5 Lessons Learned from Arsenal’s Win over Aston Villa

Oh Santi Cazorla!!!!

Apologies for my blogging inactivity in recent days. I’ve been having serious issues with my Internet Service Provider – one day, it’s as efficient as Lionel Messi in front of goal, another day it’s Marouane Chamakh 2.0.

Let’s just say it had a “Moroccan Effect” over the weekend.

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After back to back home losses in different competitions to Blackburn and Bayern Munich, Arsenal had it all to do against an Aston Villa battling for their Premier League lives.

The Villans had the unwanted record of being the team with the second worst attack as well as the second worst defense in the League. Paul Lambert had a great time in his Norwich days but he has clearly struggled with his Villa side that is now a complete shadow of the team that competed for European places in Martin O’ Neill’s reign.

Arsene Wenger made some changes to his starting lineup as Carl Jenkinson replaced Bacary Sagna that picked up a knock during the warm up, Nacho Monreal returned to the setup after he was cup-tied in the Champions League, Abou Diaby came in Aaron Ramsey’s stead and Olivier Giroud returned to the XI.

In a game that had its glimpses of quality as well as Arsenal having the lion’s share of possession, the Gunners had just enough in the tank to see out the threat the visitors posed, when it seemed as if a draw was on the cards.

The victory put the Gunners within touching distance of that coveted Champions League spot and their cause when certainly helped when Chelsea dropped points.

Without further ado, here are some lessons learned from Arsenal’s victory over Aston Villa;

A Better Start to the Game, for a Change

Arsenal has been culpable for very torrid starts to games this season, especially in the first half before they come out firing on all cylinders in the second 45 minutes. There were times when the Gunners managed to salvage draws like the Liverpool game for instance, but there have been others when the surge wasn’t good enough to gain any point – Bayern Munich, anyone?

Against Aston Villa, the Gunners came out of the blocks with a quick-fire goal from the outstanding Santi Cazorla, that brought an end to that recent unwanted trend of poor starts to games.

With crucial games against Tottenham, Bayern and Everton coming up, the Gunners could do with better first half performances because all Hell could break loose if Arsene Wenger’s men fail to turn up.

Tottenham’s red-hot Gareth Bale believes that his team is better than Arsenal. A win against Tottenham in next week’s North London Derby would go a long way in putting Bale and his team in their place (Arsenal’s shadow) and it would be nice seeing Bale eat his words, with a banana of course.

I’m sure you get my drift.

Wojciech Szczesny Needs Some Competition

Everyone knows that Wojciech Szczesny is Arsenal’s undisputed No. 1 goalie. His deputies, Vito Mannone and Lukasz Fabianski, haven’t done enough to prove to Arsene Wenger and the fans that they are good enough to displace the Pole.

With both players on the club’s payroll and no potential suitors coming anytime soon (Mannone was linked with a move back home), it would seem a bit awkward getting a new goalie with these men still around.

Believe it or not, I like Szczesny. He’s a great guy, has a very good attitude and he’s really outspoken but he can make that odd mistake from time to time, even in a game he’s doing well.

In the game against Aston Villa, the visitors leveled the tie with a gift on a platter from Arsenal’s undisputed No. 1. Villa hit Arsenal on the break from a corner kick and a punt further up the pitch was nodded straight to the opposition by Carl Jenkinson.

Andreas Weimann was unmarked at the edge of the area and unleashed a shot that would have been easy pickings for a keeper of Szczesny’s caliber but it breezed past the goalie despite putting a hand to it.

Had Weimann scored that goal in the 89th minute, Szczesny would have been on the back pages not Santi Cazorla.

Nacho Monreal’s Continued Impact

When Kieran Gibbs hurt himself against Liverpool, many Arsenal fans turned to panic mode because there was no able deputy in that department.

Andre Santos has been shambolic all season long and Thomas Vermaelen hasn’t been too impressive in his center back position, not to talk of him filling in at left back.

Up stepped Nacho Monreal from Malaga, Arsenal’s newbie that received a baptism of fire in his debut against Stoke City. This was followed by another impressive performance against Sunderland before he tasted his first defeat in Arsenal colors in the humiliating FA Cup loss to Blackburn.

When Arsenal hosted Aston Villa, Monreal returned to the team after a much deserved rest in midweek and put up a show that would give Kieran Gibbs a run for his money. When the chips were down, Monreal timed his run to perfection before drilling a pass into Santi Cazorla’s path.

