Gooner Day

September 9, 2011

Written by VCC

Before you read on, VCC wanted to include the following track in the post so please right click Gooner Day  to open in a new window and listen – unless you’re being naughty at work that is 🙂

Its 3 pm Saturday 10th September 2011. We welcome Swansea City to the Emirates for our second home fixture. Is this going to be a Gooner Day?

Well fellow Gooners, is this the trickiest start to a season in our lifetime?

It comes following an away draw against a mid table side, a home defeat against a top 6 side that has been resurrected and a simply humiliating experience away to maybe our biggest enemy.

Has Arsène recruited the necessary armoury to sustain a top four place, enabling our continued Champions League status?

Will Mertesacker/Santos plug the gap in our frail defence?
Will Arteta/Benayoun be creative in our new mid field?
And….will Gervinho/Young provide the firepower we need to assist our top goalscorer?

Many questions yet to be answered. If these players do not hit the ground running and turn our start around to winning ways, will we see the unthought-of resignation of our beloved Arsène Wenger?

The speculation in some Sunday papers is that Mr.Wenger is disillusioned with the Arsenal Board and is/maybe contemplating calling it a day. Can we even contemplate life after Le Prof?

After a frustrating, long and stressful close season, have we acquired the quality/necessary personnel capable to compete with the big boys, still?

I, for one, feel uneasy at the thought of life after “He Who Knows”. If he has been unable to win any silverware for six years, then who could have?

I for one, believe it’s going to be a “GOONER DAY”

COYRRG

Written by VCC.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Healing the Wounds

September 8, 2011

Football blogs serve one important function and that is to provide an escape valve for supporters to vent their angst – and boy have we had cause of late. Such is the need to let off steam that AA has been flooded with contributors wishing to exorcise their footballing demons. Today we publish the thoughts of 2 new writers who are Arsenal to the core and through their own words have reached the same upbeat conclusion as to our prospects this season.

Part 1 written by Holly

Since September 1st I’ve withdrawn from all on line sources of Arsenal news, I think my brain was about to implode with the frenzied wind up to transfer deadline day, so the break was welcomed. This allowed me to stand back and take stock of where we are at compared to the last home game of last season where those that turned up made their feelings clear that they were not happy with many things Arsenal. This is the bit where I shall embrace controversy; I think we are now a far superior team and squad and feel that not only is a top four slot a realistic shout, but a title tilt is far from beyond us also!

I know know, such positivity, I must be on the happy pills!

Think about it, from our squad last season we have lost really only four players that we could argue were regulars and even out of those four I could find you more gooners than not that were happy to see two of them leave, namely Bendtner and Clichy. So really it’s the loss of Cesc and Na$ri that leaves the ‘gaping hole’ I keep hearing about. I’m fed up hearing we’ve not replaced these departees but not only have we replaced them we’ve improved upon them. Like for like we are never going to replace Cesc, the guy is a one-off, a truly world class player, so rid yourself of any desire to compare like for like, it serves little purpose. Na$ri on the other hand, whilst admittedly possessing the potential to be world class, we only saw glimpses of it and therefore he is very replaceable.

Now let’s take a look at those who’ve joined us, whose primary remit would be to replace and improve upon the creativity of our departed. Let’s presume that Park comes in for Bendtner, and judging by his 4 goals in 2 games in international week I’m reasonably encouraged by this prospect. Then we have Arteta, Gervinho, Benayoun, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (AOC), and to a lesser extent Myaichi. Arteta is as similar a player to Cesc as certainly the premier league has to offer and he has made a big impact in training already with his quality. His guile, quick feet and vision will create many opportunities for our attack and he won’t require any settling in time. Gervinho has started his Arsenal career in fine form, his performance against Udinese suggesting that we have a big game player on our hands.

