Chelsea Preview.

January 19, 2019

Much of this morning’s speculation will revolve, once again, about Mr. Ozil. This being the case I think we can gloss over that and discuss something else. No, not Brexit or a Wall or even the heat in Australia. Not even the worrying statement from Emery about our economy.

How about we cheer ourselves up in the knowledge that the squad is returning to good health with only Welbz and Holding on the long-term injured list. Emery can pick a solid defence – or as good as he can with the tools available, not that I wish to call Mustafi a tool, but if the cap fits …

My opinion:

The back 3 doesn’t work, one only has to look at our goals against to confirm this, so we have to go back to a more solid 4 and abandon the idea of FB’s as wing-backs, especially with AMN and the Wardrobe. The return of Hector and Nacho should add some backbone.

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Some AA’ers doubt Belllerin’s defensive ability, you may be right, but IMO he is amongst our best players.

Quite why Mr. Emery abandoned the deep Xhaka/Terrier combo by sending the little chap further forward is a mystery. Against Spurs they were the key to our victory, surely he will operate the same system this afternoon?

Also, a return to playing one upfront. It appears great mates do not make a great striking partnership. It worked well when we could bring on PEA in the final 20 minutes, his pace terrifying tiring defenders. Why was this tactic abandoned?

Not sure if Mhiki is fit, but we need him back to provide something positive ahead of Bellerin, yet there is no space in the team for both Iwobi and Mhiki if Ozil plays, and Ozil MUST play.

What of Chelsea?. Their manager, David Wagner, is a strange but likeable chap who appears to be doing a very good job with a team depending upon the genius of Hazard allied to the tenacity of the marvelous Kante. The goalkeeper shows the difference between a €60m and a €25m signing, ugly bugger though, our boy is no oil painting but at least he looks human. The midget microphone, Willian always does well against us, hopefully he is crocked.

World Cup winner OG returns to his real home where he should get a rousing reception, thanking him for some unforgettable moments including this …

Look for OG’s pass early in the move

When I lived in London most of my friends were Chelsea or closet Spurs. We always beat them. Always. Who can forget Winterburn’s screamer at the Bridge? As GN5 showed yesterday, those days are well in the past.

Play like we did against West Ham and we will get hammered again, play like we did against Spurs and the points are ours.

Let it Be So

COYRRG

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Wenger Loosens the French Connection.

February 1, 2018

Another Obituary. Strange Days.

Today we wish Giroud a fond farewell, and give a gentle wave to Debuchy. Two more lockers to be emptied.

Matthieu Debuchy. Signed from Newcastle for, what was then, big money. Started his AFC career in fine form and seemed another good buy, but sadly he got crocked by Arnautivic (off the ball in what should have been a straight red card incident). In his absence Hector grew into the player we see today. Had Debuchy not been injured would Hector have made such an impression? We will never know. What is for sure is that injuries have blighted Debuchy’s AFC career. I like his punk attitude; he has not been satisfied being a squad player and now has the chance to enjoy the last years of his playing time in France. Could have been a good servant, sadly through events beyond his control, wasn’t.

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Like so many others I would like to thank Olivier Giroud for his input – a proper Arsenal man who (from media reports) wanted to stay at The Emirates. When OG arrived we were excited, a French International with a good scoring record, good in the air and just the chap to take over from RvP, or so we thought. Unfortunately OG is not and never was at the level of the Dutch Traitor. He is a very good attacker with great vision and a delicate touch but he is not of the first rank. Much admired but everyone knows he is simply not good enough for Arsenal. A great back-up striker and Plan B. For a team which has historically relied upon pace, OG was perhaps not the right fit but he always gave his all and we can ask for no more.

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No more will his song be sung, shame as it is one of the few that everyone knows both the tune and words. We will remember a man who loved the club, was extraordinarily handsome and scored spectacular goals.

Thank you Mr. Giroud. We wish you well.

So … we come to the end of a thrilling January transfer window, out of breath and in shock. I predicted we would sign and sell no-one, so did almost all of you. How wrong could we be?

Exciting times ahead.

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Posted by Erik the Red

Giroud deserves a Start.

April 10, 2017

We have a difficult run-in and two  tough games in the FAC. Should be exciting. Tonight is one of our best possibilities for 3 points.

However, Palace have won 4 out of their last 5 games including a win at Chelsea and will expect to get points tonight, but we need to win in order to keep open the possibility of Top 4 (sorry, this is obvious but I am tired, it is early and I have people to see!)

My Team:

Martinez

Bellerin     Gabriel       Mustafi     Monreal

Elneny      Xhaka      Ozil

Walcott     Giroud     Sanchez

Giroud deserves a start after his excellent goal midweek. Otherwise, why change a winning  team? Sure, we have some great players on the bench who are going to be unhappy at not starting, but that is why we have a quality squad.

As you will know, I am no fan of the Palace manager, his manner, his football philosophy and his looks are all unpleasant. The bloke is sure to tell his team to kick our soft overpaid Jessies , and Benteke to bully our CB’s. Normal Fat Sam tactics.

Score early and we should win but I write that in every game.

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Bubbles, Bilic and Betrayal

April 5, 2017

In recent fixtures West Ham Bob has written the pre-match for this London derby, giving us a view on things Hammery, sadly he is otherwise engaged so you will have to ….

My early recollections of WHU are not good and perhaps influenced my attitude towards our East London neighbours.

In the Days of Black and White, when Spurs had recently won the League, I was a North Bank regular. Every week there was violent competition to “take” the home end at away grounds. At WHU it was the Chicken Run, at Chelsea , the Shed etc etc and at Arsenal away fans tried to “take” the North Bank.

Being a peace-loving long-haired hippy, this violence was not particularly attractive and on Derby Days i would leave my regular spot (towards the back, left side of the goal) and go down the front with the other gentle folk.

The Hammers came to Highbury with fans dressed to kill (literally), a Young Hammer standing by me, pulled out a knife and moved towards me, thankfully an older lady pushed in front of me and told him to desist (in somewhat different language), and called the police to remove the future assassin. He was frog-marched out much to the delight and derision of the North Bank, but I was mentally scarred and have disliked WHU ever since.

The violence both inside and outside Highbury in those Dark Days was terrible to behold – the vitriol shown in yesterday’s post was nothing compared to those days.

Onto tonight’s game: Bilic seems a decent chap and wants to play good passing football in the Academy fashion, sadly he is let down by his players. The Payet saga was awful to watch, imagine how it would have been as a Hammer, to see a man turn from hero to hate figure in less than a season was yet another indication of how morally bankrupt some players are.The WHU fans joy at the removal of Fat Sam is starting to fade as they struggle to get results. What impact will this have on tonight? They will PTB, play hoofball and be dangerous at set plays. The midfield will become a battlefield with  the usual rotational fouling. Andy Carroll.

We have to fight in a different way, move the ball quickly, avoid the physical threat, play smart. Unfortunately we seem to have forgotten how.

I would start with the same team as Sunday, perhaps giving Iwobi or Ox a start as we lacked creativity and urgency vs MC.

My Team:

Ospina

Bellerin      BFG    Mustafi     Monreal

Ox      Xhaka     Ozil

Walcott      Giroud     Sanchez

Giroud adds heights at set plays, especially in defence. Welbeck may be best off the bench. Given Coquelin’s fine performance it may be harsh to drop him, especially in what will be a physical game, but Ox offers more.

BFG? I don’t understand why he is not getting games. Club captain, a fine, experienced player especially at set plays which seem to be both a  major weakness and WHU’s main attacking weapon. Mertesacker has not had games in the youth teams like Welbeck etc. Why not? Mr Wenger says he is fit and in the squad but needs game-time. Tonight may well be a opportunity to give him that.

A clean sheet seems to be beyond us this season, so goals for are essential, WHU have more points playing away from home. Arsenal are struggling for fluency and confidence. Should be a good night.

We need 3 points and have the team to take them.

Let it be So

written by Big Raddy

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Giroud to Start.

November 23, 2016

This may be the most interesting and glamorous game so far this season, with both teams guaranteed entry to the next round attacking football is assured.

PSG are a fantastic team; full of wonderful top quality players, Parisian (which is a very good thing),  a huge following, a fine stadium, playing attacking, intricate, intelligent football. Everything that I love about Arsenal (apart from tradition and geography) is true of PSG. That said, my Gallic friends consider PSG the Chelsea of French football, having come from nowhere and being bankrolled by foreign money

Beat them and we win the group, draw and we  (can) win the group. We have to be favourites despite being outplayed in the away fixture with Ospina winning MotM. Had Cavani played to his normal standard we would have been hammered, but he didn’t and we weren’t.

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How marvellous is it that Aurier has been refused entry to UK? Perhaps they can do the same for Messi, Suarez and Neymar when they next come to Arsenal:-D

Thanks to the quality of our squad we have question marks over the team selection. The media focus is upon who plays CF and whether Ramsey will start. Some Gooners will be hoping for Xhaka to start ahead of Elneny especially after our lacklustre display at the weekend. Given Theo has a “tweak” will Ox start on the right? Will Iwobi return?

What do you think?

My team:

Ospina

Jenkinson    Mustafi    Koscielny     Monreal

Xhaka    Coquelin     Iwobi

Walcott    Giroud      Ozil

I am hoping that Xhaka will try some long distance shots as this is something we have been lacking in recent weeks. Sanchez needs a rest and will be on the bench as supersub, as will Ramsey and Ox.

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If we draw the our performance in Basle becomes more significant, if we win or lose, it doesn’t.  Unlike many I give little credence to the importance of finishing first or second, all the teams in the final 16 are very good.

Off subject, a little, what was going on with Spurs last night? To spend hundreds of millions to achieve the ambition of reaching the CL, why play a weakened team in a vital match? Bizarre but typically Spurs. Perhaps they will go far in the Europa 😀

It will be a cloudy, windy night with some showers, a win will see us Walking in Sunshine .

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Let’s get this one over with as quick as we can and move onto Saturday

November 1, 2016

November. We usually struggle.

I could stop the post here and just re-blog it as the PM for every game in the month but that wouldn’t be very entertaining , would it?

As to tonight’s game, it is eminently winnable. We smashed the Bulgarians at home and should do so again tonight …. but we are The Arsenal and there is many a slip twixt cup and lip etc etc.

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Our form is good though untested against decent opposition, our players are fit apart from a couple of centre forwards, our results are better away from home. What can go wrong?

Complacency; both from manager and players. They will expect to win, as we expect them to.

Ludogorets have earned the chance to play in the CL, having won the Bulgarian League and beaten among others, Red Star Belgrade in the qualifiers, they have also drawn with Basle so they are no pushovers. Less than 100% effort will result in a loss of important points.

Why are they important? You already know 😉 so I won’t waste your time.

My Team:

Ospina

Jens   Mustafi     Kos     Gibbs

Elneny    Coq      Iwobi

Ox    Sanchez    Ozil

Should Xhaka start in place of Elneny or Le Coq? Not for me – he has to stay on the Naughty Step and learn that making stupid tackles like the one v Swansea is not the Arsenal Way.

The only other question mark is whether Arsene will rest players (see :complacency). He may choose  to play Ramsey and Giroud in order to rest Ozil and Sanchez, however AW has been clear about giving Ramsey time to bed into the team again, so I doubt he will start. Whereas the FFP has shown why he is important and that sometimes Alexis can be the Plan B.

Ludogorets ground has a capacity of just over 8,000 and is sold out. I expect to see the crowd fervent for the first half, less so in the second, followed by some heads down muttering  allowing our travelling few to be heard celebrating.

Let it be So.

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Boro Buried By Buoyant Arsenal

February 16, 2015

Here are a few AAers’ comments after the game …………………. 

LB said

I think I would describe that as the perfectly executed plan.

Who would have thought that Wenger would have started with a 4.2.4 line up? The idea was clearly to go at them, all guns blazing, get ahead and by doing so would force them onto us, before bringing Walcott on in the latter stages to run riot with his pace. And that is exactly what happened.

If Boro were hoping for a lift from Wenger opting to field a weaker team they were disappointed. 

Welbeck, Giroud, Ozil and Sanchez up front, wow that is some front line.

Gabriel didn’t have that much to do but there were some very encouraging signs. His professional foul was a South American master class.

https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/567228008227160064

stevepalmer1 said

I felt we gave a good account of ourselves, pretty on the eye, plenty of possession with some nice quick passing. I would like to see us making challenges earlier on forward running attackers as i feel we open up and give them chances but apart from that not bad at all. 

My MOTM would have been Gibbs the lad ran up and down all game and made his self a nuisance but also did his defensive work well. Very happy with that effort but have to say expected more goals but 2 goals is still blinding. Don’t want to leave Chambers out another fine days work son.

Boro2

Gooner In Exile said

Gibbs had a very positive game obviously showing he wants his shirt back.

But I think I loved watching the front three of Ozil, Santi and Alexis, they were walking into little spaces and making gorgeous passing. Past their way out of the press with ease.

Also has anyone noticed the skill Welly uses quite a lot, where he kind of allows the player to commit a sliding tackle before he touches the ball and he kind of picks it up with his trailing leg, it’s very effective and useful because he seems to break away more often than not using it.

Let’s not forget this was Boro and we are going to face better less gappy buses than this in the remainder of the league campaign.

Ratings

Szczesny 8 – Not much to do – Great having him as second choice keeper! 

