There’s also the fact that we have enough injuries to contend with as it is. With Sokratis, Bellerin and Holding all out, plus rumours that Xhaka, Mkhitaryan and Maitland-Niles have not travelled, it does leave us seeming a little light on the ground.

Which all adds to the feeling of expectations being extremely managed and so all I’m really hoping for today is signs that we can at least play well against the Champions and that at least we can demonstrate that there’s a bit of fight about us.

I’m also hoping to see Suarez and get a glimpse of what he could do, whilst praying that Unai starts Mesut Özil, ffs.

What’s the worst that could happen with him playing against Coty anyway? We’re most likely to have players like Lichtsteiner or Jenkinson be completely rinsed by Sterling, we’re sure to see a few dodgy defensive slides by Mustafi, so we might as well get some grace from Özil on the pitch.

I guess our big question is whether it’s a back three or back four and with City sure to throw everything at us going forward id expect a back three of Monreal, Mustafi and Koscielny to start. I’d probably give Mavropanos a shout instead of Monreal (he’s got to play sometime, right?) but because of the fact he’s been out for some time it wouldn’t surprise me to see Nacho start.

In front of them if Xhaka hasn’t travelled then we do have a question mark because personally I’m not sure Torreira and Guendouzi is that effective. Guendouzi’s positional discipline has been called in to question at times and after an impressive start to his Arsenal career pre Christmas, it feels like Torreira has had a couple of blips. Hey, it was always likely to happen, but in a game like today you’d have to say that midfield two would have to have the match of their lives up against City.

When we last beat them on their own soil it was down in part to the excellent performance of a midfield two that consisted of Coquelin and Cazorla and they provided the basis for a very impressive away performance. The type of away performance that if replicated away from home to the big teams would certainly have us fighting for the title like the old days.

But those performances have been few and far between and whilst I certainly do believe that Torreira can match what Coquelin did in 2015, I’m not as convinced Guendouzi can hit the same levels that Santi did in that game. That’s not so much a slight on Matteo, more that he is a guy who has potential but that potential hasn’t been realised just yet.

I think that midfield could define today for us. We’re always going to concede and with City’s firepower that is a given, but what we need is a midfield to control the game more and in front of them the bravery and clinical finishing of Aubameyang and Lacazette to see us take our chances when we get them.

I’m not expecting a victory but as always as a football fan you hope for the right result. Let’s hope Arsenal do the business.

Catch you all tomorrow.

Yesterday former Villarreal star Marco Senna confirmed that Villarreal were looking to take back Santi on a free transfer and that Arsenal were not renewing his deal.

We’ve all heard former players speculate over new signings before, but it was a pretty unequivocal statement and you don’t usually get that unless the players know it for sure, so I suspect this is pretty much a done deal. But whilst I’m sad that we won’t get to see him again grace the English game as an Arsenal player, it’s very difficult to argue that it wasn’t the best decision for all, ultimately.

I’ve always felt that Santi was a player that would go back to Spain at some stage and I’ve always thought that he would prefer to have one last crack at the Spanish top flight and for a team like Villarreal – where he has some roots and history – it makes sense that they would want to gamble on that tiny little Spaniard of ours.

For us it makes sense too. He’s had injury problems, the English game is more rough and tumble and demands more physicality on the body, plus we have a new era and probably need to offload a few players to make way for the new manager, his new ideas and inevitably, new players he wants.

We’ve often accused ourselves as Arsenal fans of sentimentality and we’ve certainly accused Arsène and the club of it in the past with the likes of Diaby being given contract after contract, so it seems a little hypocritical to now be thinking about keeping on a player who is the wrong side of 30 and would still command a high salary, yet we don’t know how many games we would get from him, so like I say I think this is best for everyone involved.

I remember the first time I saw him in the flesh at the beginning of his first season. We smashed Southampton 6-1 and one of the Southampton players booted the ball so high into the Emirates skyline that it felt like we were waiting for five minutes for it to come down. Sure enough it did though and it came down by Santi who promptly stunned the ball dead, then used those two twinkle toes of his to evade two Southampton players and send us on an attack. An innocuous moment in the end, but a moment that summed up him, because in right spaces and with two awesome feet, he was a god.

His finishing wasn’t always amazing but he still gave us enough to remember him as a great player and he scored some important goals. Ones that spring to mind more than anything else are that beautiful counter attacking goal in one of the 5-2s over the Tiny Totts, as well as getting the comeback started in the FA Cup final against Hull with a brilliant free kick.

A quick interlude – let’s all have a chuckle at Jose losing yesterday’s final. I hate Chelski, but I hate Jose more and also seeing Alexis unhappy and Olivier Giroud smiling with the cup makes for better viewing than the other way around methinks.

What Santi’s departure does do is leave us with a big creative gap in that midfield and if Ramsey does go because of the contract situation, the whole Seri rumours make a little more sense. Losing Santi and Ramsey this season and with Jack still not confirmed as signed up means we have space to fill and that can be done by signing a player as well as giving the likes of Maitland-Niles and Willock a shout. So despite what I said yesterday I guess it does make sense. Personally though I’d be using the kitty to buy a ‘keeper and another right back to understudy Bellerin, as well as another top draw centre half, before I look at our midfield. It still needs to be addressed and perhaps it’s more that the conversation with Nice is easier because relationships have been forged by Sanllehi when he was at Barca and interested in Seri.

Whatever the nuances are though, we need to see some movement and it would be nice to be getting this sorted sooner rather than later. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to have a team in place and ready for the new season before pre season is even properly underway, eh?

We can certainly hope for that, especially now that half of our first team squad won’t even be at the World Cup. Bellerin, Nacho, Mustafi, Mavropanos, Chambers, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, etc. It’s a sizeable list and hopefully means preparation with the new manager can start early.

Let’s hope we can stay to feel the excitement soon.

Catch you all tomorrow

So tonight it doesn’t really matter what happens. Of course we all want Arsenal to win, but it’s more about breaking the current media catchphrase of “zero points in 2018” which will be used ad nauseum until we final pick up at least a solitary point.

It’s at this point in the blog that I usually start to look at our fitness concerns, then our opponents, how they’d line up, etc, etc, but it all feels a little redundant to be honest. Arsène gave his update and it appears Mesut has been gifted an extended break due to a persistent back problem, whilst the rest of the news is nothing we didn’t already know. It would have been nice to see Santi put on an Arsenal shirt in a ‘competitive’ fixture on the final day but it’s not surprising that he isn’t ready having spent as much time out as he has. Let’s just hope that delightful little Spaniard hasn’t had his career ruined and can still play a season or two somewhere.

We should also spare a thought for Koscielny, who had it confirmed that he’ll miss six months with an Achilles injury and when you think of his age profile too, you can probably say it’ll take him a month after that to be ready for first team action. That’s half the season and at 33 he’ll be a player who will be desperate to get as much out of the remaining years as possible, so it’s hard not to feel sad for such a great servant, and a good guy by all accounts.

As for who will play tonight, my gut tells me Arsène opts for a semi rotated team. I think he’ll play Cech, probably Bellerin, then you’ve got Chambers who has impressed and I wonder if Mustafi plays tonight alongside him. I’d give Mavropanos another shout but I think Arsène will play the German because he is higher in the pecking order. Plus with the rapid pace of Vardy you need somebody with a bit more pace and I’m not sure how much Mavropanos has, although we’ve only seen him for a short period of time and I don’t recall seeing him in many foot races so far.

On the left will probably be Monreal and if so I think Kolasinac will play at the weekend. I think Arsène will give starts to all of the first team squad in the next couple of games so it’ll be one or the other from those two.

Midfield should have Maitland-Niles in it and I’d probably give Ramsey a run out given he didn’t start on Sunday. Then we will have an attacking trio that I think will include Mkhitaryan and Lacazette, mainly because those two haven’t had as many minutes as some of the others have had through injury.

That would leave one of Iwobi and Welbeck behind Auba and I reckon it’ll be the Nigerian, with Danny playing on Sunday. If that happens then you could also expect to see Wilshere and Xhaka come in at the weekend.

Leicester will probably fancy a bit of rope-a-dope against our back line and that’s why I really hope Chambers and Mavropanos play. We need to test them out in different scenarios and so having seen them in a big game perform well, then seen them in the classic ‘home team domination’ display at the weekend, if they impress against a side who will look to break rapidly on us, I think we’ll get a better idea as to whether they can at least plug some of the gaps that we currently have in the centre of our defence.

We’re at the stage of the season where it doesn’t really matter what the result is, but with it due to be all change this summer in terms of the way the team is managed, I want to see performances of individuals rather than results. If we get some players who look like they can step up next season, then as far as I’m concerned, that’s happy days for me.

Catch you tomorrow with some match review thoughts.

Feeling excited? Nervous? Can’t wait until Thursday?

I am all of the above. I would also add ‘petrified’ because in the main I worry that by this weekend the season – and Arsène’s reign – will slowly chug to a very undramatic ending with games at home to Burnley, away to Leicester and then away to Huddersfield. Having watched ‘The Feud’ on Channel 5 in the UK and seen the way Fergie bowed out, then see us dominate Madrid last Thursday, I actually started to believe it was possible for a fleeting moment. But that was extinguished with Griezmann’s goal and since then I’ve been stewing on the fairytale ending that we probably won’t be getting, given what we’re up against in two days time.

But do you know what? This is better than if we’d have been knocked out already and the season was already just plodding along to it’s inevitable conclusion. I am reminded of a quote from The World is Not Enough when old Brosnan is reminded that “what’s the point in living if you cannot feel alive?”. I know it’s not exactly the greatest movie of all time to be referencing, but at least that’s how I feel, because at least we’re getting the excitement, nerves, probably the likelihood of pain of defeat, but to have that right up until just over a week before the season ends is at least something.

I went running this morning and halfway through my run my wireless headphones ran out of battery. Which meant I no longer had Arsenal-related podcasts to listen to, but was just alone with my head, which meant that I started to actually think about the last few years and the trophies I’ve seen us win. And boy, I wouldn’t change that feeling for the world. There are plenty of fans – like Tottenham fans for example – who don’t get the same level of excitement and jubilation that we’ve had even in the declining years. But we’ve had them. In the current cold light of day when the feeling of our slow and steady domestic decline it’s all still a little too raw for me to praise Arsène. But I feel like in 12 to 18 months time I’ll look back on even these latter stages of his time at the club with fondness.

That’s mainly because of those cup final memories. In three years time I’m not going to give a sh*t about where we finished in the league in 2014, 2015, or 2017, because I’ll have that one big day out to remember and as an Arsenal fan who’s parents aren’t really into football, I never really properly got to experience all of the cup wins of the 90s and early years under Wenger. I had to watch from afar on TV and so when I was able to get tickets via my own means and get there to experience that excited build up, well, that was something special.

If Football is about memories as much as living in the ‘now’, I can at least be grateful that the manager has brought us that. He’s kept us at least excited for something and he and the players have delivered that, even if it’s only for a few more days.

Im not saying that I am not looking forward to the new regime, I am not saying I’m having second thoughts about whether he should stay – it’s clear that wouldn’t work – but I am saying that just for those very small pockets of time in the last four years – semi final and final – we’ve by and large had fantastic memories that will last in many of our minds for as long as we’re on this Earth.

Hey, maybe miracles can happen, maybe we can get to the final. And maybe we’ll even have Santi on the bench. He’s said he’d like to play some part and I think the nostalgic part of all of us would love that, but I think him getting any game time this season is highly unlikely, given he’s had a year and a half out of the game. It will be a sad end to his Arsenal career but he’ll get the send off he deserves on Sunday and I hope he plays again in some capacity for somebody next season.

I remember when I first saw him in an Arsenal shirt. We smashed Southampton 6-1 and a ball was punted high into the sky at The Emirates. As it landed by his feet he touched it once to stop it stone dead, then spun on his axis to completely wrong-foot a Southampton midfielder, then wheeled away and released the ball to put us on the attack. That was the moment – instantly – I knew we had somebody special. He’s proven that over the years that’s for sure.

But Arsenal, like Santi, like Arsène, need to move on and if sentiment is in the way of bringing through the next generation, then we have to be pragmatic. We have some exciting young players coming through and they need to be given there chance. So I suspect Santi will be given a warm reception on Sunday and then I suspect that will be the last time we will see him in and Arsenal shirt on the Emirates turf. *Sad Face*.

