The Bould Supremacy?

May 10, 2013

OK, the thesis I am about to set out is pretty simplistic and I expect it to be the biggest shooting-down-in-flames since the Hindenburg, but here goes:

To start with, cast your mind back to the beginning of the season.

We were nervous, but hopeful as we entered the new campaign. Our captain and lead goal scorer had abandoned us after hearing that Manchester United had a better medical room.

But we had signed Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud with Santi Cazorla to follow, giving us grounds for cautious optimism.

We started with clean sheets at home to Sunderland and away to Stoke. Admittedly, we didn’t trouble the opposition net ourselves, but after our calamitous defending of the previous season it felt good to be tight at the back again (no sniggering please, we’re all adults here).

Then we went to Anfield and beat the Scousers 2-0 with an outstanding performance. Abou Diaby, risen like Lazarus, was a titan in midfield. We followed up with a 6-1 thrashing of Southampton at the Emirates, we beat Monpellier in the Champions League and gained a creditable away draw at the league champions, Manchester City.

In six games we had conceded just three goals and scored 11. Robin van Who?

It was, at the very least, a decent start. Most encouraging of all was our defensive solidity. We had gone from conceding almost 1.3 goals per game in the 2011/12 season to conceding 0.5 this time round. The omens were good.

Then something a bit strange happened.

Steve Bould Summer

The media started to take notice of our improved defensive performances and identified the man they believed to be responsible for them.

Who was that man? I’ll give you a clue: He’s Big, He’s Bald, He’s…. that’s it – you’ve got it – He’s Stevie Stevie Bould.

Bouldie had taken over in the summer from the long-serving Pat Rice as Arsenal’s first team coach.

As a member of George Graham’s famous back six (Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Bould, Adams, Keown) no-one could dispute that he knew a thing or two about how to shut out the opposition.

And the press were quick to credit his influence for Arsenal’s better defensive start to the season. Journalists started asking Arsene Wenger about it and after initially priaising Bould’s influence, Arsene reacted a little, shall we say, ungraciously.

The BBC correspondent who covers Arsenal, David Ornstein, said recently that at the start of the season Bould was having extra defensive sessions with the team but that Arsene put a stop to them when Bould started getting a lot of praise.

Ornstein said Wenger did not want Bould to take too much credit for Arsenal’s defensive improvement because it might intensify feelings of disenchantment towards him from the fans.

He (Wenger) had already been prickly on the subject of defensive coaching in the previous season. When journalists asked him in September 2011 whether he should get a specialist to coach the back line he said: “I’ve just completed 30 years of coaching. I don’t want to answer this kind of question.”

Steve Bould tight lipped

If Ornstein’s report was accurate (and his contacts within Arsenal are said to be very good) it does not reflect well on Arsene. The same allegation was made by Stewart Robson, who said: “Steve Bould is not allowed to coach the defence. Wenger wants to do everything himself but doesn’t give players any explicit instructions.”

Given what an Arsenal hater Robson is I would normally lend no credence to what he says, but the corroboration from Ornstein adds weight to the story.

Whatever went on, our early defensive solidity tumbled like a Bale in a breeze and we went on to lead the league in goals conceded directly from individual errors. We started to lose touch with the top of the table and we were humiliatingly turfed out of both domestic cups by lower league opposition.

When we lost at the home of the N17 swamp dwellers in early March, the pundits had a field day about our defensive naivety and how it was costing us any chance of success. At that point we looked like no-hopers for the Champions League spots.

But that loss turned out to be a watershed moment. From then until now we appear to have switched focus back to the defensive side of the game. Wenger made (or was persuaded to make?) the significant move of dropping his captain and his “first choice” goalkeeper.

We stopped conceding stupid goals (apart from the Sagna tragi-comedy act against Manchester United) and clawed our way back into contention for the Top Four.

My theory? The stories about Arsene having initially given Bould his head with the defence, but then changed tack are substantially true. Whether it was because Arsene didn’t like someone else getting the praise or whether he felt it was leaving us too short in attack, I don’t know.

But I also believe that after the defeat at the Spuds – and staring non-qualification for the Champions League in the face for the first time in his Arsenal career –  Arsene did another U-turn and allowed Bould to take control of defensive duties once again.

Bouldy smiling

I expect to be duly slaughtered for having my opinion shaped by newspaper tittle-tattle (is the tittle still on Page Three these days?). But it is also based on the evidence of my own eyes: we were much more defensively minded early in the season; something changed; then it changed back again after the defeat in N17. We are now less fun to watch, but we are grinding out results.

The effect has been to leave us with a chance of sneaking into the top four after all.

There has been a cost: we are not creating as many goal scoring chances and the balance of the team is clearly not quite right. But better defending was undoubtedly what was needed to put us back on track for the remainder of the current season. The rest we can work on in the summer.

Steve Bould, it seems, may have won an important battle.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

A Hard Fought Draw

April 29, 2013

This was on paper always going to be the most tricky game of our run in and chase for a Champions League spot. Added to the normal nerves of entertaining United was the return of Brave Sir Robin, and the indignity of having to give said Dutchman and his new teammates a guard of honour on to the pitch after winning the title last Monday. As a mark of my disgust I did not enter the living room until that silly business had been completed.

On to the match, Arsene had picked the side most of us would have expected before the game. Podolski in for the suspended Giroud and with a chance to prove that his future in the team rests in a central striking position.

I posted the following comment before kick off yesterday:

What do I want today? 3 points obviously…..but more importantly I want us to take the field showing a belief that we can win. Too often this season we have gone out in games against Top 4 competitors with a look of a team destined to lose and given a performance to match.

From the start the team set about United in a fashion we have not seen for quite some time. We pressed the ball, were quick to the tackle and competing for the second ball, so much so that within 1 and a half minutes we got our reward, Brave Sir Robin gifted possession to us in the centre circle, Cazorla picked out Podolski who moved it on to Rosicky who picked a lovely pass in to the feet of Theo, despite the tight angle he dispatched the ball past a static De Gea.

theo v united

Maybe this would be a good day after all, the best thing about this was that we did not stop or slow down for the next thirty minutes, continuing to press and fight for possession and being quick to block out United attacks.

Cazorla tried a curler to double the advantage but De Gea saved well (although a bit dramatically) and Ramsey breaking fed Podolski who shot from a tight angle when perhaps he should have squared it to where Theo was waiting, perhaps he was trying a little too hard to prove a point. Maybe young Aaron chose the wrong option with Theo looking better placed to shoot.

United started to get in to the game, but in the main were restricted to crosses and deep runners trying to get on the end of them, Szczesny saved well with his face from the Dutchman in the one clear chance they created.

The second goal of the game would be vital and it looked like it was only going to be ours but from half hour onwards we seemed to be paying the price for our frenetic start opportunities to counter attack were being slowed down, a few loose passes appeared when previously we had been precise and quick.

With the half time whistle approaching Bacary Sagna made a poor backpass to BFG, he has played in the same team long enough to know BSR would be looking for it, he picked up the ball and raced towards goal, Sagna worked hard to get back and the angle for any shot was tight but Sagna, red mist fully descended, lunged into a risky tackle, his outstretched studs made contact with the ball but from behind as he was the tackle would be a foul anywhere else on the pitch. In Sagna’s defence he must have been surprised to see BSR as he had been firmly tucked in Koscielny’s pocket up to that point. The Dutchman picked himself up and scored the penalty to level going in at half time.

The goal could not have come at a worse time. With legs starting to tire we needed to go in ahead and to be able to be lifted to push on, unfortunately we went in to the break heads down and regretting yet another individual mistake that have cost us too often this season.

From the restart it was clear United had been given a piece of the managers mind, it also looked like any rebuilding of confidence in the home dressing room in the second half had not worked. United were waiting to kill us on the counter attack, that they didn’t was testament to the defending of Koscielny and BFG and the keeping of Szczesny.

Mertesacker so often taking up positions to deny passes or make a large obstacle to surpass, Koscielny was his normal dynamic self quick into the tackle and clean interceptions, it is a shame that the appointment of Vermaelen as captain robbed Koscielny of so much game time this season. We have sorely missed his pace and power and it has been an important feature of our recent form.

Sagna had some more troublesome moments and most of United’s threat came from that side combined with midfielders struggling to match runs.

