Your girlfriend is right after all……Size Does Matter

October 13, 2010

Today’s post was written by Red Arse over the weekend and continues the discussion about serious injuries.

Written by Red Arse

Like most Arsenal fans, I greeted, with relief and joy, the news, that “Rambo” Ramsey was not far from resuming full time training, with a view to returning in the New Year. It is wonderful, not just for us as fans but for the player himself.

But it led me to think back to the horrific injury that we were shown happening to him, in all its gory detail, on Sky TV, in full HD close up. The recollection brought an involuntary, empathetic shudder as, in my minds eye, I saw his leg bending in several completely unnatural directions and how it appeared to be held together only by virtue of his red and white sock. Yeuk and double Yeuk! I felt sick to my stomach reliving it, even in flashback.

But, hold on, that was not Rambo I was envisioning, it was Dudu, smashed by Taylor; but no, oh God, no, it was neither, it was Diaby, with his ankle apparently sheared off at Sunderland. Wasn’t it?

Well, it seems that they have all become one amorphous whole, each as shocking as the other.

This week’s news, that Danny Murphy had lambasted the thuggish gorillas, sent out by even more thuggish managers, to brainlessly assault more skilful players in more skilful EPL teams, in a manner likely to cause appalling career threatening injuries was amazingly refreshing and unexpected. He even named names; Fat Sam, stupid McCarthy, sickening, self justifying Pubis. Wow!

Picked up by other publications, his comments received mainly positive responses, with many a sage nod of the head, and a general agreement that such thuggery was wrong and that something must be done to curtail these wanton acts of aggression.

Contrast this with the xenophobic “Whingeing Wenger” headlines that greeted similar comments by our esteemed manager. The same moronic “it’s a man’s game”, and “I know him, he would not do that deliberately”, yada, yada, were soon churned out by said thuggish managers, of course.

Sometime ago, I wrote a Post highlighting the cretinous cabal of professionally limited managers, who encouraged and condoned this appalling, “in their faces”, tactic, inflicted by their physically imposing but cerebrally challenged minions. To Danny Murphy’s list I had added Mark Hughes, Owen Coyle and others, on the margins, whose teams occasionally dabble too.

Surprise, surprise, several of the usual suspects popped up; Kevin Davies, Shawcross, and de Jong among them, claiming they had always behaved like choirboys and their sainted managers had never issued any such instructions, nor incited them to inflict damage on skilful opposition players.

Now, at this point, I intend to leave that stream of thought and perhaps shock you, by coupling these Neanderthal antics with our lack of success, in recent times.

Following our defeat by Chelsea, I have lost count of the number of times opposition fans have said, “Your team were out muscled and well beaten” or “They never remotely looked capable of winning, because they were up against a better team, who were far stronger, taller, heavier and more powerful”.

I also lost count of the number of times I denied this was so. “We played well, and were unlucky to have lost”, I said, “We could have won, if we had taken our early chances”, and so on, and so forth.

All the time, at the back of my mind, I was thinking the unthinkable. “These guys could be right!”

In my opinion, even though I think Arsène is the best manager I have ever seen, I think he is complicit in our setbacks against the other top 4 teams, or the intimidating tackling and long ball tactics used against us so often. This is as a direct consequence of the type and size of players he has bought for us, over recent years.

We have often argued on this site about the pace or strength of our current players, with the implicit criticism, by some of us, that they were not quick enough or big enough physically.

Underlying this argument is the indisputable fact that when we were kings of the EPL, winning not just one, but two Doubles, we had in our team colossal players like Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Paddy Viera, Sol Campbell and many others like Manu Petit, Titti Henry and the incomparable Denis “Iceman” Bergkamp. I use the term “colossal” advisedly.

They not only had great skill, but they were giants physically. All of them strapping fellows with muscles on their muscles; they were all well over 6 foot tall, with great long ball winning legs, and a hard bitten, “take no prisoners” attitude in the winning of titles.

And then it all changed!

Arsene fell in love with seemingly fast, small, amazingly skilful players. Their brand of football is an entertaining, breathtaking style, with fast flowing, exquisite passing at its core. This appetite for physically small skilful players has now extended to defenders, with our latest recruits having very modest physiques.

Unfortunately, these little guys do not win against the “Big” teams. And they do not win trophies.

That is the crux of my disquiet. For reasons I do not pretend to understand, AW has decided that our best chance of winning trophies is by recruiting players half the size of those wonderful Double winning teams of yore!

This is not working! Please, Arsene, change your mind!

