Gunnerblog

North London Derby: Fan-to-Fan Preview

298 comments November 16th, 2012

Hello folks.  It’s derby weekend, and so I’ve invited my Spurs-supporting pal (contradiction in terms, I grant you) Adam Nathan along to have a quick chat.

If you’re still not satiated after reading through this, them head over to arseblog and listen to today’s arsecast, on which I join a couple of other more eloquent bloggers to discuss derbies, defending, and other delights.

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SELECTION HEADACHES

GS: Arsene has been spared a major headache with the admittedly worrying news that Kieran Gibbs is not available.  That means he’ll be able to field all three of his first-choice centre-backs, with Thomas Vermaelen again being shunted out on to the left.  There have been some suggestions in the media that Arsene could switch to 3-5-2 imminently, but I’m dubious about that story.  Even if he was contemplating a switch, I doubt he’d make it ahead of such an important game.  Aside from that, the team picks itself.  If Wojciech Szczesny is fit he simply has to displace Vito Mannone, whilst Bacary Sagna ought to continue at right-back, despite a touch of fatigue.  Jack Wilshere will return from suspension to join Arteta and Cazorla in midfield, whilst the front three of Podolski, Giroud and Walcott should continue after a relatively impressive showing against Reading.

Adam: Sadly, the selection headaches all Spurs fans will have wished upon Boas have been eradicated by a lengthy injury list for Saturday’s game. In addition to long term absentees like Ekotto, Parker and Kaboul,  Dembele’s chronic hip injury could not have come at a worse time for us, with our form seriously suffering since the Belgian’s injury flared up again in the last international break.

In terms of the decisions AVB will have to make, I would expect him to again, wrongly, go with Brad Friedel in goal in place of Hugo Lloris, whilst Huddlestone, Carroll, Livermore, Dempsey and Sigurdsson will fight it out for the two centre midfield spots along side the Brazilian Sandro, who has probably been our most consistent player this season. Up front, whilst some will call for a strike partnership of Adebayor and Defoe, I would expect us to again go into the game with one striker. After an impressive full league debut in Manchester last weekend, most Spurs fans will hope that Adebayor is given a chance to line-up against his old team once again.

RECENT FORM

GS: I don’t want to talk about it.  Ok, fine… after a positive start familiar frailties have been exposed.  The clean sheets with which we started the season now appear anomalous rather than indicative of any kind of improvement.  Arsenal seem stuck in their painful annual cycle.  Traditionally, November is when the wheels come off.  So far, it’s brought us the comprehensive defeat by United, and the surrendering of two two-goal leads against Schalke and Fulham.

Adam: Quite frankly, we have been pretty poor all season. Aside from a good 90 minutes at Reading and decent halves at Old Trafford and St. Mary’s, we have looked like a very average side thus far under our new management regime. Naturally it will take time for Boas to impress his ideas on a squad that not only suffered a terrible end to last season but has since been dismantled and put poorly back together by Daniel Levy, but in order for our season to end with any degree of success, we will really need to buck our ideas up, hopefully starting on Saturday.

HEAD TO HEAD

GS: My impression of Spurs is that Sandro and Huddlestone aren’t the most mobile of defensive midfielders, so I’m hoping the fleet-of-foot provided by Cazorla and Wilshere could be the difference.  Moussa Dembele will be a big miss for Spurs.

In recent weeks, we’ve looked very vulnerable on our left flank, and Spurs have the players to exploit that.  They tend to line up with Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon, but they also have the option of switching Gareth Bale to give  Thomas Vermaelen a different kind of problem to tackle.  Or attempt to, at any rate.

The major worry is the horrible habit players have of scoring against their former club.  It’s not hard to imagine either William Gallas or Emmanuel Adebayor returning to haunt us.

Adam: In terms of where we can actually hurt Arsenal, I can’t see past our one true match winner, Gareth Bale; if we are to leave the Emirates with three points, it’s fairly safe to say that he will play a crucial role for us, with his well publicised pace, power and finesse. On the other side of the pitch, Aaron Lennon has had a decent season so far, although continues to deliver the goals and assists that would see him classed as a top player. That said, Arsenal have seemed to struggle at left back this season, so perhaps the England winger will be able to put in a big performance on Saturday afternoon.

With regard to where we can be hurt, the centre midfield area looks like a worrying proposition for Spurs fans. In all likelihood, we will continue with a three of Sandro, Huddlestone and Dempsey, the latter two who have in truth had terrible seasons thus far. If Arsenal are able to press us high up the pitch and maintain possession in the centre of the park, I worry that we will get overrun and ultimately punished by Arsenal’s attacking flair, which doesn’t seem to have been the reason for your dropping of points thus far.

