My first and last article was ‘The fundamentals of Football’ couple of years ago, the journey has been of mixed fortunes, and I must say the nature of my environment hasn’t encourage my consistent participation in blogging. Although, I often pop in and pop out quietly.

TRANSITION FROM DEFENCE TO ATTACK

It will be surprising to many the fact that the edge of the knife on which the current Arsenal team is balanced is in fact the most overlooked player, not Giroud, not Ramsey, not Ozil, and no not Arteta, it is Per Mertersacker. The Arsenal team’s attack starts with the BFG and a solid proof of this were in the games he had missed this season, most notably the Old Trafford game and the less noticed Capital One cup defeat to Chelsea.

Arsenal’s game has improved so much due to the fact that on careful notice, it seems the team has a principle of setting the ball rolling which is for Szczesny to first, before any other player is considered, attempt a pass to the BFG, unless where impossible should he consider Koscielny and if that’s impossible hoof it to Giroud to hold up play (mostly against high pressing teams a la Dortmund) such that the order of priority of Szczesny’s pass is BFG, Koscielny, Giroud. Having a principle of play makes for harmony particularly where this principle is properly understood both by intelligence and competence

From the BFG, there are two likely outlets in the order of Arteta/Flamini, then Sagna. Supposing the two are marked out, then Koscielny is considered and if he is also marked and Ramsey is not dropping deep (which he mostly does) or he’s also marked, then a longer outlet is picked – this mostly is any of the no 10s further away from the deep lying players (There are at least, of recent, 4 no 10s on display per match, at times 5, rarely 3. The reason for this is discussed further down).

The objective of any of the above is to switch play from defense to attack smoothly. What particularly makes Per the balance of the team is that by technique,

1. He must be so positioned as to on almost all occasions be available for a pass from the Gk or recirculation from the rest of the team when breaking down the opposition seems difficult.

2. Makes certain that transition to attack from the defense is as seamless as much as possible by picking out a pass to Arteta, Flamini, Koscielny, Ramsey or further outfield with priority given to the order in which the names are listed

The successful switch of play from the defense to attack is the foundation of the free flowing game that the ‘Emirate Master Chef’ has been serving the salivating fan of the Arsenal world so far.

THE WHOLE TEAM IN VIEW (Attacking perspective)

It should be noticed from the above that there was mention of ‘from defense to attack’ and not ‘from defense to midfield to attack’ simply because the Arsenal team has more or less reduced the football pitch to two broad vertical segments of defense and attack with five defense minded players and five attacking players respectively on the logical sense (though obvious visually on the division of the football pitch) and three horizontal segments of left flank, middle and right flank also logically. What must be minded however is that to make this work perfectly, certain players of each department must be able to perform the functions of the other department effectively without restraint.

Arteta/Flamini – Ramsey/Wilshere/Ozil/Rosicky/Carzorla*

Technically Arteta is a no 10, but for the purpose of the game Arsenal plays, he is positioned in front of the back four as a member of the defense due to his extremely high positional sense and technicality, he shields the defense and initiates attack, however, he can in the same game find pockets of space in opponent’s defense (it is in this area that Flamini may be lacking). The same can be said of the attacking players who must apart from unlocking the opponent’s defense be able to do the Arteta job when he’s doing theirs.

Gibbs – Carzorla/Ozil/Wilshere/Rosicky/Ramsey/Walcott*

Operating on the left flank, Gibbs shields the defense from marauding wide men, however required to effectively finish the job is the ability to pick a pass to the next player in priority depending on location of dispossess. If in the defense, locate either Koscielny or Arteta or the nearest attacker, if in the half-way line, locate Arteta or the nearest attacker and if in possession of the ball in advance area, he must be able to either get past the opponent’s full back, pick a pass to the nearest or best positioned attacker or wipe in a pin-point cross. While engaged in the latter, the other attackers covering the flank must be able to function in his (Gibbs) position in the order in which he performs. This explanation applies to Sagna – Walcott/Wilshere/Ozil/Carzorla/Rosicky/Ramsey* on the right flank

Basically, the above shows most of the attacking players must be able to function across the horizontal segments without restraints, deputize for the wing backs and some must be able to also function in the space ranging from left to right in front of the defensive four

The revolving/rotational principle is based on the above, and it demands that players be highly intelligent and technical and it explains the fact that a youth player rising into the ranks continues to learn even when he seems obviously talented. In fact, established stars transferred to Arsenal are always want to express their readiness to learn under Arsene simply because there is much to learn to be able to function in this intricate system. It also justifies the World Scouting System developed by Arsene as there are few players that possess the basic requirement and therefore can rise to the pinnacle of this system. Certain players have mastered the system and are now playing on top of their game. Sagna, Gibbs, Monreal, Jenkinson (getting there), Ramsey, Arteta, Flamini (Across the heart of defense) Carzorla, Wilshere (last phase of learning right now at the right flank) are those of the current squared that are excelling in this multitasking scheme. Of the players listed only Ramsey seems to have had a complete education across all departments except the heart of defense, Striker and Goalkeeping, even that of striker can be argued based on current performances. Ozil must develop the remaining part – enduring the stress and maintaining high degree of accuracy which has been exposed by the intensity of the premier league as against that of the la liga.

The result of the above is a distributed goal tally, a proof of this is last season where four (4) Arsenal players scored into double digits each and the trend still continues. The advantage of this is less pressure on Giroud (the striker) to bear the scoring load.

Recently Arsene expressed his displeasure at the Ballon d’or wishing it cancelled simply because football is a team sport. It is principles of play like this that underscores his opinion where the working together of the parts is greater than the summation of the parts (Synergy)

Thank you.

Please note that this article is a partial view of the team when attacking as it does not consider the intricacies of the attack across the face of the opposition’s defense since this is based more on creativity than principle. It also does not consider the team when defending which not surprisingly this time around ironically tilts the knife-edge in favour of Giroud for balance – another article will be needed to cover this extensively.

Timmy (Adeosun Oluwatoba Timothy)

Nigeria

*Names are listed in the priority of consideration for the position

The recent weeks have been an unsettling time for football managers, players, and supporters alike. First the Board of West Bromwich Albion decided that Steve Clark was not taking their club where they would like, and then the joke club in N17 decided that although he had the best win percentage of any previous Premier League manager for Spuds, and sitting 7th in the league and 5 points off the top 4, it was time for AVB to leave. I am no fan of AVB but you have to question the sense of the Board for removing him.

This season for the first in a long time there is an argument to say four of seven teams could make the Champions League spots, of those seven teams two are financially doped and therefore can demand qualification from their managers, if Everton, Liverpool or Spurs say to their managers that the minimum requirement is Champions League qualification they may as well give up before the season starts.

There is also the vicious cycle of players wages, represented here:

This becomes worse when we start talking about Champions League Money, and therefore clubs with ambitions to be in the Champions League need to gamble on wages over and above the normal cycle. This is why Champions League money is so important, UEFA by their promotion of the Champions League have left themselves with a dead duck of a competition called the Europa League which does not generate the TV rights that the Champions League does, they have extended the pool of clubs able to enter the Champions League to strengthen their premier competition but it has been at the expense of their other competitions.

A lot of the criticism of the current situation of a Big 4 of Premier League Clubs is seen by many fans as a result of the Premier League full stop, so with this in mind I went off and did a bit of a review of the Top 4 finishes going back 42 years, 21 post Premier League seasons and 21 pre Premier League seasons. To some extent what I found was a bit of a surprise.

Prior to the Premier League era 19 different teams finished in the top four positions, during the Premier League Era only 13 different teams have finished in the top four. Perhaps not as stark as I was expecting, so i added a final criteria, top four finishes since the Champions League qualification became four teams from the Premier League, only 8 different teams.

As you can see the real evil has been that Champions League qualification. I’m sure a similar study of other European Leagues would provide a similar result.

On top of this we have the ability of players to move around Europe, many moons ago a Munich side would have been 90% German, an English side 70% English (except Liverpool), etc. Now we are lucky if we see 50% of players from the country of the team. This in itself is not necessarily the worst thing about modern football but it means that UEFAs premier competition is only going to be won by the Leagues with the biggest resources to attract players from all across Europe especially those whose teams used to be European greats but cannot afford to compete with the bigger clubs.

So what can be done to change this? To make Managers jobs more secure to allow clubs to really build again without fear of losing out on the pot of gold that is the Champions League and to make the domestic leagues more competitive?

For me I would like to see a total overhaul of European Competition. And in a three step process.

1) Re introduce the European Cup Winners Cup, as a straight knock out competition. Winners or Runners Up of the domestic competition only.

2) Reduce the places in the Champions League to 2 spots for each country.

3) Apply the coefficients for the Europa League for each country so we may have four teams in it.

What would this do? In my opinion it would increase the quality of the Europa League and hence increase the prize money and rights on offer. The Europa League would also feature teams that are traditionally big European clubs. This would probably also reduce the money on offer in the Champions League but that may be no bad thing as it will reduce the need of so many clubs to retain Champions League status.

One thing is for certain the gravy train will not last forever, the money BT have paid to secure Champions League rights indicates that the gap will only widen in the future. This cannot be a good thing for domestic football and the managers that work in it as the task becomes more impossible.

Gooner in Exile

So our weeklong journey through Europe and the Upper echelons of the premier league is done, our wish to test ourselves against some serious competitors granted. Was it what we wanted, are we happy and contented?

Some say weak officials cost us dear against City, others like me feel we had a bad Saturday at the office and were completely outplayed. Have we been found out, has the constant reiteration by the pundits that we are a thin squad been proved correct, Indeed is Rasp insightful when he asks the intriguing question can Aaron and Jack play together, or are they our own Gerrard and Lampard?

I somehow think not. Surely players who have come through the reserve teams together must know and understand each other’s game? Far better than International players who have only the odd weekend together training. What can they do in that time beside irritate us fans, by either turning out or coming back injured?

Now is the time to test the mettle of us fans are we I wonder in for a plethora of  Christmas Lists requesting players we should buy irrespective of whether they are available, cup tied or on such salaries that our own hard earned  wage policies will be instantly destroyed.

It is one thing to sell City a player who rubs his hands at the thought of inflated wages, and can’t wait to leap into his Bentley or chartered jet to put his cross on the dotted line. Quite another to ask them to step down and come the other way

Is the addition of Ozil to the squad going to become the yardstick that is used to measure the stature and price we should be paying for all new joiners, let’s hope not, Everton ran us close with three loan players in their ranks, so it not all about money. Napoli arguably benefitted from tired legs, but CL away is in so many ways different from the Premier League.

As I write this the 5^th goal has just gone in against the spuds and they spent £100 million on new players this year are they I wonder nails in AVB’s coffin. No doubt the cry of sack him will reverberate around White Hart Lane, will it I wonder find an echo on the terraces of the Emirates.

Written by dandan (before AVB was sacked)

We’re a pretty calm lot here on Arsenal Arsenal, well some can be relied on to vent their feelings loudly, but largely the comments after the game were sensible.

There was some poor officiating which many felt helped Man City where really they didn’t need it. Milners dive for their penalty was a disgrace.

Defensively, we looked all over the place with limited connection between mid-field and the back four so that when City had the opportunity to break they pretty much had the run of the pitch. Flamini seems to have a dose of ‘Songitis’ at the moment, he needs to be reminded that one goal ‘doeth not a centre forward make’ and stick to his job.

A front six all wanting to be number 10’s was never going to work against the excellent attacking prowess that City had to offer and so we conceded pretty much every time they attacked and got a shot on target. Harrumph!!!!!!!!!

We lost Koscielny early on to a cut knee 🙂 which gave Vermaelen a chance to play. Would we have carried on leaking goals with Kozzer on the pitch? We’ll never know.

There were obviously some very tired legs out there but we should have been able to retain possession better than we did. Some of our lapses were suicidal and Wenger was right when he said that we made too many mistakes.

Clearly we don’t like travelling to Manchester but both teams will need to visit us and we’ll be able to get those six points back.

As the sun was shining when I woke up this morning I thought to look for the positives from this game. I’m not saying we should have won, Man City were awesome, but at times like this you have to find things to make you feel better ….. so here goes.

Theo was a breath of fresh air. Fantastic to have him back. I hope he’s been watching how Giroud could use a bit of help in the box and is ready to get into the spaces to score or assist. There have been games recently where we have been crying out for him to come on and unsettle defenses. I think he’s a very important player for us, hope he stays fit now.

We scored three goals at the Etihad, I read that that was more than they had conceded there all season, so well done boys. Actually, of course, we scored four but one was wrongly given offside, a great passage of play culminating in a header from Nik.

Koscielny’s injury isn’t as bad as was predicted but he will need to wear a plaster for a few days. I expect him back for the Chelsea game.

Speaking of the Chelsea game, all of our exhausted legs should be well rested by the time we play them. Nine days rest in December – Ozil will think he’s had a winter break.

We are still top of the league folks, the chasing pack also have their frailties but we need to be strong.

Can you think of any more positives? Let us know in the comments ……..

Written by peachesgooner