Wolves v Arsenal Preview: Wenger Looks to Jack Wilshere to Banish Memories

Posted Wednesday, November 10, 2010 by sportinglife.aol.co.uk

If Arsene Wenger were as good at spotting the reasons for Arsenal's soft underbelly as he is at identifying prodigious talent which he can mould into Arsenal stars of the future - he would not have been waiting so long for silverware at the Emirates.

Each season which has commenced since the Frenchman last lifted the Premier League title, he has been able to produce more new stars and exciting youngsters to marvel at - Jack Wilshere being the latest case in point.

And each season Wenger's maverick skills seem to be undone by the same problem - the inability to cut out individual errors and the odd collective mistake as a team which prevent Arsenal from gathering the number of points needed to wrestle the title from either Chelsea or Manchester United.

Lucasz Fabianski's rush of blood against Newcastle on Sunday sentenced Arsenal to another defeat on a weekend which saw Chelsea lose to Liverpool and Manchester United fortunate to overcome Wolves.

That is the real hardship for Wenger to take. He knows this season's Premier League appears more wide open than ever and instead of being five points behind Chelsea they could be within a win over overtaking them.

At least Wenger can identify that silver lining in the wake of the loss to Andy Carroll's goal, Mick McCarthy has been unable to look on the bright side of life much over the last few days, following the injury time defeat at Old Trafford.

Plaudits are all very well for the Wolves manager. People queueing up to praise his team for their magnificent effort are little comfort for McCarthy knows they cannot award points for merit at this level. He is still "spitting" at losing to United - but always comes back kicking and punching when wounded and expects his team to follow that lead.

Key Match-up: Christophe Berra v Marouane Chamakh
Berra cost Wolves £2.5 million from Scottish Premier League club Hearts and looked a fish out of water during his early days at Molineux. Wolves supporters questioned whether he had the pace, heart, skill and determination to cut it south of the border. There are very few questions raised about the Scotland international's defensive qualities these days. He may look a little short on pace, but his ability to read the game gets him out of trouble on a regular basis. He will need to have all those abilities tuned to perfection against Arsenal and in particular Chamakh.

The summer signing has made an instant impact at the Emirates. He has shown all the flair you would expect from a Wenger signing, but he has also demonstrated the capability of dealing with the physical nature of the Premier League. He has been a little quiet in the last couple of Arsenal games and will be looking to re-assert himself.

Form Guide: It is 31 years and 11 games since Wolves last beat Arsenal. They have yet to pick up a point against them in the Premier League. Arsenal became the first Premier League side to register 100 shots for the campaign, in their defeat against Newcastle.

Odds: Wolves 9-2, Arsenal 4-6, Draw 13-5

WOLVES:
McCarthy makes no apologies for not patting his team on the back after their unfortunate defeat against Manchester United - he knows massaging egos is not required.

His weekend and that of his players might have been ruined by Ji-Sung Park's late winner, but McCarthy has not been calling in the "shrinks" to help with the mental state of his squad.

That is not to say the Wolves boss, who is looked upon as a bit of an old reactionary, is not open to modern techniques. Wolves do have a club psychologist who works with the players, but the only cure McCarthy knows is three points.

"I thought we should have won against United. I would have been delighted with a point but there was an opportunity for us to win at Manchester United. I was chewing at the end because we had lost," he said.

"Arsenal have just lost two games, so I would think they will be smarting – but no more than us. They are expected to win here, just like Manchester City were, but teams don't always get what they expect."

And McCarthy has little sympathy for Wenger in the same way he expects none in return, adding: "Don't ask me whether other managers are under pressure. I'm not bothered about the Premier League title.

"When Arsenal are in full flow, they are as pleasing as any team but they won't be judged on the way they play. They will be judged on winning trophies.

"I'm sure we're better than last season but saying we should have more points is like saying someone else should have won more trophies. If someone beats me, I come back kicking and scrapping and that's what I expect of my team."

Strategy: Incredibly the fans who despised McCarthy's "negative" tactics of operating with a solitary striker last season are now calling for the manager to be more pragmatic and to make the side harder to beat! Wolves have demonstrated with their employment of two strikers that they can cause problems for the very top teams. Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United can all confirm that.

The fact they have collected three points from those three opponents in their last three games could be considered a bonus, but it is a measure of how far Wolves have come that McCarthy is disappointed. He is unlikely to alter his methods and will rely heavily on Stephen Hunt and Matt Jarvis to provide the width to trouble Arsenal. Unfortunately they do not have someone as devastating in the air to test a suspect central defence.

Injury Update: Jody Craddock is still out with a thigh injury. Ronald Zubar (ankle), Michael Kightly (knee) and Adlene Guedioura (broken leg) are all missing.

ARSENAL:
Arsenal striker Theo Walcott spent Monday at an engagement hosted by club sponsors Nike but he and manager Wenger are fully focused at getting a reaction from their shock loss against Newcastle.

The Gunners suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, which was the second time they had lost at home to a newly-promoted team this season, following West Brom's win there in September.

And although Walcott acknowledges the team made a "slip up", he refuses to get carried away with the defeat.

The England striker said: "Football is a great game, you have ups and downs, with clubs like us slipping up.

"However, there are plenty of teams in it still, but we are not going to look too far ahead. We just want to concentrate on every single game, and take a step when we can."

Manager Wenger added: "We have to pick ourselves up. We are ambitious, and that is why we have to get our spirit on this (Wolves) game, focus again and come back with points.

"I concede it was not one of our better days against Newcastle, but it was also very harsh to lose the game as well because they had one shot on target and we had a few chances."

Strategy: After their tactics backfired against Newcastle, Wenger may tighten up his defence – which he needs to do following the news that Arsenal's appeal for Laurent Koscielny's red card was turned down. Expect Samir Nasri to start on the bench and Andrei Arshavin slotting into his wide left position.

Injury update: Johan Djourou will play at centre-back in place of the suspended Koscielny. Robin van Persie could start after coming through a substitute appearance against Newcastle unscathed.