Lazy Sunday Afternoon ……………

May 5, 2014

With fourth spot cemented one wondered if Arsene would put out a strong team or rest a few players. In hindsight I was glad that he picked the strongest team available even though this was a dead rubber, yet it was blatantly clear how much we miss Ramsey.

Another three points gained, stretching our sequence to four wins on the bounce but as a performance, it was pretty flat.

One has to give the Man of The match to Giroud for his goal that won the game and his general overall play for the whole match. (There I have said it) His energy levels are not questionable but I still think we need another striker to compliment him. I am not sure if Podolski is the man as he didn’t impress as much and if you watch him carefully he doesn’t exert himself as much as he could. Monreal IMO is not the standard required at LB but with Gibbs in and out of the team through various injuries we have no other option unless Vermaelen stays.

There’s no easy way to say this – or an easy way to look at it. Mathieu Flamini cracked in a powerful drive from the edge of the box and Craig Dawson blocked it right between his crystals, that being the only other noticeable event of the first half  😉

Koscielny was as usual solid in defence and Mertesacker alongside him played his part. Sagna didn’t have his best game but showed 100% commitment and if he goes I am sure we all wish him well. The crowd made it clear that they want him to stay.

Källström caught my eye and was impressive in his twenty seven minutes on the pitch.

Özil is a great player but missed the new found telepathy he has with Ramsey. Maybe his thinking is too clever for some of the players, but he will be a huge asset next season and adding goals to his game though not imperative, would make an even bigger difference.

All in all it was a bit of a training session and having just watched Norwich we may well be in for a much more physical game next week as they fight possible relegation, and with the Cup Final approaching we may see changes to the side.

This is what Wenger said after the match.

“I’m happy with the attitude, the behaviour and the consistency of my players,”

“I’m frustrated as well because we were 120 days top of the league. When you look today it’s very tight and then comes through your mind here and there the points you dropped that we should not have dropped.

“The regret as well is at the most important period of the season we had two important players out. We have many players who have only played between five and 15 games. That’s where we want to improve for next season.”

Pinpointing a general lack of goals and his side’s defeats at their rivals as decisive factors he continued:

“I would just say to be brutal in our first analysis is we missed a few goals compared to the teams who scored the most goals and we missed some big away games by conceding two many.

“Apart from that our defensive stability was fantastic, we had 16 clean sheets but in some games we were not at the start of the game and we couldn’t get into them before we lost it. The defensive stability we had the whole season was not reflected in these kind of games.

“If you look at the overall performance of the team we have done until today well in the cup, we have done quite well in the Champions League where we had a difficult group, we played against Bayern with ten men and we didn’t fail anywhere.

“The attitude of the group was remarkably consistent and of quality. But we still have missed something to be decisive in the Premier League at the moment when we were in a good position.”

Pressed on the subject of his future, Wenger once again stressed that he’ll be at the helm come the new season joking:

“Look at me! You will see me again.” (that was aimed at Mr Syrup) 🙂

I think that alone is worthy of discussion.

kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

In praise of Arsène Wenger but give him the funds to challenge

May 3, 2014

Morning Gooner’s

While reading Arnie’s post the other day, about other clubs Managers, I left a comment Praising Arsene Wenger. Now although I don’t go back on what I said, I believe I should clarify a few things. When I wrote why I like Wenger and why I feel he should stay, it may have given the impression that I am a happy Gooner. Now I am content with him, but that does not mean that I don’t expect expect him to try and do better in the future.

Arsenal supporters expect the team to be up there with the best in the league, and granted Wenger has managed to do that. But all supporters want to see us go that step further, and by that I don’t mean third. This season we headed the league to Christmas, yes the lead went from one to another, but that was because of television fixtures, but realistically we were the leading team.

Many Arsenal fans enjoyed the feeling of that position, and many myself included, also felt we had a chance, sadly that came undone by injuries, but it also brought home to me, the deficiencies our squad had.

