Arsenal’s Tipping Point

October 28, 2013

Things have gone well for us this season: probably better than most Arsenal supporters expected.

Top of the Premiership; top of our Champions League group (notwithstanding that recent slip against Dortmund); above the Spuds despite them having one of their best-ever starts to a season (if you call relying on dodgy penalties for points ‘best ever’); the capture of one of the best players in the world; and some moments of true footballing joy (blowing Napoli away, our own private goal-of-the-season contest against Norwich).

Those of us of a more positive bent see this Arsenal team as one that really has a chance to be there or thereabouts for the big prizes this year.

But others – quite sensibly – are sounding notes of caution.

We have not yet played a single one of our rivals in the Premier League and, as I mentioned, we came a cropper when faced with Continental opposition of genuine quality.

Which brings us to the month of November, which is bearing down on us like a dose of the ‘flu.

Our final game in October is a Capital One tie against Chelsea. I would be delighted if we were to win it, but I’m not overly fussed about that competition and I certainly hope we take the opportunity to rest players like Giroud, Ozil, Ramsey and Mertesacker.

Then we’re into November when, in rapid succession, we have the following fixtures:

Liverpool (H)

Borussia Dortmund (A)

Manchester United (A)

Southampton (H)

Marseille (H)

Cardiff (A)

The first four are undoubtedly tough fixtures (Southampton, let’s remember, are currently 5th in the table).

After that we should expect to beat Marseille and then we have a winnable away game in Wales. But our state of mind by the time we embark on those last two matches will be greatly affected by what has gone before.

This is why I feel we are at a tipping point in November.

Come through the games against Liverpool, Dortmund, Man Utd and Southampton in good shape and we really can start to dream about an end to our long potless run.

What constitutes good shape? I would say we need to at least draw with Liverpool, at least draw with Dortmund and beat both of United and Southampton.

We are more than capable of doing all that and more, but the one nagging doubt in the back of my mind is that November has not been a kind month to us over the years.

TS Eliot had it wrong about which month is the nastiest when he wrote:

“April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.” 

Those lines are from his classic poem “The Wasteland,” (penned after a brief visit to N17).

If Eliot were around today surely he would be writing about the month of November and the terrible memories we Gooners have of that cursed four-week that comes round, annoyingly, at least once every year.

If the November gremlins strike again and results don’t go our way it won’t take long for the media pundits who have been singing our praises to start writing us off all over again; and, in turn, the minority of “underminers” among the fans base will pipe up  (hasn’t it been nice to have a few weeks without that whingeing drone in the background?).

I certainly believe we are good enough to come through this period with flying colours, although it would be nice to have a few of the sicknotes back in action (I’m looking at you, Walcott and you, Flamini).

The more I think about it, the more important the Liverpool game looks.

They are flying at the moment and the bitey fellow is showing why Arsene was so keen to sign him up during the summer.

But we are playing them at our place and if we find our groove we can pass them to death and make Suarez realize what he’s missing.

Like us, Liverpool have had a fairly comfortable ride, fixtures-wise, in the early part of the season. Their only game against a traditional top four team so far has been a home match against a struggling Man Utd, which Liverpool won 1-0.

Southampton, meanwhile, beat Liverpool at Anfield.

So Arsenal v Liverpool should show us who is a contender and who is a pretender.

Win that one and I have a strong feeling that the rest of the month will tip nicely in our direction.

RockyLives

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Attack attack attack………….

October 27, 2013

Yesterday BigRaddy asked in his pre-match if we were wrong about Chamakh, well if he’d shown even the smallest leaning( 🙂 ) towards being as aggressive as he was yesterday I’m sure we would have loved him.

We are clearly geared up to be an attacking force and we know that Arsène much be drooling over his jewels in mid-field and thinking we are always going to score more than anyone.

Our loss to BD in the week was entirely due to getting caught with a sucker punch after having dominated play for many minutes. In the game yesterday we were also caught short while everyone up searching for the second  goal and a great ball out to Chamakh led to the sending off of Arteta.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the replays Chamakh was on to a great ball with Arteta in hot persuit. Chamakh’s touch took the ball away from him and once he realised he wasn’t going to get after it he leaned into Arteta and their legs got tangled. Our Legohair man was shown a straight red. Obviously we aren’t going to appeal the decision as our next game is the Capital One cup and Arteta probably would have been rested.

The thing is, even down to ten men and with both our defensive mid-fielders off the field (the lion that is Flamini went off injured after 10 minutes) we were able to score a second goal.

001

A very fabulous goal it was too, created in mid-field by Giroud and finished with aplomb by the same man as he bust a gut to get to a beautiful curling pass from Ramsey.

This was a good win away from home against a team that were invigorated by the loss of their manager. Champions are made of this, playing poorly, scoring great goals and attacking at all costs.

We are top of the league say we are top of the league 🙂

Have a nice day all.

Written hurriedly by peachesgooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal Arsenal’s Friday News Roundup

October 25, 2013

Last Thursday: The Arsenal AGM, the first to be chaired by Sir Chips Keswick was held at The Emirates.

Stan Kroenke’s speech follows:-

“It is a pleasure to be here. This is my sixth AGM and it is great to be back. I appreciate people re-electing me to the board. Well, it was close to unanimous!