It may be a little churlish of me to point out that when we needed our big game players during last season’s title run in that Na$ri popped up with a grand total of one goal in fifteen games, images of him clean through at Bolton one on one will haunt me for a long time. Benayoun is another quality addition; I’m much happier with the prospect of him coming off the bench instead of Eboue, for example. Then we come to the player who with a bit of luck could do a Theo and be a surprise inclusion for Capello next summer (yes, I know I’ll get stick for this). If you didn’t see the six minute clip doing the rounds in the last couple of days of his second half cameo for the under 21s then I urge you to go find it and watch. One nil down to four one up thanks to four assists from AOC. Speed, power, control, end product, I could not believe how lucky I felt that I was watching an Arsenal player, this kid has the lot

If Arshavin’s form continues and (the ever improving) Theo picks up a knock then AOC could get his chance and if he does I’ve an inkling he’ll take it. Myaichi is an unknown entity at the moment but he did achieve cult hero status after playing just four months in Holland, so he certainly has something about him. Next week’s Carling Cup match against Shrewsbury may be interesting.

All in all that’s a very strong hand we’re playing with in an attacking/creative sense. Just behind them we’ve a more experienced Jack, the proverbial new signing Aaron Ramsey back after serious injury and more recently a man of the match performance against England at Wembley, and the emergence of the first real competition (Diaby/Denilson, I’m looking at you) to Song, Emmanuel Frimpong. For the record I would have liked us to have secured the signing of M’Vila before the deadline but maybe that deal can be done in 12 months.

Finally we come on to the defence. To Koscielny, Djourou and Squillaci at the end of last season we can add the returning (4-6 weeks they say, and I believe them, ha) Vermaelen and the vastly experienced and huge Mertesacker. Nobody could argue that a starting pair of Vermaelen and Mertesacker isn’t strong, and with good back up in firstly Koscielny and then Djourou I think we’re set fair at last in this position. Clichy left to very little fanfare and Santos comes in, in similar fashion. At the very least he will provide good competition for Gibbs but lest not forget he is a Brazil international and at 28 the right age for our squad. On the other side Jenkinson has shown enough for me to be confident that with the right guidance he will be a very useful squad member at the very least, in the mould perhaps of an O’ Shea up at Old Trafford, and before you laugh just remember that O’ Shea has 5 league titles, 3 league cups, 1 fa cup and a champions league winners medal to his name.

So come on guys, be positive, think big, get behind them, you never know, you may be pleasantly surprised. Latest odds for the title by the way 26/1…………

Part 2 written by Fatgingergooner

Sunday 28th August, Old Trafford, Man Utd 8-2 Arsenal. Now this is a game that will long live in the memories of football fans all over the world, but it is one that this Gooner is ready to move on from…..

I could sit here and write a full analysis of this game from start to finish, talk about whether or not lambs were sent to their slaughter for Arsene’s benefit in the Transfer Window, or whether it was the lack of tactics, confidence or football experience that was to blame for the defeat. There are some that would love to sit and discuss this for hours on end, after all, it is still the hottest topic in football and to many Arsenal fans it is still an open wound that can only be soothed by the counselling that is found on blogs. But for me, its a scar, one that i will have to carry for the rest of my days, but also one that has healed cleanly. There are 2 reasons why i have been able to move on:-

Firstly, no matter how many ways you look at the scoreline and the result, it will only ever read:-

1 game, 0 points, -6 goal difference

You can try and dress it up as a confidence shattering result for a club that was already on the brink (something the press have enjoyed doing over the last 2 weeks), but many of the players that featured in the game will not be taking to the field on a regular basis for the remainder of the season. People like Jenkinson and Coquelin will be used sparingly, Arshavin, Rosicky, Djourou and Koscielny will now play second fiddle to the new signings, and Traore has been removed altogether. In 2 weeks time we will have players coming back from injury and suspension, new signings bedded in and raring to go, and a different looking side from that which was subject to humiliation.

Secondly, I have accepted that this was a lamb that could have been slaughtered in 10 different ways! A crack CSI team couldn’t figure this one out! Was it the boards influence? The players naivety? The coaches downfall? Or was it Professor Wenger in the changing rooms with the football pump!!!???? To be honest, I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone else does either, and that is why we must move on.

We have a relatively easy set of fixtures coming up:-

Swansea (h)
Blackburn (a)
Bolton (h)
Spuds (a)
Sunderland (h)
Stoke (h)

During this period our rivals will be playing each other:-

Man U v Man C
Man U v Chelsea
Liverpool v Man U
Spuds v Liverpool

This is an important period coming up for this club and something that all Gunners should be looking forward to. We can close the 8 point gap and in my opinion get ourselves right back in the title race where this new look side belongs. Some may say that I’m deluded, or some of you may want to look back over the Old Trafford defeat than look to the future. I’m not here to judge, but think about this…..

