Arsene did say that ideally Vermaelen would play because of his awesome left footedness so it will be mostly a choice of which center back will partner him. This is not to mention Johan Djourou who was almost our most important player last season before he picked up his shoulder injury at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. As much as you may or may not rate Squillaci, it is hard to argue having him as fifth

Good day to you,

Yesterday was a pretty slow day for Arsenal news but thankfully that has picked up today thanks to the voice of Arsene Wenger. He has been speaking to the official site, not at his laptop screen but a reporter.

It looks like superman Gary Cahill will not be flying in to save the day which will not sit right for many pundits as they have spent the last year forcing Cahill down the throats of Gooners around the land.

Arsene was speaking about how happy he was with his central defenders and the combinations of his players. He said that Vermaelen, Koscielny and Mertesacker could all play together and that rotation would likely be the order of the day which is fairly interesting in itself. When Thomas Vermaelen first joined the club, he and William Gallas were paired together and Arsene stuck them together like glue. Week in, week out they played together and Arsene was very reluctant to break them up unless it was the Carling Cup if memory serves me correctly.

I am not a big fan of massive rotation between central defenders, that is an area of the pitch where you want a fully fledged partnership, two players who know each other inside and out, I am not sure if that is achievable by constantly rotating players in that part of the pitch.

I am very interested to see what Arsene does because each defender has something that their partner does not and all those attributes are important to this Arsenal team. Laurent Koscielny is the man in form, the speedy interceptor who can read the game better than most in his position. Per Mertesacker is the size of Koscielny standing on Vermaelen’s shoulders and offers that calm experience while Vermaelen adds balance, power and leadership.

Arsene did say that ideally Vermaelen would play because of his awesome left footedness so it will be mostly a choice of which center back will partner him. This is not to mention Johan Djourou who was almost our most important player last season before he picked up his shoulder injury at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. As much as you may or may not rate Squillaci, it is hard to argue having him as fifth choice. I bet you would struggle to find a player of his experience as fifth choice at any of our rivals.

His stock has clearly fallen but had Koscielny started the season with a major injury as well as Vermaelen, we could well have witnessed a good partnership between he and Djourou. I remember a few games like Wolves away where both central defenders won us that game. Football is often based on small margins, about being in the right place at the right time, about momentum and unfortunately for Squillaci it didn’t go well for him as he was partnered with a player that did not suit his game so both he and Laurent struggled at that time.

Hands up if you were championed Squillaci as the first choice central defender at the start of last season after a handful of matches? I certainly remember quite a few doing so whilst writing off Koscielny.

The opposite is happening to Andre Santos today. He is being castigated for his defensive positioning so far. Perhaps this very insightful article will change that view.

Last season Gael Clichy didn’t get forward very much, probably because his final ball is pants and it was Bacary Sagna that was the player who had the attacking licence to get forward and join our attacks, leaving three defenders back as well as one or two of our deeper midfielders.

When we dipped into the transfer market and bought Andre Santos I like many went straight to You Tube to see what I could find of the player and instantly thought that perhaps Arsene was looking to swap the roles of his fullbacks.

It makes even more sense when you have someone like Vermaelen playing on the left side of the defence as it is easy for him to slot over to left back to cover Santos’ space. Koscielny then covers the space that Vermaelen had left and Sagna tucks inside. Not only that but Mikel Arteta’s role in the side is much more defensive than I expected it would be when he joined us.

How many times have we played at home against teams who keep everyone back inside their half and Sagna is the only spare man to have time and space to make something happen? Every other bloody week that’s what. I love Sagna like no other right back but he is not blessed with a huge deal of creativity and he just ended up tossing the ball onto the head of a defender. Now we are blessed with a Brazilian who scores goals, can dribble past opponents and cross the ball well.

As the Santos article said, too many people are quick to look at things in black and white terms, a common misconception is that Arsene Wenger does not force any tactics on his players and they just go out and do what they want. That is far from the truth, the truth is we do not know the details that the players are given.

Santos’ one on one defending has been very good for the most part. He wins plenty of aerial duels, often sticks his foot in and comes away with the ball. His second half showings in Marseille and Chelsea prove that.  However I would say that his fitness looks to be an issue. If there was one player that would have benefited from joining the club early then it would have been Santos.

I want to keep an eye on the behaviour of Santos and Vermaelen in our game tomorrow against West Brom and see if there is a difference between Jenkinson and Theo, if Theo starts that is.

I am going to make a prediction, probably another one that joins the wrong predictions that I have made but I will offer some virtual money that after months of Premier League adaptation as well as a full pre season then Santos will prove many people wrong this time next season. To be continued.

Apparently the club have opened talks with Theo Walcott about a new contract, as you know he is in the same position that van Persie is in. Funny how it is hardly ever spoken about yet Robin’s contract is spoken about like this never happens.

Hopefully he understands what is best for him and pens a new deal. He should be looking to his Chelsea display as the level he needs to find every week. He is approaching the age where that consistency needs to be met. He is a player that can be a part of The Solution To A Great Problem Like van Persie? because he scores goals, he forces teams to play a certain way otherwise he will terrorise you the way he terrorised Ashley Cole (I rather enjoyed that I must say)

I still have a niggling feeling that his desire to be a central striker will be thrusted into contract negotiations though. Perhaps I am being paranoid, I hope I am being paranoid.

Just thinking about it I am almost certain that Theo will start from the bench tomorrow. Gervinho and Robin have had recent breathers while Theo has played non stop.

The opposite of playing non stop is Abou Diaby who has had another set back. I have to wipe a tear away from my eye when writing this because I am a huge fan but it is hard to be a huge fan of an empty space, which is what Diaby is when he is not on the pitch. His summer corrective surgery hasn’t been very correct at the first hurdle, which is a crying shame. Apparently it is his hamstring that has gone and not his ankle but given the amount of injuries the poor lad has suffered, you cannot help but feel that all these problems are a consequence of his long standing ankle problems.

I feel somewhat responsible for this, and all I can do is apologise to Diaby. I used to spend so much of my time laughing at Darren Anderton’s (former Spurs player) regular injuries, now I cannot help but feel that karma is being her usual bitchy self and getting me back for my youthful sneering.

If I ever meet up with her Karmaness I will be sure to tell her how much I am a fan of Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Samir Nasri.

Lastly, American attacker Brek Shea will be heading to Arsenal later this month. More information and video here.

And that my Gooner friends is just about the size of it. Match preview mumbling’s tomorra initt?