“Anyway, it is great to be here and I would tell you we are pleased with the progress of the Club and that is made up of a lot of things, most importantly on the pitch.

“None of us up here [on the board], fans, players, or Arsène [Wenger] are happy until we have won championships and trophies. We have said that over and over again and are committed to that.

“Also, when you try to build towards that, it is very important for the Club to be successful commercially, and we are very pleased with the progress we have made in that area.

“We have come a long way, with the debts of the Club being paid down, the commercial revenues are increasing in a nice way. Certainly you guys are aware of the Emirates deal.

“We have more [deals] coming and are confident. However, nothing works unless we have success on the pitch.

“The reason we got interested in Arsenal [after years of approaches from other teams] was… the tradition, the image and the success of the Club and that to me has been established by none other than our manager.

“In our opinion, with the values he stood for and the things that we value in sport they were evidenced through him and through this club. So we are very pleased to be here and I couldn’t be more honoured to introduce our manager Arsène Wenger.”

Mr. Kroenke’s speech is reproduced courtesy of Arsenal.com

Arsene Wenger followed with a speech which can be read in full at Arsenal.com

It was later reported that Alisher Usmanov has increased his holding in Arsenal to 30%. He still does not have a seat on the board.

All of our players who had been involved in the round of international matches returned without any major injuries.

Friday: In an interview Arsene Wenger said

“Vermaelen is my captain so I rate him but it’s difficult to change the current pair, unfortunately when you have 20 good players, nine good players don’t play“

Saturday: Proper football returned to The Emirates after a seemingly endless Interlull. An ultimately comfortable win over third from bottom Norwich City saw The Glorious Gunners return to the top of the league after Liverpool had crept above us with a lucky away draw at Newcastle in the lunch-time kick-off.

Jack Wilshere scored his first ever league goal at The Emirates and what a sumptuous goal it was, I’ll not try to describe it, I’m sure it is etched in the memories of all Arsenal fans. A headed goal from Mesut Ozil, a rarity indeed, an absolute stunner from Aaron Ramsey and a tap in, after an intricate build up, by Mesut completed a fine afternoon’s work.

Sunday: The papers were stuffed full of praise for Wenger’s wonders, after Saturday’s performance, the question was asked “was Wilshere’s goal the greatest ever”? On any other day the same question may well have been asked of Aaron Ramsey’s slalom through the City defence which ended with another stunner by our Welsh Wizard.

Among our main rivals, Chelsea and Man City won, Liverpool and the fast fading Man Utd drew. Whilst in the also-rans, Everton and Spurs both won. A flare was tossed onto the Villa Park pitch from the away supporter’s end, during a particularly dire passage of play, perhaps in an effort to spark some life into the game.

Monday: More praise for The Glorious Gunners in the press, aren’t we the tabloid’s darlings for once. Flamini was ruled out of contention for the Borussia Dortmund game suffering the effects of a concussion caused by his collision with Norwich’s Alexander Tettey.

Tuesday: It was Arsene Wenger’s 64th birthday The only gift he had on his mind was a Champions League victory against Borussia Dortmund. A win for Arsenal would take them to nine points and a giant step towards the knockout stages.

“I won’t do anything to celebrate my birthday,” said Wenger.

“A good game for me is the best present. I get cards, phone calls but, honestly, if nobody reminds me I forget. Even when I was 25 or 30, I never thought it as a special day.”

Wednesday: Oh well! Wednesday dawned and the overnight news kicked in, Arsenal 1 – 2 Borussia Dortmund. There’s no point in re-hashing the game, by now everything that could be said has been said.

Arsenal players did not attempt to hide from the result, various of them commented, Ramsey “A draw would have been a fair result after the way we played in the second half, I felt like we were in control of the game but then we switched off for 30 seconds, we were in their box and 30 seconds later the ball is in the back of our net.

“I was disappointed as well with the way they scored their first goal, I got caught on the ball and that was disappointing. We were a bit slow to start but I thought after about 25 minutes we got into the game, we got our goal and then we took that into the second half.

“We were in control of the game, we didn’t look like we were going to concede, but then we did. That’s what happens [when you switch off].

“We showed good character getting back into game… and we created a few chances in the second half and hit the bar. On another night we may have taken the lead but we have to learn from the way we defended for the second goal.”

Wilshere

“They’ve got a good team shape and it’s hard to play through the lines. We wanted to get Mesut on the ball and play through to Giroud but they made it difficult for us. Fair play to them”. “There are three games left, and nine points to play for, so it’s still in our hands. We know what we have to do. We’ve got a difficult game away to Dortmund next. It will be a hostile atmosphere but we’ve been there before and I thought we were unlucky not to win there. We’ve got the players to do it, we have to regroup and show our spirit now.”

Arteta

“I think we deserved better,” said Arteta. “We did the hardest bit, to score the goal just before half-time. It was when we had control of the game and created the best chances when we just got caught on the counter-attack. That was disappointing.

I don’t think we chased the game too much, we just gave the ball away at the edge of the box. We know that they are a very good side on the counter-attack and I think we had kept them really quiet, but we conceded the chance and they scored.

It’s going to be tough [to qualify], we knew it was probably the toughest group in the Champions League. We don’t think any differently now.

We’re still capable of going through but we’re really disappointed with the way we lost the game.”

Some pre-publication snippets from Old Red Nose’s book, titled oh so originally and incorrectly, My Autobiography (Telegraph sports writer Paul Hayward was the actual author so strictly speaking it is a biography not an autobiography) appeared in print, notably “Pizza-gate” got a mention, while according to Ferguson United’s victory that brought about the end of Arsenal’s 49 game winning run “scrambled Wenger’s brain”.

If you really want to read a mass of self-serving guff the tome is available from bookshops at the eye watering price of £25. I would recommend waiting until after Christmas when it will be available for 25 pence from all good charity shops.

Thursday: Some Portuguese bloke from the wrong end of Seven Sisters Road has been mouthing off about Arsenal. He reckons that we have had it easy so far this season. “We will see the big fixtures coming now for Arsenal. They have only played us so far and they have both Chelsea and Manchester City to come, and Liverpool”. He quite forgot to mention that we had beaten his sorry Spurs, but that would have spoiled the effect of his comment. I wonder what bad news he was trying to deflect attention away from.

The BFG acknowledged our defensive frailties “We know we are on a good run, but we know it needs more than just playing with full freedom and vision — we need to defend first and the we can switch the rest on. You have seen what can happen after that.” He had this to say about our record signing “Mesut does not need to adapt to our style because he is a natural talent. You could see that against Norwich, when we played such good football.”

Oliver Giroud insisted Arsenal will not let their defeat to Borussia Dortmund disrupt their superb start to the season. He went on to say

“We did well in the first half and came back into the game after a bad start. After the first half Dortmund were not as good, maybe tired, and we were really close to scoring a second one. But they kept going and scored on the counter-attack. It’s a shame because we could have done much better.”

Written by Norfolk Gooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

How Does The Ox Get Back In This Side?

October 24, 2013

That is the question that one fine gentleman asked me last Saturday before the Norwich game. Said gentleman is known to many of you, and I will not divulge anything more other than to say his name rhymes with gasp. My response to the question was that maybe a post should be done about it. Listening in on said conversation was a mighty fine lady, also known to many of you, and again I will respect confidentiality and say only that her name rhymes with breaches. Well I am glad I have bamboozled you all and not given too much away, but I digress.

The point is that no sooner had I mentioned the words post, done and should in the same sentence than there I was with my thumb pricked and signing a declaration in my own blood that said slip of the tongue would in fact become a reality, upon pain of an extremely eye-watering forfeit. Having considered the remote possibility that I may require some use of the last 4.5% of my remaining fertility, here I am.

So how does the Ox get back into this side? I have mentioned in the past that I don’t necessarily see it as being an issue because I don’t see our players all being fit at the same time. I would also consider that some of the younger players, such as Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere, may change the position they play over the next 3-4 seasons as their games further develop and as certain older players start to play less or move on. For the benefit of this analysis I will consider it as if we have all players available, and I have mainly focussed on those players who I feel are mostly in consideration for 1st team places currently. I have not taken into account any additions in January, as that is too speculative.

Forgotten man?

Forgotten man?

For me the main aspect to consider is the other players we have in the squad and what their best positions are currently. What are the main strengths of a particular player in what they can bring to the team and how it affects our system of play. We do have many players who are adaptable to two or maybe even three positions, but I will focus on where I feel they can offer the most to the squad currently.

There are only 5 positions to be filled between the back 4 and lone striker and my list of possibilities reads as follows :

Flamini, Arteta, Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry, Podolski.

That is some list and comprises 11 players for 5 positions, and is particularly heavily loaded in the attacking midfield department, so how do we get them all playing regularly? Are we actually overloaded with too many similar style players that leaves us unbalanced? One big question is would any of you be happy to see any of the players on that list leave the club? I feel that if we get the players positioning right with our current system then it doesn’t necessarily have to become a problem.

I feel we currently like to play with 2 deeper midfielders behind 3 attacking midfielders behind the lone striker. With regard to the deeper defensive two I feel we play with one as more a pure holding midfielder, and the other one who has more licence to go forward or be a bit more box to box, as long as they don’t lose sight of their defensive responsibilities. I feel this latter defensive role is very similar to the role played by Schweinsteiger at Bayern, and is a role I would like to see Wilshere play currently. I actually feel Jack is a very good attacking central midfielder also and may move more into this role later on. I do however feel that Jack is the best midfielder we have to bring the ball out from deeper midfield and has the best blend of defensive and attacking attributes to make him the most suited to the box to box role. With the attacking midfield area so heavily loaded I would prefer to see Jack, at least for now with us (England being another matter), play in the deeper 2 in a rotating combination with Arteta and Flamini.

That brings us to the tricky area of the attacking midfielders. Three positions and 8 players left from the list. Many may not agree with this but I would immediately remove one from that list and state that, when fit again, Podolski should battle it out for the strikers role and prove he can play this position at the highest level. His natural finishing ability means he has the potential to be world class in this role, so it is down to him now to step up and stop Arsene reaching for the cheque book again. If that were to happen I would fear for his future with us, and I do feel the clock is ticking on this becoming a reality.

