Van Persie …….. he signs when he wants?

August 4, 2012

I am quite surprised to still find Arsenal supporters who actually believe that van Persie was serious when he wrote that he was not going to renew his contract because he wanted to go to a club where he would win trophies.

Although, I am not 100% convinced that he personally wrote or even endorsed the piece that everyone refers to on the web site that bares his name; I do think on balance that we have to believe it because, quite simply, he has never denied it. Either way, one indisputable fact remains and that is that he has not signed a new contract but in my view it is absolute tosh that the trophy thing is the real issue.

The idea that you are going to automatically re-sign to Arsenal is naïve to the point of being childish.

Put yourself in his and his family’s shoes and the truth jumps out at you. You are 29 you have one last chance of securing yourself a long contract. Given this back drop, 99% of adults with half a brain would shop around, which is exactly what Van Persie is doing right now and if a club offer him a 5 year deal; well, he is going to take it in the same way as Vieira did at Juve.

There is a further similarity between these two players as it raises the same question then with Vieira as now with Van Persie: do Arsenal really want to keep the Dutchman? Well, they didn’t want Vieira enough to match Juve’s five year offer and I don’t believe that Arsenal would be prepared to commit to having to pay van Persie with his injury record for a further five years.

On a side note, has anyone else noticed how we have formed an unlikely alliance with manu over the potential purchase of  RvP. What I mean is that it has suited both sides to let this rumour continue.

There is no way in the world that manu are going to push the boat out for a 29 year old injury prone player with the resale value of a two week old fish. But, to their naive fans that have their heads buried in the sand like ostriches trying desperately to deny a new footballing financial world exists; a world in which they are dwarfed by city and have no more financial clout than we do. Ok, so they probably realise they have dropped in the pecking order to City but there is no way they are ready to accept spending parity with us. To the average manu fan the possible purchase of RvP gives the impression that they are on a higher financial rung than we are which with their annual interest payments is nonsense. What we get is that manu’s involvement will drive RvP’s price up.

When this manu interest evaporates as could other clubs interest in him then Van Persie may well stay but it will have nothing to do with winning trophies, it will be all about taking the best offer on the table.

He’s Robin van Persie he signs when he wants.

Ok, that bit probably gave away the fact that I still have a soft spot for Sir Robin and it would take no more that one swim around the goldfish bowl for me to forget all about the nasty stuff and welcome him back with open arms.

Did anyone else do this? When I read that he was not going to sign a new contract one of my first knee jerk reactions was to zap my favourite game of last season – Chelsea away.

You remember, Terry pretending that he fell over to mask his lack of speed and RvP running on to score. I thought at the time of zapping that there is no way I could watch that game ever again – but now I am starting to think, what happens if he stays? Has anyone else got that game recorded because I am really going to have to come round someone’s house to watch it again?

Written by LB

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Benchwarmers to Gamechangers

August 3, 2012

One of the most difficult things for Arsène Wenger over the last couple of seasons has been looking over at his bench and asking himself just who he could bring on to change the game.

To be fair to Arsène this wasn’t a problem in the early days of his reign he had a first eleven so much better than the rest of the Premier League that when he turned to his bench he was looking to give a rest to the players who had already put the game out of sight.

In the last few seasons as the rest of the Premier League has improved and teams have adapted their game to keep Arsenal at bay he has needed a bench to change the game. Unfortunately due to injuries, want away homesick players, greedy mercenaries and a very tight budget from the Board Arsène  has only been able to look round and see a mixture of youngsters or capable squad players, and none that could be seen as a gamebreaker. Admittedly over the early winter months he could look across to see Thierry and Arshavin and hope they could provide something.

Obviously not every player on the bench is there to change the game, you need one keeper, one defender and maybe two utility players. But then you still have three berths, and unfortunately for the majority of last season we had nothing different sitting on the bench than was already on the pitch, they just had slightly fresher legs (unless the legs belonged to a short Russian) . We had a lot of carbon copies, or players out of form, or players who were not as good as those starting the game. In truth most of the bench was there to only be broken in case of emergency.

But what about this coming season, have the transfers done so far plus the players returning from injury given us anymore from the bench? Whether we lose Van Persie or not the signings we have made already and the further development of the younger players means that Arsène will be able to turn to his bench and actually see players that can change the game, or offer something different to those already on the pitch.

In midfield we will be able to choose a starting three from Arteta, Rosicky, Ramsey, Song, Wilshere, Coquelin, Frimpong, Diaby and maybe Eisfield too.

