Proof that Arsenal will score more goals this season.

September 5, 2011

Someone questioned on the blog yesterday whether our new line-up would be able to score enough goals, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the goalscoring prowess of the new players against those who have departed based on past performances.

Now I realise that stats are generally just a way of manipulating figures so they masquerade as facts. There are many factors such as playing in a different league, in a different team etc. etc. which completely undermine the validity of the comparison, but I decided to persevere with this lighthearted analysis because we should all be excited by the prospect of a new look Arsenal with more bite in the final third.

I believe the benefits of having a team packed with players who want to prove themselves, who want to play for Arsenal and are unsullied by the grubby attentions of billionaire suitors means that we will at last possess the much vaunted yet ultimately fragile team spirit that evaporated completely in the latter stages of last season.

The following stats are based on the player’s time at Arsenal for those who have left, and games played at their previous club for those have just joined (Benayoun’s stats are from Liverpool as he hardly played for Chelski).

gpg = goals per game.

Likely first team replacements:

Samir Nasri: 18 goals in 86 games = 0.21 gpg

Gervinho: (Lille) 28 goals in 67 games = 0.42 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Cesc Fabregas: 35 goals in 212 games = 0.16 gpg

Mikel Arteta: (Everton) 27 goals in 161 games = 0.17 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Gael Clichy: 1 goal in 187 games = 0.006 gpg

Santos: (Fenerbahce) 10 goals in 52 games = 0.19 gpg

Assuming that Gervinho, Arteta and Santos will start most games in place of Nasri, Cesc and Clichy, their combined gpg is as follows:

Ex-Arsenalplayers = 54 goals in  585 games = 0.09 gpg

New Arsenal players = 65 goals in 280 games = 0.23 gpg

.

Goals from the bench:

Niklas Bendtner: 22 goals in 98 games = 0.22 gpg

Park: (Monaco) 25 goals in 91 games = 0.27 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Henri Lansbury: 4 goals in 22 games (on loan to Norwich City) = 0.18 gpg

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: (Southampton) 9 goals in 36 games = 0.26 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Yossi Benayoun may well be used as an impact sub as a more attacking option to Ramsey or Wilshere, he also represents a greater goalscoring threat with stats of  29 goals in 133 games = 0.22 gpg

Wilshere: 1 goal in 37 games = 0.03 gpg

Ramsey: 4 goals in 37 games = 0.11 gpg

.

So the results are conclusive as you can see – we’re going to score bucketloads more goals with the new line-up.

The defence is also more solid so we should also be shipping in far fewer goals. We at last have a worthy No.1 keeper. Vermaelen is back (how we’ve missed him) and we have the added experience and height of Mertesacker and the class and pedigree of Santos.

The squad has greater depth and balance than we’ve seen since 2006. We have players like Park and Benayoun who can come off the bench and change games, and the emergence of Jenkinson, Oxlade Chamberlain and Miyaichi to keep everyone on their toes. The squad suddenly looks able to fight on all fronts and will need to do just that to keep everyone involved.

We also have 2 more players who can take a free kick in Santos and Park and hopefully we won’t have the ridiculous situation of our leading goalscorer taking corners instead of getting on the end of them.

Forget the first 3 games of the season, we were still reeling from the effect of the long drawn out departures of Cesc and Na$ri and the squad had been decimated by injuries and suspensions.

The new players will make a difference. Our season starts again this Saturday against Swansea.

Written by Rasp

121 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Did Arsenal fans get what they deserve?

September 2, 2011

So, the unmistakeable chimes of Big Ben bring the craziest few months an Arsenal fan has ever had to endure to a close. We have lost our club captain, we have lost last seasons best player, and we have been humiliated 8-2 by Man United, yet, with that big bell still ringing in my ear (insert your own joke!) there is a renewed optimism.

Fans had been calling for Arsène Wenger to bring experience into the club for the last few years, it had appeared to be falling on deaf ears, until last night. Finally, the professor has done away with his penchant for kids and brought some first class experience and more importantly leadership to the side.

A 6 foot 6 inch German international with 75 caps to his name has been recruited to teach TV the importance of defensive positioning, something that Vermaelen lacks at times as was all too evident in the home game against Barcelona 2 years ago. There is no doubt that TV is an outstanding defender, with a mean tackle, a wicked left foot, and possibly the best standing jump in the Premier League (apart from Fabianski!), but the chance to learn from a seasoned professional like Per will take him onto the next level.

