How do you get space in behind a parked bus?

October 8, 2014

This comment from Gooner in Exile in response to yesterday’s post, contains enough interesting questions for a couple of posts. His comment is reproduced in it’s entirety so the opening paragraph refers back to yesterdays post.

He made this comment at 9.20pm

Evening all, interesting debate today, well done RC78, I have to first disagree with one of your later comments, we simply haven’t got time to shift formation between 3-5-2 then 4-2-3-1 or whatever, we have to have a system and personnel that fit in that system.

Maybe one of City’s problems in Europe is that they try to change too much from PL to CL, Maureen has a system, he uses it in all games, the only difference is how much freedom the attacking players are allowed.

Rodgers earned a lot of plaudits last year for setting up his team for each given opponent, Martinez too, no surprise with only 2 days training between games this method starts to fail.

When you have no European föötball you can drill for 5 days between games.

The same with International Breaks, one of the reasons the “smaller” clubs get upsets after Interlulls is not just the travel time of their opponents but the fact that they have had 10-12 days training at their club being drilled on how they are going to play their next match.

I’ve pretty much asked myself the same question for three years, and I would really like to see a good answer:

How do you get space in behind a parked bus? And hence how do you exploit that space with pace of there is no space?

Basically why do teams defend so deep against us and not against say ManUre or Liverpool or is that just a figment of my imagination? I’m not necessarily talking about big teams but the likes of Stoke, Palace, Villa. Everyone behind the ball and hope to counter.

We could obviously play the same way but I fear we would end up with a lot of goalless draws. The other team, if disciplined, will just stay back. We have to force the issue. One way is endless crosses into the box, worked a bit when we had Ollie fit. But defences still didn’t really come towards us. Shooting from distance is another tactic, but often the ball is just gifted back to the opponent.

So can some bright spark tell me how we can try and create space in behind to win games without over committing men forward against a park the bus side?

I’m also pretty sick of hearing that Ozil is played out of position and that he only expected to play central and for 70 minutes for Madrid, he is a £42m footballer on a rather large pay packet. Do you think Bergkamp would have sulked if he played left wing? Or would he have found a way to influence the game. And maybe we should just sit Mesut down with a pile of DVDs of Bobby Pires, a number 10 who played left wing and took apart many an opponent.

Written by Gooner in Exile 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Are we already on course to another season fighting for a 3rd or 4th place finish?

October 7, 2014

Last year ended on a high note with a Cup Victory, a trophy at last…

We started this year with another Cup Victory, albeit less important and prestigious.

However, and despite a good summer transfer window (Debuchy, Chambers, Sanchez, Welbeck, we are really struggling to hit heights in the EPL and are performing ok in the Champions League. The question is why?

Is it due to the fact that our club seems to attract injuries to key players like vodka attracts the Russians? Is it due to the fact that some gaps in our teams were not addressed during this summer (CB and DM)? Is it due to the fact that some players are just below par most of the time (Ozil, Wilshere)? Is it due to the fact that our game is too predictable and horizontal and does not have enough verticality to it? Is it a bit of everything mentioned above? I cannot answer as it is too early in the season.

However, I see that our main rivals are doing well:

– Chelsea seems stronger than ever and are comfortable on all fronts, at home, away and in the domestic and European cups;

– Man City is still struggling in Europe but is strong in the EPL;

– Man Utd is ahead of us despite disastrous start and embarassing defeats;

– Liverpool is level with us despite a heavy outcry about the lack of results since the beginning of the season and same with Tottenham.

So my questions are as follows:

  1. Did we just get used to playing second fiddle to Chelsea and the Manchester teams?
  2. Are we in a crisis already? And if you believe so, what shall we do to address this situation?

Written by RC78

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Is Silent Stan good enough for the club and the fans?

October 4, 2014

Stan Kroenke and the club have generated some adverse publicity in the press recently.

