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Borussia Dortmund vs Arsenal preview: Europe’s first, plus favourite line-up

Written by Chris on September 12, 2011 – 19:30

The Gunning Hawk - ForumSignal Iduna Park - Borussia Dortmund

The Game

Considered by many as the toughest opposition in Pot D, Borussia Dortmund tomorrow host Arsenal in what will hopefully be an entertaining game of football.

It is not easy to predict what will happen tomorrow at the Signal Iduna Park but for sure is that we travel to Germany with a lot of question marks hanging over the squad and, as said on Saturday, the “work in progress” sign yet to be taken off as of course five new players joined the team last week and are yet to properly settle down in Arsene Wenger’s formation.

According to many, there is a reason why the summer transfer window ends on August 31 and that’s to give everyone the chance to find the right players at the right price with the right wage structure. But, unfortunately, it is also true that late signings usually need at least a full month to adapt to a new life, a new team and a new formation and going forward, this is a concern.

I think this month, September, will be crucial for Arsenal. With two Champions League games against tough opposition, tricky games in the Premier League against Blackburn and Bolton and Shrewsbury at home in the Carling Cup where new players will have their opportunity to get things going, this is indeed the period where we will understand what our objectives will be for the campaign.

Some believe it’s too early to start drawing conclusions on what our targets are for the season but I respectfully disagree. The more I see the two Manchester teams the more I realise that it will be very, very difficult to leapfrog them at the top of the table, that is, for them to lose three games in a row and for us to win all of them, I just can’t see it at the moment.

For sure, is that we have to take it one game at a time. Thomas Vermaelen and Jack Wilshere will not be back before October and as said above the new players will need weeks to properly settle down so you could easily say that we will only see the “Arsenal of the future” from next month. Until then, yes, let’s do our best to limit the damage this month hoping to be in a strong position in England and Europe when Arsene will have a full squad to choose from.

To conclude, if you want to know more about the Germans, I invite you to check Jeff’s article published this morning as it includes a detailed analysis of Jürgen Klopp’s squad.

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

Arsenal vs Swansea

Compared to Saturday, I feel the defensive department will be an unchanged one although if Andre Santos is fit then maybe he should be given the nod for the left-back position. Kieran Gibbs was again disappointing with his defensive duties against the Swans and we desperately need to know if the Brazilian is a better defender before it’s too late.

In midfield, Tomas Rosicky failed to recover from injury and it’s a shame as the Czech wanted so much to feature again in the stadium where he spent a good part of his career. With him out, I would start with Alex and Emmanuel alongside Mikel.

Up front, we welcome Gervinho back and it has to be Theo Walcott to give way. The more I watch Theo the more I wonder if he’s killing the progress – to put it in Arsene’s terms – of other players. I mean he’s been at the Club for ages yet we see very little improvement from him over the years as I’m more than sure others players would have progressed much, much more if given the same opportunities.

But anyway, offensively I would of course start with Robin supported by the Ivory Coast International and Andrey Arshavin. Frankly, I cannot understand how some were not happy with the Russian’s game last weekend, he was fantastic, created space for his team-mates, assisted and scored a very difficult goal to execute.

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.

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  • Charlie says:

    Ramsey injury while training today was preventable imo bec he has played every minute of every game so far this season (including 2 internations for wales) without rest, and his performances showed he was feeling the strain as he has struggled recently to keep pace (often with games of low intensity). It upsest me to see, yet again, that the management at Arsenal are NOT being pro-active in managing the players condition.

    I also dont agree with your assessment of Theo. He has only been given few chances to play in a more central position and everytime he does, he impresses. He would also do plenty of damage out on the left because he can cut inside and shoot with his favoured right-foot (as he has aready done this season). Meanwhile, Gervinho, so far, has been asked to play where he played for Lille, and more importantly, where he feels he is best suited….and has performed.

    I am wondering why we dont try Walcott on the left and Gervinho on the right? After all, both Santos and Gibb are both very attacking and progressive fullbacks who overlap well maintain the width in this scenario. Recall Pires….he was a master of this.

    Finally, I would also like to see Arshavin play just behind RVP up front. We need to change this here, mix it up…..

