New Year Resolution?

January 3, 2012

I’m not feeling at all witty this morning and the things I have to say are mostly obvious and not earth shatteringly different. What I want to know most of all is what on earth happened in our dressing room at half-time yesterday? We had played a very acceptable game up until then, we were good for our lead and yet we didn’t come onto the pitch with any belief that we were going to win the game.

It’s glaringly obvious that goals win games and until we start converting our early chances the burden of being only 1 up is going to weigh heavily on the team and the manager, but what on earth was Arsène doing getting out of his seat to glare at Theo for taking a shot???? Other managers applaud their players for a shot that doesn’t get converted.

The bad luck that we’ve had this season with injuries to our full-backs has affected our game more than we could have imagined. We rely on attacking using our wide players and those who worried early in the season that Santos wasn’t up to defending should eat their words now. We’ve tried to struggle on using our spare centre-backs (not like us to usually have spare centre-backs) but we’re not ticking as a team and now we’re down to the bare bones. Thank goodness there is a week until the next game.

Many players let themselves down in the 2nd half yesterday but some of the manager’s decision making was also strange. He claimed after the game that Djourou was being targetted by Fulham players after his yellow card. Surely it would have been sensible to take him off before he got the 2nd yellow, we were well prepared with both Miquel and Squillacci on the bench.

However, weren’t the team falling apart before the sending off? Where was our mid-field? Our reliable ARS had gone missing. Arteta must be exhausted, Song’s ability to shield the ball and come away with it after a tackle has disappeared completely, although I did think that Ramsey was having his best game for a while.

Too many games in such a small space of time are bound to take their toll on such a small squad already ravaged by injuries and we now have Djourou banned from the next game.

Szczesny told the world on twitter that he was at fault for the first goal and hadn’t had a good game. It was unusual to see him flapping and it goes to show how important an unflappable goalie is.

Would we have been stronger with Vermaelen on the pitch? His leadership qualities were what we missed, I hope his ‘three weeks’ doesn’t turn into more than that.

This Arsenal team has done very well at protecting a 1 goal lead but you have to ask why were they sitting so deep for more than 25 minutes. Where is the get up and go? Was it just that they were too tired to do anything else?

Many of us have wondered why Arsène doesn’t learn from previous mistakes. It’s not his fault that we have so many injuries but it is his fault that we have signed players to score goals that just don’t seem to be able to.

The blur of these last four games should disappear quickly if we return to form after a much needed rest but a repeat of last night’s second half is never far away.

Arsène, if you want this Arsenal team to be successful, let them shoot. We have a great defence now, solid centre-backs but they can’t win games by themselves. We need to score goals, if you’re not going to buy someone then at least release the players we have from their straight jackets and find their shooting boots.

peachesgooner

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Hello 4th – Happy New Year

January 1, 2012

Football on New Years Eve!? Do the FA not give any thought to the bloggers having to write match reports?

Anyhow, QPR were the latest visitors to the Emirates during this crazy Christmas period. With Liverpool already picking up 3 points a day earlier against Newcastle, and with United, Chelsea and Spurs all expected to win against relegation fodder (see what I done! He he), it was imperative that Arsenal return to winning ways and pick up maximum points against Neil Warnocks men.

Line ups were as expected with a fully rested Arteta and Ramsey returning in place of Rosicky and Benayoun. The only real shock being the return of Arshavin to the starting berth in place of Gervinho.

Arsenal started a little slowly and it was QPR who had the first shot in anger with Bothroyd forcing an easy save from Szscesny. It was QPR again looking threatening moments later as Wright Phillips and Taarabt combined well to produce another good stop from the Gunners keeper.

QPR, despite their bright start, were expected to park the bus, however, it soon became apparent that they had brought the minibus as Arsenal, and in particular Van Persie, started to find space. The first Gunners chance came when Van Persie twisted Connelly inside out before firing with his left straight at Cerny. Minutes later it was RvP with another chance from a beautiful Ramsey cross which the Dutchmen did well to stretch and direct just wide of the far post. Arsenal were moving up the gears.

Then came a crazy few minutes where the home side should have gone at least 1 up. Djourou dribbled from right to left before feeding RvP in the box, who in a flash turned Young into old before firing over with the keeper diving at his feet. Seconds later Arsenal were awarded a free kick when the enemy, Barton, was booked for a late lunge on Arteta. Robin fired the free kick deep towards Koscielny who managed to direct a header down to the feet of Walcott who could only volley a difficult chance back across goal when he could’ve, and maybe shouldve, done better. Arsenal were beginning to turn the screw, but the best chance of the half ended in frustration again as Vermaelen floated a beautiful ball over the top of the static QPR defence to find an onrushing Van Persie, who could only fire over from 15 yards with his right foot volley. Unlucky.

As the first half drew to a close, the referee decided to get involved in the game. First of all he decided that it was no penalty when Young handled from a Koscielny volley. 50/50 if I’m honest. Then, bizarrely, it was a question of mistaken identity as Vermaelen was booked for a challenge made by Koscielny! I think Atkinson had started the NYE drinking early!

Just before the half time whistle Arsenal had another great chance as Ramsey’s volley was cleared off the line by Barton. It was starting to feel like one of those days!

Into the second half and QPR again started strongly. Old boys Traore and Bothroyd linking well down the left before the latter fired a great ball across the 6 yard box that Szscesny did well to parry before grabbing a weak follow-up from Faurlin. The poor start to the half was then made worse when Vermaelen (still on a yellow, as apparently they couldn’t change it!) had to be replaced by Coquelin after picking up a knock. 2-3 weeks out apparently and a loanee defender needed, though with the way Coquelin played we may have enough cover.

