I don’t like 5:30pm kick offs on a Saturday, mainly because I don’t like ESPN commentators and pundits but also because I have lost count of the times these games don’t go to plan.

However with a win in the NLD and qualification to the Champions League knock outs we had two wins under our belts and the chance to make that three with a visit to Villa Park I felt more confident than normal for a Saturday evening fixture.

With JohnnieNYCs post ringing in his ears and a glance at Raddy’s pre match Wenger decided to give rotation a go. I have often complained in the past that Arsene doesn’t get rotation, he either rotates all or none, well today he went for four changes from the team that took the field against the Lilylivered cretins from N17. Rested were Vermaelen, Wilshire and Sagna, being replaced by Gibbs, Ramsey and Jenkinson, the injured Theo replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain. If I was going to criticise I would say that was two too many. We had no choice with Theo and playing Gibbs at left back is a no brainer when fit. I wouldn’t have swapped Jack and Bacary but I would have kept Koscielny in the side as Arsene did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and pre match yesterday I wasn’t too worried about Jenkinson. But in my opinion there is an issue when too many new partnerships are on the pitch at once it causes a getting to know you period which affects our play.

A rain soaked pitch is good for us so I was pleased to see it pelting down at Villa Park, for the record Lambert likes his teams to pass so I wouldn’t expect him to be one of the managers who purposely don’t have the sprinklers on the surface pre match. A zippy surface should mean we can play passes at pace. But we don’t seem able to do that anymore.

There really isn’t too much to report in terms of events on the pitch it was all very timid, gilt edges chances were few and far between, it says something about our attacking display that the best chance of the game fell to Koscielny who was on one of his upfield charges after nicking the ball from an unsuspecting attacker. Unfortunately the ball was behind him and he couldn’t get a good contact with his left peg, and it was very much a centre backs shot harmlessly over the bar.

So without much to comment on in the game lets focus on why we failed to breakdown another average PL defence. For me it’s the way we are currently setting up, the start of all our possession is The BFG, you will not find many better passers of the ball at centre back, but he is getting fewer and fewer options every time he receives the ball, Arteta used to be his outlet but he at the moment seems unable to show for every ball, when he does show he in turn has very few options close, Cazorla, Ox and Pod yesterday were too far up the pitch when we had the ball at the back. When the ball did get to them we had no space or pace as we are not passing and moving. We are missing runners from deep. We try and pass the ball round the defenders, and put in crosses, but we are just not good enough to make this work.

In my opinion when we have possession at the back the midfield and wide players need to start 10 yards deeper. This then means when we move forward we have to pass and move at pace which can only be good for us, and should mean we have players breaking through defensive lines.

Right anything else to say about the match…..two good stops by Szczesny, and our crossing and shooting were pretty woeful.

Ratings:

Szczesny 8 – one top drawer save, good control of area and another couple of solid stops

Jenkinson 7 – good physical display, some timely challenges, didn’t support attack as well as he can do

Gibbs 7 – good to have the future England left back back

Koscielny 7 – assured performance

BFG 7 – what we have come to expect.

Arteta 6 – not in the game, is there a curse on the armband?

Cazorla 6 – didn’t do enough.

Ramsey 7 – he gets a lot of stick but he never stops showing and he sees a lot of ball because he makes himself available. Never ever hides, and plays wherever he is asked to.

Podolski 5 – very poor from the Pod, touch let him down in the first half.

Ox 5 – didn’t make his mark on the game, must hold wide if this is where he is being asked to play.

Giroud 7.5 MotM – he was the only one consistently playing one touch passes encouraging midfielders to run past him with clever touches, and lay offs. Made bad passes look good. Got no meaningful service but never stopped showing.

Subs:
Gervinho – 6 ran it out of play more than in to danger areas
Arshavin – 6 did nothing
Coquelin (too little time to score)

Written by GoonerInExile

Anyone who has seen my comments for any reasonable period will know there are two things that annoy me, navel gazing and regurgitation of “facts” which have no underlying substance….actually make that three things….and Tony Pulis.