1 game, 0 points, -6 goal difference…….no more, no less…………

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Posted by Rasp

Project Youth – Fact or Fiction?

September 7, 2011

Written by Illybongani

Much has been said about the perceived success (or lack of it), of Wenger’s ‘Project Youth’, particularly since the move to the Emirates. Arsenal Football Club are now seen as standard bearers in the development of young professional footballers. But is this accolade warranted or is it a misnomer?

Let’s look at some facts and make our own minds up.

Prior to the move away from Highbury, Arsène Wenger’s blueprint for success was pretty much orthodox, a high quality team of experienced internationals added to pre-season with one or two further experienced internationals, often French or African. Added to this mix was the occasional high potential youngster, like Fabregas or Anelka.

By anyone’s standards this was successful. Two Doubles and an unbeaten season will be the benchmark we measure ourselves by, and indeed others measure us by, for the foreseeable future.

Then we moved to a new stadium. History shows that this is more often than not a particularly difficult time for the club involved. Look at Coventry, Southampton, Leicester amongst others as examples. Then came a global recession that could not have been anticipated by the Board. A truly perilous position to be in. Therefore we had to cut our cloth accordingly.

We will probably never know the restrictions placed on our expenditure by the move. The Board continued to spout rhetoric that there was money for Arsene if he wanted it. This money never really materialised, instead Arsène went down the line of importing more and more youngsters both from home and around the world. ‘Project Youth’ had truly begun.

However, it was only because of  a catalogue of injuries that became to be the norm season after season that these youngsters were thrown into the mix. Well, that is the perception of most people – but how many kids have we actually moved through the production line and out the other end?

In the early years of Arsène’s tenure, Ashley Cole was probably the only player to be given his debut and to be guaranteed a place in the side. In the last few years there have been more but many of those have been purchased (and stolen) from other clubs. However, you could argue that they have been given the opportunity to learn ‘the Arsenal Way’ before being given their opportunity.

The only ‘true’ Arsenal-bred youngsters grown from embryo to finished article at Hale End have been Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Emmanual Frimpong. Given time, Henri Lansbury may be added to this list. Does this make the ‘project’ successful? Certainly not along the lines of Barcelona, but then who has produced as many, in quantity and quality, as them? But that group may well be the core of the England (or Ghana!) side over the next 5 years – and in anyone’s book, that must be deemed a success.

Other players, thought at one time to be the next big thing, have come and gone – JET, Traore, Merida, Barazite, Aliadiere, Bentley to name but a few. These players and many like them have attracted transfer fees in the region of £80m (boosted by Cesc) since our move to the Emirates. Does that give further credence to the success of the ‘project’ or the further evidence that far too many have not met the standard at Arsenal?

An examination of the current youth set up shows a number of ‘next big things’. The question is, will they be a Fabregas or will they be a Bentley? And if they end up a Bentley, does that make them a failure?

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Surviving International Week

September 6, 2011

Written by Camberwell Gooner

And so we find ourselves in the second week of the Interlull (copyright Arseblog.com), with entire days stretching ahead of us before we can get our teeth into our shiny new signings and, er, find out what they taste like. During this prison sentence we are forced to contend with the twin ills of a lack of real football (apologies to genuine fans of internationals – they just don’t count for me, someone usually comes back injured, England are crap, and then when they play well I have to look at pictures of that genetic-experiment-to-fuse-Mr-Potato-Head-and-The-Elephant-Man (gone wrong), Rooney, flashing his horrible grin at a camera – word to the wise, Granny Shagger: you should have left the hair alone and spent your thousands down the orthodontist’s) and a dearth of news (meaning precious little to get the juices running and stimulate thought or debate).

In some ways, this week will give the transfer window a run for its money in terms of: which period of time makes you want to grate your eyeballs more? Well at least we signed someone last week. This week we’re not just scraping the barrel, we’ve gone through the base, burrowed into the floorboards and fallen into downstairs’ bathroom, giving Mr Patterson a nasty turn as he sits reading National Geographic on the bog.

