Top four again, but can we stay there?

February 14, 2012

Back in October Rocky predicted we would be top three by New Year. He was actually close to being right as a win at home to QPR on New Years Eve took us into the Champions League qualification spots as we popped Champagne to wave bye bye to Arsenal’s annus horribilis.

Unfortunately defeats to Fulham, Swansea and United followed, by the time we drew away at the Reebok even the most positive bloggers on here were waving goodbye to any hope of Champions League football next season let alone finishing above the cretins from N17.

And now two games later we are back in fourth (thanks mainly to the Chavs poor showing) and now the big question remains. Can we hold onto it?

The next three Premier League games will define our season.

H – Spuds
A – Dippers
H – Barcodes

Seven points from those three games are a must and should see us hold onto fourth or at least be in touching distance. I made a similar prediction at the start of the season for our opening games thankfully August results can be corrected later, February/March games are not as easy to recover from. The Chavs have somewhat easier games.

H – Bolton
A – WBA
H – Stoke

Chavs have toughies after that (City and Spuds) frankly hearing fellow Gooners wanting Spuds to win any game (for the benefit of us) is beginning to stick in my craw. So I’d rather we were safely in 4th before the Chavs – Spuds game, and maybe even pushing for third (I know dream on).

So now we have players returning from injuries and no Carling Cup disaster to recover from, can the team put a strong finish together to maintain our position at the top table?

Written by Gooner In Exile

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Ramsey: the next victim of Fans Fulfilling Prophecy?

February 13, 2012


From an interview by Simon Hattenstone with Paul Gascoigne, The Guardian 7 October:

But no, he’s [Gascoigne] not thinking about going back into football, either as a manager or as a pundit. He says he’s not got the constitution for it. “I’ve been told when a player’s playing well praise him, and when he’s having a bad game fuckin’ slaughter him, and I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t bring myself to slaughter someone having a bad game because I know he’s got to sit with his girlfriend or his wife, he knows he’s had a bad game, his kid probably thinks, ‘Oh, my dad’s shit.'” He shakes his head. “Couldn’t do it.”

Expectations are usually high when a CM has the ball in the centre of the opposition’s half, with a promising situation in front of him. If the CM delivers a good defence-splitting ball the crowd will be pleased – if not, it will quickly lead to a collective sigh of disappointment, especially if and when Arsenal is not in the lead. If the latter happens a few times in succession, the confidence of the player can get affected, depending very much on the thickness of his skin. Nothing new there: as long as football has been played in front of a crowd, players have had to deal with both the disappointment and elation of the fans present. But nowadays, players have to deal with so much more. Not only do they have to put up with a large number of journalists who do not bother to write about the truth, but whatever it is that its readers want to read; they are also now regularly subjected to vitriolic blogs and direct fan-communications via Twitter etc. It takes a lot for a modern-day, young football player to stay strong and believe in himself and the support he gets from his manager / his club is absolutely crucial.

We, the supporters, also have an important role to play: we can make or break football players and we all know we have made, but also broken, a few in recent times.

A lot of weight on Aaron Ramsey’s shoulders:
Creative Midfield play is without any doubt the toughest job in football. If CM’s are really good they are often referred to as conductors, magicians, creative hubs etc. They always get microscopic attention of the crowd, especially at Arsenal where the fans have been exposed to the very finest of CMs. As a result there is a lot of weight on the shoulder on whoever is brave and talented enough to take on such a pivotal role. After the master Fabregas sadly left for Barcelona, his most likely successor – the master in development, Jack Wilshere – sustained a nasty injury. It left a hole in the ‘hole-position’ the size of the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles combined.

Wenger has been struggling to replicate his beloved 4-2-3-1 system, in which the midfield dominates our play to a large extent. I have posted before about the ‘Wall of ARS’: how Arteta, Ramsey and Song are multi-talented and multi-disciplined midfielders who can play in any position and can perform any midfield function to a high degree. We are now playing a 5/4-3-3 system, where ARS is a ‘mini-team’ in itself, and if and when all three are firing on all cylinders it is a joy to behold: the games against Chelsea, Marseille and Dortmund particularly spring to mind. It appears that Wenger has given ARS the freedom to perform various midfield duties as they see fit and sort things out between themselves, as in who does what at any particular point of the game. Ramsey has been the most advanced player and therefore has had most CM-responsibilities, but others have chipped in as well, notably Song has had many fantastic assists this season. However, even with the ARS at its best, something is still missing.

I am not sure whether the most advanced midfield position in our current 4-3-3 system is the ideal position for Ramsey. I think he would perform better in Arteta’s position, next to the more defensive minded midfielder Song (at least on paper). Nevertheless, Ramsey has been giving his all in this challenging position, and has been making good progress. I expect Jack Wilshere to become first choice for the more advanced position, once he is fully recovered, but Ramsey could still claim the CM-role on a permanent basis in the next few months.

The essence of ‘Victory through Harmony’
I have no doubt whatsoever that Aaron is a super-talent who will develop into a top class player. In order to get there, however, confidence/trust in his abilities by himself and the supporters is absolutely paramount. A number of fans have been highly critical, and in some cases, outrageously abusive about Aaron’s performances recently, and for a player like him – in this difficult position and at his tender age – this can be very detrimental.