PREDICTED TEAM

GS: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud, Podolski

Adam: Friedel, Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Dempsey, Lennon, Bale, Adebayor.

PREDICTED SCORE

GS: Arsenal 2 – 1 Spurs – I can’t see Spurs not scoring.  In fact, I think they may even take the lead.  However, this game is so big for Arsenal that I believe we’ll pull a result out of the bag.  The likes of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla have the chance to make themselves a hero.  My money’s on the Frenchman to do just that.

Adam: Arsenal 3 – 1 Spurs – Ultimately, we have not played well for a month now, and seem to have too many injuries to stand a serious chance of taking anything away from the game this weekend. Whilst many have pointed out the frailties in Arsenal’s team, your players always seem to raise it more than ours do on games like this, with last season being a great example, and as a result I expect you to come through fairly unchallenged. That said, we live in eternal hope!

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A little over 24 hours till game-time now.  Come On Arsenal.

Fulham Preview + Thoughts on Theo, Podolski & more

194 comments November 10th, 2012

I expect Arsenal to make only one change today…
…and that will be an enforced one.  Jack Wilshere is suspended so will drop out of the side, with Francis Coquelin the man most likely to replace him.  Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are back in the squad , but having just recovered from injury are unlikely to be rushed straight back in to the side.  Other than that, I expect Thomas Vermaelen to continue at full-back and Theo Walcott to keep his place on the wing.

I can’t help but feel today could be a big day for Olivier Giroud…
The Frenchman is quietly getting in to gear.  Since breaking his duck against Coventry, he has started six games.  In that period of time, he has amassed four goals.  It means that despite all the criticism, he currently has more goals this season than, say, a certain Wayne Rooney.  The blight on his record is that only one of those goals has come in the Premier League – a competition in which he has appeared in every game.  A goal today would help give him some real momentum going in to the North London Derby.

It sounds like Theo Walcott is on the way out…
When asked about his contract situation this week, Arsene said:

“‘I don’t want to go into any details but you can believe me [that] we do the maximum we can to keep our best players.”

It’s a familiar refrain.  It’s the same thing he said previously about Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, and Robin van Persie.  The deadline for Theo to sign a new deal is fast approaching.  For footballing and financial reasons, I’d like to see him sign a new deal.  However, I’m afraid it looks to be too late for that.

Lukas Podolski is not entirely to blame for his own downturn in form…
Arsene Wenger puts it down to culture shock.  I’d suggest it’s simply down to a lack of chances.  The German has not scored for more than a month, but in that period of time I can’t think of a significant chance he’s missed.  In fact, I can barely think of a single chance he’s missed in his time as an Arsenal player.  He’s lethal in front of goal – the team just need to work harder to get him there.

It’s great to see Tomas Rosicky back in training…
I had almost forgotten that he was still an Arsenal player.   It’s easy to forget how fantastic he was in the second half of last season, and he will add some much needed zip and verve to our midfield when he returns.  It will also enable us to give Santi Cazorla some much-needed rest – the Spaniard has looked jaded in recent weeks.

QPR Preview: Ready to (Re)launch?

379 comments October 27th, 2012

Today’s game sees a team full of potential match-winners take on a side desperately out of form.  The question is: which is which?

As poor as our form has been recently, QPR’s is worse.  They haven’t won yet this season.  Then again, neither had Norwich before they played us.  For the Canaries, Grant Holt posed a fairly singular threat.  QPR have a whole host of players who could cause us troubles.  Adel Taraabt is showing signs of transferring his blistering Championship form to the top flight, Esteban Granero looks like a quality signing, and Djibril Cisse loves goals almost as much as he loves getting sent off and preposterous haircuts.

Then there’s Bobby Zamora.  Whenever he comes up against Arsenal, and Thomas Vermaelen in particular, he gives us a torrid time.  Whilst he’s far from the perfect striker, he does have a phenomenal ability to hold the ball with his back to goal.  Vermaelen’s instinct is to nip ahead of the striker and win the ball early, but Zamora’s upper-body strength and neat first touch are like kryptonite on the Belgian.

Arsenal, of course, have players of their own who can do damage.  In recent the games the team’s dour performances mean that individuals, like Podolski and Cazorla, have suffered.  With that in mind, Arsene will be keen to freshen it up.  Bacary Sagna could be in contention to oust a jaded Carl Jenkinson at full-back, whilst Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a “60%” chance of inclusion.  If he’s fit, I expect The Ox to start.  Gervinho was out of sorts on Wednesday night, so replacing him with the direct running and brio of Chamberlain seems a natural choice.