So the latest complaint from many a Gooner is that our squad is not deep enough, now we are seeing a few injuries we are also seeing a few cracks appear. I know we wouldn’t be football fans if we didn’t react to situations at our club emotionally, but I have two questions, are we really that weak in depth, and if we are that weak, are we any worse off than the other contenders fighting on four fronts? (well in effect three fronts for Chelsea and Man Utd and just the two for City).

Please understand I am not for one second saying we have the best starting eleven or the best players but in terms of our back up (squad) players I ask you to look at the other teams and ask would you really take any of their second and third choices over ours.

In the Capital One Cup a week or so back Chelsea started with Cahill and Luiz at centre backs, surely the Capital One Cup is not the height of their ambition that they played these two by choice, they also started Mata and played him for 120 minutes, so that was three regular league starters in their line up, United fielded two very inexperienced young defenders at centre half, surely their squad is deeper than that? So were Chelsea really keen on the Capital One Trophy or did they have no other options, as for United did they really not care enough to field the youngsters or is their squad not as deep after all?

So with nothing better to do with my time I headed to wiki and put all the squads into a spreadsheet to compare each position side by side.

I have included Liverpool squad below not because I think they are contenders but purely and simply because I really like to laugh at what they have become, as Rocky pointed out yesterday its always good to look for positives and in my opinion if that doesn’t put a smile on your face the next best thing to do is laugh at the misfortune of others.

This is a club that swept all before them in the 80’s, won the Champions League less than a decade ago but have now slipped out of the reckoning in most major competitions, I have yet to see a broken Liver Bird splashed on the back page of the tabloids, or Dippers in Crisis headline that this fall from grace surely deserves. (Okay thats four things that annoy me).

Where better to start than goalkeepers:

So looking at that list is their any keeper who you think is better than our 2nd and 3rd choices? Perhaps the only team that does is Spurs (off to wash my mouth). The constant question from people disappointed by our custodians is “why can’t we buy someone like Schwarzer as cover?”, my question is why has no one else? Lets be honest City can have any player they want but they signed Richard Wright as cover when Stuart Taylor hung up his gloves, why don’t keepers want to go and play second fiddle? Because keepers want to play, they expect to play, if they are number one at a club they can have the plaudits even if the team in front of them is not that good, they can’t get plaudits on the bench, they lose international spots by being on the bench, they don’t like sitting on the bench.

On to the full backs:

I rest my case

Centre backs:

Now it becomes clear why Chelsea started Luiz and Cahill, with no Terry (due to suspension) and Ivanovic their only viable option at right back they have no cover at Centre Back, an injury to either of the remaining two and who knows who they will play at Centre Back, Man Utd due to injuries to Vidic, Jones and Smalling, could not risk their two first choice centre backs before our visit to Old Trafford (admittedly if they had known we were going to turn up and play like big girls blouses they might have) so were left with no other option than to play two inexperienced youngsters, we on the other hand had the spare capacity to field two experienced centre backs in the Capital One Cup (not that it did us many favours).

Midfield:

Obviously we all know Arsene likes a midfielder so we must have the most players in this area.

Compared to the other teams I do not think the depth looks that bad, however here is where the obvious issue of injury raises its ugly but familiar head, presently without Diaby and Rosicky, but we can arguably cope with two injuries in this area of the pitch. Look at Chelsea and I’m not sure you could say the same, United would end up fielding Giggs and Scholes week in week out. City, Spurs and Liverpool all have inexperienced players in waiting that I am not sure their managers would like to utilise regularly.

Forwards:

Obviously the split between midfielders and forwards is subjective but if we assume everyone uses a 4-3-3 of sorts this was the best way to split up the squads.