If we are not careful Ramsey will become another victim of a negative ‘fans fulfilling prophecy’:

  • A couple of (perceived) under-par performances by Ramsey leads to;
  • Unhappy crowds and unhappy bloggers etc;
  • Once Ramsey becomes aware of this (and how couldn’t he) it’s highly likely that his confidence gets affected;
  • Ramsey might easily start making more mistakes, and as a result, will take less risk and might even start hiding during games;
  • Leading to more unhappy crowds, bloggers etc, even less confidence and worse and worse performances;
  • Before you know it, we have ‘unsupported’ him into a failure.

I just cannot understand why somebody who calls him/herself an Arsenal supporter can severely criticise a player beyond the technical performance in a particular game. If and when a player has a below-par game, there is nothing wrong with pointing this out. But when fans start saying that Ramsey is rubbish and should be dumped, when he is solely blamed for a game lost by Arsenal, or even worse, for all that has gone wrong with Arsenal this season, when fans start introducing silly, derogatory terms such as Ramilson, when even a few idiots start wishing him all sorts of diseases, and worse, then fans are starting to harm the very thing they say they support.

By all means, if a player is lazy, has a calculated commitment to the club and does not care for Arsenal one iota, criticise him as much as you like: he deserves it.

But any player who gives his all, who cares about Arsenal and wears the shirt with pride, is one of us and should get our full, unflinching support: that is what Victory through Harmony stands for. Ramsey is such a player and we need to stand behind him.

It is a question of attitude, and before you know it, we will actually experience a case of positive fans fulfilling prophecy, in which we help a player reach their full potential. Let’s stand behind Ramsey, let’s encourage him and support him, and before you know it we have another world class player in our midfield.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Our Bench Is Rubbish! Sunderland Report & Player Ratings

February 12, 2012

There was a point yesterday – just before Sunderland scored their freak goal – when I was thinking: we need to change this game from the bench, but who can we bring on? We have no quality on the bench!

Silly me.

All it took was one Ramsey pot shot, one sublime cross from Arshavin and one trademark Henry finish to prove that Arsène Wenger still knows what he’s doing.

All three had come on as substitutes and they undoubtedly secured the three points for us.

This was a very important win against an obdurate and well organised Sunderland who were the form team in the Premier League going into this fixture.

The performance was even better when you take into account the state of the pitch. It looked as if the Riders of Rohan had just charged over it (perhaps on their way to Stoke to find some Orcs).

We started with arguably our strongest available 11 (I say arguably because it’s a toss-up between Rosicky and Ramsey for the third midfield role) and right from the off we set a pattern that changed little throughout the game: we controlled the ball, Sunderland largely conceded the middle of the park and drew back to just outside their penalty area, we passed and probed but struggled to find a way through, Sunderland relied on occasional breaks and set pieces.

No doubt some will damn the team for our inability to conjure a way through the massed Black Cat ranks. Perhaps we missed a bit of Fabregas magic – expelliamus parkbussimus – but I prefer to credit the Sunderland defending.

They gave no space at all to Prince Robin, nor to our two wide men, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Every time any of those three got the ball there were at least two men on them.

Chances were few and far between, although Theo did manage to get away from his markers on one occasion and fire a low shot across goal, but it went past the far post.

Despite the lack of goal scoring opportunities our defence was looking solid (even from set pieces), while Song and Arteta were doing a great job of providing an extra shield in midfield and Tomas Rosicky was as busy as he was against Blackburn last weekend.

The one big scare was when Mertesacker slipped in the box while dealing with a speculative through ball.

For most players the ball would have bounced over their head and out for a goal kick, but for the BFG it arrived at chest height, so naturally he chested it down. But, as he did so, he caught his foot in one of the horse divots and stumbled.

The ball bounced up and onto his arm. It was certainly not deliberate and certainly not ‘hand to ball’ but you do see them given – particularly when the penalty would favour the home team. Full credit to the referee, Neil Swarbrick, for not being swayed by the Mackem hysteria.

By half time it was pretty obvious that this was going to be a tight affair and that one goal might nick it.

The second half started much the same as the first. Sunderland had a couple of decent low shots from around the edge of our area. Szczensy did well to save both (one down to his left, then a more difficult one down to his right that hit a mole hill just in front of him).

It was a credit to the lad that he was sharp and focused when called into action, having had little to do up to that point.

Up front we were still probing with all the effectiveness of a blind gynaecologist. Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain were becoming even more peripheral than they had been in the first half, and, on 66 minutes, Arsene decided to make a change, bringing off Oxo for Thierry Henry.

Within four minutes we were behind. A rare Sunderland attack was tidied up down our right flank with Sagna shepherding the ball back to Mertesacker, who was running towards his own goal and had the simple task of rolling the ball back to Szczesny or across the park to the unmarked Koscielny.

Unfortunately the BFG injured his ankle as he turned and went down as if shot.

McClean, for Sunderland, showed brightness to keep on running past the fallen German before shooting low across Szczensy into the far corner of the net. I have seen comments questioning whether Chezzer might have done better, but the shot was hit very hard and from close range. Not his fault.

However, it was a freak goal and I was cursing our terrible luck. From a completely innocuous situation, suddenly, we’re a goal down. I really do think it’s time Arsene started going to church.

Given how tight the Sunderland defence was, I was doubtful as to whether we could rescue a point, let alone all three.

Ramsey came on for Mertesacker (let’s wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery), with Song dropping back into the centre of defence. And it didn’t take long for young Aaron to make a mark. Just three minutes after the re-start Arteta had a shot from outside the area blocked, the ball cannoned to Ramsey and his low first time shot went in off both posts. Ramsey has his critics, but he never hides and never stops taking shots at goal. It was always only a matter of time before his luck turned for the better.

So, one-all with 15 minutes to go. Would we sit back or push on for all three?

This is Arsenal – of course we would push on for all three. Arshavin came on for Walcott on 86 and immediately looked more dangerous than had either Theo or Oxo (perhaps because the Mackems were tiring after there exertions all afternoon and following their extra time FA cup win on Wednesday night).

As the clock passed the 90 minute mark, our pocket Russian found himself on our left wing with two Sunderland defenders in front of him. He jinked one way then the other, then dinked in a beautiful cross with his right boot. Jinky-dinky loveliness.

And who was there to meet it in the six yard box? Cometh the hour, cometh the legend.

Thierry Henry, who up til that point had had very little influence in the game, ghosted between the Sunderland centre backs to volley the ball past Mignolet in the Black Cats goal.

You can take away the speed, you can take away the stamina, you can take away some of the strength, but you can’t take away the class. A striker’s goal from a born winner. The celebrations among the Arsenal players were a joy to watch. Henry clearly means a lot to these lads, and they to him.

We never looked in trouble after that and at the end it was three points well earned and well deserved.

Player Ratings

Szczesny: Not too much to do but made two very good saves in the second half. 7.5

Sagna: Great to have him back. Unflappable and unbeatable at the back, and contributed a lot going forward. 8.5

Koscielny: He got caught in possession a couple of times but was generally the strong, reliable defender we have come to know and love. 7.5

Mertesacker: Was having a superb game until his unfortunate injury. We need him back quickly because, in my opinion at least, our strongest pairing at the back will be the BFG with one of Koscielny and Vermaelen. 8.5

Vermaelen: Didn’t put a foot wrong but is not able to support the attack as well as an orthodox left back would. 8

Arteta: Another fine game, controlling the ball from deep, covering our defence and instigating forward moves. He is our metronome. 8

Song: A real warrior’s performance from Alex. He misplaced a few through balls when looking for defence-splitters, but after his success against Blackburn last week you can’t blame him for trying. And his all round work breaking up Sunderland moves and powering us forward was exemplary. Can’t be blamed at all for Sunderland’s goal (sorry Peaches). 8.5

Rosicky: Finding some form at last. Was very combative, if a little wasteful with his passing at times. 7

Oxlade-Chamberlain: It’s not going to be a fairy tale every week at this stage of his career.  Had a couple of decent runs but was effectively marked out of the game. 6

Walcott: He saw more of the ball than Oxo but did little with it. Games like this, with banked lines of defenders sitting deep, are not the forum for him to shine. 6

Robin van Persie: Didn’t get much of a look-in. One second half header could have been dangerous but looped straight into Mignolet’s arms. Nevertheless, the fact that he had two or three players marking him at all times undoubtedly helped other players to find space at times. 7

Subs

Henry: Did nothing for 25 minutes then scored the winning goal. I’m making him man of the match partly for sentimental reasons and partly because he made the most valuable single contribution on the day. 9 MoTM

Ramsey: A brilliant cameo from Aaron. He was everywhere in his 22 minutes and scored the goal that brought us back into the game. The many critics will, in time, have enough egg on their face to make an omelet the size of Wales. 8

Arshavin: Little Andrei looked energetic and direct when he came on and provided a beautiful cross for Thierry’s winner. Perhaps he has reached rock bottom (in the Man Utd game) and is coming out the other side. I really hope so. 8

RockyLives

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Fight for the Right: Game preview.

February 11, 2012

What a game in store for us this afternoon. As was said earlier this week – a barometer game. A resurgent Sunderland looking to continue their very surprising run against an Arsenal team confident as a result of last week’s big win.

And yet, in my opinion both appear to be skating on thin ice. Sunderland are, let’s be honest, a poor team managed by an average manager. Arsenal are on the verge of greatness but are not there yet, as the results at Swansea and Fulham portray. Yes, we smacked Blackburn but have you ever seen a worse performance from a PL side fighting relegation? Nor have I.

What has Mr- O’Neill brought to Sunderland to transform them? The same as Fat Sam has has brought to West Ham and SAF continues to bring to MU –  an atmosphere of fear and aggression. Hard work, get in their faces, ride your luck, long ball tactics, close down in midfield, compress the play thereby nullifying any creativity in the opposition and best of all, score and then defend like crazy. It works. After a dreadful start Sunderland have beaten Man City, Norwich, Stoke and Swansea.

