Arsenal make the short trip across the capital to play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, hoping to move ahead of our hosts on the Premier League table. Conversely, the Eagles aim to move four points clear of us in this London derby.

Good day all. Since the turn of the year the Gunners got back-to-back clean-sheet wins, in two competitions, to give Mikel Arteta a much-needed boost at the start of his reign. That he so quickly brought some coherence to our style of play have helped lift some of the gloom that preceded his arrival.

This is something the Spaniard can be very proud of to have achieved in his short time, but he will also be cognisant that there are still plenty of work to be done  with the Gunners sitting 10th on the league table.

The upcoming league fixtures this month will be of particular importance, with the Eagles, Sheffield United and Chelsea already taken seven of nine points off us. Ergo Mikel and the players will be mindful not to get carried away by the recent upturn in performances and will do well to continue keeping their heads down, with each player knowing what is expected of him.

If we kick on in the coming weeks we could put a bit of pressure on teams ahead of us on the league table. Who knows, comes end of January and the current nine point gap between ourselves and 4th-placed Chelsea look more within reach, it may give the boys a real shot in the arm to go on a good run knowing all is not lost yet. However, we will have to take it one game at a time.

After a promising start to their campaign Roy Hodgson’s side hit a rough patch, winning just one of their last six league games (D4, L1). Still, two games into the second half of the season they are in the top-half of the league table, one point above the Gunners. Had that been offered to Roy back in August, he would’ve accepted it with alacrity.

Last weekend they had a disappointing FA Cup defeat at home to second-tier Derby County, though it’s unlikely Roy will be cut up about it as it now gives him the chance to prioritise the league and try finish as high as possible.

They have a good record against Arsenal in recent times; unbeaten in the last three encounters (W1, D2). In the reverse fixture back in October, they came from two goals down to rescue a point at the Emirates. The last five meetings produced 23 goals, with no clean sheets either side. All that means is that we could be set for a very cagey game at Selhurst Park,

Team news

Hector Bellerìn have returned to training, however, Arteta said it’s unlikely he’ll feature. Otherwise, he is expected to go with the same matchday XI that started on new years game against Manutd.

Prediction

Few weeks ago there would have been apprehension going into this game for the Gunners, however, the improvement since Arteta’s arrival is palpable. It’s just our finishing touch in the final third that let us down at times but if we got that sorted… should be favourites to go home with all three points. COYG!

Labo.

Now then, we won, we definitely won the second half, but the first half had me worrying.

In that first half Leeds were all over us, they were creating chances for fun, had way more possession and frankly looked much the better team. Our midfield looked like it did when Emery had the keys , Ozil saw nothing of the ball Guendouzi was all over the place. Worst of all the passing was poor, Holding in particular, with him Guendouzi and Luiz all playing straight balls which were easily cut out by Leeds players. We were lucky , very lucky, to get to half time without being at least a goal or two behind.

Then came the second half and it was a complete roll reversal. We pushed much higher up the pitch, pressed with more intensity and it was us that were dominant. Now Guendouzi seemed to be doing everything right, He pressed, won balls, drove forward and had a big positive effect on the game. Ozil was given more of the ball and started to open Leeds up with his passing and composure. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t vintage stuff, but they had clearly been given instructions from Arteta and were able to action them.

The goal was a bit of a scruffy affair in the end, but Nelson wont care, it was enough to win the game, as it happens.

Lacazette was given man of the match, and deservedly so, he work tirelessly and held the ball well, bringing others in ,doing everything bar scoring.

I have to say that when Martinelli came on for Nelson, he immediately looked the real deal. What a prospect that boy is.

So we now face Bournemouth in round 4, I think we will win that.

COYG

Good day one and all.

I was talking to my old ally @shotta_gooner and he asked me “Why were you so vocal in your support of Xhaka, when almost everyone else had set against him?”  . That got me thinking and as you can see, writing.

First thing is to try to understand why “almost everyone else had set against him”. It’s not good enough for me to say that I understand football and the majority of fans, pundits and bloggers are eejits, that would just be inflammatory, and you know me, I wouldn’t want to be doing that.

I believe that Xhaka became the lightening rod for the bilge that Emery was serving up week in and week out. Mesut and Torreira were  hardly playing, so they were not blamed, Xhaka was the only established midfielder that always played in a midfield that was totally dysfunctional, it couldn’t keep the ball, support the forwards or protect the defence, and so the easy answer was to blame Xhaka. As we know, simpletons love a simple answer to complicated questions. What confused me the most at this time , was how Guendouzi was being lauded. On twitter I had a discussion with @GeoffArsenal, he ran a poll :-

So there you go, while Guendouzi was scurrying around the pitch, contributing one assist and no goal  in a season and a half, Xhaka was blamed. To me it madness that anyone should think Guendouzi should start before Xhaka, in any system or set up, functional or dysfunctional, but for 92% of fans to think it? Dear oh dear oh dear.

Yesterday someone asked a question about Xhaka on twitter and this reply caught my eye

https://twitter.com/NotSureWhyImBa1/status/1213492622939041793?s=20

There are loads of stats available if you want to check the worth of this tweet.

