Deadline Day Dealings Don’t Disguise Defensive Deficiencies At Arsenal

With the transfer window closed Arsenal have added Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Henrikh Mkhitaryan as they look to improve their attacking options after the departure of Alexis Sanchez. As good as both players might be they’re not going to do an awful lot to stop us conceding goals or throwing games away. Judging by the midweek performance at Swansea it’s going to take not only a whole new defence and midfield, but also a complete change in how we play.

Don’t get me wrong I’m delighted with the arrival of both players and they are both genuinely top quality. We had to dispose of an awful lot of other players to bring them in though and there is a worry that the squad has been left a little on the thin side. Aubameyang can’t play in the Europa League as Borussia Dortmund will be in it which means Alexandre Lacazette will have to be our main striker in what is our best route to Champions League football for next season.

In the group stages of the Europa League we played reserves and fringe players, but I can only imagine we will take the competition a lot more seriously now. To be honest a lot of those players have now departed the club and there is a sense we could actually be building some genuine strength for the future. Meanwhile we have to hope those players we have can stay relatively injury free with our options slightly limited.

Unfortunately it didn’t look like we even tried to bring in a defensive midfielder and that’s where the team is really struggling. We don’t have a disciplined player who will sit in front of the defence, break up opposition attacks and track runners. Some of our players can put in performances that suggest they know how to play the role on occasions, but none of them can do it on a consistent basis.

Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff seem either unable or incapable of teaching any players to play in that role or how to defend as a team. Again we can put in good performances on occasions, but we consistently give the ball away in very dangerous positions and fail to track runners. As bad as our defence can be at times they will always struggle when the players in front of them continue to expose them.

Those performances are accentuated away from hone, but we don’t seem to suffer so much at home. The manager has said there is no reason why a team should be any different away from home than at home, but we are the team with the biggest disparity between our home and away form. Maybe we need to change the way we play away from home because it is definitely working at home.

Speaking of home games we face Everton at the Emirates today in what is another must win game. We’re now eight points behind the top four and it looks like we are going to have to settle for sixth place. With Liverpool playing Spurs tomorrow we can make up ground on one or both of them and Chelsea seem to have hit a wall too, but we are in a worse place than any of those teams.

The chances are Aubameyang will start on the bench today as the manager usually introduces new players from the bench as long as he’s passed fit to play. I was at the last home league game when we put four goals past Palace in the first 22 minutes and more of the same would do very nicely today. I can’t see Everton making it quite so easy for us, but I still expect us to win by at least a couple of goals. Only City have taken more points and scored more goals at home than Arsenal and that home form needs to continue to keep our slim chances of a top four finish alive.

We will see the return of Theo Walcott today after we sold him to Everton only a few weeks ago and life at Everton has started well for him. He scored two goals in their mideeek win at home to Leicester and he could benefit from the game time he was clearly not going to get at Arsenal. I have no doubt he will get a good reception from the Arsenal fans today because we chose to sell him and he didn’t agitate for a move.

Everton have turned things around under Sam Allardyce and moved away from the wrong end of the table, but they were in danger of slipping back before they beat Leicester. They have a very poor record away from home with only one win in 12 games and only two teams have scored less goals on their travels. I’m not certain they are finished with their skirt with the bottom half of the table and I thought they were more than a little lucky to beat Leicester.

I expect the manager to play a similar team to the one that was so poor in midweek with the possibility of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jack Wilshere coming in as well as Aubameyang if he’s fit to play. We certainly have to do more defensively than we did against Swansea and we have to do an awful lot more offensively too. That hasn’t been a problem at home this season and I don’t expect it will be today either.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Crystal Palace Preview

It’s been a rough couple of months for Arsenal both on and off the field as the club seem unable to stop their decline. We have only won twice in nine league games and have dropped points to far too many teams from the lower reaches of the Premier League in those games as well as exiting the FA Cup To Nottingham Forest. Added to that our transfer policy has become a laughing stock as we continue to lose players and add money to a bank balance which was already very healthy after making a profit in the summer window.

With all of that in mind I couldn’t have picked a better time to make a trip to England to see my beloved Arsenal play. Circumstances insisted that I make the trip for this game though as we lost one of our regular crew in a tragic accident late last year and a gang of us are meeting up to raise a glass or two in his memory and watch the team he loved too. As usual our watering hole of choice will be the Tollington as we meet up for a fair few beers before and after the game and the chance to reminisce about Darren.

Who knows what we will be treated to on the pitch by Arsenal, but surely it has to be better than the debacle at Bournemouth last week. The team had no shape or drive and it came as no surprise when Bournemouth turned around our lead to take the three points. What was most annoying for me was that they had to do very little to beat us and we had virtually nothing to offer after going behind.

Sure we were missing some very good players, but what’s the point of having players in the squad if they can’t come in and do a job when they get the chance. Since that defeat Theo Walcott has gone on his merry way to Everton and we look bound to lose Alexis Sanchez to United before the window closes too. Who comes in is anybody’s guess, but knowing Arsenal the player or players won’t be signed until the eleventh hour.

I can’t even bring myself to discuss the Sanchez situation and it’s reached the stage where I just want him the hell out of my club. We need a replacement in at once and the longer he stays without playing the worse it is for a team that desperately lacks quality. We are being linked with players who have that quality and I really hope we can get at least two of them, but experience has taught me not to get my hopes up too high.

At least we will have a few players back in the squad for today with Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal fit to play and Mesut Ozil possibly available too. There are doubts over Ainsley Maitland-Niles who has been sick and that seems to be it in terms of changes from the team that played so badly last week. It would seem our only additional attacking option is Ozil if he can play, but he is the player who can really make a difference. I would be very surprised to see Sanchez in the team, but maybe his inclusion might just help to speed his departure and the arrivals we so desperately need.

I would be very surprised if both Koscielny and Monreal didn’t come back into the team despite the second leg of our Carabao Cup semi final coming up at home to Chelsea on Wednesday night. We need to get some sort of result today to try to regain some confidence ahead of that game against Chelsea and that means playing the strongest team we have. I’m not exactly impressed by the Carabao Cup as a competition, but it’s probably our only hope of a trophy this season.

We just about managed a 3-2 win at Palace over the festive period and that was their only defeat in their last 12 league games. They have been transformed in that time and have recovered from the awful start to the season they had with relegation now looking less likely for them with each passing week. Our home record isn’t bettered by many teams this season and it has been a very long time since we failed to score at home in the league.

Palace have players who can do us a lot of damage on the break or when they turn the ball over in front of our defence and we all know they are Arsenal’s current biggest weaknesses. They have struggled away from home since the start of the season, but they have turned that around and are unbeaten on the road in five games with clean sheets in three of those games. Only Brighton have scored less away goals though and we have to feel we can outscore them if it turns into a shooting match.

