Arsenal have no fresh injury worries ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.
There’s always that anxious wait after a match to see if anyone has picked up an ache, strain, tweak or niggle, but according to Arsene Wenger, “All the players have recovered well from Sunday. There are no new injuries, Rosicky will come back in.”
Mikel Arteta is, of course, suspended after his red card against Napoli in the final group game, but the Arsenal manager did not include Thomas Vermaelen in his comments, leading to the assumption that the Belgian remains sidelined with the injury he picked up against Sp*rs in the FA Cup.
It means Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny – the club’s only two fit centre-halves – will continue, with Wenger quick to praise their partnership.
“They have developed very well and their statistics show that,” he said. “They have a chance to prove it again tomorrow.”
Wilshere-Flamini in midfield. Rosicky on the bench. Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski, Giroud.
Rosicky should start. He’s the most complete midfield player I’ve ever seen – long/short passing, can run with the ball, score goals. And he can really run a game. It’s just a shame he’s getting on a bit although thankfully all those injuries mean he’s not quite as old as his birth certificate indicates 🙂
He’s almost complete. He has everything, except that his finishing is not on par with other top midfielders unfortunately.
Rosicky has a good finish, he just rarely goes for goal.
I love Tomo but I hope he has a better game than against Manure as he was a bit off with his passing, and you wont get away with those kinds off performances against top opposition. COYG
as much as I love Wilshere as Arsenal’s bull terrier, he’s not experienced enough yet. A sub for Rosicky when he’s tired or else.
Bayern are very good at closing down. We can’t afford to be hacked in midfield.
I suspect Arsene will go with Jack, especially having not played at the weekend. Hopefully, it being the CL, Bayern won’t get away with bundling him throughout. I’m hopeful he can dig out a performance, because he’s got the class to match up to them.
“he’s not experienced enough yet”…not sure I agree with this, or that it can apply to most of our young lads bar, say, Gnabry/Chamberlain/Jenkinson. Wilshere stood tall when other cowered at the Camp Nou and he was way younger than he is now. Would you say same about Gibbs/Monreal? I’ll just support whoever AW puts out tomorrow. I agree with starting the older heads and unleashing young Chamberlain and Gnabry for the last 20mins. If we’ve learned anything with big teams, it’s that the ‘English’ intensity in the closing stages of a game usually has them struggling
I wouldn’t say he isn’t experienced enough in these big games, but I agree that he should not start due to his current inconsistent form. I would rather have Ox alongside Flamini for the game, with Cazorla, Ozil and Rosicky working their magic in front.
jack did play well in this fixture last year, thought he was our only player that looked like he could line up for BM on that night
Yeah but Jack had a great season last year. He was consistent and one of our top performers in practically every game. He may have added more goals/assists to his game this year but he has been inconsistent. It feel’s like he has lost a yard of pace at times and doesn’t dazzle you with his dribbling and bursting past players as much.
Rosicky should start and wilshere should be on the bench, he’s been on a terrible run of form lately! we don’t need sm1 giving the ball away in mid-field where a fast paced attacking team like Bayern Munich would capitalize and make minced meat outta you!
I’m with you. It’s not Wilshere’s experience that is the problem; it’s his recent poor form. I’d much rather have Rosicky start & bring Jack off the bench.
Agreed, however I reckon Wenger will start him.
What about Ox? He’s in great form.
We have to start Ox/Podolski together again. Would love to see Lukas score against his former club again! COYG
toward the end of the game on Sunday, The Ox was a bit out of gas (or grass). In these battles of the highest tactical levels we’re gonna need all options, since substitutions are certainly required.
This week would have been a perfect time to give Vermaelen a start. Recover soon. We need you in the matches ahead atleast on the bench.
Maneaters? These are not mere men. Bayern beware…
Let’s get at them nice and early. I’m going for 2-1 with Özil and The Ox scoring.
I wish for a 1 – 0 win for us. It will be the PERFECT result…except for 2 -0 which would even be better!
even a goal less draw would be OK. Just have to avoid conceding in Emirates.
Big defensive shift required from both Poldi and Ox, if they start.
I know he won’t, but I’d start Pod instead of Santi, Rosicky wide right with the Ox and Flamini in the middle.
With only two center halves available, cant say im not worried. If we loose on to injury with our captain struggling with injury, i dont even wanna think about it. Just looking forward to tommorow. A win with a clean sheet with do wonders
For Wilshere’s sake, i hope Wenger benches him and plays Rosicky,Ozil,and,Flamini in the middle. I got the feeling he is going to embarass himself if he plays.