It’s clear, then, that we need to stop waiting for the fun to come to us and find our own entertainment instead (stop sniggering at the back). With this in mind, I offer you the following ways to pass time before the jailers end the lockdown and set us loose in pubs and living rooms across the country.

1.    Try to predict Saturday’s line-up.

In my deeply untechnical knowledge of formations and which combination works best and all that jazz, I would have thought our current full-strength first team looks something like this:

A pretty dangerous line-up I’m sure you’ll agree, but with the curse of the “early-season tweak which puts you out till May”, normal injuries and, of course, our new friend the “red card every game”, I guess we’ll see Kozzer in for Vermy, Pingpong for Song (can we not have a combined chant for both of them? Answers on a postcard), Benagoon for Jackie and perhaps Park for Gerv.

2.    Learn some facts about Swansea City FC

Fret not. I’ve done the in-depth analysis, trawled through the stats, drawn up spreadsheets and graphs and run the rule over their first team, all so you don’t have to. Here are the facts and figures to impress and astound your mates in the pub pre-game.

Nickname: The Swans or The Jacks (the latter relating to their legendary sailors of yesteryear or something like that)

Manager: Brendan Rodgers; stats at The Swans: played 59, won 30, drawn 11, lost 18, win rate 50.85%

Pedigree: The second best team in Wales

Final position last season: 3rd (beat Reading 4-2 in the Playoff Final)

Danger men:

  • Scott Sinclair, winger (voted goal.com’s world player of the week – yes, week – for scoring a hat-trick in said final, two of which were penalties) – has scored 19 in 45 appearances
  • Ferrie Bodde, Dutch MF – 13 goals in 54 apps
  • Craig Beattie, Scottish striker – 7 in 45
  • Luke Moor, striker – er, 3 in 15

Weaknesses (carefully researched by typing “Swansea City weaknesses” in Google): Lack of pace or solidity at the back; poor passing game; vulnerability at set pieces (ring any bells?)

3.    Decide who is the most odious person in football. Supply reasons.

Also done for you. It’s Rooney, but feel free to disagree.

4.    Follow another sport

Big in sports news right now: Murray in the US Open tennis, England in the Rugby World Cup, umm…Deutsche Bank Championship golf, some other stuff.

So there you have it. I’ve done the donkey work, now you can let the juices flow.

Just don’t get any on your shirt.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Proof that Arsenal will score more goals this season.

September 5, 2011

Someone questioned on the blog yesterday whether our new line-up would be able to score enough goals, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the goalscoring prowess of the new players against those who have departed based on past performances.

Now I realise that stats are generally just a way of manipulating figures so they masquerade as facts. There are many factors such as playing in a different league, in a different team etc. etc. which completely undermine the validity of the comparison, but I decided to persevere with this lighthearted analysis because we should all be excited by the prospect of a new look Arsenal with more bite in the final third.

I believe the benefits of having a team packed with players who want to prove themselves, who want to play for Arsenal and are unsullied by the grubby attentions of billionaire suitors means that we will at last possess the much vaunted yet ultimately fragile team spirit that evaporated completely in the latter stages of last season.

The following stats are based on the player’s time at Arsenal for those who have left, and games played at their previous club for those have just joined (Benayoun’s stats are from Liverpool as he hardly played for Chelski).

gpg = goals per game.

Likely first team replacements:

Samir Nasri: 18 goals in 86 games = 0.21 gpg

Gervinho: (Lille) 28 goals in 67 games = 0.42 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Cesc Fabregas: 35 goals in 212 games = 0.16 gpg

Mikel Arteta: (Everton) 27 goals in 161 games = 0.17 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Gael Clichy: 1 goal in 187 games = 0.006 gpg

Santos: (Fenerbahce) 10 goals in 52 games = 0.19 gpg

Assuming that Gervinho, Arteta and Santos will start most games in place of Nasri, Cesc and Clichy, their combined gpg is as follows:

Ex-Arsenalplayers = 54 goals in  585 games = 0.09 gpg

New Arsenal players = 65 goals in 280 games = 0.23 gpg

.

