Arsenal Season Review 2017/18

Now that the dust has settled on the football season, from an Arsenal perspective at least, it’s time to look back on how it went.

I suppose last summer is the place to start and to look at how the club fared in the transfer market ahead of the new season. We had won the FA Cup for the third time in four years, but we also missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger. He had also signed a new two year contract despite the misgivings of many of the fan base and he was determined he would and could build a better and stronger team.

Sead Kolasinac arrived fairly early in the summer on a free transfer from Schalke 04 and hopes were high of a bright future for the player voted the best left back in the Bundesliga the previous season. Alexandre Lacazette arrived a month later from Lyon as the club broke their transfer record to sign the striker they so badly needed. There were no other arrivals though which meant the issues with our goalkeepers, our defence and our midfield went unaddressed yet again.

At the same time we sold Wojciech Szczesny to Juventus after his two year loan spell at Roma had ended and to me it felt like we had let our best goalkeeper go and at a very low price too. With Szczesny set to become the first choice at Juventus next season we will know soon enough whether it was a rash decision to sell him. It left us with Petr Cech and David Ospina vying for the keeper’s shirt and neither of them did an awful to inspire me over the season.

We also saw the departure of Kieran Gibbs to West Brom which wasn’t really a surprise after the arrival of Kolasinac. It meant we had no extra options in defence unless we were going to promote some youth players or the likes of Rob Holding and Calum Chambers could make the next step and win a place in the first team. We tried in vain to offload Mathieu Debuchy, but at least we had him as back up to Hector Bellerin for fhe right back role.

The most interesting development was probably the sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain  just before the transfer window closed. He wanted a more central role in the team, but he had rarely done much to suggest he could show the consistency and quality needed to play there at the top level. He played against Liverpool in a bizarre team selection only days before we sold him to them and I’m still trying to figure out what the manager was thinking in the team selection as Liverpool thumped us.

The sale of Chamberlain meant we ended up making a profit from the transfer window despite having a squad that desperately needed some investment. We did manage to hold on to both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil though as they both moved into the last season of their contracts. It was hard to believe we were going to challenge for the league, but we had become a cup team in the last few seasons and we had three cups to compete for.

The season started on a high with a come from behind 4-3 win at home to Leicester in our first game, but it didn’t take too long for things to get worse. The defending against Leicester left a lot to be desired and that would be the case week in and week out as the season progressed. Consecutive away defeats at Stoke and Liverpool followed and we failed to score in both of those games too.

Our Europa League group progressed pretty well though despite playing fringe and youth players and those same players kept going in the Carabao Cup too. It was obvious early on that City were going to stroll home in the League and we dropped more points in our first three away games than they dropped away from home throughout the whole season. Nobody else was setting the world alight though and second place seemed within our reach if we could only sort out our away form and stop conceding stupid goals.

By the turn of the year we had progressed to the Carabao Cup semi finals and the last 32 of the Europa League with our FA Cup defence about to start too. A top four finish was still well within our grasp too and there was some hope of player additions in the January transfer window. We still hadn’t sorted the Sanchez and Ozil contracts though and we looked like we would have to offload them if they didn’t agree to extend by the end of January.

As it transpired Ozil signed on the dotted line, but Sanchez was sold to Manchester United with Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming in the opposite direction. Very late in the window we also managed to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Dortmund and that was a move which really excited me. He is one of the best finishers in the game and I looked forward to seeing him banging goals in for Arsenal.

The January transfer window also saw the departures of both Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud who had both been among the top scorers in the club’s history after many years under Wenger. I thought it was time for both of them to go and I wasn’t overly concerned that we sold them to other Premier League teams because the players we brought in were better. Despite being an Arsenal player for so long Walcott never really reached his potential and Giroud was one step below the required level in my opinion due to his lack of pace.

By the time we signed him January hadn’t gone well as we were knocked out of the FA Cup in a humiliating 4-2 defeat at Championship side Nottingham Forest. We did beat Chelsea over two legs to make it to the Carabao Cup Final, but the prospect of playing Manchester City in the final was more than a little worrying. We also started our run of seven consecutive away league defeats in a row in January with a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth and like so many of our away defeats we took the lead in that game.

We duly lost the Carabao Cup Final to City when we again self imploded and February wasn’t a good month as we lost at Spurs and at home to City in the league. We were almost embarrassed by part timers Ostersunds in the last 32 of the Europa League despite winning the away leg 3-0. We did progress though and the Europa League became our only hope of glory and our only way back into the Champions League as the away defeats kept coming game after game in the league.

It became obvious well before the season ended that the top four was beyond us and we just had to do enough to stay in sixth place and make next season’s Europa League. We kept progressing in the Europa League though as we saw off both AC Milan and CSKA Moscow to set up a semi final with Atletico Madrid. There was still real hope of a trophy and the chance for the manager to win his first European trophy too.

When the sudden news of his impending departure at the end of the season came it was a shock to us all. It’s not that I didn’t think it was time for him to move on, but he had never walked away from a contract and I really didn’t think the club had the bottle to show him the door. It seems it was their decision though and despite his self belief he wasn’t going to get the chance to try to rebuild the team.

I thought the perfect time for him to go was the previous May when he had just become the manager to win the most FA Cups and he could have left on a relative high. It’s impossible to know whether he decided to stay himself or if the club asked him to stay as they pursued a path that would see them able to cope with his exit. His time was up though and we could only hope the players could find it within themselves to let him go out on a high.

The games against Atletico didn’t pan out as hoped though as our dodgy defence saw us concede goals through individual mistakes in both legs and go out 2-1 on aggregate. Atletico went on to comfortably win the final and it really was s case of what might have been. The Arsene Wenger phase at Arsenal ended with a whimper, but he was still the greatest manager we ever had.

The mark of the man was seen by the reaction of almost everyone to the news of his departure. He was treated with the greatest respect by fans, players and managers of other clubs as we played out our last few games. I have to admit it felt a little on the sad side, but I honestly believe it was the best thing for Arsenal going forward.

The players did at least manage to raise their game in his last home game to beat Burnley 5-0 and guarantee we finished above them in sixth place. They even managed to end the run of seven away defeats in a row in the last game of the season with a 1-0 win at Huddersfield. I have rarely been happy to see an Arsenal season come to an end, but it was most definitely a season to forget.

We conceded more league goals than in any other season under Arsene and we only managed four away wins and 16 away points from our 19 away games. We made more defensive mistakes leading to goals conceded than any other team in the league and we rarely managed to reach a level which was genuinely entertaining. Crowds at the Emirates dwindled as the season progressed and it really was a season to forget.

There were some positives though and the arrivals of Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan in January can give us real encouragement for next season. Despite finishing sixth only City took more points and scored more goals at home even if less fans were there to witness those results. I am actually looking forward to next season even if we will again have to get used to week after week of Thursday night European games followed by league games on Sundays.

There’s plenty to discuss going forward and I should probably consider a breakdown of how each of the players fared over the season. I’ll leave that for another day though and at this stage it’s probably best to leave a season with far too many disappointments behind us.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

The Transfer Window Shuts Firmly On Arsenal's Fingers

There's only one word to describe how the transfer window finished for Arsenal and that word is "shambles". After signing Sead Kolasinsc on a feee transfer early on and breaking the club's transfer record to sign Alexander Lacazette there was some hope that the squad strengthening that was required would actually be addressed. At the same time we were unable to offload the players who were surplus to requirements and those who were nearing the end of their contracts didn't extend or weren't sold.

When Arsene Wenger signed on for another two years at the end of last season he seemed convinced he was still the right man to move the club forward. With the noose of building the Emirates stadium no longer around the club's neck we were told we could compete with the top clubs in the transfer market. Somehow or other though we didn't manage to add another player to Kolasinac and Lacazette despite some frantic efforts just before the window closed.

