Tag Archives: Theo Walcott

What were we all worried about?

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

United: overriding disappointment, but it could be a valuable point

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At the beginning of this season if you’d have run your finger down the fixture list and tapped lightly on the weekend of 27/28 April, I probably would have said to you I’d settle for a draw that week. Manchester United coming to town is always a tough fixture, especially for The Arsenal and our really poor recent run against them, but it’s one of those that you’d hope we could get something from the game.

Indeed, as the fixture approached and it looked like they might win the league on our home turf, the possibility of a draw didn’t seem so unappealing. When coupled with the draw that the Spuds got away to Wigan at the weekend, a draw on the face of it seems an ok result, as we still have a two point cushion over that lot and the hope that three wins out of three should see us into the Champions League spots.

So why is it that I feel a bit dejected this morning? Why do I feel like yesterday we saw two points dropped?

Probably because we did.

Before the game all the talk was about THAT person returning and a guard of honour. I couldn’t really give a monkeys about either and so my hope was that all of the distraction in the build up would allow us to catch our newly crowned opponents off guard. And I think it’s fair to say we did. The first 40 minutes was all Arsenal and within the first five we were one up. Theo got in behind Evra to slot the ball beyond De Gea and send my section of the crowd into delirium. It was exactly what we needed. In the media hyperbole that had been whipped up before the game most pundits and journos alike seemed to have forgotten there was a game to play. The team reminded them of that instantly.

The first half was Arsenal’s. Cazorla forced a good save, Gibbs had a shot over the bar and we were rarely troubled in defence, save for Szczesny’s face taking a knock from a header from that guy. We controlled and bossed the game for the most of that first half.

But Bacary, oh Bacary, what hath become of thee? As Arsenal fans we never underestimate the ability of this team to press the self destruct button. But on this occasion it wasn’t the collective switching off that cost us – just one – Sagna. I have no idea what his pass to that person was about, nor do I have any idea why he felt it necessary to lunge at the player whilst inside the box, but he did and it cost us. I think it’s fair to say that Sagna is no longer that consistent player he made his name on in seasons past. Yesterday he stunk the place out so bad it made my eyes water. And unfortunately it’s not the first time this season that he’s gifted goals to opponents through some comedy defending. At the beginning of the season he made comments about players leaving and that he wasn’t sure about a new deal. Well son, you’ve done a bang tidy job of increasing apathy levels amongst Arsenal fans this season with some of your performances, so don’t expect an uproar if you don’t get your new deal and are moved on. We often said that Arsene knows when a player has hit their peek and has historically been good at moving them on at the right time, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the failure to offer a new deal is of no coincidence at all. With Jenkinson waiting in the wings for his chance, Bacary’s number might just be up at the club, perhaps even having to settle for a squad position if he’s not moved on in the summer. I know this sounds very reactionist after a poor game, but his stock has declined after a series of poor games – just like Vermaelen – whilst Jenkinson’s has increased, so to me this doesn’t sound too extreme an opinion to share.

The second half was a little bit cagier from Arsenal and we failed to assert the same dominance as the first. We looked like we could get caught on the counter on a couple of occasions but you have to say that – right back apart – the defence by and large coped very well. THAT player didn’t really have much of a sniff and Rooney was also kept marshalled for most of the match.

Up the other end Rosicky went close and Santi forced a smart save from De Gea, but we were unable to breach the United defence. Without the benefit of any replays I can only give you my real-time view that Gibbs should had had a penalty, but when you’ve got big-fat-Phil-Dowd officiating, don’t expect any favours. Supposedly he personally went to Rio Ferdinand to apologise about the Walcott goal when it was shown that he was slightly offside. I wonder if the same personal touch was afforded to Arsene Wenger two seasons ago when he gave a second penalty up at St James’ Park for an invisible foul on Mike Williamson? I suspect not.

