Domestic football is back after the international break and once again club fans will be eager to see how their players emerge from the time off and if they can earn a win straight away. Arsenal’s opponents this week are West Brom and initially the game looks as though the Gunners should win by some distance. However, as is always the case, you can never write off a team in the Barclays Premier League and so who do Arsene Wenger’s men need to be wary about?
The first of the two players that Arsenal need to be wary of is Saido Berahino. The young Englishman has been a star for the Baggies since his extraordinary season last year. He is currently the top scorer for Tony Pulis’ side and is no doubt one of the first names on the team sheet each week. The main reason that Arsenal need to be wary of Berahino is his speed on the ball. He has proven a nightmare for defenders since he became a staple in the West Brom side and seems to run defenders ragged throughout the course of each game he plays.
He has been likened to Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o thanks to his movement off the ball, meaning that coupled with his pace, he will need to be man marked. The problem with Berahino is that he isn’t afraid to change his running paths. One moment he could run through the middle, the next he will be running down the wing. It is imperative that the Arsenal defenders don’t necessarily allow him all the freedom he wants, but must make sure not to get sucked into his movement, thereby leaving gaps in the defence.
The other player who Arsenal must be wary of is Pulis’ newest signing, Salomon Rondon. The six-foot-three striker is powerful in his movement and a clinical finisher in his own right. Along with Berahino, he is West Brom’s top scorer and despite only having scored three times in 11 appearances, he has still been one of the Baggies’ most important players. He offers a very different attacking approach to Berahino and opens up different problems. Similarly to Olivier Giroud for Arsenal, he is most effective when he is in amongst the defenders, jostling for the ball and linking up the play. Therefore, it is essential that someone is marking him all the time. If either Per Mertesacker or Laurent Koscielny can be on Rondon’s back for the majority of the game, his presence and impact will be severely limited.
Going forward, Arsenal need to be more clinical and purposeful than they have been in the last couple of weeks. Against Bayern Munich, the team looked uninspired and lacking of energy in attack and against Tottenham Hotspur, they didn’t create anywhere near enough to go on and win the game. It is vital that the team goes back to basics: play nice football in the midfield, play up the wings and swing balls into Giroud from out wide. With the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell in the side, they still have the pace to threaten the best of teams, despite the injuries to Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Also, Arsenal’s French forward makes the most impact in the penalty area. Pulling defenders around and making a nuisance of himself long enough to head or tap home a well-placed ball close to goal.
Overall, this is certainly a game that the Gunners need to be winning if they want to keep up with Manchester City. Pulis’ teams are renowned for their rigid defence and so this may halt the Arsenal attack. However, with the quality that Arsenal possess, they should definitely be beating the Baggies.