I have little or no confidence in Arsene Wenger’s ability to get the best out of these players any more, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Whatever the performance I’ll be there cheering them on from first minute to last and I hope to see a performance that would have made Darren a happy man. I’m looking forward to a great day even if I’m nervous that the football will be the only let down on the day.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Nottingham Forest Previewed

It’s FA Cup third round action for Arsenal this afternoon when they travel to Nottingham to face managerless Forest. Arsenal are the cup holders and have won it three times in the last four seasons as well as winning it more times than any other team. Add to that Arsene Wenger’s record as the manager with the most FA Cups to his name and it’s obviously a competition which means an awful lot to us.

We face into the game in the middle of a very busy two month schedule which sees us playing almost twice a week from the start of December to the end of January. Our squad is fairly stretched as it is and we have the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi final at Chelsea coming up on Wednesday night too. Chelsea’s schedule is just as busy as our’s and I’m should they could have done without drawing their third round game at Norwich yesterday and adding a replay to that schedule.

With the league already beyond us the cup yet again takes on added significance although we still have the Europa League and the chase for a top four spot to contend with. Of them all I see the Carabao Cup as being the least important, but we cannot take a two legged semi final against Chelsea too lightly with a Cup Final so near and also because of what defeat could do to our already brittle confidence.

I think we could see a fair deal of squad rotation today and I wouldn’t be surprised to see up to eight changes from the team which drew 2-2 at home to Chelsea in the league on Wednesday night. David Ospina will surely start while I would expect Per Mertesacker and Mathieu Debuchy come into the defence too. In midfield there could be starts for Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny with Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi all likely to play too. That would probably mean Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers staying in the team unless the manager switches to a back four instead of the usual three central defenders.

Playing that team would certainly risk our continuation in the competition, but it’s a risk we probably need to take. Forest are sitting in mid-table in the Championship after a fairly unimpressive season so far, but I have no doubt they will relish a home game against on the “big teams” and FA Cup holders. It’s a chance for some of their players to shine and maybe make an impression on whoever their new manager might be.

Despite the Carabao Cup being of secondary importance up to now I think it will take more prominence at this stage of the competition and that’s another reason why so many players will possibly be rested today. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a strong bench though just in case we need to add some firepower late on to get back in the game or go on to win it. It’s certainly a chance for those who start to make an impression, but Maitland-Niles is the only one who has really grabbed that chance when it has presented itself so far this season.

I would love to see AMN in his natural position in the centre of the midfield today and it could happen if we play a back four. The problem would be finding a left back, but I would suggest Debuchy is capable of playing there while Chambers can certainly play at right back if required. With so many changes in the team already I don’t think we will see a back four with those full backs though and there central defenders is the most likely formation.

No matter what personnel have been in our defence this season we haven’t defended well against the bigger and better teams in particular. Forest may not fit into those categories, but one of the reasons we are doing even worse than last season is our comparative lack of goals. We scored so many goals last season that it quite often got our defence out of trouble, but we’re just not scoring as many this season. I just hope we can find our shooting boots from here on in because I cannot see our defending improving judging by what we have seen this season and for far too many seasons to want to remember. I think the chances are we will progress in a tight game today, but we might have to empty some quality from the bench to do so.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Crystal Palace Previewed

With all of the other challengers for runners up to Manchester City having played already it’s time for Arsenal to play catch up tonight. All the other teams won with the exception of United who dropped more points to give us hope that second place is a real target. Both Liverpool and Spurs scored five against teams struggling at the wrong end of the table while Chelsea won, but are still finding goals difficult to come by.

Memories of this game last season are hard to banish from my mind as Arsenal were at their very worst in a 3-0 defeat. Theo Walcott was the captain that night if memory serves me correctly and his comments after the game have played a part in his demise at the club in my opinion. As it stands it seems we might be about to offload him when the transfer window opens in a few days.

Palace have been on a very good run for the last couple of months and the fact that they’re not even in the relegation zone is a huge achievement considering they lost their first seven games without scoring a goal. As it stands they are unbeaten in eight games although they have drawn five of them while they are unbeaten in six at home with three draws in those games including a victory against Chelsea. When they beat Chelsea they didn’t have a point or a goal to their name and from what I saw of the game Chelsea paid the price for underestimating them.

It’s something Arsenal have been accused of far too often for my liking and it’s something they cannot afford to do tonight. Considering our inability to defend even at a basic level we have to be switched on from the very start tonight. We played a back four in that defeat at Palace last season and probably will do again tonight, but most of the time in between we have used a back five.

With Nacho Monreal our tonight I would expect to see Shkodran Mustafi in from the start as he has recovered from his injury. The big question is who will play at left back if it’s a back four and I can only assume Ainsley Maitland-Niles will get the nod ahead of the player who was voted the best left back in the Bundesliga last season.

For me I think Sead Kolasinac should play and AMN could maybe get a chance in the centre of midfield which is his natural position and a position where we are struggling badly at the moment. With Aaron Ramsey still injured it means we will see Granit Xhaka and Jack Wilshere play with Mesut Ozil dropping back to help them. There is no real balance in that trio and no recovery pace to help the defence between Xhaka and Wilshere, but maybe AMN could offer both of them to the team.

We were overrun in midfield by Liverpool in our last game for all but about 10 minutes, but we managed to do enough in that brief spell to get a 3-3 draw. We should really have lost by four or five goals and it’s difficult to believe we will somehow have improved defensively as a team since then. Palace might not be Liverpool, but they will cause us problems and I think we will have to score two or three goals tonight to have any hope of winning.

With three games to play in a week we can make or lose a lot of ground in the fight for second to sixth place. Three points tonight and agsinst West Brom in a few days would make the home game with Chelsea a less worrying prospect before we head into a month full of Cup and league games. It’s most certainly not beyond us, but who knows what you will get with this Arsenal team.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Red Star Belgrade Preview

Arsenal's busy schedule continues tonight when they play at home to Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League. It's a competition that has gone quite well for Arsenal so far with three wins from three games and qualification for the knockout stages looking fairly certain at we stand. As I've said before it's a competition we can win and we should be looking to do just that with a Champions League place for the winner besides the nice shiny trophy.

Of course as important as this competition might become as the season progresses it's nowhere near the top of our list of priorities at the moment. That means we're going to see a mixture of fringe players and youngsters tonight and they have done very well so far. Besides the three Europa League wins they have also progressed to the last eight of Carabao Cup where they will meet West Ham a week before Christmas.

To be honest the team is being thrown together by Arsene Wenger with players having to fit into positions they're not accustomed to most of the time. That's most obvious in the defence where the only recognised defender playing in position has been Rob Holding in the centre of the back three. He has had Matthieu Debuchey and Mohamed Elneny in the center of that defence with him and that's something neither of them are used to and it shows at times. They have done well all things considered though, but we are vulnerable to a quick break right through the middle of our defence. 

You have to feel for the two players at wing back too because both Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles must be delighted to get so much time in the first team, but it has to be tempered by where they are being asked to play. Nelson looks like he might really make an impression in an attacking role while Maitland-Niles would love the chance to display his wares in the centre of midfield. They are being asked to play out of position because of our lack of options in the wing back roles and it's difficult to understand why we didn't bring in cover in those positions if we were going to continue with five at the back this season.

