Arsene Wenger – Page 7 – Bergkampesque

Bergkamp’s Benediction Complete? Surely Not Yet!

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014TotalArsenal

Finally, Dennis Bergkamp was given the recognition by the club he thoroughly deserves. On Saturday 22 February, the non-Flying Dutchman’s ‘in-flight’ statue was revealed outside the stadium among many fans. Truly great people accompany their phenomenal successfulness and lightness of being with a healthy, natural dose of humility. Dennis is not a man of many words, but you only have to look at his face to see what this statue means to him; he was truly humbled by the occasion.

We all know what Dennis brought to our club with his vision, passion and talents. He was the embodiment on the pitch for Arsene’s Wengerball; and, like him, he understood the rare value of loyalty – of sticking with something rather than choosing the easy route to ‘success’, by seeing something through till the end.

Bergkamp does not need a statue to become immortal with many generations of Arsenal supporters, as he simply already occupies in each and every one of us, a permanent mass of brain cells directly linked to our ability to appreciate beauty and love for Arsenal; indeed, many of us simply refer to him as ‘God’. But it is nevertheless a fine gesture by the club, and an appropriate recognition of what he meant, and means, to us all.

As such, his benediction – the state of being blessed – appears to be complete. And yet, it feels there is still more to come. As we all know, Dennis has moved into football management, albeit in an assistant role to De Boer at Ajax.

The question is whether he will ever move into the top job, as he appears satisfied with his current subservient role, which also requires a minimum need to fly in scary aeroplanes, of course. I can only see it work in a two-headed club manager role, in which Dennis stays home when the team plays far way.

But, even in an assistant role Bergkamp could make a real difference at our club. He could work with the likes of Jack, Ox, Zelalem, Eisfeld, Ramsey etc etc, and turn them into top class players. At Ajax, the fruits of his hard work are mostly wasted, as they simply cannot keep hold of their talents anymore. A real shame – an international disgrace, in fact.

Therefore, it would only make sense for Dennis to join us in the near future and take his rightful place next to Arsene and Steve. Please make it so, Arsene!

TotalArsenal.

The Special Horse Fails at the First Hurdle: Arsene v Mourinho

February 15, 2014February 15, 2014TotalArsenal

One little comment was enough to get the 'Special Horse' to rear its ugly head. :lol: — One little comment was enough for the ‘Special Horse’ to rear its ugly head. 😆

These days nothing makes me spring to Arsene Wenger’s defence quicker than absurd comments which call his managerial ability into question. This week, I felt compelled to defend him on a forum where people who were ostensibly Arsenal fans were criticising Arsene and various players – including name-calling – following our ‘disastrous loss’ to Manchester United (you would think from the vitriol that we had suffered a repeat of the Anfield aberration). I think that you have to accept that some people just aren’t as intelligent or considered in their opinions as others. That’s one reason I am sticking with BK.

But to see the bile spewing forth from the mouth of Jose Mourinho on Friday has really made my blood boil.

Now, I get frustrated with Wenger reasonably regularly. I admit that I was one of those calling for his head on a fairly regular basis recently, probably blinkered by my own frustration and the team’s perceived stagnation over the years since we moved to our shiny new multi-million pound home. I still find it frustrating to see the occasional inexplicable rigidity with which he approaches in-game tactics and the prickliness with which he handles the media.

This is what the Chelsea manager said (according to the BBC):

“If he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn’t fail many times. Eight years without silverware, that’s failure. He’s a specialist in failure. If I do that in Chelsea, eight years, I leave and don’t come back.”

To me that smacks of a billionaire’s spoilt brat suggesting that a self-made millionaire is a failure because they don’t have the same resources at their disposal as the child.

Mourinho, after all, has never really wanted for anything managerially; at least not in the last decade, and he has no qualms about playing dreary football. He was handed a blank cheque book at Chelsea, so of course he wouldn’t have been allowed to not win anything for eight years.

Let’s contrast that with Arsene Wenger who has had stewardship of our great club for long enough that he has fielded a player in the first team who wasn’t even born when he took the reins. He may have benefited from some of Danny Fiszman’s money but it was nowhere near the level of “investment” that Roman Abramovich has made in Chelsea; in fact Abramovich has put four times as much into his hobby than some estimates of Fiszman’s overall net worth (£236m according to Wikipedia).

He has won the league three times (still more than Maureen’s current count), overseeing some breathtaking football in the process, continuing to stick to his footballing as well as his economic principles, and ensuring continued qualification for the Champions League on a shoestring, often being compelled to sell our best players, while waiting for improved sponsorship deals to kick in.

Now, who thinks Mourinho, a mercenary, would have the application (let alone the managerial nous) to pull off a feat like that? His return to the English game has seen him become even more charmless than before, in this instance repaying a compliment about the position he has got his team into (with no mention of the silver-spoon used to get it there) with vitriol. You evidently can’t buy class.

