Carling Cup Preview: Are Wigan-er Win This Competition?

Wigan may pitch up at The Emirates this evening but if they do, will anyone else with weather warnings being issued. Arsenal have told everyone to plan as if the match is going ahead and so we shall.

Tonight’s visitors are no strangers to Arsenal in this competition. Recent seasons have seen them win 2005/06′s semi-final and lose in the fourth round in 2008/09. Their record at Arsenal though is less impressive, having lost every visit, not having scored since February 2007s Premier League defeat.

Arsene is not taking the tie lightly and will field a side similarly strong to that which took the field in the impressive victories at Tottenham and Newcastle. He has several decisions within that to make though. Manuel Almunia has returned to full training and might consider this to be a stepping stone to regaining his place as Arsenal’s Number One.

However, Szczesney did nothing wrong at Newcastle once he had got over his initial nerves. It might be considered a slap in the face were he not to be selected for this fixture. Indeed, whilst Almunia needs the matches to regain sharpness, Szczesny merits inclusion. In the past, Wenger has used these fixtures to keep his goalkeeping No.2 in shape but at the moment, that position in the squad must be considered up for grabs.

Elsewhere tonight is the perfect opportunity to give Robin van Persie a start. Having warmed the bench recently and trained in the interim, the Dutchman needs a sharpner to be ready for the Premier and Champions League fixtures. Were that to happen, the front trio would not be out of place in either of the more senior competitions, presumably Bendtner and Walcott will start as well.

With those changes in mind, I would expect a line-up along the lines of:

Szczesny; Eboue, Djourou, Nordtveit, Gibbs; Denilson, Eastmond, Nasri; Walcott, Bendtner, van Persie

The more experienced members of the squad can be available on the bench. With Squillaci apparently suffering from knee-knack playing Djourou and Koscielny this evening makes little sense, the risk of injury should preclude the younger Frenchman’s involvement beyond a place on the bench.

Wenger observed that he was taking the tie seriously, that every competition was there to be won. Undoubtedly it is and looking at the remaining teams in this competition, the players Wenger has been using are more than a match for any of them if on top of their game.

It is the attitude which Arsene sought to emphasise:

I know their attitude is spot on, I know they have the quality

The win at Villa Park and more to the point, the overall performance, displayed the vastly overused hyperbole, of ‘character’. Mentally, the team were deflated by consecutive defeats but those cobwebs were shaken collectively and in fairness, the margin of victory should have been greater.

Whilst there is a media perception that the team is ‘brittle’, it is not necessarily the truth. Pulling defeat from the jaws of victory is not unique to Arsenal as Chelsea’s recent defeats prove. It is however, not fashionable to commend Arsenal and too many are ready to accept this as Gospel. Time for that to change.

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

Guest Post: Defensive Holes Need Plugging

I’m off at the moment so here is an alternative viewpoint, put together by Graham Yates pre-Villa so perhaps highlighting defensive frailties will inspire a clean sheet.

Arsene was given another reminder of the recurring defensive frailties as we lost to Sporting Braga 2-0 in Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League Group H match to leave us with a bit more work to do to secure safe passage to the round of 16. Interestngly, as I write this, in our current predicament we are only likely to draw one out of these four Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Schalke & possibly Lyon.

Granted, injuries haven’t been kind to The Prof, but irrespective of the sidelined Thomas Vermaelen , surely even he is aware that sooner rather than later he will have to find some experienced centre halves which, as well as TV5, includes 30 year old (was once good, but now not so good ) Sebastien Squillaci and 25 year French novice Laurent Koscielny , not to mention Johann Djourou who has been the most consistent and impressive of the three.

Wenger has been linked with moves for Bolton’s Gary Cahill, Brede Hangeland & Phil Jagielka all with Premisership experience, but was quoted a price he was not prepared to pay, as usual. You know how it goes, £4m for Schwarzer, but refuses to pay more than £2.5m, I mean, words fail me.

