The Game

Usually, international breaks are something we don’t look forward to, no Arsenal to follow, injury concerns to worry about and sometimes, no football to follow at all.

This one, however, was very much needed as Arsene Wenger and his team had plenty to think about after the humiliating defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United and think they did as we signed four players on the last day of the summer transfer window.

Now I’m not that good when I have to test my memory but if it serves me right we signed three players last summer and only a couple the one before so maybe, just maybe, the change in philosophy many of us wanted did occur indeed this year.

Many are calling tomorrow’s game as a fresh start and I agree but in no way it is the “real start of the season” as Arsene called it. Our season started on August 13, that’s almost a month ago and if he wasn’t able to assemble a strong squad for that date then he, or the board or whoever was responsible for that should raise his hand and apologise because we are eight points from the top and unless you’re Barcelona you just don’t give such an advantage to the opposition.

Swansea City is our golden opportunity to finally bounce back from a horrible first month but it is also a very dangerous occassion with Borussia Dortmund waiting for our first Champions League of the campaign, on Tuesday.

And that is because we all know how complacent this Arsenal team can be sometimes and that is what I fear ahead of tomorrow’s game, that we get a good result, a very good one actually and then the players, manager and some of the fans believing that all our problems are fixed when clearly, that would not be the case.

It happened before, didn’t it? What makes me a little bit more relaxed in respect to all this is captain Robin van Persie. After the Udinese game and after the Manchester United he spoke like a true leader saying that Udinese was just the beginning of a long journey and after the 8-2 defeat he said that injuries and suspensions cannot be used as an excuse.

That’s the spirit, of course. I remember last season how the 5-0 win over Leyton Orient was described by Arsene as a game showing that the players bounced back from the Carling Cup defeat but we all know what happened after that so I’d say let’s take it one game at a time without getting carried away, and then we’ll see.

The new signings are here, tomorrow some will play, others will not but for sure is that we now have a big squad – especially in midfield – with which we can hopefully aim for something more than just a Top Four finish.

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

It is always tricky to pick the line-up after Internationals but with key players out injured or suspended and some of the new signings not fit enough to feature, I would start with the above line-up.

Wojciech Szczęsny should of course start in goal, I heard he did exceptionally well for his country meaning that he’s indeed on fire. In front of him, I would go for new signing Per Mertesacker alongside Laurent Koscielny. This one will hopefully be a relatively easy game so it’s the best possible way for new signings to make their debut.

In midfield, we welcome Emmanuel Frimpong back from suspension as I would start with Tomas and Mikel alongside him. As I said last week, Aaron Ramsey should not be put under heavy pressure, he’s still young and maybe not ready to “lead” the midfield so two “veterans” of the game like Tomas and Mikel will be the perfect partnership for young Frimpong.

Having said that, if the Czech fails to recover from his knee problem, then of course Aaron will be my choice.

Up front, Andrey – it seems – was also very lively for his country and Theo Walcott, according to Arsene, is fit to start. They will of course link up with Robin in the offensive department. One thing I wanted to mention is Chu Young-Park. I watched his goals for South Korea and even though the opposition was nothing special he looks like one who knows how to position himself and finish.

It will be interesting to see how Arsene will use the Korean, here hoping that he doesn’t shift him on the wing or alone up front against the physical defensive departments of English football. Alongside Robin in a 4-4-2 formation would however be something I would look forward to as these two could form a great partnership in the offensive department.

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.