Arsenal’s Champions League campaign commences tonight in France where a proud manager noted the club has never lost a match to a club from the host nation. We won’t mention Paris and Spanish teams though. An seventeen man squad left for Montpellier, hastily increased to eighteen when someone realised that only James Shea had been named as a travelling goalkeeper, Vito Mannone found his passport in double quick time to make the flight.
Wojciech Szczesny remains at home, receiving treatment on ankle injury not as the lucky recipient of a new tough love regime following his mistake that led to Southampton’s goal on Saturday. Who knows, perhaps it is and judging by the look on the faces of Messrs Wenger and Bould, you certainly would not rule it out. It is incredible how unlucky with injuries our Polish goalkeeping contingent is; Fabianski fit for his national team but not for club, Szczesny hurt on his return. You may see a conspiracy but I couldn’t possibly comment…
As it is, the squad is as you would expect strong for tonight’s match and changes will be made from the side which thrashed Southampton. Surprisingly, Abou Diaby has been included; personally I would have rested him until the weekend’s trip to Manchester but the manager has more information at his fingertips than we do. To include the midfielder if he is less than fully fit would be uncharacteristic folly on the manager’s part. Quite what message that sends to Andrey Arshavin who makes way for the Frenchman, you can only guess but I would suggest it merely confirms that the mercurial Russian is spinning through the exit doors already.
Normally on these trips, Arsène takes the opportunity – or more accurately, injuries force him – to include younger players. This is the strongest travelling Arsenal squad I can recall (without looking). The headaches are pleasant one and are something of a novelty for Wenger. One that seems not to be a problem is Theo Walcott with Arsène admitting what some of us have long suspected, namely the England international is not starting because he has not signed a new deal,
Theo is in the squad. Will he start? I don’t know yet. The contract can affect my thinking, but at the moment I still hope to extend. At the moment it doesn’t affect me, but, of course, at some stage that could change. If in April if it’s not done, you can think it will be difficult to do.
If Walcott wanted proof that he is going to spend a year in limbo, I am sure he has already had that. The problem is that the longer this impasse exists, the more likelihood there is that someone is going to gain form and cement themselves into the right attacking role. Oxlade-Chamberlain has played well without being exceptional, a sort of Bacary Sagna. Unassuming and getting on with the job at hand. It doesn’t even take an outstanding performances from the youngster for praise to pile up, that he is showing commitment to the Arsenal cause is earning him as much respect. To be honest, in these days when loyalty is at a premium it is a refreshing change.
But many of us expected that from Walcott. It is clear that he places a different value upon his services than the club. Such differences are hard to resolve with the contractual stalemate indicative that one or both parties is unwilling to make enough of a move to resolve the issue. For the player, why should he undervalue himself when he sees first hand the salaries former colleagues now earn. Alas his hand is weakened by losing his England starting spot; his marketability relies more on being a homegrown player than international recognition.
Despite this, I would start him tonight. With Giroud in the middle, Arsenal would benefit from Theo’s pace to provide. Disparaging comments from the Montpellier president will be as motivating to break his duck as the frustration of not being able to pick Saints pockets at the weekend. Much was made of first Arsenal goals being against Southampton. That did not happen so how about reminding us how good French forwards can be at Arsenal by scoring on the thirteenth anniversary of Thierry Henry’s first Arsenal goal? The romance of football which is so sparse in the modern game could yet re-emerge.
Elsewhere, the defence should see changes. Mannone has the chance to exorcise his last European appearance and calamitous moments in Greece whilst the stage is the ideal setting for Laurent Koscielny to make his first appearance of the season, Per Mertesacker though would feel hard done by if he does not find himself restored to the starting line-up at The Etihad.
I would expect the line-up to be:
Mannone; Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Arteta, Cazorla, Diaby; Walcott, Giroud, Podolski
Montpellier have not had the best of starts to the season but I am sure the manager has made it clear that this will not be a stroll in the park victory. To be honest, any win will do, it’s the points which make prizes. Or prize money, which is essentially what the Champions League is all about. A Wembley final? Well, the Champions League would certainly be an astonishing way to break our duck at the new stadium but that is getting ahead of myself. Let’s just get out of the group in first place.
Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it/
’til Tomorrow.
that game was really difficult to be honest
caught the second half and that was pulsating aside from a couple of chances they had the team worked their socks off! That was some defending, Gervinho my goodness he must be on some performance enhancing stimulant! We are way more organised this season defensively than I can remember for a long time.
credit to Montpellier very good technically, kept the ball very well and just seemed to lack a decent striker.
Belhanda is certainly a talent, would fit very well in our team.
Diaby seemed a bit tired in the second half and made some mistakes but that storming run was awesome!
Our MOTM?
Good result, ground out, as we have been told we cannot do.
Pleased with that, real ‘grit’.
Didn’t really see all those chances that Montpelior ‘spurned’. They are a good side though.
Maureen is a complete prat though.
I agree Jonny, the penalty was fair, I did not think the Diaby challenge was a pen towards the end. Montepellier played really well…it also seems they got the United manual on diving.
Neither did I Paul but, as I said, I have seen them given.