I’d be slightly shocked if the Ivorian started at all – surely Olivier Giroud must be primed to reclaim his central spot.  It’s time for the Frenchman to be bedded in now, and that means a regular run of games.  Whatever your reservations, he is surely the best option we have for the time being.

The big question surrounds Jack Wilshere, and whether or not Arsene will see fit to throw him back in to the fray after 14 months on the sidelines.  It would doubtless give the team and the crowd a lift, and the pre-game whispers are that Jack could be set to start.  Imagine the ovation he’ll get if he does.

The first goal today will be crucial.  Arsenal have picked up a nasty habit of falling behind in recent games.  If we do so again, then we run the risk of another disastrous result.  Go ahead, and things will look a lot sunnier.

Today could be the day when Jack relaunches his Arsenal career.  Let’s hope it’s also the day that Arsenal relaunch their season.

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Couple of quick notes for Any Other Business:

• Yesterday I put together some thoughts on the AGM.  They’re probably far too moderate for the likes of you, but give them a glance if you get the chance.
• On the day Jack Wilshere makes his return to the Premier League, I found six of these bad boys and bunged them on sale.  Grab ’em quick.

Norwich Preview: It should be simple…

157 comments October 20th, 2012

It’s unusual that the most significant piece of team news concerns a player who may not even step foot on the field.  Nevertheless, the headlines and the terraces are united in their harmonious uttering of two glorious words: Jack’s back.

Jack Wilshere’s agent announced on twitter that after an absence of some 14 months, the midfielder has been included in the matchday squad for this evening’s trip to Norwich.  It’s unthinkable that he’ll start, and arguably unlikely he’ll even get off the bench for more than a cameo, but it’s a massive step.  After so long away from the matchday routine, just being involved will provide Jack with a huge boost.

I expect the team to line up as depicted on the right.  It’s possible that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be included ahead of either Ramsey or Gervinho, but I suspect his late return from international duty with England will count against him.

As the headline suggests, this should be an entirely winnable game.  Norwich have struggled to cope with mobile attacking forces like Chelsea & Liverpool, and sit towards the bottom of a slowly solidifying Premier League table.

However, Arsenal’s much-heralded defensive solidity seems to have evaporated a little in recent weeks.  We haven’t kept a clean sheet since the win at Anfield, and I can’t help but feel that the likes of Grant Holt could give us trouble is Norwich are prepared to play in a direct style.

As I write this, Spurs and Chelsea are drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane.  Man City too face a tricky-looking game at West Brom.  Get it right, and this weekend could be a time to gain ground on our rivals.

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If you fancy a flutter on today’s game, you can check out my betting tips on the unibet website.

Chelsea Preview: Time to reunite Vermaelen & Koscielny?

110 comments September 29th, 2012

Yesterday afternoon I posited the theory on twitter that Arsene Wenger might reunite Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the defence today.

It tells you a lot about how much Per Mertesacker’s stock has risen that I was met with loud cries of dissent from my followers – Mertesacker was outstanding at Man City and to drop him after that would seem, on paper, to be harsh.

However, Arsene has spent the week insisting he will select the centre-backs best suited to the opposition.  Mertesacker was chosen against City in part to combat the height of Edin Dzeko; against Chelsea’s nimble forward line of Torres, Mata, Hazard and Oscar, Koscielny and Vermaelen’s fleet of foot might be the sensible choice.  The informed whispers last night suggested that Tommy and Kos have indeed got the nod; Per will most likely come back in for the Champions League game in midweek.

The full-backs, goalkeeper, and holding midfield are certain to remain the same.  The other big conundrum facing Arsene Wenger is who to plump for at centre-forward.  Despite Gervinho’s erratic display in Manchester, my gut tells me that Arsene prefers the mobile attacking style he lends to the team.

The other choice is whether he feels we need to persist with Aaron Ramsey at right-wing.  Whilst Ramsey was excellent against City, I think Ashley Cole might be more tested by a flier like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

It’s rare to be going in to such a big game so confident in Arsenal.  We really have a great chance to go and beat Chelsea today.  I hope for all the world these players do it; it would give them a tremendous boost and cap an excellent start to the season.  Whatever happens, it’s vital we maintain our unbeaten record: lose, and we’d suddenly find ourselves seven points behind.

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