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Wigan preview: heed the words of Macaulay Caulkin

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So here we are folks. After a season of slogging towards the finish-line – an adjective that I feel is certainly fitting for our season – we find ourselves with five days to win two games and stake our claim to continue to eat at European Football’s top table.

As Macaulay Caulkin said famously in Home Alone: “This is it; don’t get scared now”.

Tonight it’s Wigan at The Emirates with, I think it’s fair to say, a lot riding on the game for both teams. I watched a bit of the Championship Play-Off semi final between Brighton and Palace yesterday, to which the annually trotted out line of “the most expensive match in world football” is often used, but I wonder how much tonight’s game is worth to both teams – just putting that into terms that Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board might understand.

An Arsenal victory will condemn Wigan to a life away from the trimmings of the Premier League (albeit with ‘Parachute Payments’) for next season, whilst a Wigan win will all but end our hopes of a Champions League qualification slot for next year. And with it the possibility of added investment to the playing team (or at least a reduction in what could have been budgeted for) I don’t think I’m being too overly dramatic when I say that – there is no way Sunderland will do us any favours at the weekend against the Spuds – you can be sure of that. A draw does nothing for either side. It means a win on the last day for Wigan needs to be by about 12 goals and Arsenal have to beat Newcastle whilst waiting to hear from news from White Hart Lane.

Yesterday I spoke of how much more nervous I seem to be this season compared to seasons past – well, that tension and stress has now hit fever pitch, such is the worry that the team fluffs their lines tonight. We have looked shaky at times during this winning streak we’re on, and if we show any sign of psychological ‘handbraking’ as Arsene might put it, then you can be sure own opponents will capitalise.

For Wigan the threat to us is all to clear: Kone, Maloney, McManaman and the ball winning abilities of James McCarthy. They are the offensive threats and will attempt to catch Arsenal on the counter. Martinez is not stupid and he knows he won’t control possession for the whole match, so he’ll most likely set up with three at the back, look to catch Arsenal on the break with his wing backs and snatch a goal or two. That’s how Wigan beat us last season and that will be their game plan tonight. The decisions Martinez will need to make is how much rotation he can legitimately hand to his players. They have played three games in eight days where Arsenal have played none. If he is going to concede possession then he’s going to need his fittest players to be running their guts out tonight. He’ll also want a quick start. Last season they got two first half goals that stunned us and they managed to hold on through some shocking offensive play by Arsenal and some heroic defending. Martinez will know that his team will tire in the last 30 minutes or so, so his game plan will be to hope he is at least a goal up at half time.

As for us, well, I’ve got no idea how Le Boss will line up his side. He admitted yesterday that Jack is currently on painkillers and will undergo an operation on his ankle in the summer, so I’d be surprised if he’s anything but on the bench tonight. That means I suspect we will either see Cazorla dropping into midfield with either Gervhino or Podolski on the left, or the diminutive Spaniard will move across to the left to accommodate a starting slot for Tomas Rosicky. My personal preference would be to have Cazorla in the middle with Arteta and Ramsey, with Podolski up top and Gervhino on the left, and The Ox on the right. I know Theo has stepped up in his last two games and scored both of our goals, but at home against a team that will probably sit deep (especially if they are a goal up) his threat is nullified and so we need tricky players that can beat their man. Gervhino beats himself half the time, but the other half he can beat his man, so we might get more joy from him starting.

Whoever does get the nod from the manager needs to be up from this from the off. We steamrolled Manchester United for the first half a couple of weeks ago and our high pressing, intensity and desire got us up quickly and only a defensive mistake on Sagna’s part stopped us from winning the game. We need that same level of intensity from the first minute tonight. If we pour cold water on Wigan’s hopes early in the first half, they will tire enough for us to finish them off in the second, so we have to start quickly.

I think my nervousness about tonight stems from what happened to us at home against Wigan last year. We went into the game in form and a win would have all but secured Champions League football, yet we got our noses bloodied. I was confident before that game last year and was dealt a real reality check. Wigan had, and have now, the tools to damage us and we can’t – nay, mustn’t – let them do it again. There is more riding on this game for us than there was last season, just like their is more riding on it for them, so the pressure is on both clubs.

