Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Will Arsene Wenger change anything tomorrow?  Well why would he when we are on such a fantastic run of success.

The only hint of an enforced change would be the same as last Saturday – Laurent Koscielny.  He was withdrawn at the very last minute before the Villa game with tendinitis.  All the reports I’ve seen suggest that he will be fit to play tomorrow, but he remains the only fitness doubt at this stage.

So what about squad rotation?  No big pressure here.  Our exit from all other competitions means few midweek games and we don’t play again until Sunday afternoon.

I guess that the biggest headache at the moment is maintaining the enthusiasm of Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho, who are all effectively chasing the last place in the team.  Robin Van Persie clearly plays as long as he is fit.  Theo Walcott plays with confidence when he has Sagna behind him and confidence is everything with him.  The consistency of Arteta, Rosicky and Song has been as much a part of our revival as Van Persie’s goals.

So who will be the eleventh name on the team sheet tomorrow?  My guess, and that’s all it is, is Gervinho.  So I’m expecting to see:

______ Szczesny ______
Sagna _ Kos _ Verm _ Gibbs
________ Song _______
___ Arteta __ Rosicky __
Walcott _ RVP _ Gervinho

QPR will of course be without Djibril Cisse who seems determined to see out more games suspended than he he gets to play.  He’s already missed three and now he starts a four match ban. Cisse is the sort of gamble that clubs like QPR get forced in to making.  He has great talent but doesn’t have the temperament to make it count.  He could save you from relegation or just take early baths and sit in the stand.  But he’s what you can afford.

QPR’s attack has also been blunted by injuries to Heidar Helguson and DJ Campbell.  Both are apparently on the mend, but doubtful.  The big decision for Mark Hughes though is whether he puts philosopher king Joey Barton back on the pitch.  He was booed off in the Liverpool game, before the fightback began. Does he add a fighting edge that drives his team on?  Or is he a liability that disrupts any attempt at flowing football.  Personally I’d throw him on.  QPR have more to lose from flowing football than Arsenal.

This should be a straightforward game if Arsenal run out with the right attitude.  A desperate QPR could punish anything else.

Come on you Gunners!

Plenty of rumours about today but nothing too solid.  Some say bids have already been made for Anderlecht striker Suarez and Lille leftback Cissokho. Alternatively Arsenal have been snubbed on both.  One common theme though is that it’s looking difficult to secure a loan deal rather than having to buy a fullback outright.

It’s easy to understand why that might be true.  If you don’t see yourself using a player again you want to free up the capital for a player purchase rather than just get their wages covered.  When you see Arsenal lose a defensive option virtually every game, you might as well hold out for that sale.  Of course, Arsenal don’t really want to buy because when they’re fit we have the number of fullbacks and cover that we need.  Though the apparent fragility of Kieran Gibbs may chip away at that theory.  So what do Arsenal do?  Reluctantly shell out for a purchase after all?  We apparently have the cash to do it.  Or go to brink of the deadline and hope that the likes of City or Lille will cave in at the last minute and accept a loan.

Trouble with the second option is that we need the player now rather than later and we cannot assume that we are the only club in the hunt for a fullback.  Interesting titbit in one paper today that one of new QPR boss Mark Hughes’ targets is Wayne Bridge.  Hard to believe I know when they’ve got Armand Traore at the club but it makes the point.  Arsenal may just have to face up to buying in asap and worry about congestion at leftback later.

On the subject of leftbacks, two new names in the frames are Swansea’s Neill Taylor and Southampton teenager Luke Shaw.  Given that the sixteen-year-old hasn’t even made a first team debut, he would obviously be one for future development rather than a solution to the immediate problem.

Neil Taylor sounds like a better option than Wayne Bridge, but the story doesn’t seem to have anything in particular to back it up.  Just chatter to keep us going until the Swansea game I guess.

Of some little interest is the game at White Hart Lane this evening where Spurs and Everton catch up the fixture postponed from the first day of the season.  If Spurs win it would create a eight point hole behind the top three which isn’t helpful, but the various setbacks that all the top clubs have suffered show there’s a fair bit of life left in this season.