Tag Archives: Gunners

Massive victory in Wales

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Relief, frustration, despair and Arsenal. The words go hand in hand

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So there we have it. Here we are. It’s finally over. until the summer that is. The over-dramacised, over-hyped, theatrical ‘Transfer Deadline Day’ has final set sail to return only to return at the end of August.

There is a very relived part of me this morning I have to admit. I can now concentrate on talking about football and not speculation. my Twitter feed will die down with ITKs and ‘i’m hearing’. Yep, definite relief.

Yet that is not my overwhelming emotion on this Friday morning. My feelings today are that yet again Arsenal Football Club has failed to deliver the required movements to really kick the team on this season. When the August deadline passed and no striker was incoming, we were provided with press soundbites of ‘there is always January’. Yet now we see that those comments were designed purely to instil that all important element of hope into the fans. ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got a squad that can cope, and if we’re not coping then we’ll go out and augment the team with quality signings that will ensure that we continue to eat at the top table. Well it worked until about 11.30pm yesterday when fans like me are once again left feeling like the club hasn’t done all in its power to ensure that we maintain competitive and improve as a club.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to wake up and see we’ve spent £12million on a good but not amazing central defender and we’re paying him £100k a week for the privilege. The signing of Chris Samba by QPR might be a good addition to the squad, but it is a huge roll of the dice by Harry. If QPR go down they will be in trouble of Portsmouth proportions. It is because of our thrifty way that we think like this by the way. If we signed a player for £12million and £100k a week, over the lifetime of their contract that’s £40million, which the way Arsenal work turns out to be £40million of the supposed £70million we have. That is why we Arsenal fans look so closely at the pennies. Because we know the team needs two or three quality players, yet if we go over the top on good but not great players, it will just make for yet another summer of discontent as we yet again fail to add to the squad.

But going back to my original point: I don’t want to see ridiculous money thrown at players. But there are players out there that could have added some genuine squad depth to this team. David Villa would have been a great signing. Jovetic would have been superb. Even Diame would have been a good bit of competition in midfield for when Diaby gets his inevitable injury on Saturday and is out for the rest of the season, followed by Arteta having a ‘little setback’ and turning three weeks out to two months. There are plenty of players out there that we could have called on to improve and yet we have continued to keep our powder dry.

Still, there was at least one signing that we were able to bring in that most certainly addresses a need, so I need to temper some of my angst at least in the knowledge that we have some competition at left back. The man known as ‘Nacho’ has joined us from Malaga and he will certainly add more depth and competition for the much maligned Andre Santos. Surely this is the end of the Brazillian’s time at the club so I’d expect him to be one of the first out of the door come June. If we can find a buyer that is willing to pay his surely exorbitant wages.

I know nothing about Monreal. I’ve read plenty from fans, journalists and players saying that he is understudy to Jordi Alba in the Spanish national team, which gives me the first indication that he will most certainly be challenging Gibbs more than the chunky Brazillian was. I’m not going to go into any major depth about his attributes, as it would be a false prophecy on my part, but I suspect we’ll find out all about him tomorrow (did he get clearance to play) or away to Sunderland the following weekend.

So we have at least added to our ailing defence. But to me it simply wasn’t enough. I read the AST statement about the money available to the club and with the new TV deal and other revenue increasing, failure to be in the Champions League will be off-set by that. Which again brings me back into questioning why on earth we haven’t done all we can to strengthen in key areas. The whole world knows where we need to strengthen, yet the stubbornness of the manager is all too prevalent. He is more concerned with sticking to his flawed socialist ideology of financial fair play. I say flawed because I am quite convinced that come the introduction of the FFP rules, we will see quite quickly how the big clubs get around it.

Arsene says the squad is good enough. Arsene says he has two players for every position. Arsene believes bringing in more players would create too much wastage. If that is the case, why is he only using a core of 12 or 13 players every single week. If he has so much faith in the squad why do we weaken ourselves by sending half of it out on loan? Will he start to utilise promising talents like Eisfeld or Gnabry? Or even Rosicky? You cannot tell me that Gervhino is a better player than Rosicky and yet he will probably come into the team as soon as the African Cup of Nations is over. You also cannot tell me that there are players that are within our price range that are not better than Gervhino. Crikey, there are players in some of the teams fighting for relegation that are better than Gervhino.

