Stick or twist: what to do about the goalkeeping situation

Posted on May 22, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

Ten seconds I was away from getting my train this morning. The driver knew I was there and he could have opened the doors, but these TFL jobs-worths probably take some sort of sick pleasure in the annoyance of the commuters that pay their salaries, the bar stewards.

Anyway, my public transportation issues are not why you’re here, and it certainly isn’t the reason I do this shizzle every day. I’m here to talk about all things Arsenal and, by Jove (not a reference to the Fiorentina player, calm down people!), that’s what I’ll do. I could talk about the impending arrival of Sanogo but as I type this first thing on a Wednesday morning there is no deal to speak of and so no point in speculating.

It’s in the world of goalkeepers is where I wants to be today, and most specifically, Arsenal goalkeepers. I think it’s fair to say that in Arsene’s tenure as Arsenal manager he’s hardly found it easy pickings finding decent stoppers in between the sticks and this season has also been a challenging one for our last line of defence. Arsene inherited Seaman, Manninger didn’t really step up, Jens was a good signing but we only really had him for a few seasons, Almunia was never really a number one (in my humble opinion) and Fabianski looked shakier than than a Harry Redknapp tax defence in court. Yet along came this young, confident and bolshy whipper snapper with a name I’ve since spent a couple of years practising, to make us Gooners believe that we’d found a number one for the next 15 years.

Wojciech Szczesny has been able to make the step up and has, up until this season, been questioned in terms of his ability by few Gooners, leading to many last season believe that Arsene had finally found a long-term solution. But this season has seen old fears rear their ugly head. Some slightly suspect performances, question marks over his kicking and a general lack of form at the beginning of this year led many of us to wonder if Woj would go the way of Fawlty Manuel and decline to an extent that he wouldn’t make the first team next season. Arsene had to act, and act he did; Szczesny was dropped for Fabianski and the Pole managed to string together a strong of competent performances that kept his younger challenger on the bench for a number of weeks.

You may think me harsh to call Fabianski’s displays ‘competent’, but in my mind that is all they were. He made a couple of confident catches against Munich and pulled off a couple of smart saves, but as I reflect on his overall stint in the team, I think only that what he did was what we should expect in a Premier League ‘keeper. Perhaps that just goes to show you where we are at as fans; we’re so used to seeing some calamity ‘keeping, that any kind of solid display is elevated to a level as being seen to be good. I have nothing against Lukas, but I have never been convinced by him and to me he has all the hallmarks of a good number two (stop sniggering at the back). He’s just like Almunia in that respect. Manuel should never have been given the number one jersey. Even at his peak, he only ever did what he was supposed to. He’d save shots you’d expect him to save, miss goals you wouldn’t expect him to save, nothing more or less. To me, that’s where you get the world class ‘keepers. That’s where you see the cream rise to the top. Cech at his peak used to be like that – I had a mate that called him ‘Nightcrawler’ because he’d appear at the corner of the goal to make a save nobody expected him to get to.

I think Szczesny has that about him. We’ve already seen it at times this season. Just think back to the recent save at QPR from Remy. I don’t think that is something Almunia or Fabianski would have got to. Perhaps it was complacency that led to him to feel his place in the team was guaranteed, but what Arsene did by dropping him earlier this year was a master stroke, as it proved the perfect incentive to spurn the younger Pole on to win his place back. It was a jolt to the system for Woj and he reacted exactly how us fans want to see a player reacting to being dropped; he sharpened his game, played an important role in capturing fourth spot, and now looks to have re-established his position as the clubs number one.

As you can tell, I rate Szczesny, I really do. I think he has all of the credentials to be one of the best in the world, but he needs to be challenged, which is why I hope the club bring in an experienced ‘keeper in the summer. I think there needs to be genuine competition for that jersey and that Fabianski provided merely a quick adrenaline shot. His place as first choice ‘keeper was designed purely as a hygiene factor to encourage Wojciech to step up to the plate. And if you know you’re A-Level Business Studies, you’ll know that Herzberg’s hygiene factors rarely kept people motivated for any prolonged period of time. So my hope for this position in the summer is that we get in a really good experienced 30+ goalkeeper that can spend a few years challenging Woj to establish himself as a clear and definite number one in the Arsenal team. I have no idea who fits this bill and it’s not my job to know, just to support, but as an amateur Football Manager (I have the handheld version on my iPhone and I’ve guided little known German team Babelsberg to the Champions League spaces dontcha know!) I would say that somebody like Julio Cesar would be a good choice. The only question mark would be around how many gold doubloons were waved in front of him to join QPR last summer and whether he’d be expecting the same level of exorbitant cash to play as a squad player for Arsenal. There’s been talk of Rene Adler and from what little I have seen of him that would be a good signing, but I would expect he would be seen more as a replacement for Szczesny rather than a player to challenge and improve the young Pole. Personally, I’d rather we focused on developing him than finding an alternative, because I think he can be better than anything out there that we could buy. But we shall wait and see what Arsene fancies doing with his spending money this summer. Will he stick with his young Poles, will he look to motivate the youngest of the two and being in an experienced pair of hands, or will he twist with a new number one?

If I was to give a mark out of 10 for our goalkeeping this season, I’d call it a 6. At times we’ve looked ok – particularly for the last 10 games, but it is clear there is room for improvement.

Until tomorrow.

