The Game

It is not easy to understand how come, after years and years of frustration, we we will tomorrow face Liverpool with what many consider to be Arsenal’s weakest squad under Arsene Wenger.

Less than a year ago, our manager was saying that what he had at his disposal was the strongest squad ever but when you look at the players available for tomorrow’s game you simply have to accept the fact that as much as it hurts, even if we’re playing at home, a draw would be a good result and that’s because defensively, no matter who plays, we will be very, very weak.

And it’s funny, because all this comes on the week in which our manager said that the squad is way too big although I struggle to understand how you can call our squad “big” after we sold or loaned out, how many, seven players?

What actually is frustrating about tomorrow’s squad is that both Alex Song and Gervinho could have easily avoided their red card as this again demonstrates that some of our players have to work on their maturity level since as I said last week you simply cannot lose your head the way these two did when vital games against Liverpool and Manchester United are coming up.

Meanwhile, Joel Campbell was today officially announced as an Arsenal player and surprise surprise, his first words included the all-so-famous “I know I have a possibility to become a better player at Arsenal” statement, as I keep wondering when will we finally sign a player who will say, “I am here to bring experience, I am here to teach the young players”. Keep dreaming, Chris, don’t be afraid to dream.

Oh well, enjoy the game friends, it’s an early kick-off at 12:45 in the UK and let’s hope we will all have a big smile on our faces when the referee blows the final whistle.

As always, my favourite line-up is below. Remember you can submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and then share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Favourite line-up

Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Armand Traore, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Song and Gervinho. I’m sure I missed someone, fact is that with the season yet to enter its second official month we are already facing Liverpool, supposedly strong candidates for the championship, with key players missing and with wantaway Samir Nasri set to feature for the very first time in an official game.

Now see how funny this is. First of all, based on the Udinese game, we simply cannot afford to go out there with Carl Jenkinson on the left as he was all over the place against the Italians, who were very, very dangerous when they pushed from his wing. So who to opt for?

Thomas Vermaelen, no? He looks like the only “safe” option. Incidentally, this is where Emmanuel Eboue would have been useful as he was always a safe bet on the left but our manager preferred to let him go to bring Carl, now whether the English-born will turn out to be a better player is all to be seen.

Anyway, if we move Thomas to the left, we have to replace him in the middle and with Johan Djourou out and Alex Song suspended, there’s another problem to face. Now since Sebastien Squillaci is … Sebastien Squillaci, it has to be either Carl or Ignasi Miquel and if I am to choose one of the two, I would gamble with the former.

In midfield, more and more questions, more and more problems. Personally, I would use Samir in the “Cesc role”, Emmanuel as of course the one to help the defensive department and Aaron helping both offensively and defensively. This means that Andrey can be used in his favourite left-back position with Theo on the right and of course Robin up front.

In the second half, if the Russian is having a below-par performance, I would unleash Ryo Miyaichi with Nicklas Bendtner also involved if we find ourselves playing catch-up late into the game.

The Gunning Hawk Coverage

As always, tune in for team line-ups, streaming links, half time and full time reports, post-match thoughts, video highlights and what the press is writing. And of course, do contribute if you want to by making use of the comment box available at the bottom of the post as it’s always nice to hear your opinion. And as a final note, if you want to go one step further than just leaving a comment and want to have your articles published on our website, take a look here for more information.

Arsenal Interactive

And of course, don’t forget you’re still in time to pick your preferred team for this game. And when the final whistle blows, don’t forget to rate the players, comment on their performances and share your personal ratings with your friends. All this and more, available at http://www.arsenal-interactive.com.