Jacked Up

A lot of talk this week has been about Jack Wilshere and his midweek performance has the media in a bit of a frenzy, especially when you consider England defeated Brazil. However, this isn't all about England, the main beneficiary of Wilshere's ability is Arsenal and I think that after just over three months since returning to our side, we are beginning to see Jack performing to the standard we've come to expect. Now of course Wednesday's performance against Brazil was impressive but if I'm honest,  I've seen him play better for us this season and I just want to focus on how he has improved as he's settled back into the side.

The Return

Jack returned at possibly the lowest point of our season to date. We had suffered consecutive defeats, initially away to Norwich, where Jack was an unused sub (I suspect Arsene intended on using him when we were 3-0 up with ten minutes to play) and then our home game to Schalke, which ultimately cost us top spot in the group. In truth the decision to play Wilshere from the start against QPR was classed as 'high risk' in my eyes. As with many games this was another 'must win' in October. Jack had a quite day, which is to be expected. He found his feet and tested Cesar with a decent effort in the first half and he went on to post some impressive stats for the game, he misplaced only three passes all game and only one misplaced pass out of twenty two attempts in their final third. It proved to be a good game to come back in as it was on open contest and thanks to a late goal mouth scramble and a fortunate non-offside call this result was not only big for the club but important for the reintegration of Wilshere into our suspect midfield.


The Lows

There have been some in Jack's short return to the side. His red card at Old Trafford came as the red mist descended due to weak refereeing and Jack took the law into his own hands. One thing is for sure, he is hot headed at times and we need him to mature quickly because not only can't afford we him to get sent off but miss potentially one to three games. He's also had moments like applauding the Mike Dean for dismissing Vincent Kompany, which is unnecessary but I put that down to a lack of professionalism and I'm sure he'll cut it out as he gets older. He was also apart of the Bradford shambles, let's not forget that whilst he is up there with Cazorla as our most talented player, this doesn't make us a one man team, far from it but it served as a timely reminder that we can't ever take things for granted but the Bradford defeat did provoke a reaction from some players, none more so than Lukas Podolski, who played his worst game in our colours that evening but he been in excellent form since.

The Passion

This is aspect that separates Jack from the rest of the side, his drive and passion to dig in when the chips are down is exactly what this side has been missing for far too long. We need leaders on the pitch, some can be vocal and some can galvanise others with their play on the ball. Wilshere provides both, I've seen him grill Podolski for not tracking back and lots of verbal exchanges with others (usually Gervinho) but he doesn't care who you are, if you aren't pulling your weight he isn't afraid to tell a few home truths. He's also taken the bull by the horns against Liverpool and City and drove at their defence to provide some form of reaction. Another aspect that sums up Wilshere's will to win is non-arsenal supporters hatred for him. Whether he's squaring up to Bale or Owen, he isn't bothered,he just shows fight and commitment and we as fans relate to that. He also has that arrogance that comes with being a top, top player and he's mainly disliked because opposition fans fear him. Much like the invincible side did at Old Trafford, whilst we were bang out of order that day, I felt proud that the team reflected the away ends feelings at full time, I absolutely loved it. We usually see it every season when this sides wilts under the first sign of pressure and you always like to think they care but when it comes to Wilshere it isn't even up for debate.

On The Up
Jack's finest hour since returning was probably the FA Cup replay against Swansea. He did all of the above in terms of grabbing the side by the scruff of the neck and dragging us into the next round. He capped a marvellous display with an absolute thunderbolt and he hasn't looked back since. If you want to analyse his progression from that QPR game then look at his stats against Stoke from last weekend. It was a dreadful game, as Stoke had their usual 'frustration formation' in full flow but Jack's pass completion was high and he had 41 touches in side their final third (compare that to the 22 v QPR). He's creating more and more opportunities as the games go by and with the mood our strike force is in, that can only be another massive positive. A lot of fans see Jack as the unofficial captain of Arsenal and it's difficult to get away from that, especially in games like Man City at home, he wasn't prepared to throw in the towel, when others appeared to have given up. We came up massively short that day but nobody had a bad word to say about him. You can more or less accept defeat if you see that the side have given their all but all too often we know that isn't the case and we can only hope his work ethic can prove to be infectious.

The Future
Well if you are an England supporter I'm sure a combination of Wilshere-Gerrard can go as far as they choose, I'm sure the England skipper sees a good few extra caps coming his way if he has his sidekick in centre midfield. I can't imagine Gerrard would be too impressed having to play centre midfield with Cleverley. Wilshere went up against Gerrard eight or nine days ago and he the Liverpool skipper just couldn't handle him and you can't put that down to an ageing Gerrard because he owned City's midfield on Sunday. Jack can do whatever he sets out to achieve and I hope we give him the resources in order to give him the platform he needs to reach his full potential because once the World Cup has been held in Brazil, we'll be fielding some very high offers. Maybe that's looking too far into the future but for now each game carries with it more and more pressure as the season really begins to hang on every result and we can ill afford anymore blips and an inform Wilshere can only help us kick on.

