The interview that tells us RvP will stay at Arsenal

March 8, 2012

Ever since, Robin and Arsène announced they will not talk about a new contract for our Boy Wonder till after this season, I haven’t given RvP’s contract situation a second thought. That is, until last week Tuesday, when by chance – I was looking for some pre-match info for the Holland vs. England match. I found a video-interview between a NOS reporter, Bert Maalderink, and RvP.

NOS are the Dutch equivalent of the BBC and Maalderink seems to do the majority of NOS interviews with football players. His interviews are performed in a typical Dutch way – no, not naked and stoned – but open, challenging and at times even confrontational. ‘The truth’ is usually not covered up and there is often a mutual desire for a meaningful dialogue between the interviewer and the interviewee. I dare say, most English reporters would not get away with Maalderink’s style of interviewing and be told to do a personal bum-cheeks-splitter with their microphone. But, for the purpose of this post, it is great that the interviewer and interviewee are both Dutch, as the direct and open nature of the interview reveals a lot to us.

Although, I am usually a glass half-full person as with regards to players staying or leaving, I tend to be a bit more of a pragmatist: as long as no new contract is signed a player is more likely to leave than to stay, especially when a particular player only has one year left on his current contract (as RvP will be this summer). However, when I was watching the interview with Robin van Persie last week, I became unexpectedly, yet instantly, convinced RvP is staying put and will sign a new contract this summer.

Here is a translation of the second part of the interview (from 2.33 minutes onwards). Although I am not a trained translator, I am pretty confident my translation is doing the interview full justice:

BM: The question on everybody’s lips is: ‘What is he [RvP] going to do next year?’

RvP: Yes, we will see.

BM: Are you struggling with this?

RvP: No, not at all. I am doing fine, enjoying everything, training well, I am fit – knock on wood (he taps the microphone) – and all is going well.

BM: But what about people saying: ‘It’s a bit of a shame – Van Persie, who is head and shoulders above everything, playing in an Arsenal side which is not quite the very best of Arsenal sides ever’?

RvP: Well that’s funny, isn’t it? People consider this Tottenham team as the best ever and our team as the ‘worst’ (he makes a quotation mark with his fingers) ever, and we beat them 5-2: it is a bit crazy sometimes…

BM: Does that nag/hurt you a bit?

RvP: Sorry – what do you mean?

BM: Because I know why this is: everybody regards Arsenal as a higher-up team, and Tottenham, yeah – well, a bit lower-down, and when they are doing OK and Arsenal are doing less, well then people will say: oh how well Tottenham are doing, and Arsenal are performing less (below par).

RvP: Yeah, yeah, that is correct. Expectations are very high at Arsenal: we have a gigantic, beautiful, big stadium, a great number of fans, very beautiful history and people expect that we perform well right now – in the present.

BM: Do you think you [Arsenal] are performing well?

RvP: No, it can always be improved, we go for the highest achievable. In the last few years, as a club, we have not achieved that, so in that respect it has not been good enough.

BM: Are you somebody who will try his utmost with this club to still achieve success?

RvP: Well yes, I have been there eight years of course, and I am proud of that, and at the end of the season we will calmly sit down with the manager and the chairman [I assume he means Gazidis] and we will have a ‘nice cup of coffee’ (in Dutch: ‘dan gaan wij een bakkie doen’, which could not be more Dutch if you tried), all of us together, nice and cosy (in Dutch: ‘gezellig’ referring to a very friendly/informal sort of meeting/conversation).

BM: Because I feel you have become a ‘club player’ over there…

RvP: Yes, I am a real Gunner, which goes without saying, I have been there eight years, I love this club, that is no secret, and that will always stay like that.

BM: Therefore, would leaving now be ‘blasphemy’?

RvP: Well once again, at the end of the season, we are going to have a calm/relaxed talk about it, and then we are going to talk about a number of things, which I do regularly with the manager, and because of that occasion [contract talks] the chairman will be there as well.

BM: You are going to make the final decision then [at that meeting]?

RvP: Dan gaan we een bakkie doen: that is when we are going to have a nice cup of coffee.

Click here for the link to the interview

Most of you will not be able to understand any of this, but it is worthwhile to look at the last 3 minutes of the interview, just to see Robin’s face, and especially his eyes: they are smiling throughout and mostly so during the last five seconds of the interview. He also never touches his nose (a well-known sign of a possible lie being made), looks shifty or is not in control of the situation.

He is speaking to a Dutch journalist and does not need to do any Arsenal PR to him, so he himself chooses to say everything he does and that to me is the best proof that Robin really loves Arsenal and is going to sign a new contract. He is not exactly saying the latter of course during this interview, as he will still want to negotiate a fair and attractive contract, but in my opinion he said more than enough to convince me he will be at Arsenal next season and beyond.

RvP said: ‘Yes, I am a real Gunner, which goes without saying, I have been there eight years, I love this club, that is no secret, and that will always stay like that’, and this statement, combined with his wish to sort things out whilst doing ‘een bakkie’ is enough proof for me that he will stay at Arsenal.

RvP10, like DB10, has Arsenal-DNA in his blood and like the latter he will make a decision about his future based on a healthy balance between earning what he is worth, playing quality football and doing the best for him and his family. He is one of ours and around him we will build the next super-Arsenal team.

You might say, I am Dutching at Straws but I am very confident RvP will sign a new contract this summer. Without any doubt, there will be a million or more words written about RvP’s contract shenanigans, before he will finally put ink to paper. You can choose to read all of them, or be sensible and just remember what he has said in the interview above, and go with my interpretation of it. As I said a few days ago, I will eat LB’s newly purchased hat this season, if I am proven wrong. RvP is a true Gunner-for-Life and we are so lucky to have him.