There have been some insightful discussions on the topic over the past few days on AA. Now that Crystals is back to the fold, I thought maybe we could do a “Kelsey” and put comments by AA patrons together to try and generate some consensus, or better still, some disagreement.
chas says:
September 24, 2014 at 6:26 pm

Bad PR, whichever way you look at it?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/23/stan-kroenke-arsenal-dividend-fans-anger

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke angers fans by taking £3m out of club

• Payment matches 3% rise in season ticket prices
• Kroenke has dodged issue of receiving dividends

Amy Lawrence, The Guardian, Tuesday 23 September 2014

Excerpts: “Arsenal’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, has taken a payment of £3m out of the club according to the latest company accounts.

“Having never taken dividends from his American sports franchises, … this is a move that has gone down badly with Arsenal supporters. Coincidentally, the £3m figure tallies with the amount the club raised from a 3% rise on season-ticket prices for this season.

“The money has been paid to Kroenke’s company, KSE LLC, for strategic and advisory services which relate to Arsenal’s broadband division, the media department which raises funds by selling a three-hour block of weekly content to the lucrative international market.

“No doubt the Kroenke payment will be a subject on the agenda at Arsenal’s AGM on 16 October.”

This then generated insightful comments from the AA in-house accountants.

LB says:
September 24, 2014 at 6:53 pm

Can one of the plethora of accountants that frequent this site please comment on the article in the Guardian about Stan Kroenke taking dividends out of the club. Thank you in advance.

RA says:
September 24, 2014 at 7:23 pm

[F]rom what I briefly heard on a local radio station, the fans are upset that Kroenke took £3m out of the club as expenses, and justified it, by saying the Glazers were brilliant owners and had taken very much more out of Manure than he was taking out from Arsenal for his personal expenditure. this would not be a dividend – as it would have had to be issued to the other shareholders, like Usmanov, and any fans who are still holding shares.

His salary as a director is peanuts too.

This might be a straw in the wind? Perhaps he is going to want a return on his investment in the club, though he has never previously done this with his US franchises.

chas says:
September 24, 2014 at 8:15 pm

I think it’s a piece of misleading journalism (surprise surprise) to suggest it was a ‘dividend’. The bad PR aspect of it for me was the fact that the amount taken out more or less equals the ticket price increase.

Gööner In Exile says:
September 25, 2014 at 7:26 am

Where I stand on £3m….it’s a Non story.

It’s literally at the arse end of the Accounts under a section called Related Party Transactions where any dealings with companies related or Directors related have to be disclosed. It is required to demonstrate that a fair value has been placed on those transactions. It can also be used to show services that were provided but not charged (eg KSE could provide Contracts Lawyers, but never charges for them….this would have to be reported so that Investors would know a change in ownership could increase costs of running company if they had to pay for it themselves).

There are about £260m of Operating expenses, a large portion is player wages, the accounts do not provide a full breakdown of these expenses, the £3m paid to KSE for strategic, consultancy advice is in reality peanuts compared to our overall costs, would Arsenal fans be happier if this was paid to Bodgeit Flogitrun & Co for Marketing advice? Or to WeChargeEverySecond & More Lawyers…..we wouldn’t even know.

Not sure Stans answer was the best, but in a season where our player trading was £32m out compared to consistently in, and wages went up £12m, is it a surprise that the media find something else to focus on?

chas says:
September 25, 2014 at 7:34 am

“would Arsenal fans be happier if this was paid to Bodgeit Flogitrun & Co for Marketing advice? Or to WeChargeEverySecond & More Lawyers”

I think the answer is a resounding, ‘YES”  🙂

Eddie says:
September 25, 2014 at 7:50 am

I would not believe a story stating that Kroenke takes nothing out of the club. Why shouldn’t he? Had I invested millions I would want to see some returns, even if it was from the AFC

RA says:
September 25, 2014 at 8:01 am

Up until recently, Eddie, it is true that Kroenke has taken very little out of the club.

