Broken and Battered Gunners still fighting for Top Slot

Greetings and most sincere apologies for not updating this page for over a month's time due to some unconventional excuse. 

Nonetheless, here's a fresh, just out of the oven post about the Gunner's complete see saw month which saw them crashed down at Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich) and The Hawthorns (West Brom), picking single point results against Spurs in North London derby at home and away at Carrow Road against Norwich and most importantly, losing three of the most important players they have depended upon since last season.

,Cazorla, Sanchez & Coquelin.

The Trio lost to injuries before festive period.

However, Arsenal did pick two crucial wins at home with last week in the UEFA Champions League tie against Dynamo Zagreb and last night against Sunderland in the Premiere League to go second on the table. Positives during this time span were the return of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey and Walcott and along with the fact that Joel Campbell has started to make his presence felt on the pitch by scoring a goal and an assist in the last three games he has started in two weeks.

The King of Assist is back.

More importantly, a new leader has emerged and is now being seen as the catalyst behind almost every other goal scored by Gunners and he is none other than Mesut Ozil who has now 12 assists in the league in 15 games with two goals as cherry on the top. Training hard to make runs, re-tracking and winning possession and finding space on his own, Ozil has become the driving force in the Arsenal's offensive unit, feeding goal scoring passes at times out of nowhere and in games that have mattered in the season.

Nonetheless, it was a nervous win last night which saw an own goal from Giroud who later cancelled it with a spectacular header to put the Gunners back in the lead and revealed clear signs of vulnerability in defense and hesitation in picking up passes in the last third. This shows how much of a difference does the presence of Coquelin, Cazorla and Sanchez make in the game.

History depicts that although Arsenal has seen many injury filled seasons over the last decade but this time just when the tide has started to favor them, these injuries have started to wear down the team in the most crucial phase of the season. The fact that Arsenal are just two points behind league leaders Leicester City with the spread among the top five of only six points proves that our chances of winning the league title this season are quite high.

Wenger needs to find the perfect DM cover for Coquelin

The only drawback is the lengthy list of injured players who can actually make up of almost the entire first team and their long term absence would prove the Gunner's boss Arsene Wenger wrong in his decision to not buy during the summer transfer window. Although very edgy whenever asked about the injuries and January transfer window, Mr. Wenger would have to admit that he would need to find decent cover for the team in the midfield to progress swiftly towards the title challenge. 

Last night's performance may have boosted a load of confidence among the players but make sure that Coquelin and Cazorla's absence at the heart of the pitch is not felt so much, at least two potential signings should be on for the upcoming January window. If not two, then at least a central defensive midfielder to enforce and release the pressure off the back four. 

For now, a still very decent unit is available for the make or break Champions League away tie at Olympiakos on Wednesday evening with an outside chance that Mr. Sanchez may be seen on the bench while completely ignoring the hamstring he picked up against Norwich unless he is locked down in the infirmary by the Boss himself.

Only the game night would reveal the rest so till then, that's all for now. Leave a comment to speak your mind and thank you so much for reading patiently. Salud & COYG!!

Signs of Fatigue & Injury Loom Up Front despite Gunners Flying High

Hello again. It has been quite a thunderous run for Arsenal as they stole back to back home victories which includes a clear heist against the German giants Bayern Munich in their UEFA Champions League crunch tie. A game that has kept the hope alive for going through to the Last 16 round of the European competition.

The French duo doing the Magic against Everton

And just when some critics thought that complacency might stretch the hang over of that triumph into the Premiere League, Arsenal produced another superb performance against Everton with first half goals by Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny and then held on to the lead to take the top slot on the table for the night. Both Frenchmen have been extra ordinary this week with Koscielny being the most prominent name in the list of the league top center-backs season after season.

Ozil raising the level game after game

 However, the name that has stifled every critic's voice is of Mesut Ozil who has powered himself up in all the big games so far in the past few weeks. His performances have put a stop to the constant jibe of his price-tag since he signed for the Gunners two seasons ago.

All in All, Arsene Wenger's adaptability to the modern techniques and ever changing style of game play against the big sides is paying off healthy dividends and the cohesion of the defense wall with the Experienced Petr Cech is absolutely perfect, pushing the confidence sky high.

