How's it going lads? 
Just thought I'd give you a bit of an update about where we are as a team at the moment.
Since the 4-0 walloping at your ground (
), we've not been playing particularly good football and our passing has been unusually sloppy - which is not something you'd normally associate with Arsenal. The only reason why we've escaped is due to the lack of quality from other team's not taking advantage of our mistakes and having a top class goalkeeper in between the sticks.
However, the bigger issue has been injuries to key players so in a way, despite our indifferent form of late, I'm glad we're still within touching distance at the top of the table and that we're looking good to defend the FA Cup again.
Koscielny has been quite poor of late and as someone mentioned before in the thread, a long ball over the top can split our centre-halves like the red sea. I'm not sure what's been going on with Koscielny, who is usually a rock at the back, but he needs to buck his ideas up. And fast. We have some very tough games coming up and this is not the time for him to be losing form. Whilst we're on the topic of players out of form, Walcott has not been performing well either and I hope he doesn't start this fixture because he doesn't merit one.
Rosicky coming back into our squad was excellent news initially; not just for depth, but because we have missed his acceleration and incisive passing in midfield. Unfortunately, he's apparently picked up a thigh injury and may not feature again in the season which is a shame.
On the plus side, Coquelin and Sanchez coming back are huge boosts because they have been sorely missed. However, if anyone watched the Burnley game, the former looked slightly rusty and a bit cumbersome on the ball. One would like to think he will be slightly sharper for this match.
Mertesacker will be back in the side I would assume because Wenger seems to love him
but I would prefer for him to not feature in this one, especially if your attack will have as much blistering pace as I think it might.
I'd expect the team to look like: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Sanchez, Ozil, Campbell, Giroud
Honestly, you guys haven't given us easy games in recent years and I wouldn't expect this game to be any different. That being said, if we do want to win this title, we have to win this. I've gone for a 3-2 Arsenal win, but we're so unpredictable at the moment, I wouldn't be shocked with any result.
Best of luck for the rest of the season and I hope you get a place in Europe
Just thought I'd give you a bit of an update about where we are as a team at the moment.
Since the 4-0 walloping at your ground (
), we've not been playing particularly good football and our passing has been unusually sloppy - which is not something you'd normally associate with Arsenal. The only reason why we've escaped is due to the lack of quality from other team's not taking advantage of our mistakes and having a top class goalkeeper in between the sticks.However, the bigger issue has been injuries to key players so in a way, despite our indifferent form of late, I'm glad we're still within touching distance at the top of the table and that we're looking good to defend the FA Cup again.
Koscielny has been quite poor of late and as someone mentioned before in the thread, a long ball over the top can split our centre-halves like the red sea. I'm not sure what's been going on with Koscielny, who is usually a rock at the back, but he needs to buck his ideas up. And fast. We have some very tough games coming up and this is not the time for him to be losing form. Whilst we're on the topic of players out of form, Walcott has not been performing well either and I hope he doesn't start this fixture because he doesn't merit one.
Rosicky coming back into our squad was excellent news initially; not just for depth, but because we have missed his acceleration and incisive passing in midfield. Unfortunately, he's apparently picked up a thigh injury and may not feature again in the season which is a shame.
On the plus side, Coquelin and Sanchez coming back are huge boosts because they have been sorely missed. However, if anyone watched the Burnley game, the former looked slightly rusty and a bit cumbersome on the ball. One would like to think he will be slightly sharper for this match.
Mertesacker will be back in the side I would assume because Wenger seems to love him
but I would prefer for him to not feature in this one, especially if your attack will have as much blistering pace as I think it might.I'd expect the team to look like: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Sanchez, Ozil, Campbell, Giroud
Honestly, you guys haven't given us easy games in recent years and I wouldn't expect this game to be any different. That being said, if we do want to win this title, we have to win this. I've gone for a 3-2 Arsenal win, but we're so unpredictable at the moment, I wouldn't be shocked with any result.
Best of luck for the rest of the season and I hope you get a place in Europe
