Marseille-Arsenal Preview

By: jg | October 18th, 2011

marsiellecl

Tomorrow sees the Arsenal step on the Stade Velodrome and take on the mighty Olympique Marseille, for what is due to be an exciting clash for 1st place in Group F. With Olympiakos winless and Dortmund disappointing, the Arsenal-Marseille clashes will likely dictate the final standings of our group, so it’s important to go and get a result out there tomorrow.

But boy, will it be tough! Marseille are currently in 1st place in the group, having a perfect 6 points from 2 games, a tight 1-0 win in Greece, and a 3-0 dismantling of Dortmund. We’re right behind them in 2nd place, fresh from our 1-1 draw with the German champions and our nervy 2-1 win over the Greeks. Marseille have shown to be very powerful in the CL this season, and will prove to be our sternest test in the competition so far. Despite playing under expectations so far in Ligue 1 (15th place, 9 points, 1 win, 6 draws, 3 losses), they have a very talented squad that will makes us pay if we lose focus tomorrow. In Steve Mandanda, they have one of the most underrated GK’s in Europe. Mandanda is in a similar situation to guys like Pepe Reina and Rene Adler- world class or otherwise very good GK’s who would start for almost every single NT in the world, but the presence of a better GK in their generation prevents them from becoming linchpins between the sticks. In defense, they have a decent right back in Rod Fanni, and a defensive rock in Souleymane Diawara.

In midfield, they can call on a guy we were chasing at one point over the summer, Lucho Gonzalez. A playmaker who can also play centrally, he’ll be one of Marseille’s main guys, and it will be a big task on Song and Arteta to stifle him for 90 minutes. However, Marseille’s biggest threat will come up front, notably from the wings. Andre Ayew has been spectacular for them so far this season, already tallying up 7 goals, including two in the win over Dortmund. He’d make for a very typical Wenger signing, and if by a miracle Marseille are out of the CL by January, I can see Le Boss swooping for a move by that time. But it’s highly unlikely Marseille won’t qualify (although we will get the chance to throw a spanner in their works tomorrow), and Ayew is their big man- and Jenkinson will have a massive job on containing him. Elsewhere, one-time Thierry Henry comparison, Loic Remy, will most likely start up front for the French club. He’s a very good player on his own right, and will be a handful for our CB’s. In other words, this Marseille side has quality all over the place, and will be difficult to break down.

Moving on to team news, the biggest headline is that Gibbs is injured. His forced substitution during the Sunderland game was due to a muscle strain in his stomach, and he’s out for two weeks. Andre Santos has been decent in the CL, so it’s his job to step up and keep playing well. Ramsey, on the other hand, is back from the slight knock he had received during NT duty and is in the squad. Aside from Gibbs, the rest of the squad is healthy and no one else received any injuries during Sunday’s match. Other than that, the long-termers (Vermaelen, Sagna, Diaby, Wilshere) are still out.

Based on the team news, here’s my prediction for the line-up tomorrow:

Szczesny

Jenkinson Mertesacker Koscielny Santos

Song Arteta

AOC Rosicky Gervinho

van Persie

Subs: Fabianski, Djourou, Coquelin, Ramsey, Benayoun, Arshavin, Walcott

Szczesny in goal. With Gibbs out, it’s a back four of Jenkinson, ‘Sack, Kos, and Santos- no way Wenger experiments and lets Djourou start this one. In midfield, Rosicky was very impressive in the advanced role on Sunday, so the triumvirate of Song-Arteta-Rosicky continues. Gervinho was solid enough on Sunday to get the start tomorrow, but the big question, at least in my eyes, will be who starts on the right wing (no, not Mitt Romney. Too inconsistent). Walcott was pretty anonymous against Sunderland, and AOC had a good showing against Olympiakos last time around. Will we see Ox on the wings tomorrow? I sure hope so- he’s in good form, scoring goals, and it would be a shame to see it dry out due to lack of opportunities.

And of course, Robin van Persie up front. But you already knew that.

On the bench, Fabianski, Djourou, Ramsey, Walcott, Benayoun, and Arshavin are shoo-ins. Arshavin, in my opinion, has physically degenerated enough that he works best as a super-sub- something that worked to some effect on Sunday. I hope that continues. The last spot could go to Chamakh, Park, or a DM in the form of Frimpong or Coquelin. Chamakh is out of the favor on the moment it seems, and don’t get me started on Park. For that reason, I think Coquelin or Frimpong get the last bench spot.

We played very well for the first 25 minutes on Sunday, and for much of the second half as well. The hope is that the team continues to gel and play better game after game, and a win tomorrow will be a good way to continue our progress. A draw would also be a good result, purely because of the location disadvantage, but I think it would be even better to get the 3 points and jump to 1st in our group.

There will be a liveblog tomorrow, which I will take part of. Homey will recap.
Come on Arsenal!

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Category: Champions League, Fixtures, Preview

« News Roundup: RvP Stuff, Injuries, etc. | Home | Liveblog! Marseille-Arsenal »

Kas123

Gerv not starting, Arshavin on the L, Ros in the Middle.
Kas123

Sup Fellas, No live Blog?
Zamil_m10

we have a really speedy squad! Have u guys(and Sairax) seen the acceleration of Theo, Gervinho and Chamberlain in fifa12??? 90+ for each! I personally beleive thats a great basis this team has to be a great attacking team for a loooooong time
Edit: Oh damn, add Miyaichi to that list too; 95!
Martin

I think the key is getting 4 points from these two matches. That would put us in first place in the group, with Dortmund at home and Olympiakos away as our final 2 matches. Winning the group (or even qualifying) would still be far from guaranteed, but that would put us in the driver's seat. To that end, I would honestly be fine with a draw in this match, because I like our chances against Marseille at home in a couple of weeks.
brenton

Bam, a Republican primaries joke!
ballyanking

When Cesc Fabregas left us to follow his dream people asked how can you
replace him?

No word of a lie, the truth is you can not replace
someone like Cesc. He is irreplaceable.

As soon as Mikel Arteta
signed for Arsenal it was proclaimed that he would be the man to fill
our former skippers boots. And become Tomas Rosicky's new shower buddy.

That
is not fair.

Mikel Arteta is Mikel Arteta. Not Cesc Fabregas.
Not Fabregas Lite. And he is certainly not a vampire.

The
comparisons need to stop because how can Arteta thrive at Arsenal with
Cesc's shadow looming over him?

In time Mikel will settle into
life with the club. He already looks comfortable in the team and will
only get better.

Taking a pay-cut shows how much Arteta wanted to
join us. Well that, and the shot-gun Pat Rice was pointing at his head.

He
was desperate to play for Arsenal.

That alone makes me believe
we should give him room to stamp his own authority on the pitch and not
become Cesc 2.

I was very excited when Sky Sports announced that
Arteta had beaten the transfer dead-line by 2.9 seconds to sign for
Arsenal.

In fact, I was nearly as excited as the time I saw
Rihanna posing topless on a tractor in a field.

I think he is
that good and I hope that in the future people will stop the Cesc
comparisons because he is his own man.
Casimir

Is this a poem?

jk, jk... just busting your balls.. err...yanking your chain..or um... yanking your...oh whatever
Rico

Good Morning Gunners faaaaaaans!!

Shame that AOC isn't in the team squad, he has done well for us.

Time to let Santos get a good start and see what he's made of, I hope he's not made of the same material Gibbs is, glass. I jest! (Sorry Martin)

I agree with a few comments about Walcott will be the more likely choice for the wing. We'll need him to be on form though. It will be the strongest of our attacking side with Gervinho and Walcott powering down the wings.

I hope Marseille caught the opening 25 minutes of the Sunderland game and caught the goal, attempts made and free-kick by RVP, not the rest of the game though. Wishful thinking I know.

9:10am in Scotland, such a long wait until the game tonight @ 7:45pm.
Bumblefock

"Arshavin, in my opinion, has physically degenerated enough that he works best as a super-sub".
You should have watched at leat one international match for Russia. The guy plays full 90 and is being very effective, in part due to a correct position he's played in.
Rasesh Razdan

what position does he play at for Russia
Martin

If he plays 90 minutes without getting completely exhausted, I would guess either goalkeeper, manager, or statue in front of the stadium.
Bumblefock

que?
Bumblefock

russia plays 4-3-3. he's up there in the top 3 with pavlyuchenko and one other guy. strikerish-CAMish position
Kas123

This is what I'd love to see tomorrow. Song as CB until TV5 comes back. He's been pretty solid in that position. But I know it's a long shot.
SzczesnyKoscielny Mertesacker Song Santos ArtetaWalcott Arshavin Gervinho Van PersieChamakh
Kas123

That didn't come out the way I typed it. But have Chamakh as the main striker with Van Persie off his L shoulder. Have Arsh play in CAM, and Song beside Mert in CB until TV5 comes back, and Kos as right back. I know this is wishful thinking tho.
LachlanS

That is far too many poor defensive players on the pitch at once sadly. Swap Arshavin out for someone who would track and you have a possible good lineup.
Bumblefock

"poor tracking back" copy/paste cliche is tiring. how many goals have we conceded because of him not tracking back properly? how many? which games? name something as obvious as some almunia howler-moments or clichy offside-trap facepalm moments. jesus.
Casimir

Did you not watch the end of last season? Conceding stupid free kicks leading to goals, or simply not helping out in defense, we dropped several points due to his side of the pitch.

