Arsenal Arsenal’s Friday News Round-Up.

September 27, 2013

Friday can often be a bit of a dead day for Arsenal related news at least until the Manager’s press conference in the late afternoon. Much of the news has been touched upon over the course of the last several days in the various excellent posts and the myriad comments by AA regulars and others. Just in case you missed the major news items of the week, here’s a round-up of some of them.

Sunday. Arsenal went back to the top of the Premier League with a handsome 3-1 win against Stoke City at Emirates. Mesut Ozil supplied all three assists in a demonstration of just why Arsene shelled out £40.2 million for him. Goals by Aaron Ramsey after just five minutes, Mertesacker on thirty six, to restore the lead after Cameron had equalised for Stoke on twenty six minutes, and a rare headed goal by Bacari Sagna wrapped it up on seventy two minutes.

Monday saw the publication of Arsenal’s Statement of Accounts and Annual Report 2012/2013, a fairly healthy set of figures despite a fall in pre-tax profit to £6.7 million from £36.6 million in the previous year. The club have no short term debt and a cash reserve of £119.7 million, of course these figures do not include the summer transfer dealings, so at least £42.2 million must be deducted due to the purchase of Mersut Ozil.

Commenting on the results for the year the Club’s Chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, said:

“It is my job to ensure we steer further along the course we have set. We must continue to grow commercially to provide the Club with the best opportunity to achieve success and we must do this in a way which remains true to our values and which ensures and protects the long-term sustainability of the Club”.

It was later revealed that Theo Walcott would be out for some weeks after requiring surgery on a groin and pelvic injury.

Wednesday’s Capital One Cup brought yet another away win, to add to the fine run of form, a mostly young side gaining a win on penalties after a 1 – 1 stalemate against West Brom. There is no need for me to add to the excellent match report posted by 26may89 yesterday. Our reward for the win is a juicy home tie with Chelsea in the next round.

Thursday brought the news that Mikel Arteta was subbed on Wednesday not through injury but merely cramp. For which we are all mightily relieved.

Friday. Read all about it!! Long interview with Stan Kroenke in this morning’s Telegraph Sport Section. Kroenke is in for the long haul, there’s money in the kitty Oh! And Arsene is staying!

Have a good weekend all.

 Written by Norfolk Gooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The kids did us proud – Match report

September 26, 2013

What can I tell you about our League Cup game against West Brom? Not a lot, just a few comments based on the seven microseconds of coverage the BBC made available, the Radio 5 commentary and a few bits and bobs from the tinternet.

But I can tell you that:

1. We won;

2. The first half was crap;

3. With a squad shredded by injuries, the kids from the Academy Squad featured heavily; and

4. The Arsenal fans were in great voice.

Taken from the away end by chas

Taken from the away end by chas

OK, there are a few other things to say. The most important bit was how the game was won with the kids holding their nerve to prevail in a penalty shoot-out, against more experienced opponents and on their ground. The performance may not have been a slick classic, but winning in those circumstances could be the making of some of those youngsters.

Nicklas Bendtner made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt in over two years. His reputation amongst fans has gone from bad to worse in that time, so it was sensible for a bit of humble pie to be eaten in the run-up to the game. And from what I saw, while he was certainly no world-beater last night, he was committed to the cause. His reaction when the winning penalty went in confirmed that. And he also made the goal we scored, when he received the ball from Gnabry, turned, paused while Eisfeld’s run opened up a chance and then played in the other young German with a perfect through ball. Well done to Eisfeld for slotting it home, but the goal was the creation of the big Dane.

He should have had one himself in extra time, when Gnabry played him through for what should have been a one-on-one but Bendtner took an age to compose himself for his shot, perhaps thinking the defenders were further back than they were. Unfortunately West Brom’s Dawson was able to catch Bendtner and dispossess him before he could get his shot away. The absence of preseason matches was there on display.

There will be plenty who will take a pop at Bendtner, and God knows he deserves it plenty of the time, but I thought he showed a real determination to contribute. It’s no minor thing that he took the first penalty in the shoot-out, that is taking responsibility.

Another serial under-achiever, Fabianski, had a pretty busy night and did well, making a number of good saves. He couldn’t stop Berahino equalizing ten minutes after we’d taken the lead, but that had more to do with our defenders leaving Berahino too much space when a recycled clearance from a corner was lobbed back into the box.

It was disappointing to hear relatively little being created by Arsenal in open play, though it did sound like things picked up significantly in the latter stages, in particular with the appearance of Olsson, Bellerin and Akpom from the substitutes’ bench. The 17-year old Akpom got especially positive reactions from the Radio 5 commentary team – I’ll definitely look out for that performance once I can see some proper coverage of the game.