Feel free to leave any comments below or tweet me @mj_afc. Thanks for reading and I'd appreciate it if you could share the article via one of the links below.

Out of Our Depth

More often than not we are left aghast at Arsene's comments during pre-match press conferences and before the Brighton game it was no different. Wenger said

"We have two players in every position. That should be enough, plus the young players in behind. But if we find the top-class players in any position, we never refuse to strengthen our squad."

Now factually that statement is correct as we do have two players for every position, whether they are good enough is another question. So on my journey home from Brighton @modgooner and @smoggygooner (both are great additions to any time line) decided that we'd put this to this theory to the test.

Goalkeeper - Szczesny, Mannone, Fabianski

It's never good when Wenger's theory is completely blown out of the water when we discuss the first position. Szczesny is by far and away our best goalkeeper and he's a youngster. Mannone and Fabianski will never threaten Wojciech for his starting position, despite his occasional blunder. A competitive back up is must and you just have to wonder why we didn't chase Butland, he wanted to the opportunity to be number one and that is a possibility at Arsenal.

Right Back - Sagna, Jenkinson

Sagna has suffered of late and it has led to question marks over his commitment. Sadly, he is that far ahead of Jenkinson that Carl has barely seen any playing time since Bacary returned. Jenkinson showed he can more than handle the right back position earlier in the season but he started to flag as Sagna returned to full fitness. Can Jenkinson handle 40-50 starts a season? The answer is probably not and he certainly didn't apply any pressure to Sagna's place last weekend.

Left Back - Monreal, Gibbs, Santos

I'm so glad this area has been strengthened because I do believe it was our weakest area on the field. Weak because Gibbs is about as durable as Abou Diaby. He suffered an injury purely born out of weakness on Wednesday and he's been ruled out for 4-6 weeks, which in Wenger time frames equates to the end of the season. Santos is an idiot to be quite frank, he showed no desire last weekend at Brighton and he showed a complacency that has seen us lose to the likes of Bradford this season. Allowing wingers time and space to whip in endless balls and attempting dribbles whilst on the edge of your box isn't going to help him win over fans any time soon. That by default leaves Monreal as our number one left back and to be honest I know nothing about him but 'they' say he's rated. When Gibbs returns this leaves Santos surplus to requirements and we may just have cover at left back.

Centre Half - Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny

All three have had their fair share of problems this season, if Vermaelen isn't taking air kicks then Mertesacker is getting skinned off Kone and if Kosicelny plays then he's getting sent off after ten minutes. We desperately need to find the winning formula at centre half and we need to do it fast. I was firmly of the belief that it was Mertesacker + 1 but of late he is proving to be a liability. We know his lack of pace exposes him but that doesn't excuse his lack of marking for Brighton's second or turning his back on a Suarez shot on Wednesday (See Carragher's block in the second half for how it should be done). Vermaelen is captain so by default he will start and he has to be joined by Koscielny, they have the ability to strike a good partnership and they need to hit the ground running should the opportunity come their way. Sadly the worst part of this positional assessment is you need four centre halves and we have three. The likes of Squillaci and Miquel are either not good enough or not ready to play first team football. Last season we could turn to Song in a needs much situation but this year we are truly shafted and with doubts over Vermaelen's fitness ahead of the game against Stoke we may have Squillaci on the bench. I think centre half is our weakest position in terms of depth (because their is none) and now that left back has been sorted that probably points to the reason why we concede so many unnecessary goals.

Defensive Midfield - Arteta, Coquelin, Ramsey.

I find this comical because we need a quality DM and we didn't get anyone. Arteta's game has suffered since dropping back as he can't influence the game as he could last season and his latest absence hasn't been felt anywhere near as much as it was last season. Bizarrely Wenger elected to start Coquelin away to Chelsea, so he's clearly the next in line to the throne. Aaron Ramsey started that game on the bench but then made an impact as Coquelin got injured. This led Wenger to praise Ramsey after the West Ham game and he said "He had a good performance in a position that I think is made for him." I've never heard so much nonsense. A position that he wasn't good enough to merit a start ahead of Coquelin four days earlier, really Arsene? I do agree that this role in midfield suits Aaron best but Wenger merely stumbled across this and he is happy to roll with it whilst it works. In terms of quality this is our weakest area and we will get found out in the bigger games when we don't have as much possession, but when we play lesser side (like West Ham) we can cope, just.

