The Ramsey Problem

April 10, 2012

Aaron Ramsey’s cameo appearance in our “class versus cash” victory over Abu Dhabi Oil Inc was not his greatest moment in an Arsenal shirt.

He had slotted in pretty well after coming on in the 78th minute to replace Yossi “Busy Bee” Benayoun.

But what we will all remember is the moment at the death where he was through on goal with a chance to make it 2-0 and with Oxlade-Chamberlain and van Persie waiting in the middle to side foot the ball into an empty net.

Young Aaron chose not to pass. He also chose not to stroke the ball low and hard into the bottom right hand corner (from Joe Hart’s perspective) of the goal – which would have been the best option for scoring.

Instead he went for a “Bergkamp” – an ambitious shot curled with the inside of the right boot towards the opposite top corner of the goal.

Unfortunately the execution owed more to Jonny Wilkinson than Dennis Bergkamp – the ball flying high and wide into the crowd. Robin’s reaction – an incredulous gesture questioning why Ramsey had not passed – will probably stay with the Welshman for quite some time.

In the end it didn’t really matter. The game was won anyway. But I have been wondering why Ramsey did what he did.

He has acquired a lot of critics among the fan base during this, his first full season with Arsenal. He has been accused of slowing the game down, of taking too many touches, of trying too many flicks and backheels, of getting in the way of our other midfielders.

At various times he has been guilty of all of the above – especially in his more recent outings.

To me his problems really date from the period when Tomas Rosicky rediscovered his form and became one of the automatic starters in a midfield that also included Song and Arteta.

In away games, most recently at QPR, Arsene Wenger has started Ramsey in addition to the MF three of Rosicky/Arteta/Song, presumably to give us a more solid starting line-up.

Although he has ostensibly taken the place of either Gervinho or Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey is not naturally a wide player and tends to come in field, leading to overcrowding and confusion in our MF.

It hasn’t all been terrible. The same formation played some glorious football for the first 25 minutes away at Everton (with Ramsey taking a key role), but the system faded after that and never recovered – certainly not against QPR.

The other problem with Ramsey’s game is that he has lost his scoring boots.

He has always seemed like a player with the ability to make late runs into the box and pick up goals from midfield. Recently, however, he has missed a bunch of sitters – like the last minute effort against Man City.

So what is the Ramsey problem?

Is it positional?

Is it that he is as limited as his critics allege?

Is it a hangover from his horrendous leg break (Dudu Mark II, if you like)?

Is it confidence?

Before attempting to answer that, I thought it would be good to take a look at some of the ratings and reviews he received in Arsenal Arsenal match reports (from various authors) earlier in the season. Here are a few, all from the November/December period:

Versus Manchester City

Ramsey: brilliant game. Fought like a dragon and worked his socks off for the team. He was everywhere and made so many positive runs into the box. Sooner or later, he will start scoring goals on a regular basis and, ideally, we would have had somebody in Ramsey’s position yesterday, who can do what he did plus score (more) goals. But Ramsey gives absolutely everything and is learning and growing very fast: 8 (Total Arsenal)

Versus Everton

Ramsey: works and doesn’t hide, makes the odd mistake, but works hard to make up for that. Needs a goal and deserves a goal. I read on one website, Ramsey was deemed the worse player on the pitch, complete pony; he was very good and close to MotM for me. How anyone can berate him is completely beyond me. 8 (Harry)

Versus Borussia Dortmund

Ramsey: excellent second half when more space was available. Playing well at the moment and appreciated by his team mates 7.5 (FatGingerGooner)

Versus West Brom

Ramsey: had a good game, probes and drives team forward. His pass for Walcott to get him free for starting the move for the opener was quite simply brilliant. Presses well and breaks play up. 7.5 (Harry)

Versus Stoke

Ramsey: amazing game from young Ramsey. Cesc-like passes (especially the assist to Gerv), great work rate and dangerous shooting. He is going to be an Arsenal legend no doubt about it. Glad Shawcross has not ruined the great career he will have. 7.5 (Oz Gunner)

Versus Chelsea

Ramsey: super Welsh Wizard, truly a special player who gave his all today, his range of passing was fantastic, he has a great engine and never doubts himself. 9 (Harry)

Not bad, right?

It seems people forget very quickly how good a player is once they start having a difficult patch.

Which brings me to the answer to my own question – what is the Ramsey problem?

For me it’s all about a shortfall in confidence caused by the lack of support our young Welshman received from a minority of Arsenal supporters when things were going badly for the team as a whole.

So when we had that terrible run in January (which was entirely down to the fact that we had no orthodox fullbacks available), the critterati decided it was all Ramsey’s fault.

The vitriol that was directed at him by some of the hate blogs was quite appalling and quite out of proportion. Other people picked up on it and spread it. If you hear something often enough you start to give it some credence, so even decent fans began to have doubts about Aaron’s abilities.

And we can be sure that in this age of instant communication, the hatred and bile did not go unnoticed by Ramsey.

The result is that, lately, he has been trying too hard; trying to create moments of magic when all he needs to do is play the simple game and let things happen naturally.

It completely explains his desperation, in the dying minutes against Manchester City, to score a glorious goal that would have fans and pundits alike drooling with delight. That would answer his critics.

The Ramsey of earlier in the season would almost certainly have passed to Robin or the Ox.

So what is the Ramsey problem?

It’s the poisonous, negative minority that have plagued the Arsenal fan base for the last year or two and have done their best to destroy a young man’s career before it’s hardly started.

