Hide the women, children, and Ryo Miyaichi. The Olympiakons are coming. Arsenal’s second match of the group stage sees us play host to the Greek Champions, who come to London on the back of a 100% start to the season to face what they’ll doubtless consider a vulnerable Arsenal side. For our part, we’ll be looking to put together a run of three straight wins in all competitions ahead of Spurs on Sunday.
I confess to not knowing a vast amount about our opponents tonight. I’m told they’ll mirror Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 formation, and there’ll be a familiar face at centre-half in the furry shape of former Aston Villa skipper Olof Mellberg. A few insightful tweeters have tipped me off about tricksy Algerian winger Djamel Abdoun, who will try to cause Kieran Gibbs problems on the right-flank.
Gibbs will form part of a makeshift back four. An ankle problem for Laurent Koscielny means that we’re now without Thomas Vermaelen, Koscielny, Johan Djourou and Sebastien Squillaci. Had we not signed Per Mertesacker on deadline day, we’d now be without a recognised senior centre-half. Unsurprisingly, Ignasi Miquel is out too, so the German international is likely to be partnered by Alex Song.
Song’s place in the midfield will be taken by one of Frimpong or Coquelin, with Ramsey and Arteta fulfilling the more creative roles. Knee and hamstring problems mean Gervinho and Walcott are absent on the flanks, so Andrey Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky are the men most likely to provide support for centurion skipper Van Persie. The boss has yet again stepped forward to defend Arshavin, and I have to say I think he’s started this season significantly better than last. The Champions League has been the stage for some of his best Arsenal performances, and hopefully can prove so again tonight.
There is an outside chance that the 18-year old Alex Chamberlain will get a chance on the wing ahead of Rosicky. Even if he doesn’t start, he could well make his European debut from the bench.
Of tonight’s absentees Koscielny, Walcott, Gervinho, Djourou and Benayoun all have a chance to be in the squad for Spurs. One man who doesn’t is Jack Wilshere, with Arsene confirming he’s expected to miss 22 weeks as he recovers from ankle surgery. As frustrating as it is in the short term, we ought to be buoyed by the news that the operation was successful, and recognise that rest now will benefit both player and club in the long-term.
One final thing: it is a sad indictment of the lack of faith in the current squad that after his refusal to come on as substitute for Man City last night, I received several emails from Arsenal fans suggesting we should sign Carlos Tevez. Never, never, never. Whilst the player’s conduct makes him a disgrace to his profession, City in part brought it on themselves by entering in to a deal with the devil and his familiar – Joorabchian and Tevez. I feel confident that Arsenal will never make the same mistake.
We picked up a valuable point in Dortmund, but qualification is almost always decided by home form. Three points tonight will put us in a good position in the group ahead of the international break. Come On You Gunners…
In the build-up to today’s crucial match with Bolton Wanderers, Arsene Wenger has compared himself to ursus maritimus – that cuddly killer, the polar bear.
“Since I arrived in England there have been a lot of things said.
Personally I do not complain. I am supposed to take the bullets and absorb them. Like a bear, a polar bear.
In fairness, they don’t hurt me too much. You worry more about the young player who gets in the team at the moment and gets slaughtered. I remember when I was 19 that was much more difficult for me to take.”
Whilst I understand Arsene’s intention – to depict himself as a shield for his players, taking the weight of criticism upon his experienced shoulders – I would question some aspects of his chosen analogy. I’m not sure where Arsene’s got his info, but I’m not convinced polar bears are “supposed” to take bullets at all. When plucky Tommies went over the top in the Great War, they did not send a squadron of polar bears out first as cannon fodder. Shooting a polar bear is, I’m pretty sure, illegal. They’re endangered, after all.
It’s here that Arsene’s analogy begins to right itself and come bobbing up on the side of truth once more. The threat of global warming has led scientists to suggest polar bears could be eliminated within 100 years. Lose against Bolton today, and Arsene could find himself under an even more immediate threat of extinction.
The team will be very similar to the one that started at Blackburn. Tomas Rosicky has recovered and is back in the squad, but is unlikely to dislodge any of Song, Ramsey and Arteta. The only possible changes are on the flanks – Arsene Wenger will have to choose between Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos, and is likely to reintroduce Theo Walcott, most likely at the expense of Andrey Arshavin.
“With the ball, he’s ready. Off the ball he plays now like a young talented boy and he has to take responsibility in the senior team.
That will demand two or three months and after he will be there.”
If we’re in a winning position he might get off the bench today to make his home league debut.
I’m optimistic we’ll begin to turn out form around this afternoon, but the day’s undoubtedly been clouded by some bad news: Jack Wilshere will undergo surgery on his ankle and is likely to be out until Christmas at the earliest. It’s huge blow. With Cesc and Nasri gone, Jack is comfortably our most accomplished and inspirational midfield player. This team ought to be being built around him – instead, he’ll be absent for half the season. The only positive spin I can put on it is that I’d rather have him fit for the second half of the season than the first, when we reach the crunch period and the accumulation of points is all the more vital.
Whether or not we get Champions League football, there are already ominous signs for next summer. The quintet of Andrey Arshavin, Thomas Vermaelen, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Alex Song all have less than two years to run on their existing deals. If new contracts aren’t tied up this season, we could find ourselves over a barrel as we did with Samir Nasri. Arsene doesn’t exactly sound confident of reaching agreements with all players concerned:
“We will try to convince them. Our desire is there to do it and we are ready to sit down with them.
After that we see where we go but the gap on that front has become bigger for us so, today, I cannot say that if we go to the maximum [deal] we are sure to sign a player – even if we do that we are not sure.”
To compound your distress, Arseblog reports that Darren Dein (the machiavellian marketeer behind the exits of Henry, Clichy, Cesc & Nasri) is now representing the interests of both Song and Van Persie.
Given our disastrous league form, some see the advent of a Carling Cup campaign as an ill-timed and unnecessary distraction. To me, it comes as a great relief, and a chance to see some fresh talent at a time when the first-team appears to be stagnating.
Tonight there will be a mix of relatively experienced talent, and new faces. Â Lukasz Fabianski ought to make his first appearance of the season in goal, with Johan Djourou and Carl Jenkinson making their first starts since the Old Trafford debacle. Â Alongside Djourou, the ball-playing centre-half Ignasi Miquel will continue his development, whilst Kieran Gibbs could well be recalled after sitting out the game at Ewood Park.
In midfield I expect Coquelin and Frimpong to form a no-nonsense pairing, with the intriguing flair of Ryo Miyaichi, Park Chu-Young and Alex Chamberlain, all making their full debuts, behind target man Marouane Chamakh.
It is the trio of debutants who fire the imagination most. Â After signing just before deadline day and instantly collecting a flurry of international goals, we’re yet to catch a glimpse of Park. Â Tonight he’ll most likely play just off Chamakh, and it’s this versatility that Arsene thinks will make him particularly useful as the season progresses:
“Park is good in every area.  He is good in the air, good technically, he is mobile and that’s why he is an adaptable striker who can play up front behind the striker.
That’s why we went for him. What I like with him is that he is very mobile and that’s the basis of our game.”
If I’m not mistaken, it’ll be the first time an Asian player takes to the field for Arsenal since the days of Junichi Inamoto. Â And there’ll be two of them. Â Left-winger Ryo Miyaichi will finally make his much-anticipated Arsenal debut. Â Ryo trialled with the club only last season, only to break his leg, delaying any move till January. Â Unable to get a work permit, he then moved on loan to Feyenoord, where he impressed enormously, before joining up with the first-team squad this summer. Â He’s made a huge impression in training and Arsene is convinced he will make the breakthrough to the full team before long. Â In the meantime, the Carling Cup is a perfect opportunity to adapt to the English game:
“We have to give him time and not put too much pressure on him but he is a fantastic player. Â We want to do things properly with him and not to rush him too much.
He has pace, attitude, efficiency in what he is doing and complete commitment.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain already has one appearance under his belt: an ill-fated cameo at Old Trafford. Â On his first start for the club, he’ll be keen to erase that memory and make a positive impression on the supporters.
It’s easy to forget that Chamberlain was our most expensive buy this summer, with a fee that could rise as high as £15m.  He’s clearly incredibly highly-rated, and as a quick wideman bought from Southampton, has drawn comparisons with Theo Walcott – comparisons which Arsene has been quick to dispell.
What’s clear from the little bits of Chamberlain I’ve seen playing for Southampton and for England U-21s is that he’s a far more accomplished technical player than Walcott. Â I’d liken him more to a Samir Nasri type: a stocky, powerful dribbler who can create and score goals by coming from deep.
I’m excited to see all three talents, and hope they can contribute to creating a positive atmosphere a ground which, with any luck, we can carry in to Saturday’s game with Bolton. Â If you wish to dwell on the gloom of our affairs in the league, then you can read Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis telling us lots of things we already know.
I won’t profess to know too much about our opponents, Shrewsbury, but they’re in decent form and currently occupy the third automatic promotion spot in League Two. Arsenal.com has a neatly prepared scouting report on them – it seems the main threat will be provided by left-winger Lionel Ainsworth.
I expect this inexperienced Arsenal team to get the win, and hopefully provide some mouthwatering glimpses of potential. Â Some of you will be cynical about a tomorrow that never comes, but let’s not allow the travails of the first-team to impact upon the promise of these youngsters. Â They need and deserve out support tonight, and beyond.
