Tag Archives: Mikel Arteta

Everton: No Saturday sunshine stroll, but a very good performance overall

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What a result that was, eh? Isn’t it classic Arsenal though that you’d look at the final score and think it was a comfortable afternoon in the sunshine for Arsene’s young gents, but the final scoreline belies the tightness of this contest and the mental hurdle Arsenal overcame yesterday. In last week’s Podcast that Ben, Steve, Kris (who incidentally I met in the Tollington afterwards – a lovely chap) and I talked about the pressure on the team should they lose the game and how the season could effectively hinge on the result yesterday, given that we’re looking less likely by the day to win the Premier League, as well as the Champions League challenge that I can’t see us getting through. So the fact we managed to get through against yet another quality opponent in the cup bodes well for the team and keeps the momentum going.

Thankfully, despite a number of concerned Gooners thinking Arsene might hit up the team with a plethora of rotational changes, he named his strongest available side barring the goalkeeper and centre forward positions. I could see the logic in giving Fabianski and Sanogo the nod if I’m honest. Both played well in the last round against Liverpool and both deserved another start, with Giroud dropping to the bench. Koscienly hadn’t overcome his hamstring and even if he was fit, I suspect that Vermaelen was always going to be given a shot, having not started for a couple of months because of injury.

I thought we controlled most of the first half and seemed dominant for most of it. Mesut Ozil was superb and dictating the play along with Santi and The Ox. Perhaps it gives an indicator of how well we played that after the game I asked around a dozen Arsenal fans who their man-of-the-match was and there was a 50-50 split between The Ox and Ozil. It may have been the former who got us underway with a smart finish into the bottom right hand corner after a through ball from Santi, but for me this was Ox’s day as he was at the centre of everything that was good. He created chances, was able to get beyond his runners and even on the couple of occasions he lost the ball cheaply, he worked his socks off to win it back. His re-introduction into the first team after the Theo and Ramsey injuries has been very timely and if he continues this form for the remainder of the season you can see us finishing strongly.

Back to the man who needed a performance, Mesut Ozil, who I thought was great. He got the first goal, his square first time pass for Giroud’s second and Arsenal’s fourth was brilliant and he pulled the strings all afternoon. I also thought that we started to see a glimpse of the combination between Ozil and Cazorla that had us salivating at the beginning of the season. I lost count the number of times the two exchanged passes and it was fitting that it was Santi that drove at the Everton defence and slotted the ball to Ozil with perfect weight to get us one up within the first ten minutes.

We continued to create chances and Joel was forced into good saves from Sanogo and the Ox. But as always with The Arsenal there’s a fragility somewhere and we were given a kick in the nuts on the half hour mark when Barkley ran half the length of the pitch to put a ball to Mirallas who miskicked to Lukaku. Much will be made of the Barkley run I’m sure, but for me there were two elements that contrived to stop us from breaking down that passage of play. Firstly, you could see that Flamini was going to go towards Barkley but having already been booked moments earlier, was hesitate to do his usual ‘take one for the team’. Secondly, the positioning of Vermaelen was shocking and if I’m being kind, I’d say he’s a little ring-rusty. However, as Jamo pointed out after the game over a post-match pint in The Tolly, Vermaelen’s positioning has always been a weak part of his game and when Lukaku stroked the ball home for his goal, Vermaelen was marking fresh air between the penalty spot and the D. He made a ricket early in the first half too which let in Lukaku and it was only the profligacy of Barkley that stopped us from going behind. Again, let’s not take up today’s blog with too much negativity and suggest that it was just lack of match sharpness that was a cause of his drops in concentration.

The second half promised more of an even footing, with Everton retaining a bit more possession, but Fabianski wasn’t really ever called into any major action that I can recall. I thought we did very well in negating the width that I mentioned yesterday and I don’t remember Baines and Coleman getting in behind our fullbacks as much as they did at The Emirates in December. Perhaps that is because the outlets of The Ox and Santi on our attacking wings were enough to keep Everton occupied, as both were a handful all afternoon. In fact it was the Ox that won the penalty through his trickery getting beyond Barry and getting clipped. No question that it was a penalty. But with Clattenberg determined to give us a nervous afternoon, he decided that the penalty needed to be retaken because of Giroud encroaching into the box before it was kicked. I understand the letter of the law and why he blew for it to be retaken, but i’m afraid when you have goalkeepers rushing off their line and rarely you have a referee asking for it to be retaken, lack of consistency dictates that he should have let it slide. Either blow up for everything or nothing in my book.

Two-one up and still nervous, Giroud showed that he likes goals at The Emirates by getting two to round off the afternoon and give us plenty of reasons to be cheerful for the rest of our weekend. The first was very well taken actually, given how quickly it was pinged at him from Sagna and the second was a counter-attacking goal that just oozed Arsenal class. Santi out wide to Rosicky, in field to Ozil who without looking and without taking a touch, squared to an unmarked Giroud to slot home and send us off to Wembley. If Ozil needed his goal as a confidence boost, Giroud needed his two in equal measures.

So we’re off to Wembley and today we’ll find out who we’re up against towards the end of the afternoon when the draw is announced. I think we’ll be looking at Moneychester City in the semi’s and whilst I don’t agree with playing the semi’s at a venue that should be reserved for the final, it will be nice to head back there for some Arsenal-related football after a few tough years of late.

until tomorrow, where all eyes now turn to Mission Impossible in Munich.

