The Gooner Eye

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 - Title Race Is Over...

2008-04-07T22:01:00.002+01:00

After 60 minutes it seemed to be going so well and to plan. I really thought we might have a chance to take Chelsea's unbeaten record at home away from them. The truth of the matter is that Sagna's goal over papered over the cracks that are growing larger by the match. The title has gone for us now; we have no chance of beating Manchester United the way we are playing and a trophyless season seems far more likely.

Our game has got to change if we are going to have any chance of beating Liverpool over two legs. Right now this team plays the ball nicely at times but looks lacking in attacking threat. It is graceful but very far from clinical. The defence is looking a shambles and the squad is looking depleted at exactly the wrong time.

The football being produced is all very pleasing on the eye but the fact of the matter is that a substantial amount of chances are not being created. It has been coming ever since November but only now has the grit that got us so many victories dried up. Today I only remember two real chances that we created from open play. Even those were tame shots that Cudicini stopped easily.

Just take a look at the two men leading the attacks today. Drogba was a class above Adebayor this afternoon and vastly overshadowed his counterpart. Drogba was strong, tricky, clever and deadly. Adebayor was weak, lacklustre, frustrating and blunt. Where Drogba got into Toure and Gallas, Adebayor seemed to refuse to put Terry and Carvalho under pressure that would cause real problems.

Adebayor has looked out of sorts recently. Whether it is the braids that brought him his goals or not, he needs to look at himself right now. He has had a brilliant season but the best players keep going and show quality till the very end. In the other game today, Cristiano was largely ineffective but still came up with a crucial goal when it mattered. If Adebayor wants to be considered as world class, performances like the one today are not going to cut it.

The one player everyone wanted back asap was Van Persie but I had my mind on another player's return. The problem is I do not know when it will be. We are missing Tomas Rosicky so much. His will to make things happen and drive from midfield is lacking right now. He has the creative mind as well and gives that balance. We need him back soon but I am very worried over his injury troubles.

The squad may well need a real shake up this summer. Eboue is not good enough to start for us. He wastes possession far too often and seems to have no brain. First of all what idiot charges a free kick way before the player has started his run up. He was walking a tight rope for 85 minutes and was lucky to stay on the pitch. He got away with a deliberate handball as the ref had the wrong angle. I am not saying he should go as he is a good utility player for us. We do need a proper winger to stretch teams as Hleb is good when he moves inside but at the end we made the game too narrow to open up Chelsea.

I also believe Wenger has made an incorrect decision at a crucial time. While Toure was away Senderos and Gallas formed a partnership that had balance to it. They had an understanding that combined aerial strength with cover on the ground. The lack of pace from Senderos was not such a problem. As soon as Toure came back it all started to go wrong.

Against Boro we were caught flat by a simple ball over the top. This type of long ball was causing us little problem with Senderos there to dominate the aerial ball. With Senderos benched, we have two defenders that are too similar in their game. They both like to take up similar positions and act as the covering defender. They can both play with Senderos as they are a perfect foil to him.

Today was a classic example of why a Toure-Gallas partnership is not as good as it seems on paper. They both have pace, are strong in the tackle and good at getting back at attackers when they are played in. The problem is that neither of them are prepared to attack the ball, get tight to their man and take charge in the defensive area. When Toure and Gallas play together and are up against a quality striker they are often shown up. The striker is able to get the ball down and make things happen.

Berbatov did the same at the Emirates and today Drogba made them look amateur. Toure was looking good on the cover with some good blocks and last ditch tackles. The problem was the fact he had to do this so often. In the first half Drogba played off Gallas and got some joy but Toure was always there. In the second Toure had the job of marking Drogba and here it fell apart. Toure failed to get tight to him and twice allowed him the space to fire Chelsea into the lead.

Senderos may have struggled against Drogba in the past but today could have been the chance to change it. If Wenger had stuck by him against Villa - he had every reason to - and given him the chance to shine alongside Gallas once again he may well have taken it. He could not have done much more wrong than what Toure and Gallas did when trying to mark Drogba. Both the goals lacked someone like Senderos in their build up:

1-1 - The ball comes over and offside or not (more of that later) Drogba bought it down. The problem was Gallas who lost his head as his desire to get the ball in front of Drogba cost him his position between Drogba and the ball. he lacked power and having missed the ball left Drogba the chance to smash the ball past Almunia.

2-1 - With the defence asleep the ball was swung over and once again Gallas was beaten in the air, this time by Anelka. As the ball came towards Drogba, Toure attempted some sort of kung-fu clearance and got himself in a muddle. This was awful defending and showed once again that the defending lacked conviction.

Another thing that was apparent to me today was the importance of Sagna to the side. Along with Flamini I feel he has been a massive influence on this side and the changes made to our game. Not only did he have the desire to get on the end of the corner but we seemed more solid at the back. As soon as he was forced off we did not have the cover he brings. Eboue was always a suspect defender and did not show us any different in his 20 minutes there. The main thing however was the lack of time we got to settle without him there. It can take time to settle with a change like that, Chelsea did not grant us any.

The injury was followed by another mistake from Wenger, well in my eyes anyway. With the game dragging on and the scores at 1-, it was set up perfectly for a counter attacking set up. He had Eboue at right midfield before he was forced to right back. The obvious change was Walcott. He had the pace to attack Cole and break on the counter. Yet Wenger went with Diaby who is not all that comfortable on the left and was not really going to pose much of a threat. He may have shown some neat passing and skill but we needed penetration.

Once Walcott was readied, it was far too late and he rarely got the ball. It took 10 minutes or so to get him on the ball and whenever he made dangerous runs in behind Cole the opportunity to set him free was passed up too often. Then Bendtner came on but we did not see our forward players working together well enough. It summed up our failures in front of goal.

Do not get me wrong. Te build up play was still there at times. In the first half we kept it well and looked relatively threatening on the ball. We lacked the firepower up front which ultimately cost us there. We were poor at the back and Almunia bailed us out a few times. The midfield however did use the ball well and Hleb nearly got Van Persie in with one very cute pass. We were just as entitled to a lead as Chelsea were but once out defence crumbled we were never going to get anything.

As well as being blunt in the final third recently, we have been dealt some bad refereeing calls. Aliadiere was offside for his goal at the Emirates. I do not care if he is considered inactive, 2nd phase bla bla bollocks. He gained an advantage by being ahead of the play. Today however it was far more clear but. Drogba was on his way back from an offside position but never made it back before the ball was played long towards him. He was offside as the ball came to him and the goal should have been ruled out.

That decision came at the worst time and changed the game firmly in Chelsea's favour. It was their first meaningful shot on target and swung the momentum firmly towards them. As we settled into a new defence the goal rocked us. Had it been ruled out we may have been able to hold out for longer and see it out. How decisions like that can be made baffles me. The linesman are paid to do their job; surely it is not hard to get in line with the back 4 and spot that Drogba was not in line.

The issue of video replays once again comes to the fore. It would not be hard to continue the play until the ball was in the net. After that the Arsenal captain should be able to request a deferral to the fourth official. The ref should also ask to see it again if he is unsure. Therefore the right decision is made and if the play leads to nothing, there is no need to stop play.

All in all it has been a pretty bad day. Liverpool put up a pathetic showing at Old Trafford, something I doubt we will see in Europe. Chelsea knocked us out of the title race as I do not see us winning all 7 remaining games in the League. The Champions League is still a possibility but we must improve in front of goal.

Chelsea vs Arsenal - "Squeaky Bum Time" part 1

2008-04-07T21:59:00.000+01:00

Grand Slam Sunday round 2 is nearly upon us. In the blue corner we have the Chelsea and in the red corner we have Arsenal. The referee is in place, the coaches are by the ring with their men and it is just a matter of ringing the bell to start this battle that may well lead to one team being knocked out.

So far this may seem like I am talking about some sort of charity boxing match between volunteers from Arsenal and Chelsea. This Sunday however, we are not watching Sport Relief; we are watching a match that could change the title race in so many different ways. This match will be a battle and Wenger must have his troops ready to fight to the end.

So far this season we have been involved in a few crucial games outside the League and they have gone very differently:

Spurs 5 Arsenal 1
Manchester United 4 Arsenal 0
AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2

All of the games mentioned there were knockout games where one team would be out for the count in said competition. We may have lost two of those games but most importantly the Milan game is a clear sign of what this team can do in the big games. Against Spurs we came up against a full strength home side determined to beat a weakened eleven put out by their main rivals. It had a Tottenham victory written all over it.

Then there was Man Utd in the FA Cup, away at Old Trafford on an awful pitch. We were missing players who had been crucial in our recent form. We lacked our main goal threat of Adebayor and lacked the grit Flamini provides the midfield. Again, it was another game I did not expect to win and United were simply far more up for it and deserved the win.

We then went to the San Siro on the back of these cup performances and many doubted we had a shot. Most people had written off Arsenal after the wasted opportunity to beat the reigning champions at the Emirates. To be honest, this took all the pressure off and gave us the chance to go out and enjoy the night. The players thrived on the big occasion and we came away with a brilliant victory against the odds.

Why does that night in Milan stick out as the most relevant to the game on Sunday? We went to the San Siro looking to be the first English team to win there. This was another reason people saw Milan as favourites but that feat was achieved. We go to Chelsea looking to be the first side to win there in the League for 70 odd games. Both sides held a very good record at home, we have broken one, can we beat the other?

Milan look to play the same way as we have come to expect from Chelsea. They play a very effective and powerful game, mainly on the counter attack. Their defence looks to suck the life out of the opponents attack before their forward players attack at pace. They use Joe Cole very much the same way Milan use Kaka. He is the heartbeat of the team and the creative brain in the side.

In the San Siro we saw these tactics come into play as Milan seemed happy to let us have the ball and try and break with Kaka and Pato. That night it would have been easy to become frustrated and panicky in front of goal. The pleasing thing was how much the team continued to patiently chisel away at the wall in front of them until the goal finally came.

If you cast your minds back to last season's match at Stamford Bridge, the game was similar. Although our very inexperienced defence (Djourou and Senderos) was heavily tested that day and lucky not to concede, the possession football deployed by Arsenal was similar to that in the San Siro. Hleb, Fabregas and Flamini kept the ball for long periods and toiled away until something opened up. Eventually the goal opened up and Flamini took the chance when it came. Only a fantastic strike out of the blue from Essien gave the Chelsea the draw.

There is no doubt that the way we played football that night in the San Siro surpassed anything from that day at Stamford Bridge but if we can produce the same type of performance we may well see a similar result. In both the cup games we lost it happened that we could not string two passes together. If we can get the ball down and prevent Chelsea from overpowering us it will go a long way to getting the 3 points we need.

As well as keeping the ball for substantial periods of the game, Wenger has other things to decide. I am sure he will encourage the defence to try and hit the ball long towards Adebayor. John Terry has often been a dominant force in the air but recently has looked suspect, against Kenwyne Jones and Dimitar Berbatov in particular. He does not seem to attack the ball in quite the same way as he used to. Adebayor is the man to exploit this and Wenger will look for a big game from him.

The other big dilemma for Wenger is his team selection. Each area of the pitch takes careful consideration in the mind of a manager when these games approach. At the back Wenger has reverted back to the partnership of Toure and Gallas. Many wondered why Toure was able to walk straight into the side after such good performances from Senderos. I think Wenger was thinking ahead of the Boro game and already had the Chelsea game in his thinking.

We all know the problems that Drogba has caused for Senderos over the years and Dorgba himself knows he has a hold over Phil. Toure and Gallas may not have the aerial ability Senderos has but they are big game players and will have no doubts in dealing with Drogba. Wenger brought Toure back into the side last weekend so that Toure and Gallas could play together before this game.

Wenger went with 4-5-1 in the San Siro and may well want to do the same against Chelsea's three pronged midfield. The trio of Cesc, Flamini and Hleb worked so well against Milan and I am sure Wenger will want to deploy the same thing again. It will enable us to keep the ball better and try and prise open some space for Adebayor. Having three in midfield will also allow extra space for Fabregas to try and dictate play while leaving Flamini to do a holding job on Lampard.

Out wide Wenger is likely to go with Eboue but I fear his battle with Ashley Cole might become a bit of a joke. Cole likes to get right into his players as we saw on Wednesday and Eboue will look to make the most of any challenges. I also worry that Eboue might go missing under the heat of the contest. Walcott must be ready as an option off the bench. I feel his pace would give Cole a problem, especially if he is on a yellow card as I believe he will be.

On the other side it will probably be Van Persie. He played there at the Bridge last season and will look to get at the Chelsea right back. That position is still their weak link and Van Persie is clever enough to get the better of his man. If Adebayor looks to come out to the left Robin will not hesitate to drift inside and we may well see Van Persie popping up in the box. He is the man to take a chance should it come. His crosses from that side will also provide a good supply for Adebayor to feed off as well as his excellent set pieces.

With Van Persie on the pitch Wenger always has the option to put pressure on Chelsea's defence in a 4-4-2. Tottenham caused them major problems with a great attacking pair; Adebayor and Van Persie can do exactly the same thing. Van Persie has that ability to score out of nothing and may play a big part on Sunday. Hleb can also play out wide and get at the full back also. We may see an interchange between the two on different occasions in the game.

Whatever set up Wenger chooses, I hope we try and attack Chelsea in the same manner as we did Milan. If Adebayor becomes isolated we can always change the way we play and I hope Wenger takes such a gamble before its too late. The width will be there from the full backs so moving Hleb out wide may lose the natural balance from Van Persie on the left but Clichy will look to get into a 2 vs 1 situation on the left.

=============Almunia=============
Sagna====Toure=====Gallas=====Clichy
Eboue===Fabregas===Flamini===Van Persie
=======Hleb=========================
=============Adebayor=========

Subs: Lehmann, Senderos, Gilberto, Walcott, Bendtner

This game is a must win in my opinion. Even if Liverpool force Man Utd to drop points, the 3 points are a must. If Man Utd lose we go back level on points and take momentum on but with a tough run of games we must be in touching distance. Being behind them with a visit to Old Trafford coming up is a scary place to be in. If Man Utd win against Liverpool, dropping points rules us out of the running for good this season.

All that's left to do now is wait for the two sides to come to blows. Hopefully it is Chelsea that is laid out flat at the end of the bout.

F-Off Inter - let's get tough...oh and Eboue

2008-03-20T15:56:00.002Z

This tapping up business has got to stop. Granted, we do not know the ins and outs of the apparent tapping up of Alex Hleb by Inter Milan. That said however, if it is true, I am starting to get fed up. Arsene Wenger must start to get tough on this matter and take Inter to court. We did it over the Ashley Cole affair but have generally let things lie when it has happened since.

It may not be considered "tapping up" but some of the comments that have emerged from the Nou Camp and Santiago Bernabeu over the last few years are surely the exact same thing? The obvious thing that comes to mind when I think about these clubs and their antics is the comments regarding their desire to sign Cesc Fabregas. I encourage you though to cast your minds back further.

You may well remember the days when Patrick Vieira was at the height of his Arsenal career. As the turn of the century arrived he firmly established himself as one of the best midfield players in the World. What did that mean for the fans of Arsenal Football Club? It meant that we had to read constant statements from the Madrid side about their desire to sign Vieira.

For countless summers, the question was "will he stay or will he go?" It even got to a point during one summer break that Arsenal fans had already accepted he had gone. It seemed that everything was signed and Wenger would need to find a replacement. In the end Paddy stayed for one more year and claimed that he had that special bond with the club. Many believed the money was a huge factor as his wages went sky high. It is not for me to speculate here but it does raise another issue on this tentative subject.

It is extremely hard to work out exactly when the rumours of potential interest in a player come from the agents or a true source. We are currently in a world where agents will do anything to raise the amount they receive via their percentage. Agents are only looking out for one thing in this game, number one. They do not care what problems are caused when they talk up interest from other clubs.

There is a clear difference when the club itself comes out with statements like the ones we have heard from Real Madrid. It is ridiculous how these clubs think they can say whatever the hell they like and get away with it. This season alone I have heard Roman Calderon mention Kaka being destined for Madrid, this after two years of constant declarations that he will sign Cesc Fabregas.

We have heard Barcelona declare their interest to bring Cesc back there at some point. I do not blame them for wanting such a player at their club, the only problem is that he is not their player, he is Arsenal’s and they cannot talk up such a move. That is tapping up in my opinion. The problem does however lie with Mr Wenger. He must take a hard line here but he never does.

Look at Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular. This is one area where I admire Alex Ferguson. He takes no shit from anyone, especially not Real Madrid or Barcelona. Throughout this season and last they have declared their desire to sign Ronaldo but these outbursts have died away, but why? Alex Ferguson has put them to bed.

When it seemed like Cristiano might leave this summer, Alex Ferguson told him he was going nowhere, told Madrid to go away in no uncertain terms and look how well he’s playing now. I just wish Wenger would release a statement declaring his refusal to sell these players. As soon as a report comes out over a potential move for Fabregas, he should quash immediately to avoid any unnecessary confusion. The silence does nothing but suggest Wenger is not sure over how his player feels.

Even if he believes his player might go, he must get tough and show how ambitious he is to keep his best players. If any club decides they want a player from Arsenal and make it public, it should be considered illegal and a valuable reason for Arsene Wenger to take this club to the Football courts. Whether he would have any chance of winning such a case I do not know; what he would show from it could be what makes it so important. This strong stance would warn any clubs that they should think twice before doing anything similar.

Hopefully Wenger will do this should the Hleb claims be found true. According to one paper Wenger will take Inter Milan to the courts over their tapping up of Hleb. If true, it seems Wenger has finally had enough and has begun to get tough with these clubs. It is about time he protected his squad and prevented these unsettling comments from clubs. It is out of order and I hope it starts to stop now.

