Arsenal Profited From Selling Van Persie

December 3, 2013

Yesterday Rocky posted an interesting piece, but I disagree with the bit about losing BSR and the disruption caused. Personally, I think that we dealt with the departure of BSR pretty well. We signed a proven world class striker in Podolski, who had progressed as far if not further on the world stage than BSR and won trophies in a tough league, we signed a striker who had potential in Giroud and we signed an attacking midfielder in Cazorla. And left room for the purchase of a world class player who knows that a team is really about hard work, having played in a a team full of world class players.

Yes we had an edgy season last year, but we got our business on the replacement front done early and still made the top 4. The reason we didn’t push on as much last year was that we didn’t have a second holding midfielder when every armchair manager could see we needed someone else to help Arteta. Rosicky, Ramsey and Wilshere were all coming back from serious injuries, add on “Glass Legs Diaby” plus Vermaelen being given indulgences to play when it was clear he was still struggling with an injury or two, plus the weight of the armband and you have a perfect storm where the spine of the team didn’t function properly. Oh, and Szczesny was feeling a bit smug until Fabianski showed that he could do a job.

Contrast that with this year. The spine of the team is currently fully operational. Szczesny understands that Fabianski has matured and can do a job for us if he messes up, so he stays switched on. Vermaelen has been given time to convalesce and a fairly stable central pair is available virtually every week. Note the problem at Manure was where the BFG would probably have been. We now have a pair of defensive midfielders who don’t take chances when protecting their CBs, talk to each other and only move forward singly unlike when Song was there. Further up we have a revolving midfield where it’s like the opposition are playing sick russian roulette. All but one shell is in the chamber, so the likelihood of someone taking a shot and anteing up the attack is much increased. And of course Gorgeous Olivier has proven why he should allowed mousse as part of his rations.

If BSR was still here, Giroud wouldn’t have developed, everything would have been slung in to him so he could have a shot. A bit like the end of the Invincibles when Henry became a get out of jail card or Fabregas became the playmaker we relied upon. Now we are a team, more people are seen as equally good and there is no one looking as if they are carry the team and our hopes with it.

Ask yourself this, “We have had Podolski, Walcott and sometimes Wilshere missing, that’s 16 goals, 21 goals and a bunch of creativity” and what have we done? Won 10 Lost 2 and Drawn 1. Whether by accident or planning the loss of those players, unforeseen, unmanaged or otherwise has turned out to have shaped us into a cohesive unit.

Written by N5Artillery

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Now We Can See How Much Damage Van Persie, Cesc and Nasri Did

December 2, 2013

I hope all those who’ve made a career out of knocking the Mighty Arsenal are taking a good look at the Premier League Table.

We’re as high as Nigella and as happy as Wayne Rooney in a bingo hall.

02

Not that I’m gloating… oh no… there’s a long way to go yet, it’s a marathon not a snickers etc etc.

But at the moment I think it’s fair to say that the squad is exceeding what most of us expected for this year.

The optimists among us hoped for a steady build on the defensive tightness and greater togetherness that steered us to fourth place in the second half of last season.

When we signed Mesut Ozil, maybe we dared to hope for a bit more.

But to be comfortably top of the table as we enter December? And to be nine points ahead of ManUre? And 10 ahead of the Tinies? I doubt any of us (apart from Terry Mancini Hair Transplant) would have wagered much on us doing so well.

Which raises the question of WHY?

Why have we shown not just incremental improvement on last season, but a genuine step change in confidence, quality and – most important of all – results?

There are many individual factors we can point to: the emergence of the Welsh Messi as the best player in the Premeirship; the exceptional form of our Pole In Goal; the precision of Ozil’s assist-making; the superb organization of our back four…

But I think Arsene Wenger gave us the real answer last week when he pointed out that this year, unlike the two previous years, we have not taken the Good Ship Arsenal on a new footballing voyage with a big hole below the waterline.

Le Boss said the clear difference this time round was that we did not lose a star player on the eve of the new campaign.

It meant we started out with the same group of players who had done so well from January to May – and threw a genuine superstar into the mix for good measure.

Contrast that with the two previous years.

The summer of 2012 was spent with Brave Sir Robin trying to pretend he was undecided about leaving but finally walking out on the club that paid his wages through so many interminable injury periods. The little boy inside him turned out to be an ungrateful little twunt.

Twelve months earlier we lost Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona (a move, admittedly, that came as a surprise to no-one); but then the unlikeable little Frenchman Samir Na$ri decided he wanted to line his wallet and started touting himself round  clubs with deep pockets, ending up at Petrodollar City.

