Our Transfer Tavern landlord has had to listen to a lot of rambling Arsenal fans in the recent weeks following the decimation of their side’s season.
But who can blame our resident Gunners fans, who seem to see the same routine happen every season to their hugely talented club who just simply seem to underachieve year upon year, especially after such promise in the early part of the season.
On top of this, our Landlord feels there may be more bad news coming Gunners fans way with the speculation mounting over the futures of key players such as Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil, the latter being linked with a shock move to rivals, Manchester United which, if it materialised, would surely infuriate the Arsenal contingent in the Transfer Tavern even further.
On top of this, a 10-2 aggregate drubbing by German champions, Bayern Munich, added insult to injury and our landlord believes that the FA Cup is also a long shot even though the North London club coasted in to the semi-finals this weekend, with a 5-0 win against non-league, Lincoln City.
Arsenal will look to use the cup win as a catalyst for their season which continues on Saturday lunchtime at the Hawthorns, where they will face West Brom.
A late Olivier Giroud header broke the resilient Baggies at the Emirates on Boxing Day so Arsene Wenger can expect a tough afternoon for his men – here is the XI he will need to field to achieve this….
GK: Petr Cech
Given a rare cup appearance by Wenger last weekend, Cech will resume his normal league duties for the Gunners this weekend.
RB: Hector Bellerin
The Spaniard has had a struggled to pick up the pace after the signing of a new contract for the club in Novemeber.
Our landlord expects to see him slot straight in though.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi
The German centre back has been impressive in his first season as a Gunner, forming a strong partnership with Laurent Koscielny.
CB:Laurent Koscielny
Arsenal simply look a different prospect defensively when the Frenchman is playing.
Surely the first name on Arsene Wenger’s team sheet.
LB: Kieran Gibbs
Wenger has been rotating Gibbs with other left back, Nacho Monreal recently but our landlord believes Gibbs will get the nod in this one.
His pace and offensive style of play can hurt the Baggies on Saturday.
CM: Francis Coquelin
Gunners fans in the Tavern have been crying out for Coquelin to produce the spine for this Arsenal team, can he revitalise himself for a strong end to the season?
Expect to see him start in this one.
CM: Granit Xhaka
Our landlord believes that facing Darren Fletcher and Claudio Yacob in the West Brom midfield will be a battle Xhaka will need to handle well, for Arsenal to get anything out of this game.
RM: Aaron Ramsey
A move that perplexes Arsenal fans in the Tavern who feel that Ramsey simply is not a right midfielder.
But, our landlord feels he has what it takes to excel on the right and produce a key performance to down Tony Pulis’ side.
CAM: Mesut Özil
With his future still in the balance, Arsenal fans in the Tavern will be praying the German signs a new contract soon – especially with the speculation around Alexis Sanchez intensifying.
When on song, Ozil is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, but he just doesn’t seem to bring his A-game enough.
LM: Alex Iwobi
With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picking up a knock against Lincoln last weekend, our landlord expects Wenger to go with Iwobi against West Brom.
Pacey and direct, he can cause the Baggies serious damage.
ST: Alexis Sanchez
Though heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates, there is no doubting Sanchez’s current commitment to the cause and bar any training ground bust ups – our landlord believes Arsenal’s top scorer will start up front.