Stoke; The return of ‘The Feeling’ is welcome

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Happy Saturday to you, my fellow Gooners. I don’t know about you, but its first thing in the morning (had to drop the Management off at the airport – working in Dubai for a week :-( ) and I’m starting this blog with a little bit of apprehension ahead of today’s game. Don’t get me wrong, I think we can win it and I hope that we will, but I have ‘the feeling’ back. I remember it well. It was the ‘feeling’ I got when we were fighting for the league against United in the first half of Arsene’s reign. It was the nervousness and apprehension ahead of every single match leading up to the last ten or 11 games in a season, knowing that we were still in the race for the title and knowing that we have our own destiny in our hands. Silverware is still most certainly in our sights.

We do have our own destiny in our own hands. If we win all remaining eleven games we will be Champions. That’s a fact. That we have a host of extremely difficult matches in order to do that, as well as the probability that we will unlikely actually be able to win all of those games, still doesn’t detract from the pure cold, hard, facts that we are masters of our own destiny.

But it starts with today’s game against Stoke. Lose or draw today and not only is it more than likely not going to be in our hands any more, but with the run of games we have coming up thereafter, it won’t exactly have Gooners shouting that ‘I believe’ from rooftops, will it? The margins when you get to this stage of the season are so fine that, if you’re going to lift that Premier League trophy at the end, you really do need to take advantage of every opportunity. Today is an opportunity to keep the pressure up on an away ground in which we’ve won once in six attempts. Stoke – aka The land of Mordor, birthplace of Orcs and Goblins – represent a very real and very difficult threat to our assault on the league. They have already dispatched United (admittedly less of a feat these days), as well as picked up draws against Chelski and Moneychester City and have always been difficult to beat. Indeed, the bookies reflect that in their assessment of the odds. Arsenal are of course seen as favorites, but I’d expect slightly shorter odds from a team that sit just three points off the relegation spaces, so clearly history has played its part in the thinking of the bookmakers.

Will history play a part in today’s game? It’s hard to tell actually. The local Stoke regional rag has certainly been doing its level best to try to mask the deficiencies of this current Stoke sides form this season. Nobody likes a Tony Pulis, but it’s hard to imagine that he would have a well-drilled Stoke side in the same position they currently occupy under Hughes. The need and requirement of the locals in Orcsville was for a more expansive style of football, which they have, but it looks at times as though that has been at the expense of what is at the core of this team – built up over a number of years – and I wonder if that straying away from what they know i.e. longer-balls, target men receiving and relying on set pieces, has been a cause for them not picking up as many points as they probably would have imagined. History too seems to have played its part in trying to rile up both Stoke and Arsenal fans, with Stoke chairman Peter Noakes talking yet again about the Ramsey incident, as well as a quite ludicrous article from Danny Higginbotham about how Arsenal have ‘no character’. I am pretty sure Arsene isn’t the type to stick up a copy of articles in the dressing room before the game, but I hope comments like that filter through to the Arsenal team, because we have character and we’ve shown it on numerous occasions this season.

Anyway, regardless of that, there’s a job that The Arsenal need to do today and if the team plays to its full potential, then we should be able to pick up the three points. The team have had a week to prepare and recharge their batteries in preparation for today’s game, so there can be no excuses on ‘tired legs’ and we have to see a pumped Arsenal team. I think we will. There might be questions about who plays at left back, but the rest of the defence should remain relatively settled. In midfield I wonder if Arsene will offer to reinforce the two anchored midfield roles with Flamini and Arteta, with a three sitting in front of them of Cazorla, Ozil and I hope Rosicky. If you read my pieces regularly, you might have come across my Rosicky ‘love-in’ during the week, so I’m advocating that we thrust our ‘Little Mozart’ into the front line and see if he can’t make music in amongst the snarling Stokies. Up top I’d expect a Giroud hopefully buoyed by his two goals against Sundrland, as well as a full week in which to recharge.

For Stoke they’ll most likely welcome back German clobbermeister Robert Huth, as well as Ireland and Etherington, but thankfully we’re spared that bloke Assaidi, who loves a wonder goal. I hate wonder goals scored against us. Not least because they get replayed in adds again and again, so I hope there is nobody in the Stoke team that pops up with one of those today.

Anyway, I shall be watching the game from a pub in Ware with my fingers crossed hoping that we don’t have to go through hell and back to collect the points we need to stay level with Chelski who, let’s face it, won’t drop points against a terrible Fulham team.

Catch y’all tomorrow.

Jose wants his ball back; we need club solidarity

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That Jose Mourhino’s a funny fella, isn’t he? He reminds me of the kid back in primary school that thought he was popular, but everyone really hated him because he was a total hypocrite and couldn’t take it when somebody dished it back to him. Or in secondary school when there was this small kid who was playing for Charlton’s youth team who, when he had the ball would dance around you and you couldn’t tackle him because he’d get the hump and want to start a fight, yet when he didn’t have the ball in the playground he always went in a little to late and a little too hard.

