Hello all,

So tomorrow we head off to the Midlands for yet another must-win game. And I think that is how we have to take this season really if we want to have any chance of winning. Just take it one game at a time, one win after the other hopefully. But this game is definitely one that we have to win. We have dropped far too many points against weaker clubs this season and that has to stop. Going by form, this shouldn't be a diufficult match, Boro have picked up just 1 point in their last two games, and we have gathered all 6. Hopefully tomorrow's performance will be slightly more inspired than the one against Wigan, however, in our current position, a win will suffice.

After the loss to Porto in midweek, we should be getting 4 or 5 players back. Hopefully all of them are fit to play because we will still need to play well, even if Boro are just 5 points from relegation. That is the one thing that we must not remind ourselves of. We CANNOT allow ourselves to play complacent football just because we're playing against a weaker team. It must be 100% from the off, and hopefully this is what we'll get. As long as we play motivated, enthusiastic football, we will win, comfortably. So hopefully Fabregas will be fit so he can extend his undefeated run as captain. I expect/hope Wenger will opt for a 4-4-2 formation, it really is our strongest although it is a little risky in an away game. But as I said we have to be focussed and attack-minded, so a 4-4-2 is necessary. So on that, I think the team will look like this: 

                                                      Almunia

          Sagna(if fit)               Silvestre                Djourou                 Clichy

          Ramsey                     Denilson                Cesc                Diaby/Vela

                                           van Persie             Adebayor

I really have no idea what Wenger will do for the wings, because, quite franky, we're fucked in those areas. It looks like we may be lining up 4 central midfielders across the middle of the pitch. Still no news as far as I'm aware on Gallas, so hopefully we Djourou will come in to central defence. Toure is out again unfortunately with his calf. Samir Nasri is also due back in two weeks apparently, so this means we will effectively we without any wingers whatsoever for the Liverpool game. But me may well have Eduardo back for that game after his warm-up with the reserves on the 16th of December. I think though, even with the lack of power on the flanks, we should have too much for Boro and should be looking at a 3rd straight win, something we've been without for a while. I think probably Boro 1 - Arsenal 3.

News from the other camp then, and it looks like they will probably try and push Aliadiere up on the flanks as he is their key player. They are fortunately without both their usual full-backs, which should give our make-shift flanks some chance. Afonso Alves and Stewart Downing are probably the other players to look out for, but I can't really see them posing too much of a threat. While this should be an easily winnable game, both Boro and us have had thorough incosistency in our seasons so there is the chance that this could go either way, and for Arsenal to prove they really have turned the corner, I think we need 6 points out of 6 for the next two games. So hopefully the run of form for both clubs continues and we can look ahead to the game against Liverpool with a 4th straight win in our sights.  

Oh and one last thing. The champions league draw for the next round will be held on December 19, and I am actually happy now that we finished 2nd. We can be drawn against Roma, Panathinaikos, Barcelona, Bayern or Juventus. And if we had finished first we could be facing Inter, Sporting Lisbon, Athletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Villareal or Lyon. So as long as don't draw Barca we should be fine.

Enjoy the game and keep the faith, 

Asian Arsenal. 

Hello all,

I apologise for the abscence of a post on the blog yesterday, there really was just absolutely no news on Arsenal. Fortunately, I have some here for you today.

I'll start with the brilliant piece of news first. Eduardo is apparently due to return to football imminently. I would say that Wenger will probably bring him back for the home game against Liverpool, so the fans can give him a grand welcome back into the football world. His return should provide alot more options at the front, and with Eduardo's clinical finishing, we should see a bit less profligacy in our chances. I think also he will be a good new spark into the team, and hopefully he will be a bit more consistent than any of our current strikers. 

The other bits of news from the same link are for the game at Wigan. Toure is finally back, as is Djourou. Gallas is out, and it may well be now that Toure's back, we won't see Gallas play another game for Arsenal. Wishful thinking, but maybe. I should expect a combination of Toure and Djourou would work very well at the back, and i would be excited to see Wenger play it. 

And one last bit of good news to end the post: Fabregas has (once again) pledged his future to Arsenal. I know that we see this all the time and it probably doesn't mean anything long term, however it is always comforting to have your start player come out and say that he wants to play for your club. 

Have a marvellous day and keep the faith,

Asian Arsenal. 

Hello all,

A good win then in the Champions League qualifies us for the knockout round with one game to spare against Porto. Should we beat them we will finish top of the group and thus better seeded for the next round. All-in-all not a great game but a good three points and I think that this may be how we have to tough it out at the moment with the current injury crisis and a lack of creativity. The game was fairly even throughout and Cesc had a good first game as captain, giving a great assist to allow Bendtner to score a late winner. Not exactly vintage Arsenal but still a win's a win. It gears us up also for this weekend's clash at the bridge. And maybe THIS will be the beginning of a new page in Arsenal's book. I know we have been saying this all season, but maybe just maybe. Anyway, now that we're qualified we should be able to give the youngsters some first team experience in Europe and concentrate more on the league and maybe build up a title challenge. Unlikely again, but possible.

Any, that's it for today, have a nice day and keep the faith, 

Asian Arsenal.

Hello all,

Today a look forward to the Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev. In our previous encounter we grabbed a late point, but I feel the home match should be a little simpler. Also, just moments after my post yesterday, Arsenal released this headline. And so it would seem that we will not be pouring all of our players into Europe and Wenger still believes, at least superficially, that we have a chance at the title. Anyway, Kyiv sit just 3 points behind us in the group and a win for them and Porto could compromise our qualification, although we would still probably be ahead on goal difference. A win on the other hand would see us qualify and then we could possibly start playing some youngsters and give them some good first team experience against Porto. 

We would normally go with our 4-5-1 in Europe, but now Diaby and Nasri are both out so I'd expect to see something like this:

                                      Almunia

Traore                   Gallas         Silvestre               Clichy

Ramsey                 Cesc          Denilson             Wilshere

                          Adebayor       van Persie

Sorry, I have absolutely no idea who will be playing on the wings with the vast majority of our wingers out, maybe we will see van Persi slot in on the left and Bendtner come in up the front. It will be interesting to see how Cesc handles his first game as Captain, and while it is a big ask of the young lad with so much else to do already, I think he will step up to the challenge. His motivation and enthusiasm will hopefully breathe life into the rest of the team and we may well see a much more spirited performance than under the horror days of Gallas. Unfortunately Wenger has decided to play Gallas in the squad, and it's understandable, however it would have been nice if were able to not play him and just offload him in the new year, hopefully we'll still be able to do the latter. Personally i would like to see Djourou playing ahead of Gallas, as he is just the kind of defender that we need. So we might see maybe 15-25 minutes of him against Kyiv and let's hope that there's much more to come. So all-in-all it should be a fairly comfortable win and a great place for Cesc to start his captaincy ahead of the tricky fixture against Chelski. 

Anyway have a good match and keep the faith,

Asian Arsenal.

Hello all,

just a quick update for you, its seems Wenger has done the right thing and made Cesc Captain, I expect that the team will play much better under his guidance and he should take it all in his stride. Full story at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fabregas-the-captaincy-is-a-great-honour. 

Good day, and keep the faith,

Asian Arsenal.