Gunners overcome the Foxes in the night!

February 11, 2015

A tense Premier League encounter between Arsenal and the basement team ended with Arsenal taking a valuable 3 points and propel them into the dizzy heights of 4th place.

Much of the pre-match talk revolved around how the Gunners would respond following a damaging defeat to bitter North London Rivals Spurs.

Staying at the in laws in Wembley for a few days meant I could make a comfortable journey to N5 and absorb some of that pre-match atmosphere with the Arsenal faithful still smarting following the derby day debacle 3 days earlier. After demolishing a delightful kebab in one of the many fabulous Turkish restaurants on Holloway Road, the walk to Ashburton Grove gave an opportunity to hear what the fans had to say as the crowds gathered. Fans were buoyed by the news that talisman Alexis Sanchez was in the starting line up along with Theo Walcott who was only a substitute on Saturday.

Sat 4 rows from the front the fans took to their seats as the teams came out looking to secure a vital result for different reasons. The game got underway and early on, an adventurous Hector Bellerin was making marauding runs down the right flank which was promising but later would leave gaps behind for Leicester to try and exploit. Then the first chance of note in the 13th minute.

As Bellerin was thrusting forward, the Foxes found space and Riyad Mahrez shot just wide much to the relief of the Arsenal supporters. Although the warning signs were evident some fans were more involved in a conversation about the new Sky deal to continue showing live coverage of Premier League matches than keeping their eyes on the action in front of them.

The Gunners then responded with a chance of their own on 16 minutes which should have rippled the Leicester net. A rejuvenated Mesut Ozil found Theo Walcott but he only found the palm of Mark Schwarzer’s hand when one on one with the time wasting Australian. Such was the goalkeepers time wasting the Arsenal supporters were howling at referee Mike Jones to brandish a yellow card some using very colourful language amusing some of the younger fans in the crowd.

Arsenal’s record signing then combined with another fan favourite, Thomas Rosicky, playing a delightful one-two and then the German forced yet another save from the Foxes keeper. It felt it was only a matter of time before the Arsenal would make an opportunity count and supporters in the stands could sense their team were beginning to turn the screw. Ozil had another attempt and then from the corner came the breakthrough.

Ozil swung the corner into the Leicester box and there was Laurent Koscielny to add the finishing touch and put the Gunners into the lead which their play merited. As the Gunners scored the opening goal, many Arsenal fans really believed the floodgates would now open and that there would be a goal glut.

They were mistaken and such predictions were wide of the mark much like Leicester’s shooting on the night. Left back Paul Koncheskey found acres of space in behind Bellerin and played a low and dangerous cross but Captain Per Mertesacker was on hand to stretch one of those long legs so the ball did not reach the Leicester player looking to capitalise. It was at this point where there was growing concern amongst fans about young Hector Bellerin’s performance as Leicester were finding a lot of joy on his side.

Some fans even used this opportunity to reflect on the Spaniard’s flaws in the North London derby earlier which was very harsh to say the least given the youngster’s fine displays this season. Leicester man Mahrez had another decent effort which missed Ospina’s goal by a fraction but then a rasping shot by Ozil was too hot to handle for veteran keeper Schwarzer and Theo Walcott was on hand to rifle the rebound. That was his third goal in 4 games.

During the opening minutes of the second half, the fans were fuming that Mike Jones did not award the home team a penalty after a pass from Alexis struck a Leicester defender on the hand and the countless fouls being committed. By now the fans were venting their fury at the officials which chants of “you don’t know what your doing”.

Leicester were then given a lifeline on 61 minutes as Arsenal failed to clear their lines from a corner and Kramaric drilled the ball into the net to send the Leicester fans into raptures. The homes fans were now sitting on the edge of their seats and voicing their frustrations at the team. Santi Cazorla tried to restore the 2 goal cushion with an angled shot which the keeper parried away. In the other end that man Mahrez curling effort went agonisingly wide much to the relief of the home support.

The fans then turned their anger and frustration on Olivier Giroud, some repeatedly swearing at him, demanding more movement from him after Mesut Ozil played a delightful low cross which was begging for a predator to be on the end of it. Again this seemed very harsh on the player by the fans but may have been as a result of Arsenal’s below par second half performance. The Frenchman’s night was compounded with an undeserved booking as he turned his back and Schwarzer kicked the ball against him which the incompetent Mike Jones deemed as obstruction. This tipped the Arsenal fans over the edge as some hurled constant abuse at the referee whose performance must be assessed given the glaring mistakes he made.