I dread to think what they would have said about a 21-year-old Tony Adams, who showed flashes of brilliance but was also accident prone at that stage of his career. At least when TA6 was labeled a “donkey” it was NOT by Arsenal fans.

The haters are already having to eat humble pie over Arsene Wenger, over Song, Arteta and Koscielny. Even over Robin van Persie (the “constant crock” who should have been “offloaded post haste”). Next season they will eat a portion more when Aaron Ramsey emerges as one of the players of the season.

RockyLives

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Cash Is So Last Millennium – Class Is So Permanent: Match Report

April 9, 2012

Written by TotalArsenal

Today, Arsenal had a chance to make a statement of where it stands in the current hierarchy of English football. This was not just a game we needed to win to keep us in contention for a top-four finish – no, this was also a game in which we needed to demonstrate to ourselves again how good we really are. During a transitional year, progress is measured not only by finishing as high as possible – it is just as important to claim the scalps of teams like Pool, the Chavs, and especially, the Oilers. Winning these sorts of games builds confidence, belief and respect: they’ll become part of the DNA of this new, post-Fabregas team.

First half

From the first minute it became clear Arsenal were up for this game. During the first quarter of the game, Arsenal enjoyed 78% possession, leaving Citeh with nothing else to do than chase the ball and set up a fortress around their box. This must have been hard for Citeh, as it’s usually them who keep the ball, and pass it around, better than their opponents. Recently, Arsenal have been a little bit lob-sided towards our right, but we were constantly able to switch our attacking play from side to side in the first half. Although we threatened a lot with our energetic and innovative attacking moves, we did not manage a clear attempt on goal until the 16th minute. RvP made a perfect connection with his head to Arteta’s corner-kick, but his effort hit the back of Vermaelen’s head, whose own run had taken him to just under the Citeh’s crossbar. RvP was just so unlucky not to score.

Soon after that, MC had to withdraw Toure who got injured during a strong challenge by Song. Rather than the tried and tested De Jong, Mancini decided to replace the Ivorian with the relatively (PL) inexperienced David Pizzaro. Undoubtedly, this was a big blow for Citeh, as Toure has been a consistent force in midfield for them in recent months.

Citeh had only one half-chance in this half, and it came from a ball through the middle that almost reached Balotelli. However, Sir Szczesny did fantastically well in anticipating the danger and with a quick and timely run he reached the ball before the Italian hothead.

During the rest of the first half there were no more clear attempts on goal, as Arsenal dropped off a bit and MC were able to regain some possession, albeit without threatening our goal themselves. Balotelli was keen to grab all the attention with another petulant performance, and he should have seen a straight red card for his nasty, studs-up challenge on Song. The referee appeared not to have seen the incident, so the Italian got away with it. Luckily, Alex somehow survived the charge. After that incident, Balotelli fouls our RB, Sagna, twice, and he finally gets a yellow card. He should have had a second one for a handball before the end of the first half, but once again, he got away with it.

Second half

Arsenal started the second half tentatively, with a lower tempo and less hunting down of the opponents compared to the first half. This allowed Citeh to have more possession and create a few chances. After 8 minutes, Citeh create their first proper chance with a decent, weighted ball into the box by – the until then very quiet and timid – Na$ri towards Zabaleta and Aguero who, however, stand in each others way, resulting in a weak effort on target.

In the 63rd minute, Song produces another of his trademark, fine, lofted balls into the box towards the continuously alert RvP. For once, the yet again very impressive Kompany has not anticipated Song’s ball. Robin shows his top-striker instinct by heading the ball straight towards goal, beating Hart in a flash, but the post is in the way. Once again, Robin is unlucky, and I am starting to feel a bit uneasy; thinking this might be another one of those games against Citeh, where we play well but are just not clinically/lucky enough to win it.

My uneasiness grows further when Baloteli tries an overhead kick from a header into the box by Kompany – luckily he fluffs his attempt – and, soon after that, RvP is, agonizingly but correctly, ruled just offside, after yet another fine passage of attacking midfield play by Song, who found RvP in the box with a weighted pass.

The good thing is that Arsenal are all over Citeh again, and that the Oilers are starting to look tired in the second part of the second half. There is only one team who really want to win this game by now.

In the 76th minute it looked like we would finally, FINALLY get our reward. But yet again, it was not to be, as Citeh survived three attempts on goal in the space of a few seconds. Rosicky passes the ball into the box towards Theo who does not hesitate: he does not take a first touch, but strikes on goal with a low and placed shot towards Hart’s right corner. Hart manages to just get a hand on it, diverting it towards the post where the Belgian Rottweiler is ready to pounce. FFS, would you believe it! Inexplicably he slips, AGAIN, and his fluffed effort ends up with Benayoun who, two yards from goal, also cannot manage a clean contact and Citeh, miraculously, escape once more!

After that, I was convinced we would have to settle for a draw, but then, THEN the moment we had all been waiting for, still came. And it could not have fallen to a better, more deserving person: Mikel Arteta! After vacuum cleaning the ball away from Pizarro, Arteta moves forward, and I am sure we all felt that this was the moment. Arsenal’s Engine Room sees a rare opportunity to have a shot on goal. As soon as he lined up, I felt it would go in. Arteta cleverly uses Lescott’s body to block Hart’s view and unleashes a pile-driver from 25 yards towards Hart’s left corner. The England number one has no chance and at last we have our goal. Simply orgasmic: 1-0 to the good guys!

