QPR preview: Rambo's back

Hello everyone.

It's Queen's Park Rangers away today and, rather surprisingly, there's a lot of anxiety on the Arsenal's fans side. I cannot quite get it: yes, QPR are fighting not to go down, yes, they have some quality players like Austin and Vargas, but the team is, after all, in the bottom three.

It is down to our recent results or, rather, result? Because, Monaco debacle apart, we are on a good run. Six wins in the league from the last seven games and 24 points in ten games. Only Liverpool garnered more: 26.

Personally, I think the most challenging moment (psychological) was left behind when we've beaten Everton. Of course everyone said post-Monaco that Champions League is Champions League, while we are doing fine in the BPL, but, as Arseblogger duly noted, you don't compartmentalise competitions like this. It doesn't work this way, your last game will always affect your next.

As such, I don't really see what there's to worry about. We'll have to work for the points, no doubt about that, but this game is hardly different to any of the previous ones. I even think there's room for rotation.

Team news update

The big news is that Aaron Ramsey is back and it seems he's back for good, with Wenger admitting Arsenal medical staff have found the cause of the problem.

Arsene also underlined the importance of Ramsey's qualities, saying:

“We’ve missed his energy level, his transitional play from offence to defence and from defence to attack and his box-to-box qualities."

I personally think Ramsey's return is massive. We really have missed him, because, as good as Cazorla did, the Spaniard is not a natural number 8. Ramsey is. It was a race between him and Wilshere and for now Aaron is in a better position.

While we are on the subject of Wilshere, Arsene also shed some light on the Englishman's situation:

"He’s doing well but it takes some time to heal the wound after the surgery. It will take him a few days.

I don’t set any dates, but what is for sure is that for Man United he will not be available."

Which is sad. As we've seen against Monaco, having a leader on the pitch can sometimes become absolutely vital, and in Wilshere we have a leader. The speediest of recoveries to him.

Finally, Flamini had suffered a set-back:

"Mathieu Flamini is not far away but not close enough. I think he will miss the next two games."

... while Coquelin should make it:

"We have to check Francis Coquelin with the medical people this morning in training to see whether he’ll be available or not, but there’s no obvious reason why he should not be available."

At which point all Arsenal fans regained the ability to breathe normally. How Francis has grown into an undroppable figure in two months is astonishing. Even Arsene admitted it (link):

“It is a surprise to everybody. The only thing I do is that I never say never to anybody. In my job you have to be open-minded like that. You have to make decisions at times. But never close the door completely for anybody.

He was not in my plans at the start of the season. I told him to give absolutely everything until Christmas, then we would see together where he was."

So there you have it. Much like everyone else, Arsene thought it was over for Francis at Arsenal. And just like everyone else, he was wrong. You never know how life is going to turn out, eh? You can read the rest of the interview here.

Back to how we should shape up for the game, however.

The back four

With Wenger hinting Mertesacker needs a rest, while also stating he's happy with what Gabriel has shown so far, I'm pretty sure GADA will start his second game running. I'm fine with that, the Brazilian had a good outing against Everton, not the simplest of sides.

The other three should be Koscielny, Bellerin and Gibbs. With Bellerin it's pretty clear, Koscielny ought stay simply because playing Chambers alongside Gabriel is too great a risk, while Gibbs has played two games now. It'll look odd if Wenger drops him for the third, and this is the part where I sympathise with Monreal.

The Spaniard has done nothing wrong while Gibbs was out and about. In fact, he's been outstanding first as an emergency centre-back (a position completely new to him) and then at left-back. I couldn't believe my eyes when the Spaniard was dropped against Monaco. I let that pass because there must have been some underlying reason for the change, that I didn't see and patiently waited for Monreal to be reinstated for the Everton clash. However he wasn't, and again I found myself searching for an answer.