Arsenal may have started the second half a little shaky, but it wasn’t long before QPR were being ripped apart again. This time it was the lively Ramsey with a defence splitter that found Theo sprinting through on his own. Unfortunately, Walcotts legs seemed to take him to the goal quicker than his brain wanted and by the time he had thought about where he was going to place it his right boot had already struck the ball 4 yards wide! Henry, looking on, must’ve wondered why they didnt retire the number 14 shirt. Poor effort.

Arsenal had been wasteful thus far, but, as they say, If you create enough chances then eventually you will score, and so it proved. Ironically, after so much good play from the home side, it was a QPR mistake that lead to the goal. A loose pass from SWP fell straight to the feet of the much improved Arshavin, who, for all his faults, still knows how to make a perfectly weighted through ball look simple. RvP had nothing to do except slide the ball past the onrushing keeper to make it 35 goals for 2011 and beat Henry’s record. 1-0 to the Arsenal. Easy.

Arsenal could finally relax, and the football that followed reflected the change in atmosphere. Firstly, Arshavin was denied by a fantastic, last ditch tackle from the evergreen Young. Then, moments later, Ramsey couldn’t quite find RvP in the box when maybe a shot was the better option. QPR, however, were still in the game at 1-0 and Taarabt forced a fine save from the Arsenal number one at the other end as the away side pressed for an equaliser. Arsenal had to be careful.

QPR were starting to push forward, but with Koscielny and BFG looking solid, the nearest they came to an equaliser was when Taarabt decided to audition for his Olympic diving team in the Gunners box. He would’ve qualified!

In the latter stages, Ramsey and especially Gervinho, a replacement for Walcott, were responsible for keeping the score at just one. Firstly, Gerv decided to try and dribble through a crowded box when a left foot strike would have been the better option. Then seconds later RvP shrugged off SWP in the box to cut back for Gervinho who should really have scored with his left from 3 yards, but he somehow put it wide (maybe that’s why he didn’t shoot earlier with his left!).

The last 5 minutes would usually be squeaky bum time for an Arsene Wenger side, but with Kozzer and BFG looking solid, this Arsenal team never looked like conceding.

A solid NYE performance from the Gunners but they were definitely guilty of some poor finishing. Hopefully, the return of Henry will see that rectified, but based on the build up play, it’s only a matter of time before others in addition to RvP start finding the net.

MoTM for me was RvP, I thought his control at times was outstanding and he gave the defenders a nightmare, could’ve had 3 or 4 but only because he created so many chances for himself, especially first half.

Great results elsewhere means Arsenal ended the day in 4th and on the heels of the other CL pretenders.

No ratings from me due to having to watch the game on a terrible stream! Feel free to add your own.

Written by FatGingerGooner

Belated Ratings from Harry:
Szczesny: 7.5; Oozed Confidence, positionally sound, loved the way he closed down SWP early doors. His distribution was sound and in keeping with his improvement, he looks to move it quick but is more considered, rather than rash.
Djourou: 7; Much better, not a favourite of mine at the moment, like TV he is slightly out of his comfort zone, but he is getting better. Still drifts to middle and lets wide players in behind, lacks confidence, when in tight situations with pressure been applied.
BFG: 8; Reads the game so well, made 3 or 4 telling interceptions. He mops up the loose and distributes well, with bumpy passes!!
Kozzer: 9; This guy is unreal, tackles, blocks and reads danger with his eyes closed, for me he is the French Keown! MoTM by a Kilometre, RVP rightlty gets the plaudits for been able to score the goals, but behind every genius you need the Grafters and boy does Laurent do that, at the moment, 1st name on the team sheet with Szcz and RVP. Please stay fit………..
Vermaelen: 7.5; Our Belgique Warrior, steady and determined as always, tracked players well and let no one in behind. Incorrectly booked due to mistaken identity.
Song. 7; Did his job, but not at his usual imperious best, some wayward passing at times. Was strong in the tackles and broke up play.
Arteta.7; Again did his job with minimal fuss, kept the ball well and picked out some great passes, but seemed not quite as sharp as usual and for me it slowed us down on the break, plays game in game out. Was hacked down by the 8th Archangel JoeyHades.
Ramsey. 8.5; This boy is more energetic than a duracel bunny, he must have a rolls royce engine under that rib cage. He ran, he closed, he delivered some great crosses. The occasional pass failed the odd audacious back heel came off. Unlucky with a delightful volley on the edge of the area, which deflected wide. Pushed Kozzer for MotM. By the way some of the abuse this lad gets from the fans is unreal
Arshavin. 4; Gets the 4 for the key assist for RVP, 1 or 2 tackles and a 2min spell where he seemed interested, apart from that, he was shocking, something is not right.
Van Persie: 8.5; Outstanding game and will be some peoples choice for Man of the match. Took his goal well, he bamboozled QPR defenders with his nimble footwork, unlucky not to score 2 or 3 others, the volley in the 1st half by his majestic standards was a surprising miss, did everything right, but was just slightly leaning back as he struck it.
Walcott: 7; Worked hard and got forward well, won us most of our corners, ok lets get to it, in the 2nd half he went through one on one and fluffed his lines, for that I wont defend him, he needs to to take these chances or at least let the keeper make a world class save. The abuse he gets is vile and unjust, he wont stay at our club, which will please some people, it wont me.
Subs:
Coquelin: 7: On for TV, did ok in yet another position for the young french prodigy. Although an attempted Kung Fu Clearance near the end was a tad naive.
Rosicky. 7: Added much needed urgency and gets involved everywhere, just wished he could last 90mins, he would be in the 1st 11 everyweek.
Gervinho. 6: Shocking miss, had 2 or 3 chances to help wrap the game up, one immediately after coming on, was unlucky with that, but then on he made some poor decisions.
Manager 7.5:
I thought the team had a better balance than against wolves, but some players were tired, I thought he should have brought on Ox as did everyone else!! But did subs at right time, for him!, I would have subbed AA at  Half time.
Overall:
3 points were vital, before the scores of others were known, with them scores in, the 3 points felt like 6, winning ugly hasnt been in our make up, so its good we have that again now, but I wouldnt mind a pretty win once in a while, need to play at pace………
Happy New Year, into 4th and into the Transfer Window, surely????

