Arsenal face a daunting month ahead after the international break

Month of September will be crucial to Arsenal’s season by SE

After enjoying a slick start to their season, with wins over Manchester City in the FA Community Shield and Crystal Palace in the Premier League opener, Arsenal just had a slight dip in form towards the end of August. That, however, didn’t impede them from progressing to the Champions League group stages for the 17th year running, and remain unbeaten in the league, albeit two draws in a row will hurt Arsenal.

Going into September, Arsenal will rue not pocketing three points against Leicester; but with crunch clashes against European heavyweights – domestically and continentally – to take care of, the North Londoners would want to move on and seek a fresh start, once the international break culminates.

They take on the defending Premier League champions, Manchester City, at the Emirates, and would want to harness home advantage to impede Man City’s ambitions of getting over their shock home defeat Stoke City this past Saturday. This will be a huge game for both sides, having dropped crucial points in their last games. Arsenal, being the home side, will face the pinch, but it would not be beyond them to derail Man City by defeating them.

Following the Premier League clash against Man City, Arsenal travel to Signal Iduna Park, where they take on Borussia Dortmund in the 1st group game of this season’s Champions League. The Gunners, having won the reverse leg last season – when these two sides faced each other in the group stages – will take great confidence from that tie, as a tonic of confidence and possibly clinch a win, again.

Wenger’s wizards then get a bit of a reprieve, with Aston Villa and Southampton confronting them in the next couple of fixtures. They play the ‘Villains’ away, which might not be all that threatening; but given the kind of result that Arsenal had to digest against Leicester, they wouldn’t want to take anything for granted against an Aston Villa side, who, at the moment, are flying irrepressibly and currently sit third in the Premiership.

Arsenal then face a home clash against a depleted Southampton side in the third round of this season’s capital one cup, which, depending on the ambitions of Wenger and Arsenal, could be used as a game to rotate the squad and keep the indispensable players fresh for the first North London derby of the season, to pull the curtains on the month of September.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side, after kick starting their Premier League campaign, with two back-to-back wins against West Ham and QPR, suffered yet another heavy defeat to Liverpool, which exposed their weakness against Premier League heavyweights. However, it’s a derby, which will keep both sides honest, going into the game. Arsenal, though, with their perennial dominance over Tottenham, will start as favorites and, unlike the clash against Leicester, would be good to finish off the month on a winning note.

Final Thought
More than the number of games that Arsenal play, during the month of September, it’s the significance each one of those games carry, that will test Arsenal’s resolve to keep up with the Premier League pace setters and get that crucial win in the Champions League group game against Dortmund.

Yes, by the end of the month, the North Londoners would have only played six games in the Premier League, and it might be a bit premature to gauge how they are shaping up; but they would want to win all three of their clashes against Man City, Aston Villa and Spurs, taking into account that they play Man City and Spurs at home, with Villa game sandwiched in between those two marquee clashes in the league.

And, it’s because of the significance that the busy September period carries, that it’s going to be a crucial month for Arsenal’s 2014/15 season’s ambitions.

Tags A Villa Dortmund Man City Spurs

65 Comments

  1. All those saying chambers should start at DM are retarded! It would have worked if wenger actually got a CB like he said he would! If chambers gets injured at DM and kos is injured then are you really telling me you’d be fine with flamini at left back and monreal at cb? Who knows when gibbs will come back.
    Wenger even said we need a CB and now he’s pulled a madness and forgotten about it!! Wenger abduction #3 !!!

    1. Chambers is supposed to cover up to 3 positions. Its silly. I just have a feeling Mert or Kos are going to get seriously injured and were going to go a long time with a weak back 4. Cannot believe we didnt get a defensive signing, but this is what happens when you go after players on the final day of the transfer window.

      1. cant believe we sold TV5 w no solution to backfill, makes no sense, its not like he went to Derby County, he was good enough to go to Barca, crazy

  2. I think we will do fine when the team have gotten some matches under their belt. I am concerned about the defensive lacks and hope it will hold until january at least.
    On a side note, the negativity on here makes me sick, and I think I’ll stop checking in on this site, so much moaning and hate that it’s astounding. We have what we have, and that’s it, wish people could see that, cause no matter what we can’t change anything of it here. It used to be fun to come on here, but the way the majority of Arsenal fans have acted here lately shocks me. Everything is well and good when we win, but if we lose or draw a match, it’s back to the bitching. For f**ks sake, the season have just started, stand behind your team!