Sessegnon is their main attacking force, however, it should be pointed out that this season he has scored 9 whereas our top scorer has 28. We know all about Seb Larsson who is one of the players often referred to when discussing the (too) early transfer of young players.

Another conundrum is who is going to start for Arsenal?. With the huge game in Milan on Weds. will Mr.Wenger risk playing his full first X1 or will he rotate? What would you do? Which game would you prioritise?  Do you think he should start with the same team in both games? I think we cannot afford to do anything but play our best starting X1 in every game – Big Raddy played 60+ games almost every season. (back when men were men!)

My Team:

I am torn between Ramsey and Rosicky. Perhaps Tomas should start today given his excellent recent form and that Ramsey will be better suited to the slower game played by AC Milan midweek – I expect him to star out in Italy, just as Fabregas did a few years ago. Everyone wants to see The Ox and I hope Mr. Wenger doesn’t drop him –  which he is almost sure to do when Gervinho returns next week holding his ACN Winners Medal.

An inventor from Sunderland? I bring you Sir William Mills, inventor of the Mills bomb. Those with a historical bent and an interest in World War 1 will know all about the Mills bomb which a type of grenade . 75 million of them were made and used during WW1. Yes – 75million!!. A prolific inventor he also developed a gearing system for ships which was used worldwide, and a telescopic walking stick/seat which remains widely available today (think Toffs/Range Rovers/ National Hunt).

Sir William Mills,  no relation to Mrs.

It will be Siberian conditions Up North which will affect both the pitch and the players. If Arsenal have pretensions to a Top 4 finish they have to get something from this game. I do not believe Sunderland are as good a team as we are but given the January failures there must be caution. Going one up, which a few years ago would be a guaranteed 3 points is a trait we must reproduce. This will be a game won in midfield and our boys will have to fight fire with fire.

Given the animosity between our respective managers, I expect an intense game with yellow cards aplenty.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Wenger avoids relegation….again!

February 10, 2012

Written by SlimGingerGooner

Well, can you believe it!?

Arsenal have reached the landmark 40 points needed to stay in the Premier League!

Back in August another season of struggle was being predicted by the knowledgable Arsenal faithful. A lack of quality signings in the transfer window and an air of disappointment from pre season results even had some sections calling for a new manager:-

“Wenger will  win nothing. He has lost it completely. He should just go! Christ!”

“The rot presided over by this little profit maniac and Board should be “arrested” or a red and white funeral beckons for Arsenal FC.”

“Keown for Manager!”

“Ok, so who do we want as a replacement for the senile old bastard?
O’Neill?
Adams?”

“Forget top 4 this season. It’s not gonna happen. Next summer we’ll say goodbye to more of our best players. If we stay up it will be a good season.”

So it comes as a great surprise to the fans that Arsenal look to have avoided relegation for another season. Some good results against fellow strugglers Bolton, Wigan and Norwich mixed with unexpected victories against the likes of Chelsea have seen the Gunners hit the dizzy heights of the top 5.

Nobody at Arsenal is under any illusions though about the tough couple of months coming their way. With the likes of  Man City, Tottenham and Chelsea still to come to the Emirates, Wenger knows that keeping his team in the top half is going to be difficult, but he has great faith in his squad and believes the experience they have from previous relegation battles could prove vital:

“Sometimes we are reproached for not having enough captains in our squad, now we have plenty,” Wenger told the Official Arsenal Magazine

“Overall we have more experience and this could be important if we are in a strong mid table position.That could have a big part to play.”

He added: “I’m very happy with the signings we made and my challenge now is to prove that I made the right decisions. I have great belief in the players I bought in and I am convinced they will prove me right.”

Strong words from Le Boss as Arsenal head into the last few months of the season looking for a bright finish to a fantastic season. Let’s just hope that Arsene’s new signings  can keep the team going in the right direction and, who knows, a top 4 finish may even be a possibility for a team mooted as possible relegation candidates just 4 months ago.

#certain quotes may have been altered for the benefit of this post.

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Have you heard the one about the future?

February 9, 2012

In recent transfer windows and recent seasons we constantly hear Wenger and the Board remind us that we are building a team for the future, a club for the 21st century, one that does things differently promotes from within and doesn’t need to pay huge transfer fees to compete.

Some fans have countered this reasoning (fairly) that without a present the future means nothing, and that the future has as little guarantee as signing a £50million striker or a £35million striker depending on which team you prefer laughing at the most.

As we reside in 7th place and the season looks to be disappearing from our grasp taking Champions League football and our Captain with it its time to take a look forward and see if what we are aspiring to is better than what we have at the moment.

According to most our current squad has 11 first team players and the rest are disposable, I would actually say that we have maybe 9 players of sufficient and proven quality, 6 others with potential (some already proving it), and maybe 5 senior pros who should when asked be able to do a job. (List at the bottom of the blog to keep you guessing)

Thats 20 players who I think should be able to be relied upon to get the job done. Admittedly they need at least five of the proven quality players on the pitch to help them, but we see United week in week out with all sorts of squad changes able to get the job done.

