Arsène Wenger’s Got a Headache

November 8, 2011

The criticism of Arsène for trying to force square pegs into round holes has frequently been levelled over recent seasons. Bendtner, Eboue and Arshavin in particular have all been deployed in areas that would not be their first choice let alone the Championship Managers among us. The reason for this has generally been a lack of depth in the squad exacerbated by the perennial injury problems that have depleted us so cruelly at vital times.

Now it would appear that Arsène has a headache of a different kind. The summer purchases coupled with the progression of quality players through the youth system has created a problem, a good problem to have but a problem nonetheless. As far as Sagna and Wilshere are concerned the problem is months away but in light of the coming 2 weeks of nail biting over the potential for injuries playing in meaningless internationals, I thought it would be interesting to ponder the alternatives.

Who are our best players in every position?
Well I think the answer at the top and tail of the team is obvious – RvP and Szczesny give Arsenal about the best polar opposites in the league. But elsewhere it is not so simple.

Centreback Partnership
Some supporters had been crying out for a tall physical presence at the back and then along came Per Mertesacker the 6ft 5in answer to our vulnerability from set pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I think the BFG is an excellent addition to the squad and has helped us keep in touch through this early critical period, but I think most would agree that his height is not the main attribute he possesses. No, it’s his positional play, reading of the game, timing of the tackle cool head and experience – but I wouldn’t mind betting that Kozzer has won more headers in the box when playing alongside Mert. The return of Vermaelen has been a huge shot in the arm and has reminded us all that he is a world class defender and our captain of the defence. For me the best CB pairing is TV and Koz but have your say by placing your vote below.



Wingbacks
Now this is where it really does get difficult. Most Arsenal supporters would say that last season Sagna was the best right back in the league. He didn’t start this season so well and looked a yard or two off the pace, but a 90% Sagna is still better than most RBs and it seemed like an early hammer blow to our season when he was ruled out with a fractured leg.

But then there was the introduction of Carl Jenkinson to the first team. He was one of our early summer signings who at 19 was inexperienced to say the least having been on loan at a non league club previously. For me he has been a revelation. Like Jack, he’s an Arsenal supporter. He has amazing energy going forward and uncharacteristically for an Arsenal player, he can cross the ball. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not in the same class defensively as Sagna at this stage, but he is improving every game and has won the hearts of the supporters already. Sagna has to be my first choice RB for the big games, but Jenks is a real find and offers us more offensively so in a couple of years time who knows?


Gibbs or Santos? – now that is a much closer call. Gibbs has been threatening to become the new Cashley for a couple of seasons. His progress has been hampered by a worrying propensity to pick up injuries that hasn’t ever really let us see him have a decent run of games.

Santos is already dividing opinion. He’s all Brazillian, surging forward with gay abandon, super control spiced with clever tricks and finished with a sweet left foot and cool head in front of goal. He loves to go forward, its the gaping holes that he leaves behind that worry many. West Brom were poor on Saturday and Santos never really looked troubled but against stiffer opposition he may be undone. The hope is that he will adjust his game to put slightly more emphasis on the defensive side of his play, but I for one would not wish him to sacrifice his natural attacking game. Santos would be my first choice for LB.

The Midfield
Since The Boy Wonder’s place is not in question I shall consider the midfield to be the ‘5’ in a 4:5:1 formation – but you can call it 4:3:3 if it makes you happy. I have no hesitation on current form in saying that wide midfielders places are not in question, Theo and Gervinho have been excellent and are clearly Arsène’s first choice, but we still have very good options in Arshavin, the Ox and possibly Ryo in time.

The current best centre midfield 3 would appear to be Song, Ramsey and Arteta – but what happens when Jack is fit again?

It would appear that Song’s place in the side is safe so who would give way to accommodate our rising star? I actually think that Arteta has been more influential in the side recently than Song as he quietly gets on with his business and keeps the Wengerball machine running smoothly whereas Song is often noticed when he somehow magically manages to hold off multiple players and still emerge with the ball but I sometimes think he should not be in that position in the first place. Once again we are blessed with midfield options and squad rotation of the midfield 3 would help us stave off the customary end of season fatigue.

Which players would you prefer to see as our centre midfield three?

The Subs
I have made the presumption that everyone would agree that these are the only candidates for first choice in their positions but many would disagree. Is Arshavin more effective than Gervinho on the left? The Ox worth a try in place of Theo? Rosicky more reliable than Ramsey? Benny more attacking than Song? Diaby waiting in the wings to finally realise his potential? Coquelin worth a try for some games? – they may well all have to play their part in a typically long season. With the possible exception of strikers, we can now boast two quality players for every position on the pitch.

One thing is for sure, our new strength in depth makes us better equipped than for many years and the removal of large egos and homesick heroes from the dressing room should mean that rotation and competition for places makes us a stronger and more resilient squad this season.

You can see how opinion is divided in the polls by clicking on ‘View Results’ on the bottom left of each poll box.

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

Gun Powder kept Dry as Arsenal graft a win – and Player Ratings.

