Match Preview: Arsenal – Norwich/Probert

Dominic Sanchez-Cabello

Two defensive mids may be a bit much for today’s game. After all: we’re at home and they are Norwich – what is there to fear?

Lee Probert, of course… but unless we have Flamini steal his whistle whilst Arteta distracts him, I don’t see how it helps us.

Rest Arteta for Dortmund; keep him fresh methinks.

Chris Hughton’s teams tend to give us a hard time. Hard to say why, perhaps they’re just quite good? They are compact, organised and able to keep possession. They’ve rid themselves of Grant Holt, a player who just the sight of riled us – a bit like Kevin Davies II.

It took a decade to escape Kevin Davies and as soon as he retired, Grant Holt appeared. He’s now at Wigan… so who’s next? Surely another resolute northerner is ready to become our scourge.

They played Chelsea before the international break and from the parts I saw, it seemed a drab affair destined for the draw. It opened up towards the end, both teams looked dangerous, but predictably Chelsea’s quality showed. But it only managed to do so in the last 5 minutes. Today could be frustrating and will take patience.

I have an inkling that Jack will have a cracking game today. He was underused in the internationals, so will be fresh. It will also be a matter of pride, as sitting on the bench in his hometown; whilst Andros Townsend stole the show can’t have been pleasant.

The injury news is positive: Ozil’s knee injury was overstated, so he should be available. Now, I know this not only because Wenger said so, but also because there’s a picture circulating of him smiling next to his Birthday cake. The caption being something like: He’s celebrating his birthday… how bad can his knee be?!

Sagna should be fine and Cazorla is back, but lacking match sharpness. The two of them will be in the squad at least.

I’m afraid it will be an online stream job for most and will only become watchable, once you have located and clicked the minute ‘X’s’. On doing this you will find yourself listening to Tony Gale, or with luck, a vastly more insightful Russian chap. The X’s will reappear sporadically as portals to wonderful places of incognito gambling; almost-pretty (local!) women and various dietary supplements that get one ‘ripped in 4 weeks’.

Over the course of the match you’ll probably win 5 iPads as well, so I guess… clouds, silver lining and all that.

Now you’ve read that nonsense, a little bit on an important game – Cornish Cup 2^nd Round at Home to Camelford! The Camels (a nickname I’ve just made up) are a tricky bunch, who don’t discriminate between Rugby and Football. We beat them earlier this season on a hard pitch. Tomorrow, with our pitch decimated by the autumn rain, things will be harder. Now, there is a point to this seemingly inconsequential paragraph.

In short, the state of our amateur pitches, define everything about the British game. It explains…

• why we don’t produce more technical players;
• how, unlike other nations, we create teams like Stoke and
• why our referees seem unable to fathom what sport they are actually officiating.

You can’t pass like Xavi on a provincial pitch… or so the saying goes.

There’s an article somewhere there – hopefully I’ll get round to writing it.

Cheers all,

Footnotes:

Possible line up (Tony’s version)

Szczesny

Sagna Mertersacker Koscielny Gibbs

Flamini Wilshere

Ramsey Ozil Rosicky/Cazorla

Giroud

• Probert, the ref of the Norwich game, on a mission against Wenger. How it all began in 2009

• Why Arsenal will lose on Saturday: Probert is in charge