Although my Man of the Match was Ozil, I think there should be praise for Coquelin who showed a warrior mentality in playing through injury and truly transformed the look of our side and in doing so our season... Bellerin who we sometimes forget is still a teenager was class going forward and looks to have come back into form from what were a few so so performances previously... and lastly Mertesacker who was dropped at the weekend and did very well especially
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QPR (a) Confirmed Line Up: Mertesacker back in to partner Gabriel + Rosicky starts
Tonight it is Laurent Koscielny's turn to rest down to the bench so Per Mertesacker comes back into the team to partner Gabriel for the first time. Tomas Rosicky's charging around the pitch cameo against Everton has earned him a start ahead of a more natural wide forward. Perhaps Özil will be the one to move to the left to give us some more strength in the middle. Whichever way those two start, I'm sure there will be plenty of in game rotation
QPR (a) Thoughts & Line Up: Mask wearing Coquelin could keep his place / Mert & Gabriel?
about the importance of the QPR match today and how it can positively or negatively impact a critical time of the season. I was a little weary and lacking sleep when writing that but the point stands. Results in recent weeks have been pretty positive aside from the Monaco and Tottenham matches of course but we are the second best team in the league going by domestic form. But I don't think we are performing at our maximum or even close to that and this is the time of the season where you hope to be doing that. Liverpool seem to be in that sort of groove at present and that is where I would like us to have been before next Monday's trip to Old Trafford
Performance at QPR could have large say in season run-in
Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast – EP20: Arsenal 2 Everton 0 – Gunners back on track (feat @Gooner_in_bcn)
Everton (h) – Does Gabriel keep his shirt? & What now for Walcott?
The two biggest calls were Gabriel coming in for Mertesacker and the second was the non selection of Theo Walcott. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who has been out for a while with injury returned ahead of our speedster. Arsène had noted pre match that his offensive players had to be strong at both ends of the pitch and if you can't then you don't play. I couldn't help but feel that was directed at Theo when I saw him sat on the bench. I took a bit of stick on Twitter when I mentioned Theo's lack of desire to close the ball down during the Hull City match
Everton (h) “Gabriel seems a lion and doesn’t back down” – Q&A
Honestly I’m ambivalent. He is almost guaranteed to score, but isn’t exactly a great team player. I thought we might have seen him or Welbeck start but I’m delighted to see the Ox back. I see him as a synthesis of Alexis tenacity and Walcott’s pace and directness. Back to Walcott, however, and I do wonder what his role in the team is. Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) made a point somewhere that the quality of the squad has risen so much that guaranteed starters (Poldi, Walcott, Wilshire etc.) are no longer the focal points of the team, but more on the periphery, and I’m glad that's the case. There is no room for sentiment. If we’re going to compete to win and Welbeck offers more in defence and team play I’d rather he starts. That said, I’d like to see him up top as
Everton (h) Confirmed Line Up: Gabriel comes in for Mertesacker. Walcott benched again
Arsène has rotated the team but not as much as perhaps we would have expected. The surprise story is that Theo Walcott has failed to start in the last three games in a row and will continue to bide his time on the bench. The other big news is that Gabriel has come into the team at the expense of Per Mertesacker, so Santi Cazorla will wear the captains armband.
Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast – EP19: Arsenal 1 Monaco 3 – Arsenal commit footballing suicide (feat @Stillberto)
Monaco (h) – Stupid All Round
Just as frustrating on the night was our finishing. Oliver Giroud will not have another night like he did last night again. Everything went wrong for him and that is a shame because he has been in excellent form of late. It felt like every negative action impacted on the next one and it continued that way until he was replaced for Theo Walcott. It was typical of our evening when Theo had a chance to score but his shot hit the diving keeper and the ball fell perfectly for Danny Welbeck to tap into an empty net but his shot hit Theo on the floor who prevented a certain goal. A goal at that point and the tie could have looked very different this morning.