Walcott to Start Against Portsmouth?

By Joel Martin

Theo Walcott had a very good game midweek against Sparta Prague, creating the first goal for Tomas Rosicky in the first ten minutes. His pace is unquestionable, but sometimes he seems to lack in toughness and doesn’t always make the right decision. It looks like he’ll have a chance to prove his critics wrong, however, on Sunday.

Hleb has picked up an illness and is now doubtful for the game, and Eboue is still out with an ankle injury. So, with his two top right wingers sidelined, Wenger may again turn to Walcott on the right wing.

It’s not a bad game for Walcott either. First of all, its at home, and the home crowd gets excited every time he touches the ball. Second of all, he will probably match up against Hermann Hreidarsson, who is a tough aerial left back, but also a clumsy oaf who can hardly run half as fast as Walcott can. Finally, Walcott hopefully can play with a sense of confidence and self-assurance after playing so well and receiving so much praise in the media after his play midweek.

Also out for the Pompey game are Sagna, Gallas, and Lehmann(?), so expect Senderos, Hoyte, and Almunia to play instead. Arsenal cannot afford any early mistakes from the trio, as if Portsmouth get the lead they could prove difficult to break down. Distin, Campbell, and James are three talented, experienced players, and I don’t think there will be many goals. It may take a bit of inspiration from Arsenal’s teenage winger to break Pompey down.

Arsenal to Host League Leaders Manchester City

by Joel Martin

When Sven Goran-Eriksson came back to England, he brought in several additions in the squad in his first week, admitting that he had only watched some of them on videotape. Not one of them was English.

Since then, Sven’s Manchester City has been the major surprise of the season, not conceding a single goal and securing maximum points in their first three games. Eriksson’s multi-national contingent includes Brazilians Elano and Geovanni, Italian Rolando Bianchi, Bulgarians Martin Petrov and Valeri Bojinov, and Croatian Vedran Corluka, who may have been his best signing. Elano, Petrov, Bianchi, and Geovanni get all the hype, but its Corluka who has solidified City’s defense at right back, letting Micah Richards play his more natural position in the middle. City has not conceded a goal yet because Micah Richards has become one of the best centrebacks in the Premiership.

That being said, City were very lucky to beat Manchester United last weekend, and they were not very impressive in a 1-0 win against Derby. They should not win at the Emirates; Arsenal are still the clear-cut favorite.

Gilberto and Adebayor will return to the Arsenal squad, but Gallas, Eboue, and Lehmann are all out injured (whether suddenly-mistake-prone Lehmann actually is injured or dropped is an interesting question in itself). Gilberto will replace Flamini (who did do well in reserve) and give Arsenal some much needed steel in midfield. He will be needed to slow down Elano. If he had been playing Arsenal would have beaten Blackburn. Adebayor could partner van Persie up front and move Eduardo to the bench, which does make sense. Bendtner, who has looked impressive so far, is also on the bench for added firepower should the Gunners need him. Rosicky also returns and will take his normal position on the left. Hleb will move to the right and Walcott will be on the bench.

Clichy will have to play well against Petrov, who is one of City’s most dangerous threats. Look for Sagna to have a great game if he’s matched up against Stephen Ireland, who has looked bad so far. Also look for an improved performance from Cesc Fabregas, who will be well-rested after only playing eight minutes as a substitute for Spain midweek.

Where Wenger should be worried, however, is at the center of defense, which was a major strength in his side a month ago. Now, however, with Gallas injured and Djourou and Connolly loaned out, Wenger’s squad is dangerously thin. If Senderos or Toure pick up a knock, Arsenal will have a hard time keeping up with Chelsea and Liverpool in this early stretch of the season. Wenger needs to bring in one more centreback to provide the depth needed for a trophy-winning side.

Look for Sagna to dominate against Ireland, Toure and Senderos to control Bianchi, Gilberto to slow down Elano, Almunia not to let the ball through his hands, and Fabregas to play a pass just behind Richard Dunne in Robin van Persie’s stride for the first goal conceded by young Kasper Schmeichel. Arsenal could score a couple more before its over.