Anyway, let’s not end on a sad note, instead preferring to appreciate that the season is still alive – just – and we are two days away from a defining point in it.

Catch you all tomorrow.

Over to Soham.

Since the days of Henry, Bergkamp, and the free flowing structured pacey attack that won us the Golden Premier League crown, Wenger has always shown an extreme case of overindulgence of creative, fluid, mobile midfielders best suited to the Wengerball that we have grown to adore over the years. Rosicky, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshere, Helb, Nasri, Cesc the list seemingly goes on with players that have donned the jersey over the years and have perfectly fit the bill in Wenger’s eyes.

Generation after generation Wenger has always found a way to structure the fulcrum of the team in a manner which will glorify the beautiful version of the game that he so loves and yet ever since a certain Patrick Vieira departed the club Wenger could never find himself a comrade to carry on the mantle of the perfect defensive midfielder of the team.

However the game has evolved much more than Wenger has himself aged since the Invincibles paraded around the city of London. Maybe the proper center midfielder like Vieira will never exist again under Wenger and he himself probably knows that. Which is probably why in search of a defensive midfielder Arsenal ended up with Xhaka a perfect deep lying playmaker rather than a protect-the-back-four kind of guy like Fernandinho or Matuidi.

One of the key reasons why a certain Santi Cazorla was so instrumental in the role was that he had naturally adapted himself to the versatility of being able to do the best of both worlds. A tenacious diminutive two footed magician who was extremely adept as using his low center to gravity and two-footedness to get out of dangerous situations while maintaining an excellent ball retention rate.

The ability to keep the ball in tight situations is invaluable in those areas and Santi seemed to be a master of doing just that. Maybe a bit far stretched and with differed anatomy, but Santi’s movement at the base of the midfield was quite reminiscent of how Vieira used to launch an Arsenal counter attack by dancing through the midfield. At the heart of every move and occasionally producing slick pass right through the opposition defenses Santi had it all and he had it perfect.

Enter Max Meyer, a player for whom Arsenal reportedly had a £17.5million deal rejected in January. Physically and technically constructed in a manner completely similar to that of Santi Cazorla, 22 year old, short, diminutive, utterly technically skillful and adept at getting out of tight situation will his par excellence ball control. Max Meyer is exactly what Santi showed to be playing as the deepest play-maker, a player with exceptional technique, impressive vision, complemented by a captivating ability to dribble past opponents.

In a manner similar to Santi, Max is also someome who has managed to build himself as one of the most invaluable member of a team which is currently second in the Bundesliga by shifting himself to the ‘number 6’ role. A player traditionally thought of as a more of a number 10 or as an alternate play-maker, Max could never ultimately establish himself in that role in the team as despite showing brief moments of astute technical quality, he was unable to make his presence felt regularly upfront.

Which is why just like Santi, Max’s shift to the base of the midfield was completely essential in his career.

Rather than showing what was missing in a not so efficient role, Max moved on to bringing something extra in the deepest lying play-maker role so well that he currently tops the charts for defensive midfielder in the Bundesliga. Probably why the Telegraph are linking Max Meyer as one of the possible replacements the club are lining up for Jack Wilshere in case the 26 year old leaves on a Bosman at the end of the season.

At just 22 years of age Max is probably as versatile as you could ever find and yet deeply experienced in the role of a man whose absence has been universally lamented by the entire fan-base for the last one and a half years. With less than six months to go on his contract and with Schalke’s sporting director Christian Heidel confirming the players interest in shifting clubs after his agent cancelled a scheduled meeting with the club regarding his contract, he is literally just too much of goodness for Arsenal to simply pass up on.

A 22 year old player with 189 appearances in the Bundesliga for a club currently second in the league, playing just the kind of football that even Santi would have been proud of and with Sven utilizing his extensive German football database to convince the dithering Arsenal board of the players acumen, everything sort of clicks with Max Meyer to Arsenal. The gunners need some reliability in the midfield and going by his versatility and abilities Max Meyer is completely the perfect perfect man to replace Santi Cazorla who is yet to return from his lengthy injury layoff, when he does indeed decide to leave the Emirates.

There are plenty of people in the footballing world who it is easy not to like. They exist in every football team and the dislike is magnified when they play for another team. But Santi isn’t one of them. In fact I’d imagine even the most hardened anti-Arsenal fans would have too much hatred in their hearts when it comes to our tiny little Spaniard.

But what’s worse is that the world has also been deprived of his footballing genius for over a year now. That is the true crime. His little twists and turns, his ability to spot a pass and wriggle out of any situation, Santi was one of those that I feel like i’ll only truly appreciate after he’s gone from the Arsenal team. I must confess that it happened with Bergkamp. I loved him at the club of course and I was glad when he was playing, but for me it’s only when I look over the old footage of him that I say “wow” and remember just how good he was.

But let me talk no more like this about Santi, because it sounds like i’m writing an obituary, rather than a sad tale of a year missed in football. Hopefully he can return before the end of the season and finish with a few games nuder his belt.

For the current crop of available players it is a daunting trip to Manchester that we face tomorrow that is in sharp focus and as expected Arsene did his presser yesterday and took the opportunity to give us a team update. The good news is that there’s nothing bad and nothing good to report in terms of returning players. Mustafi is not ready and so it’ll be Big Per who gets the nod but to be honest after he wasn’t named in the squad against Red Star, I kind of expected it, but at least he’s got enough games in his legs now to be match fit.

Because let’s face it, with that City attack we’re going to need as many fit players, with as much grit, as we could muster and an old head who remembers the 2-0 win there a few years back will certainly come in handy.

The blueprint for that victory was built on a strong and stable defensive display that resulted in counter-attacking football and taking our chances. It was Arsenal abandoning the usual ‘attack, attack, attack’ approach to our game. Which is why I’m even more worried now with Arsene talking up having a go at City tomorrow in his press conference. The narrative from the manager yesterday was very much classic Arsene of “we’ll go there and have a go”, “we’ll play our own game” and “we want to play attacking football” and that scares the bejebus out of me I have to say.

It scares me because we’ve heard that rhetoric too many times in recent years and it’s the reason we have some absolutely shocking results that are still in the mind. The better teams are not just better in attack, but they’re better defensively and the “have a go” and “only focus on or game” mentality is one in which we are usually left too open, too gung-ho and then too many goals conceded as a result.

I really hope this isn’t going to be a repeat of the Liverpool mauling earlier in the season. Or the Chelski 6-0. Or the Liverpool 5-1. Or the City 6-3. Or the United 8-2. See – we have enough examples of why “focusing on ourselves” is not exactly the best idea when you go in to these games.

And my frustration here is that no other top six manager does that. None of them other than Arsene will ignore the opposition and think “if we play our game then the rest will sort itself out”. And that’s why you don’t really see the kind of mauling that we seem to get at least once a season. You can bet your bottom dollar that Pep knows everything about every one of our players. About how we distribute the ball. About how we will look to move forward with it. About where the weaknesses lie. He’ll have studied us and have a game plan ready to put us to the sword. Which is why i’m so worried about tomorrow. But I’ll talk more about that in the pre-match thoughts tomorrow morning I think.

The only other real noteworthy thing that came out of the conference yesterday was Arsene talking about how Alexis won’t be sold in January and is fully focused on Arsenal ahead of this game. I don’t doubt he’ll be up for winning the game for his team tomorrow and that means he’ll be giving his all, but the reality on him being sold in January is not something I’m as convinced of. Let’s not forget it was this manager and CEO who had a sudden change of heart on Alexis on deadline day only two and a bit months ago. I suspect this is just an attempt to quell further speculation ahead  of this particular game.

Off to do some shopping. The weather is miserable in London so I think that food shopping is the best use of my time with no Arsenal on today.

Laters.

I did note that although he dismissed the idea of becoming the next Barca manager after Luis Enrique said he would leave in the sunmer, he did say it wasn’t really a problem for people announcing their future before the end of the season, which does make me think we might actually get some kind of closure on this within the next month. I hope we do. We’re all sick of it and quite frankly most of us want to know what the deal is one way or another. At least that way we can all mentally prepare for something new, or another two years of the recurring dream that we all have collectively that is Arsenal under Wenger. I need to prepare mightself mentally for ‘same sh*t, different season’ and I think I’d rather just know now to be honest with you.

But the focus of the press conference, much like this blog, should be ahead of the game tomorrow and at least we have good news on the playing front. We have bodies returning in the shape of Koscielny and Ramsey and whilst I haven’t been Ramsey’s biggest fan especially this season, he is a decent first team player who adds depth to the squad. So I’ll be pleased if he starts from the bench. Likewise I’ll be pleased to see Welbeck back and I hope that Arsène has a serious think about Lucas Perez starting. More on how I’d like us to line up tomorrow, but Arsène has acknowledged that we really do need to win one of these big games away from home, because our record is atrocious. Liverpool have taken delight on blitzkreiging us in some games in recent history at Anfield and there’s no doubt that they’ll look to hit us hard and fast like that tomorrow, but Arsenal and Arsène have had two weeks to sort out a game plan, so I really hope we don’t do our usual bottle job against a decent team tomorrow. I’m sick of going in to these types of games with expectation so low because of our own psychological inferiority complexes away from home, so I’d like for once to see Arsenal come out of the traps early. Again, more on the set up tomorrow.

What I must say is that I wish we weren’t playing Liverpool now. I feel like after a couple of weeks away from The Arsenal, we could do with an away trip to Middlesbrough, or Palace. I’m kind of at the stage where I’m pining to see Arsenal play, but these types of games just bring nerves and a general feeling of discomfort, so I’m sort of mixing my emotions right up at this point in time. Of course, a win changes everything, but we’ve hardly been good at those of late, have we?

The team need to give us something soon in a big game. We’ve seen them fail to provide a satisfactory answer away from home for far too long. It’s about time they stepped up.

Arsène also had some words to say about Santi and sadly, it wasn’t really any confirmation about whether he’d play again this season. There’s something wrong with the world when a player like Santi Cazorla – with his smile and generally the beautiful way he plays the game – is cursed with injury, whilst the likes of Diego Costa and Joey Barton never seem to fall foul of the injury curse. Picturing Santi at home, sad, on his own, is a horrible mental image. I hope he can avoid long-term injury problems when he gets back for next season. He’s such a delight to watch. The way he wriggles past people, his ability to find a pass and generally how he makes us ‘tick’ better as a team all contribute towards the general feeling of depression when it comes to talking about his situation. 

Still, at least we will see him again in an Arsenal shirt, with the club having taken option on another year for him. That we can all be happy about.

There’s probably not really a lot else to be talking about that’s worth mentioning, so I guess I’ll take my leave for another day. 

Catch you tomorrow.

“Yep, still in the Arsenal interlull”

Man, for a team that regularly winds me up and has me vowing to put less emotional investment in them, they sure do manage to rope me back in with alarming regularity. I suppose that’s a good thing: it shows the fondness I have for the club is real.

I, most likely the same as you, also have a fondness for Santi Cazorla. Which is why rumours that he is out for the season whilst being unsurprising given his recent injury record, as well as Rosickian way in which Arsenal have shrugged their shoulders when asked about what’s the cause of the problem, isn’t really a shock to anyone. 

Imagine that tiny little Spaniard’s face right now. All sad and glum because he’s not out there on the pitch. It’s like locking up cute puppies in a cage and littering toys around them just outside of their tiny little paws. It’s criminal I tells ya.

Arsenal have exercised the extension in his contract for next season, so hopefully he can work his way towards fitness for August, but we are now most certainly at the stage in which his central midfield throne needs to be taken up by somebody else. The king is dead, long live the king, etc, etc.

Is now the time for Wilshere? Jack certainly can travel with the ball and wriggle out of tight spaces well enough. He has the ability to be that guy who can make a pass or two so certainly seems to have the vision. But at Bournemouth he’s being given licence to play further forward as a number 10. At Arsenal he would most certainly have to operate in a deeper role. Is that what he wants? He seems to be keeping his cards close to his chest and with one year left on his deal at the end of the season, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him say to the club that he wants regular football in that role and so will look for pastures new. I can only hope his love for Arsenal overrides any thought like that and he has the belief to get back in to the side. I think he’s good enough.