If the worst comes to the worst, let’s release statements claiming Iker Casillas and Samuel Eto’o are destined to be at Arsenal for next season!

In other news, Tomas Rosicky seems to be far more unlikely to kick a ball for the first team in the near future. Reports claim he has not even started to join in training with a football. Tomas was expected back before Van Persie but injuries are never straight forward where Ro-"sicky" is concerned. The club thought he was over his injury troubles after he had a special insole inserted into his boot but then this happens. Week by week the fear he will end up as the new Freddie Ljungberg (in his latter years at Arsenal) increases.

Rosicky is definitely important to the side as he offers a directness from midfield. Hleb and Fabregas look for the killer ball and this often causes the game to slow down. That enables teams to close us down more easily than when someone like Rosicky is in the side. He gives us that balance in midfield as he draws players out with his desire to make things happen quickly, invariably they do.

Rumours are circulating that Emmanuel Eboue is up for sale in the summer. When Bakary Sagna came in this summer he was clearly brought in as the new first choice right back. He has not let Wenger down in his first season but Eboue has not settled to his new role on the right side of midfield as he might have wanted.

There have been times when Eboue has shown potential in this position. There have been others when he has looked like a lost soul out there. There are three things to consider this summer:
1. Is Eboue good enough?
As I said, he has shown promise at times but is it worth giving him another season to adapt to the role further?
2. Squad players
Every squad needs players who are prepared to be used more sparingly. A squad cannot survive if everyone wants to play every game. A manager needs players who are prepared to work hard in training and put up with a place on the bench for most of the season. Eboue is not part of our best 11 in my opinion but can be a decent player if called upon.
3. The price
If Wenger can get a decent price for Eboue he might cash in now and lose any risk of him flopping here. While interest is high and clubs are probably more likely to pay more than they might be one season on after no improvement.

I say that if the price is above £10million then I would probably sell. If it was anything less than that I would keep Eboue as a squad player and hope he cuts out the antics and continues to learn his trade as a right winger. It is hard to tell, he might become a very good midfielder given time.

First Half Laziness slowly creeping back in?

2008-03-20T15:50:00.001Z

During our first season at the Emirates season, there was theme embedded within most of our home matches; first half laziness. On many occasions, the fans had to endure a lacklustre first 45 minutes, followed by a vastly improved second in which the team was generally chasing the game. As the current season got going it seemed as though things had changed. The problem recently is that the problem is creeping back in.

Look at these games from last season.

Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 1

Olof Mellberg put Villa ahead in the second half but having battered at the door Gilberto scored late on to level the scores.

Arsenal 1 Middlesborough 1

James Morrison scored on the counter attack in the first half before Henry equalised from the spot.

Arsenal 1 Everton 1

Tim Cahill scored early on from a corner but Van Persie rescued a point with a late free kick.

Arsenal 1 Newcastle 1

Kieron Dyer nicked a quickfire goal in the first half but Henry made it 1-1 with a great free kick.

Arsenal 2 Portsmouth 2

Portsmouth went two ahead with goals from Pamarot and Taylor. Adebayor and Gilberto made the scores level in the second half.

Arsenal 6 Blackburn 2

An early Nonda penalty was cancelled out by goals from Gilberto, Adebayor and Hleb. When it became 3-2 Van Persie scored twice and Flamini added the 6th

Arsenal 2 Wigan 1

Landzaat scored a stunner after half an hour but an own goal followed by a Rosicky header finally broke Wigan’s resistance.

Arsenal 1 Bolton 1 (Fa Cup)

Kevin Nolan stole the lead early in the second half but Kolo Toure bundled the ball in for 1-1.

The common factor in all of these games is that Arsenal went behind to a goal against the run of play, only to fight back to get a point. These goals normally came late on as Arsenal battered away against deep lying defences. Teams normally came to the Emirates with a defensive set up and once they had stolen the lead in the first half, or early in the second, this game plan was only strengthened.

I say above the goal was "against the run of play". What I should say is that the goal came against the run of possession. We came out in the first half, passed the ball from side to side, backwards a bit but rarely with much pace going forward. The team obviously took time to settle into games and were happy to wait for a chance to come rather than go all out to make things happen.

With away teams set up in the custom 4-5-1 formation, they were happy for Arsenal to play in front of them. They were able to deal with any balls pumped long and with Arsenal’s lack of width, the middle area was congested and we were forced to play wide. As the half gradually drew on, Arsenal pushed more men forward, leaving us a bit more open at the back. This was not a problem as the opposition seemed unlikely to pose a threat. Suddenly however, the away team sensed an opportunity to break and unlike the home side, created that perfect opportunity and clinically took the lead.

From then on, we were forced the chase the game. As the away side held the lead, they knew they did not have to do anything more than try and soak up all our attacking pressure. It was only once the first goal had gone in that the lads began to try and force the issue as they realised a goal was needed fast. Wenger obviously rallied the troops at half time but by then it was too late. The problem was that we did not have an answer till very late on in those games and were able to take victory against Wigan and Blackburn.

At the start of this season it looked like same old story as Fulham scored the first goal at the Emirates. Inspired goalkeeping (a common occurrence against Arsenal it seems), desperate defending and wasteful finishing meant it took 82 minutes for us to break Fulham down as Toure won the penalty which Van Persie smashed home.

Up until this moment it seemed like we were never going to score and the most we could hope for was 1 point. We had battled away and I for one thought that we had used up all our luck to get that one goal; a second would never come. I willed that second goal to go in but it seemed like the second was beyond us.

Then…in the last minute, what had been our downfall last season was seemingly put behind us. During the 2006/07 season, our downfall at home was our inability to turn up to, and kill games early on. These games took their toll on the players but this season there seemed to be a turning point. As Cesc Fabregas played the ball over the top to Alex Hleb, I knew that elusive goal was going to come.

That goal took on huge importance as it showed this team was different to the one from the previous season. On the face of it, the goal got us off to a winning start in the Premiership, but it took on added importance. With all the media doubt surrounding the new season, it was important that this team went out to show that we had moved on from Thierry Henry and we were going to fight all the way for the title.

From this game on Arsenal had a bit of a swagger about them and teams were blown away as our run of form gathered pace. Unlike the season before we started went at teams early on with the throttle pushed down hard. Teams were blitzed by the speed and ruthlessness of our Football. With the partnership of Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin Van Persie up front, the days of early mistakes and desperate late equalisers seemed to be a thing of the past.

Then we hit December. Having played such brilliant football up until the Villa game on December 1st it was not unusual to see us go in at the break 2-1 up after a master class in attacking football. As soon as Alex Hleb went off however, the life was drained out of us and as if a switch had been flicked, we lost all impetus. From that moment on the goals were not free flowing like before and our play was void of speed and movement as we had become so used to.

The middle stint of the season saw us grind out results. From December 16th to January 1st we took 13 points from a possible 15 in the league. During this period we beat Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton and West Ham; in my opinion without playing to our best. Although we beat Everton by 4 goals to 1, we did not reach our usual standard of play and resorted to the long ball game.

Over this short period of time, the media was beginning to believe Arsenal had the stomach for the fight and were getting victories without playing well; a true sign of Champions. The problem was that this could not last forever. Sooner or later we had to find our early season form. This came towards the end of January as we went to Fulham and Manchester City and welcomed Newcastle and Blackburn to the Emirates. During these games we scored 11 goals and conceded only 1. It looked as though we were finding our feet again as the goals were flowing and we looked solid at the back.

At this point we were 5 points clear of Manchester United. Now we find ourselves level on points with United but they have a game in hand. I expect them to have beaten Bolton by the time this goes out and then we will be 3 points behind. If Chelsea win at Tottenham on the same evening we will have allowed them to close down our advantage as we will be level on points with them. We visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday also.

So what went wrong? Many will point to the defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the FA Cup. I do not buy that. To me, when a game goes that badly, all that the players want to do is move on as soon as possible. It is dwelled upon for a few hours the next Monday morning but from then the next game is the important thing. One must also take into account that only Gallas, Fabregas, Eboue, Hleb and Eduardo had played in the previous match and were likely to start the next one.

That next game was AC Milan and Arsene Wenger got a fantastic performance out of his players that night; the only thing missing was a goal. The flickering flame of the Manchester United game was extinguished there and then and we were ready to push on in the League once again. Next came a trip to St Andrews.

It was here that I believe the season changed. It is likely the players were on a high going into the game and wanted to get the chase for the Premier League title back on track. Before the game even got started, it was soured by Martin Taylor. I am being careful not to accuse him of anything deliberate but the fact of the matter is that the game was overshadowed by his horrific tackle on Eduardo.

The Arsenal players were clearly in a state of shock for the whole first half after what happened. When you see one of your best mates lying there in so much pain, there is no way you can concentrate on a football match right there and then. To add insult to injury (excuse the pun) we went into the break 1-0 down after a dodgy refereeing decision.

That 15 minute break has never been more needed by Arsene Wenger. He got the troops in and once they had re-grouped and focused on winning that game for Eduardo, they turned the game on its head. They showed great character to come from one goal behind and take the lead. Winning that game 2-1 could have been a major boost after what happened but it was cruelly taken away by the ref. There is no way Gael Clichy fouled Parnaby yet the ref pointed to the spot. The manner in which we drew that game made the day even more awful than it already was.

From here it was always going to be tough to focus the minds back to the title race. Although players came out and declared a desire to win the trophy for Eduardo, I knew it would take a bit of Football to get firmly back on track. There was one slight hitch. Aston Villa were never going to lie down in during their pursuit for Europe. Like they had done the previous season, they stole a lucky goal and were content to keep us at arms length.

The fans endured a lacklustre first half performance reminiscent of the season before. This was understandable after the events of the previous game but what was not good was our similar showing in the second. We were unable to create anything through the middle, failed to get round the Villa defence and only succeeded when we went long occasionally. There was a stubborn refusal to use this tactic more often and this was a mistake. The only time we caused problems was when we aimed long towards Bendtner and Adebayor, 6/5" and 6/4" respectively. Who wouldn’t cause problems with these two up front. Our goal came from one lung punt into the box and we had rescued a point.

There was me, walking out of the stadium, happy to have gained a point. Taking stock, it was not a bad point and I was confident we would push on. I knew we had Milan next and any sort of good performance would put us in good stead for the months ahead. What we got was in fact one of the best Arsenal performances in my lifetime. The way we kept the ball and moved Milan around at will was something I had not seen in recent months. After this I expected our troubles were behind us.

The simple truth was that Europe suits us more. In the League teams look to frustrate us and whereas at the start of the season we blew teams away without a care in the world, we were suddenly letting it affect us. With our most natural goalscorer Eduardo out we started to waste chance after chance. Wigan were up next and despite the appalling quality of the pitch, we should have taken three points but were wasteful in front of goal. A poor away performance yes, but still a point and ‘Boro at home’ the team that lost 2-0 to Cardiff the next day, surely 3 points here?

Well no actually, once again, only 1. Like Villa, they nicked a goal on the counter after Arsenal started at a canter. Suddenly we seemed a bit more alert but never had the speed and cunning to open ‘Boro up. We deserved a point at least and it should have been very different had this ref not dropped a clanger in the 4th minute. Once again we were hard done by an official.

What has got to change then?

The first thing is out mentality in the first half. Wenger rambles on and on about mental strength and character. Show this in the bloody first half then please! They did it at the start of the season but now have reverted back to their old ways. We have scored more goals than any side in the last 15 minutes; this can be recreated early on in games.

Maybe pre match preparation is not getting the players ready as it should. I see away teams doing passing drills against each other before games and taking shots at their keeper. All i see Arsenal doing is doing a few running exercises and passing the ball leisurely between themselves. These slightly competitive warm ups get the juices flowing and this may give teams an edge early on. Rarely do I see us practicing shots beforehand either. It is no wonder the players seem reluctant to have a go and often take time to find their range. Maybe we need to get all this done before the game starts so we can go out and kill teams early on?

Is complacency a factor? The times we have dropped points unnecessarily have been against so called lesser sides. When the season begun, everyone wrote Arsenal off and a no pressure situation was created. The players went into every game ready to prove people wrong, whoever the opposition was. Now that people have taken note of our position, weaknesses are showing. Gallas said the players were up for the Milan game, it is the type of game players thrive on. It must be this whether we visit the San Siro or the JJB.

The last factor I want to consider is the lack of options. I have often highlighted the need for a winger; someone to stretch teams and create gaps in the centre. With Hleb cutting inside and Eboue looking lost on the right we rarely get around the sides of teams. We lack someone who will get the ball and go at teams. We do not have a C.Ronaldo type player. Rosicky does add drive to our attack and we have missed him. We need to be able to shake it up once in a while and bringing Diaby on at left midfield is not it.

We play Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester United in the league now and these pathetic first half showings have got to stop. We may have only been 1 behind against Villa and ‘Boro but the other big three will punish this further. Hopefully the occasion spurs the players on but when we get back to the nitty gritty games, the players must show respect to the opposition, whoever it is, and play as if their lives depended on it.

The Wigan game, squad depth, Champions League tactics and so on

2008-03-20T15:47:00.000Z

It does seem like the logical place to start this entry is Sunday’s game. For me it could have swung the title race firmly into the path of Man Utd. Many Arsenal fans would have been delighted to see Portsmouth win at Old Trafford but for me it is not so great. Obviously it shows people that teams can win there and it gives referees the confidence now that the correct decisions can be made. However, in terms of our personal benefit, here is why I am not so happy.

Man Utd are arguably the best team at coming back from set backs like this. Arsenal fans only need to cast their minds back a few weeks and they will remember the drubbing we received at the hands of our rivals. Having dropped two points at White Hart Lane, they followed this up with a 2-1 home defeat to neighbours Man City. What happens next? They thrash one of their two title rivals. I fear this defeat might spur them on to a good run of form.

Couple this factor with the fact they are only 2 points behind and have a game in hand and it all looks a it bleak. The only thing to cling onto is the fact this title race has taken so many twists and turns already that it is very hard to judge what might happen.

One thing to watch out for is that we must not assume it is a two horse race and there is a strong likelihood we could go onto finish 3rd. Should we lose at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge we may well find ourselves pushed down the table by the Chavs. Hopefully Chelsea will come up short in some of their tricky games that remain this season and it becomes solely between two teams.

What does worry me is that we do not seem up for the fight of late. Against Birmingham I have no complaints on this front considering how well the lads did to come back after Eduardo’s horrific injury, only to be robbed of 2 points. The games against Villa and now Wigan have scared me though. We looked lacklustre against O’Neill’s well drilled side and against Wigan we failed to be ruthless. The chances were there but the players seemed to have a refusal to put the bad pitch behind them. That worries me a little.

In that game we looked awfully short on ideas, but also depth in the squad. After the Milan game Hleb looked knackered and in need of a rest. The problem was that we did not have enough players to give him that recovery time. Rosicky has disappeared once again, Eboue is only just back from suspension but is that a real advantage to the side? Gilberto looks lost in this team but has to play as Walcott and Diaby are getting injured left, right and centre. If Wenger seriously wants to challenge for the title this season, these players must get sorted before its too late. We are going to need everyone.

The Portsmouth game disappointed me for another reason. That was the performance of Lassana Diarra. Ever since his move to the South Coast he has been playing brilliantly. He showed glimpses of this with us but Wenger decided to let him go over Gilberto. Had Wenger taken a gamble and got rid of the ageing Brazilian, he could have had room for a younger guy who is hard in the tackle, strong on the ball and dominant in the centre. These are all things Gilberto is not right now and I wonder if Wenger regrets this move. He may have been impatient at Arsenal but I am sure most people would be if Gilberto got preferential treatment despite such poor form.

Hopefully Alex Song is going to be the one to push Gilberto out and Wenger does not see Gil in his long term plans. Flamini will hopefully sign up (get it done now!) and then we will have Song and him fighting for the place alongside Cesc.

Another blow is the continued absence of Tomas Rosicky but, it is starting to become some sort of joke now. How much time does this guy need to recover? It is likely that he will play 5 games in a row before some part of his body malfunctions. It is becoming more serious by the injury and I hope he does not go the same way as Freddie Ljungberg did.

The effect he has on the team is substantial in my eyes and if you look at our performances since he has been out, they lack pace and decisiveness. These are two things Rosicky brought to the side from the left side of midfield. Hleb and Fabregas like to build play slowly and Tomas added that balance with his willingness to drive at players and make things happen. Diaby cannot do this from the left, Eboue certainly cannot from the right and although they are great players, Hleb and Fabregas do not play this way. We are certainly easier to play against without the drive of Rosicky.

Up front we are also lacking in firepower. Adebayor has done brilliantly this season but we cannot rely on one man. Nicklas Bendtner looked good against Wigan but I do not sense he will score many goals at this stage of his career. Bendtner and Ade are too similar to play together and somehow the partnership will never reach the results needed to win a trophy.

That is why I was so happy to see Robin Van Persie back on the pitch yesterday and I just pray that he has put his injury problems behind him and is back for the final push. In the League this season, we played our most fruitful football with the combination of Adebayor and Van Persie and the goals did dry up when RVP was laid out through injury. We were scraping victories by the odd goal as we relied on Adebayor for the majority of our goals. Hopefully now these two can form a partnership again and the goals will come back.

With Van Persie back now and Rosicky soon I hope we should be back at full strength for the League and I cannot wait for this. It has been a while but it could make all the difference. Think of Man Utd without Rooney and Tevez and you see how I see Arsenal without these two. I see them as being this important.