In my own failure to see the bigger picture, I often accused Wenger of myopia but now we are seeing the possibilities his prudent financial management over the years can facilitate going forward. My brother (an accountant, not a Gooner) has been telling me for years that Wenger was doing amazing things at Arsenal and I just needed to have faith, wait, and see. I have seen the light my Toffee brother preached to me for years, and even I can see now that, while it may not be this season, great things are in store.

It’s never been a more exciting time to be a Gooner.

Jozefos2013

Still feeling down? Four ways to put things in perspective

February 10, 2014February 11, 2014TotalArsenal

In the aftermath of the harrowing nightmarish early kickoff on Saturday, there were a couple of memes doing the rounds which made me shake my head and laugh out loud in a weird self deprecating frustrated “why-us” kind of a way. The memes fit completely with my lame sense of humor, yet they made fun of Arsenal, so I was at a loss to react. Add to this the fact that the defeat was still too fresh, and I didn’t know which way to turn.

One of the memes had three pictures, the first one had Arsene Wenger shouting “Don’t let Suarez score”, the second photo had Kos and BFG pumping their fists and saying “mission accomplished” and the third photo had Arsene with his head in his hands.

The second meme also had three photos, first one had Mourinho with the caption “The Special One”, the second had Pellegrini with the caption “The Tactical One” and third had Arsene with the caption “Five One”.

I leave you now to shake your head at the sheer apt genius humor behind these two memes and the sheer pain both of them caused me (and all of you)!

But on a more serious note, the Liverpool defeat leaves us rather scarred and demoralized, but it’s important at this juncture for both club and fans to not lose sight of the bigger picture and support our team in getting to gettable goals.

1 – We as a club, supporters and team alike, need to move on from this “we are going to lose” mindset. It’s a game, and Liverpool were masterful even though we were dismal. It seems as if they were playing Playstation football and we were playing Nintendo football. However, this defeat does not take away from the fact that we are second in the league (by one point), still in the FA Cup and still in the UCL. Last season at this point in time we were crying about qualifying for the UCL.

2 – Arsene will do what Arsene does. As someone who works in Marketing and has to make decisions everyday which people don’t agree with, I can empathize with Arsene. At the end of the day we have to have faith in his ability to sort the team out. After all, barring our games against the big teams, we have done rather well. Oh and we beat Dortmund too. So one dire horrendous (add your adjective) game does not make us into a bad squad or Arsene into a loser manager. He is not. He is a smart man who makes smart calls. The smart calls have a certain degree of success, I’d say in the high 90s and it’s a good percentage to operate from. Let’s have faith in him and in the team. If he did not buy in the January window he had reasons. We have to have faith in that. We should not lose sight of the fact that he is the decision maker, not us. And we must also remember that hindsight is forever 20-20.

3 – If we go back to the start of the season, I think all of us believed that a cup was a realistic hope of breaking the jinx, and yet we have been led down the garden path with dreams of an EPL Championship! Well let’s put it all into perspective. For me, the way forward is about making sure we beat United and Liverpool to make sure we stay in the hunt in both the EPL and the FA CUP. It will also give us much needed confidence to take into future games. In fact I’d say the FA CUP is a more realistic silverware hope than the EPL. Having said that, if we lose in one we may lose in the other. Form is connected, so we need to fight on in both fronts. United must be defeated, if for nothing else than for the fact that I want to see the Dutch Skunk (who once upon a time I had a lot of respect for) be on the losing side. Then Liverpool at home. We can win both. We just need to get our head straight.

Sadly, I’d say the UCL has to go. I’m not sure we have the squad to focus on three fronts. And UCL is not winnable (I hope to God I’m proven wrong). Bayern is beatable yes, but not worth diverting resources from the FA CUP and the EPL.

4 – Perspective. The Liverpool game was utterly abject (add your own adjective here), but listen, we have all seen how momentum can carry a team. The first goal was offside, the second one was bad defending and then Liverpool went from strength to strength and we collapsed. My only problem is that we let our heads drop. Heck, we could have been 5-0 in 20 minutes. I want to see a reaction, and all the noises I’ve heard from the team and the manager suggest that they want it as well. This is the only time I can remember in recent history when Arsene has indirectly even blamed himself.

So, let’s not vilify but let’s hope! Let’s back this team and let’s keep believing! It’s got us this far, why can’t it carry us a little further?!

COYG!!!!

Umair

—http://umairn.wordpress.com http://www.facebook.com/UmairNaeemOfficial

http://www.twitter.com/umairn

Liverpool – Arsenal Afterthoughts: DM-pivot needs sorting out!

February 9, 2014February 9, 2014TotalArsenal

Arsene has got his work cut out to make the team bounce back once more.

More than 24 hours after the debacle at Anfield, it is still not easy to come to terms with the devastating implosion of our team in just 1200 seconds.

Regular BKers know that I believe our first team players are not lazy and calculated but committed and passionate about our club. It is natural to want to point towards a lack of attitude by our players for this embarrassing performance, but I reckon this would be self-deceiving. Yesterday, technically and tactically we were not good enough and Arsene Wenger is the main culprit for this.