We will of course get another chance to see Jack Wilshere ply his trade as he continues to try to regain a place in the first team. It's a little odd to hear the manager suggest he should be on the radar for the England team when he can't get a genuine look in at Arsenal. I still think he has a long way to go to fulfill his potential, but it's not easy to shine in a team without the club's real stars. I would like to see how Wilshere performs in a team with Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and others rather than the makeshift one he's currently having to perform in.

These games are an opportunity for players to let the manager know they still exist or even to try to make an impression. As I said it's not always easy, but Eddie Nketiah showed in the Carabao Cup against Norwich that it's most certainly possible. His two goals from the bench to turn the game back in our favour made a name for him instantly and he'll be dying to get another chance as soon as possible.

A win tonight would put us through to the knockout stages and we're one of the favourites to win the trophy at the moment. That should leave us in a situation where we can rest a few players if needs be, but we're already resting the first choice players anyway. It's a good situation to be in and long may it continue.

If we do progress to the last 32 I would imagine the manager will gradually reintroduce the first choice players as the opposition improve. I suppose it could depend on what the league table looks like at that stage and whether we're still challenging for a top four spot. If we are the team could be stretched with the FA Cup to contend with too and given the choice I think the rewards of the Europa League outweigh those of the FA Cup.

Red Star were unbeaten before we beat them 1-0 a couple of weeks ago and they will still be hoping they can progress to the knockout stages. They made plenty of good chances against us at their ground and they will be looking to exploit our jumbled team tonight again. It's something that's quite possible given the team we will have out, but they have come through every challenge so far. I'd love to see Wilshere or Alex Iwobi grab the game by the scruff of the neck tonight and maybe Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott could show us why they think they should be in the first team. 

As usual it's going to be difficult to get to see the game in my part of the world. BT Sport will be showing it live on one of their channels I suppose, but it's not a package I subscribe to. Hopefully I will get to see it, but it's not the end of the world if I don't which is probably an indication of how the group stages of the Europa League are judged. 

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

It's Ed, Edd & Eddy Time As Arsenal Beat Norwich

Arsenal took on Norwich last night in the last 16 of the the Carabao Cup with a place in Thursday's draw for the quarter finals as a reward for the winner. As he had done in the previous round and in the three Europa League games to date Arsene Wenger used his squad as he rested the players who beat Everton 5-2 on Sunday. He had the luxury of making 11 changes from that team despite being short of a few players thanks to injuries.

Matt Macey got his first start of the season in goal with David Ospina still injured and Alex Iwobi played instead of Joe Willock, but otherwise the team was the same as the one which won 1-0 at Red Star Belgrade on Thursday night. There were plenty of players out there looking to impress the manager or at least that was what we hoped. Norwich were going to be no pushover though and they will be pushing hard for a return to the Premier League at the end of the season.

The less said about the game the better I suppose up until a point at least because Arsenal were wholly unimpressive for the vast majority of the game. Our defence was a mish-mash and it showed as Norwich found a way in behind us far too often for comfort. They took the lead from such a move when the impressive Josh Murphy ran right past the centre of our defence and finished with a deft touch in the 34th minute.

Try as we might we never really looked like getting back into the game and Norwich had the better chances on the break. There was no cohesion to our play and it seemed like more than a lack of effort on the part of some players. Jack Wilshere was clearly frustrated by the inaction of some of those around him, but he didn't exactly have the best game either.

As the game wore on and we searched seemingly in vain for an equaliser I resigned myself to the fact that we were going out of the competition. I just couldn't see a goal coming from anywhere and I considered how bad the Europa League must be if this team had a 100% record in their first three games. There was one thing I hadn't considered though and we had to wait until the 85th minute to see what that was.

Reiss Nelson was replaced by Eddie Nkietah as Arsenal were about to take a corner and he just jogged forward into their box and poked home from close range as the ball from the corner dropped at his feet. He was only on the pitch 15 seconds at that stage and he could not have asked or hoped for a quicker impact. Arsenal had been improving before that goal and they took control of the game as they went in search of a winner.

They didn't manage it in normal time, but six minutes into the first period of extra time that man Nkietah rose to head home a corner to give them the lead. I had said in my preview that players needed to take their chance to make an impression and Nkietah most certainly did just that. He's only 18 years old, but there can't have been too many players from our youth system who have made such an impression so quickly when the chance has come their way.

There were chances at both ends before the game ended and Norwich felt aggrevied not to get a penalty after Mathieu Debuchey raised his arm across one of their players to hold him off. I still don't quite understand how an arm raised across your face causes your legs to go from under you, but maybe that's just me. They were probably a little unfortunate not to get the penalty and also Mohamed Elneny was a little lucky not to get a red card for a foul in the first half when he was the last line of defence. They're the breaks sometimes though and Arsenal have had their share of decisions go against them in recent games.

I'm not sure what the manager will make from the performances of most of the players, but he cannot have failed to have been impressed by Nkietah. Whether he'll get any more game time or not is another thing because dropping Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott from our second string would be a real insult to them and I can't see him doing that. I think he should get a chance after a performance like that though as he showed far more desire and willingness to make runs in his 35 minutes on the pitch than both them did between them throughput the whole game.

We're through to the quarter finals where we will play one of United, City, Chelsea, West Ham, Bournemouth, Leicester or Bristol City. The draw will be made tomorrow and the funniest thing is the lack of Spurs in the pot after they put out a strong team at home to West Ham and blew a two goal lead to lose 3-2. I still don't think the team we're fielding in this competition can win it for us, but making it to the last eight isn't too shabby. 

I thing other clubs will probably play stronger teams with Wembley in their sights and it could make it difficult for us in the next round. For the moment though we can revel in the splendour of a great performance from a young man who is hopefully starting out on a long and illustrious Arsenal career.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Norwich Preview

After a fairly comprehensive 5-2 win in the Premier League at Everton on Sunday it's Carabao Cup action for Arsenal tonight with a home game against Norwich in the last 16 of the competition. Sunday's win was the best performance of the season so far for me even if we did hand the two goals to Everton. Not only did we score five goals, but we had 30 attempts on goal with 14 of them on target.

We looked a very different team to the one which had only scored one away goal in four games before Sunday and we finally managed to punish a team we had on the ropes. I'm not saying it was a perfect display, but we could have done with a lot more of that attacking intent in the defeats against Stoke and Watford. I don't think it's any coincidence that we performed so well in attack in the first game that Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette all started together.

Of course we'll have a very different team tonight as we had in the 1-0 win at home to Doncaster in the last round. Our Europa League and Carabao Cup team has done pretty well so far with four wins out of four. Considering it's a team made up mainly of fringe and reserve players with many of them playing out of position that's an impressive record.

With David Ospina injured the chances are Matt Macey will play in goal as I would be very surprised if Petr Cech filled in like he had to do at Red Star Belgrade last Thursday. The defence will probably be pretty similar to the one which managed to keep Red Star scoreless and I don't expect too many changes at all from Thursday night. It's the fifth chance for those players to show what they can do and I certainly think they have every chance of winning tonight.

