Step It Up, Samir

Posted on September 27, 2010 by admin

Posted by SmartArse

After Saturday’s debacle OleGunner on twitter created a Guardian chalkboard highlighting the differences in passes made in the game by Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky:


by Guardian Chalkboards

The diagram clearly shows a a greater proportion of Rosicky’s passes were forward (and thus penetrative) than Nasri’s. The conclusion made is that Rosicky is a more creative passer, with Nasri more of a dribbler – one I find a little hard to sustain given that the Frenchman has a similar number of assists in fewer games (10 in 83 for Nasri, 11 in 99 for Rosicky), but such minor quibbles aren’t the crux of my argument. As @OleGunner himself freely admitted, such an analysis is a little simplistic.

The most important revelation in the chalkboards is that Nasri, in my opinion by far the more potent player, too frequently fails to make the most of his obvious potential, settling for a slot in the supporting cast rather than taking centre stage himself. Passes are too short and sideways. Regular viewings of the man in action will also tell you even his obviously excellent dribbling is often stunted.

Fortunately for me, I missed Saturday’s game. My reaction to finding out that we’d gone two down to West Fucking Brom at home was, after the inevitable trigger of ‘what did Manuel do!?!’, was ‘well that’s what happens without Cesc‘.

But it bloody well shouldn’t and not just because it was West Brom at home. Not only was the team at large easily strong enough but also Nasri, when handed Cesc’s central role, has all the raw materials to at least make a damn good stab at stepping into his captain’s shoes; he appears at times virtually impossible to tackle, has two excellent feet and as eloquent recent interviews have shown, the brain to match. When he decides to go direct, either through quick passing or the mesmerising dribbling he showcased against Porto, he’s quite the force.

In fact Nasri’s faster accumulation of assists, a statistic I expect to burgeon this year, highlights that Nasri is the more creative force when he’s prepared to take responsibility, be direct and incisive. His Arsenal career to date is punctuated by flashes of brilliance when the mood does strike him.

On another day the quality of his two goals against West Brom would rightly be lauded, but its little use turning on the style once we’re already three goals down. Similarly, he was obviously fantastic against Tottenham in the Carling Cup, but that should have been the minimum expectation from a player as high profile as him against such a rubbish Spurs second string.

All good teams rely on great players to work miracles on the days where it just isn’t working for the usually reliable supporting cast. Even the best teams need influential individuals when the unit fails to function.

Samir Nasir is not yet a great player. Great players take the leading role not just occasionally or against the lesser lights, but consistently and on the grandest stages.

Perhaps, as some have suggested, its a case of Samir being prepared to take some more risks. He certainly seems to play well within himself much of the time. Hopefully he’ll realise that risks are substantially less risky when you’re as good as he clearly has the potential to be.

Harsh perhaps on probably the only player to emerge from Saturday with any real credit, but then, I expect a little more from a man as talented as Samir.

Posted in Analysis + Tactics, Opinion, Player Focus | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Arsenal Shocked… and Shocking!

Posted on September 26, 2010 by admin

Posted by Sonuvagun

Hang Manuel Almunia, sack Arsene Wenger, chop off Diaby’s legs… there’s a lot of Arseteria in the blogosphere this morning, as well there might be after yesterday’s disastrous performance against the (supposedly) lowly Baggies.

You probably watched the match so I won’t go into too much detail about what happened (Smart Arses might then ask why we bother doing it every other week, but I don’t care to listen), but it might be interesting to ponder why. After all even AW was perplexed:

“I didn’t recognise my team today and we have to sit down together to analyse what happened. Something is unexplainable in such a poor performance. Something was not right and it is unusual to see a team as flat as we were today.”

And yes we were woeful. The passing was sloppy and, if we were struggling to keep possession, we were even worse at winning it back. The midfield was shambolic in its defensive duties, with men rushing to the same area of the field, and often bypassed with a single ball. What was also strange was the number of individual mistakes ‘on display’. Sagna was toasted in the lead up to the first goal, Koscielny much too slow to close down the danger for the second (which Almunia failed to keep out… although more on him later), and for the third Squillaci, Song and Clichy all could have done better in the build up, but for me Mr. Wenger was principally to blame here. (Again more later).

You have to feel that the lack of cohesion and concentration is the same old story – our seemingly incurable habit of underestimating small teams. Maybe if the game was played away from home it would have been different, but I’ve no doubt that the team that went out today thought the job was done before they set foot on the pitch. Listen to Clichy talking to Daily Sport.

“We know we can beat anybody at the Emirates but it is our form away that is going to be the key.”

We’ve got a tremendous record at home, and on the back of the Tottenham win and West Brom’s less than scary reputation, there’s no doubt we dropped down a notch in terms of intensity. Maybe not deliberately. I’m sure the players felt ready when they went out, but at some level I’m also sure that they would have been more ready if they were setting out to play Chelsea or Man U for example. To use a cliche (which is true as it is ridiculous), it’s the difference between giving 100 and the mythical 110%. That extra burning and passion you need to succeed at the highest level. Whilst it’s true that sometimes against the smaller teams you can leave it in the locker and get away with it, when the opposition brings their best game – like West Brom did yesterday – you can be, and often are, punished.

There were some other factors. One thing that can galvanise a team when things are going badly is a leader. We were missing Vermaelen, Van Persie and Fabregas – the central core of our team when fully fit – and we missed both their skills and their attitude. We also missed Jack Wilshere. Perhaps we shouldn’t be relying on an 18 year old to win us games, but for me it was a mistake to leave him out… if a player is playing well then it’s simple logic to play him. He gives us a calm in the middle of the field that was badly missing yesterday.

Another factor is consistency. One of the reasons that the midfield was at sixes and sevens must surely be down to the fact that we have changed both the personnel and their positions for virtually every game this season. Yes we have a talented players we can switch in like for like, but ideally we should establish a regular midfield and only switch in where needs must, with a minimum amount of changes. A player needs to know what his teammates are going to do in any situation – and what Nasri does when he plays on the right is going to be different to what he does when he plays in the middle or on the left. So better still would be nail them down to one position. I know that’s not always possible, given our conveyor belt injury list, but there’s no doubt we can – and should – make less changes. Less changes also give the players a chance to settle and build up form. Those that come in will also be desperate to impress, knowing it might be a rare chance.

Overall I would say Arsene Wenger made some mistakes in his team selection. Why drop the in form Wilshere, for the hardly-played Diaby? Why bring Eboue into midfield when we have a more natural midfielder in Rosicky (and yes it’s easy for me to say this with the benefit of hindsight as these were the changes Wenger himself made in the second half – and they definitely gave us a boost!)? Wenger has to drill it into his players not to underestimate the opposition, but was his team selection also underestimating the opposition? A chance to get Diaby and Eboue a game, and ready for bigger challenges ahead? You could also argue that, even if the original team selection could be forgiven, should Le Prof not have seen the danger at half time, before the goals came, and made the changes earlier… we’d already conceded a penalty and were being outplayed so the signs were there.