It's impossible for me to believe we had an actual transfer policy and that we didn't just play it as it went. Kolasinac was a great start and eventually adding Lacazette was another step in the right direction, but the failure to add a top class central midfielder will be the biggest nail in the coffin of Arsenal's season for me. We just don't have the quality that's needed in the centre of our midfield to sustain a title challenge and maybe not even to make our annual goal of a top four finish.

The manager seems to have so much belief in his players and his ability to coach them that he truly believes the squad he has can challenge. He may have tried to sign Thomas Lemar on deadline day, but only because he was willing to cut his losses and let Alexis Sanchez go to Manchester City. The real problems with the team aren't in attack though they're at the other end of the pitch and they just haven't been addressed properly.

The signing of the best left back in the Bundesliga has to be a great addition to our defence even if the manager is unwilling to play him at the moment. The exit of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will at least mean there's more of a chance of Kolasinac playing and Hector Bellerin playing on the right, but our biggest defensive problems are due to attitude and how we play the game. The players need to be coached properly in how to defend as a unit and they need to be given the right tactics to suit each individual game.

From what I can see the manager is so convinced in the ability of his players that he doesn't think he needs to vary our game to suit our opponents. I wish we were that good, but we aren't and we need to put a lot more into our tactics and how we approach every single game. With the right attitude and game approach we can put it up to any team regardless of who they are.

The defeat at Liverpool showed up all the old troubles that the manager thought he had overcome with the strong finish to last season. We were lucky not to lose by more than four goals though and those old troubles have clearly gone nowhere. We played right into Liverpool's hands on the day and the players looked like they had no real interest in playing for the manager or the club. It's something we've seen too often in the past and I would be very surprised if we didn't see it again this season.

The reaction to that defeat was to panic in the closing days of the transfer window and try to add some quality to the squad. We failed miserably to do so, but we did manage to get rid of some of the players who should have left a lot earlier in the summer. The transfer of Chamberlain to Liverpool meant we ended up making a profit from the summer's dealings of somewhere in the region of €30'million.

In a summer where we were told there would be real investment in the team we have managed to not only turn a profit, but I would imagine we cut the wage bill too. That means we left up to €150 million in the bank that could have been invested in players that the squad desperately needs. We could have signed Lemar sooner for that €100 million we are meant to have offered for him and maybe added Virgil van Dijk too even if it didn't address our biggest need.

Besides the flip flopping on Chamberlain we appear to have tried to offload Shkodran Mustafi too, but we held on to him when we couldn't find a replacement. With Lucas Perez going out on loan it isn't a great judgment on last year's dealings to lose Perez and try to offload Mustafi too. If we wanted rid of Mustafi why did we wait so long to try to offload him.

Besides all of the players who did leave we managed to hold on to both Alexis and Mesut Ozil and they are the two best players at the club. The problem is they are both now in the final year of their contracts and we will lose them both for absolutely nothing next summer. There might be a chance of Ozil signing on again, but Alexis will be on his merry way next summer or maybe even in January if City have their way and we decide to cash in whatever value is left in him. They're not the only players nearing the end of their contracts and we seem incapable of doing anything about any of them.

The football starts up again on Saturday when we play at home to Bournemouth and there's going to be huge pressure on the players. We travel to Cologne in midweek in the Europa League and it's a competition we need to take a little more seriously than some might think considering our top four chances this season. After that it's a trip to Chelsea and it's one I'm really not looking forward to considering how easily Liverpool beat us.

It's easy to put all the blame on the manager, but it's impossible to leave the club owner out of it too. When you read the statistics on his other sports franchises in the States it can only strike fear in the heart of an Arsenal fan. The awful performances of each of them points to Arsenal only going in one direction and it's hard to see how we can stop that as long as Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder. He doesn't exactly have a record of disposing of his assets though and whether we like it or not he seems to be in it for the long haul.

Finally for today I'd love to know what the atmosphere at the club is like right now. With so many players still there who clearly would like to be elsewhere it can't be good and we can only wait to see how those players perform. I hope they will be professional enough to give their all for the cause, but nothing is sure the way things are at the moment.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Pathetic Arsenal Collapse At Liverpool

Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal yesterday when they lost their second game of the season away to Liverpool. Whatever can be said about the defeat at Stoke last week and how big refereeing decisions went against us there can be no such excuses offered yesterday. Arsenal were awful from first minute to last and didn't muster a single attempt on target for the first time in three years.

I thought the team selection at Stoke was all wrong and we were treated to more of the same yesterday. New signings Alexander Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac were left on the bench with Laurent Koscielny and Alexis Sanchez making their first appearances of the season after suspension and injury respectively kept them out of the team until now. The defence was where Arsene Wenger decided to make his strange selections yet again.

Rob Holding came back into the team after being left out of the squad last week while Shkodran Mustafi dropped to the bench. There are rumors of an impending departure for Mustafi and maybe that's why he was on the bench, but to be honest who knows. Holding was part of the central defensive trio along with Koscielny and Nacho Monreal with the really strange decisions in the wing back roles again.

With the manager unable to decide who should play at right wing back he opted for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hector Bellerin was played on the left. Never mind that we bought the player voted the best left back in the Bundesliga last season and still haven't given him a chance to show why he won that accolade. Neither Bellerin or Chamberlain should be played on the left, but it seems the manager is the only person unable to see it.

With no central midfielders added to the squad this summer there wasn't much choice in that area and it meant Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey were paired together again. It's a pairing that might possibly work at home to weaker teams, but away to Liverpool it was a recipe for disaster. Ramsey plays too far forward and Xhaka is giving too many goals away right now and both of them lived up to those expectations yet again.

I'm still struggling to understand how Danny Welbeck was chosen ahead of our record signing Lacazette. Welbeck will give you loads of energy and make plenty of runs, but his finishing just isn't up to standard. When the first chance of the game came his way early on he fluffed his lines and it was probably Arsenal's best chance of the game.

Things got decidedly worse for Arsenal very soon after that miss when another lazy Xhaka pass was intercepted and Liverpool went ahead. With Ramsey and Chamberlain a long way off and not even looking at the ball we were caught out of position. A quick cross came in from our left and Frimino was completely unmarked as he headed home.

We should have already been one down by then, but Petr Cech made a good save and he was probably our best player on the day. It's not a good day for the team when they lose 4-0 and their goalkeeper is their best player. It looked like we might make it to half time only one goal down, but in true Arsenal style we let in another goal five minutes before the break.

The second goal came from yet another turnover and that seems to be the pattern for so many of the goals we concede at the moment. We lost the ball on the edge of their box and within 10 seconds we were two behind as Sadio Mane scored from the edge of our box without a single tackle being made as Liverpool went forward. We reached the break lucky to be only two down and the manager had a huge amount of work to do to try to get us back into the game. He brought Francis Coquelin on for Ramsey, but it didn't make any difference at all.

Yet again their next goal came from a turnover and this time it was an Arsenal corner. The ball was cleared by Liverpool and Bellerin was the last man back 20 yards inside their half. His poor touch let Mohamed Salah in and he ran from his own half and finished with ease past Cech. At 3-0 the game was only going one way and it was a matter of how many Liverpool would get at that stage.

The fourth goal came from Daniel Sturridge with a little more than 10 minutes to go and for once it wasn't the immediate result of a turnover. It was still very poor from Arsenal, but at least they had to work just a little bit for the goal for a change. Thankfully it was the last goal of the day and we just had to wait for the final whistle to end the torture.

Where do you start to analyse what happened and how long would that analysis take. For a start the team selection was all wrong and it's obvious that the manager has no real belief in playing three central defenders. As soon as we need to chase a game he switches to a back four, but surely if he believed in the new formation he would stick to it. His continued insistence on playing players out of position and playing some players while better ones are sitting on the bench is inexplicable. 