In the last minute of the game, Ramsey had a great chance to make it 2-0 and he should have done better. It sadly looks like my prediction that Aaron will become a victim of ‘fans fulfilling prophecy’ is coming through. He looks to be low in self-confidence and is starting to believe his critics. Arsene has got some work to do with Aaron over the next few weeks to get his pecker up again.

At the end of the game, Balotelli made sure he got some more attention by making another reckless challenge on Sagna, resulting in a second yellow card, and a sending off.

Conclusion

But, today’s game is not about Balotelli and how he let his team down. It is about a very mature and professional Arsenal TEAM beating a ‘collection of highly overpaid individuals’, supposedly fighting for the title, at a pivotal moment. And in a way, I am happy Balotelli only got send off at the end, as it would have been hard to argue now that an earlier dismissal had not weakened Citeh and therefore did not have a crucial impact on the result.

Instead, we beat them fair and square, 11 against 11, when they HAD to win to stay in contention for the title. There was a lot at stake on Sunday: this game was about putting the Oilers in their place, to show that class is indeed permanent – that it cannot be bought so easily. Beating Citeh is a scalp we badly needed, and it has taken away any remaining doubt that this new Arsenal team has become a force again – one that will be fighting at full strength for the top prizes next season.

Player ratings:

Szczesny: fine, confident performance, remained focussed throughout the game: 8.

Sagna: super warrior as always, worked incredibly hard and did not let himself get provoked by Balotelli once. Supported our front men time and again, and he is a total team player: 8.5.

Vermaelen and Koz: very powerful, energetic performances, bossing their area with ease and composure, great support to our midfield as well. 8.

Gibbs: fine performance, unfortunately had to go off early. 7.5.

Song & Arteta: what a duo today. They are working together better and better and totally bossed the midfield, even before Toure went off. Song has so much to offer: is there a more all-round midfielder in the PL at the moment? Arteta had a great game as well and also showed what a complete midfielder he is for us, and of course he scored the all important goal. For me, they are both Man of the Match today (with Sagna not far away). 9.5.

Rosicky: worked hard and always wants to attack quickly and incisively but does still miss accuracy at times. He did a lot of chasing down opponents and is also a total team player: 8.

Benayoun: a good team performance, he also did a lot of chasing down opponents and supported Gibbs well. 7.5.

Theo: was not given any space by Citeh, as they were well aware of his danger and provided plenty of protection for their LB. He still worked hard to be a constant threat as he stuck to his role well, and he put in a fine team performance too: 8.

Robin van Persie: worked his socks off, always making clever runs and making himself available. Very unlucky not to be on the score sheet today, despite having to combat with one of the finest CB’s in Europe: Kompany. 8.5.

TotalArsenal

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Playing Championship Manager

April 6, 2012

As the season is drawing to close and another trophyless one for the good guys again thoughts are beginning to turn to who we should buy and how much we will spend in the summer.

Some fans are beginning the clamour for new experienced signings already, sure that it is the only way we can ensure success going forward. They are also demanding the release of a number of surplus to requirement players.

“We must reduce our wage bill, to free up cash for the big names”

I caught an interview with Karen Brady recently (she was promoting some poorly titled book) and she was quizzed about the situation at West Ham. She told of how this season the owners have been required to put a large chunk of their own money in to sustain the club, blaming in the main players wages. She was asked why they paid the money they did, her response was quite simple.

“if we want to sign a youngster from United on a £30k a week contract with three years left to run, we have to pay him the same otherwise he will stay where he is”

Makes sense.

She also went on to say that it is very difficult being at a Professional Club and dealing with expectations.

She gave an example of two 18 year olds working for West Ham. One was a youngster just signing his first pro contract the other was new in the ticket office.

“on one hand the ticket office girl earns £15k a year and struggles to make ends meet, whilst the footballer earns that in a week and can’t understand why anyone would get out of bed for less”.

How crazy is that? West Ham a championship or lower table Premier League Club pay their young pros £15k a week. Yet some Arsenal fans think what we pay our youngsters is too much.

Anyway that’s a side issue I just found it interesting. So let’s look at our squad going into next season and ask two important questions:

  • 1) Do we need additional players?
  • 2) Can we accommodate them?

The first question is ultimately only answerable by Arsene, but for me looking at our current squad I’d say there is perhaps potential for improvement in one area, that of support striker. This assumes Robin stays. If Robin decides he wants to ply his trade elsewhere the desire to improve will become a necessity to replace.

The second question is the most difficult to answer, it requires careful planning by Arsene and is the part of his job that must be the hardest. Some of you will remember in January that I wrote a post saying how Thierry would be our only business as our 25 man PL squad was at its limit of overseas players, eventually Manuel Almunia had to make way for a short term space for Thierry.

Additionally we now have players that were not required to be named in the PL squad but over the next two years they will be.

So let’s take a look at where we are with our current squad going into next season and where we will need to cut to make new signings. The assumption is most new signings will be non homegrown, thankfully our youth policy allows us to fill up the squad with players deemed to be homegrown.