I have picked out five other centre-halves I feel AW should look at landing. They are all within budget & also age range so I think they are viable options as they are at smaller clubs than Arsenal and just on the verge of long international careers. All the ingredients are there.

Federico Fazio (Argentina)
Club: Sevilla
DOB: 17.3.87 (23)
Height: 1.95cm (6”4)
Value Euros: €7.5m to €10m

The Argentine with Italian citizenship is a complete defender with huge potential. He replaced Squillaci on his departure to the Emirates and appears to have a fantastic future in the game. Fazio can play as a central defender, on the left flank (Bye Gael!) and, like at the end of the 2007/8 season, as a defensive midfielder (Bye Denny!). He is extremely strong and has very good heading ability. He is also quite fast and mobile for such a big defender, and his tackling ability is superb. His still could do with improving his technique and aggression though. Yet to make his debut for Argentina, but has experience at Under 20 & Under 23 level and has come through Sevilla’s youth ranks though has suffered a few injuries in his early career. We all know that Wenger likes a rough diamond, he is one.

Fernando Amorebieta (Spain)
Club: Athletic Bilbao
DOB: 29.3.1985 (25)
Height 1.92 (6”3)
Value: €10m to €15m

The Spaniard (though born in Venezuela) is an immensely strong central defender with excellent positional sense. He is fast and tall, which is a tough combination for opposing strikers to come up against. He has super-strong tackles and great vision for a centre back. Amorebieta is a versatile defender, who can also play at left-back (Oh dear Gael, not looking good is it?) , and if he continues improving at his current rate, he will be a top, top player. Made debut @ 20 and has played 144 times in the Spanish Primera Liga to date which makes him a consistent Bilbao 1st teamer. Likely to replace ageing Puyol, Capdevila & Marchena and join Pique & Albiol in the Spanish squad after being 1st called up by Del Bosque in August 2008.

Adil Rami (France):
Club: Lille
DOB: 27.12.1985
Height: 1.90 (6”2)
Value: €7.5m to €10m

Only ardent Lille supporters saw the potential of the Frenchman until then-coach Claude Puel gave him his first Ligue 1 minutes on the first day of the 2007-08 season after being bought from Fourth Division Fréjus. By the autumn, Rami had already become an essential component of the Lille defence playing in no less than 104 games scoring 7 goals. He is an extremely stubborn defender, with excellent positional sense and superb distribution and like Vermaelen has free kicks in his locker. His performances caught the eye of current France coach Laurent Blanc, and Domenech before him. Now has six international caps, and Rami looks like remaining at the heart of the France defence for years to come.

David Luiz (Brazil)
Club: Benfica
DOB: 22.04.1987
Height: 1.88 (6”1)
Value: €20m to €30m (Wenger has this sort of money we know that, though value rather inflated as Chel$ki & Etihad City are very interested)

The Brazilian is one of the most promising centre-backs in the world, with Internazionale his likely destination at this stage. Luiz is strong, fast and intelligent, and has the ability to move the ball with grace. He is also blessed with a great leap and good heading abilities and even played primarily at left back in the 2008-2009 season at Benfica. Luiz has such potential that even an injury-plagued two years he suffered from 2007-2008 shouldn’t scare off Wenger. Post World Cup he is now a regular with Brazil and now has 4 caps replacing the ageing and outgoing Roma defender Juan.

Benedikt Höwedes
Club: Schalke
Dob: 29.02.1988
Height: 1.87 (6”2)
Value: €7.5m to €10m

The German is a tall and aggressive centre-back, who is also quick and very good in the air at both ends of the pitch. He started to feature in the 2007/08 season and has been at the club since 2001, but really began to show his abilities the following campaign.

Howedes is a versatile player, having plied his trade as a defensive midfielder as a youth player, while also possessing the capability to play as a full-back so much so that he has signed a new deal to June 30th 2014. With more experience, the 22-year-old should get even better and has already made 72 appearances for Schalke and has German caps at all levels from Under 18 through to Under 21’s. He is also right footed which which would compliment the left of Vermaelen, something which Wenger would find attractive. Of the five he looks the most likely to join.

