This sunday sees Arsenal take on the money and oil of Manchester City. Manchester City are now are very well known entity in the League. Yes they possess good quality in attacking areas, as Manchester United recently found out. The money they have spent on Nasri, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero, Balotelli, Yaya Toure and Tevez is enough to put many an african economy to shame, and that's before we mention the wages these guys earn per week.
What does that have to do with football I hear you ask. well, nothing actually. At the end of the day, they can only put 11 men on the pitch and its those 11 men on the pitch that will come up against the 11 men of Arsenal. The fixture comes at a time when we have no fullbacks in our squad. Thomas Vermaelen, our best central defender will most likely be shunted out to left back, with Djourou playing on the right. Persornally, under the circumstances, I have no problem with Vermaelen playing on the left. This is because as the game progress, there will come a moment when you need his aerial ability to either defend or score a goal up the other end.
Centrally, I would expect Mertesacker and Koscielny to be paired together. Koscielny has really improved since his arrival at the club. His reading of the game has improved and he makes less silly challenges around the box. Much has been said about Mertesacker and needing time to settle a the club. He says he wants to be judged after a season at the club. I think thats fair enough. Often time we moan when a new player makes a couple of mistakes. We tend to write them off as useless, forgetting that they need time to settle. It's like getting a new job in management. You can't just start changing policy and procedure from day 1. You need time to manage people and resources to achieve your ambitions and to put your mark on a company. And so it is for a new player in a new country, new league, new culture etc. But on the evidence thus far, Mertesacker is a very good signing for the club. He brings out the best in Vermaelen and Koscielny. Our defence has not looked this settled for a long while now.
It is in midfield that I feel we have lost a little something. You see, we don't dominate the ball as much as we used to in the past, particularly during the Fabregas era. I have noticed lately that teams can come to the Emirates and dominate possession for considerable periods of matches. Part of the art of defending is to keep the ball away from the opponent and unless we improve in this regard, we will get punished. Arteta, Song and Ramsey need to really put in a shift in central defence to keep the ball from city for long spells.
I also expect Theo to be a thorn in the side of City and if Gervinho can up his game too, we know that we shall cause City a problem or two. In big games, chances may not come too frequently and we need to address our profligacy in front of goal. We need to be clinical whenever chances present themselves and they will. It is up to Mr. Gervinho and Co. to keep a calm head in front of goal so they can score.
One man who is looking to make an impact and take his chance is Park. He says;
“I do not expect a chance for me because a player is unavailable.Well, you can't fault his attitude now can you. A lot of fans are complaining that he hasn't broken into the team because he isn't good enough. No, he hasn't broken into the team because the team is winning and there is a certain Robin Van Persie who is on fire. The manager is not willing to tinker with a winning team and why should he? If he tinkers with the team and results don't go his way, he will be put to the slaughter by the fans. Perhaps if we were winning games comfortably with lots of time left to play, we would see the likes of Park more and more. Until then, I will hold off of writing him off too soon. I suspect he will prove a few doubters wrong as the season progresses, but that's just me.
“I will do my best to prepare myself to take any random chances at any time.
“I am new to this club and to the Premier League. I am trying hard to learn more and more. I don’t worry about getting used to everything or anything. My team-mates are nice to me and I do not have any problems at all regarding training.”
Back to the opposition for Sunday... Manchester City's biggest threat comes from Silva and Toure. If those two are denied time and space on the ball, the City Machine tends not to function very well, oily though it may be. However, they have enough quality to harm us if we go into the game with a very naive and simplistic attitude of marking two players out of 10. City are more fluid in their play due to their quality but also due to their confidence. Chelsea have helped bring them back down to earth by beating them but that also makes them dangerous for us; they will be looking to make amends against Arsenal. Their balloon of invincibility was given a reality prick by Chelsea with a spirited comeback last week. Now let us go and clip the wings off them completely before they start flying again.
I know a lot of people are quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing City; not me. If we play anywhere near our best, I fancy us beating City on their own turf. They are not as dangerous as, say, Barcelona or Real Madrid, though they are getting there, what with their oil dollars and all.
So, 11 versus 11 on the pitch and if Arsenal play as well as we can, I expect us to come back with the biggest scalp in the league after 90 minutes.
Onwards march the Arsenal!!!
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