Bac To The Future

February 11, 2013

Poor old Bacary Sagna.

Imagine how he must have felt 15 minutes before kick-off on Saturday.

He has been on a urine-poor run of form; he revealed in an interview earlier this week that he knows he has been below par; he’s hoping to slowly re-establish his reputation as one of the most reliable right backs in the business and then, at about 2.45pm on match day, he finds that he’s going to be dropped into the unfamiliar role of centre back because Laurent Koscielny isn’t feeling well.

I can envisage him muttering to the stricken Kozzer: “What exactement is up wiz you, you Stan Laurel lookey-likey? Get out onto zat pitch and start playing. Zat’s anuzzer fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”

001

But, trooper that he is, Bacary took to the field of battle as a makeshift centre half.

I’ll admit to being a trifle worried. In some of his recent outings Sagna has been wasteful and error-prone.

If football was sex, Bacary has been the hole in the condom. We have not been practising safe footy of late and, as a result, we have been impregnated with goals far too frequently.

I’m not taking that analogy any further, because the idea of the progeny that might ensue from a carnal union between the purity of Arsenal and the venal degeneracy of, say, Chelsea, does not bear thinking about. It would be as if a unicorn was shagged by a hyena and gave birth to a strangely beautiful but irredeemably evil hynicorn. Actually, that might explain the existence of John Terry…

Anyway, I digress.

So there was Bacary, untimely thrust into the fray at the Stadium of Fight in an unfamiliar position, with only a German telegraph pole to lean on for comfort.

It could have gone horribly wrong. It didn’t. Sagna was, quite simply, wonderful at the heart of our defence.

In a game that we should have won easily (if our attackers and midfielders had bothered to put their boots on the correct feet) we ended up under siege for the last 20 minutes after Carl Jenkinson was unluckily sent off. I say unluckily because – although he should not have made the challenge that led to the red – his first booking was ridiculous. It was his first foul of the game and was slightly mistimed. It only got a yellow card because the generally poor referee felt he should even things up after booking Cattermole in the first minute.

During that final siege, all the team played well. Giroud won some great headers; Szczesny pulled off a string of remarkable saves; Ramsey filled in brilliantly at right back; Nacho showed his mettle when the chips were down; the BFG organised everything and, best of all, Sagna became the ultimate warrior. It was as if someone had stenciled  “they shall not pass” on his forehead.

He completed 11 of 15 attempted clearances, won six out of 10 aerial duels and successfully made nine headed clearances from 11 attempts. Not bad for a man who stands only 5’9” tall.

It was a real return to form for a player who, until this season, was routinely referred to as our Mr Reliable.

I have been quite hard on him in recent comments and match reports. I’m not apologising for that – he’s had some real shockers. But even before Saturday’s game I was heartened to read the interview with him in which he showed great self awareness and was very honest about his struggles this year.

They say the first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is a problem in the first place. Well, Bacary Sagna has certainly moved past Step One.

Hopefully when he moves back into his more usual role (which should be on Tuesday week against Bayern Munich) he can take forward the form and confidence he displayed against Blood-and-Thunderland.

I like Jenkinson and I hope people are not too hard on him over his red card, but for now we need Sagna as our first choice right back.

His dip in form may have been down to the long lay off after two leg breaks; it may just have been “one of those things”; who knows – it may even have been that hot wife of his keeping him up too late at night.

But the signs are good that he is over the worst and ready to get back to his finest form for the season run-in.

It is rumoured that the club is offering him only a one-year extension on his current contract. I understand the reasoning, but I wonder whether we should sugar the offer a little more (two years, for example).

Bacary showed on Saturday that he can be a great utility defender and every squad needs at least one of those.

RockyLives

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One nil to the Arsenal ……

February 10, 2013

So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .

So what did we get from Arsenal in this game? Firstly the players seemed to be up for it from the start, and we didn’t have to suffer with waiting till the second half before we started playing. We started to create a number of clear cut chances, but as each one went begging you started to feel it was going to be one of those days. To be fair Mignolet was in superb form, and how often do we watch an opposition keeper put in an almost man of the match performance against us? What is it about us that seems to bring out the best in these keepers? Is it the way we attack? I am sure it doesn’t happen so often with the likes of Utd and the Chavs. That is a question maybe some of you out there can shed some light on.

We continued to press and were treated to some awfully inconsistent refereeing. There was a very strong shout for a straight red on Cattermole and I counted 2 maybe 3 Sunderland fouls in the passage of play that led up to Jenkinsons first yellow card. How we didn’t get a free kick before this I do not know. Anyway the faithful at the Ems were in no doubt how they felt about it. I think this was definitely a case of the ref being a homer.

