Who Plays Centre-Back Tomorrow?

So we've seen a shot of our BFG, Mertesacker, training ahead of tomorrow's clash with the Blues at the Emirates. It was feared the BFG would be out for a little longer, but do we need to risk him against the league leaders?

Simply put... no.

As we all expect Chelsea to sit back and for the countless times of mentioning the West London outfit to 'park the bus' and camp out around their 18 yard area, they can catch us on the counter attack. This would be a perfect fit for Gabriel to come into the team who had an exceptional game against Reading, yes it was Reading, but in semi-finals and the FA Cup you need to be at your best.

The boss even mentioned Gabriel in his pre-match comments:

"He’s ready [to step up]. He came on in the FA Cup semi-final and I think if Per is not ready, Gabriel will start."


Gabriel will provide speed, anticipation and aggression to be able to sustain any counter attacking from Chelsea. Mertesacker has improved since Koscielny has returned on a consistent basis, but I and probably most Gooners would feel more comfortable with both Gabriel and Koscielny being able to press Chelsea high up the pitch with Coquelin in front, this will allow Arsenal to win the ball back quicker and right onto their defence.

It's Gabriel and Koscielny for me. Who do you think should pair at the back tomorrow?

It's Good to be Back, How Times Have Changed, and Chelsea on Sunday

First thing's first - it's been a while since my last blog post, September 2011 to be exact. During that period of absence I have to admit it's been the most frustrating period in my lifetime as an Arsenal fan and I somewhat expected the same outcome every year, we'd pretend to challenge and then fall away, because of this I wouldn't expect us to win every game like in the past - we were no longer favourites. yes our football was still to a good standard, but it wasn't the counter-attacking team who played 'sexy' football.

Knowing that it is never easy supporting the Arsenal, as they never make it easy on and off the pitch, but the whilst at the same time during 2011-2014 Arsenal have promised so much and have yet failed. We've lost key players and never truly had a squad depth capable of coping with injuries to the first eleven.

During these years we've had to hold back spending and selling our best players every year to cover the loan from building our impressive stadium at Ashburton Grove. The signing of Mesut Özil signified that we could now and go out and make a marquee signing. The German gave such a lift to the fans, the players, the club as a whole, as it showed we could compete with the best in signing world class talent, and he is world class, no matter what Michael Owen says, and yes he is better than Raheem Sterling. We won a the FA Cup last season and with the help of Özil we got to Wembley, the game against Everton comes to mind.

To truly confirm that we had passed selling our best players and now able to relax the purse strings without any financial consequences, the signing of Chile's best player and one of Barcelona's top wide men, Alex Sanchez, proved that we had moved forward and that we can now afford to buy at least one top world class talent every summer.

As we've seen the team has grown strong with an array of attacking players from Giroud, Welbeck, Alexis, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, But what we have to special thanks to is Francis Coquelin being recalled from on loan at Charlton Athletic. He has been that solid dependable defensive midfield we've missed since the days of Gilberto.

We now see a squad just a few world class players from truly challenging for the title next season, and Sunday against Chelsea will be a true test of whether Wenger can finally challenege Chelsea with Mourinho in charge. With Wenger not having beaten a Chelsea side managed by Mourinho, this would be the best opportunity to do so. Chelsea aren't playing great football and only need to secure points here and there and Mourinho wouldn't want to lose this one and will most likely park the bus in front of their goal to nullify our attacking threat.

I expect us to have too much for Chelsea at home on this occasion with such a competitive squad looking to start the FA Cup final, this match will be a great audition in who to take into the big games. I think the team picks itself at the moment with Opsina, Bellerin, Gabriel (Mertesacker injured), Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Özil, Alexis, Giroud.

It's great feeling to be a Gooner again, and even if the other lot down Seven Sisters still don't think we can challenge for major titles, we shall see next season.

Gooner Till I Die.

Just Own Up to the Obvious

I haven't written or posted a piece on Our Arsenal for a while since our humiliating defeat to Manchester United (I don't need to remind you of the score) and also our deadline day excitement of several players joining the club.