Lehmann Gifts Blackburn a Deserved Point

By Joel Martin

The never-ending head-case that is Jens Lehmann showed up yet again today.

A week ago, against Fulham, Lehmann badly miskicked a backpass and set up a goal for David Healy in the first minute of the game. On Sunday, at Ewood Park, Lehmann had seemed to put his mental problems behind him, only to concede a late equalizer to David Dunn off his own hands. It was an absolute howler. But Arsenal had not played well enough to win.

The first half was fairly even, and Arsenal scored a scrappy goal, the kind of goal you need to score on the road against Blackburn, when Eduardo chased down a Walcott header and pressured Freidel, who in turn fumbled the save and the ball somehow found Van Persie, who proceeded to finish it well. Eduardo’s contribution to the goal was the only thing he did all game. Eduardo was neutralized well by Blackburn’s physicality, and although a Premiership debut at Ewood Park is hardly an easy task, I expected him to show a little more purpose going forward.

The referee had completely lost control of the game. Fabregas was fouled nearly every time he touched the ball by Savage and Dunn. Pedersen stepped on his head. Nelsen bowled him over. He was rattled by Blackburn’s sometimes-dirty play, and he wasn’t the only one. Walcott looked magnificent in the first minute, taking players on and finding Eduardo with a nice through-ball, but after that he was hacked by Warnock right outside the box, didn’t get the call, and the youngster looked out of it for the rest of the game. Hleb was pushed around by Emerton and Bentley. He added nothing, and it is becoming more and more apparent that he should not play on the road against the more physical sides like Blackburn or Bolton.

With so many of Arsenal’s players in a state of shellshock, Blackburn looked to capitalize in the second half. Mark Derbyshire should have scored on a brilliant cross from Bentley; if Santa Cruz had been on the end of the cross, Rovers would have equalized earlier. David Dunn played a lucky one-two past Fabregas and fired a hard shot directly at Lehmann, who tried to parry it with his fists but didn’t get enough on it and the ball went in off the post.

In all, Arsenal did not play well enough to win the game, and Blackburn might have been the better side, but the result is still a sour one for the Gunners to take, as Blackburn’s goal should have been saved easily. A draw at Blackburn is not a bad result, however, and Wenger’s squad will need to put there disappointment behind them quickly, as they host league-leaders Manchester City next week.

Match Ratings

Lehmann – 3 - Looked good until his colossal mistake, but goalkeepers cannot afford to make any mistakes. It might be time to bench him so he can get his head straight, his mistakes are getting ridiculous.

Clichy – 5 – Unimpressive, given his recent form. Bentley actually got the better of him, and he did not put enough pressure on Bentley to track back and defend.

Gallas – 6 - Played well and kept Arsenal composed during the first half. Hopefully his injury is not too serious, as center-back is one of Arsenal’s weaker positions now that Djourou has been loaned to Birmingham.

Toure- 7 – Had a good, strong game. Great performance by the Ivorian.

Sagna – 7 – Looks more and more like a steal at 7 million. Very impressive start of the season by the new signing from Auxerre.

Hleb - 5 – Completely disappeared on the left. Arsenal needed a big game from him with Rosicky and Eboue out, and he failed to deliver.

Flamini – 6 – Showed good spirit and work rate, but he is a limited player. Wenger surely missed Gilberto, who would have added steel and composure to his lackluster midfield.

Fabregas – 5 – His slow start continues. Rattled by a few dirty tackles, Fabregas never really got in to the game. He is a terrible set-piece taker as well, and should give way to Van Persie whenever he can. Arsenal need him to step it up next weekend against the league leaders.

Walcott – 5 – He just is not strong enough to play against Blackburn on the road. It’s too bad Eboue was injured, as he would have been a bit more strong and fierce, and it’s unfortunate Walcott had to play out of necessity.

Eduardo – 5 – Not a good debut for Wenger’s new striker but it was a hard place to get his Arsenal career rolling. He did look eager to score, though, and his efforts led to Arsenal’s only goal.

Van Persie – 6 – Scored the goal and did not get rattled by a dirty tackle like he used to (Remember the game at Sheffield United last year?). Looked good taking set pieces but also never really got involved in the attack, although it really wasn’t his fault—Fabregas and Hleb never hung on to the ball long enough for RvP to hook up with either of them.

SUBS

Senderos – 6 – Didn’t look spectacular, but he made few major mistakes, which is all you can ask from big Phil right now.

Denilson – 4 – Came on for Eduardo and did absolutely nothing. A complete waste of a substitute. It’s too bad Diaby wasn’t healthy to play instead.

Bendtner – 6 – It may have been because Blackburn had just scored, but Arsenal looked much more dangerous as soon as Bendtner came on for the second straight game. He wins almost every header (he was the only Arsenal player to win a header against the gigantic Samba) and links up well. I hope he continues to see first team action even when Adebayor returns because I think he has looked very good off the bench both times this season.

Eduardo Poised for Debut as Arsenal Head to Ewood Park

By Joel Martin

On Sunday, Arsenal head north to Blackburn, still trying to erase the memory of Benny McCarthy’s goal that knocked the Gunners out of the FA Cup last February. McCarthy himself may not be fit for the match after suffering from a concussion last weekend, but Mark Hughes has added talent to his frontline in former Bayern man Roque Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is a big player who excels in the air but is also a creative passer and dribbler. What he lacks in pace, he makes up for in size and skill. He will be the toughest mark Gallas and Toure have had this season. If McCarthy gets fit in time to partner him, Arsenal could have lots of trouble. If Jason Roberts or Matt Derbyshire plays instead, Gallas and Toure should not have many problems.

David Bentley and the Arsenal-linked Morten Gamst Pedersen are two of the better wingers in the Premier League, but they may not have energy going forward if Clichy and Sagna keep pushing up and adding so much to the Arsenal attack (Both had assists against Sparta Prague). Arsenal will need the two fullbacks can make the Blackburn wingers worry about defense and keep them from firing in crosses to Santa Cruz.

Rosicky and Eboue are both out with minor injuries, and it isn’t known who will play on the wings in their place. They could change formation to a 4-4-2 and move Hleb back out to the wing, adding either Bendtner or Eduardo to partner Van Persie up front. Walcott could step in and play on the wing, but he might get pushed around a bit by Blackburn’s physical game. Clichy could move up to play left wing and Armand Traore could start at left back, but his inexperience might be a gamble against Bentley. Or even Eduardo, who evidently doubles as a winger, could start on the wing with Theo Walcott on the other and Hleb once again in the hole behind Van Persie.

I personally would like to see a bigger, stronger player like Bendtner get a chance at Ewood Park, because made Arsenal look much more dangerous when he came on late in the second half and partnered Van Persie. I think Eduardo is a versatile player and I don’t think he will have any problems playing on the wing (I actually think he’ll end up there a lot with Arsenal’s lack of depth and injury-prone wingers), and as long as he is fit I’d rather see him get the start than Walcott, who was not impressive against Fulham and is too small to play against a bigger, more physical side like Blackburn on the road. Not yet, anyway.

In the end, despite Arsenal’s injury problems, Sagna and Clichy will be looking to build on their great form to start the season, and they will give Bentley and Pedersen problems all game. Without McCarthy, the Rovers will lose by a goal or more. With him, Blackburn could make the game very interesting.

Why Arsenal Fans Should be Pleased, not Uneasy, that Wenger is not Splashing Cash

By Joel Martin

With Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham all making several big additions to their squad this summer, many Arsenal supporters have been wondering when their club will get in on the action. Arsenal have bought in Eduardo, Sagna, Fabianski, and Nordtveit, but they have brought in much more money than they have spent with the sales of Henry, Ljungberg, Aliadiere, Reyes, and Muamba. Many fans think the losses of Henry and Ljungberg, in particular, will lead to the Gunners dropping out of the top four and out of the Champions League, and I’m not quite sure why they are so convinced.

