Testing Times and Doubtful T(h)omases!

I have to say that, in the past three decades at least, I have not witnessed a time when, in the great scheme of things, games could be more meaningless and yet so damned important.

I know that there have been much more important games over that time such as the Champions League final against Farcalona, title run-ins, the odd FA Cup final, even those last few games of the Invincible season when you just knew we were going to throw away the chance to rewrite the history books away with a stunning reversal by Leicester City at Highbury! Conversely, there have been a few much less important games along the way too. The last three of four games of most seasons tend to provide that excruciating feeling of utter pointlessness regardless of how much we looked like we may actually be there fighting for the title until the death in the preceding weeks!

But I digress, as usual, from the main point that I am trying to make here! Sorry to bring this up, but as I am sure you are all keenly aware, the real successes that we have enjoyed in that period were quite some time ago now and a lot has changed since those heady days. Case in point, we were genuinely relieved when we beat Swansea 1-0 at home on Saturday and are all getting a little pre-match tension going before heading off to play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

In truth, I don’t remember a time when things were, for all the best will in the world, so uncertain in terms of direction, ability, desire or even the chance of us actually winning something. Put simply, we don’t really know how the new boys will fit in, we are unsure of what system Wenger has in mind for the team or even if it will change at all and we are even less sure that he could survive the next couple of months if we do something foolish like troll off to Germany tomorrow and get a good old shoeing! All in all things are a little up in the air and a good thump down to earth is the last thing we need. If there is any team in our Champions League group that can provide that thump, it may well be Borussia Dortmund.

Key players for them include: Sebastian Kehl, captain, a fantastic tackler and very good passer of the ball, Mats Hummel, not just a good central defender but also a real threat from set pieces along with central defensive partner Subotic (if he plays), Robert Lewandowski, a proper handful of a centre forward who, apart from being fairly lethal from short range, long range or with his head, also makes a habit of providing the kind of well-timed, defence-splitting runs which the likes of Mario Götze, clearly amongst the very best young attacking midfielders in Europe right now, simply love to provide defence-splitting passes for him to get on the end of.

There are warning signs here. Our defence will have to be on their toes or the creative attacking midfielders of Dortmund could well do some serious damage. Having watched a fair bit of Dortmund last season, it seems that our defence will have to begin from the front too. The Dortmund midfielders tend to drop deep to get the ball but, in a three behind the front man Farcalona-style setup, they move the ball very quickly from defence or defensive midfield to the penalty area. Make no mistake, this is not going to be an easy fixture, certainly not as easy as we would like it to be given the general state of things right now.

In reality we have never really fared that well against German sides and, whilst they may not have the stature or reputation of the likes of Bayern Munich, this Dortmund side do play fairly attractive, very attack-minded football, a lot like us to be fair. They too come into the game off the back of a dodgy result, losing at home for the first time in 18 games to Hertha Berlin and playing, well, terribly in the process. They are playing in the Champions League for the first time since the 2002-03 season but are doing so as champions of the Bundesliga and, to be fair, are a good side with a lot of young players, all of whom appear to be as technically gifted as our own, with an average age of just 24, one could be excused for thinking that this should be a team for the future and yet here they are, Champions of Germany. Of course, all of this serves to bring yet more unwanted pressure on our own young players to produce the goods on Tuesday night or facing getting “out-kidded”!

In terms of our team, we have the usual mass of bodies queuing up in the treatment room. Rambo Myarse, (sorry, Ramsey) hobbled out of training on Monday with an ankle injury, Jack Wilshere is already out until the end of September at least although word from the club seems to suggest we could be more likely to see him pull on the mighty red shirt sometime around the end of October. Add to this the two T(h)omases who are both still out, Rosicky as usual and Vermaelan, well, as usual too, and then tack on Diaby who, believe it or not, is still actually paid a salary to play football, and we are looking pretty thin on the ground. Jenkinson returns from suspension but did not make Wenger’s 18-man squad whilst all 5 of the new shiny things got seats on the plane although Santos is still lacking match fitness having not played a competitive match since the Copa America almost two months ago and will therefore be unlikely to get a place in the starting lineup.

We will also welcome back the effervescent Gervinho as well as what could well turn out to be a pivotal role in the shape of Alexandre Song. If Dortmund do indeed have a weakness, I believe that it is in their full backs, Piszczek and Löwe. If Gervinho can get at them like he did against the full backs of Udinese, we may well come out of this with a share of the points or even three all of them. Of equal importance will be Song’s ability to stay in position and break up their attacks before we are praying that Kos hasn’t forgotten there is a game going on or Mertesacker finds himself trying to play catch-up with a Dortmund player he probably won’t catch up with!

