Arsenal World Cup Update

With the first round of group games over it’s time for me to take a look how the World Cup is progressing from an Arsenal perspective. We have 10 players representing their countries in Qatar and some of them have made their mark already.

There was no Arsenal interest in the opening game as hosts Qatar lost 2-0 to Ecuador despite getting the benefit of possibly the dodgiest offside you will see this season. The other game in that group saw The Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0 and I would be surprised to see Qatar manage a goal or a point from their remaining games. Group A looks all set for The Netherlands to top it with Senegal and Ecuador fighting for the second spot in the knockout stages.

There was some Arsenal involvement in group B when England got their campaign off to a flier with a 6-2 win over Iran and Bukayo Saka grabbing a brace of goals. He was Arsenal’s star player last season and he has been one of so many exceptional players for us so far this season so it’s great to see him shine on the international stage too. The sooner we tie him down to an even longer and better contract the better as there looks like there will be a lot of interest in him.

Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale were unused subs in that game with Eric Dier coming on ahead of White when Harry Maguire had to go off. I’m not sure if either of them will see much action, but I have no doubt of their ability to impress given the opportunity. In the other game in that group Matt Turner played well in goal for the USA as they drew 1-1 with Wales and they still have every chance of progressing at this stage. There’s still a lot to be decided in the group and it’s not easy to judge until we know exactly how good or bad Iran really are.

There is no Arsenal involvement in Group C, but Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 win over Argentina was the biggest shock of the tournament so far. With Mexico and Poland drawing 0-0 the group is still wide open, but Argentina will probably have to beat both of them if Lionel Messi is going to go any further in his final World Cup.

The only Arsenal player in Group D is France’s William Saliba and he was an unused sub in their 4-1 win against Australia. The other game in that group ended up scoreless between Denmark and Tunisia and it’s far from certain which teams will progress despite France’s win. 

Group E got off to a great start with Japan coming back from 1-0 down to upset Germany and Takehiro Tomiyasu played the second half of the game. I’m not sure why he was on the bench, but Japan must have some very good players if they can afford to leave him out of their starting 11. I suppose he could be carrying a knock as his time at Arsenal has been constantly interrupted by niggling injuries. Spain romped to a 7-0 win over Costa Rica in the other game in this group and Germany will have to beat Spain when they meet on Sunday or their World Cup will more than likely be over after only two games.

Group F has no Arsenal involvement either and the opening two games in that group had only one goal between them as Belgium just about managed to beat Canada while Morocco and Croatia shared the points in the other game. This group is still wide open with none of the teams impressing too much so far, but Canada will find it hard to progress despite probably deserving at least a point against Belgium.

Group G has three Arsenal players on show and the first of them to play was Granit Xhaka who captained Switzerland to a 1-0 win over Cameroon which leaves them in a strong position in the group. It’s been dubbed the group of death and the win over Cameroon gives them a great advantage over Cameroon and Serbia who lost 2-0 to Brazil in the later game. Arsenal have two players in the Brazil squad and both Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench in the second half of that win.

Finally the only Arsenal player in group H is Thomas Partey and his campaign got off to a losing start as he played the full match for Ghana in a 3-2 loss against Portugal. There was no Arsenal interest in the other game in the group which ended scoreless between Uruguay and South Korea. Ghana will probably have to win their last two group games to progress to the knockout stages so we might see Partey on his way back to London in just over a week.

All in all it’s been a pretty good start for Arsenal players at the World Cup with eight of our 10 players winning their first game, one of them drawing and only one losing. Of course all of those players didn’t start for their countries with only four of them chosen for the first round of games and three more coming off the bench. Bukayo Saka was the standout player with his two goals for England making him the joint top scorer in the tournament so far.

There’s no rest for the players or supporters as the next round of games gets going immediately and the Arsenal involvement on Friday will all be in the England versus USA game. A win for England would almost certainly see them progress to the next round and top the group too. I would imagine both Saka and Turner will start with both Ramsdale and White on the bench again.