It’s never easy supporting Arsenal, it requires the constitution of a professional chilli eater, and it is going to be tested tonight. Let’s hope The Arsenal players can pass with flying colours.

See you on the other side my friends.

Hating what other teams have made me become

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So as the weekend has drawn to its full closure, we are left with a sense of disappointment from some of the results of our rivals that didn’t quite go to plan. That both of the results have an element of mirroring one another – silly red card eventually leading to a late victory for both Chelski and the Spuds – adds to a sickening feeling I have been feeling in my stomach over the weekend. It may have been some of the San Miguel I drank on Saturday night, but I suspect some of it is also nervousness of the footballing gods looking to conspire against us.

Even those results which were supposed to be irrelevant to us have knock-on effects. The victory of Wigan over Moneychester City may have been great to see at the time, but now the questions arise as to whether Wigan needed any more confidence and motivation boosting ahead of our crucial game on Tuesday night. After seeing the results at the weekend also go against the pie-munchers, they now know that nothing less than two wins out of two will keep them in our division. Sunderland, Norwich and Newcastle’s point accumulation means only to fan the flames of desire for Roberto Martinez’s boys.

It’s why playing already safe teams like Stoke was always going to be easier for the Spuds, despite the stupidity of Charlie Adam. If we can take anything from yesterday’s game, I guess it’s that we now have even more reason to despise those primates from the Potteries and their tracksuit wearing PG Tips chimp of a manager. You’d think that celebrating 150 years of existence would warrant a performance of heroic proportions, but I guess a team of trained orcs know not of that sort of desire.

If we also want to hold out some sort of hope, it’s that Alan Pardew seems to have already told his players to relax after their victory at QPR, saying he doesn’t care if they lose 4-0 to us on the last day as long as the fans enjoy themselves. That’s the spirit Alan, now if your French lads can just part like the Red Sea in just under a weeks time, that would be grand lad. Before that though, we’ll have to make sure we’ve got something to fight for. I don’t think a draw will be enough tomorrow.

Look at what this season has done to me. In a footballing sense, I hate what I have become this season, and I hate that the results of other teams mean so much. That I’ve had to cheer on Chelski and Stoke, as well as United, is a horrible thing to have to do. Real ‘wash your mouth out with soap’ type stuff. I didn’t feel like this last season and I haven’t ever been so concerned with other teams results in my entire life. I’ve always thought that providing we do our job then the rest doesn’t matter. And that truth still remains right now. So why am I so nervous? Why are the butterflies returning to me on a Monday morning just typing this? Because we know what could happen. We saw it last season when a Wigan side turned up to an in-form Arsenal and snatched three points from us. At that time we were playing good football. Whilst the form for us is similar again this time of the year, we haven’t exactly been cutting through teams like a motorcyclist in an M25 ten mile tailback, have we?

It’s a bit farcical that we’re playing one of – at the moment – the third worst teams in the division and we Gooners are more nervous than Chelski or United at home. We should be relishing the prospect of sending a team down knowing that our own future is secured. But much like last season, we go into the last two games with it all up in the air.

It’s not good for ones health, I can readily assure you of that.

Yet ultimately, despite the results of others, despite the nerves that are causing people to take to Twitter in outrage, and despite the extra motivation of our opponents, we must remember who we are. We are Arsenal football club. We are one of the most successful teams in British football with the most successful manager in our long and proud history. We are fighting for a top four spot because we have won a lot more games than we’ve lost and Wigan are fighting relegation because they have lost more than they’ve won. Our players need to show confidence and conviction and let their talents shine through any potential nerves. If we play to the best of our abilities tomorrow night then there can be only one winner.

So chin up Gooners, we’re all in this together.

From friend to enemy, congrats to scowling, Wigan Athletic

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So, plucky little Wigan won themselves an FA Cup, did they? How about that. Today is clearly a day to celebrate the success of the underdog, the David (as in ‘Goliath’), the little guy, the outsider.

For me, it was pleasant to see Moneychester City felled by a team that is scrapping for its Premier League life. And it was almost reminiscent of another giant-killing that is so close to our hearts. It was only a few short years ago that we were the Goliath that was slain by Davey in the form of Birmingham. They too were fighting for their lives and were shortly relegated after they emerged victorious from Wembley in the League Cup final against us. The defeat by City yesterday seems to be similar to the defeat we suffered. City never really seemed up for it and Wigan by and large outplayed their counterparts.