I think the team is likely to line up in a much more conventional than usual 4-4-2 due to the injuries to Aaron and Jack and thus expect it will look something like this:

We have to hope that Mertesacker’s knowledge of Dortmund will be put to full use and as such we can also hope that he learned as much from his Bremen side getting beaten by them 2-0 away from home last season as he did when Bremen won 2-0 at home.

In truth, this is not the type of game that we as fans or we as a club really need right now. There are clear dangers here and everybody will have to perform well for us to get a result. If we lose concentration we will be punished and if we show the sort of profligacy in front of goal as we did against Swansea, we will be lucky to get out with a point.

All of that said, without precisely this type of game to go and win, how would we rebuild that fragile, shattered confidence?!

On top of that, we have a secret weapon, something cunning and devious, something that they do not have and something that they will not be expecting…

EXPERIENCE!

Come On You Champions League Challenging Gooners!!!

Why I think Arsenal will win the league!

In Gooner terms, to describe the last month as very very bad, would be a desperate understatement. Defeat to Birmingham, Barca and United saw us crash out of three major trophies, not to mention a disappointing draw at home to Sunderland in the league. On top of all this we have taken injury blows to Djourou, Szezny, Walcott, Song and of course our captain, Cesc. Calls in to 5 live have been requesting Arsene to leave as if we have finished in the bottom half of the table, from the outset it seems that the Gooner’s season has been turned upside down. And I think it’s fair to say we’ve hit what one would call ‘a mid-season crisis.’ But in this article I would like to explain why this little crisis shouldn’t, actually, can’t continue to overshadow our season.

Right where to start, ah yes I almost forgot. 15 years ago, Arsenal were the Aston Villa of the Premier league, in ’94 we finished 12th, in ’95 we finished 5th, as Alan Hansen would say ‘It was a mixed bag.’ Our stadium was a 40,000 seater and our fan base barely stretched over the English border. 15 years later, Arsenal are in a very very different place. We finish in the top 4 every year, our stadium capacity has increased by 20,000 and we are the most popular European club in Africa. In finances, Our yearly turnover is near that of Real Madrid and we are emerging from a huge shadow of debt faster than anyone predicted. Now I don’t think there is one person who can tell me that the grass is much greener than it was 15 years ago. To me, this has all been implemented by the success of one man, Arsene Wenger. It was he who came to us in ’96 and picked up our unsettled team from the despotic hands of Bruce Rioche. It was he who brought us the Premier league 3 times and FA Cup 4 times. Mr Wenger transformed Arsenal from top to bottom, inside out, he is behind the youth system, the team philosophy and of course the success. Arsenal is his project, creation almost, and it would be entirely foolish to sweep it out of his control.

The main subject of our criticism over the last month has been our centre midfield, or lack of. Abou Diaby and Denilson have had a fair crack of the whip, but neither of them have made any effect in games against Barca and United. With injuries to Song and Fabregas, we supposedly have a problem in the area. The answer lies with one man/boy: Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey showed us what he’s got in the latter end of last season and after recovering from injury is the perfect man for the job. Ramsey posses strength, pace, vision and determination, by the time he was savagely put out of action by Stoke last season, he was already a well established team member. If that isn’t enough to suggest that he is the obvious alternative to Diaby, Ramsey is known to improve when partnered up with Jack Wilshere who will be starting as many games as possible from now until May. In fact, the pair have already been hailed as the Gooner’s midfield future. Wilshere’s ability to retain possession and use the width of the pitch, mixed with Ramsey’s magic first touch and ability to create something out of nothing make them an irresistible duo. However, while Wilshere shows sure signs of becoming one of the best in the world, there is a small chance that Ramsey will pick up ‘Eduardo Syndrome’ and fail to return to the form which he was on before his terrible injury. This is unlikely as Ramsey has had two loan spells at Cardiff and Nottingham Forest where he has shown the same ability as previously. Ramsey and Wilshere seem like the perfect duo to rush to aid our endangered season, and if deployed, I believe they could be pivotal in the conclusion of our season

Now in terms of tactics, If we are to prevail over every opponent from now until the end of the season I believe Arsene should enforce a strict set of rules regarding selection. One starting XI should be set in concrete, by Saturday Arsene should have found the midfield combination which he wants to stick with until the return of Song and Fabregas. As fixture congestion will not be an issue there will be no need to rest anyone and the team should remain fairly similar from now until May. The team should be heavily disciplined, the victory is not stable until a 4 goal margin. Away games will be key, this weekend we play West Brom in an enormous fixture, I believe we should play away games with a far more defensive and conservative mentality than in the past, score line is utterly irrelevant, what matters is if we concede. Conceding will drain our moral and we must do everything we can to prevent it.

In terms of depth and selection we have only a slight problem, at least two players contest each outfield position, every player in our squad is top quality. I believe we can beat United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa with the players available to us, as far off as that may seem in the current moment. Aside from tactics, I believe our main barrier is Mentality. Mentally we have cracked over the past month, the fixture congestion and pressure of big matches became too great a burden causing us to give below par performances. The rest given from only being in one competition should do us a world of good. Not only can the boss revise his strategies for upcoming matches, but the players can have time realise the clear and vital mission which they must complete to define the season. The most important thing is that our players are in positive mindset, from there, given the ability of our players, and without sounding too corny, anything is possible.

Heated and hostile atmosphere in Belgrade guranteed

Champions League tonight has finally arrived and I’m looking for a much improved performance from the team all around, if it was just a blip or whatever you want to call it, then tonight is perfect opportunity to lift the spirits ahead of the game on Sunday. We all know by now that Almunia got injured against WBA on Saturday when he made the penalty and didn’t make the trip to Serbia, below par performance from Diaby also didn’t include him in the squad, or maybe he is injured again, who knows Arsene didn’t say anything regarding him during his Press Conference.  This means Lukasz Fabianski will feature in goal against Partizan Belgrade this evening with most of fans already grinding their teeth at the thought of the Pole between the sticks. I have my own doubts to be honest with you I’m Polish myself and it pains to say this but whenever Lukasz gets a chance he always manages to fuck it up big time, sometimes I wonder when will he learn to stop making such simple yet costly mistakes, so far he has not impressed me with his performances. Asrene obviously has confidence in him and said:

“I want him to show how good he is,” said Wenger. “He gets another opportunity to show how good he is.
 
“There is only one way to show confidence in a player and that is to put him on the pitch and give him his chance. I have confidence in him.
 
“As a manager you can give a chance to a player who is good enough – I believe in his talent.
 
“It is another big chance but you want a goalkeeper or any player to grab the chance when you get it.”

I agree with those points made above, however he made so many costly errors every time he got his chance I’m starting to think he must be running out of these now, how many more chances is Arsene willing to give him? Maybe I’m being too harsh on him, perhaps I’m a bit but that is because I want him to succeed in every way, I want him to show us he’s good enough and that he’s a talented keeper. To prove himself to the fans and show the others he’s a worthy Arsenal goalie. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I sincerely hope he will have a good game tonight, come on Lukasz no fucking about this time please! 

Wojtek Szczesny has also been included in the squad and I think this is due to his latest outburst, he clearly wants to play and if he doesn’t then he may be looking elsewhere to do just that. I was rather surprised he wasn’t sent out on loan, so it seems Wenger has got other plans for him this coming season. Wojtek had a really good spell at Brentford last season but this obviously doesn’t mean he will preform on the same level in the Premier League. I still think there is massive potential there and he should bide his time for now. If Almunia and Fabianski will keep on making blunders left, right and center I can guarantee we’ll see Wojtek in goal sooner rather than later.

Speaking about the keepers, one brave Partizan Belgrade keeper Vladimir Stojkovic thinks we are weak without Cesc Fabregas, speaking to The Sun he said:

“We’ve watched Arsenal’s last few matches and they really have changed,”

“They have problems in defence and in goal.

“But their biggest problem is the absence of Fabregas. He’s a basic element in their team and they miss him.

“So I would rather face Arsenal now than in two months’ time when he has recovered from his hamstring trouble.

“They are in a bad spell right now and we need to profit from this.”

One word of advice to you Vladimir, just watch that space between you  and your posts tonight my friend you never know when Jack is going to hit you, just concentrate on your own team for now. Perhaps he’s right in a way but I refuse to take such nonsense from someone like him and I believe our squad is strong enough to beat Partizan on their home turf. Enough about keepers for now please, all I hear from last Saturday is keeper this, keeper that and it’s driving me up the wall.

Glad to hear Song wants to make amends and is looking to improve things from last weekend, we are probably going to see our left back Gibbs taking over from Clichy and I was really happy to hear that he made it in time. Don’t get  me wrong here I think Clichy is a really talented left back but it seems he has not made any progress recently, on the other hand to me Gibbs is already on the same level if not in front already. A bit of competition can only be good for them both either way.

