A catch-up post

Good evening everyone.

It's been a long time since I've last written here. Unfortunately, the Internet connection in Thailand was so slow that even Twitter refused to work properly, hence my prolonged absence. Now I'm back and there is a fair bit of catching up to do. So I'll start with

Transfer activity

Surprisingly, we've done what was required with minimum fuss, namely: brought in a central defender, Gabriel Armando de Abreu, also known as Gabriel Paulista. As far as I know, the "Paulista" bit merely indicates Gabriel waslatter's  up in Sao Paolo. It's not his surname and he made it clear he prefers to be called Gabriel. Much like Alexis Sanchez.

With name intricacies out of the way, the most important thing for now is that we've bought a quality centre-back from Villareal. For a meagre sum of around £12 million we've landed a 24-year-old centre-back at a time when every other PL club found it tough going (I have United in mind). We've also made sure Gabriel was granted a work permit, which is no small thing. The Brazilian has already made the bench and I expect him to be involved against Boro in mid-February.

Our other acquisition is not as flashy, simply because it's a youngster we are talking about: Krystian Bielik. He's joined Arsenal from Legia Warsaw and, as he's only 16, I'm not expecting him to make a sustained impact even next season. He's likely to be restricted to sub appearances for now, then we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, Sanogo and Campbell have joined Podolski in the "out" transfer column, though both, just like the German, have left on loan. Sanogo will represent Crystal Palace for the remainder of the season. It's the perfect solution for all parties Arsene so craved for and it seems it'll work out. Sanogo has already opened his goalscoring account there with a goal against Southampton in the cup.

Campbell has left for Villareal as part of the Gabriel deal. Before that he has signed a new long-term contract, though. What this could mean we can only guess. The optimist in me hopes it's the sign of Arsene believing Campbell has a future at the Club. A small nagging voice adds we can be protecting our investment here by potentially increasing Campbell's transfer fee.

The actual football

We've played two games while I was away: Brighton in the Cup and Aston Villa in the Premier League. We've won 3-2 and 5-0 respectively, thus ensuring safe passage into the next round (we'll face Middlesbrough at the Emirates on the 15th February) and catching up with Southampton in the league. Now we are a mere point behind third-placed United and six off City.

The first game (Brighton) saw a much changed Arsenal side. Szczesny, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Rosicky, Ozil and Walcott all started, while Akpom made a substitute cameo. We went ahead ninety seconds into the game when a low cross from Chambers found Walcott in the box and the Englishman scored his first goal since returning.

Arsenal doubled the lead around the half hour mark when Rosicky's clever through ball found an unmarked Ozil and the German slotted the ball home. Brighton then scored a goal of their own, but we've quickly recovered when Rosicky (our live wire that evening) did this. Absolutely stunning stuff from the Czech.

From what I gather (I haven't seen the game) we could have been further ahead through first Akpom and then Sanchez, only for the former's tame effort to be blocked and the latter's to hit the bar. Brighton scored another fifteen minutes from time, but we've managed to cling on and get the win. Replays are evil, good thing we avoided one of them. Deservedly so, I should add.

The Villa game was marvellous in a sense that it was a comprehensive win, with all doubts over the results resolved long before the final whistle blew. The squad that faced the Villains sported two changes from our win against City: Theo for Oxlade and Ozil for Sanchez. Both were forced, but I'm pretty sure no one regretted them. Bar Villa fans, of course.

Frankly, it was a complete performance: from Ozil's mad flick to Bellerin's fierce stoppage time shot we've been brilliant throughout. Again, I was only able to watch the extended highlights and I highly recommend you do the same on the official site. This performance was a thing of beauty. I'm even considering watching the full game.

The contracts

Finally, a couple of words on the contract situation. This summer we have Bellerin, Coquelin, Flamini, Arteta, Diaby and Akpom to juggle, while Walcott's (and Giroud's?) deal(s) expire(s) next summer. For all I know we should let Flamini and Diaby go, offer a short-term deal to our captain and tie down everyone else for as long as humanly possible.

With Flamini and Diaby it's more or less clear: the former has fallen behind Coquelin in the pecking order (and deservedly so) and really seems to have given everything he can. I do realise it's harsh to say this, after all, Flamini's signing almost two years ago was mostly a positive thing: even this season he had decent spells. However, he's definitely less of an all-round performer than Coquelin and that has already cost us a couple of times and can cost us again.

