Lift up rug and sweep....furiously.

I've considered it, even written it but I have no intention of publishing my review of this weekends game. I just don't want to talk about it. My post was full of vitriol and not for anyone's eyes but my own. I've since rediscovered my centre and I'm at peace.

Tomorrow then, away to Braga. Clichy, Arshavin and Van Persie all miss the trip to Portugal in a game where we need all 3 points. Clichy has a back injury, Arshavin is knackered and Van Persie is still chasing full fitness. I would suggest however that it might be better for RvP to travel and play 30 mins or a half against Braga unless he is injured?

We're still short of the likes of Almunia, Diaby and the luckless Vermaelen due to their respective injuries so we will probably see a starting eleven similar to what started on Saturday. I hope Vermaelen recovers soon, I feel we're missing that communicator, that leader at the back hugely.

I would like it, I really, really would if Djourou started instead of Koscielny, he's in much better form. I'm restraining myself from saying anything unnecessary here, we all know what happened at the weekend.

I expect a much improved defensive performance tomorrow night. My ideal squad for tomorrow is below, tell me what you think

Fabianski
Sagna	Squillaci Djourou			Gibbs
	Wilshire Song
Nasri		Fabregas		Rosicky
		Chamakh

So, ignoring the results at the weekend lets all get behind our boys and support them. We can win tomorrow night and continue our march out of the group stage.

WG

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Vermaelen and Diaby - a tale of two ankles

Arsene Wenger said yesterday that the Verminator's achilles has let him down again and forced him out of training. Apparently it all seems gravy but when he starts training on it he gets pain and has to stop.

Like my semi-pro grandfather (go on Hendon FC), Thomas's achilles tendon appears to be a real possible season-ending issue. He's been sent to a specialist to determine what the problem is. I wonder whether, given the frequency with which we seem to get ankle knocks if it might be worth employing one of these specialists full time.

In 2010 so far we have had 15 ankle/foot injuries. 3 of those were Diaby, two Van Persie. Diaby has also suffered 3 calf strains so far this year. These can be passed off as twists and turns, but its these recurring injuries across the squad that concern me. Are they not being treated correctly? *

I can understand fractures and breaks, I can understand ligament injuries. But recurring muscle injuries and strains can decimate a squad and we need to be aware of it. As a squad we've had 65 different injury incidents this year alone (up to today) which is a staggering amount. I'm not saying other teams don't have similar numbers but to me its a big surprise.

I'm not bashing the medical team because they've sorted out Rosicky, Ramsey and Eduardo to name but a few. Just perhaps we need a bit more experience in the clinic?

Playing my modest sunday league (with reasonable success) you could expect 1 player to be unavailable through injury every now and then..it was extremely rare to have more than 2 out at any one time from a squad of twenty.

I know they train harder, the game is 100 times faster than anything I could muster and they are bound to be more susceptible because they are on the precipice of fitness.

I guess the numbers just flabbergast me and I'm looking for answers.

WG

*Injury information from www.physioroom.com

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Bring on the Citeh!

Confidence is flying high in the Arsenal camp and the stronger characters in the team are demanding more from us when we go to Citeh this weekend.

It is absolutely a must-win game and with that in mind, I think Wenger will attack this game a bit differently than Birmingham and Shakhtar. He knows Citeh are powerful and their ball winners in midfield are aggressive to the point of violence (De Jong anyone?). He needs to take that away from them and the only way to do that is to stop it being a midfield battle. If it becomes a battle I feel we might lose, or if we don't we might lose a few players to injury.

Without knowing really who's fit and who isn't anyone would struggle to guess the line up, but I think it would be something like this;

Fabianski
Eboue	Squillaci Djourou			Clichy
	Song Diaby
Rosicky		Fabregas		Nasri
		Chamakh

That is the way I'd love to see us lining up, with Diaby and Song holding and allowing Rosicky, Fabregas and Nasri to support Chamakh and collect his knock-downs. I know Diaby doesn't like sitting, but we will need his power to protect our back 4. He'll direct the midfield to play one-touch wherever possible, moving the ball faster than we can be tackled, therefore negating the midfield of Citeh whilst maintaining posession and continuing to attack.

Rosicky, Fabregas and Nasri will be essential to the success on sunday. God help them that they don't get injured.

More to follow when I get a bit of team news.

WG

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Three Musketeers and the Gap's down to five!

Arsenal took on the visit by the Brum and really they were a bit naughty. They really didn't let the Brum play at all. It was all Arsenal and really it could have been much more of a battering.

Brum opened the scoring with a soaring header by "Man Mountain Descended From Trees" Zigic who deftly flicked the ball into the far corner. A well worked goal to be honest and deserved after a great ball in. Fabianski would never have been able to save that and neither would anyone else.

