Tag Archives: Santi Cazorla

What were we all worried about?

Posted on by
Reply

Well how about that then folks, eh? As if we weren’t nervous enough, the Jolly Olde Arsenal had to go and leave it a whole half before deciding to kill the game off. Isn’t that just ‘The Arsenal Way’ though? Winning games and finishing off the season early just wouldn’t really be how we do it, would it? No, we have to go and be all like “hey man, last minute points are all the rage. They’re like, totally narly, ‘n stuff”.

And so it came to pass that The Arsenal decided to make their route to (potential) Champions League glory go down to the wire against a quite frankly – and I can say it now the game has ended – poor Wigan side that get exactly what they paid for after only trying for the last ten games or so in the season.

I mean honestly, I don’t want to seem like I’m rubbing salt into the wound here, but you can’t be that poor defensively for most of the season and expect to stay up at the third or forth time of asking. Can you? I couldn’t believe some of the comments I read from neutrals yesterday. How can you say that Wigan are not the third worst team in the league? THEY FINISHED THIRD FROM BOTTOM! I shake my head at the stupidity of some people.

Anyway, that’s enough of talking about opposition, lets talk about The Arsenal. The side that was announced was as we could probably expect given our current form and options with Giroud suspended. The front three of Cazorla, Walcott and Podolski were as good as we could hope for, and the creative influence of Rosicky in midfield was certainly welcome from this observers perspective.

The game started exactly how we would have wanted it to. Similar to the United game, Arsenal bossed the opening exchanges and looked comfortable in possession. I was joined by fellow Suburban Gooner Ben Leeder and all talk pre-game was about how Arsenal would start. Would it be nervy? Would it be swashbuckling? Thankfully it was more of the latter. We zipped the ball around on the sodden Emirate surface with a purpose that showed a belief in our ability. Cazorla looked like his mercurial self and Walcott was clearly up for the game.

But it was the efficient German Lukas Podolski that gave us the perfect tonic for the evening, nodding home a corner whilst essentially unmarked on eleven minutes. Again, I don’t want to seem like I’m kicking a team whilst their down, but the fact that Podolski was inside the box with the easiest of tap in headers, should tell you all you need to know about this Wigan team defensively.

So it was that we continued to dominate the half and create chances on a soaking Tuesday night. Which almost always invariably leads to a goal against the run of play when you’re Arsenal. And it did. Maloney made the most of an opportunity to jump into Arteta to allow ref Mike Dean to award a free-kick, and he dispatched beyond the flailing arms of Szczesny. Personally I thought that the ‘keeper should have done better, but there you go. Half-time, 1-1, the nerves returning to the collective of fans I shared a couple of jars with during the interval.

The second half had a couple of wobbly moments at the beginning, with Szczesny partially making up for his concession of the goal with a tidy save from Kone, but most of the second half was Arsenal and as the time ticked away you could see Wigan had very little left in the tank. The ball from Cazorla to Theo for his goal was sublime, but perhaps it was that fatigue that allowed the Spaniard to find acres of space on the right hand side to put the perfect delivery for Walcott to scramble home. That’s three in three for Theo, and one hopes that he can make it at least four from four on Sunday.

There’s been a lot of talk about Podolski and whether he can play as a central striker, but the fact that he bagged a brace from the central striking position yesterday will have filled many of our hearts with glee. We have undoubtedly missed Giroud’s presence and ability to hold up the ball, but when you have a natural finisher like the German in your team, he’s always going to get you goals. His second of the evening came at a crucial stage in the game for us and effectively sealed our three points for the evening. Ramsey’s strike to make it 4-1 was the icing on the cake, but you could tell the game was over when Lukas bagged his second.

So we are all happy people today. The Fear has subsided for at least another three days and the hopes of Champions League football next season remain firmly within our grasp. On Sunday we’ll have to go again against a Newcastle side that is safe, but has made a habit of frustrating us since they came back into the Premier League three seasons ago, so I don’t think there will be much poultry counting going on in the build up to what will essentially define our season.