Up front we will have a starting three from Podolski, Giroud, Gervinho, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Afobe, Miyaichi and maybe even Van Persie and Arshavin.

If we start Podolski, Giroud and Walcott up front Arsène can look over and decide more pace is needed so send on Ryo or Gervinho, or more shots from distance, chuck on Ox.

The same in midfield if starting, Song, Arteta and Rosicky, Arsène can stick Coquelin on for Rosicky if he wants to keep possession, or swap out Arteta for Frimpong if he wants some high energy and to get in the opposition faces, or even put Diaby on for Rosicky if he wants to make another substitution in the next ten minutes.

Even though we have only added a couple of players to the squad so far (if reports are to believed this will be a few players by the time you read this) we seem to have the bench to make Arsène’s life a little easier when he is looking to change the game.

So what do you think, does our bench look better this year than last?

Gooner in Exile

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The Versatile Arsenal

August 2, 2012

Firstly let’s look at what ‘versatile’ means:

“Capable of or adapted for turning easily from one to another of various tasks, fields of endeavour”

Arsène Wenger is a well-known for being a visionary and a game changer; we’ve all heard the stories about how he changed certain aspects of the team when he first arrived. But are we seeing a new change on the horizons?

Players have evolved over the years; they are bigger, faster, and stronger. The ‘New Breed’ is starting to come through and they can do it all. Koscielny is the complete defender; he simply has no flaws in his game. The ox has the world at his fingertips; striker, winger, attacking midfielder, central midfielder…it doesn’t matter really because he will excel anywhere, and be bloody world class whilst doing it. Song has adapted and become a complete midfielder. First a defensive midfielder, now an all-rounder that can now thread the needle with the best of them. Young Jack: first thought of as an attacking midfielder, now he can play defensive, central or attacking. The list goes on really but is this simply natural athleticism? Yeah that definitely has something to do with it! But the real person behind all this is Arsene.

He has made players become more versatile, they are not one dimensional, and this has brought with it countless positives:

  • When injuries strike players can slip into the team seamlessly. Bugger Jack is down who is going to slip into the attacking midfielder role? That’s ok! Move ox there and chuck Podolski out on the wing, and bring Giroud on as the striker. This can happen in games also. Look how often Song has dropped into CB and we have not dropped an ounce of defensive quality.
  • If a player is shut down it will not impact the team as much. For instance if someone sits on our attacking midfielder the weight can shift over to Arteta and Song to create chances. This is imperative because nullify a key player and teams often panic and shut down completely. Arsene says “not here, not in my town!”
  • The team is more fluid like in nature. If Vermaelen surges forward, Song sits back. Santos moves forward Arteta slips to LB, and Song sits centrally protecting the back four. This leaves us with less chance of getting caught out on the counter.

This will give us a cutting edge in the game, we evolve, technology evolves, and now we have! Come to think of it Arsene might be a descendant from Charles Darwin!

Welcome to the New Breed of player, the COMPLETE Arsenal

Written by oz gunner

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The Sagna Conundrum

August 1, 2012

The Sagna Conundrum

The first thing to know about the Sagna Conundrum is that it does not involve Bacary Sagna.

The Sagna Conundrum is a problem created not by his presence, but by his absence, and it comes down to this: when our super-consistent French right back is not available, who should take his place?

It’s a pressing question, given that Sagna will not be ready for the start of the new season.

The principal contenders to take his place are Carl Jenkinson, Johan Djourou, Francis Coquelin and Laurent Koscielny.

Last season, due to Bacary’s injuries, they all got a number of games at right back.

The conventional wisdom is that Djourou was a disaster and Jenkinson, despite showing some promise, was out of his depth; but that both Coquelin and Koscielny proved to be adequate stand-ins.

My own view – based primarily on memory of past performances – is that central defenders do not make good full backs because the FB role requires so much more mobility than they are used to. I prefer midfielders to step in if we are out of orthodox (or experienced) full backs.

From my recollection, Coquelin and Jenkinson filled in well, but the two centre backs – Koscielny and Djourou – struggled.

Memory, however, can be an unreliable guide, so I decided to take a more detailed look at how the four contenders fared when they stood in for Sagna last season.

Djourou

Jenkinson

Coquelin

Koscielny
Played

11 (10 plus 2 halves)

7

5

3.5
Won

4

4

4

3
Drawn

2

1

1

0
Lost

6

2

0

1
Goals Against

16

13

5

3

According to this table the average points per game during each of the four’s tenure at right back was as follows*:

Djourou: 1.16 Pts Per Game (with an average 1.45 Goals Conceded Per Game).