Goals from the bench:

Niklas Bendtner: 22 goals in 98 games = 0.22 gpg

Park: (Monaco) 25 goals in 91 games = 0.27 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Henri Lansbury: 4 goals in 22 games (on loan to Norwich City) = 0.18 gpg

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: (Southampton) 9 goals in 36 games = 0.26 gpg

………………………………………………………………………….

Yossi Benayoun may well be used as an impact sub as a more attacking option to Ramsey or Wilshere, he also represents a greater goalscoring threat with stats of  29 goals in 133 games = 0.22 gpg

Wilshere: 1 goal in 37 games = 0.03 gpg

Ramsey: 4 goals in 37 games = 0.11 gpg

.

So the results are conclusive as you can see – we’re going to score bucketloads more goals with the new line-up.

The defence is also more solid so we should also be shipping in far fewer goals. We at last have a worthy No.1 keeper. Vermaelen is back (how we’ve missed him) and we have the added experience and height of Mertesacker and the class and pedigree of Santos.

The squad has greater depth and balance than we’ve seen since 2006. We have players like Park and Benayoun who can come off the bench and change games, and the emergence of Jenkinson, Oxlade Chamberlain and Miyaichi to keep everyone on their toes. The squad suddenly looks able to fight on all fronts and will need to do just that to keep everyone involved.

We also have 2 more players who can take a free kick in Santos and Park and hopefully we won’t have the ridiculous situation of our leading goalscorer taking corners instead of getting on the end of them.

Forget the first 3 games of the season, we were still reeling from the effect of the long drawn out departures of Cesc and Na$ri and the squad had been decimated by injuries and suspensions.

The new players will make a difference. Our season starts again this Saturday against Swansea.

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

Arsenal Win 8 : 2

September 3, 2011

How did our lads fare in the recent spate of meaningless  important Internationals?

Well, first up was our shiny, new striker from Korea, Mr Young, who opened the week with a hatrick., and a fine one at that. The first being a quick run behind the last defender and a powerful volley. The second, a towering header from a corner (watch and learn Chamakh) and for the third he received the ball in the Theo position then struck a firm drive past the beleaguered Lebanese keeper. It is true that Lebanon are more the Hendon of the International football firmament, but they still have to be beat 🙂

Theo played 80 minutes for England, setting up the third goal for Rooney and generally looking threatening. He missed a sitter but the commentators said the ball had bobbled, didn’t see it myself..

Aaron Ramsey another of our Captain’s scored the second for Wales in a 2-1 victory with a fine drive. Lovely.

RvP smashed 4 goals past a sorry San Marino side but in the words of the great prophet Glenn Hoddle “you can only play against what you play against”. And RvP must have left the pitch delighted.

Benayoun played 90 minutes for a losing Israel.

Arshavin got an assist for Russia’s only goal win against Macedonia. He also played the full game.

Per was an unused substitute for. Germany

Sagna was an unused substitue for France.

Oh and Cesc scored twice and missed a penalty  in a comeback win for Spain.

As far as I can see no Arsenal players were injured but we have the midweeks to come.

All in all a fine night for our Internationals with 8 goals and 2 assists.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Did Arsenal fans get what they deserve?

September 2, 2011

So, the unmistakeable chimes of Big Ben bring the craziest few months an Arsenal fan has ever had to endure to a close. We have lost our club captain, we have lost last seasons best player, and we have been humiliated 8-2 by Man United, yet, with that big bell still ringing in my ear (insert your own joke!) there is a renewed optimism.

Fans had been calling for Arsène Wenger to bring experience into the club for the last few years, it had appeared to be falling on deaf ears, until last night. Finally, the professor has done away with his penchant for kids and brought some first class experience and more importantly leadership to the side.

A 6 foot 6 inch German international with 75 caps to his name has been recruited to teach TV the importance of defensive positioning, something that Vermaelen lacks at times as was all too evident in the home game against Barcelona 2 years ago. There is no doubt that TV is an outstanding defender, with a mean tackle, a wicked left foot, and possibly the best standing jump in the Premier League (apart from Fabianski!), but the chance to learn from a seasoned professional like Per will take him onto the next level.

