After today’s game our next fixture is on April 2nd against Blackburn at home. The last few weeks have been mildly traumatic so it’s hugely important that we get things back on track today.
The idea of going through the Interlull with a painful result at the Hawthorns to go over again and again really doesn’t appeal. More importantly than that, however, if we are to stay in this title fight we need a win today. Perhaps we got just a tiny bit of luck yesterday when Chelsea and United drew each other in the Champions League, meaning they’ll play each other three times between now and the end of the season.
Europe may not be a distraction, as such, but three high intensity fixtures could well take their toll on both sides, meaning we have to be sure to take advantage if possible.
There’ll be changes today. No Cesc, Theo, Song, Diaby or Djourou means we’ll line up something like this:
Almunia – Sagna – Squillaci – Koscielny – Clichy – Denilson – Wilshere – Nasri – Arshavin – van Persie – Bendtner
I had toyed with the idea that he’d played Ramsey today but I have a feeling he’ll bolster the midfield with Nasri and play Bendtner on the right hand side of the attack. There’s still a chance he might play the Welshman in place of Denilson whose form as confidence is as low as low can be right now. If so it’d be interesting to see how he and Wilshere get on. It might be a bit of a risk, considering he’s been out for so long, but sometimes that’s what you need to do to get some momentum going. You can’t keep driving a clapped out old banger in the vain hope it might turn into a Ferrari.
A lot of people will be looking at the Squiscielny partnership at the centre of defence and hoping they can work better than they have in the past. At times they’ve gone together like two north ends of a magnet but the boss isn’t worried, especially about Squillaci, saying:
I think he had a good start to the season, after that he had a little dip in December. But the recent games he played, like Stoke, he did well, so I do not especially worry about that.
He’s going to have to play as well as he ever has for the next 10 games but as I said earlier in the week there’s an onus on the rest of the team to ensure we remain as defensively solid as possible. That means working harder, closing down quicker, denying forwards space, time and service, so it’s not simply the job of the centre-halves. That doesn’t mean they don’t have to perform, they do, but defending as a team all over the pitch makes life much more difficult for any opposition.
Up the other end we have to be slightly less toothless than we were against United. Toothsome? There’s no doubt we’ll create chances, we’ve got to take them this time. Especially as our defence isn’t as strong as it might be. We could learn from United’s efficiency last weekend.
Arsene spoke about how morale and confidence isn’t exactly at its highest point but this is where we need that hero to emerge. Someone who will grab a game, or even their teammates, by the scruff of the neck and demand more. The boss says:
We are in a position where we have to be attracted by what we can achieve. We are not fighting not to go down, we are fighting to win the championship, so we do not want to feel sorry for ourselves; just go for it.
And that’s the key point. However disappointed they might feel about the cup competitions there’s still the league title to play for and that’s where all the focus needs to be. It would be too much to expect the team to just click and find their rhythm again this quickly. West Brom are battling relegation and Woy will have his team well organised, hard working and tough to break down.
They’re dangerous too, as we know only too well from this season, so full concentration required. Fingers crossed they can do the business and react positively to what’s happened in the last few weeks. If we play anything approaching our best, even with those absences, we should have enough to take three points today.
If you’re out and about, in work, or whatever else, remember you can follow the game via our live blog, today using new technology which makes it 100% compatible with mobile devices. Check back later on for more details and the link to the blog.
Also, if you fancy a flutter on today’s game, check out the Arsenal Odds page, which provides you the best odds from a range of bookmakers.
Not much else going on really. A couple of interesting reads this week regarding our injuries. First Arse2Mouse on how risk management could play a part, while 7am Kick off goes in-depth for a look at player availability. Interesting stuff from both.
And aside from that there’s nothing Arsenal related to tell you. Yesterday saw me take delivery of a large number of boxes, as modeled by the Arseblog basset, containing the very first batch of Arseblog merchandise. There are some t-shirts, there’ll be a mug, and some prints, all of which will be available through the online store which launches early next week.
Mrs Blogs was the very first sporter of an Arseblog t-shirt, taking off to her gym yesterday with a ‘Dreamy’ Robert Pires shirt. The people at the gym were relieved when she told them Arseblog was a blog about Arsenal. Always makes me wonder what on earth people think it might be instead? Funny that.
Right, here’s to three points later. Check back around 2pm for the live blog post. Until then.