I’m back tomorrow, so ’til then.

From Vilified to Villa Pride

Arshavin ’38
Nasri ’44
Chamakh ’55
Wilshere ’90
Clark ’51, ’70

Arsenal went top of the table on Saturday afternoon with a scintillating away win at Villa Park.

Aston Villa, unbeaten at home in the league and with results against both Chelsea and Manchester United already this season, came into this biting cold lunchtime kick-off looking for another ‘Top Four’ feather for their cap. But, with a week’s worth of ‘crisis’ column inches laid and lit beneath them, Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal were in no snood to be plucked. Sorry…they were in no mood to be plucked. Right from the kick-off Arsenal set about Villa with the unmistakable energy of proud men slighted.

Cesc Fàbregas is impossible to replace ‘like for like’ and Arsenal adapted to his absence accordingly – farming his manifold responsibilities out across the midfield.   Skipper for the day Tomáš Rosický shouldered the lion’s share of these with a rousing Captain’s performance. An ever-present fulcrum, always in space, he traversed the Villa ranks, as calm an architect as ever – with added punch in the tackle and verve around the box.

Arsenal conjured eight attempts on Villa’s goal in the opening 30 minutes. They weren’t there to f*ck about, and they weren’t about to die wondering.

The attacking midfield triumvirate of Nasri, Rosický and Arshavin were poised like a diamond cutting edge on a circular saw, just inches above the MDF of Aston Villa’s defence, yet; it was the solid platform of the workbench beneath that afforded them so many openings. Jack Wilshere was understated but nigh on metronomic with his quick, short passing in the centre of the pitch – and; partnering him there, Alex Song showed sublime balance in the tackle as he dispossessed all-comers with the easy subtlety and intelligent strength that leaves the Karl Henrys of this world rocking gently back-and-forth in their padded cells murmuring, “if only…”

So much of the victory today, though, must be credited to Arsenal’s two flying wing-backs. Like ‘little friendlies’ on the flanks of our unstoppable B52, not only did they shackle their respective wingers out of the game, but, by forcing the issue so high up the pitch, they won continuous and invaluable possession for their midfield to make use of. It cannot be overstated how far these two set us apart.

The pressure on Aston Villa’s goal was incessant and direct. Corner after corner was won. Broken down attacking possession was recycled and recycled again by a markedly industrious Arsenal and in the 38th minute the breakthrough came. Andrei Arshavin, pouncing on a defensive lapse, latched onto a ball over the top and hit the rockets down the left. He cut inside and danced into the box in trademark fashion. Appearing through the tundra, our very own Yuri Zhivago then fired an unstoppable, low shot beneath three despairing challenges – stunning Friedel’s left glove as it fizzed like a well primed sling-shot into the bottom corner of the net. “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Straight from the restart it could have been two as Arshavin, undoubtedly playing the game of his season so far, sent a slide-rule through-ball bisecting two lines of Villa defence. The pass pulled up perfectly for Samir Nasri to rip through on goal and round the goalkeeper – only to hit the side netting from a tight angle.

Minutes later and Chamakh was climbing brilliantly to fire a header at goal from a pinpoint Bacary Sagna cross. Friedel parried round the post with a hair-trigger reaction save at just about point blank range but his Alamo heroics were just driftwood in the dam as an inspired Arshavin found Nasri with the resulting corner. It was teed-up straight from the training ground and the French international volleyed home viper-like from just inside the box. Hit on the bounce the ball flew in beneath the defender, whipping past the post and thumping against the back of the net.

Villa mustered a goal back after half-time, a cracking volley from Ciaran Clark, aided albeit by an offside sight-line blocker in the form of John Carew – but Arsenal weren’t in the mood for any of that and their two goal cushion was soon restored. Chamakh’s hard graft rewarded as he bravely finished a superb, flowing Arsenal passing move –Rosický with a wonderfully weighted assist to spring the trap.

Even before Ciaran Clark rallied Villa for one final Frankenstein lurch of animation with a nodded second off the underside of the crossbar, Arsenal were searching for the fourth. There is real genius on show as Nasri makes mincemeat out of Richard Dunne but the chances aren’t taken as the final ten minutes loom. Evasive manoeuvres now and Gibbs and Denilson are sent into the fray to sure-up the 3 points. Koscielny and Squillaci at times seem like a pair of twin Shaquille O’Neals in defence, and Villa just aren’t getting through – not in their house… not today.

In the final minute of the game Arsenal’s fondness for defending on the front foot proves not as green as it is cabbage looking, Jack Wilshere heading in at the back post from a calm, lofted pass from Chamakh – a final and thorough flaying of the Villa defence.

A stylish, well-deserved victory then, to make midweek’s moaning Minnies look rather foolish and reactionary. More than that though; a timely psychological re-sit of a recently failed exam, passed with flying colours.    

It was once said of Hugo Meisl’s Austrian ‘Wunderteam’ of the early 1930s that, “soccer became almost an exhibition, a sort of competitive ballet, in which scoring goals was no more than the excuse for the weaving of a hundred intricate patterns.” Well, this Arsenal team has long since woven ballet with the best of them – but it’s the thirst for victory, palpable for 90 minutes on Saturday, that will lift the hearts of the red and white army today… and the same unwavering, undaunted resolve that puts us all right back in the running of a wide open title race.

As LL Cool J once so famously said; “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years”.

Enjoy your Sunday! 

Aston Villa Preview: A Time For Heroes Not Villains

The trip to Villa Park provides an opportunity to consign an awful November to the history books, signing off with a win that would temporarily take Arsenal to the top of the Premier League. The grounds for optimism have diminished in the last two performances – one and a half to be more accurate.

The side which performed so poorly in Braga contained seven changes from that which imploded against Tottenham. The changes made were likely to be reversed but Wenger’s hand has been forced by the absence of his captain, out for a couple of weeks at least.

Wenger was adamant that he has no intention of relieving Fabregas of the captaincy yet I fail to see why this was even an issue. Whilst some have seriously countenanced such action being taken, believing that the Spaniard is still in sulking over his failed move to Barcelona, those critics overlook one important character trait; Fabregas is a winner and his demeanour suggests to me that he is unhappy with his own form, frustrated by injury – perhaps returning to action too soon?

With Chelsea visiting Newcastle and United hosting Blackburn, Arsenal has the toughest fixture. Psychologically it would be a massive boost for the players to win and win well today. It would also increase the pressure on two opponents who are spluttering in form. Chelsea could go onto the pitch at St James’ Park in third place, barely four weeks after the procession to the crown was heralded in the media. Such a turnaround in fortunes would be negative for them.

Pre-match, Robert Pires facing Arsenal is hogging the headlines although he is likely to be a substitute for the hosts. Personally, I wish him well at his new club aside from any fixture involving Arsenal when I hope that he and his teammates suffer from a collective failure to find any form and lose heavily. Perhaps that is overly optimistic but surely optimism is the heart and soul of being a football supporter?

With Fabregas out, Denilson is likely to form the central midfield partnership. Playmaking will probably fall on the shoulders of Samir Nasri although many would insert Jack Wilshere, I would omit him on recent form where tiredness seems to have been issue. With that in mind, it would be an attacking triumverate of Arshavin, Chamakh and Walcott supported by the previous trio.

The line-up I would select is:

Fabianski; Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Clichy; Denilson, Nasri, Song; Walcott, Chamakh, Arshavin

The suspicion is that Koscielny will return to the centre though. I was surprised by his return last weekend in place of Djourou as the Swiss had done nothing wrong in the previous two games. It was a clear indicator that, at the moment, the French duo are his first choice. When Vermaelen returns, it will be interesting to see which of that pair is considered first choice with the older of the two likely to win that battle.