Written by TotalArsenal

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Arsenal 3 – 0 Milan Report: The Ox and TR7 pair-up to rejuvenate our midfield

March 7, 2012

Written by TotalArsenal

4-0 down from the first leg in the San Siro, and only two midfielders to choose from by Wenger: the task of reaching the next round in this year’s CL competition could not have been harder. On the other hand, because the first leg result left us in an almost impossible position to go through, the players could go out on the pitch and play free and attacking football, as per the DNA of the Wengerball-era.

First Half
And boy, did they enjoy themselves in the first half! With Song as the only DM in midfield this time, we played Rosicky and The Ox in the more advanced midfield positions, and we pushed hard from the wings as well – especially our right wing, where Sagna and Walcott formed a constant threat, with which Milan’s LB, Mesbah, and his nearest CB, Thiago Silva, really struggled in the first half. Arsenal’s defence played a high line which was necessary so Song would not get swamped in midfield, as he had the enormous responsibility of controlling the midfield last night. We basically played the Barcelona-way in the first half, only better (lol)! The combination of The Ox and TR7 gave us a fresh and dynamic style of play, and the Italians had simply no answer to their energy and attacking ingenuity.

We played a high tempo from the start and never allowed Milan to settle. Milan did manage to get out of our grasp now and again, but it mostly led to quick passes to Ibrahimovic, who managed to be in an offsite position almost every time.

Incredibly, we scored three goals in the first half, reducing the two-leg deficit to just one goal.

The first one was from a corner that was whipped in with real venom and a strong curve by the excellent Ox. Koz, super Koz, was too quick for Van Bommel, who started the game sluggishly for Milan, and he manoeuvred himself in a free position to convert a relatively easy chance. The Milan goalkeeper, Abbiati, had no chance: 1-0.

The second one was a result of bad defending by Thiago Silva, who intercepted a misguided pass into the box by Walcott, only to clear it straight to Rosicky. The latter had time to control the ball with his first touch, after which he placed a shot into the corner of Abbiati’s left corner, whilst cleverly hiding his intensions by using the defender’s body in front of him that was shielding the view of the keeper: 2-0, 26 minutes played, and game truly on!

The third one came from the penalty spot. A few minutes before half time, the Ox took on Mesbah and whilst moving himself decisively into the penalty-area, he got squeezed between the latter and fellow defender Nocerinio, and he was clearly fouled: penalty! RvP steps up and scores with a text-book, absolutely unstoppable, penalty: 3-0.

Just before half time, Milan created an excellent chance to make it 3-1, which would have meant Arsenal needing at least 3 more goals to go through. El Sharaawy fluffs his effort, however, probably frightened by the menacing tentacles of the forward pouncing Polish octopus. Szczesny’s presence and ability to intimidate in the box is simply a joy to watch.

Second Half
The second half was of a totally different order compared to the first one. The pressure and nerves were back on, as we now had a very decent chance to go through to the next round.

We started well again, albeit with a bit less intensity, and cohesion in the midfield. Milan started to battle more effectively in midfield, and Ibrahimovic had decided to start putting in a shift for his team at last. But what really made the difference was the apparent hamstring injury to the Ox. It took a while before Wenger finally decided to take him off, and the possible reason for this is that the most like-for-like replacement, Ozyakop, was too nervous to come on (some on AA have suggested that he threw up whilst being on the bench?!). With the Ox no longer able to support Song and Rosicky, and both quickly tiring as well, leading to more and more misplaced passes and often unnecessary fouls, we slowly but surely lost the battle in midfield, which allowed the Rossoneri to play out the game without conceding any further goals.

Just before the hour mark, however, Arsenal was still able to create a golden opportunity to score the all important fourth goal that would have levelled the tie, but it was not to be. Gervinho, who had been worryingly ineffective throughout most of the game, saw his deflected shot from inside the box saved by the keeper, only for the latter to push the ball right in front of our Boy Wonder. Robin’s attempted delicate chip over the keeper is well-anticipated by Abbiati, and he is able to save at a very important stage of the game.

With the Ox out and Rosicky knackered, and nobody on the bench to help us regain the midfield, we left an enormous gap between defence and attack for the last 30 minutes of the game. As a result, we were no longer able to create decent chances, and we had to helplessly witness Milan’s late escape from our previously established deadly grip. What a shame!

To be fair, Milan produced the best chances in the latter part second half, but a combination of woeful finishing on their part and a very impressive defensive display by our back-five, ensured that we were able to keep a clean sheet till the end.

Conclusions
We played without fear and with real verve, especially in the first half. And in a transitional year like this, it is immensely important that Arsenal was able to erase the memory of the 4-0 drumming by the Rossoneri three weeks ago, by winning with a convincing display and a big margin last night.

Games like these build belief and character, and this ‘new’ team – as in a rapidly developing/gelling group of players – became a lot closer and stronger on this fantastic night of football at THOF.

We will never know for sure whether we would have won this game, with the required bigger margin to go through to the next round, if the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey, Diaby and Arteta would have been fit and available last night. In my view, just two of those on the bench would have been enough for Arsenal to be able to enter a plan-B in the second half, and go through to the next round. We really only had a Plan-A for this game due to the many injuries of our midfielders, and in the end it was just not enough to complete the miracle.

The boys have done us proud with a passionate and high-quality performance, and last night they showed us all that we continue to belong in the Champions League. The squad will develop further in the next few months, and hopefully we will be a bit less unlucky with regards to long-term injuries to key players, and in key positions next year. On top of that, we can add one or two players in the summer, and then we should be able to push all the way, in the PL and CL, from next season onwards.

I would like to finish with a few special mentions:

For the boys who came through the youth ranks, Szczesny and Gibbs: they were absolutely amazing and how good is it to see that our own talents are making it at the highest level;

For the partnership between TV and Koz that performed so well last night (a little bit against my expectations);

For that performance by Sagna last night: what a warrior, a legend in the making;

For the rejuvenated Rosicky, who played an absolute blinder last night; (especially the first hour or so);

For the battling Alex Song, who completed a very difficult task of holding a midfield almost continuously on his own;

And for the incredible, truly wonderful performance by the Ox, who became a man last night.

