Match Preview: Cardiff vs Arsenal (Let's put these minnows to the Sword)

Quick match preview. So now  its our turn to visit the wannabe Giant  killers of Cardiff city. Coming off decent results against the two Manchester sides, my guess is they won't be shitting themselves over meeting us today..They would very much fancy their chances against us and rightly so..However, that could play into our hands a bit considering we tend to like it when teams of inferior technical caliber come at us gung ho..it leaves us with the sort of space we thrive-on to pick them apart. Newly promoted sides like Cardiff are always a breath of fresh air. At the outset of every new season, just look at how they start off desperate to prove they belong in the elite division. They play exciting stuff, entertain the neutrals, ruffle a few feathers of the big boys before they customarily hit a wall and the wheels start coming off their campaign (who could forget Blackpool of 2010/11). Only few have managed to successfully balance the raw enthusiasm of promotion and the tactical discipline required to mix it with the premiership teams. Naivety, squad size/squad quality, Managerial turnover are other factors that haven't helped their cause either but having said that, if you are big team top of the league like we are, you have to see games against promoted teams as chances to consolidate your stance.      


Wales has been a good hunting ground for us lately. We have taken maximum points from our last two trips there at Swansea and excluding the Old Trafford debacle,our away form has been absolutely fantastic. We score at will away and barely let anything in on the road. Matter of fact only Aston Villa in that opening day from hell, has managed to put more than ONE past us all season home or away..Even the fluke strike scored by Grey haired traitor was hardly a fallout of any defensive apocalypse. We have a near fully fit squad and an almost 100% rested 1st-team, many thanks to the nice chaps from Marseilles who were generous enough to roll over on Tuesday without much fuss. Its not like our opponents today are some sort of high-flyers in the division, they may have taken the scalps of the two Manchester teams but aside that they haven't been overly terrific just look at their league position. I'll say this though, they have some weapons they use well. One of such is their set-piece play. There's that stuff they do on corner kicks where their guy Whittingham  delivers the wicked ball in to your danger area deceptively enough for your keeper to think he can claim it only for either Turner or Caulker to nip in just in front of him and wreck havoc. We've successfully employed zonal marking in dealing with set plays and i have to say we have not fared badly but Per and Kos will have to demonstrate increased concentration level against the likes of those Big men i mentioned on free kicks and corners. Odemwingie hasn't quite hit the heights of his Westbrom  fame after spectacularly falling out with them but he still boasts a dangerous scoring rate against us..2 goals in 3 starts. He'll have to be watched. Ditto for Frazier Campbell who is their big game man.

We know our strengths as a team. We are not Manchester United or Mancity. If they think because they rattled those guys then we won't be much hassle, they will be in for a lesson in premiership 101. Which teaches you that no 2 teams are ever the same in this division and that games spin on fine margins.  We have a hectic December in the offing, with CfC and City to come..So we absolutely need to thrash teams like Cardiff just in-case we come unstuck in those title double-headers to come. Those two are our closest title rivals and their games could go any way in fairness. But if we manage to stack up a reservoir of points from beating  the minnows, we will have enough to fall back on. Here's to 3 points, C'mon you REDS                                                                                                                                                                              

Match Review: Arsenal 2: Marseilles 0 (Gunners take giant step to Knock-out round)

Same scoreline as Saturday, same 3 points as well. Arsenal swat aside Olympique Marseille without necessarily  needing to break much sweat. The pre-match objective for us couldn't  have been clearer, secure 12points and acquire elbow room from those other 2 contenders in this dance of ''death' in Group F. No other result other than a win would have been acceptable given that our opponents on the night, Marseille had nothing to play for and have bagged a grand total of zero points thus far. In my match preview i had sounded a note of caution to the effect that any complacency could be disastrous to our ambitions, in the end it proved a relatively comfortable night as we were never required to move up a gear to secure the 3 points. Call it hindsight or revisionist, but i perhaps may have overestimated our visitors. They didn't look at all like they were ready to cause any sort of upset and even though there was still a chance for Europa League qualification within their reach, they didn't seem up for it. Even the boss tried to hide his disappointment in their performance in his post game interview. In any case, be it  far from me to complain. As they say in football, you can only beat what's in front of you.