So in one sense I am asking what is so wrong with what we have now. Is it good enough? How much better are others? Or are we just so bereft of confidence as a team and as supporters of our team that no matter who is in the team the season would end in failure anyway?

As for the future what are we building to, what is the dream, we seem to be awash with young talent, but for whatever reason the young talent brought forward over the last few years has yet to fulfil its promises. Some of that talent has gone from the club, some never achieved the level it was hoped they would.

Should we be more optimistic about the current crop of youngsters coming through the system, if we should why should we?

Recently we have felt too much of a disconnect between us and the players, maybe its age maybe its just modern football, but I think its because of where they have come from. Some have arrived as eager faced 16-18 year olds straight into the reserves, plucked from the youth system of a club on the continent and given an Arsenal tracksuit and pay packet to match. Some have arrived with the knowledge that younger players get game time at Arsenal and under Arsene Wenger, only seeing it as a stepping stone to the biggest clubs and pay-packets.

I see a huge difference between the youth team players coming through now and those that have been used in the last few years, and the main difference is pride of wearing the red and white shirt and a cannon on their heart. The youngsters now coming through the system have been at the club for many years, they have had to work hard to not only be the best in their age groups but to be the best at the club to have a chance of getting a professional contract. When they have taken the field they have played with so much passion and desire and whilst they are young and inexperienced if you could take some of that desire and love for the club and inject it into those that have come before I don’t think the likes of Bendtner and Denilson would be moaning about sitting on the bench, they would realise how lucky and privileged they are to sit there and be part of this great club we all love.

So do I buy into the hype about the future? Yes, wholeheartedly. Do I think it will be better on the pitch than what we have now? I honestly couldn’t tell you, but one thing I think they will all do is leave it out on the pitch and show us fans that they care, every week, every game.

I also think that we are building a squad now of 18-21 year olds that will come to fruition together and we will not be in our current position of world class forward on pitch, average forward on bench.

Just take a look at this group of youngsters in our Reserves and tell me you don’t have a warm feeling about seeing those lads progress.

Current Squad Breakdown

Proven quality:

Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Song, Arteta, Wilshere, Gervinho, Van Persie.

Potential:

Coquelin, Frimpong, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson, Gibbs

Good enough:

Rosicky, Walcott, Arshavin, Santos, Mertesacker

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Arsenal 2011-2012: The Trials and Tribulations of a Transitional Season

February 8, 2012

Written by TotalArsenal

Arsenal does not really do transitional seasons, or does it? Somehow, through the magic of Wenger, we have been able to rebuild squads and first teams without losing sight of silverware and European football in every single season the Frenchman has been at the helm. What’s more, he has been able to achieve this against the background of Arsenal building a new stadium, and the departures of many established players in the last seven years or so. We basically made a through-start again and again, and during the process we, the fans, got a bit spoiled.

More and more, it is becoming clear the 2011-2012 season might well turn into a proper transitional year, in which we might win nothing and not even finish in the top-four.

If you take a closer look at our direct competitors, you will see that all of them, in one way or another, are also in transition. MU and MC are out of all cup competitions with over 100 days of the season to go, and both their managers are trying to build a team that can compete for years to come. Liverpool, despite their enormous investments over the last 12 months, did not feature in Europe at all this season, and are struggling to make it into the top-four: their transition is ongoing too. Chelsea is in a similar situation as Arsenal, in terms of their positions in the various competitions, but they have to come to terms with the decreasing powers of their ageing squad and, as a result, are also struggling badly to make the transition. The Spuds are doing relatively well as they are currently picking the fruits from Rednapp’s team building/ squad building efforts over the last few years: it looks like they are in a post-transitional phase right now. For various reasons, this is unlikely to last and soon they will be back were they belong: well below the mighty, red & white buttocks of The Arsenal.

I wish the BoD/Wenger would come out and say: last season was not good enough for Arsenal and on top of that we lost Fabregas and Nasri this summer. We had to buy a great number of new players and it just takes time to settle them all in. We will work hard this season to build a new team and still try and win something, and to finish in the top-four, but we have to go through a period of transition in order to establish a new team that will be able to compete for many years to come. There is quite a chance Arsenal will win nothing this year, and might not even finish fourth, but in the long term it will be for the best. Please be warned: it might be a tough season for us all.

I could live with that. In fact, I have reluctantly come to terms with it anyway, whether the BoD come out and say it or not.

I am absolutely convinced that all the ingredients are there for sustained success in years to come. The current squad has many players who can make it to the top in the next few years and a number of youngsters are progressing quickly to make the first team. Arsenal has a number of super talents around whom we can build a super team: Szczesny, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna, Ramsey, Wilshere, the Ox, RvP, Gervinho, Song are all top players. The BFG, Arteta, Theo, Santos are good squad players and the young talents of Miquel, Frimmpong, Coquelin, Gibbs, Ryo, Campbell and Jenkinson are very promising prospects. In the summer, we can add to those, if required. The club is financially healthy and the owners appear to be in for the long haul (and please note that financial success for Kroenke & Co totally depends on sporting successes by Arsenal), we have a great stadium and play (at least until recently) a fantastic brand of football which is revered all over the world.

