Midweek preview: Wolves versus Arsenal « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
By Phil Gregory
After a barnstorming performance against Manchester City left Arsenal fans asking how the side didn’t score four versus our supposed league superiors, Wolves fans may be looking on a little concernedly. Indeed Wolverhampton Wanderers are rooted to the bottom of the form table with a single point in their last eight games, an honour that manages to keep them placed below even dire Liverpool. Arsenal, of course, inhabit the opposite end of the form table with seven wins in eight putting us only below the surely Champions Manchester United.
On the subject of United, the FA has come out with their shambolic decision not to overturn Shaun Derry’s ban when the QPR man was sent off versus Mike Riley’s Manchester United side. I challenge the FA to tell me what offence the defender committed, forgetting even Ashley Young being initially offside! I can only imagine the bafflement of our resident referee Walter, I was fuming at the incompetence and I’ve only reffed ten games! The Young shambles however, was topped by the decision not to charge Mario Balotelli for his diabolical tackle on Alex Song, a decision which surely confirms the FA would be unable to organise any sort of drinking session whatsoever in a brewery. The comment that action cannot be taken as an official actually saw the incident leads me to pose a couple of questions:
Which pillock saw that tackle and didn’t deem it a foul and who hired said pillock? Being slightly more serious for the moment, why can the FA not take action? FIFA can overturn referee decisions if they are “rectifying obvious errors in the referee’s disciplinary decisions” (article 77), do the FA not have similar powers? If not, why not? Will FIFA in that case take action? Don’t hold your breath!
*Aaaand breathe Phil*
Really though, how did we not absolutely paste City? We hit the bar at least twice, and Ramsey’s miss was nearly as bad as Vermaelen’s, which in turn wasn’t quite as bad as Benayoun’s miss from about half a yard out. Thankfully Mikel secured us the points, but the profligacy from a few players who you would expect to score is bizarre to say the least.
The only other points I would make on the game is Arsenal TV’s highlights. While the editing is great, they do leave some stuff out which can mean that a viewer doesn’t quite get the right impression of the game if they only saw Arsenal TV’s highlights and no other commentary etc. Van Persie’s goal – rightly given offside, but an outstanding finish – didn’t make the cut but more importantly Balotelli’s poleaxing of Song’s leg was completely missed off. While I can understand Arsenal can’t champion Walter and co’s fantastic work on the referees, but surely just putting incidents like that into the commentary is vital, as they are huge talking points. Even Match of the Day had it, and they often miss things like that!
Stewart Robson also came in for some criticism in Untold’s comments for his matchday commentary versus City. I can’t comment as I didn’t listen to the commentary of the game, but he’s normally pretty depressing and he gives opponents a free ride with bad tackles too much. He sounds like an old-school player, talking from a time when scything a man in two was fine; which I suppose he is. With the injuries that Arsenal have had over the years, it’s foolish on the part of Arsenal to have someone inside the club peddling those views that are all too prevalent in the wider football world. That said, I like his Talking Tactics feature so keep that – unless you can get Michael Cox of Zonal Marking! – and tell him to book his act up, or find a new gig.
Looking at injuries, Gibbs is out with a minor groin issue so the now-fit Santos will certainly be involved in defence. Gervinho missed out on Sunday with a slight injury but should be available for the midweek. Rumours of Mertesacker’s return to training were proved to be unfounded, with the German not expected to be available again this year.
Szcznesy
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Santos
Song Arteta
Rosicky
Walcott Van Persie Gervinho
This game could well contain goals, with Wolves looking a shadow of the gritty side that Mick McCarthy put together. It basically seems a case of a manager being fired, no replacement wanting the job and then an inexperienced coach being over-promoted, for lack of other options. A shambles by the Wolves hierarchy, to put it succinctly.
The team I expect to see will just be a slight adjustment of the City side, taking account of injuries aside from Benayoun’s surprise inclusion leading to a swap for the now-fit, but I expect the experienced Israeli to lose out to Gervinho.
While Arsenal’s players shouldn’t be overconfident, I don’t think I’ll be the only Arsenal fan who expects plenty of goals in this one. Van Persie’s four match dry spell will surely, surely end against Wolves, while a win would put a tidy five points between ourselves and a half-baked outfit in third place. I’ll certainly be glad of that breathing space, as that fight for the last Champions League place is just too close for comfort. If “title-challenging” Spurs miss out come May… amazing.
We’ve already got three goal difference on Spurs, and much, much more on fourth placed Newcastle, so a big win would make that five point gap effectively six.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool game is hilarious. The Reds stormed into a 2-0 lead away at Ewood Park despite a worryingly weakened side and then managed to get another keeper sent off, so a third choice will be in net for their semi final at the weekend. There surely can’t be any more drama before fulltime of this one?