With the tumultuous start to the season we’ve had, it’s easy to forget that there are clubs far worse off than us. Arsenal fans have been so disillusioned that they’ve even forgotten to laugh at Tottenham, who had a nightmarish summer and look all but certain to drop out of the top four. Today’s opponents, Blackburn Rovers, are even worse off than our neighbours. Arsenal’s visit today coincides with a march of protest against manager Steve Kean.
Kean was a marked man from the day of his appointment. Like Roberto Mancini at Man City, he committed the cardinal sin of replacing a manager much-loved by the British media – in this instance Sam Allardyce, rather than Mark Hughes. He’s also a client of unpopular football agent Jerome Anderson, who since brokering the Venky’s takeover seems to have become the wizard behind the curtain at Blackburn. His influence extends so far that Blackburn have now added Jerome’s son Myles to the playing staff.
Kean, it seems, is a sacking waiting to happen. Even the bookies agree. But his players seem to feel differently, as anyone who watched their spirited draw at Craven Cottage last weekend will know. Defeat would reportedly have cost Kean his job, and his team ran through walls to earn a point – almost literally in the case of Junior Hoilett, who was flattened by Mark Schwarzer as he chased on to a loose ball.
Hoilett is part of exciting group of young attacking players, along with Mauro Formic and Ruben Rochina. At the back, they remain sturdy, with the towering Chris Samba now partnered by fellow one-time Arsenal target Scott Dann. Blackburn’s league position is not representative of their squad. And, regardless of how they’re faring, they always seem to raise themselves for a game against Arsenal.
There is positive news on the squad front. Aaron Ramsey training normally on Friday and should be fit to start, whilst Alex Song and Gervinh0 are finally back from the suspensions they carelessly picked up on the opening day. I expect all three to start, with Ramsey for Benayoun the only likely change from the team in Dortmund.
Slowly, our season is beginning to move in a positive direction. It’s essential that momentum isn’t halted today. Come On You Gunners.
If Swansea was the start of a new era, then (with due respect to the Welsh side) this is our first test. Victory on Saturday was essential, but also expected. The outcome of tonight’s game is much harder to call.
Dortmund are the Champions of Germany, and a fine footballing side. Arsene paid them the compliment of saying they have a “similar style” to his own team, and the talents of Kagawa, Goetze and Lewandowski make them a very real attacking threat. They can defend too – Neven Subotic, a one-time Arsenal target, is the key figure in a back-line that conceded a meagre 22 league goals last season.
Dortmund’s impressive coach Jurgen Klopp is excited about a clash between two attacking teams:
“I think it is good for us that Arsenal play attacking football. The problem is that they have so much quality that we have to be very careful. But we are prepared. We are capable of defending against this kind of team and have to work to make space and impose our own game.”
He even sounds rather like our own manager there. Rather than being a reactive tactician, he imposes a philosophy on to his team and asks them to abide by it in every game – no matter who the opposition.
It promises to be an exciting encounter, and a betting man would predict goals – at least at one end. Arsenal haven’t kept a clean-sheet away from home in the Champions League since the victory over AC Milan in the San Siro. That was in 2008, three years and 16 games ago.
Those games, of course, were without Per Mertesacker. The giant centre-half returns to his native Germany today to face former domestic rivals, and will hopefully be able to pass on his knowledge of our opposition to messrs Szczesny, Koscielny, Sagna and Gibbs.
In midfield we’re without the injured Rosicky and Ramsey, so Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong will most likely be charged with shacking Goetze and Kagawa, with Mikel Arteta pulling the strings ahead of them. After an eight year absence the Spaniard returns to the Champions League, and the competition and occasion ought to suit his fluid passing game.
Gervinho returns to flank skipper Van Persie, with one of Theo Walcott or Andrey Arshavin on the other side. Ordinarily you’d expect Walcott to start, but I wonder if Arshavin’s early withdrawal on Saturday was partly with tonight in mind.
We go in to the game as something of an unknown quantity. As well as the clutch of new signings, the likes of Gibbs and Frimpong barely figured last season. Even Szczesny emerged quite late in the campaign. Arsene says:
“For us, it’s a new start because we are a new squad. What is at stake during the Group Stages is for us to show that we can go through.”
Victory tonight would be a huge step in that direction.
In other news, Henri Lansbury has extended his existing Arsenal deal. It’s great news, as he has started the season in fine form, scoring goals for both the England U-21s and loan club West Ham. An impressive campaign in the Championship could see him finally afforded the chance in the first-team I believe he richly deserves. Perhaps, after all, Arsene does still see him as an Arsenal player of the future.
Back to the present. Dortmund fans made the following video to ‘welcome’ Arsenal fans to the intimidating Westfalenstadion.
So that, it seems, is what Dortmund are about.
It’s time for this new-look Arsenal to show them, and indeed us, just what they’re about.