    RVP
    Walcott Arshavin Gervinho
    Arteta Song
    Gibbs/Santos Koscielny Mertersacker Sagna
    Szcezny

    • Bongo says:

      This is almost exactly what I’d like to see. But I’d much prefer the idea of Benayoun in place of Arshavin. I like Arshavin but he can be switched off so often it’s annoying. Benayoun will give his all the entire match and he will chase all match too.

      I think Arshavin should be held with frimpong and the others in reserve to come in the 60th. Frimpong for Benayoun if we’re leading and Chamakh for Benayoun if we’re behind.

      I put my hands to face when I saw him come on against Swansea only to pleasantly surprized in seeing Chamakh play the way he did in his first few games for us. He even nearly got a goal. Chamakh may finally be an asset to us again because we have players like gibbs who can cross the ball and Arteta who is a master of getting the ball in the box.

      You are spot on about theo. He’s a fecking striker play him there already. It’s simple mathematical physics. Stick him to the shoulders of the CB’s and they are out of the game. They can’t come forward because leaving any large space between them and the goal and they’re wide open to theos pace, so they’ll have to defend deep. They will have to mark him tight and will give away free kicks trying to stop him. The full backs will be pinned back by the pace of Gervinho and others because a CB moving to the side to cover will leave theo wide open to use his pace. This tactic would completely negate theos poor decisions making, run, get ball, shoot. Give him 5 chances like that and he will put away one of them, he has a good shot when not forced to think. You basically pin the opposition back in their half this way, you make two defenders chase theo all day or get caught out. You keep theo on the edge even when they’re taking corners and you make them very nervous because even a long ball clearance from there can be picked up by theo and they’ll be punished.
      It would even make up for our painfully slow defence -> attack switch that we are plagued with lately and make us dangerous on the counter again.

      • charlie says:

        Well said! Put him up against any CB in the world and he will unnerve them…..its plain to see….its simple mathematics, physics….as you say. I just dont understand why Wenger doesnt. There are many things he doesnt see anymore and frankly I am getting impatient and we are running out of time to save this club from longterm mediocrity.

  • kelly says:

    coquelin over frimpong any day of the week unless we are playing stoke.

    • Hunter says:

      I actually agree with you on that. I think at the moment he is a much more refined player.

    • Joni says:

      Coquelin is class no doubt…….rolls royce

  • Padraic says:

    Why would you leave out song?

    • Chris says:

      Nobody is leaving out Alex.

  • N7 Gooner says:

    Good call on Arshavin-I was there on Sat and he had a lot more of his old confidence and vision. I think he’s got a new lease of life now things aren’t going through Cesc and Nasri….good!

  • Bengana PH says:

    Thanks man,I like ur work but I couldnt agree to the lineup in midfield dept.I think I could be this:
    scheszny
    sagna Per4 Kos6 Gibbs
    Art8 Song Arsh23
    W14 RVP10 Gervenho

  • Unbeaten.49 says:

    I would like to see RVP + Park, on the starting line-up, maybe in a 4-1-3-2 formation:

    Szczesny
    Sagna – Per – Kosc – Santos
    Song
    Arshavin – Arteta – Gervinho
    RVP – Park

    What do you guys think?

    • Hunter says:

      This would be our best attacking formation but of course Arsene refuses to ever make a change even though what we are doing now isn’t working.

    • nikkogunners says:

      your lineup is ok but i would pick Walcott for Asharvin…

    • anya says:

      let we start with walcoot and chamakh..arshavin and park will be supersub..

    • Salvage says:

      Great, the first person here who didnt add Gibbs as starter in the match. Santos has to start. The best line up have seen in here. Very dynamic and full of options. Though I think Benayoun should be given a more central role in midfield. Arteta has got great first touches but was very static in the match against Swansea

  • johndaily says:

    chris wouldnt u say gervinho should be plaing on the left flank?alsoi think with it being away game theo would be ideal as the will be pressing and his pace is deadly on the counter.thoughts?

    • Hunter says:

      That would work if we actually countered with pace but we don’t seem capable of that anymore.

  • cesar says:

    ………………………Szczesny…………..

    …Sagna…..Per……Koscielny………Gibbs

    …………..Song…………..Frimpong……….

    ………………….Arteta…………

    ..V.persie………..Park………….Gervinho

    For me this is the strongest team Right now.

    • Aussie Jack says:

      Agree with your choice. Park should start. Gibbs is the only question mark he`s going to have a hell of a time marking Gotze.

