Arsenal 2 - 1 Burnley

Give Burnley credit:  they came to win, and their recent form in the Championship gave them confidence they would.  They played well.  Sean Dyche (Burnley's manager) got his tactics right.  Yet Arsenal beat them having made nine changes from the starting 11 in their last EPL game.  It wasn't comfortable, but it was definitely earned.

I've never been one of those who was glad we were out of a cup competition because it would allow us to concentrate on the league.  With a squad the size of Arsenal's, even carrying our usual load of injuries, we should be able to scrape up a decent team for a League Cup or FA Cup contest.  It's valuable playing time for our backups and sometimes even for youngsters.  We don't have to play guys who are tired or nursing knocks.  The worst that can happen is what happened at Sheffield Wednesday--injuries and a loss.  Yeah, that's bad.  But players can pick up injuries in the league too.  It should be about trying to win every piece of silverware on offer, but being smart about it.  And Wenger has been pretty smart about it over the last 20 years.

The best that can happen is we win and we improve while we're doing it, and that's what happened at the Emirates.  Elneny looked to be a very good purchase, the Ox played better than he has in a long time, Coquelin seems healed, and Ospina has gotten some confidence back.  Alexis scored!  Chambers got the first goal with a bit of skill I did not think he had.  Alex Iwobi improves steadily.  I admit that Kos and Gabriel didn't handle the Burnley forwards as well as they ought to have, and that our fullbacks showed why they are not starting these days.  And why Wenger brought on Walcott when were one goal up is a mystery.  Had Theo found Elneny with an easy square pass to finish the game off Wenger would have looked smart, but instead, after his trademark indifference for defending, he exhibited his usual lack of scoring touch.  I'd have put Monreal on and pushed Gibbs up when Alexis was taken off; Wenger has done it before.

Our next two games are Southampton at home and Bournemouth away.  Leicester play Liverpool and Man City.  We're getting healthy; even Rosicky can play, though he shouldn't get much time.  We could be in first in eight days.  We may not see Wilshere or Welbeck for a while, but we're so flush with attacking talent that we can leave Walcott on the bench, which I think is his best position.  We're two deep almost everywhere now.  (Giroud, Ozil, and Cech come closest to being irreplaceable.)  If we don't win the league, well, this excellent team will just not have been good enough.  But they ought to feel confident.

January = November?

Fortunately, I have been out of the country all January, so have not seen a minute of Arsenal live.  Our points haul in the last three league games is abusmal, and we have lost our first place status.  The crazy thing is that no one else seems to want to win the league either, so we're still in excellent position.  I'll let someone else do the work, but if any prior league leader after 23 games had just 47 points (as Leicester does), I'd be surprised.  Arsenal is getting their injured players back at the right time.  We may not see Cazorla this season, but Alexis, Welbeck, and Rosicky should give us a boost on offense, and if Coquelin can replace Flamini at DM it would be a giant improvement.  It's trivially true, but the Gunners still control their destiny, and that's a good place to be.

The Burnley FA Cup game will still be played in January, and maybe Elneny can show us what he can contribute to the team.  A win is required here, as it will be at home next Tuesday against a Southampton team that dominated us at St Mary's.  This is not the stage of the season for "a good point".  Squad strength and quality should be enough to fight on three fronts.  I am not giving up on the Barcelona matches.

I don't see a place for Theo Walcott on the field, the way he's playing.  Campbell and Alexis should own the wings, and it's Giroud up front.  Theo should not be the first substitute for any position either.  Iwobi and Welbeck are more likely to contribute--and at both ends--than is Walcott, who is killing us out there.  Even Chamberlain seems more likely to score, though that's not saying much.  I don't care how much we're paying him, he needs to sit for a while.  For Burnley, could we see Rosicky in Ozil's position?  He, Ramsey, and Giroud could use a break, maybe Bellerin too.  But too many changes threatens another Sheffield Wednesday debacle.

I'll resume regular articles on Arsenal next week, win or lose.  But I sure hope it's win.

Arsenal 3 - 1 Sunderland

It stinks not being able to watch the games live, but I can get highlights.  Three beautiful Arsenal goals (and a fine one from Sunderland) decorated this game that saw Wenger extend his record of never having lost a third-round (i.e. first game) FA Cup tie.  Well done Hector!  I firmly believe that Joel Campbell's willingness to cover frees Bellerin for those effective overlaps.  He'd be less likely to bomb forward with Walcott in front of him.  It was great to see Ramsey finish with such aplomb, and Joel is becoming more confident every game.  Is Iwobi as good as he looked on the day?  Maybe not, but he showed tremendous promise.

So, Burnley at the Emirates next.  I hope we take it seriously.  Three in a row would be nice, and the squad has real depth these days.  When Alexis gets back, we will be a scary proposition for just about every opponent.

Arsenal 1 - 0 Newcastle

I did not see this game, which was played at 4 AM where I am now and was not carried on a channel I can get here anyway.  But as if by some strange power that operated from the opposite side of the planet, I woke up at the half and again just after the end of the game and checked the scores.  Apparently, we played badly in dreadful weather, but this really fine goal and some heroics from Cech were enough to get us three vital points.  Leicester drew, so now we're clear top by two points, and can cross our fingers and hope that chasers Tottenham and Manchester City stumble.

It's the transfer silly season, so rumors are flying.  The one with the most credibility is that Elneny is coming in from Basel.  He seems like someone who could work in the middle of the midfield, or on the wings, places we're short until our wounded warriors recover.  I hope it comes to fruition and he gets a work permit quickly.  Debuchy is being loaned to West Brom, which is good for him and for us.  I was excited when we bought him, but he was injured twice in a nightmare season last year, and then the amazing Hector Bellerin established himself as a really good right back.  With Chambers on the squad desperate for playing time, and Jenkinson still on our books, you could say we were very much overstocked in that position.  Isaac Hayden was recalled from Hull, but will probably be loaned out again.  He and Bielek are potential future DMs but neither is ready to play for Arsenal.  In addition to Jenkinson, we have a number of other loanees who could feature for our first team one day, including Serge Gnabry, Ainslee Maitland-Niles, Gedion Zelalem, and Jan Toral, all midfielders.  My guess is that Wenger is going to try hard to get quality help all over the midfield, and if he can't buy it, he may recall a loanee or two for backup.  I think we're dangerously dependent on Giroud and wouldn't mind seeing a big forward on the squad in the Benteke or Lukaku mold.  (Whatever happened to Sanogo?)  But it's wonderful to know that we have excellent cover for our back line in every position.  Let's not forget that we have a keeper situation, with Ospina very short on confidence and opportunities to show he's got what it takes.  I have not been following Szczesny closely at Roma, but they do like him, when he's not smoking.  I hope he sent a condolence message to Cech about the loss to Southampton.  If you remember, it was a 2-0 loss there (followed by a smoke break in the shower) that sealed the Pole's fate and made Ospina our main man until the Cech signing.

Well, City won.  Too bad.