That’s about all you will get from me today. Let’s forget about what happened on Saturday and get behind the team even if it means supporting Fabianski in goal, after all he’s an Arsenal player right? Decent performance will only give him more confidence and if he has a point to prove tonight then I’m behind him all the way, same goes for the others an improvement is a must if we want to bring home three precious points. A win in Belgrade will put us on a high just as well before we meet the Chavs, if you would like to put your money where your mouth is then look at SkyBet 3-1 to The Arsenal at 16/1 not bad at all. Have a good evening everyone get behind the lads and enjoy the game.

Come on you Riproaring Almighty Reds…!!!

We deserved to loose and they way we did, speaks for itself!

Football is a funny and cruel game isn’t it?

Midweek Euphoria had every Gooner on top of the world after stuffing Spuds 1:4 at Three Point Lane on Tuesday night. We probably fielded a stronger side than our neighbours but all the same they have thrown in some experienced players too. I’m not here to talk about the Carling Cup game because we have witnessed yet again truly awesome performance  from our lads, I just wanted to remind everyone what it’s like being on top of the world and  then four days later we throw it all away with such a abysmal performace.

Having Chelsea surrender points earlier against Citeh this was a perfect opportunity to put some pressure on the leaders, especially against WBA with no disrespect to them obviously. We all know Chavs dealt with them swiftly at home and I expected nothing less at The Emirates and boy was I wrong here.

Take nothing away from West Brom they were the better team on the day and they deserved to win the game no questions asked and hats off to them, they wanted it more than us, they were quicker, looked sharper, had more desire to win the ball at every opportunity they were simply  100% committed and honestly we got what we deserved as Arsene said himself:

We made it more difficult because we were not at our usual level. Not defensively, not offensively. Overall everything was difficult for us today – passing the ball, winning the ball back, winning the one against ones – and we got what we deserved which was zero points. We didn’t deserve more. The positive is that we did fight until the last minute but it was just not good enough at that level to get three points.

We started off well, however after about 20 minutes we already phased out, our passing was awful, our attacking was crap and defending even worse. We were lucky not to be at least three nil down at half time. Almunia made the penalty but he took responsibility for his own mistake and saved the spot kick and at that time I thought if we can hold on to half time then we can definitely improve in the second. Hold on what the hell am I talking about, we are playing at home in front of our fans we should be on top of them from the start, what the fuck is going on here? Those thought at the time were going through my head and I believe rightly so!

Second half was even worse I couldn’t bear to watch how ordinary we were and how badly the whole team looked on the pitch, there was no desire, no commitment, no urgency to show your own fans that the first half was just a little blip and it’s business as usual in the second. We made mistake after mistake after mistake, our defence was completely asleep for all the goals, Almunia had howler to his near post for the second as for the third well you can judge that one for your self, truly shocking defending full stop.

I don’t want to come down on individual mistakes here because the whole team didn’t preform at all apart from one player Samir Nasri, to me the lad worked his socks off and almost got us back on level terms. Eboue and Diaby should have been substituted at half time at least they had let’s be honest here a shit game and didn’t show any signs of improvement in the second half. I know it’s still early days and after a weekend were Man U only took a point for our good fortune  it doesn’t look so bad, however if we are to carry on with minnow teams at home like the way we did on Saturday afternoon then believe me Carling Cup is all we can aim for this season!

Some players need wake up and smell the coffee, just because they play for Arsenal it’s not a matter of turning up for the game and underestimating the opposition, you need to give your 100% each game and show you are doing so on the pitch as loosing a game wouldn’t be so bad if it was clear enough for everyone to acknowledge you give your absolute everything on the filed.

Sunderland preview, time to make amends up north!

There was not  great deal of significant news surrounding Arsenal since the thrashing of Braga 6:0 on Wednesday evening. We witnessed a magnificent performance that evening which still makes me smile when I look back. For obvious reasons we need to make amends at the Stadium of Light this late afternoon, last time we didn’t play well and ultimately lost the game. It goes without saying that Sunderland is a place where three points should be secured and this time around due to our current run and form I see us doing just that. Meaestro Cesc has been talking about not getting ahead of ourselves and letting the others know Sunderland are no pushovers for sure:

“I am not going to read too much into our beating both Blackburn and Bolton – in previous years we might have done the same thing before collapsing against the big sides, so it’s best that we just keep going, keep improving and keep making things difficult for whoever we face.”

“On Saturday, that will be Sunderland, which is always a very difficult place to go. Last season we didn’t do well at the Stadium of Light, but it was straight after an international break and we were perhaps a bit tired, so we hope for better this time.”

“We are happy with 10 points from four Premier League games. We would have preferred 12, but we are up there, we are second, and now we need to guard against losing more points because we will need everything we can get at the end of the season.”