If it was up to me, I'd drop Gibbs in a heartbeat and wouldn't give it a second thought. During these two games he showed nothing that hints at him being better than Monreal. Moreover, Kieran's continued miscommunication with Koscielny on Sunday left Gabriel mopping up for the pair of them. Can't remember the last time Monreal had such problems with the Frenchman. And finally, I'm convinced Gibbs and Bellerin are too similar in that they like to go forward. One should stay back to cover for the other, something that didn't happen against Monaco, albeit was somewhat rectified against Everton. I say "somewhat" because it would have been better if Gibbs ventured forward and helped out an exhausted Sanchez, while Bellerin stayed back.

The midfield

Both Cazorla and Ozil need a rest in my opinion. Ozil less so, that's why I think he'll start, but Cazorla is second only to Mertesacker in minutes played this season. I think he played even more than Sanchez, if that's humanly possible. Rambo is the natural solution. I have a feeling the Welshman will start anyway, after being talked up by Wenger, so it's more a question of who will be dropped: Cazorla or Ozil. It's Santi for me. Coquelin in a mask should be the final piece of the jigsaw in midfield. I wonder whether Arsene is tempted to rest BOTH Ozil and Cazorla, introducing Rosicky and Ramsey respectively, though something tells me Arsene will be reluctant to drop an in-form Ozil.

The attack

If someone needs a rest even more than Cazorla and Mertesacker, it's Sanchez. The Chilean already looked knackered against Monaco and was a dead man walking on Sunday. He may say that he's ready, but the manager is here for a reason: he shuld know when to rest players. The players themselves are really bad at determining whether they need a breather or not (or the length of their injuries, for that matter). I still remember how Giroud (after Everton) and Ramsey (after Gala) stated they should be fit to play the next game. We all know what happened next.

But I'd keep the other two. With Walcott (hopefully) coming in for Sanchez, Giroud and Oxlade look the best options available down the centre and left respectively.

The verdict

“It is a big test and a welcome test as well because you know what you’ll get at Loftus Road. It’s a tight ground with a bit of a Highbury atmosphere, with people very close to the pitch and it will certainly be a very committed game. Let’s prepare mentally to be confronted with that kind of commitment and respond well to it.”

I think Arsene is overstating it a bit, but one thing is clear: there is no room for complacency. It's another PL game with all that entails. QPR look decent at home, it's their away record that keeps them in the relegation zone, so I'm expecting a tough game. However, if we combine the commitment we showed on Sunday with a little more fluency up top, it's a winnable game.

So come on you Gunners.

Back with a review.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 2-0 Everton: e pluribus unum

So, we are back to winning ways. And the world feels a much better place to live in after an Arsenal win, doesn't it? Surely, the performance wasn't particularly bright and shiny, but the important bit was to just get the three points. Which we did.

The squad and tactics

Gabriel for Mertesacker and Oxlade for Welbeck were the only changes compared to our midweek squad. There was no return for Ramsey or Flamini, Ospina and Giroud kept their respective places and this turned out to be the right call from the manager. Both had a brilliant game and made amends for the Monaco debacle. I was a little baffled to see Gibbs start his second game in a row, but I think there may be two reasons for this:

1. Gibbs needed to get his last game out of the system. AW later talked how it can be detrimental to a player to be dropped immediately after a bad performance and you have to agree with it
2. It's a bit far-fetched, but I somehow thought back to the mare we had at the Goodison last season. Monreal was the left-back for that game and Lukaku just destroyed the Spaniard. Could Arsene too have such thoughts before the match?

Exhaustion can in my opinion be safely disregarded. Monreal had a week between games, he should have been psychically up for the game.

Our approach was an odd one. Few would argue Arsenal defended for the most part of the game, yet we completed twice as many passes as Everton in the final third, registered twice as many shots and created a lot more clear-cut chances. Even the possession is 48%-52%. Despite everyone getting a clear impression we sat back and defended we only enjoyed four percent less of the ball!

As the game wasn't chock-full of moments, I'll just go over a select few and also over some individual performances.

Our chances (and goals)

There were very few in the first half. In fact, we managed only one half-chance during the first 38 minutes when Alexis's cross was met with a brave header from Ollie, but his effort was just wide.

In the 39th minute we scored. Ozil's low pass from a corner found Giroud and the Frenchman made it 1-0 with a deft touch. The relief in the stands was palpable.

Cazorla and Bellerin each had their moment before the whistle blew, but Santi's effort was tipped over by Howard and Hector's blocked by Jagielka.

The second half was more of the same. I don't think we had any credible moments up until Ozil failed to put the ball into the net in the 80th minute. Cazorla then blasted his effort over after a great one-two with Giroud, but, finally, the goal came. Substitute Rosicky was in the right place at the right time and his fierce effort went in after a deflection off Jagielka. Rosicky and Giroud could have added to their tally in the dying minutes, only for a combination of good goalkeeping and wastefulness to prevent them.

Individual performances

For some Cazorla was MoM with his calm and commanding performance, WhoScored voted Oxlade as the best man on the pitch, Barclays decided to give the award to Giroud, Ozil and Coquelin were both nominated by Arsenal, while a healthy portion of fans admired Gabriel's performance. That just shows you that all our players did well on the day and picking the best is immensely hard.

But I'll stick my head out nonetheless: for me Ospina was the top man and I think the majority of fans will agree with me. The Colombian started his brilliant afternoon by denying Lukaku in the 16th minute. After the Belgian pounced on Gabriel's mistake he rushed out of his goal, batted the ball away with his hand and then followed it up with a brilliant sliding tackle. David went on to make at least two more important saves to keep the score intact, first when Lukaku found space for a shot at the near post, then when Coleman set up Lennon. But that's not to say these saves were the only things Ospina accomplished. He punched, headed away and claimed everything in his range, taking a hit to the ribs in the process. In the end he got the clean sheet he deserved.

Others dug in too. From Ozil, who had a quietly influential performance, bagging two assists in the process, to Giroud who worked his socks off and won the air completely, as well as scoring the eventual winner, everyone looked much better than against Monaco. Not quite fluid, but resilient and compact.

A special mention should go to Gabriel and Coquelin. The former was a little nervous during the first 20 minutes but grew in stature as the game went on. In fact, he looked better than Koscielny, a seasoned pro, whose level of performances almost never drops. At one point Gabriel made a vital tackle on Lukaku and a minute later we scored the first.

And Coquelin. His performance flew under the radar somewhat, but he hasn't put a foot wrong all game. It was exasperating to see him break his nose in a collision with Giroud. Francis tried to stay on, but a minute from time got a whack on the nose and had to leave the pitch. It is unclear whether he'll require surgery, however if he does, it will be a big blow. FIngers crossed he won't.

The aftermath

It was obvious from the start our target №1 was not to concede and give chances away. It's understandable: last year when we suffered these big away losses we invariably played our next game this way. All three were followed up with a 0-0 draw. It's psychological: we needed to regain confidence in ourselves, to know we can stay compact and keep clean sheets. We did just that and scored a couple of goals on top.

But what I really liked was the unity. Everyone ran that extra mile for the good of the team and that is the most pleasing thing.

The win takes us back to third, above United who just scraped past 10-man Sunderland. It also widens the gap on Southampton (to five points) and Tottenham (to seven) and allows us to maintain our distance from Liverpool. We are now a mere four points behind City. Beautiful.

That's it for today. Back tomorrow or Wednesday with a preview of the QPR game.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Everton preview: walk the walk

Morning everyone.

We play Everton tomorrow and there are two obvious reasons why we need the three points badly:

1. Teams around us will drop points. Chelsea and Tottenham play one another in the Cup, thus we have a chance to catch up on the former and widen the gap from the latter; City play Liverpool. One of them will drop points (both, hopefully) and thus we'll be presented with yet another chance to cement our place in the top 3. I'm not even excluding Sunderland and West Brom causing problems to United and Southampton respectively. Fingers crossed
2. Psychological reasons. We need to put that debacle of a performance behind us, the only way to do that is winning as many games as possible

All of this brings us to team news update

We'll have to make do without Jack Wilshere for at least another week:

"Jack Wilshere had a little surgery to take his two buttons off his ankle because they were irritating him but it’s a very minor procedure...Next weekend will be a bit quick. I don’t know exactly. It’s days, not weeks."

Very unfortunate and highly exasperating. Jack is one of the few with an actual spine, we could use it (and him). It is what it is, no point moaning about his absence and wondering what might have been.

