Arsenal – testing your loyalty

April 7, 2012

I’m hoping the long gap between games isn’t causing the players to lose focus as badly as it has me – although it is a concern after our last performance!

This is just a bit of interactive fun to fill the time before we take on city tomorrow.

One object of the exercise is to test whether your loyalty to Arsenal might just possibly cloud your judgement in matters concerning by far the greatest team the world has ever seen……..

Try to answer the following questions honestly. It may be that your choices would be the same either way – but I doubt it.

So are you a dyed in the wool Arsenal supporter (in which case you lied in some answers) or are you one of the new breed of fan who prefers to stay seated, doesn’t sing and thinks the ref is a jolly good chap 😕

Feel free to debate the questions and your choices in Comments, or maybe you can suggest similar questions that could have had you battling with your Arsenal conscience.

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

Poll: Is Robin’s Arsenal Stronger Than Cesc’s Arsenal?

December 12, 2011

If ever you needed evidence of the newly improved team spirit at New Arsenal, you just have to read some of the recent match reports.

Here on AA yesterday Harry’s excellent dissection of the victory over Everton was comprehensive and entertaining.

He plumped for Koscielny as Man of the Match, but clearly did not feel his performance was way out ahead of the rest of the team (Kozzer was one of four players whom Harry gave an 8 out of 10. He also gave 7.5 to three others).

If you scan around the Arsenal blog world you will see other writers picking out Ramsey, van Persie, Song, Vermaelen, Arteta and Walcott as their choice for MoTM from Saturday’s game. The same has been true in other recent performances, where there has been no concensus as to who was the stand-out player on the day.

If you’re Blackburn, not having a stand-out player probably means you had 11 equally inept piles of hippo dung stinking up the place.

But in the happy situation of being the Arsenal, it means that we had an outstanding team performance with players working so selflessly for the greater good that it’s hard to pick out an overall star.

Last season Cesc was usually MoTM in the games he played. Sometimes it was Na$ri and, on a few occasions, Wilshere. But there always seemed to be a player whose efforts exceeded those of his team mates.

The difference this year is not that our “stand out” performers have dropped to the level of the players who were just putting in a shift. It’s that the whole team is playing better together, with the result that in any given match most players have raised their level at the same time.

Fun to watch, but a nightmare if you feel the need to single out a Man of the Match.

Clearly we have an out-and-out star performer for the season so far in Prince Robin. He is probably the best striker in world football right now and would be the stand-out in any team (even the Catalan diving squad). But Robin’s amazing achievements are very much built on the solid foundations that are now firmly in place following the chaos at the start of the season.

Personally, I’m thrilled that in recent games it has been so hard to pick out a MoTM. When Cesc was our regular MoTM we were a poorer team overall.

Perhaps there was an element of “Thierry Syndrome”, with players feeling that they always had to pass to our former Number Four even when better options were available.

Or, more likely, we functioned less well as a team last year because we lacked team spirit and togetherness.I think we all know that Cesc was not a great captain. And with the constant “will-he-won’t-he” background noise of his move back to Barcelona, it can’t have made for stability in the changing room.

Na$ri, meanwhile, was clearly a malcontent and trouble-maker who did not get on with some other members of the squad.

When those two left (for love and money, respectively) and we acquired the likes of Arteta, Mertesacker, Santos, Benayoun and Jenkinson instead, not many people believed we were a stronger squad than before.

But what about now?

How are you feeling after eight wins and a draw from our last nine EPL games?

How did you feel when Prince Robin went over to celebrate joyfully with the bench when he rifled home the winner against the Toffees?

We lost our two best players (supposedly) and gained what some have described as a bunch of journeyman pros.

But which team do you think is more likely to actually win something?

I know my answer. It’s obvious to me that New Arsenal, with its mix of precocious young talent and seasoned experience, will have a better chance of grabbing some silverware. At the very least I don’t expect New Arsenal to wilt when the pressure mounts, like last season’s model.