Consistency is the blueprint for success

Posted on April 26, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

How about that Mother Nature, eh? More changeable than an FA rule book. One day she’s gently caressing your face with the warm glow of Spring, the next day she’s slapping the rain and wind and cold of winter around your chops. Mother Nature could learn a lot from Mikel Arteta. Mr Consistency. Right down to the perfect barnet.

One thing that’s not consistent is our goalkeeping situation. Fabianski establishes himself as first choice, then picks up an injury, then we are told by dear old Arsene that he’s out and they are taking it ‘game-by-game’. He’s not even given us a proper return date, so I suspect we won’t see Lukas in between the sticks for the rest of the season. His contract is up in the summer and I read in last night’s Evening Standard that he will look to sign a new deal but only if he’s given a fair crack at the number one jersey. I have to say I think it’s great that recently he’d found a bit of consistency in his play and had established a run of games, but if you look at his performances in goal since he joined the club and now, you would be hard pressed to find somebody who would rubber-stamp a new deal. He’s spent 90% of his Arsenal career looking Wobblier than Michelle McManus’ waistline, so if he is making demands on the number one spot then surely Arsene will be thinking twice. In my mind he simply isn’t good enough.

I do also wonder if his recent spell in the first team was Arsene giving him a shot and taking a serious look at him before deciding whether to stick or twist with the Pole. Or, perhaps Arsene does want to keep him on, so has used this end of season run of games as the carrot of first team football for which to grab hold of by signing a new deal. Which then leads to questioning, perhaps incorrectly, the motivation of the player and whether or not playing for a new contract has been the reason for that extra 10% he’s been showing in training that warranted the initial promotion to number one. Although the only counter to that thinking is that he’s not exactly a striker that is banging in goals. The goalkeeping position is always a difficult one to pin the old chestnut of ‘playing for a new deal’ on to by virtue of the fact that ‘keepers can often go games having very little to do – especially if you’re at one of the top clubs in the country. Plus, many of us have already acknowledged that Szczesny’s form wasn’t up to scratch before Fabianski came in, so perhaps it has more to do with the failings of his rival than his own performances at London Colney.

Personally I think it’s time we found some competition for Szczesny in the form of a more experienced head. A decent 30 something keeper that can keep Wojciech on his toes and help him to become the established number one and one of the best in the league in a couple of years time. There’s no doubt he has the potential to get there. Would Valdes be a good choice? I don’t think so. Yes he fits the 30 something mould, but he’d want too much in wages, plus I actually don’t think he’s that good.

Anyway, today we’ll find out what Le Boss thinks about all manner of things including that Dutch blokes return, guards of honour (yawn) and the team news ahead of Sunday. He’s already given us an indication that there are no injury concerns ahead of the game, so decisions will come based on who he thinks gives us the best chance of snatching three points off United at home. I have to say I don’t get the fuss being made about the guard of honour. It’s like those handshakes after the game that are as irrelevant as a moral compass at the Chelski team Christmas party. The only people that seem to care about these things are the media and Clive Allen. Give them the guard – let the players clap (I certainly won’t) and then take all three points.

Arsene also spoke to the official site about the importance of our defence at the moment and how it’s played a big part of our recent success. Again, unlike our changeable climate here in Blighty, I think we have benefitted from the consistency of a set back four during this period, so it’s no secret that we’ve improved during this run and have only conceded three goals in seven. It’s not rocket science; players playing together regularly get to know each others strengths and weaknesses and when you are a clever enough professional footballer you know when to anticipate any problems for your teammates and support them where necessary. I do think the defence has also been helped out by the form of Ramsey and Arteta together. Both have been able to provide enough protection to alleviate the pressure that the back four comes under. Last season with Song doing his marauding forward at times we saw too much space in between defence and midfield and that left us open on too many occasions. I think back specifically to the game away from home against QPR and one of the goals conceded where a player from the QPR midfield was allowed to stroll into the box and smash home the ball from the penalty box with Arteta and Song left trailing in his wake. This season we have seen that run tracked by either Ramsey or Arteta of late and the result has been a stifling of those types of chances being created.

Arsene admits that offensively we’ve not been as prolific, but as we’ve all discussed amongst ourselves (and I’ve read a few blogs about as well), if that is at the expense of ensuring that there are a reduction in sloppy mistakes at the back then so be it. The best form of defence isn’t always attack. Sometimes it’s a proper defence.

Catch y’all tomorrow.

Fulham review: Arsenal to include medical insurance in membership packs?

Posted on April 21, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

I think that Arsenal Football Club should be announcing a brand new strategic partnership with a private medical insurer like BUPA or Simply Health, whereby when the membership renewals letters come through for Platinum, Gold, Silver, Red and the Away Member, there is also the option to have an Arsenal ‘Membershsip+’ that covers you in the event of any heart problems that occur during th course of the season. Such is the seemingly ongoing nervousness that good people like you and I have to endure from game-to-game, I think it is a scheme that would put a lot of mothers, fathers and other half’s at ease that in the event of one of us keeling over, at least they can be supported financially.

Yesterday’s win at Fulham was undoubtedly welcome. It was another three points and is edging us closer towards the end goal of Champions League football next season. But we dun’half make it difficult for ourselves sometimes. Le Boss named a similar side to the one that triumphed at West Brom, with Rosicky returning to the starting eleven, so as Three O’clock edged closer I felt that we should see an Arsenal team that is up for the game and ready to show Fulham how different we were confidence-wise to the one that wobbled a bit against them earlier in the season.