Both those disrupted summers led directly to disjointed and disappointing starts to the new season. While other teams went off at a sprint, we set off on those season-long races with an open parachute strapped to our back.

We were forced to try and bed in new signings who, in most cases, were completely new to the Premier League; we had to work out new formations to suit the new personnel; we had to turn players from strangers into team mates and heaven only knows what psychological damage was done to the rest of the squad by the fact that our best players had made it clear they wanted out.

Somehow, miraculously, Arsene managed to maintain our membership of the Top Four club by the end of both seasons – but it was certainly no thanks to the Dear Departed.

And looking at how we’re doing now it makes me really angry about those players who left us in the lurch – yes, even Cesc (although BSR and Na$ri were more selfish, disloyal and narcissistic).

Van Persie and Nasri could have made their intentions clear to the club at the end of their last seasons with us. Their leavings would still have been a loss but at least the fans would not have been led a merry dance all summer long and the club and squad could have started rebuilding sooner.

I’m not suggesting we would have had glorious seasons if they had not left but – like Arsene – I feel we would have done a LOT better. We might have fallen short of winning the league, but we might well have been in the mix for longer instead of having to play catch-up with the skinny cock brigade.

The Arsenal revival we’re witnessing this year might have happened 12 months earlier. It’s the very success we’re enjoying now that highlights just what those players who left really cost us.

It’s naïve to expect players to show loyalty and I’m sure many fans take the view that if they want to go somewhere else for more money or a better chance of glory, who can blame them?

I can’t share that laissez faire view. I remain a dinosaur. I expect the adulation and support I give to the players to mean something, even in an age when the youth squad are driving Porsches and earning more in a month than most people do in a year.

And so Van Persie, Nasri, Fabregas: je t’accuse! YOU caused us to have disastrous starts to the past two seasons; YOU gave ammunition to the silly Wenger Out campaigners; YOU stopped us being in a position to fight for the big prizes; YOU hurt us. And WE won’t forget.

Although Cesc can come back if he wants 🙂

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

An Arsenal Performance Worthy of Winning the League

December 1, 2013

How good was that? It is getting more and more difficult to find sufficient superlatives to describe the Arsenal performances these days. As the first half rolled on and the Good Guys were spraying the ball around with consummate ease the term “thoroughly professional performance” came to mind. But we have used this a few times recently and somehow it didn’t seem enough to describe what I was watching, intensifying the search was the first goal and the brilliance in its simplicity: a tidy pass to Özil who sent over an inch perfect cross for Ramsey to head home and put us in the lead. As he walked away avoiding celebration out of respect for his fellow country men I thought to myself I am going to need something far more complimentary to describe this.

Racking my brains, playing cards came to mind and the hierarchy that exists: a pair is beaten by three of a kind which is beaten by a straight, which I believe is beaten by flush and then it came to me: the next up from a “thoroughly professional performance” has got to be “A performance worthy of winning the league” and that is what is was, a full house of a performance, not to be confused with a “Winning the league at White Heart Lane performance” that is obviously a royal flush and although rare it does seem to happen with more regularity than many might imagine.

Wenger foxed us all again with his team selection, it made sense to all who considered it to play Flamini alongside Arteta but no, Le Boss had plans for the Frenchman and opted to start with Wilshere and within one and a half minutes we all understood why: an arrow of a shot released from the edge of the box had all the makings of goal number five for our non attacking midfielder lol but alas at the last moment it swerved away and hit the bar.

As it turned out, as far as Arsenal taking the game to Cardiff was concerned, this was only the start, the Good Guys were brimming with confidence, chances weren’t coming as often as London buses do when you don’t need them but they were coming; the next fell to Giroud who, clean through one on one with the goal keeper, decided to “walk” before the umpire had given him out, it might be the honourable thing to do as Özil clearly touched the ball but in this day and age — really?

We had to suffer five uncomfortable minutes when Mertasacker hit the deck with the force of a felled giant redwood having clashed heads with Sagna; I defy anyone who didn’t worry about the possible down side of this potential calamity but all was well with our Big Friendly Giant.

Still goalless, but in today’s script only one person was going to be first on the score sheet and our humble Welshman rose to the occasion and headed us into the lead that took us into the break.

