With Premier League, Europa League and
League Cup games coming thick and fast over the next month or so, they'll need quality and depth across the squad, and welcoming this quintet back into the fold having shaken off various injury issues will undoubtedly be a welcome sight for Wenger and his men.
Not exact matches
As we enter the crucial run in to the end of the season, which is the time that we traditionally up our
game to reach the Champions
League positions, we also have another big advantage in that all of the five teams above us are still in the Champions
League and Man United, City, Tottenham and Chelsea are also still in the FA
Cup, and are set to face some very tough
games in the
coming weeks, or maybe months if they do well.
Arsenal have
come through the gruelling Christmas schedule with flying colours and have moved to the top of the Premier
League, but it is also important that we now concentrate on our next
game which is the first in our defence of our FA
Cup trophy.
He played his
League Cup team against Zagreb two weeks ago, and is likely to do the same tomorrow with the crucial Man United
game coming up next.
The 28 - year - old has registered an impressive three goals and two assists in Europa
League and Carabao
Cup games but appears to have lost Wenger's trust when it
comes to the Premier
League.
Sanchez has gone on to emulate the total of goals he scored last season, with 21 and will hope to surpass that figure with six
games to go in the Premier
League and an FA
Cup final still to
come.
And because the win over Hull means we now face a
cup quarter - final with Watford this weekend instead of the Premier
League clash with West Brom, as well as there being an international break around the corner, Wenger only has one Premier
League game to get through before Cazorla can
come back into the centre of midfield.
Arsenal fans know and understand the policy of Arsene Wenger in resting first team players in the Capital One
Cup games, and even in the FA cup and Champions League games when we can, to give those key men a rest as well as giving some valuable opportunities to the up and coming Gunners from the academy and the likes of Debuchy and Gibbs who have not seen much action so far this seas
Cup games, and even in the FA
cup and Champions League games when we can, to give those key men a rest as well as giving some valuable opportunities to the up and coming Gunners from the academy and the likes of Debuchy and Gibbs who have not seen much action so far this seas
cup and Champions
League games when we can, to give those key men a rest as well as giving some valuable opportunities to the up and
coming Gunners from the academy and the likes of Debuchy and Gibbs who have not seen much action so far this season.
On paper you would think that playing Forest would be an easyish task, considering they have won only one of their last 8
games in the Championship, but
League form goes out of the window when it
comes to the FA
Cup, especially when Wenger is forced to play some second string players to help the First XI team regain some strength for the Top Four challenge.
With some really big
games coming up in the Champions
League and FA
cup, and with the terrible run of injury problems that have beset the Gunners for well over a year, I thought he might have hedged his bets.
That brings me onto the good news, because with Arsenal losing away to Liverpool and missing this weekend's round of Premier
League games because of our involvement in the FA
cup we could have found ourselves cut adrift when our next EPL
game comes around.
But all that would be just decoration if the
games themselves weren't worth watching, and the best argument for the importance of the
League Cup semis
comes in the fact that for the disinterested viewer simply looking for entertainment, recent years have been very strong indeed.
Szczesny does have more Champions
League experience and will be desperate to impress, while missing a
cup game and
coming back at the weekend would not harm the confidence of Ospina.
Ospina played second fiddle to Petr Cech last season and whilst he played a number of
games in the
cup competitions, his only real run in the Premier
League came in Petr Cech's absence.
Our reserves, who had played so bad in Zagreb, suddenly
came good and knocked Tottenham out of the
League Cup, and then we had a tough away
game at the only team left unbeaten in the Premiership, and shocked ourselves (and Leicester) by winning 5 - 2!
Schurrle has started just five Premier
League games this season, scoring three times, and this
coming after a successful World
Cup campaign will surely leave the versatile attacker considering his options.
With all of the first round of international
games now done and dusted, Arsenal can get back to business and our season really starts to hot up, with our first domestic
cup action
coming up along with the Champions
League group stages and the Premier
League to consider.
First of all Arsenal have two hugely important
games coming up in the Champions
League and FA
cup, which are the only realistic targets for the Gunners if we are to achieve a trophy this season.
With the a draining Europa
League campaign coming up for the Gunners next season they are going to need more depth to their squad as when you consider there are 38 league games, up to 15 games in the Europa League (should they reach the final) up to 6 games in the FA Cup and the same in the League Cup, Arsenal could end up playing in 65 games over the course of the s
League campaign
coming up for the Gunners next season they are going to need more depth to their squad as when you consider there are 38
league games, up to 15 games in the Europa League (should they reach the final) up to 6 games in the FA Cup and the same in the League Cup, Arsenal could end up playing in 65 games over the course of the s
league games, up to 15
games in the Europa
League (should they reach the final) up to 6 games in the FA Cup and the same in the League Cup, Arsenal could end up playing in 65 games over the course of the s
League (should they reach the final) up to 6
games in the FA
Cup and the same in the
League Cup, Arsenal could end up playing in 65 games over the course of the s
League Cup, Arsenal could end up playing in 65
games over the course of the season.
The Gunners longest serving player has not started one Premier
League game this season, and if he stays with us he will have no chance of making the England team for the World
Cup in Russia this
coming summer.
Their only real success so far this season as
come in the
League Cup, where they've beaten Middlesbrough on penalties, and Swansea City — with Mario Balotelli even managing to get his name on the scoresheet in the latter
game.
Aspas, who arrived at Liverpool from Celta Vigo last summer, has struggled to make any impression in the English
game, with his only goal for the Reds
coming against
League One side Oldham Athletic in the FA
Cup.
PPS Arsenal going an extra step and selling the
League Cup game tickets for # 20, # 10, # 5 like the last round so turn up at the Emirates
come Nov 30
Really he has to play the
League Cup games, and
come on later in
games we are wining to get a chance.
