The Calm Before The Storm

August 8, 2010

Open day has come and gone, Cesc has had his run around with his team mates, applauded the faithful as they stood to attention and had his Arsenal ‘shirted’ picture taken next to the gaffa in the official photo.

So it would seem all is well in the Arsenal world, but is it? Dear old Bob Wilson is telling all and sundry that Barca are a disgrace and have treated the club disrespectfully, by trying every underhand trick in the book to unsettle and steal its favourite son. Except that is to offer the club market value for their prize asset.

But never mind AW has used his magic or maybe his lawyer, to remind the young man that he has signed the lucrative contract extension  and would be held to it. Just as we wouldn’t be asking for the return of the pennies, we no doubt deposited in some offshore piggy bank in the guise of image rights, for his signature (eat your heart out, Mr Taxman)

Meanwhile newly returned from holiday and deemed unfit to play prior to the Liverpool match, and maybe not even then, Cesc has been summoned post haste to join the Spanish squad for a meaningless friendly, where having sat on the bench all through the world cup he will probably be played from the start, just to reinforce on Spanish TV, what Barca fans are missing.

In the middle of my writing this Cesc has issued a statement the gist of which is,  I love Arsenal and will stay for one more year and do my very best to bring home a trophy for my Arsenal friends and fans. After that however I would like to return to my roots, my country, my family and the club that discovered me as a boy.

Good on you Cesc, a year from now no reasonable Arsenal fan will blame you when you leave and you will go with our blessing and thanks for all the memories, trophy or not. Providing of course the clubs price is met.

Over at White Hart Lane, Diddy Defoe tells all who will listen that the tots will go further than us in the Champions league. One suspects that will depend solely on who  gets drawn where, if we get drawn in France and the spuds in Russia, then yes he is correct, as his air miles will prove. As for progressing further football wise I have my doubts.

So we are in Poland this week for our final pre season and then back to the UK, from where almost the entire squad will be jetting of to bolster Mr Blatter’s coffers with the proceeds from more friendly internationals being played all over Europe. But whisper it quietly the ever reliable UK press reckon we will have three players in the England squad, even Little Jack is tipped to be elevated to senior status. With the other prospects we know are coming through the ranks, how the hell will the “Wenger only buys foreigners” brigade cope.

And then its the weekend and Liverpool away.  A rejuvenated pool  I reckon, after the demise of the seemingly obnoxious Rafa and the introduction of a thoroughly respected football man as the new manager, things will, takeover troubles aside, pick up at Anfield. So a tough first game ahead, given the lack of match fitness of Cesc and RVP and the undoubted desire of the Liverpool players to impress the new boss. We will learn much from this performance I feel.

How I wish that on the first day of the season the football authorities would say bugger to the TV and the money and kick all the games off on the same day at the same time, just as they used to. Older readers will remember the half time scores of all the games being put up  like cricket scores against the letters placed around the corners of the ground, these letters were published in the programme and each had one of the other first division games allocated to it. The full time whistle was immediately  followed by a mad dash to the car,  just to catch sports report and the reading of the full time scores, somehow something has been lost by the blatant commercialisation, although it has to be said much has also been gained.

So lets just hope our players return unscathed and ready for the fray at the week’s end and I wish all players officials and fans of all teams a great season, we can’t all win but hopefully we can stay fit and free of injury we have seen more than enough of those in recent years.

And as for the Arse, although I would of course love to see us win everything, I will settle for a season of pure Wengerball and hopefully a pot to quieten down the five-year mob. Come on you Arse.

Written by dandan


No defence for no defence.

August 4, 2010

I know the ink is not dry on a contract or even if a contract is being compiled for the signing of Emir Spahić of Montpelier but I find this rather depressing. We’ve lost two world class defenders in Sol Campbell and William Gallas together with Senderos and Silvestre and have managed so far to buy Koscielny to add to our squad. We don’t have a 6’4″ lump in our junior squad waiting to step up so why aren’t we buying one?

What is it about our manager that means that he won’t fix this problem? He must see it, we can all see it, from past  players to current squad members, why would he want to undermine the spine of the team?

We are not going to sign a world class goalkeeper – or even a better one than we already have – and thats a pretty bad situation for a top club to be in. I can slightly understand the logic of not wanting a new keeper and a new centre-back pairing at the same time – the need for good comminication between those three is very important. What I don’t understand is that this situation hasn’t been sprung on Arsène. The failings of our keepers last season cost us the Premiership title so he’s had more than the closed season to be looking around for a new one.

We all say it in hushed voices “If Vermaelen gets injured we’re stuffed” well guess what?  We don’t have to be in this situation and we shouldn’t be. Whatever the reason for  not spending the money now that we have it, can’t possibly be a good enough one.

What is it about buying defenders that gives Arsène such a head-ache? If we can’t defend we get undone, results against Birmingham, Wigan and Blackburn last season show that. I’m all for living life on the edge but spending the last ten minutes of games chewing my fingers with my heart pounding in my chest because we’ve given a goal away and its now 2-1 are going to ruin my health.

Vermaelen is top class. Koscielny we don’t know. Djourou has returned from a year out injured and has so far failed to impress. Before his injury he was fourth choice – Senderos was a more proven centre-back than him.

We’ve spent £8.5m on Koscielny – he may be an excellent find, Spahić may also be an excellent find but this kind of business doesn’t inspire confidence. Arsène – you need some help here, you concentrate on the attack and let someone else help you sort out the defence.

This is an ongoing problem and a serious one and until our defending is brought up to scratch we’re not going to be challenging for the Premiership – it won’t matter how many great goals we score against the others, the ones that count are the ones we let in.


Arsenal – ammunition on it’s way

August 2, 2010

The football season is back with us. The games at the Emirates this weekend enabled AW to showcase his two new signings, both of whom rose admirably to the occasion and gave a good account of themselves. We have a new attacker and defender that are comfortable on the ball and capable of seamlessly fitting into the Arsenal system, whilst adding a much needed touch of aggression at either end of the park.

This tournament last year introduced the chirpy Little Jack Wilshere to a wider audience than those real fans who were already in the know. Having gone to Barnet to watch the reserves play or sad souls like me who having subscribed to yet another pay TV channel saw the precocious 16 year olds awesome, performance against West Ham. Capped with a curling Henry like goal, right in front of the watching AW, sat on his own behind the goal.

Needless to say he was named man of the tournament last year, as indeed he was yesterday, somewhat luckily I felt. He played well enough and his shot on the volley that cannoned off the bar would have been another collectors piece had it been 6”lower.  His immaturity showed through when he was conned by a clever body check into conceding a penalty.

His real success this year and the exciting part for many fans was his link up with another unknown from the Academy conveyor belt Emmanuel Frimpong an 18 year old, solid, tough tackling, defensive midfielder who will collect a card or two along the way but looks the warrior many have been crying out for. Together the two took on the Milan midfield and were not found wanting. To young to do it week in week out, but by the season end I am sure will be regular squad members who have a number of first team appearances – ready to become regulars next season.

Theo has taken a lot of stick recently, but I thought he showed on Sunday with two assists, what his pace and crosses can do for us, if only his team mates would attack the far post when he is making for the goal line. He too is far from the finished article but seems to me to be growing in confidence.

Finally, AW stated he was still in the market for a defender and yet still a hard core of Arsenal fans continue to doubt his word.  I have been staggered by the number of conspiracy theories that follow AW press conference statements since the transfer window opened.  Do we really doubt the integrity of the man that much; how would his constant critics react if they were treated so shabbily, it is not his fault that we are linked with half a dozen different defenders on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we wait until the window closes before we crucify the guy?


Some goals, some heroes – Back to the future….

August 2, 2010

Arsenal3 Celtic2

It was only a pre-season friendly but having taken the lead after 2 minutes following some wonderful build-up play I felt sure that Celtic were going to get a hiding. Watching the footage of the first goal again I was amazed to see Theo running back to stay on-side before LJ passed to him and he in turn flashed the ball across the front of the goal for the onrushing Vela to tap home.  There, you see, Theo does have a footballing brain  but sadly that was about the only time he used it.

Theo’s name  receives the loudest cheer when the teams are announced, the collective wills of 60,000 people want our No. 14 to be the hero and its still not happening.  His crosses were whipped into the box time and time again to no-one. Someone, somewhere has to be learning a lesson from this, if its not Theo then who??? On a positive note he did take a pretty amazing free-kick that he’s obviously been practising and was unlucky not to score.

Another player unlucky not to score was Wilshire who received the ball on the edge of the box from a Rosicky corner. His perfectly executed volley hit the bar and he was quick to head the ball as it returned to him but the keeper was as quick and denied the young mid-fielder his goal. Wilshire is also a hero in the making and there is talk of him being called up to the England squad. If he had scored with this volley he would have cemented his place in Arsenal folklore but I believe he’ll have many more chances to do that.

Thomas Vermaelen is already a hero in my book, he is aggressive in everything he does and the shot he blasted at the keeper must have stung his hands. He scored some great goals for us at the start of last season and I’m hoping that being the caretaker at the back doesn’t stop him getting the chances again.

But there was to be an unlikely hero in this game and it came in the form of Bacary Sagna who scored a fantastic goal in the last minute of the first half. All his team-mates rushed to celebrate with him and a few had wry smiles as they left the pitch for half-time thinking of the chances that had been missed.

It was hard for Arshavin and Chamakh to get any sort of hold on the game when they were introduced late on in the second half but Nasri was busy again playing in the Cesc role. Although Wilshire was awarded MOTM, Frimpong put in another solid performance and I hope he gets his chance.  He’s lively and aggressive, had a few misplaced passes but always chased back after the ball.

It was all going to plan – 3-0 up and the party atmosphere was infectious cue panic and a nail-biting finish.

Celtic were awarded a penalty as Wilshire dragged a player down in the box which was skied by Samaras and then the visitors set about ruffling some feathers scoring two goals late on. We were again left with the familiar feeling of having played some beautiful football, created what could have been some amazing goals but we could have been undone by some chronic defending.

Here we go again ………………………….


Arsenal get it right …. the Press get it wrong

July 29, 2010

 

What is it about the Daily Mail? No matter how much I try to ignore Fleet Street’s greatest embarrassment, I can’t help finding new things about this fear-mongering, xenophobic, Thatcherite rag to annoy me, usually via a Newsnow link. This time it wasn’t some load of nonsense about how we’ll all be mugged by Kosovan asylum seekers if we even dared to step outside our front doors into the warzone that is 21st century British suburbia; it’s just another piece of journalistic sloppiness about football.

MJC posted a very good piece a little while ago about how the new 25-player squad rules will work – to recap, he explained that essentially (a) any player who is born on or after 1 January 1989 doesn’t count towards the 25-player limit at all for the coming season and (b) of the 25 “older” players, eight places are reserved for players who spent at least three seasons in England and Wales between the ages of 16 and 21 – these are “homegrown players”.

Importantly, but apparently beyond the wit of the Daily Mail, homegrown players can have any passport, it’s just where they trained in their early years that counts.  So, Owen Hargreaves, as a Bayern Munich trained player, isn’t homegrown despite being English (sort of), but Nicolas Anelka is homegrown despite not being English and having played in France, Spain and Turkey as well as England. Clubs can have more than eight homegrown players, it’s just a quota to protect against importing too many established players from other leagues.

MJC explained that Arsenal are in pretty good shape for the new rules, but I wondered how that stacked up against our principal rivals. My nerdy curiosity got the better of me, and I checked the current first team squads of our principal rivals for the coming season (Chelsea, United, Spurs and City – sorry, I didn’t bother with Liverpool, they just don’t seem relevant…). I had to make some assumptions about which young players at each club would be serious senior squad contenders, but my conclusion is as follows:

* Arsenal: Squad of 33, of which 13 are under 21. We therefore have five spaces left for non-homegrown players aged over 21.

* Chelsea: Squad of 27, of which five are under 21. They therefore have three spaces left before they reach the 25-player cap, two of which are for homegrown players.

* United: Squad of 33, of which eight are under 21. United therefore have no spaces in their squad, so can’t make new signings without omitting existing squad members.

* Spurs: Squad of 29, of which four are under 21. They also have no space left in their squad for senior players.

* City: Squad of 31, of which six are under 21. But not only do City have no space left in the squad, even before making any further signings, they will already have to omit seven existing senior players.

Of course, none of this matters if our regular first choice players aren’t up to it, but we are clearly in great shape to get the best out of these rules. Only Chelsea come close to being in as good a position.