It was a night of ''Firsts'' both on and off the pitch in the sense that Jack Wilshere grabbed his first brace in an Arsenal shirt since he broke into the first team. It was also the first time according to the boss that we would amass a points haul of 12 in 5 games in the champions league and still be mathematically unsure of qualification (even though you and i know we definitely will go through). So here are the permutations as they stand now, its safe to say after Dortmund beat Napoli tonight, if they win in France or draw and we beat Napoli away they qualify with us. They win the group if we lose and they pummel the hapless Marseille with a scoreline upwards of 2-3 goals. If we draw and they win (even if by 10-0) we top the group. So we find ourselves in a strong position, but there's still some work to be done on match day 6.

To touch on a bit about the individual performances, is it just me.or  is all not 100% well with Ozil. I look at him on the pitch and whilst he does a lot of good things, i see a fair few issues of concern also. He never really seems eager to bust a gut to win back possession or track any runner ghosting past him. He tries a little, half- halfheartedly to stop some,but gives up far too easily. I'm thinking, is it a case of ''Couldn't be bothered''? or Fitness issues? and don't get me started on the Penalty...'cos he never looked like scoring with that rather ambiguous run-up. Make no mistake, i do like him because he is a great player and he still delivered an assist on the night. Yes, its his first season, but the basics of his game in the last few fixtures have been iffy. His stats are still impressive mind you. But its just that he's a big, big player and perhaps needs to do more. Is it maybe the pressure of the price-tag getting to him? who knows?...Ramsey was again, impressive. How many times will i have to say this in a season where thus far he has looked invincible, i don't know. But get this, in the entire game, Ramsey touched the ball 140 times while the only other Marseille midfielder to play 90mins touched the ball only 55 times!!!! Mental! The guy is a machine. Wilshere was great and his two goals will definitely do him good in terms of building goal scoring confidence. Though i don't think the boss was correct to play the ''anything Ramsey can do, i can do'' card in terms of what Jack must have been thinking when he took those opportunities. I know i personally don't like being compared to my peers, so if Jack is like me, that comment would have hurt. But the Boss said it was a joke,so hopefully they both laugh over it.

Saturday will meet us with no significant injury situation to deal with (touch wood on Gibbs reported illness though) that game with Cardiff is one i know will be a real fight for us. Monreal was again solid as a stand-in but Gibbs is Gibbs. Rosicky still impresses with his running and application and how i wish i could genetically preserve him and maybe duplicate his DNA. That way we could have a Tomas-like player forever at AFC...So we march on in the UCL ,and with this victory, we have bitch-slapped the prospects of being eliminated and playing Thursday night football (yuck!!) like our mighty 6-0 stuffed lilly white neighbors. Great stuff from the lads. Back on Friday with a match preview of Cardiff vs AFC.

Match Preview: Arsenal vs Marseilles (Group of Death Survival is in our hands)

Hi folks, quick preview of our champions league fixture with Marseilles. The game comes on the heels of our  fine win against Southampton on Saturday, so i would expect confidence and self-belief to be high . The visitors are already out of contention in the run up for qualification for the knock out stages in group F, but we will have to ensure they do not throw the spanner in the works of our chances to progress.  Group F, the group of death hasn't disappointed thus far. All teams have given everything on match days,unfortunately for Marseilles they are the ones whose dreams currently lie on life support. They just have't been able to get going in this group and tonight we will have to be the ones to take the responsibility of easing them off the life support machine for a painless,peaceful demise. They will have nothing to lose as they file out against us at the Emirates, so expect them to play with a calmness and liberty that perhaps they lacked hitherto. No one will be expecting them to win the game so anything other than victory for Arsenal will be seen  as a surprise.