This. I soo don’t want Wilshere to start. Disrupts the defensive balance of the team completely.
Ideal team would be with Flamni-Ox-Ozil mid, Rosicky-Santi-Podolski up top.
But Wilshere was in the pre-match press conf with Wenger, so he’s bound to start. Drat.
Me too. Wilshere isn’t ready to play in cm yet, he loses the ball far too often and Guardiola’s Bayern are going to be putting us under monumental pressure when we have it. That said I wouldn’t be against Wilshere playing on the rhs of attack where he’s played by far his best football for us this season but that would mean omitting the Ox who is in good form and whose runs are providing an outlet for Ozil’s vision. And can Rosicky play that cm pivot role? It would be experimental though you’d imagine he’d be fine. Looking forward… Read more »
Good point, poorly made. No need to say our player will embarrass himself, but it is true that in midfield, Wilshere is the most eminently droppable at this time because he is a bit out of form. (Maybe you were talking about complaining too much when you said embarrass, but still, he’s our player—we can simply use tacit words like “rested”).
I’m happy that lego hair won’t start. I love the way he passes the ball, but he is just too slow and too weak for being defensive midfielder. He gets caught on the counter atack way too often, same way with making fauls all around the box, against a top class players he is just too slow.
Agreed.
Cabaye would have been an excellent long term replacement. And Wenger obviously rates him as we almost signed him in august/sept 2013.
Cabaye will be 29 if I’m not wrong. Not really long term.
Gustavo on the other hand..
You lost all credibility when you compared Cabaye with Arteta. You are aware that they play different roles in a team, right?
Why so many thumbs down? And what exactly is the point of playing football manager in response? We can’t sign players right now.
That’s them told kafka. People feel so entitled to have their own opinion.
come on Free, I wasn’t policing opinion, just saying there is little point thinking about Cabaye (we tried, didn’t sign him, and he is at PSG now) or Gustavo (maybe we tried, the press thought so, in any case we didn’t sign him). Its either hindsight, or its a criticism of the club, or something else, but those two, or anyone else is not available to sign today.
But we do have Kallstrom.
All these insinuated laws, very Kafkaesque.
what we need to realize, is that it is not good or bad, right or wrong… it is only necessary.
have a thumbs up nuthouse.
I really hope we set up like this, hopefully Rosicky will be the difference:
Szczesny
Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Gibbs
Flamini Wilshere
Rosicky Ozil Cazorla
Giroud
We need the Ox’s pace.
He’ll have to start in place of either Cazorla or Wilshere.
I find it extremely unlikely that Ox will start instead of Santi.
I don’t know who Ox should replace (maybe he can play CM), but don’t you all feel that given his performances recently, the team selection has to be with the assumption that he must play?
I seriously don’t understand how we can drop a player who has played so well. Same questions comes up in the case of Podolski. How does one drop a goalscorer from the previous game?
I know, formation, tactics, but wasn’t it refreshing to see our direct lineup against liverpool?
I agree with kafka. Wilshere is out of form, and he doesn’t offer much defensively. Chambo has been in very good form since his return from injury, so I’d prefer Chambo next to Flamini. It’s not like Wenger has a problem with throwing talented youngsters into big games, e.g. Wilshere against Barca, Sanogo against Liverpool. And three central players in the attacking midfield rarely works, so you’d imagine Rosicky will be on the bench, and perhaps Poldi on the left, Cazorla on the right? Or perhaps Wenger will name another WTF lineup and we’ll beat Bayern 2-1. Who knows, it’s… Read more »
It will be interesting to see if he starts in CDM over Wilshere
Both Rosicky and Jack are too 1 footed to play together against a team that shuts down quickly. They both lost the ball on several occasions against Man U. We need to put Ox in there (unyoke him if you will?).
i think Wilshere really needs to be disciplined if he starts. the midfield will be a war. A 1-0 win would be immense for us. Ozil also needs get involved defensively. If Lahm or anyone else at the base of the midfield gets as much time as Gerrard did on sunday, we will get hurt. Still, its a big match and a lot of our players have rested. i also think Ozil needs a rest this weekend.
When did Ramsey’s six weeks out start again? I’m backing Özil to put in a Bergkampian chip for the win tomorrow.
About four weeks ago I think. He should be ready again at the start of March. Roughly.
