Archive for the ‘Team News’ Category

We’ve been on a great run in recent games, and before the Marseille game, we’d won 8 of the previous 9 games. We all know that the Marseille game was “one of those games” – we missed chances, we were tired and we didn’t quick click. Today, we play West Brom at the Emirates and it’s a must win game. We need the points and we’re at home.

At the Emirates last season, it’s didn’t quite go to script and 3-0 down, we managed to end the game at 2-3, but a loss was a loss and a loss to a beatable team at home… it was good… but this time round, it has to be different, we’re on a better run of form and I think we’re conscious of the game in a different way. We’ve been getting better recently and the team is starting to gel. Despite the injuries, we’ve got a decent squad and now, with Vermaelen back from injury, our back line should get stronger. Long term absentees, Sagna, Gibbs, Diaby and Wilshere are of course missing, but Arsene has a full compliment of other players to choose from… (Chamakh has a mystery knee injury)… the team is likely to be:

Szcznesy

Jenkinson – Koscielny – Vermaelen – Santos

Arteta – Song

Walcott – Ramsey – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Djourou, Mertersacker, Rosicky, Arshavin, Benayoun, Park

There is a good vibe around the squad and the boss spoke about the recent increase in team spirit…

“I have enjoyed it very much [over the past few weeks] because I have felt the spirit in the dressing room was good and that the team would do absolutely everything to get out of [our situation]. It was tough because we didn’t win games but it was enjoyable because you could feel the core strength of the team was very positive. However you never know in my job. It’s like being on a boat which goes across the world. You never know when the next storm will come.”

Personally, I think we shot ourselves in the feet with our transfer dealings, timing of our player recruitment and lack of season preparation, but we’re starting to see a different team. I’ve been impressed with the increase of quality of certain individuals – Arteta and Song for me have really improved this season and Gervinho is showing some excellent signs of quality. Mix it all up and the win’s have come through and the confidence is rising!

It’s been a massive turn around and we’ve got the second best form in the league at the moment, behind Man City – and in Arsene’s press conference, he was asked about the possibility of a title tilt. For me, his answer was right – let’s focus on the game in front of us and then take it from there…

“It is too early to say that,” said the manager. “If we win a few more games, why not? At the moment I do not think we are far enough to say that. We are only three points behind Chelsea but we need a strong period and Manchester City need a weaker period which they are not having at the moment. At the moment, we are not near enough to say we are playing for the championship but we want to come back. We are back already in a position where we can aspire to be in the top four. We were not three weeks ago. Mathematically we are not out of it but you have to be closer to speak about it. We are 12 points behind Man City and that is too much. So for us, let’s be humble and progressive.”

Being progressive starts with the game today…

Come on you Gooners…

Until tomorrow…

After the thrilling encounter at the bridge against Chelsea, our attentions must turn to Marseille. A fortunate win against the French side away means we top the group with 7 points. A win against Marseille today at the Emirates will see us rise to 10 points, which will qualify us for the next round. We’d have to then pick up another 2 points from the remaining two games to ensure we’re first… but first thing is first, let’s try our best to get the three points tonight…

Against Marseille, we were lucky to come away with three points due to the pressure the home team put on us, but then again you make your own luck… and we capitalised on our chances through Aaron Ramsey – whose eye for goal could be a very good blessing in disguise – he’s confident he can score double figures – which I would love him to do – especially if Gervinho, Walcott and Arteta can also do the same! Arsene singled out the progress of Aaron Ramsey yesterday and proclaimed that there is much more to come:

“He is on the way up. We speak about Robin van Persie but Aaron was out for one year when he was just getting into the team. That is tremendous. It is completely normal that he improves now because he is young. And there is still a lot of improvement for him. Secondly he is back to his full physical potential which is huge. We see that when we analyse the games. The worry we had is that he might be touched by being out for such a long time when it comes to the challenges. I have been impressed by the way he dealt with the whole situation.”

Over to the team news and despite the importance of the game, I think Arsene will still rest & rotate a little bit. We know Chamakh is out of the squad with a knee injury and I’d expect Park to come in and replace him; well, I expect Park to start and Van Persie to be rested, but we will see what happens. It may be an opportunity for Vermaelen to come back into the team, so my line up is as follows:

Szcznesy

Jenkinson – Koscielny – Vermaelen – Santos

Rosicky – Song

Walcott – Ramsey – Arshavin

Park

With a bench of Fabianski, Djourou, Mertersacker, Arteta, Frimpong, Gervinho, Van Persie

The reason I’ve included Rosicky in the starting line up is down to the sheer number of games that Arteta has played in a row recently and this is an ideal time to rest him ahead of the home game against WBA. I may be wrong with Gervinho and Van Persie, they may get a start as they’ve both had a rest now – but it’s a perfect time to start Park, at home, in Champions League group of which we are top of. We may have to play a stronger team than I’ve put out simply down to the fact that Marseille are a very good team and if we do win tonight, it will take us to 10 points.

In other news, Stan Kroenke visited the training ground yesterday. He met the players, spent time with the manager and staff and then had a long interview with Arsenal.com, take a read if you have time, but in short, he was very complementary of Arsene Wenger and what he has brought to the club:

“Arsène has been here 15 years and you look at what the Club had as assets and revenues back then. It’s fantastic the growth that has occurred within the Club. It has been done very responsibly and they have the record for participating in the Champions League for the most consecutive years. For long-term stability and an approach to excellence, I think that’s unsurpassed really.

We’ve got a long way to turn the season around, but we’re making progress and last weekend’s win was a very important win for us. We will see where we are in the next couple of weeks, but we have two home games now – first tonight against Marseille and then on the weekend against WBA. Two wins out of those two games and both CL qualification and Premier League ascendency will be ours!

All that is left to say… is… come on you Gooners!!!

This season has been a mixed bag of goodies – well, goodies, baddies and randomness. But throughout the season, our two Achilles heels have been our away form and playing any decent team. 3 of our 4 losses have been top six teams – United, Liverpool and Sp*rs.

Away at Chelsea, it sounds like a tough one for us, but considering our recent improvements, we should go into the game with a bit more confidence than previous games. It’s Chelsea first and then Marseille at home on Tuesday. The boss spoke about the two games earlier today:

“That’s why it is such an important game for us at Chelsea. We play two cup games in the next two games – one at Chelsea and one on Tuesday night that can qualify us as well [for the Champions League knockout stage]. So let’s go step by step. Chelsea is a very important game for us but still I believe the only way to succeed is to focus on the quality of our performance, play our game well and the consequence is that you have a chance to win the game.”

Chelsea will be favourites for sure, they are at home, and have just come off the back off a league defeat to QPR, and an unconvincing win against Everton in the Carling Cup. They are a team full of quality players, but due to their recent bout of sending offs, they will be without Drogba and Bosingwa – although having the likes of Fernando Torres as backup shows the strength of their team.

Team news for us sees the surprise return of Thomas Vermaelen, who is available for the game, despite coming off with a calf strain against Bolton midweek – there has been a lot of debate whether to break up the Koscielny-Mertersacker partnership but after listening to Arsene, I don’t think the vice captain will start.

We had good news about Vermaelen in the game against Bolton the other night. It was just cramp [that forced him to come off] so that’s good news. He will certainly be in the squad at Chelsea. I don’t know yet whether he will start, I have to think about that. I feel physically he is not completely ready because he had problems to finish the game against Bolton, but he is close. We play two games in three days and I will have to evaluate the whole situation. But Thomas always wants to play.

I think Arsene is more likely not to gamble on TV5, but looking at the opposition, he and Koscielny would probably be a better combination. Torres, Anelka and Sturridge all have pace and are tricky which may cause Mertersacker a few problems. In other positive injury news, reports from the manager confirmed that Carl Jenkinson is back training – weeks ahead of schedule – but perhaps not quite ready for this game…

I will know more [about Jenkinson's fitness] after training on Friday. Jenkinson was alright yesterday, but I don’t know if I will take him or not. It depends how well he does in training today.