On the subject of long term injuries, it was good to see Aaron Ramsey return for the reserves. He has since joined Nottingham Forest on loan until 3rd January 2011, conveniently avoiding being cup-tied domestically although the East Midlands club’s diminished status means that he will be free for the Europa League campaign…

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow when Limpar will be filling in with the report.

Stone Cold Friday: The Good, The Bad & The Downright Ugly

You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig. Here’s Darius with this week’s musings…

My short-lived media blackout was ruthlessly shattered this week. I had forgotten that Royal Mail and my mobile phone service provider still had the ability to let Tottenham fans and other undesirables get to me.

I had promised myself not to do anything ‘Arsenal’ until 7.43 pm on Tuesday when I could safely watch an Arsenal redemption. The thought of some good football with the TV sound muted, and a ‘safe’ Arsenal TV commentary was supposed to lift my spirits.

Yet it was the practical joke played on me by a very good friend and long term Liverpool supporter that slapped me back into reality and got me out of the bunker. A package arrived in the mail on Wednesday – a nicely wrapped DVD with a neatly printed label stating: ‘Official Tottenham Hotspur Match DVD – 20th November 2010 – Arsenal v Tottenham.

Inside the blank casing was a note that simply said, “Snap out of it you bastard, now you know how Liverpool fans have been feeling for the last 20 years”.

And he was right. This is what I subscribed to. This is what we all subscribed to. The highs, the lows, the emotional roller coaster, the excitement and elation, the despair and hopelessness.

The last 135 minutes of football have left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Sweet because despite everything, we’re still well in with a chance of 4 trophies, and bitter because an unacceptable level of complacency has crept in.

An ACLF regular texted me on Saturday night after Chelsea’s loss to Birmingham saying – “The sun does truly shine on a dogs arse”. It made me smile as even I didn’t expect Chelsea to give us a second ‘get out of jail free card’, and it’s safe to say, we’ve used our quota for the season.

I suppose what pains me is that if you look at the results we had at Sunderland away, and against West Brom, Newcastle and Spurs at home, all of which were arguably winnable games – we could have been sitting pretty at the top 9 points clear of the chasing pack.

I know of many jobs where if you lost such a monumental advantage especially after being in control – you’d find yourself sitting in front of a disciplinary panel charged with dereliction of duty. 9 points in the EPL for example is equivalent to a windfall in the financial markets capable of securing 6 months wages for a good proportion of your employees.

But that my friends is the ‘ugly’ side of this adventure. It’s what keeps us awake at night, tossing and turning and making our loved ones wonder why it is that we get so affected and so emotional when Arsenal lose a game. If you didn’t feel this way, I would suggest that it’s possible you’re not truly a Gooner.

The ‘ugly’ is part and parcel of this journey, and even though we mentally prepare for it, and find a way to rationalize it – the impact to us has been plain to see this week.

The team know it and it’s fair to say that they hold their heads in shame. Denilson’s public apology for the debacle against Tottenham was an indicator that the team are sensitive to the fact that they’ve let us down and they’ve let themselves down. Only a gallant performance at Villa Park will start to spell redemption in the eyes of many.

Let’s however not get to down trodden because it’s time to dust ourselves off and get back on the horse. As they say in Miami – “It’s time to ‘fan up’”. It’s time to show the team that we share their pain and their joy. It’s time for us to make sure they know that we want them to get back to winning ways and that we will support them to the hilt to do that.

It is unreasonable to expect them to get back to the ‘good’, minimize the ‘bad, and totally eliminate the ‘ugly’ – if we are not prepared to do our part and ‘fan up’ for the team. I suggest that it’s actually hypocritical to expect the team to show mental strength and fight back, yet we’re not prepared to also fight back with our unwavering support.

My sense is that it’s entirely feasible that our indifferent performance at home this season is directly impacted by the fear, or anxiety or apprehension that the players might have in case they get a lukewarm response from fans claiming to be home supporters. You cannot discount that they’re playing more like the home team when they’re away – and that is a form of indictment of what we as fans do to make the Emirates a fortress.

