Arsenal Arsenal’s Friday News Roundup

October 11, 2013

Saturday:

The news broke that Jack Wilshere had been photographed with a cigarette in his mouth, naturally the anti Arsenal media jumped all over the story, they haven’t had much to moan about recently, Arsene Wenger “fumed” at the news, oh aren’t these journos funny, and claimed that the player was risking his health as well as his reputation, he went on to say that he would be “speaking” to the 21 year old about it.

Liverpool moved to the top of the table with a predictable win over Crystal Palace, Arsenal target Suarez scored after just 13 minutes. Man City came from behind to beat Everton as did Man U to beat rock bottom Sunderland. It took two goals from unknown teenager Adnan Januzaj to spare the blushes of Gollum and his two mis-firing strikers Rooney and the Dutch bloke, who missed an absolute sitter near the end of the game.

Sunday: On this day …

6th. October 1973 a seventeen year old mid-fielder made his debut for Arsenal, coming on as a substitute for Geof Blockley against Birmingham City, soon to become one of the best players to pull on a Gunner’s shirt, Liam Brady. Forty years ago and it seems like yesterday.. 😀

In the lunch time kick-off Chelsea secured a win with a late goal and a late, late goal against Norwich City to move into third place in the table.

Later in the day, with a somewhat stuttering performance, we got a point at West Brom which was enough to return us to the top of the table on goals scored. A good position going into the international break.

Spurs returned to their true form taking a three nothing hammering from the team from The Boleyn Ground. Despite wide spread chanting of the “Y” word by the home fans police made just one arrest, although they have announced that they will be looking at video evidence and could not rule out further arrests.

Monday:

Naturally Jack Wilshere grabbed the headlines, and the pun prize must go to Mr. Henry Winter of The Telegraph. “After all the controversy over pictures of him smoking, it had to be Jack Wilshere lighting up the afternoon here. It had to end here with the Arsenal mid-fielder enjoying a draw.”

The incident took place outside Dstrkt Club in Rupert Street, Soho on Thursday evening, the squad had been given two days off following the win over Napoli on Tuesday. Wilshere was on a “team night out”.

Jack Wilshere has admitted he made a mistake by smoking a cigarette but has insisted he will never be drawn in to it again in future. “Players make mistakes,” he said. “I am not a smoker. I spoke with the boss and he asked me what happened, I explained to him and we sorted it out”.

Editors note. It is believed that the owner of the club has an “issue” with spelling. 😀

Tuesday:

England called up Kieran Gibbs to the squad for the two internationals after Ashley Cole pulled out with a rib injury, Kieran gets recognition for his excellent early season form.

Aaron Ramsey received the Barclays Player of the Month award for September and Arsene Wenger picked up the Barclays Manager of the Month award. Ramsey scored five times in five appearances while Wenger oversaw a perfect month with six wins in six matches.

Wednesday:

In the wake of the FA’s attempt to poach a player born in Belgium of Albanian/Kosovan parents Jack Wilshere entered the argument over “foreign” players playing for England. “The only people who play for England Should be English people”. Wilshere was talking at St Georges prior the upcoming internationals. “If you live in England for five years it doesn’t make you English. You shouldn’t play”.

I want to come back to Arsenal, says Bergkamp: Yes Dennis would like to return “at some stage”, “but maybe not for at least another three to five years”. “I don’t see myself as a manager. I see myself as part of the coaching staff. I really enjoy training with the strikers”. Yes please Dennis anytime you like. 😀

Nicklas Bendtner’s reputation for arrogance often precedes him but the Arsenal striker believes such preconceptions are inaccurate.

Star (in his own mind) striker Nicklas Bendtner says he is a changed man. The reason the Great (in his own mind) Dane gives for his resurrection is that he has had a baby. Now I’ve heard of virgin births, but this is virgin on the ridiculous. During his time at Juventus some accused him of being “too fat to play”, well now we know the truth, he was pregnant. Talking to Arsenal Player he said “First of all I had a baby, which changed me a lot, I think a lot of people say that you have babies and they change you and stuff but for me I could really feel a big difference to my life. Being abroad showed me a lot of different things and different aspects of how to live and how to cope with problems. That has given me a lot more as a man for now”.

Thursday:

Overnight news – Carl Jenkinson was called up by the England U21s, recognition for that will help his confidence and could be a good thing for Arsenal as well, some competitive game time for him ahead of a couple of games standing in for the injured Bacary Sagna.

The furore over Jack Wilshere’s comment “only English players should play for England” continued with an attack on him by a South African bloke named Kevin who plays cricket for England. Most of the critics seem to have missed the context of what young Jack was saying, Professional players brought into the country should not be able to play for England, thus preventing home grown youngsters having the chance.

Backing for Wilshere’s stance came from Harry Redknap on Radio 4s Today Programme.

Tony Adams celebrated his 47th birthday.

Later in the day Arsene Wenger revealed that he may remain in England for the rest of his life. As reported in the Evening Standard. “I can see the rest of my life in England, why not?” he said. “I feel comfortable in this country because we share a common passion for football and as well I am very thankful for this country for having accepted me and giving me a chance. “I am happy on the football pitch.”

Written by Norfolk Gooner

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A bench made out of ‘deadwood’ or untapped talent?