Yesterday we saw more of the Arsenal that I keep babbling about. Mobility, Pace, Combinations. At the heart of this were Chamakh, Nasri and Wilshire. Its great to see how well Chamakh is settling in and I can't see anyone dislodging him at the moment. Nasri and Wilshire were frightening going forwards, Wilshire in particular dominated, no mean feat for a 18yr old. People bang on about signings, potentially we might not have seen Wilshire now if we'd signed another midfielder. Wenger is right not to stifle the likes of Wilshire, Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Lansbury and Eastmond. If they're not given a crack of the whip, how will we ever know if they are good enough? So to all those who said "If Wenger doesn't sign X then I'm not going to support them anymore!!" ... Well then I guess you missed the masterclass yesterday by the new three musketeers of Nasri, Wilshire and Chamakh...they even sound french and musketeery!

One french player to do himself little credit was Diaby again, I felt his presence in the game was an interuption to the game being played by the musketeers rather than an assistance. I saw him dribble off and moves fizzled out as players got too far ahead and marked. Diaby slows Arsenal down now, he's a good player but he's a round peg in a square hole.

One massive potential talking point was Wilshire's lunge at Zigic, it rightly earned him a red and I'm pleased Wenger and Wilshire came out and immediately identified the decision as correct and Wilshire apologised. In todays climate a bit of honesty on these things does you credit. Though in truth, Wenger couldn't defend it after his stance on violent football.

So, in summary and excellent result for us, a great team performance and it seems everyone is giving the Wookie some love, with Djourou and Song both congratulating him on a great save at the end. I just cant see that with the Waiter. His time has passed I think.

Congratulations to anyone who followed my advice and had a punt on Nasri, wish I did now!

WG

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Oh Eck! Welcoming the Brum to the Grove

This weekend sees the return of Birmingham to the Grove and the return of Alex Hleb, a player I still rate very highly. I'm so glad to be back to normal football after the international interruptions. I'm delighted to see that we have emerged relatively unscathed, albeit Sagna is injured but Eboue is a ready made replacement.

I'd like to talk briefly if I could about Alex Hleb. He's a player I've liked since he signed for us, the nimble little belorussian (sic) first strutting his stuff in front of me at Barnet in the inaugural pre-season friendly. What Hleb gave Arsenal is something we haven't replaced, whether it was always successful is another matter but he gave us dribbling at pace, mixed with an excellent workrate and a great understanding with Fabregas. Fabregas was gutted when he left for Barca.

Honestly I'd resign Hleb in a heartbeat. Wenger won't because he didn't want to lose Hleb and Hleb forced it through. I understand Hleb's choice. I wouldn't make the same choice in his position because I am an Arsenal fan through and through, Hleb isn't and never would be. He grew up in Belarus, not England and dreamt of more successful teams than us I'd wager.

In truth, I don't think Hleb fits into Arsenal 2010/11. This version is all about mobility and moving the ball about at pace. Hleb, like Diaby holds onto the ball too much for this.

So, to Saturday and the 3pm kickoff. We're looking very strong for this weekend with potentially Fabregas, Bendtner and Walcott back in the fold. In truth, unless they are all in top condition I don't expect any of them to start. I would prefer brief cameo's from the bench until they are ready for war.

Birmingham are a different side under "Big Eck!" they are more dynamic and they create a lot of chances. They're a hardworking side who will be easily mid-table this year. Hleb has stated that the "Blues are too good to go down" and I agree. There are certainly worse teams in the Prem this season.

My predo, home win for the Gooners, I even think we'll keep a cleany, so I'm plumping for a resounding 2:0 win.

Wenger to announce later who's fit and who isn't. So that could really make it interesting.

WG

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Ok...so 2:0 then...

My predo was off it seems, though not without its own merit. Taking the positives where we can, we should have been at least 1:0 up inside the first ten minutes. Chamakh had the beating of Chelsea across the ground and we should have used that more.

I was delighted in the way our midfield performed. I thought Wilshire and Nasri continued to impress and Song sat back for the most part and did a decent job of tidying up. Diaby was picked for his power but I wish Wenger had picked Rosicky instead, his guile would have made a difference over 90 mins. Diaby slowed us down going forwards with his dribbling where a quick pass would have benefitted.

Fabianski did well again yesterday, I am very pleased for him. Drogba's flick was at his near post but difficult to judge due to the pace it was hit at so I don't allocate blame there. I felt we were naive for the second goal to allow the Chelsea player such an easy time in the wall, rookie mistake to not put our own player behind him and push him forwards out of the wall. Again, Fabianski no chance.

Despite all of the positives, there are two big negatives. We controlled the game for 88 minutes and didn't score. We were practically toothless upfront for all of Chamakhs movement and workrate we just didn't create enough and we didn't put anything in the onion bag. The second negative is something we've all been driven crazy by, why didn't Wenger try changing it sooner. He could have started ringing the changes at the 70min mark and brought on Vela and gone 4-4-2. Or pushed Arshavin and Nasri further forward for 4-3-3 not the current 4-2-3-1.

Even so, I think we deserved something, in the end all we got was a kicking, but we will play worse and annihalate someone, so there is something to take from this.

Chin up gooners its getting better for Arsenal, least its party town in Wigan, Latics and the Warriors both won! Come on the Pie-Eaters...LOL

WG

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