      • WafflingWenger says:

        Park hasn’t played a single minute and yet so many of you want to throw him into the starting line-up (thereby changing the formation to accommodate him) in the first champions league group game of the season, which is away against the German champions? Crazy.

        • Aussie Jack says:

          He`s just played and scored on the international scene so he`s ready to go.

          Unlike a mid fielder he`s out there to score goals and with RVP playing just behond him anything can happen.

  • Okey says:

    My opinion is (seze,sagna,gb,per,kos, song,frimpon,arteta,rvp,gervin,walcot or benayun)up gunaz from nija

  • donbabadee says:

    ……..szczney…….

    Sagna……per….koscienly….gibbs

    ……………….song…………………..

    ……..arteta…………….benayoun……

    Walcot…….persie……….gervinho.

    I believe starting benayoun is much better than starting frimpong or are we going to Germany to play defensive football?bcos with song and frimpong in the mildfield i don’t think any positive result can be our’s.see the 2nd leg udinese match,frimpong was subtituted for Rosiky which makes arsenal won the match.

  • Olumide says:

    @kelly i agree with you. I think people have not been observant of coquelin.

    • kelly says:

      hes not on the list i just checked it!

  • per says:

    I agree with u chris lets keep things tight.this is an away game after all.the last 20minutes we can press for the goal.we need to win this game and group,or we might just face barca again.

  • olat says:

    Kelly you ‘re a better and observant Arsenal supporter,i supported your motion Frimpong or who? Coquelin is better and more sensible than frimpong.I first noticed this guy during our thrashed at man U he is not bad atall.But we should stop gambling Arteta,and Benayoun we be ok with Song simple.

  • gooooneer says:

    szczesny
    sagna per koscielny santos
    song
    arteta benayoun
    walcott gervinho
    persie

  • Mark says:

    What injury does Ramsey have? I haven’t had time this week to keep up with things. I’d love to see Park finally get in there and let’s see what his energy will do for the squad. We usually do well in the early CL group matches and I think we will come to play tomorrow, I would be thrilled with at least a draw.

  • Haris says:

    What a night this should be, B. Dortmund vs. Arsenal. I watched B. Dortmund in the first round of the Bundesliga and I was amazed of the quality, the passing, the movement, simply fantastic. That’s when I couldn’t wait for them to play in the Champions League, hoping to see them clash with one of the giants, RM, Barca, UTD, Milan, whoever it didn’t matter, I just wanted to see them against one of the best sides in Europe but I certainly didn’t expect them to play against us. When the draw was made I was equally disappointed that we got the strongest possible opponent from pot 4 but excited too. I think at the end this is what football is about. The trips to Italy, Germany, France…playing with the best from the aforementioned leagues is something every Arsenal fan looks forward too.

    I agree with you Jeff when you said in your last article that a point is something we should be happy with, if we got one.
    Dortmund are the champions and let me remind you that they won it in big style. However this year they are without their arguably best player of the season, Nuri Sahin who opted to try his luck elsewhere, another boost for us is that Barrios wont play but there are the likes of Kagawa, Gotze and Grosskreutz who will be very hard to keep quiet.

    I think if we want a good result we need to play with Song and Frimpong in the middle of the park. Santos needs to make his debut because I`m afraid Gotze will get the better of Gibbs who really disappointed me in the last few minutes of the Saturdays match when he looked like he didn’t care and forced Coquelin to cover as a left back while he was walking back.

    First let me show you what I think the squad should look like.

    ……………………..Szczesny………………………..
    Sagna…..Koscielny…..Mertesacker….Santos
    ……………..Song……….Frimpong……………….
    Walcott……………Arteta………………….Gervinho
    …………………..van Persie…………………………..

    We need to use the speed on the flanks. Walcott and Gervinho need to be at their best if we want to leave Germany with happy faces. I can`t wait to see more of the Ivorian who in mine opinion is the most dangerous player we have up there. Frimpong needs to be concentrated and to have accurate passes because losing possession in our half will be very dangerous. I think this is the squad Arsene Wenger will opt for too except maybe Kieran will get another chance which hopefully won`t happen.

    The bad news for me is that there won`t be any TV coverage so I am going to have to watch another Arsenal game on the net :( . Feel sorry for having to miss the Barca vs. Milan clash. They just had to put these fixtures in the same round.