October 9, 2013

I would like to take a good look at our squad. We are on a great run of games and everything is looking rosy but we’ve all forgotten about our so called “deadwood”. These are the players who are old enough for the first team but aren’t playing as much as anybody would like:

1. Abou Diaby: Injuries have almost destroyed the poor guy’s career. With the signing of Flamini and Ozil, there is no space even on the bench for Abou, so when he eventually returns from injury (if he stays fit for longer than his unveiling as our “new signing”)he wont have much time to get back to his best and might have to be sold or loaned out or his career may end prematurely.

2. Emmanuel Frimpong: Our bench General has been on the bench for virtually all our matches this season and no appearance so far. You don’t need to be Einstein’s twin to tell that he doesn’t feature much in Arsene’s plans. He does what he does well i.e. warm the bench, and a player like him is invaluable during an injury crisis but he might have to move on to get some playing time.

3. Nicklas Bendtner: The big Dane is an average player at most and IMHO and the only reason I think we should play him at all is to up his transfer price. I think Poldi should be played more as CF and Bendtner should be given the boot at the first opportunity that presents itself.

4. Park Ju-Young: With an admirable 1 appearance under his belt, there is not much I can say about our Korean forward, and considering his 3 goals in 21 apps for Celta Vigo, he is far from world class so I would loan him out till his contract expires and then release him. Done and dusted.

5. Joel Campbell: When we signed him in 2011, I thought he would be the long-term successor to RVP. Now, I’m not too sure. A bunch of loan moves and 7 goals in over 60 club apps later, he is not looking too good. And with the signing of Sanogo, and the explosion of Akpom, he seems to have his work cut out for him.

6. Francis Coquelin: I personally think he’s our best future prospect at DM, and with one or two more loan spells, he would be ready to play for us on a weekly basis, but I’m not sure he is patient enough to wait that long, although I hope he waits long enough.

There are other players like Wellington Silva (remember him), Benik Afobe, Thomas Eisfeld and what happens to Gnabry when Theo and AOC return?

Last summer, we let a few players leave, but it seems we need to let go of a few more. What do you think? Which other players do you think deserve a chance to shine?

Written by Jamie

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Is Wilshere The New Ramsey?

October 8, 2013

There was an interesting discussion in comments here on Arsenal Arsenal yesterday about the current form of Jack Wilshere.

And we are not the only ones talking about our Number 10.

With a couple of England international fixtures on the horizon his progress was always guaranteed to be a hot topic among the media.

And Jack added smoke to the fire after being caught out by The Sun newspaper while sucking on a fag*.

He subsequently apologised for polluting his body, but I suspect his actions endeared him even more to Arsenal fans of a smoking persuasion (GiE – please confirm).

But the cigarette business was really just a sideshow and the important stuff was what he did (or didn’t do) on the pitch.

Some seem to feel his performance against West Brom on Sunday was pants. Others feel he had a poor first half but a good second half. Others still that he was below par but generally OK.

My impression from watching the game live was that he was having a frustrating time. For one thing he was being played wide left, when clearly his preferred position is in the middle.

But it wasn’t just that. It seemed that he was dwelling on the ball too long at times; he was turning into trouble instead of skipping away from it; and he was too easily muscled off the ball.

He redeemed himself with two pieces of fine play in the second half: the shot which Lamparded its way into the Albion net and earned us a point; and one exquisite long pass to pick out Giroud in the box – the Frenchman only being denied by a good save from Myhill. (Jack should also have been awarded two absolute bang-on penalties, but that’s another story).

Overall the impression was of a player who is out of sorts. Not bad, but not as good as we have seen him in the past.

However, when Chas uploaded a video yesterday of all Wilshere’s moments in the game and I watched it through, my assessment of his performance went up. Yes, he lost the ball a few times, but in general he moved things along well. It was like he did the opposite of flattering to deceive, whatever that is.

It just shows what a conundrum the “Jack question” is.

But the thing that struck me most was how similar his play has been in recent outings to the form shown by Aaron Ramsey last season.

As he battled his way back from his maiming at the hands of the Shawcross orc he often seemed slow in possession and ponderous on the ball.  Some Arsenal supporters became frustrated with him; his mistakes were greeted with moans and groans; some dimwits demanded that he be dropped, sold, loaned out, beheaded… whatever.

But Arsene Wenger knew that only match time could rub the rough edges off Aaron’s game, so he stuck with him.

In the second half of the season the Welshman’s performances started to improve considerably and he was a vital component of our run to the Champions League positions and to eventually – hilariously – finishing above the Spuds yet again.

Fast forward to this season and Aaron has become as undroppable as Mesut Ozil.

Interestingly, I thought that his renaissance began when he stopped trying to be the best player on the pitch. He was so desperate to make up for lost time and to silence that awful moaning from the crowd that he kept trying to do amazing things: the Hollywood pass; the impossible dribble; the 35 yard screamer.

His confidence and form were low, so none of these over-ambitious attempts came off. At some point he was either told, or figured out for himself, that he should focus on the simple things: don’t try and win the game with every touch – just move the ball on quickly and simply.

Once he simplified his game, more things worked for him, the crowd got off his back and his confidence started to return. Finally things turned round completely and he was able to start pulling off the special stuff because he had the confidence and composure to do it.

