Arsenal vs Man City Preview:
Arsène Wenger has paid tribute to Sven-Goran Erikssons survival
instincts ahead of Manchester Citys trip to Emirates Stadium on
Saturday.
The Swede was left battered and bruised by his five years in charge
of England so eyebrows were raised after he took over at Eastlands
in the summer. Most expected that resilience would be needed early
in the campaign as Erikssons numerous new arrivals attempted to
pull the Citizens away from their perennial flirtation with the
Premier League drop zone.
However, in the words of Wenger, Manchester City have
super-clicked, super-quickly. They arrive in North London as
League leaders and only the 11th team in the history of the English
top-flight to win their first three games without conceding a
goal.
When you buy more than three players I feel you take a technical
risk to destabilise the unity, said the Arsenal manager at his
pre-match press conference on Thursday. It can take six months to
click. But they have super clicked, super quickly. They are top of
the league with three wins from three games. You cannot do better
than that. It could last, it could not but we will know after a few
more games.
Saturdays match will mean Eriksson has managed five different
teams against Arsenal during his career Gothenburg, Sampdoria,
Lazio, Benfica and Manchester City surely some kind of
record.
There is no secret there, said Wenger. Those who survive are the
good ones. Consistency is always linked with quality.
Maybe he wants to show people how good he is. For me, he is a very
good manager and his record with England was very good.
Arsenal have Jens Lehmann sidelined for at least two weeks with an
Achilles injury so Manuel Almunia takes the keepers gloves.
William Gallas is out with a groin problem picked up at Blackburn
last weekend so Kolo Toure takes the captaincy. Emmanuel Eboue
(ankle) is still absent but Gilberto (fatigue) and Emmanuel
Adebayor (groin) are available for the first time this
season.
The Manchester City side is a shadow of last terms version. In the
summer the following players went out: Joey Barton (Newcastle);
Sylvain Distin (Portsmouth); Nicky Weaver (Charlton); Trevor
Sinclair (released), Stephen Jordan (released) and Hatem Trabelsi
(released). While these came in: Rolando Bianchi (Reggina), Gelson
Fernandes (FC Sion), Geovanni (Cruzeiro), Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk),
Javi Garrido (Real Socidedad), Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb) and
Valeri Bojinov (Fiorentina).
The arrivals were unknowns to most but not Wenger. "I knew all the
ones who came in, he said. Corluka, Elano and Petrov are all good
talents in my opinion. And yes they did very well but don't forget
the players that have done extremely well this season are Michael
Johnson, Micah Richards and Richard Dunne. They've been
outstanding. Of course you talk about the players they bought but
these three players were outstanding on the reports I got.
Of those three, Richards is the one who had caught Wengers eye.
He can be a great player, he said. I'm convinced of that when you
look at how he plays at his age. He has no inhibitions and such
power too. Certainly he has the potential.
Despite having moved on from the national side, the emergance of
Richards and Johnson this season could well mean Eriksson's spell
in this country still leaves a positive legacy for English
football.
