HullCity

8th March 2016: Arsenal head to Hull hoping to keep hat-trick hopes alive

Posted on by TremendArse

After a couple of weeks of hell, tonight we head to Hull, looking to keep alive our hopes of winning the FA Cup for the third year in a row.

Victory would confirm a quarter final tie at home against Watford next weekend, so with all due respect to the Hornets, if we can tame the Tigers we’ll have Wembley firmly in our sights yet again.

For all our troubles in Europe and the Premier League recently, the Cup again provides us with a genuine opportunity to secure some silverware this season and even if fans are feeling a little ‘been there done that’ about the oldest cup competition in the world having tasted success twice in two seasons, completing a hat-trick of triumphs would still be a superb achievement and one no other club has managed for over 100 years.

And Arsene Wenger discussed the possibility of such a rare feat when he spoke at his pre-match press conference yesterday, saying:

If we were able to do it again, it would be absolutely fantastic. There’s no country where the national cup is bigger. In Spain and France, nobody neglects it: not Barcelona, not Madrid. Everybody plays for it 100 per cent, with a top team always. I personally rate highly the FA Cup. I think it’s a fantastic, prestigious competition. I believe it is treated like that because when I listen to people, should we lose a game in the FA Cup, it would be a disaster. You cannot say on one side it’s undervalued, and on the other side if we lose, it’s a disaster. We won the FA Cup twice in the last two years. We will try to do our best again in this competition.

It’s no crown-topped Premier League trophy and it certainly doesn’t match up to it’s big-eared European cousin, but the FA Cup is still a competition to be celebrated as far as I’m concerned and I’d love us to win it again. Chelsea in the Final with Petr Cech heading home a last-minute winner to complete the third Double of Arsene’s tenure would be perfect, but given our league standing at the moment, I’d settle for just the first half of that sentence.

In terms of how we’ll line up, based on the teams we’ve selected so far in the competition this season, my guess is Mesut Ozil will be rested but may make the bench unlike in previous rounds, and Alex Iwobi, an FA Cup ever-present this term, will start in the German’s place.

David Ospina will no doubt be in goal and given Laurent Koscielny is still injured, I guess who we play at the back depends a little on whether the boss feels Hector Bellerin needs a rest. If he does, then we play Calum Chambers at right-back with Gabriel and Per Mertesacker in the middle, but if not, then one the latter two can get a breather and Chambers can play centrally. Left-back also has a question mark hanging over it because usually Kieran Gibbs would deputise for Nacho Monreal but the Spaniard was rested in our last game so who knows.

I think Aaron Ramsey will also be left out, along with Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck, and considering we’re pretty short of options at the base of midfield, I think we’ll line-up something like this:

Ospina; Chambers, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal; Flamini, Elneny, Iwobi; Campbell, Giroud, Walcott.

As for our opposition, they’re flying high and sit in third place in the Championship but similar to the first game in this tie, are expected to rotate heavilly themselves.

It’ll be a tough game regardless, but it’s one we really ought win on paper and given how close we’d be to winning the competition again were we to triumph tonight, the players should need no extra motivation to make it happen. Let’s see.

Back tomorrow.

COME ON ARSENAL!

7th March 2016: Wenger on team news and growing pressure

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. Arsene Wenger held his pre-Hull press conference this morning, revealing the latest team news, as well as discussing the growing unrest among Arsenal supporters following a feeble run of form that has seen us fall eight points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City.

But first to availability for tomorrow’s FA Cup replay against the Tigers and the boss hinted at a strong selection for the game, whilst providing updates on the fitness of Laurent Koscielny and Petr Cech. He said:

We lose Coquelin from his bad tackle on Saturday and everyone else looks available. I have to see how everybody has recovered today but overall we should have the same squad that went to Tottenham plus Alex Iwobi will certainly be added to the squad. Petr’s scans were better than expected, but it will still be four weeks for him. So after the international break. Laurent will be short for Hull. he has a chance to be available for the weekend, but I think even for then he will be short.

Nothing surprising in all of that and considering the Cup now appears our most realistic opportunity to secure silverware this season, I suppose the game takes on added importance. But more on that in tomorrow’s post when I’ll be playing Arsenal Manager again and trying to guess our starting XI, so tune in.

On to the swirling sh*tstorm engulfing London Colney at the moment and particularly the manager’s office. There have been numerous stories over the last week or so about Arsene’s future, with one paper going as far as to say the boss will be asked to leave if we fail to beat Hull tomorrow.

Then there’s rumours of legendary ex-players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp all supposedly being lined up to step in if the club decide to make a change, ignoring the fact all three of them have zero experience of top-level management (New York City doesn’t count). Anyway, the boss was inevitably asked about his future and pressure from irate fans and here’s what he said:

I feel privileged to have the confidence of the club for such a long time. On the other hand, I work seven days a week with full commitment. I’m not part time and since I have been here I have given full commitment and that is all I can do. I always have the same pressure, which is the same pressure I apply to myself. After that, people talk and you have more people talking than 20 years ago and more opinions. That doesn’t change the pressure. The real pressure comes from your desire to win the next game and that is the only one that matters really. I do my job and one day someone will replace me. That is part of life and as long as you have done well and given your best [that is what matters]. That is what I try to do. I try to do my best and leave this club in the best shape so the guy coming after me will have good potential to work with.