Olivier Giroud will lead the line hot on the heels of winning the "Puskas" award for the best goal of the year as voted by the public. We all know how adept Arsenal fans are at voting for their team or players in online polls and he was the most prominent player up for the award. His "Scorpion Kick" against Crystal Palace on New Year's Day won him the trophy and he wasn't too far off repeating it with a fairly similar goal to beat Red Star last week.

I would imagine we will see Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi in the front three with Giroud while Jack Wilshere and Francis Coquelin should man the midfield and the defence will probably be the same as it was against Red Star. The defence struggled at times in that game, but they somehow managed to keep a clean sheet. To be fair the only one of them playing in his actual position was Rob Holding and he's still quite raw and inexperienced. 

Norwich have started the season reasonably well and they're in the play off places in the Championship after 13 games. Promotion to the Premier League is their goal for the season and anything outside of that would be a huge bonus for them tonight. I am sure they will bring a large contingent of fans to the Emirates and they should make themselves heard as long as their team are in with a chance.

As with the Europa League games so far there isn't a huge amount of interest in this game compared to the Premier League, but it is good to see how those fringe and reserve players fare. Jack Wilshere is the one who could be closest to getting into the first team considering the issues we have had and continue to have in midfield. It will be interesting to see how he gets on tonight and if he can keep himself off the treatment table long enough to make a real impact on the first team.

All in all I won't be overly bothered if the result goes against us, but it would be good for the players given a chance to progress. There's a Wembley final to play early next year and it will be interesting to see if the manager strengthens the team a little if we do manage to go through tonight. The more game time each of those players get the better for the first team I suppose and long may it continue so.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Leicester City Preview

After a great FA Cup semi final victory over Manchester City on Sunday it's back to Premier League action when reigning champions Leicester City come calling to the Emirates Stadium. Leicester haven't exactly defended their title in style and it's only in recent weeks where they have managed to pull away from the relegation zone. As it stands they are six points above third from bottom Swansea and Swansea only have four games left to play. They did of course reach the last eight of the Champions League and only went out to last year's runners up Atletico Madrid by a single goal. 

They did better in the Champions League than Arsenal have done in seven years, but they struggled badly to live up to the heights they reached last season. Their home form hasn't been too bad, but they have only won once in 16 away games with only Hull and Bournemouth conceding more goals away from home. If Arsenal are going to keep their top four hopes alive Leicester are a team they quite simply have to beat.

The teams drew 0-0 when they met in Leicester earlier in the season and there are plenty of points of interest in the game. Jamie Vardy came very close to joining Arsenal from Leicester last summer and I have no doubt the Arsenal fans will give him the reception they feel he deserves. Leicester only lost three league games last season and two of them were against Arsenal, but a mid season collapse meant Arsenal had to settle for second place in the end.

This season hasn't gone as well for Arsenal and they will have to finish very strongly if they are going to retain their regular top four place. They have seven league games to go before they play Chelsea in the Cup Final and seven wins would guarantee them a top four finish. Some of those games are decidedly difficult though and to win all of them would be a tough task if Arsenal were playing at their very best.

They have been far from their best for a long time now though and it would be a brave person who truly believed they will win all seven games. Their record against the rest of the top seven this season has been abysmal with only one win in nine games and three of their last seven games are against teams in the top seven. After Leicester they make the short trip to Spurs on Sunday and they still have to play at home to both United and Everton.

The experiment with three at the back seems to be progressing nicely and we certainly looked like a stronger unit against City than we have done in quite a while. The players also showed some belief and mental strength to come from behind to win even if they did ride their luck a little at times. Those qualities will have to be shown in abundance for the rest of the season if the team are going to reach the goals they have left.

The extra time the players had to play on Sunday could have an effect on some of them and could lead to a few changes in the team. While we were working our socks off to repel City the Leicester players were taking it easy and preparing for this game. I'm sure they would be more than happy to get one over on us and more or less put the final nail in our top four chances.

Arsene Wenger has a few options available to him with players like Mohamed Elneny, Danny Welbeck, Francis Coquelin, Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott all looking to get a chance. I don't think he will make too many changes from the City game though and hopefully the players can show more of the spirit they showed on Sunday. It's going to be very tough to finish in the top four and I honestly don't think we will make it, but I don't think our chances will be killed off in this game.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Throw The Towel In Against Bayern Munich

Well that wasn't exactly very good was it. We feared the worst at home to Bayern Munich last night and after some initial hope in the first half Arsenal delivered on those fears in a big way. We ended up on the end of a 10-2 aggregate drubbing and it's hard to believe it wasn't deserved. 

The team selection at least gave some promise, but Danny Welbeck's injury in the warm up meant Olivier Giroud had to be drafted into the starting team. Bayern are vulnerable to pace as Theo Walcott showed last night, but that's one thing Giroud completely lacks. The first half went our way though and Walcott took his goal very well even if Bayern did give us a couple of scares.

I held out no real hope of Arsenal getting the other three goals they needed in the second half, but a similar performance to the first half would have at least been sufficient. They did all that could be asked of them in that first half and played with the pride, passion and the aggression which has been missing too often recently.

At the start of the second half Giroud came close with a header before things went badly awry. The referee had let Vidal off with an awful challenge on Alexis in the first half for which he could have seen red and turned down a penalty appeal for a foul on Walcott too. He had let Bayern away with a few fouls which didn't endear him to us Arsenal fans and then he changed the course of the game.

Laurent Koscielny was adjudged to have fouled Lewandowski in the box and the referee gave a penalty and a yellow card which looked about right to me. However, he was over ruled by the official behind the goal who informed his that Koscielny should be sent off. He duly obliged and when Lewandoski dispatched the penalty it had to become a damage limitation exercise for Arsenal.

With 10 men left on the pitch and a four goal deficit to overturn against a team like Bayern there was no hope, but Arsenal weren't to be told. The first mistake was dropping Granit Xhaka back into defence to replace Koscielny while Gabriel Paulista stayed on the bench. Xhaka had done well in midfield in the first half, but it was a ridiculous decision to put him back into the defence.

After that the 10 men tried to play an even more open and attacking game than they had done in the first half and Bayern just picked them off at will. It reminded me of the 8-2 defeat at United a few years ago where we continued to try to attack them as they scored goal after goal. The manager doesn't seem to comprehend what damage limitation is or what results like that do to us fans.

No matter what he says he cannot feel what we do or he would have the sense to realise when it's time to shut up shop and stop the pain. I called for his head after that game or at least said he had to consider his position and he has to do that now too. I don't even think it's a case of considering his position as I think it has become untenable at this stage.

The funny thing about the two games against Bayern is we won them 2-1 with Koscielny on the pitch and lost 9-0 without him. It's a record home defeat in Europe as well as a record aggregate defeat added to the joint record away defeat in the first leg. How anyone could consider any of that progress I just don't know and yet we're meant to be able to complete with the best.