So congratulations to Wigan and I hope their fans enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

But from whence happiness at their success resided, shall come aggression from Gooners over the next 48 hours. For that plucky side that lifted one of footballs oldest trophies is now our enemy. They stand between us and Champions League qualification and we must pounce on their joys and perhaps over-indulgence to shatter their dreams of staying in the Premier League.

I hope Wigan are going on a three-day bender. I hope they are all red-eyed and knackered when it comes to Tuesday night. Because the margins that are lain before us allow for no error, no deviation from the three-point-path, no allowance for slip ups.

Our team needs to be wary of a highly motivated, highly confident and highly charged up Wigan side, and needs to counter that with our own motivation and determination. More on that in the coming days methinks.

Our eyes now all turn to Mordor, where the orks reside lurking for some cocks, so lets hope they like the taste of man-flesh and can muster up something that will get us all dancing a merry jig and leave the possibility of Champions League qualification even more in our hands. Supporting Stoke will be another painful exercise in self-harming, but right now, needs must. Personally, I don’t think it’ll happen. And if it doesn’t happen, at least we can have yet another reason to hate Stoke and everything they are.

Keep those fingers crossed Gooners.

‘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?

Feeling dirty, searching for a number 2, but I do like Nachos

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Ten frigging minutes. That’s all that Chelski needed to hold out for. Ten minutes and the one time we Gooners could stomach wanting that team of complete football mercenaries, snide, low-life footballers that play in a stadium where the only way to generate atmosphere is to wave massive flags in front of the fans at the beginning and half time of each match.

I felt dirty cheering a Chelski goal. It felt wrong. Inhuman. Like some sort of act of betrayal. But needs must and our needs yesterday were to have the opportunity for Champions League football wrestled back into our own hands once more. And to be fair, a draw between the two teams means that qualification is now down to us. Two wins and we’re in. But the margins for error aren’t exactly wide. We will play two teams that are fighting for Premier League survival. Had both Wigan and Newcastle already been clear of the relegation dogfight then you’d fancy your chances, but when a team is in a state of desperation you never know what extra percentage they can put on.

That’s why I’ll be paying plenty of attention to the QPR v Newcastle game on Saturday. A draw there will ensure Newcastle are safe and, whilst I don’t doubt they will still try hard to win in front of their home fans, there should be an extra incentive for the Arsenal players playing for a Champions League spot. The ideal scenario of course is that Wigan are already relegated by the time they play us, but I’d be surprised to see that happen if I’m completely honest. Permutations, permutations, permutations – all of this thinking about stuff, watching other teams aside from Arsenal and putting my faith into lost causes like Fernando Torres is enough to send a body into convulsions.

Elsewhere in Arsenal world, Lukas Fabianski has spoken about how confident he feels now that he’s been given a run of games to prove himself, plus he’s ready to battle Wojciech for the number one jersey. It’s all rousing and great stuff to hear, but after Szczesny’s recent performances in between the sticks, I’d be quite surprised to see Le Boss opt for the elder of the two Pole’s. there’s only two games of the season left and, unless we’re in a position where the final game of the season is irrelevant (highly unlikely given that the Spuds will most likely pick up points against both Stoke and at home to Sunderland – there goes those permutations again!), I don’t think we’ll see Fabianski in an Arsenal shirt again if I’m completely honest. His contract is up at the end of the season, he’s had a number of years where he’s failed to properly establish himself and I think Le Boss might go for an experienced ‘keeper to rival/mentor Szczesny for that place in the team. And I think that would be the right thing for Arsenal. Think back to the games that Fabianski has played during his spell. Did he make great saves? No. Did he command his area? A little bit. Was he steady? Yes. But he often had little to do. My personal opinion is that the reality is that he will never fully make that number one jersey his own, so we need to ensure we get another ‘keeper that can at least keep Szczesny on his toes and continuing to perform.

