Norwich preview: Umm… yeah

Good afternoon and welcome to the last day of the league season. Time really has flown by, hasn’t it?

This is probably the most difficult post to write all season as we head into our last game of the season with very little to play for against a team who have very little to play for. It would take freak results either for us to finish 3rd or for Norwich to avoid being relegated so this is, to be honest, the deadest of dead rubbers. It’s kind of boring, I guess, but it makes a nice change from the arse clenching, bowel troubling final days we’ve had to go through over the last couple of seasons.

With one eye on the cup final next weekend and with this game having very little meaning, I would be inclined not to play anyone who has a chance of starting next Saturday, with the exception of those who need some game time. This game means nothing, I know people think that a win would aid our momentum but I just don’t see a defeat doing us any damage if most of the first team don’t play. It’s far more important for us to avoid injuries ahead of next weekend than try to win this game. I’d go with a line up of something like – Martinez – Bellerin (is he a right back?) – Inanimate Carbon Rod – Vermaelen – Gibbs – Källström – Diaby – Wilshere – Anyone who’s fit and not Cazorla, Rosicky, Özil or Podolski behind Sanogo. But I guess we’ll see what the manager does.

Two more bits of news from this week are the wholly predictable news that Bacary Sagna is set to leave the club, after admitting so on French radio, and the new deal for Laurent Koscielny. On the former, it’s hardly a surprise and, as long as he doesn’t end up at somewhere I hate, I think I won’t be the only one who wishes him well and hopes we can give him a great send off next weekend with a win in the Cup final. He’s been so brilliantly consistent across his whole Arsenal career, he’ll be very difficult to replace but you have to think that the club have known about this for a while and plans have been made.

On Koscielny, well, what can we say? It’s great news, he’s a brilliant player who’s been a revelation sine we plucked him from Ligue 2 four seasons back. He’s established himself as one of the best centre backs in the country and his partnership with Per is, for my money, the best in the league. So this new contract for him is very welcome indeed and it’s great to know he’ll be around for a few more seasons to come. We’ve secured the spine of this team to long term deals – now, in the summer, we need to supplement them with a couple more players of high quality.