Jenkinson: 1.86 PPG (1.86 GCPG).

Coquelin:  2.6 PPG (1.0 GCPG).

Koscielny: 2.57 PPG (0.86 GCPG).

Like all such studies, there are inherent problems with drawing conclusions from these figures.  For example, if you look at Jenkinson’s “Goals Against” you would think him a liability. But eight of those goals were up at Old Trafford, when the lad had hardly ever worn an Arsenal shirt in anger and in a catastrophically weakened and confused team.

Similarly, although Djourou’s stats look the worst, they include two games against the eventual league champions, one against Chelsea and one against Manchester United, as well as a dead rubber ECL game at Olympiakos where a partly second string Arsenal team lost 3-1.

Nevertheless, I feel there is enough evidence to show that our big Swiss fellow is not cut out to be a right back. Indeed, when he was hauled off at half time in the home game against Manchester United (and replaced by the embryonic Yennaris) it may well have been a sign that Arsene Wenger had finally come to that same conclusion himself. I doubt we will ever see Djourou in that position again.

Jenkinson’s stats look a lot better if you remove the Man Utd away game from the mix (and he can hardly be blamed for that collective fiasco). He then has a Points Per Game average of 2.16 and a Goals Against of 0.83.

Surprisingly – and contrary to my recollection – Koscielny’s record as a right back is very good. I recalled him seeming to struggle, but the figures prove otherwise. His three-and-a-half games included two “easier” fixtures (Norwich away, Wigan at home) but also one-and-a-half tough ones (Dortmund at home and Manchester City away).

Conclusions: For me, the table above is generally encouraging because it shows we can expect a solid performance from any of Jenkinson, Coquelin and Koscielny when they are compelled to play right back.

I am happy with Djourou in the mix as one of our centre backs, but he does not function well at full back and, hopefully, we have seen the last of him in that position.

I mentioned Yennaris earlier. Last season he took the right back spot in a Carling Cup game (2-1 home win over Bolton) and in the second half against Man Utd at the Emirates. According to those who have been watching our pre-season friendlies he seems to be showing promise.

With Jenkinson and Yennaris maturing, we may well soon find ourselves in a position where playing other players out of position at full back is a thing of the past.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. Do you think the table has merit? Does it tally with the evidence of your eyes? Are we sufficiently covered within the squad for the right back position or do you feel we should be looking to sign someone?

RockyLives

*Before the eggheads among you start quibbling with my maths, I made certain adjustments to allow for the half games (for example, if we conceded a goal during a half in which Djourou did not play, even though he played in the other half, I have not marked down that goal in his “Goals Against” column.

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Mikel Arteta – 2011 / 2012 Unsung Hero.

July 31, 2012

Deadline day 2011. Arsenal fans eyes still wet from the departure of our beloved captain Fabregas, while being furious about the controversial departure of Nasri, whom was dubbed ‘$amir N€$ri’ (rightly as well).

Then a moment of madness, well a day of madness, from Mr Wenger, 5 signings. Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos and Park on permeant deals, while Benayoun’s transfer was a season long loan.

At sometime around 3 o’clock on deadline day, news hit that Arsenal were interested in Everton playmaker and fans favourite Mikel Arteta, in which he was automatically compared to Fabregas, and was said to be replacing him, even though they are two different players completely. An hour or so later, news hit Arsenal were unwilling to pay what Everton wanted, so dropped interest in acquiring his services. An hour or so later, news hit again that Arsenal had approached Everton again about signing Arteta. Pictures of Arteta arriving at Everton, going to speak to presumingly to the manager and other various senior board members were shown on every sports new channel. Just after eleven o’clock, Arsenal announced the arrival of Arteta.

Immediately after the transfer was completed, different opinions began to arise of just how good Arteta was. One opinion was that the acquisition of Arteta, alongside the other four signings, was a sign that Arsenal FC were changing slowly into a team that had players just below the bar of ‘world class’ like Fabregas, Nasri, and could not obtain players like Hazard. Another one was that he was a poor mans Fabregas, mainly due to them both being Spanish, and Everton playing him in a similar role to Fabregas, and he was Wenger’s panic buy, as he has wasted weeks in replacing Fabregas since his departure. One more, was that he is not good enough for Arsenal, and is a short term replacement for Nasri just until Wenger has time to replace him and Fabregas properly in the January February transfer window.