So, the relevance to Jack Wilshere is this: is Jack trying too hard to get his form back rather than just letting it come  naturally? If he stops trying to do too much every time he gets the ball, will he – like Aaron Ramsey – slowly but surely return to his best?

It’s probably not in his nature to do that. And, given the hype surrounding him from the national side, it’s hard to imagine him deciding to play conservatively – but it may just be what he needs for a few weeks.

Anyone who remembers him looking like the best midfielder on the park in a game against Barcelona that also featured Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas knows that Jack has what it takes to be world class.

Although he did not have as traumatic an injury as Ramsey’s he nevertheless missed the best part of two seasons with his own injuries and if our Number 16’s rehabilitation has shown anything it’s that these things take time. Quite a lot of time.

But Ramsey’s resurgence also shows that it will be worth it in the end.

So the moral of this tale is this: Arsene should keep playing Jack in the first team; and perhaps Jack should opt to play a more “percentages” type of game for a while until things really start to gel.

There is much discussion about who gets a starting berth on our midfield when everyone is fit. The usual “nice problem to have” clichés get bandied about. I could see Jack potentially slipping down the pecking order, but not for long.

By the end of this season he will be a first team regular and will have re-established himself as one of the best talents in the country.

Right LB… over to you.

  • Note to American readers: it’s not what you think.

RockyLives

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Dear Arsène ……………..

October 5, 2013

Dear Arsène

DidIt here again.

Couple of quick things today, Arsène. A Striker and a Manager.

First up, the striker. Giroud.

Remember Arsène, ‘twas I what put you on to Ollie in the first place. You agreed, and signed the cheque. Then, in his first season, I helped you out, Arsène. Kept telling the unbelievers who were calling for a crosser to supply Big ‘Ol, that along the ground was better. Hey presto, look where his best goals and passes come from? Yip, feet.

Anyway, how do you repay this, Arsène? You spend part of the summer trying to sign that Higwayne bloke. What was all that about then? Not cool, Arsène.

As they say: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, or as I like to say, Arsène: We’ll only see who’s not wearing a bathing suit when the tide goes out.

Talking of strikers, you’re going to love my little conspiracy theory, and it ties in nicely with our next topic: Managers.

Down the boozer post Naples game, I was informed that Maureen actually blubbed like a baby at the news of Moyes’ appointment, and then immediately disappeared in a strop for four days. Actually, Arsène, when we cast our minds back to last season, it was kind of sickening how much Maureen was sucking up to all and sundry at Old Toilet. “Let’s bury the hatchet Fergie, we’re all Mates now. Utd are a great club”. Dribble, dribble.  Yeah right, Maureen, you slippery reptile.

Anyway, on to said theory. First thing our little Iberian Serpent does when arriving at his second choice club, is set about unsettling Utd and Moyes. In goes the very public bid for Rooney to begin his pathetic, jealousy ridden assault on Utd. Then to my mind, Arsène, the best bit. What better way to undermine Moyes, than to prove Everton are better off without him, so he posts Lukaku up to The Scousers. Has to be the strangest transfer of the summer, surely.

So, Arsène, if you can think of a better reason as to why Chelski so inexplicably got rid of him, let alone to Everton, then I’d love to hear it. You have my mobile number, Arsène.

Sorry it’s all a bit rushed today, as there was something else slightly nagging me. City and Hair.

Just get the feeling there’s an issue up there. Only learnt yesterday about Hart and his shampoo ad. Mancini was more than a bit girly up top, and now this Pellegrini fellow. Can’t help noticing there’s a sniff of a 70’s centre parting deal going on. Makes me wonder whether those lads in Powder Blue really have their minds on the job. I sense an opportunity to leapfrog that lot this term while they’re in front of the mirror. Something to ponder, Arsène. Dull day ahead and whatnot.

Okedoke, Arsène, I said it would be a quick letter, so there we have it. A great week for all. Thanks Boss.

I remain Sir, your obedient servant.

Didit.

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Arsenal Arsenal’s Friday News Roundup

October 4, 2013

What an amazing week Gooners, a win on Saturday saw us remain at the top of the premiership and going two points clear after the totts and chavs managed to draw with each other. Ozil’s first goal for the Gunners in our Champions League tie with Napoli saw the Emirates stadium rocking and rolling to the old songs. Read on for more of this week’s news stories …………

Saturday:

Despite Swansea’s late consolation goal a debut goal from Serge Gnabry followed by Aaron Ramsey’s eighth in nine matches saw the three points safely in the bag and Arsenal sitting proudly two points clear at the top of the table. A draw between the Chavs and the Spuds coupled with defeats for both Manchester outfits helped to make it a very satisfactory weekend which was marred, only in part, by the Bin-Dippers gaining a regulation win over bottom club Sunderland.

Sunday:

No news was the good news, no new injury worries as a result of the confidence boosting victory at Swansea.

Monday:

One of Rocky’s best ever posts, on Per Mertesacker, brought memorable one-liners such as :- “like a slum-dweller from N17 on a looting trip at the Pound Store during the annual riot season” and “From the bargain shelf there was the mystifying inclusion of a job lot of Pot Noodles”.

Gunner’s legend Bobby Pires who was named as an ambassador for The Arsenal Foundation last season has been training at London Colney in recent weeks. Arsene Wenger said “It’s a great opportunity [for the young players]. He practices with the young players with the under-21 team, and I feel always there is no better education than playing players at that age with top-level players.”