Going forward we were toothless, the ball got in the final third but there was no zip around the pitch either passing or running. Podolski appeared to have run out of steam after 55-60 minutes, he was failing to win any high ball or compete meaningfully. We missed Giroud’s workrate and ability to occupy defenders….he is an aerial threat that centre backs have to actively mark, which opens more space for the technicians in the team to use.

By the end it appeared that neither defence wanted to lose it and both attacks wanted to win it, there were large amounts of space from defence to defence and that gave us less chance to create a winner.

Wenger tried to force the issue bringing on Wilshere for Rosicky, Gervinho for Podolski and Ox for Ramsey. This did inject some more pace in to our play but we were restricted to more long shots, one from Cazorla just not carrying enough pace to beat De Gea.

Dowd brought the game to a close with a point acceptable to both. It was a shame that we could not get a winner, but as I have said before you get what you deserve in football and if you make mistakes like Sagna’s you do not deserve to win a game of football.

But the performance especially that in the first half was what I was looking for when I posted my early morning comment, we refused to be bullied, we stood up to the challenge, and we matched them physically man for man.

Only a fool would argue that BSR would not make our team better, but on yesterday’s performance not many of them impressed me enough to think they would make us better in other positions.

Ratings

Szczesny – 8 some good saves and a confident unflashy performance from the under fire young keeper

Sagna – 4 offensively poor, and cost us the equaliser

Mertesacker – 7.5 another solid performance from BFG, his experience and reading of the game makes him a far better defender than people give him credit for.

Koscielny – 8.5 (MotM) tucked BSR in his pocket where many other top strikers have sat before. Quality performance from the best Centre Half at the club

Gibbs – 7 not his attacking best but kept Valencia quiet most of the game

Arteta – 7 because of the way United play his defensive role was different today requiring him to track runs rather than intercept and clean up loose balls. He didn’t do this to the required standard too many late runners hitting the box untracked. With the ball he was his same reliable self.

Ramsey – 7 looked to tire early, some good passes and touches early on, was getting in good offensive positions all game without always being picked out.

Cazorla – 7 a relatively quiet game but forced De Gea into two good saves.

Rosicky – 7.5 good pass for the goal, lively about the pitch and unfortunate not to get a bit more curl on a well imagined shot.

Walcott – 8 great finish for the goal, and a constant threat to slower defenders. Needs to be much better without the ball. Did Evans a favour by keeping him at arms length when Evans appeared to want to come in and rub foreheads.

Podolski – 5.5 very poor in the centre forwards role, hope he improves over next two games, we will need him to help bring the midfielders into the game.

Subs
Wilshere – 6.5 very quiet didn’t really get into the pace of the game

Gervinho – 7 we became much more mobile with him on the pitch but with United defending deep there was little or no space to exploit.

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7 looked to get hold of the ball and attempt to influence the game.

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Posted by Gööner In Exile

Should Szczesny be replaced?

April 23, 2013

It’s widely expected that Arsenal will sign a new goalkeeper during the summer transfer window. There is little doubt that we need a reliable, experienced and talented ‘keeper, something that has been sadly lacking since the departure of David Seaman in 2003. I mean no disrespect to Jens Lehman but his erratic behaviour and volatile temperament, which led to him being nicknamed Mad Jens, indicates to me his unreliability.

Of our present crop Szczesny is probably the best but Arsene Wenger seems to have spotted a flaw in his temperament hence his recent relegation to the bench. Fabianski is a reasonable ‘keeper but is not up to the standard required by a club playing near the top of the Premiership and in, hopefully again next season, the Champions League. Neither is Mannone.

We have been “linked” with several ‘keepers over the recent past, although it has to be said that the “linkage” has been mostly speculation on the part of tabloid sports writers desperate for some copy.

Two names have, however, appeared with some regularity, Stokes City’s Bosnian international Asmir Begovic and, rather surprisingly, Barcelona’s Spanish international Victor Valdes. One other high profile ‘keeper recently added to the list is Real Madrid’s Iker Cassillas.

Should any of the three be signed then I would expect at least one of our present ‘keepers to depart.

Without knowing how Wenger really sees his ‘keepers it is difficult to know just what he is looking for in terms of a replacement, if he feels that one of them will “make it” in the near future then a short term option may be considered. If, however, that is not the case then a younger player will be the requirement.