A penalty shoot-out felt inevitable from a long way out, not that that alleviated the sense of dread about how the kids would do. That pessimism seemed well-founded, when Serge Gnabry missed our second penalty and the more experienced West Brom players (Reid, Rosenberg and Morrison) confidently despatched their first three spot-kicks. An early exit seemed very much on the cards, with West Brom on the verge of victory. Then Kris Olsson stepped up and scored (just about, the keeper was close), to make it 3-2. West Brom’s fourth penalty taker, Craig Dawson, bottled it, and put his kick well wide. The scores were level and the momentum was suddenly with us.

Next up: Chuba Akpom. The talented lad from Newham, who wasn’t even a year old when Arsène Wenger became Arsenal manager, held his nerve and put his kick away, the scores were level and we were in sudden death mode; the next miss would likely be terminal for that team’s continuation in the competition. And so it was: West Brom cracked again, when Morgan Amalfitano also blazed his kick wide, and now it was us about to kick for the win. We’ve seen plenty of failures in penalty shoot-outs down the years, but it was something of a relief to see an older head for the final kick: Nacho Monreal put his one away without undue fuss, and was rapidly bundled by some very enthusiastic young Arsenal players who’d sprinted form the centre circle.

Celebrations at wba

So there you go, our winning away record was extended to 11 competitive games in all competitions and our winning sequence is now eight games. We are into the next round, and once again we have a tough draw: we will play Chelsea at Ashburton Grove on 29 or 30 October, days before we begin a rapid sequence of games against Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United in the space of eight days. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing to get tough draws in cup competitions, but we’re on a roll, with draws against Fenerbahce, Napoli, Dortmund, Marseille, West Brom and now Chelsea. Still, it’s better than facing Bradford and Blackburn…..

The Arsenal away contingent at the Hawthorns were fantastic last night, they were the loudest bunch in the house throughout. The Radio 5 bods were impressed at their old school refusal to sit down and the fact they had turned out in such numbers for a midweek League Cup game in another part of the country. Well done to Chas & Co, they remained in fine voice in what was, other than the shoot-out, largely a forgettable game and one in which our opponents were often on top.

There may be questions about what the presence in the squad of so many callow members of the Academy squad, and a couple of players most of us expected to have left by now. There may also be questions about first teamers like Mertesacker and Arteta being asked to play up to 120 minutes when we have an important and demanding run of two league games and a Champions’ League game coming up. This fear was made worse when Arteta was substituted, possibly as the result of an injury. Hopefully, that won’t turn out to be true. And fair play to the kids, they did us proud.

I’m afraid I can’t give ratings, I haven’t seen enough of the game yet to make those judgments. But it seems that Fabianski, Mertesacker, Monreal, Bendtner, Hayden, Jenkinson, Bellerin and Akpom all did well, and that Gnabry and Miyaichi had off-nights.

Written by 26may89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal Well Placed in Wide Open Title Race

September 24, 2013

What an interesting weekend that was as far as the title race is concerned.

In addition to our game I was lucky enough to watch Chelsea against Fulham, Liverpool versus Southampton and the Manchester derby.

This feast of football left me with some very clear conclusions. Firstly, that most other teams – and their players and their fans – are humungous chuff-munchers. But then most of you knew that already.

Secondly – and more pertinently – I saw nothing to deflect me from the view that Arsenal can be serious title contenders this season.

Let’s start with the Manc derby, which pitted Arab oil money against institutionalized favouritism. In this case petro-dollars won out over patronage.

Man City, in fairness, looked good as they have done in their home games this season. The movement up front from Aguero and the Fat French Pitchwarmer in particular was first class. But away from home it’s been a different story for the Sky Blues, with defeat at Cardiff and a tame 0-0 draw with Stoke.

They will certainly be in the mix towards the end of the season – the strength of their squad almost guarantees it – but if they don’t find more consistency soon they could be playing catch-up come April.

Then there’s the Surrey half of Manchester. Frankly they were awful. Brave Sir Robin did not play (here’s hoping his “thigh injury” represents a bit of karmic payback) and the rest of the team was bereft of creativity.  The only time Rooney looked up for a fight was when Kompany knocked off his alice band. Meanwhile watching Fellaini lumber around like a deranged totem pole made me feel very pleased he did not come to The Home of Football this summer. Give me the Flamster any day.

In United’s favour, they have a lot of players in and around the squad who have won the league and who have the habit of winning. That may be enough to keep them in the race, but I have my doubts.