Again looking at the list of talent across the squads, perhaps only United go as deep as us, there is also an argument that says the players they have got will make more impact on a game. Chelsea without doubt have two of the best forwards in the league in Mata and Hazard, but injury to either and they don’t look any better off.

And finally the strikers:

Now this is our weakest area on the pitch, thankfully we only play with one striker, and in some matches we haven’t even fielded them instead choosing to use some forwards in their place.

In reality however only United and City have more depth than us, and I don’t think Liverpool, Chelsea or Spurs can promote a striker from their forward line where as we do at least have that option.

So in summary do you still think the squad is not deep enough? I expect the answer to that question is still yes, the question that should be asked though is:

Is the squad shallower than our nearest rivals?

For me it isn’t, the difference between the teams is the starting elevens, Chelsea and City have invested many millions to achieve a very good first 15 players, but they have limited themselves further down the pecking order, especially as they ready themselves for FFP. Any significant injuries or suspensions and they will struggle.

Perhaps this is the one area where we are quite literally weaker, not in the amount of players or the quality of player but in physical strength, we seem to suffer injuries far more frequently than the other competing sides, City hardly suffered an injury of note last season they are a physically strong team, those that come from outside the Premier League are physically strong, the ones from within the Premier League conditioned for battle already, perhaps with the exception of Silva.

So Paddling Pool or Olympic Diving Pool?

(In my defence I wrote this post after Reading and before Old Trafford, but it fits the bill of “Be positive about Arsenal Week” as started by Rocky yesterday).

Gooner in Exile

Ask an Arsenal supporter what they want first and foremost from any of the players representing them I think 95% or maybe more would say I want to see them show some pride in playing for the club we love so much.

Personally the second thing I want to see from them is an attitude that says they will do their job properly.

I’ll do my ratings first:

Mannone – 8 left with no chance with either goal, made some good saves and nearly prevented the second

Sagna – 6 did nothing going forward, normal self when called upon at right back in the tackle but showed some nervousness in first half with clearances.

Santos – 6 when the “brazilian wing back” did find his way into the danger areas his final ball left a lot to be desired.

Vermaelen – 3 from the minute he cuddles and shakes hands with BSR he has set the tone for his performance and the team. I know it wasn’t only him but he is captain he should have said in the changing room “in that tunnel, look straight ahead, don’t look at them….FOCUS”. I’ll cover the rest of his performance later.

Mertesacker – 7 his normal impeccable self in reading of the game, interceptions and well timed tackles and good blocks. Not as good with his distribution as normal, but not his fault. (See later)

Arteta – 7 unfortunately despite all his effort he was stuck to like glue by Rooney. Very limited opportunities to be proactive with possession, but busied himself well defensively fighting fires on his own.

Cazorla – 6 despite a good finish for the goal did not see enough of the ball in space to cause threat to ManU

Wilshere – 6 battled hard but that’s not what he is in the team for, like Cazorla starved of space and options all match. First booking harsh, second through tired legs, shouldn’t have been on pitch.

Podolski – 5 didn’t contribute

Ramsey – 6 out of position and definitely made Sagna’s life easier, like everyone else starved of space.

Giroud – 7 didn’t see the ball anywhere near as much as he deserves to….can’t be faulted if he doesn’t get the ball.

Subs:

Theo – 5 offered nothing different.

Arshavin – 5 ditto

Right that’s that out of the way, now lets begin the report with the positives.

Ok moving on to the rest of the match.

Fergie has not won that many titles without being annoyingly good at utilising the strengths of his team and the weakness of others. Yes that’s right he is willing to change his tactics from game to game. The club spend where it’s important, the attacking third, and they spend big, but that isn’t where it stops, they ask those big money signings to earn their corn however the manager sees fit. If that means asking the Premier Leagues most expensive teenager to man to man Arteta when Arsenal have possession he does it. If that means asking Young to run for ninety minutes up and down the flank with very little ball time he does it.

