Are Teams Starting To Fear Arsenal Again?

October 27, 2011

One of the saddest effects of our poor form during 2011 has been seeing how lesser teams no longer fear us.

The psychological advantage of having most opponents assume they would get nothing out of playing us has been whittled away by a series of unfortunate events.

Throwing away a four goal lead at Newcastle; losing to relegation-bound Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final; league defeats to the likes of West Brom, Stoke and Bolton:

All these and more have turned our shiny armour of invincibility into a tattered and battered old coat of rusty chain mail, pock-marked with holes.

Do you remember how it used to be?

From Arsène Wenger’s first Double-winning side right through to the best free-flowing days of the ‘Fabregas era’, most other teams were terrified of playing us.

They would look at the fixture list for the following weekend, see that they were up against The Arsenal and immediately go weak at the knees.

On match days, as they lined up in the tunnel alongside the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira, Adams, Bould, Campbell, Seaman, Keown, Ljungberg, Overmars, Lehmann, Fabregas, opposition players would have involuntary wee-wee incidents in their shorts.

It is rumoured that some managers had to use a cattle prod to get their players out of the safety of the dressing room when we were in town.

And I have it on good authority that at least two EPL clubs considered switching to brown shorts precisely to avoid the embarrassment of having what you might call “fear stains” on display.

Any sports psychologist will tell you that if you can win the battle in the mind, you will win it on the field of play.

We used to be so good at getting inside our opponents’ heads that most teams were beaten before they walked onto the pitch – you could see it in their eyes (and their shorts).

Lately only the Manchester branch of Surrey United have had that aura, although their own grip on the Fear Factor may take some time to recover after the humiliation at the hands of their lottery-winning neighbours.

Indeed it is the Sky Blue half of Manchester that can now truly be said to make opponents quake at the mere prospect of playing them.

So, having lost our fearsomeness, can we regain it?

I believe the answer is ‘yes’ – and, further, that we have already made some encouraging baby steps on the path to once again being truly dreaded by the opposition.

Crucial to our ability to inspire terror is one man. You won’t be surprised to know I’m referring to our very own Prince of Strikers, Robin van Persie.

Mid-to-low ranking teams usually set out with a game plan to stop Arsenal rather than outplay us. And with our recent history of defending set pieces (where we’ve been as watertight as a pair of paper knickers) they rightly feel that if they succeed in stopping us, they have every chance of grabbing a goal or two at the other end.

But there are some strikers, at certain periods of their careers, who are simply unstoppable.

Thierry Henry had it for years. Ruud van Nostrelflair had it for a while. Cristiano Ronaldo had it in England and now Spain. Drogba used to have it. Lionel Messi has it.

And Prince Robin has it, because no striker in England comes close to matching his hit rate right now.

And that inspires fear – even terror – in the hearts of opposing managers and defenders.

In the days of TH14, no matter how well set up a rival defence was, they knew that if Thierry wanted to play, there would be little they could do to stop him.

Of course there are other ways you can inspire fear in your enemies (and I don’t mean the Barton approach of stubbing out a cigar in their eye).

Having a genius midfielder, for example, whose passing can unlock any defence; having a team so technically gifted that they can one-two their way round the most resolute of opponents.

And a rock solid defence can also terrorise the opposing side.

The chant of “one nil to The Arsenal” emerged during the period when we had the ‘famous back six’ of Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Adams, Bould and Keown. The meaning of the chant was not to point out the score for the hard of thinking (there was a big score board screen to do that). It was to let the opposition players and their fans know that they had already lost because there was no way they were going to penetrate our back line.

We’re a long way from inspiring fear defensively or in midfield (although the more victories we accrue the more that will come). But at least at the striking end of things we are on the way.

And if we can get any kind of result at Stamford Bridge this Halloween weekend, we’ll be even better placed to put the frighteners on the (relatively) easy run of opponents we have between then and Christmas.

We need fear to be our friend again.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Orcs! You shall not pass!

October 24, 2011

Written by oz gunner

How they lined up:

Arsenal (4-4-3)- Szczesny, Djourou, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Song ©, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Chamakh.

Subs: Fabianski, Frimpong, Rosicky, Benayoun, Arshavin, Park, van Persie.

Stoke (4-5-1): Begovic, Wilkingson, Shawcross ©, Upson, Wilson, Whitehead, Whelan, Delap, Ethrington, Walters, Crouch.

Subs: Sorenson, Huth, Shotton, Diao, Palacios (ex-scum), Jerome, Jones

Pennant failed to come up thankfully as he normally creates problems for us

Pre-Match Thoughts:

RVP needed the rest, so I’m glad to see MC lining up against the orcs (hopefully he can create room for Walcott and Gerv to work in).