Yesterday, Arsene did the Premier League equivalent of rob him of the ball on the playground and start dribbling with it, as he tried on a bit of the mind games for size and yes, unsurprisingly Jose didn’t like it and accused Arsene of being a ‘specialist in failure’. I’ve got no problem with the Portuguese running his mouth off, much like I have no problem with Arsene spicing it up a bit, although yesterday was another classic example of Le Boss being asked a question and giving his opinion. As opposed to the Irritating One who will venture an opinion that suits his agenda whether or not he’s been asked a question designed to illicit a spicy response or not.

I do have a problem with his hypocrisy though. ‘If you can’t take it, don’t dish it’ my mum used to say and the Chelsea manager should probably have his wife tattoo that motto on his forearm to remind him every day.

I’ve got to say though, I hope that the war of words doesn’t offer any kind of distraction, or that we end up falling foul of those annoying Chavs by seeing them win the league. We don’t normally have football karma falling on our side like they do, so I don’t like tempting fate by hearing that Arsene is having a bit of a poke at some of the other playground kids, because we usually end up with the bloodied nose that, in this instance, would be a trophyless campaign.

Anyway, Arsene extols the virtues of focusing only on ourselves and I should take his lead for the rest of today’s blog, focusing on Arsene related news, because that’s all we ever want to talk about, right? The man himself had his press conference yesterday and spoke about the return of the Flamster, who I think will play against the scousers tomorrow, as well as the fact that Santi was ill in bed and might be a doubt for Sunday. If that does turn out to be true it will be a blow, but hopefully it will give Podolski an opportunity to get some game time in a big match. To my mind he’s a big game player and, whatever Arsene’s reasons for not favoring him any more, you can’t help but think that if he plays he’ll have an impact at some stage. With every passing game it appears obvious that the manager doesn’t fancy him and he’ll be shipped out in the summer, but when you have such a clinical weapon in your team, you’d be foolish not to use him.

His press conference also brought a little bit of information about Sagna too. And when I mean ‘little’ I really mean ‘little, because all Arsene said was ‘no he’s not close to signing. IT’s an ongoing process’. I think it’s fair to say that ‘ongoing process’ includes some succession planning for next season, because we’ve seen this before and the story only ends one way: an exit from the club. I just hope that Sagna doesn’t get a call from United, City, Liverpool or any other English based club, because I think we all still believe that Sagna has a good couple of years in front of him and it would be very difficult to watch him play for an opponent week-in, week-out in the Premier League next season.

I also thought the rhetoric from Arteta was interesting yesterday, as it appeared on the official site, with Mr Lego-hair calling for all players, management, directors and fans to stick together at this time. It was interesting because, off the back of the United draw, there was some booing that took place inside the stadium – reaction to the frustration of not turning over an average United team of course – but when senior players like tricky Mickey are making comments like that on the site it shows that the reaction of the crowd clearly plays a big part in the mentality and response of the team. Indeed, I saw some people on Twitter state that Big Per looked visibly disappointed when the game finished and he was clapping the home support, yet getting that reaction. Hey, I’m not going to pretend that I’m ‘holier than thou’ and that I’ve never booed – I have and it’s always in the heat of the moment to which I usually regret a few hours afterwards – but I think our Spaniard is right and we need to show solidarity if we’re going to get through this season with silverware.

Arsene also made comments about the importance of the fans too, but did temper his comments by saying that the players need to justify the faith that the fans put in. I don’t know why, but I’ve said a few times now that the atmosphere has changed over the last year. It was as if the Bayern home game left us all so deflated, so rock bottom, that we all took a long hard look at ourselves and said ‘well, it can’t get any worse, we might as well cheer our hearts out even when the team is playing shocking’. Thankfully, that mentality seems to have remained over the last year (with the help of some remarkable consistency too, mind) and was recognised by Le Boss when he admitted that the fans were behind the team even at 4-0 down against Liverpool last weekend. I think those kind of moments have a big impact on the players and I suspect they’ll want to repay the faith on Sunday afternoon.

Let’s just wait and see.

NLD preview: nervousness with a wee dram of confidence

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Hooray, hooray, it’s Derby Day!

Nothing better than the feeling of anticipation that envelopes you before a local derby. And what with today being an FA Cup affair, it seems to have a little bit more intrigue about it today, so I am an excited Gooner going into a home tie against the old enemy. Today is an opportunity to make another statement in our season. Today we can end the Spuds hope of a domestic trophy (although I realise they are still in with a chance of European success). Today we can take a hammer blow to their confidence.

But what makes the NLD more exciting – in a cack your pants kind of way – is that this fixture could go any way. Yes, we’ve got used to having the upper hand in terms of our league finishing position, yes we’ve beaten them more times than they have us, but rarely do you get an easy afternoon and that all adds to the feeling in my stomach which makes this match all the more intriguing.

It’s a game that has bought about 75 Arsenal wins, 45 draws and 54 wins for ‘them’ which, when you consider the number of trophies we have won, plus the fact we’ve finished above them for so many times particularly in the most recent couple of decades, the win ration between the two clubs seems quite close. It’s a cliché, but that stat clearly shows that anything can happen in the NLD and quite often, it does.

Are you nervous today? I am, but it’s a nervousness with excitement. It’s a nervousness with a wee dram of confidence, because we have once again found form after a mini blip the other side of Christmas and we find ourselves going into the game off the back of three victories. We might have a bit of an injury conundrum or two that need overcoming, but any player that takes to the field today will be confident, so we should too. Some have suggested that playing  a resurgent Totteringham now is possibly not the best time to be rocking up against the lilywhites, but I liked Arseblog’s comments yesterday about Theo’s response to the question about whether or not it was a good time to play them. He’s right, it was a stupid question, Theo’s right about it perhaps not being a good time to play us and Arseblog’s right about the football brain fart that seems to have clouded the journo’s memory that funnily enough, we’re actually top of the league.