Sanchez has to take a break.

However, there has been a clear sign of fatigue in a player whose presence makes every opposition nervous on the pitch and he is none other than Alexis Sanchez. Although he seems to be pumped up for every game, he can't hide the level of fatigue when moving up front and the Gunner's boss has to give him rest in order for him to gain the strength he has to demolish opponents single handedly.

Another player who seems a bit out of ideas after a powerful display against Manchester United is Theo Walcott and his last two games of growing quietness gave Giroud a chance to start last night where the Frenchman proved to be the vital force in last night's victory. Although Walcott has not been bad at all during the Bayern game but missed chances may have stirred down his confidence a bit in his role as a central striker.

Another player gained by the club's medical staff is Aaron Ramsey whose hamstring has again started to give him problems before the season has not even reached halfway. His expected return will be after another make-or-break, tough, away gtie in CL against the wounded lions Bayern Munich and the international break. 

Joyous now but tough weeks ahead for Wenger

With no signings up front this past transfer window and complete confidence in the players to be fit with the support of the ever hardworking medical staff, Arsene Wenger has to take some precautions and calculated risks in squad rotation given how Wilshere, Welbeck and Rosicky seem like on the KIA list.

That may play into the fear of a slump which usually is the reason of Casualty for Arsenal season after season and Arsene Wenger would not want that to occur again given how his side has been performing so far in this season with all the Star players he has mustered to build a squad that is being termed the "Best" since the Invincible's Era.

Leave your thoughts below if you feel like by firing in a comment and thanks again for reading it patiently.

Cheers!!

Stoke Test Cleared, Dynamo Up Next. Champion's League Dream begins "Again"

Gunners Relieved to have their names in the Scoring sheet against Stoke City .

Greetings as I write this post on almost the eve of the Europe's's greatest club football competition of this season involving all the big guns. And with delight too as Arsenal picked up three comfortable points as they won strongly.Especially after a lot of disappointing criticism made of the club's transfer handling this season following by some really nervous performances up front.

Waclott embraced on his fist PL goal of the Season

Some solid performances from Coquelin in the heart of midfield with Cazorla and it would be quite impossible not to mention Ozil and who was the caterer of the attack fest with Ramsey and Sanchez to give Walcott numerous opportunities to score. And score he did in the first half following by a strong headed finish by the much crticized Arsenal front man Giroud.

All in all, a great comeback performance by the team as for at least a few days, Arsene Wenger would find himself in a slight comfort zone and so will Giroud and Walcott. As for some fans who would still say that Gunners were not really convincing last evening winning against Stoke City at home, I would say that they expect far too much, watching far too many games of star studded opposition teams annihilating mid table to lower grade teams. 

Finally some joy for the Frenchman

Just to give them a comparison of yesterday's fixtures in the League, our London rivals Chelsea (Defending Champions - Premiere League) were crushed by Everton at Goodison Park, making it their third defeat already in total of 5 matches so far with just 4 points.

However, we now move on to the bigger stage as the battlegrounds are now being ready in Europe for the UEFA Champion's League with us drawn against Dynamo Zagreb, Olympiakos and German Champions Bayern Munich . Most importantly, all that talk of getting a star signing up front would really come into question as we visit Dynamo at their home for our first game of group stages. 

So far, Arsenal have not made it further than the last 16 in the UCL since last 5 seasons and being one of top renowned clubs among the Europe's elite, it is a huge concern for Wenger whose dream to win the Champions League has gradually transformed into a fantasy. 

Wenger not deserting hope for UCL Glory

The pressure to perform well against Dynamo in a away game shouldn't be of too much intensity for a top club but for Arsenal, there is always tons of pressure to do well in the Champion's League. Now with a shameful benchmark set by the club as per past performances in UCL, the primary objective for Arsene Wenger should be the breaking of that self created "Round 16" barrier convincingly and taking each games piece by piece. Rest is all faith

To say that the Dream can become reality for the Professor would be a far fetched idea but for sure, almost fans would get really excited to see Arsenal in the Quarter Finals at the Champion's league.

What do you think? Do leave a comment below and thanks again for reading patiently! Salud. COYG!!