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I’m an Arsenal supporter and Windows 7 was my idea

October 9, 2010

As usual, the international break has left a vacuum in the lives of many football supporters. I believe most (myself included) would place club before country and so the major hope is simply that none of our players get injured.

To pass the time, I’d like to offer a few ideas up for discussion.

Here are some suggestions for common sense changes in the game:

1. The FA should be able to review and punish all challenges where injury has occurred whether there has been a red, yellow or no card shown at the time.

2. When a player has to leave the pitch due to a tackle that has led to a free kick, the perpetrator of the tackle must also leave the pitch and should only return at the same time as the injured player or when a substitute comes on. At the moment, the side that is disadvantaged by having a player injured is further penalised by being a player short.

3. The end of extra time should be signalled by a siren/bell through the PA system and not the referees whistle. The 4th official could be empowered to add more extra time if a goal is scored or the game is delayed for any reason.

4. Tactical substitutions should not be allowed in extra time, only for injury.

5. The offside rule relating to players ‘not interfering with play’ is too subjective. If a player is offside and draws a defender out of position allowing a pass to reach another player who scores – he is interfering with play in my opinion. It should be returned to the old system where if any player is offside the whistle is blown.

6. Technology should be introduced, certainly for goal-line decisions and possibly for an on-the-spot review of match changing incidents. The system works in rugby, tennis and cricket. The argument that it disrupts the game doesn’t stand up when you consider the time lost when players surround the referee when they feel an unjust decision has been given.

7. A player who has played for his club but has subsequently been withdrawn from an international squad should not be allowed to play the next game for his club side.

The groundswell of opinion calling for changes in the rules particularly relating to technology and the punishment handed out to offenders is growing. I’d expect that many supporters of Fulham and Newcastle have been recruited to the cause and would like to see more being done to try to prevent potentially career ending challenges.

Arsenal Arsenal has leant its support to the ‘Kick Kicking out of Football’ campaign. I’m not asking for a radical rethink to the way the game is played, but just some common sense measures to deter players from making reckless challenges and for the punishment to fit the crime

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One day chicken, next day feathers – written by London and peaches

September 26, 2010

London’s analysis

It seems as though the players’ midweek celebrations went on a bit longer than we might have thought. The only thing that surprises me is that one or two didn’t take to the field carrying half empty Champagne bottles and wearing sun glasses to shield their eyes from the painful effects of the sun after a late night.

The hang over was written all over their faces; men dressed in red and white lumbered around the pitch with tired limbs, totally lacking in any sort of urgency.

The fog from their lazy minds only started to clear well into the second half after which, I can only presume, someone had the bright idea to hand out sobering black coffee and paracetamol which, although was a step in the right direction, did take time to take affect and by the time it did we were three nil down.

That must have been some party because only a shadow of the team that ripped spuds apart in the week turned up yesterday.

We were pants, arrogant pants as one “Baggie” came on the blog yesterday and rightly told us.


Peachesgooner’s conclusions

I agree London but who’s to blame?

Almunia will no doubt bear the brunt of most people’s anger but as London says, there was definitely a hang over from the players ……… oh and how about the arrogance of our fine manager for  not playing the best team available from the start.  This is not the first time that we’ve had our playmakers sat on the bench being saved for a future fixture while the those on the pitch are unable to be effectively creative. Today Jack Wilshire – undoubtedly the star of Tuesday night’s heroics against spuds – and Tomas Rosicky must have watched in agony as the first half drudged on.

Neither Song, Diaby or Eboue were finding their man. They were all passing to the ‘invisible one’. We had no control of the mid-field and there was absolutely no sign of the play that tormented the scummers the other night. How embarrassing is that? To have had even 50% of the control would have meant we were stringing some passes together instead of giving the baggies every chance of getting into the game.

And so the 2nd half came to pass and it was still nil nil. From the way we had played in the first half, unless there were changes, I couldn’t see us gaining an advantage quickly. What I didn’t see coming was the baggies on the attack and an Arsenal mid-field that just stood still and allowed them to pass through with ease. One goal conceded was quickly followed by a second and a disturbing chill descended on the stadium.  Eboue and Diaby were sacrificed for Wilshere and Rosicky – probably half an hour too late and soon we were 3 down.

Three down at the Emirates against ……… newly promoted West Bromwich Albion!!!!!!!!! You couldn’t make it up really. Was it all Almunia’s fault? I don’t think so, the  goalkeeper must be protected by the back four and the back four must be protected by the mid-field and if the mid-field had been working effectively, then we should have been in the lead anyway.