Is it the Ox? He certainly has a decent eye for a pass, which he’s been exhibiting in recent matches, plus he’s been playing a little more deeper alongside Coquelin or Xhaka. He’s also realised the importance of tracking back and getting your body in between the ball and your own goal. That has historically been an unwelcome trait in his game, so if he has had a word with himself and come out the other side with a different perspective, then we’re all the better for it. Indeed, if he continues he along this trajectory he might find himself a regular in the middle, which could also result in the end of Jack’s career. Wilshere won’t sit on the sides to watch The Ox flourish.

It just goes to show you the difficulty of balancing a squad. Personally I want both the Ox to succeed and Jack to come back and play, but you probably can’t have one with the other, particularly with Xhaka now established in the team.

What about the other options for Santi’s replacement? Well, I could probably cover those off quite quickly:

1. Ramsey – no. Hasn’t shown the defensive discipline, can’t wriggle out of tight spaces and whilst he might have the vision for a pass, his long-ball distribution is atrocious.
2. Coquelin – no. Not the same type of player. Needs a Santi alongside him to operate so he simply won’t do.
3. Elneny – no. I like Elneny, but he’s a simple ball retention player. He does the simple things well. He doesn’t have the vision, ability to drop a shoulder and beat a man, or the passing range.

Of the immediate options, that’s probably it, so really from where I’m standing there appears to only be two players in the current squad who could take over. That’s why we need to see more of the Ox through the middle. We need to know how much he can grow in that central midfield and we need to know by the end of the season. Because if he proves that he’s not quite up to it, then we have just one option available, and he’s not even at the club at the moment. Not only that, we don’t know if he even wants to continue his career at Arsenal, because he may just want a completely fresh start. 

I’ll leave you to ponder that for this Thursday. Catch you all tomorrow.

I had a bit of an unprompted late one, with a beer or two, some rum, a bit of champers and some fine Nepalese food, which was followed by going to bed about 1am watching a programme about all of the crap TV we had in the 80s. It was good. Fun. Enjoyable.

What’s not enjoyable is hearing that Santi Cazorla is still out, meaning that we don’t get to see his smiling face for a while, with Arsene giving an update on the whole squad yesterday in his presser. I actually thought the presser was an interesting one yesterday, because there were genuinely some different questions asked. There was the standard stuff about who’s available tomorrow, which you’d expect, as well as some comments about Giroud and how he’s not guaranteed a spot for tomorrow. That’s fair enough I suppose and to hear Arsene talk about choosing his team based on opponents is actually what I’ve been banging on about for years. Except it doesn’t really seem to be working for him at the moment, does it? We seem to have lost a bit of fluidity in the team with his selection decisions. Perhaps the moral of this story is that as humans none of us are ever entirely happy and certainly nobody is perfect.

So Giroud isn’t guaranteed a start tomorrow and Arsene never really gave any indication on whether he’ll play him or not. Personally I would, because Giroud is decent with his hold up play and I think Bournemouth will sit deep and try to hit us on the counter. To having somebody who loves a wall pass like Giroud does, might come in handy in closely confined spaces. But more on the team and how we’ll set up in a match preview tomorrow. For now, let’s get back to some of the interesting questions from yesterday, like the one about the Emirates crowd having an impact and the muted atmosphere. I’m not quite sure where that one has come from, because I don’t think I’ve seen the crowd any more muted than normal. It’s a difficult one for me to judge though, because where I sit ism in Block 5 and is in the corner where Red Action are, so the atmosphere for every game is very lively.

But as expected, Arsene batted back the comment and said it’s up to the players to get the crowd going. As always it’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario; a symbiotic relationship that requires both parties to play their part at different times. On Sunday I think it will be muted again. People go out on a Saturday, feel a little hungover, have a bit of hair of the dog and then there’s a 2pm kick off. But if the game starts with Arsenal getting ahead early or there’s some chances that come close, everyone will get warmed ups quite quickly and the atmosphere is quite good.

He was also asked about finishing second in the Champions League and it potentially being a good thing, but I did like that he picked up on the away goal ruling and how stupid it is. Because let’s face it, it is stupid, isn’t it? I mean just take us at home at the moment. Teams are harder for bus to break down at home than away – particularly in the league – so for Arsenal it’s probably easier scoring goals. So why in cup competitions should that count for more? It’s just a bit weird and feels a little archaic if you ask me. Especially if you think that we could outscore PSG on goal difference, finish level on points and still finish second. Weird.

He was asked about Gerrard and all of the recent revelations about child abuse, to which he gave standard responses about Gerrard being great, blah, blah, blah, but I thought he made a good point about the historical abuse and the inquiry at Crewe going on at the moment. The point he made was that it’s not just in football that this disgusting abuse happened, and that it was covered up, and it feels like all of the stuff that went on with Jimmy Saville has been just the tip of a horrendous iceberg that is all beginning to become visible now. It’s good that people are now being held accountable, but you have to question some of these institutions and why people of power have been allowed to cover up their own perverse nature. I suppose you could say that this has happened throughout history, but whilst we sometimes lament the amount of information and data that everyone has at their disposal in modern day life, this is where modern thinking and the ability for people to uncover this atrocious behaviour, becomes so valuable. Because in today’s society we’re holding people accountable for their actions. If you’re a person that is going to commit unspeakable acts, you can and probably will, get found out.

Blimey, that’s all a little deep for a Saturday morning, isn’t it? Still, I think it’s something that needed to be said so I said it.

Right, i’m offski. Catch you tomorrow.

It’s clear that those at the club who matter rate him quite highly, but I always find these types of deals for goalies weird. The reason I say that is because the career of a ‘keeper is so different to an outfield player. For an outfield player you get to your best football probably from the ages of 26 to 30. Thereafter you start to lose a bit of pace and injuries kick in. But ‘keepers probably don’t hit their peak until 30 at least and they play on longer because they’re not as susceptible to injuries. So when you see a young player of 22 or 23 sign a deal it feels weird, especially when they’ve only made 10 appearances for the club, as Martinez has. 

The goalkeeper position is also one that is so specialised, that he can probably not expect to challenge for a first team slot for another two years at least. Cech is 34, Ospina is 28 and as a result, Cech shouldn’t really start to be on the wane until he hits 36. So Martinez probably has another two years of being moved around a bit on loan if we don’t make it far in the League Cup. But he seems happy enough and as somebody who has always dreamed of playing football but never actually made it at any kind of level, you’ve got to be pleased for him that he’s living the dream. Let’s see if he can really challenge the current ‘keepers within the next couple of years.

Elsewhere there’s still some fallout from the PSG game, but I kind of don’t really want to dwell on what the players say too much about the team character, or anything like that, because I’m more concerned about what the manager is doing at the moment. It’s clear he doesn’t seem to know which players are a good fit for which game and at the moment we’re feeling a little disjointed. I suspect the game at the weekend will be another really tough one for us, because Bournemouth will be tough to break down and look to catch us on the counter. We’re not playing well and it’s hard to know exactly why that is. I was discussing it on a football Whatsapp group yesterday. One of the chaps questioned whether our players were knackered physically or mentally. I’m not sure that it’s a physical thing, because although Arsène can’t pick his best team yet, the benefit of this rotation is that players should be fit. Mentally too, I’m not sure why it might not be working, because if you think about the undefeated run we’ve been on we’re hardly in a ‘spiral of negativity’. 

As far as I can make out – with my very untrained eyes – Arsène is trying to fit players for specific games, but he’s getting those selection decisions muddled up in my opinion. Of course, were he to be sitting next to me on this Metropolitan Line train (firstly, that’d be weird, because he’d be miles away from the training, ground, his house or The Emirates), he’d no doubt rightly remind me that he’s been a football manager for a lot longer than me. Indeed he has, but that doesn’t mean everything he does is right and it certainly doesn’t mean everything I think is wrong. It’s easy to say with hindsight I know, but to me it seemed obvious that Xhaka should have started against a pressing United midfield. He would have been more composed on the ball and we certainly wouldn’t have given it away as much as we did. Conversely, with the midfield as it was against PSG, they pop the ball around in triangles in midfield very well, so I wonder if even Elneny would have been a better option than Ramsey. Ramsey closes space, but he’s not a ball winner, so having the Egyptian in the team felt to me to be a better option. So I’m surprised that we’ve seen the combinations that we have against the opponents that we’ve played. 

Let’s take this weekend as an example. We’re expecting to have plenty of the ball on Sunday, right? So how about a player who could distribute the ball well (Xhaka), alongside one who will close space and also add to the attacking options (Ramsey)? But will Arsène go for that? Who knows. Many have speculated about that potential combination, but we’re still yet to see this partnership for any length of time. I have no idea why. With the other combinations not working in Santi’s absence, why hasn’t this one been given a chance?

Perhaps it will. Perhaps this weekend we’ll see both players in the middle against a team that we should be beating at home. But we’ve drawn our last three home games and not looked convincing in any of them, so if the manager doesn’t settle on a successful formula soon, we might find this is another ‘race for fourth’ season once again sooner than we would have liked or expected. 

Right, you’ve had enough of me for one day, no doubt. See you tomorrow with some post-presser thoughts.

The other team news from the press conference surrounded Hector and Santi. Sadly both are out, but whilst Hector’s prognosis sounds definite – four weeks out – Santi’s is more alarming. There have been rumours of Achilles problems from the beginning of the season, so to have Arsène being so vague and admit that he’s not even back in training, worries me. There’s no doubt he has a positive impact when he’s in the squad and playing, so it’s a blow to have one of our key players out with a Rosickyesque timeframe for his return. I just hope that this isn’t one of those injuries whereby we don’t see Santi until Christmas.

For Carl Jenkinson though, Hector’s injury gives him the perfect opportunity to get a run in the team. He’s sure to play in all of the games in the run up to Christmas and I hope that he can show us that he’s a good player who can perform well as Bellerin’s deputy. The good news is that he’s already had some game time quite recently, so I expect him to hit the ground running in the first team, and there’s no better place to start than by being thrown in at the deep end against United.

A United who will be looking to continue their run of ten years without defeat at home to us in the league, and one managed by the most ghastly human in football. Unsurprisingly the press tried to stoke up comments about Jose to Arsène, who did his usual level best to dismiss them as people wanting to create controversy. I’m in no doubt, however, that Mourinho will not be as unaccomodating to the press today though, with his recent favourite way of jibing being to make sarcastic responses towards Arsène’s tenure at the club and the years without trophies. That’s just the sort of person he is and we should expect nothing else.

What we can also expect from tomorrow, will be a United team impossibly hard to break down, because that’s how he’ll set his side up. More on how we counter that in tomorrow’s pre-game blog.

For now, we just have to spend the day reading about the pre-match build up in the press, which will focus on Mourinho’s record, our shocking record up there, as well as what could befall both teams if one loses. I was feeling kind of positive earlier on in the week but for some reason now, I feel less so, with that nervous feeling in my stomach starting to increase with every moment ticking towards kick off. 

Let’s just hope that’s not a bad omen.

Righto, time for work, so he I’ll catch you in the morrow.

I’d imagine it will be the Arsenal med team and Arsène Wenger who will take the morale high ground in terms of his fitness, should he make it through tonight’s game, which means we’ll probably not see the guy at the weekend. It would be the right thing to do and whilst I’m kind of being a bit presumptuous here, it’s an educated guess that suggests it’s better to rest him for a week, than risk losing him for a couple of months. Still, we’ll have to wait until the weekend to find out from Arsène how he is, and we need to pray that nothing serious happens to him tonight.

If he doesn’t make it for Saturday, it will place added pressure on Özil to be that focal point of the team, but it will also mean the German has to potentially adapt his style from this season to last season. Michael Cox says some interesting things about the pair combining this season and whilst Giroud can still provide good foil for Özil to operate in his newer, more forward-lying role in the team, he might still find himself operating as an assist king if Olivier is positioning himself centrally, in the box, when our build up play begins. If Alexis is missing for a period of games it will be good to see what Ollie and Mesut can do to combine with one-another. In the Sunderland game we saw that Giroud can still get on the end of Özil’s balls, so I am hopeful that we can still see a good partnership that could develop between the two.

