Written by Mean Lean on Sunday, 15 January 2012 01:07

We have been here before haven't we? Two of our rivals slip up at home and drop crucial points when expected to grab all three. After our recent slip up against Fulham, three points would be valuable right now and on paper you would say that an away victory against a promoted side shouldn't be a problem but that would be foolish and would ignore the Swans fantastic home record this season. In 10 games at the Liberty Stadium Swansea have lost only once to Manchester United, a game where they deserved at least a point. In those games including that defeat they have only shipped four goals which is the best in the league alongside Manchester City.

I hope more promoted teams copy the Swansea blueprint. Brendan Rodgers has clearly been reading a different coaching manual to Tony Pulis. His team are very good at keeping possession and building from the back and in former Chelsea wide player Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer on the opposite side they have real speed and a direct threat from the flanks.

Without any natural full backs in our side, it will be interesting to see how we deal with that. Ignasi Miquel hasn't had much in the way of first team games at left back and Johan Djourou is just coming back after suspension.

The rest of the team pretty much picks itself. Many will be hoping to see Thierry Henry start alongside Robin van Persie but I don't think that would be sensible given Henry's limited game time so far. I think he will correctly be used as an impact substitute and the left sided starting position will go to Andrey Arshavin who looked lively against Leeds United without the required end product. Hopefully with more games under his belt, he can start to produce the type of end product that we saw consistently in his first half season at the club.

With much of the Swansea danger potentially coming from wide positions and our shortage of natural full backs I wonder how much of an influence Arshavin will have at both ends of the pitch.

There were rumours of Mikel Arteta being ruled out due to injury or illness but those rumours have come from the world of Twitter so I will cast those aside until I hear anything official. With Francis Coquelin the latest Arsenal player to be struck down with injury, we have to hope that we do not pick up anymore midfield injuries as we are very short in that department.

Emmanuel Frimpong is on loan while Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and the versatile Coquelin are all unavailable for the manager. We have to see if Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky can come through their illness and take part in the squad as their positions are short of numbers right now. If Mertesacker is not available then Arsene may have little choice but to turn to out of favour Squillaci and partner him along with Laurent Koscielny. Judging by last season, that would not be the ideal choice.

Like most Gooners, I am looking forward to a cameo from Thierry Henry and potentially lining up alongside Robin van Persie in our front line but I guess much of that depends on the result and how the game is going. While I enjoyed the fairy tail return, I think I could do without having to send him on in search of a goal although if the result ends up the same way as it did against Leeds then I think I will take that now.

Ideally we will click offensively from the start and the Arshavin, van Persie and Walcott trio can blow Swansea apart before they can even get into the game. I have been critical of Andrey Arshavin for the most part this season but I hope he can build on what we last saw of him. What tends to happen when I feel this way after a good cameo is a poor performance so by pointing this out I am reversing the jinx or something.

Anyway, it is going to be a tough few weeks for us now so getting back to form today would be a great way to kick start our season.

Make it happen you lovely Gooners.

Mean Lean's Predicted Line Up

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Comments (19)

• 15-Jan-2012 12:18 | | Judith Le'Strange  - Henry
  

  Why bring Henry back when Wenger doesn't seem to want to play him but only as a bit player, that's no way to treat a legend, but then that's Wenger.

• 15-Jan-2012 12:42 | | MeanLean
  

  Certainly a 'strange' comment. I don't know why but I have a feeling that the manager might know whether a player is ready or not ready to start. Unless of course you have greater information.

• 15-Jan-2012 13:10 | | miki
  

  i excepect 3 point today

• 15-Jan-2012 13:12 | | miki
  

  i excepect 3 point today

• 15-Jan-2012 13:31 | | shaddy  - johan djourou
  

  it's to play ten plarers than including djourou as the eleventh plarer.djourou is really going to cost the team becoz he is always out of his concentration.

• 15-Jan-2012 13:38 | | justo  - wenger
  

  we tired of your false promises of next season, we also with your djourou's rubbish play.please do something about him either send away or let him go and start his club so that he can play such mud from there full stop and good bye

• 15-Jan-2012 17:07 | | Gino92  - 1st Half Analysis
  

  Djourou is having a terrible game so far. He is nowhere to be found on the right side of our defense, which unfortunately led to the soft penalty committed by Ramsey. Walcott also needs to do better or else, bring on the Ox. We are sorely missing Arteta today. Hope we can turn things around in the second half and turn up the heat, because frankly, we are being outplayed and out-hussled by Swansea.
  