In addition to his
cup final appearance, one of his two Premier
League goals
came against Liverpool at the Emirates to further highlight that he can handle the big
game occasions.
I've seen a bit of Reiss Nelson and I see him as a No10 in a free role.He will find it very tough to claim that spot for a few seasons but this boy does have tremendous ability and potential.We need to get him as much
game time in the
League as just being in the team will help his learning curve.Next season in the Europa and Carabao
Cup is when we can give him a run out centrally as an attacking midfielder.This is a serious talent who will be a tremendous footballer.Lets hope we can bring him on like we used to in the past with our young players
coming up through the youth ranks.It seems too long since we have done this.
We have a relatively easy run during that period, 2 champions
league games against the weakest team in the group and efl
cup home
game against reading, 1 away
game at Sunderland and 3 home
league games against swansea, Boro and the hardest one
coming a month away against the filth.
Loads of
games to go in the
league and fa
cup plus european matches either champions or europa, he would
come in handy esp in the prem!
After last night's opening Champions
League games, all the talk on Arsenal websites is about our meeting with Barcelona next Tuesday, but first of all we have the small matter of a fifth round FA
Cup tie against Hull City
coming up.
So while the squad options available to the boss look alright, we should remember that the Gunners have two domestic
cups as well as the Premier
League and the Champions
League to cope with and the
games will soomn be
coming thick and fast.
But Chamberlain will surely get more opportunities with Premier
League games coming thick and fast and the FA
Cup coming up as well.
Iwobi should be in the senior team, but no way should he be a starter, he can
come in and play the odd 20/30 minutes of
league games and probably start some
games, he can play in the
cups and such, that way he can continue his progress without the burden of expectation weighing him down....
The really serious test of how the Arsenal defence is going to be able to cope with the absence of our Wprld
Cup winning Germany international Shkodran Mustafi is not likely to
come until the Premier
League game away to the current leaders Manchester City on November 5th.
«Oh we do like to moan beside the Emirates» should perhaps be the theme tune of Tony Pulis, who has not only lost every time he has
come to play Arsenal with his current club West Bromwich Albion, but in all of the
games when he was the boss at Stoke City as well, making 10 Premier
League games and a
cup loss for the Welsh manager at the home of the mighty Gunners.
City have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the
game, but with their last match being just 48 hours ago, Paul Tisdale could well rotate his squad to keep players fresh - especially with an FA
Cup third round tie against Premier
League West Brom
coming this weekend.
In a week in which Chelsea have been preparing for important
league and
cup games to
come, columnist Giles Smith gives his fan's view on events...
I remember Jermaine Beckford was in much need of confidence and
came off the bench and scored twice in the
League Cup against Crewe, only to be an unused substitute in the next
game.
After losing 1 - 2 against Real Madrid in the UEFA Super
Cup, Man Utd dominated the
league by collecting six points from two
games, scoring eight goals without conceding — seven of which
came from Lukaku, Martial, and Pogba.
Now that we have no more international breaks for a while, the
games will
come thick and fast with the EFL
cup quarter final on Wednesday, followed by the six
league games mentioned above all taking place in December.
With many important Champions
League and FA
Cup games to
come the last thing Arsenal want is for Wilshere to be sidelined.
While being knocked out of the
League Cup might actually be a blessing in disguise when it
comes to the Premier
League and Champions
League later on, the fact that Chelsea failed to win the match from a position of apparent dominance is an issue that simply must be addressed if Chelsea are to enjoy success this term, and Mourinho will put all his efforts into doing just that, ideally before the Arsenal
game.
Left - back Angeliño has already played two
games this season,
coming off the bench in the Champions
League and EFL
Cup after a season out on loan in MLS with New York City last year.
The former Nice player has featured just 13 times for the Gunners this term, however thhat
game time has
come predominantly in the Champions
League and the FA
Cup.
Even with a
game in hand to
come, Madrid have never overcome such a deficit to win the
league and to remain in the title race would realistically need to inflict Barca's first defeat since they last visited the Bernabeu back in August to win the Spanish Super
Cup.
Warnock
came through the youth ranks at Anfield and went on to play 40 Premier
League games for Liverpool, winning the UEFA Super
Cup in 2005.
Arsenal had endured a frustrating season, after being knocked out of the FA
Cup at the hands of United, losing the Carling
Cup Final, unfairly losing to Barcelona in the Champions
League and a stuttering league campaign, which saw them 9 points behind United coming into this
League and a stuttering
league campaign, which saw them 9 points behind United coming into this
league campaign, which saw them 9 points behind United
coming into this
game.
But, none of this
came close to what the famous Tottenham boys achieved following this in 1960 - 1961, it may not of all happened at Lane but I couldn't not write about this special moment where we won many vital
league and FA
Cup games at Lane anyway!
This
coming season Arsenal will play 6
games in pre-season, the FA Community Shield against Chelsea on 06 August, 38
league games, and (assuming we reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, the League Cup and FA Cup) 24 Cup
league games, and (assuming we reach the semi-finals of the Europa
League, the League Cup and FA Cup) 24 Cup
League, the
League Cup and FA Cup) 24 Cup
League Cup and FA
Cup) 24
Cup games.
United will need to move quickly in the transfer market this summer, with it being a World
Cup year, also that the transfer window will close before the first
game in the Premier
League kicks off, meaning the Portuguese manager will have around two months to conduct his business — normally doing it quickly with the Paul Pogba transfer saga dragging on into August 2016, the rest being signed before August
came, or close to the start of the month.
Fabrice Muamba, who
came through the youth team ranks to play two
league cup games for Arsene Wenger's side, believes managers under pressure to get results as well as external pressures are the cause for young players not being given a chance.