Jack picked up where he left off for England and continued to pull the strings while Walcott continued to work the keeper without finding the break-through. Finally, on 36 minutes, the goal arrived that we had deserved. A now trademark surge of pace from Jack taking 3-4 Sunderland players out of the game resulted in a lay off to Walcott who declined the chance to shoot and cushioned it off for Santi whose powerfull low shot finally broke the deadlock. It is as well that he scored otherwise I would imagine there would have been many agitated fans questioning why Walcott didn’t shoot himself.

cazorla sunderland

Refreshingly after the goal we continued to try and attack and kept a high tempo to our game, which I prefer as I don’t think we do killing a game off well. We continued in this way into the second half, but we weren’t having it all our own way and Sunderland threatened at times. Fortunately Szczesny started to replicate the form of Mignolet from the first half. Jack picked up an injury on 50 minutes and went off to be replaced by Diaby. It didn’t look too serious and we can only all hope that is the case.

Then came the pivotal moment when the tricky Sessegnon took on Jenks whose sliding tackle was a fraction from getting the ball and only suceeded in taking Sessegnon down. You knew what was coming immediately with the way the ref had been, and he showed the second yellow without even taking a moment to consider. In the cold light of day if you look at Jenkinson’s 2 yellows then independently they are both justifiable yellows. The problem again comes with the consistency and had we had a deserved free kick earlier in the game it maybe wouldn’t have led to the passage of play that saw Jenkinson get his first yellow.

Rasp and I had discussed a point after the first yellow earlier in the game, and had both agreed that there was a strong possibility that he would collect a second yellow and get sent off. I think MON exploited this and likely told Sessegnon at half time to get at Jenkinson. Should AW have forseen this and replaced him earlier? His options were limited as I believe Kos, who was on the subs bench, had a problem before the game when warming up. It would have left the only realistic option of Moving Sagna out to FB and bringing on Miquel at CB. Should AW have used this option?

We still had about half an hour to go and you knew it would be back to the walls stuff. Fortunately, for once, we did this well and ground out the result with the help of some world class saves from the big Pole. Even at this point we still showed some attacking intent and had some great opportunities on the counter-attack to get the respite of the second goal that my nerves and chewed to pieces nails deserved. Rasp had his head in his hands at times while Peaches was a picture of stoicism. I still think she was partially mesmerised from seeing Bobby Pires but at least by this time she had stopped being all giggly. It was great to see Goonermichael as well and he looked a picture of being cool calm and collected.

Rasp and I continued to fret like nervous wrecks and there was end to end chances in a frantic finale. Walcott hit the post after a great through ball from Cazorla while both Giroud and Cazorla had chances they put just over the bar.

We saw it out and as they say 3 points is 3 points and I was able to relax and reflect at an enjoyable day in the club class section of the Ems with some of the AA gang.

On to the ratings.

Szczesny 8.5 joint MOTM

Showed us the world class keeper we would all like him to consistently be. Solid throughout with some excellent reflex saves.

Jenkinson 5.5

I don’t want to be too harsh as I like Jenks and he always gives his all but some inexperience showed through today. He hasn’t had much game time and you wonder if this is affecting him because when he was playing regularly earlier in the season you didn’t feel he would make the mistakes we saw today. He will still become a good player for us.

Sagna 8

Deputised well at CB and the old Mr reliable was more on show today.

Mertesacker 7.5

Didn’t do too much wrong all game and it was a solid performance.

Nacho 7.5

Solid and unfussy game from our newest signing today

Arteta 7.5

Nothing spectacular but kept us ticking and I can’t remember any mistakes from him.

Ramsey 7

Was having a solid game and could have had a couple of goals, but he seems to have an error in him, and we were lucky not to be punished when he needlessly surrendered possession in a dangerous area.

Wilshere 8

Those trademark runs driving at the opposition defence are a joy to see and get me on the edge of my seat. It was from one of these that the break-through came. Fingers crossed the injury is not so bad but Jack probably needs a game off anyway. I almost had him as joint MOTM again and some may feel that to be the case.

Cazorla 8.5 and joint MOTM

There wasn’t much to choose between him and Jack but the goal and that he continued to be the creative force once Wilshere was off just saw him pip it for me.

Giroud 7

Could have had a couple. He wasn’t too bad but it didn’t really come off for him today.

Walcott 7.5

Also could have had a couple and was unlucky when hitting the post. He always made the keeper work and his instinctive link up play with his team-mates is getting better and better.

Diaby (for Wilshere 50 mins) 6.5

Nothing great but nothing bad either.

Miquel (for Walcott 87 mins)

Not enough time to really form an opinion.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

(Future) Captain Jack Will Get Me High Tonight

February 8, 2013

There is something about Jack that makes me smile every time I see him play football. So much so that I think he is possibly the most exciting talent that we have developed at Arsenal, and perhaps the best player we have ever produced.

jack

I’ll go one further I think he could go on to be Arsenal’s greatest ever player, bought or produced, and one further still the greatest player England has ever seen.

Big and bold claims I know, and I also realise that there is a long way to go before he fulfils the above prediction, but i’d say he has had a pretty good start in achieving it.

The only player in recent memory that gave similar levels of excitement was Cesc Fabregas, but lets be honest here, he came through when the first team had a far greater talent pool than the current crop that Jack has to work with, he was helped by those in the team, Jack is helping those around him, having only just turned 21 years old that is a big responsibility on young shoulders, shoulders that have only seen 85 appearances for Arsenal (15 of those coming before he was 18).

