tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26148306360614596062024-02-06T22:01:02.791-08:00Victory Through HarmonyA view on Arsenal, which can be completely biased but often realisticAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-79464785963830671692015-06-20T02:26:00.004-07:002015-06-20T02:26:29.520-07:00Arsenal Player Power Rankings 14/15<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This feature has become somewhat of a traditional end of season blog. Hopefully this something different for you to sink your teeth into. <br /><br /> The aim - rank players on actual performance throughout the 14/15 season. Reputations are set aside, favouritism goes out of the window (as one Giroud hater will demonstrate later) and we'll see if there's been either progression or regression. <br /><br />So without further ado it gives me great pleasure to introduce our panel. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LucaHelvetica">@LucaHelvetica</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/modgooner">@modgooner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/kaltume_b">@kaltume_b</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/buxtongooner">@buxtongooner</a>, @<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKravetsky">SteveKravetsky</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/tc_gooner">@TC_Gooner</a> and me <a href="https://twitter.com/mj_afc">@mj_afc</a><br /><br />They've helped put this blog together and without it that would just leave you with my ramblings, so please give them a follow as they've all been a great help.<br /><br />Their task was to rate all of our players from 1 (being the best) to 10 and you'll read more from them a bit later. <br /><br />So here is a quick run down of the Top 10 from the 2013/14 season<br /><br /> 10 - Gibbs<br />9 - Arteta<br />8 - Sagna<br />7 - Cazorla<br />6 - Ozil<br />5 - Giroud<br />4 - Szczesny<br />3 - Mertesacker<br />2 - Koscielny<br />1 - Ramsey<br /><br />There has been lots of movement within the top ten so without further ado, lets get the show on the road.<br /><br /><b>Hall of Shame - No Votes</b><br /><br />Arteta - Once again the club captain (Vermaelen) didn't receive any votes, understandable though due to injury.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Szczesny - From 4th last year to not even receiving a vote. It's been quite the fall from grace for the Pole, as he looked like he'd cemented himself as our number for years to come. <br /><br />Wilshere & Walcott - England's finest, hampered by injury and not close to receiving a vote. Quite ironic that they find themselves fully fit for the close season. Lets hope they are fresh and ready for a long season next year. <br /><br />Gibbs - Another player drops out of the top 10. Personally I don't think he's as good as everyone suggests. Rumours that he was going to start the cup final seemed ridiculous but clearly there are fans that still believe he has what it takes. I remember the start of a season when we were unsure of whether our first choice left back was Santos or Gibbs. Says it all really. <br /><br />Rosicky - If you don't like Rosicky, then you don't like football said Arsene. Well, it appears our manager doesn't rate Tomas as highly as his kind words suggest. <br /><br />And the rest - Martinez (remember him), Gabriel, Chambers, Flamini, Akpom and Diaby didn't get receive any votes. <br /><br /><b>Missed the Cut</b><br /><br />Debuchy - 1 vote (Highest Ranking - 10th)<br /><br />Injury hampered the Frenchman's ability to impose himself in his first season with the club. As with all good squad's he now finds himself in a position where despite being France's regular right-back he appears to have lost his position to a youngster. <br /><br />Welbeck - 2 votes (Highest Ranking - 10th)<br /><br />Injury derailed his season in the end but his lack of goals has probably cost him votes. Still a useful player and hopefully the suggested rest he needs to recover helps him overcome his injury. <br /><br />Oxlade-Chamberlain - 3 votes (Highest Ranking - 6th)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />He feels like a new age Rosicky at times. Full of drive and purpose but lacking in production. Once again injuries a big factor in his season. <br /><br />Ospina - 4 votes (Highest Ranking - 9th)<br /><br />Despite our relative stability at the back for the second stage of the season, Ospina has lots of haters. As is tradition at Arsenal there has to be a hate figure, whilst he is not top of the pile in that pecking order, he is definitely second in command. Some of it is unjustified and some of it is just bang out of order. Looks like he's heading for the exit which suggests Wenger's punishment of Szczesny was quite brutal. <br /><br /><b>The Top 10</b><br /><br />10th - Per Mertesacker (down 7 places)<br /><br />Without Koscielny he looked lost and despite sporting the armband on many occasions seemed to lack leadership when players around him needed him most highlighted in games against Anderlecht and Stoke. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a> - Played one minute at the end of the World Cup Final to earn a winners medal at the start of last summer then started an Arsenal season which would see him lift the FA Cup at Wembley. As years go it's been a pretty special one for the BFG. Like all of our players he's had his share of nightmare performances in 2014/15, but overall confirms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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everything that earned him third place in these rankings last season. You can't doubt his passion for the cause and in the absence of other leaders in the team then he has to come top of the list on that attribute. The real concern is that his peak must be behind him, but we can expect another solid season in 2015/16 and unfortunately a few mistakes that will confirm we possibly need to be looking elsewhere.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> - Did well to keep his place after a run of poor form but slowly his form returned. I would expect once Gabriel gets in the team it will be at the expense of Ze German. Good club man who very obviously has the respect of the players.<br /><br />9th - Aaron Ramsey (down 8 places)<br /><br />The former Power Ranking number 1 has lost his crown. So for the third season in a row nobody can retain their crown. Ramsey notched a couple of goals early on in the season but his all round game was lacking. Flicks and tricks didn't come off and he seemed to be more of a show man. He scored a great goal against Stoke and then scored our goal of the season against Galatasaray, only for his hamstring to cost him game time and set him back. Currently residing on the right wing and making noises of discontent. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a> - Where to start? He is a very good player but was never the superstar his form of the 14/15 season suggested. His work rate and ability to time his arrival in the box are without doubt but his decision making and passing are below the level of those around him. He reminds me of David Platt at his peak, pre Arsenal where the amount of goals disguised the lack of genuine class.<br /><br />He is a favourite of the managers's and was shoe horned into the right wing at the end of the campaign. He can play there but he limited the fluidity out there for me and damaged <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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our width. This was exaggerated further with Alexis cutting in and offering no width on the other flank. The big question for Ramsey and indeed Wilshere is whether they can oust Santi as I feel Coq and Ozil will start the majority of games. With Ox returning I hope he will play, so for me at least Ramsey is not a certain starter for August. Most will disagree but equally will not be able to tell me who should not play. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/modgooner">@modgooner</a> - Dodgy middle part of the season but the latter he has got used to his new role and it suits him. <br /><br />8th - Hector Bellerin (NEW ENTRY)<br /><br />Some new blood into the frame. Bellerin was given a baptism of fire away to Dortmund and the manager seemed reluctant to use him away from home until circumstances dictated otherwise and he played at Stoke. However, Hector has been a breath of fresh air and his performance at City was highlighted by Gary Neville. The future is bright and hopefully he doesn't slope off to Barcelona, despite their fans desire to see him return.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a> - wasn't on the winning side in any of his first four starts for the club this season and the usual questions were raised. That put him on the verge of another loan<br />move - one that didn't materialise. What actually happened was a solid contribution to the team on a par with Francis Coquellin's success in midfield. Has only been on the losing <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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side three times since the turn of the year - although the supposed upturn in form for the team doesn't take into account that two of those games were the incredibly important Monaco home tie and Tottenham away in the league - two of the ones we'd want to win most. Bellerin has risen to a position of first choice right back in that time and was outstanding at Wembley in the FA Cup final. Surely a better proposition than Chambers (too slow), Debuchy (too erratic) and Jenkinson (not good enough).<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> - Has played far more games than one would have expected him to this season & on the whole has done v well. Still gets caught out of position too often in the fact that he drifts in field and gets too close to his centre half. Another who's form dipped toward the end of the season but had a good Cup Final game and his searing pace is a great asset going forward and defending also.<br /><br />7th - Olivier Giroud (down 2 places)<br /><br />Not a big drop for the Frenchman from last season but still the biggest conversation splitter between fans. Heavily missed during the first part of the season after blocking a clearance from Distin broke his leg after equalising later on against Everton. He was player of the month for March but our lack of options and over-reliance on him playing week in, week out meant the goals dried up and there was nowhere to hide. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a> - I have been amongst his strongest supporters through good and bad and will not change now. However I do feel he has to suffer and pick up the bad headlines <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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for Arsene's lack on a plan B on occasions. He does toil against teams who park the bus and I think we will see more rotation next season. I think a pacy front 3 will feature more often and that Oli may become the plan B or the alternative based on the opposition. He had a rich vein of goal scoring form that should not be forgotten and I think he suffered through the lack of width and pace on the right flank once Ox was injured. <br /><br />I think we should also remember that he wears his heart of his sleeve and he will have taken the games against Monaco and Chelsea to heart. However he has scored against the big teams in the last campaign which is a big plus. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a> - Came back from injury & was bang in form, scoring plenty of goals. Horror show v Monaco, but never hides. Great link up man, but wonder if he should be plan B after a mobile CF who makes runs in behind.<br /><br />FYI - <a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a> voted Giroud as our 10th best player, so clearly he doesn't dislike him as much as he lets on. <br /><br />6th - Nacho Monreal (NEW ENTRY)<br /><br />Up there with some of the surprises of the season. Last year he was in the Hall of Shame, probably based on our horror shows at Anfield and The Etihad but he has made left back his own. He seems more comfortable in possession and provides much more of a threat in the final third. Gibbs doesn't come close. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a> - Heading into the season anyone would’ve been forgiven for assuming that Kieran Gibbs had a stranglehold on the starting left back place. But apparently no one told Nacho. Monreal did everything asked of him and made himself undroppable as the season wore on. There were some bumps along the way for Nacho; a few goals from back <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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post headers where he may have done better. But overall he was dependable and added plenty to the attack, including a classy finish to a wonderful team move against United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. Monreal was also called upon to play CB this season due to Koscielny’s ankle injury, and while he wasn’t always superb, I think he acquitted himself well and helped the team through a very tough period prior to Gabriel’s arrival in January. It’s unclear whether Nacho Monreal will stay at Arsenal, but if he does, it seems clear that the left back position is his thanks to a very competent 2014-2015 season.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a> - At LCB still felt was a little weak when challenged, but did a job when we had no one else. At LB he grabbed his place back & showed terrific improvement on end of last season. Assured in the tackle, good in possession and going forward.<br /><br /><b>THE TOP FIVE</b><br />5th - Mesut Ozil (up one place)<br /><br />A season that start with Ozil on the wing and struggling to influence games has ended with him having the freedom a number ten craves. He was given that role early on at Villa park as he scored and set up Welbeck in a comfortable away day outing but yet again injury played its part. However since returning he has been sublime and has is now pulling the strings and other players are starting to get on his wavelength. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/kaltume_b">@kaltume_b</a> - It's been a season of two parts for the German who despite having a successful and winning outing in the World cup still came in for heavy criticism especially in the first half of the season. I personally thought he was pretty decent albeit exhausted and a bit jaded from playing every single game at the world cup. Mesut still put in a decent shift scoring and providing an assist for Welbeck against Aston Villa and he also showed his <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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brilliance during the Champions League match against Galatasaray. His season was cut short with a partial knee ligament injury that would see him out of action for almost 3 months. His injury was a bit of a blessing in disguise as it gave him the necessary time to recover and also work on his upper body strength, because upon his return Ozil was a totally different beast combining his sublime magical skills with some much needed power. His brilliant ball over the top to set up Alexis's goal against Reading in the FA Cup Semi-final was Ozil at his best. He sees passes and creates space where there are none to the ordinary human eye, and he does it with such effortless grace. He was also able to thrive in his preferred number 10 role plus setting up a connection with another world class player in Alexis that is almost reminiscent of his partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo during his days at Madrid. I salivate simply thinking about how much more prolific and fruitful that partnership will become next season as we build on our back to back FA Cup success. Is it just a coincidence that we've won 3 trophies sine his arrival at Arsenal? He's definitely brought more winning mentality and self-belief to the side.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a> - underrated, I don't say that lightly he puts in a shift more than anyone seems to appreciate and he can create from nearly nothing, but man his attacking stats are exactly what we have been looking for. Long may it continue! <br /><br />4th - Laurent Koscielny (down 2 places)<br /><br />His lowest placing in three years but he remains our top defender. Sometimes you don't realise how good players are until they're not available and we are so much better with <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Koscielny. Rumour mills have linked him with the likes of Bayern and Real Madrid, that tells its own story.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a> - simply a rock, all our strength with him all our fears with out him. Personally the best CB in the Premier League.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/kaltume_b">@kaltume_b</a> - He brings such a wealth of stability, steel and calmness to that Arsenal backline. His understanding and reading of the game is exceptional he is the YIN to BFGs <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yan. Our season changed as soon as he returned to the side after his injury spell during the first half of the season. Koscielny has over the years become a real MVP at the Arsenal. <br /><br /><b>The Top Three</b><br /><br />3rd - Francis Coquelin (NEW ENTRY)<br /><br />The find of the season. Another case of fans clamouring for a position and being proved right. His discipline has been first class. The big question is do we run with him for next season or do we look to recruit? I have a sneaky suspicion that Wenger will give him the role and save some money. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a> - He continues to divide opinion, which baffles me beyond belief. Yes, he's limited, but he's recognised those limitations and developed his game accordingly. People laughed when we recalled him from Charlton, but he undoubtedly changed our season. He's not going to open up a defence, but he's hard working, tenacious, aggressive, <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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positionally disciplined, strong in the tackle & surprisingly dominant in the air. Although inexperienced, you can tell that he's a winner, and he's added the steel that we've been missing from our midfield since Gilberto left, providing the perfect platform for our more creative players to flourish. A true fairytale season, out of nowhere. The position is his to lose now. A superb contribution this season.<br /><br />@<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKravetsky">SteveKravetsky</a> - Seven years after Gilberto last played for the club it was a revelation to have a player willing to sit in the midfield and break up play. Coquelin was everything we all wanted Alex Song to be. If he manages to improve his distribution I think Arsenal have their defensive midfielder for the foreseeable future. My lasting memory of Coquelin this season will be him yelling instructions at everyone within earshot during the Man City match, this after having only been back with team for a month. A future captain.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> - No coincidence that Arsenals form dramatically improved when Le Coq was recalled from another loan spell due to injuries to others. He's the type of player a lot of us have been crying out for , since Gilberto left. One happy to sit and destroy with superb positional discipline ( He's the player Alex Song should have been for us). Covers the ground rapidly, takes no shit off anyone and isn't shy in ordering around more experienced team-mates. He's the Canvas which allows the likes of Cazorla and Ozil to paint their masterpieces. Was somewhat fortunate to get a run in the side but has taken his chance by the scruff of the neck. ( Very Ashley Cole like in that respect )<br /><br />2nd - Santi Cazorla (up 5 places)<br /><br />Much like with Coquelin he was given a new lease of life. Despite his rather prolific first season at the club this was without doubt his best year to date. He works brilliantly with Coquelin and the speed in which the ball is moved up the field helps us expose the opposition. At present Ramsey & Wilshere can't play in their preferred position because of his level of performances. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/LucaHelvetica">@LucaHelvetica</a> - struggled to get into the team early on in the season, but with injuries taking their toll he got a chance in central midfield and boy did he take it. While Alexis got my vote as player of the season, Santi's performance v City away was a masterclass and the performance of the season. Always good on the ball, he has shown some new found grit and determination in his new role. From struggling to get in the team he was almost one of the first names on the team sheet at the end of the season.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a> - What can you say about Santi Cazorla that hasn’t been said already? Perhaps the highest praise I can bestow upon him is that, in a season when Alexis stole all the headlines, he would still have to be strongly considered for Arsenal’s player of the season award. After a slight dip in form last season that carried into the early part of the <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2014-2015 season, he returned to his magical best. What’s most surprising is that he found his best form in central midfield, even displacing Aaron Ramsey from his preferred role. Cazorla’s quick feet and elusiveness in tight spaces greased the gears of arsenal’s midfield and were especially crucial as the less possession-oriented Francis Coquelin became an ever-present in the holding midfield role after Christmas. Cazorla showed a willingness to help out defensively and start the attacks from a deeper position than he’d previously played for Arsenal. And his performance in the tide-turning victory at the Etihad was nothing short of breathtaking. Heading into this season you could be forgiven for thinking Santi’s place in the starting XI might be at risk. Now he’s made himself one of the first names on the team sheet and an absolutely essential element to the formation and style Arsenal developed during a very successful final 4 months of the season. In short, he’ll probably leave this summer.<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/modgooner">@modgooner</a> - Changed positions to play in a deeper role but it seems to suit him, as he is best facing the opposition. City game was performance of the season.<br /><br /><b>And The Winner is...</b><br /><br />1st - Alexis (NEW ENTRY)<br /><br />Straight in at number one for the Chilean. I didn't have any doubt that he'd nothing other than a success. Actually, that's not strictly true. Do you remember his centre forward display at Goodison Park (he got subbed at HT). His work-rate has proven to be infectious and it was rather fitting that he scored an absolute worldie in the Cup Final as it encapsulated what he has brought to the side. Wonder how he's worth in the transfer market now. <br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a> - Not even sure where to start here. He's had the best debut season I can recall (including the King). What he lacks in ball retention skills, he makes up for in nearly everything else. He's quick, strong, technically gifted, determined and, most importantly for some, works his nuts off every single game. He's versatile, having played everywhere <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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across the front three, plus a stint at number 10, scoring 25 goals. He's a true winner, his attitude is infectious and he's certainly made other players step their game up. Quite simply, the bloke has been phenomenal. And to think, he's been "disappointed" with this season. Can't wait to see what he produces next season then...<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/LucaHelvetica">@LucaHelvetica</a> - What can be said about his debut season that hasn't already. His goals almost single handedly won us games in the first half of the season, and when the team started to click was still there with an important contribution. Topped off with the stunner in the final, it was probably the best debut season of any Wenger signing.<br /><br />@<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKravetsky">SteveKravetsky</a> - Made me remember what it was like having Thierry Henry play for Arsenal. Just knowing we had a player who could pick up the ball anywhere on the pitch and create a goal was a great feeling. What I liked most about Sanchez was the fact that he cared. It was refreshing to see a player lose the ball and instead of sulking hustle to win it back. The 25 goals didn't hurt either. From his opening goal against Besiktas to the FA Cup final against Villa there is no doubt Alexis Sanchez was the Arsenal player of the season.<br /><br />So there you have it. No real surprises with our number one selection, as all bar one person selected Sanchez as their player of the season. The only exception to that rule being <a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> who elected to go with Coquelin as his player of the season. So send your outrage his way. All comments were made independently and there's lots of consistencies with some selection choice and who'd have thought Gilberto would be 11th in the most mentioned player column. <br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy your Arsenal free weekend. If you get bored, you could always watch the Cup Final again.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-17046529155792507062014-09-17T05:29:00.001-07:002014-09-17T05:29:58.391-07:00New Season Same Old Problems<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it’s the morning after the night before. The inquisitions have started, the blame game is in full effect and supporters want answers, including me. We’ve seen last nights performance on far too many occasions and with an alarming frequency. The scars of Anfield, The Etihad and Stamford Bridge are still fresh and lets make no mistake, last night they could have easily had five or six. So what exactly is the issue?</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mentioned this on twitter earlier today that I genuinely believe work rate is an underrated aspect of the game, particularly for top sides. You don’t get by on just ability alone, although we try our best to do just that. There’s a stat floating around that reads Dortmund ran a further 11km more than Arsenal, that's approximately six and half mile. So that can point to two factors:</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did Wenger ask the team to sit deep and absorb pressure? </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Or did we just try and be expansive and therefore susceptible to high octane pressure?<br /><br />I know you already know the answer but to re-enforce it somewhat, about five to ten minutes in Sanchez went to close down their full back and he gesticulated to the rest of his team mates that he wanted some back up. A key sign that clearly we weren’t set up to sit deep. <br /><br />Another key aspect would be the lack of cover and protection for the back four. They were yet again, totally exposed. You can’t take your eyes off this team for a second because before you know it there’s Dortmund on the edge of our box, as if they’d teleported. <br /><br />Wenger seems to have forgotten what makes our sides tick despite achieving unrivalled success in the history of our football club. One aspect is a ability to mix it up in terms of style and the other is adapting formations to survive in Europe. Cast your mind back to the side that got to the Champions League final, there were some sub-standard players in that side but it worked with a 4-5-1 formation. Plenty of legs in the middle of the park and discipline in our play. We went on the road to Real, Juventus and Villarreal and never conceded. We had a clear strategy and a nice blend of players like Gilberto with work horses on the in midfield such as Ljungberg and Hleb. Possession was the name of the game, something Hleb thrived on. Now last night, I don’t recall seeing one player take control and orchestrate his side back into a game. It was scrappy, disjointed and above all naive. It’s the latter aspect of those three that annoys me the most. When will this side ever learn from it’s mistakes? I don’t want apologies, I want progression. Take Szczesny for example, his level of arrogance is so unwarranted, yet here we are getting battered and he’s trying to jink past a forward and taking extremely high risks. Personally, i think he’s struggled this season and when you are struggling you should be keeping your game as simple as possible. That said, he’s isn't the problem merely a case in point.