Potential 2012-13 Squad – Players Over 21 on 1 January 2012 (in bold are homegrown):
For this purpose I have assumed Arshavin has returned as he has stated his wish to do so and also Mannone will return into the squad also

Goalkeepers:3
Wojciech Szczesny
Vito Mannone
Lukasz Fabianski

Defenders: 7
Johan Djourou
Kieran Gibbs
Laurent Koscielny
Andre Santos
Bacary Sagna
Per Mertesacker
Thomas Vermaelen

Midfielders:5
Alex Song
Aaron Ramsey
Tomas Rosicky
Mikel Arteta
About Diaby

Wingers: 3
Theo Walcott
Gervinho
Andrey Arshavin

Centre Forwards: 3
Robin van Persie
Marouane Chamakh
Ju Young Park

So thats the current squad we are coping with, the eagle eyed amongst you will notice the absence of Squidgy (I believe his contract is up at seasons end) and Yossi (who’s loan spell will see him return to Chelsea).

In 2012-13 Arsene will have a squad of 21 players requiring to be named, 14 non homegrown, therefore we have space for 4 players, 3 of which can be non homegrown. There is also the potential of Nicklas Bendtner, Denilson and Carlos Vela returning although this seems unlikely. Henri Lansbury and Kyle Bartley will also be returning (Bartley is not required to be named but Lansbury will be).

You will also notice that Jack Wishere, Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong, and Carl Jenkinson who have all had first team appearances are excluded, this group of players are currently 20 so do not require inclusion until 2013-14 season.Then we have another batch of youngsters including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Benik Afobe, Ignasi Miquel who are still under 20, but will soon be requiring naming in the squad.

Its not like we have five or six players in the current squad coming to end of their contracts anytime soon.The long and short of it is this isn’t Championship Manager, not only does Arsene have to assemble a squad that can achieve success on the pitch today, but also he needs to think about the players coming through the ranks and how to include them in the future.

It is not as simple as buy this player and sell that one, would you really want to be the person who bought a player that led to Frimpong, Miquel or Coquelin not getting into the squad in the future?

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

Kroenke Fails in Ownership Bid – Arsenal to Benefit?

April 5, 2012

Mostly unnoticed on the UK side of the Atlantic, Arsenal’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, has suffered a setback to his sporting ambitions in the United States.

Kroenke combines being a Trappist monk (vow of silence) with owning sports franchises in the NFL (American football), NHL (ice hockey), NBA (basketball) and MLS (soccer) as well as his stake in Arsenal. He also owns a professional lacrosse team (it’s a game where people chase a ball with butterfly nets) and, for all I know, he may be heavily invested in curling, dwarf-throwing and synchronised swimming.

But even that’s not enough! Up until last Thursday (March 28th) Kroenke had also been in the final round of bidders for the LA Dodgers baseball team.

The Dodgers, one of the biggest “brands” in US baseball with a beautiful, historic stadium in the hills above Los Angeles, had filed for bankruptcy protection under the previous owners and the franchise was put up for sale.

In the end the winning bid – a mighty $2 billion – came from a consortium including former LA Lakers basketball legend Magic Johnson.

Silent Stan’s failure is not particularly surprising. Had he won, he would have found himself in violation of the NFL’s cross-ownership policies (even though basketball and football are different sports, the NFL controls the LA market).

Further, the NFL are said to be unhappy with his stewardship of his American football team, the St Louis Rams and there have been suspicions that he wants to move the Rams out of Missouri and back to Los Angeles (where, as the LA Rams, they played from 1946 to 1994).

With Stan having failed to buy the Dodgers, NFL officials, off the record, are welcoming the prospect of him having more time on his hands to sort out the Rams. Which sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?

Since he gained effective ownership of Arsenal, many commentators and supporters’ groups have questioned whether Kroenke devotes enough time to the club – and, in particular, to making it successful.

His “absentee landlord” approach was deemed to have contributed to Arsenal’s woeful performance in the summer transfer window last year. (History may yet be a kinder judge of the 2011 window, given that it brought in the likes of Arteta, Mertesacker, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santos and Gervinho, but there is no doubt that the last minute nature of many of those deals appeared desperate and unplanned).

Without the job of revitalising the Dodgers (who have not won a World Series since 1998) it is to be hoped that Kroenke will, indeed, be free to give more focus to Arsenal matters.

We may already be seeing the fruits of that, in the apparent attempt to sign up Lukas Podolski even before the window has opened.

Let’s not forget, last year was Stan’s first experience of the transfer window as club owner  and I’m sure he learned a lot. You don’t get to be as rich and successful as he is without being smart and I am confident he will not make the same mistakes this year.

That should mean that we buy early and that we also tie up our business with van Persie, Song and Walcott sooner rather than later.

Time will tell whether Kroenke turns out to be a great owner of Arsenal, a good one or a failure.  I have read many comments suggesting that he presides over mediocrity in his US sports franchises.

That’s actually a little harsh and also betrays a shallow understanding of American sport, where it’s often much harder for a small group of teams to dominate for year after year.

The Rams won the first Superbowl in their history under Stan’s stewardship; his basketball team, the Denver Nuggets, have made the NBA play-offs for the past eight years; his ice hockey franchise, the Colorado Avalanche, has won a Stanley Cup (equivalent of the Superbowl) under his involvement as well as achieving two divisional championships; and the Colorado Rapids (his MLS soccer team) won their first MLS Cup in 2010 with Stan as owner.

So he’s hardly been a flop and, as far as I know, none of his sports businesses has gone bust or is in heavy debt or is run on uneconomic lines. All these things augur well for Arsenal.

RockyLives

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Don’t Panic! All Is Well At Arsenal

April 2, 2012

Here are some results to put the fear of God up you:

  • Losing 2-3 at home to Blackburn Rovers.
  • Losing 0-3 away at Newcastle.
  • Losing 0-1 at Everton.
  • Losing 0-1 at Sunderland.
  • Losing 0-1 at Everton (again).
  • Losing 1-2 at Stoke.