In reading this blog you could be forgiven for thinking that I am turning on Arsene. I can only assure you that this is not the case. I would like nothing more than for him to turn this around, put together a winning run and perhaps even send us on a cup winning run. But the probability of us doing that with this squad that, once you scratch below the surface is paper-thin in terms of quality, are leading me to question whether he knows at all. By not bringing players in he has made a rod for his own back. The doubters now have their biggest stick with which to beat him and he has no place to hide if the team falls away from fighting for fourth place. Just say that again out loud to yourself. We are fighting for fourth place. We are so far from the Invincibles now it is scary.

I will be going on Saturday. I will cheer on my team and I will hope that we can do something now that lifts us into the top four. But by not adding to the side as much as we’d hoped, I’m skeptical that we can do that.

Until tomorrow peeps.

Smiting Chelski – an unashamedly positive blog

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Well hello there sports fans. And what a happy Sunday today is. For today we get to extract revenge on Chelski at Stamford Bridge. Today my fellow Arsenal supporting humans, i’m going to try and be overly positive about the game because the way I figure it, getting worried and worked up about the result doesn’t exactly make for a happy Chris. Plus, if we lose – which we totally won’t by the way – then i’ll have wasted the whole day feeling sad.

Nope, today is going to be a great day. And if it isn’t, please direct your vexatation (is thaat a real word) to Arsesne Wenger, care of Highbury House. But you totally won’t need to by the way – did I say that already?

A win to build on the solid second half performance of Wedneesday night will be just the tonic this team needs. Footballers all talk about how three points against any team is just the same, but the psychological impact of beating one of the teeams around you is far greater than smashing the team bottom of the league one-nil at home. It sends a message to the teams from the whole league that the club can put a run together and it gives the players a much needed boost ahead of a series of really important games.

Chelski are favourites, there is no doubt about that, but that me’s diddly squat in  my eyes. Because we were favourites against Norwich. We were favourites against Swansea. Against Fulham and Sunderland. Yet we didn’t pick up the three points. Their home form leaves a lot to be desired with and today we are going to give Rafa’s men another bloody nose. The power of positive thinking friends! that is where it’s at!

in terms of team neews, we’ve got a full compliment bar Rosicky and Arteta, which I hope means another start for Coquelin. He was impressive gainst Swansea and his ability to break up play with his tackling is all too evident. As many bloggers have already written, we looked to have a good balance about us against Swansea on Wednesday, so I hope Arsene saw that too and will play the same side. It will mean only a place on the bench for Poldi, but what an option that is to have coming from the bench.

Last year Theo had a good game and was in the goals in the 5-3 thriller, and with the ink from his new contract still dry, I hope he’s got an extra spring in his step when he takes to the field this lunchtime. He’ll need to have, because we need all of the front three firing on all cylinders for us to get the three points – which as I have already assured you, is a case of WHEN rather than IF.

As for the opponents, they are weighing up whether John Terry makes a return to the side, which would be absolutely mad not to start Demba Ba given the form he is in right now. He also knows how to get a goal or two against us having already baggeed a couple against us in the 7-3 wwin against Newcastle. I suspect we’ll see Mata and Hazard being given licence to roam against our slightly shaky back four, but with Vermaelen having possibly his best game this season in midweek, there will be an added air of confidence for our captain when he lines up against them. Thankfully, there will be no sight of that nasty little oik John Obi Mikel, as he’s off at the ACN, but I suspect Sideshow Bob will provide enough of a test for our midfield. Just getting past his overgrown locks will be a successful challenge in itself.

That’s where Abou comes in. Games like today were made for him to take charge in and cut through the Chelski side. If he can last the 90 minutes, he’ll be a massive handful and the hope is that he can unlock the blue defence in doing so.

I want to see us get back to the team we all know and love. I want to see the midfield out passing Chelski’s team of mercs. I want goals and I want swagger. And i believe we’ll get it.

catch you on the other side gooners, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Fanuary – another last one…..

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Morning all.

There’s not really a lot going on at the moment, as we count down to Sunday’s crucial game against Man City. Le Boss might poke his head around the door at the press centre in London Colney, but that’s probably it. He knows he’ll be asked about player availability, transfers and Theo, so nothing new at all I suspect.

With that in mind, I thought I’d re-post a blog on Fanuary that good olde Oaf12 did last week, but unfortunately we were poor in our communication and I posted something shortly thereafter. So let me hand him the floor and tell us who he wants to see with the remaining window days ticking down. Take it away Steve…

Hey party people oaf12 here!

