AC Milan vs Arsenal - Champions League - Preview

Hi everyone and fellow Gooners !

Today is a special day for Gooners all over the world since Arsenal take on AC Milan at San Siro in the first-leg of the last 16 in UEFA Champions league. With the return leg at the Emirates an away win would put us in strong position to move into the quarter finals.

Arsenal it could probably be one of the toughest test since the back to back hard-fought wins in Premier League. Rossoneri come into the game with a hard-fought win against  Udinese, who we played in the play-off's. So it would be an interesting game to watch for football fans from both sides.

Team selection would be a bit of surprise by Wenger today since all three position need rotations after the tough game against Sunderland last week. With Per out atleast for a month, Wenger could either call in Djourou to partner with Koscielny or play Verminator in his preferred position. I feel Koscielny and Verminator could keep Ibra and Robinho quiet today. With Sagna's arrival to full fitness Wenger has one thing less to worry about and Gibbs mentally and 'physically' fit would be a default choice. I wouldn't want Wenger to take a huge gamble on Gibbs, who has not played a competitive game after recovery which could extend his lay-off. I wish Wenger play's Verminator at LB and Djourou in the middle or shift Sagna to LB and impressive Coquelin at RB.

Mid-field could choose itself with Song and Arteta anchoring the middle and Ramsey playing upfront. Theo Walcott would choose himself at right wing and Arshavin in the left with captain fantastic RVP as the lone striker. Though one could say Ox should start ahead of the little Russian, i feel Arshavin has more experience in Europe than young Alex and he could be lethal as an impact substitute. Considering Alex has played for 70mins against Sunderland in one of the worst pitches in England, it would be better to give Russian the start. So my team selection would be,

Coquelin/Sagna - Koscielny - Verminator - Gibbs/Sagna
                               Song - Arteta
                                    Ramsey
            Walcott - Robin Van Persie - Arshavin

I am going for a 2-1 Arsenal win provided the pitch is good and referee is fair in his job !

Arsenal vs Manchester United

Being an optimistic Gooner all my time supporting Arsenal its really hard time these days. Everyday, I need to scuff off the remarks from anti-arsenal Arsenal supporters and other club fans. The lose against Manchester United even after playing well for better half is really depressing. It's the third straight lose now and with the previous two completely due to missed chances the same mistake against the defending champions is a bit hard to take.

Uncharacteristic RVP - Getty Images

Moving on to the match the early parts of first-half was dominated by Arsenal and then Manchester United took control of the game. Slowly but steadily they built up using our defensive frailties in wings. Djourou was caught out of position many times and the first goal came due to one of them. Giggs, the old horse was allowed to run free into the box from the left and provide an inch perfect cross to Valencia to head it for their first goal. I still can't believe no one was defending Giggs and is it that no one bothered him of as a big threat :-). Theo looked completely off-beat against a good defender and missed a glorious chance to get us level 1-1.

In the second-half Arsenal started as the much better team and looked really dangerous with RVP missing an easy chance. Next was Ramsey who shot into the sky with all his might from close range instead of a clean and composed finish and Rosicky drilled one into the middle which Evra was allowed to block with his hands. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain who was lively throughout then tested the keeper from outside the box which went wide. A goal could have been the perfect gift for the young lad who really performed well only in his second premier league outing. On the other end Welbeck went close only to cleared off the line by Mertescaker. Arsenal goal started off with a great tackle inside the box by Koscielny dispossessing Rafael. The ball then went into Rosicky who slid it for Alex and he placed a perfectly weighted pass for RVP to slot home the equalizer, the goal which he dedicated to his granddad's 91'st birthday. After that Alex was substituted by the Arshavin for which the anti-arsenal Arsenal supporters booed their hearts out and it was really easy to spot them who are always ashamed to come out in light :-). A just to make it worse for the little Russian the Manchester United's second goal came on the right wing with Valencia running against Arshavin and Vermaelen was out of position to defend against, which led Valencia to run into the box and assist for Welbeck.

To finish off another lose against arguably a better United side today, i would take the positives of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Nicholas Yennaris who performed admirably well against Nani coming in as a second-half substitute for Djourou. To lighten up the heart's of true Gooner's checkout the below picture of young Nicholas Yennaris as a club mascot at  Highbury in 2000 courtesy of @YoungGunsBlog. I wish more such players come out of our academy and prove what Wenger has done to the club.

For those of you who missed out the match and want to watch the highlights of the goals check the below link.


Arsenal 1 - 2 Manchester United - Highlights