Digesting the current injuries and injury returnees, my guestimated line up is:

Szcznesy

Djourou – Mertersacker – Koscielny – Santos

Arteta – Song

Walcott – Ramsey – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a strong bench of Fabianski,  Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Arshavin, Park, Chamakh

Arshavin was very impressive behind the striker in the Carling Cup, but we probably won’t see a repeat of that against Chelsea. We may need him deployed in that role against Marseille at home instead. Arshavin seems to be better at home than away at the moment.

It will be a very hard game tomorrow, and with the performances against bigger teams this season not being very good, we are underdogs. But that’s the way we like it – and let’s hope we spring a surprise…

Til tomorrow… Come on you Gooners!!

The BIG news of the day is the return of Thomas Vermaelen to the squad. When Arsene said he was coming back soon, we all just thought “yeah right, of course he’ll be back”, and in reality none of us expected him to come back in time for when scheduled. But he is back and will start tonight – and perhaps at left back…

“We want to win so there is no perfect game [to bring a player back] but Thomas has worked very hard physically so he should be ready. I have not decided who will start yet but we will try to find a good mixture. Vermaelen might play, Squillaci might play and of course Fabianski too. We will have an experienced team out there but of course some young players.”

My predicted line up is…

Fabianski

Yennaris - Squillaci – Miquel – Vermaelen

Frimpong – Coquelin

Oxlade – Benayoun – Arshavin

Park

The captain for the night will be Vermaelen if he starts, or Arshavin if Vermaelen doesn’t start. I think the inclusion of Arshavin is a good idea – the player isn’t starting much for the first team and could do with some game time. Also, some experience is needed in the squad. I am also keen to see Miyaichi in action but in reality, patience is a virtue – he must be out of form in the reserves or something for him not to feature this season.

The bench should be Mannone, Boateng, Ozyakup, Meade, Miyaichi, Watt, Aneke.

I am surprised not to see Rosicky or Chamakh on the bench – in fact, I am surprised that Chamakh hasn’t started this game. If the player is number two to Robin Van Persie in the striking order, then surely he should have some game time. Game time = goals = confidence = can do a job when Van Persie is injured.

I think Arsene Wenger was in a super-jinxing mode when he last spoke, as all the stories on the site are stories which basically jinx each one of our players!

• Coquelin is making a name for himself
• Vermaelen is back
• Ramsey will score double figures
• Frimpong will be a top player
• Van Persie is in good shape
• We’re looking much more stable at the back

When I read all of those, all I think is…. JINX!

Having said that though, Francis Coquelin has actually been very impressive in his various games so far this season, and it will be good to see him in action. The quality of youngsters coming through at the moment is top top, and the playerm, who has been with us for 3 years now, spoke to Arsenal Player yesterday:

“I didn’t expect to play that much at the beginning of the season. I came back from the [Under-20] World Cup and then played straight away at Manchester United, which was a really hard game. He [Arsène Wenger] gave me another chance in the Carling Cup and I grabbed it. I think I have done quite well.  Against Tottenham again it was a really tough game. I am a bit disappointed because we came out of those two games with two defeats – I think we could have done better at White Hart Lane.  But overall I was pleased to play and hopefully I can get more games. I just try to do my job – tackle, keep the ball and play things easy. Obviously you are always happy to receive a man of the match award but it is about the team.”

Personally, I am looking forward to the performance of Park & Oxlade – these two players have potential for sure – Oxlade having started a few and scored a few for club & country and Park having scored a bucket load for country. Arsene has been keen to protect Oxlade and also mentioned several times that Park needs time to adapt.

Tickets are still available if you want to go, they are just £20 a ticket.

It’s going to be an exciting night at the Emirates… come on you reds!!

It’s the weekend. That means football, football and lots more football… It all kicks off this weekend with Wolves vs Sunderland and all ends with Liverpool vs Norwich today, but due to the Europa exploits of Stoke, we play our game on Sunday at 1.30pm and thanks to the big Manchester derby, we’re not even on TV!

As every Gooner and every football fan is aware, we haven’t had the greatest start to a season. In fact, we have had the worst start to any season under Arsene Wenger… However, we have quietly gone about our business and now won 5 out of the last 6 games – yes, they are just stats, but wins bread confidence and hopefully the recent run of games, including our win against Marseille mid week will inspire us and help move on the level we want to be. We currently sit in 10th position on 10 points. The first target is fourth, currently occupied by Newcastle, with 16 points. 6 points in the current gap, although there are a lot of teams in and around the top and of course, it early early days.

Arsenal vs Stoke

Tomorrow sees us take on Stoke and every time I think Stoke, I think Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Shawcross – both are likely to start tomorrow. Ramsey has not been in the team recently and Rosicky has played quite well, but you have to consider that Ramsey is the long term option for our midfield and will regain his place in the team. He does offer an attacking threat when he plays further up field and is a slippery customer. It’s a good problem to have, obviously… options and more options are great, and we saw with some devastating effect what quality from the bench can achieve.

Team news ahead of tomorrow’s game see our second right back, Carl Jenkinson, out for the next two to three weeks, and considering his recent performances, it’s unlucky for the lad, as he has played well. I really do like the way he bombs forward and have been very impressed with the level of crossing and crossing speed & accuracy he delivers. Arsene hinted that Djourou and Koscielny are his two options to replace Jenkinson, but considering Djourou has played there in recent games and considering the promising partnership of Koscielny and Mertersacker, I doubt that Koscielny will be moved out. Arsene also confirmed that Vermaelen should be back soon, although I think he’ll be very short for the Chelsea game, which is of course, next weekend!

My predicted line up is:

Szcznesy

Djourou – Mertersacker – Koscielny – Santos

Arteta – Song

Walcott – Ramsey – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Squillaci, Coquelin, Frimpong, Rosicky, Arshavin, (Chamakh, Park, Benayoun or Oxlade)

Actually, I have no idea who will be on the bench…

Stoke will be no easy game either – they are a proper side who will test us at our game, at the counter attacking game and the long ball, and we’ll have to be at our aerial and tactical best against them to come out with all three point. Last season, I would have said that having Djourou in the side would add extra height and resistance the aerial bombardment. But now, after 4 months of poor form from the Swiss defender, I don’t have the same feeling as I did this time last year about him in the team.

Arsene was quick to point out the progression of Stoke. They have risen very rapidly from the Championship to the Premiership and have done very well to stay in the league and make an impression on the league. Their home form has been very good and of course, they have beaten us before – but not just us, they’ve also beaten the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and drawn with Man United too.

“Financially it means they have moved up. When you buy Crouch that means financially they have made a big effort. That means now they are in a different category of clubs, yes of course. They are a good team, especially offensively. Pennant, Etherington, Walters, Crouch, Jerome – offensively they have huge potential. They are always difficult at the back to beat because the back four is stable and doesn’t push forward too much. They go for a more direct game, that’s why it is difficult to get them out of position. But at home we have always done well against them and that is what we want to continue to do.”

The interesting thing about Stoke is that they adapt to survive, and when they first got promoted, they brought a bit of the old Wimbledon mentality to their game, long throws, overloading areas, and long balls into the box. But doing so with a game plan. But something they have developed since their promotion is the ability to play the game too, ball on the floor – and by mixing it up it has devastating affects. We’ve got to hope they have calmed down on their physical approach too… no more career threatening challenges please…

Our game has also changed considerably, and we perhaps don’t have the “adapt to survive” attitude that could be introduced, but instead we have the “keep it the same” attitude and we will come good. Our displays of football this season have seemed more laboured and not as flowing as previous seasons, but I believe this is down to a lot of change of personnel. If you change the entire squad, which is effectively what we did, it will take time to get the players playing in the same way as our previous players and style has been. Arsene believes it will come in time, and despite some decent victories, he was keen to point this out yesterday.

“[Our football] doesn’t trouble me too much at the moment. But you will see that, with confidence, this team will be very creative. I do not want to convince that we play in a fantastically eye-catching way at the moment but I believe as well the critics have gone a bit overboard. We have played exceptionally well in the past and they are used to that kind of game. Now, because we have bad results, people have just put in their mind that we have a bad team. However if you analyse deeper our games and, if you watch them again, then although we have some improvements still to make it is not as bad as people say. We had to become a bit more stable defensively. After you concede eight goals it’s always a shock for a team. But we have gone through a stage where we had first to settle down again and be more stable defensively. When we get our confidence back we can be more eye-catching than we are at the moment.”

