When the players traipse through the doors at London Colney this morning, the management will no doubt be looking for signs of wear and tear following Saturday’s win at Sunderland. With the clash against Bayern Munich looming, the side which takes to the field against Blackburn Rovers in this weekend’s FA Cup tie would no doubt have been much-changed anyway. Options are beginning to look a little limited in some positions if this morning’s press is anything to go by.
The squad is not looking thin overall, just a little stretched and you wonder how many players Wenger will be able to rest given that the Cup is realistically, Arsenal’s best chance of silverware this season. Winning the Champions League is not beyond them at all but it is a lot tougher than the domestic trophy. Viewing the remainder of the Fifth Round draw, a major surprise will occur if one of the current top six do not win the trophy. The only team missing is Tottenham; that underlines how much power is concentrated in the hands of the top of the Premier League table. The luck of the draw will definitely be with on the side of one of those teams if they avoid any others in the Quarter Finals. Did I say it was going to be easier to win this than the Champions League?
Defensive options are most concerning. Andre Santos‘ stay at the club appears to be in its final stages, the Brazilian arriving in his homeland to tie-up the loose ends of a loan deal to Gremio. How quickly things have changed for him, hailed last season as the future of the left-side of Arsenal’s defence to being marginally more welcome on the teamsheet than Sebastian Squillaci. Even so, we should not forget the contribution of his goal at The Hawthorns on the final day of the season as Arsenal contrived to make securing third a lot harder than it should have been. This is not a problem, Nacho Monreal has settled quicker than the overnight snow which has covered the locale with a thin white veneer.
His introduction probably confirmed the Spaniard’s belief that English football is filled with club-wielding neanderthals, barely capable of stringing two words together into a sentence let alone the same number of passes. Blackburn are not likely to change any of those prejudices. Doubts about Laurent Koscielny’s fitness will no doubt remain until later this week when the position is clarified but even if the Frenchman is fit, there must a strong temptation for Wenger to give Ignasi Miquel a runout as centre back in the cup-tie, Monreal’s appearances for Malaga ensuring he cannot feature against Bayern.
Thomas Vermaelen will most likely not feature and you wonder if part of the Belgian’s problems with his form can be attributed to the ankle injury he is carrying. Such an injury will not necessarily be at the forefront of his mind but any twinges felt during the game will jog his memory. I wonder how long he would be out for with surgery; if it is a less than a month, is it better to take the risk and have it done now or do the club wait until the Summer? Until Koscielny’s misfortune on international duty, that option must have been a possibility; now with the alternatives Sagna and Miquel, any managerial reticence to follow this path is understandable.
An area which must surely be of some far less concern is the team’s belief. I know there were awful first half performances in matches this year, evidenced by the stat which has done the rounds for a while that puts the team top of the table on second half scores, in the bottom half of the table in the opening forty-five minutes. With back-to-back performances that required the side to overcome the more physical aspect of the English game and take a fair bit of punishment in the process, coming away with six points and no goals conceded must instill something in them.
Not only that, the manner of achieving those wins was important. Walcott was battered from pillar to post by Stoke, responded by picking himself up and determined to make them pay, eventually drawing the foul which led to Podolski’s goal. Cazorla came on and ran at Stoke without hesitation. Wilshere showed the spikiness to Owen’s petulance, Arteta’s studied silence and lack of response to provocation a strength of character which the side needed. Too often Arsenal sides in recent years have failed in these situations.
These attributes were needed on Wearside and shown time and again. If the players cannot draw more belief from this, I don’t know when they will be able to. It isn’t a signal that they will definitely finish in European places, just that they have the inner strength to draw on, to meet the minimum requirement for a season. They will need it in the coming months, March an infinitely harder fixture list than February. Six out of six so far; win against Villa to make that nine, progress to the last sixteen of the FA Cup and a defendable lead to take to Munich – although any lead ought to be considered defendable – will leave few complaints about that month’s work and a strong position as the season enters the final third.
’til Tomorrow.
The fact that ManU are going to win the league at a canter this season shows just how piss poor the PL has become. ManU’s once excellent defence and GK are poor, their wingers decent but no better and they have no central midfield to speak of. Without RVP I think they’d be significantly worse off. Getting £24 million for RVP, a player who had previously been injury prone and with only a year left on his contract would have been good business if we had reinvested the money back into the squad. As it is I can’t see the point of the money just sitting in the bank, especially if we lose out on CL football next season.
@Bill
I too hate the Cowboys but as a Steelers fan, my worst fear happened this season when the Ravens won the Superbowl. I burned literally EVERYTHING that had a combination of Black and Purple together in it that I had in my house.
C
I just wrote a really detailed response to your FA Cup/ Europa League question and then was met with this
“Error Establishing a Database Connection”
No post
So, in a much, much shorter version, if you could promise me that we would invest regardless of the lack of CL, then sure, but the worry would be that the very fact that CL wasn’t being played would put your proposed scenario in serious jeopardy.
Erm, I think a trophy would soften the blow if we finish below spurs, but I’m hoping we will finish above them, and with it we’ll secure 4th at their expense.
Above the spuds is 1st priority for me, especially as they are currently a good team. Hopefully we can go back to regarding Utd as the enemy and finishing above the spuds returns to being a thing that is not even up for discussion.
“I would almost rather see the Spuds finish above us rather then Chelsea as long as we make the CL spot.”
