Schadenfreude.

Which gave you more pleasure – seeing the results of both Spurs and Man Utd or Arsenal getting a “plucky” draw (we could remove the P and be more accurate)  in Paris.

In Raddy’s case, the enjoyment of the two losses was considerable but fleeting, a little like a naughty doughnut, whereas the warm feelings created by the series of Cavani misses will help me through the long winter nights. So, on balance, I would have to say that a positive Arsenal result is better than a negative one for our rivals.

This is one of the most enjoyable parts of football fandom –  I care about other teams results in an antipathetic way. It isn’t enough that Arsenal gain 3 points and win handsomely, what heightens the enjoyment is an embarrassing loss for any of the Top 5 clubs.

What really piques the senses is when they lose points in an unjust manner such as Chelsea and Cahill getting “Marriner-ed” at Swansea which, following our questionable last-minute penalty the day before, made for an excellent weekend’s football.

Or is it just me?

written by Big Raddy

A point away to PSG, you’re going to take it all day long, especially when we consider just how many golden chances PSG had to kill the game off; if Giroud had had the chances that Cavani had and missed we would be laying into him like there was not tomorrow. True we could have had a second ourselves when the ball fell kindly to Iwobi and had he converted it we may well have won the game but on balance to win last night would have been very lucky indeed.

We’re getting better slowly but surely, we are obviously not where we want to be yet but it is plain to see that we are moving in the right direction. The encouraging thing is that we all know that there is more to come. It is not as though we are fielding our best eleven and they are playing at the top of their game and we are still gifting the opposition chance after chance. No, the best attack combination has not yet been found neither has the best midfield become clear but I think we all know or certainly hope that this is all doable and will happen. What I am trying to say is that there is a lot more to come from this squad and it is going to be great watching it unfold and develop.

The talking point before the game was the team selection with people questioning quite a few of Wenger’s team selection. As it turned out a lot of it made more sense than many realised and any criticism I make from here I realise I do so with the very useful aid of hindsight.

Ospina’s agility, which could be argued is better than Cech’s, kept us in that game with saves that got better and better as the game went on so much so that towards the end they can only be described as amazing; can’t criticise AW for that choice. The back line is the best we have and all did pretty well once they woke up, got their kit and boots on and took to the field which was shortly after PSG scored.

Mustafi looks as though he has been in that team for about three seasons. If he can be that influential after two games we have got ourselves one heck of a CB.

Coquelin was the right choice; he is so much better at defending than Xhaka but you wait and see what happens on Saturday: Xhaka will start because Hull will be on the back foot and we will need to find a way to break them down, same situation as Watford.

Cazorla? Who else could have played there? It was the right choice. Ozil obviously has to play; Walcott was injured so it made sense to start with Iwobi. Now we come to the problem areas. It is admirable that Wenger is not giving up on Oxlaide-Chamberlain but it is going to get downright infuriating if he continues for too much longer.

Which brings me to the question of Sanchez being or not being a striker? Could you imagine the Barcelona goalkeeper or the Barcelona CBs hoofing highballs up the field for Messi to get his head on? No you can’t. So why on earth do we do this with Sanchez? What is the point? We take a situation in which we have possession and then kick the ball in such a way that then reduces our chances of retaining it to 50-50 at best. The problem is not that Sanchez is not a CF the problem is that so many of the other players are continuing to play as though Giroud is up top. This being the case it is little wonder that we look better for the two or three minutes the FFP comes on before getting sent off for one act of petulance or another.

All that said, Sanchez does seem to be better coming in from the left. Hopefully on the weekend we may get a glimpse of Perez in the middle with Sanchez on the left. I hope so as this in my mind is the Holy Grail of the Arsenal attack.

My perfect team against Watford, Hull etc

—————Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
—————Xhaka
———–Cazorla——Ozil
—-Walcott, Perez, Sanchez

And against Chelsea, Man City, etc

—————Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
—————Coquelin
———–Ramsey——Ozil
—-Walcott, Perez, Sanchez

LB

The Man City love in that went into overdrive this weekend is at last starting to abate and the focus is turning towards the appearance of the first chink in Perfect Pep’s amour: Claudio Bravo? Oh boy is he going to be bullied now. Claudio meet Arnoutovic and while I am at it here’s Shawcross……

It didn’t seem to cross a single one of those Guadiola fawning journalists that the reason for City’s dominance was not that they were so good but rather that Manu were so poor — and they were, as poor as pants in the first half. I look forward to playing them I don’t think we have anything to be worried about.

But before that, of course, we have the chance to test ourselves against Chelsea. Yet again I see no reason to be worried or certainly less than in recent seasons. Conte looks out of his depth especially in the transfer window. The idea of a Chelsea manger moaning about the spiraling cost of transfer fees got the same amount of sympathy from me as I did Keith Vaz for his infractions last week; you reap what you sow boys. Only being able to sign Batshuayi and Side Show Bob goes to show how hard it was to bring in big names and that is of course with the help of a billionaire who doesn’t care whether he ever gets repaid or not.

Or does he? We don’t get very much to chew on when it comes to Stan Kroenke but every now and then we get thrown a scrap. The last time was a couple of years ago when he was over and at the training ground where the memorable point he made was how Arsene Wenger was out in the rain taking the training sessions. The odd thing about this was that Kroenke was surprised that Wenger was prepared to get wet rather than, as I saw it, that our manager was simply doing his job for which he is very well paid. I know Wenger’s wages are used as a stick to beat him with but I think that it is appropriate here – a bit of rain, please?

Back to the story, Kroenke made one other observation that stayed with me and that was when asked about Chelsea’s spending, and this is the insight of one billionaire into another, he said that they may spend their money without return for a while but they won’t continue doing it forever and I think that is where we are with Chelsea now; their golden days of care free spending are over and, by contrast, the spending power that our new stadium affords us is now coming to the fore.