Personally, eye-catching or not, the 3 points next tomorrow are the most vital.

Bring it on….!!

3 Points In The League

3 points are three points. Against Sunderland, we made it much harder than it should have been, but in the end, the moment of magic from Robin Van Persie won us the game. I’ve been overly critical of Robin’s ability at free kicks, but when you see him do that, it’s clear he has the quality and considering Arteta, Walcott and Santos had taken the worst three free kicks of the weekend before RvP stepped up, it’s surprising that the captain wasn’t at the helm for all of the previous ones. I’m sure he’ll be back to first choice free kick taker now. But at least there are options, even though not great ones…

Talking about Theo, I was again confused by his display on the weekend. He looks like he doesn’t know what to do a lot of the time. When he gets the ball, it’s… “er… run? cross… er? what do I do?…”, and considering the time he has been with us, you have to wonder why he is still so inconsistent. Stats will tell us that he has scored and assisted a few, but in games like the one against Sunderland, surely his possession play – i.e. giving the ball away a lot – is a problem.

With Arshavin starting to resemble some sort of form now, should he be rewarded with Theo’s place now? Gervinho, The Arsh & Van Persie?

Van Persie has been in super great form and there is a genuine worry about where we would be if he got injured. Arsene praised him highly after his performance against Sunderland:

“Well, he scored two goals. I think you have to analyse the game a little bit to see how important he is. The first goal was a good display of the team and the second chance he made the difference just because of his skill, which was exceptional.”

Perhaps we are over-reacting – Van Persie plays now as he is the best striker, but if injured, the likes of Gervinho, Park & Chamakh will obviously have to play in that role. Because we haven’t seen a lot of them, it’s obviously harder for us to understand the depth we have. But with the number of games we have in the next two weeks, I’m sure we’ll see more of all of them…

Champions League Preview

Many people say the Champions League should only be for Champions – but surely then it would have only five decent teams in it, right? The Champions of England, Spain, Italy, France & Germany… But tomorrow, we take on Marseille, away, and they have become a serious contender in European football. They current top the group on six points, having beaten both Dortmund and Olympiakos. We really have to play to the best our our ability to beat them and to be totally honest, our away form has been very worrying this season. It’s strange how football works – last year, our away form was incredible as a season, but this season, it’s been the opposite. Udinese aside, we’ve failed to win any away games this season and lost the last three on the bounce…

Marseille will be a tricky place, but the returning and impressive Rosicky was keen to stress that we are going for the jugular.

“It must be our aim to win the group, especially after what happened to us last year when we were not top of the group. In the last three games we messed up. Marseille are a direct contender for us who would like to qualify from the group as well. It’s a big game and we want to be successful there. It looks like it will be between us, Dortmund and Marseille so it will be a vital game for us.”

Whereas Arsene highlighted their impressive Champions League start at the expense of their league form… ahem…

“Marseille is a good team but they are under pressure a little bit like we are in the league because they didn’t start as strong as they would have expected. That puts more pressure on you. They have done well in the Champions League, certainly, because it is a competition where there is a bit less expectation and they are less under pressure. They are a quality team.”

No doubt, they are a quality team… and it’s another big away test for us. If we can produce a good performance, it may have a positive affect on the rest of our season.

After his mid-season break, our beloved Tottz is back tomorrow for his latest digest… til then…

Today is the bumper bumper issue of the weekend blog… it’s a feast of football this weekend, and it kicks off with Liverpool vs Man United… and news this morning (pre-all the games), is that United have rested Rooney, Hernandez, Valencia & Nani on the bench… it shows the depth and quality of their squad and for such a big game, it’s a massive gamble by Ferguson. But we really don’t need to enviously look upon other clubs, do we? We are the Arsenal and our game tomorrow is the biggest game of the weekend.

