From Cardiff to London: Swansea Preview

   Football is back so enough with the political rhetoric, whether its about the crashing Naira or the rising dollar, the ground breaking Yuan or the rebounding Brexit-bruised Pound. Trump or Hilary, Buhari and/or the Nigerian economy, league football takes center stage this weekend so we have something interesting to savour & relish, not some political doom or economic gloom. Besides celebrating the return of footy weekends, we celebrate with one of Arsenals finest in Mesut “Can I assist U” Özil who celebrates his birthday today clocking the young age of 28 years, we hope he gets to cap his celebration with a fine brace & an two assists against them.......No penalty taking please!!

#Happy Birthday Özil 

   Unto Arsenal, A quick fire preview as the swans come to town. This contest pitches up the premierships longest serving manager against the newest manager in the premier league. Arsene Wenger who has just clocked 20 years as the gunners coach doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Swansea, especially at the Emirates, 2 losses 1 win and 1 draw isn’t exactly something to cheer. Added to this is, back in 2001, when Stuart Pierce was newly appointed as Nottingham forest Manager, the gunners ended up on the losing side by a 2-1 margin, the other time Arsene Wenger met another EPL debutante coach was in 2015 against Slaven Bilic who got his Westham side leaving the Emirates with all 3 points via a 2 nil win. So one isn’t surprised that Arsene Wenger has preached caution and pragmatism in the approach to this match. Putting all these into context of  timing of the international break, except against Burnley, Arsenal has so far enjoyed a stellar Manager of the month nomination ride of 5 consecutive league wins in terms of performance. Swansea on the other hand got the international break at a time when they needed such breather based on the winless streak they had been on. In fairness to Swansea their lack of winning hasn’t been down to not churning out the right performances, cuz they have, pushing Man City and Liverpool all the way to deserve something from both matches but results are what counts. As most players just coming back from the break, I expect a cagey affair Swansea trying not to lose in continuation of  the form that saw the end of their former coach Francesco Guidolin while arsenal will be looking to improve on the home record against the swans. A lot has been talked about on Bob Bradley’s appointment and what he brings to the Swans in terms of work ethic, Organisation in defending, a lot of high pressing. Well I am hoping those lessons haven’t yet sunk in properly and Swansea make the mistake of allowing Arsenal to settle in their stride.If the gunners are allowed, it will be over before we even start but that’s just me wishing, nothing personal against Bradley at all. If the gunners can maintain that defensive discipline that has ensured the clean sheet keeping run of 4 in a row, then we can definitely take all 3 points. It will be Cech’s 250^th clean sheet in the EPL, here is hoping he too gets it in a win…..touch wood.

   All in all, it’s a match that asks a lot of questions of Wenger’s experience, what has change, have learnt anything since our last meeting against them which pretty much killed of any title ambition last season. 90 minutes shall tell us a whole lot, hoping its gonna be positive. My preferred line up sees Alexis making way for Perez as the point man in the attack, hoping his hunger is built up and raring to go, plus the Chilean as always would only just be returning to London Colney on thursday after playing full 90 minutes in both Chile’s world cup qualifiers. So here is how my 4-2-3-1 line up looks 

Subs: Ospina,  Gibbs, Oxlade, Alexis, Coquelin, Elneny

Swansea Line Up: Courtesy Lineup Builder.com

I guessthats it from me, sorry for the late post....a lot of things pressing to be  on that front burner. DO enjoy the match wherever you are and once again, from the "anaijagunner" TEAM, here's wishing Mesut Özil a very happy 28th birthday celebration [with a win ..*winks*]..........Ciao

Football is Back: Internationals WrapUp

Its so difficult to separate politics from anything these days, from your everyday work place to various organisations, religion and of course sports. watching the political debates on CNN talking about another of Trumps misdemeanor, like kilo tun soh  ooo {what has he said again} and how he keeps arming the opposition to his dentriment, One cant but wonder why there is still a presidential Race, I mean is Hilary Clinton that bad that some people would rather vote in a Donald Trump who has said all sorts, is saying all sorts and will continue to say all sorts regardless of the office he is running for? Look we wouldn’t even be here talking about this if  not for his very many ardent supporters who still gather at his rallies in their throngs, and we say Nigeria gat problems……..the republican party gat serious issues meeeiiin, but hey, that aint ma bizness

Trump Up or Down  Hill..ary ???