    My prediction: B. Dortmund v Arsenal 1:2 or 2:2

    I have a good feeling about tomorrow. Take care Gunners ;)

  • gunner says:

    i’ll go for 4-4-1-1
    -Sczcesny-
    Sagna-koscielny-mertesacker-santos
    Walcott-song-arteta-gervinho
    – j.s Park -
    – Van persie -
    Sub-fabianski,chamakh,benayoun,djourou,gibbs,arshavin,frimpong

  • arsenal4life says:

    Unbeaten.49, I would choose your eleven anyday. Very sensible. Kelly you won the post of the year. Couquelin was outstanding in the 8-2 trumping, He fought galantly in the middle, won all the tackles and adjudge wrongly by the ref which is typical of the refs against arsenal. A better passer of the ball than any other central midfielder. Arsenal have the best central midfielder but they lack the ability to pass consistently. Anderson-Manu, Mikel- chelsea, Lucas- Liverpool, Fletcher- Manu, Adams- Liverpool, Yaya Toure- Man C. The burden rest on Arteta and if he marked closely or having a bad day, we suffer and the same can be said of Cesc. The central must help with with pass so space can open up for Arteta.

  • A.U says:

    Nice formation Angus. We will give Arteta alot of freedom because he has Song and Frimpong to do the defensive duties. Theo should drop to the bench because his lack of end product pisses the sh*t out of me, Gervinho (always a player to watch) and Arshavin (on form) should support RvP up front. If any need, Introduce Park and Theo.

  • caligunna16 says:

    ————chezzer————-
    sagna–mert–kos–gibbs
    ————–song————–
    walcott—-arteta—gervinho
    ———arshavin—————-
    ———————-RVP——–

    i think that arshavin’s place outwide is now left for walcott/gervinho and that we should try him to float inside and see how his trickery works there. then replace him with Park and give Santos some time to play on left side.

  • Bouba says:

    Unbeaten49, you got the prefect line up ( 4-1-3-2 )
    I wish Wenger would take a look at the blog.

    Spot on.

  • sam says:

    arshavin playing 2 games in 3 days is a recipee for disaster. i hope he doesnt play and come back on saturday against blackburn.
    also van persie need to be rested, at least keep him on the bench in the first half only bring him on if necessary.
    my prefer line-up in attack should be walcott-young-gervinho. i am not sure young is ready to start but we need rotations this season to keep our best players firing.
    fatigue was the reason we collapsed last season

    • sam says:

      czesny, sagna, santos,per, koscielny
      frimpong,song arteta
      walcott, park,gervinho

      this gamble can pay off if park shines on his debut and a well rested van persie could be vital for us next game against blackburn, we badly need 3 points to climb up the prermiership table.

  • Georgooner says:

    The line up that I would personally go for would be..
    ……………………..Szczesny…………………

    Gibbs………Per……………Koscielny……….Sagna

    …………………Song……….Arteta………………

    Gervinho……………Arshavin……………Walcott

    ………………………..RVP………………………….

    Last game against Swansea Frimpong played really bad, dont get me wrong kids got heart, but that game he couldn’t get his pass through. Ramsey who played in front of him actually went back at the holding midfield to collect his pass, and Arteta was just left stranded at times. He was too close to Ramsey and Frimpong. He then went forward to Attacking Mid. but again Ramsey kept moving back and forth. There were times where all of them were at the back because nobody could get their position straighten out. There was left a gapping hole between the forwards and Midfield, so at times Arshavin stepped up in the middle, hence the chance for Walcott. As the game went on everyone felt a little confident on their positioning.

    On the next game against Borussia Dortmund, I would like to see Arshavin in the middle because he doesn’t track back much so give him attack mid. where he can feed RVP or score one himself. Arteta can help him with small passes or feeding to the wingers, and Song be a solid Holding Mid. who can pass some nice through balls. That should be enough to give em a decent chance against the strong challenger.

  • Javea says:

    Amazing how many of you choose Frimpong in starting lineup. He is very very raw and cannot operate in tight spaces. He is powerful and only good at close contact but Arsenal’s gave is pass and move and sadly for Frimpong he doesn’t move at all. I am sorry but this kid will be another JD in making at this rate …progressive liability.

  • WJ says:

    Against the GERMAN Champions, we have to be more defensive.

