The Christmas period is the time of the season when managers dread, as 'squad depth' comes into play, and those who depend solely on having the best 11 on the pitch tend to have it tough while the big boys (Mancini & Co.) will relish the chance of taking on all comers and prove that they are more than just a flash in the pan. They really are more than that.
Arsene Wenger meanwhile has to be thinking that the football Gods are against him, with 4 of his fullbacks out with niggling injuries and having to play centre backs out of position is not an ideal situation, as he found out at the Etihad at the weekend. Johan Djourou went off injured, further worsening the situation, though to be honest, he's as good a full back as instructing a pigeon to play the role of a 'German Shepherd'. Now, it looks like the Swiss will be out for the best part of three weeks, which means that the stale french loaf (Sebastian Squillaci) will play in one of the games. To be fair to him, he actually had one of his better games in the Carling Cup defeat to Man City. Then again, football is based on consistency and not the 'one-off Whitney Houston gala'. As on now, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Miquel and Squillaci are the only players who have some sort of first team experience.
Tonight's game at Villa Park is vital for Wenger's men, and it remains to be seen who will play in the full-back positions. Wenger for one cannot afford to have a centre-back partnership of Squillaci and Mertesacker as that would be like the 'Rabbit v Tortoise' race against the likes of Agbonlahor. On the other hand, playing Miquel, (who by the way can be put in the same boat as Mertesacker in terms of pace) at left back gives the chance to McLeish to play Agbonlahor on the right, though he usually does his damage on the opposite flank. One thing which is certain is that if Villa somehow manage to turn up for this game with Albrighton and Agbonlahor on fire, and Delfouneso playing to his capabilities, then they will definitely give the Arsenal defense (which will not consist of Alex Song, who is suspended) a run for their money.
Personally, I wish Arsene tries something different, like going with three at the back and 5 in midfield. He more than has the resources to do that, with Koscielny and Vermaelen playing either side of Mertesacker, and probably playing Frimpong alongside Arteta. That would really unleash the attacking prowess of Ramsey, Chamberlain and Benayoun, because I don't think Arshavin is up to it, the only thing left for him to do is go out the door. And dear ol' Theo will have his long awaited opportunity to give defenders goosebumps alongside the little known Dutchman. Whether or not Wenger decides to implement it is a different question altogether.
A number of pundits after the City game were of the opinion that Arsenal were not far off Man City, well not as far as the gap in the table suggests. That is just not good enough, because the difference between winning or losing is slight, and the gap does not really matter. At the end of the day, it is a results based industry, and if you get the right result, then most of the time you will end up successful and the loser will, well, just moan. The only certain thing this season is that the title will arguably end up in Manchester, though the colour of the ribbons on the Premier League trophy is yet to be decided. Some may think that it is slightly premature that I have come to this conclusion with the Christmas period yet to be played but hold on. Spurs, now have injuries to their deadly duo, Lennon and Bale. Replacements, Kyle Walker and probably Assou-Ekotto are not up to standard, basically square pegs into round holes. Defoe looks short for the upcoming game, with Redknapp saying the other day that his marksman has a Grade 1 hamstring tear (whatever that means, a tear is a tear).
Chelsea meanwhile are like a box of chocolates at the moment, though an expensive one at that. One week they become the first team to bring Man City back to earth, the next they fail to brush aside Wigan, who do not generally do well against the proverbial 'Big Boys' of the BPL. Sometimes, I think that AVB is too tactical for his own good. Against City, he brought on Mikel in favour of an attacker to shore up the defence and guarantee the points. I salute his decision in that game, because it ensured that the Londoners could nullify the attacking threat of the Mancunians. The Wigan game however was a real joke, bringing off their best two players in Mata and Sturridge who managed to score a wonderful goal in favour of Malouda and Mikel. I will not comment more than that, they already have a certain Russian to do that.
Whatever happens, at the end of the day the Christmas period is a most wonderful time of the year, and the 'telly' will definitely be showing a whole lot of matches, so I guess enjoy? Have a Holly Jolly Christmas and a Blessed and Prosperous New Year to all reading haha I think it'll be like 3 people at max.
Sayonara.
No comments:
Post a Comment