Arsenal vs Sunderland

Are you ready for the return of the Arsenal to your footballing appetite this weekend? It’s back to back this week with Sunderland tomorrow and then Marseille away on Wednesday following by Stoke at home in the Premier League. We’ve then got Bolton in the Carling Cup at the Emirates, before finishing October with Chelsea away on Saturday 29th…

We’ve got a couple of key long term injury in Bacary Sagna and Jack Wilshere and there has been a long on conjecture on the replacements for both – with Ramsey & Arteta affectively two new players in our midfield. It does take a bit of time to gel and in Jack’s absence, it’s easy to point the finger, but both the aforementioned players are very good and the understanding will come. Sagna & Wilshere will return in the new year, and therefore the next three months will see Carl Jenkinson feature a lot more.

It’s a worry as the lad is very young, doesn’t have the experience at this level and has been exposed in the matches he’s played. But you have to consider, when Gibbs played his first game for us, or Frimpong did, they hadn’t played in the Premiership before and they were young and experienced. Just because Jenkinson was originally schooled at Charlton, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the attributes to be a top player.

Arsene was keen to promote his abilities to the media and to the fans earlier this week and had this to say about the boy:

“He has top qualities. His fitness is outstanding, he’s quick, he has good crosses and he is good going forward. He needs to adjust a little bit his defensive game. But we are working with him and he is improving. What happened to him so far is that he had good and less good games, especially the Man United game. But he had a good game at Udinese four days before. I just think when you start like that, you put so much intensity and focus in the games, that sometimes after that you’re a bit flat.”

Arsene also gave the impression that he would start against Sunderland and with Koscielny back in the squad too, the back five looks like it will pick itself.

Arsene also backed a variety of other players to stake their claim for a right back berth:

“We have a few other opportunities,” said the Frenchman. “We have a young boy in the reserve team [Nico Yennaris], we have Andre Santos, who could eventually play there. Koscielny could play there, Djourou could play there. Certainly in the next three months some other players will have to play right-back because Jenkinson cannot play all the games.”

The next 5 games see 3 Premiership games, a Carling cup game and a Champions League game… so I’m sure we’ll see some surprises and rotation at right back!

Team News

Koscielny, Djourou and Squillaci are all back and therefore we’ve gone from only one fit centre back to four in the space of two games. Out of the returning three defenders, Koscielny would be the choice to partner the 6 foot 6 German International that is Per Mertersacker… allowing Alex Song to return to midfield. The likely line up could well be:

Szcznesy

Jenkinson – Mertersacker – Koscielny – Gibbs

Song – Ramsey

Walcott – Arteta – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Djourou, Frimpong, Santos, Oxlade, Arshavin, Chamakh

Which of course, means no Benayoun, Squillaci, Park, Ryo or Coquelin in the 18, but if you include them, who do you leave out? It’s a good problem to have, of course. The period of October is very very important for us – we need to start winning games, we’re 6 point behind Liverpool and 9 behind United, and we’re on serious catch up…

Here is to a feast of football and perhaps a Sunday blog of some sort tomorrow too…

Last night, Bayern Munich beat Man City 2-0… and United drew 3-3 with Basel at home. Surely it’s the end of the road for Mancini? Surely Ferguson has lost the plot? Well, that’s the crazyness that Arsenal fans have had to ensure in recent times – after the Dortmund (Champions of Germany last season) 1-1 away draw, I was asked whom I’d like to replace Arsene Wenger with… Time for a little perspective, I think!

We have a huge game tonight in the Champions League against Greek team Olympiacos and we have an injury ravaged team – with a lot of players missing – in fact our injury list looks something like this:

1. Thomas Vermaelen
2. Sebastian Squillaci
3. John Djourou
4. Laurent Koscielny
5. Ignasi Miquel
6. Ryo Miyachi
7. Jack Wilshere
8. Abou Diaby
9. Yossi Benayoun
10. Theo Walcott
11. Gervinho

That’s 11 players and 8 of them are first teamers…! The big question is who does that leave? Okay, let’s try and make a team from the remaining players:

Szcznesy

Sagna – Mertersacker – Song – Gibbs

Frimpong – Ramsey

Rosicky – Arteta – Arshavin

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Jenkinson, Santos, Coquelin, Park, Oxlade, Chamakh