Walcott needs to step up. He can’t fall behind the ‘youngster’ tag anymore, it’s time to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Gerv needs to start hitting the target.

I’m glad Crouch and Upson are starting because I feel they are a lot less dangerous than Huth and Jones.

I’d like to see Arshavin come off the bench and deliver another great cameo.

I’d like to see a great defensive display against one of the most dangerous set dead ball teams in the league.

Lastly, no more injuries.

How it happened:

5’         Djourou sends in a poor cross (used up his good one in the CL).

6’         Ramsey picks out a great run by Walcott, however it’s just over hit.

9’         Corner sent in to a free MC…GREAT chance squandered. No pace or direction in the header really should of done better (that’s 2 goals in 31 matches for MC).

11’       Ambitious pot shot by Walters…fizzes wide. Song caught out in position but recovered well. Shot from distance by Arteta pulled wide.

12’       Crowd relatively quiet.

15’       Another great ball by Ramsey. Too hard for Gerv to control.

16’       Still no set piece for Stoke or Delap throw in.

17’       Spoke to soon. Boooooooooooo! BFG sorts out the danger.

19’       Great bit of skill by Theo (he needs to play to his strengths more often we’d all agree). Good cross, just a touch to high. Whitehead puts in a lousy slide on Arteta.

21’       Stoke are sitting deep and tight, it’s hard to get our passing game going.

22’       Arteta’s free kick spills to Gerv who tees up Ramsey who fires in a shot…just wide.

23’       Free kick to Stoke (Arsenal have conceded 5 goals from free kicks this season). Djourou headers clear.

26’       Hard to break down a well drilled Stoke team, conversely they are finding it tough getting forward.

27’       Ramsey chips a beautiful ball over the Stoke defenders, Gerv controls well with his chest and slots the ball under Begovic…GOAL!!! First goal at home for Gerv, Ramsey has been great.

28’       Fouls: Stoke 6, Arsenal 0

30’       Whitehead YELLOW CARD after another shocking slide tackle that just missed Arteta.

31’       Gerv great burst of pace, and a beautiful low cross, unfortunately no-one is there for the tap in.

33’       Stoke are playing very compact. Shawcross has the ball and Boooooo’s rain throughout Emirates and my living room.

34’       Stoke get a free kick after great and fair Kozza header (funny how Crouch rides over people all the time, yet when he’s on the receiving end he gets the foul. Ball sent wide to an unmarked Shawcross who headers the ball to Walters, ball headed to Crouch who taps it into an empty net. GOAL. Well thought out set piece by Stoke, Gerv should have done better.

35’       Wilkinson wrestles MC to the ground (Hulk Hogan-esque). How is that not a penalty? Very unlucky there!

38’       Delap throw #2. Ball ricochet’s around the box -> Corner

39’       Walters stop whinging.

40’       Arsenal have dropped off a little since we scored, half time can’t come soon enough.

43’       Delap throw #3…come on hurry up get on top of it ref! Handled well but out for throw #4 which comes back out to Delap who sends in an abysmal cross (shows just how one dimensional he really is, the rest of his game is poor).

44’       Great defending by Kozza who gets Gerv out of dodge.

46’       Arteta keeps it in well, great cross. MC misses it somehow and goes out via Upson.

47’       Wild shot from distance by Gerv, to no avail.

HALF TIME

Half time mullings:

A great start by Arsenal but we dropped off again after we scored. They are playing tight and defending well but because of it they are not creating much themselves.

MC we really need you to pull your finger out, yes your endeavour is there but as our second choice striker we need more out of you!

Bugger Chelsea away next week. If we play like we need against them last year we will be fine (oh how I miss that game. The full field press was amazing. Kozza will pocket Torres easy).

Gerv and Ramsey have played well.

Alarm set: 7 hours to work…mmm sick day?!

Second Half under way

46’       Poor effort from Walters, hit and hope if anything.

48’       Great ball through to Walcott, deflection, corner. Corner comes in and Kozza attempts a bicycle kick (love this kid).

49’       Cross sent in by Theo…ends up in row Z.

53’       Djourou sets up Theo to get flattened. Definently tell he is a CB playing at RB.

54’       RVP is warming up. How long before we see him? YELLOW CARD Wilkingson for holding Theo.

56’      Sixth corner for Arsenal. Orcs start falling over each other. Walters down after a tangle with Upson. Get up Walters two minutes have been wasted. Stoke appear to be playing for a draw. Stoke reconsider their sub.

59’       Whitehead is up there with Lescott in terms of ugliness.

60’       Song good hit on Crouch. Delap->off  Diao <- on. Well done Delap you have proved further just how pathetic of a footballer you are!

60’       Crowd chanting for RVP, only a matter of time you’d think as MC’s only contribution this half was a header to Crouch.

