Robin van Persie is the son of a sculptor and a painter and his inherited creative genius shines through on the football pitch. Beginning his career at Excelsior Rotterdam, he moved on to Feyenoord and earned caps for the Dutch u19 and u21 teams.
Robin always dreamed of playing for his hometown club and then moving on to Arsenal or a small club in Catalonia to further his career.
Robin has always loved the red and white.
The highlight of Robin’s Feyenoord career was winning the UEFA cup in 2002 with a 3-2 victory and being named Dutch football talent of the year for the 2001/2 season.
van Persie’s early Arsenal career began fairly slowly largely due to injuries. From the 2004/5 season to 2009/10 he scored 5, 5, 11, 7, 11 and 9 league goals respectively. 2010/11 saw his total leap to 18, many of which were scored in the second half of the season when Arsenal’s unravelling was taking place.
This season he has scored 16 goals in 17 appearances, including 2 goals against Bolton on 24th September to take his Arsenal tally to 100. Of these one hundred goals, 71 were scored with his left foot, 23 right foot and 6 were headers which goes some way to dispel the myth of the van Persie ‘chocolate’ leg. His current tally for 2011 stands at 34 goals in a staggering 34 games. This draws level with Thierry Henry’s 34 but these were scored in 39 games and puts him two goals away from Alan Shearer’s all-time record of 36 scored in 42 matches.
Here are a few illustrations of Robin’s prowess in front of goal which has taken him to 115 goals, currently level with Alan Smith.
RVP with his right foot versus Wolves home 12th Feb 2011
The next goal versus Fulham on 22nd May 2011 illustrates a magnificent first touch.
A hat-trick of very different goals at 55secs, 3min 5 secs and 6 mins versus Wigan on 22nd January.
Robin’s goal against Everton encapsulated his self-professed desire to take risks by taking the volley on, resulting in his best goal of 2011.
RVP is now a world class striker who scores goals from all angles as the following illustrates
Robin’s son looks a prospect, too, so let’s hope he grows up with the Arsenal gene and follows in his father’s footsteps.
When was the last time you heard the words “Wenger must buy” followed by any of the following: Jagielka, Cahill, Samba, Hangeland?
It seems only weeks ago that were as many headlines linking us with other clubs’ defenders as there are stars in the sky or skeletons in John Terry’s closet.
Now… nothing. They are as a rare as a Howard Webb follicle or an Alan Hutton brain cell.
The manager who was “past it” and “can’t pick defenders” suddenly seems to have made the centre back position one of the strongest at the club. You certainly don’t hear anyone now crying out for a Jagielka or Cahill.
Although injuries to our four leading full backs have played havoc with team selection of late, there is no question that we currently have three excellent centre halves at the club, with several strong back-ups behind them.
What’s interesting is how different the three of them are.
I’m expecting to get shot down for this, but when we had that amazing threesome of Adams, Bould and Keown, they were all (to my eyes) fairly similar players.
They had different strengths and qualities to some degree, but overall their approach was broadly the same: they were big, hard men who bossed the opposition forwards, enjoyed putting themselves in where it hurt, were dominant in the air and strong in the tackle. They were defenders first, footballers second.
But our first choice CBs this year are far less homogenous. Let’s look at their individual styles:
Thomas Vermaelen (the Lion of Flanders)
TV’s absence for most of last season was a huge blow. We’ll never know whether his presence would have steadied the ship enough to enable us to have a real tilt at the title or win the Carling Cup – but it might have done.
He is an out-and-out warrior and, in his style of play, is the closest to the Adams/Bould/Keown mould. He repeatedly wins aerial duels against taller opponents purely on the basis of power, determination and technique. When we’re on the back foot, he’ll be the one throwing his body in the line of fire and encouraging those around him by example. As he showed against Manchester City, he can also be a real handful when he marauds into the opposition half and already has a decent goal haul since joining us.
Per Mertesacker (the Big FOOTBALLING German)
A lot of assumptions were made about big Per when he joined us. With the height of a small office block, it seemed a no-brainer (aka a “Hutton”) that he would add a previously undreamt-of level of aerial dominance to our defending and would be a huge attacking threat at set pieces.
By those lights he has somewhat disappointed. Although tall, he does not have a big jump and, whether paired with Koscielny or Vermaelen, is often the one less likely to be making the aerial challenges. He also made a few costly blunders as he adjusted to the pace of the Premier League and has seemed slow on the turn.
However, from a footballing point of view the BFG is the best central defender we have had for a very, very long time. In fact I would say you have to go back to David O’Leary at his best to find someone who was as good.
Mertesacker’s reading of the game is second to none, which means he often snuffs out moves before they become perilous. It’s less spectacular than the last ditch tackle, but a lot easier on the old ticker.
Further, he is just SO comfortable on the ball. I watched him very carefully in the Villa game – a game in which we came under a great deal of pressure at times. Whenever Per got possession at the back he was able to find space and time and play really intelligent balls to the midfield or attack. He never loses possession and always chooses the right out ball. I don’t want to go over the top, but his time on the ball and his distribution are reminiscent of Bobby Moore.
You would not want two Mertesackers as your CB pairing, but one BFG paired with a more combative and mobile CB is a match made in N5 (Heaven).