TotalArsenal

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‘Til the End of the Day: Match Preview

March 6, 2012

How exciting to welcome the reigning Italian Champions and current leaders of Serie A.

AC Milan arrive fresh from another 4-0 victory, away to Palermo. They sit 3 points ahead of Juventus who have a game in hand. Is this important? I would say Yes, because apart from the over-confidence rising from the first leg, Milan will not want to expend too much energy prior to facing their next League game (home to Lecce). Clutching at straws? Probably …

We were rubbish in Milan.  Apparently it was the worst CL performance in Arsenal history. The Milan pitch was much to blame but so too were the players who just went missing, even Mr Wenger publicly criticizing his team which to my knowledge is a first.

Were we over-confident? Were we tired after a long trip? Did the players have an argument prior to going out onto the San Siro pitch? Were they overawed by the occasion? Were AW’s tactics ignored or did he get it totally wrong? Whatever it was, we were pants and got just desserts for our performance.

However, since then we have beaten two rivals for the CL places and done so in an encouraging manner. We have scored 12 goals in our last two home games and should we keep up the average can advance into the last 8 of the CL. But and this is a huge BUT – we need to keep a clean sheet. With the Famous Five at the back I would bet DanDan’s house that we would do it, but with this current defence the chances are slim. Nonetheless, we have to hope and stay positive.

I expect the atmosphere to be great tonight, few will expect us to go through, and the fans will get the opportunity to see some superb players in the Milan side. The mood from the blogs indicates we are favourites to win but not by much. I tend to go along with this view. Arsenal are a damned good team, capable of beating anyone when on-form (including Barca and RM),

Mr Wenger has stated that he will play a full team which is exciting. We do not play again until Monday evening, so the players can go flat out from the first whistle.

My Team:

Milan will look to play on the break and as such we will have the opportunity to keep possession and play tippy-tappy. If he were fit, I would play Ramsey instead of Rosicky. He is better at beating a player and is more likely to score but the latest news sadly is that he will not make the squad and Arteta is ruled out for a week following the mild concussion he suffered against pool. We can expect Milan to double up on the flanks but both our wingers will do much better playing on the Emirates Bowling Green.

Today’s Gooner: Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks are confirmed Arsenal fans, both having had season tickets at Highbury. Born in Muswell Hill, they went to Fortismere School and onto Hornsey College. Forming the Kinks in 1963 they had their first Number One in 1964. The Kinks have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Ray was made a CBE in 2005.

The Lads anxiously watching the !971 Cup Final in the Top of the Pops studio

It is rare to see Arsenal in this situation, one where attack is the only policy. It should be fun.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Ban The Divers

March 5, 2012

Lightning may never strike twice, but cheating scumbags certainly do.

It beggars belief that less than a week after Gareth Bale pulled off a forward pike with tuck to win a penalty against us, Luis Suarez went and did exactly the same thing with the same effect.

Both executed perfect examples of what’s known in coaching circles as “The Rooney.”

It works like this:

You’re closing on goal but the opposition ‘keeper has come out and spread himself to narrow the angle.

You have slightly overrun it, or you’ve taken a touch too many, so now you’re too close to the goalkeeper to chip it over him.

You’re going to have to try and go round him, but at the speed you’re running, and with the touchline looming, it’s virtually impossible to round the ‘keeper and still be in control of the ball with a shooting angle.

You try it anyway, but the touch is too heavy and the ball is heading out for a goal kick.

However, the goalkeeper has had to commit himself and here, if you happen to be of a dishonest persuasion (medical term: gerraditis), is where you seize your chance.

Following behind the now wayward ball, you trail your foot to try and effect a contact with the ‘keeper’s arm or leg, depending on which way he has gone down.

As you trail the foot, you start falling forward like a tree that’s just been felled. Whether or not you actually make contact with the ‘keeper is irrelevant now because momentum and gravity have taken their course.

TIMBER!!!!!!

Over you go… and as you lie prone, the extent of your appeals for a penalty depends only on the extent of your shamelessness.

The two penalties against us in the last two weeks have certain things in common and certain differences.

Let’s take the Tottenham one first (although before we do, does anyone have the time? Oh yes, thanks – five-to).

Primatologists have managed to get monkeys and great apes to do many remarkable things in recent decades: reasoning, reading, doing maths puzzles, even speaking. But full credit to the trainers at Tottenham for producing the world’s first ever diving monkey.

As monkeyboy bore down on our goal there was a coming together between him and Gibbs. Ironically, if Bale had chosen (note the use of the word ‘chosen’) to go down then, he might have had a more justified penalty shout because there was some upper body contact between the two.

Instead he kept going, pushed it too far past Szczesny and went for the Rooney. As the replays seemed to prove, there was either no contact or negligible contact between our young Pole and the primate, even though the latter went down as if pole-axed.

The ball was going away from goal, which probably helped keep Szczesny on the pitch once Mike Dean had bought the dive.

Bale’s appeal for a penalty was a little half-hearted, as if he knew he was trying to pull a fast one. He just sat on the turf and raised one paw in the air in mute appeal. In fact, given that he has been booked for diving twice already this season, he must have been worried about a third yellow coming his way.

Dean, it should be noted, was a good 30 yards behind the incident and could not possibly have been able to see clearly what happened. He did consult his linesman, who was theoretically better positioned, but according to one account I read all the lino wanted to do was moan about something having been thrown from the crowd.

And so to Saturday’s penalty for Liverpool. Suarez, a man with more baggage than Victoria Beckham on a world tour, hared in towards our goal from the left of the penalty area.

When Szczesny narrowed the angle Suarez took a concrete-boot touch with his right foot, sending the ball straight towards the touchline and a goal kick.

Realising this, he too switched immediately to Plan B – the Rooney, dragging his feet and falling as if he’d just been hit in the back by a sniper.

Once again the referee, this time Mike Halsey, had no clear view of the incident. He was closer than Dean had been but his line of sight was obscured by a cluster of three players.