Can’t agree with this I’m afraid.
As much I loathe Chelsea, they have been bankrolled to such an extent that I’m willing to accept them out performing us, but the enemy? Not only are they the enemy, but they have the most detestable set of supporters. No other fans have such an over inflated sense of importance. Despite all of the facts, figures, statistics and numbers, the average spud would still look you in the eye and genuinely tell you that they are the bigger and better team and club.
The thought of them actually finishing above us is horrible.
I very much give a shit about finishing above sp*rs.
@MKGK
I too was met with that hence my shorter response.
The funny thing is that I feel that we have already set in motion the transfers for the summer and that we will see more Podolski like signings this summer than Park(last min not quality even though he has scored goals). I do have a special place in my heart for ALWAYS wanting to finish above Spuds as well and do want to get back to regarding Manure as the enemy.
I do think though that once we do win a trophy, it will be a significant scenario outside of the obvious reason. I think what is holding us back is the weight of not winning and once we do win 1 even the FA Cup I could see us getting back to challenging every year and even winning the League with more additions and subtractions of non-key players(many of which have already signed and resigned for the next 3+ years). For me it is similar to watching Lebron and the Heat win a championship last year and then watching them this year. He finally got his ring after a long hard road and now plays and dominates. Us winning a trophy could have the same impact.
C,
It’s a good job aman wasn’t sitting in your house. Or a shame depending on your opinion of aman.!!
I’d take 17th and a carling cup, I’m desperate for some silverware.
Seriously though I’m sure the players would love an fa cup medal. And no cl for a year in exchange for it.
Matt:
My relatively recent introduction to English football (when fox soccer came TV came on line) and the physical distance from the spurs makes them less detestable. I see Chelsea as a much bigger threat over the long term and I see Abramovich as the biggest villain in the PL. Chelsea is like the New York Yankees of the PL. To me spurs and their fans are a bunch or laughable losers. In my time following Arseanal, Spurs have found more ways to lose things then any team I can think of. I still chuckle at them missing the CL spot because of the food poisoning in 06 and then last year finishing 4th only to have Chelsea take their CL spot. I have a difficult time hating them because its so easy to laugh at them.
C:
I like Pittsburg mainly because they have won more Super bowls then the cowboys which annoys all the locals. I was hoping for San Francisco to win their 6th super bowl this season so they would also have more trophies then the cowboys. For me the real super bowl was the last day of the regular season when the Redskins knocked the cowboys out of the playoffs.
Fair do’s, Bill, although I can honestly tell you, from an English perspective, they are generally intolerable.
No sane Arsenal fan can do other than thank their personal deity that our neighbours are Totteringham Bill
Almost 20 years of giving – extraordinary
It’s not their failures that are worthy of mirth – it is the season after season of effort, the near misses, the inexplicable trip on the final threshold of victory
I really could not care less where anybody else finishes as long as we get at least 4th.
@Dukey
Yea more than likely he wouldn’t have been welcomed in my house unless we weren’t talking American football.
Yea I think honestly their isn’t a Gooner or Gunner around the world that wouldn’t and isn’t desperate for Arsenal to win a trophy.
I know personally I would love for Arsenal to win the FA Cup. I’m pretty sure I’ll be insanely drunk and slide across the carpeted floor!!!!
@Bill
My best friend is a devote Redskins fan and he enjoyed the Cowboys getting knocked out by his Redskins. I too was hoping that the 49ers won the SuperBowl but when they didn’t I was very miserable.
Anicoll @ 8:40:
Gerrard gets his penalty saved!
West Brom 2- Liverpool 0
Santos has played about 3 matches for us this season – all bad – and has fallen from grace, with no chance to prove anything really. Tony Adams had more chances in a single February to prove himself when he was deemed incapable of kicking a ball and Djourou at the other end of the spectrum played tons of bad matches and was like the protected son of the chief.
Who the hell knows what happens behind closed doors.
Not all Arsenal fans have to like the manager. I suppose even hating him for whatever reason is allowed. One is left to wonder whether the likes of Cesc and rvp should have been left to walk away for free rather than be sold for profit. These players were determined to leave and one of them even created a website to state that fact to his loyal fans. Is it so hard to see that Wenger has been consistently rebuilding as a result of these losses whereas the best coach ever has been adding to a relatively stable team consistently?
Yes HARRY
I’m sick of posters bigging up manure every chance they get on an ARSENAL BLOG. makes it like they are manc fans here with an agenda. I know it isn’t true but it just seems like it. Well to each his own. I detest no other team than them for the same reasons you mentioned. The blue mancs and chelski I could tolerate till they whored their soul for sugar daddies and now I can’t stand them either. The tots I have never considered as our main competitors and I take great pleasure each year beating them in derbies and finishing ahead of them. Year after year The laughing stock of the league with their delusions of grandeur.almost feel sorry for them.almost.
MARCUS
totally agree that this year our team ia more balanced and more fluid since not all attacks have to go through one player. The whole team has a chance to blossom and it shows. I would rather have four players scoring ten to fifteen each than one player scoring forty to fifty. ARSENAL. is so much the better for it and part of our evolution. SONG leaving was a huge error on his part for his career development and we have suffered a bit for it but are adapting. I would love to see ARTTETA as an attacking midfielder that he is. But he does play as a DM unselfishly so that the team prosper. Much respect to him for that.
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=10041
Morning troops