Diaby is another story altogether: the Frenchman's career at Arsenal has been blighted by injures to such an extent that there's is a joke in circulation, which actually goes the other way around: "Abou Diaby, a professional hospital patient, whose career has been blighted by appearances for Arsenal". Sad, but true. I do not see how even Arsene will be able to continue to protect his compatriot, when the latter only featured twice in the last two seasons.

As for our youngsters, all should receive new long-term deals and there's good news on that front, with Coquelin's contract "being 99% complete" and Akpom also rumoured to have signed a new 4-and-a-half-year extension. The former has proved he can be very useful to the squad, so much so I'm not sure we need a top-tier DM anymore. Bottom line is, we'll hold out till summer alright. As for Akpom, it's hard for me to make a definite judgement on him, but he seems to be held in high esteem by Arsene and that is good enough for me. I even think Sanogo, Campbell and Poldi could all have gone on loan to clear room for Akpom.

Don't think I need to elaborate why we need to sign up Arteta, Walcott and Giroud, as all of them have been brilliant for Arsenal and continue to deliver still, but I definitely need to touch on Bellerin. The Spaniard has matured rapidly over the course of the season, starting with "a bit of a nightmare" away at Dortmund all the way to scoring a cracker of a goal last weekend. Not only is he brilliant at going forward (and has end product to his game in the final third), he's been able to successfully marry this ability to getting back into position in time. As such he has cemented his place in the squad ahead of a fully-fit Chambers and few would argue the Spaniard doesn't deserve this. So sign him up, Arsene.

Phew, that's it for today. Back tomorrow for the preview of the North London derby and normal service will resume from that point onwards.

Until later, have a good evening

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Manchester City 0-2 Arsenal: impeccable

Introduction

Looking back at our comprehensive 2-0 win at the Etihad, I'm starting to question how we could have undergone such a complete transformation in the space of mere seventeen days. I say "seventeen" because we've lost to Southampton 2-0 on the 1st of January. At the time I've written this, questioning the ability of the team in general and dreading our next away game. I had serious misgivings at how our campaign might go after that toothless performance and a visit to the reigning champions in just over two weeks did little to calm my nerves.

But that's football for you. It's fickle, a lot depends on chance and, though no one in their right mind would say we were lucky to beat City, it just goes to show how quickly things can change and how complete turnarounds can happen in a matter of days.

A plan with three phases

The second thing I've carried out of this game (bear with me, I'll get down to an actual review soon) was no less enlightening: we had a plan, not just for this game, but for all away games against the big teams this season.

The first part of it was our visit to Stamford Bridge at the 5th of October. We set out not to concede first and foremost and try to hurt Chelsea on the counter. Our plan went to pieces due to several factors, I suspect:

1. The team had barely entered a third month of playing together. Welbeck, Sanchez and Chambers all started (the latter at RB), while the introduction of a rather unfamiliar 4-1-4-1 with Ozil on the wing did little to help matters of gelling
2. A moment of magic from Hazard. Had the Belgian not taken three or four players out of the picture single-handedly and forced Kos to foul him, we would not have found ourselves a goal down this early. Which, in it's turn, would not have led to our frantic search for an equaliser

Nevertheless, we looked very good defensive-wise. Very compact and solid. That's why I christened the result "A dignified loss". It didn't even feel that much of a loss.

The second part of our "sit-back" plan unfolded at Anfield. Then I wrote this:

"After some consideration and a two days reflection period I've come to the conclusion this is the worst I've seen Arsenal perform this season. And when you have defeats to Borussia and Stoke to consider, well, that's saying something.

We made a disjointed and toothless Liverpool side with Sterling up top look good. Had Szczesny not been our goalkeeper that day, or had he just been as out of form as the rest of the team, Liverpool would have won the game. They had 27 shots, 10 on target and enjoyed 64% of possession. We only pulled off three shots on target and our respective 36% possession is the worst in eleven years."

That day something went awfully bad and our defense was a leaky cauldron (Harry Potter fans anyone?), but, amazingly, we still could have won the game. We SHOULD have won the game.

Two days ago our plan was put in action once again and this time we've pulled it off impeccably.

The squad

Too little happened for an actual review, so I'd stick with discussing the interesting things only.

