Norwich preview: all set

Morning everyone.

Today Norwich comes to the Emirates and I think it's a game we should, in our current condition, take three points from.

It remains to be seen, whether we are as good as were before the break, however. These Interlulls work both ways. Last year's, for example, came at a crucial time. We had a bad start (seven points in seven games, I think) and it was absolutely necessary to break this vicious circle. The players cane back refreshed (at least, mentally) and we set out to do what needed to be done.

This time around, international matches interrupted a fine run of games. We clearly were (hopefully, still are) at our best back then. There may still be something to cheer about, though. The last game before the break (against West Bromwich) showed our energy reserves were running low. To me it almost looked like the players were forcing themselves to play, let alone play good. They seemed physically drained, and I, for one, was glad we got a point. Our resilience, the strength of our character, our pride or whatever else kicked into full gear in the second half, almost to the extent, when we could have won the game. Almost. So, on second thought, a break from club football may not have been that useless after all.

As there are no new injures (bar the one I'll cover later) and even some players making their respective comebacks, we have a packed squad. The flank problem remains (Walcott, the first one back, is expected to join the action in two weeks), but Rosicky and Cazorla are back, meaning we still have options out wide. And let's not forget about Gnabry. He is young, true, but after the promise he showed, it's not unreasonable to view him as a genuine option. We shall see.

Apart from Rosicky and Cazorla, we also have Sagna back. He's still not quite ready for today, but he should be for our Tuesday's clash. Jenks can fill in,  meanwhile, and in him we have a quite brilliant deputy. His last game wasn't that good, but it looked like a one-off event. See Spurs game, if you're not convinced.

Ozil should also be alright, despite earlier rumours to the contrary. A knock he received to his knee in a game against Sweden turned out to be just that, a knock. So I expect him to start today.

I don't think we'll see a much changed squad from our last outing. Cazorla isn't yet ready for a start, so maybe a second half cameo for him today. We may, however, see Rosicky or Gnabry (or both) start out wide, and that leaves Arsene with a decision, concerning our midfield duo, to make. In this case, an Arteta-Ramsey pair looks the best one to me. Flaming is more defense-oriented, which might just disrupt the fluidity of our performance. He is the fresher one, however, while Ramsey played two full games for Wales. The way I see it, the manager will probably play Rosicky instead of Whilshere, and both After a and Flamini in the middle of the park.

Whatever Arsene thoughts are on the squad, it's nice to have options. Some real competition won't hurt anyone, let alone the team as a whole, so we finally have some pleasant choices to make, as to who starts, and not just pick the ones, that are available. Here's for the three points today. Come on Arsenal.

And a few words about Diaby. He was expected to be back in December, but has recently suffered a setback. Another surgery took place and now he'll be out till March. It's hard not to feel sorry for the guy on a purely human level. About is a decent chap, hardworking and honest. He really wants to play football at Arsenal, but his injures will most likely prevent him from doing so. Maybe we are looking at a premature end to his professional career not only at Arsenal. Which is very sad. The manager took steps over the years to ensure Diaby`s absence won't be missed, but it's still hard not to empathise with the Frenchman. All the luck to him.

I'll leave it at that. Back later with a review.

Interlull over. For now

Turned out I was wrong about this Interlull being the last this season, cause I completely forgot about the play-off matches. In a month another round of international games is due, which will give the players something of a breather. In the following three weeks Arsenal will play seven games across three different competitions and only Norwich this Saturday looks manageable. Sure, we're clearly on a good run (let's hope the internationals haven't disrupted it), but playing Borussia twice, Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool is a hell of a tough schedule. It will also show, what we're really worth this season, so we should be fully switched on, each and every player should.

Speaking of players, nothing short of a miracle happened during this Interlull. Though there were troubling reports of Ozil (and earlier, Koscielny) having sustained injures, both seem to be fine. Apart from these no-worries, no one is coming back sporting a knock of some kind. Even better, Cazorla, Walcott and Sagna all seem ready to join the action, with Podolski not far away. Truth be told, I'm dying to see Cazorla and Ozil in the same squad, but it probably won't happen this weekend. After most of players have put in quite a shift playing for their national sides, I think some rotation it's inevitable.

Either way, it's good to have some options on the bench and, should the aforementioned trio make their return in time for the Norwich encounter, we'll have a couple of players on the bench, who can make a difference.

When everyone is fit (unlikely, especially at Arsenal, but still) we have a big and, what's more important, competitive squad. Every single player will give no less than a hundred percent in every game, partly because there's not a Gervinho waiting in the wings but, say a Whilshere.

