Arsene Wenger – Page 5 – Bergkampesque

Chelsea v Arsenal: Match Review & Player Summaries

October 5, 2014October 5, 2014TotalArsenal

Chelsea v Arsenal

the

Verdict

Well let us get the nasty bit out of the way first. We lost.

Why did we lose?

The simple answer to that is, because Chelsea did the necessary things better than us.

They defended better.

They scored when the opportunity came their way.

We defended well.

We had some chances, but not clear cut, or with accurate shots.

They had 11 players. So did we.

Were their players better than ours …. Best not go there?

But let me give an overview of how things went, and come back to individuals.

The kick off was delayed by 15 minutes as Arsenal fans coming into the ground were either discovered to have flares with them (presumably from departing Galatasaray fans?), or one or more were let off before they got in. Either way, it meant that the players had some minutes to kill, having done all the warm-ups. However, AW asked the ref if they could go out on the pitch again. This granted, we had the bizarre situation of the Chelsea team lining up from the dressing room side meeting our lot coming the other way off the pitch.

AW did have another surprise in store .. he changed our line up for this game!

Out went the 4-1-4-1, in came the 4-3-3. Team was this:

Szcz, CC21, Mert, Gibbs – Santi, Le Flam, JW10 – Mesut, Welbz, Alexis

With the front three helping out in defence, it was something for Chelsea to think about. No doubt about it, for nearly half an hour we gave as good as we got.

Alexis got a shot away from distance, which went wide. Around the 10 minute mark, Wilshere played a delightful ball for Alexis to run on to, but his first touch was a tad heavy, and Courtois came out to gather it near the edge of the box. Alexis tried to jump over him when he realised he couln’t stop, at the same time as the ‘keeper tried to carry the ball clear, rugby style, ball in chest head down. His momentum forwards took the side of his head into direct contact with Alexis’s oncoming hip bone. Whilst he looked uncomfortable, he did not seem to be knocked unconscious. The club doctor duly allowed him to continue.

When play got underway again, Chelsea were probing our defence mostly through Hazard down the left. Remarkably, Costa hardly had a touch during the first half, and Fabregas was not receiving the ball very often either. So apart from the usual type of niggly fouls, it was pretty even-Steven. But then Cahill came on to Alexis late and dangerous, possibly as a result of the Courtois clash, which was very accidental. This was not! Not only a clash right knee to left knee, he followed through, studs up on Alexis’s standing leg. Very lucky to get just a yellow?

That sparked the off-field clash between AW and Moo. In order to get to the injured Alexis, AW had to walk in front of the Chelsea dugout. Moo tried to push him back, and things became heated when AW returned the push with interest. Both were warned by the ref that next time it would be the naughty chair in the stands.

Relations did not improve, and the 4^th referee was well occupied in keeping them apart.

Things on the pitch carried on much the same, with Calum preventing Hazard from breaking away in the clear, and he took his 5^th card ‘for the team’, and is now banned from the Hull game after the interlul.

Then Moo was having a charades moment when Szcz was about to take a GK to alert the ref that Courtois was in need of help. With apparently blood coming out of his ear, possibly suggesting a fractured skull, he left in an ambulance for a precautionary scan. The meant Cech came on wearing his head protector. Perhaps they should all wear one?

Chelsea seemed to step up the pace a little then, and although Fabregas will be credited with the assist for the goal that followed, he actually did little more than pass the ball to Hazard. The rest was all Hazard. A quick start got him past Santi on the edge of box, change of direction took him away from a reluctant challenge of Chambers. This left Kos to stick out the obligatory leg to give away the penalty, which he dispatched with ease. Kos was a tad lucky to only see yellow, but it was the presence of Gibbs in the box that probably saved him.

This time we did not go ‘mad for it’ trying to level the score, amid the multiple fouls from both sides, including a head clash between Kos and Hazard. Luckily Kos’s cheekbone is made of sterner stuff and he was able to continue. Towards the end of the half you got the sense that Chelsea were the happier to get in and regroup as we pressed more and more.

The second half carried on where the first left off, with fouls and cards following each other. Chances were fewer and farther between. Santi sent a shot wide after nice build up play. At the other end, Szczesny made a super reflex save at his near post when Hazard(again) beat Chambers to the byline, got the cross in at pace, which hit Santi on the knee: it was going to be a fluky own goal but for the gloved hand snapping out to turn it around for a corner.

Surprising substitution was made when Ox came on for Santi, who was not a happy bunny: understandably, as he was having a very effective game. The logical choice would have been Ozil, but it was not him; or Jack, who was having a good game, but opened up the argument of when he plays, he plays down the middle, and either takes space away from Ozil to run into, or forces him to operate wide. However, with Ox on in the middle, and Jack out to the wing, it seemed, at the time, to be the worst way of trying to reconstruct all the good things that came out of the Galatasaray Game?

They responded with Mikel for Schurrle, and were prepared to shut up shop.

However we were keeping steady pressure on them until Fabregas did his second thing of note. From the middle of his own half, Cesc flicks the ball over to the middle of our half, where Costa lurked between Kos and Per, and beat them both for pace. He finished it off with a nice touch that drew Szcz out into no man’s land, and lobbed the ball over him.

Having kept him quiet for an hour, this was the kiss of death. Alexis was subbed almost immediately, who was equally miffed at coming off, given it was Poloski who replaced him. Not quite replacing like with like regards work rate? And a few minutes later, Jack was replaced with Rosicky.

Chelsea replaced Oscar with Willan, who had just been booked.

It ended 2-0.

The stats tell much of the story: 60% possession, twice as many shots – 10 to their 5 – but crucially 3 of their 5 were on target, and we had none.

Sorry, I write that again: 94 minutes and not one shot on target?

They edged us with the most fouls – 14 to our 10, and cards to a similar ratio – 4 to our 3.

The last one to get a yellow was Welbeck on Fabregas. A two footed, studs up lunge at that. The Cahill yellow earlier may have saved ref Atkinson some ‘Untold grief would it have been a red, which to be frank, they both deserved?

That was the story of the game. Players all came away with some credit, although Ozil had a bit of a ‘mare, mostly losing possession. He had two things different today from his previous good games. A, The players moved off the ball quite well, but were also marked a lot better by the Chelsea defenders. B, Jack Wilshere.

Szczesny – had his reflex save, two shots straight at him, and the goal. Whatever he did, he probably would not have saved from the ‘Killer’.

Gibbs – Usual good stuff in defence, and got more use made of him in the second half.

Chambers – after his booking followed Hazard like a shadow. Given the difference in their experience, it was a great shift he put in.

Mertersacker – Masterclass of controlling our back line.

Kos – unlucky with the pen, but never gave an inch in defence, but Costa just had too much pace.

Flamini – amazingly missed a booking. More by luck, but still a solid game.

Wilshere – was behind much of Arsenal’s best approach work, and tried his best to change the script. One more game showing an all round improvement.

Cazorla – far from being ‘found out’, he worked his socks off. He was always quick to get away from defenders, and with quick passes he had one of his best games for so little reward.

Ozil – it seemed he could barely do the simple things right, and with the German team manager there to watch? Definitely a game to forget … and that is being kind?

Welbeck – found this much tougher but it did not stop him trying

Alexis – he was here, there, and everywhere. Not quite as effective going forward, but at least he made the defenders work hard.

Ox – strangely went into the middle when he came on, but did join up with Calum down the right some of the time. Not a lot happened for him though.

Rosicky – was also only fleetingly looking like the player of last year.

Podolski – would have had more openings early on, but they were closing the shop when he came on and he never really got his foot in the door.

Strange unused sub was Martinez? Presumably Ospina has travelled early for international duty?

Overall, we were beaten by a team who have all the players in the right boxes. We are still a couple away from that, but this was no 6-nil thrashing. The team worked hard and are much closer to them this time. Just two pieces of brilliance, the solo effort of Hazard, and the Cesc pass and Costa finish, was what separated the sides today. If anything, AW can look forward to the return fixture and a full strength squad as we progress some more.

Shame about the result, but full marks for effort.

Written by: Gerry.

We all know better than Wenger

September 17, 2014TotalArsenal

Last night’s defeat against Dortmund was a painful one: we were ‘out-systemed’ by Klopp and throughout the ninety minutes we had no answer to it. The Germans played with a great tempo and gang-pressed our players continuously: outnumbering them around the ball almost constantly. We were unable to build our attacks from the back and pass the ball round in midfield, and we also could not thump it forwards towards a holding striker. They played in concentrated units of three/four/five players around the ball, whereas we stuck to our positions and spaces a lot more. The crowd whipped the home players up and we looked stunned and apathetic from the start.

I really think our players were up for this though, but we just could not handle Dortmund’s system of football, the high tempo and pressing football. It was embarrassing but it might provide the team with some valuable lessons: ‘Oh the sweet uses of adversity’ as Shakespeare once said.

The responses by fellow Gooners have been varied, yet predictable: some want to change the formation and some the players, and there is merit in all of it. We all have our hobby horses, and especially when we lose we like to get them out of the stable. My head buzzes with thoughts like:

For 4-1-4-1 we do not have the right DM: so why play this formation?
Why did we not buy a proper, footballing DM this summer?
What has happened to BFG and Koz’s fine partnership?
Should we adjust our system to get the best out of Welbeck?
Am I mad and almost everybody sane by disagreeing about Ozil’s ‘best position’?
Why has Wenger changed from 4-2-1-3 to 4-1-4-1, and why did it work okay against the Nothern Oilers and not against Dortmund?
Etc, Etc.

Like many others, I have some reservations about Wenger’s approach to our football at the moment – formations, style of play, player purchases, etc – but we should be careful with jumping to conclusions. It is early season and the preparations for the new season were short, due to many international players returning late and CL qualification needing to be secured against a tough opponent. We did qualify but drew one or two games too many, and now we have been outplayed/out-thought by a rampant German team.

Dortmund are capable of this, as the money-no-object team in Madrid will testify. Many regard the self-adoring one as a great manager, but also he had no answer to the Deutsche Welle two seasons ago. Sometimes you just have to hold your hand up and say: we were second best and well done to the opponent. Key is to not make too much of it and move on, especially so early on in the season. It is a defeat we can afford after all.

In football, and life in general, you can always respond to a disappointment or set-back in three ways: do nothing, make changes, reinforce your belief in the road you have chosen. We are all fantasy football managers who can instantly suggest what Wenger needs to change in order for Arsenal to become a trophy-winning side. We can have these opinions and utter them without a care in the world.

But Arsene is the manager and he has an entirely different weight on his shoulders than us arm-chair managers. When he lay there on the beach in Brazil a few months ago, he day-dreamed of winning silverware with 4-1-4-1 and he got Sanchez and Welbeck, Debuchy and Chambers to make it happen. Let’s give him a chance to see this new formation and style of football through, and not jump to conclusions yet.

Keep the faith.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

The one player that holds the key to Arsenal’s season

September 6, 2014September 6, 2014TotalArsenal

2.92 chances/2.58 key passes per game, yet we still question MO11

Since Mesut Özil joined on deadline day last year every expert seems to have given their opinion about him. From ‘biggest waste of money’ to ‘best number 10 in the world’, and no player seems to divide the opinion of experts and fans as much as him.

Indeed, he seems to be a giant paradox.

Statistically, he is one of the world’s most creative players. Creating 2.92 chances per game, playing 2.58 key passes per game and 10 assists in 26 games in the Premier League is as good as it gets all across Europe.

On the other hand, his performances seem to tell an entirely different story at times. He often goes missing and looks lacklustre, lazy and unwilling to defend. I believe the biggest problem with the perception of his performances is that we expect too much from him. He has the giant price tag of £42.5m hanging over his head and everyone expects him to be a 20 goals, 20 assists per season player that grabs every game by the scruff of its neck and wins it for us easily.

I hope people have realised by now that Mesut Özil is not that kind of player.

The second biggest issue is his position. It seems to me at times that Arsene Wenger himself does not know yet whether he wants Özil to play in the number 10 role or out wide in the future.

Özil playing out wide allows Wenger to fit Ramsey, Wilshire, Özil and Cazorla in the same line-up, which gives us the lion share of possession most of the time, but it also seems to hinder our creativity and completely takes away our pace. Playing out wide also requires Özil to track back which he does not like to do and even abandons at times.

To be honest I have no idea why Wenger still plays him out wide as it clearly does not bring the best out of him.

Playing in the number 10 role, no matter whether alone in a 4-2-3-1 or as a shared number 10 in a 4-1-4-1 suites Özil much more. He gets into positions where it takes only one or two more passes to create a goalscoring opportunity. He does not have to track players back into his own box and we can counter attack much better if he wins or receives the ball as early as possible.

In my opinion the criticism he receives is over the top and one obvious thing is that none of his former or present coaches and teammates have anything bad to say about him.

I still remember seeing an Interview with Arsene Wenger on German TV in October 2013. When asked to describe Mesut Özil he stated ‘Mesut Özil is a dream. He is born to play football. Everything he does is class, he makes it look very easy, but he also works very hard’. Joachim Löw hails Özil for his performance without the ball and Jose Mourinho has called him the best number 10 in world. The perfect quote about his role at Arsenal comes from one of the most intelligent footballers ever, Phillip Lahm: ‘His vision is probably the best I have ever seen and that is why it is so important to have the right striker ahead of him. He is a dream for strikers and you saw that with Ronaldo and Benzema when he was at Madrid. If Arsenal can find the right striker who is fast and makes intelligent runs – then Mesut will be devastating next season.’