For me the biggest mistake AW made however was bringing off Koscielny for Vela around the 65th minute. It was Wenger who claimed that England had panicked in the World Cup against Germany, pushing for the equaliser too early and thus conceding another two goals in the counter attack. Well Mr. Wenger did exactly the same. We were slowly getting control of the game but were far from pinning West Brom back in their own half. So bringing off a defender for Vela was always going to expose us to too much risk for too long a period. I never doubted that at 2-0 down we could claim a draw, but I wasn’t at all surprised when our new formation meant we conceded a third and with it any hope of salvaging some pride. I’m glad the players didn’t give up, and of course Nasri deserves special credit for his two wonderfully taken goals, but I’m 100% sure we pushed too soon with the extra striker – after all that type of substitution only works when you’re bombarding the goal in the final minutes of the game and could do with another body in the box.

So who do we blame? After all we are Arsenal fans and someone always must be blamed… preferably someone Spanish with dyed blonde bits in his hair. I think firstly we have to acknowledge that West Brom played exceptionally well, with some great bits of individual skill setting up their goals and with the attitude of a team that had no intention of being cowed by the occasion. Their mentality was spot on, as ours was wide of the mark. For us, our players simply have to train themselves to treat every match with the same intensity if they want to win any trophies this year. AW could make their job easier by trying to field a more consistent line up… although I appreciate injury and fatigue make this difficult. He messed up with the subs in my opinion, but in fairness the team he put out still should have wrapped up the game.

Finally let’s take a look at someone who is inevitable going to be the Emile Heskey of the Arsenal team this year. Someone who is routinely called rubbish by people who are not capable of doing anything other than parrot popular opinion (I include most of the sporting press in that category), but is considered good by people who get paid to make high profile footballing decisions. To blame him for the loss would be retarded. In the first half he kept us in the game with two amazing saves, one fantastic reflex save low to his left and then of course the penalty. (You can’t blame a keeper for conceding a penalty like that because they have no option if the defense has sold them short. Would you rather he stay on his line and give the striker a free shot at goal?). The fact that we weren’t 2-0 down, which was about what we deserved, by the 45 minute mark was wholly down to him. Then of the three goals, only one was his fault… and not entirely unforgivable. It was driven exactly where a keeper hates. Low and just slightly to the side of the body. It didn’t look good for him, but in fact at that pace – the striker had all the time in the world to wind up his shooting leg – it was not an easy shot to keep out at all.

With the current focus on our goalkeepers, and football fans being like they are, it seems inevitable that Almunia is going to cop it every time we concede a goal. The fact is that if we allow the opposition to open us up like that we are going to concede, and blaming the keeper is the most lazy kind of scape-goating imaginable. Yesterday’s loss had nothing at all to do with Almunia, and if we’d had Seaman in goal the result would have been the same. We dropped a level and were outplayed by a team who made up for a small deficit in technique by being mentally superior in their focus, discipline and game plan – simple as that.

For me the big question is: was this is a blip? Or are we going to see the same happen again later in the season? It’s not like we haven’t been taught the lesson of underestimating the small teams a thousand times before, but we seem never to learn it.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the league we can at least take some comfort that both Chelsea and Man U dropped points. If this weekend reminds us of anything it’s that anyone can beat anyone, and its the most consistent team that’s going to win the Premier League. I think a more consistent team sheet would definitely help us along the way…

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Bent Goal Deflates Arsenal. Time to Switch Gods?

Posted on September 19, 2010 by admin

Posted by Sonuvagun

Ouch. That was a bumpy landing after midweek’s flight into footballing Nirvana, back down to a scrappy 1-1 draw (which felt like a loss) at Sunderland. We were well below par, especially in the first half, but looked like we’d secured the 3 points thanks to a freak goal from Cesc Fabregas in the 13th minute. He determinedly chased down a ponderous Anton Ferdinand who finally tried to boot the ball downfield only to see it career off our Captain’s foot and arc over the stranded Mignolet in goal from a good 45 odd yards out.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one hoping that would settle us down and be the first of many, but after that Sunderland dominated play and it’s hard to explain why we weren’t able to enforce our game on the hosts. No doubt Fabregas’ withdrawal on the 29th minute (hamstring injury) was a big part of that, and possibly we missed Diaby too, although it might equally have been that we didn’t really have to enforce our game. Despite Sunderland having 65% of the possession (bizarre but true), the Black Cats were only really scratching on the outside of our area and the temptation from the boys seemed to be to rest on our lead…

Whatever AW said at half time made a difference however as we seemed much more focused and started to create more chances. Sadly Arshavin’s shooting boots are still MIA, and Chamakh did badly when through one-on-one with the keeper. The whole stadium read his intentions when he opened up his body to place the ball in the far corner, and Mignolet was no exception. The next key event boded badly for the Arsenal. Alex Song was booked for obstruction, his second of the night, and was duly given his early showering orders. Arsene bowed in mock reverence at the decision and with the objectivity of hindsight it still pongs of bad refereeing. Song effectively got his first yellow for a combination of a series of niggles topped with dissent, and the second for a robust and – it should be said – somewhat cynical standing of his ground. However all of his challenges all afternoon were for winnable balls in the middle of the park: yet, without putting in a single lunge or edge of the box take-down, he was sent off the field.

It is a credit to the remaining Arses that I missed the sending off incident at the actual time it happened, due to a dodgy Internet stream, and for about ten minutes I didn’t realise we were playing with ten men. In fact we were moving the ball and keeping possession much better than in the first half, when Sunderland gifted us a golden opportunity to finish them off. Elmohamady inexplicably rushed back and hacked Nasri’s legs from behind in the area when his teammate looked to have the position on the Frenchman. A clearcut, and from Sunderland’s point of view, very frustrating, penalty. However it would have been better for Arsenal if it was never given. A nervous looking Rosicky, perhaps too eager for his first goal of the season, blazed the ball over the bar and the Stadium of Light erupted with joy. At that moment you felt sure that it was the Black Cats lucky day and Sunderland were going to claim something from the match. Certainly all of their fans did and the pressure of the baying home crowd was powerful enough to be felt in my bedroom in Barcelona. It can’t have been pleasant for the Arsenal players out there.

It is a credit to the team that they lasted as long as they did, with ten men, in that atmosphere. The back four were magnificent, in particular Koscielny who seemed to be on the bottom of every long ball and generally omni-present whenever danger threatened. The whole team kept their cool to such a degree that, against my expectations, we looked like we had ridden the storm and secured the points when the referee allowed one last Sunderland attack to continue, despite the four minutes of extra time having expired. Old man Zenden put one last hopeful cross towards our area and for the first time all night the defence were caught ball-watching… the flick on was won by Gyan and two red and white shirts rushed towards our goal, looking favourites to bury the ball home. Squillaci however managed to get back just in the nick of time to get a decisive touch. The ball was loose. Clichy arrived at pace and tried to hack clear – but his clearance hit Koscielny. Almunia dashed forward to narrow the angle, but Bent was left with a simple chance indeed. And this time there was no reprieve. Goal Sunderland. The time on the clock 94:15 mins. It was a punch in the groin to say the least.

Now that the dust has settled, and we’ve bathed our balls in a bowl of icey water, what’s the assessment? Let’s start with the positives. Well I think the jury can safely acquit our new centre halves of any accusations they might be a bit crappy. They were excellent. I thought Wilshere was superb again too. He made some bad decisions in the first half, in particular a double drag back that forced him to concede a booking, but was ice cool for the rest of the game playing on a yellow and instrumental in our good spells in possession. It’s worth remembering too that we did in fact draw the game and not lose it, and that’s a point we failed to take from this fixture last year.

The negatives, sadly, are more plentiful. We had a golden chance to win this game and blew it. Equally as worrying was that we failed to outplay Sunderland at their place and they probably just about deserved their point; you wonder if we’re going to be able to dominate at away games like we do at home. Finally losing Fabregas (for up to a month it sounds) is obviously a huge blow. I don’t know why God hates us so much but five games into the season and we already have huge injury problems approaching last year’s farce: Fabregas, Van Persie, Vermaelen, Diaby, Walcott and Bendtner are all out! Meanwhile a glance around at our competitors and Chelsea are still flying, whilst Man U, Tottenham and Man City all claimed 3 points from their fixtures.

I’ve inadvertently finished on a low, but there’s no denying this was a crappy weekend from an Arse perspective. I suggest we abandon any Christian/Muslim/Jewish gods we might be praying too and sacrifice some small children in the hope of resurrecting some pagan deities to support our cause. With Tiw, Woden and Frigg behind us I’m sure we’ll put ten past Tottenham in midweek and have all our players back with us before you can say se mónaþ is nemned on Léden Novembris, and on úre geþeóde blótmónaþ, forðon úre yldran, ðá hý hǽðene wǽron, on ðam mónþe hý bleóton á, ðæt is, ðæt hý betǽhton and benémdon hyra deófolgyldum ða neát ða ðe hý woldon syllan.

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Arsenal 6, Braga 0, The Cesc Fabregas Show

Posted on September 16, 2010 by admin

Written by Andre The Giant

“Are you watching Tottenham Hotspur” sang the Ashburton Grove faithful last night as Arsenal showed just why they are the most consistent team at the early stages of the Champions League with a 6-0 demolition of Braga, the team that put both Celtic and Sevilla out of the competition at the qualifying stages. It’s not since last season in the same competition that a team has pressed and harried to such an extent that they could have scored 4 or 5 goals in the first ten minutes. Fortunately, this time it wa Arsenal doing the hussling and, at the centre, the masterful Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings.

The first of many came from the third decent penalty appeal, Fabregas slotting Chamakh through on goal only to be bundled over by the Braga keeper. Fabregas made no mistake with the penalty to give a deserved 1-0 score line. The space offered to Cesc was far too generous and the second followed shortly after. Fabregas cut inside, looked for the through ball, decided against it, dribbled, released to Arshavin on the left, who took the opportunity of an unprotected near post to make it 2-0. A nice finish for Arshavin who, it should be noted, finally started looking a bit lively. More on him later.

Whilst it is impossible not to single out Captain Fab for the highest praise, there were notable performances from every other member of the Arsenal side. Jack Wilshere buzzed around like a tenacious wasp, making deft little flicks and winning the ball back within seconds of possession being lost. Marouanne Chamakh looks to be the complete striker, holding the ball up, making runs into space and tracking back to make tackles. It was these two players that combined for what should surely be described as a champagne goal. Chamakh twisted on the edge of the box, flicked to Wilshere who, given the benefit of the doubt on offside by the 27th official, flicked back to Chamakh with the most absurd back heel you will likely see (watch it again and work out how he does it because I can’t). Chamakh’s shot creeped under the oncoming sliding defender giving the keeper zero chance of making the save. 3-0 Arsenal and the game was done.

On top of the goals and AA23 remembering that he does need to run about a bit, other positive aspects of the second half included a commanding performance by Alexandre ‘the sheep’ Song, back in his more familiar midfield role, a sprightly display by Clichy up and down the left and Konscielny’s and Squillaci’s confidence inducing centre back partnership. Anyone questioning the quality of our new back four compared to last season are frankly bonkers. It’s also worth noting that Manuel Almunia was faultless in goal, good conviction on crosses, good distribution and good positioning throughout.

With the unfamiliar praise of the half time ITV pundits ringing in their ears Arsenal started the second half with more of the same. Fabregas was allowed so much space in his advanced midfield role that he could do pretty much what he liked time and time again. A slightly hashed effort was pushed back out wide for Arshavin to slot neatly back in to the six yard box for Cesc to nod home his second and Arsenal’s fourth. Whilst Arshavin had remembered how to run and shoot in the first half, passing was something that had evading him, with a completion rate of around 50%, the lowest in the team. However, we now know that Arshavin learn like Dolphin, increasing his rate to around 80% in the second half, including two assists. The second coming after having nearly broken a post with a cross keeper shot. A dribble and lay off on the left side of the area gave Carlos Vela the opportunity to score the chip he really wanted to on Saturday. Rumours that the Arsenal food outlets will soon be serving a ‘Vela Butty’ are as yet unconfirmed.

Cesc remained on the pitch, clearly gunning for his first professional career hat trick, and only the slightest of touches by the Braga keeper prevented it. But it is of the utmost credit to the man that, when in an advanced position in the Braga area, he remained selfless and squared to the onrushing Vela who finished nicely for his third goal in two games and Arsenal’s sixth of the night.

After the game, Fabregas was clearly upset not to have scored the all important three goals and for the umpteenth time pledged his allegiance to the Arsenal cause. Whether this is the last season we will see the master in an Arsenal shirt remains to be seen but if there was ever any doubt, any question of his unerring commitment on the pitch, this performance must surely put a sledge hammer to it.

Unfortunately, we are all out of the office at COTA towers so, as per the weekend, full player ratings are unlikely. It’s hard to pinpoint a single player as being average or below par so assume everyone gets at least an arsetastic 8 out of 10. In the interest of fairness given recent trends we shall introduce two MotM awards. The Cesc Fabregas man of the match goes to, er, Cesc Fabregas obviously but the main man of the match award goes to young Jack Wilshere with an exceptional performance. Good work young man.

So we’re off to Sunderland at the weekend. Let’s hope the Champagne hasn’t gone to our heads and the promising start to the season continues.

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Arsenal Stroll Over The Wanderers

Posted on September 12, 2010 by admin

Posted by Sonuvagun

There can be few finer highs for Arsenal fans than the one enjoyed in the final stages of Saturday’s home match against Bolton. Picture the scene: Alex Song had already given us the all-important and oh-so-comforting two goal cushion in the 73rd minute, with a deft chip which most strikers would envy, gifting Arsene Wenger the 1000th goal of his reign at the Gunners’ helm in the process. After that there was little more for Team Arsenal to do than use the game’s final moments to put on a show for the home crowd. And the scene that stole it was truly one to savour…

It was Carlos Vela who started the move, by chasing back and harrying a blue-shirted Wanderer out of possession. And as Arsenal comfortably played keep-ball, the crowd showed their appreciation of the day’s performance by boisterously cheering every complete pass. For some time it looked like Fabregas, Denilson, Song and co. were making the Bolton players look heavy-legged and lethargic just for the sake of it, but when their midfield made the mistake of standing five yards off Cesc, the captain released his umpteenth perfectly-weighted pass of the day, a glorious looping ball which Carlos met ten yards the other side of the hapless Bolton back four. Even the goalkeeper seemed to be expecting one of the Mexican’s trademark chips, but instead it was a calm and precise side foot into the corner of the net. Twenty four passes, seven players involved and one sublime finish. A truly great goal that deserves to have football fans the world over doffing their sombrero.