First of all, Ljungberg had no impact for Arsenal last year. He has been over the hill for a few years and he wasn’t even worth the 3 million pounds West Ham spent on him. The West Ham Freddie Ljungberg is nowhere near the Ljungberg of old, and I really think he’ll get phased out of the Hammers’ squad by the end of the year. The loss of Ljungberg opens the door for young wingers with potential, such as Walcott, Eboue, and even Kieran Gibbs or Fran Merida to make an impact for the first team if given the chance. Losing Ljungberg is a good thing.

Selling Henry to Barcelona this summer was a bad move—it was a year too late. Wenger should have sold him last year, when Barcelona was willing to pay twice as much. Henry was a great striker, and Gooners worldwide would have been outraged, but he only played for half the season last year, and due to a few nagging injuries, he was not very effective in the few games he did play. Keeping Henry around for last season probably cost Arsenal 16 million pounds. Was he worth it? No.

Henry is a legend. He may well be the best player to ever put on an Arsenal shirt. But he was not a good captain. When Patrick Viera left to Juventus, Henry was really the only choice to replace him. Wenger had to give the armband to Henry just to keep from insulting him. No matter how talented a striker is, history shows they simply do not make good captains. No team led by a striker as captain has won the Premiership in the last 10 years. Now, with Gallas as captain, Arsenal have a captain who can see the entire field and lead like a general. Henry could not do this simply because of the position he was playing. His loss may very well help the squad by giving them a chance to be led by one of the most experienced and competitive defenders in the Premier League.

People forget Arsenal finished tied with Liverpool on points last season, losing out on goal differential. The Gunners were playing with reserve strikers (both of which were terrible and are now gone) for most of the second half of the season, and couldn’t get the goals they needed to break their tie with Liverpool, but they easily dominated most of the games they played, controlling possession and creating many chances. If Eduardo, Bendtner, and a healthy Robin van Persie can finish just half of the chances Baptista and Aliadiere scorned last season, Arsenal should have no problem racking up a large sum of points.

At the beginning of last season, Manchester United sold their most experienced and most prolific goal-scorer to a Spanish giant. People wondered where they would get the goals needed to challenge Chelsea, who had spent tons of money on several big-name transfers and were looking to win their third consecutive championship. Almost everyone wrote United off before the season started. Sound familiar?

A Less-Than-Impressive Manchester United Squeak By in the Community Shield

By Joel Martin

Both Manchester United and Chelsea looked very beatable today. Cheslea, who started Joe Cole as a lone striker, were without Terry, Drogba, Shevchenko, Kalou, Robben, Ballack, Bridge, and Makelele. Hargreaves, Scholes, Anderson, and of course Tevez were the only notable absentees from Manchester United’s side.

Missing so many key components, Chelsea surprisingly dominated the early going of the game, barely giving United a sniff of the ball. But, when they got into attacking positions, they had no strikers, and could not score. Had Drogba played the game could have been over in the first thirty minutes. Wright-Phillips burned Silvestre and probably would have set up a goal or two had he played consistent first-team football in the last two years.

United’s goal was against the run of play. Evra, who is an unimpressive left back and an awful left winger, played a lucky pass in between five blue shirts to an unmarked Ryan Giggs, who was standing at the penalty stripe and promptly finished it in the top corner. Even though they scored first, United did not look dangerous in the first half because Ronaldo was not dangerous. Ronaldo disappeared for long portions of the half, only really being a threat in short spurts on the on the left-hand side, working against Glen Johnson instead of Ashley Cole. The only time in the entire first half that Ronaldo really got involved was when he beat Johnson on the left and fired a ball off a Chelsea defender and into the path of Giggs, who would have scored had Petr Cech not dealt with his effort so well. United are reliant on Ronaldo. If a team can nullify his threat, United becomes very average (as Gattuso and AC Milan showed us last year).