In front of them we have signed Yossi Benayoun on a season long loan and Mikel Arteta for a princely sum of £10m. Between them they have over 10 years experience in the Premier League, more than most of our midfielders put together. They have been brought in to ease the pressure on young Jack and Aaron, but also to show the young pretenders how it can be done. Not how to pass a ball, Aaron and Jack need no help in that department, no, they are here to show he kids the all important ability to arrive into the box late. This is a skill that made Freddie Ljungberg into a Highbury hero, and with the wide players now at Arsene’s disposal, it is something that the new look Arsenal team can profit from. All Gooners know that we have the annoying habit of crossing into an empty box, if these two can find a way of making late runs more often then we could be adding an extra 15 goals a season from midfield.

As well as these timely additions, Wenger also found time to pick up a Brazilian Confederations Cup winning left back as cover for Gibbs whilst his bones and muscles find a way to get along, the current South Korean captain and 4 other young prospects who are already settled at the club.

Wenger has shown how a club without the megabucks of a sugar daddy can operate in the minefield that is the modern day transfer market.  I have heard some fans saying that they are disappointed that we didn’t bring in a marquee signing, but i have to disagree. Big money signings bring with them an air of attitude and cockiness, something that Arsenal FC could do without after the recent Cesc and Nasri sagas. They also carry huge price tags. Cahill was touted as the ideal signing by many, but with an estimated £15m value, Wenger opted to bag himself an extra 60+ caps worth of experience and pocket £5m in the process. Surely a great piece of business.

Another name that was being thrown around by our transfer hungry fans was that of Eden Hazard. Currently with Lille and with an asking price in excess of £20m, this kid is seen as the next big thing. But if that is the case, then why hasn’t he been snapped up already? It is impossible these days to keep an up and coming talent secret from the circling vultures of Man City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea etc so why haven’t they tried to do a deal? After all, they have enough spare change in there pockets to complete this deal without even having to nip to the local cash point! So why hasn’t it been done? Well that’s a question i cannot answer, but if they are unwilling to part with what is quite frankly spare change, then why would Wenger risk his precious money, and more importantly his future at AFC on such a player? Lets face it, after a 6% price hike, the last thing he can do is risk throwing money away. How would that look!?

Its been a crazy 3 months as a Gooner, and arguably the hardest in recent times, but we have made it through with manager in tact (to the annoyance of some), 9 new faces, and a new belief that this could yet turn out to be a successful season for our boys. I really hope so, because after all we have been through in the last few months, it is the fans who deserve it…..

Written by Fatgingergooner

199 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Four days that shook The Emirates

September 1, 2011

That was a very strange few days. We spend years carefully, slowly building squads, with obscure players brought in from far and wide, punctuated with highly profitable sales. This modus operandi became familiar to all of us. But in this transfer window, that has all been ripped up, culminating in an insane final evening yesterday. To recap:

Brought into the squad: Arteta, Mertesacker, Benayoun, Park, Santos, Jenkinson, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Miayichi (and Campbell was also signed)

Sold: Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Eboue, Traore, Emmanuel-Thomas, Randall, Cruise and Sunu

Loaned out: Denilson, Bendtner, Lansbury, Vela, Wellington, Bartley, Afobe, Bothelho, Galindo and Campbell

That is a scale of business we simply haven’t seen before, ever. And in addition to the new youngsters, seeing the recruitment of solid, experienced players, some from within the PL, some from elsewhere, also marks a break with the past.

We can pick over the bones of how the summer was managed another time, and there will be those who continue to query how we can be ambitious and make trading profits (I reckon we’ve made something like £20m this summer). But what cannot be denied is that our squad today is deeper and stronger than it was a week ago. Before Sunday’s decimation at Old Trafford, we were already screaming for signings to be made; the crescendo only grew louder when those eight goals were shipped, despite the fact the team on display that day was freakishly weakened.

I reckon our strongest starting XI is now:

That is a line-up that should give any opponents cause for concern. Also, the very fact that we’ll now be able to debate whether Ramsey or Koscielny or Gibbs or Benayoun or Arshavin etc should be in ahead of the eleven I’ve listed means we are in a far healthier state than we were. There will be competition for places, alternatives for the manager and education for raw youngsters like Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Miyaichi. And as Jack W’s superb tweets through yesterday evening showed, these signings will lift the squad at a time when morale was in danger of collapsing.

However, let’s not pretend it’s all rosy. Arteta and Benayoun are talented, experienced, creative players with substantial PL pedigrees. But neither one can match the talents of Fabregas. And Mertesacker is undeniably slow, which given our naive fondness for a high defensive line, could create difficulties. We’ll also have to see whether Santos and Park can make meaningful contributions when called upon. And above all else, this revolutionary change to our squad means that there is a hell of a lot of work for Wenger and the coaching team to do to assimilate the new elements into the squad after the international break. Having already given up eight points, we need to get our season going quickly, and that means these new Gunners need to knit together immediately.