But, it might take a while before we can pick the fruits of this very exciting and promising new team. And that is the hardest part for us fans to accept, especially after the seven barren years which did not meet our relatively high expectations.

Does it mean though, that this season is a write-off? Difficult to say. There are basically four scenarios:

  1. Somehow, Arsene manages another ‘through-start’ this season and Arsenal finish in the top-four. We might even win something in the next few months. I would not put my money on it though.
  2. The season ends in a complete disaster: we win nothing, finish outside the top-four and moral is rock-bottom.
  3. We win nothing and do not make it into the top-four, but the last few months of the season have seen a massive improvement, and Wenger has build a new team that will be ready – give or take a new signing or two – to go all the way next season.
  4. As per scenario three but on top of that we win the FA-cup, or even the CL-cup.

Whichever way it goes, the next four months will provide some clarity of where Arsenal is going. I hope we’ll end up with scenario one: who does not? I could live with scenario three if it is based on fundamental truths. Scenario four would be great and I might even prefer it to ‘only’ finishing in the top-four, as I strongly believe the sooner this new team wins something the quicker it will grow into a super-team.

If the season finishes as per the second scenario, I am sure we will see a change in team management. In many ways I would hate that to happen, so big is my respect for Arsene, but on the other hand, it would be good to see Arsenal start a fresh, new era, under new management, however risky this will be.

I am under no illusion this is the hardest sporting challenge Wenger ever had to face. We all seem to know where it is going wrong with the team at the moment, and what he should do to resolve it. But, I trust his knowledge and deep passion he has for our club. A genius is able to see and understand complexity like nobody else. Or, as Edward de Bono observed: ‘Removing the faults in a stage coach may produce a perfect stage coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.’ If you know what I mean.

For the rest of the season, I am going to relax a bit and lower my expectations. However, I will support the players and manager as much as I can, because their struggle is my struggle.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Will the real Arsenal please stand up ……….

February 7, 2012

Well, what a difference a day makes.

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

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

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

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

What caused the change?

Were we that good or were Blackburn that poor?

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

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

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

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

What’s up next?

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

We have seven games, one approximately every four days.

EPL vs Sunderland

CL vs AC Milan

FAC vs either Sunderland or Middlesbrough

EPL vs Tottenham

EPL vs Liverpool

CL vs AC Milan

EPL vs Newcastle

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

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

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

Sunderland = 15 – 83.3%

Newcastle = 12 – 66.7%

Tottenham = 11 – 61.1 %

Liverpool = 8 – 44.4%

Arsenal = 7 – 38.8 %

Which Arsenal team will show up and stand up?

Written by gunnerN5

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Posted by Rasp

The Real Reason For Arsenal’s Slump

February 6, 2012

Hopefully you’re still feeling a warm glow from Saturday’s impressive win over Blackburn Rovers.

It has certainly calmed some of the pitchfork-and-torch brigade who were on the march after the 0-0 at Bolton.

They may not have had the imagination or panache to use pitchforks and torches, but they had their bin bags and were still determined to march on Castle Emirates and demand the head of Baron von Wengerstein.

Nevertheless, it is this reaction (to the Bolton draw) that is more interesting than the relief/rejoicing felt over the 7-1 victory.

A nil-nil away at Bolton, who themselves had recently thrashed Liverpool 3-0, may have been a bit disappointing but was hardly a terrible result in the great scheme of things.

It’s the fact that it came on the back of three straight defeats in the EPL that got everyone so stirred up, me included.

I thought we were unlucky not to have beaten Bolton, but I still felt moved to write a Post about the way in which certain players had so little end product at the moment that every time they received the ball I felt my heart sink in the sure knowledge that the move would come to nothing.

The three defeats that preceded Bolton (Fulham, Man Utd and Swansea) themselves followed a wobbly run which included narrow wins over Everton and QPR and a home draw with Wolves.

The slump was all the more painful coming on the back of a re-flowering of hope and optimism as we put aside our disastrous start to the season to climb back up to fourth in the table.

And it gave ample ammunition to all those who have been saying for some time that Arsene is a busted flush and that Arsenal will never be great again under his stewardship.

So was our spectacular fall from grace the fault of Baron von Wengerstein? Is his castle crumbling around him while he works feverishly in the dungeons attempting to create the ultimate uber-footballer from primordial gloop and cast off bits of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry and an injection of Fabregas DNA? (Don’t mock. Why do you think TH is really back with us for these few weeks?)

The worrying thought is that the “blip” was not the collapse in form in December and January, but rather was the brief period of resurgence that preceded it.

Well, I beg to differ.

The slump was entirely due to one thing: the loss of all four of our senior fullbacks at the same time with long term injuries.

It was a staggering piece of misfortune, akin to winning the lottery and then getting run over by a truck on the way to claim your millions. All teams suffer injuries to good players, but I can think of hardly any examples where an entire specialism has been wiped out for such a long period (although I believe Manchester United lost all their decent centre backs a couple of seasons ago).