I’m sure this isn’t the first time we’ve heard these words from Wenger and they probably won’t be the last. He’s in charge and he’ll make the call on when to call it a day – that much is pretty clear. Whether that’s healthy or not is up for debate but it is what it is and unless results continue to disappoint, nothing will change at least until the summer.

If I were to guess though, I’d say nothing will change at least until the end of Arsene’s current contract which expires in May 2017, at which point, we may have just won the treble. Unlikely of course but the point is that trying to guess what the world will look like so far down the line is a fool’s errand. Just look at Leicester.

A bit short but I’m afraid that’s where I’ll leave it.

Back pre-game tomorrow.

25th February 2016: Early team news and Mertesacker on United

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. It’s time to put Barcelona behind us and refocus on the title race. That means a trip to Manchester United on Sunday of course, when we’ll be looking to secure our first Premier League win at Old Trafford in a decade.

It doesn’t feel that long ago because I remember the game so well, but Emmanuel Adebayor’s toe-poked, first-time finish after a great assist by Cesc Fabregas for the only goal of the game in September 2006, gave us our last league win at their place.

It’s remarkable really but there’s no time like the present to put that record right and as we build up to the game, Arsene Wenger has provided the latest team news via the official site, saying:

He (Gabriel) is coming back into the squad tomorrow, so we will see how he responds to that, but the signs are positive. He might be available for Sunday. He (Oxlade-Chamberlain) has a scan today, he will not be available for Sunday. He (Wilshere) is not back in full training yet. Everyone else is the same as before, so there’s no Rosicky, Cazorla, Wilshere.

Nothing too surprising above but there have been some reports today saying that the Ox may have sustained ligament damage to both his knee and ankle during that collision with Javier Mascherano on Tuesday night, so fingers crossed it’s not as bad as that. As always, we’ll have to wait and see.

Although it’s been so long without a league win at United, we did beat them in the FA Cup at Old Trafford last season of course and Per Mertesacker says that win can help us take all three points on Sunday. He said:

We will go to Manchester United and we are in a good position – we don’t want to give that up. We have a great chance to focus back on the Premier League and forget what happened in the last 20 minutes [against Barcelona]. Leicester City was a good game to make us believe we are still in it. You need to have little successes on the road. We go step by step, nothing else. We have a great chance on Sunday to do that again and show that we can compete for the title. It helps we beat United last year in the cup. I think that was a great experience for us and it is still in our heads sometime when you think about big games and Old Trafford. It is going to be an interesting game so let’s not forget the positives from Barcelona and go there and give our best with the same effort.

And speaking of the Cup, Arsenal have confirmed our fifth-round replay at Hull City will take place on Tuesday, March 8th, a few days after the north London derby at White Hart Lane and a few days before the Cup quarter finals, should we beat the Tigers obviously.

Right, just a miniature post today because I have sh*t to do and there’s plenty of time to talk more in-depth about the United game etc tomorrow and on Saturday.

Laters.

20th February 2016: No Hull breach but at least we’re rested for Barcelona

Posted on by TremendArse

Well, that was all a little familiar. Arsenal probed, probed and probed some more in the search for a winner against Steve Bruce’s defensively dogged Hull City side in the FA Cup at Emirates stadium today, but couldn’t find a goal and will now travel to the home of the Tigers for a fifth round replay.

Arsene Wenger’s team selection wasn’t far off what I guessed it would be in yesterday’s post, as he made nine changes from the Leicester game, retaining only Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. A bit surprisingly, he chose to deploy Danny Welbeck on the left in Alexis Sanchez’s usual position and went with Theo Walcot to lead the line with Joel Campbell coming back into the side to play from the right.

The midfield three was as I envisaged; Mohamed Elneny was handed a second start in Arsenal colours and was joined by Mathieu Flamini and this season’s permanent fixture in our FA Cup starting line-ups, Alex Iwobi.

It was a game we dominated possession-wise, and did get shots off on and just wide of goal, but found ourselves facing yet another ‘keeper in inspired form and an opposition side intent on defending first-and-foremost and attacking as an afterthought. It’s nothing new as a tactic, we can’t complain at all, and with Barcelona up next on Tuesday, we’re very likely to be adopting a similar game-plan ourselves in a few days’ time.

Another fixture in an already crowded list is far from ideal but it could be worse, we could be out. As it is we remain in with a shout of winning our third Cup in as many years and considering we can play, barring injuries of course, the same side in the replay and rest the vast majority of our usual first-choice players, the extra game shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

What is a little alarming however, is our lack of goals and after the stalemate earlier, Arsene discussed the game and why we didn’t win, as well as stating Arsenal need to be ‘more efficient’ in our attacking. He said:

Because Hull defended well, because their ‘keeper played well, because our final ball was maybe not good enough and because when we could give the ball in the final third, we decided [to go for] an individual solution. The goalkeeper did well of course, but we had maybe 70 per cent possession and more than 20 shots on goal, and we didn’t score. We have to look at ourselves as well, even if you can give credit to their ‘keeper. The nightmare would have been to go out. The frustration is that we didn’t score and it’s not what we wanted, to have a replay, but between that and going out, we choose the replay. I am happy for the replay [as opposed to going out]. We need to be more efficient in the final third, because today we had more than 70 per cent possession and we will not have that on Tuesday night. That means we’ll have to be more efficient with much less of the ball.