Many will see this as a point gained, and hopefully in hindsight I will too come the end of the season, but right now I can only see it as two points dropped. From what I saw yesterday, this wasn’t a United team at 100%, but probably at more like 70%. You could see that they were playing within themselves and were there for the taking, yet we could not muster enough composure – both offensively and defensively – to get those vital three points that could have provided a massive platform to complete the job before the last game of the season. That’s why I’m frustrated. That’s why I’m a little dejected. Because it shows me how far we’ve fallen that getting a draw against a half-trying United team is seen as a good result.

But we must carry on. We play a relegated QPR on Saturday and we simply must pick up three points. Our rivals for Champions League places probably won’t drop many more, so nothing except three wins from our next three games can be considered acceptable.

Come on Arsenal, one final push to get us over the line.

Jeff Goldblum can solve our striking problems

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Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. The ‘in between’ weekday that doesn’t really know what it wants to be in life. It should be an astronaut. That’d show Tuesday and Thursday about ‘identity’.

As expected yesterday, the FA announced that Olivier’s red card had about as much chance of being rescinded as a fairly refereed game by Howard Webb at Old Trafford has of happening. The ban remains and the club now have to think of how to replace the loan front man with another one of the forwards that we’ve got at the club. At least Giroud has the fact the goal at Norwich has been attributed to him and not an own goal by Sebastian Bassong. Personally, I thought it looked obvious it came off Bassong, so to hear that it’s given to Giroud is a surprise. Perhaps this is one of those ‘everybody wins’ scenarios. Bassong doesn’t want the goal, Giroud does, and the result was secured by an additional goal so there wasn’t really much else to consider. I suspect it might be the last chance our dashing Frenchman has to add to his 17 goal tally, as he doesn’t like rippling the nets away from home and he’ll only have one more attempt at doing that. Of course, I’m trying the old Chris tactic of saying he’ll not score so he smashes in a hat-trick, so you can thank me on the final day of the season if it happens and we get our Champions League prize.

I saw a couple of murmurs on my timeline yesterday about the Goetze to Munich transfer. A few gooners were slightly unhappy that we hadn’t activated his €31.5million clause to be in with a running of getting the player. Yes he’s a fantastic player but let’s be realistic here, his position isn’t exactly number one on our priority list, is it? Just because Arsene had an interest in a player a couple of years ago it doesn’t give us a divine right to then go out and splooge a ridiculous transfer fee and get the player. Even if we’d triggered his release clause and were discussing terms, he’s always going to join a team in his own country, that is the biggest in their league and have already won their domestic league. And they’ll possibly in the Champions League final two years running.

The reality is that we have to make our moves when the hyper-inflated ‘big-name’ players have been cherry-picked from the oil whores or other big teams like Munich or Madrid. They can’t go after everyone on the planet and there are plenty of excellent players that can be purchased for the positions that we require.

I just hope we don’t go after Valdes. He’d cost a premium, he’s the average link in a good Barca team, and I rate Szczesny over him any day of the week. I suspect we’ll see Fabianski offski in the summer, so we’ll need to replace, but I hope it’s with an experienced keeper that can give Wojciech a couple of years of competition before he becomes our stand-out number one.

Anyway, back to the striking dilemma, particularly in reference to this weekend’s action. I think Arsene has a real dilemma on his hands. Gervhino has hit a bit of form lately, but not as a front man; Theo is out of form but can be dangerous if United try to push themselves higher up the pitch and try to press us further forward; and Lukas is the most natural finisher but looked a bit leggy when he came on against Fulham. There is no ready-made replacement that can play the same role as Giroud and hold up the ball well enough to bring other players into play to join the attacks later, so with whoever plays on Sunday, there is going to need to be a change in our composition in order to beat the newly crowned champions (which even hurts to type I might hasten to add). I have to admit that I don’t really know what the best answer is, but with Theo going missing in the last couple of games and Gervhino clearly unable to play up top, I would plump for Poldi in our current formation. We shall wait and see to what Arsene fancies doing come Sunday morning. Perhaps he should try that thing Jeff Goldblum did in his lab with that fly. He could entice Gervhino in by saying there is a lifetime supply of extra-large headbands, Theo in by telling him there’s a new children’s book deal contract on the table, and Lukas can have all he can eat Bockwurst. The. When they’re inside BAM! A hybrid player that is in form, can play off the last man and is the best finisher at the club. I bet Jeff would be an awesome addition to Arsene’s management team. And I bet he’d be cheap. After all, what’s he done since Jurassic Park and Independence Day? He’d be absolutely delighted with the opportunity of a new role in the team and the ability to tinker with DNA once again would be something he’d bite yer hand off for. But only so he could put it in his machine and combine it with the head of a goat. Then you could have a goat’s head running around with a hand as a torso. Crazy old Jeff and his maniacal ways.