Ramsey v cardiff

Cardiff started the second half well and created a couple of chances that were a bit closer than I for one would have liked, notably a header from Campbell that brought a brilliant save from Szczesny. TPIG was looking as commanding as ever, we could have and should have made more of the breaks that were frequently arising but our interplay was not quite as good as it should have been, it seemed like Theo time but Jack was tiring and they were coming onto us with a tad more purpose than was good for the blood pressure so Wenger opted to shore things up and bring on Monreal and then Flamini.

As the Frenchman took off his track suit all eyes were on the sleeves – tradition won out and rightly so; someone had clearly whispered into his ear that he had, perhaps without realising, upset a few fundamentalists and today was not the right time to go desecrating sacred objects – best solution: roll your sleeves up and go and score a thumping second goal — and that is exactly what he did, yet another sublime assist from Özil who rolled the ball into the Frenchman’s path to powerfully hit home and put us all at ease.

Flamini scores v cardiff

Was this going to be Flamini’s day, no it wasn’t, this was Aaron Ramsey’s day; a second goal for him and with it he rightly picks up pretty much everyone’s Man of the Match award.

Ramsey applauds

Somebody remind me, where are we in the League?

Enjoy your Sunday.

Written by LB

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The Weekly Arsenal

November 29, 2013

First of all an apology, I’m sorry but force of circumstances prevented me finishing the week before last’s news round-up, Peaches was kind enough to do it for me, and for failing to produce last week’s at all. Various situations have now been resolved so here goes with the next edition.

Friday:

A quick shufti at the morning papers revealed the most positive piece of news…“Walcott set to return from injury”. “He has not played even a reserve team game, but I will put him in the squad on Saturday,” said boss Arsene Wenger. “He’s completely fit again.”

Now that’s what I call good news! We’ve missed Theo’s pace and his ability to get behind defenders.

Both Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere were back in full training after interlull injury scares.

Wenger revealed that Tomas Rosicky had been ill and would be assessed later but could be in the squad. Remarkable news about Abou Diaby, he could be ready to play as soon as March. Whether or not that’s March 2014 was not made clear.

Saturday:

First vs Third at ThoF, a big raspberry to both Sky and BT Sport for not showing the game live. “I think I have proved a lot of people wrong”.

Aaron Ramsey speaking to Julian Wilson in the Telegraph revealed his quiet satisfaction at confounding his critics, chief among them being Piers Morgan who described Ramsey as an “utter liability”. “People are quick to jump on players who are not doing particularly well, I think I proved a lot of people wrong, hopefully made them look a bit silly because they knew what I was capable of before my leg break and then were quick to criticise”.

Arsene Wenger “I’m not against buying in January. I don’t say I never made a mistake – I certainly made some”.

Thierry Henry is training with Arsenal, our record goal scorer is maintaining his fitness levels during the MLS close season. Could he get into our present first team squad? If so could Arsene sign him on a short term loan deal in January? He’s done it before.

Sunday:

“Giroud double sends Arsenal four clear” The BBC’s headline says it all for me. Artur Boruc’s laughable attempt to dribble the ball around Giroud presented our striker with his first of the afternoon and a tug on Mert’s shirt was enough to bring a penalty which Olly put clinically past Saint’s Pole in goal.

There’s not much doubt that the doubters are being put firmly in their place and being served up large portions of Humble Pie. I’m lovin it!!!

Monday:

A quiet day on the Arsenal News front, no dramas, no contentious decisions to discuss, no pundits writing off our chances of trophies, no calls for the Owner, board of directors and manager to quit.

Speaking on http://www.arsenal.com Arsene Wenger said of Saturday’s victory “This win shows we are ready for a fight when it didn’t go as fluently as we wanted,” said Wenger. “That is the most pleasing thing. We were tested by being challenged for every single ball and we responded quite well.

“We always had the focus and I could never feel that we eased off. They made it very difficult for us.

“We could see a good togetherness to help each other out,” Wenger added. “We knew that we were sometimes in trouble and you felt that they were ready to fight for each other.

“That is the solidarity level that was needed. It’s very important.”

You just can’t argue with that.

Santi Cazorla issued a timely warning against complacency before Tuesday’s game with Marseille, speaking to the London Evening Standard he said:- “The main problem I see is everyone thinks it’s going to be an easy game for us to win, There is nothing at stake for Marseille because they have zero points but they are going to make things difficult for us. It may be tough and if we’re not careful we might slip up and then we might not be able to get through to the next round.

“We need to understand it’s a vital match, If we obtained a bad result then it would make things very complicated for us to go to Napoli and win there.”

One other tit-bit of news, not strictly Arsenal related, but I couldn’t resist it. Skinny chicken plucked, stuffed, trussed up and roasted after Hugo Lloris has an Artur Boruc moment.

