We’re all still sore from getting Orc-swiped at the weekend and there is a temptation to lash out at the players and the manager.

But probably the most significant names in Saturday’s defeat are those of people who weren’t even there: Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott. With them available we would probably have won that game.

The truth is, we have become so accustomed to losing key players for large chunks of the season at Arsenal that we barely even question it.

Yet question it we should. We should be shouting, screaming and demanding answers.

Such is the nature of football that all clubs face injuries from time to time. But only Arsenal has an attrition rate to rival the first week of the Somme.

Here’s the current EPL injury league table… and guess who’s top:

That table on its own wouldn’t matter so much – any team can have bad luck – were it not for the fact that we were first or second in the EPL Injury League table for the previous five seasons.

I have heard it said that our high-possession style of play increases the likelihood of our players getting injured (we have more of the ball and we move it quickly, inviting challenges which often come in late, taking the man not the ball).

Cobblers.

We’re not the only team in the Premier League that keeps the ball. We’re just the only team that likes to hog the top spot in the Injury Table. In any case, a disproportionate amount of our injuries seem to come from hamstring pulls and muscle issues rather than impact issues.

That tells me that there is something wrong with the way we train or the way our players are monitored by the medical team.

A year or so ago – following repeated criticism of the club’s medical record – journalists and bloggers were invited to Arsenal’s new “state-of-the-art” medical facility.

Even celebrated Arsenal observers like Arseblog came back from being wined and dined to write in glowing terms of how simply awesome the facilities were. And since then the rumblings of discontent about our injury record have mostly been silenced. As a PR exercise by the club it worked brilliantly.

The deafening silence surrounding the issue was disturbed only by the twanging of ligaments and the snapping of tendons as our players dropped like leaves in Autumn.

I don’t claim to have any knowledge of issues medical. I once went to casualty with what I told them was food poisoning only to be admitted for pneumonia.

But I do know that Arsenal’s permanent residency at the summit of the Injury League is an absolute scandal that needs addressing.

There are many reasons why we have underachieved in recent years, but our roll-call of the sick and the damned is surely up there among the very best of them.

I wouldn’t want to traduce the reputations of the medical team at Arsenal. I have no doubt that they are dedicated professionals and are as frustrated as we are that our players seem all to have been manufactured by Swarovski. But surely it’s time for another external evaluation of our training and medical methods?

The current record is simply indefensible and unsustainable.

Ivan, Arsène , Sir French Fries… Sort it out!

RockyLives

A trip to The Britania historically has always been a hard game but what we saw today was at the least very disappointing. When the keeper and a cameo from Oxlade-Chamberlain are your only players who had a good game several questions have to be asked.

Firstly what does it take to motivate a team that has every possible chance of winning the league, a team that a week ago thoroughly outplayed and dispensed with another relegation threatened team?

Stoke play a hard, mainly unattractive game but we knew that beforehand. Players are human beings, but for practically all of them to be out of sorts is mystifying.
Did Wenger pick the wrong formation?  It appeared at half time that it would be difficult to argue against that theory.

Substitutes were needed to add more urgency and pace to the team but we waited and waited. We were certainly not getting the benefit of being fouled against, and Stoke were growing in confidence.

Then, what appeared to be a dubious penalty was awarded and we were left chasing the game.

Ozil was finally introduced and then The Ox and finally Sanogo, who missed an absolute sitter in the final minutes.

If it hadn’t have been for several glaring misses by Crouch in particular together with some excellent saves from Szczesny the scoreline could have been worse.

Inconsistency when it really matters seems to be the problem, something we have seen time and time again yet our Away form this season has been second only to Spurs and I had thought that we had mastered the way to win ugly.

All is not lost but it makes everything that much harder with the forthcoming fixtures this month..

I think it is unfair to give player ratings but I don’t understand in this particular game why a young direct player like The Ox wasn’t brought on earlier or even started.

Another concern is Jack Wilshere. I am absolutely convinced that he is not 100% match fit and noticed on a number of occasions that he stood back instead of making a tackle .Am I right ?

I just hope they can regroup for the next match, for whichever way you look at it, this could possibly be a defining moment for our season .

Written by kelsey

Really hate to bring him up again, but remember my Uncle Earnest, well last week dark clouds descended when the revolting reptile materialized on the other end of the phone. Anyway, thing was, despite clearly having been on the sauce and tight as an owl, still managed to inform me that I was taking him out to eat on Friday night as he was staying with one of his “business chums” not too far away.

According to him, his lifetime ban of ever setting foot South of the Border has “expired”. Anyway, funny thing about Uncle Earnest is watching him at work with a Menu. In his 79 debauched years, no-one has ever known him order anything other than Soup, Steak and Apple Pie. That’s ok. The strange thing is, you’ll never meet anyone, anywhere, who spends more time pouring over a Menu. He takes forever, and yet the result is always the same. Then the whole bloody performance starts again when asked if he’d like a pudding. “Do you have Apple Pie?”. “I’m afraid not, Sir”. “Then may I see the Menu?”. Oh God, here we go again. Twenty minutes later, he hands the wretched thing back. “Nothing for me, thank you”.

This all ties in nicely with the idea of “what not to buy”, and as usual, my mind races to matters Arsenal. A few days ago The Morning Crew on here were discussing that both Persie and Balotelli may be on the radar, and I’m guessing one or two of the Natives may have certain reservations, which made me think about who we “don’t” want to sign. Now we hear that Arsene has been dining with Brave’s Agent, so the whole sordid business surfaces again.