This leaves us with the following for the 3 attacking positions behind the lone striker :

Rosicky, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry.

Although many of these players are adaptable to where they play in the attacking roles I feel that the first 4 would be more classed as attacking central players while the latter 3 have attributes that would class them as attacking wider players. I think Theo is nailed on to continue as an attacking wide right player and he will be heavily utilised when fit. Some would prefer to see Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gnabry in central roles but with the list of players we have for this role is it really feasible currently. Both of them are also far more natural at giving true width and directly taking on full-backs which is an area that our squad is slightly limited in. When played wide I have a personal preference for AOC to play from the left, where he can either take on the full-back outside or cut in on his dangerous right foot.

AOC, and also Gnabry, are young and have time on their side and can easily switch to a different role even some 5 years down the line. Rosicky is 33 and Cazorla 28 (29 in December), while AOC and Gnabry are 18 and 20 respectively. There is plenty of time for them to switch to a central role later, if that looks the best option, as older players start to vacate these positions.

Against Dortmund we seemed to play with predominantly 3 attacking central midfielders behind the lone striker. Without the natural width we didn’t really stretch them and made it easier for them to compress the space centrally. We were reliant on the full-backs providing the attacking width which didn’t happen to great effect this time. With it not quite working, and Gnabry probably still being considered slightly on the young side for a game of this magnitude against that level of opposition, I feel we really missed the option of AOC, and also Walcott, to change the lines of attack and give us that different option. Once you assess the squad in this way I do feel that AOC, once fit, should still have an important and regular role to play in our first team.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Ramsey Was Right To Choose Arsenal Over Man Utd

October 21, 2013

I’m sorry to do this after such a splendid weekend of Arsenal wonderfulness, but I would like you to cast your mind back to late August 2011.

We had entered the new season in rocky shape.

Cesc Fabregas had failed his DNA test and returned to Catalunia. Samir Nasri had got fed up of hauling his arse round the pitch at The Emirates and went in search of a bench to rest it on.

We started our campaign with an unimpressive 0-0 draw away at Newcastle and followed it up with a 0-2 defeat at home to Liverpool (of all people).

We were also blighted with injuries to key players.

Then, as August prepared to hang up its boots and hand over the baton to September, we went away to Manchester United.

You all know what happened.

A weakened, disrupted side was trounced 8-2, a result not helped by some bizarre substitutions from our embattled manager.

The anti-Arsenal media (which means pretty much all of the beggars) fell over themselves to write our obituary and Arsene’s too.

And quite a few journalists also focused on a very specific piece of transfer business that had happened a couple of summers earlier.

In 2008 Aaron Ramsey signed for Arsenal despite already having been announced on the Manchester United website. The young Cardiff starlet had talked to Alex Ferguson on the phone and, from Fungus’s perspective, it was clearly “deal done.”

But Old Purple Proboscis had reckoned without the charms and wiles of a certain Monsieur Arsene Wenger, who flew young Aaron and his parents out to Switzerland, where he was doing a bit of footy commentary.

Who knows what blandishments Le Boss used on the impressionable young Welshman (a year’s supply of leeks? a box set of Max Boyce videos? a subscription to Hot Sheep Monthly?) but it was enough to make Aaron turn his back on the soulless wastelands of Mancunia and head, instead, for the bright lights of London.

Between then and that awful 8-2 thrashing he had a bit of a rollercoaster ride. His early performances for Arsenal showed tons of promise. Then he had his leg snapped in half by a humungous twunt from Stoke. Then there was a loan spell at Notts Forest, followed by a return to The Home of Football.

When the 2011/12 season started we had high – but qualified – hopes for him. Qualified because we knew he was young and was still recovering from that awful maiming by Ryan Shawcross.

You can only imagine how his head must have been in those early season games. Cesc and Nasri gone. No new arrivals of substance. Turmoil and dissent in and around the club. And him battling his own demons as he strived to recover from that shattering injury.

Then he finds himself on the wrong end of a record-breaking drubbing from the very club he snubbed a couple of years earlier.

As one journalist said at the time: “Surely if Aaron Ramsey had a time machine he would go back now and sign for United instead of Arsenal.”

It would be easy to mock that thought now, but at the time it didn’t seem so unreasonable. Many Arsenal supporters felt that the gulf between us and the Mancs was becoming almost unbridgeable.

But I am delighted to say that now, two years on, the idea that Ramsey would be better positioned at United than at Arsenal is laughable beyond belief.

Aaron is a gifted technical midfield player. As such there would be no place for him in the current Manchester United set-up. And that’s not just because of David Moyes. It is generally accepted among the footballing community that despite winning the Premier League comfortably last year, Alex Ferguson’s United team were as a poor a set of champions as we have seen in a very long time.

Indeed it speaks to the genius of Ferguson that he got them to grind out unimpressive win after unimpressive win all season long (all helped, of course, by the goals we sold them from the boots of Brave Sir Robin).

But, despite being champions, United looked like a team out of time – playing 1990s football at a time when the rest of Europe was embracing new approaches and styles.

It explains why the Mancs performed so dismally in the Champions League, where their dinosaur version of the game – which worked for stomping over low and mid table teams in England – quickly came unstuck when faced with more sophisticated opponents.

