Friday, October 15, 2010

The Soft Centre is Debatable. The Lack of a Winning Mentality is Not.

During his press conference ahead of the Birmingham game, Wenger was questioned over comments made by former Arsenal player, Peter Storey, and current club-captain Cesc Fabregas.

Storey thinks that Arsenal's midfield is a bit soft, the boss (of course) reckons otherwise. So let's look at it through untinted glasses for a moment. When Wenger has everyone fit, I think he picks Song, Wilshere and Fabregas as his trio in the centre. Some might argue for Diaby but he's inconsistent and therefore unreliable. Fabregas takes crap from NO one so he's not soft. Wilshere held his own against one of the biggest (if not the biggest) and THE meanest midfield in the Premier League last time out so he's not soft. And when Song gets over his 'I'm actually Ronaldinho' fever, he'll be solid too.

However, he is a slight liability at the moment. He's no Michael Essien or Gilberto Silva. Then again, he's still young and finding his way in the footballing world so there is no saying he won't get there. I think that if Storey was talking specifically about this position, then we are a bit soft.

Fabregas says we don't have a winning mentality, the boss says his quotes were 'misinterpreted'. Either way it's hard to argue with the running version in the media. The last four or five games against Manchester United and Chelsea back it up. The collapse at the end of last season adds further evidence.

But one cup, ONE cup would change everything. Be it Carling, F.A. or one of the big two, would bring the required mentality and end the continuous droning of 'five years without a trophy'.

Tomorrow, we entertain Birmingham, a team whose best qualities lie in their defense. There won't be any free-flowing football of the kind that West Brom played. But one thing is for certain, this team knows how to defend. They've only kept two clean sheets all season but it's early days yet and they're more than capable of a shut-out at the Emirates tomorrow afternoon.

Walcott and Bendtner return to the squad and will probably start on the bench. Koscielny and Sagna have joined the party in the treatment room so Djourou and Eboue will start unless the boss chances Song back there in his current state. The rest of the team should remain unchanged from the one that lost to Chelsea.

I'm finding this one tough to call. Jerome probably won't make it for the Blues so Zigic will make his first Premier League start. He has no pace but his height could cause nightmares if he's allowed isolate himself with a fullback in the box (cringe). But the lack of pace means no speedy counter-attacks down the middle of the pitch for them.

I think we'll win. There's too much quality up front for us not to score a couple of goals. Plus, there has to be a reaction from the last two league defeats. 3-0 with Chamakh to open the scoring.