There goes the international break. Thank God we won’t see you till March.
Right, on we go with Arsenal traveling to the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. It’s not an entirely easy one (as most games in the Premier League aren’t), but one we should win as long as we’re not complacent. With Manchester City hosting Liverpool at the Etihad, their likelihood of dropping points seem fair.
And while I understand that we need to win this game to get our noses ahead in the race, part of me hopes Arsene Wenger observes some rotation. For me, the game against Dinamo Zagreb at home carries more importance than today’s. I find it absurd that people – even Arsenal supporters – have nearly ruled out our qualification hopes. It’s not unreasonable to suggest Bayern Munich could beat Olympiacos, and they might buckle under the pressure against us, on Matchday 6.
I think we need to go into this game with one eye on Zagreb. A club like ours – considering the resources and the consistency – should be challenging for the Premier League and the Champions League this season. Beating Dinamo in midweek would be a task made harder if half of them are not up for it then. I know we have little scope for alternation, but we should use what players in reserve we can.
Mathieu Debuchy should start today, for Bellerin cannot be risked this early, seeing that he recently gained fitness. Nacho Monreal has played a surreal amount of games, and Kieran Gibbs could deputize for him. Gabriel Paulista could do a job for either Per Mertesacker or Laurent Koscielny. If he would, I suspect it would be for the latter. It would be remarkable if Koscielny would be in the right state to play, considering what happened at Wembley. But not to get into that.
In midfield, we have Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta as fresh legs. Not ideal by any stretch, but something we have to live with. I feel at least one of them need to come in for Alexis Sanchez, moving Santi to the wings. Whatever he says (or runs), it’s obvious Sanchez needs a rest this season. We need him sharp for Zagreb too. Speaking of which, maybe Mesut Ozil could be withdrawn rather early for a Flamini (assuming we’re winning, hopefully) and Francis Coquelin and Joel Campbell should retain their spots.
Up front, it has to be Olivier Giroud due to sheer anonymity of choice. I don’t expect him to have a great game because the Frenchman understandably fizzes out when overplayed, but I hope he gets a goal. The misses against Tottenham coupled with the attacks on Paris must have had a profound impact on his psychology, and a goal would prove a handy distraction.
Quite obviously, I don’t see Wenger rotating anywhere near my liking. Only Alexis Sanchez looks likeliest to be benched (still rather unlikely), simply because of mainstream media pressure. This is what Wenger does, after all. I would not be surprised, not to mention altogether disappointed, to see Cech – Bellerin – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Monreal – Coquelin – Cazorla – Ozil – Campbell – Alexis – Giroud take to the field. Perhaps Gabriel could come in for Laurent, but otherwise Wenger should stick to his de facto eleven rigidly.
And it’s not like we can do much to prevent it. We can moan or provide facts rationally, but the cold truth is that our injuries won’t change unless Wenger’s man management skills (and possibly our training methods) improve. Until then, we can only hope every Arsenal footballer achieves Alexis levels of fitness for the coming week, because otherwise, three games in seven days for this threadbare squad will not look pretty on the other side.
Knackered or fresh, I hope every player gives it their all out there. We’re approaching a tricky trio of fixtures which could go a long way to decide our Champions League and Premier League fates. Most of these players are winners, and they understand that. Let’s see if it translates on the pitch.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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