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The good thing about the festive period is that any disappointments can be quickly offset. Today we face QPR having dropped a couple of points against Wolves and it’s crucial we take all three today.

In terms of the team news I was expecting some changes today, the most obvious of which was a rest for Robin van Persie. Yet Arsene Wenger says he’s going to start which might mean resting him for what appears to be the much more difficult trip to Fulham on Monday. Yesterday he spoke about the captain starting both games:

It will be difficult. He will play tomorrow, then we will assess the situation with him on Sunday and Monday morning and make a decision.  I don’t rule it out but he’s one of the players who has played a lot and you see again, against Wolves on Tuesday, he’s the guy who gives absolutely everything in every game at the moment.

He knows, ‘I have to score’, so he’s always on the fringe of pushing himself. Let’s hope he can get through the next two games.

Again we could talk about the burden on him and the need to ease it a bit but it just strikes me that today’s game is the ideal opportunity to give him something of a break. I know our other options aren’t exactly firing on all cylinders, nor am I suggesting that QPR are a walkover, but if we can’t rely on our back up to players to do a job in a game like this then it really does say a lot about them and the manager’s faith in them.

I do hope there’s no sentimentality in the decision to play van Persie today. The record is irrelevant, having him fit and well for the rest of the season and for more tricky tests than QPR at home is far more important. I suspect, however, that Robin wants to play – not for the record attempt either, but to help the team win the game. And when your best player tells you he’s fine and is ready to start then you have to trust he’s doing it for the right reasons.

Ideally we’ll see a situation whereby we can take him off with the game safe but it’s not just up to Robin to do that. After the Wolves game Mikel Arteta called for the team to be more ruthless at home and I don’t think he was just referring to taking the rake of chances we created in the second half. I think he meant the first half too where we seemed happy enough to keep the ball without really turning the screw. Arsene said we got a bit ‘comfortable’ and we can’t let that happen today.

As for other changes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ramsey back in the starting line-up while Theo Walcott’s recovery from illness means he’ll start on the right hand side. Other than that it’s difficult to see much different beyond our ‘established’ starting XI at the moment. As for the opposition, well, they’ve had their moments this season and I fully expect Armand Traore to have the game of his life but the expectation today is three points and it’d be hard to mitigate anything less.

—

In other news the boss confirmed the return of Thierry Henry and says he knew from the first day in training that he still had it. And even Patrick Vieira, now head of corporate enforcement in the Middle Eastlands, says:

Going back is going to be good for Arsenal. People have to realise that he can still bring something else to the club. Some players can benefit like Theo Walcott and Gervinho.

Again I don’t see any real downside to this, I’m not interested in talk about him tarnishing his legacy. If the way he left hasn’t damaged it, a return to the club at this stage isn’t going to either so that’s not a concern. The only slight issue is that Arsene seems to be suggesting that Henry’s arrival will be the only one from an attacking point of view. He talks about needing a striker in the short-term when it’s pretty clear to all and sundry the need goes further than that.

It’s one of Arsene’s peculiarities though. How long did we talk about our urgent need for a centre-half yet he did little about it (eventually re-signing Sol Campbell in a deal similar to Henry)? For how long did people talk about Arsenal’s need for a goalkeeper of better quality than Almunia or Fabianski? Obviously he knew of the potential of Szczesny, did he try and wait it out with the other two and hope for the best until the big Pole came of age? I’d love to think that was the plan but I’m sure serendipity and Arsene’s obstinance played a part too.

And I know this sounds like excuse making, and it’s not because I do think he should go out there and try and bolster the squad properly, but spending large does not = goals. One need only look at Liverpool and Chelsea and the cash they’ve spent on supposedly established, quality players to see that. However, I find it hard to imagine we can’t do cannier business than that with the money we’ve got at our disposal right now.

Anyway, I’m not going to get too hung up on transfer window madness. It will take its own course throughout January and it will be, like it or not, inescapable for all kinds of seasons. We’ll deal with it as and when it happens.

Rounding up some other stuff quicky – Arsene has denied any suggestion that he tried to sign Joey Barton. Twitter’s finest copier and paster said that he was about to sign for Arsenal before we played Newcastle earlier in the season, but his throttling of Gervinho – which got our man a three game ban – put paid to that. Arsene says, “I don’t know why he says that”. I do, it’s because he’s a cunt.