31st of July 2011. Arsenal are hosting the yearly Emirates Cup tournament. Day two, Arsenal vs New York Red Bulls. All of the light is obviously on Henry’s return to Arsenal, and possibly his last (Who could have guessed he would have return on a loan deal). A more experienced team were played, which included Wilshere. Wilshere is taken off with an ankle injury, but nobody expected it to be anything worse than a month, he was promised to return to start the season. The light is again put on Henry, who had been denied the chance to play for the Arsenal team for the last ten minutes. Wilshere’s return date kept getting delayed by Arsenal, and soon it became apparent the midfield three would have too be Arteta, Song an Rosicky, a player whom had fallen out with the Arsenal fans. Arteta was deployed into a centre defensive midfield role, next to Song in the formation 4-2-1-3. This was a surprise to Arsenal fans, as he was expected to sit behind the attackers like he had at Everton.

We had a terrible start to the season. But finally, after seven or eight games, the bond between Song and Arteta became clear. They would both control the games tempo, and when Vermaelen, an extremely talented attacking Centre Back, would charge upfield, therefore leaving a large gap in defence, Song would slot in to that position. Arteta would then become the sole Centre Defensive Midfielder. If Koscielny would then also attack, or Song wasn’t where he should be, then Arteta would become the temporary Centre Back.

Arteta also, would then get Song to move into the centre of the pitch, and would then attack, sitting behind the attackers, for example against Blackburn, West Brom, and most notably Man City.

The partnership between Arteta and Song, would become a valuable asset to Arsenal, helping us to overtaking the spuds after months of ‘Mind the Gap’. As Vermaelen and Koscielny began to play regularly together, their partnership began to appear. Van Persie already had chemistry and Walcott, and developed a strong partnership with the Ox, not so much with Gervinho though. When all of these partnerships came together, it was clear that this Arsenal team had improved, the turning point being the game against the spuds. We have started the game like we had started the season. Not midfield or defensive communication, and a dive put us two nil down. But Song and Arteta began to grab the game by the throat. Song brought the ball forward and it fell to Arteta to assist Sagna. Song put the ball in the Van Persie got and scored from. Arteta tackled the spuds useless left back and it fell to Song to thread Walcott through.

Arteta did this all the way up the Wigan game, where he has sidelined due to an injured ankle. 6th of March 2012. Arsenal vs AC Milan, Arsenal four nil down on aggregate. Arteta is absent due to being knocked unconscious against Liverpool a few days later. The Ox, a winger, plays in Arteta’s role. We win three nil after dominating the game. Arteta was giving his all in the game against Liverp`ool, and was accidentally injured. We lacked his creativity and dominance on the ball, I believe if he has played, we would have won the game by four or five, but either way gone through against Milan.

Another attribute Arteta possesses is that he has an incredible ability to see when the games tempo is not helping his team, and he gets himself fouled. This is a great attribute for Arsenal to have, as the way Wenger has set his squad up, is that they control the games speed, have the ball for long periods in the game, and if that isn’t working, then we concede almost half the time. Arteta see’s this happening to his teammates, and when he has the chance, he will win the ball back and then wait until a player attempts to tackle him, and he flicks the ball forward and gets fouled, giving the team the ball back, control of the game, and also a rest if they have been under it for a period of time. This is proved by him being the most fouled player in the Premier League in 2005/2006, as he played every single game Everton played in. He missed a few games in the following season, including last season, meaning he missed out on a few fouls.

Another attribute Arteta holds is that he is a pure footballer. He was reported to be on seventy five thousand pounds a week at Everton, their highest paid player in history. When he signed for Arsenal, it was said that he was being paid around ten thousand pounds less, so he was virtually paying ten thousand pounds for Champions League football. This is one of the reasons that I was happy he had joined Arsenal. I had always admired his skill for Everton, and everyone could see he was clearly their best player from the minute he arrived, but the fact that he went from being on a pedestal at Everton, to being just another player at Arsenal, and possibly in the shadow of other players, van Persie and Vermaelen, with a pay cut.

Arteta also scored one goal that stood out from the rest, his free kick against Aston Villa. I believe that showed his quality for set pieces, we don’t need Van Persie for everything!

Written by Miles

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Observations on Arsenal’s Asian Trip

July 30, 2012

First off, let me say I am most encouraged by the way everyone went for goal. Wenger always says he likes everyone in his team to score, and it seems they are really taking it to heart. Is it just for pre season, or is it really a new attitude?  I hope it continues into the regular season. I sometimes wonder if our guys are a little gun- shy, because we think everything has to go through van Persie. It can be intimidating, especially to the younger players, even to his friend Theo.