First of them, of course, was squad selection. Astonishingly, I guessed everyone right. Ospina continued in goal (and had so little to do, I'm starting to think we'll never find out how good he is. And I'd prefer it this way), Bellerin started at right-back with Monreal at left-back (the system is actually real), Coquelin was handed a 4th consecutive start with Ramsey alongside him, while Cazorla and Oxlade were both picked ahead of Ozil and Walcott respectively. We deployed a 4-1-4-1 yet again and this time both the system and the players implementing it worked wilke clockwork.

The stats

We saw very little of the ball - just 35% (like against Liverpool) - and only pulled off three shots on target (like against Liverpool!) - and (like against Liverpool) scored twice. The only major difference to the Anfield game was the "shots allowed" stat (4 against 10). But this particular bit resembles our encounter against Chelsea (we've only allowed 3 shots on target against the Blues, two of which happened to be goals). Meanwhile, City had only one shot on target to bolster in the entire first half, despite dominating possession and territory.

Our goals

The first one was a penalty, coolly tucked away by Cazorla. However, the build-up to the goal is of more interest. Monreal played a one-two with Giroud and burst into the box to receive the return pass, where he was unceremoniously stopped by Kompany. Mike Dean awarded us a penalty (first time he did that since a 4-0 win over Blackburn in 2010), Cazorla stepped up and made no mistake. This goal allowed us to fall back and defend with vigour, knowing we had the lead.

The second goal happened as a result of a foul on Alexis Sanchez, after the Chilean's run was stopped with a foul. Cazorla curled the free-kick into Giroud's path and the Frenchman nodded home without anyone even trying to stop him. We even could have scored a third in injury time, but Flamini failed to pull the ball back for Giroud, who was ready for a simple tap-in.

The defensive performance

We rocked. Arsenal have made a total of 108 defensive actions during the game, 25 more than anyone else this season. However, the most important thing was how we shut out City's players and thus nullified their threat. Bellerin dealt with Milner like no one's business, Monreal stopped Navas time and again, Sanchez terrorised Sabaleta all day long and Aguero was last seen during the warm-up. There were conflicting reports of either Koscielny or Mertesacker finding him in their back pocket later in the dressing room, but these reports are unconfirmed. Please let us know if you've seen Sergio, his family members are worried.

However, the stand-out defenders on the day were Coquelin and Cazorla. The Spaniard made three interceptions, 10 ball recoveries, completed 10 dribbles (out of 14) and 54 passes (out of 59). He also blocked three crosses, though I don't know how many tackles or clearances Santi has made. Oh, and let's not forget he has a goal and an assist to his name.

Coquelin, meanwhile, had two successful tackles (out of two), made 6 interceptions, 11 clearances (6 of them headed) and 10 ball recoveries. Francis also completed 33/38 passes. Frankly, he had a screamer of a game. For more stats, look here. It's my preferred source of info for these things.

The aftermath

We have (deservedly and comprehensively) beaten the reigning champions at their place. Our defensive display was the best since that against Bayern almost two years ago. We took our chances in attack. The players who needed to step and produce (Bellerin, Monreal and Coquelin) stepped up and produced. We are three points off Soton, one behind United and still in front of the likes of Spurs, West Ham and Liverpool. Moreover, if we win our next game (Aston Villa at home) and City loses to Chelsea away, we'll be a mere five points behind the Citizens. The race is on.

I'll leave it here. Oh, and one last thing. Tomorrow I'm going away and won't be back till Feb 5th, but, as of yet, I'm not sure how it will affect the frequency of my writing here. Check back here every couple of days anyway, in case something interesting pops up and I'll be able to report it.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

City preview: pressure's on

Good evening.

It's City away tomorrow and I think it's the hardest game of those remaining: even Chelsea should be less challenging, as we face them at home. City, however, have only lost once at the Etihad (with nine wins in another eleven games) and, looking at how their squad is one of the most balanced in the league, you can't help but feel we will be the underdogs tomorrow.

And this role suits us perfectly fine: too often we failed to deliver under the weight of expectation. We've lost and drawn games in which we were the favourites, so playing second fiddle may not turn out to be as bad.

Team news update

Debuchy, Arteta and Wilshere can be scrapped out of the equation for now: Jack will probably be the first one to return, but his return won't happen before the end of February. Very unlucky, all of them could have come in handy, but it is what it is. I've long since gotten used to the thought we'll probably never have a fully-fit squad.