That’s it for today.

See you soon.

Arsenal Season Review

That was the season that was for Arsenal and it ended up with us failing to qualify for European football for the first time in 25 years. When judging Mikel Arteta’s progress as the Arsenal manager it’s hard to ignore that statistic and the season can surely only be judged as a failure. Of course there were highs and lows throughout the season, but his inexperience and pure stubbornness at times were key factors in our second successive eighth finish in the Premier League for me.

The results prior to Christmas put us in real trouble in the Premier League and we were as low as 15th before results eventually improved. Those results and performances picked up with a 3-1 win at home to Chelsea and we went on a great run which almost put us back in the reckoning for a top four finish. As we progressed in the Europa League our Premier League results and performances suffered though and ultimately for me it was during that period that we lost out on our European ambitions.

When we eventually went out of the Europa League to Villarreal in the semifinals our league form improved and we won our last five games to leave us only six points off the Champions League places. We did better against the rest of the “big six” than we have done in a long time and we more or less bossed the games against the bottom six, but the points we took against the teams who finished around us in the league just weren’t good enough. Aston Villa, Wolves and Everton all beat us at home and away and that’s where our European ambitions died.

For me the jury on Arteta has to be out as he made some very strange decisions at times and his inability to admit his mistakes and rectify them is a real negative for him. Those strange decisions included the decision to loan William Saliba out after spending so much on him and it appears he’s still not sure he wants him at the club next season. Surely Saliba has to be one of the players who we attempt to build our future on and I only hope Arteta can find a way to include him.

The signing of Willian was apparently down to Arteta too and it was probably the worst decision of last season. Not only was he paid an absolute fortune because we got him for free, but he kept Pepe out of the team for the first few months of the season no matter how badly he played. When Pepe came into his own in the new year he showed exactly what we wanted him to show and his performances consigned Willian to the bench.

I don’t think there’s any point in going into what happened with Mesut Ozil because I don’t think any of us know what really happened or why it happened. Suffice it to say he plys his trade elsewhere and it was for the best in the end because he had very little to offer the team towards the end of his time at Arsenal. Ozil came on to the scene at a young age and I think that has taken it’s toll and his best years are well behind him now.

The fear of losing seemed to play too big a role in Arteta’s thinking for too long, but when he eventually loosened the reins we actually played some good football. However the changes were almost forced on Arteta due to injuries and it was only when players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe took the chances that came their way that the team improved. They have both become crucial parts of our future now and the sooner Gabriel Martinelli joins them in the starting lineup the better for me.

One of the most curious decisions Arteta made was to play with a false nine in our Europa League semifinal first leg against Villarreal. We somehow got away with a 2-1 defeat and only had to win the home leg without conceding a goal to progress to the final, but our lack of ambition in the second leg was almost unforgivable. His claim afterwards that we were the better team over the two legs was just wrong, but I thought we should have been the better team if he had got his selections and tactics right. 

Villarreal went on to beat United on penalties in the final and we missed a great chance to pick up a trophy and qualify for European football too. I think Arteta put too many eggs in the European basket and we paid the price when Villarreal knocked us out. There are those who think it’s a good thing we have no European football next season, but I’m not so sure.

For a start it’s difficult to attract players to the club with no European football to tempt them and there’s also the loss of revenue from TV money, prize money and gate receipts (when the fans return). We played seven home games in the Europa League last season and that’s an awful lot of money lost to the club to give those games up next season. The biggest miss could be the inability to give youngsters and fringe players their chances in European group games and those games were where the likes of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli cut their teeth.

We have a huge summer ahead of us with the possibility of quite a few players leaving the club and the need to sign some new players too. Despite doing so badly for so long we ended up only six points off the top four and we have the makings of most of a very good team in my opinion. We need to add the right players to improve that team and Arteta needs to allow the players to play with a little more freedom too, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t at least put in a real challenge for a top four place next season.