    Szczesny

    Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Gibbs/Santos

    Song

    Walcott Arteta Benayoun

    Arshavin

    Van Persie

  • Simon says:

    Oh no – Ramsey out! Who’s going to hold up Arsenal’s attacks, get caught with the ball, pass to the opposition or pass backwards of sideways for 90 minutes without Ramsey there to do it?

    • Angus says:

      Arteta takes Ramsey’s place easily

    • Berk Face says:

      he’s being asked to do too much, I feel sorry for him

  • WJ says:

    Hello Simon,

    Ramsey is NOT good enough to play for Arsenal, at the moment.

    Our Midfield for tonight shoud look like:

    SONG FRIMPONG

    Arteta Gervinho

    Arshavin

    RVP

  • Craigie says:

    I disagree that its hard to predict what will happen.

    For the first time in at least five years we go into a group game against a team that is, on paper stronger than our team.

    They have the best young centre back pairing in european football, one of the most exciting dynamic players in europe in gotze and the rest of the team aren’t just filling the gaps.

    Most importantly they’ve kept all their key players and are a unit, whereas saturday showed a lack of cohesion for Arsenal.

    I can’t see any way we can win this, we should go for a draw and be happy if we get it.

  • Frank says:

    ……………………Szczesny…………..

    …Sagna…..Per……Koscielny………Gibbs

    …………..Song…………..Arteta……….

    ………………….Benayoun…………

    ..Arshavin………..V.persie………….Gervinho

    This is the strongest squad because Walcott is useless from the right andf we need more creativity as well as defensiveness which arteta and song will provide…

    • Jack Mo says:

      I agree with you all the way except the Walcott comment.

      The Media wants him to look useless but he keeps scoring and delivering assists so I don’t understand where his uselessness comes from.

      He is not a natural right winger anyway, and Arshavin was before he came to Arsenal so why not try him there today.

      With Walcott waiting for the last 30 minutes.

  • carlos says:

    i believe what tactic Arsene employ is the talking need at this hour given the confident level of our player
    I myself prefer a defensive minded game for todays’ ofcourse Arsene doesn’t seems to like it.
    i prefer this line up
    Szyny
    Sagna Kos PM Gibbs
    Song Coquilin
    Ash Art Gir
    V.persie

    I perfer coquilin over frim(seeing swanse game ‘m little skeptic of him). Gibbs needs to be protected in my opinion otherwise goetze might run riot on him, and also song can have an eye on the japanese guy. Stop these two they will be toothless in my opinion

  • Asefa w/Mariam says:

    Both Song and Frimpong are the type of players , as to me one of them
    must bo in the line up of the 1st team,

    • Berk Face says:

      If Song were disciplined and sat I’d agree but he seems to wonder off. Nobody’s done it properly since Gilberto and Flamini left. So Song & Frimpong gives more cover and steel.

  • Al barney says:

    SCEZNEY
    SAGNA
    GIBBS
    PER
    KOSCI
    SONG
    BENAYOUN
    ARTETA
    RVP
    PARK
    GEVINHO
    SUBS
    WALCOUT
    ASHARVIN
    FRIMPONG
    FABIANSKI
    SANTOS

  • james confidence says:

    szczesny

    sagna……….per ……………andre………………..gibbs

    arterta……….frimpong……………..benayoun

    rvp

    walcott………………………………………chu/gervinho

  • paris86 says:

    at this point is good to see Arsene having many options, we have had like no competition in our squads at all. Injuries were the line-up maker which is wrong. It was always Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, van Persie if they were fit because it was our strongest squad with non of the players mentioned fearing to lose their place in the team.

    I find this favourite line-ups making ridiculous, because we are not seeing the players training and that’s where the line-up is made!

    Today we have 2 good options at the left back, the goalkeepers too, in centre we can pick Frimpong, Coquelin, Arshavin, Benayoun or replace this place for midfeilders with a place for an attacker and training will show which players to pick and that’s what i want to see for the rest of my life! :)

  • summerbreez says:

    i would field

    sanga- koscinly- matasaker -santos

    ———-benayoon-song- arteta
    ————van park gervinho

    benayoon /freembong van/archivan

    and a midfield of …………..at the 50th minuet

    ——song arteta freempong

    ———–archivan
    park——————–gervinho

    looking for a win ……..

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