They were poor champions last season (no-one in years to come will be talking about the great United team of 2012-13) and without Ferguson’s influence over the match officials they have lost an advantage which must have been worth 10 points a season. (Incidentally, Mark Halsey’s memoirs have revealed that many refs had way too close a relationship with Surralex – the sort of you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours relationships that would be deemed deeply unethical in most professions. There should be an inquiry but I’m not holding my breath).

The more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that Ferguson retired last season because he did not think United would be serious contenders any more. Right now they are in danger of the sort of top six finish that David Moyes is very comfortable with.

And so to Liverpool. After their three-games-three-wins start I was reminding anyone who would listen that this is still Liverpool; that they have a prize prat for a manager and that the wheels will inevitably come off.

Two games and one point later for the Scousers, I see nothing to change my mind. Yes, they still have Suarez champing at the bit to come back – but they had him last season too and it wasn’t enough to get them into the top four.

In the West London derby the unfashionable dull team with lots of money beat the unfashionable dull team with less money. But Chelsea were a bit lucky to get the win and were unconvincing throughout.

On paper they have a creative midfield that’s almost a match for ours (in place of Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta. Ramsey, Rosicky read Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Willian, Lampard). But whereas our creative midfielders are playing for a manager who craves beauty and creativity the way a Spudder craves a top four finish, the Chav midfielders are under the yoke of someone who demands organization, discipline and defensive-mindedness above all else. Our square pegs are in square holes, Mourinho’s are in round holes.

I still think Chelsea will be serious title challengers, if for no other reason than Maureen has been so successful in all his jobs. But right now it looks like he has a set of players who don’t suit his style of football, so maybe it won’t be all plain sailing for the 10-year-old club

As for Arsenal, well, we put in a decent “seven out of ten” performance against Stoke. And before we get too carried away with our start to the season, someone in comments pointed out that in the equivalent five fixtures last season we took 15 points, so we’re actually three points down on last year.

But you get the feeling that something positive is brewing in N5. It started after the defeat to the Spudders last year and has gained momentum ever since. Adding a genuine superstar to the mix has given an extra psychological boost and has lifted the fans too.

Right now I don’t see any team that’s better than us, either in their current form or in the strength of their squad.

I deliberately haven’t mentioned our noisy neighbours because I did not see their game. It looked bang on for a 0-0 draw, but they snaffled a late winner – just like they did so often last year, courtesy of Ape Boy.

This time round they have no chimp, but they managed to get the result anyway. I think they will struggle to gel all their new players and I expect them to get beaten by the Chavs next weekend – but you never know: maybe this is the year when the two North London teams fight it out for the title. If so it would be tremendously exciting (not to mention nerve-wracking).

If I had to predict the end-of-season top five today it would be this:

Arsenal

Chelsea

Man City

Spuds

Man Utd

What do you think?

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Match report …..Viva Ramsey!

September 23, 2013

I make no apologies for saying that I dislike Stoke City. Hardly an original view from an Arsenal fan, but about the only thing I can think that commends them is the time spent in the Potteries by the great Lee Dixon and Steve Bould, before they found their way to the home of football.

That is not nearly enough to outweigh my resentment for the wilfully reckless maiming of the then teenage Aaron Ramsey, and especially the way in which the Stoke fans revelled in that incident in the years since, even baiting the young victim. Stoke’s destructive fear of real football, shown up most effectively by Swansea’s success in combining financial caution with quality football, only underlines why Stoke are a club to wish bad things for. True, Mark Hughes has brought a reintroduction of football at Stoke, but I’m not one to forgive and forget.

Arsenal came to the game on an excellent run: one defeat and two draws in 18 competitive games, two defeats and three draws in 20 PL games, a defence that has got into the habit of almost never conceding more than one goal in a game etc etc. The game was always going to be significant for two things: the Ramsey factor, given the opposition and the Welshman’s form this year; and the home debut of the refined and expensive talent that is Mesut Özil. And on both counts, things went well.

Ramsey v stoke

In the fifth minute, Jack Wilshere’s run at the Stoke defence drew a foul from the busted flush that is Charlie Adam in a perfect area. Adam’s incompetence put Özil in a position to line up a good shot on goal, one that Begovic didn’t handle well, pushing it out in front of goal and into the path of the boy wonder, Aaron Ramsey. Watching him able to lord it over the Stoke fans in his celebrations was exquisite. And that was reflected in the chants of the Arsenal fans, who loved ramming it down the Stoke fans’ throats.

We continued to control the game pretty much throughout the first half, but against the run of play Stoke produced their one moment of quality when Gibbs ceded possession on the flank and the ball broke to Steven N’Zonzi. His floated diagonal ball was perfectly weighted and was despatched early enough to deny the defence a chance to set themselves properly. When Arnautović met the ball first time, he was unlucky to hit the post, but it ricocheted into the path of one of those hardworking American players, Geoff Cameron, whose shot was carefully placed beyond Szczesny’s reach.

Sanity was restored before halftime, once again from a dead ball. The Stoke centre backs, Robert Huth and lovely Ryan Shawcross, players unable to do their jobs without cheating, were so intent on manhandling Giroud and Koscielny in the build-up that Stoke neglected to cover Mertesacker. The BFG was easily able to evade the cover assigned to him, and looped Özil’s perfect corner to the back post. With Koscielny running interference to confuse Begovic, the ball dropped into the net. Hey presto, 2-1 up.

Mert celebrates with Rambo and Ozil

The tempo dropped in the second half, which was perhaps unsurprising after the team’s wonderful efforts in Marseille. But fortunately for us, we weren’t facing a side that had the ability to exploit that. Jones was largely isolated and when Hughes subbed him, for some reason he passed over Peter Crouch, and preferred to put Mark Walters up front, which was an odd decision. But, without another goal, we remained vulnerable. That goal arrived from yet another dead ball, a free kick that was once again won by Wilshere driving at the Stoke defence, who were only able to terminate Jack’s run by taking him out. This wasn’t shooting territory for Özil but he floated a ball across the penalty area, where the goal machine that is Bacary Sagna was able to outjump his two opponents and loop a header over Begovic and into the far corner.

Sagna celebrates

And so it was that we were returned to the top of the early season league table. With Man United’s embarrassing capitulation to City, we are already five points clear of van Persie’s team, but the other good sides are clustered together. It was a shame to see Spurs win in injury time, but I do enjoy seeing the two North London clubs at the top, with the good guys in poll position.

We will see much, much better performances from Mesut Özil than yesterday’s, but, even while he’s adapting to a new team and a new league, he was able to provide three assists. It was a quiet, efficient win yesterday, but, even beyond winning three points in a game against a disliked opponent, there were numerous positive aspects for us: Arteta’s return to the fray, Gnabry’s energetic and fearless performance (which meant we were able to cope without Walcott), the solidity of the defence (after the frayed edges shown against Sunderland), selfless hard-work from Giroud and Flamini and a good performance from Wilshere. But the greatest satisfaction came from seeing Ramsey score and play well against our bêtes noires. Viva Ramsey!

Written by 26may

Player ratings by LB

Szezcney: I have never played goalkeeper and because of that I have never professed to know too much about that position but every part of me shouts that this keeper is the real deal; another good game. 8

Sagna: definitely one of his better games, back to where he plays best with the BFG next to him. Patrolled the line well and scored a goal to boot. 8

Mertasacker: Captain on the day, steered the ship from the back with calmness and authority. 8

Koscielny: these two CBs remind me of Adams and Bould, the BFG being the former. On the rare occasions that Adams didn’t play you got to see the actual ability of Bould and realised then just how good Adams made Bould look. Laurent had a perfectly good game but a BFG he is not. (yet) 7

Gibbs: Ramsey may rightfully be the player who has received all the accolades for being the most improved player this season but there is no doubt that the second most improved is Kieran Gibbs; that said, yesterday was not one of his better days. In the first half he was a bit too slack at times. 6

Ramsey: how is it possible to praise him anymore, he was by some distance the best player on the pitch for the first 45 minutes, scoring yet another goal, and celebrating in front of the Stoke fans. He faded a tad in the second half which is the reason I have not given him the MOTM but still another great day at the office. 8

Flamini: after watching him three times on TV I was close to concluding that our second most important signing was no more than a 2013 version of Giles Grimandi: a jobbing utility player; well, yesterday I saw him in the flesh for the first time and realised I was wrong. His passing, his positioning, his tackling were superb; none of them world class; but, a bit like his career path; he really knows how to make the most out of the limited ability that he has. A very impressive game and a worthy MOTM. 9

Wilshere: one step forward, two steps back; he was not at his best yesterday, I got the feeling that he was filling in because others were injured, had Rosicky or Cazorla been fit, Jack would have certainly been on the bench; still, what he lacked in fitness he made up for in a determination. 7

Gnabry: I was going to tear into the young German but having read a few comments from some of the more esteemed regulars on here, arguing that he is not a winger, maybe I should hold fire. Nevertheless, he was poor in the first half, he slowed the play down almost every time he got the ball, when a simple pass was possible he tried to show off. It is, of course, early days, but this is a match report on yesterday’s game and yesterday, in my opinion, he was not very good. 5

Giroud: his passing is improving, his control is improving and his positioning is improving, he always works like a Trojan and yesterday was no exception. 8

Ozil: Three assists on his home debut. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I went with my Mrs who asked when he ran close to us to take a corner: why are they all standing and clapping before he has even taken the kick, to which I replied — for just being. 8

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Posted by LB

Time to forgive, Arsenalistically

September 21, 2013

During the summer, before the last act twist of the transfer window, the sentiments in the picture below were in my mind, as they were in the minds of other gooners. I tweeted this with the question, was it time for me to move on from that view or not?

BTYqyybCEAE4RFp.jpg large

The answers I got were as polarised as you’d expect on twitter with the answers being either: ”of course it is, stop being negative and get behind the club” or “it’s only a one off bit of spending, the club will be soon back to its normal stingy ways in January”.

As ever how I felt falls somewhere between the two stools however it did occur to me that maybe my (not so) private slating of Wenger/the board/Gazidis was a bit unwarranted in hindsight. A bit of perspective between the events and when you look at their context will give you some chance of a less emotional valuation of a situation, even if following a team is, by it’s nature, full of emotive subjectivity. That and being relentlessly bombarded lame media’s need to cause outrage amongst a fanbase by being “less than truthful” with facts in its reporting.

Similarly my reaction to Flamini’s use of our training facilities to get fit a month ago seemed like being overly helpful to someone who left us in the lurch after promising to sign a new contract all season long.

Admittedly it is early days but he has done a job so far that, given Arteta’s absence, cannot be undervalued. Again, was I too quick to turn on the venom? By May next year we’ll know how useful an acquisition of this Marseille man with the Corsican ancestry will turn out to be.

In time I’ve learnt to forgive Cesc, to a degree, for how he left us as he hasn’t denigrated the club and always spoken well of it but his behaviour has seemed better in comparison to that Cutch Dunt who is now residing in Salford playing for a wrinkly faced Gollum who as shown below is out of his depth. Needless to say St Nick will be commuting to work on skis before I forgive that Dutchman.

funny-david-moyes-man-utd-meme

So, how forgiving are you, who of our ex players will get the hate and who will get the adulation that you previously thought you wouldn’t give?

By ChärybdÏß1966

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Posted by ChärybdÏß1966

Dear Arsène: “My Arsenal as well you know”.

September 20, 2013

Dear Arsène,

DidIt here again. Couple of things.

Now I realize that you and I are not natural Bedfellows, what with my rather gung-ho and somewhat cavalier attitude to life, but nevertheless, I still feel that you may enjoy more of my footballing analysis and insight.

Thing is this, and my first topic for today, your positional awareness with regards to the left side attacking slot leaves quite a lot to be desired. It is, Arsène, this habit of yours in sticking the wrong players out there. Having discussed this issue with you before, I was going to let things lie. That was, Arsène , until you dropped your most recent bomb.

You crack open the kitty, and splash out 40 Million pounds on Mesut Ozil. Great so far. Then the bomb. You stick the poor fellow out wide. Not 4 million, Arsene, 40 million, and you play him out of position! 40 Mill may be sloshing about your petty cash tin, but to us normal folk, that’s a lot of milk. Let’s get some perspective on that, shall we? It’s the equivalent of about 1,000 pints of milk for every day of an eighty year life! “Respect Value”, I say, or have you completely lost the plot, Arsène ?

You see, it’s not the first time you’ve done this, is it, Arsène? No, it isn’t. Bendy, Chamakh, Podolski, Ramsey, and now Ozil. Are you mad? What’s going on?

You know what, I’ve had a thought and there’s sod all you can do about it. Very soon, both Santi and Mesut are going to be up for selection at the same time, and you know damn well that they both start.

Here’s the really funny bit, Arsène, you can’t stick both out wide. Ha ha ha. So what’s the plan then?

Even that Lunatic LB had a brilliant idea yesterday, and that was sticking Mesut centre top. Lateral thinking. Lateral thinking. This idea of his ties in nicely with the second point I wanted us to discuss with you, Arsène.

Nicholas Bendtner. Name ring a bell?

We really do need to consider our options in terms of protecting Big ‘Ol, and I cannot help thinking that our Nic is the most similar kind of player that would bring as little disruption to our style as possible. Never really gave him much time through the middle, did we? Just as I kept saying last term regarding Big ‘Ol: “Along the ground. Ball to feet”. He may be better than we think.

Thing is ,Arsène , what are we going to do about his fitness and more importantly, his attitude?

Bribery springs to mind. He’s one of those poofy sorts of blokes that like jewellery, so there’s an option right there. Perhaps a more ruthless approach, like the use of electricity, I don’t know, but I’d certainly like to hear your thoughts.

My biggest single problem with you, Arsène , is that while I feel perfectly qualified to share advice on tactics and whatnot with you, I do have to take into account your recent bloody results:

WWWWWDWDWWWLWWWWW and bloody W again!

Let’s be clear about one thing, the sooner you start listening to Bedfellows like me and actually take on board our advice, the better, and then together we can eliminate these draws and losses forever.

Sagely words I’m sure you’d agree. Perhaps send that Gazidis bloke down to Smiths and buy a new folder. You could then put a sticky label on it and ink words like “DidIt Do’s and DidIt Do Not’s” or something.

So, in the meantime, I say, “Sod it, over to you, Arsène ”.

I remain, you obedient servant.

DidIt, M.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Why do we have so many injuries?

September 17, 2013

Follow this link and see how one Gooner has analysed our injury problems in comparison to other PL teams. It is a good read:

http://www.washedup.org/2013/09/09/crystal-ankles-paper-tendons/

It prompted a discussion as to why this should occur. Here is a comment from Shard posted earlier today.

“There are too many factors and variables for it to be an easily identifiable problem.

The last two seasons though, our injury record was generally better than years previous. This season, maybe it’s just that we’re getting them all early in the season as a coincidence?

The factors to consider. Our training, diagnostic and treatment regimes. Dietary (and medicinal) regimes. The pitch. Players’ genetics. Playing style, referee protection or lack of, squad size, international matches and playing minutes, nature of injuries, correlation of injuries (and minutes and type of injuries, and training etc) with age of players.

I’m sure there are more, but a lot of these are difficult to process and arrive at a clearly defined problem, which can then be solved.

Personally, I feel a lot of it was to do with the age of the squad, and the way our matches have been refereed. The number of leg breaks we’ve had in a short time has been unprecedented. And this not only puts other players at more risk of injury. but perhaps even makes them get injured in other ways. In my own experience, any time you start thinking about avoiding injury while playing, you end up more likely to get injured. The assault on Arsenal physically, and psychologically, is what I feel was the main factor.

The age matters because one, the body hasn’t fully developed yet, and secondly, young players tend to pay less attention to their physical training while older players have to work harder just to stay fit.”

Knowing how addicted to info Mr Wenger is, he will be well aware of the problem. Strange he has not addressed it. What do you think?

Unknown

posted by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Theo Had A Blinder Against Sunderland. Seriously.

September 16, 2013

No I mean it, I really do.

I know some smart Alec will be saying: “Shouldn’t the headline be ‘Theo had a blindfold against Sunderland…’?”

And it’s true he wasn’t perfect – far from it. The little matter of missing four great opportunities to kill off the game before half time definitely goes in the “debit” column.

But he nevertheless did something that could turn out to be very significant for our season: he showed a certain talented German of Turkish descent that (a) he knows where to run and (b) he has the pace to get there ahead of defenders on a regular basis.

walcott ozil

I should think that Mesut Ozil will have looked at Theo’s performance and thought “I can give this guy a LOT of goals. And he’s not a preening, diving narcissist like another fast winger I’ve had to play with in recent times.”

By now some readers will have fingers poised over the 12 or 13 letters of the keyboard that they know how to use, itching to tell me that I’m an idiot and that Theo is clueless.

So first let’s deal with our Number 14’s misses at the weekend. He had four decent chances. A couple were well saved by the Black Cats’ ‘keeper, and one headed opportunity went well wide (but was harder than it looked because Theo was stretching to reach it).

It wasn’t Theo’s best day in front of goal. In fact he was about as clinical as a bowl of bacteria. But he has shown us repeatedly that he can finish well in one-on-ones and there is no reason to think he has lost that ability overnight.

Last season he was our top scorer and without his decisive ability to put the bladder in the onion bag we would not be getting all excited about playing Marseilles this week.

Every attacking player has days when things don’t come off. Yes, even the great St Thierry d’Henry had games where he couldn’t convert when homing in on goal with only the ‘keeper to beat. For Theo, Saturday was one of those days.

If I have one quibble (the doctor says I should have two) it would be that Theo always seems to try to finish a one-on-one by shooting low into the corners of the goal. This is generally good practice, but once in a while, when there is space, I would like to see him try an Ian Wright style “dink” over the ‘keeper. His first chance on Saturday was a case in point.

But we must not overlook the fact that he made some great runs and got himself into positions where, on another day, he would have bamboozled the custodian and walked away with the match ball. I can guarantee that Ozil has not overlooked that fact.