Suarez compounded his initial act of dishonesty (the dive) by putting on an elaborate show of having been badly injured. It was pure theatre, but perhaps helped convince Halsey that there had been genuine contact.

Similarities between the two dives: both players had lost control of the ball; both went for the Rooney; in both cases the referee could not possibly have seen the incident properly.

Dissimilarities: Bale had had some upper body contact from Gibbs, whereas no-one touched Suarez; Suarez showed his out-and-out dishonesty by putting on some real theatrics.

Both were pretty awful, but the Uruguayan racist’s was particularly heinous.

So what do we do about this?

For a start, some players are now so good at this sort of fakery that the referees’ association needs to aggressively counter it. I always thought that if a ref had not clearly seen an incident he could not act on it. That certainly wasn’t the case with either Bale’s or Suarez’s penalties, where Dean and Halsey seem to have made their decision based on probability or instinct.

If refs get together to try to clamp down on this sort of cheating, the net effect will probably be fewer penalties given in these sort of circumstances (including some genuine pens which will be missed because the ref cannot be certain there was contact).

It’s not perfect, but the consequences of not awarding the occasional genuine penalty are not as great as those of giving too many fake penalties (which usually means a goal for the cheating side and often a red card for the victims).

But refs aside, the real answer to the problem is retrospective video analysis by the FA, followed by severe punishment (bans) for cheating.

Then, and only then, will cheats like Bale and Suarez know that the consequences of doing what they do will outweigh the possible benefits.

The FA already hands out retrospective punishment for serious foul play when the referee ‘did not see the incident’. So they would not need to stretch the rules too far to also come down hard on cheating in circumstances where the ref could not possibly have had a 100% view and where the offender’s play-acting has been deliberately aimed at misleading the officials.

RockyLives

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Our hubcaps? Have them, we’ve got the points.

March 4, 2012

Smash and grab, against the run of play, undeserved, call it what you want, Robin van Persie’s two superbly taken goals gave us a very important win at Anfield and with it three extremely precious points.

Buoyed by the glorious fight back last week against spuds I sat myself in front of the telly ready for the match with a greater confidence in my heart than had been the case in more recent weeks. But, continue where we left off last weekend, we did not, Liverpool came on to us with drive, and purpose; they, it has to be said were bossing the game – this lasted all of, well, exactly two and a half minutes, lol before the good guys collected themselves and started to play.

Although, it wasn’t pretty, not as pretty as last weekend: the passing wasn’t as crisp, the creativity wasn’t quite as ingenious but enough collective self belief remained to hold things together and that is in spite of having to suffer yet another totally unjust penalty being awarded against us.

Did you see the replay on the telly at the end where they put what seemed like a magnifying glass on the incident – never touched him, not a feather?

Still, today was the day when Szczesny had decided to be Man of the Match, up stepped Kuyt and across went Chesney’s hand, have another go Kuyt, hahahahah missed again. Did you see Vermealen’s celebration, if you haven’t take another look, passion or what?

No, Liverpool were not going to score today, it took one of our own to give them a leg up. I think it was a very dangerous game that Kozzer was playing; although, I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt when he said that he knew that by giving them the lead it would fire Arsenal into action, the same way as it did last weekend, fair enough Koz I am just glad you never tested us by giving them a two goal lead. Am I making too many references to last week lol?

The truth is we were disjointed, the three elements of the team, the defence, the midfield and the attack seemed unable to link up with each other, Song was poor — there I said it, Alex does have a tendency to start slowly but he is usually covered by Arteta, although, today he was miss placing passes which is completely out of character; Theo was having trouble getting past Enrique, and offensively Benayoun offered nothing which left van Persie isolated.

But, remember when the BFG got injured and many said that the ideal CB partnership was Koscielny and Vermealen, I was one of them, well, they were magnificent, my only surprise was what took them so long to gel as a unit. Gibbs helps as does Sagna who was outstanding for the full ninety minutes which brings me back to the game and our only attempt on goal in the first half.

Be honest now, when the ball was rolled out to Bacary on the right wing which one of you expected that kind of cross? Guilty, I didn’t, what a peach, the most perfect angle met sweetly by the Boy Wonder to head us back on terms just before the break.

As both teams took to the field for the start of the second half you could tell that Liverpool’s resistance had not yet been completely broken, there was something about them that still naively thought they had a shot at fourth place, they huffed and they puffed, they hit the post a couple of times but there wasn’t really anything too troubling.

The first significant incident came when they knocked Arteta out cold but just as I was thinking ‘you hubcap thieving bunch of banned words’, their supporters silenced me by giving him a standing ovation as he was carried from the field. That kind of behaviour may be rare in football today but nowhere near as rare as an appearance of a Lesser Spotted Diaby, a real collector’s item this was.

I happily admit I was excited to see him back and his first shimmy that took him effortlessly past a Liverpool player got the blood racing even higher, probably for the first time in the match we started taking the game to them. That’s not to say we started to look like we were going to score, we never gave that impression but it no longer looked like the only winner, if there were to be one, would be the Dippers.

But, as quick as the Lesser Spotted Diaby appeared he was gone, did I dream it? On came the Ox full of fight, at the end of the game I was left thinking that it was a tough call to decide who was more effective: Diaby or the Ox?

But either way it was getting towards the time when van Persie had a decision to make. Some may have noticed him around the ninety minute mark looking up thoughtfully, obviously pondering that all important question: do I want to score, because as we all know, ‘he’s Robin van Persie and he scores when he wants‘?

Robin decided he did, all that was needed was someone to supply him with the opportunity: enter the world’s best DM, that god like, lion of a man (a bit too much?) Alex Song sent in a chip that Fabregas would have been proud of for van Persie to rifle home. Comparing Song’s pass to Fabregas is, as we all know, high praise indeed but there is a higher being in the Arsenal pantheon, sit up straight, pay attention, deference is required, I am about to use the “B” word. The way van Persie guided the ball past Reina was Bergkampesque. The away supporters went wild and deservedly so in my opinion when you consider some of the disappointments they have had to endure first hand in the not too distant past.

COYRRG

Did I mention the chavs lost? Hahahahahaha.

Szeczney: as I have said, Man of the Match, commanding, powerful, intelligent, good distribution, he just gets better and better. 9

Sagna: one of his really, really good games, I expect a great deal from him defensively and he delivered, I don’t expect too much offensively so his cross that led to a goal was a really good surprise. 8.5

Koscielny: superb I thought, it is not easy playing against that diving little Uruguayan rat but our Kozzer stopped him scoring so, 8

Vermaelen: can’t play two games of ninety minutes in a week purleese, this is Thomas Vermaelen we are talking about here. 8

Gibbs: he is getting better isn’t he? I thought his major significance this season would be what he brought to the attack but I like the way he is going about improving his defensive game. 7.5

Rosicky: hmmmmm, not easy, he did work hard it must be said but the job of the person who plays in between Song and RvP is to produce magic and there wasn’t enough of it 7

Song: a very poor first half, ponderous, wasted passes, I thought ‘I am going to have to eat Peaches’ humble pie’…….nooooooooooo, what a pass, what a magnificent piece of football to help win us the game. 12

Walcott: oh why me? I don’t think that last week’s goals change anything, in games when teams are foolish enough to come onto us then Theo will excel but they are the tiny minority of a season, the majority play two banks of four and he has never once shown that he is capable of dealing with such a situation. Still not convinced 6

van Persie: the Boy Wonder can do no wrong 9

Benayoun: I wrote above that he offered nothing in attack in the first half and I stand by that but what I purposely left out, until now, was to say that he worked his socks off for the defence; he tracked back like a demon, covering Gibbs whenever necessary. 7

PS The Lesser Spotted Diaby should not be confused with the Greater Spotted Diaby which, as I am sure you all know, is far more common.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Written by LB

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Let’s Stay Together: Match Preview

March 3, 2012

Following on from Rocky’s finely researched post about the curse of the Carling Cup:

Another lunch time fixture, another outing for our dreadful blue away kit and a tough fixture.

I am from the generation which remembers Anfield as the toughest fixture of the season. Win up there and you were a quality team, you had to be because for many, many years Liverpool were supreme: The Liverpool side of the late 80’s was the best team ever seen on British soil until the arrival of  The Invincibles.

However, times move on and this Liverpool side despite having been expensively assembled is nowhere near good enough to win the PL (not that we are!), they are as unpredictable as a Nik Bendnter finish. Scraping past a very average Cardiff is proof of their weaknesses.

The hugely expensive purchases of recent years have shown that money cannot buy success – our record signing is Wiltord at £16m approx; in the last few seasons the Scouse have bought Aquillani, Torres, Downing, Saurez, Mascherano, Carroll, Henderon, Johnson and Keane, all of whom cost more than Wiltord. And what have they won? The CC. How many times have the been in the CL? Not enough for the investment.

Still swallowing the King Kenny Dream

However, they remain a potent force at Anfield and it must be remembered they beat us at THOF. They are unbeaten this season at home and yet have won only 4 out of 12.

Liverpool have some injury problems with Agger out but Stevie Me is likely to have recovered from his half hour for England.  Carroll may be a laughing stock but we are prone to concede goals from players of his stature. Had Mr Wenger had his way Reina would be playing for the good guys, he remains the best GK in the Prem (IMO). Their defence is shaky without Agger. Midfield will be where the game is won and lost. The impression I get from L’pool blogs is that Adam has not been a success, nor has Henderson and the loss of Lucas has been costly. Which brings us to Liverpools’s most potent weapon, Suarez.

Is there a less popular player in English football? It cannot be denied Suarez is blessed with huge talent but his cheating and demeanor are appalling – he is the new El Hadj Diouf. As to the racial abuse case: Dalgleish’s stand and the general support from the fans was shameful, in particular at a club with the proud heritage of LFC. There is no possibility Mr Wenger and The Arsenal would have supported the player in this case. It has harmed the standing of a great club. Will Liverpool sell Suarez in summer as I hope would be the case at Arsenal – probably not, just look at the way MC have handled Tevez. One insincere apology from the media dept and all is well  …. shame on them.

Arsenal have the usual injury problems. There are doubts about key players: Vermaelen, Rosicky and RvP, without whom we will struggle. Diaby is back in the squad but is unlikely to play.

My team:

Benayoun played very well last weekend and it is hard to drop him but I believe Gervinho’s pace will cause the Scouse problems. Mozart is on his best run of form in his Arsenal career and will surely start ahead of the fit again Ramsey.

Inventor from Liverpool: Mr Frank Hornby. Inventor of Boys Toys Extraordinaire. Not just the Hornby train sets but also Meccano and my personal favorite, Dinky toys. At one time Meccano was the most popular toy in the world.

Calm Down now

March is Mr. Wenger’s most successful  month with a Pl 52. W36 D10 L6 record. A win today could knock one of the 3 challengers for a CL place out of contention.

Beating the Miscreants was a result of team play and pressing all over the pitch, if we can reproduce this team ethic we can win …. Let’s Stay Together!

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Carling Cup Curse Will Help Arsenal

March 2, 2012

The euphoria of last Sunday’s win will soon dwindle if we don’t get any points at Anfield on Saturday.

Not that it hasn’t been fun.

Even the densest of Spudders (which is a bit like saying ‘the tallest of giraffes’ or ‘the reddest of tomatoes’) have learnt to think twice when asked “what time is it?” by their Arsenal colleagues.

Meanwhile a quick trip round the Spud blogs reveals a hilarious outpouring of rage at ‘Arry, at Monkeyboy, at Adebarndoor, at Assou-Ekotto… in fact at anyone in a LilyLivered shirt.