In front of them we have signed Yossi Benayoun on a season long loan and Mikel Arteta for a princely sum of £10m. Between them they have over 10 years experience in the Premier League, more than most of our midfielders put together. They have been brought in to ease the pressure on young Jack and Aaron, but also to show the young pretenders how it can be done. Not how to pass a ball, Aaron and Jack need no help in that department, no, they are here to show he kids the all important ability to arrive into the box late. This is a skill that made Freddie Ljungberg into a Highbury hero, and with the wide players now at Arsene’s disposal, it is something that the new look Arsenal team can profit from. All Gooners know that we have the annoying habit of crossing into an empty box, if these two can find a way of making late runs more often then we could be adding an extra 15 goals a season from midfield.

As well as these timely additions, Wenger also found time to pick up a Brazilian Confederations Cup winning left back as cover for Gibbs whilst his bones and muscles find a way to get along, the current South Korean captain and 4 other young prospects who are already settled at the club.

Wenger has shown how a club without the megabucks of a sugar daddy can operate in the minefield that is the modern day transfer market.  I have heard some fans saying that they are disappointed that we didn’t bring in a marquee signing, but i have to disagree. Big money signings bring with them an air of attitude and cockiness, something that Arsenal FC could do without after the recent Cesc and Nasri sagas. They also carry huge price tags. Cahill was touted as the ideal signing by many, but with an estimated £15m value, Wenger opted to bag himself an extra 60+ caps worth of experience and pocket £5m in the process. Surely a great piece of business.

Another name that was being thrown around by our transfer hungry fans was that of Eden Hazard. Currently with Lille and with an asking price in excess of £20m, this kid is seen as the next big thing. But if that is the case, then why hasn’t he been snapped up already? It is impossible these days to keep an up and coming talent secret from the circling vultures of Man City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea etc so why haven’t they tried to do a deal? After all, they have enough spare change in there pockets to complete this deal without even having to nip to the local cash point! So why hasn’t it been done? Well that’s a question i cannot answer, but if they are unwilling to part with what is quite frankly spare change, then why would Wenger risk his precious money, and more importantly his future at AFC on such a player? Lets face it, after a 6% price hike, the last thing he can do is risk throwing money away. How would that look!?

Its been a crazy 3 months as a Gooner, and arguably the hardest in recent times, but we have made it through with manager in tact (to the annoyance of some), 9 new faces, and a new belief that this could yet turn out to be a successful season for our boys. I really hope so, because after all we have been through in the last few months, it is the fans who deserve it…..

Written by Fatgingergooner

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Posted by Rasp

Four days that shook The Emirates

September 1, 2011

That was a very strange few days. We spend years carefully, slowly building squads, with obscure players brought in from far and wide, punctuated with highly profitable sales. This modus operandi became familiar to all of us. But in this transfer window, that has all been ripped up, culminating in an insane final evening yesterday. To recap:

Brought into the squad: Arteta, Mertesacker, Benayoun, Park, Santos, Jenkinson, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Miayichi (and Campbell was also signed)

Sold: Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Eboue, Traore, Emmanuel-Thomas, Randall, Cruise and Sunu

Loaned out: Denilson, Bendtner, Lansbury, Vela, Wellington, Bartley, Afobe, Bothelho, Galindo and Campbell

That is a scale of business we simply haven’t seen before, ever. And in addition to the new youngsters, seeing the recruitment of solid, experienced players, some from within the PL, some from elsewhere, also marks a break with the past.

We can pick over the bones of how the summer was managed another time, and there will be those who continue to query how we can be ambitious and make trading profits (I reckon we’ve made something like £20m this summer). But what cannot be denied is that our squad today is deeper and stronger than it was a week ago. Before Sunday’s decimation at Old Trafford, we were already screaming for signings to be made; the crescendo only grew louder when those eight goals were shipped, despite the fact the team on display that day was freakishly weakened.

I reckon our strongest starting XI is now:

That is a line-up that should give any opponents cause for concern. Also, the very fact that we’ll now be able to debate whether Ramsey or Koscielny or Gibbs or Benayoun or Arshavin etc should be in ahead of the eleven I’ve listed means we are in a far healthier state than we were. There will be competition for places, alternatives for the manager and education for raw youngsters like Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Miyaichi. And as Jack W’s superb tweets through yesterday evening showed, these signings will lift the squad at a time when morale was in danger of collapsing.