But what did the Daily Mail say? They of course said that United are doing well because they have lots of English players, but thought Arsenal and Chelsea would have to omit players. In fact, it’s the other way around, United are the worst positoned of last season’s top three. It’s a shame that there are so many people paid to write about our game who don’t know enough about it, or are too lazy to check.

Written by 26may1989


Arsenal Untested ….A Friendly Stroll in The Park

July 28, 2010

SC Neusiedl 1919. 0 Arsenal 4.

With yet another good workout satisfactorily completed the thoughts will turn to The Emirates Cup, where we might really begin to judge our squad at a much higher level, but I will leave that for another time.

The first thing that struck me last night was the stadium, the infamous Sportzentrum Neusiedl. Even allowing for the fact that Neusiedll were being compared to a Conference side, it appeared that someone had quickly assembled a pitch in a far flung park somewhere in eastern Austria. Nevertheless there was a capacity crowd of 2500, amongst which I must have spotted at least 400 kids happily enjoying their ice creams.

Back to more serious matters. We had learnt earlier in the day that Sol had finally decided to leave us for the heady heights of Newcastle and I’m sure all of us wish him well and even at the ripe old age of 36, I feel it would have been beneficial to have him still in our squad. This was further compounded with the sad sight of Djourou leaving the field after barely 20 minutes, and this may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as the need for a centre back is now a must.

I won’t give you a match report as it wasn’t really a game, but in the first half Nasri shone way above anyone else and looked sharper than ever. Wilshere also had a fine first half and was reintroduced midway through the second half. I hope the boss was thinking that the lad is now ready to be an active member of our first team squad.

Frimpong, after a slow start impressed yet again, and it was as nice to see Carlos score with his customary chip, as it was to see Theo score and Chamakh cooly slotting in his first goal for the club from the penalty spot.

Many were surprised to see Almunia start let alone as captain, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. For those who were not aware, Rosicky was withdrawn 10 minutes before the start.

Generally we still look vunerable in defence and again our crossing needs to improve dramatically. This is a real issue for me, but on the other hand we will see a radically different line up for the first game at Anfield. Arshavin is a canny player and one gets the impression, not for the first time, that he is saving himself for the games that really matter.

All in all maybe a few questions were answered for the boss and finally it was nice to see Gibbs back in the team, though he may well need a good few weeks to regain his sharpness. JET for a big lad had a very compact game, but I doubt he is quite ready for the first team, and a word for Mannone who has hardly been mentioned lately, a good penalty save and basically nothing much else to do.

Roll on Saturday and A.C.Milan.

Written by kelsey


Arsenal’s reserves implode – just like the first team

July 26, 2010

 Another Saturday and another Arsenal friendly for your humble scribe (having made the trip to Underhill last weekend with the ArsenalArsenal crew), but thanks to the vagaries of the M25 I missed the first 20 minute or so of the pre season friendly against Blue Square team Welling United, known as ”The Wings”.

The aged turnstile attendant told me “Its one-one mate” as I finally arrived at the Park View Ground  in Welling, one of my old stamping grounds(my school was a misplaced Bendtner shot away from the Danson Park end of the ground); technically in Kent, but in reality an outer London borough that borders north west Kent. It is also a short five minute drive away from the original home of the Gunners, Plumstead Common, so you could say we were back to our roots in this game.

The feeling in the ground that the £11 admission was a bit steep and the quality of the play, certainly from us, tended to support that view. To their credit Arse.com did say that is was very unlikely any first teamers would feature so I suspect it was Welling United who were responsible for the pricing.

Having missed the first two goals, a screamer from Gavin Hoyte and a supposedly generous penalty for the Wings after a chap called Pires was upended in our area; the remainder of the first half saw the Arsenal X1 keep possession fairly well in the centre of the park but as usual over elaborate as the penalty area was approached.  No one especially impressed and in particular Randall seemed quite content to stroll around midfield waiting for opportunities to play the odd flick or lofted pass. He barely seemed to be out of breath at any point in the first half.

With the first half being fairly lack lustre you would have thought the second half would see Arsenal come out with renewed vigour after a Liam Brady rocket had been placed up their  complacency.