Midfield - Wilshere, Diaby, Ramsey

Whilst Jack is fit, he starts, it's as simple as that. Diaby remains unreliable both on and off the field. He is good for rotation but when your manager states your body isn't up to the rigours of Premier League football it really is a lost cause. The advanced midfield roll doesn't suit Ramsey as much at present, as it comes with greater attacking responsibility and his confidence just isn't up to that at present.

Attacking Midfield - Cazorla, Rosicky.

As long as Santi isn't getting stuck on the wing then this position is his all day long. He scores, he creates and he links well with Jack. Rosicky, well you just have to look at the last five letters of his name to know we are just wasting a healthy salary on Abou #2. Tomas can up our tempo and he is comfortable in possession but for someone who is attacking he doesn't score or create enough. Maybe Ox can get used to natural position sooner rather than later.

Left Wing - Podolski, Gervinho, Cazorla, Arshavin

Look at that, four players fighting for a starting berth but it's Podolski's all day long. Our front three are really starting to click and when we unlease Lukas within the width of the box he really is a joy to watch. He does need to up his game away from home but at present he and Oliver have a great understanding. Should he get injured then we have issues because Gervinho is useless, Cazorla is wasted on the wing and Arshavin isn't flavour of the month. Arshavin should be ahead of Gervinho in the pecking order but it's a lost cause. Another left winger is a must.

Striker - Giroud, Walcott, Podolski, Gervinho

That's right, if all of our players our fit then our best XI contains our top three strikers. Giroud is an excellent asset to our side and without going into too much detail about him (due to an upcoming blog) just look at the Liverpool game. He was left isolated for large parts of the first half and the second we get him involved good things happen - a goal and an assist. Yes, he went on the miss a chance but contrary to popular belief minimal deflections in the box make a big difference to strikers. Of course all of our previous strikers never missed any chances. Walcott got a run at centre forward when Giroud was absent due to injury, then illness and then because of Walcott's good form. Walcott isn't the finished article and his best position is still the right hand side. Podolski has had about ninety minutes as a striker in the league and to be honest I don't like him with his back to goal. I prefer him fronting up defenders and driving into the box. His equaliser against West Ham came from him backing up play and I don't want him to lose the opportunity to shoot. Gervinho can play striker if we are playing a team that is completely inept - that's it.

Right Wing - Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain

Walcott is having his best season at the club and whilst he has scored some goals as a striker he is very much at his best on the right. The team has learnt how to utilise him and teams are forced to adjust, like liverpool did in midweek by playing two left backs once he started to run riot. Ox on the other hand isn't a winger and it needs to stop now. I thought last weekend he'd have a great chance to stake a claim against Wayne Bridge but all it did was show that Bridge may have some life left in him as Ox was non-existent. That would leave us with only one winger, so a right winger would be nice too.

So there you have it, the assessment of a conversation during a 680 mile round trip to the south coast. Our squad doesn't have two quality players for each position, in fact of the ten positions discussed only one position is covered and that's on the basis that this Monreal is as good as people say he is. We all know that if we get our starting eleven on the field we can be a match for anyone but once injuries occur then our level of performance can dip, significantly. Wenger does have money and he reckons if top, top player become available then that will improve the squad, sadly in most positions it only takes slightly above average players to help improve our squads quality. Let me know what you think.

Square Peg in a Square Hole

Sometimes in football you can make things as complicated or as straightforward as you like. Managers on occasions seem to convince themselves that their decisions are right by persistently playing players out of position. Sometimes this can happen through injury, which was the case when Arshavin moved to centre forward or when you try to complaint things, such as when Nasri played at defensive midfield in a Champions League Semi Final. You may initially strike gold but in the long run players need to play in the position of expertise. Which brings me onto a topical subject - Aaron Ramsey.

The Wing Man

Now I'm not going to say that Ramsey is ready to hold down a first team place on a regular basis, but he can at least offer depth and variation in an area of the field that we struggle with at times. Let's digress a moment though, Aaron has been featuring a lot but out of position. If my memory serves me right then this became a feature because we won a game against Everton at Goodison Park in March and Aaron had quite a decent game. He offered cover and was genuinely impressive going forward on a night where we should have notched three or four. Sadly, this move wasn't to be an isolated incident, ten days later we went to Loftus Road and Aaron had an absolute nightmare and the boo boys came steaming in. He was the first to be substituted and he was replaced by Gervinho (no wonder we lost that game). This then became a re-occurring theme and it was summed up with Wenger's tactical naivety to play Aaron on the wing against Manchester United at Old Trafford in November,which is argueably the toughest away game in the league. It was one of our darkest days of the season hidden by a 'close' 2-1 scoreline. Ramsey offered nothing that day (as illustrated above) but then he was playing against a fine full back in Patrice Evra.

The Issues


This often goes unmentioned that despite playing out of position, we put Ramsey up against quality full backs or at least full backs that play full back,. I'd fancy my chances if I got to mark the likes of Michael Carrick or Frank Lampard if they were deployed to right/left wing for the day. Does Ramsey have the characteristics of a wing man? No. He doesn't have great pace or any form of acceleration, he doesn't have an array of tricks or the ability to know where to be to make a run. It has been a grim period for Ramsey and at times I'm sure we've all been frustrated by his performances because it has been annoying but he is still a top level footballer and things like his control and vision should still play a part but he just lost confidence with every passing minute. You could see the fear in his eyes as the ball makes it's way to his feet. That's not a good place to be in as a player and it's hard to show for the ball when 60,000 are all about to simultaneously groan and embark on abusing you. Of course this doesn't mean to say we have to parent him through his days at the club but at least allow him to flourish in his position.

The Centre Midfielder


Less than two weeks ago we played against Man City and with the game seemingly out of reach and a bit of a damage limitation exercise Wenger gave Ramsey a run out in centre midfield. Now Ramsey didn't rip up any trees but he pressed and he drove us on, which culminated in him carving open City's defence for Walcott to shoot straight at Joe Hart. It is sometimes forgotten that Ramsey and Walcott do have quite a good understanding on the pitch and with both tied down to new deals, the signs could be promising. However, on this day was a minor positive. Then we moved to the Chelsea game, which in all honesty I was little surprised to see him not get the start as Wenger preferred to play both Diaby and Coquelin. Diaby played poorly (understatement) and he was replaced with only 15 minutes to go. In which time Ramsey achieved half of what Diaby had been trying to do. Ramsey was 5/8 for attacking third passed whilst Diaby was 12/16 for the game. These aren't earth shattering numbers but for Ramsey, it's a step in the right direction. This all built up to Aaron getting the start against West Ham but as our deep lying midfielder,a role which Arteta has played for most of this season. As the game grew fans started to realise that Ramsey was having a pretty good game and the stats don't half back that up. He also won every tackle (admittedly he only made three), he cleared Carlton Cole's shot off the line line and he only committed one foul. If it wasn't for the explosive perform of of Lukas Podolski he'd have been up there for man of the match. His doubters will probably point to the fact it was only West Ham but Rome wasn't built in a day and if Ramsey's performance last night is anything to go by then maybe Arteta has some genuine competition and at no point last night did I think "ooh, we missed Diaby". Ramsey is a centre midfielder, nothing else. If we stick with him then I'm pretty sure he'll continue to develop and who knows what heights he'd reach if we bought a defensive midfielder.

"Ten Men, We Only Had Ten Men"

It's been a while since that song was sung with any gusto hasn't it? There was a time under Wenger when a red card used to get a positive reaction from the side and we'd see increased work rate, players over performing out of position, a calm approach to our play and invariably we'd get three points.

I am of course not referring to this present Arsenal side. Despite playing in front of 58,000 of their own support they never believed for a second that they could get anything from the game once Koscielny had stupidly seen red. Players didn't seem to know what was expected of them and we took the lazy option of sitting deep and inviting pressure. Even if we had nine men we shouldn't have conceded that first goal, it was schoolboy stuff. We were too busy throwing our toys out of the pram instead of focusing on the task at hand. Our players were like statues when City were in possession and they toyed with us at times, much like we did with them in our 3-0 win at The Manchester City Council Ground a few years ago.

What I didn't quite understand was Wenger's adapted formation. Ox was scarified (not literally)probably due to inexperience but maybe on reflection Cazorla might have been the one to lose out because our lack of work rate would have been upped had Ox stayed on. In the successful Wenger years we used to adopt a very straightforward 4-4-1 formation, that one was a superb finisher and we'd see players like Kanu playing centre midfield. We've won difficult games in the past with ten man for an entire second half. Ones that stick out:

Newcastle 1 Arsenal 2
Lee Dixon gave us an early lead before Shearer levelled. Then not long after Adams was dismissed and we faced an uphill battle at one of the then top sides in English football. Ian Wright popped up in the second half with the winner and we saw out the rest of the game, even with nine men (Dixon needed treatment) for a few minutes.

Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2
Remember the infamous van Bronckhorst 'dive'? The game poised at 0-0, days after losing 3-1 at home to Newcastle, we'd have been forgiven for caving in but that wasn't in this sides make up.  As it seemed to do time after time it galvanised the side and before you knew it we were in the lead. Ljungberg was chopped down by Dudek, when presented with a clear goalscoring opportunity but the Liverpool keeper didn't see a card, instead he had to settle for picking the ball out of his net. Minutes after half time and it was 2-0, Pires rinsed Gerrard and searing in like freight train was Ljungberg to make it 2-0 and mental scenes in the away end *one of my favourite all time celebrations. Litmanen got a goal back but it was to be Liverpool's only shot on target and that was even with Stuart Taylor in goal. That side went on to win the league.

Arsenal 2 Everton 1
Maybe the best time to catch Arsenal with ten men would be on the opening day, when forward are lacking that match sharpness. Campbell saw red after 25 minutes but nine minutes later we took the lead through another Henry penalty. Then on the hour mark Pires doubled our lead and if you check the clip out it's easy to forget how we'd still have players flooding the box in search of another goal. We did conceded to a late Radzinski goal it was a pretty comfortable three points and we'd not lose a game all season.

Now I could go on but you get the point. We used to have strong characters and big performers. Players like Parlour, Ljungberg, Lauren, Cole etc would give everything, you'd literally have to peal them off the pitch. I only felt Wilshere put a shift in yesterday but there we too many that appeared happy to play it safe and not force the issue. This is something that is problematic when we have eleven players, so I wasn't filled with optimism or any form of hope after ten minutes yesterday. It's as if Wenger has forgotten what used to work so brilliantly for him, even the papers don't bother with the old Hall of Shame red card count. We used to have physical talent footballers but now we are lightweight and on occasions found wanting. Players of former sides believed in the manager and I'm not sure this current squad have the same amount of faith in Le Boss. It's a while before we have a week off but with Swansea and Chelsea in our next two games it could be a catastrophic few days, let's hope we turn it around.

An Attack on Defence

For too long the achilles heal of the Arsenal starting XI has been the defence. We rarely keep clean sheets and therefore we need to score at least two goals in any game in order to pick up three points. In my last blog I broke down the goals for and against versus Newcastle and it wasn't until our fifth and the games eighth goal that I thought there wasn't much a defence could do to stop a world class cross meeting a perfectly timed run, it was in a way unavoidable due to talent displayed in that sequence of play. So after our game on Sunday at Swansea I was thinking when do we ever conceded well constructed goals or ones that you simply think fair play to the opposition. So here's a breakdown of our latest defensive shenanigans dating back to the beginning of December.

Arsenal 0 Swansea 1 Michu 88' - An incisive attack that drew Vermaelen out of position, Michu played a one-two before finishing with aplomb.

Arsenal 0 Swansea 2 Michu 90' - Jenkinson started with the ball on the touchline parallel with the edge of the Swansea box. Dyer pressured him back down the field and towards his own goal. Dyer tackled Jenkinson five yards shy of the halfway line which set Michu away to coolly slot home. Only Tomas Rosicky offered any form of desire to attempt to get back but his efforts were in vein.

Olympiacos 1 Maniatis 65' Arsenal 1 - We initially cleared a corner but the ball was lofted back into the box and Ramsey was left three on one at the back post. The initial header ricocheted of his chest and the Greeks levelled.

Olympiacos 2 Mitroglou 73' Arsenal 1 - A superb strike from the substitute who'd only been on the field a matter of minutes. He curled in a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right hand corner of Mannone's goal. Vito didn't really anticipate the shot and dived as the ball flew past him but still a good finish nevertheless.

Bradford 1 Thompson 16' Arsenal 0 - We conceded a needless free kick next to the corner flag. Jones whipped it across the face of goal, it got flicked on and there was Thompson, who was completely unmarked (initially Sagna's man but he was ball watching) and he finished in style giving Szczesny no chance.

Reading 1 Le Fondre 66' Arsenal 4 - Kieron Gibbs played a suicidal ball from left back into the centre of our half and this left us two on two at the back. Tabb played a defence splitting pass and Mertesacker stood motionless from the moment the ball was misplaced and Le Fondre rounded Szczesny to tap home.

Reading 2 Kebe 71' Arsenal 4 - Robson-Kanu seemed to be running down a blind alley before turning back inside and threading through Kebe and with Mertesacker stood ball watching he finished coolly to reduce the deficit further.

 

Arsena 1 Newcastle 1 - Ba 43' - Newcastle won a free kick on the edge of the box after a very poorly timed challenge from Sagna. Ba stepped up and Wilshere cost Arsenal a goal by turning his back on the ball in the exact fashion Nasri did it against Manchester United. This left Szczesny clutching at thin air. 1-1 HT and both goals could have been easily avoided.