Bob – Montpellier did have 2 excellent clear cut chances to score and also hit the bar. We rode our luck against a determined assault but Montpellier were definitely worthy of a point.
moe – thanks for that! having spent 75 mins looking for a stream that final link with sopcast worked beautifully…just a shame I missed the sexy football and had the last half hour of hanging on
great result though, and a nice rest before facing shitty.
Adams showing that great playing heroes do not make great analysts.
Sorry, Tony. Giving comfort to the enemy. You would never do that when wearing the shirt. Why do it now? Open the door and the rest of the pundits pile in – with your permission.
We are already written off against City who, by the way, actually lost!
Written of by the panel – lead by sniping, whiny Tony.
Bring on Sunday! Grrrr.
Don Vito is impressing the heck out of me!
anybody else think ramsey looked good when he came on?
And how many times have you watched a game where that was true, Jonny? It means nothing.
Balls in the net is what counts.
What a contrast to Saturday and Liverpool. We looked comfortable for the first half but they gave us a bit of run around in the second. Rather lucky to get the win but that makes up for all the times when we’ve been unlucky not to get it.
Glad we have a break until Sunday now. Especially as City got beat and Nasri went off with an injury. I do hope it’s nothing minor.
Surprised Diaby was left on so long but maybe they thought he needed a good work out. They’re clearly not worried about him breaking down, which is a good sign.
Next one Olympiakos at home while City have Dortmund at home. I don’t suppose it will happen but it would be just great if City failed to get through the group stage again.
Well said, Bob.
It’s not as though we have the best defensive record in the league is it?
Not as though City struggled against Southampton is it?
Oh.
For shame Bitter Tony. For shame.
The second half was like a bad trip but we rode it out navigated by the BFG and Arteta.If they don’t play we don’t get that result. Our first goal was beautiful btw.
Montpellier pressed us very dilligently and put us under a great deal of pressure. We couldn’t quite pass through them and then stopped trying to. If they play like that for the rest of the group they’ll get through.
Tony has a new job, wants to earn some of that lovely TV dosh. Nothing like a bit of controversy to make your mark. Trouble is he’s a season too late by the looks of it. Plus Bouldy’s got the job he wanted, so it smacks of sour grapes.
I know Jonny, Tony speaking with forked tongue.
True dat, Jonny.
Nice assist from OG tonight. He needs to keep his head up, the goals will come.
Hardest game of the season and we still showed the fight and held on to win. Minus the chip and the shot at Vito, they didn’t REALLY threaten…The pressed but we defended brilliantly. Arteta and Carzola get tired = decreased pass %. Diaby looked a little off pace sometimes but i think we have to appreciate that Montpellier had the home advantage (and what seemed a slippery pitch). Thought overall we deserved it, the kind of game we’d have conceded in a few season back.
My MOTM, Podsolki or Gerv, ran their legs off and Podolski so unlucky not to get a few more.
Only one sub though? I thought Diaby, Arteta or Carzola would have definitely got a bit of rest.
That M’Biwa was fantastic for them, kept them in the game and stopped Podolski getting a hattrick at least.
The build up to the match by the media was the usual snobbish condescending nonsense, should be an easy game for Arsenal blah blah! And all because they are a French team!
I bet you City will be much easier than that game!
I haven’t seen Schalke play but they are usually a tough nut to crack -they’ve got a result in Greece tonight so Montpellier are under a lot of pressure now. A defeat in Gelsenkirchen and they will have it all to do to get through.
Tony epitomises the word hypocrite!
Look at the special twat sliding on the pitch lol, its all about him. Narcissists age without mercy or grace.
That Ronaldo fella didn’t look to depressed at the end there, lying on his back and proving his reputation as a FIGJAM.
Lol BRF – same thought.
Looking at the slowmo again he’s actually competing with the guy in the tracksuit lmao.
How much was Poldi again 8=9 million? We should really send Cologne some more money its a bit embarassing.
XJ, I thought Aaron looked up for it vs So’ton, when he hit the post, and Gerv got teh rebound. A little bit of steel about him, all to the good.
After Citeh, we have three games at home, thank god. What a month.
I’d take a draw at City, but i think we should be beating Chelsea. They’re defence is a joke and overall they’re very poor. They’ve had an easy start compared to top four and if i see “PENALTY TO CHELSEA” “LAMPARD SCORES” one more time this season i’m going to go loco
Crikey I had not realised the extent of Man Utd’s shirt deal with Chevrolet. £357M that’s £28M a year!!
As recently as 2006 – Vodafone were paying £8m-a-year to have their logo on United’s shirts – they were replaced by a £14m-a-year deal with financial-services firm AIG that ran until 2010, when Aon took over at £19.6m per season.
The money madness in football is unending.
Yeah CG, that little run on saturday was brilliant so some very good signs about him. I hate to bring up you know who but did he really have issues with our beloved aaron?
Jonny – there was something odd about that deal – the guy responsible on the GM side ended up resigning.
Perhaps those numbers are correct, but it was around the time of the share sale, and things were being hyper-hyped. Wonder how much real meat there is on the bone, TBH. MUtd increasingly a carcass being stripped bare.
XJ – we seem to be flourishing without him, nuff said.
Also, I see that not only was Ramos benched at the Bernabéu, but so was Super Mario. What gives, oh mercurial one?
Podolski making a small pause before his finish is his trade mark. Effective and tasty.
I always thought Diaby is the king of comedy, an unrecognized genius of the pantomime.
Great result today. Agree that a point at City would be ok.
Well the 2nd half was a bit of a wake up call.
indeed george, indeed.
WEWll, a win is a great start to the CL campaign. Especially away from home. Montpellier were well up for it and its a good sign we can win even without playing brilliantly.
No doubt that fact will get overlooked by the media. I’d rather we won like that than smash them for 5 or 6 now, only to go off the boil when it really matters!
Gervinho carried on his goal scoring touch, which is nice!
Now for City. Ive got my tickets and cant wait for this one, especially after the way they lost last night. It was strange though, I really didnt know which team I wanted to lose more; Real or Oil city?
The players have a few days till we play now, so any niggles or tiredness (pfft,you aint allowed to be tired when you earn £100k+ a week!).
Good baptism of fire for Bouldy too.
Montpellier in decent second half performance shocker in their first ever CL game. Arsenal are D**Med. D**Med I tells you.
-
It was during those early games against Marseille & Dortmund that Arteta & Per’s (D-Fensive) qualiteeeee began to shine. Arteta just loves playing in the CL, another great performance. A welcome three points after ze German team won in Greece.
Yao! I think Gervais is winning over some more people with the kind of confident finishing seen during his Lille days.
I see Demba Ba and his agent are making noises. Something about that situation doesn’t ring true. Reportedly there was a 7.5 million release clause in his contract. Now either that is bollocks or it is true. If it is true I’m amazed no club triggered it this past window. And if a club did trigger it then surely it is unlawful for Newcastle to ignore that?
Or can a club overule a release clause? And if so what is the point of them? School me ACLF.
A few have questioned the lack of changes to the starting lineup, including arsebl*g. I can understand people worryin about freshenin things up and given how we faded a bit 2nd half, its a valid point.
But we played a good team in their very 1st cl match at their gaff so i think we needed to stick as much as possible to the players who hav done sowell so far. Theres plenty of opportunity to change things around in the next few weeks. I like the way we overcame an early goal so efficiently and without too much fuss!
Hopefully as the season progresses, this squad will improve and gettin players back from injury will only aid that, imo.
Where da feck is Yogi?
I thought Arteta was good last night but he looked extremely tired, as did Carzola! the break in-between City and Chelsea will be vital for some well earned rest for the midfield. Bit of a catch 22 with Gibbs, if he keeps these kind of performances up he’ll be a sure in for England, but then that always leads to more injuries. Sooner Jack’s back to add to the midfield the better, the prospect of he, Diaby, Arteta and Carzola leaves the mouth watering.
Thought Giroud was decent last night, won a lot of headers and had some really good touches. Get the feeling that the pressure is building on him which it shouldn’t! We’re scoring goals! Don’t get me wrong when he starts banging them in i’ll be happy but his pass for Pod to score and a few others were the mark of a very good player!
Im not worried about Oli not scoring yet. As long as its not affecting him! The goals will come im sure.
A pleasing defensive and attacking display and while he did not break his duck I thought Giroud had a good game as did Gervinho and Poldi.
The midfield had a good start but were overwhelmed in the second half in a rather alarming way. As someone else said they looked knackered.
Santi had a particularly poor second half though I thought although Arteta and Diaby ran him close. A few days to recuperate will be much appreciated.
MoM young Carl, resolute in defence, kept his concentration well and did not get sucked in by the diving French bastard on the wing, and a great ball for Gerv to pick up the second.
Mention for Don Vito – he did enough and did not flap
Sagna may have looked at the games this season and recognised that when he is fit then an automatic return is far from assured
I’d give it a 7
3 points achieved
Taught MOTM – our back line.
as PG stated earlier, 2nd half was an eye-opener: heavy legs in midfield.
Don Vito’s distribution superb! an aspect AWOL in Szcz’s game.
I thought our substitutions were all wrong and too late.
Giroud should have stayed on and Diaby come off. If the purpose of substitution was to bolster the midfield defensively and protect the lead…..then Ramsey would not be my choice, but Coq. Ditto for Theo.
Surprised that Santos has seen so little playing time.
Great result.
taught should by thought!
Arsesession
I think the whole driving incident might be affecting Santos selection. Wenger doesn’t like it when players are involved in these sort of things (as does any employers i’d imagine). Look at Bentner has he totalled his Farrari! Bit odd he’s still on bench though in that case though however i do think he’s a good player!
At least we know le Coq can play in Diaby’s/Arteta position but don’t know if Ramsey can slot into Carzola’s if he were to get injured.
CFP
forgot about the driving……agree.
“don’t know if Ramsey can slot into Carzola’s if he were to get injured.”
I don’t know where Ramsey will end up playing that is most beneficial for Arsenal.
There is so much potential.
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=9519
Today’s post