Now this season, I would say for the most part he has been working hard, but last season he couldn't careless about tracking back.
Lou8511

We dropped several points from free kicks conceded by Arshavin? Really?
Bumblefock

we've conceded stupid free kicks and goals with each player once in a while. if you make me recall last seasons stupid goals caused by non-defense players, first thing coming to mind would be cesc's hand in a freekick leading to penalty. i seriously dont see arsha as a chronic goal-give-away-er. i do remember him "tracking back" mean and hard in a man utd 1-0 game. it's a matter of what one chooses to remember.

all i'm saying is don't tell me (lachlans) that he's our main and only problem and without him "you have a possible good lineup". that's preposterous.
Kas123

I have to agree there LachlanS, but I think we'd be more effective with this formation than the one we're currently playing, at least from an attacking stand point. But, you make a good point that we'd be short in the defensive department. Its sad that we find it hard to make adjustment or find ways to compensate for our weaknesses.
LachlanS

We may be more effective, but I doubt it. I think our main issue at the moment is defensive frailty. A classic example is the Blackburn game. We were doing a great job attacking, but due to our defensive failures we still managed to lose that game. There are times when I wonder if changing it up would be a good idea, but I really don't think it would work most of the time. Maybe if we had someone better than Arteta to play in CDM and/or someone better than Arshavin to play in CAM then it could work.

Having Sagna missing leaves us weak as is.
Ian

maybe if we got a defensive coach we wouldnt have a shaky defense
Kas123

Good news too. TV5 trained with the squad in France, thought he's not on the team sheet. I can't wait for him to come back.
Goonergeneral

I don't think this is true. He is still working with his physical training coach. He is yet to train with the team and was not even in the flight to France.
Kas123

Yeah, definitely a tough test tomorrow. I'm hoping that Gervinho will do well against some french opposition like he did last season in League 1. This is the squad being brought
Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski, Carl Jenkinson, Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou,Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Alex Song, Theo Walcott, Gervinho, Yossi Benayoun, Francis Coquelin, Andrey Arshavin, Aaron Ramsey
Robin van Persie, Marouane Chamakh. No Park and No AOC. I guess like someone said, we bought Park to sell shirts in Asia.
JG

A couple of things I forgot to add to the preview: Wenger, way back in the early 90s, was the manager of Monaco, once a relatively powerful force in French football. They finished runner up In Ligue 1 in 1991 and 1992, to Marseille. Of course, Marseille was later discovered to have been involved in some pretty dirty match-fixing and other cheating stuff, but the affair left Wenger hurt, and tomorrow is his return to Marseille since he left Monaco to go manager in Japan.
As it is, it's his first European game since his touchline ban ended, so I bet he's raging to go. Come on Arsenal!
Lachlan

I read somewhere earlier this morning that AOC isn't in the squad for this match.
Carson Jenga

Yup you are right www(dot)arsenal(dot)com/news/news-archive/wenger-names-18-man-squad-for-marseille-trip That is odd, I haven't seen anything about him being injured, so why is he not being played? IMO he definitely merits playing time.
LachlanS

Despite his lack of form, I think Walcott is probably the better option. He knows the rest of the team a lot better for starters.

This is an important match against some quality opposition, we need to send a top squad in.
Bumblefock

i think AOC knows the squad of England U-18 not so much better then Arsenal. and he scored a hat-trick
Carson Jenga

I agree that Walcott should probably start for this game but I think AOC deserves to be at least on the bench. I was liking the idea of him really breathing down Walcott's neck and making him push harder to keep his starting spot. I thought that competition could aid their mutual development but we shall see
LachlanS

Yeah I agree completely. I would be very surprised of AOC doesn't surpass Walcott very rapidly. Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised to Walcott move on at some point. He seems to have a quite high opinion of himself
Bumblefock

we gotta try playing him up front at least a couple times before letting him move on. with AOC on the wing.