In other news, we'll take on City without Danny Welbeck:

"Danny Welbeck is not ready yet, he is still feeling some pain, so we will have to be patient. I think he has two more weeks before he’s back."

though Kieran Gibbs should be fine:

"He has a test today. He should come back into the squad."

Also, Ozil, Ramsey and Walcott are all fine and are now a week fitter:

"They were already available for last week and they are available for Sunday."

Which leaves us with a pretty big squad and quite a few selection headaches. Let's try figuring out who'll start.

The back five

I'm pretty sure Ospina will continue in goal. There's a reason he's replaced Szczesny, that reason hasn't gone away and, on top of that, Ospina didn't make any mistakes against Stoke. No reason to drop him.

At right-back we have two candidates to start: Bellerin and Chambers. The Spaniard has matured rapidly since his debut against Borussia early in the campaign and has also put in some very convincing performances against Newcastle and Stoke. However, I still feel Arsene will opt for Chambers, as he seems a more reliable choice.

Interestingly enough, this choice may depend on who plays at left-back: Monreal or Gibbs. As explained in this piece by Tim Stillman, Arsene likes to play with one conventional full-back, who sits back and basically acts as a third CB, while the other full-back bombs forward to help the attackers stretch the pitch. In the long run, we'll probably have Gibbs as the one going forward, so our right-back will have to be a more defensive-minded player. However, in the short-term, the simple truth is that Monreal is in better form right now. And, as Monreal prioritises his defensive responsibilities, the romping full-back position is up for grabs and Chambers doesn't fit the job description. But Bellerin does.

As Gibbs hasn't played for a while, I think Monreal will start tomorrow. Which, in it's turn, makes Bellerin the favourite to start at RB. It'll be interesting to see, how Arsene tackles this problem. At CB, meanwhile, we should see the usual Mertescielny axis of awesome.

The midfield

Will Arsene start Ozil? That's probably the main dilemma. I don't think he will, Ozil doesn't seem fully ready yet. Throwing him at the deep end won't do anyone any good, especially since Cazorla is on top form right now. So the Spaniard should get the nod.

At the base I think Coquelin and Ramsey will start. It's easier to start Ramsey than Ozil simply because the former didn't spend so long out of the game. As for Coquelin, he has been impressive recently, so it'll make little sense to drop him. Let's see how he fares against a big side.

But I also won't bat an eyelid should Arsene go for a safer Flamini-Coquelin base, especially if he opts to start Ozil ahead of them. This decision will surely drive Arsena's fan base crazy, however, you can't say it doesn't make sense if we decide to play second fiddle to City. I'd still pick Ramsey over Flamini any day of the week, though.

The attack

In Welbeck's absence, I'm pretty certain Giroud will lead the line once again. His physicality may be a problem for City, even more so if Kompany doesn't start. And, of course, no one said we are abandoning the target-man system with fast wings, so Giroud is a natural choice.

Alexis should once again play on the left, but there's another conundrum for Arsene to crack concerning the right wing. Walcott or the Ox? Theo has to start games at some point, however it's obvious he's not on top form right now and it may not be the best idea to risk playing him. It's not like we don't have options. So I'd start the Ox on the right, with Walcott making another appearance from the bench as the games goes on and City's defenders will fade away a bit. And then we can start Walcott all we like against Brighton, Leicester and Aston Villa. Not the hardest games on offer and they present a good chance for Theo to return to his peak.

The verdict

“It is important that we keep calm, play with control and be committed as well.

We have to find that right balance between going for every challenge but also not going overboard - we have to respect the rules.

We want to win. What we want is to put the maximum effort in to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning."

That's Arsene reflecting on the upcoming game. Personally, I think we really can win this game. Despite injures we have a very good squad, a squad full of quality players. We have a lot of in-form players, guys like Cazorla, Alexis and Koscielny. We have those who have something to prove (Monreal, Bellerin, Coquelin). And we are on a rather good run, having won four games out of the last five, shipping in four goals and keeping two clean sheets in the process. So there are positive signs based on which we can win the game. It won't be easy by any means, but it's doable.

So come on you Gunners.

And I'll be back with a review as soon as I can.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

A little of this, a little of that

Good evening.

I've been away a bit longer than I expected and quite a few things happened in my absence. Starting with:

Transfers

Before you get overly excited, there's only one player we've bought and it's not someone in the Scnheiderlin's or Hummels's mould: it's a 17-year-old Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw. He's tall (6'2 feet), he's young and he's completely unknown. A perfect Wenger signing, though I'm reserving any judgement on the player until I've seen him in red-and-white. It would be overly unfair to criticise someone until you've seen him play. I'm not sure how much time will elapse until it happens, however, cause the Pole himself admitted he's not yet ready for first team football.

Elsewhere, we have two players in the "out" category. First is Yaya Sanogo, who's left on a loan deal till the end of the season. He'll be joining Crystal Palace, who are fighting the relegation battle under the management of Alan Pardew and I think it's a good move for all parties concerned. Sanogo will get his chances, he may get regular playing time in the Premier League and Palace's fight to stay up should toughen the Frenchman psychologically. Maybe Hull would have been a better destination, that with Hernandez and Jelavic out injured, but I don't know whether they were actually interested in Yaya's services. Case closed.

The other player to leave us (permanently, this time) is Benik Afobe. He's joined forces with Wolves after having a stormer of a season at MK Dons (19 goals in 30 appearances) and, while this transfer is a bit surprising, it's not entirely unreasonable. The man will soon turn 22 and he is very far behind in the pecking order for first team football at Arsenal. Both Sanogo and Akpom have leapfrogged Afobe, but it's not like these two have regular practice, isn't it? So all the best for Benik, I'll remember him as a guy who made a brace against United. Not too shabby.

The injures

The sun rises every day, Samsung's phones get bigger and bigger displays and Arsenal suffers one injury after another. It's the norm, the usual course of events and I think we won't see an injury-free Arsenal anytime soon.

After receiving horrendous news about Debuchy (the Frenchman had surgery on a dislocated shoulder and will spend another three months sidelined), it has now become known Mikel Arteta also was operated on. The Spaniard will spend further six weeks out of the game.

On Debuchy Arsene said:

"He is destroyed because he is such a keen player, so professional, so willing. It is his first year here and of course he is embarrassed. But it is not his fault. He was pushed. The push was not needed."

Wenger stopped just short of saying that Arnautovic is the most disgusting piece of meat to have ever walked this earth. Everyone knows there are more violent and less violent teams in the PL and the fact that the former suffer because of the latter is, frankly, embarrassing. On the FA, who hide behind rules, and on the referees, who are having the worst season in my memory (yes, collectively!). Fans are always willing to jump to the defense of their team and blame everything on external factors, but I honestly haven't seen such a poor level of refereeing ever before. If several years ago there were only selective games where referees were bad, this year they've all hit an all-time low.

Arteta, meanwhile, is the player we've missed most this season. Both Flamini and Coquelin cannot replicate what our captain brings to the team and this makes me wish we've signed Cabaye last summer. He was up for grabs for a reasonable sum of money and could have come in handy. However, Arsene is still looking at the defensive department, rather than at our midfield (can't he look at both?):

"He (Ilkay Gundogan, ladies and gentlemen) is not a defender. At the moment we are more looking for the defensive department."

Is Arsene just playing the cards close to his chest? Or is he waiting to snatch an ideal player in the summer, someone like Morgan Schneiderlin? I don't know, though sometimes I really crave to understand the manager thinking process.

However, I'm not particularly worried we haven't brought any senior player in yet. We all know the market is more mobile in the last couple of days of the window and I expect this one to be no different.

Though I do expect us to sign some players this time.

That's it for now. Back tomorrow with a preview of the City clash.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 3-0 Stoke: justice served

Good day to you.

Well, what a stark contrast this game was compared to the one in December. We took the game to the Orcs straight away, scored an early goal and never looked in any kind of trouble. Were it not for Begovic and a couple of near misses, we would have won by a far greater margin.

The squad

The team sheet emerged an hour before kick-off and it answered many questions: Ospina started in goal, Coquelin kept his place despite a fully-fit Flamini making the squad and Giroud came straight back in. While definite conclusions still can't be made concerning some players (I'm pretty sure Ramsey, Ozil and Walcott are all guaranteed starters when 100% ready), it was interesting to see Szczesny and Flamini omitted. By doing this Wenger basically said that he won't tolerate recurring breaches of discipline (Szczesny) and cannot guarantee anyone a place in the starting XI should an understudy do better (Flamini). Other omissions included Sanogo (the Frenchman is already at Palace on loan, it seems), Chambers and Gibbs (both weren't fully fit). Bellerin got a place on the bench and boy am I glad he did.