But league form goes out of the window today, and unfortunately they are quite capable of getting the win or taking us back to their gaff for a replay, so hearing Arsene say this gets treated as a league game was music to my ears yesterday. We need to be on it from the start because they will want to carry on from their decent win at Old Trafford by taking another big club scalp. And of course, it would just happen to be that time of the year when Greedybayor actually decides he wants to get a few goals, having been told there could be another contract up for grabs for him. He’s still getting wages paid by Moneychester City at the moment, so if he wants the Spuds to go anywhere near half the wages he currently gets, he’s going to have to put in some shifts, which is why we’re seeing such a resurgence from the Emmanuel the Mercenary. If I sound bitter, it’s because I have a nasty feeling that he’s going to do what he seems to have done nearly every time he plays us and score. There’s no doubt he’s a handful when he wants to be, but he seems to reserve his best football for us and by the sounds of it he’s managed to recover from being stretched off in midweek to play again today. That’s why I hope Arsene keeps his normal back four and we see Big Per and Kos at the back, flanked by Sagna and Monreal (with Gibbs still injured).

In the midfield I look at the possible Spuds line up of Capoue and Dembele and think that our three should include Arteta to marshal the Belgian’s movement, plus Arteta who can push forward if Capoue is sitting deeper. If they play the same team that lined up against United, it means Erikson will want to drift across the park and not operate as a natural winger, so with both Flamini and Arteta operating in front of the defence I think that works. Just in front of them, providing he’s fit – and the pictures of him training yesterday suggest so – I think we’ll see Ozil. On the left we’ll most likely have Cazorla and on the right will be Theo, with Poldi up top. The only position I think might be up for question will be if Arsene decides to insert Rosicky into the team, because Arsene does like playing the effervescent Czech in our big games when he’s fit. Plus, Arsene did admit that Tomas and NIcklas made a very positive impact against Cardiff, so I wonder if he will look at that game and decide that perhaps Santi should be dropped to the bench with Rosicky in from the start. Actually, now that I think about it, what about Jack? He’s had a couple of really good games and in my opinion was the best player against Cardiff, so relegated to the bench seems a little harsh, but I suppose it will depend on how Arsene feels over his bowl of cornflakes this morning. The important thing is that we’ve got options. And if we need to, we can change things around a bit, so there is plenty to be cheerful going into today’s game.

I hope we’ll be able to give them lot a tonking, but I suspect this will be a close encounter under the floodlights, so strap yourselves in, and get ready for the rollercoaster ride that is The Arsenal Vs Spuds.

Cardiff could prove to be a banana skin with injuries playing their part

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Hello there pop-pickers, and a Happy New year to you and all you know, love and drink with. It’s 2014, it’s the halfway point in the season and if you’re anything like me you’ve woken up this morning with a little recollection of the previous nights festivities, but more than anything else you’re feeling a little bit tired, having woken about five or six hours since you went to bed. Yes folks, in honour of this time of year I’ve decided to try to replicate the ‘fatigue’ factor we hear from Premier League managers, but through sleep deprivation rather than physical endurance like the players we all worship.

Today managerless Cardiff come to town to try to remove the bad taste of having a victory at home snatched from their grasp against struggling Sunderland at the weekend. They will see this game as an opportunity to try to steal some points themselves, because let’s face it, they are big underdogs today and so are not expected to pick up anything. I hate it when that happens, i.e. all the odds appear to be stacked against our opponents and nobody gives them a cat’s hell chance in winning the game, because usually the football fates conspire to deal us an unlucky blow. We’re The Arsenal after all – we don’t benefit from flukey ricochet’sor at least it doesn’t ever feel like it) or dodgy penalties in injury time to preserve a home record. Oh no, we get punished by the footballing gods because we didn’t sell our souls to the devil in favour of money, power or an odious manager who wants everything to revolve around himself.

The news after yesterday’s presser wasn’t grand from an Arsenal perspective. It turns out that Lee Probert was not content with trying to give Newcastle just about every foul they could muster, after the game he ordered a firing squad to ‘take out’ most of our players. Thankfully we got the boys on to the bus in super-quick time, so there was just a few surface wound bullet-hole injuries, which means we’ll have to see what happens with the fitness tests for Jack, Tomas, Theo, Thomas and Nacho.It would be a real surprise if all of the players missed the game today, but it’s not unheard of and if there are any risks on any players then Le Boss can’t take any chances. So It may be the most make-shift of teams that take to the field. You can obviously tell that topping the league on New Year’s Day wasn’t enough for the Footballing Gods: they must have us top the injury league table too now.

It is because of all these injuries, that it becomes really difficult to try to predict who will start come 3pm, but today will certainly be a chance for some of those players that haven’t played as regularly to get themselves some game time. I’d be surprised not to see Poldi and probably Bendtner start-up top and if Theo doesn’t shake off his knock, then expect to see Gnabry get a chance as well. That’s not a bad front three when you consider the walking wounded we have, but it is a three that hasn’t played together this season, so will need to get an understanding of one-another’s movements pretty sharpish. Sitting behind that possible attacking trio will be a midfield that I hope includes Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta. I haven’t picked Flamini because unless we hear otherwise, we’re looking at him potentially deputising for Monreal and Gibbs – both of whom might be injured – which is unfortunate timing to say the least but not unexpected in the Arsenal world. ‘It never rains, only pours’ is a phrase that comes to mind in that regard (injuries to players in the same position).

The back five – left back aside – could remain the same, which is the good bit of news, but I wonder if Arsene doesn’t give Big Per a rest today. I guess a lot will depend on how many other players we’ve got out, because he won’t want to change things around if he doesn’t have to, so whether Vermaelen and Koscielny take to the field today (if Thomas is declared fit), will probably depend on other positions more than anything else. I know there will be plenty of you telling me that Vermaelen and Koscienly doesn’t work as a central defensive pairing – and you’re preaching to the converted on that I assure you – but if there are times where we can give Per a little breather then I think we should try to do so.

As for our opponents today, well, unless Vincent Tan has decided that he’s going to take the reins (not unfeasible given the personality of the Cardiff City owner), Cardiff will have their assistant manager Dave Kerslake (I remember him from my Premier League sticker album in the 90s – had about 15 of him) picking the team and I believe they have no new concerns since the weekend. Thankfully, there will be no Craig Bellamy to irritate us, but their potency going forward will be through the handful that is Fraser Campbell and possibly a recall for Odemwingie. They will flood a five man-midfield and attempt to stifle us through their defensive bulldog Gary Medel, so it will be important that we are spreading the ball quickly and keep our heads in probing, because I think they will set out to frustrate today and hit us on the counter attack.

This is a game that we have all of the tools to win, regardless of who starts, but that doesn’t mean we will, as there is most certainly a banana skin ready to be thrown down by the Welshmen today.

Come on you reds!

How much rotation can we afford?

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It’s a tough one today. I’m up North with The Management’s family for Christmas who are all based in the North East, so it’s been a perfectly timed away match in terms of my attendance, but in terms of the opposition it’s not really the perfect time to play Newcastle. Flying high with seven wins out of nine, plus a comprehensive victory against Mark Hughes’ Stoke on Boxing Day, it makes for quite a challenge for The Arsenal to come away with three points come 4pm this afternoon.

What also doesn’t help is that Newcastle could afford to play in third gear after they dispatched their third goal of the game on Thursday. I watched the whole game on Boxing Day and the two sendings off allowed the Magpies to pop the ball around knowing they could wear down their opponents without much worry of running out of steam themselves.

Where there is hope, however, is the way that Stoke broke in amongst the defensive ranks of Newcastle before they lost their first man. Stoke were very bright and Newcastle looked leggy. There was also space for Charlie Adam to dictate the play in that midfield, so my hope is that Mesut and Santi – should they both play – get the same space with which to orchestrate proceedings. If that does happen, then we will create chances, hopefully we’ll also score enough goals to secure the three points.

I don’t know if Newcastle missed the defensive nature of Tiote, but they won’t have to worry about that today, as he returns from suspension to probably have another match of his life no doubt. He loves a game against Arsenal so I suspect he’ll be fired up and running his arse off for the whole game, probably steaming in to tackles, which we will need to be mindful of. Not least because of the last three times I’ve been up here to watch Newcastle, we’ve had players needlessly sent off for silly offences, so the hope is that we can avoid giving a man advantage today and make sure we punish those Geordies. Although after the referees we’ve been given in the last few weeks, I’m having expecting Mertesacker to be sent off for being drop-kicked in the head.

Rotation is the name of the game at this time of year, so I am left pondering what team Arsene will pick for his starting eleven this afternoon. Does Monreal deserve a recall into the side? Should the effervescent nature of Rosicky be called into action? Does Poldi’s impact surely mean that he makes it from the subs bench to the starting line up? As usual this season, there are lots of questions about who should start, but I do think we’ll see a bit of shuffling, but not much. Giroud looked a little off the pace against West Ham, but his inclusion in the team is a no brainer; if he’s going to be rested, it must surely be at home, so Cardiff on New Year’s Day would be a better option for the Frenchman to sit one out.

Either side of Olivier there must surely be a start for Theo and, with the display of Podolski a couple of days ago, I hope Arsene gives him the nod. In the middle of the park I wonder if Mesut should be given a rest, with Santi being given the option of playing in a more natural free role, like he was able to do last season. Sitting behind them I would opt for the defensive screen of Flamini and Arteta to protect the back four, as I think Arsene will be wary of the threat of Ben Arfa, Gouffran, Sissoko and Cabaye. Those four like to operate just behind a main striker like Cisse, so we’ll need players that can sit and control possession in midfield.

I think Kos will return today – we need our best central defensive pairing and that means Big Per and Laurent.

There’s no doubt we have the players and ability to beat Newcastle, but as with all games like this one today, I think the first 15 minutes will set the tone of the day. If we get at Newcastle and were even to score in that time, it quietens the crowd and allows us to take hold of the game, but if we allow them to dictate play initially then we could be in for a long day.

Come on you reds!

No sleep for me as Per plays Gandalf

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This may end up a short one today, it may also end up more rambly and nonsensical than usual, because I’ve had about four hours sleep and been awake since 4am this morning. Morning birds, dustbin men, colds; you’ve all made my ‘list’.

Today we’ll get an indication from Le Boss on who will be fit to face the toughest of domestic challenges this season and I think I speak for everyone in Goonerdom when I say:

Please let Sagna be fit.

Jenkinson has done a fine job filling in for the last three games, but this is the next level, to which we need our best back four. We’ll be up against the most free-scoringest of attack lines and I want to see us show the world how far we’ve come defensively which, unfortunately for Carl, means that I’m praying that the hair-braided one is back in contention.

It’s the best defence against the best attack this weekend and big Per knows what confidence a stellar showing can do for the team. He’s urged that the team stay united, together and show that they are ‘strong enough’, which we can all wholeheartedly endorse. He’ll be integral to that and we’ll probably need him to continue his impression of Gandalf the Grey by telling Aguero et al that they shall not pass. His positioning and those long, leggy blocks of his are becoming somewhat of a trademark, so hopefully he can strengthen his reputation against a team that will test us on more than one occasion. As far as I’m concerned, forget Suarez and Sturridge, Moneychester City’s front line at home has been the most potent weapon, but we have the blunt instruments to take the sting out of their sails. I couldn’t really decide which metaphor to go for then, so I though I’d just mesh a load together, in case you think I’m going do-lally. Which I probably am to be fair. Sleep depravation does that to a Suburbanite don’t you know.

Big Per has also been speaking about how a tough European draw can be a good thing for the team. He thinks that it’s better to have an opponent you can really concentrate on. That sounds a little churlish personally, but I can see what he’s trying to say, i.e. Focused minds means they will go into each game knowing that there is no room for slip ups. I would have preferred to save our focused games for the latter stages, but hey, we did it the hard way when we got to the final (Madrid, Juventus, Villareal), so perhaps that is just how we have to do it. Let’s also not forget that we have a big squad that I believe is capable of big things.

Anyway, Per’s partner Lolo has also had his two penneth worth and spoken of the need to keep the lead we have in the title and be ready to fight at all games. All fairly obvious stuff, but it’s interesting that the official site and some of the papers today are picking up on stories from the defenders, because it’s clearly felt that we’re going to be under the kosh for long periods of the game tomorrow. That may be true, but to dismiss our attacking and creative players would be foolish in my opinion, and when you look at how City’s side have hardly been a bastion of defensive fortitude this season, I think we’ll get chances. More of a preview tomorrow.

Finally for today, Tricky Micky has been talking up our chances against any team in Europe and, the. Napoli defeat aside, you can see where he’s coming from. It was a disappointing red card for him which means he’ll miss the first leg of the next round, but with the need to get goals going into a tricky away game (whoever it is) for the second leg, it may prove to be a blessing in disguise. It will force Arsene into playing a more creative midfielder and that can only be a good thing when you’re at home. I suspect he might have a big role to play tomorrow along with the Flamster, although I’ll save any of my team line ups for tomorrow.

As for now, I’m off to consume a sugar free energy drink that has red animals on the front of the can, that shall remain nameless until the day that they send me lifetime supplies to consume at will.

Napoli: handbraketacular

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Well just try and pick the bones out of that one, eh? I mean, I don’t really know what to make of last nights game, so trying to evaluate the performance today becomes a tricky one. We lost 2-0, but looked in control of the match for the most part, yet still had 10 seconds at the end when it was a bit nervy, had a man sent off in Arteta, then we found out we’d finished second in the group due to a late Dortmund winner. Hopefully they’ve used up all of their good luck on that game in the South of France.

When the starting line up was announced an hour or so before kick off, I have to admit that I was a little surprised. Aside from Ramsey dropping to the bench it looked like pretty much the strongest Arsenal team Le Boss could put out. I thought he’d dabble in a bit of rotation and maybe have someone to leave up top with pace when we’re under the kosh, but Arsene opted for consistency and ‘getting the job done’ above the Championship/Football Manager tactics that I would have employed. Hey, I guess that’s why he’s paid the big bucks, right?

Although there was that one moment, when the ball broke to Giroud who was in on goal if he had that half of yard of extra pace in the first half, so perhaps a Walcott on the pitch could have made a difference there. But C’est la Vie and all that – we still progressed.

And that’s what has to be the overall plus point from these group stages. We’ve come into the hardest Champions League group and qualified with 12 points. We can all curse our luck when we get Bayern, Madrid or Barcelona in the next round, but if somebody told you that we’d qualify from our group at the end of the draw in September, we’d have taken it with bells on.

I found the game itself very strange to watch. At one stage in the second half the stats on attempts on goal came up and it was 12-3 in Napoli’s favour. But personally I felt that it belied the truth of the game; we were in control for 72 minutes and even The Management said ‘they look like a different team to last season. They are all so confident’. It was a display that was Arsenal performing within themselves, that’s what I thought, as we ensured that we snuffed out any danger of a hammering by being defensively resolute and restricting the Italians to pot shots. Think back to the first half: do you remember Szczesny having to make any world class saves? I certainly don’t. It was as if our defence and, probably the whole team actually, we’re able to hold Napoli at arms length for the vast majority of the match. So whilst it’s disappointing to lose, there are certainly positives to take away.