Is this squad better than the one that last season promised so much but ultimately failed so miserably? Difficult to say with so many unknown factors, but plenty of Gooners will have a spring in their step this morning. Quite a contrast to the miserable embarrassment we all felt after Sunday.

Come on Swansea, let’s be having you!

Written by 26may1989

180 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Three Down, One or Two to go?

August 31, 2011

Just a short second post today as all eyes will be on the TD, with supporters frantically F5ing every source of news they can find.

Who knows how much of a spur the 8:2 ‘humiliation’ was to the powers that be at Arsenal, but  one thing is for sure, the 3 signings that have followed in quick succession have at last shown that we are serious about producing a team that can compete with the best this season.

After having highlighted the defence as our weakness yet again this summer, Arsène has finally done something about it. Mertesacker and Santos tick the quality, experience and size boxes. They’re both seasoned internationals and are proven winners.

At 26, Park Chu Young must also be entering his peak years although it is thought that we will only have him for 2 before he returns home for national service. He is the captain of South Korea and also brings experience as well as goals to the side.

So is that it? Are we done?

Well I hope not. We know that Cesc was irreplaceable, but from the ashes of the team that was built around him can rise a new more direct Arsenal that would owe more to the Invincibles than the team of recent years. Santos is a very attacking fullback whose record is 1 goal in 5 for Fenerbache – A’Cole’s record is 1 goal in 30.

Gervinho and Park are also very quick and have an eye for goal so all of a sudden we have the potential to score from all angles. All we need now is the midfielder to unlock defences with that killer (dare I say Cesc-like) pass.

Will Jack be promoted further up the pitch to fill that role? He certainly has the vision and passing ability, but his young frame was overplayed last season and he is paying the price now. Ramsey already looks exhausted and in need of support.

I would be happy with one more signing in midfield, but time is running out and candidates of real top quality are few and far between although there are seemingly plenty of names in the mix – add Fellaini and Dempsey to those already identified. The news that we have been linked to Honda this morning adds his name to a list that still includes Hazard (the preferred choice of many) and M’Vila who would certainly add strength but is more defensive in his play.

I’m greedy, I’d like the power of M’Vila and the craft of Hazard, but I don’t expect that will happen. Hazard is going nowhere I suspect. Honda will bridge the gap between the two in some way so maybe he will be the answer.

We’ve probably done enough to ensure we will be in a strong position for the rest of the season, but wouldn’t it be nice if we just made that last flagship signing that really showed our intent.

One thing is for sure, we are now in a far better position than our North London rivals and we will have some great new signings to light up the Emirates pitch and hopefully get the fans singing this season.

Well done Arsène, 3 rabbits out of the hat – just one more would be nice.

Hastily written by Rasp

692 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Arsenal needs loyalty and leadership more than ever

August 31, 2011

(part 1)

The departures of Clichy, Nasri and Cesc this summer have shocked us all. Just when ‘Project Youth’ started to deliver on its promises, some of the most valuable assets are sold for hard cash to a major domestic competitor, and a European competitor. It is so much harder to build a club’s strategy around youth development than it is to buy fully ripened and proven top quality players every year. It is also absolutely paramount not to sell your top players when they start to hit their peak, if your strategy is based around growing talents from within. Yet, Arsenal did just that: not because the club wanted it, but simply because it had no other choice as a result of bad contract management, and a clear lack of loyalty to our club by those particular players (Cesc included).

Looking back towards the end of last season, we can now see that a significant number of our players had made their mind up about leaving Arsenal during that crucial – and oh so painful – period. I cannot prove it, but my gut instinct tells me that after that feeble surrender against the Mancs in the FA-cup last year – which for me was the defining game of our 2010-2011 season – a number of players started to plan their exit strategies, and the morale amongst the entire squad was heavily influenced by it. We should have finished at least third last season, but too many players showed no loyalty to Arsenal: they did not seem to care anymore, and it cost us dearly. They clearly let Arsene and the fans down, and it should come as no surprise to a number of players who left us this summer that they will not be welcomed back, if and when they return to the Emirates.

This brings me to the two topics I have always been interested in, both in football and in my professional life: leadership and loyalty. To be successful in football, you need more than just leadership and loyalty, but for me these two will become paramount for Arsenal in the next few years. In this post, I will focus on loyalty and I will cover leadership in another post, in the near future.

Loyalty

Every football team needs loyal players. Loyalty, in my opinion, consists of both a real desire/passion to give their all for our club, and a willingness to spend most – if not all – of their playing career at Arsenal. The key thing for Arsenal is to find the right mix between ‘Stayers’; those who have a passionate commitment to give their all for the club and over a long period, and ‘Contract Footballers (for a lack of a better word)’: those who have a more calculative commitment. Some players are pure professionals and can be loyal and dedicated to any team they play for. They can be very useful to a team as well. They will give their all during the time they are at a particular club, but will do so again for any next club they move to (Overmars, Gallas, Robben, etc). Understandably, not everyone likes to stay at one and the same club either.

