Thoughts on Last Night

Firstly, great victory. I am not sure whether people commented much at the time, but it was a must win game for us. Now we have beaten Gala, and both them and Anderlecht look like they have something to think about if they want to qualify, even at this early stage. My feeling is that Dortmund could leave Gala in a sorry position after Matchday 4, and we should really be getting 4-6 points against the Belgians. Hopefully we have effectively qualified by the Dortmund game, and can just take the game to them without much worry.

As impressive as some of our play was, I am not convinced it was a great showing. I missed the first 15 of the second half, but from what I saw, I saw the worst 45 minutes against Arsenal for some time in the first half, and a team who struggled to break down 10 men in the final 30.

However, we had pace, pace, pace going forward. Yes, we can look at Welbeck and the two wide men, but time and time again Santi's ball carrying ability caused huge problems for the opposition. His playmaking worked in a nice contrast with Ozil, who kept things ticking over in a subtle and less daring way, but not necessarily with less effect.

I still worried about us threatened on the counter. At one point Ox gave it away on their 18 yard lane, and I genuinely was concerned we would concede from their. We didn't, allow it was still risque defending, and the point a spectator can be so concerned in what should be a less dangerous position is concerning.

I think criticism of Chesny is harsh- for me I feel this last man rule needs to be looked at in regards to goalkeepers. As Arseblog pointed out, its a quadruple whammy, which has the potential to completely turn games. Happy that David 'Pianos' Ospina gets games though. He might be our #1 come May for all we know.

A good win though ahead of Chelsea. Hopefully being down to 10 did not leave us to exhausted, and hopefully there are no injuries. For me, I would be more content to play more of a rigid 4-2-3-1. I would be very tempted to play Flamini and Jack, but with Wilsh having a seriously restricted role. In an ideal world, we'd have another sitting alternative, or even a battle-hardened Coquelin to play next to Flamini. And play the same 4 ahead as we did last night, with Mesut having license to drop into midfield, out wide, or behind the striker at will. I love Santi, but it is clear that you have to sacrifice something in the big games. In this set up, Mesut should be offered full opportunity to play his natural game, and stamp his mark upon a 'heavyweight clash'. *

For me it would be a 4-2-3-1 of:

Chez
Chambers, Per, Kos and Gibbo
Flamini and Jack/Coquelin
Ox, Ozil and Sanchez
Welbz

Also must mention congrats to Gibbo on the call up- well, well deserved. Have to say, I forgot he was even an option, as I presumed Bertrand would be called up alongside Baines. Let's hope he comes back alive. Or if not, that Monreal is fit and healthy.

In fact, let's hope for the Hull match, we can call on Nacho, Theo and Serge for an onslaught of the Tigers! How we fit in Theo and Serge is a luxury we haven't even thought about yet. I do not see how Campbell or Poldi will feature in that case.

*And yes, I know I will be ridiculed for calling anything AFC are involved with as heavyweight.