Meanwhile, the boss says he can’t say when Abou Diaby will be back because every time he puts a date on it there’s another little setback. I know I touched on this yesterday and on a human level what’s happened to Diaby and his career is very sad. I can understand fan frustration with him and his lack of availability but we ought not to forget that all of his problems stem from that horrible moment at Sunderland – ultimately one of our players has had his career ruined and there really should be more sympathy for him than there is.

It’s not his fault he’s injured all the time and if there must be anger – and it seems there must be in this day and age, for nothing can just be what it is without fingers being pointed and blame being apportioned – then direct it towards the manager who is simply refusing to give up on a player with real talent. All the same, we must be getting very close to the point where he has to say enough is enough from a footballing point of view. His duty of care to the club has to override that to an individual at some stage. Either way, whatever you think of Diaby as a player, it’s a crying shame an Arsenal player has essentially been kicked out of the game for as long as he has.

Right, that’s about that. If you can’t see the game later you can follow it on the live blog. Check back later on for the liveblog post or bookmark the default liveblog page. And as usual we’ve teamed up with Paddy Power to give you up to a £50 free bet – simply click here to register with Paddy Power.

Till then.

So, Thierry’s return has now gone from possible to probable, the number 12 shirt is set to be handed to him and now we just have to wait and see if he can do the business.

On today’s Arsecast, my esteemed colleague from Gunnerblog makes the very good point that there’s never been a footballer (Beckham apart, perhaps) quite so conscious of their own image as Thierry Henry. He was there to see a statue of himself unveiled, let’s not forget, and if he felt there was any danger of him not being up to the job I think he’d quite easily turn down Arsene’s approach.

The big question now is what exactly does Henry’s signing signify. Is it a very short-term option completed at the start of the month to give Arsene time during January to explore other striking options? Or is it simply a case that he needs cover for the ACN – which will claim Gervinho and Chamakh – and Henry is that cover? I would hope it’s the former but then I’ve learned down the years that what I hope and what Arsene does are generally two very different things.

The boss is looking to delay the departure of Gervinho and Chamakh until after the FA Cup game against Leeds on December 9th, saying:

They have normally, legally, to turn up 14 days before, that means the 7th. We will ask for delays for both of them, at least until the Leeds game.

Hopefully we can get an arrangement for that. They will miss the first two days of the preparation but on the other hand they are both fit to start the competition. Hopefully we can get an agreement.

All we can do then is hope Gervinho comes back fit and that Chamakh, somehow, rediscovers something approaching the form he showed when he first arrived at the club. I won’t hold my breath over the latter but stranger things have happened. And if the Henry signing is just temporary then we’ve got to hope that the Moroccan can contribute something in the latter half of the season. There’s still a lot of newspaper chatter about how the boss is looking at other forward options but I suspect January could be a long, long month if we get too focused on that.

The other issue is full backs, and the lack thereof. Last week Arsene said he might bring somebody in on loan, but he seems to have changed his approach a bit now, saying:

There are difficult decisions to make because we are short in the full-back positions.  But you think, ‘do you really want to buy a full back for three or four years?’

When you have four out and two close to coming back. I think no, because we have people who can do the job during this period.

And I understand that completely. A permanent signing is pretty much out of the question on either side of the pitch so the only option is a loan. Yet when the best name we’ve seen linked to us during the last few weeks is Wayne Bridge you have to ask if the quality of player we need is available on loan. I’m sure if we really, really looked we could find somebody to do a job, but not somebody who would instantly make us much better.

I recognise that our attacking play is suffering somewhat from the lack of specialist full backs but as long as we have Mertesacker and Koscielny fit for the centre of defence, can we find a loan signing better than Vermaelen at left back, for example? I’d rather have the Belgian in the middle but sometimes you’ve got to use the full extent of your squad and we’re not the only team that does it. Man United play Valencia at right back, even Michael Carrick played centre-half for them recently, so it’s not as if this is unique to us.

That said, if somebody can point us towards a full back who is available on loan – therefore out of favour at his current club (either because of age, form, managerial indifference or some other reason) – who could come in and slot into this Arsenal side straight away then I’d be more than open to taking them for a month or so. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

And that’s where it gets difficult. I’m pretty sure, like us, Arsene wants that player because we do have an issue at full back at the moment, but who is it? I don’t know, genuinely, but I do know it’s not Wayne Bridge – and if the option is him or get through with what we have then I’d go with what we have every day of the week. Not every problem can be solved with a signing although the manager has to look at the reliability of some of his players.

