It’s just broken…

Good morning all.  Or depending on your mood, maybe it’s just a morning.

From a footballing sense, the past weekend was no cause for great joy.  Leicester managed to grab a point, Tottenham destroyed the Stokies, and Arsenal managed to cede needless points yet again.  Despair is rampant through the fan base.  Worse even, apathy.

Yes, malaise, apathy, and a sense we have seen this all before.  The problem is, we haven’t seen this before.  Not from Arsenal under Arsene’ Wenger.

Arseblog writes today that this this the worst it has been under Wenger.  It is a team that seemingly does not not know what it is, or what it is supposed to be doing.  A team going through the motions, yet the motions are not even remotely familiar to the Arsenal of the recent past.

This is a team of players that is quite capable of winning the Crystal Palace game at home 1-0 if required.  Palace was going to sit back deep and let Arsenal have possession.  Arsenal was supposed to use the possession to slowly, and cautiously, unlock the defense and grab a goal or two.  All went according to plan in the first half, and it all went to shit with 10 minutes left.  Palace had no business getting a point from that game.  The real kicker is that it’s just another, in a long line of frustrating results.

But yet, if you are still reading, you must care enough to ask why?  The apathy may have not yet gotten to you, or maybe you are just a glutton for punishment.  The question is why?

Why is this group of players, this team, incapable of doing what it routinely has done in the past (often with less talent)?  It’s easy to blame the players.  It’s easy to blame the manager.  It’s easy to say the atmosphere at the Emirates has become dangerously toxic.  The truth is much more complicated.

Breaking it down bit by bit, let’s start with the players.  Are these players just not good enough?

As pointed out by Arseblog, Arsene Wenger spent money in 2013 and 2014.  He has brought new players in, let some players go, and in general had built a team he thought was ready to challenge for the title.  If you look at calendar year 2015 (January – December), you can see why he would think this way.  In 2015 Arsenal played a total of 53 matches of competitive football across 4 competitions.  They had the best Premier League form of any team in 2015, and in total, fashioned a record of 35 wins, 6 draws, 12 losses.  Arsenal won 66 % of their matches in 2015, and took points from 77%.  This team of players is more than capable of winning matches.  The players are good.  Some are great.

Well then, maybe it is down to injuries.  Injuries to key players have led to lineup shuffles, and no sense of rhythm.  But other teams have injuries and cope.  Losing Santi Carzola and Francis Coquelin and Alexis Sanchez is bound to have an effect, but Wenger likely thought he could play Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, and Alex Oxlaide Chamberlin in their stead and survive.  Little could he imagine all six being injured, and Mathieu Flamini being counted on week in and week out December through February.

So, clearly I must be blaming the manager. If Wenger has simply bought reinforcements in the summer, none of this would have come to pass.  But look at it from Wenger’s point of view in June 2015.

Arsenal had just won another FA Cup, and had finished the second half of the Premier League campaign strongly.  He analyzed every position and thought he saw depth and quality.

First team strikers: Giroud, Walcott*, Welbeck
First team attacking midfield:  Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey*, Rosicky, Chamberlin, Campbell, Iwobi, Walcott*
First team deep midfield: Carzola, Coquelin, Wilshere. Ramsey*, Arteta, Flamini
First team defenders:  Monreal, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Gabriele, Koscieleny, Chambers, Bellerin, Debuchy
First team goal:  Cech, Ospina

* – player has more than one role

Arsene Wenger looked at this team and likely thought he was stocked in the midfield, had a good mix of experience and youth in the back four, and probably needed a clinical finisher to complete the team.  If transfer noise can be believed, he tried to get Karim Benzema from Real Madrid.  It did not work out.

So Arsenal went into 2015 – 16 with only one major signing.  And boom – injuries.  Long term injuries to Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere at the onset of the season.  Mid season injuries to Aaron Ramsey, Santi Carzola, Alex Oxlade Chamberlin, Francis Coquelin, and Alexis Sanchez.  Even with all of that – the team was on top of the table Christmas Day.  Wenger was trying combination of players after combination of players, trying to coax the team into form.  In the Man United game (at the Emirates) he attacked with restless abandon.  In the Man City game (also at the Emirates) he sat back and counter attacked.  The manager has changed his team and his tactics all season long to now avail.  It is simply not all down to the manager.

So what then?  What is the reason that this team looks nothing like it has in the recent past?  Why is this the worst it has ever been under Wenger?