The good news is that none of them are Arsenal results.

The first two defeats belong to Manchester (Surrey) United; the second pair were secured by the Abu Dhabi Oilers and the final two results were achieved by the Neanderthals from N17.

My point being that, in the context of the above results (which are all from this season), a 1-2 defeat away at QPR does not look so bad. Every top club this season has had embarrassing defeats and there will surely be more before this season is done.

The EPL is a competitive league and – literally – anyone is capable of beating anyone on a given day.

Arsenal losing at QPR is now a fact and a statistic, but it does not need to be a milestone. Reading through the comments on AA and elsewhere I feel there has been too much criticism following Saturday’s defeat.

On the day, Rangers played to the best of their ability and we played to 75% of ours. Somewhere in that gap, QPR found the room to win the game and take all three points.

But if you need to know anything about the current Arsenal squad it is that it has repeatedly proved its ability to bounce back from disappointment to confound the critics.

I am delighted that we have the Oilers up next. If we had a park-the-bus team battling against relegation I would doubt our ability to break them down. But a title-challenging Manchester City is exactly what we need.

The Spuds, meanwhile, are away at a confident Sunderland. I fully expect us to win and the Rioters to lose, courtesy of a Nik Bendtner brace, putting us back to a three point lead over the enemy.

QPR?

It was sh*t.

Now we move on.

We are The Arsenal…

RockyLives

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Arsenal: back to earth with a jolt.

April 1, 2012

Few people have wanted to write about our losses this season – there have been too many sadly – and yesterday was no exception. Watching the game on a good stream it was difficult to draw any positives from a lacklustre performance that was more reminiscent of the dark days in January than the recent exciting football we have witnessed.

There were a few shocks. The team selection was strange for a start. It seems that Arsene hasn’t noticed that the team is unbalanced when he starts with Song, Arteta, Rosicky and Ramsey, who out of that four is supposed to run the left wing? Yesterday it was pretty clear that none of them were going to be, which meant that we only had an attacking outlet with Theo on the right.

Why does Ramsey have to start? Why can’t Gervihno or Oxlade-Chamberlain play for 60 minutes and then bring on Ramsey? If Ramsey starts then surely one of Arteta or Rosicky has to be dropped and Ramsey play in their role but Arteta and Rosicky are pretty undroppable at the moment so what’s the answer? Clearly Arsene needs more time to decide but we struggled against Everton away precisely because the aforementioned four started and yesterday the same problem occurred.

Wenger’s post match pretty much laid the blame at the players feet

It is very frustrating because they left us the ball and waited for our mistakes. We took the ball, did not do a lot with it and made the mistakes. At the end of the day that made the result.

Our performance was not good enough to win this kind of game, especially in the duels. They had a little bit of extra special commitment that took advantage of us in some specific positions defensively. Overall we can only congratulate QPR for their attitude and be unhappy with our own performance.

Playing teams that are fighting to stay in the Premier League are always going to be extra difficult to play against but it looked liked one of our senior players had decided to take control of the game all by himself. What was up with Vermaelen? He deserted Koscielny early on in the first half, was culpable for QPR taking the lead and seemed to not want to be a centre-back. In addition Song was finding it difficult to make his Fabregas-like passes find an Arsenal player. I don’t have a problem with Song or indeed any Arsenal player looking to play an eye of the needle pass except when a simpler pass would have done the trick and yesterday there were a few occasions when just passing the ball would have worked better.

Anyway, moaning apart, we started well, but after 5 minutes of not scoring we allowed QPR to get into the game and they went ahead in the 22nd minute. In the 37th minute Robin was fouled just outside the box but the ref allowed the play to continue and luckily Theo was alert and managed a shot that hit the post and rebounded into his path for him to slot home. I always like it when we come from behind but could we push on and actually craft out a win?

We started the second half brightly but were hampered by not really being able to find the right ball for Robin who seemed to be limping. At around the hour mark Robin hit a great free-kick that was pushed away by Kenny and in the next minute Robin is through again but Paddy Kenny makes a great save. The pressure had been building and it did look like we would score but in the 66th minute Mackie skips past Vermaelen and squares a ball to Diakite to score. 2-1.

There was a change in the 69th minute with Gervihno coming on for Ramsey but QPR were happy to dig in and make it even harder for us to play through them. When that change didn’t achieve anything Chamakh and The Ox were brought on for Gibbs and Arteta in the 82nd minute. I’d like to see changes made earlier when we’re chasing a goal, I can’t see how either Chamakh or The Ox really had time to change the game.

And so it came to pass that we lost our 9th game of the season. We didn’t play very well, we certainly didn’t create enough and probably didn’t deserve to get anything from the game. Was it complacency that led to this, certainly I didn’t think that we would falter in west London. We are still in third though and hopefully will see the weekend out there. The chavs won, the oily chavs dropped points and the scum play today. Seven games to go and still I think there’ll be  some twists and turns on the road to staying in the top four.

I’m optimistic that we’ll return to winning ways next Sunday against the oily ones.

Written by peachesgooner

And the following was written by LB

Yet another one of those infuriating games in which on paper we start as favourites but as the reality of the game dawns we are left with the very same paper embarrassingly crumpled in our hands.

Damn that was frustrating, made even worse by the fact that I have at least ten good friends who support that team, I am going to have to suffer smug knowing looks every time I see one of them. And believe me they have memories like elephants I still find myself from time to time in ear shot of them telling that silly story of oh I was there when John Jenson scored and Impey and blah, blah, blah they won three one if you didn’t know; still, at least they will have a new story to bang on about.

What? You want me to talk about the game? Are you sure? Well, we were crap but some players played more crap than others and I am not going to do the polite thing and just say oh well that was just a bad day at the office and we should all move on and focus our attention on the next game. That my friends makes for a very, very boring blog. Match reports are supposed to be about the opinion of the author, it has to be surely because if it was just about describing the game we could all just go and read far more articulate reports from the likes of Henry Winter.

Ok the game; there were two clear managerial strategies in play: QPR’s was to sit back and wait for us to make mistakes and ours was to play a close, tight, quick passing game in the hope of finding a way round them. The result says all we need to know as to whose strategy turned out to be the most effective.

For long periods we moved the ball around the half way line with all the penetrative thrust of a two month old banana. QPR just waited until we made mistakes and picked us off. And that is the fixture and the match report consigned to the dustbin after one sentence.

Szczesny: starting to believe his own hype, he is taking more and more risks and because of that he will not go the whole season without one major embarrassment. Should have held onto the ball and calmed play down just before QPR’s winning goal. 5

Sagna: a shinning light in a sea of mediocrity. 7

Koscielny: just when I was sitting back smugly thinking, well TA do you still prefer Mertasacker’s slow, giraffe-like style to the lightning mobility of the Frole and the Belgiun, Kozzer goes and puts in a scatter brained performance like that. 6

Vermaelen: Tom you were all over the place mate. 4

Gibbs: time for a change, I expect Santos to start in the next game, we needed attacking nous today and Gibbs left us wanting. 5

Song: you can’t blame him for the lack of chances created, well I can’t anyway. I wish he would be a bit greedier and have a shot when he gets the chance. 6

Arteta: The Spaniard gets my MOTM if one has to be awarded; he at least looked as though it really mattered to him. 7.5

Rosicky: went back to his ineffectual dreadful self, missed placed passes, running into dead ends, poor tackles. 4

Walcott: now you would think that I of all people would save the bulk of my wrath for Theo but even though there was very little space to operate in and his control still leaves a lot to be desired he was not bad, the goal obviously helped but all in all I liked Theo’s attitude. 7.25

Van Persie: service, what service? Isolated for most of the game, not at his majestical best when he got the ball it must be said. 6

Ramsey: we have a problem here, young Aaron is too good to be left on the bench and not good enough to be playing. Wenger knows he would never accept being on the bench for any length of time, he would be off, so the Welshman is shoe-horned into the left wing which as we all saw was no good for him and no good for the team. Yes, I know he is young and yes I know he will improve but this comment is about his performance against QPR. 4.5

I have gone from not caring one way or the other as to whether QPR go down to yelling: open the trap door now and let the bunch of banned words drop.

Written by LB (Not a happy bunny).

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal’s new manager

March 28, 2012

Times change, as do football supporters, what was gloom and depression for many fans a month ago, is bright and confident today.

What’s caused this change, have we shipped in all those superstars that were deemed necessary to our survival? Has that awful know nothing, worn out manager left the club, and the vital new assistant manager, you know the defensive coach we couldn’t possibly survive without, has he somehow slotted in seamlessly without me noticing it?

How come the best Tot’s team in years and their shoe in England manager, haven’t built on that ten point lead after having our shower of bargain basement panic signings for breakfast? It had to happen, just had to, didn’t the mega mouthed all-knowing football soothsayer Piers Morgan decree it. Likewise where have the ‘In Arsène we rust’ brigade disappeared to?

Nothing of course has physically changed, it’s just this team of potential has come of age. Uplifted by key players returning from Injury and showing a previously hidden capacity for resilience, they staged a remarkable turnaround  against the self-same Spuds, who when 2 goals ahead on our own pitch in our famously un-atmospheric new stadium, thought it’s all over, it was. 0 – 2 down  became a 5 -2 victory, as the team roared on by supporters who also came of age and finally transferred their pent-up passion to our new home and showed the watching TV world and cynical pundits that Arsène was right all along.

That resilience has stayed as has the belief of those doubting fans, now a mood of optimism pervades the Arsenal world, of course nothing has been won yet, except self-respect. But the pendulum has swung enormously to our advantage. True Man city and Chelsea  both feature in our run in, meaning spurs  probably on paper has the easier ride. But this new Arsenal with a fan base and team that has collectively found itself, are  a match for anyone, third place is in our own hands and I shall be surprised if we don’t take it.

Automatic qualification for the CL will allow Arsène to settle his transfer business in and out, without the distraction of an early start to next year’s European adventure.

Financial fair play awaits, our youth and reserve teams are awash with talent,  the odds are stacked in our favour.IMHO a new golden era is imminent and hopefully that goby Piers Morgan, will choke on his own bile after being banned sin die from the home of football.

Written by dandan

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Posted by dandan

Alex Songinho, He Assists When He Wants: Match Report

March 25, 2012

Having endured the first 60 minutes of the Chavs’ vs. Spuds’ collective attempt to discover the best cure for insomnia, I was extremely pleased to find a half-decent stream to watch the mighty Red & White take on the Villains. I expected AV to put in a performance, partly based on their half decent effort during our last encounter with them in January (FA-cup), and partly on the fact that they have nothing really to play for anymore, which makes these sorts of games a bit of a bonus for them.

