Arsenal – Shrewsbury Town Match Preview

By: Homey | September 18th, 2011

carling-cup In writing this preview, I’m taking a lot of solace in some recent comments made by Christiano Ronaldo. Why is that, you might ask? Well, if Ronaldo has never heard of Mario Götze, then I’m not going to feel bad about not knowing anything about Shrewsbury Town. Not one bit. It’s really quite liberating. In fact, I had to look them up to know what division they play in. It turns out they play in League Two, but they’re hoping for promotion this season. While doing some reading on their website, I learned that they used to play their home games at Gay Meadow. And no, I’m not making this stuff up. Now they play at the New Meadow, also called Greenhous Meadow. I’m sure there are far fewer lame jokes now, at least.

Sticking with our discussion of Shrewsbury, they’ve had a fairly impressive Carling Cup run just to get to this point. In the opening round, they went to Pride Park and came away with a 3-2 win over Derby County, with two goals from Marvin Morgan. In the next round, they notched a win over a Premier League team, beating Swansea 3-1. Morgan scored in that one as well. He’s also their leading scorer in league play this season with three goals (one of them shown in the picture to the left), while Nicky Wroe and Terry Gornell have two apiece.

So while their place in League Two would suggest we should have no problems, their Carling Cup victories thus far indicate that we could have a match on our hands. Plus, well, it’s Arsenal we’re talking about. The same Arsenal that had all sorts of trouble disposing of Leyton Orient in the FA Cup last season. Also, you have to think Shrewsbury will be pretty pumped about this one. Making a trip to the Emirates will certainly be a thrill for their fans and players. And the payday probably won’t hurt their owner’s feelings either, what with the fact that their largest crowd (home or away) this season was 7,073 at Derby County. (That’s assuming Arsenal fans will still buy tickets after the breakdown at Blackburn, the loss at Lancashire, the Northwest blunderfest. Or whatever you care to call that debacle on Saturday.)

Anyway, I’m actually looking forward to this one, for three reasons. First, it’s a chance to remove at least some of the stench from the aforementioned Blackburn game. Second, it’s a chance to see some of our new players and some of our young guys. And third, this is realistically the only trophy we can win this year. Yes, I suppose there’s an outside chance at the FA Cup, but I think the better teams will take that seriously enough to knock us out at some point. So the Carling Cup becomes relatively important for us.

Now I’ll turn my attention to what we may see in terms of a lineup. One school of thought would be that we really need to focus on winning a title of some sort this year, so we need a strong lineup to make sure we don’t stub our toes here. The other thought would be that this is possibly the easiest match of our season. If we can’t mix in a few young faces and still dispose of Shrewsbury Town at home, then I guess we as fans shouldn’t expect another trophy for a few more seasons.

My proposed lineup will be more what I think I would do if given the chance, but I think it will still be relatively close to what we’ll see as well.

Fabianski

Jenkinson Djourou Miquel Santos

Coquelin

Aneke Rosicky
AOC Miyaichi

Park

Bench: Almunia, Koscielny, Gibbs, Afobe, Benayoun, Frimpong, Walcott

Obviously, the lineup could go in 20 different directions here, with various reserve players making it into the lineup. I think the logical thing would be to strike a balance between fielding a strong lineup and letting some of the young players/fringe players get some action. So here’s my reasoning for my lineup at each position:

Fabianski is the obvious choice in goal. He arguably had a claim as the top goalie entering the season. Now that Wojo has nailed that down, Flaps should at least get the chance here. On the bench, we could see any one of Mannone, Almunia, or Wojo. I randomly picked Almunia.

Right back will almost certainly be Jenkinson. Now that Sagna is back to playing RB on a regular basis, HFP hasn’t gotten much action.

Left back could be Gibbs or Santos, as I don’t see a reserve player on the fringes at LB. The trouble with Santos thus far as been attributed to two things – he hasn’t settled in with the team yet, and he’s simply not good defensively. Giving him another 90 minutes should at least help alleviate the first of those two problems.

As for our central defense pairing, I suppose we could see one of our main guys in there. But I think Djourou will get some action here, as well as Miquel. On the bench it could be Kos or Mert, but I picked Kos.

Our defensive midfielder could be any from a group of Song, Frimpong, Coquelin, or perhaps even someone like Oguzhan Ozyakup. I think Coquelin makes the most sense though. Frimpong could get the start here, but I think he’ll get enough action this season anyway, so we can afford to sit him this time.