Few articles today saying he is targeting the Chelsea match on the 22nd of March for a comeback. I was hoping he’d be back a couple of games before death run 2 starts. Fingers crossed that the papers are talking shit and he is back soon.
Would love to see Podolski get a start again today, hopefully he can build on that goal against the Mugsmashers on the weekend.
Chambo is coming into a good patch of form, and I think he deserves a start as well.
I don’t think Pep has ever beaten us at The Emirates before, so hopefully we can get the result tomorrow night.
Up the Gunners!
Really hope we see Podolski tomorrow. He seems to score every time he starts on the left. Also, Giroud and Podolski were really working well together last season (a lot of Giroud’s goals came from Podolski assists and vice versa), so I fail to see why they rarely get to play together these days. I honestly thought they had a very promising partnership going.
I feel it’s too risky to play Wilshere in the mid with Flam against a team like Bayern. He has been very careless with giving the ball away lately giving teams the opportunity to counter attack while Arsenal are out of shape. I would prefer the hustle and bustle of Rosicky paired with the Flam. It is very important that we don’t concede at home.
Yes, I agree. He also seems to let his passion get the better of him in the biggest matches. It’s great to see such love for the club tho, so I really think it’ll end up being a benefit for both him and the club once he’s a bit more experienced.
True, let the little mozart conduct the midfield.
More than anything, I want a clean sheet tomorrow.
More than anything, I resent you taking two legends into your nick. Its gratuitous, and there ought to be a law…
🙂
Yes, I agree. He also seems to let his passion get the better of him in the biggest matches. It’s great to see such love for the club tho, so I really think it’ll end up being a benefit for both him and the club once he’s a bit more experienced.
Double post. Just delete this. It was supposed to be a response to Michael about Wilshere.
If Vermaelen is injured still then Bellerin’s recall makes more sense. If BFG or Koss get injured (touch wood), then Sagna will move to CB, Corporal Jenks to RB and Bellerin will be the obvious backup at RB. Especially with Tafari Moore out injured from last night.
Im sure ox being a young man has recovered, but will le boss throw him on in auch a tough game requiring immense discipline, focus and awareness? . I think we’ll see rosicky starting, ozil, cazorla, flamini. For me the question is will jack start instead of rosicky? He is still way off his best form. And who will be the striker? Who will partner ozil and cazorla? Ox or Podolski? Exciting.
I just hope the intensity of the liverpool game doesn’t drain the stamina of our players that much, especially for Flamini & Kos.
& agree, also hope we would start with Poldi & Ox.
Come on, we can win this!
Flamini runs on adrenaline, not stamina.
Big support tomorrow night, no waltzing off for hotdogs or latte’s during the game! If you ain’t shouting then you ain’t loving! ARSENAL! ARSENAL! ARSENAL!
Awesome news!
Roziki has tons of international experience and can do the job just as good.
He brings that much needed urgency and is always looking to make things happen in opponents half.
He was also outside of the Emirates on Sunday taking photos with some of the fans…nearly caught him :'(
I reckon that not being able to pick Arteta will lead to more balance to the midfield. Ox played really well against Liverpool and I would want to give him a start. I don’t think you can look past Rosicky’s pressing influence on a big game. So I think that he will line up with Ox and Flamini in the middle of the part with Cazorla – Ozil – Rosicky in front of them, and obviously Giroud up front.
I think that that is definitely a team that can beat Bayern Munich!!! COYG!!!
Any score will do, really. As long as we have a clean sheet. BELIEVE!
That Vermaelen injury is starting to feel like a worry. Wenger seems to avoid any update on his injury which feels like it is worse than expected.
I think we need to accept that Vermaelen is part of Arsenals past and isn’t going to be making much more of a contribution in the future. He’s undoubtedly off to pastures new in the summer and all the best to him, I hope he rediscovers the Verminator within him, just not against us. On a further point the sooner we get this ridiculous club captain situation sorted the better, why we have a captain who is unable to make the team is beyond me, i’m sure hes a very nice guy and is an inspirational character around the place… Read more »
Even if he isn’t gonna stay at Arsenal beyond this season. An injury to Mertesacker or Koscielny at this moment would be a disaster. With no actual replacement expect Sagna, and moving him we would have to reshuffle most of our backfour.