It would be a lot easier to blame a lack of passion and commitment as the main cause of our defeat, but on the day we were simply not good enough. It will now be key for Wenger and his players to show us this was just a bad day at the office.

In a nutshell, we lost the game through two horribly defended Pool set-pieces and a subsequent inability to turn the game round without leaving the door wide open for the Scousers’ deadly counter-attacks. And deadly they were.

As 17highburyterrace pointed out yesterday, nothing is more frustrating to watch than Mertesacker having to run back towards his own goal chasing the game. We lacked shape, organisation, composure, professionalism and, most of all, any dominance when it still mattered.

The set-pieces were defended badly by the whole of the team, as we looked all over the place (especially the second one), but our CBs should have taken better control of those situations.

It is also fair to say we were not able to match the energy of the Pool players at the start of the game. We knew we had it coming and we should have been prepared better for this.

As others have pointed out already this weekend, and as I have been saying since the start of the season, our weakest area is in the double-DM pivot. Without a fit Flamini we are a different team, especially against the top teams. And going forward we need to improve on Flamini as well if we really want to come close to beating the top teams on a regular basis (and win silverware).

We lost the battle in midfield as we were unable to match Pool’s energy and speed, and I am holding my breath for what is to come in the next few games, as we seem to have structural problems in this crucial area.

I like Arteta, but he is not the man to protect our back-four and lead our team in these kinds of matches. Keen observers will point out he was not fully fit and he did not get much support defensively from Jack (also not fully fit). I would agree with that, but even if Arteta had been fully fit he still would have struggled to protect and lead effectively on the day.

Arsene had a chance to properly strengthen the DM area during January but he chose not to. By all accounts, KK is another attack-minded midfielder rather than a defence-minded one. If this area turns out to be the area where we lose this season’s chances to win silverware, I will be very disappointed in Wenger. Let’s see what he will do next for the games against Manure, Liverpool and Munich.

But it was not just our DMs and CBs who were not good enough on the day; Cazorla, Ozil and Ox also had little or no impact on the game and Giroud was totally isolated. Our midfield only started to play as a bit of a unit in the second half, when it was far too late.

Without a good functioning DM-pivot the defence will not get the right protection and our attack will be left isolated. I cannot stress enough how vital the deeper laying midfield duo is to the overall effectiveness of the team. They are the brakes and gear box of the team.

I am confident that Mertesacker and Koscielny will sort out the defence again, but I have doubts about our ability to protect them and to dominate midfield play during the next few crucial games again. Wenger and Bould have their work cut out here, and let’s hope they will get it right.

TotalArsenal.

23 December 2013: the day Arsene mastered and embarrassed Mourinho

January 9, 2014January 9, 2014TotalArsenal

Wenger turns Machiavellian to expose Maureen’s Achilles Heel

Last month’s game against the Chavs was one of the most boring we have seen in a while. Many fellow Gooners felt we should have made a ‘statement of intent’ by giving our all to smash Maureen’s Chelsea at our 10^th attempt. A win over him at the Emirates would indeed have been a very welcome early Christmas present, but it was unrealistic to expect it.

Furthermore, for any top team to beat a Maureen-team, they will have to take a lot of risk by attacking in numbers and leaving the back exposed, and it could all have ended up easily in disaster. It is exactly what the self-adoring one wants and many have fallen for it in the past; and so have we. Last month,Wenger showed he has learned his lesson as he was able to contain himself; and for that I salute him.

Despite having produced some very fine footballers over the years, the Portuguese are not renowned for spectacular football. They are, for example, the nemesis of Dutch football, both at club and national level. They love to defend and absorb pressure and then beat teams on the counter, and, as we all know, Jose Mourinho is the management-embodiment of this style of football – and AVB is made of the same cloth.

It is all fine as long as the opposition is prepared to play along: to attack – and therefore take risk – and take the game to them. If they don’t, but play safe themselves as well, the game will turn into a boring Chess game. If all teams play like Maureen-teams very few people would still enjoy football. As such, Maureen lives of the goodwill to entertain of others, especially against the top teams – pretty similar to a parasite.

Last month, on a ‘special Monday’, hundreds of millions of supporters and neutrals were treated to a horrible, double-antler of a footballer game, and the main culprit for this is Mourinho. He has been under pressure for a long time to play more attractive, attacking football, with the only exception – unsurprisingly – during his Inter spell. Against the top teams, Maureen is totally dependent on others wanting to play attacking football in order for a game to turn into something watchable. The Chelsea stinking rich owner wants him to change but fat chance for that.

For once, Wenger decided not to play along with the Chelsea manager and by doing so the game turned ugly: slow, unimaginative football with very few chances and little to cheer about. It was a price we had to pay for the greater, long term good of the club in my opinion. Mourinho’s comment that Arsenal had been boring must have been music to Arsene’s ears: it showed he had finally gotten under his skin. With accusing Arsene of playing boring football Maureen had made a fool of himself.

Wrongly, Arsene is often accused of lacking behind in the tactics department compared to Mourinho. The Frenchman does not rate game-specific tactics as highly as the Portuguese does, but it does not mean he is not capable of applying it if required. Arsene has his team(s) play a style of football that should conquer all without having to adjust much, if at all, to the opposition. The aim is to play attractive, winning ‘total’ football that inspires football fans around the world. And Wenger will always be remembered for this ambition and ability; unlike the current Chelsea manager, who will end up with more medals but shall never be remembered for his lasting contributions to the beautiful game.

Arsene has not got a team right now, or at least they are not ready yet, to play such football against the bigger teams and come out victoriously every time. And against a Maureen-team he will need a super team, especially when he puts three defence-minded midfielders in front of his back-four with the aim to kill us on the counter (the most basic ‘tactics’ in football).

Beating Chelsea before Christmas would have been brilliant but the risk of losing was too big this time. And had Giroud been just that little bit more sharp and lucky, we might have done just that.

I reckon when we will look back at the end of the season, we will all recognise the significance of Arsene’s tactics on that day. It was short term pain for long term gain. Well done Arsene.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Economics, Terror Windows and why we pay more for the same thing…

January 8, 2014January 8, 2014TotalArsenal

So, another terror/transfer window (TW) is upon us and just in time for the injury gods to strike down our own TW (Theo Walcott), along with the usual other collateral damage of the holiday season (Bendtner, Ozil, Ramsey, …. list until squad is finished).

However, like modern asymmetric warfare, terror, in this case the TW, and should we add an ! to that, TW!, is the solution. A chance to buy what you need, and loan out (metaphor for leave at the curb) that which you don’t. It sparks something akin to Christmas fever among otherwise sane adults who suddenly dream of that star ST, DM, CB, RB, … that might be “theirs” for just (insert large number of millions). All SQ of course! 🙂

So, we know right away that the TW! Is like a car. Put a normally sane person in one and you may well end up with a wild-eyed crazy person. This article is about adding some sanity and fun economics to ever growing lists of “what we need,” where just today I read an article that for just 7 new starters Arsenal will be solid for the rest of the year.

Seven!? That’s not a change, it’s a whole new team, kind of like Spurs this year, who have done oh so well with that plan!

Anyway, we all know the basics and have discussed them ad nauseum, but let us review so I can get my word count up:

Release clause: specifies the amount of money for which a player may leave, key point here, if they wish to. No car lot bargaining here, stump up and a willing player is yours. Imagine if the car could look at you and go “nah, I don’t think that he/she is my type of owner, …”
Available: an adjective describing the state of being open to offers. Often overused in the TW! To mean “desperately desiring”
Interest: a noun that means lightly intrigued in principle, but in a TW! It suffers inflation to mean “stalking and acting quite anti-socially weird”

All of which is to say that all wish lists are subject to a player in question being willing to leave if a suitable deal arrives and they have a release clause, as well as a team being willing to part with that player for a price if they don’t.

Lesson 1: Embrace Reality: It’s all well and good to say “get XXX” and all his friends, but if he isn’t interested in Arsenal or moving just now, or his team won’t sell then … This is despite the fact that all supermodels desperately want me, even now, which is to say,

à It helps to see the world as it is rather than how you may want it to be.

Lesson 2: Strength from Scarcity: If a hundred SQ strikers were all available due to the simultaneous collapse of the Spanish, Italian and several other economies, then getting a good deal would be easy. Alas, never true when you need it! Scarcity is what drives prices in the TW! Scarcity, and fear of missing out on a one chance opportunity. How do you beat scarcity? You look for weak teams or those who need money, or who need something else even more. AW knows this, and has basically said so, good economist that he is, and we see it every game that Santi and Nacho play. And Ozil, and many others who were bought for needed money when the time was right. Players entering the last year of their contracts, forcing teams to cash in before losing them on a free, in effect reverse scarcity, which is to say create desperation for the team, by their desire to leave. At least towards the end of a TW!

à Need and player are only two elements, timing matters. Who are the teams that need something even more and have the player we want? How can we create a reverse scarcity with the teams we deal with?

Lesson 3: Marginal is of central importance: An economist will tell you that when the price of a good and its value are about equal, you are in an area where small margins of interest or need determine the final price. Another way to look at it is that lower priced, more available players who turn out to be great, with some input work usually, are a far better bargain then buying a star. For Ozil’s 40M how many youngsters and training years could we have bought. Figure TW and AR together didn’t cost that much. Hence, AWs preference for youth, it’s a better buy. If you can wait.

à It would indicate that buying now should be an act of desperation. If we consider Lesson 2 then, the real moral of this story is to find someone more desperate. With some SQ to spare. Who are those teams? Who is this year’s Malaga or Anzhi?

Lesson 4: Prices are optional: The price set is optional. I can charge you $100 for a coffee from my brand new espresso machine, and 17HT might pay it! But, if you have other options (see Lesson 2, or Lesson 1 if you are addressing my price), then I likely wont get many buyers after 17.

However, more interestingly, they thus reveal information. The price set in a release clause for example shows not only the players value to the team, but also the added value they derive from not losing him. A form of insurance if you will. Find a desperate team and you will find that the second price component comes down, and you have a Santi or Nacho for example.