Both ‘Stayers’ and ‘Contractors’ need to be fully committed to the team when they play for us, but it is really important to have as many quality Stayers in our spine as possible. The current spine is starting to look awesome: Szczesny – Vermaelen/Koscielny – Song – Wilshere – RvP. We really have 6 players in our spine of high quality, around which we can build the best team in the England and Europe for the next 5-10 years. On top of that we have Sagna and Walcott, and a number of promising young players and new recruits, and surely a couple of quality players will be added before the end of the TW.

For me there are three key questions regarding loyalty to our club:

Question 1: How many of our current players are to be regarded as loyal, as Stayers – especially in our spine?

I believe that we are now left with a set of players who are mostly loyal to the club. That does not mean that they will never leave us if they were to be offered a lot more money somewhere else, but in principle they love playing for us and would like to be successful with us. I believe it would take quite a bit for any of them to ask for a transfer request. This bodes well for the future of Arsenal football club.

Question 2: What do we need to do to recruit more quality Stayers for the future and to entice them, as well as our current ones, to our club?

I strongly believe that Arsenal needs to focus its recruitment of key players more on nations were players are used to relatively harsh/wet winters, and the British ‘way of life’. Germany, Holland, Belgium, the Scandinavian countries and to a certain extent France, are good recruitment grounds. Countries like Spain, Portugal and (southern) Italy are best to be avoided. Reyes and Cesc come to mind, who both wanted to return home, as a result of a form of homesickness.

I also believe we need to reward loyalty more by offering good players who reach the age of 30+, better and longer contracts than we currently do. We let the likes of Pires, Vieira, Gilberto, etc go as soon as the club believed they were past their best and so we could save money, but this also gave a signal to other, younger players that the club does not really care about players that much (so why should they be loyal to our club?).

Question 3: What do we need to do to protect us from clubs like Barcalona and Citeh to come and cream off our players and the end of every season?

Better and more pro-active contract management. We need to get all our key players on long term contracts, and be prepared to pay the market rate in pay packages to our top players. This will be crucial

to avoid a repeat of the Nasri situation, and would give a clear sign to our competitors – as well as our own current players – that we are no longer prepared to let our best players leave to them.

Most importantly, Wenger and the BoD need to (re)convince the players (and supporters) that we are to remain a major force in football – that Arsenal is going onwards and upwards from here on, so that everyone is passionate to stay at the club and give their all.

Loyalty is a complex issue, and I do not pretend to have all the answers to the above questions. However, I hope this post will start a good discussion on how we can establish more loyal and committed players at our club, who will stay with us and help us to win major prizes again.

TotalArsenal

76 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

What is Really Happening at Arsenal?

August 22, 2011

Written by Kelsey

I think a reality check is needed and between us we should try to fathom out what is going wrong at the club. Figures don’t lie and we have won just 2 of our last 13 PL games, which would have been inconceivable in February. Fabregas leaving is going to be a huge miss, and though not replaceable like for like we have had the best part of this year knowing he would leave to find another player as a world-class playmaker.

(Did Arsene know?)

Injuries have been another key factor. Other clubs get injuries but we have a number of players who can hardly string together half a dozen games together in a row before being injured again. Wenger has admitted that on occasions he plays players who are not fully fit – because we don’t have a balanced squad of players some of whom simply aren’t good enough.

Having watched the Liverpool game again I get the feeling that the many fans have accepted that this might turn out to be a disastrous season for the club. Personally I believe with the players available (Kos is out) we will probably lose in Italy and have absolutely no chance at United. I may be proved wrong but the omens don’t look good.

I ask you how many players in our present squad providing they are fully fit and committed and in form would automatically be on the team sheet (I am assuming Nasri is leaving.)

RVP, Sagna, Vermaelen, Wilshere, possibly Gervinho and Szesney, but that’s all.

Kos is improving, Djourou another one who is injury prone and at best is a back up and Squillacci is a disaster. Song is inconsistent. Diaby,Gibbs and Rosicky are injury prone. Arshavin and Chamakh are woefully out of form and have been for months. Walcott just flits in and out of games and is at best a cameo player. Ramsey, Frimpong and Jenkinson will come good but need mentoring and to expect them to play at the highest level at this time is a big ask. Miguel and Lansbury come below the list starting with Ramsey. Traore,Vela and Bendtner are going or are going out on loan
Not fair to comment on Oxlade-Chamberlain as he hasn’t played yet.

So it doesn’t make happy reading.Will one or two signings  make much difference ?

