By charybdis 1966

Now the cold light of reality has allowed us to fully comprehend the ramifications of the events at Middle Eastlands on Wednesday night Gooners may perhaps feel it right that a period of introspection follows.

Three quarters of the way through this game at nil nil, the score was looking acceptable however the human bean pole’s goal on 82 minutes meant that when I relayed the final score to my eleven year old son the following morning the look of silent screaming horror on his face was positively (Edvard) Munch-ian.

Bizarrely that result made me feel even worse than the Wigan result, surely the nadir of depths plumbed by our team this season.

The whole squad management question (who to buy/sell and team selection and formation) will be extensively debated, and has been pretty much ever since the first injuries started to take their toll by the autumn last year, so I’m leaving this question aside and I’m also sidestepping the “When should Wenger go” question.

What has got my goat is that during our recent disintegration in form the players on the pitch were very capable of producing the desired results. Having looked at the last 5 matches and the first 5 of this season I decided to evaluate our team’s effectiveness over those two very different periods of the season. Results wise it is blatantly clear our form has dropped; however on closer examination it is possible to look at another performance indicator (a term middle management is keen to bandy about in too many areas of our lives nowadays) to give another perspective on our downward spiral.

We all know we tend to dominate possession in most games, but to my mind meaningful possession has to result in shots on target, side ways passing in midfield ad infinitum will not win you matches, so dividing percentage points by shots on target will show you what use we make of our possession. The lower this value, the better our possession efficiency.

Below is a table which details the change highlighted by this performance indicator:

If you compare the first 5 games of the season to the last 5 you will see that while we only take about 2 more percentage points to get a shot on target in, our opponents have doubled their possession-shots efficiency, going from 13.71 percentage points per shot on target to 6.08.

This to me points to our opponents conceding possession to us in areas where little attacking intent is seen as well as Arsenal being unaware of the danger of conceding possession to a more efficient, and wily, opponent who uses their possession to greater effect as the season has progressed. Of course we have lost key personnel between the two time periods, Cesc and Robin being the two most crucial misses, and this will inevitably have some influence on our “possession effectiveness”.

Why has this happened? Therein lies my major grouse: we just don’t fight for the ball back anymore like we did in the first few games of the season and when you are happy to let the opposition keep the ball, and certainly an opposition who shoot more, you invite pressure on the defence and suspect goalkeepers alike.

We can all name examples of players not tracking back(the sight of Denilson being outpaced by a referee is an example that springs to mind) is symptomatic of this laissez faire attitude of our team to the less glamorous part of the game, namely the work you need to do when you are not in possession.

Why do we not battle for possession anymore, in the way that Barcelona, a team we aspire to, do ?

Perhaps a lot of the players are operating in a comfort zone whereby a few nifty flicks here and there will mask a performance largely made up of ineffectual strolling around areas of the pitch the opposition are happy for our players to persist in carrying the ball sideways as no one appears to want to take responsibility for forward motion with the ball.

Without Cesc in our team it seems no one wants to take up his role of driving our play forward, or at least no one has tried to do this however Cesc is a special talent and it appears to me that perhaps we are more of a one man team than we may have thought.

Now it’s fair enough for the team to struggle without Cesc, or Robin(or both at some times this season) but what I haven’t been able to stomach is the lack of effort from players who have been given ample chances to step up to the plate and make themselves first team choices.

If we lose a game where all the squad players who are replacements for our preferred starting eleven have tried their utmost and given it their all then defeat is part of supporting a team and can move on, sadder but wiser.

But when I see players in our red and white not doing that, then I’m sad and angry.

You can discuss below who these players are, for me Vela, Diaby and Denilson are three who could have made names for themselves but didn’t.

As an aside perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why we persistently pick up injuries BETWEEN games, Song, Bendtner and Rosicky all managing to injure themselves during the nine day gap between our last two games.

In every one of our last 5 games with the necessary effort put in we should have at least 5 points more than we actually have – and that’s what’s caused the anger and may lead to some form of protest at the game  Sunday.