In comparison when Cesc was being asked to play in the first team he had Campbell and Toure behind him, Pires, Henry and Ljungberg in front of him, and Silva alongside him. Compare that to Jack who in reality had Cesc and BSR performing at the level of these players. Additionally the club was still in its good times, making the Champions League final in Cesc’s second senior season (he was still only 18), basically he had help, but thats not to take away from his abilities. Now Jack is in a team that is being questioned by fans, media and opponents, yet every time he picks up the ball I feel like something can happen that he can change the game.

Chas said something a few weeks back about Jack which I hadn’t realised, he hates passing backwards, he always tries to take the ball and team forward, he gains 5 yards for the team with the ball.

I understand that to be Arsenal and England’s greatest ever player, he needs to work on that final ball, and final decision making, it would be good to see him become more useful with his right foot and also needs to score a few more goals. What I’ve seen so far leads me to believe he will do it, he has come on leaps and bounds from the youngster thrown in at the deep end at the start of the 2010-11 season, he learns from every minute he spends on the pitch, and that is why I expect him to fulfil my claims above.

The modern cosmopolitan, multi national Premier League means he can become England’s greatest before he becomes Arsenal’s, in reality the England player of the last 30 years he has to surpass is Paul Gascoigne, before that its probably Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore as stand out greats of the English game. Can he do it? On first evidence I’d say without a doubt, not since Gascoigne have I seen the England team look to one player for direction and drive as much as England looked to Jack Wilshere on Wednesday night, if they had one option when they had the ball it was Jack, and they didn’t mind giving it to him because they know he protects it, more so than any other England player in recent memory.

So over to you, can Jack become our greatest ever player?

Who excited you as much when they first appeared in the team?

What does he have to achieve to become it?

Written by GoonerInExile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

Jack and Theo shine bright

February 7, 2013

I would never normally watch an England friendly, but would always take the opportunity to watch Brazil. Invariably, I find with England the protagonists both on the field as well as in the stands about as loathsome as each other, whereas Brazil are always accompanied by sunshine, flair, rhythm and a certain majesty both on the field and always amongst their wonderful fans.

Last night I was very pleasantly surprised for many reasons.

For me, Roy Hodgson has returned some much needed dignity to the England Manager’s role. He has also introduced some flexible thinking with his formations, and last night the team lined up with an exciting 4-1-2-3.

This is exactly how I feel Arsenal should set up. Gerrard was absolutely superb as he marshalled proceedings from deep. As a Leader, and he is that, he could organize and motivate both the players behind as well as in front of him. Because of his statuesque presence, the fluidity of the inevitable Brazilian forward surges was broken, while that same presence allowed Cleverly and Jack to ply the most effective aspects of their trade.

The same set up caused confusion and disorder amongst the Brazilian defenders, as it was so difficult to know which player to cover and from where they would appear. Technically the lone striker, Shrek would sometimes drop deeper allowing Theo to move more centrally, and the same applied with that other Utd Bloke on the other side.

Man of the Match Jack was quite simply superb. His forward surges invariably ended with a perfect defence splitting through ball, and they always ended with him being circled by two or more Brazilians, and in doing so, space was appearing everywhere for the front boys.

JackvBrazil

Now, talking of the front boys bring me nicely on to Theo. What a terrific performance from the other representative from N5.

TheoEngland

Most apparent to me was the effect he had on the home fans. Every time he received the ball, there was a very audible roar of expectation, and Theo rarely failed to live up to the crowds’ lofty expectation. The usual electric pace and dynamic acceleration found him time and again flying past the defenders, and the quality of his cut backs was invariably top notch. (Oh the advantages of not playing with a big ‘un in the middle and the temptation to hoof the thing). By the way, Giroud is more effective with ball to feet J

Invariably, the inclusion of Arsenal players in International fixtures fills me with loathing and dread for the fear of injury and fatigue. However, I cannot see anything beyond the benefits their performances last night will bring to their confidence and stature in the game. The knowledge that they can compete, shine and star amongst such lofty company can only be a good thing.

Written by MickyDidIt

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Unpleasant Reality

February 6, 2013

I was chatting recently and it occurred to me that even if Robin van Persie were to go down and miss the rest of the season, he has already delivered enough to get United the title. The realization hit me hard, even though I guess we should have known for a while. I thought he could be a difference maker down the stretch in a close race. I didn’t believe he would be so decisive two-thirds through the season and sooner. I was foolish enough to think we were the better team anyway with so few players I would take from their squad. Certainly they are well coached, and yes they show up hungry for a high percentage of their matches. We sometimes show up for the second half. They sure do receive plenty of help from the establishment.

I’m not saying that they can’t blow the lead in the table, of course it’s possible, even with a fit RvP. But even if they did fall, with or without him, everyone would already know the value of what we gave to them. I’m actually surprised that it’s not highlighted more in the media. I guess it’s just what people have come to see as the natural order of things. For us to cave in to the lure of money (or the fear of losing the opportunity to make money), and certain other teams to do what it takes to get the job done.