Agreed it would be a disaster, just dealing with the reality though, hopefully he’ll get fit and be a good back up for the reamainder of the season but it doesn’t look like he has much of a future past that
I’m pretty sure Wenger will start Flamini, Wilshere and Rosicky, probably be the Ox that looses out which is a bit of a shame after his performance on Sunday but this is a totally different kind of game on Wednesday. Also, AOC has the ability to offer more from the bench than Jack does so is a good option if things needed changing up, he’s also a more like for like replacement for Rosiky which might be needed if the little Chech nutter runs himself into the ground after 70 mins. Back 4 picks itslef and Santi, Özil and Giroud… Read more »
Would have Wilshire and rosicky , flamini in midfield , play ozil on left were he can find space , ox on right with pace , com on the arsenal !
Wilshire is more than good enough to play against bayern admitidly he’s had a couple of quieter games , but look what he did against barca when they where the best midfield in the world ! And against Brazil he ran the game for England ! So how is he not ready ?
Le Prof’s gonna shit you all and hand monsieur sanogo his second start in as many games.
Depending on the condition of Giroud’s head space in light of his ‘situation’, wouldn’t be surprised to see Yaya or Poldi making the surprise start up top.
Love how everyone is writing us off when last season they beat us at our defensive worst and some of their goals were pretty lucky to be honest , this season we have had a rock of a defensive partnership and last season TV5 had to play left back I reckon.we can.beat them cause at our best we can beat anyone. This is also probably our best squad since 06 and we beat Barcelona with worst squads COYG !!!!
Also thomas rosicky brings more energy into the midfield but his passing in the final third has been pretty inconsistent actually the whole team always seem to pick a wrong pass there , I reckon if we take more care in the.final third and not just waste good opportunities we can easily outscore city.
Interesting dicussion about rosicky/whilshere, ox/poldi/carzo, but any team we put out there on wed, will be a top top team that will give bayern a game. We have a tremendous squad of players and any starting 11 can do the job. That’s all I know.
My only worry with Rosicky is his recklessness at times when having to track back on counter situations. All too often he comes in with a high flying challenge from behind. While all is only a desparate attempt to win the ball, he tends to panic in these situations. And these situations are more than likely to occur at any moment with a team like Bayern. I do favor Rosicky for a start due to his tempo and hard work. Would like to see us use 3 (tactical) subs, especially Podolski – unlike Wenger chose against United; leaving Giroud up… Read more »
Need pace on the wing n players who can track back. I will go for gnabry n ox on the wings. Outlets for ozil.
Not sure how many chances we’ll get to score tomorrow. So we need to have our most clinical finishers on the pitch. Poldi and Ox. Yet I can’t see Wenger playing Poldi and have no idea why. He would really give 100% against his old club. He didn’t do well there and I’m sure he’d want to prove a point. Plus he’s got 7 goals in about 12 games, none of them for 90 mins, and a good understanding with Ozil.
But it’ll almost certainly be Giroud up front on his own.
I’d stat with a 4-3-3 back four picks itself and with Flamani Rosicky wilshire in midfield and ox giroud ozil front three…..
Well, we may count ourselves fortuitous this season in that despite players going out injured, there have been others returning at just the right time. Ditto suspension to Arteta where Flamini has returned at just about the right time. One of either Jack or Rosicky should play close to Flamini. That would leave Ozil and Santi to start in the attacking midfield. The final berth may be a toss up between Chamberlain’s direct pace and power or a more conservative approach with Rosicky maybe. Gnabry of course and Podolski are also available and could factor in in keeping the momentum… Read more »
Just read that Lahm is reverting back to right back for this game… As much as I love Santi, I don’t think we can play him on the left of midfield for this game… he leaves us too exposed. Obviously I’d love us to win, but the most important thing is not to concede an away goal… so… I think Santi should start on the bench.
posible line up as per me.
4-3-3
sagna per koschenly gibbs
ox flamini carzola
ozil giroud podolski.
Prefer Rosicky to be on the bench. To be honest I’ve not seen him turn up for a CL k.o. match and put in a memorable performance. The Ox and Gnabry ought to be given starting positions.
I’d go for the usual suspects in the back four. Gibbs for LB.
Flamini as the most defensive central midfielder. Then Rosicky with him centrally. He’s quick and closes people down fast and has good stamina. Plus he has good movement going forward and has pace and penetration. Keeps at it throughout. Giroud up top. Then 3 from Ozil, Oxlade, Wilshere and Gnabry.
My preference would be for the Ox to play left midfield. Gnabry for right midfield. Either Ozil or Wilshere behind Giroud. Probably Wilshere since Ozil’s been out of form recently. Or Rosicky and move Wilshere further back.
Totally forgot about Santi lmfao. GET HIM IN THERE !