I’m really hoping to see some of Aneke this time, and this should be the best chance for him to play with the first team. Along with Aneke, I would say Rosicky should play as well (and be our captain). While I don’t care much for his diminished skills, I think he’ll bring a good level of effort and experience.

On the wings, I think the obvious choices are Miyaichi and AOC. If it’s anyone else, I’ll be very surprised. It’s about time we get to see what both of them can do for a full game with the first team.

Finally, if we don’t see Park starting up top, then I’m not sure when we’ll ever see him play. So again, this is the best chance to work him into the lineup and see what he can do. Afobe needs to get a chance with the first team at some point, but I think the more urgent need at this time is to see what Park can do.

On the bench, I threw in a mix of guys there out of need (Gibbs, Kos), guys who are more on the fringes and could use some action (Afobe, Benayoun, Frimpong), and then Walcott just in case we’re needing a goal with 20 minutes to go.

Overall, even with a young/reserve/mixed lineup, plus a shaky back four, there’s more than enough quality to beat a team from League Two. In theory, it should be a comfortable win. In theory, that is. The lineup I proposed features several players with senior international experience, plus others with loads of talent. This match really doesn’t need to be close. But will we come out and force the issue from the opening whistle? Or will we continue with the disturbing trend of defensive gaffes, misunderestimating lesser opponents, and showing poor discipline? That’s why I’m so curious to see how this one plays out.

Come on Arsenal. A win is badly needed.

——————————————————————–
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18

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Category: Arsenal News, Carling Cup, Preview

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FredJacob

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Bertrand

Why are there quotes from scripture?
JG

Young Guns blog, who knows his stuff when it comes to youth players at Arsenal. has revealed what will most likely be the lineup tomorrow:
Fabianski; HFP, Djourou, Miquel, Gibbs; Coquelin, Frimpong, Benayoun; AOC, Park, Chamakh.
Bench: Martinez, Boateng, Ozzy, Yennaris, Aneke, Ryozilla, Watt.
Veeerrry inexperienced bench, and hopefully we'll have the game wrapped up so the likes of Ryo and Aneke can come on under no pressure. I'm looking forward to Park getting his debut. Should be a pretty interesting game.
Homey_Mills

Is it ok if I still like my proposed lineup better? Shouldn't we give Rosicky a game here? Why wouldn't Ryo start, but Chamakh would start? I dunno... just wanting to see some faces we haven't seen in a while, or ever.
Darren_V

Because we want to win, of course! ;)
Gigi_man

I am nervous.
I insist on thinking these guys have a psychological issue.
One of my assistants, who is veery smart, gets nervous a lot, and when she gets instructions, when I say: be at ease, just pay attention and execute, she gets even more nervous, and I am thinking of a company-paid doctor to advise her.

I hope I am wrong, at least Park, Miyaichi and AOC/ DC do not have that previous issue, I..hope..?
Patoux21

I reckon being able to cope with pressure comes with confidence and this team has lost it at the moment. When I watch ManU playing I am amazed at how much more composed the players are in comparison. Even under huge pressure the team is so confident to win it will bend but rarely break
Perry S.

Psychology likely has a lot to do with this and we might have some players who are not very good at coping with high pressure situation. This team might be a very good case study...
Benjamin Dockter

Like you said Homey, I'm really looking forward to this game to see some of our young talented players. In the past it was mainly exciting to see Arsenals's young prospects strut their stuff and to get a glimpse of the next Cescs and Jacks before they made the jump to the first team. Unfortunately now it's become more of a distraction from our grossly under performing and incredibly disappointing first team. Also, there's no Cesc to rescue us from losing to lower league opposition this year...
Rico

Hey all.
I really don't know what to expect from this game. Having watched and cringed at the Blackburn game I simply can not see what we are to do. Even a win I don't think may help the situation. The players that need the win are most likely not playing therefore still be in the same mindset after the defeat at Blackburn.
TK

Have you guys heard?! Apparently "Senior" Arsenal players have demanded that we get a defensive coach! It's a miracle, I tell you. There may be hope yet.
Gigi_man

Hope or ultimatum.
If AW is as stubborn as I think he is, he will lose players, and senior ´players as is I think its RvP or Walcott, who seemed very, very, very, very (add a lot of "very" here) upset about results in the last games.