If I had to sum up last season I would say it was desperately disappointing in the main with some glimpses of real promise and possibilities for the future. Arteta has been given a chance to redeem our second eighth place finish in a row, but failure to improve next season will surely signal the end for him. I want things to work out for him, but I can’t say I’m overly convinced they will.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Can Arsenal Progress Under Arteta

This season has been a strange one so far and it’s been a pretty frustrating one from an Arsenal perspective. Every club has had to deal with the worldwide pandemic and it’s affects on revenue and it’s been no different for Arsenal. While all of this has being happening we’re in the middle (well actually still pretty much near the start) of our rebuilding process under Mikel Arteta.

He hasn’t been at the club a year yet and we can’t expect miracles given the squad he has and the limits imposed on transfers by the pandemic. Luckily Arsenal have a very talented crop of young players coming through and some of them have been able to step up when required. He did deliver the FA Cup against some pretty tough odds and it looks like the defensive side of our game has improved for the first time in a few years.

Our problems at the moment lie in attack though and our inability to score goals is hurting us badly. So much was made of our lack of victories away to any of the “big six” in almost six years that it was a huge relief to finally end that run at Old Trafford last month, but that 1-0 win was the only points we have taken and the only goal we have scored in our last four league games. As it stands only the bottom four clubs and Wolves have scored less goals in their first eight games despite Arsenal possessing one of the best strikers in the world.

While a large part of our problem might be the inability to make chances at the moment it’s very hard to look beyond why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is being played on the left when it seems obvious to one and all that he should be played as the central striker. With him in the middle we can surely play two attacking players, such as Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka in the wide roles and they can supply him with the chances he needs. For me Alexandre Lacazette isn’t good enough to hold the position ahead of Aubameyang and playing him there is hurting us at the moment.

Of course the failure to sign a creative player in midfield has had an affect on our creation and the demise of Mesut Ozil hasn’t helped either. The signing of Thomas Partey has given us some real class in midfield, but we need someone to play in front of him and whoever else is chosen to play alongside him in a defensive role. I think the manager might hope Willian can play there, but he’s looking less likely to do so with each passing game. 

With Ozil completely out of the picture it could mean the only real option is promoting Joe Willock to first team duties. Willock has looked the part in our Europa League games so far, but it’s a big step up from the Europa League to the Premier League. He offers us something different at the moment though and that’s something this team is badly missing. 

When our strikers struggle to score goals it’s a real problem for the team because our midfield just doesn’t have enough goals in it. Willock could possibly be the player to get those goals and it might just be the time to see what he can do.

In the latest 2021 odds to win the Premier League, Arsenal sit just below Leicester at 50/1. The Gunners had an upset defeat at home to Villa in their last game and Villa are listed below them at 66/1. It’s difficult to understand how we have reached a point where Leicester are shorter odds than us to win the league and Villa’s odds aren’t much longer. I know it’s early days in the season, but it’s not easy to argue with those odds.

For me a big part of our problems besides the lack of goals is the lack of pace in our game. We’re too comfortable just to keep possession and work the ball through the team with nobody willing to take an opponent on or make something happen. We’re really struggling to open teams up and the ability to take players on and beat them is one that cannot be underestimated.

We only have to play two of the big six in our next 12 games and that run has to give us an opportunity to make up some ground on the teams ahead of us and put some points on the board. We’ve been out of the Champions League for far too long and there’s a real chance of making the top four this season, but only if we can find some attacking flair. The players may have reacted well to how the manager wants them to play, but now he has to concentrate on improving our attacking options and getting that across to the players.