I love few things more than a bit of transfer speculation, but am aware it’s not everyone’s bag, so I’ve come up with an inverted form. Who, or what sort, would you least like Arsene to buy?

For example, who was the last Scouser who managed to cope with the bright lights in the Metropolis. Can’t think of one, so they’re out.

Is there such a thing as a Footballing Intelligence Test, or is it the same as an IQ? Don’t know but I’d have thought players like Frimpong would have failed with low flying colours.

Any other traits we don’t like? Biting ears off other people seems to upset some. Not me, as it goes.

Is it ok to occasionally break the “Team Spirit Code” and sign a single minded, solitary, moody individual? The creative genius. The young McEnroe sort. I think it is. Enter Balotelli perhaps.

Oooh, forgot to mention. Uncle Earnest always travels with his vicious little Highland Terrier, Duncan. Complete bastard is Duncan, and hates my guts. Just stares at me, top lip curled back, muttering away under his breath in Gaelic. Makes me think of the kind of bloke we need in midfield really. Or not.

So who, or what sort, would you never want to see on The Arsenal Menu?

Written by MickyDidIt89

The dust has settled on Death Cluster 1.

We have played Liverpool away in the league and at home in the Cup. We have entertained the reigning champions of England and of Europe.

A busy week or two, all in all.

When I wrote about our two Death Clusters in late January I said this: “Let’s look at Death Cluster 1: if we win or even draw at Liverpool then beat ManUre at our place (getting that particular Bale off our back at the same time) the confidence and togetherness in the squad – which is already excellent – will get even better.

“Then we have the 5^th Round of the FA Cup… Then it’s Munich at home. If we avoid defeat in that game we will have come through Death Cluster 1 in great shape. Crucially, good performances and/or results against Liverpool, ManUre and Munich will put us in great shape to face Death Cluster 2.”

As is my wont I was overoptimistic about our prospects.

Far from “winning or even drawing” up at Anfield in the league, we didn’t even manage a defeat (by which I mean a regulation, acceptable defeat by one or two goals). Instead we had our posterior handed to us on a platter

Next up was Manchester Untied at THOF. In most circumstances we would have beaten this current ManUre team who have fallen faster than Felix Baumgartner*, but after the Liverpool debacle the emphasis was on not losing (as I advocated in a Post before the game).  The 0-0 was frustrating for us supporters but made sense in context.

Then came ‘Pool in the FA Cup – a game in which we managed to dish out sweet revenge.

Against Bayern – well, we went toe to toe with them until the Szczesny sending off under a rule which is so monumentally stupid that even Michel Platini feels it’s wrong. After that we did well to keep it to 0-2.

If I just look at the results from DC1, it’s a pretty uninspiring picture (like most art since Claude Lorrain hung up his brushes a little before 1700).  Played 4, won 1, drawn 1, lost 2. And yet…

In sport, as in life, context is all. The problem with DC1 is that we started so badly that subsequent results can only fairly be judged in light of the drubbing at Anfield. Were it not for Anfield, I’m sure we would have beaten the red Mancs. But after the Scouse hiding it became more important to NOT LOSE than to WIN when we entertained the Band of Moist.

In any case, we regrouped enough to beat the Scousers in the Cup and to start against Bayern as if we were the Champions of Europe, not them.

Strangely enough, I feel that we have exited DC1 in very good shape. Our thrashing of Sunderland on Saturday reinforces that belief.

The league game at Liverpool was a huge kick up the Arsenal and I believe our team has learnt from it.  They will also have taken heart from the performance against Bayern, despite the result.

Next we have Stoke away (no pushover, but I completely expect us to come away with three points) then we start on Death Cluster 2:

Saturday March 8^th: Everton (H) – FA Cup 6^th Round.

Tuesday March 11^th: Bayern Munich (A) – ECL

Sunday March 16^th: Spuds (A) – EPL

Saturday March 22^nd: Chelsea (A) – EPL

Saturday March 29^th: Man City (H) – EPL

I’m no mystic, but I’m 100% confident about how these games will play out. The results will be as follows:

Everton – we win.

Bayern – we get knocked out (probably with a draw).

Spuds – we win.

Chavs – we win.

Man City – we draw.

And if I’m right, the title becomes ours to lose.

The one result I’m most sure of is the game at the home of the jumped-up, money-bags outfit in West London. In the run-up to that game we will hear a lot about how no Wenger team has ever beaten a Mourinho team; and about Chelsea’s amazing home record. Well my friends, jus lap it up and bite your tongue. This is one game we will not lose and will almost certainly win.  You may doubt me now, but bookmark this page and revisit it after the Triumph at the Bridge.

So to summarise – Death Cluster 1 turned out not to be the tough, grinding test of our footballing abilities that seemed likely. Instead it became a test of our character. In the first game we played a Liverpool team for whom everything that could go right did go right (including opening the scoring with an offside goal).  I watched the Scousers against Swansea yesterday and they were lucky to get a 4-3 win. Unlike in the game against us, most of their efforts on goal were inaccurate or gave the ‘keeper a decent chance. Against us, they just had one of those days where everything went right.

But the way we rebuilt our character after the Liverpool defeat was impressive and it leaves us in good stead for the remainder of the season.

There is something strange about this EPL season. No-one fancies us, but it appears that we fancy ourselves. And when it comes down to it, that’s the only thing that really matters.

I never though I’d catch myself saying this, but maybe Terry Mancini Hair Transplant is being a bit conservative about our prospects…

The Ghosts of the Thirties are Up and Jumping…

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f-K-XnHi9I

RockyLives