To me Mesut Özil is the best number 10 in the world. BUT he is only as good as the team allows him to be. At Real Madrid he was sensational because he played the number 10 role with world class forwards like Benzema and Ronaldo, who made it easy for him. At Arsenal it has been up and down so far. He didn’t have a player he could feed with passes the way he could with Ronaldo and playing out wide has not helped him a lot either. The signing of Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez might change this. Welbeck, Alexis and Walcott (if he can finally stay fit) are quick and intelligent enough to provide runs through the back four and therefore provide Özil with what he needs to be brilliant in the number 10 role.

My questions to you are:

1) Where do you want Özil to play? Left wing, right wing or in the middle?
2) Have we found the right striker to get the best out of Özil?

Written by: Nik

Inadequate CB-cover? Wenger might disagree!

September 5, 2014September 6, 2014TotalArsenal

A different perspective on Arsenal’s apparent lack of CB-cover!

Many Gooners, including yours truly, have highlighted the risk – or should that be sheer irresponsibility? – of not recruiting additional CB cover in the last transfer window. We can consider ourselves lucky that our CB-duo of Koz-BFG stood strong more or less during the entire 2013-2014 season, as they gained us many a point with their well-organised and expert defending. But it was also good to know we had nobody else than the Verminator warming the bench in case one of the two would get injured; and of course there was also Sagna who suddenly had turned into a half-decent CB.

The latter two have gone and we signed a young, albeit very promising, CB/RB in the name of Chambers. Any decent organisation nowadays holds a risk-register, and the potential of either BFG or Koz getting long-term injured, or god forbid both of them joining Arsenal’s cosy sickbay, is surely somewhere on there.

So is Arsene/the club acting irresponsibly by letting two giants go and not recruiting appropriate, experienced CB cover?

I say yes and no, at about 30/70. The Dutch have a saying: ‘iets doen met de Franse slag’, which means something like ‘doing something the French way’, as in not very thorough or thought-through. Arsene’s approach to managing risk reminds me sometimes of how French cars used to be: looked great, fun driving experience and full of luxury inside, but not the most reliable, if you get me (and I drove a few of them…. but all company cars hahaha 😉 ).

Arsene inherited a solid defence when he first joined us, and by signing Sol Campbell – one of the very best he ever made imo – he ensured the continuation of it for quite a while. But once Sol left – how bizarre was that, hey? – we have not seen the same solidity to our defence we once were so used to.

I want to say last season’s defence came very close, but then I think back about our mega-defeats again and I am not so sure whether that would be fooling myself. We did not buy a DM either and it all remains to be seen whether Wenger has done the right thing. I hope he has but have my doubts about it nonetheless.

But Arsene has a plan, although I cannot state that I know what it exactly looks like.

He is always evolving our style of play, and I reckon he has decided to go with two ‘footballing midfielders’ in the two deep midfield positions and he will not continue with 4-1-4-1 for long. He has many a midfielder to accommodate and will feel he has great options for filling the ‘2’ in his 4-2-1-3 with real quality, and I fully expect him to play Ramsey and Wilshere there more and more from now on, but either of them can be combined with Arteta (the captain after all!), Flamini, Cazorla or Rosicky, etc.

So, although I would have loved to see us getting a proper, footballing DM, who can defend and boss the area in front of the defence like no other, I do understand Wenger’s apparent hesitation to finally get us one. This season we will see whether our soft-underbelly in the heart of our midfield will come to cost us or not.

But what about our defence? Why did he let TV5 go before a replacement was signed; why did he not buy another one before the TW shut? Is he that stupid or irresponsible?

Of course he is not stupid and neither irresponsible. But maybe the classical approach of having at least two quality players for each of the four defensive positions does not work anymore; and Wenger has come up with what could be a very effective alternative: less defenders but with more rotation and, in the process, less dissatisfaction within the team.

Last season, the likes of TV5, Monreal and Jenkinson were largely spectators: managing just 24 PL starts between them, an average of just eight. And although Wenger should probably rotate his players more, this is inevitable as long as there are no major injuries. But football careers are short and players (need to be) hungry and ambitious: they want to play rather than just collect a payslip every week… and we don’t want those sorts of mercenaries at the club anyway… we sell them to the Northern Oilers hahaha.

And come to think of it, with Debuchy, Koz, BFG, Gibbs, Monreal and the brilliantly multi-functional and skilled chameleon that is Calum Chambers, Wenger might just have got the balance right between playing enough football by everyone AND having decent cover for all key areas. Say we play 55 games in all competitions this season: that is 220 games in total for all four positions – if we divide those by the six players mentioned above, we come to a fine average of about 37 games per player.

Of course there is more cover in the team as well, as Flamini can help out and the young and promising talents of Bellerin and Hayden can also be used (and there is Coquelin as well). But the older Frenchman will be used mostly in midfield and the talents will still be patient enough to accept their roles within the team.

I still think Wenger will not rotate a lot as he likes to play with a consistent back-four as much as possible: and who would not?! But suspension and injuries occur regularly during a season and this should ensure the aforementioned balance to remain effective. Debuchy, Koz, BFG and Gibbs are likely to play most of the games, but I bet both Monreal will get stints at LB as well as CB, and Chambers will do the same at RB and CB (and maybe even midfield).

We have enough cover for the full back positions, as in the classical approach of two quality players per position. And as both of the cover players can also play in the centre, Arsene might have found the perfect balance now. I hear you say, but what if both Koz and BFG get injured: we will be fecked! Well, in that case we play Chambers and Flamini or Monreal at the back, with Debuchy and Gibbs or Monreal as the FBs. Even if all first-choice players get injured or suspended, the line up of Bellerin, Chambers, Flamini and Monreal as our back four is not the worst one I can think of by any stretch.

Alternatively, we could keep pressing Wenger to buy us one or two top quality CBs to warm the bench and wait for their chance – as if they are readily available and willing to accept such a role. We only have to look at TV5’s desperation to leave us – one of our most hungry and Arsenal-loyal Gunners, and club captain in the process! – to know this is far less realistic than many of us think.

Will there be no defensive signings in the foreseeable future then? Well, I reckon Nacho is on his last chance (and he has really impressed me this season) and Wenger is watching him closely till January; and in the meantime he is keeping the nr.5 shirt and a suitcase full of cash ready to pounce, if so required.

Wenger might well have out-thought us arm-chair Gooners once more! 😉

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Written by: TotalArsenal.

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Poor Left Wing, Sanogo ignored, Lack of Pressure from Midfield, Ramsey’s Revenge: Arsenal – Palace Afterthoughts.

August 17, 2014August 17, 2014TotalArsenal

When I was a kid I once got a football for my birthday. It must have been my ninth or tenth birthday: there was no present for me in the morning but my mum took me on a long bike ride, from one end of my home town to the other end, to buy me a football in a sports shop. At that time, I knew nothing about Arsenal, or even English football. My home town team were Roda JC in the Netherlands, and they play in yellow and black. The ball I chose was white and red: more white than red pentagons, and I loved it for a long time: in fact, I can still smell and picture it today, almost forty years on.

Red and white are great colours, and of course those of our beloved Arsenal. And yesterday, the North of London was red and white all right. From the moment I arrived at Cockfosters’ tube station, I was surrounded by it. The sky was blue, most people were wearing The Shirt, and the sun warmed whilst spreading a golden glow over us. It was a truly beautiful sight. And the closer I got to the Highbury and Islington tube station the more intense it became.

There was a strong sense of anticipation in the air yesterday: a positive buzz of good things lying ahead; and the reason for this is of course the high hopes felt by many Gooners after some astute signings by the club this summer. And the one that epitomises this positivity is of course Alexis, as everywhere I looked on the way to the home of football I could see his first or second name reflected on the backs of many, many fellow Gooners. Sanchez has become the embodiment of our hopes for further progress and the shiniest silverware, and with good reason.

The stadium looked extra glorious yesterday. The early evening, August sunlight lit up the East Bank warmly and there was a sea of red and white everywhere – more than I have ever seen before, somehow.

First Half

No diaby, not even on the bench, but both Ramsey and Arteta in the double DM pivot. Jack in the hole, as hoped and predicted, and Santi and Sanchez on the wings, with not OG but Sanogo as our ‘holding striker’: not a formation I would have chosen, but definitely one capable of taking three points from the well supported Crystal Palace team.

The start was good and it looked a matter of time before we would score a goal. Jack was conducting play and there was plenty of movement in the team to find good passes and create opportunities. But we lacked cutting edge as our combinations just did not produce clear cut chances: was it rustiness or nerves, or was the ghost of Pulis still hanging around our ground like a bad smell?

Pulis’ ex-team were definitely playing like one of his infamous Stoke teams: well set-up, physical, cynical serial fouling, time wasting; and they made it really hard for us, especially after we lost some of our initial zip and thrust in the second part of the first half. Gradually we lost control of the midfield: nobody was using Sanogo anymore to hold up play, and the only one moving IN their designated area, other than Yaya, was Sanchez. We still managed to set up some attacks from the right, with both Alexis and Debuchy, although still getting used to each other, combining well to penetrate the CP defence. Unfortunately, when they did so, Sanogo was often isolated as neither Jack, Ramsey nor Santi were supporting him in the box enough.

On the left we were very weak. Santi did not hold his position and Gibbs was, understandably, holding back a lot. This did not help us in stretching the CP defence and midfield, and it became really easy for our opponents to stem our attacking intent. Jack searched and probed for opportunities but there was very little for him to set up (I could see this really well from the Upper Tier in the North Bank). We also played quite deep, and both Ramsey and Arteta did not push up enough to populate the midfield in front of CP’s ‘D’. Add to that the continuous fouling and the referee’s unwillingness to punish this, and you can see why we were not able to dominate the game more in the latter part of the first half: lack of width, lack of pressure on their midfield, lack of movement, too low a tempo and not enough pressing.

The supporters became restless, and then on top of all that, they score – so typically – from a corner. It is fair to say we did not defend the corner well, but it was also a pretty good ball into the box. Without three of our four best set-piece ‘defenders’ from last season – BFG, Giroud and Sagna – we looked vulnerable during CP’s corners…. and we paid for it.

Luckily, the man who only scores important goals for us, it seems, came to the rescue once again – and from a set-piece of our own. Violently happy, Koz we love you! – Bjork’s tune – went through my head, and we could all breath again. 1-1, just before the break, was just what the doctor ordered. And the stadium regained its positive vibes again.

Second Half

However, things did not improve much initially. Nacho brought more drive and aggression than the substituted and apparently injured, Gibbs. But Santi remained all-over the place, which is fine as long as he adds value to our attacking play, which he did not do enough imo. Jack lost a bit of his composure and precision in passing the longer the game went on, and Sanogo never really got into the game (for which he was little to blame IMO). Luckily, Wenger did not wait long to bring on the much more trusted Giroud for Sanogo, and, a bit later, Ox for Jack. Where Giroud added a lot from the moment he started; Ox’s input was less effective. However, Wenger moved Sanchez to the left which added a bit more thrust to our attacking play, and Arteta and Ramsey pushed the Palace midfield a lot harder in the second half.

I thought all our midfielders and attackers, except for the simply fantastic, albeit not fully perfect, Alexis, had under-par performances in this game, but the introduction of Giroud helped them all to improve their game gradually. It did not seem enough, however, to score the much needed winner. The team kept pushing but CP held strong, albeit with some unsporting behaviour, in terms of time-wasting and continuous fouling, which the frustrating, pie-gobbling referee Moss was far too lenient about. Puncheon’s dismissal was well deserved but seemed too little too late…

But luck was on our side, and it was the sweetest of ways to send Stoke-South-of-the-Thames home empty-handed: by scoring a Pulisesque late winner from a set piece by nobody other than Aaron Ramsey. It was ugly, but it was hard fought for, and we all did not care one iota. A giant, collective sense of relief swept through the stadium and we all sang the Ramsey song with real gusto.

We got away with this one; and with three points in the bag, we can afford the lessons learnt from this performance. If and when another park the bus team comes to the home of football, we need to push up more and conquer the midfield, we need to spread our opponents by using the wings on both sides wisely and run more intelligently, and, most importantly, we need to trust our CF to hold on to the ball and allow the rest of the team to feed of him.

On the way back I listened to Talk ‘Sport’ for a while (was desperately trying to find out the scores of the afternoon games). We know that most of the pundits there are opinionated simpletons, who like to stick to simple mantras in order to rile their mostly gullible audience. Stan Collybore just kept saying Arsenal needed to buy a SQ CF if we wanted to push on. He had actually been at the match and this was the main thing he kept repeating. A striker can only score if he gets the service, whether it is Sanogo, Giroud, Falcao or Cavani. Sanogo worked hard but did not get the ball anywhere often enough to set up attacks, produce assists or hit the net himself. Maybe one day, Collimore will realise that Arsenal have actually moved on and do not play with a classic CF anymore….. or maybe not.

We spread our goals throughout the team and with a goal by Giroud, two by Ramsey, one by Cazorla and one by Koscielny in the last two games, we are doing just fine. And we ain’t seen nothing yet: once this team starts clicking together properly, and we add a SQ DM/B2B (and a CB of course) to the team before the TW shuts, the Canon will roar and roar.