The interesting thing to see from Arsene Wenger now is how he sets out his troops in the Champions League. I mentioned above how Fabregas and Hleb like to play the slower game and wait for things to happen. In the league teams will stifle this more but as we saw in Milan, this can work to great effect in Europe. The 4-5-1 formation helps us keep the ball and means we have support for Adebayor in midfield runners. In the Premiership the play is far more rushed and the same formation means Ade becomes isolated. So what does Wenger do now Van Persie is back?

I think the draw will play a massive part in how he sets up. Should we meet an English team - something I do not want at all - then I feel he will go with 2 up front in Van Persie (if fit) dropping just behind Adebayor, at least in the home leg. This season we have gone with the one striker against Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea and in each game looked lacking in attack. Van Persie gives us that element of surprise and constant attacking threat. He can drop off into the midfield area if we need to but I would prefer us to go for it if we meet an English side.

Should we be pitted against a European side I think we will see a similar set up to that in Milan. The question remains as to who is picked. I am pre-empting that Rosicky and Van Persie will stay fit and Hleb, Fabregas and Flamini remain injury free (touch wood!). I am sure our 6 attacking players will be Flamini, Fabregas, Hleb, Rosicky, Van Persie and Adebayor. How does he arrange them? If you think back to last season, Wenger used Van Persie out on the left side with Rosicky inside him, Hleb on the right. We could see a similar thing with slight changes:

Rosicky====Flamini====Hleb====Fabregas===VanPersie

==================Adebayor==================

Hleb performed so well in the withdrawn strikers role and as he did with Eduardo, he may use a left footed striker out wide to add balance to the side. Against most European sides, possession is key and this set up allows for this. Although many do not see Van Persie as anything other than a striker, Wenger may well see it differently as he has done in the past.

He could try something similar to the way Holland play with Van Persie in the side. That means RVP starting on the right of an attacking trio with Robben on the left. Obviously we would have Rosicky out there but the idea is that we have Van Persie cutting in on his left side where is so strong. He does this very well for Holland and could re-create this for us. That is just another option.

Wigan vs Arsenal - San Siro To The JJB - A Similar Result Is Necessary

2008-03-20T15:41:00.000Z

After our performance in the San Siro we must push on, both on a European and a domestic front. That starts this Sunday with the Premier League match at Wigan Athletic. The pitch up there will be awful and I doubt they will want to sort it out before we visit the JJB! On a brand new pitch we dominated Milan with our slick passing game. It will be difficult to carry out the same possession Football on such a ripped apart pitch.

If we want to win the Premier League we need to win these types of game. This game and the one at Bolton are the types of game that has caused us problems in recent seasons. To win the title we must prove that is behind us. We can go 4 points clear again and put the pressure firmly back on United to win their game in hand. It is tough always playing catch up and we cannot afford to give them any advantage.

Although we played 4-5-1 in the San Siro, I would like us to revert back to 4-4-2 against Wigan. Wigan should pose a far smaller threat in midfield and their defence is susceptible. We need to start scoring more frequently and having two up front makes a difference. One other reason for this is that the midfield area will become very congested on such a terrible pitch. Packing that area could have an adverse affect here.

Injuries will also dictate how and who we play. Walcott is out injured after a meaningless behind doors friendly against Colorado Rapids. The match may have been to help Van Persie in his return but what baffles me is why Theo was even playing? He is close to the first-team and his performances have looked promising of late but now he is out after such a stupid match. With the players available to Wenger it means Bendtner will get a chance up front. That will enable us to bypass the congested and bogged down midfield as we will inevitably try and hit long balls towards the two big front men.

Adebayor and Bendtner clearly do not get on well but neither did Sheringham and Cole during Man Utd’s treble winning season. They are both similar in their styles and as they are both outspoken it was always a risk something like this would break out. On Sunday they must show that they are professional and put it behind them for the good of the team. I would hope Ade did not pass to Bendtner at Birmingham because he felt he could score rather than disliking him. They linked well for the equaliser against Villa and more of the same will do nicely.

Diaby is also injured for this game after injuring his calf against Milan. What is it with Arsenal players and picking up so many injuries? Diaby did not seem to be struggling during the game and even played the full 90 minutes. The question of whether Wenger sends them to the treatment table after the smallest of niggles arises in my mind. I rarely see an Arsenal player playing in the side with a slight injury. I envy it when I see clubs like Liverpool who have the likes of Gerrard prepared to play through small problems without side effects. I doubt Wenger would ever let his players do the same.

With Eboue still suspended it is likely Hleb will play on the left with the right side filled by Fabregas or Denilson. I would prefer Wenger to stick with the same central midfield duo as in the San Siro as they will want to carry on what they did that night. These two are the mainstay of our midfield and right now part of the spine that will hopefully take us to the end of the season. Gilberto seems to have lost the ability to keep the ball and that will be crucial in this game, we must not allow Wigan to dominate us. That means we have Denilson to fill in on the right side.

Again the problem of squad depth arises and people will question Wenger’s judgement in not entering the transfer market. Again I will say there was no need for serious changes as we do have so many players to return very soon (I hope!). Maybe a winger would have been a good addition but with Walcott blossoming and Van Persie ready to free Hleb from his forward role our squad could have become too full.

One option Wenger has is to play either Clichy or Traore out wide on the left. Both can cross the ball and we would be secure down the sides. That is the area from which Wigan will want to attack and this gives us added protection down the wings. Saying that though i think Wenger will prefer to have natural midfield players in the side and it is a good game for Denilson to learn from.

The width will again have to come from the full backs with our midfield likely to be so narrow. Against Milan they were always prepared to get forward and their job will be to do the same and deliver crosses to the two big men up top. We have a huge threat with Bendtner and Adebayor and we must use this to its full extent. If it needs to be whipped in or kicked long lets just do it!

It is too early for Van Persie to start but he should be on the bench alongside Toure. Once again, these two will only be used if they are needed. We may well be short of numbers on the bench this Sunday and it will be down to those on the pitch to ensure the bench is not called upon. Toure was thought to be ready to come back in for Senderos.

In my eyes that would be extremely harsh on Big Phil who has improved massively over the last few weeks. The Villa game aside he has looked far more assured at the back alongside Gallas. With these two in central defence we look far more solid in the air and with Heskey Wigan’s main threat, this solidity could be very useful. Toure needs to work for his place.

On the face of it this game is not such a big one but in my view it is massive. After two draws we need to get back winning on a domestic basis. The must use the Milan game to provide confidence and make sure complacency does not creep in to their minds at all. Winning this game will send out a message that Arsenal are well and truly back on track.

AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2 - Cesc Fabregas you genius, Arsenal XI I salute you!

2008-03-06T21:58:00.001Z

I decided to write this match report as the game goes on. From the comfort of my bedroom I can watch the game and type this out at the same time. I have never done it before and it may contain the odd rant, highs and lows as the game goes on. Here goes:

Before the game I notice the team sheet and I think Wenger has bottled it. Theo Walcott has been dropped to the bench and replaced by Emmanuel Eboue. After two very encouraging performances the decision to bench Theo is irrational in my eyes. Emmanuel Eboue seems to have a divine right to waltz right back into the side and for me that is ridiculous. Eboue has been poor in this side and giving him this luxury will never make him learn.

As for Abou Diaby, well the guy is not a winger and maybe Theo should even be on the left. I guess Milan like to play a narrow game and Wenger will want to boss the centre. There will be hopes for Diaby to add muscle to the middle and link up well, he must wake up though as possession is key. The width must come from our full backs as Diaby will look to come inside.

Milan hae set up with an attacking trio of Inzaghi, Pato and Kaka. This scares me, it should scare everyone. Inzaghi is lethal and our defence must stick tight at all times. Senderos needs a better performance and Gallas must show why he is a leader. This is going to be tough but I am both excited and nervous. Is tonight the night? We play on a new pitch which will suit both teams really. To the game…

The game is on. Good start there, Hleb gets among the players and we counter well. More of that please lads. From here I will only comment on key things.

7 mins - That is ridiculous from the defence there. Awful defending to allow a free ball to come all the way in to the goal line before Cesc dealt with it. Milan will take heart from that and I hope we learn that we must attack the ball at the first opportunity.

12 mins - Brilliant tackle Cesc, great play by Adebayor, he can cause them problems here with his pace. So close from Diaby, very encouraging. Diaby must get forward to support him as Ade seemed isolated in that but if he can do the same thing we could be in business. We just must keep alert as very soon after Clichy misjudges for Inzaghi to hit the target - saved my Almunia.

18 mins - So so so so lucky there. Commentators say we have seen nothing from Kaka and Pato and lo and behold Kaka runs past 3 players and sets up Pato who strangely hits the ball with little power in probably and attempted lob. The defenders must not dive in as on this pitch he will find it so easy to cover the ground. Worrying.

32 mins - sorry guys, too nervous and into it to report but that is a disgrace. Nesta takes out Hleb, edge of the box and a dive is given with a yellow for Hleb is ridiculous. That could cost us I feel but we are keeping it well and taking it to Milan - FABREGAS, HITS THE BAR. It is just not falling for us right now but hopefully we keep plugging away.

HALF TIME

"Arsenal have done everything but score" Spot on ITV commentators but we really need to score. The half was summed up by three brilliant tackles, first by Flamini on Kaka - not for the first time - secondly on Ambrosini by Diaby and lastly by Hleb on Nesta I think it was. We have kept the ball brilliantly at times and have given Milan no time on the ball whatsoever. Wenger just needs to tell them to keep it up as Milan will come out better in the 2nd half. This tie is still intriguingly poised.

47 mins - Senderos fluffs our best chance. Corner in and he hits it at keeper, anywhere else he scores. There are the chances we must take. Milan already look more in this game and pose a threat at all times. Jesus my heart is racing and my fingers are shaking I am finding it hard to write.

50 - Forget Senderos - Eboue has just missed the best chance of the game. Pirlo plays in Ade who puts him in perfectly but Eboue misses the target as he has done many many times this season. He has come back in and been given a chance by Wenger, probably undeserved and he must do more to prove he deserves it.

Just wanted to say now - whatever the result here this performance must give us confidence for the rest of the season. Well saved Manu (53 mins).

I just feel it now, waste the chances and they will nick it last minute.

YEEEESSSSSSSS - GOAL GOAL Cesc Fabregas you genius! I thought that hit the back netting but no; what a goal!

Sorry for the delay - had problems with dominoes pizza but that is nothing now. The report during the game is interesting to note but I will sum up later as usual.

Full Time - Get in there Lads - We’ve got Cesc Fabregas, We’ve got Cesc Fabregas and Adebayor, Adebayor-oooorrr, give him the ball and he will score.

Now I leave that log from my mind on a brilliant night, I will add the post match later
Now i have calmed down and the house is not vibrating with noise lets reflect. There is not much to be said really. Almunia was solid, Sagna and Clichy brilliant and got forward as required. The defence was colossal, especially Gallas who showed why he is the captain. Senderos had his moments but won pretty much everything.

Fabregas and Flamini were outstanding and that adjective does not do them justice. Fabregas conducted this orchestra with ease and was clear man of the match, he just had fun out there. They gave Kaka and Pirlo no time and Pirlo looked so average. Diaby was very good also but Eboue did not cut it. Theo from the off now Wenger, the guy made a difference AGAIN.

Up front Hleb was awesome again with passing 84% complete. He linked well with Fabregas and together they ripped Milan apart. One ball from Hleb to Walcott was amazing, the technique and accuracy showed Hleb at his best. Lastly, but by no means the least, Emmanuel Adebayor I salute you! He led the line amazingly and was always there. His form was off lately but tonight he shone and got his first goal in the Champions League, lets now have more from Ade.

There is not much more to say right now. All I will do is praise our players through the roof but you do not need to hear that, all the papers will do it tomorrow. I am sure Fabregas the King will go into more detail later but I just wanted to show my thought during the game. They make interesting reading late on.

For me, this night resembled the one in the Bernabeu two seasons ago when Thierry Henry’s moment of brilliance took us through. That night we were the first English side to win in the Bernabeu, now we are the first team to win in the San Siro. Credit to all the lads, many teams have failed to keep Kaka quiet, look at Man Utd last year. Well done lads and spot on Wenger.

Arsenal vs AC Milan - All to play for...bring it on!

2008-03-06T21:53:00.002Z

Arsenal vs AC Milan in the San Siro, scores level at 0-0 after the first leg and one of the hardest and most important games so far this season. No British team has won in the San Siro and right now our form is shaky. Lets be realistic, Milan are favourites to go through to the quarter finals but it will not be a full gone conclusion.

Cast your minds back to two seasons ago when Arsene Wenger’s side visited the Bernabeu. Until 2006, no English team had beaten Real Madrid on their own turf. Our league form was shaky then too and no one gave us a chance that night. In the end, it took one moment of brilliance but we came away with a 1-0 victory that, combined with a 0-0 scoreline at home, took us through. A repeat would do nicely.

In my opinion it may take something similar to the goal Thierry Henry scored back then to take Arsenal through. That night we created chances and wasted them in the same fashion as at the Emirates two weeks ago. Milan are disciplined at the back and we may need someone to stand up and make that difference.

Although the odds are against us, there is no reason why we cannot win this game. The tie is intrigingly poised and while that is the case, both sides still have a choice. This game could have a huge bearing on our season. Winning this game will give us a massive boost for the rest of the season. If we lose it will either provide the basis for a collapse. Hopefully though, if we have to go out, a loss will show us where our priorities lie and make sure the League is firmly on the mind.

Both sides come into it with key players out injured. It was believed Kaka would miss this tie through injury but, as in the first leg, he is fit and ready to take to the field. He may not be at his best and Flamini and Fabregas showed us that they can stifle his threat. Clarence Seedorf is out and this is a blow to Milan. The Dutchman might be into his 30s but he is intelligent and still has that quality.

We saw in the first leg that if we go at Milan with pace they will find it hard to cope. Playing against an ageing side suits Arsenal when they move the ball quickly, use their clever moment and give the opposition no time to settle. We closed them down early in the home leg and Milan failed to get their passing game going. We need the exact same tomorrow evening.

Being at home will push Milan to open up a bit more than at the Emirates. They were hapy to soak up the pressure and try and hit us on the counter attack. They showed all those watching why Italian teams can be so hard to break down, even when the attack is not firing. In the San Siro, Milan will pose a far superior attacking threat but may leave themselves open. I think Wenger will look to hit Milan on the counter and try and get at the ageing defence when they have fewer numbers providing the protection.

It is imperative that the Arsenal players close down the Milan players when they look to get the ball down. If we give them any time on the ball they have the ability to punish us at any moment. The players will take heart from the first leg in that Milan rarely troubled on the same level to which Arsenal did. We also must take the chances when they arrive and I believe they WILL arrive.

Arsene Wenger has some decisions to make regarding team selection but I do feel we will set up in a 4-4-1-1 in the same way we did in the home tie. Adebayor will lead the line with Hleb in behind. It will resemble the start of the second half on Saturday. The worry on Saturday was that we did not create any chances with Hleb in behind Adebayor. With Walcott up front we stretched Villa’s defence more often and when Bendtner came on we gave them extra problems. This will come into Wenger’s mind but with a counter attacking set up likely the extra man in midfield is likely.

At the back Almunia will probably keep his place after a very good performance on Saturday. He keot us in the game at 1-0 and inevitably gave us the chance to draw level. It is harsh on Lehmann who played well in his run in the side. One advantage Manu has over Jens is his quick thinking when we try and spring counter attacks.

At the back Toure has not made the squad which is a blow. Pace could be key in this game and Senderos looked dodgy against Villa. Hopefully his confidence has not been knocked and he looks back to his excellent outings against Milan and Blackburn to how he can play. We will be pushed back into our box and his positioning and aerial strength could be of great value. William Gallas knows how big this game is and he has a lot to prove after his antics at Birmingham.

The full backs will need to be disciplined but Wenger will urge them to attack if possible. Milan do not attack down the wings as much as other teams but Sagna and Clichy can provide extra cover in the centre. They will be crucial on the counter also as we look to spring from the back. Their pace will cause Milan’s fullbacks problems. We rarely took advantage of the 2 on 1 situations out wide with Milan not having wingers. We must do that tomorrow.

On the wings Wenger can go with Walcott and Diaby once again but I feel we may see Eboue back in the side. For me, allowing Eboue an easy route back into the team would be wrong. The guy has become complacent and that has allowed his performances to drop. He is a frustrating player but a man who can have a big impact off the bench.

Theo Walcott cannot be dropped after two impressive performances. That leaves Diaby, who I feel could do ok in this game. He likes to cut inside which can give us extra men in the centre. He can add strength but he must be more dynamic. If he selects Eboue it could see Theo on the left. If Wenger feels he can be adventurous we may see Hleb on the left with Eboue right. That would mean playing Theo alongside Ade. It would be a risk for Wenger but his pace could be lethal. I doubt that will happen though.

Flamini and Fabregas need to play exactly the same way as they did against Milan last time around. They must not produce the same crap from the match against Villa. Flamini did not close down and put pressure on the opponents, Fabregas slowed the game down and was not his usual self. He lost the ball far more often than normal and often withdrew impetus from our play. He will be urged to move the ball quickly and get the Milan team chasing the ball.

Is this the game Adebayor breaks his mini scoring drought? I bloody hope so! He has not scored in four games; his last goal coming against Blackburn. After his miss in the last leg he owes us a goal. I still do not know how he missed but now he knows he must get his first European goal for Arsenal. If he does it could be a huge step towards the next round. Ade will need to make sure the midfield links up with him otherwise he will become isolated. He can dominate in the air if we get our players wide and the full backs overlap.