    1. I think its because arsenal fans have waited long and hard for wenger to finally put together a complete team. Every year we always seem to lack in areas and nothing is done about it. Thats where the moaning fans come from. Its not hate from them (apart from a select few) its just we having deficiencies staring us in the face. If they were fixed we would have a shot at the title.
      Anyways im one to stick behind the team, doesnt mean we shouldnt express our opinions.

        1. There should be an Arsenal fan disclosure box on every life assurance scheme – I could go anytime in the last 10 minutes of any Arsenal match.

      1. Of course, we are lacking some positions, and we all know where. But telling repeatedly same thing here, will not cover that. It’s really annoying sometime. But sometimes someone will explode for sure, but saying same thing, majority of the people, it’s really depressing.
        I think, we all come here to discuss and share each other’s views. But there should be a limit, and I think we have to be more positive, and constructive.

      2. No-one on here is worried about an opinion YG AFC. Just some can’t differentiate between having an opinion and being unbearably opinionated. Read on here today someone wishing Wenger would die on the way back from Rome – and that was one of the more reasonable posts.

    2. Agree totally.
      Yes, IF we have bad injuries to key defenders, we WILL struggle.
      However, that, goes for ALL Clubs, and, Utd do not even have a decent CB AT ALL, so injuries would kill them.
      Would have liked a CB in the transfer window, but, every player Wenger tried to buy, and he DID, and, before the final day, decided to move to Clubs where they would start, and there, lies the problem. TV left hoping to get game time, WHY Barcca, that, is a mind blowing decision to me, as he will be lucky to get a game there too.
      Injuries cripple most teams, all, in fact, except maybe Chelsea and Cty, who have had the money and wages to buy top players to cover all situations.
      There problem is, when the likes of Lampard and Terry retire, or get past it, they have to pay top bucks for another player.
      We have a very young squad overall, and quality coming through, meaning we have a conveyor belt for years to come, with just the odd Ozil or Alexis to give that WC ingredient.
      Like ALL teams fans, we just have to cross our fingers that the players stay fit, or at least just minor knocks.
      As for the post, sorry, but, EVERY game in the EPL/UCL is a difficult one, sometimes a game turns one way, like Chelsea Everton, and that team looks unbeatable, then again, that SAME team lost seemingly easy games last Season.
      Cty looked fantastic against Pool, then, lost at home to Stoke.
      SO, EVERY month is full of tough games, and NONE of them is nailed on. This month is just the same as the next.
      Aston Villa, away, SHOULD WIN THAT, really, have you watched them this Season.
      This, is the problem with most on here. They believe, because we are Arsenal, we MUST be good enough to win, whereas, reality is, ALL teams in the EPL, especially at Home, are capable, of beating anyone, on there day. Play well, bit of luck, run of the ball, little help from the officials, whatever, and, that helps too, but, they STILL have some very good players that can cause problems.
      I was at King Power. We did not play great, however, we had around 70% possession, had 20 plus attempts to Leicesters 8, with 8 on target, as I recall, yet, they, could have won it at the end.
      On here, ALL that was said was. EVERY PLAYER WAS S… We couldn’t even beat a promoted team, who, had played Chelsea off the pitch for 45 minutes at the Bridge, and, had held Everton too.
      Well, that IS what happens in the EPL, and, we should all know that by now. Get used to it.
      Question.
      What, was the last time we lost. Not friendlies, or EC. EPL, UCL, Cups only.
      Then. When was the last time Cty, Chelsea, Liverpool lost.
      Happy International break all.

      1. yes, all games are hard : but that’s MORE reason to bust your butt during the transfer season. unfortunately, performance during TW is a significant determinant to in-season performance.

        i guess it comes down to that I don’t trust wenger: that he may not go from 24M to 30M for Carvalho: that he tries hard but its on his own valuation which is not coincident with reality.

  3. Also coquelin should be playing more often at DM. Before he left us i really rated him. He just needs to find his grove again and he’ll do a good job. Quick, energetic, can tackle and has a good pass. Arteta and flamini in one. But obiously needs game time to achieve that!