You may feel differently, in which case make your views known in this poll:

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Now is the time to make Arshavin Arsenal’s Playmaker

October 13, 2011

‘We cannot allow ourselves to indulge in sadness and melancholy’

Andrey Arshavin, December 2010 (after MU away game)

 

With the departure of Cesc Fabregas and the long-term injury to Jack Wilshere, Arsenal is left with a hole, in more ways than one. It is a cruel double blow to have neither of them available for this pivotal position, especially during this transitional period. Since the start of the new season, the much-changed Arsenal team has looked unfamiliar to us, as if it has lost its identity, its USP, its typical style of football, and the main reason for this is, nobody has been able to make the ‘hole position’ theirs until now. It comes as no surprise that our results in the League have also been well under-par, and now is the time to make some bold moves so we can regain momentum and confidence again, and shake-off this mantle of sadness and melancholy once and for all.

The Playmaker position, just off the striker – the Dutch call it ‘de hangende spits’ (the ‘hanging-off’ striker) was made for Dennis Bergkamp and vice versa, back in the mid-nineties. He epitomised what can be done to a team and its style of football if the right player takes up the no. 10 position. DB10 was always able to find space for himself, so the defence and midfield had an outlet, he was able to hold on the ball and allow the attacking midfielders to move forward, but he was just as capable to set up a quick attack for his fellow striker and wingers – often with an inch-perfect defence-splitting pass that would make you go weak in the knees for joy – or to take on defenders himself and score goals from just outside the penalty area, or inside the box. Dennis had it all: brilliant first touch, superb vision, a winner’s mentality, a professional through and through, and somebody who took pleasure in doing beautiful things with a ball on the pitch. It was this quest for beauty that has made him such a special player and made him immortal to us, and, in a way, he made us all feel a bit immortal along the way.

Cesc Fabregas was a different ‘no. 10’ for us: more of an attacking midfielder than a striker, with a great ability to pass the ball within tight spaces and to boss the midfield area. However, what he had in common with Dennis was the ability to pick a defence splitting pass and to create something out of nothing, for which he also had the vision and touch. He was another great Arsenal player although not in the same category as Dennis, but then who is, or will ever be?

Jack Wilshere is a very promising player for both Arsenal and England. For me, he is our future ‘nr. 10’ as he is similar to Cesc in many ways, with great vision and a superb passer of the ball, very good in tight spaces and with a phenomenal fighting spirit and stamina. He came off age last year during our game against Barcelona, and to do so at such a young age is truly astounding. We are unbelievably lucky to have him, and I am sure he will be another Arsenal great. The only thing missing until now is Jack’s goal scoring ability/record, and until this improves he can compensate it with his vision and passing ability, which should lead to setting up many successful attacks and assists.

So, who is going to fill this position for us until Jack returns?

The candidates are: Aaron Ramsey, Thomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun, Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin. I cannot see Arsenal change the system to 4-4-2 in the near future, so I am going to base my views on the current 4-2-3-1 system. In the ‘2’, Alex Song is our ‘pure’ DM and there is back-up for him from Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin. For me the best partner to Song in the ‘2’ is a typical box-to-box midfielder and either Aaron Ramsey or Mikel Arteta should play in that position. The DM’s partner should be an all-round midfielder who can defend, and go forward, create chances for others and score goals himself. Both Arteta and Ramsey can offer this, and we are lucky to have two such good players to cover this position.

But who should play in the hole: who should be our Playmaker? Ideally, a player for this position should have vision, hold on to the ball really well, a great passer of the ball and ability to score goals with an average of 0.25 goals or higher, per game.

For me, for now, it is neither Ramsey, nor Arteta. For different reasons, I find it too early for them to be given this vital role in the team. I am not convinced that both of them have the vision that is required for this key position and with PL goal-scoring records of 0.16 goals per game (Arteta) and 0.12 (Ramsey), I do not feel they are prolific enough either. However, it is early days and both could claim this position over time.

Rosicky has the vision and the passing ability, but lacks the stamina and consistency to really claim this role. When TR played in this role this season, he gave Arsenal its identity back, but he cannot do this twice a week for us and his goal scoring record is not great either with only 0.13 goals per game. For me, Rosicky should be the second choice for the Playmaker role, and he is a good squad player for Arsenal to have (just think back to his second half performance against Udinese in Italy).

Yossi Benayoun could be a possibility, but as he is on loan at Arsenal I don’t think we should give this position to him on a regular basis. His goal scoring record is the same as Arteta’s (0.16 goals per game), so not bad but also not brilliant. I would like to see more of Yossi in an Arsenal shirt so I can make a proper assessment of his abilities.