The Nacho man has spoken to the official site about his time playing for Osasuna and then Malaga before joining Arsenal. It’s an interesting read and gives you an idea how quickly and sometimes surreally things happen in football. Here we have a local player playing for his local team as a steady and secure left back, then two years later he’s been through two clubs, is starting to establish himself in the Spanish national team and is looking like a world-class left back. I’ve been quite surprised how quickly he’s slotted in to the first team, I have to say. He’s adapted to the physical side of the Premier League almost immediately – on his debut I saw him bloody up Jon Walters – and is looking like a solid and assured player. With the number of games that players play in top-flight English football it is impossible to go through the season with just one major player in a position and so whilst we were all a bit baffled at the time of the signing, there aren’t many Gooners too dissatisfied with Monreal’s performances to date.

I guess it’s reflective of the improved defensive performances that I look at Arsene’s options in defence and feel like actually, at this moment in time, it’s one of the parts of the team that doesn’t need a bit of strengthening to it. That we have both Sagna and Jenkinson, Gibbs and Monreal, Plus Mertesacker, Koscienly and Vermaelen all fighting for places has really added more competition and more concentration to the team. Everyone is on their toes. It’s great to see.

Right, that’s just about yer lot from me today. But I think I’ll leave you with something to ponder. Olivier Giroud has left us frustrated at times this season, yet he’s still scored goals, got assists and has had to ‘bed in’ to coping with the Premier League. Last night I watched a Fernando Torres that has been in the country many years, cannot hold the ball up, doesn’t seem to be able to take on his man, plus you could get four Olivier Giroud’s for what Chelski paid for him. You’d still have change for a few Aston Martin’s an a detached house in Virginia Water, Surrey.

External factors irrelevant, Arsenal must do their job, Theo too

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Last night I decided, against my better judgement, to watch Wigan versus Swansea. My main motive for doing such a thing was to see what this Wigan side have about them and what we could expect at The Emirates in just under a weeks time.

Wigan were up against the Welsh Charlton. Secured of safety long ago and with the League Cup tucked safely in their trophy cabinet, they haven’t really been playing with any kind of momentum or form so I expected Wigan to win.

But Wigan were positively dire defensively. The third goal they conceded could have been recorded, greyscaled into black and white and re-marketed as a Laurel and Hardy sketch.

Of course, that means that footballing anomalies like Gary Caldwell will suddenly decide to roar like Spartans at the Emirates next weekend, spurned on by Mike Dean who is now some form of anti-Christ figure to Arsenal fans.

I have to say I’m surprised to be constantly reading completely non-related Arsenal factors being jumped upon and moaned about on my Twitter feed. We had people already writing us off on Sunday because Chelski beat a United team that couldn’t care less, people taking to their timelines to cry foul about the appointment of Mike ‘Arsenal haven’t won in 20 games’ Dean and we had people analysing what the best permutation for Arsenal would be in relation to last nights results. I am genuinely concerned for some people’s health tonight I have to tell you. On the basis of some of the fan hyperbole that is being thrown around like a sack of potatoes so far there will probably be some suicide pacts drawn up if the Chelski v Spuds game doesn’t bring the right result.

The reality of our current situation is that the players, the manager and everyone else at Arsenal football club can do nothing about external factors, and I don’t think they are looking so intimately at whether or not Mike Dean will be giving Wigan all the freedom of North London next week. Yes, he’s a plebeian and his refereeing decisions over the years have cost us, but if our players come out to the turf on Tuesday night and are up for it, there is nothing Dean could possibly do to stop us from scoring. He’s not going to disallow a flurry of goals for no reason.

Let’s also look at who we are playing. As it stands, our next two games are against the teams third and fourth from bottom. If you are looking at finishing in the top four and thus getting a Champions League qualification place for next year, you really should have the players capable of picking up six points. And if we do that then we’ll finish on 73 points, which is three better than last season and shows how much more competitive this season has been.

Our current potential for an improvement points-wise this season has been aided by a sharing in collective goalscoring and, with Theo Walcott now hitting his 20 goal target he set himself this season, he’s spoken to the official site about how the teams collective objective of Champions League football is more important than his own tally. Of course he’s right, but I think the goals that he has shown this season has helped to really push him up the scale in terms of his importance to the team this season. He’s quite an enigma of a player is our Theo. he can go a couple of games looking like the most bang average £100k per week attacker, then hit purple patches that see him get vital goals, which leaves fans like you or I frustrated that he hasn’t added even more to his tally this season.