    1. I remember Conquelin being extremely promising in the DM role, and don’t forget he also plays descent in the RB pos – which only leaves usa little thin in LB, since Gibbs’s so often injured and only Monreal seems to able to cover (??)

  4. Man City(h)- win 2-0
    Dortmund(a) – draw 1-1
    Villa(a) – win 2-0
    Southampton Capital one cup(h)- loss 1-0
    Spurs(h) – win 5-2

    If Mesut Özil is on song- expect mayhem.

  5. Sami Khedira out for 6weeks we dodged a bullet he’s very injury prone we have enough of those type of players

      1. Hodgson just said a doubt for next England match so its just a knock if anything. He should be fit for Man City. Hopefully Roy just sends him back to us early so theres no chance of an injury. we all know Hodgson has a horrible record of injuring Arsenal players.

    1. You should hate Maureen for Maureen alone!
      He makes my blood boil, i wish a ball flies into his face and takes all his teeth out!P
      lease make this happen.

  6. England international and new Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck suffered an ankle injury ahead of the national team’s clash with Norway on Wednesday. Roy Hodgson was told by doctors that it’s only a minor issue…He hasn’t even kicked the ball yet…

    1. just a stat on Welbeck to give some perspective:
      9 goals in 15 starts last season – 6 of which in 6 games where he played centrally rather that on the wing; converted 31% of his chances last season. Compared to 30% for Sturridge, 27% for RvP and 26% for Aguero; had the second best clear cut chance percentage last season at 70%.

      1. If he played out of position last season, you cant compare a wingers conversion rate to a strikers conversion rate. Who do you think had more shots? But still, 31% conversion rate is really good.

        1. I think Suarez topped most of the charts including Shots on targets, total attempts, goals and accuracy. However I dont think he was 1st on conversion.

          1. No his conversion was not significantly better than OGs, around 20% but he took a lot more long range attempts and had twice as many efforts as the next nearest striker. OG gets 16 PL goals LS gets 31 with roughly the same conversion rate – shoot more Olly when you get back.

      2. If you start to compare the stats you wont to compare, Poldi would end up as the king then. Stats can deceive, star players shoot and try more often.

        I am asking for a humble opinion. That he is not half the player Van Persie, Rooney and Aguero we all know. But do you think he is much of a better player then Cambell or not?

        1. I know stats can deceive. but that is the only thing on which I can base my information and argument upon. because when other strikers were discussed with Giroud it always came down to stats. missing 6 to score 1 etc. so I put some.

          my humble opinion, Campbel has to start. sometimes drive and hunger surpasses talent.

          1. They are equals. The main diff why Welbeck is here is bec of him being able to play as a Winger and back up striker to Giroud. Cambell has no future in the club, as it seems that Wenger is not trusting him.

            1. I am pretty sure Ks-G that if Wenger doesn’t fancy him at all we would all know about it because he wouldn’t have come back off loan and he wouldn’t have gotten a match day squad number. He is guaranteed to play a part, 60+ games will see to that – no sinister plot in place, he is just for whatever reason slightly down the pecking order atm.

              1. really looking forward to seeing some novel combinations such as with campbell at ST, ox (or sanchez) at LW, walcott (or ox) at RW and Ozil/caz/roz at cam.

                PLS NO MORE ozil/caz on LW! thats all i ask.
                (and no more wilshire/ramsey in same game; sorry)

      3. I confess to be being guilty of a little revisionist thinking now we have signed him – quite normal I think if we are being honest. I had derided him previously regarding his less than prolific stats but as people on here have shown stats are naughty little blighters – you peel away a few layers where he doesn’t start and is out of position etc and there are some promising numbers there. I never however took the mick regarding any other aspect of his game – his energy, pace, technique, work rate and enthusiasm – always seemed obvious he had these attributes. I never listen to the pundits, well I do but take no notice, but have been stunned to hear unanimous positive praise across the board from all punter, analysts etc. Something is wrong! Ferguson rated him big time as well. The Arsenal fans appear to be 50/50 on the matter but lets be honest someone tell me a subject where it isn’t 50/50. The most upset appear to be the Man Utd fans – and I have to be honest again and declare how surprising I found this. Anyway we find out soon, one thing guaranteed; he will be hero or zero on here in a very short space of time.

