Leeds v Arsenal; it’s up for grabs now (etc etc) « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
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Victory Through Harmony
By Phil Gregory
In a recent match preview I talked about how some of our recent results in the cups were slip-ups, but we had the opportunity to rectify them. This game against Leeds is the first such opportunity, and it’s crucial we don’t pass it up.
We’re the only English side that at this stage of the season still with the ability to win four trophies, and it’s vital we produce the goods and avoid a shock exit. An extra midweek game is never something we wanted after the busy Christmas period but we’ve only got ourselves to blame. I was expecting us to name the strongest possible side for this game, buthat was thrown into doubt when Wenger suggested there may be “a few” changes in his pre-match interview.
Leeds manager Simon Grayson has been raising the pressure on our players, attempting to stoke an atmosphere ahead of the game. It goes without saying it’ll be loud at Elland Road, but even the inexperienced Szcznesy played there last season albeit in League One for Brentford.
I don’t see a hostile atmosphere having much of a role to play, given the experience of the team we’ll have out. Of course, the Leeds players will be fired up and strong in the tackle but that sort of approach hasn’t yielded much from us in recent times, and I think Leeds will be surprised to see we have a couple of players who can throw it back at them.
Given the fact there will be some rotation for this evening we won’t be seeing the same team as versus West Ham, however I expect to see key players such as Fabregas, Nasri and van Persie given their largely lighter workload in recent times. We’ll have a rested Bakary Sagna at right back after his suspension but Fabianksi’s recovery is taking longer than expected so Szcznesy will step in.
Diaby, Squillaci and Vermaelen are out of this tie, though the good news is that Aaron Ramsey is in contention, perhaps even starting.
Given that, let’s have a go at putting together a line-up
Szcznesy
Sagna Djourou Koscielny Gibbs
Song Wilshere
Fabregas
Nasri Van Persie Arshavin
After the scare at the Emirates, I can’t see there being much more than the odd change to the line-up.. Szcznesy continues in goal, while Sagna and Gibbs comes in at fullback. The centrebacks will likely remain unchanged as it’s unlikely Wenger will give Miquel a start given the stakes, although he has commented that he might, given that he is worried about Djourou having too many games too soon.
Song and Wilshere play the deeper midfield roles, with Cesc going further forward. Potentially Ramsey could get a look in for either Jack or Cesc, though I’d rather we didn’t gamble and gave him game time from the bench.
An impressive Theo Walcott drops out of the line-up, replaced by Arshavin who plays on the left, with Nasri moving over to the right. Van Persie completes the forward line playing through the middle.
The bench will be full of options, too. Eboue’s there if we want to close the game out, Theo is always an asset off the bench while a well-rested Chamakh can offer an aerial route. Notable mentions go to Clichy, Rosicky, Vela and James Shea, our token kindergarten goalkeeper.
It was clear to see the difference it made to the team when Nasri, Cesc and Van Persie were all on the pitch at the same time at West Ham. They’re our three stand-out players, which is why I hope any rotation doesn’t include those three. Nasri in particular has been outstanding this season, the Frenchman’s ability in possession to take men on, excellent link up play and pace on the flanks has been absolutely vital this season.
Van Persie is another one picking up the plaudits, and the Dutchman was at his best against West Ham. It’s not so much the goals, it’s his ability to keep play going, to link up and put other players in. He’s a real force multiplier, getting much more out of the players around him. He was key for Theo’s performance on Saturday, but Walcott himself deserves much of the credit, with excellent movement in particular causing Wayne Bridge a debut to forget.
With Leeds having played at the weekend, they won’t be quite as rested as they were at the Emirates, where they came into the game off the back of a quiet festive period thanks to the snow. They’ll want to stop us playing with a hard-working pressing game, and a bit of tiredness could make this all the more difficult for them. It might not take it’s toll until later in the second half, but it will certainly play a part. I’m going for 3-1 to the Arsenal, though if the team features more changes than what I expected above it’ll probably be a tighter 2-1.
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Editorial footnote: I have changed the policy on comments that are totally off topic. In the past I have put up the first few words with a note saying why they were deleted, so that the writer knew what was what. But it is too time consuming to continue, so now they will simply not appear. Obviously the change doesn’t affect 99% of correspondents who do manage to send a comment related to the article in question. Tony.
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