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Thierry Henry – The Gunner Galactico

December 29, 2011

Written by Jamie

When Thierry Henry scored in Madrid in 2005, the ITV commentator, Peter Drury, I think, called him “the gunner galactico” and since we have now given our record scorer a statue, it seems a fair representation of his greatness.

In April 2004 I stood in the lower east stand, just over an hour before kickoff. The gates were open for a morning kick off against Liverpool. A game which after losing and FA Cup Semi Final to Manchester United and a Champions League quarter final to Chelsea only days before had taken on increased significance.

If Arsenal were to fail now, that would surely be the end.

There were probably only a hundred gooners in the ground. Henry was making a joke of the fitness test Gary Lewin was asking him to perform.

Jogging round cones with all the enthusiasm of a teenage boy doing the washing up. Gary Lewin shakes his head with a wry smile. As the five/ ten minute session ends on the sundrenched Highbury pitch both Lewin and Henry walk for the tunnel, Henry seeming to plead like a kid who had not done enough to earn his pocket money.

Henry started the game with a back injury and had an awful first half but did manage to lob Dudek. Arsenal ended the half 1-2 down.

Months later the players were asked what Wenger said at half time and they replied that the only instruction was to keep passing.

Suddenly Ljungberg and Pires where everywhere and pretty soon Pires had levelled the score from close range.

Then it happened, Thierry Henry picked the ball up just inside the Liverpool half. Faced with a wall of white shirts he first jogged then sprinted, faced with Carragher a change of feet was enough. Each row in the East and West stands rising as Henry went passed.

Then faced with Dudek, Henry side footed the ball to the corner of the net. You often hear the phrase, that lifted the roof, well that doesn’t do it justice.

After a week of torture, everybody convinced we would blow it, we came back from the dead and blew Liverpool away.

Henry often recalls this to be his favourite goal, largely I assume because of the significance to the team. You see, that is what great players do, they take a bad day, they take fear and panic and they blow it away in the blink of an eye.

Henry went on to score a lucky third and Arsenal went on to win the League and become the first English team since football became a serious game to go a season unbeaten.

That moment changed the course of football history.

Arsenal had other great players, gladiators like Campbell and Vieira, the extraordinary Bergkamp, First goal Freddie and Thierry Henry’s delightful sidekick Robert Pires.

As Bergkamp was in his earlier career, Thierry Henry was now Prima Ballerina, the star turn, and elegant mix of dexterity and finesse. The perfect first touch, pace, poise and technique.

Henry had his moments though, he sat in tears after the 2001 FA Cup Final defeat against Liverpool. Henry among others missed a hatful in a game that Arsenal dominated and lost. He was out of sorts in Copenhagen 12 months earlier as Arsenal lost the UEFA cup final to Galatasaray.

Henry would lead the Arsenal’s scoring charts again in 2001/2 as the Gunners went on to lift the double. Henry and Pires were telepathic by now and the first two thirds of the season swept all before them.

The following year Arsenal were to throw away the league title after having held a big lead over Manchester United.

Henry had been incredible at times including a stunning hat-trick in Rome and a monumental performance against Spurs at Highbury in a game where for the last ten minutes Henry and Pires continually humiliated Spurs’ Stephen Carr after Carr had flattened Pires in the first few minutes of the game.

From 2001-5 he and Arsenal got there rewards for the work the team had put in since Henry’s arrival in 1999 as a replacement for Nicolas Anelka. The trophies flooded in.

Dennis Bergkamp played a role in Henry’s development, Henry spent the first two years of his Arsenal career trying to bend shots around the keeper. The Bergkamp-esque curler, something which he eventually mastered and made his own.

Bergkamp taught him where to run. Pires taught him how to hang out on the left and let the game come to him. Like Cruyff’s theory of creating space by standing still.

Late in a game Henry would stand, hands on hip on the half way line, usually on the left. Arsenal defending a lead, only to spring to lightning paced action should the ball be fed to him on the counter attack.

  • The trademark dummy and drag back,
  • the blind runs to the by-line only for him to wriggle a way out,
  • the explosive one on one finisher,
  • the frustrated whack from outside the box,
  • the corner flag showman in the dying minutes,
  • the pumped match winner in Madrid.

Whatever you remember King Henry for I am sure you will be recalling it now with a smile on your face.

It is also time to dispel a few myths about the great man.

Idiots might tell you that Henry didn’t score in the big games, He scored great goals against Manchester United, Real Madrid, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus.

He didn’t score against Barcelona in Arsenal’s the 2006 Champions League final defeat.

He did go on to play for them though.

Henry scored his final Arsenal home goal to win a tight game with Manchester United.  As Sky’s Martin Tyler remarked, “a great moment from the great man”.

Henry was excellent for Barcelona and won everything he hadn’t already won with England and France. He might not of recaptured his Arsenal form but he did edge Ronaldinho out of the left side of Barcelona’s attack.

My favourite memory of the great man is probably this.

In 2003 I travelled to Milan to see the second group stage game against Inter. The first a 3-0 home defeat fell like an axe.

In the San Siro, minus key players Arsenal won 5-1. Late in the game Henry picked up a ball on the break and sprinted towards the box. He stopped, waited for the Inter defender to catch up, teasing,  only to shift the ball past him and smash a left for shot in to the bottom corner. The away end went bananas and I got very drunk in one of Milan’s Irish bars.

