Plenty To Chew On With The Canaries And Toffees In Town

Being out of the cups certainly seems to suit this Arsenal side. Finally showing the sort of form that escaped us at the start of the season, even our Ivorian Messi – Gervinho – is finally getting back in on the action. Yet when you take a step back, it’s all rather frustrating. The defensive stability which looks set to bookmark our season was not there at a time which could have defined our season, and players who spent time in and out of the side playing poorly seem to have found a fighting spirit and determination that could ultimately have helped end the anxious wait for silverware.

Certainly the chance to unseat our London rivals has offered up a distracting plotline not too dissimilar from last season, and I would be wrong to say that I won’t find some satisfaction in making the Champions League at the Spuds expense, but when all is said and done this team could and should have done so much better. Still, with games left to play and the chance still to be a part of those Champions League nights under the lights, we cannot afford to take the visits of Norwich or Everton lightly. So, before you think of doing just that, what better reason than to get stuck into our bumper two-game match preview! With a veteran Gooner on the sofa, this really is the matchday programme which won’t cost you an arm or a leg!

Will he go left, will he go right, or will he just go abroad?

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Touchline Tom      21.22

I did want to start the preview with some long analogy about canaries down the mines and how they can collapse when the pressure gets too much, however with Margaret Thatcher passing away and her ties to the mining industry I thought it would be best left unsaid. Safe to say we are playing a Norwich side who have the potential to concede four or five!

This week has been full of football, with Champions League and Europa League (it’s not a big cup anymore now Spurs are out!). So it has given us a good chance to assess where some of the other teams are at compared to us. How painful it was to see Bayern dispatch a Juventus side that we probably should have been facing had we taken our final group game more seriously. I certainly would have fancied us in the hat for today’s draw. Likewise on Monday, with Aguero showing Arsene the effect of having a really top class striker in our ranks. How we are crying out for this type of player in the side (Suarez, Aguero etc.) These players may not be easy to find, but then pay me enough money and I am sure I coud throw up a few names.  

Obviously City’s win means the potential for squeaky bum time at the Emirates, although I really can’t see even this United side chucking away the monumental lead they have amassed. Meanwhile a few places down from the rumble for 1st spot and the drawn out saga for 3rd and 4th hits Fever Pitch (a great read if you haven’t had the chance already!) Everton may still have a say in proceedings, travelling to us on Tuesday night and already taking a point from our comical neighbours. With only Chelsea left with anything else to focus on, I have to say as fans we have become quite consumed with what is going on around us. I think we almost had Bale trending on Twitter, such was the number of Arsenal fans jumping for joy at his injury. 

I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, I just hope that the players maintain their concentration. We are only one poor result away from chasing the Spuds again and lets face it, it’s so much easier to look down on them! I’ll leave some in-depth chat about the Norwich game to you Nick and welcome again to Dave as he throws his Gooner lot into proceedings. 

‘Don’t sub me boss!’

 Nick        21.34

Well good afternoon gentlemen and after giving Reading somewhat of a footballing lesson a few weeks back, it was another convincing display against West Brom! The Hawthorns might be the highest football stadium above sea level, but Arsenal’s play in the first half left the West Brom defence all at sea and we thoroughly deserved to win that game (despite what Steve Clarke may say!)

The game highlighted the spirit of this Arsenal team, or should we call it ‘mental strength’ ala. Wenger? After the BFG was sent on his leggy march to the tunnel, West Brom naturally took control and perhaps should have scored, but Arsenal dug deep and hung on well for what could be a vital 3 points at the knockings. We played some great possession football when needed and we really should have been out of sight with Ramsey missing a guilt edge chance! It really was the type of chance he should be taking should he want to keep Wilshere out of the team. In the end though the goals came from a rather unfamiliar source in Mr. Rosicky, who certainly had his shooting boots on, making no mistake with his second. It was the sort of finish that makes me understand the commentator’s use of the word ‘aplomb’ and I think it should be reserved only for these type of goals. At the other end he was even clearing the ball off the line with aplomb (sorry) such was his involvement during the game!  So it will come as no surprise then that he may be injured now! 

Fortunately, we have players returning to fitness in the shape of Walcott and Wilshere. Although Gervinho had a decent game against Reading and West Brom you feel Walcott if fit will come in on the right flank for Everton. Gervinho’s recent performances though have provided us with some good competition for place (and some moments of disbelief), which could be vital in the run in. There are a lot of players who haven’t played that much this season. Compare that with a Spurs’ team, who as I speak are puffing out their back sides in Switzerland and I imagine their players are somewhere in the red zone if it were Fifa, where they pull up every other minute! Injuries are certainly piling up for them and their season could come crashing down like a sack of Spuds!

The canaries fly into town on Saturday as the weather is expected to finally pick up. It’s a game that could go very well once again with Norwich suffering a recent dip in form, so hopefully it is only the weather that improves! With big Per missing out this weekend it gives club captain Vermaelen a chance to show his worth and prove to the manager he should be playing and not warming a bench somewhere else (Barcelona). Although should we really be concerned about losing players with the amount David Dein is predicting we will be adding in the summer!