    2. Another one:
      Welbeck 4th in Prem in non penalty goals per 90 min: 1.) Arguero 1.06 2.) Suarez 1.0 3.) Sturridge 0.87 4.) WELLBECK 0.64 5.) Dzeko. 0.63 Rooney and Van Persia: 12th and 13th Bony: 17th Giroud: 18th

    3. Not sure Ks.
      I was thinking the same today.
      I can only believe that Wenger does NOT see Joel as a lone Striker, more as a second striker.
      However, with Theo on his way back soon, and, as he sees Alexis as a Striker, does seem an odd buy.
      However, I like Wellbeck, and think he got a rough deal at Utd.
      With England he has done well, and, his stats are pretty good overall.
      Now he has a chance to prove how good he is.
      Having another option up front can never be a bad thing, can it.

  7. 11guns excellent post.
    When we win wenger is a genuis, when we draw or lose wenger must go.
    Who ever reasons this way does not deserve to be called a fan.. arsenal team may not be perfect for crying out loud we just won the first trophy for the season,keep faith with club.. things are getting better we have not lost a game yet but some dudes are panicking as if arsenal is now in relegation zone…
    Yes we dont have a decent DM thats does not mean we dont have a shot at the title.
    Arsenal fans are carried away by what the press is writing. Just because chelsea has bought costa does not mean they will stroll to the EPl title, this season will be a very long season..

    1. Who ever reasons this way does not deserve to be called a fan.
      A fan of Wenger or fan of Arsenal.
      Managers will come and go.
      Because a fan dislikes a manager does not mean a dislike of Arsenal.

      1. Sometime i wonder if fans think wenger is bigger than the club, like henry was, he had to go in that respect.

  8. Calm down and watch arsenal win the league… and as wenger will say… ‘my boys can do the Job’ don’t forget the french accent

  9. wenger might still be able to bring in some loan cover to help numbers in c/h and mid dont be surprised if we see a reappearance of kk again till jan just to keep things ticking over we could have done with song for a season also really not sure what c/h there are atm to loan am sure there is someone we can squad fill with in the next week wenger will try over the international break to get loans me thinks

  10. if we had signed welbeck early on and sanchez on deadline day everyone would be saying what a fantastic transfer market for us. Remember we got most of are business done early, we had a net spend of £70m and we have a stronger squad than previously. We have money now but we still have to follow FFP ourselves dont forget that. The new sponsorship deals that we signed are spread over five years so you have to take that in to account. Our profits are now considerably higher on last year but they are not enough for us to spend £100m plus in one season even though we have the cash in the bank to do so. We are moving forward now and in all fairness Arsene had to replace Sagna, Verm, and fabianski first and that is exactly what he did and he replaced them with better players in my opinion. He then made a world class signing in Sanchez to add goals and pace to the team. We had to replace Giroud and again staying within the rules we signed Welbeck who is not world class but is English, 23 years old, very face, has a good touch, great attitude according to everyone at Manchester united and has bags of potential. I think we will see Welbeck flourish given his favoured position as striker rather than out wide. Look at the pace we now have when walcott is back. Sanchez, Welbeck and Walcott. I think that front line will scare people. Next year we can spend it all on one or two world class players.

  11. Welbacks future will be on the LW position, I am sure of it. He has no faith in Podolski, refuse to put Chamberlain as a winger ( best winger we have alongside Theo), puts Ozil on the left ( worst decision).

    1. I think, ox can play CM very well, he can be Ramsey’s replacement in some games. He can play very well in wings too, but he needs to improve his finishing. Hey, it’s a long season, he will be used. He just needs to be injury free. I am very excited to observe making of ox.

  12. just read interesting piece on sky sports about free loan players still available and a couple of them are canny signing’s if for the right deal for wages alou diarra looks a good bet maybe for a season even valdes didn’t get a club maybe battersea dogs home for him then lol

  13. It would have helped if either Vermaelen had stayed or we got another defender as promised. I feel sorry for our 3 main CBs (Koscielny, Mertsacker and Chambers). God help us if one or more gets injured

    Hopefully, Welbeck performs well and Giroud comes back soon. And they both push each other to perform better.