For years we were told that we needed a bit of steel in midfield, well since the day Granit arrived no player or team has bullied him. When thousands of fans tried to bully him recently, he told them to “F*ck off”, and when the club tried to bully him into making a groveling apology, he refused and chose instead to leave (something that hopefully he now won’t do). The man will not be bullied by  anyone, what more steel do we want?

Whether we think Emery was right to ask the players to elect the captain is irrelevant, he did, and they elected Xhaka. That would mean that they view him as the best leader, trust and respect him. That’s the players, you know, the ones that actually play and matter?

We know for a fact that Bayern Munich were keen to have him as a replacement for Xabi Alonso and Mikel has said that City were also very interested, so “bang average” he is not.

When asked about Xhaka , Pep said he was a great player, Arsene said that he was an intelligent player and Arteta said this:-

“I had a conversation with him and I wanted to understand his feelings,That’s first, and his reasoning why he was thinking it probably wasn’t the right place for him to continue his career.
 
“I gave him my opinion, my perspective, and I told him that I was ready to support him from the club perspective, and I wanted his team-mates to have his back to help him to change his mind. We need him.
 
“I believe that if we’re able to do that, the fans will respond in a positive way. I’ve seen him act every day, how he trains and how he lives his profession, as well as the quality of the player. I think he could be a really important player for the club. From my perspective, I don’t want him to leave. I said no to the club and I said no to him! After, in life, I cannot control what happens.”

That sounds like a nonnegotiable opinion to me, as Mikel might call it.

I have always said that Xhaka is the most important player we have, not the best, that would be Ozil, but like Arteta was himself, the key to how we play when we are playing well. He makes us tick and Ozil can then make us purr. Does he have weaknesses? Yes, he does, every player does, but his strengths massively outweigh his flaws. Just look how well the Swiss team has done with him having the keys, a tiny international team plays good football and punches well above their weight.

Of course you are free to disregard my opinion, and that of Pep, Arsene and Arteta, and choose instead to align with such mega brains as Paul Merson, I understand that, but that would make you……. well…. how to put it? An eejit?

O Captain! My Captain!

Well that was rather good. Beautiful ,fast ,aggressive , organised football in the first half to open up a 2 goal lead, then controlled shape in the 2nd half to maintain the advantage. What a wonderful refreshing change to the way we have laboured for the bulk of the past 18 months.

The result was needed, but not half as much as the performance. That should give the players belief in Arteta and in turn give him the belief in the playes. Players that had been written off in the media and by many of our own fans, specifically Ozil, Xhaka, Torreira and Luiz, were absolutely brilliant.

I said that Mikel would struggle to find a balanced midfield, how wrong could I have been?

Lacazette, much maligned in recent week, although not at his best in front of goal, put in a shift and a half.

Ozil purred like the beautiful player he is, he was back to his best, again,

Torreira was everything we hoped he would be when we signed him and Xhaka will have upset a lot of people because he ran the midfield.

This my positive friends, was a great start to the new decade, the time of Arteta dawns.

A desperately disappointing result, especially given how well we played in the first half. In that half we were very compact , energetic and aggressive in the tackle and pressing. The goal though came from a set piece rather than any good bit of creative play. However, we were value for the first half lead.

Ozil and Torreira had done very well and Aubameyang had put in a real shift. But the warning signs were there to be seen in the last 15 minutes when Chelea grew into the game.

The second half was a totally different kettle of fish. Chelsea were totally dominant although we seemed to be containing them. Then Leno decided to give them a helping hand by completely missing a ball in from a free kick. A free kick needlessly given away by Lacazette, who all in all had another disappointing game. If Lacazette is not careful he will be scapegoat in chief as soon as Xhaka sprints out the door, How we missed Xhaka today, I might add, his understudy, Guendouzi, had a poor game as he seemed the only player not to understand the team shape.

Talking about Matteo, the winning goal came when he did his normal poor attempt to win an aerial ball, and nodded it to a Chelsea player , setting them off on a breakaway.

So as disappointing as it was, we have to accept that we were not good enough in the second half. I think a draw would have been a fair result, but who said football was fair?

If Xhaka has indeed decided he has had enough of us, we desperately need a CM to fill the gap, as there is no one near his level on the roster capable of stepping up.

Have a nice new year and don’t fret too much, Mikel has this, it will come, sooner or later

It was only a point and only a single goal, but that was much better.

The team looked like a team again. Ozil was the best player on the pitch, closely followed by Xhaka and then Torreira. Our midfield was all of a sudden balanced. Ozil creating 3 really good chances in the first 11 minutes and looking class until he was withdrawn on about 75 minutes, presumably the lack of game time taking a physical toll.

Torreira did everything we expected from him when he signed, he hustled and harried, won ball after ball and layed it off effectively.

Xhaka sat deep, always ready to take the ball and distribute it with a variety of fantastic passes.

Saka and AMN both coped well defensively and the two center backs look quite secure.

Sadly there were some negatives as well.

Lacazette had a poor game, and that’s being kind. Maybe his being dropped has affected his confidence,or maybe his performance tell us why he has been dropped?

I thought Nelson struggled as well, he and Saka squandered some really good opportunities to deliver a telling final ball, in fact even a half decent final ball was not to be seen.

All in all it was a game we should have won on our performance, there were huge green shoots of improvement.

Well done boys and well done Mikel, after just 3 days training , outstanding progress.