Bergkampesque

Arsenal v Burnley August 17, 2019 

Burnley Football Club began life as the ‘Burnley Rovers’ rugby club and became Burnley Football Club in 1882. They moved to their Turf Moor home shortly afterwards, at the invitation of the town’s cricket club.

Our very first game against Burnley was an away FA Cup game on February 1^st 1896 which we lost 6-1. FA Cup campaigns gave way to organised football in 1888 with the foundation of the Football League – and since then Burnley have claimed many major honours. The first honour was a Second Division title in 1897-98 and the club’s improved fortunes were finally reflected in an FA Cup Final triumph at The Crystal Palace in 1914, with a 1-0 win against Liverpool coming just months before the outbreak of the Great War.

Following the War, the Clarets continued to make their mark on the domestic game and in the 1920-21 season the team enjoyed a remarkable unbeaten run of 30 league matches as they led the club to an inaugural First Division title, having been runners-up the previous season. 

That magnificent league record stood for over 80 years, until being battered by Arsenal in the 2003/04 season. 

Our first home game against Burnley was in Division 2 on April 2^nd, 1898 and ended in a 1-1 draw, our goal was scored by Fergus Hunt (1897-1903).  Arsenal’s starting eleven that day were: Roger Ord, John Caldwell, Alex McConnell, Gavin Crawford, John Anderson, Fred Davis, James Brock, Adam Haywood, Fergus Hunt, David Hannah and William White (this game was played 121 years ago and I just couldn’t resist putting the team’s names in print). Burnley went on to win the Div 2 title losing only two games – Arsenal finished in 5^th place which was their highest league position to that date.

We have met Burnley at home on 48 occasions and we have only lost 9 games.

Our Premier League home record is close to impeccable winning all 5 games played and conceding only 3 goals.

Burnley started the season very strongly with a 3-0 victory over Southampton at Turf Moor. Their striker Ashley Barnes led their scoring with 2 goals and will need to be watched closely at The Emirates.

Sean Dyche is an excellent manager and is sure to make it a difficult game for Arsenal. On Barnes performance Dyche noted: “I have great admiration for him. This pre-season he didn’t score a goal and he looked hungry for it. “The first goal was a fantastic touch and finish, it was great skill. His second finish was sublime, it’s a brilliant ball by Erik Pieters, but when centre-forwards finish like that it looks easy. It’s not easy when the ball is coming over your shoulder like that.”

Enjoy the game.

By GunnerN5

A few days ago I, TA, asked BKers to predict the PL top-six at the end of the season. Admir was the only one not predicting a top-four finish for the mighty red and white, and today’s post is an explanation for his reluctance to do so. Most of us tend to will Arsenal higher than a cool analysis of Arsenal’s and our competitors’ positions would permit, and I know Admir as a very analytical blogger with an eye for historic trends and relevant statistics, so I think we should take his views seriously – even though I hope he is very, very wrong! 🙂

These are Admir’s analyses of the six most likely contenders for the top-six (based on final positions by the season’s end):

1. Man City – they have incredible attacking variety. So many ballers (two Silvas, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling, Gündogan), one of the finest strikers Premier League has ever seen (Agüero) and a defence without (too) weak points. In the last 77 games they have won 65 (84%!), drawn 6 and lost 6. That’s mental and virtually impossible to match. Their attack is so good that they turn draws into victories on a regular basis and that was the main difference between them and Liverpool in the last campaign (Liverpool lost just one game to City’s four but City won 32 to Liverpool’s 30). The long absence of Sane, a rare classic winger in their team, and a departure of their leader Kompany might be the only two reasons that give hope for the chasing pack.
2. Spuds – yes, it’s not just surprising choice but also extremely annoying. If VAR had been introduced two or three years ago, I believe Pochettino would have been at Espanyol, trying to revive his career after a 10th place-finish with red card recorders Spuds. Now, however, it looks to me that they have fixed things properly with Ndombele and Lo Celso while keeping hold of Eriksen and Alderweireld for a while. Their attacking variety is sublime – Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Kane, Alli…all of them capable of both scoring and assisting.
3. Liverpool – whilst Salah has managed to win two Golden Boots in two seasons in England, I still see Sadio Mane as their best forward. They rely too much on their full-backs’ attacking contribution – basically, they are what Emery wants Arsenal to be – which gives us a perfect question: what will happen when either or both of TAA or Robertson gets injured/suspended? The answer is: a dull 0-0 draw or a defeat. Even with our ex Ox back in action, they don’t have enough options from the bench and Klopp’s football – sooner or later – takes its toll. Also, they’ll spend some time playing Club World Championship which means rescheduling games and adding to players’ fatigue.
4. Manchester United – they have fixed their defensive problems by signing Wan-Bissaka and Maguire. They still don’t have midfield solutions capable of dealing with teams above them but I believe their defensive superiority over Arsenal and Chelsea will give them advantage over both clubs. Pogba can go from zero to hero and reverse in a single game but he is their best midfielder by far. Rashford, Martial and, maybe, Alexis Sanchez give them attacking guile and it looks to me that counter-attacking football will get them points against every team that opens up too much.
5. Arsenal – we have lost Aaron and I fear we haven’t replaced him. We have too many big games until October when we will finally enjoy our full backs Bellerin and Tierney with a remote possibility all our other signings bed in until then. Perhaps our chance to get Champions League is through Europa League again.
6. Chelsea – playing Champions League will reduce Lampard’s chances to rotate as you have to play your best players in that competition. That might be a big problem in the Top 4 race with Man United and Arsenal, teams that play Europa League and will have a bigger chance to rotate players. They are under transfer ban and their team is Hazard-less. Aside from Kante, I’d struggle to find one player in their team I’d grab with both my hands and bring to Arsenal. No, not even Giroud who is their best striker. Mind you, they played some exciting football at Old Trafford and the final result was totally undeserved but they looked like Arsenal from our barren years when our youngsters lacked composure, quality and strength at either side of the pitch.

