Match Preview: Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund: Champion’s League Group Stages Match Day 1
Tonight at Signal Iduna Park, Arsenal set off on their 14th consecutive trip into Europe’s most prestigious and lucrative competition. Their opposition, Bundesliga champion’s Borussia Dormund, make their return after 8 years and a flirtation with financial insolvency. It is quite possibly the hardest group stage test, Arsenal have had in recent memory.
“I’ve rarely seen such a harmonious, well-combining team on the opening day of a season,” said Germany manager Jogi Loew said of the team that pretty much had the German title wrapped up by February. But their 2011 campaign has not gotten off to a bright start and this early on there is some concern that the team has lost some creativity in the middle of the pitch.
“I don’t want to talk about a fundamental problem but we did lack creativity, solutions and calmness,” said Jurgen Klopp (the man I’d like to see replace Wenger at some point.) A lot of this could be due to the sale of Sahin to Real Madrid this summer. But we shouldn’t be fooled, they boast one of the brightest talents in Europe and the brightest talent in Germany in Mario Gotze. We should all know him quite well. If media reports are true Arsenal offered €30 million for the young playmaker this summer. But Dortmund did not want to sell.
It seems that in Udinese in the qualifier and Dortmund now in the group stages, Arsenal are drawing teams that in some way are like themselves. Udinese in attack minded, flowing football and Dortmund in how financial prudence can build a winning team. Remember at one point Dortmund were near financial ruin. The club placed strict financial constraints on itself and built a team based on youth and the right kind of “supporting” buys to round out the squad. (It’s those supporting buys a lot of Arsenal fans would say we’ve been lacking in the last few years).
It remains to be seen if Dortmund are going to play the role of “just happy to be here.” Or do they have true aspirations to advance. I tend to agree with the BBC piece that says they are more likely to be interested in reasserting them as a constant presence in this competition and hence finishing in the top 4 of their league this season than progressing. Still, they are good, and the German side and Arsenal are my two picks to advance from the group.
Arsenal named its 18 man squad for the trip to meet “ze Germans” and missing from it were Tomas Rosicky (the former Dortmund man) and Aaron Ramsey. Rosicky is still nursing a knee knock he took on international duty and Ramsey’s injury is listed as an ankle injury that he picked up in yesterday’s training session. Frankly, I believe that is bollocks and the lad is being rested after playing all 90 minutes of the last 6 matches. We all saw at the end of the Swansea match when he he botched the easy looping pass to create the 4-1 he simply looked out of it.
That means either our midfield will be more defencive in nature with both Song and Frimpong in shielding the back 4. Or you can expect Benayoun to work alongside Arteta with Song as the DM. The back 4 is likely to be Sagna, Mertesakcer, Koscielny and Santos. A lot is being made up of Mertesacker’s knowledge of the German game and in specific Dortmund but I have to be honest I am not sure how much that comes into play. Its not like the NFL where a traded or free agent player may have worked with an opposing coach and can teach or articulate the tendancies that coach has in certain situations. The play on the pitch is fluid and isn’t really set so how much Merte’s knowledge helps is unknown but likely overstated.
All indications are Arsenal will be their normal attacking selves in this game. Like they could play any other way. The squad will likely feature Gervinho, RvP and possibly Walcott up front. But I tend to agree with everyone who hopes we would employ a 4-4-2 with this squad as we seem more fit for it. Robin slotted behind Walcott or Gervinho. It would be the best use of the available talent. And likely provide more opportunities on goal then what we get out of the 4-3-3. But I am an opinion guy not a tactical guru. So the finer points of those formatios I will leave to others. I just don’t think the 4-3-3 gets the best out of our squad as it is currently constructed.
Likely to also get a start today will be new boy Andre Santos at left back. Which means we could see a whole lot more crossing into the box. But as I’ve argued in the past, all those cross amount to little if we are not getting people into the box. Arsenal need to attack it and take advantage of Santos’ speed and skill in order to be effective. I’ll also be interested to see if at one point our front line is made up of Gervinho, Van Persie and the other new boy Ju-Young Park. Gervinho and Park are both versatile and can play on either side of the line. And as our players rotate anyway I think it would be an interesting dynamic.
Still for us the make up of the defence is what we all want to pay attention to. We still argue one of the best RB in Europe in Bacary Sagna. Laurent Koscileny starts his second Champion’s League campaign and if Gotze plays in the middle and doesn’t take things wide, it will be the Frenchman’s job to handcuff him much like he did Lionel Messi in the first match against Barcelona last season. Per Mertesacker comes armed with the knowledge of playing Dortmund twice a season and will should provide us some sound play alongside Koscielny. Santos as typical with some attack minded defenders is prone to a gaffe or two. So he should be considered our weakest link. But after Gael Clichy we are ready for anything.
The key man and my player to watch out for for Arsenal is none other than our polish Wunderkid – Woijech Szczesny. He was a star for the Poles against Germany a week ago and made some outstanding saves against Swansea this past weekend. He is a rising star and gets better match to match. He exudes confidence and feels he has something to prove (I like a player who plays with a chip on their shoulder). He has taken some good natured stick from some polish Dortmund players about the Man United score and he is out to set the record straight for them. He is the key to Arsenal’s success in this and every tournament.
How the match should play out:
While Arsenal would never follow the Rafa Benitez model and play for a draw, I really think that is what we will see. I expect to see both Frimpong and Song in the middle of the pitch covering the defenders even though it wasn’t the best model for us against Udinese. Let’s not forget that our opponents are German Champions and that says something. Arsenal are very capable of beating them and vice versa but I think both sides want to come out of here as unscathed as possible. A win, for either puts them in the pole position for the group.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Szczesny. For all the reasons I cited above and more. Simply I believe we are watching the emergence of an Arsenal legend.
Dortmund: Mario Gotze. Duh. He is without a doubt one of the brightest stars of the future and frankly he could be coming to Arsenal sometime in the near future. Dortmund’s biggest threat with Sahin gone.
Projected Arsenal Starting XI:
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Kosicelny, Santos, Frimpong, Song, Arteta, Gervinho, Walcott, Van Persie (4-2-1-2-1)
Broadcast Information:
US: Foxsoccer.TV 2:45 PM
UK: BBC Sport and Sky Sports 4 1945 BST
GAMEDAY CHAT IS OPEN: https://youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 1
Dortmund: 1
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