What I’m also hopeful for, is the return of Santi, because I think that could be a real confidence booster for the team ahead of another tough away day at Old Trafford. That tiny little Spaniard is a ball retention machine and Xhaka is also proving to be good in that regard, so a base of a midfield who don’t lose the ball, is the beginning of a positive and stable team set up that can give confidence to the defenders. In particular the full backs. If, as a left or right back, you know your central midfielders will be able to keep hold of the ball whilst your team has possession, you feel more comfortable in going forward. You know that if they’ve got the ball then you can supplement the attack and so if Santi and Xhaka are available and ready to start against United then I hope they do, because I think we could get some joy from our fullbacks venturing forward on Saturday, especially someone like Nacho. Fresh from scoring with Spain and having got one already at Old Trafford, it’d be interesting to see how he gets on if given the time and space in United’s box, no?

Elsewhere, it’s nice to see Gnabry hail the influence of Arsenal after his hat trick for Germany at the weekend. Whilst we can no longer claim him as our own, it’s nice to know that he still holds some positivity for the club. Like I said in my blog the other day, it’s a shame he had to jump ship so early, because he’d definitely have been given his chance this season. But I suspect that unlike Pogba, we won’t be seeing a return to Arsenal for him one day. He’s doing well at Bremen, but his rise to prominence at that team will do one thing if he’s successful, which is to secure him a move to Munich. That’s what happens to decent young German players and given the slightly questionable nature of how Munich seemed to be involved in the transfer and then not involved, I think his future is tied to Bayern if he’s successful. If he’s not successful, why would Arsenal try to re-sign him? We want the best players in the world to play for us and with all due respect to Werder Bremen, the only way we’d try to pick up a player from them would be as their star player rather than a player we’re taking a punt on.

Still, like I said, at least it’s something that he has good things to say about Arsenal.

There really isn’t much else going on right now. This international break has felt longer, more boring, fraught with more irritating news than many an international break before it. England play tonight but it’s a friendly game against Spain, to which I really couldn’t give a monkeys. I just hope all of our players return back alive.

Catch you tomorrow. Maybe some Arsenal news will start to trickle through.

It’s Ludogorets in the Champions League and as is my prerogative given that this here is my domain (both literally and in the figurative sense), I’m not going to try to convince you that I know a lot about our Bulgarian opponents tonight. Heck, I didn’t even know they were from Bulgaria until yesterday when I saw an article about them, because I’ve been calling them Hungarian all week.

Still, that won’t bother them, as their manager has already alluded to. I say fair play to the fella. There’s nothing more vomit-inducing than seeing a sycophantic love-in between an opposing manager and the team they’re about to face. Just think about how Jose always took time to talk up United, clearly because he fancied the job in the future, and it’s pretty toady. I don’t want to hear that from an opposing manager. I want an excuse to get one over on him and his team because his captain says they’ve found our weakness (I would link to the article but it’s a Daily Fail one, so I’ll not give them the satisfaction of a click). So hearing comments like that are great because it allows us to roll around in a bit of pre-game narrative and spice. 

So in terms of sussing out their team, I’m afraid I can’t help you, because I have no idea who Svetoslav Dyakov is. But I could have a decent stab at what Arsenal team might make the first XI tonight. Arsène gave us an update in the shape of his press conference yesterday, but apart from the fact that he said everyone was available who was available on Saturday and Giroud/Ramsey have returned to training, there wasn’t much given away from Le Boss. 

He was asked about who would play and whether there would be any rotation, but his response was expectantly vague, saying he hasn’t properly thought about it and he’s just focused on looking at how the players recover. Will he rotate though tonight? I’m not sure. I base  his feeling on the fact that when I usually think he’ll rest certain players, he never normally does, so given that it seems so obvious that rotation should be a consideration, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he just keeps the same side from Saturday. 

Personally, as I alluded to yesterday, I would rotate a few players. Not many mind, but I think we can afford to give some players some action, but only because of their quality and ability to slot in to the team. Not because of any kind of favouritism of desire to see players on the fringes play. The kind of players I’m thinking about coming in would be Gibbs, Elneny and potentially Lucas Perez. 

I spoke about Gibbs in yesterday’s blog and I think he can consider himself somewhat unlucky not to have got more game time. Every time he’s played he’s been good and if he gets the nod tonight I don’t think we’d see a great amount of drop in quality from Monreal. Elneny too has been good every time he’s had an opportunity and his metronomic style and ability to do the simple things well would be welcome tonight. I expect us to have plenty of possession and a player like Elneny is good for retaining the ball and keeping things ticking over. Given Xhaka is suspended at the weekend I’d be tempted to have a Xhaka/Elneny partnership with the view that Cazorla/Coquelin will be the chosen pairing against Boro. But we all know that Arsène loves a bit of Santi, so if anything I’d expect him to play, possibly ahead of one of the other midfielders.

Up top I’d have Alexis on the bench tonight. He doesn’t show the same levels of fatigue as other players, but you know when he is tired because a few more passes go astray and he just lacks a little something extra when we get in to the second half of a game. He hates being rested but if I was Arsène, I’d force through that change, because we didn’t pay £17million for a Spanish Park Chu-Young. So I’d start with the Spaniard, see what he can do, then if Alexis is needed in the second half then so be it. Our seasons past have been littered with injuries because players like Alexis played just that one or two games too many in a row, so I would like to think that Arsène has that in his mind when he picks his team for tonight.

That’s probably all the rotation I’d do. Obviously Ospina will come in and hopefully he’ll have little to do but watch, but no doubt he’ll be called upon at some stage, because that’s just what Arsenal do. But as for Özil, Walcott, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi and possibly Iwobi, you’d expect them to all be involved from the off.

It’s a game in which we could do with an early goal, because if we get one of those you’d hope we can go on to get a few more, but I’m expecting a resolute defensive display from the Bulgarian champions tonight. I think they’ll look to be compact and probably try to target our defensive left hand side on the counter. That’s what I’d do and I’d always have a man available for the wide right counter to test either Monreal or Gibbs. We have to be ready for that.

A win tonight puts us on seven points and if we go to Bulgaria with that in our pockets you’d fancy our chances of qualifying from the group. But there’s a bit of work left to do this evening before we can count those particular chickens. 

Catch you tomorrow with a match review of the evenings events.

The reality is probably more to do with the fact that Arsenal’s fine form has made my hunger to see them again quite insatiable, so seeming to stretch the interlull beyond the realms of what is acceptable to my tolerance levels.

I guess at least we have the smiley-faced comments of Santi Cazorla to feast on. He’s been giving the benefit of his experience as an elder statesman in the team and whilst it depresses me that he’s a veteran despite being two years younger than myself, what he was saying about younger players looking after themselves physically made eminent sense. Especially when you look at some of the younger players who we’ve seen pick up injuries in our team. Jack Wilshere springs immediately to mind. 

In Santi’s interview he talks about how players need to rest, to listen to their body because years of football take its toll, and it’s hard not to look at the Wilshere situation and agree. We all love Wilshere’s tenacity. It’s great to see him get stuck in and when he goes for the ball and wins it the crowd will always give him a hearty cheer. But he’s also been guilty of overdoing it too at times I think. Of trying to rush back too soon and doing himself more harm than good. And it’s only now, as he’s hitting his mid twenties, that we’re seeing the adverse affects of that.

It’s a shame because I thought he’d be the heart of our midfield for the next dozen years or so. I still hold the hope that he can come back stronger, but his star is fading, so I just hope he can do the business at Bournemouth and give Arsène/next season’s manager something to think about in May and June next year.

Ramsey too, has had his problems, but his last injury he received has also got me wondering whether Arsène too should be heeding the words of our tiny little Spaniard, because Le Boss has been guilty of overplaying players, or even not taking a strong enough stance when he gets told by a player that he’s fine when he’s not. The Ramsey injury at the start of the season was a frustrating instance, because Arsène has admitted he knew Rambo wasn’t right at half time. Yet he let him start the second half, which didn’t last long for the player and whilst I appreciate this is with the benefit of hindsight, our injury record should have had Arsène tripping alarm bells when Ramsey was hobbling before halftime. 

The good news now is that we have a better depth of quality to replace injured players. We are no longer a side who needs to play a half-fit Thierry Henry returning to injury, because we have players available who can fill in, so we should see less of the reliance of a few key players and more sensible decisions from the manager. 

That’s why I’m already speculating that I’m not sure Alexis will start on Saturday. He won’t return back to England until some stage today and probably needs tomorrow off too, so how on earth would he be ready for a game the day after? The answer is he won’t, so this is an opportunity for the manager to name the Chilean on the bench and ask his other players to step up against a struggling Swansea side. Although let’s caveat that by admitting that they’ve got a good record against us at the Emirates and we’re a struggling side last season when they sucker-punched us to win 2-1.

I think that as we go deeper in to the season, we will see more rotation than we’ve seen so far, although there has already been a bit. I can’t see Santi getting through the whole season injury-free and Walcott is sure to have his break down at some stage, but my hopes are that we start to see rotation not based on necessity, but based on pre-emptive action that avoids longer-term injury.

Anyway, that’s it from me for another day, because there’s not really a lot else going on. Chamakh’s comments about Arsène not respecting him are pretty moot if you ask me; if you’re a player and you find yourself behind the most in-form striker in the world, you just need to work harder to force yourself in to the managers thinking. He can hardly say he did that on the pitch when he was given the chance. 

Right, definitely off now. Catch y’all tomorrow.

I’m ok. It’s a little annoying that just as Arsenal begin to build momentum in the Premier League, an international break comes along, but what can you do? We’ve had to deal with this for as long as I can remember and the football authorities are hardly going to change now. But if the new man at FIFA – in between lining his own pockets with shiny gold doubloons – decided to change it, I could help with a concept, which would surely ensure Arsenal could also win the league every season.

It’s simple: Play all of the international matches in November and February. It means we don’t have to worry about the dreaded month of November, the Arsenal players can use up all of their poor performances whilst on international duty, plus we get the opportunity to see a consistent run of games between the middle of August and November. Everyone’s a winner. If you’re a fan of The Arsenal.

Of course I’m being slightly tongue in cheek, but when there’s little actual Arsenal football going on, what else am I supposed to do? At least the official site now recognise our thirst for content, so have peppered the interlude with videos of:

• Mustafi talking about his breakthrough on to the German scene
• Carl Jenkinson talking about his return to training
• Mesut Ozil begging up the importance of Big Per

There’s just one thing that isn’t quite sitting well with me at the moment, I have to say, and that’s the fact that Ozil still isn’t doing his interviews in English. We all know he can speak it, he’s been at the club and in the country for three years, so why on earth wouldn’t you do your interviews in English? I mean come on, it’s hardly the most difficult language to learn, is it?

I love the guy, he’s a joy to watch on the pitch, but I’m pretty sure all of the questions he was asked in the interview above, he could have given decent responses in English.

I suppose it doesn’t really matter, as long as he continues to be Mesut Ozil that we love on the football field, but it’s just one of those little things about footballers that grates on me. Reyes was the same. It used to wind me up that he never bothered integrating himself into the English way of live. If you want to make a life in a country, I think you should at least attempt the language a little more. People know you’re not going to sound as eloquent as in your mother tongue, but who cares? I just want to see people try.Like when I go to Italy or Spain or Portugal on holiday, I sound like a right dope when I ruin their language by saying words wrong. But they know I’m at least trying. Come on Mes, give us a few interviews in English, lad.

I liked the Jenkinson interview. I’ve always rated him, and not just because he coms from the same town as me, but because I think he was shipped out a little too quickly. He says in the interview that he’ll get a reserve game in a few weeks, which means he’s got no chance in being back for Reading at the end of October I don’t think, which is a shame because it would have been perfect for his rehab. He’s a player who i’d rather have as back up to Bellerin than Debuchy if I’m honest. Not to sound too clinical on this, but Debuchy’s stock is low, he clearly has dwindling value and impact, but Jenkinson is still of an age where if he got a few good performances under his belt, he’d probably give Bellerin a decent bit of competition. I don’t think his curve is as steep as Bellerin’s is in terms of potential and ability, but to have a decent understudy like Jenkinson is no big problem in my opinion.

The only question will be whether Carl wants that himself. We all know he’s a goner, that he love the club, but if he feels that he could be at Arsenal for another five years and only play between 50 to 100 games over that time, then he might prefer to go somewhere else to get minutes.

It’s a difficult situation for him, but I guess right now he’s just focused on getting fit and being ready if he’s called in to action, so it’s very much a case of one step at a time.