The non trivial, non simple answer is a combination of inactivity in the summer transfer market, bad luck on the injury front to the most critical of players (Santi Carzola), lack of self confidence from a team on a run of indifferent to bad form, and special circumstances.
YES – lastly, there are special circumstances this season that have simply not existed in Arsene’ Wenger’s twenty years at Arsenal.  The Premier League order has been utterly disrupted.  Leicester City has had the audacity to go toe to toe with the big boys, and has led the league for the majority of 2016.  Chelsea, who just last May hoisted the trophy, completely fell apart and fired their manager.  Man City have been terribly inconsistent, and Man United are in the middle of a youth movement.

The small clubs simply do not fear the big clubs.  They do not come into a place like the Emirates and expect to lose.  The expect to play well, and quite possibly win.  This is the ultimate Leicester effect.  I imagine every manager of every “small” club pointing to Leicester and Claudio Ranieri, and saying “If they can do it, so can we”.

And they have.

Up next, West Brom.  Another team that will set up deep and hope they can be within touching distance in the last 20 minutes.  And who knows….it just might work.

But never give up hope Gooners.  If Arsenal win the next two, and Tottenham lose this weekend, guess who’s only two points from Sp*rs?

Predictor 3000 has a bad week

Good morning.

In order for Arsenal to win the league, the only viable option remaining (after the inglorious draw) at West Ham is for Arsenal to win ALL their remaining six games, Leicester City to take only 4 points from their remaining 5 games, and Sp*rs to take only 11 points from their remaining 5 fixtures.  All that being said, I think it will be easier to catch Sp*rs, but lets have a look.  (Games in bold are judged more difficult by the Predictor 3000)

Leicester City remaining games:  West Ham, Swansea, Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea
Sp*rs remaining games: Stoke, West Brom, Chelsea, Southampton, Newcastle
Arsenal remaining games:  Palace, West Brom, Sunderland, Norwich, Man City, Aston Villa

Certainly on paper, Arsenal have an easier run in, but paper has meant absolutely nothing this season.  Arsenal have to hope for a colossal melt down by Leicester City that does not show signs of ever happening.  There is still St. Totteringham’s Day to play for, and I have to admit, I am still relatively hopeful of that.  In fact, if all goes well – we could be level on points with Sp*rs by April 22nd.  A mere 10 days away.

Some interesting thoughts from Arseblog about who stays and who goes this off season can be found here.  Not much to quibble with.  The players whom we know are leaving are straightforward.  Rosicky, Arteta, Flamini.  Their contracts are up and will not renewed.  I would add Debuchy as near certainty as well.  After that decisions have to be made by both players on the manager.  My personal “sell” list includes the following.

Walcott – too inconsistent.
Sanogo – see above
Campbell – not in the managers plans

So that’s 7 players out of the first team squad.  I think that is kind of the minimum.  The maximum could be as high as 12.

Who comes into fill those roles?  How much will the manager buy, and how much will he look to the youth teams to fill the senior slots?

The summer will be an interesting one for Arsenal fans.

 

 

I just agree the hell out of this…

#TRUTH

Transfer Targets: Arsenal’s Deluded Fanbase

Hey, that was nice….

Goodly morning to you.

Arsenal were back to winning ways with a pretty nice performance against Everton
at Goodison Park this past Saturday. Arsenal were effective in attack in the
first half, and competent enough defending in the second half. Clearly some
fatigue set in from the early week exploits in Barcelona, but nonetheless – job
done. Alex Iwobi scored his first Premier League goal, and it was a very nice
one. Hector Bellerin played a decent ball over the top and Iwobi received it
and exploded down the right flank of Everton. What he did next is something I
have been screaming at my television for weeks. He shot.

Too often Arsenal players are dwelling on the ball, or seeking one more pass,
rather than just letting it fly. Iwobi let it fly and it went in. Well done!

Danny Welbeck provided the first goal with a nifty bit of footwork after a
beautiful Alexis pass found him in the box.

It was nice in general to get back to winning ways, and the balance of the team
feels about right. The Elneny and Coquelin partnership in midfield is
especially worth of praise. Elneny ran himself all over the field, and Coquelin
was extremely efficient in both passing and interceptions.

One almost forgets what Arsenal can do when they play well. And for me this
follows a very good performance at Barcelona earlier in the week. So maybe
things are trending positive? Maybe?

