Tough test awaits, Udinese no walk in the park

Just few hours from now could really define our season in a nutshell. It hasn’t been a great week for us has it now? It hasn’t been a great summer full stop. Loosing at the weekend has not helped one bit to be honest with you. We saw the last of Nasri then, today he is checking house prices somewhere up north but more on that later.

Tonight we take on Udinese in MASSIVE second leg of our Champions League qualifier to the group stages. We hold a lead which is a slender lead but still gives us that little bit of advantage. In ideal world I would like to go there with a three goal lead and a squad full of world class players, however we all know  that both of these options are somewhat a bit of a fairy tale. In fact our team sheet just got weaker, we finally got rid of Nasri who for me was the only player who could do anything against Liverpool on Saturday and young Jack is now facing a setback on his ankle problem. The only good news for tonight is that Djourou, Traore, Gervinho, Rosicky, Song and Frimpong are back in the squad following injuries and suspensions. Despite our team being paper thin both on paper and on the pitch to me that’s a great boost from Saturday. Frimpong gave us a glance of what a player he could be for us and as much as his inexperience let him down, we definitely have a player with Arsenal DNA in him.

We will need to keep it really tight especially in the middle as this area is mostly weakened we all know what Udinese are capable of, we all saw what they can do at The Grove a week ago. There were moments of scare in the first leg and I’m convinced they will give us even a sterner test at their home turf. They are a decent side who can break on the counter attack in an instant so positioning discipline is a must, Song  please don’t go charging forward like a headless chicken and expose rather inexperienced Frimpong.

We need to be on top of our game in all areas in order for us to progress to the group stages, best way is to score an away goal and I really trust us to do just that. The away goal will mean a great deal to us and hopefully will be enough to see us through this tough fixture. Not sure who Arsene will send out tonight but I would go with this selection to start with:

You could possibly argue this line up because it would also be interesting to play Arshavin instead of Walcott and let’s be honest he has tons more experience in European Cup games, on top of that Arshavin will never last 90 minutes so Theo could be used here as a super substitute. Theo comes on quick counter attack, scores a second goal and we are through. Sounds so simple and I know for a fact it won’t be that easy, either way let’s get behind the lads wherever you are.

So Nasri is officially gone, it’s a real shame I liked him as player and I thought he had loads of talent that would blossom under Wenger, however yet again the modern footballer goes for money rather than pride and history, there isn’t a great deal to add what Arsene said:

“We did not want to lose Fabregas, but we were forced into a situation we didn’t want. Nasri is a situation where the player didn’t want to extend his contract with the proposals he had somewhere else. What kind of commitment can you have when the player is not there long-term? That is the question you have to answer.”

Fair play I haven’t got any complaints about him leaving he was after more money after all, neither do I have complaints about Cesc leaving too (being homesick and all that). I do however question how the club has approached this summer transfer window knowing that we will require high quality replacements for the players we have sold. We are a week away before transfer window will shut firmly in our faces and at this very moment it doesn’t look like there is going to be enough time to sign anyone decent. I believe a great deal will depend on the result tonight, we all know quality players want to play in Champions League, so this game could certainly define our season.

I don’t even want to think what will happen if we fail to qualify (rather scary thought), not only we will loose on £25 million from the competition, we may also miss out on any potential new signings. I sincerely hope that once we get through to group stages Arsene and The Board will work overtime to sign suitable players to strengthen areas in our squad that have been depleted by those players who have now left the club. The only way to strengthen, is to buy top quality players and I’m hoping we will not be let down by the club with so little time left on the clock.

I will leave it on that note, I have been very annoyed with the way the transfer window has been dealt with, it has been simply unacceptable for a club like Arsenal. On the positive side let’s look forward to the game tonight and get behind what we have for now.

Come on ARSENAL!

Arsenal Is In A Defensive Crisis

Arsenal has been battling injuries all season long, but the Gunners having been doing well without one of their top two central defenders. But now they’ve lost their rock at the back for the rest of the season, and that could signal Arsenal’s downfall if you’re gambling online.

Thomas Vermaelen has been out since August because of an ailing Achilles, and the Belgian defender says he has no idea when he’ll be able to play again. That left Johan Djourou as Arsenal’s best central defender, and the Swiss has been brilliant this season under tough circumstances. But Djourou suffered a dislocated shoulder and will be out for the season, and the numbers show that Arsenal struggles at the back without him. To compound that, the Gunners have had to bring goalkeeper Jens Lehmann out of retirement in light of injuries to Wojciech Szczesny, Vito Mannone and Lukasz Fabianski, leaving Arsenal with only Manuel Almunia between the sticks. Much has been made about the time prior to Lehmann’s retirement, when he thought he was still capable of being the No.1 guy, but the Gunners were trying to bring along Almunia. Lehmann says that he doesn’t want to go through that again, and he and Almunia will have to come to some sort of agreement to make this work.