Anyway, not a lot else going on at the moment, so I’ll take my leave with the scheming plans of Jeff and Arsene still fresh in your minds.

Fulham: Expect no favours, start strong and be efficient

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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.

Everton preview: unleash Theo and Poldi

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This is the one tonight folks. This is the one that, ever since our 3pm kick off with them was postponed due to the FA Cup Everton were still in, I’ve looked at and thought ‘we simply must win’. This is the game that on paper looks like the most difficult up against an Everton team that is in pretty decent nick, I have to say, sitting just four points off us having played a game more.

Strangely, as I write this, I don’t feel as nervous as the Reading or Norwich games. I wonder if that is because those were games that we were expected to cast asunder our opponents and move on to the next match with little regard for the confidence smashed team that lay at our feet? Anyway, at the weekend we all now know that Norwich were nothing of the sort and that it left a very late show, plus a few tactical substitutions to save our collective bacon. Therefore, perhaps my lack of apprehension is coming from an expectation that tonight will see a more difficult game and should we lose – whilst clearly disappointing – it would not be as if its to a relegation threatened team. I know this is all sounding a little bit too negative up until this point i.e. ‘what if we lose’, but it’s how I’m constructing and preparing myself for that eventuality and yet hopefully still remain upbeat if the worst happens.

But we aren’t going to let the worst happen, are we Arsenal? We’re going to be up for this game and show Everton why we have been doing this particular run successfully for the last 14 years. To the teams credit, they’ve done their jobs well enough over the last four games or so, but tonight’s opponents will most certainly provide a different challenge. And probably the most difficult of the games we’ve played since the away defeat to the Spuds. Everton won’t sit back and wait for a set piece, they’ll want to get forward and use the guile of Mirallas, Fellaini and Pienaar to unlock our sometimes fragile defence. I think the game against the Spuds provided Everton with the perfect blueprint to play away from home against us as well, so I think we’ll see the same team that rocked up at Shite Hart Lane returning to The Emirates. The Spuds have a similar style to us and left space in defence for the creative Everton players to express themselves, so I think they’ll know that we’ll do the same.

With the defence likely to be under more pressure today than Saturday, I suspect we might just see Mertesacker return to the first team. At least I hope so. He and Koscienly will have to deal with the physical presence of Anichebe and the aerial ability of Fellaini, but whilst Vermaelen is more suited to a physical approach than Mertesacker, the pairing of Big Per and Kos has been the most successful to these here untrained eyes. Per has the positional discipline that Thomas lacks, whilst the recovery pace of Koscienly is often a big plus when the big German can’t get back against a pacey front man.

Perhaps another reason why I’m less nervous about tonight is that I know we’ll get more space than on Saturday. The players that lined the yellow and green wall on Saturday had no intention of venturing forward, which meant that there was little space for our attacking players to express themselves. I’m positive there will be more tonight. The weekends game was a perfect match for somebody like The Ox; a player that would weave around in small spaces, as it ultimately proved and he almost did everything for the second goal himself. But tonight’s game is more suited to somebody like Theo in my humble opinion. Theo hasn’t seemed to master the art of stubborn defences that sit on the edge of their own box (and in some cases even deeper) and so his key strength – pace running beyond the last man – is effectively negated. But up against a team that likes to push its forwards on, that is where Theo becomes more of a threat, which I think we’ll see if he starts. Yes, he’s up against the excellent Baines, but he likes to get forward and support Pienaar and if Theo is on the pitch there will be a natural reluctance not to bomb forward as much by the English left back.

So it is my hope that Theo starts on the right and, up until I read some of the comments about Podolski, I also thought we might see him on the left and Giroud through the middle. But Le Boss has talked up Lukas’ goalscoring and the fact he often plays through the middle in training, whilst simultaneously being quite critical of Giroud’s first half against Norwich, so I’m wondering if we’ll see a change tonight and see Poldi through the centre. Personally I don’t think it should happen. Giroud’s more physical side to his game will be more of a handful to Distin and Jagielka, so I hope we see my original thoughts come to fruition and the German is deployed on the left. Plus, I think Gervhino got back into his old ways at the weekend, so Arsene could probably play the ‘tired’ or ‘rested’ card on him to avoid the emotional trauma it may do to the lad that sees him hitting corner flags every time he plays from now on.

We’re in the final throngs of the season now and the legs are starting to get heavy. Which is why it’s so pleasing to see more than a standard first eleven picking up the slack and taking responsibility. Which is probably also why I am less nervous as well. It is well known that Everton don’t have the biggest squad in the league, so I suspect the same players that played against QPR also play again tonight. Conversely, I hope Arsene indulges his luxury by shuffling his players around a bit to keep them fresh. I’d like to see Jenkinson and Monreal back in the team, with a midfield that perhaps could even slot Coquelin into it, although I wouldn’t replace Ramsey or Arteta, so I’m not sure how the Frenchman would get into the side. Jack looked a bit leggy on Saturday, so I’d keep him as an ace up the sleeve and see what strings Santi can pull through the middle. My hope is that the little bit of rotation we can afford to do allows us a little bit of extra zip in comparison to our toffee counterparts.

But this is Arsenal, after all. This is a team that never makes things easy. This is a team that went on a great winning run last season and nearly imploded at the end of it, only to salvage a win on the last game of the season against West Brom, so we know the problems they are capable of getting themselves into as much as getting themselves out of. If the world was printed on paper, The Arsenal would win tonight, beat Fulham on Saturday and watch the spuds get beaten by Moneychester City. But we know that our season will be harder than that. We must all realise that we’ve got a banana skin coming our way soon.

Lets just hope it’s on the pre season tour of Japan in a few months.

Have a good one. Come on you reds!

Theo says nice things (shock horror!); Arsene’s Santos realisation

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Right then, back into full swing at work after an indulgent Easter, and back into the very important business of babbling about Arsenal on this here blog.

There seems to be quite a few little titbits of news that are circling around The Arsenal at the moment. Perhaps it’s still a hangover from the Never-ending Story Part II, aka the international break, but there seems to be plenty to sink my teeth into.

Take transfers, for example, as we see Reus saying positive things about our players (never gonna happen), Alex Song rumoured for a return (never WANT it to happen), plus a couple of Jovetic floaters that simply won’t flush. I don’t know why there are suddenly a few that have caught my eye, but as usual I see this speculation as the tripe that it inevitably is and so will stop there. These stories are obviously stock stories that the journos have on file for when The Arsenal aren’t in ‘crisis’ and we’ve had back-to-back positive results, so they’re clearly running out of broken cannon jpeg’s to slap on their back pages and webpages, so transfer rumours are the next best thing to try and get some attention.

I’m also not too fussed about the Nasri stuff that came out yesterday. Hey, apart from the fact that he’s been a pretty much bang average player since joining City, we’ve also now got van Persie to direct our ire towards. Nasri is simply a small dot in Arsenal’s history that achieved nothing more than a lucrative pay rise elsewhere. Picking Kroenke as a chief protagonist is a clear deflection tactic; he needs to find someone else to blame for something and picking a man who doesn’t speak and has many fans (me included) who don’t trust, is an easy option for the French coward. The fact that his attitude has been questioned at Marseille and Manchester City shows him to be the player he is. He could have grown as a player and probably a human under Arsene, but he chose the megabucks. Que sera sera and all that.

I’m more interested in a couple of articles that have appeared on the official site, actually, as Theo has spoken of his 250th appearance for Arsenal and Arsene has talked about the growth of Kieren Gibbs.