The game then became scrappy as yellow cards were issued and substitute Aaron Ramsey limping off, a cause for more concern, but Arsenal held on to secure a crucial win in the battle to finish in the top 4. The fans were also cheering a late Liverpool winner which condemned Spurs to defeat. So despite the derby day debacle, normal order has been restored with Spurs being in their rightful place. Below Arsenal and forever in our shadow.

UTA! Written by @SirAHussain14image (2) image-1 (2) image-3 image-5 image-4

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A disappointing 3 points …. an orchestra with 3 conductors

February 11, 2015

Before ….

I had a drink with 6 of the finest, most wholehearted Arsenal supporters you could hope to meet before arriving at The Emirates. Several had travelled great distance to attend the game. The good natured banter and camaraderie of kindred spirits is one of the great joys of being an Arsenal Supporter.

The game …..

After a disappointing performance in the NLD, we had high hopes that the team would bounce back and show its class. I will admit to being surprised at the team selection with Giroud and Welbeck consigned to the bench and a midfield 3 of Cazorla, Ozil and Rosicky.

The first half was a cautious affair with little quality on show from either side except for the finishes for the 2 goals which comprised an excellent striker’s finish from Koscielny from a corner and a trademark, reflex, low into the corner goal from Theo (how often do you see him blaze it over the bar?)

So at 2 goals up and the game seemingly secure, most were wondering how many we could add in the second half. Immediately it became obvious that the team had lapsed into that weird alternative Arsenal characterised by low energy, lack of penetration, pass it sideways rather than forward jaundiced football.

Leicester played with fight, pace on the counter and width. They looked determined and dangerous and were rewarded with a deserved goal after some typically poor defending by Arsenal. We could all see it coming. Would the team respond and up the tempo? ….. No. We held on for the rest of the game. Ospina once again made a couple of key saves that saved us points but all in all this was a tepid performance. The overwhelming feeling at the final whistle was relief, not joy at gaining 3 points.

Why …..

Before the game, GoonerB had been banging on about how we could not play 3 of our 5 or 6 attacking midfielders together at any one time. He argued that we needed pace and width and runners. The longer the game went on, the more I could see he had hit the nail on the head. I lost count of how many times one of our midfield 3 came out of defence with the ball only to stop once in the opponents half and pass backwards or sideways. Result … moment lost, opportunity wasted, the oppositions defence assembled to keep us out of the danger area.

The best team seldom comprises the best 11 players. If we call the attacking midfielders playmakers (last night that was Rosicky, Ozil and Cazorla) it becomes more obvious why we lose attacking edge. No orchestra plays to 3 conductors – that just causes confusion and yet we field 3 players all trying to do the same job and operate in the same area. This compresses our play in the centre of the pitch and means we are short of bodies and options when it comes to an attacking pass. We must hold the record for the number of times the ball is passed 5 yards and then straight back again.

GoonerB said before the game that he’d rather see players like The Ox, Welbeck or even Akpom who are direct and have pace, but more importantly make runs for a playmaker to exploit.

It’s been said before, we have too many identikit players trying to play in the same area. I thought Coquelin was our best player. He reminded me of Sol when he came back, trying to rouse those around him seemingly unable to understand why there was so little fight in them. You could see his frustration growing in the second half to the point where it was he (our DM) who was actually driving play forward.

What’s to do? ….

Arsene Wenger obviously doesn’t see it this way. He repeatedly puts out teams that lack balance and his options are restricted due to the type of player he signs and the inevitable injuries. Ozil was poor last night. Despite declaring that he had come back stronger, he was knocked off the ball too easily because he was looking for a pass, but the lack of runners meant he ended up in blind alleys. I love his talent and ability but in our current set up he is just not cutting the mustard.

Nothing will change whilst Arsene is manager …. so there’s nothing we can do.

Hats off to Leicester. They’d never complain after getting 3 points. I can and do complain, the guys I met before the game deserve better than this.  We have consistently underperformed. Our team is less than the sum of its parts and that is the opposite of what we should expect.

Rasp

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Arsenal to play “…and Leicester”

February 10, 2015

Apologies to regular readers of this site, but our usual PM’er is a Hippy and today is incapable of doing his duty because he’s semi conscious on a remote Island off Sweden.

