To the Valley of sweat

14 April 2012

The current fashion in the Premiership is to pack the midfield with five men behind a lone striker to stifle the opposition and produce a battle of attrition in a key area of the field.

Arsene Wenger, however, likes to think of himself as a trend-setter rather than a slavish follower of fashion.

"No," he said, "we won't play like that. Everywhere and against everybody, we play with two strikers. That means our midfielders have to battle hard. But it also means that we can score goals."

That will be a massive consolation to Patrick Vieira and company at The Valley tomorrow when Arsenal take on an in-form Charlton side who look a more solid, if less free-flowing, proposition when they pack the midfield than when they fielded a quartet. So Vieira may have to spill more sweat, but the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp should benefit enormously.

And sweat and endeavour will be the order of the day in the latest in the sequence of all-London affairs that Wenger feels are a distinct disadvantage to any team from the capital who have title aspirations. "I have said many times that in London it is difficult to be champions because you have the problem of so many derbies. They are always big games. "

Newcastle on Wednesday night, then, will have served as an ideal dress rehearsal for the kind of commitment Arsenal can expect in their first game of 2005. The energy expended at St James's Park was immense and Wenger admitted it could take its toll.

"My team gave a lot and when they came in the dressing room afterwards, they felt they had battled really hard," he said.

"So the first priority for me will be to decide who I rest and who I bring in, how will my players recover? Charlton have also had one more day's rest than us and my concern for tomorrow is physical."

Among those with his feet up watching Arsenal's grim acquisition of three points at Newcastle was Jerome Thomas, who joined Charlton from Highbury in the summer.

Alan Curbishley paid £100,000 for the young winger - the equivalent of to weeks' wages of one of Highbury's high earners. It is looking like money well spent because Thomas has earned himself a new, more lucrative contract and is excelling under his new manager's shrewd tutelage.

If Thomas produces the kind of trickery that has been a feature of his recent performances, then Wenger may regret his decision to part with such a talented youngster.

For the moment at least, he has no regrets. He never doubted Thomas's talent, merely his ability to oust the likes of Ljungberg, Pires and Reyes from the starting line-up and move ahead of Jermaine Pennant as the leading reserve.

"I don't regret selling him because when a player doesn't make it at Arsenal, it shows that some players do well somewhere else - and we are proud of that," said Wenger. "We educate players. They get a good education at Arsenal and they can have a great life somewhere else. The club should get credit for that.

"No, I am not surprised he is doing well. I always told him he had the qualities and that if he didn't make it for us he will make it somewhere else."

After a highly impressive display at St James' Park, Mathieu Flamini is out of the tomorrow's game with a thigh injury while full-back Lauren has a knee problem and is a major doubt. But Patrick Vieira (knee) and Thierry Henry (hamstring) should both be fit while Dennis Bergkamp is progressing after missing Wednesday's match with a thigh injury.

Justin Hoyte and Cesc Fabregas are set to replace Lauren and Flamini.

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To the Valley of sweat

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