Maybe the manager managed to inspire his players in the first half last night, but when the chips were down he not only couldn't inspire them, but he got it completely wrong tactically. We have lost five of our last seven games and conceded 18 goals in those five defeats. The only wins in that run were a lucky one at home to Hull and an FA Cup win against a non league team.

It's just not good enough and we have the banana skin of another non league team in the next round of the FA Cup this week to look forward to. We should beat them by five or six goals at a canter, but I genuinely fear we could be on the end of possibly the biggest FA Cup upset ever. As a club we are going nowhere and nowhere fast too.

If the manager cannot inspire his players and is so tactically inept we need to find someone who can do the job better than him. We need a complete change and quickly too or we will have nothing left to play for in a matter of weeks. I know we won't even consider a new manager until the season ends, but I think he has to make his intentions known immediately for the good of the club and the fans.

I hope he has decided he's not the right man for the job and will let us all know soon, but I doubt it. I think we will stumble along until the end of the season without a trophy, outside the top four and behind Spurs too. After all the proud work of his 20 years at the club it would be awful for it to end like that, but it's the most likely scenario for me at this stage.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Watford Preview

It's Watford tonight for Arsenal in the Premier League and just maybe a chance to close the gap on Chelsea at the top of the table. Arsenal have taken 13 points from their last five games to move into second place, but those 13 points have only seen them cut Chelsea's lead over them by two points to eight points. It's very hard to keep pace with a team who have won 15 of their last 16 league games and any team hoping to catch Chelsea need some help from other teams.

With Chelsea going to Liverpool tonight that might just be the case even if Liverpool have had a month to forget so far. If they want to get back into the title race they really need a win tonight and if they were to do so Arsenal would have some renewed hope ahead of their trip to Chelsea on Saturday. Two defeats in five days would be just what the rest of the top six would ask for and both Arsenal and Liverpool need to do their part.

First of all they have to overcome a Watford team who are on a very bad run and haven't won in seven league games. They were knocked out of the FA Cup at League One side Millwall on Sunday and their manager must be feeling the pressure giving how many managers they have gone through in recent times. They will feel they need to get something from this game too, but surely they are a team devoid of any confidence at the moment.

Speaking of confidence there's nothing like making nine changes to the team and seeing the players that come in go to Southampton and win 5-0 in the cup. I know Southampton made plenty of changes too, but the result and performance were fantastic with some individuals surely making Arsene Wenger sit up and take notice. He has a few decisions to make for tonight and as the season progresses and the only player still out through injury is Santi Cazorla.

He will revert to what he sees as his strongest side at the moment tonight I'm sure which should mean Hector Bellerin and Shkodran Mustafi might be the only players to keep their places from Sunday. Plenty of others will hope to get more game time tonight too and maybe come off the bench or possibly come in from the start at Chelsea on Saturday.

The performances of Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez and Danny Welbeck show the strength we have in depth and they all have plenty to offer for the rest of the season. Chamberlain and Ainsley Maitland-Niles performed really well in the centre of midfield on Saturday and gave us some options considering Cazorla's injury, Granit Xhaka's suspension and Mohamed Elneny's international commitments at the moment. I would be very surprised if we didn't see Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey line up in those roles tonight though and probably on Saturday too.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will surely return too with Olivier Giroud leading the line and Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech and Nacho Monreal certain starters too. That just leaves Alex Iwobi to make up the 11 and while there is definitely a case for Walcott or Welbeck getting the nod after Saturday's performances, but they probably needed to be eased back in after their respective injuries and their past injury records too.

Watford are there for the beating and nothing but three points will do tonight. I could say we should look to Alexis after he only came off the bench on Saturday, but I doubt if he ever needs a rest. I think we will win and I hope we win well too ahead of a huge game on Saturday.

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 Middlesbrough Preview And Confirmed Arsenal Lineup

Arsenal just can't stop winning at the moment and that's a pretty handy habit to have. They have won their last six league games to move level on points with City at the top of the table with a couple of favourable games to come before the pressure of some bigger games. They play Middlesbrough at home today and then next Saturday they travel to Sunderland and six points can and should be attained from those two games.

If they can go into the games against Spurs and United on the back of eight consecutive wins it will give them plenty of confidence as well as a little bit of a cushion in case things don't go their way. I'm not saying I think they will lose those games, but they tend to be very close affairs and sometimes the outcome can be decided by matters which cannot be controlled. If they win the games against Boro and Sunderland I would in fact be very confident of them taking at least four points from the games against Spurs and United which would be more than acceptable.

Of course other factors will come into play too such as an EFL Cup game, a Champions League game and a dreaded international break. The squad still hasn't been affected too badly by injuries, but we have Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud, Per Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck among others who are currently unavailable. While we can do without further injuries we are coping very well without those four players and the available squad still has plenty of depth.

The league season is very long and always has it's twists and turns, but I haven't seen anything yet to suggest there is any team who Arsenal cannot match in a head to head situation or over the entire season either. The problems could come if or when results go against them and they ability to overcome a couple of bad results in the past leaves them open to questions on how they might cope this season. We are constantly told of the team's mental strength and we will see if there is any truth in it at some stage I have no doubt.

As for Boro there is very little expected of them today after an awful run of results has seen them take only one point from their last five games. They will take some encouragement from Swansea running Arsenal close last week though and of course Arsenal had to play a midweek game too. Watching Arsenal destroy Ludogorets 6-0 on Wednesday night won't have done Boro's confidence too much good, but they won't be easy to break down. 

They have done better on their travels than they have at home and they will follow the tried and trusted method away to Arsenal of shutting up shop and looking for something on the break or from a set piece. It's the sort of game Arsenal struggle in sometimes, but I think the attacking flair currently on show from Arsenal will be too much for Boro.

The team is almost the same as it was last Saturday with the exception of a change in the midfield duo. Granit Xhaka missed out after his red card against Swansea of course and it looks like Santi Cazorla hasn't recovered in time from the knock he picked up in midweek. They are replaced by Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny who will both be eager to take the chance to show what they can do.

Coquelin in particular will hope to move ahead of Xhaka in the pecking order again after losing his place due to injury. Elneny will do well to oust a fully fit Cazorla from the team, but he is certainly a more than capable replacement today. It will be interesting to see how they work together with Coquelin doing most of the tackling and Elneny trying to set the tempo for the team.

It's still a team who are on paper far too good for Boro and should be looking to win by a couple of goals at least. If players like Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott can continue to terrorize defenders Boro will be in for s very busy afternoon. I think they will do just that and get their seventh league win on the bounce.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Swansea City Preview

The Premier League returns tomorrow and Arsenal play at home to Swansea at the traditional time of 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.  It's fairly rare for Arsenal to play at 3 on a Saturday because more often than not their game is moved to facilitate TV. The fact this game hasn't been moved gives us an idea about the opposition and how Arsenal are expected to beat them.

