Category Archives: press conference

Saying the right things, signing the right players and Backhim’s retirement

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Welcome to Saturday Gooners. We’re all now on countdown and, if Sky Sports had their way, they’d probably have that shouty ‘Jim’ bloke standing outside one of the stadiums where the final Champions League qualification spot will be decided, bellowing his Scottish balls out to see if he could drum up some intensity 24 hours before kick off. They’d probably pay good money to clone him and have Jim mk1 and Original Jim doing live updates. In fact, I bet that is something that Rupert Murdoch is already working on in his evil lab on top of a big hill somewhere. In some country, Murdoch is using fresh kitten blood to make a new Sky Sports Jim. A terrifying and sobering thought if ever there was one.

We don’t need to be told how important tomorrow’s game is, and neither do the players, as Arsene clearly alluded to in his pre-game presser yesterday morning. He spoke of quite a few things, one of which being that he wouldn’t want to be involved in football if he didn’t have pressure. He called it ‘boring’ when you don’t have anything to play for and, whilst I agree that it all adds to the excitement, it also heightens the sadness if things don’t go your way. I also doubt very much that Arsene would take what we’re faced with right now over secured qualification three weeks ago. But there you go, we are where we are and we have our destiny in our own hands.

The players are saying all the right things, as you’d expect, with our man Jack Wilshire talking about excitement as much as nerves going in to the game. That’s music to my ears if I’m completely honest, because if there are too many nerves across the team, the worry is always that they will not express themselves creatively enough. I am up in Northumberland at the moment as I’ll be at the game tomorrow, and the last time I was here because of the football with The Management’s family, we beat Sunderland in February this year and Jack was particularly impressive until he came off with a knock. If he’s starting tomorrow my hope is that he can repeat his good North East form this season.

Can I make an admission here? I have to say I find it a little bit vexing that pages on the Arsenal website have been dedicated to a player and a manager that have had no real affiliation with Arsenal Football Club. I know David Beckham (or as one of the original Pro Evolution Soccer games on the PlayStation called him ‘Backhim’) trained with us for a few weeks, but why we have to read comments about how great he is on the official site I don’t really know. It was the same with Fergie. I don’t really care that much that they are retiring. They had minimal impact on Arsenal’s history (except to dent parts of it by winning trophies) so I don’t really know why online column inches have to be dedicated to them. Can we not save that for the media to roll out the mattress for a collective jizz-fest? Let them talk about how great his haircuts were and let us focus on The Arsenal. I’ve got no problem with him as a person, but he’s never been and Arsenal man so we should just move on barely batting an eyelid.

Anyway, back to Arsenal, and as I suggested yesterday, it wouldn’t be an end of season presser without some sort of tittle-tattle, so the assembled hacks decided to probe Arsene on Wayne Rooney and Yaya Sanogo. Of course Arsene was semi-dismissive of Rooney, saying that he didn’t even know if United wanted to sell him let alone whether or not they would want to buy the player. For all the fan chanting and general mockery of the player, it’s hard to argue that his presence in the Arsenal squad wouldn’t improve it. Of course, his wages would certainly make a pretty dent in the clubs stockpiled millions, so I’d be shocked if that particular transfer came to fruition. It just doesn’t ‘feel’ like an Arsene signing. Too high profile, too much baggage, too much of a long shot in my book.

However, one that does look to be on the verge of happening is the free transfer of the young man from Auxerre, who’s name sounds like a conversation Arsene had to the younger Toure’s agent just before we sent him packing after his trial at the club. Yaya Sanogo has scored nine times in 11 this season and by the sounds of it seems to be a decent prospect, but we’ve been down this route before, particularly with a player that already has a bit of a chequered injury record at his tender age. Arsene admitted the deal was quite far down the line and whilst the risk is less because he will be a free transfer, there will no doubt be one or two of the more vociferous anti-Wenger Gooners that will be sharpening their pitchforks at the prospect of another young player coming in at the expense of the mature and fully polished shiny new striker we all crave. Personally, I think that this move will be a decent one. It looks like a classic ‘buy him, send him out on loan, then if he doesn’t make the first team we’ll get a few mil for him’ type signing. Very similar to how I suspect we’ll see Joel Campbell progress and also how Carlos Vela’s career went at Arsenal. But we wait and see with that one. I don’t profess to know anything about French football and we all know YouTube is about as reliable as Harry Redknapp relegation escape plan so I don’t really take much notice of the video clips on there.

That’ll do for today. If you’re going tomorrow, give me a holler and perhaps we can share a pre-match supping of the amber nectar?

