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.

"Robin Van Persie, You May Have Been Right"

Yesterday was awful and it appears that many of our most loyalist of supporters have had enough. There's no point in discussing the game because it was embarrassing but I'm going to comment everything else that goes with it.

There were many rumblings of discontent and I'm not sure on how much was picked up on TV but the fans want to point the finger towards someone but who? Well if our away is to be believed then there is an equal amount of blame to be shared around by Wenger, Gazidis, Hill-Wood and Kroenke. Halfway through the first half there were chants of "There's only one Arsene Wenger" but then no less than ten minutes later there were chants of "Wenger, sort it out, Wenger, Wenger, sort it out", talk about from one extreme to the other. Then there's Ivan Gazidis who was treated to a nice rendition of "Ivan Gazidis, what the fuck do you do" which was sung for good few minutes. Then we were treated to a good old "We want our Arsenal back", which if I'm honest I don't have a clue what fans want back. The first game I ever went to we had Martyn Hayes and Niall Quinn upfront, I'm not sure I want that back if I'm honest and I know there were timeswhen it was much worse than that. Then we get to the top of the tree with PHW and Kroenke, both of whom are under intense pressure now but no doubt they will remain silent and happily allow Gazidis and Wenger be the face of the club. If chanting is a barometer of unrest then all four are in the firing line but it certainly gets more heated the higher up the food chain you go.

I won't ever assume that every supporter has my view but I'm sick of hearing about how great Financial Fair Play is going to be for us and how a new kit deal will help us operate as a profitable club or should I say business. I don't think PHW did himself any favours at our most recent AGM and his attitude summed up how disconnected the club has become. As for Kroenke just take a look at his St. Louis Rams, they have changed their coach in the summer after gambling on an unproven head coach in Steve Spagnoulo. They've won some games for a change but just when their support looked like it was returning, they shipped their biggest game (in terms of opposition) to London. The fans are left disgusted and disillusioned by having a home game in another country and then being outnumbered approximately 15 to 1 in terms of support in their home game. Inevitably they got spanked as well, but this is the type of man we are dealing with. He's undoubtedly sound with his business strategy but when it comes to success, there's nothing to report. So you could say he's at the right club.  I wonder what the late Danny Fiszman R.I.P would make of this. He wanted the best for our club and believed in Kroenke but would the man who stumped up the cash to sign Bergkamp be happy with where we are now and would he have changed his decision? We'll never know but the board that reaped the benefits of a star studded line up on the field have sold their shares and made a staggering profit but could it be construed that they knew what was coming and they were concerned about their investment. The fact is there are too many questions and virtually no answers. The only real insight we get is what we view on the pitch for ninety minutes and at the moment it doesn't make for easy viewing.

Fierce Rivalry?

For the past few weeks you see line ups on twitter and I always think United's line up is poor but I always know that you can't write them off. Yesterday was the biggest 2-1 battering I have ever seen. We are a million miles away from a club that a decade ago saw us win the league in their own stadium, a club that two years later couldn't match us in an invincible campaign. I was of the belief that there was a still a rivalry between our sides but yesterday confirmed that we are just another fixture for them and we are no longer a threat to them on any level. We last won at Old Trafford six years ago and we haven't even come close to winning since. The current top three in The Premier League will remain unchanged for the rest of the season, whilst the rest of us fight for fourth and that is probably the biggest surprise this morning, despite this being the worst side under Wenger's leadership, we are sixth but enduring our worst start under Wenger (Thanks to @orbinho for that stat). Yes, even worse than last year. The upcoming North London Derby may be the poorest in terms of quality offered by both sides but defeat in that game is unthinkable, yet it's a huge possibility that we could lose.

A picture can speak a thousand words

I get many messages off non-Arsenal fans telling me this and that player isn't good enough for Arsenal. Usually I try to see the best in our players but it's about time I woke up to the fact the most aren't. Look at the Arsenal side, if you were given the option how many would you say you'd want to keep? Sagna, Gibbs, Wilshere, Arteta and Cazorla. There are other players that I like but in terms of being cut throat, I'd get over their loss pretty quickly. We've lost too many key players over the years and RVP just so happened to be the latest addition to that list, it just so happens that I think we felt he was different and he would show loyalty but you can't help but feel he made the right decision for him and to write that it bloody hurts I tell you. As we are on the subject of RVP, can I just say I found some of the chants towards him absolutely disgusting and at times it was embarrassing. I remember the reception he received after being cleared of an alleged charge and he came on to score against Newcastle in the last season at Highbury. Now just because he's changed allegiance our views change, could we be any more hypocritical? I'm all for calling a player a C#%t  and making my feelings known, but there is a line. A line we ram down United throats for calling Wenger a paedophile and yesterday we stooped to their level. Yet despite the abuse he received he took the moral high ground straight in front of the away end. He refused to celebrate and post game he refused to comment on the "chants" and I can't help but respect him for that. After all he'd have had good reason to slam it down our throats, much like Adebayor did when he scored that goal for City against. The sad truth is he was right to leave and a more apt song would have been "Robin Van Persie, you may have been right".  If you give it, you've got to be prepared to take it, that's how it works. The two or three RVP chants aside I found our support was magnificent yet again and for the third occasion at Old Trafford we treated the viewing millions to a continuous rendition of "We love you Arsenal we do", this came at point when we were 2-0 down and most of the side had thrown in the towel, it sounds crazy but I really don't think we'd have scored if it was for our supporters willing on the team we all love.

So where does this leave us? Well it seems like every week it comes down to Arsenal v Sp*rs. We've stooped to their level as we are more interested in their results because of the fact we are in competition for fourth place. Twitter was awash with "well at least Sp*rs lost" tweets and that is becoming our only positive on some weekends. That is what we have become, no more need to concentrate on the results of United, Chelsea or City, we've dropped down the pecking order and it doesn't look like we'll be returning to the top table anytime soon. Everyone at the club has a responsibility and if we don't achieve our number one priority - Champions League qualification, then who knows what will be next because I can't see the Emirates being packed for Europa Cup action. My support will always remain constant and I'll always get behind the side but sadly we have to face up to what we are presented with on an all to regular basis.

 

An Unwarranted Arrogance

I think it's pretty safe to say that Saturday was up there with some of the worst, if indeed the worst Arsenal performance under Wenger's leadership. We lost to side that hadn't won a league game this season. A side that had conceded seventeen goals, yet they ran out deserved winners on Saturday but they played against a side with little imagination, laughable moments in the final third and most importantly a lack of shots on target.

Our arrogance on Saturday was that befitting of the invincible side but the difference being, the invincible's worked extremely hard and once they'd matched the efforts of the opposition that's when talent and skill comes into play, this side doesn't have that. We have a magical Spaniard who will do his utmost to create but if he has an off day, like on Saturday, who steps up to the plate? Imagine if Cazorla were to pick up a knock? It's say to assume we'd struggle. The preparation for games like this is key Wenger admitted pre-game that there are no easy games and yet post-Norwich he admitted that we might have underestimated the opponent. So either Arsene is just rolling out the old cliches or his side doesn't listen to him. I have a feeling it was the former but he included Wilshere on the bench despite earmarking Reading in the Capital One Cup as his return date. The truth is Wilshere wasn't brought on because the match was intense, he wasn't brought on because we weren't cruising to victory against one of the worst sides in the league. Arrogance, even over the selection of subs. There are a lot of players who were in that side on Saturday who deserve a place on the bench for a few games Mannone, Santos, Vermaelen, Ramsey, Gervinho and Giroud to name but a select few. Yet sadly, they'll probably all start against Schalke but then accountability for poor performance isn't Wenger's thing, unless it's Arshavin.

Anyway, enough of that and time to focus point in this blog, shots on goal. I believed prior to the kick off of this Premier League campaign that we would see the return of a free flowing and scoring Arsenal. However, the Premier League hasn't gone to plan and I couldn't have been further from the truth. We aren't winning games because we aren't clinical and our shots on target makes grim reading.