That delightful strike was our fourth and the final scoreline of 4-1 was a fair reflection over ninety minutes. However, for much of the match, the result remained in the balance. When Arshavin missed a dizzying array of clear cut chances the likes of Rosicky and Fabregas must have been cursing his ruddy little cheeks, because some of their through-balls were nothing short of works of art. You wondered if it might be one of those days. Rosicky himself was guilty of missing a couple of chances, but nonetheless we got the break through in the 24th minute. Wilshere played one over the top to Fabregas who, I think deliberately, ‘ankled’ it back across goal and Koscielny was on hand to bundle in his first for the club. Good lad. Unfortunately the Franco-Pole turned from hero to villain when his badly judged back-header allowed Chung-Yong Lee to set up an easy header for Elmander for an equalizer just before half time.

Nevertheless we continued to look the stronger side, with Fabregas on scintillating form. He found Chamakh with another perfectly floated effort over the top but the Moroccan’s average shot was met by a fine save. The resulting corner however came out to Arshavin who played it back to Fabregas who gave Marouane the perfect chance to make amends by inviting him to header in a chipped cross. It was one that the striker took perfunctorily, with what was obviously a bread and butter goal for someone with his aerial prowess.

Then came the big talking point of the match. Song bundled over Lee on the edge of the area but, as the Arsenal man set up the counter attack, the ref allowed play to continue. Arshavin then played a delightful one-two with Chamakh, the latter releasing the Russian with a nice back heel, when the ref inexplicably pulled back play. After the back heel, Cahill had clattered the Moroccan with a two-footed challenge from behind and rightly got a red, but Bolton were incensed that they hadn’t got a free kick seconds earlier on the edge of our area. As to why the referee didn’t play our advantage, only he knows. The end result was no one was happy, but at least Bolton were down to ten men. (This was long overdue with Kevin Davies in particular playing like a complete arsehole who was lucky to be on the pitch after at least three clear cut yellow card offences… for which he only picked up one).

The rest of the action I’ve already alluded to. Alex Song said at the start of the season he wanted to add goals to his game, and if he displays finishing skills as he did on Saturday he’s certainly in line to rack up a few. I think most Arsenal fans however will be more than content if he concentrates on his superb defensive work. He showed again, with his speed strength intelligence and stamina, what a class act he is and he’s like a fifth defender at times chasing back and sweeping up whenever he’s needed. Meanwhile new boys Koscielny and Squillaci looked sturdy. Koscielny in particularly seems to be just what the doctor ordered. He made one pretty bad mistake, but his bravery (he cleared one ball with his head despite the fact Kevin Davies was obviously going to clatter him – nearly getting knocked out in the process) and technique seem first rate and he’s only likely to get better. With almost everyone, including our keeper (but perhaps excluding Arshavin who profligacy was astonishing), putting in a decent performance, perhaps the only negative from the game was an injury to Diaby. He’d only just come on for Wilshere when Paul Robinson went in studs up with a thuggish challenge on his ankle (which the referee, who by common consent was awful, missed). The big man had to limp off and according to AW can’t move his leg at the mo… my guess is a badly bruised/swollen ankle which will probably sideline him for a week or so at least.

But going back to the positives, apart from the fact we were awesome, many of our title rivals – and pretenders – weren’t. Man U (now on 8 points) let a two goal cushion slip against Everton which made me a very happy man, whilst Man City (5 points), Tottenham (5 points) and Liverpool (5 points) all drew games that they should have won if anyone wants to take them seriously this season. Chelsea (12 points) are looking like a lean mean machine at the moment, so we might need to be patient for the time being and hope they get derailed (before we do!). Of course there’s really very little point (but quite a lot of fun) talking up points in September but certainly slips up from Man U are very welcome at any stage of the season, and sitting pretty in second (with 10 points) having already gone to Anfield is by no means an unenviable position.

Right, don’t think there’s gonna be time for individual player ratings this week so I’ll dish out my TOP GUN badge to El Capitan who got three assists and could have had another two or three for some better finishing from the boys up front… he was on truly Arsetastic form, and that kind of performance should finally put to bed any notions that we won’t see the best of him this year.

Goodnight Gooners and sweet, goal-filled dreams…

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Top Six Transfer Window Comparison; A Rebuttal To John Cross

Posted on September 5, 2010 by admin

Posted by SmartArse

“Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp…made – and succeeded with – an audacious move for Rafael van der Vaart. Chelsea spent big, Manchester City, too and Manchester United spent more. All of Arsenal’s title rivals strengthened. Arsenal didn’t.”

So says the generally reliable John Cross of the Daily Mirror. Eyebrows raised anyone? He implies Tottenham are title contenders for a start.

But really its the strength of the doom and gloom that’s most perplexing. John is obviously in the camp that feels that Schwarzer would have made a massive difference to Arsenal. You can see what we think about that here, but the real thrust of his argument goes further than that.

He feels Arsenal had a bad transfer window, that the squad is weaker than last year and, crucially, that others have improved by comparison.

So we’ve decided to put the theory to the test by comparing the transfer windows of the clubs the Mirror man mentions, plus the Scousers for good measure. Who then in terms of what was needed, what was got and what’s still left to do had a good summer?

Arsenal:

In: Marouane Chamakh (Free), Laurent Koscielny (£8m), Sebastien Squillaci (£3m)
Out: Eduardo (£6m), Phillipe Senderos (free), William Gallas (free), Mikael Silvestre (free), Sol Campbell (free), Fran Merida (undisc.), Jay Simpson (1.2m)

What was needed:

  • As the list of departures shows centre backs. Preferably lots of them.
  • Eduardo’s departure, Van Persie’s chocolate knees/ankles/body and Bendtner’s shortcomings = new striker.
  • World-class goalkeeper

What was delivered:

  • Two centre backs, one smallish, inexperienced and good on the ball, one big and experienced. The big question – is the quartet of Vermaelen, Koscielny, Squillaci and Djourou better than Vermaelan, Gallas, Campbell, Sylvester? It’s undeniably deeper so far less panic if one of the starters is out injured. The sticking point is the importance of Gallas, an excellent player, but the removal of his apparently disruptive influence means I think this defence outstrips last year’s, especially when you remember that the improving Kieran Gibbs is now a serious option at left back.
  • An excellent striker in Chamakh. Super in the air and, as this excellent post from Gingers For Limpar aptly demonstrates, perfect for our formation and playing style. RVPs earlier than usual inevitable injury made his arrival even more important. Essential addition.
  • No goalkeeper. Mark Schwarzer would have been mere sticking plaster, but the long term issue has not been addressed.

Verdict: Barring the glaring exception, pretty good. The goalkeeper is no worse and everything else is better. Arsenal possess a second option in every position apart from the number 1. Observe two potential line-ups.

First choice: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, Walcott (right now anyway), Van Persie
Second choice: Fabianski, Eboue, Squillaci, Djourou, Gibbs, Denilson, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Nasri, Chamakh – not to even mention Vela or Bendtner.

Three good signings; the rise of Wilshere and Gibbs; the return to form of Walcott and Rosicky – this squad is stronger than last year’s. Now we just need to keep it fit!

Chelsea:

In: Yossi Benayoun (5.5m), Ramires (£17m)
Out: Ballack (free), Joe Cole (free), Cavalho (£6m), Deco (free) and some other deadwood.

What was needed: What do you add to the side that won the double? More depth, more youth, but unlike most others nothing pressing.

What was delivered: Surprisingly little. Benayoun is another option, but it really is only a matter of opinion that splits him and Joe Cole – they are very similar in both style and quality.

The big money has been spent on Ramires. My first impression from the little that I’ve seen is that he’s a bit overrated, especially for that money. Part of the problem is that nobody seems to know his best position – I’ve seen him described as a holding player, box to box and a right midfielder. He may well dominate, but as the only genuine addition to the squad hardly an undeniable improvement.

Don’t underestimate the loss of Carvalho either. One of Chelsea’s best performers for the last few seasons – depending on who you ask the man who makes Terry look as good as he does. Mourinho is no mug and Carvalho has not be adequately replaced.

Verdict: An average summer. Ramires may well make a massive. impact, but for now there will be plenty of doubt, especially at the huge price tag. Chelsea’s saving grace of course, is that they were pretty damn good in the first place…

An immense first XI: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba

but as good a second XI? Hmmm: Hilario, Ferreira, Alex, Bruma?, Zhirkov, Ramires, Kakuta, Benayoun, Sturridge, Kalou. That’s only 10 players – I honestly can’t find another one I’ve heard of to stick in. Improvement has been moderate. Fortunately for them, they’re kinda good already.

Man United:

In: Javier Hernandez (£7m), Chris Smalling (£10m), Bebe (£7.4m)
Out: Ben Foster (£6m), Zoran Tosic (£8m!) – deadwood and loans

What was needed:

  • Rio Ferdinand is rickety, thus cover at centre back. Cover too a little thin at both full back positions.
  • Find successors to Giggs and Scholes

What was delivered: Cover for Rio was needed and it duly arrived in the shape of the promising Smalling. Strangely two strikers also arrived. Strange as United often play big fixtures with just one and already possess Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda and Wellbeck. Hernandez looks exciting, but I can’t see him getting huge playing time, especially as the aforementioned Berbatov has remembered he’s actually pretty good at football.

United still haven’t found long term replacements for Scholes and Giggs – Hargreaves is wrecked, Anderson almost wrecked himself and Carrick is hugely overrated. Its a problem that won’t be a problem until the old warhorses finally pack it in, but it is a concern that may haunt them in the bigger fixtures.

Verdict: Good, but not entirely where it was needed. As long as Scholes, and to a lesser extent Giggs, look as good as they do now all is well.

Like Chelsea all looks well because they were good already, but can’t necessarily be called a sterling transfer window.

First XI: VDS, O’Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Valencia, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney
Second XI: Kuszczak, Rafael, J Evans, Smalling, Fabio, Carrick, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Hernandez, Owen

Man City

In: Fucking loads – Jerome Boateng (£10m), Yaya Toure (£25m), David Silva (£24m), Aleksandr Kolarov (£16m), Mario Balotelli (£24m), James Milner (approx £26m)
Out: Martin Petrov (free), Sylvinho + Benjani (released), Bojinov (£4.5m), Garrido (£2.5m), Ireland (undisc.) – Craig Bellamy notable loan departure to Cardiff

What was needed: Irrelevant really – more players, bigger names to raise City’s profile further.

What was delivered: A lot; some overpriced and overrated, but an awful lot of top drawer quality too. Most of the names on the in list above are approaching the sort of quality City require if they want to be considered genuine contenders.

Verdict: Good. City’s problem now isn’t a lack of quality. Their attacking line-up is formidable; Tevez, Balotelli, Adepaymore, Silva, Johnson, Milner and co are a match for almost anyone. Where they run into trouble is where to play them all.

They have the wingers to suggest a 4-3-3, but can you leave Balotelli on the bench? And why on earth is Yaya Toure currently playing the Cesc Fabregas role?

City will probably be too inconsistent to challenge for top honours this year, but top four is there for the taking.

Tottenham:

In: Sandro (£6m), William Gallas (free), Stipe Pletikosa (loan), Van Der Vaart (£8m)
Out: Nobody of note

What was needed: Three things 1) keep the current unit together 2) cover for their knackered centre-backs 3) more quality

What was delivered:

1)Nobody of note left, not even Robbie Keane. Not even David fucking Bentley. So Spurs achieved a basic minimum and kept a balanced squad together.
2)They got Billy Gallas – funny fall from grace for him, but a top move for Spurs. Harry Twitchface called it a no-brainer, and he’s right. Sadly Gallas moving to Tottenham won’t be that funny simply because he makes them a better team. Perfect cover just as captain Dawson buggered his knee at Wembley.
3)Until Van Der Vaart was suddenly added it would have been quiet. Did they need Van Der Vaart? An excellent player yet, but he may upset the balance at Spurs. Seems a little bit like they bought him because he was available, not because they wanted him. But a top move if they can make it work.

But you have to think they missed a trick. How much is a Champions League spot supposed to be worth? A lot, that’s for sure Spurs haven’t improved where they need to.

Verdict: Probably the equal to ours. Which means we’re still better – haha! Spurs needed more than a good transfer window to keep pace with City and didn’t get it. Tough ask, but that’s the harsh realities of the highest level. Under normal circumstances a good window, but this year, it’ll probably only be enough to see them to fifth.

Liverpool:

In: Jonjo Shelvey (£1.7m), Milan Jovanovic (free), Joe Cole (free), Danny Wilson (rising to £5m), Fabio Aurelio (re-signed), Christian Poulsen (£4.5m), Brad Jones (£2.3m), Raul Meireles (£10.5million), Paul Konchesky (undiscl)

Out: A few, but most notably – Yossi Benayoun (£5.5million to Chelsea), Albert Riera (£3.3m), Alberto Aquilani, Javier Mascherano (£18m)

What was needed: A bit of an overhaul. Less 7 out of 10 players and a far better squad

What was delivered: Actually, quite a few players. They added a left back (Konchesky), a left midfielder (Jovanovic), holding midfielder (Poulsen), creativity (Joe Cole) in addition to more depth.

Verdict: Maybe it’s just me, but most of the names above look like typical Liverpool signings. In other words, distinctly average. Joe Cole was a great addition, but less so when you lose Benayoun; Poulsen is no replacement for Mascherano; Konchesky has spent most of his career at Fulham, Charlton and West Ham; Jovanovic looks disappointing and Raul Meireles looked a half-decent player in a poor Portugal team, but £10 million? Do me a favour.

Liverpool are hampered by their ownership and their squad still looks stick-thin and pretty average. Maybe Gerrard, Torres and to a lesser extent Cole can drag them up but given the improvements at City and Spurs I doubt it.

Conclusion:

So, a rough rank order or transfer success:

City
Arsenal
Tottenham
Man United
Chelsea
Liverpool

To leave a rough rank order of squads as:

Chelsea
Man United
Arsenal
City
Tottenham
Liverpool

Which tells you that this summer has actually altered little. Chelsea and United still have the best squads, but improved less than the sides below them. So despite not signing a goalkeeper we’ve actually closed ground on the sides above us, because we’ve improved more.

City and Tottenham will provide competition, but the former will be inconsistent and the latter probably haven’t done enough. Spurs had a good window, they needed a great one.

Ignore John Cross (or at least, ignore this piece), abandon the doom and gloom. At worst a season of the same awaits, but it could go an awful lot better.

Posted in Analysis + Tactics, Opinion, Transfer Talk | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No New Keeper, No False Dawn

Posted on August 31, 2010 by admin

Posted by SmartArse

Transfer deadline day came and went and Mark Schwarzer is still at Fulham. Brownie points to them for resisting both player power and the urges of a bigger club, something Arsenal fans should appreciate for obvious reasons.

So now much of Planet Arsenal is convinced we can’t possibly win the league. Good.

Really, just think for a second about the disparity between the rise in expectation levels and the amount the team would have actually improved had Schwarzer arrived. Pre-season the consensus appeared to be no new goalkeeper, fourth at best; new goalkeeper, massive title contenders.

In fact an awful lot of people wouldn’t have just considered winning the league possible, they would have expected it. A healthy state of affairs if you are quite clearly the best. The arrival of Mark Schwarzer would only have made us marginally better than we are already.

Expectation would have been raised to unnecessarily unhealthy levels; just look at Sp*rs fans booing their side after losing to Wigan on Saturday – entry into Europe and suddenly winning is considered a divine right. Much the same was true of Villa fans last season. Pressure and ill feeling is unnecessarily conferred onto the playing squad. Pathetic, fickle support from both sets of fans.

Now none of this is to say that I think we can’t win the league. I actually think we can, I just consider it an optimistic possibility rather than than the inevitable. And under such circumstances it’s actually beneficial to be the underdog, to have that sense of unity being universally written off brings about.

This of course is all relevant to the potential arrival of Mark Schwarzer. His arrival would have been an improvement, but not one to suddenly make our generally excellent squad title favourites. The right atmosphere and some luck which has deserted us in recent seasons and we might just do it anyway.

Schwarzer was a short term, moderate improvement. Of course had we secured a world class, long term solution I’d have probably joined the inevitable rabid hordes in rampant expectation.

But to have expected that this summer seems to miss the point of Arsene’s apparent intentions. It certainly seems reasonable to suggest that our pursuit of Schwarzer was because he’s a short term solution. Le Boss clearly feels that one of our incumbents, probably Wojciech ‘Chesney’ Scezney, is the future number one. Signing a world class keeper in his peak would stifle his development, hardly Wenger’s style.

Arsene wants to build from within, an immensely admirable aim. Not everyone’s favoured method, but then I don’t tend to listen to people who castigate a City or Chelsea for buying success while demanding instant results at their own clubs.

Time to be realistic Arsenal fans. Without a new goalkeeper we had a decent chance of winning the title. With Mark Schwarzer we had a very slightly more decent chance of winning it. So we are, to my mind, still well in with a shout.

No new keeper, no false dawn, but not remotely a disaster. We’ve had an almost fantastic transfer window. Two new defenders and a new striker addressed important concerns. That, the rise of youngsters like Gibbs and Wilshere and the revitalisation of under-performers like Rosicky and Theo means that we have what I see to be a stronger squad than last year.

Bicker if you like, but I’m backing the Gunners.

Come on the Arsenal!

Posted in Opinion, Transfer Talk | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Suck On That, Fat Sam!

Posted on August 28, 2010 by admin

Posted by Sonuvagun

Splash splash splash inhale splash splash splash exhale splash splash splash. Hear that ye doubters? That was the sound of Arsenal swimming…

Blackburn at home. This game was billed by many, including us at COTA, as the first real – sink or swim – test of whether the latest Arsenal ensemble were in fact any sturdier, more experienced, steelier and generally more suited to the task of finally winning this goddamn league than any of the recent previous editions…

Fat Sam made no bones about the fact that he was going to play to our weaknesses, and even Arsene acknowledged before the game that Blackburn had every right to challenge us physically, and he in turn challenged our players to live with it:

“We have a good opportunity to send a strong message. I tell my players to be committed – that means to deal with every single challenge. For us it will be important that we are strong in the air because they have some players who are good in the air and they favour that style. They have Paul Robinson who kicks the ball very long, they have long throws. It’s important in England if you want to win the championship you have to deal with that. It will be a little bit a confrontation of two styles but it’s important that we dictate our style.

We have more steel. A few years ago we were a bit too immature with that kind of game. I don’t feel anymore that we are.”

I’m not sure about a few years ago… it was only a few months ago that Blackburn completely bullied us off the park, and on the surface not much has changed in our line up since then. If anything we have a got a bit more lightweight, with Koscielny playing where Gallas – and in the latter stages of the season – Campbell played. However today’s game just goes to show that, with the right manager and attitude, a team can learn and progress. For me it was always going to be a case of defensive discipline and holding our nerves as much as displaying physical strength or aggression… it’s easy to lose your concentration when the one millionth long ball is hoisted into the area, or to freeze/panic/lose faith when things start to look dodgy.

Thankfully today team Arsenal did none of those bad things; and whilst it was rarely as comfortable as us Arse-lovers would have liked, overall it was precisely the kind of mature, robust and confident performance that evaded us at times last season. As expected (after a good move saw Blackburn’s Grella have to clear Diaby’s shot off the line) Blackburn wasted little time in starting their aerial bombardment of our goal, buoyed by the home crowd – and no doubt a large dose of smug confidence arising from last year’s fixture. Our tactic in negating their set piece/long ball threat was to throw virtually every man behind the ball, which – whilst good for dealing with the immediate danger – also made it hard for us to play our way out of pressure. Throw ins led to corners, which led to clearances, which had no one on the end of them, which led to long balls back into our area, which led to more corners and throw-ins… you get the picture. Fabregas had to jump high and quick to clear off the line in the 9th minute to prevent a Blackburn goal, and you wondered if, despite the coming-of-age talk from AW, this might not be a long afternoon from the Arse perspective.

But then our suck-it-up-and-strike tactics paid off. Arshavin played it to Van Persie, who played a delightful ball inside the defender for Walcott to run onto. Last year you would have put money on the youngster fluffing his lines, but his cool finish from a very tight angle not only made mincemeat out of Paul Robinson it also broke the side-netting. Get in Theo! (If any one player symbolises Arsenal’s growing maturity, then the erratic-wild-card-thrown-on-as-a-last-ditch-attempt-to-win-a-game turned number-one-danger-man and leading striker is surely that man!).

The goal really settled us and suddenly it was classic Arsenal as we moved the ball around the pitch easily and began taking the game to Blackburn and knock on their door. You sensed that the hard work had all been done already…

Sadly this was not the case. Incredibly frustratingly we were soon back on level terms after Koscielny failed to deal with an easy one-on-one situation with El Hadji Diouf. Perhaps underestimating the Senegalese’s strength he chose to try and shoulder the Blackburn player off the ball, lost out and got mugged. The rest was simple… he only had to cut it back for another Diouf (Mame Biram, on loan from Man Yoo of all people) to finish into empty net (Almunia was forced to run out and tryo to close down Diouf number 1). For me this isn’t the time to rip Koscielny to shreds, criticize his rather slender torso and say he’s unfit to play in the Premier League. He was always going to fuck up, given his relative youth and inexperience at this level. The important thing is for him to learn. The situation demanded a classic English ball-and-man slide tackle, so let’s hope that’s what we see next time. Otherwise the Franco-Pole had a fairly solid game.

The Blackburn goal took the wind out of our sails. Heads went down (way too easily) and almost the first thing we did after kicking off was gift Blackburn another goal-scoring chance after Alexander Song played a kamikaze ball across field. The danger was snuffed and thankfully we woke up. Unfortunately on the 34th minute Van P went down holding his leg. No great surprise, and it was the second time in the game. Chamakh came on and thank God we bought him. I was of the school of thought that Van Persie, Bendtner and Vela is surely enough to compete for one position. But Wenger probably knows by now that Van Persie can only be counted as a bonus player. If he’s fit great… but we can’t rely on it. Selling Adebayor proved that, when VP became our only established striker and it definitely cost us points last season. Anyway the point I’m trying to make is that having someone of Chamakh’s quality and stature meant that we didn’t notice VP’s absence too much. Indeed kudos to the Moroccan for his excellent manhandling of Samba when defending set pieces. It was a joy to watch.

The second half started 1:1 and I was feeling confident. Blackburn hadn’t had too many out and out chances and we always looked capable of producing something. It took excellent determination by Sagna (one of the day’s star performers) who, chasing up the right flank, just about kept the ball in play. His first touch was perfect and took him into the heart of the Blackburn defence. A cut back for Fabregas and you sensed it had to be… his shot hit Walcott however, but fell to Arshavin. The Russian’s kept his nerve, despite a desperate lunge by Paul Robinson, and sidefooted precisely into the right hand corner. Suck on that Fat Sam!

A one goal cushion in this type of contest is always dangerous, but with Fabregas growing into game after a rather rusty start, we started to dominate possession. But then Wenger made a mistake replacing him with Rosicky. The Czech maestro has had a strong start to the campaign but still lacks Captain Fab’s poise and strength. Rosicky proved too lightweight to be our lynchpin and Blackburn started to run over us. I think Wenger noticed because shortly afterwards he brought on Wilshere for Arshavin and moved Rosicky out left, and we seemed to regain our momentum a little. Nonetheless neither team were able to dominate the last 10 minutes and there were some nervy moments as Dunn (on as a substitute) evaded our defenders, only to shoot straight at Almunia, whilst Wilshere had a golden chance to put the game out of reach on the 89th when Chamakh fed Walcott who slid the ball across to young Jack. However he slipped as he shot and the ball went out for a corner.

The game finished 1:2 to Arsenal, and – despite the hype and little-love-lost between managers or teams – it was actually a very clean game. Only a cynical tug by Givet on Walcott (after Theo had turned him inside out like a pair of pants at Cub Camp) was deemed worthy of a yellow by the ref.

So there you have it. As always there’s no point going over board about one match, and the difference between this year and last could be as much down to luck, or us actually being able to field a nearly full strength team for once (tellingly, with no Fabianski!), as down to anything else. In truth the game was more about dealing with their aerial threat than being physical and riding dirty challenges (as I just pointed out there was only one yellow and it was for a tug). But, reading as little or as much as you like into the result, playing Blackburn away is always a test and – regardless of anything else – I think we all desperately wanted to stand up and stick it to Fat Sam after what happened at Ewood in May. So thanks boys for doing just that!

Blackburn vs Arsenal Player ratings up!

Posted in Match Report | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Arsenal 6 Blackpool 0 – Unlucky Theo

Posted on August 21, 2010 by admin

Posted by Andre The Giant

Arsenal motored into gear for their first home game of the season today, with what can only be described as a white wash against Blackpool. Inspired by the lack of Elvis wailing as they ran onto the pitch, the Arsenal players raised their game considerably after the relatively average opening performance at Anfield. The only thing more gratifying than the 6-0 score line was the fact that it could have been doubled had Arsenal not pontificated in scoring positions and looked for that one extra pass and the perfect goal.

View from the 'new' North Bank

View from the 'new' North Bank

Theo Walcott was utterly superb. My Dad remarked that, after his first side footed goal, it would be nice to see a repeat of the game we saw in 1993 when Arsenal beat Ipswich Town 5-1 with a Kevin Campbell hat-trick and an Ian Wright brace. Well, it was even better than that. Three thoroughly deserved goals from the effervescent Walcott almost don’t do him justice. He skipped down the right wing, beating players willy nilly (where, in the past, he would have just run in to them, really quickly). His awareness was exceptional and crossing seems to have improved ten fold. The only criticism I would have is that he is still not being selfish enough (although, again, the goal tally clearly doesn’t tell that story). Had he not been looking for the pass and gone straight for goal, he may have had five or six (that really isn’t an exaggeration). If this is the Theo we see for the rest of the season then we have a lot to look forward to.

It was a mere 12 minute wait for the Arsenal opener. Up until that point, the possession had been mostly with Arsenal, but there were still a couple of incidents in which Blackpool looked dangerous (a newly promoted side who scored 4 in their first game of the season should not be underestimated). With a couple of decent chances already, Arsenal looked much more direct than they had been at Anfield the week before. It took some good work from Rosicky, who had his second excellent game in the space of 6 days, to create the first for Walcott. A tricksy turn and pass out wide to Theo gave him the opportunity to side foot home.

A couple more chances went begging and Blackpool still looked positive. An excellent measured cross should have resulted in a goal almost immediately after Arsenal’s opener but Gary Taylor-Fletcher fluffed the easy header wide. Otherwise, Almunia had little of note to do but probably does deserve a mention for looking quite well positioned (and not particularly flappy) for crosses and set pieces. His distribution was also superb. I have a feeling that he may be our lot this season what with the utter stupendosity (yes, a made up word but one that feels appropriate) of Mark Hughes who wants £50m and Fabregas for the 55 year old Mark Schwarzer. The sooner the fans get behind him and his confidence returns the better, in my opinion.

It took until the 30th minute, the exact point at which you begin to think ‘we really could do with another goal before the break otherwise this is going the distance’, for Rosicky to put Chamakh through who was then brought down by last man Evatt who was inevitably sent off when the penalty was given. The Blackpool players protested that the challenge was made outside the box. Not something that I agreed with from where I was sitting but other reports suggest that replays corroborate their objections and (according to the post match press conference) even Mr Wenger saw it and agreed. I will watch Match of the Day with interest. Andrei Arshavin slotted home the spot kick with what was, really, the only truly good thing he did all afternoon. I do worry where this lackadaisical start has come from. Is he still bitching about all the tax he is paying in this wonderful country of ours? Either way, the sooner he snaps out of it, the better. An average year and we may have to think about returning him to the Cossacks. He may heal like dog but, unfortunately at the moment, he play like penguin.

Where Liverpool came back fighting after being reduced to 10 men, Blackpool crumbled. The game took on a five-a-side feel as Arsenal moved the ball around for fun and created chance after chance after chance. Theo got his second before the break and there was little point in Blackpool coming out for the second half. Which is a shame because up until the penalty they looked fairly strong and, if I am honest, I think our defence could do with the practice. Alex Song was make shift centre back in the absence of Koscielny who was suspended (I assume we didn’t appeal the ridiculous second yellow he got against Liverpool) and Djourou who is still not fit. He had a good game I thought and his tenacity is always an asset. Vermaelen was Vermaelen, galloping up the pitch one minute and sprinting back the next, but always solid in the last third. Gael Clichy played OK but he seems to be lacking pace and I think he may find himself fighting for his place if Gibbs continues to have games like he did for England this week. Sagna seemed to be far too advanced, leaving gaping holes where the right back should be covering. Blackpool exploited this and there were incidences that our back four looked unorganised and quite scary. I think we could do worse than to get Tony Adam in as a defensive coach.

Anyway, I digress, we didn’t let any goals in and Almunia didn’t flap at anything so I should just be grateful I suppose. Diaby scored a nice little volley early in the second half and had a very good game on the whole. Theo completed his thoroughly deserved hat trick ten minutes later. Then on came Robin Van Persie and our beloved captain to rings of ‘We’ve got Cesc Fabregas, we’ve got Cesc Fabregas’. No badge kissing, no dramatic gestures, just good old Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings like the puppet master he is. Bloomin heck he’s good. Any suggestions that he won’t give everything in what could be his last year at Arsenal are a complete insult. RVP looked up for it (apart from a worrying 5 minutes where he appeared to pick up a knee injury) and had it not been for a poor decision to lay the ball off rather than shoot would have been on the score sheet. Towards the end of the game, it did appear that we would only be happy if we walked the ball into the net after 37 passes in the six yard box. It took the impressive Chamakh (who previously made what is likely to be the miss of the season in front of an open goal) to score a proper centre forward’s goal with a well taken header from a Van Persie corner. The keeper should have done better but even a Spurs fan would agree that he deserved to open his account for Arsenal today.

And that was that. Theo returned to the pitch (having been removed for RVP’s sake) to claim his match ball and standing ovation. The small sea of orange Blackpool fans stayed until the end and were thoroughly excellent throughout. The few I saw on the way back to Finsbury Park tube didn’t even look that bothered. I suspect this won’t be the last time they see their keeper pick the ball out of the net that many times. But, even if it only lasts a season, they’re going to enjoy every second of being in the premier league, and so they should.

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Karma Police Come Calling For Pepe Reina As Arsenal Sneak Draw

Posted on August 15, 2010 by admin

Posted by SmartArse

Phew. Well we got away with that one didn’t we? Really didn’t look like we were going to score until Pepe Reina rather generously decided to hand us a draw and join the growing brigade of keepers this weekend seemingly hell bent on making our keepers look respectable by comparison so we don’t buy a better one. There are certainly some negatives to discuss, but first, a little fun at the expense of Pepe Reina.

Arsenal fans all over the nation react to Reina's error

Arsenal fans all over the nation react to Reina's error

Oh the irony! After all the recent chatter about our awful keepers (more on that in a bit) a man who is pretty much indubitably one of the very best in the league, one who I swear doesn’t even make mistakes, just had to go and drop an absolutely almighty howler. Humongous. Ha ha, you sly little twat, that’s whatcha get for your ‘hilarious’ behaviour with Cesc. That’s Karma, fool. In the words of Radiohead, “This is what you get, when you mess with us.” Would perhaps be funnier if a goalkeeping mistake didn’t bring to mind all of ours from last year, but still pretty damn rib-tickling.

It gave us a draw we probably deserved, even if only because they weren’t exactly good enough to deserve a win either. We were a) absolutely ponderous is possession b) punished for individual mistakes and nearly lost the game as a result. A little worryingly familiar right? Today’s performance had a rather stronger whiff of last season than a brave new dawn. It’s a well worn adage that 10 men can be rather hard to breakdown, but we didn’t half make it look especially difficult. In an entire half of football we only actually forced 1 actual effort on target with Theo’s reasonably threatening free-kick. Perhaps Rosicky’s effort was sneaking in too.

Unsurprisingly a few individuals were particularly culpable. Arshavin is taking an absolute pasting on twitter. Lazy players make especially good scapegoats, but he really was awful. When you make Glen Johnson’s defending look good you know you’ve had a bit of a shocker. Less obvious culprits were present in the shape a pedestrian Diaby, a fairly peripheral Chamakh and the slightly underwhelming Nasri. The latter especially didn’t have a bad game per se, he just didn’t quite take the game by the scruff of the neck the way his pre-season promised. Neat passing, but no thrust. Not quite ready to step in for Cesc yet then.

Rather more surprising was the fact that the limited thrust we eventually mustered came largely from Tomas Rosicky, a man I felt was likely to follow Eduardo’s sad route to the exit. He was far more direct than he’s been in absolutely ages, offering penetrating passing missing elsewhere and was very unlucky not to pick up the equaliser himself after an excellent driving run. Rather fitting then that it was I’m pretty sure his cross that led to the goal. His performance certainly qualifies as good news on a day a little short on it from an Arsenal point of view. It would be fantastic to get a fully firing Rosicky back on a regular basis.

So it was certainly a performance which provided more questions than answers, though a few cautionary points are worth making. It was of course only the first game of the season, and to be fair, I’d have definitely taken that result before the game. Patchy performances are par for the course at this time of the year. Remember last year United managed to lose to Burnley early on. Getting a draw at Anfield isn’t really in the same ballpark. Plus we were missing three members of our spine, who are, with the probable exception of Tommy V, probably our three best players and others, like the awful Arshavin, haven’t had the most ideal of pre-seasons with injury niggles and whatnot.

And so it is that this post, like most others here and elsewhere at the moment has to return to those issues. Interesting that a few keepers have raised the potential issue that the grass may not always be greener and all that with some seriously shocking goalkeeping this weekend, but all that is rather erased by the performance of a certain Joe Hart who demonstrated that a world class goalkeeper is an absolute necessity for sides with title pretensions. For now we’ll just settle for a keeper who doesn’t flap quite as much as Manuel Almunia did today. He looked as terrified as every Arsenal fan did every time Liverpool got a set piece. Not inspiring. At fault for the goal? Difficult to say as Ngog absolutely mullered it in, but his positioning was seriously questionable, far too much room at his near post, and his reactions surprisingly slow. So probably. The flapping was far more terrifying.

We’re probably gonna end up spending an unnecessarily large amount on Mark Schwarzer, but really I don’t care. If money’s an issue then to hell with it, I’ll sell my house and donate the funds to the cause. Seriously being homeless is a small price to pay to stave off the threat of goalkeeper induced heart attack. I don’t want to die young.

The issue of an extra centre back was initially staved off by Koscielny’s reappearance after half time, which probably saved an immense amount of discussion on Joe Cole’s tackle. Especially when the meaningless, ‘he’s not that kind of player’ stuff was wheeled out on Sky. Joe Cole to be fair, probably actually isn’t. He’s just a rather rubbish tackler who tries it all the time anyway. Like Scholes. Or Jack Wilshere, who was probably lucky not to be sent off himself. My immediate reaction was wince, oh shit is he going off? And to the letter of the law he could have:

“Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the
danger to, or consequences for, his opponent.
• A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned

“Using excessive force” means that the player has far exceeded the necessary
use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent.
• A player who uses excessive force must be sent off

Certainly possible to file both under the latter category. Dangerous, reckless, not malicious, but still red cards. If we want to really address the issue of the sort of tackle that buggered Aaron Ramsey we’ve got to admit when one of our own was probably just over the the line of acceptable. A quick congratulation to the Sky pundits for coming to the conclusion that it was indeed a red card with few excuses. And he’s English, normally they get let off scot free.

At any rate the whole centre back thing suddenly became pertinent with Koscielny’s rather harsh red card for two yellows. First probably deserved, he did kick a man in the balls. Second not, clearly not deliberate handball. And as Andy Gray pointed out, inconsistent refereeing, an accusation that could have been made a few times. As a result we are suddenly left with just Thomas Vermaelan and the untrusted Havard Nordveit for Blackpool next week. Will that speed up our pursuit of new players? Can only hope so. Really don’t like having to use Song there, we miss him in the middle too much, but sadly it may be too difficult to sort in less than a week. Otherwise we’ll have to hope Blackpool don’t attack too often.

For a game with so few shots on target that was rather a lot of points to discuss wasn’t it? God I love football. Not the most inspirational of starts, but equally not bad enough to panic. Time to get to winning ways next week. The return of Cesc won’t exactly harm matters.

‘Till next time. Come on the Arsenal!

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