Blimey — We look really good.

August 11, 2013

When you think about it, playing City one week before the start of the season was a very smart move, some very clever scheduling must have gone on behind the scenes, clearly designed to give us a stern test before the real football starts next week against Villa.

If this was indeed the intention and indeed meant as a test then Arsene Wenger’s men passed it with flying colours.

But I must admit I didn’t expect it. City started as positively as you would expect. A collection of players brought for around five hundred million seemed to be effortlessly moving the ball around us. I feared the worst and started wondering how I would write a report, if required, and found myself thinking that if we lose I might have to trot out the chestnut that you can’t hide the difference in quality that five hundred million buys you.

But I was wrong, there was no need, this was one of those precious moments when the hearts of Wengerites, of which I am one, soar.

We stuffed City.

Arsene’s team, put together with a fraction of the opposition’s budget, showed a far greater level of skill and clinical finishing. In short, we were treated to some pre-season Wengerball of the highest calibre.

Ramsey was for me our Man of the Match a cross between S Gerrard’s ability to move powerfully throughout the midfield, R Keane’s determination and C Fabregas’s finesse.

Because — that pass — to set up Walcott for the first goal was class; with slide rule precision it carved the City defence open, finished off with some aplomb by the man who had a hand in every goal today. Well, done Theo, you really have been giving doubters like me a good kicking recently.

I was a bit surprised to see Podolski starting at number 9; the first thought that ran through my head was this is in response to John Henry’s blunder bus of a statement that Liverpool would not be selling Suarez; it seemed like Arsene Wenger’s more subtle way of saying, we have options and our negotiating position is better than you think.

Excluding Podolski, I got the impression that both teams started with their strongest possible line up, but, where City were struggling to find a new format, Arsenal simply picked up from where they effectively left off last season.

There weren’t too many other chances for the good guys in the first half that I can recall but I do want you to share the pleasure in remembering Bacary Sagna’s left foot pile driver that hit the post – damn, did that man play well.

Second half started, changes were made and I thought here we go; we are all well aware how Arsenal are capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory but once again – none of it.

We got stronger and stronger, scoring a second goal and then a third. The second was a deftly weighted pass from Theo who I think Cazorla stepped over allowing the ball to roll to Ramsey who, in turn, rounded the goal keeper before slotting home. The ease with which Ramsey rounded England’s number one was Messiesque and made all the better by the look of embarrassment on Joe Hart’s face.

When there is goal scoring going on Oliie does not seem to be the kind of striker who likes to be left out. A pass from Walcott some thirty yards made fools of the City defence allowing Giroud to control and lob over the oncoming and even more foolish looking Joe Hart.

The game as a competition was over, Arsene had the luxury of bringing on more young hopefuls and Carl Jenkinson’s family and army of friends had a chance to shout his name.

City, of course, did score; Koscielny got bundled off the ball a bit too easily but I am not convinced that would have happened in any circumstance other than being three up.

So, a great warm up, a great result, a great boost for the collective confidence and all is looking well for next week.

Have a great Sunday.

Written by LB

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Which Summer Departures Hurt Arsenal The Most?

August 10, 2013

We are half way through the silly season of the transfers and rumours of certain transfers that are never to materialize. It has started with a news that Wayne Rooney is going to the Arsenal, closely followed by a gossip from a reliable source that Rooney is in fact going to sign for Chavs. I became confused – are there 2 Wayne Rooneys or is Wayne’s brother John sought by Chelsea, or Arsenal? But oh no, it is all clear now – after all the hype Rooney is staying at ManU!

Similar scenarios apply to at least a dozen players in EPL alone. Be it Rooney, or Suarez, or Fellaini, or Torres. The bottom line is – nobody knows the final outcome of the speculation or the final make up of any premier league squad. Thankfully there were only a few half baked rumours about any of our top players leaving this summer. But that has not been the case in recent years.

Every summer would see Gunners chewing their nails on their way to places of worship (no, Emirates does not count) to pray for Dennis to intervene and stop imminent sale of yet another Judas. A scumbag, lowlife, front bottom so-and-so who chose to leave our beloved club. Why do we get so upset about some mercenary switching paymaster? Why? Because they destroy teams, unsettle other players, often take clubs back to the drawing board. We, the fans of the Arsenal have suffered our fair share of pain, disappointment, tears (in the author’s case) mixed with anger and dismay. The label ‘the feeder club’ was beginning to stick.