Asked if there was any likelihood of him rejoining the club

“No Robert Pires will not join us, he was born in 1973. He is still very fit and a great player and we are always happy to have him in training but he just occasionally comes in to practice,” said Wenger.

Tuesday:

Arsene Wenger celebrates seventeen years as Arsenal manager. Yes it was on 1st. October 1996 that Arsene joined The Glorious Gunners and the rest, as they say, is history.

Just in case anyone is in doubt here are few statistics.

Games played (under Wenger) 965, 559 of which were wins, scoring 1788 goals in those games Le Professeur has used 187 players from 46 different countries, he has promoted 62 Academy graduates into the first team.

The morning news that Thomas Rosicky was available after injury was welcome indeed ahead of the home Champions League tie with Napoli.

Wednesday:

The front page of The Telegraph Sport section says it all

Masterclass Brilliant Ozil puts Napoli to the Sword

Will anyone who saw that first twenty minutes ever forget it? I won’t.

Thursday:

Jack Jebb could be fighting for his Gunners career before it has properly begun after racially abusing a young Norwich City player.

The 18-year-old creative midfielder — who left school one year early to join the club’s Academy — was charged after an incident that took place in March during an Under 18 clash against Norwich.

It is believed it was not a Norwich player or member of the management team that reported the abuse, but that the charge was brought forward by the match officials.

In July the FA charged him on breach of rule E3 — ‘using abusive and/or insulting words — but the allegation also ‘included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race.’

He has now been banned for four games and fined £1,800 by the FA.

Jebb does not face the FA’s new minimum five-match ban for discriminatory abuse because the incident took place last season.

Definitely not the sort of thing that will advance the young lads career, let’s hope that somebody at the club can have a word in his shell-like.

Friday

Arsenal Ladies head into tonight’s Continental Cup final against Lincoln aiming to make amends for being beaten to the Women’s Super League title.

The Gunners lost the top-flight crown they had held for nine years, and also missed out on the top-two place needed for Champions League qualification.

“We’re the Continental Cup holders and we want to win it again to go with the FA Cup,” said manager Shelley Kerr.

For anyone thinking of attending the match kicks off at 19.30 and is at The Hive in Barnet.

No real Arsenal related news so far this morning, other than a couple of “Arsenal in race to sign” type items. Arsene’s news conference later this morning may produce some interest and team news for Sunday’s West Brom game.

Written by Norfolk Gooner

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Is Per Mertesacker The Best Centre Back In The Premiership?

September 30, 2013

Cast your mind back to early September 2011.

Our club was reeling from the loss of two key players (Fabregas and Nasri) and had made a terrible start to the season, capped off with a humiliating 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford.

Three days after that awful thrashing and with the transfer window about to slam shut, Arsene Wenger went running round Europe with his shopping trolley like a slum-dweller from N17 on a looting trip at the Pound Store during the annual riot season.

Anything he could lay his hands on went in the cart. Or so it seemed.

The Press – and a not insignificant minority of the Arsenal fan base – were quick to scream “Panic Buys.”

And indeed when Arsene got home and tipped his shopping out on the floor it was a mixed bag.  From the bargain shelf there was the mystifying inclusion of a job lot of Pot Noodles (Park Chu Young); there was a big round tin of Brazilian beef, well past its sell-by date (work it out); there was some fine Spanish ham and, finally, a giant German sausage.

As supporters it was hard to know quite what to make of it.

Mikel Arteta was a known quantity – a midfielder of skill and intelligence, though injury prone. Even if people weren’t setting off rockets in celebration, his arrival from Everton felt like a solid signing.

But the others?

Let’s face it, we had never heard of Park Chu Young or Andre Santos, so it was hard to get excited about them.

But Per Mertesacker was a different kettle of sardines. Even if we weren’t fervent watchers of the Bundesliga we all knew that Mertesacker was a very tall German international centre back with 70-something caps.

Remember, this was the summer when our clear need for a new central defender had led to strong campaigns in favour of us signing Gary Cahill, Chris Samba, Phil Jagielka and even Richard Dunne, who is older than dandan.

The one thing all those Premiership defenders had in common (apart from Dundun) was their price tag: all of them were supposedly going to cost well north of  £15m. The big German – with all that international experience – was only £10m.

I remember Mertesacker’s first few games for us. In his debut outing we beat Swansea 1-0. The German looked a bit disorientated and there were worrying signs that pace was not his strong point (it was rumoured that once, when playing in Switzerland for Germany, he was overtaken by a glacier).

His second game was a 1-1 away at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League (GiE in his match report commented on how Mertesacker’s pace was exposed), then there was an away game at Blackburn Rovers – a 4-3 defeat in which our defence fell apart like an Ikea shelf unit assembled by Stevie Wonder.

The press – still gorging on the ‘Arsenal in crisis’ story – were quick to write off Mertesacker as an ungainly, tardy waste of money.

The trouble with the media is that once they have given someone a label, it takes them years to remove it.

As far as they were concerned Big Per was a disappointment and wasn’t cut out for the Premier League. Some of them are still saying that even now. Given the general despondency around our club back in Autumn 2011 it is hardly surprising that quite a lot of fans agreed.

But let’s put things in context: Mertesacker had joined a team that was in utter turmoil – both from a sudden influx of new faces and from the emotional fall-out of the Man Utd defeat and the late departures of Cesc and Nasri.

