These are comments made by Arsene Wenger on the eve of today’s clash with Blackburn at Ewood Park:

“For us it will be important that we are strong in the air because they favour that style. They have Paul Robinson who kicks the ball very long and they have long throws too. It’s important in England if you want to win the title that you deal with all this.”

Blackburn away is a fixture that more likely sits on the difficult end of the nuts and bolts of the English Premier League, so a win today could be viewed as both necessary to our title challenge and a particularly good result.

For the first time in a long time the injury and team news going into this game is positive: Laurent Koscielny is back from suspension, Denilson is fit enough to start and there are no new injuries to worry about.

The return of Koscielny should see a little reshuffle in the team: the Frenchman will slip in alongside Thomas Vermaelen at the back, pushing Alex Song into the defensive midfield position.

As a result, one of Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky will make way, while Cesc Fabregas should continue his gradual integration to the season on the bench.

Further forward the options are excellent: Theo Walcott should be rewarded for his blistering performance against Blackpool with another start while Marouane Chamakh and Andrey Arshavin are likely to complete the front three.

For me the key to this game will be our boys ability to absorb the physical battle and create the space for the creative players to pierce Blackburn’s defence.

It has been quite some time since we’ve been able to play a spine as physically-imposing as Almunia, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Song, Diaby and Chamakh and I believe they will stand up well to the task at hand.

I’m really looking forward to this game. It will be a good test for this team and a good indication of where they are at this stage of the season.

As such, three points would be a great result.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal’s trip to Blackburn by leaving a comment.

On paper, Blackpool at home is the easiest fixture that Arsenal will play this season.

But after the Tangerines’ surprising 4-0 win away to Wigan on the opening day they will be feeling a sense of “euphoria”, as Arsene Wenger has put it, and may play with a dangerous lack of doubt at The Emirates.

In saying that, there should be no excuses here for Arsenal: they should win their first game of the season today.

I believe the team will be fairly predictable.

Under-pressure Manuel Almunia will start in goals behind a back-four of Bacary Sagna, Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen and Gael Clichy.

Alex Song will return to improve a likely midfield trio completed by Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere while Marouane Chamakh will again lead the line with support from Andrey Arshavin and either Emmanuel Eboue or Theo Walcott.

Personally I am excited by the return of Djourou, a player I see as the second-best central defender in our team and the long-term partner for Vermaelen, and hope he can put in a calm and assured performance in his first start in 15 months.

Samir Nasri’s knee injury should give Wilshere a chance to improve on a difficult league debut at Anfield while Song’s return to the team will provide security and allow Diaby to push forward into the areas where he is most effective.

One player I am expecting more from in this game is Arshavin.

The Russian was absolutely non-existent against Liverpool but is the sort of player that can kill smaller teams and make games like this a lot more comfortable than they often are.

I’ll be watching this one with a host of Gunners at The Oscar Wilde in Berlin and hoping for a first win of the season.

Wherever you are in the world, enjoy the game, and COME ON ARSENAL!

Have your say on Arsenal v Blackpool by leaving a comment.

The big question for Arsenal fans going into the opening game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield is: what is a good result?

Historically this a fixture where a draw would be considered acceptable, yet this assessment is complicated by the poor showing Liverpool gave last season and the pre-season injury crisis that threatens to derail the early part of our season.

In the end, those two factors just about cancel each other out and the same desired conclusion remains: a draw at Anfield on the opening day of the season would be a successful start for our boys.

One wonders, however, whether the stability and balance in the team going into this game will be strong enough to achieve such a result.

The injury list is already up to five with Nicklas Bendtner, Johan Djourou, Alex Song and Denilson joining long-term absentee Aaron Ramsey in the treatment room.

Abou Diaby faces a late fitness test – but should be fine to play – whilst Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie will likely start on the bench after extended post-World Cup rests.

The absentees mean Laurent Koscielny will make his Arsenal debut alongside Thomas Vermaelen in the centre of defence, flanked by Bacary Sagna on the right and Gael Clichy on the left.

The midfield is slightly more complicated, however, and hinges on the availability of Diaby.