Cazorla’s grand, plus debunking some Arsenal misconceptions

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Happy Friday to you lovely Gooners. I hope this one finds you in particularly tip-top shape. It will need to be, because we head into a season-defining game way up there in Newcastle on Sunday. I’m heading up there myself today to partake in my regular frivolities with The Management’s family. Of course it was not a coincidence that Arsenal are playing!

That cheeky old rapscallion Arsene decided that he’d also head up to sample some of the local Newky Brown stuff too I see, having decided to have his press conference yesterday. At least I think he did. I’m seeing a lot of stuff to chew on content-wise and so rather than take a few minutes to check, I thought I’d just be lazy and guess.

Arsene spoke of Arteta’s unlikely appearance at the Wonga stadium and of who could replace him, possibly Jack Wilshire, but I think I’ll save my predicted line up thoughts for my pre-match blogginton on Sunday. Given what has been said about Jack needing surgery though, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has some alarm bells ringing when you wonder whether he should start. Let’s face it, Arsene’s record in the ‘gambling with players fitness’ stakes reads like Paul Merson’s account at William Hill. But we can ponder that over the coming days.

*Quick update* – turns out I’m not that lazy after all, and checked the Arsenal official site – looks like a classic Arsene ‘talk to Arsenal Player before the media hacks get here tomorrow’ job, so I’m sure he’ll spend an hour or two deflecting shots about signing Rooney for most of this morning.

Arsene also spoke about the impact that Cazorla has had this season, and I think it’s air to say that the diminutive Spaniard has been one of Arsene’s stellar signings of the last few years. With 12 goals and 12 assists in his debut season, plus the fact he’s been instrumental in so much that we do, it’s hard not to love little Santi. And for £12million he was an absolute snip. Yes, I know we sort of tool advantage of a club on its knees, but I’m afraid I can have no sympathy for those teams that live beyond their means. We get battered over the head about not signing players, but if you’ve not got a sugar daddy (I know they were SUPPOSED to have one, but that didn’t really work out) to bankroll you, then you can only look at the way you run your own house to find fault.

Santi has been superb though, hasn’t he? I agree with Arsene; how he has not made it into the team of the season really surprises me. Although I suspect it’s more to do with the fact he’s been playing in and Arsenal team that has not exactly hit the highest of heights. In the media’s eyes we’re a club in decline.

Which brings me nicely into another few bits of info added to the official site over the last 24 hours. Info about the fact that this seasons Arsenal team is one of only four teams in the history of the Premier League to have four players into double figures on the scoring charts. That’s quite a feat when you think that we’re now in the 20th year of the birth of the Premier League, and when you think about all of the great teams that have played in it, that’s not a bad accolade. I know you can find positive stats about anything these days, but I see this as a real plus point. I don’t know who the other three sides are (one might be Arsenal with Henry, Pires, Ljungberg and Bergkamp?), but I would imagine the United treble winning team would be in there. So not too bad company to be in there amongst some of the best teams that have existed in the Premier League.

I guess it goes to show you how we’ve shared the responsibility away from one man and handed it to many, mitigating our own risks of over-reliance and meaning that when we lose one player – like Giroud through suspension recently – there are others that can take up the slack. It’s what we all wanted after last seasons desperation for a certain Dutch player to stay fit, so now we have that we don’t all take a collective sharp intake of breath when any one player goes down clutching his ankle.

It is also interesting to look at the table and see that we have one of the best defences in the league. Let’s not forget that this is an Arsenal team that the media love to perpetuate as perennial offenders in the defensive stakes through their lazy journalism. But certainly with the increase in solidity at the back over the last month or so, we’ve seen an improvement in results as a consequence. It ent rocket science people, cut out the errors at the back and you take away the pressure on the forwards to score three or four goals a game. You do feel for Vermaelen, but based on the performance of the current two centre backs, you can’t see how he’s going to get back into the team.

Whilst we’re in the process of debunking some Arsenal myths about this season, let’s look at the points tally. If we win this weekend’s game against Newcastle, we’ll have finished a couple of points better off than last season. Now, I’m not suggesting that last season should be any kind of blueprint for success, but given we were predicted for mid table mediocrity by many of the moronic excuses for media professionals out there in TV, print and radio land, perhaps we should cut ourselves, and certainly the players, a teeny bit of slack. If the team can do the business against the Geordies on Sunday, we’ll have a platform to go out and pick up the two or three quality players we need to make that next step and challenge for honours. Perhaps we really are that close?

Or perhaps we’ll lose this weekend and I’ll be back to bemoaning the lack of investment, questioning whether Arsene is the right man and making idol threats about not renewing my season ticket. But of course I will. I’ll be there next season come rain or shine. But what I hope is that so is Champions League football.

We only have to wait a couple of days to find out.

Until tomorrow.