This leaves me with two remaining possibilities: Robin van Persie or Andrey Arshavin. Both are options I would like us to try out, just to see whether it works. As a captain, RvP is isolated as our lone striker. If he were to play in the ‘hole position’ with either Chamakh, Park, or even Gervinho or Walcott, in front of him, he could be both a better leader of the team and improve our attacking options. He would not be a typical Playmaker, but fill in the role similar to the way Rooney does at MU. If we were to opt for a 4-4-2 formation, as many of us would prefer, this would work very well.  It would mean a strong decrease in focussing on our passing game and continuous emphasis on breaking quickly – a bit like the Arsenal of the early parts of the last decade. We have the wing-players for it now with Walcott, Gervinho, Ryo and Ox, and with Chamakh and Park we have the typical strikers to make this system work for us. We could add to this strike-force at the next TW and all could be rosy again.

However, as I said earlier, I don’t believe we will adopt a 4-4-2 system in the near future. In the current 4-2-3-1 system, we need a playmaker in the middle of the ‘3’. As we are not talking about a classical playmaker – as in a 4-4-2 formation in which the player next to the DM would be: a role that would fit both Arteta and Ramsey a lot better in my opinion – we need somebody in this role who can hold on to the ball in tight spaces, pass it with ease, find gaps in defences easily, makes good attacking decisions in a flash, and can score goals from just outside the box as well as inside the box.

For me, this player is Andrey Arshavin. Please don’t get me wrong in thinking I am a huge fan of Arshavin: he is not consistent enough, and does not work as hard as is required, but then – as we all know – he is not playing in his best position either. Arshavin has a PL goal scoring record of 0.27 goals per game, which is the same as DB10 had for us. He is great passer of the ball and can split open defences easily. He holds on the ball reasonably well, although this is not one of his strong points. He can score from just outside the box, and I have no doubt he would link up well with RvP.

It is only a matter of time until Arshavin leaves Arsenal, but I think he deserves to be given the ‘hanging-off’’ striker position, just this once: at least until Christmas this year. He is our best option there and it would be cruel not to give him a last opportunity to show us all how really good he is. Why Arsene Wenger has not done this until now is a mystery to me, but hopefully the current lack of alternatives might change his mind.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by Rasp

Arsenal’s Dark Knight

September 15, 2011

A recent blog on the AA website called ‘Project Youth-fact or fiction?’ (great write Illybongani) got me thinking about the direction that Arsenal has been heading in the last 6 trophyless years and also the grief that Arsène Wenger has had to endure. Fans seem to be divided into 2 opinions. Some believe that Arsène has failed with his stubborn attitude and lack of trophies, whilst others think that Arsène’s ability to keep the club competitive whilst overseeing our stadium move, has been nothing short of a miracle. I have to say that I fall into the second group.

Personally, I believe that ‘PY’ was used by Wenger to steer us through the stadium move. Arsène knew that buying young, athletic and technically gifted players would save the club money but also allow the team to play a possesion game that could keep the team competitive. However, i dont think that AW intended ‘PY’ to be as drastic as it was. If players like Gallas, Flamini, Hleb, Henry, Adebayor etc had all decided to carry on at Arsenal, then the side would have had much more experience over the last 5 years than had been at AW’s disposal. These players all left for various reasons, but, for the majority, it was down to contract length and size.

Wenger has been critisized massively by some sections of supporters for his inability to keep hold of certain players over the trophyless years, but lets not forget that it was the BoD who were now holding the purse strings (no matter what they may say) and they were looking to save pennies wherever they could. Unfortunately, this cost Wenger a lot of his experienced players.

I think ‘PY’ started shortly after the Invincible season. Now this will sound daft, but for me, the invincible season was as much a hinderence as it was a huge, huge achievement (are you crazy you fat ginger fool, I hear you type!? let me explain). The club decided it had to move in a new direction to make the most of its growing fanbase, but they took their eye off the ball, literally. Too much focus was moved away from the field and into the boardroom. Wenger was expected to sort out not only the team, but with the loss of his right hand man David Dein, he was also expected to deal with transfers. This multi-tasking led to a lack of focus which has been missing for 6 years now, and resulted in a drop of quality on the field.

