cleared off the line. In the 82nd minute we equalised.

Vermaelen was first on the ball from yet another corner, his pass found Oxlade on the edge of the box. The Englishman's mis-hit shot fell to Mert and the latter tucked the ball away from 2 yards. That meant extra time was in order.

It came and went, but little happened during these 30 minutes. Oxlade hit the bar and some Wigan bloke (Collison?) planted a header just wide, but it was obvious the players were exhausted and so the game petered out towards the penalties.

And, despite all the misgivings, we came out on top. Fabianski saved the first two spot-kicks, giving us the platform to build on, Arteta and Kallstrom put away theirs and were were 2-0 up. After that, steely nerves from Giroud and Cazorla ensured we won.

The players were over the moon and I find the criticism, they received for celebrating the way they did, petty. It wasn't about the opponent or about the performance (cause both were below par), but rather about being through to the finals. And this I can understand completely.

If there's anything to like about the way we played though, it's that we showed some character. Arsenal fought from being 1-0 down and showed they are the better prepared side mentally after getting the win in the penalty shoot-out. If there's a point, which can turn the tide, it's this.

To be more exact, it's the goal itself. A goal, which demonstrated we're ready for a fight, and the players can draw confidence and even inspiration from their fighting spirit.

Arsene, meanwhile, will stay with us a little longer.

Back tomorrow for a preview.

Until then

Wigan preview: get at it

Good evening everyone.

It's been a long and not very pleasant week, with all sorts of things happening. From Cazorla's controversial interview to some wild theories regarding Arsene's possible successor, we've had it all, but little of it has been positive. I sincerely hope we can come out of it on top and Wigan present us with a chance of doing just that.

Many portray this game as a make-or-break for Arsene, but to me Wenger looks like the only man, who decides when to move on (or retire). I've seen suggestions that the contract for our manager has been done and dusted and only awaits Arsene's signature. As I gather, the contract will be offered even if we fail to win the cup and end up outside the CL zone and if that's the case, well, then Arsene is the only man who can prevent this plan from coming to fruition. He looks like the man of honour to me, and I hope he retires if things go terribly wrong this season. He's done a lot for the Club, thus he shouldn't remain at the helm long enough to become a villain.

However, this game is of paramount importance not only to Arsene, but to the players as well. Win, and we'll have the confidence to climb the table and win the Cup. Lose, and our downward spiral continues and there's no telling how it will affect our chances for the top four spot.

What makes this game harder still is our almost depleted squad. Gibbs, the Ox and Rosicky are all 50/50s, while some of the others need to be dropped in order to keep things fresh and change the mindset of the team as a whole. (UPDATE: all three took part in the training session this afternoon, so should, at the very least, make the bench).

The manager has confirmed Fabianski and Ramsey will start, but Arsene shouldn't restrict himself to these two. In fact, I'd play a squad that is as far away from the one which took on Everton as possible.

Starting with dropping Arteta and Monreal entirely. These two were the weakest links against the Toffees and we do not want to become exposed because of them in a match where the stakes are so high.

Arteta, for one, was slow. Slow on the ball, slow to track runners, slow to get stuck in in tackles. Did I mention he was slow?

I don't know, whether it's down to fatigue (our vice captain made 36 appearances in all competitions) or just because his age is starting to tell, but letting the Spaniard sit this game out will most likely benefit both parties.

Monreal, meanwhile, was way below par against Everton. Lukaku mocked our left-back again and again and I'm sure Rosler will try to exploit this weakness, if given the chance. We should not present him with one.

Coupled with Flamini's suspension and with injures to Ozil, Wilshere, Walcott and Koscielny, we're pretty stretched both defensively and offensively. If we add Giroud as another possible bench sub, things get really hot. Good news is, Ramsey will definitely start (as I've already mentioned), so we should even scrape a decent (though, exhausted) bench.

If we are to drop Arteta and Monreal, I suggest pushing Vermaelen out wide (if Gibbs cannot start, that is) and pairing Mertesacker with Sagna. Vermaelen was found wanting alongside the German, playing him as a full-back can benefit us and him. The Belgian will be able to make his forays forward and helping out offensively, while we'll get a defender who won't stand being bullied by anyone.