There’s no doubt he’s a talented finisher. And he scores goals against the better opponents – the week before lasts goal against United being testimony to that – but he does sometimes seem to get even the most obvious things wrong. At the weekend he did that thing where he has a bit of grass in front of him, opens his stride, but forgets to take the ball with it and ends up having to check himself. That’s the sort of ‘d’oh!’ moment that, could he eradicate from his game, we could be looking at a 30 goal a season striker.

The debate will continue to go on as to whether he could ever be a central striker, but as far as I’m concerned as long as he’s banging them in to the tune of a minimum of 20 a season for the next few years, we should just ensure that he gets on to the field as much as possible. Lets also remember that he’s still 24. He can still get better and can still score more goals. Perhaps he’ll never fully eradicate the errors in his game, but as long as he remains prolific over the duration of a season, you won’t find people like me complaining.

He’s still got time to bag a few more though, so lets hope he does over the next couple of games. Anyway, that’ll do for me for today. Catch ya on tha flip side. Or something like that.

The fat lady hasn’t even limbered up yet, so Woj’s comments don’t help

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Good morning happy campers. Hopefully you roasted yourself up a treat in the bank holiday sunshine – I know I did. ‘Twas much needed, I can assure you, after a weekend away in Budapest full of staggy drinkiness, so to be able to sit in the sunshine with a couple of ice cold Coors Light and sup at the amber nectar within hit the mark perfectly I must say.

Of course, my predisposition for alcohol and depravity of sleep this weekend completely destroyed my ability to correctly operate my brain or fingers enough to blog, so I find myself somewhat behind the times today. Much of which is on my mind will have probably already been penned and drafted in triplicate and then some, but to me it is not a problem, because this blog is just a walk around my head anyway, and I’m still thinking about things like permutations, other results and whether or not our ability to qualify for the Champions League will be taken from us on Wednesday night. Let’s face it, the Spuds hadn’t beaten United at Old Trafford since the early eighties until earlier on this year, so the idea that they couldn’t break from their tradition of annual capitulation away from home to Chelski is not as preposterous as it once may have seemed.

I’m nervous for Wednesday. It will be the grimmest of feelings actively supporting a Chelski victory. Like being told you have to chop off your own hand with the only choice in the matter being to pick the hand that you like the most to keep. But at this nerve-jangling stage of the season I guess there is nothing else for it.

At least the Arsenal players are doing their bit. Victory against QPR may have been one of those ‘grind it out lads’ style three point displays, but it was a three point display nonetheless. If we’re all completely honest with ourselves, after defeat at Shite Hart Lane there weren’t many of us that thought we’d get anywhere near a top four slot, so even if we fail to get into a Champions League qualification slot, we can take a small mercy in the fact that our league form towards the end of the season – with many of the new players now fully bedded in – has been right up there at the top of the league.

I think what we’ve also seen is how the tension and hyperbole is manifesting itself in the social media world of Arsenal as well. I was waiting for a plane home on Sunday when I decided to see what the fan reaction was to the Chelski victory. It was nothing short of depressing. People took to their computers and smartphones to lambast the team, the manager and anything they could possibly hang a ‘told you so, we’re doomed’ hat on. I was quite astonished if I’m honest. The thought that the result of an opposing team could cause such uproar directed towards our own baffled me, and seemed rather reactionary for my liking. If we’re at the stage where we’re using results like that to bad mouth the team, then we really are desperate.

For me, the time to review what went wrong and what went right will be after that final whistle has gone at Newcastle. If we have picked up a previous victory at Wigan and a win at St James’ Park and not qualified for the Champions League, then by all means there should be many a question asked about our form earlier in the season, lack of firepower in reserve, etc, etc. But to launch into a tirade into the Arsenal team before the fat lady has even warmed up her vocals seems the very definition of premature in my mind.

To that matter, so does the comments made by dear old Wojciech Szczesny, who decided to stoke the rivalry of North London by saying that the Spuds don’t have enough quality to qualify for the Champions League. Now personally, I love that cocky side of Woj sometimes, certainly when it comes to winding up the Spuds. But much like Robbie Keane’s ill-timed comments about the lack of ability in the current Arsenal squad at the time led to a rousing performance in a North London Derby against them by that Arsenal side, my hope is that these comments from our Number one don’t give the Spuds the extra kick in the knickers they need to acquire three points at Stamford Bridge. Had Szczesny made those comments on the eve of our Wigan game and we’d have seen exactly what we wanted – two defeats for the Spuds to leave us with a win to secure a top four slot – then perhaps I could have chortled at the ‘salt in the wound’ nature of the comments. But as it is I’m too nervous about the negative consequence of any action like this on our season right now.

