Eastenders – West Ham Preview

All of the media attention is turned northwards to Anfield, the scent of Rafa Benitez’s blood too much for them to ignore, leaving Arsene to prepare for this afternoon’s visit to Upton Park in relative calm. With no new injury worries from the midweek jaunt to Alkmaar, the squad is strengthened by the return of Eduardo from thigh-knack whilst Nicklas Bendtner’s groin-knack may have sufficiently healed for him to reclaim a place on the bench. Tomas Rosicky is still missing whilst Fabianski and Nasri seem likely to play in the Carling Cup clash with Liverpool to regain more match sharpness before perhaps making a first team comeback against the Tiny Tots next weekend.

West Ham are in poor form, there is no argument from that about that fact either. No wins since the opening day of the season with one point from their opening three home games has left them in the bottom three and seemingly in some trouble, three tough games immediately after this one will do little to assauge those fears either. They are, in fact, a prime example of a team that has caused so many problems for Arsenal in recent seasons. It is a sign of the squad’s maturity this season that anything other than an Arsenal win will be a major surprise.

Thankfully, Gianfranco Zola is adamant that he will not sacrifice his playing style in the chase for safety. Whether or not he is speaking with a forked tongue remains to be seen for it would be brave of him to step up to the plate and take Arsenal on at playing football rather than packing his midfield. It is a derby so expect some “full-blooded” tackles to arrive in the East End this afternoon but even then, Arsenal are well-placed to deal with them as Blackburn and Birmingham found out in recent weeks.

A key component of the improved Arsenal performances is Thomas Vermaelen, still sneaking under radars when the “signings of the summer” are mentioned in the press. Speaking in the Telegraph, the Belgian international seems almost grateful to be at Arsenal, surprised at the persistence of Steve Rowley who having watched him be part of a defence that conceded ten goals in two games, pursued him to a training camp for the national team.

His determination shown on the pitch continues off it, quietly understated. Such has been the level of his performances that those who decried him for not being a six foot ten centre back are having to revise their opinions. Kneejerk judgements are being served up in a crust over humble pie:

I know I’m not tall but, if you speak to people at Ajax they’ll tell you I was the best header there. They don’t care about how big I am, whenever we were defending a corner I always had to take the tallest guy. I’m not that tall but you have to jump so that’s how I try and compensate. I never trained for it. It’s just timing, I guess.

Vermaelen is quick to praise the talents of the Arsenal squad:

Playing and training with so many big stars, the beginning was a bit like a dream. I think Fábregas is brilliant. If you play against him in the little training games – eight against eight – it is almost impossible to win.

One of the reasons that the defence is playing well is the consistency of Alex Song. Emmanuel Eboue acknowledged this in this morning’s News of the World:

He can be like Makelele now that he has his chance to play. He has shown the supporters what he can do and they have started to believe in him

Consistency has been the key to that. Song is the template for those such as Eboue, winning over doubters. Even then, Song is the current version of Paul Davis, occupying the key defensive role to allow other attacking players to flourish having gradually won over supporters. Davis had similar problems initially with people clamouring for a hard tackling midfielder, failing to appreciate that anticipation is as much of a winning model in midfield as being prepared to dive in where boots are flying. In many instances, being able to anticipate is more advantageous to the attack, quickly releasing the ball for others to prompt.

Not too many changes should be expected this afternoon. Almunia is not guaranteed a place in the starting line-up with Arsene refusing to state outright that the Spaniard is his number one, preferring to deny that the Spaniard is not his number one. It is a subtle difference in words but should be motivating for him to prove Wenger wrong whilst letting Mannone know that performances are key to retaining his place. It would be harsh for the Italian to be dropped yet in some ways not that surprising. Perhaps Wenger is going to wait until the next international break before making that change.

I would expect a line-up of:

Mannone; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy; Song, Fabregas, Diaby; Eboue, van Persie, Arshavin

to start this afternoon. As always a win is crucial to the title race. If United slip, the defeat at Old Trafford is almost negated, the gap one point to the reigning champions in the event of Arsenal and Liverpool winning. With Tottenham making a mockery of the pundits claiming they are now a top four side, there is a chance to put pressure on the top two.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.