By Admir.

A back four or a back three this season, that is the question. I have a preference for four at the back, but with the arrival of both Tierney and Luiz, Emery has the sort of players now to make a back-three a success, and in all competitions!

We can argue about our strongest possible line-up with three at the back, but I reckon it will be close to this:

Luiz to lead the defence and bring/pass the ball out from the back and Nacho and Holding securing the wings, with fast and furious Bellerin and Tierney supporting our defence as much as possible. Xhaka can go deep and allow Luiz to penetrate the opponent’s midfield regularly, as he likes to do! Torreira and Xhaka have to find the balance between protecting the back three – especially with AWOL wing backs in our line-up – AND support Mesut in the hole as much as possible. The latter is a challenge and especially Torreira can/should grow into that role. I would be quite excited to watch this team start games once everybody is fit.

But I amalmost just as excited about our possible ‘B/Cups team’ with a three at the back line up:

Chambers and Big Sok can produce the calm in the back three and a less centrally positioned Mustafi can also be effective. But there is also Mavropanos who will want to get some games under his belt.

The centre of midfield could be our undoing with this formation: both Willock and Guendouzi are talented and we have high hopes for them, but playing without the experienced Xhaka or Torreira will make them more vulnerable. Having said that, from what I have seen until now, Willock is possibly to best fit for the B2B position in a three at the back line-up, and I would not be surprised if he dislodges our Uruguayan carve-biter anytime soon. Willock may well become key for our midfield balance this season.

A shout out for Elneny

Guendouzi likes nothing more than walk/run forward with the ball and look for an attacking pass and he will add value to our attacking endeavours; however, his defensive positioning, reading of the game and rapid ball distributions are below par as yet. This may be controversial, given the dislike many seem to have of him, but imo there is still space in the team for Elneny. There is nothing spectacular about our Egyptian midfielder, but he is a solid passer and hard worker and his forward passes are not too shabby either. Mohammed definitely fills me with more confidence in terms of effective support for our defence and being the more natural partner for B2B-Willockie.

I have no doubt, though, that Kola and AMN will add real width and penetration from the wings and that Ceballos, Mikhi (or indeed ESR) will revel in the hole position. It would also be great to see Martinelli and Pepe play in such a formation, and I expect them both to play in the ‘first team’ regularly, of course.

So except for some worries regarding the midfield-pivot, I reckon we now have the players to make three at the back our main line-up for this season…. You agree?!

By TotalArsenal.

With only four/five of our best Arsenal-11 starting the match, it was not going to be easy to get all three points. Laca, Bels, Holding, Pepe, Ozil, Tierney and Luiz did not make our starting eleven (all with good reason), and it showed. The team looked rusty and lacked an attacking edge but it worked hard and had most of the initiative at the Barcodes’ home ground, and that goes a long way. 1-0 to the Arsenal, three points and a clean sheet; let’s not look this gift-horse too deep in the mouth!