Lastly we have the subject of Robin Van Persie. According to Wenger:

"He has not played for five months really but he can play a part in the game, he is not ready to start but medically it is not a risk. Maybe to start in the game and play above his normal pace, that would be a risk."

Therefore, as there seems to be no risk of a recurrence it should be ok to use him, if we need him. If the game is lost or won by the 70th minute I doubt we will see him come on. If we need a goal there is no doubt RVP will be on. Wenger knows he can produce a moment of brilliance at any moment, especially against a defence thay will tire late on. He also provides a quality corner and is our best free kick taker. These situations could be crucial. We have looked a bit short of goals lately and goals are something Van Persie delivers.

============Almunia=============

Sagna====Senderos===Gallas====Clichy

Walcott===Fabregas===Flamini===Diaby

==========Hleb=====================

================Adebayor===========

Subs: Lehmann, Hoyte, Eboue, Gilberto, Denilson, Bendtner, Van Persie

I am already excited about this game, wherever you are watching it, all Gooners will be together for this match. Let’s win this trophy for Eduardo and bring back the confidence to the whole of Arsenal.

Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 1 - Season changing result? Mistakes made in January?

2008-03-06T21:49:00.001Z

As we moved into the New Year I looked at the fixtures that I believed might have the biggest influence on the title race. Arsenal vs Aston Villa was one of the ones I picked out. I was worried that their organisation, hard work and pace on the counter might cause us problems. That is exactly what happened yesterday afternoon. Wenger is right that scoring in the last minute could be a confidence boost but I do feel the advantage has swung Man Utd’s way.

The performance yesterday was on par with those we produced at ‘Boro, Newcastle and Pompey. We lacked creativity and potency. The problem seems to be that we are not playing at the same pace we showed at the start of the season. We are slowing the play down far too much and this enables the opposition to form a solid barrier. The reason we had so much success at the start of the season was that we went at teams with pace from the start, moved defenders around and were clinical in front of goal.

There is no doubt that we are missing three crucial players in the set up that provided this type of play. Kolo Toure often brought the ball out from the back and drew players too him, thus creating space for midfield runners. Tomas Rosicky gives the team that spark, that drive that we are missing. He looks to get the ball and make things happen. Robin Van Persie had that aura about him, that feel that he could score at any moment. I am positive that some of the chances we created against Milan, Birmingham and Villa would have been taken by Robin.

We are currently struglling due to this injury crisis. It begs the question as to whether Wenger should have bought in January. The money was available to him but he decided to keep his money in his pocket, with Luke Freeman the exception. Lets look at the two sides of the story:

Yes Wenger should have entered the transfer market:

Right now we lack creativity in midfield and more importantly we have no one who can score from these positions. We were relying on Eduardo and Adebayor for goals and this was not enough. With Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson, Song and RVP also out Wenger was relying on Eboue (0 goals), Hleb (4 goals), Theo (3 goals prior to Birmingham), Flamini (3 goals) and Fabregas (11 goals).

Fabregas has only scored once since November 3rd so therefore our midfield was lacking goals going into 2008. Rosicky only had 7 goals also; it was clear we could have done with a goalscoring midfielder. We also had two strikers scoring goals, but Bendtner has rarely scored when he has played. With Van Persie out we were one injury away from becoming blunt up front. Lo and behold, the horrific injury to Eduardo, and we are in the shit.

No, Wenger shouldn’t have entered the transfer market:

If Wenger had bought in the window, our squad would have been too big once players return. Buying another midfielder would leave us the same problem we had with Lassana Diarra. Had we brought in another striker, we would have 6 and surely one would have to go. This squad is developing how Wenger wants and he would have to make certain changes that he maybe would not want to make.

Wenger cannot foresee the future and who would have expected Eduardo to have his leg broken in a horrific challenge? A manager cannot simply buy players because we MIGHT get injuries. Granted, we had players out already but they are to come back and Wenger knows the problems having a huge squad can cause.

As Wenger said in his programme notes, "We have built a squad that has been thought through and Carlos Vela is part of that. We will assess the situation during the summer." The squad we have is part of a plan in Wenger’s mind and I do feel this squad is ahead of schedule, to be where we are now is fantastic and as Wenger said, the changes we need will be made in the summer, these players need a chance first.

Answer: I feel he could not buy unless he wanted to sell a few more players (that is a whole different debate)

Credit to Manuel Almunia for his performance yesterday. He was the main reason we were not dead and buried before Bendtner popped up. He made a string of quality saves to keep the score at 1-0. He has been put under pressure by Lehmann recently but once again has proved to be very solid.

Philippe Senderos has played well up to the Villa game but yesterday he had a bit of a shocker really. In the first half he had a major influence on the game; it was not a good influence for Arsenal. First of all he fluffed his lines with Carson on the floor at a corner and then scored a ridiculous own goal. It was clear Agbonlahor was going to cross the ball to Carew yet Senderos never got set, lost his footing and managed to divert it into the net. Senderos also tried to emulate Toure’s driving runs forward but got in a muddle most of the time. Senderos is all about aerial power but his lack of ability on the ground was shown up yesterday.

Alongside him I thought Gallas had good moments and bad moments, I guess that sums up the whole of the back four yesterday. Gallas was often caught sleeping as both Agbonlahor and later Harewood got through on goal. Clichy and Sagna were kept busy by Young and Maloney and our attacking threat from full back was stifled.

In midfield it was a shambles really. Flamini did not put in the tackles where he gets the ball and within seconds provides a springboard for attacks. Cesc Fabregas seemed to give the ball away so much when in good positions. He really does look jaded and in need of a rest but do we have the midfielders to cope with his absence, I doubt it.

Alex Hleb disappointed me the most in this game. He gave the ball away almost every time he had it and did not show the usual skill he does. Whenever he got past someone he always wanted to turn back and slow the game down. Hleb is at his best when he runs at people and causes them problems with his quick feet. Yesterday this was all missing. His shooting was also very poor but at least he had some attempts on goal.

Is it me or does Abou Diaby looks like he is on sedatives whenever he plays? The guy seems so lethargic and this is emphasised by the slowness with which he releases the ball to his team mates. He lacks the energy that encouraged Arsenal fans when he first arrived. I cannot help but think his drive would come back if he was moved into the centre. He is not the type of player suited to the left despite the agility he has shown on occasions. He is certainly one player whose future should be looked at in the summer in my eyes.

Up front Adebayor needs to find his Mojo once again. When he is not scoring Arsenal look lifeless up front and we will need him against Milan. The problem is that he is off form. He was kept out of the game against Villa and seems less willing to work an opening. Things are not falling for him but the players must hit him early. On many occasions he peeled away but the pass did not come as we continued to move it from side to side.

One bright light from the game was Theo Walcott. From the 1st minute he looked lively and often looked to come short. He always wanted to link up with Adebayor and was unlucky not to get a goal. He tested Carson a few times and created our only real chances. He finally used his pace to good effect rather than simply running around like a loose cannon. He looked more comfortable up front than on the wing but he could be a useful weapon on Tuesday. We must not get carried away though. His performance was not brilliant but the will for him to succeed often makes us overreact to good performances and over-criticise bad ones.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa - Win it for Eddy!

2008-03-06T21:47:00.000Z

After the horrific events of last Saturday, having a full week until their next game was a blessing for the players. Arsene Wenger is said to have given the players an extra day off to get over what happened to their team mate and ultimately their good friend Eduardo. This much needed rest time could be crucial with the title race hotting up.

This week has seen various reports on the health of Eduardo, the feelings of Martin Taylor and the heroics of Gary Lewin. Most people are probably sick to death of such reports but there are two things I would like to focus on quickly. We all (21,500 emails!!!) obviously wish Eddy a speedy recovery and it is reported Taylor himself visited the striker in hospital and had his apologies accepted. Why then, was this said in an interview with our no.9?

Did Martin Taylor visit you or called you to apologize?

- As far as I remember, he didn’t stop by.

Would you accept his apology for such a brutal tackle?

- Of course I would, that’s life, I don’t blame him. These things happen in football.

Was it the idea of Birmingham City to put out such a claim? Maybe they hoped to lay to bed certain claims for Taylor to be punished; leaving him to move on from the incident. There is no reason to say Eddy would not have accepted an apology had it come. The fear he might blame Taylor should they meet face to face was non existent. Could it just have been Eduardo was so drugged up on morphine he doesn’t remember anything about this meeting and it did happen? I guess for now we will not know the real events.

Lastly I want to salute Gary Lewin. This guy has been with Arsenal for 20 years or so and is still as dedicated as ever. Reports have shown he may have saved Eduardo’s career and for that the fans owe him, the club owes him but most importantly Eduardo owes him. In a way, what Lewin did was out of his normal job description; his job is to analyse strains and knocks on the pitch, not deal with horrific injuries such as this.

This is not the first time he has done such a brilliant job for a professional footballer. Many will remember the events of the Carling Cup Final when John Terry was knocked out cold by Abou Diaby. Lo and behold it was Gary Lewin who was first on the scene. He sensed there was a real problem and putting club rivalry behind him he simply rushed to help a fellow human being. He may well have saved John Terry that day; not just his career but his life. Gary is arguably the best in the business and at times it is people like him behind the scenes that need recognition.

Hopefully the players have put the horrible images out of their minds and are now focused on the pursuit of the title. If they were not already determined to win the Premier League, the injury to Eduardo surely provides an added incentive. It reminds me of the season Robert Pires was cruelly laid out as he was lighting up the Premiership. Hopefully we see Eduardo lifting the trophy, reminiscent of the day Pires did the same.

Following the injury, it was thought that Wenger might have Van Persie on the bench this Saturday as the squad becomes extremely limited in numbers. It seems however that Wenger will wait a bit longer before bringing him back. It may be taking a while but if the timing is right and we get Van Persie back in prime condition, it could be a massive boost come the final months of the season. Tomas Rosicky is also still out and I feel Wenger realises the importance of having these two back, but back in top notch.

One player that is back is Abou Diaby but I think he will only make the bench. Otherwise I feel it will be the team that ended the match against Birmingham that starts this match. The back four picks itself and Almunia will get another chance in goal to stake his claim for the return leg against Milan.
Theo Walcott impressed me massively and his performance was understandably overshadowed.

The two goals will give him confidence and it is a weight off his shoulders to get his first league goals. With the injuries we currently have he also knows he has a chance to get a run in the side, he needs to take it. We need to start winning games now and hopefully Wenger will not mess with the midfield trio of Hleb, Cesc and Flamini. They have been the mainstay of this side and we need our best players to get through a tricky period like this.

On the subject of Flamini, I am starting to get worried with his lack of commitment to this club and a new contract. He has been one of the reasons our performances have turned around this season and hopefully he signs up. He was not wanted by Wenger at the start of the summer but having forced his way into the side it would be a real shame to throw it all away. Arsenal is a side going places and Juventus are a side struggling to close the gap in Serie A, I do not understand why he would want to leave. It seems like his agent is trying to bump up his pay deal by a few grand.

Wenger has the option of playing Theo up front with Adebayor but for now I feel he will give Bendtner his chance to shine. He has improved this season and now is the time to show if he is ready to make the final step up. He has not made a huge impression in the League and with Van Persie back soon, the pressure is on him to perform. Ade just needs to start scoring again, simple as that. I guess one could say the relationship between the two strikers must improve, I hope it was just his striker’s instinct that made him go for goal rather than square it to Nick.

============Almunia============

Sagna====Senderos===Gallas===Clichy

Walcott===Fabregas===Flamini===Hleb

========Adebayor===Bendtner=====

Subs: Lehmann, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby, Hoyte

It is a pity we are playing Villa after this small dip in results combined with such a horrific turn of events last weekend. They play on the counter with pace and the full backs will have a tough job on their hands. Gallas will need to stay tight to Agbonlahor and we will rely on Phil to stifle the aerial threat of Carew. We have seen they are dangerous from set pieces, an area in which we are particularly weak. It is a big game but if we take our chances and are disciplined at the back we should get the points. Saying that, it will be far from easy.

Birmingham vs Arsenal - Back To The League

2008-03-06T21:44:00.000Z

After a near perfect performance against Milan, the Manchester United game should be banished from the minds of the squad. Now we return to the business of the Premier League and it is time to get back into the swing of things. The only thing we failed to do against AC this week was put the ball in the back of the net, Saturday is a perfect chance to put that right.

Had we killed Birmingham off at home rather than let complacency creep in we would be 7 points clear. Things happen in football and to be honest you cannot look back and say "what of at this stage". That game was in the past and every club has had certain things go wrong unexpectedly. I am only reminding everyone of this because the same cannot happen. We need to keep the 5 point gap alive and extend it if possible before we travel to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge.

Against Birmingham at the Emirates we really should have finished with 3 points, especially having taken the lead. In the past we had often gone behind only to gain a point late on but we got past that this season. This time however we allowed a team to steal a point with a cheap goal from their first set piece; tomorrow, if we take the lead, we must kill the game off as quickly as possible.

We are less likely to concede a similar goal with someone like Senderos in the side. His form has been excellent and if he can continue this then we should have a solid enough base to build on. One thing Phil adds to the side when he is in the team is height and power from set pieces, at both ends. All we lacked in the corresponding fixture was for someone to take charge and head the ball clear.

On the injury front we have Almunia back in the squad but after two good performances from Lehmann that is no great boost; it is nice to have him back but with one ‘keeper in good form it can never improve the squad hugely. It would be harsh on Lehmann should Almunia come straight back in, but I guess having established himself as the Premiership keeper this season, Wenger may opt for Manuel and keep Jens for the second leg against AC.

Van Persie, it seems, will return for the run-in but Wenger wants to have him fully fit and raring to go before he returns, he could be a massive player for us in the coming months. Tomas Rosicky is also close to a return but it is too soon for him also.

We only have one player back but we have two players out. Kolo’s injury is not as bad as first feared and in my eyes, it was wrong to start him ahead of Senderos on Wednesday night. Senderos was in the middle of a good run of form and Toure returned to the side after an injury-hit African Cup of Nations; only to be part of the 4-0 drubbing. Phil gets another chance to cement his place and his form eases the loss of Toure.

Emmanuel Eboue is also out with a fresh injury. His looks as serious as first feared with his lay-off likely to be around one month. For me, we have not lost anything special here as Eboue has been very poor all season. No goals from the right wing, from a player who has started a lot of games, is not good enough. He has not looked to beat his full back enough and now Theo Walcott gets a shot. Eboue played through the injury which may have caused further damage. To me that is bad for the team on his part, as soon as he felt any niggle he should have come off and allowed a raring to go Theo more time on the pitch.

It is hard to make this statement with Theo only having five minutes on the field of play, but, when he came on he seemed to have more urgency and positivity in him than Eboue had for most of his 89 minutes. Wenger made the substitution too late against Milan but Walcott now should get at least 70 minutes to show his worth to the side. He has looked a far better player as an impact sub, can he have an influence from the start?

Clichy and Sagna showed how important they are to the team with brilliant displays in midweek. I mentioned it after that game and want to mention again how much respect I have for Sagna right now. He has just lost a brother but has come back to put this team high in his priorities. Even though football is basically his life and for many players it is the best way to put things behind you, coming back so soon takes bottle and for this I salute him. Clichy has played in every league game this season which is a remarkable feat and along with Sagna has established himself as a key member of the side.

Despite playing behind the striker in the Champions League, Hleb will revert to the left as Eduardo partners Adebayor once again. In the League there is less emphasis on keeping the ball in the centre and if we can get it wide to Hleb he can cause problems out there. He will be key should we adopt a counter attacking strategy and his eye for a pass could split Birmingham apart.

All I need to say regarding both Flamini and Fabregas is "same again please". These two were awesome in the game against Milan and together meant we won the midfield battle. We gave their players no time to settle and with Birmingham likely to mix it up, they will have a hard task. Hopefully Cesc can get on the ball and maybe even get back on the scoresheet. One thing I wish to say to Flamini only, "sign up now, please!"

Eduardo plied his trade on the left of midfield and worked away admirably in a position he is not suited to. Wenger clearly is attempting to re-create a similar set up to the one that took us to the final two seasons ago, with a left footed player in Reyes out on the left. In the league however, I am sure Eddy will revert to his preferred role as a striker. That is where he is dangerous and a 4-4-2 is generally more suited to the Premier League as the game is faster and more direct with more goals scored on average than in the Champions League.

Should we take the lead Wenger may move Eduardo to the left to help us in possession and give us a stronger base for a counter attack. I would prefer for him to leave it as it is so we constantly have a threat going forward. Having two strikers will always increase the possibility to score and kill the game off.

When Adebayor headed the ball against the crossbar when it seemed easier to score it summed up his evening; nothing seemed to go right for him. Overall he did not have the best of games as his touch let him down frequently and he seemed lost up front on his own. Ade has 19 goals in 23(+1) appearances this season and will look to continue this form. Since his move from Monaco he has fired blanks in Europe but in the league has found goals easier to come by, hopefully he exemplifies that at St Andrews tomorrow.
Likely Arsenal team vs Birmingham

============Lehmann===========

Sagna===Senderos===Gallas====Clichy

Walcott===Flamini===Fabregas===Hleb

=======Adebayor===Eduardo=======

Subs: Almunia, Hoyte, Gilberto, Denilson, Bendtner

We will see two ex-Arsenal players in Larsson and Muamba, the latter posing the main threat to our midfield. If we can bypass the tough -tackling midfielder then we can dominate midfield. Larsson will provide a good supply of crosses which the defence will have to deal with. It is likely that we will have to deal with a direct style similar to the one Birmingham produced at the Emirates.

We need to get back to winning ways after a defeat and a draw and this away game is another character testing game for the lads. I am confident we can win if we keep the ball and take our chances.