He went to Liverpool yesterday and played right into their hands from the very first minute. Liverpool knew we would try to come at them and they sat and waited to pick us off on the break or from quick turnovers of our mistakes. It was all too predictable and yet the only man who never considered that it might happen or knew it would was our manager.

For me the blame lies squarely with him and while the players also have to shoulder some responsibility they are his players going out there and playing his tactics. He's the man charged with preparing them for the game and getting them ready mentally, physically and technically, but he admitted afterwards that they weren't ready in any of those aspects. He has to take responsibility for such an abject performance from a team he thinks can challenge for the title.

He got the perfect opportunity to leave on a high after our record breaking FA Cup exploits last season even if he didn't bring Champions League football for once. A new man could have rebuilt without the pressure of Europe's top competition and he would have left plenty of fond memories even if the last 10 years were nowhere near the first 10. What we're left with now is a team who genuinely look like they couldn't be bothered playing for him again while he has two years left on his contract and we all know he never walks away from a contract.

There's no time to bring anyone else in and the players a new manager might want with only 72 hours left in the transfer window. We can't get rid of the players that are no longer needed and far too many of our players are running their contracts down so they can leave for nothing at the end of this season or next. It's an absolute shambles and we have no choice but to watch the man who's in charge continue with his policies which just are not working.

In any other walk of life failure to learn from your mistakes would mean the end, but at Arsenal there are no consequences for the manager or the players. We are habitually handed thrashings and yet we are still told the club were unable to find anyone better to manage the team. I find that unacceptable and I still think we could at least make a go of the Europa League this season, but not with Arsene Wenger in charge.

That doesn't mean I'm going to abuse the man on social media or spend all of my time slating him. I will continue to support the club I have always supported for the last 47 years and nothing will change that, but I genuinely believe we will not move forward until there is a change in management. The next two years could be a long time or maybe I'm completely wrong and he will get it right again, but that scenario is looking less and less likely with every single game.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Transfers Update

With the new season getting nearer and nearer it finally looks like we could be getting the sort of transfer activity which has been promised since last season ended. So far we have seen the arrivals of both Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac with Wojciech Szczesny eventually departing to Juventus. I'm very happy with the arrivals of both Lacazette and Kolasinac, but I can't say I was overly happy to see Szczesny go.

He's done very well in his two years on loan at Roma and I honestly think he is at least an equal to Petr Cech and certainly better than any other options we have besides Cech. Maybe his bridges were burned along with that cigarette in the showers at Southampton, but I can't help feeling we might have made a mistake. Time will tell I suppose and playing understudy to Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus certainly won't make him a worse goalkeeper.


He's the only real departure of any note so far even if it does appear there are plenty more lining up at the exit door. It seems there is no place for Lucas Perez, Carl Jenkinson, Mathieu Debuchy, Jack Wilshere, Calum Chambers, Kieran Gibbs and maybe even a few more before the transfer deadline day. I would have thought David Ospina would be one of those on his way, but the sale of Szczesny has to make that fairly unlikely now.

The future of Alexis Sanchez is still uncertain, but the club seem to be determined to keep him even if it means losing him for nothing this time next year. I hope it doesn't come to that and he can be talked into a new contract, but if he can't I have to agree that it's better to keep him at the club for one final season despite what it might do to the bank balance in a year. He is the best player we have and if we are to make any impression next season we need to keep him and see how he can team up with Lacazette and Mesut Ozil.

There are plenty of rumours of the impending departures of Gibbs, Chambers, Perez and Jenkinson, but it might not be so easy to shift Debuchy or Wilshere. They're all on very good contracts at Arsenal and any team looking to buy them will have to think twice about matching their wages. We could be faced with a few of them not finding clubs because the money just isn't there to pay them.

We need to get their wages off the books though so we can pay that bit extra to the likes of Ozil and maybe Sanchez and the money we get for them would of course go nicely towards any upcoming purchases. The two players most likely to come at the moment seem to be Thomas Lemar and William Carvalho with the team/squad needing strengthening in their positions and both players possibly available. If we could add them to what we have already I think we could be almost optimistic about next season and it's been a while since I felt like that going into a new season with Arsenal.

It's also quite possible that we could lose Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before the window closes as he doesn't seem eager to sign a new contract with only a year left to run on his current deal. It's a bit like the Alexis situation except Chamberlain isn't quite as valuable to us and we have never really found his true position in the team in his seven years at the club. He's a player who can be so good sometimes and the opposite too often too, but I still think he has a role to play in the long season ahead.

Much has been made of the need to sell Theo Walcott as he doesn't fit into our new formation, but playing with wing backs is hardly set in stone and I think we need to keep him too. He scored 19 goals last season and frustrate us as he might at times it won't be easy to replace those goals. Like Olivier Giroud he still has something to offer and I don't think we should be too quick to offload either of them. I would be surprised if Arsene Wenger thinks differently, but you never know what he might do if the right offer comes in.

With the new season comes a new season of "Fantasy Premier League" and as usual my "Ever Arsenal" league is up and running and there's €50 to the winner from my pocket unless a generous sponsor wants to step in and offer prizes galore. There's been well over a thousand teams in my league for the last few seasons and judging by the early uptake there will be again this season. If you haven't played before you can sign up here and join my league after you have set your team up by using the league code 57957-16522. For those who have been in the league before you will automatically rejoin once you set your team up and you can also find an auto link on my Twitter feed.

I'm also running my Predictions League again this season and you can find the link to join here and join my mini league with the code tq3c5. It's on the Talksport site and anyone good enough to predict all 10 scorelines correctly in a week can win £1,000,000 from them, but taking part in my mini league is obviously a lot more prestigious. I'll be updating the league here every week along with my usual fantasy tips and predictions.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Get Their Man

Transfers are rarely a thing of speed when Arsenal are involved and so it was with Alexandre Lacazette, but the announcement came on Wednesday evening and we welcomed our record purchase to the club. It looks like we finally managed to land the striker we have being missing since Robin van Persie done a bunk five years ago. Despite scoring so many goals last season Arsenal could have done so much more with the right man up front.

As good as Olivier Giroud might be I think Lacazette is a step up from him despite Giroud keeping him out of the French national team. To be fair to Lacazette it's actually Antoine Griezmann who is keeping him out of the French team as Giroud fulfills a different role for his country to the one Lacazette would attempt to fill. As good as Lacazette is I have no doubt we would have been even happier if Griezmann was on his way to us, but we have at least managed to get Lacazette as a result of Griezmann staying put at Atletico Madrid.

The story goes that they had lined Lacazette up to replace Griezmann if he left, but their transfer embargo meant they weren't prepared to let Griezmann go and we got Lacazette. Atletico's record in buying strikers has been pretty good and hopefully their judgement on Lacazette was spot on and Arsenal can reap the benefits. We haven't had a striker capable of netting 30 league goals in a season in five years, but we most certainly have one now.

The fee was somewhere north of the 40 something million we spent on Mesut Ozil and if the rumours are true we haven't finished yet. It looks like we're intent on increasing our attacking options, but it's difficult to know if that will work out with the futures of Ozil and Alexis Sanchez still up in the air. Hopefully the arrival of Lacazette will encourage Alexis to stay even if it's only to see out the final year of his contract.

It would be a huge mistake to sell Alexis to Manchester City, but there doesn't seem to be too many other clubs willing to meet our asking price or pay the wages he's looking to get. The reaction to selling our best player to a rival would be extremely negative and it would get the new season off on a note which could be difficult for the manager and the players to cope with. I know Alexis could go for nothing next summer, but that sounds more acceptable to me right now than selling him to City. I don't want him to go at all, but if it does happen it has to be to a club outside the Premier League.