What were we all worried about, anyway *runs in corner and hides*?

That’s it from me. You have a good day now. I know I can.

Wigan preview: heed the words of Macaulay Caulkin

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Barca humbling Arsenal’s fault? Spreading some Santi love

Posted on by
Reply

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

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

‘But Pa, I don’t think…’

We were BEATEN, by the best boy…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.

A formation change? Plus Santi talks possession

Posted on by
Reply

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fulham: Expect no favours, start strong and be efficient

Posted on by
Reply

On the banks of the River Thames today our brave and mighty red and white centurions will do battle against the local cottagers defending their land from being pillaged for three points. For today my friends, is game day, which means today is a day for you and I to wait patiently then watch patiently as a battle unfolds in front of our very eyes.

nothing like a bit of drama and hyperbole to start you off on a Saturday, eh? What we all hope to be reality is that Fulham put up as much fight as Audley Harrison and the match is over before half time. The likelihood of this eventuality is obviously slim, as Fulham will be reeling from their recent 0-3 defeat in which they probably shouldn’t have been 0-2 behind at half time at all. But such is the ruthless nature of football, and the football karma gods, that they saw it fit to give Chelski safe passage along Fulham Broadway with three points tucked safely under their arms. Why Chelski deserve anything, like, ever, is a mystery to me but they say the gods work in mysterious ways.

I suspect we’re in for a hell of a tough match today. Fulham may have nothing to play for, but they have established themselves as a solid Premier League side over the years and have still managed to bloody our noses when it doesn’t really look like they should be bothered at all. They will want to put on a show for their fans and take a ‘big team’ scalp today. It is on our players to ensure that it does not happen.

We go into the game off the back of a good run of results against some tricky opponents, so the hope is that we extend that good run another week at Craven Cottage. To do that we need to continue to use the blueprint of our success of the last two months: out of the traps early, pressing higher up the field and popping the ball around with pace and purpose. I believe the midfield will be the key in achieving this objective. One of the key features of this good run has seen Ramsey as the man in the engine room charging down and hassling opponents, Arteta as the metronome keeping everything ticking over and providing an outlet for the defence to distribute to as well as an option for the more attacking players should we need to retain pressure, and finally the guile and quick turnover from defence to attack that Rosicky brings with his energy to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Rosicky has missed the last two games and faces a fitness test, but if he’s fit, he plays in my book. Jack has looked slightly sluggish in midfield against Norwich and Everton, so perhaps he could do with somebody to take the burden off him and have an opportunity to slowly feel his way back into the side.

Up top is where I’ll be most intrigued to see who plays. In the middle of the three there will inevitably be Giroud. He’ll come up against Hangeland and Senderos and his physical presence will most certainly be more of a handful than a Gervhino, Walcott or Podolski. But who to sit alongside him in the left and right positions? Personally, I believe we should see Cazorla on the right and Podolski on the left, dependent on how fatigued Cazorla looked when Arsene was assessing him yesterday. If he looks like he might need a rest (and lets face it, he’s played nearly all the games this season) then I would be inclined to play Walcott or perhaps even The Ox. Walcott will get more space against Fulham at home than he would against a Fulham team away from home and set up to defend, and Theo has the beating of the ageing legs of John Arne Riise. The Norweigan is a player that likes to get forward, so I’d expect there to be gaps to open up for the England international. Alternatively, the talking up of The Ox over the last couple of games could be a sign that Le Boss is ready to unleash him in today’s game. He too should have the pace to beat Riise and a little bit more trickery than Walcott, so I am hoping that one of those two players start on the right – probably with a preference of The Ox.

We know where the threat will come from Fulham, which will be the languid but effective style of Dimitar Berbatov. He has 13 goals this season, of which two were scored against us at The Emirates, so he knows how to swan his way into our defence and ripple the old onion bag. Thankfully (I hope) we have a different Arsenal team that will line up today to the one that drew 3-3 earlier in the season. More defensively aware, with a better idea of defending (although still room for improvement), Gibbs/Monreal will play at left back instead of Vermaelen, plus we have some steadier hands in goal than the bang averageness of Mannone, so I don’t think it’s too much to expect more from our defenders to not capitulate to the tune of three goals this time around.

If we continue to play as we have been playing, then this game should be ours for victory. We have the creative players to get goals against Fulham, we have more to play for than Martin Jol’s side, and we are the form team. But unfortunately none of that will matter if we are not up for it after the first five or ten minutes. If we give Fulham a sniff that we’re not up for it their players and the crowd will smell blood. We want them to smell poo. The poo of their players playing like they’ve fallen into a cesspit of sloppy passing, lack of cohesion and overall rubbishness.

We’ve not actually beaten Fulham for a couple of seasons now, having drawn at home last season and not picking up three points since December 2010 when we won 2-1 at home. So our recent form shows that this will be a tough encounter. But our overall record against Fulham isn’t too bad, so I’m hoping that we re-address the balance in terms of recent history and we give Fulham a good seeing to today.

If you’re off to the game, you know the drill, so sing until your lungs get saw – I know you all will. Up the Arsenal.

Reading: basking, control and momentum

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome friends! And what a glorious Easter Sunday it is! Well, not in terms of weather, from where I’m looking in the world. But from a footballing perspective, it’s a metaphorical 30 degrees centigrade with a cloud ne’er to be seen across the skies.

Yes folks, we are basking in the post-game light of victory. That warm feeling you have right now, that’s because our boys did the business against a Reading team that never really caused any trouble whatsoever in truth. It was as controlled a performance as you are going to get in the Premier League and Nigel Adkins must be assessing which of his players he’ll be keeping in the Championship next season, because I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll be rocking up at the Madjeski in the Premier League from August onwards this year.

Before the game I felt nervous. Nervous because I have seen games like this become a very large banana skin on a newly polished hardwood floor already this season. I have felt that we should be winning these types of games all this season, yet at times we’ve come away from The Emirates with little comfort in the performance and dropped points or knocked out Of cup competitions. But not yesterday my friends! Yesterday the team were Ronseal – they did exactly what they were supposed to and dispatched Reading with a 4-1 victory.

In truth, it probably could have been more, certainly when you look at the first half chances. It is probably rare that we’ll see a game as one-sided as that one in the first half between now and the end of the season. The only real surprise of the day was that Arsenal weren’t more than the one Gervhino goal up at the interval. We probed, dominated possession and but for a series of last-ditch tackles and some dreadful refereeing decisions (Stuart Taylor must have found it almost funny how he didn’t concede a penalty after scything down Giroud) we could and should have been more up by half time.

I think what helped shape the eventual outcome of the match was how early we scored the first goal – on 11 minutes – and then also how quickly we were up and running in the second half when Cazorla curled in number two on 48. That essentially gave the team the confidence and swagger to continue to probe without getting frustrated by a defence that would sit deep and aim to frustrate. In all fairness, Reading’s defence was never going to put on that type of performance, but the early goals ensured we didn’t get too desperate to force the issue.

So it came to pass that we eventually ran away with a comfortable victory courtesy of a Giroud goal from a swift counter attack led by Gervhino and then a Mikel Arteta penalty. Yes, there was a Reading goal to worry the nerves ever-so slightly, but the truth of the matter (with the benefit of hindsight) is that Reading were never really in this game.

A quick word for Gervhino. Never has there been a more obvious example of the terminology ‘confidence players’. He had a really good game yesterday and was instrumental in our attacking play, both scoring the first and picking up two assists for the second and third goals. He really is an enigma. We’ve seen him at times look like the furthest thing from a professional footballer you could possibly imagine. We’ve seen him pick the ball up, run over his own feet and get closer to the corner flag with his dribbling than his opponent’s goal. Yet he showed yesterday how his unpredictability can still be used to his advantage. So whilst there were other players who were excellent yesterday, like Cazorla, I feel it’s only right to single out the Ivorian for praise given how I and many of us gooners have lambasted him at times this season. I still believe Podolski is a better option wide left, but the fact that he’s had such a good game yesterday fills you with hope that he will provide options for us in the coming weeks.

So it’s another three points and it’s another game that we can add to the ‘building momentum’ bonfire that is nicely simmering away at the moment. I look at our opponents for the Champions League places and, whilst I know the Spuds won against Swansea, I think that as long as one of them or Chelski drop points each weekend, the. It will always give us a chance. We are now two away from them and four from the Spuds with a game in hand. Next week we have a really tough game against West Brom but if we can pick up a win against them we have back-to-back home games that could see us close or maybe even leapfrog those two teams in the league given their respective fixtures in April.

So all-in-all a pretty happy weekend. Now to enjoy your Sunday.

Karma fairies and Santi’s poor children get bullied (maybe)

Posted on by
Reply

Last night I was making Nang Ya, which is a Thai dish, and I accidentally stabbed myself with a sharp blade. It was a tiny cut that would barely even be classed as a scratch, but I woke up this morning and my middle finger on my left hand is stinging a bit.

I tell you this information because I honestly believe that the international breaks during a season are more painful for me. They are more painful than actual, physical pain. If I had a magic karma fairy that said I had to go through that exact same self stabby process every night for two weeks and she would wave her karma wand and make the international break magically disappear to be replaced by continuous highlights of Ian Wright and Thierry Henry goals, it would be worth it. I would sacrifice my own hands for you good people. No, don’t thank me yet, the fairy hasn’t come to call. Perhaps she’s in her fairy parlour (or wherever the bloody hell it is fairies live) with her eyes closed, fingers in her ears, pretending the international break doesn’t exist either. Part time magic Karma fairies and their ‘equal treatment for fairies and double time on a weekend and selected weeknights’ movement. I tell you, the worlds going to he’ll in a hand basket.

International breaks are tedious when all you want to do is talk all things Arsenal. I mean, there’s stuff on the official site about how Santi kisses the tattoo of his son every time he scores, but that’s pretty much it. It’s a lovely gesture of devotion to his offspring, who I’m sure is very young and when old enough to talk will find it amazing, but I’m a little more concerned for the lad/girls future if I’m honest. Unless Cazorla is going to get it removed after a few years, or unless its a Henna tattoo that he gets re-painted every week, imagine the embarrassment of the child when he/she reaches 16 -18 and your dad has a picture of you on your arm. Firstly, it will look nothing like you (unless he slowly ages the tattoo as the child ages. Only works if Santi has gone for the Henna option though. I can’t imagine a permanent one can be altered that much, can it?). Secondly, your mates would cane you good and proper, “oooh Cazorla, has your dad kissed your face yet?” and “does that mean that technically you see your mum and dad having sex?”and of course the every so intellectual “err, gay” responses from other little children. It’s a schoolboy ribbing of monumentous proportions. And imagine when Cazorla gets to his fifties and its all gone a little green/grey and is browned by the inevitable sun he’ll get when back to Spain permanently (he’s a very family orientated man, so I’m putting two and two together here). Imagine having to greet your pa with a hug and as he puts his arms around you there’s an image of your younger self looking like an extra from Mars Attacks! slapping you on the back. No thank ye kindly sir!

Perhaps I think too much. But the thing is, when the only other pieces of news are the club saying “no, really, Jack is going to be injured the same amount of time as we told you a week ago”, you can tell there isn’t exactly any scoops going on at London Colney. And I’m not even going to get started on ‘Cech to Arsenal’ rubbish. Unless its that midfielder that didn’t get into the West Brom team. Then I’d believe it. After all, Arsene did head down Amaury Bischoff Lane, and we all know that it worked out to be a complete dead end.

So what else is there to tell you? What else can be discussed hypothesised and debated Arsenal related? How about Tomas Rosicky telling assembled media that he respects Arsene’s decision not to play him more and wants to play more in before the end of the season?

No, me either.

Until tomorrow then. Strength in unity guys, we can get through this.

Wanted a mauling, but don’t lose sight of fact it’s job done

Posted on by
Reply

In times of desperation you will accept anything positive. Let me tell you friends, yesterday’s three points most certainly fall within that category.

Effectively dumped out of two competitions within a week, it was imperative that The Arsenal didn’t effectively hammer another nail into the Champions League coffin by slipping up against what I can only describe as a young and bang average Aston Villa team. So much so that when the Aston Villa team was displayed on the scoreboard at kick off, there were two players I’ve never even heard of. Now, I’m not one that has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Premier League footballers, but I’m quite confident I could name a decent starting eleven of all of the Premier League teams. So to see some of the names on the Villa team sheet yesterday that I’ve never even know existed, it tells you quite a lot about the youthfulness and lack of squad depth in our opponents. And therefore by proxy, the expectation that we really should be tearing them a new one.

Unfortunately for a simple gooner for myself, that quite simply translates into a result that should in all fairness, be a foregone conclusion. Villa are struggling in the league and look like they could be going down. That they were within six or seven minutes of a draw at The Emirates tells you more about the limitations of our squad than it does of the ability of Lambert’s side.

It all started so well. Attacking intent from Arsenal in the first fifteen minutes was swiftly rewarded with a neat Cazorla finish. We looked like we were up for it at first and the players looked like they wanted to lay down a marker, taking out their aggression on a clearly vulnerable Villa team.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case with this Arsenal team, capitalising on the fragility of opponents is a commodity that is found in short supply at The Emirates these days. We went in 1-0 up at the break, but if we’re all honest to ourselves, we hardly laid down a confidence marker. Thankfully, Lambert’s Villa didn’t fancy seeing if this Arsenal team could be ‘got at’ and the first half ended with little trouble from the fluorescent green/yellow opponents.

The halftime pints were sunk with much debate over the reaction the team would give in the second half, and such was the joking nature of the modern day Arsenal fan, we spent most of the fifteen minute interlude thankful that we were ahead for a change.

I expected a better reaction from the players in the second half, and to be fair, at first it looked as though they were going to give it to us, with some neat build up play at times. But as is par for the course with this Arsenal side, the final end product was often found wanting, with an overriding desire to square the ball rather than ‘have a go’. So it was with no surprise that Villa equalised with their only real attack of the second half on around the 70 minute mark. As expected, it came from an Arsenal corner and as Weimann bore down on goal, we all knew what was coming. Szczseny hardly covered himself with glory with a limp wristed flap at the ball, but we all know Arsenal have it in their locker to fall apart at any moment, so it wasn’t any real surprise that we conceded.

Today’s blog has been rather negative up until this point; perhaps indicative of the nerves and worries I have of our ability to finish in the Champions League spots. But I, as I’m sure many of you need to remind ourselves of, need to appreciate the fact that three points were the requirement today and three points is exactly what the team delivered. So perhaps I need to cut them a little stack. Football has so many variables in it that it is impossible to assume that ‘a+b=c’ I.e. three points in this instance, against a team that will probably go down, means that it should be a walk in the park. So I need to remind myself that providing the team gets the results, the methodology behind it is largely irrelevant. You don’t get extra marks for showing your workings.

So today’s blog should be tinged with more happiness about it. Indeed, the happiness did come in the shape of a neat Cazorla finish with just a few minutes remaining on the clock. You have to say it was no more than the team deserved and thankfully it means we can look to the West Ham v Spuds game in the knowledge that we have at least done what is needed from our perspective. Let’s hope that Yossi can get himself on to the field and provide us with yet more happiness by spearheading a victory for the irons to mean the gap is closed to just one point ahead of next weeks crunch NLD.

Before I sign off, some positive and negative individual performances to talk of. Firstly, the negative, lets get that out of the way. I thought Diaby was generally woeful yesterday and his injury, whilst of no surprise to any of us, was the icing on a pretty horrible cake if I’m honest. I also think Giroud failed to really show his true capabilities and I hope that was just a one off game as we head into a crucial period of the season. However, some real positives were the excellent performance (yet again) of Jenkinson, and I thought Cazorla also did well, cropping up with two vital goals.

