Once upon a time, if you wanted to watch a football match you put on your raincoat, put a pork pie in your pocket, queued up at a turnstile, put down your cash and elbowed your way onto your favourite bit of terracing.

You watched the game as you swayed with the crowd, stamped your feet if it was cold and joined in the cheering and jeering. If you blinked when a goal was scored, tough luck, no replays on the big screen and no pundit to tell you what you had missed.

By the time you got home, if you lived in London that is, the classified editions of The Star, The Evening News and The Standard were on sale so you could check the score and scorers and read a brief description of the game, which had probably been written by some drunken hack who had passed out at half-time.

Nowadays every move, every foul, every goal, every incident is shown and repeated as nauseum. There are a host of ex-players, in sharp suits and drawing huge salaries, just bursting to tell you what you had already seen for yourself.

Referee’s decisions are examined in forensic detail, frequently by pundits who themselves are less than au fait with the laws of the game. Players are castigated for making what these “experts” perceive to be the wrong decision even though that decision is made in a split second often under immense pressure from the game situation as well as from opposing players and in the full knowledge that it has been recorded for posterity by half a dozen or more cameras.

Everyone is an expert, everyone can demonstrate their “expertise” on the many and varied blogs that abound on the internet.

Journalists actually use information and opinions garnered from those blogs in their own columns and for their own ends.

A whole new industry has sprung up around football, there seems to be a compulsion for fans to know every little detail about their club, it’s ownership, it’s finances, the manager and players. When Harry Redknap made a throwaway remark about the weight of one of his players it was instantly “news” and plastered all over the back pages of the tabloids for the delectation of “The Fans”.

In the past a player could go out after the game on a Saturday, have a few beers and a game of cards in the smoke filled back room of his local and nobody would be the wiser or worried. Nowadays a player photographed falling out of a nightclub with his trousers at half mast is given the full back page treatment, his morals are questioned as is his commitment to his club, “insiders” will be ready with rumours about the punishment inflicted by his manager and his agent will be salivating at the thought of a possible transfer and his own share of the inflated fee that will eventually be forthcoming.

Are we as football fans better served by the Information Age? Are we better informed by the opinions of the uninformed? Or would we all actually enjoy the game a little more without the existing level of insight?

Somebody once said “Football is a simple game”. Couldn’t we simply enjoy it for what it is? Shouldn’t we simply enjoy it for what it is?

Written by Norfolk Gooner

Of course not.

Alexis Sanchez is a work horse with amazing speed and you know from his time in Barcelona that this guy will run up and down the pitch non stop. Luckily for Arsenal  he hasn’t failed to bring that kind of work rate to us who, I feel, desperately needed a player that can work his arse off.

He carries some of the most important traits needed in football. His work rate, combined with his speed and ability to always score goals is what every club needs. Many times you’ll see players start to slow down midway through the second half as if the game has finished, but we all know that until we hear the whistle the game isn’t over and anything can still happen. When Sanchez plays you can guarantee he will push until the referee says its over.

More over, Sanchez has always been that player in the right place ready to score and I think he has pushed Arsenal despite the absence of Ozil who was meant to be Arsenal’s main star.

We’ve finally got ourselves a genuine talisman. Someone of genuine heart, fight and undoubted quality that can single handily win us games or that can raise the level of the whole team simply through the influence of his performances.

I thought he was brilliant, and I saw something I haven’t seen for almost a decade with one of our player’s – the opposition, defenders and midfielders, looking tentative and unsure whenever he was around. He’s such an all-rounder that you know he can hassle you into errors, win the ball, run at you, beat you with the dribble or for pace, pick a pass and can finish. How do you deal with players like that? They are a nuisance for a defender! Easily, Wenger’s best buy for a decade IMO.