Arsenal are rarely shown on TV at home to the Premier League's lesser lights, but their away games against them are quite regularly scheduled for screening. I suppose the bigger teams are more likely to lose these games on their travels and of course that's what everybody bar the supporters of the losing team wants to see. It might explain why the home game against Middlesbrough next week is a 3pm kick off too, but the trip to Sunderland the following week will be on TV at the earlier time of 12.30.

On the face of it they are three games against struggling teams where Arsenal should be taking all nine points. Swansea have proved a stumbling block in the past while both Boro and Sunderland will try to repel Arsenal, but three wins really are a must if the team are going to challenge for the league. After those games the fixtures get decidedly tougher and it would be great to go into games against Spurs and United on a run of eight consecutive league wins.

As it is that run stands at five wins and the slow start in the opening two games is a distant memory. With City losing to Spurs it has become very tight at the top of the table and Arsenal are only two points behind them. There's a long way to go, but it certainly looks promising at the moment.

From a team selection point there won't be too many changes from the team who just about won away to Burnley last time out. Francis Coquelin is fit to return after picking up a knock in the 3-0 win over Chelsea, but I think Granit Xhaka will keep his place. It doesn't look like we have picked up any injuries in the international break, but there may be one or two players who need to start from the bench after their exertions for their countries.

Alexis Sanchez is the player most likely to miss out having played for Chile away to Peru on Wednesday night. The time difference and flight back would have seen him return on Friday I imagine and it probably makes sense for him to be on the bench to start. He did mange to score twice in that game in a 4-3 win and there aren't too many options in his central striking role.

With Olivier Giroud still injured and Lucas Perez not quite back to full fitness we could see Theo Walcott deployed in that position. Walcott has done very well so far this season on the right and hopefully he can continue that form if he has to play centrally. Alexis suffered from being overplayed last season and we can't allow that to happen again this season. Hopefully he won't have to come on to rescue us and we can get the job done without him.

Arsenal have had their problems at home to teams who shut up shop and no doubt Swansea will try to do just that. They have a very good record at the Emirates with 10 points from their five games there since their promotion to the Premier League. It's been a nightmare to watch Arsenal at home to them in the main and it's something we have to put right.

It took a long time to break Burnley down in the last game and we were more than a little lucky to sneak a win in the end. We might need to be patient and we might have to bide our time, but getting the three points is absolutely vital. A little bit of revenge for all the points Swansea have taken at our ground would be nice and I think we will get it, but it won't be easy.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To Burnley Previewed

Arsenal have played some really good football in the last week which led to victories at home to Chelsea and Basel. Their first half performances in particular were scintillating and very few teams can live with them when they play like that. It's taken them a little while to get into the groove this season, but it was certainly worth waiting for.

Of course a trip to Burnley will be a different prospect for them as Burnley are expected to get nothing from the game and will be perfectly content to defend in numbers. They did just that against Liverpool a few weeks ago and ended up beating them 2-0. If they can get the first goal it will give them something to hold on to and things could get fairly tough for Arsenal.

Arsenal have struggled to break down teams who sit very deep against them and it can require a lot of patience. The speed of their attacking trio can be nullified if there is no space to run into and long range shooting is rarely an option which Arsenal go to. However, it will take a defensive performance of mammoth proportions for Burnley to keep Arsenal out if Arsenal play like they have done recently.

From a team selection perspective I can't see any changes from midweek except for the return of Petr Cech in goal in place of David Ospina. The injury to Francis Coquelin last week doesn't seem to be as bad as it was feared and he should be fit to return quite soon, but it means Granit Xhaka will continue in midfield. The more I see of Xhaka the more I like him and he is the one player who is fond of shooting from distance as he proved against both Hull and Forest.

It's all about the form of Arsenal's attacking trio though and the goal threat posed by each of them. I was dead set against Alexis Sanchez in the central role, but he is growing into it and proving me wrong game after game. His ability to link up with others and bring them into play allied with his pace and eye for goal are proving invaluable.

As well as Alexis this season has seen the rebirth of Theo Walcott. His attitude seems to be so much better and he is far more involved in attack and crucially he is sticking to his defensive duties too. Added to that he has found some real goalscoring form and he looks worth his place in the team which is something we haven't said often enough in the past. 

The third player in the attacking trio is Alex Iwobi and he has shown great maturity since breaking into the team late last season. His interplay with others is fantastic and he so often seems to be in the right place when the ball pops up in the opponents area. I think he still needs to do some work on his finishing, but hopefully that will come.

I could go on about the support from the rest of the team and the defensive understanding which is developing between Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi. I don't want to go overboard though because there's still a long way to go this season and the team need to play this well game after game. A comprehensive win in this game and a performance to go with it would certainly increase the belief that we can challenge for the title for real this season.

Recent history has taught me it's dangerous to place too much belief in Arsenal as it all seems to go wrong just as we look to have made the breakthrough far too often. That belief is building at the moment though and I just hope it's building in the players too because they most certainly have the required ability. Today's result will certainly give us an insight into their mindset and whether they can play that well when it's not such a high profile game. 

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Trip To PSG Previewed

Arsenal just about managed to beat Southampton on Saturday, but I'm still not quite sure how they did it. It was a far from impressive display and they got out of jail right at the death with a somewhat lucky penalty. They won though and took three very important points to move them up to seventh in the Premier League table.

It was a pretty strong Arsenal team too, but there were a few noteable absentees. With the trip to PSG in mind Arsene Wenger left Granit Xhaka and Olivier Giroud on the bench while Alexis Sanchez didn't start as he was back quite late from international duty in South America. I expect all three of them to start against PSG as Arsene Wenger looks to play his strongest team possible.

There is a suggestion that David Ospina will get the nod ahead of Petr Cech as he did in some of the group games last season. It's a risky move which backfired badly at home to Olympiacis, but to be fair to Ospina he is a good keeper and Cech has made his fair share of mistakes since joining Arsenal too. None of those mistakes have been as obvious as the one Ospina made in that game, but there is a suggestion he is struggling with long range efforts.

There could be other changes too with the possibility of Mohamed Elneny coming in for Santi Cazorla to add some more strength in front of the defence alongside Xhaka. Santi has played very well so far and has probably been our best attacking player to this point, but a player who can offer more defensively might be a better option for this game. I'd like to see how Xhaka and Elneny perform together and we might just get a chance to see that combination in this game.

I suppose there's a possibility of Theo Walcott missing out too as he hasn't exactly been overly impressive so far this season. If Giroud plays centrally then Alexis will come in on the left or right and we could see Lucas Perez retain his place, but shift to a wide role. I think Walcott will get the nod ahead of both of them though while Alex Iwobi is unlikely to play from the start too.

There are plenty of other options available with the possibility of Mesut Ozil or Cazorla moving to the wide role and the other one of those two playing behind the striker to accomodate both players. I think Ozil will play his usual role though and Cazorla will be the man to miss out. It's good that we have so many options and hopefully the players can find more understanding than they did on Saturday as the season progresses.

PSG have the French league tied up at almost a stroll and the real challenge for them is in the Champions League. It's the trophy their mega rich owners desire more than any other, but it's not easy to win as Arsenal are well aware. They might not be on top of their domestic league right now, but I have no doubt they will be before too long and until the season ends too.