‘Brand Arsenal’ and knocking for Arsene

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So Fergie has (probably) named his successor and that man is a fellow Scot in the form of David Moyes. Can the football world move on now please? I mean really, is there going to be over analysis on the stools that Moyes passes between now and July 1st when he takes over at Old Trafford? Yesterday I heard on a radio phone in about whether or not Moyes’ preferred sports psychologist will be joining him at Old Trafford. Honestly. It’s getting as much publicity as a royal wedding or funeral. Is David Cameron going to announce a bank holiday of mourning at the end of June?

Funnily enough, football is still going on and there are still things to be decided, as crazy as that sounds. Although, the fact that van Persie signed and said he wanted to work under Fergie is quite amusing, I have to say. I wonder whether the little boy inside him is thrashing his arms around in a tantrum because he is not going to get what he wants next season. I guess it won’t really matter to him – he’ll still get his megabucks, he can spend the rest of his career telling the world he was justified in leaving Arsenal for a title, plus he’ll probably revert to type and spend much of next season relaxing on the treatment table anyway

In other, much more interesting news (but only slightly, because it involves Arsenal), the club announced that it will be going on a pre-season tour of Asia and will break new ground by visiting Vietnam. There’ll also be Japan and Indonesia in the offing. I have to be callous here and tell you that I couldn’t really give a monkeys where the club go in Asia if I’m honest. It’s all a money making exercise anyway and it’s not as if there’ll be much interest in taking a holiday there to watch these friendly games. These expeditions are all about ‘Brand Arsenal’ and building new commercial revenue streams. Which to be honest, whilst I say I don’t care, ultimately if it achieves the aim of building the fan base, growing revenue and enhancing Arsenal’s coffers so it can be re-invested in the first team, you’ll nee find any Gooners that disapprove of it.

I guess the real question will come down to whether the revenues will actually be re-invested. My thoughts have always been that Stan knows he’s sitting on a lovely little cash cow that he can sell off for a premium come the end of next season or the season after, but the very fact he leaves the club to be run by those folks back in Eng-land so he can enjoy his ranch in Colorado must surely give some of us hope that there’ll be substantial investment in the playing staff this summer. After all, he needs to be able to sell of a successful club and he’ll have his advisors telling him that the only way to do that will be to improve the playing staff. We’ll see soon enough I guess.

I wonder if Arsene will have a press conference today, or will leave it until Monday? And how does it work? Do the media have to phone Arsene’s wife and ask if he’s coming out to play tomorrow? I suspect we’ll probably get his thoughts on Monday. After all, every manager in the land is going to be asked their opinion of Ferguson and expected to eulogise of him for the duration of their press conference. Heaven forbid they should concentrate on their own matches that they have this weekend. So if Arsene leaves his presser until Monday, he might be able to avoid a sixty minute Fergie ‘love-in’.

Anyway, that’s enough from me today. Catch you tomorrow. Knock for me, yeah?

A formation change? Plus Santi talks possession

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Wotcha gooners, how goeth it? A little bit of a later one from me, on account of lady liquor and a late night conspiring to keep me in the land of slumber a little but longer than usual. Thankfully there’s no Arsenal today though, so it does become quite a quiet Saturday afternoon in effect.

I don’t think I’ll look out for any of the football games today. Unfortunately I just don’t see those spuddies dropping points away to a Wigan team that are making a habit of playing well and still coming up with nothing. So watching the final scores coming in come 5pm will be a depressing thing methinks, as plebeians like Garth Crooks drool and slobber over the second coming of his messiah Monkey-Boy Bale. No thank you. I think I’ll get my hair cut instead.

Arsene had his usual pre-game presser in front of the assembled hacks and, as you’d expect, they tried to make this about that Dutch player returning rather than the fact we have a game at home that we have to win to try to secure Champions League football next season. Arsene did his best to focus on the team we’re up against rather than a player that may or may not play and he said that he didn’t expect Man United to ease off tomorrow. I think he’s right and he’s probably on the money when he says that in a couple of games they might ease off, but they’ll still be on the high of winning the league and so that might not be a benefit for us at all. For them, it’s not as if they had the same target that The Invincibles had of going unbeaten. Sure, they can go for the highest points total currently held by Mourhino’s Chelski, but you don’t get anything special for that. It’s not like the Premier League will give them a little miniature gold Premier League trophy in that regard (yes I’m petty and yes I had to get that in there).