As you’d expect, Theo says all the right things and its a pleasant enough read when you’re in between weekend games. He talks about trading all of his appearances in for one trophy. But curiously doesn’t mention anything about the money he’s generated whilst spending his seven or eight years at the club! I’m joking of course, I know that he has a genuine affection for the club and comes across as a nice guy, so here’s hoping to another 250 and plenty of goals as well. There’s no doubt that he’s shown the flashes of talent and at times a killer instinct, but of late we’ve seen less of that, with the man himself going through somewhat of a dry spell in front of goal. I don’t think he’s in the same bracket as Emmanuel ‘give me another contract or I won’t score any more’ Adebayor, but the longer his barren run continues, the greater number of eyebrows will get raised, and comments about not finding his form since signing his contract will increase in volume from the dissenting fans at Arsenal. There’s no doubt Theo played a clever game with the club on his contract negotiations, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find too many people that think he is not trying now he’s got his payday. I certainly don’t subscribe to it. But he does need to start showing his early season form and I hope he can return from this short injury absence to start banging the goals in again.

Arsene is also quoted on the site talking about Gibbs. He has spoken of how the man has matured this season and really has stepped up his game. I don’t doubt that, but I also think it has more to do with the fact that he’s played a lot more games. He’s at an age where his improvements will become quite rapid now, so staying injury free – a challenge for a player that hasn’t been able to shake off the niggles in his career to date – will have a bearing on whether or not he becomes the best in the country. Arsene says he is one of the best three in the land and, whilst I’m sure that’s what he believes, I think he’ll need to put his injury problems fully behind him if he truly is to live up to that accolade.

One thing that did make me chuckle about Arsene’s comments in that article came when talking about the arrival of Monreal, who Arsene says is good for Gibbs in terms of competition, as well as ensuring that we have two left backs competing at the club. The thought that made me chuckle was when I immediately cast my thoughts towards a certain Brazilian now on loan at Gremio. Clearly Arsene heard some of the comments from the fans, read the blogs and post match reports and came to his own conclusions over Andre Santos: he doesn’t think he’s a left back either.

Until tomorrow.

International breaks – from hells heart I stab at thee

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The good: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored against San Marino, which we all hope will be a confidence boost off the back of an impressive display against Swansea last week.

The bad: Theo Walcott slips over in training and tears something in his groin. Don’t know how long he’ll be out for.

The ugly: The fact that this international window ever came into being.

This is why I hate international football. I genuinely don’t understand why the friar tuck we have players that seems to have a severe aversion to staying fit whilst on international duty. That Dutch guy that used to play for us used to get injured every time he disappeared with the Oranje, yet since he plays for Fergie he now has no problems whatsoever.

And do you think Hodgson and his people care? Of course not! They won’t team up with any of the players until June so as long as they’re all fit then, the England party are quite happy to chew them up and spit them out.

I’m sick of it. I pay money for my season ticket to watch the first team, yet I’ll be surprised if Theo is playing next weekend now, if he does have a tear, but do you think the England team will give me some money towards the price of my ticket? Because effectively by definition if any of the regular first teamers are injured then I am watching an inferior product. I know it’s a silly train of thought, but as far as I’m concerned I care about Arsenal and Arsenal’s run in towards the end of the season. And this international break has already claimed its first high profile Arsenal player. Maybe I’m being pessimistic, but I don’t think it will last.

I don’t really care what happened in San Marino yesterday, so I’m not going to write about it.

Hurumph. See you tomorrow.

Siege mentality needed to get fourth

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It’s Friday, it’s my last day at work before I skidaddle off to Singapore and Thailand for a bit of RnR for two weeks, and today is the day that Le Boss gets himself ready to face the baying media. The last time he was in this situation it all ended slightly with an unsavoury and un-Arsene like rounding on a journo. So I’m not sure whether the assembled coyotes will want to tear at the fresh wounds that were opened up from Bayern or simply sit back and let Arsene off for a week. I’d be surprised if it was the latter.

