Have you heard the one about the future?

February 9, 2012

In recent transfer windows and recent seasons we constantly hear Wenger and the Board remind us that we are building a team for the future, a club for the 21st century, one that does things differently promotes from within and doesn’t need to pay huge transfer fees to compete.

Some fans have countered this reasoning (fairly) that without a present the future means nothing, and that the future has as little guarantee as signing a £50million striker or a £35million striker depending on which team you prefer laughing at the most.

As we reside in 7th place and the season looks to be disappearing from our grasp taking Champions League football and our Captain with it its time to take a look forward and see if what we are aspiring to is better than what we have at the moment.

According to most our current squad has 11 first team players and the rest are disposable, I would actually say that we have maybe 9 players of sufficient and proven quality, 6 others with potential (some already proving it), and maybe 5 senior pros who should when asked be able to do a job. (List at the bottom of the blog to keep you guessing)

Thats 20 players who I think should be able to be relied upon to get the job done. Admittedly they need at least five of the proven quality players on the pitch to help them, but we see United week in week out with all sorts of squad changes able to get the job done.

So in one sense I am asking what is so wrong with what we have now. Is it good enough? How much better are others? Or are we just so bereft of confidence as a team and as supporters of our team that no matter who is in the team the season would end in failure anyway?

As for the future what are we building to, what is the dream, we seem to be awash with young talent, but for whatever reason the young talent brought forward over the last few years has yet to fulfil its promises. Some of that talent has gone from the club, some never achieved the level it was hoped they would.

Should we be more optimistic about the current crop of youngsters coming through the system, if we should why should we?

Recently we have felt too much of a disconnect between us and the players, maybe its age maybe its just modern football, but I think its because of where they have come from. Some have arrived as eager faced 16-18 year olds straight into the reserves, plucked from the youth system of a club on the continent and given an Arsenal tracksuit and pay packet to match. Some have arrived with the knowledge that younger players get game time at Arsenal and under Arsene Wenger, only seeing it as a stepping stone to the biggest clubs and pay-packets.

I see a huge difference between the youth team players coming through now and those that have been used in the last few years, and the main difference is pride of wearing the red and white shirt and a cannon on their heart. The youngsters now coming through the system have been at the club for many years, they have had to work hard to not only be the best in their age groups but to be the best at the club to have a chance of getting a professional contract. When they have taken the field they have played with so much passion and desire and whilst they are young and inexperienced if you could take some of that desire and love for the club and inject it into those that have come before I don’t think the likes of Bendtner and Denilson would be moaning about sitting on the bench, they would realise how lucky and privileged they are to sit there and be part of this great club we all love.

So do I buy into the hype about the future? Yes, wholeheartedly. Do I think it will be better on the pitch than what we have now? I honestly couldn’t tell you, but one thing I think they will all do is leave it out on the pitch and show us fans that they care, every week, every game.

I also think that we are building a squad now of 18-21 year olds that will come to fruition together and we will not be in our current position of world class forward on pitch, average forward on bench.

Just take a look at this group of youngsters in our Reserves and tell me you don’t have a warm feeling about seeing those lads progress.

Current Squad Breakdown

Proven quality:

Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Song, Arteta, Wilshere, Gervinho, Van Persie.

Potential:

Coquelin, Frimpong, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson, Gibbs

Good enough:

Rosicky, Walcott, Arshavin, Santos, Mertesacker

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

Arsenal 2011-2012: The Trials and Tribulations of a Transitional Season

February 8, 2012

Written by TotalArsenal

Arsenal does not really do transitional seasons, or does it? Somehow, through the magic of Wenger, we have been able to rebuild squads and first teams without losing sight of silverware and European football in every single season the Frenchman has been at the helm. What’s more, he has been able to achieve this against the background of Arsenal building a new stadium, and the departures of many established players in the last seven years or so. We basically made a through-start again and again, and during the process we, the fans, got a bit spoiled.

More and more, it is becoming clear the 2011-2012 season might well turn into a proper transitional year, in which we might win nothing and not even finish in the top-four.

If you take a closer look at our direct competitors, you will see that all of them, in one way or another, are also in transition. MU and MC are out of all cup competitions with over 100 days of the season to go, and both their managers are trying to build a team that can compete for years to come. Liverpool, despite their enormous investments over the last 12 months, did not feature in Europe at all this season, and are struggling to make it into the top-four: their transition is ongoing too. Chelsea is in a similar situation as Arsenal, in terms of their positions in the various competitions, but they have to come to terms with the decreasing powers of their ageing squad and, as a result, are also struggling badly to make the transition. The Spuds are doing relatively well as they are currently picking the fruits from Rednapp’s team building/ squad building efforts over the last few years: it looks like they are in a post-transitional phase right now. For various reasons, this is unlikely to last and soon they will be back were they belong: well below the mighty, red & white buttocks of The Arsenal.

I wish the BoD/Wenger would come out and say: last season was not good enough for Arsenal and on top of that we lost Fabregas and Nasri this summer. We had to buy a great number of new players and it just takes time to settle them all in. We will work hard this season to build a new team and still try and win something, and to finish in the top-four, but we have to go through a period of transition in order to establish a new team that will be able to compete for many years to come. There is quite a chance Arsenal will win nothing this year, and might not even finish fourth, but in the long term it will be for the best. Please be warned: it might be a tough season for us all.

I could live with that. In fact, I have reluctantly come to terms with it anyway, whether the BoD come out and say it or not.

