I’m Back / Jack The Lad / Man City Preview

Oh dear, oh dear. It’s been a little while, huh?  I won’t offer you excuses.  There’s been no big deadlines, no moving house or getting married.  My dog didn’t even die.

I have just been being lazy.  Sorry.

Catch-Up

A lot of water has passed under a lot of bridges since my last post, we’ve lost to Chelsea despite a spirited performance, we’ve endured the most interminably dull international break in living memory, and in the last week, we’ve come back with wins against Birmingham and Shakhtar.

Injuries have been a constant irritation, Vermaelen’s achilles, Cesc’s hamstring, and van Persie’s continued inability to not break meant we’ve been missing the whole spine of the team.  Guys like Squillaci, Chamakh and most notably Wilshere, who weren’t here last season have come in and covered for those stars admirably.

The emergence of Wilshere has been nothing short of remarkable.  After his usual pre-season outings in the Emirates Cup, I don’t think anyone expected to be see much more of him in the first team this year.  Injuries to Ramsey, Denilson, Nasri, Cesc, and Diaby (apologies to any I’ve missed out) gave Wenger no choice but to start him, and I think even the manager will have been surprised how well that’s worked out.

Watching Jack play is a delight, I can’t help but tell anyone watching with me what a joy it is.  His vision, touch and movement are all first class, even if his tackling is still a bit off.  His goal against Shakhtar was the most fun I’ve had watching Arsenal for some time.

I just hope there are many more with his quality coming through the Academy.

New Direction

So I’ve been thinking about my coverage of games, previewing and reporting on them.  Til now I haven’t done anything to make my coverage different tall all the other Arsenal blogs out there, many of whom who do it far better and more consistently than I can.

Instead, I want to provide something a bit more in depth, a bit meatier.  I’m planning to take a more tactical, analytical approach to our games.  I’m a spreadsheet nerd so I record a lot of information about our games anyway, and I can use that, and the Guardian’s wonderful Chalkboards facility to bring you a little more insight.

Manchester City Preview

So, Manchester City at the Eastlands, a trip that hasn’t brought much success in recent seasons, we lost there 3-0 in the wake of Gallasgate a couple of seasons back, then 4-2 last time including Adebayor’s stamp on van Persie, and running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of our away support.  And last season’s Carling Cup adventure was prematurely ended there too.

Few happy memories then, but what to expect this time?  Mancini generally sets out a disciplined team, to not lose the first half and win the second.  So don’t expect them to come blasting out of the blocks at us.

de Jong Patrols Half Way Line

They aren’t any more expensive at home than they are away, Nigel de Jong sits deep when they don’t have possession and patrols between the half-way line and the edge of their D.  He hasn’t attempted a single tackle in the opponents half at Eastlands this Premier League season.

He can do that of course because he knows Yaya Toure is  deployed further forward, and they have the awesome energy of Carlos Tevez up front chasing loose balls and winning possession in dangerous areas.

Tevez will be looking to extend his impressive goalscoring run, having netted in 18 of their last 19 victories.  He is the man to keep quiet, but there will also likely be David Silva and Adam Johnson on the flanks, who can both go outside or cut in and shoot.

Our fullbacks, probably Clichy and the returning Sagna will both have a busy afternoon, keeping their man quiet and breaking forward when the opportunity arises.

For us going forward, we are going to come up against a wall of giant defenders and shielding midfielders.  Much like at Chelsea, we have the game to pass around and through them, we must simply take our chances when they arrive.

With Cesc back we have the most gifted unlocker of a defence in the world, but we need finishers too.  In our last two league games we have taken 36 shots at goal, only a third (12) were on target, and only two went in.  That is a ratio that has to improve tomorrow if we want to leave with three points.