So with all the excitement around the Fanuary series it seems mine was missed – queue the world’s smallest violin :(

The sad truth is that it was actually rejected the the evil bendtnersnettercousin who decided that it didn’t contain enough detail, which was fine. However, he also decided not to bother telling me…….pure evil I tell you!!

Anyway enough of him and back to me, you and the second final Fanuary :)

Enjoy.

Do you honestly think we are going to sign a number of players in January despite similar promises in previous seasons?

Really unsure about this one…..I’m usually very positive but I find it hard to see us signing a quantity of players after (by our standards) such a busy summer.

I know to us fans there are a few areas that obviously need strengthening / back up but what is so gloriously obvious to us isn’t always picked up by the boss – like the fact that Gervinho really isn’t a striker!

As usual we aren’t any the wiser with Wenger saying things like “Can I say we will be active? Yes. Can I say this will be concrete? No.” or statements about his main priority being getting Theo to sign before looking elsewhere – for all we know this night not happen until the end of the month, if at all.

I will remain hopeful though; let’s hope it pays off…..

Do you feel Wenger needs to buy a ‘big’ player in January in order to make a statement to the fans or just make the right acquisitions?

I don’t think it would hurt, yet I don’t think it is a necessity. I would have included Cazorla & Podolski as big players and I think that’s the level I would like to see us look at more – i.e. not Messi / Ronaldo level but still top class players. I would have definitely included Huntelaar within this level but he has signed a new deal at Schalke now :(

I know it’s not likely but a signing like Lewandowski or Cavani would be one hell of a statement and would be a great boost to the team. It would be a nice middle finger to players such as RvP and Nasri too.

The only negative would be that if they performed we would then need to worry about how long we keep them for, not a nice thought but unfortunately a reality at the moment!

Which position needs the most strengthening and which player would you sign to improve this area of the team?

I would say up top and cover out wide. Regardless of results and how we have been playing the stats are positive towards the number of goals we concede; we are just missing that clinical player up top to finish the job for us. Could this be Theo? Maybe – but should we put our eggs in a basket that may potentially be gone before too long, I’m not sure.

I’m also puzzled as to why Giroud seems to be playing fewer games since he looked like he had hit a bit of form….

I would have LOVED to see Huntelaar come in for two reasons 1) He is pretty damn clinical and is used to being the focal point up top 2) He doesn’t seen to like van Loser (as my son calls him).

With him out of the picture one of the two I mention above would be nice. I can’t see this happening though so let’s hope we pull another gem from somewhere…..hmmmm. We should have snapped up Ba.

Squad wise we need a keeper (I don’t even want to think about an injury to Szczesny right now some decent back up / competition like Butland, or us making it worse by him playing with one like last season), a left back (would love to see Baines come in but Shaw at Southampton has also impressed but the my hinder Meade) due to Gibbs’ fitness record and maybe some steel in midfield. I don’t have anyone in mind for this so can only point you in the direction of Ben’s post as he clearly has a preferred choice here.

I’d like to see Eisfeld get some game time too though.

Are we still in a situation of where we need to sell before we can buy?

I don’t think so but that’s probably not the view from the club. It would be good to get some of the players off the wage bull to make room for some of the above – unfortunately I would probably include Diaby is this.

It looks likely that Chamakh, Squilacci and Djourou may be out which is good for both them and their careers but also for our wage bill.

With Diaby my main concern is his injury record. Every time he comes back seems to coincide with a transfer window and he is hailed as ‘a new signing’ he then plays one good/great game out of 5 but is worshiped for this before getting injured for a few months just as the transfer window shuts.

We cannot rely on this and must sign reliable players and see his (and possible Rosicky) fitness as a bonus as and when it happens.

Saying that, knowing our luck, should these players leave they will probably never have an injury again and go on to play consistently for another team.

Do we need to sign replacements for potential summer outgoings in this transfer window?

Yes, without a doubt! Theo has actually been a bright light so for this season. We’ll need to replace him should he go and the sooner that is done the better. I’m sure that if he stays one extra man in the squad won’t derail the whole team.

Squad players (Chamakh and co) always need replacing but hopefully with more quality so that we can actually use them. Bringing Gervinho on or rotating him as a starter is really hindering us at the moment. His form at Lille and some of his early form shows he is obviously capable but at the moment he can’t even kick a ball cleanly – kind of important for a footballer – and constantly just runs into defenders. A decent winger to replace him and having the Ox (to remove some pressure) as back up would make a real difference.

Sagna is still one of the best right backs about (despite recent strange form) so if he heads off young Jenks will need some help and ideally another potential mentor. The French right back Debuchy impressed at the Euros and if he was willing to go to Newcastle…..

Would you like to add anything?

It’s been such a frustrating season so far as I had such high hopes for this team as on paper we look very good.

I don’t think major surgery is required (I seem to find myself saying that every year) but wouldn’t say it will be a simple key-hole job either.

We need to stop putting blind faith in players such as Diaby and also need to be harsher when assessing ability / form. Gervinho gets 90 mins when he is less effective up front than Mertersaker would be – this needs to stop.

I know I have focussed on our attack more than the defence but for me a strong attack really does help the defence. They are out under less pressure and there is always a focal point, conceding a goal isn’t as soul destroying and actually if you look at our (1st choice) defenders individually there are plenty worse players out there but not piles of better ones.

We also need to stop paying the mid-tier of players so much money so that clubs aren’t put off by their wages. We seem to have this the wrong way round – our worst players can’t find new clubs as their wages are too high, yet our best players could go to Liverpool and get more money.

Seems odd to me…..

Thanks all, until next time.

oaf out

An effective squad needs better use of rotation

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Morning you gooner, you.

I have a little confession I must make to you. There was a little part of me on Sunday that hoped there would be a replay. Not after we scored the second goal of course, then I was only thinking of the win, but up until that point there was a teeny-weeny part of me that thought a replay would not be such a bad thing. Really teeny. Buried deep within the recesses of my mind.

Why? Well, I love going to watch Arsenal live and in the flesh, feeling the build up around the ground and smelling the anticipation in the air. It’s all really exciting and I wish we could play home games every week. Sadly however, it feels like I really haven’t seen that many games at all this season. I missed Schalke and West Brom matches due to family commitments which has probably compounded this feeling, but the fact we had the West Ham game postponed along with the first half of the season fixture list being a little bit more heavily weighted towards away fixtures, has led to this feeling that I just haven’t had enough Arsenal for my liking this season.

So when the chance comes to head along to The Emirates next Wednesday, I’ll get that excited feeling again, which I am seeing as a positive. Ignoring the fact that we have been pretty average on multiple occasions this year, I’m just happy to see my team play, and am hopeful that the players can do what is required to get the win.

And the good thing? We play five out of the next six games at home. It’s glorious stuff. Moneychester City, Swansea, Liverpool, West Ham and Stoke. All at home. All an opportunity to roar on the team. And all in the space of the next month.

Of course Arsene has a different perspective; he who must manage the squads fatigue levels and ensure there is no burnout, will be looking at the next four weeks and wondering where the respite will come from. Successive weekend/Wednesday games will inevitably force his hand in terms of rotating his squad, which i think could turn out to be a positive for the players as well, again – trying to look at some positive resolutions to our recent woes. I looked at Big Per’s shaky game on Sunday and initially wondered what had happened to our towering German. He seemed off the pace, slightly ponderous and his positional play wasn’t exactly top-notch. But I quickly dismissed this line of enquiry in my head with the realisation that he hasn’t played since before Christmas. Maybe Father Christmas bought him too much stollen and he’s feeling a little sluggish, i dunno. But what it did make me realise (his sluggish performance, not the stollen) is that it’s very difficult to call upon players who may not have seen any action for an entire month or more. We can all bemoan the atrocious form of Chamakh or the apparent laziness of Arshavin, but the reality is that they were never given anything other than the odd game with complete knowledge that they had no chance of dislodging anybody from the first team. It can’t be any good for your confidence knowing that and must surely play a part in their overall performance.

I don’t want to suggest we should take gambles of playing players into form that are clearly technically limited, or just don’t seem to care any more, I’m just trying to understand why these players can’t do it. Perhaps it is a crisis of confidence, or perhaps it’s that they see their futures elsewhere, but there has to be some kind of delicate balance to be struck. I hate to say this (I REALLY do) but Fergie manages to rotate players to a degree of success, and when I look at some of the players he has in his squad, in terms of technical ability I don’t see there being a massive difference. Certainly not an 18 point one. So why do we have problems with rotating?