People outside of the club always praise our style of play, but anyone who watches the team regularly knows we have lacked tempo and the ability to be direct for years now. We no longer hit teams on the break and take far too long building attacks. This is something that I believe AW has seen, and now that the purse strings have been opened and his eye is back on the team, it is something that he has been able to rectify with the new additions to the squad. Players such as Ryo, Walcott, Oxo and Gervinho add the ability to be quick and direct. The addition of quality defenders like Vermaelen, Mertersacker and Santos will give us the ability to soak up pressure so that we can get back to the counter attacking style of old. The squad has depth again, and the future looks bright.

Wenger has been put upon far too much by the BoD in recent years and it’s now time for the board to repay him. He has held this club on his shoulders for the last 6 years, deflecting criticism away from his young, vulnerable players. He has allowed the board to make him look the villain with their claims that funds have been available all this time (will we ever know the truth?). He has continued to keep the side competitive on the field whilst keeping the bank balance healthy, something that only 3 or 4 managers in the world could have done.

For me, he is our Dark Knight. He is willing to take all the heat, all the booing, all the flak, because in the end, he knows he can handle it. He has been, and still is, the best manager this club has ever had, and I for one, hope that this new look team bring him the success he deserves. Something that the much loved Fabregas never could.

Written by Fatgingergooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Proof that Arsenal will score more goals this season.

September 5, 2011

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

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

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

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

gpg = goals per game.

Likely first team replacements:

Samir Nasri: 18 goals in 86 games = 0.21 gpg

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

………………………………………………………………………….

Cesc Fabregas: 35 goals in 212 games = 0.16 gpg

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

………………………………………………………………………….

Gael Clichy: 1 goal in 187 games = 0.006 gpg

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

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

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

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

.

Goals from the bench:

Niklas Bendtner: 22 goals in 98 games = 0.22 gpg

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

………………………………………………………………………….

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

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

………………………………………………………………………….

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

Wilshere: 1 goal in 37 games = 0.03 gpg

Ramsey: 4 goals in 37 games = 0.11 gpg

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

What is Really Happening at Arsenal?

August 22, 2011

Written by Kelsey

I think a reality check is needed and between us we should try to fathom out what is going wrong at the club. Figures don’t lie and we have won just 2 of our last 13 PL games, which would have been inconceivable in February. Fabregas leaving is going to be a huge miss, and though not replaceable like for like we have had the best part of this year knowing he would leave to find another player as a world-class playmaker.

(Did Arsene know?)

Injuries have been another key factor. Other clubs get injuries but we have a number of players who can hardly string together half a dozen games together in a row before being injured again. Wenger has admitted that on occasions he plays players who are not fully fit – because we don’t have a balanced squad of players some of whom simply aren’t good enough.

Having watched the Liverpool game again I get the feeling that the many fans have accepted that this might turn out to be a disastrous season for the club. Personally I believe with the players available (Kos is out) we will probably lose in Italy and have absolutely no chance at United. I may be proved wrong but the omens don’t look good.

I ask you how many players in our present squad providing they are fully fit and committed and in form would automatically be on the team sheet (I am assuming Nasri is leaving.)

RVP, Sagna, Vermaelen, Wilshere, possibly Gervinho and Szesney, but that’s all.

Kos is improving, Djourou another one who is injury prone and at best is a back up and Squillacci is a disaster. Song is inconsistent. Diaby,Gibbs and Rosicky are injury prone. Arshavin and Chamakh are woefully out of form and have been for months. Walcott just flits in and out of games and is at best a cameo player. Ramsey, Frimpong and Jenkinson will come good but need mentoring and to expect them to play at the highest level at this time is a big ask. Miguel and Lansbury come below the list starting with Ramsey. Traore,Vela and Bendtner are going or are going out on loan
Not fair to comment on Oxlade-Chamberlain as he hasn’t played yet.

So it doesn’t make happy reading.Will one or two signings  make much difference ?

Confidence is at the lowest for years, apart from Vermaelen and a fit Wilshere no one to drive the team on and I am really concerned.
The Emirates is no fortress as seen these last two seasons so home advantage for some reason is not as it should be.
Plenty of questions, but at this moment very few answers.

It would be nice to hear the truthful agenda from Kroenke and Gazidis otherwise known as the Chuckle brothers. Gazidis wants to broaden the name of Arsenal,hence the Far East tour, but surely he should get his priorities in order and deal with our immediate needs by sorting out transfers be they in or out, or is Wenger responsible for that.