His director’s salary really is minimal, no dividends have been paid to shareholders, of which he is the major shareholder of course, and he seems content to see the value of the club rise due to good fiscal management and therefore when he eventually sells Arsenal, and in due course he will, even if it is in many years time, he will reap the rewards of his investment then.

On the other hand he may get peed off with the constant sniping about the club and his stewardship and start taking a huge salary, and authorise huge dividends to the shareholders to shut them up. 🙂

chas says:
September 25, 2014 at 8:09 am

I doubt he’d authorise huge dividends to the shareholders because it would mean giving money away to Mr Creosote.

Big Raddy says:
October 3, 2014, headline post “Friday’s Rant”

Complaints about Stan Kroenke taking money out of the club: Why?  When I owned a business if one of my customers told me that I couldn’t take a smidgeon out to enjoy a self-finding mission to the Berkshire countryside I would have given them short shrift (whatever a shrift is?). The man has invested heavily into AFC and yet to take a dividend, his company did some work for the club, they got paid. So what?

Anyone who thinks Silent Stan is in it for anything but profit is beyond naive.

mickydidit89 says:
October 3, 2014 at 6:02 pm

Agree about Stan. I’d of thought he’s about the perfect owner. Hasn’t leveraged the company, takes nothing out and doesn’t interfere with football matters.

Eddie says:
October 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm

I too think that Kroenke is a perfect owner. He keeps his views to himself, doesn’t go to all the games sitting there like Abramovitch with a teenage girlfriend and a face like a slapped arse; doesn’t attempt to run the team or impose transfers. And last but not least – does not want to change our name to Arsenal Lions/Donkeys or Giraffes or shirt colour to blue. Perfect, he has my vote of confidence.

*****************************

I have unashamedly pilfered material from these discussions and just put these together. So what do you think?

Here are some questions for you ………

1. Has silent Stan been a good owner for the club?

2. Is Stan Kroenke a better owner than the likes of Abramovitch and the Glazer family?

3. Was it wise to pay KSE LLC £3m for strategic and advisory services?

If your answer to 3 is yes do any of the following apply?

  • Stan deserves some return on his investments in the club
    Stan has been a good director and he deserves to be rewarded
    These services had to be procured, better pay KSE because they have a stake and will deliver
    better services
    Better than paying dividends which would then go to unworthy shareholders as well

If your answer to 3 is no do any of the following apply?

  • This is poor publicity for the club
    The club is not providing good value to fans, better invest every penny in developing the squad
    This is just a clever way of fleecing fans and redistributing their money to the owners

Over to you, readers, contributors and patrons.

Arnie.

 

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Posted by Rasp

Arsenal Purr

October 2, 2014

Weds Oct 1, about 7pm, and I’ve found the team news.

mickydidit89 says:

October 1, 2014 at 7:06 pm

Looks like the usual 4-1-4-1 thingy to me, unless Arsene is going for Ox alongside Flamini, which I would, as then Mesut gets the middle all to himself 🙂

………..Danny
Santi Mesut Sanchez
……..Flam Ox

Definitely can’t see it happening though

Got that wrong then. Our Smooth Talking Frenchie did go back to the 4-2-3-1 that gave Villa a good seeing to, but played Santi in the Rambo role alongside Flamini rather than The Ox, and thus we were treated to the speed of thought, ball and movement from Mesut, Ox, Alexis and Danny Welbeck.

We have not played such a fluid half of football since the home fixture against Napoli last term.

From Calum Chambers in his Budgie Blue boots (or were they Pistachio?), the whole side clicked and purred. A complete joy to watch. Our Pole in Goal managed to get himself sent off, which didn’t matter, other than it left one fewer player who didn’t get a rotational break ahead of Chelsea this weekend, but overall there was nothing to grumble about.

dw

Of course, the night belonged to Danny Welbeck with a hat-trick, alongside a superb goal by Sanchez. It was, however, the quality of the through balls for three of those goals, from Alexis, Mesut and The Ox, that caught my eye as much as the clinical finishing itself.