Perhaps this is where Arsene should take some responsibility. After all, he is the one that is talking about having a fully fit injury-free squad, yet we see the same 12 or 13 players play every week. Is that because he has no faith in the other ten that are close (in theory) to the first team? You can hardly say that with our form this season, that he is sticking to a winning team, because we’ve not been able to string together what I would call a decent run of wins all season. We’ve spluttered more than an old yellow Robin Reliant.

Let’s look at the recent Swansea game. I would have thought it was made for Rosicky to get some game time. I know it’s easy to say with the benefit of hindsight, but I thought Cazorla was quiet, and an opportunity to show that if the worst were to happen to Santi, we have a player that can slot in and do a job was there for Tomas. Yet he remained patiently on the bench for his chance. Which never came.

I have the same feelings about Coquelin. He hasn’t been too impressive when starting in the Capital One Cup, but I think a run of games would be very useful for him in midfield. Normally, with the injury luck Arsenal used to have, he’d have had a run of games by now. After all, that’s what got Denilson playing over 150 times for us, so perhaps Le Coq is unlucky. Maybe Arsene doesn’t trust him enough, which means the only other alternative is to buy a ready-made ball-winning (very reluctant to say ‘DM’ because I think the position doesn’t really exist with Arsene any more – he wants his midfielders to be more interchangeable) midfielder, which would of course, as Arsene would say, ‘kill’ Coquelin – or at least his chances of a career at Arsenal.

Arsene has hinted that one or two signings will be made this January. If that is the case, then he needs to be looking at the attacking three for his new blood injection, but he needs to rotate more everywhere else. Jenkinson needs to come in occasionally. If Diaby stays fit for more than 30 minutes then he needs to relieve Jack or Mikel. Coquelin should be given the chance to prove his worth, plus he should play the square peg Ramsey in a square-shaped hole in midfield.

I suppose I could start some thoughts about what players we may sign, or talk about the rumours of David Villa at Heathrow, but what is the point? It will only wind me up more for writing it, or you for reading it. So I’ll say adieu for today.

Adieu.

Day five of transfer window, and people are already combusting…

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Quick! Every Gooner for themselves! Run for the hills! The Armageddon is nigh! The Mayans were right (give or take a few weeks)! We cannot survive much longer!

If you spend your life flicking through Twitter feeds and seeing some of the responses of gooners, you’d probably be thinking the same right now, such is the animosity that is being banded about by some sections of The Arsenal fraternity.

Yesterday we saw the first real bit of transfer movement in the league from a number of clubs, including Arsenal, as players came in, players went, players disappeared on loan and some agreed to join other clubs in the summer. We already knew about Demba Ba from the evening before; the public statement by his army of advisors that he will not be joining Chelski clearly designed to extract maximum value from the West Londoners (and probably at the same time giving you a better idea as to why we weren’t involved in the bidding process), but yesterday also saw the departure of Marouane Chamakh on a six month loan deal to West Ham. The fact that we can’t shift him on a permanent deal is a damning indictment on the clubs wage policy (that would be Denilson, Bendtner and Chamakh all on loan now because we can’t shift them), but I have to say that I see it as a good thing. Arsene is shuffling his pack already in an effort to bring in some fresh blood. And look, I understand that some people are apprehensive about no deals being done, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and suggest that this movement of the Moroccan followed by the departure of Squillaci and Djourou (I hope the former goes before the latter, but it looks unlikely) will be followed relatively swiftly by some incoming to the club.

But from what I have read over the last 24 hours, you’d have thought people were going to spontaneously combust in a ball of flames. We’re FIVE days into the window people! Five! Not twenty-five!

The catalyst seemed to be the announcement by the Spuds of Lewis Holtby from Schalke in the summer. It was the blue touch-paper of Twitter for gooners, as people bemoaned our lack of activity and the fact other teams are moving instead of us. This really confused me when I read some of the fan reaction. Firstly, we know what positions need strengthening, and small, creative attacking midfielders isn’t really one of them. Sure, Lewis Holtby is a great player, he’d be on a free transfer, and could be better than some of the other players we have in the squad – but our immediate pressing need is surely for another striker, a goalkeeper and a tough ball winning central midfielder to ease the burden from Arteta, isn’t it? Or even another wide attacker if Walcott is being shifted into the centre. I know Ben is keen on Lewis and I don’t doubt he would have been a great signing, but missing out on him is hardly going to massively affect us, is it? Also, we all agree that signing players for the here and now is our most pressing priority, so why the bloody hell are people getting worked up about a player that will not be joining anyone until the summer? How can that help us now?

