We spoke to Arseblog’s Andrew Mangan to discuss Arsenal ahead of Manchester United’s trip to The Emirates.
This week we already pulled off a massive result against PSG, but beating Arsenal on Sunday would be the icing on the cake. It could make complete s**t of their season and that would be wonderful for our top four hopes.
Credit to Andrew for answering our questions below. Tweet him here: @arseblog
READ MORE: Arsenal vs Manchester United: Premier League preview & verdict
How concerning was the midweek defeat away to Rennes in the Europa League?
I think the game needs to be looked at in the context of the red card. It was fairly comfortable until then, but it was worrying how poorly we played with 10 men. It is possible to make life difficult for the opposition, we made it way too easy for them and nothing Emery did to change things worked. We should have enough to win the second leg though.
I can’t get my head around Arsenal losing Aaron Ramsey on a Bosman. Such a good player. Were his demands excessive or have the club betrayed fans by not fighting hard enough to keep a star player?
I think it’s another piece of mismanagement by the club. There have been too many recently. We’ve sold badly, Danny Welbeck is also leaving for free this summer, and decisions should have been made on him and Ramsey before last summer. Thankfully, Ivan Gazidis has gone to infuse AC Milan with his empty rhetoric and mediocre understanding of football, so hopefully the new people tasked with running the club from a footballing point of view don’t repeat his mistakes.
Who has been your best new signing this season?]
They’ve all generally been fine, bar Stephan Lichtsteiner who has probably gone on a year too long in a league which doesn’t suit a player of his age. I know people have been waxing lyrical about Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, but I like the fact that Sokratis is a no-nonsense centre-half and most important isn’t Mustafi, while Bernd Leno has been quietly impressive too.
Will Unai Emery be given a chance to build his own Arsenal side?
Probably, but who knows in football these days. Unless things go very badly wrong between now and May, any new manager deserves a proper transfer window having had a year to assess and understand the squad he has and where it needs to be improved.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. What are your memories of him as a player?
Given that he played at a time when the rivalry between Arsenal and United was at its height, I can’t say I have any particularly fond memories of him. Although I do remember Jens Lehmann making a great save from him at Old Trafford, and his face of disbelief was quite enjoyable.
Thoughts on the game and score prediction?
Arsenal are too hard to predict, but have generally done ok when there’s been bit of pressure on. I half fancy us to nick it by a single goal, but another 2-2 wouldn’t be a surprise either.