62’       Good build up play, bad pass by Song, crowd are getting restless. Kozza is playing great again. Unsure if these performances by Walcott can carry on. It’s surely only a matter of time before we see the Ox take his spot in the starting line-up.

65’       Stoke sitting very narrow and tight, Crouch still isolated. RVP is getting ready to come on. The crowd is shouting their love (please sign a new contract RVP… pretty please).

66’       MC->off  RVP<- on. MC was less than inspiring, guilty of wasting two great chances.

67’       Beautiful play by RVP, cross just too high for Kozza. Worlds #1 cheekily takes on Walters. Commentators condemning him saying he is naïve and has often made mistakes this season. Pretty harsh I think!

68’       Shawcross the sook forearms RVP in the head…no free kick given.

70’       Great pass by Song, RVP lays off to…no one.

71’       Theo->off  AA<- on. Hopefully another great cameo is on the cards.

72’       RVP’s cross splits the lot of them. We are controlling the game easily. BFG needs to assert himself better during our set pieces.

73’       Great run from Gerv, crosses into RVP who sneaks it past Begovic GOAL!!! 200th goal at the emirates in our 100th game. RVP’s positional sense is truly world class.

74’       Ethrington + Crouch-> off           Jones + Jerome<- on

76’       Gerv is looking great down the right hand side.

77’       Jones free header, Jerome goes for it but clatters into the World #1 (he’s not impressed by it). Nervous last 15 minutes coming up.

78’       Santos warned- Cool heads needed here. We don’t need to give away stupid free kicks this late into the game, especially not when Jones is on.

79’       Great piece of defending by Arshavin.

82’       Great pass by Arshavin finding Gerv’s run, he cuts back to RVP who taps it in GOAL!!! Begovic poor attempt at a save. 6 goals in 5 matches for RVP against Stoke.

84’       Two great defensive efforts by Santos. Great block by Kozza who was 1-on-1 with Jones.

87’       Arsenal is making a mockery of Stoke at the moment, passing it around like it’s a training drill. Stoke cannot get near the ball.

90’       RVP threads it through to Gerv, Begovic saves from a tight angle.

91’       Gerv-> off  Pong<- on

Arsenal control the rest of the game with great movement and passing. They can walk off the pitch with their heads held high after that one! The second half was all Arsenal.

FULL TIME

Player Ratings:

Worlds #1  6.5.   Had little to do, but was consistent when called into action.

Djourou 6.    Offered little going forward but did the job asked of him well. His extra height was needed against the Orcs.

BFG  6.5.    Consistent, keeps getting better each game.

Kozza  7.5.    Stand out performer in defence and is becoming one of the best defenders in the league at the moment. Love how he goes about his game. One on one he is a star, and controls the air well. Crouch had nothing all game

Santos 6.5.   Like BFG he is getting better as each game passes. Offers more attacking wise but is no mug defensively. Will be a great purchase once he settles in and lifts his cardio.

Song  7   You know what you get from Song, and he played well again today against Stoke. Stuck to his role well and allowed Arteta and Ramsey to go about their business. Hard to think this is the same Song who went out on loan to Charlton all those seasons ago.

Arteta  6.5.    Started every Premier League game for Arsenal this season. Delivered another good performance both offensively and defensively, unfortunately will allows be compared to Cesc.

Ramsey  7.5.    Amazing game from young Ramsey. Cesc-like passes (especially the assist to Gerv), great work rate and dangerous shooting. He is going to be an Arsenal legend no doubt about it. Glad Shawcross has not ruined the great career he will have,

Gerv  8.    Man of the Match for me. Showed Theo how it’s done with great drive and low crosses. When RVP came on he lifted immensely. Great control and finish from Ramsey’s pass, and two good assists. Another Arsene steal considering his price.

MC  5.   Endeavour is there, just not his finishing. As though he’s scared to shoot with his feet. Wasted two great opportunities. Fans are losing patience with him, me included. Hopefully he snaps out of it though, I want him to succeed at Arsenal

Theo 5.    Good in patches. However those patches were few and far between. He NEEDS to deliver more, and his high crosses are a waste especially when playing a team like Stoke. Ox is breathing down his neck.

RvP   8.   Amazing cameo, the fans got what they asked for and he showed just why we love him so much. Two goals thanks to good positioning and passing by Gerv. We need him to stay he is World Class and a great captain.

Arshavin  6.5.    Good little cameo again. This might be how we get the best out of him for the remainder of his time at Arsenal.

Ref  4.    Didn’t get on top of the time wasting, missed a penalty and was pretty much poor all game.