à Use the quoted price (and total cost) to determine how much a team feels “not losing” a player is worth to them. Who are the teams with a player we want who can “afford” to lose them the most?

Lesson 5: Much of business is figuring out how to get a customer to pay more for the same thing: This is fundamental and to me denotes much of the TW! You’re at the movies and of course you get overpriced popcorn. It’s like $10 for a small, and immediately the perky teenager behind the bar says “Would you like the next size up (appears to be about 50% more) for another $1?” Whoa, really?!? What a deal… And so we grow fatter. But, that’s not it really. What has really happened is that you paid $1 (10%) more for about $0.01 (1 cent) more of cost. I.e. you just paid more for the same thing!

TW! time concentrates the market and its desperation, and thus we pay more for the same thing. Far more then if we had a more open market. That should clearly point out that the TW! benefits not teams, nor players, but agents and leagues who profit directly and, by the publicity of large sums for players in their leagues, indirectly.

Please don’t go on about how we can make it up in shirt sales. I agree, but, that money also goes towards infrastructure development, paying the person who sells you your tickets or keeps Arsenal player online so Gerry and I can watch the games. Like a bonus or a tax return you should save, you can, or at least should, only spend it once.

The real question is how to pay the same for the same thing. Something I think AW has been very good at over the years but, with all the other lessons above, requires patience, and a willingness to be creative. We didn’t *need* Ozil, but he was available for the “same” price when you compare his cost to Bale for example.

Now, before you leap on the “he’s a cheapskate, kill him!” wagon. This is not about being cheap. Our friends across the way at Spurs are the classic case of paying more for the same thing. They took £80-100M of Bale money and spent it on just about a whole team. That played the same. One 40M Ozil or similar might have been a better deal and a way of paying less for more. ‘Nuff said!

à How can Arsenal and AW buy more for less or the same price, rather then paying more for the same thing (or less if you buy the “Arshavin Corollary”)? To me it’s about being creative, need a ST, buy a DM and play different perhaps… How can AW be creative and still get Arsenal where we want to be at the end of the year?

So, just some thoughts to keep in mind when reading those wish lists and figuring out who we might want and who we might get. Consider them tools to use in analyzing what might really be going on.

Who’s really willing? Who’s desperate? Who’s “scarce” and who’s not? Are we being super-sized to pay more for the same thing? Should we care? Who’s the player we don’t need that will turn out to be the player we absolutely needed (keeping in mind another midfielder wasn’t top of many folks lists this past TW!)?

What are your thoughts?

Cheers — jgc

How can Arsenal win the title? Your advice to Arsene Wenger

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014TotalArsenal

Isn’t fantastic, even a bit surreal, for Arsenal to still be top of the league at the start of 2014? I am always hopeful – even confident – we do well at the start of the season but to be ahead of the Oilers – South and North – and eleven points better off than Manure is well beyond my expectation.

It looks like the battle for the title will be between the Oilers and us. I expect Liverpool to come close to us one more time this season, but it looks like they have not got enough to really push us for the title. It is of course still early days to start pulling conclusions, but as we have played all the teams at least once now, we can say we were not embarrassed by any of them, except maybe the Northern Oilers who caught us at our weakest moment and at their ground. I wonder where we would be right now if we had played ManCity at the home of football and less fatigued: we could be five, even seven points clear from them now.

We also had bad games against Villa at home and Manure away. The former can happen but the latter was more than a bit disappointing, although we should take into account the fatigue factor as well after two big battles – and well earned wins – against Liverpool and Dortmund in the week prior to that match.

We played two of our three hardest away games already (both Manchester clubs), with the Chavs game still to come. We also have to go to the great football city of Liverpool, where we have to play both high-flying teams. Our recent record against Everton and Liverpool is good, but this year round it will be hard to take six points from the North-West.

I reckon we will battle it out with Chelsea and ManCity for the title right till the end. MC have the far harder second part of the season with away games against Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Manure, and Spuds still to come. Given that they have been quite poor away from home, there is real hope they will fall away gradually despite their impeccable home record.

The hardest challenge for the title is most likely to come from Maureen’s Chavs, who have played most top teams away already (only fellow Oilers to play away) and are starting to find more consistency in their away performances. If they can improve their away form further, it will be very hard for us to beat them to the title, I fear.

It amazes me how many pundits make excuses for Maureen’s current team – some even feel he is doing really well ‘given the circumstances’. Chelsea are apparently missing a striker, but they are having a laugh with the likes of Torres, Eto, Demba Ba and Schurrle in the team.

Chelsea, with Maureen’s natural safe (yes boring), defensive football style and an embarrassment of riches in midfield and attack are of course the favourites for the title. If we were to beat them to it, Arsene will have done extremely well IMO. To achieve this, we will need a lot of luck and to reinvigorate the team through tactical changes and/or arrival of new players in this transfer window….. or should we stick to what we have and how we play and change nothing…..

My question to you, fine fellow Gooners is:

Can Arsenal win the title this year, and what do we need to do to achieve it?

