Greetings..The international break is over and its a return to the rigours of premiership football this weekend..The 2014 world cup participants have now been finalized and there will be no further international breaks until the new year. Unlike a few out there,i personally don't mind international breaks. The Super Eagles, for me are always a welcome distraction from the tension and heart pounding affairs of Arsenal games. Hence, i'm usually not fussed when those weekends without EPL arrive. Having said that though, this particular international break was an enduring pain in the ass for me considering the manner we entered it ( the loss to you know who). Whenever a result like that happens without an outlet to bounce back immediately, i get agitated. Us sitting top of the league regardless of the loss was scant consolation, i just wanted a dosage of 3 points in my system and i wanted it fast.
The chance to do that has finally materialized, we have a home game this Saturday evening against a surprisingly high flying Southampton team. I tell everyone who cares to listen that they are a classic example of what a good manager can do for a team. Its amazing how modernity has successfully belittled the position of a ''Team Manager'' so much that in my view, almost everyone thinks they can manage a premiership club! Its laughable..Last season under Nigel Atkins, they looked so out of their depth and appeared well and truly on their way back down after only 8 games into that campaign. Compare that to this season under New Boss Pochettino, 3rd on the table after 11 games, only 5 goals conceded (Best defense in the division) and on a league form of WDWDW in their last five! These are the sort of stats you would've associated with the Chelseas and Man Utds of this world not Southampton. But that is the team we are going up against and its on paper definitely going to be a difficult afternoon for us. So what changed them from premier league bottom scrappers to top dogs in less than 14 months? The boss puts it down to hard work from their players. The stay true to a 4-3-2-1 makeup and pressing style that features a lot of direct running from the flanks and center. In Llalana they possess a fine player who on his day can make the difference, alongside Rodriguez they thrive in finding pockets of space around the final third. Ricky Lambert is adept at link-up play that has proved potent at bringing the aforementioned two into dangerous positions but in Mertasacker and Koscielny they will be up against a pairing that has seen it all at this level.
We welcome Theo Walcott back from a two month absence and as far as i'm concerned, this is a massive boost to us. Over the last couple of games, i had observed a dire need of freshening things up a bit in our play in the final third. It looked a bit like teams were starting to figure us out by denying Giroud the opportunity to link up with the midfielders as he loves. it didn't matter if he dropped deep or not he was always heavily marked. The added option of having Theo make his trade-mark runs behind defenses for Rosicky and Ozil to pick out will give opponents something else to think about. Flamini is ineligible but Carzola and Wilshere are available after shaking off knocks. Speaking of Carzola, this piece interestingly reveals his thoughts on our title credentials. He is quoted in another source as saying how the boss has been demanding more from him this season. I know he hasn't hit the dizzying heights of last season but his quality is such that he can always be relied on to pop-up in difficult games and win them for you just by being Santi Carzola. He hasn't synchronized with Ozil the way most of us had imagined but part of that is down in my opinion to the newly found discipline the entire team has embraced since the close season last term. We seldom throw everything at opponents, we do just about enough to break them down whilst striking a balance in terms of taking risks, and keeping it tight at the back. Gibbs describes it better here. It promises to be an interesting game against the saints. We enjoy a cordial relationship with them off the pitch, but who's to say if the friendship will also exist on the pitch seeing they have ambitions of their own this season. I want 3 points to re-address the setback that was our last fixture. Its a weekend where every other rival is saddled with a tricky game,so you don't want to be the one dropping points when every one else has done their business..What else can i say other than, Come On you Gunners!
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