However, let’s not pretend it’s all rosy. Arteta and Benayoun are talented, experienced, creative players with substantial PL pedigrees. But neither one can match the talents of Fabregas. And Mertesacker is undeniably slow, which given our naive fondness for a high defensive line, could create difficulties. We’ll also have to see whether Santos and Park can make meaningful contributions when called upon. And above all else, this revolutionary change to our squad means that there is a hell of a lot of work for Wenger and the coaching team to do to assimilate the new elements into the squad after the international break. Having already given up eight points, we need to get our season going quickly, and that means these new Gunners need to knit together immediately.

Is this squad better than the one that last season promised so much but ultimately failed so miserably? Difficult to say with so many unknown factors, but plenty of Gooners will have a spring in their step this morning. Quite a contrast to the miserable embarrassment we all felt after Sunday.

Come on Swansea, let’s be having you!

Written by 26may1989

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Posted by Rasp

Three Down, One or Two to go?

August 31, 2011

Just a short second post today as all eyes will be on the TD, with supporters frantically F5ing every source of news they can find.

Who knows how much of a spur the 8:2 ‘humiliation’ was to the powers that be at Arsenal, but  one thing is for sure, the 3 signings that have followed in quick succession have at last shown that we are serious about producing a team that can compete with the best this season.

After having highlighted the defence as our weakness yet again this summer, Arsène has finally done something about it. Mertesacker and Santos tick the quality, experience and size boxes. They’re both seasoned internationals and are proven winners.

At 26, Park Chu Young must also be entering his peak years although it is thought that we will only have him for 2 before he returns home for national service. He is the captain of South Korea and also brings experience as well as goals to the side.

So is that it? Are we done?

Well I hope not. We know that Cesc was irreplaceable, but from the ashes of the team that was built around him can rise a new more direct Arsenal that would owe more to the Invincibles than the team of recent years. Santos is a very attacking fullback whose record is 1 goal in 5 for Fenerbache – A’Cole’s record is 1 goal in 30.

Gervinho and Park are also very quick and have an eye for goal so all of a sudden we have the potential to score from all angles. All we need now is the midfielder to unlock defences with that killer (dare I say Cesc-like) pass.

Will Jack be promoted further up the pitch to fill that role? He certainly has the vision and passing ability, but his young frame was overplayed last season and he is paying the price now. Ramsey already looks exhausted and in need of support.

I would be happy with one more signing in midfield, but time is running out and candidates of real top quality are few and far between although there are seemingly plenty of names in the mix – add Fellaini and Dempsey to those already identified. The news that we have been linked to Honda this morning adds his name to a list that still includes Hazard (the preferred choice of many) and M’Vila who would certainly add strength but is more defensive in his play.

I’m greedy, I’d like the power of M’Vila and the craft of Hazard, but I don’t expect that will happen. Hazard is going nowhere I suspect. Honda will bridge the gap between the two in some way so maybe he will be the answer.

We’ve probably done enough to ensure we will be in a strong position for the rest of the season, but wouldn’t it be nice if we just made that last flagship signing that really showed our intent.

One thing is for sure, we are now in a far better position than our North London rivals and we will have some great new signings to light up the Emirates pitch and hopefully get the fans singing this season.

Well done Arsène, 3 rabbits out of the hat – just one more would be nice.

Hastily written by Rasp

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Arsenal needs loyalty and leadership more than ever

August 31, 2011

(part 1)

The departures of Clichy, Nasri and Cesc this summer have shocked us all. Just when ‘Project Youth’ started to deliver on its promises, some of the most valuable assets are sold for hard cash to a major domestic competitor, and a European competitor. It is so much harder to build a club’s strategy around youth development than it is to buy fully ripened and proven top quality players every year. It is also absolutely paramount not to sell your top players when they start to hit their peak, if your strategy is based around growing talents from within. Yet, Arsenal did just that: not because the club wanted it, but simply because it had no other choice as a result of bad contract management, and a clear lack of loyalty to our club by those particular players (Cesc included).