 

Arsenal 2 Newcastle 2 Marveaux 59' - The second equaliser of the day and a catalogue of errors. First up Bacary Sagna, if you offered me Sagna v Obertan I'd take that match up all day without any worries at all. However it appears Bac's head is elsewhere at present and his performances are suffering. Obertan breezed past him and got the yard he needed to get his cross in. Koscielny got a foot on the ball but I'm not convinced his position was as good as it should have been. Then you have Marveaux stood all alone at the back post in about ten yards of space with seven Arsenal players standing watching. Pathetic defending but that would get worse soon after.

 

Arsenal 3 Newcastle 3 Ba 69'- Marveaux turned creator this time and he picked out Ba with a superb outside of the left foot pass. Gibbs was once again beaten and after watching replays he actually looked at Ba before the ball came in but he completed ignored the threat of one of the hottest strikers in the league and we were punished yet again. 

 

Southampton 1 Ramirez 34' - Arsenal 0 - Podolski played a ball to Koscielny, which instantly had the Frenchman under serious pressure. He was closed down and Schneirderlin won possession, he worked to Lambert and just as it looked like Sagna was going to clear the danger he lashed it across the box and the ball finally fell to Ramirez who had the simplest of finishes.

 

Swansea 1 Michu  58' Arsenal 0 - A long punt down field saw Dyer out jump Gibbs (it appeared to be that Dyer wanted it more) and Koscielny failed to deal with Graham which allowed Michu to run at Mertesacker who was too square on and the rest is history.

 

Swansea 2 Graham 87' Arsenal 2 - A corner that saw several players from both sides miss attempt headers, it fell to Graham on the edge of the six yard box and he had time (with approximately nine Arsenal players in the box) to set himself before lashing home. Arteta was the closest player to Graham at the time of the shot and he seemed reluctant to put his body on the line and eventually turned his back on the shot.

 

So that's a total of thirteen goals in approximately six weeks and I think we could have avoided eleven of them. I accept that there will be times when players make mistakes but this should be few and far between fora team that regularly competes in Europe's elite club competition. I wrote a blog earlier on this season about the 'Bould Effect', which has come back to haunt me somewhat. It was foolish of me to think that three league games into a new season that we would have solved several years of poor positioning and ball watching in one summer with Steve Bould. Look at Reading's first goal against us, it's Gibbs' mistake but watch Mertesacker throughout that attack, he doesn't move. I still our sides started the season with some drive to defend but that has almost disappeared of late. Arteta's lack of desire to throw his body on the line in order to win us a game has contributed towards us having to replay a game we can ill afford to play at present. I've always been a bit over the top in terms of the amount of players that we need in order to genuinely compete at the highest level again but all of our defenders at present aren't doing the basics and if you wanted to look at areas to improve we could replace them all. I know Sagna is suffering from poor form but when you couple that with the noises that he wants to leave in the summer it doesn't inspire confidence.

 

Good defending can be as infectious as free flowing attack and we must ensure we lose this mentality of having to score a minimum of two goals to win a match.  I've seen a couple of blogs focus on Arteta's play at defensive midfield, again something I thought that worked at the beginning of the season but are we really getting the best out of him as a player? I'm all of the stats relating to interceptions and blocks etc I don't see any other top defensive midfielder in there because their sides tend to control matches and they show discipline when you have to adapt to the harder side of the game. I'm sure I'm not the only one that is sick of our uncanny ability of finding new ways to concede goals but as it was pointed out to me tonight, you rarely here Arsene comment on defensive issues, it usually centres around our offensive play. Hopefully with games upcoming against City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich we'll up our game but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Theo - He's Better on the Right.

So we were treated to a bonanza of goals at The Emirates yesterday seeing an extraordinary ten goals in what proved to be a catalogue of poor defensive mistakes with the occasional hint of superb finishing. For a long part of yesterday's game you have picked any outcome and it wouldn't have surprised anyone. However, Pardew appeared to wanted to shut up shop and they ended up shipping another four goals.

The Goals

1-0 - Walcott 20' - Good work by Podolski against a hapless Simpson saw him release Walcott with a measured Fabregas Esq pass and Theo slotted him like a former number 14 (Not Keown). Walcott's pace and Newcastle's high line left them exposed and it could have been avoided as Coloccini tried to play offside only to find Santon was behind his centre half and playing Theo onside.

1-1 - Ba 43' - Newcastle won a free kick on the edge of the box after a very poorly timed challenge from Sagna. Ba stepped up and Wilshere cost Arsenal a goal by turning his back on the ball in the exact fashion Nasri did it against Manchester United. This left Szczesny clutching at thin air. 1-1 HT and both goals could have been easily avoided.

2-1 Chamberlain 51'- A goal created by Podolski's pressure and determination to get us the ball. He won a header from a Newcastle throw in and Cazorla laid it to the feet of Chamberlain and Santon didn't close him down in time and he lashed home from just outside the box.


2-2 Marveaux 59' - The second equaliser of the day and a catalogue of errors. First up Bacary Sagna, if you offered me Sagna v Obertan I'd take that match up all day without any worries at all. However it appears Bac's head is elsewhere at present and his performances are suffering. Obertan breezed past him and got the yard he needed to get his cross in. Koscielny got a foot on the ball but I'm not convinced his position was as good as it should have been. Then you have Marveaux stood all alone at the back post in about ten yards of space with seven Arsenal players standing watching. Pathetic defending but that would get worse soon after.

3-2 Podolski 64' - Wilshere owed us a goal yesterday and he duly delivered a peach of a pass. Jack hustled Tiote of the ball and stood up a fantastic cross that took Krul completely out of play. It was Coloccini v Walcott and with the threat of an own goal the Argentinian could only head against the bar and Podolski beat Tiote to nod in from about an inch.

3-3 Ba 69'- Marveaux turned creator this time and he picked out Ba with a superb outside of the left foot pass. Gibbs was once again beaten and after watching replays he actually looked at Ba before the ball came in but he completed ignored the threat of one of the hottest strikers in the league and we were punished yet again. Totally unacceptable and we just cannot continue to defend like this, we were fortunate in some respects that we played a side that defends worse than us. Then the fun began.

4-3 Walcott 73' - A patient build up from us that again had Podolski at the heart of it. He held the ball up well and this allowed Gibbs to run off Cisse and Gibbs learnt from a previous moment in the second half when he elected to shoot instead of laying it back to the penalty spot. He looked for Podolski but the German couldn't connect but that left Walcott unmarked, he managed two touches before setting himself for a shot on goal. Now the finish was sublime, many strikers would lash it towards goal but with six players between the goal and the goal he clipped the ball into the roof of the net with Bigirimana launching himself at the ball.

5-3  Giroud 85' - It's great having the big Frenchman back leading the line and he was on hand to thump a diving header home. Walcott whipped in a ball that David Beckham would have been proud of (maybe his one to one coaching did help) and with Giroud up against Perch and Santon there was only one player getting on the end of it and Krul had no chance.




6-3 Giroud 87' - A positive if not slightly ambitious run from Walcott saw the ball fall kindly to the feet of Giroud. He got his body in front of Coloccini who risked giving a penalty away and Giroud created a yard for himself on his weaker right foot before he thumped a shot home past Krul at the near post. The keeper shouldn't be beaten there.





7-3 Walcott 90' - The rout was complete. Walcott looked happy to run the clock down with the ball in the corner but he decided to run at Obertan, Ameobi, Tiote and Santon. Obertan had clipped Walcott and I'm not sure Foy would have given the pen given the scoreline because refs don't hesitate in the situation. However play continued and with Newcastle players feeling sorry for themselves he picked himself up and dinked the ball past Krul and it capped off a memorable night for Theo.



Theo Walcott

Now since his talks broke down and Arsenal re-started discussions again, he then finds himself playing upfront in consecutive games, coincidence? Everyone says he's a striker but I'm still to be convinced. Yesterday Theo scored two as centre forward and when he reverted to the wing he scored one and created two. Theo is proving that he does have a killer instinct in front of goal and it's refreshing to see but he has much to work on if he thinks he is as good as his contract demands suggest.

Weaknesses

Didier Drogba started the lone striker revolution because he had it all but now a lot of side go with a lone front despite not having the necessary attributes. Most 4-3-3's quickly change to 4-5-1 at various stages of games and that leaves the front man isolated and if you are under pressure then that ball has to stick upfront. Now we've only really been under pressure at Wigan but Walcott's lack of physical presence has seen knocked off the ball quite easily.

Then the fundamental flaw in our 4-3-3 system, what side plays wingers with a striker who lacks any form of aerial ability? We do of course. Although we seem to delivering flat crosses but Walcott seems to be happy to take up positions between both centre halves, he needs to be running across the near post, as the benefit of a 4-3-3 means Podolski should be loitering behind him for any scraps.

Then we have his link up play, his pass to Cazorla sums up where that is at present. As a striker he has to thrive on involving his team mates. We had a three versus two in the second half and he snatched a shot that was never on target yet Podolski was free on the left. This is why I prefer Giroud because he does all of the above.

Strengths

Undoubtedly his pace is his greatest asset and it also provides at outlet we've probably missed since the days of Marc Overmars being able to punt it forward into space can help the defence get out but we must ensure the midfield isn't deep because that can bring out the weaknesses in his game.

Theo's finishing has also improved but it's instinctive, he knew what he wanted do with his first from the moment he got it and his final two were reactionary. It's very much the Andy Cole school of finishing.