Eight observations from Newcastle v Arsenal:

1. Unlike the Chavs v MU in the later game, Arsenal did not play at a high tempo and try to overpower the opponent in their own half from the start. We sat back, protected the back four and tried to pass our way to the Newcastle box. We lacked cohesion and the tempo was too low to hurt NU, but we also managed to take the initiative away from an equally rusty and cohesion-lacking opponent. The crowd was quiet and the whole game was a bit of damp squib and this suited our starting 11 very well.
2. We played both Xhaka and Guendouzi in the DM pivot and it sort of worked, at least from a defensive point of view. Willock played in the hole and did his best to connect the often quite deep sitting ‘back-six’ with the three attackers, Mkhi, Auba and Nelson. However, the balance in midfield was not great and against stronger opponents we will not get away with this. This is btw no reflection on the individual performances by Xhaka, Guendouzi or Willock: all put in a good shift and had plenty quality moments. Unfortunately, Xhaka and Guendouzi did not support Willock enough as neither of them did a proper box to box job on the day, and seem to want to play a similar role in the team. With Torreira and Ozil hopefully available soon Emery will have more/better weapons at his disposal to the get midfield balance right.
3. Willock did get a lot of support from Mkhi and I liked both their involvements in the game. Unfortunately, the Armenian is badly lacking in form and his final ball was often overhit and played with too much haste. But the form will come again and at least Mkhi is putting in a decent shift.
4. There were only two big highlights in the whole game and that was Ainsley’s great cross after a well-anticipated interception on the right flank at the half way line AND Auba’s fine ‘Bergkampesque’ first touch and steely finish to score the winner. AMN’s well-measured cross had pace but this was taking out of it by the bounce it had before it reached Auba; this gave our official MotM the chance to control the ball first and then slot it home. It was a rare moment of beauty and Auba showed us why he is so important for us with that calm moment of quality.
5. Tierney and Bellerin may well become our first team full backs once they become fully fit, but both AMN and Nacho really put in a shift and both were contenders for BK’s MotM. Both worked hard and tried to add value to all areas: defence, midfield and attack. But My MotM ‘award’ also goes to Auba. He was by no means without fault and being the lone CF does not really suit him, I think, but he worked hard for the team and took his chance when it came – and that is why we travelled home with three precious points in the bag.
6. Of course this would not have happened without our defence keeping a clean sheet. It is fair to say the Magpies did not give them a lot too worry about, but the quartet of AMN, Sok, Chambers and Nacho, and GK Leno, worked together well and dealt adequately with the few set-pieces that were thrown at them. I wonder whether we will play an easier away game this season, though, so I will not be going overboard as yet, but the Sok-Chambers combo wasn’t too shabby today.
7. Nelson worked hard and there were a few moments of quality, so he should be content with his performance. More will be needed from him but, as always, we need to give our young players time and keep our expectations quite low. The managers will be able to analyse Nelson’s performance with him, and I am sure Fab Freddie will help him to progress further this season. What I like(d) about Martinelli is his confidence and desire to be involved and get stuck in from the moment he crosses the longest white line. I don’t have that feeling (especially regarding confidence) with Nelson as yet, but it will be a joy to watch both of them develop further this season.
8. It was a bit of a worry that the subs – Ceballos, Pepe and Martinelli – did not make much difference in the game. We had just scored a precious goal of course and the team were trying to find a balance between protecting the win and getting another goal (which we usually really, really need), but we played even more chaotically after all three were on the pitch. This is no reflection on the individual performances as all had good moments, but as a team we were really not looking organised and purposeful in the latter part of the second half. It is early season of course and it did not harm us this time round, but with games against Burnley, Pool and Spuds coming up, we must get more organised and attuned to each other.

By TotalArsenal.

Arsenal’s record against Newcastle at St. James Park

I would like to start my post with a mini bio. I watched my first game on November 22, 1947, a 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town and have been a FANatic ever since. I grew up on the streets of N5 and N7 and I’ve watched, either live or on TV, around 3,000 plus games. I’ve lived in Canada for many years but my support for Arsenal has never waned. 

I’m looking forward to seeing what affect both the current transfer window and Unai Emery will have on us in the 2019/20 season (my 73^rd).  

Newcastle United Football Club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. Throughout Newcastle United’s history, their home venue has been St James’ Park, the oldest and largest football stadium in North East England, as well as the sixth-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of 52,354. It has hosted ten international football matches at senior level, the first in 1901 and the most recent in 2005. It was also used as a venue for both the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Newcastle Domestic Honours

Football League First Division:

Winners (4) – 1904–05, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1926–27

Second Division / Championship:

Winners (4) – 1964–65, 1992–93, 2009–10, 2016–17

FA Cup:

Winners (6) – 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955

Arsenal’s Record at Newcastle United

St James Park has not been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal – starting with our first game on Sept 30, 1893 which ended in a 0-6 loss.