That's all for today, back tomorrow with squad updates and other bits and pieces that'll pop up.

Until then

West Brom review: spoils shared

Good day to you.

Yesterday we drew West Brom in a tight encounter and a point apiece was probably a fair reflection of the proceedings.

The manager pretty much stuck to the side that produced such a scintillating display against Napoli, with only Jenkinson and Whilshere coming in. The former was a forced change, while the latter got the rest he needed and substituted Rosicky, who hasn't returned to his best yet.

The first half was a rather tedious affair. We dominated possession, but couldn't make it count, while West Brom sat back, trying to hit us on the break. The first moment of real danger came when Berahino`s deflected shot nearly found the bottom corner, only for the wrong-footed Sczcesny to demonstrate superb reflexes and palm the ball away.

In the meantime, Arsenal tried to find their usual rhythm, but were unable to do so. I suspect our shortage of players finally showed.

West Brom smelled blood in the final five minutes or so and threw men forward. Their effort was rewarded in the 42nd minute, when a corner half-cleared resulted in another cross, which found Yacob. He made no mistake and headed the ball home.

The second half started in a similar style, only West Brom could have been further ahead in the 47th minute.

Jenkinson was caught out of position, Berahino`s clever through ball sent Anelka clear, only for the Frenchman to curl his effort wide of the far post. Replays didn't present a clear picture of whether on not Anelka was offside, but to me he looked onside.

This served as a wake-up call for the Gunners and we went forward with all determination we could muster.

Rosicky was trown on for Ramsey, who left the field nursing his knee, and added his usual zipness to proceedings. This resulted in a brilliant combination we pulled off around the hour mark. Ozil (I think) played the ball to Giroud, who held the ball, rounded off the defender and, when it seemed he was about to be robbed of possession, made a pass to Rosicky. The Czech, with his back to the goal, laid the ball off for Whilshere and the Englishman smashed his low effort past Myhill. The shot took a bit of a deflection, but was still a work of art from Jack.

In the final fifteen minutes, the game became open, end-to-end stuff, with chances to score for both teams. We came closer, when Whilshere`s pass split West Brom`s defense open. Giroud controlled the ball well, poked it around the keeper, and when it seemed the goal was inevitable, Myhill recovered himself and produced a stunning save to deny us the three points. Bendther came on for Giroud in the dying minutes, but wasn't able to come up with anything.

Afterwards, Arsene said about the result:
«Pleased? No because I want to win but if you ask me if it was a fair point over the 90 minutes I would say yes. Why? Because we were 1-0 down just before half-time and straight after half-time Anelka misses a chance for 2-0 and that would have made it difficult. After that I have some regrets because when we came back to 1-1 in the last half an hour we had the chances to score a second goal but we have shown spirit to come back and we did give it».

Such resilience can only be good for the team's confidence, battling from a goal down to earn a valuable point (under these circumstances), so fair play to everybody involved. They gave their all.

And just a few words about individual performances. I'd like to give the thumbs up to Szczesny and Whilshere. The Pole had another good game and was unlucky not to keep a clean sheet. His improvement from the Villa game is huge and, what's even more important, he's become consistent. Let's hope, he keeps it up, then the clean sheets would come.

Whilshere had a sloppy first half, losing possession and being knocked about all over the pitch, but he put it behind him and came flying out of the blocks for the second period. He scored, set up Giroud and was basically our best player.

And Jenkinson. Well, a poor game for him. Didn't do enough to stop Yacob from scoring, was continuously caught out of possession and his right flank was the go-to for West Brom when they attacked. The young full-back should pick himself up and produce better next time he's called upon.

So, what now? The Interlull. Fingers crossed our guys won't return in pieces after it, while the, as someone called them, walking wounded recover from their respective knocks in time for the real action.

Until later

West Brom preview: Sagna out + Whilshere stuff

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we play against WBA on their turf in what will be the last game before the international break. The last international break this season. Good. If our players return from it unscathed, the only injures they'll sustain this year will be in their club matches. Something tells me these won't be as severe and lasting as the ones they can pick up on international duty.

Sagna, however, won't have the luxury of getting his leg snapped in two during the next fourteen days, seeing as he pulled his hamstring against Napoli. The Frenchman will remain sidelined for two to three weeks, but still has a good chance to play in our first game after the Interlull (is it against Norwich?)

Anyway, we should be able to cope with Sagna loss for now (with Jenkinson getting ready to join the action). Certainly we can go one game without the French international, so nothing to worry about.