There was barely any time registered on the clock before we were handed our first boost, as Steve Sidwell decided that Mikel Arteta’s ankle was clearly far to handsome and needed to be roughed up a bit, going in over the top of the ball and catching the Spaniard in a nasty tackle. I’ve watched a few replays now, seen the Match of the Day morons discuss it, plus heard some garbled rubbish from Martin Jol about how he’s know Steve for ages and he’s not a nasty player, but how anybody on this planet could not see that it was not an easy decision for Andre Mariner to make is beyond me. The Scottish chump on Sky Sports Football First commentary said “Mariner keeps him on if he wants to”. Excuse my blog grammar but – ?!?!?! Alan Hansen even said tackling is being taken of the game! Well Alan, if that’s what you call a ‘tackle’ then I’m glad mate, because under your stewardship there’d also be a lot of footballers being prematurely taken out of the game too if tackles like that were allowed week-in, week-out.

The red card came after 12 minutes and as soon as it happened you felt that we would be the ones to start asserting our dominance, control possession, create the most chances and eventually go on to win the game. But for some reason the red card didn’t spark us into life as much as I’d have hoped. We certainly controlled possession for the most part in the game and ended up having 70% by the end of the match, but we hardly carved Fulham open after Sidwell’s early bath.

We did find that all-important goal though through the Big Friendly German Mertesacker. Having spent years bemoaning our inability to deal with set pieces, I have to say I find it pleasing when our own efforts are rewarded. A deep-lying ball into the back post was nodded back across goal by Koscienly and Mertesacker was on his own about a yard from the line to nod it home. We need to give special thanks to the ponderous Philippe Senderos, who gave us a little glimpse of the player we all used to roll our eyes over. His inability to see a 27ft tall giant slowly trot beyond him to head in will have had Fulham fans scratching their heads as much as we used to.

If the first half wasn’t great, the second half was worse. In the first half there were some warning signs that, despite being down to ten men, Fulham were a threat. Berbatov had a good chance which was well saved by Szczesny, who was also alert enough to tip a cross-cum-shot over the bar in the second half. I thought Woj had a good game yesterday actually. It was a solid enough performance where he made a couple of smart saves, came and collected the ball well a couple of times when asked to and overall can be pleased with a second clean sheet in a week. Likewise too, the back four will have been pleased with their overall showing.

Where I think we can all agree it didn’t really happen for us yesterday was in attack. Giroud hardly set the world alight as the lone front man and at times in the first half Theo Walcott went missing as he has the tendency to do sometimes. You’d expect a team in mid table with nothing to play for and down to ten men to be on the back foot and under the kosh for the duration, but Schwarzer hardly had to dirty his palms for the duration of the ninety. That was most certainly a disappointment. Podolski came on later in the second half but his impact was minimal, which was something of a worry, because I’d expect him to be more of a feature after Giroud’s sending off in injury time. I thought the sending off was harsh, but because he went over the top of the ball the referee clearly felt he couldn’t do anything else given the way he assessed the Sidwell red.

We had some hairy and nail-biting moments towards the end of the game, but I think we have to just chalk this game down to the ‘job done. Moving swiftly on’ archives. We’ll be without Giroud for the most part of the remaining games this season, so Arsene will need to make some decisions about who is playing at the top of the front three. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be as up in the air, as we should already have another striker to call on in situations like this, but Arsene’s lack of desire to play Podolski there all season means that he’s hardly had plenty of first team match practice there. IF it means we end up with Gervhino up top against United, well…..I shudder to think.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. Enjoy your Sunday. At least we can sit back and watch the Spuds and Chelski games knowing we’ve done our jobs.

Everton preview: unleash Theo and Poldi

Posted on April 16, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

This is the one tonight folks. This is the one that, ever since our 3pm kick off with them was postponed due to the FA Cup Everton were still in, I’ve looked at and thought ‘we simply must win’. This is the game that on paper looks like the most difficult up against an Everton team that is in pretty decent nick, I have to say, sitting just four points off us having played a game more.

Strangely, as I write this, I don’t feel as nervous as the Reading or Norwich games. I wonder if that is because those were games that we were expected to cast asunder our opponents and move on to the next match with little regard for the confidence smashed team that lay at our feet? Anyway, at the weekend we all now know that Norwich were nothing of the sort and that it left a very late show, plus a few tactical substitutions to save our collective bacon. Therefore, perhaps my lack of apprehension is coming from an expectation that tonight will see a more difficult game and should we lose – whilst clearly disappointing – it would not be as if its to a relegation threatened team. I know this is all sounding a little bit too negative up until this point i.e. ‘what if we lose’, but it’s how I’m constructing and preparing myself for that eventuality and yet hopefully still remain upbeat if the worst happens.

But we aren’t going to let the worst happen, are we Arsenal? We’re going to be up for this game and show Everton why we have been doing this particular run successfully for the last 14 years. To the teams credit, they’ve done their jobs well enough over the last four games or so, but tonight’s opponents will most certainly provide a different challenge. And probably the most difficult of the games we’ve played since the away defeat to the Spuds. Everton won’t sit back and wait for a set piece, they’ll want to get forward and use the guile of Mirallas, Fellaini and Pienaar to unlock our sometimes fragile defence. I think the game against the Spuds provided Everton with the perfect blueprint to play away from home against us as well, so I think we’ll see the same team that rocked up at Shite Hart Lane returning to The Emirates. The Spuds have a similar style to us and left space in defence for the creative Everton players to express themselves, so I think they’ll know that we’ll do the same.

With the defence likely to be under more pressure today than Saturday, I suspect we might just see Mertesacker return to the first team. At least I hope so. He and Koscienly will have to deal with the physical presence of Anichebe and the aerial ability of Fellaini, but whilst Vermaelen is more suited to a physical approach than Mertesacker, the pairing of Big Per and Kos has been the most successful to these here untrained eyes. Per has the positional discipline that Thomas lacks, whilst the recovery pace of Koscienly is often a big plus when the big German can’t get back against a pacey front man.

Perhaps another reason why I’m less nervous about tonight is that I know we’ll get more space than on Saturday. The players that lined the yellow and green wall on Saturday had no intention of venturing forward, which meant that there was little space for our attacking players to express themselves. I’m positive there will be more tonight. The weekends game was a perfect match for somebody like The Ox; a player that would weave around in small spaces, as it ultimately proved and he almost did everything for the second goal himself. But tonight’s game is more suited to somebody like Theo in my humble opinion. Theo hasn’t seemed to master the art of stubborn defences that sit on the edge of their own box (and in some cases even deeper) and so his key strength – pace running beyond the last man – is effectively negated. But up against a team that likes to push its forwards on, that is where Theo becomes more of a threat, which I think we’ll see if he starts. Yes, he’s up against the excellent Baines, but he likes to get forward and support Pienaar and if Theo is on the pitch there will be a natural reluctance not to bomb forward as much by the English left back.

So it is my hope that Theo starts on the right and, up until I read some of the comments about Podolski, I also thought we might see him on the left and Giroud through the middle. But Le Boss has talked up Lukas’ goalscoring and the fact he often plays through the middle in training, whilst simultaneously being quite critical of Giroud’s first half against Norwich, so I’m wondering if we’ll see a change tonight and see Poldi through the centre. Personally I don’t think it should happen. Giroud’s more physical side to his game will be more of a handful to Distin and Jagielka, so I hope we see my original thoughts come to fruition and the German is deployed on the left. Plus, I think Gervhino got back into his old ways at the weekend, so Arsene could probably play the ‘tired’ or ‘rested’ card on him to avoid the emotional trauma it may do to the lad that sees him hitting corner flags every time he plays from now on.

We’re in the final throngs of the season now and the legs are starting to get heavy. Which is why it’s so pleasing to see more than a standard first eleven picking up the slack and taking responsibility. Which is probably also why I am less nervous as well. It is well known that Everton don’t have the biggest squad in the league, so I suspect the same players that played against QPR also play again tonight. Conversely, I hope Arsene indulges his luxury by shuffling his players around a bit to keep them fresh. I’d like to see Jenkinson and Monreal back in the team, with a midfield that perhaps could even slot Coquelin into it, although I wouldn’t replace Ramsey or Arteta, so I’m not sure how the Frenchman would get into the side. Jack looked a bit leggy on Saturday, so I’d keep him as an ace up the sleeve and see what strings Santi can pull through the middle. My hope is that the little bit of rotation we can afford to do allows us a little bit of extra zip in comparison to our toffee counterparts.

But this is Arsenal, after all. This is a team that never makes things easy. This is a team that went on a great winning run last season and nearly imploded at the end of it, only to salvage a win on the last game of the season against West Brom, so we know the problems they are capable of getting themselves into as much as getting themselves out of. If the world was printed on paper, The Arsenal would win tonight, beat Fulham on Saturday and watch the spuds get beaten by Moneychester City. But we know that our season will be harder than that. We must all realise that we’ve got a banana skin coming our way soon.

Lets just hope it’s on the pre season tour of Japan in a few months.

Have a good one. Come on you reds!

My blogging curse hits Tomas

Posted on April 12, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

It’s Friday, it’s Premier League Matchday-Eve, and to that means Le Boss will front up against an army of journos and furry mikes for today’s pre-game presser.

Sometimes I wonder if I should dedicate a section of my blogs each day to praising or ‘bigging-up’ the upcoming opposition, because every time I say something positive about Arsenal, be it injuries or form of players, some sort of karma-curveball is thrown at me. Yesterday I said that apart from Diaby we should be almost at full fitness, with only the question of whether Jack or Theo will come back or not. So of course, when Arsene released some initial information to the official site, we all found out that Tomas Rosicky is a major doubt for the weekend with a knock he picked up during the week. Yes. Tomas Rosicky. The guy that we’ve all been eulogising over. The chap that Arsene has said can have such an impact with the remaining games. Out. Injured. So if I start talking about how Gareth the monkey boy has such amazing recovery from injury to be back so soon, can the football gods hand us a little bit of cosmic karma back please?

I guess we got a little bit of it by watching the Spuds go out on penalties yesterday, so we can’t complain too much, although it will give them the Premier League to focus their attention on between now and the end of the season and we’ve already seen what that clarity has done to our own team. The hope is that whilst they have time to take stock and prepare for the game against Moneychester City, their confidence and also belief is dealt a blow, coupled with the hope that City still believe they have something to play for.

With Tomas, I hope this is a classic Wenger yarn to protect a tired player and keep him ready for the Everton game, I really do. It would be a cruel twist of fate if the poor guy waits patiently for a role in the team, takes his opportunity, only to be thwarted by the brittleness of his own body. So I hope this is a ‘niggle’ rather than any sort of small injury that snowballs into a ‘little setback’.

