Top of the morning to yall
Its match day finally after the interlull and we get to see some real football being played so am going to get to it. For team news, Diaby was rated 50:50 during Wenger’s pre match press conference on Thursday, while Walcott was to be examined yesterday to see if he has fully recovered from his virus. Apart from those two, there were no other casualties from the lull. Szczesny was also declared fit as fiddle for todays game.
However long term absentees like Wilshere, Sagna, Rosciky and Frimpong were transferred to short term and that's fantastic news. Wilshere, Sagna and Rosciky are really important players to the team and their return is definitely a welcome boost. Wilshere especially has been out for so long and like I said in my last post the usual muscule strain will come but that's for the medical team to manage.
Szczesny’s return does raise a beautiful dilemma for the manager as he has to choose whether to stick with Mannone who has done brilliantly in the last 2 games or go back to his number one. While obviously Szczesny is number one choice for a reason, I think it will be unfair on the Italian to be dropped. He has done the job well and I think Wenger should continue with him for todays game. It will send out a message to the other squad players that if they play well when they are called upon, they would be rewarded with more playing time and hence an increased determination to do well.
The same goes for Mertesacker and Koscielny, while am almost certain that Koscielny would return to the starting line-up, kudos has to go to the BFG for his role in our 3 clean sheets so far this season. his composure, reading of the game and timely challenges (he has had a 100% success rate in his tackles so far) has been excellent, but unlike the goalkeepers, am sure he would still get more playing time as the season progresses.
In midfield, I would love the manager to leave Diaby out completely. Though no team should be underrated in the EPL, I believe Southampton is a team we can beat without Diaby. Moreover it’s because of situations like this that we have a large squad size and am sure we have individuals that can deputise for him. Coquelin has been clamouring for game time recently while Ramsey can also do the job. With champions league game coming up in midweek plus a trip to Citeh next weekend, Diaby would definitely benefit from some rest before those tough list of fixtures. His injury record is not encouraging either so why not toss in Ramsey or Le Coq and see what they can offer.
Giroud has also been the focus of doubting thomases this week and though Koscielny has backed him to end his barren spell, as he hasn’t found the net after 3 games so far, the optimists however have pointed to the long line of Arsenal greats such as Henry and Bergkamp who after 9 and 8 games eventually found their scoring touches both against Southampton and both in mid-September. The omen definitely looks good for Giroud and am sure he will want to follow in that line of Arsenal greats today. And if he doesn't, better luck next time to the dude.
That's about it for now folks, really looking forward to three points, another clean sheet and an Olivier Giroud goal and we would all be merry am sure.
God bless the Arsenal. Iree o
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