<br /><br />The Wenger debate will rage on but we’re pretty much wasting our time because he’s as safe as houses. I really wanted some change at Arsenal in the summer and felt Wenger deserved to go out on a high but we continue to repeat the same mistakes year after year. I say this because I have expectations that we will compete for the title. Standards for which the club should review themselves against but elect to ignore this as long as the vault is full of cash and we are playing 26 highly competitive home games. The fact is our record in big games is embarrassing and even if you look as recently as our game v City on Saturday when we are 2-1 up, it’s an absolute clown show and there’s bags of experience on the pitch. Gary Neville tore us a new one on MNF and rightly so, laughable behaviour from the side when we are both in the lead and in possession. Lessons learnt? Not a chance, on the stroke of half time we have a throw and within seconds its in the back of our net and Immobile didn’t have to do a great deal, just keeping running must be the message, because all we do is back off until its too late. <br /><br />There is a saying that things are never as bad as they appear and that is certainly relevant when it comes to last night, after all it was Dortmund and not, say, Aston Villa but we want to compete and we fall short. Clear deficiencies go undressed and no doubt Wenger will say the right players weren’t available but I can’t believe for one second that there isn’t a defensive midfielder in world football that we feel wouldn’t upgrade us from Arteta and Flamini. I was probably harsh on Arteta last night, after all it was his first game back from injury and he was like a rabbit in the headlights but where was his connection with Wilshere and Ramsey? They played as individuals and weren’t working in tandem. Centre Midfield dictates how well we play, more than any other area of the field. It’s the catalyst for both good and bad and they need to adapt to this high press that has seen us wilt on every single occasion. We don’t have the tools to stop the tide. In Wenger’s old sides, we’d become narrow, soak up pressure and counter but every player seems miles away from on another and they get ratted out. The forward three become isolated and go too far up the field to have an impact. You have to feel for players like Bellerin, huge occasion and absolutely stitched up by his team mates. Ozil tracked in the first half and received credit for doing so but lets be honest, it’s his job to track their fullback. Options on the ball for Hector were limited and it was very much a baptism of fire but again, it’s naivety from our players. You can’t just expect players to hit the ground running, they need to be afforded some protection but it’s as if they all just focus on themselves, nothing else matters. <br /><br />The defeat last night doesn’t actual bring that much consequence with it as we will qualify from this group, maybe even with a game to spare but these issues will then be unearthed against other top sides away from home.<br /><br />Quick question when did we last win a knockout game in the Champions League? <br /><br />Answer 9th March 2010 v Porto, you know the last time Falcao played in the CL. <br /><br />So when we get to the knockouts we’ll have not won a tie in that stage for five years, now obviously that is masked by the fact we have played Barcelona and Bayern but ultimately it’s a sign our weaknesses in the group, whether it be Dortmund or a killer defeat away to Shakhtar, they’re always present because we aren’t strong enough. <br /><br />There are a lot of our senior players who could do with having at look at themselves and maybe the reflection that will come with this type of performance will kick start our season. In this bracket i count Szczesny, Mertesacker, Arteta, Ramsey and Ozil. The team hasn’t performed anywhere near the level expected, so hopefully we can start by winning at Villa on Saturday because it will set us up nicely for two back to back London derbies in the Premier League. On the flip side, we could lose… but that’s no worth considering just yet. <br /><br />Wenger has a lot of soul searching to do and it would be refreshing for him to ruffle some feathers. I continually harp on about the lack of accountability at our club and when Wenger has axed stars such as Szczesny and Vermaelen, it has worked, particularly in Woijicech’s case. When we blew our 4-0 lead at St James Park this was our line up:<br /><br />Szczesny Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy Diaby Wilshere Fabregas Walcott Arshavin Van Persie <br /><br />the following game:<br /><br />Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Walcott, Arshavin, Van Persie.<br /><br />One enforced change because Diaby was sent off. How will these players ever learn from mistakes when they are more often than not given undeserved second chances. <br /><br />Only time will tell but it’s about time we started utilising some squad members when they merit a chance, not just when they are called upon due to injuries.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-29077170237710555742014-06-11T01:33:00.001-07:002014-06-11T01:33:26.602-07:00Is Ramsey Cesc in Disguise?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There has been plenty of kinds words said about Aaron Ramsey this season. Rightly so as well. Although not everyone has been supportive of his career. Ramsey was quite frequently the focus of some of the Emirates crowd, as they channelled their frustrations of the team through one player. In the midst of this Wenger tried to accommodate Ramsey and stuck him on the wing, a trait afforded to some of the Frenchman's favourites like Abou Diaby.<br />
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The one aspect of Ramsey's game that needed to improve was his goalscoring. Particularly for a side that has lost a lot of goals from the side in recent years. Did you know that of the 27 goals Aaron has scored for us 11 of those came over the course of the first five seasons? That got me thinking of another midfielder, one that wasn't really noted for his goal getting but then suddenly sparked into life and added a new dimension to his game. Have you guessed who that former Arsenal man is? Yes, it's non other than the infamous Francesc Fabergas Soler. Here's the comparison between him and Ramsey in terms of games to goals.<br />
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Now, there is a danger of over analysis with statistics but it can't be denied that there are similarities. In Cesc's fifth season he scored 13 goals, which is what he mustered over the course of the previous four seasons. I've already touched on Ramsey finding his goalscoring touch but I was quite surprised to find there are only two goals separating them over the course of the first six seasons but with Ramsey having over 40 games to make up the difference.<br />
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I called upon the Cesc comparison as it reinforces Wenger's beliefs to stick with players. As fans we often judge players by their ability to score goals. You'll see it during the World Cup, just watch the rave reviews for defenders that score. Often it masks deficiencies, take Thomas Vermaelen for example. He scored eight goals in his first season, from quality headers to 30 yard left foot curlers. We were having the wool pulled over our eyes. Joleon Lescott is another, Everton got a great deal because he scored goals, a great added bonus but defenders need to defend first and foremost. Wenger has been ridiculed for not being able to spot keepers. We may now be on the way to resolving that but it's certainly been a low key season on that front in terms of errors but if there was one area Wenger of the field that Wenger excels in, then it has to be centre midfield. Players like Vieira, Gilberto, Fabregas and now Ramsey. Players that had to learnt the ropes off a more experienced head before taking the reigns themselves. That's what makes Ramsey's upturn in production even more impressive. Ramsey did have Cesc for a bit but over the course of the last three seasons Ramsey's very much learnt the hard way and benefited from Cesc's departure.<br />
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The most crucial time for Aaron came when he was trying to get games in order to overcome the physical and mental scars that come with a broken leg. Particularly as <a href="http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-why-i-won-t-extend-ramsey-loan" target="_blank">we had refused to extend the loan at Forest</a>, as Abou Diaby was injured. Eduardo's Arsenal career took a nose dive after a similar leg break. Something wasn't quite right and he was sold to Shakhtar. Instead Wenger sent Aaron on long to Forest, where he would see little game time mainly due to the inclement weather. Wenger remarked<br />
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“We did not get the number of games we wanted from him because of the snow,” said manager. He is a snow victim and we are as well consequently. But I am not tempted to do it [extend his loan]. If Abou Diaby was not injured I would certainly have considered it but not now.Aaron is not completely ready yet [for the Premier League] but he has been practising every day with the group for two months. I hope that when he comes back he should be ready in February.”</blockquote>
Ramsey of course then went on loan to Cardiff towards the end of the January transfer window but was now driven by the challenge of regained his place in the Arsenal team.<br />
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“If going out on loan again for a month to get a few more games helps me get back into shape quicker and into the Arsenal team then I will do that”</blockquote>
Usually these quotes are quite generic but if anything, time has taught us that this was actually the case. Ramsey has gone on to play 125 times for Arsenal since these two loan spells. Wenger got this case spot on. There were many times when Ramsey could have been dropped but Wenger had faith and whilst I'm usually a fan of accountability for poor performances, he never really did anything disastrous, he just needed to get out of the rut he was in.<br />
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The future for this side is getting brighter, I have my doubts that the current crop are genuine contenders for a title but there is a transfer window to rectify that (I hold no hope on this front) but what I have seen lately is that we've started adding plenty of goals in other areas. Theo broke the 20 goal barrier in 12/13 and he has a very good understanding with Ramsey and the two are yet to play at the top of their game with each other. So if Ramsey can maintain his 15 goals, Theo with his 20 (difficult returning from injury I know) and Giroud adding a further 20 then we have 55 goals. It's a start, as we've often looked around thinking where are the goals coming from but there are threats now and genuine ones at that.<br />
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The foundations are in place for us and with Ozil getting a season under his belt, he's only going to get better. It's been an exceptional season for Aaron but it's whether or not he can maintain this level. Sides will be paying far more attention to him and if he overcomes that then we are in for a real treat. He deserves every penny of whatever salary he is on and it's great that he has the summer off because as the international players return in their drips and drabs from World Cup duty, at least we have our most in-form player ready to hit the ground running and ready to carry the side at the beginning of the new season. Let's not forget that if any of our players get to the World Cup final, history tells us they miss the first couple of games of the season due to little preparation but we have Champions League qualifiers to contend with.<br />
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Aaron Ramsey has been a real success story. One we should all enjoy and it was somewhat fitting that he scored THAT goal. Now he's thrilling us with some wonderful goals, amazing stamina and brilliant vision. I haven't even mentioned that we paid 5m for him as well. Maybe this time we've got the type of player we can keep for the rest of his career. Now that would be a turn up for the books.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-42925880479061609452014-06-06T03:57:00.001-07:002014-06-06T03:57:46.260-07:00Arsenal Player Power Rankings 2013/14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So another end of season blog? Have you had you fill? Well for those new to this feature we assess our players based on merit not ability and favouritism is also put to one side. To add to this we have last seasons Power Ranking to refer to and we’ll see if players have improved or regressed over the last twelve months.<br />
<br />
So without further ado it gives me great pleasure to introduce our star-studded panel. <br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/addy_88">@addy88</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSquidBoyLike">@thesquidboylike</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/GiantGooner">@giantgooner</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/bradley08">@bradley08</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LucaHelvetica">@LucaHelvetica</a> and me <a href="https://twitter.com/mj_afc" target="_blank">@mj_afc</a><br />
<br />
They all rated our players from 1 (being the best) to 10 and you'll read more from them a bit later. <br />
<br />
So here is a quick run down of the Top 10 from the 2012/13 season<br />
<br />
10th - Wilshere<br />
9th - Giroud<br />
8th - Podolski<br />
7th - Gibbs<br />
6th - Ramsey<br />
5th - Arteta<br />
4th - Walcott<br />
3rd - Koscielny<br />
2nd - Mertesacker<br />
1st - Cazorla<br />
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There has been plenty of movement and only a couple of players remain consistent with last season, which tells me that this is a true reflection of player performance.<br />
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<b>Hall of Shame - No Votes</b><br />
<br />
Viviano, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Monreal, Kallstrom, Sanogo, Bendtner and Gnabry didn’t receive one vote between them. Not surprising for the most part but Monreal has regressed more than any other player over the last twelve months. <br />
<br />
When I said that none of the above received any votes that’s not strictly true. <a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> in his own quirky way kindly voted for one of our players to receive the ‘Contributions to Air Shots’ award and it goes to *drum roll*<br />
<br />
Yaya Sonogoal<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> added “makes Shola Ameobi look like Robbie Fowler. Added an Air Header to an impressive array of air shots too. I look forward to seeing an air penalty from the Postman.”<br />
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Poor old Yaya. Maybe he’ll make the top 10 next season. Or maybe not. Hopefully he goes on loan , or even better he is sold.<br />
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<b>Missed the Cut</b><br />
<br />
Lukasz Fabianski - He did make <a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a>'s top 10 but sadly nobody else’s. I think Fab must have made him a fortune in that semi final win over Wigan. It’s the only explanation. Swansea awaits.<br />
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Oxlade-Chamberlain - Brazil bound Ox had an injury hit season and didn’t get enough minutes to further his case for a top 10 finish. Maybe next season.<br />
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Flamini - Pro’s and con’s to Mathieu’s season. The Flam/Arteta partnership never really delivered but he certainly added a tenacity to our play but that got the better of him on occasions.<br />
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Podolski - Poldi got three top 10 nominations, including one from me. I thought he kicked on in the 2nd half of the season but his early season injury cost him his chance to retain a top 10 place.<br />
<br />
Wilshere - Jack also received only three votes and despite some particular highlights such as the goal of the season, he’s another player to fall out of the top 10. Injuries have cost Jack but I think the performance of another midfielder has put Jack completely in to the shade. <br />
<br />
Rosicky - Sadly Rosicky fans, he doesn’t make the top 10 and I didn’t even need to fix the vote. Three votes and ranked as high as 7th. <br />
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Walcott - If it wasn’t for that injury against Spurs, he’d have been well up the board but he isn’t. Lets hope he gets up to speed as soon as possible when he makes his return to the team.<br />
<br />
So, you’ve heard who hasn’t made the grade. Now lets see how our top 10 takes shape. <br />
<br />
<b>Arsenal 13/14 Power Rankings</b><br />
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<b>10. Gibbs (down 3 places) </b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a> - I am genuinely angry at Wenger on the left back rotation this season. Gibbs I see as a very good left back who has the potential to be a great one. Whereas Monreal I see as an average one with no potential. When he decided to give Nacho a run of games when Gibbs was not injured, I simply did not understand it. The left back debate for the EC became about Shaw v Cole and Gibbs was the forgotten man, yet Shaw himself expected Gibbs to be ahead of him as he was in the previous England squad. However what is done is done and although his own manager may have cost him a seat on the plane to Rio, he will be fresh to Arsenal come August. I want him to play more times than not and personally would not lose any sleep if Nacho was sold. I think Gibbs could be our left back for years to come.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSquidBoyLike">@thesquidboylike</a> - The latest in a long line of good-to-excellent Arsenal left-backs, this was the season where Gibbs truly made the position his own. Having seen off the, ahem, threat of Andre Santos, Gibbs began the campaign as an equal to Nacho Monreal in the eyes of many. But 2013/14 saw the young Englishman cement his place in the team, and included the vital and oft-forgotten opening goal in the CL qualifying tie versus Fenerbahce. Unfortunate to be barely mentioned in contention for England’s World Cup squad, his future for both club and country is bright.<br />
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<b>9. Arteta (down four places) </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-W5Y1vhccYvZfYdFKXBpxnzGlmbCzIKpaqg3uOmxAu32vxoONZfZr_W-lOS_24sTp9sCSE3w9MDi_XDvrBHrC1zNEe4X5LpULsE2oSzkWKC3-9y8KygzP4L86OSN3AMSL1_jpZLQfmIQ/s1600/IMG_4563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-W5Y1vhccYvZfYdFKXBpxnzGlmbCzIKpaqg3uOmxAu32vxoONZfZr_W-lOS_24sTp9sCSE3w9MDi_XDvrBHrC1zNEe4X5LpULsE2oSzkWKC3-9y8KygzP4L86OSN3AMSL1_jpZLQfmIQ/s1600/IMG_4563.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66">@goonerdave66</a> - <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;">A few years ago I advocated Arteta for the DM role, a suggestion met with some derision at the time. 2 years on in the main he had no let us down. He reads the game superbly, tackles well and his distribution is top notch. However the one thing he lacks to take us to the next level in this role sadly is pace. He was immense at Wembley and no one deserved the climb the steps and life the trophy more than Mikel but I do think if we are to fight out the EPL we need a younger, stronger model next season. For me Arteta will be, like Rosicky now, a player you are always happy to see, know won't let you down but would not be in your first 11 week in week out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a> - A good, reasonably solid season from Arteta. He's such an intelligent player and there's a reason he starts every game when fit. Often criticised because he's not a "big beast of a DM", but his defensive stats for us might surprise some (most tackles per game this season in PL). At 32, he's definitely declined over the past year, but was again a very important player for us this season and certainly played his part. I do, however, suspect he could become more of a "squad" player next season as we look to sign a long term replacement. <br />
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<b>8. Sagna (up five places) </b></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a> - versatile rock this year, especially as he had other distractions. Was impressive at CB<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a> - The first time Sagna has played over 3000 Premier League minutes for Arsenal in a season, contributed one goal, three assists and took part in games where 15 clean-sheets were kept. On balance that looks like his best ever Arsenal season, although a strange quirk in the stats (possibly due to the increased minutes on the pitch) says it’s his worst season in terms of being on the pitch when Arsenal conceded a goal – 39 in total. My overall feeling is that he is a solid right-back worthy of a place at a top-six club in the division. Although I’m puzzled by the huge clamour from fans at the end of the season for him to stay (far better Arsenal players have been allowed to leave with barely a whimper), especially on increased terms. There must be a better right-back out there for us, I’d be looking for one who contributes more offensively. That said – Jenkinson is NOT the answer.<br />
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<b>7. Cazorla (down six places) </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOhMLEP_vKr6lY_25QrxgixA6s-3yQLheD1-Jo3KCgVYoMWfnxgZdIfiBXJJpnz1LaO2-dN3rafkdGpjmF4saoHpRtn_bvPrRUApjpZLgBEGDIq10peLfEj_W8gSHSQmPinAyNc9ZcEQ/s1600/IMG_4564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOhMLEP_vKr6lY_25QrxgixA6s-3yQLheD1-Jo3KCgVYoMWfnxgZdIfiBXJJpnz1LaO2-dN3rafkdGpjmF4saoHpRtn_bvPrRUApjpZLgBEGDIq10peLfEj_W8gSHSQmPinAyNc9ZcEQ/s1600/IMG_4564.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a> - Bit of an enigma. Has all the skills and the low centre of gravity, but too often can be caught in possession and brushed off the ball if teams make him turn back towards our half. Would see him as a sub if right player comes in or out wide left if they don't. That said, scored probably the most important goal of the last few years at Wembley.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/addy_88">@addy88</a> - Not as good as last season but especially in the second part of the season the little Spanish magician was magnificent. Cazorlas contribution in this part was quite big, initiating with both goals against Fulham at home and ending with the with the goal which got us one back against Hull giving us the hope and belief to win our first cup in nearly a decade. But everything comes with a downside, Santi tends sometimes to play dangerous passes on the Arsenal side of the field. If Cazorla can stop this bad habit and can connect to the performance of the end of this season, Santi can give so much to the Arsenal and there will be many more happy memories with him.<br />
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<b>6. Ozil (*NEW ENTRY*) </b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/GiantGooner">@giantgooner</a> - He doesn't run around like a chicken with his head chopped off so the Ashtons of the world accuse him of laziness, but week in, week out Ozil dictates our play and unleashes moments of pure genius on the<br />
pitch. Even more intelligent commentators seem to have underrated what he brings to our team. Make no mistake, this is a world class player at his peak, and if last year was an adjustment year he was still the most important attacker on the pitch for Arsenal bar Ramsey. But he also needs to stay fit - and staying on till halftime against Munich despite the hamstring injury wasn't helpful for either him or the team.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtEuUOlS4nO6gvwaxkRgzq8psvd7GHmi2NPoJ4f_atYSzDHwIAXgDmnEiDipx4wGdJyo_dLlWkv66LOBRZQymdk30vj7GvlGzOlpYfawSA2Tx6Pkpx25yYOpurxBw-VLXpbAONaT-9sY/s1600/IMG_4561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtEuUOlS4nO6gvwaxkRgzq8psvd7GHmi2NPoJ4f_atYSzDHwIAXgDmnEiDipx4wGdJyo_dLlWkv66LOBRZQymdk30vj7GvlGzOlpYfawSA2Tx6Pkpx25yYOpurxBw-VLXpbAONaT-9sY/s1600/IMG_4561.jpg" height="320" width="242" /></a></div>
<a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a>, - Mesut Ozil arrived at arsenal amidst expectations that he would play slightly better than a Henry-Fabregas-Vieira hybrid. He may have warranted his transfer fee for the emotional lift he gave the club and the supporters alone. Realistically, it was always going to be impossible for him to measure up to the hype that surrounded him, particularly in his first season and specifically without a world-class centre-forward to finish the chances he could create. Because of the immense expectations, Ozil faced heavy criticism. Some of it was deserved, but most of it was absurd. Ozil improved Arsenal tremendously. He may not have dominated games as often or to the extent that was hoped, but he was always dangerous. His game certainly suffered from a lack of pace in the front three, particularly after Theo Walcott was lost for the season. And it’s fair to say that when Aaron Ramsey when down, he struggled further. His lowest moments came in some of Arsenal’s bigger games, and that added to the criticism he faced. But I think it’s fair to say that he was the least of the strugglers in those performances. It’s also fair to suggest that Ozil faced criticism largely because of his body language and languid style. He’s certainly no Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion on the pitch and he’s a master at conserving energy. He drifts into space intelligently and once in that space, uses his superior control and vision to keep the ball and play the right pass. He doesn’t rely on constant running, which means that his contributions often go unnoticed. Ozil did reserve one of his best performances for the FA cup when he dominated Everton. And he was equally scintillating against Napoli at the Emirates. Ozil finished the season strong which suggests that he was starting to fully acclimate to the style of the premier league and adapt to his new teammates. His statistics were respectable for a first season and when reviewed without the filter of ridiculous expectations I think his first season was an unqualified success. the best news is that there’s surely plenty more to come from him next season. Especially with the return of Walcott’s pace and the addition of all those other world class attacking players the manager will bring in this summer…<br />
<br />
T<b>HE TOP FIVE</b><br />
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<b>5. Giroud (up four places) </b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/attwood10">@attwood10</a>- My views on Giroud are well known, but despite my criticism of him, I do admit and recognise that he is very good at what he does. He's a superb link up player and, with the right players around him, he's again proved that he can be very effective. His numbers have improved from last year and, thankfully, he stayed fit all season. He scored some key goals for us and definitely played his part this season. However, his finishing in 1 v 1 situations simply isn't good enough a lot of the time. That should be bread and butter for an international striker and it has cost us this season. Shouldn't be first choice but should be a good option for us. <br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/mj_afc" target="_blank">@mj_afc</a> - Personally I absolutely love Giroud and I think the grief he gets is completely unnecessary , particularly when you consider there are no other viable options and all we do is effect his confidence. He's taken on Aaron Ramsey's boo-boys, who funnily enough have vanished off the face of the earth. Reality is they just picked a new player and when you consider that Giroud's has won more points than any other Premier League player, then I think we can afford him a little bit more room to manoeuvre. He's led the line brilliantly and has worked great as the axis in our attacks. He's not a Suarez by any means but he has his value and scoring over 20 goals this season has proved invaluable. Yes, a world class striker may have scored more but who's to say that would definitely be the case. Giroud showed in the cup final that he looks more of a threat with another striker up there with him and if we can get 'that' player then I think we'll be more potent with two up top.<br />
