West Brom/Walcott/ Mata/Mourinho

Barring injuries, the team v Stoke should be the same as v Marseilles.

AW then has to play the same 6 players in midfield and attack if he seriously wants to win the West Brom game.

AW can play around with the back five but replacing any of those front six without Arteta, Rosicky, Carzola, Diaby, Podolski or Oxlade-Chamberlain being available would be tantamount to giving up the tie.

Personally, I’d start with my strongest team. Successful teams don’t train much I believe, they mainly rest and play. What would you do?

I note in your post yesterday that you still thought Arsenal were still 5 players short to be serious challengers.

Whilst, I have no doubt that Arsenal have serious deficiencies in attack and they will need a lot of luck to hold out for a reinforcement in January, I am not sure that otherwise the squad is that weak in numbers. (You can always question quality, but a lot of the dead wood was sold in the summer).

I note that currently, Rosicky, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain,Arteta, Podolski (and Diaby) are all out injured and Vermaalen is only just back to the bench.

You can reasonably argue that all of the above are first team players.

I would also refer you to this link which I remember reading last month, in which it is argued that the core squad for most championship winning teams is c. 20 players.

http://abehnisch.com/on-arsenal-squad-size/

Hey big brother : Could this be Arsenal’s year?

Come to think of it.

Moyes and Rodgers might need more time to turn their respective outfits into winning sides and clinch their debut titles.

The ‘Happy One’ doesn’t know his first 11 yet, plus some of his lieutenants, including Van Ginkel/De Bruyne and Schurrle are far from finished products.

Wondering if Arsene has figured this out.

With a huge slice of fortune, the Gunners could be in a stronger position, on the table and in contention by the time Arteta, Podolski, Chamberlain and Carzola are back to fitness.

That Romanian free dude could be a better option upfront compared to the alternatives on the table.
Even Myles is buzzing about the Gunners nowadays, with timely and well explained posts ( sample the literature on Ozil’s assist), suggesting he’s maybe watching the full 90 nowadays.

And since my brain has been consistently washed by Myles in the past half a decade, I have to sit up and take note.

Keep them coming big brother.

Arsenal held on brilliantly against a Marseille team full of African players to claim 3 crucial points in a group that will go down the wire.

Walcott’s strike was exceptional. Kenyans are now bragging on social media on how Ramsey can stop scoring since he visited Nairobi last summer.

Jose Mourinho doesn’t trust any of his strikers at Chelsea.

Torres is not his man and Ba just plays on instinct and can’t play in a Mourinho team. He is really unpredictable – sometimes brilliant often not on the same page as the rest of the team. This does not fit the Mourinho mould at all.

I think Mourinho is hoping to stay in the title race long enough to bring in the striker he wants in January.

In terms of the Arsenal performance the issues remain with defensive communication. We beat the weakest team in the group and will have to play better against Dortmund and Napoli. On the positive the midfield is getting better and better especially with Flamini doing the hard defensive work now.

Ozil did not have a good game but he nearly made two goals. He creates danger and space for others -opponents respect his ability and fear the fact he can do something which can change the game. It is nice to have someone in the Arsenal team others respect – we have not had this since RVP left.

Walcott scoring was important – he needed that goal.

p.s. Napoli look good – we will have to play very well against them at the Emirates!