For me, the worst summer of recent years was when we saw Flamini and Hleb leaving, Thierry Henry’s ‘That’s it guys’ farewell, Cesc reunion with his blood brothers and finally van Judas’ pathetic confession about some ‘little boy inside’ him.

And this brings me to the question that I am about to ask you: who do you think hurt our chances of winning a trophy the most? Was it van Judas? I think not. We would most probably not win the league with him on our side. To have him scoring against us is a different ball game altogether (called biting the hand that fed you for 8 years you b*****d), but would we have done any better if he was our top striker in the past season? What about the financial side of the equation – would Wenger buy Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski if we didn’t sell BSR? I appreciate that AW secured the 3 transfers before the ManU move was formally announced, but I guess the Club knew long before that we would be selling the Dutchman.

Or do you think that Cesc’s move back home hit us hardest? He was pivotal to our team structure and the whole style of play was built around him. After Cesc went the squad had to be rebuilt yet again and it took us 2 whole seasons to have a midfield to be reckoned with.

For me it was the summer of 2008 that set us back by several years. The unexpected departures of both Hleb and Flamini and Gilberto left a huge hole in the midfield. We finished 3rd that season, only 4 points behind the league winners and almost 40 points ahead of Spurs! Had they stayed I am convinced that with just one significant purchase, perhaps a great goalie and we could have won any competition with that squad.

Who do you still miss? Which event hurt the Club most, Was it Thierry’s departure, or Songs Barca move, or Na$ri and Clichy’s greasy money deals?

Written by evonne

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Selling Arsenal …… Marketing Awareness

August 9, 2013

So another season approaches, the summer awareness tours are almost completed, during which a zillion shirts and myriad memorabilia have been sold. We have travelled too and explored those new markets identified and targeted  by the professional marketing team employed to reconcile our needs, with the desires of our sponsors old and new, while the drive to increase revenue takes precedence over the product the real fan is interested in.

Much is made of a foreign fan, who on his first viewing of the Arsenal bandwagon runs alongside the coach, long enough to be recognised as a marketing opportunity himself and is immediately whisked aboard among the players and filmed for immediate release to the media. He was then flown on a magic carpet of his dreams to appear and be presented to the faithful masses at the home of football. More dreams come true and a massive ahhh factor to the less cynical who follow our team.

But now the football, the thrill, the excitement our reason for being, is just over a week away. Yet still we anguish over the mega spend our leaders repeatedly promised which has not yet materialised. Meanwhile the battalions of the press have delighted in adding fuel to the fires lit by the already dissatisfied as the on off, will he wont he, Suarez affair unfolds.

Shameful they say, a disgrace, the dumbing down of a once great club, a lowering of standards and the surrender of our once proud heritage along with the reputation as the class club among clubs. Emphasised by the magnificent marble halls of Highbury and the beautiful ground we have vacated and which is now just a a memory, no matter that we have replaced it with the state of the art Emirates, the very fact that we chose to name it in the interests of money, emphasises they say all that has gone pear shaped with the club.

But yet true as the above might appear to be, when did you last hear the newscasts and if you like me listen to 5live late  at night – the world newscasts are all being led by the Arsenal. The Times puts us on its front page as well as the back, indeed all the papers consistently berate us supporters and our club with regurgitated rhetoric, on a daily basis. Five live and Talk what’s-it mention the club continually on their half hourly news cast, whilst running discussion programmes featuring highly recognisable celebrity pundits at a rate advertising space sellers can only fantasize  and  curse their luck about.

Remember how often at the end of last season many were rubbishing our marketing and PR on blogs, this one included? Well gentlemen if you have heard a better awareness campaign than the one conducted this summer by our marketing team,it must have been a thing of genius.

Of course we aint finished yet, Suarez will still probably join and score a net full and  I have no reason to suspect other players won’t follow. So a stronger team for the new season looks likely to be accompanied by the worldwide awareness that has increased our profile massively. Should the football team prosper as well as the Marketing team has done, get ready to celebrate as we are going to clean up this year.

Written by dandan

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Posted by dandan

Do You Really Want Suarez …. Do Ya? … Your Vote

August 8, 2013

If you believe the media, Arsenal has invested all its hopes in signing Luis Suarez. I’m not so sure and wouldn’t be at all surprised if there isn’t negotiation for another player going on quietly behind the scenes.

Luis_SuárezBut assuming Suarez is the man we want, wouldn’t it just be so ‘Arsenal’ to pick a player whose notoriety means he further divides an already polarised fanbase.

It’s ironic that when we decide to announce our arrival amongst the big spenders we target a player who certainly doesn’t embody the high principles for which our club is renowned.  Yes sure, Bobby may have gone down a little too easily once or twice, but Suarez has been the butt of criticism by many Arsenal supporters in his time at Liverpool.

This is what one respected Arsenal blogger, 26May1989, had to say about the Uruguayan only 2 days ago:

…….in the past I detested Suarez. That’s certainly true, his cheating and general behaviour really got to me, and the one and only time I’ve edited a page on Wikipedia came after Uruguay’s win over South Africa in the 2010 World Cup – he dived several times that night, once winning a penalty and getting the South African keeper sent off, prematurely ending the keeper’s home World Cup. And later in the tournament, there was the famous goal line save against Ghana, after which the crucial penalty was missed which was celebrated by the player after being sent off.

Yet he later concluded  …..

……. But I’ve changed my tune. My logic is that recruiting a top quality striker this summer is vital for Arsenal – with that one player a good side could become an excellent side, and the signing would also cause confidence to flow through the club, the players and the fans.

So it seems that even the most objective of us is torn. I certainly am in the same camp as 26May1989. I’d love his skill and the goals he is likely to bring, but would be extremely uncomfortable if he continued to dive at every opportunity or worse still indulge in the occasional amuse bouche of a cannibalistic nature.

Is it right that a club that is continually lambasted for not having won a trophy for 8 years, should compromise its principles and take a chance on a supremely gifted but ultimately flawed human being in pursuit of the highest honours? It’s time to have your say.

So I’m going to invite you to examine your conscience and vote in 2 ways; first a simple Yes or No, and secondly for those who voted ‘Yes’, in a more qualified way.

In this second poll you can tick as many boxes as represent your view.

If none of the above represent your view, please feel free to express that view in comments.

Written by Rasp

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The Future Is Now …… Are Arsenal Still In The Past?

August 7, 2013

Arsenal by definition, have always represented the very best of British. We are diverse and multi-cultural, welcoming players and supporters from every corner of the world, whilst retaining a class that no amount of money can buy. Essentially, Arsenal are aristocrats through their assorted share-holders, many of them titled, and extremely wealthy.

Supporters too, particularly Brits, are very generous in spirit, willingly sacrificing their undying loyalty, and asking for little in return. Watching the Women’s Euro’s, after Germany had beaten Norway to claim their sixth successive Euro title, Guy Mowbray came out with a line that immediately reminded me of Arsenal – “Norway wanted it, Germany demanded it…” A strong aggressive powerful message of intent mixed with an arrogant confidence, the Germans are drilled to succeed. Arsenal are like Norway, they want it, but they don’t demand it. The most successful clubs demand a regular supply of silver-ware, and are quick to act if that supply dries up. Arsenal behave as if they don’t expect any silver-ware, but should any accidently turn up they can award themselves even bigger bonuses (not to say they don’t already, isn’t that so, Mr Gazidis?).

It’s nine years since Arsenal won the title, and despite making much noise between 2004 and now, they haven’t really had the stomach to go for it. It’s our sixteenth successive year of CL football, but we’ve only been to one final and two semi-finals, and as with the Premier League, we really are a long way from the quality needed to challenge, and a lot further away than we were in 2004.

The financial debate is pointless. We are forever turning up in the top four/five of Forbes and Deloittes richest global sports clubs, which can’t be a coincidence. Chelsea and Manchester City haven’t suddenly become bigger and wealthier than Arsenal, they are just prepared to invest whatever it takes to make their brand a winning one, which will in turn reap huge financial benefits from commercial and sponsorship revenues.

Arsenal are over-cautious with their short-term no risk approach, the philosophy is mirrored by the product on the field, everything at Arsenal is done with the hand-brake on. As if any proof of this were needed, Arsenal had more possession of the ball than any other side in the PL. Possession for possession sake. That isn’t a money issue, that’s flawed football. That’s having far too much of the ball and half the time not having a clue what to do with it having passed themselves into blind alleys and cul-de-sacs that lead nowhere.

We are in a place now where we go into every game against the top three hoping for divine intervention, but deep down fearing defeat.

Is that really who we’ve become?

Maybe it’s part of the French DNA, that in the final analysis, they don’t have the blood and guts for the battle. They’re philosophers rather than fighters, which is why they virtually laid out the red carpet for the Germans in WWII.

I stand by my conviction that Arsene Wenger has refused to test himself at the elite level. People like to cite his loyalty and love for Arsenal, but my guess is that had he moved to a big club and failed, his career would have been quite short. And who else would renumerate a manager as generously as Arsenal do for achieving the bare minimum?