I also thought that by playing within ourselves, perhaps we were conserving our energy for Saturday lunchtime against Moneychester City. Watching the first half I noted how confident we were, but also how the team didn’t seem to look leggy at all, perhaps an instruction from Arsene for ‘a little bit handbrake today’ had fed through?

It’s hard to say that Arteta’s sending off for a second bookable offence (justified I thought – you can’t make challenges like he did whilst already on a yellow – certainly not in Europe) had a massive impact on the result, because it didn’t feel like it to me, but it must have done. We conceded on 72 and 92 minutes and the sending off have the crowd a lift as well as an extra man advantage to Napoli. But it felt like we were still in control, even at one down, so I wasn’t really nervous at all until the last few seconds after the second goal. Thankfully the referee was one of those types that just don’t really care for injury time, so having blown up four seconds after the 45th minute in the first half, he peeped his whistle almost dead on 93 minutes. Perhaps he wanted to get home quicker, but I don’t see why, because the stadium was only half full. I don’t know whether that’s because Napoli are in trouble with the footballing authorities, but with few people in the lower tier, it made for eery viewing at times.

I don’t think there’s too much to take from the game really. 2-0 suggests that we took a bit of a beating, but it never felt like that from behind this Gooners eyes, only that we felt we didn’t need exert ourselves. I hope that’s the case because what we can’t afford this Saturday is for there to be some tired legs out there. City were able to rotate on Tuesday and their home form is such that they don’t need any more advantages than they already have. More on that tomorrow no doubt, but for today we must just be happy that we’re in to the pot for the next round, ready for a tough draw whilst Chelski get the easiest buy possible after winning their ‘Group of Ease’. We do it the hard way. That’s how we like it.

Maybe.

Praising more ‘Arsenalisation’ and talking intelligent defence

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So, ITV finally got their grubby mits on the FA Cup tie between us and them and low and behold, it’s a 5.15pm Saturday kick off for us in January. Crazy when you think that there will be 9,000 of them making their way to the right side of North London and a whole afternoon of boozing to be had in the process.

But as far as ITV are concerned it’s a small price to pay for ratings. Nothing more we can do but accept and move on I guess.

So let’s move on to the clubs unofficial announcement that had us all in a flutter last night when Ivan admitted the Dennis Bergkamp statue is done and dusted and the club are just waiting for the appropriate moment to unveil. Superb stuff and I’m sure you’ll all join me in saying ‘about time’! But it’s good work by the club and I have to praise those involved in the decision making when it comes to the ‘Arsenalisation’ project that has happened over the last couple of years. I don’t know about you, but it finally feels like the stadium has some personality with it, which started with ditching the horrible coloured ‘quadrants’, then included the erecting of the clock in the ground, but has continued with the murals, famous quotes and statues peppering the inner and outer walls as well as the pavement outside. It’s an example of a club that is slick with its PR, of that there is no doubt, but it also shows that they listen to fans. You only have to look at the Hicks/Gilette era at Liverpool, or the Glazer’s current tenure at United, to see how some fans are pretty much ignored. I have been critical of the clubs PR machine and spin at times, so when they do things right, it’s only fair that they get a good dosage of positive goodwill thrown their way. Good ol’ Arsenal! I’m proud to say that name…

On field news has been plentiful since the draw on Sunday and we’ve had Tricky Mickey praising his former club, Flamini talking about the five point cushion but stressing concentration and focus, then yesterday we got a little bit of Jenko telling us how hard the back five have worked together defensively and how together and close they are as a unit. It is all pretty positive stuff coming out from the camp, which you’d expect when your five points clear, but what has been self-evident this season is how the team doesn’t seem to have let themselves crumble under adversity. Villa at home, Dortmund at home and United away; each time we’ve lost we’ve dusted ourselves off and looked to ‘go again’ in the next game. This is something new for Arsene’s team but perhaps says more about the individuals than the manager. A year ago we were all questioning whether or not this side were actually any good – quality wise – and many like myself lamented the possible decline in quality of players as we became less competitive challenging for the league. Not so any more as those naysayers (I hold my hands up too on this) are now happy to admit our concerns were nought but a slight breeze and what now feels like a calm ocean cruise. It’s delightful to be on deck I have to say. Those players have forged a strong bond as a collective and through a unified sense of having their backs against the wall, they have risen to the challenges laid before them with great aplomb.

Sometimes you get a machine with all the best parts and it doesn’t quite work. Then sometimes you get a machine that hasn’t got the best parts individually, but when joined with a host of other parts it just clicks. Maybe that’s what has happened at Arsenal.

As for our defence, well, they probably deserve more credit than any other part of the team. This time last year we were haemorrhaging goals left, right and centre and the only thing that saved us was our attackers by banging in more than (some) of our opponents. When you look at the change in our play now you see that a title tilt is built on defensive stability, which is just what we’ve got. There’s also something that I heard from Ben when we were in the pub before the Everton game that kind of made sense. He said that for about a year now the club has placed more emphasis on looking at the opponents strengths and weaknesses rather than the old-skool Arsene tactic of believing that as long as he has eleven better players on the pitch he doesn’t need to focus too much on tactics. It’s refreshing to hear the club have adopted this approach – although that lovely stubborn old manager of ours would probably never admit it – and it shows a maturity and focus on taking each opponent on their merits and looking at says to unpick their style in order to secure three points.