If we can’t defend as a team we’re going to struggle this season, but if we don’t send out the best team available from the start, there are always going to be other excuses. M. Wenger this one is your fault.

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Wenger is not very clever…….. – written by Rasp

September 24, 2010

……. No, he’s much better than that – the man’s a bloody genius!

I don’t know the figures, but I would guess that there would have been in excess of 50 players transferred to Premiership clubs last summer, yet I believe we have made the three best signings of all.

Obviously there is a team involved in securing transfers, but since Arsène shoulders all the blame from some quarters, I’m choosing to give him most of the credit. The scouts and Gazidis’ department will have played their part, but a manager who apparently scrutinised the minutiae of every detail in the building of the Emirates is sure to be the driving force behind such important matters as recruiting playing staff.

We have signed 3 players of real quality, in key positions and without competition for their signatures from any other top clubs. That is some feat. I wonder how many other managers would have been suitors had they seen the way these players have performed for Arsenal so far this season – I’m guessing plenty.

Taking the players in the order in which they were signed:

Marouane Chamakh

We’d been after Chamakh for more than a year and Arsène would no doubt have dearly loved to sign him last January, but he stuck to his principles and refused to pay the overinflated price Bordeaux slapped on the player. We secured his services on a free transfer in May this year.

Arsenal got the better deal. Clubs with lesser managers may see a limitless bank balance as the only route to success, but our boss likes to make the books balance. Chamakh played his part in the process by always saying he wanted to sign for us as I’m certain other clubs would have been interested if his agent had touted him on the open market.

Chamakh has all the attributes a manager could wish for in a front man. He works tirelessly, he can hold the ball up, his first touch is assured, he brings others into play, he is a good header of the ball and he can finish.  We’ve been lacking a ‘Chamakh’ for the last 3 seasons, and now we’ve signed the real thing.

Laurent Koscielny

This guy was the most controversial and criticized of our summer signings. A reported price tag of just under £8.5m was seen by many as too high a price for a virtual unknown from the second division of French football – I wonder how many who witnessed his performance against our London rivals would say that now.

My hope was that in time, he would turn into a player of Vermaelen’s calibre. I’m not normally the most patient of supporters; for once I haven’t needed to be. He gets better every game. He has made a couple of expensive gaffs but his reading of the game, timing of tackles and bravery has far outweighed the mistakes which I expect to disappear as he gains experience. His body language is completely different to when he took to the pitch against Barnet. He is as Arsène described, ‘a warrior’

Sébastien Squillaci

In some ways, this was my favourite signing of all. In stark contrast to my greeting of the news of the last minute deal for Mikaël Silvestre, this time, I was ecstatic. I hadn’t expected us to sign a player of Squillaci’s quality. Here we had a fully fledged 6’1” tall French international centre back plucked from Sevilla for the very reasonable sum of 4m euros. We all new we needed quality reinforcements in defence and here was our answer.

Squillaci has shown just what we have been lacking in recent years. He’s an experienced player who is a strong solid, no nonsense defender. More importantly, he’s a player who can rotate seamlessly with TV and Koscielny. He has hardly put a foot wrong on the pitch since joining us and already has an excellent understanding with the rest of the defence.

I’m tempted to suggest that the performances of Koscielny and Squillaci have contributed to Almunia’s confidence and his improved form so far this season. If that is the case and he maintains his current level, the fact that we didn’t sign a keeper over the summer will not be viewed as a major error.

No apologies

The headline to this article might be viewed by some as a cheap way of getting bloggers ‘clicking’. Well in this instance, I make no apology.

If you agree with the piece you won’t mind and if you disagree, at least I’ve made you consider how brilliantly well we’ve done – three top class players for a total of less than £12m. All are players in the Arsenal mould. They have enriched the squad to the point where we can withstand injuries to key players and still compete at the highest level.

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Van Persie on the bench for the Champions League Final – written by Rasp

September 17, 2010

It is not teams but squads that win the EPL or the CL. If the CL final was tomorrow and everyone was fit and available, what team should we pick based on what we know about the players at this stage?  For the first time in several seasons, we have well balanced squad comprising a solid defence, an embarrassment of riches in midfield and a true cutting edge up front, so competition for places will be hard fought.

Players will develop through the season. Some will come into contention and others will be surpassed. For the sake of the argument, let’s assume the impossible – that we have no injuries.