Arsenal 0 Milan 0 - Still all to play for...

2008-03-04T22:41:00.000Z

We go to the San Siro with a 0-0 draw. On the face of it, that is a good result, a clean sheet at home and any away goal puts us in a strong position. That’s the realistic view but any fan that watched that game must be disappointed. The atmosphere was amazing on the first big European night at the Emirates.

We dominated the game and out played Milan. The work rate was fantastic all night as every player played his heart out. Kaka, Pirlo and Seedorf were shackled by Fabregas and Flamini who were brilliant throughout. Clichy and Sagna provided width over and over and Hleb linked everything together.

It was the perfect response to Saturday; we just could not score tonight. Like Liverpool did last night we closed them down at every opportunity and they had no time to settle. We went into every challenge determined to win the ball and most of the time we did exactly that. The fight and commitment was certainly there tonight.

The game could have been so different though after only 5 minutes. With Toure off the pitch we lost concentration and I could see Maldini run across our penalty box to meet the early corner. Once more Lehmann showed why Wenger kept him on, he still is a good goalkeeper. His save was top quality and it took me back to our run to the final 2 years ago. To then catch the cross and release the mightiest of throws was awesome, it was the Jens Lehmann show once again; Pato certainly knew he was there as Lehmann approached with his usual anger. He must improve his kicking though, it was awful.

Toure’s injury was a wierd one and no one at the Emirates was sure what happened but he has a calf injury. From personal experience I know they can be really annoying if such an injury persists but he shouldn’t be out for too long. Right now though, I wouldn’t want anyone ahead of Senderos at the back.

Tonight, Phil was a rock. Many - including me - were worried his lack of pace might be exposed by Pato and Kaka but he has clearly been improving his game as he read the game so well to make up for it. Tony Adams was not fast but he was always one step ahead, Senderos was the same tonight. He made countless challenges when Milan moved into dangerous positions, one in particular was brilliant as Kaka moved in on goal.

Gallas called for fight and passion and tonight he certainly played his part. Along with Senderos he kept Pato so quiet and I just hope he can produce the same in the San Siro. Senderos and Gallas have struck up a great partnership and have conceded very few goals. They will be key in the San Siro, as will Sagna and Clichy.

Special praise for Sagna who has just lost his brother. To come back so quickly and play the way he did, what a soldier! For footballers, playing this game is their lives and such a game is probably the way Sagna wanted to remember his brother and for that I salute you Baka!

Clichy just continued the way he has performed all season and was solid at the back when put under pressure but got forward all the time and put in some dangerous crosses; there was just no one on the end of it. The pace he has really helps on the cover when someone does run over the top. He has boundless energy and has been one of our best, and most importantly, most consistent players this season.

Eboue proved once again why he is the most frustrating player in our squad. He started well as Sagna and Eboue doubled up on Maldini and he made some good in roads from the right side. However, after 10 minutes he went missing again. In the second half he had our best chance of the game up until that point and emphasised why is goal tally this season is at the mighty number of zero.

Theo should have been on the pitch much much earlier. Giving him six minutes was a mistake with Eboue playing so badly. Granted Eboue could have had a penalty but once that went against him it was time to inject some fresh pace. Within 3 minutes he had created our best chance all night, simply because he was positive and went at his man. Eboue constantly slows the play down but Milan’s ageing defence did not want someone running at them.

Eduardo played on the left but I am still not sure if 4-5-1 is the best way. Away at the San Siro maybe it will be best but at home we should have gone with two up top. Eduardo did play well out there though and showed some good moments and brilliant work rate. He is a massive threat up front and we did take that away. The logic was that having Hleb as the extra man to link midfield to attack would be the way to open Milan up. This did not happen though I felt. Hleb was caught too far back and Ade became isolated.

In the middle Flamini had Kaka in his pocket all night. Kaka found space like always but Flamini stuck to him like a bad smell. One moment summed up his season as we saw a battle of the titans between Gattuso and Flamini. Both went in hard and although neither really came out on top, it was brilliant to see. Flamini has made a massive difference to our side this season and if he can produce the same in Milan it could be key.

Alongside Fabregas finally showed his best football. He has been out of sorts but the big stage brought the best out of him. His passing was spot on, his skill and taclking were all spot on. His link up play with Hleb is wonderful to watch but when it got him through on ball his shooting let him down. Twice he did not test the keeper as much as he should have; symptomatic of Arsenal this evening.

When I mentioned the 4-5-1, I pointed out that Ade got a bit isolated tonight but he did not help himself. In my eyes his performance was poor. His hold up play was not what it normally is and his shooting boots were left at home. How he did not score at the end, I still do not know. Missing such an importance chance is pretty unforgivable in my opinion. Hopefully he makes up for it in the San Siro and breaks his European duck then.

I know we should have won the game but before the game many would take a 0-0 draw. One goal in the San Siro puts us thoroughly in the driving seat with the away goals rule and we know now we can play Kaka out of the game. Milan will be a bigger threat at home but in a way this might help us as they come out of their shells a bit more. The counter attack is still a huge weapon for this Arsenal side. By then we might have the likes of Rosicky and Van Persie back and that could help us hugely.

Either way we need to put this behind us but still take heart from it. The League is up now and the return leg is in two weeks. Once Brum and Villa are out of the way then we can look at the 2nd leg. More of the same will do from now until then.

Arsenal vs Milan - How Will The Lads React?

2008-03-04T22:38:00.002Z

The title says it all really? After the 4-0 drubbing it is key Wenger motivates the squad ahead of a massive game, potentially a season defining one. If we mess this up I believe it will take something special to make sure it does not happen in the league.

After we lost 5-1 to Spurs we went and won 4 consecutive games, scoring 11 goals in the process, conceding only one. How I would love to see something similar. Even though the team that started Saturday’s game is unlikely to start Wednesday’s game, losing to a rival so heavily hurts the squad as a whole and they need to prove they really have the "mental strength" and "hunger" Arsene Wenger has mentioned on so many occasions this season.

The last time we played an Italian team in this competition we faced Juventus at home and produced one of our best performances of the season to ruin Patrick Vieira’s return to Highbury. Another 2-0 win would do very nicely. I do not see Milan being as open at the back as Juventus were that night. What they will have is a far older side than the one from Turin and with our youthful energy we have the opportunity to carve them open.

We must play to our strengths: quick passing, clever movement and midfield dominance. The defence of Milan can be beaten as most of them are getting on. The movement of our strikers and midfield runners will be the key to this.

Milan are extremely strong in the midfield area and this will be the key battle. Like Flamini does for us they will have Gattuso to try and stifle and attacks with his constant running, harrying and strong tackling. The battles between Gattuso and Fabregas, and Kaka and Flamini could be the decisive factor. Milan will probably line up as so:

=============Fiori==============

Oddo===Nesta===Kaladze===Jankulovski

=====Gattuso===Pirlo===Ambrosini====

=======Kaka===Seedorf============

=========Inzaghi============

Pirlo will be more advanced than Gattuso and Ambrosini and will look to link the defensive six to the attacking 3. Kaka will be the main threat as always and Flamini will have to get close to him as much as possible. The wily old head that is Clarence Seedorf will still be one we have to watch. He must be closed down as his shot is as lethal as anyone’s in Europe.

I remember the Champions League final of last year and their second goal summed them up perfectly. With Mascherano off the pitch, Kaka was finally given space and with one fantastic defence splitting pass he released Inzaghi. The chance was not an easy one but he showed a cool head and made it look easy. They can burst into action at any time and will invariably take their chances. We must stay alert at all times or we could be punished.

That is enough of the Milan team but what about the Arsenal side. Almunia is likely to still be out but Lehmann was the only one who performed with any crediility on Saturday and he will want to show the manager once again he can do the business on the big stage. We cannot afford one slip up from Jens however and I hope he improves his goal kicks!

The partnership of Toure and Gallas failed horribly on Saturday and with Senderos looking good right now I hope we see Senderos back in the side. Gallas and Senderos have played well together recently and it seems wrong to fix something that is not broken. Clichy was carrying the injury that has the largest chance of keeping him out and Sagna is away grieving the loss of his brother.
All of us at insidearsenal wish Baka and his family our best wishes.

We must not push Sagna to return however much we need him right now. He may decide the best thing to do is get straight back on the pitch and try and win this game for his club, he may feel his brother would have wished as much. He also might feel it is too early and that is fully understandable. Whatever he decides he must have the full support of the squad and the fans.

Should both full backs be unavailable to return, Hoyte and Traore could be drafted in again. However, after such a horrid performance from the two of them against Man Utd I would prefer to see somethng different. They are likely to be low on confidence and we need to be as solid as possible for this game. Wenger could go with Hoyte alongside Toure, Senderos and Gallas; the latter at left back. I would like to see the same set up if only Sagna returns. If Clichy is fit to return but Sagna chooses to take more time with his family then I would like to see Toure moved out to right full back as he did against PSV last season.

To stifle Milan’s midfield Wenger could go with 4-5-1 but it would take away a significant part of our attack. Adebayor and Eduardo have developed a brilliant partnership and been scoring regularly when they play together in a front two. Whenever Eduardo is moved to the left he looks lost and has a reluctance to track back. He is wasted out wide so I hope to see him up front on Wednesday.

Wenger could put Eduardo on the bench and go with Gilberto in the midfield with Flamini and Fabregas. As the home side I feel we have to go for it and try and take a lead to the San Siro. Playing two midfielders who are defensive minded is a risky stategy, especially with the form Fabregas is in right now. He rarely ventures into the opposition box like he did at the start of the season and has not had the same spark lately.

Hleb and Eboue will be in the side also but I hope we don’t see a similar set up to the one from Saturday. When we had Hleb and Eduardo in the same team, I could not understand playing the striker in midfield and the midfielder up front. Wenger hoped Hleb could link the midfield to the attack but he did nothing of the sort. Hleb should play on the left where he can get at the full back with his clever dribbling and good passing. Eboue needs to do the same and show us a performance that warrants his place in the side.

EDITED 19th February

It turns out that Sagna and Clichy will be back which is massive news. It also gives Wenger a decision to make over who partners Gallas. Wenger said that Flamini and Gilberto will play but did not specify if it was from the start. In my view Flamini will definitely start the game but I can see Gilberto partnering him in centre midfield with Cesc out on the right ala Blackburn at home.

==================Lehmann=================

Sagna=====Toure/Senderos======Gallas=====Clichy

Eboue/Fabregas===Flamini===Gilberto/Fabregas===Hleb

==========Adebayor=========Eduardo==========

We need a massive improvement from Saturday and I feel that the addition of certain players that missed out on Saturday could be the key. Milan will fear the pace our team possesses and we must use this. We blew Juventus off the park two years ago with similar tactics and if we do the same we could be in luck.

It is the first big European night at the Emirates and we must make the atmosphere electric. Everyone, bring your scarves!

Defensive Options - Toure And Gallas? Gallas And Senderos? Toure And Senderos?

2008-03-04T22:36:00.000Z

Having watched our defence get torn apart by Manchester United, I felt the defence was an issue that needed to be discussed. First of all I have some stats for you all:

We began the season with a centre back pairing of Kolo Toure and William Gallas. That however changed when Gallas became injured once again. When Senderos returned from his own injury he got a run in the side alongside Kolo. During this time they kept 6 clean sheets in a row when they were both on the pitch, during a spell of 7 games.

Played: 7 Won: 7Conceded: 2 (1 with Senderos off the field of play) (0.3 goals per game)

After this, William Gallas was welcomed back into the side for the visit of Bolton and remained in the side from then until January alongside Toure. During this time we:

Played: 14 (excl. Carling Cup) Won: 9 Drew: 4 lost: 1Conceded: 10 (0.7 goals per game)

When Toure left for the ACON, Wenger had little choice but to go with a Senderos/Gallas partnership. During this period we:

Played: 6 Won: 5 Drew: 1Conceded: 2 (0.3 goals per game)

Therefore, despite many fans’ criticism towards Phil, when he has been in the side we have conceded far less goals per game than when Toure and Gallas were together. Granted, they have played a larger amount of games together than any of the other combinations, but overall Senderos has played just as many with one of the other centre backs. The games have been just as difficult with him in the side also.

It seems that when given a run in the side Senderos improves game by game and has a brilliant record in the side. Is he a better natural centre back than the other two? Well…it is hard to answer that question as they are all so different. However, a combination of Senderos and one out of Toure and Gallas seems to work best.

Toure and Gallas are very fast players who are good in the tackle and like to defend on the ground. They often use their pace to cut out through balls and balls in behind. However, they both lack one vital thing, something Senderos has and that is ability in the air. Most of the goals Arsenal conceded with Toure and Gallas at centre back came from crosses and set pieces. We saw on Saturday that we are weak in this area without someone like Big Phil to dominate the area. Three of the goals Man Utd scored were from crosses and a lack of marking and dominance of the aerial ball.

The way we play when they play together however is more suited to our game. We play a very high line and look to put pressure on the opposition from the back forward. We can afford to do this with the recovery pace they both possess. However, as said, if we are pushed back into our own area, as we were on Saturday, we often find ourselves in trouble when someone like Senderos is not in the side.

The high line we play is risky with Senderos in the team as we rely on Toure or Gallas to make the recovery. On a few occasions it has been Senderos who tries to play the offside trap and is the last man out of the defence. When this happens, it is almost impossible for the other centre back to get back as his movement is away from his goal. The main advantage comes from the dominance when we are put under substantial pressure. Each one has its pros and cons.

I touched on what Toure and Gallas do not have but mentioned what they do have. Senderos is not blessed with pace, we all know that, and he can be caught out by clever forward play where acceleration is used. I ask you though, was Tony Adams that fast? No he was not but he read the game so well. You can see in Senderos’ game that he is exactly this and with time and time on the pitch, this will develop. Many defences have a blend of pace and height. Look at Manchester United, although Ferdinand is decent in the air, it is Vidic who generally will look to win the aerial battle, with Rio there to sweep up anything with his speed.

William Gallas did this alongside John Terry when he was at Chelsea and looks comfortable doing the same when he plays with Senderos. Cast your minds back to the Champions League run that took us to the final. At the heart of the defence were Toure and Senderos. During that time we kept 10 clean sheets in a row and we saw the perfect blend of height and pace. Toure was always there to clean up anything Senderos failed to win with the first challenge and we were solid when anything came long.

Toure has the tendency to be drawn out of position and this can leave gaping holes at the back. When this happens it is unlikely Senderos has the pace to cover him. The goals conceded during this partnership often came from defending of this kind. When Toure is disciplined, they have been our most reliable partnership

It seems to me therefore that a, if you like, little and large combination works best. However, their are times when this is not the case. When a team has two quick strikers and do not look to get the ball into the box so much, pace is often the key. Toure and Gallas are not always required to attack the ball in the air. Saying that, most teams are aware that Arsenal are weak in this area and look to take advantage of this. Below are three matches where we have been exploited in this area:

Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2 - Although we won the game, John Carew was an absolute nightmare as balls came in constantly.Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1 - Berbatov controlled the game in the final third as he was given so much time to pluck the ball out of the air unchallenged.Manchester United 4 Arsenal 0 - A clear example here as 3/4 goals came from balls whipped in.

Had we had a dominant figure like Senderos in these games, I am sure we would have been far more assured as a back line. There are still doubts over Senderos, he really needs to play brilliantly against one man to prove to himself really he can do the business at the highest level. That man is Didier Drogba. On countless occasions he has been a thorn in Senderos’ side with a mixture of power and strength.

The key for Senderos is to get a run in the side. It takes him time to settle and I am never confident of seeing the best of him when he is thrust into a game on the back of no playing time. Wenger has to make a decision but I feel the Man Utd game may have been a wake up call that we have looked more assured with a tall guy to dominate at the back.

With the centre backs dealt with I will move onto the full back options we have. Unlike the three centre backs we currently have, I am in no doubt that Sagna and Clichy are our 1st choice full backs; in fact I am sure every Arsenal fan is sure of this. This season they have been outstanding both defensively and going forward. Teams find it hard to get round us and hate it when the two of them get forward with an end product on many occasions.

What I want to look at is who we have in reserve and what Wenger could do if these players prove they are not yet good enough. We have seen that Wenger sees Hoyte and Traore as the natural back-ups to Sagna and Clichy respectively. As we saw on Saturday however, they still have a lot to learn. Hoyte is further along in his education and must learn fast if he is to have a future here. Traore is very much a rough diamond. His main problem is his positioning and Man Utd were quick to make the most of it with countless balls in behind him. He has the pace and attacking skills to be a good full back. His defending however must improve.

Hoyte has played well at times this season but Wenger’s decision to play him at centre back against Spurs backfired horribly has he was taken to pieces by Keane and Berbatov. It clearly knocked his confidence and on Saturday he seemed afraid to tackle or get forward. If he can get his confidence back he can be a good player for us when called upon.

However, it is clear that Traore is not yet ready to come in should Clichy need a rest or be injured. With three more than capable centre backs vying for two positions it is useful to have two that can play at full back. Gallas, as we have seen in an Arsenal shirt can play at left back, Toure on the right also. If Clichy is out I would like to see Gallas play there with Toure and Senderos playing in the centre. I just do not think Traore is ready quite yet.

With both full backs doubtful for Wednesday night Wenger has a big choice to make. Should Sagna make it but Clichy remain on the sidelines then I would like to see Gallas moved to left back and Toure and Senderos in the middle:
Sagna===Toure===Senderos===Gallas
This would give us far more security against a good attacking side.If Clichy is available but Sagna cannot make it then I would like to see something similar but with Toure moved to full back instead of Gallas:
Toure===Senderos===Gallas===Clichy
You might remember the Champions League match at home to PSV last season when Toure played at right back. He got forward just as an Arsenal right back should. I guess one could argue that Toure is low on confidence after some shaky performances of late but the big occasions brings out the best in Kolo, normally!
There is always Eboue at right back if needed.