But we have a positive bit of news on Ramsey and Flamini:

"They come back into normal training today and tomorrow. They are nearly there, not completely there."

"Tomorrow" means "today", as the presser took place yesterday. Both haven't been out for long, so I hope both can be reinstated in the squad. Rambo is our most pressing need, we can't, it seems, carry on with Cazorla in such a deep role.

Alright, I usually try to guess, which squad Arsene will put out, but this time I decided to go about it another way: I'll give you the squad which makes most sense to ME and explain my choices. Starting with

The attack

Funny as it may sound, choosing who will play on the wings depends on whether we decide to actually play through the wings or not. If Arsene will try crowding the middle of the park, then we should pick Welbeck and Alexis once more. However, playing people in not the most natural positions to them will hardly bring about the desired effect. I don't know what position Alexis Sanchez prefers, but Welbeck is definitely not a winger and he shouldn't be used on the flank.

And so, going from the personnel we have, I'd introduce Walcott for Welbeck and Oxlade for Alexis. In case with the Chilean I just think he needs a rest. Sanchez looked absolutely knackered against Monaco. We might also ponder the idea of giving Gnabry a go, though it would be a bit controversial with a fit Walcott. However, it has to be said Theo likes to drift inside. Less so, than Welbeck, but more than Gnabry. And so the German becomes our second most natural winger after Oxlade.

Up top I definitely wouldn't play Welbeck. Bar his pace, he's inferior to Giroud in every single way. It's what Goodplaya said in this piece and I agree with it wholeheartedly. He also argued that subbing Giroud was the wrong decision, because, though the Frenchman was having an off day in terms of finishing, he was getting into the right positions. Something that Welbeck didn't. It leaves us with a question of where exactly Welbeck fits in in this Arsenal side, but that's a subject for another day.

The midfield

I've seen one too many posts recently crying to deploy Alexis in the middle, with people pointing to Sunderland and Burnley performances as the example. And to such people I say: you are insane.

Alexis is simply not the material for a №10. He is too erratic. He loses the ball a lot, fails dribbles, gets dispossessed and, most importantly, he cannot dictate the tempo of our play with his passing. The Chilean is frenetic, he often both holds onto the ball for too long or makes a rash pass. Alexis is brilliant when it comes to creating space for himself, he has an outstanding sense of positioning and his finishing ability is second to no one at Arsenal, but these are not the attributes you are looking for in a CAM.

With that settled, we can move onto the midfield and I don't see how it can be changed from the previous four games. That means another outing for Cazorla in a deeper position, something I don't like. Ideally, I'd play Ramsey alongside Coquelin. Question is, will the Welshman make it in time for the game and if he will, should he be thrown in right away? I think that if he's fit, than yes. In Wilshere's absence he's the best №8 we have.

I don't want to see Oxlade there and I don't think Rosicky in an option either. The Czech is a playmaker, not a defensive midfielder. Cazorla also isn't for that matter and that brings us back to Ramsey.

Supposing he makes it, Ozil and Cazorla will fight it out for the only position left and I don't know, who should play there, if both are fit. Cazorla is on brilliant form, but so is Ozil. Bar the Monaco game (when everyone was bad, mind you), the German had a flying return from injury. Personally, I'd pick him over Cazorla with both fit.

The back five

Monreal on the left please. Why Gibbs was picked over the Spaniard in the Champions League will forever remain a mystery to me. Nacho was (and still is) on top form, Gibbs was plucked out of the cold and asked to perform in the last sixteen. Bollocks.

Most importantly, you just don't play two romping full-backs at the same time, and so a Bellerin-Gibbs duo won't do. You can play Bellerin with a more conservative Monreal, or Chambers with Gibbs, but playing Hector and Kieran simultaneously is suicide. So bring Nacho back and keep Bellerin.

Whether we drop or keep Mertesacker for me hinges entirely on what approach we take. If it's a high pressing line like against Monaco, then Gabriel should get the nod. If we, for whatever reasons, will opt to sit back and absorb the pressure, then the German suits us better. For now, at least, till Gabriel hasn't adapted and we haven't seen what he's capable of.