Let’s just hope there is some fluffing of lines over the next week from our rivals before we play again in a weeks time.

Barca humbling Arsenal’s fault? Spreading some Santi love

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So an all German final, eh? And, after Bayern Munich gave Barcelona the humblest of humblings last night, the thing I’m most looking forward to reading about is from the Caralan press, blaming Arsenal for their teams no-show. After all, it is us that sell our star players to them for more than the €15 they want to pay. And it is us that sells them players without a guarantee that they will become superstars at Barcelona. I mean, fancy a football club selling one of their assets, without putting a 12 month warranty ‘or your money back’? We are such an evil British football club, aren’t we?

The fact of the matter is that Barcelona were beaten by a team that is steamrolling all before them. I will be surprised if Bayern don’t win the Champions League and after that first leg at The Emirates I’m sure most of you will agree – there ‘ent no shame in being beaten by the best’

‘But Pa, I don’t think…’

We were BEATEN, by the best boy…

Anyhoo, I’m sure they’ll be much woe and sadness in Spain today as the two giants lick their wounds after being beaten by two very impressive teams, and we Arsenal fans can engage in a delectable bit of Schadenfreude. Yum yum yum.

Elsewhere in Arsenal world, which is much more entertaining than any other world of course, we hear murmurs from a former player about how it is possible he could return any day. Yes folks, it’s chippy McGhee aka Carlos Vela, who has been talking up a link between Arsenal and himself. He’s had an alright time at Real Sociedad since leaving Arsenal, bagging 13 goals this season, so has said that he could one day sign back for the Gunners. Unfortunately for Carlos, there isn’t that much demand for the big clubs around Europe for someone who plays against lower league opposition and likes the cheeky lob over the ‘keeper when you’re already 3-0 up at home, so I don’t think that move will happen any time soon. Of all the ex-players we could bring back this summer, Carlos Vela certainly wouldn’t be on my top five list.

As for players that are actually playing for the club, reading the thoughts of Santi Cazorla on the official site have been quite a pleasurable experience, I must say. He is such a talented footballer and was such a brilliant acquisition to the squad in the summer. Please forgive me for going all ‘goo-goo-eyes’ at the bloke, but he’s settled in from day one and has been an essential cog in our system this season, helping himself to 12 goals in the process. He is a beacon of shining light as an example to some of the other players and his goalscoring has done exactly what Arsene wanted – spread the love around when it comes to getting on the scoresheet. You only need to look at the problems of reliance on one player last night as an example. Messi hasn’t been fit for weeks and Barca have suffered. It doesn’t matter how good your team is, if you have somebody that is the focal point in the team like That Dutch player and Messi, there will naturally be a tendency to become over-reliant and when said player isn’t at 100% his team mates will start looking around for another one that will do the magical stuff for them.

Perhaps that benefit we no have of not being over-reliant is something that we Gooners need to bear in mind and it’s certainly something Santi alludes to in his interview on the official site. We’ve spent two summers fundamentally changing the composition of the squad and our league form has reflected the natural disjointedness of our change in personnel. The players that signed the season before last began to bed in and play with the collective understanding required to be successful towards the end of the season, and this year we’ve seen the same. Last year everything was dominated by the whim of one superstar who let us all down. This year we have had to rely of sharing the burden of responsibility and over the last few weeks we’ve seen some of the players really step up.

Of course, the hard work is not complete yet, there are still three wins we need and that begins with QPR, then must follow at home to Wigan and away to Newcastle. Let’s hope the form continues and we can continue to build on the squad stability in the summer for next season.

Until tomorrow, maybe, as I’m on a stag weekend in Budapest, so if I don’t speak to you then, I’ll catch you on Monday.

Baffling Usmanov tells on school chums

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Believe it or not, the thing that I love blogging about is Arsenal and football, but of course mainly about Arsenal. I enjoy talking about the highs of victory, the controversies and the implications for us fans of activity that is on the pitch.