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<b>4. Szczesny (up eight places - top 15 last season)</b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> - Best keeper in the PL last season. Wasn't to blame for the drubbings, really stepped up a level this year. Distribution improved too. Wouldn't swap him for any Keeper in the PL<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Alan_Alger_">@alan_alger_</a>- In the past few seasons our keepers have been more likely to be remembered for the mistakes they have made, Wojciech included. Although there was an overall feeling that he was the best of the bunch - he had to prove it. That’s exactly what he has done in 2013/14. At a rough estimate his contribution in league matches has been worth at least ten points. It’s therefore strange that the FA Cup success achieved this season has been with his compatriot Lukas Fabianski in goal. Fabianski’s appearance at Norwich in the final game of the season denied Szczesny the ‘golden glove’ award outright (shared with Petr Cech) for the most clean sheets, still a worthy accolade<br />
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<b>3. Mertesacker (down one place) </b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/mzk90">@mzk90</a> - Played 51(+1) games this season which is awesome for such a big man. Leads with calm authority and shows what it means to him without resorting to the antics of WS or Poldi. Ignoring the penalty in SF and the drunken giraffe impression last minutes of final, he was solid as a rock all year.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSquidBoyLike">@thesquidboylike</a> - Show me an Arsenal fan who doesn’t love our BFG, and I’ll wager that they are phonies. Whilst last season saw Per establish himself as a guaranteed starter at the centre of the defence, this one has further embedded him in Arsenal hearts. A seemingly perfect combination with Laurent Koscielny – away day capitulations notwithstanding – plus a vital equaliser in the Cup semi and a genuine love for the Club make him the modern day Mr Arsenal. His leadership skills have blossomed too; whilst he has notionally been third-in-line for the armband, I fully expect him to be bestowed the honour on a full-time basis next season.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/bradley08">@bradley08</a> - We had a terrier as our pet for over 15 years. He wasn't the prettiest dog in the world, he certainly wasn't a fashion statement like a chihuahua or a poodle. He wasn't exactly brisk either, he once was beaten in a race across our garden by my two year old nephew who fell over three times whilst trying to stay upright. He was not your archetypal "dog". And yet........<br />
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He had an uncanny knack of knowing where the optimal place to be in the house was at all times. If dinner was being served, he was under the kitchen table waiting for scraps. If we were going off for a drive, he was sitting outside the car waiting for us.<br />
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Also, my mother is deaf, so she needed a visual aid to tell her if someone was at the door. Our dog was so good at this, he was most often found sitting at the window, looking out for any potential visitors so that he could raise the alarm. We didn't need a doorbell, we had him. <br />
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Rusty died two years ago. He's still missed to this day. It isn't his presence that we miss, it's the consistency of his input into our lives that's gone. He was there every day, every week, every year. We got so used to him that we took him for granted, it's only now that we look back and see how much he added to our lives.<br />
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Per Mertersacker is the Arsenal family pet. Scruffy, slow, awkward, sometimes doesn't wake up before lunchtime (stupid 12:45pm kickoffs) yet at the same time, he's assuring, consistent, always in position to help, and never missing when needed. Just because we get the same solid performance out of him week in and week out, that doesn't mean he shouldn't appreciated for what he brings to the club; consistent, unspectacular consistency.<br />
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<b>2. Koscielny (up one place)</b><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/k4yn3r">@k4yn3r</a> - Kos the boss, dominant and scores the most vital of goals. The Boss has been immense this season.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/addy_88">@addy88</a> - Koscielny - the second part of the best centerback partnership in the premier league. Quite often the defensive performances get overlooked. But Arsenals defence was the thing, that carried us forward and Koscielny had IMHO the biggest part in this and he further scored the most important goal of the season, the goal that brought 30 more minutes in the FA Cup Final. On the over hand sometimes he likes to make reckless tackles which lead to unnecessary penalties or dangerous free. Kicks for the opponent (but it seems he works on that with Steve Bould).<br />
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Overall I still can't believe that Koscielny was four years ago a 2nd division defender and now a France regular. Arsenal can be very lucky to have a player like Koscielny, a true leader which deserves the name Boscielny.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmINsYhypPS1eX0u8kWtFSR4S24DMtg3QqxNDTWZdUlWh_JKU0T4KxBT77MihJcy9WMhAwmz6g0vnzMo5Qj_S58LshQQBngWc3pyasrP9Wim2YO3t85zVNXB7Aq5FM7RRq4VHylm60Z2U/s1600/IMG_4547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmINsYhypPS1eX0u8kWtFSR4S24DMtg3QqxNDTWZdUlWh_JKU0T4KxBT77MihJcy9WMhAwmz6g0vnzMo5Qj_S58LshQQBngWc3pyasrP9Wim2YO3t85zVNXB7Aq5FM7RRq4VHylm60Z2U/s1600/IMG_4547.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/bradley08">@bradley08</a> - A picture tells a thousand words, right? How about two pictures? Because to sum up how good Koscielny has been this season, we have to recall this: <br />
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Ugh. Imagine that picture burning a hole in your memory. Imagine that picture gnawing away at you every minute of every day. That picture was Koscielny's defining moment at Arsenal. WAS.<br />
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Now it's this:<br />
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Whenever we look at how good players are, it's very easy to focus on tangibles, like technical ability or statistics. What has separated Koscielny from the rest this season is the intangible stuff that tends to be used as clichés; heart, passion, bravery etc. But to play in the role that Kos plays, as the centre-back who attacks the ball in front of the back line, you can't play scared. If there's a ball to be intercepted, you have to commit to getting there first, without the fear of cocking up making you hesitate. He was 6th in the league this season in interceptions per game, way ahead of other luminaries such as Kompany, Terry, and Vidic, yet he only gave away on average 0.9 fouls per game. <br />
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And then there's the second picture above. In one frame, we see the intelligence to make the right decision, the bravery to follow through with it, and the courage to not worry about potential injury. That one frame is a better description of Koscielny's season than any stat or any article will ever be. And most of all, it's what he deserves.<br />
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And the Winner Is....<br />
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1. Ramsey (Up five places)<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/yorkshiregunner">@yorkshiregunner</a> - Injury robbed him of the PFA player of the year award, another 10 goals and in all honesty Arsenal a title.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/GiantGooner">@giantgooner</a> - I don't think I have enough space to describe how amazing Aaron Ramsey's progress was this season and what a special player he has become. Trying to pick Ramsey's goal of the season is a challenge in its own right; I'd be choosing between the volley against Liverpool, dribbling past 3 Norwich defenders in the box in October and the stunning backpedalling volley against Norwich again at the Emirates this spring. But on top of that he does more running than anybody else on the team, is an exceptional defender and is creative to boot. Now all he has to do is do it again, and this time stay healthy for the entire season!<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/YankeeGunner">@yankeegunner</a> - Aaron Ramsey was quite simply the best player at Arsenal during the 2013-2014 season. His improvement from the previous season was nothing short of amazing. Ramsey always displayed a tremendous engine but the end product he added to his game was quite stunning. Literally the only downside to Ramsey’s season was the injury that shortened it. Otherwise he was the perfect <br />
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player. It’s nearly impossible to think of a poor performance by the Welshman. And when he wasn’t at his absolute best, he still had a habit of delivering the decisive contribution to a match. The FA cup final is a perfect example. It wasn’t his most impressive or impactful display, but there he was, scoring the winner deep in extra time with a sublime finish. That was Aaron Ramsey this season. Ramsey scored so many wonderful goals that it’s hard to choose one as his best, or indeed to choose his finest performance. But for some reason I have a soft spot for the goal he scored against Liverpool in the Premier League. Like all great players, Ramsey made his teammates better. Ozil improved when Ramsey was there to do the running and Giroud improved when Ramsey was there to run on to his trademark flicks and back heels. Ramey’s emergence is a huge fillip for the club and credit to the manager who believed in him enough to extend his contract at a time when many supporters were convinced he wasn’t good enough for Arsenal. The only question about Ramsey now is whether he can continue to play at this level long term and whether he can stay fit for an entire season. If he answers those questions in the affirmative, Arsenal supporters might start to get used to open top bus parades.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpcl39y33mQLG7j1_uXAGhmANn_6opqeHmrwJMqU_ofRwN82uWlzEur1tJ3VwbdUk3lfWBGNQhbZQSXV2HgNk2jEB-HEvJxMNW_cRlc5nHZJL7s_mZtknIrZMJOIIoPtN6QpNK4wP7FQ/s1600/IMG_4572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpcl39y33mQLG7j1_uXAGhmANn_6opqeHmrwJMqU_ofRwN82uWlzEur1tJ3VwbdUk3lfWBGNQhbZQSXV2HgNk2jEB-HEvJxMNW_cRlc5nHZJL7s_mZtknIrZMJOIIoPtN6QpNK4wP7FQ/s1600/IMG_4572.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/mj_afc" target="_blank">@mj_afc</a> - What a turnaround for the player who had his role questioned by a lot of supporters. Who can forget the dark days of Ramsey on the left wing at Everton and QPR. Now he's in the middle and he's thriving. He was a huge loss to our midfield and attack. His willingness to run ahead of the ball has been vital. It's created space for him and others and his return was like a breath of fresh air. When I think of our best moments of 13/14 I think of Liverpool, Dortmund, Hull all of which included Ramsey goals. He has delivered and we just need to ensure there's enough rotation in order to keep him fit throughout the season. If any player deserved to score the winner in a cup final, then that man was Aaron Ramsey and with the armband potentially up for grabs, should he be in contention? I'll leave you with this video of Ramsey from Arsenal Player http://bit.ly/1tNGBhO.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So there you have it, do you agree with our top 10? Maybe you could submit a top 10 of your own in the comments box below. It's been an entertaining season and with silverware at the end of it, who can complain? </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To complete the power rankings here is the scoring matrix for the panel. I'd also like to thank all of the panel for taking part in this blog as it wouldn't be half as interesting without the views of others. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-15727235672395614882014-05-20T09:14:00.000-07:002014-05-21T02:15:04.325-07:00Arsenal End of Season Review/Player Awards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><u>Season Review</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>August</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m not sure you’re supposed to have roller coaster months in August but ours certainly was. The lack of signings and defeat at home to Villa meant a summer of fury was unleashed around The Emirates. We even contemplated Fenerbache eliminating us in the Champions League but that ended up being a demolition. So we left the month of August having signed two players, both on frees.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>September </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This has been a pretty grim month for us and when it starts against your closest rivals (in terms of locality) and they’ve spent a whopping 100m+ trying to overtake you, then we were very much in squeaky bum territory. Giroud’s sublime finish was enough to ensure all three points and later that evening Wenger confirmed we were talking to Ozil. MESUT FUCKING OZIL as he became known on twitter and the place went umlaut crazy. The only downside was that a poxy international break stood between us and our 42 MILLION POUND signing. Who’d have thought it, us spending money. We were also drawn against tough opponents in the champions league. This led to the inevitable 'arsenal will be eliminated' routine that is becoming somewhat tiresome. We were unbeaten in September, playing six and winning five. The release of positivity was timely, especially given the poisonous atmosphere in August. Were the good times about to return?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>October</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It began with a bang in our first big CL game. Napoli were rolled over in a comprehensive 2-0 win and Ozil scored a beauty. 6/6 in our group, a good healthy start.The rich vein of form continued and it saw our joint biggest victory of the league season at home 4-1 v Norwich. Strange to think that we only scored four goals on two occasions in the league. We suffered our first defeat since the opening day of the season at home to Dortmund. Suddenly with a trip to the Signal Iduna our group was looking a lot more difficult than it had at the start of the night. Maybe the media were right? We did however put the defeat behind us, as we went to Palace (probably at the right time) and got 3 points and stayed top of the league. Even an Arteta red card didn’t hamper us. The month did end on a low though, as we went out of the Capital One Cup to Chelsea. I’m never sure what our players gain for the alleged experience on offer, particularly as some don’t play again for the rest of the season. We also introduced Giroud and Ozil from the bench but 1-0 soon became 2-0 and out we went. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>November</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The dreaded November which was nicknamed Death Run 1.0. A week of Liverpool (H), Dortmund (A) and United (A). Would our big game bottlers tag be shaken off? You know the drill, we were fantastic against Liverpool, as Santi noticed his first of the season and Ramsey, well he just continued being Ramsey. Then onto Dortmund and my only European voyage of the season. Little was expected from the game and we offered no threat in the first half and were lucky to go in 0-0. Ozil whipped in a world cross, Giroud knocked it down and Ramsey stooped to head home. 1-0 TO THE ARSENAL. It was to stay that way and suddenly you started to believe that the players could start to take confidence and they could see they could compete against the best. Let’s not forget that six months earlier Dortmund were in the Champions League final. This was definitely the highlight of the month. And just like Arsenal do, one high leads to one mighty low. We seemed to accept that two wins from three was good enough. We were abysmal against United at OT. It left a sour taste but it was still a positive week. The sides character was again apparent as we won out through the rest of the month. November brought with it nine premier league points and six champions league points. Quite something given some of the November’s we’ve had before. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>December</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes you can look at some games, not necessarily your worst performances or defeat of the season but Everton still irks me. They played excellently against us but we took the lead with less than 10 minutes to go and for a side that had not conceded in four games it was disappointing to concede so late on. It is often these moments that lead to a poor run of form and that’s exactly we we got. Napoli was far too close for comfort, knowing we could lose didn’t help as it certainly affected our mindset. Callejon netted the 2nd in the 90th minute and we hung on to progress to the knockout stages. So i’ve spoken about our character and ability to bounce back from defeat, well this time it to us to fortress Etihad - The land of the demolition. Free scoring City against high flying Arsenal. We went in at HT 2-1 down and Kosceilny had left the game injured. It was painful viewing as it threatened to get as bad as a game previously played in Manchester some two years sooner. 6-3 it finished and although a lot went against us that day, you have to think there was a bigger picture. We exposed our weaknesses and it was put down as a freak result which may explain we why didn’t have an answer against other similar performances later in the season. We then had the opportunity to beat Chelsea but Mourinho came and loaded up the space and restricted our attack,. A penalty appeal and a red card shout went unnoticed and it was 90 minutes that nobody was getting back. Lukas Podolski rose from the ashes and turned the game on it’s head at Upton Park, as Theo continued his good run of form in front of goal. Then to Newcastle and Giroud glanced home as took the points in a very poor contest but again six point on the road is superb. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>January</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Happy New Year to Arsenal as we got back to grips with our form. Cardiff were beaten, admittedly quite late on and then we had Sp*rs at home in the 3rd Round. Walcott led the line and despite not scoring he looked quite lively but within 48 hours it was confirmed his season was over. Maybe now we’d sign another striker, lets not forget we chased Higuain and Suarez when we had Giroud and Walcott. We were about to become very one dimensional very quickly. Wins followed against Villa, Fulham and Coventry but January was to end on a disappointing note. We fell behind at St Marys in one of our many poor first half performances. However, the team turned the game on its head. Santi equalised and Giroud steered home brilliantly to give us a 2-1 lead but we switched off and Southampton capitalised. It was definitely two points dropped but again at the time it didn’t seem too bad but February was just around the corner. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Cracks began to appear at Liverpool after we suffered our second drubbing of the season at Anfield. It was a horror show, we invariably raised more questions than answers but we were handed a lesson in terms how ill discipline can lead to utter disaster very quickly. We had the opportunity to right our wrongs against United and we failed to deliver, again. How we never scored against them this season given the amount of joy they’ve given to Premier League fans is beyond me. We went on to extract revenge against Liverpool by eliminating them from the FA Cup, despite fielding what you could say was a weaker side. The CL got underway and Bayern came to town and did a number on us again. Although we missed a pen and gave away one, Szczesny’s sending off changed the game and the tie. We lived to regret a late Koscielny charge forward as we got caught napping. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>March</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The worst month of the season. We lost to Stoke. We lost to Chelsea 6-0. We threw away a last minute lead v Swansea and ended the month without a win in three games. We were also officially eliminated out of the CL. The positives, well, we won at Spurs for the first time in approximately seven years and we remained in the FA Cup, which meant our season had some substance going into April, not just race for 4th.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>April</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If we thought March was bad, then April didn’t start any better. We got spanked at Everton. Despite this I still thought we had enough to make top four. Our run-in versus Everton was much more favourable and we’d started to get players back. The disappointment was soon put to bed as we beat Wigan on pens to make the FA Cup final. It was a poor contest and one we made far more difficult than it should have been but hey-ho we made the final, that’s all that counts. The positive trend continue as we netted three goals in three consecutive against West Ham, Hull and Newcastle. Ozil and Ramsey were back in the side and suddenly everything appeared to be a lot better,</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzDm59pSAm3ImY2ZAN9YyLyx2XZa49AAaQWBpnfImwEsvhWSG3aJNgflolHUdb5Oth5bQuF6JK30FmnbhaUEjDxlHopZMfatzgRMUg2tGALiZidO4uOtgtuV43xCl_3ExMRPxZDAsHxU/s1600/IMG_4356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzDm59pSAm3ImY2ZAN9YyLyx2XZa49AAaQWBpnfImwEsvhWSG3aJNgflolHUdb5Oth5bQuF6JK30FmnbhaUEjDxlHopZMfatzgRMUg2tGALiZidO4uOtgtuV43xCl_3ExMRPxZDAsHxU/s1600/IMG_4356.JPG" height="180" width="640" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Merry Month of May</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Champions League qualification was sealed prior to our against WBA. Our league campaign ended with two wins meaning we are actually on a five game winning streak going into next season. Lets be honest though, May was all about the FA Cup and our dramatic comeback to end, as the media would say:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lZrvMYAT1XdH5UUXygiLJ2mjBjhVfZZ1BsdmZ2cfpU_DD6Uroz6pOldUIXExEdDWIBJKUXvdmhxDsVnSQB5lszB-7MTpSfUrM3vEwWgkfD6pHHObMg1jXclq4lWwkVxUMPCpwLu7c_c/s1600/IMG_4372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lZrvMYAT1XdH5UUXygiLJ2mjBjhVfZZ1BsdmZ2cfpU_DD6Uroz6pOldUIXExEdDWIBJKUXvdmhxDsVnSQB5lszB-7MTpSfUrM3vEwWgkfD6pHHObMg1jXclq4lWwkVxUMPCpwLu7c_c/s1600/IMG_4372.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">NINE LONG YEARS</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">NEARLY A DECADE</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">WHAT. A. DAY.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;">If ever anyone says we celebrate fourth like a trophy, then clearly they have never won one because although I celebrated our last days wins at WBA </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;">and NUFC </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;">nothing compares to Saturday. Seeing Gooners</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> happy at Wembley</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;">, North London </span><span style="font-size: 11px;">and</span><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> across the globe was </span><span style="font-size: 11px;">brilliant</span><span style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Seeing the pleasure it brought to the team was just fantastic to see. The celebrations went long into the night. It was just a great day. Everyone has their memories from the weekend, whether you were there, at a pub or at home. It was special and it’s great to see everyone lapping it up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Overall, the season promised more than it has done for a few years we’ve won silverware and that’s what it’s all about. You can debate long and hard about what is more important re: European Qualification but you don’t get the high we experienced on Saturday. There are ifs, buts and maybes. However, if you were offered 4th and the FA Cup after Villa on the opening day, you’d have taken it. We’ve made progress in some areas and there is still a lot of work ahead but for not it’s all good. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Aaron Ramsey - No description needed.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carl Jenkinson - Lots of effort, lacks ability. Not good enough. However, he’ll soon be our only right back </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tomas Rosicky - Yes, ladies and gentleman. I, the self confessed Rosicky hater I'm given ‘Super Tom’ as some of you refer to him the honour of Goal of the Season. Now, I know Wilshere’s goal is great but it was against Norwich in a 4-1 win. I prefer goals that have bigger meaning, so Rosicky’s effort at WHL swings it for me. An absolute thunder bastard (as Ian MacIntosh would say) and it give us our first win there and in a good few years. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What If Moment of the Season</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">January Transfer Window - We had the lead, what had the momentum but we didn’t reinforce in order to see what we could have become. Yes injuries played a part but when the likes of Walcott and Ramsey are injured and you only bring in a broken Kallstrom then you’ll pay the price. I think we could have won had we invested but we didn’t but you always think ‘what if’. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Most Ridiculous Moment of the Season</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mathieu Flamini - Of course there are many, not just relating to Flamini but his red at Southampton was stupidity at its finest. Not only did he commit a ridiculous challenge but he missed game against Liverpool and Man Utd. Games in which we could have done with him, particularly at Anfiled when we needed defensive shape. Instead we had to throw in a ring rusty Wilshere and the rest is history. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Borussia Dortmund - Nobody gave us a chance and in a season where we’ve had a lot of questions asked of us and had little reply, we came up big in Germany. I was lucky enough to go to that game and i can’t say I even contemplated victory but we snatched it courtesy of Aaron Ramsey. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’ve done all of these off the top of my head, so feel free to disagree (your thoughts are welcomed). Anyway, that’s all from me for now. I’ll be back some time soon with the Arsenal Power Rankings, drop me a line if you want to be a part to be a part of it. Thanks for reading and until next time, enjoy the fact out of all the Premier League teams, only two have won silverware and one of them is us. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-86079816959257309642014-04-06T15:56:00.002-07:002014-04-07T00:13:34.278-07:00Arsene About Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, here we are once again contemplating how utterly dreadful we've been in yet another 'big game'. The only surprise is that I keep getting surprised by how incredibly inept we perform.<br><br> So before I rip in to the side today let me take you back to Friday. Wenger commented on our result against City.<br><br><i> But at least [we had] to come out with a strong performance. We feel we have done that so I think we have turned the corner and we have an opportunity to show that against Everton.</i><br><br> turned the corner, turned the bloody corner he said. <br><br> Now what he didn't say was what was standing around the corner. I knew fine well that far too many people (fans and staff included) were clutching to the fact we played so well against City. I even saw some on twitter describe our performance against city as our best performance of the season. That despite the fact we were completely hopeless in the first half. We were kidding ourselves into believing we could compete. <br><br> So to Everton...