The performance was okay today – not great, but okay.We moved up a gear from last week’s win at Sunderland and that in itself is a positive. I just wonder why it took that first goal before we looked like a completely different and dangerous team. Mental hurdles to clear most probably. I think Wenger got it wrong with Flamini and Arteta in the middle. It was too tentative for a home game, and it was obvious the thrust Ramsey brought into our play when he came on.

Anyway, the last 20 odd minutes is about as much as I’ve enjoyed watching us play this year. Good football played at a high tempo with purpose and incision. I would love to see more of that. Special mentions for Chambers (goal and assist) and Monreal who I thought had a fantastic game at the back, and how nice to have Theo back! Santi needs a rest as he is woefully out of form, but he will be back.

But I think the day belonged to Sanchez, and we should all feel very lucky to have that lad playing for us .

kelsey

Chas posted a video the other morning that featured Eric Cantona, and it got me thinking.

My Wife does not watch football, but I do remember one occasion when she found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time as a Utd v Arsenal game was beamed into the Didit Moving Image Receiver.

The camera zoomed in to Cantona leading the United side out of the tunnel, and she “ooo’d”. What she observed was a supremely confident man, heaving with pride and a steely look of determination in his eyes. His body language screamed “proud”, “I’m The Daddy here” and “we do it my way”.

I agreed with her, and bear in mind she had no idea that this man was also blessed with incredible talent, and equally importantly for me, the unpredictable.

In life, I like people with an edge and real point of difference, and I would have loved Eric Cantona to have been an Arsenal player.

My question, then, is this: who would you have liked to see in the famous shirt. Clearly there are moments in our past where obvious gaps needed filling and that the team would have been a better unit for that plug, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

Let’s not be practical here, or even realistic, simply fantasists.

This is not going to be necessarily a comfortable or pleasant experience, as the chances are some of our targets’ veins will be running with the most unsavoury blood, and their DNA may scream unspeakable words like “Tottenham”. So be brave.

Written by MickyDidIt

Unlike the author of  yesterday’s post I can’t claim to have been born in sight of Highbury Stadium, nor can I claim to have been a supporter for quite as long as him, only since 1950 in fact.

I was, however, born into an Arsenal supporting family, my father, my mother, two elder brothers and a host of aunts, uncles and cousins were, and some still are, all loyal fans.

I too lived through the long years of mediocrity under a succession of uninspiring managers, indeed one of my worst memories was listening to the radio commentary on our one nil defeat by Newcastle United in the 1952 FA Cup Final.

Yes we had success under those managers mentioned yesterday, but it really wasn’t until the appointment of Arsène Wenger that things started to improve. The playing style began to evolve and the epithet “boring, boring Arsenal was consigned to the dustbin. What’s more we actually began to win trophies on a regular basis.

Arsenal entered a golden period. Wengerball was the envy of our competitors, we won a string of cups, and league titles, even doubles ensued, culminating in The Invincibles unbeaten season.

Then came the long decline, George Graham’s Famous Five passed into history and with them went the rock on which our game was founded. Replacements came in but were never of the quality needed, in fact some of them were so poor one wonders why they were bought in the first place. Our game changed from one based on solid defence, pace on the flanks and quality strikers to mid-fielders playing tippy tappy in front of dodgy defenders.

With this decline fourth place became a trophy.

Wenger was rightly credited with changing the face of football. He oversaw the establishment of the Academy, the training complex at London Colney and the overhaul of the medical staff. Arguably none of the latter three have proved to be of much benefit to the results attained by the players.

Over recent years there has been a lack of innovation on the pitch, there is no invention at set plays, we win countless corners but rarely score from them, free kicks are entirely wasted, build up play is sluggish and tactics are entirely predictable. All this points to an apparent failure of coaching.

Over the past few transfer windows money has become available and has been spent, Mesut Ozil came in, a wonderful player, a true number ten, Wenger plays him wide on the left. Danny Welbeck is signed ostensibly as a central striker, he wanders around like a lost lamb, one minute on the wing the next dropping deep, why is he not playing in the position he was bought to fill?

Wenger’s transfer policy seems not to be based on the idea of identifying a position that needs filling and buying a player to fill it, rather buying a player and dropping him into the team and seeing where he ends up.

Alexis is a super player, he’s got it all, pace, intelligence, skill, a terrific attitude and an eye for not just goals but also the telling pass, I confess to having no idea what his best position is, sadly I suspect neither does Wenger.

I think we all recognise the failings in our defence, not since “Mad Jens” left have we had a competent ‘keeper, thankfully Szczesny is starting to fulfil his promise. The same applies to left-back, Ashley Cole has never been properly replaced, Gibbs is too injury prone and Monreal is poor at defending. Vermaelen, a good defender came, picked up too many injuries, lost his form, lost his place, was sold and wasn’t replaced. Koscielny, another good defender, but is again picking up too many injuries as well as too many red and yellow cards. Mertesacker is the exception, a solid, reliable “old school” centre back but he needs good reliable support around him.

Debuchy, before his injury, was proving to be a more than adequate replacement for the departed Sagna. Incidentally just why was Sagna allowed to leave? Finally, Chambers, a full-back who appears to be a much better centre-back but Wenger bought him as a prospective holding mid-fielder.

Then we come to the player that we have all been crying out, a holding-midfielder or, if you like, a defensive mid-fielder. Surely our manager must recognise that neither Arteta or Flamini can adequately fill the gap, yet there is nothing to indicate that a serious attempt has been made to sign one.

Arsène Wenger has a great history at Arsenal, but there are too many flaws in his stewardship to be papered over by the recent FA Cup win. Flaws such as the failure to provide innovation in tactics, a failure to inspire the team to play from the first to last whistle, to make tactical substitutions when the need first becomes apparent, an over whelming loyalty to underachieving or perennially injured players, a flawed transfer policy, his antipathy to players over thirty.

All in all I think the time is approaching when serious consideration has to be given to Arsene Wenger’s replacement.

I will forestall one obvious question which I’m sure will be asked, no I have no idea who to replace the great man with, I can honestly say that I’m extremely happy that I don’t have that decision to make.

Written by Norfolk Gooner.

As an Arsenal supporter for the past 67 years I want to thank Arsène for his dedication to the Arsenal Football Club and his devotion to playing a calibre of football that is envied the world over. His 18 seasons in charge of Arsenal have been a revelation to many of us older fans who have witnessed many, many dark years where our support of the club was tested to the fullest.

Football fans are among the most fickle in sport and many of them only seem to care about winning trophies in order to give then the upper hand in bragging rights over the opposition.  Thankfully there are also supporters who can see beyond a piece of silverware and fully appreciate the transformation of Arsenal into a truly world class club with world class facilities and one of the world’s top teams.

I’ve tried to understand the mentality of the anti Arsène Wenger segment of Arsenal supporters – but I just don’t get it! It’s also beyond my comprehension how Arsène stands tall and proud in face of the inane nonsense that is levelled at him regardless of his actual list of successes and achievements. A lesser individual would have accepted one of the many offers he has received from the world’s top clubs.

If we put aside the lack of silverware, for a mere eight year period, we are among the top four clubs in the UK and the top ten clubs in the world of football.  So why are so many of our supporters against the manager with the longest tenure in our history and the most successful from every statistical standpoint. They choose to ignore the fact that Arsène has won more silverware than any previous Arsenal manager and his haul has only been exceeded by one other PL manager in football league history.

In the ninety two years before Arsène became our manager we managed to get into the top four on only twenty eight occasions or less than 29% of the time – during Arsène Wenger’s 18 year tenure we have been in the top four 100% of the time. However instead of applauding this incredible feat his detractors theorize that he and the Board of Directors are complacent and are satisfied to only finish in the top four – because it brings us a modicum of financial security.

