The Gunners hoping to kick start their season with a huge and improbable result.
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As the entire East Coast of the United States awaits the arrival of Hurricane Irene to its shores, Arsenal Football Club will head into a storm of its own: Old Trafford.
After one of the most trying weeks in the club’s recent history, one that saw an ugly home defeat to Liverpool, the departure of the second of its two best players and a gutsy performance in Italy against Udinese, the Gunners now have to hop on the team coach and head to Manchester.
Brilliant!After one of the most trying weeks in the club’s recent history, one that saw an ugly home defeat to Liverpool, the departure of the second of its two best players and a gutsy performance in Italy against Udinese, the Gunners now have to hop on the team coach and head to Manchester.
With Arsene Wenger gaining a new wrinkle in his brow by the day, the last thing he needed was a trip to Old Trafford to take on the white hot Red Devils. That is the way of the world though and unless Irene decides to take a sharp right across the Atlantic, the match will be played and Wenger’s men will no choice but to step up.
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They’re headed in the right direction, that’s for sure. Against Udinese in the week, the Gunners showed us all what they’re made and ousted the feisty Italians. It wasn’t easy, and for a lot of it, some (myself included) may have thought the cracks would have become more serious. In the end, everything was held together and they’re through to the group stage. Also brilliant.
The test this weekend is something different altogether and Wenger knows this all too well. This match would be a daunting one if his team had started the domestic campaign in good nick. It hasn’t. It would be daunting if it had all its best players available and not transferred away from the club. It doesn’t.
With a winless start to the year already two matches deep, and the Fabregas/Nasri sagas out the door, Arsenal’s season technically starts now.
That’ll obviously be our main match in today’s column and we’ll get to it in just a wee little bit. Following that, we’ll tackle the high-powered bout at White Hart Lane between Tottenham and Manchester City and to round it out I’ll spare a few words for the Birmingham derby between Aston Villa and Wolves.
Before we get into all that fun though, let us talk Champions League. Yes, Michel’s tournament officially kicked off today with the group stage draw that presented us with some lovely matchups to look forward to, starting next month.
Starting with Group A, which includes the new big boys, Manchester City, the draw gave us probably the most exciting of all the eight groups. German giants Bayern Munich, Spanish bright shirts Villarreal and Italian upstarts Napoli will be those up against City in its first run in Europe’s top tourney. Realistically speaking, any two of these teams could advance and that is a pretty rare statement at this stage.
It’s going to be really interesting to see how City handles the congested fixture list of the league and CL and despite having a deep squad to cope, it’s going to come down to continuity. Will this team be in a rhythm by the business end of the season? Can it keep the pace high the entire year? Lots of questions for Roberto Mancini and company, questions that can only be answered with time. The Italian ball coach has done a lot of good things in his time as head coach, probably more than he’s been given credit for...but this season will be his biggest test by far.
Moving right along, Manchester United and Chelsea scored traditionally easy groups with the Red Devils drawing Benfica, FC Basel and a team I’ve never heard of from Romania (no offense, Galatians...or Galatites or something). The Blues’ group is slightly more tricky with Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and Genk, but really shouldn’t be a problem for them. Not sure why this always seems to happen, but draw is usually favorable to these two, Manchester United in particular. Smooth sailing.
The last of the four English squads to get drawn, our beloved boys at Arsenal, drew a pretty tricky trio in Marseille, Olympiakos and Borussia Dortmund. I hate to be a naysayer, because you guys think I hate the Gunners something fierce, but this is certainly a group in which they could struggle. Only the most ardent, and more importantly, stubborn Arsenal fan could argue that.
We have some time before those matches start however so let’s stick with the EPL for now and dive right into the Bacon. Yummy.
The Bacon (as in Bringing It Home)
Manchester United vs. Arsenal (Old Trafford, August 28th, 11:00 a.m. ET, Fox Soccer)
Doesn’t get much better than this one. Arsenal is in danger of starting the year without a win in its first three matches and that is not a good thing, especially if it wants to be back in the Champions League next season.