Ozil’s through ball for Theo’s second (I think) one-on-one was a thing of peculiar beauty. There was barely a yard of space between two Mackem defenders but the Wizard of Oz (thankyou Evonne) slotted the ball through the gap with the perfect line and weight for Theo to take it in his stride. A fraction out on the line and the defenders would have cut it out. A fraction overhit or underhit and the chance would not have been on. It was simply perfect.

The fact is, Ozil will make Theo a better player this season by giving him more and better opportunities to score. And score he will.

Theo is one of those players who can never do enough to please some fans. I watch every single Arsenal game and I see a player who has added intelligence, finishing and team play to his natural speed. If you want to slag him off for the missed chances at Sunderland, perhaps you should cast your mind back to the game against Totteringham, where his fine run and low cross set up Giroud for the only goal of the game. In that derby match, no Theo, no three points.

I believe he is the best right winger playing in the Premier League right now Who would you have ahead of him? Ashley Young? Don’t make me laugh. Nani? Waste of space. Aaron Lennon? There’s only one decent Aaron in North London and we’ve got him. Na$ri? Not really a right winger, and in any case he is nowhere near as consistent as Theo. Can you imagine him having a 21 goal season? No, neither can I. Juan Mata is a very good player but is not really a winger. Then you’re into the likes of Adam Johnson and James Milner (enough said).

I know Walcott took stick from some pundits after England’s lacklustre performance last week.

I probably have my Arsenal blinkers on but to me it looked like the media really enjoyed putting the boot into Theo and Jack Wilshere just because they’re from Arsenal, when in fact the whole England team failed to sparkle. (As it happens, I thought England did a dull but professional job and have put qualification for Brazil firmly in their own hands).

In any case, my instincts when the media nitwits are having a pop at one of our lads is to stick up for him, not to pull on my Doc Martins and join in the kicking.

Barring injury, Theo will score somewhere between 15 and 25 goals for Arsenal this year. When Bobby Pires was adorning our left win you could generally rely on him to pitch in with about 17 a season. If Theo matches that for a second consecutive year we need to start giving him the love we gave Bobby.

If he’s had a slow start, so what? Others have made up for it – not least Ollie G and the increasingly wonderful Aaron Ramsey.

Indeed if Aaron’s case has taught us anything, it’s that we should support our boys when things are not going well for them, because when their form comes back we will be very grateful.

The Theo knockers need to back off and get behind him.

RockyLives

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Rambo To The Rescue.

September 15, 2013

I cannot tell you how excited I was about this game; it really was six year old boy stuff, jumping up and down at Christmas; having just been woken by my parents and told that I could go down stairs and open my presents; we all know that no matter how many presents you get there is always one very special one and this special one was made in Germany.

Ozil 1

I am sure there have been far more games worthy of far greater excitement but it seems a long time now that I got this excited about a game due to the signing of a new player, certainly not over the last seven years, how far would we have to go back to find the equivalent?

Anyway, not only did the shiny new toy look great — it worked; in fact, it took very little time for it to show the silky skills we all hoped for by playing a beautifully weighted pass for Giroud to clinically drive home past the helpless keeper.

Thank you Ozil

One-nil to the Arsenal and everything was going to plan, the good guys started stoking the ball around and the gulf in class started to show; Sunderland had a few long range shots but nothing to really trouble Szczesny.

I was mentally mocking Di Canio for his cartoonish Italian gesticulation as we went into the break but I don’t know how he did it but somehow he managed to lift his players because they came out like a completely different team – determined and direct.

I was going to use a bull fight imagery of the beast that comes charging out into the ring, driving towards the matador only for the smarter of the two to step aside at the last minute — but Koscielny was not smart enough and got the team gored with a school boy tackle that led to a penalty and their equaliser.

Game on. Sunderland’s tails were up and they started coming through our midfield a little too easily for my liking. I am sure I wasn’t the only one who started asking at this point, who is supposed to be stopping this happen?

It’s all very well for Flamini to take up the defiant stance of hand on knees, lifting a clenched fist every now and then and shouting: come on boys but it counts for nothing if the opposition are charging through the middle as easily as a hot knife through butter.

We needed a hero and just when you thought you couldn’t praise Aaron Ramsey anymore for his start to this season up he pops to volley home what probably is the best goal of the new campaign, maybe you can think of a better goal, let me know?

Ramsey scores v sunderland

So, I now take you back to the Christmas analogy; yes, there is always a big present but there is usually also something that you initially overlook, something hidden in one of the cards, something that you only give a cursory glance at — in this case it was a card that said – Get out of jail free. Because that is exactly what we did when the referee decided to give a free kick outside the area after one or another of their players scored a goal that would have had sites like this going into melt down had that happened to us.

The only thing for it was to score a third, up stepped Johnny on the Spot, or Taffy in the box to stroke home our third and put this game to bed.