I would like to see a team with both Alexis and Lacazette in it next season and see how they can combine to terrorise opposition defences. With Ozil behind them to pull the strings it should hopefully be a thing of beauty if it comes to pass. I would like to see Giroud stick around too as he proved to be pretty effective off the bench last season and he offers us a different way to play if things need changing. The arrival of Lacazette could see his exit though as he will be anxious to play as much as possible this season with the World Cup on the horizon.

We have certainly spent an awful lot of money in the last year and it might be time to recoup a little of that by selling some of the players who are surplus to requirements and getting their wages off the books too. The squad and team still need strengthening considering we finished a deserved fifth last season and it's time to invest some of what we have left in more defensive aspects of the team. The arrival of Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer was certainly a boost to our defensive options, but we still looks a little fragile at the back and in midfield to me.

Hopefully we can keep both Hector Bellerin and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but a reserve right back could be needed as well as possibly another central defender and midfielder. We let in too many goals last season and even though the switch to five at the back improved things we still need to strengthen. I would love to see Wojciech Szczesny come back into the fold too as I think he's our next best option to Petr Cech if not even better than him. He looks like he might have matured a little in two years in Italy and he has certainly played well in that time.

At least we have brought two players who will improve the team in and in plenty of time too with the players just back for pre-season this week. How we fare next season will depend on how much more can be done with the squad between now and our season opener at home to Leicester on Friday August 11th. That's only five weeks from tomorrow and you will be amazed how quickly those five weeks will pass.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Transfer Latest

It's been far too long since I wrote anything about Arsenal, but it's not an easy thing to do when you're travelling from coast to coast of the U.S.A. and you end up sick on your return home. Just getting out of bed and going to work for the past week since my return has been a chore and I found it difficult to socialise with a few drinks on Saturday night, but trooper that I am I managed. Life goes on though and no doubt I will be right as rain before too long.

The season finished on a high with the FA Cup win despite the disappointment of the fifth place Premier League finish and missing out on Champions League football for the first time in the lives of many Arsenal fans. Of course we have gone through far worse times in the past and during my 47 years of supporting the club. However, having said that our current situation is not a good one for a club with our supposed value and the assets available to us.

The news of Arsene Wenger renewing his contract can hardly have come as a surprise, but it was still a blow to a lot of fans who think we need to change the man in charge to move forward. It is what it is though and we have to get behind him and hope he can move the team forward despite the evidence of far too many seasons now. There's an awful lot of work to do with the squad this summer and his chances of making us genuine challengers again will depend on the work he does this summer.

We've already seen the arrival of Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke 04 and he looks like a good addition to the team/squad on the left side of the defence. His arrival will surely mean a departure for Kieran Gibbs, but as of yet it seems we haven't found a buyer and our fee combined with his wages could be a stumbling block. I expect Kolasinac to challenge Nacho Monreal fairly early on and he looks like he will fit nicely into a flat back four or five at the back.

Other than that though the only movement has been the inospicious exit of Yaya Sanogo who never lived up to the hype and spent most of his time at the club injured. He was another gamble that didn't pay off and it's hard to see why we signed him in the first place. He left for nothing and he won't be the first player to do so this summer.

It all feels like the transfer merry go round hasn't really started yet and it's difficult to know where Arsenal stand at the moment. The conundrum comes down to Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil really with neither of their futures secure going into the last year of their contracts. Are we looking to replace them or add to them and are we trying to attract other players without knowing the futures of our two star players. If they both leave it's going to be incredibly difficult to replace them, but our need will be all the more pressing.

We are linked with so many attacking players at the moment with Kylian Mbappe, Alexandre Lacazette, Arda Turan, Riyad Mahrez, Thomas Lemar and Anthony Martial among others rumoured to be on their way to Arsenal. Most of them would be very welcome additions or replacements right now, but the chances of getting any of them vary wildly. Who we might need from them is another matter though.

Mbappe is obviously the name who stands out the most, but I cannot see Arsenal breaking the world transfer record and paying the wages to go with that for an 18 year old who is a huge prospect, but is still far from the finished article. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see him at Arsenal, but I would be utterly shocked to see him join us. If we did sign him though it would surely be a signal of intent and it would make it a lot more difficult for Alexis or Ozil to leave.

It does seem we might be closer to signing Lacazette and he might just be the striker we're looking for, but the money Lyon are looking for might well put us off. We do need a top class striker though and we have needed one for a long time now. If we don't sign the striker we need I fear we won't be up to the task again next season despite scoring the third most goals in any season in the history of the club last season.

Olivier Giroud still thinks he can be that man, but I just think his lack of pace has shown he can't be even if he is a very good option at other times. I don't think we should sell him as he proved to be quite valuable last season in the limited game time he got and he could well do so again this season. Our problem could be his desire to hold down his place in the French team with the World Cup coming up next year.

There have been rumours of plenty of other departures too and some of them should probably be allowed to go while we should do our best to keep others. I hope we can hold on to Hector Bellerin, Wojciech Szczesny and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it might be best for us and the players themselves if David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy and a few others headed for the hills as soon as possible. It will be difficult to keep Barcelona's grubby hands off Bellerin while it appears Szczesny is considered surplus to requirements and it's difficult to know where we stand on Chamberlain.

We've been here too often before though and ended up trawling through the bargain basement on deadline day. This summer needs to be different and it's difficult to believe it will be considering what has gone on for too many seasons now though. I hope I'm wrong, but I remain to be convinced.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Chelsea: FA Cup Final Preview

With the Premier League season ending in disappointment for Arsenal, despite winning their last five games, they still have a chance of some silverware when they take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final this evening. It was the first time under Arsene Wenger that they had failed to finish in the top four and they set a Premier League record for the most points of any team finishing fifth. On the surface it looks like things aren't as bad as some would have you believe with that points haul, a cup final today and a blip in their Champions League qualification record.

However that's only scratching the surface of what has happened at Arsenal over the last few years and in this season in particular. The club is being run in a manner which defies belief at times with nobody seemingly responsible for a team which has proven season after season that it just cannot progress under the manager. His influence at the club is so vast that he controls almost every aspect of it and when it all goes wrong the blame has to lay with him.

Of course Stan Kroenke had to take his share of the blame too as his complete lack of ambition as an owner has led to the standards which are so unacceptable. It's no surprise that all of his other sports franchises are in a similar position when it comes to delivering everything except the one thing which seems to matter most to him. If he was to sell his shares in Arsenal he would make an enormous profit, but he seems to have no interest in doing so or in the team actually winning anything either.

The fans of the manager will tell you he has us in our third cup final in four seasons and we have the chance of winning the cup for the third time out of four. They will point to our points haul and tell you how close we came to a top four finish, but that hides so much of the truth. We were told that the club had exited from the tight financial restrictions of the stadium building years, but we have actually become less competitive than we were in those years.

We exited the Champions League at the round of 16 for the seventh season in a row and we suffered an embarrassing record 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich. Once we hit our first bump in our league campaign we crumbled for months and only recovered when it was too late as we have done so often in the past 10 years. We have reached the FA Cup final, but the luck of the draw played a part with home games against non league clubs in the fifth and sixth rounds.

I don't mean to be all doom and gloom on the day of the cup final, but it's hard to see our season any other way. Our squad is in turmoil ahead of the opening of the transfer window with our two best players going into the last year of their contracts and there is nothing we can do to keep them if they choose to go. Even the manager's contract is up this summer and we still don't know if he will be our manager or not next season.

It's time to look at today's game though and the chance to put some cheer into a season which has delivered so little of it. As an added incentive we have the chance to win the cup for the 13th time which is one more than any other club has won it and we can stop Chelsea from doing the double too. They might have strolled to their league victory, but I still think they're a team who can be made to suffer on their day.