Elsewhere in the Premier League title race, both Leicester and Sp*rs won, so
Arsenal made up no ground, but they also did not fall further behind.

The Premier League Predictor 3000, that debuted last week on this here blog,
forecasted both a Leicester and Sp*rs win, so we are tracking to reality so far.
It did not expect a Manchester City loss to United. That was a bonus.

 

Leicester 66 points
Sp*rs 61 points
Arsenal 55 points *
Man City 51 points *
West Ham 50 points *
Man Utd 50 points *

* game in hand

 

Up next: International Break followed by a home game to Watford. Our long
steady climb to the summit of the Premier League begins in two weeks time.

Till then #COYG….

What’s next?

Yesterday saw Barcelona hand Arsenal one of “those” defeats.  Arsenal played as well as they could have possibly played.  They had their chances and definitely threatened.  But at the end of the day, the individual excellence of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez snuffed out any ember Arsenal were trying to coax into flame.  Barcelona are just that good.

“Those” defeats are emblematic of Arsenal performances in Europe though, and it left supporters feeling encouraged, but also like they have seen all this happen before.  What does it take to coax this squad, this club to take major steps in Europe?

This article by Tim Stillman over at Arseblog is pretty spot on where it concerns the 2015/16 season.  It really feels like Arsenal have no plan other than Carzola/Coquellin in the middle, and Ramsey on the right.  Without those pieces, the rest of the squad does not function properly.  Since Ramsey and Carzola continue to be out, I can only expect we will continue to see Mohamed Elneny in the Carzola role, and some form of Joel Campbell, Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi or Danny Welbeck out on the right.  Does that achieve the necessary balance to allow Arsene’ Wenger to save the season?  Stay tuned.

So – that given, what’s next?

Saturday, Arsenal travel to Liverpool’s Goodison Park to take on Everton.  It is a match that must product points for Arsenal.  3 points would be ideal, but at least 1 is essential. To see how essential this game is let’s examine each club in the top 4 over the remainder of the season.

Arsenal have 52 points and 9 games remaining, for a total of 27 points to be won.
Leicester City have 63 points and 8 games remaining for a total of 24 points to be won
Sp*rs have 58 points and 8 games remaining for a total of 24 points to be won.
Manchester City have 51 points and 9 games remaining for a total of 27 points to be won.

Looking at each remaining clubs schedule:

Leicester – Palace, Southampton, Sunderland, West Ham, Swansea, Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea

Sp*rs – Bournmouth, Liverpool, Man Utd, Stoke (away BTW), West Brom, Chelsea, Southampton, Newcastle

Arsenal – Everton, Watford, West Ham, Palace, West Brom, Sunderland, Norwich, Man City, Aston Villa

Man City -Man Utd, Bournmouth, West Brom, Newcastle, Chelsea, Stoke, Southampton, Arsenal, Swansea

Now let’s forecast results over the remaining games.

Forecast:
Leicester victories: Palace,Sunderland, Swansea,
Leicester draws: West Ham
Leicester defeats: Southampton, Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea
Leicester total points (73)
Forecasted position:  2nd place

Sp*rs victories: Bournmouth, Newcastle
Sp*rs draws: Liverpool, Man Utd, West Brom, Southampton
Sp*rs defeats: Stoke, Chelsea
Sp*rs total points (68)
Forecasted position:  4th place

Man City victories: Bournmouth, Newcastle, West Brom, Stoke, Swansea
Man City draws: Man Utd, Southampton, Arsenal
Man City defeats: Chelsea
Man City total points (69)
Forecasted position:  3rd place

Arsenal victories: Watford, West Ham, Palace, Sunderland, Norwich, Aston Villa
Arsenal draws: Everton, Man City
Arsenal defeats:
Arsenal total points: (75)
Forecasted position:  1st place

If Arsenal can win this Saturday, this gives them more breathing room at West Ham or Man City later.  If Arsenal draw this Saturday, you can see the Premier League is still attainable.  If Arsenal lose, it becomes hard to see how they catch Leicester.

What gives me the confidence that Arsenal can pull this off?

Three things:

1) Arsenal always go on a late season run of form, and their remaining schedule is the “easiest” of the top four.
2) Leicester has some big games remaining against Southampton, Everton, Man Utd, and Chelsea.  Every year but this year, Leicester would lose those matches.
3) Sp*rs will need to be Sp*rs and draw a lot of their remaining games.  There is precedence for that as well.

This also means, that the team that played their guts out in the rain last night, has to show up each and every matchday.  No taking the opposition lightly.  No jogging back as the counter attack starts.  Finishing chances when they come.

In short, Arsenal has to stop playing like they have been playing, find a rhythm, and get going.

Will it happen?  Stay tuned.

Bonus forecast:  St. Totteringham’s Day for May 1st, 2016

Why?

Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup yesterday with a loss to Watford (1 -2).  In supporters eyes this was a devastating loss as once again, it was likely Arsenal’s best chance for silverware.  In truth, this result is a continuation of form dating back to at a minimum the Liverpool draw (3-3) and quite possibly the dismantling at Southampton (0-4).  The question on everyone’s mind is why?  Why is this team, full of players who have shown their qualities at this level, all playing so terribly at the same time?  I just don’t know, and I am not sure anyone can come up with a satisfactory answer.

Last year, I read a book on Arsenal by Alex Flynn.  (I highly recommend it.)  The author looks at how Arsenal transitioned from English Premier League powerhouse to one of the new breed of 21st century “super clubs” largely through the leadership of David Dean and Arsene’ Wenger.  At one point Flynn is highlighting Wenger’s management style, which if I could summarize it succinctly, is based on enabling his players to make correct decisions on the pitch that translate to success.  He is not forcing his players to play a certain way or style as much as he is trusting them to know what the right thing to do is, and then to do it.  It is, at its basic sense, a system of belief and trust.  This is what Flynn credits the Invincible season to, a team in absolute cohesion making the correct decision at nearly every turn.

But there is a dark side to this style. When things start to go poorly, the players belief in themselves and the system of trust can unravel.  Sometimes spectacularly.

During that Invincibles season, Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup and the Champions League within 3 days of each of other.  Losing to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.  Overall there was a three game winless streak involved dating back to March 28th with a home draw to United.  Their confidence had been shaken, and it took sometime to restore it.

We are seeing something similar play out, albeit with much more devastating results.  Since the Southampton game, a game in which Arsenal were completely picked apart, Arsenal’s record in all competitions is 7 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses.  The vast majority of those wins having come against Championship sides in the FA Cup and the lower echelon of the Premier League (notable exception being the late winner against Leicester City).

Since the Liverpool game the results would be 4 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses.  Arsenal were leading the Premier League by two points going into the Liverpool game.  They were leading the actual match by a score of 3 -2 into stoppage time. Joe Allen’s header on that day was definitely demoralizing, but I don’t think anyone could have foreseen how broken Arsenal would become after that.

You could chalk some of this to injury.  You could chalk it up to the manager having to play combinations of players that he would prefer not to play.  But even a weakened Arsenal squad should be competing.  Arsenal should not lose 3 games in a row at home against Barcelona, Swansea City, and Watford.  Only Barcelona would be considered non surprising.

So what then is it?

Is there just a general malaise over this club?  Have the players tuned Wenger out?  Will the board be motivated to do something about all of this?

Again – no one can answer why.  I am not even sure those involved on a day to day basis could.

On Ramsey and “balance”

Well, it’s been awhile again.

Since I last decided to put together a post, Arsenal unbelievably lost to Swansea at home (1-2), drew with Sp*rs (2-2), and beat Hull in the FA Cup (4-0).  If I wanted to be positive, I could say that things are trending upward.  If I wanted to be negative, I could talk about Aaron Ramsey.

Arsene’ Wenger, finally seeing enough of Ramsey in central midfield, pushed him back out to the right against Tottenham.  The results were mixed (he scored a goal, he missed some passes, he generally worked hard), and up until the Coquellin red card, things were looking better for Arsenal.  To me that comes down to balance, and I will delve into that deeper in a minute.

Unfortunately, Ramsey was nursing an injury prior the Hull game, and when both Per Mertesacker, and Gabriel went down due to injury, we had no other defending options to introduce.  Ramsey came on, and 16 minutes later was out (for up to four to six weeks) with a thing injury.

This, ironically, has some frustrated Arsenal fans gleeful.

In my humble opinion, Arsenal are best when Aaron Ramsey is playing from the right midfield.  No exceptions.  And again that is all about balance.

Balance – a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.

