Pre-match conference | Team news | Credits: Arsenal.com
It’s Southampton at home in a day when it feels like Arsenal’s season is truly alive and kicking. I know that technically, the season started against Liverpool, but with all the mishmashed lineups in the weeks gone past, it hasn’t really felt like we were prepared to get the season up and running. But now, with Shkodran Mustafi (did I spell that right?) and Lucas Perez in the red and white, it does add an element of “Right, we’ve got our cavalry, let’s get at it already” to proceedings.
The 3-1 win against Watford two weeks ago was fantastic, but didn’t exactly feel like the beginning of our Premier League season, with all the transfer business still in the air, and Watford being a bit shit. Now that we’re on the back end of the international fixtures and feeling relatively positive and refreshed, the ball firmly in Arsenal’s court, and a win would be a nice way to get things going.
Along with what I’m calling the unofficial start to the season, it’s also important that we manage our expectations. I for one am not expecting Arsenal to realistically challenge for the Premier League. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho are two classes above Arsene Wenger at the moment, and one could argue Antonio Conte is in that same ilk. Also, if Wenger couldn’t do it last season when all the top teams were absolute dog poo, there’s no way it’s remotely certain to happen this time around.
Having said that, winning the Premier League is not something one can rule out entirely, especially after what Leicester did. We have a chance, definitely lesser than before, but at least we can enter the season knowing Wenger has done everything in his power in the transfer market to get us to a reasonably firm position. He has a variety of combinations and flavours at his disposal, and he deserves credit for getting them on the table in the first place. There is the obvious argument that he should have pieced a team together like this far earlier, but at least he has done it now. This was his best transfer window in years.
It doesn’t dissuade me from believing we’re more pseudo-contenders than actual ones, but the fact that we’re trying not to be pretenders pleases me. For the first time in a long time, the team looks complete and the fans seem optimistic about the future. It’s a far cry from the bitter, vitriolic scenes toward the end of the last season. We may win something this season, we may not, but we’ll certainly be more united in joy or grief than we were in previous times.
Anyway, onto the game. Petr Cech will start in goal, with Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal keeping their places. It’s doubtful if Mustafi will get the nod over Rob Holding so quickly, but I hope he does. Holding has been impressive, yes, but let’s not forget that it’s early days. Many unknown quantities have shined in their beginning only to fizz out after their honeymoon periods. In center back alone, Gabriel Paulista and Calum Chambers are examples of that. Holding has gotten to a good enough start and one can only praise that, but we also have to ensure we don’t hype him in our appraisal of him.
Granit Xhaka and Santi Cazorla will almost certainly be partnering each other in the middle of the park, with Mesut Ozil patrolling further forward. However, it’s in the front trio that things get a little grayer and certainly a lot more interesting, with Arsene having a wealth of options to pick from but not enough slots. As of now, the options he must weigh are:
Alexis Sanchez
Theo Walcott
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Alex Iwobi
Lucas Perez
Olivier Giroud
Of these, Iwobi and Oxlade-Chamberlain can be safely crossed out as they are likely to be benched. Wenger shed some ambiguity on the possibility of Sanchez starting, but I think despite that, he’ll be keen to give the Chilean a start on the left flank. That leaves Walcott, Perez and Giroud competing for the striker slot and the right flank.
Theo has been impressive on the back of all the recent criticism hurled at him, but I figure the lure of playing a new signing as soon as possible will overcome rewarding the Englishman with a game. I would personally favour rewarding Walcott by giving him a start today (especially knowing that we play PSG midweek and Theo’s not exactly a big game player) and starting Perez as the lone striker ahead of Giroud. Imagine a front three of Walcott, Alexis and Perez behind Ozil. Oof.
Despite my wishes, I highly doubt that is what will happen. Giroud hasn’t got a start in ages, and Wenger will probably be inclined to give him one today. That might mean Perez would be pushed on the right flank, which in fairness, would still be pretty tasty as a forward trio.
In all likelihood, we’ll be looking at Cech – Bellerin – Koscielny – Mustafi – Monreal – Xhaka – Cazorla – Ozil – Perez – Sanchez – Giroud. Hard not to smile when you read that lineup.
Our unofficial start to the season will be prefaced by probably the most hyped Manchester derby of all time, which will give us a chance to make up lost ground on one (or both) of our contenders. We need to take it to maintain our already slim-jim chances of winning the league, and I suspect we will. Southampton have given us a fair bit of trouble since they were promoted in 2011, but it’s fair to say we’ve troubled them back. They won’t be as easy as mince pie, but with the buzz and atmosphere surrounding the club, we will be having home support on our side, and that might tip the scales in our favour.
Well, what else to say? Come on Arsenal!
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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