Morning to you, a quick Saturday round-up for you.
The team news from yesterday is that Arsene Wenger is confident Mathieu Flamini will be available for the game on Sunday. He joined in training yesterday and assuming there were no ill-effects then he should be ready to face United at Old Trafford.
His presence will be important, I think. As well as we’ve played against Liverpool and Dortmund, and there’s been no lack of commitment or tackling in the midfield, just having him in there to break things up could be a big part of what’s going to happen.
Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere hasn’t yet been ruled in or out and I wonder if his inclusion in the England squad is part of that. If he plays for us on Sunday then he’s got two international games to contend with and I suspect the boss might prefer if he had a rest to make sure his ankle is well and truly recovered. However, as it’s not his ‘problem’ ankle he might not view his international participation as real issue.
There was no word on Theo Walcott or Lukas Podolski although the latter posted an Instagram pic of him in full kit (not a wanker) promising he’d be back ‘soon’. I suspect that’ll be the far side of the Interlull but let’s wait and see, maybe we’ll get some kind of Sunday surprise.
With regard to the game itself, and what it means, Arsene Wenger is ensuring that feet remain well and truly on the ground, saying:
We cannot come to the conclusion that we are in a position where we can relax – we have a lot more to achieve. We have won nothing at all, we have just won two games, and what is important is what we achieve in the future.
I certainly think that this is a good time for us to play United. If you can’t feel confident when you’re top of the Premier League by 5 points and you’ve just beaten Dortmund away then when can you? But that doesn’t mean that anyone thinks it’s going to be easy.
Their start to the season has been poor, no question. Ferguson —> Next Manager was always going to be a difficult transition, and I think it was Barry Glendenning on the Guardian Podcast who made the interesting point about United’s players not viewing Moyes with anywhere near the fear as they did Ferguson (understandably), but also without the same respect because of his record in the game. It’s not really the usual situation of the players proving themselves to a new manager, it’s the manager having to prove himself to a group that his been remarkably successful.
But you write them off, or underestimate them, at your peril. They have just too much quality and experience to get cocky about Sunday’s game. We’re still only in November and so much can change, and so quickly, that anything less than full concentration from us will likely be costly.
Although we’ve beaten teams of quality and form this season, I think we do still have something to prove, perhaps even to ourselves. I think the players will be confident, they’ll believe they can get a good result there, but the last time we won at Old Trafford was 2006/7 season when Adebayor poked home a scrubber to take three points. We have to find the balance, marry the belief with the hard work that has brought us to where we are this season.
Tim Stillman spoke in his column this week about the character in the side and the kind of players we have now. You look at this current group and there seems to be a solidarity that hasn’t always been present. As Tim says, players who would go to war for each other. There’s the right blend of youth and experience, players who really want to achieve something this season, and will do what it takes to make it happen.
Who would you want in the trenches beside you? Eboue or Sagna? Gallas or Mertesacker? Flamini or Denilson? Ramsey or Song? Ozil or Hleb? That’s the difference. There has been, rightly or wrongly, the perception that we’ve been something of a soft touch in years gone by. This, to me anyway, looks a much stronger, much more robust Arsenal. Better able to cope with all the demands of the game, physically and mentally.
Sunday will be another huge test, but one I think we can come through well.
Till tomorrow.
