The AST – where did it all go wrong?

September 10, 2013

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust was set up in 2003.  Its purpose was and, as stated on its website, still is to encourage the ownership of Arsenal shares by fans and to promote the involvement of fans in the running of the club.  Not every football fan will be interested in such geeky issues, but I certainly think the objectives are good and laudable.

And yet, in the last few weeks, the AST has been quoted publicly on topics relating to the manager’s contract and on the signing of players.  Its comments have been critical of the Wenger-Gazidis-Kroenke regime, strikingly so in the otherwise joyous aftermath of the Özil signing, when the AST bemoaned that Arsenal had left money in the pot and complained that the transfer budget needed to be better managed.

In the last couple of years, the AST has become more and more visible in the media in relation to such football issues.  But what have they got to do with the original purpose for which the AST was established, share ownership and the involvement of fans in the running of the club?  On what basis does the AST’s leadership feel it can weigh into debates in the media around the football aspects of the club?

Looking at the first seven or eight years of the AST’s existence, it provided an excellent forum for Arsenal fans on ownership and governance issues, including to provide authoritative and insightful commentaries on the club’s finances, to provide objective views on the stadium project and to act as a voice in the ownership controversies involving Fiszman, Kroenke, Dein, Usmanov, Bracewell-Smith, Hill-Wood and ITV plc.  It acquired three Arsenal shares itself, one of which was donated by the club, enabling AST members to become owners of a stake in the club we all adore.

The AST acquired a respectable position in the Arsenal community, in part due to the club according it respect from the outset, with regular meetings with Edelman, Gazidis, even Kroenke.  The AST built up credibility because it expressed objective, fair views on the state of the club’s finances (a sensitive topic in the years since the new stadium project was taken on), and campaigned for the unsexy objective of getting fans on the club’s board of directors and getting shares into the hands of fans.

So why is it talking on footballing issues, such as transfer budgets and the manager now?

And with what mandate does it express views on such topics?

There are numerous fans’ organisations that exist to provide different flavours of views on such issues: there is the Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association; there is REDaction; there is the Black Scarf Movement; there may still be (I’m not sure) still the Arsenal Supporters’ Club.  And then there are the many, many Arsenal websites, fanzines, bloggers and tweeters.  (We seem to have more fans determined to write about the club than any other.)  So there’s no particular need that the AST fulfils by taking it upon itself to express views on football aspects.

There’s no problem with individuals expressing views, we’re all football fans, which almost inevitably brings with it the holding of opinions about all sorts of things.  Each member of the AST, including its board members, has the perfect right to express views on which player should be bought, sold, picked or dropped, and whether the manager should be sacked or kept on.   But the AST’s purpose is specific, and it was not established to express views other than on ownership and fan involvement in the club.  And at a time when a fundamental division has built up amongst many Arsenal fans, the AST has been skating on thin ice for those of its members, and Arsenal fans generally, who don’t agree with the line taken in its media comments

This is a classic case of mission creep.  It seems to me that those running the AST got bored with limiting themselves to topics relating to ownership and fan involvement.  They like talking to the press, and now want to talk, and more importantly, be quoted, on topics relating to the game of football itself, not just those geeky topics the AST was set up for.  What can be more fun than real football journalists taking you seriously, when you express a view about the acquisition of players?  It’s almost like your opinion is equal to that of the manager.  The trouble is, to get that quote into The Times or The Standard, it needs to be said on behalf of that respected organisation, the AST; after all, without that, it’s just so much wind.

I signed up as a lifetime member of the AST some years ago.  My involvement has been pretty passive, but I was happy to see the AST playing its role on finances, ownership and governance at Arsenal.  This week, I exchanged emails with Steve Cooper, the AST’s Secretary, outlining my complaints and asking how the AST could justify its public position given the purpose for which the AST exists.  To be fair to Steve and the board that runs the AST, I received considered responses to my complaints.  But the content of those responses were unsatisfactory: the AST board feels it can comment publicly on anything relating to Arsenal because it owns shares in the club.  That is its justification for taking a public position on football issues.  They say that they were merely commenting on how Arsenal runs its finances.

But that really is asking AST members and Arsenal fans to suspend logic: how can the AST talk to the media, wanting to be quoted, about Wenger’s contract or how Wenger goes about signing players, without that being the expression of views on football matters?  It can’t, and the AST should at least be honest about what it is doing, not all football fans are idiots.  No wonder there are increasing signs of anger with the arrogance of the AST, such as the fine article that appeared this week on the Arsenal page of Vital Football (http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=537096).

I concluded my discussion with Steve Cooper by submitting my resignation as a member.  I do not want to be associated with an organisation that increasingly exists as a platform for promoting the opinions of the small cabal that runs it, an organisation that seems to have forgotten why it was set up in the first place.

Written by 26May89

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Wenger Critics – It’s OK To Come Back Home

September 9, 2013

Disharmony is not a good thing.

In music, it produces sounds that are dissonant and unpleasant to the ear (yes One Direction, I’m looking at you!).

At Arsenal Football Club it has produced a period of fractiousness, has raised tempers and temperatures and pitted supporter against supporter.

All a bit ironic really, when you consider the club motto: Victoria Concordia Crescit: Victory Through Harmony.