I think we’ll still see a very tough game tomorrow and I’ll give more thoughts about the match and the team line up tomorrow, but Arsene did talk specifically about the striking issue and who would be playing up top for us in his press conferences, stating that he hadn’t made his mind up. He did say however, that we would be keeping to the same philosophy and style that we always do. I’ve heard on a podcast or two and read in a couple of news pieces that Arsenal do practice a 4-4-2 in training and although I am skeptical that there will be that formation deployed tomorrow, in the absence of a target man to be the focal point of the attack and bring the wide and midfield players into play more, I do wonder if we should see a change in formation. Changing formation doesn’t have to mean we change our philosophy, but you have to play to the strengths of the players we have and, with the attacking options of Gervhino, Podolski and Walcott all we’ve realistically got, you have to wonder if it might be worth throwing United a curveball by playing two up top. It would certainly catch United off guard as I’m sure they think they know exactly how Arsenal will line which, to be fair to them, Arsene hardly has a history of throwing tactical curveballs into the mix.

Whether Arsene does switch it or not, it will also impact another players position. Santi Cazorla also spoke to the official site about what he thinks we need to do and spoke of how we need to retain possession against United to do them damage. Whilst I agree that being dominant in possession gives you more opportunities to create chances, and whilst it also wears the opponents down if they have to spend the game chasing the ball, I can’t really agree that possession alone will ensure victory and the spoils go the way of Arsenal. Ever since Arsene arrived in England we’ve been one of those teams that always sees a lot of the ball; the trouble we’ve had (particularly over the last few years) is making sure we are the most efficient team in the league in converting possession into goals. And more goals than the opponents at that. We’ve even seen in our most recent game that possession is not the be-all and end-all, because if you’re good enough on the counter then you don’t need to have the ball all the time. That’s basically how those Chavs won themselves an undeserved Champions League trophy last season. So Cazorla is right in some cases, but wrong in others. Where and how he is deployed in tomorrow’s game will be interesting depending on the formation, but I’ll leave my pondering on that one until tomorrow.

Arsene also spoke of our big game record this season and when you look at our results it doesn’t make for pretty reading. Against the current top five teams we’ve picked up four points out of a possible fifteen. Whilst we all bemoan some of the lacklustre performances at home to Swansea and Sunderland, plus away to Norwich and Southampton, those big games against the top teams are the ones that can really give you a confidence boost. There have been mitigating circumstances in some (down to ten men against both City and United), but we’ve also shot ourselves in the foot on a couple of occasions, which doesn’t really help. In the Premier League you can’t afford to do that against the mid-table teams, so you sure as hell aren’t going to get away with it against the best.

I’m not sure quite why we haven’t turned up against some of the bigger opponents this season. If you look at each game individually they all tell their own unique story of why we failed (e.g. Vermaelen shocking clearance to give that Dutch bloke a sniff, or playing a high line against the pacey wingers of Bale and Lennon), but we certainly haven’t scored enough goals – the spuds game aside. In some games we never started, some we started well but never got that first goal, whereas in the one game we were successful we had to react after going a goal behind and being a man up. I hope we go at least some way to rectifying the poor points tally against the top five with a win tomorrow at least and to do that there will definitely need to be an urgency coupled with clinical finishing.

Righto, I’m off for a haircut, an afternoon on a canal boat and probably a couple of Peroni’s. catch you all tomorrow.

Consistency is the blueprint for success

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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.

‘Wengjuries’ and classic Arsene protection of players

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Happy Friday Arsenalites. It’s a man-flu infused one for me I’m afraid. I’ve been trying to see if the power of positive thinking coupled with outright denial would ‘think’ me well, but it hasn’t really happened, as the sopping hanky in my pocket would testify. Except it clearly can’t because it doesn’t have a mouth, or a tongue, or opposable thumbs.

Leaving mutant pieces of fabric to one side for a moment, we had Arsene’s usual pre-match presser ahead of what will be a real challenge away from home against Fulham tomorrow afternoon. He gave us an update on some injuries and it appears as though Fabianski is out injured now with a textbook bit of ‘wengjury’. That’s a word I just made up to describe the fitness of a player who’s place in the team is not guaranteed, but who would probably have hurt feelings if the world knew he was being replaced, so has been put into this ‘Wengjury’ stasis. I wonder if Physioroom.com would run a table of the Premier League clubs with players in this position? I bet we’d top the charts all year round. Then we wouldn’t have to argue amongst ourselves about whether fourth place is in fact a trophy. People would be happy, there would be dancing in the street and all kinds of frivolities would ensue. The truth is we have no idea how injured Fabianski was, is, or will be. Wenger even said that they are going ‘game-by-game’ on his injury. I do like the crafty old devil sometimes. It’s like a running joke that the world is involved in. I bet a few of the journos even looked around at each other and gave it the old ‘yeah right’. But there’s nothing they can do but report it as an injury. Everyone wins. Except Lukas if he really is injured with a cracked rib. In which case, he must wonder whether he should have been rooming with Diaby so much in his career, because his ‘injuryness’ is obviously wearing off a bit on him. It would be a harsh blow for a player who will have thought his time had finally come.

The rest of the squad will be assessed today says Le Gaffeur, with a few of them carrying knocks and bruises from the assault on The Emirates from the New Blue Stoke from Liverpool on Tuesday. I love the way Arsene described how he was going to review the situation today, saying “There are a number of uncertainties about our squad but I will sort that out on Friday morning”. It’s like Arsene’s gone all ruthless or something, real drill sergeant-like:
“YOU! BOY! HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?”
“Oh, erm, I’m a little achy boss, if I’m honest”
“Achy? ACHY? No! You are fine. Or you are fined. And Per hasn’t been able to use his abacus for some time now so is itching to take some money.”
“Yes boss.“

Hopefully they’ll all get through any of the bumps and bruises sustained by Wenger’s rigorous drills and we can expect a fully fit squad to choose from come Saturday lunchtime. There will be some big decisions needed to be made. I think the back five could possibly remain unchanged, with the exception of Monreal for Gibbs, who Wenger has talked about potentially playing higher up the field at some stage. I don’t know how high Arsene is thinking, because to my mind he’s not quite right for one of the three midfield positions, which probably only really leaves him a slot in one of the top three attacking positions. Logic would dictate that he would occupy the left wing position, but that would further beg the question on the future of Podolski and/or Gervhino. Personally, I’d be surprised to see it as a permanent thing, as I think Arsene has what he wanted right now in two good left backs fighting for a slot but it does provide us and him with some food for thought.

And finally from me today, some thoughts on The Ox, who Arsene also reserved a bit of praise for as well, saying that he has grown in stature this season and since January he has really improved. I guess The Ox is a classic example of how much hope we put into young players when they show flashes of brilliance and perhaps expect too much too quickly. I know I am guilty of it. The game last season against Milan at home was an eye opener for so many that he can be one of the worlds best, but at times earlier on this season he’s struggled a bit. The reality is that this is what you get with young players – he is still only 19 after all – and so that consistency of performance you see from a 30 year old pro that has been doing it for 12 years is not going to be found in a young lad still finding his way around top-flight professional stadia. The Ox has been looking better and better every time he plays and Arsene’s reluctance to play him every game and perhaps over use him is why he gets the best out of these types of players. We can all say what we want about his transfers, his substitutions and perhaps tactical naivety at times, but it’s hard to argue he doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to integrating a young player into the first team when he is ready to play regularly. Which position Alex will eventually play will be an interesting one, but at least we know he’ll be under the stewardship of a manager that will do it when it’s the right time.

That’s yer lot from me. I have a date with a desk and a computer sending online memos from one person to the next. Oh joy of joys.

The sadness of Abou, Jack’s caution, and a content feast

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Where to even begin my gooner friends, where to even begin??? I’ve been wandering through the virtual desert of international nothingness and I’ve reached the end filled not just with luscious green growing content fruit, but a fabulous metaphorical waterfall of quotes from Le Boss and talking points with which to pour my thoughts all over. It’s great stuff. So, like the thirsty, hungry and weary blog traveller I am, I shall gorge myself on everything I find. Feast with me my brothers and sisters, feast with me.

Well, not all of it is good news actually, as there are a few sad bits that Arsene gave us yesterday. Perhaps the saddest news of all is that Abou Diaby tore his anterior cruciate knee ligament in training during the week and will be out for around nine months. It is a horrible thing to happen and you just hope he can mentally keep himself going. Nine months is a heck of a long time in football and right now, at the beginning of this, it will feel like forever for the poor fella. Unfortunately for him, football doesn’t stand still, so I will be very surprised if we aren’t looking at permanent replacements for him. It is harsh and unfair what happened to him because of a disgusting challenge up at Sunderland, but I’m afraid the world of football is passing him by and I suspect his Arsenal career is all but over. I have no idea how long his contract runs for, but if anybody is thinking about anything other than letting him go at the end of it, then they are mad. I’ve read comments on Twitter about selling him, but that talk is folly, because nobody would take the same gamble Arsenal have on him. He’s probably going to have to think very carefully about whether or not his body can handle the rigours of professional football and I suspect that he’ll be retired before he’s 30.

The news about Jack was a little bit more positive. Of course the ‘three weeks’ timescale set by the club was a falsehood, but the good thing is that Arsene said that Jack isn’t feeling any pain, they are just being cautious with him. Hey, if it means he can be ready and at his best for the last seven or eight games in the season, then that’s fine by me. In Diaby we have a perfect case study of what can happen to somebody with a serious injury and we don’t want Wilshire to tread the same path, so caution is absolutely the name of the game and I think the club are taking the right approach.