They clearly had two game plans, “if Theo is on the pitch we sit deep, if he isn’t we squeeze the play as much as possible”, there were times with BFG on the ball about ten yards from half way that Ferdinand and Evans were almost providing unique symmetry holding their defensive line ten yards in their half, they pressured the ball from the front, marked tight and we had no space, we needed our full backs and wide men to provide runs and movement in behind we had to play longer, but we can’t, either through inability, lack of pace or not wanting to.

So starved of the space options and possession we need to breathe this was always going to be difficult.

Sorry I have glossed over something, the above was what happened after they went one nil up. If we were facing a side that were set up to make it difficult for us we made it even harder by gifting them the lead. Santos had his first test of the afternoon, marking Valencia tight the ball was played to the on rushing Rafael who played a very Arsenal like nothing cross, which Vermaelen got totally confused by, he must face crap balls like that all week in training yet he clearly hasn’t worked out how to put his boot through the f’ing ball and decided he would gift BSR a nice early chance which he stroked in with ease. Had to happen but would’ve been nice to actually make him work for it.

After that we consistently failed to clear our lines effectively, after the Liverpool game my mainly glowing report focussed on a few things that still weren’t right, one of my suggestions was that it is sometimes ok to put the ball in row Z or beyond their backline to relieve pressure and regain shape.

In the first half we didn’t do this once, we allowed them space in our half without them having to work. Mannone couldn’t clear our half with his kicks, Giroud up front could have challenged Rio or Evans and will do given the opportunity, but instead Mannone was dropping kicks on Carricks head for Cazorla or Wilshere to try and win.

This was one way traffic and the only players looking like they wanted to do something were Arteta, Wilshere and BFG, Vermaelen walked around in a daze reconsidering his error, and hopefully his decision to take the captaincy.

A short corner, where the whole defence switch off – too busy telling each other who to mark and forgetting about the ball – led to the ball being fired at Cazorla from five yards away, his hands covered his face tucked tight to the body and the ball careered into it, nothing like a shout of penalty at Old Toilet to send Mike Dean weak at the knees and the home penalty was duly awarded. Somehow Mannone managed to put Rooney off and he scuffed it wide.

A let off before the break and a chance to get ourselves back in the game.

Could Arsene do anything to lift the team with his half time team talk? Would he make an early substitution which it seemed the game was crying out for?

On the first it didn’t appear so, United came out of the blocks quickly and we were called on in defence to snuff out a few scrambled balls into the box.

Theo was introduced, Ramsey the sacrificial lamb. United re set their back line dropping twenty yards further back. Didn’t really make a difference because not once did anyone try and find a ball over the top, Theo came short like Ramsey had, couldn’t do anything different as he was marked as tightly and again starved of options.

But somehow United eased off on their pressuring we started to get some good possession and move with a bit more pace. Santos was set free on more than one occasion, and on more than one occasion failed miserably to deliver a ball of note, perhaps one ball if Giroud had gambled he could have had a sniff of goal, but he had already shifted his position for a cut back. In reality he should be going for the 6 yard box and his midfielders should be the ones filling the edge of the box. He is still learning the English game and what is required, but it was the only criticism I could make of him.

Just as we had started to give United a test of their own at the back, we allowed them a second. Firstly allowing BSR to drift in unmarked only to see Mannone make one of several good saves. And the not clearing the corner well, not shutting down the crosser and not competing for the ball in the box…I’m looking at our skipper again. He didn’t even get off the ground, did not attack the ball, is this really the player we missed “so badly” for a whole season, the player that apparently “adds 10% to everyone else on the pitch”. I’m sorry I don’t see it, you are the captain, you must be better, you must lead, you must not give up.

The second half got even longer as Wilshere overrun the ball and clattered into Evra earning his second booking, he had been warned after upending BSR, Cleverley got warned by Dean too, when he did Ferguson replaced him with Anderson immediately. Wenger didn’t have the luxury having already removed the natural centre midfield replacement Ramsey.