David Villa however, well, there’s a player that could come in and make an instant impact. Established, a great finisher and still has it in my opinion. I watch Barca play Celta in the Nou Camp in November and Villa got the first goal. He was superb and I think would hit the ground running. We’re being linked more and more with him but unfortunately the tools that are Goal – which I refuse to link to – don’t help the excitement by wildly proclaiming an ‘exclusive’ that we have made a formal bid for the player. I know Arsenal like to conduct their business quietly, but we all know Barca don’t, so if that were true do we really think those idiots in Catalan wouldn’t be shouting from the rooftops of El Mundo to try to get a bidding war going? Of course they would. So if you’re hanging your hopes on us getting him, don’t hang them too much – that’s all I’d ask.

We’ve got a game tomorrow, but I’m reticent to go through a probably line up and thoughts on it until then as I’d have nothing to say, but Arsene has certainly been making noises that he’ll put out his best team out. I’m a little skeptical over this but we wait with bated breath. On the transfer market he declared once again (has done it for the last couple of years) that he expected the market to be calm for the first couple of weeks before hotting up a little. I am hopeful that this is a ‘Who is Cazorla?’ style Arsene bluff, because that comment would suggest a last-minute trolley dash around Europe, which to be fair I don’t think he’ll want. I think Arsene is looking to add some quality as soon as possible, but we’ll just have to wait to see when he finally lays his cards down.

That’s it from me today. Have a good one folks.

West Brom Review: sweet victory with slight aour aftertaste (but not much)

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Ahh, the sweet sweet winning feeling,  carved up on a plate like a succulent piece of fillet steak for you to gorge yourself on whence Sunday comes. It means highlights can be re-watched, the moronic Alan Hansen becomes ever-so-slightly watchable on Match of the Day, and you have no problem keeping Sky Sports News on for the duration of the afternoon.

As I said in my blog yesterday, I was restrained from watching the game at the Emirates by the hand of charity, so the only real parts of the match I’ve watched have been the snippets on BBC1 as well as some of the match reviews. So it would be callous of me to provide you with in-depth analysis of the performance. That being said, I love my Arsenal don’t you know, hence why I write about them every day and today is not an exception.

Yes, we won by two penalties. Yes the first was a terrible dive that had us all wincing I’m sure. We like to be able to point the finger of morality in other teams directions (Gareth Bale), but when it goes for you, you certainly wouldn’t want to take back the decision to award the penalty. My thinking is: every other team has players that dive and cheat, so if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Just don’t do it any more Santi. The only worry you have to take from this is that the next time he’s felled in the box legitimately, the referee might just hesitate. That’s the problem Ronaldo had after a few dives for United and it’s a problem of reputation that Gareth Bale and Ashley Young are now faced with. The only difference appears to be that despite multiple examples of their cheating ways, after one or two weeks have passed, everyone has forgotten of their misdemeanours. I know I’m going to sound all conspiracy theorist on you now, but you can bet your bottom dollar that won’t happen with Cazorla. I hope it does, because he’s a fantastic player and in 16 league games and a number of cup games, he’s hardly Eboue’d himself to the floor every time he’s played. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed on that one.

The game itself looked to be one that we were never not in control of. We had 19 attempts at goal to West Brom’s 6, we had the majority of possession (as you’d expect) and by the sounds of some of the commentary the midfield three bossed the game, with Jack Wilshire providing the drive and energy that we’ve lacked in recent games. Our attacking play appeared slightly blunted, with Gervhino and Podolski missing a couple of real sitters, but as far as I’m concerned that means little difference. The end result was that three points were chalked up and the team looked to have regained a bit more of the zip about their play. Yesterday was about the three points, arresting the downward momentum of the slump we were on and putting a good side like West Brom to the sword on our own soil.

Next up we have a Capital One cup game against Bradford on Tuesday and, once again, my hope is that the bulk of the team that played yesterday does not travel up north. We all want to see another performance with more energy with it in the league next Monday against Reading, so I hope that we see a completely changed side, with the players that played today getting over a week’s rest to be really fresh. That extended break will also do them the world of good when you think about the business end of year schedule – it could almost be like a mini holiday for some of them, which would then be followed by almost a week off until we play Wigan, so it gives me hope that we can put ourselves in the best possible position to put together a good run of games.

That’s it from me today. I’m off to buy a Christmas tree. Have a good one peeps.