I watched the game with my Son, and as usual before the game, we discussed the possible outcome. One thing we did agree on was that with the quality of footballers such as Ox, Mesut, Sanchez and Santi, you always have the chance that if it “clicks”, it’s going to be good news for The Gunners and bad news for everyone else.

Last night, exactly that happened.

Finally, and on a sad note, I think we should all spare a thought for Louise Van Gaal this morning, who must be feeling a complete plonker.

Written by MickyDidIt89

And some player comments from chas.

Szczesny…..Didn’t have a lot to do before the penalty incident and it’s difficult to blame him too much for trying to stop a goal.

Ospina….. Made a few excellent stops, my favourite being a block with his feet from a player cutting in from the right. The North Bank chanting Os-pi-na (as in ‘you’re sh*t, ahhh’) every time he took a kick was really funny.

Gibbs….. Played very well, always provides an option. Deciding to play for offside in the penalty incident did Szczesny no favours.

Chambers….. What a buy! Whether it’s maturity beyond his years or a simple naivety based on a belief in his own abilities, Calum is as good at right back as he is in the centre and looks perfectly at home playing CL football.

BFG….. Class positioning and timing from the large German. What we’ve come to expect.

Koscielny….. Top quality performance from the boss. Fingers crossed for that ankle/heel.

Flamini.…. Made Carvalho look like a lumbering sloth tonight 🙂

Cazorla….. Santi was everywhere and conducted the Arsenal rhythm section superbly.

Ozil….. Some delicious passes, the man just oozes class.

The Ox….. Alex made some outstanding runs. He still seems to lack a little confidence but it’s coming.

Sanchez….. Another who just oozes. Assists, goals, tackles, dribbles, tricks, backheels. Just a delight to watch.

Welbeck….. First senior hat-trick and a smile as wide as van Gaal’s nose. A really special striker’s performance from Danny. One tucked through the keeper’s legs, the second bent around the outside by opening up his body and the third a deft chip. Glorious.

chas

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Sanchez and Ozil and Gin and Vodka

September 29, 2014

My Uncle Earnest had a First Cousin, known to all of us as Auntie Bob.

I don’t know where the Auntie bit came from because he was definitely all Man. He was an alcoholic, and drank heavily from an early age, but stuck to the odourless vodka when flying Mosquitos as a Pathfinder in the last war. Later in life, he cared far less about what people thought, and switched to Gin when flying.

This brings me nicely on to Alexis Sanchez, as I’m not aware that he likes either Vodka or Gin, or indeed that he flies aeroplanes.

So…..what’s going on with Alexis then?

I spent an unhealthy amount of time last season drooling over Liverpool. They had by far the most effective forward in the League in the shape of Suarez. Then we bought Sanchez, and I drooled again. Much drool in fact.

Then things got complicated. Ollie got injured, but I wasn’t fussed as it would only speed the move of Alexis to the central berth. Alas, not so easy. Danny arrived.

Wouldn’t have been so bad had Danny not showed blistering pace and great movement, and I think this may have confused Arsene.

I’ve read the “Can Sanchez and Ozil play together?” line, and I got myself all flabbergasted, I did. They are without any doubt the best footballers at the Club. Settling in time? Piffle. Settled roles, yes, and pronto please.

Final consideration is this. Are we lofting in high balls towards Danny? No, thankfully, we are not. So, let’s prove that Sanchez supplied by Mesut through the middle will produce better football than Liverpool.

Written by MickyDidIt

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North London’s Finest held to a draw.

September 28, 2014

The fact that we feel as frustrated as we do by yesterday’s draw just goes to show how far we have come and just how big the gulf is between the two clubs. Maybe I am underplaying this: dropping two points to the knuckle draggers from N17 is kick the cat around the living room annoying. Those points are not for sharing; they are ours and I, for one, want them.