On the face of it Arsenal's group is none too difficult and it should be a fight between them and PSG for first place. While Basel and Ludogorets cannot be written off, Arsenal should be able to finish ahead of both of them as long as they don't treat them as lightly as they did the so called also rans in their group last season. They managed to get out of that group last season despite themselves and hopefully they will do things a lot better this season.

It's been far too long since Arsenal made it past the last 16 of the Champions League and the best way to do that is to win their group. If they can stay on top of their games against Basel and Ludogorets then the group should come down to the results home and away against PSG. A win away to them would be the ideal way to get off the mark in the group, but I'd happily take a point from this game.

The team still haven't put in a 90 minute performance in their four games to date, but now is the time for them to do just that. This will be their toughest game so far and a good result could be just what the team needs to get them going.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Fail To Learn Their Lessons Again

Here we are again one game into the new season and Arsenal find themselves in the middle of another crisis. They lost their opening game 4-3 at home to Liverpool despite scoring the first goal and the team yet again seemed anything but ready for the opening game. In an all too familiar scenario we were told by Arsene Wenger that the team were ready and able for the big kick only for him to change his story after the game.

Everybody knew when the season started and for him not to have the team ready for that kick off is inexcusable. It's not as if it's a one off either as Arsenal have only won once in the last seven seasons on the opening day. Is he so unable to read the form and fitness of his players that he genuinely got it so badly wrong in believing they were ready.

Of course he wasn't helped by the absences of Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud who should be available very soon. The real problems came in defence where the absence of Koscielny was added to by the recent injuries to both Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista. The inexperience of both Calum Chambers and Rob Holding was cruelly exposed by Liverpool and we should never have reached a position where those two were our central defensive pairing on the opening day.

It started so well for Arsenal with Theo Walcott giving them the lead just after the half hour mark despite missing a penalty only a minute earlier. As half time approached Arsenal seemed in command, but Holding gave away a needless free kick and Phillippe Coutinho made him pay a heavy price with a great finish. There were questions to answer for Petr Cech who might have done better and his inability to keep out long range efforts has to be a worry.

The second half was a completely different story with Liverpool going for the jugular from the start and Arsenal going 4-1 down soon after the hour mark. To make matters worse Arsenal lost both Alex Iwobi and Aaron Ramsey to injuries, but their replacements did their part in trying to get something from the game. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the next goal with Santi Cazorla making it and the third Arsenal goal too. There were still 15 minutes left to play at that stage, but Liverpool managed to steady the ship and Arsenal never really looked like equalising.

Looking back the team was so far off what is needed to beat another so called title contender that the result wasn't a surprise. As well as the shortcomings in defence the inclusion of Alexis Sanchez at centre forward didn't work and he has never looked comfortable when he has been asked to play in that position. To play Walcott on the right went against everything the manager had told us about Walcott only a few days earlier and it was almost impossible to believe.

If he had belief in his only two fit central defenders to play despite their age then why didn't he choose his only fit centre forward in Chuba Akpom or even Walcott. Alexis is wasted in that role and he has so much more to offer the team on either the right or left of the attack. There was no proper balance to the attack even if they did manage to score three goals against a Liverpool defence who were just as bad as our defence.

The difference between the teams on the day for me was Liverpool had so much more to offer going forward. Even without Daniel Sturridge they looked like they could score at any time while Arsenal were too easy to stop. The return of Ozil and Giroud will improve Arsenal going forward, but a top class centre forward is desperately needed and it looks like we have no hope of getting one.

I was also more than a little surprised to see Granit Xhaka on the bench after we spent something like £35 million on him in May. Surely the midfield combination should be him and Mohamed Elneny as they can both do the defensive work needed and have far more going forward than Francis Coquelin. Even when Xhaka came on it was for Elneny when the team needed to find more in attack. After spending so much money on Xhaka does he still need to prove himself before he can cement a place in the team.

We play again next weekend when we go to Leicester and it doesn't look like the central defensive options will change by then. Does that mean we will see the same pairing as we did on Sunday and if so will we continue to suffer as they continue to learn their trade. Leicester haven't started the defence of their title too well either, but they will most certainly try to target our defence on Saturday.

The simple solution to strengthening the team has to be to get the job done early and give new players time to gel before the season starts. The arrival of Xhaka led us to believe things might be different this season, but the inactivity since then has been all too familiar. Money cannot be a problem with the money available to the club and it's impossible not to believe Arsenal just won't pay the going rate even if that rate is currently incredibly high.

It looks like we'll be scrambling around in the dying embers of the transfer window trying to pick any bargains or players other clubs don't want. How that fits in with any club's "transfer policy" is something I can't understand, but I don't doubt that it's what we will end up with. It doesn't mean we won't challenge for trophies this season, but it definitely means we won't give ourselves the best possible chance of doing so.

Finally for today there's still time to join my Fantasy League and my Predictions League for the new season. There's a €50 prize for the fantasy league and it's open to anyone to join.

To join my fantasy league go to the official site and set up your team after entering your details. Once you've set up your team go to the league's option and join a private league. The code for my league (Ever Arsenal league) is 64693-22498 and there's already well over 500 teams in it.

For my predictions league go to the official site and make your forecasts for the first set of games (you can change them later if you want) and then go to the mini leagues option. Go to the join a mini league option (invitation code) and use the code for my league 64693-215432 to sign up. After that you can join in the fun of predicting every single game in the upcoming season.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Lay The Vikings To Waste With 8 Goals

The new season draws ever closer and this time next week we'll be preparing for the big kick off. Arsenal had their last two pre season games to play this weekend and they got the first one out of the way last night when they played Viking FK. The quality of the opposition may not have been top drawer, but Arsenal were still impressive in putting eight goals past them with no reply.

Arsene Wenger picked a fairly strong team from those he has available at the moment, but he also possibly held a few players back for Sunday's game against Manchester City. Noteable absentees were Petr Cech, Calum Chambers and Granit Xhaka who might have played and didn't while Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez should probably see some action against City. Cech apparently has an eye infection but he should be fit to play Liverpool next week while Chambers and Xhaka don't appear to be in any doubt.

Arsenal were in control from the start and would have taken an early lead, but Santi Cazorla had his penalty saved. Cazorla was captain for this game with Per Mertesacker on the long term injured list and must be considered to keep the post in Mertesacker's absence. We were told he was a bit short of fitness for the Liverpool game, but he played the full 90 minutes and was the star performer for me.

The Viking goalkeeper continued his heroics in the first half, but Joel Campbell eventually made the breakthrough when he slid in to finish off a header from Mohamed Elneny which looked like it might have gone in anyway. There was still some hope for Viking at half time with only Campbell's goal separating the teams, but that soon changed after the break. Arsenal made three changes at the break and their early pressure paid off with four more goals before the hour mark. 

Those goals came from Cazorla, Theo Walcott, an own goal and Campbell again and the game was over as a contest at that point. Three more goals were added in the last 20 minutes with Alex Iwobi grabbing a brace and Chuba Akpom adding the final goal right at the end. There were some good goals among those eight goals and they made the game very enjoyable to watch. 