West Brom Preview: no punch-drunk performance please

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Happy Saturday campers. It’s less happy when your Arsenal tickets were sold off for a charity auction, meaning that you’ll not be frequenting your own church for the usual 3 O’clock Mass, but one cannot complain too much – it is for a good cause and this is the time of the year when people must be a bit more generous. So I’ll nee be hopping on the tube to head towards the Emirates this afternoon, but I most certainly will be keeping one eye on the scoreline as I go about my Saturday activities.

before I dive head first into the match preview and thoughts on the game, a quick word on Theo. Le Boss gave the first clear indication (in my mind at least) that the winger is offski in the summer in his presser yesterday. Hee admitted that talks had got nowhere and that he was feeling ‘frustrated’. I don’t know whether this is a new tactic of Arsene’s to trying and put pressure on the player and his representatives by making such a public statement, but it looks to me like the last throw of the dice from the clubs and Arsene’s perspective. Try to make the issues a little more public in an effort to force Theo’s hand. I’ve said for a while I think that he’s gone in the summer and as far as this latest round of commentary goes, it almost confirms it to me. I’d love for him to stay, but when he can probably get an extra £40,000 odd by going for free in the summer, why would he? So for my mind I’m going to support Theo for as long as he wears the red and white of Arsenal, then the second the contract expires and he dons the shirt of another club, he’ll be the same as all of the other money-grabbing mercenary whores that have departed for greener pastures and bulging pockets.

Walcott won’t be involved today, along with Podolski, which means there’s a shuffle in the deck for Le Boss. I focused on this area yesterday so I won’t go into too much detail, but I suspect we’ll see a combination of Gervhino (sigh) and probably Ramsey (again, sigh. But only because it’s not his natural position). It’s not my preferred option, as I’d try a bit of Arshavin and Santi with Rosicky playing just behind them, but I’m not the manager so I can’t really influence selection other than on my computer with football Manager and that really doesn’t help anyone in real life. Giroud has to start up top and we have to hope that the rest will see him ready to continue his form by banging in a couple today.

The midfield trio of Arteta, Wilshire and Cazorla have all had a good week’s rest leading up to this game, so there can be no complaints about fatigue for the players, nor should there be. They need to be popping the ball amongst themselves with more verve and zip and dictate the game in the middle of the park. Jack and Santi need to be the drive and cutting edge in between the lines of West Brom players, whilst Mikel must be strong in marshalling the team and sitting in front of the back four. All three players need to be able to provide an outlet for the back four, because one of the most visibly irritating things about last week was that the defence, when not finding a midfielder free to release the ball too, stuck to the monotonous display of horizontal passing between themselves which drove the crowd mad. All three midfielders need to ‘show’ for the defence to avoid that again this week.

The defence will, in the absence of Koscienly and Sagna, pick itself I think. Starting with Szczesny in-goal followed by Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Gibbs, you have to be relatively happy with that line up. Szczesny has proven his worth with some good performances lately, Carl and Big Per have had good season and we all know what Gibbs is capable of when he gets a run of fitness. The only question mark this season has been Vermaelen, but after what I think was a good performance against Olympiacos on Tuesday, I think the captain can draw confidence from that.

West Brom are no mugs. They have players like Shane Long that will run all day and have an eye for goal that can hurt us. The few times I’ve watched the Baggies this season he has been their talisman. He can hold up play, is a battler and has a good goalscoring record. Steve Clarke has a virtually full fit squad to choose from, so players like Odemwingie can support Long, Mulumbu has a trick in him and from set pieces they have players like Brunt that can deliver. Zoltan Gera has looked really good this season, so I also expect him to prove a threat.

It will not be an easy game for us and this will certainly be no 3-0 or 4-0 win. We’ll need to be knocking the ball around with more purpose and drive this week. Last week the first half was an abomination and we barely got out of our own half. In the second half there was a bit more purpose, but we lacked creativity. That is where we need to sharpen up and we need that creativity to come to the fore from the first minute today. Mikel Arteta spoke during the week about how the players are looking at themselves, have analysed where they went wrong and want to put it right. That’s all well and good and I’m hopeful they’ll come out today like fighters that have been dealt a couple of sucker punches. What I don’t want to hear about though is if the team comes out of its corner like a punch drunk former champion, randomly swinging in the direction of his opponent, in the hope that something connects. We need guile and quality to knock out West Brom today, so now its up to the team to show us they can do that.