What I saw was a Welling side fighting for possession in the midfield and at any set piece a hesitancy in the defenders which screamed out that we would concede with a corner or a cross -which sure enough we did.

To my eyes it seemed the centre backs were waiting for each other to clear the ball and on one of those occasions a Welling player pounced for a tap in. One of the centre backs, Ignasi Miquel, is another one of those Catalans we stole from Bankruptalona against his will. Should he come good then it would behove us to return him “home” as long as the DNA test proves we have a moral obligation to do so.

Of the last two goals one was as a result of a forward having a try from distance, surely that’s not allowed? The other goal was a goal keeping error as the goalie fumbled and an opposition player pounced and scored from the rebound.

Now does that not remind you of the first team somewhat?

I’ve heard it said that one’s greatest strength can be ones greatest weakness also. Arsenal’s possession game is played from the top down, from the first team to the reserves and the under 18’s, which – when it works is all well and good –  so in that respect all our teams have a consistent approach which I don’t have any complaint with.

However our lack of decisive defensive play leads to a more willing and industrious opponent being able to exploit counter attacks when the possession game falls apart. This was very much the case in the second half.

It didn’t help that I had a Welling supporter behind me bellowing “Break his legs” whenever one of our midfielders brought the ball forward, the fact that  none of our players reacted to that taunt from only 10 feet away shows we expect to hear that sort of goading. He then crowed “Who are you?!” when the fourth goal went in. Ah, the joys of the terracing.

So the problems of the first team were mirrored here – namely centre backs who don’t cut out crosses and make effective headed clearances and a reluctance to shoot (although I believe Chuks Aneke did try his luck with a few shots towards the end of the game.)

I was hoping to see this game in order to watch a glimpse of our future; however the problems of the present were flagged up again.

Still, the upside was the new home kit still looked smashing and I’m looking forward to member’s day when I can see the next stage of Arsenalisation at Ashburton Grove.

Written by charybdis1966


Arsenal Midfield Genius Desperate for Hometown Return

July 25, 2010


After many months of speculation which has stirred up so much animosity amongst the Arsenal faithful, it finally looks as though this summer’s biggest transfer saga will not be settled until 2010 at the earliest.

In a statement that seemed to confirm how desperate he is to return to his hometown club, Jack Wilshere said: “It is what I have been dreaming of since I was a little kid, and that was weeks ago. In my heart I want to play for Stevenage Borough. Borough are in my DNA. They are also on my lunchbox. And my pencil case.”

Arsene Wenger was said to be saddened at the not unexpected statement: “There is very little we can do when a player has a desire like this. But I believe that we should expect a fair price for Jack, and that will not happen this year because of Borough’s finances. They may be champions, but they are not rich like me.”

This was taken to be a reference to the ten of thousands of pounds that Stevenage are having to invest in new CCTV cameras at their ground this summer in order to meet minimum Football League arrest quotas.

Meanwhile, in a stunt that was obviously intended to drive a wedge between the player and the Arsenal fans, Wilshere was grabbed from behind by a number of Stevenage Borough footballers during a live charity radio broadcast and was forced to dress up like a chav – the official Stevenage uniform.

One of the Stevenage players said: “It was all a big joke. Little Jackie loved it. We all know that he wants to play his football in our magnificent stadium with our magnificent fans, all within walking distance of North Hertfordshire’s biggest Primark.”

Stevenage’s other sporting genius, Lewis Hamilton, said: “This would be fantastic for Stevenage, and Stevenage deserves it. It such a fantastic, happy place to live, which is why I moved to Switzerland as soon as I got some money.”

Jack Wilshere is 14½

Written by mjc

This is just a bit of fun for a Sunday morning, we’re still around to debate serious Arsenal issues like our lack of defensive cover and whether Arsene Wenger is going to spend any more money in this transfer window.


We, The Mighty Arsenal, Don’t Have A Number 1 Keeper

July 24, 2010

I keep thinking about what Wenger said recently  “we do not have a number one keeper”.

So I did a bit of research. Gerry Peyton, our goalkeeping coach is leaving for personal reasons (Irish would know a bit about him, having represented Ireland on over 30 occasions). Two years ago Sczesney broke both hands, and most probably Arsene is assessing him, but to be fair in the two pre season matches so far, he has had little or nothing to do.

IMO Schwarzer is still on the radar as a keeper/coach, probably short term in the first team, but I doubt anything will be resolved until Fulham have a new manager in place. That leaves Almunia. I wonder where he really stands in Wenger’s mind.

A good point that I have read several times is that the goals ratio to shots that we concede is very high for a top 3 club, and how often, especially at The Emirates we see keepers have their game of the season when they are continuously bombarded by our attacking options.

It makes sense to me, that a keeper who spends 75% of a game doing next to nothing and then concedes will always come under the spotlight a lot more than a keeper who may concede 3 or 4, but actually have a good game.

This is just another point of view as to our definite keeper problems, though the defensive issues are also a must to be addressed.

Is there really an argument that a keeper can be too young to be a first team choice? Look at Iker Casillas,  a product of Real Madrid’s youth system who started in the junior squad during the 1990–91 season. He was first called up to the first team on the 27 November 1997 at age 16 to face Rosenborg in UEFA Champions League 1997–98, but it wasn’t until the 1998–99 season that he debuted in the senior side.

La liga may not be as strong or physical as the Premier league yet now he is regarded as one of the best in the world, and has shown his class on countless occasions for Spain.

We have three problems and they are all linked – not on ability or coaching but by a mental barrier. Almunia has had personal problems and like it or not is compared to Jens Lehmann. Fabianski was mentally shot last season, so can he come back into the cauldron and Szczesny is unproven at the highest level.

At least, at long last, I feel Wenger knows he has to address this problem sooner rather than later.

Written by kelsey


Can Theo learn any Tricks?????

July 22, 2010

Sturm Graz 0 Arsenal 3

It was certainly a good work out in our new away kit (any thoughts)and they all looked pretty fit, but I get the impression that Arshavin doesn’t need these matches as he only wants to be involved in the real thing. JET is a monster, a sort of young Emile Heskey, and showed nimble feet on more than one occasion.

Nordveidt did look composed as did Lansbury when he came on and scored a suberb goal which was calmly taken.

Nasri looked very sharp and was undoubtedly the man of the match in the first half. The prolonged summer rest showed to good effect.

Jack is class,  a little feisty, though he undoubtedly has a football brain and as I’ve  said before he is ready now and IMO should be a useful member to the squad. He is quality and showed it when he drew the right back so that Lansbury could score.

Chamakh will need time and its far too early to judge him but if the truth be known not many of these will feature in the first team.

Gibbs looks assured, but as I said it was basically a work out. What I had  really hoped to see was  an  improvement in Theo, but it wasn’t there, maybe I am judging him too soon,  more about him later on.

It was interesting to see Traore play the first half as left-back, come off at half time and then re-appear for Wilshere on the wing. I wonder what the bosses thinking is with regard to Traore.

I think for Wenger this was an exercise to assess which players should be in the squad this season, together with the fitness levels of both Gibbs and Djourou, and  those that may go out on loan. The majority of the first team haven’t even played yet, so it was an exercise  to slowly see who might be good enough to compliment the side.

Almunia was absent yet again, a prolonged tummy upset or perhaps not. I have a gut feeling that we may have a new number 1 and 2 this season. Fabianski played the first half and was replaced by Szczesny for the second but neither keeper were tested so we’re still in the dark there.

The focal point for me was to watch Theo. He has had a lengthy break, should be fresh as a daisy yet is there any improvement being shown? Unfortunately, in my view, not as yet and midway through the second half he was  attacking via the right wing and for some reason decided to play the ball back from the halfway line to Szczesny.

I know we are split about the progress or lack of progress Theo has made in the 4.5 years he has been with us, and the expectations as a 16 year old were immense. He was unfortunate to suffer various injuries including the inherent shoulder problems that came to light about 2 years ago but these have now been addressed. At 21 one has to decide if he is a naturally gifted footballer who will enhance the team,  or perhaps a slow learner or dare I say it nothing more than a squad player. Some will argue he needs more time, but I am not so sure.

On the other hand I have to eat my own words about Rosicky. He looked  like a player reborn, and he was mighty impressive in his midfield role, spraying accurate passes all over the field, and on more than one occasion I thought it was Cesc. Is he another new signing  😉

A lot to ponder and I am sure you will all have your own view to the points I have raised.

Written by kelsey