Confidence is at the lowest for years, apart from Vermaelen and a fit Wilshere no one to drive the team on and I am really concerned.
The Emirates is no fortress as seen these last two seasons so home advantage for some reason is not as it should be.
Plenty of questions, but at this moment very few answers.

It would be nice to hear the truthful agenda from Kroenke and Gazidis otherwise known as the Chuckle brothers. Gazidis wants to broaden the name of Arsenal,hence the Far East tour, but surely he should get his priorities in order and deal with our immediate needs by sorting out transfers be they in or out, or is Wenger responsible for that.

PS : This is just my opinion and has no bearing on my support, it’s just doesn’t make sense to me. I take positives with negatives but there is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion which I know many will disagree with.

In the past week AW has been quoted as saying Cesc, Samir and Robin love the club, well so do I and I don’t understand why this is happening.

After writing this post this link appeared  and to me maybe very relevent.Those who want Wenger out should read it.

http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s378/st170548.htm

211 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2 – match report and player ratings

August 21, 2011

Written by Wonderman

Not much to write about today’s game, it was not much of a spectacle but still there were positives to be taken. I sat in the west stand today, behind the tv gantry and close enough to recognise Steve McManaman not too far away working for one of the tv channels. One thing that always pisses me off is when teams switch us around before kick off. Spurs were the first to do it a few seasons ago and Liverpool decided to do it today.

Prior to the match I was convinced this game had draw written all over it. As I took my seat the teams were lining up and some idiots took it upon themselves to boo Nasri when his number was called BEFORE  a ball had even been kicked, fortunately there were more sensible SUPPORTERS who cheered. The absence of Kieran Gibbs meant Bacary Sagna filled in at left-back. There were full debuts for Jenkinson at right-back and Frimpong in central midfield. The bench included Fabianski, Chamahk, Bendy, Lansbury, Miguel and Miyachi .

In the first half we were performing well enough without creating any chances of note, but it is here that we can improve without too much effort in my opinion. Walcott was being double banked every time he got the ball to feet. Surely common sense should have told the players either try to play it into space for him to run on to or go and support him. Ramsey also had a bad day at the office even before his own goal. I also fail to understand how Arshavin managed to come out for the second half as he contributed nothing to the first half.

We lost Laurent Koscielny to a back injury early which saw Miquel replace him and contributed to some nervous non threatening possession. Liverpool were seemingly happy to park their five man midfield and take a valuable point, and Vermy was keeping Carroll quiet.

The turning point of the game was the sending off of Emmanuel Frimpong. But again, anyone who has bothered to do a little research would know that Mr Atkinson likes red cards and penalties and our players should have been aware of that irrespective of how many games they have played.

Dalglish showed his street wisdom by bringing on Suarez to terrorise our backline with his speed and movement.  The goals Liverpool got were admittedly graced with luck: both appeared to be offside, the first one was the result of a calamitous own goal after Miquel’s clearance hit Ramsey and looped over the advancing Szczesny and the second at the death.  But with ten men and a defence of Sagna at left-back, Jenkinson at right-back, and Vermaelen and Miquel in the middle, with Vermy moved to the right hand side of the CB pairing it was always going to be difficult.

Ratings:

Szczesny – 8  Very calm and assured, omly 1 kick went astray pulled off a very good save to his left in the first half. This boy may take some shifting

Sagna – 7  tried his best on his ‘wrong’ side in the absence of a recognised left back

Kosser –  not on long enough to rate

Vermy – 9 Motm jeez have we missed him

Jenkinson – 7 committed, and willing to support, good engine and soldiered on even after getting what looked like cramp. But needs to work on his play when in possession

Miquel – 6.5  good range of passing but was understandably nervy.  Often passed back to the keeper aiding Liverpool to press us high up the pitch

Ramsey – 5 was erratic, passes went astray, didn’t track back with any urgency and had little penetration in his passing. Unfortunate with the own goal

Walcott  – 6 looking like a one trick pony but not helped by his team mates. If his pace was taken away he would not have been on the pitch today, not that his pace helped him. He will soon be eclipsed by Ryo

Arshavin – 4 abject, tricks didn’t come off, no work rate, no goal threat, no tracking back

Nasri – 7 decent shift under the circumstances and was pleased to see the supporters give him a boost when he came to take corners

Frimpong – 7.5 would have got 8.5 had he not been sent off, but this boy is the reason we are not going to buy a defensive midfielder, quick, powerful and aggressive. Once he controls that aggression he will be one hell of a player

Van P – 7  worked hard for the cause but very little service

Lansbury  – 6  didn’t really get into the game

Bendtner – not enough time to rate

A word of caution for a so called category A game there were plenty of empty sets at the Emirates today. I don’t know if it was the kick off time or something else

A word of praise to those fellow supporters who comprehensively drowned out the morons who started to chant ‘spend some …..’ and also reminded Nasri that the dissenters are still a minority. I’m beginning to see a nucleus of fighters in our team/squad. Vermy, Kosser, Frimpong, Van P, Lansbury with Song and Wilshere to add, that bodes well for the future.

