To say the next two games in Arsenals calender are season defining will be stating the obvious...beginning with Everton today we've got to start shaking off whatever is left of the cobwebs of pre-season left in our setup. Tuesday night was in my opinion not of the standard you'd expect from us;and for all the positive post-match talk Arsene dished out after the game, in his heart he won't have been happy with that performance. Many have attributed it the effects of new players bedding in, others have said its the world cup hangover..while some have even blamed the pitch in Turkey. Irrespective of the source of our lack of cohesion, one thing is for certain, rustiness or not we're going to have to find a way to positively Navigate Everton as well as Besiktas to give our season the early boost it needs.
Goodison park marked for me one of the dark points of last season. A hapless Arsenal team lacking in confidence were ruthlessly put to the sword by an Everton side that seemed ready to finally fulfill its Top 4 aspirations. They thoroughly deserved their win on the day and in 90mins of play had managed to expose at the time what was a 1-track, and rigid Arsenal game that lacked a Plan ''B''. Looking bereft of ideas Upfront and shaky at the back ,Vermaelen and Per were unable to respond to the questions asked by the rampaging Lukaku resulting in a resounding 3-0 defeat... But this time around its a fresh season and a chance to show the Hosts that last season was just a one-off. We have added to our team and on the back of our trophy wins, aren't the diffident side that visited them in April. We will be out to show our fresh impetus to top this Division and lay down the early marker of our title ambitions but questions marks will arise with regards to whether the lessons of our last defeat were Learnt. Their game plan of Lukaku on the Right against Monreal proved devastating, as time after time that Physical mismatch exposed us to repeated incursions from Barkley and Mirallas who were constantly making runs from deep to stretch us by exploiting the spaces that kept popping up.
The bad news is that Gibbs will not be available for this tie and his Spanish deputy will have to fill in again. Its a no-brainer to say the Englishman copes better with the physical side of things better than his deputy, but if Chamberlain starts he could well provide the much needed help Monreal will need to prevent any re-occurrence of last term.
The other big question in our camp is the probability of including the Germans in the game Today. The boss expects them to be ready to play but will need to take a further look to determine who will be included. Giroud has come under some heavy fire also in the wake of his indifferent performance on Tuesday and it'll be interesting to see who gets the nod between him and Sanogo as the attack spearhead. Sanchez has worked hard and has shown a willingness to run his socks off for the cause but bar Mancity at the community shield he has struggled to stamp himself in games. The League points have already began to count though and we'll need him to acquaint himself with the team's wavelength a.s.a.p. A win will definitely see us in first or second position at the end of the other Week 2 fixtures, but more importantly it is the Mental fortitude we emerge out of this game with that will go a long way in determining our fate come Wednesday next week. C'mon Arsenal
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