Arsenal had been slated for the first Inter game and the Old Trafford brawl which followed but as Henry’s shot smashed the net it was all consigned to history.

Thierry Henry, The Gunner Galactico.

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Arsenal – Wolves: Let’s Keep Things in Perspective

December 28, 2011

So we lost two valuable home-points today against lowly placed Wolves, and now we are all feeling down?

Man City drew against West Brom and Liverpool could not kill off Blackburn yesterday, and neither could Chelsea see-off Fulham. I am as disappointed as anybody for dropping two points against Wolves at home. But the boys gave everything yesterday and it was not to be: 23 attempts on goal, 17 on target and only one goal showing for it (according to the BBC website). When Arsenal play at home and  concede such an unfortunate equaliser the most important thing is to find a balance between a calm/focussed approach to find good scoring opportunities on the one hand, and to develop a real sense of urgency on the other hand. The longer the game took the more we lost that balance, as our sense of urgency took more and more control, at the cost of quality.

This can happen. At least our players never gave up but kept believing. I am absolutely convinced that playing 5 games in the space of 15 days will mean that the teams who are closely competing against each other will, more or less, end up with the same points tally at the end of that period.

There are just too many games in succession for any team to make a bigger leap forward than its direct competitors. At the moment, our direct competitors are Liverpool, Newcastle United, The Spuds and the Chavs. Don’t be totally surprised if by the 4th of January all these teams, as well as Arsenal, will have gathered a similar number of points over the five PL games during the Christmas/New Year period.

Last year, most of us leaped to big conclusions when Arsenal did not manage to beat Wigan away at this stage. We had just beaten the Chavs at home and expectations were sky-high. Arsene was criticised for resting too many players back then, and he will probably now be criticised for not making enough changes, or making the wrong changes in yesterday’s game. The masters of hindsight will now start discussing all the things Wenger should have done, and criticising the choices he made before and during the game. But, I say it again: 17 shots on target and only one went in. Wolves scored a fortuitous goal and we just missed a bit of composure and a bit of luck to win this game. We totally deserved it, but it just was not to be. Did we deserve three points against Aston Villa, a few days ago? Possibly not, but we got them anyway. It’s swings and roundabouts.

In a busy footie-fixtures period like this, we need to move on to the next game and try to win that one. And then move on again and try to win the next one. This is a period of getting as many points as possible and to not have too high expectations of catching up with our most direct competitors. We made great progress in the last few months, and we are now consolidating this. Over the next few months, Arsenal will start working towards 3rd and 4th spot in the PL, and to do well in the CL and FA cup rounds. If we can manage our expectations a bit, and I am talking to myself as well here, the second part of the season can become a very enjoyable one.

Let’s keep the faith: the New Arsenal has all the ingredients for success – it just might take a bit longer than we want it to take.

TotalArsenal

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Huff and Puff Protection

December 26, 2011

The visit of Wolves over the last two seasons has produced two wins for the boys in red and white keeping clean sheets on both occasions. Although Wolves have some robust players McCarthy tries to get them to play football.

He is one of the few managers who I like listening to in post match interviews as he rarely complains about decisions and outcomes of games, choosing instead to inject some humour in his “call a spade a spade” approach to cross examination.

Having read the BBC head to head I am slightly concerned about today’s game as there are too many statistics in our favour. Here are a selection (you can read the rest here):

  1. Wolves are yet to take a point off Arsenal in six previous Premier League matches.
  2. Arsenal have kept clean sheets in each of the last three contests between the sides. Wolves’ last goal was JodyCraddock’s 89th-minute consolation in a 4-1 home defeat in November 2009.
  3. It’s now 13 top-flight matches since Wolves beat Arsenal. That win was at Highbury in 1979 under the management of John Barnwell.
  4. Wolves’ only away win this term came in their season-opener at Blackburn. They are winless in seven subsequent matches.

In addition to the probability that these stats have to be upset sometime there is the added pressure of elevating ourselves to fourth today. On numerous occasions last year United performed poorly in a game and gave us the chance to leapfrog them, nearly every time we failed to maximise on the opportunity.

Today we find out whether most of us are correct to believe that this is indeed a New Arsenal and that they actually have a mental toughness that matters, one that can be used on a football pitch to grind out results rather than the kind that allows one to turn a blind eye to the cry of man overboard.

McCarthy has rarely sent his team out to face us with bus firmly parked, but they will almost certainly be up for the battle. The team need to be prepared to win the battle of midfield first and the right to pass and play.

For me there is not much to figure out in team selection. I fully expect the same line up for Villa except Song will return. There is also a hint that Djourou could be fit, so he could return at right back.

Team for me should be:

We could see Coquelin at right back again but Jarvis offers a threat down the left flank and I think a more experienced defender in Koscielny will stop any early tail lifting danger.

All in all another game where result is more important than the performance which earns it, although perhaps I’ll be greedy and ask for at least two of the three goals Robin needs to surpass Shearer’s calendar year record.

I am struggling with inventors but have managed to come up with Sunbeam – a company founded in 1912 by John Marston and based in Wolverhampton which produced popular bikes, motor bikes and later cars (or at least it did according to wiki).

For those going to the Tavern I’ll see you there.

COYRRG

Written by Gooner In Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

Seasons Greetings

December 25, 2011


In the past year we’ve been joined by Arsenal supporters from Africa,  Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America – only Antarctica to go. Whatever your beliefs, it is a good time to remember and be thankful for what unites us.

We are united by our love of The Arsenal and have forged friendships with people most of whom we are unlikely ever to meet; all made possible by the magic of the internet.