Aside from that, there’s not really a lot else going on. The players are all away with their respective clubs. Koscielny played for France last night and nearly scored, whilst Mesut, Theo, Cech and Mustafi will all be in action tonight for their respective nations. I’m not sure if i’ll bother watching the England match. The only thing that will tempt me is if I tune in to see if Theo can replicate his club level form, whilst also doing his best not to get banjaxed, but that’s about it. I don’t really understand why Santi is no longer with the Spanish squad, because I’m pretty sure he’s better than Ander Herrera and is playing well for Arsenal at the moment, but hey, that country’s national team is a walking sideshow of politics, so I don’t bother mustering much effort to watch nor read in to what they do. On the plus side, it means he gets a well-earned rest, which hopefully means he’ll be ready and raring to start when we play Swansea next weekend. At least he’ll be joined by a few at the club. We’ll have Big Per, Nacho, Coquelin, Cazorla and Lucas all able to train, whilst Rambo and Giroud can keep them company after training due to their respective injuries. So it’ll not be a lonely place on the training ground. Isn’t that nice?

Anyway, best be off, I have things to do on a Saturday and chores to get out of the way. Catch you tomorrow.

Sign da ting, Santi.

I mean, it’s a no brained from Arsenal’s perspective, isn’t it? Cazorla has been brilliant in every season since he joined Arsenal, in my opinion, and I think anything other than a hearty new deal for him to feast on would be foolish by the club. Yes he’s 31, yes there are question marks about his achilles, but you only have to watch him this season to see that he’s got another two or three years minimum at the top of his game before his career will possibly start to decline.

Or maybe more, because let’s face it, his game has never been based around pace. His style is one that has shown to be adapative – he’s gone from playing as a 10, to a wide forward, to a deep-lying playmaker – and his ability on the ball is mesmerising at times. I’ve never seen anybody find switching feet and direction as easy as Santi does in my Arsenal watching days. He’s been integral to our team set up yet again this season and it’s telling that all of the questions at the moment around our midfield, tend to be geared around who will partner Santi, rather than who the best two in midfield are. At the beginning of the season we all questioned who our best midfield two are, yet right now it’s hard not to argue that all of our midfielders are essentially fighting for one space, for as long as Cazorla stays fit.

So for me, this is a fairly obvious decision and whilst I understand Arsenal’s position when it comes to over 30s, sometimes exceptions should be made given the talent. Let’s just hope Arsenal get a move on soon though, because I’d have money on Santi having about a dozen offers from Spain at least.

But we’ve seen this before and the fact that Cazorla says the club haven’t even started talking to him, rings a few alarm bells, if I’m honest, because with one year left you’d think they’d be moving heaven and earth. Unless a successor to Santi Cazorla has already been found? Does Arsène hope that a fully fit Jack Wilshere could pick up where Santi leaves off? That would be risky in my opinion. Jack getting a full season under his belt would be welcome and I’d hope that it would mean a return to The Arsenal, but I’m not convinced, and I wonder if we’ll ever see him in an Arsenal shirt too. 

They’re also two different types of player. Wilshere is a traveller with the ball a lot more than Santi is. Would having him in the team mean that the partner alongside him would need to shift their emphasis? Probably. 

The other option would be Xhaka and perhaps his arrival was a bit of succession planning by Arsène and Arsenal? Perhaps he will be the main man after a season of bedding in? He certainly has the passing range, and has been impressive in games this season, so I think he has the potential to be a natural successor. I just hope that’s in a year or two’ time.

Having Xhaka in that role would then leave the second spot open to a player like Jack to drive the midfield, or Ramsey to assume his preferred role as a box-to-box midfielder, and we know how much Arsène loves Rambo. He will always look to find a spot in the team for him and many speculated that Xhaka’s arrival was the gift for Aaron that he had wanted for some time. If that is the case, it would seem a shame, that it would come at the expense of the Spaniard.

Whatever is going on at the club though, I hope we keep Cazorla, because your best players should always remain at the club and based on this season he is one of our best players so far.

And he can actually score penalties. That’s always useful.

Catch you tomorrow.

Yesterday’s game was like a really crappy journey to a holiday destination. It was like having to get up early, being stuck on a motorway at 5am because the Highways Agency are doing late night/early morning, down-to-one-lane repairs, followed by a delayed flight and then late arriving bags at the other end. But ultimately, when you get to your hotel/villa and the sun is shining and you’ve got a beer in hand, you forget about all of those previous frustrations. 

Except in this case, as an Arsenal blogger, I sort of have to remember all of those little elements throughout the game.

Firstly, to the team selection, which I thought was certainly bizarre to say the least. A debut for Mustafi kind of made sense given his price tag and experience, but the line up further up the pitch did have me scratching my head, I have to say. For example, Francis Coquelin starting ahead of Xhaka, given that at Watford both the Swiss and Santi worked so well together didn’t make sense. 

There was also a front three of The Ox, Theo and Perez that also didn’t really work. I was surprised to see our shiny new Spaniard start to be honest with you. We’ve seen with Elnenny and other players, how Arsène likes to bed them in, with that famous story about Pires being asked to sit on the side and watch for his first game (I think against Stoke). So that he was thrown in to start against Southampton was surprising. I guess we got a better look at the type of player he is and we certainly were able to see his work rate, but he never really got a sniff all afternoon, looking a little isolated at times I thought. 

It also didn’t help that he was playing alongside an Ox who, sadly, looks a shadow of the great potential we saw last season. Given that we have such options in the squad now, I have to say I’m a little surprised that the Ox got the nod, because his start to the season has hardly warranted it. I get Theo on the other flank, because he’s started quite well, but he too didn’t exactly shine brightly in that first half.

The set up of the team felt very last season. What I mean by that is that at times last season we looked sluggish at home to so called weaker opponents and as I sat in an Irish bar in Portugal cursing at the TV for most of the game, I couldn’t help but continually reference last season’s 0-0 draw with Southampton. That gave was equally frustrating, but it felt like we were up against an immovable object in Fraser Forster, who made save after save. Yesterday he barely had to dust himself down. 

I’ve been trying to rack my brains as to why we looked so lethargic at such an early stage of the season, and it’s difficult to look beyond the team selection by the manager and suggest that the XI should have been different given the opposition. At first I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t utilise Alexis or Xhaka, but as was pointed out to me on Twitter, perhaps Arsène had Tuesday night’s away game in Paris on his mind. Arsène would of course never admit to that and would remain steadfast in his ‘we only focus on the next game’ line to the press, but Xhaka is a Coquelin upgrade by a mile, and the Ox is nowhere near the level of Alexis. Perhaps Alexis is a different case because he arrived home later from international duty, but I’ll be very surprised if Coquelin is still playing ahead of Xhaka on Tuesday evening. 

So perhaps Arsène took a gamble on this game? If he did, then he’s finally had a bit of luck, because had we not been granted an injury-time penalty for Santi to dispatch, there’d be much angst in the Arsenal community this Sunday. But Le Boss has got away with it on this occasion. 

Let’s also have a hand for birthday boy Laurent Koscielny, who’s bicycle kick to draw us level was well worth the price of admission for those inside the stadium, and was q goal that didn’t deserve to not be part of a winning team performance. Koscielny seems to get more and more important in each game and seeing him drag ourselves back in it after conceding to a quite brilliant free kick, to be fair, was a great sight.

So the return of the Premier League may not have come in swashbuckling style as we’d have liked, but at least we got what we came for: three points.

Until tomorrow.

But this Sunday morning, that can change, because what we were treated to yesterday – particularly in the first half – was the Arsenal we all want to see.

It all started about an hour before a ball had even been kicked, too, because as soon as I saw the line up against Watford, I had a beaming smile on my face. a front four of Ozil, Ox, Alexis and Theo, with a stable base of Santi and Xhaka protecting the back four, all looked to me to have more balance, more structure and collectively, enough technical ability to retain possession, control and dictate play and cause Watford problems.

And that’s exactly what they did. From the first couple of minutes you can see that the team was clicking. The triangles of possession were working, but not only that, the passing felt quicker, didn’t it? We looked like we had more purpose, more poise and we only had to wait nine minutes until we were one up. I watched Match of the Day last night and they questioned whether it was a debatable penalty or not. There wasn’t a debate about it. It was a clumsy shove by Amrabat and if you’re going to jump in to anyone and not get any of the ball, you’re going to give away a foul. Santi to make it one-nil to the Arsenal felt good.

What I liked about the set up yesterday, is that it felt like nearly every player had their role and contributed effectively to it, bar the Ox – i’ll come to him in a bit. The defensive midfield base of Xhaka and Santi just worked, didn’t it? The challenge with the Coquelin/Santi partnership is that it feels like we have two players playing the role of one guy. I’ve spoken about this with a few Arsenal-supporting mates, i’ve heard it on a few pods and so it seems that is the general consensus. So when that partnership are together it means that Santi and Coq need to spend a lot of time closer together so Coquelin can feed cazorla when we break down the opposition’s build up. With Xhaka and Santi I don’t think I saw as much of that yesterday. Cazorla was able to roam a little bit further and as a result, I feel like he was free’d up to be more impactful on the game.

Xhaka had a good game yesterday. His distribution is brilliant, he broke up play when needed and what I loved the most about his performance, was that it reminded me of peak Arteta, in the way he collected the ball from the centre backs. Mikel used to love to drop deep, receive the ball and distribute forward efficiently. Xhaka was the same. But he showed a longer range to his passing yesterday that we didn’t always see from Arteta. If yesterday’s performance was indicative of the Xhaka we’re going to get on a regular basis, then I’ll be very happy.

And so will Ozil and our quick attackers, I think, because Xhaka will find them with his passing range. Ozil may find it particularly useful having a guy who can spray a pass, because at times last season teams doubled up on Ozil with the knowledge that he was the main man when it came to build up play for Arsenal. If teams realise that Xhaka is dangerous when given time, they’ll start to look at ways in which they can press higher up the pitch to neutralise him. That may just mean that Mesut has more room to roam in between the defensive and midfield lines. Let’s hope so.

Mes’ headed goal was superb, delivered by probably the man-of-the-match himself, Alexis. He looked vintage 2014/15 yesterday. He ran the lines, he was his usual mobile self and he popped up with a goal, an assist and a hand in winning the penalty. What worked better than the previous two games, was his ability to move across the pitch and interchange with the Ox and Theo, although Theo seemed to occupy that central role a little bit more than the Ox did. I think that was probably the problem at home to Liverpool and away to Leicester, that Alexis was just adopting centralised positions only, but with the front three moving around more, he was able to find those runs and those pockets which enabled him to have a go at the back three. As good as we were though, we were helped by the fact Watford played that back three against us. I don’t know why anyone plays a back three against Arsenal. I’m pretty sure every time I’ve seen it, we’ve been able to run riot. Wish everyone could play that formation against us to be honest with you!

So Alexis was good, great even, and Theo too, made more of a telling contribution, I thought. He seemed to be tracking back a lot more and in that wide right position had an impact on the game with some very good runs and a good cross to assist Alexis with his goal. Walcott has been much maligned by us fans for some time, but that’s because we have seen him disappear in matches, so to see him have more of a say in how the game plays out, that’s all any of us ever want. If he keeps performing like that then he’ll deserve a regular place and probably also get himself another England call up.

But this blog, so heavily laced with positivity, does have a bit of concern about it. That comes in the form of the Ox, who just couldn’t get anything right yesterday. He chipped one chance way over when through on goal, his dribbling just didn’t look effective at all and once again, with the Watford goal, you can’t help but think that if he was switched on more to support Nacho, we might have prevented the ball coming in on the first place. With Arsene confirming that Perez and Mustafi are on the verge of signing, the Ox is surely going to be the first to be cut from the first XI, I think. Giroud will come back after the international break and whilst Theo has done his chances no harm at all in the possibility of retaining his place, you can’t help but think that the Ox will give way to the Frenchman, with Alexis dropping left and Theo right.

It would be a shame to end on a less than positive note, so I’ll finish off by saying that Holding should get a mention too. The guy is a talent. He looked every bit as good as if it were Big Per alongside Koscielny yesterday and whilst we have a £35million centre half incoming, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Holding keep his place for the Southampton game. I think he’s earned his spot.

That, friends, is all I have for you today. Enjoy your Sunday and spend it with a smile on your face. For the Arsenal are up and running. Woop!

A bit like England really. Woy has over-prepared in attack by sticking far too many attackers, but Wilshere aside, has absolutely no craft whatsoever in midfield. So unless there will just be long balls in to channels for runners during the Euro’s, England’s expedition will fall horribly short of what the players are talking up.