The rest they say was history.

Jack Wilshere’s Influence

Since his long-awaited return from injury, Jack Wilshere’s influence in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield has been unrivaled. He has even scored two well-taken goals against Montpellier and Swansea this season.

With Santi Cazorla deployed on the left flank from the start, Wilshere was given the advanced playmaker role where he excelled admirably. Besides his trademark bursting runs that left his opponents for dead, Wilshere was directly involved in both Arsenal goals.

For the first, he made a burst forward before sending a through ball to Cazorla. The Spanish magician still had a lot to do but with a stroke of luck, he guided the ball past Brad Guzan.

Wilshere also had a hand in the match-winning goal when he lofted the ball to Monreal. The fullback did well to evade his marker before supplying a cutback that was latched home by Santi Cazorla.

Arsenal Can Always Count on Santi Cazorla

He opened his goalscoring account against Liverpool at Anfield and it was followed closely by a left-footed stunner against West Ham in Upton Park. He smashed in Arsenal’s consolation goal in that putrid outing at Old Trafford before getting in on the act in the North London derby.

He stole the show with a hat-trick against Reading before doing the double over West Ham with a cheeky back-heeled finish. After settling the contest two weeks ago when Arsenal visited the Stadium of Light, Santi Cazorla spared Arsenal’s blushes with a brace against struggling Aston Villa to give his team a chance in contending for a Champions League spot.

All game long, Cazorla was a constant threat to the Villa back line and he terrorized their rearguard with his intelligent play and canny movement. When a chance afforded itself after an initial blocked shot, Cazorla sweetly placed the ball past Guzan to give his team the lead.

Late on, he reacted quickly to Monreal’s cutback with a tidy left-footed finish to give his team some much-needed relief.

Arsenal can always count on Santi Cazorla like 1, 2, 3 and he’ll be there.

Sayonara.

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Thoughts on the Disappointing Draw against Aston Villa

Still wondering what Podolski must do to finish a league game

At Arsenal, like every other football club, the fans play many vital roles for the team they support all season long. For starters, they pay handsome fees to watch their team and they also buy a boatload of merchandise, showing off their colors for the world to see.

Unless you’re living in a faraway cave with no access to internet, colored TV and civilization, you should know that Arsenal fans are hugely divided into two factions.

On one corner, we have the AKBs (Arsene Knows Best) who feel that Arsenal will head into oblivion without Wenger, and all he does is right in their sight. On the other corner, we have the AMGs / WOBs (Arsene Must Go / Wenger Out Brigade) that are tired of their stubborn manager, his huge ego, undying faith with youth, inability to keep his top players and his blinded principles that have ultimately led to the club’s current barren spell without silverware.

Don’t get it twisted, these AMGs love their club with all their hearts but they’re just frustrated with their manager, and I can bet that they hand a hand in those “You don’t know what you’re doing” chants at Villa Park, after seeing their manager replace Olivier Giroud with Francis Coquelin.

The manager has defended his decision to make that substitution and he has stated that Jack Wilshere picked up a minor ankle injury, so he had to rest the Englishman, thereby handing a starting berth to Aaron Ramsey. Wenger has been in this business long enough to know how to run his team but the way the fans get on his case in the wake of any disappointing result is somewhat disturbing.

These are the same fans that chastised Wenger for buying a relatively-unearthed 18-year-old winger from Southampton for a whooping £12m, but they barraged the manager with insults when he withdrew this same youngster for Andrey Arshavin in January 2012.

With Wilshere suffering a long term injury last season, Ramsey was handed a chance to stake a claim for a first-team berth but his inconsistent performances paved the way for a resurgent Tomas Rosicky in the tail end of the campaign and I’d believed that the imminent return of Jack Wilshere would stir Ramsey to up his game.

There are two sides to Ramsey’s performance on Saturday.

Some say that he was Arsenal’s most productive player as fatigue took its toll on the Spanish duo of Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla, which meant that Ramsey’s energy and verve complimented for the losses in his midfield partners. Others say that Ramsey was shite yet again, as he continued to miss chance after chance without really stamping his authority on the game.

However, it was pretty shocking to see how toothless Arsenal was against a team that shipped in five goals in the Etihad Stadium. Aston Villa’s goalie, Brad Guzan, wasn’t really disturbed in the first half and the best chance arrived when Giroud waltzed to the left before drilling in a cross for Koscielny. Those sort of balls are bread and butter for players like Giroud, Walcott and Podolski but it was a classic case of a wrong player in the right place and that chance went begging.