I am absolutely convinced that all the ingredients are there for sustained success in years to come. The current squad has many players who can make it to the top in the next few years and a number of youngsters are progressing quickly to make the first team. Arsenal has a number of super talents around whom we can build a super team: Szczesny, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna, Ramsey, Wilshere, the Ox, RvP, Gervinho, Song are all top players. The BFG, Arteta, Theo, Santos are good squad players and the young talents of Miquel, Frimmpong, Coquelin, Gibbs, Ryo, Campbell and Jenkinson are very promising prospects. In the summer, we can add to those, if required. The club is financially healthy and the owners appear to be in for the long haul (and please note that financial success for Kroenke & Co totally depends on sporting successes by Arsenal), we have a great stadium and play (at least until recently) a fantastic brand of football which is revered all over the world.

But, it might take a while before we can pick the fruits of this very exciting and promising new team. And that is the hardest part for us fans to accept, especially after the seven barren years which did not meet our relatively high expectations.

Does it mean though, that this season is a write-off? Difficult to say. There are basically four scenarios:

  1. Somehow, Arsene manages another ‘through-start’ this season and Arsenal finish in the top-four. We might even win something in the next few months. I would not put my money on it though.
  2. The season ends in a complete disaster: we win nothing, finish outside the top-four and moral is rock-bottom.
  3. We win nothing and do not make it into the top-four, but the last few months of the season have seen a massive improvement, and Wenger has build a new team that will be ready – give or take a new signing or two – to go all the way next season.
  4. As per scenario three but on top of that we win the FA-cup, or even the CL-cup.

Whichever way it goes, the next four months will provide some clarity of where Arsenal is going. I hope we’ll end up with scenario one: who does not? I could live with scenario three if it is based on fundamental truths. Scenario four would be great and I might even prefer it to ‘only’ finishing in the top-four, as I strongly believe the sooner this new team wins something the quicker it will grow into a super-team.

If the season finishes as per the second scenario, I am sure we will see a change in team management. In many ways I would hate that to happen, so big is my respect for Arsene, but on the other hand, it would be good to see Arsenal start a fresh, new era, under new management, however risky this will be.

I am under no illusion this is the hardest sporting challenge Wenger ever had to face. We all seem to know where it is going wrong with the team at the moment, and what he should do to resolve it. But, I trust his knowledge and deep passion he has for our club. A genius is able to see and understand complexity like nobody else. Or, as Edward de Bono observed: ‘Removing the faults in a stage coach may produce a perfect stage coach, but it is unlikely to produce the first motor car.’ If you know what I mean.

For the rest of the season, I am going to relax a bit and lower my expectations. However, I will support the players and manager as much as I can, because their struggle is my struggle.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Will the real Arsenal please stand up ……….

February 7, 2012

Well, what a difference a day makes.

Emotionally we’ve gone from disappointed and disillusioned to euphoric over the result of one game. Beating Blackburn 7-1 was the sort of result we needed to awaken our supporters.

Arsenal played the sort of football that we all love to watch and for once the end result substantiated the level of our overall performance.

It would be wrong to criticize any of our players on a day when they all excelled, our defence were solid and afforded Blackburn very few goal scoring opportunities the midfield were both dominate in their control and incisive in their passing, and our strikers were clinical in their finishing.

All in all a wonderful example of “Wenger Ball” at it’s very best.

What caused the change?

Were we that good or were Blackburn that poor?

Looking at the result it would appear that we were that good but we will rarely see a team play so badly as Blackburn. They had little, or no, ambition to attack which allowed our fullback’s the freedom of the park and they used the space to great effect.

Our midfield was creative and their passing was superb but when have we seen a less interested midfield than Blackburn’s, their tackling was weak and their coverage was woeful.

Our strikers had a field day, but Blackburn showed their lack of fight within 80 seconds allowing us copious amounts of space to exploit them with our speed and poor positioning in the box.

Going down to ten men at least gave them an excuse for the terrible result but in reality they showed no heart from the first whistle.

What’s up next?

Over the next month we will know whether the Blackburn game was an aberration or the real and re-vitalized Arsenal.

We have seven games, one approximately every four days.

EPL vs Sunderland

CL vs AC Milan

FAC vs either Sunderland or Middlesbrough

EPL vs Tottenham

EPL vs Liverpool

CL vs AC Milan

EPL vs Newcastle

These games will show us what we are really made of, on paper our best opportunity seems to be the FAC. We are up against weaker opposition which should be to our advantage but the FAC is always full of shocks and surprises.

AC Milan will be tough opponents in the CL and we will have to be in outstanding form to get through to the last eight.

The EPL is the most difficult of the three as over the past six league games we have accumulated less points than any our four opponents.

Sunderland = 15 – 83.3%

Newcastle = 12 – 66.7%

Tottenham = 11 – 61.1 %

Liverpool = 8 – 44.4%

Arsenal = 7 – 38.8 %

Which Arsenal team will show up and stand up?

Written by gunnerN5

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Posted by Rasp

The Real Reason For Arsenal’s Slump

February 6, 2012

Hopefully you’re still feeling a warm glow from Saturday’s impressive win over Blackburn Rovers.

It has certainly calmed some of the pitchfork-and-torch brigade who were on the march after the 0-0 at Bolton.

They may not have had the imagination or panache to use pitchforks and torches, but they had their bin bags and were still determined to march on Castle Emirates and demand the head of Baron von Wengerstein.

Nevertheless, it is this reaction (to the Bolton draw) that is more interesting than the relief/rejoicing felt over the 7-1 victory.

A nil-nil away at Bolton, who themselves had recently thrashed Liverpool 3-0, may have been a bit disappointing but was hardly a terrible result in the great scheme of things.

It’s the fact that it came on the back of three straight defeats in the EPL that got everyone so stirred up, me included.

I thought we were unlucky not to have beaten Bolton, but I still felt moved to write a Post about the way in which certain players had so little end product at the moment that every time they received the ball I felt my heart sink in the sure knowledge that the move would come to nothing.

The three defeats that preceded Bolton (Fulham, Man Utd and Swansea) themselves followed a wobbly run which included narrow wins over Everton and QPR and a home draw with Wolves.

The slump was all the more painful coming on the back of a re-flowering of hope and optimism as we put aside our disastrous start to the season to climb back up to fourth in the table.

And it gave ample ammunition to all those who have been saying for some time that Arsene is a busted flush and that Arsenal will never be great again under his stewardship.

So was our spectacular fall from grace the fault of Baron von Wengerstein? Is his castle crumbling around him while he works feverishly in the dungeons attempting to create the ultimate uber-footballer from primordial gloop and cast off bits of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry and an injection of Fabregas DNA? (Don’t mock. Why do you think TH is really back with us for these few weeks?)

The worrying thought is that the “blip” was not the collapse in form in December and January, but rather was the brief period of resurgence that preceded it.

Well, I beg to differ.

The slump was entirely due to one thing: the loss of all four of our senior fullbacks at the same time with long term injuries.

It was a staggering piece of misfortune, akin to winning the lottery and then getting run over by a truck on the way to claim your millions. All teams suffer injuries to good players, but I can think of hardly any examples where an entire specialism has been wiped out for such a long period (although I believe Manchester United lost all their decent centre backs a couple of seasons ago).

And fullback play really is a specialism. The loss of recognised fullbacks imbalances a team in a way that no other position does (for proof, consider that it is generally easier for fullbacks and defensive midfielders to slot into centre back positions than for anyone to slot into a fullback role).

The fullbacks are crucial in linking defence and attack, in providing width for the team and giving extra space and options for the wide attackers.

I know it’s not especially insightful to point this out and that many commentators and many posters on AA have drawn attention to the way in which the fullback problem has affected our season, but I thought I would do some work to actually quantify it.

Starting after the close of the summer transfer window (and the acquisition of our new players) I have looked at our record in EPL games where we have started with two recognised fullbacks, with one and with none.

Firstly, it’s striking to note that in the 20 games since we lost at Old Trafford, we have started two proper fullbacks on only SIX occasions.

In a further six we had one FB and in the remaining eight we had no FBs at all and had to use other squad players to fill in on both defensive flanks.

In the eight games with no fullbacks, we took 10 points from a possible 24. That’s an average of 1.25 points per game.

In games where we started with at least one real FB we took 26 points from 36, which is 2.2 points per game. This is a very significant difference. It suggests that if we had not had to endure six games with no orthodox FBs we might now have six more points and we would be sitting fourth on 47 points, three ahead of Chelsea.

Interestingly, our record is slightly better in games where we started with one fullback than in those where we started with two. But this is skewed by the two defeats we took at Blackburn and the Spuds when the new players who arrived on the last day of the window were just bedding in (both those defeats were in the first four fixtures with the new squad).

The important point about fullbacks is that their absence affects our attack as much as our defence. Many have commented on the fact Theo Walcott seems much more dangerous when he has a more progressive defender behind him than the likes of Djourou or Koscielny.

In the games with zero FBs we scored at a rate of just over one goal per game (1.1). With one or two FBs our scoring goes up to 2.3 goals per game. Again, a very significant difference.

So what does all this mean?

It means that with Sagna back from injury and Gibbs supposedly available in the next week or so we can start to be optimistic that the run we were putting together before the FB crisis can now be resumed. I know that Gibbs has a poor injury record so we can’t necessarily expect him to stay fit and that both Santos and Jenkinson are still weeks away, but as the figures above demonstrate, even ONE proper fullback can make a big difference to our results.

It also means that all those other players whose own game was affected by the unbalanced nature of our fullbackless team can also be expected to improve. This includes two of the three I dubbed as “hopeless” the other day (Arshavin and Walcott).

And with Gervinho returning and the Ox having forced his way into the team, there is every reason to be positive about a strong finish to the season.

Many people (include many AA-ers who are keen supporters of Arsene Wenger) have largely written off the possibility of us taking a Champions League spot this year.

Not me. For me it is very much on and I expect us to really get a run going now.

Arsene is far from flawless (his substitution of Oxo against Man Utd being one of his bigger mistakes recently) but he is still a magician who can get a team playing unplayable football.

When we had our slump in form, he was not in denial, or off his trolley, or senile, or greedily watching the club’s bank balance grow. He was just monumentally unlucky to lose four good fullbacks at the same time.

RockyLives

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Match report – The fantastic story of Theo, The Ox and the Fox in the Box

February 5, 2012

 

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air – were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

 Arsene decided to rest the tired Ramsey and also Sagna, who only just returned from a long injury. Blackburn’s Steve Kean did us a massive favour by leaving out the always-impressive-against-us Samba, and Yakubu was still suspended. So, given the weaker line-up by Blackburn, and the fact we were playing at home with a relatively strong line-up, we were of course expected to win. But, haven’t we been here a few times before this season …?

First Half

Arsenal started brightly and got just what the psychiatrist ordered: an early goal. Rosicky found Walcott with a through-pass towards the by-line and Theo kept his composure to pass a fine ball in between the stranded Robinson and the Blackburn Defence, resulting in an easy tap-in for the always alert Robin van Persie: 1-0 to Arsenal in the second minute!

After that, Arsenal dominated without being particularly dangerous in front of the Blackburn goal, although Vermaelen came close once with an effort against the post.