The permutations of us finishing on equal footing in this group (12points) with Dortmund and Napoli has been making the rounds in the media and other platforms but i tend to believe it won't get to that. Qualifications lies squarely in our hands and if we successfully dispatch Marseilles Tonight, you have to fancy us to go through. This competition is so heavily dependent on experience, a trait we do not lack as seasoned campaigners so starting from picking three points against Marseilles, i see us picking up another point from Naples to close out the group as leaders. The team from the south coast of France come into this tie in good spirits after a convincing win away to Ajaccio. Pierre Gignac a one-time target of Arsenal scored a beauty as well as young starlet Thauvin to consign Ajaccio to a 3-1 defeat. The win moved them to fourth position in Ligue 1, and they may seek to re-enact an encore in North London. I watched the kid Thauvin at the just concluded Fifa U-21 world cup (won by France interestingly) and he looked really good in that tournament. Quick,skillful and clinical he will be one to watch as well as the stocky Gignac who on his day can be a handful. 

With a crucial tie in the coming weekend against Cardiff approaching, you will be forgiven to expect a few rotations in the Arsenal squad in order to freshen up things. Could Vermaelen be drafted in, or Rosicky given a start? The  Vermaelen question may prove more riskier considering how we've got our fingers burnt before by resting Per for no reason and pairing Vermaelen with Koscielny. Could Gnabry also feature? or Perhaps Walcott given a start. How about Monreal also getting a look-in and giving Gibbs a breather? Its great to have selection headaches (devoid of injuries) as this indicates a sense of competition for starting positions in the team but then the key word is Balance. One false move that disrupts the balance of the team can portend costly consequences. The manager knows this very well, so it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to start. It will be a difficult night for us if we let them score first and settle down quickly to any kind of rhythm. Therefore its imperative we give them the ''Napoli treatment'' blitz them early and finish the job without fuss. Qualification for the next round beckons, so lets go out there and see out this tie efficiently..

Match Review: Arsenal 2: Southampton 0 (Cracking game ends with victory for gunners)

For those of us (Well pretty much all of us) who demanded a response from the lads after our last outing, we got exactly that..A brilliant performance from Arsenal against a very dangerous looking Southampton side that gave as good as they got for very large portions of the game. At some point watching the game i said to my self that even neutrals would've been engaged by it. Such was the action packed nature of it.. Crucially for me, we showed no International break hangovers as we looked reasonably fresh and up for it, credit to the team handlers for this. So we bagged 3 delicious points and go 4 points clear at the top as Liverpool dropped points in their Mersyside affair..Below are a player by player rating as i saw it..feel free to concur or dispute accordingly.

Szcesney:------------------------8

Woj was brilliant again today for us and continues what seems to be a rich vein of spectacular form. He made 3 absolutely top drawer stops in the 1st half to deny Southampton from grabbing potentially damaging goals. The finger tipped one round the post to deny Llalana was quite impressive in the sense that he couldn't have seen it early. Plus he seems to have finally worked on being able to kick a ball further than the halfway line!! Long may this continue, greater battles lie in wait.

Sagna:----------------------------7.5

A follower of mine on Twitter wrote that neither Sagna nor Mertasacker should be allowed to leave the ground until both had signed contracts to stay at Arsenal for the forseeable future. I couldn't agree more. Sagna for one was immense. His knack for winning Ariel balls against bigger opponents amazes me to no end. His leap gets him ahead of his co-jumper time after time and this enables us to control the situation and douse pressure. His crossing was equally good today, not excellent but good and his experience ensures he stays calm no matter what the situation is. Contract please!!

Gibbs-----------------------------7.5

Keirian had one of his better days at the office today. On his day you can expect solid defending, intelligent overlapping runs, disciplined tracking of runners and timely positioning. All that were on show in the game and even though he caused a scare late-on by bringing down a Southampton player in our box, it didn't come any where close to dampening a great day for him.

Koscielny:-------------------------8

It was back to the usual Koscielny again, as he was reunited with his reliable defensive partner unlike 2 weeks ago where he looked rather uncomfortable. I enjoyed a sliding tackle he performed early in the 2nd half when Rodriguez sauntered into the box rather dangerously. Kos simply tracked him, timed his tackle and executed it to perfection to snuff out the danger. Quality stuff. In addition he kept Lambert quiet, to the frustration of the England striker.