All in all, it was yet more of the same from Arsenal as they frustrated us at times, but ultimately they did the job, and we can ask no more than that.

Roll on the spuds. Lets all hope we see the best from the team then.

Finally, just a quick signing off from me. I’m heading off to Thailand for two weeks and so won’t be blogging as I try to sizzle myself in the hope of improving my skin tone. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Ben and maybe Steve (oaf12), and lets hope that by the time I’m next spilling my thoughts onto the virtual blog page, it’s to the sound of an Arsenal team having beaten our rivals and marching towards a top four finish.

Until then.

C

Sunderland victory: building momentum at business end of season

Posted on by
Reply

When Carl Jenkinson slid in on Sessegnon to get his second yellow card of the day, I looked around at the concerned faces of gooners and wondered if we were to repeat the feet of recent North East travels to St James’ and end up with a draw or worse, a defeat come 5pm yesterday. There was still 30 minutes on the clock to go and Sunderland were handed a lifeline that up until that point, I don’t think they had.

The first half was vintage Arsenal. Crisp passing, suffocation of opponents by possession, and creating chances. We still could have created a lot more chances but for a teensy bit of over elaboration at times. However, that’s me being a little bit harsh because overall we were excellent.

Le Boss had decided to plump for Sagna in the middle, Jenkinson on the right, Santi on the left of the front three and Rambo, Jack and Arteta in midfield. A couple of curveballs, certainly. And it worked. I thought every player played well in that first half and almost everything seemed to click. I say ‘almost’ purely and simply because we should have been at least 3-0 up by half time. Walcott had a few chances, forcing saves from Mignolet (who had a superb game and made a number of saves to keep his side in it – quelle surprise), Giroud dragged a shot agonisingly wide, Rambo forced a couple of good saves from the keeper and probably should have scored when put through. So when the excellent Santi Cazorla smashed in his drive from just outside the box on 35 minutes, a half time lead was certainly warranted. The Management agreed, nodding knowingly when I turned and told her that ‘it had been coming’; she is very good at honest assessments of games and so when she nods in that fashion I know my unequivocal fan bias is not clouding my judgement of what I see.

The second half was always going to be a difficult affair, but it was made all the harder when Jack Wilshire came off a couple of minutes in with an injury. Sunderland’s game plan all day was to rough Arsenal up, most of the time unfairly (and often getting away with it), so it was no surprise that Wilshire’s body took one battering too many. Arsene may have said publicly that he didn’t think JW had been targeted, but I’m sure behind closed doors that’s not what he’s thinking. Diaby came on for Jack and never really got a foothold in the game. He gave the ball away on a few occasions, he missed a good chance inside the box to make it 2-0, and looked like his lackadaisical self rather than the marauding Diaby we all love to see.

So Jack’s injury, plus Carl’s silly challenge that we can have no complaints about (its a shame because he probably would have played against Blackburn next weekend), all gave a little bit of impetuous to the home side who as expected poured forward in search of an equaliser. But even though we had to be resolute defensively and rely on a good save from Szczesny and Titus Brambles ability to screw the ball wide from three yards when it seemed easier to score, we still created chances ourselves. Giroud really should have scored with the number of shots on goal – all just going wide or just going over the bar, and Walcott could consider himself unlucky not to have got onto the scoresheet with a dink over the top of Mignolet that hit the post and came out.

There were a few ‘heart in mouth’ corners at the end but we managed to hold on to three precious, and I believe, we’ll deserved points. Another mention to Ramsey as well, because I think he had a good game and even ‘did a job’ when asked to fill in at right back for a third of the game. You can see that his confidence is returning and he’s looking a better player for it. He still makes mistakes and one moment in the first half he dwelt on the ball too long to leave us three versus three at the back, but that is a minor blot on an otherwise good performance.

We’re starting to build some important momentum as we approach the business end of the season, which will be vital to any Champions League aspirations we have for next year.

Peace out.