The Gunners are hoping to shake off the disappointment of the weekend with tonight's match against Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates. Only victory today will give us any hope of making the knock out rounds and that is assuming that Bayern Munich can do to Olympiacos what they have done to pretty much everyone else at the Allianz Arena.
So it's knife edge stuff this evening isn't it? If we are to hold onto any hopes of the knock out rounds then nothing less than an Arsenal victory tonight will do. Even if we win we could still be dumped out of the competition should Olympiacos get anything at all from Bayern Munich in Germany. Not impossible but gee whiz I'd be surprised. If results go as we hope/think then it will leave Arsenal and Olympiacos going for a final group game shoot out. But that is too far away for me to think about right now in too much detail.
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast: Elliot (@YankeeGunner), Tim (@Stillberto) and Paul (@PoznanInMyPants) discuss the 1-2 defeat by West Brom, Coq's knee, Santi's slip, Joel Campbell's miss and much more in this weeks Arsenal Vision Podcast
Özil losing the ball in midfield is just something that happens to every possession based team but the players behind you have got to do much better. Bellerin was not close enough to his man on the flank and Cech missed the ball before Arteta inexplicably extended his arm to reach the ball and deflect into his own net. Had he not stuck his arm out, there was a good chance that Monreal would have just cleared away to safety. Given that it was Arteta who lost Morrison on the first goal, it is safe to say it was not our captain's finest moment
Ok, I didn't see that one coming. Kieran Gibbs starts on the left wing after his impressive cameo against Tottenham the last time we took to the field. Gibbs made an impact when he came onto the pitch and managed to get the goal late in the second half. What I find most interesting will be how Alexis will function assuming he will be moved to the right of the pitch. His special move of cutting inside his man and driving into a central position may not work quite the same from the right but perhaps he will go past his man on the flank a little more from that side. We shall see.
I think one of the main problems has been Tony Pulis' tactics. For the majority of the season we have been playing some pretty uninspiring defensive football, with central midfielders out wide and central defenders in the full-back roles. It's certainly not the type of football that a player such as Gnabry would fit into. Only recently, after much criticism from fans, has Pulis recalled Stephane Sessegnon - who is very smiliar to Gnabry - to the team, but you get the feeling before long he will be sidelined by Pulis again. Gnabry is not the only one that can feel hard done by, Callum McManaman is another quick and skilful player that Pulis has by and large ignored this season in favour of hard-working 'plodders'.
We were starting to look somewhat jaded before the players flew off to different parts of the world. It felt as if we were pushing the limits of our squad somewhat, especially in midfield and attack so it will be interesting to see how the players look and feel after being away from the squad for a few weeks. We were hoping to have Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain back after the break but it seems as if they are not yet ready to take part in the squad. Arsène did say that those two will be back for midweek but I am not entirely sure what that means. Back in the squad? back in training? back to the future? Who knows. But at least we have Hector Bellerin back for this afternoon. I thought his absence was felt against
We were a better side after the break if still not fluent enough to play our usual game but the game could still have been very different had Oliver Giroud converted one of his two headed chances. Giroud has the best record in the Premier League at scoring from his bonce so it was a shame not to see him add to his recent scoring record. His header wide was the most regrettable but at the same time we have to should remember that his conversion rate is either the best or second best in the league this season. Can't really argue with that can you? Well I know you can but you shouldn't
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast: James (@GoonerFanatic49) & Paul (@PoznanInMyPants) discuss our 3-0 away victory against the Swans on Saturday afternoon. Elliot manages to avoid the Campbell vs Alexis question and Bellerin is cast as the new Robin.
Fast forward a season and we are on equal points with the league leaders but a familiar obstacle has resurfaced. I had been really encouraged by the fitness of our squad during the second half of last season, perhaps Shad and the gang were making good progress and a corner had been turned. This was the season where our injury nightmares would be put behind us, yet at the time of writing this, we are without at least seven