There’s no need for a headline, you know what this is going to be about « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does
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By Phil Gregory and Mark Butterworth
Somehow banished to Monday night football is the biggest match of the “weekend”, with top of the table Arsenal traveling away to Old Trafford for a top of the table clash. Already foolishly billed as a title decider in some parts of the media, the stakes are, however, high with the winner going top of the league. For this match preview I’ve enlisted the help of a Mancunian, Mark, who’ll be giving his thoughts throughout the preview in italics.
For Arsenal, Cesc remains a big doubt. I personally don’t believe he’ll play; it’ll be a bit like Chelsea away again. If you remember; the word was he’d “face a test” before the Chelsea game, but never ended up appearing. Given it took another two weeks for Cesc to return after that game, I don’t think there was ever a question of him being fit for Chelsea, it was simply to give the opposition some doubt about who they would be facing.
I’m expecting a similar line of events for the United game, though I’d love to be wrong and the Spaniard to be on the team sheet. Diaby is apparently on the mend but not yet available, while Djourou is expected to be passed fit for the bench after thigh trouble. The only other significant absentee is the ongoing medical mystery of Thomas Vermaelen.
Mark: “United are missing long term absentees Owen Hargreaves, whose future was cast into doubt by Sir Alex this week, while Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen won’t be involved. Wes Brown and Jonny Evans are doubts after missing the midweek clash with Valencia through illness (although given the recent form of the two defenders you would be forgiven for questioning how serious these “illnesses” are). Other than that the Red Devils have a full squad to choose from, after they were given the triple boost of Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Patrice Evra being passed fit following Champions League scares”.
In terms of tactics, I expect to see Fergie going with both Rooney and Berbatov up front to ask questions of our Arsenal defence. That’ll give us a man advantage in midfield which we can use to keep Scholes quiet. A big weakness for this United side is a lack of players who can play those decisive forward passes in the middle of the park. In this regard, the return of Scholes is huge for them, and from our point of view it is important to close him down.
Rosicky has got a good work rate, so it’ll be up to him to close down Scholes. While the veteran is of sufficient calibre not to misplace passes when subject to a bit of pressing, closing him down from the front will prevent him from playing pinpoint long balls forward in behind the defence where they will look to exploit our high defensive line.
With the aforementioned twosome up front, it remains to be seen who’ll be the nominal centre forward, and who will look to create just off him. Traditionally Berbatov would be the creator and Rooney the spearhead but the roles have been somewhat inversed this season. Most likely the two of them will play fluidly, sharing the roles. This means we’ll need Song to be on his guard, as he’ll be the man designated to follow the roving striker.
The hard working Park will be a great help for the inexperienced Rafael on their right flank, but I still think Arshavin will be able to get the better of the young Brazilian. Their left flank gives me more concerns, with a combination of Nani cutting in and Evra overlapping. The Portuguese attacker is the top assists provider in the Premier League, while he’s chipped in with five goals too. One to watch out for.
Mark: “United will most likely employ a traditional 4-4-2 with Berbatov spearheading the attack and Rooney playing off him, going wide where required. Expect a midfield consisting of Park Ji Sung on whichever side Wenger decides to use the dangerous Nasri, Nani on the opposite flank, and then 2 of Scholes, Fletcher and Anderson. For this fixture last year, “anti-football” Fletcher would have been a shoo-in, however he has been struggling for form and Anderson showed signs of delivering on the promises he made in his first season at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, so it is not a cut and dry decision. If Scholes is fit enough he will start, in his recent role of dictating the play from deep. Another who has been struggling for form recently is Michael Carrick so he will most likely be destined for the bench.