Still, we leave the transfer business for those unbearably long months in the summer without the Arsenal. For the time being, we seem to be hitting some good form and looking to carry on this momentum into the next 2 home games. Another head to head for the untouchables with Wenger and Moyes locking horns in front of the SkySports cameras too! Everton have had a great season and will be really up for it after almost beating Spurs last week. With players such as Felliani, Osman, Pienaar and Mirallas we will have to be really cautious at the back. Prediction for this weekend’s game against Norwich is a 5-0 win for the Gunners, followed by a hard-fought 2-1 to all but end Moyes’ hopes of Champions League football for another year. COYG!!

I’m back, no I’m not, yes I am!

Dave        21.45

Well chaps thanks for having me again. I seem to recall I was invited on towards the start of the season when things were going well, so you may have avoided some of my rants since then! As you have said Nick, I certainly don’t see the game at Norwich giving us too many problems, but Everton will no doubt be looking to upset our rhythm. Even with the usual suspects picking up injuries after their 2-3 game runs in the side you have to fancy us in the run in. Norwich aren’t really in danger of relegation and we are playing at home twice after another full week of preparation. It’s fairly obvious the long rests do suit our players and gives Bould and Wenger the chance to work with the defensive side of our game. I would like to see Chamberlain given some time to impress, but with Walcott returning and Gervinho giving his best impression of someone who can play football, that is looking unlikely.

For me, Chamberlain’s lack of game time has been one of the biggest disappointments this season. At times last year he looked the only bright spark in the side and I remember Van Persie’s reaction when he was subbed off in the United game. Such was his performances that even Fifa signed him up for the front cover of their game! I know he is still very young in footballing terms and will no doubt have learnt a lot from players like Gervinho – whoops, I mean Cazorla and Wilshere – but his stature and ability should really see him starting week in, week out.

Perhaps Everton will be the game where we need his guile and class again. Coming so soon after the Norwich game, the Arsenal players won’t know what has hit them and maybe the squad will rotate. With Wilshere back, you have to feel that we should have enough to come away with all six points and potentially sit a few points ahead of Spurs before their visit of City. Everton are not a side we can let get their tails up, so a positive start and concentration at the back will be key in my opinion. For Norwich, well . . . contain Grant Holt and it should be a case of just unlocking their defence. Although there might be a hot-cross-BUNN on Saturday, as Norwich’s goal keeper looks set to be the casualty. Too much? Well, it is almost the end of the season!

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Wal-can’t play upfront, but have a go against Coventry!

So while I originally set out to write a glowing match report yesterday morning, detailing every single one of Gervinho’s wasted efforts and analysing how the boots he had put on in the dressing room before the game were wrong; my girlfriend had other ideas and decided that not only was she ill, but she was also in need of a male nurse. Nick, who so gallantly filled in the previous day, was at work and I was left to think of what could have been.

As a result, there was no paragraph on how Cazorla is making a claim as the Premier League’s best player, no licking of Wenger’s derriere after it was his tweak to the formation that served us so well on Sunday, and certainly no discussing of Ljungberg’s lackluster performance on the Match of the Day panel. These things are now cast into the ravages of time and will forever linger in some space between my head and the keyboard.

So, now that’s sorted, we can turn our heads to tomorrow’s night’s fixture against Coventry. Coventry themselves don’t approach this game on the best of form, sitting 23^rd in the League and having lost 5 and drawn 3 of their matches since the start of the season. In this scenario I can’t even apply the saying ‘you are only as good as your last game’, because even that was a 2-1 defeat to Carlisle. Nevertheless, they will certainly be able to gee themselves up for a game of this magnitude and we can expect a new-look Arsenal, so nothing can be taken for granted!

On that note, I look forward to seeing a couple of youngsters being given an opportunity. Martinez in goal is highly regarded at the club and a decent performance from him would almost provide the perfect U-turn on our goalkeeping situation at the club. We cried out for a goalie, screamed for one from the stands, and yet we are now seemingly content with no new arrivals and a goalkeeper we sent out to Hull, who is now convincing in net. I don’t have anything against Hull, but few of us believed he would come back and make a claim on the no.1 spot.

Eisfeld, the youngest of our German contingent has impressed for the reserves and scored some good goals during pre-season. I expect to see both him and Serge Gnabry playing a big role tomorrow. Aside from those two, I imagine there will be one or two players we don’t recognise who may feature. Squillaci and Arshavin are two names I have seen being thrown about on Twitter. Who they are I don’t know, but it’s all speculation at this point.

Finally, I wanted to say a little something on the situation with Theo Walcott. Our great start to the season has somewhat overshadowed the little man’s attempts to be heard or even used on the pitch. When you have our vice-captain come out and say he is happy to play wherever the boss wants him, it makes Walcott’s stubborn desire to play upfront seem rather childish. I am not saying he couldn’t play some sort of role upfront, and I am sure we may even see some evidence of that on Wednesday night, but surely he has stood beside Thierry Henry and thought: ‘Yeh, this guy is a lot bigger than me and pretty skillful as well!’.

I know Jermaine Defoe is scoring goals at the minute, but even he only looks dangerous when played alongside someone else up top. Is Walcott really going to fit into a system which even physical players like Giroud can struggle with at times? I don’t believe he has Gervinho’s ability to hold the ball up (that’s as much credit as I am doing to give the Ivorian) and that leaves him in a bit of a pickle. Does he make the best of his opportunities and give his all for the team, or will he sulk if he is not considered to spearhead our attack? For now I think he needs to knuckle down and actually get a start in the side. After all, how can you play upfront if you don’t even make it onto the pitch?

 Until next time,

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