As far as action in the first half goes there was little of it. We were the best team by some distance but the best chances fell to spuds, who were wasteful. We had one decent break which saw Wilshere powering though the middle but he played it behind the on coming Ramsey rather than Özil who was better placed to his left. That is it as far as action and my memory goes but as we all know the talking point was the fact that we managed to loose our entire midfield to injury: Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere. It is testament to the depth of our squad that we were almost seamlessly able to replace them.

Many may argue, in fact, that Flamini, Cazorla and Özil are a better midfield triumvirate. Well, maybe not Flamini who is spending today on the naughty step for giving the ball away so poorly that it led to spud’s goal but the other two are a very good idea.

The good guys started the second half with much more purpose, driving forward which almost brought a goal within five minutes of the restart. The ball seemed to stop on spuds goal line; we had to wait a good ten minutes before the goal-line technology decided that it hadn’t gone in, good to see that working so efficiently. They obviously waited until they were absolutely certain that it wasn’t a goal before they showed it to us, I doubt they would have even bothered had it crossed the line.

Spuds goal was not only against the run of play, it was against nature, it is just plain wrong that they score against us – ever. It did, however, focus the collective mind and Özil responded to the rallying cry magnificently, the man orchestrated the rebalance with the authority of a future captain. I almost wrote a post about three weeks ago entitled ‘Can someone remind me why I thought Özil was so good’ now I want to write a post entitled ‘How could I have possibly doubted Özil?’. The German was brilliant and Man of the Match again by a country mile.

I can’t remember how our goal came about, I know it came from the left but I have no idea how the ball got itself across the goal mouth but I do remember Welbeck’s embarrassing air shot before Oxlaide-Chamberlain powerful struck it into the roof of the net. Cue pandemonium, relief and every other wonderful emotion that can possibly be felt.

Some may say that a draw is better than a loss which it is of course but I still feel slightly deflated.

Oh well, we shall just have to wait to beat them at their place which is, of course, even more satisfying. In the mean time we remain unbeaten, so that’s something, onwards and upwards. Enjoy your Sunday.

Written by LB

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THE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER – Is there more to it than meets the eye?

September 25, 2014

Yesterday when commenting on Chas’ report on the game against Southampton, I made the comment that I would have liked to have seen how Francis Coquelin would have performed in the holding midfield role.

My reasoning for this comment is that I feel the holding midfield role is a highly important cog in our wheel with regard to our current squad and best formation, or at least what I consider, and reading between the lines, maybe what Arsene considers to be our best formation. It is also an area where I feel we are currently lacking in top level quality and would need an upgrade in if we want to compete for the top prizes with the best in England and Europe.

RA in response to my comment said the following :-

Forgot to mention, GB, that we or that is to say you – should as a group, or you as an individual should define what you mean by a ‘holding midfielder’.
To me a HMF is not the same as a ‘beast’ of a DMF (defensive), much as I like dislike the term ‘beast’, and should be someone who links the central defense and the forwards, and to do that should break up play, and pull the strings when we are attacking.
The trouble is many will see that as a No.10s role, or the guy who ‘sits in the hole’ behind the forwards, and maybe it is all of those things, so how you can say that Diaby, in particular, or Jack, or Rambo could not be such a player in that role, mystifies me.

So indeed I think firstly an examination and definition of what one considers to be a holding midfielder and what one considers is a defensive midfielder, and whether they are different or one and the same, is warranted.

RONALDO VIEIRA

To my mind the great PV4 has undoubtedly been our best player in the heart of midfield in recent times but how would you define him?

I would also like to also ask which players in our current squad do you see best fitting the above definitions and why? In addition do you feel we have adequate strength and quality in these defined roles or do you feel we need to bring in a player of greater quality? If so who would you prefer and how would you view them in terms of the definitions of holding or defensive midfielder.

Over to you A.A’ers.

Written by GoonerB

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Can Özil and Sanchez play effectively together?