Blackburn tried to keep it tight and were reasonably well-organised in the first part of the first half. Although Arsenal totally dominated in the first half, our lack of thrust and creativity after the early goal, started to subdue the crowd. Out of nothing, Blackburn earned a free-kick in a dangerous position, after Koscielny made a wrong judgement, allowing the ball to bounce after which he had no option but to hold back Anthony Modeste with his arms. It came as no surprise that Blackburn levelled with a superb free-kick by Pedersen. He is one of the best free-kick takers in the PL, and also on this occasion he produced a very fine effort which Szczesny did well to still get a few fingers to, but to no avail: 1-1.

The equaliser tested our patience and resolve. Of course it was against the run of play and therefore undeserved, but that’s how football often goes. Luckily, we did not have to wait long to see whether Arsenal would respond in the right way. A very fine through ball by Song – he assists when he wants, it seems – reached Theo in an identical spot as where he was for the first goal. Also on this occasion Theo kept his composure, as he put in a subtle cross to the once again alert super-Dutchman, who loftily lifts the ball with his ‘inferior’ right foot over the leg of a defender to slot in his second goal: 2-1.

Two minutes later and Arsenal score the goal of the afternoon. It not only was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain first PL game, but his goal, and RvP’ assist, were reminiscent of a DB10/Th14 goal in our recent, glorious past. RvP just showed with his assist what a complete football player he is. After scoring a Poacher’s brace already, this time he finds a Bergkamp-esque through-ball to the Ox, surgically carving open the Blackburn defence in a split-second. AOC takes the ball into the sixteen yard box with a fine first touch, and with an even better second touch gets himself in an excellent scoring position. The adrenalin must be boiling inside his 18 year young body, but he stays calm and scores with the coolness similar to Thierry Henry’s in his very best days: 3-1.

This was the pivotal moment of the game, not just in terms of quality, but also by having created a two-goal lead, Arsenal had settled its, recently so over-tested, nerves. However, Arsenal were then helped further by a reckless lunge of Givet on RvP, after which the former was rightly sent-off. Luckily, very luckily, RvP managed to lift himself off the ground, a fraction of a second before Givet’s two-footed impact. With a 3-1 lead, against 10-men Blackburn all was looking good for the mighty Arsenal.

Second Half

Arsenal meant business from the start of the second half. It clearly was not prepared to sit back on its lead and soon it was rewarded for its attitude. Arteta, who throughout the first half had made football look so easy with his composure and positioning, pounced on the rebound and slotted home a decent shot from just inside the box: 4-1!

These are the sort of goals we have been missing this season and it was just what we needed to keep the momentum going.

In the 54th minute, 3 minutes after the fourth Arsenal goal, we scored another fine goal. Theo Walcott, who played with real verve and focus during the entire game, made a strong run across the Blackburn sixteen-yard box after which he found the Ox in a bit of space. The Ox did not hesitate for a second and took Theo’s pass in one go, shooting past Robinson’s right-hand corner: 5-1.

Then it was Coquelin’s turn to provide an assist, which RvP despatched once again from close range with this right foot: 6-1.

An easier hat-trick he will never get! Coquelin was impressive throughout the game; he plays with a confidence, maturity and physicality which are way beyond his age. On top of that he has a classy style about him, in the way he runs and he passes the ball: another fine prospect! After that, Arsene made a couple of substitutions: Benayoun and TH12 came on for The Ox and super-Song. Very surprisingly RvP stayed on the field!

Understandably, the game lost some of its intensity after the substitutions and the 6-1 score. However, just before the end TH12 scored a somewhat fortuitous seventh goal from another RvP assist, to complete the total rout: 7-1!

Conclusions

This is a very good result for Arsenal and just what we needed. Of course it is just one game and it would be wrong to get carried away. Blackburn was weakened by the omission/non-availability of Samba and Yakubu and the sending-off of Givet was also helpful. However, seven goals from eleven shots on target is a fantastic return, and four ‘non-RvP goals’ in one match is also very encouraging and much-needed at this stage. Results like this build confidence and bring back the feel-good-factor.

The Ox was phenomenal: his goals were classy and taken so maturely for his age, but on top of that he carries such a threat and thrust with him, every time he starts an attacking move. He reminds me a bit of the ‘Portuguese Ronaldo’ and also a bit of Messi. It is early days of course, but the Ox is the sort of player Arsenal has cried out for, ever since the departure of Dennis Bergkamp (not that they are a similar type of football player).

Theo proved that he can recover from one game to the next and I guess we all have to get used to the fact that he will have good days and average days throughout his career (most wingers suffer from the same problem). It will be interesting to see how the Gerv, Theo and The Ox – and eventually Ryo – will compete for the wing-positions. I wish I could incorporate Arshavin, but it feels his time is up at Arsenal.

Song and Arteta had great games and Rosicky made a decent enough contribution too. The BFG, Koz and Vermaelen had relatively easy games and made no mistakes (except for Koz in the first part of the first half).

TV looks like a Bouncer at a Tea-Party in the LB position, and I am sure he wants to be back as CB asap. Szczesny had also little to do but what he did was good (except for one moment in the first half when he decided to come to the edge of his box to clear a high ball which he messed up: it could easily have resulted in an embarrassing outcome for him).

Coquelin was superb and I just cannot believe our luck that we have so many young players coming through and making it into our first-11 at the moment.

But, ultimately this is the story of the Theo, The Ox, and the Fox in the Box:

Theo: 3 top assists, 0 goals.

The Ox: 0 assists, 2 goals.

The Fox in the Box: 2 assists, 3 goals.

Total: 5 assists, and 5 goals. Simply fantastic!

Player ratings:

Szczesny, Koz, TV, BFG: 7. All did their jobs well, but they were not tested much today.

Le Coq: 8. Fantastic game, with a fine assist as well.

