Arsene has kept the faith with the side that beat Swansea 4-0 last weekend. Bellerin, Gibbs and Coquelin have all returned to the squad but all three are on the bench rather than forcing their way into the starting line up. I thought we may see both full backs come into the side but maybe that was expecting too much so soon
It gives Arsene a few decisions to make before kick off. We expect Burnley to come and sit back and attempt to stop us from playing/scoring so if sharp and fully fit, I’d like to see Kieran Gibbs come back into the team for this game, I would imagine that both of our full backs will be pretty advanced which will allow Alexis to play much closer to Giroud assuming he starts
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
Going back to Maitland-Niles, he played right back against Notingham Forest earlier in the season and did a very good impression of Hector Bellerin in the way he played. He is quick and technically good but obviously you have to take into consideration the opposition but I am happy to see him given another go in that role. What that quite says about Carl Jenkinson I don't know. Maybe he is close to a loan move away somewhere so he has been held back or maybe the manager has lost faith in him which would be pretty sad.
Attentions quickly turn to the FA cup this afternoon, maybe a breather from the Premier League might be a good idea after that quite frankly crazy game at Bournemouth a few days ago. Like most new years resolutions, it did’t take me long to break mine did it? I wanted to express my thoughts on that game but couldn’t find the needed time to do so. It’s probably for the best though as I am not quite sure how my jumbled up brain would have translated that into words