But in terms of our league campaign it’s still only three points. Beautiful, heart-warming, Spud-humbling points, but still only three of them. Now it’s time to get another three in Liverpool.

With the return of real full backs and with Rosicky hitting his groove (hopefully he’ll be fit), with Theo having found his scoring boots again and with even Benny the Goon showing what he can contribute, there are reasons to be optimistic.

And there may be one other factor in our favour.

As we all know, Liverpool charged to a triumphant, buccaneering victory on penalties over Championship Cardiff in the Carling Cup Final last weekend.

You would think that would fill them with new confidence and vigour, but if you look back through the records, you’ll find that teams that win the CC often struggle thereafter.

The phenomenon is so marked it has even led to talk of the Carling Cup being a “cursed” trophy.

Look at Birmingham last year. They nabbed the cup in the dying minutes thanks to Koscielny and Szczesny’s Laurel and Hardy act, then went sliding down the table like a turd down the toilet pan, except with less glamour.

In 2010 Manchester United were gunning for the title. They won the CC final – and promptly let Chelsea in to take the Championship.

In 2008 the power and might (sorry, I meant “shower of shite”) from up the Seven Sisters Road captured the Carling Cup. They managed only three wins from the 12 games they played afterwards and ended up 11th in the table. Which sort of suits them, if you ask me.

In 2007 Chelsea had title aspirations, won the CC and gave the league away to Manchester United.  In 2006 the reverse happened – Man Utd got the CC and the Chavs got the title.

In 2004 unfashionable Middlesbrough picked up the trophy while also going good guns in the league. Like the Spuds after their victory, they went on to finish 11th, winning only five out of 13 after lifting the CC.

Liverpool were the CC winners in 2003, but couldn’t subsequently get themselves into the all-important Champions League places, finishing 5th.

Then there was Blackburn in 2002 – Carling Cup champions, 10th in the table at the end of the season; they took 8 points from a possible 21 in the seven games after their trophy win.

Liverpool again in 2001: In the five games immediately after winning the CC they took just 5 points out of 15.

There have been a couple of exceptions in that period: Man Utd in 2009 and Chelsea in 2005 both managed to win the CC and the EPL Title in the same year, but in both cases they had incredibly dominant teams during the seasons in question.

Will the Curse of the Carling Cup strike Liverpool on Saturday?

Who knows, but we can all hope…

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Tomas Rosicky – The Little Mozart

March 1, 2012

I usually write posts with a historical feel, stories or matches and players gone by. Wide eyed tales from the vaults of the trophy cabinets and a time of greater innocence when players could drink all night and run all day, when wistful managers had Midas touches and a loose brick in the fireplace bunged full of used twenties.

However, on this occasion, the match against Spurs made me think about the current. More specifically our Number 7.

When Tomas Rosicky arrived at Arsenal amongst much fanfare in 2006  we were entitled to expect a lot.

He was captain of the Czech Republic at the forthcoming World Cup. He had been able to shine against us in the Champions League, he was, we were told by Arsène Wenger a replacement for a modern day Arsenal legend Robert Pires. He has since that day occupied Pires’ hallowed jersey and often for reasons obvious to most of us struggled to fill those 1:50pm boots.

Back then Tomas was a world class player in the making. Several injuries later, here we are, he is a squad man in a side that has often struggled for creative input.

The mention of Rosicky on the team sheet raises an eyebrow.

The mention of his fitness  or any reliance on him in the pub pre-match is met with a wary grin.  As if you were a Liberal Democrat suggesting a  Tory increase in unemployment benefits.

Your friend may with some justification reply that you should know better. He wouldn’t have to be a sage.

If you spell-check his name on outlook it tries to call him colicky. It says it all doesn’t it?

If you put together all the time Arsène has spent giving us a Friday update on our little number 7’s injury progress then it would probably outlast a Pink Floyd album.

An album that Tomas may well enjoy given that he is a keen guitar player, one could argue that he has had plenty of time to practice in recent seasons.

He typifies Arsenal’s recent history, one of nearly moments.

All punch lines aside, I like Rosicky a lot and today of all days, is a day for fresh starts.

He is technically perfect, a one touch, two touch, pass master and a superb exponent of the outside of the boot.

His Arsenal goals have been collector’s items for the quality as much as the rarity. He has a rocket shot though we don’t see it enough.

The injuries and resulting lack of form have seen Rosicky retreat to his shell and that is a shame.

He was excellent against Blackburn and again against Spurs.

Rosicky stamps quality on the things he does. He never seems to lack effort.

Is he starting to get back his confidence? I hope so.

Against Spurs, Benayoun and Rosicky ganged up with Song and Arteta to stop the Spurs midfield. It was almost a narrow four like the 2007-2008 season. Flamini, Fabregas, Hleb and at the start a pre-injury Rosicky.

Theo still played somewhere between an right sided forward and a centre forward as if a formation didn’t apply to him but frankly they looked like free men and that is a good thing.

Rosicky’s touch and grace give him time even in a hectic match but he no longer has any pace to play out wide, as was evident in Milan.

He is like the great Pires, a player who does the right things at the right times.

The thing is that we have missed Wilshere, Fabregas and Nasri.

We have missed speed of thought, a little imagination, a little subtlety and in the short term. He really could help with that.

He could certainly help us out.

It’s just that when he turns on the ball and produces a moment of quality, you sometimes find yourself wondering what might have been.

If you are reading this Tomas, and it isn’t out of the realms of possibility that you might pick up on an Arsenal Fan site with an article about you, I would say two things;

1.       I hope your back is ok.

2.       Remember those two wonder strikes at Anfield in the FA Cup and see if you can roll back the clock at the weekend.

I still remember that goal in Hamburg.

Come in number 7, your time has come.

Written by Jamie

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Posted by Rasp

Does Kroenke have a moral obligation to spend big?