It will be brief for a number of reasons, one being that for the first time in my life, I don’t know what I’m talking about. We are playing Leicester tonight, and I’ve never heard of them other from the words of The North Bank Special number “We all follow The Arsenal” that ends “…..and Leicester”

Also, as I’ve never heard of any of their players, it will be a walk over, so should be an enjoyable evening for Gunners everywhere.

Happily the three points will come in very handy, because it’s getting a bit tense at the top of the table, although if other results go our way, we could end up third this evening assuming we score enough.

That brings me nicely on to exactly that, scoring goals. I don’t care who starts in goal, or who plays in defence. I’ve no idea how our injured superstars Sanchez and The Ox are feeling today, but either would bring welcome skill, thrust and entertainment to the side.

I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I’ve been dragged off the subs bench at the last minute to get something written, and I expect a torrent of abuse towards The Hippy when he bothers to return.

What I do know about Leicester is that somewhere around there is the home of Pork Pies. Those I like.

mickydidit89

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Posted by Rasp

Is Arsène Wenger able to find the right balance?

February 9, 2015

This comment, in response to yesterday’s post, was put on the blog late last night by GoonerB. As it was unlikely many would be around to discuss the points raised so I’ve lifted it to use as today’s post. ED

The ref on Saturday was awful but I really can’t go along with this being the main reason for losing the game.

The performance is actually hurting me more than the loss as I think it points to a far bigger issue. I can accept a 2-1 loss if we have been a bit unlucky but, I hate to say it, we were largely dominated and Spurs fully deserved the win. We literally did what we so often accuse other sides of doing and parked the bus. We looked a mid to lower table side against a top of the table team and that for me is hurting and is more embarrassing than the actual loss.

There have been so many mentions in the days running up to this game about how many Spurs players would get in the Arsenal side and I agreed with most that it was hardly any so we should have been the better side…. right? At the very least we should have been the better side that lost through bad luck and some dodgy refereeing calls….right? Wrong, we just looked utterly inferior, lost and bereft of ideas.

The worrying thing is that for me we have a worrying trend recently of, not just losing, but being outplayed by teams who on paper are inferior to us on a player by player comparison.

So if we had the far superior side and were still outplayed as easily as this what explains it? For me unfortunately the finger has to be pointed at the manager. He chooses the team, sets it up how he wants it and provides the tactical instructions. Almost from the moment we scored we started to lose the control of the game. The dynamics and balance were not right and it was there for all to see.

Why then was nothing changed between the goal at 11 minutes to the 67th minute? When the change came I am sorry to say that Cazorla for Rosicky seemed a like for like. It didn’t for me change the dynamics and balance in any way, and further didn’t suggest to me of any recognition of a need to do so.

I suppose this is why I have been cautious in becoming too optimistic on the back of our recent results. I had a bad feeling that another stinker was around the corner. I made a point on a couple of occasions last week that I was concerned that as we got more options coming back from injury that there was a possibility of not getting the right balance in the set-up. I believe this is what happened and I feel we also saw it earlier in the season.

I still think Arsene just wants to get what he considers all his most technical players out there regardless of anything else. I think I commented even as early as last season that AW always tries to get Ozil, Ramsey and Cazorla on the pitch at the same time but I feel it doesn’t work and it leaves us unbalanced and weakened particularly in the threat from wide and pace aspects.

This becomes more important when Giroud leads the line as, despite his attributes, he rarely gets the better of defenders in a straight foot race. Having another quick player close to him to work off and get past him would to me have been important. IMO it just invited them to play a high line and compress all the space in our end of the pitch so that they were more able to win it back in our half and we had no outlet to get the ball out and hold the possession while others joined in the transition from defence to attack.

They were also able to bring there FB,s into almost permanently supporting the attack and must have felt like Christmas had come early that we didn’t seem to be the slightest bit interested in utilising the space the FB’s were leaving behind them or the space behind the CD’s due to the high line.

Danny was our only pace player to start but is only just back from injury, so is likely still a bit short of his full pace and sharpness. Also, bar a couple of instances, he seemed to spend most of his time deeper and defending and did look rusty on the ball to me often losing possession.

We have seen this before when we sacrifice pace for too many midfield technical players who prefer to operate centrally. I may of course have this all wrong but it just seems such an obvious thing that we often don’t look good with this set-up and with a lack of width and pace. I just feel it looks an easy thing to correct and we have the players to do it but just overlook the obvious.

Maybe it is just me (and Micky I think) who sees it this way but unfortunately I do lay the blame fully at Arsene’s feet for this one. The players didn’t perform well for sure but we keep blaming individual players and talk about how the players let Arsene and the fans down.