I am concerned about the defense, with good reason – from the way we played the last 2 matches, and the goals conceded last season. I have faith in our central defenders, but really hope the wide players can be better than they have shown. I don’t expect any signings in those positions. Coquelin may be used there while Sagna recovers, and if we are nursing a lead in a match, I’d consider moving Koscielny there to bring in another defender. But most of all, we need to help defend as a team, it’s always said by Arsene and other coaches, but our team really is guilty of forgetting this more than most. We work very hard for our goals, and seem to allow the easiest against at times.

On to the positives. Where to begin? Let me start with my favourite subject, Theo Walcott. I felt like I was watching a different player. More aggressive, scoring minded. I’m not used to seeing him drift into the middle and shoot from distance, and it looked good. He even attempted a header ! Maybe it is time to let him have his wish and start slowly converting him to striker. Of course it depends who stays, goes, and comes in. But Theo as third or fourth choice striker can’t be much worse than what we are getting there, and has a great upside potential, as well as making him happy.

Gervinho looked great, like I remember from the beginning of last season, since we know he can do it, I wont assume it’s because of weak Kitchee defense. But although he made a great pass at one point, he should have taken a strong shot instead…. still needs to attack the goal more.

I’m assuming Ryo will go on loan again, but I liked how he helped out alot on defense. great sign from a young player. Owen Coyle may have helped a little there.

The OX looked fantastic- more than just ball skills, he picked out great passes forward, long ones, and showed great touch and vision.

Our boy Jenkinson made a couple big mistakes defensively, but I loved his shots on goal, and he is a gifted crosser.. I think that’s why Arsene plucked him, not just a bargain.

Yennaris looks like a battler, I do like what I have seen from Ignassi Miquel when he has played. I havent seen enough of Bartley, obviously. Santos, I like, but he must be more dedicated to defense. But I like his attacks also. He must remember, he CAN do both. Gibbs, never seems to impress me either way. I hope he can show us soon.

And, I just have a feeling about this Eisfeld. Not because he had a couple goals, it’s a little intangible yet. But we will see.

I’m sure I left some things out.

jnyc

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Was Arsenal leaving Highbury a mistake?

July 29, 2012

In the 1940’s many of us Avenell Road boys used to play football using the Avenell Road gate into Highbury as a goal.

We played with rag footballs (made by my Mum) and each of us took on the name of one of our heroes (I was Jimmy Logie), it was a great time in my life, we were so very poor monetarily but so very rich in friends, family and of course – football.

Due to a job change my family had to move from Avenell Road to Oldershaw Road, N7 (long since been demolished) and I was so distraught that I threatened to leave home and stay with my Granddad in Stavordale Road, N5, but I had second thoughts when my Dad agreed.

Being an Avenell Road boy my heart will always belong on the street where I was born, I estimate that I attended close to 1,000 games at Highbury (including reserve games) so it’s no wonder that I was upset, but understanding of our reasons, when the club decided to move to Ashburton Grove.

I always believed that our familiarity with the snugness of Highbury worked in our favour and by the same token it created big tactical issues for our opposition – this caused me to think that the sheer size of the Ashburton Grove pitch would not be suitable to the style of football that we were accustomed to playing. However looking back over our record in the first twenty seasons of the EPL some very surprising facts emerge – the Emirates has proven to be a more solid fortress than our fabled home at Highbury.

These are the statistics for home games at The Emirates vs Highbury:

We score more goals per game 2.03 vs 1.97

We have fewer goals per game scored against .79 vs .83

We have won a higher % of games 65.79% vs 62.50%

We have lost a lower % of games 11.40% vs 13.24%

We have tied fewer games 22.81% vs 24.26%

We have more points per game 2.20 vs 2.12

We have a higher % of points won 73.40% vs 70.6%

Here are the statistics for our away games, while we have been at The Emirates:

We score more goals per game 1.78 vs 1.38

We have more goals per game scored against 1.28 vs .94

We have won a higher % of games 44.74% vs 43.75%

We have lost a lower % of games 28.07% vs 29.41%

We have tied more games 27.19% vs 26.84%

We have more points per game 1.62 vs 1.61

We have a higher % of points won 54.10% vs 53.6%

The move to the Emirates has proven to be the right decision in almost every aspect with the notable exception of goals scored against in away games and the recent lack of silverware. Looking at the data I can only conclude that while we showed improvement we did not improve at a rate high enough to be consistently ahead of our opposition.

Was leaving Highbury a mistake?

Not in GunnerN5’s opinion.

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Will Arsenal Prove van Persie Wrong?