So one of the most pleasing by-products of the Ozil to Arsenal story is that it might heal some of the psychological wounds that have afflicted the club and fans in the last few years.

Here’s why.

The “spend some f**king money” argument has been thoroughly defused and rendered harmless (although there are bound to be a few hold-outs who think that £42m on a single player is still not enough).

Likewise the “no ambition” accusation against Arsene Wenger and the club can be removed from the charge sheet (before we got Ozil it is a matter of record that we bid over £40m for the bitey Uruguayan, so we were damn well going to spend big on someone).

And – even though it is often overlooked in the razzmatazz of the Ozil signing – the shifting out of the so-called “dead wood” can also play its part in improving the sense of well-being around the club: most supporters now accept that the current crop of players are fully committed and will sweat blood for the team. There are few, if any, left in the squad who can be accused of being lazy or of shirking their duties.

So, is it too much to hope that the fans, who have been so disunited, can come back together again and support the team with one voice?

I think not.

A comment on Arsenal Arsenal a couple of days ago gave me a lot of hope. It came from someone – Alfygun – who is not a “regular” in the comment columns. This is an edited version of what he said:

“I have been one of Mr Wenger’s biggest critics over the last few seasons, but the last few weeks I have had to admire his strength and his unwavering belief in his methods and principles. I think a lot of the criticism and anger that has been directed at him by myself and thousands of others is because we find it hard to understand someone who will not be swayed by public opinion and is willing to put his reputation on the line to protect his players as well as his ideas.


“There are still a lot of Mr Wenger’s ideas and ways of dealing with things I do not agree with – as a fan of 30 odd years I get very passionate about Arsenal’s results and dealings – but maybe I’ll take a leaf from Mr Wenger’s book and conduct myself in a more graceful manner.”

I thought it was brilliantly put by Alfygun: he reserves his right to criticise Wenger and the way he operates, but acknowledges that our manager has performed with strength and dignity during a very difficult period. He, in turn, feels he should display similar restraint and dignity when taking issue with the direction of the club in future.

Although my own support of Wenger has remained strong I have also felt the frustration and, occasionally, anger that has prompted many supporters to turn on him. In my case usually, once I have stepped back and considered the bigger picture, my belief in Le Boss is restored, but I understand why others have lost faith.

Now I sincerely hope that Alfygun’s sentiment is echoed by others who have become disillusioned with the current set-up.

We have an exciting team to get behind and a genuinely world class star to build around.

We have money to spend, we have sent a clarion call to the football world that we are ready to seek out and buy the very best and the future is most definitely one filled with hope.

So for the fans – so recently at each others throats – this can be a time for olive branches and healing.

If you have sat/stood at the Emirates singing at Arsene Wenger “spend some f**king money” or “you don’t know what you’re doing”, it doesn’t matter.

If you have been moved to go onto Arsenal blogs to demand that Arsene resign or be fired, it doesn’t matter.

If you have said things like “we’ll never win anything again with him in charge,” it doesn’t matter.

If you have bought into the media-fuelled negativity surrounding the club, it doesn’t matter.

If you have found yourself even partly convinced by some of the palpable lies spewed by the more hateful blogs (“Wenger gets a bonus for not spending money on transfer fees”) it doesn’t matter.

If you have begged for Alisher Usmanov to come and save us because “that funny American bloke with the moustache never spends any money” it doesn’t matter.

It is time to come home to the Arsenal you have always loved – the one you could support without caveat or equivocation. The one where you knew that everyone around you in the stadium felt the same way as you did.

It is time for us all to sing with one voice.

Victoria Concordia Crescit.

RockyLives

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A Manifesto for Establishing Continued Success for the English National Team.

September 8, 2013

Greg Dyke has a fistful of complaints against everyone but the FA as to why the English national team has failed at every level for a very long time – yet is engaging the same minds responsible for the current problems to solve it. The problems are not insurmountable, but a paradigm shift needs to occur at the FA in terms of their own responsibility to deliver elite players and ensure that they get the time on the pitch they need to develop to their full potential.

Being an insomniac, I’ve given this a lot of thought over the years and have always had a very basic solution in mind – remove the self-interest of the domestic club and you have the foundation for success. Below I’ve detailed what I think are the key issues and how it should be resolved. You might think I like my US sports based on what I’ve put together below…and you’d be right.

The key issues as to why the national team has continually failed:

· Not enough young English players forcing their way through to first team football at the top of the game.

· Not enough coaches of the calibre required to nurture young players to their full potential.

· A lack of desire or willingness of top-level teams to release their players on a consistent basis to the national team.

The following steps are those that I feel would be address the situation and put English football back where it belongs – at the top of the international tree:

· Increase scouting at FA – identify potential “elite” players as early as possible, retain them as FA-based players but make nearest PL team responsible for development – a certain % of academy must be allocated to FA players who live within a certain distance from training ground. If more than one team in locale, decision where to train must be made by player after tender offers by clubs. Club will then have first refusal of said player under the following point.

· FA owned central contracts. FA must follow crickets route of ensuring their best players are made available to the national side and the only guaranteed way of doing so is by following a cricket / US model of central contracts for English players, with teams then negotiating with FA to “loan” their players, paying a loan fee and all wages for the player. FA must have right of recall for those players not getting an agreed amount of game time to ensure English players are given priority. This would negate the key legal issue around having to field a minimum number of English players vs non-English, which contravenes European employment rules in terms of EU players – particularly bearing in mind that the appearance remuneration makes quotas impossible as a restriction of both trade and earnings.

