Malaysian Gooner

Well mathematically, it’s impossible to win the title in February but Arsenal’s next 4 Premiership games in the space of 15 days will play a very important role in deciding if the Emirates Stadium will see it’s first Premiership trophy. Away to Villa, at home to Man Utd, away to Chelsea, at home to Liverpool. 4 games that look daunting but at closer inspection, the Gunners should fancy their chances. In my opinion, 10 points out of 12 from these matches and Gooners can start dreaming of a title again. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to dream.

Aston Villa vs Arsenal (27/1/2010)

Aston Villa have proven over the past few seasons that they are no pushovers and this will certainly be a tight match. Cesc Fabregas’ 27 minute cameo was the difference between the two sides at the Emirates and Arsenal win need another performance of that sort from captain fantastic in order to secure the points at Villa Park. Villa have not been in the best of form but you can never right them off and their players will be motivated to impress Martin O’Neill as Villa head to Wembley  at the end of this month in the League Cup finals. A win would be sensational but a draw seems reasonable.

Arsenal vs Manchester United (31/1/2010)

2-1 at Old Trafford without Cesc Fabregas in a game that we deserved not just something out of the game, but a win. We gifted Man Utd 2 goals after an Arshavin stunner put us in front. Since that game, we’ve improved as a team and with Cesc back pulling the strings in the middle of the park, Man Utd will have their hands full. While we’ve improved, some might argue Man Utd have not. I have never seen a Man Utd team so inconsistent and it may come down to the fact that games that Man Utd used to win narrowly thanks to magical moments from CR7 are now mere draws or worse, loses. With the possible return of Alex Song (Cameroon play favourites Egypt on the 25th, which all Gooners hope they’ll lose), I expect Arsenal to play well and send out a signal to our rivals that we are very much in this title race with 3 points.

Chelsea vs Arsenal (7/2/2010)

A full 7 days after the match at the Emirates we will travel to Stamford Bridge to take on a Chelsea team that will be welcoming back their African contingent of stars from the African Cup of Nations. One man that will not be in that lineup is Michael Essien who will miss the game through injury. Worryingly though, the man that tormented Arsenal at the Emirates, Didier Drogba will definitely be available if fit. I know its unsporting to say so, but I hope Drogba’s run with the Côte d’Ivoire team results in him picking up an injury. A Drogba-less Chelsea may have beaten Sunderland 7-2 but it is nowhere near as good as a Chelsea team containing Drogba. If Arsenal can keep Drogba quiet, we may just nick a win at Stamford Bridge but that act is easier said than done.

Arsenal vs Liverpool (10/2/2010)

Liverpool have been having so many problems both on and off the pitch this season that the club can’t even afford to sack their underachieving manager. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard have both been ruled out by injuries and unless Arsenal pick up injuries to key players; this should be 3 points in the bag against a Liverpool defence that is nowhere as good as it used to be.

Besides a few tricky away matches at Birmingham (27/3/2010) and Spurs (10/4/2010), most of our ‘tough’ opponents will visit the Emirates where we will always have the upper hand with the large pitch, carpet grass and crowd support. If Arsenal can stay within touching distance of the leaders after this 15 day period, we’ll be in for a very interesting title race.

Of course anything can change in 15 days. In fact, everything can change in 24 hours as the transfer window is still open. Please post your views and thoughts in the comments section below.

News in the unreliable The Sun today link us to out-of-favour LB/CB Mikael Silvestre from Man Utd. Now, if Gooners can get over the fact that he’s from our biggest rivals, he might actually be the signing we need this season. Everyone has been saying that we need experience, we need squad depth, we need a defender, we need someone who can play at CB so we don’t have to rely on the reliable Senderos. Well, Silverstre fits the bill perfectly.

Lets look at the facts here. More than 250 appearances for ManU makes him without a doubt an experienced player, though he wont be challenging for a first-team place. He will be back up to both Clichy and our CBs. Like most others, I’m worried about the replacements if Clichy gets injured, we can’t throw the raw Armand Traore into the first team-he isn’t ready. Silvestre will give that reassurance we so desperately need. He will also be an adequate replacement for either Toure or Gallas if one or the other picks up a knock.

We need to remember that he isn’t the signing AW was talking about. We still need a DM, a midfielder, and I’m sure Wenger is tying up a deal for one as I type. Silvestre will give cover and experience to our back line. He definitely has had his problems with injuries but the fact that he is already 31 gives us 2 very positive points. 1) he wont have a long career at Arsenal and looks unlikely to impede the progress of youngsters like Nordtveit. 2) he is leaving ManU on a free, so it’s actually a gamble that costs us almost nothing (besides his wages).

A potential stumbling block may be his wages, which is said to be around 50k-60k. It remains to be seen if Wenger can match that and offer him a 2-year deal that most players past 30 seem to want. Like the signing of Bischoff, Gooners should see this possible signing as a gamble where we may lots to gain but little to lose. If he turns out shyte, we’ll just flog him to Spain for 2m like we did with Cygan.