Wembley Awaiting or Despair Descending?

January 25, 2011

Who would have thought that Ipswich at home would be our most important game of the season to date? Some may say that beating Chelsea and overcoming our Big 4 hoodoo was vital but a loss tonight is unthinkable, especially for Mr. Wenger.

Ipswich were superb at Portman Rd. They deserved to win and but for a fine Chesney save could have won by more. It wasn’t that Arsenal were poor, more that Ipswich came out with a gameplan which they applied with great determination and skill, and Arsenal didn’t have the cojones to deal with them. One would have thought that our midfield would be quite used to playing against less talented but very dogged opposition, and that AW would have sent out his team fully aware of the dangers of underestimating any opponents.

I highlighted Conor Wickham before the game and he showed why he is so highly rated. I am sure that if one were to check the statistics he would have run twice the distance of Nik B and with far more effectiveness. To see him  – a 17-y-o. – closing down Eboue in the corner and then tracking his run up the pitch was an object lesson to all our players. Hard work reaps benefits.

Ipswich’s central defence was never ruffled nor were their full backs given the grilling one would expect, though to be fair to Nik B and Theo, they didn’t get any decent service from the players around them. Even Cesc had an off day. The side that took the pitch at Portman Rd should have won; it was packed with Internationals (Chesney was the only player without caps) and every player had bags of PL experience – they just didn’t gel. Arshavin and Eboue had stinkers resulting in a very narrow attacking area and no cutting edge.

The old adage “form is temporary, class is permanent” is apt for Arshavin this season. He WILL come good and looked to be determined to work his way back to form last time out. This applies to Chamakh as well, what has happened to our star striker? Can he regain his blistering early season form? Will AW play them, particularly in light of the kicking Nasri got at the weekend and Van Persie’s notorious chocolate legs?  It should be pointed out that we have Huddersfield in the Cup on Sunday and can therefore choose when to rest players.

In view of the importance of this game I would start with the A team, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see the famously stubborn AW stick to his principles of playing some members of his B squad.

 

Tonight Arsenal have to walk onto to the pitch with the correct attitude – losing is not an option.

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Wenger’s Barca Raid

January 24, 2011

If Saturday’s performance proved anything, it was surely that Arsène Wenger’s plan to bring Barca-style football to North London is succeeding.

It’s no secret that the boss admires the style and manner with which the Catalans play. Now he has shamelessly lifted their football manual (or should that be Manuel?) from under their very noses and put a red and white stamp on it.

Barca’s front six of Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, Villa and one of Keita or Mascherano play beautiful pass-and-move football, denying their opponents the ball and carving their way through the most resolute of defences.

After much experimentation, Arsène now has his own ‘Super Six’: Cesc, Song, van Persie, Nasri, Walcott and Wilshere.

What both ‘sixes’ have in common (and why I have referred to them as ‘front sixes’ rather than the more familiar midfield/attack definitions) is that all the players swap positions at will and all pose an attacking threat.

After the two Champions League games against Barca last Spring I wrote a post saying that “Arselona is Closer Than We Think.”

Despite the outstanding first half from the Spaniards at The Grove and despite the Messi master class at the Nou Camp, I took heart from Barca’s exhibition because it showed what Arsenal could aspire to.

I reflected that there were three differences between the sides: Barcelona had more money, they had better players and they worked harder.

Revisiting those thoughts today, the picture has changed.

Do Barcelona have more money? It subsequently became clear last season that they were grossly in debt and in no position to keep making huge-money purchases. Then some rich Qataris came calling and in the blink of a cheque book Barca threw their much-vaunted principles in the bin (along, presumably, with all their Unicef shirts) and accepted a shirt sponsor in exchange for £125m. Given how high their debts were, this is hardly a licence to buy big, although it gives them more clout in the transfer market than they would otherwise have had. Arsenal, meanwhile, continue to revel in the best financial model in big time football, and you really get the feeling that if Arsène made the case to the Board for a £50m signing they would give him the money. Admittedly, he’s as likely to ask for fifty million quid as Wayne Bridge is to ask John Terry to tea.

Do Barcelona have better players? They may just still shade it, but that gap has closed considerably.  Fabregas or Iniesta? Nasri or Messi? Pedro or Walcott? Van Persie or Villa? Those questions don’t produce the simple answers they would have done a year ago. And both our so-called holding players, Song and Wilshere, have more innate footballing talent than either Keita or Mascherano. Earlier this season I was moaning about Alex Song’s forward tendencies, but he has won me over completely. He is becoming a true box-to-box player with silky skills to go along side his wrought iron commitment. Wilshere, meanwhile, at just-turned 19, is surely heading for world superstardom. We’ll certainly be cheering on little Jack long after the name Balotelli has faded from memory.