The game was nerve racking for a moment there but we controlled it for the full 90 minutes. This team is getting better and better each game and looks very determined to give their all for the cause. I’m loving it, come on you mighty Gunners. Well played. Next up Chelsea.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Going Underground? Match preview

October 23, 2011

The arrival of the beetle-headed dung-munching orcs from Stoke will be the first real test of our newly found confidence. Can Arsenal overcome these mutants and gain 3 points without a slew of injuries? Furthermore, can Arsenal get through 90+ minutes of  battle with 11 players on the field – another red card for the good guys would not be a huge surprise.

Shawcross, Delap and Hoof go forward for a corner

Stoke are a different team this season having spent heavily in summer on another bunch of giants. With an average height of 1.83 they are the tallest team in the PL, and it is working for them, they lie in 7th, 2 points ahead of us. Stoke have also cleaned up their act (or more probably have become cleverer at rotational fouling) – they have yet to receive a red card and have only 16 yellows in 8 PL games; we have received 3 reds and 19 yellows.

Tactics are normal Pulis – long ball,  focus on set plays, Delap’s throw-ins and a solid defence allied to the pace and power of Kenwyn Jones who really should be in better company. The signing of Crouch says it all, with his thrust Stoke have managed to score just 6 goals in 8 games. Walters is a Pulis favourite and we can expect him to cause his usual problems. Pennant has been injured but could be back to test our full backs.

A depressing stat is that since we last beat Stoke 1-0 at the Emirates we have not won 2 PL games in succession (according to OPTA), a better one is that Stoke have not beaten us at home since 1981.

Which brings us to Arsenal’s team. Let us start with a positive, Thomas Vermaelen is back and available for selection; I do not expect him to start but perhaps he will get some minutes later in the game. Problems abound at right back with both our squad RB’s injured, as such we will see Djourou continue, I wish him well. At left back Gibbs is out for a minimum 2 weeks with a stomach strain, so Santos gets the shirt. Santos has been both superb and a liability in his short AFC career, he has pace, good control, can cross and has already scored, but he was lucky to stay on the pitch in Marseilles, has been prone to pass to the opposition and his positioning has been suspect, that said, he is learning the Arsenal way and IMO will prove to be a fine signing.

We looked better at Marseilles when Ramsey came on and despite Rosicky’s good form I would start the Welshman in a game which will have strong resonance for him. To make Shawcross look even more stupid will complete Aaron’s recovery. He will score if selected.

My team:

Despite Mr Wenger’s statements, Arshavin’s recent performances have been, what’s the word?  OK …. crap. A 10 minute cameo aside, AA has  been our most frustrating player. I would not even put him on the bench and allow him some time to recover his vim and vigour, because I can only assume his focus has been upon getting Russia into the Euro’s.

RvP or Chamakh? Sure Robin needs a rest, but now is not the time. We need pace to break down Stoke because we will not out-muscle them, however, Stoke have a poor record when returning from Europa Cup duty so we can hope they will tire.

An inventor from Stoke? Not many but stand up Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge. Involved in the development of wireless telegraphy, he also invented electric spark ignition for combustion engines.  Had a fine beard as well ….

This is a winnable game against a team who in recent years have become possibly more disliked than any team outside of Manchester and N.17. Despite being unconvincing we have been getting back on track, let us continue today.

Don’t forget the Victoria line is not working today. Stay and watch the Under-18’s strut their stuff ….

COYRRG

Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

In the line of duty

October 22, 2011

Written by MickyDidIt89

After logging off last night , I became the recipient of some most disturbing news. I have been ousted as The Chairman of my local Wiff Waff Club (Ping Pong to some). It is a very small select club which makes pinpointing the bad seed very straightforward. You see, a minor incident took place at a less than sober gathering of the local Cider Circle on Thursday night at which a close friend and member of the Whiff Waff Club let slip to Mr Baxter (husband of Mrs Baxter) that two last minute re-scheduling of Wiff Waff Club meets were as a direct result of my Arsenal commitments. Now call me vindictive, but I can assure you the next time I am swinging the bat with Mrs Baxter, I shall not hold back. I only reluctantly let her join as a result of her very fine nibbles (which have turned out to be, shall we say, at best inconsistent) and certainly not as a result of either her conversational skills nor those of bat and ball.

This tale brings me nicely on to the subject of today’s post. How far have you been in the line of duty?

Like many here, I eagerly await a new seasons’ fixture list for two reasons. One is to see how the run-in looks and whether we are likely to become Champions on home soil, and the second reason is to head straight for the diary thus rendering myself “unavailable” for other distractions for one or two days of the year.

Of course shit happens, as indeed it did this week. Twice. Firstly, I had Marseille down for the Tuesday (hence re-scheduling The Wiff Waff Club to last night), and secondly my AFC Fixture List had Stoke down for Saturday. This works in my favour as it means I can go tomorrow, but this only shows how easily difficulties can arise, thus heaving at the strings of one’s loyalties.

