Swansea review: a worthy replacement

Good day everyone.
Saturday saw us win 9th straight game this season and 12th in a row away game. What made the result even more satisfying, is the fact that we retained the top spot in the league, while a blunder from Spurs ensured we are now two points clear.
It was a day of surprises, because not only did Tottenham share the spoils with Chelsea, but both clubs from Manchester lost their respective games. After that, BBC was quick to note, that the last time Arsenal were eight points ahead of United was in 2005. The day kept getting better.
September 28th marked another occasion. It was on this day that Arsene Wenger joined the club 17 years ago. Later the man has noted, that a win was better than any cake. And while I think, he could have both things, I'm still joyous at how committed Arsene is to our cause.
The first 45 minutes were rather dull. Swansea was dominating possession, but chances were few and far between. The closest they came was when Michu seemingly left the ball in play, only for some bloke to squander the opportunity to send the ball into an empty goal. The linesman, however, raised the flag seconds earlier, to signal that the ball did indeed went out of play. Replays proved him right.
Other than that, Szczesny dealt with everything thrown his way (which mostly came down to claiming crosses) with composure and relative ease.
Our best (and probably only) good chance came in the dying moments of the half, when Gnabry sent Giroud clear, only for the Frenchman to roll the ball wide from a devastating position. I'm not inclined to blame him, however, cause a couple of minutes prior to this opportunity, Giroud went down in pain, nursing his ankle. The moment was made even scarier, when Bendtner started warming up. Luckily, it didn't go beyond this.
The second half wasn't much better for the first ten minutes or so, but we did have more of the ball this time around. The goal came basically from nowhere, and I was as surprised as Swansea defenders were. Giroud miscontrolled pass fell to Ramsey, but the Welshman seemed ready for such a surprise.
He slid a pass for the onrushing Gnabry, whose first-time shot found the bottom corner. Truth be told, such a finish reminds me of Theo Walcott at his best. The timing of the run, the quality of his finish and the relative ease, with which Gnabry converted his chance didn't suit his young looks at all. He didn't look like a youngster, fresh out of the academy, rather a seasoned pro. His unconstrained joy at proving his worth was all the more welcome.
The next frenetic five minutes saw Ozil spurn a wonderful opportunity after Ramsey set him up, before the Welshman took matters in his own hands.
Aaron flicked a pass towards Whilshere, continued his run and, after some fancy backheel passing from Giroud, was set up nicely to smash the ball into the roof of the net. It marked 8th goal for Ramsey this season. I've run out of superlatives to describe how brilliant Aaron is this season. He is in out-of-this-world-good form.
After that, we kept the tempo of the play down, basically gave the ball away and seemed content to let Swansea come at us. The overwhelming sense of confidence in our back four, complemented by Flamini`s and later Arteta`s presence played a bad joke with our clean sheet in the end.
The warning signs were there alright, first when Dyer lashed out a low shot, which Szczesny had to go full-stretch to palm away and then Whilshere gifted Bony a chance, which he, mercifully, wasted.
The goal came in the 81th minute. Davies stormed down our right flank, passed the ball to Bony, kept running, received the return pass and sent the ball into the net. Sagna is partly guilty of this goal, by letting Davies make the run in the first place, but honestly, it was a good combination from Swansea, so let's give them credit where it's due.
After that, they did their best to find an equaliser, but never came close and we snatched all the three points in the end.
Once again we saw a side of our game, which isn't all that attractive, but necessary to achieve results. We played well on counter-attacks, took the few chances we had, and dug in defensively the rest of the time. It's very pleasing to witness us deliver performance after performance with that level of defensive discipline and commitment. It bodes well for the future.
The manager expressed his delight at the current form of the team, while also picking out Gnabry and Ramsey. Enough has been said about the latter, but it's interesting to see Wenger express such confidence, that the young German is ready to step up and play on a regular basis. Once Rosicky and Cazorla return, it leaves a dilemma for Arsene to solve, namely: who should be dropped from the first team. We're not quite there yet, but Gnabry had certainly proved he can play on the flank week in, week out.
That's it for today, back tomorrow for Napoli preview