Looking back towards the end of last season, we can now see that a significant number of our players had made their mind up about leaving Arsenal during that crucial – and oh so painful – period. I cannot prove it, but my gut instinct tells me that after that feeble surrender against the Mancs in the FA-cup last year – which for me was the defining game of our 2010-2011 season – a number of players started to plan their exit strategies, and the morale amongst the entire squad was heavily influenced by it. We should have finished at least third last season, but too many players showed no loyalty to Arsenal: they did not seem to care anymore, and it cost us dearly. They clearly let Arsene and the fans down, and it should come as no surprise to a number of players who left us this summer that they will not be welcomed back, if and when they return to the Emirates.

This brings me to the two topics I have always been interested in, both in football and in my professional life: leadership and loyalty. To be successful in football, you need more than just leadership and loyalty, but for me these two will become paramount for Arsenal in the next few years. In this post, I will focus on loyalty and I will cover leadership in another post, in the near future.

Loyalty

Every football team needs loyal players. Loyalty, in my opinion, consists of both a real desire/passion to give their all for our club, and a willingness to spend most – if not all – of their playing career at Arsenal. The key thing for Arsenal is to find the right mix between ‘Stayers’; those who have a passionate commitment to give their all for the club and over a long period, and ‘Contract Footballers (for a lack of a better word)’: those who have a more calculative commitment. Some players are pure professionals and can be loyal and dedicated to any team they play for. They can be very useful to a team as well. They will give their all during the time they are at a particular club, but will do so again for any next club they move to (Overmars, Gallas, Robben, etc). Understandably, not everyone likes to stay at one and the same club either.

Both ‘Stayers’ and ‘Contractors’ need to be fully committed to the team when they play for us, but it is really important to have as many quality Stayers in our spine as possible. The current spine is starting to look awesome: Szczesny – Vermaelen/Koscielny – Song – Wilshere – RvP. We really have 6 players in our spine of high quality, around which we can build the best team in the England and Europe for the next 5-10 years. On top of that we have Sagna and Walcott, and a number of promising young players and new recruits, and surely a couple of quality players will be added before the end of the TW.

For me there are three key questions regarding loyalty to our club:

Question 1: How many of our current players are to be regarded as loyal, as Stayers – especially in our spine?

I believe that we are now left with a set of players who are mostly loyal to the club. That does not mean that they will never leave us if they were to be offered a lot more money somewhere else, but in principle they love playing for us and would like to be successful with us. I believe it would take quite a bit for any of them to ask for a transfer request. This bodes well for the future of Arsenal football club.

Question 2: What do we need to do to recruit more quality Stayers for the future and to entice them, as well as our current ones, to our club?

I strongly believe that Arsenal needs to focus its recruitment of key players more on nations were players are used to relatively harsh/wet winters, and the British ‘way of life’. Germany, Holland, Belgium, the Scandinavian countries and to a certain extent France, are good recruitment grounds. Countries like Spain, Portugal and (southern) Italy are best to be avoided. Reyes and Cesc come to mind, who both wanted to return home, as a result of a form of homesickness.

I also believe we need to reward loyalty more by offering good players who reach the age of 30+, better and longer contracts than we currently do. We let the likes of Pires, Vieira, Gilberto, etc go as soon as the club believed they were past their best and so we could save money, but this also gave a signal to other, younger players that the club does not really care about players that much (so why should they be loyal to our club?).

Question 3: What do we need to do to protect us from clubs like Barcalona and Citeh to come and cream off our players and the end of every season?

Better and more pro-active contract management. We need to get all our key players on long term contracts, and be prepared to pay the market rate in pay packages to our top players. This will be crucial

to avoid a repeat of the Nasri situation, and would give a clear sign to our competitors – as well as our own current players – that we are no longer prepared to let our best players leave to them.

Most importantly, Wenger and the BoD need to (re)convince the players (and supporters) that we are to remain a major force in football – that Arsenal is going onwards and upwards from here on, so that everyone is passionate to stay at the club and give their all.

Loyalty is a complex issue, and I do not pretend to have all the answers to the above questions. However, I hope this post will start a good discussion on how we can establish more loyal and committed players at our club, who will stay with us and help us to win major prizes again.

TotalArsenal

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