Another piece of bad news concerns Cazorla. Despite his claims, that he'll be in contention for Sunday, he won't. The manager flat-out denied Cazorla`s availability, so what we have for now, we hold. Whether Arsene is playing mind games with Del Bosque remains to be seen, but I'd back our manager if he does. Even had the Spaniard been fully ready, I would not have risked him. Fresh from injury, that has kept him out for three weeks, in for a flight and a late cameo, which will probably only aggravate his injury (it doesn't have to, but it will). Not a good prospect. Spain will manage without him, but we will be hard pressed, should we lose Cazorla again. So he should stay put. Better miss an encounter against WBA now, than the slew of important games after the break.

Everyone else, though, should be gunned and ready for our trip to the Hawthorns. They are a tricky opponent, surely, but we've dispatched trickier ones this season. Napoli game looks like our best yet, so I see no reason, why we shouldn't take all the three points on Sunday. Ozil has opened his scoring account, Giroud rediscovered his earlier form, Ramsey is, well, Ramsey. At his best.

I'm also interested, whether Gnabry will start. Rosicky`s return gave us an option on the flanks, but Gnabry is, without doubt, more suited to this position. He's also in good form, something you can't say about Rosicky for now. So I think the German needs to play.

In other news, Whilshere was spotted having a smoke yesterday. All kinds of theories and statements have been thrown around since then, but it's not the fact itself (smoking) that makes my blood boil. I'm pretty sure it was a prank of some kind, but even if it wasn't, I'm outraged at how little privacy footballers get. I do get they are public figures, maybe role models, but the fact, that someone managed to take a shot of Whilshere having a smoke, cause they could only operate at very short notice, disgusts me.

After all, Jack is 20 years old (maybe even 19). Give the guy a rest, a moment's peace, some privacy. Don't hold your cameras at the ready, when he pops up at the nearest nightclub. The picture without a context can give a wrong impression, and I think that's exactly what's happening now.

Other than that, not much going on, so I'll leave it at that. Here's hoping for three points tomorrow, so we'll go into the break on a high.

Until later

Napoli review: Özilmandias

Good day to you.

Tuesday evening saw us take on Napoli, and, whatever I was expecting from the game, this was not it. It's not so much about the victory, rather the style we pulled it off with. Arsenal were in control of the situation for the entire game and I cannot recall any moment of danger near our own goal.

Arsene made a couple of changes to the side that played against Swansea, with Rosicky coming in for Whilshere and Arteta substituting Gnabry. The last one wasn't as straightforward as the first and saw Ramsey move to the right flank.

The hosts played in full gear right from the start and our two-goal lead by the quarter of the hour mark was as deserved as it gets.

The first move saw Sagna flick a pass towards Giroud, who chested the ball down and kept the defender at bay, all the while waiting for Ramsey`s run. The Welshman didn't disappoint and mere seconds later cut the ball across goal. At first I thought he mistimed his pass, but then I saw Ozil running towards the ball completely unmarked. His first-time shot from the edge of the penalty box swerved past Reina and into the net.

The German celebrated his first goal for Arsenal with gusto, but the combination itself should not be forgotten in the light of this goal. I especially liked how Giroud did the bulk of the job flawlessly, thus setting up Ramsey.

The second goal came seven minutes later, this time Giroud being the scorer. We capitalized on Napoli`s mistake from the throw-in, which saw Giroud take possession in their half and make a quick pas to Ozil. The latter made a run towards the byline, waited till Giroud got into a good position and executed a return pass. All that was left for the Frenchman, was to poke the ball home.

After that the game calmed down. We probed till the half-time whistle came, Ramsey driving the team forward, but the third goal didn't come. Napoli, in the meantime, were listless, unable to wake from their coma and restricted to shots from distance.

The second half wasn't much more interesting, than the thirty minutes leading to it. Napoli played with more purpose, but were still a long way from scoring. We sparked the game up occasionally on counter attacks and were actually much closer to scoring a third, than Napoli their first. Ozil stood out, his delivery from corners and free-kicks creating opportunities. We didn't take them, but it didn't matter in the end. The game petered out and we took the the points.

The manager summed it up nicely during the press conference, saying we went for it, got  what we wanted and calmed down, content to let Napoli move it around.

A really great win, we now top the group with six points. 180 minutes against Borussia to follow.

In other news, Wenger seems to have been offered a new contract which, if signed, could see him remain at the helm till 2017. On the back of some outstanding performances it looks well placed, but Arsene himself was quick to play down any talk, saying he's got to prove his worth first. Here we go round the merry-go-round. The matter has been discussed at length already, so I'll leave it at that.

Until later