Mertasacker------------------------8

BFG is fast becoming a fan favorite in the ground and off it as well, and his BFG T-shirt picture that circulated on the net this week only served to increase that. He had a great international break and promptly brought that form back to the team today..barely put a foot wrong and if you keep your eye on him next time you just might see how vocal he is in games. organizing and pointing out things.

Arteta-------------------------------6

From the get go he struggled to get to grips with the pace of the game. His touches and passing were somewhat off today. Strange because if you look at the stats, those are the strongest areas of his game. He suffered a reported ankle knock that ended his involvement ultimately but it probably may have been an issue he was struggling with before the game, as he never really got going in this one.

Wilshere-----------------------------7

Jack looked lively, and after rumours that he was injured during his time with the Three lions surfaced it was great to see him close to his best in midfield today. He suffered under the brute strength of Wanyama at times but his technique and skill were still useful in driving us forward from deep and dictating the play for others to follow.Was unlucky not to score in the 1st half but can be happy with his shift today.

Ramsey------------------------------7.5

Rambo was largely quiet today and didn't really create many moments of interest. His first-half back flick that grazed the bar off an Ozil cross was perhaps his highlight of the day. But he was also crucially tracking runners when we were under attack as well as tackling Southampton players to breakup play consistently. And when Arteta made way following his injury, Ramsey was the man that had to take up the defensive duties of the captain. His versatility is an asset and highlights why he is probably the first name on the starting list.

Ozil------------------------------------7

Much better from Mesut today. He was always involved and even though fast-paced games of this nature are still a bit of the English style he needs to acclimatize to, he played his part by spreading dangerous balls across the final third of the opponents and looked to link up with Wilshere to great effect. He pops-up a lot on the wings and it makes me wonder if he'd have preferred the middle. Some say he's been given a kind of free role. But i think for now the flanks suit him..He isn't the quickest of players i agree, but his game reading and range of passing are better suited for him to cut  in and look to shoot or pass..

Carzola----------------------------------7

Santi was livlier than last time round in Old Trafford..He was back to his old self running rings around Southampton fullbacks and kept our passing moving even in the midst of the strong pressing game of our opponents.Has the tendency to overdo it sometimes with the dribbling but overall the joy of watching him wriggle out of the tightest of corners with the ball seemingly tied to his boots is sheer bliss.

Giroud----------------------------------9

                

Giroud left Boruc with egg on his face for the second time in 2weeks after Bergovic lobbed him against Stoke at the Brittania. Giroud was fantastic with his all round game, Holding up play, leading the line and generally putting his body, sheer size and commitment on the line for the team. Defensively, i can recall one really good header he won in the first half when we were really under the cosh from the visitors. I cannot recall any striker we have had in recent years that works as hard as Giroud. I was a staunch critic of his last season, but iv been won over by his passion and application. He may miss the odd sitter here and there but i'll pardon him. The dude is a prized asset. And his two goals today, underlined that.

SUBS

Walcott-------------------6

Rusty rusty theo!...great to have him back regardless of his physical condition though. His snap shot from a Wilshere pass in the 2nd half just demonstrates the kind of  attacking spontaneity the man brings to us. Instictive runs and shots are what Theo is all about and i can't wait to see him back fully in the next couple of weeks.

Rosicky------------------6

Came in for Arteta and brought his experience to the table in closing out the win.

Monreal-------------------6

1/3 of Arsene's tactic of ''throw in all the fullbacks'' when we want to close out  a game. I like Monreal, he's such a business minded Left-back that comes in and discharges his affairs responsibly without fuss.

So it took a better individual outing from all concerned to get this win, focus, discipline and character were the keys to success, as the boss describes post game last night. It'll demand more of the same from the team in subsequent games for us to pull out from the chasing pack and go clear by more points..but that's not a matter for today..Today is about commending the response from the lads.