To be fair though, England hardly have a glut of proper playmakers. People will point me in the direction of Alli, but he’s not a playmaker. He’s a supporting attacking-midfielder. A goalscorer. A Frank Lampard type. Which is why Woy was so desparate for Wilshere to go to the Euro’s. Quite simply, he’s all England have of that type of player.

What Woy wouldn’t give to have a Santi Cazorla along too, I bet. If only Santi had an English grandmother and had never played for Spain. Even at 31, I bet he’d have taken him despite only recently coming back to fitness. After all, he set precedent with Jack, so it would be doable. 

Except Santi’s not English, there is no other deep-lying playmaker, and the muppets who think Danny Drinkwater should have gone instead of Jack are symptomatic of the modern day ‘stars’ fans. Stats are useful sometimes, most of the time, but when it comes to football fan ‘oneupmanship’, I find it all tedious. I’m sure you could find enough stats out there to tell you Fellaini is the best target striker in the Premier League. He’s not. He’s really, clearly, not. He’s just taller than most people and has razor sharp elbows. Nikola Zigic was tall too, don’t you know, but he was also dog sh*te. 

Anyway, what else has been happening? Oh yeah, good old Tommy Rozza got himself an archetypal Rosicky finish against the Russians the day before last, which sure earns him a John Terryesque ‘one more year’ deal, doesn’t it? 

No. Because as much as we love him, we need to move on and another year of niggly injuries is not exactly what we need for next season, not with every other team buying younger, fitter and stronger players. I will cheer on Rosicky in every game he plays and I hope he stays fit the whole time, but I won’t be fooled into thinking that we could get 35 games out of him, sadly.

Another bit of info I neglected to mention yesterday, was a cheeky little assist for Hector Bellerin, which inevitably led to a few worried Gooners on Thursday. The Catalan press can talk up a signing all they want with Alves going out the door, but without much cash to flash at Arsenal and a player happy at the club, I’m less worried than I was with Cesc.

The thing about Cesc was that he always said he’d one day like to play for Barca. We’ve since found out how disruptive he was, how he engineered the move and was a general pain in the arse, but all the noises suggest Bellerin is nothing of the sort and for that we can all be grateful. Barcelona have other positions they have to worry about this summer, not as much cash as they’d like and so unless they can drop a megaton of notes on Colney, that move won’t be happening any time soon. Still, we all know how much Stan likes a Ranch and a leveraged finance deal, so perhaps that would count towards his £3million management fee for the next financial year:

Yee-Haw boys! £40million you say? I sez take it, I’m gonna use the cash to buy summa George Lucas’ home!

I’m pretty sure that is definitely the reason we’d sell Bellerin this summer.

Not sure there’s anything else blabbering on about today, is there? Probably not. I don’t want to get in to any kind of debates about the whys and wherefore’s of what Arsène said yesterday on the official site about how he develops players rather than go for personal glory (except maybe to say that perhaps it was a sly dig at Jose?), so I’ll let you have a read yourself here.

He has effectively ended Debuchy’s Arsenal career and whilst we can lament that given the pedigree the Frenchman came from, we can’t be anything but happy that young Hector is now rubbing shoulders with the best.

Whether or not he gets much game time, that remains to be seen, but regardless of that he’ll be over the moon with his progress and so will Arsenal. I spoke last week about how Barca were sniffing and if Bellerin plays any major part in the tournament then I expect them to continue their pursuit, but that has to be a concern for another day, because we should just be happy that we’ve got the makings of a world-class right back in the little Spaniard.

At least the signs are good in terms of his loyalty towards the club, as Andries Jonker talks about on the official site. Bellerin has established himself as a first teamer but the ability to be humble and recognise the importance that the youth set up has played in his development, is really important, especially if we want him to stay grounded and stick around at the club for a few years. 

The other Arsenal players called up for duty at the Euro’s included the usual suspects: Cech, Koscielny, Wilshere, Ramsey, Özil Giroud, as well as Szczesny, Rosicky and Xhaka. Interestingly, as opposed to previous tournaments, it feels like there are plenty of players who will be getting rests this summer. No Monreal or Mertesacker, which will surprise nobody, but no Santi Cazorla either. It’s clearly because Spain have enough competition in that midfield area, but for a guy who has been a mainstay in the Spanish team for most of their games they’ve played in the last few years, it does seem quite sad that he won’t make what might be his last ever international tournament. 

The plus side for us is that he can prepare well for the new season, as can Theo and The Ox (assuming they are still at the club), so it does mean that whilst some players will not come back as fit, many will still be looking in ship-shape condition to impact the start of the season.

I’m looking forward to seeing our new boy in action, I have to say, so for once an international tournament is holding more intrigue with me than it usually does. I went for a couple of pints with a Newcastle fan last night and he watches plenty of football and some German football. His words about Xhaka’s ability to pick a pass was exciting to hear and if he and Özil spark up some kind of a connection, then only good things can come from the middle of the park as far as I’m concerned.

So yes, I’ll be keeping an eye on the Switzerland games, that’s for sure. The last time I decided to watch another international team with such intrigue, was when we sign Rosicky back in 2006. It was a World Cup year and I can’t remember who the Czech Republic were playing, but Rosicky picked the ball up halfway between the centre circle and dribbled towards the ‘D’ before leathering a ball in to the top corner. I was running in the gym whilst watching it at the time and I remember thinking “wow. And we’ve just signed this guy!”. It was something to put a smile on my face for the rest of the afternoon and I hope Granit can put in similar displays to get me excited for next season too.

Aside from that, not a lot else going on in afraid, such is the quietness caused by the pre-Euro preparations. So I’ll take my leave for another day and see you in the morrow.

It will be good to see Santi back for a game or two, even if it is too little, too late to salvage our season in terms of delivering end product. I expect he’ll come in at the weekend as a sub, but i’d love to see him alongside Elneny. It’ll be like having a younger version of Arteta with less perfectly chiseled hair sitting in alongside our tiny little Spaniard. I suspect we’ll see it from the bench though, but more on who will start in a match preview tomorrow. What is important is that he comes back without any worries and we get to see how Cazorla and Elneny can potentially play together, because I think that is the formula for a future midfield; two technically capable midfielders who control possession, can win the ball back and are effective distributors of the ball. I see Jack as somebody similar in that mould too, but up until this point we haven’t been able to control possession in the middle of the park because we haven’t had the right combination of players.

So whilst I’m frustrated that we’re getting players back at a time in which we all want the season to end, I’m also hopeful that there can be a sign that shows us that we have a blueprint for a future style. I’ve read countless blogs, listened to many podcasts and watched a few videos in which Arsenal fan after Arsenal fan has questioned what our style is. It has been clear that we haven’t really had a ‘plan’, we’ve just tended to cobble together players from the first team, but we haven’t really been able to fashion an identity. My feeling is that this has come from the issues in centre of midfield. We haven’t had two players who are ball retainers or haven’t been able to keep the play ticking over when we have possession. Flamini is supposedly just a ball winner. He is not a distributor of the ball. Coquelin is an upgraded version of Flamini. Arteta has hit the age wall. Rosicky cannot survive for any length of time because of his injuries. The Ox has fallen woefully out of form and he’s clearly viewed as more of a wide man than a central midfielder. Ramsey isn’t a player I see as effective with the ball at his feet. He doesn’t control possession. He doesn’t keep a team ticking over. He is a box-to-box lung buster who covers ground and when in form scores goals. He’s like Lampard; a late arriving midfielder who contributes with goals. He simply doesn’t work in an Arsenal system I don’t think and that is why he’s struggled.

That’s why, to me, we need to have a proper look at Santi/Jack and Elneny, so I hope both are able to play some part in all remaining games. Because if they are and if the system works with two from those three in the middle of the park, then the team needs to be rebuilt in the knowledge that we need that type of technically gifted ball-retainer in the middle of the park. I don’t think there’ll be a big summer clear out, as it’s not Arsene’s style, but I do think that he needs to think seriously about who plays in that central midfield area, because it could mean that the type of players that are slotted in to the squad, have to play in a certain style. So in other words, no need for Coquelin, Ramsey or the Ox in the middle of the park. Harsh words maybe, but I’m just trying to work out what fixes our clear flaws this season, and that’s one of the main things I can think of. Of course, we also need another mobile centre forward, but that debate is for another blog.

Anyway, it’s Arsene’s presser today and we’ll no doubt be treated to more thoughts from the manager, so I’ll ponder over those and also the match itself against Norwich, tomorrow. Catch you then.

We’ve had the Champions League come and go (which to be honest most of us must have thought that would happen anyway after the draw), we’ve seen a chance for FA Cup glory melt away after a lacklustre home performance, then as of this weekend just gone by we’ve all but seen the league title slip away. So what is the remainder of this season for Arsenal fans?

For me it will feel odd, because I don’t think that when I turn up at the pub at 1pm on Sunday, I’ll be as nervous as I usually am ahead of a game. Crystal Palace feels like it might be similar to Watford i.e. A team with an eye on an FA Cup semi final, but we can’t be sure until we see the opening exchanges of the game, I suppose. 

It also feels like this is the sort of game we win comfortably, because the pressure is off, the players are just fighting to remain as the also-rans in third. They will be at home, they will know that their opponents aren’t in great form, as well as the fact that we have a decent record against Palace. Palace will probably sit deep and we’ll have more of the possession, so it’ll be on our front line to deliver against a team who would undoubtedly take a draw.

The game, in essence, will feel a little meaningless. Well, that’s what it feels like to me, right now. Perhaps a little closer to the weekend I’ll start to get the buzz. But if I’m honest, I’ve had a lot of the stuffing knocked out of me since the beginning of March, when the real folding started to happen to the team with the United and Swansea defeats. I feel like I’ve been punched in the metaphorical Arsenal leg so many times that it’s all just a little bit numb for the rest of the season.

There’s still points to play for, there’s still third that needs to be secured, but at the moment it doesn’t really feel like there’s any major pressure on the team. So I don’t feel like it either.

So what does that mean for the rest of the season? For me it means experimentation. It means trying things with a view to seeing if they work. We have to continue to have a mobile front three and so the continuation of the Iwobi-Welbeck-Alexis formation has to be soup de jour, but behind those three I wonder if there is some opportunity for others to have a crack. Ow about in that midfield, for example? Coquelin and Elneny have been good, but why not see what Elneny and Wilshere might be able to do, or as Ben has said to me outside of social media – Elneny and Cazorla. Ben isn’t the biggest fan of Coquelin, but he is warming to Elneny, who we must all admit looks more cultured on the ball than the Frenchman. He’s also got the ability to put his foot in, so the idea that we could have a ball-playing, deep-lying, central midfielder who can sit alongside the silk of someone like Santi, feels quite appealing to me. 

Or perhaps we should even try having Ramsey and Elneny alongside each other. Two midfielders who cover a heck of a lot of ground does feel appealing to me. The question that would need to be pondered would be whether Rambo can still have the defensive discipline when he has somebody like Elneny alongside him. Would this duet have a guy who wants to play electric guitar and sing up top all day because it’s a little bit cooler, leaving the metronomic sound of the bassist behind keeping the rythmn going, or would it all just sound a little bit like a cacophony of cats screeching in to the wind? 

No idea. But I do know that with some winnable games on paper and with some major work needed in the summer, the manager might as well start looking at which partnerships provide more balance. Jack and Coq? Jack and Elneny? Ramsey and Elneny? Elneny and Santi? All seem like there’s something about the individuals that might work. So why shouldn’t we have a play around?

I also wonder whether we should be taking another look at Chambers at centre half. Gabriel has been a little clumsy at times since his run in the team and Per seems to have trampled all over Arsène’s azaleas, such is his demotion from the team, but I think Chambers should be given an opportunity to see how he does with a run of games. He’s in his early 20s, he’s looked good in the last few games he’s played and I think he and Koscielny would form a very good partnership. 

There are some people who have questioned his ability, but I’d ask those people to really rack their brains on games where Chambers has been poor. I have and when I think about it, it’s been when he’s been playing as a full back. Arsène may have bought him as that when he signed from Southampton, but I think it’s clear to all that he’s less comfortably there, certainly when you compare his performances at centre half.

Now imagine that he was given a run of games like he was at the beginning of 2014/15. He played well, looked assured and many were making references to Tony Adams back then, so what’s changed? Only that he has a better knowledge of the club and he’s played in a few different positions which probably haven’t suited him. So why not give him a run now and see if he looks the part like he did when he first arrived? 