Should Arsene do this, Jenkinson will have to be introduced on the right. Personally, I have nothing against it. I've expressed my reservations about Vermaelen playing as a centre-back and I don't want to see us crack right down the middle again. Unlikely that Arsene will look at it the way I do (and that's alright, he has more input on players' form and abilities), but from what I see Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Sagna and Gibbs/Vermaelen is the best defense under current circumstances.

In midfield I'd like to see Kallstrom, Ramsey and either Rosicky or Cazorla. It'll be an energetic trio, capable of shielding the back four better, than Arteta and Flamini + Rosicky/Cazorla. At least Kallstrom and Ramsey will be full of energy and that can benefit all aspects of our play. It was blindingly obvious how much our game improved when Ramsey was thrown on late on Sunday, bringing Kallstrom into the mix will make it even better.

Up front, I'd play anyone (Podolski, Oxlade, Gnabry, Cazorla/Rosicky) on the flanks, but I'd drop Giroud. The Frenchman is knackered, all the games he's played are catching up on him and a little rest can't hurt. Sanogo wants blood, he'll be hell-bent on scoring after his goal on Goodison was disallowed, so he can, at this point in time, be of more use than Giroud. The manager may want to plough on with the experienced guy here, though, so it's a close call.

All in all, it's a game we have to win for numerous reasons and, as much pessimistic as things are going right now, I just can't see us losing. We are Arsenal, we just cannot lose the game of this stature to such an opponent. If we do, it will be a shock like I've never experienced.

And I don't want a shock. I've had enough of them this season. So let's go get the goddamn win

Everton 3-0 Arsenal: fundamentally wrong

When I was a kid, I liked reading and re-reading Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Light reading that was, a kind of fairytale with a happy ending and not much meaning, but there was one passage that I remember even now. Here's a slightly changed version of it: "Hope makes a show of reviving - not with any reason to back it, but only because it is its nature to revive when the spring has not been taken out of it by age and familiarity with failure". This sums up perfectly well how I feel (and have felt down the years) about Arsenal.

Because life without hope would be extremely hard (unbearable, maybe) for any human being, it is in human's nature to hope for the better, when there's nothing to back it up with.

I hoped, a couple of resounding failures in these two months will ensure the players and the manager do their best to avoid another heavy defeat in a match of vital importance (important for other reasons, but important nonetheless). They did not.

We were condemned to watch an atrocious first half, which saw Everton take the lead and the worst thing about it, was that they completely deserved to be 2-0 up at the break. A listless, disinterested Arsenal side had more of the ball, but never looked like they could do anything with it. Everton executed their plan flawlessly, by sitting deep and exploding on counters.

We looked toothless in attack, only getting as close as Everton would let us and pathetic defensively, allowing the Toffees to cut us open through the middle with simple passes.

All goals were disgusting, if you think of it. For the first, Baines split our defense with a simple through ball. Sagna wasn't quick enough to close Baines down, Arteta just stood and stared as the ball rolled past him, Mertesacker did the same, counting on Vermaelen to cover him up and the captain himself was late to return from his latest charge up the pitch. The situation wasn't beyond repair even then, thanks to Szczesny pulling off a brilliant save, but Naithsmith was allowed all the time in the world to put the ball into the empty net.

For the second, Lukaku received the ball on the right and had at least Monreal and Vermaelen in front of him. Lukaku drifted inside as if these two just weren't there and then fired an unstoppable shot between Mertesacker and Vermaelen.

The third one came as a result of another through ball, which Szczesny got down to well, but the Pole's effort was in vain, as Arteta failed to track back Mirallas and then further compounded the misery by sending the ball into his own net in a last-ditch effort to stop the Belgian. To be fair to Mikel, Mirallas would have scored anyway, but the fact that it was our vice-captain who allowed Mirallas in that position in the first place is atrocious.