He was in a new country, a new league, with unfamiliar team mates. If he had slotted in like a world beater from Day One it would have been the greatest footballing miracle since the noisy neighbours trained an ape to wear their tatty shirt and kick a ball.

History often hysteria look foolish, and if you think back to Arsenal’s slow-but-steady recovery in the 2011-12 season you’ll see that Armageddon never quite happened: we weren’t relegated, we climbed up the table, we “minded the gap” and we finished third.

And one of the biggest factors in our return to form was the tardy Teuton himself: the lumbering giant, the heavy-legged Hanoverian, the sluggish Squarehead. Except that by now most Arsenal fans had realised that if his legs were sometimes slow, his mind was like Usain Bolt when it came to reading the game of football.

Even by late September of his first season the Big F*cking German (as we now fondly called him) was earning these sorts of write-ups in the AA match reports: “Best game yet, calm and assured,” (Jamie, after we beat Bolton 3-0 on September 24th); “Reads the game so well, he can intercept the ball or break up the play higher up the pitch than one might expect… The BFG is growing into his role with us, a pleasure to see that,” (26 May after our 2-1 victory over Olimpiacos on September 28th).

Early in his Arsenal career I said he reminded me of David O’Leary in the way he read the game and was able to snuff out trouble before it got serious.

Since then he has got better and better and is now one of the first names on our team sheet. When all our defenders are fit, the only question for the manager is whether he should be partnered with Koscielny or Vermaelen.

What’s more, he is clearly becoming a leader at the club, both on and off the pitch (as Arsene Wenger mentioned recently). You really get the sense that he is loving life at Arsenal and in London and even the journalists are belatedly beginning to realise what we Arsenal fans have known for quite some time now – that he is a top quality player.

In the weekend’s win at Swansea he had an 87% pass success rate; he won the one tackle he had to make; he made four successful clearances out of four attempted; he succeeded in both his attempted headed clearances and was victorious in all four of his aerial duels.

But what the stats don’t show is that he was always there to receive the ball and be the calming presence in our back line.

Which brings me back to my original question: is our Beanpole Boche the best central defender in the EPL?

His competition would come, I guess, from the likes of John “Jeremy Kyle has my family on speed dial” Terry; Gary “not to be confused with Tim” Cahill; Vincent “Two’s” Kompany; Martin “no Halloween mask necessary” Skrtel and Jan “Badly Advised” Vertonghen.

Some of them have qualities that the BFG lacks – mainly speed, as has been discussed. But in their overall contribution to their team’s defensive units I don’t feel any of them is currently better than our commanding Kaiser.

It is rumoured that Arsenal are planning to offer Mertesacker a three year extension on his contract, which expires at the end of next season. I hope it’s true and I hope the business is concluded quickly.

He may be a beanpole, but beanpoles are there to help things grow – and Per is certainly helping his Arsenal colleagues grow into a formidable unit.

RockyLives

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Arsenal Serge to the Top.

September 29, 2013

Who would have guessed that not so long ago this game would have been thought of as one for the purists? Not me. But that was how it was billed and rightly so as Swansea are a fine footballing team, this generous complement only works, of course, because Arsenal are an even better footballing team.

That said, we had to go through the ringer to prove it because that was one of the most nail biting games I have had to suffer in a while, but win we did, and three valuable points were brought back to North London and if that wasn’t good enough, results around us couldn’t have gone better if we had fixed them the night before: Manu and City losing, spuds and chavs drawing, what, somebody pinch me?

Onto the game, we were poor, well more precisely the attacking part of our game in the first half was poor; Swansea looked far more threatening going forward and I will stick my neck out and say that they had better quality attackers than we did. Michu, Dyer and Routledge are better than Giroud, Wilshere and Gnabry. Fortunately our defensive unit was in superb form and dealt with everything that Swansea threw at us.

We were getting nowhere fast, gone were those beautiful passes by Ozil into space for players to run onto when he first arrived; the kind he played week in and week out to Ronaldo at Real, these gems had to be abandoned as none of our attackers were capable of making the runs or in Giroud’s case, capable of controlling the ball well enough, this forced Ozil to have to try and beat more men than I am sure he would have liked which often led to him being tackled and losing possession. Some have criticised him, not realising, in my opinion, that circumstances forced him to play that way.

And then, just before half time, it happened, like a shaft of bright light shining through a thundery sky, Gnabry, clearly fed up being on the wing, answered the question of where he plays by making a powerful run through the middle, passing at least three men before laying of a perfect ball for Giroud — who wasted it. This was it, Gnabry had arrived, he is not a winger he is an Aaron Ramsey; people used to refer to this kind of player as a Steven Gerrard but that seems soooo passé now.

gnabry scores

Gnabry started the second half with a new found confidence; he never got chastised for moving into the middle so he tried it again a few times and it worked, he also impressively started tracking back and then to make his day just about as perfect as it could get he scored his first goal for the Good Guys. It was pretty much the only way we were going to score: a slow build up made up of accurate passes, enabling us to find a way around the Swansea defence to set up someone with a goal scoring chance; on this occasion it fell to the young German .

