Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Arsenal have a very mixed record when playing away in the Champions League and last night’s performance illustrated why.

What Arsenal needed last night was a big dose of pragmatism and some leadership on the pitch.

I think we went into that game with a way too adventurous set-up.   We made two changes to the back four, despite the fact that we had enforced changes to the whole midfield and despite the fact that Shakhtar have a terrific home record.

Maybe we were just undone by the ease with which we won the home game, but we do have the tendency to slip into complacency somehow and then not find our way out.

When most teams are under pressure they start finding their way back into the game by breaking up the flow of their opponents.  They put the ball out rather than lose it.  They double-up on the players that are causing the danger.  Fullbacks make sure they don’t get stranded way out of position, especially if they are continually being beaten for pace.  Then, when they have blunted their opponents attack they regroup and get their own game going again.  But not Arsenal last night!

I think Rosicky is a great player and that he should get more time on the pitch, but not wearing the captain’s armband!

At times last night you couldn’t tell who was supposed to be playing where, particularly in the midfield.  When you win five nil you call this Brazilian Flair or Total Football.  When you are two one down after scoring first you call it a mess!  They needed pulling into shape and it didn’t happen.

Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal are a great side, but I think we need a bit more cunning when playing away in difficult situations.

****** Fabianski leads our Man of the Match poll  – here. *****

What a dismal performance!  Aside from the goal itself we were way off the pace tonight.  We lacked shape and any style.

I know Shakhtar have a great home record but we didn’t give them much of a game.  They surprised Arsenal with their pace.  Both Clichy and Eboue were beaten many times.  Nasri covered a fair bit for Clichy but you won’t get that from Walcott.  Squillaci and Djourou were not too bad, winning a lot of the straight stuff, but they were continually exposed.

The Arsenal goal was the only highpoint.  A quick one-two between Walcott and Nasri (I think) set Walcott off on a sprint.  He stranded the keeper by taking his shot early and scored.  A good goal.

But after that we were all at sea.  We lost any shape and just weren’t able to deal with the determined way that Shakhtar kept coming.  The first goal came from a freekick given away by Eboue who was never catching Willian.  The freekick was well taken – one one.  I think the last touch came off Eastmond but it was a rapid deflection from the Shaktar player so he shouldn’t really be credited with an own goal.  About the closest he got to the ball all night though!

The second goal was a horror story from the other fullback.  Clichy looked to have the situation under control, then got mugged by Srna who put in a good cross to Eduardo – two-one Shaktar.

After the interval Arsenal showed a bit more commitment but didn’t find any shape or rhythm.  Bendtner didn’t really look fit and might possibly been usefully replaced by Chamakh sooner.

All-in-all a bad day at the office for just about the whole team.  Fabianski might be the only exception.  He made some good saves.  Fortunately we have probably done enough to ensure qualification, or will do in our last two games, but this is a night to forget.

***** If you feel anyone deserves the accolade, you can vote for your Man of the Match here. *****

Arsenal appear to be taking no risks on injuries with Arshavin, Song, Denilson and Fabregas all sitting out the trip to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Obviously that means a complete change to the midfield trio that played at the weekend.  As I wrote in my team preview piece yesterday, Nasri will come in for Fabregas and Wilshere will start too.  But with neither Song nor Denilson traveling, who will complete the midfield?

I think that there are three options and it depends how seriously Arsene Wenger rates Shaktar’s home form.

The most attacking option is to put Rosicky in the midfield, instead of him replacing Arshavin up front, then either adding Vela or playing both Chamakh and Bendtner.

The most ‘like-for-like’ change would be to simply put Eastmond in for Song.  Obviously he’s a good deal less experienced at this level, but we’re in a strong position in the Group.

If Wenger is worried that Eastmond doesn’t have the experience, then he can put Eboue in the midfield.  It’s an option he’s used before.

So how badly do we want three points? How tough do we think Shakhtar are at home?

I think Wenger wants three points.  Denying these points to Shakhtar locks up the group for us – given the goal difference we have chalked up.

Shakhtar will have some confidence at home and they will want something from this game.  I think we will see much more attacking ambition from them.

Another issue is the need to keep Eboue happy.  Although his attitude on the pitch can be a bit comical sometimes, he’s a good squad player who can cover more than one position.

My guess now is that Arsenal will start like this -

___________ Fabianski ___________
Sagna _ Squillaci _ Koscielny _ Clichy
________ Eboue _ Wilshere _______
____________ Nasri _____________
___ Walcott _ Bendtner _ Rosicky __

If the game goes well, Sagna could get an early finish with Eboue dropping into the right back role and Eastmond getting some match time.

The biggest doubt on fitness seems to be Fabregas with a tight hamstring from the West Ham game. If the Shakhtar game was a ‘must win’ it would be tempting Arsenal to take him anyway, even just to have on the bench.  But given the way we are dominating our group at the moment I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays at home.

Yes this will be our toughest group game and it would be nice to qualify with games to spare, but in the circumstances it must be better to protect him from injury.  I expect to see Nasri as the main attacking midfielder.  That frees up the front right slot for a Walcott start.

The other fitness concern is Song who got a kick towards the end of the Hammers game.  I think that he is also worth protecting.  For all the talk this week of the goals he’s been getting, he is still our only real defensive midfielder and there is a lot of season left yet.  My hunch is that we will see Denilson and Wilshere standing behind Nasri at kick-off.

Personally I would leave the back line alone, particularly if Song is absent.  You could rest Squillaci, arguing that we have eight games to play this month,  but without Song’s strength ahead I would keep him in this one. He could captain the side.

I hope that Fabianski will be in goal.  I know that some want to see Wojciech Szczesny, but I really think Fabianski needs the maximum run he can get.

So that just leaves us would-be Wengers with two forward slots to fill.  I think that Bendtner will start in the centre,  so that just leaves us with the usual Arshavin conundrum!

The logic for having him in is that I’ve already suggested two changes up front and I think that there are dangers in fielding too many changes game-to-game.  But sometime in November’s eight games Rosicky should get a start.  Will it be the Shaktar game?

Rosicky seems a pretty solid team guy but he will surely want to play more games than he has so far.  Although he doesn’t have the same moments of genius that Arshavin does, he gives the Arsenal attack a more urgent and direct style.

In a month’s time, Ramsey will be knocking on the door as well!  It will be interesting to see if the trend to increased player power leads to managers rotating players more frequently to keep everyone happy.

Anyway back to Shakhtar, I think that Arsenal will line up like this:

__________ Fabianski ___________
Sagna _ Squillaci _ Koscielny _ Clichy
____ Denilson ______ Wilshere ____
____________ Nasri ____________
Walcott ____ Bendtner ___ Arshavin

What do you think?

So can we round off the month with a win against West Ham?  Ought to be a dead cert with West ham at the bottom of the table, although they are coming to this on the back of a win.

I think we should have plenty enough to beat them though.  So who will play?

Looking at the injury situation and listening to Arsene Wenger’s interview it looks like something very similar top the Man City line-up.  The only change could be Koscielny in for Djourou.  The fact that Gibbs is going to be out for a few weeks after coming off with aknee injury at Newcastle glues Clichy into the left back slot.  To be fair, he had a better game at Manchester City than the previous matches so that ought not to be a problem.

I assume that Fabianski will be in goal.  Szczesny had a good game midweek, but I think that the priority for Arsenal has to be to find out about Fabianski one way or the other.  So unless he has a real disaster, he should play as many games as possible between now and the transfer window.

I reckon the midfield will be the same as the City game – Fabregas, Denilson and Song.  Diaby is apparently out, so no need for change there.

Up front we now have more options – three from Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner, Chamakh, Walcott, and Rosicky.  It’s good to have this kind of problem rather than the injury strewn mess of before!  Plus RVP to come back in a couple of weeks!

My guess is that Chamakh will start.  Bendtner looks to have come back in good form, but Chamakh has been on the money too.  Will Nasri be rested to let Walcott in – and give the Frenchman a break ahead of the trip away to Shaktar?

How about this as a best guess?

_________ Fabianski ____________
Sagna __ Squillaci __ Koscielny __ Clichy
_______ Denilson _ Song_________
___________ Fabregas __________
Walcott _____ Chamakh _______ Arshavin

What do you think?

Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Alex Song lead our man of the match poll so far.  Jack has the lead at the moment.

You can add your vote here.