A big thank you has to go to Arsène Wenger, the players and all the backroom staff for giving us a team of which we can all be proud.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the festive season to Arsenal supporters everywhere from all at Arsenal Arsenal

COYRRG


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Who is Arsenal’s Best Centre Back? (Poll)

December 23, 2011

When was the last time you heard the words “Wenger must buy” followed by any of the following: Jagielka, Cahill, Samba, Hangeland?

It seems only weeks ago that were as many headlines linking us with other clubs’  defenders as there are stars in the sky or skeletons in John Terry’s closet.

Now… nothing. They are as a rare as a Howard Webb follicle or an Alan Hutton brain cell.

The manager who was “past it” and “can’t pick defenders” suddenly seems to have made the centre back position one of the strongest at the club. You certainly don’t hear anyone now crying out for a Jagielka or Cahill.

Although injuries to our four leading full backs have played havoc with team selection of late, there is no question that we currently have three excellent centre halves at the club, with several strong back-ups behind them.

What’s interesting is how different the three of them are.

I’m expecting to get shot down for this, but when we had that amazing threesome of Adams, Bould and Keown, they were all (to my eyes) fairly similar players.

They had different strengths and qualities to some degree, but overall their approach was broadly the same: they were big, hard men who bossed the opposition forwards, enjoyed putting themselves in where it hurt, were dominant in the air and strong in the tackle. They were defenders first, footballers second.

But our first choice CBs this year are far less homogenous. Let’s look at their individual styles:

Thomas Vermaelen (the Lion of Flanders)

TV’s absence for most of last season was a huge blow. We’ll never know whether his presence would have steadied the ship enough to enable us to have a real tilt at the title or win the Carling Cup – but it might have done.

He is an out-and-out warrior and, in his style of play, is the closest to the Adams/Bould/Keown mould. He repeatedly wins aerial duels against taller opponents purely on the basis of power, determination and technique. When we’re on the back foot, he’ll be the one throwing his body in the line of fire and encouraging those around him by example. As he showed against Manchester City, he can also be a real handful when he marauds into the opposition half and already has a decent goal haul since joining us.

Per Mertesacker (the Big FOOTBALLING German)

A lot of assumptions were made about big Per when he joined us. With the height of a small office block, it seemed a no-brainer (aka a “Hutton”) that he would add a previously undreamt-of level of aerial dominance to our defending and would be a huge attacking threat at set pieces.

By those lights he has somewhat disappointed. Although tall, he does not have a big jump and, whether paired with Koscielny or Vermaelen, is often the one less likely to be making the aerial challenges. He also made a few costly blunders as he adjusted to the pace of the Premier League and has seemed slow on the turn.

However, from a footballing point of view the BFG is the best central defender we have had for a very, very long time. In fact I would say you have to go back to David O’Leary at his best to find someone who was as good.

Mertesacker’s reading of the game is second to none, which means he often snuffs out moves before they become perilous. It’s less spectacular than the last ditch tackle, but a lot easier on the old ticker.

Further, he is just SO comfortable on the ball. I watched him very carefully in the Villa game – a game in which we came under a great deal of pressure at times. Whenever Per got possession at the back he was able to find space and time and play really intelligent balls to the midfield or attack. He never loses possession and always chooses the right out ball. I don’t want to go over the top, but his time on the ball and his distribution are reminiscent of Bobby Moore.

You would not want two Mertesackers as your CB pairing, but one BFG paired with a more combative and mobile CB is a match made in N5 (Heaven).

Laurent Koscielny (The Limo*)

I don’t want to seem clever after the fact, but I have been trumpeting Kozzer’s qualities since he first joined us.

He can man mark as well as Martin Keown, but he’s as nippy as a winger and has the turning circle of a London taxi on ice. Famously, he had a 100% tackle success rate in his last season in the French Ligue 1. You’re never going to win all your tackles in the EPL, but he is an astonishingly good tackler – technically almost perfect.

Added to that he is ludicrously brave. Last season he seemed to get brutally clobbered in every single game – sometimes by an opponent, but often by the head, boot or fist of one of his own team mates. He would lie pole-axed for a while, shake his head, then enter the fray. Despite this, he never pulls out of a challenge with leg or head, which must mean he is staggeringly courageous or staggeringly stupid. Hopefully the former. Like Vermaelen he regularly triumphs in aerial battles he has no right to win.

Finally, he is also a pretty decent ball player. In fact one thing all three of our first choice CBs have is a footballing ability that puts them a level above Adams/Bould/Keown.

In Conclusion

The obvious point to make is that we are fortunate to have three such excellent CBs (and fortunate to have a manager capable of seeing their qualities and signing them).

But, when our full backs have returned, it does raise the question as to which two should be in our starting line-up. Obviously all three will get games, but when it comes down to that big, big match-up against either of the Manchesters or the Spuds, which two should get the call-up?

When Rasp did an overview of selection issues in various areas of the team in early November, he ran a poll on this very subject. Over 70% of respondents thought that Vermaelen/Koscielny should be our first choice pairing. Vermaelen and Mertesacker scored just over 25% and Koscielny/Mertesacker just under 4%.

I want to frame this poll somewhat differently.

I’m starting with the idea that we choose an out and out first choice CB, with whom either of the other two can play. Is it Vermaelen with one of the other two? Or Mertesacker? Or Koscielny?

I’ll admit to a bias in doing this. Although I love Vermaelen and Koscielny, I feel that Mertesacker has to start in our strongest line-up because of the immense calmness and control he brings to our back line and our ability to transition out of defence. So for me it would the BFG plus either of the others.

What do you think?

*Koscielny hails from the Limousin region of France.

 

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Violently Happy, KOZ We Love You!