<br><br> The thing with Everton is they aren't actually that good. Yet we made them look like Bayern Munich. They are a tough nut to crack at home but I thought we were more than capable of beating them. However, our hapless players had other ideas. <br><br> The first area of focus is our formation. There are a lot of 4-4-2 believers out there but lets just focus on 4-3-3. It has been nearly 5 years since we adopted our current formation (coincidentally against Everton) and you know what, it's done absolutely nothing to help us. It has more weaknesses than strengths and we simply don't have the players or the tactical discipline to pull it off. This formation has killed our full backs for years. They get exposed and yet nobody alters their game. Now surely we don't set up with in the knowledge that we are going to leave Sagna 2v1 for the duration of a half. I couldn't work out who was supposed to be right wing for the first half. Was it Super Tom, was it Cazorla or was it someone completely different. I couldn't really tell. The fact is though that nobody defended the right hand side with Sagna and it was one of our many weaknesses. Despite the lack of support Sagna he was probably one of, if not our best player in the half. The side lacks rhythm and the personnel to take charge of a situation. In terms of formation we tried to copy the Barcelona blueprint but we've failed. We've had our moments over the years but overall this formation has been nothing but a disaster, especially considering we lost our best player two season ago. Now, we have Giroud. Teams are reverting to 4-4-2 and yet here we are stilling getting our arse handed to us on a plate. <br><br> The second is our tactics? Do they exist? I'm not sure. From what I could see we wanted to stand off them, allow Baines plenty of time and room and Arteta must at all times suck the life out of any potential counter attack. If Wenger believes that if all his players play to their potential that we'll win the game then he's incredibly naive. Even if this side plays to it's full potential it doesn't mean we'll win. We aren't that side anymore. We don't have Bergkamp, Pires, Henry etc anymore. We can't go on with this arrogant attitude. <br><br> The last issue is a particular position that is really infuriating me - Defensive Midfield. Now the clue is in the first word, or maybe it is an ironic title. We can go back to selling Song and not acquiring a replacement but when the chips are down the players need to offer protection and see out periods when we are under the cosh. Arteta has gone from a promising centre midfielder (in front of Song) to someone who quite frankly is no better than Denilson ever was. Did Arteta kill Denilson? He doesn't have the pace nor the discipline required to play DM. He wants too many touches, sucking the life out of counter attacks, which lack pace anyway. I also found his last minute strop a touch embarrassing. He's supposed to be our vice-captain. He is our second in command behind Vermaelen and people say we lack leadership... <br><br> So back to the game and the second goal. Oh the second goal. If you were within about 15 metres of me at the game, I was the one shouting. <br><br><i> HE WANTS TO CUT INSIDE, DON'T LET HIM CUT INSIDE. DON'T LET HIM... 2-0.</i><br><br> Absolutely dreadful. Lukaku is a handful but could we have made it any easier for him? Monreal (Spanish International) got too square and basically showed him inside and in turn passing him onto Vermaelen. Now surely, his international team mate would wise up but no, on he goes. Then he pulls the trigger and it's 2-0. Pathetic. Why couldn't anyone show him outside? I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was embarrassing. It was another Arsenal Sunday League Special. From that point nobody on the field believed we could get back into it. We reverted to potshots from distance but barely threatened. <br><br> 2-0 Half Time.<br><br> Initially after the break no players appeared until Ramsey came out and trained on his own for several minutes before being joined by the others. Then it got me thinking, what could Wenger be saying to his players. Whatever it was would it motivate them? Surely it's all be said before. In the last couple of months he's been faced with the half time team talks at Liverpool and Chelsea, so would his words today strike any chords? I don't see how they could have. Surely Wenger delivered the heavy artillery in those games? You can see it in the players, they don't believe in themselves or their team mates. <br><br> I'm led to believe that Arteta scored the 3rd despite the PA announcer claiming Miralles got the final touch. Altogether another fine chapter in our calamitous defender, which has returned with a vengeance. <br><br> 3-0 Full time<br><br> So where from here? How many back to basic strategies can one side go through? I haven't heard any apology yet, maybe that will come tomorrow. We'll be promised that the side will work harder, like Arteta said after Chelsea. Since we've drawn two and lost one. Quite the response Mikel. We just can't hack the bigger games. Take a quick look at the games amongst the top 5. The mini-table looks like this:<br><br> Chelsea 16 points<br>City 10 points<br>Everton 8 points<br>Liverpool 7 points<br>Arsenal 5 points<br><br> We've played a full complement of 8 games as well and have a nice tasty goal difference of -14. It is worth noting that despite not picking up so much as a point in any of those away games, City, Everton and Liverpool have only picked up one point in total from those same games. Moral of the story - Win your home games. <br><br> So here's the question. Imagine the headline "Arsene Wenger parts ways with Arsenal", what's your first reaction? Mine is relief. He took us to a new level, which I am wholly appreciative of but now coaches like Martinez and Rodgers are running rings around him. When it comes to the big games we are nowhere to be seen. It can only be resolved with new ideas and different methods. The FA Cup allows us to part ways on a high, this needs to end on a high but if he stays we'll face the same issues next season because the belief has gone. Even if we blazed a trail at the start of next season, you know what would happen and if you don't think I can possibly make such an outlandish assumption just look at previous seasons. We are stuck competing for 4th and I don't want 4th, I want to compete. Instead the best of the rest is good enough for us, we're just very lucky that the best of the rest = 4th. <br><br> So I'm off to wait for yet another apology from the players. I fear I may be some time. If only they cared as much as all of us eh?<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-29282978943908425622014-03-27T00:57:00.000-07:002014-03-27T00:57:06.263-07:00Wenger Misses a Chance to Send a Message<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has always irked me somewhat that whenever we seem to have an 'accident' there seems to be little desire to change personnel. Mainly because there has always been a lack of:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ACCOUNTABILITY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the state of being accountable, liable, or unanswerable.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>
Now when we lose a game 6-0 I expect a few home truths to be told and players to be dropped. I want players made an example of. I want them to live with the fear that sub-standard performances aren't good enough and it means that you'll be adopting the Alex Song position (on the bench). The lack of accountability has always annoyed me, sometimes it offers an insight into where you went wrong and who the manager holds responsible for poor performances. Think of some of the worst Arsenal performances (not including last Saturday), got one? Good. I'm selecting Newcastle away. The line-up that dark day in 2011:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Szczesny</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sagna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koscielny</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Djourou</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clichy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Diaby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fabregas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walcott</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wilshere</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arshavin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Van Persie</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well all know the situation right? So fast forward one week later and we play Wolves at The Emirates. The line-up:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Szczesny</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sagna</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Djourou </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Koscielny</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Clichy</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Wilshere </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Song </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Fabregas </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Walcott</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Arshavin</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Van Persie</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">So only the one change and that was enforced, as About Diaby was sent off at St James' Park. Now what sort of message does that send out? If harsh words are had is the meaning lost? It appears Wenger may pander to his players too much. Yet last season when Szczesny was dropped he came back a new player. Dropping players does work. Who'd have thought it. Interestingly I read an article pointed out to me by @durhamgooner that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/21/arsene-wenger-1000-games-lee-dixon-arsenal" target="_blank">Lee Dixon did with Amy Lawrence for the Guardian</a> and he said</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: whitesmoke;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>"I like Arsène a lot. He's got a really cool sense of humour, he can be really funny, he laughs at himself. He can be difficult at times – he is not very good at confrontation which you would expect him to be. He finds it very difficult to front you up and tell you why he's dropped you because he cares about you, so it is very difficult for him to look you in the eye."</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Now forgive me questioning a manager that doesn't like confrontation. But what is that all about? A startling revelation from one of our former legends. You could speculate as a result of this apparent weakness that it's a reason why we struggle when the chips are down. His philosophy will work brilliantly when everything is going to plan but when your ship sails off track you need to take action and if that means dropping players, then so be it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">So we fast forward to the comparison between Chelsea and Swansea line ups.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Szczesny>Szczesny</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Sagna>Sagna</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Gibbs>Gibbs</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Mertesacker>Mertesacker</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Koscielny>Vermaelen</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Arteta>Arteta</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ox>Ox</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Rosicky>Rosicky</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Podolski>Flamini</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Giroud>Giroud</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Cazorla>Caozrla</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">So much like at St James' Park we had one enforced change, the other was to offer another DM against Swansea at home. So are we saying here that Podolski was the scapegoat for Saturday? Surely not. First of all, the bloke got subbed 23 minutes. His inclusion away from The Emirates is always risky but you know that level of inconsistentcy is always possible with the PR wonder machine. There's no need to speculate that Arsenal went into media lock down on Sunday but far what purpose did it serve. I agreed entirely with Wenger that his time was definitely best spent with his team but what can he say to a side that probably has 6/7 undroppable players. Is he still afraid to have that difficult conversation? Despite his faith there was obviously a lack of confidence. So if you play players after a mauling they suffer a lack of confidence. If you drop them, the sulk but are then motivated when they are introduced back in to the side. Sadly we don't have the squad to drop them all. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Going into last night I would have dropped 4/5 players with the view to reintroducing them on Saturday. Why isn't Gnabry considered a variable option? It was only in January that Wenger spoke about Gnabry's chances of going to the World Cup, he said </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>"There is more than a small chance. There's a big chance. We are looking at a guy who has good individual talent, he can go past people, is a good finisher and has a very good football brain with good vision."</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Maybe Wenger has forgotten these words of praise but Gnabry has fallen off the proverbial cliff in terms of game time. We also had TWO right backs (by trade) on the bench, couldn't one of them play instead of Sagna? How is Sanogo good enough for Bayern and Liverpool but not Swansea. At least three players in addition to Flamini could and should have played. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I just cannot fathom how we make the same mistakes every single season and maybe this is something that contributes towards our own downfall. This is one of a cluster of reasons why I think a new manager would improve our side. Wenger is not getting the best out of them and we carry passengers for far too long and then they get injured.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Maybe at the grand old age of 32 I'm a bit old fashioned but surely dropping players and making them accountable for their actions means that they will take more responsibility on a football field or is it just wishful thinking? Or am I just being naive?</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-63955790396031176612014-03-24T14:39:00.000-07:002014-03-25T00:21:57.779-07:00The Big Game Bottlers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On Saturday I travelled in hope that we could pull off a result that would either see us catapulted right into the mix of the main contenders or back into our rightful battle #raceforfourth. Reality was that we'd lose because of how formidable Chelsea are at home. My main thoughts ahead of game were that Mourinho was plotting our downfall and he was planning some scheme to stifle us, as only he does. However what I didn't consider, not for one second, was that we would be absolutely gutless/spineless/weak (delete as appropriate). In what could have been a weekend of mass celebration, has turned into a complete and utter nightmare.<br />
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Whilst many ponder Wenger's biggest achievements and best XI's, I can safely say this was the worst performance under Wenger. Don't even attempt to compare against the 8-2. That side contained a back four of Jenkinson, Djourou, Koscielny and Traore and there was Coquelin at DM. Yes, we missed Ozil, Walcott and Ramsey on Saturday but all of those also appeared at Man City in an equally inept defensive display. We had our starting back five out on Saturday but our biggest downfall was that we didn't play as a team, instead we played like a bunch of selfish Sunday morning footballers. Its often a comparison used to take a point to the extreme but I'm sure many Sunday league sides would play a lot more intelligently than we've be doing in games against Liverpool and Chelsea. Seriously what are they advised to do? We seemed to deploy a gung-ho right from the off. Surely we weren't trying to bury Chelsea in the first ten minutes? Given our record in first halves this season it certainly doesn't even form the basis of a logical plan.<br />
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So let's play a game (not of the Saw variety) spot the difference.<br />
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So what similarities have we here? Five Arsenal 'defenders'. Three Chelsea forwards. Sagna in practically in the exact same position. Both resulted in a goal. Hardly any difference in them at all. Gibbs is woefully out of position. We are the masters of plotting our own downfall. You always wonder if they'll finally begin to learn?<br />
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The truth is we don't learn and that's why Wenger should and will be questioned. Our record against other top sides is pathetic. Ultimately it isn't the be all and end of all of the league but it's six games of the season and it ruins us time after time. 17 goals conceded against City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Absolutely embarrassing. The only comfort I can take is I didn't get a ticket to go to Man City. That's my only positive. The best part of £100 spent on Liverpool and Chelsea and didn't show up in either. Good value for money.<br />
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The ever insightful stats from @orbinho threw out a stat that before this season we'd only ever conceded more than 5 goals in two Premier League games. So the three batterings really do tell their own story.<br />
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Whilst I still search for answers I can't help but look at how Wenger has neglected this side. We sold Song (rightly so) and replaced him by moving Mikel Arteta into DM. An opportunity to upgrade the side was missed. Don't get me wrong Arteta has had his good games but when the going gets tough, he isn't up to it. If you ever wanted stats to hide your deficiencies, then he had a 93% completion percentage on Saturday. Yet, in truth, he was awful. Ill-disciplined (like Song) and too negative in possession. He really is Denilson 2.0. Then you have Giroud. He was bought (if Wenger is to be believed) to complement RVP, not replace him. So we've gone two seasons awaiting a replacement for our last great striker. Don't get me wrong, I'll stick up for Giroud because he gives us options and he offers a plan b but in the toughest of matches, he's found wanting. If you watch his shot on Saturday (yes, I watched MOTD), he doesn't connect with his foot but his lower shin. That's just poor.<br />
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What this all says to me is we are going backwards. These high level results are showing that we are regressing. Did we get lucky because Ferguson called it a day? Much of the focus is on Wenger's possible deal but instead of asking yourself is he worthy of a new deal, ask yourself if he is capable of building a new side. My answer - he isn't. Mentally the damage that lies within the players can only be fixed with a new ethos and leadership. We have too many weaknesses. We used to throw away leads, now we just get humped. We used to get bullied, now we get pressured. That's how these Arsenal sides are evolving. You can tell the players don't believe in themselves. As soon as we went 1-0 down on Saturday, it was like they relived their own personal nightmare from Anfield. They had already accepted their fate. That's where the manager gets on their case but wait a moment, who is that sat on the bench, it's the manager. Not once did I see him offer instruction, attempt to change tactics or influence the game. How can you sit there and watch your team fall apart at the seems? I'm not saying standing up resolves our issues but at least try to influence the game. Mourinho has always out-foxed Wenger and he knows exactly how to beat us. No doubt the money argument will rear it's head but Chelsea have a lot of players we could have afforded but maybe it comes down to ambition. If prospective players are given the chance to sign for Arsenal or Chelsea, who do you think they'll sign for?<br />
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At the end of the days players want to win and we will win the FA Cup but is that not the perfect opportunity for Wenger to leave? I listened to the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/112927879996487975433" target="_blank">+Tim Clark (Arse2Mouse)</a> podcast and Dave discussed this scenario brilliantly. Win and leave on a high, as Wenger should be remembered. Why not? Sounds perfect to me. Wenger has led us through this period/decade of transition and maybe it is time to hand over the reigns to another world class manager. Whilst fans will point towards Man Utd's ongoing decline, all you have to do to avoid such calamity is to not hire David Moyes. I want the Wenger era to end on a high but it appears the same mistakes are being repeated over and over again. Even the contract scenario of a few years ago seems to be regurgitating itself right now. The players look comfortable and seem to get in based on reputation or by default. I can't be bothered with all of the AKB or WOB but when you talk about loyalty remember that we, the fans, have also been loyal. We've shown patience and believed in a project that many others would not have. Just look at the rats fleeing the United season ticket ship. Win the FA Cup Arsene and then let us embrace the legacy you've left behind and allow someone to take us to the next level, as you did back in 1996.<br />
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P.S Thanks for the apology today Mikel but sadly we've heard it all before.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-5454738741483615582014-03-20T09:30:00.000-07:002014-03-20T09:37:05.910-07:00The Best (and Worst) of Wenger's Reign<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In celebration of Arsene reaching 1000 games it seems to be trendy to pick his best XI of his time at Arsenal. So in keeping with that theme why don't we branch out? So I've prepared a few different XI's and see what you think.<br />
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<b>The Best</b><br />
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Seaman - 1.3m<br />
Lauren - 7.2m<br />
Adams - Free<br />
Campbell - Free<br />
Cole - Free<br />
Pires - 6m<br />
Vieira - 3.5m<br />
Fabregas - Free<br />
Ljungberg - 3m<br />
Bergkamp - 7.5m<br />
Henry - 11m<br />
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Total Cost = 39.5m<br />
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Pretty straight forward for me. There may be some discussion over right back with Lauren v Sagna but I'm a sucker for The Invincibles and that swayed it. Not sure there are many others up for debate? Overmars? Left too soon to be considered for a starting berth. Worth noting that Wenger didn't sign all of that team though.<br />
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<b>The Worst</b><br />
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This is tough, forgive me if I have blocked out some absolute horrors.<br />
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Wright - 6m<br />
Luzhny - 1.8m<br />
Squillaci - 4m<br />
Cygan - 2m<br />
Silvestre - 800k<br />
Hleb - 10m<br />
Mendez-Rodriguez - 330k<br />
Gervinho - 10.5m<br />
Vivas - 2m<br />
Jeffers - 8m<br />
Diawara - 2.5m<br />
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Many, many players could have made that team but there are some shockers in there. From players from the lower reaches of the German league to the fox in the box.<br />
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Total Cost = 47.9m<br />
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<b>The Most Expensive</b><br />
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I'm relaying purely on memory so forgive me if there are any errors here. Feel free to correct me<br />
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Wright - 6m<br />
Sagna - 7.9m<br />
Vermaelen - 10.5m<br />
Koscielny - 9m<br />
Monreal - 8.3m<br />
Nasri 13.6m<br />
Arshavin 16m<br />
Reyes - 13m<br />
Wiltord - 13m<br />
Cazorla - 16m<br />
Ozil - 42m<br />
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Total Cost = 155.9m<br />
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I'm sure you could go on and on. but they are just a select few that I have chosen. I'd love to see your best and worst teams, feel free to comment below. One thing is for sure though, 1000 games is a fantastic achievement and each and every club has their skeletons in the closet. You can't always get it right every time.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-70681011729851077992014-03-19T03:22:00.001-07:002014-03-19T03:30:15.383-07:001-0 To The Arsenal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Well wasn't that just an absolute </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">belter</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> of a weekend? I have to say I started the day in a quietly confident mood and I never really contemplated defeat at any point, often that thought process can be my undoing but I genuinely didn't feel that there was anything to fear, not even Mike Dean. My mood was backed up when I got inside White Hart Lane, I'd never seen so many happy and enthusiastic </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">gooners</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> prior to kick, everyone was chomping at the bit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Our mood infected the side and it gave </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Rosicky</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> some super human powers as he destroyed the spurs goal inside of 2 minutes. What an absolute </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">piledriver</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. I'm probably his biggest critic when it comes to his end product but that was majestic. That's what he can do, he just needs to do it more often. Not wonder strikes but just more goals please Tomas. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then it was time to shut the door on Sp*rs. They were absolutely clueless. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Adebayor</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> did his lets look pretty on the wing trick to perfection. Not much danger when he's not in the middle and even when </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Szczesny</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> had an absolute nightmare for a minute they still couldn't score. They've absolutely shafted themselves with the Bale money. There's nothing more to spend and they've got a hyperactive hamster on the sidelines. It's like the good old days.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Speaking of which, there are few things more satisfying than a 1-0 to The Arsenal scoreline. I've seen lots of talk about how poor we played going forward but how great we were at the back. Why does there always have to be a positive negative within our fan base? We won at </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tottenham</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> but you want to hyper analyse things to get your weekly negativity injection. Just bloody enjoy it is what I'd say. For the last few years the gap was closing, they got a bit cocky and got bitten on the arse. The media talked about how there a was a power shift, their manager said we were going into a negative spiral and look at us now. We've played them three times this season and they haven't even managed a single goal to celebrate. Bless them. They continue to outdo themselves as well. Sherwood is talking like a man possessed. Apparently we papered over the cracks yesterday? What cracks and whose paper are we using? Would those be the cracks that saw us win without Ramsey, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Wilshere</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Ozil</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Walcott</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. He's an absolute idiot. Anyway, Sherwood's taking me off topic. We won in a gritty dogged fashion that I was accustomed to when George Graham was in charge. It's like a thing of </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">defensive</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> beauty. We score, then it's up to you to break us down, lets see what you have. What they had was a long ball and that's just not going to cut it. It was a tactical performance. The subs reinforced our belief that we didn't need a second, they helped the concentration levels and we kept our focus. It's not looking as calamitous at the back as we once were. I have no issues with performances like what I saw yesterday. After all, isn't it what people have been saying we aren't capable of?