Some Fighting Spirit Returns

November 7, 2012

Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Wilshere, Arteta, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud, Podolski. subs: Shea, Santos, Djourou, Jenkinson, Coquelin, Arshavin, Chamakh.

The line-up was greeted warmly with Koscielny in for Santos who was too busy putting bsr’s shirt on Ebay and Theo playing right side instead of the injured, flying winger Rambo. On paper both changes made the team stronger and it would need to be at its most resistant at an intimidating Veltins Arena. Talk of Micky finding a Schalke fan website to translate from was interrupted when his search inadvertently led to a different type of German sport site.

The game kicked off and the first minute immediately saw Schalke in behind the left back position. Luckily the cross went deep and Alan Smith started to whine already. Soon after, Vermaelen made a good tackle and started to regain some of his shattered confidence. Arsenal had a small period of possession ending in Theo overplaying, resulting in a Schalke break and the defence looked vulnerable.

On 9 minutes Podolski lost the ball in midfield, another quick break ended in an Affelay shot well saved by Mannone at the near post. Two minutes later Theo lost the ball again in midfield and another shaky episode ended with a Schalke header just over the bar from the resulting corner.

Schalke were pressing high up and the midfield refusing to take the ball from the back four resulted in a few hoofs forward from keeper and full backs. On 15’, Vermaelen was skinned again but Farfan ran the ball out of play. A super Jack dribble then saw Arsenal win two corners on the trot. The first nearly allowed Jack to sneak in at the near post in a training ground move.

Eighteen minutes in and a poor defensive header from Schalke fell to Giroud who stumbled a little but Theo following up tapped the ball home. 1-0 and a confidence boost for the yellows.

With Arsenal’s confidence now growing, a super ball from Santi allowed Podolski to cross but it flew over Theo’s head in the centre.

Cazorla was then booked for handball before he delivered the best Arsenal pass of the game to Wilshere. It looked perfect for a top corner, left-footed curler but instead Jack fed the ball wide to Podolski who seemed to trip, then regain his feet which threw the Schalke defence off guard allowing the cross to come in and Giroud to power the ball home unmarked. 2-0 to the good guys.

Sagna made a great covering challenge after Podolski lost the ball in midfield, followed by Walcott doing the same. Schalke looked dangerous when Arsenal lost the ball in those middle areas all game and so it was to prove. On 33’ Giroud went down clutching the back of his leg. A kick rather than a hamstring tear brought relief all round for the Gooner faithful. A superb Wilshere dribble winning a corner was followed by more shakiness from our captain looking anything but comfortable at left back. Luckily Farfan blasted over the bar.

Alan Smith seemed to be willing Schalke to get one back before half-time as did the commentator plus the whole team back in the studio. Fuchs was booked for a foul on Walcott and Giroud unfortunately directed his header straight at the keeper from Cazorla’s free-kick.

Some good Arsenal possession and strong hold-up play from Giroud had Alan Smith sounding more and more gutted but into the second minute of first half injury time, he got his wish. Cazorla slipped over and two passes (the second from Holtby, a gem) put Huntelaar through and a clinical left foot finish was the last kick of the first forty five. 2-1 and the ugly sisters in the Sky studio would now have a feast of criticism with which to sate their anti-Arsenal appetite. The mute button it was for me.

The second half began and Arsenal had a fine chance to restore their 2 goal margin but Giroud connected with his right shin from a Podolski cross. A poor defensive header from the BFG wasn’t punished before Giroud and Walcott found themselves in an identical position (centre forward) from a Podolski pass. Huntelaar, who always scores every chance he’s ever presented with (according to the commentary team), then missed a one on one with Don Vito making a fine block. The Dutch striker looked marginally offside.

The pressure was starting to build and Arteta made a couple of crucial interceptions in his defensive third. Arsenal still look like a team with no talkers present. Somebody needs to gee the others up when the team comes under pressure. A fine piece of defensive work from Podolski saw the ball end up with Theo being fouled and everyone could pause for breath at last.

On 59’ Jack started to look leggy and when Theo raced clear, Jack produced a tired looking pass which was easily cut out.  The referee then produced a bizarre decision to deny Podolski of a chance to score a third and crucial goal for Arsenal. A Schalke defender went down in the area with a leg injury, the referee didn’t stop the game immediately but only when Podolski was about to shoot. It wasn’t a head injury so Podolski’s frustration was understandable.

The next few minutes saw a Holtby shot, Mannone out to deny Huntelaar and an Affelay shot into Mannone’s midriff. The equaliser looked like it was coming, Vermaelen got sucked into the middle leaving Farfan clear at the far post. His shot was deflected in by Vermaelen as it flew past Mannone. 2-2 with over 20 still to go and I couldn’t bear the commentary anymore, so off it went. Smith had what he wanted.

(As an aside, my brother applied for an Arsenal credit card to receive a 1989 away shirt signed by Alan Smith. He was tempted to ask for one that hadn’t been signed. What is it with ex-Arsenal players queueing up to take a pop at the club. I suppose as we’re the most talked about team in the country it’s an easy way to make a few bob.)

The BFG slipped and Schalke were nearly in again. However the response from the yellows was positive after Schalke’s equaliser. A couple of corners for the away side followed. Wilshere laying the ball back to Cazorla who blazed over and Theo hitting the post when offside, showed some signs of a revival of heart from the Gunners.

81’ and Mannone held on well from a fierce drive with a Schalke player waiting to pounce. Another quick break saw Huntelaar fire over the bar again confounding the goal every chance theory. Vermaelen made a great saving tackle in the 85th minute leading to some cold sponge treatment. Good tackles from Tommy and the BFG preceded a fine punch from Mannone. Could we hang on?

The substitutions to waste some injury time came on 90 minutes, Coquelin for Cazorla and Santos for Podolski. Barnetta came on for Schalke wearing a superb version of the kind of moustache that Big Al adores. The final minute of the four gave Arsenal a great chance to sneak the three points and put us back in charge of the group, but Theo hit the goalkeeper’s legs when he, perhaps, should have gone round him. It was the last kick of the game.