City will present a much tougher test on Sunday, but you can only beat the team you play and Arsenal certainly did that in style last night. I think the team we see against City will be something close to the one which starts the season against Liverpool next week. We already know Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud won't play against Liverpool and I imagine Ramsey and Alexis are unlikely to play from the start too.

That's five players from the probable starting lineup who won't be on from the start due to international commitments in the summer and it's going to make the opening fixture particularly difficult. Liverpool will be expected to do a lot better this season as Klopp's first full season in charge and a win away to Arsenal would be a great way for them to start. We're short of our strongest lineup in defence, midfield and attack and it's going to be a struggle to get something from the game.

Even with all of our attacking players available we are goal shy, but the removal of last season's top two scorers only makes matters worse. As bad as the need for a new striker is we need Giroud available as soon as possible despite his shortcomings. He's the only fit proven striker in the squad and the only other options as a central striker at the moment are Walcott, Akpom or maybe even Campbell.

Walcott wanted to be considered as a striker, but he has now decided he's a wide right pkayer again and he has done nothing to convince me he is the man to start up front against Liverpool. Akpom has managed a few goals so far in his limited opportunities in the pre season games and probably has more of a striker's instinct than any of the other choices, but he's very much unproven. The last option might be Campbell and I think he could be the best option despite not really being an out and out striker. I've been impressed with him in pre season and I think he's the most likely of the three to get on the scoresheet in that game.

While Cazorla was the man of the match for me I was also impressed with Campbell and Iwobi did well when he came on too. I had hoped Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would continue his good form of the last few games, but he didn't do much in the 45 minutes he played. Maybe he might have done better if he had stayed on for the second half when Arsenal scored seven goals, but I had hoped to see him continue on his recent vein.

The chances are Chamberlain will be in the starting team against Liverpool and he has a chance to disprove the doubters early this season. If it doesn't go well for him in those early games he could find himself taking a back seat when the rest of the squad are fully available again. It's a big season for him and his performances could make or break him as a player at the highest level.

We might get a better idea of where the team are before the season starts in the City game on Sunday, but these games count for little in reality. The real football doesn't begin until next week and the pace of the games before then just isn't the same. I can't say I'm overly confident ahead of that Liverpool game, but hopefully that will change as the game approaches.

Finally for today there's still time to join my Fantasy League and my Predictions Leagur for the new season. There's a €50 prize for the fantasy league and it's open to anyone to join.

To join my fantasy league go to the official site and set up your team after entering your details. Once you've set up your team go to the league's option and join a private league. The code for my league (Ever Arsenal league) is 64693-22498 and there's already well over 500 teams in it.

For my predictions league go to the official site and make your forecasts for the first set of games (you can change them later if you want) and then go to the mini leagues option. Go to the join a mini league option (invitation code) and use the code for my league 64693-215432 to sign up. After that you can join in the fun of predicting every single game in the upcoming season.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

11 Arsenal Players Who Could Be On The Move

The transfer window hasn't even opened yet and Arsenal have already signed the first of what will be quite a few new players. The arrival of Granit Xhaka looks to be a good move for the club and it's great to have managed it so early in the summer. It looks like he won't be the last arrival either with a few places in the squad to be filled.

For a start Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta have reached the end of their contracts and it looks like both of them will retire from playing. Arteta will definitely retire and Risicky might continue if he can find a club willing to take a risk on an injury prone player after Euro 2016. 

The other player to reach the end of his contract is Mathieu Flamini and I can only imagine he will be on his way too. I can't see him retiring just yet, but the arrivals of Xhaka yesterday and Mohamed Elneny last January mean he is surplus to requirements. For me he was never quite good enough for the level Arsenal want to play at, but he always gave his all and who can forget his two goals against Spurs in the Capital One Cup last season.

I'd be surprised if Mathieu Debuchey stayed too considering the fact that he went out on loan in January looking for first team football. He lost his place when Hector Bellerin took his chance with both hands as Debuchey was out injured. A player at his stage of his career doesn't want to sit on the bench and I cannot see him being an Arsenal player next season.

Kieran Gibbs was used sparingly last season and he missed out on a chance of going to Euro 2016 as a result. Nacho Monreal has made the left back slot his own and it would come as no surprise if Gibbs was to consider his future with Arsenal. He would have no problem getting into most Premier League teams and the prospect of sitting on the bench at Arsenal can hardly be too appealing to him.

Calum Chambers was signed from Southampton a few years ago at a high price, but he hasn't really been given much of a chance to strut his stuff at Arsenal. It's not clear what position suits him best and he needs a lot more game time if he is going to improve. As it stands it doesn't look like he will get that game time at Arsenal and the club could be tempted to get back at least some of the money they shelled out for him or he might even consider a move himself to further his career.

Carl Jenkinson has spent the last two seasons on loan at West Ham and it's hard to see where he fits in at Arsenal. Maybe he will stay with the club next season as an understudy to Bellerin, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. With plenty of rebuilding to do this summer the club could be tempted to cash in on a player they got for a small fee or again Jenkinson might feel his career might flourish elsewhere.

Joel Campbell did well when he got the chance to play last season, but he was usually the first to be discarded when others were available. It looks to me like the boss isn't convinced by him and I wouldn't be surprised if he was offered to other clubs this summer. Despite how well he performed at times last season I don't think he's quite good enough to make it with Arsenal and a move might be the best thing for all parties.

Theo Walcott has been an Arsenal player for 10 years now, but he's never really reached the heights we hoped he would reach. Last season was not good for him at all and he has quite obviously fallen out of favour with the boss. It's hard to see where he goes from here considering how much he is paid, but he might need to move if he wants to play more often. If Arsenal get the chance to bring in a wide player who can take take defenders on and beat them as well as scoring a few goals I wouldn't be shocked to see Walcott on his way.

Wojciech Szczesny has spent the season on loan at Roma and it's difficult to know if there's a place for him at Arsenal. If he does come back he would be third choice behind Petr Cech and David Ospina unless Ospina decides he wants first team football elsewhere. There have been suggestions his move to Roma will be made permanent and it wouldn't surprise if he did leave. It wouldn't be too easy for him to come back as second or third choice at Arsenal considering how long he spent as first choice and that he was first choice for Roma too.

Lastly there's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was another player to have a season to forget. He started well but things quickly deteriorated for him and yet again he wasn't helped by injuries. There have been rumours the club might be prepared to sell him due to his lack of improvement, but I would be surprised if they did so. He's still young enough to improve if he can overcome his persistent injuries and he certainly has lots of natural ability. 

All in all that's 11 players who could be on their way which is almost half a squad and it would be far more change than would be considered healthy for any squad. I have no doubt some of those players have played their last game for Arsenal, but it's a matter of how many the club decide to dispose of and how many choose to leave. It certainly promises to be a busy summer with those who leave having to be replaced and plenty of money in the bank to do so.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.