Le Boss also talked about Gibbs possibly not making it at the weekend, but thankfully we have the potato-based snack sounding Spaniard who has just come off the back of an excellent performance against France, so we’re alright in that regard for this weekend. I’ll go over some thoughts on the game tomorrow, but overall we look like we’re covered in most parts of the park with players that have hit a bit of good form of late. Monreal, The Ox and Ramsey all did good for their respective international teams, so coupled with the fact Poldi, Cazorla, Giroud all had less to do with their national sides and will therefore be fresher, we should go into this weekends fixture with a bit of confidence that we can get the result. Actually converting confidence into points is another matter entirely, but lets cross that bridge when we come to it tomorrow.

There’s some stuff from a FIFA registered agent saying that Jovetic has already agreed to a move, but I’ll believe it when I see Arsenal related clips of it on YouTube. Obviously I’m kidding. I mean, surely we all look to that Ben Fairthorne character on Twitter for the most accurate transfer news before it happens, right???

Finally from me, a quick one on Szczesny, because there really isn’t much more to say than the storm in the teacup that was shaken around a bit by the media now seems to have passed. Arsene was asked about his dads comments, he said he had no problem and thought he dealt with the situation really well. A ‘tick’ for Woj and Arsene seemed satisfied enough to praise him and talk about the great future he has at the club. This was never really anything. I like Szczesny. He seems a sound lad who, whilst a little bit mental at times (he is a keeper, after all), has a level head on him and will I’m sure soon find himself back in the first team.

Anyway, that’ll do for one day. It’s Good Friday and I’m off to…err…be ‘good’ or something. Actually, given that you’re supposed to not be eating meat or drink too much, they should have called it ‘unfortunate’ Friday or something.

Ciao for now folks.

Realism must give way to hope

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Morning all.

Game day. We’ve been waiting for one of these for quite some time now after the disappointment of losing to the Spuds over a week ago. Tonight’s game is welcome from me in the sense that I get to watch The Arsenal again, but the circumstances and the situation that befalls us tonight has certainly tempered my excitement.

Let’s be realistic here; we’re probably going out of the Champions League competition. I don’t want to come across as overly negative, but the odds are so far stacked against us that you’d have to be a crazy billionaire that is on a mission to blow his fortune as quickly as possible, to stake any serious money on us against Bundesliga Champions elect Bayern Munich.

I see that Munich are potentially three games away from having their domestic league sewn up before April. They’ve also conceded fewer goals all season than we did in one game last year at Old Trafford. And they taught us what ruthless efficiency can achieve at the Emirates by putting us to the sword on our own turf. You see stats and figures like that and it doesn’t exactly give you hope of a chink in the armour:

Aim for the neck, it’s the weakest point in their armour

Their team will feature a plethora of players all capable of unlocking the best defences in the world. Unfortunately for us, our defence isn’t even the best in London, let alone England or the world. Kroos, Muller, Mandzukic, Robben and Ribery (who I think might be out?) will all pose us serious questions that the side will have to be able to answer if we stand any hope of qualification.

At the other end of the field, I don’t think it is too much to expect more from our forwards, following the NLD. By all accounts, Olivier Giroud wasn’t great and Theo hardly terrified people, but we know that he can. In the reversal of this fixture a month ago, Arsene went with Theo up top on his own, which I can sort of see the logic to. I’d assume it was to avoid seeing Bayern play such a high line and cutting the room between defence and midfield – places Santi and Jack love to crop up in. Unfortunately it didn’t work and he was a forlorn figure on his own. So I suspect we’ll see Giroud play through the middle again – simply because we don’t really have any other viable options.

I’ve deliberately left out the news from Le Boss yesterday about players that are missing, possibly because I didn’t want to stretch the negativity of the blog today even further, but it would be a fools errand not to recognise the massive blow we got yesterday about Jack being out for three weeks. It’s not just a massive blow tonight, but the ramifications of injury to what has clearly become our talisman this season could be felt come the end of the season if our Champions League hopes are lost. No doubt Rosicky will come in, and to say that he needs to have a finish to the season like last season is an understatement. He needs to fill some immense shoes and I hope the ‘Little Mozart’ can do us all proud; starting this very evening.

The other piece of stand out news is that Szczseny is ‘rested’ for tonight’s game against Munich. As my esteemed Twitter colleague Tim Lewis said yesterday, quite why a player that has just had 10 days off needs to be rested in a game like this is beyond me, but I think we can all read between the lines and see that this is a statement from Arsene. It is a demonstration that some of his performances have not been great and he needs to step up and improve his concentration levels if he wants to stay number one. I also wonder if Arsene is looking at getting another keeper in during the summer to challenge the Pole. After all, the fact that Fabianski starts tonight will instil more fear in our players and fans than it will the Germans. I suspect it might be Lukas’ swan-song as an Arsenal player.

Speaking of Lukas’, we also received the news that Poldi would also be missing. That’s a big blow too. He would have been up for this game and to have him missing doesn’t exactly improve our chances.

Yet despite all of this, despite all of the probabilities pointing towards a German win, despite our form slowly disappearing on an early summer holiday, despite injuries and despite media savaging, I still hold on to that most treasured thing called ‘hope’. After all, we’re flying the flag for Britain now. There are no other teams from these here isles that can lay claim to the Champions League throne and a possible date at Wembley, so I am hoping that there can be a momentous evening that lies ahead of us and happiness and joy across all Gooners come 10pm tonight.

Sing up for The Arsenal.

Siege mentality needed to get fourth

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It’s Friday, it’s my last day at work before I skidaddle off to Singapore and Thailand for a bit of RnR for two weeks, and today is the day that Le Boss gets himself ready to face the baying media. The last time he was in this situation it all ended slightly with an unsavoury and un-Arsene like rounding on a journo. So I’m not sure whether the assembled coyotes will want to tear at the fresh wounds that were opened up from Bayern or simply sit back and let Arsene off for a week. I’d be surprised if it was the latter.

We already got our first snippet of information yesterday, as the official site announced that Arsene had confirmed the absence of Sagna for this weekend as well as Gibbs. Thankfully, the acquisition of Monreal is working so far and he’ll slot comfortably into left back, plus with the amount of games Jenkinson has played this season he’s become more acclimatised to first team football so I doubt there will be many of us that will be too nervous. Certainly not as nervous as a sight of Squillaci trotting out onto the field of play come Saturday 3pm. I thought Jenkinson did well against Sunderland when he played last and, two silly fouls aside, again looked the part. We know what we’re going to get with him and so I hope he puts on another stellar display against the Villains.

I find Jenkinson’s build quite interesting for a full back. He looks like a big unit that should be more adept at a central defensive position, but his ability to get down the by-line and get very good balls into the box is something that we should certainly be utilising more often than we do. It’s for his crossing ability that I hope Arsene opts for Giroud at the weekend. The Frenchman offers more of a physical presence than Walcott and is most certainly better in the air. But more on the match itself tomorrow methinks.

Right now, the biggest topic of debate is the future of Arsene, or lack of if you read some of the reports in the press. I’ve already said my piece about Arsene, and if you read my random thoughts around Arsenal regularly, you’ll know that I am a bit sad because I am coming to terms with the increasing likelihood that there could be a parting of ways. But Arsenal is Arsenal and whatever happens I’ll support the team and those representing it until the end. That is the case for this Saturday and every game that they play. And as fans I think that is the only way to be. Talk of wanting the team to lose is pathetic in my opinion. Support your team or go home. Or become a watcher of non-team sports, for this type of game is not for you.

I’ve found a lot of the recent interviews by players a little worrying as well. Last season, when there were similar mumblings from fans and the media trolls trying to dig up some content to sell their chip paper, I don’t remember seeing many of the players coming out in defence of Le Boss. I am beginning to wonder if that is because the players themselves just thought the noises about Arsene’s time being up last season were complete rubbish and so ignored it. It was a minor inconvenience from people that didn’t really see the bigger picture and so the players treated comments about Arsene ‘losing it’ were just treated with a shrug of the shoulders and a ‘what do they know?’. However, already since the Bayern game we have seen Jack, Theo and Thomas Vermaelen come out in defence of the manager. To me it is the clearest indication that the manager is under more pressure now than he’s ever been in his career. Otherwise, why would the players take so much time and give so much media profile by talking about backing the manager?

It’s up to him and his players to prove the doubters wrong, and I hope they do, but I hope that the players don’t start mentally planning for the next boss. I know it’s an extreme statement to make, but the last time I saw players coming out in defence of the manager so much was for Roberto Di Matteo and a host of other Chelski managers they’ve had down the years. I know it is pointless comparing us with the classless chavs, but I just can’t help but see these similarities – much as I don’t want to. The Chelski players are notorious for their ability to oust a manager, and with that comes the mentality of planning for a new one. I seriously doubt any of the Arsenal players want to oust Arsene, but who knows if some of them are wondering what life at Arsenal would be like without him?

Of course, all of these negative noises from various sections of the media, roared on by the bitterness of Stewart Robson and the king of the trollers Adrian Durham from TalkSport, could also serve a more beneficial purpose for the cause. It could create a siege mentality amongst the fans, players and other stakeholders at Arsenal. It could see us all collectively batten down the hatches, surround the king and mount a hell of an offensive before the end of the season. The next few Premier League games will tell that. We have Villa at home and the Spuds away. A proper siege mentality with success would see us get maximum points from those games, although to be fair, if you offered me a win on Saturday followed by a draw at Shite Hart Lane the week after I’d probably take it right now.