PS : This is just my opinion and has no bearing on my support, it’s just doesn’t make sense to me. I take positives with negatives but there is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion which I know many will disagree with.

In the past week AW has been quoted as saying Cesc, Samir and Robin love the club, well so do I and I don’t understand why this is happening.

After writing this post this link appeared  and to me maybe very relevent.Those who want Wenger out should read it.

http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s378/st170548.htm

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Posted by Rasp

Cesc Would Have Stayed If…

August 16, 2011

So, in a piece of shocking news akin to “sun rises in east” or “John Terry proven to be total twunt”, it was finally confirmed that Cesc Fabregas is leaving us to join his DNA soulmates in Barcelona.

I could echo Shakespeare and say I come here to praise Cesc, not to bury him. But there has been no shortage of teary-eyed eulogies around the Arsenal blogosphere bidding farewell to our little Spaniard.

And there have also been many thoughtful (and some less thoughtful) analyses of what his likely departure will mean for the team, for our formation and for our prospects this year. Again, I’ll leave that to others.

What’s exercising my grey cells this morning is this:

Did it have to be this way?

If things had been done differently, might we now be looking forward to the sight of Cesc leading out the troops for a fresh Premier League and Champions League campaign?

Many reasons have been suggested for Cesc’s determination to leave Arsenal, including several that reflect badly on our club and its manager. The main theories seem to be as follows:

Cesc would have stayed if…

…the club had showed some real ambition in recent years by signing other big name stars to play alongside him.

…we had finished last season more competitively, perhaps coming second in the league and not falling down like a pair of Sammy Nelson’s shorts.

…the club had acted early and decisively in the transfer window this summer, thereby demonstrating to Cesc that we were going to put right the flaws that led to last season’s abysmal collapse.

…the club had at least gone out and signed a decent defender early in the transfer window. A solid, English giant of some kind. Ryan Shawcross anyone?

…we had re-signed Alex Hleb. It is well known that he of the mazy dribble to nowhere was Cesc’s best friend at the club after Senderos left. Bringing him back might have persuaded the Captain to stay one more year.

…the fans had not played their part in making the end of last season so ill-tempered. Cesc is one of the best players in the world – yet on a regular basis in March, April and May he found himself walking off the pitch to a chorus of boos. Even if they weren’t directed at him personally, how could he, as captain, not take them personally?

…we had won the Carling Cup. Regardless of what then happened in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, we would have claimed our first silverware under Cesc’s captaincy and provided enough optimism to think that others would follow.

…we had won the league at least once in the last three years (or the Champions League).

…Barcelona had not spent the best part of two years deliberately unsettling him at every turn, eventually making his continued presence in North London untenable.

…Arsene Wenger had tried harder to keep him.

The funny thing is, I don’t think any of those theories are completely right. And most are dead wrong.

If we had invested huge sums of money two or three years ago into players that our business model could not sustain at that time, we might well have been more successful in winning trophies.

All that would have done is hasten Cesc’s departure. I believe that Cesc always intended to return to Barcelona one day – but that he really, really wanted to achieve success at Arsenal first. Had he won the league, say, two years ago, he would probably have left last summer.

So spending more money, buying more superstars, abandoning our careful advance towards financial sustainability would only have had the effect of speeding up the ‘Adios’ moment and might well have put us in bad financial straits. Admittedly, we might be feeling better about his departure with a few trophies gleaming in the cabinet, but he would still be gone.

There may be more of a case to make that a stronger finish to last season would have helped persuade Cesc to stay. If we had fought Man Utd all the way to the wire and forced them to win the league rather than us handing it to them on a plate with stupid defeats to inferior sides, maybe he would have felt that one more year would be enough to land the big prizes with Arsenal before heading South. Unfortunately I think that was the point he arrived at the previous summer, in 2010. That was when he decided to give it one last shot at winning things in our red and white. Regardless of how we finished the last campaign, that bird had flown.

Likewise, early summer signings this year would have made no difference.

Short of signing Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Puyol, Valdes, Pedro, Villa, Pique, Busquets and Mascherano, firing Arsene Wenger and hiring Pep Guardiola, there was no way we were keeping Cesc.

Our likelihood of retaining him has not been helped by the fact that Barcelona are currently going through a purple patch and are generally regarded as one of the best teams ever, anywhere. Their ethics as a club may be in the gutter, but their football is gazing up at the stars.