The Future

I think Theo would thrive in a 4-4-2 paired with Giroud. It has the making of an old fashioned Smith/Wright but it's never going to happen as 4-3-3 is here to stay. Also the lack of positive noises from Theo's side lead me to believe he's following Robin's path and until he signs a new deal I find it difficult to get excited about anything he does because in juts under six months he may no longer be an Arsenal player. For the next few months though we need Theo on the right with Giroud in the middle.

Is the end nigh?

Saturday was hard to take wasn't it? So many aspects of our game didn't work, too many players failed to turn up and this against a side who can keep possession well. It all added up to a truly dreadful day and a cacophony of boos, which in truth for those into the pantomime booing culture were richly deserved.

We are left yet again discussing the future of the manager and even the usually supportive Gary Neville stated on MNF that Wenger has never been under more pressure at Arsenal and he's spot on. Before we look a Wenger though, I'm going to give this some form of perspective. It's not the first time we've appeared at a crossroads around the Christmas period, who can forget the 3-1 home defeat to Blackburn in 1997, with Wenger's unproven pedigree in England, questions were asked and he responded by winning the league in that very season. I want to highlight the end of the George Graham era. The game I want to focus on was a home game against Leeds United, a Saturday 3pm kick off in December 1994. In that game we lost 3-1. It wasn't so much the result but the performance that left the Highbury faithful disillusioned. We were one step behind the play, failed to press the ball and got punished by a clinical Phil Masinga. We managed to get ourselves back into the game at 2-0 by sticking Andy Linighan upfront but moments later we conceded again and the game was over. Now, the bung scandal was the main source behind the departure but ultimately the board wanted a way out of that set up. At that time we were reigning Cup Winners Cup holders and the season before we had completed the FA & League Cup double, so it's fair to say we had it good at the time but he was replaced (temporarily) and Stewart Houston who led us to another Cup Winners Cup final. 

The reason I've chosen to focus on managers is because I feel Saturday was all Wenger's fault. It was his fault because we weren't prepared. For three consecutive performances I've seen us fail to press the opposition anywhere on the pitch, the formation is never adapted but players are expected to adapt there game for better or worse. Look at centre midfield, Arteta was stunning as the box to box midfielder last season but at present he looks lost. He's reluctant to get into the final third and we certainly havent seen any efforts like those against West Brom, Manchester City or Villa. Could we really expect a player to adapt his entire game to be a success?.Yes, he covered well for Song on many occasions last season but he isn't a tough tackling midfielder. There was a chance of Rangel in the first half, Arteta is beaten easily in the build up, we don't press the ball when it goes to left wing, then again when Shecther has it in the box, he plays it to Rangel with a caught out Gibbs scampering back to close down, this led to a shot being well saved by Szczesny but the ball rebounded to Rangel and not one player reacted until the ball fell at his feet again and Szczesny turned it away. Now this isn't me singling out Arteta for our woes, it just sums up our current situation. I here time and again from Vermaelen and Wenger that we have a great team spirit but I just don't see it. I see a side that is confused and lacking drive, something Cazorla admitted to at the weekend in this article. He said

'We don't know exactly what the problem. Take the Fulham game, we were 2-0 up. You can't then be drawing within five minutes.Those points aren't coming back.'

He's bang on but it doesn't change the fact it happens time after time. It's just different players using the same phrases and because of that Wenger has to feel the heat. Enough heat that he can hopefully react but then I feel I have this discussion on far too many occasions. I can't listen to pre or post match press conferences anymore. It's just stuck on a constant loop. He said we were 'jaded' on Saturday, he said words to that effect after Villa, Everton and now Swansea. Surely that means he has to ease the training routines in order to regain some form of sharpness? Or is that just too obvious? Whilst Wenger is right that buying players isn't always the answer in the transfer window but what he does have to do is work with what he's got and I'd suggest he starts the window by recruiting a centre forward, so that when he does rest our main goal threat we might still possess a vague threat to the opposition goal. I was speaking to my mate when we travelled home from Everton and we looked at the upcoming league games - Swansea (h), West Brom (h), Reading (a), Wigan (a), West Ham (h) and Newcastle (h). Now judging each game on its on merits we should be winning each fixture but realistically we know that in at least 2-3 there are some surprises and already one has reared its ugly head.

The truth is Wenger's head should be on the block right now but we all know it probably isn't. 6 points from a possible 18 is pitiful, even for a side whose ambition it is to finish 4th. Some will refuse to even discuss that fact but if you put it into context that a manager who had won three major honours over the course of two consecutive seasons, can you really not question a manager that has won nothing in seven years? This cannot go on much longer.