Tuesday:

Team news ahead of the Marseille game was pretty positive, Arsene Wenger announced that :- “Everybody from Saturday is available and of course Flamini is available as well because he’s back from suspension”.

Naturally there was some speculation concerning how Marseille would approach the game, their record in the group, standing at played 4 lost 4, suggested they only had their pride to play for. As far as Arsenal were concerned it was vital that they should go all out for a win in order to avoid any Napoli Nerves in the final group match.

Ladbrokes were offering odds of 4 to 1 on for the home win, 5 to 1 against a draw and 9 to 1 against an away win. Meanwhile Borrussia Dortmund were 7 to 4 on to beat Napoli.

Wednesday:

The day dawned grey and damp but that was only the weather, Arsenal fans were rejoicing after another satisfying win in The Champions League, 2 – 0 against Marseille, a brace of goals by “Cracker” Jack Wilshere, the first after only thirty seconds, meant that even Ozil’s poor attempt from the penalty spot could be safely overlooked. Mersut later made up for his transgression by laying on the sweetest of passes for Jack to score his second.

It emerged that the Dozy Dane had been at it again, Bendtner was arrested in the early hours of Sunday, he was later charged with criminal damage after the door to the swimming pool, in the apartment block where he lives, was damaged. Bendtner was issued with a Police caution and released. Arsenal have “reminded” the 25 year old of his responsibilities.

Thursday:

Our former player and Assistant Manager Pat Rice has been admitted to hospital suffering from cancer. I’m sure all members of the Arsenal family will join me in wishing Pat a full and speedy recovery.

It was reported that the BFG was in talks with Arsenal over a contract extension. 27 year old Per Mertesacker who was close to an agreement on a contract that will keep him at the club until 2017 said. “I’m very delighted here with the club, especially after the first year was tough for me, a very tough challenge”. Sign da ting Merts.

It’s sad but true that some tabloids exist just to make trouble, when there is nothing detrimental to say about Arsenal they will pick on the slightest thing. According to that paragon of journalistic rectitude, The Mirror, Arsenal fans are outraged at Mathieu Flamini for cutting of the long sleeves of his shirt prior to the Marseille game. Shock! Horror! On the day when match fixing in the English (lower) Leagues rears it’s ugly head, this sorry excuse for a newspaper can only find a story about shirt sleeves to report.

That’s it for another week AAers thank you for your patience.

Norfolk Gooner

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Like it or lump it – Tradition rules

November 28, 2013

Tradition matters to British people, we’re serial sentimentalists when it comes to keeping things going. We wear our poppies in November, a week after we burn rag effigies of a radical Catholic who lived and died four hundred years ago; we set fire to our Christmas puddings; and our ludicrously complicated flag can be upside down without most people realising it. We have the Boat Race, Ascot Ladies’ Day, The Ashes (less said, the better at the moment….), Cowes Week, the Chelsea Flower Show, Pancake Day, Trooping the Colour, the Queen’s Birthday (which isn’t her birthday) and the Last Night at the Proms. We have black taxis and red buses. We like tea with milk, chips dosed with malt vinegar, bubble-and-squeak, toad-in-the-hole and warmish, unfizzy beer. Tradition? We’re built for it.

And amongst British football fans, tradition matters to no-one more than the Arsenal fan. “The Arsenal” is the club of history. We revel in something called “the Arsenal Way”, we speak of class and the correct manner of doing things. When we played that title-deciding fixture at Anfield in May 1989, it was important that we acknowledged Liverpool’s tragic bereavement from the weeks before, so our players each laid a wreath in front of the Liverpool fans. And when we knocked Sheffield United out of the FA Cup with a legitimate but unethical goal, the club immediately gave the Blades an unprecedented and unilateral replay.

To us the past, from which our traditions come, matters. We wear history like a badge of honour. The fact that the directors’ boardroom (which none of us is ever likely to see) is oak-panelled matters; the old art deco masterpiece that is our spiritual home on Avenell Road matters; our Clock matters.

And, however illogical it may be, the requirement that our outfield players all turn out in the same length of shirt sleeve matters. The captain chooses the length of sleeve for each match, and that should be the end of it.

And yet a returning hero, Mathieu Flamini, has snubbed that tradition, not once but twice, by raggedly cutting off the long sleeves on his shirt in the recent games against Manchester United and Marseille. His boss has reacted robustly, openly criticising an otherwise golden boy. But Flamini has defended his decision, saying he’s been playing at the top level for ten years and he chooses to wear short sleeves, regardless of the captain’s choice.