Tactically, United are very hard to call. With the kind of form Arsenal’s attackers have been showing in recent games, Ferguson would be a brave man to go all out for the win. However, there is more than enough precedent from his 24 years at Old Trafford to expect that he will do just that. This taken into account, I expect Nani and Park to play pivotal roles, both cutting inside and giving Rooney and Berbatov free rein up front. With the form he’s in, Nani could give both Sagna [not our Bacary, not a chance! Phil] and Clichy nightmares, depending which wing he is on. Fletcher or Anderson will most likely be given a more cautious role to balance this out, watching the particularly dangerous Nasri. Of course, this could be turned on its head should a certain Catalunyan be suddenly declared fit”.
Much has been made of Arsenal’s defensive weaknesses this season. For a bit of perspective, I’d like to point out that our defence is marginally worse (by two goals) than United’s having playing a game more, and having had a first choice defender out for basically the entire season. While I’m not saying we’re watertight at the back, I do feel that our defence gets a lot of unfair stick. Let’s see what the goals against column reads at the end of the season, when we’ve either got Vermaelen back or our central defensive partnership has had substantially more games together as a unit.
Mark: “In terms of coping with Arsenals potent attacking threat, I think United have reason to be confident. As I have said, Fletcher will most likely track Nasri, a job which he has excelled at in the last few seasons regardless of his opponent. Should the in-form Frenchman decide to drift wide, Park Ji Sung is more than capable of helping out young Rafael at right back. Chamakh is another man among the goals, but as so many of them come from headers, we can feel safe in the knowledge that Nemanja Vidic won’t be easily bullied; last season he won 71% of his aerial battles, the most in the Premier League. United will feel comfortable soaking up Arsenal pressure, especially on our own patch, and attack mainly on the counter, exposing the weak Arsenal centre back pairing”.
Van der Sar
Rafael Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Park Scholes Fletcher Nani
Berbatov Rooney
Interestingly, both of us were in agreement that it’d be the above line-up from United. Veteran Dutchman Van Der Sar goes between the posts, young Brazilian Rafael plays right back with ever-present Evra the opposite fullback.
The centreback partnership should be the traditional Ferdinand-VIdic which has worked so well for United over the years. Fletcher should partner Scholes if the latter is passed fit enough to play, with Park and Nani on the flanks. Up front Berbatov comes into the game off of five goals against Blackburn, while Wayne Rooney is still looking for a goal from open play.
Fabianksi
Sagna Squillaci Koscielny Clichy
Song Wilshere
Rosicky
Nasri Chamakh Arshavin
Fabianksi continues between the sticks for us, with our French back four in front of him in the absence of Vermaelen. Song and Wilshere take up deep midfield positions, while Tomas Rosicky plays the advanced playmaker role. There’s no place in the starting line-up for midweek goal scorer Theo Walcott, with Nasri going wide right instead. Chamakh goes through the middle despite Van Persie’s goal against Partizan and Arshavin completes the attacking trio.
Chamakh over Van Persie is a tough call, but given we’re playing away, I’ve settled for the harder-working of the two. Closing down Untied from the front will be key in restricting their possession, and Chamakh can have a big role in that defensive side of things. There’s certainly an argument for playing Theo wide right, and putting Nasri centrally. Nasri has the ability to keep an eye on Scholes, and Theo is certainly pushing for a start, but could you blame Wenger for not wanting to move Nasri further away from goal?
Mark: “Overall, I think it will be tight, fast paced, entertaining, at times feisty. With home advantage and Arsenal missing their most influential player, I would go for a United win. The centre of midfield is United’s weak spot, but without Fabregas I feel we have more than enough to cope, and the game can be won or lost on the counter attack. Prediction: 2-0 United”
Can’t say I’m entirely in agreement with Mark there, but to the victor a Christmas pint. I can’t really see us keeping a clean sheet given our inconsistent defence and United possessing some potent attackers. I do however expect us to score, and am hoping for an end to our recent hoodoo against United. 2-1 to the Arsenal, and Fletcher to get booked (it just got silly at the end there, admittedly)
Enjoy the game all, and fingers crossed I can track down a screen in the Premier League backwater that is France.
Still looking for a Christmas pressie for an Arsenal fan with everything?