Guaranteed to start:

There are some players who we know would be in the starting line-up if available – but not as many as you might think. This is purely my opinion and I expect many to disagree, but at this stage of the season, for me, there would only be 5 guaranteed starters – Vermaelen, Sagna, Song, Cesc and Chamakh.

The formation:

4:5:1 is here to stay – but more in the form of a 4:2:3:1 or a 4:1:4:1 depending on the opposition. The midfield 5 continually interchange and cover for one another according to the pattern of play. All of our midfielders like to go forward and look to score goals and that is a great thing, but when we are under pressure, they need to be disciplined and defend as a unit. We are often criticised for being too narrow in our play and there is some truth to this. The width will have to be provided by the full backs overlapping as Nasri and AA will always look to cut in towards goal.

The keeper:

Almunia is on a mission to prove his many critics (myself included) wrong. He hasn’t been subjected to huge pressure yet, but you’d have to say he is the safest choice for keeper based on his performances so far and long may it continue.

The defence:

Vermaelen is a gimme. He has been outstanding and would make any team in the world. At the moment it’s hard to choose between Koscielny and Squillaci for the right sided centre back. Kozzer has been extremely impressive in the way he has adapted so quickly to the team and English football albeit with the occasional lapse of concentration that could cost a goal. Squillaci has shown us what experience brings. He is strong, solid, and aggressive. He keeps it simple and reads the game very well. I thought he was better than Koscielny against Braga and didn’t get beaten for pace. At the moment I would just plump for Squillaci for a big game, but if Kozzer continues to grow in the side he may well become favourite by May.

We are lucky as we have 2 excellent players vying for both left back and right back. Sagna is having his best start to a season since he joined and has to get the nod over Eboue. Clichy’s experience and attacking ability will keep him as favourite for left back unless the mistakes and over-elaboration when defending creep back into his play, in which case, Gibbs is a more than adequate replacement.

The midfield and attack:

Our midfield is so fluid in its movement and interaction that it is almost pointless to talk about position on the pitch; but here goes. Song has to be considered as one of the deep lying midfielders although he played very effectively in advance of Cesc in the second half against Bolton. So would we play another defensive midfielder? The candidates are Wilshire, Rosicky, Ramsey and Denilson and Diaby. Wilshire has played this role in the last couple of games. He is tough in the tackle although sometimes a bit too reckless. He is scarcely able to last the full 90 minutes at the pace Arsenal play so we must be careful not to heap too much pressure on him. That said, Cesc was good enough at his age, if he continues the form he has shown so far, he’d get my vote for the position – controversial I know, especially when you look at the quality of the other players available.

So who will play either side of Cesc? On Tuesday we saw Nasri on the right (but actually he played right across the pitch) and Arshavin on the left and those are the two I would currently pick. Arshavin can be brilliant one minute and frustrating the next, but he has a rare ability and is a big game player.

The spearhead:

Chamakh is my choice to lead the attack since he has all the attributes necessary – he’s strong, a handfull for defenders, he wins headers, he can hold the ball up, his close control is excellent and he brings his team-mates into play.

The bench:

Mannone (I wouldn’t risk Fabianski), Koscielny, Eboue, Diaby, Rosicky, Walcott and van Persie.

Most likely to come on as a sub:

Depending on the course of the game, RvP and Theo  if we are looking for a goal, Eboue and Diaby if we need to consolidate a lead.

Not even on the bench:

Bendtner, Denilson, Ramsey, Gibbs.

Controversial:

No RvP in the starting line-up? It seems madness that a player rated by many as the second best in the squad would not make the starting eleven. He is a brilliant player, but do his particular skills compliment those around him? I don’t think he is as good a target man as Chamakh or a better dribbler in tight situations than either Nasri or AA, so reluctantly RvP sits on my bench – but what a sub!

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Six of the Best ….. the Cesc and Jack Show

September 16, 2010

When a team wins by a margin like 6-0, it’s very easy to dismiss the match as a sporting contest. And so it is in this case, Sporting Braga were ripped apart by an Arsenal team that was in the mood to show the best of their game. At no point, from the first minute to the last, did Braga look like they had a chance of taking any of the points. We were left with our second 6-0 home win of the season, to go alongside our 4-1 win over Bolton.

There can be virtually no criticism of the Arsenal players’ performances. Individually and collectively, they were fantastic. Arshavin, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshere and Chamakh provided an energetic and almost relentless attack. Time and time again, incisive passes from the imperious Fabregas carved open a limited and bamboozled Braga defence, with a zesty Arshavin, a mobile Chamakh, a confident Wilshere or a vibrant Nasri on the receiving end, and constantly creating new problems.