July 28, 2012

At the time you read this, some events may have overtaken it, and I truly hope that is the case. Names in, or names out, either would make me feel good. Like most of you, one of the first things I do each day is check the news about Arsenal. Again, like last summer, this is not a normal transfer season. For me, it’s filled with anxiety, partly because of the betrayal of Van Persie.

But I have to be honest, we can’t blame it all on the RvP situation. To me, we as a club have something to prove, and I don’t mean on the pitch.

When I say we have something to prove, it is to people like van Persie and Na$ri, but also our competitors, media, and football watchers everywhere. You’ve heard the phrases, “big club”, “small club”, etc. Trust me, I am not just talking about spending, I don’t expect us to splash 30 mil on a Hazard or Benzema. It’s about how the club does business in general.

At the close of last season, we were all hopeful of keeping RvP, and watching him end up as an Arsenal great. And I personally was hoping to see a couple moves by the club to strengthen.

I like the early Podolski move. I think he was meant as a more aggressive scoring winger, and RvP back up. After that, I didn’t want to fixate on any specific players, because I see that Arsene is less likely to go for the names thrown around in rumours and the press.

My biggest fear is that RvP was right, and that the team is unwilling, or unable to add some quality to put us over the top. Would we have paid for Giroud if RvP extended with us? I doubt it. But, you see, that’s the point. Giroud is exactly the kind of player a club with ambition would want as another option to mix in or use creatively with RvP. Not inexpensive, but if you are an attacking team, serious about challenging for titles, with an injury prone striker- you should expect an addition like this.

We all envisioned ways of using van Persie with Giroud and Podolski. Let’s face it, it’s less exciting without RvP. On top of that, we don’t know if the club was ever considering us having both.. We will get the answer to this– it WILL BE in the price and destination of RvP, or if he were to stay. I am on record here that keeping him rather than taking a low offer shows everyone that we are not sellers desperate for money, and that the club and Arsene make decisions, not disloyal players.

I worry that we are not closing deals coming in because we are on hold because of RvP’s status. Either we don’t intend to strengthen, or we can’t afford it. That would be bad news for a club of our size. If there is a quality player available, that would improve our line up, or strengthen our depth over the long season, we should be able to do it without selling our biggest players. It appeared we needed to sell Cesc last season before adding Mertesacker, Arteta, and Santos. I considered Gervinho as Nasri’s replacement and profit, so i was satisfied with that.

Just look at our starters at Old Trafford last season. There will always be injuries, of course, but also bans, the annoying African cup of nations, and who knows what else. We already know that we have very important players who will not be ready at the start of this season, like Jack, Sagna, and Rosicky, and he is dealing with an Achilles ! They will all have to be worked in slowly and carefully, for their future health, and the good of the team. I won’t even mention the perennially injured players by name, because I am wishing good luck for them.

For example,Coquelin will be needed at RB at times, so we are not that deep in DM. If we brought in a quality DM, it would free up Arteta to help out in more advanced areas, and get him the rest he needs also. Song would be free to sit out the occasional suspension, ACON, -and again, — I dont want to worry about him refusing to sign an extension this season, he already said no last season, so it would be nice to have someone in place rather than scrambling at the last moment.

Up front, there’s too much to discuss, with Theo, RvP unresolved, and all the rumours going around. Again, let’s keep some pressure off Wilshere and Ramsey. Wilshere- physical pressure, Ramsey- psychological. I’d also like to work the Ox in more than last season, but not depend on him yet.

I know that most clubs have unresolved issues, but I am only concerned about ours. And, our first few fixtures this season are very difficult.

For me, one more good addition would make me very happy, two, and I would be thrilled. I don’t want to speculate, but the names linked to us lately, at AM, and DM, if brought in, would give us incredible depth. They would, in my mind- put us ahead of United and Chelsea.. leaving us fighting for a title with city. As we say, in my humble opinion.

So, the clock is ticking. Will we let our lack of depth, and RvP holding us hostage ruin the beginning of another season, which, in turn leaves us only fighting for fourth again? Or will we show everyone that we as a club, mean business.

Written by jnyc

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The key to enjoying Arsenal’s football is lowering our high expectations

July 27, 2012

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” Sir Winston Churchill.

High expectations are a curse and ruining our enjoyment of supporting Arsenal.I have, in recent years, noticed a lot of dissatisfaction, in myself, as well as in many other Gooners, over the lack of silverware won by our beloved Arsenal. We have been so frustrated about not winning anything for seven years and counting now, that we run the risk of losing the joy of watching and supporting our team in the process.We are tense, we are grumpy, we are dissatisfied – we are a pain in the arse to ourselves, our friends and our partners. Our incredibly high expectations, based on an overrated belief in our abilities, are mainly to blame for this.