It was only after Arsenal beat them 3-0 that they switched to the formation which won them the league and Arsenal have now adopted that approach too. Antonio Conte has a lot more belief in the formation though and our manager is a lot more likely to switch to a flat back four if things aren't going our way. It's the players who will make up the defensive part of that formation which are causing the most concern for Arsenal ahead of the game. 

It seems Petr Cech has picked up a knock and David Ospina will play in goal which doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Ospina has been our FA Cup and Champions League keeper this season, but Cech's recent form should have made him the choice for today and I can only hope he is actually injured rather than reverting to the ridiculous tactic of playing Ospina in cup games. There is a trophy to play for today and sentiment cannot play any part in the team selection. I would be very surprised if Ospina was at Arsenal next season and playing or not today would hardly be what he bases any decision to leave on.

We have our injury and suspension worries elsewhere too with Laurent Koscielny out after his rash tackle last week got him a red card and he lost his midweek appeal. Gabriel Paulista went off injured in that win against Everton too and he will play no part today either. There are concerns over both Shkodran Mustafi and Kieran Gibbs too and it seems they will both have late tests before the game.

Right now it looks like our central defensive trio will be Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker and Nacho Monreal and that has to be a little worrying up against the piece of scum that is Diego Costa. If Mustafi makes it we will probably see Mertesacker drop out as he has hardly kicked a ball this season through injury. If Gibbs isn't up to it then we could either see Mertesacker back in and Monreal go to left wing back or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain play on that side.

There's a lot of ifs and buts there, but Chamberlain playing on that side would mean Hector Bellerin would play on the right and it would solve one selection problem for the manager. Outside of the defensive unit there aren't too many worries for the manager, but the wing backs ability to make something happen in the attacking part of the pitch is crucial and he needs to get them right. He also needs to make sure they are up to their defensive duties because Chelsea know how to utilise this formation to it's best.

The rest of the team almost picks itself with the only real headache being who plays as the central striker and I would prefer Danny Welbeck over Olivier Giroud because he offers the pace which can hurt Chelsea. Giroud has proved to be a real asset off the bench so many times this season and he might just be needed in that role today. Despite the perception that we struggle to score goals we have already managed 119 goals this season and that's more than any other season under Wenger.

I don't want Alexis Sanchez to leave this summer, but if he wants out there's little we can do to stop him. If he is to leave surely it would be fitting if he helped us to a trophy in his last game and he's the player most likely to cause Chelsea problems. I have a feeling he will get on the scoresheet today and I just hope it's the goal that makes the difference.

We're going to need the referee to be strong to keep up with the antics we know we will get from Costa and it's about time the officials actually caught up with him during a game. Granit Xhaka has to curb his urge to kick anything that goes past him and both him and Aaron Ramsey have to form a shield for what could be a makeshift defence. If everybody does their job from first minute to last we can win the game, but we will have to do just that. I'm not exactly optimistic about the game, but somehow or other I can't see Chelsea with the trophy and I just hope I'm right.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To Stoke Previewed

Arsenal have slowly but surely improved in recent weeks with the exception of the 2-0 defeat at Spurs. They won at home to United on Sunday and again at Southampton on Wednesday night to keep their hopes of a top four finish just alive. They still have some ground to make up on both Liverpool and City, but they certainly have have some momentum in their favour.

Before last Sunday Arsenal had never won a league game against a Jose Mourinho, but they overcame that hoodoo with a 2-0 win. They haven't had the best record at Southampton either since Southampton returned to the Premier League, but they overcame that hurdle in midweek too. Their next hurdle is a trip to a Stoke team where they have struggled almost every time they have played there in the Premier League.

In eight trips to Stoke in that time Arsenal have only won once and that was on a day Arsenal will never forget. The injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey on that day over seven years ago is a sight I will never forget, but to the credit of the Arsenal players they managed to play on and get two very late goals to win 3-1. If Ramsey plays today he will suffer the usual abuse from the Stoke fans who weren't happy with him taking umbridge with the "challenge" which could have ended his career.

We'll hear the usual disgusting songs from their fans as they show their lack of class and they only way to shut them up is to give them the beating they deserve. It's not as if what happened to Ramsey was a mere accident as it was a direct result of the tactics many teams and Stoke in particular employ against Arsenal. Look at the injury Matthieu Debuchey suffered at the hands of Marco Arnautovic a couple of seasons ago and how it ruined his career or Charlie Adams assault on Alexis Sanchez last season.

Both Arnautovic and Adams escaped unpunished and it appears it takes what happened to Ramsey for referrees to act. It's very difficult to believe those in charge have the welfare of the players in mind when they constantly allow incidents like those to go unpunished. I have no doubt we will see the the same approach as always from Stoke today and the chances are the first yellow card will be issued to an Arsenal player (Granit Xhaka).

Stoke have been on a pretty awful run recently, but a strong finish to the season could still see them finish as high as eighth. They have only won once in nine games and that was a home game against the team with the worst away record in the league. That was their only home win in four games and they have lost to both Chelsea and Liverpool at home in those games. If Arsenal are going to keep their top four hopes alive they have to do what both of those teams did and get the better of Stoke on their own ground.

Of course Arsenal haven't exactly set the world alight away from home recently either with five defeats in their last seven away games, but they have won two of their last three on the road. They haven't had too many problems scoring goals away from home with only City getting more on their travels, but they have conceded too many. Maybe the change in formation will change that as the team seem to be gradually improving as they adjust to it.

It will be Arsenal's third game in seven days and fatigue could be a factor for the players. Even with that in mind I don't expect Arsene Wenger to make too many changes to a winning team. Both Laurent Koscielny and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are doubts for the game and I think Koscielny is the more likely of the two to make it.

Chamberlain pulled up with a hamstring injury on Wednesday night and with his past record it would be too risky to play him. It could be a risk to play Ramsey too considering how far he has run in the last two games and his injury record since that fateful day in February 2010. I would be surprised if he didn't play though and I expect to see a very similar team.

Arsenal will have to complete as hard as Stoke if they want to get the better of them and that's something they've struggled to do far too often this season for my liking. They have the players to hurt Stoke and win the game, but they have to silence the crowd and put Stoke on the back foot. This is almost like Stoke's cup final to their fans and they seen to like nothing more than turning Arsenal over.

If we can take the three points we will put real pressure on Liverpool before they go to a West Ham team tomorrow who have finally found some form at home. That pressure is definitely getting to them with Jurgen Klopp questioning Southampton's tactics against us on Wednesday compared to the tactics they employed in getting a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Sunday. If we can beat Stoke then Liverpool will have to beat West Ham and the way they are playing that will be no easy task.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

We're The Famous Arsenal And We're Going To Wembley

I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong and I got a few things wrong in my preview of Arsenal's FA Cup semi final with City. Firstly I questioned the mental strength of the team and they proved that they do have some of it by coming from behind to win 2-1 in extra time. I also questioned the three (or five) at the back formation, but it looked a lot better against City than it did in the second half in particular against Boro.

We may have had to defend in depth and in numbers too and we may have rode our luck more than a little at times, but I thought we just about deserved the victory. City can complain all they like about some questionable decisions by the referee, but all of the decisions didn't go in our favour and I didn't hear them complaining when they beat us 2-1 earlier in the season thanks to two offside goals. That game was one of those that destroyed our confidence and started the rot which has seen us fall so badly away in the race for the top four.

Our chances of a top four finish took a turn for the better yesterday though when Liverpool lost at home to Palace to leave us thinking we have a slight chance of making next season's Champions League. We have eight games left this season and if we win them all we will finish in the top four and lift the FA Cup too which means it's not all exactly doom and gloom. We can't get our hopes too high though because there are some very tough games in there and we're still a long way from a good team far too often.