It would seem from newspaper gossip that Begovic is the favourite at the moment, at 25 years old he should be approaching his peak, at Stoke City since 2010, he has played 87 times, so has plenty of Premiership as well as international experience having played 20 times for Bosnia Herzegovina.

In the been there, done that, got the T-shirt category both Cassillas and Valdes would be terrific signings but as both are 31 years old they do not represent long term solutions and Wenger’s well known reluctance to give contracts of more than one year to players in that age group means that either could only be seen as stop gaps.

My personal preference would be for Wenger to take the long term view and sign Begovic, but either of the other two would more than adequately fill the gap up to the end of our manager’s present contract.

Begovic, Cassillas or Valdes? What do you think?

Written by Norfolk Gooner

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal Get The Point

April 17, 2013

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed the game last night. I know, I know, it’s bad for us given that picking up only one point drags us back within range of Spurs, as well as Chelsea. But the game was a keenly contested match between two proper, competitive teams. Everything was played on the edge, and that makes for an enjoyable spectacle. I’m sure I’m not alone in having enjoyed this 0-0 more than our 3-1 win on Saturday.

Not that the match started that well for us. For the first 20 minutes, we failed to show any quality on the ball, and it all looked pretty disjointed. And we could easily have gone a goal down, when Steven Pienaar received a through-ball from Phil Jagielka that managed to elude both Koscielny and Mertesacker. Fortunately, Szczesny was quick to attack the ball and did enough to put off Pienaar, whose shot sailed over the bar. Bit of a let-off though.

It took a while for us to find our rhythm but eventually things started to click for us, especially in terms of more effective use of the ball. Our best first half chance came near the 40-minute mark, when some sublime play from Cazorla led to Ramsey putting in an excellent first-time cross, which was delivered perfectly into the danger-zone, where Giroud was waiting. Unfortunately, Big Ollie’s shot wasn’t what it should have been and it went wide.

002

Everton took a robust approach to the game – I don’t think they were especially dirty, but it was clear that they would get in our players’ faces pretty quickly. The referee, the unfamiliar Neil Swarbrick, wasn’t really up to the intensity of the match, and didn’t deal well with some pretty obvious gamesmanship from Everton, not least from Marouane Fellaini, who often made up for being outpaced with arms going across the player he was competing with. The most obvious failure of the referee came when he failed to give the most obvious of second yellow cards to Darron Gibson, when he cynically body-checked Walcott to prevent a useful break. There was simply no room for debate, it was as obvious a yellow card offence as you could wish to see, but the referee bottled it. But for the most part, both sides approached the game fairly, even if some of the tackles were strong.

It was great to see Arsenal rediscover the joys of playing on the break. And it was from one of those that Chamberlain received the ball when advancing into the penalty area. He had a choice: shoot or pass. He opted to slide a pass into Giroud, but Coleman did just enough to scramble the ball away before Giroud could get it home. Perhaps the Ox should have gone for his shot after all. This was probably the closest we came to scoring, we opened up Everton completely.

A few minutes later, with Everton tiring, Arteta received a lovely pass from Cazorla and advanced into the box – for a moment, it seemed to open up and a shot against his old club appeared likely, but Jagielka recovered his position to snuff the attack out. A little later, Chamberlain played in Giroud, who was forced a little wide, so the angle was narrow, making the shot a tough one – his effort had to be hit with power if it was to get past Howard but it lacked control and soared over the bar.

Overall, a draw seemed right – a lot of effort was spent by both sides, but neither side got many clear sights on goal. It’s a shame only to draw but that point could well end up being very valuable for us. There were some good performances from the Blues, I particularly liked Ross Barkley, who very nearly scored in the first half, and their defence played very well throughout. But they tired in the last 10-15 minutes, which was when some of our best chances arrived.

Szczesny: 7 Having had a rest after a period of declining confidence and performances, the other Pole in goal did a really good job, with some sharp interventions and safe hands. I was also really pleased to see him deliver a Schmeichel-like long throw, to Gibbs on the halfway line, to launch an attack. I always think when I see a keeper do that that it shows he’s confident in his abilities.

Gibbs: 8 Very good performance from Gibbs, both defending and going forward. He even managed to get in our first shot.

Koscielny: 7 Kos did well, working so effectively in tandem with the BFG. He won most of his aerial duels and generally remained highly concentrated.

Mertesacker: 7 Solid performance from our beanpole, he had Anichebe in his pocket for pretty much the whole game.

Sagna: 7.5 The man with the beads had one of his best games of the season. It’s a shame he can’t cross very well, because he combines very well with the more attack-minded players on his flank.

Arteta: 8 A typically excellent performance from Mr Legohead – he did what he does best, lots of short passes that allowed the side to keep its shape and the ball to be kept moving.

Ramsey: 8.5 MOTM Picked up where he left off at the weekend, with a confident, energetic display. The ground this guy can cover is impressive, and it was great to see him sharp into the challenge. It didn’t work every time but Ramsey turned over possession on various occasions by reason of getting his challenges in early.

Cazorla: 7 Santi had some sublime moments with the ball, there are times when you see his control and think he must have velcro on his boots. And his passing game is often beautiful – he delivers the ball with care and thought, so that it usually arrives at the recipient at the perfect pace and direction. That said, there were also some unusually sloppy moments from the litll’un.

Wilshere: 7 A much, much better performance from LJ than his blowing-away-the-cobwebs contribution on Saturday. Wilshere took a bit of a battering at times last night but he soaked that up and provided a solid performance, even if his passing wasn’t always able to slice through the Toffees’ defence.

Walcott: 6 Theo didn’t find his space often enough, and didn’t have sufficient impact on the game, That said, his passing was very efficient.

Giroud: 6.5 Worked as hard as ever, and had three good chances. He didn’t manage to get any of them on target, which ultimately cost us two points. But he didn’t do much wrong.

Podolski: 7 Did well when he was on the pitch, but he didn’t get any clear opportunities to do what he does best with the ball.

Oxlade-Chamberlain: 7 Added energy at just the right time, when he came on to replace a slightly ineffectual Walcott. The Ox created some good openings, and arguably should have scored.

Monreal: 7 Came on late in the game, didn’t do much wrong, but did manage to pick up a quick yellow card, when he took one for the team.

Written by 26May1989

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Posted by Rasp

The Mole. Can Benitez finish the Job?

January 20, 2013

Doesn’t seem that long ago since Terry hit the dirt and watched as Brave Sir Robin danced away from him. Happy Days.

And what chance of a repeat today? Well, we did it against the Cave Dwellers so why not against Chelsea? I know, I know – lightning doesn’t strike twice but in a world of infinite probabilities, it does!

Both teams are going through an inconsistent patch. Chelsea’s home loss to QPR was inexplicable but so was ours at Bradford. We have both lost at home to Swansea. The main difference being that Chelsea have a squad which cost at least double Arsenal’s and a bottomless pit of money to overcome any problems; they also sack managers with alarming regularity.

Benitez. Why? What kind of incompetent signed this man? How can Chelsea employ a manager who a few years previously publicly stated his dislike of the manner in which they do business? Bizarre. But one must be impressed by they way Rafa is doing his best to destroy the club, a loss or draw to us and Swansea will see the Chavs out of the CC and with no chance of winning the PL. Perhaps he is on a huge earner from the Northern Oilers. Fairplay to the man!

Unknown-1

Do you think it is to Arsenal’s advantage to have Arteta injured for a while? Could the midfield of Diaby, JW and Santi function more cohesively? Admittedly, we only have a reduced Swansea to compare and today will be a far sterner test, but I believe this will become our first choice midfield (though how long Diaby can stay fit is impossible to predict). None of them are  defensive players but both JW and Diaby are strong in the tackle. Concentration will be the key and a full awareness of who ventures forward . For this reason I would play and  extra MF – either Coquelin or Ramsey, both of whom played well on Wednesday.

For this reason having Koscielny out is also positive, BFG’s lack of pace requires hime to sit deeper! I must say, I am worried about Ba, he is in fine form and loves scoring against us. Furthermore, the excellent wingers at Chelsea will cause major problems to both Sagna and Gibbs.

Runners & Riders:

chavs v arse

Of course, playing a 4-4-2 is not Wengerball, but I doubt AW will start the game with Giroud upfront and he is unlikely to trust Ox in a game where we will be under the cosh.

Stamford Bridge is a strange place, an uglier ground it would be hard to find, but then it has to house some of the ugliest fans in world football. If one were to make a League of teams with the ugliest fans Chelsea would get a Champions League slot every season, Stoke would win the Prem most years 🙂

Today’s English Explorer is from the Days of Yore, and one of England’s Finest. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 – 1618). An aristocrat and favourite of QE1, he is best known for his colonisation of North America and the introduction of tobacco to England and the world (how costly has that been?). His first colony was in Virginia where tobacco was harvested  – it got the Royal Seal from Her Maj and thus became the famous Royal Virginia tobacco.

He discovered Guyana and explored East Venezuala. His ship was the first Ark Royal which was a gift from QE1.

Unknown

Top Bloke. Full Set. Knighthood. Beheaded.

Raleigh wasn’t just an explorer he was also one of England’s great warriors.We all know the story of his defeat of the Spanish Armada, but what is less known is that after Elisabeth died and King James came to the throne, Raleigh was imprisoned in The Tower for 13 years for “plotting against the Crown”. Following an unsuccessful expedition to South America in search of El Dorado, he was re-arrested and beheaded. His head was embalmed and sent to his wife who kept it in a velvet bag until her death when it was re-united with his body.

Two defensive errors cost us the game at the Emirates; we weren’t outplayed and had the better of the game. Raddy would be satisfied with a point.

COYRRG

Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Fulham. Mannone’s Last Stand?

November 10, 2012

A skimpy one today…

We are not firing on all cylinders and as such need to dig in to get a result.

Martin Jol is a decent bloke who got shafted by those fools down the road. A man you would want on your side in a scrap.

Fulham are a good team who play decent football. Berbs plays with a Gitane hanging from his lip and is a craftsman. They are strong in defence and have a decent record against us – drawing at The Ems last season. Expect a tough game.

Fulham have the same number of points as us.

Arsenal are suffering from injuries particularly in midfield.
 We need some players back. In attack Podolksi wants to play centrally, so does, Giroud, so does Theo and Mr Wenger wants to play Gervinho there. Insoluble problem? Not with the number of injuries we pick up.

Vito has done sterling work in Szczesny’s absence. With TPIG’s return to fitness what will AW do? Based upon Mannone’s Schalke performance I would say he is our Number One for the time being. TPIG will have to work for his shirt

My team:

My concerns are the attacking possibilities of such a midfield and perhaps Mr Wenger will go with Arshavin who has been on fine form this season. Having Walcott out wide will give Fulham problems.

I would love to see us play 4-4-2 with Podolski further forward but know it will not happen.

Todays explorer: Thomas Cavendish (1560-1592). Circumnavigated the globe. Plundered Spanish shipping wherever he found it. Generally a top bloke who brought silk and spices from East Asia to the court of Queen Elisabeth. Cavendish was knighted at the age of 28. Rumour has it that Cavendish was personally acquainted with Elisabeth’s crown jewels. Sadly, he died on his second voyage (32 y.o) off the coast of Ascension Isles. His ship went on to discover the Falklands Islands in 1592. As many know there is a square in London named after him .

A Ladies Man

We need these points more than Fulham. With the cave dwellers coming next Saturday, a confidence booster would be great. Please Arsenal score early – even better score two early. The fans are restless.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Where does Szczesny stand?

September 21, 2012

I have to say, I have been astounded by some of the recent criticism of our keeper, and not just on the usual self-hating Arsenal blogs. It’s funny how after a short injury, and one poor showing, fans not only jump on one of our guys, but re-write his past history as well.

It’s important to let you all know, I actually have appreciated Mannone for a while now, and think he might have a real future. Maybe a great number 2 for us, or who knows, possibly more. Alot of people wrote him off last year because of one big error. But in pre-season matches, 3 matches this season, and a few that I watched this summer from a couple seasons ago, He appears pretty solid to me. His record on loan is quite good also.

Back to Szczesny. First off, believe me when I tell you that 80% of the comments I’ve read on the blogs this week forgot that he actually gave us the first clean sheet against Sunderland, giving Mannone credit for three, and complaining (after the fact) that Chezzer got the start against Southhampton. But more importantly, talking about his arrogance and attitude. For me, give me a keeper with arrogance (confidence), taking charge on set pieces. With no sign of fear or doubt in his eyes. You know what I’m talking about. Almunia had that look of doubt, even though he tried to hide it. When I see that look, I lose confidence, as I’m sure the teammates do. I believe oppnents also sense it.

Another thing everyone was talking about was Szcsesny’s distribution. Horrible this past Saturday, the worst I’ve seen from him – yes, but everyone is now saying that it’s been a huge weakness in his game. Why don’t I remember anyone mentioning this last season ? Because, although he could be better at this, he’s actually not been bad, and still very young for this level. Good enough for it not to be brought up by the fans who think of him as the number 1 since he took over. Also, something like distribution is certainly not going to be overlooked by Le Professor, more important to our game than most teams.

And someone wisely pointed out here the other day something I thought about his mistake against Southhampton, allowing the goal. That is – I believe he has had a rib injury, which when you go arms stretched out high, leaves sore ribs very exposed to contact, and might have been part of the reason for the mistake. Even if not, it was just one goal in a match where we could afford it. I don’t want to be negative, but in the Liverpool match, Mannone let a header drop right in front of goal, and we were lucky it didn’t cause a problem, as well as not collecting another one higher.

I think everyone, like me, was so disappointed not to get the clean sheets record, that they simply took it out on our Pole. I’m not saying he’s untouchable as number 1, and I love competition, if only to keep the back-up sharp. But, to me, it would take more bad performance before I lose confidence in him. I couldn’t care less about what happened for the Polish team, or what he tweets. For the record- I was rolling on the floor laughing when he tweeted at Ramsey about his golf outfit.. a hilarious joke between friends, slightly irreverent, maybe just better off the internet. But sense of humour is part of team chemistry. If he starts acting like Alex Song, then I will worry.

Lastly, let’s not forget that he played the final few matches last season with a shoulder injury, and the whole season with a very undisciplined defense. Even though many of us suspected that the talent was there in our defenders. We also went through long stretches with players out of position because of four fullback injuries. And again, while so many of us complained about allowing 49 goals last season, only on minor occasions did we have complaints about the goalkeeping. With a number like that, most fans would be calling for the keepers head, yet most transfer window dreamers were only hoping for a strong backup, to keep Szczesny on his toes.

How quickly public opinion changes.

johnnie (jnyc)

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal at Euro 2012? Interim Report

June 12, 2012

I can’t speak for anyone else but my prime interest in what has been a very good tournament (so far) is the Arsenal players. After one round of games how are we faring?

Arshavin.  AA had a super game and was involved in most of the attacking Russian play. Contrary to the pundits knee-jerk reactions, AA played in his normal position of right attacking midfield. He was pacy, beat his man at will and his passing was excellent. We have seen games like this from him before but they are few and far between. More of the same please and then let’s get a juicy fee for him.

Rosicky. TR struggled in a team which look poor. Forced to go wide to find space he could not influence the game,  and his own high standards he will disappointed. There were some tidy flicks, turns and passes but in a team with Milan Baros as the lone striker it was always going to be difficult against a Russia team possessing a fine midfield. Expect better tonight.

One for Irish …

Bendtner. Didn’t score but played well. He plays a different role for Denmark than earlier in his career when he was primarily on the left. Used s a lone central striker he had his back to goal most of the game and looked to bring the onrushing midfielders into the attack. I thought he worked hard but without much success. His new role for Denmark is what I hoped Chamakh would bring to Arsenal – why didn’t AW give Nik the same opportunity?

Szczesny. Nightmare of a game which will haunt him for years. A poor decision led to the Greek goal and another to his sending-off. It could be said that he took the red rather than concede a certain goal, in which case it worked well for Poland. Can’t see him getting another game in the tournament.

RvP. Another man who disappointed. I cannot recall him being so wasteful in any game last season. Was it the expectation? Was he too tense? In his defence he created the chances and was in position to score, if he continues to find the space he will punish Germany.

Podolski. My first real look at him and I liked what I saw. Played much deeper than I expected. He is strong, direct and has a good shot. Early days but I can see why we bought him and why he scores so often.

The Ox. Needed much better service from an England team which showed no creativity. If Hodgson is looking to O-C to be the spark then he must tell the team to get the ball to him early. A few good runs and a couple of decent passes. He was understandably tense and frustrated with himself when things went wrong. We have signed a gem.

Walcott. 3 minutes of action. One touch. Better than Ashley Young.

All in all a bit disappointing. I hoped to see Koscielny start ahead of Mexes (who has the worst haircut I have ever seen) – perhaps he will get his chance later in the competition.

How are we doing?  5 out of 10.   Have the ability – Could do better.

Written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Is Szczesny Good Enough For Arsenal?

June 11, 2012

Poor old Wojciech.

He was so excited about being Poland’s out-and-out Number One as they set out to try and win the Euros on home ground.

Instead he woke up on Saturday morning knowing that his main contribution to the national cause may turn out to be helping to ensure that Poland fail to qualify from the group stages.

Let’s face it, if Poland couldn’t manage to beat a Greek team that would struggle in League Two, their chances of progressing much further are slim indeed.

His nightmare day comprised two huge blunders: first, making an ill-judged lunge for a cross when it was always unlikely he could get there before either his central defender or the Greek forward.

I haven’t seen such a bad case of miscommunication between a goalie and a centre back since… er…  oh… Szczesny and Koscielny in the 2011 Carling Cup Final. Whoops.

As if gifting Greece (who were then playing 10 against 11) an equalising goal wasn’t enough, shortly afterwards Szczesny brought down a Greek attacker in the box for a clear penalty and an automatic red card. Our Pole’s blushes were spared slightly by the fact that his replacement saved the penalty. However, Szczesny’s dismissal had taken away Poland’s numerical advantage and was probably instrumental in them subsequently failing to grab a winner.

You have to feel sorry for Wojciech. As he walked off the pitch following his red card he looked to be one consoling word from a team mate away from bursting into tears.

But he only has himself to blame for both incidents and, truth to tell, for those of us who have watched him all year between the sticks for Arsenal, they are not a great surprise.

When Wojciech became first choice ‘keeper at Arsenal some contributors on Arsenal Arsenal took to calling him “World’s Number One.”

Around about that time I wrote a Headline Post here saying: “Right now Wojciech Szczesny is a raw, inexperienced player with bags of promise and the chance of becoming great in the future. A bit like Alex Manninger, Stuart Taylor and Richard Wright before him.

“In his performances for the first team this season he has been good but far from exceptional, which is entirely as you would expect for a 20-year-old making his inaugural steps in the top flight. All of which makes the fashionable hysteria about his talents premature, not to say ridiculous.”

I’m not trying to say “I told you so” because in that same article I argued that we should promote Fabianski and keep Szczesny as second choice – a suggestion I’m glad M. Wenger ignored.

But the fact is that Szczesny made many mistakes in his first season as Arsenal’s number one and his blunders for the national team are in keeping with the poorer aspects of his ‘keeping for us: namely, impetuosity; miscommunication and poor concentration.

So does all this mean we should reconsider his position at Arsenal? That we should bring in a Premier League veteran for a year or two until Wojciech has matured?

I would like to hear your views, but mine is this:

On no account should we remove him as our Number One.

For all his shortcomings, Szczesny has shown enough bravery, character and shot-stopping prowess to suggest that he can grow into a goalkeeper to rival legends like Jennings, Seaman, Wilson and Lehmann.

All he needs is age and experience. Age will take care of itself, but his experience will progress more rapidly if he plays every first team game (which, in turn, will end up making his “game age” greater than his birth age).

Even experiences like Friday’s will help make him a better ‘keeper.

In our forthcoming 2012-13 season I have no doubt that Szczesny’s faults will cost us points on occasion. But his strengths will win us points and his contribution to the team’s character cannot be overlooked.

Over to you.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

Arsenal – testing your loyalty

April 7, 2012

I’m hoping the long gap between games isn’t causing the players to lose focus as badly as it has me – although it is a concern after our last performance!

This is just a bit of interactive fun to fill the time before we take on city tomorrow.

One object of the exercise is to test whether your loyalty to Arsenal might just possibly cloud your judgement in matters concerning by far the greatest team the world has ever seen……..

Try to answer the following questions honestly. It may be that your choices would be the same either way – but I doubt it.

So are you a dyed in the wool Arsenal supporter (in which case you lied in some answers) or are you one of the new breed of fan who prefers to stay seated, doesn’t sing and thinks the ref is a jolly good chap 😕

Feel free to debate the questions and your choices in Comments, or maybe you can suggest similar questions that could have had you battling with your Arsenal conscience.

Written by Rasp

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Posted by Rasp

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