Our high expectations are a cocktail of being one of the biggest teams in England; our historical successes, but even more importantly, our recent successes; the completion of a brand new, state of the art new stadium, and the raised expectations that come with this; and having a manager at the helm who has delivered so much for us in the past.

In the meantime, the Premier League has experienced a massive and very nasty, paradigm-jump: the sugar-daddy clubs, who operate, paradoxically, completely outside the ethical and economic laws of both socialism and capitalism. Chelsea, initially, and now joined by Manchester City, are happy to make enormous losses in order to buy titles. They tell us they have a long-term strategy, and will make profits rather than losses in the future, but let’s not be fooled: owning a football club that ‘wins’ silverware is very big ‘bling’ for those who live in bottomless abundance. They have got to do something with themselves to counter the unbearable lightness of their being – to feet their insatiable egos.

We have to live with this, at least for now. Some, including me, are keen for Arsenal to stick to its self-sustainability model, whilst others are desperate for Arsenal to compete on an equal basis with the Oilers, and as such, have pinned their hope on our own, desperate-for-recognition billionaire: Usmanov – whatever the long-term consequences of this could be for our club.

For the foreseeable future, with regards to the way the club is managed, nothing is going to change, whether we like it or not. It is a fact.

Maybe it is time for us to lower our expectations now, in order to find some peace of mind with the given situation – maybe it is time to start the season with a glass half empty attitude, with a reality-check.

This should, by the way, not be confused with a lack of ambition by the writer of today’s blog.

Recently, I read a great article in the Guardian Weekly that might give us some advice on how to deal better with our expectations, and subsequently become a lot happier: ‘Failure can be inspiring’ by Oliver Burkeman.

The bit I thought particularly interesting from the article was the view held by psychologist Carol Dweck of how we appear to look at talent and ability. Burkeman summarises Dweck’s theory as follows: “….our experiences of failure are influenced overwhelmingly by the beliefs we hold about the nature of talent and ability – and that we can, perhaps quite straightforwardly, nudge ourselves towards a better outlook. Each of us can be placed somewhere on a continuum, Dweck argues, depending on our “implicit view” – or unspoken attitude – about what talent is and where it comes from. Those with a “fixed theory” assume the ability is innate; those with an “incremental theory” believe that it evolves through challenge and hard work.”

The principle idea is that those with an “incremental” mindset are more prepared for, and more resilient against things going wrong, and are more likely to achieve sustainable success: Those with a fixed mindset believe strongly they will succeed and find failure “especially horrifying”. Burkeman puts it as follows: “The incremental mindset is the one more likely to lead to sustainable success. But the deeper point is that possessing an incremental outlook is a happier way to be, whether or not it leads to any outstanding success”.

Although the above statements are aimed at the individual, I can see a strong linkage with the way we, collectively, view our beloved Arsenal. Is it fair to say that over the last few years we, as supporters, have started to believe our club’s ability is innate, simply a given; that we are so good and so big that we simply should win silverware constantly, and that anything less means unacceptable failure? Have we perhaps, consciously or subconsciously, been overrating our ability, whilst wilfully ignoring what has been happening around us?

It is about time for us to drop this idea that we are simply entitled to success and to start again from a more humble base.

We need to accept that the challenge ahead is a daunting one; that we need to work very hard, and work towards success incrementally: step by step. We need to give ourselves time and take into account we might not win anything major in the foreseeable future. And we need to find our peace with this.

Many Gooners will be going into next season with very high expectations once again: some because they simply demand success after seven years of ‘failure’ – anything else is not good enough, others because they are glass half-full people.

But this time round, not this Gooner.

I am going to be realistic with regards to our current qualities and ability, regardless of whether we sign some more players or not, and will adjust my expectations accordingly. I will also try to refrain from my natural instinct towards unwarranted ‘glass half full’ thinking at the start or during the season, as this is deemed to lead to disappointment in the future.

I believe Arsenal still has a chance to win the PL or CL, even this year, but it is a relatively small one. I am not going to count on us winning anything major this year, but will remain hopeful. Because with Arsene at the helm, there is always hope.

I like our squad, I believe in Arsene, and through an incremental approach by all involved: some healthy humility, hard work on the training ground and on the pitch, aiming constantly to get the very best out of the players, and concentrating on just one game at a time, and of course, a lot of luck, something magic might happen next season.

But more than this, as a supporter, I will be taking every game as it comes, try as much as possible to enjoy the positives and aim to share my experiences with those of fellow Gooners as much as I can. And I cannot wait till the season starts again: I am as excited as ever!

By collectively letting go, at least for a bit, our sense of entitlement to silverware, caused by a romantic clinging on to the past and a denial of the new reality which was forced upon us recently; and instead, work our socks off in all areas related to our football, we should be able to enjoy Arsenal’s football a lot more the coming seasons.

Paradoxically, by no longer expecting to win something, we might actually still end up victoriously.

Written by TotAl.

“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”

Sir Winston Churchill.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

FA Right To Charge Frimpong

July 26, 2012

I don’t know for sure, but I would hazard a guess that Emmanuel Frimpong does not have a detailed knowledge of the Second World War.

He might have seen a movie or two and he has probably heard of the Nazis, Hitler and the Holocaust without ever achieving any depth of insight or understanding.

If you asked him about the Final Solution, he might well reply that he does not do crosswords.

And if his knowledge of 20th Century warfare is thin, then it’s a safe bet that he will know little of the pogroms of the Middle Ages, when Christians massacred Jewish communities in countries across Europe, including England.

You can’t really blame the lad. He has been caught in a pincer movement between, on the one hand, the woeful inadequacies of what passes for state education in the modern age and, on the other, his gift for football, which will undoubtedly have taken his focus, time and effort away from academic pursuits.

So when he replied to an abusive Twitter troll by calling him a “Scum Yid” I doubt that he realised what he was saying.

Growing up as an Arsenal supporter and, dream of dreams, an Arsenal player, young Emmanuel has probably always associated the word “Yid’ primarily with supporters of our local rivals, even while being aware that it refers to Jewishness.

He must also have known that Tottenham fans often refer to themselves as “Yids” and “Yiddos”.

To Emmanuel it probably carries the same weight as calling a Chelsea fan a “Chav”, or a Liverpool fan a “Bindipper”.

All three terms are offensive and all are used as insults, but only one of them casts a long shadow of hate, persecution and mass murder. For that reason it’s quite right that, in modern society, we refuse to deem “Yid” an acceptable word, just as we refuse to accept words like “Nigger” or “Paki”.

So even though our combative midfield enforcer may not have realised the full scale of the potential offence when he dished out the insult to a Twitterer (who, incidentally, had Tweeted that he hoped Frimpong would suffer broken arms and legs), it was important that the Football Association did the right thing and charged him.

A statement from the FA said Frimpong had been charged because he “posted comments amounting to improper conduct and/or which brought the game into disrepute, which included a reference to ethnic origin, faith or race.”

Frankly, we can’t lambast football bodies for dishing out miniscule fines to national associations whose fans make racist chants, then argue that an Arsenal player who uses a racial insult should not face punishment.

Mind you, if the FA follows UEFA’s lead when it comes to sentencing, then Emmanuel can expect to get 10 push-ups and three Hail Marys.

Hopefully when he gets called before the FA beak, the player will be able to demonstrate that he did not realise the full offensiveness of the word. I imagine he will use ignorance – or at least partial ignorance – as a defence (and probably an honest defence, at that).

The mitigating circumstances should mean he is not punished unduly heavily. Certainly there would be a bad taste in the mouth if Frimpong were to be banned from games while that fine, upstanding Mr Terry walks free despite making clearly racist comments in front of 30,000 people and a TV audience of millions (and I know the FA may still rule in the Terry case, despite a court of law finding him not guilty).

It’s a cliché, but there is no place for racism in football and Emmanuel Frimpong will probably pay the price for crossing the line.

Of course there is a legitimate debate to be had about abuse in football generally. I have never used the term “Yid” in my life. I hate it. But I have hurled all sorts of foul-mouthed abuse at opposition players. I once spent a good 10 minutes in the old Upper East stand at Highbury chanting (along with everyone else) “you’re ginger and you know you are” at Gordon Strachan, who was walking up and down the touchline.

Strachan had a sense of humour and gave us all a smile and a wave, but it was still abuse.

Where are the boundaries? What is reasonable and what is not?

It’s a difficult one but I would appreciate your thoughts.

RockyLives

Note from admin:

The word ‘yid’ is one of just a few that are banned on this site. Any comment containing the word would normally go straight into spam. For the purpose of today’s article, it has been removed from the list of banned words so that bloggers can debate the issues raised in a mature manner.

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Posted by RockyLives

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