All of our problems haven't suddenly gone away overnight thanks to a win over City, but there are definite signs of improvement. Rob Holding has taken his chance with both hands and he has to be pushing to keep his place in the team when Shkodran Mustafi returns from injury. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had another very good game against City and it appears playing as a wing back might just suit him.

I still think we need to be more mobile up front if we're going to play three central defenders and Olivier Giroud doesn't exactly possess the pace to hit teams on the break. Surely playing Alexis Sanchez in the central striking role makes more sense as it's where he can have the maximum impact. I understand the thinking behind Giroud at centre forward with the formation we're playing, but we still don't get the crosses into the box to suit his needs. When Chamberlain or Nacho Monreal get into a good position they're far more likely to pull the ball back for somebody to run onto.

I wasn't so sure of Aaron Ramsey playing alongside Granit Xhaka and I thought Mohamed Elneny would be a better option, but Ramsey looked like he might be growing into the role against City. I also mentioned that City are the team most like us in terms of their ability to mess things up for themselves and all they have left to play for now is a top four place and next season's Champions League. If we're going to make it ourselves we need to overhaul two of City, Liverpool and United before the season ends.

That quest starts at home to Leicester on Wednesday night and continues at Spurs on Sunday and we quite simply have to win both games. Leicester will be no pushover after their recent upturn and the thought of ending Spurs hopes of winning the league on Sunday has to be one the players should be looking forward to. They showed a real vulnerability in losing their cup semi final 4-2 to Chelsea on Saturday and we need to find a way to take advantage of that vulnerability.

For the moment though we can wallow in the glory of our victory and the knowledge of a trip to Wembley for the Cup Final to come on Saturday May 27. Tickets won't be quite so easy to access as they were for the semi final and I have no doubt plenty of those who decided not to go to the semi final will grab the chance to go to the final. We have the chance to set a couple of records that day and hopefully we can do just that.

No matter where we go from here though I still think it's time for Arsene Wenger to go and that won't change even if we win the cup and finish in the top four. Scraping through by the skin of our teeth isn't enough any more and we need to be putting in a genuine challenge. I just can't see that happening under him any more and for me that means it's time for change. Sadly I think winning our way to the cup final will probably be what tips the scales in his favour when it comes to signing a new contract regardless of whether we finish in the top four or not.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To Crystal Palace Previewed

The weekend hasn't gone too well for Arsenal so far with the rest of the top six all playing and winning which means nothing less than three points will do against Crystal Palace. As it stands they still have every chance of overhauling Liverpool, City and United with games in hand on all of them and three points against Palace would put them ahead of United on goal difference. A top four finish is most certainly not anything like a trophy, but it's infinitely better than finishing outside the top four.

Arsenal still have eight games to go after the Palace game and bizarrely two of those games have still to be scheduled with only six weeks until the end of the season. At this stage it looks like their games against Sunderland and Southampton away from home will come on May 10th and either May 16th or 17th. Of all the teams chasing a top four place their finish to the season looks the toughest and they're the ones struggling for form most of all too.

They at least got back on the horse in their last two games with a 2-2 draw at home to City followed by a 3-0 win at home to West Ham. They have to continue their revival against a Palace team who are desperate for points to avoid relegation and who won away to league leaders Chelsea last week. They did lose at Southampton in midweek though and they only have three points to spare over the bottom three.

Their fortunes have improved an awful lot in recent weeks with four wins in a row before that defeat to Southampton and clean sheets in three of those games too. As it stands no other team has taken less points at home than Palace and only the bottom two clubs have scored less goals at home. They have actually taken more points away from home than they have at home, but their recent form means they cannot be underestimated.

From a selection point of view I think Arsene Wenger should probably go with the same team which beat West Ham despite having both Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain available to him. The performance was far from exceptional, but it was certainly better than it has been in a long time. I for one would like to see more of the Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny partnership in midfield as I think the two of them together might just offer the balance the midfield has been painfully missing.

There is a case to be made for Olivier Giroud returning instead of Danny Welbeck I suppose or even Welbeck pushing wide and Alexis Sanchez playing through the middle where he is clearly at his best. I think more of what we saw in the second half in particular against West Ham is what's required though and an unchanged team might be the way to do just that.

Palace have their players to watch of course with both Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke proving a real hand full when they beat Chelsea, but Arsenal certainly have players better than both of them. As good as Palace might have been against Chelsea they also rode their luck at the back and could easily have conceded a hat full of goals. If Arsenal are in any way clinical in front of goal tonight I think they should see this game out with a couple of goals to spare.

Of course I'll be perfectly happy with any sort of victory, but the better the performance the more likely it is to inspire confidence in a team which has been short of it for so long now. There are tougher challenges to come before the season ends, but they need to get ones like this out of the way for those challenges to even become important. I have a feeling they will do just that tonight and I must admit it's great to have some confidence in the players for a change and I only hope they can live up to the billing.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To Liverpool Previewed

It's been a bad few weeks for Arsenal with Champions League elimination almost certainly guaranteed and any realistic chance of winning the Premier League gone too. They still have the FA Cup in their sights and their pride left to play for in the Champions League, but it's Premier League business that concerns them at Liverpool tomorrow. They're still just about in the top four, but things are so tight at the top that anything from second to sixth is a realistic finish tor them this season.

One of their issues for far too long now has been their away form against the other top sides and it has been no different this season. They were dreadful away to Chelsea and lost 3-1 while they weren't much better away to United, but they managed to sneak a late draw. They actually started well away to City and led 1-0, but things went rapidly downhill as the game followed an all too familiar pattern and City came back to win 2-1. They still have to travel to Spurs, but first of all it's a trip to Anfield for the Saturday evening game.

On the face of it Liverpool are in a worse state than Arsenal with only one win in seven league games and an FA Cup exit at home to Championship side Wolves. They have played a game more than Arsenal and are still just about behind them in the league and it's the perfect opportunity to severely dent their top four ambitions. Their only win came in an excellent display against second placed Spurs recently and they have a great record against the rest of the top six teams this season.

They won away to Arsenal on the opening day of the season after trailing 1-0 in a game where both teams did their best to lose the game and Arsenal's defence won out as they were marginally worse. Since then they have played six other matches against the rest of the top six and they are still unbeaten with a return of 15 points from their seven games.They have more points per game against the rest of the top six than they have against the rest of the league which is an incredible statistic really.

When you look at Arsenal's record against the rest of the top six it makes depressing reading with only five points from six games and four of their last 13 games against those teams. Their only win was at home to Chelsea in what was probably their best performance of the season so far. That game gave Chelsea the impetus they needed to change their formation and they haven't looked back since then with 17 wins in 20 games as they seem to be running away with the league. Isn't just typical of Arsenal that their best performance of the season might well be what causes Chelsea to win the league.

It seems like Liverpool find it easier to play against teams who come out and play against them and struggle at times against teams who shut up shop. Arsenal certainly won't shut up shop as it's something they're simply not capable of as they have shown all too often. When they do decide to play defensively they don't close their opponents down quickly enough and seem content just to get bodies behind the ball.

Liverpool have their own defensive issues though and the right choices by Arsene Wenger should see him pick a team who can get behind their defence and get chances to score. With that in mind I would like to see Danny Welbeck and Lucas Perez play from the start, but Olivier Giroud might be better saved for another day even if he might get some joy in the air against a defence which is worse than ours. The chances are we will see Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott get the nod though and we will see too much of what just hasn't worked recently.

If Mesut Ozil is fit to play he can open up their defence even when he's not at his best and a central midfield partnership of Granit Xhaka and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would offer some good passing from deep if and when the Liverpool defence push up. It can't all be about holding on to the ball and gradually building against a team who have been shown to be so vulnerable on the break so often and who will push forward. The chances are there will be plenty of chances at both ends and we need to be the ones who make the most of the ones which come our way.