So what of the other “what ifs”?

If the mood round The Emirates last season had been better, it might have made Cesc more regretful about leaving than he probably is, but I can’t see it as a decisive factor. Nor the absence of his good friends like Hleb and Senderos.

As for Arsene trying harder to keep him… really? What more could he have done? He made him captain, cherished, nurtured and valued him and undoubtedly was key to him staying for the 2010/2011 season. He tied him up on a long term contract which still has four years to run, so he can’t be accused of letting him slip through our fingers for want of proper planning.

So that only leaves the impact of Barcelona and their concerted campaign to unsettle Cesc.

That’s the one factor that, had it not been there, might well have made a difference.

The massive peer pressure exerted on him at every international get-together by Barca’s Spanish players – and repeatedly in the media in between times – must have taken a toll.

Imagine if Barcelona had not been actively pursuing him for the last two years. He might well still fancy returning to his roots (and Catalan roots grow deep and strong) but the sheer pressure and expectation to do so would not have been there and he might have felt he could stay at Arsenal for longer.

But Barca did exert their pressure in blatant contravention of all the tapping up rules, and there’s nothing we or anyone can do about it.

So, to sum up, there is NO right way of completing the sentence “Cesc would have stayed if…”

And now it’s time to move on, with sadness for the closing of one chapter, but hope and optimism for the opening of another.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Will Arsenal Win The League? No Reffin’ Chance

August 15, 2011

There appears to be something of a debate about what portents the Newcastle game holds for the season ahead.

Those choosing to see the positives were encouraged by a defence so impregnable that not even John Terry’s mighty and unruly member could hope to penetrate it.

Others, seeing the negatives, despaired of an attack so bereft of creativity that if it were a painting it wouldn’t even get a place on the wall in Tony Hart’s Vision On, as the camera pans quickly past the offerings in this week’s “crap our viewers sent us” section.

What I saw was something to depress both those who wear rose-tinted spectacles and those who prefer the shite-tinted variety.

It was yet another example of Arsenal losing points because of the subconscious refereeing conspiracy against us.

The Barton-Gervinho spat has been discussed ad nauseam.

Yes, Gerv had to go for raising his hand, but Barton should have been red carded for throttling our new signing – and Arsenal should have had a penalty for Barton’s assault.

Apparently Barton reads a lot of philosophy. Well, he’s clearly a complete Kant. And a total Hippocrates, who’s dragging our game into the Goethe.

But what the furore has obscured is the fact that Gervinho was quite obviously tripped in the box in the first place for what should have been a bang-on penalty before the heir to Plato even had a chance to get his fingers round his throat.

And before that?

How about Taylor’s flying elbow into Sagna’s head very early in the first half? Taylor led with the elbow, made no attempt to get the ball and could have inflicted serious damage on our right back. It was also a straight red card assault, but none of the four officials on duty noticed it.

Admittedly, Song’s stamp on Barton was also missed by those highly trained officiators, who clearly need to go to SpecSavers.

In the second half, Sagna, again, was the victim of a throttling by either Obertin or Guttierez (sorry, can’t remember which one) as both players were running for a ball deep in Arsenal’s half. The same sort of throttling that earned Abou Diaby a red at Newcastle last season.

Barton’s dives all resulted in free kicks for the home side; Arsenal players had to be virtually rugby tackled before referee Walton would put the whistle to his lips.

Frankly we should no longer be surprised.

They say that referees’ decisions even themselves out over the course of a season. Well, from an Arsenal perspective, for several years now our seasons have been about as even as the Himalayas.

I have written before about how I think that referees have a subconscious agenda against Arsenal. Essentially, they see us as a foreign team playing in an English league and this leads to preconceptions that (a) our Johnnie foreigners all cheat and (b) they don’t like it up ‘em.

So, on his Premiership debut, our new African attacker, recently signed from the French league, gets tripped in the box and an inept official decides it must have been a dive. He’s not sure, so he doesn’t stop to book him for simulation in case the TV cameras prove him to be incompetent, but he doesn’t give the penalty either.

Likewise with the Barton-Gervinho scuffle. Barton can assault our player – that’s just a red-blooded Englishman showing passion. Just a yellow card for “getting a bit carried away”. Gervinho, of course, gets a red for what must have been a meaty right hook, right? That tough Barton fellow wouldn’t fall to the ground like that unless he had been seriously hurt would he?

