Gervinho could score tonight.
But only from an Arshavin pass. Or maybe an Arteta pass.
With Ramsey out injured, I’d move Arshavin inside.
Gervinho could go through on his own and score, if he has the bottle to finish well.
Bench Walcott. Use him as a sub.
I very rarely indulge in armchair tactics but, having seen what I saw on Saturday against Swansea, I\’m doing it now.
Why? Because Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott have no relationship.
You notice it on TV. You can see they\’re not on the same wavelength.
But to be in the stadium watching those two clowns not combining against a newly-promoted team of journeymen was ghastly. It made me realise that their non-partnership is a fundamental part of Arsenal’s recent failures.
Jesus Christ, it\’s a game of partnerships! The best teams are the those with the best teamwork, full of guys who love to play for each other and with each other.
Robin lumbers around, considering his own seniority, and his undeserved armband.
So many things about Arsenal Football Club are fundamentally flawed. But that\’s the most glaring, the most obvious, the most fundamental.
Until that’s changed, this team is going nowhere. Right now, its the elephant in the room.
What do I think of Borussia Dortmund?
Two things, really.
First, Dortmund are a Bundesliga team.
Second, they play a high-tempo game of energy and pressing. Borussia Dortmund come at you and keep coming at you, roared on by 80,000 fans, the biggest crowd in the German League.
I don\’t know a helluva lot about the current Bundesliga but I can give you my first impressions.
Teams in this league seem to have certain characteristics. Almost every team seems to play with lots of width and many crosses, good free-kicks and corners, shots from distance on target, big men heading the ball in the 18-yard box, big men heading the ball in the six-yard box, long throws with flick-ons and volleys.
That\’s how I see the Bundesliga.
That view may be very unfair and may change as I watch more German football this season.
Coach Juergen Klopp wears glasses and gets very involved on the touchline. He’s excitable, demonstrative, very intense.
His key player is Mario Gotze, the 19-year old wonderboy.
Gotze is razor-sharp, left-footed, can slice through you in tight areas, do stuff normal players can\’t do. He is exciting, zippy, a pretty surgical finisher, a serious talent coming up nationally behind Ozil and Moller.
So Borussia Dortmund are a very energetic and determined team who were outplayed at home by newly-promoted Hertha Berlin and deservedly beaten 2-1.
Their goal came from a free-kick headed in by Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who had scored against Germany the previous week. Szczesny and Mertesacker will know Lewandowski well.
In truth, I\’m still getting over Saturday. I felt sandbagged, concussed and depressed by the thought of watching Theo and Robin not combining for the next eight months.
And I keep thinking of that woman we met at half-time.
She asked me a question which I found extraordinary. But before that I’d asked her: How did you get into football? She said, “It\’s a long story. I grew up in Stoke, my father was a policemen who use to work at the matches. I started going when I was four and I loved it, I used to sit on people\’s shoulders, they\’d look after me because I was the policeman\’s daughter, and at the end of the game they\’d hand me back to my dad.
“I came to London in 1986 and thought : I must carry on going to football. So I went to Spurs but didn\’t like it. Following week, I came to Arsenal and really enjoyed it, so I\’ve had a season ticket ever since. My husband was a doctor, he died four years ago. But I still come with friends and go home with them.”
Then she asked a question I didn\’t expect.
“Do you like Robin?”
“No, I think he’s useless. Too static.”
“I don’t like him either,” she said.