December 22, 2011

Aston Villa 1 – 2 Arsenal Match Report

1st half observations from a bad stream

The first 45 minutes were pretty different from what I expected. Aston Villa did not close us down frantically and allowed Arsenal plenty of space. Especially Gervinho and Theo saw plenty of the ball, as Villa sat deep in the beginning, allowing our wingers to attack them from the sides. Arsenal also allowed Villa a lot of space and there were plenty of chances for each team during the entire first half. The game was surprisingly open and yet the tempo did not appear to be very high.

After Gervinho had tried but failed to reach the by-line on a number of occasions – not being able to beat the ex-Spud Hutton – Theo was successful at the first attempt. He skinned the inexperienced Carian Clark just inside the box of Villa with a brilliant, ballet-like pirouette, after which he had acres of space to pick a pass. The young Villa defender pulled Theo back and the referee Jon Moss blew his whistle, even though Theo had not fallen down as a result of the pull-back. Penalty. RvP lined himself up to reach an incredible milestone: if he scores he will have equalled TH14 calendar year goal scoring tally. Is he nervous though? No, just BOOM in the roof of the net: 1-0 to The Arsenal.

After that, the game remained open, and after quick moves, both Theo and Ramsey got decent opportunities to score from just outside the box. Both missed the deadly accuracy and calmness of Boy Wonder and, as a result, two half-decent opportunities were wasted. Villa had their own chances, predominantly as a result of playing balls quickly into the box from Arsenal’s LB area to their ‘fox in the box’: the man with the warrior-like name of Agbonlahor (for a while, I dreamed of an attacking combination for Arsenal of Arshavin, Adebayor and Agbonlahor: it just sounded like the ultimate warrior-machine: the tree terrible A’s). I thought Vermaelen struggled a few times to put himself in the right positions in the first half, and as a result Aston Villa had a few opportunities to put the ball into the box from our LB area which led  to some half-decent opportunities for them. Luckily, AV were not sharp enough to pounce on these half-chances.

2nd half observations from another bad stream

Aston Villa started well. They allowed us less space and pressed us earlier in our own half. In the 54th minute, an opportunistic, high ball by Villa is defended by Vermaelen, who heads horizontally to Merkesacker. The latter is already on a yellow card and Vermaelen’s header is too short. Albrighton seizes his opportunity by taking the ball past the indecisive Mertesacker, and slots the ball calmly and professionally past the onrushing Szczesny. Quite an impressive finish.

Theo Walcott experiences an almost déjà-vu moment when, just as in the game against Citeh, he gets a decent opportunity to score a goal straight after our kick-off. The impressive again Richard Dunne makes a superb slide-tackle in the box to deny Walcott. Mertesacker seemed desperate to make amends for his and Vermaelen’s defensive error earlier. He was close to scoring a goal from inside the box, not with his head but with his foot, from one of the many Arsenal corners in the second half.

During this half, there is no more space for either Walcott or Gervinho to produce some effective wing-play. Wenger makes three changes in the last 25 minutes: Rosicky, Arshavin and Benayoun for respectively Frimmpong, Gervinho and Ramsey. Arshavin and Benayoun are only given ten minutes to make a difference which is not ideal of course. Frimmpong started to give away unnecessary fouls and both Gervinho and Ramsey looked exhausted.

The changes had an immediate positive impact as Arsenal was able to retake the initiative. We started to control the game and were desperately looking for holes in the middle of AV’s defence. We were awarded corner after corner, and from the 11th corner-kick in the second half – just as every single Gooner had given up hope we would ever score from a corner again – RvP reaches a free Yossi Benayoun (Agbonlahor had not bothered to stay with him in the box), and a late, and no longer expected, Christmas present was delivered to all who love the Arsenal: most probably the lightest man on the pitch, our man on loan from the Chavs, scores with a close-range header: 1-2 with only three minutes to go!

Some conclusions:

A scrappy win: no doubt about that. Our passing was under-par and we seemed to be missing our FB’s a lot more in this game than against the Mancs. We really lacked a strong/effective shape to the team tonight. There were a lot of tired legs out there, but the same goes for Aston Villa; and that was our saving grace.

A few players were brilliant today: Arteta, RvP, and especially Koz: with their energy and never-say-die attitude they made a major contribution to us winning three points tonight. I also thought Coquelin, after a slightly difficult start, had a good game. I was especially impressed with his ability to play long-range passes towards Theo, or diagonally towards the other winger. This boy has style and, judging on these early signs, will go far at Arsenal. It was also good to see Rosicky back. He really gave us a better shape to the team, almost as soon as he was on the pitch.

And well done to Robin for reaching this incredible milestone. We all know how special Thierry Henry was: one of the best strikers I have ever seen. For Robin to equal his calendar-year goals tally is incredible, and with a bit of luck he will surpass Alan Shearer’s by scoring three more goals in the next two home games.

Three points are three points. It is a game best to forget quickly and for us now to concentrate on our next two home games: Wolves and QPR. The boys will now have a rest till at least Monday and Alex Song will be back. Hopefully there will be no further injuries coming from this game, so we can put out a good team against Wolves. Liverpool and Newcastle dropped points again, and today either the Chavs or Spuds, or both, will drop points. The race for third and fourth place is on and we are now very well positioned; just behind the Chavs and the Spuds. Before Big Ben strikes 12 times on New Year’s Eve, we could be snug as a bug in a rug in third place.

COYRRG

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The New Arsenal – a mixture of Spirit and Class

December 19, 2011

Manchester City 1 – 0 Arsenal: Match report and player ratings

Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.

It was not to be. But, despite Citeh’s unforgivable luring of our players and hiring of our legend(s) over the last few seasons, and the shameless ‘investment’ in the club of £800m in order to buy a few pots, we still matched them in all departments today. The margins were small, and to be fair, Citeh did produce the best overall football at times and had the better chances, but throughout the game we played with spirit and class, with a never-say-die attitude and a real belief in ourselves.