November 6, 2011

After getting the offer of some tickets late Friday, I went to the Emirates expecting a win, confidence in the team is getting stronger, especially with WBA not quite been the attacking enigma that they were last season when we managed to lose 2-3.

Robin “Assists from the lads were Insane”

Pre-match, Robin “One Man Team” Van Persie received his awards for a spectacular October, which was capped off in devastating fashion at the Bridge as Arsenal swept Chelsea aside. Midweek, Arsenal failed to reach the same heights against a stubborn and well drilled Marseille.

So against WBA, if this recovery was to be fully realised and help us rise up the table then, this confidence of expectation must be met with 3 points, especially ahead of the dreaded international break.

What sort of performance would we get? What team would the boss go with?

Sir Chez was between the sticks and the front six were the regulars, with Santos and Jenks as the full backs, TV was partnered by Kozzer………

“A minute’s silence was impeccably observed by all prior to the kick off in remembrance of those who have laid down their lives in the service of the Country, 90 years since the end of the World War 1”

Arsenal started in a positive mood which matched the atmosphere around the ground, which is good to see.

Ramsey was energetic as usual in the middle, constantly probing and pushing to attack. Song and Arteta were controlling and dominating the middle.

Walcott was keeping wide, holding his position and looking for the ball, looking more confident, Jenkinson was getting forward well. But the link play between the two is poor at best.

Vermaelen and Koscielny were looking imperious, I like BFG and he has helped settle our back line in the absence of the Verminator, but surely with Kozzer and Vermaelen we have the best CB pairing in the Premier League?

We were keeping possession and looking for the killer pass, but it’s the movement in the final 3rd that seems the only thing not clicking. The first real chance came from a free kick as Gervinho is up ended on the edge of the box. The moment is there for the Boy Wonder, but instead, Santos takes aim, looking to get an early present for the fans…………no such luck.

As Arsenal press with a strong dominance of the play, West Brom looked to catch us on the break. The surprising thing for me was that West Brom, were like a Vampire with dentures, just lacking bite, I expected so much more from them, although I think they didn’t get much chance from a dogged Arsenal midfield, which if they did get past they met Kozzer and Vermaelen who gave no quarter.

On 22, Walcott moved slightly more inside with a slide rule pass splitting the WBA defence, Walcott ran at goal and shot at Foster, who didn’t gather the ball as it went under him, but it came back out, to the one and only Boy Wonder, who gratefully slotted in the first goal. 1-0.

The pace picked up and a lot was going through Walcott, but yet again we are not utilising his pace to the right affect.

On 39, a great cross field raking lofted pass to Van Persie at the far post, who pulled it back across, Gervinho was ahead of the ball and missed his chance to turn it in, but ball broke to the edge, to a grateful Thomas Vermaelen, who left footed firmly put I past the keeper across his direction of movement. 2-0……

Going in at half time 2 up with a clean sheet was a good feeling, tight at the back steady play, knowing when to go through the gears. The team looked solid.

WBA started the 2nd half much brighter and intent on getting forward. Arsenal seemed to take 5-10 mins to getting going again.  Best chance since the break saw Gervinho find Ramsey on the left who lashed the ball across the goal but wide.

Then Song had a wicked shot parried away by foster, as Arsenal looked to kill the game off.

A flurry of subs on 72. Ramsey and Gervinho for Rosicky and Benayoun.

On 74, Vermaelen, played a firm pass through the middle to Van Persie, he moved forward and right, played in Rosicky, RVP carried his run on, but the return from Rosicky was just behind RVP, who somehow steadied himself and the ball and returned the ball to Arteta, who slotted the ball home with ease, pinpoint shot. 3-0 game over.

Arteta had another chance and WBA were unlucky when Tchoyi took an eternity to find his composure and that allowed TV to block the shot.

West Brom tried to exert some pressure in the last few minutes but they still really trouble us, as the ole’s rang around the ground.

Ratings:

Wenger 8 :- Got the rotation and line up just about right. Made the substitutions at the right time. Will be happy with the efficiency and the improvement in our play.

Sir Chez 7 :- Wasn’t troubled throughout, got his positioning spot on, good handling and distribution was much better today. Gives the team a platform to build on.

Jenkinson 7.5 :- Great going forward and some quite superb crosses, needs other players to try harder to get on the end of them. Some wayward short passing, his positioning still needs work, wasn’t really tested by any real pressure but he is growing on me. Doesn’t mix well with Theo.

Koscielny 8 :- Gets better and better, he has pace, tackles and defends so well. Nothing got past him. Gets forward as well to add impetus to our attacks…….. Recovery pace is very impressive. His reading of the game is superb.

Vermaelen 8 :- Great to have him back, Steve Claridge you’re a mug, if you think he cant defend. Got forward well, smashed his goal in for our 2nd, did I say its great to have him back. One of his block tackles was perfectly timed, which should have been a shot on target. Protects his keeper like his life depended on it.  His range of passing is fantastic, his pass to Van Persie to set the move for our 3rd was a midfield splitting gem.

Santos 7 :- Effective defensively, got forward and linked up play. Positionally could do better.

