Arsenal – Darwin or Lenin?

February 22, 2013

This attempt at a post was borne out of my genuine desire to know how people feel about this. And by this I mean the following: Whether Evolution is better than Revolution. I ask this fully aware of the difficulties in even deciding what counts as revolution, while what counts as evolution can also be disputed (such as by the creationists of Chelsea)

What does this have to do with Arsenal? Well, I doubt that needs explaining. I don’t think any gooner in the world is unaware about the differences of opinion among the fans, with it being debated (to be charitable) the club is either in terminal decline, the only remedy to which is letting the blood run on the streets, or is just short of mutating into a Santa-esque (red and white and spreading good cheer) version of the Incredible Hulk, smashing everyone in its path to victory.

I’m going to make it easy for everyone and just say that I believe an evolutionary process is the way to go. I mean, apart from the fact that I’m always right, it is the way humans, and indeed all creatures, have survived up to this point. You can’t argue against nature can you? For the more pedantic among you (cough..RA..cough), you can, but you’ll lose.

Having said that, revolutions, at varying scales, seem to be all the craze in human history. You just know that the first caveman who proclaimed himself king, was sought to be toppled (or clobbered) by someone the next day. A mini revolution if you will. These happen every day in one form or another, but they are so miniscule, and so much a part of life, that these never count as revolution, rather as part of the evolutionary process.

So herein we reach the problem of how to differentiate between Messrs Evo and Revo Lution? What makes a true revolution? In my view, it is the evolution of certain revolutionary ideas that makes revolution worth its name. The abolition of slavery, the writings of Voltaire and Rousseau in the French revolution, growth of socialist and communist ideas in the Russian revolution etc. It is these ideas that have survived rather than the revolution itself. Most revolutions tend to become the very thing they are supposed to have rebelled against, unless the ideas that produced them are adhered to in practice, and then built on. (Napolean followed the French revolution, The peasants were in many cases worse off under Soviet rule than Tsarist rule) Evolution (as regards political processes) is far less spectacular, but the stability it offers, provides the basis of meaningful, and usually irreversible change/progress.

So let’s return to Arsenal. What would count as revolution, and what is just part of our evolution as a club? We’ve sacked managers before and this is hardly a path breaking concept. So it shouldn’t count as revolution, should it? Except, it does. No other manager in our history, and perhaps no other manager in the world, with the exception of Sir Rednose at Red Mancs, has had the level of impact at a club that Wenger has had on ours. In fact, it could be argued that Wenger’s impact on Arsenal was in itself a revolution. The dietary and training regimen imposed on players, the ability to find players no one had ever heard of and to get them to play the brand of fast, free flowing football that we did, was unheard of in England in those days, leave alone the impact (not yet fully realised) of the building of the training ground and stadium and of overhauling our academy structure. So, has that revolution run its course, and is it time to indulge in another?

In my view, no. Especially, not without having an idea of what this revolution is supposed to entail. What ideas and philosophy does this new revolution expound and seek to uphold? Till now, I haven’t heard of one beyond the narrow aims of spending money, more trophies, better players etc. And until I hear a revolutionary alternative, an idea so moving, and a purpose so worthy and desirable so as to justify its cost, I’ll be sticking with the path our club is on now. Remember, without ideas, you are just a headless caveman looking for the pot of gold at the end of the windmill.

Written by Shard

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

When the going gets tough …….

February 21, 2013

Believe me, the going is incredibly tough for all true Arsenal lovers. We are watching our team crumble before our eyes. All too many people have the silver bullet – get rid of Wenger. Wonderful! What a great solution! Just who is going to replace him?

As I said in my post this morning, I think Arsène is a desperate man. He looks desperate and sounds desperate. Constantly referring to his 16 years of success has the sound of a desperate man. He looks old and worn, but, at the same time, he is a stubborn man.
 He also has an air of arrogance, but I wonder if it is in fact thinly cloaked desperation. Perhaps he would be pleased to be relieved of his duties. He is 63 and looks 83!

