The somewhat unusual prospect of FA Cup football on a Friday night looms, and we have Coventry to worry about this evening.
In terms of the team there’s nothing we didn’t already know with Ramsey and Arteta remaining out and the Vermaelen situation a little up in the air. Earlier the boss said he’d probably miss this game, but didn’t list him as one of the casualties yesterday.
If he is missing, we don’t have much in the way of options, so the Mertescielny Axis of Awesome is likely to continue. Jenkinson and Gibbs will probably come in at the full back positions. Rosicky is missing from midfield due to his smashed up conk, and with the aforementioned Ramsey and Arteta out the boss will look to Wilshere and perhaps Flamini. Youngster Isaac Hayden has been training with the first team this week but it’d be a surprise to see him start.
Up front it would be a massive surprise if Lukas Podolski didn’t get a game, most likely on the left hand side, with the recovered Nicklas Bendtner up top. Serge Gnabry ought to play on the right, having done well there in recent weeks, and with this game providing a decent chance to continue his development.
Will the boss play Ozil or Cazorla in the cup, even if we’ve got a relatively nice gap to the Tuesday night trip to Southampton? He spoke about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who could slot into midfield, saying:
I don’t know if he is completely ready or not, I will have to decide that tomorrow, he is very close. He can play central, it is just always important to find the right balance because around him you need always a more defensive player, but I like his qualities in the middle because he can penetrate and has good power to get out of pressure.
It’d be good to see him get a game and to provide another option in the centre, which is ultimately where the manager sees him playing. In time, the perfect candidate to take over the Rosicky role in the squad. He’s a different kind of player, not as scampery and pressy as the ageless Czech, but in terms of natural progression from within the squad he’s got all the attributes.
The manager was also keen to avoid the disaster the cup provided last season, saying:
Last year was a big disappointment. It was the first time in 16 years that we lost against lower league opposition in the FA Cup. It was a great warning and at the moment it’s just our next game and we want to win it.
Cup football is a strange beast at times. Anything can happen, as we know ourselves, and as we saw illustrated quite hilariously earlier this week at Old Trafford. But, looking at the way we’ve been playing – the seriousness and professionalism of our performances – this is a game we should win tonight.
There’s enough experience in the team, there are players in there who have something to prove to the manager on various levels, and in terms of overall quality this is well within our capability. They won’t underestimate the vistitors, but nor should they fear them.
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In other news the manager says a January signing is ‘highly unlikely’ now. Wenger playing his cards to his chest or being brutally honest? My thought is that it’s the latter, and I suspect it’s because the chances of a deal for Julian Draxler – the player he really wants – are slim in this window. As such he won’t compromise and just bring in someone for the sake bringing in someone.
When he talks about doing it if something exceptional comes up, I’m sure he means the young German. What we’re doing to try and make that happen, I just don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. I’m sure we’re not just sitting by the phone whispering ‘please call, please call‘, waiting for the Schalke chairman to change his mind, but they don’t seem of a mind to let him go, whereas the summer provides a chance for us to trigger a release clause leaving them with no choice.
Obviously I’d like us to do something: in the position we’re in right now, with the best chance of the league in a long time, it’d be fantastic to see us have a real go and use the transfer market to do it. Yet it remains a complicated issue, trying to balance a short-term need with our longer-term plans (assuming we have them). Availability, price, how that impacts on our budget for other requirements come summer, it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Yet the manager can’t be unaware of how January has boosted his squad in the past. He’s used it to contribute to a title winning season, and a season which saw us engaged in a scrap for the top four. I’m sure if the player is there we’ll do it, but it’s just so hard to know. If we fall away January will look like an opportunity lost, regardless of the circumstances; and even a purchase is no guarantee of success, even it it will temper opinion should we not go all the way.
It sounds simple, it’s not, but hopefully in the next seven days, we can find somebody who can give the squad a boost in the closing months.
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Right then, time for this week’s Arsecast, and I’m joined by journalist and author Patrick Barclay who talks to me about Arsenal’s season thus far, the FA Cup on a Friday night, and his fantastic new book The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman. It’s a fantastic insight into the man himself, but also the world in which he lived and worked in. Football and history woven together beautifully and I highly recommend it.
As well as that there’s the usual waffle about the week that was, a sad, sad song and more besides.
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Have a good one!