Imagine – as just a bit of fun – you have one minute in a lift going up with Arsene Wenger today, and he asks you what you would do/change to win the title this year: what would you say?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Has Arsene seen enough?

November 14, 2013November 15, 2013TotalArsenal

During the previous inter-lull, I wrote a post stating that the following seven games might determine whether Arsene would stay or not. We had relatively easy matches against Norwich and Palace and a Mickey Mouse game against the Chavs, but also four real tests of the steel, character and quality of Wenger’s current crop of players.

I reckon the boys did well in those four games. The win against Pool was perhaps the most important result this season and it was not just the three points that mattered here. It was also the style of football and dominance of our football that was really important. We bossed the Scousers in every area and played some fine football during that match.

Our two encounters with Dortmund were also great matches, at least from a tactical point of view. I reckon the Gelb-Schwarzen are a bit further ahead of us but we both got three points out of our two battles, which is better than two draws in the end. Wenger thought his team had been a bit naïve in our home game, conceding the cruel hammer blow of a Dortmund late winner just when we were playing our best football. Anybody who plays a bit of chess knows the danger of attacking aggressively and neglecting their defence, and playing a team like Dortmund is basically the same as playing a game of giant chess.

I reckon our two matches with Dortmund were timed perfectly and have been great learning experiences for our first team. We will reap the benefits for a long time to come. Arsene was complementary about the maturity of his team in our away game, and I reckon he will have seen enough to make him think this team can get somewhere this season.

Unfortunately, we lost against the Mancs as a win at Old Toilet would have been the icing on a very impressive week. It was not to be, and Arsene claimed his team had been a bit nervous against Manure. We did appear to miss a bit of courage and we were perhaps a bit too conservative in our line-up and approach to the game – maybe Arsene himself had been a petit peut nerveux…

Yet, for the first time in a long period we were able to control large parts of the game at OT in the second half, and with a bit more luck and strength on the bench, we could have taken home a deserved point, or even more.

I am not yet 100% convinced this team can win the PL this year, but I am feeling more confident every week. Even the ‘small loss’ against the Mancs actually left me feeling mildly positive. I guess I will start feeling 100% certain we will win the league when we no longer see a significant drop in the team’s performance after a player in the spine suddenly gets injured; when the likes of Mertesacker, Flamini and Giroud can be replaced with like for like quality and no adverse impact on our football and results.

Whether Wenger believes enough in this team to sign a new contract is anybody’s guess, but being ToTL and top of the CL ‘group of death’ must go a long way to convince him that he finally is putting something very special together again. And with Ozil, Jack, Santi, Theo, Rambo, Ox and Rosicky he now has the sort of players who can make Arsenal play the finest form of Wengerball once more.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Time to show Suarez what he missed out on: Liverpool pre-view

November 1, 2013November 1, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsenal vs Liverpool Pre-Match

Intro:

Both teams have had a great start to the season but also have been handed a kind fixture list until now. Time for Arsenal to show the competition why we belong at the top of the table. A resurgent Liverpool? I don’t think so: time to shut them down at the Emirates on Saturday.

Let’s get in to it shall we:

Missing in Action:

Arsenal: Podolski (Hamstring) – back in training, Ox (Knee), Diaby (Knee), Sanogo (back), and Walcott (abdominal). Not too sure what’s going on with Flamini (groin). There have not been any noises coming from the medical department, is he unavailable? Are we just supposed to presume that he is? Or was he sent to a different medical centre to Diaby…one that actually heals injuries quickly?

Liverpool: Coutinho returns to the squad, left back Enrique Iglesias is in doubt for this one because of a knee injury.

Predicted Line-up:

Szczesny, BFG, Giroud, and Ozil should return to the starting line-up. Arteta returns following a one-match suspension and should line-up next to Ramsey if Flamini is injured. I’m not too sure if Santi is ready to go again. If he is then he should play out on the left, if not I’d give Wilsher/Rosicky a go. Gnabry should start on the right and could cause problems if Enrique doesn’t get up for this fixture.

Previous Encounters:

Arsenal v Liverpool 2-2

A ripper from Walcott saw Arsenal come from 2 goals down to share the spoils against Liverpool. It was a rather dull encounter but after Henderson scored on the 60′ mark we shot to life and scored two goals in 3′. Both of their goals were a complete joke and as lucky as they come!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbCvTSj8p_U

Allah Theo, Allah!!!

Liverpool v Arsenal 0-2

Two new signings bring two goals away at Anfield. Santi and Podolski started their Arsenal careers with a bang. Deserved the win after we controlled the midfield all game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIXYU8-EITU

EPL Form Guide: Arsenal: : WWDWW Liverpool: WDWWL

We slipped up midweek against Chelsea but our EPL form has been solid, yet unspectacular. Time to kick in to gear again and stop a premiership contender in their tracks.

Although they lost points to Newcastle they’re on a good run of form. Suarez was blistering against West Brom in their last fixture, netting a hat trick. A win will see them jump above Arsenal on the table.

This week I’ve dipped into the Arsenal Archive and pulled out this video clip. It’s the famous 4-2 victory against Liverpool during our ‘invincibles’ season. in the week preceding this game we had been beaten in the FA Cup semifinal by Manchester United and the Champions League quarterfinal by Chelsea. A patched-up Arsenal twice went behind to Sami Hyypia and Michael Owen goals, but stormed back, inspired by Thierry Henry, as he scored a hat trick to seal the win and preserve the unblemished record. Brilliant clip!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er5vVCVbVsw

One to Watch:

Recent transfer target ‘El Pistolero’ Luis Suarez. His suspension has been served and boy has he hit the ground running! In no time at all he’s netted 6 times this season after just 4 games. I know I’m being greedy when I say this…but Jesus I’d love to see him in our team! Suarez really would slot in nicely up top with Giroud wouldn’t he? ‘El Pistolero’ means ‘the gunner’…he was a perfect fit. Oh well what could have been huh, let’s just hope he’s firing blanks this weekend.

This week’s one to watch has to be Ozil. Truly great players stand up in the big fixtures and I have no doubt Ozil will do just that. 2 goals and 3 assists make Ozil a very dangerous player for Liverpool to match up against. It’s also interesting to note that he’s currently got a 88% shooting accuracy and we’ve all seen just how long he needs to pick his target.

Key-Match up:

Giroud vs the Liverpool CB’s

Our midweek game showed just how important Ollie is to our side. He’s stepped up a gear this season and his self-belief is coming along in leaps and bounds. 7 goals 4 assists and an average of 5.1 aerial duels won per game makes Giroud a handful wherever the ball is. Who he’ll line up against is anyone’s guess. Skrtel, Sakho, Agger or Toure, or all four as has happened on one occasion this year. Whoever it is will have to keep close watch on Giroud.

Pre-Match Finger:

This week’s finger goes to Foy for sending off Mikel Arteta’s. Fair enough a decision was needed in real time, but why not throw out the ridiculous one match suspension? Sort it out rules committee! How can a bunch of grown men on a football site be left scratching their heads after the game when asked what Arteta’s outcome would be?! Because the rules are a joke at times. That decision changed the game. Thankfully for us we still came out on top! Video replays people…we need them!!!!

‘Ask the opposition’ returns again this week.

It is designed to get some friendly banter from our opposition fans and get their insight for the match ahead. This week the answers were kindly provided by Paul Tomkins from tomkinstimes.com (@paul_tomkins). Let’s see what he’s written for us this week:

1. What do you think is the secret behind your success this season?

Credit has to go to Rodgers and the transfer committee, for the work they did, and to John Henry and co. for keeping Suarez, when I thought he’d played his last game for us. Who knows, another one pound fifty and we might have buckled?!

We’ve not had the toughest first nine games, with just United a big test so far, and they look uninspired this season. But Sturridge, and now Suarez as well, have been absolutely sensational. With Mignolet making the saves that Reina had stopped making, we have racked up points due to the keeper and the strikers. What’s in between hasn’t been as good as last season, with some of the possession game sacrificed, but the tactics are getting the best out of the front two, and they are clinical at the moment.

The next 10 games are very difficult on paper. So after game 19 – the halfway point – we should have a better idea. I don’t see us as challengers for the title but we are capable of the top four if the front two stay fit. Lose both of those to injury and there’s not a lot in the reserve. Our first XI is the strongest it’s been since 2009, and the average age is good, so we should have a brighter future. The fact that we’ve done well without Suarez in over half the games, and with Coutinho out, suggests we are getting better.

2. Suarez…is all forgiven?

I think so, although he was just doing to us what he did to Ajax to move to us in the first place. Some footballers are like that, and you accept it. He is not the loyal kind, but he is someone who works his nuts off in every match. I think he loves LFC, just like he loved Ajax, but he is also fiercely ambitious. My view is that we just enjoy him while we have him and then reinvest the fee wisely when he inevitably leaves. Hopefully he’ll move overseas, when that times comes, and for a lot more money than was on offer in the summer. And hopefully he won’t bite anyone in the meantime.

3. Are you happy with how your transfer window went?

I think so. Mignolet is doing extremely well, and Sahko looks a beast. Aspas had a great preseason and then looked hopeless when the season started, but it’s too early to write him off – although he’s the one disappointment so far. Cissokho looks like a sensible loan, and Luis Alberto has that Barcelona pedigree. Tiago Ilori has a very bright future, and Victor Moses is another astute loan, although after a bright start he’s looked a bit lost in his last couple of starts. Still, he’s clearly a good player.

And of course, there’s Kolo Toure. He’s really surprised me. I really rated him at Arsenal but assumed he was a fat-arsed has-been – but he’s not, and he’s impossible not to love. A great character, and still a very good footballer.

4. What position/ player is your weakest link?

We’ve had problems at left-back, and hopefully Cissokho will prove a solution. Enrique is a mix of brilliance and awfulness, and while he’s quite endearing, he can be too frustrating, so that’s the main area.

And some fans are moaning about Lucas again, but I remain a fan. He missed a lot of football, and it can take a long while to get back to the old levels. He reads the game so well, but once he’s beaten he’s beaten as he doesn’t have the recovery pace.

5. What position is Arsenal’s weak link?

It’s hard to say for sure, as I don’t see you play as often as I see Liverpool. I’m not overly impressed with Szczęsny, although he may be playing better now, and is still quite young for a keeper.

I don’t think you have the strongest centre-backs around, although I used to be a big Vermaelen fan – not sure what happened with him? But again, I may be wrong, as I only see the occasional game or highlights on TV, and Mertesacker and Koscielny may be much better than I realise. I do actually quite like Koscielny but he’s one of those who seems to make a few high-profile mistakes.

6. Which Arsenal player would you love to have in your team and why?

Probably Ozil, although we aren’t short of attacking quality. He’s not what we need, but then I thought he wasn’t what you needed either. Turns out that he’s so good he improved Arsenal all the same, even though you seem to have a few similar types. You’re a bit like us – better going forward than defending.

7. Ozil or Suarez?

I’d say Suarez, but then I would, wouldn’t I? As an individual he’s phenomenal, and now that the team seems better suited to his style he is looking obscenely good. But of course, he’ll probably want out in the summer. They’re both great players, and that’s not me being diplomatic.

8. What is your match prediction?

No idea! I’d expect a lot of good attacking play from both sides. The higher-scoring games have tended to happen at Anfield in more recent years – 6-3, 4-2, 4-4, but it could be one of those evenings!

Prediction:

I’ll admit it; I’m a touch worried about this fixture. Sturridge and Suarez have been on fire and have the speed to really trouble the BFG. Both teams love to attack so this one could turn into a good old fashioned shootout. We have to press them all over the pitch so they don’t have too much time on the ball! If we can do that and not get hit on the counter I think we’ll win this one 2-1.

What is your prediction?

Suarez or Ozil who would you prefer?

What position is our weakest link at the moment?

What tactic would you employ to beat Liverpool?

Written by: Oz Gunner

Next seven games might determine Arsene’s future

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsene Wenger frustrates and delights in equal measure.

He is by no means perfect, and especially this summer he has tested my and many fellow Gooners’ patience to the extreme. Things never seem to be straightforward with Arsene. When he was given a big budget this summer, as well as a promise that none of the top players would be sold, and a clear commitment by Gazidis to bring ‘super quality’ to the club, Arsene appeared to dither and not make best use of this vastly improved strategic position.

He somehow managed to turn things round in the last few days of the TW, with first signing the Flame and then, when we thought we could hear the fat lady sing her final lamentation – by sheer magic and at the very last minute – he brought us the European King of Assists.

I am more than satisfied with the final outcome but the way things were done over the summer have left me questioning Wenger and the club’s management ‘business skills’ for the first time.

It is always good to question ourselves whether we could improve things for Arsenal with another manager, but when we do so, we must look at what we could gain as well as lose by replacing him.

A few years ago, whilst reading Alain de Botton’s ‘The Consolations of Philosophy’ – an easy digestible book about how philosophy can help improve your daily life – I became intrigued by a particular topic. In the chapter called ‘(Consolations for) A Broken Heart’, de Botton explains how we can deal with being unhappy in a long term relationship with our partner. He advises us to go back to the reason why we decided to enter a long term relationship with our current partner in the first place. De Botton believes we enter long-term relationships with our partners because we believe he/she can improve us; and this improvement takes place in our offspring: our kids are to become better versions of ourselves.

For most of us, this is a subconscious, intuitive process, but we appear to pick our partners with the aim of eventually producing children who are a physical and intellectual improvement of ourselves – an upgrade, if you like. Of course, there are no guarantees this will indeed be the case; which reminds me about the famous little anecdote of Marilyn Monroe suggesting to Albert Einstein to imagine what a baby produced between the two of them could be like – with her looks and his brains; to which Einstein responded: ‘but what if it is the other way round?’.

De Botton believes by going back to why we got together with our partners, and by realising that our offspring is indeed an improvement of ourselves, we should be able to accept that we are sometimes bored, or even a bit unhappy, in our long-term relationships: but it is still a price worth paying.

I feel that the club relationship (and therefore our relationship) with Arsene Wenger should be seen in a similar light.

As a club we have gained tremendously from our long-term relationship with Arsene Wenger. Our ‘offspring’ is a number of titles and cups, a very attractive brand of football, a new stadium, but most importantly a totally embedded change of culture and a more or less permanent seat at the zenith of European football, although this is not reflected in our recent trophy cabinet.

We have come through a tough post-new-stadium phase, but it looks like we are finally getting back on track towards silverware. We might not win anything this year but at least we will feel we have a proper chance again, and that is all we can ask for.

It looks like our relationship with Arsene is entering a new lease of life and a further improvement of ourselves is a strong possibility once again.

But the next seven games are likely to be a proper test of the quality of our relationship going forward. Let’s hope we’ll come through it stronger and more joined up than ever before.

Written by: TotalArsenal.