I wonder how many of our current detractors have experienced being out of the running of everything before the end of October?  Or winning just one league title and 2 FA Cups in a thirty four year period under the stewardship of six different managers?

There is always a lot of chit chat about our “glorious history” when in  fact many, many years were nothing more than hum drum under the management of thirteen rather ordinary managers – twelve of them never even won a coin toss let alone a trophy!.

Of course I have to agree that we have had a few glorious spells – under Chapman, Allison, Whittaker, Mee and Graham – but none as glorious as the Wenger years.

I won’t bother to list his record as that is well known and the envy of all other PL managers.

I am personally fed up to the teeth with the negative, unjustified, views that are expressed against both our club and our manager. Wading through the negative comments is a laborious chore and has turned blogging into an unpleasant experience, so as a consequence I choose to blog far less than before.

I also feel that the issue is not really about the quality of our football or the calibre of our players but all to do with the lack of trophies – which in the writer’s opinion is very shallow indeed.

GunnerN5

Now I’m sure no red blooded Arsenal supporter would admit to watching Strictly Come Dancing – but maybe the missus has it on in the background or you’ve been forced to watch it as some sort of penance. For those that claim not to have seen it, the performance of the dancers is scored from 1 to 10. At the start of the series the scores are lower but towards the end the audience go into raptures when their favourite celebrity dancer is awarded a perfect 10……. which brings me to Arsenal.

Before the Sunderland game, Arsene said that the team was performing at 99% and when interviewed after he increased it to 99.5% – albeit with that playful little twinkle he often has in his eye.

To me a perfect 100% in terms of a sporting performance is never attainable. I’d happily shoot the next sportsman who claims to have given it 110% if I could get away with it. Clearly Arsene’s 99% was his way of saying to the players you’re doing really well …. just a leeeelte bit more please. It’s his style of man management.

For me the 20 seconds that led up to the winning goal by Arshavin against Barca was a 99%, and the first 20 minutes at home against Napoli last season was a 95% …. but 99.5% against Sunderland ….. really?

So what I’d like you to do today is have a think and vote on what you think is the current level of Arsenal’s performances. You can relax because no answer will imply negativity. If you agree we’re at 99% then you are very happy with our game and if you think it’s 80% then you’re simply saying we’ve got a lot more to come!

To continue the debate perhaps you could suggest a game or a passage of play  when you saw Arsenal play at 99%.

Written by De Ville’s Advocaat

We have been playing abysmal football this season so far, except against City for one half and against a very poor Galatasaray side.

These are the things I take from the last two games:

1. Chambers is much better as a Centre-Half and maybe as a HM. He is not quick enough or does not have enough physical abilities to play right back. Bellerin is really poor and we should loan him out.

2. Wilshere is having a very poor start of the season. This was his opportunity to shine and come back in contention in the starting XI but I think that he is now even behind Rosicky in the pecking order…

3. Giroud is sorely missed….

4. Walcott is even more sorely missed…

5. Arteta and Flamini cannot cut it as HM in the EPL.

6. Wellbeck is only motivated againt big teams. He needs a big stage to perform. When he does not, his first touch is worse than Sanogo’s…

7. When will AW manage to get the usual subs going? Podolski, Rosicky can bring in experience and Campbell his hunger…

8. Cazorla’s in the last three four games is worrisome…

9. Sanchez is probably thinking about leaving in the summer already…

10. We really need a HM/DM and a back-up RB (shall we call Jenkinson back?)

11. The EPL is over. Chelsea will snatch it.

12. The top 4 will be a race between City (probably 2nd), Man Utd, Arsenal and somehow Liverpool, Everton and Southampton.

13. Next game vs Burnley at Home. Let us show some character and play two up-front…Here is my suggested line-up

PiG – Chambers (:-(), PiG, Monreal (:-(), Gibbs – Oxlade, Arteta, Ramsey – Sanchez – Wellbeck, Campbell (or Poldi)

Written by RC78