Laurent Koscielny (The Limo*)
I don’t want to seem clever after the fact, but I have been trumpeting Kozzer’s qualities since he first joined us.
He can man mark as well as Martin Keown, but he’s as nippy as a winger and has the turning circle of a London taxi on ice. Famously, he had a 100% tackle success rate in his last season in the French Ligue 1. You’re never going to win all your tackles in the EPL, but he is an astonishingly good tackler – technically almost perfect.
Added to that he is ludicrously brave. Last season he seemed to get brutally clobbered in every single game – sometimes by an opponent, but often by the head, boot or fist of one of his own team mates. He would lie pole-axed for a while, shake his head, then enter the fray. Despite this, he never pulls out of a challenge with leg or head, which must mean he is staggeringly courageous or staggeringly stupid. Hopefully the former. Like Vermaelen he regularly triumphs in aerial battles he has no right to win.
Finally, he is also a pretty decent ball player. In fact one thing all three of our first choice CBs have is a footballing ability that puts them a level above Adams/Bould/Keown.
In Conclusion
The obvious point to make is that we are fortunate to have three such excellent CBs (and fortunate to have a manager capable of seeing their qualities and signing them).
But, when our full backs have returned, it does raise the question as to which two should be in our starting line-up. Obviously all three will get games, but when it comes down to that big, big match-up against either of the Manchesters or the Spuds, which two should get the call-up?
When Rasp did an overview of selection issues in various areas of the team in early November, he ran a poll on this very subject. Over 70% of respondents thought that Vermaelen/Koscielny should be our first choice pairing. Vermaelen and Mertesacker scored just over 25% and Koscielny/Mertesacker just under 4%.
I want to frame this poll somewhat differently.
I’m starting with the idea that we choose an out and out first choice CB, with whom either of the other two can play. Is it Vermaelen with one of the other two? Or Mertesacker? Or Koscielny?
I’ll admit to a bias in doing this. Although I love Vermaelen and Koscielny, I feel that Mertesacker has to start in our strongest line-up because of the immense calmness and control he brings to our back line and our ability to transition out of defence. So for me it would the BFG plus either of the others.
What do you think?
*Koscielny hails from the Limousin region of France.
The first 45 minutes were pretty different from what I expected. Aston Villa did not close us down frantically and allowed Arsenal plenty of space. Especially Gervinho and Theo saw plenty of the ball, as Villa sat deep in the beginning, allowing our wingers to attack them from the sides. Arsenal also allowed Villa a lot of space and there were plenty of chances for each team during the entire first half. The game was surprisingly open and yet the tempo did not appear to be very high.
After Gervinho had tried but failed to reach the by-line on a number of occasions – not being able to beat the ex-Spud Hutton – Theo was successful at the first attempt. He skinned the inexperienced Carian Clark just inside the box of Villa with a brilliant, ballet-like pirouette, after which he had acres of space to pick a pass. The young Villa defender pulled Theo back and the referee Jon Moss blew his whistle, even though Theo had not fallen down as a result of the pull-back. Penalty. RvP lined himself up to reach an incredible milestone: if he scores he will have equalled TH14 calendar year goal scoring tally. Is he nervous though? No, just BOOM in the roof of the net: 1-0 to The Arsenal.
After that, the game remained open, and after quick moves, both Theo and Ramsey got decent opportunities to score from just outside the box. Both missed the deadly accuracy and calmness of Boy Wonder and, as a result, two half-decent opportunities were wasted. Villa had their own chances, predominantly as a result of playing balls quickly into the box from Arsenal’s LB area to their ‘fox in the box’: the man with the warrior-like name of Agbonlahor (for a while, I dreamed of an attacking combination for Arsenal of Arshavin, Adebayor and Agbonlahor: it just sounded like the ultimate warrior-machine: the tree terrible A’s). I thought Vermaelen struggled a few times to put himself in the right positions in the first half, and as a result Aston Villa had a few opportunities to put the ball into the box from our LB area which led to some half-decent opportunities for them. Luckily, AV were not sharp enough to pounce on these half-chances.
2nd half observations from another bad stream
Aston Villa started well. They allowed us less space and pressed us earlier in our own half. In the 54th minute, an opportunistic, high ball by Villa is defended by Vermaelen, who heads horizontally to Merkesacker. The latter is already on a yellow card and Vermaelen’s header is too short. Albrighton seizes his opportunity by taking the ball past the indecisive Mertesacker, and slots the ball calmly and professionally past the onrushing Szczesny. Quite an impressive finish.
Theo Walcott experiences an almost déjà-vu moment when, just as in the game against Citeh, he gets a decent opportunity to score a goal straight after our kick-off. The impressive again Richard Dunne makes a superb slide-tackle in the box to deny Walcott. Mertesacker seemed desperate to make amends for his and Vermaelen’s defensive error earlier. He was close to scoring a goal from inside the box, not with his head but with his foot, from one of the many Arsenal corners in the second half.
During this half, there is no more space for either Walcott or Gervinho to produce some effective wing-play. Wenger makes three changes in the last 25 minutes: Rosicky, Arshavin and Benayoun for respectively Frimmpong, Gervinho and Ramsey. Arshavin and Benayoun are only given ten minutes to make a difference which is not ideal of course. Frimmpong started to give away unnecessary fouls and both Gervinho and Ramsey looked exhausted.
