Losing would have been a very bad start.

August 16, 2010

How often does the first game of the season give us so much to discuss? Away at Anfield was always going to be a difficult trip but we left there honours even after having controlled much of the game. Some of our passing game in the first half was sublime with Nasri doing a great job of running the mid-field.

Two red cards and a goal a peice thanks in part to goal-keeping errors left me feeling that we could have done better. Joe Cole was sent off just before half-time for a late two footed challenge on Koscielny that had me draw a sharp in-take of breath as apart from the not quite fit Song we had no centre-back on the bench. Luckily Koscielny jogged out for the second half.

So with Liverpool down to ten men and Arsenal all over them, the next 45 minutes should have been a walk in the park but three familiar occurances haven’t changed since last season – Almunia is not a good enough goal-keeper, We have loads of possession so the game is great to watch and WE GET INTO GREAT POSITIONS AND DON’T  SHOOT.

Thanks to 26may1989 for some good comments following the game that are being rolled out again here.

International break affected everyone, and yet Liverpool had an inspired (if defensive) second half today, and Chelsea decimated (an admittedly very poor) WBA yesterday. Plus today was another example in a long list of Arsenal games in which we fail to break down determined, well-organised defensive football. These happen often with our best team on the field, so the return to the starting line-up of Fabregas, Song and van Persie may not cure the ill. Our next league games see us play Blackpool, Blackburn, Bolton and Sunderland, so there may well be more tests of this kind very soon.

But the game today was pretty frustrating: a good first half performance, albeit without creating enough chances, but a really slow, turgid second half performance. Nice to scrape the point but a suitably horrible equaliser to cap such a laboured second half performance.

My take on individual performances:

Almunia: 3/10. At fault for the goal and made at least two other big mistakes on crosses, and Skrtel could easily have made it 2-0 on one of them. Sorry to say, because I like Almunia’s character, but hopefully the end of his time at the club.

Vermaelen: 7/10. Solid performance, did little wrong in defence and could (should?) have got a late late winner.

Koscielny: 7/10. Excellent start, worked well with Vermaelen and did little wrong. Very harsh second yellow card.

Clichy: 4/10. Poor performance, lots of weak play and mistakes with little attacking penetration. Would hope Gibbs is brought in quickly, but Clichy can and will do better.

Sagna: 5/10. Not great, not terrible.

Wilshere: 6/10. Tough game for his first Prem start for us. Faded and made a bad mistake in the build-up to Ngog’s goal but was as bright and lively as almost anyone else in yellow before he went off other than Nasri.

Diaby: 6/10.

Nasri: 7/10. Excellent first half, didn’t deal so well with Liverpool’s tightened defence in the second half.

Eboue: 6/10.

Arshavin: 3/10. Dreadful, deadened performance, offered little in attack or covering for Clichy.

Chamakh: 6/10. Tough debut, up against a talented, well-organised defence.

Walcott: 6/10.

Rosicky: 7/10. Great cross for the goal, good effort saved by Reina, improved the team.

van Persie: 5/10.

The real story of the game: Liverpool defended (at Fortress Anfield) heroically, as well as Blackburn or Stoke would have done, and Arsenal failed to break them down despite being a man up for half the game. The result was better than I feared but the performance was worse than I hoped. United and Chelsea will hardly be quaking in their boots watching either us or Liverpool. Cole was rightly sent off but Koscielny shouldn’t have been red carded. Leaves us with a problem next week, as does yet another poor performance from Almunia.


Do the positives outweigh the negatives?

August 14, 2010

Written by kelsey

So we are about to kick off yet another season and on paper not an easy start at Anfield, yet we haven’t lost to pool in the league since 2007. In a way it is good for us to have this as our opening match for several reasons. It will show us that despite our manager being tight lipped about possible signings before the end of the month, the pressure is very much on Liverpool.

By their standards they had a disastrous season last term and Hodgson will have had little time to access the strengths and weaknesses of his own side, and the daily takeover talk will have surely been disturbing him, together with the want-away Mascherano most probably playing and the uncertainty over Torres’ fitness.

Make no mistake, Liverpool rely heavily on Gerrard and Torres. Whilst we start the campaign with several injuries, we appear to have more options, especially in attack and I would say on paper a better team than the opposition.

As with every season, injuries will be a major factor in our quest for the title. We will have a more potent attack now with the introduction of Chamakh , who judging by pre season, is a very versatile and hard working centre forward. Nasri could be our star man. He impressed me tremendously in our warm up games, and if need be will be an able substitute for Fabregas in this opening game. And then of course there is Arshavin, who on his day is a match winner, and has a habit of scoring against the scousers. My gut feeling is that RVP will start and that can only be a good thing, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Eboue “our super sub” instead of Walcott lining up as he is full of confidence after his brace in Poland and to me it makes sense to keep him in the side.
The defence more or less picks itself and to say our cover is paper thin would be an understatement. Almunia will be back in goal and the fans will be watching his every move. We can only hope that he has an assured game and has finally developed an understanding with the defence.

There are doubts about Denilson,Song and Diaby and Djourou is definitely out. So the intriguing poser is, will Wilshere and Frimpong be thrown into the deep end?
Regardless of the result, we have the makings of a good season ahead. The Premier League will be even more competitive than last, providing our manager adds strength to the squad in the two positions that have been mentioned by armchair experts for months. Remember, the ‘experts’ said no team could afford to lose more than 3 games last season to bag the title –  Chelsea lost six!

As is the norm, there will be much nail biting as the whistle blows to start this campaign, but I remain positive.

COYRRG


Arsenal’s Phony War is Over.

August 14, 2010

Written by dandan

So the time for talking is done. Preseason training and practice matches are out of the way and the real stuff is about to begin. Many fans will find it hard to sleep tonight especially those of a negative persuasion who struggle to see any good times ahead at all.

But for the Arsenal the last day of the phony war has been brightened by the news that the boss is about to sign a new contract, Aaron Ramsey is making good progress and could be back for the end of October, whilst three of his contemporaries; Theo, Kieran and LJ, are back unscathed from earning their England caps.

No we haven’t signed another new CB and Hughes is playing fast and loose over his goalkeeper as is his way with anything Arsenal. Cesc’s comments re: Sparky’s Spanish skills have never been forgotten, but there are two weeks of the transfer window still left to sort that out. It will only take a couple of new arrivals to cheer many a doubting gooner up.

Sunday is Liverpool day. We have famously won the league there on the last day of the season at a time when the football world gave us no chance. So why shouldn’t we have a good result on the first day of the season? After all, Chamakh, our new centre forward will be keen to show his silky skills to the watching millions as will Laurent Koscielny playing CB alongside TV. He is another player Wenger has plucked from the obscurity of the French league, let’s hope he is as succesful as some of his predecesors.

But the stand out player news for real gooners is that Cesc our inspirational captain has accepted with good grace the clubs refusal to bow to the machievelien tricks of the Barça PR machine and with luck will play tomorrow. His commitment to the cause should never be doubted, whether this be his last year or not.

So it’s good news a plenty. We have a couple of injuries and our gk position has exercised many minds and blogs in recent weeks. It is intriguing therefore to try to name tomorrow’s starting 11, but I will leave that to you fellow gooners to wrestle with today.

I shall sign off with the wish that we at least stay clear of further injuries and play ‘our football’ in the manner that has delighted soccer addicts worldwide for more than ten years. That style has established The Arsenal as the favourite club for neutrals to watch and the second club for most rival fans apart from ‘Arry’s mob down the road.

Come on you Gunners.


Martin O’Neill for Wenger Anyone?

August 11, 2010

Written by dandan

Martin O’Neill, Aston Villa’s much lauded and universally admired manager, has resigned and walked away from Villa Park.

It is generally believed that he left over money. He has spent more than £200m in 4 years. In that time, the wage bill has increased to 85% of turnover and Villa achieved 6th place in the Premiership. Despite being told he could reinvest some of the money he was about to receive for James Milner (reportedly), he still felt that he could not break into the top four without continuing with that level of investment, to bring in new players of equivalent quality and to replace those who leave with greater quality. It appears that this was something the American owner could not sanction in these tough times.

Villa fans are having to live with the realisation that they are unlikely to step up at all this year. In fact, the likelihood is the reverse and a mid table finish is expected to be the inevitable result for the club.

How then would he have fared under the strictures and restraints imposed on Wenger in recent years? Could he have delivered continued participation in the champions league? I think not.

Yet unlike the Villa fans who are sad to see their man go, there is a highly vocal minority of Arsenal fans who would see Wenger leaving as the very least they would wish for.  This for a man who’s insistence on youth and sensible spending has borne fruit, not only in the form of the remarkable facilities the club now boasts, but in the stream of young talent his regime has produced. Many of the emerging players are English. A significant number will be representing their countries this week at all levels right up to full international.

O’Neill is rightly regarded as one of the pick of the home grown managers, a Brian Clough disciple and disciplinarian who has been (with the exception of Norwich) successful wherever he goes. He is shrewd enough to have never been sacked; he leaves when he decides the time is right.

So to you discontented Arsenal fans, I pose the question, is Martin the man to replace Arsène? Should we bite the bullet and replace him now?

But before we do, we need to wish our young guns the best of luck for tonights game. Theo, Jack and Kieron pull on those England shirts and make us gooners proud – tonight we can enjoy watching England again.


Short Backs Versus Tall Sides

August 10, 2010

We have many who blog on this site who feel that we will still sign a goalkeeper and another centre-back. I’m not saying we won’t I just don’t see why we’ve left it so late if that is our intention.

It became apparent to most supporters last season that our first and second choice keepers were not good enough. In the last few games when we were without Gallas and Vermaelen we could also see that our back-up defenders weren’t strong enough either. Arsène himself stated that he would address the defensive frailties with re-inforcements so he let four centre-backs go and bought one. Great! Koscienly may turn out to be a fantastic buy, but at the moment our defense looks paper thin.

Our defending has got worse over the past two seasons – I’m sure someone will come up with some stats to show that I’m talking rubbish but what I do know is that the tension at the Emirates is palpable when we are defending set pieces. It seems the crowd and the players share that insecurity. Most teams know we are weak in that area and seek to take full advantage. It is a crude strategy, but it works. When Sol ‘Lazarus’ Campbell reappeared in January, the confidence grew and we were noticeably stronger at the back – but what now?

We are a short team. Short in stature, and mostly light in build. Arsène prefers ‘athletes’ rather than cloggers and I can appreciate his preference if we want to play the beautiful football. Sadly, the tall players we do have are not good enough to be effective when defending corners or free kicks into our box. Instead of  having just two on the posts maybe we should have four on the line plus a flapper.

Of our taller players, I would say that only Robin van Persie is a reliable force – he’ll get a header away or clear the ball out of the danger zone but how many times have we watched tippy-tappy football going on in or around the box instead of getting the ball out. Clichy has been guilty of it and Djourou is the latest one to choose to show off his footballing skills at a time when a solid clearance is the better option. I’m not saying we should ‘kick and hope’, that just gives the ball straight back to the opposition and then we’re under pressure from a new wave of attacks, but just keeping it simple and solid at the back.

I’m no fan of Allardyce-style hoofing, but the time spent keeping the ball around our area allows the oppostion to press high up the pitch and if we lose possession, we are in trouble. We just don’t know how to defend anymore and Arsène led us to believe that he realised that too and he was going to bring in new blood. I thought he promised Cesc and van Persie that that was what he was going to be doing – he was going to make us stronger, no wonder Cesc thought it was time to move on.

The hot news this week is that we’re in for Shay Given again and that the Spahic deal wasn’t a hoax. I heard weeks ago that Anton Ferdinand was a target – how ambitious is that!!!!!!! and he’s only 6′. If we want to challenge for honours this season and for seasons in the future we need to be able to match our opposition in some of their strengths – we need a bit more height and strength when defending.

It doesn’t matter how many goals we’re able to score, if we can’t hold on to a lead and see out a game, sadly,  we’re going to fail again.


Arsenal in Tatters

August 9, 2010

Why is everyone worried about our squad for this season? We have 4 world class keepers, the envy of every other side and they will be rotated so that they all play once every 5 games, to keep them fresh and on their toes.