The first half

Just like the manager, the team wasn't messing around. Sanchez made his mark on the game in the 2nd minute already, only for Begovic to palm away Chilean's curled effort. Three minutes later Rosicky stormed into the box and Begovic was again called into action. A corner ensued.

Alexis crossed the ball to the near post (just stop doing that!), some Orc cleared and the ball fell to Koscielny, who returned it to Sanchez. Alexis waited for the Frenchman to get back into position and then his laser-like cross found Kos unmarked some 8 yards out. A thumping header and Begovic was left flailing his arms at thin air. 1-0.

We were deservedly in front, but minutes later the attention of all Arsenal fans was diverted by not the most wonderful thing that could have happened to us: an injury to Debuchy. However, it's not the injury itself, but the manner of how the Frenchman got it and the referee's reaction to it that sent the Arsenal's fan base into overdrive. With a ball going out of play from a Stoke player, Debuchy protected it with his body and, as he was hanging in mid-air following the ball's trajectory, the Frenchman received the most cynical of shoves in the back from Arnautovic. There was no intention of getting to the ball, no "the usual run of play" thing: it was a deliberate and dirty action from the Stoke player. Debuchy dislocated his shoulder as a result and it took full five minutes to get him on a stretcher. He'll be out for the minimum of six weeks.

But was Arnautovic punished? No. Not even a foul was called by the joke of a referee that is Jonathan Moss. Moreover, the FA Committee decided to not punish Arnautovic retrospectively, hiding behind the rule "that the referee saw the incident". That's incompetence at it's finest. During the game it led to several more dirty challenges from Stoke, because they knew it could go unpunished. In the longer run, we are left without our best right-back, Arnautovic walks free and Moss will continue refereeing games. I have no words for this. The whole thing was brilliantly broken down by @7amkickoff, so give it a read.

Thankfully, our dynamic wasn't affected by the injury. Bellerin came on for Debuchy, who was carried off to a round of applause, and we continued attacking. Moments after the substitution Oxlade's shot fizzed just wide. It took us some minutes to create another clear-cut chance, but when we did, it went in.

The attack started on the left flank. After losing the ball Sanchez immediately got it back, played a one-two with Rosicky, stormed into the box and powered a shot into the bottom corner. 2-0.

The second half

We sealed the game three minutes after the restart. Oxlade was hacked down near the box by Sidwell and Moss whistled for a free-kick. Alexis stepped up and his low shot flew between the defenders' legs and into the bottom corner. 3-0 and game over.

The game settled into a routine, with both teams realising there could be no doubts over the result. We still could have added to our tally through first Cazorla, whose chipped effort went over and then substitute Walcott blew a brilliant chance after Alexis has sent the Englishman one-on-one with Begovic. Ozil then also had a half-chance, only for his right-footed shot to go over the bar. 3-0 it ended.

The aftermath

Arsene later said:

"We moved well without the ball and moved the ball well, which is the basis of our game. Overall, we created chances, were mobile and the speed of our game created problems for Stoke. We took advantage of that."

It was probably the best performance from Arsenal this season. We created opportunities, took them and all the while haven't let Stoke anywhere near our goal. Their only moment of danger happened deep into injury time and Ospina dealt with it well. The dark spot we have from this performance is Debuchy's injury. I'm honestly starting to worry about Calum Chambers in this context. The young man has featured in 28 games this season, only just got a break and now Debuchy's out again.

Fortunately, Bellerin seems to be maturing really quickly and the manager also confirmed we are in the market for a defender:

"We were in the market anyway. Monreal and Debuchy can play centre back, but if Gibbs is not here Monreal cannot play centre back and if Debuchy is not here he cannot play centre back. This is a position where we are short."

Fingers crossed we'll get through without Debuchy alright. On the bright side, we have Ozil, Ramsey and Flamini all back, with Walcott nearing full fitness and Welbeck due to return before our clash against City. And so the manager should have options on his hands.

That's it for now, back on the 15th most likely with a fresh batch of news.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)