On the defensive side, Braga presented little threat, and failed to press the ball sufficiently to earn the opportunity to do much more. That said, we saw enough from Squillaci and Koscielny to fortify the feeling that Wenger has made two excellent signings. William Gallas might have had the name and the medals, but these two, alongside Vermaelen, promise to give us defensive strength and intelligence that we have sorely missed in recent years. On the odd occasion they needed to defend, the two centre backs read the game well and dealt with the pressure. And going forward, each of them acted as launch-pads for attacks, frequently pressing Braga players into errors and winning back possession quickly. This knack of getting the ball back is going to be important this season, and it wasn’t just the centre backs tonight, Sagna, Clichy, Song, Wilshere and even Arshavin often pressed and won back possession.

Although the goals were evenly divided between the two halves, Arsenal’s first half performance was especially impressive, yielding goals for Fabregas (converting a penalty following the keeper’s early foul on Chamakh), Arshavin (a neat near post shot following a pass from Cesc) and Chamakh (an efficiently despatched shot following a moment of genius from LJ, who back-healed the ball through the legs of a defender to release the impressive Moroccan). Constant movement was the order of the day, with Arsenal players in possession always having multiple options available to them. As the players went off at half-time, the man who has almost become the team’s spiritual reference point, Emmanuel Eboué (a sub on the night), greeted each of the Arsenal players at the mouth of the tunnel, acknowledging the level of Arsenal’s first half dominance and the stylishness of the creative football on display.

They couldn’t quite keep the pace and intensity going in the second half, but by then Braga were a broken team. The only surprise was that Arsenal only managed to score three more goals. Braga’s defence collapsed for Cesc’s second goal, giving both him and Arshavin more time than they could wish for. Inevitably, Carlos Vela scored the fifth and sixth goals, finishing off two beautiful passing movements, with Arshavin getting another assist and Cesc laying on the last goal. I wonder what proportion of Vela’s goals have been scored against demoralised teams that have already effectively been defeated. It seems to be Vela’s curse. But his ability to finish a move really is excellent.

There were plenty of other chances along the way, but Braga’s first Champions’ League game was a harsh demonstration of how far off the pace they are. After all, we may be consistent in CL football but we aren’t exactly a dominant force. While not knowing much about this side, many of us were mindful of the danger that a team that had denied Sevilla a place in the CL would represent. We needn’t have worried. The one-sidedness of the contest affected the atmosphere, which was pretty muted for much of the time. The suggestion that there were 59,000 fans present (a statistic Kim Jong-Il might have been embarrassed to announce) was ludicrous but there will be far more intense evenings ahead of us in the competition.

All in all, plenty of fun and some beautiful football, and without expending too much energy, but Sunderland away on Saturday will be a far tougher proposition.

*****************

Player ratings:

Almunia: Did what little he was asked to do well, always looked comfortable. 7.

Squillaci: Superb, intelligent, strong, good positional play. 8.

Koscielny: Excellent as well, strong in the challenge, good concentration and jockeyed his attackers well. 8.

Sagna: Efficient, did well at the back and going forward, including a couple of excellent crosses. 7.

Clichy: A good performance, but was probably the only player one would criticise at all, since he got caught out once or twice. But used his pace going forward to good effect. 6.5.

Song: Quietly went about his business and did it well. 7.

Wilshere: Confident, creative performance. Was unlucky not to score and his back-heel to put Chamakh in was wonderful. 8.

Arshavin: As energetic a performance as I’ve seen from the little Russian – his tracking back is genuine and appreciated. But his performance in the top third suggests a player who’s rediscovering his mojo. 8.

Fabregas: Another fantastic performance from the man Barca think is only worth €40m. How wrong they are. 9.

Nasri: Excellent first half, drifted away slightly in the second half, but Nasri constantly created problems for Braga’s defenders. 7.5.

Chamakh: Really good performance from a player who has pace, awareness, a great touch, ability in the air and who can finish well. A quintessential Arsenal player. 8.

Vela: Another lovely sub’s performance, I just hope he gets the chance to do more this season and that he takes that chance this time. 7.

Denilson and Eboué: Tidy subs’ performances. 7.

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Cahill’s Ban Should Be Extended – written by RockyLives

September 14, 2010

So Gary Cahill is appealing against the red card awarded for his foul on Marouane Chamakh.