Should we be bothered by that?

In the big scheme of things, even in the self-regarding world of professional football, Flamini’s amateur tailoring seems the most trifling affair. He’s a grown man and a professional, surely he should be able to make the choice, whatever “tradition” dictates?

Well, no, he shouldn’t. However silly this tradition may be, it is part of our identity. It’s like the baggy green cap that Australian cricketers wear, or the haka that the All Blacks perform before their matches, or the jacket presented to the winner of the US Masters in Augusta. Like all of those artefacts, the tradition is an innovation, a creation, but it is nonetheless an acknowledged and accepted facet of the club itself.

These little myths and habits are important, they are glue linking the fans to the club and the players. It’s not just about one player in the team right now, it’s about the hundreds of players over decades who have worn the red and white on our behalf, all subject to the same rules. This silly tradition reaches back into yesterday, it places Mathieu Flamini and his contemporaries alongside all their predecessors, from great, ordinary and bad Arsenal sides. The tradition emphasises the club over any particular player.

That’s why Flamini should literally and metaphorically just roll up his sleeves, accept the rule and get on with doing what he does best.

Written by 26May

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Olivier Giroud Is A Heavy Horse

November 25, 2013

In football it’s all about horses for courses.

At Arsenal we have been privileged to have some very fine-fettled four-legged friends over the years.

Elegant racing thoroughbreds (Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp); tough old warhorses (Tony Adams, Frank McLintock); exuberant, untameable broncos (Ian Wright, Charlie Nicholas); even sprightly little Shetland Ponies (Santi Cazorla springs to mind).

We’ve had our show ponies too, prancing around with bows in their hair and not doing much else (yes David Bentley and Samir Nasri, I’m thinking of you).

Even a carthorse or two (you can decide).

But watching Olivier Giroud’s performance against a good Southampton side on Saturday put me in mind of the Jethro Tull song “Heavy Horses”.

The song (off the album of the same name) is an ode to the mighty shire horses, those statuesque, powerful beasts with thick manes and hair-covered hooves that once pulled the ploughs that turned the soil to grow the crops that fed the nation.

Olivier Giroud Arsenal Artur Boruc Southampton

Despite their massive size and strength they are gentle, uncomplaining beasts, even if there’s not much serious work for them to do in these days of the combustion engine.

Even the names of their breeds are redolent of nostalgia and earthy warmth: Clydesdale, Suffolk, Percheron, Ardennes.

Ollie is a real shire horse (and as those last two breed names indicate, these great horses originated in France as well as England. They were the only horses strong enough to carry a fully armoured Medieval knight into battle). He puts in tireless shift after tireless shift; never complaining; always happy to take the knocks if it benefits the team. Always helping out in defence when our opponents have a set piece.

The way we play, his role is incredibly important. If he can’t compete for possession with the opposition centre backs, hold the ball up and play team mates in, it’s much harder to get attack-minded players like Ozil and Cazorla into the most dangerous positions.

Nor does Ollie get much protection from referees. He is often penalized for jumping fairly for the ball and seldom gets awarded the clear fouls against him.

But he fights and fights. His strength is phenomenal and he seems able to bully even the biggest and hardest defenders in the league, retaining possession against all the odds.

As the lone man up front, he also has to run more than most – either trying to find space when we’re in possession or closing down the opposition defenders when they have the ball, forcing them to make hurried clearances and, hopefully, lose the ball.

It was that determination which led to our first goal against Saints. If you re-watch it, you’ll see that Ollie was a long way – at least 20 yards – from Boruc when the Southampton goalie received a back pass in his penalty area.  The chances of anything coming of the situation were tiny, but Ollie still made the effort and we all know what (hilariously) happened next.

I know the jury was out on Giroud at the end of last season. He had endeared himself to the supporters by dint of his sheer work rate and attitude, but some fans undoubtedly felt we needed someone ‘better’ for the current season. However, this year Ollie has moved up a whole level.

Aside from doing all the centre forwardy stuff like beating up defenders and competing for high balls, his touch and link-up play have been first rate and his finishing is good too. With 7 goals in the EPL after 12 games, he is on course for more than 20 league goals for the season. And he also has 3 in the Champions League.

Maybe we do need an additional striker in January, but for me it’s not automatic that it should be a striker to replace Olivier Giroud. Certainly it would be preferable to have someone other than the perennially frustrated and frustrating Bendtner as back-up if our Shire Horse gets injured.