I don’t care about the stupid articles and stats that say United would be mid table without him. There’s no way to quantify it so accurately. But I’m sure they wouldn’t be near the top of the table. The losing matches that he rescued for them early in the season would have been a huge blow to their confidence if the outcome had been different, and who knows how they could have spiraled lower. If United dropped out of the top five only, then we would be that much closer to fourth, even with no help from van Persie.

We probably wouldn’t be behind Tottenham or Everton. Most likely very close to or ahead of United. We will feel the pain much more acutely if we don’t retain our Champions league spot. Not the pride, but the financial repercussions.

I actually really like our squad, but let’s face it, we are under performing badly. I wish I knew why exactly. We all have our own gripes and opinions – where we should have strengthened, who should be playing more, or less- and in what position. Clearly there would have been less pressure and dependence on three new attackers from three different leagues if we still had the Prem’s best striker.

Someone said here brilliantly- “we are less than the sum of our parts” .. Where as I must say United are just the opposite.

I like our players and our future prospects, but we are jeopardizing it right now. I don’t feel like the answer was in the January transfer window, it’s just about playing better than we have been.

We all know we dodged a big bullet with a lot of help from the spurs choking last season. I think even more is at stake now, because I truly believe we are on the verge of a bright future, with a strong young team and real possibilities for improvement. I can only fear what a setback it will be if this one mistake becomes the difference in where we finish.

Even though it’s disheartening to look at the table now, we know other teams will drop points, if not as dramatically as last season, but will we take advantage ?

Written by johnnie nyc

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

We Are The Arsenal

February 5, 2013

Arsenal Fans Are The Best!

We are The Arsenal, a club closely associated with classy attitudes, financial prudence and for famously decent, well behaved fans. Right?

Well, yes, in the modern era, that is essentially true, although for a relatively short time in the 1960s and 1970s we, as fans, along with the fans of nearly every other club, were swept up in the general social malaise and unrest of that era, which resulted in feral gangs who gloried in ‘unusual’ gang names and tried to terrorise the fans of other clubs.

But that was just a blip, would you not agree?

woolwich arsenal_1888_squad

Maybe, but were you also aware that the Woolwich Arsenal were the first English League club to have their collar felt, and have their ground closed for extreme naughtiness by their fans?

This happened in the late 19th Century for a period of 6 weeks in the 1894/95 season.

It happened as a result of the Arsenal fans taking it into their heads to thump a rubbish referee after a bad tempered, violent home game against Burton Wanderers.

They believed that the referee was an incompetent, cheating pillock, although some of us might not accept that that was really a sufficient excuse to beat up the fellow, because if this vigilante attitude extended into the current era we would be exhausted with all the rigorous physical exercise involved in administering corporal punishment to every miscreant official who officiated at the Emirates, but anyway, regardless of that, it was sufficient excuse for our naughty forebears to mete out their version of justice.

The original draconian sentence proposed, as a result of this kangaroo justice, was that the Arsenal ground would be closed for the rest of that season, but a short time later, cooler minds prevailed, no doubt with a little ‘nudge nudge’ skulduggery, and that sentence was reduced, after furtive negotiations with the FA, to a relatively minor 6 weeks suspension.

The FA having set a precedent, though, then proceeded to play fast and loose with their ‘justice’ system, and after another referee bashing incident, this time by the fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers, the following season, resulted in only a teensy weensy 2 week suspension.

Surely, this was a fore runner and a clear and early example of the rough and summary justice handed out to the mighty Arsenal. Five months reduced to 6 weeks, for us, but only two weeks for Wolves. Hissssss!!

Around the same time there were sporadic ‘engagements’ between Arsenal and Spuds fans, which became somewhat ritualised and led to a lot of bad blood, which even, astonishingly, led to an ex-Arsenal player, who had been transferred to the Spuds brutally punching out the lights of an innocent Gooner who was allegedly subjecting him to “foul and insulting language”! Ahh, diddums!!

It seems to have been the custom and the ‘right’ of disgruntled Arsenal fans to verbally abuse all and sundry, the referees; the away team; the away fans; the police and also their own Arsenal team, if they were deemed to have played poorly.

Of course the social and working demography of the time was very different from today, with the majority of the population working a sould destroying five and a half day week, so their precious ‘week end ‘ meant they wanted to let off steam, while also enjoying themselves, supporting their beloved club.

Part of that enjoyment was seen as their entitlement to dish it out, having paid their precious, hard earned entrance money, and yelling at and abusing anything and anyone at the ground was par for the course.

Home team players who were seen as playing rubbish, did not have to suffer the vitriol of the modern day internet, but because the fans had an intense sense of belonging to their local club and community, any player who let themselves down by missing a ‘tap in’ or letting in a soft goal, or left the club for another club, or in any other way screwed up, were subjected to extremely volatile and painfully humiliating abuse, on the premise that they were unforgivably also letting down their local club and community.

Tribal?