Most Arsenal fans would have taken a point before the game started but with Olympiacos beating Montpelier, it’s still wide open. We now look as though we’ll need to get some sort of result in Greece. Still we could still finish top of the group, too, so all to play for.

Ratings:

Mannone – Made some excellent saves and couldn’t really be faulted for either of the goals. My MOTM ……8

Mertesacker – Lost his footing and bearings a few times but produced some great interceptions and tackles……8

Vermaelen – Didn’t inspire a great deal of confidence at left back, but grew into the game. I wonder how Andre would have coped with Farfan?…….7

Sagna – Some great tackles but sometimes a little sloppy which is unusual for Bacary. Still he has been out for a long spell and is regaining full match sharpness….7

Koscielny – Kos looked a little nervous as well after a spell on the bench and is still finding his feet at Champions League level……7

Arteta – Not Mikel’s best game for the Gunners. He looks a little tired to me…….7

Wilshere – Jack gets me up off my feet and is starting to show signs of blossoming partnership with Santi. Now gets a restorative break from the League…..8

Cazorla – Santi will appreciate sharing some of the creative load with Jack. Unfortunate to slip for the first Schalke goal…….7

Podolski – Lukas worked extremely hard again and his assist for Giroud’s goal was superb. He was really unlucky to be pulled back by the ref when about to unleash a howitzer in the 2nd half…..8

Giroud – A great header for the second after stumbling during the build up to the first. Worked hard but we still don’t seem to be playing to his strengths  …..7

Walcott – Theo was lively throughout. Still makes the wrong decision when he doesn’t get his head up, but judging by his voice in his post-match interview, he’s been pretty poorly, so all credit to him ….8

Subs

Santos – 90′

Coquelin – 90′

Written by chas

True to his word, MickyDidIt89 tracked down a Schalke site and has translated their report of the game for us to read. Google translation has come up with some amusing phrasing which we think adds to the flavour of the report …. you must read this with a German accent in your head (or you will be shot 🙂 )

Copied from “schalkefan.de”:

A roller coaster of emotions.  Only the joyful astonishment that S04 apparently seamlessly to connect to the power of London and Arsenal on Matchday of the Champions League group stage recorded directly and violently.Then the bare horror after the incredibly stupid mistake Neustätdters novel, the Walcott the 0:1 on a silver platter with a bow on it served. Then the first signs of resignation because Podolski the fresh substitute for the injured Uchida Hoeger kidding and unchallenged can beat a cross for Giroud, who even slightly non drängter than the face may even stand on six-yard box. Finally, the frustration, as Schalke is always associated with high balls at Arsenal’s strong central defense. And then again the hope as Huntelaar hits with the half time whistle out of the blue to 1:2.  The irrepressible desire – not only on the field, even in the stands – the guests after half-time to pour it 2-2 and eventually the boundless joy, as it will finally Farfán. Schalke gegen Arsenal hatte alles! Schalke against Arsenal had everything! It was war over long periods is a great game. 

Was it a heroic-fought point?  Was it a victory verschenkter?  Or was it in the end lucky to Unnerstall in the last scene of the game his foot to some degree turns, stop the ball on the back of the net?  I think it was a little bit of everything. Schalke hatte seine Chancen. Schalke had his chances. Schalke got down well.  But Schalke made again the glaring errors that pervade the season like a royal blue thread.  Neustaedter that should never try in life, play from the halfway line to the back of the head with a back pass, he will know himself.  That neither Giroud Podolski yet we may be free to act, word has spread now to Hoeger, Matip and Höwedes.  Two errors, two serious errors even that had a hair that the result of a good performance on its head. 

Because it was a good performance. Rarely seen berennen one Schalke team so unleashes the gates of a strong opponent, as one saw yesterday after the halftime break.  The balance was not enforced, he was rushed through by brute force.  So vehemently Schalke went to work, that after the 2:2 lacked strength for further exploits and you eventually – quite rightly by the way – was happy with the 2-2.

On this game between Schalke and Arsenal, I will certainly think back often. No matter how they go crazy and suddenly exciting preliminary group remains to be stated that the Blues were able to confirm its strong performance from the “first leg”.  It was not a one two weeks ago at the Emirates Stadium.  In the form of yesterday I’m at Schalke and the other Champions League history not worry.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Get on the Good Foot

November 6, 2012

Hands up who thinks we will win tonight?  Mmmmmm seems I am in the minority. OK, Schalke dominated the game at The Emirates and were deserving winners, but tonight is a chance to rectify those mistakes and continue on our path to winning the Champions League  ….. And before you start to say BR is 3 sheets to the wind, may I remind you of who is the current CL Champions and how they won Big Ears?

We can win and here is why ……

First and foremost, Mr Jack Wilshere. We are unquestionably better with him in the side. I guess that under normal circumstances AW would rest Wilshere for tonight but given his coming enforced rest, Jack must start. I would like to linger on Jack for a moment. How did he escape media and fans rebuke for getting sent off? How could it be that it was Mr Wenger who took all the brickbats for JW’s stupidity? Wilshere is an established International, he has played over 60 games for Arsenal, yet at Old Trafford he was on a yellow, had been warned by the referee as to his future conduct and still committed a foul that in the ref’s view deserved a yellow. Why was he so reckless? To say AW should have taken him off is unreasonable – should every player on a yellow get subbed?  No, of course not. A great player needs to be on the pitch to assist his team and JW let us down, tonight he will make amends.

Another plus:  Bacary Sagna:  At least BS should get some decent crosses into Giroud who I predict will score tonight.

The second Leg: Mr Wenger  will address the way Schalke double teamed Santos. Gibbs remains unavailable so a different solution must be found – perhaps playing Coquelin in place of Podolski?). Much mooted is the idea of playing Vermaelen at LB and bringing back Koscielny. My concern with this tactic is the pace of the Schalke’s wingers. TV  is a fine player in a poor run of form and works best as a CB. I would prefer to continue with Santos and make TV aware of his covering responsibilities.

Schalke are good, very good but we should remember that for the first 20 minutes of the last game Arsenal were well on top, we looked comfortable and the following hour remains a shock . That Affellay, Farfan and Huntelaar  are quality players should come as no shock.

The injury list is just so annoying – Ox, Gibbs, Szczesny, Diaby , Gervinho – all fine players, all would be vying for a start tonight. And that is without important squad members Rosicky, Fabianski, Ramsey etc. Will there ever be a time when we can choose from an injury-free squad ?

My team: …. I was asked whether this my ideal choice or those I anticipate AW will make – it is the latter.

The news that Walcott is doubtful due to sickness came after this post was written, your guess as to his replacement is as good as anyone’s

We have to be more attacking than we have been in the last few weeks. I understand the need to secure the defensive side of our game and in the absence of both Ox and Theo there were few alternatives but the team has been dreadfully short of creativity.

The Schalke fans were superb at The Emirates and they are fervent at home, 60,000+ will be willing their team on. We almost silenced the German fans at Borussia Dortmund, we can do the same tonight.

Today’s explorer:  John Rae (1813-1893). Rae’s speciality was ice – lots of it. He tried to find the Northwest Passage – some say he did find it –  once walking 1200 miles through forest in two months during a Canadian winter. He learned Inuit and explored Greenland and Iceland .

Dr Rae anticipating a good performance tonight

Schalke have only kept one home clean sheet  in 14 games in Europe. As another great Scot  Dave Mackay once said “Attack is the best form of defence ” (Charles Buchan Football Monthly Feb 1964).

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Virgin Sacrifice: I presume

November 2, 2012

There are games one anticipates with hope rather than confidence. You know the ones, the top 3 away and of late the trip to the Cave Dwellers. I have never enjoyed our games at the Old Toilet, we rarely do well and when we do it comes as a surprise – yes, we have had some wonderful wins and some sterling performances but on the whole we struggle. We have won once at OT in 10 years (PL) and just 3 times in 20 years.

Then there was last season’s freak humiliation. And before you Kent United fans get uppity, the 8 goals came from 14 shots on target. we had 9, you had 3 corners, AFC 5. A freak result which owed much to good fortune and a dreadful defensive performance from a patched up Arsenal – Traore and Jenks were our FB’s (CJ’s first PL game).

All football fans know that SAF signed a pact with the devil – the percentage of dodgy refereeing decisions and decades of outrageous good fortune are testament to his trip down to the Crossroads but last season the Oil money bought his luck. The Chavs shameful CL victory and MC’s last-second PL win must have shaken The Gorbals  Guzzler down to the tip of his steel toed boots. Having already sold his soul Ferguson is surely looking at other avenues to ensure his team’s dominance over the fickle fates….. see below

Sir Alex prepares for the game

Let’s get the unpleasant stuff out of the way early. Brave Sir Robin. An inspired purchase by SAF, a purchase which could win them the title. For us, a shambles of Titanic proportions. To BSR we are the lover scorned and he will pay the price whatever Mr Wenger says.

What can we expect of today? None of the MU players who conceded 5 (as we did!) midweek will start, as such, Scholes, Cleverly and Carrick will be doing their best to cripple Santi and Jack.  Their defence is said to be shaky but whose wouldn’t given their injuries at CB ? We can but hope that SAF has a meltdown and includes Wooton.

It goes without saying that MU sport some of the most odious men playing today. Evra, Rooney, Nani, Rafael, Ferdinand , Anderson, Fletcher, Young – all  beetle headed baculum (look it up!). I hesitate to put Ashley Young amongst these miscreants but despite being a Gooner, if the cap fits…..

I expect Mr Wenger to take a conservative view; he will not want his team humiliated again – if last season was tough for us, imagine how it was for him.

My Team:

I fully expect to see both Arshavin and Walcott at some point, especially Theo after his fine performance at Reading. But today we will need solidity, should we reach the hour point on level terms I hope AW will bolster the attack.

Much focus will be upon the performance of Jack Wilshire. So much riding upon his stocky frame and the strength of his ankles. If he returns to the form of two seasons ago this Arsenal team will be very, very strong. It is one thing to close down Cazorla with 2 players but having another creative genius allows Arsenal to continue to threaten. We must pray that the referee (Mike Dean – the world is watching) will protect him because you know SAF will be telling his miscreants to kick two colours out of young Jack

It is a great shame Diaby is not fit as this would be his type of game, we will miss Gibbs as well because it is inevitable SAF will target Santos.

This is a game which George Graham would have relished; put the Famous 5 in place of the current back 5 and we would stand a much better chance. Actually, scratch that ….. put Seaman into this team and it would be transformed. The stats show we have conceded just 6 PL goals which is astonishing given our goalkeeping frailty; it is a testament to a team ethic. But and this is a huge BUT, no team wins things without a top goalkeeper and we are lacking. Let us pray to Dennis that AW has a proper GK in his sights this January – watching Julio Cesar perform heroics for QPR last week made me wonder why he wasn’t in our goal.

Today’s Top Man:  I promised you David Livingstone (1813 – 1873) and here he is in all his pomp and glory:

No Beard – Not Knighted

A Scottish Protestant Missionary, he was the first white man to cross Africa. He also tried to find the source of the Zambezi, a 6 year expedition during which he “discovered”/named Victoria Falls and Lake Malawi. He then traveled into the East African jungle where he got “lost” for 4 years. Such was Livingstone’s fame that the New York Herald sent out Henry Stanley to find him. They met on the shores of Lake Tanganyika with Stanley humorously greeting him with the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”  Livingstone died in Africa (malaria), his heart was buried in Zambia, and his body brought back to England where it was buried in Westminster Cathedral

BR doesn’t make predictions but he would be thrilled with a point and promises to buy Mrs Raddy something expensive should when we win.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

QPR Report and Player Ratings: Context Is All

October 28, 2012

There were more than a few “Phews” at the final whistle yesterday.

After two defeats during which we had displayed the cutting edge of a doughnut, a victory was essential to help steady the Good Ship Arsenal.

And a victory we got, but not one that was easy on the ticker.

At one point the TV cameras focused on an old boy in his 90s who has been following Arsenal since the 1920s. I remember thinking that games like the one we were watching were likely to finish the poor old fellow off.

Mind you, given some of the dire, trophy-less periods he has lived through I doubt whether he gets as hot under the collar about our current travails as some of the younger supporters (which in his case means everyone apart from Dandan).

The big news before kick-off was that Arsenal’s saviour had returned: Jack Wilshere starting a first team game for the first time in 17 months. Bacary Sagna also returned after his own absence: hard on young Carl Jenkinson perhaps, but there’s no harm in the lad getting a break after deputising very well so far this season.

Up front, Arsene Wenger took the revolutionary option of starting with an orthodox striker – Olivier Giroud – supported by Cazorla, with Podolski on the left and Ramsey taking the right-sided midfield role he performed so well against the champions a few weeks ago.

Andre Santos continued at left back, prompting long queues at the crappers before kick-off.

The opposition, managed by the unlikeable Mark Hughes, were bottom of the table despite having spent freely, assembling a squad littered with decent players.

QPR are also a big, physical team, proving that “Hughes the Elbow” did not abandon his fondness for the darker footballing arts after hanging up his boots.

As far as I could tell from watching on the box, the stadium atmosphere at kick off was supportive, but apprehensive. We all remember how nasty things got when the wheels came off at the start of last season, and you could tell the fans were nervous of the disharmony that might be waiting to rear its head if we were to suffer a third consecutive defeat.

Rather than a blow-by-blow report, I want to offer an overview of the game.

I felt we started well and immediately looked to have more positive intent than against Norwich last weekend. Cazorla was busy, finding space between the Rangers’ midfield and defence, Podolski was threatening at every opportunity and Wilshere’s quick feet and direct running were a sight for sore eyes (and I don’t know about you, but after Norwich and Schalke my eyes were as sore as Nasri’s splintered arse).

Hopefully one effect of Wilshere’s presence this season will be to take some of the pressure off Cazorla.

Opposition teams have quickly got wise to the dangers posed to them by Santi and he is usually closely marked now. The way we are playing at the moment you feel that if Santi is stopped, so are Arsenal.

But with Wilshere showing the sort of touches, skill and vision he displayed yesterday it’s not going to be so easy for other teams to nullify us and the prospect is mouthwatering.

To QPR’s credit they did not set out to Queens Park the bus (or at least not as much as most other teams we play at The Emirates). They had two up front and were prepared to try and get forward in a systematic way rather than just booting it up to Zamora.

We could have gone ahead early on, when a flicked header from Ramsey looped just onto the crossbar rather than just beneath it. My recollection is that Sagna crossed the ball in that incident – if so it was just one of several good crosses Mr Reliable made on his return. Incidentally, Sagna showed no signs of rustiness, which is quite remarkable after such a long lay off.

We had a few long range shots on target, a couple of which were spilled by Cesar in the QPR goal. None of the spillages fell to an Arsenal boot which, depending on your perspective, is either because we were unlucky or we did not get enough men in the box.

As the first half wore on and we failed to create any gilt-edged opportunities, the level of apprehension seemed to grow. The stadium was pretty quiet (although I accept that the television coverage does not always give an accurate indication of sound levels) and the players looked tense.

At half time it was hard to feel completely confident that we would come away with all three points and the second half continued in the same vein.

The turning point was a piece of petulance by the visitors’ centre back Stephane Mbia. Fouled by Vermaelen out by the right touchline, the Cameroonian lashed out a boot and was rightly shown red.

There were about 15 minutes to go and we had been gradually building up the pressure even before the sending off. But with QPR down to 10 we were really able to turn the screw.

A succession of chances followed – the best of them falling to Santi Cazorla who blasted over from inside the penalty area when he should at least have hit the target.

Cesar made some fine saves in the Rangers goal – the best of them from a deflected clearance off a QPR defender.

We finally got our reward in the 83rd minute. Giroud – who had a really good game leading the line – was able to win a great header in the box despite being under pressure from two defenders. Cesar parried it, but the ball found Arteta in the six yard box. His header hit the crossbar, bounced back into the six yard box and finally squirted (via Ramsey) to Arteta again, who poked it home. There was an argument for offside which may be justified but would have been difficult to call in the melee that led to the goal.

As we all anxiously willed the clock to tick faster, the team very nearly shot itself in the foot. Twice QPR found great positions to equalise. First Granero pulled a shot wide, then Mackie bundled through three challenges only to find Vito Mannone standing strong to make the block.

Finally the whistle went and the collective sigh of relief must have been audible in West London.

How to view this performance is all about context. If we were coming off the back of a string of good results, we would see it as a professional job: a game in which we were not quite in our best fluid form, but did enough to take all three points.

But after the two recent defeats (and, more particularly, the paucity of chances created in those games), this will be viewed by many as another dodgy outing in which we were lucky to come away with a win.

It’s worth noting, however, that we had 70% possession to QPR’s 30%, and we had 21 attempts on goal (11 on target) compared with QPR’s four (three on target).

Those stats should provide some measure of reassurance and certainly give the lie to Mark Hughes’s ridiculous claim that Rangers controlled the game until the sending off. But a man clinging to his job by the skin of his elbows is liable to say anything.

For me there were many pluses: that we ground out the result; that Jack is Back and looking every bit the player we remember him to be; that Bac is Back and in fine form; and that we have made the first step on the road to recovery.

Player ratings

Mannone: not a lot to do but made a vital stop in the dying minutes. His kicking was mostly very good. 7

Sagna: excellent performance by Bac. I don’t recall him being exposed defensively once all game and he got forward and made several fine crosses. 8.5

Mertesacker: solid outing; some good interceptions and headers and the usual composure when distributing from the back. 7

Vermaelen: unspectacular but did his defensive job well – exactly the sort of performance he needs as he gets his form back together. 7

Santos: after his struggles in the last two games Andre did better, but was still exposed a couple of times. However, he is getting a run of games and will improve. 6

Arteta: I’m running out of superlatives for Miki. Outstanding defensive duties and control of the ball. 8.5 (MoTM)

Wilshere: very encouraging return for Jack. His control, passing and running with the ball were all in evidence. If he stays fit he will make a big difference to our season. 8

Ramsey: when he plays wide right he is certainly no winger, but he kept the dangerous Taarabt quiet and did a lot of good work and got the assist for Arteta’s goal. I wish he had a better left foot because he sometimes gets himself into trouble by having to make wide turns on his right. 7

Podolski: he seemed to be hanging back more than usual to help protect Santos, but also looked lively when getting forward. Not his best game but you always feel he’s capable of popping up with a goal. 7

Cazorla: always busy and dangerous. He is surprisingly hard to barge off the ball for such a small guy. Should have done better with his shot when it was still 0-0. 8

Giroud: I really like this player: QPR are a big strong team but he more than held his own, moved their centre backs around a lot and brought others into the game. His fine header led to our goal. We need to be patient with Olivier because he will come good for us. 8

Subs

Walcott: looked as if he could threaten, without actually doing a great deal.

Gervinho: had a couple of typical runs (ie, tricksy runs with no end product) before picking up an injury and being substituted himself.

Arshavin: made the cross that led to the goal – a player who should, perhaps, be getting more pitch time.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Wilshere to start on Saturday and International Report

October 17, 2012

Will he or won’t he? Of course he won’t. There is as much chance of Wilshere starting as there is of Spurs winning the PL in my lifetime (or yours). I do not understand the calls for Jack – too often have we seen the results of bringing a player back too early. My guess is that JW is in Mr Wenger’s face every day desperate to get on the pitch; his career has been in park mode when he should have been establishing himself as the best player of his generation. It remains to be seen what effect his year put will have on his development.

Is Jack the “Real Deal”? This is another question entirely. The press and fans always hype up a player and the level of Jack-hype is ridiculous. There was talk of inclusion into the England squad before he has played for Arsenal !!

Jack may be a Dad but he is still a little boy.

As to the Internationals. Last night saw differing fortunes for our lads. A ying and yang game for Per Mertesacker who played the whole game for Germany, scored a volley and then was central to his side conceding 4 goals. The BBC laid the blame for Sweden’s last at the feet (or head) of Per, but as usual it was lazy journalism.

Mr Giroud came on as sub for Benzema to score a lovely goal. On the pitch for just 10 minutes he was very active and involved. A Ribery cross was deftly guided (with some power) into the far corner of Casillas’s net. A good lesson for the Arsenal wide-men; put in a decent cross and Giroud with score. In my opinion, he could be the best attacking header of the ball we have seen since Alan Smith.

Gervinho had a troubled night in Senegal. From what I saw he had a very good game and played wide left. Senegal played a pressing game and The Swerve  was Ivory Coast’s main outlet. Sadly, the game ended badly after the Senegal fans rioted.

Ramsey’s Wales won and lost. The Ox is benched for tonight’s match in Poland. Podolski was a German sub. Cazorla came on as sub for Spain – some nice touches but not particularly influential. Koscielny gave a way a dreadful penalty which Fabregas missed.

As far as I can find out, no-one was injured though Theo will be out for at least 3 games.

Written very hastily by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

The Midfield Conundrum.

October 16, 2012

Sherlock Holmes said that whatever is left once you have removed the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

What has this to do with our midfield? Well,  ….. the impossible is that we will have a fully fit midfield  to choose from, we have physical fragility in spades – Diaby, Wilshere, Rosicky, Ramsey, Frimpong, Coquelin and Arteta have all suffered long term injuries over the past few seasons and there is no reason to think this will change.

And what is improbable? That less than half of them will be fit at any one time. Add in the as yet to be damaged Ox, Arshavin and Cazorla and we have lots of choice, some might say, too much choice. At a time when all three of our Goalkeepers are under the age of 23 and two of them are crocked, it could be said that we lack squad balance – but that is another story and another post.

I would need RA mathematical qualities to work out the possible combinations of our midfield, all I know as there are too many to count on my fingers. Even if we take Cazorla and Arteta as starters  there are 8 possible partners for them. But should they be automatic starters? Is a midfield of Diaby, Wilshere and Coquelin worse? Or  Ramsey, Ox and Rosicky? etc etc etc

Should Oxlade- Chamberlain be considered as a future midfield linch-pin or a prettier Peter Beardsley?

My point is that what is left is the truth and the truth is we have too many midfield players. The skill sets of Ramsey, Rosicky, Coquelin, Wilshere, and Ox are similar – not identical but similar. I would be happy for any of them to start against any opposition, Cazorla is exceptional. We have no player who can replicate the skills of Arteta but should he be injured we will change the balance of the midfield to be either more attacking or more defensive.

What do you think will be our best midfield assuming all are fit? And what do you think it will look like in 2014? My take is:

2012   Diaby    Cazorla     Arteta

2014     O-C   Wilshere  Cazorla   Arteta

Because I believe to maximize the potential in this squad we have to play  4-3-1-2 with Ox being the 1.

The difficulty will be juggling the fantastic talent we will have behind the first eleven. Wages can be a recompense – it works for Nasri, Kolo, Cahill, Malouda, Nani etc but a truly ambitious player will want first team action and many of our squad players are highly talented lads who have yet to fulfill their potential, something I feel sure they will agitate for.

Lost in the Midfield

For the first time  I can recall we have an area of the pitch which is flooded with exceptional talent.  How would you sort it out ? I have no idea but then I am not paid £6m a year.

( pic c/o Didit )

Written very quickly by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Is Jack the New Rosicknote?

July 2, 2012

I don’t want to place too much store in tabloid rumours, but the suggestion that Jack Wilshere will not return to first team action until at least the middle of September is quite alarming.

We all saw how Tomas Rosicky missed over 18 months of first team action with complications relating to a hamstring tendon injury.

His comeback was frequently mooted and just as frequently postponed and it is only really in the last 12 months that we have seen anything like a return to the form he first showed for us.

Wilshere’s injury – a stress fracture of the ankle – occurred in a pre-season friendly last summer and he was scheduled to be out for four-to-five months. In the end we didn’t see him at all for the rest of the season.

Disappointing, of course, but at least we could console ourselves with the fact that he would be fit and raring to go for the start of the 2012/13 season.

Now that possibility appears to have gone South too. His return is slated in for mid September – by which time we may well have played four EPL fixtures and a Champions League group game.

And that’s if he even makes it back on that time scale.

Following the experience with Rosicky and, more recently, the luckless Abou Diaby, it would not be an earth shattering surprise to find Jack’s return delayed further.

Naturally I hope that’s not the case, but an injury (or series of injuries) that keeps a fit young man off the field of play for more than a year cannot be taken lightly.

And we cannot assume that his path back to match fitness will not be trouble-free.

All of which raises a very important question for our club:

Should we be signing a creative midfielder to cover a potential longer-term absence for Jack Wilshere?

The tactical Posts of recent days here on AA – and the excellent comments they spawned – have thrown up ways in which we may not need to directly replace Jack (RvP dropping back to a Number 10, with Giroud or Podolski in front, for example).

And given that many of us expect Wilshere to be the most gifted young player of his generation it’s not as if we can pick up a replacement for pennies (or easily find someone who is prepared to play for a couple of months then drop to the bench when Wilshere returns).

But I am coming round to the idea of us moving for an attacking midfielder in this summer’s window.

Don’t ask me who that player should be (there are many player-watchers on this site who are infinitely better informed than me). But I’m imagining an older player – someone around the 30/31 age range, who has played in Italy or Spain at a less fashionable club but has the guile needed for the role.

They won’t be as good as Cesc Fabregas or as good as we hope Jack Wilshere is going to be, but they will have the technique and touch that was so patently lacking among the English squad at the Euros.

And they’ll be happy to be at Arsenal, even though they know they may not be an automatic starting pick in the longer term

Tall order, I know.

Am I worrying too much?

Can we get by another season (if the worst comes to pass) without being really badly affected by having no Wilshere?

Should we sign a replacement?

If so, who could it realistically be?

Over to you…

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Will the spirit of Wenger & Bergkamp always live on at Arsenal?

May 31, 2012

Micky’s post on Sunday: ‘Calling International Gooners’, in which he asked why ‘millions of bright eyed and highly intelligent young guns from around the globe discovered their spiritual homes at The Arsenal’, led to a fantastic collection of comments. It became very clear there is a great support for Arsenal across the world and that the passion, with which International Gooners (IGs) support the mighty Arsenal, is equal to that of those who are based on British soil.

It was also fantastic to read that Gooners across the globe state that the style of play and the philosophy of how the club is managed were, and still are, major reasons for supporting the Gunners.

The lack of recent successes, as in winning silverware, hardly seemed to bother many IGs, which should bin the belief held by some ‘cradle-Gooners’ that many newly acquired fans by the club are predominantly ‘glory hunters’ – who would start supporting another team as soon as it would become clear that future trophies are no longer a guarantee for Arsenal.

The majority of Arsenal’s worldwide supporters, who responded to Micky’s brilliant post, have become Gooners in the last 17 years, and this seems to be directly related to the arrival, and subsequent impact on the club, of/by Le Professeur, and especially, The Iceman.

A considerable number of IGs said that it was the discovery of the phenomenally talented Dennis Bergkamp and his beautiful skills that got them interested in Arsenal. Subsequently, the club’s history, the philosophy of how the football club is managed, the style, and the passion with which Arsenal play football drew them further in, never to look anywhere else again.

Exactly the same happened to me. Dennis Bergkamp had become the embodiment of all that was beautiful about football. Nobody in Holland thought the national football competition would fully recover from the departure of Van Basten to Milan, but on to the scene came a young Dennis Bergkamp, another great youth product from the Ajax academy, and Dutch football fans – including many of those who, like me, did not support the Ajacieden – rejoiced in the sheer beauty of his football.

It seemed, back then, that he simply had everything, both as a football player and human being. Not only was he technically gifted and had a great spatial awareness, he also had a great desire to do beautiful things with a ball – but always in an efficient, extremely deadly way. He was strong and aggressive but at the same time light-footed and nimble on the pitch, a total professional on and off the pitch, humble when interviewed, always focussed on his health and fitness, and constantly practicing to stay fit and get even better.

I was 20 years old when Dennis started his professional football career, and it was probably the first time I started to understand football a bit more (still learning every day though). Bergkamp lifted my appreciation of football to another level, and I became a huge fan, and a ‘follower’.

It was inevitable that Dennis would leave Ajax/Holland sooner or later, and he ended up at the inventors of catenaccio: Inter Milan. In the two years he was at the Italian club, he did not settle down at all, due to both cultural differences and a couple of significant managerial/ownership changes at the club.

Dennis needed to escape/ to be rescued, and the rest is well-known history.

I never forget the initial welcome and warmth Bergkamp was given by the Arsenal supporters, as well the adoration he received almost straight away from newspaper journalists and TV analysts. Dennis had finally arrived at his spiritual home and after a slightly difficult start – it took a while before he scored his first goal – he slowly but steadily grew into a modern-day legend.

It is hard to think about Bergkamp without thinking about Arsene Wenger at the same time, and visa versa. Wenger cleverly built his team around the Dutchman and through him he was perfectly able to translate his vision and tactical ideas onto the pitch. Of course, it did help that Arsene had been able to build up a fantastic team of international world beaters – in goal, defence, midfield and attack – around the Iceman.

Dennis was a loyal player, and the fact that he was willing to end his career at Arsenal was, in terms of continuing and safeguarding Wenger’s football philosophy on the pitch, of great value to Arsenal.

Many worried what would happen once DB10 would leave, but in Cesc Fabregas, Wenger had found another player around whom he could build a team, and continue his total football-esque philosophy. And occasionally, we were able to forget about DB10 a bit.

Although Bergkamp and Fabregas had different attributes to offer, what they had in common was the ability to conduct the game, to translate Wenger’s vision onto the pitch, and to lift our football to another level. The Spaniard, however, decided that Arsenal was not his spiritual home and left us, just as we were ready to start picking the fruits of his phenomenal development at the hands of Wenger and his staff.