Swansea preview: keep at it

Good day to you.
In a few hours time we take on Swansea in what will be our second away game this week.
No doubt those who featured in the cup game will play little to no role this time. Which is understandable. It's those, who were rested, that should be the ones doing the job this time around. On this front, the news is mostly good. There were some doubts over Flamini and Ramsey, but both seem ready to start the game.
The ones, who already were injured, though, cause some concern. Cazorla won't make it before the break, Rosicky will only return on Monday and still has a question mark over his head, when it comes to picking him for the Napoli game. Walcott is the worst of the lot. As you may remember, only a day or two ago he seemed ready to join the action in two weeks. Now it's three to five weeks for him on the sidelines.
It really is a blow, especially since it's not clear, when Podolski makes his comeback. In the meantime, Gnabry seems to be our best option, but his participation in today's game is out of question. Who can we substitute him with? The way I see it, there are two options. Either Monreal as a left winger with Whilshere on the right, or it's Ozil on the right, Whilshere on the left and an Arteta-Ramsey-Flamini trio in the middle of the park. If the latter's the case, than Ramsey will have to play under the striker.
I gotta say, the second variant looks a better one. We won't have to stretch Monreal to the limit (a full game on Wednesday, remember?), plus the Spaniard is not really a winger. Neither is Whilshere, but here you go. We don't exactly have a couple of flank players queuing up for the game.
Though our squad is a bit light on options, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect us to win this game. Our recent form had been brilliant, our away form even better and Swansea isn't Chelsea or United. They too had a cup game, so both parties are in roughly the same conditions. It's not easy to take points on their stadium, never was, but we have reasons enough to be optimistic. Come on you reds.
In other news, Kroenke had recently spoke up and, once again, expressed his desire for Wenger to stay, saying our manager`s got the right vision and values in mind. Wenger himself was quick to play down any talk about contract extension, so we'll have to wait for something more solid, before we put the hands together for our new-old manager.
Kroenke has also aired his intention to win the Premier League, going on to say it's a "cool" thing to experience. Not only for him would it be cool, mind you.
Another point he raised, was about his laissez-faire attitude to running our football club, stating it's not going to change, cause pumping money can lead not only to positive things.
I always liked our self-sustaining model, but it wasn't it most fans were angry about. It was about Kroenke giving too much power to our manager, and the consequences it can lead to. Luckily it didn't lead to anything bad, though it didn't look like it on August 30th.
It's just further confirmation, that while Kroenke is the majority shareholder, things aren't going to change. For better or for worse. If you're interested, you can read the interview in full here, here and here.
Until later

Some thoughts on the game + squad condition

Morning everyone.
Yesterday we played West Bromvich Albion in Capital One Cup and proved victorious. Whether a win in a penalty shoot-out counts as a win, I don't know, so it's hard to say, whether we just extended our away winning streak to 11 games or not. Either way we are through to the next round, which will see us host Chelsea. Not an easy one, but we can put it out of our minds for the time being.
As a game was, forgive me, so insignificant, no one cared to air it, so no real preview and review from me was possible. As expected, the manager played a youthful side, with only Mertesacker starting his second game inside four days. Flamini was an unused sub, while the likes of Vermaelen, Monreal and Arteta, who have recently lacked practice, all started. The rest of the team was made up of youngsters, though we did see Bendtner pull on an Arsenal shirt for the first time since 2011.
WBA yielded a stronger side, but the whole affair was still a tedious one and it lasted for more than two hours. Glad we won, though, our unbeaten (at least) run continues. Here's what Arsene had to say after the game. In a nutshell, he talked about how important it was to give young players a chance, while also resting some senior players. He also talked about Bendther, and was mostly positive. He did mention some chance the Dane missed, but apart from that, all good.
The most important part was, for me, resting our key players. While promoting young talents is undoubtedly important, giving Whilshere and Co a much needed breather was just pivotal. Even more so, knowing how shallow or squad is due to injures, which hit us. I already said we may count ourselves unlucky, but Walcott`s knock looks like a last straw. We now officially don't have any flank players, so I don't know, what happens next. Seems, Gnabry is in for some starts, which is ridiculous, given the status of our Club.
Walcott`s injury doesn't seem long-term, though, which gives us some hope. He will miss up to two weeks, which really isn't that much. An operation is due, but fingers crossed, he's in for a swift recovery
Some other returns are also on the books, with Rosicky, Cazorla and Podolski all set to join the first-team action in a week or two. They can actually make their comeback in time for the Napoli game, which means they are only two games away. We'll surely have more info on this before the Swansea encounter.
And finally, FA has warned Flamini for his unsporting behavior during the game against Stoke. I never noticed anything back then, but it turned out, Flamini threatened to knock out one of the Orcs (Wilson?), after the latter's yet another foul on Whilshere. I'm mentioning this episode not because I think Flamini was wrong, on the contrary. He stuck up to Whilshere, and that is a truly great thing he's done. All summer we thought we needed someone to protect Whilshere and here's the man for the job. He may not be your typical DM, but it doesn't matter. Well done Mattieu.
Until later