Anyway I was kidding about the “naija gat problems” part cuz bros we gat issues in motherland, no be lie ooo. Before I get sucked into the vortex of politics and its squeamishness, I re-digress back to football. The international break over the weekend put a pause on the Arsenal Team Train.  The last stop at Tuff moor aka Burnley station wasn’t exactly vintage Arsenal performance-wise as we were beginning to get used to in recent weeks, but 3points is always a welcome tally first then the performance. In keeping the momentum going 5 league wins in 5 just before the interlull is quite good. Its hard not to feel sorry for Burnley though, conceding in the dying minutes ant to such a controversial goal…..but I’ll take it.

Lets see what Arsenal Reps did in their various country colours.

The Good

Since charity begins at home I would say Alex Iwobi especially comes to mind first, his star is obviously on the rise, at only 19 years playing in the first team at a top club at such a tender age. He has it all right now or most of it all, he scored a brace for Nigeria against Plateau United in a pre-world cup qualifier friendly match. He went on to score the opening goal against Zambia. He has shown a certain maturity that’s helping him cope with the pressures of leading both club and countries attack, to think it was said in the past that he wasn’t tipped to make it BIG time.i guess hardwork , focus and humility does pay dividends especially when you think of the obscene amount of money  footballers are making these days. I hope he continues to work hard, on his finishing and tracking back, we have seen him struggle with his defensive side at Arsenal thereby leaving Nacho Monreal exposed at times still, if he maintains his focus and keeps up his ethic, then he may become even bigger than his Uncle Jay Jay wizard (hats off to bros) cuz he has an eye for goals which was one of his uncles flaws….. not enough goals i think.

Arsenal Boyz On Duty.........GIF Credit:Arsenal.com

Nacho Monreal got a surprise call up for the Spanish La Furia Roja (The Red Fury), his first since the last one in 2013 to make a 17^th cap and he marked it with an assist as he set up Nolito in a 2-0 win over Albania.

Granit Xhaka captained the swiss national team for the first time to a 2-1 win over Andorra but was absent through a suspension for their 3-2 win over Hungary.

Mesut Ozil was at the heat of Germany cresting his 10 shirt with an assist in their 3-0 win over Czech republic. Skordan Mustafi was also in action for Die Mannschaft although he was came on as a substitute.

Laurent Koscielny was in action for Le’ Blues in both their 4-1 demolition of Bulgaria and their narrow 1 nil win over the Oranje of Netherland, playing full 90 minutes in both matches.

David Ospina made history by becoming Colombia’s most capped goalkeeper of all time in a 1-0 win over Paraguay side. Alexis Sanchez had it sweet & Sour with Chile as they won 2-1 over Peru but were shocked by a 3-0 loss to Ecuador in Quinto.

Theo Walcott got to playing for the three lions in a double 60+ minutes appearance against Malta and Slovenia. Its nice to have him back in contention for England hoping he can maintain form and fitness.

Mohammed Elneny was in action for the Pharaohs of Egypt as they narrowly won 1-2 away in brazaville.

The Not so Good.

While it was nice to have Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain back in contention for England berths after missing out on call-ups in recent times, but they remained on the bench for both matches England played during the qualifiers. It’s a tough for both of them to usurp their competition at both club and country with the form they are in. In fairness to Gibbs its being more of Nachos consistency and his incessant injuries, while Ox on the other hand is up against the emergence of Iwobi and a scorching Walcott plus his own errant form, then injuries. Giroud remains AWOL with his mysterious fitness issues while Ramsey we hear may have suffered yet another setback.

Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are still stalling over their contracts with their bumper pay rise demands seeming to be the road block but we shall get details of these in due time. I guess that’s it from me for a wrap, see you on the other side of Swansea Preview………Ciao