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A massive factor in yesterdays win was victory against </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Everton</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. The fact our season will carry on until mid-April plays a huge part. The pressure is lifted, the players can breathe, relax and believe in themselves. The happiness amongst our support is brilliant to see as well. Everyone was buzzing on Sunday, it felt like it was just one song after another, if it wasn't signing about the invincible side, it was about our upcoming trip to </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">wembley</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. If we weren't mocking their club motto, we goading their arsenal supporting gaffer. Everyone was on top form. All I ever want from my team is to believe they can compete and challenge for honours. I don't expect there to be silverware at the end of the rainbow but just supplying those better moments later in the season takes you to a new level of enjoyment and satisfaction. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The last couple of seasons has been turbulent in terms of our ambitions but what has been manifesting itself is the connection between the players and the fans. For too long I've questioned players attitudes and commit to the cause but they loved that as much as we did. They know how important that is to us. I can't say I've felt connections with some of our recent sides but this works. The rapport between the two camps of supporters and players has probably never been as close in my lifetime. Under Graham, we were regimental and in the Emirates </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Wenger</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> era we've just been littered with players willing to stab us in the back. We've formed a trust with our players, we accept their shortcomings and in return they accept ours. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Mertesacker</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> leads the way. The big lumbering hopeless centre half isn't turning out too bad is he? What an absolute colossus that man is and you know his partner in crime (admittedly a little more reckless) isn't too bad either. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It didn't take too long but you can see the impact </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Bould</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> has had on the back four. He has recreated the famous back five, admittedly they are head and shoulders about our current defence but the foundations have been set. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Mertesacker</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Koscielny</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> put it all on the line. They defend as if their very lives depend on it. They defend as is they enjoy the art of defending. Something we haven't had since the days of Adams and co. Instead we've had players like </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Toure</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Gallas</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Vermaelen</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. Players who like to play but all had </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">defensive</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> shortcomings. It's just refreshing and delightful to watch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You'll have no doubt seen we are still outsiders in terms of the betting when it comes to winning the league but that's down to fear of schedule we are currently enduring but if we manage to get a draw against Chelsea, I think we'll begin to shorten quite rapidly. That said, I'm happy to fly under the radar. It suits us best. After the result at the weekend we go into the game against Chelsea in good spirit and form, which is more than can be said about them considering their implosion at Villa Park. We don't have to deal with that little snake </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Ramires</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> either, the type of player that throws off guard but he won't be available on Saturday. I sense there'll be a lot of bad blood between </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Wenger</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Mourinho</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, particularly as the latter will no doubt be unaware until the media throw him the "it's </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Wenger's</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> 1000th game" line. The Portuguese egotistical maniac will probably end up doing </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Wenger's</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> work for him and if we could achieve a victory then the other challengers might just start to take us a little bit more seriously. However, until Saturday comes just enjoy what the team have given you on </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Sunday and</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> pack away your miserable, negative ways and save them for when the time is right because for now the world's so much better once you've beaten </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tottenham</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> for the third time in seven months. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-16956531143210636002014-03-15T02:03:00.001-07:002014-03-15T02:03:09.139-07:00Is It Mike Dean Or Is It Us?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Well the first week of death run 2.0 is nearly at a close and it’s been a week in which we’ve taken a battering on the media front. So now really more than ever is time for a bit of perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Out of the FA Cup.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Oh wait, the former does not apply to us but instead both apply to Manchester City. It’s all gone a bit a shaky at the Etihad in the last couple of weeks since their League Cup triumph. Their back to back defeats has been very Arsenal esque. The usual week of season ending torture has been endured somewhat by City themselves. Yes, the have a decent chance of the league but Chelsea have the points in the bag. The pressure is well and truly on them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So what does that have to do with us? Well, if we had suffered the fate of City we’d have dominated the back pages of the press for the last few days. Oh wait, we did. Then on the day following City’s defeat a different slant was taken. Funny that. Only enough room for one team to be shot at? </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But the question is it it them or is it us?</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/2kLYZDScod8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s said that our fans are a paranoid bunch and to an extent I agree, especially when it comes to refs, we are extremely paranoid. You need look no further than Mike Dean’s record when refereeing Arsenal. Do supporters genuinely believe we’ve lost games because he is ref? You don’t need to trawl through all of the games but we lost to Bradford of League Two. I remember on the night that Dean was at his finest theatrical best but a ref shouldn’t ever be the cause of a defeat. Yes, they can contribute towards a teams downfall but on that night in particular our first team couldn’t dispatch a side from three divisions lower. Then you have Dean’s showing in the NLD 5-2 Part One. He allegedly celebrated as Saha’s deflected effort made it 1-0 to Sp*rs. As the ball looped up over Szczesny Dean jumped to see if the ball was going into the net and in true Mike Dean fashion he emphatically pointed towards the centre spot to signal a goal. However it was interpreted as him having celebrated a goal. I mean come on, seriously? If you want a ref celebrating than look no further than Norman Burtenshaw in the 1971. A much bigger prize at stake and one that i’m sure it would have Gooners blaming the epic 2 hour scorching heat and relief of game being over (which was actually the truth in this case) but we can’t just take sides as and when we choose. I hate the ref blaming culture and I try to steer clear of it as best as possible, it just makes you focus on the game with a clearer mind. Mike Dean was ref against Blackburn in the FA Cup last season. Was it his fault, of course it wasn't, we were terrible. For those that do point the finger solely at officials how do you ever get over things like Rooney’s dive over campbell’s leg? You don’t get the closure required to move on. So yes we are paranoid at times but on this occasions it was column filing at it’s very worst. I no doubt believe that there wasn’t much of a story in Bayern eliminating Arsenal as it was widely expected. So an opportunity presented itself for journalists to steal a march on others. Instead of the late goal match report killer, they were faced with 45 minutes that they could dedicate digging the knife into Ozil. It was cowardly at best and I’m glad our supporters when on a bit of a trollfest. It needed highlighting and the point was made. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sadly, the unwanted attention that Ozil has attracted has detracted from the fact we make our first Wembley Semi Final appearance since 2009. It’s something that will no doubt be belittled due to us playing Wigan. Poor old little Wigan, the reigning cup holders, the team who have beaten City twice in 10 months. A team that has earned it’s right to be at this stage as much as we have. You can’t help but feel that a nice feel good factor is around the corner. The opportunity of silverware is on a plate for us. I got a little excited on twitter when City lost to Wigan. I said “WE’RE GOING TO WIN THE CUP”, the notable favourites and no doubt screen shots followed but surely there isn’t anyone out there that doesn’t think we won’t win it? We’re a bloody good side, one that has certainly stepped up a gear in the last 12 months and finally we should be getting a reward in the form of silverware. Has anyone considered an FA Cup and 4th placed trophy double? I’ll get the bus ready. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In all seriousness though, the Everton win was massive. It has completely taken the edge off this run of games that we have an no matter what happens in the next few weeks. Our season will in some form, still be very much alive. The challenge until our trip to Wembley is to forge our way back into the title race. I said in a blog not so long ago that I don’t think we can claim 9 points from 9 but the club has slotted in Swansea at home between Chelsea and City. That said from trips to SHL, The Bridge and at home to City I haven’t seen anything that has led to think that is now achievable. Our trickiest fixture is away to Chelsea. we can ill afford to lose there but a draw would suffice and it would be Mourinho esque in ensuring that the team ahead of you in the table does open up a gap. The gap is 7 points but we need our game in hand to reduce that to 4. Lets hope we can stick around but first up we play Sp*rs. The one game a season you can guarantee they’ll turn up. Tickets for the game in their end were on stub hub for 1k (which is also the price of our cheapest season ticket incidentally). That’s how big this game is to them and we must match their intensity and tempo from the get-go. Our record at SHL has been pitiful and we haven’t won there since 2007, yep 2007. That’s pretty embarrassing but also reflective of how our stock has fallen since the move to our new stadium. I think last years defeat was a big wake up call and it has certainly breathed new life into our side, so now it’s up to those players to get us 3 very welcome points and claim our first season double of Spurs in 7 years. Lots has been made of Sp*rs recent lull but if they get a lead on Sunday they’ll all thrive on it. It would be great if the Arsenal v Sunderland could turn up and have it done by half time. Of course, it wont be that easy and to be honest it doesn’t matter how we get 3 points, we just have to get the 3 points and if that was to come via a Mike Dean decision that maybe he would be classed as a gooner for the foreseeable future. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-54176985532809292122014-03-06T14:01:00.001-08:002014-03-07T00:01:23.945-08:00Give Sagna What He Wants!<div>It appears that another contract has managed to whittle down. However unlike the usual cheaper sale with 12 months to go, we face losing one of the worlds best right backs for free. </div><div><br></div><div>Now, for me, losing Sagna would be a huge blow to us. It's taken us a number of years to rebuild our defence and we've finally started to see some results. We've chopped and changed over the years trying to find the right combinations since The Invincibles:</div><div><br></div><div>Left Back : Cole>Clichy>Gibbs/Monreal</div><div><br></div><div>Centre Half:</div><div><br></div><div>Campbell/Toure>Gallas/Toure>Gallas/Vermaelen>Vermaelen/Koscielny>Mertesacker/Vermaelen>Koscielny/Mertesacker</div><div><br></div><div>Right Back:</div><div><br></div><div>Lauren>Eboue>Sagna</div><div><br></div><div>That makes Sagna the main stay of our defensive unit. So why risk a change? </div><div><br></div><div>Bosman</div><div><br></div><div>I'm not going to be naive here, Sagna can test the market and he has the greatest tournament in the world to showcase his ability BUT Mathieu Debuchy currently occupies that slot. So Sagna could see himself parked on the bench quite a bit in Brazil. I have to admit I'm somewhat puzzled that Debuchy starts ahead of him. Some say the Newcastle man is better going forward but surely the better all round player is the man you select? Look at other Premier League sides though, City aside, they would all upgrade the right back position if they acquired Sagna. Then you consider the cash rich French clubs. They odds are stacked against us. </div><div><br></div><div>This is likely to be Sagna's final contract, so he's right to consider his options but are our own fictitious rules getting in the way again? If we offer him say a 3 or 4 year deal, the club does realise we can sell him on during that time? Right? </div><div><br></div><div>Strengths</div><div><br></div><div>Sagna no doubt came to Arsenal to win honours and so far he has won absolutey nothing. So first of all, we've seen loyalty. Shall we reward him off the back of that alone, of course not. </div><div><br></div><div>He is however, absolutely fantastic in the air. He's magnificent. Often when we are forced to kick it long, it's generally in the direction of our number 3, as he always beats wingers in the air. It's also worth considering having aerial presence makes up for our lack of height at times as well. </div><div><br></div><div>His positional sense has really grown in recent years too. That's pivotal when we've had to adapt our back four to compensate for Mertesacker. The back four is perfectly balance and I love seeing Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker & Gibbs line up together. It's worth noting that back four didn't start in the two massive drubbings we've taken so far this season. If there's a weakness it's on the left because our wingers either tuck in too much or shun defensive responsibility. </div><div><br></div><div>Even going forward Sagna has improved. When Adebayor left Sagna's production fell away but he has put in some absolute worldies this season. It's definitely an aspect he has worked on and it's paying off. It's just a shame we lack clinical forwards. </div><div><br></div><div>Man on man - if it comes to individual battles who has his number? Nobody that I can recall since Victor Moses had him on toast nearly 2 years ago. It says a lot about opposition tactics focussing away from him. It's probably the biggest compliment you can a defender. </div><div><br></div><div>Weaknesses</div><div><br></div><div>Well Sagna turned 31 on valentines day, so he's in the over 30's club. Our age discrimating contract policy already has that under intense scrutiny. Then there's his repeated leg break. That's definitely a concern but he's played over 30 games this season. Which would highlight he's fully recovered. He could argue it's not a factor, after all Rosicky swindles new deals and he's hardly Mr Durable. </div><div><br></div><div>Cost</div><div><br></div><div>The club may refuse to pay Sagna x amount but if he leaves we are going to need to find a replacement. Carl Jenkinson is nowhere near being ready to even start regularly, let alone replace a proven international. So that means we'll have to buy a replacement (unless one is growing on a tree somewhere) and that means spending cash. Even a simple 5m to replace equates to 96k pw for one year. Does it not make sense to reinvest in a player that has helped us hugely over the years (last years dip aside). I'm fearful that Wenger may split up a solid back line and it's some what contradictory on Wenger's part that whilst he's being seeking the answer the puzzle, he may go and replace an important cog, just when he'd found the missing piece. </div><div><br></div><div>At some stage our contract shenanigans will seriously bite us on the derrière. I sure those pro-Wenger and club will say it's the players fault but if we were winning trophies, he'd have signed already. However, we aren't and players want silverware. It's a risk for Sagna but he probably wants a medal and he's already seen the likes of Nasri and RVP get those in their first season away from Arsenal. </div><div><br></div><div>It's time to stop playing hardball and just pay the man. After all, if wages are an issue just remember the amount of cash we are wasting on players we have no intention of using and/or have no future at the club. </div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-17570780785852235452014-03-02T01:13:00.001-08:002014-03-02T13:29:37.949-08:00It's Sanogo in the Title RaceLets get straight to point. I think we took our eye off the ball yesterday. I believe the club treated the game as a gimme, with all of the focus on the other games in March. After all, Stoke have been playing poorly, they hadn't keep a clean sheet for what felt like an enterity, yet we all knew we'd be in for a fight. <div><br></div><div>Whenever we lose a game it's easy to be hypertherical with team selection purely based on the result. For me, when Wenger announced his line up at City, which included Monreal, I thought it was a logical and correct decision - we lost 6-3. Yesterday, there were many things wrong. There was no pace and there was the lack of a physical presence. Wenger has also long been a fan on Podolski taking a seat on the bench. Then yesterday he gets included at one of the toughest away gigs in the league. I don't get the logic. Ox has been superb of late and he's really utilised his pace to devastating effect and most importantly he's scored a few goals as well. It was notable that it was his run and cross that led to Sanogo missing his guilt edged chance late on. </div><div><br></div><div><b>The Pen</b></div><div><br></div><div>The key contribution to the game. Here are the laws as laid down by FIFA. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn8r5OER_yqaclc5d5jKsjo6lRIMiuGPgMsxw2eHjG4zWZzpFQxbznhj4ND3k8jTwScdhHC4IyshAOqcFLOYa5Zdf-9QwBCGLQU-Z2xfwSc2evSmr-nC9inMfZkhDgniPgCmZUDViyaE/s640/blogger-image--80674939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn8r5OER_yqaclc5d5jKsjo6lRIMiuGPgMsxw2eHjG4zWZzpFQxbznhj4ND3k8jTwScdhHC4IyshAOqcFLOYa5Zdf-9QwBCGLQU-Z2xfwSc2evSmr-nC9inMfZkhDgniPgCmZUDViyaE/s640/blogger-image--80674939.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><i>Involves a deliberate act </i>- FIFA says. </div><div><br></div><div>It was a very harsh call, one I would be baying the ref to give for us. Somewhat bizarrely though it didn't surprise me in the slightest. It sort of summed up our performance. You can make your own interpretation.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Going Forward</b></div><div><br></div><div>I'm not sure when this happened but I'm becoming a bit fed up with our lack of purpose and intent when we attack. If Giroud plays, it's all about surrounding him with players and playing neet little flicks. Hardly ideal for the wind tunnel that is The Brittania but then we didn't even achieve that aim yesterday. The aspect of attack that annoys me is the left to right build up. It is a display of patience but we have so little movement that a team has safety in numbers, it's not tiring for the defence nor does it create any space. So inevitably we go from controlling the ball to chucking in a percentage ball ie a cross. Why? Doesn't that defeat the object of keeping the ball? Whipping in a ball towards one player up against two isn't going result in a favourable situation for us. I've said it before, we have too many players willing to create and not make the penetrating runs required to open the lock. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Centre Midfield</b></div><div><br></div><div>This was our strong hold earlier in the season and now it appears to be our achilles heal. They don't dictate the game, rather it passes them by. Each midfielder has their own attributes to assist our team:</div><div><br></div><div>Arteta - possession</div><div>Flamini - determination</div><div>Ramsey - all rounder</div><div>Chamberlain - pace</div><div>Rosicky - tempo</div><div>Cazorla - goals and assists</div><div>Özil - vision</div><div>Wilshere - ??? </div><div><br></div><div>I'm not sure what Jack is best at. He doesn't score enough, nor does he create. He prefers to run down a blind alley and lose possession I know that. He loves lying on the deck and giving the impression he is seriously injured. Maybe I'd label him tenacious but he hasn't made this position his own and Ramsey will kick him into touch when he returns. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Attitude</b></div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday the team played like the world was against them. We took the role Stoke fans love. We expected decisions from the ref and stopped on far too many occasions. The tone was set early on when Arteta was pushed off the ball and the ref played on. There were some questionable 'challenges' yesterday but we let Stoke smell blood, something you can never do. Their side feeds off it, as do their fans. It's worth noting that we've only ever won their once on that infamous late afternoon kick off. If you were cynical you would say it was based on us playing ten men but the truth is we matched their attitude and determination that day, even after falling behind early. Once you've matched a sides battling qualities, then your football takes over. Our football never got going yesterday and that's reflected in our lack of chances and shots on goal. Very frustrating given what's on the line here.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Le Collapse</b></div><div><br></div><div>I'm not sure what version we're onto with this but it appear we are going to have to re-live our yearly implosion. The title for me is gone for now. We need snookers and it's only the beginning of March. Now I know you may be screaming at your screen saying we can win all of our upcoming league games but history tells us that we are going to drop points. I don't believe for one second that this side can take 12/12 or even 9/12 against Sp*rs, Chelsea, City & Everton. I'd say 5/12 would be more realistic and that means our title challenge is officially over. Let the race for 4th commence. I watched Dennis Bergkamp's legends programme on iTunes recently and he said something that struck a cord. He stated in his early years that the team knew they weren't good enough to compete for the title with a Manchester United but that was something Wenger changed and got the team believing. I don't think this side believes it's good enough, it always feel a couple of players short of what's required but that discussion is for another day I suppose. </div><div><br></div><div>Wenger himself said yesterday that the loss was "a big worry". He knows the damage that was created yesterday. We need to play ourselves back into contention and we also need sides to play themselves out of contention as well. There are too many sides in and around us that will succumb to the amount of teams competing for the title. What I think people mean is we have to win all of our upcoming games and navigate our difficult schedule but at present we are 4 points off Chelsea, which will be 7 points by this time next week. </div><div><br></div><div>The title race was nice whilst it lasted, I knew it would fade away at some point but I had hoped we might have been able to squeeze it out for a few more games. This is where draws away to Southampton and at home to United come home to roost. The next few weeks may not be pretty but I for one hope Wenger plays his strongest side next Saturday because if he doesn't and we go out, the knives will be out once again. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><br></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-6698144454992444402014-02-20T16:29:00.001-08:002014-02-22T02:41:31.248-08:00The Arsenal Power RankingsWelcome to the 3rd edition of The Arsenal Power Rankings. This is the feature where players are rated purely on performance and not ability. It moves with the times and you don't get by on reputation alone. <div><br></div><div>Previous power rankings have consisted of a top 15 but this time around it's been condensed to a top 10. Tougher choices and more players fail to make the grade.</div><div><br></div><div>So without any further ado, here is this the panel. </div><div><br></div><div>@yorkshiregunner</div><div>@MadRuskiGunner</div><div>@attwood10</div><div>@modgooner</div><div>@addy_88</div><div>@YankeeGunner</div><div>@Alan_Alger_</div><div>@TheSquidBoyLike</div><div>@LucaHelvetica</div><div>@GiantGunner</div><div>And me, @mj_afc</div><div><br></div><div>Without anyone wanting to help out with this blog, you'd just be listening to my rambles. So thanks to everyone who has put their views across. </div><div><br></div><div>The previous top 15 was:</div><div><br></div><div>15th - Carl Jenkinson</div><div>14th - Mikel Arteta</div><div>13th - Tomas Rosicky</div><div>12th - Jack Wilshere</div><div>11th - Santi Cazorla</div><div>10th - Theo Walcott</div><div>9th - Laurent Koscielny</div><div>8th - Bacary Sagna</div><div>7th - Wojciech Szczęsny</div><div>6th - Kieran Gibbs</div><div>5th - Per Mertesacker</div><div>4th - Mathieu Flamini</div><div>3rd - Mesut Özil</div><div>2nd - Olivier Giroud</div><div>1st - Aaron Ramsey</div><div><br></div><div>That was our top 15 as of mid-October. So a lot of time has passed, so it'll be interesting to see who's stepped up and who has ran out of steam. </div><div><br></div><div>Before we commence with the top ten, a run down of those that didn't make the grade.</div><div><br></div><div><b>No Votes</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>If we were picking team in the park, this lot would have been left standing until the end:</div><div><br></div><div>Emiliano Vivano</div><div>Carl Jenkinson</div><div>Thomas Vermaelen</div><div>Nacho Monreal</div><div>Nicklas Bendtner</div><div>Yaya Sanogo</div><div>Ryo Miyachi</div><div>Lukas Podolski</div><div><br></div><div>No real surprise there given the lack of playing time for most. Maybe we could have expected to see more from Monreal who has been given has played more than anyone else listed above but he appears to have gone off the boil. Clearly from that list Sanogo may be a big mover next time. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Missed The Cut</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>The biggest surprise has to be that despite ranking 4th in the previous power rankings, Mathieu Flamini has fallen out of the top ten. He received one solitary vote from @MadRuskiGunner. It's quite a turnaround in midfield actually. Given it was our earlier season strength, Arteta, Wilshere, Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain all failed to make the top ten. I'm not sure if this raises the question that our midfield has been carried on the shoulders of Aaron Ramsey but we've certainly missed the goals of our dynamic Welshman. </div><div><br></div><div>Only two other players failed to make the grade that received votes and they were Serge Gnabry and Lukasz Fabianski. </div><div><br></div><div><b>The Top Ten</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>10th - Olivier Giroud (down 8 places)</div><div><br></div><div>It's been a tough few months for Giroud but there's still a decent striker in there. He certainly hasn't been helped with his recent off the field misdemeanours. His lack of goals at The Emirates is a concern but of late he has scored big goals at Newcastle, Villa & Southampton. Lets hope when he returns to the side he's rejuevenated and ready to help is win some silverware. </div><div><br></div><div>9th - Kieran Gibbs (down 3 places)</div><div><br></div><div>@attwood10 - arguably our most improved player. He's so reliable. He's cemented his first choice status & is fast developing into a key player for us. The fact you never hear a single story about him says a lot too. Top talent. </div><div><br></div><div><i>It would appear there's no longer a battle for the left back spot. </i></div><div><br></div><div>8th - Theo Walcott (up 2 places)</div><div><br></div><div>@Alan_Alger_ - I think it's fair to say I've been one of his harshest critics down the years. On one hand I feel he is paid far too much for his contribution to the cause, and often his inconsistencies can frustrate beyond rational explanation. He is of those players where you could form a YouTube compilation to make him look the best or worst in the world very easily. Overall though he does deliver and provides a good option for us. He certainly showed that before his injury and will no doubt to show that when he comes back - although overall I don't feel we get the maximum out of him aligned to his wages. Deserves a place in the top ten. </div><div><br></div><div><i>If not for his injury, I'm sure Theo would have featured a little higher. </i></div><div><br></div><div>7th - Aaron Ramsey (down 6 place)</div><div><br></div><div>@LucaHelvetica - The lynchpin of the team when fit, earns his place despite a month out injured due to his workrate, assists and vital goals against Liverpool and Dortmund. </div><div><br></div><div><i>Our side is in need of those penetrating runs he makes and it's another option that is missing for our record signing. </i></div><div><br></div><div>6th - Mesut Özil (down 3 places)</div><div><br></div><div>@YankeeGunner - Mesut Özil hasn't been the "supernova" we might've expected but for a first season player he's been excellent. He's a luxury player to be sure but he's great at keeping possession and has proven that he will create chances, as he leads the team in that crucial statistic. Özil doesn't race around the pitch which leads to accusations of laziness but he understands movement so well that he often doesn't need to. He will improve over the next few seasons to be a true success at Arsenal but he's been excellent for a first campaign. Of course he'll need to improve his penalties. </div><div><br></div><div><i>A lot of sense spoken in the midst of mass hysteria. Özil is class - it's that simple. </i></div><div><br></div><div>5th - Bacary Sagna (up 3 places)</div><div><br></div><div>@yorkshiregunner - I gave him plenty of stick last year (rightly so by the way) but he's the Bac of old this year. Solid, snaps into tackles & imperious in the air. Really hope he stays but if he doesn't he deserves to end his Arsenal career as a winner with a medal to show for years of good service. </div><div><br></div><div><i>It'll certainly be a step back for the side if he leaves. We've been here before though haven't we?</i></div><div><br></div><div>4th - Santi Cazorla (up 7 places)</div><div><br></div><div>@GiantGooner - Santi suffered initially after returning from his ankle injury, but he returned to form in the Boxing Day win over West Ham and has been a solid performer since with four goals and two assists in 10 starts, including a brace in the 2-0 win over Fulham. When we look at players who can step up and lift the team during the murderers row of March matches, Cazorla should be near the top of the list.</div><div><br></div><div><i>He wasn't wrong. A more than credible 4th place for Santi. </i></div><div><br></div><div><b>The Top Three</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>There was a popular trio that made up most of the the panels top 3 selections and you've probably guessed who they are but who takes over from Aaron Ramsey in first place? </div><div><br></div><div>3rd - Wojciech Szczęsny (up 4 places)</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb_czQKTCjeTE1xY3CtzXhLfPpjDB1VUTu1aKQNPwBduoSnmOaOU_ZUOU_sFFQ2wLxikeMlqbrJSD-JOxZa0sUfBV4GrUBUpvd-A7QDjUPQIu5rvugGJjGxC7W0nxdWmyCApyq5tw1TY/s640/blogger-image-1856455709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb_czQKTCjeTE1xY3CtzXhLfPpjDB1VUTu1aKQNPwBduoSnmOaOU_ZUOU_sFFQ2wLxikeMlqbrJSD-JOxZa0sUfBV4GrUBUpvd-A7QDjUPQIu5rvugGJjGxC7W0nxdWmyCApyq5tw1TY/s640/blogger-image-1856455709.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>@addy_88 - the goalkeeper I hoped Arsène would buy for many years. But his trust in the pole has paid off and now he is, in my opinion, the best goaly in the Premier League. He saves us many points over the course of time and is one of the leaders and the backbone of the 2nd best defence in the league. Furthermore he is only 23 years old so he can still improve and, maybe, become one of the best in the world. Wojciech Szczęsny was always a confident lad but now he also shows his outstanding class! </div><div><br></div><div>2nd - Laurent Koscielny (up 7 places)</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNDMRcPfp2S_jdgb8iRvmWgyZewWLhwZHxtR_2R5dpiPKgXOuiTtiofghyb7HZEBvpglpTmsjR2NoriQMpjqM0hoE1ujuZk7JrIxF5AhW8x31dfqgLwANrusVxD4eHDZiLnzYUXBk3ak/s640/blogger-image--29129059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNDMRcPfp2S_jdgb8iRvmWgyZewWLhwZHxtR_2R5dpiPKgXOuiTtiofghyb7HZEBvpglpTmsjR2NoriQMpjqM0hoE1ujuZk7JrIxF5AhW8x31dfqgLwANrusVxD4eHDZiLnzYUXBk3ak/s640/blogger-image--29129059.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>@TheSquidBoyLike - Over the autumn and winter months it wasn't swashbuckling attacking football that kept us top of the league, but more an obstinate defence that amassed numerous clean sheets. Koscielny undoubtedly played a huge role in that. Mertesacker may be the brains of the back line, but Koscielny brings the brawn with his aggression and anticipation. Also possess an impressive and growing back-pocket of so-called 'world class' strikers. </div><div><br></div><div><i>You can't disagree with that. It's like George Graham's Arsenal have been reborn. </i></div><div><br></div><div>1st - Per Mertesacker (up 4 places)</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqxr_LyP0q_8Us7C5aHMucWy8728Z9qnfv8PCR7bh4JzX8C-pHSp_VQxyi_zf0PmHLXtZ7m7BhU_fN_VmmPtwPxaPI6geKtCZlCilXgc6VIrWtF9V1sLXeVyg4JNPOgFQPfEdsXrl4sA/s640/blogger-image--65596326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqxr_LyP0q_8Us7C5aHMucWy8728Z9qnfv8PCR7bh4JzX8C-pHSp_VQxyi_zf0PmHLXtZ7m7BhU_fN_VmmPtwPxaPI6geKtCZlCilXgc6VIrWtF9V1sLXeVyg4JNPOgFQPfEdsXrl4sA/s640/blogger-image--65596326.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>@MadRuskiGunner - <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For me Per Mertesacker is the most consistent player at Arsenal at the moment. His duo with Koscielny has reached record heights and can without any modesty be called the best in the league. Our defensive statistics have been outstanding this season. A defeat to Bayern a couple of days ago was our first home loss in 14 games. We've kept 11 clean sheets at The Emirates. Impressive.</span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>Large part of success is all due to Per's magnificent form. He oozes confidence, never shies away from any ball or tackle and despite his rather clumsy appearance he defends with such grace and technique.<br><br>Per strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't like the buzz around his own personality much. He prefers to go out onto the pitch and prove his worth. <br><br>Despite the above it's becoming more and more evident that Per is the soul if our squad. He is vocal, he is experienced and he takes no prisoners. Just the right person to find that balance between youth and elder generation.<br><br>We have been witnessing an increasing number of Per media encounters lately that leads to speculation of possible Arsenal captaincy in the future. Many support this idea, including myself. <br><br>I don't know whether we will win a trophy this year or not but Per Mertesacker has definitely won our hearts. </span><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>A fitting tribute to round up the panels thoughts on the top 10 players. </i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Congratulations to the BFG. Your trophy is at my house it you want to come and collect it. </span></div><div><div><br></div><div>Overall, it's an amazing turnaround for a side renowned for it's attacking flair. Currently our three most inform players are in our defence. We've waited a long time for Wenger to rebuild the Invincible defence but finally we have a reliable unit that can win us games. Sometimes watching good defending is as entertaining as watching a free flowing attacker. Goals will games but defences win silverware. Let's hope we have a nice shiny cup to show off in May. </div><div><br></div><div>Here is the scoring matrix for the squad. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAgORlKAhvjG1OQqCSxdkFS-gBXkIlZeFJR5UCdEX3L5K4JEsMY-DjebaoLPkxtmFZwqkfF3lxHwPZSTZO9dsNApKS0CLJFEY5lalIQvk5eIKdvUyk7NRqptWlrrcMJ6WuSiZMZUWcN4/s640/blogger-image-2034788922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAgORlKAhvjG1OQqCSxdkFS-gBXkIlZeFJR5UCdEX3L5K4JEsMY-DjebaoLPkxtmFZwqkfF3lxHwPZSTZO9dsNApKS0CLJFEY5lalIQvk5eIKdvUyk7NRqptWlrrcMJ6WuSiZMZUWcN4/s640/blogger-image-2034788922.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>So there you have it. Lots of opinions on players without necessarily slagging them off. So quite a refreshing take on things given the past few days. Who would make your top 10? Feel free to comment below. </div><div><br></div><div>Once again, thanks to all that took part. I always enjoy putting these blogs together and this will become a monthly feature from now on. </div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-22720216423655446662014-02-16T14:03:00.001-08:002014-02-17T00:51:41.345-08:00Lukas Ensures It's a Fab Day For ArsenalApologies for the cheesy title but it did feel good did it not?<div><br></div><div>I'll be honest, when I started to hear rumours that the likes of Sanogo were going to play, I started to get myself a little wound up and ultimately expecting that we'd watch another game as part of another Arsenal collapse. Then you find out the teams (shortly after Giroud spilled his heart to the world) and Jenkinson is in. Time for a deep breath, after all, I lost the plot a little when I heard rumours we were resting players ahead of Bayern (A). This came after defeat in the NLD. It was another classic Wenger gamble. </div><div><br></div><div>Tactics</div><div><br></div><div>You'd have hoped we would have learned our lessons from last week but within the first 4 minutes we were carved open twice. Not the encouraging start we were after. Then we got our shape right. I always love it when Wenger gets tactical because he's rather good when he gets away from 'if we play to our strengths, we'll win' mentality. Both Podolski and Ox were narrow and the former seemed to have a licence to roam. It helped engage our wingers, which was crucial when we had a striker making his debut in the FA Cup. We had seen off the early pressure and got ourselves a precious lead. We calmed and we started to control the game. So a nice narrow shape with plenty of bodies to stop Liverpool's high tempo game. If last Saturday taught us anything it was that we can ill afford to lose possession high up the field. When this is coupled with a lack of numbers it really does spell disaster. It plays against the only weakness the likes of Mertesacker has. You can have all the positional sense you like but if you are caught on the counter with half the pitch to go, then you are essentially doomed. Today though, we played deep and if Liverpool did get in Fabinksi was off his line in a flash. So not only were tactics applied but also some lessons learned. Which has been a rarity with Arsenal in recent years. </div><div><br></div><div>Fabianski</div><div><br></div><div>Thirteen months ago, Lukasz Fabinski got his chance to stake his claim for the #1 jersey. He came in away to Bayern after Szczęsny had been dropping gaff after gaff, but he offered us stability in the face of adversity. Today was a reminder that he does have his strengths and he is learning. The question would remain whether he could do it on a consistent basis because there is a thin line between success and failure. Just look at Agger's header late on. If that goes in, we point the finger straight at him and could have cost us the game. However, no ifs or buts, today he was MOTM. Since March last year our keepers handling has been absolutely fantastic. I know Gerry Peyton has taken his fair share of stick over the years and rightly so given our inconsistency between the sticks but clearly his work is paying off. I'm in a position where I nearly trust the keepers as much as I did when David Seaman used to come and claim crosses. Fabianski was fast off his line, his handling was exemplary and his reflexes were sharp as a tack. Fair play to him, considering he wouldn't be what you'd class as match fit. The sad point is that Fabianski will be moving on in the months to come. When coupled with Viviano being on loan, that'll leave only Szczęsny as our only recognised first team goalkeeper. It's been quite a week for the Flappy household. </div><div><br></div><div>Podolski</div><div><br></div><div>I wrote on Friday about how Poldi cannot play centre forward and today reinforces my opinion. Having him on the left hand side offers so much to our attacking play. His run and finish that went on to be the difference embodies everything that Podolski brings to the side. Goals at this stage of the season are invaluable. I have no issue with Podolski on the left, mainly due to the fact I welcome players who are prepared to unleash some fury on the opposition goal. The test will now be if Wenger believes in him. I don't expect him to start against Bayern, despite the fact he scored our only goal against them at The Emirates last season. However, the bigger decisions come in the weeks to come against Sunderland and Stoke. I just hope Podolski doesn't find himself back on the bench again but it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't see Lukas until the weekend of the 8th March. </div><div><br></div><div>Arteta & Flamini</div><div><br></div><div>I swear I am sick of the term double pivot and how this partnership doesn't work. Well, today, it did. In fact it was key to victory. It crowed the channels and suffocated Liverpool at times. Their partnership also allowed the attackers to do what they are paid to do. It also changed our style of play from last week. Jack tries to play and gets flustered. Flamini just does the basics but gets even at the same time. Look at Gerrard shoving Jack to the ground last week. Fast forward one week and the England Skipper is seeking retribution in a sly manner, but he was rattled. A job well done and I expect we'll see this duo on a more regular basis. Pending Ramsey's return to the side I'd play them together as often as possible start and keep Jack on the bench. </div><div><br></div><div>Overall, yesterday was a massive success. The collapse is on ice and our season keeps on ticking over. We now find ourselves 90 minutes away from Wembley. Just the thought of being involved in big games like Semi-Finals and Finals is massively exciting. We all crave silverware and the FA Cup gives us our best opportunity to end the 'drought'. We are in the business end of the season and we cannot fade away. I appreciate we are massive underdogs against Bayern but it's by no means a foregone conclusion. Bayern will be wary of us and they are a side that go through the motions on a regular basis. For us, the first goal is crucial. It's more than a goal, it offers belief and a route to victory. Let's hope we can get the start we desire on Wednesday and then maybe, we'll be taken seriously again. </div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-31494044591001457722014-02-14T00:11:00.001-08:002014-02-14T00:11:30.451-08:00Why Does Podolski Not Play Centre Forward?Such a simple question, yet often misjudged. I think when Podolski signed both he and Wenger had hoped he could return to his central role but it seemed to fit better with the German in his often familiar left wing role. <div><br></div><div>So it all began against Sunderland at home at the beginning of last season. A sweltering day and Lukas was given his first start as the focal point of our attack. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrccSXm-llLrFtANcTTH9uihXgvL-KfAy-pqB3jNjAvudMCWM0QeD-MhHjNYhBYlP-XDvlHZ_IaDakDkEwIhIde8SbN_IyHCbRZNUCav_9tzq4PWD7NSQFwTbmgn3l1JLdBXsvNLThWS0/s640/blogger-image-754128299.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrccSXm-llLrFtANcTTH9uihXgvL-KfAy-pqB3jNjAvudMCWM0QeD-MhHjNYhBYlP-XDvlHZ_IaDakDkEwIhIde8SbN_IyHCbRZNUCav_9tzq4PWD7NSQFwTbmgn3l1JLdBXsvNLThWS0/s640/blogger-image-754128299.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Of course it was a day better remember for Giroud missing a glorious chance late on. *sighs*</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It would be a while before Poldi made his return to the striker position and it happened to be on one of our darkest days in the Premier League last season - Swansea at home. Again his production was lacking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacnjyqW2ZWB6Z6TGcSieJVF5BKZHJQM8rlgNLdCKPF2u8QdJzDDLYoKB7ArDyzgejpjG3w2vDMA3AvlBNF6CwLQbcaZjTRuNsDlNqu_35_nI5WNOCnTXE52NDa1UMny5as4oP13iGsUc/s640/blogger-image-1867961481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacnjyqW2ZWB6Z6TGcSieJVF5BKZHJQM8rlgNLdCKPF2u8QdJzDDLYoKB7ArDyzgejpjG3w2vDMA3AvlBNF6CwLQbcaZjTRuNsDlNqu_35_nI5WNOCnTXE52NDa1UMny5as4oP13iGsUc/s640/blogger-image-1867961481.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This isn't going well is it? At this time Giroud got a slight injury but didn't return to the line up for several games and Theo Walcott began to get a chance and it wasn't until Giroud was sent off at Fulham that the German go another chance as striker. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">QPR Away</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYKoWvHychDN3jTp_y31g6DyqyyZD-ocBgW5jkWtEDGNQyvrFKmBCYa4hoMK8KGGrBfbdIRvxR7wc6zMWxGXW0VgLhk1kvkvldvjWefdz-3Li3vBZnHrA1Ah6ckaM-g9PX9zat9JQS8U/s640/blogger-image--344130708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYKoWvHychDN3jTp_y31g6DyqyyZD-ocBgW5jkWtEDGNQyvrFKmBCYa4hoMK8KGGrBfbdIRvxR7wc6zMWxGXW0VgLhk1kvkvldvjWefdz-3Li3vBZnHrA1Ah6ckaM-g9PX9zat9JQS8U/s640/blogger-image--344130708.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Another grim day for him. For those keeping track that's three games, no goals and not a single shot on target. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Then hallelujah, we strike gold - Wigan and an inspired Santi Cazorla. Poldi comes to life </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuww-KBdhdu3gnNZFRnWMexwAYK02Z7UMiP6g04eLMZDjlt2-b1insDC24v1qg0RKW2aciDxCeM9io1jY4fbwmPfIvK_Lk2iJi1UGnvf7WjMNeboG8h8jSAxmeW4oc5pekHIaT9YyD5Po/s640/blogger-image-173674353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuww-KBdhdu3gnNZFRnWMexwAYK02Z7UMiP6g04eLMZDjlt2-b1insDC24v1qg0RKW2aciDxCeM9io1jY4fbwmPfIvK_Lk2iJi1UGnvf7WjMNeboG8h8jSAxmeW4oc5pekHIaT9YyD5Po/s640/blogger-image-173674353.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Two goals, one a real poachers effort from a corner and the other a neet finish to seal victory. This left Wenger with a tough decision ahead of our final game at St James' Park. Does he stick with two goal Podolski or does he recall Giroud. He went with the former and we went on to seal 4th place but it wasn't a great day for Lukas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaOJgaMlHsTgd7KbxBe1jTCQtHuowTnPrX0lQ4dfAKIBMtb8E1N7Y1YwDnqStVHJWTIy0xIabsZALpTs_Ckoq7vCwgRlLDcLtNjzuHQ-rwO93Xv0M8lxT9tvsVi3NanOJzT4v1jljqS4/s640/blogger-image--1113530252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaOJgaMlHsTgd7KbxBe1jTCQtHuowTnPrX0lQ4dfAKIBMtb8E1N7Y1YwDnqStVHJWTIy0xIabsZALpTs_Ckoq7vCwgRlLDcLtNjzuHQ-rwO93Xv0M8lxT9tvsVi3NanOJzT4v1jljqS4/s640/blogger-image--1113530252.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It ended a turbulent season as he seemed to fall out of favour but he kept getting goals from left wing. Much the same as is happening this season. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As we all know Podolski got a serious hamstring injury against Fenerbache days after he'd notched a brace against Fulham. When he returned he made a big impact at West Ham and he won us the game by creating one and scoring another. He was recalled to centre forward on New Years Day as Arsène had made a New Years resolution to start him upfront more but again it failed </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1tLTGFShAeDSZ742Tg2cVVIuxHpnVQp3VNhxmKjlEOx-7K_yvY3HivtQzcwwG5he_k3djbTqfK9i6BGVLGLLEFYukfoQo_CpZT46yvoPHoD_7kv2wVPNgPFRQWWf75Bs3hzro4zMWLU/s640/blogger-image--264173791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1tLTGFShAeDSZ742Tg2cVVIuxHpnVQp3VNhxmKjlEOx-7K_yvY3HivtQzcwwG5he_k3djbTqfK9i6BGVLGLLEFYukfoQo_CpZT46yvoPHoD_7kv2wVPNgPFRQWWf75Bs3hzro4zMWLU/s640/blogger-image--264173791.jpg"></a></div>Bendtner came on to save the day. Just let that sentence sink in for a minute.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So all in all he has started six league games as our line striker. In five of those games he hasn't even registered a shot on target. It's far from convincing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Aside from his poor record, he offers little in the way of runs, an aerial threat or any way of holding up play. Lukas has played that many times as a left winger that I truly believe he's forgotten how to play the role<b>. </b>I just don't see the clamour for him to start as the old fashioned number 9. He is best suited to the left wing. He appears to be a player that likes the game played in front of him, rather than with his back to goal. He also has a good understanding with Giroud. We need players that have an understanding as we have too many players fighting over who will drop the deepest to have possession. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">He is a huge asset to us on the wing but Wenger (foolishly) doesn't fancy him (not sexually) anymore. The bloke scores goals and this side is struggling with the loss of 21 goal Theo Walcott and also Poldi scored 16 times last season. So that's 37 goals missing from our front three. That actually makes it less surprising that we are struggling to break teams down. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Why doesn't he play? I have no idea. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Why didn't Wenger chuck him on for ten minutes against United? Answers on a post card. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">However, the truth is he has struggled as a centre forward and he's not even half the player Giroud is. The Frenchman is in a rut and due to the fact we don't have anyone capable of playing his role his is expected to play week in, week out. Somewhat unfair but that's the position we put ourselves in. Sadly, we have two massive cup games upcoming and I have a sneaked feeling we'll be seeing Super Nicklas Bendtner be in the side. Go on Super Nick. </div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Just don't be fooled by pictures of him on Instagram and judge him by his performances on the pitch and inparticular upfront. </div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-17810914711825436522014-02-13T04:14:00.001-08:002014-02-13T09:31:25.028-08:00Another Dull Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As last night’s events begin to sink I still can’t shake
that it felt like it was a defeat. We’ve failed to break down a Manchester
United rearguard that has been laughable throughout this season. We had an
opportunity to go back top and capitalise on Chelsea’s late slip at West Brom and
we failed to take advantage. I’m not sure the hunger and desire that we were
promised after Saturday’s embarrassment was evident. There was talk from Wenger
regarding nerves but I’m sorry, what is there to be nervous about? We got
battered on Saturday but that was a fluke, a one-off if you like (despite it
happening at The Etihad as well), I’m sorry nerves shouldn’t be used a reason why
we failed to win a game that would have given use huge momentum with a favourable
run of league games upcoming. It was a massive chance missed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ozil has taken far too much stick over the last few days but
last night he should have been the difference maker but sadly the supporting
cast failed to attend (Cazorla excluded). It was good to see him orchestrating
our attacks but players seem too eager to drop deep and not make the killer run
and draw players out of position. This is after all what Wenger’s teams from
our successful years were the masters of. Gary Neville once said that Ferguson
advised that our movement was that good that their players elected to stand
still and play more of a zonal defence because they just got ripped to pieces
in a 1v1 situation. Ozil showed up last night and a lot of other didn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The player who is attracting the most attention for his poor
performance last night is Olivier Giroud. He was poor; he had chances to score
and failed to convert. Crucial chances have to be taken in such games but unfortunately
for us we lacked that killer instinct. Giroud is suffering from a dip in
confidence and when that happens to a striker who isn’t world class that leaves
us in a dark place. Is he the next Emirates victim? He hasn’t scored at The
Emirates in the Premier League since 23<sup>rd</sup> November. That’s quite a
bad run of form. That said I was under no illusions that Giroud wouldn’t suffer
a dip in form, after all that is why there should be reinforcements as a summer
and winter transfer window continues to look like a huge mistake. I wasn’t
overly convinced Higuain would have taken us to the next level, as his own
record in big games for Madrid was questionable. That said he has movement and
the eye for goal that we are craving. It’s worth considering he would have cost
the equivalent of a proposed fee for Draxler. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Despite Giroud’s woeful night, I don’t have him top of the
list in terms of poor performance. Jack Wilshere takes that honour. Jack seems
to play the game as if it’s a 5aside game. You cannot be that wasteful in possession,
you cannot run down blind alleys and just be generally reckless. I’m getting a
bit tired of him lying on the deck as well. Our attacks seem like they are at a
premium at present, so when we are getting stopped at source, that becomes a
huge issue. If I were Wenger I’d be considering playing Tomas Rosicky in his
position. Rosicky himself is about as much use to going forward as Clive Allen
was for us. Ozil put one on a plate for the Czech last night and he elected to
control, double back and pass. It was a position that Robert Pires would arch a
curler into top corner after taking it first time. I mention Pires because it
was he that was replaced by the fan favourite Rosicky. Everyone talks about
the tempo Rosicky adds and I agree, I just expect more from an attacker, like
goals and assists but it just seems that this move would be a good fit. What do
you think? He did play there against Fulham at Craven Cottage in a nice 3-1
win. A game in which we played without a recognised DM, which is also a point
worth considering as we seem to have welcomed Denilson back into the side. So there's
plenty of food for thought. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a result of our several failings you can’t help but
discuss Wenger’s involvement in this. Managers live and die by their team talks
and substitutions. The latter, well that’s just pathetic. One sub? In which a
player that came to life recently in centre midfield is shunted out to the
right winger because he has erm, pace. You have a German International sitting
there, get him on the left wing and take a punt. There is no guarantee these
changes would work but at least show the intention to win the game. This is the
second of what you’d call big games when Wenger hasn’t utilised his bench, the
other being Chelsea. Is Wenger not learning his own lessons here? Yes, we are
one point off top, it’s not the end of the world but at some point, you need to
reclaim top spot and with an extremely tricky March upon us, it just felt that
we let this game and opportunity get away from us. Away sides are more than
happy with a point; any of the top four managers would take a point before an
away game of such importance. At present we are just the kings of the 0-0 HT
draw. As I mentioned on Sunday, the last time we led at HT in a league was in
December against Hull. We don’t appear to have any game management, particularly
when a side lacks a killer instinct. I would even reason with subs like
Bendtner for Giroud, you know, trying something a little different. We seemed