To sum up - Although many see Toure and Gallas as our main partnership, it is hard to say for definite that this is correct. Their are many advantages to having Senderos in the side, the stats do not lie after all. I guess it is good to have many different options.

Arsenal 0 Milan 0 - Still all to play for...

2008-02-21T19:22:00.001Z

Manchester United 4 Arsenal 0 - no passion, no pride, no quality

2008-02-17T20:30:00.002Z

The team that walked out against Manchester United may not have been the same as the one that walked out at the Lane in the Carling Cup, but both teams produced a very similar performance. They gave us one with no passion, no commitment, no pride, no bottle and ultimately a lack of quality. Like that night at the Lane, Arsenal failed to string more than 2 passes together before giving it straight to United. Man Utd were not THAT good, Arsenal were just that bad.

Before the game I said a win for Man Utd would not provide much of a psychological boost but losing by such a large margin will. I know the two teams will be very different come April but this must have some influence on proceedings. To the game anyway.

From the back to the front we were piss poor, only Jens Lehmann came away from Old Trafford with any credit. Lehmann prevented this game from becoming a hockey score. He came out of his area at least 3 times to deny Rooney and Nani unchallenged efforts on goal. On each of those occasions it was an Arsenal player, yes an Arsenal player that started the move from which they raced clear.

Each goal had an Arsenal error firmly at the heart of it. This is not an excuse but a simple fact that Arsenal gifted them each of the four goals and did all they could to gift them even more. One by one lets look at the goals.

1-0 Poor defending led to Arsenal conceding a corner kick. The ball was half cleared and a weak challenge from Fabregas let Anderson head the ball into back into the danger. If that was not enough, Justin Hoyte failed to get goal side of Rooney, leaving him with the simple task of putting the ball past Lehmann

2-0 Fabregas lost the ball in his own half with a ridiculous pass across his own back four. From here Nani ran clear and managed to put in a cross. Darren Fletcher lost Fabregas (again!) who managed to beat Gallas who did not do enough in the air to clear the ball.

3-0 Possesion was lost once again to Michael Carrick who noticed Nani creeping in behind Traore for the countless time and Nani was left clear to slot home. This was not the only time Traore had played a United player onside as he failed to push up with his fellow defenders. It was not to be the last however.

4-0 Justin Hoyte again now. Up against Nani out wide near the touchline, he let Nani push him back into the Arsenal box without any sort of challenge. From here Nani twisted and turned Hoyte once more and once more Fletcher lost his man, Flamini this time, and headed home. To be fair to Flamini he had only just come on.

There is no question that Man Utd were better than Arsenal today, the stats are conclusive but it did seem to me that the players did not care about this game, and neither did Wenger. Granted we could only field a team of 11 fit players and those on the bench were carrying injuries but this performance was not good enough. In both the domestic cup competitions we have gone to our rivals and capitulated to an astonoshing effect.

Wenger showed he was out to make this a difficult game for United, but not one to trouble their defence. He has persisted with Eduardo as a left sided midfield player but it does not work. He looks lost out there and fails to help the full back Traore who was left open throughout. Hleb played as a support to Bendtner but did not get close to him. As soon as Eduardo moved up front we looked more dangerous. Hleb looked more comfortable back on the left and Eduardo started to link the midfield and attack. United were given license to attack as they knew we were never going to threaten.

At the back Toure and Gallas looked like they have never played together before and need to get the understanding back. It did not help that Hoyte and Traore looked hapless and were constantly left marking space as United’s wingers were left free to roam. They made Nani and Park look like world beaters. As skipper Gallas should have led by example but he and Toure were left bamboozled by Rooney way too often.

Gilberto was supposed to offer protection to the back four but once more he was off the pace, sloppy in possession and weak in the tackle. Ironically, with Flamini out, the sort of player we needed was preparing for an FA Cup game with Preston tomorrow. Diarra should still be at Arsenal with a real chance of playing right now, not Gilberto who has no future here past the summer. As soon as Flamini was on he pressured United in possession and got stuck in; he was also slightly injured.

Fabregas seemed knackered to me and I am sure that he would have been rested if we did not have so many players injured. He has not looked himself recently and we all hope he sorts this come Wednesday. Hleb offered no support to the front man as I said and his passing was not what we expect from him. His usual calmness was lost and where one expects him to link up well with Cesc, we saw nothing of the sort.

On the wing Eboue was non existent. Not once did he try and get at Evra and I only noticed him as he was shown the red card. Now seems like the perfect time to rant about the ref. Like a few years ago when the Neville brothers kicked lumps out of Reyes unpunished, Alan Wiley let some United players get in some terrible fouls without seeing yellow. As soon as an Arsenal player made one foul, he was duly booked. Emmanuel Eboue went up for the header with his eyes on the ball all the time. I know his foot was high but he did not kick out and he merely landed on Evra.

Another rant now and that lies with the BBC. John Motson and Mark Lawrenson were so far up United’s arse it was unbelievable. I have never heard so many jibes towards Arsenal in one game and anyone would think Wayne Rooney had achieved world piece the way they went on. It was not only these two individuals who had jumped on the Man U bandwagon. You may all remember a goal disallowed for an offside. To me it was a very dubious decision yet we never once saw a replay. Anytime a United player was offside they showed it from 3 different angles. Earlier in the game Eduardo was clearly tripped on the edge of the box but nothing was given. Once more, no replays. What is going on BBC??

I have sent a quick comment to the BBC asking for an explanation and hope they have the kindness to explain themselves. I doubt I’ll hear anything anytime soon though.

Eduardo and Bendtner were a bit unlucky, in my eyes anyway. Eddy was out of position for most of the game but tried hard to make something of the game whenever he got it. Bendtner worked hard whenever the ball was lumped up to him but he simply had no support. When Ade came on we looked a little more potent but his dive was disgraceful and I hope we see no more of such antics.

These stats below sum it up really. United were up for it, Arsenal were not. Hopefully they had one eye on the Milan game and we see a performance completely different from the one they produced today.

Corners:
Man Utd 6 Arsenal 0
Goal Attempts:
Man Utd 21 Arsenal 4
On Target:
Man Utd 12 Arsenal 1

There is not much more to say really. We all saw it, we all know how poor it was. Hopefully Wednesday will be a very different story.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd - Squad Depth analysed - will it be as expected?

2008-02-14T21:01:00.002Z

With the FA Cup 5th round tie against Manchester United well on the horizon and the run in as tight as ever, I thought about looking at the two squads, plus Chelsea! With all three clubs competing in at least 3 competitions, a good squad can be crucial, with strength in depth a massive factor. Chelsea have spent lots and many might expect them to have a big advantage here but United have spent a lot recently too and Wenger has built foundations.

The match on Saturday will not really compare the best teams of Arsenal and Man United with the sheer amount of injuries Wenger has right now coupled with the desire to rest certain players. Therefore it will be a key time to look at the squads of both. I believe Ferguson will select a near full strength side to try and banish memories of the derby defeat last Saturday.

Goalkeepers: (in order of current hierarchy)

Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Jens Lehmann, Lukasz Fabianski
Man Utd: Edwin Van Der Saar, Tomas Kuszack, Ben Foster
Chelsea: Petr Cech, Carlo Cudicini, Hilario

At the start of the season, I doubt any Arsenal fans would have predicted Almunia would have established himself as the current Arsenal no.1. With a very dodgy start to the season, Lehmann lost his place to the Spaniard who has just kept improving. There are still doubters over his long term future as Wenger's no.1. That is not the case for Chelsea who definitely have one of the best around in Cech. He has made more mistakes recently but is still a rock for Chelsea between the sticks. Ferguson had an easy decision to make due to Foster's long term absence. Had he been fit it is likely he would have challenged Van Der Saar for the keeper's jersey. Van Der Saar has looked shaky at times this season as his probable last season at United comes to and end.

Advantage: Chelsea

Defence:

Arsenal: Sagna, Gallas, Toure. Clichy. Hoyte, Senderos, Djourou, Traore, Song
Man Utd: Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Neville, O'Shea, Gibson
Chelsea: Beletti, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole, Ferreira, Alex, Ivanovic, Ben Haim, Bridge

It is hard to make a judgement based on the first choice defences of all three clubs but I am going to put something out there. I believe that when each team plays its strongest defence, it is not Chelsea who have the best like many believe but Man Utd and Arsenal. In the centre back department, Man Utd are probably the strongest as they have the perfect partnership in Vidic and Ferdinand. They just edge out Gallas and Toure due to their lack of height and dominance in the air. Don't get me wrong, Chelsea's defence is still strong but I feel they have a lack of pace in the centre.

United have a brilliant player in Evra but he can be exploited defensively. Wes Brown is not a right back for me and United lose any attacking potency with him at full back. It is at right and left back that Arsenal are the strongest of the three. Sagna and Clichy are the best full back pairing in the league, both attacking wise and defensively. Chelsea do have attacking full backs but I do not feel we see the best of them going forward.

In reserve it is clear Chelsea are way ahead. They have an international defender in Alex who has done well this season. The new defender Ivanovic comes with a hefty price tag and Grant has high hopes for him. They are just two of the three reserve centre backs. Ben Haim may well be on his way come the summer. United are quite thread bare once you take out a few of their defenders. They have very little in reserve and an injury to Vidic for example could be a massive blow. Arsenal have Senderos as the main back up to Gallas and Toure. He has shown that with a run in the side he can be a good defender. However, as a sub or replacement for one game, it often takes him too long to settle. We have Djourou who still has a lot to learn but Alex Song could be a real find at centre back. If he can show the form he did at Blackburn this season, he can be a brilliant replacement centre half.

Again, Chelsea have a far better reserve in full backs. Ferreira and Bridge are both internationals and Bridge especially is pushing Cole for his place. Arsenal have Justin Hoyte who has improved massively recently. On the left however, we only have Traore to fill in for Clichy and his education is only just underway. He is improving but can be exploited by a half decent winger. Wenger could move Gallas or Flamini there to do a job but he would lose something else from the team. United have Neville to come back but it is a big question as to whether he can be the same player after such a long lay off.

Advantage Man Utd (just...)

Midfield

Arsenal: Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini, Rosicky, Eboue, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby, Song, Walcott
Man Utd: Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Scholes, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Carrick, Park Ji-Sung
Chelsea: Wright Phillips, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, J Cole, Malouda, Mikel, Makelele, Sidwell

The first thing I want to say here is that I have put the midfield in order of which players are first choice. I still am not sure which pairing suits Man Utd best as it is a hard decision to make. Last season Scholes and Carrick were brilliant but this season has seen the introduction of Hargreaves and the emergence of Anderson earlier than expected. With Scholes out injured for most of the season, Anderson has come in and done a fantastic job; yet you cannot leave Scholes out, he still has it. Hargreaves has added an extra bit of fight to the midfield but Carrick is a better passer of the ball. Arsenal's centre midfield pairing is now set in stone with Flamini and Fabregas working so well together this season. In the centre, Chelsea's best three players are Essien, Lampard and Ballack. If these three cannot work well together they do have more than adept players to come in.

Mikel has shown some patches of good form this season with Ballack out and he would get into most sides. Makelele has been one of the best defensive midfielders in the world in recent seasons and can still come in and show off this talent when called upon. In Sidwell they have a workhorse who would be in most other teams below the top four. I have mentioned Man Utd's strength in depth but not yet looked at Arsenal. Gilberto's performances have gone down hill this season compared to a brilliant previous campaign. He seems way off the pace and gives the ball away way too often. In Song and Denilson we have two players with great potential. With Diarra gone it gives Song a chance to make his mark in midfield as well as at the back. Denilson is similar to Cesc but understandably is not quite at his level, not many are at such a young age.

On the wings Manchester United have Cristiano Ronaldo and Giggs. Even as an Arsenal fan I have to admit the blend of exciting youth and clever experience works fantastically. To have 25 goals in one season is amazing for anyone, but Ronaldo has reached that amount by February. He is granted a free role admittedly but it still is absolutely amazing. Chelsea also have talented wingers with SWP coming on this season and Joe Cole always threatening. Arsenal do not use orthodox wingers but in Hleb and Rosicky have two great attacking midfield players. They do need to get more goals however but contribute massively to the team as an attacking force.

In reserve Arsenal have Eboue and Diaby who many fans wish did not play out wide. Eboue can be very frustrating but has shown glimpses of brilliance. As an impact player he could be a big asset for Wenger to have. Diaby is naturally a central minded player and seems to dribble far too much on the left. Like Senderos, he needs a few games to settle into the side. Wenger is still clearly unsure over Theo Walcott but he can be a good impact player off the bench with his pace and attacking instinct. United have Nani who is a raw talent, who, under the right guidance could be a top player. Park has not had great luck with injuries but is a manager's dream. He will give 100% whenever he is picked and seems like the kind of guy that will not throw his toys out of the pram.

Again, Chelsea have an abundance of players in this position and every player possesses quality. Man United are particularly strong in the centre but compared to Chelsea they do not have as much quality in those wide players on the bench. Arsenal are weakest it seems out wide with no natural wingers. In reserve they have some impact players but no one who you can see pushing for many starts out wide. In the centre Arsenal have a few players with potential but again the Flamini and Fabregas are pretty much assured of a place when they are fit.

Advantage: Chelsea

Attack:

Arsenal: Adebayor, Eduardo, Van Persie, Bendtner, Walcott
Man Utd: Rooney, Tevez, Saha
Chelsea: Drogba, Anelka, Kalou, Shevchenko, Pizarro

It is pretty clear that there is little between the strike pairings of all three clubs. Rooney & Tevez have formed a partnership many doubted would work. Man Utd rarely play the ball in the air so these two are rarely isolated. They take turns to drop off and seem to have a brilliant reading of each others' games. Emmanuel Adebayor has been brilliant this season as we all know and recently Eduardo has become a perfect partner. It took him time to settle, hence why Wenger went with 4-5-1 for a while, but now his partnership with Adebayor is working brilliantly. Avram Grant has gone with 1 striker during his reign but surely having Drogba and Anelka will force him into a change to 4-4-2? Having these two in the side could lead to goals a plenty. There is a risk that their egos could clash but having to choose between one or the other could lead to problems off the pitch. Drogba may be off this summer anyway.

In reserve Arsenal are probably better off. If Van Persie can get fit Wenger will have a big decision on his hands. Van Persie is a fantastic player who can produce a goal at any moment. He is technically gifted and has reminded many people of Dennis Bergkamp with his skill and passing but he also possesses a lethal shot. He provides the team with quality set pieces for the team, especially the likes of Nicklas Bendtner who has impresses this season with his development. He has been aided with Van Persie's absence but has linked play well and scored some good goals. He is going to become a top class player and has already pushed Wenger to give him more games this season. In Theo Walcott Wenger has another rough diamond on his hands.

It is no coincidence that United have lost four games this season and all have been when Wayne Rooney has been absent. He makes United tick and works so well with Ronaldo and Tevez. In reserve they only have Louis Saha who is always injured it seems. It seems obvious that they are one striker short and I am surprised Ferguson didn't make a move for another forward. They have the option of playing Ronaldo through the middle but they lose something when he leaves his role out wide.

Chelsea have 5 strikers that have all played a part this season but I can see at least Pizarro leaving this summer and probably Shevchenko if the right offer comes and Abramovich is prepared to let his mate go. Kalou has a few goals this season but does not offer what Drogba or Anelka does. He could well play alongside one of them but I do not see him as a lone striker. It has been clear this season that when Drogba was out Chelsea looked short of goals and that forced them to sign Anelka. Those strikers available to Grant had not impressed and have never looked like scoring regularly.

Advantage: Arsenal

Overall, we know that each club has a strong side but each team seems to have an advantage in different departments with Arsenal one apiece and Chelsea with 2. Obviously injuries play a major part in squad involvement but with so many competitions to be sorted still, these squads will no doubt be involved, Saturday being a clear example.

Arsenal 2 Blackburn 0 - 5 points clear at the top

2008-02-12T13:52:00.000Z

On the face of it a 2-0 victory seems like a comfortable one, however last night was not pretty and although we were not exactly troubled by Blackburn, at 1-0, we were still walking on a tight rope. It was a perfect example of why matches that remain at 1-0 for so long, can be an absolute nightmare for any fan. I think it definitely showed as some fans started to get on the players' backs whenever a pass went astray or a chance to shoot from 30 yards was not taken.

The players did seem to get caught up in the sloppiness that was ever-present last night. All over the pitch, players from both sides were panicking on the ball and all calmness went out of the window. During the first half we let Blackburn come into the game. Having gone one up after a rare headed goal at a corner by Senderos, we should have taken the initiative and pushed for a quick and decisive second. However, Blackburn came into it much more.

We failed to close them down and with Tugay in the middle they had a clever passer of the ball. Bentley and Emerton were given far too much room to get early crosses in but something really alarmed me when they did come in. Senderos seemed not to want to jump and attack the incoming ball. Blackburn's best chance fell to McCarthy who did not connect with a cross properly. However, any better contact and the score was level. In hindsight its easy to say it doesn't matter Phil did not try and head this ball away but it baffles me that he did not try and get his head to the ball when it was easily reachable.

Senderos is fighting for his place now Toure has returned. Up until last night he had looked solid but last night I think he looked suspect. When pace was used cleverly against him he did not look completely assured. In the air he was not his usual self and seemed to lack conviction throughout last night's game. I feel that if he plays next Saturday he could be left exposed by the pace of United's attack. Wenger has a big decision to make however.

