Cardiff preview: go for it

Hello.

In a few hours time Arsenal will face Cardiff at their turf in what seems to be a tough fixture.

The Welsh side currently occupy fifteenth position in the table, but I don't think they can be underestimated. After all, they've beaten City to grab their first win of the campaign and went on to, quite fairly, draw United. If they turn up with a right attitude, it'll be a dangerous team to be up against.

Then again, we are also no pushovers. We've garnered 25 points from the last 10 league games, with the only defeat against a shabby United side. Not bad at all.

What is more, our defense is no longer leaky and error-prone. The thing has been mentioned numerous times already, but the league points were dropped because we were unable to conjure anything up front, rather than our because of our inclination to shoot ourselves in the foot.

Having a keeper in bang form also helps. Though our defensive abilities have been polished to almost a perfect state, it's just plain impossible to deprive the opposition (however bad they play) from all chances to score. And that's where Szscesny comes in. Just look at the importance and timing of the saves he pulled off even this week (against Southampton and Marseille) and we cannot hope for more. In an interesting twist, the Pole's outing against Marseiile happened to be his 125th game for the club and his 50th clean sheet. It's not quite every second of his games is a clean sheet, but it's impressive nonetheless. You can delve into the history of Arsenal's best goalkeepers to get some context.

Back to Cardiff, however. We have no new injures (thank God) and even Gibbs back. He's missed out due to some illness, but the important thing is, that he's back in contention. That probably means Kieran will start and Monreal will replace Gnabry on the bench. It's a bit of a shame we didn't see see more of the German, but I guess it's still early days for him. The signs of him becoming a good footballer are there, he was tied down to a new contract, so I expect to see more of him in a year or two. But not just yet, it seems.

However, I won't be too surprised, should Monreal start the game. He's played well against Marseille, his cameos as basically a left winger throughout the season were solid and his first goal for Arsenal was scored against a Welsh side, though it wasn't Cardiff.

All in all, Wenger will have his hands full, trying to figure out, whom to start and whom to bench, but it's better than having guys like Chamakh or Arshavin as the only real alternatives. It's even better, than having a bunch of kids (however promising) in reserve.

The midfield is the most crowded area right now, so I can't even bother to guess, who'll play where. It's Giroud up front and probably a Flamini-Arteta duo at the base, but that's about it. I may even be mistaken about Flamini. Or Arteta.

So, plenty of quality in this side to do the job. If we get a win, our lead at the top will extend to 7 points, seeing as how almost every one of our rivals plays tomorrow (some of them play against each other, which is very satisfying). But we are in a position, where we can afford to only care about how we play. Beautiful, isn't it?

Here's for the win today and I wish you all a very happy weekend. Until later

Arsenal 2-0 Marseille: almost through

Hi everyone.

Our fine form continued on Tuesday with yet another emphatic win. Though it never felt like Marseille were in the game, I do wonder, idly, how much of this was our work. It was another complete defensive performance from Arsenal, this time coupled with a scintillating attacking display.

Three changes were introduced to the side that have scraped out a result against Southampton: Monreal for Gibbs, Flamini for Arteta and Rosicky for Cazorla. Gibbs was, according to the reports "unwell", so Nacho was named in the starting line-up. It remains to be seen to what extent, if any, the Englishman will be used against Cardiff, but we have a capable and willing replacement in Monreal.

As for the other two, I think Cazorla is still finding his feet, but in a game like this it was important to set the tempo right from the start, so Rosicky seemed an obvious choice. As for Arteta, I think the Spaniard just needed a rest. He's played a lot of minutes recently and, as we have a slew of important games coming up in the next couple of weeks, our skipper was consigned to only a late cameo.

These changes, however, didn't affect the fluidity of our game, and within 30 seconds Arsenal were ahead. Sagna spotted Whilshere making a run down the right flank and played a through ball. Whilshere got himself into the box, sidestepped the defender and curled a beautiful shot into the far corner. Such a fine piece of play from Jack reminded me of Messi. Hard to pull off, yet beautiful and seemingly easy.

After that, Arsenal took full control of the situation. We could have doubled our lead easily by the end of the first half, first when Mandanda saved Ramsey's low shot, and then through a penalty.

Ramsey fooled the defender on the edge of the box, was bundled over and the ref pointed to the spot. Ozil took the kick, but his unimpressive effort was parried away by Mandanda. I didn't like the look of Ozil getting ready to take the penalty right from the start and when he stopped in front of the ball it was crystal clear to me that he wouldn't score. Unfortunately, I was right.

This didn't affect our confidence, as we continued pouring men forward right up to the second goal, which came in the 65th minute. In all that time, Marseille created only one half-chance, but Gignac's poor close-quarters control ensured the chance was wasted.

In the 65th minute we scored. Giroud held the play up on the flank, Ramsey found Ozil in the box and the German fired a low cross across the goal. Whilshere was on the receiving end of it and sent the ball home cooly to mark his first brace for Arsenal.

After that, we fell back, satisfied with an honest day's work, which could have backfired, had Szczesny not been our goalkeeper. Thauvin, who came on as a second-half substitute, found some space in the box, but his shot was partially saved by the Pole, to then be cleared off the line by Monreal. Minutes later, Thauvin nearly avenged this, but Szczesny got a big hand to his goalbound effort to stop it from going in.

We had the final say in this game however, as first Cazorla and then Walcott fired wide when they really should have done better. Their wastefulness didn't affect the points we got, they got some match sharpness (something they came on to do),so end of story.

Incredibly, this win didn't ensure our  qualification, as Borussia has beaten Napoli 3:1. The goal difference is such, however, that only a loss by a three-goal margin or greater can see us kiss the knockout stages goodbye, so basically, we are almost through.

What makes the situation even more incredible, is that all other English teams have qualified with a game to spare. Chelsea will play in the last sixteen despite having only nine points and losing to Basel twice, United (with eleven points) will go through from the first place and City, with twelve points, can fight for the first place, while being miles ahead of the third.

Anyway, I don't think we'll go Naples to just avoid a defeat, we'll want to keep our momentum going in-between important league fixtures but, you know, anything can happen. Let's just ensure it won't happen to us.

Until later

Marseille preview: in control

Hello.

Tonight we take on Merseille in the Champions League and a win, coupled with Borussia dropping points will see us qualify. It's hard to tell, what the odds of Borussia losing points are, but they definitely have a more complex task at their hands, than we do.

Marseille is sitting at the bottom of this group having acquired a grand total of zero points, but that doesn't mean we should underestimate them. They have lost only one game by more than a goal margin at the final whistle, so they are no pushovers. Marseille can consider themselves quite unlucky, in fact (and rightly so), because under different circumstances they would have been fighting for qualifying from the group. A harsh draw ensured they'll go out, but no one can say, that they did so without a fight.

At this level, basically any team can punish you for becoming complacent. Wenger and Cazorla are both right, when they warn their teammates against taking the opposition lightly. In order to achieve a necessary result we should give our all. Marseille have nothing to lose and this makes them dangerous. They are a quality side, after all, so it's not like they can't hurt us. We shouldn't fool ourselves by thinking that just turning up for the game will do the trick.

But I don't think we will. Wenger and Co are right, when they point out our defensive maturity. We know we can beat literally anyone, when we are on our game, but it's the other component, which has been missing for years, that now seems to be there. Namely, what we do, when our game doesn't click. Over the last couple of seasons, too many points have been lost, when we found ourselves unable to find our usual rhythm. Now, however, we retrace our steps, defend in an organised and disciplined way and just wait for our chance to come along. When we cannot win a game, we set out not to lose it. And it works. Time and again.  Sometimes we do not win, but the number of times we have lost a game, while adopting this style of play, since Bayern encounter is minimal.

I see no reason though, why we shouldn't click tonight. We have a strong starting XI, a packed bench and no one out from our Saturday game. With Flamini back, Bendtner will be our weakest link in this squad. And he's not that bad.

I expect the Frenchman to start the game alongside Arteta (who is, mercifully, all right), with probably Ramsey out wide. It's not that obvious, though, cause Whilshere had a very good game. And let's not forget about Walcott, who's much more of a flank player than Ramsey, Whilshere or even Cazorla.  A selection headache for Arsene, but of a pleasant sort, for a change.

So here's for the three points later today and, should results go our way, qualification from this nightmarish group.

Back tomorrow (Thursday, at most) with a review. Until then

Arsenal 2-0 Southampton: some more good stuff

Hi.

On Saturday we have increased our lead to four points in total, after having beaten Southampton in a convincing fashion. It turned out to be a game of few chances, but the difference between the sides was the number of individual errors. Southampton made several, while we made none, hence the final result.

For the first time in several months, our lack of squad depth was barely noticeable. Mertesacker and Rosicky overcame the effects of the flu, Whilshere was all right, despite some reports to the contrary and Walcott made his long-awaited comeback, though only as a sub. Which is understandable, given how long he was out. The only absentee (apart from long-termers) was Flamini, who missed out due to amassing five yellow cards.

The first half saw us start brightly, taking matters into our hands right from the start. We dominated possession and territory and should have been 2-0 up by the 20th minute.

First Whilshere hit the post with a chip from a narrow angle and several minutes later Ramsey`s beautiful backheel shot rebounded of the same post.