Yes, but perfectly understandable, and all the players understood and accepted this behaviour as a fact of life.

By contrast, the rather demure and civilized expressions of disappointment and betrayal aimed at Brave Sir Robin pales into insignificance by comparison.

Our forefathers were honest, hard working, decent men, but you messed with them at your peril.

It was from those modest origins that the classy, decent, special way our club is currently perceived came about.

Long may it last.

Up The Arse!

Written by Red Arse

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Posted by Rasp

Gervinho Ready To Fire Gunners To Glory

February 4, 2013

Good news everyone!

Gervinho is coming home to Arsenal from the Africa Cup of Nations sooner than expected.

His Ivory Coast team were knocked out of the tournament at the quarter final stage yesterday by Nigeria. It was a surprise result as Ivory Coast had been favourites to progress.

So the Dreadlocked Wonder returns to us having had a decent – if ultimately disappointing – campaign in Africa.

He scored twice in the group stages and was reckoned by observers to be one of the players of the tournament to date.

Yet it’s probably safe to assume that his next appearance at The Emirates will not be greeted with fanfares and garlands.  His name will not be ringing round the stadium. Banners saying “We’ve Got Gervinho” will not be draped from the walls.

Montpellier Herault SC v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League

If fans were ambivalent towards Gerv the Swerve last season, they have hardened their hearts this time round. Not all, of course. But right know he’s about as popular as an adder in your underpants.

Is this fair?

Gervinho can show touches of brilliance: he is fast, he can turn defenders inside out for fun and he has tucked away some nice goals.

But then there’s the other side of our Ivorian: what I like to think of as his “Afghan hound” side. I once knew the owner of an Afghan hound and she told me that they could be incredibly frustrating dogs.

Most mutts, when let off the leash, will hare about madly for a while but they will always zero back in on their owner. But Afghans were bred as high endurance hunting dogs and, according to my friend, once let loose they like nothing more than to head off in a straight line. And when you think it must be time for them to turn round and head back… they just keep going.

Gervinho’s inner Afghan is apparent on all those occasions when he has beaten one or more defenders out on the wing and – obviously – needs to either cross the ball or cut into the box. Instead, he keeps going in a straight line right off the pitch, ball and all. If it wasn’t for the small inconvenience of a short wall and a large crowd, he would probably be half way across North London before anyone could stop him.

I think that’s what frustrates fans the most: that he seems to do the hard work (beating people and getting into good positions) then all too often fluffs the final ball either through bizarre decision making or poor execution.

His stats make for interesting reading. Last season – his first at Arsenal – he scored four goals and provided eight assists in 37 appearances. Not bad but hardly stellar. This season he has five goals already in 15 outings, but no assists.

Contrast that with some of our other wide players:

Walcott has 18 goals and 13 assists this season in 29 appearances; Podolski has 12 and 11 in 31 and even Oxlade-Chamberlain has 2 and 3 in 23.

By those standards Gervinho is very much our third choice wing man and arguably fourth.

He should be scoring more often and, despite the skepticism of the fans, he has the ability to do so.

In the two seasons before he joined us – at Lille in the French league – he bagged 18 goals each year. That fact perhaps goes some way to explaining why Arsene Wenger played him through the middle earlier in the season: you don’t get 18 goals a season in a European league – even the French one – unless you have an eye for goal.

I would like to think that a good ACN will mean he returns to us full of confidence and ready to help us fight for a place in the top four and a run at the FA Cup and Champions League.

Unfortunately our experience of players coming back from that particular tournament is not good. If they haven’t gone off radar for an extended party or contracted a tropical disease, they often return injured or simply knackered.

Let’s see what we get with Gerv.

I still feel he has something to offer and that he can perform better than he has been doing so far – but if patience is a virtue it’s one that’s in short supply at Arsenal in these inconsistent times.

My fear is that his mistakes will continue to draw loud groans and his confidence will fall further, leading him to make even more so mistakes and more groans and on and on into the vicious circle.

So what do you think?

Is Gervinho a returning asset? A liability? Or simply irrelevant to our struggles to come?

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

1 nil to the football team …..

February 3, 2013

Some thoughts on the game (some of which I have wantonly culled from comments I posted earlier this morning):

1. Arsenal looked laboured at times, but they held their concentration facing a Stoke side that did virtually nothing with the ball but which held its shape without the ball extremely well. We were too often forced to cross the ball, which only plays into Stoke’s hands, even with Giroud up front and despite the fact that Walcott put in a few very good crosses. It was certainly not a pretty spectacle, but that had everything to do with our opponents. I’m just pleased our players and fans didn’t panic, and stayed focused and patient. The substitutions were made at the perfect time, and being able to introduce a fresh Cazorla and Podolski with 25 minutes to go worked very well. It was good to see some genuine squad rotation, with Cazorla and Podolski starting from the bench.

untitled

2. How the linesman even thought there was a possibility of an offside (whether for Theo or the deflection, if it had come off one of our players) is beyond me, it was clearly not offside. Well done to Chris Foy for putting him right. As for the complaints to the officials, both sides were doing it, so Pulis’s whinge about us being out of order is just one more example of his hypocrisy.