Stoke review: the lucky number

Yesterday Arsenal`s winning streak continued with yet another emphatic performance, which left us in no doubt as to which of the teams was the best.
The big news ahead of the game was Walcott`s unexplained absence. Turned out the Englishman sustained a abdominal/ pelvis injury during the warm-up and had to give way to Serge Gnabry for his debut. The German thus became the second-youngest player making a debut for us in the league, with Whilshere occupying the first position. And, in all fairness, the young winger didn't disappoint. TGSTEL and Arteta, meanwhile, were named among the substitutes.
We started brightly enough, and such a start made sure it were the hosts who took the lead. In the 5th minute Whilshere was bundled over just outside the 18-yard box, Ozil took the ensuing free kick and his low  curler was only just palmed away by Begovic. It was, however, not the end of the story, as Ramsey was first to send home the rebound right under the arm of Stoke`s keeper. 1:0.
After that the game calmed down a bit and the visitors took advantage of that. Their dip-dip-dip approach has yielded positive results, when a lob pass found Ragnatovich (or some similar surname) at the far post, who smashed his effort against the post. Cameron was the quickest to get to the ball and send it into the bottom corner. 1:1 and we had to start all over again.
Which we did with all the vigor we could master. A corner in the 32nd minute saw Mertesacker nearly convert, only for the ball to be cleared off the line. This, however, didn't serve as a lesson to Stoke and four minutes later they paid the price.
Ozil once again took the inswinging corner, Mertesacker won the aerial duel and this time his headed effort found the back of the net to make it 2:1. We puffed and huffed for the remainder of the first half, but nothing came out of this effort.
After the restart Stoke took the initiative in their hands, had a much greater share of the ball and few would have complained, had they found the equaliser they were searching for. Szscesny made some decent saves to prevent that, though and in the 72nd minute we scored a goal, which was against the run of play, but it was a totally welcome one.
Ozil was, once again, the supplier when his cross from a free kick found Sagna in the box. The Frenchman headed the ball in a wide arc towards the far corner and Begovic could only helplessly watch the ball land into the net.
In the remaining minutes Stoke tried to lessen the margin between the two sides, but it could only have widened even more, when Ramsey`s shot was tipped over the bar by Begovich.
A win well deserved, props to Ozil, who made that win possible, but some things caught my attention.
First (and the most noticeable one) was the style of play Stoke adopted. They kept the ball on the ground as much as possible and their usual tactic of lumping it forward was clearly abandoned. It was interesting to see them play a completely different style of football and being better off for it.
The second thing is how we saw the game out in the second half, after our exhaustion kicked in. We gave the ball away, but were basically in no danger of conceding at any point. Great to see, we can do that.
After the game the manager hailed the team for doing so well and getting the results inside seven days. It truly was a hard week and the fact that we took all the points speaks of our mental fortitude and a will to succeed. Now we should just keep it up.
Have yourselves a good Monday (or what is left of it). Back tomorrow (I hope), when we start looking ahead to our midweek cup game against West Brom.

Stoke preview: rotation

Good evening everyone.
Tomorrow the Orcs come to the Emirates and while we are on a strong run, I don't think Stoke can be underestimated. They present a problem every time we face them and I doubt a manager swap changed that greatly.
Last year we got four points from two encounters and though I do not recall Stoke having chances to win either game, their defensive line is something to beware. The Orcs usually park the bus, when sensing any danger and we all now how hard it is to get around a defense, which consist of ten people.
But a solution may be a simple one, albeit it also being risky. We may give the ball away, let the Orcs come to us and hit them on the break. We have plenty of players, who can hurt the opposition on counter-attack and should we pull it off correctly, we may be well out of sight by half-time.

Question is, does Wenger want to deploy such a strategy before Arsenal's own fans? We are the favourites, after all, a team on top of our game. After today's blunder from Liverpool, a win would suffice to elevate us (deservedly so) to the top spot. How will the fans take it, when their team behaves as underdogs at home, facing a much weaker (on paper) opponents?
Anyway, it's a problem the manager will have to wrap his head about (if he hadn't done this already) and we'll see, what shape the game will take in less than 24 hours. For me, counter-attacking may well be a better solution, because our defensive department is not that light at the moment. After the manager has confirmed, only Arteta will return to the squad, ahead of Stoke game (plus Bendther for our midweek encounter with WBA), we are still short on attacking options. The next one coming back is Cazorla, but we won't see him in action before the international break. Should we utilise a defensive strategy for the next five games? Will we still be getting positive results, if we do so?
We all know, how the manager likes to adopt an aggressive style of play, and I don't think, he'll change it every time a couple of players go down. Last year was the exception, because our defence was a more cohesive unit, than our attack, thus we had to rely on our back four to keep a clean sheet, while trying to get the maximum out of our few chances up front. It worked, but it wasn't a pretty picture at all, as we were cacking our pants till the final whistle of the final match.
This time around, our attack looks much better, much more capable of the style of play, Wenger loves so much and only something disastrous will see him revert to what we saw during the run-in. The team has grasped, what the balance of play should be and, it seems, there's no going back. Which may be a good thing.
In terms of team news, Arteta is the only new face and, if he really returned to full fitness, I expect him to start alongside Ramsey. Their partnership was key to our successful run-in, now it will also present a much more potent force, when it comes to going forward. Ramsey's phenomenal progress, which allows him to effectively carry out his duties at both ends of the pitch, will see to it.
While I don't have anything against Flamini continuing at our DM position, Arteta, as the manager rightly pointed out, is a leader and we need him. He brings that inexplicable calmness to our proceedings, while also making our midfield work like clock, minimising the errors in passing and such. I say start him, if he's ready.
Apart from that, I don't expect much rotation (surprised, eh?), but the players we have are more than capable of getting the three points. Time to improve our home stats.
Until later