Fingers crossed guys.

What will you be doing before the game tomorrow?

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morning gooners, hope you are well. I’ve got some freedom away from the office today to enjoy the fruits of annual leave, but much like how John Terry still manages to avoid any kind of karma in life, I have woken up this morning to aches and pains. Typical.

But I shall not let it dampen my spirit, not shall I allow my body to reject the possibility of rocking up at the Emirates tomorrow for the visit of Swansea, so if you’re there, feel free to DM me on Twitter and I’ll happily share some of my stories of my own illness woes with you.

What I’ll be doing before the game tomorrow still remains to be seen. If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I don’t really like the idea of throwing my hat into any particular faction of fans (WengerOut’s or AKB’s) when it comes to the manager. There are times when I think he is a genius and I marvel at how he has revolutionised the club, but there are other times where I am baffled by the decisions he makes. However, I certainly don’t believe that changing the manager now will have any kind of instant success as some would have you believe.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because I am considering attending the Black Scarf Movement (BSM) march tomorrow before the game. The reason I am considering it right now is because I actually agree with some of what the BSM are protesting about, and I think it is a common misconception of some fans that they are protesting about Arsene Wenger or the players. If that were the case, I most certainly would not be joining them. A march of that kind would serve no benefit to the club and would not help the growing media agenda of trying to drive a wedge between Arsene and the players and the fans. No, I am considering joining the march because I agree with their arguments over:

  • Stan Kroenke’s commitment not to take money from the club. I have already stated previously that I think the reason Stan is at the club is to see through all of the commercial deals, then exit when Arsenal are at their peak in terms of revenue generation. Therefore I think a public statement by ‘Silent Stan’ would be welcome and would help to diffuse a lot of concern amongst ordinary Arsenal fans who think the club might just get ransacked within the next few years.
  • Peter Hill-Wood off the Board.Again, my own feelings of Peter Hill-Wood are that he is a relic of the past and a throwback from the ‘old boys network’ at Arsenal that is no longer needed. He’s an embarrassment to Arsenal with some of his comments and he should have been put out to pasture years ago. I get that continuity and recognition of the past and the traditions of Arsenal are important, but I defy any Arsenal fan to admit that Hill-Wood having an involvement in Arsenal represents anything beneficial at the club.
  • A ‘lite’ version of a season ticket with no cup credits. In the current times of austerity that we’re faced with, with people working reduced hours and the economy still in uncertain and choppy waters, having a club that recognises this and acts to ensure that supporters can still watch their side at an affordable price, how can anyone argue this isn’t a good idea?
  • A short-term staged repayment scheme for season ticket renewals. When I first got my season ticket a few years ago, I was told to cough up a grand or lose my place in the season ticket queue. Given I’d been on the waiting list for about six years, I scraped and scrabbled around and borrowed money from parents, etc. Had I not have had that support from my family, I would not be able to watch Arsenal so regularly. If the option was there to take finance from Arsenal (I would also accept paying interest on that) then I would have taken that. It’s not as if the club can’t afford to loan some fans the money, so why aren’t they doing this?
  • The ability for season ticket holders to downgrade to Silver membership. Again, as above, if you can’t afford to get your season ticket, but still might be able to go to some games, why should it be an ‘all or nothing’ scenario with season tickets and silver membership?
  • Move away fans to the upper tier, thereby providing cheaper seats for Arsenal fans Introduce season tickets in the Clock End at Emirates. I go to Newcastle away every year and they place fans far up the top of the highest stand in a corner. I get why (atmosphere, etc), so if everybody else can do it, why can’t The Arsenal
  • Introduce safe standing. Where I currently ‘sit’, nobody actually sits down anyway. A few years ago the stewards used to go from row-to-row asking us to sit down one by one, but they’d get to roughly my row (11) and somebody would sing ‘stand up for the Arsenal’ so everybody would stand up. It’s crazy and after a couple of seasons the stewards just gave up. So why not just formalise this and have a section where safe standing is recognised?

The only reason I am still undecided as to whether I’ll go to the march is because of that evil entity of the media that will portray this as a fans revolt against the team and manager. I don’t want this march to be misconstrued as a fans revolt against the manager and the team by the media, who will peddle their own agenda and use it as an example to show that all is not well at Arsenal. It’s almost inevitable that this is what will happen, so I have to ask myself – do I want to be part of this?

What’s your opinion?