Norwich V Arsenal at Carrow Road : LIVE

29 November 2015 03:49
Norwich V Arsenal - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Norwich boss Alex Neil keen to pit his wits against Arsene Wenger

Rookie Norwich boss Alex Neil accepts he will have to think of something different to get the better of Arsene Wenger when the Barclays Premier League's longest-serving manager brings his side to Carrow Road on Sunday.

At 34, the Scot is the youngest of the head coaches in the top flight, his star swiftly on the rise after guiding the Canaries to promotion via the play-offs at Wembley having only been appointed in January.

Neil, though, is the first to admit a maiden campaign among the elite of English football has been a steep learning curve.

After a positive start, Norwich have lost five from the last six league matches as they edge ever closer to the relegation zone.

Nevertheless, the former Hamilton player-manager cannot wait to go up against Wenger, the 66-year-old who has transformed Arsenal since arriving at the club in September 1996 - when Neil was still an apprentice at first club Airdrie.

"Arsene Wenger is extremely experienced, he has been there, seen it and done it, but in terms of using modern methods and techniques Arsenal would be one of the pioneers of that and trying to take the game forward," said Neil.

"In terms of his style and how he does things, he is very up-to-date.

"The reason he is regarded as one of the best-ever managers who has been in the game is that ability to keep turning teams around over a number of years and still be successful and challenging at the top end, yet keep that philosophy and build on it and grow.

"It is a tough task for us on Sunday, but one I am looking forward to and so are the players."

Neil has adopted a more pragmatic approach in recent away games against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, while also grinding out a 1-0 win over Swansea in the last home match at Carrow Road.

The Norwich manager knows it will need just the right game plan to both nullify the Gunners' potent attacking threat while also remaining positive if they are to get anything out of Sunday's televised encounter.

"Arsenal are probably one of the most difficult teams in terms of figuring out how to come up against, certainly out of the ones I have looked at so far," Neil said on Canaries TV.

"It is about trying to make sure we curtail them as much as we possibly can, but also to try and expose the weaknesses that they have got.

"It will be a really good test for us, but we have been working on a few things and hopefully we can put it into a plan."

Arsenal boss Wenger has called on his whole side to lead Arsenal to success this season.

The Gunners lost at West Brom last weekend and missed the chance to move to the top of the Barclays Premier League but can keep up with the front-runners with victory at Norwich.

Reigning champions Chelsea have struggled in the defence of their crown and languish 12 points behind Arsenal in the table, with former striker Didier Drogba earlier this week suggesting a lack of leadership among the players is one of the reasons for their poor start.

Wenger acknowledged that it is crucial to have leaders on the pitch and, with the likes of Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez he has a number of influential players but he wants everyone in his squad to play their part.

"It is important," he said when asked about leaders in his dressing room.

"You want all 11 players to be leaders and to take initiative, communicate and transmit to other players what they see on the pitch. You want them to motivate the other players and be constructive and positive. That's what it's about in the leadership action."

Wenger has Aaron Ramsey available at Carrow Road while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could also be involved after both recovered from hamstring injuries.

While that still leaves fellow attacking talents like Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere sidelined, the Arsenal boss is looking at his frontmen to set the example on the pitch.

When asked who makes his side tick, Wenger replied: "Basically it's always the players who play in the final third and give the assists.

"So you look at the players who give our assists and you will see who does it. I think the best assist player at the moment is Ozil, but we have many providers.

"We have Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla - they are all people who can create chances. You could see Joel Campbell the other night has given a great assist to Alexis. I think all our players have technical ability to do that."

Source: DSG