There is a case for Arsene trying out a few other faces, such as Oxlade or Park – we’ve seen Oxlade against Shrewsbury and he looked very good – but you have to remember, we’re talking about a league 2 side – which is basically the fourth division – versus a champion of a country in the Champions League.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, tonight’s game will be no pushover. We’ve seen in the two games yesterday, where both the Manchester teams failed to win. Olympiacos manager Ernesto Valverde came out with some fighting talk:

“Every time we have clubs playing against each other the one that will win is the one which imposes its own style of play and who will do it better. Usually the team that has to change its style for the other is the one that will lose. We have to face an opponent who is probably one of the toughest we could find ourselves against. They are a great team, we know that we are the underdogs but we are here to give a good impression and why not take something out of this game.”

I really do think Olympiacos will give us a run for our money and we have to be on top form to get past them – but we do have the home advantage, and we are a strong team and despite the eleven players out missing – to field the eleven that we are fielding show an incredible strength in depth.

It’s going to be a tough night at the Emirates, but we can do it – come on you reds, come on you Gunners!!

Robin says this in the match day programme:

“We know we had a bad start, we all realise that, but we are still positive and that’s the only way to change things.”

And to be honest, as fans we’ve got to stay positive – we’ve lost a few players, but got quite a few other ones – for the players themselves, they have to remain positive too – they’re a decent group of players with some real talent there. Being negative will get us nowhere! These players will get better and they will gel but time is ticking away and starting with Bolton, a couple of wins will be required…

News is that we’ve got Rosicky, Ramsey & Sagna back in the squad and raring to go… which should see our line up be something like this:

Szcznesy

Sagna – Mertersacker – Koscielny – Santos

Ramsey – Song

Walcott – Arteta – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Miquel, Gibbs, Rosicky, Oxlade, Park and Chamakh

When we played Blackburn, and Chamakh came on – I liked what I saw in terms of having one less midfielder and more attacker, losing Song out of the above team and adding Chamakh would give us more attacking impetuous, but I don’t see the manager doing anything of the sort. And with Oxlade playing so well against Shewsbury, there have been some calls for him to start. Yes, he played well, but Shrewsbury are a team from the fourth tier of English football. Is he ready for the Premier League – maybe, but not as a starter, when we have the experience that we do on the bench.

Back in the day, playing Bolton was a very scary affair – nowadays, perhaps less so… Owen Coyle’s teams tend to get the ball on the ground and play it around rather than opting for route one, and that will hopefully fall into our hands – although in recent times, those that have played football against us have done well… ahem… United.. ahem Blackburn ahem…

Van Persie took time out to talk about Bolton’s style and said:

“Bolton are a good side who have changed a lot in the last couple of years. They have gone for a new style since Owen Coyle has been there, and you can see that from the signings they have made too. He wants to play nice football and they are still developing into a different side. They had an amazing run last year when [Johan] Elmander was scoring all those goals, so it is within them. It’s still early for them and I rate them as a team. I respect them for the way they want to play, and I respect their players too. I’m a fan of Nigel Reo-Coker for example – he works hard and can do a bit of everything on the pitch.  So I like Bolton’s style now, and we will have to be at our best to get a result.”

And as captain, perhaps Van Persie is now at the stage where he can reflect on other teams qualities… and hopefully find their weaknesses too. I will quite exciting to see Gervinho in action too – despite a few wrong choices and missed chances, he has looked very good this season. Very direct and attacking and looks to have a decent amount of flair too.

All that is left to say is Come on you Gooners… let’s see what we’re made of, and let’s put the critics to bed and more importantly gets some points on the board!

We’ve managed our way in Europe, choked our way around the league, but today it’s time for something very different – it’s time for our new batch of young hopeful’s to take on their Carling Cup destinies. The way I look at the beginning is not to look at it – after 8 players out and 8 players in, it will take some time for us to gel. I’m not a Wenger out neither am I a AKB (Arsene Knows Best)… I’m somewhere in between. Yes, we have lost 3 out of our first 5 games, but things will change and we will get better. Simple as. How long it will take us to get better is another question.