Serge took his chance well. With a goal to the good it forced Swansea to take more risks in their pursuit of equalising which in turn gave us a lot more space and the possibility of hitting them on the break, which is exactly what we did. Within five minutes of going ahead we had a golden opportunity to score again through Ozil, unfortunately he missed but that just set the scene for Ramsey to save the day again. I have run out of meaningful superlatives and it isn’t even Christmas. The man is a goal scoring machine. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

rambo v swansea

The game looked like it was just going to peter out with Arsenal cruising to the finishing line but a well worked goal from Swansea put pay to that, it was up off the sofa, pacing in front of the telly time.

We got there of course and with hind sight I can now see how well Wenger managed to deploy his limited resources. Wilshere and Gnabry are not wingers and that is why I was so bold above to suggest that Swansea had a better quality attack. But needs must as they say; would this game have been the same with a fit Arteta, Cazorla and Walcott available? No it wouldn’t — we would have crushed them.

Lastly, I would like to show some respect where respect is due: after the Aston Villa opening game debacle, when many Arsenal supporters including some on this site where still questioning such things as the harmony between the management and the board; Wenger’s ability or inability to sign big money players and the most hennas, “spud envy” pointing far too respectfully at all the new signings being made in N17. Well, while this sea of excrement was going on one loyal blogger on this site stood firm and put his money where his mouth was and bet that Arsenal would be top of the League on October 1st.

26 May 1989…….I salute you.

Because we are top of the league, say we are top of the league.

Quick player ratings.

Szczesny: top game, plucked everything out of the air and did well when needed to get down. There was an incident in the first half but look at the back pass and you will see who is really to blame. 8

Sagna: Wenger must have promised him big things as he is playing better than he ever has. 8

Mertesacker: So, so good, so calm, so commanding I really want to give him the MOTM but for their goal. 8

Koscielny: Another solid display from the other half of our amazing centre-back pairing 8

Gibbs: disciplined performance from England’s future LB. 8

Ramsey: I can’t think of anything else to say, MOTM. 10

Flamini: hands up all those who thought he would be able to keep Arteta out of the starting line up when he was re-signed? Not me. He is getting better and better every week. 8

Wilshere: playing wide left is obviously not ideal but he did what he could. 7

Gnabry: I thought he was a waste of space, it was if Arsenal were playing with a man short – and then he made that run. Things will never be the same. 7

Giroud: a difficult day for Ollie, his inability to hold the ball and beat a man will lead to a “Super Quality” signing coming in and ultimately taking his place. 7

Ozil. The honeymoon period is still in full swing. I just can’t wait until Cazorla returns. 7

Written by LB

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Arsenal Arsenal’s Friday News Round-Up.

September 27, 2013

Friday can often be a bit of a dead day for Arsenal related news at least until the Manager’s press conference in the late afternoon. Much of the news has been touched upon over the course of the last several days in the various excellent posts and the myriad comments by AA regulars and others. Just in case you missed the major news items of the week, here’s a round-up of some of them.

Sunday. Arsenal went back to the top of the Premier League with a handsome 3-1 win against Stoke City at Emirates. Mesut Ozil supplied all three assists in a demonstration of just why Arsene shelled out £40.2 million for him. Goals by Aaron Ramsey after just five minutes, Mertesacker on thirty six, to restore the lead after Cameron had equalised for Stoke on twenty six minutes, and a rare headed goal by Bacari Sagna wrapped it up on seventy two minutes.

Monday saw the publication of Arsenal’s Statement of Accounts and Annual Report 2012/2013, a fairly healthy set of figures despite a fall in pre-tax profit to £6.7 million from £36.6 million in the previous year. The club have no short term debt and a cash reserve of £119.7 million, of course these figures do not include the summer transfer dealings, so at least £42.2 million must be deducted due to the purchase of Mersut Ozil.

Commenting on the results for the year the Club’s Chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, said:

“It is my job to ensure we steer further along the course we have set. We must continue to grow commercially to provide the Club with the best opportunity to achieve success and we must do this in a way which remains true to our values and which ensures and protects the long-term sustainability of the Club”.

It was later revealed that Theo Walcott would be out for some weeks after requiring surgery on a groin and pelvic injury.

Wednesday’s Capital One Cup brought yet another away win, to add to the fine run of form, a mostly young side gaining a win on penalties after a 1 – 1 stalemate against West Brom. There is no need for me to add to the excellent match report posted by 26may89 yesterday. Our reward for the win is a juicy home tie with Chelsea in the next round.

Thursday brought the news that Mikel Arteta was subbed on Wednesday not through injury but merely cramp. For which we are all mightily relieved.

Friday. Read all about it!! Long interview with Stan Kroenke in this morning’s Telegraph Sport Section. Kroenke is in for the long haul, there’s money in the kitty Oh! And Arsene is staying!

Have a good weekend all.

 Written by Norfolk Gooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal Well Placed in Wide Open Title Race

September 24, 2013

What an interesting weekend that was as far as the title race is concerned.

In addition to our game I was lucky enough to watch Chelsea against Fulham, Liverpool versus Southampton and the Manchester derby.

This feast of football left me with some very clear conclusions. Firstly, that most other teams – and their players and their fans – are humungous chuff-munchers. But then most of you knew that already.

Secondly – and more pertinently – I saw nothing to deflect me from the view that Arsenal can be serious title contenders this season.

Let’s start with the Manc derby, which pitted Arab oil money against institutionalized favouritism. In this case petro-dollars won out over patronage.