Arsenal has build up a phenomenal momentum since the dark PL days in January, mainly based on grit, togetherness, perseverance, and an occasional sprinkling of quality. It is fair to say that the encounters with Pool, NU, and Everton were not the most beautiful games of football Arsenal has ever played, but, at this stage of the season, we don’t care one iota!

However, our game against Villa was very different from our recent incredible achievements as a result of blood, sweat and thunder: there were periods of free-flowing football and, on more than a few occasions, of individual brilliance. In fact, I felt I was watching a game of the Fabregas-era yesterday; you know, one of those where we were in total control from the start, as a result of an early goal. This probably was our easiest game of the season and it is fair to say that the Villains’ lacklustre performance, combined with the early ‘easy’ goal, helped us a long way.

First Half

Arsenal suffered a mini-blow when, unexpectedly, Koscielny could not start as a result of a knee-problem. However, Djourou was ready and fit to take his place, and his mind was instantly taken off any nerves he might have felt, when Heskey planted inadvertently the back of his arm firmly in Johan’s face. Another great example of Johan Cruijff’s fantastically simple quote: ‘Every disadvantage has an advantage, and every advantage has a disadvantage’! JD never looked back and had a fine performance during the entire game.

Both teams started with a formation of 4-2-3-1, with an aim to press early on the opposition’s goalkeeper and defenders. This led to an open start in which Arsenal dominated and created a number of chances. However, AV had a few half-chances themselves as a result of quick breaks, mainly from the right, through their promising – yet disappointing on the day – young talent of Albrighton.

On the 9th minute, Arsenal produced a great move on the right by the almost telepathically aligned duo of Theo and Sagna, and goal scoring machine RvP. The latter’s lay-off reaches Theo who shoots at goal from close range but straight at Shay Given, who is able to parry his effort, albeit straight in the path of Sagna, who then fluffs his shot with his weaker left foot. Arsenal keeps up the pressure and it does not take long before we score.

Most of the pressure had been coming form the right, but it was Gibbs and Gervinho who were able to breach the Villains’ defence first. In the 16th minute, Gervinho, who played quite centrally during the first period of the game, picked out a good run by Gibbs and the latter found himself in the box with a half decent shooting opportunity. I expected him to pass sideways to another player, but he decided to take a shot himself and was richly rewarded for it: 1-0! The goalkeeper should have done better, but one should not look a Given-horse in the mouth, and I am sure Gibbs won’t do that either: his first PL goal, so early in the game, was just what we needed.

AV kept pressing high up the pitch, forcing Szczesny to demonstrate to us the one skill he still needs to improve on: kicking the ball out with some precision. Arsenal, though, managed to pass itself with relative ease out of the Villians’ inconsistent pressing, and a few quick attacks made sure we kept the pressure on our opponent. TV found Theo with a fine diagonal cross and our right-winger demonstrated once again that he possesses a fine first touch, leaving Warnock for dead in a fraction of a second. This time though, it was not to be, as his second touch pushed the ball just a bit too far so Cueller could clear it at the last moment.

The first of three top-quality moments of the game materialised at the 25th minute. Alex Song, who probably has the most complete skills-set in the PL – he can play as a CB, DM, AM; he might even be good as a nr9 or a goalkeeper! – produced once more one of his trademark lofted balls over the top. This time, it was not aimed at RvP but at Theo, who made another clever horizontal run towards the box. His first touch was excellent again and he finished clinically past Given: 2-0!! Some will argue the Villa defence should have done better, but the sheer quality of a) Song’s lofted ball, b) Theo’s first touch and c) his controlled finish were a joy to behold: football at it’s very best!

The second top-quality moment happened on the 39th minute. Song and RvP combined through the middle to reach into the box: RvP seemed to have lost the ball but somehow drags it back from the defender with his left leg, moving it swiftly onto his right, but his shot somehow hit the head of Warnock: it could so easily have been the third goal. It was a brilliant piece of skill by our captain.

Second Half

AV started the second half with a low tempo and similar tactics. Arsenal was able to pass the ball round with relative ease but we lacked a bit of urgency and focus in our attacking endeavours. Gervinho was involved in a few attacks but was no longer able to deliver a precise final ball for his teammates. But the damage was done in the first half, and with the Villains lacking the spirit to start a fight-back, the sun shining nicely, Arsenal enjoying the ‘easiness’ of the game and the supporters singing in unison, we allowed the game to peter out a bit in the second half.

There were still some noticeable moments though. Rosicky had a decent effort on target in the 65th minute, and Santos, who had just come on for Gibbs, gave the ball away clumsily in his first minute on the pitch, which could easily have led to a Villa goal. He can be forgiven though as he, naturally, will have been a bit rusty after such a long lay-off. In the 73rd minute, RvP takes a cheeky free-kick from the left, only for Given to just tip it over the bar. In the 82nd minute, the newly-on Ox makes a blistering run on the right into the box, but a last-minute, great tackle by Ireland just keeps the young Englishman from pulling the trigger. I think Ireland just had enough of the ball for it not to be a penalty, so Dowd called it well imo.

The third top-quality moment of the match was left to the very last minute of the game. In extra time, Arsenal were rewarded a free-kick well outside the area, after a foul on Song. Arteta stepped up once again and this time he was successful with a thunderous bullet to the top right corner of the goal.

A magnificent effort and thoroughly deserved: 3-0!!! You won’t see a better free-kick this season.

Finally

Seven wins on the spin, another clean-sheet, a fitter than ever squad, and a real belief our team can go all the way and finish in the top-3 in May. Happy times!