As we said, the Gunners are no strangers to injury, but to have these problems at the back at this time of year is potentially crippling. One positive way to spin it is that the Gunners only have to worry about the league title now as they’re out of the Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup, but they’re still chasing Manchester United in the Premier League, while trying to hold off Manchester City and Chelsea for second place. It’s going to be very interesting to see how manager Arsene Wenger handles this. Bacary Sagna will likely have to move into the middle, and there may be more time for Sebastian Squillaci, who has been less than impressive since moving to the Emirates. Finally, Laurent Koscielny has to put his disappointing play of the last couple of weeks behind him to give Arsenal a chance.

Arsenal in dire need of defenders

Arsene Wenger is going to have to delve into the transfer market for a new defender if he wants to challenge Manchester United for the Premier League title.

The Arsenal manager recently confirmed he would be looking for some cover at centre-half if it seems Thomas Vermaelen would not return from an achilles problem in the near future.

The news has been bad for Wenger, as the Belgian defender has been ruled out for a further six weeks as he needs an operation to cure the injury that has seen him unable to play since August.

With Sebastien Squillaci also out with a hamstring strain it means Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou are the club’s only recognised centre backs. It did not affect them however at the weekend as their easy win over West Ham ensured they remain two points behind leaders United in the Premier League title race and the football betting suggests it will be a close run thing.

But with many important games coming in both the Premier League and Champions League on the horizon, Wenger seems to have his hand forced and he will look for a new defender to bolster his injury-hit squad and anyone looking to bet on Premier League games  should remember this.

Vermaelen has said: “I have already tried to come back three times, but the pain proved too much on each occasion.

“Recent tests showed a minor problem next to the achilles tendon has been causing the pain. That’s why I’ll undergo surgery.”

Theo Walcott was on target during Arsenal’s 3-0 win over West Ham and he claimed after the game the real Gunners were back after two disappointing results.

The England man claims the mood is “great” among the Arsenal squad and it is looking like it could be a “great year” for the club, however the Premier League title may be a little bit too far for them.

Sunderland preview, time to make amends up north!

There was not  great deal of significant news surrounding Arsenal since the thrashing of Braga 6:0 on Wednesday evening. We witnessed a magnificent performance that evening which still makes me smile when I look back. For obvious reasons we need to make amends at the Stadium of Light this late afternoon, last time we didn’t play well and ultimately lost the game. It goes without saying that Sunderland is a place where three points should be secured and this time around due to our current run and form I see us doing just that. Meaestro Cesc has been talking about not getting ahead of ourselves and letting the others know Sunderland are no pushovers for sure:

“I am not going to read too much into our beating both Blackburn and Bolton – in previous years we might have done the same thing before collapsing against the big sides, so it’s best that we just keep going, keep improving and keep making things difficult for whoever we face.”

“On Saturday, that will be Sunderland, which is always a very difficult place to go. Last season we didn’t do well at the Stadium of Light, but it was straight after an international break and we were perhaps a bit tired, so we hope for better this time.”

“We are happy with 10 points from four Premier League games. We would have preferred 12, but we are up there, we are second, and now we need to guard against losing more points because we will need everything we can get at the end of the season.”

These are true words of a Captain you can sense here he’s telling the other lads to keep their heads and feet on the ground, 100% we must give anything else on top is a bonus. There were few articles going around yesterday I believe about Cesc not being very happy after the Braga game, during the interview which I saw live the lad was asked questions about the game and all those Barca rumors. He answered his questions regarding the game well, however when it came to the other subject he certainly felt uneasy about it and rightly so. Transfer windows is now closed, season has started, Arsenal fans have already forgotten about what happened and yet he still has to explain himself. Cesc doesn’t need to do that, he has shown on the pitch he’s 100% committed to the Arsenal cause!

Team news are pretty good to be honest with you, no more injuries during midweek which is always music to the ears, we will still be without Vermaelen and Diaby who should resume normal service against West Brom next week. Yet another decent performance is required by Squilliaci and Koscielny at the back. I would like to see the same squad start the game that tore apart Braga on Wednesday, the confidence will definitely be very high there. Sunderland have got their own share of injuries and the usual suspect suspended due to red card, saying that this will be a different cup of tea altogether and our lads need to address things from the first whistle. They will try anything possible to break our rhythm so quick pass and move tactics are required. I feel good about this one I know we have Chamakh up front and he’s been a brilliant signing so far. Come on Chamakh!