He talks a lot about having a big squad but that big squad isn’t as big when you have guys like Diaby and like Gibbs who spend more time injured than not. At some point he has to make a decision about them yet if we look at some of his previous we know it takes a lot for his patience to run out. There’s a certain Dutchman playing up front who, if Arsene had listened to some sections of the fanbase down the years, would have been moved on because of his tendency to spend so much time banjaxed in one way or another. I know Diaby’s case is somewhat different, his problems are chronic and all stem from that Dan Smith tackle, but bar a pivotal moment in their on-pitch career it takes a lot for Arsene to give up a player he’s got faith in.

Anyway, it all points to January being a bit quieter than we might like but I would hope that there have been lessons learned from the summer. If we do want players let’s go get them, be proactive and do it as soon as we possibly can. It’s one thing to muddle through an injury crisis, making use of the full squad, but it’d be another thing entirely to ignore the fact that as a squad we’re crying out for augmentation in the striking department. And whatever impact Thierry Henry has it can only be short-term.

With a massive fight on our hands for a top four finish I hope we go get a player who can boost the squad the same way Arshavin did (except for longer) or Reyes did (except for longer) etc. Over to you Arsene and Ivan.

Right then, time for this week’s Arsecast. As it’s still the festive period it’s a bit of a lazy one, a round-table job with Gunnerblog, Goodplaya and Goonerholic making up the G-mungous panel. On the agenda, Wolves, Thierry, full backs, January purchases and more.

You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too (this is a much better way to do it as you don’t experience the delays from iTunes). To download this week’s Arsecast directly – click here (25mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

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And that’s about that. Arsene’s got a press conference this morning so breaking news and other bits and pieces throughout the day on Arseblog News.

Till tomorrow.

Last week I touched upon our feeling as supporters around the squad; how the bonhomie appears to have improved. This both between the players and according to the respect that radiates out from fans compared with six months ago. I met little opposition to the supposition that the supporters were more tolerant with this more experienced roster than last year’s.

So over the next two weeks, I’ve decided to examine further. Where is the current squad? How have they performed with the season approximately at its half way point? Over the next fortnight I’ll undertake an in-depth, two part interrogation on the contribution of the squad so far this season; taking into account individual displays as well as an appraisal of the team as a unit. For this reason, I’ll split the review into four parts; starting this week with a forensic look at the goalkeepers and the defenders.

GOALKEEPER(s)

It’s difficult to believe that just 18 months ago; one of the most popular caterwauls, from press and supporters alike (though 99% of the time, one begets the other) would have had you believe cosmetic surgery was required in the goalkeeping department. But since his installation into the team at the beginning of 2011; the belief of the supporters in Wojciech Szczesny has been total. In fact, our conviction in him is only outstripped by his conviction in himself.

His supposed eccentricities make him a popular character – both in the dressing room and in the stands. Though leading the away support in song, kissing his captain’s boots and his hybrid cockney Pole burr help aid the cult of Szczesny, there really is more to it. The English, as a general rule, don’t like self confidence. We think it unbecoming and unseemly. (Which I think, partly explains why we tend to explode like rat bags in most sporting contests, but that’s a different story).

With Szczesny I think we appreciate the differences. There’s a measure of self deprecation in there too; which suggests he analyses his mistakes without just blindly championing his ability. Following his Premiership debut at Old Trafford, he immediately took to Twitter to say, “I think I’m going to have to work on my kicking!” He was clearly true to his word too; because now his distribution is faultless. For a side like Arsenal, this is a crucial facet for a goalkeeper.

Arsenal build attacks from the back and Szczesny is able to aid that with his calm distribution. It’s become a feature of matches now for him to control a backpass and coolly chip an inch perfect pass over a closing striker and to the feet of his centre halves. It’s difficult for some to give credence to the importance of a keeper that is good with his feet, even some 19 years after the backpass law was introduced. But Ferguson even put de Gea’s ability with his feet as one of the reasons he parted with 20 million big ones to secure his services.

Szczesny has presence in abundance for sure, but presence counts for precisely jack shit if you haven’t got the ability to compliment it. There has been a catalogue of excellent stops from the Pole in the Goal this season. The close range reflex save from Cattermole, the sprawl and save at the feet of Balotelli, the gravity defying claw away from Danny Graham’s header and my personal favourite, the high fist away from di Natale’s penalty in Udinese. All were important stops in tight games.