3. Begovic would be an excellent signing as a second choice keeper if we did try and rescue him from his purgatory in the summer. And with Butland joining Stoke then, one of Sorenson and Begovic will surely move.

4. Did anyone notice that Shotton (the new Delap) has a special piece of material fitted in his shirt to substitute for the towel he gets to use at throw-ins at the Britannia?

5. You remember that “Same old Arsenal, always cheating” we routinely get treated to by the enlightened souls of clubs like Stoke? It’s funny, when Matthew Etherington (a player I happen to quite like) dived to the floor right in front of the Stoke fans, to earn Stoke one of their very few attacking opportunities, the Stoke fans didn’t complain. And I don’t seem to hear much from Pulis when his rugged, muscular, it’s-a-man’s-game players dive to the ground in the mode of Filippo Inzaghi. Funny, that………

6. The Stoke time-wasting was ridiculous, starting in the 15th minute. Chris Foy’s laid back approach to refereeing is good in many ways, but there are times when you have to get a grip on cynical behaviour like that. A couple of early yellow cards, for example when right in front of the ref, Huth threw the ball away after fouling Wilshere, and the time-wasting would have ended there. And of course, once Stoke were a goal down, they suddenly started doing everything much more quickly. It was funny to see Ryan Shawcross complain in the 91st minute about the speed we were taking a free-kick. Well Sweet Little Ryan, if you hadn’t wasted so much time in the remainder of the game, you might have been able to get more attacks in when you were chasing the game.

7. As the pundit on Arsenal TV said (was it Stephen Hughes?), Stoke deserved nothing from the game and they got nothing. Playing ten men behind the ball the whole game is pathetic from any team, a real admission of weakness, but from a side that has spent tens of millions of pounds and has qualified for European football, it is even more ridiculous. Of course, it’s up to the opponent to deal with it and break it down, which Arsenal did – 1-0 was a pretty measly scoreline given that we carved open numerous good chances yesterday: as well as the goal, Ox, Kos, Giroud and Cazorla all had excellent chances to score. 3-0 would have been about right.

8. Any right thinking person of course hates Stoke and detests Pulis. So it was enjoyable to read that he’s been whining about unfair treatment, and tried to play the “we’re so poor, we can’t expect to win these games” card. It’s been a source of a lot of frustration for me that the journos lap this stuff up, saying in effect that it’s fine for Stoke to play the style they do, even when it verges on the violent, because they’re a poor, itsy bitsy club. The trouble with that theory is that Pulis has spent vast amounts of money. Stoke are about 6th in the list of spenders over the past five or six seasons, yet are allowed to say they are David to our Goliath. It was therefore good to see on newsnow that someone had done some sums and concluded that Pulis has spent £120m more than Wenger. Not a level playfield? On your bike, you prat, you’ve had an incredibly soft ride and, given the resources available compared with the likes of Swansea, Everton and West Brom, Stoke should be doing much better than they are.

9. In recent weeks, the prices sometimes charged for away fans at Arsenal have become a subject of controversy. Here’s a thought: perhaps the prices should be linked to a creativity index, so that the more creative or engaging the opponent, the cheaper the tickets for their fans. So Stoke would still be able to play their desperate version of the game, but their fans would be financially punished for it, while Swansea’s fans would be able to attend for about £3.50. I’m going to start writing to Ivan Gazidis now.

Some rough and ready ratings:

Szczesny: 7 – For staying awake.

Sagna: 6 – Did nothing wrong but didn’t show a lot when going forward either.

Mertesacker: 6 – Did fine.

Koscielny: 7 – Battled well, including pressing in midfield areas, and had a good effort on goal.

Monreal: 7 – It’s impossible to judge from one game but first impressions are good, especially given that he was playing against a side about as far from Spanish football as one can imagine. He was energetic, good with his passing, judicious about his overlapping runs and always seemed to track back. Of course, yesterday was hardly the most testing of attacking opponents, and we’ll have to see how Monreal goes in the coming weeks, but other than one terrible long-range shot he did well.

Arteta: 8 – Great to see him back, he makes such a difference. His tidy passing from deep in midfield is excellent.

Diaby: 6 – Was OK in the first half but tired early in the second.

Wilshere: 8 – Very sharp, often looked dangerous, his thinking was always ahead of his opponent. And lovely to see tomorrow’s England man tell yesterday’s England man, Michael Owen, where to go after the set-to with Arteta.

Walcott: 7 – Pretty dangerous at times, and managed to get behind the defence a few times. But then he was facing the weakest player Stoke have, Andy Wilkinson, so it would have been disappointing if he’d been completely played out of the game. Walcott clearly felt he wasn’t given enough protection by the referee – I’m not sure about that, we’ve seen worse, and it was a Wilkinson foul on Walcott that earned the free kick from which we scored.

Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6 – Had some good moments, especially when he had a shot saved well by Begovic, but overall didn’t manage to make too many inroads on Stoke.

