Ten games to go – Leave your predictions here

March 16, 2012

After an incredible run of five PL wins in a row, we find ourselves now very well positioned to qualify for next year’s CL tournament. Who would have thought that after the deep-dark triple losses against Fulham, Swansea and the Mancs in January, followed by a goalless draw at Bolton on 1st February, we would bounce back in such an emphatic manner by beating Blackburn, Sunderland, the Spuds, Pool and Toon – scoring 18 goals and conceding 6 goals on the way?

Although I have always believed that all ingredients for success in the near future are taken care off by Arsenal, I must admit I experienced a bout of raw melancholy a few weeks ago, when we lost the away cup-matches to Milan (CL) and Sunderland (FA). It was the manner in which we lost these games that really worried me: the way our formation/system of football looked so toothless, clueless and the way Wenger appeared not to have any answers to it all.

Well, things have changed dramatically and it has come at the right time of the season: we are now fourth, with just one point behind the Spuds and three above the Chavs. What’s even more important is the new-found belief in this team. It looks like Arsenal is finally on the right track and has sorted out its inner-demons: a mixture of determinedness, passion and desire to work for each other by all our players has brought us to what the club’s strap line of ‘Victory Through Harmony’ is all about. The fans are uniting behind the team again as well, and the atmosphere during recent games at THOF has significantly improved.

But we are not there yet: with 10 games to go we have to stay focussed and humble and make sure we do actually qualify for the CL. In October/November we had a spell of winning 7 out of 8 PL games, but unfortunately it was followed by a period of winning only 2 PL games out of 8. It has been a topsy-turvy season, and there are no guarantees we are totally on top of it now.

So how will it end? Our next ten games are against: Everton (a), Villa (h), QPR (a), Citeh (h), Wolves (a), Wigan (h), the Chavs (h), Stoke (a), Norwich (h), West Brom (a). At this stage of the season in particular, none of these games are automatic 3-points-in-the-bag contests.

It would be great to hear everybody’s views re the way the season will end. Let us know your predictions:

* How many points will we get from those 10 games?

* What will be the Top-six at the end of the season (in order)?

* Will Arsenal remain unbeaten?

* How many more goals will RvP score?

* Who will win the PL?

* How many games will Wilshere play of the ten remaining?

* How many goals will Arsenal have scored at the end of the season (currently 57)?

* How many more come-backs this season?

* How many more assists by Alex Song between now and the end of the season?

* How many clean sheets?

* Who will win the CL this year?

* Who will win the FA-cup?

Finally, as a separate question: If we can buy one more player, maximum budget £20m (excluding salary package), who would you like it to be?

Feel free to elaborate on any of your answers if you feel like it, as we like to know your insights. I will make a spreadsheet with all your answers and let you know the top-3 winners of Best Footie Predictors, after the season has ended!

COYRRG

TotalArsenal.

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This Arsenal is not for turning

March 9, 2012

So here we are, for the seventh season in a row and despite a magnificent effort against Milan, we will not be collecting any trophies, medals, or even pots to urinate in. In fact, the season could turn even uglier if we fail to secure top four and our friends down the Road finish above us and lift the FA Cup. The thought of Chas & Dave making a comeback fills me with a sense of loathing and dread not felt since Ricky Villa scored that fluky goal at Wembley.

What does this all mean? How do we address this drought? Do we sack Wenger? Do we sack Rice? Does Kronke have to go and with him his cronies Gazidis and Law? Do we demand Usmanov takes over, and bring Dein back to the Club? And what about money? Where is it all going? Do we demand “Spend some f…..g money”?

Well, for what it’s worth, I will give you my answer. We do not change a thing. Yes, I said it nothing, nada, zilch. We just continue with the same strategy, same philosophy, same tactics, same management, and same tea lady.

Ok, a lot of you are now thinking what kind of shit is this geezer on?, (and some might be thinking were do I get some, but that’s for another day) How can we change nothing when we keep winning f..k all? Let’s put it this way, has any one ever heard the saying “Lose the battle but win the war” or alternatively “Retreat to go forward”? Well you should have, because this is what the last seven years has been all about.