We have Sagna and Eboue who absolutely love each other and they have formed a pact so there is no bitterness whoever plays. Then we have Clichy and Gibbs. Clichy is changing his nationality to Ukrainian as he is embarrassed to be French and he knows that Gibbs will soon be taking over, yes an English left back,heavens forbid,therefore watch for an imminent departure by Clichy.

Song, our most improved player, will surely be in demand by some other club soon, most probably City, with a swap plus cash for the return of Adebayor. Vermaelen should be captain and he is the lynch pin and if he doesn’t get the armband he will demand a transfer, as Cesc has already told him privately that the armband is his.

If we’re lucky Djourou might actually complete one match while Koscielny will come goodif we give him three or four seasons. Traore, can’t go back to Pompey as they are nearly bust. Diaby is fighting fit, therefore expect at least 5 games from him, and I am told he is trying his very best not to break a team-mate’s leg.

Rosicky is only 30 so has at least 6 or 7 years left. Nasri is a star and has progressed so much pre season that another club will rape us yet again for his services. Wilshere at 18 is a future captain of England though he might get the record for the most red cards in a season.

Denilson like Bendtner has been on the nest too much and both will suffer terminal groin strains. Walcott has just realised that the England team he hopes to represent is in fact at football not the 2012 Olympics 100 metres sprint.

Arshavin will spend more time on his own web site and will finish up with his own chat show between games, as he never gets out of a stroll.

Vela wins the glamour stakes but will he actually get two consecutive games as commuting on a daily basis from Mexico will surely take its toll. Chamakh is everything we wished for and no worries about him as yet, as he hasn’t learned the ropes at Arsenal.

Gallas has decided it is better to play for us at 5K a week even if he scores the odd own goal. RVP is our star player, will  he, can he, please, last a full season and of course Ramsey will be fit and ready to go in about 18 months.

Footnote: Gibbs,Wilshere and Walcott have made it into the England squad for Wednesday, so they are sure to be rested for a few weeks as we have to limit the younger players’ chances .

Finally there is Fabregas. Watch this space.

Written by kelsey


The Calm Before The Storm

August 8, 2010

Open day has come and gone, Cesc has had his run around with his team mates, applauded the faithful as they stood to attention and had his Arsenal ‘shirted’ picture taken next to the gaffa in the official photo.

So it would seem all is well in the Arsenal world, but is it? Dear old Bob Wilson is telling all and sundry that Barca are a disgrace and have treated the club disrespectfully, by trying every underhand trick in the book to unsettle and steal its favourite son. Except that is to offer the club market value for their prize asset.

But never mind AW has used his magic or maybe his lawyer, to remind the young man that he has signed the lucrative contract extension  and would be held to it. Just as we wouldn’t be asking for the return of the pennies, we no doubt deposited in some offshore piggy bank in the guise of image rights, for his signature (eat your heart out, Mr Taxman)

Meanwhile newly returned from holiday and deemed unfit to play prior to the Liverpool match, and maybe not even then, Cesc has been summoned post haste to join the Spanish squad for a meaningless friendly, where having sat on the bench all through the world cup he will probably be played from the start, just to reinforce on Spanish TV, what Barca fans are missing.

In the middle of my writing this Cesc has issued a statement the gist of which is,  I love Arsenal and will stay for one more year and do my very best to bring home a trophy for my Arsenal friends and fans. After that however I would like to return to my roots, my country, my family and the club that discovered me as a boy.

Good on you Cesc, a year from now no reasonable Arsenal fan will blame you when you leave and you will go with our blessing and thanks for all the memories, trophy or not. Providing of course the clubs price is met.

Over at White Hart Lane, Diddy Defoe tells all who will listen that the tots will go further than us in the Champions league. One suspects that will depend solely on who  gets drawn where, if we get drawn in France and the spuds in Russia, then yes he is correct, as his air miles will prove. As for progressing further football wise I have my doubts.

So we are in Poland this week for our final pre season and then back to the UK, from where almost the entire squad will be jetting of to bolster Mr Blatter’s coffers with the proceeds from more friendly internationals being played all over Europe. But whisper it quietly the ever reliable UK press reckon we will have three players in the England squad, even Little Jack is tipped to be elevated to senior status. With the other prospects we know are coming through the ranks, how the hell will the “Wenger only buys foreigners” brigade cope.

And then its the weekend and Liverpool away.  A rejuvenated pool  I reckon, after the demise of the seemingly obnoxious Rafa and the introduction of a thoroughly respected football man as the new manager, things will, takeover troubles aside, pick up at Anfield. So a tough first game ahead, given the lack of match fitness of Cesc and RVP and the undoubted desire of the Liverpool players to impress the new boss. We will learn much from this performance I feel.

How I wish that on the first day of the season the football authorities would say bugger to the TV and the money and kick all the games off on the same day at the same time, just as they used to. Older readers will remember the half time scores of all the games being put up  like cricket scores against the letters placed around the corners of the ground, these letters were published in the programme and each had one of the other first division games allocated to it. The full time whistle was immediately  followed by a mad dash to the car,  just to catch sports report and the reading of the full time scores, somehow something has been lost by the blatant commercialisation, although it has to be said much has also been gained.

So lets just hope our players return unscathed and ready for the fray at the week’s end and I wish all players officials and fans of all teams a great season, we can’t all win but hopefully we can stay fit and free of injury we have seen more than enough of those in recent years.

And as for the Arse, although I would of course love to see us win everything, I will settle for a season of pure Wengerball and hopefully a pot to quieten down the five-year mob. Come on you Arse.

Written by dandan


No defence for no defence.

August 4, 2010

I know the ink is not dry on a contract or even if a contract is being compiled for the signing of Emir Spahić of Montpelier but I find this rather depressing. We’ve lost two world class defenders in Sol Campbell and William Gallas together with Senderos and Silvestre and have managed so far to buy Koscielny to add to our squad. We don’t have a 6’4″ lump in our junior squad waiting to step up so why aren’t we buying one?

What is it about our manager that means that he won’t fix this problem? He must see it, we can all see it, from past  players to current squad members, why would he want to undermine the spine of the team?

We are not going to sign a world class goalkeeper – or even a better one than we already have – and thats a pretty bad situation for a top club to be in. I can slightly understand the logic of not wanting a new keeper and a new centre-back pairing at the same time – the need for good comminication between those three is very important. What I don’t understand is that this situation hasn’t been sprung on Arsène. The failings of our keepers last season cost us the Premiership title so he’s had more than the closed season to be looking around for a new one.

We all say it in hushed voices “If Vermaelen gets injured we’re stuffed” well guess what?  We don’t have to be in this situation and we shouldn’t be. Whatever the reason for  not spending the money now that we have it, can’t possibly be a good enough one.

What is it about buying defenders that gives Arsène such a head-ache? If we can’t defend we get undone, results against Birmingham, Wigan and Blackburn last season show that. I’m all for living life on the edge but spending the last ten minutes of games chewing my fingers with my heart pounding in my chest because we’ve given a goal away and its now 2-1 are going to ruin my health.

Vermaelen is top class. Koscielny we don’t know. Djourou has returned from a year out injured and has so far failed to impress. Before his injury he was fourth choice – Senderos was a more proven centre-back than him.

We’ve spent £8.5m on Koscielny – he may be an excellent find, Spahić may also be an excellent find but this kind of business doesn’t inspire confidence. Arsène – you need some help here, you concentrate on the attack and let someone else help you sort out the defence.

This is an ongoing problem and a serious one and until our defending is brought up to scratch we’re not going to be challenging for the Premiership – it won’t matter how many great goals we score against the others, the ones that count are the ones we let in.


Arsenal – ammunition on it’s way

August 2, 2010

The football season is back with us. The games at the Emirates this weekend enabled AW to showcase his two new signings, both of whom rose admirably to the occasion and gave a good account of themselves. We have a new attacker and defender that are comfortable on the ball and capable of seamlessly fitting into the Arsenal system, whilst adding a much needed touch of aggression at either end of the park.

This tournament last year introduced the chirpy Little Jack Wilshere to a wider audience than those real fans who were already in the know. Having gone to Barnet to watch the reserves play or sad souls like me who having subscribed to yet another pay TV channel saw the precocious 16 year olds awesome, performance against West Ham. Capped with a curling Henry like goal, right in front of the watching AW, sat on his own behind the goal.

Needless to say he was named man of the tournament last year, as indeed he was yesterday, somewhat luckily I felt. He played well enough and his shot on the volley that cannoned off the bar would have been another collectors piece had it been 6”lower.  His immaturity showed through when he was conned by a clever body check into conceding a penalty.

His real success this year and the exciting part for many fans was his link up with another unknown from the Academy conveyor belt Emmanuel Frimpong an 18 year old, solid, tough tackling, defensive midfielder who will collect a card or two along the way but looks the warrior many have been crying out for. Together the two took on the Milan midfield and were not found wanting. To young to do it week in week out, but by the season end I am sure will be regular squad members who have a number of first team appearances – ready to become regulars next season.

Theo has taken a lot of stick recently, but I thought he showed on Sunday with two assists, what his pace and crosses can do for us, if only his team mates would attack the far post when he is making for the goal line. He too is far from the finished article but seems to me to be growing in confidence.

Finally, AW stated he was still in the market for a defender and yet still a hard core of Arsenal fans continue to doubt his word.  I have been staggered by the number of conspiracy theories that follow AW press conference statements since the transfer window opened.  Do we really doubt the integrity of the man that much; how would his constant critics react if they were treated so shabbily, it is not his fault that we are linked with half a dozen different defenders on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we wait until the window closes before we crucify the guy?


Some goals, some heroes – Back to the future….

August 2, 2010

Arsenal3 Celtic2

It was only a pre-season friendly but having taken the lead after 2 minutes following some wonderful build-up play I felt sure that Celtic were going to get a hiding. Watching the footage of the first goal again I was amazed to see Theo running back to stay on-side before LJ passed to him and he in turn flashed the ball across the front of the goal for the onrushing Vela to tap home.  There, you see, Theo does have a footballing brain  but sadly that was about the only time he used it.

Theo’s name  receives the loudest cheer when the teams are announced, the collective wills of 60,000 people want our No. 14 to be the hero and its still not happening.  His crosses were whipped into the box time and time again to no-one. Someone, somewhere has to be learning a lesson from this, if its not Theo then who??? On a positive note he did take a pretty amazing free-kick that he’s obviously been practising and was unlucky not to score.

Another player unlucky not to score was Wilshire who received the ball on the edge of the box from a Rosicky corner. His perfectly executed volley hit the bar and he was quick to head the ball as it returned to him but the keeper was as quick and denied the young mid-fielder his goal. Wilshire is also a hero in the making and there is talk of him being called up to the England squad. If he had scored with this volley he would have cemented his place in Arsenal folklore but I believe he’ll have many more chances to do that.

Thomas Vermaelen is already a hero in my book, he is aggressive in everything he does and the shot he blasted at the keeper must have stung his hands. He scored some great goals for us at the start of last season and I’m hoping that being the caretaker at the back doesn’t stop him getting the chances again.

But there was to be an unlikely hero in this game and it came in the form of Bacary Sagna who scored a fantastic goal in the last minute of the first half. All his team-mates rushed to celebrate with him and a few had wry smiles as they left the pitch for half-time thinking of the chances that had been missed.

It was hard for Arshavin and Chamakh to get any sort of hold on the game when they were introduced late on in the second half but Nasri was busy again playing in the Cesc role. Although Wilshire was awarded MOTM, Frimpong put in another solid performance and I hope he gets his chance.  He’s lively and aggressive, had a few misplaced passes but always chased back after the ball.

It was all going to plan – 3-0 up and the party atmosphere was infectious cue panic and a nail-biting finish.

Celtic were awarded a penalty as Wilshire dragged a player down in the box which was skied by Samaras and then the visitors set about ruffling some feathers scoring two goals late on. We were again left with the familiar feeling of having played some beautiful football, created what could have been some amazing goals but we could have been undone by some chronic defending.

Here we go again ………………………….