It was pretty much all United for the rest of the game taking the game into our half whenever they wanted and Arsenal conceding ground obligingly, and I’m about as bothered to write about it as the players looked to be playing it, even then I found plenty to wind me up. Santos received the ball from Vermaelen, Vermaelen bombs past him, Santos loses the ball, sorry what planet do our players live on? Ten men on the pitch, deep in their half, and our centre back is playing a one two with our left back.

There was time for Cazorla to grab us a consolation and something for the away fans to cheer with a sublime finish, but it was way too little way too late.

So in summary, the players do not deserve the support they get from the away fans, I don’t mind losing, I don’t mind getting beaten by a better side, but just allowing the opposition to do what they want, and very few of our players seeming to care I will not take.

This defeat will affect many of us more than last seasons 8-2, that was a freak result, every shot they took first half they seemed to score, we had many understudies on the pitch and had yet to find any of our transfer targets and had just slogged our guts out on the pitch in Udinese to achieve CL qualification. This? No excuses, a week off, time to bond time to work out the kinks, experienced players across the back line, experience in midfield, 7 players older than 25, players who should be able to look at each other and work out what to do and how to put it right. They are not playing for the shirt, they are not playing for the manager, they are not playing for us…..that is not good enough, that is not acceptable.

I love my club, I love my team, I said after our drubbing in Milan last season that I would prefer to take ten paces back and a few leaps forward by doing away with the majority of failed talent on the pitch and letting the youngsters have a go, players hungry for their chance, I can support them, they will need it, this group of players need to stop hiding and start stepping up to the plate, it’s your fault, you put it right.

Despite all the other top 4 contenders slipping up and even Spudders losing at home to Wigan there was still nothing to smile about at the end of the day.

Written by Gooner In Exile

A trip to Anfield is always full of trepidation, despite Liverpool’s recent decline, they are still a team that hold many dangers. If the Kop are allowed to get into the game they can be a telling 12th man roaring their team on. With this in mind Arsène Wenger and his newly arranged squad deserve a large amount of credit for making the game a very relaxed enjoyable affair for us fans.

Photo courtesy of chas – our man at the match

Quite simply we looked comfortable from the 1st minute, even when passes from the back went astray the team had retained its shape and there was no sudden chase to catch opposition forwards with the defence and midfield looking all at sea.

Liverpool tried to press as Swansea did last season but the lads in the main looked calm and collected as they moved the ball in neat triangles around the red shirts, most importantly they moved themselves as well to a position where they could receive the ball again, too often last season we saw an Arsenal player pass the ball and stand still or move as if pre programmed not reacting to what was happening around him. At our worst last season the man in possession was lucky to have one man available when faced with the press, yesterday he was unlucky if he only had two options.

The first twenty five minutes saw the two teams sizing each other up, apart from Mertesacker pulling down Suarez after letting Suarez drift off and spin him quickly and a couple of dodgy cross field passes by Jenkinson there was not too much goalmouth incident at either end, a couple of speculative efforts from either side and nothing more.

Any foray into our half by Liverpool was dealt with comfortably, any foray into Liverpool’s half by us resulted in an overhit cross or a missed pass.

On the half hour mark With Liverpool pushing forward again and committing men forward Gerard played a pass which Vermaelen read and dealt with quickly, the ball played straight to Podolski who turned and found Cazorla, for the first time in the match he was in space between the midfield and defence, Cazorla drove at the heart of the defence, Giroud pulled right and Podolski was busting a gut to join in on the left of Cazorla.

Cazorla delayed until he had the attention of the four men in front of him and as they started to think about closing a potential shot down he played a pass into the path of Podolski, one touch to set and the second touch sent the ball low and hard past Reina. One nil to the good guys, a good pacy counter attack. Perhaps the best thing about this goal was not even the goal itself, it was evidence that lessons have been learned, look behind the front three and not one other Arsenal player had left our half.