Is it not possible that a huge amount of blame is due to an unbalanced set-up, that provides a poor platform for our (superior to the opposition) players to perform to their best from?

Discuss.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Can Plan B work?

February 8, 2015

Morning all,

Yes still feeling pain, as I am sure many Gooners are but many’s the time we learn from heartaches such as these, and can only put it down to a lesson learnt.

The strategy used yesterday, only dawned on me this morning. At first I felt that the Tottenham pressure was the reason we were hemmed in all game, but the penny dropped when I realised that Ospina very seldomly rolled the ball out to start our attack instead deciding to hoof the ball down the field which nearly always resulted in Tottenham possession and another wave straight back at us.

I have to say that in the past the slow build up from the throw out has always niggled me a bit as we seem to take an age to get out of our own half, but yesterday showed me that it takes time to get your forward players in the positions that can offer you chances, and the slow build up also gives possession time which also frustrates opponents.

Ospina would not have done that off of his own back, so I would assume that this was a tactic that Arsene had worked out prior to the start. I imagine Wenger would have realised that Tottenham at home would do the pressing so start cautiously and see how the game was going before we venture too far up.

Tottenham came unstuck as they pushed, just how we have in the past and at that time had worked in our favour, but after the goal we retreated to our own half and the constant pressure made sure the only rest bite we had was when Ospina cleared long.

Of course with this kind of tactic you have to mix and match, sometimes a slow build up will instil a little bit of composure but how the game panned out, pressure was constant and defending took over more than being adventurous.

We held out well but with no fear factor from us Tottenham were able to press high up and the result was self explanatory. On the day perhaps we could have mixed and matched a bit more but a 2.1 loss was better than some of the high scores from last season..

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Alexis IS starting

February 7, 2015

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin ……

I am a chilled person, I have had a life of meditation leading to an understanding that negativity invites negativity, but for all my working of the 12 step programme and the tenets of Buddha there remains one major stumbling block

My name is Big Raddy and I detest Spurs.

Believe me I have tried to feel less revulsion but even when we went all those seasons unbeaten against them the dislike remained. And unfortunately it is a progressive disease – my abhorrence is worse now than it was in Spurs “glory years” …. you know, those days of yore when the magnificent Steve Perryman and Ralph Coates graced the First Division

Unknown-1

No comment needed

By the way when you hear Spurs fans talk about their great players tell them to think on this – Gascoigne, Lineker, Bale, Klinsmann, Ginola, Les Ferdinand all played less games for Spurs than young Szczesny has already played for Arsenal!! Basically anyone who is any good gets out of there are fast as possible.

Just wait until summer when Eriksen and Lloris leave the Lane like rats from a sinking ship, then the miscreants who run the circus can waste another shed load of money on rubbish like Soldildo and Paulinho (over €40m between them)

Onto today: Imagine you were a neutral (impossible, I know). How many Spurs players would get into a combined team? Perhaps one, at most two. Lloris and Kane. Eriksen is quality but better than either Cazorla or Ozil?  Furthermore, as good as Kane may be he is not as good a centre forward as Giroud (yet).

Just for once I will send a little time writing about the knuckle-draggers (normally I dismiss them) but they are serious competition this season and I wonder why. A superb GK and a regular back 4 helps but let’s face it, their FB’s are average as is

Oh …. I can’t be arsed to write about the individual awfulness of the sad fools who have taken the filthy lucre to wear the cheap nylon shirt with the skinny cock emblem.

Let’s talk about the good guys.

Sometimes Mr Wenger is too honest for the team’s good. Whether Alexis is injured or not it would have made sense to pretend he was a certain starter. Puke-tino would have spent all week training his team to kick lumps out of our marvellous Chilean, instead AW tells the world and Spurs that he is out. Makes no sense to me unless it is a double bluff and Alexis starts!

If Alexis is injured the team almost picks itself; the same 11 who demolished Aston Villa though Mr Wenger may choose to beef up the defensive midfield by dropping either Santi or Mesut and playing Flamini alongside Coquelin. I hope not.

Many years ago I read a biography of Dave Mackay (google him) – couldn’t have been an autobiography as reading and writing are not skills associated with Spurscum – and in it he said something very sensible … “the best form of defence is attack.” Now George Graham and Me-rinho would disagree with Dave and their methods bring results.

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Mackay demonstrating his football ethic

Recently the media congratulated Arsene on his change of tactics in the win at Man City but we had done the same many times before, not least last season at The Lane. I don’t like it, it is likely to cause me a heart-attack and I don’t want to depart this mortal coil until we have won the Champions League.

One of my major concerns is how our heroes will perform on the primordial ooze that is called the pitch at WHL; if you emerge from it like the Harry Kane I guess it is playable but to players used to enjoying England’s pleasant pastures it is a challenge. Hopefully we will have specially adapted boots.

Will we win today? Who knows? As always it is just 3 points and even if Spurs fluke a win we will still end the season above the knuckle-dragging Miscreants, but Mr Wenger has a fine record at WHL and we have reason for optimism

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy (who apologises for both the stomach-turning pics of Spuds and the intentional misleading headline)

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

“Oi, Arsenal East Stand. Yes, You Lot”

February 6, 2015

Ok, it’s Rant Friday, and as usual when I pause to think for a moment beneath the happy veneer of my Arsenal World, I seethe. I’m vexed and the blood boils. I can keep the upper lip stiff no longer, and come Rant Friday, I crack.

So let me kick the day off.

East Standers. You make me sick. You’re an embarrassment to yourselves and The Club. The reason I’m picking on you lot is that I watch nearly all games on the telly and the camera points East, so tough luck.

Two games this season I did bother to rock up to were Palace and Southampton. You lot bugger off on 42 mins, then bugger off again on 85. You annoy me when I’m there, and you make me sick when I watch on telly.

What the hell is so ‘effing important that you have to leave so early. Please, just one of you come out and tell me. I know Holloway Road stays closed for an hour after the game, and there’s a short wait outside Arsenal Tube, but it’s a pleasant twelve minute stroll to Finsbury Park you fat bastards. What’s more, when you get there, you also have the choice of the faster Victoria Line.  Jeepers.

And half time, what’s all that about. You can’t all have weak bladders, so I’m guessing it’s the delicious food and beer you’re after. Well, fill yourselves up with more fat and booze before the game why don’t you.

While I’m at it “Hey you skinhead over in Block 107, Row 2. Remember me from the Palace game, and the little chat we had”. No? Well, let me jog your memory. You looked a right tit leaving on 42 mins, and then rushing back to celebrate when we scored on 45. Then, you ‘effing tool, you did the same thing on 88 and guess what, we scored the winner on 90 and back you wobbled. Pathetic. What the ‘ucking hell is wrong with your sort?

Oh, and now my memory has been jogged, Southampton, and again I was in The East Stand. Cleared off is what many of you had done when Alexis pops up and scores the only goal on 90. You utter cretins had cleared off again. Unbelievable.

Anything any of you would like to get off your chest?

RANT AWAY

MickyDiIt89

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Posted by Rasp

Theo Walcott Drives A Wedge Between Supporters

February 5, 2015

It appears that opinion on Theo Walcott divides supporters more than any other player – so much so that we’ve received 2 posts on Theo today giving opposing views on his worth to Arsenal. So should he stay or should he go? … have a read through both sets of arguments and cast your vote at the end. Ed

Arsenal’s biggest problem – Theo Walcott

After both the Brighton and Aston Villa games I was vocal in criticising Theo, I promised a post to explain why he was driving me to distraction so here it is.

Alan Hansen once claimed Theo didn’t have a football brain, this was along time ago and has since been proven wrong, however there is definitely a case to argue that he plays better on instinct than when he has to think about it. Take a look at the best goals he scores, when he is reacting under pressure he is far better than others, his quick feet and good shot come to the fore. When he has time to pick a spot in acres of space he can be wasteful.

But this isn’t his problem right now. I don’t think it’s a question of footballing brain but more one of footballing ego, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of arrogance on the pitch and belief in one’s own ability, but there is if it leads you to play in a way that is detrimental to the team.

In my view against both Brighton and Villa he was guilty of the latter, after his early goal against Brighton and the teams early goal against Villa he seemed to be appearing in the centre of the pitch far more than he should and it was forcing others to shift position. Against Villa this caused is to have a very poor hour in front of their goal. Having just watched the MOTD highlights this was confirmed by all our efforts on goal coming when Theo was staying wide, I remember several moments in the first half and one spell in particular where Theo was taking a more central position and our attacks lacked the cutting edge, not only that that but it caused us issues in the other direction. I don’t have a problem with our attack being fluid, but if the wrong players play in the wrong position I do.

Can’t play with back to goal

Theo is simply not physically suited to playing with his back to goal, he is always better running at goal, when he plays central he has to be able to receive the ball to feet under pressure from a centre back and quickly play a pass to an advancing midfielder or wide man.

I don’t think Theo has the best attributes to do this.

Making unselfish runs

When he has done the back to goal thing he has to be prepared to drag his marker away from goal and create space for others.

Against Brighton and Villa he did the first bit, but his next move was towards goal, which in turn made the area more congested as midfielders were trying to run into the space.

I think Theo’s presence centrally is mainly a selfish one to be amongst more goals so I don’t think he will prepared to run away from the goal as both Giroud and Welbeck do when they have played there.

One way to score

When Giroud plays as holdup man his next movement as well as dragging defenders out also presents a concern for defenders, his aerial ability means he can drift to the back post be on hand for a lofted ball or make an angle to be played into feet (especially if he is left side of goal) to score from a cut back. Theo can only really offer the latter. Which again makes us easy to defend against.

Effecting the opponents defensive line

By playing up top Theo’s biggest threat to opposition is a ball over the top, clever centre backs will drop off ten to twenty yard to nullify this, which in turn makes it more difficult to get the midfield and wide men bursting past the line, it also means if playing one of our wide men is Giroud who doesn’t have the burst of pace to offer a threat in the channels.

When Giroud is up top defenders have to mark him higher up the pitch to try and win the ball back earlier. And it means we have pace on the flanks.

Opponents full backs are released

One of the biggest problems is what it does to our balance defensively. With Giroud forced to play wide left or right by Theo’s change of position the opposition full backs are less worried about pushing on and leaving space behind them. Once Giroud has dropped in the full back knows he doesn’t have to be too wary, so can commit fully to his teams attack, which on Sunday afternoon resulted in balls into our box from two angles. If Theo sits wide then he can win the game of chicken with the full back as very few will back themselves in a foot race against our whippet.

The solution

As you can hopefully now see I manor criticising Theo for rustiness or skill set he has many good attributes that if used to the full can result in the goal he scored against Villa or Ozil’s goal our second against Villa.

Picking up the ball deep he had got past the midfield line in a flash and was laying the ball onto Giroud before the Villa defence knew what was happening.

His goal came from receiving the ball from Ospina on the left, and motoring at pace playing the ball to Santi and then intercepting the through ball destined for Giroud who had himself pulled wide creating a gaping hole for Theo to run into.

If Theo plays wide and stays wide until the gaps open up he can be lethal, particularly if working in tandem with Alexis on the other flank.

Writing this post I started to ask myself whether in fact it was Giroud and not Theo that was the problem, but after more consideration I decided not, I think the same would be true if Welbeck, Akpom or Sanogo were available to play up top. And I think what Olivier gives us is a plan A and B on the pitch from the start, take away some of his effectiveness by changing his position and we start to become one dimensional and dare I say it tippy tally again as defences drop deep scared of pace in behind.

When discussing both Ramsey and Coquelin in interviews this season Arsene has talked around the subject of best for the team or best for the player, Ramsey’s desire to get on the scoresheet was creating issues with the rest of the midfield, Coquelin he said had been signed as a ball winner but had begun to believe he was more a box to box player, he is beginning to play like a ball winner again and the team benefits. It’s what I believe makes Alexis such a huge asset and why he has been so instrumental this season, he is prepared to do what’s best for the team and knows how to get the best out of himself.

On Sunday our attack stagnated after our first goal primarily for me due to the positions Theo was taking up centrally, second half he stayed wider longer and was rarely seen waiting for the ball centrally, and suddenly we started scoring again. Time for Theo to use his attributes in the best way for the team, let’s face it we have plenty of options and if he wants the shirt regularly he will have to be a bit more like Alexis and a little bit less like Thierry in his last season.

Gooner in Exile

Theo Walcott – Sell him in the summer

What has changed over the past couple of months which has led to Arsenal fans being positive; something highly unlikely just 12 games ago? In my opinion even if the forces of evil fluke a win in the NLD we will still have a strong finish to our campaign.

The most obvious reason is the return to fitness of many of the most important members of the squad. We have been missing automatic starters in our first 11 – Ramsey, Ozil, Koscielny, Giroud and Walcott; their return inevitably improves our performances. We have seen the surprise arrivals of Bellerin and Coquelin and  although I do not see Coq as a long term solution I would love to be proved wrong.

Ospina seems to be an admirable keeper and made couple of fine saves last weekend. Having kept 3 clean sheets he could be a key improvement in the defence. We have also seen a massive improvement in Monreal  – that he keeps England’s best LB out of the team is evidence of his fine form.

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Not Happy

Many say the reason for our upswing in form is a return to sensible defending but in my humble opinion the biggest difference is in the way we attack and in particular the return of Ozil. Ozil is world class, not Rooney world class but proper world class – Iniesta world class. Who else in the PL could have conceived and executed the flick pass to OG on Sunday? The answer is nobody.

Alexis is an automatic starter in any Arsenal team, as is Giroud who has become (very surprisingly) a quality CF – maybe the best in the PL. You may scoff but look at the assists he makes (sunday for Ozil, the flick for Wilshire’s goal of the season etc etc), OG is not a battering ram he is an intelligent striker.

And then there is Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain both of whom deserve consideration thanks to their excellence this season.

And what about Theo?

The man is due to enter contract negotiations this summer. Last time he had us over a barrel as we had just lost Cesc, this time it will be different. I love Theo, he is a wonderful chap and a vastly improved player. He has developed his tactical awareness and makes superb off-the-ball runs. He has toughened up and is able to ride the vicious tackling his pace attracts. He scores goals. But is he good enough to keep either Ox or Welbz out the team, and even if he is the front 6 is surely Coquelin, Ramsey, Cazorla, Alexis, Ozil and Giroud.

Should Arsenal pay over €100k a week for someone who is effectively a super-sub?

Of course we should. It is madness to suggest Walcott should leave. Arsenal have invested many millions and almost a decade into the lad. He has to stay. Furthermore, Walcott is, at present, our best right side attacker. If the Ox is to force his way into the team it has to be at the expense of someone else and we are entering a period where there will be no established first 11.

We have yet to see the magic of the Ozil/Walcott combination but we saw glimpses of it on Sunday and it looked lethal, Add in the astonishing power and vision of Sanchez and the mouth waters.

Another reason to spend a pile of Wallmart dollars to keep Walcott is tied to our squad depth and why we need such a squad. The next decade will see Arsenal dominate the PL, Europe and the World. We will need quality throughout the squad to the point where  no-one will have a guaranteed starting place. Just look at the squad AW is building, in every position we have a quality back-up and what is more they are almost all young men under 25.

TPIG, Bellerin, Gabriel, Chambers, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshire, Coq, Welbz, Akpom, Ox, Gnabry, Biedel, Jenks, Sanogo, Campbell are all under 25. Theo and Alexis are just 26!! World domination is around the corner IF Mr Wenger can keep this large squad happy and at Arsenal.

Walcott is an important member of our squad and must be persuaded of his value to The Arsenal. He has been at Arsenal for 9 years, let’s have another 3.

n.b. Post inspired after listening to Tim Stillman assuring us Theo will be sold in summer.

written by Big Raddy

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The future looks bright, I’ve been gazing at my crystal balls.

February 4, 2015

A significant 5 -0 victory against Villa following our win at Man City, things are looking up.

That victory was our 5th straight win in all competitions dating back to New Years Day and in fact the defeat that day at Southampton is our only loss in eleven games since the beginning of December plus our collapse at Stoke. A sequence that includes nine wins and a draw.

This week we go to N17 (spit) which is always a tough one, NLD games are, but there is a history of goals and some high scoring games in recent years so I’m expecting a few goals but we will come out of it with the three points on current form I’m certain. Then we have Leicester at the Ems on the Tuesday and only QPR and Burnley have conceded more goals than them. So this could be another opportunity to improve our goal difference. An away trip to Palace in another London derby follows that which again is a game the boys should win given current form and it’s worth pointing out that we also then host Everton and then visit QPR in the next two  before welcoming the Hammers to the Emirates, so  overall we have a promising set of fixtures and we don’t leave the smoke during that period.

Spuds (a) Leicester (h) Palace (a) Everton (h) QPR (a) West Ham (h)

That takes us up to, and including the 14th March. The fixtures following are favorable as well, Newcastle (a) Liverpool (h) Burnley (a) Sunderland (h) which then brings us to Chelsea at the Emirates on the 25th April.  If the Chavs and City have both suffered a dip in form and dropped points, this could be a crunch game for second place, it could be……… couldn’t it?

Which then leaves us four games, Hull (a) Swansea (h) Man Utd (a) and finally, West Brom (h). We could have some changes of dates due to progressing in the FA Cup hopefully, but taking all those fixtures into consideration, I envisage us going on a good run of results for the last part of the season.

These are the difficult games our rivals have to play:

Liverpool have these out of their last 15 games: Everton (a) Spurs (h) Soton (a) Man City (h) Man Utd (h) Arsenal (a) Chelsea (a)

Man Utd: Spurs (h) Liverpool (a) Man City (h) Chelsea (a) Everton (a) Arsenal (h)

City have: Liverpool (a) Man Utd (a) Spurs (a) Soton (h)

Chavs have: Everton, Man U, Liverpool and Soton (h) and Arsenal (a)

Spuds have: Arsenal, and City (h) Liverpool, Man U, Southampton, Everton, (a)

When you compare those against our last 15 games with only Spuds and Man U away and Chavs ad Everton at home. By far we have the best run in………. well I think so anyway, don’t give a bugger for all you doomers 🙂

We have to take into account the FA Cup run to the Final and of course the Champions league, which should, barring a calamity against Monaco, see us reach the quarter final at least. But we nearly have a full strength squad plus the addition of Paul Easter for the back four. If we now remain injury free, who’s to say we won’t be challenging for the top spot come April? If we do get the required results and points, we will be relying on the Chavs, City and Utd dropping vital points, but on recent form, they will I think. Who knows, but at the moment I’m feeling very positive and still think we could nick it if things go our way. If we don’t we’ll at least retain the FA Cup.

northbank1969

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Arsenal’s Season A Disaster So Far!

February 3, 2015

We are 60% of the way through a campaign that not so long ago was dubbed Arsenal’s worst start to a Premier League season.

After 23 games in 2013/14 we had briefly dropped to 2nd in the table having occupied top spot for 12 weeks. We returned to the top the following game for a further 5 weeks before slowly sliding down the table to finish 4th …… oh really Sherlock I can hear you say (or words to that effect)

But would it surprise you to know that in terms of an exact comparison to last year i.e. the same fixture against the same team home or away, we are actually only 1 point worse off – and yet currently occupy 5th place.

The tables and graphics you see down the right hand side of your screen give a range of statistics that compare our performance to last season. I have added 2 extra columns to the ‘Comparison of fixtures’ widget to show how many points we have gained or dropped in the equivalent fixture this season.

astats 2

From this you can see that we are 2 points worse off in our home games and 1 point better off in the away fixtures, making a net deficit of just 1 point …. not exactly a disaster.

Moreover, we currently have the strongest squad for a decade and contrary to last season, we have players returning from injury and very decent cover in all positions.

FGG made this observation after the Villa game …….. “5-0 and we still have this team who didn’t start today”…….

Szscesny
Debuchy     Chambers     Paulista     Gibbs
Arteta
Campbell     The Ox     Wilshere     Sanchez
Welbeck

Fair enough this includes some currently injured and one on loan, but I could see that side finishing in the top half of the table – when could we last say that about Arsenal’s so called second string?

After 23 games this season we have 42 points – that’s the same points total as Southampton in 4th, and just 1 behind them on goal difference. We are 1 point behind Utd who are 2 behind us on goal difference. That means that if we win next weekend and Utd and Southampton lose or draw, we go 3rd.

2014 2015

The side is returning to full strength and our form is improving every game. We have improved the squad with the addition of Sanchez, Welbeck and Gabriel Paulista, and also seen a marked progression in Bellerin and Coquelin, both of whom I expect to feature regularly for the rest of the season.

It would not be unreasonable to expect us to gain at least as many points in the remaining fixtures this season as last. That would add 36 to our total  of 42 giving 78 points, which would comfortably get us in the top 4, probably 3rd with even 2nd still a possibility if City fall away.

So it’s all to play for now for the rest of the season. Not only do we have the strongest squad for a long time but one where there is very little to choose from in terms of quality between the 1st and 2nd choices in most positions.

Competition for places is a good thing. We have the strength in depth to allow for squad rotation without fear of significantly weakening the team as our victory over Villa showed. There are no prima donnas in the dressing room, morale is high and the belief is returning.

We’ve had a relaxed of transfer window. We’ve secured the important early signing of Paulista with no need for further additions. We’re nicely set up for a strong push to the end to the season with the possibility of retaining the FA Cup and progressing to the QF of the Champion’s League ….. after that, who knows?

Strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride, you may well be pleasantly surprised by the end of this ‘disastrous’ season.

Rasp

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