It’ll face a ‘depleted’ United side that I thought would struggle against Spurs. It didn’t. It dominated. A team that technically could be a youth side ran out against a seasoned Tottenham bunch and made them look silly. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans (who continues his impressive redemption) all were excellent. Danny Welbeck has already exceeded all expectations. Ashley Young, who isn’t that young these days, looks to be a real good piece of business.
All of this will cause problems for Arsenal, as they would against any side in the league. For all the flak it’s been getting, the defense has been strong for Arsene Wenger and if that group can keep it together, they may be in with a chance. It’s going to be a possession game though and the visitors can’t sit back and wait for United to beat them, which it inevitably will if that’s the case.
TFE Prediction: I picked against United last week and that worked well. Won’t make that mistake again. 2-1 Red Devils.
Tottenham vs. Manchester City (White Hart Lane, August 28th, 8:30 a.m. ET, Fox Soccer)
Spurs looked very ordinary against Manchester United last weekend, which isn’t too surprising given that everyone looks ordinary compared to them lately. No time to rest though as City has been equally impressive so far this season, and with Samir Nasri joining up, it’ll only get better.
The score at Old Trafford on Monday may not have looked nice, but I felt for most of the game, Spurs played pretty good defense. Not great, but well enough. Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson were strong and will need to repeat that performance against free-scoring City.
You have to wonder though, if City can keep Edin Dzeko scoring and if Sergio Aguero keeps it up along side him, it could be one of the most dangerous teams in the league. Throw in the fact that Mr. Mancini appears to be warming to dropping one of his holding midfielders for a more attacking approach then, yeah, the goals will come.
This match will be no different.
TFE Prediction: The Citizens keep the winning train a-rollin’ in a 2-1 victory.
Aston Villa vs. Wolverhampton (Villa Park, August 27th, 7:05 a.m. ET, ESPN2, ESPN3.com)
A derby! Woo! For the second week in a row the early kickoff is a heated rivalry between two, uh, rivals. Last week we had Sunderland and Newcastle battling to a simply riveting 1-0 affair that went in the Magpies favor. This week, we travel southwest a touch to the Second City for Villa-Wolves.
Provided Irene doesn’t vaporize the internet connection in my area, I’ll be up to watch this one because not only is it a derby, but the teams are playing well. Third and fourth in the table, folks! Yes, look, go on! We may only be two matches in, but both are undefeated and have only allowed a goal apiece.
Why, you ask? Well, Wolves tied up one of the most underrated signings of the summer from the other Birmingham club...Birmingham...in acquiring Roger Johnson, who is now the club’s captain. All things considered, Arsenal should and easily could have signed this guy and improved its defense. It’s certainly worked for Wolves.
For Villa, it added a little Irish good luck charm by the name of Shay Given. The poor lad was wilting away at Manchester City and is now the man with Brad Friedel’s departure to Spurs. Given has taken a very Friedel-like approach to his new club and has been a commanding presence between the sticks. Good buys all around.
TFE Prediction: Oh yeah, the match...I’m thinking draw, but Mick’s accent has swayed me to Wolves in a 3-2 match. Flippin’ heck.
And Finally...The Black Pudding of the Week
The EPL Transfer Window ‘Bargain’ Bin: Get ‘em while they’re hot, people! You want a mouthy, unproductive forward who will drive opponents and your gaffer crazy?! No worries, we have two! Emmanuel Adebayor has already been snagged by Spurs, but Craig ‘Swing Away’ Bellamy is still up for grabs! How about a gifted midfielder who spends more time looking at the physio table than the standings table? He’s English though, and all English players play in England so that’s a plus, right? If that’s who you’re after, Joe Cole is your guy. It doesn’t end there though! Roque Santa Cruz, Shaun Wright-Phillips and David Bentley are all still available. Best part is none of these wonderbuys will cost you less than £50k-a-week! Where do I sign?!
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