Morning all,
So we have yet another “must-win” game upon us with the familiar back drop of doom and gloom surrounding our chances. We have for the first time in a long time been dubbed as underdogs at home against the scum. Whilst I have no problem with that I do not necessarily attest to Totten**** apparent brilliance at the moment.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of today’s tie there has been news of Arshavin’s exit via a loan deal back to Zenit. Wish him the best of luck and despite his frustrating decline I can’t help but remember some of the great things he did. Although few in numbers, moments of brilliance will forever be remembered by Arsenal fans around the world. Aside from that, that is 70k a week extra we can give to RVP. Anyway, back to business.
This is one of the biggest North London derbies in living memory and one can only imagine the pressure that is on the players as they prepare this morning. Let’s hope they channel this energy positively and come out swinging. I know everyone wants to win and I agree but given that the last two performances have been devoid of any character I want to see Arsenal out there. The Arsenal we all know. Not the shadow of the team that has appeared regularly since the turn of the year.
We haven’t had the best injury news leading up to the game but I would imagine that Koscienly and Gibbs will play at the back which should provide somewhat of a boost to our chances. With our injuries so depressing it seems the folk at Arsenal.com have clearly given up on keeping up with it all. They have not updated the injury news this week but I can tell you that Gibbs and Koscienly were a doubt and had a fitness tests but will play from what I can tell. Diaby, Wilshire, Coquelin, Frimpong and most recently Ramsey are all missing in midfield while Jenkinson is still short in defence alongside Santos and Mertesacker.
I expect the team to look like this:
Szczesny
Sagna Koscienly Vermaelan Gibbs
Song Arteta
Rosicky
Walcott Gervinho
RVP
Whilst everyone will have their own opinion on how we should line up and best possible tactics but I would like to see the Ox line-up and I would personally play him instead of Rosicky, in the middle. It will give the defence all sorts of problems with three super quick players as well as the movement of Robin Van Persie.
Either way our chances will rely on a portion of our game that has been less than satisfactory over the course of the past few weeks; work off the ball. If we play our lethargic brand of letting teams steam roll us and only pass sideways whilst under pressure. We need to push up the pitch, be positive and get the wingers and Van Persie involved as much as possible. If he is isolated the entire match then we may as well give up now.
I believe we can win, I really do. That is of course dependant on the character and commitment the Arsenal show. Either way, the atmosphere is going to be immense and I cannot wait, let’s hope I feel this way at the end.
The nerves are kicking in so I am going to go.
Enjoy the match and feel free to follow me on twitter for my take on the days proceedings. @goonerverse or https://twitter.com/#!/GoonerVerse .
GoonerVerse!
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