Team	Goals	Shots on Goal	On Target	Off Target	Blocked	Shot/Goal Ratio	Shot/Target ratio
SAFC	0	23	3	10	10	0%	13%
SCFC	0	17	2	11	4	0%	11%
LFC	2	11	5	4	2	18%	45%
SFC	4	23	9	8	5	18%	40%
MCFC	1	11	4	5	2	9%	36%
CFC	1	17	4	10	3	5%	23%
WHUFC	3	21	7	6	8	14%	33%
NCFC	0	14	5	6	3	0%	35%
Average Per Game	1.375	17.125	4.875	7.5	4.625	8%	29.5%

We average under five shots on goal per game, that's a shot on target every eighteen minutes. Just under 30% of our attempts at goal actually hit the target and only 8% of our attempts on goal actually find the back of the net. You'd have thought we were Norwich or QPR if you forget for one second that this is about Arsenal. If you factor in our inability to keep clean sheets it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why were are well below par. We can't go into every game needing to score two goals to win every game. We won three games against Chelsea, Sp*rs, Man Utd and Man City last season. Only once did we win and keep a clean sheet and on the other two occasions we had to score five goals to the games. That is not the way top sides operate and it shows the lengths this side has to go to in order to secure three points. We opened the season at home to Sunderland and we could only muster three attempts on goal, three! We tied our season high twenty three attempts against Southampton but managed to score on four occasions and thankfully they also put through their own goal twice. Another standout stat is that we've only managed to test the opposition keeper over five times on two occasions, against Southampton and West Ham, both of whom were promoted last season. It smacks of a flat track bully attitude and even then we've have a come a cropper with that mentality on Saturday.

So we have all of these stats but what does it equate to? Well, lets have a look at our players minutes to goal ratio

Team	Gervinho	Podolski	Walcott	Cazorla	Koscielny	Giroud
SAFC	90	64	77	90	0	26
SCFC	72	72	18	81	0	90
LFC	0	82	0	90	1	90
SFC	75	75	15	90	0	15
MCFC	90	72	18	90	90	18
CFC	90	67	23	90	90	23
WHUFC	61	85	29	90	5	90
NCFC	90	65	0	90	0	90
Total Minutes	568	582	180	711	186	442
Minutes/Goal Ratio	189	291	90	355	186	442

If Theo is reading, he might want to take this to his contract negotiations because it makes horrible reading for the side. We've only had six scorers this season and whilst four are attackers, one is from centre midfield, when we play three and the other is a centre half who now finds himself on the bench. So let's break this down

Gervinho - Our current Premier League top scorer with three goals. This is a man opposition fans laugh at and he has played central striker on. He's scored in two games out of seven starts and he comes in as our third most efficient goal scorer.

Podolski - Lukas has an ankle knock and to be honest it's affecting his ability to contribute to the side. He's not completed a full ninety minutes in an Arsenal shirt. If he has a knock, why not take the opportunity to let him recover? Well that window of opportunity has passed as we have the likes of United and Sp*rs on the horizon, games where we need our best players on top form. I feel we don't do enough to get Podolski involved on games and he only has one goal from open play as a result.

Walcott - We he comes out of this with some praise but he's only started one game. Clearly there are things going on behind the scenes because when he has been fit there isn't anyway Chamberlain or Gervinho should start ahead of him. His finishing has also been impressive, he slotted home well against West Ham to give us the lead and he showed composure that has been lacking on occasions.

Cazorla - The magnificent Spaniard but a player who has never managed over ten league goals in a season. That said it isn't his main attribute but the trouble is those who he is supplying just aren't putting the ball in the net.

Koscielny - A centre half and one struggling to find his feet this season. He's current third in the pecking order at centre half despite the poor form of Vermaelen.

Giroud -  Then there's Olivier who has that one goal at West Ham. I like Giroud and like all players I want him to succeed but if he doesn't have the confidence to shoot then how can he ever succeed. One goal in over seven hours of play as Arsenal's centre forward simply isn't good enough. We can't afford to carry players at the moment and he is our main goal threat and he needs to turn the corner fast.

Overall, I think this smacks of a lack of quality in current squad. We know they are capable of better but yet last Saturday doesn't surprise anyone because we've seen it many times before. We have two huge games upcoming in our next four matches and this could well determine how this squad evolves because it would be nice to see it brimming with confidence but at present that seems a long way away. It's amazing how many good things can come from a shot at goal. If you don't believe me ask Grant Holt...