Now United seem destined for a period of relative decline (I happen to doubt they’ll make top four this year, but even if they do I can’t see them competing for the Title).

Arsenal on the other hand… well, we all know about the new Arsenal in which Aaron Ramsey is playing the best football of his life, surrounded by like-minded, technical players who want to produce beautiful moves and create goals of sexual intensity (at some point yesterday Rasp asked who provided the assists for our goals against Norwich: I was tempted to answer “heaven”).

If Ramsey was in the United team now his flicks and one-twos would be wasted, his runs would be in vain, his box-to-box effort futile.

The reigning champs are playing a version of the long ball game (with extra use of wingers) in which David Moyes clearly feels there is no place for a creative midfielder (hence Kagawa’s season ticket on the bench).

So, back in 2011, perhaps the journalist should have said: “if Aaron Ramsey had a time machine, he should go two years into the future to check on the relative fortunes of Arsenal and Man Utd.”

In which case – no contest. Aaron knows he made the right choice. He is in a team with a cadre of gifted young Brits (Gibbs, Theo, Jack, Oxo, Jenks, Pingpong etc) and a smattering of top world talent.

Not a single player from United’s midfield would get into our midfield, but any one of Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini, Ozil and Rosicky would walk into the Man Utd team.

Like us supporters, Aaron Ramsey has been through the grinder for a couple of years.

It’s understandable why so many fans despaired. But the more positive among us always felt there was an end in sight: a corner to be turned; a Rubicon to be crossed.

I would like to think that Aaron also retained his positivity, even when some of those who should have been backing him turned against him.

His performances in the last third of last season were crucial to us getting fourth spot in the table. If we had not achieved that, there would have been no Ozil.

Now Aaron has started the new season full of confidence and skill. He really is better than any other player in the EPL right now, including our own lovely Mesut.

Could you imagine the current Man Utd team scoring a goal like our first against Norwich at the weekend?

No, neither could I. That’s why Aaron is in exactly the right place. His decision in June 2008 is looking better with every passing day.

Rocky Lives

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Posted by RockyLives

We are top of the league…….

October 20, 2013

So I got collared by our A.A matriarch for the match report, so unlucky for you lot, I hope you all have a few hours to spare on Sunday. Any complaints should be directed to Mrs Peaches of the Arsenal Tavern, Blackstock Road, London, N4.

Throughout the match I kept changing my mind as to how the general tone of this report would be presented. The end scoreline somewhat belies that it was a bit nervy at times and that Norwich were firmly in this match for large periods. I had visions of having to talk about being too casual and allowing them back into a game we should have comfortably won much earlier, but fortunately I now don’t need to because, 4 goals to 1 later, and a quick glimpse at the EPL table should bring a smile to any of the faithful this Sunday morning. To be fair Ruddy did have a bit of a blinder so was largely responsible for allowing them to have a foothold in the game for longer than I would have liked.

There were times when things, in an attacking sense, weren’t quite coming off for us in this game, but when they did come off boy was it a thing of beauty. The opening goal was straight out of the Wengerball archives of total football, and I can just picture Arsene at home on the sofa hitting rewind and play continuously with a big smile on his face.

On 18 minutes Jack received the ball deep and skipped past a challenge before laying it off and heading up-field. The ball was worked down the left eventually finding its way to Santi who angled infield and played a lovely 1-2 with Jack before sliding it into Giroud who played an even better 1-2 with Jack, complete with brilliant flicks off the outside of the boot from both players. Ollies last flick split the defence and found Jack who had continued his run bursting in behind their defence to basically just pass it into the net. Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, GOOAAL. I may have even short-changed us by one ping there, but for lovers of the beautiful game it was somewhat utopian. I don’t know why we don’t just try and pass it into the net more often….All this shooting business that some people go on about is rather distasteful.

Jack and Olly v norwich

Shortly after this our Franco-Italian midfield warrior suffered a nasty head clash, and despite trying to soldier on was soon after replaced by the Welsh Wizard. I am sure that Matty will be fine and will stop seeing double after a good days rest and some of Mama Flamini’s homemade Spag Bol. Ruddy then pulled off the first of a few fine saves denying Giroud, before we somewhat started to sit back a bit too much for my liking, and Norwich showed they still had a bit about them by finishing the first half in the ascendency. Szczesny had to make one fine save in particular low down to his right.

This should have been the warning and catalyst for a renewed siege on their goal at the start of the second half, but it started a bit like the first finished, and I was left with a craving for a second goal to settle my slight feelings of nervousness. On 58 minutes I was duly obliged and an interception from deep led to a swift counter-attack with Santi carrying the ball down the centre, before finding Giroud out to the right, who lifted the ball into the box where £42.4m of Vorsprung Durch Technique had continued a surging run to nod Giroud’s cross home. I thought it was the other way around initially, and had to be corrected by my match buddies for the day. All this total football and interchanging positions between the players is making writing up match reports a nightmare…. sort it out Arsene.

Ozil header v norwich

So now we could relax and control the game and watch the flood-gates open…. Well not quite. On 70 minutes a bit of sloppy defending, more being too casual really by not clearing our lines or closing down, saw their lad Howson run from midfield and pick up a half cleared ball before slamming it past Szczesny low down to his left. Back to nervousness it was then. I still had a little bit of nail left to chew on the corner of my left little pinky. Fortunately just as I had finished that last bit, and was eyeing up the nails of the chap to my right, we finally got our act together properly.