In a couple of the aforementioned examples, they were the only work he had to do in the entire game. Another urgent quality for an Arsenal goalkeeper. This is what separates Wojciech from a goalkeeper like Manuel Almunia; whose better performances came in games where he was busied- think Barcelona and United away in Champions League encounters. Szczesny might only have one save to make in 90 minutes; more often than not, he makes it.

Szczesny’s game has improved markedly in his decision making from crosses- as you’d expect now he has 50 Arsenal appearances under his belt. Work has clearly gone in on the training ground here. From the opening day against Newcastle, it was clear Szczesny’s aim was to be a decisive goalie; making decisions early and sticking to them. Fear and hesitation are deadly bedfellows for a Premier League custodian.

When Szczesny leaves his goal line, he’s out quickly and early. As with his distribution, this will occasionally lead to mistakes. But compared with a goalkeeper like Shay Given, whose reputation is built upon his refusal to make decisions that might lead to mistakes, he’ll save us infinitely more than he loses us in the long run.

My only concern with him at this stage is that his Schmeichel-esque sprawl in one on one situations leads to many strikers putting the ball through his legs – many of his goals have been conceded that way. But that really is a minor concern. In fact, it’s probably a concern borne of one of his biggest strengths. In seemingly hopeless situations; make yourself as big as possible and play the odds.

Many would argue that the performances of Fabianski and Mannone in turn in Athens demonstrate a lack of quality back up. In truth, I don’t think clubs around us have an awful lot better on the bench. I’d argue any top side that has a genuinely top quality goalkeeper on the bench probably has a keeper that lacks ambition. Or else they have a questionable number 1 that leaves the deputy with a glimmer of hope for playing time.

DEFENCE

Another area of the squad that appeared to be positively weeping for improvement, which has slowly improved. There are a number of factors for this. Firstly, I think there are more mature, responsible players in front of them. The team ethic towards defence has greatly improved with the likes of Arteta and Benayoun arriving. There’s also the replenishing effect of having a trusted goalkeeper behind them.

But largely I think it’s just down to an improvement in personnel. Thomas Vermaelen was injured for the whole of last season and, being a world class defender and a leader, his presence has had a rejuvenating effect. (Dare I say he’s been like a new signing?) Then we have the improvement in Laurent Koscielny who seems to be undergoing a Robert Pires style flowering at centre half. That is to say, a fairly impressive first season with glimpses of real quality, followed by a metamorphosis into a world class performer in his second.

Then there’s the addition of Mertesacker. There have been hiccups, as one would expect in an acclimatisation period. But put bluntly, whereas last season we looked to Squillaci, this season we call upon a centre half with 80 caps for Germany. Mertesacker has fitted into the ethos of Arsenal’s new defence, which appears to be built on early interceptions. Vermaelen, Santos and especially Koscielny, are very adept at nicking in front of an opposing striker and beginning an attack with Arsenal on the front foot.

I think this has suited Mertesacker, whose quality appears to be his reading of the game, enabling him to perform the “mop up” function. This is why Santos has also been a quality addition. For an attacking side like Arsenal, defending on the front foot is important because it allows you to quickly start attacks. Santos looks to be an upgrade on Clichy to me because of what he adds going forward. This piece from Arsenal Column expands on that brilliantly.

I think there has been something of a revitalisation in the defence because there’s a slightly different attitude. Put simply, there’s more pride in the art. The likes of Koscielny, Vermaelen, Sagna, they’re defenders that love defending. They relish the prospect of putting their bodies on the line. For too long I think there’s been a laissez-faire attitude at Arsenal that defence was simply a necessary evil. Now I think our current backline actually enjoys it.

There are still some kinks to work out, sloppy goal concessions of late to Aston Villa and Wolves say as much. But I don’t think any of us fill our undercrackers with effluent every time the opposition is awarded a corner. (Well, possibly less than we did in the spring anyway). Our recent injury curse at full back has inevitably upset us too I think. But I have very positive vibes about the current defence and I think it will only improve as the cohesion increase- as it will with games.

With everybody fit, we have competition for places in defence possibly for the first time in Wenger’s reign. The vital thing now will be keeping them together; Arsenal are finding out more than anyone how hard a task that is in the modern game. Quite enough chin stroking for this week. Next week, I’ll analyse the contribution- or lack thereof- of our midfielders and attackers. Until then, toodles. LD.

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