Morning all, a new week and two big games give us the chance to put the disappointment of Sunderland behind us. First up Standard Liege in the Champions League tomorrow night then the small matter of Chelsea on Sunday.
The Chelsea game is one of those which could have a huge impact on our title chances this season. Beat them and the gap is closed to 5 points. Win our game in hand and that’s just 2 points and we can whisper nasty things at them as we breathe down their necks. Lose and they go 11 points ahead which means we’ve got to shout those nasty things at them from a distance, and even if we win the game in hand 8 points is a big gap, even if there is still a long way to go this season.
For tomorrow’s game I expect the manager to ring the changes, as much as possible. We’ve got the comfort of playing at home so he’ll be more prepared to give players a rest. I can see him giving Gallas and Sagna a night off, perhaps for Eboue and Senderos, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Sylvester at left back if Gibbs doesn’t make it. Traore’s display at the Stadium of Light was unconvincing and I don’t think he’ll play two left-footed centre-halves. Although teams play all the time with two right footed players so I don’t know if that makes any difference.
We’ll get more on the potential team news later on, there’s a pre-game press conference scheduled for the day before every Champions League match, and we should get a better idea of his plans then. I do think he’ll want to keep his main players as fresh as possible for Chelsea on Sunday though.
Some of the confidence has ebbed away, partly because of the defeat on Saturday, partly because “it’s November”, the blackest of all months for Arsenal fans. I was a bit curious as to whether this was just perception or fact so I got my little research hat on (it’s a grey fedora with a black ribbon) and checked out our November record under Arsene Wenger. Here goes:
08-09: W2, L3 – 6 out of 15 points
07-08: W2, D1 – 7 out of 9 points
06-07: W1, D1, L3 – 4 out of 15 points
05-06: W3, 9 out of 9 points
04-05: W1, D2, L1 – 5 out of 12 points
03-04: W3, D1 – 10 points out of 12 (Champions)
02-03: W5 – 15 out of 15 points
01-02: W1, D1, L1 – 4 out of 9 points (Champions)
00-01: W3, D1 – 10 out of 12 points
99-00: W3 – 9 out of 9 points
98-99: W1, D2, L1 – 5 out of 12 points
97-98: W1, L3 – 3 out of 12 points (Champions)
96-97: W3, D1 – 10 out of 12 points
So there you go. What conclusions you can draw from those stats? Well, in 05-06, 02-03 and 99-00 we won every game in November but still didn’t win the league. In 03-04 we dropped 2 points, in 01-02 we dropped 5 and in 97-98 we dropped 9 and ended up champions. That said last season we dropped 9 as well and hobbled into 4th.
So while a bad November can be fatal it’s not always the case and a good November can mean a poor run later in the season when dropping points means you’ve got no time to make them up again. I think the bottom line is that losing games is a shit idea whenever you do it so we should just stop losing games. Football management is easy.
Not much else going on really apart from Robin van Persie’s horse placenta doctor has done a runner over tax problems, apparently. Yeah right. I bet she gives the players a bit of the old general anaesthetic then lashes out a kidney which she sells to rich people waiting for transplants. Or really rich cannibals. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Some idle transfer speculation? Go on then. ‘Reports in Italy’ suggest we’re after Sampdoria striker Giampolo Pazzini. He’s a striker and he plays for Sampdoria. Which is in Italy. Don’t they play in that stadium with the red brick thingy? I always liked that stadium.
Beyond that not much else, it’s a quiet start to the week really, but there’s plenty to keep us amused as it progresses. Also, check back after lunch today for a new post with a chance to win a pair of tickets for the Chelsea game this Sunday. Not too shabby, eh?
Laters.