    Walcott coming back will be a HUGE boost.

  14. just reading around and all if not most rags are saying our net spend is £46 million how can they tell that when they dont even know what our real budget is if it was £100 million then we are in profit by quite a bit i dont really know what they base there assumptions on this is where you could do with swiss ramble to dissect what really was spent from what i could see most of our 5 transfers were covered by out goings and c/l monies earned
    debuchy-vela deal, chambers- vermalen deal, ospina-cesc and miquel deals sanchez c/l monies and other monies recovered from wages and old installment based deals this is the same with welbeck i would imagine if not then poldolski will be sold in jan to cover this as i think he was going to be sold and this would have covered welbecks transfer more or less also and people dont always realize that arsenal have money coming in from more than one source to cover transfers not just puma and emirates deals we have property arm of the club which makes money for transfers also outstanding debts we are owed of old transfers we receive each year on song cesc maybe van persie and all other structured deals in installment payments sales we just flogged miquel as an example and all the monies from released wages and youths sold its a bit to complex to just say we have a net spend of xyz when arsenal dont even make the budget public so they have no starting point from which to go from i bet you we have broke even or even made a slight profit as we are self sustaining it would make sense that we can break even or at least make the net spend under £10 million each year at least screw then all we are the arsenal we do thing our way

    1. Jesus comma’s, that was solid to read, and please do keep it a bit shorter mate, it’s a comment section , not an article 😉

  15. It’s a busy month and hopefully we’ll see a bit more rotation from Wenger. Campbell needs some games, so does Diaby and why Rocisky is not seeing any action is beyond me. For Wenger to say “perhaps we were a bit jaded” after Leicster is inexcusable when we have so many quality players jumping out of their skins to get a run.

    1. campbell, pod and roz were on the bench
      while wenger played ozil/caz/sanchez (all tired from besitkas)

  16. I’m just pissed off with the ticket prices, and waiting the whole weekend to watch a boring match, it really does ruein my weekend. That goes out to ’11guns’ response.

  17. do you want to know the thing that is bugging me the most ? its the fact the obvious thing to do is have a front 3 of alexis welbck theo and have ozil behind them BUT you all know wenger will stick with this new love of a formation of 4141 and he wont even use that front 3 he probably stick ozil or cazorla on the left i REALLY HOPE im wrong but wenger always seems to do the oppiste of the obvious . why not revert to the last 2 season formation of 4213 last year it served us awell and the only thing we missed was the wingers, now we have wingers in abduonce but wenger suddenly decides to do something different

  18. Tough month?? it will be a brutal 3 years. until we get a modern manager with a sporting director that deals with transfers we won’t go anywhere. You can’t have one man being manager/accountant/sales man/youth player development and everything else to this club. 3 years then we will be in a position to really compete but until then expect much of the same (top 4/CL qualifications/first round exit) .. while teams buy 4 or 5 players we will get one signing a year to keep us quiet and not replacing players that leave.

  19. I can’t believe we got rid of Sagna and Vermaelen, loaned Jenkinson and Miquel and got just one defender in Chambers (top quality as he is)

    I was certain Wenger was going to get a defender.

    Anyway, I hope the defenders we do have play well, stay healthy

  20. What is Wenger plans?
    We only have 3CB…!!!
    I know we are not challenging for the league or the CL, but we also need to make sure we still finish in the top four.

    I red his interview on l”Equipe and he said that Flamini and Coquelin could play defensive roles too…!!

    I know the guy is delusional and deceiving, but sometimes he needs to talk sense and stop going on with hypocritical and “silly” statements.
    I mean the guy talks from his a*se…!!

    The fans deserve better and we are not getting near our money worth as well as the passion we are putting in support of the club.

  21. I am hoping that some quality free agents are available to patch up the defense and defensive midfield. I am hoping that none of our players return injured, hoping also wenger quits the ozil, cazorla and wilshere experiment and use our pace 3 men attack, which i feel will put the fear in the opposition with either ozil/cazorla/wilshere behind them.

    if we get some good results from the games after the break, we will be well place to donsome serious damage

  22. Just notice a Modibo Diakite is a free agent, strong tackler, good pace, good in the air would be a good stop up till December for 3rd or fourth choice. doubt if he would even mind being 5th choice

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