BUT – and it is an enormous BUT…
who would all of you calling for his head appoint in his place? 
The only manager in the PL I would even consider is David Moyes (perhaps Laudrup, but he doesn’t really have the necessary PL experience). David Moyes has done an amazing job at Everton. He is unquestionably a true motivator and tactician – something we clearly need and definitely don’t have. He has managed to “save” his team, in spite of constantly losing what were his top players (Lescott, Rooney, Arteta, Cahill – to mention but a few) and, if you look at some of the old, over-the-hill players he has in his team, it is an incredible feat for him to be where he is. I think he knows that Fellaini and Baines are off at the end of the season and so he has probably had enough and is perhaps looking for pastures new and a fresh challenge.

So many people appear to think that Arsenal can have their pick of new managers. I don’t think so.

Because now we come to the next truly ginormous BUT, which I believe will prove an obstacle to anyone coming to Arsenal. If Arsène stays on as director of football, his successor will never have a free hand. 
I think Wenger has become something of a megalomaniac (a huge understatement!) and, at the same time, he clearly has the backing of the board, because the club is making money. Maybe that would change if we fail to make it to the CL, which is looking ominously likely, but I have my doubts.

So what is the club to do? What awaits us, the true fans (not the ones who crawl out from under stones)? Must we now “do a Liverpool” and look ahead to so many barren years (at least in the PL)?

What do the other “reasonable, realistic” supporters think? I have no interest in reading the kind of critical drivel some posters submit!

Written by magic hat

About the author

Today’s author has been a regular visitor on Arsenal Arsenal for a while now and kindly accepted our challenge to write a post for the site following her comments yesterday. We asked for some background information on her support for Arsenal – this was her response:

I am British, but I live in Gothenburg, Sweden. I moved here in 1974. I go to matches with my husband and daughter, once or twice a year, but we watch every match on TV/streaming. I was introduced to Arsenal in 1957 by my dad, who took me to my first match at the age of 11.
I love Arsenal. I can’t express it in any other way. The club is an intrinsic part of my life. I cry when we lose and I am happy for a whole week when we win.
I could go on for hours…

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Posted by Rasp

We Used To Be Winners

February 20, 2013

Unsurprisingly no one leapt at the chance of writing a match report on last night’s game. The reason is obvious – we can no longer hide from the truth.

In simple terms, Bayern were a level above Arsenal. We had maybe 3 players worthy of the great Arsenal sides of the past – Bayern had 11 top players. Not only did they have the talent, they had the organisation, work rate and confidence to go with it. But most of all, they are a great team. We are an average team with some decent individuals.

We rarely perform as a cohesive unit and as a result are low in confidence, prone to mistakes and less than the sum of our parts. The movement from midfield that used to characterise AW’s teams is gone, we have players hiding from the ball and we have nowhere near the work rate that Bayern demonstrated last night.

Our players may be good enough to get us in the top four, but we are a long way short of being able to win the EPL or CL, there are at least a dozen better teams than us in Europe.

There are many great supporters on this site for whom I have the utmost respect so I am not going to risk upsetting you more than I have already with my recent observations on our plight by picking on any indiivuals.

These are the main factors that I believe have brought us to this point:

1. Although we have recently upped the price we are prepared to pay for players (£10-12m), this is not bringing in players of the level required to significantly improve the quality of the squad.

2. Our inability to sell on players who were overpaid in relation to their worth on the pitch continues to be major burden on our finances that affects our willingness to invest in the quality we require

3. Our coaching, particularly in terms of defending, has been pretty poor for several years.

4. The club’s pride in its prudent financial model and open admission that qualification for the CL is an acceptable level of success sends out the wrong message to the players, the supporters and the media.

There are a myriad of other points that could be added to this list. My conclusion is that we need a complete overhaul, a return to basics and a new spirit of leadership at the heart of the club.

We used to be winners – we are now perceived as losers.