It wasn’t great on Saturday; we are not going to have a style of football named after us for that performance Tikka Takka? Nah. But what it did show, and I have been dying to use this line by VP of Oz, was that there was “a real sense that some steel was being forged”. Come on, how good is that? And what’s more, the more I think about it the more it rings true.

Arsene knows already who his “go to” back 5 are, so that is sorted. In the midfield there are many possibilities, all good and that can be altered and adjusted to suit the opposition which leaves the attack. It is not clear which is the best combo and I doubt that AW has it clear in his mind who his “go to” attack is either but fortunately we still have two more games to iron more of these things out and continue to improve before we are tested by Chelsea and if we can just keep 11 players on the field this time I think we will be singing ‘One Team in London’ with a bit more conviction this time around which brings me back to the title.

LB

Player ratings:

Cech: it is easy to start getting blasé about the high standard of performance this guy puts in week in and week out. It is only when you look at how bad things could be and by that I mean take a look at the nightmare in the form of Claudio Bravo that Guardiola imported from Barcelona. This guy has won La Liga by standing behind that incredible Catalan out-field which means he had so little to do he could troll on Twitter for the best part of the game. But then, of course, look what happens when he has to do some work as was required against Manu. The man was all over the place. Contrast that with Peter Cech’s performance? Coolness personified ladies and gentlemen, coolness personified. 8

Bellerin: another standout performance from probably the fastest right back in the country. Remember whenever things are not going as hoped think of Hector and the world is alright again. 8

Chambers/Mustafi: I had to do a double take when he first took to the field; his hair and his physicality were so much like he who has gone to Middlesbrough. But that, of course, is where the comparisons stop. This guy has all the strength and determination of Koscielny and that is high praise indeed. Considering that was the first time he played with that group of players he did really well, going from strength to strength as the game went on. Yes, there were a couple of really poor passes at the beginning but after apologising to the bench he sorted that side of his game out – give the ball to Ozil, simples. I was surprised at how high up the field he felt comfortable playing; he was so far up he was almost joining in with the attack. All in all I felt comfortable with him there; his German calmness gives him the edge, in my opinion, over Paul Easter. 8

Koscielny: I had a small wager before the game that King Kos would be the first to score and do so with an overhead kick and I was right, I won quite a bit on money on that bet. This guy is just so determined and it rubs off on other players by encouraging them to try and emulate his commitment. MOTM 9

Monreal: best game so far and he needed it as he has been poor by the high standards he set last season. I have a hunch about this and that is that he is much more comfortable with Sanchez playing ahead of him; there is something about that combo that works. 8

Coquelin: our French ferret was everywhere in the middle of the park yesterday, breaking up play and winning back the ball. He is such an important player and one that will not lose his place to Xhaka; they are both perfectly suited to two different types of opposition. Arsenal – Watford? They were never going to really trouble us at the back so Xhaka is our man. Now we come to play City, who would you prefer sitting in front of the defence acting as a shield? 8

Cazorla: Did you see that last ditch tackle he made to stop Shane Long breaking through for a one on one with Cech? It was a tackle that Tony Adams would have been proud of. That may have got the crowd singing his name but it was his emphatic penalty strike that really got everyone out of their seats jumping for joy. He will lose his place to Ramsey when he returns; the Welshman adds just that little bit more steel in the middle but when it comes to art, Santi is our man. 8

Ozil: if you think I have been fawning over the players I have been writing about so far, you better turn away now because I am about to pour it on as thick as treacle. This is the best player we have ever had at the club; well maybe there is one other occupying the top table on Mount Olympus but if Mesut started scoring a few more goals its possible he could even take that crown. I cannot believe how lucky we are to have this player; he is a joy to watch, a thing of beauty. 8

Oxlaide-Chamberlain: for all those who saw the whole of the game you would have seen a player who made some really good runs in the first half, beating players for fun and then sending in a dire cross because he clearly hadn’t bothered looking up, this infuriatingly happened more times than it should and as such it only served to highlight why people remain unconvinced about his future. He looked very down coming off when substituted but as we all know he is never going to keep Sanchez out of the team and Sanchez is much happier and much more effective coming in from the left which means that that starting berth is going to be occupied for as long as the Chilean is fit. So Alex what to do, perhaps a peek in a few Bournemouth estate agents windows? 6

Perez: early days obviously. A bit off the pace of course but what really made his life difficult was that he was off the wave length, Ozil’s wave length. For this guy to succeed he has to be able to be able to link with Mesut, if he can do that then we have the player that we have been crying out for. His close control was good, very good in fact, not flicks and tricks that Giroud does which sometimes work and sometimes don’t, no. Perez’s close passes were deliberate, he knew what he was doing, he was completely in control of things. As he becomes better acquainted with the best player we have at the club, things will improve and this all bodes well for the future. 7

Walcott: Theo was rightly in the starting line up but it is hard to see him staying there unless he can continue to improve which in all fairness he has done quite a bit of this season. Iwobi replaced him and we got a direct comparison: Iwobi obviously doesn’t have Walcott’s pace but the Nigerian’s control is so much better that he created more dangerous moves in the fifteen minutes that he was on than Walcott did during all the time he was on. Iwobi isn’t quite ready yet but Theo you might want to start looking at estate agents brochures — in Bournemouth perhaps? 7

The Match Report.

Cazorla saved our bacon in the last minute with a well taken penalty to give us the all important three points. The team got better and better as the game went on although we were lucky that Shane Long wasn’t on the same annoyingly good form he was last season as he had two really good chances to embarrass us. But he didn’t, as we know, which means we get the luxury of basking in the glory of our unbeaten run this week.

Written by LB
COYRRG