I think he’s the right man for the job, but it’s not easy watching Arsenal at the moment. When so many fans are left sitting in their homes because of the pandemic it appears that every little problem with the team is under the microscope and that’s understandable with so little else to do at the moment. He needs to keep the fans behind him and he could be in danger of slowly losing them if he can’t solve our attacking issues and make watching them more enjoyable.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Chelsea: FA Cup Final Preview

It’s been a very difficult season as an Arsenal fan with the disappointments seemingly far outweighing the few positives, but we have a chance to change all of that on Saturday. Arsenal already hold the record for winning the most FA Cup Finals and they can bring their tally to 14 if they can overcome Chelsea. It would be a great way to end the strangest of seasons and it would bring the added bonus of qualification for the Europa League for next season.

There are those who say Arsenal could do with a season out of European football’s lesser competition and I can understand that point of view, but I don’t agree with it. Not only will the Europa League bring in some much needed money, but it will surely help to attract potential transfer targets if we have some form of European football to offer. Until our untimely exit this season we had done very well in the Europa League in the previous two seasons even if they both ultimately ended in disappointment.

Having finished eighth (yes eighth) in the Premier League we are lucky to have the opportunity to qualify for Europe and it’s one we have to take. We were in a similar situation last season when we again faced Chelsea in the Europa League final with a spot in the Champions League on offer for us if we had lifted the trophy. That didn’t end well for us and it should have marked the end for Unai Emery at the club, but those at the top waited until we plummeted a lot further before making that decision.

When Mikel Arteta took charge half way through the season we were in a bad way and he has managed to turn things around to a degree, but we still have a long way to go. I think he is the right man to lead us forward, but he needs to bring in players who want to play for us and him and who can improve what has become a pretty average team. If it wasn’t for the goals of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang our season would have been so much worse and Arteta needs to find some players who can get us the goals that are lacking in every other part of our team.

Of course this could be Aubameyang’s last game for Arsenal if we can’t convince him to sign a contract extension and decide to cash in on whatever value he has at 31 with a year left on his contract in the current economic climate caused by Covid19. I am of the opinion we might be better to keep him until his contract ends if he won’t extend as it would cost even more to replace him and finding another striker of his ability who would be prepared to join us would be no easy task. One of the few joys I have left when watching Arsenal is Aubameyang’s smile when he scores.

It could be the last game for Dani Ceballos too as his loan spell from Real Madrid is up, but the rumours are he will be loaned to us again next season. I’ve been impressed by him since football returned, but he’s not exactly the most creative of players which probably makes him fit right in with the rest of our midfield at the moment. He has formed a fairly good partnership with Granit Xhaka though and I would be very surprised if they both don’t start against Chelsea.

The other bright moments in this season have come through the emergence of Bukayo Saka and the impression Kieran Tierney has made since he managed to put his injury problems behind him when football returned. Saka signing a new contract was a big bonus for us and I look forward to him developing as a player and finding the position that best suits him. Tierney looks to have all the assets we could ask for in the attacking side of his game and his defending should improve if we can put other good defenders in there with him.

The injury to Bernd Leno looked to have put us in a very awkward situation only a few weeks ago, but Emiliano Martinez has grabbed his opportunity with both hands which is always preferable for any goalkeeper. He will play against Chelsea and he will most definitely give Arteta a few headaches when it comes to choosing his first choice keeper for next season. With the attacking players Chelsea will have on show Martinez will have to be at his best if we’re going to have a chance.

I imagine Arteta will play Hector Bellerin on the right of the defence with David Luiz in the centre alongside Rob Holding. If he opts for three central defenders I would prefer to see Tierney alongside those two with Saka on the left as Sead Kolasinac is an accident waiting to happen all too often. Of course Luiz is the definition of an accident waiting to happen as the five penalties he gave away this season indicate. I really find it hard to understand how we extended his contract a few weeks ago, but we are so limited in the centre of our defence that I suppose we couldn’t afford to let him go. Hopefully William Saliba will very quickly become the player we want him to be when he joins us.

With five at the back and Xhaka and Ceballos in midfield it would leave Aubameyang attacking from the left which is where he gets so many of his goals. I would imagine Alexandre Lacazette will play through the middle with his ability to hold the ball up and harass the opposing defenders. He’s added a few goals in recent weeks too and it would be the ideal game for another blockbuster like we saw a couple of weeks ago.