All very true and as is often the case as far as Arsenal are concerned, it’s the finest of lines between frustration at a draw and a comprehensive victory. Walcott’s fierce strike in the first half, and Welbeck’s for that matter from a similar position on the right, might easily have found the gap between the keeper’s legs on another day. Iwobi’s left footed curler wasn’t far from caressing the far corner and there were countless other attempts at goal that were a split-second or a fraction wide away from providing us with a breakthrough.

You also have to credit Hull for great defending, throwing themselves at shots with reckless abandon as they did, much like I wish Per and Laurent had done at times earlier this season if I’m honest (Bayern Munich and Liverpool away for example). And of course, Mike Dickhead Dean officiating always meant we would be up against it, so when we were duly denied two big penalty shouts today, it was as surprising as seeing the sun rise.

After a disappointing day, we can at least console ourselves with the fact we’re still in the Cup, and we should have a fresh line-up ready to battle the footballing freaks that are Barcelona in midweek.

See you on Sunday.

19th February 2016: FA Cup preview – Pondering our line-up for Hull

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Friday. So it’s Hull at home in FA Cup tomorrow afternoon as we look to keep alive our hopes of winning the competition for the third season in a row.

This fifth-round fixture against Steve Bruce’s side will also be the third year running we’ve played The Tigers in the Cup of course, having come from 2-0 down in 2014’s final to win 3-2, before beating them 2-0 at Emirates stadium in last season’s third round.

The visitors come into the game sitting pretty at the top of the Championship and will no doubt prove difficult opponents, but then, we’re unbeaten in 14 FA Cup ties, will be playing at home, have better players and are clearly strong favourites to make it third time unlucky for a Hull side who ought to be sick of the sight of us.

That said, in a similar vein to how he appraised Burnley before they played us in the previous round of the competition, Arsene Wenger explained why he rates tomorrow’s opponents as being top-flight class, when he spoke at his pre-game press conference this morning. He said:

They are in a strong position in the Championship, but the level in the Championship has gone up tremendously. We saw it against Burnley, you need a top-level performance to beat these teams. They are very strong because they have been together for a long time. Let’s not forget, if you go through their team they have all played together in the Premier League. They are all Premier League players, even on the bench. I consider them a Premier League team.

Which is true. Lots of Hull’s players have Premier League experience and in Abel Hernandez, they boast a striker who’s a full international with Uruguay and has scored 16 goals in 25 Championship games this season.

Hernandez was actually strongly linked with a move to Arsenal from his previous club Palermo, on the day we signed a certain Mesut Ozil at the end of the summer transfer window in 2013, so he’s a player Arsene evidently rates highly. Here’s what the boss had to say about the striker in the build-up to tomorrow’s game:

He has a strong body. His movement is very solid and quick – it’s good. He is a great finisher and has scored 16 [league] goals. He keeps Chuba Akpom out of the team, so he must be an exceptional player because Chuba is a great player. He is something we will have to deal well with.

Still, I fancy Per and Laurent or Per and Calum to keep him well shackled when we face him tomorrow, which brings me to how we might line-up. With Gabriel unavailable through injury and Koscielny a slight doubt, there’s a chance our central defensive duo will be Mertesacker and Chambers.

But with Mathieu Debuchy now out on loan – so he can play regularly but still not get picked for France because he’s past it and there are better alternatives for Didier Deschamps to choose from – we don’t have an obvious right-back to cover for Hector Bellerin, who we’ll presumably rest for Barcelona on Tuesday. Perhaps Mohamed Elneny could fill in or Mathieu Flamini even, but I’d much rather a player who’s more acquainted with the role. We’ll see.

Elsewhere at the back I think we’ll see Kieran Gibbs come in for Nacho Monreal at left-back and David Ospina for Petr Cech in goal. Further forward my guess is we’ll see Alex Iwobi, Flamini and Elneny forming a midfield three, with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Theo Walcott wide of Danny Welbeck up front.

That’s a very attacking and very pacey front four if we say Flamini and Elneny will be tasked to hold and protect our back-line, and also means we’d be resting almost all the players who I expect to start against Barca.

You’ll notice no Joel Campbell in there and that’s beacuse I have a hunch his work-rate and reliable link-play is something Arsene will want in his side against the Catalans, ahead of the more erratic, albeit more dangerous going forward, Chamberlain or Walcott on the right of our attack, so he might keep the Costa Rican on the bench.

Or I could be completely wide of the mark, Joel will play tomorrow and the boss will unveil an innovative selection for the Champions League in the hope of outwitting the reigning European champions. We’ll find out soon enough I guess.

Back post-match.

COYG!