Song 7.5 :- Warrior, who gives his all constantly. Broke up play well and has an eye for a pass as he put Van Persie in which helped our 2nd goal come about. Unlucky not to score in 2nd half as foster kept it out.


Arteta, really settled and loving Arsenal

Arteta 8 :- Calm and assured, simply classy, his goal was well timed and expertly taken. He gets my MotM, quietly dictates play and is so effective. Still think there is more to come, cannot wait.

Ramsey 7.5: – Had a good game, probes and drives team forward. His pass for Walcott to get him free for starting the move for the opener was quite simply brilliant. Presses well and breaks play up.

Walcott 7 :- Pacy and energetic, confidence is on the up, his movement needs to improve in final 3rd, he got it right for the opener and was unlucky not to score.  Was a bit quieter in the 2nd half, but always involved on the edge, teams are wary of him and that opens up space.

Van Persie 8 :- Scored one, two assists, great movement. Leads like a true leader. Integral to our success but not a one man team.

Gervinho 7 :- Trickery and pace, with some good movement, wastes a lot of possession, trying to go past when a simple pass is on. Will have better games and will be more influential. Unlucky not to score in 2nd half.

Subs:

Rosicky 7: Little time, but pressed and kept the team moving. Involved in the 3rd goal.
Benayoun 7: Little time, but energetic, is such an asset in this squad.
Arshavin 5: Very Little time, nothing positive.

The performance was more about graft than the craft which has embodied our reputation for the last few years, and it was good to see, there were moments throughout the match that showed we still have much class and players of undoubted ability, but it was an efficient team performance where we just were not in any sort of trouble, took the chances when they come along.

The defence is now settled, the team has a strength and desire, they fight and put some real shifts in now. The calmness comes from Arteta in the middle, who does the simple things so well, keeps the ball and team moving, which is what we are doing now, as our early season flirtation with the bottom half is truly over.

Written by Harry

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2 – match report and player ratings

August 21, 2011

Written by Wonderman

Not much to write about today’s game, it was not much of a spectacle but still there were positives to be taken. I sat in the west stand today, behind the tv gantry and close enough to recognise Steve McManaman not too far away working for one of the tv channels. One thing that always pisses me off is when teams switch us around before kick off. Spurs were the first to do it a few seasons ago and Liverpool decided to do it today.

Prior to the match I was convinced this game had draw written all over it. As I took my seat the teams were lining up and some idiots took it upon themselves to boo Nasri when his number was called BEFORE  a ball had even been kicked, fortunately there were more sensible SUPPORTERS who cheered. The absence of Kieran Gibbs meant Bacary Sagna filled in at left-back. There were full debuts for Jenkinson at right-back and Frimpong in central midfield. The bench included Fabianski, Chamahk, Bendy, Lansbury, Miguel and Miyachi .

In the first half we were performing well enough without creating any chances of note, but it is here that we can improve without too much effort in my opinion. Walcott was being double banked every time he got the ball to feet. Surely common sense should have told the players either try to play it into space for him to run on to or go and support him. Ramsey also had a bad day at the office even before his own goal. I also fail to understand how Arshavin managed to come out for the second half as he contributed nothing to the first half.

We lost Laurent Koscielny to a back injury early which saw Miquel replace him and contributed to some nervous non threatening possession. Liverpool were seemingly happy to park their five man midfield and take a valuable point, and Vermy was keeping Carroll quiet.

The turning point of the game was the sending off of Emmanuel Frimpong. But again, anyone who has bothered to do a little research would know that Mr Atkinson likes red cards and penalties and our players should have been aware of that irrespective of how many games they have played.

Dalglish showed his street wisdom by bringing on Suarez to terrorise our backline with his speed and movement.  The goals Liverpool got were admittedly graced with luck: both appeared to be offside, the first one was the result of a calamitous own goal after Miquel’s clearance hit Ramsey and looped over the advancing Szczesny and the second at the death.  But with ten men and a defence of Sagna at left-back, Jenkinson at right-back, and Vermaelen and Miquel in the middle, with Vermy moved to the right hand side of the CB pairing it was always going to be difficult.

Ratings:

Szczesny – 8  Very calm and assured, omly 1 kick went astray pulled off a very good save to his left in the first half. This boy may take some shifting

Sagna – 7  tried his best on his ‘wrong’ side in the absence of a recognised left back

Kosser –  not on long enough to rate

Vermy – 9 Motm jeez have we missed him

Jenkinson – 7 committed, and willing to support, good engine and soldiered on even after getting what looked like cramp. But needs to work on his play when in possession

Miquel – 6.5  good range of passing but was understandably nervy.  Often passed back to the keeper aiding Liverpool to press us high up the pitch

Ramsey – 5 was erratic, passes went astray, didn’t track back with any urgency and had little penetration in his passing. Unfortunate with the own goal

Walcott  – 6 looking like a one trick pony but not helped by his team mates. If his pace was taken away he would not have been on the pitch today, not that his pace helped him. He will soon be eclipsed by Ryo

Arshavin – 4 abject, tricks didn’t come off, no work rate, no goal threat, no tracking back