Since the move to the Grove ,the Club has been going through a “Consolidation period” The aim has been to keep our necks above water financially, and try to produce teams filled with young players were the minimum target is securing champions league football. We all know this right? The good news is that there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, and what an illumination it promises to be.

Why change when going forward we have this:

  • One of the best, if not the best coaches in world football. If you doubt this, don’t ask your angry mate, ask the board at clubs like Madrid, Man City, and Barcelona instead.
  • Increased revenue streams (see the clubs accounts, or do your own math), which will enable the Club to keep its emerging players. This is the fundamental key to our future success.
  • A fantastic pool of young players that will lead us to glory. If there was an under 23 cup tomorrow we would walk it.
  • Financial Fair Play. This is already having an impact. If you doubt this one to, then look carefully at Man Citys and Chelsea’s actions recently. They are all gearing up for FFP. Don’t ask your angry mate about this one, the standard response is that they will hire flashy lawyers and Accountants to circumvent the rules, the reality is that that those flash gits will help alleviate the pain only, not break the rules.
  • No future strategic handicaps. What I mean by this is that while clubs like Spurs and Liverpool scramble around for new stadia, or City and Chelsea trim there squads and wages to accommodate FFP, we will have no such hang ups.
  • A brand of footballing culture, so embedded in the club now, that it will keep churning out stars for the future
  • We are in a great position to strike. We are fourth at present, not some mid table team languishing hopelessly behind.

So you see, the above reasons are why this Arsenal is not for turning. When you know your doing something right but others try to convince you otherwise the pressure can mount. This then becomes a question of character and an ability to hold your nerve, despite the hostility and angst that may surround you. Lets hold our nerve because if we do, a great Arsenal team awaits.

My final point is this. You can only operate in the environment you find yourself in. For the last seven years we have cut our cloth accordingly. The 2 unexpected’s during this period which have made things even harder have been the downturn in the property market, and perhaps even more significantly the arrival of the Sugar Daddy owners. But guess what, we are still here, and the environment is changing in our favour both internally as a club, and externally to the detriment of our rivals. Shoot me down or not, “Arsenals future is fantastic”.

God Bless

Terry Mancini Hair Transplant

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Tomas Rosicky – The Little Mozart

March 1, 2012

I usually write posts with a historical feel, stories or matches and players gone by. Wide eyed tales from the vaults of the trophy cabinets and a time of greater innocence when players could drink all night and run all day, when wistful managers had Midas touches and a loose brick in the fireplace bunged full of used twenties.

However, on this occasion, the match against Spurs made me think about the current. More specifically our Number 7.

When Tomas Rosicky arrived at Arsenal amongst much fanfare in 2006  we were entitled to expect a lot.

He was captain of the Czech Republic at the forthcoming World Cup. He had been able to shine against us in the Champions League, he was, we were told by Arsène Wenger a replacement for a modern day Arsenal legend Robert Pires. He has since that day occupied Pires’ hallowed jersey and often for reasons obvious to most of us struggled to fill those 1:50pm boots.

Back then Tomas was a world class player in the making. Several injuries later, here we are, he is a squad man in a side that has often struggled for creative input.

The mention of Rosicky on the team sheet raises an eyebrow.

The mention of his fitness  or any reliance on him in the pub pre-match is met with a wary grin.  As if you were a Liberal Democrat suggesting a  Tory increase in unemployment benefits.

Your friend may with some justification reply that you should know better. He wouldn’t have to be a sage.

If you spell-check his name on outlook it tries to call him colicky. It says it all doesn’t it?

If you put together all the time Arsène has spent giving us a Friday update on our little number 7’s injury progress then it would probably outlast a Pink Floyd album.

An album that Tomas may well enjoy given that he is a keen guitar player, one could argue that he has had plenty of time to practice in recent seasons.

He typifies Arsenal’s recent history, one of nearly moments.

All punch lines aside, I like Rosicky a lot and today of all days, is a day for fresh starts.

He is technically perfect, a one touch, two touch, pass master and a superb exponent of the outside of the boot.

His Arsenal goals have been collector’s items for the quality as much as the rarity. He has a rocket shot though we don’t see it enough.

The injuries and resulting lack of form have seen Rosicky retreat to his shell and that is a shame.

He was excellent against Blackburn and again against Spurs.