Giroud: 6 – As ever, worked hard, but he didn’t have the same impact in terms of lay-offs etc as he has done. Also made a poor choice to chest the ball for someone else when he had a clear chance to have a header on goal from close range.

Cazorla: 8 – Lifted the pace of the game at the perfect moment and found lots of awkward pockets of space. Should have scored when through on goal.

Podolski: 7 – Typically teutonic energy from Poldi. Got the goal of course, albeit via Cameron’s boot.

Ramsey: N/a

Written by 26may89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

We All Love Nachos

February 1, 2013

So the mayhem is over and we bagged a player. That is one more than many thought we would get, but probably 10 too few for some fans on other websites. I can already hear those keyboard warriors punching in We__er O_t quicker than your David Beckham designer boxer shorts would disappear on a Come Dine With Me evening at Evonne’s.

To be fair Arsene had already expressed his distaste for wholesale buys in this window and had suggested 2 should be the limit, so he was hardly going to make himself look hypocritical and get more than this.

Nacho1

So who did we get. Step forward one Ignacio Monreal Eraso or soon to be better known to us as Nacho Monreal. I don’t know much about him but the early reports sound promising. I am sure in the ensuing AA discussion we will be able to collectively get snippets of information that will give us a better idea of what we have acquired. Peaches has already identified a song for him and I am sure if you all ask nicely the next time you see her she will give you her personal rendition of it.

There has been a consistent theme amongst us all on which areas of the squad we needed strengthening in, and this was one of those key areas. What it means to me is that our left flank will now be very strong with good strength in depth. With the addition of Nacho we have even, in a roundabout way, accrued a new attacking left winger who goes by the name of Andre Santos.

So both flanks look strong now to me, but what about the spine of the team. Up top David Villa was mentioned. Did we need another striker? I am not sure as we seem to be gelling and maturing in this department recently. Attacking central midfield I feel we are well covered in, possibly boasting the strongest in the EPL in this department. I had thought about an experienced keeper as back up / competition to Szczeny. We didn’t get one and I don’t feel the need to throw my toys out of the pram on this one, and am happy to see how it pans out this season. Ditto with the CD’s. I have mentioned the possible requirement of a beast of a CD in the Sol Campbell mould, but am happy again to defer judgement till the seasons end.

The one area I would like to examine a little more is the defensive midfield role. Many of us, if not most of us, and I would include myself in this, have called for a powerhouse of a defensive midfielder. A beast of a man, (I do like my beasts), a midfield “destroyer”. So I thought I would look at what we have already got and what it is that we really all want for this role. What is it we are crying out for?

You could form the impression that we are all looking for something akin to a Marvel Comic Book superhero, with superhuman strength and unusual powers, and I must admit I sometimes enter that frame of mind. However, I do try and step back and ask myself what is it I want and why? I would say that in our 3 man midfield you could set up in one of 2 key ways. The first would be with 2 deeper lying defensive midfielders who can work together to provide a defensive screen. This would leave one predominantly attacking midfielder with a more free role. The second is when you want to have 2 attacking or advanced midfielders with one lone defensive midfielder sitting behind them. That obviously places a higher degree of responsibility on the lone defensive midfielder than you have with 2 deeper lying midfielders working together.

Lets look at the current main candidates who for me would be :-

Diaby, Ramsey, Arteta, Coquelin, Frimpong.

Frimpong has gone on loan so I will not dwell on him and we can assess if he can still offer us something at the end of the season.

My opinion of Diaby, Ramsey and Arteta is that they are suited to playing in the 2 man defensive midfield system but don’t quite have the necessary strengths to play the lone defensive midfield role, especially against better opposition. Just my opinion and I would love to hear from other AA’ers on this.

The player that I feel could offer us the best option in the lone defensive midfield role is Coquelin. Not big enough or powerful enough I hear some saying. The question for me would be, is size and power the most important attribute for this role? Does this player have to resemble Frank Bruno on anabolic steroids? They obviously have to not be afraid to tackle, and be willing to get stuck in. If we all go back some 10 years, how many of us would have claimed Claude Makelele as being the best defensive midfielder in the world at that time, as many of his fellow pros seemed to think. That is all 5 foot 7 inches of him, according to Wikipedia.

I have often thought what is the most important natural physical attribute for this role, and I keep coming back to pace. The ability to cover ground quickly at a moments notice, “nippiness” if you like. I feel that the defensive midfielder plays a role that is more reactionary, in other words they respond to situations as they unfold.

Makelele, as well as reading the game well seemed to be able to quickly get from one point to the next to intercept danger or put in a tackle before the opposition could get the attacking move going. Diaby, Ramsey and Arteta, for me, all share the one characteristic of a lack of pace, that would allow them to play that lone defensive role.

You only have to be ½ second slower from point A to point B and then you don’t intercept or don’t have the chance to get the tackle in and break up play.

Coquelin

Coquelin in my opinion has that surge of pace that the other three don’t. His recent games, until injury, have seen many of us give him some high praise. So my question is, injury permitting, do we already have that excellent defensive midfielder, the one we are all crying out for, sitting there right under our noses?