The goalless stalemate in Midlands has ensured that Arsenal is still languishing in sixth place, 10 points behind the table toppers, Manchester United. I can remember vividly when I asked a Manchester United fan why his team’s home kit looks like a table cloth. He replied, stating that its because they are meant to be on top of the table.

Looking at the current league standings, the Red Devils are on top of the table but Andre Santos had other plans for the jersey he retrieved from van Persie,

This is the reason why Andre Santos took van Persie’s jersey.

With Arsenal further behind the leading pack, anything less than a victory against Everton on Merseyside will be regarded as a major disappointment. However, Everton are in good form this season and are currently in fifth place.

Wenger had stated that his team had a chance to win the game but as always, they lacked sharpness in the final third. This sentiment has also been shared by Kieran Gibbs, as he believed that the team lacked conviction. Just like the games against Manchester United and Norwich, it has been painful seeing Arsenal struggle in the attacking department, despite having so many talented attacking-minded players in the team.

Robin van Persie’s rightful replacement, Olivier Giroud, hasn’t set the Emirates ablaze with the kind of form that won him the Ligue 1 Golden Boot last season, but he’s slowly finding his feet in North London. In my honest opinion he has done really well, as he has started adding the goals to the equation. Against Aston Villa, Giroud linked up play brilliantly with his teammates and almost created an assist for Laurent Koscielny, had he worn his shooting boots.

Lukas Podolski is another player that has been immense for the Gunners this season and his work ethic has been brilliant thus far. However, Podolski tends to become a peripheral figure as some games progress before that moment of inevitability where his number pops up in the fourth official’s board. Podolski didn’t really come into the fray at Villa Park and his replacement, Gervinho, was an aberration.

With Theo Walcott facing another spell in the sidelines, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed another chance to strut his stuff and it’s fair to say that he did okay by his standards. At the tender age of 19, he has still learning his trade but he has to be commended for his hard work and level-headedness so far.

My major concern will be in Arsenal’s midfield. Despite having a large haul of the club’s best technicians in this department, the lack of depth in this area of the pitch is pretty alarming bearing in mind that the club is supposed to have a considerable chunk of playing personnel in this area of the pitch.

The unnecessary sale of Alex Song has forced Mikel Arteta to shun his attacking duties to play as a primary holding midfielder and he has excelled admirably in this role. However, it has become glaring that Wenger clearly lacks faith in Arteta’s deputies for the holding midfield role, as Emmanuel Frimpong has been shipped on loan while Francis Coquelin remains on the fringes.

Age and fatigue are slowly taking their tolls on Arteta’s performances but Coquelin hasn’t really done enough to prove that he’s ready to make that step up. Or maybe there’s something that Wenger is seeing sitting on a chair which we the fans can’t see climbing a tall tree.

The box-to-box role was manned by Wilshere in the 2010/11 campaign but Song’s presence as the midfield enforcer allowed Arteta to make that role his last season. With Arteta replacing Song in the holding role, Abou Diaby was giving a new lease of life playing in that role but as usual, the lanky Frenchman is back on the treatment table, his home away from home.

Ramsey keeps coming up with hot and cold performances and Wilshere is slowly integrating himself into the team, following a long-term lay off. Wilshere has recently stated that he’s getting used to the way Arsenal play and he’ll be back to his best by Christmas.

The disappointing 0 – 0 draw against Aston Villa hasn’t brought an end to the world as we know it, but all attention must be drawn into getting maximum points at Goodison Park on Wednesday night. Carl Jenkinson is confident that his team will win against Everton while Wojciech Szczesny has labelled the game as a six-pointer.

Getting a positive result against Everton will give the Gunners that right momentum to head into this weekend’s home tie against Swansea.

I really hope that the Gunners will have their shooting boots in Merseyside because the last time I checked, games are won by goals.

Sayonara.

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Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 0: If It’s Not Broken, Don’t Fix It

It clearly seemed as if Arsenal was back in business following the resounding victory over Tottenham that was accompanied by an efficient performance against Montpellier to seal qualification to the next phase of the Champions League.

With Manchester United and West Brom, yes, West Brom winning their games, coupled with the fact that either Chelsea or Manchester City were going to drop points today, a win against a struggling Aston Villa side would have helped the Gunners in their bid to chase the leading pack.