The next Carling cup and Champions league ties are at home, and I think that by virtue of both having a fairly different crowd base than the EPL matches, we’re likely to see a different response from the crowds ‘fanning up’, and by extension, a much better performance from the team.

Johan Djourou captured it for me this week by defining our performances as “crazy and inexplicable”. Some call it a crisis, but I would suggest Ireland is in a crisis and not Arsenal. The problem with the blogosphere is that a perceived ‘crisis mode’ is easily amplified by the click of a button.

There are issues to resolve and they will be resolved so that we sail closer to the ‘good’ as opposed to the ‘bad and ugly’.

Meanwhile, is it only me or is anyone else disturbed by Fabianski’s recent fashion sense? What’s with the shocking pink?

’til Tomorrow.

Matheus Brace Means This Week Is Not Rosé For Arsenal

Champions League, Group H
SC Braga 2 – 0 Arsenal

1 – 0 Matheus (83)
2 – 0 Matheus (90)

Two late goals mean that Arsenal’s abysmal record in Portugal continues but more importantly, qualification for the Round of 16 is still open to question. The defeat means that a win against Partizan at The Emirates in a fortnight’s time is required to be sure of coming at least second in the group. Should that be coupled with a Braga win in Dontesk, Arsenal will have bragging rights for top place. But that is a big IF.

An Arsenal side bereft of attacking fluidity made hard work of breaking down Braga in the first eighty minutes but two refereeing indecisions within five minutes as the match reached its’ climax, changed the outcome from stalemate to a home victory.

With fifteen minutes remaining, Carlos Vela was scythed down in the area but booked for diving as opposed to a penalty being awarded by a referee who was barely ten yards away and with a clear view of the incident. Inexplicably, he received no better information from the fifth official behind the Braga goal.

Graham Poll this morning believes that Vela was possibly a contributing factor to the decision, his dive may have been considered theatrical by the Hungarian referee. That close to the final whistle, a goal would probably have been decisive. Presuming that the kick was converted and that is by no means a certainty this season.

Theatrics is not a word normally associated with Emmanuel Eboue yet having been booked in the first half for such antics, this can be the only reason why Matheus was allowed to remain on the pitch with ten minutes remaining for ending the Ivorian’s contribution. Having made three substitutions, Arsenal were left with ten men until the final whistle and failed to hold on.

The two decisions influenced the outcome more directly than the failure to breakthrough in the preceding seventy five minutes. Post match, Wenger railed against everything and everyone, believing that on any other night Arsenal would have won. It is hard to believe that is true, the manager admitting as much observing that his much-changed side did not create any clear openings.

Wenger’s changes to the team did not include resting his captain beforehand, despite persistent rumours that he would. The manager wished he had afterwards with a fresh hamstring injury arising, speculation that he will be out for several weeks was rife but the club will scan the injury today. Whilst losing any world class player is detrimental to any team, in this instance I wonder if it will be the decisive factor in sparking the players into life.

Fabregas improves the team’s passing but in some respects inhibits others; they look for him frequently and it appears at times that he casts the same shadow over the side that Henry did before him. Nasri and Wilshere are capable of playmaking as are Rosicky and to a lesser degree, Arshavin. The loss may not be as bad as it initially seems, the ‘deputies’ are themselves outstanding players.

Last night’s match was largely forgettable. Arsenal created precious few real opportunities, too frequently stifled by opposition numbers. Walcott brought a timely interception from Felipe early on and then dragged a shot wide when a goal seemed likely. Bendtner diverted a header into the side netting but Fabianski was largely untroubled in the first half.

The second half was in a similar vein. Bendtner was isolated too easily by the defence and when space was found, his touch belied his belief that he should be an automatic first choice. Nasri and Chamakh were brought on to add zest with Fabregas leaving through injury and Bendtner necessity.

When Arsenal were reduced to ten men, closing out the point in their hands should have been the paramount objective. They failed. Twice in the final seven minutes, Matheus breached the defence. Both were avoidable.