I think we probably saw an example of this focus on the opposition at the weekend. Yes, it didn’t quite come off and yes we weren’t at our best, but it’s very unusual for Arsenal to sit off as much as they did with Everton in the middle of the park, so I wonder if the team knew that they could sit off and neutralise Everton when they have the ball in defence or the middle of the park. I’ve seen articles about how Everton had more passing and possession, but when I think back to the chances they created during their ‘dominant’ first half, I can’t think of many saves Szczesny had to make. Was this because we had a game plan, but just failed to execute at the sharp pointy edge of our formation? Or is this just a coincidence? I’m not so sure.

I think we’re seeing an intelligent Arsenal. An Arsenal that knows what is needed on a game-by-game basis and is fulfilling the criteria it sets out and has done so successfully to date. There’s a long way to go, a lot more hurdles to overcome, but the signs are positive.

Catch you tomorrow.

Cardiff: success the sum of many parts

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Well that couldn’t have gone any more to plan yesterday, could it? I mean, if you’re going to head away from home to a team that’s already picked up a few ‘big club’ scalps already, you’re looking first and foremost to ensure that you quieted the home fans early, then make sure that you pick up the points by knocking in a goal or two later on.

As every week goes by, we’re finding out more and more about this team and how they’re up for the fight, with yesterday being another example. A tricky away fixture against a Cardiff team that have proven themselves to be good at home was ticked off the fixture list with a 3-0 in that, whilst not as convincing as the score-line suggests, was still three points that I think we deserved.

What I love about this team is that everyone seems to be in form. We’re not a team with one superstar that drags us through games, we’re a collective of players that all play their part, each one contributing in his own way to getting results.

Take Szczesny for example. He made a superb save from a Frazier Campbell header when we were still at 1-0 that would have swung the pendulum of momentum in Cardiff’s direction and who knows what would have happened if the Welsh side would have pegged us back. He’s showing his maturity and form in every game, but the best thing about his form is that for the vast majority of the match he’s watching, which means he’s only called into action a couple of times in 90 minutes and so his concentration levels have to be at their pinnacle. And the reason he’s only being called in for questioning? A defensive meaner than my year nine geography teacher. And he was Welsh and from Cardiff. The back four we have is settled, composed and strong as a unit, with yesterday showing exactly what each of them are good for. Mertesacker is making a fabulous habit of just stepping in and breaking down attacks with his long legs, whilst Koscienly sweeps up any balls that get beyond him, which means that we’re building a foundation at the back which is causing issue for attacks across the land. The two full backs GIbbs and Sagna got forward as often as possible and for the most part were acting as wingers. That afforded our creative midfielders of Wilshere, Ozil and Ramsey licence to roam across the pitch and rotate in different positions.

So let’s talk about that midfield, shall we? The rotation and movement of the three above opened up space all over the park and the first goal was a classic example of the space that our midfielders get as a result. Mesut picked the ball up on the left hand side just outside the penalty box, then floated in a sumptuous ball almost on the penalty spot, where Rambo was unmarked and able to loop over Marshall. There wasn’t really anything that the ‘keeper could have done but it was a fabulously worked goal at a time where we were in the ascendency. Jack was playing well too. He was drifting past players like he did on Tuesday night and he was showing that his form appears to be coming back after a stuttering first ten games of the season. He probably should have scored too early on, smashing a ball unluckily against the corner section of the bar and post. And Mesut, good old Mesut, the man who has supposedly failed to impress if you read the media hyperbole, had a fantastic game and looked to all the world worthy of his lofty price tag. He roamed from left to right, found his man with consummate ease on two of the three goals and it was as if he’d heard some of the media berating he’s been getting and responded in the best way possible. No Bendtner, not by getting yourself in the back pages for doing something stupid, but by getting on the pitch and having a blinder.

I thought tricky Micky Arteta also had a good game in front of the back four and looked strong in the tackle, composed on the ball and hovered in front of the back four giving them an outlet for distributing the ball throughout the game.

There was even time for a Theo cameo and an assist to his name with the third goal and second for Ramsey.

The only two players who didn’t have it all their own way were Santi and Giroud. Santi was a bit quiet again, but he still got involved in the play and played a solid 7/10 in my book. But perhaps it’s indicative of the way we’re playing that a 7/10 is viewed as a ‘quiet’ game. He’s still to find his top form and the form of last season, but he’d too good not to get there, so I’m not too worried at this stage. AS for Olivier, well, it just wasn’t his day in front of goal. He still held the ball up well, led the line and was strong as always, but he just couldn’t bag a goal. Although the bizarre situation in the first half where he was through on goal with just the ‘keeper to beat yet thinking he was offside stopped, despite the lino not raising his flag, probably summed up his day: good run into the box but just lacked that killer touch in front of goal. Never mind; he was the hero last week, but with this team we have enough collective responsibility that it was somebody else’s turn to be the hero.

So we sit this morning seven points clear at the top of the league and although it will not be the same by the end of the evening tonight, it is still lovely to watch Match of The Day knowing that we’re building a bit of wiggle room with our lead that will afford us the ability for a blip or two. Now it’s on to Hull on Wednesday night and, if we can pick up another three points there followed by three against Everton next Sunday, I’ve no doubt we’ll have pulled away from our rivals a little bit more than even today.

Enjoy the Sunday folks.