This is not a dig at Joel Campbell or Theo Walcott (who also play from the right).  This does not mean that Joel Campbell has not worked his ass off for Arsenal, or that he is not deserving of playing time.  It means, we are most dangerous in attack when Ramsey is playing on the right.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what has gone wrong this season, and if I could chalk it all up to one word, that word would be balance.  Or more precisely, imbalance.

Arsenal is a team that achieves perfection when the balance is right.  For Arsene Wenger, that apparently means finding combinations of players who skills and thinking complement and balance each other on the pitch.

We have been most dangerous, with Carzola and Coquelin in deep midfield.  We have tried other combinations, and the best I have seen to date is Coquelin and Elneny, and even that comes with limitations.  Balance is required.

Carzola and Coquelin allow the attaching midfield to achieve balance with Alexis, Ozil, and Ramsey.  Ramsey’s natural tendency to drift in combines with Ozil’s freestyle, Carzola’s buildup, and Bellerin’s overlap like a symphony.  Ramsey’s hardwork comes in handy protecting young Bellerin (who’s great, but who can’t use help?) on the right.  Balance.

Alexis is actually most dangerous with another speed merchant at Center Forward.  Walcott and Welbeck best suit him in general.  Giroud is great for going direct, but it does blunt Alexis.  And the other hand it frees up Ozil.  Balance again.

Cech brings the ultimate balance to the back 4.  Calm, assured, champion.  He is everything Sczesney and Ospina are not.

The injuries this season to Walcott, Ramsey (2x), Carzola, and Coquelin have killed the balance we enjoyed for the majority of 2015.  We have tried pairings that just don’t work.  Flam/Ramsey in the center.  Walcott, Ozil, Campbell in attack.  Imbalance.

If we had maintained our team balance for 2015/16 I have no doubt we would be clear of Leicester by 9 points right now.  I will even defend Wenger here in that I “think” this was his plan all along which is why he only bought Cech in the summer transfer window.  If you think about how we saw it in July of 2015, we had two full squads of pretty balanced players we could chose from:

Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Carzola, Coquellin, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Walcott

Ospina, Debuchy, Gabriel, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Arteta, Wilshere, Iwobi (Rosicky), Campbell, Giroud (Welbeck).

That second XI is good enough (when healthy) to best some Premier League teams.
The problem, as always with Arsenal are the injuries.  We seem to have fragile players.  And fragile players upset the balance.

In hindsight, Arsenal should have not counted on any contributions from Arteta, Flamini, and Rosicky, and instead found suitable (not necessarily world class) replacements.  They did bring in Mohamed Elneny in the January window, but that was too little to late.  Especially to strike the necessary balance to ensure Arsenal take the Premier League this season.

So given that Ramsey is out, I have some thoughts on how Arsenal will line up on Sunday versus Watford in the FA Cup.

Ospina
Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Gibbs
Elneny, Coquelin
Cambell, Ozil, Alexis
Welbeck

Let’s see if we can’t create some new partnerships and balance this weekend.

 

Hope or Hype?

Good afternoon.

Wanted to blog immediately following the game, but that is usually not the best time to articulate coherent opinions.  Emotions often get the better of logic, and harsh opinions run rampant.  The simple FUDGE post was meant to convey the frustration I felt,(and all of Arsenal fandom felt), after yesterdays uninspired loss at Manchester United.

If you read preceding blog posts, such as this one, you will note that I was not keen on Arsenal’s chances in this match.  Arsenal’s form has been poor, especially in terms of goal scoring, and Arsenal’s record away at Old Trafford is 1-2-8 in the last 10 calendar years.  Arsenal simply don’t win at that ground often.  It’s a once in 10 years deal.  All this seemed to add up to a match that would end in defeat for the Gunners.

What I had not expected was the lineup Louis Van Gall would choose.  Forced by injury to play several people out of position, and to start a teenager at striker, this particular United squad looked to be ripe for the taking.  Surely, this would be one of the years that Arsenal could steal a victory at Old Trafford.  Right?  Possibly?

Er…no.  No it was not.  Not remotely.

Terrible defending, insipid play, and absolutely no sense of urgency were the highlights of the day from Arsenal.  With the exception of Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil, and Danny Welbeck, no Arsenal player looked like they even cared to try and win this game.  I take that back, Alexis did try.  He was industrious.  For whatever reason he is not very good right now.

But the number of players who appeared to simply not care that they were being run ragged is startling.  The two Center Backs were out of sync for most of the game, and Gabrielle absolutely fell asleep at the wheel on Rashford’s second goal.  Compounding my frustration with him is the that he looked at Koscielny like “Where were you?” after that play.

