We’re back on the Premier League horse today, looking to canter to victory against a Burnley that sit bottom of the table and have yet to win a game. For most fans of most clubs that would be a stat of great comfort, for some reason I find it vaguely terrifying (although this might also be because I woke up late and I’m really hungry).
The team news is that Arsene Wenger expects Kieran Gibbs to be fit, which is good news, but we’ll be without Jack Wilshere who, according to the boss, got a kick on his knee in training. He described his absence as ‘very, very short’ term and expects him back for next weekend’s trip to Swansea. Obviously the last thing we need is another injury but at least it’s come in a much more depthy (real word, look it up), area of the pitch.
If Gibbs does make it, I’d expect the back four to line up the same way as it did at the Stadium of Light, with Monreal continuing at centre-half. I do think we might see a change in midfield with Aaron Ramsey coming back in – probably at the expense of Flamini – and given the opposition I wonder if the manager might just be tempted to give Podolski a game on the left hand side ahead of Cazorla.
I spoke last week about how we do need to keep these guys involved and as Santi’s finishing was as wayward as the child of a man from Kansas, it might be a good moment to show some trust in his squad. However, any hopes of a start for Theo Walcott were dashed with the manager saying:
He’s been out for too long to start, but if I can give him some competition I am happy to do it. I know Theo well and he is a very intelligent player, he knows he is not completely there yet.
So, the ideal situation would be for us to be a couple or three goals to the good with about twenty minutes to go, meaning we can give him a good run out and help him ease back into Premier League action. Which is why at that point we’ll be 1-0 down after they scored with their first shot in the 18th minute and despite our 94 shots on target their goalkeeper has won the nickname ‘Mr Octopus’ for a series of incredible saves, one of which he even made with his left testicle. The worst part about that is it doesn’t even sound that implausible.
Of course we’ll be looking to build on last week’s clean sheet – another one of those would be nice and help add a little more confidence to our defensive unit – but we also need to find our rhythm as an attacking force. I’m happy to give all due credit to Alexis for his attitude and determination which helped him score twice against Sunderland, but we also had Wes Brown and Vito Mannone to thank for their part in each goal.
Today is a day when we need to fashion chances, be creative and really have a go at the opposition. We need a display like the one we saw against Galatasaray which highlighted what we can do when we click. We’re capable of incisive football, just nowhere near often enough, so to face a team that has scored just 5 times and conceded 16 in the league so far is the perfect chance to do that, you would think.
There’s not much more to this game than that. Three points a must, but we need to be a lot more convincing than we have been in recent weeks as the quality of the opposition does increase over the coming weeks.
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Elsewhere, some interesting stuff from Arsene Wenger on how South America is producing the best strikers these days. His theory is that the world isn’t the dog-eat-dog place it used to be, a more cosseted lifestyle has taken the fight out of many:
Maybe in our history street football has gone. In street football when you are a 10-year-old, you play with 15-year-olds so you have to be shrewd, you have to show that you are good, you have to fight to win impossible balls. When it is all a bit more formulated then it is less about developing your individual skill, your fighting attitude. We have lost that a little bit in football. Society has changed. We are much more protected than we were 30 years ago. We have all changed. We have all become a bit softer.
As is this from Gary Neville on defending in modern football. I suppose it’s especially resonant for those of us of a certain age, who grew up playing football with that emphasis, but also watching teams play that way. He talks about Don Howe, a great Arsenal man, and when you’re a teenager watching a George Graham drilled back four win things, maybe it colours your view of what defending should be like.
That said, I still think unless you have a team which is so top heavy with attacking talent that defending can be an afterthought (think Barcelona at their very best or Real Madrid now, perhaps), that it’s even more important than ever to have a solid platform. If the technical ability has been raised across the game, then that evens things up a bit. There are no easy games, as they say.
Those heavy defeats last season aside, is it any coincidence that with our most settled and most comfortable looking back four in years that we topped the table for so long last season? I don’t think so, especially when so much of what people complained about was how we need more in attack. We were shorn of Walcott, Ozil faded in the second half of the season, and Olivier Giroud had a heavy burden up top on his own. That was the main issue last season for the most part. That tells its own story for me, and it’s why I just couldn’t understand the manager’s decision making this summer when it came to defensive recruitment.
He took a gamble, it backfired, and without any kind of defensive stability, we’ve dropped more league points than we should. So, while I agree with Neville that defending has changed, its importance hasn’t, and we’re living, breathing proof of that.
Right, time for some breakfast, we’ll have the live blog later on so please come join us. Even if you’re watching the game, it’s a good way to chat and share the experience with other Gooners. A full post follows later with all the details.
Until then.