These are true words of a Captain you can sense here he’s telling the other lads to keep their heads and feet on the ground, 100% we must give anything else on top is a bonus. There were few articles going around yesterday I believe about Cesc not being very happy after the Braga game, during the interview which I saw live the lad was asked questions about the game and all those Barca rumors. He answered his questions regarding the game well, however when it came to the other subject he certainly felt uneasy about it and rightly so. Transfer windows is now closed, season has started, Arsenal fans have already forgotten about what happened and yet he still has to explain himself. Cesc doesn’t need to do that, he has shown on the pitch he’s 100% committed to the Arsenal cause!

Team news are pretty good to be honest with you, no more injuries during midweek which is always music to the ears, we will still be without Vermaelen and Diaby who should resume normal service against West Brom next week. Yet another decent performance is required by Squilliaci and Koscielny at the back. I would like to see the same squad start the game that tore apart Braga on Wednesday, the confidence will definitely be very high there. Sunderland have got their own share of injuries and the usual suspect suspended due to red card, saying that this will be a different cup of tea altogether and our lads need to address things from the first whistle. They will try anything possible to break our rhythm so quick pass and move tactics are required. I feel good about this one I know we have Chamakh up front and he’s been a brilliant signing so far. Come on Chamakh!

Looking at the bookies there is a tasty looking bet with Skybet at 14/1 on 3:1 correct score line, so I should be investing on that one. My last prediction was perhaps naive but who would of thought we would put six past Braga. For those of you going to the game have a great day and please ignore anything that Fat Sam and Owen Coyle spread around in the media about Arsene, they are a bunch of  Hansen’s and we all know who he really is. That’s all my fellow Gooners, enjoy the game and have great weekend.

Come On You Riproaring, Free Scoring Almighty Reds!

We deserved this one and we responded well

Weekends come and go, we all look forward to the game at the weekend and before you know it it’s Monday morningand you have to be at work, witha hangover for some of us. It was a good weekend for me, it all started with Everton taking on Man U at midday, I watched the game and thought it would nice for Everton to beat Man U but then the score line looked 1:3 and I changed the channel. Without knowing the final outcome of the game I prepared my self to watch us take on dirty Bolton and dirty they were don’t you think?

First half was a bit nervous I would say, we scored first with a bit of a mix-up in the box Jack crossed the ball in and Koscielny made it 1:0 with a simple tap in but only for him to make a mistake at the other end with some sloppy passing, by that time we should have been at least 4:0 up where Arshavin had a chance after chance unfortunately it wasn’t his day, as much as he tried there was no end product there. I do have to say he worked his socks off so I will let him off here. Fisrt half ended in 1:1 and I felt we needed to improve after the break.

Second half saw a much improved and goal hungry Arsenal side, the game became more physical at that moment and Bolton reverted to some nasty challenges and in the 64th minute Gary Cahill was sent off for a tackle from behind on the man who scored moments later. Chamakh’s header put us in front again after Cesccrossed the ball into the  six yard box, Alex Song withsome clever ball control and a brilliant flick got the third few minutes later. I did go for a 3:1 correct score line withthe bookies but Cesc with a brilliant through ball found Carlos Vela who smashed a low shot and made it 4:1 ultimately making my profit go down the drain. Never mind as I enjoyed this ride very much and three points are more important than anything else.

Bolton should have had another red card or even two, Kevin Davies on purpose clashed heads with Koscielny but referee Stuart Atwell waved it off, that would of been his second yellow and he should have joined Cahill in the dressing room. What happened later was a complete disgrace, Paul Robinson should have seen a straight red after his malicious leg braking tackle on Abou Diaby, for me the linesman had a clear view of the incident and should have done something about it. How on earth the FA allow a Phantom Goal referee in the Priemier League is just beyond a joke. Diaby replaced Jack and only lasted few minutes and was replaced by Denilson, after the tackle Diaby wasn’t happy one bit and I fully stand by him on that one, I would definitely do the same thing. This tackle could have ended his footballing career and Atwell should be dropped to Sunday league games, his atrocious mistakes should be punished and should never be allowed in top league games. I only hope and wish Diaby a speedy recovery to his best!

Diaby is one lucky man

We saw some good individual performances on Saturday no doubt and it looks like our Captain is on his way back, he got three assists and should have probably scored himself. It’s nice to see him coming back to his best. Everyone had a really good game, hopefully Arshavinwill start scoring soon and with Chamakh up front we have definitely an aerial threat we haven’t had in ages. After checking the results after the games it was a nice suprise to see that Everton came back to 3:3 and made my Saturday afternoon even better.

Champions League here we come, till next time everyone.

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