The last place should realistically go to our record signing, but Nicolas Pepe hasn’t had the easiest first season in English football. I think it’s too easy to keep him out of the game and he needs to find a way to become more involved. He has the ability to be our match winner against Chelsea, but we could see him on the bench with Arteta possibly favouring a player who might give us more work rate.

We had great results against both Liverpool and City so recently and I expect us to try to play in a similar fashion against Chelsea. If we try to take the game to them too much our defensive deficiencies on the break could come back to haunt us so it will probably be a case of looking for our chances on the break or from a turnover. Chelsea’s defence has been no better than ours for most of the season and they actually conceded six goals more than us in the Premier League.

It’s going to be very strange watching the FA Cup Final with no fans in the stadium, but it has become the new normal. I hope we can put in a performance to be proud of and it has to be better than what we saw against the same opposition in the Europa League final last season. It would be great for Arteta and our future if he could inspire the players to put in a performance to win the cup. 

I won’t say I think we will win, but I definitely think we have a very good chance. Chelsea are rightly the favourites as they finished fourth in the league and we had our worst finish in 25 years all the way back in eighth place. It’s a one off game though and City realised in the semi-final that we can give just about any team a game if we’re at our best. All I wish for is Arsenal to be just that and hopefully it will be enough to finish the season in some glory with a nice shiny trophy.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Manchester City Previewed

It’s been a long time since Arsenal played a competitive game of football, but that’s what they must do this evening away to Manchester City in the strangest of circumstances. Who would ever have guessed that the Premier League would be put on pause with a quarter of the season to go due to a global pandemic, but that’s where we found ourselves in mid-March. The last three months have felt like a lifetime for so many reasons and the return of football will at least help us to feel life is returning to normal.

Of course the games will be far from normal with no fans present as well as extra measures to help the players get through playing at the hottest time of the year. I don’t think the extra substitutes or water breaks will make much difference, but the empty stadiums are going to take an awful lot of getting used to over the next few weeks. 

On the plus side the three month break has given players a chance to recover from injuries and that might help Arsenal to field the strongest team possible. The elusive Kieran Tierney might eventually get a run in the team after his move from Celtic last summer was beset with injury problems. I expect Mikel Arteta to field the strongest team he can in the hope of getting something from the game.

There’s still a lot to play for with qualification for European football next season surely a priority. The Champions League is obviously the priority, but even Europa League qualification would be better than no European football at all. There is a train of thought that a season out of Europe would help us to do better in the Premier League with fewer games to play, but surely we cannot afford to lose such a large source of income given the current economic climate.

A top four finish won’t be easy, but finishing fifth would be a little less difficult if City’s European ban remains. I think the Europa League is the best we can aim for at this stage though given our current position, our remaining games and those of the teams we’re up against. We have the FA Cup to contest too and it certainly gives us a chance of some silverware to get something from a very disappointing season.

Of course Arteta isn’t the man responsible for our demise this season and we have improved and climbed the table slowly since he took the reins. The club were too slow to realise Unai Emery was the wrong man after the collapse late last season and the awful Europa League final result against Chelsea. By the time they showed him the door and brought Arteta in we had an awful lot to do to even get back into a challenging position.

There have been other issues for Arteta to contend with too as a few players move into the final year of their contracts without a new deal being agreed. The real concerns are Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka and we cannot allow them to run their contracts down and leave for free next summer. If they can’t be persuaded to sign a new contract then surely we have to cash in once the season ends despite what is bound to be an extremely deflated transfer market.

Since he joined us Aubameyang has been the difference between us being the slightly above average team we are and being also rans. His goals have been invaluable at a time when others have struggled badly to find the net and that has been even more evident this season in particular. Replacing him will be a huge task for the club and I really hope we can talk him into extending his contract.

