The prospect of a Santi-less life is one that no Arsenal fan should have to endure, at least not at the tender age of 27. Arsenal have been, I guess, hugely unfortunate to be without the diminutive Spaniard for the majority of the season. We may tell ourselves, as Arsenal fans, to expect to be without key players for large swathes of the season but nothing can prepare you for the loss of Santi. His presence in the team enables so many other players. He is our most comfortable ball-playing midfielder. His two-footedness, a facet that many of the best wingers in the world struggle to emulate, makes him unique
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast: Elliot (@YankeeGunner), Paul (@PoznanInMyPants) and Tim (@Stillberto) talk about the 4-0 victory against Swansea away from home. The pod talk about Mesut Ozil’s form, the re-rise of Alex Iwobi, Ramsey and Xhaka midfield partnership in the second half and of course Oliver Giroud. This and plenty more all discussed in this weeks Arsenal Vision podcast
We were not able to create many scoring opportunities during that first half until an Arsenal counter attack on 37 minutes. Xhaka intercepted Nathan Dyer’s pass and then some neat combination play down the field resulted in Ramsey sliding the ball across to Giroud at the far post but the Frenchman could not quite get a connection. Is it me or does that happen quite a lot to ‘ol Ollie? I can never work out if the crosses aren’t good enough or if Giroud just isn’t quick enough to turn them in. If he starts to score those, he’ll be scoring 30 a season at this rate
Who is Arsene going to drop? Alex Iwobi was one of our better players at Preston, including a poor first half from the team. He looks like he is on the way up again, does Arsene put the breaks on that rise? Lucas Perez has given us some massive contributions in the box in the last two games. Without him we may have lost both matches. And what of Giroud? It’s a funny one for me. I share the opinion that we are a more fluid and creative team with Alexis playing as our centre forward, Giroud is a great option from the bench etc. But he is fresher than most in the squad and is banging in goals for fun
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast: Elliot (@YankeeGunner), Paul (@PoznanInMyPants) and Tim (@Stillberto) talk about the 2-1 victory against Preston in the FA Cup. The pod talk about our slow starts to games, The Xhaka and Ramsey partnership, Is Giroud proving he is a super sub or is he forcing his way into the team? This and plenty more all discussed in this weeks Arsenal Vision podcast
It’s over 20 years since Arsenal resided under an alternative manager. The club has been developed, stabilised and revolutionised under one of the most forward thinking and innovative managers of our generation. In fact, it’s hard to fathom Arsenal football club without Wenger at the helm – and it seems that Mesut Ozil considers his future entwined with the Frenchman’s own