  COYG!

• 15-Jan-2012 18:41 | | redboy
  

  Out worked Out played OUT WENGER its time for you to go

• 15-Jan-2012 19:23 | | Gino92  - Another "easy" tasteless defeat
  

  For whatever reason, we can't seem to take advantage of some of our rivals slipping up. Another lost opportunity! I wonder how many more we are going to get this season. This game is very reminiscent of our recent loss to Fulham, where we just didn't put in a good shift at all and got totally outplayed and outworked with the only exception being this time it was from start to finish. If we play like this against Man U next Sunday, I fear we will lose big again. I lost count of how many times we gave the ball away needlessly, especially Arshavin and Ramsey. Jack Wilshere needs to come back quickly so Ramsey can observe the game from the bench. He will get there eventually but at the moment he definitely is not ready to be a starter, in my humble opinion. He has a fabulous engine but tries to do too much with the fancy stuff instead of playing it nice and simple sometimes. He should stop trying to be like Fabregas, because he is clearly not. Djourou and Miquel were crap today. However, the young Spaniard work very hard today. He still needs to work on his defensive positioning and on reading the game. The Ox needs to start the next game in place of Arshavin who did nothing except for the assist to Van Persie, and Rosicky must replace Ramsey against Man U.
  
  All in all, a very bad day at the office at a very bad time of the season against a very deserving Swansea. I was very impressed by not only how well they played today, but also by how hard they all worked to get the ball back. They closed us down pretty quickly whereas we just allowed them time and space to play. They did not close shop when leading and were still taking the game to us until the end. Job well done Swansea!
  
  Anybody knows what happened to Arteta? Is it injury or illness?
  We need the Verminator and at least one of our fullbacks (preferably Sagna) back asap. We simply cannot continue playing like this. It is very "un-Arsenal" and unrecognizable.
  
  Top 4 is still a very realistic target but we are making it way more difficult for ourselves to achieve. It is time to put up or shut up.
  I had such high hopes when the day began and after watching RVP score his 18th goal inside 5 minutes, but this has turned out to be a very depressing day. Now, I am in a bad mood and I have to take my wife to dinner at a fancy restaurant in a few hours. How am I supposed to do that with my head all fucked up? Thanks a lot Arsenal!!!

• 15-Jan-2012 19:31 | | Gino92  - Not Wenger's Fault
  

  Sorry mate, but the players need to be held accountable for this defeat. It is not Wenger's fault that we lost today. No matter the team he selected today, there is no defense for being out-worked by a promoted side. Swansea just wanted it more than we did, and that is a real shame because we are fighting for a Champions League spot and they are not. The players sucked today. Simple. Stop the "Wenger out" nonsense and put the blame squarely where it belongs, for once. That's just my opinion.

• 15-Jan-2012 19:47 | | colesy  - blame the ref
  

  Dont blame wenger, blame the ref.

• 16-Jan-2012 08:37 | | indian gooner forever....  - Was that the arsenal????
  

  1) Boy did we miss Mikel Arteta.......When our wing play is below par because of the injuries to all our full backs - our central spine needs to be absolutely robust and solid and without Mikel it was not at all that......Benayoun huffed and puffed but clearly that is not his ideal position. He is more of an advanced player and his lack of ball retention clearly showed that.
  
  2)We missed Gervinho more than anyone else.
  The problem with Arshavin apart from his absolutely terrible form right now is that 11 times out 10 he is going to cut back in from the wing and that makes the job of the opposing full back very simple. Apart from that Arshavin seems to have dropped in pace as well which makes him even more toothless. May be we should do it the other way around against man utd with AOC starting and playing 60minutes before being replace by arshavin. I guess we could get more out of Arshavin if he was to play only 30minutes..
  
  3)Mertesacker was leggy...
  It seemed that the BFG had not recovered completely from his illness. He was leggy through out the game and in the third goal he had completely switched off. Clearly his worst performance since putting on the Arsenal shirt. And that missed kick off the corner was woeful. Just outlined the fact that he wasn't match ready.
  
  4)Midfield bosses???
  Even in games when we don't play well there is one thing that we manage to do consistently. Bossing the midfield. Swansea pressed really hard and made it difficult for us. But then so did Barca last season but the composure Song and Wilshere had was remarkable. We lacked that yesterday obviously with Arteta missing and Ramsey putting in a below par performance. Heck we missed Coquelin too.....he would have been much better with Song as the second pivot.
  
  These factors contributed to a very un-arsenal like performance. We could not string together a run of good passes and we created far lesser chances than we normally do in premier league games. Although I wouldn't want to say that it is deep crisis time but it is clear that the injuries are not letting us play our game and it would help immensely to have atleast one fit full back if not two. And more incisive play from the wings because that is where our assists have come from this season with our slightly direct style.
  
  Also most Arsenal fans like this present squad because they always seem to be putting in a shift even in safe situations. But in the last two league games that seems to have gone missing. Of course the fulham game came on the back of a hectic schedule but yesterday there was no such excuse. Wenger must make sure that the old malaise does not strike back with this squad because this one has far less flair than the earlier one and I shudder to think what would happen if they started playing without that hunger...

• 16-Jan-2012 11:11 | | Subir Kumar Roy  - oh dear, oh dear!
  

  1) Swansea beat Arsenal at their own game. Forget Bolton, stoke etc. Sides that like to get physical. Sad part is Arsenal is nowhere, being beaten by sides with a lesser budget and good footballing etbics
  
  2) Our team has a donkey for right back and left back went missing. We are shambolic defensively.
  
  3) The less said about the midfield, the better. Song was pathetic, Ramsey even more, dive or no dive, tried too hard after conceding the penalty and made two more mistakes that resulted in goals. Such a lightweight midfield
  
  4) The wingers, oh dear. Theo timid and trying to hide. Arshavin, just crap.
  
  5) Over reliant on RvP. We have Thierry Henry to fill in for Gervinho in ACN and back up striker to RvP. But is it enough?
  
  6) The saving grace till last year, top 4 finish, making it to CL, finishing above spuds, st totteringham's day. What do Arsene and his trusted band of AKBs have to say this year? Wait what are we crying about? We are in the PL and not relegated. aren't we? How many teams would be glad to be in our position?
  
  7) Save, save, save, save, save and save money. Spending is crime, anti Arsenal ethics
  
  Pity those 60,000 souls who get ripped off their pockets to see a team in a magnificient stadium play absolutely shit..... we built a stadium to see such days?
  
  I only pray that my beloved Arsenal does not get humiliated again at home to Manu next, otherwise all the poor 60,000 souls should be ready to shove it up Kroenke's/Gazidis/whoever responsible for this joke of a mess....

• 16-Jan-2012 11:32 | | Robin  - wtf was that
  

  why for fucks sake were you treating them like barcelona. after the 5th min i cant really remember arsenal getting decent hold of the ball.mayb its down to the injuries or poor officiating of wutever any team arsenal puts up should be better that a newly promoted team. im sure fuking mean lean will disagree but any team with REAL BALLS BETN THEIR LEGS wudve given a fight. we were happy to let them have the ball. and wut does THEO do that any other average right winger at any frigging midtable athletic cant. this team doesnt deserve to be top 4. Arsenal as a club does but this set of players dont. i hope we crash and burn friggin joke of a club this shithole has become.

• 16-Jan-2012 11:33 | | Robin  - fuck
  

  why we dont sign players??? not coz we dont hav cash its coz no fuking decent players wants to join us!!

• 18-Jan-2012 14:02 | | Spectrum
  

  Mean Lean - Surely then, by that logic Park- Chu- Young should have made an appearance by now. Now THAT is what we should be calling strange, don't you think ?
  " ******************"

• 18-Jan-2012 14:17 | | Spectrum
  

  Colesy, he does that every week. His excuse book is as old, tired and cliche ridden as he is. But he has an army of dedicated A.K.B. devotees who are only too willing to help him write another one. And certain bloggers who are more than happy to act as his publicist.
  
  " ******************"

• 18-Jan-2012 14:30 | | Spectrum
  

  Subir - Every point you made is true. But it can' t be our manager's fault. He was away during the week. I hear he's auditioning for a role in the remake of "The Untouchables."
  
  " ******************"

• 19-Jan-2012 12:52 | | Spectrum
  

  Robin - Got to admire your direct style. But be careful mate - any criticism of the team, or heaven forbid, the way it's being managed, risks you being branded by the A.K.B.'s on here as a Spuds supporter, or not being a true Arsenal fan. But keep trying - they may just see the light one day - ( like September 22nd 2016 for instance ).
  " ******************"

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