Up front, things didn't look better and, to my immense surprise, Wenger was reluctant to change this until the game was beyond salvation. Podolski, who was taken off in favour of the Ox, was our best bet to nick a goal right up to 60th minute and that's saying a lot. A guy who, with everyone fit, only makes the bench and is inconsistent in his performances to say the least, was the best chance we had to score.

Giroud was, frankly, shit. Suggestions that even an actual tree up front would fare better don't seem that funny anymore. Hell, Sanogo did better when thrown on. The Frenchman would have actually scored a goal, had he not been wrongly flagged offside.

The only bright spots of this game were Ramsey and the Ox. The latter had hit the bar and saw another goalbound effort blocked, while the former pulled off clever passes left and right, threw himself about and was, all in all, a very positive influence. Why these two weren't thrown on at half-time will remain the greatest mystery to me.

I had last had such emptiness back in August, after our first game of the season. It didn't come on a back of a bad stretch of form, rather on a poor decision-making from Arsene, who failed to bring in reinforcements we so desperately (and painful obviously) needed. We have a good squad, but, as the commentator rightly noticed yesterday, our style of play will always result in quite a few injures and it's about having as many players as possible to avoid a downfall in both the form and the results.

This group of players was pushed to the limit in January, but managed to stay top. It's easy to see how, with a new striker and a centre-half, we would still be top. As it is, we now have to fight for the Champions League football and even this is not in our hands anymore.

Until later

Everton preview: the return of the king

Good evening to you.

Tomorrow we play Everton in a "six-pointer" and it's hard not to regret our current position. Less than a month ago we were fighting for the title and now we tread an all-too-familiar territory of staying in the top four.

Everton has done extremely well this season and their Europa League place is all but secured. It's hard to envisage a hit-and-miss Tottenham or a faltering United side beating the Toffees to fifth place.

What is more, Everton are on a good run, having won five league games in a row and losing just one home fixture in an entire campaign. The acquisitions of Lukaku and Deulofeu, coupled with emergence of Barkley as a potent force make Everton a hard opponent for anyone. We've had a chance to see that for ourselves back in December. We've scraped a draw and, mind you, Wilshere, Ozil and Walcott were available back then.

A win tomorrow throws the race for the fourth spot wide open and it's something the players should be well aware of. Luckily, there's been some positive news regarding our injured.

Ramsey and Monreal will be named on the team sheet and both are extremely welcome. Monreal can (if needed) fill the void left by Gibbs, while Ramsey will give us the end product our current midfield lacks.

I know I've mentioned it already, but the amount of players we have out  each year is infuriating. Monreal picked up a knock against Sunderland and haven't played since. Just think of it. A knock that was supposed to keep the Spaniard for a week, maybe two, resulted in a month on the sidelines.

Ramsey injured himself on Boxing Day and should have played against Southampton. Remember that 2-2 draw back in late January? We are into April and the Welshman only just recovered.

That is not the end of the story, though. Gibbs and Gnabry are unlikely to feature tomorrow, the former with a troublesome ankle, the latter with a knackered knee. While Gibbs has played quite a lot this month, it's hard to see, where Gnabry's injury came from. He had hardly made even substitute appearances, so how on Earth did he get himself injured?

Luckily, these knocks have come at a more a less good time. Ramsey will fill in for Gnabry, Monreal will slot in for Gibbs and we carry on. Maybe a few more players will make a comeback against Wigan (I have Koscielny and the aforementioned  duo in mind), but we'll manage for now.

Back to our all-important game tomorrow and I expect Arsene to field basically the same squad. It's either Gibbs or Monreal on the left (depending on whether the Englishman is fit), we may see Kallstrom alongside Arteta (don't think Ramsey is ready or should be risked now) and I'd play Rosicky centrally and move Cazorla to the left. Though the Spaniard did good against City, Podolski looked a weak link. Sure, he got an assist to his name and could have nicked a win for us, but he was still largely ineffective.

