A tough Premier League test today against an exciting looking Leicester side who have yet to lose a game so far this season.
After they sacked Nigel Pearson, the appointment of Claudio Ranieri was met with giggles from some quarters – as if he was some kind of joke figure rather than a hugely experienced manager. Sure, his English is a bit funny, and he has a reputation as the ‘Tinkerman’, but so far he’s done a very good job there. Early days of course, but it’s something Arsene Wenger touched on yesterday too:
I think he deserves a lot of respect. Look when he started in football and he is still in it today. If he was not competent it would be surprising for him to survive for such a long time at the top level.
The team he’s put together there looks to have some real quality and character, and it’s going to be difficult for us to come away with all three points today. After plenty of midweek changes, there’ll obviously be more today as ‘first XI’ players come back in. Gabriel is suspended, after being punished by the FA for his reaction to a red card which shouldn’t have been given and was subsequently overturned, so you have to imagine Per Mertesacker will be the man, resuming his partnership with Laurent Koscielny.
Francis Coquelin is not being risked, the manager saying he could start training again tomorrow, but with midweek European action and Manchester United next week end, there’s obviously some caution. The question is how to replace him. Mathieu Flamini caught the eye in midweek with his two goals, but perhaps that was a consequence of playing as the furthest forward of the two deep-lying midfielders.
With Cazorla back after his suspension, and Aaron Ramsey in there too, you wonder if he might find himself squeezed out with Mikel Arteta preferred, but we’ll see. I’d like us to try Arteta and Ramsey, using Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right again, but obviously when you score twice confidence is high and you put yourself firmly in the manager’s thinking. He might even consider keeping the Flamteta axis itself.
Further forward, Walcott, Ozil and Alexis will all return, and the manager has backed the Chilean to come good after what has been a goalless start to the season:
I don’t worry for Alexis Sanchez. I think he has had 31 shots on goal since the start of the season and with his finishing qualities that should allow him five to six goals. Even when he doesn’t score he is still a major threat for everybody and I am confident he will score very soon.
There is a sense that he is going to find his range and blast in a few in one game. Today would be a very good day to do that, obviously, but there’s an onus on those around him to contribute too. The midweek win over Sp*rs was just what we needed after two defeats in a row, and that came from making a significant number of changes. Those on the fringes stepped up to show they had what it takes, now it has to work the other way as the manager continues to rotate.
Prior to Chelsea we’d kept three clean sheets in a row, and if we can do that again today then I think we’ll have enough going forward to cause them problems. We know who their danger men are, so if we can keep them quiet we’ll have a chance. And even if we do get ahead, their recent displays have shown genuine character and an ability to get back into games when you think they might be dead and buried – any complacency at all will prove costly.
It’s important we try and build some momentum ahead of what’s going to be a massive game against United next Sunday. Today, and midweek against Olympiacos, is an opportunity to do that, but only if we perform to a level we know this team is capable of it. It’s been hit and miss so far this season, we need a big hit today, and far fewer misses in front of goal.
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As mentioned above, Gabriel was suspended by the FA for the red card that wasn’t and fined £10,000. I guess not that unexpected, all things considered, and it now puts an end to what has been a pretty farcical situation overall. Will any lessons be learned from it? Will there be any attempts to look at how and why it happened and do something about it? I doubt it, case closed, heads buried in sand … until the next time.
And while I’m not going to get into it any detail whatsoever, Mourinho’s press conference antics yesterday, in which he took time out of his preparation for their game against Newcastle to have yet more snide digs at Arsene Wenger – well, that really does give you the measure of the man. The same bloke who called Wenger a voyeur comes across like an obsessed, embittered teenager in a chat room.
Yet we’ll have the holier-than-thous tutting about how a handshake between the two is important for the reputation of the game blah blah blah. They’re grown men, it’s perfectly ok not to like somebody, but while the Arsenal manager generally does his utmost to play the situation down or ignore him, sections of the press love to stir it up and Mourinho is happy to feed them little morsels like supplicant baby birds from his tedious, annoying beak.
Wenger is criticised for not wanting to shake somebody’s hand, yet Mourinho is positively encouraged to behave in a way that will only make the Frenchman more determined not to shake his hand. It’s ludicrous, and to my mind more evidence that the Chelsea manager is teetering on the brink of something this season. I fully expect him to do something absolutely crazy before this year is out. I hope he punches a referee in the helmet.
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Right, if you’re out and about later, or you can’t find a stream, join us for live blogging of the Leicester game. Check back for all the details, or bookmark our default live blog page and stand back in awe and wonder as updates begin automatically.
And if you haven’t had a chance yet to listen to this week’s Arsecast, you can check it out here. There’s discussion of midweek action, a look ahead to today’s game, waffle, competition winners and lots more.
Until later.