Amongst all the action something exciting was happening in the middle of the park, we were seeing the player we have been dreaming of since about 2005 when Vieira left for Juve, we were seeing Diaby stamp his authority on a football match.

Arteta was quietly and effectively mopping up the pieces in front of the back four, Cazorla was pushing and probing in the final third, and in between the two Diaby was doing whatever he wanted. Throwing dummies, back heels, twists and turns, running with the ball at pace, pressing opponents and tackling. In short the lad was class and reminded all of us just how good he can be, and precisely why Wenger has persisted with him.

Before the half ended Diaby drove with the ball through the Liverpool lines and picked out Giroud’s run, unfortunately our new front man couldn’t quite get his leg round the shot and it went harmlessly wide. To be fair to Giroud he had spent most of the first half watching crosses from Gibbs sail over his head, this was his first real chance of the game.

The second half started in the same way as the first half ended, Liverpool had possession, but they didn’t threaten sufficiently to cause the nerves to start jangling. Gone from our performance in the second half were the half hit misplaced passes, everything was being done efficiently and the team was moving up and down the pitch as a cohesive unit.

Mertesacker took our lives (and his place on the park) in his hands when he tickled Suarez under the arm which I can only imagine sent the Uruguayan weak at the knees and he couldn’t help but fall to the ground. I think this decision was probably the hardest for Webb all match, he knows he is not supposed to help Arsenal but he is definitely never allowed to help Liverpool under the terms of his contract with ManUre.

As the Arsenal midfield started to control the game more pressure was put on the Liverpool area, Gibbs was released into the 18 yard box by Podolski, his cross come shot was well saved by Reina. Cazorla going across the box let fly with his left foot to see his effort go just wide of the right post.

Finally the second goal cushion was achieved, a classic Arsenal goal, a swift one two between Cazorla and Podolski released Cazorla into the box, he drove his shot low and hard, and Reina could only parry it into the net. Two nil and cruising.

The last twenty minutes was a case of getting the job done, this is where we would really see if things have changed in the team this season, and on the evidence of this final twenty minutes the answer is a resounding yes. We were not committing six or seven men forward when in possession, when players were in possession and isolated they waited for support or the foul to come, to use a US sports phrase, we ran the clock down. Not by walking the ball across the 6 yard box every goal kick, but by keeping the ball, and supporting each other around the park.

Liverpool’s best chance came on 87 minutes and it fell to Shelvey who drove low and hard, Mannone was equal to the shot, and Vermaelen was first to the bouncing rebound to clear the lines.

The final whistle brought a few boos from the Anfield crowd, well except that corner which was full of Arsenal fans who had been magnificent (as always) for the ninety minutes. Although i would ask them to drop the “She Said No” it does us as fans no favours.

Okay so having read all of that you must be thinking everything’s rosy and we’re on the march for the league, well I wish i could agree, a good manager I played under always said the time to put things right and focus on the negatives of a performance is after a win, that way you are not further demoralising the players and they are more receptive to the ideas.

Areas for improvement:

1) Row Z is never the wrong option for a defender, sometimes it is just needed, the defence need to understand this and not be afraid to hoof it into touch to relieve pressure rather than trying to find a difficult pass with opposition shirts close.

2) Supporting the front man, occasionally we went longer to Giroud, this is a good thing as long as it doesn’t become the only ball, occasionally when Giroud did manage to get the ball ahead of Skrtel and Agger he wasn’t getting enough support, or there was breakdown in communication between him and the player coming to support, resulting in losing possession when the chance to break was on.

3) Attacking set pieces still need more work (not that we had many).

And finally the ratings, always difficult for me as its all very subjective but I will start with giving my basis for scoring. Each player starts with a 7, that 7 is based upon what i know of them as a player not how they performed compared to others on the pitch, for example Sagna might have got a 7 for the performance Jenkinson put in, but Jenkinson will get an 8 because I don’t expect him to be at that level yet….make sense?…no? …..good you can’t complain about them then:

Mannone – 8 Solid performance from our oft criticised 3rd choice, he almost made me forget that horror goal in the CL last season

Jenkinson – 8 Despite a couple of dodgy passes he just never gives up, stuck to his task of dealing with the highly spoken of Sterling very well he didn’t get a sniff.