Arsenal supporters are very generous in spirit, they are fiercely loyal and very forgiving in nature. We never demand trophies, NOR do we demand ridiculously expensive big-money signings, but we do expect our tactical frailties to be addressed and fixed, and I personally expect the level of quality in our players to be of the standard required to take the title to the wire, and seriously challenge in the CL, just as was promised seven years ago by our club’s hierarchy.

Arsene Wenger arrived fresh-faced from Japan, full of life, full of ideas to revolutionise Arsenal and English football. Wenger cleverly utilised the French market at a time when the French football was in the ascendancy, and building around Dennis Bergkamp he discovered the perfect mix. But just as French football declined so too have Arsenal. The last transfer that excited me a little was in January 2004, when Arsenal signed Jose Antonio Reyes, and even then only because the British Press – as always when these things happen – were a little too lavish in their appraisal of the Spaniard.

Since that time, in my opinion, Arsene Wenger’s judgement and use of the club’s resources has been poor, without any clear indication of improvement. How many times do we give the benefit of the doubt, hoping to see a dynamic change, something exciting happen, only to be left feeling deflated again? Arsene Wenger gave Arsenal fans back their belief, and he made us fall in love with football again, but that was a long time ago. And it doesn’t matter what the excuse or reason is, Arsene Wenger has nothing new or revolutionary to bring to the table, and his best days probably left along with David Dein. This isn’t an anti-Wenger campaign, this is a pro-Arsenal thing, and an honest opinion of where I think we’re at.

In six years time, we’ll be celebrating 100 years of unbroken football in the top flight (save for WWII), wouldn’t it be great going into that season knowing that we’re back as a genuine force! There are a lot of changes needed at Arsenal if that is to be so,

I only hope those charged with making that happen are brave and intelligent enough to make the right decisions for the club and it’s supporters.

Written by We are The Arsenal

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Posted by Rasp

Do we have enough Quality or Depth in the Arsenal Squad?

August 6, 2013

We now have less than two weeks before the start of the Premier League season of 2013/14 and I find myself wondering about whether our squad has the necessary quality or depth.

This summer has been typical of other transfer transactions periods very quiet and with more rumoured than actual movements. Fortunately it looks like we are making more concerted efforts to move out the players, in both the 1st team and youth squad’s, that have not made the grade, hopefully this will free up funds for new acquisitions. Another thing to be pleased about is that all the players who have left this summer have been of our choice and we have not lost any of our key players.

So far the only addition to our squad has been Yaya Sonogo at 1.91m (or 6’4”) he will become a big physical presence in our attack, but will it be this season or later?.

It’s when I take a close look at the Arsenal.com 1st team squad who are currently the players we have to start the season with that I become concerned. Out of the listed squad of 29 players we only have18 recognised Premier League players who are fit and ready, we also have 2 untried players, 2 injured, 4 on the chopping block and 3 out on loan.

Therefore the 18 fit and ready players will, most likely, have to form our 1st team and our substitute’s bench, which is assuming we make no further acquisitions or suffer any more injuries. With time running out before the start of the season it will be a hammer blow to get any serious injuries and if we do make further acquisitions they will have little or no time to settle into the squad.

We have 5 games in the first 16 days of the new season starting with Aston Villa on August 17th and ending with Tottenham on September 1st and squeezed in there are our 2 vitally important Champions League qualifying games – not an easy start.

Without any more changes to our squad we are going to be heavily reliant on our Youth Academy to fill out our squad and allow the fit and able 1st team squad to be rotated and rested. From what little I’ve seen of the youth players we have quite a few with high potential but with little or no 1st team experience. Players like Miquel, Eisfield, Gnabry, Zelalem and Akpom are exceptional talents – but ready for the 1st team? I’m not at all sure.

Perhaps my biggest single concern is with our goalkeeping, we have 2 reacognized keepers in Szczesny and Fabinanski and if either of them gets an injury or suffers from a lack of form then who do we turn to? – in our youth team we have 3 keepers in Martinez, Vickers and Iliev but to my knowledge none of them have played in the 1st team.

I am seriously concerned about both the quality and depth of our squad and if we don’t make serious changes we may be looking at qualifying for the Chumps League and not the Champions League.

Ist Team Squad

1. Laurent Koscielny Center Back

2. Per Mertesacker Center Back

3. Kieran Gibb Defender

4. Carl Jenkinson Defender

5. Nacho Monreal Defender

6. Bacary Sagna Defender

7. Lukasz Fabianski Goal Keeper

8. Wojciech Szczesny Goal Keeper

9. Mikel Arteta Midfielder

10. Santi Cazorla Midfielder

11. Emanu Frimpong Midfielder

12. Aaron Ramsey Midfielder

13. Tomas Rosicky Midfielder

14. Jack Wilshere Midfielder

15. Olivier Giroud Striker

16. Oxlaide-Chamberlain Striker

17. Lukas Podolski Striker

18. Theo Walcott Striker

Untried in the EPL

Ryo Miyaichi Striker

Yaya Sango Striker

Injured

Thomas Vermaelen Center Back

Abou Diaby Midfielder

On the chopping block

Ju-Young Park Striker

Nicklas Bendtner Striker

Marouane Chamakh Striker

Gervinho Striker

Out on loan

Johan Djourou Center Back

Francis Coquelin Midfielder

Joel Campbell Striker

These are our youth and academy players as listed on Arsenal.com.

Who do you think is ready to step up into the 1st team?

Youth/Academy

Hector Bellerin Defender

Daniel Boateng Defender

Tom Dallison Defender

Zachari Fagan Defender

Isaac Hayden Defender

Ignasi Miquel Defender

Ormonde-Ottewill Defender

Leander Sieman Defender

Arinse Uade Defender

Damian Martinez Goal Keeper

Josh Vickers Goal Keeper

Deyan Illev Goal Keeper

Chuks Aneke Midfielder

Thomas Eisfeld Midfielder

Serge Gnabry Midfielder

Anthony Jeffrey Midfielder

Glen Kamara Midfielder

Alfred Mugabo Midfielder

Kristoffer Olsson Midfielder

Jon Toral Midfielder

Jack Webb Midfielder

Nicholas Yennaris Midfielder

Gedion Zelalem Midfielder

Benik Afobe Striker

Chuba Akpom Striker

Zac Ansah Striker

Tarum Dawkins Striker

Alex Iwobi Striker

Austin Lipman Striker

Wellington -Silva Striker

Out on loan

Samuel Galindo Midfielder

I hope that I’m just being paranoid – but I fear not.

GunnerN5

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Posted by Rasp

The Gap In Class Between Arsenal And Liverpool Has Become A Chasm

August 5, 2013

Liverpool Football Club has a history and pedigree that deserves respect.

For a long time in the 1970s and ‘80s it was the dominant force in English and European football; its fans were (and remain) among the most passionate in the land and the club conducted itself with class confidence.

But I fear that the likes of Bill Shankley and Bob Paisley will be revolving in their sepulchres at what has happened to their Liverpool.

The Merseysiders have become something of a joke club in recent years – dodgy owners, dodgier managers and consistently proving themselves to be also-rans in the hunt for Champions League places.

After the debacle of the Hicks and Gillett ownership period Liverpool seemed to have settled down under John Henry only to find that now he seems to want to get shot of the club too.

True, Arsenal have not exactly been setting the world alight either in that period. But, unlike Liverpool, we have a darn good excuse: the enforced austerity period resulting from building the best new football stadium in Britain.

Even so, despite having literally nothing to spend on new players and despite the arrival into the Premier League of multi-billionaire sugar daddy owners, we have managed to keep our place at the top table by dint of good management and good housekeeping. Unlike Liverpool.

While we were buying a player like Laurent Koscielny for £8.45m, ‘Pool were forking out £35m for Andy Carroll.

In the five years up to last season Liverpool had a net spend on transfers of £72m. Arsenal made a net profit of nearly £39m. Yet Arsenal made the Champions League spots every year, while Liverpool haven’t graced Europe’s biggest stage since 2007/8.

Fast forward to today and the whole kerfuffle around Arsenal’s attempt to sign Luis Suarez: it illustrates the difference in class between the two clubs.

Suarez is a talented but deeply troubled individual. His cheating is enough on its own to make him disliked by most other supporters, but his racist outburst against Patrice Evra also rankled. I’m sure most right-thinking fans were saying: “Don’t racially abuse the odious little Manc – just chin him!”

Then there was the biting incident, when Luis took a nibble from the shoulder of Chelsea’s defensive rock, Branislav Ivanovic. Now Ivanovic may be a tasty player, but he’s no-one’s idea of a satisfying snack and Suarez’s actions were bizarre to say the least.

But since the season ended the Uruguayan has made it clear he wants to move to a bigger club to get Champions League football.

Liverpool can force him to stay because he has three years left on his contract, but they clearly have an unhappy player on their hands.

To make matters worse, Suarez clearly feels he was given assurances that he would be allowed to leave if (a) Liverpool failed to make the top four and (b) a club who were good enough to be in the Champions League offered over £40m for him.

He probably was given those assurances, but today’s Liverpool don’t seem too interested in keeping promises.

Instead they have reacted to Arsenal’s perfectly legitimate pursuit of the player like spoilt children – and the attitude comes from the very top.

After our first bid (reported as being £35m) John W Henry went public by saying: “What are they smoking at the Emirates?”

Henry is supposed to be an astute businessman. Does he really expect us to start the bidding with our highest offer? But that’s not the real issue. The real issue is one of classlessness.

At the time of the £35m bid, Arsenal had made no public statement about Suarez. We, as always, were conducting our transfer business with class and dignity, keeping matters confidential. This is both good business practice and a mark of respect for the people with whom we’re doing business.

And since Henry (I think we all know what the ‘W’ stands for) opened his trap, David Brent, the Liverpool manager, has barely been able to keep his closed.

From hilariously trying to argue that Suarez is worth £100m just because someone in a newspaper said someone at Tottenham said Gareth Bale was worth that much, to equally hilariously accusing Arsenal of lacking class by bidding £40m+£1, the man has been embarrassing himself on an almost daily basis

(Incidentally, if a bid of more than £40m was required to trigger a release clause for Suarez, what on earth was wrong with bidding the minimum amount above the £40m figure? Clearly £40m is what we think Suarez is worth. The single pound was just a technical mechanism to trigger the release. As we now know, the release clause was based on verbal assurances given to Suarez – and they have since been reneged on by the ‘classy’ Merseysiders, so the whole thing is academic).

Meanwhile, despite repeated questioning from journalists, Arsene Wenger refuses to discuss any details of this transfer attempt or any other.

Personally I hope Henry and Brent get their way and Suarez is forced to stay for a year at a club where he will be desperately unhappy because (as usual) they won’t be serious contenders for the Champions League slots.

Knowing how volatile Suarez is when things are going well, just imagine how bad it’s going to get for ‘Pool as they bumble through the season somewhere just above mid table, with a resentful striker thinking about what might have been. The next person to feel the wrath of his fangs might well turn out to be Brent himself.

No doubt Liverpool fans reading this will want to dish out a load of retaliatory stick. That’s fine. If you avoid expletives and gratuitous abuse Arsenal Arsenal will publish your comments.

But to be honest, I am not anti Liverpool. I actually think you deserve better and I would much rather see Liverpool in the top four than the money-doped oiligarch clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea.

You’ll probably want to tell me that Arsenal have never won the European Cup and Liverpool have won it five times. All true and I doff my cap to you for those achievements.

But you supporters know better than anyone that, year by year, you have been falling further behind on the field of play.

The sad thing is that you are also falling behind OFF the field of play and your club’s management and owners could do a lot worse than take a long look at Arsenal and see how a classy club is really run.

RockyLives

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Emirates Cup – Arsenal 2 – Napoli 2

August 3, 2013

Yesterday saw the return of the Emirates Cup after a years absence to accommodate the Olympics, due to the pessimism amongst fans this was seen as a cop out, because:

A) they know no one will turn up
B) we can’t even win our own pre season tournament anymore
C) some other conspiracy theory

star man kozzer

Anyway the club has re introduced the tournament this season and it was our first chance to look at the progress of the team and more importantly for me the progress of the youth team against slightly more robust opposition than the Indonesian Dream Team.

The Emirates Cup has introduced us to many of our youngsters in the past, having watched Jack conduct the FA Youth Cup final the following season he was electrifying those watching at the Emirates Cup, capping it with a wrong foot (hit with his left peg on the right side of the goal and the ball coming from his left) half volleyed goal.

Yesterday we got to see more of Serge Gnabry while the highly rated Gedion Zelalem sat waiting on the bench alongside Chuba Akpom.

Joining Gnabry on the right flank was the eager Jenkinson, playing alongside the more experienced Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gibbs in front of Fabianski. In midfield the untested combination of Wilshere and Ramsey as the two deeper players with Rosicky in front. Podolski and Giroud completed the line up.

To be honest we started very slowly, either heavy legged from our trips to Asia or had it too easy whilst in Asia and therefore not ready for the sterner test provided by Napoli.

It has been known for some time that we are susceptible to counter attacks as we commit too many men forward, Napoli are probably the best European exponents of counterattacking football, they defend in numbers as all good Italian teams do, but they are very quick on the break, and know how to use the ball in those situations.

Having said that the first goal went to Napoli but not from a counter attack, we were pretty well set Jenkinson showed his inexperience by following his runner beyond the defensive line this gave the Napoli defender with the ball the opportunity to lift the ball over the rest of the defence and create a 50:50 between Jenkinson and the winger, Jenkinson won the header but the contact was unconvincing, Fabianski realised the danger too late and was not out quickly enough to collect whilst airborne leaving the young Napoli winger the relatively simple task of tapping home for the goal. Most goals are a result of a series of errors, the first one is most crucial, and the first error was not pressuring the defender with the ball, which was then compounded by the following errors and misjudgements.

The second goal conceded was more like what we are used to, too many men committed forward, Mertesacker’s man appeared to have him beat for pace but that said he was heading wide of goal and we had enough numbers tracking back, however Fabianski made it so much easier for Napoli by coming off his line which then forced other defenders to back away. I hope in a PL game we would have seen a little more commitment to blocking the shot but in a pre season friendly unnecessary risks such as throwing yourself full length at a shot should not be taken for fear of injury.

Arsenal struggled to find a shape that worked and Wilshere and Ramsey struggled to find a way to control the midfield they are both still too young to do it together. Although in time with guidance they showed enough understanding and ball movement to feel that they could become quite a force together….however they are both still learning the ropes when it comes to experienced opponents.

Gnabry failed to offer the required width on the right and most of our good work came from Gibbs and Podolski linking on the left, unfortunately their crosses did not result in meaningful shooting opportunities.

Gibbs did win a very soft penalty only for Podolski to use his left foot hammer as a feather duster and tickle the ball harmlessly at Reina.

We created other opportunities but a combination of the linesman, errant shooting and altruism (Podolski) we went in 2-0 down to unfortunately a few boos from the Emirates crowd.

One of those missed opportunities was perhaps indicative of why we were two goals down, Jack lifting a ball from the edge of the area to Ramsey in an offside position. Whilst the bit of play between the two was good, one has to question who they were expecting to be providing cover if the attack broke down.

The other problem in our attacks as well as a lack of width was the fact that all our attacking players appeared to be bunched on their eighteen yard box when attacking, so there was only one passing option and it was very congested, we had no depth to our attack.

From the start of the second half we appeared to have a better shape. Soon the substitutions were made, Jenkinson and Gnabry off, Sagna and Theo on. Later came the more telling substitution, Ramsey and Wilshere replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arteta. Immediately our shape seemed better, we retained possession in their half better and were not as susceptible to counter attacks. With a more solid presence in midfield in Arteta, Mertesacker and Koscielny began to make lighter work of dealing with Napoli attacks.

Rosicky was still the man providing most inspiration going forward, helped by Oxlade-Chamberlain, and the outlet Sagna and Theo provided.

giroud over-head

The start of the comeback came from a corner, Theo floated the ball onto the penalty spot, Giroud held off his marker and performed a bicycle kick which was heading wide, but clipped Bacary Sagna and went in the bottom corner.

We were pretty much camped in their half for the remainder of the game, but without providing the finishing touch to equalise.

It eventually came from a free kick in the final third, Arteta put a great delivery into the box which Mertesacker rose to meet, Reina could only party the ball upwards and Koscielny was first to react and raced to bundle the ball in at the far post.

As pre season friendlies go I think it was a very helpful game, some harsh lessons learned for the younger players in the squad, and a step up in quality opposition with only two weeks to go to the season opener.

For me the standout performer was Koscielny, the way he dealt with Higuain you would think that he had a personal vendetta against him. It’s almost like he couldn’t let the Emirates crowd see what they might be missing out on so he wouldn’t give them a sniff.

Arteta showed once again why he is so crucial to our chances of competing, the knowledge and calmness his presence brings to the side are invaluable. Rosicky continued from where he left off at the end of last season, as did Ramsey, although the latter was hampered by being partnered with Wilshere.

Jack will prevent a real problem this season, the English media will be happy to see him rested, the Arsenal crowd will want him to play, Jack himself will be desperate to make up for lost time. For me he is about moving with the ball from somewhere in the opponents half and attacking from there, but with Santi and Rosicky in the squad is that where he can be used?

All in all more questions than answers yesterday, lets hope for a few more answers today.

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

What happened to the “real” Arsenal supporters?

August 3, 2013

Over the past few years I’ve scratched my head trying to rationalize the changing moods of fans around the world. In my youth your football team and its players were god like figures who were held in the highest esteem.

Us kids were in total awe of the players, our imaginations were our TV sets, as most of the families in our area were too poor to ”waste” their hard earned money on an unnecessary luxury, and the mental pictures we had were from our scrap books which were full of black and white pictures cut from the Sunday newspapers. Each week we would cut out the latest standings and pin them up in the kitchen, and we’d spend hours figuring out where we were most likely to finish, usually around mid table.

When my Grandfather took me to my first game at 10 years old, I was already a seasoned supporter but getting inside Highbury changed my life and meant that I simply had to see every game, but with no money I had to be very resourceful, and I was, rarely missing a game despite getting severely scuffed knees in the process. I was totally awe struck – there I was sitting in the corner of the field, after manipulating the stewards into believing I’d fainted, getting patted on the head by my idols, a kid’s fantasy come true.

highbury clock

The managers were talked about with reverence and we always wondered how they could be so smart and wondered where they gained the knowledge to run a football team. Names like Herbert Chapman, George Allison and Tom Whittaker were spoken about in our family discussions and their accomplishments were compared and the comparisons created much banter, most good natured, but not always.

From Tom Whittaker’s last League trophy in 1952/53 we went through an awful period of only winning trophies in 3 of the next 36 seasons – until George Graham won the League title in 1988/89. It was during that period that our managers and teams came under a lot closer scrutiny and strong “anti” opinions started to form.

Team finances were never discussed, after all, we were not clever enough to understand them and it was none of our business anyway. About the only time money spent came to light was when a transfer figure was revealed. Nobody knew or even cared about team finances – that was always considered to be only the club’s business and were usually kept under wraps. I cannot ever remember one single discussion with my family, friends or other supporters that revolved around finances.

Home of football

Talking about transfers, the only time we knew about them was when they were announced. There was seldom paper talk about potential transfers during the season and transfer windows never existed, players came and went at any time during the season. We would, of course be envious of some of the wonderful teams that came to Highbury and of their great players. Frequently wishing that we had been fortunate enough to have those players at Arsenal, but that was the clubs business and not ours, you see our business was to support – and that is what we were good at so we stuck to it.

So what has happened to the “real” Arsenal supporters?

Today it would appear that every Arsenal supporter is an “expert” on everything and they have earned imaginary degrees in every subject pertaining to football.

How did they develop this level of “expertise”?

The answer is simple, they’re known in the trade as “Red Top” degrees, and you earn them firstly by being able to read and secondly by having the necessary lack of grey matter to believe everything you read.

Those more accomplished “fans” have found that the internet is also a route to instant education and they have found others of a similar persuasion who are attempting to upgrade their “Red Top” degrees to become a “Phd in Red Top’s”.

These experts then band together and go in search of legitimate sites, run by passionate supporters, and infest them with their “deep understanding” of everything pertaining to football. These sites then become contaminated by the virus and as yet no anti virus has been developed to eradicate them. However this is not all bad as they prefer to be with their own kind so that they can spread their “wisdom”

A little knowledge is always a dangerous thing and today’s media coverage allows some people to become these instant experts that are just like some of the old vinyl record players, once the needle gets stuck in a groove – it “needles” you.

I say we are very fortunate bloggers to have found an internet oasis called Arsenal Arsenal.

Please take into consideration, that these are the ramblings of an old fart.

GunnerN5

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Posted by Rasp

Arsenal’s DM requirements.

August 2, 2013

I am going to call Arteta a DM, although while he does not fit my profile of a DM, I recognize that he did a great job for us, but, can he endure another long season?

Last season, I felt Coquelin was being groomed as first choice back-up. Now I learn the Fella has been shipped out on loan. I think signals can be read into this. What if Arteta were to sustain a long term nasty?

Two options.

First: No dedicated DM, rather a defensive midfield duo. Jack and Rambo, although I have to say that The Ox looked supremely comfortable there when asked to step in at the end of last season (can’t remember the game).

Second option:  We need a dedicated DM. Arsene is going shopping.

Noises surrounded Lars Bender earlier in the window, and I understand this, but inevitably, any purchase must fit in with the overall transfer budget, and therefore priorities must be addressed.

For me, a top class DM is THE priority, but it must be a player who adds a different dimension. In the same way that I prefer a Suarez “type” to a Higuain “type” to add real alternatives to Ollie, I feel a new DM should add height, on top of the usual attributes of mobility, intercerteptiness, tacklely, fearless and fightsome.

I’m not saying a great DM should necessarily be a Big ‘Un, but the height could add to both our defensive as well as offensive options.

In your opinion, where does a DM sit in your list of priorities?

Written by MickyDidIt

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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