Arteta, Rosicky, Song – ARS: 7.5. All did their jobs well today and all brought something extra to the game with either a goal (Arteta) or an indirect assist (Rosicky, Song).

TheO, The Ox, and the Fox in the Box: 9. Together they are my Men of the Match.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

And February made me Shiver: Match preview

February 4, 2012

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold.  If temperature is a guide to the revenge due then Blackburn are going to get roasted.

Our game at Ewood was a seriously depressing affair and one of the low points of this (and any) season. To concede 4 goals from 3 Blackburn shots and to lose from being 2 up after 20 mins was desperate for fans just recovering from the MU mauling. They were the worst of times.

Today we hope to continue our long unbeaten run since the last defeat (thanks RL), and I see no reason whatsoever to think A Change is Going to Come. Can we do it ? Yes We Can. In fact, I Had a Dream we would win in style (stop these American pre-Superbowl quotes immediately BR before you lose your audience)

With better luck we would have left the Reebock with 3 points , being only the woodwork away from a comfortable win; We were able to get good Yardage but the Completion Rate wan’t good enough. Walcott, who came in for much criticism, piled up lots of Rushing Yards but was unable to Convert his Air Yards. The use of Ramsey as the Ball Carrier was not working as Bolton’s Defensive Ends kept Blocking him.resulting in too many Incomplete Passes and Interceptions This could be put down to our Offensive line having problems escaping their markers. Despite the negativity, it was highly encouraging to see our Defensive Line cope so well now our Full Back has Returned, and is able to help in Defensive Co-ordination. (Enough BR!!)

What do Blackburn bring?  Well, a poor defence whose last away clean sheet was last season at the Emirates. The Yak is suspended, Samba is out of favour and will not be picked. Steve Kean has been given the vote of Confidence by the Venky’s. Rovers were extraordinarily unlucky to lose to Newcastle mid-week having 30 shots on goal with no result. Blackburn are 18th in the PL, closer in points to us than we are to MU.

Mr. Wenger has stated he will rotate today, by that I believe he will rest O-C and perhaps Ramsey. Though Van Persie needs some R & R he is unlikely to get it as Park is clearly not to be trusted ; if we are frustrated, imagine how Park must feel – excited beyond belief at his signing and then left bereft on the bench, which must be hugely dispiriting given his hero status in Korea.

My Team:

Rosicky remains one of my favorite Arsenal player, it is tragic his injuries have resulted in our not seeing his best form, but every time he plays he gives his all and deserves more pitch time. Whether AW would drop Ramsey who appears to be an automatic starter is a moot point, but if it were my call, the Welshman would get a rest.

Today’s Gooner: I used to walk my dog (Eddie RIP) in Highgate Woods. As often happens when dog walking one makes friends with fellow walkers. Usually we have no idea of each others names and refer to each other as “Rufus’s Dad” or “Snowy’s Mum” etc. I became friendly with a big man walking his Staffordshire, he always wore a hat low over his brow and I thought nothing of it. We often talked football and one day he said he played regularly for Arsenal Celebrities. Curiosity got the better of me and I asked him his name, to which he replied Tony Hadley, the lead singer of Spandau Ballet. Being a top class bullshitter I managed to extricate myself from an embarrassing situation by telling him he looked much older and fatter on television.

AW’s next Transfer Target.

Tony will almost certainly be at The Emirates today cheering on his team. Top bloke, big Gooner, fine singer. dodgy pooch.

See you all the The Line of Scrimmage …..

Go Giants

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

One point from twelve!!!!!!

February 2, 2012

Down to 7th in the Premier League

We’ve fired a blank against the worst defence in the league.

And our great hope Wilshire is injured again.

Is this the lowest we have been as Arsenal fans in the last 7 years?

No, is the answer. The lowest was 6 months ago when we had just lost arguably our 2 best players in their prime, had been stuffed 8-2 at Old Trafford, and we’re struggling to stay in the Champions League. We were a shell of our former selves. Lacking confidence, energy and most importantly, world class players.

But haven’t things changed for the better since then? The fact we are pretty pissed off with the result yesterday goes some way to show that things have improved. Just 6 months ago we would’ve expected a terrible, toothless performance against Bolton. We would’ve gone into the game feeling sorry for ourselves, praying that the home side take it easy on us.

I’m not saying things are rosey, I’m not saying that we will finish top 4, and I’m not saying we should all be happy.

But the fact is we got through those harder times in August, and if we stick together, we can get through these hard times now.

There’s no match report or ratings on yesterday’s game. Just a rallying cry from a fellow blogger asking you to keep your heads, keep together, and most importantly, keep the faith.

At least until the end of the season!

Slimgingergooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Winter Winds: Match Preview

February 1, 2012

Still warm and cuddly after Sunday but a midweek trip to a freezing Lancashire is not what was wanted, particularly to a Lancashire team who are in the process of turning their season around.

The recent beatings of both Liverpool teams is evidence of Bolton’s turnaround. Add in the Cup win over Swansea and we can see tonight’s game will be a challenge. Coyle is always heralded as the “coming” man and a manager who can make a team punch above it’s weight. If he keeps Bolton up he will have done a superb job. Kevin Davies always enjoys playing us and like many I hate to see him on the pitch (though I like him very much when playing anyone else!). We lost 1-2 at the Reebock last season, Bolton scoring in the 90th minute after Chesney had saved a Davies penalty.

After the brouhaha of the Cahill affair in summer (if it was true), relations between our two clubs have improved to the extent that we have loaned out Ryo to gain the same education received by Wilshire. Let us hope for the same results.

Arsenal’s form is difficult to assess, we have played superbly in patches over the last 2 games yet have conceded 4 times with the defence looking naive. I thought the overall performance on Sunday was very good with Ramsey running the show but two silly goals were conceded, and it could easily have been worse when AV missed an open goal header from a corner – Fabianski could and should have assisted his defence.

We will not see Fabianski tonight but we will see a return from two players who have been terribly missed: Arteta and Sagna. In a very short time, Arteta has become an integral part of the team, the loss of the Spaniard has been a major factor in our poor run (though he did play in the loss to Fulham).

A Vital Cog

Sagna has been a huge miss. It was no surprise that Theo played better having Coquelin play behind him instead of JD, and with Sagna he will improve further. Losing the best right back in the PL was always going to have an effect, missing Bacary’s defensive ability, particularly in the air has been immensely damaging to our season – perhaps more than any other player. It will be wonderful to see his lung busting runs in support of the attack.

TV is a fine back up LB, (though he was found wanting a couple of times on Sunday),  we are finally close to having a first choice defence and midfield (bar Jack & Santos).

I expect Ivory Coast to get to the Final of the ACN; as such we will not be seeing the return of Gervinho until the end of Feb, so who plays on the left? Oxlade-Chamberlain was very good in patches on Sunday but 3 games in 10 days is a lot to ask of the lad. I expect to see Arshavin or Benayoun start – though it would be interesting to see Park – with O-C coming on at 60+ mins if needed. Another TH cameo goal would be good.

My Team:

With Chamakh returning next week it beggars the question  ……………. Why was Park signed? It is highly unlikely  our scouts just took a punt on him – it is not the Arsenal way. French football is not so different from ours, so the acclimatization must surely have taken place  …. so why? Play the lad, I say, he cannot be worse than the Moroccan.

Which brings us to the inventor from Bolton – being the centre of the cotton industry which brought such wealth to Victorian England, it is no surprise that Bolton was home to Samuel Crompton, inventor of the Spinning Mule, but there has been an embarrassing lack of facial hair in recent weeks and for that reason we are going slightly off subject and  I bring you one of Bolton’s finest –  an Industrialist – William Lever, later to become Viscount Leverholme who founded the company Unilever.

Starting with Sunlight soap, he went on to manufacture both Lux and Lifebouy. Through a mixture of business acumen and worker’s exploitation (he used slave labour in Africa) Lever Bros became one of the biggest businesses in the UK and is now the 18th largest company quoted on the FTSE, employing 160,000+ people. However, both Crompton and Lever were clean shaven….

So here is a bloke who once visited Bolton …..

Bolton’s Winter Home Kit

If you are lucky enough to be going – Dress up Warm.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Alex McLeish: Man Or Muppet?

January 31, 2012

One of the least edifying spectacles in modern football is that of managers attempting to deflect criticism for a defeat by making spurious attacks on the opponents who beat them.

 

I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of this phenomenon, having watched our own otherwise distinguished coach, a certain Mr Arsène Wenger, pull the very same trick on numerous occasions.

But even Arsène’s excuses (which have ranged from the opposition being too tackly to having the wrong sort of leaves on the line) have seldom been as crass as those trotted out by the Ginger Whinger following our last couple of meetings with his team.

Remember when we played Villa at their place back in December? We won 2-1 and the Villans’ thuggish fullback, Alan Hutton, was sent off. According to Alex McLeish he was “conned” by van Persie.

How was he conned? Well, the first of the ex-Spud’s two yellow cards came after he squared up to our captain after fouling him. The booking was totally correct. Being fouled by an opponent does not constitute “conning” him, nor does standing your ground when he shoves his snarling, bestial face into yours.

Then, within two minutes of Benayoun scoring our winner, Hutton (who was clearly fuming and out of control) charged into a violent, dangerous tackle on Thomas Vermaelen. The ref brandished the second yellow and the rabid Glaswegian was sent on the walk of shame.

The second booking could have been a straight red. In fact a better manager than McLeish would have spotted that his pit bull had lost his head and would have pulled him off. But I guess it’s too much to expect one pit bull to find fault with the slavering aggression of another.

Now we move forward in time to last Sunday.

Of course McLeish must have been gutted at throwing away a 2-0 lead in the FA Cup – but why not take the defeat like a man?

It’s not as if Arsenal did not deserve to win. We had been the better team in the first half despite conceding two goals. And in the second half we stepped up a gear and completely dominated.

But instead of praising his own team for making a game of it and complimenting Arsenal on a hard fought win, the Taggart look-alike made not one, not two, but THREE ridiculous claims of injustice.

Claim Number One: Theo’s ingenious goal (Arsenal’s second) was handball.

According to McPitbull, the spectacular score in which Walcott played an out-of-this-world one-two off the hapless Hutton to put us level in the match should have been disallowed. Quite apart from the fact that, from every angle I have seen, the ball appeared to strike Theo on the chest or ribs, Hutton blasted the ball at him from about a yard away. Theo’s reactions would have had to be faster than Concorde to have avoided the ball.

Claim Number Two: Darren Bent’s foul for our second penalty was “harsh”.

Sorry Alex. Bent’s was a typical forward’s challenge. He almost certainly did catch Koscielny before the ball, but even if (as has been claimed) he got a tiny touch on the ball first, he had overcommitted himself and failed to move the ball any significant distance, so Kozzer would have been able to continue with the move if he hadn’t been brought down. Penalty, any day of the week.

Claim Number Three: Robin van Persie should be punished by the FA for an “elbow” on Carlos Cuellar.

