Pradeep Kachhala
It's been a thumbs-up in the middle Christmas/New Year period, a creditable loss away at City, a useful win in Birmingham at Villa, followed by a slightly-disappointing draw at home against a Wolves side inspired by their goalkeeper. I am quite philosophical on the last result. I recall Swansea and Sunderland at home this season, where we squeezed three points out of the bag, so sometimes the luck isn't always with you. Having said that, with nearly half the season gone, we are well in line for either third or fourth, which, considering our start, isn't the worst thing in the world at the moment. In addition, we are still in the Champions League with a mouth-watering fixture vs. AC Milan.
Would you take Henry back? Mixed views on this - not sure of the point of coming just for two months - what if he is extremely influential and prolific? Do we let him go or keep him until the end of the season? Will his presence hinder the likes of the Ox and Benayoun, who both deserve a chance? Will he actually start games or have ten-minute cameos? While I would love to see him in an Arsenal shirt, I am realistic enough to know that he no longer has that vital turbo-injection, so while his football brain and ball-skills will still be evident, it won't be the Henry of old by any means.
Who should we buy in the transfer window? Again, being pragmatic, probably no-one, not even a left-back if Gibbs' recovery goes better than expected. We've been here before in past windows, where a shortage of centre-backs was never fully addressed. In many ways, it could be seen as gross negligence, but the touted options at the moment are Wayne Bridge - which doesn't really fill me with hope. If I were putting my transfer-hat on, I would buy Leighton Baines and let him compete for the left-back slot with Santos when he is fit. In turn, I would give Gibbs a season-long loan spell to prove, above all else, that his body can put up with a 60-game season.
Looking at the second half of the season fixture-list, it has been quite kind. Our games against our closest rivals have been congested together in previous seasons. However, we do have the chance to build yet more momentum by picking off the so-called lesser sides in succession. Providing their goalkeepers do not have a "Superman Day" (see earlier), the ability on the whole to beat lesser opposition has been the source of our surge up the table. Our losses (ignoring Blackburn) so far have been against Man City, Utd, Liverpool and Spurs - three of these will be entertained at home in 2012, while Liverpool seem to be struggling at Anfield this season. Hence there is hope for revenge.
Following QPR at home, we have some semi-tricky away-games, at Fulham and Swansea. Sandwiched between this is Leeds at home. I recall we struggled at home against the same side in the FA Cup Third Round last season, and this was the seed of our poor run. Following Swansea, we have Man Utd at home: suffice it to say that getting five wins on the trot is going to be vital. Mid-February to early March becomes interesting. Away and home to Milan is clustered around trips to Anfield and hosting the North London derby and the FA Cup 5th round. So this period will have a large say in determining our chances of a Champions League place and silverware.
The positives are that, come February, we should have Sagna, Wilshere and maybe Santos or Gibbs (don't laugh) back. Of course, an injury to one of Szczesny, RvP or Vermaelen in the meantime will bring our world crashing down, so let’s hope that we have sufficient bets hedged and are prepared following the January transfer-window.
