admin

Theo Walcott has finally nudged his way back into Arsene's starting 11 for the 3pm kick off vs West Ham. Arsene has rotated his team a little bringing in Calum Chambers for Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey slots in alongside Coquelin so Santi Cazorla rests to the bench. That change may have allowed Arsene to give wide men Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott a rare chance together on the flanks. Ramsey perhaps gives us that defensive insurance as our two wide forwards have a habit of

I was attempting to do my usual match line up prediction thingy and I didn't have much luck. I think Arsène will start Aaron Ramsey and with the Ox out will he go with Theo Walcott? It would be a rare start for a player who has been instrumental to us when fit in the past, it is difficult to know how much is down to what he lacks as a player or how much his contract negotiations have to do with everything. Either way, if he is to start in any game of our run in, you'd imagine West Ham at home would be a pretty good choice

So many questions and obviously no clear answers from anybody. I have read some very interesting articles about the whole Ferguson/referees conspiracies and unfortunately I cannot find the one I read a few years ago. This article showed what happened to referees who crossed Fergie's path by not giving decisions his way or giving decisions the to the other team. I think every referee who did something Ferguson did not like was demoted to a lower league for the next game. From what I remember they were not given another Manchester United game for a while. I kinda need the link for this but I have no idea where I read it and Google isn't being my friend today

The guys bask in the glory of our 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. James (@GoonerFanatic49), Paul (@Poznaninmypants) and Elliot (@YankeeGunner) talk Welbeck, Referee, Chambo and plenty more. Even writing this is making me excited so get listening

So onto Welbeck, his ability to force chances is incredible. He did so recently at Crystal Palace when he won Arsenal a penalty. Yesterday his closing pressured Valencia into a poor back pass. But it wasn't even that short. Most strikers would not have scored from that position but Welbeck sniffed a chance and sprinted after the ball before de Gea, poked the ball around him and scored into an empty net

When you watch him closely  you can really appreciate the Spanish footballing education he has received. He is technically solid, reads the game very well and is assured on the ball. He also seems to have dramatically improved the physical aspect of his game since arriving from Spain. I believe he has proven his worth to the team this season and Kieran Gibbs has a real fight on his hands to regain his place

Nacho Monreal comes back into the team ahead of Kieran Gibbs which is a slight surprise given Gibbs performance against QPR. Szczesny being the cup keeper comes back into the team but the excitement comes a little further forward. Alexis Sanchez replaces Giroud as our centre forward with the Frenchman dropping down to the bench. Surely that is due to injury but that is a big surprise. Oxlade-Chamberlain has come back into the team which shows a lot of faith in him. Danny Welbeck starts from the left.

The one thing I would say though is that our awful run of results has coincided with a halt to our spending and continued spending of commercial giants Manchester United. Today the playing field has been dragged closer together so the gap in squad strength is different today. Basically quality is not the issue here, whatever mental issues the players have, today is the opportunity to right any previous wrongs. A lot of the players should not be suffering with any inferiority complex. Bellerin, Alexis, Özil and Coquelin do not have much of a history against Manchester United if any at all. Tonight should just be a big game where 100% will be required. Nothing more, nothing less.

Many could be forgiven for thinking that these problems were coming to a halt as they saw Szczesny put in a bold league debut during the 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford in 2010. This was unfortunately not the case. Szczesny showed much promise during his early days in the Arsenal goal; Unfortunately, much of the "potential" shown has never been fully realised. Several high profile blunders and sub-par performances have led to his place as number one being put under scrutiny. His

As for Arsenal, I felt we were still carrying the Monaco result a little with us during the first half, that as well as the home sides direct approach. Chris Ramsey's team were hitting the front players as early as possible in an attempt to win knock downs. A bit on the old fashioned side, a little be 1980 but each to their own and all that. I thought Per Mertesacker coming back into the team performed really well at competing and winning headers. I was intrigued to see how the Gabriel/Mertesacker partnership would fair, unfortunately I didn't get to watch very much of it as our new Brazilian centre back has settled so well, he has already picked up the Arsenal injury curse