Man City, in fairness, looked good as they have done in their home games this season. The movement up front from Aguero and the Fat French Pitchwarmer in particular was first class. But away from home it’s been a different story for the Sky Blues, with defeat at Cardiff and a tame 0-0 draw with Stoke.

They will certainly be in the mix towards the end of the season – the strength of their squad almost guarantees it – but if they don’t find more consistency soon they could be playing catch-up come April.

Then there’s the Surrey half of Manchester. Frankly they were awful. Brave Sir Robin did not play (here’s hoping his “thigh injury” represents a bit of karmic payback) and the rest of the team was bereft of creativity.  The only time Rooney looked up for a fight was when Kompany knocked off his alice band. Meanwhile watching Fellaini lumber around like a deranged totem pole made me feel very pleased he did not come to The Home of Football this summer. Give me the Flamster any day.

In United’s favour, they have a lot of players in and around the squad who have won the league and who have the habit of winning. That may be enough to keep them in the race, but I have my doubts.

They were poor champions last season (no-one in years to come will be talking about the great United team of 2012-13) and without Ferguson’s influence over the match officials they have lost an advantage which must have been worth 10 points a season. (Incidentally, Mark Halsey’s memoirs have revealed that many refs had way too close a relationship with Surralex – the sort of you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours relationships that would be deemed deeply unethical in most professions. There should be an inquiry but I’m not holding my breath).

The more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that Ferguson retired last season because he did not think United would be serious contenders any more. Right now they are in danger of the sort of top six finish that David Moyes is very comfortable with.

And so to Liverpool. After their three-games-three-wins start I was reminding anyone who would listen that this is still Liverpool; that they have a prize prat for a manager and that the wheels will inevitably come off.

Two games and one point later for the Scousers, I see nothing to change my mind. Yes, they still have Suarez champing at the bit to come back – but they had him last season too and it wasn’t enough to get them into the top four.

In the West London derby the unfashionable dull team with lots of money beat the unfashionable dull team with less money. But Chelsea were a bit lucky to get the win and were unconvincing throughout.

On paper they have a creative midfield that’s almost a match for ours (in place of Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta. Ramsey, Rosicky read Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Willian, Lampard). But whereas our creative midfielders are playing for a manager who craves beauty and creativity the way a Spudder craves a top four finish, the Chav midfielders are under the yoke of someone who demands organization, discipline and defensive-mindedness above all else. Our square pegs are in square holes, Mourinho’s are in round holes.

I still think Chelsea will be serious title challengers, if for no other reason than Maureen has been so successful in all his jobs. But right now it looks like he has a set of players who don’t suit his style of football, so maybe it won’t be all plain sailing for the 10-year-old club

As for Arsenal, well, we put in a decent “seven out of ten” performance against Stoke. And before we get too carried away with our start to the season, someone in comments pointed out that in the equivalent five fixtures last season we took 15 points, so we’re actually three points down on last year.

But you get the feeling that something positive is brewing in N5. It started after the defeat to the Spudders last year and has gained momentum ever since. Adding a genuine superstar to the mix has given an extra psychological boost and has lifted the fans too.

Right now I don’t see any team that’s better than us, either in their current form or in the strength of their squad.

I deliberately haven’t mentioned our noisy neighbours because I did not see their game. It looked bang on for a 0-0 draw, but they snaffled a late winner – just like they did so often last year, courtesy of Ape Boy.

This time round they have no chimp, but they managed to get the result anyway. I think they will struggle to gel all their new players and I expect them to get beaten by the Chavs next weekend – but you never know: maybe this is the year when the two North London teams fight it out for the title. If so it would be tremendously exciting (not to mention nerve-wracking).

If I had to predict the end-of-season top five today it would be this:

Arsenal

Chelsea

Man City

Spuds

Man Utd

What do you think?

RockyLives

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Match report …..Viva Ramsey!

September 23, 2013

I make no apologies for saying that I dislike Stoke City. Hardly an original view from an Arsenal fan, but about the only thing I can think that commends them is the time spent in the Potteries by the great Lee Dixon and Steve Bould, before they found their way to the home of football.

That is not nearly enough to outweigh my resentment for the wilfully reckless maiming of the then teenage Aaron Ramsey, and especially the way in which the Stoke fans revelled in that incident in the years since, even baiting the young victim. Stoke’s destructive fear of real football, shown up most effectively by Swansea’s success in combining financial caution with quality football, only underlines why Stoke are a club to wish bad things for. True, Mark Hughes has brought a reintroduction of football at Stoke, but I’m not one to forgive and forget.

Arsenal came to the game on an excellent run: one defeat and two draws in 18 competitive games, two defeats and three draws in 20 PL games, a defence that has got into the habit of almost never conceding more than one goal in a game etc etc. The game was always going to be significant for two things: the Ramsey factor, given the opposition and the Welshman’s form this year; and the home debut of the refined and expensive talent that is Mesut Özil. And on both counts, things went well.

Ramsey v stoke

In the fifth minute, Jack Wilshere’s run at the Stoke defence drew a foul from the busted flush that is Charlie Adam in a perfect area. Adam’s incompetence put Özil in a position to line up a good shot on goal, one that Begovic didn’t handle well, pushing it out in front of goal and into the path of the boy wonder, Aaron Ramsey. Watching him able to lord it over the Stoke fans in his celebrations was exquisite. And that was reflected in the chants of the Arsenal fans, who loved ramming it down the Stoke fans’ throats.