For now, we have a rest from the league and we have a chance to see our latest batch of youngsters and fringe players and I for one am very keen to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ryo Miyachi and Park Chu-Young. All of whom I hope will start. Although AOC will most likely play right midfield, Arsene Wenger has been very keen to distance AOC and Theo Walcott, insisting both players are very different:

“They are quite similar types of players but Walcott is a bit more a striker and Oxlade-Chamberlain is more a midfielder. He [Oxlade-Chamberlain] likes more to be in the build-up of things and Walcott is more a guy who makes intelligent runs. So they are not that similar as players but they have some similarities physically already. They look the same size, the same type of player. But I believe that Oxlade-Chamberlain could be a central midfielder one day and Walcott a central striker one day. That shows the difference between the two players. I don’t know [if the comparisons are fair] but you can’t stop that.”

Is that the nice way of saying the AOC actually has a footballing brain?

My predicted line up is:

Fabianski

Jenkinson – Djourou – Miquel – Gibbs

Oxlade – Frimpong – Coquelin – Miyachi

Park - Chamakh

I see the mix of players I’ve mentioned playing, because they all need game time – I think 90 minutes under Chamakh’s belt will do him wonders, and a glimpse of what Park can do will do wonders for our squad depth. One thing you may have noticed is that I’ve reverted to a 4-4-2 and why on earth have I done that, you may ask? I’ve been a big fan of the 4-4-2 and despite telling you all that Arsene has been quite stubborn with his 4-3-3 / 4-5-1, rumours are that he will revert to a 4-4-2 against Shrewsbury.

I really hope it’s true…

Time to forget about the silly old league, it’s time to see what our kids & reserves are made of… come on you Gooners!

Let’s get it on… Well, let Arsenal get it on…

Blackburn away is the next stop for the boys in red & white and it’s time to get groove-riding up the Premier league table. No time for half hearted performances, it’s time for a 110%, to the ball first, winning the second ball type of performance. In our last game, Dortmund put us under tremendous pressure and were first to every ball. We need to do the same thing to Blackburn and if we do, we will definitely go on to win the game. We have the ability, we have the skill, but in recent seasons what we have lacked is the desire, grit and commitment.

Well, from what I’ve seen in the last two games, there is a new level of grit – a new level of determination and perhaps, a new desire – Arteta, Mertersacker and Ramsey stand out as players who really want to make an impression this season and we all know what we’ll get from Vermaelen, Wilshere and Van Persie. New signing Gervinho looks quite promising too, but perhaps a little inconsistent, but on the whole, the squad is good enough to beat the likes of Blackburn.

Team news sees Ramsey return to the squad, with long term absentees, Vermaelen, Diaby and Wilshere missing… the predictive line up could well be:

Szcznesy

Sagna – Mertersacker – Koscielny – Gibbs

Arteta – Song

Walcott – Ramsey – Gervinho

Van Persie

With a bench of Fabianski, Djourou, Santos, Frimpong, Benayoun, Arshavin, Chamakh and Park

Arteta has now played two games in a row and I expect him to get better with every game, so against Blackburn, I expect to see him start really taking control of the game. Blackburn aren’t the same Blackburn that they were under Mark Hughes or Sam Allardyce and that could play into our hands. They don’t have Phil Jones anymore – who was their stand out player last season. Arsene spoke about the test we face, and said:

“I’m not sure that Blackburn is the team now that goes for high balls,” he said. “It’s more Stoke where you get this kind of typical old-fashioned English test. Blackburn have gone more different but it’s a big test for us. It’s a massive test for us. First of all you know if you want to play a good role in the Premier League, the way you go from the Champions League to the Premier League is important. And playing away from home after a Champions League game is vital as well.”

Of course it is – we’ve had a minimal amount of time to recover, but that’s what is expected of you in the modern day. Van Persie likes Blackburn and if I’m correct, he has scored more against Blackburn than any other team – so let’s get behind the team and hopefully we’ll Van Persie will bag a hat-trick…

And don’t forget it’s a 12.45pm kick off…!