to forget that lofting crosses into the box is exactly what Vidic wants. What
he doesn’t like is balls in behind and getting turned. Sagna put in one peach
of a pass late on but Giroud couldn’t convert. The big game bottlers stigma
remains with us and I doubt we can shake it off this season although three wins
at Sp*rs, Chelsea and Man City would blow that out of the water, but let’s be
honest, that’s not realistic. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wenger needs to fix this disjointed side. We have one of the
top playmakers in world football but he needs players that have the desire and
ability to score. Only Santi Cazorla seemed willing to support the German last
night and if we continue to shun attacking responsibility then we will continue
to fire blanks. Let’s just hope this side can find its spark in the cup competitions
and give us a timely boost ahead of the turning in to the final straight. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-59055714364580122492014-02-09T05:11:00.001-08:002014-02-09T05:11:49.027-08:00A Day To ForgetBefore yesterday's game I really didn't know what to expect, any outcome was possible, especially considering our good record at Anfield and on the back of Liverpool's poor display at The Hawthornes six deals earlier. We haven't really been sublime on too many occasions but I was still conscious that that we are capable of caving in.<div><br></div><div>The Game</div><div><br></div><div>So we served up the latter and it's tough to know where to begin. Prior to today, other than the sheer firepower of Man City, the two sides that have impressed me most would have to be Everton and Southampton. Coincidentally, both of those sides pressed us high up the field and got rewards, whilst Everton offered little in attack, Southampton should have been out of sight by HT but we turned it around after a masterful teamtalk from Wenger. As the season progresses, game plans and weaknesses become more apparent in sides and your side has to adapt to the necessary changes needed in order to win titles. Yesterday it felt like we were extremely naive and sadly we were completely off the boil from the outset. Mertesacker dallied and within a nano second Suarez had the ball. I'm not wholly convinced it was a foul but we might as well have not bothered even pretending to defend the set piece. I'm not even interested in people debating an offside, it wasn't, move on. Set pieces suddenly became a huge issue, Koscielny standing six yards off Skrtel is asking for trouble but in truth the header was magnifcient. For me though it was how cheaply we were dispossed that disappointed me. Ozil couldn't have played any worse, inaccurate passes leading to counter attacks. Three of his mistakes led to either goals (on two occasions) and massive chances on another. We played entirely as individuals, as liverpool hunted to get the ball back, They wanted it, we didn't and when that happens in inexcusable. One of Ozil's errors came from Henderson's pressure, which should come as no surprise. I remember in his Sunderland days he stuck to Fabregas like glue, he might not have the talent of our mercuial German but that's why they have players like Coutinho and Suarez, they do the damage, 4-0 after 20 minutes is what you expect from a Sunday morning side, it was an embarrassment but who do you blame?</div><div><br></div><div>Performances</div><div><br></div><div>There were too many below par performances, in a big game you can't really afford to carry anyone. The back four were abysmal, they were exposed, yes, but also dreadful. Our midfield was utterly hopeless, it has to be able to get through dark periods in games but I don't think we have that ability in our locker. At times you just need to be determined and physical, surely Wenger has learnt that from the Vieira and Petit days? I also think our shape upfront was disjointed. Oxlade-Chamberlain plays extremely well in centre midfield and then he is shunted out onto the right hand side. He did function well there last season but then so did Podolski but he was dropped to the bench. I also have to question Santi Cazorla's discipline, too often he was caught too far inside and this completely exposed Monreal (who can also count himself lucky to have started). </div><div><br></div><div>A Step Back</div><div><br></div><div>No, not in terms of the side going backwards, more us, the fans, taking a step back. This was another reality check but the key is we must bounce back. The players have the ideal opportunity now with the visit of Man United on Wednesday. Win and it'll go someway to helping overcome the defeat suffered yesterday. That'll lead us into league games against Sunderland, Stoke and Swansea (subject to Cup progression of course). So it's imperative that we give ourselves a solid platform to build upon again. The great Man United sides of the past rarely lost back to back games and would invariably good on 10+ game unbeten runs, We need to give ourselves the best opportunity to maintain our league position. Thankfully Man City did us a bit of a favour and we only dropped a point behind one side. There may be opportunities to overtake Chelsea before we go head to head with them in March although their fixtures do look favourable, which is why it is imperative that we shake off whatever it ws that caused us to get sloppy yesterday. It also worth noting that free scoring Man City now havent managed to score in two games since Aguero got injured. That is flying slightly under the radar as we take centre stage in the world of the tabloids. </div><div><br></div><div>Improvements</div><div><br></div><div>It has been noticeable that going forward we dont seem to create many chances. There are times when we isolate Giroud and by doing so we will lose possession. He can't do it on his own, as he has neither the pace nor the ability to dribble away from someone. If you surround him with players, then he comes alive but far too often we get away from that and I have no idea why. Then you have Ozil, of course the media are going nuts about how ineffective he is but that's more down to our style of play, which currently hasn't adapted to his game. Ozil finds runners, of which there have been few and far between. Look at goals such as Wilshere's at Villa. Monreal breaks in behind, Ozil finds him and before you know it 1-0 Arsenal. If we are to persist with this static style of play then we are wasting the talents of one of the worlds great players. Few players have the vision but they also need the incivisve movement of others. Remember Vieira's goal against Leicester? What a pass from Bergkamp but without the run, Bergkamp probably pops it off to the left or right and we continue to probe. You begin to feel that we are badly missing Walcott to be that option to unlock defences and someone needs to step up. We are missing Ramsey who likes a forray into the oppoisiton box but we seem to have too many players who are happy to create and not enough that like to supply the end product. Please don't take this as an assesment purely based on yesterdays performance (although it was evident at Anfield as well) but we have been getting by and it's somewhat surprising that despite being top for so long that we haven't really torn a side to shreds. The most emphatic scoreline was against Norwich in a 4-1 win but in truth they tested us that day and we resorted to playing on the counter attack for much of the 2nd half. We let first halves drift by us and usually we spring to life in the 2nd half but we can't allow 45 minutes to just pass us by, particualrly at home. The last time we led at home in the league at HT was against Hull in early December. Since then we've played Everton, Chelsea, Cardiff, Fulham and Palace. It seems somewhat bizarre but it seems to be becoming a trait of ours. </div><div><br></div><div>Perspective</div><div><br></div><div>At the end of the day we have been a 4th place side masquerading as the league leaders for quite a while. This season has been nothing but an unadulterated success so far. We've battled and fought back to finish in the top 4 for the last couple of seasons and now we are talking about title challenges, for which I am overjoyed. However, when you give yourself the opportunity to challenge you want to see if you can see it through. This is where the test starts. There have been signifcant improvements this year and whilst it isn't always essntial to beat your rivals it is important that this side has the belief that they can go into games and win. At the minute I don't think they (the players) believe it, despite winning in dortmund, which you would have thought would have gone a long way to destorying the stigma attached to us, It would be nice to see us thrash a big side, like has happened to us more often than not but i'd happily settle for a 1-0 win on wednesday but if we want to win the league then we can ill afford any more days like City and Liverpool away. Wenger has said yesterday raises some questions, he has three days to find the answers. </div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-6820844488691607772013-10-19T09:48:00.001-07:002013-10-19T09:48:35.938-07:00Arsenal End on a HighWell, as finishes go in football that was pretty impressive today but it may overshadow an under below par performance during the middle third of the game but highlights will show goal of the season contenders. <div><br></div><div>It all started with a majestic move that involved Wilshere and Giroud. The last two flicks are just sublime, the crowd gasped and Wilshere slotted home as our jaw drew closer. Unbelievable goal and I don't think the ball hit the deck between the pair. Something really special. </div><div><br></div><div>Then a lull, Flamini departed through injury and a gaping hole appear between midfield and defence and Norwich started to take control. We looked lost and Szczęsny did well to palm away a shot from distance. Half time arrived in just the nick of time. </div><div><br></div><div>I was fully expectant that half time would see us address our lack of discipline in midfield but it appeared Arteta failed to adapt, Norwich kept coming but they snatched at half chances and just as it appeared that they might get an equaliser, we broke. Cazorla led the charge forward, he sent it wide to Giroud who put in a Beckham esque cross and Özil threw himself at the ball and headed home. Just what is going? Diving headers. </div><div><br></div><div>So time to sit back and relax? Not quite. We dropped off slightly and got punished. Howson attacked our back four and smashed home, with no midfielder anywhere near him but in a way it spurred us on. We upped our game.</div><div><br></div><div>We adopted a shoot on sight policy and Ruddy's hands were warmed by Ramsey and Bendtner. </div><div><br></div><div>Then our in-form Aaron Ramsey stole the show, a goal very reminiscent of Henry v Liverpool. He received the ball in the box, threw one dummy and weaved his way forward with an inevitable shot incoming, but he checked back and fired home. The crowd went crazy, it's only Norwich but sometimes you get carried away with moments of brilliance and this was one of them. </div><div><br></div><div>Then the icing on the cake, a Rosicky cross to the back post, Ramsey unselfishly laid it on a place for Özil who slotted home (nutmegging a Norwich player en route too). It was just football at it's finest. A day when Pires and Bergkamp were (alledgely) in attendance and we played football that they would have been proud of. The movement and interchange was a sight for sore eyes and it made a lot of fans feel that maybe, just maybe, we might challenge for honours once again.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-10246585557217434402013-09-15T04:47:00.001-07:002013-09-15T04:48:59.368-07:00A New Era Begins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, here we are after a very impressive victory at Sunderland in a match that we controlled for all but fifteen minutes. There were lots of positives to take from yesterday, despite Match of the Day's thoughts on the lack of protection offered to our defence by Mathieu Flamini. It was that possibly the worst piece of analysis I've ever seen. So here's my take on yesterday.<br />
<br />
<strong>Mesut Ozil</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uPxvRBRUgkqEYfROmtqeUHs1_iBRCgL3v5L5PAujM6TGOcZNfSI4qc9q4GcU0xpapDHNZg8el96ZLztQWfXIKZaWjARn7E8CWmstE0eeANqEgTCluCmZCh_q9n_x8jVI542g4XpMFC4/s1600/Ozil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uPxvRBRUgkqEYfROmtqeUHs1_iBRCgL3v5L5PAujM6TGOcZNfSI4qc9q4GcU0xpapDHNZg8el96ZLztQWfXIKZaWjARn7E8CWmstE0eeANqEgTCluCmZCh_q9n_x8jVI542g4XpMFC4/s320/Ozil.jpg" width="320" /></a>Sometimes in football you have to pay for quality and you get what you pay for and the German fits into both of those categories. His first touch is orgasmic, his vision is Bergkamp-esque, as is his final ball. Yesterday, he demonstrated what we have been missing since the likes of Bergkamp and Fabregas left the club. I said in my last blog that I felt Theo Walcott would benefit most from his arrival and that was demonstrated in the first half with two quality through balls that led to chances for Theo but he didn't have his shooting boots on but those chances will keep coming his way for a long time to come. That said those opportunities were missed after Ozil had his first meaning contribution in the famous yellow and blue - an assist for Giroud. There aren't too many players that get 'the picture' in their head but he certainly does. He stole a march on the full back and he was picked out beautifully by Gibbs but the touch to bring down the pass from over his shoulder was straight from the top drawer and the final ball wasn't too bad either and Giroud's finish was beautifully executed. You know when this side used to just go left to right without a purpose, well that is no more. Ozil was that impressive yesterday, that I actually forgot (momentarily) about Santi Cazorla. Our attack is a force to be reckoned with once again and that was demonstrated in both the first and last goal. We've all seen Henry execute moves likes the first and Ramsey's second goal had shades of Patrick Vieira at Anfield, quality, incisive movement. So much so that the Sunderland defenders appealed for offside, they didn't have a clue what day of the week it was. Mesut, I love you.<br />
<br />
<strong>Aaron Ramsey</strong><br />
<br />
You know, I have a friend who thinks Ramsey is absolutely rubbish, I kid you not. The young Welshman really is cranking it up on the pitch and he deserves every bit of praise that comes his way. Here are his stats for the last three seasons in terms of goals to games<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpph8zHN4hINGUVMe-Op11_yuxvKql5s8DtEsZStA372r6cnv1ymjtCyYNfYcEJ9xkQrLSAqJPbgslw_T9v1IkyN-PN_aki0cC_Gn0mOaDV_JmLYFS2EvKJwtwcn5dHUOCSrdwmGriSE/s1600/Ramsey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpph8zHN4hINGUVMe-Op11_yuxvKql5s8DtEsZStA372r6cnv1ymjtCyYNfYcEJ9xkQrLSAqJPbgslw_T9v1IkyN-PN_aki0cC_Gn0mOaDV_JmLYFS2EvKJwtwcn5dHUOCSrdwmGriSE/s320/Ramsey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After the victory against Sp*rs Graeme Souness was quiet critical of Ramsey's lack of goal scoring ability and to be fair he had a point. Obviously his opinion was relating to Ramsey's poor miss but he stated he has to score more and he has. He has five goals this season and that has matched his goals tally for the last two seasons combined. His volley was a brilliant display of pure power and technique combined. The keeper moved after the ball had hit the back of the net and much like I have gripes with Rosicky, the same would apply to Ramsey. When players have the ability, they must back it up with end product. There is nothing more frustrating that players not realising their potential and Aaron's had a tough time of it, especially during his 'winger' phase but now he has made his position his own and Jack Wilshere may well find himself being the odd one out in the centre of midfield and left wing may well be his home for the next weeks given Cazorla's ankle injury. If Ramsey can score fifteen goals this season that really would be a great return and when you see him finishing moves likes yesterday and his second against Fenerbahce, then there is no reason why he can't achieve that and raise the bar further. </div>
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<strong>Olivier Giroud</strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdk2d-vT4Qj9T-i_NEOTF2plTdy-HZpnwW9oNbjzjyC8RGcWBYp8lmuI_yW-bSno6czFoBbnRrjMd3SWiuL8yrrWe8A9YobSiu8COtnlyJOXBAX_fp8VYlRzii-q-DiZQ_KGu9sW4TmZs/s1600/GiroudSunderland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdk2d-vT4Qj9T-i_NEOTF2plTdy-HZpnwW9oNbjzjyC8RGcWBYp8lmuI_yW-bSno6czFoBbnRrjMd3SWiuL8yrrWe8A9YobSiu8COtnlyJOXBAX_fp8VYlRzii-q-DiZQ_KGu9sW4TmZs/s320/GiroudSunderland.jpg" width="221" /></a>Watching in-form strikers is one of the finest sights in football, as is watching players blossom before your very eyes. Giroud has had critics, plenty of them in fact. He missed chances last season and he will do again between now and the end of the season but he has now settled at the club and the team is really benefiting from his play. He is the axis for which our attacks operate. He wins headers, he holds up the ball, he has vision and most importantly the team has adapted to his strengths and weaknesses. Giroud really has taken it to the next level and his work rate has also noticeably improved. He has improved in the every department and it's worth considering that at this stage last season he had no goals and was in the midst of confidence crisis due to misses against Sunderland and Chelsea. Giroud needs to be aiming for 25 goals (minimum) and I don't have any doubts that he'll be able to achieve that and with such a target, that tells you how far the team has come in such a short period of time.</div>
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<strong>Other Analysis</strong></div>
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The only blot on the copy book was Koscielny's ridiculous foul on Johnson. I said this against Villa and it applies to yesterday as well - do not dive into challenge in the penalty unless it is absolutely necessary and on both occasions he's cost the side a goal. Adam Johnson (one of the most one footed players in the league) is going away from goal and on his weaker foot, why would you lunge into a challenge? It's too high risk. Gardner converted and we could have shot ourselves in the foot. Thankfully for us and Kos, we didn't</div>
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There's been a lot of focus on Altidore/Sagna clash, which is probably best summarised as six and one and half a dozen of the other. The key is the ref blew the whistle quite early and some of our players stopped. Altidore slotted home despite last ditch efforts of our defence and Sunderland felt 'robbed'. The point that is being missed is the players played to the whistle, had the ref played an advantage I'm pretty confident, in fact almost certain that our defenders would have cleared it off the line. Therefore, what's the big deal? It gives Di Canio his excuse though, so it will paper over the gaping cracks in the Sunderland side he has formed. They have two threats upfront in Altidore and Flecther but their supply is horrific. Wingers like Adam Johnson are in it for their own good, he's capable of wiping in crosses but elects to be greedy for his own selfish gain. They are in trouble and I fully expect a different manager to be in the technical area when we play them at The Emirates in February. </div>
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I'm going to finish the blog with the way we finished the game 5-4-1 to accommodate Vermaelen when he came on for Ozil. I thought he'd just play at DM alongside Flamini but it was a complete reshuffle. It just seemed a bit unnecessary if I'm honest but it didn't really have an impact on the game.</div>
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So Giroud has scored outside of London in the league, Ozil is up and running and Ramsey continues to go from strength to strength. Our upcoming fixture list isn't that tough (on paper), so lets hope this team continues onwards and upwards, oh wait, we can't, because we are top of the league....</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-51955548796323047152013-09-03T14:11:00.000-07:002013-09-03T14:11:38.452-07:00Önwards and Upwards - Özil Takes Us to New Heights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been nearly 24 hours since we signed Mesut Özil and I still can't
believe the magnitude of the signing. <br />
<br />
TRANSFER RECORD SMASHED<br />
<br />
FEELING AT THE CLUB - CHANGED<br />
<br />
BELIEF OF THE FANS - SOMEWHAT RESTORED<br />
<br />
PERCEPTION OF THE CLUB - ALTERED<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Z4I8g97gDXcjnZ4UgY-Q8z6jt-e7W39CPSFbz-JpLYxUvZonuaqkj9Cvm6z34YEO16bKhLEl3IEtuLeL9aobrl1LJQi39DY4jIQXtQf-lpZ8cEiC6h6RoyKi8NeU3jFnuKvDqL_t1Dg/s1600/Ozil+Goodbye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Z4I8g97gDXcjnZ4UgY-Q8z6jt-e7W39CPSFbz-JpLYxUvZonuaqkj9Cvm6z34YEO16bKhLEl3IEtuLeL9aobrl1LJQi39DY4jIQXtQf-lpZ8cEiC6h6RoyKi8NeU3jFnuKvDqL_t1Dg/s320/Ozil+Goodbye.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
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alt="Description: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eJa6Dh7yGY-MmjTaemIME_5qml5Bzok-J3sHS-L2uPhw3HTJLImAEcNql1AnDPZhfKe5NTPk-ENJi2r6m89NH3ed_O_avDF2YQL9VYOmgp5CdT5dk8vuXswSg7UIZL-HG5IAqJCC4wI/s320/Ozil+Goodbye.jpg"
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eJa6Dh7yGY-MmjTaemIME_5qml5Bzok-J3sHS-L2uPhw3HTJLImAEcNql1AnDPZhfKe5NTPk-ENJi2r6m89NH3ed_O_avDF2YQL9VYOmgp5CdT5dk8vuXswSg7UIZL-HG5IAqJCC4wI/s1600/Ozil+Goodbye.jpg"
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are some of the headlines I'd attach to this singing and
I'll be honest, I've felt somewhat arrogant about our new and improved
involvement in the transfer market. We may not hold the record fee paid but
we've catapulted ourselves onto the top table. I doubted Gazidis and his
statement but he's pretty much, barraged into the room, chucked David Moyes
& Manchester Unites out of their chair and said "do one". A club
that wanted Cesc Fabregas, would surely be interested in the 24 year old German
wouldn't they? We have our place and this isn't just a signal of intent, it's a
whole new beginning. Yes, we didn't get all of the players we needed but say we
did sign Cabaye, Ba and A.N. Other, come the next transfer window we'd be
scrapping the barrel looking for your average joes once more. No the bar has
been raised, this deal means we don't have to sell the club, it sells itself.
Questions about will we qualify for the Champions League? Foregone conclusion
surely? This is a player that creates for fun and chips in with goals too.
You've all seen the colossal figures in relation to his assist record, they are
extra chances that he brings to us and they are all ours. Which, in turn should
equal more points.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cDhfZNEixpdO7QW17BKJNK5JUz9rQBltgcUPBLZT7JgkvjTHll3nXSE1awfp6KUJk-zhhx74JeHfC9Nbv__CksE57YiRKMTAjdEwmeVX2Bi7HaI0h-BgG18V9j4ouvVLRyAtiDR-wkY/s1600/Ozil+Betis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cDhfZNEixpdO7QW17BKJNK5JUz9rQBltgcUPBLZT7JgkvjTHll3nXSE1awfp6KUJk-zhhx74JeHfC9Nbv__CksE57YiRKMTAjdEwmeVX2Bi7HaI0h-BgG18V9j4ouvVLRyAtiDR-wkY/s320/Ozil+Betis.jpg" width="265" /></span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3"
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many factors of this deal that excite me but I think
the biggest one is how our club is perceived. I viewed our game on Sunday as
our biggest game of the season at home, purely because it's possibly our best
chance to win a big game. When the likes of United, Chelsea and City come to
town, of late, I've expected us to lose because we get found out. Now I'm not
saying we'll suddenly start beating them all but if you look at the Demba Ba no
deal, you can't tell me that Chelsea didn't pull the plug because they saw what
we were doing? They claimed to not want to sell to a rival and we aren't just
talking in terms of a geographical location, they are talking more about league
position. Having the likes of Cazorla & Özil weaving their magic will
strike fear into the opposition. Imagine us at home to United, Fellaini and
Cleverley in the centre of midfield. Oh my. It's an area we have failed in
recently but I can't help but feel things have changed in that regard. I expect
to win now and yes it's off the back of one signing but one signing was all it
took when a certain iconic Dutchman turned up at Arsenal in 1995. <br />
<br />
A lot of comparisons have been drawn between the Özil and Bergkamp deals and I
see where people are coming from, but I can't help but feel this deal is bigger
(and I'm not just talking about the fee). Özil is on top of his game, something
Bergkamp had to rebuild, his move was somewhat of a second chance after
receiving death threats for poor performances. Has anyone contemplated that
Özil might be a failure, of course we haven't because he's one of THE BEST in
the game. He's been something of a pipe dream in windows gone by, even when
Madrid snapped him up three years ago, it was rumoured we'd had him scouted the
usual 105 times but we kept our nerve this time and got it done. <br />
<br />
This deal though has Madridistas fuelled with rage. Whilst Gareth Bale was
introduced to his new home, Sid Lowe reported their fans were singing
"Don't sell Özil", this is Real Madrid people, the biggest club in
the world and we've taken advantage of Daniel Levy's brilliant negotiating.
Arguably, if he'd sold for 50m, they probably wouldn't need to sell but they
didn't and Real had to expect a star was going to leave. So from me Daniel, thanks.
<br />
<br />
One of the undervalued aspects of deals is the impact it has on the fan base.
Sales of Özil 11 shirts have gone through the roof. As @swegoon pointed out
last night (mainly in jest) maybe Adidas could rethink a deal for shirt sales,
as Özil is one of their elite clients and the new face of Adidas. It's probably
too late to renegotiate but you get the point. Sponsors will flood in wanting
their brand associated with our club. The gloom has lifted somewhat on Twitter,
joyous people tweeting through the night. I didn't want last night to end, so
much so I listened to the @arse2mouse podcast at 00:30 and ploughed through
another bottle of wine. Great work by The @arse2mouse crew, as they guide you
through the day as if happens, you can listen </span></span><a href="http://www.arse2mouse.com/post/60124005223" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="color: #0072c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly the night did draw to a close and I
woke up with one very sore head today, well worth it though.</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-aFQYxPgzG-td6qArlQuW6Vo4LIqoNEcICtMOc_yyTl4RUqrCORfU-ODZ1Te1gkwAk8l7lDPZZmUlHA-bwe_otDcHehFQ7rRSTDiqrYZzkFR7acIqTIFMIaql5r0ApNb9xHF8fcMJ7c/s1600/Ozil+BVB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-aFQYxPgzG-td6qArlQuW6Vo4LIqoNEcICtMOc_yyTl4RUqrCORfU-ODZ1Te1gkwAk8l7lDPZZmUlHA-bwe_otDcHehFQ7rRSTDiqrYZzkFR7acIqTIFMIaql5r0ApNb9xHF8fcMJ7c/s320/Ozil+BVB.jpg" width="232" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So where does this leave Arsenal?
Well, when we go embroiled in the Suarez debacle, I went on record to say the
deal was as important as the player. That sign of intent to actual progress to
the next level would provide a massive shot in the arm. That transfer obviously
fizzled out but the principal remained and the club delivered, namely in the
form of Arsène Wenger. A manager I have slagged off and rightly so I feel. If
you underachieve you leave yourself open to criticism but when you over perform
you deserve the credit and that's what I see a lot of fans doing. Well, except
those that want to ram it down your throats. There's a tweet floating around
about if you didn't celebrate Sanogo signing then you don't deserve to
celebrate Özil. I mean seriously, WTF. This deal has not only given us a world
class player but if would appear Arsène has more lives than a cat but I'd
widely expect him to get a two year extension and I'm happy for him to remain
if this policy proves to be in it's infancy. You see the expectation has risen
amongst every gooner and a striker will surely arrive in January, ready for the
business end of the season. No more Gervinho deals and more of the higher
calibre signings. New players coming to English football should worry
supporters of other clubs. Pretty much like Hazard signing for CFC. I'm not
expecting us to pay £40+ for one player in every window but we must not return
to our default position. <br />
<br />
This season was our opportunity to catch the teams above us last season and it
looked like that passed us by but maybe we resuscitated ourselves just in time.
