Arsene Wenger places the League Cup below the inter-squad Christmas meat raffle in terms of importance but, after our poor start to the season, it is still our best chance of achieving any success this season. This game really matters.
The 70th best team in the league they may be, but you can bet your arse Bradford City will be up for this. And it’s up to the manager and players to find sufficient intensity in what, on paper, looks like the easiest game of the season to match what will be the biggest game of some of the Bantams’ careers.
Professionalism is essential
After collectively phoning in a performance against Swansea, the Arsenal first team were much improved when hosting West Brom. The furore over Santi Cazorla’s dive obscured what was a completely dominant display. And the hope is that whoever Wenger choses will continue in that vein.
Regardless of who we’re up against, we need to see the players press energetically without the ball, and look to exploit space in attack. If we can approach our defensive work solidly and be alert offensively this should be an enjoyable way to reach the semi-final.
Just pray we don’t make it to pens, where Bradford are positively German in their dominance, having won their past eight.
Breaking records
Arsenal have already set the record for consecutive quarter-final appearances in this competition – we currently stand on 10 – but it would be nice to actually win the bloody thing before our we reach the 20th anniversary of our last, Steve Morrow-inspired win in 1993.
It would also be nice to put to bed a statistical anomaly born of Bradford’s very brief rise to the top tier of English football: we haven’t actually won at Valley Parade in 90 years.
Last time we visited, early in the 2000-01 campaign when not even the presence of Stefan Malz in the starting XI could break a 1-1 draw, Arsenal got changed before arriving at the ground because they felt the changing rooms were inadequate, so Lord knows what the current batch of players will make of them.
An experienced squad
Recognising the dip in our other trophy ambitions, and the fact he has built a squad where so many ‘senior’ players require games to keep their egos inflated and morale of the floor, Wenger has taken to fielding far more experienced League Cup squads of late.
“We will put a team out with experienced players who have quality and who have a chance to win the game,” says Arsene. So expect the same tonight.
Injury mean Theo Walcott won’t be reprising his Madejski heroics, but it would be nice for his accomplice Andrey Arshavin to get a start. As Arsenal have floundered many Gooners, myself included, have wondered whether the ‘mercurial’ Russian may have warranted more playing time.
It looks like his league contributions will be practically non-existent between now and his seemingly inevitable departure in January, so the League Cup is the best he’s going to get as far as a swan song in red and white is concerned.
Key men
If he plays, Arshavin has the ability to inspire the win. There aren’t many players like Andrey in League 2 – though there are probably plenty of fitter ones – so his ability with the ball at feet and to pick out a peach of a ball could be key.
Elsewhere, Marouane Chamakh should have more than enough about him to provide an attacking fulchrum against a defence that has only two clean sheets in their last 12 League Cup games and, from the youngsters, Thomas Eisfeld could continue to get Gooners very excited indeed.
As for Bradford, Bermudan Nakhi Wells leads the scoring charts with 11 this season already.
Likely Line-up
Szczesny, Jenkinson, Squillaci, Vermaelen, Meade, Coquelin, Eisfeld, Rosicky, Ramsey, Arshavin, Chamakh
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