I estimate that last season refereeing mistakes – whether from incompetence or from subconscious bias –cost us at least 12 points. The worst example all year was in Saturday’s corresponding fixture, when Phil Dowd pulled on a black-and-white striped shirt and started playing for the Geordies.

His appalling performance that day left us utterly demoralised and I have little doubt that it was that result, rather than the Carling Cup final, that set the tone for our late-season collapse. If Dowd had made just one less mistake we would have still won 4-3 and our title charge may well have stayed on track.

I don’t expect this season to be any different. As Saturday showed, we will continue to get the crappy end of the stick – the one that’s covered in essence of Barton.

It means we probably have to be effectively 10 points better than Man Utd to have a chance of pipping them to the title by just a point.

I’m not sure what we can do about it.

Just be philosophical I suppose…

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Act One Scene One

August 13, 2011

Let us start with the simple stuff.  We are playing Newcastle . Everything else has complications. Which team will we play? What are the tactics? What is happening with the squad?   Will the shenanigans with Cesc and Samir affect the team? How will Newcastle perform with their new players and the loss of major stars? Will last season’s lucky socks bring a better end of season result?

I cannot speak for all but I am really excited by this season. The potential loss of our best player (and Samir)  will not mean the loss of our football ethic and ability to win trophies. We are about to witness the development of the best English creative talent since Gazza (let’s hope JW has a longer career); TV has the potential to become a real world class player –  we missed his drive and resolution throughout last season, should he form a partnership with either  JD or Kos, we have defensive solidity. The loss of Clichy (who I liked very much) allows the fleet footed Gibbs and Traore to shine – they are the future. One of last season’s highlights was the Pole in Goal – still a baby and yet comfortable, relaxed and confident, an AFC legend in the making. What with the youth and skill of Ramsey, Song, Theo, allied to the experience and quality of Sagna, AA and RvP, what is there to be fearful about? And that is before we look at Chamakh who will surely improve in his second season and the dazzling talents of Gervinho.

It would be easy to see Newcastle away as the beginning of the end of our previous season’s trophy campaign.  I prefer to look at that amazing first half when we blew away a decent Newcastle side. This is the Arsenal I want to see – incisive, intelligent, impish,  involved and inspiring. Turn off the DVD at 4-0 and you will be a happy man; stay watching and you will see one of the worst refereeing performances in the history of the Premiership. Let us hope for better from  the referee today.

The team? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. Our midfield is decimated and yet we still have the opportunity to play with 4 full Internationals and three national captain’s (Rosicky , Ramsey and AA).   I haven’t seen any of the friendlies and have no idea about the form of our players but my gut feeling (based upon too many years as an amateur pundit) is the following:-

though we may be better going at a dodgy Newcastle defence and playing Theo in place of Rosicky. There has been talk of Lansbury getting a game – I would be loathe to start him at  St James’ which can be a testing ground for a young man, I would prefer the experience of Rosicky (though much depends upon the fitness of Ramsey).

A topic of discussion on yesterday’s AA blog was whether we play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 or another combination. My take is that we  have such fluidity  there is no fixed formation, particularly when we play with overlapping full backs and centre backs who like to go forward!

And how about the opposition? Fervent, expectant fans will be expecting a win against an Arsenal team in “disarray”.. The Barcodes are a passionate club and their players will be fired up. The loss of Nolan could be telling as will be the lack of an adequate replacement for Carroll. Mad Joey Barton has yet to find a club yet it would be no surprise to see him start – Pardew will be  short priced at the bookies to be first manager sacked this season, and for that reason he may well decide to forego creative football for the malice and aggression we saw last season.

We usually start the season well and perform our best when facing difficulties. No Wilshere is disappointing but Arsene still has enough strength in depth to cope, especially as we have our first choice defence available (if this IS our first choice defence!).  Can we win? Of course.

Newcastle was home to  Reginald Mitchell (1895-1937). Who, you may well ask? Mr. Mitchell was an aeronatical engineering genius who designed and created the WW2 fighter plane, the Spitfire, without which Arsenal could currently be playing in the Bundesliga!

COYRRG

Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Kieran Gibbs: the key to Arsenal winning the league.