Theo, Jack and Thomas are right: it is the players that must now take the responsibility for delivering Champions League football next season. They have to stand up and be counted. They need to get angry. They need to show the fight we saw us get to reach third spot last season. Starting with Aston Villa this weekend.

And we need to give them all the help we can.

Bayern at home: Redemption can be swift

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Football is a wonderfully forgiving world. You can be at rock bottom one day, then within a day or two gone by you have the opportunity to wash away your sins by that sweetest of things: victory. Football is a fast paced world and that can sometimes work to your advantage. Redemption can be a swift and wonderful thing in football. All you have to do is win.

That is certainly the mantra that I would be saying to each and every one of the players that are elected to play tonight. Each player has to know that they must put all of their previous transgressions to one side and focus purely on the opponents for tonight: Bayern Munich.

Arsenal rarely make it easy for themselves and tonight is testimony to that. Instead of finishing top of the group we slipped up to Schalke which meant a more difficult tie earlier on in the competition. Aside from Barcelona, I don’t think you could get more difficult than last year’s finalists, Bayern Munich. They have a plethora of attacking players that can carve open defences at will and probably should be the reigning  Champions of Europe, but for Roberto Di Matteo and his selling of soul to the Devil to win the FA Cup and Champions League last year. Unfortunately for the Italian he paid the price of being at Chelski, but the way that Bayern played in that final against the Chavs should serve as both a stark reminder of their quality, but also of their weaknesses. Look, I’m not suggesting that because Chelski won on penalties, it will be an opportunity for us to do over the Germans. But I think that despite the media savaging that seems to be happening at the moment, we can win tonight and then get a result away from home. I have to believe that. Hope is the last bastion of the desperate man, and after our desperate performances in the cup competitions this year I have to hold on to hope that this Arsenal team will come out swinging tonight.

There’s no doubt that we have the ability to put on a show and prove the doubters wrong. There is no doubt that some of these players have something to prove to, well, just about everybody. but there is a doubt in their own confidence and their own belief right now. I haven’t met too many non-gooners that are giving us much chance over two legs. But we’ve seen the side grind out a result against Sunderland. We’ve seen them come back from the abyss against Liverpool after a shocking first half. So we have to believe that we can see them negate the attacking threat of Gomez, Ribery, Robben, Muller and Schweinsteiger.

I was told yesterday that Bayern have conceded just one goal away from home this year. well, I suspect we’ll have to double that tally if we want to take anything substantial to the Allianz Arena. That is a frightening statistic in its own right, but if it alleviates a little bit more pressure and provides an impetus for the players to play up to the ‘underdogs’ tag even more, then I won’t mind. We will need to see Podolski (rested on Saturday so you never know, he might actually make 90 minutes for us tonight!), Walcott and if playing, Giroud, to be on form tonight. We can ill afford profligacy in front of goal. We will need Jack to be his marauding self and Santi will need his vision and passing range to be at it’s best. I suspect we’ll see a back four of Sagna, Koscienly, Mertescaker and Vermaelen take to the field in defence, and it is my hope that the BFG can show his German international teammates a thing or two at the heart of our defence.

We will need to see an Arsenal that is quick off the blocks and up for this tonight. There are no opportunities in Champions League football for ‘second half Arsenal’ and if the same intensity is shown to Bayern as was shown to Blackburn, it will be a massacre. But here’s the thing; I don’t doubt for a second that the players won’t be infinitely better than the weekend. I think we’ll see a totally different Arsenal team that is pressing, chasing every ball and is giving the home fans something to scream about. Right now, that’s all I care about. Yes, we can assess why they can’t do that in every game should what I am predicting happen tonight, but that is a debate for another day. All we need to care about tonight is making the atmosphere amazing, the players are up for it, and we show the Germans what we’re made of.

A quick word on Arsene before I sign off for the day. I have to say I was a little embarrassed by his outburst in the presser yesterday. I’ve always admired Arsene for the dignity he has shown even in the face of some quite manipulative and spineless journalists. But yesterday had all of the hallmarks of a manager that is feeling the pressure and can potentially see the end in sight. It is a sad state of affairs. But I don’t really want to dwell on that too much right now, I want to make sure everyone with a stake in Arsenal Football Club, is behind the team and roaring them on to success tonight. I’ll leave my thoughts on Arsene for another day.

I’ll be there in all my Arsenal fineries cheering on the lads. If you are, or if you’re watching on TV, just make sure you’re screaming as much as me! Come on Arsenal!