Birmingham Preview: No one will be rested for Barcelona 25 March, 2010

Bit of an earlier match preview than normal but I don’t think I’ll get round to it tomorrow so here you go. Plus Wenger’s pre-match conference was on the Thursday again so there’s plenty to get on with. I wanted to try and avoid talking about Barcelona in this preview but it’s such a huge game it’s kind of inevitable. Today Wenger has been trying to play up the importance of the trip to St. Andrews and showed no signs of thinking about the midweek game. He spoke about how we have worked too long and hard to get into this position to risk dropping points now just to keep players fresh for Barcelona. It’s been widely suggest (even by me) that Sol Campbell will be rested this weekend but Arsene was quick to deny it:

“I will pick him for the next game because for me the next game is an important one. I don’t consider Barcelona for the next game. At the back we need to be solid to win this game [at Birmingham]. We fight the whole season to be in there and this is a priority.

I believe my players are very intelligent and if we were distracted it would mean we were not [intelligent]. The best way to prepare for Barcelona is to win the game before. We have fought like mad until now to be in the position we are in. It’s ten months preparation, fight and work to be where we are in the championship so we want to take advantage of that and win the Birmingham game.”

He’s right too, I thought we should rest Sol because he’s shown that he can’t play two sets of 90 minutes in a few days. However we’ve worked ourselves into a great league position and if we started resting players now and paid for it imagine how frustrating that would be. In an ideal world we would get ourselves into a comfortable position and then take off Sol in the second half and hope he’s ok for Wednesday. That’s probably what Wenger has in mind but we’ll have to see what happens.

There’s also been talk this week of Nicklas Bendtner not starting at Birmingham but that was down to injury. He twisted his ankle this week but Wenger thinks “he should be OK” despite not training. Apparently he could train tomorrow and then a decision will be made for Saturday but Arsene seemed confident about his availability. I hope, 1. He makes it, and 2. He fully recovers from his ankle problem.

William Gallas might also return to training tomorrow as he returns from a calf problem. Wenger says he won’t be fit for the Barcelona 1st leg and it was too early to know whether he’ll make Wolves next weekend but could travel to the Nou Camp. Arsene also said that contract talks are on hold for a few weeks as the games come thick and fast. I wrote recently that I thought Gallas would be leaving and I still believe that he would’ve signed already if he was staying but Arsene and myself alike still hope that he decides to stay. I thought that he could possibly have been out of action because of this new contract stall but I think we’re in too much of an important position to drop a first team player. Either way I hope he returns for what’s left of this season as soon as possible.

Vermaelen as we know is suspended this weekend so I believe Song will start at the back. We could partner Campbell with Silvestre but not only is that incredibly scary but it could mean we have two knackered centre backs ahead of Wednesday rather than one; I fully expect Silvestre to be on the bench and I think the starting XI will look something like this:

Almunia
Sagna – Campbell – Song – Clichy
Denilson – Diaby
Fabregas (c)
Nasri – Bendtner – Arshavin

If Bendtner doesn’t make it then it could mean an emotional return to St. Andrews for Eduardo Da Silva. We all know what happened the last time we went there and I’m sure on a personal level he would like to go there and give a positive performance. It’s just over two years ago he broke his leg there and we’re still seeing some side effects from it now. He might get the start ahead of Bendtner and I wouldn’t bet against him getting a goal. Wenger says it’s on his mind but he has mental strength to not let it distract him (also if you click that link there’s some video highlights of today’s press conference).

The 2008 trip to St. Andrews is seen by many as where we lost the league that season. I think we were five points clear of the top going into that game but Eddy’s horrific injury distracted us and we went on to drop two points in the final minutes of the game. Everyone remembers Gallas walking off to the other end of the pitch when the penalty was awarded instead of defending, furious with his team mates and then sat alone on the grass long after the final whistle. Everyone felt the same as Gallas did that day and it was almost obvious that we were going to lose the league from there.

Wenger doesn’t agree that’s where the title was lost but says today’s side would’ve coped much better. He spoke about Ramsey’s break at Stoke, which is such an obvious example of how this team has matured this season. Not only will we be going to Birmingham this weekend a lot stronger mentally but also we’re going there with a bit of revenge for what happened in 2008. I’m not saying we’re going there to break legs but to win the game! Two years ago we lost the league at Birmingham, this weekend we might feel a step closer to winning it.

Just quickly before I go there was another update on van Persie’s injury. He’s now just two weeks away from seeing action and about three or four weeks away from full fitness which is fantastic news. Arsene reiterated not to expect too much from him but it’s great that he could be getting a run out in just a fortnight. It means it’s unlikely he’ll travel to Barcelona but he might be in the squad that plays Tottenham.

That’s it for today. I’m going to Birmingham on Saturday so follow my twitter for updates and pictures from my trip and I will write about it on here probably Sunday. Thanks for reading.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS.