Tag Archives: Jack Wilshire

Standing at the crossroads – which route will Arsenal take?

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Here we are friends. Here we are standing at the final crossroads. The fork in front of us leads us to two separate destinations. One is a preferred route, full of lush green Champions League football, revenue for the clubs already bulging coffers, prestige of at least achieving what we all hoped would be the bare minimum this season, and finally the opportunity to celebrate St Totteringham’s day once again.

The second road is Europa League football. Once upon a time it would have been a similarly enjoyable path to tread, but the gardener has spent most of his time worrying about the other route that this one has become neglected, a little bit overgrown and slightly wiffy, if I’m honest.

Today there is a team from the North East of our land that stand between taking the first and the second road. They are the gatekeepers of our path and to dispatch them effectively will allow us to tread the route we want to tread.

I am getting nervous just typing this match preview, I can tell you that. I am nervous because I know that despite nothing other than pride to play for, Newcastle will be up for this game. They may have secured another year of Premier League football last week, but Alan Pardew will not throw on another group of kids to finish the season. He’ll play the strongest team he has. I am also nervous because I see similarities with what happened on the last game of last season against West Brom. The Baggies were in exactly the same position and yet still so nearly came away with a point that would have eventually meant Champions League football was taken away from us. For what it’s worth, I am appealing directly to the Footballing Gods now: if you like symmetry, parallels in life and such, grant us another away win on the last day of the season. And if we Gooners have to go through Hell and back watching a game of intense pressure, then so be it, as long as the final result is favourable enough to see Arsenal in with a shout for Champions League football next season.

Team-wise we will see a Newcastle side that has one or two question marks over it. The absence of both Krul and Elliott in goal, through injury and suspension respectively, will give Steve Harper the opportunity to play in his last game for Newcastle. So rather than expect him to flap at a few balls, let’s expect him to have the game of his life, meaning we’ll have to pepper his goal just to get a few through. In defence there will be no Steven Taylor, but Collocini and Yanga-Mbiwa will still form a decent enough back line to give our front three a tough enough game. Marveux is injured for the Geordies, but other than that they should have a fu strength team to put out. We know the quality of Cisse and Ben Arfa up top so we know we’ll be up against a tough attacking unit and I’m not expecting any favours from the them today.

As for us, our main questions revolve around a replacement for Arteta and whether Giroud will start at the head of the front three. I suspect Arsene will go for the Frenchman above Poldi, so the German may have to settle for an impact place on the bench. In midfield I think Arsene will opt for Wilshire as a ‘once more into the breach’ for Jack before he has his ankle surgery. Whether or not he lasts the full 90 will be another question Le Boss will have to work out. The back five picks itself really, so there’s no need to go over it on who is playing.

In the last two games up at St James’ Park we’ve had a player sent off and found it really hard to break Newcastle down after that. That was the same when we played Sunderland earlier in the year and so I’m hoping we can keep our heads and ensure that the match finishes 11 v 11. If we do, then I would hope that we have enough quality against this Newcastle side. However, Arsene has never beaten Pardew away from home and so we are up against another unwanted record that we have to break, so lets hope that particular hoodoo is extinguished come 6pm tonight. I could talk about the incentive Mike Ashley has offered of a £1million bonus to all non-playing staff if Newcastle win today, but that strikes me as a bit baffling, as the non-football staff have no influence on the game, so it’s hardly a motivator for the players. Anyway….

The players, the staff, the fans – all of us have a role to play today. Let’s be united today and hopefully sing our boys on to victory.

Up the Arsenal!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cazorla’s grand, plus debunking some Arsenal misconceptions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until tomorrow.

pshhh to FFP, plus nerves from players to give them the edge?

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Please forgive your humble narrator, but I’m in a bit of a rant mode right now…

Last night there was a cup competition that was won by a certain London team that was not Arsenal. It was won in the harshest of fashions against Benfica in the last twenty seconds. We all know who that team was that won it. But what I want to know is:

Where are all of the footballing gods? What ever happened to karma?

Somebody needs to explain to me how a team that makes a mockery of financial fair play, has a captain that if he wasn’t a professional footballer would be doing time, a left-back mercenary that will swerve off the road at the thought of a £55,000-a-week deal, as well as fans that boo their own (interim) manager, win yet another European trophy. How is this possible? What sort of monkeys paw do they possess that every other team does not?

Last season we had them being outplayed in no-less than three Champions League competitions and still emerge with the trophy on penalties. And now this? Why? When Roberto Di Matteo sold his soul for the luck of a thousand leprechauns last year, was there enough left over for this season as well?

I genuinely despair sometimes. All victories last night tell me are that if you throw enough money at a situation you’re going to win football competitions. And that saddens me. I am not naive. I know that football is now just as much a business as it is a recreation for some of us (although I can’t say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it very much – too many nerves, especially of late!), but I wake up this morning and feel sad that the only way to compete in this football world of ours is to have your very own billionaire bankrolling the club.

I love the way Arsenal are trying to achieve success. It’s the last bastion of hope I have that we can. It’s the final thing that we can hold over Chelski fans i.e. one man bought you success, the collective entity that is The Arsenal (fans, players, board, etc) achieved ours. But on mornings like today all I feel is bitterness. Bitterness and a worry that FFP will be as useful as a fork with soup. I don’t want us to go the same route as Chelski and have Usmanov use us as his plaything. No, what I want is to see football succeed more over financial doping, a la Wigan triumphing in the FA Cup over Moneychester City.

I think it’s probably also made worse by the fact that I live and work in London and I’m surrounded by ‘johnny-come-lately’ Chelski fans. Yep, you guessed it, the type that wave the flags placed on their seats by their club to create an atmosphere.

Anyway, I’ve calmed down now and am happy to just focus on Arsenal because, let’s face it we’ve got a very big game on Sunday afternoon. A season defining game. Because the game is away, I’m not sure if Arsene will do his presser today or tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll know soon enough.

The most pressing concern will be whether or not Mikel Arteta is fit to play. Last season I wrote a blog stating how I’d completely underestimated how important the Spaniard is to our team, and if he is out for this weekend, it will most definitely be a hole in the midfield that we will find difficult to replace. Yes, we have very talented players that can come in like Wilshire, but he is not a like-for-like replacement for Arteta, and there are also question-marks over his fitness. Mikel is a player that keeps us ticking over. Always available for the back four to release to the ball to, his accuracy of passing this season has be phenomenal, he really is ‘Mr Dependable’. He supports the build up play for us expertly and his energy and drive is something that has been vital to our success this season. If he is injured for the game, I suspect Le Boss will opt for Jack, but the midfield will have to shuffle around a bit more. We’ll probably see Ramsey anchored as the deepest lying midfielder and Jack will probably need to curb his natural enthusiasm for getting forward, because Rosicky will no doubt occupy that position and Jack will no doubt suffer for his ability to be a bit more versatile than the Czech. Jack and Tomas are very similar in what they bring to the team, so one of the two might need to be a slightly squarish peg for the midfield round hole we’ll need filling. We shall wait and see I guess.

Since the Wigan victory we’ve also seen Arsene speak about the nerves of the players before games. Not exactly what you want to hear as a fan before the season finale, but he does temper that response by saying that there has been that in place for a while now and we have still managed to win games. The only worry from this here writers perspective is that it doesn’t become so nervous on that pitch that it inhibits the players natural abilities and desire for success. Whilst we’d obviously much rather be in the position that we are in rather than the Spuds, the fact that they know it’s out of their hands will probably allow them to play with more freedom than our players. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that Tottenham have won by three or four goals come 6pm on Sunday. As for us, well, you and I both know that it won’t be that easy. There is no way in a million years that we’ll see the same Newcastle side that gave Liverpool the freedom of St.James’ Park to roam a few weeks ago. Nope, we’ll have to do it the hard way.

The nerves and that adrenaline Arsene speaks of has to be used as an advantage. It has to be used as the steam that powers the engine forward and on to victory. If you’re a professional footballer that plays for one of the bigger clubs, the only way you can succeed is through a combination of skill, hard-work, determination and the ability to handle pressure. I’ll put my faith in whoever goes out there on Sunday and hope they have all of the above.

Anyway, not a lot else going on that I can see at the moment, so I’ll leave you to the rest of your day.

Adieu.

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.

United Preview: high intensity, because they’ll be no free ride

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Well it’s been talked about for about a week, it’s been speculated and debated, discussed and digested, but here we are folks. Arsenal entertain Manchester United at The Emirates. It’s a sunny start to the day and as I merrily tap away at my iPad in my Arsenal dressing gown, I have a few flutters of nerves that reside deep within my person. My day today revolves all around The Arsenal and I don’t want there to be anything but happiness in my heart when I lay my head down to rest come this evening.

This is not about some Dutch bloke for me. I couldn’t care less what he does (as long as he doesn’t score) and I haven’t cared one iota about him since ‘The Statement’. If he plays today, he will no doubt be a threat, but it will be up to our central defenders to nullify that threat. They know what makes him tick and how he works, so they need to avoid giving him time and space to pull away off their shoulders and tuck away any chances. I hope Koscienly finds himself up against that player more often than not, as I think he has the better of him in terms of pace.

This is not about a ‘guard of honour’. It will be 30 seconds of clapping by the players and probably some of the fans; one of which will not be me. I don’t go to watch The Arsenal for any opposition, I go to cheer on my team. I clap my team. I cheer when they do well. There is nothing in a guard of honour for me to clap for.

This IS about three points. To do that we will need to press United high up the pitch from the first minute. There needs to be the intensity for the players that they can close the spaces between midfield and attack quickly and suffocate possession from the midfield to attack and then shift the ball from back to front quickly. It will be a challenge, of that we are all sure, but it is one our team is more than capable of. I suspect the back five will remain unchanged from the victory at Craven Cottage, with the only exception in midfield being the re-introduction of Jack Wilshire. He’s looked a bit leggy since his return and has been most certainly overshadowed by Arteta and Ramsey’s good form, so I suspect that whilst it would be harsh to see Rosicky drop to the bench, Arsene will prefer Jack in the midfield. If he does, we need to see the marauding Jack, the Jack that has a quick turn of pace to beat his man in the first five yards, the Jack that is all action and willing to get stuck in as well. If we get that Jack, then up alongside the excellent Ramsey and with the master of ball retention Arteta, we should hopefully see a midfield that can dominate possession.

The real challenge for us today will be how the attacking trio performs. There may have been a few people pleased at the absence of Giroud – expecting Podolski to start instead – but whilst that would be my preferred choice, I don’t think it will be Arsene’s today. I don’t think Lukas is fit enough for 90 minutes and so my educated guess would be that we see Gervhino up top. His form of late has been better, but that’s as a winger rather than a target front man. He just doesn’t have the ability to do it but, should he start today, I hope he proves me wrong on so many ways today.

Either side of the Ivorian – if he does start – I think we’ll see Theo and Santi start. Both were pretty quiet at Old Trafford earlier in the season so we’ll need to see better and more lively presence. Theo will be up against a tough challenge of Evra, but the Frenchman loves to get forward, which is why moving the ball from back to front quickly for us could be key to get Theo running into plenty of green space. Santi will drift in field so we’ll need to have either Gibbs or Monreal providing plenty of attacking width, and we need our little Spaniard to have one of his gems of a game today. He’s one of the keys we have to unlock the United defence.

I don’t think there is any hope for us seeing a United team turn up in party mode. I think Fergie will name his strongest eleven and they’ll be going for a win. I suspect there might be a 5-10% less intensity from United, but even a United at 90% is still capable of beating every team in the Premier League so I don’t think we’ll get any favours from them today.

I fancy Aaron Ramsey to score today. Don’t ask me why because he’s hardly a Frank Lampard style goal scoring midfielder, but I just have a feeling. If we get the same result as the last time he scored against United then I’d be more than happy, as we came away from The Emirates with a 1-0 win and three points safely in the bank.

After the Spuds result yesterday, we’ve got a real opportunity to establish some daylight between us and them. We need to take these opportunities. We need that buffer to ensure that we have the points in the bag as quickly as possible. It would both motivate our team more and also de-motivate our (geographically) closest rivals. Come on Arsenal, lets make this a happy Sunday to remember.

Right, time for a shower, so brekkie, then the pilgrimage to the home of football.

Until tomorrow.

Defensive understanding and using my Jacuzzi

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Do you know what? It’s almost as if Moneychester City are determined to find new ways for us to dislike them. Such was their pathetic capitulation against the Spuds, I honestly can’t say I found the oil whores from the North West any more irksome yesterday. The victory for ‘them lot’ means that the permutations for the end of season are becoming too complex for me to contemplate on a Monday morning after a late evening and a wedding yesterday. So I might leave some further thoughts until tomorrow when my brain at least partially works.

One part of his anatomy that DOES know how to work is Luis Suarez’s chompers. He decided that ‘Chelski footballer’ might taste lovely – perhaps with some fava beans and a nice Chianti – and decided to tuck in at Anfield yesterday. To be fair to him, he probably didn’t mean too, but his massive horse gums just stick out so far he thought he was standing alongside Ivanovic instead of nestled into his elbow crease. Cue the T-shirts from his fellow team mates protesting his innocence no doubt. I wonder if they’ll be sponsored by Colgate. never underestimate marketers to catch on to a PR gimmick, let me assure you of that. But despite his general shame and inability to avoid controversy, Suarez still managed to give gooners a collective sigh of relief with a last second goal to salvage somewhat of a sad ‘Super Sunday’ it had been up until that point. Again, permutations are too complex for this morn my fellow gooner friends, so apologies and all that jazz.

Instead, let us focus on our own, which is what Laurent Koscienly has been doing by singing the praises of a man whose head must not just be physically up in the clouds, but after his goal at the weekend, will be mentally up there too. There is most certainly the basis of a very solid partnership that is being developed in the heart of our defence and, one blip against Norwich aside and a penalty against West Brom, is finding a delicious knack of keeping clean sheets and shutting out opposition attacks. Yes, perhaps it has come at the expense of some of our more cavalier style football, but build a solid foundation and you find that new house will start off on the right footing. And from there you can build a games room. Then a jacuzzi. Then a disco room. And you’ll have a house all the other kids will want to play in. There’s an Arsenal metaphor in there somewhere, but I think I’ve gotten lost thinking about coming home to find a big friendly German in my Jacuzzi, which as much as I love the guy, a mans jacuzzi is his own. Or something.

Anyway, I digress away from the crux of my rambling which of course is our new-found defensive stability. We’ll need that over the next few weeks more than we’ll need to keep people’s egos in check, which is why I think we’ll probably not see Thomas Vermaelen returning to the side until next season. Or at least I hope we won’t, because it will have meant somebodies cocked up or even worse, has got themselves injured/suspended for the last few games. Arsene has alluded to the current pairings position as number one choice in an interview with the official site, saying about how they have performed well and he has always said since the start of the season that he would rotate which to be fair to him, he has always maintained. And let’s not forget that Koscienly spent a good couple of months on the bench halfway through the season. I think this time away from the first eleven will do Vermaelen good. I think he’s a fighter that will look at this as a challenge and use it as his fuel to get his captaincy and first team place back. And that can only be good for The Arsenal.

What is not good for The Arsenal is the continuing rumours of injuries that happen to Jack Wilshire. I was listening to the radio yesterday in the car and heard them talking about the possibility of Jack going through yet more surgery on his troublesome ankle in the summer. I have to be honest and admit that stories like this immediately get me to thinking of a certain Abou Diaby, whose career has been destroyed by his injury-prone and brittle body. Unfortunately it looks as if Jack might be heading down a similar path to the Frenchmen if this story is to be true. If it is, my only hope is that Arsenal act decisively to mitigate any long term risks to Wilshire. He’s shown again this season how influential he can be and having him fit for a series of games is exactly what we need. Thankfully Arsene has admitted that he’s being ultra cautious and didn’t want to give Jack three games in just over a week, but still, the hammering his body always seems to take every time he plays – a natural consequence of his style and ‘all-action’ mentality – means that a series of injuries could change the type of player he is. If it was me, I know it would change my style, and I’d never go in as hard after a big injury as I would before one. Just think back to what happened to Pires when we played Newcastle. He did a serious injury and I don’t think was ever the same player again after that. He was still a force to be reckoned with, but he seemed to have lost that 0.5% in his game that made him the player that we all worshipped. He still did great things, but there was always something missing I felt, which was a real shame.

Anyway, let’s hope the same fate doesn’t befall our home grown lad, with a week off until United he can rest his body and prep it for a tough encounter against the probable champions come this time tomorrow. Eurgh. The thought of Robin can Persie lifting the title for them. We all knew it would happen, but the reality of which will be more sickening than dinner at John Terry’s mums house with Tesco food wrappers littered all over the floor.

Until tomorrow.

The Jack Wilshere conundrum

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Hi all, I hope all is well..

I have a debate for you…

…Is Jack Wilshere already, for one reason or another, guaranteed a starting position in this CURRENT Arsenal XI…

I’m not so sure…

First of all – Jack is a magnificent player and in my opinion IS the future of our football club. He has all the qualities needed to be a magnificent talisman for Arsenal Football Club…

Before his short-term injury a few weeks ago – Which was also the start of our winning run (coincidence? I think not..) I posed a question to Michael Cox. For those of you who don’t know Michael, he is a very talented writer who concentrates on tactics and he runs his own website – Zonal Marking (www.ZonalMarking.net). He also writes for a majority of the of the largest sporting media outlets in this country. If you use twitter and don’t follow him, you must….- @Zonal_Marking

I asked Michael “Is the current Arsenal midfield better without Jack Wilshere in it?”

Michael – “I don’t think so, although they need to find a balance with him in it.”

“In your opinion what is his best position ?”

Michael – “I think for now deeper in the 4-2-3-1. But he can play at the top if needed, in ‘bigger’ games. I don’t think he’s a problem”

He confirmed what I already believed. I just needed to here it from someone else…to confirm my sanity and all that…

My issue with him currently is – He doesn’t really have a set position, role yet. I haven’t decided if it is an issue at all actually – does a player need a label? As we all know, Jack’s style is up and at ‘um. But with a sprinkle of je nai se qua…

Jane Cavendish then posed an equally interesting debate on Twitter – Wilshere and Cazorla cannot play in the same team. Discuss.

Jane is a very talented and intelligent writer I follow on twitter. Please amend if you don’t – @jcav90

Interesting and telling. But very hard to disagree with it. (I’m writing this after the Norwich game) Very harsh because Wilshere has been injured and didn’t look fit enough to start the game. But, What is for sure – Rosicky and Cazorla have a great connection. Very telepathic. Needless to say, both technically very good players, they have no problems interchanging positions at all. This in turn frees up space for each other to let the havoc begin. Something Wilshere doesn’t currently posses in his game. Wilshere will drift out to the left (being predominantly left footed he will, it’s natural) but its very robotic, not as natural and fluid as Santi and Tomas. With Podolski wide left, we play a lot of our football infront of the opposition defence rather than behind it. This Leads to Jack and Santi wanting to take up the same positions, meaning both players eating up each others space.

Currently if you had to pick our Number 10, you would have to say Santi. Jack needs to work on and improve all the things Santi is currently excelling in – Scoring goals and his final ball.

I would be intrigued to see the difference with a natural wide player in the team. Dragging defenders and freeing up space. Both players would benefit from it in my opinion. But I will save that debate for another day…

My interpretation of our formation, 4-2-3-1 and what is key to the whole formation, is that the two players who cover the defence (The ’2′) have very astute positional sense in order to do the job sufficiently. One generally breaks up play and helps regain possession, with the other concentrating on distribution. Think Liverpool under Rafa Benitez – Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano. (Who I might add was ridiculed for using this formation). They had an excellent partnership. Mascherano did much of the tackling, breaking up play and winning the ball back. While Xabi Alonso was more offensive. A perfect combination. Both players are now rivalling each other in La Liga for the two Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, so it shows you how good they really were.

Having the two players in front of the back four provides a platform on which the team’s attack begins and the more advanced players can focus on creating chances.

The main strength of the formation is to allow a ‘Trequartista’ the freedom to have free-rain in the opponent’s half (Santi Cazorla or Tomas Rosicky for example). A Trequartista is not an out and out striker; they bring an element of fantasy and invention to a team. It has become fashionable to have more than one – Look at Chelsea, Mata, Hazard and Oscar)…

The main strength of the formation – It allows Arsenal to play the illusive ‘Wenger Ball’. Keeping possession, fill the the centre of the midfield with red shirts, allowing the attacking players to express themselves, toying with the opposition, until the moment arrives to strike.

Now, on to this so called ‘holding midfielder’ or ‘Defensive midfielder’ if you prefer. I might quickly add, Arsene has said on numerous occasions that he doesn’t believe in a defensive midfielder per say, which says a lot and also leads us the Le Professor’s current answer – Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard plays an almost combined role. A role that doesn’t come naturally to him, but he has done very well in my opinion.

We are about to go in full circle in any Arsenal debate you have ever had – Do Arsenal have the correct personnel for the current formation?

In short, I don’t believe we do…

The players you have available, will and should always have a bearing on the tactics/philosophy of the starting XI for the match ahead.

What is for sure, we don’t have a player with the quality of Sergio Busquets. A well disciplined, master of the game, that allows others ‘to go and play’. For whatever reason, Arsene chose not to bring in the correct player needed in the summer to do a job that has stayed vacated since Gilberto Silva left. So we have to find a balance between the players that we currently have available.

Currently the best suitor seems to be Aaron Ramsey. The young Welshman has been the essential link between defence and midfield. Earlier on in the season against Aston Villa, at Villa Park, we where simply atrocious. One of the worst games of football I’ve seen us play – Per Mertesacker would recieve the ball, he would then lay the ball off to Mikel Arteta, who in turn struggled to move the ball on. Simply put, the ball just kept coming back. This continued for 90 minutes of torture. Horrific scenes.

This issue seems to have been solved in recent weeks, a balance has been found. The combination of the discipline and work rate of Aaron Ramsey and the intelligent, well timed driving runs from Tomas Rosicky has given the team a new impetus. Wilshere can play the deeper role and do it very well. But he has previous – leaving Arteta exposed on countless occasions. Something Ramsey doesn’t do as regularly. A major issue and Wilshere’s downfall. As the three attacking midfielders have second natured defending ability (and that’s being polite) It is key to have disciplined ‘holding midfielders’, something Jack currently doesn’t posses.

So on on current form, Aaron would get the nod over Jack to partner Mikel in my opinion.

Does that mean Ramsey is a better player than Wilshere? A better understanding of the game possibly. As we have seen in recent weeks, Ramsey will play anywhere on the park and he looks comfortable, a cultured player. Could Wilshere do the the same? I’m not so sure, but what Wilshere has the that Ramsey doesn’t: Dynamism. That’s something you can’t teach.

A quick thought on Jack and his England career, and deciding on what sort of player he wants to be (If he has too!?), including comparisons with Steven Gerrard. They are both club sweethearts who came through the youth ranks. Gerrard burst onto the scene, marauding around the pitch like a modern day superhero. Since I can remember Gerrard has carried Liverpool. With his, heart, passion and more importantly his massive contribution of Goals and assists. you got the same sort of feeling once Fabregas left the club. To mention another Premier League legend and England player, Frank Lampard. The man is a goal machine. The man made arriving late to the party fashionable. I mentioned all these great players in the same breathe as Wilshere because I believe he can emulate them. he just needs to home his talents. The future’s bright for the future Arsenal and England Captain.

An interesting summer awaits Arsenal Football Club and Jack Wilshere. Will Arsene decide what he believes Jacks best position will be? Will he want him to be our Number 10? Will he sign a Capoue or a Gonalons to help him progress? Or will he finally splash the cash on the some serious attacking talent, signalling a deeper role for Wilshere long term, signing a Mario Gotze or Stevan Jovetic? Questions, questions, questions, but we all can agree, very exciting ones.

Cheers for reading,

Be Happy,

Ben

Norwich review: Mostly grumpy, ultimately happy

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Football really is quite a conundrum of a sport. If you take just the 95 odd minutes that you tend to watch the actual action take place, you can watch the majority of it and be thoroughly upset, yet still end up elated and happy come full time and for the rest of your weekend.

That was my observation from yesterday. I sat watching the game and for 80 minutes I was fairly grumpy. Yet for ten minutes Arsenal were on song and the result meant the afternoon and evening was spent in a happy mood rather than a vexed one. It’s why the old cliche works I guess – football is a results business. That’s all that really matters.

As expected yesterday, Arsene shuffled his pack ever-so-slightly with the departure of Mertesacker through suspension, Monreal through rotation and Rosicky through injury the only changes from last weeks starting XI. And as the team kicked off I think everyone was happy with the line up and expectant for us to put Norwich to the sword. But that never really happened, did it? The first half was one of little chances, mostly coming from the home side, as you’d expect. Chris Hughton had no intention of coming to The Emirates and having a go at The Arsenal, so he set up his team to be compact, press hard and try to catch us out through set pieces and maybe the odd counter. That’s not a slight on Norwich, I hasten to add; they have limited resources within their side and picking up a point at The Emirates through frustrating the home team was always going to be Plan A.

So the first half passed by with little of anything concrete for us to get too excited about. Giroud had a half-chance header off the top of the bar and Gervhino should have done more on two occasions with a 1-on-1 and a drive into the box, but he was having one of his ‘being Gervhino’ days and so on both occasions the home fans were left rueing his unpredictability and general inability to look like he has any kind of control of his limbs.

The second half didn’t exactly start with an onslaught of biblical proportions either. Norwich were content to sit deep with yellow bodies all over the place, only venturing forward for the occasional corner or set piece. And we weren’t looking like the side that had picked up three wins on the bounce. So it was no surprise when Norwich took the lead. Some Norwich player drove past Gibbs on the left hand side of our penalty box and, with a touch of the Gervhino about him, tripped over his own feet to win a free kick for the away side. Later, Chris Hughton would bemoan the decisions of the officials at the other end, but I’d suggest he take those yellow and green blinkers off and look at his teams’ own bit of fortune that led to a goal. Then perhaps he could climb down from what he believes is some kind of moral high ground and realise that in the grand scheme of things, the officials got just as many results wrong for us as we’ll as agin us.

We all know we can’t defend corners or set pieces, so there was almost a sense of inevitability as the ball was chipped to the back post, for Turner to nod the ball in unchallenged. I’ve given up talking about how we can’t defend with zonal marking. I’m not going through it again.

So once again we’d need to dig deep and produce something that would salvage points from the game. This is the point for which I must praise Arsene Wenger. We all bemoan his lack of tactical awareness or decision making, especially when it comes to changing a game, but yesterday he got it spot on. He didn’t wait until 75 minutes, he simply gave his subs five minutes to warm up after the Norwich goal and sent on Podolski and Walcott for Gervhino and Wilshire. Both players had, it’s fair to say, been pretty poor for us up until that point. Perhaps it was a little bit of rustiness from Jack, but we all know Gervhino has a stinker in his locker, so that came as no real surprise.

The substitutions were just the tonic. Suddenly we looked more of a threat. We popped the ball around with a bit more purpose and just before the penalty Giroud chested a lovely ball down for Podolski to rattle the bar. I’d love to say the feeling was that the goal was coming, but you never know with this Arsenal team, so when Giroud went down after some shirt pulling by some Norwich player, there was palpable relief in the stadium when the linesman raised his flag. This is where the ‘controversy’ started. The Norwich players and management were incensed that the referee didn’t give the challenge but the linesman did from 30 yards away. I have two observations here: 1) how can the linesman be any closer to see the play unless he walks onto the pitch, 2) what is the purpose of ‘referees assistants’ if it isn’t to assist the referee from a different angle if they see infringements? Let’s also bear in mind that I believe this was the same ref that decided to decline a stonewaller for us a couple of weeks ago when Giroud was clattered by Taylor (happy to be corrected there though, as I’m not 100%). Let’s also not forget that it was in fact a clear penalty. So these factors being the case, why did I hear various people in the media crying over the decision? Oh, wait a second I know, because its ‘plucky Norwich’. Balderdash. A foul is a foul and a foul in the box is a penalty. Move on.

If the canaries felt hard done by on the first goal, they can have no complaints on the second. After joining proceedings five minutes earlier, The Ox exchanged a lovely one-two with Giroud and found himself in space beyond the Norwich back line, to stroke the ball into a defenders nightmare of a spot, a yard on the line. With Bunn nowhere to be seen, Giroud and Bassong challenged and the ball hit the back of the net. Fabulous stuff from The Ox who, after some recent impressive performances, I hope gets some starts soon. Perhaps even on Tuesday.

There was still time for an Arsenal implosion though, but thankfully it didn’t come, as Fabianski earned his weekly wage with a good save low down from Howson. And as the game ticked into injury time, Podolski made the points safe with a clinical left footed shot from just inside the box.

Three vital points, a step up into third, plus the chance to get clear daylight from our rivals with a performance and a win against Everton. But lets not get too carried away just yet. If we play like we did yesterday against Everton, they will ask more questions of us, so it’s important that the team is ready and willing to do the business against the blue half of Merseyside.

Until tomorrow people. I out.

My blogging curse hits Tomas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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