Arsene Wenger had seemed to have found his winning formula in recent weeks but for some strange reason known to the Gorgonites of Hasbro’s Toy Soldier series, Wenger tweaked his starting line-up to include everyone’s favorite pantomime villian, Aaron Ramsey. The midfield triumvirate of Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere have been phenomenal in recent weeks, but the manager felt it was high time to bring the former Welsh captain to the fold, sacrificing Wilshere in the process.

The boss also handed start to the dynamic young fullback duo of Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson, which offered captain, Thomas Vermaelen and the recuperating Bacary Sagna chances to get breathers.

Aston Villa drew first blood when Andreas Weimann fired a shot straight at Wojciech Szczesny and this was followed by a sweetly curled effort from the cultured left foot of Barry Bannan, which was easy pickings for Szczesny. At the 19th minute mark, the Aston Villa faithful rose to their feet, applauding their captain, Stiliyan Petrov that is recuperating from his Leukaemia. It was a truly emotional moment, even if it was cliché.

The home side continued to be on the ascendancy but Karim El Ahmadi earned himself a booking for a silly dive. There was a moment that caused concern to everyone connected with Arsenal when Per Mertesacker was clutching his shoulder after landing awkwardly. Theo Walcott has been in a somewhat similar situation and we all know how that has panned out.

Arsenal found their footing as the game progress with the first real chance for the Gunners coming Aaron Ramsey’s way. The Welshman showed good footwork to fashion a chance for himself, but his tame attempt of a finish was saved by Brad Guzan’s leg. Shortly afterwards, the game settled in a scrap-fest as both teams produced some terrible football with misplaced passes, lots of air balls and what have you.

A nervy moment arrived when Szczesny anticipated a cross aimed at Gabby Agbonlahor but the Polish goalie ran out of room and in unfortunate circumstances, the ball was adjudged to hit his hand, leaving the ref no choice but to blow a free kick. The Villans attempted a training routine that unlocked the Arsenal rearguard but an offside call spared Arsenal’s blushes, as Weimann blasted his attempt into the net.

Right at the death, Olivier Giroud waltzed to the left before drilling a cross into the box but to everyone’s surprise, Laurent Koscielny fired his point-blank shot over the bar, when it seemed easy to score. In his defense, you can say that the ball came to his weaker left foot but it’s really perplexing to know what Koscielny was doing there in the first place as it was from open play.

In the start of the second 45 minutes, Santi Cazorla attempted a neat one-two with Giroud but his left-footed shot went over. Giroud instigated a lot of attacking moves and teed up the Ox that burnt some reserves of pace before stabbing in a cross that was spurned by You-Know-Who, Ramsey. The Welshman clearly left his shooting boots at home, as he was on the end of a flick from a corner kick but he killed a bird in the sky with his attempted shot.

After some intricate passing play between Brett Holman and Christian Benteke, Agbonlahor fired a goal-bound shot that was saved by Szczesny. The moment of inevitability arrived when Podolski was substituted for Gervinho, that turned to be a peripheral and disappointing figure all game long.

Aston Villa hit Arsenal on the break with Weimann sending a teasing ball into Benteke’s path but Carl Jenkinson was on hand to make a vital interception. Wenger responded to Aston Villa’s assault with the introduction of Andrey Arshavin. The  home side almost grabbed the headlines when an unmarked Holman blasted a goal-bound shot that was tipped over by Szczesny before the ball the cross bar.

In the dying minutes of the game, Wenger brought on Francis Coquelin for Giroud, thereby allowing Gervinho to attack through the middle. The ref’s whistle ended the game and it clearly felt like two points dropped rather than a point gained.

I might seem harsh but Ramsey’s performance was questionable and he has proven that he;s not ready to start ganes for this club, especially fixtures where the stakes are very high. Despite being out for a long while, Wilshere had blended into the nucleus of the team and his goal against Montpellier showed how well he has progressed.

But Wenger chose to drop the Englishman for the disappointing Ramsey. As the saying goes, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

Sayonara.

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Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0: The Consistent Run Continues As Others Drop Points

Clean it well mate!

For the first time since dinosaurs walked the Earth, I intentionally wore a blue shirt to a pub to watch Chelshit take on 5pur2. I was actually surrounded by folks wearing Samsung jerseys and they actually thought that I gave two hoots about their team. After dozing seriously for a large chunk of the game, I sprang back to life when Rafael van der Fart made two quick-fire efforts that were blocked by James Blunt’s clone on a Rugby head gear and Ca$hley Cuntly Cole respectively.