We already got our first snippet of information yesterday, as the official site announced that Arsene had confirmed the absence of Sagna for this weekend as well as Gibbs. Thankfully, the acquisition of Monreal is working so far and he’ll slot comfortably into left back, plus with the amount of games Jenkinson has played this season he’s become more acclimatised to first team football so I doubt there will be many of us that will be too nervous. Certainly not as nervous as a sight of Squillaci trotting out onto the field of play come Saturday 3pm. I thought Jenkinson did well against Sunderland when he played last and, two silly fouls aside, again looked the part. We know what we’re going to get with him and so I hope he puts on another stellar display against the Villains.

I find Jenkinson’s build quite interesting for a full back. He looks like a big unit that should be more adept at a central defensive position, but his ability to get down the by-line and get very good balls into the box is something that we should certainly be utilising more often than we do. It’s for his crossing ability that I hope Arsene opts for Giroud at the weekend. The Frenchman offers more of a physical presence than Walcott and is most certainly better in the air. But more on the match itself tomorrow methinks.

Right now, the biggest topic of debate is the future of Arsene, or lack of if you read some of the reports in the press. I’ve already said my piece about Arsene, and if you read my random thoughts around Arsenal regularly, you’ll know that I am a bit sad because I am coming to terms with the increasing likelihood that there could be a parting of ways. But Arsenal is Arsenal and whatever happens I’ll support the team and those representing it until the end. That is the case for this Saturday and every game that they play. And as fans I think that is the only way to be. Talk of wanting the team to lose is pathetic in my opinion. Support your team or go home. Or become a watcher of non-team sports, for this type of game is not for you.

I’ve found a lot of the recent interviews by players a little worrying as well. Last season, when there were similar mumblings from fans and the media trolls trying to dig up some content to sell their chip paper, I don’t remember seeing many of the players coming out in defence of Le Boss. I am beginning to wonder if that is because the players themselves just thought the noises about Arsene’s time being up last season were complete rubbish and so ignored it. It was a minor inconvenience from people that didn’t really see the bigger picture and so the players treated comments about Arsene ‘losing it’ were just treated with a shrug of the shoulders and a ‘what do they know?’. However, already since the Bayern game we have seen Jack, Theo and Thomas Vermaelen come out in defence of the manager. To me it is the clearest indication that the manager is under more pressure now than he’s ever been in his career. Otherwise, why would the players take so much time and give so much media profile by talking about backing the manager?

It’s up to him and his players to prove the doubters wrong, and I hope they do, but I hope that the players don’t start mentally planning for the next boss. I know it’s an extreme statement to make, but the last time I saw players coming out in defence of the manager so much was for Roberto Di Matteo and a host of other Chelski managers they’ve had down the years. I know it is pointless comparing us with the classless chavs, but I just can’t help but see these similarities – much as I don’t want to. The Chelski players are notorious for their ability to oust a manager, and with that comes the mentality of planning for a new one. I seriously doubt any of the Arsenal players want to oust Arsene, but who knows if some of them are wondering what life at Arsenal would be like without him?

Of course, all of these negative noises from various sections of the media, roared on by the bitterness of Stewart Robson and the king of the trollers Adrian Durham from TalkSport, could also serve a more beneficial purpose for the cause. It could create a siege mentality amongst the fans, players and other stakeholders at Arsenal. It could see us all collectively batten down the hatches, surround the king and mount a hell of an offensive before the end of the season. The next few Premier League games will tell that. We have Villa at home and the Spuds away. A proper siege mentality with success would see us get maximum points from those games, although to be fair, if you offered me a win on Saturday followed by a draw at Shite Hart Lane the week after I’d probably take it right now.

Theo, Jack and Thomas are right: it is the players that must now take the responsibility for delivering Champions League football next season. They have to stand up and be counted. They need to get angry. They need to show the fight we saw us get to reach third spot last season. Starting with Aston Villa this weekend.

And we need to give them all the help we can.