February 29, 2012

Does a billionaire owner/major shareholder have a moral obligation to spend big on his football club? And, should owners of a football club be allowed to make a profit? For a while now, I have been reading comments by a number of ‘Kroenke-critical’ AA’ers, who believe that he should be spending a lot more of the club’s and his own money and, to a certain extent, I can see where they are coming from. Just to be clear: I am neither a ‘Kroenke-critic’, nor a ‘Kroenke-supporter’.

Our club needs (an) owner(s). Somebody needs to take responsibility in managing our club and achieve sporting successes in such a way that our short-term and long-term financial positions are secured. This is mightily important to all those who really care about the club and we should not take good club management for granted: it is a fine art. Running a football club is a highly risky business. Income streams can fluctuate strongly from one season to the next whilst costs are difficult to control/manage downwards in the short run.

At Arsenal, we need clever and experienced business people, with both a passion and in-depth understanding of football, at the helm of our club. Preferably, they also have an Arsenal-history and an Arsenal-heart. We are almost entirely owned by major Shareholders Kroenke and Usmanov. The latter possesses just under 30% of the club’s shares, and the former owns the best part of 70%.

Kroenke is not an Arsenal-man and neither is Usmanov. It appears that Kroenke has a more calculated business approach to our club, whilst Usmanov seems less interested in the business-side of Arsenal, but would be more prepared to spend big in order to achieve success for the club. It is not clear whether Usmanov would dig into his own pockets or whether he would be looking at entering a number of (risky) commercial endeavours in order to free up money to invest in new (world class) players and their wages. Obviously, I do not know any of the two and my above assumptions are purely based on a number of articles I have read over the last few years. However, it is clear that Kroenke, as the major shareholder, is leading the club at the moment whilst Usmanov remains in the background.

Silent, calculated Stan

Describing Kroenke as somebody with a calculated business approach, is not necessary a bad thing. Of course, I would prefer him to have a Gooner heart and past, who is happy to spend a reasonable amount of his own money on the club without the need to earn it back again in a hurry. He is a multi-billionaire, so he can afford it. But, are fans right to lambast him for not putting his hands in his deep pockets in order to spend similarly to Citeh’s and Chavs’ owners, in order to compete in this new footie world order? Is it wrong Kroenke wants to run a financially sound football-business, and maybe even wants to take a profit out of the business, say in the region of 5-8% of turnover?

I would not want us to become like Chelsea and Man City, and I am hopeful that UEFA new financial rules will put a stop to clubs being sugar-daddied with excessive amounts of oil-dollars to success. It is wrong in every sense. I am fully aware that Kroenke is very unlikely to want to be the major shareholder forever and that his strategy is based on selling his shares at some point in the future, whenever that is, at a decent profit. I do not like this of course, as we do not know who he will sell to and what would happen next with Arsenal, but there is nothing that can be done about it. Almost every football club is subjected to the same level of uncertainty.

Arsenal winning cups and financial success for Kroenke are closely linked

But one thing I know: there are a few benefits attached to having an owner who is keen to run a sustainable business and who will want to sell it one day in the future, if and when the time is right / the price is right for him. The biggest benefit is the need for such an owner to look after his club, both financially and in terms of sporting successes. What’s more: there is a strong interdependence between financial success, sporting successes and long-term value of the club – and it is this fine balance which I am pinning my hopes on. Kroenke might not have an Arsenal heart as such, but without any doubt, he will want to look after his investment. Selling a few key players every year could easily be seen as one of Kroenke’s ways of making good money out of our club, but he also knows that this could come at a high cost to Arsenal and therefore to himself. He needs sporting success in order to achieve financial success for his considerable investment – the market value of his shares being his biggest concern – and selling Arsenal’s key assets on the pitch is not going to help him in the mid to long run. I believe Arsenal had to sell players in the last few years in order to balance the books, but last summer’s sales of Fabregas and Nasri were not borne out of necessity anymore: other factors forced Kroenke’s hand this time round.

Some have argued that he is only interested in finishing in the top-4, so he can be in the lucrative Champions League, and that he will invest only as much as is needed to achieve this. However, if Arsenal were to get a reputation of only ever being able to just finish in the top-4, it would become commercially less attractive, in terms of enticing profitable sponsorships and advertising. Furthermore, Arsenal would be losing a part of its fans base, both in terms of season ticket holders and their worldwide TV audience, with further negative impact in terms of shirt sales etc. It would also be very risky to try to do just enough in order to stay in the top-four, as the short and long-term consequences could be very dire for him if Arsenal were to fail. Kroenke needs Arsenal to be successful: not just in terms of taking part in the CL but also in terms of winning trophies.

 

Does Kroenke have a moral obligation to invest a lot more money in Arsenal though?

The above gives me every reason to be optimistic about our future. It pays for Kroenke to invest in the club and sporting success: Arsenal winning trophies rather sooner than later is a necessity for him. However, by trying to achieve this in a financially sustainable way, he could be taking too much risk and, given the stiff ‘new world’ competition he has to deal with, he might fail and we might end up with winning nothing for years to come. Which raises the question again: should he be spending more of the club’s/ his own money in order to optimise our chances to win trophies?

I don’t think I can say he has a moral obligation to spend his own money in our club, or that he should never take a reasonable profit out of the business. He is the major shareholder and carries the biggest financial risks on his shoulders. We as fans, in particular the STH and those who go regularly to away-games, spend a hefty sum of our money on the club, but our financial risks are relatively small compared to Kroenke’s: we can chose to no longer spend any money on Arsenal in relatively short time, but Kroenke is in a different position.

Ideally, I would like him to spend more (but not crazy) money in order to compete better in the next few years, but if he does not want to do it, I will respect it. However, he is morally obliged to:

1.      Look after the club in terms of managing short-term and long-term financial risks;

2.      Use the club’s financial resources and commercial opportunities to the maximum, with the aim of providing all the pre-requisites for sporting successes on the field (taking into account point 1);

3.      Represent our club as best as he can and always aim to achieve as high as we can (in terms of sporting successes), taking into account points 1 & 2.