Rosicky stamps quality on the things he does. He never seems to lack effort.

Is he starting to get back his confidence? I hope so.

Against Spurs, Benayoun and Rosicky ganged up with Song and Arteta to stop the Spurs midfield. It was almost a narrow four like the 2007-2008 season. Flamini, Fabregas, Hleb and at the start a pre-injury Rosicky.

Theo still played somewhere between an right sided forward and a centre forward as if a formation didn’t apply to him but frankly they looked like free men and that is a good thing.

Rosicky’s touch and grace give him time even in a hectic match but he no longer has any pace to play out wide, as was evident in Milan.

He is like the great Pires, a player who does the right things at the right times.

The thing is that we have missed Wilshere, Fabregas and Nasri.

We have missed speed of thought, a little imagination, a little subtlety and in the short term. He really could help with that.

He could certainly help us out.

It’s just that when he turns on the ball and produces a moment of quality, you sometimes find yourself wondering what might have been.

If you are reading this Tomas, and it isn’t out of the realms of possibility that you might pick up on an Arsenal Fan site with an article about you, I would say two things;

1.       I hope your back is ok.

2.       Remember those two wonder strikes at Anfield in the FA Cup and see if you can roll back the clock at the weekend.

I still remember that goal in Hamburg.

Come in number 7, your time has come.

Written by Jamie

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Arsenal or Chelsea ? ……. The Race for Fourth

February 24, 2012

OK it’s been a bad week but let’s put our disappointments behind us and put our focus on what’s ahead. We have a very exciting run in for 4th place, and a spot in the 2012/13 Champions League, with four teams involved – Arsenal – Chelsea – Liverpool and Newcastle. For the purposes of this item I’m going to make the broad assumption that it’s most likely to be either Arsenal or Chelsea that wins the 4th spot even though both Newcastle and Liverpool are also in with more than a good shot.

There are 13 games left in the season and an analysis of our final 13 games in each of the 19 EPL seasons (shown below) shows that we have achieved an average of 26 points with a high of 39 points in 2001/2 and a low of 14 points in 1994/5, and last season we had only 18 points.

So it’s all down to the final 13 games to determine which team is most likely to win the 4th spot. Both teams have been below par this season and both are in jeopardy of being knocked out in the last 16 of this seasons Champions League after Arsenal losing 0-4 to A.C. Milan and Chelsea 1-3 to Napoli.

Currently we are tied with Chelsea with 43 points each, we have the same goal difference of 13, and we are only in 4th place by virtue of having scored more goals our 48 to their 44.

In the history of the EPL it has taken an average of 68 points to gain 4th place, the highest being 76 points in 2007/8, the lowest being 63 points in 1995/96 and last season we achieved 4th with 68 points.

I’ve compiled a chart (below) showing the final 13 games of the season for both teams and I’ve also filled in my personal predictions for each game – I have Arsenal beating Chelsea by 4 points.  I recognize that I’m being very optimistic as we would have to get  30 points in our last 13 games and we have not achieved that amount since 2004/5.

Play the prediction game yourself – How do you see the season ending?

Written by GunnerN5

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Right Here, Right Now.

February 23, 2012

The recent sacking of a very promising young manager by the name of Lee Clarke got me thinking about how difficult it must be to manage at the top level these days. After all, this is a manager who had got his Huddersfield side up to 4th in the table, and only 6 months previous, had gone on a run of 43 games unbeaten!

I spoke to my best friend, who happens to be a Terrier (Huddersfield supporter, not a dog!), and he told me that he was happy to see the back of Lee Clarke and in his own words said “he can take his 43 game run with him, most of them were draws anyway!”.

This shocked me a bit, and got me thinking about our own esteemed manager and how his previous exploits seemed to hold little weight when it came to our team’s relatively poor efforts this season. In Arsene Wenger we have a manager who has given us 2 domestic Doubles, a UEFA Cup Final, a Champions League Final, a state-of-the art stadium and some of the greatest players ever to play the game. Yet none of this seems to matter to certain sections of our support who would like nothing more than to see the Frenchman cleaning out his locker.

Is Wenger a victim of his own success?

Or do certain sections of our support fail to see the bigger picture?