The goal would come from a surprising mistake by Boruc. The Pole failed to clear his lines in time, instead trying to dribble his way around Giroud. The Frenchman took it in his stride, deprived Boruc of the ball and poked it into the empty net. While the goalkeeper`s mistake was silly and completely avoidable, thumbs up to Giroud, who forced that error. He's always willing to press the goalkeeper and sometimes it pays.

Southampton now needed to come forward in order to savour something from this game, and they did so enthusiastically. Twice the Saints went close to scoring and both times they were denied by brilliant Szczesny. Lallana and Rodriguez tested our keeper in turns, but Wojciech was equal to it. Great stuff from our newly-signed goalie.

In the second half, the game basically died down. Southampton poked and probed, but were held at arm's length by a disciplined Arsenal side. The Gunners, meanwhile, sat back, content to let then come at us. Whether we didn't quite find our rhythm, defended our slender lead or saved the energy for the midweek fixture is unclear, but we never looked even remotely troubled by the Saints attempts to equalise. Szczesny dealt brilliantly with the little work thrown his way, dominating his area and easily parrying a couple of distance shots.

In the 82nd minute we sealed the game. Rosicky swung in a corner, Mertesacker was held back and the ref pointed to the spot. Both Arteta and Ozil were substituted by then, so Giroud stepped up and grabbed his second. By then, though, it was truly game over.

After the game, Arsene said:

"I am convinced that after a break like that, the character is tested. Can you win when you have to in a season like that, straightaway again after a big defeat [to Manchester United]? That was really at stake for us".

Once again, we showed our character. Our game didn't click the way it's supposed to, yet we've got all the three points in a convincing way. Szczesny had a big contribution to make, but the team as a whole dug deep and helped the Pole on his way to another clean sheet. We tried not to concede and take the few chances we had and pulled it off. Again. Gotta love it.

Though City and Chelsea had won (the former beating Tottenham to a pulp), a draw in the Merseyside derby ensured we increase our gap from the second-placed Liverpool.

The only worry is Arteta. We was substituted in the latter stages after suffering a knock of some kind, so fingers crossed it's nothing serious.

Enjoy the win and I'll be back tomorrow with Marseille preview.

Southampton preview: back on track

Morning everyone.

Real football returns tomorrow, as the main surprise of the season visits the Emirates. Southampton sit in third place and trail us by only three points after eleven games. It's the kind of opposition that is dangerous to underestimate, especially as their relative success is not coincidental. They have beaten Liverpool and drawn United away from home so anything less than full concentration can see us drop a couple of points.

Thankfully, we have Walcott back in contention, for the first time in two months. He can offer something different to our usual set up, because of his willingness to make runs behind defenders and to generally play a more straightforward game. He's not another flippy-flappy, tippy-tappy midfielder, seeking an opportunity for a perfect pass. He's more goal-driven and for me he's basically a second striker, more valuable for his finishing skills, than for his passing game.

Theo may even provide a genuine alternative for Giroud. Again, his style of play is different to that of the Frenchman, but didn't we bemoan exactly that in several games? So it's definitely good, that he's back. Theo is still more likely to be deployed on the right, but his qualities won't just disappear because of it. Bottom line is, we'll just be able to rotate our midfielders because of Walcott's return.

As for the others injured, things aren't looking that good. The closest to full fitness is Podolski, but he's still the weeks away. The Ox, a month. Diaby, well, never.

Even with these out, we are still much better off than, say, a month ago. Arsene will finally be able to adequately fill both the starting eleven and the bench and this time there will be some genuine options on it. Someone that really can impact how the game unfolds. God we need this transfer window now, before anyone else is injured.

This is a game we can and must take three points from, though. We have the players, we play at home and we need a response to the United defeat. It's a pity we couldn't get one straight away, but where would the fun be in that?

In other news, Gibbs and Szczesny spoke up during this tedious Interlull. The Englishman talked about our (quite obvious) defensive improvement, saying that the whole team takes their respective defensive duties seriously. He also mentioned a high defensive line we adopt in order to retake possession of the ball immediately after losing it. Great, great, but nothing groundbreaking.

The Pole meanwhile, said we will able to challenge for the title even without new additions. While we do need to boost at least our striker options, Szczesny has a point.

He's talking about the spirit inside the team, rather than our transfers. Our mentality of winners, if I may. For the last year or so, our team really looks like a team, fighting for each other, grinding out results in unfavourable circumstances. There one thing, though. Comebacks. We rarely come from behind to win games. Though I hate United, but even last year the best indicator of their strength was the number of comebacks they have pulled off. We need to try and match it, if we want to be successful.

Not sure there'll be a post tomorrow, but check back, in case something pops up.

Until later