Match Preview: WESTHAM VS ARSENAL (Showdown in Little Boleyn)

 

Quick preview of our game later today against the Hammers at Upton Park. Look if there's ever going to be a time nailed-on as Crucial to defeat the team from East London, that time is now. They sit above us in 5th Position at the halfway stage of the season and from the way they have comfortably seen off some notable names in this division, they are definitely not a team to be toyed with. How on earth did they come about being higher than us in the league table you might ask? Well, while we have endured one of the most frustrating first halfs to the season that i can remember, West Ham have gotten off to a flier. Also while we have battled one injury situation to the other to our key figures, they have enjoyed a relatively healthy patch. However, it must be said.. they have been brilliant so far and are deservedly positioned above us.

Arsenal have not been convincing this season and its down to the disjointed team we keep assembling to play time and again. Yes, there is so much you can do as a manager if key players can't stay healthy to play. But its ironic that the area of the team that required the most attention at the start of the season because we were lacking bodies there, has come back full circle to bite us in the ass. Our defensive situation has been a total mess. Funny Combinations like playing a Left-back at Central Defence or a young Right-back at Left-back and so on have all led to dropped points painfully simply because we did not go all out to shore up our central defense in the summer incase of Injuries. Koscielny according to the Boss  will be fit to play and that is great news, we have missed him badly.
Other players likely to feature are perpetual West ham killers like Walcott and Podolski. The latter may be given a run out in the wake of Giroud's unfortunate suspension.

West Ham do not have the odds in their favor though, they have not won a game against Arsenal in the last 12 fixtures (D2 L10)..and in our last few visits to West Ham we have at the very least managed to pick a point on the rare occasions we don't take all three.The last  time we lost there was in 2006  & the last two games at the Boleyn have ended in 1-3 losses for them.. so on that front we can feel a little confident...just a little. Fat Sam has got some good players in that team, One of which is Sakho Diafra, their Star man with 7goals in his last11 games,which is a very healthy return. Quick, powerful and skilfull he will need to be watched closely. We will also need to keep an eye on Carrol whose prowess  in the air is unquestionable. Images of a cowering Per didn't do the Big man much justice against Liverpool but its a reminder of our struggles in the air. At Stoke they battered us arieally for the 1st and 3rd goals they scored and Fat Sam would have taken note of that.

Its a Must win game in my opinion, if we are  serious about injecting much needed self-belief and momentum into our camp to propel us on a winning run that we haven't been able to string together all season. With a win and Chelsea doing one over Southampton we could go 4th...Definitely plenty to play for...C'mon Arsenal!!

match preview: Liverpool vs Arsenal (We need a big Result)

 

Another Big fixture is upon us and boy do we need to win this one. This season has been one of incredible lows and precious few highs. No thanks to what has been a combination of ill luck and at other times truly shocking defensive displays by our team.However, today Liverpool stand in our way from taking back our 6th position after this weekend's results saw Spurs leap frog us following their win over Burnley. We are a team badly in search of some much needed consistency and perhaps a big win against another Top side will lift the confidence a bit. Injuries (especially at the back) may have decimated our squad and have been responsible for some of the bad results we have suffered this term but it cannot be used  as an excuse because we are reaping the consequences of our summer inactivity in the defensive department. 

Liverpool are in a bit of a funk themselves, they haven't hit the heights of last season when they were blowing everyone in their path to smithereens. Largely due to the fact that Suarez is gone and Sturridge has probably danced the bones in his knees to sawdust. Sterling who was just a topping to the main dish of the deadly SS killer squad of last year has been thrown into the deep end to carry a disjointed looking team with no chemistry whatsoever. One of their players that caught my interest last season was Coutinho. A very gifted young man with immense passing ability, he has been a shadow of himself and his  form has left his under-fire manager scratching his head as to where the ammunition for their misfiring strikers Balotelli and Lambert will come from. 

Its definitely a good time to play Liverpool. A win will no doubt ensure we put day light between us and them just in case they somehow find an unlikely run of good form along the line. As for us it appears West ham and Southampton mean business this season..it'll be stupid to continue to wait for a slip from them. Its time we finally roll up our sleeves and do a job on one of the Big boys. We threw away a 2-1 lead at home to City and only recently allowed a rickety United side come away with Max points from the Emirates after some wasteful finishing. We were taught a bitter lesson at Anfield last season,  lets see to it that we compound the misery around Red merseyside with a thumping win. C'mon ARSENAL!