Saka has had a great breakthrough season with the injury to Tierney in particular giving him more opportunities than he might have expected. Those opportunities might not have been in his favoured position, but he took enough advantage of them for us to believe he has a very bright future. I just hope that future will be at Arsenal because there have been so few positives this season that it would be a real shame to lose one of them.

On to the game and our prospects against a City team who will want to at least prolong the agony before they hand their title over to Liverpool. They really need to beat us to make Liverpool wait a little longer and I expect them to take the game to us right from the start. We need to set ourselves up to defend in depth when required, but to be able to take them on quickly on the break when the opportunity arises.

They are vulnerable at home on the break and from set pieces too and that’s where we have to look for some joy. Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe are the players with the pace and ability to do damage on the break while we have also been quite effective from set pieces this season. I think we will get our share of chances and we have a chance of getting something from the game if we can take some of them.

We’re actually unbeaten in seven away games, but we have drawn six of those games which at least shows we won’t be a pushover. I would be delighted with a point from the game while of course wanting all three, but any points gained won’t be of much use to us if we don’t win away to Brighton at the weekend. Maybe Arteta might have something up his sleeve considering he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant before he took the Arsenal job.

When it comes to picking his team the ever so impressive Saka could find himself on the bench if Tierney is in from the start while I expect to see Hector Bellerin in the defence too along with David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi and Bernd Leno in goal of course. With Aubameyang and Pepe out wide I expect Alexandre Lacazette to play through the middle despite his inability to score goals away from home.

The issues could be in midfield where Lucas Torreira still isn’t match fit after his injury and Granit Xhaka is rumoured to be struggling to make the team due to a knock. If that’s the case it’s three from Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock, Mesut Ozil and Dani Ceballos which leaves us short defensively. I hope Xhaka is passed fit and the decision on Ozil will let us know how Arteta sees him fitting into the team in such a difficult away fixture.

We’re underdogs going into the game of course and City have a lot more on the bench than we do, but the result is far from a foregone conclusion. Maybe the lack of atmosphere at home will affect City or we can get the chances on the break or from set pieces that could give us a chance. As fans we always have to have hope and I certainly have a fair deal of that going into this game.

Finally for today I want to express my wholehearted support for the Black Lives Mater campaign and express my disgust at the lack of compassion and understanding from so many people all around the world. I can’t understand those who believe racism isn’t a problem in society as it is so obviously in front of all of us each and every single days of our lives. The club and the players are showing their support for an incredibly important issue and I genuinely hope the attention it’s getting at the moment helps to make some badly needed changes in society.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Ride Their Luck To Beat Everton

Yesterday was a very big day for Arsenal in their quest to finish in the top five or possibly even the top four in the Premier League this season. They’re in the middle of a run of games which they can and probably should win, but Everton looked to be the toughest of those opponents. Since they installed Carlo Ancelotti they have climbed the table steadily and harbour the same ambitions as Arsenal in the league this season.

After Spurs lost to Chelsea on Saturday it gave us the chance to move to within four points of fourth place and only three behind our local rivals. The teams fighting for the possible Champions League place that goes with fifth place are all packed very tightly and we just couldn’t miss an opportunity to get right amongst them. It wasn’t going to be easy though after our exploits on Thursday night in Greece where we got a very good away lead in our Europa League round of 32 leg.

Mikel Arteta made six changes from that game on Thursday night with Sead Kolasinac, Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe, Mesut Ozil and Eddie Nketiah all coming into the team. We got a fair idea of which players he sees as crucial to his plans with the five players who remained in the team and those five could be asked to do an awful lot between now and the end of the season.

I suppose Hector Bellerin and Bukayo Saka could be added to that list too, but he had good reasons for Bellerin not playing on Thursday and Saka not starting yesterday. Bellerin isn’t back too long since his injury and overplaying him could be dangerous while Saka is still only 18 and probably deserved a rest. As it was Saka was called on early in the game to replace the injured Kolasinac and the crowd were very happy with his introduction.