Do Barca work harder? The answer to that one is still ‘yes’ overall. The genius of that team is that they work as hard when they don’t have the ball as when they do have it. And it’s still an aspect of the game that has let Arsenal down this season. However, I truly believe that our first team DOES have the right work ethic and has demonstrated it repeatedly since the Christmas period.

To summarise, I would hazard that Arselona is just about here. The players, the style of play, the swagger – it’s all coming together beautifully.

We’re reaping the benefits in the domestic competitions and there’s no reason why we can’t also succeed in Europe.

Certainly the games against Barcelona this year will be very different. Barca are a great team and may still beat us over two legs, but I expect things to be much more competitive this time round. Our players know exactly what they’re up against and, let’s not forget, we were decimated by injuries last year.

All of which is not to say there are no concerns.

This Arsenal team still desperately needs some silverware and, psychologically, that may yet be a big step to climb. The Carling Cup would be a great way to start.

I would also like us to sign a good centre back this January. I would feel even more comfortable with some cover for Alex Song, who has become so crucial to our success. And I fret every game about the fitness of key players like Robin, Cesc, Theo and Samir.

But if Lady Luck favours us with a smile, good things could really happen this year.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

The Stuff of Champions

January 23, 2011

If you don’t tingle with pride at being an Arsenal supporter today then you my friend have a severe case of Jaguaritis and that is not good because yesterday we walked with giants and witnessed the quality of champions.

How dare these pie eating upstarts take two points off us up North? How dare they? Well the natural order has been restored after the good guys put on a football display to make Barcelona sit up and think very seriously about what they are about to face in the not too distant future. You may say that it was only Wigan but what kind of opposition do you think Barcelona make mince meat of every week? Wigan are exactly the kind of opponents the Catalans meet save for two Saturdays in the season when they face Real opposition.

Seriously, Wigan; Spanish manager, limited resources, what’s the difference between that and what Barcelona play practically every week?………bring em on, I say, we are ready.

The game, yes, yes, the game I should say something about that; we completely out played Wigan, different class from start to finish, total domination, absolute control.

We all knew what the line up would be: the A team was required and the A team dutifully appeared. It took no time for the gulf of class to be established: chances were continuously created and missed throughout the first half, only interrupted by Van Persie’s hitting the back of the net after 30 minutes. The rest of the time Walcott was carving out opportunities left and right for his team mates, all of whom went close but all were denied by one Wigan limb or another thrown in the way. There were so many chances in the first half I honestly lost count, just to say that it was an absolute miracle that Wigan went in at half time only one nil down.

Our Northern opponents took heart from the generous score line coming out after the break and trying a bit of quick closing down themselves, it looked quite good for all of fifteen minutes, that is until Fàbregas sent a world class pass over forty yards to Van Persie who volleyed it into the Wigan net.

Two nil, game over, time to sit back and enjoy the master class in front of us; chances kept appearing until eventually it all got a bit too much for Wigan and they couldn’t stop themselves hacking down one of our players, (still haven’t seen MOTD so not sure which one) in the area, up stepped Van Persie but instead of scoring his first ever professional hat trick in his career and that includes his Feyenoord days, he skied it in what I can only describe as one of the worst penalties I have ever witnessed. We had to wait a bit longer for the Boy Wonder to break that duck and much credit has to go to Walcott who held off the Wigan defender, very cleverly enabling Van Persie to fulfil my prediction of three nil to the good guys.

————————————————————-

Player ratings:

Szczesny: had little to do but what he did he did perfectly. 10

Sagna: we have a quality right back. 10

Djourou, calmness personified. 10

Koscielny: I wonder if he communicates with Szczesny in Polish. Faultless.10

Clichy: good runs, good positioning, good tackling. 10

Fàbregas: my MOTM, he was more World Class than The Boy Wonder today even though he didn’t score. 10

Song: Rasp was the first person I noticed to use the adjective imperious to describe our Alex, it struck a cord with me, since then I use it when ever it is mertited and today Alex Song was imperious. 10

Wilshere: this young man is surrounded by world class midfield players and yet at the tender age of nineteen he still manages to hold his own which is quite astonishing. 10

Nasri: Wigan systematically clipped the ankles of our players, they were obviously not Shawcross tackles but they were dirty and sneaky, most of our players survived but poor old Super Nas caught it and hobbled for most of the game. 9

Van Persie: This man can take us to the Promised Land. 10

Walcott: good, good, good a better game than might meet the eye, watch how clever he was for RVP’s third. 10

Written by London while drinking a bottle of Rioja, Gran Reserva, 2002.