September 22, 2014

Özil’s perceived lack of form, motivation and effectiveness in the team has been debated by fans and journos alike over the past months, weeks and days. Some have even questioned Wenger’s alleged favouritism in steadfastly retaining for Mesut a starting position despite his lack of impact on our game.

In this space, we have debated whether Özil is being played in his best position, or whether a central role would be better suited for him and the team. A view has also been expressed that maybe we have too many similar midfielders. With the arrival of Alexis, we have asked ourselves whether we have an embarrassment of talent in the midfield. Should Mesut and Santi therefore play in rotation.

And then the going got tough, with Özil singled out, I think somewhat unfairly, for lack of effort in a lacklustre performance away to Dortmund, Just then, as if to silence all critics and faithless doubters, the tough got going. With Alexis sidelined very late away to Villa, Mesut mesmerised us with a fantastic game. One goal, one assist, dominating the midfield and involved in everything that Arsenal did well on the night.

ozil goal v villa

Speaking on Match of the Day, Martin Keown said: ‘With Alexis Sanchez not playing, the team was dancing for his boots. Sanchez will obviously come back in at some point but Özil was magnificent in the central role today’. This then begs the question: Can Özil and Sanchez play effectively together?

Tactical bolleaux of this nature is not my forte. I know f*** all about tactics. Nevertheless, in a simple-minded way, I think the strengths of the two are very different and they can effectively do this together.

Alexis

Early in the season, the team was being organised with Giroud as the front man. The option of Alexis as a striker was explored, but without great success. Perhaps, that would have settled matters with Mesut in the centre of the midfield. Then came Giroud’s injury and Welbeck arrived. With this, I think another dedicated front man is no longer essential.

Besides, I think Alexis would be a waste at the top. That way, we will lose his enormous skills in distribution. However, there is another attribute to Sanchez’s game that is different from what anyone else in the team can offer. Alexis is good in challenging for 50-50 balls in the midfield and can break up opposition play. In this role, he takes away 2 or 3 opposition players with him. This then leaves space for other players to operate with.

I think this is ideal for Özil. Mesut is brilliant when he has a bit of space to work with. If Alexis can wrest possession from the opponents, and Özil can then distribute to onrushing players, this will be just ideal.

It remains only for the good guys to forge this combination effectively. Whereas we now have a mildly potent attack, we will then have a powerhouse in attack.

What do you think, chums?

COYG.

Written by arnie

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Name Five Annoying things about Football

September 19, 2014

From an idea of GoonerB’s…

We all know how good we feel when Arsenal win a game or even just score a goal, but these good moments are counter-balanced by many, many annoyances which crop up due to the circus  that surrounds football.

I believe the idea was to name a top 5 most annoying things but I think it might be better to name a random 5 as many of us will find similar grievances at the tops of our lists.

Here goes me for starters…….

  • Alan Shearer – hugely annoying as a footballer and even more annoying as a pundit. He simply describes events on the pitch and believes he is providing analysis. I really don’t believe he has ever made one insightful comment. Gary Neville micturates all over him.
  • Short-termism in our supporters – one week we are right up there as title contenders because we beat the Oily Shakers in the Community Shield, the following week the squad is threadbare and full of sub-standard players not fit to wear a red and white jersey. Have a word with yourselves.
  • Multi-coloured boots  – everyone used to make fun of Lord Bendtner with his pink boots, but now it’s very hard to find a player who doesn’t wear dayglo monstrosities. Boots should be black with a liberal coating of dubbing. J
  • Arsenal Fan TV – nobodies becoming famous by emotionally spouting garbage after Arsenal games is massively grating. Queuing to have your picture taken with Bully, I ask you, how low can someone’s self-esteem be?
  • Players leaving clubs for “footballing reasons” – come off it, just admit you’re being offered more money and being a multi-millionaire already isn’t enough for you.