Our time is now and we have to take this opportunity. I expect things, I now
feel like a trophy is realistic and not just a big fantasy of mine. Last night
felt like the gloom had lifted (summed up brilliantly in </span></span><a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-madness-of-the-transfer-window" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="color: #0072c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">this
article</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by @thugclive,
he's a CFC fan who decided to check out The Ems yesterday) and there's a freshness
about the place. Even arsenal fans are changing their twitter handles and the
umlauts are flowing. It really so refreshing to see. <br />
<br />
Then you have his impact with his team-mates. Our forward line must be licking
their lips, none more so than Theo Walcott, who I think will benefit massively
from Mesut's vision. After all it's not just about what the German does, it
will also improve others as well . <br />
<br />
In summary, we have a worldie in the form of Real Madrid's previous #10. This
is a deal to embrace, drink it in and see where we go. I haven't felt this
positive about our club for a long while and I want this feeling to remain for
a good while to come. We've 'got by' for far too long and I hope this is us
breaking free of the shackles and flexing our financial muscle (ooh-er) and
when you see clubs like United struggling to recruit, you can help but laugh
and think, that used to be us.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-74128230398126724452013-08-17T15:32:00.001-07:002013-08-17T16:29:53.471-07:00I'm Tired Physically and Mentally<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Well isn't it great to be back? Fuck me, how I haven't missed this feeling. A feeling that can only be summed up in the word 'deflated'</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">I thought I'd check out deflated on the old thesaurus and it threw up the following:</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Drained</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Empty</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Exhausted</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Sagging</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">There you have it, Arsène Wenger's recent reign of the club summed up in five words. Arsène came to these shores as a pioneer, he changed the game for the better but sadly the game caught up with him and passed him by. A manager that ruffled the feathers of the great Alex Ferguson because he was a massive threat, would then go on to negotiate the sale of our star striker. The Bradford game was the final straw for me, I just can't take it anymore. This side has long since ran its course. It needs fresh ideas, it needs new personnel. I have thought for at least the last three seasons that each summer we have needed between seven and eight players to challenge for honours and no, fourth doesn't count. The clubs aim is to compete in a competition that we play approximately eight games in, but in reality we have no chance of winning. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Anyway, back to today. We were average (at an optimistic best) and Villa played us well. They pissed us off and we got rattled and some lost their heads. Take Jack for example, he won a free kick, the villa player was booked and Jack had to have a pop at the ref and he was duly booked. It was completely unnecessary. There seemed like a few sneaky challenges went in today and don't for a second think we didn't play our part in that Rosicky has two late lunges, once of which seemed horrendous but both went unpunished. The worry for me, that stood out was our lack of strength inand around the field. Too many slight individuals who lost every 50/50, we need players who can dig in and get physical, I would go as far as saying we got bullied today but maybe I'm being a bit knee-jerk in my reaction. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Then you have the ref, who was inconsistent at best but lets not forget that the game was 1-1 at 62 mins. We weren't the better side despite the refs failings. I've heard Koscielny made a good challenge but here's the thing, the ref had long since pissed our side and the fans off, so why dive into a tackle in the box? Why create a situation? My immediate reaction was penalty. Benteke with his second attempt of the day, showed great confidence and stroked it home. As our players made their way to the positions, nobody tried to motivate each other. We were stumped. The last goal showed the lack of desire. Theo wanted to play a short corner to Jenkinson, who was making his way back and he decided not to turn around, so Theo dinked a ball into the box. It was partly cleared Theo made a half hearted attempt to win possession (which he lost) and Villa broke and made it 3-1. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">THREE ONE TO ASTON VILLA. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">The ground turned and chants of 'Spend some fucking money' rang around the ground and they were aimed at one man - the manager. I must also state these weren't half hearted chants either, they were chants fuelled with pent up aggression. The supporters wanted blood and the may soon get it. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">The clubs failings to get anyone of note into the club came back to bite them on the arse today. Let's get this straight, this isn't about fuelling people's agenda anymore, the majority of fans have these concerns. So today, we went into the game with five fit defenders in the squad. Gibbs exited with a 'nasty cut' and it prompted a very swift change. What happened to the old Vaseline and bandage on the head job? Sagna left the game after an awkward fall and he left the field rather gingerly and Koscielny was sent off and will miss next weeks trip to Fulham. If Sagna fails to recover we will have only one centre half - ONE. How the heck did we end up like this? Also, don't think this is a new situation, it isn't. Since we allowed Djourou to go on loan we have only had three centre halves but thankfully they were all fit. Miquel was still apart of the squad but even when a list minute change was needed at Sunderland, Wenger opted for the unproven Sagna at centre half instead. Not exactly a glowing recommendation for Iggy is it? So we've had the January transfer window and the duration of this summer to get a centre half and so far failed to reinforce. It's just not good enough, not by a long way. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">I'm sick of the race for fourth shit, we have money but we just don't know how to use it. I was thinking on the way home that when Arsenal did the business plan for The Emirates it was probably perfect at that time but sadly once construction was underway, some clubs stole a march on us. Chelsea got Abramovich and City got the sheikhs, you can't plan for that and immediately clubs have leapfrogged us in the pecking order. The club must improve the playing staff and Wenger should get no say in what price a player is worth. We pay what is necessary, sometimes you strike lucky, sometimes you pay a little over the odds but shit happens. Treat like ripping a bandaid off, a couple seconds of pain but fine in the long run. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Anyway, back to the team and for the last four seasons we've failed to win on the opening day:</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">2010 Liverpool 1-1</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">2011 Newcastle 0-0</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">2012 Sunderland 0-0</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">2013 Aston Villa 1-3</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">I know it's just one game but in all those games we've been off the pace and Koscielny has been sent off twice. Why don't we hit the ground running anymore? Was today down to a lack of sharpness? In 2010 we didn't start Fabregas or RVP because of World Cup commitments, today it was Cazorla who was busy in ECUADOR. Why aren't we getting a side ready for the start of the season? Am I missing something? Should we all turn up September? Does our season start at Sunderland? Too many questions and not any answers. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">The fact is it all comes back to the manager and in seventeen years he's won three titles and four FA Cups. Is that success? Man Utd would see that as failure over seven seasons, let alone seventeen. His reign is coming to an end and there's a part of me that wishes we'd bite the bullet, get Klopp in, splash the cash and live happily ever after but in reality, days away from a crucial qualifier in Turkey that isn't going to happen. He will see out this window and once it slams shut the attention will turn to Wenger's contract. I don't expect any news and I really believe Wenger will be PSG manager next summer. It just makes sense for both parties, everyone is a winner. Whilst Gazidis must offer his support to Wenger, he has to be scoping out potential replacements on the side. </div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Wenger is lost, he's a bit like Szczęsny today when he went into FIFA showboating mode, as he dribbled out from the back four and lost possession. He now has two weeks to save his job and I fear I already know the outcome. Today was embarrassing and we are fast becoming a laughing stock and I can't stomach losing to Villa on any level but today they deserved their three points and this was a team that just avoided relegation last season. The season looks long and it's only a game old.</div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-84941176551250437242013-04-26T14:04:00.001-07:002013-04-26T14:04:58.733-07:00It's Time for Theo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you look back over this season/year and I asked if January 18th meant anything to you, would you have any idea? No, we didn't have a game. Yes, it was a Friday but the significance was that Theo Walcott signed a new three year deal. This was the contract signing that stopped the trend and happened within months of his contract expiring, yet he did have the opportunity to discuss a free transfer with clubs abroad. The reason I pinpointed the contract signing was because Theo's form has dipped since he got a nice six figure salary and a fair amount of fans have even suggested he no longer tries, which bring me to this weeks blog. <br />
<br />
The Stats<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWXwNgpkIlOqqO4rglD4hzHvIMas300hQbjqPe0s4vCPD36klbNVpaCuTPk2oG5zZhMAUrefpkr_3Lw1miEBZ1qF1rd4AETi6yAJV86uMe4diDiIqKQ3ZcSf2Fb9lQPKPDzxCgpiP3WI/s1600/LFC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWXwNgpkIlOqqO4rglD4hzHvIMas300hQbjqPe0s4vCPD36klbNVpaCuTPk2oG5zZhMAUrefpkr_3Lw1miEBZ1qF1rd4AETi6yAJV86uMe4diDiIqKQ3ZcSf2Fb9lQPKPDzxCgpiP3WI/s320/LFC.jpg" width="320" /></a>Since Theo re-signed he has started 10 Premier League games, scoring 3 and creating 4 goals. Not massive production from our highest earner and when you put into context that he hasn't scored since his thunderbastard against Liverpool on 30th January, which was a mere 633 Premier League minutes ago. He is in the midst of a full on goal drought. His assists don't fair too much better but then maybe you could point the finger at those who are presented with the chances. Some have resulted in inept finishing but some balls have been from poor passes, look at Lukas Podolski when he smashed home a wonderful effort against Norwich. The question is does this mean he isn't trying because the goals have dried up, much like the ink on his contract? Not at all, we all know that there is rarely a happy medium when it comes to his form. Within twelve days of his new deal he had notched three times, he was on top of his game and probably quite happy with life at that time. Imagine signing such a wealthy deal, you'd be on cloud nine for a while but the novelty can and does wear off. When I look at this side at present, we seem to have moved away from Theo's strengths and the main one in particular, which is running of his full back into the space between the left back and centre half, Theo is summed up perfectly with his goal against Chelsea in January. At present we are much happier building from the back instead of unleashing deadly counter attacks like we did against West Ham.<br />
<br />
Injuries<br />
<br />
Theo was hit by injury whilst away with England and he missed games against Reading and Norwich and this meant he missed nearly a months worth of competitive action. Theo is very much a player that needs time and I'm going to put his last three performances down to a lack of match fitness. He looked lively against Norwich but his touch was poor, he was non-existent against Everton and similarly the same against Fulham. However, what we should have is a fresh forward, an aspect that has been sadly lacking recently. Giroud has shouldered virtually all of the responsibility of the forward line and he's been pretty much running on empty for a few games and whilst his ban is badly timed at least we'll get to see him for the last game of the season. So now it is time for Theo to take ownership of his performances and inspire his side to get the results we need in order to play Champions League football again next season.<br />
<br />
Evra<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt78EHeelVk0OStE9igAE2hsb8rV9g0zrqFNdS9eoLaCaba9ZpsE650oFtTBCmR2vFYI56KVhp2w3XeK_ovSpBBiWJZZPCtzlF96Sp2kcB7gRMvWgdjCNZ4GIojVmA_WSy4aXTmLY-Ff4/s1600/Evra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt78EHeelVk0OStE9igAE2hsb8rV9g0zrqFNdS9eoLaCaba9ZpsE650oFtTBCmR2vFYI56KVhp2w3XeK_ovSpBBiWJZZPCtzlF96Sp2kcB7gRMvWgdjCNZ4GIojVmA_WSy4aXTmLY-Ff4/s320/Evra.jpg" width="320" /></a>There's just one problem when it comes to Theo inspiring Arsenal for the rest of the season and in particular this Sunday when he lines up against Patrice Evra. Now I've already touched on the two extremes in Theo's performances and it's
summed up perfectly when it comes to match ups against top full backs. On one
hand you have Theo v Ashley Cole and Theo wins hands down, in fact I don't
think any right winger tortures Cole as much as Theo does. Yet when he plays
against Evra he invariably loses out and he's only ever scored once against
United to date, you know the only time we managed to net twice in Premier
League at Old Trafford, that game. Yet for some reason Aaron Lennon seems to
enjoy a lot of joy against Patrice Evra, yet Theo is clearly the better player and
he is also more varied in his style of play. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Deliver<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Wenger spent some of his time today discussing the possibility of German success in the Champions
League being down to a winter break, as it gives international players a rest, yet
ignoring the fact that Spain also have a break. The truth is winter breaks do
help players recover and Theo has had his break recently, he's had time to find
his touch and now he needs to rediscover his sharpness. Personally I'd have
dropped for this match, as I discussed with <a href="https://twitter.com/goonerdave66" target="_blank">@goonerdave66</a> on his blog <a href="http://1nildown2oneup.net/how-to-beat-manchester-united-on-sunday-and-spoil-their-party-the-view-of-2-bloggers/#comments" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">1ND2OU</span></a> this week but the fact is he won't be dropped and it's because
Wenger trusts his ability, Walcott has notched eleven times this season,
surpassing his tally of eight league form 11/12 and that's with a handful of
games remaining. The fact is Theo does care because he could have spoken to foreign clubs but he elected not to and in a week when we question the lack of commitment shown by former players, we can hardly criticise those that have put pen to paper.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I look forwarding to reading your views on Theo. Feel free to leave a comment below or follow me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/mj_afc" target="_blank">@mj_afc</a>. If you can, I'd appreciate it if you could share this article via the twitter link below. Thanks for reading.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-90238100590618990872013-04-14T15:47:00.001-07:002013-04-14T15:49:11.841-07:00Friends ReunitedYou can tell we that are at the business end of the season can't you? A range of emotions were on display at both The Hawthorne's and The Emirates. Both games could and should have been straight forward but that's simply not the way we do things around here anymore. Anxiety got the better of me towards the end of our game at West Brom, I was actually shaking as efforts from Long and Lukaku were fired towards our goal. In the end we got there but even in a game we were comfortable in for a good sixty nine minutes resulted in twenty one minutes of chaos. Then Norwich arrive, I wanted to be confident but I didn't feel it. I didn't think we'd lose but there was an air of the unexpected to a degree. Everything began in a clumsy fashion, Giroud's too was anonymous, Gervinho was back to the player we loathe, Jack was playing like John Jenson and we had a centre back paring that had failed to keep a clean sheet in four previous Premier League games this season. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KeqAgp5bAo6qHfaeLjgpa9av6hwVsWLe7MmJptwDwra5smLSjqS1F9WrplmR7Tj8oqrmNzlPAWRYJ_v4qNR7K-ZBvxuaIzeFbdwNlmE8AOKFffn5BD0fp4FSSl4gHz8qU9Ms9cVU1Io/s1600/Norwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KeqAgp5bAo6qHfaeLjgpa9av6hwVsWLe7MmJptwDwra5smLSjqS1F9WrplmR7Tj8oqrmNzlPAWRYJ_v4qNR7K-ZBvxuaIzeFbdwNlmE8AOKFffn5BD0fp4FSSl4gHz8qU9Ms9cVU1Io/s320/Norwich.jpg" width="320" /></a>When Norwich were incorrectly awarded a free kick in the 56th minute, you just knew that they were going to score. There was no cohesion throughout the back line, they didn't want to command the area, they wanted to react. In the end - Koscielny was found wanting as Norwich ran a screen like play and Turner had the simplest of tasks but it proved to be a decisive moment for Wenger. Unlike many match days he went with his gut. He made a double substitution. Off went Jack and Gervinho - easily our two worst players on the day and on came Walcott and more importantly Lukas Podolski. The latter is a player who for whatever reason hasn't started a Premier League game since 31st January in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Wenger was quick to quell any rumours of a possible exit in his post match interview<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Look how he played when he came on. As soon as you have a player who doesn't play for three games, the papers get a story like that. But he looks very happy to be here."<br />
</blockquote>
Wenger has since added:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I work a lot with him as a central striker at the moment. He is a quality player and when he comes on you can see that straight away. You don’t get 100 caps by luck. Honestly he has a great attitude. He never moans, he never has a bad phase, he is always positive."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
He certainly does look happy. He gave us his guided tour of London, he's been full of smiles on the bench and he seems to have a good rapport with his team mates. That said the most important part of his job is his contribution to the side and he links brilliantly with Giroud. Is it any surprise that the big Frenchman is made to look poor when he gets isolated when he has Gervinho hugging touchlines and Santi desperate to drop a bit deeper in order to get his foot on the ball? When Giroud has Walcott and Podolski either side of him he provides the perfect axis for our wingers to contribute. Just look Podolski's effort that was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Mark Bunn. Giroud does love a one touch lay off and Podolski reads him well and you simply can't defend against that sort of link up. They have that sixth sense upfront and it's no surprise that they all played a part in our comeback as our front three packed a punch once again. <br />
<br />
Here's some statistics on "The Front Three"<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Norwich was our 47th match this season and they have scored in 23 games - 48% of games</li>
<li>They have scored a total of 48 goals of our 97 goals this season - 49% of our total goals.</li>
<li>They have assisted 19 of their 48 goals - 38% of the goals scored. </li>
</ul>
<br />
Now, I think the above stats above are very impressive (mainly because I researched them myself) but you have to factor in that they haven't always played together. Walcott was benched for the early part of the season, Giroud was dropped for most of December and Podolski has been on the naughty step for about two months. Then you factor in that two of the three are new to this side and they have already have an instant understanding. One of the main reasons behind their success is that they fill the box and that allows the creators led by Santi Cazorla to weave their magic. <br />
<br />
Wenger does have some big decisions to make in terms of selection for upcoming games. He accommodated Santi and Jack by moving Cazorla wide, which for me just doesn't work. Jack was dreadful on Saturday and I'm pretty annoyed Wenger risked him (his words)<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I would not have pushed him in, maybe, had Rosicky been available."<br />
</blockquote>
Pushing Wilshere isn't acceptable. You simply play Podolski on the left and move Santi to the front of the midfield three. I just don't see the need to risk it but after Tuesday Wenger will have to decide how to reintroduce Wilshere to the side as he will be needed for our game against United on the 28th. The player causing the biggest selection headache at present is Aaron Ramsey. His form has been superb for the last couple of months. His application cannot be faulted, he drove us on yesterday, even at times when we weren't creating. Players just weren't offering themselves for passes but he didn't shy away from the task at hand. The question is, how can you drop him? I know he isn't everyones cup of tea but even the Emirates faithful have warmed to him lately and if wasn't for his endeavour we wouldn't have got the corner that led to the penalty. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ3LjvABF6Q7JfZFIdsoCQGB5ETETxr3VFssiWPBEivkKLvLL1R_SlA5IaNqwxoaP5jtFTNx6bFlrz38ui__dRrZLczPkwH1Kvl0eivQfGb7Z4fYdUWssn0UaiidEkyRjpwmHeM6ay90/s1600/Celebration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ3LjvABF6Q7JfZFIdsoCQGB5ETETxr3VFssiWPBEivkKLvLL1R_SlA5IaNqwxoaP5jtFTNx6bFlrz38ui__dRrZLczPkwH1Kvl0eivQfGb7Z4fYdUWssn0UaiidEkyRjpwmHeM6ay90/s320/Celebration.jpg" width="320" /></a>Wenger has instilled a never say die attitude throughout the whole squad and I think he needs to keep his team selection simplistic. More often than not we beat ourselves and the real truth is the reason everyone is so anxious about this side is because nobody truly trusts them. I asked myself if I felt such a nervous wreck when were a part of title races and the truth is I wasn't, because I trusted the teams ability and discipline to win a game but this current crop will make even the most comfortable afternoon incredibly difficult and days like those against Reading recently seem few and between. This is who we are but we should have enough to hold onto our much craved 4th place and even 3rd if we play our cards right. Our next two games will shape our run in, if we get six points then Wenger might even be on the verge of his first Manager of the Month award in April in eleven years and we'll all be able to breathe a hell of a lot easier. I certainly need it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2614830636061459606.post-89700643925997018152013-04-05T12:38:00.001-07:002013-04-05T12:47:53.770-07:00The Fight For Full Back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I say fight for full back but the truth is there isn't any fight at all, maybe a bit of hair pulling just to acknowledged their mere existence but nothing major. That is the current situation facing Carl Jenkinson and it is one the factors that will end up being the undoing of Wenger if he refuses to change his extremely stubborn ways. For years he hasn't recognised key performances and it makes players like Bacary Sagna untouchable. <br />
<br />
It doesn't matter which Wenger era you look at, these situations are rife. Go back to 1998 when Alex Manninger was dropped in favour of David Seaman despite several man of the match displays including stand out performances at Old Trafford and Upton Park. Seaman conceded his first game back and Manninger never recovered and arguably hasn't performed to that level ever since. Manninger did get several other opportunities at Arsenal but you got the sense that he began to try too hard and tried to achieve the impossible instead of playing his normal game. You see that's what happens when you get dropped whilst playing well, you doubt yourself. You think there must have been something you could have done differently but sometimes managers just have their favourites and there's nothing you can do about it. Then you can turn your attention to the current crop and focus on their continued failings and the ridiculous amount of trust placed in certain players. Wenger has only recently seen sense regarding Vermaelen but it took too many poor performances,that were easily into double figures (I'm being generous there) before any action was taken. If players play poorly then drop them, they earn the right to play it's not an entitlement. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKSpHilqMwVWvkUBECc_J8XJQliOERCAtU1rai1V99cA-0YcARR-r393bUrj_HTwEOtTKJgdesR-IHhxKEx0TgaDDZXfP0Yh0CzzlHdHwfXmnXqH4V3ogxaZu8TO5QZm0XOekqn3oTRA/s1600/Carl+Jenkinson+Aston+Villa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKSpHilqMwVWvkUBECc_J8XJQliOERCAtU1rai1V99cA-0YcARR-r393bUrj_HTwEOtTKJgdesR-IHhxKEx0TgaDDZXfP0Yh0CzzlHdHwfXmnXqH4V3ogxaZu8TO5QZm0XOekqn3oTRA/s320/Carl+Jenkinson+Aston+Villa.jpg" width="320" /></a>That brings me nicely onto our current back four and in particular - Bacary Sagna. Whichever way you dress it up this season Sagna played poorly. He's lacked desire, which has led to usual exit talk but ultimately for a player who's health is in question after suffering two leg breaks in the same season, he isn't doing enough to merit a new deal. Our two best defensive displays all season have come away at City and in Munich. Sagna wasn't involved in either game and some will argue that Jenkinson was MOTM in both games. Throughout this season we've craved a solid defensive unit and only over two short periods of time have we looked like we've cracked it. Exhibit A - Sunderland, Stoke & Liverpool. despite the relativity poor opposition, it was still fairly promising and we kept three clean sheets. Exhibit B - Bayern & Swansea. Much better opposition but at a crucial time, we stopped the Germans scoring at the Allianz Arena for the first time in the season and we nullified Swansea on a ground that had seen us conceded five goals over our last two visits. We also went on to show some form of defensive cohesion against Reading but for a momentary lapse from our left back, we'll get to him in a moment. So when it comes to crunch, both Jenkinson and Sagna didn't play during the international break but Jenkinson is the one who makes way for Reading at home. I fear that Wenger thinks he can't upset Sagna, as the exit door looms large and whilst it may appear obvious to us that we need to make Sagna earn his place,Wenger is again expecting loyalty from yet another player that he has turned into a proven international. The truth is Wenger has scouts looking a Feyenoord's Daryl Janmaat - who impressed against PSV, as he kept the much hyped Dries Mertens quiet throughout and you can't help but feel he's getting used to being stabbed in the back.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEqs9ehjTq8QfRwWiTtmm9FSuATPW6e3144snYeSBq48U_fMRTuHxEYYmEeXM9PwAmHiy1QjDKBMToJUsYOPWPzJx8Ee2IAKG9SEDtKGxZub6WMKhItHv2OvCbykq2WODE_rR1sqzcD8/s1600/Nacho+Monreal+Swansea+City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEqs9ehjTq8QfRwWiTtmm9FSuATPW6e3144snYeSBq48U_fMRTuHxEYYmEeXM9PwAmHiy1QjDKBMToJUsYOPWPzJx8Ee2IAKG9SEDtKGxZub6WMKhItHv2OvCbykq2WODE_rR1sqzcD8/s320/Nacho+Monreal+Swansea+City.jpg" width="320" /></a>Then you have left back, which is a position that was strengthened with the arrival of Spanish Monreal but despite his goal at Swansea has struggled to remain focused throughout games. He was a massive culprit in the NLD, he was let off the hook against Swansea and he was at fault for Reading's consolation last weekend. The difference with this position is Wenger loves both of his full backs. In fact he singled both left backs out for praise in his programme notes last week. He said Gibbs was in the top three full backs in the country (I assume he's behind Cole...) and he heaped praise on Monreal for how he has adapted to the league and compared him to Santi Cazorla. Now whilst his selection headache was eased due to Gibbs being injured, it appears he will soon have to make his mind up.The favourite will undoubtedly be Gibbs but shouldn't it be a case of may the best man win? After all it's a team game and the galactico era proved you need balance and a solid foundation before a side can reach the next level and that doesn't always mean you buy the best players in a particular position.<br />
<br />
Please let me know your thoughts as I will take time to reply to everyone who leaves a comment. I hope you enjoyed this latest blog, feel free to share via the options below. Thanks for reading.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159091289420265056noreply@blogger.com1