Well personally, I believe it’s a bit of both. Wenger is a thinker of the game. He doesn’t live in the here and now when it comes to becoming a super club, he thinks about the future, and how he can BUILD a footballing force. Take Fabregas for example, Arsene saw something in him that he knew would make him into a future star. He saw the talent at 16 that we all saw at 23.
Or look at the move to the Emirates, Arsene knew that building a 60,000 seater was needed for the club to compete in future.
So what’s your point, I hear you cry!?

Well my point is this. Wenger’s downfall is due to his inability to satisfy the fans of the present. So many of our fans seem unable, or unwilling to look further ahead than Today. They don’t care if Wilshire is going to be the next best thing, or if Arsenal are going to dominate in 20 years time. They want trophies now, and Wenger’s inability to satisfy this greed could be his undoing. Fans don’t seem to realise or accept that Fabregas’ departure put paid to a plan that Arsene had been building for 5 years. A new team cannot be built overnight, espescially if you don’t have £500m to spend. Wenger has now got to build a new plan, and it takes time.

If you are one of these fans who see’s nothing but trophyless cabinets, and has no interest in what Jack will be like in 5 years time. Think about this:

In 2001 Leeds United were losing in a Champions League semi final. In 2012 they sit in 11th position in the Championship.

In 2011 Rangers won the league and cup double. They are now entering administration, uncertain of what the future holds.

In 2008 Portsmouth were lifting the FA Cup trophy. In 2012 they are trying to lift themselves away from relegation into League 1 after a 10 point deduction for going into administration.

Now I may not know anything about Arsenal’s bank accounts or financial stability, but I know for a fact that if they wanted to they could go into any bank in the world, borrow half a billion pounds, buy some of the world’s best players, and maybe win a few trophies in the next 5 years. If that happened, as fans of the here and now, we would lap it up. But how would we feel in 10 years time when the winding up order is sent out and we find ourselves struggling to survive?

Arsène Wenger isn’t a saint, and his tactics are leaving a lot to be desired at the moment, but next time you think about wanting to have a go at the Frenchman after a poor display, maybe just take a moment to look into the future, rather than just thinking about the present.

If you can’t do that, then ask a Rangers, Pompey or Leeds fan if they would give up their moment at the top for the future of their beloved clubs. I guarantee that, given the chance, they would start all over again.

I would love to see us give Arsène the chance to put together a new look Arsenal, built around the likes of Frimpong, Coquelin, Wilshire, Szcsesny, Ox etc, but if the Huddersfield situation is anything to go by then I can’t see it happening.

Arsène could be in the firing line at Arsenal FC, and it’s the fans who held him aloft as little as 7 years ago who will be the ones pulling the trigger. Fans who care not for the past, or the future, but the right here, right now.

Written by SlimGingerGooner

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Heard the one about the Russian, the American and the Frenchman?

February 21, 2012

Arsène Wenger has never seen so much pressure from his own fans. His ability to manage this Arsenal team is being questioned, and according to some,  he is losing his grip on the modern game. But is he the only one to blame?

The year 2006/07 saw a major introduction into the Arsenal unit. No, it wasn’t the Emirates, it was the introduction of 2 billionaires. One was a Russian called Usmanov, the other an American by the name of Kroenke.

Have a look at this. Arsène Wengers stats prior to Kroenke and Usmanov make fantastic reading:

Matches between 1996/06

Games: 615, 356 won, 144 drawn, 115 lost

57.8% won, 23.4 % drawn, 18.6% lost

Matches since Kroenke and Usmanov came in 2007/09

Games: 244, 140 won, 54 drawn, 50 lost

57.3% won, 22.1% drawn, 20.4% lost

Matches in the last 2 seasons between 2010/12

Games: 97, 53 won, 19 drawn,  25 lost

54.6% won, 19.5% drawn, 25.7% lost

As you can see, Arsène’s record as Arsenal manager has dropped in the last 6 seasons. But is that his fault? Or are the major shareholders to blame? Prior to 2007 and the arrival of Kroenke and Usmanov,  Wenger sold players when he decided was best.

The likes of Overmars, Petit, Vieira, Ljungberg, Henry, Wiltord, Campbell etc were all moved on after we had seen their best years. Since the introduction of major shareholders, we have lost the likes of Flamini, Hleb, Clichy, Nasri, Toure, Adebayor and Fabregas, all at their peak.

Has Wenger had his hands tied, or as an Arsène supporter, am I clutching at straws? To be honest, until the club tell me something new, I may never know. But the reason I split the post Kroenke, Usmanov era in 2 is this: Fans are slating the club for a massive drop in form and ability over the last 2 seasons. Fans claim the club has been dumbed down in terms of ability and quality.

But do the stats REALLY show this? Yes, they have dipped slightly, but should a 3% swing in wins to losses really be deserving of the grief that Arsene is getting right now? Surely one of the reasons for this swing has to go down to the fact that this is probably the most competitive Premier League since it was launched.

There are now 7 teams fighting for a top 4 finish, and that doesn’t even include playing away games at Everton, Stoke and the like. And maybe the move to the Emirates has forced Arsene to look at options that he would have previously disregarded. Either way, if it came to a choice over Arsene, Kroenke and Usmanov, I know who I would rather have at this club.

Written by SlimGingerGooner

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Will the real Arsenal please stand up ……….

February 7, 2012

Well, what a difference a day makes.

Emotionally we’ve gone from disappointed and disillusioned to euphoric over the result of one game. Beating Blackburn 7-1 was the sort of result we needed to awaken our supporters.

Arsenal played the sort of football that we all love to watch and for once the end result substantiated the level of our overall performance.

It would be wrong to criticize any of our players on a day when they all excelled, our defence were solid and afforded Blackburn very few goal scoring opportunities the midfield were both dominate in their control and incisive in their passing, and our strikers were clinical in their finishing.

All in all a wonderful example of “Wenger Ball” at it’s very best.

What caused the change?

Were we that good or were Blackburn that poor?

Looking at the result it would appear that we were that good but we will rarely see a team play so badly as Blackburn. They had little, or no, ambition to attack which allowed our fullback’s the freedom of the park and they used the space to great effect.

Our midfield was creative and their passing was superb but when have we seen a less interested midfield than Blackburn’s, their tackling was weak and their coverage was woeful.

Our strikers had a field day, but Blackburn showed their lack of fight within 80 seconds allowing us copious amounts of space to exploit them with our speed and poor positioning in the box.

Going down to ten men at least gave them an excuse for the terrible result but in reality they showed no heart from the first whistle.

What’s up next?

Over the next month we will know whether the Blackburn game was an aberration or the real and re-vitalized Arsenal.

We have seven games, one approximately every four days.

EPL vs Sunderland

CL vs AC Milan

FAC vs either Sunderland or Middlesbrough

EPL vs Tottenham

EPL vs Liverpool

CL vs AC Milan

EPL vs Newcastle

These games will show us what we are really made of, on paper our best opportunity seems to be the FAC. We are up against weaker opposition which should be to our advantage but the FAC is always full of shocks and surprises.

AC Milan will be tough opponents in the CL and we will have to be in outstanding form to get through to the last eight.

The EPL is the most difficult of the three as over the past six league games we have accumulated less points than any our four opponents.

Sunderland = 15 – 83.3%

Newcastle = 12 – 66.7%

Tottenham = 11 – 61.1 %

Liverpool = 8 – 44.4%

Arsenal = 7 – 38.8 %

Which Arsenal team will show up and stand up?

Written by gunnerN5

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Robin’s face says it all

January 23, 2012

Understandably, none of our regular authors were inclined to write a match report following yesterday’s game, so you will all have to suffer the thoughts of someone who will I’m sure, not be expressing the mainstream opinion on this site.

I couldn’t go to the game as I had to work. I followed the live commentary on BBC Sport football, listened to the radio phone in on my way home and watched the lowlights on MotD through the lattice of my fingers clamped to my face.

Due to the horrible language and reactions of many fans on the blogs after the game, I expect there to be a positive response on AA in support of the team and the manager – for that reason I am going to just going to list what I see as the negatives so you can all shoot me down in flames. I have written this very hurriedly so don’t expect wonderful prose or clever puns.

Why did we lose the game? I’ll just list a couple of thoughts……. 

  1. The seeds were sown back in the summer when we seemed in denial that the departure of Cesc and Na$ri was inevitable and yet little apparent attempt was made to bring in a midfield playmaker. Without the last minute signing of Arteta, we would probably be 10 points worse off as he has been our best midfielder and has been sorely missed for the last two games.
  2. Unlike our manager, SAF analyses and targets the weaknesses of his opponents. SAF won the game before it started because we played into his hands in playing Djourou at RB. Yennaris is a proper RB and made an immediate impact when he came on. This is not hindsight as several bloggers commented before the game that playing JD would be a huge mistake – and so it proved.
  3. Having made the mistake of taking Coquelin off in the first game against manu (after which we conceded 5 more goals), AW decided to remove The Ox yesterday to the disbelief of his captain and a large portion of the crowd. The resultant booing was not directed at Arshavin but the decision to make the substitution. Contrary to what has been reported, AOC did not ask to be taken off, AW said in his interview that he thought he was looking tired. In that case a dog tired AOC is still a much greater goal threat than a fully fit Theo. The booing was wrong and did nothing to bolster our little Russian’s confidence, but then he probably shouldn’t have been put in that position.
  4.  The decision to send Frimpong out on loan was ridiculous. He has been Wolves’ best midfielder and should have been on our bench yesterday to shore up the midfield as Alex Song has for whatever reason, failed to stamp his authority as a senior player should. The subs were warming up before AOC provided the assist for the goal. Once we scored, we should have reassessed the substitutions and looked to strengthen the midfield, not put a horribly out of form player out wide right.

I’m sure the PR machine at the club will now decide that we should make every attempt to win the FA Cup as Champion’s league qualification is now out of our hands. It is quite possible that the chavs and totnum will trip up, but can we be confident of putting together a long winning run? – not in my opinion. The return of the injured players will restore us to a very strong side, but I fear it will be too late to claw back this season.

Written by Rasp


Here are kelsey’s thoughts about yesterdays game …………

Both GIE and myself said beforehand that regardless of the result we wanted a performance by the lads. Well for the first half except for about ten minutes we were dire against a United team (who also have injuries) and it was inevitable that we would concede,that it happened seconds before half time was unfortunate but at least we showed a much improved performance in the first 25 minutes of the second half.

The Crowd: They were extremely vocal from the kick off.

As in recent games there were so many missed-placed passes and no real understanding between the players when we attacked.  The counter attack was so slow that United could regather in numbers, but the one time we looked like the team of old we scored, with a quick counter attack.

Tiredness is also a factor, we used to finish games much stronger but now our scoring has deserted us with only 5 goals in 6 home games.

This squad is just not good enough andtotally inconsistent. Many will point out that our first eleven is a match for anyone,which I agree with but only if they work as a team.

Rosicky hasn’t scored a league goal in two years, Walcott not at home for over a year. Is that a lack of ability or are they just not composed enough when it really matters. Ramsey can be excused, he is young, gives his all and his time will come. He is being given too much responsibility and being played too much.

Our biggest loss this season is Wilshere, forget about his age, he is a star footballer. Add in the loss of a motivated Fabregas and even Nasri and that leaves a huge whole in our engine. We are playing with the choke out.

If there was no ANC, Gervinho would have started before the Ox but he was the one shining light.

I won’t have it that the Ox doesn’t track back because neither do Walcott or Arshavin except for the odd occasion.
I don’t care what Wenger says, taking off the Ox was unbelievable and to add insult to injury the totally out of form and ineffectual Arshavin came on and unfortunately we conceded.

We have to face reality. Kroenke will remain silent, Wenger will not buy but I have never seen the crowd in such numbers, turn on a man who has done wonders for our club.  I forsee that enough is enough and he may walk in the Summer.

I  have supported this team for decades but this just isn’t enjoyable anymore. Maybe not all, but a good part of our current problems could have been rectified over the last few seasons.

When you are carrying more than half a team for various reasons such as players being played out of position, a total loss of confidence/form and having to rely on players like Yennaris, Miquel and Jenkinson who still need time and only RVP as the one real goal threat there is a lot to be accounted for.

Written by kelsey

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Arsenal the four man team – RVP not the MVP?

January 20, 2012

Written by Double98

Robin van Persie, the balon d’or snubbed, true king of world football, has been reeling in the plaudits for his exceptional scoring feats in 2011. By eclipsing Thierry Henry’s mark of 34 goals in a calendar year, and particularly by playing in a less competitive and more transitional team, he has booked himself a seat in the waiting room of the Pantheon of Arsenal Greats.

Of course he has to repeat the feat a couple of times and win a pot or two to get past the final interview stage to  join Bastin, Wright, Adams etc as they all bask in the glow of eternal goodness of Denis Bergkamp and his able Deputy Thierry Henry.

Of course it has been easy for the press to label Arsenal a “one man team” when one man is always on the score sheet, when one man is always applying an audacious flourish to his finish. That’s lazy journalism. Judging Arsenal in that way is like buying a car because of how fast it goes. You need to know a lot more about a car and its vulnerabilities before you can decide whether to buy it or not.

Arsenal’s true vulnerability is that it is not a One Man team – one man teams are easy to address with 1 or 2 signings – it is in fact a Four Man team.

Since the season began the team has had a few chiropractic realignments due to the loss of Fabregas and now the spine is populated by (Keeper aside) Vermaelan, Arteta, Song and Van Persie.

An easy way to judge a person’s contribution is to compare how the team do with and without them. It’s not conclusive but outside of a clinical setting, its as moneyball as you get.

The Raw data

I’ve included two substitute appearances for Vermaelan and van Persie. So the first thing that leaps out is RVP has yet to miss a game – that’s startling given his history.

Arteta despite concerns over his fitness had played every game bar one, Song is almost ever present – while the Verminator’s attendance is a concern.

Moving on to the data analysis, the teams results are examined on each players participation  record.

(Now before you get to digest the next bit, I want to let you in on a secret – this article started about a three man team and I thought I would see how our new Spanish Scouser impacted the team – it forced a complete rewrite!!)

According to this when Arteta is playing, we win 65% of our games and only lose less than 1 in 4. Van Persie on the other hand (likely due to his ever presence) has the worst team record but his personal haul is exceptional!

Vermaelan’s record is strange as he has the lowest win and (almost) the lowest loss ratio.

Now, I am not suggesting that RVP is not vitally important but I think this quick number crunch highlights the shared responsibility of our spine. And I know there are mitigating factors left (back), right (back) and Centre (forward) but the truth (or the damned lie) is, that our “Quarter Back” central midfielder, Arteta is our MVP and his contribution most dictates the fortunes of the team – through dictating the tempo and controlling possession.

Altogether the spine is our greatest strength and perhaps our greatest weakness. For when one part of the spine is missing the whole team does not function. See here when all four play / don’t play.

Wow – We’ve lost half our games that the 4 of these players did not play in, whereas we have not lost 90% when they have.

We can moan about Left Backs, Right backs, and Chamakhs, we can complain about Squillaci, Arshavin and Walcott but our real problem is an over reliance on the 4 players playing together though the centre of our team. That level of consistency is not feasible over a season. If they could, get this, projecting their performance out over a 38 game season would result in a points haul of 84 but when one or more of the four are playing the haul is 48. That’s quite a swing. In fact that’s the difference between a Title and a relegation flirtation.

When 2 of the four are missing its Pld 4 W 0 D1 L3!!!

That just shows how close / far away we are from realising Arsene’s vision and all our hopes.

What we need is Koscielny, Mertesacker, Wilshere, Coquelin and (Park, Chamakh, Walcott, OX) to either fill the gaps in that spine adequately or ship out.

Our young players need to concentrate on being not just good, but vital.

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Posted by Rasp

Seasons Greetings

December 25, 2011


In the past year we’ve been joined by Arsenal supporters from Africa,  Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America – only Antarctica to go. Whatever your beliefs, it is a good time to remember and be thankful for what unites us.

We are united by our love of The Arsenal and have forged friendships with people most of whom we are unlikely ever to meet; all made possible by the magic of the internet.

A big thank you has to go to Arsène Wenger, the players and all the backroom staff for giving us a team of which we can all be proud.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the festive season to Arsenal supporters everywhere from all at Arsenal Arsenal

COYRRG


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Posted by Rasp

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