The three of them, along with Fabregas, are rightly getting the credit in match reviews for bossing the game.

Although it can be said that Shaktar didn’t put up much of a fight last night this was an important win for Arsenal.  Beating all three of our opponents in the opening half of the group puts us in control and gives us more options for rotating players in a crowded schedule.

One curious decision was the Chamakh substitution.  Not the fact that he was substituted, he’s certainly been putting in the work and will need to be a starter against City, but why Arshavin?

The Russian obviously wasn’t needed to bolster the midfield, he appeared to slot into the striker position – only without doing any actual striking!  Makes you wonder how fit Nicklas Bendtner really is now.  Hopefully it was just a case of not wanting to throw a returning player on cold when we weren’t short of goals.  Hopefully!

I think Marouane Chamakh has done a great job but some reinforcements soon would be welcome and RVP certainly isn’t ready yet.

***** Don’t forget to make your Man of the Match choice here. *****

Five goals from five different players.  Good team performance. It’s a tricky one.  Personally I’m going for Nasri just ahead of Wilshire but I bet opinions will vary a lot.

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Shaktar Donetsk were supposed to be our toughest opponents, but Arsenal were cruising tonight.  Shaktar had no ambition at all in the first half.  It took then 40 minutes just to get a corner.

Arsenal had to be patient at first as Shaktar defended in numbers and the first goal was a gift.

Nasri‘s goal was well taken and well deserved for a great performance.  The penalty was a stupid one with the Shaktar defender wrestling Djourou to the ground with his arm round his neck. Cleanly taken penalty by Fabregas.

Chamakh and Wilshire both got well worked goals.  Five in total, breaking Real Madrid‘s record for goals scored in the opening three Champions League matches.

I know we all like Eduardo, but leaving him unmarked is a bit generous!  Still at 5:0 up I suppose it was no real harm done.

Arsenal were comfortable and competent.  No obvious injuries.  Game time for Fabregas and Walcott.  Couple of good saves from Fabianski.  Job done.

***** Vote for your Arsenal Man of the Match here. *****

Whilst there are many theories out there on who needs a rest, the main debate seems to be about whether Rosicky should come in for Arshavin.  Arshavin’s stats are pretty good this season but the way he drifts in and out of games is very frustrating.  Plus there’s the argument that Rosicky is more direct and that would add another dimension and get us more goals.

So if you were Arsene Wenger, who would you choose tonight?

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That’s the biggest question for the team sheet tonight.  Will we see Fabregas back in action?

My hunch is that we won’t.  I think that Wenger will want to leave him one more game and have him back against Man City at the weekend.  That’s my guess, that we have enough to deal with Shakhtar Donetsk without Cesc and that it’s better to have him back for a big league match a bit rusty than than take a chance on his fitness.

Fabianski will stay in goal.  None of the injured defenders are back so Eboue, Squillaci and Djourou are definite starters.  I think that Wilshire is also a definite.  His ban doesn’t apply to European games so we might as well have what we can out of him before he takes the enforced break.

There are genuine options available for the other six places.  Clearly Wenger won’t make six changes but there will be some.  Partly because the games are coming thick and fast, partly because we need to find something more in the final third than we have seen so far.

Will Gibbs get start or will Clichy keep his place?  I hope Gibbs gets a game.

I hope that either Walcott or Rosicky play.  They are more direct players and we I think that they could find the goals we have been missing.  If Walcott does play, Nasri can move into the centre of midfield.

The question left after that is whether two fit regular starters get rested – Chamakh and Song?

If Wenger made all these changes we could end up with:

_________ Fabianski ________
Eboue __ Squillaci __ Djourou __ Gibbs
_______ Wilshire __ Denilson _______
____________ Nasri ____________
Walcott __ Bendtner __ Rosicky

But I just can’t see Arsene Wenger making that many changes at once. Too much danger of provoking a sloppy or complacent performance.  I do think that Rosicky should get a start though.  Arshavin’s strike rate may be better than most think when watching him play, but Rosicky is good to and needs to play more games.

So my guess is:

__________ Fabianski __________
Eboue __ Squillaci __ Djourou __ Clichy
______ Diaby _ Denilson ______
_________ Wilshire _________
Nasri _____ Bendtner _____ Rosicky

But what do you think?