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Posted by LB

Which team would you pick?

January 19, 2011

Written by Big Raddy

Elland Road mid-week in January, 40,000 noisy fans up for the Cup, a promising Leeds team looking to cement their reputations; the joys of the F.A. Cup 3rd round.

Being honest, we were fortunate to have the chance of this replay, the very late penalty saving Arsenal from the ignominy of an early Cup exit to a team from a lower division. Leeds outfought us at the Grove, they showed a grit  we struggled to cope with and Mr. Wenger  will consider himself fortunate to have another opportunity to progress into the 4th round. One can say that we played a second team but it remained a team packed with Internationals and expensive recruits – we had the personnel, we were at home, we should have won.

Some of the media around the game is focused upon Walcott’s “dive” admission which showed Theo to be an honest, if naive, young man. The Leeds manager Simon Grayson has called for Theo to be banned for tonight (according the the Daily Mail!). We can expect the crowd to get on Theo’s case from his first kick which will hopefully inspire him, because from the moment Theo came on as sub in the home tie we looked more dangerous.

I like Simon Grayson, he did a fine job with Blackpool, giving Holloway the basis for the team who have recently done the double over Liverpool. His work at Leeds has been nothing short of remarkable. Since Grayson’s arrival Leeds have had unremitting success, gaining promotion from Div 1 and now on the verge of a return to the Premiership, and he has done so without resorting to DirtyLeeds tactics.  Grayson’s star in is the ascendant.

We saw in the first tie how Leeds play. Based upon a very solid central defence and backed by a Schmeichel they work extremely hard. A midfield that will look to harry our skill payers into making rash and inaccurate passes, and fullbacks who have pace (I was very impressed with their right back Max Gradel). Upfront Sanchez Watt will be looking to impress Mr Wenger – but not too much. Beccchio is Leeds top scorer but may be out injured tonight.

What side will Mr Wenger play?  Who knows? Will he play a quasi- first 11 with Cesc, RvP and Theo starting or will he continue with the side that escaped at the Grove? Sagna is back and rested but AW likes to use Eboue in Cup games, and we have an important meeting with Wigan on the weekend. Will he continue with Djourou who played poorly at Upton Park  and surely needs a break? Could he risk playing Miquel? The Nik B / Chamakh combination didn’t work at all in the first game, and Nik is clearly not a right winger. Either could start  – my heart goes with Nik and my head with Chamakh. One player I would be surprised to see is Van Persie who despite having a huge impact recently should be rested and I expect Theo to come on as an impact sub should we need him.

Here’s my guess:

Chesney

Eboue  JD  Koscielny  Gibbs

Song  Denilson  Cesc Rosicky

Bendtner  Arshavin

Bench:  GK? Sagna  Nasri  Walcott  Eastmond  Miquel  Chamakh  Ramsey

This team has enough to defeat any side in the PL let alone the Championship. Should the unthinkable happen, let it be down to poor refereeing or a superb Leeds performance and not lack of application and desire.

Tonight is a tricky tie, one we could easily lose but I see us beating Dirty Leeds, disappointing 40,000 fans, and moving onto the 4th round

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

Theo crosses Bridge …. Dutch Mastery ….. living up to the form book

January 16, 2011

Written by Gooner in Exile

West Ham 0 – Arsenal 3

This game doesn’t really require a report the stats say it all:

………………………………..WH             ARS

Possession                     34%            66%

Shots on Target              6                 13

Shots off Target              1                 7

Corners                          4                 10

As complete a victory as you are likely to see. With Song, Nasri and Van Persie returning to the starting line up alongside Theo, Cesc and Wilshere the line up looked capable of winning the game. With Eboue still in for Sagna, and Chesney continuing to deputise for the injured Fabianski we were only two players short of Arsene’s first choice starting eleven.

With those players on the pitch there could only be one outcome, couldn’t there?

To say we started well is an understatement, first to the ball, first to the pass, first to the tackle, the players seemed to be in control of the game from kick off and never looked back. Thankfully our early possession paid off within fifteen minutes, a period of possession leading to Theo having all the space and time in the world to pick a pass, which he did to perfection, a gorgeous stepover from Nasri later and Van Persie was burying the ball in the back of the net with his right foot.

Whilst we continued to dominate possession there was an occasional slip or misjudgement at the back that if punished would so easily have undone all the good work.

One of these moments came from a poor back pass from Big Johan which let in Cole, Chesney was very quick to rush off his line and make a great blocking save to spare JD’s blushes. With every game Chesney plays his stock rises, he gives me an overwhelming sense of confidence, he has the one ingredient that all the best keepers possess, belief in his own ability. He seems to be unflappable, something we have not had the privilege of seeing in the Arsenal goal since safe hands Seaman.

The team needed the second goal before half time, just to settle any underlying nerves, Theo duly obliged with a left foot strikers finish rounding off a lovely move involving Cesc, Clichy and Nasri. The great thing about the finish was Theo’s desire to reach the ball before Bridge, moving around him to apply the decisive touch like a true centre forward.

The second half was more of the same, complete domination of possession, Chesney was called on to make another fine save from Sears miscued cross, but the result was never in doubt and the players ran out at a canter.

Van Persie converted the third from the penalty spot after Theo had worked his way in to the area and debut boy Bridge completed a pretty disastrous day by bringing him down.

Nasri gave us something different today and showed us what we were missing against Leeds and Ipswich, a player who is willing to run at and past defenders either with ball at his feet or with little give and go passing. He gave another string to our bow today and he sure knows how to play it.

The early goal helps us, we now need to see that we can play this way for 88 minutes without scoring and nick a game 1-0, then we can start dreaming of trophies.

Player ratings:

Szczesny……….9

Koscielny…….. 8 (calmness personified)

Djourou……….  6 (few tricky moments under pressure from Cole)

Clichy …………. 7

Eboue …………. 7

Fabregas……… 7

Song ……………  7

Wilshere …….. 8 (continues to play with maturity beyond his years)

Nasri …………..  8

van Persie…..   8

Walcott ………. 8

Some may think the 7’s harsh, but I just think they all did what was expected of them no more no less.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

At Last We Have A First Team

January 2, 2011

On Monday we outclassed Chelsea at the Grove. Yesterday the same starting line-up won a comfortable away victory against a Birmingham side notoriously hard to beat at home.

Finally we have a first eleven.

The second string is the one that played at Wigan and was unlucky to only draw. The first team would have won that game comfortably but the boss felt seven of them needed a rest (and Cesc was suspended).

The only other squad member who could expect to walk in to our newly established first team is Vermaelen – and even he can’t assume his place is guaranteed.

Establishing a definitive first team feels to me like a significant step forward for Arsenal – one that will increase our chances of winning silverware this year. And I suspect it has come as something of a surprise to Arsene Wenger, because I’m not sure he knew his best team before this week.

In the last three seasons we have not had a clear first team because of injuries to key players and Arsene’s insistence that he has does not have a first eleven but, instead, has a large squad of players any of whom can play in any game.

Rotation is necessary during a long season, but I can’t help feeling that Arsene now realises what his first choice starting line-up is. Of course it won’t start every game, but if all are fit and available this eleven will start the big ones.

We (and he) knew the optimum eleven names on the team sheet in the Invincibles season; likewise in ‘97/’98 and 2001/02. Now we know it for 2010/11 and it has involved some brave decisions on the boss’s part: dropping Arshavin to the bench; starting Theo; starting young Djourou and Koscielny ahead of the most senior defender in the squad (Squillaci); sticking with Fabianski; making Jack Wilshere a first team regular at 18 (now 19 – happy birthday Jack); and dropping Chamakh for RvP despite the former’s good start.

Barring knocks, I expect our Chelsea and Birmingham starting line-up to take the field against Manchester City on Wednesday.

Yesterday we were too skilful and strong for a physical Brummie team. Our first eleven carried on where they left off against Chelsea, working their socks off to close down the opposition and creating chances at will.

The first goal was all about Robin van Persie. In the 13th minute he was pulled back  for a foul outside the Birmingham area. It was only a small tug and Robin went down easily, but I have no sympathy: if you pull someone’s shirt it’s a foul.

What happened next was very interesting. Normally our free kicks are notable for their lack of imagination or ingenuity. This time we had a plan – and it worked! Cesc stood in the middle of the Birmingham wall, then peeled off as Robin placed the shot perfectly in the gap he’d left behind. Bowyer stuck out an elbow (for what would surely have been a penalty if the ball had not ended up in the net) but the deflection took it past Foster. One-nil.

For the rest of the first half it was a competitive game, but with Arsenal on top despite some scares. Van Persie twice found himself in great positions in the opposition six yard box only to fluff his lines; Wilshere was nearly put through but miscontrolled in the area; Djourou almost got on the end of a van Persie free kick and Walcott also made a mess of a chance in the area.

At half time I was beginning to wonder of we would rue those misses, but I need not have worried.

Nasri made it two-nil in the 58th minute after a lovely one-two with Fabregas and the wind seemed to go out of Birmingham’s sails. The third came twelve minutes later – an own goal off Johnson after a breathtaking move of give-and-go involving Fabregas and Nasri.

We could have had more goals after that, but I’m not going to complain about a 3-0 away win at Birmingham.

The team played well as a unit and for each other. It was noticeable that Song played more defensively than he has been doing of late – presumably under orders to help protect our back line following Arsene’s criticism of our defending after the Wigan game.

Robin van Persie had one of those games where not much came off for him, but he scored the opener and worked very hard. His form will come back, which is an exciting prospect.

The only other noteworthy point is a mention for some of Birmingham’s thuggery. Roger Johnson should have seen red for a studs-up lunge into Cesc’s ankle early on and Bowyer would have been sent off if any official had seen his deliberate stamp on Sagna. He later raked his studs down Sagna’s calf. He’s a lowlife and should be retrospectively punished but probably won’t be. Cameron Jerome also managed a sneaky stamp on Koscielny’s thigh. It was good to see that we didn’t retaliate except by passing them into oblivion

After the Chelsea win I wrote a post saying that this team was ready to claim its destiny. When we drew away at Wigan I had those words thrown back at me, but I stood by them then and I do now. The key point being that it is THIS team – this eleven players who beat Chelsea and Birmingham – that is ready to prove Arsene’s critics wrong.

Like Kellogs Bran Flakes, this season is getting very, very tasty.

RockyLives

Player Ratings

Fabianski: he’s beginning to win over the critics. Made one stunning save from a Larsson free kick. He also came well for aerial balls a couple of times (although got lucky once when he fumbled the ball but collected on the bounce). 8

Sagna: put one or two crosses astray but was as defensively solid as we have come to expect. 7.5

Djourou: big JD is fast establishing himself as our best CB. He put in an outstanding shift, dominating defensively and bringing the ball out well from the back. 8.5

Koscielny: as usual, some vital headers and tackles. His temperament and bravery are commendable and his partnership with Djourou looks strong. 8

Clichy: Gael had a very good game against Larsson, a former Gunner who can be quite a handful. Made one outstanding run and cross. 8

Song: an unusually quiet game for our woolly-headed wonder, but that was because he stuck to his defence-covering duties and because of Birmingham’s lack of attacking ambition. Didn’t do anything wrong. 7

Fabregas: pulled all the strings; didn’t react to some rough treatment from Bowyer; back to his best: 9 MoTM

Wilshere: more industry than inspiration from Jack yesterday, but he is forming a good MF partnership with Song and Cesc. 7

Nasri: superb movement, dribbling and passing – he is beginning to terrify defences and took his goal very well. Close call for MoTM. 8.5

Walcott: his normally accurate shooting was a bit astray last night, but he works hard, tracks back with great diligence and makes opposing defences nervous. Birmingham sat back a lot even when losing, so there was not the usual sort of space for him to exploit. 7

Van Persie: scored the opener but gave the ball away a lot and fluffed a couple of gilt-edged chances. Still working his way back to form. 6.5

Subs

Arshavin: 7

Denilson: 6

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Posted by RockyLives

Oh Ye of Little Faith: Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1 (and ratings)

December 28, 2010

Where are they now then, the doubters and doomers, the carpers and cavilers?

There’ll be barely a squeak from them today and what little there is will be drowned out by another sound.

Do you hear it?

That low, grinding rumble?

It’s the sound of tectonic plates shifting; of seismic change in the English Premier League.

An edifice that hitherto had seemed rock-like and immovable is revealed as friable and fragile. Its place is suddenly vulnerable to a hard, new force that has been quietly forming and solidifying.

Or, to mix metaphors, the Roman empire is facing decline and fall, while Arsene Wenger’s belle epoque is about to begin.

Does this sound like hyperbole?

I don’t care. Monday December 27th will come to be seen as the day the Arsenal reclaimed its rightful place as London’s top club. (Yes, I know our history and record of trophy winning puts us streets ahead of any other club in the capital but, on the field of play, we have indisputably been second best to Chelsea for the best part of five years).

It was only one game, but the symbolism was immense.

Chelsea’s tired old warriors were out-played, out-passed and out-fought, while their younger colleagues looked weak and ineffectual. Arsenal exhibited fire, hunger, energy and skill.

The Chelsea bench had all the depth of a toddlers’ paddling pool.  Arsenal’s bench, by comparison, was the Marianas Trench. Just look at the respective line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Squillaci, Diaby, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner.

Chelsea: Turnbull (who?), Bosingwa, Van Aanholt (who?), Bruma (who?), Ramires (what a waste of money), McEachren (who?), Kakuta (who?).

The victory was thoroughly deserved and the margin should perhaps have been bigger. But if you look beyond this single result the evidence for a shift in the balance of footballing power in London is even more compelling.

Chelsea have a relatively small stadium and often have trouble filling it. Their billionaire owner (whose roubles are the only reason that they have been able to compete at the top level) has snapped shut the wallet. If the rumours are to be believed, he is now focusing on the 2018 World Cup in Russia and is losing interest in his malfunctioning toy.

To replace ageing players of the calibre of Terry (30), Lampard (32), Drogba (32), and Cole (30) they will need to spend tens and tens of millions, because they certainly don’t have any real quality coming through the ranks.

It’s unlikely that Roman Abramovich will make the money available. And even if he did, who’s to say the new acquisitions would gel with the rest of the team, or that Chelsea would be able to compete with the even bigger billionaires at Man City (and, possibly, at Old Trafford, if the Qatar Royal Family story turns out to have legs)?

Any way you cut it, Chelsea are in for a period of decline. They won’t collapse like a house of cards, they will still win some big games and stay in touch with the championship race this season, but their time is over.

Our time, however, is just beginning. Arsene Wenger has brought together a squad of supremely gifted players at very little cost, nurturing talent from within and balancing the budget while moving us to a new 60,000 seater stadium and keeping us in the Champions League every year. In the future this achievement will come to be more widely appreciated for the astonishing piece of management it is. If you don’t believe me, just look at the fuss made about Old Twitchy and his Posse of Cocks for getting into the Champions League just once, despite having spent tens of millions more than Arsenal on players over the last 10 years.

The ‘Arsene Out’ brigade really needs to take the blinkers off and look at the big picture of what is being built at our club.

Yesterday’s result showed that our young team is finally ready to claim its destiny.

I have rambled on for too long now, so there will be no full match report, just some observations:

  • We were fantastic. A true team performance in which we completely outplayed the champions.
  • Djourou was immense and limited our nemesis Drogba to scraps and crumbs.
  • Chelsea’s goal came from a dead ball situation and, apart from that strike, they rarely threatened (and certainly not from open play). So much for our ‘weak defence’.
  • Playing Theo against Cashley was a Wenger masterstroke, nullifying the greedy traitor’s attacking threat.
  • The biggest factor that decided the game was our work rate. Every single Arsenal player bust a gut to help his team mates.
  • In other words, for a change, we played as well when we did not have the ball as when we did have it. This is the trick Barcelona have mastered.
  • We were better without Arshavin. I love the pocket Russki, but Theo’s defensive work (aided by his recovery speed) was a refreshing change and gave extra support to Sagna.
  • One man bossed the game from start to finish: Alex Song, take a bow.

After such an outstanding and emphatic win I don’t want to dwell on negatives but, like an impoverished Japanese home owner, I have a couple of small carps:

  • Cesc is still blowing hot and cold (he made some careless misplaced passes and was caught in possession a few times) but the ‘hot’ bits were scorching.
  • Koscielny could have done better for their goal, failing to get a proper challenge in on Ivanovich.
  • Fabianski’s position was poor for the goal – he neither came to claim it nor stayed on his line to save. Instead he came into no man’s land and seemed to try the unusual trick (for a goalie) of making himself small.

But, as I say, these are only small complaints in what was an all-round team performance of great confidence and power.

This should now give us the boost we need to go on a run of great results, starting tomorrow at Wigan.

Come on you Reds!

RockyLives

Player Ratings

Fabianski: Chelsea hardly troubled him, but he might have done better for their goal. 6

Sagna: excellent game from our Mr Reliable. 8

Djourou: at last we have a CB who refused to be intimidated by Drogba. Towering performance by the big Swiss. 8.5

Koscielny: lost Ivanovich for their goal, but apart from that did very well and made some very important tackles and interceptions. 7.5

Clichy: still prone to charge forward when we should be protecting a lead, and was dispossessed too easily a couple of times, but his forward thrust did help keep Chelsea pegged back. 7.5

Fabregas: some outstanding play from the skipper, including the glorious pass for Theo’s goal. His passing is still not back to its very best – but it will soon get there, and what an awesome prospect that will be. 8

Song: what can you say? He was immense, scoring the vital opener (and yet again making me eat my words for saying he should not go forward so much) and breaking up Chelsea’s moves for the entire match. 9 MoTM

Wilshere: made a few mistakes through inexperience, but the fact he held his own in such a big game at the age of just 18 is so, so encouraging. Imagine what he’ll be like at 21!  7.5

Walcott: kept Cashley confined to defensive duties and suckered him beautifully for the second goal. Was always a threat and took his goal well. 8

Nasri: almost scored with a sublime chip and was constantly probing at Chelsea’s right flank. Not as influential as in some recent games, but that was partly because we sent a lot of play down Walcott’s wing. Fluffed a great chance in a one-on-one with Cech. 7.5

van Persie: started very sharply and displayed good movement, but never quite got the game by the scruff of the neck. Tried a couple of ambitious shots that went well over the bar. 7

Subs

Diaby (for Walcott, 73 mins): didn’t really get into the pace of the game, but that’s hardly surprising after such a long lay-off. 6

Chamakh (for van Persie, 76 mins): slotted in to his usual centre forward role without fuss and held the ball up well. 7

Rosicky (for Fabregas, 88 mins): used his experience to help run the clock down, but not on long enough for a rating.

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Posted by RockyLives

Wenger’s Number One Apologist.

December 20, 2010

Being Arsene’s number one apologist there is a question that has been floating around out there that has been bothering me for a while: why did Wenger play a weakened side against Shakhtar and Braga away? His critics accuse him of arrogance and obstinacy; the fall out of these decisions being that we came runners up and now, unnecessarily, have to face Barcelona.

The excuse I offer will, I suspect, be easier to run with if you have man managed a group of people at some point in your life, I think this is one of the reasons I always agree with Dandan and more often than not with Big Raddy both of whom have had the responsibility for a number of people to a greater or a lesser extent.

Wenger has twenty five players to keep happy which is more people than I have had to man manage so I accept that a lot of what is about to follow is pure guess work; but hey, what is a blog for?

Twenty five professional footballers to keep happy — all at the same time — no easy task in my opinion; some of the more lowest common denominator Arsenal blogs dismiss this by pointing to his six million annual salary but it does not change the fact that the man still has to do the job of keeping twenty five very large egos under control.

Right, having established that, cast your mind back to just before the Shakhtar away game and you will remember that we had maximum points from the three games in our CL group; we had beaten Birmingham 2-1 at home, City 3-0 away and then West Ham 1-0 at home in the EPL – we were, by anyone’s standards, on a roll. Wenger had got the Red Machine humming but the problem he faced, as I saw it, was how to keep everyone content.

Bendtner had made his return against City; successfully getting on the score sheet and doing exactly the same in his following appearance against Newcastle in the Carling Cup. Walcott, being the best player at the club for the first three games of the season, had returned scoring impressively as well against Newcastle and when Wenger was asked if Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was knocking at the door he replied that he wasn’t just knocking he was banging on it with both hands; all this without mentioning Szczesny who, when it comes to demanding first team football, makes the others, including Bendtner, look shy and retiring.

My point is that it was perfectly reasonable to field the side Wenger did against Shakhtar – even more so when you consider we had trounced them only a couple of weeks before at home. Wenger said that he selected a team he thought capable of winning; all perfectly reasonable, but in my opinion it had just as much to do with trying to keep twenty five players happy.

So, all neatly tied up then, the problem I have is that on the other shoulder sits a little devil who whispers in my ear: do you really believe that? Wenger could not lose by playing a so called weakened team: if we beat Shakhtar we were as good as through to the next round but if we lost Wenger would have a more humble, a less demanding, a more malleable Bendtner and Walcott and so he did and still does. A similar story applies to the Braga away game. The other reason Wenger couldn’t lose by making those decisions was because he knew that if we came second in the group no one would blame him if we go out to someone as powerful as Barcelona.

A little something to think about on this long break without football.

Written by London but hey, you already knew that. lol

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Posted by LB

Theo Walcott – Striker or Stinker?

December 10, 2010

Written by gunnerN5

January 20th 2006 was an exciting day in our history; Arsene Wenger secured the signature of Theo Walcott on an initial pre-contract agreement to sign a professional contract on his 17th birthday. Even at the tender age of 15 Theo was touted as one of, if not the, best youngster in English football and he was now an Arsenal player.

Now here we are almost 5 years and 134 games later (72 as a starter and 62 as a sub) into his Arsenal career. Has he proven to be the potential star we had anticipated and yearned for or is he still a work in progress; or worst still is he a waste of space?

He has provided many fantastic highlights and his speed frightens opposition defenses, but his lack of consistency and sub standard statistical measurements are sadly underwhelming.

His ability to leave defenses in his wake and deliver crosses is commendable, even exceptional, but many of his crosses go astray, along with the possibility of creating good goal scoring opportunities.

How many times do we see him speed up to a defender and then have no idea on how to get around him, how many of his passes go astray;  how many good moves break down because of his poor decision making?

In his 134 appearances, 72 as a starter and 62 as a sub he has totaled 18 goals and 20 assists, if we consider a goal as 1 point and an assist as half a point then he has earned .209 points per appearance.

One would believe that with his speed he would be best suited as a sub coming on for the last 20/25 minutes against tired defenses but the stats don’t back up this theory as  they are almost identical  as both a sub and a starter.

Most of our subs have higher points earned as starters than they do as sub’s which makes sense given the increased amounts of time that they are on the pitch – but Theo defies the logic – why?

His contribution level as a starter is almost the same as a sub and this simply should not be, especially with his outstanding speed. One would have to believe that at least his assists would increase given that we score so many goals in the last 20 minutes – but that is not the case – why?

Sadly I don’t have answers, simply questions, but even sadder it would appear that nobody else has either. It remains a wish and hope situation.

PS.

Since I wrote this I have done some more exhaustive/accurate research into this season’s goal scoring statistics and the results are quite revealing.

I would have preferred to use minutes played but I could not find a reliable enough source so I settled for the combination of games and substitutions to arrive at appearances – not ideal, but still useful data.

It should be of no surprise to any of us that Nasri is number 1 – closely followed by  Chamakh at number 2 – but surprise, surprise Walcott is number 3 – why?

Does that refute all of the previous comments?

The answer to the question is no, as he got all of his points in the first 3 games of the season and in his last 5 appearances he shown his typical inconsistency and earned zero points.

It should also be noted that Sagna has scored more points than Bendtner and that Fabianski has more points than Clichy or Rosciky who just scrapes onto the chart in last place.

All of the stats are EPL only.

Let’s talk.

GunnerN5

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

We never make it easy on ourselves, do we ?

December 9, 2010

Written by kelsey

In all probability most thought it would be a foregone conclusion to sweep Partizan aside and therefore qualify as runner up in our group. What we didn’t expect was a flat lacklustre performance, which I can only put down to nerves and the nagging thought in the back of the players mind that to make sure of qualification we just had to win.

Within a few minutes of the kick off, it was blatantly obvious that the fluidity of our game just wasn’t there and to compound things, Gibbs twisted his ankle and though bravely returned to the action he lasted  barely five minutes to be replaced by Eboue, who I might add has the weirdest warm up routine I have ever seen.

The combination of van Persie and Chamakh seemed more experimental than anything and it just didn’t work. Arshavin had a bad hair day and the harder he tried the worse he played. Let’s not kid ourselves, Partizan are a poor team and their sole ambition was to avoid a heavy defeat,  for the best part of half an hour they contained Arsenal very well.

RvP finally got a chance and was brought down in the box, he made no mistake and rifled the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 to the Arsenal. One would have thought that nerves would disappear, but apart from a great run by Eboue down the left flank and whipping the ball across with the outside of his right foot for no one to capitalise on, the team still seemed to be in a trance with no urgency.

After half time the inevitable happened when Partizan’s only moment of serious danger brought an equaliser  when Cleo’s shot took a wicked deflection off Sebastien Squillaci and out of Lukasz Fabianski’s reach – leaving Arsenal’s fans, albeit briefly, anxiously following events in the game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga.

Arshavin was rightly subbed and our cameo super sub Theo started to cause all sorts of trouble, restoring Arsenal’s lead with a fine volley after 73 minutes. Another moment of class from Samir Nasri wrapped things up as he scored with a fine low finish four minutes later.

Leadership on the pitch is required. We have until early February to sort this issue out, but hopefully with a fit Fabregas (who was sorely missed) and possibly Vermaelen to marshal the defence, we have the privilege to host either a German or Spanish side. The last 16 gives the club an additional £3.5 million revenue plus of course the receipts from the home leg, and it might be advisable to use that money to strengthen the defence.

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Posted by kelsey

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