Should the Frenchman be passed fit then I believe he will play as the holding midfielder with Samir Nasri in the Fabregas role and one of Tomas Rosicky, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere or Emmanuel Eboue as the other midfielder.

My personal choice would be Eboue, who actually started last season’s opener against West Bromwich Albion as the holding midfielder, to add some steel and experience to what will be the most important area of the pitch.

Up front the options are excellent.

Marouane Chamakh will lead the attack from the centre with support from Andrey Arshavin on the left and Theo Walcott on the right.

As someone who has remained relatively blind to the pre-season happenings at Arsenal I am extremely excited to see Chamakh play tomorrow and really hope he can mark his debut with a strong performance and more importantly, a goal.

The final position to be decided for the game is that of the goalkeeper.

Arsene Wenger has remained extremely tight-lipped about his choice for the weekend, stating that it will be a good opportunity for whoever he selects to impress.

My only real thought on this is that I hope it is neither Lukasz Fabianski nor Vito Mannone, but one of Manuel Almunia or Wojciech Szczęsny, in order to promote some positivity in what has been a troublesome area of the pitch thus far.

As I mentioned at the start of the piece, I feel a draw away at Liverpool, one of the top six clubs in England, would be a terrific result for Arsenal under the circumstances.

A win, on the other hand, would be a marvelous start.

Have your say on Arsenal v Livepool by leaving a comment.

I really can’t believe it’s the last game of the season today.

It’s been quite an exhausting season from a personal point of view. So many late nights, so many stressful matches and so much emotion in the posts and comments on the blog. I make no bones about the fact that I am a little bit drained and in many ways I’m happy to see the curtain fall on the 2009/10 season.

In saying that, Arsenal is Arsenal and I’m going to miss cheering on the boys for the next three months. The World Cup will certainly help but hoping for Cesc Fabregas to do well for Spain is not quite the same as watching Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky pile on top of Abou Diaby after he scores a winner against Liverpool.

That we have to get a result today today to guarantee third is little disappointing: but with Fulham likely to field a reserve team on the eve of the Europa Cup Final in Hamburg, that is what we should finish. A loss coupled with a Spurs win would see the unthinkable sight of our North London rivals finishing above us, so motivation should be high in the camp to ensure that does not happen.

Options are limited with a host of players still sitting in the injury room. This paragraph – taken directly from the Arsenal website – sums it all up:

“A raft of injuries just add to the feeling that Arsenal are limping over the line to third place. Cesc Fabregas (knee), William Gallas (calf), Thomas Vermaelen (calf), Denilson (groin), Manuel Almunia (wrist) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) were out well before Monday’s trip to Blackburn. Tomas Rosicky (ankle), Alex Song (knee), Nicklas Bendtner (groin) and Gael Clichy (ankle) dropped out before the game. Only the last of those has any chance for Sunday. Wenger’s squad is stretched to the point that he may bring in midfielder Henri Lansbury after he completed a successful loan spell at Watford last week.”

My younger brother Patrick was lucky enough to score tickets to the game (thanks to the kindness of Guardian journalist Amy Lawrence) so I’m hoping he and the rest of the 60,000 strong crowd at The Emirates are rewarded with the right result today.

Let’s hope the boys can finish things off on a good note.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal v Fulham by leaving a comment.

It’s Blackburn on Monday night in the second last game of the Premier League season.

We need a point in our last two games to guarantee third place. We’ll hear the team news over the next day or so but in my opinion if Alex Song is present in the starting team then we will get that point at Ewood Park.

If last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Manchester City is any indication then this could be a boring game. Both sides have little to play for, Blackburn are hardly an excitement machine at the best of times while we are of course missing many key players.

In saying that I do hope the boys put on a show, if only for the small contingent of Gooners heading north on a Monday night to cheer the boys on. One of those will by my brother Patrick who just arrived in England last week and is making the trip to Ewood Park for his first ever Arsenal experience.

6-5 would do nicely for him, I should think.

Away from the Blackburn game and Arsene Wenger has been speaking about this season’s defensive performance, in the process hinting as his plans for the next.

The manager has stated that despite our excellent goalscoring record we have conceded far too many at the wrong end this season, a sentiment that would be shared by nearly every Arsenal supporter. He also stated that should William Gallas not extend his contract this season, he will sign a new centre-back. He touched on the Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre situations and indicated that while the Frenchman is likely to finish up his contract with the club, if Campbell goes he will also need to be replaced.

In an ideal world I would like to see both Gallas and Campbell stay, the first-choice partnership of Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen continued with Johan Djourou giving an extra season to recover fully from his injury and gradually move to the first-choice position. Should Gallas go then I feel we will need to sign a player of starting team quality, who will give Djourou competition for the second starting position but also has enough experience to make up for the outgoing Gallas.

Just a quick one on Djourou: he is a player that I was expecting to break through in a big way this season but for obvious reasons he hasn’t been able to do that. I think people have forgotten just a bit about what he is capable of bringing to the team with his height and calmness on the ball and if he can steer clear of injury next season then he has the ability to form a complimentary partnership with the shorter, more aggressive Vermaelen.

I am extremely excited to see how things go for next season, just as I was at the start of this season before he damaged his knee.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal v Blackburn or the defensive situation by leaving a comment.

It’s Manchester City tomorrow and what an interesting game it looks to be.

City are chasing fourth in the league, we have work to do to ensure we finish third in the league while Emmanuel Adebayor returns to The Emirates for the first time since his move to Manchester.

Long-time readers of the blog will know that I once classed Adebayor as my favourite player. I backed him up when others talked him down and when he made the move to City, it really impacted on me as a football supporter.

If Dennis Bergkamp was the one who got me interested in women and Freddie Ljungberg was my first true love, then Adebayor was the first girl who broke my heart, who really messed me over. The one who made me wake up and realise that I was naive, that the football world could be harsh and that my judgment wasn’t as perfect as I thought.

As if to drive home my feeling when he played Arsenal earlier in the season he had a dig at Cesc Fabregas, stamped on van Persie’s head and raced the entire length of the pitch to celebrate in front of and aggravate our supporters. I will never forget Adebayor for these actions and whatever team he plays in, for the rest of his career, I will always cheer against him.

I want nothing more than to beat van Persie and City tomorrow, but the problem is that we are still missing a lot of good players.

A quick look at Arsene Wenger’s comments from the press conference suggests that we will playing an identical team to the one that lost at Wigan, with only Alex Song a chance to return from the injury list. The manager also calls Johan Djourou “a little chance” to feature but it will essentially be the same side that crumbled so badly last week.

Whether we can win tomorrow or not I really don’t know. But in front of the home crowd, with the Adebayor business on everybody’s mind I will be absolutely furious if our players don’t give it their all tomorrow afternoon.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal’s clash with City by leaving a comment.

Chelsea’s narrow victory over Bolton, achieved in part thanks to two remarkable penalty denials, ensured the North London Derby remains a must-win game for Arsenal.

Two fascinating returns provide the talking points for this game: Sol Campbell to White Hart Lane and Robin van Persie from a sustained injury lay-off.

Campbell is bound to get a ferocious reception at White Hart Lane, just as he has received every time since defecting from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2001. That he is back in an Arsenal shirt, rather than a Portsmouth one, will give the fans even more incentive to scream abuse. He will take his place in the starting team alongside Thomas Vermaelen and it will be interesting to see how the Englishman handles the atmosphere.

Van Persie’s presence in the squad, meanwhile, is in many ways just as improbable as Campbell’s return. Given that ligament damage has seen a five-month injury absence ruin his season and reports suggested he might not make it back before the end of May, it is a shock to see him available so soon. With Nicklas Bendtner in good form and scoring goals there is no need to rush van Persie into the starting team, yet his presence in the matchday squad will provide both a psychological boost and some genuine depth from the bench.

I expect the same team that lost heavily to Barcelona to start this game, with the exception of Campbell for Mikael Silvestre and perhaps Emmanuel Eboue for Theo Walcott. Once again Samir Nasri will need to provide the spark in the creative midfield roll and Denilson and Abou Diaby will provide protection for the back four in Alex Song’s continued absence.

With Spurs chasing fourth spot and our boys chasing the title, both teams have much to play for. I expect the match to be fiercely contested although I do expect the contrasting preparations of the clubs – Tottenham played a gruelling extra-time FA Cup semi-final on Sunday while Arsenal have had an eight-day break since the trip to Barcelona – to make a difference as the game wears on. Indeed, late goals look likely.

The title race will effectively be over if our boys fail to beat Spurs tonight and it is that incentive that needs to drive our performance. There are no excuses for a lack of effort at this stage of the season, regardless of how many people lay prone in the injury treatment room, and our young team must give every ounce of their energy towards keeping us in with a shot at the title for as long as possible.

It’s hard not to be excited about tonight’s game and three points would do nicely.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal’s trip to Spurs by leaving a comment.

Had it not been for Nicklas Bendtner’s league-saving goal against Wolves on Saturday I would be feeling very differently about our chances against Barcelona than I do right now.

As it is that late goal has kept us in the league and made the Champions League something of a bonus in the grand scheme of things, providing the sort of confidence boost that can make obstacles such as the paucity of first-choice options feel more like a bump than a block in the road.

Make no mistake: Bendtner’s goal has given our players a chance that they may thought they were not going to get and the psychological implications of that could be massive.

Barcelona will be confident after scoring two away goals but disappointed that they couldn’t come away from London with a win after dominating the first half. They will be missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic through injury, both Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique through suspension while Andres Iniesta, Yaya Toure and Jeffren are all unlikely to start (according to Barcelona Football Blog).

While we knew we would have to do without Andrey Arshavin, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas (and a host of other long-termers) after last week’s match, the bad news is that Tomas Rosicky and Sol Campbell have question marks over their involvement while Alex Song, crucially, is out after sustaining damage to his knee cartilage.

The quality in that list is scarily good and it means a number of fringe players have no choice but to step up and play the game of their lives if we are to pull off an unlikely win.

Manuel Almunia will captain the side from goals, protected by a back four containing Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy, who were both rested on the weekend in anticipation of this game, as well as Thomas Vermaelen and most likely a tired Campbell.

Samir Nasri has a huge part to play in tonight’s game as the direct replacement for Cesc as the team’s creative outlet. He will receive support from Abou Diaby, who struggled in the first leg and Denilson, who impressed after coming on with his neat passing and ability to maintain possession.

Meanwhile up front Bendtner will lead the line with support from any two of Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Eboue, Tomas Rosicky or Eduardo. Given that Rosicky is rated as 50:50, Eduardo looks out of form and Eboue was substituted you have to think the starting pair will be Walcott and Eboue.

It is virtually impossible to predict what will happen tonight there is no excuse for our players not to put in absolutely everything they’ve got into beating Barcelona. There is a full eight-day break between this match and the North London Derby against Spurs and that means there will be more than enough time for the players involved to be fresh for that game too.

It is interesting to consider that while we have eight days off before our next match, Barcelona have a massive game at The Bernabeu against Madrid on the weekend. As professional an outfit as Barcelona are, there’s no doubting that Pep Guardiola will have his eye on Madrid and that could certainly work in our favour.

What is for certain is that if our boys can pull off a winning result tonight then this game will go down in Arsenal folklore. An epic night of football awaits.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal v Barcelona by leaving a comment.

Arsenal versus Barcelona is almost upon us and the word ‘excitement’ just doesn’t do justice to how I am feeling.

Like Arsene Wenger I feel this tie has the ability to produce something special. So special, in fact, that we might indeed still be talking about it in 10 years time.

Barcelona will go in as deservedly clear favourites on account of their terrific success last season and the fact that they possess the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, in their ranks. But that’s not to say we don’t have a very good shot at upsetting the Spanish team.

An epic tie like this deserves and epic preview and that’s just what I’ve got for you today.

In it I outline the teams that I expect to step out at The Emirates on Wednesday night as well as the approach I expect us to take in a bid to knock out Barcelona and progress to our second consecutive Champions League semi-final.

The Teams

Barcelona are not the Champions of Europe and the World for no reason and they will field an exceptionally strong team against us on Wednesday.

Both Messi and Arsenal old-boy Thierry Henry were rested for Barca’s weekend win over Mallorca and I expect both to start against us.

Eric Abidal and Gerard Pique have both recovered from injury to take their place in the squad, although I expect Pep Guardiola to plump for constancy and play Gabriel Milito alongside Carlos Puyol in the centre and Maxwell on the left of defence instead. Dani Alves will of course start at right-back.

The injury to Andres Iniesta means that Xavi should slot back into the side along the more physical Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita. Sergio Busquets is an option but Guardiola has a history of playing both Toure and Keita away from home in the Champions League to give the defence more support.

Up front Messi will start on the right side of a three-pronged attack that will also include Zlatan Imbrahimovic and that man Henry. Messi will of course float into the central areas, leaving Alves space to get down the right and much of our ability to stop Barcelona will come down to our ability to prevent Messi from having too much influence on the game.

The man who has the most important roll in preventing Messi’s influence will be Alex Song, who will surely return to his favoured position at defensive midfield. He will sit in front of a goalkeeper and four-man defence that will feature Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy, Thomas Vermaelen, Sol Campbell and either Bacary Sagna or Emmanuel Eboue on the right.

Eboue has been in excellent form of late and the manager’s decision to leave him out of Saturday’s team completely suggests to me that he will start on Wednesday. Whether it is at right-back to counter Henry or on the wing to allow us a counter-attacking outlet and the ability to punish Barcelona’s weak spots (more on that later) I’m not sure, but I do feel he will start.

The official line from the manager is that Cesc is still a risk to miss out of this game but I can’t help feel this is nothing but mind games from Wenger. It would take something monumental to force Cesc to miss this game and I don’t think a bruised knee will be it. I expect him to play alongside Song and Abou Diaby in the middle.

Up front Nicklas Bendtner’s physical presence makes him a certainty while Andrey Arshavin will provide him support on one of the wings. Arshavin has a delightful habit of stepping up in the big games and he and Bendtner will need to have both excellent games and their shooting boots on if we are to come away with a win.

The final place should be taken by one of Eboue, as I mentioned earlier, or Samir Nasri who has scored excellent goals in the last three matches.

The Approach

Wenger’s line will undoubtedly be for us to go out and play our natural game. But with an outstanding opponent it is absolutely vital that we play to our strengths and attempt to exploit the few weaknesses that Barcelona has.

Barcelona’s strongest weapon is obviously Messi drifting in from the right and with that in mind I feel Song needs to focus more on protecting Clichy and Vermaelen a little more than Campbell and whoever plays at right-back. The argument against this is that Messi could simply move the ball on quickly and allow Barcelona to attack down the left but if you ask me, I’d feel much more comfortable shutting down the right channel and letting Henry and Maxwell to run at us than Messi and Alves.

Tactically I also feel Eboue could be used in a specialist role to minimise the effectiveness of Alves on the right. Arshavin is hardly the fittest nor the most defensive player in our team and I wouldn’t mind seeing him given a go at Maxwell on the right, shifting Eboue on the left. Not only would Eboue’s athleticism nullify that of Alves but his pace would also give us a tremendous counter-attacking outlet that would force the Brazilian to sit a little deeper than perhaps he would like.

Question marks have been raised about Campbell’s lack of pace but the reality of the situation is that most of Sol’s work will come via the physical battles with Imbrahimovic, leaving Vermaelen to do a lot of the cleaning up on the ground. As long as Song gives Vermaelen the support required which, when you look at his season so far, seems highly likely I feel we have the ability to keep Barcelona from scoring or at the very least, preventing them from scoring more than we can cope with.

Both teams will get a lot of the ball at times and it’s important that we maintain our discipline when we don’t have it and ensure that we take our chances when we do. I mentioned earlier that Bendtner and Arshavin have struggled for consistency in front of goal recently but they have to take their chances on Wednesday or we face the risk of wondering what might have been.