Johan Djourou summed up the situation perfectly in his critical assessment of the ninety minutes,

It’s crazy. We had the game under control and two counter-attacks and silly, silly mistakes – we can be disappointed because we should have won the game easily, it’s very hard to take.

A point would have qualified us so it’s a shame to concede goals like that, I just cannot understand. We have to look again, that shouldn’t happen. It was a lack of concentration, the team needs to concentrate and do better than that.

The team needs to know that now we have to wake up, it was a big wake-up call. We have a big game against Partizan and we have to win that to qualify for the knock-out stage.

The season is apparently in freefall yet we find ourselves in November with two points to make up at the top of the table, the quarter finals of the Carling Cup ahead and qualification in the Champions League very much in Arsenal hands. Four defeats in six matches mean November has been in stark contrast to October. That does not however state emphatically that there is nothing left to play for, that nothing can be won. It is ludicrous to believe that to be the case yet the players have in the last 130 minutes offered little evidence to supportany claim that they are on the path to glory.

Form is transient. The team that was back on track is now hurtling with the gay abandon of a runaway train towards oblivion, so we are told. In the past a siege mentality has been highly beneficial to Wenger and his predecessors. Invoking that by including the manical element of Arsenal support might just be the biggest kick up the arsenal that the players need.

’til Tomorrow.

Braga Preview: Young And Proud – The Fightback Starts Now

Arsenal relieve the domestic pressure with a trip to Braga for this evening’s Champions League encounter. Having lost in Donetsk, a win is vital this evening in the pursuit of top place in the group and, relatively speaking, an easier encounter in the first knockout phase.

History is against the squad; No Arsenal side has won in this part of the Iberian peninsula, draws in Lisbon against Sporting and Benfica, kept company by a point in Oporto in 2006. Curiously enough, Arsenal’s only goalscorers in Portugal have been Kevin and Sol Campbell, both in the 18th minute of their respective games. Braga meanwhile have lost three times against English sides on their own turf – Tottenham twice and West Bromwich Albion in 1978. We know how they feel.

Arsene has made three changes to the squad, Gael Clichy’s back injury is to be rested whilst Robin van Persie is not making the trip to ensure that his fitness is worked on rather than his MarioKart tally whilst sitting on the bench wondering if he will get some match time. Andrey Arshavin is just being rested full stop, recent exertions apparently warranting this. With Cesc facing a fitness test, rumours have surfaced that Marouane Chamakh will be on the bench, the starting line-up will have a Carling Cup feel about it. Given their impressive results, perhaps that is no bad thing.

Arsene has pondered whether or not there will have been a negative psychological impact following on the from the Tottenham debacle. I hope there has for from the hurt must rise a positive response. With the visit to Villa Park at the weekend proving to be a tough test in the past, a good performance and win tonight is essential to restore confidence and battered pride.

Losing in Donetsk was not particularly surprising since Arsenal has never travelled to the far eastern reaches of Europe and played well. It was however the exception with four wins out of five on their travels recently. This time though Braga are not a particularly strong side in the league this season, perhaps some sort of hangover from their Champions League exertions.

With the Champions League record of scoring 20 goals in the group phase firmly in their sights, Arsenal must however be wary that Braga have lost only twice in all competitions in the Estadio Municipal de Braga with Beira-Mar and Shaktar the only teams to take anything from their visits. Indeed, Shaktar’s treble is so far the only time in European competition that they have been breached defensively at home with Celtic, Partizan and Sevilla unable to do so.

The team I would expect Wenger to put out tonight is:

Fabianski; Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Gibbs; Rosicky, Song, Denilson; Walcott, Bendtner, Nasri

Apparently, succession planning is the vogue at the moment, a rather pointless exercise since the manager is not likely to being going anywhere in the next few seasons. It is incredible to believe that in the past few days, he has become a pariah having been praised as recently as well, the victory over Everton. The Now-Generation certainly has embraced Viv Nicholson’s ethos for success. Wenger is not above criticism, neither should he be but the whole “who should replace him” argument is rather pointless as it presumes a vacancy arising.

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