Firstly on 79 minutes the Welsh Wizard forced Ruddy into a fine save with a powerful shot from distance. At 83 minutes Bendtner played in Wilshere, who had switched to the left, and his ball into the box resulted in a strong shout for handball. Denied it was, but not to worry because we retained possession high up the pitch and Wilshere received the ball on the left again and pulled back a short pass to the Welsh Wizard who was inside the left half of the Norwich penalty area, still some 10 metres out, and with plenty of defenders in his way. Never fear though because Lionel Ramsey, or Aaron Messi, or whatever his name is did the old snake hips thing and shimmied this way and that, bamboozling all those in yellow shirts, leaving many on their backsides, before calmly lifting the ball over and to the side of Ruddy. Ricky Villa eat your heart out. Maybe that lot down the road can stop going on about that one now because this was even better.

Rambo scores v norwich

It was all capped off on 88 minutes when Rosicky got the ball on the left and lifted it over to the back post, where Ramsey played a lovely first time pull back, that left Ozil with the simple task of, again, passing the ball into the net.

A couple of thoughts for the day. Firstly what would Ramsey be worth on the open market now? Surely the consistency in his form is pointing towards a permanent shift in his level and ability, rather than just putting it down to a good run of form. Dare we start whispering the phrase “world class”?

The second is about Jack. Many will still point towards him losing possession at times but I would point towards the fact that he always tries to get us on the front foot driving forwards which inevitably comes with some loss of possession at times. He never hides and takes the safe sideways or backwards pass option. In many ways he mirrors how the team seems to be evolving which seems to be more loss of possession at times, but with far more regular attacking penetration during the game. I would take that all day long over greater possession stats but just moving the ball sideways and backwards around the pitch.

One final thing, a big thank-you to 26May who kindly allowed me to be at the game. Without that I would not have been able to compile this match report. So actually, on reflection, 26May is as equally complicit as Peaches if you are looking to apportion blame for losing half your Sunday reading this report. On to the ratings :

Szczesny 8

Not much chance with the goal but was safe and sure throughout and pulled out a couple of good stops. I really don’t feel the need to bring in another keeper with his current form.

Sagna 6

I thought he was a bit under par today. He was reasonably assured from a defensive aspect but his crossing was poor and he passed up the opportunity of the over-lap at times.

Mertesacker 8

One poor clearance aside he personified concentration allied with calmness all game. One lovely moment after the game when he was heading towards the tunnel and the West stand started to sing we’ve got a big f—–g German which you could visibly see him chuckling away to. He seems to be happy at THOF.

Koscielny 8

No dramas or rash challenges today just the normal speedy cover in our defence cutting out danger before it develops.

Gibbs 7

Without being outstanding today he was sound defensively and offered himself up in attack as well.

Flamini 7

His game was cut short so difficult to fully assess his impact but he gets a 7 just for being prepared to put his body where it hurts.

Arteta 8

Mr dependable. He is almost becoming the unseen contributor but if you watch carefully you will see how important he is to our control of the game.

Cazorla 8

Great to see our little Spaniard back. He definitely was a key contributor today before, as expected, he ran out of steam. Much more to come from him this season I am sure.

Ozil 9

He has such great balance and vision and seems to glide around the pitch like he is not actually making direct contact with the ground. The new Dennis? Quite possibly because as well as the sublime vision and passing he is increasingly scoring, as 2 goals today will testify to.

Wilshere 9

Yes he lost possession a couple of times, but as I said above he always tries to get us on the front foot and I feel he is one of the key players that dictates our tempo and forward penetration when we have possession.

Giroud 8

No goals today for Ollie but a big hand in 2 of them attests to the fact that he is far more than just a big typical battering ram number 9.

Ramsey (for Flamini 38mins) 9

One great solo goal and a great assist for the 4th. You now always feel that something will happen when he gets on the ball.

Rosicky (for Cazorla 59mins) 7

A bit like Arteta he is a very dependable player. I think he will be a key contributor to any success we may have this year.

Bendtner (for Giroud 78mins)

He actually looked much sharper and pretty decent. Am I allowed to say that? His touch and hold up play looked decent, he played a couple of good passes and tested their keeper with a good stinging shot. He looked like a good squad alternative today rather than the liability many may think he is. The system we seem to currently employ actually seems to play to his strengths.

My MOTM, I can’t choose. It would be one from Jack, Ozil or Ramsey. I will let you decide. Maybe I will give it to Arsene Wenger today for assembling and developing this fine group of players that entertains us all on Saturday afternoons.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Football at last …….. pre-match chat

October 19, 2013

At long last a return to proper football and a game at The Home of Football against a team in yellow. Who could ask for more?

Can we maintain our table topping brilliance against the Canaries? Of course, Norwich are in the bottom three with just 7 points and logic suggests that we will win. Big Raddy always hesitates to predict an easy 3 points but ……

Last season we got beaten 1-0 at Carrow Road and people (BR included) made much of the strength of the Norwich team who deserved their victory. They faded away but for a few weeks looked good, beating Man Utd, and drawing at Everton. They finished a creditable 11th and will be delighted should they repeat that feat.

