February has been adjudged as a very testy month for Arsenal owing to the calibre of opponents the Gunners would be squaring up against. This month, Arsenal would be playing Liverpool twice ( Premier League and FA Cup), Manchester United (Premier League) and Bayern Munich (UEFA Champions League). The Gunners will need to post good result against them to keep their hopes alive in the 3 competitions they are vying for.
Arsenal currently lead the Premier League log with 2 points and should they emerge from the two league matches against Liverpool and Manchester United, they would have given their title challenge a real push and lift. That seems to be the take of the Gunners’ Polish stopper Wojciech Szczesny. Hear him,
“We’re looking at it as a chance to create an even bigger gap between us and the teams behind us. We’re looking forward to it and I hope we can show people what we’re made of.
“We’ve got hard games, but every single game in the Premier League is difficult at the moment – there are no weaker teams.
“We’ve got a difficult run but we’re looking forward to it. It’s good to be around the top but right now what we care about right now is being top at the end of May. It really doesn’t matter to us now.
“I’m looking forward to the big games, every player looks forward to games against big opponents and world class players. We’re looking forward to it.”
Well said Szczesny. If you wanna be the best, you must be ready to beat the best and how can you do that if you dont’t play them? Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich will be tough matches but Arsenal can get of those matches alive. It is good to know that of those 3 matches, Arsenal play two at home which gives some comfort as it reduces the travelling to the barest minimum and if Arsenal can really make the home advantage count, then, they can make a mince meat of the tough fixtures.
Arsenal will be playing Liverpool twice this month and when you talk of the Reds, two names come to mind; Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Both have formed a formidable attacking partnership for Liverpool this season but Szczesny doesn’t seem to fear him and I agree with him.
“They have been fantastic – their goal-scoring record speaks for itself. They’re great players,” he said. “We managed to keep a clean sheet against them at home [Arsenal won 2-0 in November] and we’ll try to do exactly the same thing away from home and hope for a result.
“I’ve never felt scared facing anyone, so we’re looking forward to it because we’re always excited to play against fantastic players.”
I agree with Szczesny. He has no reason to fear Suarez and Sturridge. He has already faced more dangerous players like Messi, Villa and others in his short stint as Arsenal number 1. The fact that he had played against the duo earlier on in the season and kept a clean sheet would give him enormous confidence going into the fixtures.
Szczesny revealed the reason behind Arsenal’s clean sheet mentality. Hear him,
“We know if we keep clean sheets we have got every chance of winning the game so that’s been the case. I think it is 11 games at home we have kept 10 clean sheets. You can see it’s massive for us.
“It’s hard to tell why it’s better. We have been together for much longer, we understand each other’s game now and we have had a more settled back four.
“I think over the last couple of seasons we had a little bit less luck with injuries – I never played with the same back for more than two or three games. Now we play with the same back four. Sometimes we rotate the full-backs, but in general we stay with the same defence. We understand each other’s games, we read the game of each other, it’s a very good understanding we have.
“We realise if you want to win the championship then you have to be solid defensively and that is the most important thing. We know that clean sheets gives you the best platform to go and win games. If we can keep a few more until the end of the season then we can get our rewards.
“We keep winning games at home, that is the best reward we can possibly get. Whether you need a striking force like Man City or a defence like we have had recently, I think you have to mix the both together to find a perfect team but we will see at the end of the season which one pays off.”
Well said Szczesny. The defence will be key to winning the league. A lot of pundits have hailed City for their fearsome attack but Arsenal who have scored far less goals than their title rivals still lead the pack and their good run in the league is largely owing to the solid defence Wenger has built this season. You don’t need lots of goals to secure the points, you only need a goal provided you can defend well. Arsenal have shown they can defend their lead and that explains their place at the summit of the league.