Özil came off to great applause for an excellent debut; if I had to sum it up in a sentence I would say that I thought it was a very special Christmas day.

Player ratings.

Szczesny: I am a big fan; he is the right man for the job, he gets better all the time and I for one hope he stays at THOF many years to come. Commanding, stopped the shots that needed to be stopped, couldn’t do much about the penalty, good game. 8

Jenkinson: Özil’s arrival seemed to prompt the majority of the team to take a step up in their ability on the ball; the problem is I don’t think Jenks got the memo: too many crosses that flashed across the box when no one was there. 6

Sagna: I think it was against Sunderland last season that Bacary’s reputation to be able to play central defence first started, it wouldn’t have been the same if today’s performance was his first as a CB. I think we saw today just how good the BFG makes both Sagna and Koscielny look. 6

Koscielny: no excuses, school boy error for the penalty. 5

Gibbs: he just gets better and better doesn’t he, it wasn’t so long ago that there were debates on this site about how we needed an experienced LB – well those days are gone as our Kieran has got the job. We are also fortunate that Baines and Cashley are still around or Gibbs would be another one getting kicked to buggery in an England shirt. 7

Flamini: I think the title of The Flamster is perfect for him, he is a utility player, to be consigned to the bench when Arteta returns but will come on when we are ahead after seventy minutes and Wenger feels the need to shore things up. 6

Wilshere: I have always refused to fawn over the most talented midfield player to come through Arsenal’s ranks in a long time and as such will become Arsenal and England captain but today is different, I have talked about Özil’s arrival prompting others to raise their game, well our Jack raised his game more than anyone else in my opinion; his passing was superb, it was everything good today as it was bad in the week and because of that he is my MOTM. 9

Ramsey: how can the man who saved our bacon not get the MOTM, well, his first half wasn’t brilliant which might sound a bit odd but he has raised the bar so high now that if he isn’t scoring every ten minutes something is wrong. In fairness the first half was congested which doesn’t suit his play as much as a slightly more open game in which he can charge through the middle, although, when the game did open up for the few short periods he certainly was brilliant. 8

Özil: oh my goodness, where do I start, picture a kid at Christmas having just opened his big present and is now jumping up and down shouting, thank you, thank you, thank you that’s just what I wanted. 8

Giroud: you can try and knock him and I have but his goal scoring record will turn round and slap you in the face; he went off at the end but if you look closely you will see the physio mouthing to Wenger that he just got a knock on the knee, the implication was clear that it was not too serious, now I have said that, what do you reckon? Out for six weeks? 7

Walcott: “everyone knows he is shit but he is dangerous shit” How am I supposed to compete with that? Forgot to bring his scoring boots, should have got a hat trick. 6

Enjoy your Sunday.

Written by LB

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Keep Supporting Moyes

September 13, 2013

After a tough start to his time as Manchester United manager question marks are being raised about whether Moyes is the right man for the job.

I have seen fellow Gooners take great delight in his early predicament, mutterings to the press, and the speed in which he appears to be losing the dressing room. Following Fergie was always going to be difficult, and right now Moyes looks like a fish out of water.

But here’s the thing, we Arsenal fans need to support Moyes, as should the rest of the fans in the country who don’t support Manchester United.

We have seen in this transfer window what a difference the coach makes. Given a choice of teams to go to none of the best players wanted to go and play for Moyes. Rewind twelve months and imagine Fergie had announced his retirement a season earlier, does anyone seriously think Brave Sir Robin would have chosen to play for Moyes?

When they played Chelsea I laughed as Moyes who had been standing on the touch line for most of the game went up to his seat to talk to his coaches, he quite simply didn’t understand how to get the win, this is not what he is used to, a point against Chelsea or the big boys would be a good result for him in the past.

And this is why we should want Moyes to keep his job as long as possible, at least for two more transfer windows, so that all the old men have retired or asked to leave and he is left struggling to attract the best of the best.

There is another reason we need him to stay, and his name is Pep Guardiola, Pep was recently quoted as saying he wants to manage in England, he has a contract in Munich for three years. Assuming he stays in the job he will be available in summer of 2016. If Moyes gets sacked early United have the chance to get another coach on a three year deal and fight for Pep, if he stays for a season and a half the manager who replaces him will not take a one and a half year deal.

And what does this mean for us? Well as we all know Arsene’s deal ends in the summer, give the man two more years, and then we can have Pep, Arsene’s natural successor.

So here’s the message we need to repeat in public, “Moyes is good for United”, we can laugh about it quietly as they fall apart, but keeping his job is in all of our interest.

Gooner in Exile

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