August 11, 2011

I can’t get that Benfica game out of my head, have you ever known a pre-season friendly in which one team brings on their best players at the beginning of the second half? Well, that is what I reckon the Portuguese did on the weekend, demonstrated perfectly by the introduction of enormously talented Argentinean international Pablo Aimar. This is the equivalent of us fielding the side we did for the first forty five minutes then keeping the same side for the start of the second except replacing Rosicky with a fit and raring to go Fabregas.

Benfica may have been better in the second half but they were still good in the first, as I have said before, probably better than seventeen of the twenty teams in the EPL and yet we found a way to initially contain them before finding a way past their talented defence. This bodes well for the forthcoming game against Newcastle.

We could have and should have been better, Rosicky and Ramsey are all very good but neither of them offered Song any real support and when playing top class opposition which is what Benfica are then our Alex needs a bit more help than either of those two can offer. In a nut shell — we missed Wilshere. A midfield of Song, Wilshere and Ramsey would have been better balanced and as a consequence much more effective. Rosicky was picking up the ball deep in our half and doing his usual drop of the shoulder enabling him to go past his man but then all too often his pass would not find an Arsenal player, we would lose possession and find ourselves back under pressure again.

But all this is a side-show, our attack looked good the inter play between The Gerv, Arshavin and RvP was impressive again, however, I couldn’t help thinking that with the introduction of Fabregas this attack would be unstoppable. Cesc picks the ball up deep drops the shoulder, goes past his man but unlike Rosicky his next pass finds a red shirt more often than not. This is the difference between a ten million pound player and a sixty million pound player.

A few people have posed the question how should we deal with Cesc when it is so obvious that he wants to leave, the answer is, if he stays, just thank your lucky stars; he is the most talented player we have and he will set that attack on fire.

Anyway the second half against Benfica was the second half; they must have really wanted that little cup, presented to them at the end of the game, in view of the players they brought on whereas it was clear that Wenger was using it for what it was: a pre-season fitness builder.

I want to say a few words more about that game by focusing on Gibbs but putting it in the context of the end of last season.

I think Harry wrote recently that he felt it was the fact that we didn’t score enough goals after Christmas that let us down more than any thing else. I remember thinking he is right, I totally agree with that. Harry was met with a barrage of comments insisting that the collapse of the last nine games was down to the defence and very little to do with the lack of goals. I was taken aback for a while but I have thought about it some more and I am back agreeing with Harry: it was the lack of goals rather than the defence that caused the bulk of the problems.

Look at the last nine games of last season they include teams like West Brom, Blackburn, Villa all teams that we should have beaten and yet they all found a way of drawing or beating us by employing almost the same tactics every time: allow us to pressure and hit us on the break. We dominated those teams with seventy percent of the possession or more and yet we could not find a way to put them to the sword.

Enter our new white knight: Kieran Gibbs, this man is going to offer so much more than we had last season. As an attacking force he is head and shoulders better than Clichy, superbly demonstrated by his pass to RvP for the goal on the weekend and by the way did you notice where The Gerv was for that goal – right place, right time again (love it). Gibbs is going to enable us to punish those teams above a whole lot quicker this season, forcing them to come out which will negate their ability to hit us on the break. This I hope will lead to a calmer reaction from the defence. What about Gibbs the defender? Cross your fingers and hope that Vermaelen plays out there when some real defending is called for but humour aside there are very few games in which teams try to attack us – Barcelona, who are difficult for any side to face, but really after that, who?

I have read a couple of comments saying that we should take the money for Nasri while we can, reminding us that we only really got two good months out of him so grab the money now. How can I put this, Nasri is the most talented French midfielder of his generation he is going to be one of the best midfield players in the world, if you are irritated by the fact that he hasn’t signed quicker, ponder this. Do you think that things will be different when Wilshere only has one year left on his contract, do you think Wilshere’s agent won’t shop around, do you think City won’t come calling, will you say oh just sell him? I think not. Nasri should stay and will stay.

Which brings me to what will probably be the last time I will ever be able to write about the most talented player we have at the club: well certainly with the same reverence I save for players who don the glorious red and white. The loss of a sixty million pound player is going to have a serious impact (the club may value him at 40 but to me he is worth far more). Yes, I know we will survive but that doesn’t stop the pain of the imminent loss of what could be so different, so amazing with the attack that we have now assembled – In the words of Total Arsenal: Barça might want you but Arsenal need and love you.

Written by London

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Posted by LB

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