This season, it became clear for all to see that Wenger has been struggling with putting his Wengerball stamp on this new Arsenal team. Due to a bad start, the departure of Fabregas, and the season-long injuries to Diaby, and especially Jack Wilshere, Arsene had nobody with both the qualities and the stamina to fill the conductor role. Both Ramsey and Rosicky had decent stints at it, but they either missed the experience, form, consistency, or stamina to really make Wenger’s most important position theirs.

So what will happen next season? Who will become Wenger’s conductor in charge? My view has always been that Jack Wilshere is the man around whom Arsène wants to build his next big team, but his long term injury combined with his inexperience, make it very hard to bank on him next season.

It will be interesting to see what will happen this summer, and I would like to invite you to share your views on this matter with us today.

But there is also a more long-term question to be answered.

What will happen once Arsène decides an oeuf is an oeuf and retires, or leaves us to manage another club? What will happen to the spirit of Bergkamp & Wenger; the culture and style of football that they have been able to establish over the last 16 years?

Do the Board of Directors want to continue with it, and if so, how will they achieve it?

And what do you think Arsenal should do once Arsène’s hangs up his boots? What sort of football should we play / what do you want to be the long-term, future football-identity of the club?

TotalArsenal.

‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit’ – Aristotle.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Who is our Best Youth Player over the last 20 years?

May 22, 2012

Who is the best player to come through the Arsenal Youth Programme? Not signed as kids like Theo, Cesc and Kolo from other clubs but actually raised at THOF

We have seen some wonderful players come through in the last 20+ years (which is my time frame). On a quiet day why don’t we have a little reminisce?

First up has to be Mr Arsenal. Tony Adams: TA joined AFC as at 15 and played in the first team at 17. He was captain at 21 having already won a trophy (the League Cup ’87). He then went on to Captain the club for 14 seasons, have a statue outside the Emirates and become a true AFC hero. Was he our best homegrown?

My 2nd Fave TA goal v THFC at Wembley

Or was it Rocky Rocastle? How many players are still sung about 20 years after he left the club? Rocky joined us at 16. Played in the Double team of ’89.  Sold when GG got sick of players with any flair, but left behind unforgettable memories to those lucky enough to see him in the jersey.

My Fave Rocky Goal (WHL 1987)

Or The Merse? Paul Merson was a special talent, capable of the most delightful lob I have seen. Not pray, not strong in the tackle but graceful and intelligent. It must be said that thanks to his off-filed activities he could be frustrating as well.  Injuries, off-field problems, lack of form all hindered him yetThe Merse remained a fan’s favourite.  AFter 12 years at AFC, Mr Wenger offered Paul a 2 year contract but The Merse went to *Boro who offered twice the wages (history repeats!).

A couple of years later and Ashley Cole forced his way into the first team, taking over from club legend, Nigel Winterburn. So much has been written about Cashley but whatever your standpoint on the man’s morality and general demeanor, he is without doubt a fantastic footballer. At 31 he remains the best LB in the PL if not the World, and I wish AW had paid him the extra money -he is that good.  3 PL medals, 7 FA Cup winners medals CL winner, 93 Caps, 5 times PFA team of the Year, twice UEFA LB of the year – a wonderful career, which shows that it is not always the nice guys who come first!

Wilshere. The Great Arsenal Hope. the player future England teams will be built around, let alone  The Arsenal. Who knows what would have happened had JW not missed the season?  The future midfield squad of O-C, Wilshere, Ramsey, Song, Coquelin and Frimpong (+ any signings) is frightening. Those early YouTube clips of JW controlling games at the age of 15 were so exciting. Jack is the Real Deal. Can he keep his feet on the ground and not become another Merse? Can he fully recover from his ankle injury and not become a Diaby? If the answer is Yes, then Jack Wilshere is very likely to be cast in bronze.

I have missed out some great homegrown Youth players: Parlour, Keown, Micky T etc ( I am sure there are others). For that I apologise.

Roll me down Coopers Hill and cover me in pig fat but in my opinion our greatest Youth player over the past 20 years has been Ashley. Odious man but top quality player.

What do you think?

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Where should Jack play next season?

April 19, 2012


4-2-1-3, 4-4-2 or 4-1-2-3 and will Jack play ‘in the hole’?

The current season was always going to be one of transition. Arsenal saw a number of new players arrive in every area: Mertesacker, Santos and Jenkinson in defence, Arteta and Benayoun in midfield and Gervinho, Park and the Ox upfront. They all needed time to settle in, and the lack of fit and available FB’s during a large period of our season also did not help the team in becoming a solid, recognisable unit. With the departure of Fabregas, and unexpected long-term injuries to Wilshere and (to a lesser extent) Diaby, Arsene was forced to adjust his formation and style of football this season. As a result of all this, we have been playing a lesser spotted form of Wengerball compared to previous seasons: less magic and more functional/result orientated, as getting back in the top-four became our prime objective.

Although we made great progress recently, the transition to a new Wengerball team is not yet fully completed. Arsene has tried both Ramsey and Rosicky in the advanced midfield position and both have had good, and not-so-good, periods in this pivotal role at Arsenal.

I am convinced we will see a big change next season with regards to our style of play and our formation: Arsene will transform his team once again to a purer form of Wengerball – Total Football – in order to make the next step up. The key questions will be who will become our first choice AM(s) – the ‘midfielder(s) in the hole’. In this post, I like to discuss the possibilities, to which you are more than welcome to respond in order to have a meaningful debate today.

Variant one: 4-2-1-3

Will Arsenal continue next season with two deeper laying midfielders, double DMs if you want, and one attacking midfielder? The DMs can be picked from Song, Arteta, Coquelin, Ramsey and Frimpong. Initially, I thought Song was the deeper laying DM and Arteta the slightly more advanced one, but as the season develops it looks like Arteta and Song decide between themselves who does what, and they both can be found either deep or more advanced in our midfield at any particular period in a game. The big question is, however, who will play in the hole next season.

I don’t think this role fully suits Ramsey’s abilities who I feel would fare better in one of the two DM roles. I would like to see him compete with Arteta for the latter’s current role. I rate them both very highly and in an ideal world they could share that position between them during the season. Rosicky has done well when we needed it most, but this is such a demanding role that I just cannot see him doing it week after week, for an entire season. Although I don’t think he is the best AM I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt, the one thing he does, is he sticks well to his role and as a results he helps giving Arsenal the necessary shape to our formation.

So, if it is not Ramsey, and Rosicky is more suited to be our ‘squad player’ for this position, then who should we be playing in this role next season?

Should it be Wilshere, or Diaby, or does Arsenal need to buy a new player who can be slotted in to that role? I expect Arsene to play Wilshere as his first choice next season, and I would like him to. Jack has great vision and passing ability, he has a fine first touch, thinks and executes very quickly, and is able to turn defenders in a flash. He also has a great engine and is Arsenal through-and-through. I am sure Jack is the sort of player why Wenger still gets up in the morning and stands hour after hour on the training ground – why he still enjoys football so much. Jack is the sort of player around which a team is build, just like Fabregas is/was (Barcelona are currently not utilizing his strongest skills).

However, I am not sure whether we will be playing 4-2-3-1 next season. With our defence getting more solid and the type of players we have now available, I would not be surprised if we moved to 4-4-2 or, more likely, to 4-1-2-3 ala Barcelona/ the Spanish National Team.

Variant two: 4-4-2

I am assuming Podolski is joining us at the start of the summer and this would give us a strong basis for 4-4-2. It could mean that RvP would move into the hole, ala Bergkamp, and Podolski upfront: a mouth watering prospect. I can also see the Ox playing in the hole and either RvP or Podolski upfront. I am also assuming Campbell will get a work permit this summer and will become our third-choice striker (I just cannot see Park or Chamakh getting regular starts next season/ staying at Arsenal).

With a 4-4-2 formation, it is very important that both our wide midfielders are able to work hard and can combine wing play with midfield play, ala Pires and Ljunberg? Both Theo and Gervinho have potential for this, and as Gooner in Exile and I discussed during the Reserves game at and against Norwich a while ago, the likes of Gibbs and Coquelin could be good back up/ could be developed into these roles. Furthermore, Rosicky and, if we can keep him, Benayoun would also function well in the 4-4-2 wide midfield positions.

In the centre of midfield, we could select from Song/Arteta/Coquelin as our DM and Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky, Diaby as our AM. This will be a bit controversial, but I believe Ramsey would be ahead of Wilshere, Diaby and Rosicky in this more classical 4-4-2 formation. The best games I have seen Aaron play were in the AM position for Wales, in their 4-4-2 formation: he is a natural orchestrator and the additional space, and therefore time he gets in such a formation, suits him very well. However, the problem with such a formation is that a lot of our central midfielders will become bench warmers/unhappy, and I also doubt whether Wenger would go for it. He seemed to have moved on from 4-4-2 and I cannot see him return to it anymore. But I could be wrong.

Variant three: 4-1-2-3

The first half against Milan, at home for the CL this season, was one of the best I have seen in a while. Forced by injuries and the necessity to go all out on attack in order to wipe out a 4-0 away defeat – and to salvage our damaged reputation a bit – we played 4-1-2-3 with Song as our lone DM, and Rosicky and the Ox as our two attacking midfielders, with three upfront. It totally bamboozled Milan and they were lucky to escape on the night with ‘only’ a 3-0 hammering (mainly due to injury/fatigue to the Ox, early on in the second half, and no suitable replacement on the bench as Arteta, Diaby, Wilshere and Benayoun were all injured). On that night, we played the sort of football that puts the world on fire, and I for one, would love it if Arsene were to opt to play this formation regularly next season.

4-1-2-3 is totally based around pressing high up the pitch through ‘swarming’, suffocating the opponent with high ball circulation, deadly penetration and winning the ball back in a flash, if and when it’s lost. We have the players for it, but we could do with a couple of additions to suit this formation/system. For a system like this, Arsenal need strong and fast defenders and both TV and Koz really suit it to the core. Miquel would also be very good as back up, but both Djourou and Mertesacker might struggle a bit. I am not sure how much truth there is in Arsenal being linked with Ajax’ Vertonghen, but he would fit into this system very well. Our current FB’s would really suit such a system as well, and I especially would expect Santos to do very well in it.

In a 4-1-2-3 system, the DM role is pivotal. Song would be a very good lone DM, but I think Arsene has different plans for him, as Alex is such a talented, well-rounded midfielder – the best this season. It could be that Arsene would opt for Arteta to become the sole DM in such a system, and we have also been linked with Rennes’ M’Vila once again, but nobody knows whether there is much truth in it.

With Podolski very likely to join us, I would have no worries about the ‘3’, as we would have brilliant cover for all the positions: Theo, Gervinho, the Ox, Podolski, Ryo, Campbell, RvP: yippee!!

But the most exciting bit is who would man the ‘2’. Would it be Ramsey and Wilshere, or Song and Wilshere, or Rosicky and Ramsey, or Arteta and Song, or Diaby and Song, or Diaby and the Ox, or Arteta and Wilshere, Song and the Ox etc, etc, etc?! Ah, ‘die Qual der Wahl’ as the Germans say: who would you choose: they are all brilliant?!!

So what’s it going to be?

My heart says 4-1-2-3 with Arteta or Song as the lone DM and with the purchase of another CB or DM (and Podolski). It would not surprise me if Vermaelen were to be developed/ utilized as the sole DM on occasion as well.

My brain says Wenger will continue with the current 4-2-1-3 next season, but improve it.  If Wenger would like more goals from the hole position, he could opt to put the Ox in it. If he has money to spend, and the right opportunity occurs, he might buy a ready-to-play, quality player for this position. He seemed to have tried hard last summer as he almost bought Mata, so will he be looking again for a similar gem this summer?

I don’t think so: my money is on Wenger starting Wilshere in ‘the hole’ next season, with Rosicky and Diaby as back-up, and Ozyakup promoted to the first team. Jack will come down the beanstalk with the hen that lays the golden eggs and the harp that plays the golden music, and Arsene’s latest Wengerball team will be build around the biggest English midfield talent in generations.

But what do you think?

TotalArsenal.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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