Pre-match conference | Team news | Credits: Arsenal.com
It would be a brave man who would simply look at Arsenal’s form, tally it with Manchester United’s and conclude we are winning this game, especially after our previous results at Old Trafford. After all, regardless of players of pedigree, it’s hard to argue that our trips to the outskirts of Manchester are anything but one-sided.
I say this while knowing and fully appreciating that we have a core of hugely talented players who have risen to challenges before. While they may not exactly be on the crest of a wave anymore, we’re yet in a better place in the buildup to this encounter than other ones.
However, it’s quite obvious that that has proven matter very little when it comes down to this particular fixture. People talk about form going out of the window whenever the North London Derby is being previewed, but I think that’s more the case for this match than the other. We just haven’t been able to buy a win at their stadium, and even occasionally at home We have ‘earned’ a scrappy 1-1 draw in 2015, a ridiculous 3-2 defeat the season after and of course, who can forget that atrociously unforgivable 8-2 mauling?
The fact that it’s against that Chelsea skidmark of a morally repellent scumbag Jose Mourinho adds another obstacle to an already uphill battle. I’ve never set as much store to the “Wenger has never beaten Mourinho” narrative than others until we lost 2-0 to his Chelsea side last season. Sure, there were extraordinary circumstances in the form of Diego Costa and Mike Dean being the foulest, most unjust souls to grace the planet, but even before Gabriel was sent off, we weren’t looking like a team ready to take advantage of Chelsea.
It needs no reminding that Arsenal don’t perform well when they’re expected to (although I probably won’t stop reminding). We’ve defeated United at Old Trafford only once in the last eight years – maybe more – and even that victory was under mildly skeptical circumstances; a defensive mistake for our winning goal, a red card for Angel di Maria.
We need to approach this game with something more than rubber gloves. Manchester United are nearly irrelevant in the context of this title race, but they still have footballers who can hurt us. They’re a bad team with good players, but if the day they start clicking will be today, we’ll be given a run for our money. Besides, it would be incredibly slapstick and typically Arsenal if a winger on the absolute peripheries of their team like Henrikh Mkhitaryan gets a surprise start and scores a brace.
Petr Cech should play in goal, and Hector Bellerin’s injury hands a start for Carl Jenkinson alongside Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal. Midfield should have Granit Xhaka, with the other position offering room for options. Mohammed Elneny, Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey are all fit and available, and despite my open doubts on his temperament, Wenger will probably go for the latter. It’s hard to deny the approach is cavalier, but it could also be one that backfires.
Mesut Ozil will boss the attacking midfield role after his two-week rest, and in all likelihood Alex Iwobi will retain his position on the left flank, although he might be better served taken out of the firing line a little bit. Right flank will probably house Theo Walcott due to the sheer dearth of options, and he should know he has an important job today.
It’s more than debatable whether Jenkinson is ready for a start at a high-profile game like this, even though we have little choice. He’s going to be needing all the help he can get, and Walcott should be explicitly instructed to do that. Theo himself has vastly improved his overall defensive game, but let’s not forget how bad he was in the 3-2 loss. If he’s not at the races today, our right channel can be brutally exposed, and one of their wingers might have a field day.
Perhaps the biggest question mark is who will start as striker. I’ll tell you who should – Olivier Giroud. Alexis Sanchez has flirted with injuries over the international break and we can’t let him fly too close to the sun. He’s like a machine, but even machines wear out after being overused. I know he’s said that he feels fit enough to start, but jeez, we all know by now he’d say that even if his legs are chopped and his mom dies on the same day.
Olivier Giroud is fit and fresh, and that’s when he’s firing. True, he makes our game a little more static, but that has also proven to be effective at their own times. Besides, if Giroud doesn’t work, we’ll always be having an eager Chilean on the bench.
Be that as it may, Wenger has his own ideas about what he wants to do, and we thus might see a lineup more resembling Cech – Jenkinson – Koscielny – Mustafi – Monreal – Xhaka – Ramsey – Ozil – Walcott – Iwobi – Alexis. A strong one on paper, but with reasonable weaknesses, weaknesses that may not escape Mourinho’s evil mind.
Is defeating Manchester United with Jose Mourinho better than winning the Premier League? Probably not. But simply put, irrespective of how the title challenge pans out, irrespective of what our ambitions are, this is something that needs to be done. It’s been one of those monkeys on our backs in the post-Highbury era, like the trophy drought and the Round of 16 cycle that doesn’t deserve a narrative anymore. We only get the opportunity to stop that once a season, and this is our chance.
Come on Arsenal. Don’t make us wait another year.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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