UEFA Champions League: Arsenal face "testing" times

Arsene Wenger: Problems with squad depth persists

After a disastrous start to the season, which was more to do with bad refereeing rather than a bad performance from the players, Arsenal has gone on a winning run, culminating in the win against Sunderland that saw the debut of marquee signing Mesut Ozil.

Arsene Wenger, after facing years of criticism about not spending money to buy superstars, certainly pulled one out of the hat when he brought in Ozil from Real Madrid. The buzz around the signing was at an all-time high, with many on the Social Media calling it Wenger’s own “Bergkamp moment”. But there was certainly a chance that all the excitement around the signing would have turned sour if the win against Sunderland wasn’t secured.

As some bloggers noted, it is not just Ozil or Wenger that needs to be praised or be excited about. The response from the players after the defeat against Aston Villa has been fantastic, with 5 wins on the trot, including 2 tricky Champions League fixtures as well as the North London Derby.

That win against Fenerbahce was important to secure Champions League for another season, and perhaps was pivotal in getting the signature of Ozil. But now begins the hard work as Arsenal are in what is essentially the group of death, with Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille to go through to reach the knockout rounds.

And the first of these encounters is away to Marseille on Wednesday, and the importance of a successful start to the campaign cannot be stressed enough. If points are dropped in the first match itself, then the pressure would be on Arsenal throughout the group stages and with games coming thick and fast in the Premier League, as well as the Capital One cup, that is a headache that Arsene Wenger and the fans can do without.

While Marseille is no pushover, one has to say that of the 3 opponents that Arsenal has in the group, they are the ones off which maximum points can be taken from. While home wins can be expected against Dortmund and Napoli, the chances of securing an away win against them would be a tad difficult, though not impossible.

Therefore, it becomes doubly important that all 6 points are taken from the matches against Marseille. But with the situation the squad is in, it is easier said than done.

As of Monday, the injury list in the squad includes such important players such as Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski. Arsene Wenger revealed that Mesut Ozil could be in doubt for the game as well. Recall that Ozil would not have played against Sunderland because of illness, but Cazorla’s untimely injury meant Wenger was forced to start him. It looks the illness has persisted, and added to that is a case of tight muscles which could force Wenger to at least bench him, if not completely leave him behind. Nobody wants to see Ozil unnecessarily injured for any length of time and the manager can certainly trust the players he has available to get the job done.