Oktoberfest

Introduction

I am posting this right after the Swansea game, and given our win yesterday, we are up to 25 points for the season from 11 games. These are my 5 thoughts for October

Champions League 

1. The disaster at home against Olympiakos was just that, a disaster. Our rotation policy should probably be tweaked as it clearly showed that all players need some games under their belt, to perform their roles and cannot be treated as plug and play machines. While its probably easy to point the finger at Ospina, I believe that the team overall was very poor and we have dug ourselves a hole which we will find difficult to get out off. 
2. The game against the Munchies. What a game and what a result. The team displayed great attributes like discipline in defending, quick responses on the break, ability to modify our tactical game plan in-game were all tremendously satisfying to see. We gave up a lot of possession and territory, but created the more dangerous chances and were deserving winners on the night. 



Munching away

3. There seems to be a school of thought that getting knocked out at the group stages would improve our chances of winning the EPL title as with no midweek games in the Spring, we would be able to focus all our attention on the Premier League and afford players proper rest. However a club like Arsenal which has lofty ambitions for itself can never ever take a defeatist attitude, no matter how pragmatic it sounds.

Premier League

1. Just as September ended with that awful loss to Olympiacos, we started October off with a bang by thrashing ManUre at home. Boy did we love that, we started like a train on fire, I think in the first 12 minutes we had 75% of the possession, after which we basically handed ManUre the ball and encouraged them to find a way through our defense and tried to hit them on the break. Once we were 3-0 up in the 19^th minute, it was game over and while the possession after that was with ManUre, they just did not have a cutting edge. The 2 times they actually got into dangerous areas, once each through Martial and Schweini, Cech was immense and protected his clean sheet. 

   

   ManUre washed away

2. The interlull was dangerous as there was a danger of it stalling our momentum, and we had the prospect a potentially tough game away to Watford, who had one of the best defensive records till that point in time. They were extremely physical, pressed us very well and did not allows us space and time on the ball, all in all a team which has given us time on the ball. Here the maturity of the team kicked in, we defended adequately went in to half time at 0-0 and once Watford tired hit them 3 times in quick succession to get the 3 points. 
3. The home game at Everton went more or less to expectation and past form, since we had not lost to Everton at home in the Premier League era. We dominated the 1^st half, scored 2 goals quickly and then conceded unluckily through a massive deflection. Everton were dangerous but some great goalkeeping and reasonable defending helped us see the game out. 

   

   Keeping a grip

4. Our next League game was away to Swansea City. Another tough game since we had lost both games to them last season and a venue we have typically stumbled at. Moreover we were coming off the back an exit in the league cup vs Sheffield Wednesday after a poor performance, with the injury list mounting and a further defeat could have stalled momentum. We played very poorly in the 1^st half and the team seemed a little timid almost as if we did not wish to add to the injury list and Swansea did not take their chances. We rode our luck in the 1^st half, regrouped in the 2^nd half and came out of the blocks quickly, and goals from Giroud, Koscielny and a 1^st Premier League goal in his 1^st start for Joel Campbell got us 3 points plus another clean sheet. The new normal for Arsenal. 

League Cup

A game away to the Sheffield Wednesday brought us quickly back down to earth after a thrilling week filled with 3 victories. While I don’t think that either the club or the fans were terribly upset with going out of the competition, the game was disastrous for a number of reasons

• We lost to a championship team and we should have found a way to win irrespective of the circumstances. Winners always do. 
• It stopped our winning momentum after 3 consecutive wins on the trot.
• The Ox and Walcott were injured during the game and ruled out for the next 2 weeks. 
• It showed the rustiness of our bench and Debuchy and Flamini had particularly poor games. While going out of the tournament itself is not terrible, it would have provided our bench an opportunity for games and kept them involved in our overall scheme and given them some match time. 
• While the 4 youngsters who played were probably the 2^nd string of our youth team, with most of the better players either involved in the U-19 world cup or were on loan elsewhere, it showed that they were not yet up to the level of even a championship team. 

State of the Squad 

Groundhog Day

1. Challenge for the BPL title – I had predicted roughly 2.2 points per game would be the minimum required to challenge for the title. We are at 25 points from 11 games, exactly where we want to be (maybe a shortage of roughly 1-2 points). 3 wins in the next 3 games will get us there, so I think we are ok. Being in the title race means keeping in touch with the leaders and we are in 2^nd place off ManShitty based only on goal difference. Keep the Faith!!! 
2. Injury Status – We are now in Groundhog Day as far as injuries are concerned. Long term absentees like Welbeck, Rosiscky and Wilshere have now been joined by Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott and Ox essentially decimating our right side of attack. It hence provides an opportunity to Campbell to see if he can be this seasons Coq.



Arsenal to the Top

3. Maturity of the Squad – Just a few stray points here 

•                      Maybe it’s just me but compared to last season while watching the game, I am a lot calmer as I feel that we don’t seem to be making as many mistakes and if we do Cech is on the spot to bail us out. That I believe is the greatest benefit of having a goalkeeper like Cech between the sticks. If I as a casual observer am feeling calmer, just imagine the effect on our defense. 
•                      We also seem to have figured out different ways to win. We can boss the game like we did against Watford and be patient and break them down. We can also defend have 30% possession and hurt them on the counter attack or we go toe to toe with teams who are open and play them straight up like we did against Swansea. This is due to having a more or less settled back 6 backed up by a world class goalkeeper. 
•                      Arsenal have now had 9 unique scorers starting from the Community Shield and I am sure this will go up to closer to at least 15 players by the end of January. Wenger has always believed in spreading the goals around since it makes us more dangerous and we are seeing this come to pass. Can’t wait to see LeCoq’s celebration when he scores.

Looking forward to November

Tough ties away to the Munchies and at home to Zagreb will be our lot in the Champions League. The away tie to Bayern may be our most critical game of the season. Our victory against them at home has breathed life back into the campaign but I feel getting at least 1 point away to Bayern may be required for us to qualify. Off course this is assuming that Zagreb manages to take points off Olympiakos. 

 

We are at home to the Spuds followed by away games to West Brom and Norwich and end with a home game to Sunderland. I want to say these are all fixtures we should win but 10 points from these fixtures will see us end November with 35 points from 15 games, right where we want to be.  

COYG!!!