We are in the driving seat and ahead of us are the Manc teams – the new Oilers and Old Bacon Face’s bunch of scrapers – and they are lucky there are most probably not enough games left to catch up with them anymore. In the rear-mirror we can see the sorry-Spuds and if we narrow our eyes with a bit of effort, we can see the old Oilers, the Chavs, catching their breath whilst desperately looking around who they can put the blame on this time. In the far, far distance we can see some ant-like spots that can only be Dalglish’s darlings. Ooh the virtues of momentum!

We are not there yet though – let’s be careful not to become complacent – but if we can keep this good run of form up, then soon we’ll be firmly positioned in third spot. Not only would this make us the top team in London once more, it would also provide a perfect platform for a firing-on-all-cylinders team for next season. It has been a year of transition, with some tough moments and big disappointment, but the road ahead is full of promise and potential, based on a sound foundation of all the things that matter in football: a great squad, a great manager, a financially healthy club with money for one or two more quality players, a great stadium, fantastic support, and a football philosophy based on total football. Class is permanent – long may it continue!

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by Rasp

Will Arshavin return and more ………….

March 17, 2012

So for the second consecutive weekend we have no game and many like myself will be having withdrawal symptoms.

There were some interesting answers in yesterdays post so I will carry on with the theme .

After five straight wins on the bounce we are all finally bouyant about our team and if the momentum can be kept for the final ten games, third is a distinct possibility.

I ask myself will our manager keep wherever possible to the same starting eleven and has he already earmarked those who will no longer feature at the club come the Summer.

My heart tells me that Robin is committed to Arsenal and in his case, he is for the first time in a few years, the right man to be captain and has the respect from all of the players.

So here are a few posers:

  • Will Park actually start a game this season?
  • Will Chamakh ever play again and if so. score this season and how many?
  • How many penalties will we get and concede?
  • Will Theo keep up his new found form and be given a new contract?
  • Will Arshavin remain at the Club? My gut feeling is no, though I may be wrong. What do you think?
  • Almunia is out of contract and IMO Fabianski will want regular playing time so will he stay. Mannone appears to be not of the standard required, so perhaps another keeper will be brought in. What do you think?
  • We have an array of young talent waiting in the wings who have been given the odd game or so and I am sure players like Miquel, Le Coq, Yennaris and Frimpong will become first teamers given time.
  • Who do you think will be sold at the end of the season?Vela, Bendtner, Squillacci, to name just three.

Anyway let’s hear your opinions and if paper talk is correct Podolski seems to be on his way.

  • Apart from Arshavin, who will be Alan Sugared  😉

Written by kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

Ten games to go – Leave your predictions here

March 16, 2012

After an incredible run of five PL wins in a row, we find ourselves now very well positioned to qualify for next year’s CL tournament. Who would have thought that after the deep-dark triple losses against Fulham, Swansea and the Mancs in January, followed by a goalless draw at Bolton on 1st February, we would bounce back in such an emphatic manner by beating Blackburn, Sunderland, the Spuds, Pool and Toon – scoring 18 goals and conceding 6 goals on the way?

Although I have always believed that all ingredients for success in the near future are taken care off by Arsenal, I must admit I experienced a bout of raw melancholy a few weeks ago, when we lost the away cup-matches to Milan (CL) and Sunderland (FA). It was the manner in which we lost these games that really worried me: the way our formation/system of football looked so toothless, clueless and the way Wenger appeared not to have any answers to it all.

Well, things have changed dramatically and it has come at the right time of the season: we are now fourth, with just one point behind the Spuds and three above the Chavs. What’s even more important is the new-found belief in this team. It looks like Arsenal is finally on the right track and has sorted out its inner-demons: a mixture of determinedness, passion and desire to work for each other by all our players has brought us to what the club’s strap line of ‘Victory Through Harmony’ is all about. The fans are uniting behind the team again as well, and the atmosphere during recent games at THOF has significantly improved.

But we are not there yet: with 10 games to go we have to stay focussed and humble and make sure we do actually qualify for the CL. In October/November we had a spell of winning 7 out of 8 PL games, but unfortunately it was followed by a period of winning only 2 PL games out of 8. It has been a topsy-turvy season, and there are no guarantees we are totally on top of it now.

So how will it end? Our next ten games are against: Everton (a), Villa (h), QPR (a), Citeh (h), Wolves (a), Wigan (h), the Chavs (h), Stoke (a), Norwich (h), West Brom (a). At this stage of the season in particular, none of these games are automatic 3-points-in-the-bag contests.

It would be great to hear everybody’s views re the way the season will end. Let us know your predictions:

* How many points will we get from those 10 games?

* What will be the Top-six at the end of the season (in order)?

* Will Arsenal remain unbeaten?

* How many more goals will RvP score?

* Who will win the PL?

* How many games will Wilshere play of the ten remaining?

* How many goals will Arsenal have scored at the end of the season (currently 57)?

* How many more come-backs this season?

* How many more assists by Alex Song between now and the end of the season?

* How many clean sheets?

* Who will win the CL this year?

* Who will win the FA-cup?

Finally, as a separate question: If we can buy one more player, maximum budget £20m (excluding salary package), who would you like it to be?

Feel free to elaborate on any of your answers if you feel like it, as we like to know your insights. I will make a spreadsheet with all your answers and let you know the top-3 winners of Best Footie Predictors, after the season has ended!

COYRRG

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by Rasp

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