Arsenal Get Their Groove Back: Key Points From Birmingham and Shakhtar Games

I deliberately decided not to write after the Birmingham game because I wanted to avoid being overly negative without just cause.

It wasn't a good performance, but that was to be expected with the recent results. After seeing Chelsea and Man U's results, I felt happy that we'd managed to at least get the points and go some way to rebuilding our confidence.

The Shakhtar game was a stark contrast, and despite a slow start, we managed to go into the break with a lead and came out firing in the second half. It was a more confident Arsenal performance, and we played with far more belief than we had in the weekend. 

Here are some of the key points that I took from the two matches.

1. Arshavin should not be started at the moment, as there are players who are in far better form than him.

Nasri was brilliant on the left against Shakhtar, and he should start there against City, especially as he tracks back far better than the Russian and links up well with Chamakh. Bring AA on from the bench as an impact player.

2. Song is improving, but he is still going forward too much.

He needs to sit back more and allow the more creative players to have the freedom to move forward and make things happen. This is going to be very important against City, as they are a counter-attacking team, and we could pay heavily if Song is caught out of position.

3. For our tactics to work, the wide players have to be more disciplined and keep their width a bit more.

Far too often against Birmingham, both Nasri and Arshavin drifted in from the wings too early and narrowed our play, making it easy for our opponents to defend our attacks. The team played with more width against Shakthar and picked their opportunities to come infield more wisely. 

This will be important against City, as they have great defensive midfielders who will make it hard for us to play through the middle. The wide players have to stay out wide more to stretch the City midfield and create more space for Cesc to operate in.

And with Chamakh playing, we have a genuine threat when the ball is crossed in.

4. Denilson has improved greatly, and he impressed me again in the last match.

He seems bigger and more energetic, and he put in some great tackles after coming on. His positioning also seems to have improved, and it compensates for the fact that he lacks a bit of pace. 

He looks capable of making a strong contribution to Arsenal this season.

5. Competition for places is going to be tough for the next couple of weeks, and this can only be a good thing.

Theo, Bendtner and Cesc are back and Ramsey, VP and Vermaelen are close to making their returns, and it looks like Wenger will have a few selection headaches in the coming weeks. Fingers crossed that we manage to have our strongest team available for a decent period of time.

Or failing that, pray that we at least manage not to lose all our key players at the same time again.

Basically, the mood seems more positive right now with Chelsea and Man U dropping points and with us regaining some form and, more importantly, our captain.

With Cesc playing, anything is possible for this team and I'm feeling positive about the City game. Add to that all the players we have returning, and it is certainly a good time to be an Arsenal fan.