We continued to control the game pretty much throughout the first half, but against the run of play Stoke produced their one moment of quality when Gibbs ceded possession on the flank and the ball broke to Steven N’Zonzi. His floated diagonal ball was perfectly weighted and was despatched early enough to deny the defence a chance to set themselves properly. When Arnautović met the ball first time, he was unlucky to hit the post, but it ricocheted into the path of one of those hardworking American players, Geoff Cameron, whose shot was carefully placed beyond Szczesny’s reach.

Sanity was restored before halftime, once again from a dead ball. The Stoke centre backs, Robert Huth and lovely Ryan Shawcross, players unable to do their jobs without cheating, were so intent on manhandling Giroud and Koscielny in the build-up that Stoke neglected to cover Mertesacker. The BFG was easily able to evade the cover assigned to him, and looped Özil’s perfect corner to the back post. With Koscielny running interference to confuse Begovic, the ball dropped into the net. Hey presto, 2-1 up.

Mert celebrates with Rambo and Ozil

The tempo dropped in the second half, which was perhaps unsurprising after the team’s wonderful efforts in Marseille. But fortunately for us, we weren’t facing a side that had the ability to exploit that. Jones was largely isolated and when Hughes subbed him, for some reason he passed over Peter Crouch, and preferred to put Mark Walters up front, which was an odd decision. But, without another goal, we remained vulnerable. That goal arrived from yet another dead ball, a free kick that was once again won by Wilshere driving at the Stoke defence, who were only able to terminate Jack’s run by taking him out. This wasn’t shooting territory for Özil but he floated a ball across the penalty area, where the goal machine that is Bacary Sagna was able to outjump his two opponents and loop a header over Begovic and into the far corner.

Sagna celebrates

And so it was that we were returned to the top of the early season league table. With Man United’s embarrassing capitulation to City, we are already five points clear of van Persie’s team, but the other good sides are clustered together. It was a shame to see Spurs win in injury time, but I do enjoy seeing the two North London clubs at the top, with the good guys in poll position.

We will see much, much better performances from Mesut Özil than yesterday’s, but, even while he’s adapting to a new team and a new league, he was able to provide three assists. It was a quiet, efficient win yesterday, but, even beyond winning three points in a game against a disliked opponent, there were numerous positive aspects for us: Arteta’s return to the fray, Gnabry’s energetic and fearless performance (which meant we were able to cope without Walcott), the solidity of the defence (after the frayed edges shown against Sunderland), selfless hard-work from Giroud and Flamini and a good performance from Wilshere. But the greatest satisfaction came from seeing Ramsey score and play well against our bêtes noires. Viva Ramsey!

Written by 26may

Player ratings by LB

Szezcney: I have never played goalkeeper and because of that I have never professed to know too much about that position but every part of me shouts that this keeper is the real deal; another good game. 8

Sagna: definitely one of his better games, back to where he plays best with the BFG next to him. Patrolled the line well and scored a goal to boot. 8

Mertasacker: Captain on the day, steered the ship from the back with calmness and authority. 8

Koscielny: these two CBs remind me of Adams and Bould, the BFG being the former. On the rare occasions that Adams didn’t play you got to see the actual ability of Bould and realised then just how good Adams made Bould look. Laurent had a perfectly good game but a BFG he is not. (yet) 7

Gibbs: Ramsey may rightfully be the player who has received all the accolades for being the most improved player this season but there is no doubt that the second most improved is Kieran Gibbs; that said, yesterday was not one of his better days. In the first half he was a bit too slack at times. 6

Ramsey: how is it possible to praise him anymore, he was by some distance the best player on the pitch for the first 45 minutes, scoring yet another goal, and celebrating in front of the Stoke fans. He faded a tad in the second half which is the reason I have not given him the MOTM but still another great day at the office. 8

Flamini: after watching him three times on TV I was close to concluding that our second most important signing was no more than a 2013 version of Giles Grimandi: a jobbing utility player; well, yesterday I saw him in the flesh for the first time and realised I was wrong. His passing, his positioning, his tackling were superb; none of them world class; but, a bit like his career path; he really knows how to make the most out of the limited ability that he has. A very impressive game and a worthy MOTM. 9

Wilshere: one step forward, two steps back; he was not at his best yesterday, I got the feeling that he was filling in because others were injured, had Rosicky or Cazorla been fit, Jack would have certainly been on the bench; still, what he lacked in fitness he made up for in a determination. 7

Gnabry: I was going to tear into the young German but having read a few comments from some of the more esteemed regulars on here, arguing that he is not a winger, maybe I should hold fire. Nevertheless, he was poor in the first half, he slowed the play down almost every time he got the ball, when a simple pass was possible he tried to show off. It is, of course, early days, but this is a match report on yesterday’s game and yesterday, in my opinion, he was not very good. 5

Giroud: his passing is improving, his control is improving and his positioning is improving, he always works like a Trojan and yesterday was no exception. 8

Ozil: Three assists on his home debut. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I went with my Mrs who asked when he ran close to us to take a corner: why are they all standing and clapping before he has even taken the kick, to which I replied — for just being. 8

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