My own favourite took place one day in the autumn of 1997. I had recently become engaged,  and the previous day my then girlfriend and I had resolved to put a day in the diary for the momentous occasion in the Spring of the following year. She later found me on the phone to the FA enquiring about the dates of the Cup Final. When asked I merely explained that my wedding day was to be the most important day of my life (cough 26.05.89) and could she imagine how distracted I may be poncing down the aisle with ear piece in as we headed into extra time at Wembley while chasing the double. You never know, I said, it could happen.

So it came to pass that a short week after goals from Marc Overmars and DennisBergkamp against Newcastle at Wembley saw us take The Double, ‘err outdoors become ‘err indoors. So all in all a happy tale of dual commitment and loyalty.

My message to Mrs Baxter: Kiss my pert arse!

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Why We Should Be Top Three By New Year

October 21, 2011

No, I haven’t been taking the Kool-Aid.

If you look at the fixture list between now and the New Year (well, January 2nd to be precise) you can see that we have every reason to be optimistic.

We have 11 games between now and then, taking us conveniently to the half way stage of our campaign. Six are at home, five are away.

The home games are:

Stoke
West Brom
Fulham
Everton
Wolves
QPR

All eminently winnable and, consequently, I have us down for the maximum 18 points from them.

Away from The Emirates we face the following:

Chelsea
Norwich
Wigan
Man City
Fulham

I’m going to be pessimistic and assume only one point from the combined Chelsea and Man City games. But we should win the other three, giving us 10 points for the five away fixtures.

That would give us a total of 38 points after 19 games at close of play on January 2nd.

To get an idea of what that means, let’s look at where we were last season at around that stage: on January 4th 2011 we were sitting third with 39 points, having played a game more (20 as opposed to 19). The Chavs were two points ahead of us and the evil empire of Darth Fergie was five points ahead.

It is perfectly reasonable to believe we will be in as good a position at the start of 2012 as we were at the start of 2011, although we may be more than five points behind the leaders.

My theory is further supported by the fact that between now and the New Year, several of our main rivals have games against each other and will take points from each other.

Man City have to play United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Chelsea face Liverpool, Man City and the Spuds.
Liverpool have Chelsea and Man City.

Less beneficial is the fact that Man Utd and the Spuds have an easier time up to the end of the year, United having only the City game, while the Spuds face only Chelsea from among the ‘top’ teams.

Nevertheless, on the morning of January 3rd 2012 I expect the table to show Man Utd sitting top, with Man City second and us third. There won’t be many points between third, fourth, fifth and sixth (with Chelsea, Liverpool and the Spuds occupying the three places below us). Newcastle will have slipped down to mid table.

This Arsenal team has been substantially rebuilt and has struggled to find its feet quickly, but we are much better than our current league position indicates.

We have some very classy players who are only going to improve the more they play together and we should not underestimate the brilliant coaching ability of Arsene Wenger. It’s no coincidence that he has produced two wonderful, trophy-winning teams and one wonderful team that just fell short of winning the big prizes.

For all the recent criticism of him as a coach, he has a philosophy of football that is second to none and that has made him more successful than most of his peers.

I firmly believe that with the same resources as AW has had in recent years, not even the Purple-Nosed Gorbalian or the Special Needs One would have been able to keep a team in the Champions League every year.

The more he works with the likes of Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho, Santos, Jenkinson, Benayoun and Oxlade-Chamberlain, the more they will find that Wengerball will become second nature to them and the more we will sweep away the opposition.

So sit back and enjoy our rapid climb up the table, starting on Sunday, when we grab our pitchforks and march against Baron von Frankenpulis’s Monster Army.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Walking in a van Persie wonderland

October 17, 2011

Yesterday was Robin van Persie’s day.  Just how important he is to the post-Cesc Arsenal was on display for all to see.  His first goal, just half a minute into the game, saw him receive the ball from Gervinho on the edge of the penalty area, and work the space before getting off a shot that wrong-footed Mignolet in the Sunderland goal.  It was decent but said more about poor defending from our opponents than anything.

His second was as sublime a free-kick as one is likely to see, deftly flighted to the top right-hand corner of the goal.  Van Persie seems to like scoring free kicks against Sunderland in October; his powerhouse shot off the underside of the bar was against the same opponents in 2007.  Seb Larsson’s equaliser yesterday was another superb free-kick, and being sat behind the goal in the North Bank, I have to admit, I felt pretty lucky seeing two perfect efforts, even if one of them was against us.