For all of the tactical analysis the first leg will come down to how well we apply ourselves, our ability to avoid making the sort of silly defensive errors that have plagued our season and our forward players taking their chances.

Oh and watch out for Diaby. He was absolutely tremendous against Birmingham on the weekend and could be devastating if Barcelona on give him too much room to manouevre in midfield. With everybody focusing on Cesc I feel he could be the key man with regards to taking a vital lead into the return leg.

The Result

In my opinion we simply must win on Wednesday to stand any chance of progressing in this tie. While I don’t think it is impossible for us to get a result at the Camp Nou anything less than a first-leg lead would have us as massive outsiders to progress.

Obviously in these sorts of games avoiding concession of an away goal is of vital importance. But I honestly can’t see that happening and with that in mind I would be extremely satisfied with a 2-1 or even a 3-2 win at The Emirates.

It might pay to be a little cautious in the hope of getting a 1-0 result but with Wenger predicting this to be one of the best contests in recent history because of the quality of football on display, I just can’t see that happening.

Conclusion

When the draw was made I said this was the ultimate tie for Arsenal because it gave us the unique psychological advantage of being able to go in as underdogs. If we lose against Barcelona it will be disappointing but in many ways expected, but a memorable victory could give us the belief to push on and win the silverware that everybody at the club has been craving for five years.

To expect this Arsenal side to beat Barcelona over two legs is too much, in my opinion. But at this stage of the competition anybody can beat anybody and if our boys put in a performance full of heart and can play near their technical best then we could well be celebrating a semi-final spot in just over a week’s time.

A win at The Emirates on Wednesday would bring that opportunity just a little closer.

I’ll have some last-minute news in tomorrow’s blog but in the meantime, let me know your thoughts on Arsenal v Barcelona by leaving a comment.

Last week it was eight. Now we’re down to seven.

Birmingham and a trip to St Andrew’s are next in line as our boys continue their pursuit of a most unlikely league title.

The last time we played here was over two years ago. Eduardo had his leg broken, Theo Walcott scored two goals and James McFadden scored a late equaliser to spark the beginning of the end of our title hopes. In short, it wasn’t the best day for the Arsenal.

Two things stand in our way of achieving a seventh straight league win: the suspension to Thomas Vermaelen and Birmingham’s terrific home record.

Birmingham have proven extremely difficult to beat at St Andrew’s, losing just two of their fifteen home games. They have conceded just 10 goals in those games and have not been beaten by any of Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City, the four other teams that make up the current top five in the Premiership.

I don’t feel there is a risk of us losing to Birmingham tomorrow, particularly with our excellent recent form, but problems will emerge if we don’t move the ball around quickly enough. They like to sit deep and remain as organised and structured as possible so it will be up to everyone in our team to keep the ball moving, ensure our movement off the ball is good to punish whatever space we can find.

As I mentioned earlier, Vermaelen’s absence through suspension leaves Arsene Wenger with a decision to make at the back and in the middle of the pitch. The word from the manager is that Sol Campbell will play, even with the Barcelona tie just four days later, which means he will partner either Mikael Silvestre or Alex Song at the back.

Song is probably the better option, however shifting him to the centre of defence would force some structural changes to the side which will be most unwelcome with Barcelona up so soon. Would Wenger want the team shuffling about or will he prefer leaving Song where he is? We’ll soon see.

The rest of the defence picks itself: Manuel Almunia in goals and Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy on the wings, while Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby should support either Denilson or Song in the middle of the park. Nicklas Bendtner will start up front after resting a twisted ankle all week and should receive support from Andrey Arshavin and one of Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott or Emmanuel Eboue on the right.

Once again, all that matters tomorrow is the three points. Get them and we can take on Barcelona in high spirits. Fail and winning the league title becomes a very difficult thing indeed.

Thoughts?

PS. Please support my new project, Football Nomad. Cheers!

Have your say on Arsenal’s trip to Birmingham by leaving a comment.