Only Chelsea have scored more goals at home than Liverpool, but they have conceded more goals than any other team in the top eight even if their defensive record at home isn't too bad. No other team has more away goals than Arsenal and the chances are we could be in for a game full of goals like the game earlier this season. 

If Arsenal are going to get something from the game they need to be switched on from first minute to last and every player has to be prepared to give his all while they're out there. Too much has been made of our mental strength or lack of and our lack of confidence against the rest of the top six due to our poor results against them. The players have had almost two weeks off from playing before the game and they have to arrive into it fit and raring to go.

Anything else would be a damning indictment on the manager and them too and bring his future into even more doubt. The fans can't continue to be fed the same inept performances and inept excuses and expect nothing to change and the only way to at least quiten the doubters (including me) is for the players to show they want to play for him and play with some confidence and style. I'm not so sure they can do that and a draw wouldn't be the worst result at all, but a win is really what's needed to maybe give the season the boost it so badly needs.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Something's Got To Change At Arsenal

The horrible deja vu feeling has reared it's ugly head again for Arsenal after last night's disastrous defeat at home to Watford. It was another case of "same old, same old" when it came to a chance to put themselves back into the title race. Chelsea went to Liverpool and dropped two points and Arsenal had the chance to close the gap to six points before traveling to play them on Saturday.

We have been accused on countless occasions of lacking "bottle" when it comes to the crunch and it's hard to see any other reason for last night's debacle. For Arsene Wenger to say after the game that the players weren't mentally prepared is stunning and it brings into question the role of the new club psychologist. For me it also has to bring into question the role of the manager.

Being an Arsenal fan is just like watching Groundhog Day and the one factor that never seems to change is the manager. Players come and go and yet the same failings are passed from one team to another. I can only assume it's something in the culture of the club and that culture as it is has been set by the manager.

It's not easy for me to say, but I think the only way we can move forward is with a change in management. There are obvious hazards in going down that path and things might get worse before they get better or they might not get better at all. I don't think it's even optional at this stage though because he just does not seem to be able to cure our ills.

I can't see us mounting a title challenge now and I dread to think what will happen at Chelsea on Saturday. If we play like we did in the first half last night we will get the sort of thumping which was all too frequent away to the best sides in the league a couple of seasons ago. The centre of our midfield has been decimated with only Francis Coquelin fit from the five players who would call it their position and I still don't think he's good enough at this level. We'll probably see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain play alongside him on Saturday and I only hope they aren't overrun by Chelsea.

It's incredible how this Arsenal team can get your hopes up and then absolutely shatter them with a performance like we saw in the first 45 minutes last night. The second half may have been better, but they did so much damage in that first half that they couldn't get anything from the game. It was so alike the 3-3 draw at Bournemouth only a few weeks when we managed to get a point from the game. You don't win the league when you lose at home to teams like Watford and Arsenal aren't going to win the league this season.

I know I was foolish to get my hopes up and I thought it would be Chelsea who might dash them on Saturday. It's so like Arsenal to fall to pieces only four days before the biggest game of their season so far and maybe that played a part in what happened. Perhaps the players had their minds on that game and didn't show Watford the respect you have to show every team in the Premier League and maybe that's what cost them the game. If that's the case it's again impossible to look beyond the manager because it's his job to send them out there prepared for the game from the first minute and they quite clearly were far from that.

All roads point back to Arsene Wenger being at the root of the problem for me. I love what he has done for the club, but it must be time to move on before he completely destroys his legacy. Some would say that has happened already but I don't think so quite yet and no matter what I will still back him as long as he is in charge. I know it sounds a little strange calling for his head and saying I will back him, but what I suppose I mean is I'm not going to hurl abuse in his direction or throw my toys out of the pram if he doesn't go. I do think his time has to be up though.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To Manchester City Previewed

This week hasn't gone too well so far for Arsenal with a 2-1 defeat at Everton on Tuesday night. That defeat saw them fall six points behind Chelsea at the top of the league and Chelsea increased the lead to nine points when they won their 11th game in a row at Palace yesterday. To make matters worse for Arsenal they led at Everton, but Everton upped the ante after the break and Arsenal struggled. It was Arsenal's first defeat since the opening game and the 14 games unbeaten in between still have Arsenal in a strong position. 

They face another really tough game today though when they travel north again to play Manchester City. A win against Everton might have given Arsenal some lee way in this game, but the need for three points today is pressing to say the least. It's not going to be an easy task against a City team who find themselves in a very similar position in the league table at least.

From a selection perspective I wouldn't be surprised to see Arsene Wenger play the same team which he played on Tuesday night. He has a habit of keeping faith in players after they haven't done too well and giving them another chance to impress. There were a few performances in that game which were not up to scratch and the whole team has to play better both individually and as a unit.

Of course City have had their own troubles and have gradually slipped down the table after initially winning their first five games. They have struggled at home in particular and their win against Watford on Wednesday night was their first home win in five league games. They have troubles with injuries and suspensions and any team in the world would miss the suspended Sergio Aguero.

It's hard to keep pace with Chelsea at the moment and until they make a slip that's all we can hope to do. They're closing in quickly on Arsenal's record of 14 consecutive Premier League wins which was set in 2002 when Arsenal blew everyone away and won their third double. Arsenal's points tally at the moment is better than it has been at this stage in the season for all but one of the last seven seasons.

I expect a pretty open game with both teams needing the three points and I think that might favour Arsenal. City showed how vulnerable they are to pace in their 3-1 defeat at home to Chelsea and that has to be the route for Arsenal. Chelsea took them apart on the break even when City were winning and Arsenal have to take those opportunities when they get them.

All too often against Everton the wrong ball was played as Arsenal attempted to break and they allowed Everton to pile the pressure on. The right use of the ball today and correct choice of pass could and should see players like Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain use their pace to get behind the City defence and through on a keeper who has struggled at this level.

Of course Arsenal have their defensive issues too and it's been far too long since they kept a clean sheet. The left side of our defence seems to be targeted game after game by the opposition and Nacho Monreal will need help from Chamberlain if he is the one who plays wide right. The team have to defend better as a team though which means every player has to know his job and make sure he does it from first minute to last.

I still think our biggest problem is Santi Cazorla's continued absence and our inability to set the pace and control a game without him. He's not going to be back for quite a while though and the rest of the team have to step up in his absence. With Mohamed Elneny off on international duty in January the emphasis is on the partnership between Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin and those two need to assert more authority on the game.

I think City are there for the taking and with the right attitude and game plan we can go out there and do just that. A defeat would leave us in fourth and nine points behind City with Spurs and United closing closely behind us. A win would put us second for today at least and third at worst depending on how Liverpool do at Everton tomorrow night. The difference between those two results is vast in terms of where we will be going into a very busy Christmas programme. 

I hope we can play our own game and put enough pressure on their defence to make the chances we need. I would be surprised if either team keeps a clean sheet, but I think we have the players who can punish a dodgy City defence. I think it will be a very close affair and it might just take a moment of magic to decide it and surely in Alexis we have the player most likely to do just that.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Southampton: EFL Cup Quarter Final Preview

It's EFL Cup Quarter Final action tonight for Arsenal and a win would leave them within sight of Wembley. So far they have seen off Nottingham Forest and Reading, but it's a step up against Premier League opposition tonight. Southampton might only be a mid table team in the Premier League, but a full strength team from them would be a very tough proposition for a second string Arsenal team.