If the “80 minutes walk out”, as I’ve seen on various blogs, happens then maybe the club will take some notice.

Even though it I believe it probably won’t happen, it doesn’t make me feel any less let down by the team than those who do protest.

We have to ask:“Where has the fight gone in our team?”

Calling supporters ‘Arsenal Haters’ because they dare to question is simply absurd.

The puritanical denunciation of any view expressed that does not first acknowledge Arsène Wenger’s achievements before daring to question any aspect of his tenure is a form of censure that has long made me feel uncomfortable. As an admirer of Arsène, I find it doubly unsettling when my natural instinct to allow freedom of speech impels me to come to the defence of a blogger who is expressing a view that does not necessarily reflect my own simply because he is being vilified.

Certainly the centre ground only exists because of the extremes on either side, but I naively expect that the good guys (Arsène supporters) who generally inhabit the intellectual high ground should have the self confidence and humility to allow others to express their view without being labelled as bad supporters.

The way some Arsène supporters unerringly defend his every action has the feel of cult brainwashing …. believe, because belief alone is all that is necessary. It’s the footballing equivalent of the ‘Stepford Wives’.

This has led me to ask myself, who is the more passionate supporter? ….the one who really hurts when we lose and lets his emotions overtake his reasoning or the one who one who shrinks back behind the Arsène force field that repels all criticism? The answer is in the question.

All human advancement has been driven by those who challenge accepted beliefs, otherwise we’d still accept that the earth was flat and we’d have no understanding of gravity.

Will the Arsène supporters still support Arsenal when there is no Arsène? Those who dare to question his decisions or implore more passion and work-rate from the players are derided for not swallowing the ‘belief’. It’s as if the desire of these supporters is somewhat dimished by their wish for the team to improve.

While there is an awareness and an acceptance that Arsène has been performing  miracles for the past 5 years on a limited budget it would have been ‘good’ to have known how much the financial restraints were going to have an influence on the football. This is a valid point to question.

My argument is very simple. It is possible to question and support. Actually, it’s healthy to question and those who do so are not necessarily being disloyal. The majority of the time, they will be incorrect and responding from anger and possibly ignorance, but they have a right to express their views and those of us who disagree should always take the time to consider their view because once in a while, they may just have a point.

In 2006, Arsène Wenger stared transfixed across the lush green turf of the Stade de France focused only on the most prestigious and coveted club trophy in world football. Make no mistake, the Champions League is the trophy that Arsène and Arsenal know is required to put the official stamp of success on the Wenger years.

Wednesday, 17 May 2006 was not to be our night. We had fought our way through the group stages and somehow sneaked almost unnoticed into the final courtesy of an 89th minute penalty save from mad Jens in the semi-final against Villareal. If we are to reach the final this year, we will have to beat the best teams on the way starting with FC Barcelona at The Emirates Stadium tonight.

In 2006, we had a team about to go into transition.  Our talismanic captain Cesc Fàbregas, Manuel Almunia, the resurgent Emmanuel Eboué and unbelievably, a rejuvenated Sol Campbell are the only survivors of that game.

Since 2006 the team has gone through a gradual and sometimes painful metamorphosis. The inspirational brilliance of Thierry Henry, the gallic artistry of Robert Pires and the gutsy determination of Freddie Ljunberg have been lost in the sands of time. TH14 may play for Barcelona, but his heart and more significantly his best years are with Arsenal forever. Those players have been replaced with a new generation of Wenger protégés.

Whether you believe the development of these players was part of a brilliant master plan by Arsène or a consequence of having to make the most of limited finances, it has to be admitted that they have finally moulded into an outfit that looks capable of winning the highest honours, and they can only get better. Tonight we will see if we have reached and surpassed the achievement of the team of 2006.