The changes had an immediate positive impact as Arsenal was able to retake the initiative. We started to control the game and were desperately looking for holes in the middle of AV’s defence. We were awarded corner after corner, and from the 11th corner-kick in the second half – just as every single Gooner had given up hope we would ever score from a corner again – RvP reaches a free Yossi Benayoun (Agbonlahor had not bothered to stay with him in the box), and a late, and no longer expected, Christmas present was delivered to all who love the Arsenal: most probably the lightest man on the pitch, our man on loan from the Chavs, scores with a close-range header: 1-2 with only three minutes to go!
Some conclusions:
A scrappy win: no doubt about that. Our passing was under-par and we seemed to be missing our FB’s a lot more in this game than against the Mancs. We really lacked a strong/effective shape to the team tonight. There were a lot of tired legs out there, but the same goes for Aston Villa; and that was our saving grace.
A few players were brilliant today: Arteta, RvP, and especially Koz: with their energy and never-say-die attitude they made a major contribution to us winning three points tonight. I also thought Coquelin, after a slightly difficult start, had a good game. I was especially impressed with his ability to play long-range passes towards Theo, or diagonally towards the other winger. This boy has style and, judging on these early signs, will go far at Arsenal. It was also good to see Rosicky back. He really gave us a better shape to the team, almost as soon as he was on the pitch.
And well done to Robin for reaching this incredible milestone. We all know how special Thierry Henry was: one of the best strikers I have ever seen. For Robin to equal his calendar-year goals tally is incredible, and with a bit of luck he will surpass Alan Shearer’s by scoring three more goals in the next two home games.
Three points are three points. It is a game best to forget quickly and for us now to concentrate on our next two home games: Wolves and QPR. The boys will now have a rest till at least Monday and Alex Song will be back. Hopefully there will be no further injuries coming from this game, so we can put out a good team against Wolves. Liverpool and Newcastle dropped points again, and today either the Chavs or Spuds, or both, will drop points. The race for third and fourth place is on and we are now very well positioned; just behind the Chavs and the Spuds. Before Big Ben strikes 12 times on New Year’s Eve, we could be snug as a bug in a rug in third place.
The second game of the busy festive period is upon us, and a trip to Aston Villa and the odorous Alex McLeish awaits. Villa fans have not warmed to their new manager and his style of football. He has turned them into Birmingham of 2010-11 and so far they have managed four wins from sixteen games scoring only 18 goals. They have though like McLeish’s former charges become the draw specialists and no doubt he will set his side up in the traditional Routemaster formation.
This is often the type of game that we have been known to take too lightly in the past, often featuring numerous changes to the team and resulting in a disjointed and difficult to watch performance. Last season Wigan away over the Christmas period was a case in point. If the boss needs more recent proof of why he should not over rotate it is the Olympiakos away game where the team sent out never got going, no matter that it was a dead rubber.
For these reasons I hope Arsène will make no more than two or three changes and do the same for the rest of the games in the festive period to provide rest for the big players over the period but still maintaining the core of the side. One change for this game has been forced upon us by suspension and one by injury.
Tonight I would line up as follows:
We need all the attacking quality we can muster, although part of me expects Wenger to start Arshavin in place of Gervinho. Perhaps because it is away from the glare of the Emirates crowd it would be more beneficial to Arshavin’s confidence to start tonight rather than at home against Wolves.
Whatever team takes the field tonight they will need to be up for the fight and to continue the drive we saw from them on Sunday, Villa may be lacking in technical craft but they have players that will do their best to outmuscle the new look Arsenal, especially across the back four and they will certainly be sent out fired up by McLeish. Given and Bent, both so often tormentors of the good guys, are missing as is Herd, and Collins is struggling to make the game. The biggest blow for Arsenal is that Heskey is also unavailable which means they may have more mobility in midfield and final third than anticipated.
It is important the result is secured early on, we need to conserve energy reserves for the next three games so a fast start with a couple of goals before half time will be a perfect tonic. A win is a must to continue our pursuit of the Champions League spots.
To continue with tradition of Inventors hailing from the home of our opponents I have unfortunately struggled to come up with any worthy men from the tiny Birmingham suburb named Aston……well that is apart from the fateful day in 1969 when Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osborne decided a band called Earth was a bit rubbish and reinvented themselves as Black Sabbath and gave birth to Heavy Metal. Rock on to three points.
To lose all four of our first team fullbacks at once to long-term injuries really is unfortunate.
As an example of serious bad luck it’s right up there with Wayne Rooney finding himself at Grab-a-Granny night in the local nightclub with both arms in plaster; or Harry Redknapp taking a wrong turn into an auction house and accidentally winning 53 bids on account of his twitch.
Despite our spirited performance at the PetroDome on Sunday, Manchester City shaded the game and just about deserved the win.
However, I am sure that if we had had recognised fullbacks instead of converted centre halves the balance of play would have been much more level and may even have tipped in our favour.
There seems to be some possibility of Gibbs returning in time for the Boxing Day fixture against Wolves at the Emirates, but that’s far from certain and the other three (Sagna, Santos and Jenkinson) are still a way off.
To compound the problem, Johann Djourou, who has been filling in at right back, is also out injured for three weeks.
So what do we do?
The makeshift back four that finished the game against City did not look convincing. Quite apart from their inability to support our wide forwards, they also struggled positionally.
I’m not blaming the individual players because they did their best while playing out of position, but Koscielny lost his bearings in the build-up to Silva’s goal, allowing Balotelli too much room, and Miquel, as temporary left back, should have been picking up Silva who was standing unmarked in the box.
With the speed and intensity of Premiership football, you can only hope to eliminate those sorts of errors with constant drilling and practice as a fullback, which neither Kozzer nor Miquel has had the opportunity to do.
On Wednesday we play Aston Villa and we need to find a solution to this conundrum.
I would be disappointed if we start with a back four of Miquel and Kozzer as FBs and Vermaelen and BFG as CBs.
We run the risk of having a groundhog day experience, with not enough support for the wide players and not enough positional discipline to make our defence as secure as it should be.
Instead, and because these are special circumstances, maybe it’s time for Arsene Wenger to try something a little more radical.
My suggestion? We adopt a 3-5-2 formation (or to avoid upsetting GiE and the goalkeepers’ union, a 1-3-5-2).
My back three would be the Verminator on the left, BFG in the middle and Kozzer on the right.
In front of them a five made up of (from left to right): Gervinho, Ramsey, Frimpong (Song is serving a 1 match suspension), Arteta, Coquelin.
And, up front, Theo and RvP.
I have moved Gerv into the five man midfield because he is more effective at covering defensively than Theo and also has more variety in his play when picking up the ball from deep.
I like Coquelin as right midfield because he has played RB before and is a tenacious tackler and competitor who also has the footballing skills to bomb forward and help the attack.
Arteta, Frimpong and Ramsey in the middle all have the energy and awareness to drop back if one of the two wide midfielders is caught forward.
As for up front, I don’t see Prince Robin needing to change his approach at all, but I would give Theo licence to drift all along the attacking line without needing to overly concern himself with defensive duties.
So there you have it: one man’s idea for coping with no fullbacks. I should emphasise that my theory is based firmly on zero foundations as I have never coached or managed a football team apart from (once) a five-year-old girls’ team. So feel free to rip it apart and offer your own solution…
Manchester City 1 – 0 Arsenal: Match report and player ratings
Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.
It was not to be. But, despite Citeh’s unforgivable luring of our players and hiring of our legend(s) over the last few seasons, and the shameless ‘investment’ in the club of £800m in order to buy a few pots, we still matched them in all departments today. The margins were small, and to be fair, Citeh did produce the best overall football at times and had the better chances, but throughout the game we played with spirit and class, with a never-say-die attitude and a real belief in ourselves.
The New Arsenal knows how to fight, it knows how to play as a team and for each other, it never gives up, and because of that we deserved a point out of yesterday’s game. It was not to be, but despite the loss of three points yesterday, our team will have won a lot of belief, confidence and real team spirit to build on further. In the long run, this game will prove to have been very valuable for us.
First Half
The game started pretty even, with both teams full of energy and confidence. In the 9th minute Citeh have a decent first chance: Zabaleta puts in a decent cross from the left to Aguero, who controls the ball well but then blasts the ball well over Szczesny and the goal. After that, there is more pressure by MC but Arsenal work hard as a unit and give very little space away. At this stage though, Song gets a yellow card – a very soft one – and soon after that Richards shamelessly tries to get our ‘Only Song’ booked again. A feat repeated by a few more Citeh players during the match, but referee Dowd did well not to fall into that oily trap. Arsenal struggles at the early stages to pass the ball through Citeh’s lines, and our opponents find it easier to pick an attacking through-ball. However, this changes when Song picks out a good run by Gervinho who hits a hard and low diagonal shot which Joe Hart, with an element of luck, is just able to save with his right arm. This was just what we needed to give us believe. The subsequent corner is played towards the edge of the box, where Ramsey hits a good low shot onto Hart’s left corner. The latter makes a decent save though.
In the 23rd minute, Richards puts a high ball into the box which is not handled decisively by our defence. Especially Mertesacker, who does not show enough strength in his one-on-one with Balotelli, is at fault, as the latter is able to turn and shoot at goal from close range. Szczesny imposes himself like an onrushing giant octopus and makes a very decent save. In the 35th minute, we witness another good run from defence into midfield by the superb Koscielny: he plays the ball to RvP, whose shot is blocked but still reaches Ramsey in the box.
Ramsey does not hit the ball cleanly, but does still almost score. Kolo Toure makes a clumsy tackle on Rambo but as he played the ball first, it was always unlikely Arsenal would be given a penalty for it. Gervinho and Theo work very hard all over the pitch and help out our defence on numerous occasions, and this is one of the reasons Arsenal never allows MC to have long periods of pressure on us. The teams continue to be pretty evenly matched. In the 41st minute, Aguero makes an energetic horizontal run across our box – reminiscent of Romario – until he finds a gap to put a decent diagonal shot in, but Szczesny had read his intentions well and saves his effort with ease.
Second Half
After two minutes, Djourou needs to be replaced and Miquel comes on. Arsenal needs to reshuffle its defence: Koz moves from CB to RB, Miquel becomes our LB and Vermaelen moves from LB to CB. Not good of course, but it had to be done. In the 53th minute, a good run through the centre by Gervinho almost finds Theo, but Zabaleta, who had a good game for Citeh, intercepts and the ball falls to Barry. Barry passes to Nasri who sees a sea of space in front of him on the left hand side – so he passes the ball to Balotelli who can collect the ball without any RB pressure (Koz is out of position). Song does his best to move into the space, but Balotelli manages to move the ball to Song’s left side and hits a low drive towards Szczesny.
Our goalkeeper is able to stop the shot, but the ball bounces up and Aguero beats Vermaelen brilliantly with a quick, horizontal header towards Silva, who puts the ball into our net from close range, despite Vermaelen’s flying tackle. A real shame, but plenty of time to make amends. From the subsequent kick-off the ball comes to Theo who shoots at once and forces Hart to make a half-decent save.
In the 56th minute, Gervinho instigates another attack. From Arsenal’s left hand side, he passes back to Ramsey who instantly passes towards RvP. Boy Wonder tricks Hart brilliant, but his goal is ruled offsite. It is very marginal, and at moments like this it would probably really help if we were playing at home, as it needed a ‘benefit of the doubt’ decision in our favour. For the game it would have been brilliant if that one had counted, but it was not to be.
Then, ten mad minutes of football ensue. In the 62nd minute, Aguero unleashed a venomous, diagonal shot across the goal that had Szczesny probably beaten, but it went past the right side of the post for us. In the 63rd minute our defence is carved open by clever interplay of Silva and Nasri. The latter only has to pass the ball sideways in the box towards the relatively quiet Balotelli, and an easy tap-in would have resulted in 2-0 and game over. Unbelievably, Nasri over-hits his pass and we are given another lifeline. In the 64th minute, Gervinho skins Richards with a quick move and brilliant wing-play, and he pulls the ball back superbly for RvP’s, normally lethal, left foot. Unbelievably, Robin scoffs his shot and Hart is able to make a simple save. Ooh, what a shame that was. Had we scored then, we could have won the game, but Robin is human after all! In the 66th minute, Zabaleta hits the post and in the 67th minute Theo puts in a good cross towards RvP and Ramsey, who ones again had made a good run into the box, but they are ruled offsite. Again, this is a marginal decision which did not go our way, but Hart saved very well anyway.
Theo is then replaced by Arshavin, and the former is, understandably, not happy with the decision. In the 71st minute, a good move by Ramsey leads to a pass towards RvP, who quickly finds Arshavin. The pocket Russian has all the time in the world to pass the ball into the box towards several onrushing Arsenal players, but he fails miserably. The only possible excuse is that he still had to get into the game, but nevertheless his misplaced pass, which was easily intercepted by Hart, was pretty unforgivable.
In the 77th minute, we could have had a penalty. It would have been a soft one, but it did appear that Richards moved his arm slightly to stop the ball from going past his body, and he definitely did not try to get his arm out of the way. I can live with the referee’s decision, but I am pretty sure we would have had a penalty if we’d played at home. In the 89th minute, we witness another Arshavin-horror moment, as he miscues the ball badly form a simple pass by RvP. The melancholic Russian made the wrong decision and his execution was equally poor. Theo’s substitution was a bad decision, in hindsight.
Was that it then? Well no, there were still two brilliant Vermaelen moments, which could have so easily given us a deserved point from yesterday’s game. Firstly, from an Arteta free-kick, he drove a fierce shot from outside the box straight at Hart: anywhere else and it would have burst the net. Secondly, he put his entire livelihood into a shot from well outside the box towards Hart’s right side of the goal that only just misses the target.
The last fifteen minutes were almost entirely ours, but ever so frustratingly we just missed a bit of luck and levelheadedness (mainly by Arshavin) to come away from the Etihad stadium with a well-deserved point. However, this game will have done the New Arsenal easily as much good as our recent victory over the Chavs and our qualification for the Champions League last 16. Something the Oilers can only dream off at this stage of their Petrodollar Bonanza Project. And long may it continue.
Player Ratings
Szczesny: top performance: oozes confidence and his decision making is nearly flawless. Strikers fear him and that is half the battle won: 8.5
Koscielny: great drive and positioning (before he became RB). What a joy to have such a dedicated and positive, beastly good CB in our team: 8.5
Mertesacker: some good positioning and he brings calmness and organisation to our team. Needs to become a bit more aggressive and decisive, but I still like his performance: 7
Djourou: had a decent first half in an relatively unfamiliar position, and tried at least a few runs forwards: 7
Vermaelen: absolute beast and works so incredibly hard for the team. Also played in a relatively unfamiliar position and, understandably, we missed the attacking LB play from him at times. His desire to score for us in the last 10 minutes was simply inspirational: an other great player to have at Arsenal: 8.5
Miquel: did very well, and what a classy player we have here: 7.5
Arteta: brilliant game. Fought like a stallion and worked his socks off for the team. Together with Song, he tamed the MC midfield: 8.5
Ramsey: brilliant game. Fought like a dragon and worked his socks off for the team. He was everywhere and made so many positive runs into the box. Sooner or later, he will start scoring goals on a regular basis and, ideally, we would have had somebody in Ramsey’s position yesterday, who can do what he did plus score (more) goals. But Ramsey gives absolutely everything and is learning and growing very fast: 8
Song: brilliant game. Fought like a lion and did very well not to get a second yellow card: a very mature performance. Together with Arteta, he tamed the MC midfield: 8.5
Theo: was often isolated in attack and when he had the ball he was unable to shield it very well at times. He is not able to attack defenders from standing still; the way Gervinho does and that really is a handicap for him in games like this. Worked his socks off to help out our defence: 7.5
Gervinho: some will say he needs to improve on his decision making. Although, he made a few not-so-good decisions, he made many very good decision and he was everywhere yesterday. Like Theo he helped out our defence constantly, but he also set up many of our attacks: 8.5
RvP: worked his socks off for the team, and scored a brilliant goal which was given offsite unfortunately. Missed a good chance, but was also up against one of the best CB’s in the world right now (Kompany): 8.5
My Man of the Match: the entire team. They did us proud yesterday.
Thanks to the Siberian oligarch’s team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.
The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world’s wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.
The Abu Dhabi owned north western club’s unbeaten run was bought to a shuddering halt by events at the bus stop in Fulham last weekend so the aura of league invincibility has been broken.
Additionally the expected exit from the top flight of European football that preceded the league set back will have some effect on the team dynamic for the Sky Blues on show today, however they still have a 100% home record this season and will jealously guard that record.
The Arsenal have seven wins and a draw from their last eight (the draw being at home against Fulham) so form wise things don’t look too shabby for us.
The main talking point team selection wise will be the full backs for either side. Taking the home team first, Clichy ‘s unavailability and the other first team left back’s(Kolarov) injury means it is expected that Zabaleta will switch from his usual right sided position so that a returning Micah Richards can slot into his preferred right back spot.
As for the good guys, it is well documented that both the first choice and back up for both full back positions are all out injured so we continue with an all centre-back derived back four. As there are no injuries or returnees from injury from the Everton game the back four should be as before, from left to right as we look at it: Djourou, Kozzer, Per (BFG), and The Verminator.
In midfield the first choice trio of Song, Arteta and Ramsey virtually picks itself with front three being Theo, Gervinho and Robin.
Trying to pick the opposition team, aside from their fullbacks and goalie is less predictable suffice to say that there is a wealth of options available to Mancini, however one would expect to see their key man Silva start with any two up front from a choice of three strikers from Aguero, Dzeko and the pyrotechnic, synthetic grass allergic prankster.
The other midfield places up for grabs could see the Ballon D’or candidate S. Na$ri esq show us his skills in advance of his appearances in the Premier European competition as showcased by Channel 5, namely the Europa Cup.
To my mind the strength of the attacks down the flanks will decide who breaks through to score – both sides do not have their ideal full backs, however the good guys will have had the experience of the Everton game operating as a defensive unit whereas the home side will not be settled and have a right back who is not only returning from injury but has a tendency to attack sufficiently to allow Gervinho to exploit any space behind Micah Richards, especially as Gervinho won’t have to assist defensively as the Verminator is no slouch at left back.
Theo’s willingness to track back should afford Djourou a degree of protection so with those two facts in mind I expect some solidity in defence.
With our possession game on song nowadays I believe patience will be required to quieten the home crowd so that a nil nil at half time should get the boos ringing out at the Municipal ground in M11, Lancashire.
In keeping with this season’s motif in match previews, I point you in the direction of Reverend George Garrett a product of 1850’s Moss Side, the inventor of the world first mechanically driven submarine and the possessor of a fine beard-bald head combo.
Down periscope !
Sadly his first attempt at a sub sank (the Resurgam, which weighed in at 45 tons) after a towing rope snapped and his reputation suffered to such an extent that he died in abject poverty at the turn of the century in New York, having emigrated there in order to revive his flagging reputation. Perhaps a salutary tale for the noveau riche of the Premier League.
The world of football has changed in so many ways since first I clambered up the steps at Highbury and looked down in awe at the scene before me; an oblong of green set at the bottom of a man made bowl, the concrete sides towering above it. There it was the home of my schoolboy dreams, the canvass on which I had for all my growing years drawn in my mind’s eye the daring deeds which I, “Roy of the Arsenal” had performed heroically, defeating all and sundry with magical skills and wondrous last minute goals.
It had not been easy being a gooner, raised in a family of spuds and living many miles from the ground despite having been born In Walthamstow. Indeed in those days I don’t remember being called gooners, we were the Gunners and proud of it.
But in the fullness of time a gooner I became, the umbilical cord of that born again experience, when first I discovered the team that played with the cannon on its chest, still keeps me joined some sixty years later to the wonderful club that has meant so much to me over the years.
Still from those far off days, it is the humour I remember from watching the Arse, the banter with the oppositions supporters was, pointed, cutting and at times downright hilarious . We had the morons of course, but they were few and far between and usually dealt with by the crowd itself.
The days of the football hooligans that led to all seated stadia lay well in the future, these were the days when we didn’t win anything but still the humour remained, It was a scouser who I first heard tell an Arsenal player “he was as much use as a chocolate teapot” and another as “useful as a third tit on a nun”.
Arsenal fans at King’s Cross to catch the special trains to Huddersfield for the FA Cup semi final against Grimbsy, 21st March 1936. Arsenal won 1-0
So where I wonder did the hatred come from, the obscene chants that are classed by many as funny these days. Even our refined, cultured, intelligent manager is bombarded on a weekly basis by brainless choirs regurgitating accusations far too vile and scurrilous for repetition on any blog with aspirations to quality.
Tribalism is fine, it helps the common cause and binds the supporters together in a collective quest to play their part in motivating and driving the team onwards and upwards, supports them through tough times and rejoices in their success.
But why the sectarianism, racism and the vitriol poured on rival supporters, particularly in our case the spuds and Chavs
Yes I know there are those that will say football grounds are not the home of knitting circles. But where is the respect for the skills of opposing players, who if the truth was told, we would love to see in our shirt, and the supporters who had they been born, like us in different places would in all likelihood support some other team.
I have never been to the Emirates, but read constantly the comments of those that do, that we don’t support or cheer our team enough, maybe, and here I can only surmise, maybe the trend to abuse more than support, and attrition rather than respect, is what keeps the much derided corporate customers embarrassed and quiet.
When the draw was made for the group stage back in August, there was mixed reaction from the gooner faithful. Dortmund were deemed the strongest of the pot 4 teams and Otelul Galati perhaps the weakest. No surprise when Arsenal got Dortmund and the mancs were drawn with Otelul. Suggestions of United paying for an easy group were obviously wide of the mark (let’s hope they kept the receipt). The Mansour mercenaries seemed to have a tough group but most thought the £82m they spent in the summer to add to the £130m they spent the previous summer plus January would mean they would be strong enough to progress.
Esteemed blogger RA had a punt at the final 16 and was unlucky to predict only 9 of them correctly.
Who would have thought that both teams from the north west would get dumped into the Europa League and the London clubs in crisis would both finish top of their respective groups?
Today we could be drawn against FC Vaslui, FC Metalist Kharkiv……..no, hang on a minute, these are possible opponents for the Manche5ter teams in the Spursday Challenge Trophy. (draw to be held after the important business is finished)
The UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw in Nyon will be streamed live on UEFA.com from 11am GMT. Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 14/15 and 21/22 February and at home in the return matches on 6/7 and 13/14 March. No team can play a club from their group or any side from the same association.
The draw for the remainder of the competition will be held on 16th March with the Champions League Final to be staged at the Allianz Arena München on 19th May 2012.
Our possible opponents in the Round of 16 are Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Zenit St Petersburg and AC Milan
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli
Vanquishers of the Lancastrian Oilers, Napoli are the most successful club in Southern Italy. Reputed to have been joint-founded by two English sailors in the 1900s, the club was threatened with bankruptcy and extinction in 2004 until Neapolitan film producer Aurelio De Laurentis stumped up the cash to keep the SS Napoli afloat.
Napoli looked sharp in the group stage finishing behind Bayern on 11 points. Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani looked dangerous and is their current top scorer (El Cashico derby participants are both said to be interested). Both the stylish Slovakian Marek Hamsic and Argentinian Ezequiel Lavezzi also impressed, especially on the counter attack.
Would Naples be a delightful place to go in the early spring?
CSKA Moscow
The ‘A’ in CSKA stands for Army but the club is no longer a section of the Russian military’s CSKA sports club. However the Russian Ministry of Defense is a still a CSKA shareholder and the club benefitted from a major cash injection from Sibneft (Abramovich) in 2004. Nicknamed ‘The Horses’ ( their first training facilities were located in a building previously used as a Prince Yusupov’s stable) or the ‘Army Men’, CSKA finished the group stage as runners up to Inter with 8 points with both Trabzonspor and Eden Hazard’s Lille close behind.
It is reported that CSKA have retired the shirt number 12 as the supporters are regarded as the club’s 12th man. Romanian Ianis Zicu is current top scorer.
How would Arsenal respond to a chilly trip to Moscow in late February?
FC Basel
Founded in 1893, FC Basel are one of the most successful clubs in Switzerland having a fierce rivalry with both Zurich teams (FC Zurich and Grasshoppers). In the 2001–02 season the club reached the UEFA Intertoto Cup final, losing to Aston Villa. One of the early club captains was Joan Gamper, who later founded FC Barcelona in Spain.
Basel played well at the Theatre of (Howard Webb’s wet) Dreams and perhaps should have won. Current top scorer is Alexander Frei and Fabian Frei has also chipped in with a couple of goals from midfield.
Basel knocking the mancs out the CL has to be one of the highlights of our shadenfreude season so far. Listening to Fergie’s voice mail the day after Basel’s victory may help you re-live the unbridled joy of that night.
Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon only came to prominence in France in 2002 with their first Ligue 1 championship followed by an amazing six more successive titles. Managed by ex-gooner Remi Garde, Lyon are very popular in France on a similar level to PSG and only beaten in the popularity stakes by Marseille.
There was nothing dodgy at all about their 7-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, allied to Ajax’s 3-0 defeat to Madrid which resulted in Lyon’s qualification for the last 16. They are a classy French side who regularly develop players and then sell them on at a large profit.
Current players include Jimmy Briand who apparently makes a nice steak at his chateau and current top scorer Bafétimbi Gomis. Yoann Gourcuff runs their midfield and is often touted as a possible Wenger signing.
Maybe the short trip to France would be seen as a good draw for the Gunners?
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Leverkusen play at the BayArena which has the reputation of being one of the most family-friendly football stadiums in Germany. Ironically, Bayer 04 was the first Bundesliga club whose fans identified themselves as Ultras.
The club and their fans have started to be proud of their industrial origins, calling themselves “Werkself” (Engl. “Factory team”, “Millhanders”) or “Pillendreher” (Engl. “Tablet twisters”).
This, in response to taunts from fans of the traditional clubs who denounce Bayer Leverkusen as being a “plastic club”, without traditions or a committed fan base, existing solely as a creation of their rich pharmaceutical company sponsor – Bayer AG. (Engl. “shit club, no history”)
Leverkusen were runners up in group E to Roman’s gimcracks, pushing Valencia into 3rd. Top scorer this season is Eren Derdiyok who is a 6’ 3” Swiss striker of Turkish descent. Michael Ballack is still lumbering around in Leverkusen’s midfield looking haughty.
Perhaps another trip to Germany is in the offing to warm us up for a return trip in May?
Zenit St Petersburg
Zenit’s history is closely linked to the steel industry in Saint-Petersburg and the club seems to have resulted as a merger of several clubs including Leningradsky Metallichesky Zavod nicknamed the “Stalinets” (stal means steel in Russian) and the Zenit sports society which was the All-Union Voluntary Sports Society for workers of the arms industry.
So far Zenit’s finest achievement in Europe has been to win the UEFA cup in 2008 playing some fine football and beating Rangers in the final when the man of the match was declared as our very own, Andrei Arshavin.
They finished second to Apoel Nicosia in group G, perhaps the hardest group to call, with Porto reduced to Europa League football and Shakhtar Donetsk out of Europe altogether.
They are managed by an Italian, Luciano Spalletti and play at the magnificent-looking Petrovsky Stadium built on an island in theNeva River. (Looks lovely in the sun, might be a touch parky at the end of February)
Maybe this tie would spark our Russian powerpack back into life?
AC Milan
Milan was founded in 1899 by Nottingham-born lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others.
Herbert in his Milan strip and Alfred carrying the match ball
The association with England resulted in the Cross of St George being incorporated into the Milan badge.
Milan has a squad full of household names and are currently a close third in Seria A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on a good scoring run, aided and abetted by Robinho (when he gets a game) and Kevin-Prince Boateng amongst others.
In Conclusion
I’m not sure who I’d prefer in the draw. When we reached the final in 2006, we drew Real Madrid in the last 16, so who knows?
Picture this. Its 18th Century London and crime is rife in the capital. Muggers and looters stalk the wealthy Streets and Avenues of the City Centre. The biggest killer? Not the small pointy blades of the outer city Hoodies. No. It was the Gentlemen who still sported the longer reaching swords, and could thus pick off their chosen Hoody from a safe distance. The Cads. Or were they?
This is the same merry bunch who thought up the worlds’ greatest games and sports, and then enshrined those in Codes and Rules ensuring fair play and gentlemanly conduct. It is also from these roots that the English developed their sense of justice in the sporting arena. The idea that it was in the taking part that the sport was to be found, and from here we developed our affinity with the underdog.
I like to think that everything about The Arsenal encompasses these principles. Or do I?
You know what, I don’t really. There’s nothing I like better than a touch of underhand dealing. A little skullduggery. We know there is underfloor heating beneath the pampered feet of the home dugout, but not so for our guests. We know about the shrewd dealings of one Sir Henry Norris. So what’s next?
At this point I need to fess up that the inspiration for this post came from a quite brilliant comment yesterday by GiE (7:43 am). We all know that City pay for Adebeyor to play for that lot. Well, GiE’s masterplan was for us to get the bloke on the same terms, then effectively short weekly loan him out to play for whoever is taking on the Spuds that week. Genius, simple and effective I thought. For me, this is Sir Henry Norris level thinking, and frankly, I’d like The Arsenal to start thinking more laterally.
It appears to me that there are two pressing areas in which we should direct our plans. The first is, quite obviously, to ensure home advantage to the max. To this end, we have to optimize the effects of Winter. We all know how darkness descends the over the land as the first half draws to an end, and the cold easterlies explore our exposed extremities. Perhaps we need to exaggerate the effect with thermal control over the visiting dressing room, while pumping in relaxation sound effects to weaken their resolve.
The second is to land the striker that we cannot afford. Now bungs seem a little old hat, so perhaps there are “extras” we could be offering our selected targets. The Leveson Inquiry would appear to offer some inspiration here in ways that may make “persuading” agents, managers and players to believe that the right thing to do would be to jump ship to The Arsenal at vastly reduced expense. A rigged photo here, an incriminating phone call there. Just thinking aloud here.
So come on. Think up lads. I know I’m not squeaky clean in this department. The lighting in the Wiff Waff Club is heavily rigged to favour one end, and I know where to start the “eeny meeny miny moing” to win the toss, and as back up I also own a double headed coin. There is room for some shrewd thinking here. I happen to know there are many fish eaters on this site, with correspondingly enormous brains. So let’s put it to good use. Any ideas?
Posted by Rasp 
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