Since that day we have endured an International break, which we though would help the dust settle and hopefully bring us back with a fighting spirit to try and get our performances raised and a chance to have at least a false hope of any challenge (which I don't believe we have any capability in the slightest).


The match against Swansea didn't fill us fans with any confidence. Arteta was somewhat of a presence in central midfield with some decent passing, but he's no Cesc Fabregas and we won't ever find a player with his ability to find a pass, although Arteta does have some ability to find a killer pass. The scoreline was a lucky one with a gifted goal, which was still a decent finish from Arshavin.


We've missed Gervinho's directness and this showed against Dortmund in the Champions league, but even though we could have won the game, a sublime finish made us draw the game 1-1. It was a hard scrappy draw. Germany is not an easy place to go, especially against the champions of Germany.


The defeat to Blackburn showed some of the old Arsenal back, but most in terms of bad defending. Why can we never sort this position out? Santos looked decent, Mertesacker looks slow. Gervinho and Arteta both got their debut goals for the Gunners. That was the only real spark. The two own goals from Song and Koscielny summed up our lack of defending.


You have to face it Arsenal fans, we're not the team we once were, I'm not even going as far as the 1998, 2002 and 2004 invincible teams. I only have to go as far as last year, because this team has changed and it'll take a few years to form any type of challenge. The teams dynamic has changed, it doesn't have the ability to play quick touch passing. We have to adopt a more direct play, which in this league you need to have. Wenger must not try to make a team made for the Champions League.


But van Persie is the only world class player we have left, so the fans have to wake up and notice we're just not a top 4 team anymore with the players at our disposal. In this case maybe it'll force our hand to play more as a team. It's still early days of the team gelling together. But keep your expectations realistic because we're no longer a force in English football.

Possible Signings This Summer?

I'm sure every 'Arsenal' website has mentioned about who we should sign in this years summer transfer window. Well who we'd like and who we're likely to get are completely different. Unless you do want the players we're linked with, then that's fine.

At Our Arsenal, we believe there will be several ins and outs for the squad this summer (if you can call it that with all this rain!). Two players most likely to go, although it seems there's not a huge demand for them, are Brazilian Denilson and Denmark's number one striker Niklas Bendtner.

But what us Arsenal fans want to see after a huge downward slope to the end of the season are new signings who will give us that extra push. The players Wenger and the backroom staff believe to be are these three:

• Gervinho (Lille - Auxiliary Striker)
• Christopher Samba (Blackburn Rovers - Central Defender)
• Gary Cahill (Bolton - Central Defender)

I would go as far as saying Gervinho is a quick nippy player who Arsenal could benefit from as he had success playing in the right of a front 3 this past season. But as we all know we need that big, strong no nonsense defender like we had in Sol Campbell (who made a difference for half a season in 2010).

This is where the news that Samba could be close to signing for Arsenal is a sweet melody to the to ears. He has tonnes of Premier League experience for a team that, with due respect, probably gets their defense tested all the time. Standing at 6 ft 4 inc, that is one hell of a player to try and out jump. Also his age of 27 years is probably right as he could easily last a few years at Arsenal to a high standard. Did anyone also mention he's a beast! That physical presence is vital to Arsenal.

Wearing an Arsenal shirt this upcoming season?

Cahill of Bolton has been linked with our club for as long as I can remember now. Whispers are flying through the air that we'll be also signing him along with Samba. Where would this leave Koscielny and Djourou? Two players who have had there mistakes, but have been solid for the most part, especially Arsenal's number 20. Could this mean a move for Vermaelen to left back with Clichy on his way out? We will have to wait and see.

So if the Gervinho transfer doesn't go through, there isn't much to get upset about, as we have a lot of attacking players already. However if a defender (a position we know is all but strong) is not brought with the calibre and assets someone like Samba has, just call it another season of fustration.. in defense and lack of trophies.