Of course, what this will mean is that Jack is likely to play I would assume, and in that regard we should be pretty happy that we’ve got a fabulous alternative to the in form Rosicky. Jack and Theo are supposedly 90% there, so I’d expect Wilshire to reassume the position come 3pm. Of course, a good performance from him and Arsene will have quite the selection headache on Tuesday night. Does he recall Rosicky or continue with our charismatic number 10?

I’d hope that there’s going to be an element of squad rotation going on over the next couple of games. We are fortunate that we have some players in form that can slot in to the team and, with Everton playing at the same time as us and with a smaller squad, they probably won’t be able to rotate as much as I hope we can. If Arsene plays his cards right, and gets the right level of rotation, we could find a number of players fresher than our opponents on Tuesday and therefore more susceptible to defeat. I know I’m coming across as slightly presumptuous, especially as we have a really tough game against Norwich on Saturday, but this is a crucial period for us now. A sequence of wins over the next three weeks could almost secure a top four spot I feel, so managing the squad will be of paramount importance. We need to be able to capitalise on an advantages we can gain. Having players fresher than the opponents at this stage of the season has to be one of those we should grab hold of.

We really don’t want to be slipping up against Norwich like we did last season. There simply HAS to be the concentration and commitment to victory that we’ve seen over the last few weeks. Le Boss has been doing his part with players like Vermaelen, talking about how well he took being dropped and what a great man he is. Classic Arsene. Before a big game, inflate the confidence of an individual that perhaps has had some stuffing knocked out of him, in the hope that he rewards the loyalty with a great performance. And with Mertesacker out for one match, this is Vermaelen’s chance to stake a claim, so I hope he tries to grab it with both hands. If he does, then I’d suspect it will mean we’ve picked up three points against Norwich. I hope so, anyway. Mike Dean isn’t reffing tomorrow, is he?

Anyway, a fuller pre-match preview to come tomorrow, so until then I shall take my leave.

Heart-stopping, but vital three points for Gunners

Posted on April 7, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

Well, you wouldn’t expect anything else from The Arsenal than a bit of harum scarum, heart-janglingness ”can this last twenty minutes just hurry up and disappear please?” action would you? because that’s what we all got yesterday.

When the final whistle blew and our step up into the top four (most likely albeit temporarily because I’m not expecting Sunderland to show anything today against Chelski at Stamford Bridge) was confirmed, I felt like I had aged about ten years. I wasn’t at the game and my laptop is fairly useless and prevents me from watching live streams, so I had to contend with the excellent Arseblog Live blog, Twitter and Sky Sports Soccer Saturday all running in tandem for my news from The Hawthorns. I think that actually made it worse for that last twenty minutes, as each minute ticked by so slowly after Mertesacker’s sending on that it felt like a lifetime.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here and so should start from the beginning. Le Boss named an unchanged side from last week – expected given the performance – and once again players that many thought were ‘squaddies’ in Rosicky, Ramsey and Gervhino were all afforded another bite at the first team cherry. None of those players disappointed. Rosicky put in a man-of-the match performance to score two well taken goals and looked lively throughout. Most of the play in the middle of the park went through him and his ability to beat a man or move the ball from back-to-front so quickly really helped the high line of pressing the team deployed in the first half and at the beginning of the second.

Ramsey was also good yesterday I thought and his ‘never give up’ attitude is what can quickly win himself favour back in the hearts of those Arsenal fans that questioned his ability. This was epitomised in one particular moment in the second half. A poor pass intended for Arteta in the opponents half was swiftly followed up by a winning tackle and successful pass completion to Rosicky. Yes, he missed a golden chance for us to be two nil up at half time when on the six yard box with nobody but Foster to beat, but I’m more pleased that we had somebody getting into that position in the first place.

Gervhino too looked lively whilst he was on the pitch. His assist for the first goal was a classic example of what we hoped to see more of from the Ivorian when he arrived. Chasing a fabulous Arteta cross field ball into the box, he picks up the ball, weaves the defender this way and that and puts in a great ball (which I suspect might have been curling in at the far post) to which the Little Mozart heads in. It seems that we’re seeing somewhat of a purple patch for The Forehead and it couldn’t come at a better time for us. It means there is genuine competition, players like the three I describe above are knocking hard on the door to keep their places and it means the others that have lost their places will have to work harder, concentrate more and be at their best to retain their place.

Defensively we also looked sound yesterday. Let’s face it, when the ball came over the top by the West Brom player Morrison and Long’s first touch was perfect to put him through, we all knew when he went down inside the box that Mertesacker was off. And we all knew it would be a really tough last quarter of the match. But we must credit the defence with their response. Vermaelen came on and, despite a few moments where we probably should have conceded but for some profligacy from Lukaku and a header from some defender at the back post from a corner, they held firm. And not that any of us gooners like to smash lazy misconceptions about out team, but we now have the best away defensive record in the league. Funny that, given all of the pundits you hear always talk about how terrible some of our defenders are. Funny that, eh?

There’s a bit of swagger about this Arsenal team at the moment. The type of swagger that comes with confidence-boosting wins like yesterday. We’ve gone about our business flying a bit under the radar with everyone else praising the Spuds and drooling over the collective attacking threat of Mata, Oscar and Hazard, which is absolutely fine by me. i seem to recall the same thing happened last year. We started to put together a run of games that suddenly found us in third spot to which we then went on to keep and confirm our Champions League status for next season. Watching that game yesterday I saw some very confident passing and attack-wise we looked to get the ball forward very quickly with some verve and panache about us.