And fullback play really is a specialism. The loss of recognised fullbacks imbalances a team in a way that no other position does (for proof, consider that it is generally easier for fullbacks and defensive midfielders to slot into centre back positions than for anyone to slot into a fullback role).

The fullbacks are crucial in linking defence and attack, in providing width for the team and giving extra space and options for the wide attackers.

I know it’s not especially insightful to point this out and that many commentators and many posters on AA have drawn attention to the way in which the fullback problem has affected our season, but I thought I would do some work to actually quantify it.

Starting after the close of the summer transfer window (and the acquisition of our new players) I have looked at our record in EPL games where we have started with two recognised fullbacks, with one and with none.

Firstly, it’s striking to note that in the 20 games since we lost at Old Trafford, we have started two proper fullbacks on only SIX occasions.

In a further six we had one FB and in the remaining eight we had no FBs at all and had to use other squad players to fill in on both defensive flanks.

In the eight games with no fullbacks, we took 10 points from a possible 24. That’s an average of 1.25 points per game.

In games where we started with at least one real FB we took 26 points from 36, which is 2.2 points per game. This is a very significant difference. It suggests that if we had not had to endure six games with no orthodox FBs we might now have six more points and we would be sitting fourth on 47 points, three ahead of Chelsea.

Interestingly, our record is slightly better in games where we started with one fullback than in those where we started with two. But this is skewed by the two defeats we took at Blackburn and the Spuds when the new players who arrived on the last day of the window were just bedding in (both those defeats were in the first four fixtures with the new squad).

The important point about fullbacks is that their absence affects our attack as much as our defence. Many have commented on the fact Theo Walcott seems much more dangerous when he has a more progressive defender behind him than the likes of Djourou or Koscielny.

In the games with zero FBs we scored at a rate of just over one goal per game (1.1). With one or two FBs our scoring goes up to 2.3 goals per game. Again, a very significant difference.

So what does all this mean?

It means that with Sagna back from injury and Gibbs supposedly available in the next week or so we can start to be optimistic that the run we were putting together before the FB crisis can now be resumed. I know that Gibbs has a poor injury record so we can’t necessarily expect him to stay fit and that both Santos and Jenkinson are still weeks away, but as the figures above demonstrate, even ONE proper fullback can make a big difference to our results.

It also means that all those other players whose own game was affected by the unbalanced nature of our fullbackless team can also be expected to improve. This includes two of the three I dubbed as “hopeless” the other day (Arshavin and Walcott).

And with Gervinho returning and the Ox having forced his way into the team, there is every reason to be positive about a strong finish to the season.

Many people (include many AA-ers who are keen supporters of Arsene Wenger) have largely written off the possibility of us taking a Champions League spot this year.

Not me. For me it is very much on and I expect us to really get a run going now.

Arsene is far from flawless (his substitution of Oxo against Man Utd being one of his bigger mistakes recently) but he is still a magician who can get a team playing unplayable football.

When we had our slump in form, he was not in denial, or off his trolley, or senile, or greedily watching the club’s bank balance grow. He was just monumentally unlucky to lose four good fullbacks at the same time.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Match report – The fantastic story of Theo, The Ox and the Fox in the Box

February 5, 2012

 

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air – were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

 Arsene decided to rest the tired Ramsey and also Sagna, who only just returned from a long injury. Blackburn’s Steve Kean did us a massive favour by leaving out the always-impressive-against-us Samba, and Yakubu was still suspended. So, given the weaker line-up by Blackburn, and the fact we were playing at home with a relatively strong line-up, we were of course expected to win. But, haven’t we been here a few times before this season …?

First Half

Arsenal started brightly and got just what the psychiatrist ordered: an early goal. Rosicky found Walcott with a through-pass towards the by-line and Theo kept his composure to pass a fine ball in between the stranded Robinson and the Blackburn Defence, resulting in an easy tap-in for the always alert Robin van Persie: 1-0 to Arsenal in the second minute!

After that, Arsenal dominated without being particularly dangerous in front of the Blackburn goal, although Vermaelen came close once with an effort against the post.

Blackburn tried to keep it tight and were reasonably well-organised in the first part of the first half. Although Arsenal totally dominated in the first half, our lack of thrust and creativity after the early goal, started to subdue the crowd. Out of nothing, Blackburn earned a free-kick in a dangerous position, after Koscielny made a wrong judgement, allowing the ball to bounce after which he had no option but to hold back Anthony Modeste with his arms. It came as no surprise that Blackburn levelled with a superb free-kick by Pedersen. He is one of the best free-kick takers in the PL, and also on this occasion he produced a very fine effort which Szczesny did well to still get a few fingers to, but to no avail: 1-1.

The equaliser tested our patience and resolve. Of course it was against the run of play and therefore undeserved, but that’s how football often goes. Luckily, we did not have to wait long to see whether Arsenal would respond in the right way. A very fine through ball by Song – he assists when he wants, it seems – reached Theo in an identical spot as where he was for the first goal. Also on this occasion Theo kept his composure, as he put in a subtle cross to the once again alert super-Dutchman, who loftily lifts the ball with his ‘inferior’ right foot over the leg of a defender to slot in his second goal: 2-1.