Once you start doing something like this, you start to wonder why you follow The Arsenal and football in general, at all. 🙂

However, every day I wake up and thank the lord Dennis I was born in a red and white crib.

Over to you………

chas

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Are we kidding ourselves?

September 18, 2014

Finally, the money is there, Puma are on board so we can afford to shop in Harrods rather than at Lidl and Aldi. Last season we won the FA Cup, our first trophy since Noah was a boy, one less albatross round our collective neck.

Before the season started we had signed Alexis, Chambers, Debuchy and Ospina as well as finally welcoming Campbell into the squad, in the final minutes of the transfer window we snatched Welbeck from Manure. Great business we all thought.

Ramsey is back to his best, Wilshire is over his ankle problems, Walcott will be back in a matter of weeks and even Diaby has completed ninety minutes for first time in six years.

Add them to the cocktail and include Ozil as the cherry on top and we have a squad fit to win the Premiership. Well we have, haven’t we?

Well, have we?

The pre-season ended with our second trophy. A 3 – 0 win over the Champions and the Community Shield is nestling in the Emirates trophy cabinet.

Saturday 16th August. First game of the season and Crystal Palace are put to the sword, well actually we have to come from behind and win with an injury time goal from Ramsey, but no matter, we’re up and running.

Tuesday 19th August. Champions League qualifier 0 – 0 away to Besiktas. The general consensus? A good result. We can easily finish the job at The Ems.

Saturday 23rd August. Away to Everton, 2 – 0 down at half-time and outplayed. Goals on 83 and 90 minutes rescue a point. “This result shows our resilience and mental strength” say’s the manager.

Wednesday 27th August. Home to Besitkas for the qualifier second leg, Alexis scored his first goal for Arsenal on the stroke of half-time and from the moment Debuchy was dismissed for a second yellow card we clung on in ever greater desperation until the final whistle. Still, job done, qualification achieved as well as one of the main targets for the season.

Sunday 31st August. Away to newly promoted Leicester City, on twenty minutes Alexis scores a beauty, three minutes later Ulloa shreds our defence and equalises. We huff and puff for the next 67 minutes but that’s it, two points dropped.

Saturday 13th September. Home to the Champions, we start like champions, for twenty minutes we tear City apart…but can’t score. On twenty-eight minutes we fall for a sucker punch and Aguero gives City the lead. Arsenal heads dropped and the Champions started to play, but all was not lost, goals by Wilshire (64) and Alexis (74) put us back in the driving seat and then at a corner we blow it once again and allow one of their centre-backs a free header and flush another two points down the toilet.

Tuesday 16th September. Borussia Dortmund away, first game in the Champions League group stage. The first half was a nightmare of relentless pressure by Dortmund and a total lack of anything approaching a coherent tactical plan to deal with it. Our attempts at passing the ball to each other were lamentable, on the whole, the one chance we created was squandered. Once again a sucker punch saw our mid-field and defence go AWOL with only seconds of the half remaining, allowing the far from immobile Ciro Immobile to run from deep and place the ball beyond the stranded Szczesny.

Just three minutes into the second half Immobile was allowed the freedom to set up Aubameyang to score the second. Dortmund had a string of further chances but a combination of bad poor shooting and Szczesny’s skill kept the score to 2 – 0.

I know the previous paragraphs make pretty dire reading but they only reflect what has been a pretty dire start to the season.

I think we have all seen that there is a lack of cohesion in the side, there seems to be confusion among the players about their individual roles. OK, injuries to Debuchy and Giroud haven’t helped but it seems nobody is able to step up to fill the gaps. It seems obvious to me that Wenger doesn’t know his best formation, nor does he seem to know where he should play individuals.

Looking back over the last eight games, it seems as though it will be difficult to win the Premiership. We should still be able to get through to the Champions League knock-out stage, and you never know how the cup competitions will go.

So, do we have the personnel? Do we have the character? Do we have the will?

Are we kidding ourselves?

Written by Norfolk Gooner

 

 

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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