Currently the news is ridden with shocking stories featuring famous sportsmen, and of course other celebrities. The doping downfall of Lance Armstrong, the murder inquiry of Oscar Pistorius, Chad Evans jailed for rape – these are the most recent scandals that have rocked the sporting world.
Are we still the classy club we used to be? Are we still above other clubs ridden with scandal, gossip, dubious dealings? We have our fair share of past and present infamous headlines of drink driving, night club striptease, cigar smoking, infidelity and allegations of rape. The latest gossip that hit the headlines was our own Arshavin, recently dumping his wife and 3 gorgeous kids for a model he met in London.
The era of Vieira, Henry and Bergkamp has restored Arsenal’s place amongst proud sporting institutions, a shining example of professionalism, high personal values and integrity. There were few gossips or scandals surrounding our finest, and even Thierry’s divorce hardly hit the headlines. Thierry and Vieira were teetotal, and Viera and Bergkamp devoted family men.
Does it matter to us how the players behave off the pitch? I have recently shared a little story with you about Diaby loitering with intent at the petrol station at 4 in the morning. I was delighted to hear that he was petrified that Le Boss would find out about him being out in the middle of the night. I believe that being a sportsman is a life style, not merely a job. Do you agree?
Simple question: who is more important to their team – Gareth Bale or Jack Wilshere?
The idea was discussed in the comments on Arsenal Arsenal a couple of days ago in response to Gn5’s Post about this season’s run-in.
Some people suggested that the loss of Bale through injury would be a blow from which Tottenham’s Champions League hopes could not possibly recover.
The implication was that Tottenham have become something of a “One Man Team” – the same charge that was leveled against us last year, when Robin van Whatsisname was scoring most of our goals.
Some polite and courteous Totts fans (yes, seriously) joined the discussion to suggest that we would be in the same boat should our own Jack Wilshere come a cropper.
It was an interesting debate and I can summarise the Arsenal supporters’ response fairly simply (it’s not what you’re thinking – this was a courteous discussion, remember?). It was: “If we lost Jack for a period of time it would be a blow but not a devastating one because we have other strong midfield options, including Santi Cazorla, Arteta, Diaby, Rosicky, Coquelin and Ramsey.”
On the other hand, if you look at Tottenham, Bale has been scoring at better than a goal every other game for them this season. He has 15 in all competitions in 29 appearances. The Spuds’ only other serious goal threat is Defoe, who has 14 from 32 games. Remove Bale from the equation and the Totts would suddenly look very toothless up front.
There is no question that both Wilshere and Bale are gifted players. We Arsenal types may make fun of the Spurs man and the fact that his best friends are Tarzan and Dian Fossey, but we would probably all be very pleased with him indeed if he wore a cannon on his shirt and not a chicken perched on a basketball.
Wilshere, meanwhile, is already being talked of as a future Arsenal and England captain. Whatever Spuds fans might say about him now, you know they would love him in their team.
However, one area of difference between Bale’s importance to Spurs and Wilshere’s to Arsenal is that if you asked Tottenham fans to say who was their most important player I bet virtually everyone would opt for Bale.
If you asked Arsenal fans the same question, Wilshere might well be the top answer but he would certainly not be an overwhelming winner. Santi Cazorla, Walcott and Arteta would all (I suspect) get a lot of votes.
No doubt there will be many surprises between now and the end of the season. Injuries, fixture congestion, form and confidence will all play their part.
If Bale and Wilshere both stay fit they will surely have an impact on their teams’ respective prospects of a top four finish.
But if either gets injured… what do you think?
For me, a Bale injury would make it very, very tough for Spurs. A Wilshere injury would be more manageable for Arsenal.
Note to Spurs Fans: Arsenal Arsenal welcomes your comments on this subject if they are non-abusive. We have had friendly debates with Spurs fans in the past and are happy to do so again, but abusive comments will be deleted.
Is Santos Mr Wenger’s worst ever signing? Some would say so; at £6.8 m he certainly appears to be an enormous waste of resources. The Brazilian has started just 13 games.
But is he worse than the £4m spent on Squillaci, (take away the “m” and the Italian would still have been expensive!)
Looking back at the signing and selling costs, AW has done a superb job but occasionally gets it wrong. For example, I would say that Hleb was a poor signing but we paid £11.2m and sold him two seasons later for £11.8m, so despite a unrewarding time on the pitch, Alex did well for the club.
What of Richard Wright? Cost £6m and arrived as the long-term replacement for Seaman. Sold on for half that having played just 22 games. He did win a PL Winners medal at AFC.
One of Richard’s good days
And Gio Van Bronckhorst, Signing for £8.5m and started a meagre 42 appearances. A poor return for such a fine player who was well worth the £3m Barca paid for him – his 2 seasons cost Arsenal £5.5m. He played 105 games for Barca and won the Champions League.
Franny Jeffers. Our fox in the box signed with huge expectations for a huge£ 8m. Big Ears was just 20 years old when he signed and still a lad of 22 when he was sold to Charlton for £2.6 after just 13 starts. However, he won 2 Cup Medals during his time at Highbury A loss of £5.4m – well over half his purchase fee.
Reyes. A marmite player – to some the superb talent who was kicked out of the Premiership, to others he was a man who refused to adapt to the English game. Antonio came at a cost of £13m, and was sold for £8m which was a decent return in my opinion. Nonetheless, Arsenal lost another £5m on the deal
Edu. Lovely player. Bought for £6m and given a free transfer just 3 years later. Why a free? Another £6m thrown away. And before we dismiss £6m, remember this is a huge amount of money. It will buy you 40 Mini-Coopers or 3 Michu’s or a house in Hampstead.
Corinthians of Brazil’s Director of Football
Wiltord. A World Cup winner, a member of the Invincibles, scorer of the winning goal at OT in the Double season of 2001/2 and voted Arsenal’s 33rd Best Player of All Time in 2008 (there really are some deluded fans out there!); it may be churlish to say Wiltord was an expensive flop but we paid £13m for him and he left on a free when his contract expired. Was he worth the money? I leave you to decide. £13m will buy a wing of a hospital.
But, in my opinion, the worst bit of business done by Mr Wenger is still at the club and he is a diminutive Russian. Arshavin cost us a whopping £15m, a club record, and how much can we sell him for? Zip. Thankfully, he has run down his contract and will be leaving in summer, but the cost to Arsenal has been immense. Not just the loss of the transfer fee but also a colossal wage to a man who has continually flattered to deceive. The loss on Arshavin’s transfer fee equates to almost £250 for every person attending a home game and you can double that with his wages.
Would you rather have a Monkey (£500) or a Meerkat?
Какая пустая трата денег
What do you think?
Note: The above figures have come from different internet sources. They are not confirmed by AFC.
With only 12 games remaining in the Premier League season my assumption is that the current top six teams are the only teams left with a possibility of making the top four positions namely – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Manchester United appear to have 1st place locked up so they will not be included in the analysis, but their games against the other five teams are included. Therefore the focus will be on Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham – the five teams fighting for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.
In looking at the games remaining for each of the five teams it becomes apparent that the games they play against each other will have a major bearing on the final outcome.
Here are some of the facts about their games against each other —
Arsenal will play – Tottenham away and Everton and Manchester United at home.
Chelsea will play – Manchester City away, Tottenham at home Manchester United away and Everton at home.
Everton will play – Arsenalaway, Manchester City at home and Tottenham and Chelsea away.
Tottenham will play – Arsenal at home, Everton at home Chelsea away and Manchester City at home.
Manchester City will play – Chelsea at home, Everton away Manchester United away and Tottenham away.
Arsenal have a slight advantage in the games left to play against each other as they only play 3 games whereas the other four teams all have 4 games to play. This means that Arsenal’s opposition will have a slightly higher risk of dropping points against each other.
Tottenham have the advantage in home versus away games as they play 3 at home and 1 away, Arsenal play 2 home games and 1 away, Chelsea play 2 at home and 2 away while Everton and Manchester City both play 1 home game and 3 away.
In terms of points won in their earlier games against each other Tottenham have the worst record getting 0 out of 12, Chelsea gained 7 out of 12 while Everton and Manchester City gained 5 out of 12 with Arsenal getting 4 points out of 9.
My prediction is that in their remaining games against each other, Chelsea will get 5 points out of 12; Arsenal will get 4 out of 9, while Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham will each get 3 out of 12. This is very significant because if my predictions are correct it would mean that Arsenal will drop only 5 points while Everton and Tottenham would both drop 9 points – that positive difference of 4 points could mean a 4th place finish for Arsenal.
Below are my predictions for all of their remaining games – I don’t claim to be a great forecaster so why don’t you make your own predictions.
Imagine how he must have felt 15 minutes before kick-off on Saturday.
He has been on a urine-poor run of form; he revealed in an interview earlier this week that he knows he has been below par; he’s hoping to slowly re-establish his reputation as one of the most reliable right backs in the business and then, at about 2.45pm on match day, he finds that he’s going to be dropped into the unfamiliar role of centre back because Laurent Koscielny isn’t feeling well.
I can envisage him muttering to the stricken Kozzer: “What exactement is up wiz you, you Stan Laurel lookey-likey? Get out onto zat pitch and start playing. Zat’s anuzzer fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”
But, trooper that he is, Bacary took to the field of battle as a makeshift centre half.
I’ll admit to being a trifle worried. In some of his recent outings Sagna has been wasteful and error-prone.
If football was sex, Bacary has been the hole in the condom. We have not been practising safe footy of late and, as a result, we have been impregnated with goals far too frequently.
I’m not taking that analogy any further, because the idea of the progeny that might ensue from a carnal union between the purity of Arsenal and the venal degeneracy of, say, Chelsea, does not bear thinking about. It would be as if a unicorn was shagged by a hyena and gave birth to a strangely beautiful but irredeemably evil hynicorn. Actually, that might explain the existence of John Terry…
Anyway, I digress.
So there was Bacary, untimely thrust into the fray at the Stadium of Fight in an unfamiliar position, with only a German telegraph pole to lean on for comfort.
It could have gone horribly wrong. It didn’t. Sagna was, quite simply, wonderful at the heart of our defence.
In a game that we should have won easily (if our attackers and midfielders had bothered to put their boots on the correct feet) we ended up under siege for the last 20 minutes after Carl Jenkinson was unluckily sent off. I say unluckily because – although he should not have made the challenge that led to the red – his first booking was ridiculous. It was his first foul of the game and was slightly mistimed. It only got a yellow card because the generally poor referee felt he should even things up after booking Cattermole in the first minute.
During that final siege, all the team played well. Giroud won some great headers; Szczesny pulled off a string of remarkable saves; Ramsey filled in brilliantly at right back; Nacho showed his mettle when the chips were down; the BFG organised everything and, best of all, Sagna became the ultimate warrior. It was as if someone had stenciled “they shall not pass” on his forehead.
He completed 11 of 15 attempted clearances, won six out of 10 aerial duels and successfully made nine headed clearances from 11 attempts. Not bad for a man who stands only 5’9” tall.
It was a real return to form for a player who, until this season, was routinely referred to as our Mr Reliable.
I have been quite hard on him in recent comments and match reports. I’m not apologising for that – he’s had some real shockers. But even before Saturday’s game I was heartened to read the interview with him in which he showed great self awareness and was very honest about his struggles this year.
They say the first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is a problem in the first place. Well, Bacary Sagna has certainly moved past Step One.
Hopefully when he moves back into his more usual role (which should be on Tuesday week against Bayern Munich) he can take forward the form and confidence he displayed against Blood-and-Thunderland.
I like Jenkinson and I hope people are not too hard on him over his red card, but for now we need Sagna as our first choice right back.
His dip in form may have been down to the long lay off after two leg breaks; it may just have been “one of those things”; who knows – it may even have been that hot wife of his keeping him up too late at night.
But the signs are good that he is over the worst and ready to get back to his finest form for the season run-in.
It is rumoured that the club is offering him only a one-year extension on his current contract. I understand the reasoning, but I wonder whether we should sugar the offer a little more (two years, for example).
Bacary showed on Saturday that he can be a great utility defender and every squad needs at least one of those.
So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .
So what did we get from Arsenal in this game? Firstly the players seemed to be up for it from the start, and we didn’t have to suffer with waiting till the second half before we started playing. We started to create a number of clear cut chances, but as each one went begging you started to feel it was going to be one of those days. To be fair Mignolet was in superb form, and how often do we watch an opposition keeper put in an almost man of the match performance against us? What is it about us that seems to bring out the best in these keepers? Is it the way we attack? I am sure it doesn’t happen so often with the likes of Utd and the Chavs. That is a question maybe some of you out there can shed some light on.
We continued to press and were treated to some awfully inconsistent refereeing. There was a very strong shout for a straight red on Cattermole and I counted 2 maybe 3 Sunderland fouls in the passage of play that led up to Jenkinsons first yellow card. How we didn’t get a free kick before this I do not know. Anyway the faithful at the Ems were in no doubt how they felt about it. I think this was definitely a case of the ref being a homer.
Jack picked up where he left off for England and continued to pull the strings while Walcott continued to work the keeper without finding the break-through. Finally, on 36 minutes, the goal arrived that we had deserved. A now trademark surge of pace from Jack taking 3-4 Sunderland players out of the game resulted in a lay off to Walcott who declined the chance to shoot and cushioned it off for Santi whose powerfull low shot finally broke the deadlock. It is as well that he scored otherwise I would imagine there would have been many agitated fans questioning why Walcott didn’t shoot himself.
Refreshingly after the goal we continued to try and attack and kept a high tempo to our game, which I prefer as I don’t think we do killing a game off well. We continued in this way into the second half, but we weren’t having it all our own way and Sunderland threatened at times. Fortunately Szczesny started to replicate the form of Mignolet from the first half. Jack picked up an injury on 50 minutes and went off to be replaced by Diaby. It didn’t look too serious and we can only all hope that is the case.
Then came the pivotal moment when the tricky Sessegnon took on Jenks whose sliding tackle was a fraction from getting the ball and only suceeded in taking Sessegnon down. You knew what was coming immediately with the way the ref had been, and he showed the second yellow without even taking a moment to consider. In the cold light of day if you look at Jenkinson’s 2 yellows then independently they are both justifiable yellows. The problem again comes with the consistency and had we had a deserved free kick earlier in the game it maybe wouldn’t have led to the passage of play that saw Jenkinson get his first yellow.
Rasp and I had discussed a point after the first yellow earlier in the game, and had both agreed that there was a strong possibility that he would collect a second yellow and get sent off. I think MON exploited this and likely told Sessegnon at half time to get at Jenkinson. Should AW have forseen this and replaced him earlier? His options were limited as I believe Kos, who was on the subs bench, had a problem before the game when warming up. It would have left the only realistic option of Moving Sagna out to FB and bringing on Miquel at CB. Should AW have used this option?
We still had about half an hour to go and you knew it would be back to the walls stuff. Fortunately, for once, we did this well and ground out the result with the help of some world class saves from the big Pole. Even at this point we still showed some attacking intent and had some great opportunities on the counter-attack to get the respite of the second goal that my nerves and chewed to pieces nails deserved. Rasp had his head in his hands at times while Peaches was a picture of stoicism. I still think she was partially mesmerised from seeing Bobby Pires but at least by this time she had stopped being all giggly. It was great to see Goonermichael as well and he looked a picture of being cool calm and collected.
Rasp and I continued to fret like nervous wrecks and there was end to end chances in a frantic finale. Walcott hit the post after a great through ball from Cazorla while both Giroud and Cazorla had chances they put just over the bar.
We saw it out and as they say 3 points is 3 points and I was able to relax and reflect at an enjoyable day in the club class section of the Ems with some of the AA gang.
On to the ratings.
Szczesny 8.5 joint MOTM
Showed us the world class keeper we would all like him to consistently be. Solid throughout with some excellent reflex saves.
Jenkinson 5.5
I don’t want to be too harsh as I like Jenks and he always gives his all but some inexperience showed through today. He hasn’t had much game time and you wonder if this is affecting him because when he was playing regularly earlier in the season you didn’t feel he would make the mistakes we saw today. He will still become a good player for us.
Sagna 8
Deputised well at CB and the old Mr reliable was more on show today.
Mertesacker 7.5
Didn’t do too much wrong all game and it was a solid performance.
Nacho 7.5
Solid and unfussy game from our newest signing today
Arteta 7.5
Nothing spectacular but kept us ticking and I can’t remember any mistakes from him.
Ramsey 7
Was having a solid game and could have had a couple of goals, but he seems to have an error in him, and we were lucky not to be punished when he needlessly surrendered possession in a dangerous area.
Wilshere 8
Those trademark runs driving at the opposition defence are a joy to see and get me on the edge of my seat. It was from one of these that the break-through came. Fingers crossed the injury is not so bad but Jack probably needs a game off anyway. I almost had him as joint MOTM again and some may feel that to be the case.
Cazorla 8.5 and joint MOTM
There wasn’t much to choose between him and Jack but the goal and that he continued to be the creative force once Wilshere was off just saw him pip it for me.
Giroud 7
Could have had a couple. He wasn’t too bad but it didn’t really come off for him today.
Walcott 7.5
Also could have had a couple and was unlucky when hitting the post. He always made the keeper work and his instinctive link up play with his team-mates is getting better and better.
Time to move away from the Young Jack eulogising and onto some proper English PL football, and there are few grounds more suited to a return to earth than the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland is a fine town with a fine history. It has one of the lowest incomes per head in the UK and yet almost 40,000 people go to watch their home games (5k more than Spurs!) They love their team and their football.
Martin O’Neill has had problems getting the Black Cats to gel. Rarely have I seen a more frustrated figure on the sidelines because whatever one thinks of MoN, he is a passionate man and gives his all to his clubs. Many moons ago Gooners were calling for him to replace Mr Wenger – insanity runs deep amongst our fans.
Sadly, Sunderland fans are not getting to see much artistry on the pitch (apart from the opposition). They are struggling for goals and rely more on sweat than inspiration. The huge fee paid for Fletcher and the signing of Danny Graham is an indication of their need for some fire power and gumption ,though I have long admired both Sessegnon and Larsson. It is always good to see an ex-Gunner who has been Wengered succeed and Larsson has had a fine career – shame he likes to score against us!
After a short injury-free period we have players queuing for the treatment table. Late fitness tests on much of the defence means Raddy’s line-up could be drastically affected. There is also a fear that Theo was limping after the Brazil game.
Runners & Riders:
Given the amount of time our Internationals were on the pitch midweek, we may well see some changes.
Diaby could start as his stature is important defensively, but who gets dropped? Dare we play without Pod and have a 4 man midfield with Santi taking the left side attacking berth?
It will be interesting to see how Monreal copes with Adam Johnson who is finally showing some form.
Todays explorer: Sir James Clark Ross (1800 – 1862). You may think it is cold outside, particularly if you are going to the game but today is almost tropical compared to the norm for Sir Ross; an Arctic and Antarctic explorer in the days of wooden ships. As a young man Ross went North with his Uncle, Sir William Parry to search for the fabled North-West Passage and here he fell in love with polar exploration. Upon promotion to Captain he took his ship, the Erebus, to the Antarctic which he surveyed extensively becoming, at that time, the furthest South man had travelled.
I name this picture The Ross Icon
Sir James discovered Ross Bay, James Ross Island, the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf, Victoria Island, Mount Erebus & Mt. Terror. He returned to England a hero, dying in Blackheath at the age of 61.
On paper we should win this game. Should the defence stay focussed and disciplined we will be fine, but they will not get the easy game they had vs Stoke. With Danny Graham playing his first game at the SoL, Sunderland will be looking for 3 points. But so will we….
There is something about Jack that makes me smile every time I see him play football. So much so that I think he is possibly the most exciting talent that we have developed at Arsenal, and perhaps the best player we have ever produced.
I’ll go one further I think he could go on to be Arsenal’s greatest ever player, bought or produced, and one further still the greatest player England has ever seen.
Big and bold claims I know, and I also realise that there is a long way to go before he fulfils the above prediction, but i’d say he has had a pretty good start in achieving it.
The only player in recent memory that gave similar levels of excitement was Cesc Fabregas, but lets be honest here, he came through when the first team had a far greater talent pool than the current crop that Jack has to work with, he was helped by those in the team, Jack is helping those around him, having only just turned 21 years old that is a big responsibility on young shoulders, shoulders that have only seen 85 appearances for Arsenal (15 of those coming before he was 18).
In comparison when Cesc was being asked to play in the first team he had Campbell and Toure behind him, Pires, Henry and Ljungberg in front of him, and Silva alongside him. Compare that to Jack who in reality had Cesc and BSR performing at the level of these players. Additionally the club was still in its good times, making the Champions League final in Cesc’s second senior season (he was still only 18), basically he had help, but thats not to take away from his abilities. Now Jack is in a team that is being questioned by fans, media and opponents, yet every time he picks up the ball I feel like something can happen that he can change the game.
Chas said something a few weeks back about Jack which I hadn’t realised, he hates passing backwards, he always tries to take the ball and team forward, he gains 5 yards for the team with the ball.
I understand that to be Arsenal and England’s greatest ever player, he needs to work on that final ball, and final decision making, it would be good to see him become more useful with his right foot and also needs to score a few more goals. What I’ve seen so far leads me to believe he will do it, he has come on leaps and bounds from the youngster thrown in at the deep end at the start of the 2010-11 season, he learns from every minute he spends on the pitch, and that is why I expect him to fulfil my claims above.
The modern cosmopolitan, multi national Premier League means he can become England’s greatest before he becomes Arsenal’s, in reality the England player of the last 30 years he has to surpass is Paul Gascoigne, before that its probably Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore as stand out greats of the English game. Can he do it? On first evidence I’d say without a doubt, not since Gascoigne have I seen the England team look to one player for direction and drive as much as England looked to Jack Wilshere on Wednesday night, if they had one option when they had the ball it was Jack, and they didn’t mind giving it to him because they know he protects it, more so than any other England player in recent memory.
So over to you, can Jack become our greatest ever player?
Who excited you as much when they first appeared in the team?
I would never normally watch an England friendly, but would always take the opportunity to watch Brazil. Invariably, I find with England the protagonists both on the field as well as in the stands about as loathsome as each other, whereas Brazil are always accompanied by sunshine, flair, rhythm and a certain majesty both on the field and always amongst their wonderful fans.
Last night I was very pleasantly surprised for many reasons.
For me, Roy Hodgson has returned some much needed dignity to the England Manager’s role. He has also introduced some flexible thinking with his formations, and last night the team lined up with an exciting 4-1-2-3.
This is exactly how I feel Arsenal should set up. Gerrard was absolutely superb as he marshalled proceedings from deep. As a Leader, and he is that, he could organize and motivate both the players behind as well as in front of him. Because of his statuesque presence, the fluidity of the inevitable Brazilian forward surges was broken, while that same presence allowed Cleverly and Jack to ply the most effective aspects of their trade.
The same set up caused confusion and disorder amongst the Brazilian defenders, as it was so difficult to know which player to cover and from where they would appear. Technically the lone striker, Shrek would sometimes drop deeper allowing Theo to move more centrally, and the same applied with that other Utd Bloke on the other side.
Man of the Match Jack was quite simply superb. His forward surges invariably ended with a perfect defence splitting through ball, and they always ended with him being circled by two or more Brazilians, and in doing so, space was appearing everywhere for the front boys.
Now, talking of the front boys bring me nicely on to Theo. What a terrific performance from the other representative from N5.
Most apparent to me was the effect he had on the home fans. Every time he received the ball, there was a very audible roar of expectation, and Theo rarely failed to live up to the crowds’ lofty expectation. The usual electric pace and dynamic acceleration found him time and again flying past the defenders, and the quality of his cut backs was invariably top notch. (Oh the advantages of not playing with a big ‘un in the middle and the temptation to hoof the thing). By the way, Giroud is more effective with ball to feet J
Invariably, the inclusion of Arsenal players in International fixtures fills me with loathing and dread for the fear of injury and fatigue. However, I cannot see anything beyond the benefits their performances last night will bring to their confidence and stature in the game. The knowledge that they can compete, shine and star amongst such lofty company can only be a good thing.
I was chatting recently and it occurred to me that even if Robin van Persie were to go down and miss the rest of the season, he has already delivered enough to get United the title. The realization hit me hard, even though I guess we should have known for a while. I thought he could be a difference maker down the stretch in a close race. I didn’t believe he would be so decisive two-thirds through the season and sooner. I was foolish enough to think we were the better team anyway with so few players I would take from their squad. Certainly they are well coached, and yes they show up hungry for a high percentage of their matches. We sometimes show up for the second half. They sure do receive plenty of help from the establishment.
I’m not saying that they can’t blow the lead in the table, of course it’s possible, even with a fit RvP. But even if they did fall, with or without him, everyone would already know the value of what we gave to them. I’m actually surprised that it’s not highlighted more in the media. I guess it’s just what people have come to see as the natural order of things. For us to cave in to the lure of money (or the fear of losing the opportunity to make money), and certain other teams to do what it takes to get the job done.
I don’t care about the stupid articles and stats that say United would be mid table without him. There’s no way to quantify it so accurately. But I’m sure they wouldn’t be near the top of the table. The losing matches that he rescued for them early in the season would have been a huge blow to their confidence if the outcome had been different, and who knows how they could have spiraled lower. If United dropped out of the top five only, then we would be that much closer to fourth, even with no help from van Persie.
We probably wouldn’t be behind Tottenham or Everton. Most likely very close to or ahead of United. We will feel the pain much more acutely if we don’t retain our Champions league spot. Not the pride, but the financial repercussions.
I actually really like our squad, but let’s face it, we are under performing badly. I wish I knew why exactly. We all have our own gripes and opinions – where we should have strengthened, who should be playing more, or less- and in what position. Clearly there would have been less pressure and dependence on three new attackers from three different leagues if we still had the Prem’s best striker.
Someone said here brilliantly- “we are less than the sum of our parts” .. Where as I must say United are just the opposite.
I like our players and our future prospects, but we are jeopardizing it right now. I don’t feel like the answer was in the January transfer window, it’s just about playing better than we have been.
We all know we dodged a big bullet with a lot of help from the spurs choking last season. I think even more is at stake now, because I truly believe we are on the verge of a bright future, with a strong young team and real possibilities for improvement. I can only fear what a setback it will be if this one mistake becomes the difference in where we finish.
Even though it’s disheartening to look at the table now, we know other teams will drop points, if not as dramatically as last season, but will we take advantage ?
Posted by Rasp 
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 