The boring stalemate ensured that a win for Arsenal would see them go three points off Tottenham and eight points clear of Chelsea. Arsenal was hosting an obdurate side managed by a shrunken, withered, sunburnt testicle. In the warm-up to the game, Laurent Koscielny suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Johan Djourou.

Djourou was quickly involved in the thick of things as he suffered a gashed nose following an elbow from Emile Heskey. I have a hunch that Heskey learnt about that video dedicated to his misses so he decided to take out his frustrations on poor ol’ Djourou.

Aston Villa drew first blood when Andrey Arshavin’s long lost clone, Marc Albrighton broke clear on the right from a counter attack he launched only to kill a bird in the sky instead of teeing up a team mate. Arsenal responded in grand style when Bacary Sagna and Theo Walcott showed good movement on the right to set up Robin van Persie who in turn supplied a brilliant back heel for Walcott. The Englishman’s effort was saved by Shay Given but Sagna’s follow up was atrocious to say the least.

The match’s opener arrived from an unlikely source. The imperious Tomas Rosicky found Gervinho that dallied on the ball a bit before feeding Kieran Gibbs.The young full back fashioned a chance for himself and drilled his effort that squeezed through Given’s body to put Arsenal one up. It’s worth noting that the goal broke his Premier League duck for his team.

Gibbsy makes it 1-0

Thomas Vermaelen sent a cross-field ball to the right releasing Walcott, whose first touch was magnificent but Carlos Cuellar executed a sliding challenge to see off the threat that attack posed. Walcott wasn’t to be denied a second time as he controlled another sublime pass from Alex Song superbly before slotting the ball past the hapless Given.

Mikel Arteta was free on the edge of the area so he sent in a piledriver that was saved by Given. The last noteworthy highlight belonged to van Persie. He received a through ball from Song but he was challenged by James Collins. Van Persie managed to get to the ball and he showed off his great technique to make mince meat of Collins and Given but Stephen Warnock was on hand to block his goal bound effort.

Arsenal took its feet off the pedal in the second half but the spirits were lifted again when the red-hot Rosicky made some sleek runs before drilling an effort that was saved by Given. Aaron Ramsey came on for Le Forehead while Andre Santos came on for Gibbs.

Andre Santos almost started on the wrong foot when he uncharacteristically gave the ball to a Villa player but he wasn’t punished for his tomfoolery. Moments later, Rosicky teed up a pass for Ramsey, the Welshman opened his body up to shimmy a defender before sending his shot wide.

Shortly after Ramsey’s miss, my pal Obitwyce shared this tweet with my Arsenal BlackBerry group:

If Mandela was watching, he'll sure be glad Ramsey missed that.—
على الساحر (@Sirkastiq) March 24, 2012

Walcott was withdrawn for the Ox and the game phased out towards its twilight. However, there was a moment when Oxlade-Chamberlain burnt his reserves of pace to fashion a chance for himself, only to be nudged by Stephen Ireland in the box. There were loud claims for a penalty but replays showed that the Baldy got a slight touch of the ball before scything down the Ox.

Late on, Song was fouled on the edge of the area and candidates for the dead ball stepped up with Arteta and Andre Santos seen around the area. Up stepped Arteta to deliver a peach of a goal to make it three:

The ref’s whistle was like music to the ears of the fans as Arsenal continued their surge for third place. The draw between Chelsea and Tottenham has given Arsenal some breathing space before Saturday’s trip to Loftus Road to take on QPR.

Szczesny (6.5) had a very boring day at the office.

Sagna (7.5) worked very hard on the right and provided adequate support for his winger.

Gibbs (8.0) had a great shift and broke his Premier League duck for his club.

Vermaelen (7.5) locked Emile Heskey in a cage and swallowed the keys.

Djourou (7.5) came in Koscielny’s stead and put up a confident performance.

Song (8.5) was a general in midfield and supplied a peach of  a pass for Walcott.

Arteta (8.0) scored an incredible belter.

Rosicky (8.5) put up an ‘orgasmic’ display. Major Sun can attest to that

Walcott (8.5) was a phenom on the right and scored a well-taken goal

Le Forehead (7.0) showed good vision to create the first assist of the game.

Van Persie (7.0) was denied a great goal.

Ramsey (7.0) probably saved another prominent figurehead on Earth with his miss.

Andre Santos (7.0) almost made a ghastly error but grew in confidence as the game progressed.

The Ox (7.0) showed his pace to great effect.