Good. I’m delighted. Bring it on.

By appealing, Cahill leaves open the option of having his three-match ban for a straight red extended by the FA committee that hears his appeal. And make no mistake – he deserves to have the ban extended.

If you’re in any doubt, take another look at the challenge (you can view it on arsenalist.com). Cahill comes in late and from behind on Chamakh, who has just executed a sweet back-heel into the path of Arshavin.

Watching it live (and from high up in the West Stand) I thought the red card was harsh and, at first glance of the replay, you’re tempted to agree. One of the reasons it doesn’t look so bad is that Chamakh just gets up and gets on with things without any histrionics (Eboue, please take note). Chamakh’s not badly hurt – so it should be a yellow card at most, right?

Wrong. Take another look. Cahill dives in with both feet off the ground, which is a definition of recklessness. His left foot takes Chamakh’s left ankle, his right foot takes Chamakh’s right ankle. Neither foot gets within nodding distance of the ball.

By a small miracle of timing both Chamakh’s feet are off the ground at the moment of impact. Now play back the tackle in your mind and imagine what the outcome would have been if either one of our Number  29’s feet had been planted at the moment of impact: with Cahill’s flying, uncontrolled lunge, Chamakh would surely have had ligament damage at the very least and possibly even a broken ankle. We would have lost him for several weeks or several months, at a time when we are also missing Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner.

That he was not seriously injured was a pure fluke. Cahill’s challenge was dangerous and stupid and the instant red card proffered by Stuart Atwell was a rare instance of good refereeing by the ‘up and coming top ref in England’ in a game in which he was generally out of his depth.

He correctly adjudged that he should punish the intent, not the outcome. By doing so he may just save some other professional from having his leg snapped by the likes of Cahill later on in the season.

I don’t need to remind anyone of the horrors our players have faced in recent seasons from wild, uncontrolled challenges by brutish defenders. Cahill’s was a collector’s item of the species and three games on the sidelines is the least he deserves.

Following on from the Joe Cole dismissal in our first game of the season, the Cahill red card gives some hope that referees have discussed how to protect creative players and have agreed among themselves to act quickly and decisively if they see reckless lunges like Cahill’s. Quite how Atwell managed not to dismiss Robinson for his even more dangerous challenge on Abou Diaby a short while afterwards will, however, remain one of the great mysteries of football.

When Cahill gets to stand before the FA, let’s just hope they have the intelligence to study the video properly and the balls to act accordingly.

RockyLives

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Jagielka, Cahill and Hart ….. a glimpse of what might have been? – written by Rasp

September 7, 2010

Written by Rasp

After Dawson’s unfortunate injury (ahheerrmm) playing against Bulgaria last Friday, we saw the defensive triangle of English players that many had wished we could have signed this summer – and I thought they looked pretty good, but then again, they weren’t up against the most testing of opposition.

Of course the idea of us signing any of those players was just unsubstantiated speculation fuelled by a national press expert at feeding the paranoia of football fans. There is no concrete evidence that these players were available, willing to move or even the subject of interest from Arsenal.

The likelihood is that all three will all play against Switzerland tonight, so we will get a second chance to assess them. Are they any better than our trio of Vermaelen, Koscielny and Allmunia?

Vermaelen and Jagielka are very similar in height and stature. Jagielka has had two very good seasons at Everton and looks comfortable in international football. He’s strong and brave, good in the air, reads the game well, experienced (he’s 28) reasonably quick and dependable – all of which applies equally to Vermaelen, who at 24 is just coming into his peak. TV has captained club and country and scores more goals than the Evertonian, so although Jagielka is a good player, all in all,  I’m very happy to have our future captain (?) at the Arsenal.

Cahill and Koscielny are physically quite different. Cahill is 6ft 2in and powerfully built. He too is very good in the air and also looked the part when he came on for England. Both are developing their game at the age of 24 and can only improve. Cahill looks a reasonable footballer, but I’d say Kozzer has the edge in that department. It will take time for Koscielny to settle into the English game but he has huge potential. I thought he was better than TV against Liverpool but was outmuscled too easily by Diouf against Blackburn. If LK can develop into a ‘TV clone’, we will have an excellent CB pairing. He is more capable of playing wengerball than Cahill and is said to be working on his strength for the physical challenges that lie ahead.

