Everton - Arsenal

As we go in to the start of the premier league campaign tomorrow, it becomes apparent that old habits die hard. Before the season has started we already have a fairly substantial injury list. Rosicky has picked up the inevitable post-lengthy-injury-knock that only Arsenal players seem to get a severe case of; Fabianski appears to be having a little struggle getting back into his stride after some surgery; Djourou picked up a little muscle pull whilst training for the Swiss national team; Diaby....well Diaby always has something or another; Walcott for some reason isn't available; and there's obviously Nasri. It must be stated that Wenger believes Diaby could be available, although whether that's a good thing I'm still not sure.

Don't get me wrong, I really hope Diaby wins me over this year, because it is obvious he's got a fair bit of talent there. At the moment however, his mentality is completely off. As well as always looking intimidated by the opposition (despite his size), Diaby also manages to look like he doesn't have to be there, and could have been somewhere else should that have taken his fancy. But the problem isn't all mental. His passing isn't quite up to scratch, and this is something which oddly has got worse during his Arsenal career. If Arsenal are on the counter attack and the ball falls to Diaby, he will spend too long looking for a pass, and when the opportunity does arise he'll pass the ball 10 yards behind the path of an on-rushing support player. If I'm absolutely honest I see Merida as a more effective player for Arsenal, not because he's a better all-round player (although that is debatable) but because he fits perfectly with the Arsenal style of play. An argument could be made that Diaby is useful because he gives us diversity. Well, diversity is only good if effective, and at the moment, it isn't effective enough of the time.

Speaking of Merida, there has been no conformation as of yet about his loan move. And according to Jeorge Bird, a list of players eligible to play in Europe has just been submitted, and his name is on it. It is my feeling that Wenger has just held back in releasing Merida on loan because of the sudden shortage of truly attacking central players (Nasri, Rosicky, Diaby et.c). Similarly I have a sneaky suspision that AW has also held back on selling Senderos to Everton until after we play them. I don't have any evidence for this, it's just the cynic in me speaking.

Anyway, back to the imminent league campaign. After all the pre-season friendlies I go into the season extremely excited due to the wonderful football we've been playing (on and off). I think the team have the cohesion to finish second this year, and we're only another centre back and defensive midfield beast away from dominating the world. We do have an exceptionally tricky start to the campaign, with Everton, ManUre and Citeh all coming in the first four matches, but after that we have a nice run all the way to late November when we meet the Chavs. Hopefully that will mean a nice build up of momentum and by Christmas we will still be up there within a shout of winning overall despite having played the rest of the top 3 plus Citeh and the Spuds.

We shouldn't underestimate tomorrows game. The first game of the season rarely goes by the rule book. Arsenal are obviously the better team, but everyone's second favourite manager (apart from Sir Bobby Robson (RIP)) Moyes has built a dynasty at Everton, and they are difficult to break down at all times, especially at Goodison park. Due to the fact it's away, I believe Arsene will have a slightly more defensive look to his side. Despite Denilson not being in the squad at all for the friendly against Valencia with no explanation (perhaps Wenger realised at last that his love child needed a break), I do expect him to start tomorrow, potentially alongside Song. Out of all the injury palava there has been some good news in that Vermaelen has returned from a slight muscle strain. And that means no Silvestre at centre-back (touch wood). So this means the Starting Line-up for Everton vs. Arsenal will be (probably, but maybe not):

Almunia

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song Denilson

Fabregas(c)

Bendtner v.Persie Arshavin

I think Arsenal will sneak the win in the end, surviving a tough battle from the home side. I cannot wait. The match is a late kick-off at 17.30, presumably to extend my anguish and angst.

Elsewhere, there is no news on any potential signings. Everything has gone cold with the Chamakh case, presumably because Bordeaux are being short-sighted stubborn gits and not realising that £6million now is better than nothing in a years time. Hodgson and Hangeland are going on about being focussed on the game, and not thinking about Arsenal speculation. Although amidst all this fuss it's been forgotten that there haven't really been any rumours surrounding Hangeland to Arsenal for some time. Hodgson and Hangeland are making all the noise about it, thus they are creating all the trouble for themselves.

Well, I thought I'd end this article as I started it. With an example of old habits dying hard. Interviewed before their match against Man City tomorrow, Blackburn player David Dunn said: "It's important we do our best and kick lumps out of them". It's not hard to see why Sam Allardyce was such a natural choice as Blackburn manager.

It's time to be optimistic Gooners. I'll be back tomorrow for a report on our win against Everton.
'Til then.