Finally, the goalie. Szczesny or Ospina? Ospina had two shaky games now, but Chezza had a whole lot of these this season. If we drop Ospina after one bad performance it will send the wrong message to both keepers: that one bad game can be your last. Which is not what we want, do we? So I'd play the Colombian and see how he recovers.

The verdict

It will be tough, but we need to bounce back as quickly as possible. Everton, despite sitting just six points above the relegation zone, have a lot of quality players and they, unlike us, won their midweek game. We, right now, are a Schrodinger's cat. I really hope tomorrow shows that we are alive.

So come on you Gunners.

Back with a review on Monday

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 1-3 Monaco: blown it

"I cannot express how tired I am of seeing Arsenal struggle. Tired of analysing bad results and bad performances. Tired of us making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Tired of fighting for fourth/third every year... I badly want this to change, for Arsenal to become a major force again, but for now I see no light at the end of this long and gloomy tunnel."

This is what I said after we drew with Liverpool two months ago. And yet here I am, once again facing the task of analysing a debacle of a performance.

As you might have noticed, I'm an optimist at heart. I always hope for the best and try to find positives in every performance, however small and insignificant these may be. I do this because the opposite is simply unbearable for me. Being pessimistic (or, as some will put it, realistic) will get you nowhere and won't make your (already hard) life any easier. Such people lose the ability to see the good side of things even if it far outweighs the bad. They are constantly dissatisfied, they have nothing to look forward to and their life becomes the never-ending circle of misery and anticipation of something bad. I'm not even sure being proved right brings such people any kind of happiness. As they never predict good things they don't get the chance to enjoy these. And it takes a special kind of crazy to enjoy the bad ones.

And so I'll start with the teeny tiny positives from yesterday's game. God knows there were very few.

The good

We had moments. That's something, we've at least been able to conjure these up. They were mostly half-chances, but still there were several occasions when we should have scored. Welbeck in the 2nd minute, Cazorla when he opted to pass instead of having a go himself, Sanchez after being set up by Ozil. The crime of the first half was not hitting the target. The story continued in the second half. Our first effort on target happened in the 55th minute when Sanchez's fierce low shot stung the goalkeeper's palms. The second happened after Walcott came on for Giroud, past the 60 minutes mark, that is.

And there were some players who, while far from their best on the night, got much more stick than they deserved. I mostly have Cazorla, Ozil and Oxlade in mind. Cazorla "led all players with 72/77 passes, completed 23/27 passes in the final third, created 1 shot for a teammate, made 6/6 dribbles, 3/3 tackles, and drew 2 fouls. He also almost never turned the ball over, just 1 time, and was only dispossessed twice." The stats courtesy of @7amkickoff.

Ozil, who was once again accused of laziness, ran the most of all Arsenal players and was third in this regard overall, just behind some Monaco blokes. Oxlade, meanwhile, scored the only goal, which he did all by himself, so blaming him for losing the ball some 70 yards from goal is ingratitude at its finest. He at least tried to make something happen and, lest you forgot, it was his first game since some 6-week layoff.

The bad

Everything else was bad. Mertesacker and Giroud were just the tip of the iceberg. Not that I don't think they shouldn't be dropped after THIS, but they aren't the only people responsible.

The biggest problem for me yesterday was how we approached the game. Our mentality. We were abject the entire game, absolutely listless and disinterested. We took Monaco for granted, we thought showing up would do the trick. We did something that no team should do in the Champions League: we underestimated the opposition. And we paid the price for it. Few would argue we didn't get what we deserved yesterday. We got exactly that.

The most terrifying thing about yesterday's defeat is that we had an almost full squad. Debuchy, Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere were the only absentees, but we've played without them the whole January. We've played almost the entire season without the former two, so when we have Ramsey and Wilshere back we can say we have a fit squad.

The problem yesterday wasn't the quality of the players on the pitch (or, to be more exact, it wasn't the biggest problem), it was that nobody took responsibility. No one stepped up and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. We have a quality squad, but, paradoxically, few would argue we couldn't do better in every position. We were spineless yesterday and it wasn't the first time this season either. I can name at least two more games where we just didn't care: Borussia away and Swansea.

At times like these I really wish we had Wilshere. He wouldn't have let such a game pass the team by. He has his shortcomings, but lack of guts isn't among these. His best performance this season was against City and that's saying something. He doesn't go missing, he doesn't shy away from doing any work and, in my opinion, he should be captain. He's far better suited to the role than Arteta and Mertesacker combined.

The verdict

So what do we do now? Well, start from scratch, obviously. We play Everton in three days and we better win that game. And then the next after. And the one after that. And then we go to Monaco hoping for a goddamn miracle. Which right now seems just that.

Oh, and one last thing. While pinning all the blame on Wenger is wrong, simply because he cannot kick the ball about for his players, I have to admit that Arsene remains the common denominator in our Champions League failures. One final, one semi-final and a couple of quarter-finals in 18 years is hardly head-turning.

That's it, back on Saturday with a preview.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Monaco preview: this is our chance

Evening everyone.

European football for us Arsenal fans returns tomorrow and it's Monaco we'll have to entertain at the Emirates. The game brings back all kinds of memories for both parties. We all know Arsene trained the French outfit for seven years and it's there where he first tried his philosophy out. The diet, the training regimes, the style of football and a lot more.

But tomorrow's game leaves little room for sentiment. It's a competitive fixture (the last sixteen of the Champions League is as competitive as it gets) and should be treated as such. Any team can cause you plenty of trouble at this stage. Right now Monaco are on the way up, 4th in the league and they have one of the best defenses in both the domestic championship and in Europe.

Team news update

Well, not much has changed since our last game. Ramsey remains out, Oxlade is back in full training, though it's yet unclear whether he's fit enough to make the squad. The bad news is that Wilshere will probably sit the game out:

"The only uncertainty I have at the moment is Jack Wilshere but everybody else is available. He was rested [at training], because he trained hard until now. No, it's not a setback but I don't think [he'll play against Monaco]."

Not very encouraging. I was really counting on the Englishman for this one, but it is what it is. At least we should have Flamini back.

The back five

I'm certain Ospina, Mertesacker and Koscielny will keep their respective places. Our situation with full-backs is not this crystal clear, however. Bellerin took part in full training today, so I'd reinstate him at right-back. In the meantime, who should we play at left-back? Monreal looked a bit dodgy against Palace, but dropping him on that account would be stupid. He's been brilliant otherwise, so I suggest we field a more-or-less stable back four, the one that did so well in January.

The midfield

Really don't see something being changed here. Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere are all out so, unless we want to play a pivot of Flamini and Coquelin, any tweaking is unnecessary. Coquelin, Cazorla and Ozil are all on top form, omitting them is hardly going to do anyone any good. Moving on.

The attack

Here we have some interesting choices to make. Or, rather, AN interesting choice: should Walcott start for Welbeck? Giroud and Alexis are guaranteed starters, both are in bang form (alright, Alexis a bit less so), but might we just adopt a more attacking approach by utilising Theo on the flank?

We needed a hard defensive worker against Palace, thus Welbeck was a better option. However, I expect us to take matters into our hands tomorrow right from the start and Walcott's pace and sense of positioning can come in handy. Welbeck, while a brilliant team player, isn't such a natural finisher as Theo.

The verdict

This is our big chance to progress beyond the last sixteen for the first time in five years. We've been really unlucky with the draw recently. Barcelona in 2012, Milan in 2013, and then Bayern Munich. Twice. We were a whisker away in 2012 by beating the Catalans at the Emirates, only to then lose 3-1 at Camp Nou, suffered a humiliating defeat against Milan, but almost bounced back in the return leg, while we have shown we can beat Bayern at their turf. But all our efforts were in vain, mostly because we've put ourselves in a hard spot in the first tie already and had to fight against the odds in the second.

We mustn't repeat this mistake tomorrow. We must take the game to Monaco, we must press and suffocate them in their half. We must create as many chances as humanly possible and we must make the most of these chances. We must take as big an advantage as we possibly can to France.

So come on you Gunners. Don't screw this up.

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)