The New Arsenal knows how to fight, it knows how to play as a team and for each other, it never gives up, and because of that we deserved a point out of yesterday’s game. It was not to be, but despite the loss of three points yesterday, our team will have won a lot of belief, confidence and real team spirit to build on further. In the long run, this game will prove to have been very valuable for us.

First Half

The game started pretty even, with both teams full of energy and confidence. In the 9th minute Citeh have a decent first chance: Zabaleta puts in a decent cross from the left to Aguero, who controls the ball well but then blasts the ball well over Szczesny and the goal. After that, there is more pressure by MC but Arsenal work hard as a unit and give very little space away. At this stage though, Song gets a yellow card – a very soft one – and soon after that Richards shamelessly tries to get our ‘Only Song’ booked again. A feat repeated by a few more Citeh players during the match, but referee Dowd did well not to fall into that oily trap. Arsenal struggles at the early stages to pass the ball through Citeh’s lines, and our opponents find it easier to pick an attacking through-ball. However, this changes when Song picks out a good run by Gervinho who hits a hard and low diagonal shot which Joe Hart, with an element of luck, is just able to save with his right arm. This was just what we needed to give us believe. The subsequent corner is played towards the edge of the box, where Ramsey hits a good low shot onto Hart’s left corner. The latter makes a decent save though.

In the 23rd minute, Richards puts a high ball into the box which is not handled decisively by our defence. Especially Mertesacker, who does not show enough strength in his one-on-one with Balotelli, is at fault, as the latter is able to turn and shoot at goal from close range. Szczesny imposes himself like an onrushing giant octopus and makes a very decent save. In the 35th minute, we witness another good run from defence into midfield by the superb Koscielny: he plays the ball to RvP, whose shot is blocked but still reaches Ramsey in the box.

Ramsey does not hit the ball cleanly, but does still almost score. Kolo Toure makes a clumsy tackle on Rambo but as he played the ball first, it was always unlikely Arsenal would be given a penalty for it. Gervinho and Theo work very hard all over the pitch and help out our defence on numerous occasions, and this is one of the reasons Arsenal never allows MC to have long periods of pressure on us. The teams continue to be pretty evenly matched. In the 41st minute, Aguero makes an energetic horizontal run across our box – reminiscent of Romario – until he finds a gap to put a decent diagonal shot in, but Szczesny had read his intentions well and saves his effort with ease.

Second Half

After two minutes, Djourou needs to be replaced and Miquel comes on. Arsenal needs to reshuffle its defence: Koz moves from CB to RB, Miquel becomes our LB and Vermaelen moves from LB to CB. Not good of course, but it had to be done. In the 53th minute, a good run through the centre by Gervinho almost finds Theo, but Zabaleta, who had a good game for Citeh, intercepts and the ball falls to Barry. Barry passes to Nasri who sees a sea of space in front of him on the left hand side – so he passes the ball to Balotelli who can collect the ball without any RB pressure (Koz is out of position). Song does his best to move into the space, but Balotelli manages to move the ball to Song’s left side and hits a low drive towards Szczesny.

Our goalkeeper is able to stop the shot, but the ball bounces up and Aguero beats Vermaelen brilliantly with a quick, horizontal header towards Silva, who puts the ball into our net from close range, despite Vermaelen’s flying tackle. A real shame, but plenty of time to make amends. From the subsequent kick-off the ball comes to Theo who shoots at once and forces Hart to make a half-decent save.

In the 56th minute, Gervinho instigates another attack. From Arsenal’s left hand side, he passes back to Ramsey who instantly passes towards RvP. Boy Wonder tricks Hart brilliant, but his goal is ruled offsite. It is very marginal, and at moments like this it would probably really help if we were playing at home, as it needed a ‘benefit of the doubt’ decision in our favour. For the game it would have been brilliant if that one had counted, but it was not to be.

Then, ten mad minutes of football ensue. In the 62nd minute, Aguero unleashed a venomous, diagonal shot across the goal that had Szczesny probably beaten, but it went past the right side of the post for us. In the 63rd minute our defence is carved open by clever interplay of Silva and Nasri. The latter only has to pass the ball sideways in the box towards the relatively quiet Balotelli, and an easy tap-in would have resulted in 2-0 and game over. Unbelievably, Nasri over-hits his pass and we are given another lifeline. In the 64th minute, Gervinho skins Richards with a quick move and brilliant wing-play, and he pulls the ball back superbly for RvP’s, normally lethal, left foot. Unbelievably, Robin scoffs his shot and Hart is able to make a simple save. Ooh, what a shame that was. Had we scored then, we could have won the game, but Robin is human after all! In the 66th minute, Zabaleta hits the post and in the 67th minute Theo puts in a good cross towards RvP and Ramsey, who ones again had made a good run into the box, but they are ruled offsite. Again, this is a marginal decision which did not go our way, but Hart saved very well anyway.

Theo is then replaced by Arshavin, and the former is, understandably, not happy with the decision. In the 71st minute, a good move by Ramsey leads to a pass towards RvP, who quickly finds Arshavin. The pocket Russian has all the time in the world to pass the ball into the box towards several onrushing Arsenal players, but he fails miserably. The only possible excuse is that he still had to get into the game, but nevertheless his misplaced pass, which was easily intercepted by Hart, was pretty unforgivable.

In the 77th minute, we could have had a penalty. It would have been a soft one, but it did appear that Richards moved his arm slightly to stop the ball from going past his body, and he definitely did not try to get his arm out of the way. I can live with the referee’s decision, but I am pretty sure we would have had a penalty if we’d played at home. In the 89th minute, we witness another Arshavin-horror moment, as he miscues the ball badly form a simple pass by RvP. The melancholic Russian made the wrong decision and his execution was equally poor. Theo’s substitution was a bad decision, in hindsight.

