44 days
That’s how long it’s been since we played: the 2-0 win at Wolves. We’re going again today, facing West Ham at home, and the big question is how this gap is going to affect us. There are other things at stake, but this unprecedented interruption to our momentum was untimely and looks set to be a great challenge for Mikel Arteta and this team.
You could suggest we’re well rested, well trained and ready to go, and I’d have no argument with that, but it’s really hard to know what we’re going to get. I suppose the same is true for West Ham to some extent, although they might have seen the World Cup break as more opportune – a chance to regroup.
The news from the great team today is the absence of Gabriel Jesus, a key player for us this season, and his replacement up front by Eddie Nketiah. If things had been different in Qatar, we could have been faced with a scenario tonight where the full three forwards are absent, but I guess Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will be playing and that should make things a bit easier.
However, it will be interesting to see how the manager could tweak things. Eddie can do some of what Jesus does, but not all of it, and not (yet) with the quality of touch that the Brazilian brings. Will that mean our game is tweaked slightly to compensate for that? Will there be more responsibility in the wide men to attack the central spaces? Nketiah showed at the end of last season that he can score goals, with 5 in 8 starts, and this is a great opportunity for him. I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to worry about life without Jesus, but let’s hope Eddie can deliver what it takes with a solid supporting cast around him.
The only other question mark might be at the back. William Saliba returned at the end of the World Cup week, so it is not certain if he will play. Arsenal have given everyone who left some time off, and after watching France lose from the bench, he may need to relax a bit and settle back in. If he is not involved, Takehiro Tomiyasu’s fitness should dictate the switch with the Japan international. on the right side and Ben White moving to the center. Otherwise, you will see Rob Holding as a substitute. It’s also quite possible that having not played much in Qatar, Saliba only wants to get back in the saddle on domestic terms, so let’s see later.
Other than that, it’s a home game night over the festive period, spirits need to be high and hopefully that creates a fantastic atmosphere. Fingers crossed we can pick up right where we left off, and with Man City sitting out until Wednesday, it’s a chance to go 8 points clear of them. I suspect they’ll demolish Leeds then, but in the meantime a little extra pressure on our part won’t hurt.
As always, we’ll have live blog coverage of the game for you and all post-game material on Arseblog News. Join us for that.
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In the meantime, there are more comments from the manager in January and what he would like to do, which seems to be to get the player he wants as soon as possible. He says:
We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that’s what we want to do in January. This is idealistic, but sometimes it is not realistic. Obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quickly as possible we want to get the players in.
He also made it clear that it needs to be the right player, not just a warm body to fill the void:
Sure we can afford a striker if we want him, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, League Five, Spain, Portugal or Africa. We can get a striker, I can guarantee it.
But what we cannot afford is to bring a player here who is not for us. This is what we can’t afford, that’s for sure.
I think the personalities have the mentality of wanting to win and we have to focus on that. We have to be very strict with what we have done and the politics we have had for the team to be successful.
Arsenal have done a lot in recent years to rebuild this team, and part of that is a change in recruitment policy. No more short-term thinking, no more making deals that are more beneficial to the players and agents than to the club. The benefits of that have been obvious. Look at this team, look at where it is and how it has the potential to develop further. So any deviation from that now wouldn’t make much sense. Let’s hope our League Five scouts can identify the right player.
Well, that’s all for now. See you later for the game. Come on reds!