Nacho Monreal let the cross which led to the first goal come in basically uncontested.  On the second, again he stood off and turned his back from about 15 yards away.  Why was he not closing down?  He had protection behind him.  On the second he had Alexis back helping as well.  Contrast this with United who closed on the ball relentlessly all game long.

Aaron Ramsey has played approximately three months in his preferred central midfield role.  One could argue that he is progressively getting worse with each game.

His stats look good most of the time, but he offers no creative spark, and many times struggles transitioning the ball to the forward players.  He appears to be a man who is both trying to do too much and afraid to make a mistake.

Alexis is not the same since his injury.  He flashed brightly in September, started to wane in October, and returned from injury in January.  He can’t dribble, pass, or shoot right now, and those are mightily important things for a footballer.  Is he just spent after two years of non-stop football.  Is he still hurt?

Next we come to Theo Walcott.  Chosen by Arsene Wenger over Oliver Giroud for his pace, he did virtually nothing with that pace all game long.  There were a few attempts to get him the ball behind United’s defense, but by the time he was substituted it felt like he had been a non-factor for the majority of the hour he played.  Wenger gambled on Walcott producing the display he gave us when United came to the Emirates.  He lost that bet.

And lastly, the manager.  In an attempt to break the goal scoring drought, he moved Walcott up top, brought Danny Welbeck into the side, and the plan (I think) was to go after them.  Except Arsenal never got going, and never got after United.  Therefore the manager’s plans and his starting XI were not suited for each other.  In my opinion he made a crucial error bring on Alex Iwobi as well instead of Joel Campbell.  Iwobi offered nothing going forward and was repeatedly bossed on the ball by the United defense.

Tactics should have shifted immediately when they saw they were not getting runs in behind from Walcott and Alexis.  Arsenal should have gone more direct, and pushed on for goals.  Instead, we tried build up play and neat dribbling.  We lost focus when United countered and were basically run out of Old Trafford by the United U-21 team.  Let that settle in.

So, are Arsenal hype, or is there hope?

I believe between 75 and 80 points will win the league this season.  Arsenal sit on 51.  There are 11 fixtures left and a total of 33 points.For Arsenal to get 80, they need only drop 4 points over the next 11 matches.  To get to 75 they could drop 9, but then they are very much dependent on City, Leicester, and Sp*rs completely falling apart at some point over the last three months.

The week that started yesterday offers Arsenal 9 points in 7 days.  They have already dropped three.  4 is the minimum, and 6 is the preferred for the rest of the week.  Then, and only then can we talk hope.

If not, once again, we have all fallen victim to hype from Arsenal and Arsene Wegner.  When will it change?

#COYG

 

Arsenal desperately seeking goals

Good Morning to all.

Arsenal travel to Old Trafford this Sunday for the annual away match versus Manchester United. Arsenal is coming off a goalless FA Cup Draw versus Hull City and a devastating 2-nil loss to Barcelona. United defeated Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup and FC Midtjylla in the Europa League by a combined score of 8-1.  By and large, most of the football pundits I have read this week have predicted an Arsenal victory.  To which I say, are you mad?

For whatever reason(s), Arsenal cannot find the back of the net.  It certainly isn’t due to a lack of effort, or because Arsenal can’t unlock defenses and create chances.  As mentioned early on this blog – Arsenal are creating chances.

The conversion of those chances is missing, and that is why Arsenal find themselves in 3rd place in the Premier League, Replaying Hull in the FA Cup, and down 2-0 aggregate, before even setting foot in Spain for their Champions League tie.

So, if Arsenal are to win on Sunday, they must convert chances into goals.  They must play loose and confident.  Arsene Wenger must see to this or the season will be back on the ropes.

Predicted Arsenal Line Up:

Cech
Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal (I know there is talk about Gabriel being available, but I don’t think the manager will risk him).

Ramsey, Coquelin – Would love to try ElNeny here and push Ramsey up to the right. Doubt it will happen.

Walcott, Ozil, Alexis –  If Ramsey were to move right, I would think Theo moves to center forward.

Giroud – And lastly if Theo takes the center forward spot, I do not expect to see Giroud till the 68th minute.  But my guess is he starts.

Bring on the goals boys.  Or Arsenal fandom is going to be one unpleasant bunch on Monday morning.

#COYG