It’s looking good at the moment. We can sit back today and watch some of the Sunday games knowing that we’ve done our job. Next week we have Norwich visit us and I hope the players are desperate for a bit of revenge to be served up after the defeat at Carrow Road in October last year. Thereafter we have Everton at home and if we can get two wins under our belt there then it will put us above the spuds and I think above Chelski too.

Have a good Sunday you marvellous people.

Reading between their lines – a tight game expected

Posted on March 30, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

So here we finally are people. For some reason it feels like more of a schlep to get to this weekends Arsenal action than ever before. I don’t know if that is because we had a couple of good results before the international break banged on our door, therefore this interjection was at the wrong time in terms of building some momentum, but I for one am glad we are back to some normality.

It’s Reading today that visit the Emirates and with new boss Nigel Adkins due to take the reins for the first time, it’s fair to say that it makes Reading a little bit of an unknown quantity today. Will we see a side that is buoyed by ‘new manager syndrome’? Quite possibly, especially with the fact that they are fighting for their Premier League lives and now with a new manager there will be players who will be wanting to show that they deserve a place in the starting eleven.

We’ve played them twice at the Madjeski Stadium this season and both times have come away with victories and plenty of goals, but on both occasions we’ve also conceded a few. Reading played with an open and attacking style that, whilst admirable, was foolhardy from a team that was newly promoted and didn’t quite have the personnel to trade blows with some of the bigger boys in the league. However, since the turn of the year Reading started picking up points, became a little more solid at the back and have looked like a team that at one stage could pick up enough results to get them out of the bottom three. You only need to look at the game at Old Trafford to know that they will not come at Arsenal like they did at the Madjeski. Reading will try to be more compact at the back, will probably play with a five man midfield like they did at Old Trafford, and will hope to frustrate Arsenal like so many teams have done this season. They welcome back Pogrebnyak and his physical presence up top will give our two central defenders something to think about.

As for The Arsenal, there looks to be a few players that seem to have found a smidgen of form, which means that as a fan, I’m not 100% sure which side Le Boss will field. I have a rough idea, but nothing is concrete with Arsene, as he’s just as likely to swap things around as he is to go for consistency. I suspect Fabianski Mark.2 (the upgraded version Arsene has used since he came back from injury) will still get the chance to build on his confidence boosting performances against Bayern and Swansea to stay in between the sticks and will go for a similar look back four to those that played at the Liberty Stadium. Monreal, Koscienly and Mertesacker will surely start, but what of that right back slot? Sagna’s form has hardly been impeccable this season whilst Jenkinson is looking ever the part at right back every time we see him. I think Le Boss will go with his French compatriot, which is a harsh situation for Corporal Carl, but I think Arsene still has his favourite in that position and so Bacary will get his chance to recapture his spot quicker than Vermaelen and Szczseny have done.

Midfield will most likely include Arteta and Ramsey, given Arsene’s seeming reluctance to use the Little Mozart Rosicky at the moment, which I actually think is a bit of a shame. Rosicky is somebody who has the beating of a player a lot easier than Rambo, and his energetic style and ability to move the ball from back to front a little quicker is something that I think puts him a little more in the mould of the currently absent Wilshire. I think having Tomas in the side gives us a little more urgency in going forward and at home against a team towards the bottom of the table the impetus should always be on ensuring you have enough at the top end of the park rather than the back in defence. Aaron’s new found defensive stability is good and if Jack remains out against West Brom next week I think he’d be a more natural covering choice than Rosicky, but for this week I’d hope Le Boss goes for the more creative option.

Of course, Arsene could opt for both Rosicky in midfield and Cazorla out wide on the left of the attacking three, but with the return of Podolski I think he should be slotting straight into the side today so I hope that is Arsene’s thinking. Poldi brings a clinical finisher who’s directness and willingness to run his arse off for 70 minutes is something that we’ll need if we want to put this Reading team under serious pressure today. If he does play, he’ll be joined in attack by Giroud and possibly The Ox, who I think deserves that starting spot after a good performance against Swansea followed by a good performance and goal against San Marino that will surely have boosted his confidence. He deserves a run in the side now and with Theo ruled out for this weekends game, it’s a chance to shine for the youngster.

I think this will be a tough and frustrating game. When we played Reading earlier in the season there were still a lot of games to go and Reading thought that their open and attacking style could be something that catches teams out and gets them a few points. But now that we are in the business end of the season, that free-flowing attitude has been replaced by a bit more pragmatism when lining up against opponents. We saw that against Manchester United and I think we’ll see that today. Reading will be thinking that a draw is a great result, which can be achieved as a minimum with a clean sheet, so they will sit back and perhaps look to hit us on the counter at times. I am always worried before any Arsenal game that means something, but today my worry is that we see a game of sideways passing on the edge of the Reading box with little or no penetration through a wall of hooped blue and white shirts. We will need all of our crafty and creative players to be at their probing best today. Players like The Ox and Cazorla will need to be on form and I hope we see at least a first half goal for Arsenal to bring Reading out a little and open the game up. Otherwise we’ll see mounting frustration if there are no goals by half time.