But probably the most impressive piece of van Perise’s play was a miss: in the middle of the purplest patch of the first half, the first 25 minutes, van Persie took a pass with his right foot, shielding it from the defender, and then took an early chip across to the other side of the goal.  The Belgian keeper was completely beaten and looked to have resigned himself to picking the ball out of the net.  But the trajectory of the ball bent ever so slightly and the ball hit the inside of the post.  Gervinho attempted to sweep up the pieces as the ball went across the face of goal, but it was too much for him.  Van Persie may not have scored but his effort was reminiscent of Cantona at his arrogant, puff-chested best (also against Sunderland, as it happens).  Absolutely superb.

Van Persie aside, there was some good aspects to our performance yesterday.  Carl Jenkinson had his best game for us so far, and showed that he’s learning as quickly as Koscielny did last year.  He’s prone to be a bit head-down when running with the ball, but again and again he attacked Kieran Richardson at left-back and often got his cross in.  And Tomas Rosicky had by some distance his best performance for a long time, justifying his surprise inclusion in the starting XI.  Rosicky worked hard and turned his markers well.  Despite what others might say, Rosicky also delivered a number of good passes, including the one that released Gervinho before the Ivorian laid it onto van Persie for the first goal.

Wojciech Szczesny didn’t have the busiest of games but his point-blank save from Cattermole at the end of the first half was world class – after the energetic and awkward Sessegnon undid our defence and knocked the ball across the goal, everyone in the ground must have assumed it would be Sunderland’s second goal, the ball just needed to be nodded in from a yard.  But Szczesny didn’t give up and launched himself across the goal, and Cattermole’s header just cannoned off the big Pole.  An epic piece of keeping.

Andrey Arshavin has done little to justify his wages since that goal against Barca but his sub’s performance yesterday was the best we’ve seen of him for a long time.  His desire and artistry in the dribble was great to see, and he was unlucky to see his toe-poke shot go wide after he’d slalomed through the Sunderland defence.

But there were negatives.  Sunderland were a weakened side: they don’t have their first choice keeper available, have seen their star striker bizarrely head off to the Gulf on loan, and one of their first choice centre backs is on police bail amid serious criminal allegations.  Sunderland may have spent heavily over the past few years but this is a side we should be beating more comfortably than we did.  We tore them apart in the first 20 minutes, and could easily have been three or four up, and we completely dominated the second half, but we ceded control of the game in the first half and, despite all the second half possession, we often looked laboured in attack.  Sunderland were well organised and hard-working, deploying the typical defensive 4-5-1 used against us at Ashburton Grove, including the rotational fouling tactic, which the weak and inconsistent Howard Webb was unable to deal with.

On individual performances, the one that worried me the most was Mikel Arteta’s.  I like Arteta, he’s intelligent and honest, a real team player.  But he hasn’t shown adequate quality in an Arsenal shirt yet, and yesterday he contributed little of value for us.  And he even gave away the free-kick from which Larsson scored with a needless handball.

Theo Walcott drew the customary slagging from his own fans, something that never fails to wind me up, but he didn’t have a good game, too often taking up poor positions.  That said, he undid the Sunderland defence a couple of times and carried some threat to our opponents.  Not that the haters would acknowledge that.

The defensive side of our game remains a delicate thing.  Most of the time, everything was ok, but in the 15 first-half minutes when Sunderland were on top, too often our opponents had the luxury of time and space on the ball.  We need to be far more focussed and consistent in our defending.

And finally, our crowd: Christ on a bike, where do some of these idiots get off, booing their side at halftime?  And that after a half in which we’d done plenty that was good.  I despair of some of my fellow Arsenal fans.  The volume was increased in the second half, but this impatient, hypercritical nervousness is neither justified nor productive.

We’re edging forward slowly.  We’re back in the top half of the table and within striking distance of Spurs.  But next weekend, we’re hosts to Stoke, who will bring much more of a threat than Sunderland.  Cope with that and we’re definitely on the up.

My rankings for the day:

Szczesny: 8 A world class save and generally very good, bar a couple of wonky kicks. No chance for the goal.

Jenkinson: 7 After looking like damaged goods in his last few outings, CJ showed real promise.

Mertesacker: 6

Koscielny: 6

Gibbs: 5 Didn’t contribute enough going forward.

Song: 6 Some wayward passing but pretty sturdy performance.

Arteta: 4 Disappointing.  Needs to impose himself soon.

Rosicky: 7 A renaissance for Little Mozart?

Walcott: 5

Gervinho: 6 A great opening 20 minutes, not a lot after that.

Van Persie: 9 Oh my god, what a day.  Get that contract sorted now.

Santos: 6

Arshavin: 7

Benayoun: 6 Did ok when he came on, worried the defenders on a couple of occasions.

Written by 26may89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Pick up the Pieces

October 16, 2011

At last the chance to write about something other than rumour, tittle tattle and economics. And what a game we have today, none of that nerve wrenching, gut mangling, behind the sofa stuff of our last match against the lowlife bottom feeders – today we welcome those fine upstanding men from the frozen wasteland of Sunderland, who will be looking to gift us 3 points in their push for relegation. A day for Arsenal to get back on track and pick up the pieces.

Sunderland are owned by an American, Ellis Short, who has recently become chairman succeeding the excellent Niall Quinn. Will this isolate Steve Bruce and lead to his replacement, or will it have no effect upon the on-pitch affairs? More to the point, do we really give a damn?

There are lots of interesting stats about today’s game, my favourite being that Sunderland have not won at Arsenal since 1983. There have been 3 90th minute goals in our last 6 meetings, and whoever scores first wins – usually us.

No Bendtner today which is a shame. I watched him in Denmark’s excellent victory over the slimy Portugese (any team with Ronaldo , Mereilles and Nani is slimy and deserving of a good beating!). Nik played centrally and was, I can find no other word, poor. He finished off a fine move for his goal but even Clichy could have scored it. Nik’s absence could give Connor Wickham his first PL start, an interesting player as he showed against us last season at Ipswich.

We are just one point and one place ahead of Sunderland …  bizarre. You all know the problems, we have discussed them endlessly, unfortunately no-one has come up with reasonable solutions other than buying better players. Mr. Wenger believes he has the squad to challenge and one can certainly find reasons (not excuses) for our poor start. Injuries to key players and a rash of red cards have hindered our progress.

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Wenger solves the right back problem. Can he rely upon a very inexperienced 19 year old Carl Jenkinson to be an adequate understudy to Sagna? Or does he play Koscielny or Djourou at RB?  Another possibility is Coquelin. If there are to be brickbats (whatever they are) to be thrown at AW, it is selling Eboue without buying an experienced stand-in RB.

Upfront, RvP is in the form of his life, can he continue and get a brace today? Why not?

With Rosicky regaining fitness , will AW continue with Ramsey? Despite his critics I believe Ramsey is a fine player and should get the shirt with TR substituting late in the game

Is there any possibility of Arshavin getting the central attacking midfield role? Not in my opinion, in fact I doubt whether AA will even start.

My team:

 

 

I am hoping we will really attack Sunderland who are likely to play long ball and  look for set piece opportunities, hence the choice of Santos over Gibbs.

The Americans will not appreciate my choice of inventor born in Sunderland. Contrary to popular belief the electric light bulb was invented by Sir Joseph Swan and not by Thomas Edison.  The electric lightbulb was first patented by Swan in 1878 and his house was the first in the world to be lit by light bulbs.  He received a knighthood and the French Legion d’Honneur in honour of his invention. Top bloke, top beard.

BigRaddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

FUNDAMENTALIST ARSENAL

October 15, 2011

Here is just a quick thought to keep us going as frankly, we all wait for tomorrow.

In two hours Wales boot off against France, and just before the starting gun sounds, we will hear the whole of Wales joining in a round of  “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau”, or to some “Land of our Fathers”, and what a rallying anthem it is. My Welsh Mother used to make me watch the opening of a Rugby Game in Wales just for this, and she had a point.

We all know how well “You’ll never walk alone” rallies the masses at Anfield, and even that lot down the road have their slow paced “When the Saints go marching in” adaptation, which I begrudgingly admit is fairly haunting.

Like it or not, most of us one-club-loyal fans share a tribal mentality. Now throw in a bit of “God on our side” and you have something scarily fundamentalist. One of my first games was the Leeds v Sunderland Cup Final (A Godfather of mine was a Director of Dover Athletic FC. Sincere apologies to more deserving Sunderland fans), and I remember how moved I was by the majority of the crowd joining in to Abide With Me. Anyhow, back to the Fundamentalist element. I recently had some friends around and was given an SAS Regimental bottle of Whisky with these words engraved on the back:

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further: it may be
Beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow,
Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

When I first read these words, on top of putting them into the context of a band of elite warriors, I nearly … myself.

Now think of the men in red and white coming out of the tunnel in the knowledge that they are going into battle serving a power greater than Stan Kroenke and the weekly envelope.

Is it time to introduce a Fundamentalist slant. A unifying anthem. Something to strike the fear of God into our enemies, or am I becoming a lunatic?

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Something to celebrate

October 14, 2011

At last this boring International break is coming to an end and we can look forward to some Arsenal Angst this weekend. Faced with another non-Arsenal news day I thought I’d have a look in the archives and see what this week had been about in times gone past. It turned out that this week 11th to 18th October is historically really very exciting.