Mertesacker – 7 Exactly what we have come to expect from the BFG, calm and assured, puts himself in the right positions most of the times, how many centre backs in the PL would stay on the park after picking up a booking in 5 minutes against the likes of Suarez at Anfield?

Vermaelen – 8 Solid display from the skipper, strong in the air when needed, good on the ground, and a couple of well timed clearances.

Gibbs – 7 Defensively solid although Borini posed nowhere near the threat that Jenkinson had to contend with, supported the attack well but must improve final ball.

Arteta – 8 His normal influential self, disciplined to play the holding role, eager to break up opposition attacks, read the game brilliantly.

Diaby – 9 – MOTM Probably his best match for the club, simply magnificent in the centre of midfield drew opposition shirts too him and then fed the ball to the free men, he helped set the tempo of the game with Arteta and Cazorla

Cazorla – 8 An assist and a well taken goal, welcome to Arsenal Santi, head up football the whole time, good runs with the ball, two footed in possession, makes the game look too easy.

Podolski – 8 Strong performance, put in a decent shift up and down the left flank, also made the pitch narrower to help out on defence, superb finish, good assist.

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6 This to some will be abit harsh, but i don’t think Ox got into the game, he was easily marshaled at the moment by more experienced players, he will learn a lot from his new teammates, and i expect huge development this year.

Giroud – 7 Worked hard for his team, in a thankless task, didn’t stop running for 90 minutes and looked dead on his feet at the end, will need to relax to score his first goal.

by Gooner in Exile

Today we take the pitch against Cologne in our last pre season friendly. Arsene’s pre season routine has been upset by the tour of the Far East and the games played there excluded a number of first teamers and most importantly our new signings were left at home to settle in to London life, and find their way around London Colney.

The games in Asia came early in our pre season preparation, clearly we were not match fit, and the games were used as part of the pre season training regime.

The trip meant the cancellation of the Emirates Cup and so we are left with one game to show where we are before the start of the new Premier League campaign.

I have no idea how we will start today, and I don’t think Raddy will be any the wiser come next Saturday for the real kick off against Sunderland. Thats good for two reasons:

1) It demonstrates a new strength in depth.
2) Our opponents will not have a clue either.

I guess the big question is will van Persie feature, my guess is he won’t want to, but Wenger might just make him. If van Persie refuses or plays without commitment it will make it clear to us whether we should keep him or not.

The defence pretty much picks itself when Sagna is fit, but I think today we will see a half each at right back from Jenkinson and Coquelin, for me I hope it’s Jenkinson.

The midfield three of Arteta, Song and Cazorla again picks itself.

It is up front where the questions are asked, any three of Walcott, Podolkski, Giroud, Gervinho, van Persie and Oxlande-Chamberlain could start, and it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility for Arshavin to feature at some point.

This is the final assessment of the team before next Saturday but we should remember it is still a pre season, anything that happens today does not set the tone for the rest of the season, unless of course its a 10-0 win and then I will be rushing down to my local Bookies to put £100 on Arsenal to win the title.

I might just do that anyway as the squad is looking talented and has an experience to it that we have not seen for sometime. I never had an issue with the youngsters we signed and played but there were times where I worried that they were learning off each other and that meant they were going to suffer in their development, the arrival of Arteta, Santos and BFG brought an experience to the squad, this has been added to further by the arrivals of Podolski and Cazorla. These older players who have seen a lot more in football can help the youngsters and bring more responsibility to the team (and also remind them just how lucky they are to turn up at a club with the facilities of Arsenal).

Enjoy the game.