We’ve got nothing else to concentrate on this season other than Champions League qualifications. Aside from the midweek game against Everton in mid April we have one-a-week matches until the end of the season so there can be no excuses for any slip ups. I know we’ve come off the back of an international break, but a) there was only a few players in our side that actually played the full 90 minutes midweek, and b) these players are all seasoned international professional footballers and so will know exactly how to prepare themselves physically. We just need to hope that mentally they are prepared too.

We need three points today to keep the momentum and pressure on those above. Up the Arsenal.

International timings – good or bad?

Posted on March 18, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

Morning Monday, you little bar steward, as the working week now stretches in front of me, you’re laughing your arse off I know. But not only that, it’s also an international break, which means domestic football takes a back seat and the boredom of international qualification takes a stranglehold on the lives of football fans everywhere.

Thankfully the weekend’s action will give us at least a day or two to survive, but come Wednesday we’ll be all out and the media will be discussing who plays here, what will happen there and such like for England.

And thankfully we were also dealt another positive result yesterday with the shock of Fulham beating the Spuds on their own turf. I don’t make a habit of watching the Spuds and I didn’t start yesterday, but you do wonder if 120 minutes in Milan had its toll on them. Who knows, perhaps their opponents in the next round can knock them out on penalties and we get the same performance.

As for The Arsenal, I can’t quite work out if the timing of this stop in play is beneficial or not. When your team has just lost you’re always inclined to say that maybe it’s good that they all go away and take stock, but when you’re on the back of a good victory you don’t know whether the momentum will be interrupted or not. Last week was a relatively good week for The Arsenal given the circumstances and the last thing you need is for that motivation and positivity to disperse as the players all take their respective flights to the corners of the globe. I hope that the team can keep the momentum going after this break because I have a gut feeling that we’re in with a shot of nicking that top four spot, but only if we win four out of our next four (three of which are at home).

Here’s a quick question: does Mikel Arteta just get extra holiday over this period, or does he still have to train?

Big Per has also been talking to the official site about how the defenders took time out of the game to watch the Spuds defeat and assess themselves as a unit. He claims it has bought a new perspective to the defenders and they are now looking to cover each other as a result. Far be it for me to question or second-guess the big man, but I wonder if the dropping of Vermaelen hasn’t had something to do about it too. Tommy’s been far from his best this season and we’ve seen complacency creep into his game since the first few weeks of the season, where As Koscienly has sat on the bench waiting patiently for a run in the team. Now that he’s got it, perhaps there is an element of desperation to retain his position, because the Frenchman has been one of the best players over the last two games. That is exactly the kind of squad competition we all want to see: players so desperate to get in and stay in that they grab hold of their chance and their concentration levels are heightened for fear of losing their place in the side. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all gravy if that’s the case in our defence right now.

What I am also pleased about is the way the team has coped without Wilshire over the last two games. He’s become somewhat of a talisman over the course of this season, so much so that I thought his absence would make the two games exceedingly difficult to pick up anything, let alone two wins. It’s pleasing to see that whilst the Spuds struggle if bale isn’t on form, we miss our main man and the team can still pick up victories. That’s not to say I don’t want Jack back as quickly as possible, but it gives a gooner like me a degree of assurance that we have been able to fill the void left by his absence. And in the case of Jack, the international break actually comes as a blessing in disguise, because it means we’ll not miss him for this weekends Premier League action because there isn’t any!

And finally, to that man Gervhino, who Arsene admitted had been a bit dejected recently because of his form. It’s interesting, because before he went away to that pointless competition in January, he made a few statements in the press about how he wanted to be an Arsenal great, etc, etc. It was all admirable stuff, but left myself and many of my fellow drinking compatriots from Block 5 wondering if he’d ever even been an ‘Arsenal alright’, let alone an ‘Arsenal great’. He showed flashes of ability at times but his finishing has always been a bit woeful. I, like Arsene, hope that this goal from the weekend brings a bit more self belief to the player. I may bemoan him, I may question his effectiveness, but as long as he’s an Arsenal player I’ll always want him to fulfil his footballing potential. I’m not thinking he should be getting a run of games, but if he does manage to get a few goals between now and the end of the season then lets give him some game time – even if its from the bench. Of course, now I’ve said that we’ll most likely see him running into corner flags next time he takes to the field.

Anyway, that’ll do from me today. Until tomorrow.

Massive victory in Wales

Posted on March 17, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

Good morning from Hungoversville. Population: Me. But you know what? After a result like yesterday’s away to Swansea, there was no way I’d sack off blogging on a Sunday morning. Make no mistake about it, yesterday’s victory against the Welshmen was MASSIVE.

In the blog yesterday I spoke of my nerves. I spoke of the threat that Swansea provide, of how they will fancy their chances and how we will need to be back to our best in order to get a result. After all, most teams that go to the Liberty cross back over the Severn Bridge with very little to show for their work. So to go into an international break with a solid 2-0 away victory is most satisfying, I can tell thee.

As is customary from Le Boss from time-to-time, he threw a few curve balls with his starting line up selection, giving the nod to Monreal - which was expected, but also The Ox and Diaby - which was not. Rosicky and Rambo made way and Santi dropped back into midfield to assume the role that he has played more often than not this season of free roamer. Lukas and Laurent also retained their places, so the team had the look of a side that was big enough in squad depth to cope with the rigours of the English football season. As I said on Thursday in the wake of the Bayern game, one swallow doth not a summer make, but it was a really positive thing to see Arsene rotate his team and still manage to get a result. It’s something we’ve all wondered about this season when it comes to the ability of the whole squad to compete.