Nasri – 7 decent shift under the circumstances and was pleased to see the supporters give him a boost when he came to take corners

Frimpong – 7.5 would have got 8.5 had he not been sent off, but this boy is the reason we are not going to buy a defensive midfielder, quick, powerful and aggressive. Once he controls that aggression he will be one hell of a player

Van P – 7  worked hard for the cause but very little service

Lansbury  – 6  didn’t really get into the game

Bendtner – not enough time to rate

A word of caution for a so called category A game there were plenty of empty sets at the Emirates today. I don’t know if it was the kick off time or something else

A word of praise to those fellow supporters who comprehensively drowned out the morons who started to chant ‘spend some …..’ and also reminded Nasri that the dissenters are still a minority. I’m beginning to see a nucleus of fighters in our team/squad. Vermy, Kosser, Frimpong, Van P, Lansbury with Song and Wilshere to add, that bodes well for the future.

Lets hope that we get all of our bad luck out of the way early

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Posted by Rasp

Jones and Smalling: should Arsenal care?

August 6, 2011

I’ve always had the impression that the stories about Arsenal matching the offers of manu for Smalling and Jones only to be turned down as being a yarn purposely spun by the manu PR machine in a sad attempt to redress the balance after we publicly rubbed their noses in it for missing out on Ramsey. It is worth remembering that Ramsey was a self confessed manu supporter as a kid, it is also worth remembering just how much the Arsenal PR machine revelled in telling anyone who would listen that it was the fact that Arsène Wenger interrupted his summer holiday to speak to Ramsey and family personally rather than the mere Gary Neville who manu sent that swayed team Ramsey’s final decision to sign to the good guys.

It makes very little sense for Smalling and Jones to have wanted to sign for Arsenal regardless of what we offered whereas it makes complete sense for them to want to sign for manu. In the pecking order up there they only have Vidic and Ferdinand in front of them, the latter of the two is, as we all know, becoming more and more injury prone meaning that either Smalling or Jones will have a serious chance of breaking into that first team in the not too distant future.

At Arsenal, by contrast, they would have to get passed Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou. I have never been one of those people who believes the grass is always redder in Manchester and I refuse to start now. Koscielny and Djourou are better than Smalling and Jones and Vermealen is better than them all.

Very simply, the manc pair have a better chance of first team football in the red half of Manchester than they do with us and that above all was, in my opinion, the reason why they signed for who they did and the very same reason that Ramsey signed for Arsenal.

Let’s sign Cahill.

I love the way so many Arsenal supporters trot that line out. Whenever I read it I want to ask the author: how many times have you been to the Reebok to see him play? Most people who cry out for him to be signed have next to no idea just how good he really is. I have never been to the Reebok but there is nothing that I have ever seen that convinces me that Cahill is better than Koscielny. That being the case, why on earth would Cahill give up the opportunity of playing first team football to sit on our bench? I know injuries are common but what if we don’t get our usual quota? He could waste one of the most important years of his football development due to lack of playing opportunity and let’s not forget that we are not Man City who can afford to double someone’s wages as compensation for rotting on a bench. Cahill will want to play first team football and that will not be guaranteed at Arsenal so for the same reason that Smalling and Jones never came to THOF I do not expect to us to sign Cahill.

Don’t get me wrong.

I might think that Vermaelen and Koscielny are a better combination than Cahill and either of those two along side him but that is not to say that I think everything is rosy in Arsenal’s defensive garden. The idea of going into the coming season with Squillaci in the squad fills me with horror; he is about as mobile as a wooden stake driven into the ground; Bartley would be a better fourth choice CB but like Cahill a season of potentially warming the bench at Arsenal was never going to float his boat — solution: Jagielka, he can play anywhere along the back as well as giving Song a bit of competition for the DM spot. The Englishman with a Polish name offers as many possibilities to the defence as the Ivorian with a Brazilian name offers to the attack.

So Arsène, as soon as you have had your coffee this morning here’s what to do: sign Jagielka, sort the Nasri contract out, tell Barcelona to sling their hook and we are good to go.

Written by London

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Posted by LB

Smash the Villains

May 15, 2011

The final home game in what has been an ultimately disappointing season, and a chance to almost cement 3rd place.

It hurt watching the Manchester clubs yesterday. Manchester City won the FA Cup  and congratulations to the knuckle dragging, bog dwelling mingers upon winning the Title.

I can write in two words why we didn’t win the PL in a year when we were surely the best football team – Home Form. Hardly rocket science but nonetheless had we been able to establish Fortress Emirates we would without question have won the title. United have won 6 (yes – 6!) more home games than us and Chelsea 3. Furthermore, MU drew one to our 4. That adds up to 26 more home points than we gained  – yes – 26!! Yet should we win today we will be just 7 points behind them.

There has been much written on AA as to why this is so, much of which AW will have read and considered. In my opinion we have become constrained by our football ethic and opposition managers have an easy tactic to deal with it – defend in depth on the 18 yard line and wait for a set piece to attack. Any team who has attacked us from the opening whistle (apart from WBA) has been beaten.

Today’s opponents have had a far worse season than us. Their fans must be reeling from witnessing a club with such resources (fanbase, players, coaching staff and financial backing) wallowing close to relegation; there is still a chance they could go down if results go against them. A team with the talents of Young, Agbonlahor, Downing, Freidland, Dunne etc are surely too good to be in their current position. And then there is AV’s record signing, the big AFC fan, Darren Bent. Should we have signed him? His goal scoring record is excellent. I can only imagine it was his very high transfer fee which caused AW to demur.

Statistically, we should win. Villa have won just once in 24 visits to AFC, though they  have only lost one of the last 4. However, our home form is so inconsistent and a draw would confirm AV’s premiership status.

Today’s highlights have to be the return of two Arsenal favourites – TV and the great Robert Pires. Vermælen’s absence has been enormously costly as Mr Wenger struggled to establish a consistent CB pairing (thanks to injury and poor form). The Belgian is our best defender; strong, a fine tactician, a potent attacking weapon, and a born fighter – he has been sorely missed. Expecting him to return in top form may be unrealistic but his return is very, very welcome.

This is likely to be Bobby’s final appearance at THOF. He has graced the shirt and will be remembered as one of the finest players to have ever played for Arsenal. The fact that he has bought a flat at Highbury is evidence of his love for the club. Who can forget the adulation he received from the 2002 side when he limped up to raise the trophy. Let us hope he gets a few minutes pitch time in a 4-0 Villa loss!!

There has been rumour of AW selecting a weakened team, but this is surely just rumour. We need these 3 points and the fans deserve to see a decent performance. Cesc, Nasri, Diaby and Koscielny are out.
My team:

However, it would be no surprise to see Bendtner or Chamakh get a start as the team above is seriously lacking in inches.

Villa are blessed with 2 giants of the Heavy Metal world as fans: Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, both ex- members of the Black Sabbath. Nigel Kennedy and Amy Winehouse are also big fans. Anyone who has been to Villa Park (scene of the awful FAC semi-final when DB10 missed that penalty) knows how charming the area of Aston Villa is.

Please Arsenal, give the fans who spend so much money, time and emotion  attending the Grove a pleasant end to our home season – smash the Villains!!!

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

To Win the Title, Wenger Must Not Repeat Last January’s Mistake

January 10, 2011

This time last year we were on a long unbeaten run and were beginning to hint at the possibility of a serious title challenge.

There was one glaring problem – we did not have a lead striker.

Robin van Persie was out on one of his trademark lengthy injury lay-offs and Nicklas Bendtner was filling the berth next to him in the treatment room.

The result – Andrei Arshavin as centre forward.

I still have nightmares about some of those games where we played the Meerkat as our CF: his little legs scurrying around among the ranks of Jurassic defenders, those brave but pointless jumps to try and win headers against six-foot-plus titans. Sometimes his only viable tactic was to try and run through the defenders’ legs. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that Arshavin hasn’t been the same player since.

During the January window it was obvious that we needed to strengthen our injury-depleted attack and it was also clear whom Arsene had in mind for the job: Marouane Chamakh.

But the boss felt Bordeaux were asking too much money for the Moroccan international (who had only a few months left on his contract) and preferred, instead, to wait until summer to bring him in on a free.

The rights and wrongs of the Chamakh non-move last January have been much debated so I don’t want to go into them again here. But I do feel that, even if he thought it wasn’t right to bring in Chamakh at that point, Arsene should have looked for other quick fixes to the striking problem. Perhaps a loan deal, or a relatively low-money move for a veteran forward (like when ManUre snapped up Henrik Larsson in 2007 on their way to winning the title).

And so to this year’s January Transfer Window.

This time our problem is at centre back, not centre forward. Our best defender, Thomas Vermaelen, has been out for most of the season and there are real question marks about whether he’ll be back in the short to medium term.

Fortunately Johan Djourou has really stepped up to the plate and both Squillaci and Koscielny have made better starts to their EPL careers than they are often given credit for.

But what if one of those three got badly injured – particularly if it was big Johan? We would be seriously weakened at the back and you would have to doubt our ability to sustain a title challenge.

Yes, we could push Song back into a CB role, but he offers so much in the middle of the park (and has no obvious replacement for that role in the squad) that it would be equally damaging to move him.

So, as they say, it’s déjà vous all over again, only this time it’s a defender we need, not an attacker.

Chris Samba has been mentioned, as has Gary Cahill. Per Mertesacker is being linked with us (I like him a lot but Big Raddy makes the reasonable point that a mid-season arrival should ideally have EPL experience).

I really hope Arsene goes for one of them. I hope he realises that although his failure to acquire a striker last January can’t be said to be the only reason we failed to sustain our challenge, it at least played a part.

To see the same thing happen again would not only be deeply disappointing, it would also be a major faux pas on our manager’s part.

Come on boss. Make that move!

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

New Captain for Arsenal?

December 31, 2010

Is it time Arsenal had a new captain?

And if so, who should it be? Someone already in the squad? Or a transfer market move for the missing leader so many people have been craving?

This debate has been prompted by some of the points raised in response to Micky’s “Looking Ahead – 2nd Half Term” post.

Micky felt we needed Cesc and Robin van Persie to stay fit for the rest of the season if we’re to have a realistic chance of silverware.

But he also said he would approve of a dip into the January transfer window for a World Class Leader in the mould of Tony Adams or Franck McLintock.

Leaving aside the issues of whether a WCL would be available in January and whether, even if he was, we would be remotely likely to pay the World Class Price Tag that would come with him, Micky’s post raises the vexing question of whether we currently have the right captain at Arsenal.

I can see two arguments against Cesc Fabregas being our captain. The first is that he has missed too much time out through injury in recent seasons. Not his fault, of course, but you really want your captain to be playing in the vast majority of games throughout a season.

The second, more problematic argument against Cesc’s captaincy is whether he is a sufficiently good leader on the pitch.

No-one disputes the supreme level of his skills (or his ability to win games almost single-handedly). The question is, is he the right man to drag his colleagues by the scruffs of their necks to grind out wins in adversity? Is he the sort of person you would want beside you in the trenches like an Adams, a Vieira, a McLintock, a Silvestre? OK, in Silvestre’s case you’d fill in the trench and run away, but you get the point.

It was clear from some of the posts that many Arsenal supporters don’t believe Cesc is that kind of leader and that their preferred captain in our current squad would be Vermaelen.

Cesc is perceived to not be a shouter, to not talk enough to his team mates during the game, to not give sufficient encouragement and bollockings.

Sometimes, in those games where we have been misfiring as a team, I find myself fantasising about how TA6 would have reacted had he been playing.

You know the games I’m talking about – the ones where Song has vanished upfield with a head full of dreams of being Thierry Henry; where Clichy is wandering around picking his nose; where Eboue is running up and down the line grinning at the happiness fairies that only he can see; where Diaby is being out-jumped by midgets; where Walcott is racing up the wing with the speed of a locomotive and a touch to match; where Rosicky has all the shooting prowess of an empty water pistol…

We all know how Tony would react.

He would go ABSOLUTELY FLIPPING MENTAL.

He would need new boots for the second half because his original pair would have been planted so far up the arses of his team mates during the half time team talk that they would have studs for teeth.

Which brings us back to Cesc. It seems clear that, like Thierry before him, he was given the armband as part of a strategy to keep him at the club.

I can understand Arsene Wenger’s reasons for doing this, but it devalues the job of captain. Unfortunately this is not something that the boss seems to particularly care about if his past comments are anything to go by: “I think the captain is an important position, but it is not as important as the team spirit. You do not have to over-emphasise the importance of the captaincy.”

He has also said that he has a team of captains on the pitch and has done his best to demonstrate this by passing around the captain’s armband as if it were radioactive. In recent times the following players have all stepped out as Captain of The Arsenal: Fabianksi, Almunia, Nasri, Silvestre, Campbell, Rosicky, Clichy, Squillaci, van Persie and probably others too that I can’t recall.

Obviously part of this is because we have had so many injuries, but it’s a sad state of affairs that one of the great offices available to man has been reduced to this.

I would much prefer us to have a clear structure of captain and vice captain, which should cover us for most games.

My own view is that Cesc can be a great captain for us. He does more talking and encouraging on the pitch than he is given credit for and leads by example with his own bravery and skill.

Where I think he struggles as captain is when his own form is off, as it has been in some of his recent outings. At these times he seems to go more introspective and quiet, which doesn’t help the rest of the team.

But when he’s on fire I believe he has all the required attributes and I hope that in the second half of the season we will come to see him as the inspirational captain for whom we have been waiting. Of course, this also depends on him managing to stay injury-free, which is not a foregone conclusion.

Vermaelen’s day will come, but for now the right role for him (when he returns from injury) is as vice captain to Cesc.

RockyLives

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Arsenal …. you’ve forgotten haven’t you…

December 17, 2010

Written by Rasp

It’s easy to forget that Arsenal is more than just a football club, particularly when we have recently suffered disappointment on the pitch. Arsenal is part of the community and affects people’s lives worldwide. Peaches and I were  reminded of this last night when attending the book launch of Arsenal ‘Til I Die at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal Arsenal had submitted a selection of some of the many great posts on the site over the last year for inclusion in the book and we are proud that articles by Big Raddy and Irishgunner made it to the final print – luckily for us, neither author could make the occassion so we reluctantly had to deputise for them…. The book is a complilation of personal stories relating to Arsenal written by diehard supporters. It has been produced in collaboration with Arsenal in the Community and the National Literary Trust and proceeds from the book sales will go to charities supported by Arsenal.

Back to the football…….

Ok, so Lady Luck was not on our side against the mancs, but considering we’ve lost 5 games before Christmas and we’ve still got as much of a chance of winning the title as anyone else, I’d say she’s been pretty to kind to us so far.

There are three reasons why I can be cheerful (maybe even optimistic) when I look ahead to the second half of the season. For the first time in several years, we may have the makings of a strong spine to the team – and hopefully a team who play with some backbone. The emergence of Djourou as a top class defender and Chamakh’s role as a target man who brings out attackng midfielders into play are huge plusses, but  I believe that our success could rest on these key factors.

  1. Szczesny. The goalkeeper is the foundation of the defence. The young pole put in an excellent performance on Monday despite being tested early on by his own defenders who put him under pressure with under-hit back passes. He is 6ft 5in, brash with confidence, good in the air and a great shop stopper. He is Arsenal’s number one with the potential to be better than Seaman.
  2. Vermaelen. Hopefully he will be back in the New Year. We’ve really missed this guy. Apart from his obvious ability, he marshals the defence. He’s a leader at the back, someone who instils and inspires confidence in those around him. We need a commanding presence to make the defence solid. TV is National captain and was captain of Ajax – he is our man.
  3. Fàbregas. We saw how shockingly poor (by his own standards)  our captain’s passing was when he came on at OT. He’s not fit and should be rested until he is 100% because a fully fit Fàbregas makes Arsenal the best it can be. So I hope that Arsène sees sense and Cesc is not even on the bench against Stoke. I’d be quite happy to send him back to Spain for a week or two to recharge his batteries. If we can get our captain back to the full fitness for the New Year, we can launch a serious bid for the title.

Other reasons to be cheerful …….

The boost of winning the CC. The final will be played on Sunday 27th February. Barring a spectacular lapse into over-confidence we should be able to get past Ipswich over two legs and secure our place in the final. If/when we reach the final, the desire to silence the critics and bring our much publicised trophyless run to an end will surely see us climb the Wembley steps to collect the silverware.
The fixture list. We’ve already played most of the difficult away fixtures except totnum and that is a score we will need no motivation to settle. The second half of the season just looks as though it’s opening up for us to go on an unbeaten run. We have consecutive home games against pool and the mancs on the 16th and 30th of April and if we can be top after that, we have only Stoke, Villa and Fulham to complete the season.
Nasri’s on fire – but we’ve made it to 2nd in the table with the majority of our players not on top form (although Sagna is back to his best) and we can only expect them to improve – we will not fall at the final hurdle this time.

Ken Friar spoke from the heart last night as he explained that the Board were as fervent supporters as any of us in that room. They care passionately about the club and take nothing out. The tour of the Emirates is awe insiring. The lay-out, styling, facilities, attention to detail …. everything about our stadium is incredible. Sometimes we need reminding that we have achieved a miraculous transformation under Arsène Wenger of which we should all be proud.

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The One Move Wenger MUST Make to Reclaim the Title

December 6, 2010

Never mind another swoop into the French league for Eden Hazard, or a crafty pickpocketing of the Hammers midfield to land Scott Parker.

The one move that Arsène Wenger can make this winter to transform Arsenal’s title aspirations is sitting right under his fine Gallic nose.

All he has to do is move Alex Song back to the position that suits him best.

I have banged on about this before but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of good banging. So consider this to be the Song Bang Part Deux.

First some home truths for the misguided souls who take time away from their very pressing duties watching daytime TV to write comments on the internet about how rubbish our defenders are.

  1. Squillaci and Koscielny have both started extremely well this season. They were never intended to be a starting partnership but the Vermaelen injury has thrust them into the firing line from the outset and they are showing signs of adapting quickly to the physical nature of the EPL.
  2. Johann Djourou inevitably made a slow start back to first team action after a year out through injury but he, too, is showing his class. In his last couple of outings (including against Fulham on Saturday) he has been outstanding.
  3. Bacary Sagna is back to his best form of two or three seasons ago: solid as a rock defensively and starting to put over some really good crosses.
  4. Gael Clichy is, er, no more accident prone than last year.

During the second half of last season we started to get into a bit of a groove. Our previous defensive fragility was gradually replaced with a grittier, more effective shield for whichever dodgy ‘keeper happened to be playing.

How did we manage this? Well, we had a good central partnership of Vermaelen and Gallas and we had an excellent defensive midfielder sitting in front of them in Alex Song.

Then the wheels fell off. Song got injured before the Tottenham away fixture and in that game Vermaelen suffered a serious injury and had to go off after 19 minutes. I don’t need to remind anyone how that match ended up.

Without Song and Vermaelen we went on to suffer two more bad defeats in our final run-in – the infamous 2-3 away at Wigan, where we collapsed like Rooney in the penalty area after a non-contact challenge; and the 1-2 at Blackburn.

Who knows what might have happened if TV and Song had stayed fit?

And so to this season. No Gallas, but two new centre backs came in and we could also look forward to having the fastest improving defensive midfielder in the Premiership.

We got off to a flyer but after only three games two bad things happened: Vermaelen’s achilles tendon started twanging like a country guitar; and Alex Song started thinking he was Lionel Messi.

There’s nothing to be done about the first misfortune, but surely it’s time to do something about the second.

In game after game Song has traded the defensive cover role for what is probably meant to be a marauding box-to-box role. It’s as if he’s trying to be a Stephen Gerrard (minus the punching people in bars) or a Frank Lampard (minus the pie-eating). The only problem is that until this season Gerrard could maraud because he had Mascherano watching his back; and Lampard gets all those deflected goals because Essien is watching his.

When Song charges forward the defensive cover at Arsenal is left to either Wilshere or Denilson. They’re both decent players, but JW is young and inexperienced and, in any case, has a style of play much more suited to the attacking midfield role; and Denilson, while excellent in possession, has the attention span of an amnesiac goldfish when we don’t have the ball.

End result: two central defenders completely new to the EPL are left with negligible midfield cover in most games. It’s no wonder they’ve looked exposed at times.

Clearly, as a highly paid professional, Song hasn’t dreamed up this new role all by himself, so the responsibility lies with Wenger.

In early November, after Song scored the winner against West Ham, the boss had this to say about his cuddly Cameroonian:

“Song wants to get forward. Sometimes defensive midfielders just want to defend. It’s not just his main role. He does it well in fairness. He came here as a centre-back, maybe he will finish centre-forward.

“He sees there is big competition in midfield and that helps. Nobody is guaranteed a place. We’ve had so many good players and so many players who have become exceptional here but, at the moment, Song is moving forward.”

Well bloody well tell him not to move forward then Arsène! It’s not as if his forward momentum is unstoppable; he’s not a glacier, despite the dusting of light frost on his bonce.

If it’s an experiment to create our own Gerrard/Lampard it was doomed from the start because without Song shielding the defence we don’t have a Mascherano/Essien.

Wenger has also gone on record as saying that Denilson takes the holding role when the two play together – but who, reading this, really feels comfortable with the little Brazilian as the chief protection for our defence?

There were some excellent comments on Arsenal Arsenal yesterday about this issue. As someone pointed out, last year Song was a round peg in a round hole. This year he’s a round peg who’s flirting with all sorts of squarey, oblongy and rhomboidy type holes while ignoring the lovely round hole that’s sitting waiting for him.

It almost cost us dearly against Fulham. I have no doubt he worked extremely hard and put in a lot of miles in that game, but too often he was in the wrong place when Fulham attacked.

Aside from the weakness this causes our defence, he is also not as good at the attacking midfield part of the job as most of the other candidates for the role, including Rosicky, Nasri, Wilshere, Fabregas and Arshavin.

It makes no sense to have moved him from a position in which he was becoming world class to one in which he will never be better than average.

Come on Arsène, give us back the Song we love.

RockyLives

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Vermaelen’s Place in Jeopardy

November 1, 2010

Thomas Vermaelen’s outstanding first season at Arsenal has left most of us assuming that he will be an automatic starter when he recovers from his achilles injury.

But maybe it’s time to reconsider that assumption.

In his absence, Squillacci and Koscielny are starting to form a partnership with a real air of quality to it.

The Squid (or Squidgy, Squelchy or Squilly if you prefer – notice how he has already been given a bunch of affectionate nicknames by the Gooner faithful) has started to display a calm authority as the ‘big man’ in our central defence. His positioning, strength and ability in the air are all commendable.

Kozzer meanwhile (note, too, his instant nickname) has been my man of the match in our last two games, barely putting a foot wrong. He tackles beautifully when he needs to, but is also expert at shepherding opponents away from the danger area without diving in. Contrast his handling of a tricky runner with Alex “Tom Daley” Song.

After three clean sheets on the bounce (admittedly involving Djourou as well as Koscielny and Squillaci) you have to wonder whether a fit Vermaelen would get his place back in our starting line-up. Right now I don’t think he would.

Yes, Kozzer made some costly mistakes in his first few games (being barged off the ball by El Hadji Diouf and missing a sitter of a header from two yards out against Chelsea spring to mind).

But it always takes time to adjust to a new league and the EPL is less forgiving than most, with its non-stop physical battles week-in, week-out.

We could hardly have expected him to hit top form the moment he started playing in a new country with new team mates.

And likewise I know many felt the jury was out on Squillaci in the first part of the season. But both are settling in to Arsenal and England and are helping to put to bed the daft myth that Arsene Wenger can’t buy defenders (Grimandi, Campbell, Toure, Gallas, Lauren, Sagna, Clichy, Vermaelen, Squidgy and Kozzer all give the lie to that one).

No doubt the idea of TV5 having to wait in line behind the two newbies sounds like heresy to many.

We have all come to love Thomas’s total commitment to the cause, his bravery and determination, his willingness to attack dangerous situations before they get us into trouble.

But his tendency to get dragged up the pitch also cost us dearly on several occasions last season, leading directly to at least three goals I can think of.

This, coupled with the simple argument that you should not drop players when they’re in form, means he may have to warm the bench for a while when he finally gets back.

It will be a wonderful problem for Arsène to have: three outstanding centre backs all raring to go with a fourth, in Djourou, who will also come good the more playing time he gets.

Anyway, with the number of games we play and the fact that our injury record is of the long-playing variety, I’m sure TV will be back in the first eleven not long after he recovers fitness. It’s just that it won’t be the automatic step it might have been a few weeks ago.

RockyLives

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