Jens Lehmann looked a lot more comfortable from crosses and I must praise his professionalism with us. He may have complained a lot which I did not like, but he has come in and done a job with little fuss when called upon. One moment scared me and I am still not sure exactly what happened. The ball ran through to him and he slid towards the byline. He put the ball on the pitch and let it go as he went off the pitch. Whether he was aware that Santa Cruz was coming or not I do not know but the striker very nearly was granted with a glorious chance. Nothing is simple with Mad Jens I guess.

Gilberto's performance was an interesting one. He did some things well; in particular some nice passes and bits of skill. However, he still looks well off the pace and I do not think he is adapting his game as he gets older. If he could make changes like Bergkamp did then he could still be a big player but I just do not see him having a future here beyond this summer. He slows the game down in midfield and gave the ball away too many times (as he has done whenever he has played this season). When Cesc moved inside more during the second half, we moved the ball faster and looked far more threatening.

I had discussed last week the idea of Cesc playing on the right if it was necessary and last night that came to pass. With Walcott strangely unavailable, Fabregas was asked to do a job on the right. I had mentioned he can dominate games with more space out there and whenever he got the ball he did just this. He linked very well with Sagna who was awesome down that flank. I lost count of how many times he burst down that flank to get crosses in.

On the other wing Hleb gave his full back a horrid time and was so unlucky not to get a goal. When his shot beat Friedel he was denied by the post and he was the one player who deserved a goal. He was always looking for a killer pass and fans will be pleased he started shooting more. Clichy was stifled by Bentley well and did not have the best of games. Saying that, it was not a bad game by any means, he has simply been playing at such a high level this season that we expect a lot. His battle with Ronaldo will be brilliant come Saturday, same with Sagna should he switch wings.

I said Hleb deserved a goal but Adebayor came close on so many occasions last night before finally getting an absolutely brilliant one. It was reminiscent to the one he got at White Hart Lane. The touch to get him away from the defender was class and the finish indicative of a man in the form of his life. That is 12 goals in his last 9, long may it continue. His general performance last night was not what it has been however. As the main striker his role is so important to us.

He holds the ball up and waits for support and runners. Last night Ade seemed a bit sluggish in this role and did seem a bit reluctant to come short and link the play as much. It did not help that Wenger moved Eduardo to the left for a period of the game to acommodate those players we had on the pitch. One thing did really annoy me regarding Adebayor last night. A pass was played to him as he made a curving run in behind. The ball hit the back of his heel which is pretty unlucky. However, once something like that happens a striker should fight to win it back. Normally Ade would but he just stood there and flung his arms in the air towards the fans. I would have wanted to see him get back and pressure the ball and then the fans would sympathise with him. Small thing, rant over!

Just as Arsenal did not play to their optimum level, I have not looked at everyone's performances like I have done in the past. I will just sum up and say that Wenger said the focus was there but the performance not quite where we can get to. There will be times during the nervous run in that we do not play to our best. When our level drops, we must keep getting results.

Arsenal vs Blackburn - down to the bare bones

2008-02-09T16:37:00.000Z

So, we go into Monday's game with 11 players either out injured or doubtful. The list reads as follows:

Emmanuel Eboue and Kolo Toure and Alex Song (international duty)
Johan Djourou (groin)
Philippe Senderos (knee)
Robin van Persie (thigh)
Abou Diaby (calf)
Mathieu Flamini (hamstring)
Manuel Almunia (sick)
Denilson (hamstring)
Tomas Rosicky (hamstring)

What really annoys me is that two of those (Flamini and Senderos) got injured in meaningless friendlies. It would have been wrong to deny Senderos the chance to captain his country at Wembley, however when such a game takes place in the middle of a busy period of the season. Flamini turned out for France 'B' and that takes the biscuit. He should be in the 'A' squad, not the second team that only exists so players can be looked at without disrupting the set of players in the current squad.

International friendlies are disruptive enough but when you start adding in 'B' fixtures it starts to go too far. Managers release their players with great fear over injuries. With the luck Arsenal have had during these periods I am sure Wenger follows all of the games with great anxiety. We have lost one of our best players this season as Domenech did not have the bottle to call him up into the main squad.

I have a proposal but I doubt we will ever see it come into place. Over Christmas/New Year there should be a period where the national sides play all of their mid season fixtures, whether it be qualifiers or friendlies. I have heard Capello complain that he will not be able to get his players together often enough to improve tactics and set up. Having all the fixtures together would provide managers with a few weeks to do this and get some continuity with a set period of International football. It could also coincide with the African Cup of Nations so as to avoid problems for clubs every two years in January.

Back to the game now. It seems like Wenger does not really have much of a choice over the team he puts out. Senderos could still make the game and if he does the back five will be unchanged from the Man City game. Should Phil miss out Justin Hoyte will come in, probably at centre back. After the Spurs game I would be worried about this and would rather see Sagna move inside. Hoyte is a natural right back and Wenger has said in the past Sagna can play all across the defence.

Diaby picked up an injury during the City game and was only released to France to be with the squad. He was not another to fall foul of the International break. This gives a chance to Theo Walcott who will be given a chance on the right. His goal for England U21s was a quality strike but for most of the game it seemed he was trying to hard and things didn't seem to go his way. He needs to relax and run at the man when it's appropriate and play it simple when its necessary. The crowd must not get on his back though. Hleb will move to the left where he has often been more effective this season.

Gilberto will get a chance to prove himself. He has spoken out about his disappointment at a lack of playing time so far this season but he knows Flamini has done brilliantly. He will be brought in and will want to show Wenger why he should still be in his thinking. He does need to up his game and add more fluidity to it. His presence will be useful at set pieces. Fabregas will partner him as he starts to get back to his best.

Wenger cannot break up what is currently one of the best strike partnerships in Europe. Adebayor and Eduardo are on fire and combined to great effect at City. Eduardo finish was fantastic but the link up with Ade showed how well they are developing together. These two will need to keep delivering the goods if we want to win anything this season.

I think Wenger will use Toure and Eboue but only have them on the bench as an option should he really need them. If the game goes well I doubt they will be used, especially Toure considering he had an injury so recently. I wonder if Wenger would have any luck in persuading the Ivory Coast to release Kolo before the 3rd/4th place play-off?

=============Lehmann============
Hoyte======Sagna=====Gallas===Clichy
Walcott===Fabregas===Gilberto===Hleb
=========Adebayor===Eduardo=======

Subs: Fabianski, Toure, Traore, Eboue, Bendtner (all we have really)

This game could be a potential banana skin. Blackburn will look to frustrate us but are missing Pedersen, Samba and Dunn, three big players for Mark Hughes' side. The first goal will be key and if it goes our way Blackburn will have to come out and attack. They will look to whip the ball in from wide areas with Bentley. Santa Cruz will be the main threat for Blackburn and whoever plays at centre back will have to be alert throughout.

Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea… some tricky ties for them to face

2008-02-04T20:34:00.000Z

If this weekend showed us anything, it told us that no games are easy and there is likely to be many twists and turns left this season. It seems anyone can beat anyone, United losing to Bolton, Arsenal losing to Boro and Chelsea to Villa.

Here I am looking at games that could well have an influence on the title race. I know no game is a cert win but these stand out as ones where a shock could be in store.

Chelsea vs Liverpool (Feb 10th)

Liverpool are out of the title race but will be playing for pride. The likes of Gerrard and Torres will have something to prove and will want to have some influence on where the title goes, even if they won’t have any chance of winning it this season. They will also use it as a build up to their Champions League match with Inter Milan. Chelsea may have Lampard and Mikel available to strengthen the midfield. With such a good home record, I cannot see Chelsea losing this game, a draw is possible though.

Newcastle vs Man Utd (Feb 23rd)

The second coming of Kevin Keegan has not exactly begun the way many Geordies had expected. The Toon Army will never forget the arguments between Keegan and Ferguson during Newcastle’s remarkable title challenge. It would mean so much to Keegan and the fans to kick start the new regime with a victory over United. That said, it seems Man Utd will have too much for Newcastle, especially if they continue to defend the way they do. If they raise their game to the level they reached against us at St James’ Park, we could see at least a draw here.

Arsenal vs Aston VIlla (Mar 1st)

At Villa Park earlier this season Arsenal came through a tricky tie but were lucky to do so. Despite dominating proceedings in the first half, Villa put immense pressure on us in the second. They constantly attacked with pace and power, hitting the bar in the process. Arsenal held on but that game showed that Villa can pose a real threat. They are experts at set pieces; Arsenal’s Achilles heel and this could be crucial.

West Ham vs Chelsea (Mar 1st)

West Ham will host their main rivals with very little pressure on their shoulders. They have already beaten Liverpool and Man Utd at home this season and they will look to inflict the same outcome on Chelsea. Chelsea will have to deal with a robust and dogged approach that will get the Hammers’ fans going. Chelsea have the quality to win this game but, as United found out, they will need to show something extra to get 3 points here.

Man Utd vs Liverpool (Mar 23rd)

Man Utd were victorious at Anfield earlier this season as they won 1-0 from a Carlos Tevez goal. I have no doubt they would take the same result now. Liverpool will want to beat their rivals and any loss to Man Utd would hurt anyone involved with Liverpool FC. Pride is the main thing at stake for Liverpool and with the Champions League still a possibility, they will want to keep their season on track.

Chelsea vs Arsenal (Mar 23rd)

In the second game of Super Sunday Arsenal will want to get a similar result to the one they got at the Emirates in December. Last season we got a draw at the Bridge after Chelsea battered us for 90 minutes solid. Flamini nicked a goal only for Essien to salvage their home record. I am sure another draw would do Wenger nicely. Chelsea will need to win this game and it will be interesting to see how both teams set up.

Bolton vs Arsenal (Mar 29th)

After Arsenal knocked Bolton out of the FA Cup last season, many claimed Arsenal had wiped clear the hoodoo Bolton held over us. Have we really shrugged off Bolton as our bogey team? Remember, we did not beat Bolton in normal time and showed them that we are still vulnerable from crosses into the box. We threw away the game in normal time and could have paid for it. This game will determine if we can really put recent results at the Reebok behind us.

Man Utd vs Aston Villa (Mar 30th)

Villa have drawn at Stamford Bridge (4-4) and Anfield (2-2) already this season and will feel they are capable of doing the same at Old Trafford. In the League United thrashed Villa 4-1 but in the cup only just managed to scrape through with two late goals. This game could turn out either way. I feel it will either be a very comfortable victory for United, or Villa will push them all the way. It depends how O’Neill arranges his troops and if they can use Young and Agbonlahor to their best potential.

Arsenal vs Liverpool (Apr 5th)

As said earlier, Liverpool are plying for pride in these big games. They may still have the Champions League to play for and they will want to keep confidence high during these games. Benitez may well rotate his squad a little if they get through the Inter tie. Arsenal should have won at Anfield but somehow only managed a draw having squandered two open goals. They will want to put that result right at the Emirates but it will be up to us to open up Liverpool and take our chances when they come. Gerrard and Torres will be a threat as always.

Middlesborough vs Man Utd (Apr 5th)

Middlesborough have beaten Arsenal at home but also lost to Chelsea at the Riverside. In these games we saw two very different performances from Gareth Southgate’s sides and this game will depend on which Boro side come out of that tunnel. Against us they worked extremely hard, pressured the ball and created chances. Against Chelsea they looked blunt and were easily brushed aside. Many big teams have lost at the Riverside in recent season; if we see a committed performance from Southgate’s team, we may see a similar outcome.

Man Utd vs Arsenal (Apr 12th)

This could well be the most crucial, and potentially the most exciting game of the season. Arsenal are currently two points ahead of United and if the difference between the two sides is of a similar size, it could be a real six pointer if ever there was one. United will want to use home advantage and take 3 points whereas I am sure Arsenal would take a draw. That would correspond to the result from the Emirates. Such a result would be better for Arsenal than United, with Chelsea the main beneficiary. Arsenal will probably look to hit United on the counter but will have a real job on their hands if Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo are on song.

Everton vs Chelsea (Apr 19th)

Everton will want to avenge the Carling Cup defeat inflicted on them by Chelsea and they will also be pushing for a European place. Everton are a clever, strong and mobile side who can play good football and score goals. Chelsea will look to get a similar result to the 1-0 victory in the semi-final and will need to work hard for such a win. It is yet another tricky away tie for the Blues but they should have a full squad together by then to cope.

Blackburn vs Man Utd (Apr 19th)

Ewood Park has long been a very tough place to go to. Blackburn pressure the ball and give their opponents little time on the ball. This frustrates the opposition and in Bentley, Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy they have goals within the sides. They have performed well this season with a generally solid defence. Man Utd will need to win this game and Blackburn will have to defend well for large periods of the game. Ferguson will hope Mark Hughes will not dent his old side’s title hopes. I wonder if Hughes will use this opportunity to rest a few players?

Chelsea vs Man Utd (Apr 26th)

This game could have a massive bearing on the title race. Whoever wins the game will be buoyed massively in their pursuit of the title, the loser will be gutted. They may not be out of the race for good, but it would be a huge blow. Chelsea have an extraodinary record at home and I can see them extending this, whether that be with a draw or a victory I do not know. It is likely both sides will be involved in the Champions League could this affect their chances coming into this game?

Arsenal vs Everton (May 3rd)

Arsenal may have won 4-1 at Goodison Park just after Christmas but the outcome did not really reflect the game. The result somewhat flattered Arsenal as Everton were the better team for the first half. We simply took our chances and punished any Everton mistakes. If we are still in with a chance of winning the League, there will be an awful lot of nerves around the side going into the game. The atmosphere would be electric and Everton would make it a really good game.

Man City 1 Arsenal 3 - great weekend all round but still a long way to go…

2008-02-04T20:33:00.001Z

So, we did become the first team this season to come away from the City of Manchester Stadium with 3 points; a thoroughly deserved 3 points to boot. What topped it off was the fact Manchester United and Chelsea drew; leaving us 2 points clear at the top. The mistake from Clichy aside, Arsenal were in complete control throughout and could have scored more than we did.

Before the game Arsene Wenger entered a war of mind games with Alex Ferguson and the subject of Emmanuel Adebayor and Cristiano Ronaldo was the main focus of attention. Previously Wenger has announced he was close to signing many world class players, Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho and Petr Cech are just some of them. Add to that list the Portuguese winger lighting up the Premiership. I am not quite sure what the point of explaining this is. Think about it…

Wenger might be saying he has spotted the same talent Manchester United did but we all know Wenger is the best at spotting talent, no question. Therefore, why bring up this particular story. Before, it was problems with work permits that denied us the signing of Ronaldinho and Cech. Yet for both Eto’o and Ronaldo it was that they went to another club or Wenger was not sure whether to sign the player. In a way, admitting he had the chance to sign these players means that he was wrong in his judgement. Both have become world class players and gone on to great things and could have brilliant in an Arsenal shirt. He did not take up the chance to sign Eto’o and therefore there is not really any need to bring up the subject. It was in the past and bringing it up only frustrates the fans when they feel we could have such a player at the club.

The Ronaldo story is still very much a mysterious one. Wenger says he will tell more about it in the future and “we will be surprised” when all is revealed. It perplexed me when I saw this revealed. It was used in mind games between Wenger and Ferguson but when I heard it I was disappointed, not proud Wenger knew about the player’s potential. All it told me was that Manchester United are a bigger club in the way they can guarantee such a signing when the player had trained with their rivals. Revenue and fan base wise they are a bigger club but Arsenal are catching fast, comments like this only fuel an ego that does not need to get any bigger. This is my view on the matter, other people’s might be different.

Back to the game and all hail Emmanuel Adebayor. The man is on fire and I am so relieved Togo failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations; Adebayor is venting his anger on Premiership defences. Both goals were tidy finishes but what was so pleasing was that he was in the positions when the ball was around. Throughout he managed to find space from two very good defenders in Dunne and Richards and he took his goals well. He was a real handful and is soon becoming a world class striker.

Credit to Eduardo as well though. His goal was brilliantly taken and showed once more what a natural finisher he is. The composure to chest the ball in such a tight area will not be seen a lot in this league but Eddy is just so cool in front of goal. His link up play is ever improving and he is healing the loss of Van Persie, the man many believed would lead our title challenge this season.

The midfield worked well, I know Fabregas the King will be looking into details of the game soon so I won’t go into too much detail but Cesc is coming back to form with Hleb looking so dangerous on the ball once again. The determination they showed in the 88th minute to get the third goal for Adebayor was awesome.

Philippe Senderos and William Gallas are looking like a good centre back pairing right now and Toure will find it hard to get straight back into the team. Senderos dominated in the air and Gallas looked comfortable on the ground. It is good we have these two performing well with Toure fearing a burnout. Once more he has mentioned playing the ACON in the summer and I am for that. There are so many reasons why, everyone knows them and there is not really any reason to go into them now.

Is there a better set of full backs in the league than Gael Clichy and Bakary Sagna. Both can defend (despite Clichy’s rare moment of madness) and both can most definitely get forward. Clichy has improved his crossing massively (Beckham’s influence maybe?) and this added with his desire to get forward will bear fruit as the season rumbles on. Sagna we know can cross but yesterday he showed great hunger to get to the by-line for Ade’s first goal. With our midfield quite narrow, these two provide most of the width and they seem to have so much energy to get forward constantly. Sagna had a massive task on his hands with Petrov, but the City man didn’t have a sniff.

It is weekends like this that show why the title race is so open. Many thought United would run away with it after they clawed us back in the New Year. Now we are two points clear. It will change a lot as time goes on and results like this can happen at any time. No game is easy and the fact United lost at City and drew at the Lane shows how things can change. We won both of these games but drew at home to Birmingham whereas United won the equivalent match. This title race is hotting up and all we can do is keep winning every game. The biggest games will come but every game is important from here on in.

For now we are top of the League and long may it continue. Blackburn is next and as I said, we need to win this and then worry about United and Chelsea.

Man City vs Arsenal - Time To Be The First Victors At Eastland This Season

2008-02-04T20:30:00.001Z

Manchester City away was a far trickier tie towards the start of the season, but come Saturday Arsenal will still have a hell of a game on their hands. As Manchester United found out, the City of Manchester Stadium has been a bit of a fortress for the blue half of Manchester. City are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season and they have played United and Liverpool there so far.

Sven has done brilliantly with his side and he knew home form would determine what they achieved this season. At the start they won 9 games in a row on their own turf but since then, Blackburn, Liverpool and West Ham have drawn there. In the first two of those games, City were lucky to win and we are playing them at the best time. Their form has dipped an awful lot and the draw at Derby this week highlighted this.

The form of Elano has fallen and they are relying on the quality of Martin Petrov to get goals. Michael Johnson, although so young, has been a big influence on the side and his absence has coincided with the first real hiccup for “Mr Blue Eyes”. City have looked a bit more shaky at the back and Micah Richards and Dunne have looked vulnerable at times. Joe Hart has played extremely well between the posts and has become a real player for the future.

After back to back victories and a slow rise back to form, we have a good opportunity to inflict City’s first defeat at home in the League. The squad is unchanged from Tuesday night and I think it could be the same starting line up. Why change it if its not broken? As long as we see none of the silly passing from Senderos, similar to the last 10 minutes in midweek, we should be ok at the back. Daniel Sturridge will be a pest but I feel Gallas’ experience will prevail here.

The best battle will be Martin Petrov vs Bakary Sagna. These two have definitely been two of the best signings this season and it will be a great tussle as they come head to head. Sagna has made our defence a far tighter and secure unit this season, but crucially he has provided a great attacking outlet, fitting right into out style of play. Martin Petrov has been brilliant this season for City, he has pace, skill and one of the best left foots in the business. His crosses are accurate more often than not and his set pieces could trouble us.

Flamini will be confident of doing a job on Elano as he is the other main attacking threat to us. Otherwise we should be able to cope with City and try and dominate the game. If we play the way we did against Newcastle we really should win this game. We have Adebayor in brilliant form and he will want to score for the 8th game running. We are making chances and when you do that, you score goals and I feel it may take more than one to take the three points on Saturday

Wenger could go with Theo for this game in place of Diaby. This would mean Hleb moving to left midfield where he plays better than the right in my opinion. However, Diaby looked better on Tuesday; he passed the ball earlier and used his strength in ways we expect from him. It may take patience and retention of the ball for this game; Theo really can be a loose cannon. Yet his pace could cause trouble to Ball/Garrido.

=============Almunia============
Sagna===Senderos===Gallas===Clichy
Hleb====Fabregas====Flamini===Diaby
========Adebayor===Eduardo=======

We have come through some difficult away ties this season and this will be another one. We are against a team that are good at home as mentioned and we need to keep our focus and the eye on the prize: the Premier League trophy. From here on in, every game counts!

Arsenal 3 Newcastle 0 - back to the top after a pretty easy game

2008-01-29T22:20:00.000Z

Same opposition, same result and it was nice to see our form improving once again. The Tottenham result seems to have helped us a bit and we are finally playing the football we played at the start of the season. We are dominating games again and have our ruthless streak back. It is perfect timing with Man Utd and Milan coming up soon and the run in starts now.

Once more one man stood out. Whereas Adebayor was the main man on Saturday, tonight Mathieu Flamini was awesome. We associate Flamini's game with hard tackling and platforms for the more attacking players to do their thing. Tonight Flamini combined both of these aspects of midfield play to great effect. Sign him up now!

Even before his galloping run through the Newcastle ranks, he had been getting into the box and into dangerous positions. However, his drive and positivity to get beyond the defence of Newcastle to create the first goal was fantastic to see; something Theo could learn! He added skill with power and delivered the perfect cross for any striker. It left Ade two yards out with the easy job of just connecting with the ball. He did not have to generate any power on the ball and could not miss. There was a reason Fabregas went straight to Flamini rather than Adebayor, the scorer had been given a present.

Flamini basically outshone Fabregas and Hleb in the midfield but they both linked up well. Cesc pushed on further as many fans have wanted him to and came so close to opening Newcastle up with some delightful passes. It was nice to see him on the scoresheet again, the first time since the Man Utd game on November 3rd. Hleb showed some great skill and passing but he does need to shoot sometimes, especially when it's teed up on a plate 12 yards out.

Hleb started on the right as expected but what I picked out was how well Fabregas played from the right. He had the same role towards the end on Saturday and had plenty more freedom to dictate play in a less congested area. Today he did the same and got into two great scoring opportunities within minutes of moving out there. I remember his early first team career and in a lot of those games similar things happened. With injuries to Rosicky and maybe Diaby, it is a thought for Wenger if he wants to start Gilberto (god forbid!) but towards the end of games when we need control it could be an interesting tactic.

Diaby is getting better as he gets games. He passed the ball far quicker today and used his strength to great effect. He is due to sign a new contract according to arsenal.com and I would like to see him infield at some point, maybe with Cesc on the right? Would be a change worth looking at in my opinion.

The back four were largely untroubled, a few dodgy and unnecessary moments aside, Newcastle posed little threat until the last 5 minutes and Senderos again had a dominant game. The full backs were especially good. Given the freedom to get forward, they did not disappoint and put in some tasty crosses, especially Sagna. Almunia was untested for most of the game but held on well when Ameobi finally tested him. His positioning for the freekick on the edge of the box bemused me a bit, he was so far across towards his left post, any lower and the ball was in. No matter, the game was won I guess.

Although he did not light up the game like Saturday, Adebayor still led the line brilliantly and was a menace throughout. He has now scored in 7 games in a row and long may it continue. Eduardo was not on his best form but showed glimpses of his best play. It will be interesting when Van Persie returns (2-3 weeks apparently - that means 2 months probably). Nicklas Bendtner also did well when he came on, setting up Cesc perfectly for the goal and winning the ball in the air a few times. It seems Adebayor and Bendtner have made up; head butts were not the order of service at the Emirates.

We are back to the top of the league for 24 hours at least but we have to keep trying to close down the goal difference. Roll on City on Saturday and nice to see the team playing well again

Man Utd - FA Cup (a) and Milan (h) - two key games (Newcastle Preview)

2008-01-28T16:45:00.000Z

The FA Cup draw has been completed and we have been dealt the worst possible draw. Before the game I thought we would get either Manchester United or Chelsea, however I had a feeling it would be at the Emirates. It is just our luck we would draw the team playing brilliant football in their own backyard. We have had rotten draws this season with AC Milan in the Champions League and having to play Spurs at home in the first leg (I still feel that was a major disadvantage).

Man Utd have only lost once at home this season and that was against Coventry in the Carling Cup. Apart from that game they have been pretty lethal at home and having to go up there so close to the Milan game is a real disappointment. I tell you now; bringing them back to the Emirates with a draw could be a fantastic result.
Many will look to March and April as our most important months of the season; however I want to point out something else to you.

First of all, here are the most important fixtures during March and April:

Tuesday, 04 March 2008
UEFA Champions League
AC Milan v Arsenal, R1, L2, 19:45

Sunday, 23 March 2008
Barclays Premier League
Chelsea v Arsenal, 16:00

Saturday, 05 April 2008
Barclays Premier League
Arsenal v Liverpool, 15:00

Saturday, 12 April 2008
Barclays Premier League
Man Utd v Arsenal, 15:00

It is clear why this will be a critical period. It will determine our future in the Champions League and also give an obvious indication whether we can challenge for the Premier League and take the title race to the wire. It is perfectly understandable then that this period sticks out like a bad smell. However I point out to you these two fixtures, within one week of each other:

They are both cup games but the bearing they may have on the season as a whole is massive.

Saturday, 16 February 2008
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Man Utd v Arsenal, R5,

Wednesday, 20 February 2008
UEFA Champions League
Arsenal v AC Milan, R1, L1, 19:45

The Cup game could not have come at a worse time. Before the Milan game an easier tie would have made such a difference. Wenger would have had the opportunity to rotate his team slightly and prepare the team that was due to play in midweek. Now, Wenger will have to play his best available team for both if he is serious about winning these trophies. The players will have a gruelling trip up North with only 3 days until the next game. I am positive both clubs will fight for a Saturday kick-off seeing as both are in action on the Wednesday. A Sunday fixture will affect preparation for these massive games.

I have not really got to my main point yet and that is if we lose both of these games. We will be out of the FA Cup and likely to be heading out of Europe as well. This would leave one sole trophy to fight for and there is no assumption we can win that. Going out of both competitions could see the season derail completely. It has happened before to many teams and one would solely hope that this team could bounce back. They have done it before but it would knock confidence massively.

The games in March were key games but the two fixtures above play a massive part going into these. I guess you can turn the argument around and say that should we lose both of these, the focus would be on one sole piece of silverware and there would be no distractions when pursuing this trophy. Every game would be put towards winning the League and there would be no place for a lack of focus. It may not affect us as much as I fear.

Reading back over what I have just written, it does sound like I’ve admitted defeat and the ties are next month. That must show the enormity of these matches but also the confidence boost we could get from winning them both. If we win at Old Trafford it could prove to be a catalyst for a good run of results with confidence sky high. We would go into the Milan game fearing no team and we would go to the San Siro in March and back to Old Trafford in April with a massive psychological boost over Manchester United and Milan.

This just shows the balance Football can have. A victory here can change a season for the good, a defeat there can derail a team in their title pursuit.

We do however need to be in the running for the title come February and March. That means that every game counts from here on in and that starts tomorrow evening with the visit of Newcastle for the second game running. The 3-0 win on Saturday will no doubt give the players an advantage over Keegan's side but it could still be a tricky tie. Newcastle showed some good moments of play in the Cup and could have taken the lead on two occasions.

We did see however that when we attack them with pace and power we can brush them aside. The more we got our fast passing game going we looked a far more threatening side. Two of our goals were brilliantly taken by Adebayor but Eduardo played a big part in two of the three and is fast settling into the side. His partnership is developing well with Adebayor and they could be crucial in the coming months. He will start the game tomorrow night as opposed to being on the bench like Saturday.

Tomas Rosicky's injury is not serious according to Arsene Wenger. I would not rely on him being back soon as Wenger has often been wrong regarding injury lay offs. Hleb will come in for Rosicky and it depends if Theo keeps faith with Diaby or Walcott. Wenger has said he will play Theo on the wing if needed - a quick backtrack from last week's comments. He could play him on the right with Hleb left. Personally, Hleb is better on the left for me than the right but it depends if Diaby is going to play or not. He does struggle on the left but would be even worse on the right.

He has no left foot so cuts in more centrally when on the left. To cut inside from the right he would need a left foot so if Wenger refuses to play him in the centre, the left is the only option. I think Diaby will be the man to start tomorrow with Hleb on the right. Fabregas came into the game more in the second half as he pushed into more advanced and more dangerous positions. I would like him to do this from the off tomorrow.

Mathieu Flamini was brilliant in his role. He got in some crunching tackles and refused to let Newcastle get out of their half as the game drew on. I just hope he signs his new contract soon as it could be a massive blow to lose him in the summer.

Clichy, Senderos and Gallas will keep their place but Bakary Sagna will return replacing Justin Hoyte. Duff played well in the first half on Saturday and will be a threat. Sagna is a better defender than Hoyte and will added extra security to the back. The other three just need to play the way they did in the last game and we should be ok at the back. Philippe Senderos especially impressed me. We will also see Manuel Almunia returning to the side in place of Jens Lehmann.

==============Almunia=============
Sagna====Senderos====Gallas====Clichy
Hleb=====Fabregas====Flamini====Diaby
========Adebayor=====Eduardo=======

In other news: Robin Van Persie has returned to training. I am not that excited right now as he has done this three times already this season, only to be laid off again very soon afterwards. We will see soon if he has put his injury behind him. Right now though, he is third choice striker.

Luke Freeman made his debut for the reserves yesterday and the move has not received much media. I wonder if this is due to the media coverage when Walcott signed. Wenger will be keen to keep this on the down low so as not to over hype this young footballer.

Arsenal 3 Newcastle 0 - it was well and truly put right with an Ade brace

2008-01-27T03:37:00.000Z

Everyone knew the players needed to produce a performance far better than the one on Tuesday night. We also knew a win was necessary after such a drubbing. Anything but a victory could begin to set in doubts over a mini collapse and dip in results. We needed to put The Carling Cup firmly behind us and the opportunity to continue a different journey to Wembley was the perfect opportunity to do this. The away fans were happy to remind us of our defeat but it is Newcastle that have no chance of a Wembley final, any final at that matter.

Newcastle had been the first team to fall to the second string in the Carling Cup this season and having had that run abruptly halted, it seemed almost appropriate to start this one with the same team. With Kevin Keegan back the Geordies are aiming for a new start and Arsenal were aiming to kick start a string of victories to get the season moving again; once more a meeting that seemed appropriate at this time.

After rotating his squad for the Spurs game it was interesting to see how Wenger would set up. He could have left the team with similar personnel but after such a humiliation it was a risk with confidence definitely low. Lehmann was always going to start in goal. For me, after his comments he does not deserve to be guaranteed a starting place in such a big cup competition. Hoyte reverted to right back where he is more comfortable and Senderos took his place inside. We welcomed Clichy back into the side with Gallas once more leading the back four.

Jens Lehmann. After his outspoken views he really has something to prove and for me today he did not do anything near enough to show why he should play ahead of Almunia. His kicking was dreadful; aiming the ball towards our smallest player in Theo Walcott or kicking it straight back to Newcastle. His positioning was poor when Taylor was played in by Duff; the centre back had a difficult decision to make but having seen Lehmann come towards him the looping header was the right option. Had the header been accurate Lehmann would have been left embarrassed. His general dominance at set pieces was non-existent and that led to the odd goal mouth scramble.

Gael Clichy made a massive difference today; as our only natural width he got forward on countless occasions and defended very well. His crossing has improved greatly recently and the right footed cross for Adebayor was perfect, pace, accuracy and venom - a defender's nightmare. Justin Hoyte also had a good game; less adventurous going forward but very solid at the back and clearly more suitable to the right back slot as our second choice right full back behind Sagna.

Senderos knows this is his time to shine and in this he was solid and started to show his best form. He has never been that consistent in an Arsenal shirt, mainly due to the fact that any sort of time out of the team sets him back to square one. He won every header in the air and had Owen in his pocket all game. The only time I worry over him is when he is faced with raw pace and/or brute strength; these have been his weaknesses in the past but Owen posed no threat of this kind.

Mathieu Flamini showed us what we missed in midweek. He got stuck into challenges and won the ball an awful lot with some crunching tackles taking ball and man. He gave Newcastle no time on the ball and once more indicated that he has played a part in the team's title bid this season. Sign him up long term now Mr Wenger!

We all know Cesc Fabregas has not been in the best of form lately and in the first half seemed to continue this dip. He had one tame effort on goal that really tested Newcastle but in the second half it was a different Cesc. His passing game got better as he tried more intricate passing as well as producing some amazing long passes. He dictated play as he pushed further up the field to link with the attackers. For me he has dropped too deep recently but against Newcastle he took up far more dangerous positions.

Wenger kept faith with Diaby and Walcott even after poor performances against Spurs. Walcott looked lost once again down the middle but got a chance out wide with Rosicky's injury (more of that later) but just as he has done recently was not at the level we want/expect from Theo. He seemed to lack purpose and often refused to attack his man when one v one. He needs to be more positive and take players on. Second half he came out a different player as he made life difficult for the full back until he was taken off.

Diaby, like Walcott had something to prove but at the start seemed to be on sedatives. He grew into the game and looked threatening when he came inside. He showed once more he is lost when hogging the left touchline and often dribbled into dead ends. When he took up positions infield he was a threat and showed why Wenger should give him a go in the centre. He powered through the midfield on a few occasions and his lovely dipping shot brought a fine save from Given. The one thing Diaby must improve though is his speed of thought; he seems to react slowly to pressure on the ball and often gets caught delaying a pass or simply refusing to pass the ball to a team mate.

So back to Tomas Rosicky - this guy's injury problems are getting ridiculous and worrying. He is so injury prone and rarely gets a run of 5 games without some sort of lay off. He makes a difference to our team with his drive and creativity and that shone through against Fulham but either he did not warm up properly or a worse problem has arisen. I have heard it's just precaution which I hope is true. Our squad is short and we need all the players fit and ready to play.

Eduardo benefited from Rosicky's departure as he was brought on to partner Adebayor. His movement is so clever and although he is not the quickest, this sharp thinking gets him into positions clinical strikers know about. He was so unlucky not to score today with his curling shot in the lead up to Ade's goal, a volley saved by Given and a shot brilliantly blocked by Cacapa. He is coming along really well and we are starting to forget the absence of Van Persie. His partnership with Ade really is blossoming.

Emmanuel Adebayor - is there a better striker in the Premier League right now. He has 18 goals this season for Arsenal and if he can keep this form up he will hit 25+ by the end of all competitions this season. His finishing is awesome right now, his strength and skill on the ball has come on leaps and bounds and he is firmly established as a fan's favourite. His spat with Bendtner has not affected him and today he made the right headlines.