(PS Thanks for the title Chas)

Written by Gooner in Exile

And here are the thoughts of oz gunner who also had a great title 🙂

RVP’s attitude stinks but we’ve got Cologne

Today we play our last pre-season friendly, and all I can say is…about bloody time. It’s as though the off season gets longer and longer. Will he sign or won’t he? Will RVP be here for the start of the season or is he off to Man United/City/Juve/whoever will pay his high demands? Song to Barca or just his agent trying to get him a new bumper deal? I for one am sick of it. Let’s play some football!

I’m not too sure what to expect from today’s game and whether or not we can take much from the starting line-up. I think Arsenal will keep his cards to his chest and use it as one last chance to get some run in to player’s legs. I can’t wait to see Giroud, Podolski, and Santi get a run out and just what they are going to bring to the team. I’d like to see Gnabry and Eisfeld continue with their emergence and get a little game time because both have come with big wraps this pre-season.

How or what involvement RVP has on the game could answer a few more questions. If he sits on the bench for most/all of the match I think we will all start to think it’s a bit like the Cesc scenario, with us protecting him for potential buyers. Personally I think we hold all the cards in this. Man United can’t come up with more money (it’s just all masking their terrible share price drop and keeping the fans of their backs), so he will have to have a blinder of a year otherwise teams won’t be willing to hand over the money for his wages next season. Here’s hoping he has a change of mind and re-signs mid-year and we win it all.

Anyway let’s all enjoy the run out.

Prediction: 0-3 We will be too strong for the division two team

Written by oz gunner

One of the most difficult things for Arsène Wenger over the last couple of seasons has been looking over at his bench and asking himself just who he could bring on to change the game.

To be fair to Arsène this wasn’t a problem in the early days of his reign he had a first eleven so much better than the rest of the Premier League that when he turned to his bench he was looking to give a rest to the players who had already put the game out of sight.

In the last few seasons as the rest of the Premier League has improved and teams have adapted their game to keep Arsenal at bay he has needed a bench to change the game. Unfortunately due to injuries, want away homesick players, greedy mercenaries and a very tight budget from the Board Arsène  has only been able to look round and see a mixture of youngsters or capable squad players, and none that could be seen as a gamebreaker. Admittedly over the early winter months he could look across to see Thierry and Arshavin and hope they could provide something.

Obviously not every player on the bench is there to change the game, you need one keeper, one defender and maybe two utility players. But then you still have three berths, and unfortunately for the majority of last season we had nothing different sitting on the bench than was already on the pitch, they just had slightly fresher legs (unless the legs belonged to a short Russian) . We had a lot of carbon copies, or players out of form, or players who were not as good as those starting the game. In truth most of the bench was there to only be broken in case of emergency.

But what about this coming season, have the transfers done so far plus the players returning from injury given us anymore from the bench? Whether we lose Van Persie or not the signings we have made already and the further development of the younger players means that Arsène will be able to turn to his bench and actually see players that can change the game, or offer something different to those already on the pitch.

In midfield we will be able to choose a starting three from Arteta, Rosicky, Ramsey, Song, Wilshere, Coquelin, Frimpong, Diaby and maybe Eisfield too.

Up front we will have a starting three from Podolski, Giroud, Gervinho, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Afobe, Miyaichi and maybe even Van Persie and Arshavin.

If we start Podolski, Giroud and Walcott up front Arsène can look over and decide more pace is needed so send on Ryo or Gervinho, or more shots from distance, chuck on Ox.

The same in midfield if starting, Song, Arteta and Rosicky, Arsène can stick Coquelin on for Rosicky if he wants to keep possession, or swap out Arteta for Frimpong if he wants some high energy and to get in the opposition faces, or even put Diaby on for Rosicky if he wants to make another substitution in the next ten minutes.

Even though we have only added a couple of players to the squad so far (if reports are to believed this will be a few players by the time you read this) we seem to have the bench to make Arsène’s life a little easier when he is looking to change the game.

So what do you think, does our bench look better this year than last?

Gooner in Exile