Chambers 8 – Hungry and competent without being tested too much

Koscielny 9 – Needed a rest and got one by cruising through the game

Gabriel 8 – Fitted in straightaway. Took one for the team in the right area of the field

Gibbs 9 –  Excellent throughout  

Flamini 8 – Very effective against limited opposition

Cazorla 9 – His performance was as tall as his hair

Ozil 9 – A world class player able to show it against a disappointing ‘Boro

Welbeck 8 – Just finding his form again. Could have a great end of season

Sanchez 9 – Love the man almost as much as he loves playing

Giroud 9 – Two crackers. The first a team goal, the second opportunist 

Cobbled together by chas

 

 

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Posted by Rasp

Transfers and The Arsenal Attack.

July 23, 2013

On this occasion, I have a huge advantage over all of you bright eyed and clever Arsenal Statty Sorts, and that is because I know what I have written below, and DidIt logic is pretty much Greek to anyone else (which obviously leaves Transplant in the know!).

Thing is, as far as I’m concerned, Rules are things that apply to others, and Stats are for my very own personal interpretation. Obtuse thinking to others, but clarity personified to me. Or so I thought.

Next season, we aim for top spot, and on the evidence of last season, these are the kind of stats we will be Gunning for:

Utd GF 86 GA 43 GD 43, while we ended with this lot:

AFC GF 72 GA 37 GD 35

First obvious thing that you will notice is that the defence doesn’t matter, as we actually conceded too few. So that’s that area dealt with. Right, up to the other end we go, and formulate a transfer strategy that will secure another 14 goals.

Let’s look at the evidence, and this is where I become DidItly elastic with the facts.

Olly scoring

The Attack is a collective unit. A successful attack is measured in goals scored, and the principal protagonists are the front three and the Advanced Midfielder (or Santi, as he’s called). Okedoke, so this is where things get a little complicated, because here I begin to use some of my own formulas and rationality. One or two assumptions need to be made. One, Ollie is the first choice CF. Theo Right, and Gerv/Pod make up the left so I’ll treat those two as one component, or position as some call it (I’m ignoring the fact that both Pod and Gerv started centrally on occasion).

Last season goals were spread thus, and I’m only talking about the league:

Giroud 11, Theo 14, Pod 11/Gerv 5, Santi 12

Pod scoring

That’s 53 goals out of our total league haul of 72 (19 to the rest)

Now, throwing in total league starts of:

Giroud 24, Theo 24, Pod 25 and Gerv 12 (av 18), Santi 36.

I then calculate the average goals (factored up or something) were these boys to start every game:

Giroud 17, Theo 22, Pod/Gerv 24, and Santi 13, giving a total of 68. Add in the 19 and we have 87. Champion Stats.

Theo scoring

So, there we have it. Same gang start every game and we are home and dry.

Oh ok, so things aren’t quite that simple, as we have to be slightly grown up about this and realize they won’t ever all start every game, so it’s a case of looking at the weak areas, despite the skew wiffiness of my logic.

What surprises me most is that Ollie, Pod, Gerv and Theo all have fairly similar goals to starts ratios. To my even more enormous surprise, it is the fragility of Theo that poses the biggest problem as we simply don’t have the goalscoring back up over on the right. I began this rather strange exercise fully expecting to justify what I have been banging on about, namely, the need for a Left Winger. The facts, however, say something completely different, which is that a Theoless Right leaves us in big trouble.

Santi scores

Given that I believe Ollie does have productive back up in the shape of Podolski, who himself doubles up to provide a two man team with Gerv on the left, that leaves the biggest question of all: the Theo fitness and can the Ox take the next step up this season and provide the goal per two games to keep the overall attack numbers on course (Last season, he had 1 goal from 11 starts!).

In short, as proved by Utd last season, and City the season before, the lack of critical injuries plays a pivotal role. City overcame this through quality cover, Utd were very lucky with Persie. Utd achieved their impressive goal tally largely through the fitness of Persie, who started 35 of their league games, but featured in all 38, to produce his 26 goals. If, as Podolski himself says, we will see the real version this season as he has overcome his injury problems, and he becomes first choice central cover for Ollie, perhaps what we need most is more firepower from the Wings.

Bernard does that. Yesterday I said I was cross that Arsene denied The Brazilian was a target. Now I’m really angry, but given that I’ve just read on the reliable Newsnow that Gerv could be off to Roma, I’m convinced a goalscoring Wide Boy will arrive, and one who can operate down either flank.

Written by MickyDidIt89

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner