The names Henry and Reyes is enough to put one off being optimistic…okay, they’re big names, but on our day we can beat any team home or away, so in that sense we need to go down south full of confidence, and play for the win – no good playing five in defence, four in midfield and one upfront because that says ‘no worries lads, only come for a point’. If I remember correctly Bruce played five in midfield last season at Highbury and that worked rather well.
I would usually give a few threats in terms of players here, but I feel there is no need this week, after all every player in Arsenal’s senior squad are a huge threat on their own and will punish their opponents if a mistake is made.
After last Wednesday evening it seems apparent that the Arsenal’s youth system (that had an average age of JUST nineteen) is following in the style and strides of their seniors – so even if Blues played them I bet we’d find it hard.
In terms of injuries Blues will warmly throw their arms open and welcome back two key players, Julian Gray - after illness and Mario Melchiot (knee) I’m sure it is a huge relief to Bruce that Mario had nothing more than a knock last week, because arguably he is the best, consistent Blues player at the moment along with Matty Upson. Finally for Blues, even though Stanley has been training throughout the week he is likely to miss out.
As for the Gunners, Pascal Cygan (back), Edu (broken toe), and Gilberto (vertebrae) are all unavailable but after the good performance from the youth team Wednesday night there should be absolutely no reason why these places cannot be filled in by a young Gunner.
This weekend is an afternoon we all need to enjoy. Lets face it…Blues are far from expected to win, or even draw this game. Arsenal will be looking to bounce back after some disappointing results from their point-of-view recently, when a team such as Arsenal have so much quality this shouldn’t be a hard task. Expect to find most of Arsenal’s top seniors on the pitch Saturday, we must realise Arsenal are falling behind in the league, and If they don’t start picking up a few wins, and Chelsea continue their impressive run of form then the Gunners may find the title is a long way away. So Arsenal are going to go for it.
What are our chances, and how do we get at them? Well, we need to be sound at the back – as we usually are. Arsenal aren’t too good across the back, so our offensive players need to get at them, and try to counter – ‘Blues counter attacking against a team like Arsenal' I hear you call, yes, we need to counter attack, and feed Big Emile and Little Clint. With a bit of quality service (Gronkjaer) Emile and Morrison will be clinical…I hope.
We need to be at our very best this weekend to get anything at all, all over the field we need to be organised and communicate well…
I can’t see us getting anything though, we are struggling to score goals this season, and there are various communication problems on the field. Arsenal will be looking to bounce back and I feel they can do this in the well-known Arsenal style.
A comfortable home win for me I’m afraid.
Contact Leigh direct: bcfcleigh@aol.com