Sanchez was a joy to watch and I feel privileged to have seen his first game at the home of football.

My last word is for Chambers, whose reading of the game and interception skills were very impressive again yesterday. What a signing by Wenger – chapeau! 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Campbell delivers, Cuadrado immense, Quintero one to watch, Aboukabar Wenger-esque? WC Review.

June 21, 2014June 21, 2014TotalArsenal

World Cup Review.

Joel Campbell ready to give birth to his Arsenal career?

So far, it has been a great tournament for CONCACAF-teams. Aside from their own version of Stoke (Honduras), all other teams have done well so far, especially comparing to Africa and Asia.

South-American teams have been better than European ones so far as well (Brazil vs Croatia, Argentina vs Bosnia, Colombia vs Greece, Uruguay vs England, Chile vs Spain…with a humble exception of Switzerland beating Ecuador with an injury-time strike) and that might be a clue who is going to win the title.

Group A: Brazil haven’t shown a lot of class and the referee gave them the edge against Croatia, but I have a feeling that they get underestimated too much. They have world-class defenders and midfielders who might lack magical skills of Ronaldinho, Kaka’ or Rivaldo but have a high work-rate (remember, Scolari has won a World Cup already, and it happened with our very own Gilberto Silva and Manure’s failure Kleberson in the middle). They don’t have a world-class striker though, as Neymar plays on the wing – Scolari sticks to Fred while Hulk was crap against Croatia.

Mexico have impressed so far, especially given how poor they had been during qualifications. They’ve done well in defending (Marquez’s swan-song and Ochoa’s brilliance in crucial moments) but their attack can be improved. They should’ve had much better goal-difference if the referee had known his job against Cameroon, but Spuds’ flop Dos Santos was robbed for two goals.

Croatia have problems in the middle of the pitch where they should be the best given they have Rakitić, Modrić and talented Kovačić. However, they suffer from the same problem Arsenal have had – Croatia don’t have a ball-winning-midfielder to match the quality of his creative colleagues. Another problem is Stipe Pletikosa who conceded goals against Brazil that some better keeper would have saved. Finally, their left full-back position has been patched so far and that’s where they might suffer a lot against teams with a good right winger. On the positive note, Ivan Perišić has done well so far and we might look after him as well for our left-wing-position. He has scored against Arsenal once – for those who remember, he had played for Borussia Dortmund back then and it was a late equalizer. Mandžukić’s debut at World Cup was capped with a brace and he will be a huge asset for the Croats.

Cameroon have been the worst bunch I’ve ever seen at World Cup – no organization, no harmony…nothing. What Alex Song did to Mandžukić (a really idiotic elbowing) and the row between Assou-Ekotto and his team-mate suggest in what kind of mess Cameroonian football has been in lately. Vincent Aboubakar gave a solid performance against Croatia though – he looked mobile, lively and with an actual desire to win the game. I think that he might be a Wenger-esque signing: he is 22, plays for FC Lorient (we have signed Koscielny from there and apparently kept a close relationship with them), has some pace and reached double-digits (16 goals in 35 matches) in terms of goals in Ligue 1 last season.

Group B: both Holland and Chile have shown quality and pace in the attack to burn their opponents. However, both sides have looked more or less fragile at the back (which isn’t surprising given how free-scoring this tournament has been so far). Holland could have conceded even more than two goals against Australia and Chile suffered a lot against Australia from Tim Cahill’s aerial prowess. If somehow Chile face Croatia in the knock-out stages, Mario Mandžukić might have a feast. Of course, there are plenty of things to like at both Holland and Chile. Van Gaal has used Robben and Van Judas much better than anyone on international level before had; there is fresh blood in their team (hopefully Indi will return before the tournament ends) with players like Blind, Wijnaldum (I liked his cameo against Spain) and Memphis Depay making crucial moves when things got tough.

Spain have been in a real mess – Casillas came to this tournament after being benched for two years, no Puyol-like presence in the defence (Pique and Ramos were horrendous), Xabi and Xavi past their prime, lack of width and creativity in their flat attack and no Villa-like striker to bail them out. We might see a reform to tiki-taka that will start in Spain.

Australia have done more than anyone expected with Cahill scoring two great goals to conclude his World Cup story (he is suspended for the match against Spain). They put a heroic battle against Holland and were in the game against Chile until injury-time. Spirit is the word and Oz Gunner can be proud of the Australian team.

Group C: Colombia have been a joy to watch. Cuadrado has been immense in both matches and totally owned the right flank, James Rodriguez has proven his class in the middle and 38-year-old Mario Yepes has commanded his defence properly so far. They also have a very decent goalkeeper, Ospina, who has pulled a few great saves so far against both Greece and Ivory Coast. Alleged Arsenal target Jackson Martinez has been on the bench due to issues with Jose Pekerman. Another player to watch is Quintero.

Ivory Coast have to find the way to survive huge personal losses that have hit them: Ibrahim Toure, Kolo’s and Yaya’s brother who used to play for Monaco, died and he was only 28; and Die’s father died before the match against Colombia. Serge Aurier has been a real threat down the right flank, Gervinho scored two goals including a marvelous solo-effort against Colombia…but Yaya Toure and Drogba haven’t been on the score-sheet yet. They’ll need just a draw against the Greeks (provided that Japan don’t beat Colombia with two-goal-margin or more), and it might be more difficult than it sounds, especially with all problems Ivory Coast have.

The Greeks managed to stay undefeated against Japan despite being reduced to ten men before the break, and they should’ve scored at least once against Colombians. If they want to go through, they need a victory over Ivory Coast and Colombia not to lose to Japan. Mitroglu, Samaras and Gekkas haven’t had their shooting boots on so far, but it can change in their last fixture. Japan have spilled a lead against Ivory Coast – they could have won that match but crumbled in just two minutes – and couldn’t break the Greek 10-men-side. The good news for them is the fact Colombia have qualified for The Knockout Stage already.

Group D: Costa Rica have shown the world that miracles can happen and secured the next round. Their recipe for success: great defending, fast counter-attacks and no fear against more reputable teams. And our Joel. Italy have looked very beatable against England and very poor against Costa Rica. They need just a draw against Uruguay but their defence hasn’t been the one that goes together with Italian football. Uruguay have been a different team with Suarez and without him. Their defence hasn’t been on the level from the last World Cup and their midfield doesn’t have a creative guy – Cavani and Suarez are there to make things happen and that’s it. England…well, I’ve already said everything about England. They should get rid of Hodgson and find a manager who knows how to use all that potential.

Group E: France have been really impressive, especially Benzema and Matuidi. Giroud – who has scored more goals at this World Cup than Cristiano Ronaldo has – gave a great performance against Switzerland. Pogba is going to be a huge player as well, and Valbuena has shown why there is such a hype about him. Their defence is yet to face a serious test but they look like challengers to me: they have shown passion, hunger, pace and quality.