But I am not averse to us sticking with Ollie as the front man, sharing the goals with Theo, Aaron, Santi, Podolski and Ozil. I feel that in time he will come to be really appreciated as one of the very best strikers in the EPL.

He may be more of an Alan Smith than an Ian Wright (Smudger was less spectacular and less individualistic than Wrighty) but it’s worth remembering that we won the league twice with Smith leading the line and did not win it at all with Wright as our front man (although he played a part in Arsene’s first Double triumph in 1998).

What do you think?

To finish I’ll leave you with a few of the lines from the Heavy Horses song that put me in mind of Giroud:

Iron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust

An October’s day, towards evening

Sweat embossed veins standing proud to the plough

Salt on a deep chest seasoning

Last of the line at an honest day’s toil

Turning the deep sod under…

Standing like tanks on the brow of the hill

Up into the cold wind facing

In stiff battle harness, chained to the world

Against the low sun racing

Bring me a wheel of oaken wood

A rein of polished leather

A Heavy Horse and a tumbling sky

Brewing heavy weather.

RockyLives

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ARSENAL 2-0 SOUTHAMPTON. MY FEELINGS

November 24, 2013

How would we react following a two week International break?

Well, the fans certainly got right back into their stride and were clearly showing Grade A Withdrawal Symptoms. The Arsenal came out of the blocks fast enough, as did The Saints. A good game appeared to be on the cards.

Twice in the opening 17 minutes, The Arsenal hit the woodwork. From a delicate chip across the face of goal from Jack, and a wonderful Mesut pass directed back heel from Aaron.

On 22 minutes, we were treated to one of those memorable goalkeeping clangers. Here, our Pole proved why he is THE Pole in Goal, as his opposite number failed miserably to emulate the silky skills of our No 1. Pressure from Ollie, and he fumbled his lines. 1-0.

Then The BFG had his Flak Jacket tugged. Penalty. Ollie 2-0.

Look, you’ve all seen the game, so you know these things. So, my feelings about the overall performance?

Back Five: The Dog’s Swingers these boys, they really are. Every one of them. At least 10 points each.

Defensive Midfield: Not the best of days here, although very much job done. That Wagamama Bloke of Raddy’s sure was a big unit, and I bet I wasn’t alone when looking at him and thinking “Ooooo”.

Next Three: I have to say that I’m not convinced that the moving parts are as interchangeable as Arsene likes to think. Santi started slowly, and although his second half was fresher and crisper, I’m not sure we will ever see the best of him away from the No 10 role, while the movement between Jack, Santi and Mesut did sometimes appear to baffle and confuse themselves as much as the Saints defence.

Right, back to that No 10. Why move Aaron from there, Arsene? Have you gone mad? You’re a defensive midfielder short without Flamini, so you move your form player and top scorer. Quite baffling. I wrote very recently how Jack will only move to the next level when he learns to move the ball faster. Yesterday it appeared he was aiming for as many Saints bodies as possible. Apart from moves breaking down, the most likely outcome is him breaking down. He is still very close to being a seriously top player, and I love his energy and movement.

Up Top: Ollie. Worked exceptionally hard. Scored twice. Great work.

Overall, very pleased. However, it was clear that there was some ring rust. Individuals were performing well, but the usual fluidity lacked lubrication. It would also be unfair not to praise what has been achieved at Southampton.

I’m sure many of you recall some of the whingers’ classic lines “bloody tippy tappy football, no end product. Look at Utd who know how to win ugly”.

Now, some people look great until you remove the make-up. Well, if yesterday was us without the slap on, then gis’ us a snog!

Today, we are even Topper of The League than we were yesterday morning. Very hard not to like that.

Feelings by MickyDidIt

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal’s Tomorrow Man

November 20, 2013

Today, my dear chums, is me at my most generous.

I can’t quite believe I am doing this, but I am giving some of you the opportunity of joining us few in the elite “I told you so” camp. Your chance to grab some of the end of season Bragging Rights.

The last two days have seen great posts by Rocky and Raddy discussing how some of our players have improved. They also gave one or two of you a satisfying “I told you so” moment in the sun.

Okedoke, now for some crystal ball gazing and predictions. Today you set down in print who you feel will be the most improved player between now and the end of the season.

In some ways, this is the inverse of yesterdays. Aaron cannot possibly win this one, and indeed any player that was close yesterday, ie Mert, Kierran or Mozart, are unlikely to top this one either.