Was that it then? Well no, there were still two brilliant Vermaelen moments, which could have so easily given us a deserved point from yesterday’s game. Firstly, from an Arteta free-kick, he drove a fierce shot from outside the box straight at Hart: anywhere else and it would have burst the net. Secondly, he put his entire livelihood into a shot from well outside the box towards Hart’s right side of the goal that only just misses the target.

The last fifteen minutes were almost entirely ours, but ever so frustratingly we just missed a bit of luck and levelheadedness (mainly by Arshavin) to come away from the Etihad stadium with a well-deserved point. However, this game will have done the New Arsenal easily as much good as our recent victory over the Chavs and our qualification for the Champions League last 16. Something the Oilers can only dream off at this stage of their Petrodollar Bonanza Project. And long may it continue.

Player Ratings

Szczesny: top performance: oozes confidence and his decision making is nearly flawless. Strikers fear him and that is half the battle won: 8.5

Koscielny: great drive and positioning (before he became RB). What a joy to have such a dedicated and positive, beastly good CB in our team: 8.5

Mertesacker: some good positioning and he brings calmness and organisation to our team. Needs to become a bit more aggressive and decisive, but I still like his performance: 7

Djourou: had a decent first half in an relatively unfamiliar position, and tried at least a few runs forwards: 7

Vermaelen: absolute beast and works so incredibly hard for the team. Also played in a relatively unfamiliar position and, understandably, we missed the attacking LB play from him at times. His desire to score for us in the last 10 minutes was simply inspirational: an other great player to have at Arsenal: 8.5

Miquel: did very well, and what a classy player we have here: 7.5

Arteta: brilliant game. Fought like a stallion and worked his socks off for the team. Together with Song, he tamed the MC midfield: 8.5

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

Song: brilliant game. Fought like a lion and did very well not to get a second yellow card: a very mature performance. Together with Arteta, he tamed the MC midfield: 8.5

Theo: was often isolated in attack and when he had the ball he was unable to shield it very well at times. He is not able to attack defenders from standing still; the way Gervinho does and that really is a handicap for him in games like this. Worked his socks off to help out our defence: 7.5

Gervinho: some will say he needs to improve on his decision making. Although, he made a few not-so-good decisions, he made many very good decision and he was everywhere yesterday. Like Theo he helped out our defence constantly, but he also set up many of our attacks: 8.5

RvP: worked his socks off for the team, and scored a brilliant goal which was given offsite unfortunately. Missed a good chance, but was also up against one of the best CB’s in the world right now (Kompany): 8.5

My Man of the Match: the entire team. They did us proud yesterday.

Written by TotalArsenal.

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Posted by Rasp

CB4 versus CH5

December 18, 2011

Thanks to the Siberian oligarch’s team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.

The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world’s wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.

The Abu Dhabi owned north western club’s unbeaten run was bought to a shuddering halt by events at the bus stop in Fulham last weekend so the aura of league invincibility has been broken.

Additionally the expected exit from the top flight of European football that preceded the league set back will have some effect on the team dynamic for the Sky Blues on show today, however they still have a 100% home record this season and will jealously guard that record.

The Arsenal have seven wins and a draw from their last eight (the draw being at home against Fulham) so form wise things don’t look too shabby for us.

The main talking point team selection wise will be the full backs for either side. Taking the home team first, Clichy ‘s unavailability and the other first team left back’s(Kolarov) injury means it is expected that Zabaleta will switch from his usual right sided position so that a returning Micah Richards can slot into his preferred right back spot.

As for the good guys, it is well documented that both the first choice and back up for both full back positions are all out injured so we continue with an all centre-back derived back four. As there are no injuries or returnees from injury from the Everton game the back four should be as before, from left to right as we look at it: Djourou, Kozzer, Per (BFG), and The Verminator.

In midfield the first choice trio of Song, Arteta and Ramsey virtually picks itself with front three being Theo, Gervinho and Robin.

Trying to pick the opposition team, aside from their fullbacks and goalie is less predictable suffice to say that there is a wealth of options available to Mancini, however one would expect to see their key man Silva start with any two up front from a choice of three strikers from Aguero, Dzeko and the pyrotechnic, synthetic grass allergic prankster.

The other midfield places up for grabs could see the Ballon D’or candidate S. Na$ri esq show us his skills in advance of his appearances in the Premier European competition as showcased by Channel 5, namely the Europa Cup.

To my mind the strength of the attacks down the flanks will decide who breaks through to score – both sides do not have their ideal full backs, however the good guys will have had the experience of the Everton game operating as a defensive unit whereas the home side will not be settled and have a right back who is not only returning from injury but has a tendency to attack sufficiently to allow Gervinho to exploit any space behind Micah Richards, especially as Gervinho won’t have to assist defensively as the Verminator is no slouch at left back.

Theo’s willingness to track back should afford Djourou a degree of protection so with those two facts in mind I expect some solidity in defence.

With our possession game on song nowadays I believe patience will be required to quieten the home crowd so that a nil nil at half time should get the boos ringing out at the Municipal ground in M11, Lancashire.

In keeping with this season’s motif in match previews, I point you in the direction of Reverend George Garrett a product of 1850’s Moss Side, the inventor of the world first mechanically driven submarine and the possessor of a fine beard-bald head combo.

Down periscope !

Down periscope !

Sadly his first attempt at a sub sank (the Resurgam, which weighed in at 45 tons) after a towing rope snapped and his reputation suffered to such an extent that he died in abject poverty at the turn of the century in New York, having emigrated there in order to revive his flagging reputation. Perhaps a salutary tale for the noveau riche of the Premier League.

COYRRG.

Charybdis1966.

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Posted by ChärybdÏß1966

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