I suppose it depends on how seriously Southampton treat the game and the chance to get within one round of a Wembley final. I would be pretty sure Arsene Wenger will try his best to change every player who started against Bournemouth on Sunday as he will want his strongest team possible to play West Ham at the weekend. If at all possible he will make 11 changes, but he might not be able to do so given the current injuries.

Certainly he can change all of the starting back four and goalkeeper with Emiliano Martinez, Kieran Gibbs, Karl Jenkinson, Gabriel Paulista and Rob Holding all available. In midfield we could see Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi come in while Jeff Reine Adelaide and Lucas Perez could start in the attacking trio. I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain play even if he did start on Sunday as I still think he needs as much game time as possible.

I'm not sure if Lucas is fit enough to play as he is only just back from the knock he picked up in the last round. With Chuba Akpom injured too I wonder if Yaya Sanogo is still alive and if so could we be privileged enough to get a rare sighting of him. He's a player who has promised so much but seldom delivered due to injuries and just maybe he might get a chance to shine.

Southampton might have the Europa League and their Premier League position to worry about, but I doubt if they will turn their noses up at a chance of making the semi finals. If they play their strongest team tonight they will have to be the favourites to progress and I have a feeling they will play a strong team. That doesn't mean Arsenal aren't in with a chance of winning, but it will certainly make the task a lot tougher.

It's always good to see the youngsters and fringe players get a run and a quarter final exit would be far from a disgrace. I still think they're in with a chance though even against a strong Southampton team and there is still a possibility of a two legged semi final in January to fit in. Once the players come through unscathed I'll be happy and a win would be a nice added bonus too.

Arsenal v Ludogorets Preview And Confirmed Arsenal Lineup

It's Champions League action for Arsenal again tonight when Ludogorets come calling. As the group stands it's nicely set up for Arsenal and PSG to qualify for the knockout stages as long as they can win home and away against Ludogorets and Basel respectively. If both of them do the double they will be through and it will be just a matter of who finishes on top of the group.

I'm certainly not dismissing the challenge posed by either Ludogorets or Basel, but teams with the quality of Arsenal and PSG should be overcoming them without too much difficulty. Arsenal had too much for Basel a few weeks ago and should have beaten them by more than two goals and it should be the same case tonight. Arsenal's biggest enemy could well be themselves as they showed against Swansea last Saturday.

In that game they were 2-0 up and looking quite comfortable when they inexcusably went to sleep. Swansea came back into the game before Arsenal restored their two goal lead and then made the very same mistake again. They just about managed to get away with a 3-2 win, but they could easily have ended up sharing the points.

The most worrying aspects for me were the roasting Nacho Monreal took in the second half in particular and the lapses from Granit Xhaka. Despite Monreal being seen as in the best form of his career I really am not too sure that he is as good as he's perceived. As for Xhaka I'm sure he still needs more time to adapt to English football and Saturday will have been a real learning experience for him.

What Arsenal need to do today is keep their concentration from first minute to last and maybe put away a few more of the very good chances which come their way. I would be very surprised if they didn't win by at least two goals, but the players can't go into the game with that attitude. They need to approach it as seriously as they did the game against Basel and do everything in their power to move into a really healthy position in the group.

When it comes to the crunch in the group it could come down to how Arsenal and PSG do against the other two teams and Arsenal have the chance to put down a marker tonight. I have no doubt that the return trip to Bulgaria will be a tougher task, but Arsenal need to hammer home their advantage on their own ground. 

Arsene Wenger has gone with four changes from the team which started against Swansea. David Ospina continues in goal for the Champions League games and who could deny him his place after his heroics in the 1-1 draw in Paris. I haven't been his biggest fan, but he more than proved his worth and his value as a top class reserve keeper in that game.

In defence Kieran Gibbs comes in for Monreal and you can't deny that he deserves a chance. As I said already I'm a little worried about Monreal and it has to be good to see how Gibbs will perform. He has been a perfect professional in his attitude to bring out of the team for so long now and he always gives his all when he gets a chance.

In midfield Francis Coquelin comes in for Xhaka as he makes his return from injury. The boss is very fond of his partnership with Santi Cazorla and I assume Coquelin could do with some game time seeming as Xhaka is now suspended for the next three domestic games. Where that leaves Mohamed Elneny is anybody's guess, but maybe that's one of the benefits of having a strong squad.

The final change is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming in for Alex Iwobi and he's a player with something to prove. I thought he looked good in the few minutes he got on Saturday and hopefully he can take this chance a little better than he has done with others in the last while. There's no doubting his talent and it's hard to know where it all goes wrong for him all too often.

It's certainly a strong enough team to do what needs to be done tonight and I think they will do just that. Hopefully they will be a lot more focused than they were on Saturday and take the good chances that come their way. I think they will win by at least two goals and if they can keep up the pressure from first to last minute maybe even more.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's EFL Cup Game With Nottingham Forest Previewed

Arsenal stuttered at the start of the season, but they are slowly beginning to find some form. A couple of late goals put a nice 4-1 gloss on their win at Hiull on Saturday, but there's still a way to go before they are anywhere near their best. In a long season which could be anything from 50 to 60 games they've only just scratched the surface of the games they have to play.

They make the trip to Nottingham Forest tonight for a game in the least important of the four competitions they are in this season. The EFL Cup is little more than a distraction and an opportunity to give a run out to the fringe players in the first team squad. With that in mind I expect to see plenty of changes in the team to face Forest.

The only player who might return to the squad is Gabriel Paulista who has been injured since before the season began. The rest of the team should be made up of the players on the bench on Saturday and those who didn't make it to the bench. Arsenal should still be able to put out a fairly strong team though and one with every chance to progress to the next round of the competition.

The choice in goal is a straight one between David Ospina and Emilio Martinez with sense saying it should be Ospina who gets the nod. It looks like he's the first choice for our Champions League group games which might be the only reason he might sit this one out. Either way I think the goalkeeper's position is well covered.

In defence I imagine Rob Holding, Kieran Gibbs and maybe even Mathieu Debuchey will play and Gabriel too if he's fit. If Gabriel isn't quite ready to play I wouldn't be surprised to see Shkodran Mustafi play as the more games he gets the better. I've been impressed with him so far and it looks like we might finally have got the top quality central defender we need to play alongside Laurent Koscielny.

In midfield surely we have to see Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny get a run out. Xhaka has had to bide his time since joining, but his time has to come and the sooner the better for me. As for Elneny he seems to have dropped even further down the line and it's difficult to understand why. Of course there are still plenty of games to go and both Xhaka and Elneny will get plenty of chances to prove themselves, but I find it hard to understand why Xhaka in particular isn't one of the first names on the team sheet for every game. 

There are still four places to fill in the team after those players and I fully expect Lucas Perez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to take two of them with the other two quite possibly going to Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Chuba Akpom. It's a reasonably strong team and one which should have a chance against a Championship team. For me it's about the performance from those players on the night and avoiding injuries.

Last season we went out of the equivalent competition one round later after winning away to Spurs at this stage. We lost away to Sheffield Wednesday on a night to forget when we were well beaten and lost both Chamberlain and Theo Walcott to injuries. If the cost of progress is a couple of injuries this season I would choose elimination from a competition which has never been good to us.

I still have nightmares about the loss to Luton Town in the final in 1988 and I imagine older fans than me have less than fond memories of the 1969 final loss to Swindon Town. There was the 2007 final loss to Chelsea too, the 1968 loss to Leeds and who can forget that awful day against Birmingham in 2011. There were better days too, but not nearly as many as the bad ones.

It will certainly be good to see the fringe players get a run out, but it's never easy to judge a player by how he performs in a second string team. It's easier to judge a player when he gets his chance in a strong line up, but I would be pretty sure those in line to play Chelsea on Saturday will sit this one out. Maybe it's just me, but I would certainly take a defeat against Forest as long as we can take all three points off Chelsea.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.