4.      Make sure he puts the best available people into the key positions at our club.

For me, the jury is out as to whether Kroenke is doing the very best for the club with regards to points 1 to 4, and I am looking forward to hearing your views on how you think Silent Stan has been performing since he became the major shareholder a year ago, and whether you believe he is morally obliged to spend more of the club’s and his personal money on Arsenal.

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Theo Walcott: An Appeal

February 28, 2012

Well done Theo Walcott.

After a frustrating first half against the enemy on Sunday he refused to let his head go down and had a storming second 45, capped with two expertly taken goals.

If you believe some of the press, our young wide man was subjected to a dog’s abuse by a proportion of the home support before half time.

Matt Dickinson in The Times had this to say:

“If Arsène Wenger had listened to the fans, Theo Walcott would have been sat on the bench in the second half. If Walcott had listened to the fans, he might have been weeping in the dressing room despairing at how they expect him to perform if he is such a “useless c***”…

“Fickledom is the way of the supporter but, truly, some of the Arsenal hardcore did not deserve to be allowed to stay in their seats for this astonishing comeback.

“They should ask Walcott if he felt buoyed when he had the chance to sprint clear of Tottenham Hotspur’s defence in the first half but instantly offloaded the ball to Robin van Persie rather than risk another volley of “P”s, “C”s and “F”s.

“Some of the angriest men in the world seem to gather at the Emirates, so quick to seize on any mistake that you wonder if they are willing failure.”

Now I should point out that some AA regulars who were at the match reported hearing no such abuse.

Yes, there were groans of disappointment when promising moves broke down, but that’s been happening at football matches since Dandan was a nipper.

I’m not suggesting that Dickinson is making it up (the press don’t do that sort of thing do they?). It may just be that there are a group of particularly angry so-called fans who sit near the press box at the Emirates.

Instead of saying “if Arsene Wenger had listened to the fans” it might have been better journalism for Dickinson to write “if AW had listened to some of the disgruntled fans sitting near me…”

But it’s a better story if you give the impression that poor Theo was being sworn at by 57,000 howling psychopaths.

As far as I could tell from watching on the TV, the support for the team was fantastic throughout the whole game, even at two-nil down.

Nevertheless, anyone who has looked around the Arsenal blogscape will recognise some of the sentiment described in the Times article.

I have seen comments on Arsenal blog sites heaping the vilest of abuse on Theo. I have seen people who call themselves Arsenal supporters wish death on him, I have seen others praying that he gets his leg broken.

As supporters of a club that has suffered three horrendous leg breaks in recent seasons these people, apparently in all seriousness, really do want to wish the same on Walcott.

They are not supporters, they are a cancer in our great club and any site that fails to remove their comments is as much part of the problem as the haters who spout such filth.

Ramsey has had similar treatment this year (his first season back, remember,  from one of the aforementioned leg breaks, in a team struggling as a whole to find its form). Yes he has found it hard  at times, as has Theo, but do they really deserve such odious abuse?

Criticism, fine. Abuse and hatred, never.

Walcott is just 22 – still a player learning his trade. He has some shortcomings and some gifts; he may never be a world class great, but some of his critics would have you believe he should be playing non-league.

Well let’s compare his effectiveness with a player whom those self-same critics would no doubt revere: Marc Overmars, one of the heroes of our 1998 Double winning side.

In three seasons with us, Overmars played 100 EPL games and scored 25 goals – a return of one goal every four games.

In the last three EPL seasons (including this one), Walcott has played 76 games and scored 17 goals – a return of one goal every four-and-a-half games. Not that big a difference, especially when you take into account that Overmars started most of the games he played in, whereas Walcott’s 76 appearances include 22 as a substitute.

I’m not for a moment saying that Walcott and Overmars are directly comparable. For one thing the Dutchman was already 24 years old when he joined us. And I’m happy to accept that Theo has limitations.

But they are both speedy, direct wingers with a roughly similar goal return. And when you’re a winger you have to take a lot of risks because you are one of the focal points of the attack. You are expected to try and beat opponents, to shoot, to cross, to set up assists for goals. Inevitably your efforts won’t all succeed.

I would need to go back and watch some full games from Overmars’ spell with us, but I now wonder how many times he failed to beat his man, or tried passes that did not come off.  Perhaps if the internet had been as prevalent in his day there would have been “supporters” wishing death on him too.

Yesterday on Arsenal Arsenal a clip was uploaded showing Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott being interviewed after crushing the jumped-up jackanapes from down the Seven Sisters Road.

If you haven’t seen it, you should (and with luck someone will re-post the link in the comments below).

You’ll see the captain of our club – and the best player in the country this year (if not the world) – giving 100% support to Theo and, in a subtle way, asking the fans to lay off him.

Do you think Robin knows what he’s talking about?

Do you think our brilliant captain, who trains with Theo every day and plays with him every week, is better qualified to judge his abilities than some slobbering lard bucket with spittle round his mouth and a face full of fury?

I know I do.

So here’s my appeal to all true Arsenal fans between now and the end of the season:

  • Support Theo and all our players in every game.
  • If he (or others) make mistakes, rein in the anger and frustration. Redouble the support. If in doubt, think about a certain two-nil-down, five-two-up victory.
  • Criticise his performance in the pub or on your favourite blog, but exercise moderation and restraint.
  • If you run a blog, remove comments that are expressed in hateful terms and ban posters who persist in such abuse.
  • If you contribute to a blog, chasitise others who express themselves in such a way and ask the site administrators to take action.
  • At games, if there’s a hater near you ask him to pipe down and support the team.
  • If you feel too intimidated to do that, drown him out with your support.

If we can deal with some of the poison seeping from the internet community and the stands I feel confident that the atmosphere at the ground can also improve, with a knock on positive effect on the team.

Sunday’s brilliant ambience should be the norm, not the exception, but the bad apples need to be silenced.

They are a nasty minority and the majority, the ones who gave unfailing support all game long against the Spuds, do not have to stand for it.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

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