These are some of the lines of thinking I shall be following when making my guess:

Who’s likely to be called into action, and given the chance to stake his claim?

The likely candidates here will most likely get their chance where the first team have their weak spots, or injury critical areas. For me, central defence, defensive midfield and striker.

Here may lie my ace card. Verm. Surely he’ll be getting his chance. He may just be the man.

Can Jack learn to move the ball faster, thus avoiding collisions, and ensuring team thrust, as well as grabbing a First XI “must start” berth?

If we sign a striker, will that enable certain players to push on to the next level, like Mesut?

If Ollie gets clobbered, and we sign no-one in January, then might Podolski shine?

Same above, but how about Theo blossoming through the middle?

The Ox. Might get a game and simply become irreplaceable.

If Kos or Mert have a longtermer, will AW push Bac central, giving Jenks the chance to grab the “most improved” trophy?

On the back of Sz’s superb form, we now have the terrible prospect of OPIG receiving a knock. Could Fabianski prove to be the “man of the moment”?

Where do I stand? Well, I’m not going to stick my neck out yet. I’ll read some thoughts in the comments, and then commit. My gut feeling is that it will be between Verm, Jack, Theo or Podolski. However, I might vote Mesut.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal’s Best Player So far – It’s Not Who You Think

November 18, 2013

So here we are, top of the league, top of our Champions League group and looking pretty damn fine, thank you ma’am

Our success has been, above all, down to a fine collective effort but, nevertheless, some individuals stand out.

One thinks first of The Welsh Messi, Aaron Ramsey.

What a player!

From snapped leg to snapping ‘em in at every opportunity the boy has achieved above and beyond our expectations.

When he was struggling to rediscover his form last year some Arsenal fans (I won’t say supporters) deemed he didn’t have what it took to be a Gooner. I am glad to say I supported him then and I support him now. But he’s still not our best player of the season so far.

Oh no.

It’s not Aaron, so perhaps it’s our fandabbydoozical new signing Mesut Ozil. The German of Turkish extraction is a joy to watch – when he’s on the ball time slows down and magical things happen.

But Mezut is in his first season in the EPL and much more is still to come. He is not our best player this season – not by a long chalk.

If not him, then what about our dashing French cavalier, Olivier Giroud. He is like the Three Mustketeers (plus D’Artagnon) rolled into one. He spends every game marked by at least two opponents, selflessly receiving the ball, holding it up, being stupidly penalized by stupid referees, laying it off, linking up… in short he is an absolute top quality centre forward. But still not our best player in this campaign.

To find the chosen one we must move further back.

In doing so we find Matthieu Flamini – a player scorned by many when his return was announced (though not by this observer) and now someone who is deemed crucial to our chances of success this season.

Flamini is a tireless worker and a good player. But it’s not him.

So we look to the defence. Koscielny and Mertesacker have been outstanding this season – probably the best CB pairing in the EPL.

I love the commitment and intensity of Kozzer, but having given away two penalties already he can’t be considered for our player of the season so far

As for Mertesacker – well, right now, he is my favourite player in an Arsenal shirt. Calm, confident, always in control, always finding the right pass out of defence – he is unquestionably the best defender we have had since Tony Adams. The press and pundits still go on about his (lack of) speed, but anyone who watches Arsenal week in week out knows that the BFG is a class act.

Nonetheless, he’s still not our best player this year.

To find that individual we have to move back even further

And there, between the sticks, we find the man himself: Wojciech Szczesny.

If you can be bothered to trawl back through the Arsenal Arsenal archive you will find several Headline Posts where I have questioned the ability of the Pole in Goal.

He seemed to me to be someone gifted with natural ability but perhaps lacking in the mentality to achieve the highest level. His performance for Poland in the 2012 Euros was a case in point.

But he has knuckled down at Arsenal, endured the indignity of being dropped and returned with a new focus and intensity.

If we are top of the table at this point of the season it is for many reasons, including the scoring form of Ramsey, the creativity of our midfield and the obduracy of our team as a whole. But it is also due to the saves of Szczesny.

I have lost count of the games where his outstanding saves have kept us in the game and allowed us to go on and claim all three points

His decision making seems to have improved 100% and it’s clear that his defenders understand him and have great confidence in having him behind them.

Furthermore, his shot-stopping has been of the highest order.

When I was doubting him, regular AA contributor GiE was pointing out his strengths. As a goalkeeper who has played at a high level himself, it should have been obvious that GiE knew what he was talking about. I am happy to accept now that that is indeed the case.