Sneaking in on the 10th of October ( if I’m writing it I can change the rules ) we have the birth of Mr Arsenal himself, Tony Adams in 1966 and Charlie George in 1950. Two mega Arsenal Legends born on the same day – that must’ve used up a lot of luck. On the 11th October in 1976 John Devine signed professional terms but I had to google him I’m afraid. He played 111 games for Arsenal and succeeded Pat Rice.

On October 12th  in 1996 Arsene Wenger took charge of his first game against Blackburn Rovers which we won 3-1.

In 1928 on October 13th  Herbert Chapman was involved in some transfer shenanigans and signed inside-forward David Jack from Bolton for a then record £10,890.

We don’t do score lines like this anymore but on October 14th 1893 Elliott and Henderson both scored hat-tricks as Woolwich Arsenal beat Ashford Utd 12-0.

Surely something else must have happened on an October 15th other than in 1971 Ex-Arsenal striker Andy Cole was born in Nottingham. He made just 2 subs appearances.

Now this next date is really important, oh happy day, on this day October 16th in 2004, anyone want to have a guess what happened………, on this day Arsenal beat Aston Villa 3-1 to go 49 games unbeaten. Will that great feat ever be repeated?

On October 17th 1925 A Jimmy Brain hat-trick helped the Gunners to a 5-0 home win over Cardiff City.

And so we come to another amazing day to celebrate in our great history, as on this day, October 18th, in 2005 our fantastically talented  Thierry Henry scored two goals against Sparta Prague and so smashed Ian Wrights record of 185 goals scored and sent him into the record books. What would an ounce of that ‘va va voom’ do to our forward line now? Enjoy the match report here

This week we can celebrate Arsene’s first game, our unbeaten run and Thierry’s ever present ‘va va voom’. It’s possible that this most dreadful start to a season under Arsene Wenger will also find itself in the history books, maybe because we go on to crash and burn or maybe because against all the odds we’ll pull ourselves out of it and still make it to a  Champions League position. Rough ride ahead.

peachesgooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Psst….. wanna buy a football franchise?

October 12, 2011

Chelsea FC  directors say their club needs more season tickets as the ground isn’t big enough. There is a  suspicion that their Russian Oligarch wants away from financing them and it’s time for them to stand on their own feet as Financial Fair Play looms large. Player’s wages versus gate receipts cannot be justified if they stay where they are. But still their fans bemoan the current tickets prices, whilst demanding the club doesn’t move.

So there you have it, all those happy fans who loved the spend, spend, spend days are now faced with the reality of what being in debt means. Don’t want to pay, don’t want to move, while their creditors circle in case the Russian goes off and takes his money to fight his election as Putin demands. What does the future hold for them and their club?

How different are Arsenal, debt almost eradicated gate receipts enough to cover wages and a profit being returned annually, enough to keep our owners interested?

But still some fans are objecting. They want trophies and for the club to spend some money and bugger the consequences. We want trophies, 6 years we have waited it’s a disgrace, what are these yanks up to, why won’t they spend the money, fire the manager, he has lost the plot. Let’s demonstrate, with some creative thinking, I know we’ll make a banner, a bloody big one, get our message across. We buy the tickets, it’s our club. Without us fans there would be nothing.

Wrong, my friends, oh so wrong.  Arsenal FC, like Chelsea and all the privately owned clubs have the potential to become a Franchise.  Should Chelsea move to Slough, Harlow or Wapping it matters not, they would be welcomed with open arms by local councils for the money they would bring in.

Their fans, not all of whom by any stretch of the imagination live in the borough, would continue to go, maybe some of the ‘I am here to be seen’  show business lovies might find the journeys a mite  too arduous, but they in all probability are only temporary anyway.

Professional sports clubs bring in fans by the thousand and their spending power feeds the coffers of local business and the transport companies that get them there. They provide jobs, as brilliantly broken down in yesterday’s post by GIE. 600 casual staff alone work at the Arsenal on match days and the club pays business rates worth many thousands of pounds.

Take test cricket as an example. There are 7 home test matches next year and 9 counties who with the help of investment from the local councils, have upgraded their grounds in the hope that they will get one.  Lancashire’s MD has expressed the view that those grounds that don’t get one are in danger of going broke. But still the local councils invest, why, because of the revenue a successful bid generates and all will bid every year desperate to succeed and stay in business

So it is with football, and for this reason if you have ownership of a club you are in the driving seat. You have the power to place your toy where you want, forget the football League they haven’t the balls to say boo to a big club let alone tell them what to do. Ask Leyton Orient as they contemplate the hammers moving onto their manor.

Franchises based on the American model could well be on their way here and fans had better wise up or they, like their American cousins could see teams uproot and move lock stock and barrel. Remember it doesn’t only  have to be in this country for the big boys, should a European League comes to fruition, then anywhere is possible.

Written by dandan

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Posted by dandan

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