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.

A Very Different Arsenal

Arsenal has changed many times over recent years as we've sold on many players each year. But if the was one thing, our style remained the same in quick passing and holding onto the ball for a large period of time with so called 'tippy-tappy' football.

That style has change completely with the players capable of it, with the likes of Fabregas and Nasri gone, it's harder for us to keep a hold of the ball.

Okay we haven't had a full strength team out as of yet, but we can't hold onto the ball for more than 10 passes at best. Maybe this is due to a more direct play of football, but this brings pressure on us as we still aren't that solid at the back.

Mertesacker looks solid and class player who can get his foot in and his positioning is excellent as he seems to intercept the ball more often that not. However he'll only get better with Vermaelen next to him.

I have to mention Song was excellent last night against Olympiacos at the back, he was my man of the match, but wr miss him badly in the middle.

I've also noticed Arteta holds on the ball for too long and this slows down our attacks. It makes us less gung ho, which could benefit us.

Arsenal fans need to get used to the fact that we won't dominate and dictate the flow of the game from now on. So no mote groans when we let a pass go astray, no more moaning or booing.

Yes our clubs gone backwards, but what do you expect.


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