The main problem with Podolski is that he's neither a striker, nor a winger. He doesn't impress in both positions, preferring to play in a narrow corridor between a winger and a striker, waiting for a perfect pass to explode into life, but spends the rest of the game in shadows. He's not a willing runner forward, doesn't drift infield to create an overload or to help out teammates and shies away from his defensive duties. Moreover, the German's persistence on using only his left foot effectively limits the number of options available to him.

So, I say drop Poldi, play the Ox on the right, Rosicky in the centre and Cazorla on the left and we should be all right. Such a setup ensures our back four receives proper protection, while also not taking anything from our attacking play away.

The manager will also have a decent bench at his disposal, with players on it being able to contribute at both ends of the pitch.

We are still masters of our destiny when it comes to securing the fourth place and this game is vital. Win, and we are seven points clear with five games remaining. Lose, and Everton may leapfrog us in the very near future.

I think  we have enough to get the three points, though. City game saw us "turn a corner", if I may quote Arsene here, Ramsey and Monreal are back to help out, so we should be ready both psychologically and physically (after a week off). All that remains is to get a win tomorrow, so we can start worrying about the looming semi-final FA Cup against Wigan.

Come on you reds.

Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City: a point gained or two points dropped?

Before this game, despite my positive attitude, I was nervous as hell. City were on a good run, we were losing points left and right and the level of our recent performances left a great deal to be desired. Besides, you are always gonna have a hard time fighting top teams with half your squad out. What I saw on the pitch surprised me.

Arsene made one change to the side, replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain with Podolski. It were the Citizens, however, who dominated the first half. Sabaleta wasted a chance after going clean through, Garcia shot just wide and then Silva scored. He had a bit of luck with the goal, though. Podolski lost the ball upfield, City broke, Dzeko was left all to himself and his shot cannoned off the post. Silva happened to be in the way of the rebound and the ball rolled in.

It was a blow, but hardly a surprise. City were by far the better side and their goal, however much of an accident it looked, came on the back of a dominant opening period.

We tried to muster a response and, to our credit, I can't say City had clear-cut chances to extend their lead during the first half. We were unable to make it count, as our only opportunities boiled down to a distance effort from Giroud and a penalty shout when Rosicky was tripped in the box. Looked a penalty to me, but Dean had other ideas. Oh, there was also a goal from Flamini, rightly disallowed for offside.

Arsenal stepped the tempo up in the second half and scored almost immediately after the restart. Giroud held the ball up on the left, worked it back into midfield, a short interchange led to a low cross from Podolski and Flamini was on hand to send the ball home. His celebration was even better than the goal itself and it was the least the Frenchman deserved after a hard week.

Spurned on by the equaliser and urged on by the home crowd (I've never heard anything close to such support) Arsenal could have gone ahead just minutes later. Podolski found himself on the end of a great move, but his goalbound effort hit Hart's heel on the way in and deflected for a corner.

Cazorla then went close to putting us ahead, but Hart saved with his legs.

Smelling blood, Arsene threw Oxlade and Sanogo on (for Podolski and Giroud respectively) and these two nearly nicked a winner in the dying moments, only for the Englishman's overhead kick to be blocked by one of the defenders.

For all this effort City only had a good cross and a distance Fernandinho shot to show. In the end, the game ended with teams level, which was probably a fair result. Arsenal looked the better team in the second half, but our inability to conjure up more chances was what made the difference.

This is what Arsene said on the result:

"We were a bit nervy at the start, insecure in our attitude by our last two results. But when even we when we were 1-0 down you could see the team was ready for a fight and we controlled the second half, we controlled the first 20 minutes and overall in the first half maybe they had another chance, in the second half we had a second chance. We could have won it in the second half but overall it was a game of quality between two good teams and the game was played with a great spirit on both sides".

This basically sums it up. Poor in the opening minutes, clawed our way back before the half-time whistle and could have won it in the second half. We didn't, which means our title bid is effectively over, but the main thing about this game was to show our grit and restore our pride and we did just that. Well done everyone, now we get a week to get ready for the clash against Everton and maybe get back some of the walking wounded. We're gonna need them.

Until later