Gunners Start Year in Good Form
Despite Sunday’s 3-1 loss
to Stoke City in the 4th round of the FA cup, Arsenal start the new
year on a positive note and with league championship dreams. The Gunners have
not lost a league match since November 29th against Chelsea and have
been boosted by the full return of Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Rosicky, and Theo
Walcott. Combined with the excellent play of youngsters Aaron Ramsey, Armand
Traore, and Craig Eastmond, the North Londoners look as game a side as ever to
make a run for the Premiership title.
The continued brilliance of Cesc Fabregas, perhaps the most in-form midfielder on the planet, continues to buoy the team through difficult stretches. There is no doubt that the next four games for the club could be the defining moment of Arsenal’s season. Away to Villa, Home to Man U, Away to Chelsea, and Home to Liverpool, all in 2 weeks mind you, is nothing short of torturous. If Arsenal can emerge from this stretch relatively unscathed (8 points or more ), then they should be in pole position to grab the title, even if they slip on Chelsea or Man U. After this stretch, their schedule becomes considerably easier. A home game against both Manchester City and Fulham in May as well as Spurs away on April 10th are the only challenges during this three-month walk in the park.
Although Robin van Persie will most likely miss most of the remaining season, the Gunners should be bolstered by the return of Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner, the Dane being out since Halloween. Sending Phillipe Senderos on loan to Everton was, in this writer’s opinion, unfortunate. Senderos was never given a fair chance by Wegner, and shipping him off with limited cover at center back was quite a risk. However, there is one loan move soon to be made by Wegner that is necessary. Jack Wilshere, a brilliant young center midfielder has featured in many of the club’s cup and youth matches this season. Yet, the 18-year old starlet has not started a Premier League match this season and needs to be playing more often in order to develop into the world class midfielder he has the potential to be. Burnley and Bolton both seem likely destinations for Wilshere, and a decision is expected by kick-off on Wednesday.
Lastly, transfer rumors
have begun to swirl at the Emirates. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the powerful Dutch
striker, is possibly heading to Arsenal. Huntelaar has oddly fallen out of
favor with new AC Milan manager Leonardo, with Marco Borriello being preferred
instead. Naturally, Huntelaar would be a great fit into the Arsenal system. He
can replace the height of van Persie, and has a powerful foot to match. The
need for a strong, central striker to replace Robin has been evident in the
past few matches, with Andrei Arshavin really failing to meet expectations as a
central striker.
The next 2 weeks will be a tough test for Arsenal FC, but with strong play from central midfield, and the possibility of a physical presence up top, the Gunners should play through it just fine.
Written by Greg Pennington, the Official Blogger of the Goalmouth Scramble
Categories: Premier League
Tags: Arsenal EPL
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