Lets hope that we get all of our bad luck out of the way early

142 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Arsenal Draw – but what conclusions?

July 31, 2011

Written by Gooner in Exile

Back at the Home of Football to the traditional start of footballing season entertainment known as the Emirates Cup.

This is normally a fun filled affair where we take on a couple of fair to middling teams put some skilful moves together introduce a few youngsters and send the punters home happy.

I disregarded TotalArsenals advice yesterday and watched on ESPN with the volume up, like a scab I couldn’t stop picking, and before long the inanity of Champion’s and Burley’s mutterings were winding me up more than they should for a game with nothing riding on it.

Apparently Van Persie doesn’t like attacking the near post. Cue Robin stage centre attacking the goal and getting on the end of a lovely counter which started with a Wilshere pass to Gervinho who drove forward and provided a great cross for Robin to do what he does best. 1-0 Arsenal and alls well with the world again.

We started the match rather disjointed and seemed to be a little leggy.

There were occasional glimpses of why Jenkinson and Gervinho have been brought in, however Nasri went a long way to justify not giving a pay rise with an anonymous performance in the advanced midfield role.

There should have been a penalty in the first five minutes when Wilshere was clearly fouled but Atkinson did what English refs do and assumed Jack must of been summer holidaying with Tom Daley and waved away the appeals. Oh well I guess it’s the refs preseason too.

Boca were professional, they set about disrupting our rhythm by fouling wherever they could as is the prescribed tactic against us. Jack was most often on the receiving end.

The high line played by our defence with no pressure on the ball led to a couple of opportunities for Boca but we reached half time unscathed.

The second half brought a number of changes, Robin, Jack, Fabianski, Gervinho and Kozzer making way for Chamakh, Ramsey, Vela, Squillacci and Mannone.

Within a minute of the restart Vela had jinked his way past a couple and the ball rolled to Ramsey who struck a good drive into the net, 2-0 cue feelings of happy days to come. I liked this goal because again it proved to me that faced with a likely impact Ramsey is not suffering the same mental frailty that understandably reduced Eduardo’s goalscoring knack.

After that the Arsenal performance slowly petered out, a lack of balance to the side, Chamakh drifting on to the left wing when he should be occupying the 18 yard box.

Frimpong started getting overrun in midfield and leaving our defence exposed. I thought he had a reasonable game but he seemed to lose energy in the second half, although he wasn’t exactly helped by teammates. The defensive midfield role at Arsenal really is a thankless task.

And then the familiar site of Squilacci behaving randomly for a Centre Back  he had already steam rollered Jenkinson in a fashion not seen since he headbutted Kozzer last season and then got caught in possession Boca didn’t need inviting twice and duly got a goal back.

Not long after and it was Djourous turn to gift one, first to the ball but under pressure he inexplicably missed the ball with his sliding clearance and the eager Boca player chasing him picked up the ball and equalised.

From then on Champion and Burley had a field day as they set about telling us all how regular an occurrence this all is at the Arsenal. Some of the support appears to agree having had a quick look on Twitter. As always the wins in our other preseason games have been forgotten and everyone wants to concentrate on this draw and the way it happened.

Okay so what did we learn?

  1. Jenkinson and Gervinho are good acquisitions.
  2. We really do need one more Centre Back to complete the squad. Maybe we will get to see him today if its Bartley.
  3.  Mannone is third choice.
  4. Robin and Jack are looking to continue where they left off as is Kozzer.
  5. Traore may be the answer at left back I thought he had a reasonable game.
  6. Nasri can’t play the advanced midfield role, or can’t play it like Cesc, his propensity to want to dribble rather than pass is one of the things that slows our progress up the pitch.
  7. Our new defending set piece approach is zonal marking, a system employed by Adams, Keown et al. For this to work we need at least four players over 6ft (five players best in my opinion) to patrol the key areas. I think it can work I would just like to see us take it a yard further out for a starting position.

Hopefully we will get more of an idea in the first half against Red Bulls as to what our likely starting lineup against Newcastle in two weeks will be. I doubt Nasri, Frimpong, Traore or Jenkinson will feature having played 90 minutes yesterday.

I’d also like to see Bartley and Afobe get a run out to give us all a positive vibe about the squad this coming season.
Enjoy the game AA’ers who are making the pilgrimage have a Peroni for me.

