Last time I wrote at this machine, it was to ask who would be a hero at Manchester United. Either the machine is CURSED, or I should just give up writing provocative headlines that I am CERTAIN players read in the movie that plays in my head.
‘Wow Ricky, did you read that Le Grove blog?’
‘Yas my king, I am motivated to score the goals today. All praise to Le Grove’
The second leg of the League Cup is a big deal. The most important deal right now. The first trophy of the year is up for grabs. With a near fully fit Arsenal team to choose from, we have really good options top to bottom. The gift to both managers is a day out at Wembley, some good headlines, and a continuation of momentum for teams challenging for progress this season.
Arsenal haven’t won it since 1993. That’s a painful amount of time for a trophy that went deeply out of fashion during the Wenger years, but it has recently taken on a prominent share of mind with major managers who saw it as the first chance to assert dominance over a season. Pep has had plenty of interest in it, Mourinho loved it, and Klopp also liked to have a pop.
The Risks of the Run-In
My fear with distractions like these, when you’re in the mixer for the majors, is that you can end up picking up injuries and a workload that impacts you in the Premier League. As much as I care about winning things, I care more about those trophies being truly important when we look back at the season in the summer. If I’m here saying it was a good season because we won just a League Cup, most of the “small trophy table bangers” will change course. Sunderland is on my mind; a flat performance there will do me in.
But Arteta knows that, and so do his players. Their sense of history and belief can be affected by a big final against one of two teams that’ll certainly make that Wembley afternoon a spectacle worth bragging about. When you’re on the final countdown of a Premier League season, you don’t want to have to nurse wounds. No one wants to see Rosenior taking victory laps and having the media accepting his “Brent-isms” are, in fact, world-class oratory that could potentially fill the next big boardroom self-help book.
Squad Rotation and Strategy
We know that Merino has opted for surgery and, thankfully, Bukayo Saka should be good for the weekend, but he won’t be risked this evening.
Chelsea rotated heavily at the weekend. This is a massive game for them as they look to find some silverware for their massive outlay. We know we’re going to see João Pedro, Neto, and Estêvão in the starting XI. They are going to go all-in for their performance of the season. Rosenior, who has plenty of doubters, knows that smacking up Arteta at home will give him some cloud cover this season and cement his stature as THE guy at Chelsea.
Arteta has a slightly different challenge. He’s “Mr. Semi-Final Man.” We’ve been here plenty of times lately and haven’t been able to make our way to the final game: Villarreal in the Europa League, Paris in the Champions League, and Newcastle last season when we were hammered over two legs in a really flatulent kind of tie.
Predicted Lineup
You want to see some rotation in a game like this, and I think Arteta has the wiggle room to make some moves that can bring in big players who need the minutes. Calafiori, Mosquera, and Ben White should be getting starts. Midfield is always going to be tough. You’d imagine Arteta is going to pick Rice and Declan. Creator-wise, this could be an Eze game. I certainly don’t want to see Kai risked.
The forward grouping could be anything. Martinelli probably deserves a start and he’ll thrive in a more open game like this. Madueke looks nailed on to start on the right, though there has been a lot of chatter about Dowman this week. Then upfront, one suspects it could be Jesus, given the hefty “battering ram” task we’ll have during the Sunderland game.
The Outlook
I could be totally wrong on all fronts here. Arteta wants a trophy, so we might just see the most monstrous lineup possible.
The ask is simpler than the execution: keep a clean sheet—something we’re really good at—and we win. The main advantage we have going into this game is knowing that Chelsea have to come and play football. When teams come to play, they often find themselves getting picked apart. If we load our front line with pace and have quick-release players like Eze in midfield, we’re going to get chances to kill them early on.
The question is: which Chelsea is going to show up? We have to remember they are world champions. They have a squad that can get beaten 3-0, but they could also show up like they did against Paris and put on a show. This game is huge for their belief; they all know the race for Champions League spots is getting spicy, and a “belief win” would go a very long way.
This game is big. Fans all want a party. Wembley, in the cold, is that party. A big semi-final, in the form we’re in, against a massive team, is a very exciting proposition.
Deadline Day
Remember those deadline days where Arsène Wenger would have gaping holes all over the squad and he’d come back with a 15-year-old right-back from a non-league club and we’d all be sad? Well, this window ended up a bit like that. Just a Scottish kid for the U21s—Evan Mooney—who, at the very least, can play with his right foot.
There were early rumblings that Tonali’s agent had offered him to the club, but Newcastle insisted it wasn’t happening. It’s the classic agent-led story now that we’re “that” club again. It’s not particularly creative, but it’s hard to deny his talent—or the reality that Newcastle are not in great shape with Eddie as the king. Their summer transfers are looking very drab, and Tonali is probably reading the writing on the wall; you’d imagine he wants the same exit route Alexander Isak took to Liverpool in the summer.
He would be a very good upgrade on Nørgaard this summer, though positioning him as just a “6” probably undermines his talent because he’s as well-rounded as Zubimendi. Plus, he’s only 25 years old!
Ok, that’s me done. Let’s see what the boys have! On The Whistle later with Matt, Johnny, and Pedro. X
I’m looking forward to this Rice/Declan partnership tonight 😀
White, Mosquera and Calafiori to start.
Pedro not sure how Declan and Rice are going to gel in midfield though!