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

Time For Tommy’s Gunners To Come Out Fighting

February 19, 2013

Can you recall a time when Arsenal went into a home game with their fans being so prepared for a defeat? I understand the pessimism given the ups and downs of the season but firmly believe this Arsenal team has the qualities to win tonight.

What do Arsenal need to do?

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Tommy Vermaelen Training ahead of tonight’s game.

Well, to begin with the defence has to cut out the stupid mistakes. The goalkeeper needs to be on his toes as Bayern have two of the world’s best wingers. Our lack of a left-back will surely be highlighted by Heynkes – BM are so good that Robben is a bench player

BM have conceded just 7 goals (and scored 55) in the League this season. Unbeaten in 18. Not conceded a goal since early December. 18 (?) points ahead in the Bundesliga.

Sod it ….. if I am extol the virtues of this Bayern team we will be here all day. Take it as read that they are a fantastic team and none of our team would get in theirs (perhaps Wilshire), but so what? It is 11 vs 11. We got beaten by Bradford and B’burn which proves that the better team does not always win.

BR’s Team:-

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Some great battles tonight especially in midfield. There is also the Lahm vs Theo or Podolski match-up. Big Raddy is excited.

So we need a proper hero to get us in the mood. Step forward Sir Francis Drake (1540-1597). Now we don’t get much more heroic than this fellow, a chap who beat the odds on so many occasions. His favourite opposition was the Spanish whom he developed a deep hatred for after two of his ships were sunk by them (the ships were carrying slaves from Africa to West Indies). Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in his ship The Golden Hind. He was the first Englishman to cross the Straits of Magellan going on to explore the West Coast of North America, landing in Marin County and claiming California for Queen Elisabeth I. On his return journey he travelled all the way up the East Coast of both Americas. He returned to England a hero and was knighted by Queen Liz I.

Made Vice Admiral of the fleet as war with Spain broke out Drake,  Drake took his few ships and attacked Cadiz sinking 30 Spanish ships. Then came that famous night when the Spanish Armada came across the channel to be given a sound thrashing by Drake’s much smaller fleet (imagine Barcelona v Barnet). proving that teamwork and tactics can overcome stronger opposition.

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Tonight’s Inspiration

Having won the war, Drake returned to business plundering Spanish shipping in the Caribbean. Sadly, Franny got dysentery and died near Panama. He was buried at sea at the age of  57.

King Philip of Spain once offered €4m for his head. With a personal fortune estimated at (in current terms) €125m  – all stolen from the Spanish, – Sir Francis is No.2 in the Forbes All-Time Top Earning Pirates 🙂   He is also A National Hero.

Back to football ….

We are at home, we have not lost in 5 games with a first choice starting 11. We have only one injury. We have two Germans, we have a brilliant Spaniard, we have the hottest Englishmen in the PL, we have a dreamy CF. We are in The Last Chance Saloon.

Can We Win?  Yes, We Can.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Six Irritating Things About Arsenal

February 18, 2013

I normally try to be upbeat on a Monday, but after Saturday’s humiliating exit from the FA Cup I am lost for words.

The performance wasn’t even that bad (if you don’t believe we have been much, much worse this season then you should cast your mind back to the games where we were losing without even having an attempt on goal until after the 90th minute). We were unlucky; their ‘keeper made some great saves; they only had one attack yadda yadda yadda.

It was the grim predictability of it all that made it so depressing. Not predictable in the sense that many of us predicted we would lose; but in the sense that none of us are surprised that we did.

So in the spirit of general gloominess I would like to have a moan about some of our team’s habits. I am not out to slaughter them as players – I quite like most of them – but they have certain traits that are annoying on a regular basis and particularly so after a loss like Saturday’s.

  • Ollie Giroud:  Flicking Annoying: Clever flicks are part of OG’s game and they have led to him setting up some fine goals for his team mates this year. But someone needs to tell him that you don’t have to do the first-touch-flick EVERY time the ball comes to you with your back to goal. Against Rovers Ollie tried flicks with his first touch on every such occasion. None of them came off. Granted, it is difficult with two or three defenders up your jaxey, in which case he should have varied his repertoire by holding up the ball from time to time, taking extra touches and playing it back out to the support players if nothing more progressive was on. The coaches should sit him down with videos of Alan Smith in his prime (the Arsenal Alan Smith, that is, not the little toe-rag from Leeds).
  • Backed Into A Corner: I watch every Arsenal game. I have never seen any team from any division or any country (or gender, including trans-sexuals) take corner kicks as consistently badly as we do. And this is not new. It is a problem we have had for at least three or four years. What’s mystifying about it is that we pride ourselves on having technically gifted players. Well, where are all their technical gifts when it comes to kicking a dead ball about 37 yards into the opposition six yard box? Now, I know it’s a skill that may not be valued at Arsenal because even if they did put in perfect crosses there would traditionally be no-one there to meet them, but even so. I would love a journalist to ask Arsene Wenger or Steve Bould why our corner-taking is so abysmal.
  • Szczesny: The Gift That Keeps Giving: A week ago against Sunderland our young Pole in Goal pulled off a string of top saves to help secure the three points. On Saturday he parried a catchable shot (Seaman, Lehmann or Jennings would surely have held it) into the path of an opponent who duly scored (albeit with a ridiculously lucky shank). And that sums up Szcz. One week brilliant, the next making mistakes that cost points – or lead to us exiting a cup competition.  I love his confidence and personality; I admire his passion but I really, really want him to start cutting out the avoidable errors.
  • There’s No “I” In “Teamwork”: …but there is an “Ork,” not that has anything to do with anything. My point about teamwork is that some of our younger players seem to feel that when they get a chance in the team their best way of impressing the manager and supporters is to go for personal glory. This usually manifests itself by taking on near-impossible shots, attempting ridiculously ambitious dribbles and generally hogging the ball when better options are available. It has been a characteristic of Aaron Ramsey’s play at times – and it is noticeable how much better he has become since simplifying his game – and now Oxlade-Chamberlain is caught in the same trap. In a generally energetic performance against Blackburn he too often tried the more difficult “Hollywood moves” when simpler, better options were available – what you might call “Holyhead moves”. In the old days Tony Adams would have pinned him up against the wall after the game. Even if we don’t have to go that far, someone should have a word…
  • Diaby Or Not Diaby – That Is The Question: I thought Diaby was poor against Blackburn. He had plenty of the ball, but too often seemed to slow the moves down or lose possession too easily. I honestly don’t know what to make of him. Against Liverpool early in the season he was unplayable – as good a midfield performance as I’ve seen from an Arsenal player whose first name did not begin with Cesc or Patrick. But at the weekend he seemed to not quite be anything: not a defensive midfielder (played too far forward); not a creative playmaker (he was too slow of thought and foot); not a “water carrier” (he spilled it). Maybe he’s still playing himself back into form after the latest injury or maybe being up against a park-the-bus team didn’t suit him, but if he is the phenomenon that we have been led to believe then he needs to start taking control of games like Saturday’s.
  • Sub Standard: I can’t help feeling that if our manager had not made three midfield substitutions at once we would still be in the cup.  We completely changed our midfield and within seconds, when Blackburn attacked, there was no midfield cover. Kazim-Richards was unmarked and unchallenged when Szczesny palmed the ball out to him. I have no doubt this was due to the confusion caused by the triple substitution. Sorry Arsene – that was a piece of really bad management.

OK, that’s my moan over. On the up side I still don’t feel we are a bad team, I still feel we can knock out Munich and I still expect a top four finish in the league.

Hopeless dreamer? Perhaps. Time will tell.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Carved Up.

February 17, 2013

A brief summation and some early morning thoughts on a painful day to be a Gooner

The Game:

We started slowly and continued in that vein. Blackburn parked the bus and scored a lucky goal with their only shot. We created few chances and those we had were squandered.