Two minutes later and Arsenal score the goal of the afternoon. It not only was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain first PL game, but his goal, and RvP’ assist, were reminiscent of a DB10/Th14 goal in our recent, glorious past. RvP just showed with his assist what a complete football player he is. After scoring a Poacher’s brace already, this time he finds a Bergkamp-esque through-ball to the Ox, surgically carving open the Blackburn defence in a split-second. AOC takes the ball into the sixteen yard box with a fine first touch, and with an even better second touch gets himself in an excellent scoring position. The adrenalin must be boiling inside his 18 year young body, but he stays calm and scores with the coolness similar to Thierry Henry’s in his very best days: 3-1.

This was the pivotal moment of the game, not just in terms of quality, but also by having created a two-goal lead, Arsenal had settled its, recently so over-tested, nerves. However, Arsenal were then helped further by a reckless lunge of Givet on RvP, after which the former was rightly sent-off. Luckily, very luckily, RvP managed to lift himself off the ground, a fraction of a second before Givet’s two-footed impact. With a 3-1 lead, against 10-men Blackburn all was looking good for the mighty Arsenal.

Second Half

Arsenal meant business from the start of the second half. It clearly was not prepared to sit back on its lead and soon it was rewarded for its attitude. Arteta, who throughout the first half had made football look so easy with his composure and positioning, pounced on the rebound and slotted home a decent shot from just inside the box: 4-1!

These are the sort of goals we have been missing this season and it was just what we needed to keep the momentum going.

In the 54th minute, 3 minutes after the fourth Arsenal goal, we scored another fine goal. Theo Walcott, who played with real verve and focus during the entire game, made a strong run across the Blackburn sixteen-yard box after which he found the Ox in a bit of space. The Ox did not hesitate for a second and took Theo’s pass in one go, shooting past Robinson’s right-hand corner: 5-1.

Then it was Coquelin’s turn to provide an assist, which RvP despatched once again from close range with this right foot: 6-1.

An easier hat-trick he will never get! Coquelin was impressive throughout the game; he plays with a confidence, maturity and physicality which are way beyond his age. On top of that he has a classy style about him, in the way he runs and he passes the ball: another fine prospect! After that, Arsene made a couple of substitutions: Benayoun and TH12 came on for The Ox and super-Song. Very surprisingly RvP stayed on the field!

Understandably, the game lost some of its intensity after the substitutions and the 6-1 score. However, just before the end TH12 scored a somewhat fortuitous seventh goal from another RvP assist, to complete the total rout: 7-1!

Conclusions

This is a very good result for Arsenal and just what we needed. Of course it is just one game and it would be wrong to get carried away. Blackburn was weakened by the omission/non-availability of Samba and Yakubu and the sending-off of Givet was also helpful. However, seven goals from eleven shots on target is a fantastic return, and four ‘non-RvP goals’ in one match is also very encouraging and much-needed at this stage. Results like this build confidence and bring back the feel-good-factor.

The Ox was phenomenal: his goals were classy and taken so maturely for his age, but on top of that he carries such a threat and thrust with him, every time he starts an attacking move. He reminds me a bit of the ‘Portuguese Ronaldo’ and also a bit of Messi. It is early days of course, but the Ox is the sort of player Arsenal has cried out for, ever since the departure of Dennis Bergkamp (not that they are a similar type of football player).

Theo proved that he can recover from one game to the next and I guess we all have to get used to the fact that he will have good days and average days throughout his career (most wingers suffer from the same problem). It will be interesting to see how the Gerv, Theo and The Ox – and eventually Ryo – will compete for the wing-positions. I wish I could incorporate Arshavin, but it feels his time is up at Arsenal.

Song and Arteta had great games and Rosicky made a decent enough contribution too. The BFG, Koz and Vermaelen had relatively easy games and made no mistakes (except for Koz in the first part of the first half).

TV looks like a Bouncer at a Tea-Party in the LB position, and I am sure he wants to be back as CB asap. Szczesny had also little to do but what he did was good (except for one moment in the first half when he decided to come to the edge of his box to clear a high ball which he messed up: it could easily have resulted in an embarrassing outcome for him).

Coquelin was superb and I just cannot believe our luck that we have so many young players coming through and making it into our first-11 at the moment.

But, ultimately this is the story of the Theo, The Ox, and the Fox in the Box:

Theo: 3 top assists, 0 goals.

The Ox: 0 assists, 2 goals.

The Fox in the Box: 2 assists, 3 goals.

Total: 5 assists, and 5 goals. Simply fantastic!

Player ratings:

Szczesny, Koz, TV, BFG: 7. All did their jobs well, but they were not tested much today.

Le Coq: 8. Fantastic game, with a fine assist as well.

Arteta, Rosicky, Song – ARS: 7.5. All did their jobs well today and all brought something extra to the game with either a goal (Arteta) or an indirect assist (Rosicky, Song).

TheO, The Ox, and the Fox in the Box: 9. Together they are my Men of the Match.

TotalArsenal.

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