We knew what we would get from Swansea. They passed and passed and passed the ball and probed for their chance and of course it was inevitable Michu would get one or two, but to be honest Swansea didn’t spend that much of the first half banging down on the Arsenal defensive door. In fact, it was Arsenal that came closest through The Ox. Hit hit the post early on in the first half and right on the stroke of halftime.I thought the Ox had a good game yesterday and looked like more like the young and confident player that we saw at times last season.

I thought Diaby wasn’t at his best yesterday and his style leaves a lot to be frustrated about, so when he and the Ox were substituted for Ramsey and Gervhino, it was the right decision by Wenger. This was made all the more evident with the two substitutes combining to finish off the game on 90 minutes. It must have felt good for Ramsey, who gets roundly booed every time he comes to Swansea. The best way to silence home fans is by beating the home team and Rambo will have probably taken a little bit more pleasure from the result than anyone else.

The second half started off with The Arsenal in ascendency and for the first ten minutes or so and with Santi Cazorla skipping past players and looking like the fleet-footed player we saw at the start of the season, from this humble bloggers eyes it looked like we could get a result, despite having to listen to commentators purring over Swansea’s passing even when they don’t go anywhere. It’s funny, when Arsenal have lots of possession but no penetration, it is seen as ‘typical Arsenal’ and we’re chastised, but such is the love of an underdog in this country, that when Swansea had the same dilemma, they are seen as playing great football by the media.

It was good to see Monreal on the score sheet yesterday, albeit through a scruffy effort, and although Vorm probably should have saved the scuffed shot. Much like all of the back five, who managed a second clean sheet in a week, that I thought was also a really pleasing thing about the result. we’ve become so used to seeing Arsenal make rod for their own backs defensively, that it is just as good to see a ’0′ beside the opponents scoreline at the end of the game.

This was a dominating and thoroughly deserving result from a team that will take a lot of confidence going into the international break. It means we can enjoy the break without having to stew on the poor result for two weeks. I thought the intensity of the play was also a plus point. With the result won and time ticking away, you could be forgiven for thinking that the players would be happy to see the result off, but the attitude of the players from the first whistle to the last was epitomised with Aaron Ramsey forcing Vorm to kick the ball out for a thrown in despite being 2-0 up. This is the attitude that we want to see and this is the desire that will give us the best shot of finishing in the top four. I questioned Le Boss’ ability to motivate the players on a consistent basis between now and the end of the season, and after a result like that I am only happy to be proven wrong. All we need to do now is win the other nine and we’ll probably be fine!

Pride restored in Munich

Posted on March 14, 2013 by bendtnersbettercousin

Let’s all be honest with ourselves. We were never goin to get through last night, were we? Were we? But by Gove, if you’re going to go down, make sure it’s with all guns blazing, swinging and lashing out at everything.

Those Arsenal players did that yesterday with a 2-0 victory over a Bayern Munich side that hasn’t been defeated at home all season. When you look at their record and the fact that they’ll probably be the first of all of the proper leagues to lift their domestic trophy, the fact that Arsenal went out only on away goals is enough to restore some pride.

It was most certainly a glorious failure. A two legged defeat that will hopefully leave the team with much confidence going into what is the most crucial time in the season and what will in all probability define our transfer policy for the summer as well as our marketability next season. It was the best we could make out of a bad situation, tinged with an element of DeJa Vu following our effort last season against Milan.

Champions League football next season is the only prize left to play for now for this Arsenal team. The opportunity has gone for silverware this season, but there is still much work to be done and if you’re going to go out, go out of a competition that doesn’t dent the already fragile confidence of a team on the metaphorical ropes.

I said in my blog yesterday that realism must give way to hope and pragmatism must be super-ceded by belief. But although the Arsenal players didn’t go through in the tie, you can’t argue that they didn’t at least offer us a glimmer of hope. Giroud’s goal in the third minute was the perfect tonic, then after a following 80 odd minutes of Arsenal with their backs to the wall, Koscienly’s header with five minutes to go gave us that final flicker before the final whistle. The very fact that Bayern were reduced to holding the ball in the corner flag just shows how much we made this great team nervous.

So overall on the night, you have to say that pride was restored and it was a satisfactory result. Performance-wise I actually think we weren’t that great. I said to The Management during the game that watching this Bayern team have all of the possession, all of the shots, yet come up against a resolute defence and an attack that scores with its first and second shots on target, was a bit like watching the Arsenal of old of previous seasons. Now I know what it is like to have a smash and grab result. Defensively we must praise the team and if their performance last night can be mirrored in every Premier League game for the rest of the season, then our chances of Champions League qualification will be dealt no harm at all. However, in midfield I think we were guilty of some very sloppy passing from all three of Ramsey, Rosicky and Arteta, and Cazorla flitted in and out of the game on the left hand side. Giroud I thought was quite poor – goal aside – and some of his decision making has all the hallmarks of an average Premier League squad player. There was one moment in the second half when he inexplicably took a punt at goal from 40 yards out when a number of Arsenal players had found space for a good build up. I’m yet to be convinced he’s the long term answer and surely Arsene must be looking at another option for our strike force next season.

But let us not dwell too much dwell too much on the negative. We all know the damage was done in the first leg and we have all chastised the team one-way or another a month ago for that performance. What we must focus on today is that quite simply, pride has been restored. Now it is essential that the team take the positives from the game yesterday and accentuate them when we line up against Swansea on Saturday.