That’s just my view, anyway, because whilst there are plenty of players who I think should probably get in the bin, there are some who I think deserve a shot. 

I just hope they get the chance to prove it now.

I don’t care. The hope remains until the next game and the next game is tomorrow. It’s Arsenal versus Watford and a return of the hornets to a ground in which they despatched a woeful Arsenal team. So there could in all reality be yet more Arsenal heartache tomorrow. But until that happens, we have to keep the fire of hope burning in all of our hearts.

I’m sure that’s the message of Arsène today in his pre-match presser. By the time you’re reading this, that might have already happened, but at the time of writing, I’ve got nothing but a ‘Jack Wilshere back in training’ article on the official site to take a look at. I said my piece on him yesterday, so now it’s just about getting him fit and healthy and able to play for The Arsenal. An option for somebody like him to make an impact is always a welcome one.

There are a few other players who are also returning to full training and Arsène has already given his update on each of the players ahead of tomorrow. Wilshere and Rosicky in full training is welcome news, as well as Santi outside running again, and wouldn’t it be so very Arsenal to have all of our players who are similar in style to all be back at the same time? I suppose that’s Sod’s law, but it’s better to have those players available, than to have none. I do wonder who the first person thrown back into action will be. Arsène has said Santi is three to four weeks away from being back, but given both Rosicky and Wilshere have been absentees for so long, it wouldn’t surprise me to see both of those guys take another couple of weeks before they’re even risked for the bench, let alone a starting role. Which brings us towards the end of April and probably the end of the season before players are fit. Just in time for the Euro’s. Isn’t it nice of Arsenal to give players such a long rest before releasing the players they pay wages to, to their national teams, eh? 

I hope the damage isn’t already done by the time any of the returning players get back to the first team though. I’d love to be sat on this tube line in one months time with the dream of pipping both Leicester and the Spuds to the title, despite my attempts at better judgement and reality, it does give me a slither of excitement and hope. 

Come on Arsenal. Win and win well this weekend. Imagine what it will do for the fans if you do. Claw back that tiny bit of hope that we all thought had completely faded. Turn the flicker into a spark and see if we can’t ignite it again. Go on, I dares ya.

One more final observation for you, after Le Boss’s update on player availability yesterday, which is about the goalkeeping situation. I’ve long spoken about how Arsène has his hierarchies. He likes to have his favourites and often will play them despite their form. But I wonder if he is giving Ospina a bit of a reward for his good performances of late, by putting it out there that Cech might be a ‘bit short’ for this weekend. Cech himself has spoken in his homeland about how he is back in training and is fine, but Ospina has played really well of late and so perhaps under the pretext of Cech still being injured, he is giving Ospina one more game? We know he has form in that regard. I think he admitted once when Almuniaesque was in goal, that he sometimes said players were injured to protect them from abuse and whilst I don’t think this is the case with Cech, I do think Arsène might be saying privately to Ospina that he deserves his place in the starting line up. If you’d have asked me whether that’s a good idea six weeks ago I’d have laughed you out of town, but such has been his good form, that I am of a kind to say that his good form is such that it won’t be the most disasterous thing in the world if Cech isn’t available. I still hope that sentiment isn’t playing a part though. Cech is by far the better ‘keeper and we should be playing the best players in their best positions. Especially if we want a flawless run between now and the end of the season.

Anyway, that’ll do me for now. I’m off to work. Have a good’un.

People will inevitably point the accusatory finger at the manager, because it serves the purpose of their agenda, but the reality is that this was a complicated process made more complex by visa issues. It wasn’t Dick Law buying an Anderson shelter instead of getting on a plane to negotiate, because he thought Elneny was a typhoon, it was simply that the Home Office decided a while back to chuck all kinds of crazy rules around players. Number of caps internationally, whether the player plays for a team in the top 50 of the world, it’s all a load of old tripe. You’re telling me that if the next Messi is found on the Island of Samoa, the Home Office would be the ones to stop him from joining a club? Of course they wouldn’t, so why the bloody hell do any team have to go through such a pointless process.

Still, he’s here, it sounds from what Le Boss is saying that he’ll make an impact sooner rather than later, which is good for the team because we have some cover, just as the noises start circulating that Rosicky, Jack and Welbeck are all set to (or have already) start training again. Only, at The Arsenal, eh?

We have some really tough games coming up, but this period is crucial, because in February it looks like we’ll have enough of the squad back to be able to give the manager a headache on selection. With the pressure to be mounted as we tick towards the end of the season, each new arrival from the treatment room will be greeted with more gusto, because it allows us to change things up if it’s not working. 

All the existing players have to do – famous last words here, and I’d love to touch some wood as I say this, but I’m on the Met Line surrounded by metal and plastic – is to pick up the points in tough games away to Stoke and at home to Chelski, then I think our title chances will only get better.

We’ll get more of an indication today about who makes the trip to Mordor on Sunday, but I suspect it will be more of the same from Wednesday, the exception being the collective breath we’re all holding for Alexis to be fit. I expect Arsène to be complimentary about Hughes, but I would be surprised to see him wax lyrical, because he’s hardly bosom buddies with the guy. How could you be? He looks like he’s just stolen your car. He’s got that grizzly look about him that he’d admit it to your face as well, just because he wants a fight, yet me being a pacifist n’all, I’d just let him take it. I have insurance. And I can just give the police a good description and point them towards a Staffordshire town where he might be residing. They just need to make sure they have now and arrows ready. And lembas bread. Never forget the lembas bread.

There’s something else I wanted to touch on before I bugger off for another day into the Big Grey Smoke, which is the whole ‘Ramsey/Flamini’ debate that appears to be going on, after it seemed to be obvious from the Liverpool game, that the pair isn’t quite working. I’ve been thinking about this overnight actually, after a friend on Twitter, Clive, was revealing his ‘when all fit’ team. In midfield the obvious choice from two positions is Coquelin, but I went for Ramsey alongside him, as he offers more ground covered and is more of a goal threat than any other option. But now I’ve had the chance to digest, I wonder if the Coquelin/Ramsey combo would work as well as Coquelin/Cazorla. After all, Cazorla is never far from Le Coq to distribute the ball too, which means his role as the deep-lying playmaker means he is the one that needs to use his vision and range of passing to get us going. Ramsey doesn’t have that range of passing. He will be the guy wanting to make the forward runs and is more likely to be alongside Mesut Özil than Coquelin. So do we then become over-reliant on Coquelin to become the distributor too? Is he consistent enough with his range of passing? I’m not too sure. He’s a good passer of the ball, is Le Coq, but we’ve only ever had to see it in small isolated doses. Not over the whole duration of 90 minutes.

So would Coquelin/Ramsey work as well as Coquelin/Cazorla? Or would it just be a slightly less erratic version of Flamini/Arteta because Coquelin is an overall better player? That’s the worry.

But it’s a worry for the manager to sort. I just shout at them all from the stands. But it is something they’ll need to look at when ‘everyone’s fit’ again. Har-har.

The only real downer for the weekend was Arsène confirming that Santi has undergone surgery for his knee ligament damage, which means he’ll face a minimum of three months out, but because he’s an Arsenal player it’s more likely that we won’t see him until April. Just in time for us to get him fit for the Euros. Happy-effin-days.

It’s a massive blow and there will no doubt he calls to replace him, especially if Jack suffers a ‘little bit setback’ as we’re all expecting, to which I have to admit that I’m starting to wonder if he will actually be back in January. It’s all very quiet on his recovery process. It’s mad that we should be thinking about augmenting the creative midfield options, given the number of different options that could play in that position, but unfortunately we have a team of injury-prone diminutive midfielders, Santi aside ironically enough. Jack, Rambo, Rosicky and even The Ox all pick up knocks and bumps of varying levels, so to say we’re overstocked in that position, probably belies the fact that most only play half a season. That seems ‘at best’ right now.

Perhaps that’s Arsène’s fault for not buying in that position, but like the crisis that we’ve had in right wing until now, I don’t think Le Boss could have predicted that we’d lose a load of players in one position. Not at right wing, anyway. I can understand the midfield, in hindsight, given the names I’ve just reeled off. 

So all eyes – well, certainly that of the media click-baiters – will turn to the window opening in three weeks. I must admit I’m hopeful that Arsenal are already putting feelers out. If they were able to bring somebody in pretty sharpest at the beginning of January, then right now we’re just in a bit of a ‘make do and mend’ situation until then, but if we’re talking the end of January then we might be stretching ourselves a little too far. Timing is of the essence and let’s hope that Dick et al know that and are already taking counter measures on the injury problems we’re suffering right now.

Still, there’s one creative who goes from strength-to-strength, in the form of a certain Mesut Özil. Yet another assist at the weekend and he’s admitted he’s in the form of his life right now. Hard to argue with that. You can tell he’s in confident mood and the result is that he’s even trying audacious things that are coming off in games. Like the backheel dummy he sold a Sunderland player on Saturday, before being fouled as he advanced. He’s looking every bit the superstar at the moment and with Alexis out until Christmas at the least, his burden is bigger than ever before, because he remains the sole ‘x-factor’ creative in the team now. Don’t get me wrong, Rambo had a great game and can step up, Theo should start to bang goals in as he returns to fitness and we should expect more from Giroud and The Ox, but in comparison to Özil they all seem that level below to my untrained eyes. That’s why it’s important he stays fit. We need him to.

Right, time for me to pop off to work, so I’ll say my ‘goodbyes’ and catch you tomorrow.

And he sure is right. The hope is that we still have enough players to play for by the time 2016 rocks up on our doorstep. 

The good news is that Koscienly isn’t doing too badly at all. He’s in line for a possible return against The Mackems tomorrow and I for one will be glad of that. With other players dropping like flies for prolonged periods of time, it’s good to have one guy who will pick up a knock, shake it off and be available for the following weekend. 

The other good news is the possible return of Theo. I suspect he’ll have a benched role to play tomorrow, but if we can give him some game time in the second half, then that would be fantabulous. It is certainly a timely return; with the enforced absence of Alexis it means that we’re likely to see Theo and Giroud on the same pitch for the first time in a while. I’d imagine Theo will be told to revert to his former position on the wing, with Ramsey almost certainly moving centrally, but thankfully it’ll be a position he’s very familiar with. 

The worry is the absences of Alexis, Arteta and Cazorla. The fact that Arsène isn’t able to give a date on the latter and the former is the biggest worry of all for me. That tells me that we’re not going to see them for the rest of 2015. Perhaps I’m wrong and reading too much in to things, but if it’s a minor knock the club are usually able to tell quite quickly and declare it to the public that it is only a few weeks out, so by admitting there isn’t a timescale normally means bad things. We can only hope – in both cases – that the players have some sort of horse placenta-infused elixir of life potion that they can take to speed up the recovery process. With no other players returning from injury until after Christmas, we really are almost out of options in the first team.

Still, Arsène’s confident we can challenge, or at least he’s said so on the official site. Arsène wouldn’t lie to us, would he? Would he? WOULD HE!?!?!

Ahh yes, there’s another returnee too, in the shape of Kieran Gibbs! I think it was Gunnerblog who said yesterday that with all the Arsenal injuries at the moment, it kind of got lost that Gibbs spent a week or so on the sidelines too, such is the nature of our plight at the moment. I know it feels like we Arsenal fans bleat on a bit about injuries a little too much, but it’s probably because two things seem to happen to us that don’t seem to happen at other clubs:

1. It’s our best players, first teamers I mean, who always get crocked for long periods of time; and 

2. When we get injuries, they all seem to happen in the same position.

I think it started in the season where we lost all of our left backs in the mid 2000s and ended up playing Pascal Cygan as a full back. Poor old Pascal had enough trouble lumbering around as a centre half, so for him to try and plod around on the wings was as painful as it sounds. 

It’s that volume of players inured in one position that probably makes us seem more vocal than others. If City lost Aguero, Bony and Iheanacho, they’d probably feel quite hard-done-by too, and rightly so I’d wager. So whilst I’ve seen a lot of ‘Arsenal don’t have it nearly as bad as other teams’ around in the last week, it’s worth pointing out those two facts. Newcastle in particular, for example, have been cited as one club with injuries. I looked at their situation about a month ago though and of the ten players they had injured, I counted five who have a genuine impact on the first team, so that gives you an idea about how some of these narratives have been built by the journos. Just thought I’d point that out.

Anyway, time for me to blog-off, so more tomorrow when I’m on my way to the game.

Laters.

The Cazorla injury will also be a blow. Particularly if ‘Project Central Ramsey’ doesn’t come off alongside Flamini. I’m not writing it off before its had the chance to get off the ground though. I don’t think anybody thought Cazorla and Flamini could be as effective as Cazorla and Coquelin, so perhaps there is an alternate pairing who will bring a different dynamic to the midfield. The only worrying thing is that in terms of first team midfielders, we really are skating on thin ice now, because it’s those two and Arteta who are pretty much the only bodies left, worrying also because Ramsey and Arteta are a little bit too injury prone for all of our likings.

The Ox has played centrally, but with Alexis missing he’ll be needed out wide, so you can see why Chambers is being fast tracked. Perhaps if our injured players were all relatively short term, that would make a difference to the nervousness we all have, but all of our injuries are long term now. Wilshere, Welbeck, Coquelin, Rosicky, Cazorla – all are players who we can’t exactly console ourselves by telling each other in the pub “it’s just this week or next, then he’ll be back, so we just need to cope”. 

The problem is, when you are going for a title, you can’t “just cope”, you have a tiny margin for error and you need to be winning games. We’re not doing that at the moment and at a time in which we should be squirrelling away our league points, saving them for potential rainy days at Christmas and in January, we’ve already gorged ourselves on nuts and have very little left in the tree stored away. We now can’t afford any slip ups at home to Sunderland, away to Villa and probably at home to City, because we at some stage need to try and break free of the chasing pack if we want to win the title. So games like that one need to be won, not drawn with comments of “oh well, at least we haven’t dropped points against them”. Sooner or later we will need to get our noses in front, because the rest of the chasing teams aren’t all going to balls up as we have done with such regularity in November.

Anyway, let’s talk about something nice, shall we? Mesut Özil has been November’s player of the month and if ever there was a more obvious choice right now for that accolade, it’s for the German, a rare positive point in a month that could really get right in the bin for us, if we’re all honest. November’s the month of my birthday too, so I feel personally a little bit more aggrieved that every season we seem to be done over, just as I’m celebrating my slow creep towards death. Oh bloody hell, so much for positivity! Ahh well, Arsenal can put an end to that on Saturday, hopefully…

Anyway, at least Gabriel is happy, as we approach the anniversary of his arrival in January this year. His highlight was the semi final and with that memory of us winning the FA Cup with such ease against Villa, I’d like to wrap up today, close my eyes and dream of pulling ourselves together and winning the Premier League in May. Have a go yourself. You might like it.

Yes, time is a good healer. If only it could work better wonders on our ailing squad. I did find it somewhat amusing and ironic that we call the tactical match review ‘The Breakdown’. Perhaps never more so has this been more aptly named with our current injury plight. We’ve got a whole team out at the moment, with more surely to be announced this week, with tomorrow supposedly the day we find out about Alexis. Rumours are already filtering through that he’ll be missing against Olympiacos, which means he’ll miss this Saturday’s game against Sunderland, as I think most of us have expected now. The hope is that his adamantium-infused body will recover quicker than the average human, but in a weird way, I’m kind of hoping that he’s forced in to at least a week’s rest with no return. If what he says is true – that he received a kick against the back of his leg – we might be lucky and he just misses a week or so. Regardless of the fact we have an ‘all or nothing’ game in a week’s time against Olympiacos, we could do with him over the Christmas and January tough period, in as good shape as possible. At the moment it just seems he’s ticking over and his form has been patchy of late. No Gooner I speak to blames him in the slightest; his dedication and ability to get this far in to the season without any rest period is phenomenal. But it was always going to happen and if he misses Sunderland at home, Olympiacos away and then Aston Villa at home, but if back for the Monday night game against Moneychester City before Christmas, I’d take that right now.

As for the rest of the injury worries, it seems like everyone’s going to get a shot at playing where they want to. Cazorla will no doubt be out for a while if it’s a knee problem, so Ramsey will get the chance in the centre, whilst Joel will be happy just to get back in to the first team. He applies himself, of that we can be sure, but to me he still doesn’t quite look good enough and I bet even he’ll be surprised that he’s been able to play in such a run of games this season.

The only fully fit person during this injury crisis who will really be cursing his luck at the moment is Debuchy. The guy must be thinking that everyone’s getting their chance in the team except him, with even Flamini now down to probably hit double figures on league appearances at this rate, so I do feel for him. He’s unfortunate that he’s up against a guy in form, faster, ten years younger and therefore much less injury prone. That’s football for you, I guess. At this rate he’ll not even get his January move he’s craving I’d imagine; Arsène would be mad to let anybody fit enough to leave. Heck, Debuchy could be filling in at right wing as it stands at the moment!

Never has the need to keep players fresh been more important. But also, never has the need been more important to ignore players who say “yeah, I’m fine boss”, with the only retort for that optimism being “let’s let the medical team decide that one, eh? Now get on that table and let them jab you with things”. We need bodies to return and return quick. A Thursday announcement of Theo to return against the Mackems would be a good start, but if here could also be some sort of horse placenta-infused miracle cure for a Wilshere or a Welbeck, that too, would be nice.

Of course we all know what’s going to happen: all of our players will return at the same time and we’ll have some quality players who don’t even make the matchday squad. It’ll all be January too, when it then seems foolish to buy new players with a fully fit squad. I wonder if Arsenal could apply for a flexible transfer window, to be opened in case of emergency, when we run out of bodies in November or March of each season? They must have a case for it. They’ve got enough data over the last ten years or so I’d imagine!

A pipe dream. A mere pipe dream. Ah well. I’m going to finish off this here monologue and try not to think much for the remainder of my tube journey. You have a good’un.

In truth, our opponents were less than average, on a night in which Arsenal showed enough quality to secure three points and keep the Champions League hopes hanging by the dangling sword of Damocles. Dinamo Zagreb are an inferior team from an inferior league. Which makes it all the more frustrating that we fluffed our lines on their turf. Rarely threatening and only occasionally getting towards Petr’s goal, the Croatians were more like an irritating wasp at a summer picnic: not really spoiling the fun, but doing enough to let us know they were present.

Thankfully Arsenal had enough insect repellent to do what was neccessary. In fact, with three goals scored and none returned against us, you have to say that they did exactly what was required.

Defensively it was a much better performance from our back five, but as I remarked to Mike – a Geordie fan from my company – there is always the question mark which hangs over whether the opponents were that poor, or we were that good. The optimist in me naturally hopes for the latter. Certainly, Per and Kos looked more assured and in Bellerin and Monreal we go none of the problems we had from the weekend. 

The nerves have enveloped the Arsenal fans psyche since the news of Coquelin was announced, but in truth these are not the games with which Flamini, Arteta or even Chambers will ever tested. Champions League games like this are for building confidence. In that regard, Flamini did well, getting stuck in and winning tackles in the ways in which only Flamini can do (sometimes awkwardly). 

The offensive side of the team performed well enough. Özil looked his usual excellent self, also getting that rarest of things; a headed goal. I joked to Mike that he probably winced as the ball came in, but on replays, it looked like I was pretty bang on the money despite my flippant remark.

Alexis once again defied the odds. Can somebody tell me how a person who seems to have played solid football for three years, still manages to put in a shift like that and get two goals? He probably should have completed the hat-trick by converting the stonewall penalty he didn’t get, but it was one of those where the referee was never going to point to the spot given the score line. 

Never mind. At least we got to see nothing from positives from the game. Two goals from Alexis, one from Özil, a brilliant assist from Campbell too. I still yet to be convinced by his future at the club, especially with Rambo returning for a cameo, but you have to give him props for picking out the Chilean for goal number three. It was nice to see a host of Arsenal players jogging over to congratulate him on the assist too. 

A word for Santi Cazorla too. I thought he was brilliant yesterday and his involvement in the first goal cannot be underestimated. The way he jinks past players is mesmerising at times and he singled-handedly turned a precarious situation in to a promising attack with but a few shimmies of his toes. He poor against the Spuds, which we later found out was due to a dizzy spell, but it just goes to show that when he plays well, we play well. If we get him on form against Norwich on Sunday, we’ll go a long way to picking up three points, so let’s hope he gives us another masterclass in Norfolk at the weekend.

With Olympiakos suffering the same fate as us in Munich, the goal difference tally has swung in our favour after last night’s performance, but that isn’t the key metric with which our qualification will be secured. That will be by defeating the Greeks on their own turf by two goals or scoring at least three and winning the game. There’s no doubt we’re capable, but it will still be a tall order and with eyes now turning back towards the Premier League this weekend, it’s important to ensure the team is ready for that about the Champions League. It will be a cagey affair in Athens on December 9th and one that we could have done without, but the reason we love to see Arsenal in games is because we want them to have every chance to win trophies. You can’t win trophies if you’re not in them.

So it is then, that our fate remains in our own hands still, albeit with a bit of a mountain to climb. Would Arsenal have it any other way though? We’re getting quite used to it now.

See thee tomorrow.

It would have been more than we were worthy of, if truth be told, because we were appalling from start to finish. Before we scored the opening goal we looked sluggish and after we’d conceded the second goal through our own implosion, we were languid, so it’s the least we can expect after a terrible day at the office.

West Brom didn’t even have to be any good. They weren’t. They showed up, pressed with a little more urgency and got their rewards through their endeavours. Bellerin had a poor game and was ball watching for the floated ball to the back post for Morrison to glide over Cech. For the second goal McClean just drifted past his marker to put the ball in to an area in which the abysmal Arteta gave him quite literally a helping hand in to our own goal.

Defensively it was horrendous to watch. At one point in the game Mertesacker played a simple forward ball straight to the feet of a West Brom player to set them up on the counter. Koscienly gave the ball away more times than I’ve seen all season. Bellerin looked like a young player and not the guy who has dethroned Debuchy. Monreal was probably the only player to have a half-decent game.

And therein lies the problem. A ‘half decent’ game. If we’d have had six or seven of our players who’d have turned up and given us a seven out of 10 game, we’d have probably won that match yesterday. I’m not sure a single player got about a six.

Actually, I correct myself, because Alexis looked better and was a threat for most of the afternoon. But you can tell he’s not at 100% because his touch wasn’t quite there at times in front of goal.

To add insult to injury, we’ve also picked up two more injuries, which has pretty much added a bit of cat urine to a sh*t sandwich. If Coquelin is out for any length of time, we have Flamini and then Bielik who are our defensive midfield options. Arteta is also now out with a calf and you have to wonder, given his persistent injury problems, why they manager has continued to put his faith in him. I know he’s a good player and I’m happy he’s in the squad, but he can’t really be relied on in a Championship winning team, can he?

Heh, ‘championship winning team’, sounds fanciful doesn’t it? Yesterday I said that if we’re going to stand a chance of winning the league it’s games like West Brom away that you win. We lost. I’m feeling low. Low because it was a real chance – with hindsight in mind given Moneychester City’s result – to get a bit of daylight between us and them. Forget Leicester and Man United, it’s City who are the one’s who look like you need to finish above them to win the league. But we’re Arsenal and every time we’re handed an opportunity we always seem to bugger it up. Had that Cazorla penalty gone in, then we could chalk it up to a bad day at the office and move on, but another defeat leaves me wondering how on earth this team are going to compete.

I suppose we won’t have to worry about that, if all of the other teams around us keep effin’ up as well. We’ve lost three games this season already, yet we’re still only two points from the top. The curse of November might well and truly do us in, because that’s a draw at home to our local rivals, a shocking display yesterday and on Tuesday we play Zagreb with rapidly dwindling squad numbers. I don’t really even care about the Champions League, but I do care about the Premier League. If Arsene could wrap up some of his players in cotton wool that would be great, but we are running out of bodies, so the same players will be playing in midweek and on Sunday next week. We just have to hope that there is some sort of miracle cure for players like Ramsey and the Ox, because we look like we’re on empty now. It’s catching up with us – all of these injuries I mean – and we look like a beleaguered team. Is that the manager’s fault? Is it the training methods? The lack of rotation? I don’t know and frankly, after a day like yesterday, I don’t really care right now. But I do want to see us get better and apply ourselves more than we did yesterday.

Right, that’s it for me, as I’m nursing a hangover and need some pig. See you in the morrow.