In a game that went down as one for the historians, this was the first time two English players scored for Arsenal in the same match since 1997. The Gunners also equalled their 2007 record with seven straight league wins in a row making them the most in-form team in the Premier League.

Arsene Wenger described the performance as dynamic and fluent.

It’s time to go to church. Don’t forget to put Fabrice Muamba in your prayers.

N/B: If you’re a Nigerian and you own a website, I’ll suggest that you submit your site’s URL and feed to Naija Sites, your window to Nigerian online content.

The site covers a lot of content, ranging from arts, business, cuisine, current affairs, entertainment,gossip, jobs, politics, religion and of course, sports.

Sayonara.

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Aston Villa Preview: Keep the Guns Blazing, No Goal for Emile Heskey

Arsenal has certainly caused their critics to return back to their lairs in shame and silence. A win this evening would see equal a record they had in 2007; seven straight league wins.

The Gunners are topping the form table with more W’s than the amount found before opening a website (www) while Aston Villa are in a patchy run of three draws, two defeats and a win in their last six games.

Aston Villa placed themselves in the history books by being the first team to draw at the Emirates and they have gained more points (8) at the Emirates than any other opponent. Aston Villa have won two and lost just one of their five Premier League visits to the Emirates after going 12 without a win at Highbury and losing the last eight in a row.

When these sides met in the FA Cup, it was a game of two halves as Aston Villa were in the front seat in the first 45 minutes while Arsenal ran the show in the next 45.

Aston Villa took the lead from a well executed training move that caught Arsenal on the back foot. After some intricate passing from a corner kick, Robbie Keane lobbed the ball into the 6-yard box and Richard Dunne rose the highest to head the ball home. Dunne will miss today’s tie with an injury.

The visitor compounded the home team’s misery late on when a swift counter attack saw Darren Bent drill his shot past Fabianski on his second attempt after initially forcing a good save from the Pole. Bent will also miss today’s game with an injury that has sidelined him for the rest of the season.

Aaron Ramsey atoned for an earlier miss when he was hacked down by Dunne in the box. Up stepped van the Man to send Given the wrong way. In a few minutes, Arsenal leveled the contest courtesy of a freak goal by Theo Walcott.

Arsenal’s 3rd goal and match clincher arrived when Laurent Koscielny made one of his slalom runs forward after a brilliant one-two with Alex Song. He was scythed down in the box by Darren Bent leaving the man with the whistle no choice. Van Persie stepped up again to smash in goal number 25 for the season.

Arsenal lost the next FA Cup fixture to Sunderland in their putrid pitch but the Gunners have been in fine form since that painful exit, sweeping aside the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool, AC Milan amongst others.

Tottenham visit Stamford Bridge today and many expect Twitchy Ol’ ‘Arry’s side to drop more points, leaving some room for Arsenal to extend the gap.

To injury news, Jack Wilshere (ankle), Abou Diaby (hamstring), Sebastian Squillaci (groin) and Francis Coquelin (hamstring) are nearing a return to fitness, but are not expected to make a comeback before the end of March.

To team news, Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal and he would be boosted by his clean sheet at Goodison Park. He didn’t have much to do on Wednesday night but he responded well when he was called upon.

Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny put up stellar performances against Everton and they’ve been lauded by their manager:

Defensively they are not the tallest but they have a fantastic leap and both of them have good pace. Vermaelen looks like a frustrated centre forward because he has the timing to get into the box as well.

Le Professeur surely has a way with words. Vermaelen has scored a couple of goals since his arrival from Ajax. I can’t recall many strikers that would’ve scored his amazing curling effort against Wigan. I’m very sure that Aston Villa’s Emile Heskey wouldn’t.

The Verm and Bosscielny will be supported by Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs. Andre Santos can get his shot against QPR next week.

Song will continue his consistent performance in the middle of the park and he’ll be supported by Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky. It’s worth noting that Mikel Arteta has the most attempted passes in the Premier League with 1892.

Robin van Persie has scored three penalties against Aston Villa this season and I won’t mind one more today. He’ll be supported by Theo Walcott and the Ox. I don’t think that Ramsey will be handed a start today.

Predicted Starting Line-Up

Szcz

Sagna, Kos, Verm, Gibbs

Song, TR7, Arteta

Walcott, RVP, Ox

Enjoy the match wherever you are.

I can bet that Emile Heskey won’t score a goal against us today. This video paints the picture vividly

Sayonara

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