We were already 1-0 down at that stage after what can be best described as shambolic defending saw Everton take the lead inside the first minute. Dominic Calvert-Lewin did very well with his overhead finish, but I wasn’t the only one who thought VAR should have intervened as his foot made slight contact with the head of David Luiz which surely made it dangerous play. At least we had the full length of the game to make our comeback.

We didn’t really seem to be making much of an impression until Saka came and found Nketiah with a fantastic cross. The finish from Nketiah was pretty good too and we took control of the game for most of the rest of the first half. It didn’t take us too long to go ahead when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang raced through to finish in Thierry Henry fashion after a fantastic pass from Luiz.

Unfortunately we pressed the self destruct button again in added time at the end of the first half. Maybe Richarlison’s studs were a bit high when he finished, but Bernd Leno probably could have done more to prevent the goal too. Everton had played well in the first half, but it took two errors from us for them to score their goals.

We started the second half even faster than Everton had started the first half as Aubameyang headed us in front again from a pinpoint Pepe cross. I hoped we would continue to press forward and add to our lead, but the players appeared to tire badly as the game progressed. I have no doubt Thursday night’s exploits played a part in that and I was happy we managed to hold on to our lead despite some scary moments.

We play our second leg against Olympiakos on Thursday night, but we don’t have a Premier League game this weekend because of the Carabao Cup Final. Our next four league games are against teams in the bottom half of the table and they give us a great opportunity to get right into the battle for the top four. We need to do everything we can to win those four games if we are to have any chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League through the usual route.

It’s quite amazing that Aubameyang is now the joint leading scorer in the Premier League as he’s part of an Arsenal team who are still searching to find their attacking identity. Until yesterday they had improved defensively under Arteta, but at least they managed to find a way to win the game when their defending let them down. Players are stepping up when the team needs it and it really looks like we’re beginning to find an identity as a team. There’s a long way to go and the squad needs to be strengthened in the summer, but we do have some players who can go a long way with us and the manager is showing with each passing game that he looks more than capable of doing so too.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Beat Bournemouth To Reach The FA Cup Fifth Round

Last night went pretty well for Arsenal all things considered as they won 2-1 away to Bournemouth to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Mikel Arteta picked a mixture of youth and experience with Bukayo Saka, Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Emiliano Martinez and Gabriel Martinelli all getting a chance from the start. He also played the recovering Hector Bellerin who was the captain on the night as well as Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Granit Xhaka and Nicolas Pepe.

The young players approached the game as if they had something to prove as Arsenal went on the front foot from the very first minute. A great 22 pass move involving all 10 outfield players ended up with Saka blasting the ball past the Bournemouth keeper to give us the lead after only five minutes. Rather than sit on their laurels Arsenal continued to dominate despite being away from home and a second goal seemed almost inevitable.

That goal came 20 minutes later when Nketiah had the easy task of stroking the ball home after Arsenal played through the attempted Bournemouth press. It was that man Saka who set it up for him, but yet again it was another great team move from back to front. As the first half progressed Bournemouth gradually came out of their shell, but Martinez wasn’t called upon until shortly before the break and he was up to the task.

Bournemouth took a more agricultural approach after the break as they attempted to “put it up ‘em” and put the frighteners on this young Arsenal team. Enter Guendouzi who was simply having none of it as he got stuck in winning tackles and giving as good as he got. I don’t know if it’s Arteta’s influence which was showing in him last night, but whatever it was he was very impressive.

A word for Joe Willock too who I said yesterday might be the player in our midfield to break into the opposition box given the chance. His ability to carry the ball towards the Bournemouth defence was very impressive too and there is a real case for him to play in that role more often. With so many young players willing to give it their all when they get a chance the future certainly looks promising.

I haven’t forgotten Martinelli or Nketiah with the former putting in another great shift and the later doing what he does best and putting the ball in the back of the net. When they were backed up by a disciplined Xhaka the team had a great shape although Xhaka still managed a couple of his usual lapses. He’s being asked to play a deeper role than previously and he’s growing into it as well as regaining the respect of the fans after the incident against Palace earlier in the season.