Again, for me, the club is more important than a coach, if he loses these two guys, the club will surely be relegated, no doubt.

So in the end, I am a pessmist maybe, but I see it more as an accident waiting to happen.

I so hope I am wrong.
Georgedb1

I am, will continue to be, wildly belildered at the fact that we do not have a defensive coach. The fact that we continue NOT to have one, given the continuing and quite predictable list of defensive lapses which continue to pile up with almost every game, is nothing short of naive.

Can we organize a list of all the top clubs in Europe that do not have a defensive coach one? Better yet, a list of any club that doesn't have a defensive coach? I would love to the likes of our neighbors on that compilation.
Perry S.

Link, pls.
Benjamin Dockter

I think a defensive coach would be immense to help Arsenal regain some form. If they had "the basics" drilled into them to the point of defending on instinct (like our back 5 of old), we would have something to fall back on when the team is short of confidence or when things aren't going our way. Plus, we already have Bould at the club who's familiar with all the players and set up and more than capable of putting the fear in our defenders.

The problem is that I don't see Wenger compromising his approach to accommodate a defensive coach. He is very much a dictator in the way the club is run and I just can't see him giving up large chunks of his training sessions to be run by someone else and dedicated to strictly defense. That said, I hope and pray that I am wrong and we bring in a new coach soon.
Jim

Misunderestimate Shrewsbury at your peril. They are not an easy side to play against and have plenty of spirit. Also, misunderestimate is not a word.
vHF

"Misunderestimate" is a perfectly cromulent word.
brenton

Nothing can possib-lie go wrong. Possibly.
Bumblefock

Please, corrugate your facts
Martin

George W. Bush disamagrees.
Homey_Mills

In case there's one person out there who didn't know this already, I did write the word "misunderestimate" on purpose, knowing it's not a real word. I just think it's funny.
Gigi_man

Man all you Ensligh speaking fellas, you will disteach me your language! :)
Rich

Really arrogant write up and lack of knowledge in this preview - as a football fan you really don't know anything about Shrewsbury (League 2 or not)??!! If you think Arsenal are going to walk this you will be in for a shock. League 2 first team against young boys. Yes Arsenal players are technically must stronger no doubt about that, however first team experience and lower division muscle counts for a lot. The Shrews have a lot of pace up front in Morgan, Ainsworth and Wright who are a real handful for a lot of defenders League 2 and above. We like to pass the ball around and this season will we get promoted 100%. Around 5,000 traveling Shrews fans coming to the game - Up the Town!!
Arsenal Fan

Well, 5000 traveling Shrewds will be riding home disappointed - 150%. Back Down Town!

Don't misunderestimate the Gooners.
Gigi_man

I dont think theres so much of arrogant there.
Not knowing a club is not arrogant.
I am a football fan, die hard fan and I dont know them either.
No offence dude, its just that you probably dont know Chorrillo FC, but you can perfectly well be an Arabe Unido fan, if you like football.
Cheer up, its a free world.

And believe me, I am NOT taking for granted ANY team that plays vs Arsenal, not this season, never have, never will
Homey_Mills

Actually, sometime last week, I tried to find someone with knowledge of Shrewsbury to ask a few questions. I found one blogger, but there was no e-mail address listed on the website. So I tried looking him up on Facebook, and I apparently found him. I sent him an e-mail on there, asking him some questions about the team. I never heard back. Now, perhaps I had the wrong guy, or maybe he doesn't check his Facebook. But my point is I really did try to get some info on the team beyond what's in my blog here today. It's just hard to get info. And do you know how hard it is to get good action photos? Anyway, it was difficult for a blogger with a real job as well.
vHF

Say what you will, fellow Arsenal fans, but the gentleman has a point. While I do not think Shrewsbury is going to get anything out of this game, the idea that ignorance is OK smacks of the worst MOTD punditry.
Homey_Mills

Please raise your hand if you can name every single team currently in League One and League Two without looking it up. Maybe there are a few out there who can, but I don't pretend to be one of them. I mean, League Two is really the FOURTH division. I'm supposed to know all those teams? Really?
vHF

No, you're not supposed to know which league Shrewsbury are in. But you are supposed not to be smug about it. Or as a friend of yours had put it:

"See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10)
Bertrand

You're not expected to know the team, no. But it is your responsibility as a blogger and writer to do some research before writing a piece about them.. and not find excuses by quoting C Ronaldo.
Homey_Mills

Just in case it's not clear, I DID do some research about Shrewsbury. I looked up their results, and even told the readers what the biggest crowd was that they played in front of all season. I went on to say who their goal scorers were, who they defeated in the Carling Cup, etc. Did y'all miss all that stuff?
And furthermore, I write on a regular basis that I'm a donkey and don't know as much soccer as my fellow bloggers or many of the readers. I'm pretty up front about it. I don't know how that's smug. By saying that I don't know about a team in the fourth division? I wasn't looking down on them or their fans... just being honest that my knowledege of soccer only extends so far.
Martin

"We like to pass the ball around and this season will we get promoted 100%."

This sentence sounds like something translated from Mandarin using babelfish.
Orion

Hey, don't hate on babelfish. I must credit that website for most of my French homework back in the day.
Martin

As an experiment, I took your sentence and had Babelfish translate it into Mandarin, and then back into English. Here is what it came out with:

"Hey, don' In babelfish t hate. I must believe the majority that websites behind my France homework in the day."

For some reason I find stuff like this endlessly amusing.
Darren_V

And you said you were too busy at work to keep writing here... ha.
Homey_Mills

It seems like they must not be giving you much work at the law office today. :-\
Gigi_man

I will give you some babel Gigi hahaha!!
Do not disteach me pls!!
Orion

Excuse Homey for not knowing much about a team in League 2. There are 20 teams in the Premiership, 24 teams in the Championship, 24 teams in League 1 and 24 teams in League 2. 92 teams, and you except him to know all about those teams too? The problem might be one of two things. He is not a real football fan. Or he has a life.
Rich

Excuse Homey...good chat. Well done at least you know how many teams there are and have some knowledge outside the prawn sandwich brigade of the premiership. 'Or he has a life' - I'm not the one writing the blog.
Orion

He writes a blog about Arsenal, not English football.
Perry S.

BAZINGA!
Orion

To paraphrase the great Dr Cooper: Once again, a troll has fallen for one of my classic pranks.
HmmGunner

Surely Chamakh will play, hopefully instead of Rosicky leading to a 4-4-2 formation. Also, Afobe is injured so won't be on the bench I think, and with Sagna's recent injury, will we risk his back up, Jenkinson. I hope for no first teamers, as we just cannot afford the injuries.
Benjamin Dockter

If we've learned anything in the last couple seasons, it's that AW sticks with the same formation game in, game out no matter the opposition. The only time he changes formations is when we need goals in the last 20 minutes or so of a game. Other than his ridiculous stubbornness to spend money on proven players, his tactical inflexibility is the things that bothers me the most.
Stuart

This Ar$enal team is the worst I've ever seen. A team just chucked together and expected to do something, Ar$enal is just a money making feeder factory, supply and demand for bigger clubs to buy players, all the time Kronke and his board of are at the club that's all it will be. Give me back the old Arsenal.
Darren_V

That generally happens when the first time you saw Arsenal was during the Invincibles.
Oh, you mean in the 80s when we didn't win anything for 10yrs?
By the way, this board was together beofre Kroenke had anything to do with the club.
Georgedb1

uhm, so the problems began with Kronke? He's been controlling shareholder for one year and we're blaming him for 6 or 7 years of no trophies? I don't he's the source of our problems, as tempting a target as he seems to be.
will

I don't know. No one does, really. True, there is a 7 year trophy drought, but it is also true that no one would be worrying about games against Swansea and Blackburn say, 2, even 1 year ago.
Darren_V

We didn't worry about those games, but still lost a fair share of them. It's nothing new
bobj canada

well said georgedb1; the problems/rot has been around a lot longer then Silent Stan has, but he's done a v good job of settling into a nice little setup; makes lots of $, and won't rock any boats.

we've all gone on and on about the problems upstairs, and i think we can safely assume that no one there is going to change because of what we say here. As long as people buy tickets and t-shirts, they do not care.

so i look forward to Shrewsbury with mixed feelings; of dread and fear as to how may emberass ourselves yet again, but also looking forward to see some of the youngsters
Casimir

Do we have any prospects to test a 4-4-2 out with? Or is that too much to ask? Or at this point are we that desperate for a win that we can't risk the slightest here?