To me there is no question about it: our player of the season so far is Mr Wojciech Szczensy.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Arsenal Lost – But Confidence Is Key

November 17, 2013

Ok, we lost at Old Trafford again, but so what? In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t mean much. I’ve had worse times fitting into my trousers. We are closing the gap on all the top teams and soon will be beating the lot of them. Bet you any money, and I can’t coz I’me skint, that we will win the league this year.

No, I take my cue from Arsene. The man exudes confidence and I have every faith he is building a great side. This confidence is vital if you are to achieve your goals. Alright, I know we all can’t be like Arsene. I dont go into my local bank and say to the cashier “I am like Arsene, so you will put £100,000 into this carrier bag and ask no questions”. I have tried, it don’t work.

Look, I know about these things. After the Mrs threw me out I was at a low ebb. I would wander into my late night Tesco’s in the hope somebody would talk to me, but no one ever did. Well, apart from the security guard, who threw me out a couple of times for “Staring at people”. Now, if that was Aaron Ramsey, do you think he would be thrown out of Tesco’s? Of course not, because he has confidence that’s why.

Our confidence is growing, but we need more. We would never have lost to Utd if we had more faith. Our ability exceeds theirs.

Confidence is king. About six months ago I saw a picture of Oliver Giroud in the paper with his girlfriend, she was a right stunner. I thought, why can’t I have a women like that? Ok, he looks like Giroud because he is Giroud, and I look like Ralph Coates, but the reason he is successful with women is confidence.

Anyway, I went to one of these over 40’s discos to try my luck. You know sometimes you switch on the Box and see some Boffin talking about the possibility of Invisibility, well they’re talking bollix, I have already invented it. Not one women spoke to me all night. Imagine having invented an Invisibility Cloak and the thing only works on you. Would Giroud have been invisible to those women? Course not, confidence that’s why.

The confidence of the players is strongly linked to Arsene Wenger. The man is a genius for instilling belief in his teams. That’s why we will bounce back from the Utd defeat.

I wish my Boss was like Arsene, but he aint, he’s an horrible Git, Totnumb fan too. He’s the kind of bloke that talks to people without looking at them, usually because he’s counting cash.

Yeah, I can really see Arsene greeting Alex Chamberlin in his office with “you might play. £240, £260, £280, you might not”.

As I said, the main reason we didn’t do Utd was our confidence is still not 100%. We played with a bit of fear, bought on from previous disappointing encounters. We just have to beat them once up there, then we will be beating them all the time.

We can’t let our confidence wane now, it would be a tragedy, turning us into nasty people and costing us the league. A few months back I was invited to a family party. I hated it. Full of couples having a good time and kids running around being a nuisance. One particular kid was really winding me up. He was about nine or ten and was going round kicking and swinging at people “Ahhh, little Joe has been affected by the cola, bless”. F*ck that, the little Runt was getting on my nerves. He picked on me for special treatment, probably realising I was the sad loser in the corner.

Now if I was full of confidence like Per Mertsacker, I would probably have laughed it off, but because I was on a bit of a low I cornered him in the kitchen “Have you ever had a seriously aggressive snow ball fight with a middle aged man and suffered moderate injury requiring hospitalisation”? He got the message. “Ahhh, little Joe is tired from running around” they all said, as he lay face down on the couch sobbing.

We have tremendous potential running through the Club and team. The idea is to keep the squad together, let it mature and improve and then add when necessary. I can see us beating the top boys at home this year, but only if we believe, and we should believe. The quality is there to beat anybody. Look at the young players at our disposal. Fantastic talents who will only get better.

If you believe, anything is possible. Just like Arsenal, I too am rising again.

In the Loft that I share with a couple of pigeons I have installed a microwave machine and eat a whole variety of delicious readymade meals. I have also replaced my 1970’s heater with a flash 1980’s version which means I now no longer need to rub up to the pigeons for warmth.

In addition, I have joined an internet dating site. Wasn’t very successful at first, but since I removed my own photo and replaced it with a fake of some male model from the Argos catalogue, I am getting plenty of attention. Though one women almost caught me out when she asked whether I had ever been used in a promotion for an electronic Drill.

Yes, just like the mighty Gunners, things are looking up.

I will leave you with this. Arsenal is on the verge of a great team with a fantastic future. The only thing we have to do is get behind the team and instil as much confidence in them as we can. When you have not won anything for eight years, you need belief and we can help push the team over the line, that’s our part.

The Ghosts of the Thirties are Stirring

God Bless

Written by TMHT

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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