They often say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks but right now I'm more concerned about teaching our 'new dogs' Arsenal's old trick of qualifying from the Champions League group stage.
Arsene Wenger's new look Arsenal embark on this this years Champions League campaign tonight with a trip to the BvB Stadion Dortmund to face Borussia Dortmund. Our boys travel to the reigning Bundesliga champions on the back of picking up our first 3 points in the league against Swansea and although the performance wasn't a reason for the squad to be suddenly overflowing with confidence, it is a start and a good result tonight could be vital in building up a decent run of results and pushing our season forward.
Wenger starts his new 2 match ban tonight and will be giving his team talk at the hotel before they leave for the stadium but it will be down to the players to ensure his presence isn't missed. There will again be a lot of pressure on a couple of the new boys with Arteta and Mertesacker likely to keep their starting spots.Per Mertesacker worried me during in the game against Swansea, in my opinion he wasn't sharp enough, his decision making was variable at best and he failed to impose his height at all however, tonight's game should suit Mertesacker more than the weekend's game, the Bundesliga is where he played his trade before coming to Arsenal and is definitely more suited to a German pace. Mertesacker needs to improve quickly, especially as we are without Vermaelen for so long and tonight is a great opportunity for him to start. Arteta on the other hand could thrive on the space he gets tonight. I expect him to have a little more time on the ball than he is used to and look forward to seeing what he can make of it, hopefully picking out passes to the lighting bolts either side of him resembling Theo Walcott and Gervinho unless of course he's picking his spot from 30 yards and smashing a shot into the top corner.
Speaking of Gervinho, he must be gagging for a game. Following his dismissal at Newcastle on the opening day of the season he has only been able to play in European qualifiers. I can't wait to see Gervinho get a decent run in the side, he must be strengthening relationships with his team mates all the time and once he clicks he will be deadly for us. I expect Gervinho to leave the traps flying tonight and putting pressure on the Dortmund defenders from the very first minute to the last.
One question for Wenger to answer is that of left back. Gibbs is in the rare state of being fit and had as good a game as anyone on Saturday but Santos will be eager to begin his Arsenal career. Santos was short of match fitness at the weekend and I don't know how much that's changed in the past couple of days however I don't expect to see Santos's full out 'attack is the best form of defence' defending being Wenger's preferred choice.
My Line up:
Szczesny
Sagna - Kos - Mertesacker - Gibbs
Song
Frimpong - Arteta
Walcott - Gervinho
RVP
Tonight should be a good game. Two attacking teams who like to play football as it should be played. I think we could see a few goals today and in all honesty if we don't lose then I will be relatively happy with the result. A win would be great, as always, but a draw will not be a bad result. One player we will need to watch out for will be a reported summer target of Wenger's in the form of Mario Gotze. Yet another player being touted as a new Messi will be fresh after not playing in Dortmunds' last league game and is very much able to cause us a lot of issues. I'd imagine Frimpong and Song will be given the responsibility of keeping him quite, my only worry is the temperament and clumsiness of the pair and what damage it would do if we were to end up getting through yet another game with only 10 men.
Results are being scrutinised more than every at the moment by press, pundits and fans so the performance is almost as important as the result tonight. If we keep our discipline and take our chances when they present themselves we should wake up tomorrow happy Gooners.
On a separate note Henri Lansbury has today signed a new contract with the club. This is fantastic news and has been well played by the club. Lansbury wanted to leave early in the summer but the club arranged a loan so they had a chance to change his mind, which they have managed to do. With a year of regular football under his belt this season he should return in the summer a better player and could be the next youngster to make that step into the Arsenal first team.
Till next time,
Goonerfish
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