Looking at the bookies there is a tasty looking bet with Skybet at 14/1 on 3:1 correct score line, so I should be investing on that one. My last prediction was perhaps naive but who would of thought we would put six past Braga. For those of you going to the game have a great day and please ignore anything that Fat Sam and Owen Coyle spread around in the media about Arsene, they are a bunch of  Hansen’s and we all know who he really is. That’s all my fellow Gooners, enjoy the game and have great weekend.

Come On You Riproaring, Free Scoring Almighty Reds!

Squillaci to make Bolton Debut

I haven’t seen the Press Conference with Arsene yesterday, however it was confirmed that Verminator will miss the game against Bolton due to injury to his Achilles he picked up on International duty, thankfully it will only keep him out as far as the game against Bolton this afternoon. This news certainly comes in as suprise as we have already lost Walcott for up to six weeks while playing for England this week, which leaves us rather short in the striking force some would say, as RVP is out until mid October now and Bendtner still has four weeks to recover from his groin injury.

No doubt we need some experience at the back and Squillaci is the best we have at this very moment, he has all required experience however he lacks playing time in the Priemier League. It will be a huge test for him and Koscielny who need to be on their toes as Bolton by no means will be an easy game, so fingers crossed for both of them. They will hopefully have a good understanding with Alminua and another clean sheet at home.

The good news we had this week was that Nasri has recovered early and if required will take part this afternoon, it was also good to hear that Fabregas has noticed he hasn’t been playing well and is looking to improve his form:

“I was out of form and during the (Blackburn) game I knew it, but hopefully you’ll see an improvement (against Bolton). Nobody needs to tell me otherwise – I’m always hard on myself and aware when I’m playing badly.

“We’re ready for Bolton. It’ll be a hard game, but hopefully an enjoyable one – and one that, like any home game, we’re confident about.”

I will be watching Cesc closely as his body language was definitely not right lately. Let’s hope our Captian plays with his heart this afternoon and can show his good form again. Not too sure what the team sheet will look like but I have a feeling we will see Eboue to take over from Walcott on the right flank and Squillaci with Koscielny in the center  at the back. I’m suspecting Cesc to start with Jack and Song in the middle but I think Diaby will get the nod ahead of Jack as this will be a very physical encounter no doubt. This leaves Arshavin on the left and Chamakh up front and with his presence and work rate I have no doubts he will cause havoc in Bolton’s defence.

Looking at the bookies there is definitely a good deal on with Paddy Power with 9/1 for correct score line at 3:1 to the almighty Arsenal, I think I shall be having some of that and hopefully I will be collecting my winnings later on. For those of you going to The Grove this afternoon have a good time and get behind the lads on my behalf, I will have resort to a stream I will have to find just before we kick off.

Have a good day everyone and let’s kick some Bolton’s arses…

Come on you REDS!

We gave our best, it wasn’t enough for the Ref

Having just watched the game I have mixed feeling about the tie, number one was the Ref. He gave all the free kicks to Barca to my liking in the first half it never looked we were going to win this one anyway we made some tackles and the German Referee has always seen the bad boys in our squad. I have not been counting but we must have got at least two yellows in the first 45 minutes.

There are plenty of things to talk about, there is no doubt that Barca were the better side after we scored our first goal….the pass from Walcott was sloppy but Bendy managed to get himself up in time and convert his chance. Few second later we had yet another brilliant scoring opportunity to be 2 nil up, but it wasn’t meant to be, Diaby took the wrong option and since that we were pretty much spineless. Nasri was not there at all I thought he would be up to the job for me. Diaby had the best game of his life, then again people like Rosicky and Nasri have let him down with poor positioning. Don’t get me wrong I think both of them tried and tried but Barce is Barca, good game plan, best player in the world and here we are, what esle could we do?

We allowed them to read us and we thought we could out fox them after the first goal we pushed higher up the pitch and Messi did the damage in the first half, I did think there was a way of coming back, however Guardiola got his tactics 100% spot on on the night. They never gave it full on counter to destroy us, however I think our lads should have done the same tonight, it’s easier said than done I know that especially with 7 main squad players missing. I honestly thing Barca would be an avarage team if it wasn’t for Messi.

Having said what has happened on the pitch I think the Ref and His Almighty Linesman did their job really well, they didn’t flatter at booking us and they seemed to have a real flavour at Barca coming through tonight, Rosicky played one of a beauty pass to Bendtner who was onside but the linesman flagged it offside…even Mr Gray which is very rare disagreed.

It does hurt tonight, we all hurt tonight, I wish we could have a go at them with our full time squad, I wonder how they would respond then. It was certainly a footballing lesson and I’m sure the lads and Arsene will learn from this. Don’t get your head down people we still have a glimmer of hope for the Priemier League, starting with a visit to Three Point Lane and I’m sure we’ll be back in the Champions League next year.

Arsenal for life!

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