Not long after United went ahead, however, Chelsea had drawn level on a good goal by Florent Malouda. Malouda burned Rio Ferdinand and just got enough of the ball with the outside of his left boot to place it just past Van der Sar and into the United goal. The goal came with a price, however, as Malouda injured himself in the collision with Van der Sar and had to be subbed out early in the second half.

After Malouda subbed out, United started to take control of the game. Each side had strong cases for penalties, and neither side got one. Nani subbed in and did nothing. He might take at least a year to adjust to the English game. Lassana Diarra, who had been heavily linked with Arsenal in the past few days, came on for Chelsea and looked good. If he is leaving Stamford Bridge I don’t think it will be to the Gunners, as Chelsea will not be keen to sell such a versatile and talented young player to their London rivals. New signings Steve Sidwell and Claudio Pizarro both came on and were disappointing.

In the end, although United eventually won the trophy on a joke of a penalty shootout, neither squad should really be happy with their performance. Manchester United, given the amount of talent Mourinho had sitting on the sidelines, should have taken this game like Liverpool did a year ago, but they could not get a hold on the game until it was too late. Ben Haim had no problems with Rooney, and O’Shea proved yet again that he is not a central midfielder (still don’t know what the hell Ferguson sees in the guy) as he was non-existent in the United midfield. Michael Essien had a bad game by his standards and still made Michael Carrick disappear. Evra, Silvestre, and Wes Brown all looked second-rate as well; good teams will beat United on the wings and in the center of midfield.

And while Chelsea did look better than United in the first half, they hardly looked great. They controlled possession well, but sorely missed their strikers. When Malouda went off injured and Pizarro came on, they finally had their target man—but Pizarro looked bad and couldn’t really get a good hold on the game, and he did not help their attack at all. Chelsea’s offense was as pathetic as their effort in the penalty shootout, as Pizarro, Lampard, and Wright-Phillips all took terrible penalties that were easily saved by Van der Sar, and United won the trophy.

Arsenal did not look great this weekend, but they looked better than both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Wenger’s boys had a very tough test this weekend, playing at the Amsterdam Arena against Ajax. Ajax played them the same way PSV did in the Champions’ League, putting ten players behind the ball and making Arsenal try to pick them apart. Huntelaar was nullified by Gallas and Toure, who both looked very comfortable in the back. Sagna looked good, and did well to keep up with the very quick Dennis Rommedahl—who subbed in halfway through the first half and took the game by storm. Clichy was fantastic yet again and proved his never-ending motor when he set up Van Perise for the winner after burning several defenders up the left-hand side. Eboue looked good again as a right winger. I am liking him more and more at that position every day. Denilson kept possession well and rarely played a bad ball. Flamini also did well, showing his superior stamina by marking Sneijder very tightly. Rosicky did not look match fit for the second game in a row, and I would not be surprised if he did not start against Fulham on Sunday. Hleb started in the hole, right behind Van Persie and looked good in the attacking third. He tried to dribble out of the back too often and Arsenal nearly paid for it. He has to stop doing that. Van Persie was average in the first half and good—not great—in the second half. He missed a couple chances late in the game, but it was good to see him score even when he wasn’t playing his best. That’s the sign of a great goal scorer. Eduardo subbed in for Rosicky in the second half and made an instant impact. He doesn’t like to sit around and pass around the box, he just wants to score goals. He is a valuable member of the Arsenal first team already, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up scoring a goal on his debut at the Emirates Sunday.

What was most impressive about Arsenal’s performance was that they never really lost control of the game. Even though Ajax was playing a very defensive, physical game, the Gunners did not got flustered. I have to admit I thought they would sink, like they always do against the more physical Boltons and Evertons, especially because they were on the road, but they kept pushing and pushing for the winner and broke down Ajax in the end. Had Stekelenburg not done so well to save Van Persie’s effort late in the second half and if Hoyte’s shot had not cannoned off the post, Arsenal would have won in a blowout. The young Gunners looked ready and eager to prove that there is life after Theirry Henry, and their first test is now only a week away.