Luck went against us as it has so often this season, but when effort isn’t enough inspiration is called for  – in this area we were sorely lacking.

Some Thoughts:

The motivation argument is, in my opinion, complete tosh. Name me one player who wasn’t giving 100%.

What was lacking was speed of thought and passing …… Thrust.

Rosicky and Diaby were unable to create and dallied on the ball. Ox was trying too hard and his crossing was abysmal.

Monreal was a worry in an attacking sense. His crossing and shooting was woeful. Early days yet but I already prefer Gibbs.

Coquelin was once again tidy. Whether he can step up to become a regular first team player is doubtful, as is whether he will stay at AFC and accept being a squad member,

Szczesny had one save to make and failed. To parry the ball towards the only B*burn player in the box was unlucky but also poor ‘keeping. In my opinion he could have caught the ball – Seaman would have.

When Gerv & Ox switched wings both went from bad to worse. Ox has a future at AFC – he is having second season syndrome but one can see the potential. Gervinho needs to be sold.

Arteta showed why he is no longer a creative midfielder. He hasn’t the pace required to blend defence and attack.

Giroud was ineffective. He is not a player who can make his own chances. Faced with a mass of blue he found no space to work and his flicks couldn’t find a red-shirt. To continually run hell for leather into the box only to see the cross sail over your head or 5 yards behind/ahead must be enormously frustrating.

Can one blame Wenger? Many will but surely he can expect a star-studded team to beat B’burn, and for his multi-million pound midfield to create just one chance for his centre forward?

AW realised the problem and made 3 changes on 65mins. Has he ever done so previously? Was it an act of desperation or consideration?

This team is so inconsistent, one must look to the manager.

Desperately poor result but we move on.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Does what happens off the pitch matter any more?

February 15, 2013

Currently the news is ridden with shocking stories featuring famous sportsmen, and of course other celebrities. The doping downfall of Lance Armstrong, the murder inquiry of Oscar Pistorius, Chad Evans jailed for rape – these are the most recent scandals that have rocked the sporting world.

Are we still the classy club we used to be? Are we still above other clubs ridden with scandal, gossip, dubious dealings? We have our fair share of past and present infamous headlines of drink driving, night club striptease, cigar smoking, infidelity and allegations of rape. The latest gossip that hit the headlines was our own Arshavin, recently dumping his wife and 3 gorgeous kids for a model he met in London.

The era of Vieira, Henry and Bergkamp has restored Arsenal’s place amongst proud sporting institutions, a shining example of professionalism, high personal values and integrity. There were few gossips or scandals surrounding our finest, and even Thierry’s divorce hardly hit the headlines. Thierry and Vieira were teetotal, and Viera and Bergkamp devoted family men.

Does it matter to us how the players behave off the pitch? I have recently shared a little story with you about Diaby loitering with intent at the petrol station at 4 in the morning. I was delighted to hear that he was petrified that Le Boss would find out about him being out in the middle of the night. I believe that being a sportsman is a life style, not merely a job. Do you agree?

Written by evonne

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Posted by Rasp

Santos – Arsène’s worst value signing?

February 13, 2013

Is Santos Mr Wenger’s worst ever signing? Some would say so; at £6.8 m he certainly appears to be  an enormous waste of resources. The Brazilian has started just 13 games.

But is he worse than the £4m spent on Squillaci, (take away the “m” and the Italian would still have been expensive!)

Looking back at the signing and selling costs, AW has done a superb job but occasionally gets it wrong. For example, I would say that Hleb was a poor signing but we paid £11.2m and sold him two seasons later for £11.8m, so despite a unrewarding time on the pitch, Alex did well for the club.

What of Richard Wright? Cost £6m and arrived as the long-term replacement for Seaman. Sold on for half that having played just 22 games. He did win a PL Winners medal at AFC.

Unknown

One of Richard’s good days

And Gio Van Bronckhorst, Signing for £8.5m and started a meagre  42 appearances. A poor return for such a fine player who was well worth the £3m Barca paid for him – his 2 seasons cost Arsenal £5.5m.  He played 105 games for Barca and won the Champions League.

Franny Jeffers. Our fox in the box signed with huge expectations for a huge£ 8m. Big Ears was just  20 years old when he signed and still a lad of  22 when he was sold to Charlton for £2.6 after just 13 starts. However, he won 2 Cup Medals during his time at Highbury  A loss of £5.4m – well over half his purchase fee.

Reyes. A marmite player – to some the superb talent who was kicked out of the Premiership, to others he was a man who refused to adapt to the English game. Antonio came at a cost of £13m, and was sold for £8m which was a decent return in my opinion. Nonetheless, Arsenal lost another £5m on the deal

Edu. Lovely player. Bought for £6m and given a free transfer just 3 years later. Why a free? Another £6m thrown away. And before we dismiss £6m, remember this is a huge amount of money. It will buy you 40 Mini-Coopers or 3 Michu’s or a house in Hampstead.

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Corinthians of Brazil’s Director of Football

Wiltord. A World Cup winner, a member of the Invincibles, scorer of the winning goal at OT in the Double season of 2001/2 and voted Arsenal’s 33rd Best Player of All Time in 2008 (there really are some deluded fans out there!); it may be churlish to say Wiltord was an expensive flop but we paid £13m for him and he left on a free when his contract expired. Was he worth the money? I leave you to decide. £13m will buy a wing of a hospital.

But, in my opinion, the worst bit of business done by Mr Wenger is still at the club and he is a diminutive Russian. Arshavin cost us a whopping £15m, a club record, and how much can we sell him for?  Zip. Thankfully, he has run down his contract and will be leaving in summer, but the cost to Arsenal has been immense. Not just the loss of the transfer fee but also a colossal wage to a man who has continually flattered to deceive. The loss on Arshavin’s transfer fee  equates to almost £250 for every person attending a home game and you can double that with his wages.

Would you rather have a Monkey (£500) or a Meerkat?

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Какая пустая трата денег

What do you think?

Note: The above figures have come from different internet sources. They are not confirmed by AFC.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Twelve EPL games left – Where will it all end?

February 12, 2013

With only 12 games remaining in the Premier League season my assumption is that the current top six teams are the only teams left with a possibility of making the top four positions namely – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Manchester United appear to have 1st place locked up so they will not be included in the analysis, but their games against the other five teams are included. Therefore the focus will be on Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham – the five teams fighting for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.

In looking at the games remaining for each of the five teams it becomes apparent that the games they play against each other will have a major bearing on the final outcome.

Here are some of the facts about their games against each other —

Arsenal will play – Tottenham away and Everton and Manchester United at home.

Chelsea will play – Manchester City away, Tottenham at home Manchester United away and Everton at home.

Everton will play – Arsenal away, Manchester City at home and Tottenham and Chelsea away.

Tottenham will play – Arsenal at home, Everton at home Chelsea away and Manchester City at home.

Manchester City will play – Chelsea at home, Everton away Manchester United away and Tottenham away.

Arsenal have a slight advantage in the games left to play against each other as they only play 3 games whereas the other four teams all have 4 games to play. This means that Arsenal’s opposition will have a slightly higher risk of dropping points against each other.

Tottenham have the advantage in home versus away games as they play 3 at home and 1 away, Arsenal play 2 home games and 1 away, Chelsea play 2 at home and 2 away while Everton and Manchester City both play 1 home game and 3 away.

In terms of points won in their earlier games against each other Tottenham have the worst record getting 0 out of 12, Chelsea gained 7 out of 12 while Everton and Manchester City gained 5 out of 12 with Arsenal getting 4 points out of 9.

My prediction is that in their remaining games against each other, Chelsea will get 5 points out of 12; Arsenal will get 4 out of 9, while Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham will each get 3 out of 12. This is very significant because if my predictions are correct it would mean that Arsenal will drop only 5 points while Everton and Tottenham would both drop 9 points – that positive difference of 4 points could mean a 4th place finish for Arsenal.

Below are my predictions for all of their remaining games – I don’t claim to be a great forecaster so why don’t you make your own predictions.

GN5 spreadsheet

Written by GunnerN5

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Posted by Rasp

Bac To The Future

February 11, 2013

Poor old Bacary Sagna.

Imagine how he must have felt 15 minutes before kick-off on Saturday.

He has been on a urine-poor run of form; he revealed in an interview earlier this week that he knows he has been below par; he’s hoping to slowly re-establish his reputation as one of the most reliable right backs in the business and then, at about 2.45pm on match day, he finds that he’s going to be dropped into the unfamiliar role of centre back because Laurent Koscielny isn’t feeling well.

I can envisage him muttering to the stricken Kozzer: “What exactement is up wiz you, you Stan Laurel lookey-likey? Get out onto zat pitch and start playing. Zat’s anuzzer fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”

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But, trooper that he is, Bacary took to the field of battle as a makeshift centre half.

I’ll admit to being a trifle worried. In some of his recent outings Sagna has been wasteful and error-prone.

If football was sex, Bacary has been the hole in the condom. We have not been practising safe footy of late and, as a result, we have been impregnated with goals far too frequently.

I’m not taking that analogy any further, because the idea of the progeny that might ensue from a carnal union between the purity of Arsenal and the venal degeneracy of, say, Chelsea, does not bear thinking about. It would be as if a unicorn was shagged by a hyena and gave birth to a strangely beautiful but irredeemably evil hynicorn. Actually, that might explain the existence of John Terry…

Anyway, I digress.

So there was Bacary, untimely thrust into the fray at the Stadium of Fight in an unfamiliar position, with only a German telegraph pole to lean on for comfort.

It could have gone horribly wrong. It didn’t. Sagna was, quite simply, wonderful at the heart of our defence.

In a game that we should have won easily (if our attackers and midfielders had bothered to put their boots on the correct feet) we ended up under siege for the last 20 minutes after Carl Jenkinson was unluckily sent off. I say unluckily because – although he should not have made the challenge that led to the red – his first booking was ridiculous. It was his first foul of the game and was slightly mistimed. It only got a yellow card because the generally poor referee felt he should even things up after booking Cattermole in the first minute.

During that final siege, all the team played well. Giroud won some great headers; Szczesny pulled off a string of remarkable saves; Ramsey filled in brilliantly at right back; Nacho showed his mettle when the chips were down; the BFG organised everything and, best of all, Sagna became the ultimate warrior. It was as if someone had stenciled  “they shall not pass” on his forehead.

He completed 11 of 15 attempted clearances, won six out of 10 aerial duels and successfully made nine headed clearances from 11 attempts. Not bad for a man who stands only 5’9” tall.

It was a real return to form for a player who, until this season, was routinely referred to as our Mr Reliable.

I have been quite hard on him in recent comments and match reports. I’m not apologising for that – he’s had some real shockers. But even before Saturday’s game I was heartened to read the interview with him in which he showed great self awareness and was very honest about his struggles this year.

They say the first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is a problem in the first place. Well, Bacary Sagna has certainly moved past Step One.

Hopefully when he moves back into his more usual role (which should be on Tuesday week against Bayern Munich) he can take forward the form and confidence he displayed against Blood-and-Thunderland.

I like Jenkinson and I hope people are not too hard on him over his red card, but for now we need Sagna as our first choice right back.

His dip in form may have been down to the long lay off after two leg breaks; it may just have been “one of those things”; who knows – it may even have been that hot wife of his keeping him up too late at night.

But the signs are good that he is over the worst and ready to get back to his finest form for the season run-in.

It is rumoured that the club is offering him only a one-year extension on his current contract. I understand the reasoning, but I wonder whether we should sugar the offer a little more (two years, for example).

Bacary showed on Saturday that he can be a great utility defender and every squad needs at least one of those.

RockyLives

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