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A point earned or 2 points dropped?

January 31, 2013

Well I will say from the outset, that for me it is the latter, despite coming from 2 goals down. Once again there were many positives from this game, in our attacking department, but that can’t gloss over the bad aspects of our defence.

theo equaliser

At the start of this season I would have happily argued that we actually had top draw defenders in our squad, but that what we lacked was the cohesive discipline to make it work as an effective unit. The sort of instinctive understanding that only comes from drilling it into the players on the training ground, so that everyone understands what their role and job is at all times when defending.

After this game, with the defensive frailties shown, which are not isolated incidents this season, I have started to question whether this is the case, or if basically our defenders just aren’t good enough for the level that Arsenal football club require, and should be aspiring to. I didn’t feel that Liverpool had to work very hard for their chances, while I felt they made us work hard for ours.

As I watched this game I remembered a comment regarding our defence from yesterdays post. I looked back through them and realised that it was Rasp that said it, and I feel it summarises my feeling after this game, so I will, (more or less), quote :

“Much as I’d love to sign a top striker I am adamant the problems lie in our defence. If we fail to make top 4 it will be down to goals conceded not failure to score”.

After watching this game and reflecting on it, in conjunction with other games this season, I find it hard to disagree with this assessment.

I couldn’t fault the general effort and urgency with which the team played in this game, which has been an issue recently, that we have all mostly been aware of. In fact I thought we were genuinely excellent in our attacking play for much of the game and should have had many more than 2 goals. Unfortunately to counteract this both of their goals involved a mix of poor positioning of our key defensive players at the required times, and a critical failure to clear our lines when the opportunity was there, in other words putting it into row Z. As a result, in addition to their 2 goals we presented to them, we offered up a few other gift wrapped opportunities to them, and could have seen more than the eventual 2 goals in the against column. This game could have easily gone either way but, for me, we were overall the better team. Our performance with the ball was very good but without the ball, well…….

A quick question to the AA faithful from me would be, “if we had Sol Campbell, (in his prime), and Vincent Kompany, currently as our 2 CD’s, would we have conceded the goals as we did in this game”?.

I have always advocated that a top notch defence gives you a platform to attack more freely through the attacking players. Better defensive players can make you a better attacking outfit. Poorer defensive players, for me, can drag your attacking players back to help bolster the defence and make you less effective in attack. I would surmise that we need serious consideration in this department and lo and behold we have less than 24 hours in which to possibly address this issue. It could be argued that it is more the way we train and defend that is the issue and not the quality of defenders, but could an issue like that really go on for so long at a club of this standing? I will let the AA responses determine whether it is the quality of the defenders, the way we drill them. Or a bit of both.

We have now been the nearly team for many years. I do however, feel that this team is close now, and that it requires only a couple of i’s dotted and t’s crossed to complete it. Onto the player ratings :-

Szczesny 6

He made a couple of his normal good stops, but was in no man’s land on a couple of occasions and still needs to make better decisions on when to come out and when to stay on his line and let defenders deal with the danger.

Sagna 6

Still improving after injury, but I still don’t feel we have the energetic box to box attacking full-back we used to have. Slipped for the comical first goal.

Mertesacker 5

At times his positioning and reading of the game is top notch. Tonight it was not so. We know he lacks pace, but when he is on form he overcomes that, but not tonight. Is it a permanent worry or just temporary? Turned his back for the comical first goal rather than take one in the face and stop it.

Vermaelen 6

Was covering a lot for under-performing team-mates tonight. Not been so good in recent weeks but I still feel he is a top CD and will get back to his best. Failed to clear for the comical first goal.

Gibbs 7

Looking the top class LFB he was destined to be dependant on injury. Lets hope the injury tonight is very minor.

Wilshere 8.5 and my joint MOTM

He is the real deal. The Arsenal and England teams of the future will be moulded around him. Most of our drive came through him

Ramsey 6

Decent, but I feel there are certain games he suits more than others, and it probably wasn’t this one. Ramsey, to his credit, is always a trier and will run all day for you, but I felt this game needed a more dominant defensive CM to release Cazorla and Wilshere. Near the end Ramsey looked like his legs had gone.

Cazorla 8

Not bad in the first half but excellent thereafter. A truly world class performer who plays with a genuine smile on his face,

Podolski 7

No goals but he is always a threat and was a constant thorn in their side. On another day he possibly gets a hat-trick.

Walcott 8.5 and my joint MOTM

Some things didn’t come off, but he always seemed to make the keeper work. I thought he was a constant worry for them whether he was attacking from wide to provide for a team-mate, or going for goal himself more through the middle.

Giroud 8.5 and my joint MOTM

Like Walcott a constant thorn in their side although in a different way to Theo. The 2 of them seem to be striking up a very good partnership working off each other.

SUBS

Santos for Gibbs 6

Not dreadful but not great either. I believe there will be many worried fans checking on the severity of Gibbs injury today, on transfer window closing day of all days.

Written by GoonerB

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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