Ecuador could have booked their place in the last 16 had they done better with their last attack against Switzerland instead of conceding a late punch. They have issues with their defence as even Honduras gave them a hard-time. They have to get the same result as Switzerland in the last match to progress from their group, and it’s not so unlikely to happen. Cabaye won’t play for France due to yellow cards and Deschamps will probably give a rest to some of his players, given that the top spot is all but secured.

Switzerland haven’t been a typical Ottmar Hitzfeld’s team at this competition – their defence looked pathetic when two ex-Arsenal players teamed up (Djourou and Senderos) in the heart of defence. They might suffer an early exit with six points in their pocket, if they beat Honduras with less than three-goal-margin and Ecuador beat France. They should’ve had even worse goal-difference but Benzema’s goal was cut with a referee’s whistle (even the score-board had shown 6:2 for France), and Blatter is Swiss. Honduras – they have a slim hope of going through the next round but for the sake of football, they shouldn’t get out of the group.

Group F: Argentina didn’t look at their very best against us. Their attacking game improved after Higuan had been introduced and their football should be all about attacking with Messi, Di Maria, Agüero and Higuain in their ranks. Against teams with more pace in the attack they might get punished a lot though.

We weren’t poor in that match but I guess the fact we are the only debutant on this tournament was too much of a burden against the Argentinians. Džeko wasn’t mobile enough to create space for Lulić and Hajrović – our attack got some life with Ibišević next to Džeko in the final stage of the match. Pjanić and Misimović did their job well but the former had to play in more defensive role and the latter is a 33-year-old who has stamina for 60 minutes tops. Nigeria can be dangerous opponents – they are reigning champions of Africa and have pacey strikers that can cause trouble from the counter-attacks. We need to beat them in order to keep things under our control before the last match against Iran. Iranians won’t be pushovers either: they held Nigeria to a goal-less draw. Given the quality of our, Nigerians and Iranian players, we should beat both of them but football doesn’t work that way.

Group G: Germany have brushed Portugal aside and shouldn’t have any problems to get top spot in this group. They had some problems in the defence at the beginning of the match but with such a great goal-scorer like Müller they should beat everyone in this group.

USA and Klinsmann got their big victory against unlucky Ghanian side. Portugal are still favourites for the clash against them but let’s not forget they have a lot of injuries (Hugo Almeida, Coentrao) and Pepe’s suspension to deal with. Plus, USA have already beaten Portugal once at World Cup (2002) and Klinsmann has done the same with Germany (2006).

Ghana probably missed a huge chance to qualify from this group with that unlucky defeat to the Americans. Portugal must shake off the stress of huge defeat, and it’s not that simple (remember how we had reacted after our big defeats last season?). A defeat or even a draw to USA would mean Portugal’s failure to progress from the group, and it will be the last Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup while he is still in twenties.

Group H: Belgium had a slow start against Algeria and looked like a real team only after Fellaini, and especially, Mertens had entered the pitch. They have a problem with width as they don’t have full-backs to match the quality of their other players. Lukaku gave a poor performance as well: Origi was better than the giant striker.

Russia should have enough to go through the next round but Capello’s experiments with Džagoev and Keržakov on the bench might hurt their chances to go through. Also, Akinfeev was terrible between the sticks. Koreans might miss a chance to beat the Russians, but if they beat Algeria they are still in the game.

Algeria looked very disciplined which is not a surprise given that Vahid Halilhodžić is their manager. They gave a good scare to Belgium and looked much more dangerous than four years ago.

Written by: Admir.

Arsene to face the cat again?

June 15, 2014TotalArsenal

There is a lot of anticipation among fine fellow Gooners that Arsenal will buy at least three super quality players this summer, and will have a far better chance to win something big next season.

Over the last few years the club has not necessarily stagnated – competition has increased, yet we have still been able to finish in the top-four – but we do not seem to be able to push on for the title, let alone for the CL cup (although winning the FA Cup was a fine feat).

When I wrote about Arsene in the past, I have sometimes used Kafka’s ‘Little Fable’ as a fine analogy, as I see it, of the Frenchman’s attempt to get the club back to the domestic top and European glory. You can never fail him for trying, although it is becoming harder and harder to support him on his choices/approaches to get there (at least for me).

“Alas,” said the mouse, “the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into.”

“You only need to change your direction,” said the cat, and ate it up.

Franz Kafka

‘A Little Fable’

My questions to you, fine fellow Gooners, are:

Will Arsene change direction next season to get us to the very top or will it be another ‘deja-vu’ season?
Do you believe that we, as a club, actually can compete for the top prices, or should we lower our expectations?
Will he aim to get back to Wengerball football as in the Bergkamp and Fabregas eras; and if so, how will he achieve it?
How much trust do you have that Wenger can still get us there (on a scale from one to ten: one being very low and 10 being very high)?
And who does he need to buy/what does he need to do tactically (formation/style of play) to get us there and avoid running once more into the Cat’s trap?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Arsenal Season Review: Four Improvements and Three Negatives

June 2, 2014TotalArsenal

It has been a whirlwind of a season for Arsenal this year. The poor start to the league before the incredible run of form that saw us lead the league table for a mighty long time followed by the collapse in the league and finally the FA cup triumph that ended the trophy drought. For many observers, this seems like a typical Arsenal season and sure enough in some aspects that is the case, but I have seen real progress in this team this term. Of course the proverbial monkey is off our back now that we won the cup, the biggest testament to this growth.

One of the biggest strides we have made this season (if not the biggest) is the assembly of the rock solid defensive unit of Szczesny, Koscielny and Mertesacker. For me Koscielny is the best defender in the league. Mertesacker is Mr. consistent and Szczesny’s golden glove prize says everything I need to. Bac has been phenomenal for us too, but i hesitate to dwell too much on him as his departure is all but rubber stamped. This defensive unit (barring the humiliation at the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool and city) was the best in the league. The aforementioned defeats are a result of our poor tactical nous at the middle of the park but I will get to that in a bit. Defense has been a major achilles heel for Arsenal since the pairing of Campbell and Keown but that is now a thing of the past. In Szczesny, we have a true heir to David Seaman’s throne.

Secondly, has been Arsenal’s ability to grind out wins, which is a testament to the brilliance of our defense. Before when Arsenal took an early lead you always felt nervous at 1-0 because we would eventually crumble and either draw or lose. This season however we have learned how to ‘win ugly’ as many would put it. Perfect examples are the wins against Spurs, Dortmund away and many more.

Thirdly, there is the coming of age of some of our players. Biggest of them all, Aaron Ramsey. I mean we all saw his potential before his leg break but nobody could have predicted what we saw this season. He has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has consistently put in match winning displays when fit, sometimes showing lashes of skill that the likes Ronaldinho and Zidane would be proud of. Another has been Theo Walcott. Though he has been injured for the most part, he has shown that he can be the 30 goal a season player we always thought him to be. It’s a shame we lost both at such crucial times of the season.

Last but not least, is the fact that Wenger has finally shown us that he is willing to spend money on world class talent. With the acquisition of Ozil, Wenger has proved that he is willing to spend big on the right players, something he will need to do more of if we are to build on our recent FA cup success. I find it hard to believe that our first trophy in years after we brought in a world class player is pure coincidence.

There have been a few negatives that saw us surrender the league title to Man City. They can all be summed up in one sentence; Wenger’s lack of tactical prowess. This comes out in a number of ways.

First and most frustrating of all is his inability to manage his squad effectively. Arsene Wenger simply does not know how to rotate his squad. He will play his best 11 week in week out until they either get injured or lose form due to fatigue. In my opinion apart from Theo Walcott, all the other injuries we got this season could have been avoided. Allow me to explain. When we started the season, we had Wilshere and Theo injured but were coming back. Wilshere’s had been long term and Theo’s short term. This meant that Ramsey got his chance to play, along with Gnabry. However, not long after Theo returned, regaining his place on the right meaning we had a midfield of Arteta, Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott and Santi (our best line up). So they played until Theo was injured again. But Wilshere soon returned. Note that with his well documented injury issues, he needed to be eased back in. Wenger would have none of it. He was played, even at times on the flank leaving a fit Ox and Gnabry on the bench. His worst performances came from the flank mind you. This team played on until both Ramsey and Wilshere (both of who thrive on the B2B role and would have shared the responsibility brilliantly) were injured due to the sheer amount of games they played. All this while, the Ox, Gnabry and Rosicky on the bench. Same to Mesut, a player who needed to be carefully introduced to the English game. He was played until he lost form and ultimately got injured yet Tomas sat on the bench unused. Look at players like Mertesacker and Bac who played almost every single game this year when TV5 was left unused. Podolski, one of our best players played a very small part in our league campaign despite being our best finisher. The examples go on and on. What is the point in having a big squad if the boss won’t use it?

Secondly I feel that our traditional beautiful game has been compromised. Our lack of pace makes what used to be scintillating displays in slow, labored, boring football. Our quick paced passing was seen in flashes like in that fantastic goal vs Norwich but majority of the time it was that slow passing that was at times difficult to watch. This made defences harder to break down, a major reason why we seldom won by big margins. We need some pace in that team.

Finally, Wenger’s lack of a midfield plan. Gary Neville said that at times it is like Wenger picks his midfield and asks them to play as they feel. For most parts I tend to agree with him. He has managed to assemble a very talented midfield but they are all too similar, especially when we lose the ball. There is no positional discipline, no tactical defensive shape, no coordinated pressing of the ball. This leaves the defense open and vulnerable to attacks. This explains the routs we received. Wenger, at the very least, needs to bring in a proper DM who shields the back for properly. Arteta’s lack of pace and aging legs have been exploited more than once this season.

All in all, it has been a good season. The lads have tasted victory and now it is up to Arsene to bring in 3-4 world class players ( a world class DM of the Javi Martinez mould, a pacy, goal getting left sided winger and a 30+ goal a season striker) to elevate us to title and UCL contenders. At this point, no Gooner is willing to go back to the trophy-less years – rather would see our glory days return.

Written by: Marcus

The one player that can give Arsene his magic back

June 1, 2014TotalArsenal

Where has the magic gone?

Last April, one of the best writers of the last century passed away at the age of 87: Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I first read the Columbian’s master pieces like ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’, ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ and the phenomenal ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ in my late teens/ early twenties, and they opened a new world for me. Marquez’s books are very colourful and full of imagination and magic; a stark contrast with most of the Dutch literature I read back then. These were an introduction into magical realism for me: Marquez’s stories appear too fantastic, too dreamlike to be true, but he was just able to give ‘reality’ another dimension – a quality that only brilliant storytellers possess. As he put it himself in response to a question by a good friend of his:

“The way you treat reality in your books … has been called magical realism. I have the feeling your European readers are usually aware of the magic of your stories but fail to see the reality behind it … .” “This is surely because their rationalism prevents them seeing that reality isn’t limited to the price of tomatoes and eggs.”

After Marquez, I read a great number of Latin/South American literature: Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Joao Guimaraes Rosa, whose ‘Grande Sertão: Veredas (translated as ‘The Devil to Pay in the Backlands’) is one of the best books I have ever read: open this book at any page and read a few sentences and you will find it is pure beauty.

Adding beauty and magic to life is one of humans’ greatest gifts, but it takes a lot of effort and focus to do so, as well as being able to see and appreciate it.

By now the more impatient readers of Bergkampesque will be asking themselves: but what has this got to do with football? And my response to this is: everything and nothing. The quest for beauty – whether in football or life in general – is important to me, as it compensates for all the horror, sadness and injustice we get confronted with in our daily lives. Beauty is the brother of human warmth/love, and without these two what would life mean?

As a Dutchman, and in stark contrast to most of our 20^th century literature, I was lucky enough to grow up with magical football. From the dazzling Dutch National team of Cruijff and Michels in 1974 to the Ajax teams in the seventies and mid-nineties, I have truly been spoilt by the beauty of (total) football.

Regulars on BK know that Dennis Bergkamp’s move to Arsenal – who for me, and I know many others, was the on-field personification of beautiful football – led me gradually to our beloved Arsenal. Dennis would not have become such a club legend without the guidance and football philosophy of Arsene Wenger. But this goes also the other way: without Bergkamp, Wenger would not have been able to implement his beautiful Wengerball with such impact and success rate.

Thanking The Guardian for the picture. — Simply Sublime.

Gradually, however, the beautiful vision and skills of the wunderkind from Catalonia, Cesc Fabregas, replaced Dennis’ mastery and conductorship. Around him, Arsene build another fine brand of football, which did not win us prices, but was always a joy to watch. We can only wonder what would have happened if Arsenal had been able to keep hold of its key players and strengthen the squad every year with one or two quality players, during the initial post-Highbury years. But winning is not everything, at least not for me, and I have great memories of how we played the game under conductor El Capitan.

Since the departure of Cesc our football has seldom been of the Bergkamp and Fabregas standard. There have been moments in games, and sometimes even whole games, when we played beautiful football. But it is fair to say, Wenger has been struggling to get us back to the standards we have become accustomed to over recent decades. I have no doubt he can get us there again: his passion and vision are as good as ever; but I am wondering how he can do it.