106 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

Ooh, how to be a happy Gooner this season

July 30, 2011

They say that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’, and after a small eternity of not seeing the mighty Arse play, I cannot wait for the new season to start. Simply seeing our players on a green pitch again during recent friendly games, made me realise how much I’ve really missed our team over the last few months.

I am full of optimism about the forthcoming season, and feel that this could be our year. Just watching Jenkinson, Gibbs, Vermaelen and Koscielny running around with such energy and eagerness in recent friendlies, made my mouth water. The triangle of Song, Rambo and Jack seems to have transformed over the summer into a confident, multi-skilled and graceful midfield war-machine, and then there is also the delight of proper, fast and effective wing/attacking-play by the likes of Ryo, Theo, Arshavin and Gervinho. Most of our established stars, for various reasons, have been taking it easy during pre-season. It is going to be a long season, so I do not mind at all. Take it easy boys and focus on what really matters this season: carrying the team through the difficult patches that we will undoubtedly have to face again.

The one thing I am wary about though, is the way the ‘outside world’ will be trying their hardest to spoil our enjoyment of the new season.

TV football commentators, especially those of Sky, are the biggest culprits. I cannot stand to have to hear again and again and again the oh so familiar and regurgitated platitudes such as: ‘Arsenal have not won a major trophy for six years and counting’, or that ‘Arsenal’s beautiful football is pointless if it does not deliver titles and cups’, or that we ‘do not do ugly goals but always want to pass ‘it’ into the goal’, or that we ‘Southern Sissies’ cannot take it if we are being roughed up by the teams ‘Up North’ etc, etc. Does this sound familiar to you?

Then there are the newspaper articles and fan blogs. For a while the Newspapers will look for ways to build us up, only to drop us again at the earliest convenience. The smallest thing that goes wrong and all the above mentioned platitudes will be in our faces again. The fan blogs will also be full of the articles based on ‘I told you so – nothing has changed’ rhetoric, as soon as we lose or even draw a game. On top of all of that, we will have to put up with fans from other, recently ‘more successful’ teams at work, in the pub, within our families and from our friends.

I know I am not the only one who gets affected by all this negativity, and that’s why I have formulated eight tips to build up the necessary immunity, in order to enjoy the new season as best as possible

Tip 1: Manage your own expectations: our team has the potential to win one or more cups this season, but there are no guarantees. The higher the expectations the harder we could fall. I rather have high aspirations but more realistic expectations.

Tip 2:  Keep believing in Wengerball – success is so near and lady luck might be on our side this year.

Tip 3: Don’t jump to conclusions if and when we lose a game: last season once again showed us that our campaign had many twist and turns and that the outcome of an individual game, either positive (beating Citeh away and the Chavs at home) or negative (drawing at Wigan and at Newcastle), does not predict the way we will finish.

Tip 4: Try not to think too much ahead and only focus on the next game coming.

Tip 5: Be very selective about which papers and blogs you read, and footie TV programmes you watch: choose those that take a fair/balanced approach and avoid those that are scripted to be negative about Arsenal whenever possible (vast majority at the moment). Arsenal Arsenal is the best place to be, most of the times.

Tip 6:  Turn off the sound of your TV-set when watching our team: I found this very helpful last season, especially during the second half when the commentators get tired and start reading of their sheet of ‘cheap and easy platitudes’.

Tip 7:  Tape the good games, and watch them again and again when you are feeling low.

Tip 8:  Keep telling yourself and subsequently your colleagues, friends and members of the family that there is nothing better than to be a Gooner: six years without success is nothing compared to our fantastic, trophy-full history; we are a model of financial sustainability to all clubs in the UK/Europe/World, and play a brand of football that everyone wants to watch. We might not always get to our destinations, but our journeys are eventful and laced with excitement and splendour. This video could not summarise any better on what it is to be Gooner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDzQCg-Liqw

 

Wishing you all a fantastic football season, and hopefully some silverware at the end,

TotalArsenal.

156 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

A Few Thoughts From London

July 26, 2011

Not a very exciting title and certainly not one that is going to shoot the lights out of the hit stats but after questioning myself about it I thought why not, do I really want to attract people who’s blog name is “Wenger The Liar” and the like, not really was the answer. No, far happier am I to address the solid regulars of this fine site.

We have got off to a good preseason don’t you think? Two great goals from Gervinho who really does have that last piece to the attacking jigsaw about him. This man is going to allow Wenger to take no nonsense from Arshavin or Walcott, if either one of those is not performing then bang, off and on with Gerv. I say it this way around because I still think that Wenger will start with Arshavin, RvP and Walcott up front against Newcastle but I don’t anticipate that it will be too long before the goal scoring prowess of The Gerv finds it way into the first team on a regular basis.