I have been in Norfolk and visited Norwich this week, as such I know that it is 20 years ago this week since Norwich’s best ever result beating a superb Bayern Munich team 0-2 away and becoming the first foreign club to beat BM in the Munich Olympic stadium! Heady days indeed. FYI, we are the only foreign team to have beaten Munich at The Allianz (the Chavs drew).

Onto this afternoon….

Norwich: Their best player is the Cameroonian defender, Sebastien Bassong. He will be up against young Oliver Giroud and we must hope Bassong plays like he did for the Spuds. Ruddy is a fine keeper and will expect to have a busy afternoon. Norwich have failed to score in 7 of their last 11 away games but have scored in all of their previous 7 games against Arsenal which means our defence is sure to be breached!

With only 5 goals scored so far this season it is clear where Norwich’s problems lie. That and having a mutant as a manager. Please let this chump take over from AVB when he deserts the sinking ship that rots away down the Seven Sisters Rd.

Hughton might be a good manager but he remains a Spud and as we all know, once a Cock always a Cock.

Arsenal: All the interest will be on team selection. Should Ozil and Cazorla both be fit who will Mr Wenger pick in midfield? My guess is that one of Arteta or Flamini will be dropped and Santi will play on the left, we should not need two defensive MF’s at home to Norwich. But will Wilshere play?

I would like to see Vermaelen start a game or two and give one of our CB’s a rest. Koscielny played midweek, so perhaps he can sit on the bench.

My Team:

arse v nor

I expect Norwich to play fairly defensively – their confidence must be low and they do not really have a player to inspire them, but we have seen how a team who are well organised and compact can cause us problems at home. If we score early and play sensibly we really ought to win.

p.s. BR is hoping to watch the game in Budapest. Anyone have any idea if there is a Hungarian Gooners Bar??

Written by BigRaddy

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

What value is discipline and fair play, if any?

October 16, 2013

I am not talking about financial fair play here, that is perhaps for another day. To my mind, discipline and fair play, on and off the ground, go hand in hand. And Arsenal reigns supreme, at least in the Premier League, in these qualities. And as supporters, we value these qualities quite a lot as well. Or do we?

Arsenal finished top of the Fair Play League in 2012/13, and was awarded £30,000 by the FA Charity Committee, for use towards community or youth projects. “As a club, Arsenal prides itself on values of fair competition and positive behaviour both on and off the pitch,” Arsène Wenger said at the time. And not for the first time as well. Arsenal has won the award several times over the past decade and a half.

What constitutes the fair play award? At an objective level, it is smallest number of red and yellow cards totted over the year, plus positive play, respect towards opponents, respect towards the referee and officials, behaviour of the team officials, and behaviour of the fans. Quite a full agenda, is it not? But, ah, what use is fair play if you cannot win trophies? Turning the question the other way round, can you win the fair play award and the league at the same time? It turns out you can. The last team to do it was, yes, Arsenal, and in the invincible season of 2003/04.

What about the intervening period? The ride has been rocky at times, to say the least. Even, the fantastic role model that he is, Arsene Wenger has had his occasional trysts with the evil side. He has had spats with Mark Hughes, Big Sam, Sir Alex, the Special One and Alan Pardew, and has occasionally refused to shake hands. Ex gunners van Judas and Gallas had been spotted by the paparazzi smoking in public, and Wilshere more recently. Arshavin and Bendy were caught in awkward situations as well, and Alex Song even came close to a conviction. And, of course, the journos had nothing better to do but to try and make stories out of these supposed trivialities.

But overall, Arsenal has been a great example for how the team and the manager have conducted themselves in the public domain. Indeed, Arsene Wenger has been hailed for revolutionising the way English footballers look after their bodies. The Arsenal manager’s influence has led to changes in diet and lifestyle which have set new standards for professionalism at Premier League clubs and beyond. Hence, discipline in public life and fair play on the field have gone hand in hand for Arsenal.

Imagine, then, the surprise (at least for some Arsenal fans, yours truly included) in the summer when Arsenal placed a bid for one Luis Suarez, who has not been the most disciplined performer on the field of play. One of the greats at the current time, no doubt, but not a great example of fair play – diving, sledging, and even cannibalism being important parts of his portfolio. In time, we fans sort of warmed up to him, if for no other reason, than the fact that we really seemed to need reinforcements upfront. But along came one Mesut Ozil, waving a magic wand that inspired the team and the fans to fantastic heights of performance. So far, it has been a good ride!! And it would seem from Rocky’s post and responses on Monday that we no longer crave for the alleged cannibal.

All nice and fine and onwards with the discipline and fair play agenda then? Apparently not. In our attempt to be strong on the field and negate the impression of being pushovers, our youngsters have let some of the attitude spill over outside the field of play. Yes, we wanted the attitude, the passion, the strength on the field. But, we may be better without the adverse publicity, gained by alleged racist behaviour on the field, or unfortunate outbursts of juvenile opinion expressed to the press.

Does aggression on the field necessarily lead to the unfortunate shedding of the “role model” tag? Have we as fans somewhat given up on the high standards of discipline and fair-play that we expect of our team, on and off the ground? Our in principle acceptance of Suarez would seem to indicate such a change of heart?

Dear AAers, where now for discipline and fair play? What value are these qualities, in any case?

Written by Arnie

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal…..Today: “You’re The Boss”.

October 15, 2013

Three Parter today, and it’s a case of “you show me yours, and I’ll show you mine”.

Picture this, we’re about to play Utd at home, it’s a must win game for both teams and everybody is fit as a fiddle and on top form, with one exception, Olivier Giroud is injured.

We are a few games into the season now, and have witnessed a few seismic changes. The form of Ramsey, the central Arteta/Flamini axis, and the inclusion of Mesut Ozil. How does your First XI line up now, and we can limit this to the midfield and attack, as I wouldn’t mind betting we’d all select the same back five.

This idea comes on the back of talk about False No 9’s, as well as chat about various striker back-up options. Also, to date, Arsene has not had the luxury/problem of selecting from a full squad. You do, well almost!

I am going to complicate things, and that is why this is a Three Parter. I am going to give you two further selection headaches. First, it’s 0-0 until the 70th minute, when The Arsenal score, and second, it’s 0-0 until the 70th when the unbelieveable happens, and Utd score. On 71 mins, you can make one substitution for each scenario.

So, I’m asking for:

Your starting front six, and how they line up.

Then, your Arsenal 1-0 up plus substitution.

Finally, your Arsenal 0-1 down plus substitution.

Remember, it is a Must Win game for both sides. I said “I’d show you mine”, but I’m going to have to think this through, so hopefully, see you in the comments with your suggestions.

Written by MickyDidIt

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Suarez to Arsenal In January Is 100% Certain

October 14, 2013

“Calm down, calm down,” as Ga, Ba and Te from Harry Enfield’s ‘The Scousers’ would say.

When I use the phrase “100% Certain” what I mean is 100% certain NOT to happen.

There may have been stories in the press and on the internet over the last couple of days suggesting that the Uruguayan masticator might be heading our way for a cool fifty million, but PUR-LEEESE…

Brendan Rodgers could not be more of a Muppet if he had Jim Henson’s arm up his arse, but even he is not that stupid.

I imagine that Liverpool’s strong start to the season will soon fall apart like a kid’s toy on Boxing Day. It looks all shiny and exciting on Christmas Day, but then the working parts stop working, bits start to break off, the wheels (literally) come off and finally it’s abandoned in the corner, never to be played with again.

But even if ‘Pool are well placed in the Premier League pace by January, this transfer could never happen.

For one thing, the long-suffering and perennially optimistic Liverpool supporters would be up in arms. Those poor fans have had to put up with so much manure, false promises and even falser dawns over the last 20 years that selling Suarez to a “rival” (I know, don’t laugh) could be the final straw.

Never mind our Black Scarf movement, Anfield could be brought to its knees by a black ‘tache-and-perm protest of the like not seen this side of Saddam Hussain’s personal bodyguard.

The facts just don’t add up.

For a start, the Liverpool hierarchy were clearly deeply offended at our attempt to land El Munchio for what we thought was his release fee plus a quid. Apparently, according to some observers, this was “disrespectful” and we should have bid a million pounds more than we thought we needed to just to be nice.

I don’t know what sort of world these observers live in, but clearly it’s one with diamond encrusted armchairs and champagne glasses made out of the frozen tears of nightingale chicks if they think so little of a million smackers.

Personally I think it’s good that our club is not so profligate as to p*ss away such a large amount of money to make a bunch of pseudo-Scouse American millionaires feel a bit better about themselves.

Nevertheless, the episode clearly left a nasty, Ivanovicy taste in the mouth and did nothing to foster good relations between the two clubs.

I’m sure our Board of Directors are still mulling over the unsubtle barbs that were sent flying their way by John Henry and his cronies (apparently, in response to Henry’s comment that “I don’t know what they’re smoking at the Emirates,” Sir Chips Keswick was heard to say: “Well obviously we’re smoking hand-made Cuban Ramon Allones Estupendos. What are they smoking in Lancashire? Marlborough Lights?”).

So, that’s hardly a propitious starting-point for us trying again in January, is it? If ‘Pool were to sell Suarez it would  more likely be to Real Madrid than to us.

But in fact it does not make sense for Liverpool to sell their best player to anyone in the mid season transfer window.

With Manchester United in freefall under the iron flipper of Gollum Moyes, Manchester City unable to decide whether they are world beaters or panel beaters, Chelsea struggling to convert their free-flowing skilful attackers into Mourinho robots and Totteringham providing the laughs for everyone, this may be Liverpool’s best ever chance of getting back into the top four.

I think they’re unlikely to do it, but without Suarez there is absolutely no chance.

It might even be a resigning issue for Rodgers if his Board insist on selling the Uruguayan without his support

So, I’m sorry to say, the little fellow will not be coming our way in January or ever.

We may buy a striker in January but it won’t be him and I even have my doubts as to whether we’ll buy anyone.

The signing of Ozil shows we have moved our shopping habits from Lidl to Harrods and I’m not sure how many strikers will be available in the January sales at Harrods. I happen to think that, barring injury to Giroud, we will not add to the squad at all.

What do you think?

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

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