Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal players should be full of confidence going into the FA cup quarter final against Watford tomorrow. Not only did the Gunners hit four unanswered goals past Hull City on Tuesday to confirm the upturn in form begun with a battling 10 man draw against the spuds, but we also recorded a healthy 3-0 win away to the Hornets in October.
Quique Sanchez Flores and his team were on a great run of form back then as well, so Arsenal should have every reason to believe that we will get the job done tomorrow and be set for a third FA cup semi final in a row. Maybe not though, and the last thing that Wenger wants is for the Arsenal players to be too confident.
For one thing, that 3-0 scoreline at Vicarage Road did not tell the whole story because we did not open the scoring until after the hour mark. Up until then it was pretty even and both side had good chances. Our opener came on the counter attack and 12 minutes later we had two more but we should take fair warning from their performance that day.
Our manager certainly has because in preparation for the cup match he has pointed out their strong defensive qualities and their danger on the break, as an Arsenal.com report explains. The Frenchman certainly seems to think he knows what shape the game will take and that will be okay as long as we take our chances or do not become too impatient and leave ourselves exposed at the back.
He said, “They have two strikers who are very efficient in Ighalo and Deeney and we worked very hard to control the game [last time we played them].
“They have a very good understanding between their strikers and the quality between our two centre backs will be vital on Sunday.
“Watford have done extremely well. It looks like the Championship teams that come up now deal very well with the Premier League regime.
“The difficulty [for us] is that Watford have a team who are very solid defensively. They are also a team who are athletically very strong and the basis of their game is on efficiency and waiting for the right moment to be very dangerous.”
So while it is nice to have beaten them 3-0, is it just as important to remember that no other team has put three past them all season?
These are the matches that really concern me. Arsenal tend to switch on Auto pilot against opponents like Watford, and play like possession = points; like Swansea.
Giroud could be set for a good run of games, El neny is looking settled and disciplined, Alexis may have his form back, and Cambell has been dangerous and fairly consistent. Almost forgot Chambers; he’s looked good at CB lately, and has some confidence.
I’m actually positive about FA Cup and Everton matches, and potentially a good run to end the season. Only concerned if Barca takes Arsenal behind the woodshed. A bad spanking could damage players confidence and end title run.
logical response at barca: limit damage. all XI behind the ball. counter w sanchez/welbeck/campbell. dont want CL to infect our PL spirit.
wenger instead will prob go all out frontal attack and we’ll get spanked.
since giroud goes missing vs big teams, i like the welbeck/campbell combo for barca; and watford get giroud/walcott [still not too bad].
but sanchez may have to play both games (and maybe everton too; so thats a worry).
we should try to put watford out of the park as soon as possible so we can rest our players.
it will all depend on how “efficient” our fwds can be.
hope elneny gets one of his long-shots tomorrow.
i’m v.happy w elneny/coq in the middle: i think its our strongest combo (bar cazorla)
@almostwinner
Throw Renne in on the left for Watford…He’s ready.
Once we remain focus and keep our shape at the back, we should be good!
Life is not a bed of roses greg……….
What happens if they too remain focus and keep their shape at the back?
then we just have to do what lukaku did and dribble through. oh wait: giroud cant do that?
actually i’m kinda convincing myself that sanchez and giroud to find some form. eternal hope.
i really want us to speed up our interpassing in the front third. its too slow and predictable now and we aren’t working hard enough off the ball. ox/walcott/giroud tend to ball watch sometimes. 1-2-3 passes and shoot [either side of goalie; not central]
dont try to pass it in.
i know wenger might just be saying all of this on a sugar coated Tongue and to make it feel like mind games
but when u start seeing the Likes of deeney et al as “Very Efficient “….. Then know u have a mentality problem
How efficient is Arsenal’s striking department wenger?
Seeind lukaku ripping chelsea defence apart make me sure that arsenal curse against chelsea is just a bad striker issue
we’ve always been good at passing, but era of giroud meant we were hampered at CF. arsenal was always a WC striker away from winning PL but le professeur cannot bring himself to pay the going rate for WC striker.
@almostawinner
I totally agree with you we are good at creating chances we reach very good positions but giroud is less than average he won’t even play at some mid-tables teams beleive me he can’t dribble he rarely take long ranged shots he is not the best at movement
I don’t understand what do arsene wenger see in him to rely on him as our first choice
We were going to get a striker three years ago (higuain) but the deal failed in the last second because wenger prefered to get ozil so what did giroud do to prove that he deserves his position can anybody tell me
I really get mad when some arsenal fans tell that he is a good player because he is not!!
“I know I could be a goal keeper coach, but I feel I am better suited to be a manager”-Petr Cech
Hahaha ?
Petr Cech was asked, if he could be anyone for a day…
Who would he chose to be?
His answer was: Queen Elizabeth! ???
Just so he could see what it felt like. .. ????
Ooookay! ?
Wenger is weary of every team, that we play! ?
If he is worried about Watford hurting us …FK’s what he must be thinking about Barcelona? … Iron pants, maybe?
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