If I had to guess as to the player who will ultimately lose out, then for me it will be Walcott. Those who read my comments know that I have a bee in my bonnet about Theo and in that same vein of bias I predict that this time next year he will be a Liverpool player.

Dalglish is on a one man mission to Britify that team in the belief that it is the El Dorado, the magic formula that manu have been using in recent past to win the league as many times as they have. Liverpool have paid some outrageous prices for average English players and I for one do not think that it will work for them. But the man who cannot be understood has too much credit in the red half of Liverpool to be kicked out too quickly and that is why I predict that after another shabby forth coming season the Scousers will make us an offer we cannot refuse – think Pennant.

I do have an alternate theory as to why Liverpool are in such a hurry to Britify that team and that is because Britain is the only football that Dalglish understands (He got lucky with Suarez). By contrast Wenger obviously knows the British players but has almost exclusive fishing rights in France and French speaking Africa. It’s like having our very own pool of talent to pick from, how brilliant is that and amazingly to me there are some who moan – oh no, please, anyone but another French speaking African. Just watch those two goals by Gervinho again and thank your lucky stars we did not buy Stewart Downing.

Walcott highlights the flaw in the youth policy that Wenger has clearly adopted, which is not to complain about its adoption. I am a firm believer that there are only three types of available player out there: the youth player, the twelve million pound player and the thirty five million pound player. Very few thirty five million pound players become available, I’m talking Aguero here, and when they do they inevitably draw the attention of Man City and once that has happened what is the point of trying to financially compete? Aguero is such a good example as it is plain to see that no one has even tried to involve themselves in the potential purchase of what is one of the best attackers in the world. No, at the present time players like that are not for us. The result being that we either have to fish in the twelve million pound pond and hope the likes of Gervinho turns into the next Drogba or try and develop the next Messi through our youth system.

This is all well and good but it is flawed, in order for the club to continue to attract the best youth players out there the fathers of super talented fifteen year olds must believe that if they succumb to Arsenal’s charms then their precious son will get the fairest crack of the whip possible and the flaw, I finally got there, is that players like Walcott are overplayed long before they are genuinely ready, the result is that we lose precious EPL points. I blame the loss of more than one league title on Wenger’s obsession with playing Walcott. Do you remember the crowd’s reaction when Walcott used to get off the bench to warm up: screams of Theo, Theo rang out throughout the ground; for goodness sake he is a puppy with a beach ball now he was even worse then.

Certain young players become too important not to play; their inclusion becomes more important than winning the league. Wilshere is another example of a player who has to be played, I complained last season that he was not strong enough to shield the defence on his own and offered next to no goal threat. My concern about him has been tempered by the realisation that the amount of games he played probably had as much to do with Diaby and Cesc’s injuries than Wenger’s impossible position of having to play him. Can you imagine him being on the bench for the first game of the season? No you can’t and yet if Cesc stays, a player who is light years more talented, then he really should be playing instead of Wilshere, well if we want to win the league he should be.

Which brings me to the title I really wanted to use Cesc, Stay, Please Stay, we are so close to having a team that just rips the EPL to pieces and with the arrival of Gervinho I think we have it. Did you see Nasri on the weekend, talented man but if there was a choice between keeping him and Cesc, hellooooooooo or should I say au revoir. We have one world class player, head and shoulders above all others and if we let him go we are back to hoping that Nasri can become the playmaker and that Wilshere will start scoring goals. They both will at one stage but I believe to win the league you have to have these two things up and running from the outset of the season. I am such a Fabregas fan I would sooner sell Wilshere to Barcelona.

Moving on or running away: cries of, if we don’t buy another defender we will continue to be vulnerable to an aerial threat from set pieces ring out from the blogshere, all I have to say to this is — tosh. Vermaelen wasn’t playing last season so it is reasonable to assume that his experience will galvanise that area of the team; Koscielny coped extremely well with his forced baptism of fire to the EPL brought on by the captain of Belgium’s injury, he played far more games than was originally anticipated and did a good job in my opinion, I expect him to be even better this season.

The idea of Gibbs as the new left back is starting to grow on me; so many teams come to the Emirates and park the bus that in the past we have struggled to break them down far more than we should for a team of our quality. How many times have we seen the ball played along a line of Arsenal players backwards and forwards before going out to Sagna or Clichy to send in a poor cross that nine times out of ten results in the loss of possession — too many is my answer. Gibbs can operate skilfully in the opposition’s eighteen yard box and as a result I expect him to start scoring some important goals.

I really do think we are ahead of the curve it terms of having a more settled side than the likes of United, City, Chelsea and Liverpool a side that is ready to storm the EPL but our side is only settled if Fabregas remains — Stay Cesc, Please Stay

London

96 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »