You can say a lot of things about Arsene, but there’s one ting you cannot contest; he’s good for a soundbite, isn’t he? Yesterday he said stories of Draxler at the training ground were like UFOs – everyone claims to have seen one. Cue tweet after tweet, joke after joke about how Julian Draxler and ET are cousins, Photoshopped images of the Schalke player in a flying saucer, or even the odd Aliens reference. All in the spirit of good fun and hey, if you can’t poke fun at the transfer window then you run the risk of smashing your brown bread on it.
But enough of the tittle-tattle, how about the real stuff on a Saturday. Football! Actual, real-life, old-fashioned, 3pm kick-off Saturday football. Remember those? Well, aside from New Year’s Day, me either. But it’s good to have it back. Even if it won’t last. It’s Fulham wot head their way to North London today, without an injury care in the world to worry about. Rene Mullering-Stan has a full compliment of players to choose from and must decide which of his Cottagers are suitable to grace the Emirates turf to do battle with our boys. He’s spoken about knowing all about The Arsenal, he’s tried to sound vaguely praising in his comments about us being predictable, but that will all be nought but a sideshow if we can bring our ‘A Game’ to the table today.
We should fancy our chances. Fulham are not a team that traditionally travel well, picking up the odd win here and there but historically tending to rely on their home form to sustain their league position. This year they once again find themselves in a relegation dog-fight, currently sitting in 16th and looking precariously over their shoulders. They’ve got some talented players, but the sword of Damocles that eventually fell on top of Martin Jol will remain above Rene’s head until he can find the formula which allows him to strike the delicate balance between too many creative players and too many aged ones. Fulham were pretty woeful at home against Sunderland last weekend, but that performance can’t be used as a barometer of today’s game. The game plan will undoubtedly be different: frustrate, attempt to contain and hope to ‘pinch’ on the counter or by a set piece. They have the quality in players like Berbatov and Taraabt to do us damage, so we need to be very careful about how we approach the first half an hour methinks.
Last season was a pretty rough ride at home against Fulham. 1-0 up and cruising, Arsene and his charges failed to legislate for the ‘Mannone Factor’ as the Italian failed to cover himself in the same glory he obtained with his first start all those years ago at Craven Cottage. We found ourselves 2-1 down in quick succession, pulled our lead back to 3-2 and conceded through a Berbatov penalty I believe to level it at 3-3. Hopefully today the team still have those memories in their heads when they take to the turf.
As for our line up, well, I think it’s a little bit more forced than Arsene would have liked, but he knows he has the quality in his squad to call upon and, with Moneychester City almost certain to dispatch Cardiff at home, the hunger and desire to retain top spot must also be a good fuel to drive the team forward.
Much like Gibbs wasn’t risked when he picked up a knock, I think Monreal will not be used today, whilst the rest of the back five will remain ‘as is’. With Arteta still out injured, the onus of defensive responsibility will reside with Matthieu Flamini and so I suspect we’ll see him partner either Jack Wilshere or Tomas Rosicky. There were some noises yesterday that Jack sat out training, but hopefully that’s just a precaution from Le Boss and the medical team and is nothing too serious. With our number 10 just finding his form at the perfect time, it would feel unjust if he suddenly developed some sort of mystery injury, although no surprising with the season we’ve had.
The other option Arsene could opt for would be to play Tomas further forward in one of the wide roles. Personally I’d prefer to see him a little deeper as his quick movement and forward passing of the ball would work better from a deep lying position, but his form is such that he could probably play wide right or left and still be a big player for us today. But more than anything else with those wide positions, I think we need players that have that little bit if guile and creativity to beat their man, so for that reason I hope Arsene goes for Santi on the left and Gnabry on the right. The Ox is still finding his fitness so I would be surprised to see him start and, whilst Poldi is a great player and the most gifted finisher at the club, I suspect we’ll find a lot white shirts in front of us today with little room for manoeuvre. Fulham will sit deep and try to be defensively strong and when you’ve got players who can work in tight confined spaces as well as Cazorla/Gnabry, they are probably the best option in my opinion. That’s why I would prefer Tomas deeper as well. He’s good at the all-action stuff, he is great at moving the ball back to front quickly, but he’s not someone who can take on and beat a man as much as the other players.
The final two slots should be pretty obvious and Özil and Giroud will be given licence to prowl in and around the Fulham penalty box. It will be interesting to see Ollie line up against another strong and physical presence in Hangeland and, should he be able to keep him busy for the afternoon, hopefully it will create more space for Özil et al to work their magic.
I’ll be joined from a friend from over the pond today – Daniel Brock – so it will be good to meet a US gooner and show him my world on a fortnightly basis. It’s when you hear stories from overseas fans that you start to realise how lucky you are to have a season ticket.
Catch ya on tha flip side.
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