This season has been full of the ups and downs we’ve become accustomed to over recent years. We’ve lost our best striker, relived the horror of seeing one of our players receive a devastating injury, been written off by the pundits and fought back to be in contention for the league and still are perceived by most ‘experts’ to have little chance of reaching this year’s Champions League final.

David ‘Rocky’ Rocastle died this day in 2001. He was an exceptional player and a true gentleman of the game. What more fitting tribute to this Arsenal legend than to dedicate a victory tonight to his memory.

I could have written about many aspects of tonight’s game, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised just how much it meant to me and to every gooner across the globe. The details of player selection and tactics seemed almost immaterial. It’s our chance to prove everyone wrong. The pundits, the experts, the armchair critics, the green eyed followers of other teams, they have no idea how it feels to be an Arsenal fan who has lived through these years looking forward to this game, this special night.

COME ON ARSENAL…. COME ON ARSENAL….COME ON ARSENAL……

Rasputin’s rant

I know other bloggers have moaned about this before, but last weekend’s game against Wham was the first time I’ve experienced at first hand, the ‘over-zealous’ behaviour of some of our stewards. We were unable to get our usual seats and found oursleves high up, one row from the top of the stadium. As I took my seat, I surveyed the ‘regulars’ around me and joked that “I hoped I was in the singing section”. They seemed a really good bunch of hardcore supporters and I felt at home in their company – and the singing was pretty good too.

I was aware in my peripheral vision of a steward fidgeting about at the end of the row and apparently conversing with the guy behind me. I turned and asked him what it was all about and he explained that he was being asked to sit down. Since he was in the uppermost row and there was nothing behind him except concrete, I was curious as to why the steward thought he needed to stay in his seat “Health and Safety” was the answer he spat out with a grimace.

“But what happens when we stand up to celebrate a goal” I asked, a resigned shrug of the shoulders was his only response. This sparked a debate at half time and the consensus was that in areas like the new North Bank and Clock End (= behind the goals), everyone stands whenever they feel like it because the strength in numbers means that the stewards are powerless to do anything about it. I don’t want to stand throughout games, but I also don’t want to be treated like a kid if I do take to my feet.

I have some sympathy with the stewards because they are only doing what they are told, but surely the club can ‘adjust’ its policy to accommodate supporters who wish to stand at important points during the game or where there is no risk to life and limb and no impairment to the enjoyment of other supporters. We have been criticised this season for not getting behind the players enough, well then don’t stop us expressing our feelings by telling us to sit down when it’s not necessary.

peachesgooner’s rant
I’m thoroughly fed with how the club take our money for seats but really offer so little service to the buyer. Yesterday’s attempt to buy tickets for the Barcelona tie next Wednesday caused the usual crashing of the web-site and lack of information about the state of play. Having logged in and been held in a queue for what seemed an eternity, I was finally able to buy my tickets (although it was already too late to get adjacent seats) but when I tried to log-in again to buy more for a friend on his number, the site was blocked. Having checked that tickets were still available I logged in again and waited to gain entry to the box office. I waited for an hour and a half before the thin burgundy line had filled its space only to find that the game was now sold out.

I know of several other silver members who also waited for over an hour only to be disappointed – where did the tickets go? I thought the idea of silver membership was that you should be able to get a ticket. I must have been one of thousands of supporters trying to get through.  Surely it’s  possible to put out a STOP PRESS – TICKETS SOLD OUT so at least supporters don’t waste their time waiting online.

Another problem I think the club have not addressed sufficiently well is the problem season ticket holders face if they can’t go to the game. The Ticket Exchange is a very good idea but shuts 48 hours before a game. From the number of empty seats I see at games every week its clearly not possible to always find someone  to take a spare ticket.

Now that the ticketing system is electronic it must be possible to action changes even up to a couple of hours before a game. Season ticket holders should be able to call a number and give their details, their card gets blocked for that game (which is what happens with the ticket exchange anyway) and silver and red members have their cards turned on for the game.

Come on Arsenal FC  lets make sure we fill the stadium for every game.