The trouble is GrumpyGingerJock, the replays show that Robin was watching the ball all the way and that his arm movement was entirely for balance and body readjustment. Maybe there was a shade of trying to hold off the inevitable clattering challenge that Robin must have known was coming, but he can hardly have expected Cuellar’s head to be lunging in at waist level. Robin was on the ground and Cuellar’s head was at midriff height. It really was a case of head to elbow and not the other way round, as the FA seem to have recognised when confirming yesterday that they would not be taking any action against our Captain. Perhaps they should consider censuring McWhinger instead.

So, three spurious claims.

The last of them was a particularly vindictive one, aimed at trying to harm a great player in a way that can bring no benefit to Aston Villa.

The actions of a man?

Or the actions of a frothing latex puppet with a giant hand shoved up his jacksey?

I think we all know the answer: Alex McLeish, you are, indeed, a Muppet. And you probably use Preparation H.

The serious point in all this is that the sort of garbage that McMuppet comes out with gives fuel to the more sensational elements in the media who prefer nothing more than to focus on a “scandal” rather than on a great game of football.

And where Arsenal is concerned, they will latch onto anything negative if it means they don’t have to write about how well our team did to pull themselves round from a 0-2 deficit to force their way into the Fifth Round of the Cup.

Stirring fight backs don’t fit their preconceived agenda of Arsenal as a team in terminal decline. It’s just one more reason why we owe it to the world to win something this year.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Why crawl when you can walk?

January 30, 2012

Written by fatgingergooner

With 3 defeats in the last 4 games and an unconvincing win against Leeds in the last round of the FA Cup, Arsenal fans were feeling far from optimistic ahead of this 4th round clash against Aston Villa.

Rumour had it that the Gunners injury list was starting to ease, and so it proved with Sagna, Henry and Arteta all named on the bench and also the young Frenchman Coquelin was deputising at right back. It was also good to see the Ox given another start after his fine 65 minutes against Man United last week.

On to the game and Arsenal started the first half reasonably well, stroking the ball around and finding space in the midfield. Within 2 minutes of the kick off, Ramsey had already registered a shot on target, but if truth be told it was more like a pass back as Given collected easily. The same cannot be said of the next shot from distance as Vermaelen received a short free kick from RvP before firing an absolute thunderbolt from all of 35 yards which Given did well to save to his left. Brilliant effort, great save.

Arsenal continued to dominate the ball, but with Fabianski back between the posts, you could feel the tension in the air whenever the ball was near the home sides box. The young Pole did well with his first piece of action though, clearing a free kick away with a commanding punch, but he soon reminded us why he is now second choice. Firstly, he wanted too long to make a simple clearance and was lucky to see his blocked kick go for a throw. Then he rolled a terrible pass into the feet of Song who could only return it to sender, thankfully though, this time, the young keeper managed to clear his lines before the block came in.

At the other end, dogged work from Rosicky saw a pass slid into the feet of Walcott who was away behind the Villa defence. Initially, Theo did well to evade a lunging tackle from Cuellar, but his lack of composure reared it’s ugly head again as he thrashed a shot wide instead of steadying himself and picking out one of his colleagues in the box. A waste.

The first 20 minutes had flown by with Ramsey and Rosicky getting the better of the midfield battle, and it was an excellent Ramsey tackle that created the next opportunity. The young Welshman did brilliantly to rob Clark before showing bravery to nick the ball wide to Theo who had space to run into. This time Walcott did get his head up and fired a great low cross towards RvP but the dutchman just failed to find the telling touch.

Arsenal had let Villa off the hook and nearly paid the ultimate price at the other end as the ball ricocheted in behind the static defence and towards the head of Darren Bent. Fortunately for the home side though, the sight of an onrushing Polish keeper was enough for Bent to pull out of the header.Thank god he wasn’t braver!

The game was definitely starting to open up and the Ox showed a great turn of pace to gallop down the left wing before cutting inside and pulling his shot wide of the near post. Good play by the promising youngster.

Arsenal were knocking on the door but just couldn’t find the killer pass to unlock the away teams defence. Walcott, espescially, was guilty of wasting a couple of good crossing chances as the half wore on. His lack of confidence was showing as he refused to attack the full back and instead fired aimless balls across the box. Not what you expect from an attacking wide player.

Thirty minutes had passed without too much to worry about, but a moments lapse of concentration can be deadly  at this level, and so it proved. Arsenal switched off at a corner and Ramsey was caught 2 against 1 at the edge of the area. Keane had ages to pick out a cross and his dinked effort was perfectly weighted for Dunne to climb highest and nod in at the back stick. 0-1 Arsenal again undone by a set piece.

To the home sides credit they were straight down the other end trying to get an equaliser, but Dunne was on fine form, twice clearing dangerous looking crosses. The home fans were starting to get restless as Arsenal camped in the Villa half in search of an equaliser. First Ramsey showed quick feet before firing straight at Given from a tight angle, and then the Ox hit a rocket from 25 yards which got away from Given but just didn’t bounce for an Arsenal player. Was our luck deserting us again?

On the stroke of half time we got the answer, and it wasn’t a good one! Villa broke from another Arsenal attack and Bent was played in down the right hand channel. His powerful shot was well saved by Fabianski at his near post, but as it is with the Gunners at the moment, the ball fell perfectly back to Bent who slotted in well from a tight angle. 0-2 oh dear.

Half time and the boos rang out around the Emirates. To be fair to the home side, they had made all the running and should not have been 2 behind, but the same old story of poor finishing and defensive mistakes meant that Villa’s 2 shots on goal had resulted in a 2 goal deficit. New manager? New players? New tactics? If you’d have asked at half time I think many would’ve said yes please!

But with football being a game of 2 halves, the Gunners still had 45 minutes to turn their season on its head.

Surprisingly, there were no changes at half time. Even with the boos still ringing in his ears, and with Craig Burley’s bullshit whafting under his nose, Arsene had stayed cool and kept faith in his charges.