Bournemouth came into the game a lot more after the break, but for all their huffing and puffing they rarely threatened the Arsenal goal. We were a little vulnerable on crosses as Martinez struggled to impose himself and he got away with a couple of poor punches from those crosses. There wasn’t a lot he could do about the Bournemouth goal when it did come, but at least it was late enough to cause us little bother for the rest of the game.

The goal came in the fifth of almost 11 added minutes at the end of the game and the main reason for all that added time was a very unfortunate injury to Mustafi. He was actually having a very good game on the night and I can’t remember him putting a foot wrong at any stage. The traveling fans were so impressed they were even singing his praises at one stage which is surely something we haven’t heard in a long time.

The injury to Mustafi only increases our need to add a central defender with Calum Chambers already out for the rest of the season and Rob Holding still looking like he has a way to go to get back to form after his injury. We have been linked with a couple of players and it looks like a deal might be on the cards before the transfer window closes on Friday night. If it happens I think it will probably be the only deal we do.

The draw for the fifth round was made before the game and we will face another trip to the south coast to play League One side Portsmouth in early March. We’re getting towards the business end of the FA Cup and a win against Portsmouth would put us through to the last eight if we can do it. I won’t quite say I can smell the sweet air of a Wembley final, but who knows where we might end up come May.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s FA Cup Trip To Blackpool Previewed

Arsenal face a tricky FA Cup third round trip to Blackpool this evening. With fourth place in the Premier League their first priority and the Europa League in second place it leaves the FA Cup a distant third. It’s a competition we have won more than any other club though and we have won it three times in the last five seasons too.

I have no doubt Unai Emery will make a few changes from the team that struggled to find any rhythm against Fulham, but still managed to win 4-1. The festive schedule was very tough for every team and the players are bound to be tired so he has a chance to rest a few weary legs as well as giving some game time to those on the fringes. Our next league game isn’t until next week so there is plenty of time for players to regroup and regain their strength.

I imagine we will see Petr Cech in goal with Ainsley Maitland-Niles in defence and maybe even Zach Medley too. The rest of the defence will probably be made of more first choice players, but I would hope Laurent Koscielny is rested as he clearly needs a little more recovery time from his long injury lay off. We might see Carl Jenkinson too, but I have a feeling he doesn’t really feature in the manager’s plans.

In midfield both Mohamed Elneny and Matteo Guendouzi should feature and Aaron Ramsey must be a shoe-in seeming as he didn’t start against Fulham. If the reports are to be believed he has more or less signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus and will join them on a free transfer in the summer. It has also been reported that he turned down a bigger offer from PSG and we turned down a cash offer from Juventus to take him immediately. I would be surprised if we turned down a good fee considering he will go for free in the summer, but our squad is very short at the moment and he certainly has a part to play for the rest of the season.

If all three of those players do play it doesn’t leave too much room for Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith-Rowe. All four of them would hope to play from the start today, but we might only see two of them with the others possibly coming off the bench. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexandre Lacazette was in the team too as he might have a little more in the tank than others considering how often he has been substituted recently.

We beat Blackpool 2-1 at the Emirates a few months ago in the Carabao Cup and it won’t be too easy to repeat that on their patch. They’re a mid-table League One team and we can’t take them too lightly, but equally it’s a game we should win. There’s talk of a boycott by the home fans which means there might well be more Arsenal fans than Blackpool fans at the game which would be a little odd to say the least.

I imagine the manager will have a strong bench in case he needs to call on a few first teamers to rescue the game. Arsene Wenger made the mistake of giving himself no real options from the bench at this stage last season when we went out 4–2 away to Nottingham Forest. The FA Cup might not be our first priority, but I would be very surprised if the manager didn’t want to go as far as possible in a competition which has been out only route to silverware since 2004.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.