FA Cup Round 4: Arsenal v Huddersfield Town: Match Preview
They are two clubs who’s history has been divergently opposed to each other but is inextricably wound together. And for the first time since 1992 Herbet Chapman’s two clubs meet again. Arsenal get a visit to the Emirates by Chapman’s second club Huddersfield town.
Herbert Chapman took the reigns at Huddersfield Town and made them perenial winners. Only when he left and took over Arsenal did he usurp the Yorkshire club’s throne. The foundation he built at Arsenal turned the London club into the institution it is today. Without Herbet Chapman there is no Arsenal – at least not in this incarnation. (You can read a great article on Chapman in the Daily Mail here – there are some great quotes form the legend that are just as relevant today.)
The gulf between the two clubs is as vast as a canyon. If you removed the table structure of the leagues Arsenal would sit exactly 45 spots above the League 1 team. The disparity in talent is as wide as well, as international players wear the kit of the Gunners while HTFC feature a majority of hearty English lads.
The visitors come to town on Sunday looking to gauge how well their own version of “pass and move” works. Former Newcastle man, Lee Clark has the Terriers playing some of the best football in league 1 and their current form is a testament to that. HTFC are winners of 4 of their last 6 and haven’t lost a match in 6 of their last 7. But their defence is suspect and even a”rotated” Arsenal squad could give them problems.
Yes, you heard me right, rotated squad. Wenger will once again use a rotation policy for this match up. The fourth round FA Cup tie is their 9th match in January. The most I can remember this squad having to play. Throw in the fact that we have a match only 48 hours later and you should expect wholescale changes.
Set for returns to the squad are Tomas Rosicky, Sebastien Squllaci and Abou Diaby. Joining the three is Manuel Almunia. Remember him? He’s been demoted and this is his chance to show that he still has something. But the likelihood of him being our number 1 again is gone as Wenger has placed his chips behind the 20 year old pole Szczesny.
“At the moment he (Szczesny) has played every game so in this position at the moment he is the number one. It is down to the others to challenge him. “
Overall I suspect even more changes than normal, especially in light of Tuesday’s match against Everton. Look for the likes of Arshavin, Chamakh and Bendtner to lead the attack. I wouldn’t be suprised to see a midfield of Rosicky, Denilson and Diaby and a defencive group of Eboue, Gibbs, Squillaci and Koscielny.
Again, not the first team of choice these days but there is still enough talent here to win this match. The question marks are with the health of Rosicky, the mental state of Arshavin, and the commitment of the likes of Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner. I want Arshavin in there because as much as I have been down on the lad, I really think it is a mere case of him firing in a goal or two that should restore or begin to rebuild his confidence in himself (even he has admitted he is not in prime form). If Arshavin comes to life I suspect him Rosicky offer us enough of creative presence to do in HTFC. Chamakh who hasn’t started an EPL match this month and hasn’t scored since Aston Villa away looked a lot fresher as a sub coming on in our last tie. He should give us the presence up front that Rosicky and Arshavin can feed to.
I don’t suspect us to have the lacksidasial approach to the game like we did against Leeds and Ipswich. We’re in it in all four competitions and I look for us to continue moving on in this competition.
Projected Starting XI:
Almunia, Squillaci, Koscielny, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner, Chamakh
Match Officials:
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Assistant referees: John Flynn and Martin Yerby
Fourth official: Paul Tierney
GAMEDAY CHAT IS OPEN: www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
Kickoff:
US: 0700 EST
UK: 1200 GMT
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 4
HTFC: 0
In Other News:
A lot of specualtion has been had about whether or not Wenger is trying to bring in a centre back, especially in light of the return of Seba to the lineup. The naysayers will say he never intended to bring anyone in and they could be right. Here is what Wenger had to say about it:
Wenger added: “If we can get a defender on loan until the end of the season, it is an ideal solution for us.
“If we buy another one, first, we have to buy him for four years and then we have to pay him for four years and then we will have five centre backs.
“People say always: ‘you must buy, buy, buy.’ But you must pay them as well. You want to sign a player for four years, all the others are on long contracts and then suddenly you have five and then Alex Song is six.
“What do six centre backs do? Watch the games in the stands because they don’t play”
I don’t come from the school of Alex Song as cover as a CB. Its true he can play there but why take him out of the role that he is growing into. Ideally the candidate I’d like to see come in is Dinamo Zagreb defender Šime Vrsaljko. Vrsaljko is 19 years old could slot in as either a CB or RB. Frankly I think this makes absolute sense to me. Eboue is not the best option to give Sagna a spell and if you could have someone who rested him but could also spell our CBs then it’s a win win. Word had it earlier this week, that Arsenal reps were meeting with the parent club to hash out a deal.
The other option is a loan and I know that Arsenal scouts were watching Majid Bougherra from Rangers. This would be a purely loan deal until the end of the season and next to signing Vrsaljko it makes good sense. Especially if Wenger and the team believe that Vermaelen could come back this season.
As for the ongoing Oxlade-Chamberlain saga, I am beginning to think this kid won’t move anywhere until summer. If you needed any more indication that Fergie sees Arsenal as a threat again is that United have stepped in to hijack the deal between Arsenal and Southampton for the promising winger from their academy. By all reports it looked like a deal was heading towards completion. The player wanted to come, the father’s player and former Southampton manager wanted him to come and both clubs wanted to come. Than Fergie expressed interest and the deal still lingers on. So I suspect that this will not get resolved and if it does expect it to go into the summer.
Finally, you’ve all heard the Andy Gray and Richard Keys saga. It was a disgusting episode made quite comical by Key’s apparent hare kare on talkSPORT early in the week. Word is now that Gray and Keys are starting their own TV venture to report on Footie. Supposedly they are set to name John Terry, Wayne Rooney and as a suprise to US fans Brett Favre as reporters and pundits.
That’s it for now. See you in the morning.