Arsenal came out fighting, and it wasn’t long before they carved out an opportunity. This time it was a set piece of their own as Mertersacker rose highest at a corner only to see his header cleared off the line. So close!

Arsenal had started the second half brightly and moments later Walcott was almost on the end of a Ramsey back heel, but a fantastic Petrov tackle thwarted him at the last.

The pressure was really building and a flowing move then saw Ramsey with a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box, but with the ball stuck between his feet, he could only manage a weak right footed strike when he might have been better going with his left.

If fans thought Ramsey was at fault for that finish, then he certainly made up for it 2 minutes later as he burst into the box from a Song pass and just managed to toe the ball away from a lunging Dunne. Stonewall penalty and should’ve been a 2nd yellow for Dunne. How he stayed on I will never know! With the pressure on, RvP stepped up to send Given the wrong way and get Arsenal back in the game. 1-2

The tails were up and Ramsey was starting to control the game. Two minutes after the penalty he slid Walcott in down the line. This time Theo ran straight at the full back before squeezing a shot towards the near post. Given did well to get a hand to it but the ball fell to Hutton who somehow managed to smash the ball straight at Theo and into the back of the net! Barely 10 minutes gone in the second half and 2-2! Could it get any better!?

Unbelievably, Yes!

On the hour mark Koscielny collected the ball in defence and marched past the half way line before exchanging a slick 1-2 with Song. With Bent tugging at his shirt, Kozzer stayed strong and charged into the Villa box before Bent, in typical centre forward style, hacked him down with a badly timed/advised lunge. Another penalty to Arsenal and another goal to Arsenal as RvP sent Given the other way this time to put a resurgent Arsenal into the lead.

It was quite telling the way Robin and his teammates galloped over to Henry to celebrate. Maybe Wenger wasn’t the only person who had given out a bollocking in the changing room!?

The comeback was complete and the stuffing had well and truly been knocked out of Villa. Rosicky was dominating midfield, Ramsey was dominating the match, and Walcott was dominating his demons.

It was a joy to watch the young winger suddenly burst into life as he collected a long ball before driving at his full back and fizzing a shot at Given. Could this be the lift Theo needed?

After a brief penalty scare on 70 minutes, Arsene brought Arteta on for Rosicky to sure up the midfield, and it worked perfectly. The last 20 minutes saw very few chances at either end with a right footed RvP effort and a Clarke header straight at Fabianski the most the teams could muster between them. The highlight of the last 20 came on 88 minutes when Sagna returned to first team action for the first time since breaking his leg 4 months ago. Fantastic news.

It was also good to see the Ox and Theo both given standing ovations as they were replaced by Henry and Sagna respectively.

It was a tough 90 minutes to be an Arsenal fan that ultimately ended in elation as the boys turned into men in the space of 45 minutes. Ramsey showed just how to grab a match by the scruff of the neck, controlling the midfield for large chunks of the game, and especially in the key 15 minutes after half time. He was aided brilliantly by the energetic Rosicky who put in a sparkling performance to show that there’s life in some of the ‘deadwood’ yet!

It was a fantastic result for Arsenal, not because of the scoreline, but because of the way the team came back from 2-0 down. The second half performance was a joy to behold from every single player. People have questioned the manager’s and the player’s desire in the last few weeks, but no-one can say they don’t care, and they proved that in the second half.

At the end of the game I saw a banner about DB that read :
‘why fly, when you can walk on water’

We are nowhere near his high standards yet, but one small step at a time. If the first half was a crawl, then by the end of the second we were definitely up on our feet.

‘why crawl, when you can walk’

Ratings:

Fabianski-couple of shakey moments early on and may get blamed, unfairly, for parrying Bents shot back to him. Was solid in the air though and did little wrong 7

Coquelin-offered little going forward first half and was undone a couple of times by Agbonlahor. Kept everyone onside on build up to 1st goal. This shouldnt detract from his overall game though which was very good 7

Vermaelen-Much better in supporting Ox going forward and unlucky with a great strike early on. Caught out of position for second goal. 7

Koscielny-quiet first half but mainly because he makes defending look so easy. Came to life with run for 3rd goal and solid as a rock. 2nd best PL defender behind Kompany. 8

Mertersacker-great in the air at both ends and nearly scored. Maybe should have been talking to Coquelin in build up for first goal but very solid nonetheless. 7.5

Song-quiet game again but much better than recent games. Good second half and had a hand in winning both penalties. 7

Rosicky-drove forward whenever he could and worked hard. Gave Ramsey the platform to dictate the play. Looking back to something like his best 8

Ramsey-outstanding performance. If you think this kid is on par with Denilson then you are having a laugh! Controlled the game 9 MOTM

Ox-a solid display and showed maturity beyond his years. A natural footballer who looks dangerous whenever he has the ball and so composed for one so young 7.5

Walcott-Jekyl and Hyde. Had a poor first half as he failed on numerous occasions to get at Warnock when one on one. A different player second half and looked like he had his confidence back. Just wish he would attack the byeline more as he is so much more dangerous when he does it. 7.5

RvP-2 good penalties and linked up play with his usual mixture of strength and guile. Difficult day against a tough competitor in Dunne but eventually came out on top. Got ESPN Motm. 8

Arteta-6
Sagna-6
Henry-6

Arsène Wenger-maybe a slight risk starting with Coquelin but the young Frenchman was excellent. Brought Arteta on after 70 minutes to shore up the side and it worked well. Good substitutions, but earned his money in the half time interval. Many managers would’ve panicked and made changes, but Wenger’s faith was repaid by his players and he has to take a lot of credit for the half time turnaround as the players came out pumped up for the second half. 8

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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