The Premier League era has been somewhat kinder to us but Newcastle has always proven to be tough to beat on their home turf.

The good news is, Newcastle have only beaten us three times since May 14, 2000 at St James Park and only once in our last 11 visits.

Newcastle is in the depths of change with Steve Bruce managing his first game in charge and Mike Ashley always on the look out for someone to take the club off of his hands. The one constant is the “Toon Army” and their undying love and support for their club; I must admit that I’m always envious of the clubs that have such vociferous support as it’s rarely on display at The Emirates.

Its anybody’s guess what the outcome of Sunday’s game will be but I’m both hopeful and optimistic.

GunnerN5

Predicted Line-Up by TotalArsenal:

If Laca is fitter than Pepe, I expect the Frenchman to start instead of our new signing from Ivory Coast. I would play Mustafi at RB but Ainsley will also do fine. I expect Willock to start as Torreira may need a bit longer to get match ready. With Ozil (and Kola) unavailable for obscure reasons, I expect Ceballos to play in the hole and feed Nelson, Auba and Pepe/Laca. COYRRGs!

As per previous post, what a TW Arsenal have had! I am glad we found a solution for the Koz situation and Jenkinson has wisely moved on to play regular football. I reckon there would have been plenty of game opportunity for Eddie at Arsenal but at Leeds he is likely to feature every week and that is just what he needs now. Funnily enough Eddie and Jenks may be playing each other in their first games for their clubs tomorrow when Forest play Leeds!!

I have no doubt that one or two players will still leave Arsenal before the various international TWs shut, especially Elneny and possibly Mustafi, Kolasinac and Mkhhi could still find another club. The net spend of the club is currently around £80m – £135m bought, £55m sold – and don’t be surprised if we end up with a figure around the £45m in the end…

Goodbye but not Farewell to Alex Iwobi

As elated as I am with the outcomes of the transfer window, I am still a bit sore about the loss of our very own Iwobi. This is what fellow BKers had to say about him:

Fellow Nigerian GoonerEris:

“Indeed, it’s a bit sad to find that a kid who has been with us for about 15 years now, since joining at the age of 7, had to make way while the likes of Mkhitaryan and Elneny stayed on. That’s the only dampener in what has been a fantastic window. But, I guess it had to do with money coming in and balancing the books, which Iwobi could guarantee with interest from Everton. I think Iwobi will be happy to go to a club where the scrutiny will be less and the fans less critical; where the demands are a modest top 6 finish, for now, in order to grow to that next phase of his development. I had hoped he could win the Europa league or the AFCON to get him into a mature frame of mind because he always looked to me like he hadn’t come to terms with the fact he is no longer in the academy. This move will serve him well and I do hope we have a buy-back clause of some sort or a good sell-on clause in that contract. He will have good company with Theo and Delph; I also expect him to enjoy playing with Moise Kean.” 

The Prof from Down-Under:

“Iwobi? I liked him but never took the world by storm. He’s a mid table teams star, but not ours. One look is to say our ability to sell him at a profit is a sign of our ambition and ability to take the best. It also shows we can sell high, which we’ve not done well or at all this last decade. Of course, if he does turn into that star… … “

And the calm and balanced AB wrote:

“Hmmm. Mixed feelings about today. Selling Iwobi takes a lot of gloss off for me. I can’t fault the logic given we have bought in this area and the price is good. But we are losing a home grown quality talent. Someone direct, strong and with an excellent injury record. And he has yet to reach his peak.”

I reckon Iwobi will have looked at the likes of Jenkinson and Walcott and have realised that it is a gamble to wait and see whether you can break through at Arsenal. With the arrival of Pepe and the hard knocks on the door from young competitors like Saka and Nelson but also Martinelli and ESR, it may have been a wise thing to go to Everton and work with a manager who clearly believes in him. I like to see it as a long ‘loan’ to the Toffees and Iwobi becoming a quality first team player and real man there; and I would not be surprised at all to see him return to the Home of Football in 3-5 years. For me it is goodbye but certainly not farewell, and I will look forward to seeing him play at Goodison Park, where I was also lucky to witness his first PL goal a few years ago.

Best of Luck, Alex, Koz, Jenks, Eddie!