So I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you lovely people to learn that what I don’t love talking about is politics and finances in football. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not naive enough to think that the world of football as it stands can survive without politics or finances – it’s just part of the world we live in – I just don’t really care for talking about it. It’s not the reason we all started playing, supporting or watching the beautiful game, so in my mind it is merely a sideshow. I know there are people who’s job it is to make sure the books balance, and I know that’s important because I don’t want to see my club on its knees because somebody decided to spunk a load of cash they didn’t have, but I am a simple man and I simply have eyes for what happens on the pitch.

Which is why it irks me when all I have to talk about on a Wednesday morning train journey into the office is the politics of the boardroom struggle that has been going on at Arsenal over the last few years. Alisher Usmanov is the culprit, determined to stoke the fires and dig in at the existing board whenever he can.

Quotes appeared yesterday from the shady oil oligarch about the way the club is run and in particular, Stan Kroenke and his vision (or lack of) for The Arsenal. Usmanov spoke of the fact that Kroenke is not interested in building a winning team, only a team that is profitable, and that finishing third or fourth would be more than enough for the American tycoon. He also made some bizarre veiled threat/comment about the end of the season and weighing up his options before deciding what to do. The reason it was bizarre was because in the same interview he gave he also said he would not sell his shares.

Now, to me, I assumed that his options were pretty clear. A) buy more shares (probably off Kroenke – which wouldn’t happen – not at the moment anyway), or B) sell his existing shares. So surely by admitting he won’t sell he’s already making a decision himself about what his options are, isn’t he?

What is the purpose of veiled threats like that? Does he expect Arsenal fans to raise up arms against the club and demand that the board accept his generous billions and spunk a load of money on 11 Messi’s? Does he want a seat on the board? If so he’s not going to get it by effectively calling them all useless – even if they probably are. And by constantly poking at the beehive of Kroenke, he’s hardly going to get him to give up his honey (shares) is he? The more I read about this person the less I seem to understand about what his true motives are.

I must confess I don’t know all there is to know about Usmanov. I’ve read a few unsavoury articles about his dealings but nothing that goes into too much detail. But what I do know is that I want to support a team that isn’t left to the whim of one man. Sure, we can look enviously at Chelski’s and Moneychester City’s millions when they lift a trophy, but talk to any genuine ‘been going all my life’ individuals of those two sets of fans about their thoughts long term about the club and they will tell you they fear what happens when the rich kid gets bored with his toys. We really don’t want to be in that position, do we? Plus, we’d have the shadiest of all of the billionaires, who isn’t shy of a TV or newspaper article. If we think Chelski’s affairs are put out like last weeks dirty laundry in public, imagine what would befall the club if Alisher sat on the throne.

The AST says that we should at least listen to what Red & White Holdings have to say and, for the most part, I agree. But I suspect that Usmanov’s plan is to rule with the kind of dictatorial approach that would see a board effectively removed and him making all the decisions. We’ve already seen what happens in football when non-football people do that. It doesn’t end well.

I agree that our current way of working on the board isn’t, well, working. We have an old boys club of men who don’t seem to have a decisive bone in their creaking bodies. We also have an owner who prefers ice cool home-made lemonade on his ranch in Colorado than visit the club more than once a year to make sure the bricks and mortar are still standing at his UK based assets. I suspect we’ll see Stan skipping off merrily into the sunset once the club takes full control of all of the sponsorship agreements in a year or twos time and he can sell an asset from his portfolio for much more than he bought it. However, I fail to see how it helps Arsenal football club for Usmanov to continuously try to widen the divide between the fans and the current senior management and owners. It’s like the annoying kid that goes and tells the teacher that as well as breaking the window by kicking the football against some glass, the school fish tank smashed and now all the fish are dead. It doesn’t help to try and stoke more fires and destabilise the club.

I’m pretty sure that none of this will affect the players. As long as they all continue to focus on the aim of getting a top four spot and keep getting paid it doesn’t affect them at all, but it doesn’t really help the club at a time when the collective goal should be talking about the football at a crucial time in the season.

Whatever anyone’s view, if you’re an Arsenal fan or have any kind of affiliation with the club, surely the only thing you should be concerned about is its continued success?

That’s enough from this ranty blogger for one day. Hopefully Arsene will say some things tomorrow and we can all be reminded that we have got a game this weekend.

Evra in cryogenic freezing, plus the winning Arsenal mentality

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Howdy gooners. Howdy to the sunshine. Howdy to everyone. Except Patrice Evra. He can quite literally ‘do one’. If there’s anything in this world that cheeses me off its those that are not Magnanimous in victory. Patrice Evra is one of those people. One of those snidely irritating little oiks that make you question where the football karma is in the world. Like John Terry. If there was any kind of justice on this here green planet, Evra and Terry would never win anything. Ever. Remember that scene in Spielberg’s ‘Artificial Intelligence’ where they found that robot kid and his teddy? Well, I’d like to suggest we take Terry and Evra and put them in a space capsule and fire them into space, but the thought of aliens finding those two thousands of hers from now and thinking that everyone in the human race was like that is a slight on the human race. Besides, John Terry spending time with anybody who isn’t white would probably lead him to spontaneous combustion. I guess what we could do is put Suarez in there as well, but all that would happen is the aliens would find one bloated corpse and a load of human bones beside it where a certain Uruguayan would have chowed down.

Evra’s been talking up how THAT player was right to leave The Arsenal, as well as how disappointed he was with the home support for booing a player that forced a move through a statement ‘for the fans’ and made outrageous demands about his pay and the players that he wanted to see at The Arsenal. Oh gosh, I do wonder why we are all so aggrieved, after all the whiter than white Manchester United tourists/’fans’ at Old Trafford would never do such a thing, would they *cough* Carlos Tevez.

Anyway, I’ve affronted myself by the pure fact that I’ve even taken a paragraph on Patrice Evra, so lets not sully this blog any further. After the match on Sunday we’ve had a few comments appear on the official site from the players and, as you’d expect, they’re all talking about focus and looking at the next game.

Szczesny has been speaking of the brilliant form of the defenders and, given that it feels like we’ve spent years lambasting our ability to do the most basic of things in defence, it is quite pleasing to note that since the defeat at the Spuds, we’ve hardly conceded any goals from open play. Yes, we’ve conceded, but the last two goals we conceded were penalties and the team itself looks like a really solid unit as a whole. In fact, when you look at our defensive record, far from the terrible goal-difference because of goals conceded last season, we’ve actually got quite a respectable goal difference tally thanks to the defence. You have to look at the form of players like Koscienly and praise them for it. At the sharp end of the team we’ve not been at our best, but this run of form has been largely in part to the great defensive plays we’ve seen.

It does make you wonder ‘what might have been’ should we have invested more in the attacking options even as late as January. I don’t think we’d have caught United, but is be willing to bet that we’d be a lot closer to them right about now. Which is what Mikel Arteta has said on the official site yesterday. He spoke of the need to close the gap on United next season and its good that we have players that are publicly stating that desire to look up rather than down. I think I’ve said it before on this blog, but I do wonder whether the general culture of the club is something that might hinder this though. We’ve gone so long without winning competitions that as a fan you do start to wonder whether there is actually the belief in the club though. I hope there is. But having looked at the United team on Sunday – and it pains me to say this I hasten to add – you see an aura about some of those players that I don’t see as much of from some of our players. It’s frustrating because I actually think we have a lot of players that are more technically gifted than United, so it’s not a question of ability, but perhaps belief. It’s been said a million times before on just about every medium possible, but it’s that first step that is the hardest, that first illusive trophy that will hopefully open the floodgates.

And it’s little winning streaks like the one we’re on at the moment that make you start to question whether or not we do in fact have that ‘mental block’. Much like last season, when all other possibilities for trophy success were gone, we suddenly found ourselves clicking into gear. Much like a team that suddenly has a moment of clarity and drive to succeed, we’ve seen off teams that we were being held to draws or even being defeated by. It’s like the team knows exactly what it has to do and is achieving its goals with the kind of ruthless efficiency that United have achieved this season i.e. not playing great, sometimes being outplayed, but doing enough to win. Imagine the possibilities if we’d have achieved that kind of consistency around October/November time? We’d probably have 12-15 more points and be fighting for the title.

That’s where we want to be.