Bayern at home: Redemption can be swift

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Football is a wonderfully forgiving world. You can be at rock bottom one day, then within a day or two gone by you have the opportunity to wash away your sins by that sweetest of things: victory. Football is a fast paced world and that can sometimes work to your advantage. Redemption can be a swift and wonderful thing in football. All you have to do is win.

That is certainly the mantra that I would be saying to each and every one of the players that are elected to play tonight. Each player has to know that they must put all of their previous transgressions to one side and focus purely on the opponents for tonight: Bayern Munich.

Arsenal rarely make it easy for themselves and tonight is testimony to that. Instead of finishing top of the group we slipped up to Schalke which meant a more difficult tie earlier on in the competition. Aside from Barcelona, I don’t think you could get more difficult than last year’s finalists, Bayern Munich. They have a plethora of attacking players that can carve open defences at will and probably should be the reigning  Champions of Europe, but for Roberto Di Matteo and his selling of soul to the Devil to win the FA Cup and Champions League last year. Unfortunately for the Italian he paid the price of being at Chelski, but the way that Bayern played in that final against the Chavs should serve as both a stark reminder of their quality, but also of their weaknesses. Look, I’m not suggesting that because Chelski won on penalties, it will be an opportunity for us to do over the Germans. But I think that despite the media savaging that seems to be happening at the moment, we can win tonight and then get a result away from home. I have to believe that. Hope is the last bastion of the desperate man, and after our desperate performances in the cup competitions this year I have to hold on to hope that this Arsenal team will come out swinging tonight.

There’s no doubt that we have the ability to put on a show and prove the doubters wrong. There is no doubt that some of these players have something to prove to, well, just about everybody. but there is a doubt in their own confidence and their own belief right now. I haven’t met too many non-gooners that are giving us much chance over two legs. But we’ve seen the side grind out a result against Sunderland. We’ve seen them come back from the abyss against Liverpool after a shocking first half. So we have to believe that we can see them negate the attacking threat of Gomez, Ribery, Robben, Muller and Schweinsteiger.

I was told yesterday that Bayern have conceded just one goal away from home this year. well, I suspect we’ll have to double that tally if we want to take anything substantial to the Allianz Arena. That is a frightening statistic in its own right, but if it alleviates a little bit more pressure and provides an impetus for the players to play up to the ‘underdogs’ tag even more, then I won’t mind. We will need to see Podolski (rested on Saturday so you never know, he might actually make 90 minutes for us tonight!), Walcott and if playing, Giroud, to be on form tonight. We can ill afford profligacy in front of goal. We will need Jack to be his marauding self and Santi will need his vision and passing range to be at it’s best. I suspect we’ll see a back four of Sagna, Koscienly, Mertescaker and Vermaelen take to the field in defence, and it is my hope that the BFG can show his German international teammates a thing or two at the heart of our defence.

We will need to see an Arsenal that is quick off the blocks and up for this tonight. There are no opportunities in Champions League football for ‘second half Arsenal’ and if the same intensity is shown to Bayern as was shown to Blackburn, it will be a massacre. But here’s the thing; I don’t doubt for a second that the players won’t be infinitely better than the weekend. I think we’ll see a totally different Arsenal team that is pressing, chasing every ball and is giving the home fans something to scream about. Right now, that’s all I care about. Yes, we can assess why they can’t do that in every game should what I am predicting happen tonight, but that is a debate for another day. All we need to care about tonight is making the atmosphere amazing, the players are up for it, and we show the Germans what we’re made of.

A quick word on Arsene before I sign off for the day. I have to say I was a little embarrassed by his outburst in the presser yesterday. I’ve always admired Arsene for the dignity he has shown even in the face of some quite manipulative and spineless journalists. But yesterday had all of the hallmarks of a manager that is feeling the pressure and can potentially see the end in sight. It is a sad state of affairs. But I don’t really want to dwell on that too much right now, I want to make sure everyone with a stake in Arsenal Football Club, is behind the team and roaring them on to success tonight. I’ll leave my thoughts on Arsene for another day.

I’ll be there in all my Arsenal fineries cheering on the lads. If you are, or if you’re watching on TV, just make sure you’re screaming as much as me! Come on Arsenal!