Theo Walcott’s injury, left us with absolutely no pace up front. That was a major blow. Aaron Ramsey one player who broke through defences also went out, which left us toothless. Oliver Giroud did his best, but he had to hold the ball up, and had to wait for reinforcements, although Oliver is a tough nut to crack, he certainly lacks the Theo pace.

Jack Wilshere compounded our misery even more, and Koscielny’s short injury added to a depleted team. Our chance went right there, why? Because we didn’t have the same talent as back up. Our record signing also joined the walking wounded, so what were we left with? Our penetrating midfield out, our best through ball passer out, our fastest winger forward out, and our best central defender out.

Holes every where, and the talent on the bench was not up to the replacement standard. Oxlade Chamberlain, Serge Gnabry and Ya Ya Sanogo are players for the future, they just weren’t ready for a season of first team football. Had everybody stayed fit, we could have used all of these players sparingly, but we had to push them forward because we had too.

Wenger in all fairness has had to work on what seems a shoestring budget, he couldn’t have foreseen so many main players going out injured, so had to rely on these youngsters. Inexperienced, they had to take on some of the best teams in the league, if not the world, and all picked up injuries for their thanks.

Not many teams could have handled the amount of injuries that we had, and still have, with some players missing the end of the season. We took a few bad hidings that supporters are not used to seeing. Bad feeling crept in, accusations that the manager had not spent in the winter window, and how if he had brought five or six players in both windows, would have won us the league.

Unhappy supporters who’s pride had been hurt, can be very hurtful, when their Spud and Manc mates take the pee. But when they see the season out, and see what we have achieved, even with all the problems we have had, must see that this season is slightly better than last.

I have a lot of time for Wenger, but I would urge him to go to the board and say to them, I am only human you know, I need help and I need funds, we cannot keep buying kids, we have to have more Ozil’s, and we need them now, before the talent we have at the moment get itchy feet.

Wenger knows as we do, that sponsorship money has come in, yes we still have big debts, but we also have fans by the thousands, that deserve top players. They have had the big defeats, and now they want us to inflict them. Its time for our board to find the funds, as Wenger is needing that help now. We may not win the league next season but at least give us the chance.

Wenger if he signs, has 2 years left, give him the dammed money.

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

A Welcome Three Points.

April 29, 2014

Yet another “must win game” as we entertained a Newcastle side woefully out of form and quite frankly had nothing to play for. After a very cautious opening twenty minutes, something we have got used to seeing far too often this season, we got the breakthrough with a delightful deep ball over the visitor’s defence for Koscienly to poke it home.

Maybe the pressure of really having to win made the team a little nervous but personally I would like to see us stamp our authority on the opposition a little more frequently.

Our momentum increased with Ozil and Cazorla dictating our attacks and just before half time after a double save by Krul, the ball fell neatly into the path of Ozil to tap home.

One expected more from the Geordie’s after half time yet it didn’t materialise bar a single on target effort by Gouffran which was expertly dealt with by Szczesney.

Our momentum overall increased and Ramsey was performing better than he had done in the first half. He fed Ozil who crossed to the practically unmarked Giroud,to head home his first goal since The Battle of Hastings 😉

All in all it was a good performance and there is a case to nominate several players as Man of The Match, but more important it was three points which now puts us firmly in the driving seat for a CL place.

Ozil really is a masterclass, his intelligence on and off the ball is second to none and he will be hugely influential next season. A word on Podolski who had a fine game and seemed to be showing the boss that he should be a regular starter.

Giroud is always a bone of contention with me. Yes he can can hold the ball up but really we need a more clinical striker especially against better teams than Newcastle. Anyway that’s for another day.

If we add pace and power to the team, we could well be a real force next season but for now confidence is returning and hopefully we can wrap up forth next Sunday as it is quite feasible that the final game of the season against Norwich may determine their premier league status.

In conclusion ,although the season is not quite over generally we have done better than previous seasons against the teams we are expected to beat and if we can just improve our record against the mega rich clubs there is no real reason why we can’t be in the mix for all of next season. Perhaps FFP will have an influence, but I feel that we, as a club, are putting too much emphasis on the power of FFP, time will tell.

Over to you Mr.Wenger………..

kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

Newcastle: Pardew’s Return

April 28, 2014

Thanks to an unusually efficient Everton defensive display leading to a Southampton victory, if we win the next two home games the tricky trip to Norwich becomes irrelevant – what more could one want from an exciting weekends football?

Our season has been interesting from start to finish and with some good fortune, decent refereeing and the lads not titting about it can end on a high. Three wins and my summer holiday will be even better.

It starts tonight.

Newcastle have been “on the beach” since Xmas. – fans of the  Magpies must be fuming. They have lost their last 5 games and taken just 13 points from a possible 51. Mr Wenger’s nemesis has once again shown himself to be a total knob of a manager having flattered to deceive early in the season. Given the array of talent at his disposal even Tim but Dim Sherwood could have done better – even I could.

Just look at their squad – Cisse, Remy, Debuchy and Ben Arfa would probably get a place at THOF.  Sissoko is quality as are Gouffran and Collocini and then there is Tiote – Newcastle’s Flamini. Ameobi is better than Sanogo and Bendtner and  Krul is a fine keeper, plus they have some good youngsters coming through – so why are they struggling and unlikely to finish in the top 10?

Because Newcastle have an awful manager whose main ability is to look good in a suit (oh, and he does have good hair!). Can you imagine the media response to Mr Wenger head butting a player? The owner’s decision to grant Pardew an 8 year contract (until 2020) has proven to be a costly mistake. They just cannot afford to get rid of him.

Unknown-1

Another tonight please OG

Add into the mix an owner who is “unpredictable” and the brilliant Newcastle fans are getting poor return for their ticket price.

It is a shame because if Mr Wenger had Pardew’s squad I think they would be challenging for 5/6th with MU, Everton and the Neanderthals – instead they are 23 points behind Everton.

I like Newcastle. The Toon Army are passionate fans who love their football; they have a rich history and it is awful to see their club ruined by Johnny-Come-Lately’s. But tonight I fervently wish them to go home with further reason to detest the management.

Arsenal. We have a strong squad of players to choose from – just Gibbs and the long-term injured are unavailable. The return of Ozil and Ramsey is a massive boost for the run in and I believe they will push us into the CL spot.

Mr Wenger’s unusual problem is selection. Poldi or Santi, Arteta or Flamini etc?

My Team:

a v n

Might be a little light in defence but we are at home and really need to win, so I would attack from the first minute, retain possession and be very attentive of the counter attack. Newcastle have pace and power upfront and will be confident that Arsenal will push too many men forward. Plus potential summer target, Remy will be making a huge effort to show he is the man we need.

We have finally got a decent subs bench  (still lacking a game changer). If Ox is fit, I would love to see him get 30 minutes against a tiring Newcastle defence.

Newcastle Upon Tyne was first settled by the Romans in 2 century  A.D. Named Pons Aelius after the family name of Emperor Hadrian (the chap who built the wall). When the Romans left in 410 it became an Anglo-Saxon town and was called Monkchester. Then came those pesky Vikings who smashed the town and not long after a castle was built (around 1088) which became known as Novum Castellum or New Castle.  Throughout the Middle Ages this fortress was England’s northern border against raids from the Scots.

There is little doubt that with Pardew back on the touchline Newcastle will be looking to end their awful run of form, as such, this will be another tough and nervy evening. Or … we could score early, get another before half time and then coast the second half.

Which would you prefer?

 written by Big Raddy

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

3 goals, 3 points and we are back on track.

April 21, 2014

Arsenal fans always seem to find a whipping boy just now it’s Arteta and of course Giroud, but I will come back to that in a moment.

There is no such thing as an easy game in the PL (ask Chelsea)  and confidence seemed to be coming back after the midweek win against West Ham so expectations were high for our visit to Hull, especially with the return of Koscienly, Ozil and Ramsey. However, for the best part of half an hour we again seemed off the pace and Hull created one or two chances notably when Livermore hit the post from distance.

This seemed to be a wake up call. I had asked beforehand if Cazorla and Ozil could play together, but more importantly open up a very physical and determined Hull defence? The answer was an emphatic yes, but it was the inclusion of Ramsey, who is going to be a world class player, that gave us the extra impetus and it was he who opened the scoring, ably assisted by Ozil and Cazorla.

ozil and rambo

Ozil seemed to have a free role and after a reasonably long lay off showed all the doubters that he oozes class. Further excellent goals by Podolski, sealed the match and at times we were seeing the Arsenal of old with pace, fluidity and a renewed confidence.

ramsey v hull

Giroud comes in for a lot of stick from many sections of the fan base but he laid off the ball for the second and takes a bruising every single game. Despite his twenty goals this season, he is not a natural clinical striker but he has a part to play in the squad and we will see come the end of the season if he stays or goes or even possibly gets demoted to an alternative forward if we venture into the market .

poldi scores v hull

Arteta is slowing up and still had a reasonable game but we need someone with a more physical presence for next season. My only beef about him is that often he slows the game down especially when we are counter attacking.

All in all it was a pleasing performance and still kept us on track for CL qualification yet the main talking point was how much we had missed the Welsh Wizard who considering his long lay off really made a huge difference to our attacking options.

Confidence, returning players,and goals are back in abundance, so all in all a positive position to be in for the final run in.

kelsey

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Posted by kelsey

Will AW build our team around Ozil for the next 2-3 years?

April 10, 2014

Ozil has been our greatest “marquee” signing in years and according to me, AW would like to build the team around him. If so, how should we set-up our team?

It is quite obvious that Ozil is not only a great dribbler but that he is, above all, a fantastic passer that has the ability to pick his teammates out with ease. Despite the current set-up, Ozil has been able to deliver quite some assists but many of them have been coming from set-plays.

In order to maximize his contribution to our team, it seems logical to surround him with the right kind of players, namely players that are able to make runs on the wings and also behind defenders. We do have such players in our squad but in limited amount and there is a big gap at the crucial Striker position. This gap and the current set-up hence begs the question: which set-up for next year?

Most of the teams around the EPL and in Europe operate in the following 3 systems:

– 4-3-3 (our current set-up)
– 4-2-3-1 (Chelsea)
-3-5-2 (Juventus)

Given our current squad, I believe that we should operate in a 4-2-3-1 as of next year. This would, of course, require the recruitment of, at least, 2 new players for the starting XI: a defensive midfielder and a striker.

Szecesny – RECRUIT, BFG, Kos, Gibbs – Ramsey, RECRUIT – Walcott, Ozil, OX – RECRUIT

I believe that Walcott, OX and Ramsey make intelligent runs that do not only add width but also depth to our game and I think that Ozil can easily connect with them. However, we need to have a striker that can also benefit from Ozil’s passes and this means replacing OG and most likely, getting rid of Podolski and definitely Bendtner. It also means that we have to add depth to our squad on the wings and up front.

All and all, if we decide to set the team around Ozil, it would mean quite a lot of changes in the team, which I think would be beneficial to freshen things up in the locker room as well. Here is my list of players that should be sold:

– Sagna
– Miquel, Vermaelen
– Diaby, Arteta
– Miyaichi, Podolski, Bendtner

I love Sagna and Vermaelen but they also represent our lack of success and I would have added Rosicky to the list but he just got extended…

All and all, I believe that we need to revamp our team to add steel and pace so let us hope that we do that during the summer…

Written by RC78

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The end is nigh. Nine Premier League games remaining. What are we after?

March 19, 2014

I cast my mind back to the final stretch last season, and we were in a battle for Top Four. For the sake of this discussion, I’d like to put aside the hunt for Trophies, and delve deeper into what there is to look forward to.

Following the loss to Spurs a year ago, momentous events followed. Principally, was the cementing of the partnership between Mertesacker and Koscielny. This was in tandem with a new found restraint from our Full Backs who proceeded to show more discipline.

What was laid in those final nine games, were the foundations of a new defensive stability that continued to serve us so well into this seasons’ campaign.

Apart from the sunny Spring time fixtures, the meeting up with chums and the inevitable excitement that any game of football brings, I wonder what little gems lie in wait.

Injuries present opportunities, and the largest recipient this season has been The Ox. He has benefited from injuries to both Aaron as well as Theo. Might the remaining fixtures see him finding a definitive starting position for next season? Talking of definitive positions, we have the Jack issue.

Looking across the midfield, I still wonder who is the No 10 of choice. I understand there is a fluidity in this area, but with all the injuries to key players, I certainly don’t know how my First XI would line up. I have a feeling we will begin to see the real Mesut emerge as the midfield pivot around which all that is good orbits.

I can also see Gnabry getting more playing time, and have a gut feeling he is one of those players that will rise to the top very quickly. Remember the Aaron of last season, and we see how certain players can suddenly blossom.

Like the pairing of Kos and Mert, it can be an unforeseen partnership that emerges, and this can happen in small couplings anywhere on the pitch, which is why I see a possibility of this between Mesut and Serge.

Now, how about some dark horses. Kellstrom and Diaby, who peaches informs us is at altitude not skiing. With Aaron returning, how will the midfield set up?

With some mouthwatering encounters around the corner, there remains much fun to be had. Who knows where we end up, but I reckon, as with last season, there are surprises in store outside of the results themselves.

Prior to the Spurs game and the wonderful blast of a goal from Mr T. Rosicky, I would have liked to see a couple of long rangers, but another one or two wouldn’t hurt. Oh, and is there any chance a genuinely quality free kick specialist might emerge in the mould of Noddy Talbot? That would be long overdue and a real bonus.

The one thing I’d like to see more than anything over the remaining fixtures would be a new found venom from the true fans towards the early leavers. A mass mocking, naming and shaming, a Faceoff Campaign, anything. Some suggestions on how to deal with this, my biggest beef, and a real solution would leave my season ending on an even higher note.

Written by MickyDidIt

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The Stoke Resurrection?

March 1, 2014

Let’s start here – I hate Sparky and I hate Stoke. The two together are a match made in Hades but ….. and you may be surprised to read this I admire what they are trying to do this season. Hughes has taken the Orc mentality created by Pulis and attempted to teach these mutants to play football. As we saw at THOF to a certain extent he has succeeded.

Goals have been few and far between and as Stoke languish on 27 points and in 15 place the experiment could be said to be a work in progress but what about this?  …. Stoke are bottom of the Fair Play League with 58 yellows and 3 Reds and have conceded the most fouls in the PL. Their top scorer is the beanpole Crouch with just 6 (Ramsey has more and has missed most of the season). Most assists? Probably Begovic

Play football? Don’t be fooled Raddy, Stoke remain Orcs led by a man who is Beezlebub in a suit. Nasty players, nasty fans and nasty manager.

images

Orcs

So, how will we do against these barbarians? Stoke haven’t lost at the Britannia since September which is cause for concern. They have recently drawn with Southampton and ….. Oh, I can’t be bothered with this ….. Stoke are always difficult opposition for us because they, their fans and their manager hate us – just as we detest them.

The reaction of the fans and now their chairman to the Ramsey injury shows just how awful they are. Coates ludicrous attempt to defuse the situation was crass and insulting. Sadly, Aaron is unable to punish them today as he surely would.

Stoke: Walters, Crouch, Adams, Odemwinge etc dull, dull, dull dull. Only player with any grace is Begovic who has a habit of wasting time until we go ahead. Shawcross’s partner in crime, Robert Huth, that fine upstanding behemoth who flattened Gnabry within seconds of his first PL appearance, is out with some sort of hardware malfunction. No doubt Hughes has another mutant to replace him.

Arsenal: Ozil returns but in place of whom? Can we afford to drop Rosicky given his excellent form? Dare we go into the game with only one striker (Giroud) and drop Podolski?

In my opinion, this is a game for Ozil to miss. It’s a game for players who can take a battering and give something back. Not sure Mesut is that type of player. I would be tempted to play the same team which destroyed Sunderland, (apart from the inclusion of Vermaelen).

My Team:

Sczesny

Sagna   BFG    TV   Monreal

Flamini    JW    Arteta   Rosicky

Cazorla      Giroud   Podolski

Not in that formation obviously, but doing their usual mix and match stuff. Pace will be important and I expect to see our speedsters on during the second half. Maybe give Sanogo a run out.

Stoke Upon Trent. Originally named Stoc, the name comes from Old English and means “place  with a church”, apparently so many villages and meadows were called Stoc that  the words Upon Trent were added to distinguish it from the primordial swampland in the Midlands – you know the place where Shawcross emerged from. The village developed because it was on the Roman road between Derby and Chesterton .

By the 13th century coal mining was the main industry but in the 17thC pottery became the main source of income. Wedgwood, Spode, Minton and Royal Doulton moved into the area as Stoke became the most famous pottery and china producer in the world. In later times Michelin tyres were centred in Stoke employing over 9,000 Orcs.

Can we win?  This is going to be a difficult game. No Hughes team leaves the field without bruising the opposition and today will be no exception. Stoke’s home record is good and despite their lowly league position they have taken points off the best and beat Man Utd at the Potteries just a few weeks ago. A return to the defensive parsimony, a fast start and some crisp passing interplay will do the job.

March is our toughest test, a win today would set the team up nicely for the more difficult games ahead, but I take nothing for granted – sometimes Orcs win battles but never the war.

Written by BigRaddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Friday Newsround ……. Flood at Anfield, Drought at The Emirates

February 14, 2014

Last Friday:

“You always think about the psychological impact of the last result on the morale of the team, as well as the confidence and happiness of everybody. You think the only way to deal with it is to just focus on the next one and win it, then everything will be alright”. “And, if we can win this game, what about the next one? If we play at our best, yes we can win that, so let’s do it. It is very difficult to have a global plan because as we know we are in a job that is unpredictable. The best way to make it predictable is to win the next game”. ”

“Still” he concluded, “it is a good moment for us to win a big game because we have a tough predicted month. At the moment we are on a good run and the best way to continue that is to keep the confidence level high and, of course, stay in a strong position in the title race.”

That’s Arsène Wenger after being asked about his overall strategy for four massive matches in 11 massive days starting this weekend at Liverpool. So one game at a time then.

Reproduced courtesy of http://www.arsenal.com

bergkamp_2494303b

Arsenal announced the date for the unveiling of the next statue outside The Emirates, 11.30am Saturday February 22nd. Oh! I forgot to mention, the statue is of Dennis Bergkamp who will be in attendance and will be a guest at the match. I’d like to see Dennis make a fifteen minute cameo appearance, wouldn’t that be a treat?

Saturday:

Team news was pretty sparse, basically the same squad as against Palace, Wilshere is a “might be” and Arteta is “alright”.

Liverpool 5 – 1 Arsenal

Nightmare at Anfield

Sunday:

Following the fall from the top of the table, in his haste to leave the scene of his team’s humiliation, Arsene Wenger took a tumble while hurrying to catch the homeward bound train at Liverpool Lime Street station, he was helped to his feet by two of that city’s finest boys in blue. After quickly checking that he still had his wallet, watch and mobile phone, he made his way without further miss-hap to join his defeated squad in the guards van for a subdued journey home.

Monday:

Just like the flood waters on the Somerset levels the slurry from Saturday’s debacle is still washing around our club. With an important, and winnable, game coming up on Wednesday, Bob Crowe and his cronies permitting, it’s time to put The Great Liverpool Train Wreck behind us. So I will make no further mention of TGLTW.

“News” or speculation? However you look at it, it’s out there in the media, Sagna and Fabianski have both rejected new deals, so both could be moving on in the summer. Memo to AW, summer priority signing…. right-back.

Tuesday:

The Tube strike is called off so both our game and that of Fulham go ahead as planned. Why am I mentioning Fulham you ask? Well the Cottagers announced that should the strike go ahead they would postpone their game against Liverpool thus giving the Bin-dippers a rest before arriving at Emirates Stadium to get their come-uppance for inflicting a heavy defeat on our beloved club.

Wednesday:

Mesut Ozil is attracting unwanted attention from the sports hacks, Jeremy Wilson, in the Telegraph, asks if our record signing is just a mirage and cites some stats to back his claim, my well known detestation of stats prevents me from including them hear, suffice it to say that Ozil has scored less, and made fewer assists, had fewer shots, made fewer dribbles and put in fewer crosses since Christmas than before Christmas. A quick check of the top premiership suppliers of assists shows Ozil to be second to Rooney but ahead of Hazard, Silva, Coutinho, Oscar and Navas. So the mirage may well prove to a more a storm in a teacup and Mesut will soon emerge from his own personal Sahara.

In other reports, Ozil is working hard in the gym to build upper body strength in order to cope with the rigours of Premiership football,

Lukas Podolski has denied ever being close to leaving Arsenal in the last transfer window, and insists he has the complete faith of Arsene Wenger.

The German’s future was drawn into question in January, when he was mooted as being a possible makeweight in the Julian Draxler deal, however, the forward says there was no possibility of ever leaving the Gunners.

‘That was a myth. There was absolutely no truth to it,’ the 28-year-old said. ‘The coach told me as such, and I knew there was no truth in it.’

Thursday:

Oliver Giroud talking after the Man U stalemate…”I think we had a good reaction after the bad result against Liverpool,” the Frenchman told Arsenal Player. “I think it’s a good draw to be honest even if we could have scored at the end. It was maybe just about our confidence.

“We did well in the first half especially but after we looked a bit tired. It’s OK, we had a good reaction on the pitch and I think that’s the most important thing even if we wanted to win this game.”

No! the most important thing was to score a goal Olly then, we might have won. “I’m confident for the remaining games and we’ll know a bit more about our future after Liverpool and Bayern [Munich] because we want to play in every competition.” Is that the ambition? To play in every competition? What about winning every competition?

Quotes courtesy of http://www.arsenal.com

Arsene Wenger said….

‘I felt we were nervous tonight, yes. We are usually dangerous breaking through with speedy passing, but they defended very well. But it is not worrying because we care about what we are doing.

‘When you concede five goals like we did against Liverpool on Saturday, maybe that’s what you do. The team was highly focused on not conceding after Saturday.

‘We missed out on the chance to go top but a point keeps us in the race. We played with the handbrake on tonight. I hope and think the handbrake will come off.

‘We’ve had two bad results, but we are still in a strong position.’

Speculation? Maybe, A report suggests that Arsene has met with the agent of Mario Balotelli to discuss prospects of the player joining in the summer. See last week’s news round.

Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell, who joined Arsenal in 2011 but due to the lack of a work permit has never played for the club, is looking for a permanent £7 million move to Olympiakos where he is currently on loan. His agent said…‘Going back to Arsenal? He would not be happy sitting on the bench – even in a top league.’

That’s it for another week

I’m looking forward to “The Magic of the Cup”

Norfolk Gooner.

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Posted by Rasp

The Magic of the Cup? And Spurs/Arsenal Combined Team

January 4, 2014

I am at a loss. We are about to play our local rivals in an FA Cup game at our home ground and yet ….. look at this face …… Is it bothered? Be honest …. are you as tense as you would expect?

So what is this lack of enthusiasm?  Is it the belittling of the FA Cup? I loved it as a child when everything was focussed on the “most important Cup in world team football”, but the Champions League has dulled my passion. Even more worrying is that we are playing Spurs and  …. I had better stop – I am boring myself.

Any visit from the miscreants who leak their way through the primordial slime of Tottenham into the magnificent arena that is the Emirates is a chance to retain bragging rights. Today is no exception. And perhaps here is the rub ….. I don’t consider Spurs as rivals, and haven’t for a number of years. Yes, they have done well in the recent past and almost achieved something significant, but the fact is that they haven’t. They are Forever in our Shadow.

Not surprisingly Spurs fans see things differently; when they beat us last season my mail inbox was full, I had phone calls from all around the world, I had over 20 text messages within 15 minutes of the final whistle – every man jack Spurs fan whom I had ever met felt the need to crow, “The worm had turned, Arsenal were doomed, Spurs were on the march to London domination. AVB is a genius ( 😀  ), Wenger has lost it, etc etc”.

Do Gooners respond to an Arsenal win in the same manner? Of course not and for many reasons, primarily because we know that we support a bigger club: Not just in terms of trophies, fans, stadium, history but also in every single aspect of a football club.

images

Spurs are very confident going into the game – so they should be after beating MU – it was a fine victory. Ade is playing his 6 decent games a season and we all know he scores at the Emirates, Eriksen looks like the creative player they have been missing, the central defence has improved with the signing of  Chiriches and as ever they have strong attacking FB’s.

And …. we have an injury list as long as a whale’s todger.

We are none of us particularly interested in the ever-so-dull Spurs, so lets move onto the men who matter ……

Arsenal: Who knows whether Mr Wenger will prioritise the FAC?  This is  another opportunity to get the trophy monkey off his back but given the injury list and his focus on the CL and PL, Mr Wenger may choose to play a weakened team. I don’t believe he will as he knows how important beating Spurs is to the fans and winning is a habit. As such, and given there is a week until our next game, I expect to see us line up with a strong team.

Ramsey, NB, Gibbs,  probably Giroud, maybe Ozil and the usual suspects are out.

If OG is out we have little choice but to continue with Theo and Podolski in a 4-4-2, it didn’t work vs Cardiff but to be fair the Welshman defended very well and there was no space for our attackers. Today should be different , especially if Özil is fit; he knows Podolski’s game and is starting to find Walcott’s runs.

I don’t like the Arteta/Flamini combo, and would much rather see Rosicky start alongside Arteta but AW will play safe.

My Team

nld

Our problems may arise should we be losing with 20 mins to go and need some attacking thrust off the bench – there is none. We can hope for something special from Gnabry or Ryo but this puts quite  some weight on very young shoulders .

Expect Spurs to play the entire game on the counter-attack. Both their goals at Old Trafford came from breakaways and it will come as no surprise to see Sherwood park the bus, pack midfield and look for the pace of Soldado and Lemon to set up Ade.

Combined Team: Not as easy as I first thought.

GK: Two excellent young keepers, both prone to silly mistakes, both first choice for their countries, both highly thought of by their team’s fans. Having done some research as to which GK made the least mistakes leading to goals in 2013 I was surprised to find it was our TPIG!

Defence: Our defence works as a unit, individually there may be some question as to whether Sagna is better than Walker or if Rose is the equal of Gibbs but our CB’s are the best in the PL as is our goals against record.

Midfield. OK. Sandro is a decent player, so is Dembele. Eriksen has potential. Capoue is a player I hoped we would sign but instead we got Flamini. Let’s be honest all our MFs are better, even our B team midfield would get a gig at WHL.

Attack. Giroud or Soldado?  Lemon or Walcott?  Ozil or Townsend/Ade or whoever else Spurs have who can play as an attacker?

so ….. here it is the combined Arsenal/Spurs team:

combined 11

I know what you Spurs fans are thinking ….. where are Wilshere, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Monreal, and Vermaelen (all internationals)?  And you are right. sadly there are only 11 places up for grabs.

The bookies have us as favourites and they are seldom wrong. Given a fair performance from referee Mark Clattenberg, the 4th round awaits.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

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