Joe Hart can do no wrong at the moment and on current form, is probably the best keeper in the Premier League. It’s too easy jump on the bandwagon and draw unflattering comparisons between Hart and Almunia, – so I’m just going to list a couple of elements of Hart’s game that make him such a good keeper. He is confident. He has very strong wrists so when he makes contact with the ball it generally flies out of the danger area. His distribution is good and he communicates well with his defence. I expect him to be England’s number one for many years.

Almunia has my full support and has made an excellent start to the season. It is obvious that his confidence is fragile, but the more decent performances he can deliver, the more assured he will become. He should take strength from his team-mates, Eboue and Bendtner, who defied their critics and won their way back into the hearts of the fans.  The resolve of the defence and willingness of all the outfield players to ‘defend as a unit’ will also play a part in Almunia’s fate. Of course he will make mistakes – all keepers do, what is more important is how he reacts to setbacks. Arsène’s policy will be to give his keeper total support and that’s the way it should be.

We will know by Christmas whether the affable Spaniard has risen to the challenge. I would suggest that he is in the last chance saloon and if his form slips, we may yet sign another keeper in the January window.

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UEFA’s New Financial Rules Will Benefit Arsenal – written by Red Arse

August 27, 2010

Written by Red Arse

O.K., with the transfer window coming to a close very soon, it might be worth having a look, again, at the new UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules, which will, in conjunction with the new EPL Home Grown Players rules, change forever the way Clubs administer their finances and have a huge knock on effect on the valuation of transfer values and players’ wages.

The background to this new onslaught on the financial funds sloshing around European Football is undoubtedly specifically aimed at the English Premier League clubs.


Unlike the prudent Gunners, many clubs in the PL are funded to a greater or lesser extent by sugar daddy owners. The most notorious abusers of the current Premier League financial laissez faire has been for many years the Chavs, where Abramovich has poured hundreds of millions of pounds in “loans” to bolster what was essentially a bankrupt club.

This money was poured into acquiring players, at hugely inflated prices and wages, with which no club other than, peripherally, Manure could compete. This tactic of collaring the market for the best players, eventually won the braggart Mourhino the PL. Boo!

The Mancs have also been funded in an extraordinary way by the Glazers, who have funded the club by borrowing huge bucks. And now, Citeh have been subsidised by its new owner, Sheikh Mansur, again with hundreds of millions of £’s being poured into the club.

In the most recent accounting period, 2008/9, 15 out of the 20 clubs made substantial losses.

In other words, a massive three-quarters of the Premier League clubs will need to reduce significantly their spending on players’ wages if they are to qualify for European competitions, once Uefa’s “financial fair play” rules are introduced. With effect from season 2012/13, they will have to, at least, break even.

Wow! Do some of these clubs realise how little time they have left to get their houses in order?

However, owners will, according to the rules, be permitted to invest in clubs, via permanent shares rather than by way of repayable loans, which will enable them to build a solid infrastructure such as training grounds or youth development facilities, but will not be allowed to overspend on wages or transfers. The sugar daddies will not be able to call in their loans and simply walk away, if the going gets tough, however unlikely you think that might be, and the normal Company Law rules will apply to their shareholding.

Michel Platini, who many think of as an anti-English plonker, and that includes me, warned of the “danger to football” posed by debt, overspending and “rampant commercialism”. As I said, I don’t like the man, but there is an element of sound commonsense in this.

Clubs cannot return losses of more £38m for the three year period, 2012-15. After 2015 the clubs will be given a further leeway of £25m, for losses during an additional three year period, after which the figure will be substantially reduced.

In the Premier League, besides Chelsea and Citeh, Aston Villa are subsidised by the club’s owner, Randy Lerner, and they lost £46m in 2008-09, while Sunderland lost £26m. Liverpool lost £55m, principally because they had to pay £40m interest on the £250m “purchase” price borrowed from their bank, RBS, by Gillette and Hicks.

Manchester United made a profit in 2008/9 only because of the £81m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid; in previous years, since the Glazer family took over what was then the world’s most profitable club and ladled huge debts on to it, United have sustained substantial losses every single year.

Clearly, (heh, heh), it is going to be a difficult period of adjustment for all the loss making clubs, like Manure, Citeh, Villa and Chelski etc, who play, or are hoping to play, in European competitions.

Put simply, clubs in European competition can only spend what they earn. The financial fair play rules will require clubs to break even over a rolling three-year period, if they want to play in the Champions League or Europa League.

There will be some leeway enshrined in the rules for the six years after 2012, but as mentioned, some Premier League clubs, notably Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa, could still fall foul of the rule unless they change their spending habits pronto.

Manure, however, believe they will pass the rules threshold, despite the handicap of paying out £45m to service their debts every year. Should be a neat trick!

On the other hand beautiful Arsenal (hooray) and shitty Tottenham (boo, hiss) will pass the test comfortably.

Clubs that breach the rules will not be granted a Uefa club licence to take part in European competitions.

In recent years, Arsenal’s prudence has played a part in their being priced out of the transfer market, which has been dominated by the usual suspects. Starting next year the boot will be very firmly on the Arsenal foot!

We are the Mighty Arsenal! You Will Feel the Financial Power!

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The Arsenal Transfer Mystery? – written by Red Arse

August 23, 2010

Written by Red Arse

Now let’s get this clear from the start, this is not another vomit inducing attack on our illustrious manager or indeed on our majestic Arsenal! This is no place for scurrilous rumours or insulting character assassination.

What I am trying to do is square the circle from the perspective of a committed and passionate fan. It is perhaps a fan’s lament at the conflicts that have arisen between what we, the fans, think our club should be doing in the transfer market, and what the club itself is actually doing.

Let’s begin with the Arsenal Board of Directors. They are key in setting the business policy and agreeing the aims of the club, as well as establishing key milestones in achieving those targets, and finally in formulating the way in which they can measure the success of those aims and satisfying the shareholders.

The roles of directors and shareholders are legally quite separate and the ardent fan should be aware that in a club/business with only a few shareholders, who are often not in harmony, and who are also the directors there are inevitably conflicts between the aims of these two roles.

The observant will have noticed that I have run the terms “club and business” together. It is important to understand what each of these terms mean in the context of AFC.

Although they are not mutually exclusive, they are very different animals. A club can be loosely defined as, “a group or association of persons organised for a sporting purpose”; which in our case is football. A business can be defined as, “a corporation or profit seeking enterprise or concern”.

Oh, oh! Conflict alarms should be going off everywhere for fans.

The average fan does not sign on for the “business enterprise”, no, they are attracted by the “Club”, which encompasses the history, the success, and the exquisite, sublime football Arsenal are capable of playing.

Now some fans know that without a successful business, built on the acumen of clever directors’, there would be no football club, unless it became the plaything of a disgustingly rich sugar daddy; and what right thinking, red blooded male wants to be a sugar daddies plaything?. I won’t presume to speak for the ladies! They understand and accept that money has to be budgeted and accounted for, not just in the short-term, but for the future financial well being of AFC. Other fans do not accept, or, perhaps, understand the need for that business ethic. They have an understandable insouciance about all that and simply want AFC, their team, to win trophies and smack about the likes of the Chavs, the Spuds and the Mancs on a regular basis, home and away.

So here we have it. The solution to the Arsenal transfer funds mystery!

The shareholders want to protect and increase the value of their stakeholding; the directors – same guys – want to maximise the profits to run the business and keep themselves happy – sorry the shareholders happy; and on the other hand, the fans who want dosh to be spent in great steaming magnificent dollops to buy the best available players for their beloved team. As I said oh, oh!

Into the fray rides our indomitable manager, Arsene, who in his usual sanguine manner attempts to square the circle between these two rather disparate factions.

To the intense frustration of us fans, there seems, on the surface, to be a mismatch between what Le Prof acknowledges is an urgent requirement to improve the quality of the team in certain areas and his actually moving his arse – nal and going out and doing so.

Our frustrations and concerns for the coming season have been caused, in part, by the protracted and tedious transfer negotiations, with dissatisfaction being expressed, in certain quarters, as to the age, height or quality of some of our signings or potential signings.

I have already outlined the internal conflicts governing the running of AFC, and mentioned that part of the directors’ responsibilities is the setting of targets and monitoring the achievements of these.

Does anyone seriously think that Arsene, just having signed a new three year extension to his contract, has not been measured against the required targets set by the Board of Directors and been passed with flying colours?

Forget all the opprobrium heaped on his shoulders, the accusations of incompetence, of being miserly, of deliberately buying or keeping sub-standard players out of cussedness. No! He is acting in accordance with the targets and requirements set for him by the Directors and within the financial resources they have budgeted for him.

For those of us, who believe Arsenal Football Club is being run like a very efficient, modern business, how can there be a different conclusion?

Be of good cheer. This man is a genius, and if anyone can square the circle of the directors’/shareholders needs and the fans’ desperate desire to see trophies flowing into our magnificent club again, Arsene Wenger is the man to do so.

We are the Mighty Arsenal! Feel the power!

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