· All FA-based players must take their coaching badges as part of their education. Need to ensure the next generation of coaches are coming through. Should also learn how to effectively referee the game at the top level.

· All England internationals should be contractually obliged to help with the coaching of young English players at their domestic club and pre youth football tournaments. Could be rotated, with players having to complete a minimum level of hours per season.

· The FA should be responsible for the fitness and assessment of fitness for all English players, not the domestic club.

· Through agreement with international FA’s, there should be a player / coach swap, where elite players and coaches are sent abroad to learn under different techniques / philosophies for a short amount of time.

· Premier League clubs should be contractually obliged to provide facilities and help in the development of the next generation of coaches and managers.

Hopefully you’ve found it interesting – would love hear what you think!

Cheers

Rhyle.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A Window Spattered With Verbal Diarrhoea

September 7, 2013

Sometimes you’ve got to just love the sheer class that oozes from every pore of Arsene Wenger.

The summer transfer window had its ups and downs (culminating for us, of course, with the sort of enormous ‘up’ many of us haven’t seen since our teenage years).

But for me the most distinctive aspect of this particular window was the sheer quantity of utter S H one T that spewed from the mouths of managers who ought to have known better.

By 11pm on Monday there was so much liquid poo on the window that it could pass for the toilet bowl of a Nile cruise boat with an outbreak of Pharaoh’s Revenge.

What don’t these idiots get about negotiation?

You know: simple concepts like confidentiality, respecting your negotiating partners, professionalism rather than emotional hissy fit-ism.

Throughout the summer Arsene Wenger behaved with impeccable manners and decorum.

No word of any Arsenal transfer negotiations was ever put about by him.

Contrast that with the slack-mouthed jabbering of managers and even owners from some of the other Premier League outfits.

There was Brendan ‘Brent’ Rodgers bleating about our “disrespectful” bid for Luis Suarez, followed by his owner John Henry making snide comments about the Arsenal hierarchy. And for what? Because we made a bid for a player.

THAT’S WHAT THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS FOR, YOU MORONS.

And an opening bid is an opening bid. The idea is that you either reject it out of hand or reply with your own valuation. Then there’s some haggling. Then you either make a deal or you don’t. Oh – and you do it all privately.

What you don’t do is go running round all offended like a maiden aunt who’s had her embonpoint fondled by a moustachioed man on the train.

Rodgers and Henry displayed all the integrity of street corner pimps and the business savvy of Gerald Ratner. You may say their tactics worked because they got to keep their man. The truth is they only got to keep him because Rodgers went back on his word that Suarez could leave if ‘Pool failed to make the Champions League spots. That’s going to make for a happy camper in the Scouse dressing room, isn’t it? The bitey Uruguayan clearly wanted to make a step up by joining Arsenal and he won’t be happy with Liverpool’s usual battle for the top six or seven (don’t be fooled by their smart start to the season).

No sooner had Henry and Rodgers piped down than, not to be outdone, Alan ‘Not Very Good’ Pardew muscled in on the act.

The Newcastle manager was outraged that we made an opening bid for his midfielder Yohan Cabaye. How very dare we?

He could have kept his trap shut and negotiated properly with us – in which case we might well have made the deal at a much higher price than our initial offer and in time for him to spend the money on a replacement.

Instead he, too, is left with a player who spotted the chance of moving to a better team then got let down by the crass behavior of his manager and club.

Across the Pennines the new man at Old Toilet showed his naivety by speaking openly about his desire to sign our erstwhile hero Cesc Fabregas. A clearly frustrated Fab ended up having to appear before the press to say: “Look, I really have no intention of moving to that crappy part of England to play in a declining team led by that scary bloke from Lord of the Rings.” Well, they weren’t his exact words but that’s what he meant.

And through it all, like the Queen Mary sailing through a flotilla of dinghies, Arsene Wenger maintained the true and proper course of a man and a manager.

Thankyou Arsene.

The whole thing makes me wonder whether there shouldn’t be a code of conduct for doing business in the transfer windows. Even if there is nothing legally enforceable about it, maybe it will at least serve to embarrass the worst offenders.

What do you think?

RockyLives

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Paul Merson: “Just papering over the Cracks”

September 6, 2013

Amazing how a win over AIOS (always in our shadow) and a big signing has changed the atmosphere around the club. Suddenly we have “potential” And BR is not one to be a party -pooper, or even a pooper-scooper (I resigned from that task when I moved to this fair land).

So how to continue in this positive vein. Shall I write about the way Mr Wenger has shoved it up the journalists who were so damning during the summer.? Or should I write about the plums who have spent hours writing about how the club is doomed on most AFC websites have suddenly disappeared?  (whisper it, but even our troll has gone quiet). Or about how the noisy neighbours are once more reduced to talking about how they “will” rise to the top once the team is bedded in – like every season for 18 years?

Perhaps this should be a Le Grove-type post –  an article about how Mr Wenger is extraordinarily mean with his money? Or how he benefits financially from his lack of spending? Or how he cannot close a deal? Or how AFC have no ambition? Or how Gazidis is a puppet for a man who is only interested in profit? Or how Kroenke doesn’t give a damn?

Perhaps I can write about the lack of noise in the stadium – yes, that stadium which was rocking for 96 minutes last Sunday. Or maybe a few words about how our midfield will never be able to be competitive against a group of big, strong men like Dembele, Capoue, Sandro and some other berk.

Would you like a post about how signing a midfield journeyman who bretrayed us a few years ago is a fop to the fans? Or that our mega-signing is money spent in the wrong area of the field? Or how we are desperate for back-up defensively ? Or what happens if Giroud is injured? Perhaps examine Merson’s assertion that our wins are “just papering over the cracks” – maybe he is right.

Of course, BR could write in his normal positive way, about how we have the best midfield in the country and how Ramsey is better than Gerrard. That Cazorla is better than Hazard or Mata or  Silva. How the combination of Mert’s positional sense and Kos’s physicality is developing into an outstanding centreback pairing. How Walcott has become a player I never could have imagined – one with vision and genuine attacking threat.

And then there is Giroud. Half the price of Soldildo and twice the player.

So much to write ….. so little time. So I won’t  😀

Written by Big Raddy

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Premiership clubs destroy England – Is Dyke right?

September 5, 2013

The new Chairman of the FA, Greg Dyke, has opened his account with a high profile critique of the current state of the game in England.  His fundamental point is that the pool of English talent continues to diminish and something needs to be done about that.

Looking at the last World Cup and the recent Under 21 Euros, you could say he has a point.  In both of those tournaments, England produced pretty lame and tame performances, and never looked to be in danger of troubling the silver polishers.

Personally, I think there are some very good young English players around right now, not least of all our own Theo, Jack, Gibbs, Corporal Jenks and the Ox. The likes of Daniel Sturridge, Joe Hart, Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Ryan Bertrand, Jack Rodwell and Wilfried Zaha all look excellent.  And amongst the youngsters behind them, there are players who look to have real quality: for example, Spurs’ Tom Carroll looks very good.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the English game is in fact the English and Welsh game, and right now there is something of a resurgence in the Welsh game, evidenced most obviously by Bale’s transformation into a Galactico, but also shown by the amazing success of Swansea and the return of Cardiff to the top division. And then there’s our own fantastic Welshman.

So, I’m not so sure the problem is as bad as it’s being made out to be.  It’s also worth remembering that, in recent years, the senior England squad has become more reliable about qualifying for major tournaments.  In the 1970s and 1980s, they made it a habit of missing out on qualification; that doesn’t much now.

Dyke’s focus seems to be on foreign players’ presence in the Premier League.  He cites figures suggesting that, in the last 20 years, the number of English players in the starting line-ups of top-flight clubs had gone from 69% to 32%.  He also said the proportion of new signings by PL clubs who are qualified to play for England had fallen from 37% to 25% in the past two years. “Last weekend only 65 English players started in the Premier League with another 14 coming on as substitutes,” he said. “Taking into account that some of these players are not international standard, I think it’s fair to say we already have a very small talent pool and it’s getting smaller.”

I won’t get into the basis of Dyke’s stats, save to make the general point that percentages can be calculated in many different ways, so I don’t necessarily take Dyke’s figures to be gospel.  For example, it isn’t clear to me where Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Irish players fit into the analysis – players from those five footballing nations constituted the pre-PL pool from which players were drawn, so narrowly looking only at English players now would stunt the figures. Also, when you think of dual qualification, people like Carl Jenkinson for example, the truth behind the figures can become less clear.

But let’s assume that Dyke is right, that there is a diminishing pool of English PL players for the England coaches to recruit from.  Is that really a problem?  And if it is, why has it happened, and what could be done to rectify it?

Whenever I hear people complaining about the number of foreigners playing in the PL, my first reaction is always to point to the stubborn reluctance of young English players to make the same moves as their counterparts from other countries.  If they’re not getting enough pitch time in England, why not go to Holland, Sweden, France, Portugal, Belgium, or the US?  My guess is those youngsters are too scared to take on the challenge of moving country and/or prefer to take the easy, better money of being in an English PL squad.  Introducing quotas on foreign players (even if that were legally possible) wouldn’t answer those problems.  It would be better to give those young players some life-coaching, so that they make better decisions and broaden their horizons and their ambitions.

So, any thoughts?  Is Dyke right?  Do changes need to be made to the way the game is organised?  Does the strength of the national team even matter as compared with the ability of the clubs to recruit whatever players they want?

Written by 26may

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Are We Still 1 Player Short?

September 4, 2013

So after the excitement of the victory in the NLD, and the deadline day transfer of a truly world class player that smashed our record and the record for the transfer of any German player, it is maybe time to reflect on whether this current squad has the personnel and resources to win some major silverware.

I personally don’t think it is entirely necessary to have literally covered all areas of the squad, and is possibly not even realistic. There are plenty of examples of teams winning major silverware while still having question-marks about certain areas of the team either in terms of quality or strength in depth in certain departments. Sometimes that deficiency, and lack of cover, bites back at you and you fall short, and sometimes you ride it out and turn out winners anyway. Often the key is having adaptability in the squad where you have 4-5 players with the ability to cover other positions aside from their best one.

Looking at our squad I would break it down as follows :-

Goal-keepers :

I still have Chezzer (or TPIG to many) as our number 1 and am happy with this. I feel he is already a top class keeper and will only improve further. The addition of Viviano and the presence of an improved Fabianski, I personally think makes us strong in this department.

Verdict – Good number 1 and good cover in reserve.

Defence and defensive midfield :

I have paired the DM and defence together because of the potential adaptability factor in certain players. I actually think we are well covered in both these areas now largely due to the acquisition of Flamini. I look at it as having 2 very good right FB’s in Sagna and Jenkinson and 2 very good left FB’s in Gibbs and Monreal. We know Flamini is well capable of covering the left FB role and surely as a right footed player that should translate (if needed in an extreme situation) to being able to cover the right FB position. Central defence sees us with 3 senior and experienced centre backs to rotate in, Mertesacker, Koscielny, and Vermaelen. With Sagna also proving very able in this position how many more players can we accommodate or do we desperately need in the defensive areas?

Defensive midfield has been Arteta’s role in recent times and one he still performs to a high level. His most natural replacement is now Flamini whose acquisition has given us extra squad depth and more importantly added experience here. Beyond those 2, Ramsey and Wilshere playing as a deeper 2 don’t look easy to break down either, and even Rosicky can put in a shift in a deeper role if he is with the right partner.

Verdict – Quality FB’s, CD’s and DM’s as first choice and good adaptability with certain players to provide all round squad depth.

Attacking central midfield :

Probably our highest quality area with the greatest strength in depth. In our most attacking line up we have a maximum of 2 positions up for grabs here and have a choice of Cazorla, Ozil, Wilshere, Ramsey, and Rosicky before we even get to looking at some of the quality youngsters like Eisfeld and Zelalem.

Verdict – Well covered, if not the best in the league in this area.

Attacking wide players / inside forwards :

Having lost Gervinho we are left with 2 players who play mostly in these positions in Walcott and Podolski. At face value this looks like a slightly depleted position, especially considering Podolski’s lengthy lay off, but some of our quality and experienced ACM’s are well able to play in these positions, namely Cazorla, Rosicky, Ozil and Wilshere. I also feel that at least one of the young emerging players will get some increased playing time in this position this season, most likely Gnabry, so although another specialist attacking wide player may have been nice, we are still well covered and I don’t personally feel this will be the area that could potentially cost us this season.

Verdict – One more top attacking wide player would have been nice but we can still cover this area with high quality from within the squad.

Lead striker (number 9) :

This for me, and probably for many of you out there, is the one area that we may be caught short in. Worryingly reading between the lines with some reports that AW made last ditch bids for Rooney, Benteke, Djemba Ba, and Javier Pastore, it appears our esteemed manager recognised this as well. It is possibly the one area in this TW that I could find criticism with. We left it too late, and I think we possibly could have actually got a couple of those players if we had gone for them earlier. There are other potential missed opportunities. For instance how many of you would welcome the addition of David Villa to our squad right now and feel that we would be far more complete and have greater strength in depth up front, and be ready to challenge for the title if he were with us. He went for something around £5M I believe.

AW went big for a world class number 9 and I actually bear him no grudges on this, even if it has slightly backfired. The transfer window at the top end of the market is fraught with difficulties, especially with the addition of 2 new oil backed clubs in France snapping up quality players we may have normally had a chance with. This kind of situation and disappointment is not unique to Arsenal amongst the top clubs, and we just need to adapt and be strong until we have other options.

Ollie Giroud is now our only recognised regular number 9. Podolski had started to play this role a bit more recently, but is now out injured until Christmas. I have championed Walcott for the role in the past but am starting to prefer him as an attacking wide player. He could of course be an option for the role, but I feel it would depend on the type of opposition being faced. We have 2 youngsters that are more ready than some of the other young players to drop into the number 9 role in Sanogo and Akpom, but both have draw-backs with regard to age and experience at this level, and in Sanogo’s case also acclimatisation to the EPL.

The last option is one Mr Bendtner. Now many will laugh this one off but I have had pause for thought. For me NB is not the future of Arsenal or good enough to be a regular first team player, but also I don’t perceive him as a bad player either. He has far more big game experience than either Sanogo or Akpom and if fit he is the closest thing we have to Giroud in terms of a player who can hold the ball up and bring team-mates into play.

I think Ollie is a better goal-scorer and all round player, but if you look at the quality of our attacking midfielders behind the number 9 now, then it is maybe more important that our current number 9’s are players that can hold the ball up and bring advancing team-mates into play. I believe a fit NB can do this. His future is maybe not with us but it will not do him any harm to come into games with us and put on a good show and help us win games. We obviously benefit, and he would benefit where would be suitors will suddenly look at him differently. My hope is that if and when Bendtner is called upon, that the Arsenal faithful pay due respect and don’t start muttering. If he pulls on the Arsenal shirt and gives his all he deserves our support, even if his time with us is limited. It will not be too dissimilar to having a loan player in my mind.

Verdict on the number 9 – our weakest area, and needs addressing when we can, but I still feel we can overcome any deficiencies here for a while.

In summary and as I said earlier other teams have historically prevailed and won titles with slightly deficient areas in their squad and we just have to do the same. It is what it is now till the January transfer window and / or players are returning from injury. I actually believe we have a fantastic squad with great strength in depth maybe barring the one position, but I still feel that is a hurdle we can overcome.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Yes, Arsenal Can Win The Title

September 3, 2013

Dontcha just hate those last minute panic buys :-D?

Now I don’t want to seem parochial, but it’s impossible to separate the closing moments of the transfer window from the North London Derby that took place barely 24 hours earlier.

Before the game against the Shadow People, the cacophony of premature triumphalism from N17 was deafening.

The Spuds’ fans were eager to tell us how they had spent more than £100m on new players while our outlay made Scrooge look profligate. Inevitably (according to their logic) we would be drowned by a tsunami of banknotes when they pitched up at The Emirates.

But character is never eclipsed by cash, nor class outshone by gaudy trinkets: Arsenal 1, Totteringham 0.

Imagine being a Spud this morning.

It’s like you’ve spent the past week going round to your next door neighbour, giving it large:

Spud: “I’ve got a new bicycle. Let’s have a race.”

You: “No thanks.”

Spud, the next day: “I’ve got a new bicycle and now I’ve got a new horse. Let’s have a race.”

You: “No thanks.”

Spud, the next day: “I’ve got a new bicycle and a new horse and a new moped. Let’s have a race.”

You: “No thanks.”

Spud, the next day: “I’ve got a new bicycle and a new horse and a new moped and a new Ford Fiesta. Let’s have a race.”

You: “No thanks.”

Spud, the next day: “Er… hello.”

You: “I’ve got a Ferrari. Let’s do it.”

Answer me this: would you swap the £109m of New Potatoes that have arrived in N17 this summer for Mesut Ozil?

I wouldn’t.

Ozil is a world class player of a calibre that has not been signed by Arsenal since the arrival of a certain Dutch deity back in 1995 (yes, nearly 20 years ago).

Other Arsenal players have turned into superstars after joining us (Henry, Vieira, Fabregas, Brave Sir Robin) but Ozil is the first player to join as a bona fide genius since Dennis walked across the Caledonian Canal and into the Marble Halls, pausing only to distribute loaves and fishes to the masses.

So now we know the squad we have for the season ahead (notwithstanding the potential for reinforcements in January).

I would not say I’m 100% happy with it. I would have preferred an extra centre back and another centre forward to provide cover for Ollie G. But on balance I feel we’re in a good place.

Here are our main options:

Goalkeeper: Szczesny, Viviano, Fabianski.

Fullback: Sagna, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Monreal (Flamini).

Centre Back: Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen (Sagna).

Midfield: Wilshere, Rosicky, Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla, Flamini.

Attack: Giroud, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Walcott, (Sanogo/Bendtner).

Good enough to win the league?

You bet!

It doesn’t mean we WILL win the league: there are far too many variables for that to be said with any confidence. But I feel convinced that in this campaign, when it comes to the business end of things, we will be in the mix for top three, not for fourth/fifth.

Despite the angst of most Gunners, I would have been feeling modestly confident even if we had signed no-one yesterday.

Even before Ozil’s arrival our first 11 was becoming a match for anyone. The players are on an amazing run (only one defeat since March 3rd) and their belief is starting to become self-reinforcing: they work for one another and they trust one another. They have started to refuse the notion of being defeated. I’m sure our young British core (all re-upped in their contracts during last season) are central to this resurgence, supported by the experience and character of players like Arteta and Mertesacker (and now Flamini).

Of course, we can’t win the league if other teams are better than us. So how have our rivals fared in their summer transfer dealings and how are they shaping up for the challenge ahead?

Let’s consider them all, even the not-really-rivals like the Spuds and Liverpool.

Totteringham: they have lost their best player and replaced him with lots of half-decent players who will take a considerable time to adjust to the EPL and to playing alongside each other. I expect them to come good after Christmas, but by that time they will have dropped too many points to be anything other than outsiders for the Champions League positions. They are still crying out for a top creative central attacking midfielder or number 10.

Liverpuddle: whoop-de-doop! They have won their first three games of the season! This could be their year, right? Wrong. Their manager is a plank and their frailties will become apparent soon enough. Any team that thinks Kolo is the answer has clearly not been listening to the question.

ManUre: this could be a great year for the ManUre-haters (hello Chary). Their inept performance in the transfer window shows that the club has lost any remaining pull since the departure of the aubergine-hootered Jock. To be honest, United’s stock was already on the slide in Europe before Ferguson’s exit because, despite their domestic successes, it was obvious to everyone that they were no longer capable of competing with the top teams from Spain, Germany and Italy. There is nothing about Gollum that suggests he is any way suited to halting the slide. Fellaini is an OK signing – but he’s not what they need (indeed, as I said recently, he’s not as good as Ramsey). They needed Fabregas and he told them to eff off. They needed Ozil but he took a good look at the individuals alongside whom he would be playing and chose Arsenal instead. I expect United to fall out of the top four this year.

Chavski:  the Special Needs One is back and it would be a brave gambler who would bet against Chelsea having a decent season. They will definitely be in contention and will be one of our biggest rivals, even with Will-I-Am playing attacking midfield.

ManCiteh: they have a well respected coach, an embarrassment of riches on the playing side and gazillions of money. I happen to think that they will be neck and neck with Manchester United for the “who can fall out of the top four fastest” contest. As Arsenal showed against the Reprobates – money can’t buy you team spirit.

Conclusion: “It’s up for grabs now.”

And this is where the Mesut Ozil signing comes in: it’s not just about making a brilliant addition to our squad. It’s about providing a huge lift to those amazing Arsenal players who have been doing so well week in and week out for 15 matches.

Arsene Wenger has said to those players: “I trust you – but to enable you to reach the highest heights I am adding a true superstar.  I want to match the ambitions you have for yourselves and for our club.” Ozil will make the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey and Walcott even better.

I am glad there is no Cabaye. My faith is in Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini et al.

I am sort-of glad there is no Benzema, whose presence (and no doubt insistence on playing time in a World Cup year) would relegate the ever-improving Giroud to the bench.

Meanwhile, Ozil’s signing also makes a statement to our rivals: no defender will feel comfortable when they see him lining up against them in the EPL. After all, who wants to be next in the Nutmeg Hall of Shame that makes up any Ozil YouTube compilation?

So, has Arsene played the transfer window in a masterful way?

I doubt it. With the thin-ness of our squad and the swathe of early season injuries it doesn’t take too much of a leap of the imagination to think we could have failed to qualify for the Champions League (in which case, no Ozil) and might have struggled against Fulham and the Spuds.

Next season I would be much happier if the major business was done before the start of the season, not before the end of the window.

But somehow our professorial leader has ended up the winner in this summer of frenzied speculation and occasional action.

His late, emphatic move for Ozil makes Villas Boas look like a spendthrift hoarder of cheap tat and makes Moyes look like a boy trying to sit at the men’s table while secretly weeing himself with fear.

I’m not a great one for “I told you so”, but after the general gloom that followed our opening day defeat to Aston Villa I wrote a Post urging people to keep things in perspective. All teams – even the greatest – occasionally lose games that they shouldn’t. I just felt people were reading too much into one defeat that was largely down to dodgy refereeing, and unnecessarily writing off our season before it had begun.

However, I did add: “I am also confident that good players will be brought in (if they are not, I will be singing a different tune).”

Since then, Flamini, Viviano and Ozil have arrived.

For me, the song remains the same.

The title is there to be won. Let’s do it.

RockyLives

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Confounding the Critics : Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0

September 2, 2013

This is not a match report, its a bunch of ramblings from a very happy Gooner with no real structure.

Lets start as we mean to go on, with a bloody good laugh. Laugh at the media, laugh at Levy’s £109m investment, laugh at AVB sprinting down the touch line to tell Kyle Walker to launch the ball in to the box because he was too thick to realise it was 30 seconds to go, laugh at all those who say Arsene Wenger doesn’t do tactics.

Yesterday our wily old Frenchman won the tactical battle, and the players executed it perfectly. Looking at the line ups it appeared that Spurs had been set up to create a solid defensive unit and to spring counter attacks using the pace of Townsend and Chadli feeding Soldado (I’m glad at this point the teamsheet is there as it indeed shows that they had a centre forward on the pitch £28m worth apparently).

Wenger had a trick up his sleeve, their midfield three lacked mobility, so Wenger set us up not to push too high, their attacking three were isolated and red and white shirts crowded them out and regained possession with relative ease. And when we won possession we had the pace and numbers to look threatening running at the heart of the Tottenham defence.

Wenger was rewarded by his players with a beautifully fashioned goal, at pace the ball was pinged around and players moved with intent, Theo was set free down the right with Spurs defenders not knowing who to mark, Giroud pulled Dawson this way and that before darting towards the near post to produce a deft finish to the bottom corner from Theo’s accurate cross.

giro goal

After the goal we were content to continue the game plan, sitting deep, defending strongly and maximising use of the football when we had it. We were so comfortable that AVB started to change his team pushing Paulinho further forward, which just gave us more room to play forward when we did have the ball.

Despite having very little possession we continued to look threatening on the break, a better pass or a better touch at the crucial moment and we could have had a second.

Just before half time Jack Wilshere was removed feeling unwell and was replaced by Flamini, it wasn’t long before we got to see why it was a “no brainer” for Arsene. Flamini slotted straight in, for the rest of the half and all of the second he was one of the first to press the ball, organising those around him not used to such a battle. Those around him responded, Ramsey, Santi, Rosicky and Theo all prepared to do the more unpleasant side of the game, winning the ball back, fighting for possession.

I haven’t even moved on to the defence yet, they were simply magnificent, Soldado did not get a touch from Koscielny, Chadli and Townsend were kept relatively quiet by Gibbs and Jenkinson and Mertesacker did what he does best, provides calm assurance to those around him and reading the game inside out. And when they did breach the defensive unit Szczesny produced an absolutely top class save.

With players tiring and Spurs throwing more bodies forward it did get a little tense in the last ten minutes. We struggled to clear our lines and hold onto possession further up the pitch, especially once Rosicky and Theo had been replaced by Monreal and Sagna respectively. Giroud had been able to rely on those two for most of the game to be his outlet when trying to hold the ball up, now off the pitch he was looking more isolated but what I think we are all beginning to love about Oli is his work rate, he does not stop competing for his mates. Anyone watch MotD on Saturday night? A certain Mr Berbatov (that player that Arsene should have signed last summer) was sulking around St James’s Park. I know which of the two I’d rather have in my team.

All in all a very good days work, this wasn’t our most fluent display, but it was the kind of performance many of us have been waiting for. So many of my Spurs supporting clients were quick to text me after our defeat by Villa, I’ve kept my powder dry, when should I text, first thing in the morning, or when we’ve announced three super super quality signings?

Ratings:

Szczesny : 9 comfortable handling all game, good distribution especially under pressure and two cracking saves.

Jenkinson : 8 disciplined at right back, considerably helped by Theo occupying Walker

Gibbs : 7 given a bit of a working over by Townsend early on but ordinary service was resumed for the next 70 minutes, not helped by no one occupying Rose.

Koscielny : 9 is he pleased to see us or is that a £28m striker in his pocket.

Mertesacker : 8 leads by example.

Wilshere : 7 not his normal effervescent self but considering illness unsurprising

Ramsey : 9 lead the team in tackles, touches and attempted passes.

Cazorla : 9 the boy is class

Walcott : 8 used his pace to worry Spurs when we had the ball and defended well when we didn’t

Giroud : 9 a great finish, constantly working for his team, goal line block.

Subs:

Flamini : 8 it was indeed a no brainer

Monreal : 7 did what he had to

Sagna : 7 ditto

Wenger : 10 out tacticted the young pretender

Enjoy transfer deadline Gooners bathing in the warm afterglow of a North London Derby win.

Gooner in Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

NLD ….. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

September 1, 2013

Can Arsenal win this afternoon? Reading some of the rubbish written by various Arsenal websites it would appear not. Others say that even if we beat Spurs, it matters not, because it only papers over the cracks (sorry Rasp 😀 ).

Two 5-2’s say different because what have been the highlights of the last two season’s? Have they been to play in Munich or at home to Dortmund? Perhaps beating Man City at the Emirates in 2012? No, the highlight for almost every Gooner are the thrashings of the cave-dwelling, pond-life from down the road.

Those of a nervous disposition point to the hundred million spent by the N17 mugs, but as indicated in the post headline ….. put a slapper in a fur coat and she is still a slapper. Of course, there is the possibility of a monkey typing Hamlet and one must accept that one day we will fail to look down upon them, but first 11 against first 11, we remain better than them.

Credit where credit is due – selling an ape and buying a zoo with the proceeds is fine work. Even a top negotiator like David Dein would be proud, though it remains to be seen whether AVB can get in the circus trainers to create a functioning team. Carrots, a whip, dog treats and some apples will encourage the process.

images

AVB working with his new signings.

In the two previous home NLD’s we have given them at least a goal start and then started playing ; such generosity is unnecessary and we need to tighten up. Despite the gulf in class and quality, care must be taken.

Spurs: It will be interesting to see how many of the new signings start. I doubt AVB will make wholesale changes to a team which has won all it’s games this season. Lamela, Eriksen and the horrific looking CB they have brought in from the Gulags are probably not registered yet.

And what of Adebayor and Defoe ? We might despair at Bendtner but Spurs have more deadwood than the Mary Rose.

A short paragraph of my true thoughts about Spurs.  They will be a major threat to AFC this season. From the reputations of the players brought in, they have bought wisely – a mixture of experience and exciting youth. It must be an interesting time to be a Cave Dweller.

Their defence looks solid-. Lloris has improved and appears to be a top GK.  I was much impressed by Danny Rose last season and in Kyle Walker they have real pace at the back. Vertonghen should be playing in red and white, a poor, poor decision from AW not to sign him.  Dawson is their weak link – we must attack him.

In midfield the improvement is huge. Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho and Capoue are formidable opponents, add in the creativity of the soon to arrive Eriksen and Spurs look very strong.

Upfront, Soldado was very expensive but had a decent strike record at Valencia. And what do we make of Andros Townsend? Is he the new Apeboy or just another Lemon?

I stated at the beginning of last season that AVB would be Spurs best signing for decades. Let us hope I am wrong.

Arsenal:

The injury to Podolski could be costly as we have very little attacking bite on the bench. Sanogo, good as he will be, doesn’t excite. With Ox out as well, Mr Wenger is almost forced to play Cazorla out on the left or continue with Gibbs in front of Monreal.

We need a return to the defensive cohesion we saw at the end of last season and the return of Koscielny is good news. Sagna has been excellent at CB but I prefer him to Jenks at RB.

Midfield will be where the game is won. This game cries out of the discipline and experience of Arteta, but if our little fellows can run the legs off their more physical opponents we will find space for Theo to hurt them.

Giroud. IF Oliver can convert the chances he is sure to have we will win. In my opinion, OG and Theo are  the central figures in the game.

My team:

a1t

We are seriously lacking on the bench. Gnabry, Frimpong, Sanogo ?? We need bodies. The signing of Flamini in time for the NLD could be important.

The referee is Michael Oliver. His performance will be vital. We have seen young Jack get a right good kicking in almost every game he plays; rotational fouling has become the norm. There is little doubt that AVB will send out his midfield with orders to be very physical and it is up to Oliver to make sure they play within the rules. I doubt whether he will be up to the task but trust he is better than the idiot we had against Villa. There are sure to be controversial calls and let us hope he gets them right. As always, check out Untold Arsenal to get referee stats.

Today will be one of the most interesting and nerve-racking NLD’s of recent times. Are the new Spurs the real deal or just Johnny Come Lateleys?

So, referring back to the opening sentence of the post, of course we can.

Believe.

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy

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