Season Predictions

Okay let’s do a quick and dirty predictions for the season (and please give us yours in the comment section):

Top Six:

1. Man Citeh
2. Spuds (hate it but…)
3. Arsenal (but only if Emery gets the balance right in midfield)
4. Pool
5. Manure
6. Wolves

Goals For and Against:

82 – 38

Top scorers:

1. Pepe
2. Auba
3. Laca
4. Ceballos
5. Willock

Most man of the match (official):

1. Lacazette
2. Pepe
3. Ozil
4. Xhaka
5. Luiz/Auba

Most key passes (per Whoscored):

1. Ozil
2. Pepe
3. Ceballos
4. Xhaka
5. Luiz

Here are the BBC pundits predictions re top-four finishes…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49258004

By TotalArsenal

It seems a life time ago when Arsenal lost the Europa League final and finished a disappointing fifth in the league. At the end of the season most of us agreed that:

1. We were short of a quality winger. Iwobi was making progress but not enough to claim a wing position; Auba was not really suitable for wing-play but nevertheless did a decent job when asked to play there. Mkhi and Ozil were not really suitable for wing play either.
2. Kola fits into a 3-4-3 well enough but not so much in a back-four, and Nacho was struggling to keep producing the fine form of previous season game in game out.
3. Our defending was poor and we lacked a strong CB pairing.
4. Furthermore, our defending as a team was below par and this had to do with the balance of the team and tactics.
5. Our midfield lacked identity and consistency. Emery struggled to get the balance right between supporting our defence and aiding our attack throughout the season.

Two and a half months later, the club has bought and sold players and these are my initial eight conclusions:

1. All the gaps left by departing players, whether it’s Koz or Rambo etc, have been more than adequately filled, but the loss of our very own Iwobi is painful from an emotional point of view. We’ve got good money for him and it remained to be see whether he would break through soon for us, but it was great to see him grow and become a man and I liked his enthusiasm and pride for the shirt… He will be missed!
2. With Pepe we have added a winger of great quality, promise and fab stats for Lille in France. The Ivory Coast superstar is not just a good winger but also suitable for playing as CF. This is exactly the sort of player we needed to add and so well done Emery and co. It was also an important statement by the club and took not just Gooners by surprise!
3. With Tierney we have a copy of Bellerin on the other flank. Once Vector Hector and Tierney are fully fit to play, the team will literally and figuratively get wings, and evenly so: this will give us both thrust and balance and it will make a real difference.
4. With the arrival of Martinelli and possible inclusion in the squad of Nelson and Saka this season, Arsenal have added more attacking energy and penetration to the team. Yes these boys are young and likely not to score and assist a lot initially, but they will learn from the experienced ‘PALs’ and may grow a lot this season.
5. The important thing to see here as well is that Arsenal are not just investing in the coming season but are also safeguarding the future: Martinelli, Pepe, Tierney and Saliba should all be first team players well into the next decade, all going well.
6. Saliba looks like a player who will be claiming a first team CB spot when he finally comes to Arsenal. Holding is another player who is likely to become first choice CB this, or at least next, season. Sok and Chambers are also close to first team football but especially the latter may only be good enough for back-up/the cup games. With Koz’s self-forced departure, Arsenal needed a CB with leadership skills, PL and CL experience and just for a couple of years… The signing of Luiz, therefore, makes perfect sense: quality CBs are hard to find and they all demand to play… Emery can pick his strongest CB pairing this season from: Holding, Luiz, Chambers, Mustafi and Sokratis. We should be okay.
7. Ceballos is highly rated in Europe and Willock is looking ready to play in the first team. The modern game does not require a full-blooded DM anymore, however much we would like to have one. We need balance in midfield through multi-skilled midfielders and with the addition of Ceballos and Willock to the squad, Emery can pick the right pair for different kind of games – depending on strength of the opponent and whether we play them home or away. I expect our core pairing to be Xhaka and Torreira: for top-five encounters and many away games. If we are looking at a more typical box to box player next to Xhaka or Torreira, either Ceballos or Willock, or maybe even AMN or Guendouzi, may just make the difference. The combo of Torreira and Willock may suit us best when we are pushing the opponent high into their own half and we need quick, mobile and aggressive midfield players for if and when we need to avoid a turnover. This combo, or one of them with Ceballos, could also work well against teams like Pool and Citeh as they often succeed in pushing us right back into our own half.
8. I wrote in previous posts that Mesut will play more midfield-to-box this season (supporting the two more deep midfielders continuously). He cannot do this game in game out for ninety minutes, so we need back up. And that man is most likely to be Ceballos, who is quite similar to Mesut it seems (need to see more of him of course). I have also high hopes for Smith-Rowe in this position. The key thing is Emery has much more midfield options to get the balance right this season – and I have not even spoken about the possibility of playing the likes of Chambers, Mustafi or Luiz in midfield if we wanted to add a bit more DM bite to it.

So consider me very excited about the possibilities of this squad and potential for the future. It is now up to Unai to work his magic with it and time will tell whether he will be successful.

By TotalArsenal.