For me, Arsene needs a conductor in the middle, ideally in the ‘hole’ position. I have seen enough to believe that Ozil is a great player but not a conductor who shapes and commands the midfield. I have great hopes for Jack, the best young footballer I have seen in the game since Cesc, but I reckon he has not got the stamina/fitness yet to be a continuous force in our team. Ramsey is our ideal box-to-boxer but I don’t see him as a conductor in our team.

In order to get back to full-on Wengerball, with now a better chance to win something in the process, we need to add at least a DM who can pass the ball as well. I have written enough about this recently, so will not elaborate much further. Suffice to say, we need a player in front of our back four who can defend, has great stamina and physicality, allows his fellow midfielders to play higher up the pitch and can pass the ball well (enough).

But we also need to fill the hole with somebody who owns the area in front of the opponents’ ‘D’, all the way back to the middle line, and if Cesc is really willing to leave Barcelona……

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Be good to yourself.

Have Arsenal finally broken the jinx?

May 27, 2014TotalArsenal

Reliving the FA Cup Final again.

In the lead up the FA Cup Final, my Arsenal life sort of flashed before my eyes. I was in Faisalabad, the third biggest city in Pakistan, on a business trip. I hated being away from Karachi, where other fans had set up shop at a cinema where the match was being screened live. But I was in my hotel room, and sitting there with the match on it seemed as if this was destiny: the nearly 9 year hoodoo ending at new Wembley. I began to remember all the years that had gone by with me following Arsenal.

I started watching Arsenal play way back in 1998/99, after I fell in love with Dennis Bergkamp in the World Cup. I saw them lose the title again and again to United, till we won the double in 2001/2 (Wiltord getting us the goal at Old Trafford), and then the invincible season of 2003/4 (2-2 away to Spurs to win the league). I saw the FA Cup final when Giggs missed an open goal and that miss was compounded when eventually we triumphed on penalties. At the time, it seemed like a given that we would keep winning something or the other. I recall the Arsenal website would have a banner every year proclaiming us champions of one thing or another.

And then followed a period in which we flattered to deceive, and disappointments that seemed short lived (losing arguably one of our two best chances at the UCL to a Wayne Bridge goal at Highbury in the quarterfinals in 2004) began to feel more long term. There are memories a plenty post that period, and most of which are of disappointment. Losing a good chance at the Premiership when Eduardo’s leg broke, losing the final of the League Cup to Chelsea after Walcott had scored his first goal (what a free kick), there was a League Cup semi-final loss in the second leg after Van Persie had put us ahead and we let in a goal (was it against Birmingham?), the UCL final against Barcelona which we all but won (barring 11 minutes, Pires off the pitch and Thierry missing a one-on-one with the goalie with us 1-0 up – not sure I ever got over that), and of course the wonderful League Cup final against Birmingham which was to be our destiny. Kos and Scez, two of the first names on the sheet in the current team sort of cost us that one, as did a collective fear to win. Between and around all of that were losses to United in the UCL and the league, and an 8-2 that shook everything up.

I’ve always been a big Wenger fan and it hurt me to see him reduced to this, being booed by our own fans. Hunted by the press and having an inability to ‘close the deal’, whether that deal be much needed transfers or big games. Then came Ozil, the second coming of Ramsey, a long time on top of the EPL and hope. And then implosion. Despite all of that I kept hoping that this team had something extra, surely it wouldn’t throw away another chance at glory? Wigan almost took it from us in the Semis, and what followed was arguably the most professional display of penalty taking I’ve seen in a while. From Arsenal. What? My team? Professionally killing another team? On penalties?

Pardon the long winded context, but the final meant the world to me. Somewhere, I kept avoiding telling myself that this was surely it. Surely. Our team wanted it too much. And then 10 or so minutes later we are down 2-0, almost 3-0 (saved thanks to Gibbs). And I’m dumb struck. A friend calls me asking me if I’m watching and I can’t even reply to him. He tells me that there is a long while left. That’s the only good thing about this. I shift my superstitious posture and keep watching numbly from another angle.

Then steps up Santi, and scores a direct free-kick after such a very, very long time. I’ve forgotten the exact time, but the last one was scored at the back end of last season by Poldi I believe. I jumped up and screamed in my room and ran the length of it to the corner and celebrated wildly with my imaginary audience.

Someone tweeted that this was how arsenal were going to break the jinx, with a monumental comeback. I tweeted back to please don’t tempt fate.

Sanogo came on and became a cat amongst the pigeons of the Hull defense. Kos made it 2-2 with 11 minutes or so to go and I was up and screaming again… quieted only by the thought that someone might come barging into the room thinking I was having a heart attack. Or something.

Extra time began and we were in charge, Giroud (I still rate him, despite all of his failings) should have gotten a worthy winner but it banged off the bar, and I began to wonder if this was going to be another flattering to deceive. Second period of ET and Jack and Tom came on. It began to be clear in my head that despite us winning on penalties in the previous round I wasn’t sure we could do it again in the final.

And then… Ramsey! Ramsey glorious Ramsey! And what a back heel to boot! To be honest all I remember in the live moment was the goal and the relief. The look of relief on Ramsey’s face and I too collapsed on my bed. I did not want to jump up, I just wanted to be happy that it could be over soon. Then I saw the replay and the beauty of it. What a winner. Someone tweeted that suddenly the Arsenal team didn’t know what to do if they ACTUALLY won. Hull had a couple of chances but the game ended and it was over.

The sight that made me most happy was the look on Wenger face as he pumped his fist. You could see how much it meant to him. Then he was mobbed like a rock star and the trophy was raised. London Calling, 7 Nation Army played and none of it mattered. What mattered was that we had won. Arsenal had won. Wenger had gotten something.

Someone in the studio asked one of the pundits if this made it a successful season for Arsenal, vs. say, Liverpool. The pundit (I’m forgetting who) replied that he still thought it was a better season for Liverpool. I laughed. HA! We have a trophy.

Do I think this is a successful season for us? YES. For the simple reason that we move forward in a positive direction, just like we did when we signed Ozil and broke the hoodoo of Wenger not spending. Yes, we blew a chance at the Premiership, Yes, we still need 3-4 players in key positions, yes, Wenger still needs to be more flexible tactically; but the narrative has improved. We move forward, on to the summer, on to the new season, on to new signings and a new hope. What do Liverpool get? Zilch. And even though I like Rodgers, and I liked watching them scare everyone I knew in my heart of hearts if they had won, the internet and the press would have crucified Arsenal with the narrative that a small squad coached ‘brilliantly’ and with the right passion can win the EPL. But whether this was a successful season for us or not requires a more in-depth write up.

But for now, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! And it feels SO GOOD to be an Arsenal fan!

And oh, Arsenal has not won anything for 10 days. #WengerOut. 😉

Cheers! COYG!

Written by Umair Naeem.