Tag: Cazorla

Santi drives, Diaby & Ox are improving, Nacho & Gerv coolest: report and ratings

TotalArsenal
Nacho tells the Spuds and Chavs who he's gunning for!
Nacho tells the Spuds and Chavs who he’s gunning for!

Facing the Jacks without Jack?  Who really gives a Jack?!

It turns out, the almost-miracle in and against Munich, may well be the much needed lift for our squad to finish in the coveted top-four domestically by the end of the season.  Amidst the downplaying by some critics of our victory at the Allianz arena (due to Bayern’s suspensions and being mentally unfocused after their first-leg victory), the significance of that victory may go beyond the criticism of coming short in Europe yet again; it represents a huge boost for Arsenal in confidence, and the cornerstone for momentum to the rest of the season.

The problem for most of this season has been following up a great performance with another.  There has been a lack of consistency game-to-game and even within a game; the 2-0 victory against Bayern saw the potential for Arsenal to be a fortress defensively like we were for the first few games this season, while playing as a collective, cohesive unit offensively.

Arsenal was able to follow up its 2-0 victory in the CL with another inspiring 2-0 victory against a Swansea side that beat us by the same score-line earlier this year.  Arsene made some changes to the line-up that played mid-week in Germany, by starting Ox, Diaby and Monreal in place of Rosicky, Ramsey and Gibbs.  We started off the game with some very nice one-touch passing, while Swansea countered with some beautiful passing of its own.  It was evident that this would be a wide-open game with both teams taking turn passing and attacking.

Swansea dominated the first 20 minutes of play by creating the majority of chances and holding on to the ball very well – they ‘out-Arsenaled’ Arsenal in the process.  Their first half was highlighted by golden opportunities both missed by Michu.  Our defence did well in neutralizing the early threats; and after the initial 20 minutes of dominance by Swansea, Arsenal took over the game.

We had our fair chances to score in the first half, none better than Ox’s two shots off the crossbar, and Santi’s dipping effort from 25 yards out that Vorm saved calmly.  However, both sides were unable to convert, and the half ended in a stalemate with both sides outplaying the other for half of the first 45 minutes.

The second half was a much different story to the first half of the game; as Arsenal have been able to own second halves, with only 12 goals conceded – better than any other squad in the Premier League.  We started the second half as we ended the first half: in complete control on both possession and scoring chances.  Santi drove our team forward on numerous occasions and Diaby threatened with a couple of nice runs, but we still lacked either the final ball or the finish to put us ahead.  It once again appeared that we would be victims to our lack of creativity, as we were very stationary on the edge of the opponent’s box, contemplating a way to break through their defence.

However, in the 71st minute of the game, Arsene made two key substitutions that changed the flow and outcome of the game – Gervinho and Ramsey came into the match for Ox and Diaby.  At first, I was a little puzzled by the substitutions since two-thirds of our most threatening attacking options today were now off the field, but I had faith that Gervinho’s trickery and runs would add some flair and potentially reinvigorate our stale offensive approach.

Immediately after the substitutions, Santi drove us forward once again and played a ball to Giroud, whose poor touch was saved by a diving second effort to get the ball to Monreal in the opponent’s box.  Cool and composed as ever, Monreal slid the ball into the bottom corner of the goal to give the Mighty Arsenal a much-deserved one-goal lead.  From there, the game was history as we continued to own possession and still attacked when given the opportunity.  We moved up and down the pitch like a well-oiled machine, paying special attention to the defensive side of the game before eventually scoring in the 91st minute.  Gervinho capped off a counter-attack in the 91st minute by calmly slotting an insurance goal for us from a Ramsey pass.

Player Ratings:

Fabianski (7.5) – He was never really tested, but came up with saves when needed.  His aggressive goalkeeping in running out to meet balls played back to him by defenders displayed his confidence and comfort level in goal.  I also noticed that most of his kicks in the air often find Arsenal players in open space, which is another benefit Fab brings to the table.  Two clean sheets in a row, nothing extraordinary today, but he provides us with stability in goal going forward.

The Back Four: Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny (7.5) Monreal (8.0) – I grouped our back four together because I thought they all played a very solid game and have finally provided us with some defensive consistency and reliability.  Jenkinson’s pass directly to Michu in the first half was frightening, but fortunately we were not punished for his mistake.  Aside from that, Jenkinson was lively running up and down the flank and is blossoming into a fantastic and dependable RB.  Mertesacker held the line well and played very deep to receive passes in typical fashion; he was steady as ever.  Koscielny was aggressive and assertive in his defending again, and has formed a solid partnership with the BFG in the center of the park.  Monreal’s timely goal set him apart from the rest of the back four, but all four are worthy of recognition for playing a solid defensive game with little to no errors.

Arteta (6.5) – I was a little disappointed with Arteta today, as he misplaced some passes (one to Koscielny in our own half) and was careless with his tackling (conceded a free kick just outside our own 18-yard box and picked up a yellow), which almost cost us.  His lack of pace has been frequently exposed lately against clubs with fast players like Robben, Ribeiry, Routledge, Dyer, Pablo etc.  However, he is still the engine of this team and Arsenal are more disciplined and organized when he wears the armband and is in the line-up.

Diaby (7.0) – Considering it was Diaby’s first game back after another injury lay-off, I was relatively impressed.  There were flashes of his old-self coming back, as he galloped down field with ease and stripped the ball off Swansea players on numerous occasions.  It was clear that he was rusty and not fully in form yet, as he had a heavy touch on a couple occasions and could not finish from the scoring opportunities he created for himself.

Cazorla (8.5) – Santi was the driver for our team and constantly pushed us forward throughout the whole match.  Much like Diaby, Santi is once again showing signs of becoming the player he was at the start of the year and is exerting his influence on the game.  He was my MoTM and has looked brilliant filling in for Jack in the hole.  As mentioned earlier, it was Santi’s run with the ball that created the first goal; and his pass up field to Giroud that started the counter-attack for our second goal.

Oxlade-Chamberlain (7.5) – Ox’s first start in a while and like Diaby, it was clear that he had some rust to shake off.  He was our most dangerous player in the first half, hitting the crossbar twice, combining well with Santi and making some nice runs into the opponent’s 18-yard box.  However, he also had a couple heavy touches and made some errant passes in the final third.  I’d like to see Ox get some more minutes during the rest of the season, as he provides a different option to our wings than Theo, Poldi, Santi and Gervinho.

Giroud (6.5) – Giroud was underwhelming yet again today.  Aside from the nice second effort to assist on Monreal’s goal, he was largely not involved and never helped to threaten Swansea’s defense.  As always, his work rate and attention to defensive duties is admirable, but we’ll eventually need goals from our striker if we’re to qualify for the Champions League next year.

Walcott (6.0) – There were times when I questioned if Theo was even on the pitch.  There has been a disturbing pattern of Theo drifting centrally recently, looking for the breakaway pass and to be the man who scores timely goals, whilst leaving Jenkinson defending and attacking on his own on the right flank.  While the belief in his own ability is great, the delivery has not been focused enough, and he needs to let the game come to him, instead of forcing the issue.  I’m confident he’ll eventually find his scoring boots again.

Gervinho, Ramsey (7.0) and Gibbs (Incomplete) – In their cameo appearances, Gervinho and Ramsey made a substantial impact on the game.  Their ratings are only a 7.0 because they only played approximately 20 minutes of the match.  Gervinho immediately threatened Swansea with a nice run down the left, but fell victim to his own poor pass in the final third.  Still, our offense looked livelier once he was on the pitch and his goal in the 91st minute sealed our victory.  Ramsey’s work rate running up and down the field was necessary as our team was starting to fade before he came on.  Despite his pass being played behind Gervinho on the goal, he still played it into the right area and picked up a crucial assist.  Gibbs came onto the game in the 84th minute to defend the lead and never really had the opportunity to make his mark.

On a day where the Arsenal is victorious, it’s hard to point out too many flaws in our game, and I believe my player ratings more or less reflect this.  Going forward, the striker partnership of Theo and Giroud will need to improve, as we’ll need their goals in the coming weeks to secure a Champions League spot.  

Hopefully, Arsenal can maintain this level of intensity and consistency and finally form an identity of being a defensive fortress, while winning games in typical, beautiful Arsenal fashion.

Written By: Highbury Harmony

How many game-changers do Arsenal have: Wilshere, Cazorla, Arshavin?

TotalArsenal

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So here we are, nearing the end of another season which has careened from the sublime to the ridiculous. A season where Arsenal has flattered to deceive, and deceive it has for most parts. Sadly, we are only in March, and it will be another season without a trophy.

Frustration has been rife for most part of the season, and a large part of it has been directed towards Wenger, a manager who historically has had loyal support from the fans.

It all boils down to two basic questions at this juncture: How did we get here, and where do we go from here.

Much has been written on the first question, and I will only touch upon it by mentioning two anecdotes which for me are prime examples of Arsenal’s decline.

The first one is that rather infamous tirade Patrick Viera threw at Wenger in the summer of 2001 (http://www.arsenal-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/vieira_fires_major_gunners_salvo_11449/index.shtml), comparing Wenger’s dealings to shopping at Harrod’s. Funnily enough, Patrick wanted to leave because he wanted to win the Champions League, not just any trophy and claimed that the team at the time (including Henry and Wiltord) was not even going to finish fourth. We know how that ended.

But back then, our team comprised of world class players who could walk into any team. We were formidable, and yes, we weren’t perfect; we had our share of bad luck and Achilles heals, but yet we’d fight and win more often than not.

The second anecdote is a recent conversation with a friend. During the early part of the season when we were struggling (heck, we still are) he put to me that Arsenal no longer has world class players in the same vein as a Suarez, RVP, Ronaldo etc. He was referring to players who could change games. My immediate reaction was to deny it, but then he asked me to name our players who could do that for us and that’s where the conversation floundered.

We used to have RVP, and he’s truly world class. But currently, who else can be classified as a game changer? Cazorla? Podolski? Varmaelen? Wilshere? Walcott? How many of these players can you rely to change games? How many of these would fit into a European ‘big’ team? How many of these players have actually changed BIG games for us this season?

At the time, when I was having that conversation with my friend (incidentally a Man U fan, which doesn’t really help)I had picked Cazorla and Poldi. After all both had world class pedigrees and Cazorla was having a good spell. Wilshire was injured at the time. Interestingly my friend suggested Arsharvin, and I had to agree. Unfortunately Arsharvin despite being world class, never quite worked for us.

If I were to have a go again today at the same question, I’d only pick Wilshere. He’s the only big-game changer that we have. He’s the only one who can be relied upon to have a full go in a big game.

The rest? They may be fantastic players with fantastic pedigrees, but they haven’t shown consistency or been big game changers. Poldi, Cazorla and Arteta have popped up to score crucial match winning goals (3 each) for us this season, but there’s still something missing (incidentally, RVP has got 5, while Bale has got 6 winning goals). Cazorla looks brilliant, but quite often struggles to impact games against big opposition. Walcott can be fabulous, but has also struggled in games where you’d think he’d assert himself. In fact the last big performance (in an important match) from him was that 5-2 vs Spurs last season. Verm I adore, but something’s gone wrong. He’s not a bad defender, but he’s having a crisis of confidence for sure.

So… we have moved from a team with world class players who wanted to win the Champions League, to a team of good players who want to win ANY trophy. Perhaps it has to do with some bad buys (Squillaci, Park)… perhaps it has to do with players with potential not returning Wenger’s trust as much as they should (Arsharvin, Poldi, Verm, Cazorla, Walcott, Gervinho, Diaby), perhaps it’s just a transitional season where we are still discovering our best system with the players still trying to gel with each other, or perhaps it’s because Wenger buys all round players and plays them in THE system, rather than in their best positions leading to their potential loss in form (Arsharvin, Ramsey, even Cazorla to a certain extent). Whatever the reason, and I’d say it’s probably a bit of all of the above plus more, we are where we are.

We are no longer a formidable European team with a fortress for a home. We are at best a good mercurial team, a top 6 team.

So where do we go from here?

In the longer term, I think it’s important for us to take stock and count our blessings. We finally have a team that’s likely to stay together for a couple of seasons at least. We have a good solid core group of midfielders, even if we lack in defense and attack. We have Wilshere, arguably one of the best of his generation (touch wood). We have Cazorla, Giroud, Poldi and Walcott, who hopefully will have gotten to know each other better and also improve individually as the new season arrives. We have good support staff in Ramsey, Gibbs and to a certain extent Gervinho. We have potentially good defenders (even if most of them are out of form) and for the first time in two seasons, we have the makings of a squad.

To transform this into a great squad, dead wood would have to be let go, and possibly three new players brought in: a world class striker (Villa perhaps), a world class goal keeper and world class central defender. I would certainly like for us to keep the Verm, he may be struggling, but to me he embodies the Arsenal spirit. I would be sad to see him go.

So we are in relatively good shape if the right additions are made, to be able to launch a campaign in which we can realistically hope for a trophy, if not the premiership.

In the shorter term, we need to keep faith in Wenger and in what he’s doing. He has been unlucky at times and he has made rather odd decisions at other times, but I have complete faith in the fact that he lives for Arsenal and believes in us returning to glory. At the same time, I’d be surprised if a new manager can come in and help us to win titles, while simultaneously retaining our football philosophy. Pep would have been one, but he’s off to Bayern, against whom we had an almost massive night in the second leg. It was a performance of grit, character and solid defense, and it makes me proud to be a supporter of this club. If only we had let in one goal less in the first leg!

Most importantly in the short term, we have to capitalize on Spurs’ dropped points by winning our next game at Swansea, which will not be an easy one, but This 2-0 away win vs. Munich with a side lacking in Wilshere and Poldi should give the team immense confidence, belief and faith that we’ll be able to get through to the EPL top four.

Wilshere is likely to be missing for Swansea as well so the onus will be on the other players to step up their game. I’d really like to see Diaby get back into some solid form, for Walcott and Giroud to score goals, for Cazorla and Poldi to pull strings from midfield and finally for our defense to return to saner footing.

Our club crest says it best, Victory through Harmony, and we need to regain our internal and external harmony, as players and fans both, in order to meet our short term and long terms objectives.

Written by: Umair Naeem.

Umair Naeem is a Karachi-based writer and the author of the novel Drowning Shadows, a spiritual thriller set in Karachi that revolves around man’s inherent desire for control.

He is currently balancing his time working on his second novel all the while rooting for Arsenal to return to glory!

Website: http://Umairn.wordpress.com

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/umairn

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/umairnaeemofficial

Jenkinson, Gibbs & Koz excel – Santi is king – Fabianski impresses

TotalArsenal

Five conclusion from a faith-restoring victory over Bayern.

Violently happy Coz we love you! :)
Violently happy Coz we love you! 🙂

The boys did us proud tonight – I am absolutely delighted with their performance. If this team had been playing together for a while longer and we had just a bit more quality up-front,  we would even have nicked it.

Conclusion 1:

Our first priority is to get the defensive side of our football right; then we always have a chance, because we know how to play footie and score goals. The difference in performances of our defence during our home and away game could not have been much bigger. We hardly gave away any space behind our defence and between defence and midfield  tonight, and were confident in the air and on the ground. Koscielny was superb and his pace and energy gave Mertesacker a chance to organise the defence, and focus on his own positioning. The full-backs were magnificent, especially Jenkinson did us proud. They had drive and passion, speed and strength, and helped out up-front as well. Their performances give us real hope of what could be in the future.  Fabianski did everything right and did not flap once. I also really liked his verbal communication skills and willingness to give his fellow players an ear full when they deserved it.

Achieving a clean sheet against, and at, Bayern is a fantastic achievement by our ‘back-five’.

Conclusion 2:

Arteta and Ramsey did a great job defensively in front of the back-four. Yes, there were a few bad clearances, especially by Arteta at the start of the game, and some of the passes were not sharp enough, but they worked hard and denied Bayern space in the centre of midfield. Unfortunately, it meant that Rosicky remained isolated up-front a lot, but at least Ramsey tried to support him as much as he could; and it is exactly how we managed to create the first goal. Of course this will remain the seemingly eternal dilemma for us: 4-3-3, as in 4-2-1-3 or 4-1-2-3, can either make us too defensive or too attacking, and we need the right balance of players/skill-set to get it exactly right. We switched to 4-1-2-3 in the end, when Cazorla replaced Ramsey by moving towards the middle, and it almost worked out for us.

A big minus point of Arteta was his inability to keep his composure towards the end, leading to him giving away a number of avoidable free-kicks, which allowed Bayern to simply see out the game.

Conclusion 3:

Cazorla’s drive, overview and composure was magnificent tonight. He was at times absolutely faultless and never was in hiding throughout the night. For me, he was the best player on the pitch tonight  – Jenkinson and Koz were not far off either, though – and what a player Arsene has signed with him. On the other hand, Rosicky had a rusty night of football; plenty of hunger and willingness, but not much came off and he often lost out in the one-to-ones with the Bayern midfielders. However, he was often left isolated, and he did not play often in our team this season; which caused a number of his passes going astray.

Conclusion 4:

We lacked that bit of extra quality up-front to properly finish off Die Lederhosen tonight. Theo put a few great crosses into the box – one leading to the first goal – but he faded in the second half; and his  partnership with Giroud is still not working out properly. Giroud scored the goal and worked his socks off, but (still) lacks composure and physical strength; just that little bit extra that would make him a great rather than a good striker.

Conclusion 5:

The entire team was well organised, very focussed and disciplined, and played with great passion. After a number of negative, and often humiliating results recently, the boys did us more than proud. We probably were too defensive for too long of the game to complete the miracle, but it was the best strategy for us on the night.

As per the start of this blog, if this team had played longer together, and had  a bit more quality up-front as well, Arsenal could have completed the turnaround tonight. Alas, it was not to be.

Finally

I reckon this unexpected, and almost heroic away-win will do us a world of good. Our next game is away against Swansea and there is every reason to play the same back-five and same ‘double DMs’ as tonight again. It would be great if Podolski returns to the team against The Jacks and Cazorla can replace Rosicky in the middle. I would start Giroud centrally again, but maybe give the Ox or Gervinho a start on the wing instead of Theo.

Tonight, Arsenal regained tremendous confidence and our reputation in Europe, and at home, has been restored a bit again. A real shame we did not make it through, but we simply left ourselves with too much to do after our disappointing home game against the Germans.

However, as this is a painful and necessary transitional year for Arsenal, it is victories like these that will help us to gradually get back to the very top again. A couple more players of real quality this summer and we should be able to go all the way.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Bayern preview: Rosicky & Cazorla to run the show / 4-1-2-3 / attack, attack, attack!

TotalArsenal

ucl-stadium

Less than 24 hours to go and I am getting really excited about the up and coming CL fixture against Die Lederhosen. Normally I would be approaching this game with a sense of both anticipation and apprehension, but I feel simply relaxed going into this one. Would we have had a better result in our home game, I would feel a lot more apprehensive and nervous right now; but today, us Gooners can afford to just look forward to the match without the heavy weight of expectation on our weary shoulders.

This is a game in which we have nothing to lose, other than our pride; but then again, there is nothing more important than always doing the shirt proud.

We should not expect to win tomorrow, but nevertheless try to do so by giving it our all. Funnily enough, Bayern will be wary that our team can play with the potentially lethal combination of low expectations and yet full commitment and desire. It will allow Arsenal to express itself once again, and to play to its strength; playing fast, aggressive, attacking football without worrying too much about letting one, or even two goals in.

As Arsenal need to score many goals to go through – we need at least three – Arsene has no other option than to go all out on attack with his team. If we can set up our team to score three; we would also be able to score a fourth in case Bayern would score a goal against us tomorrow – something which is highly likely to happen.

I believe our chances to get through are less than 10% as scoring at least three goals against an in-form Bayern is a very difficult, if not impossible, task. But this The Arsenal and Wenger has managed to surprise everyone before in Europe. He does not have to worry about our defence too much tomorrow evening, and can pick a very attacking formation.

We also know that Arsenal cannot play another way.  It goes against Arsene’s nature to set the team up defensively, as in trying to contain the Germans, and we also do not have the players for this. So it will be all out attack and play with pride for the shirt.

It is a blow that Jack and Podolski will not play tomorrow but a big boost that Gibbs is available again. Diaby is 50/50 which does not come as a surprise to anybody. Bayern will be missing Ribery and especially the excellent, and uber-experienced Schweinsteiger in the centre of midfield; and Robben might also not be fully fit.

But let’s not concentrate on them. Let’s focus on how Arsenal can beat the Germans tomorrow. I think we have  a decent chance of winning, but it will probably not be enough to go through. These are the key formation and line-up choices that could win us the game tomorrow:

  1. Play an attacking formation which suits us: 4-1-2-3, with one DM and two AM’s. Despite Jack’s absence we still can pick our AM’s from Rosicky, Cazorla, Ox, Diaby(?) and one to two others like Arshavin, Ramsey or even Coquelin;
  2. Attack constantly through the middle and from the left wing: Gibbs and Gervinho come into the team and let’s hope they hit the ground running;
  3. Give Theo a free role on the right: there should be plenty of space on the right wing, especially if and when we can switch the attack from left to right, or middle to right when we are attacking from there initially;
  4. Play with both Vermaelen and Koz as our CBs, as they are our fastest options for our all-out attack approach tomorrow;
  5. Play with a high tempo and constant pressure; closing down the Germans relentlessly, and hopefully take one of our early chances to further boast belief that we can do it;
  6. As the midfielders will run themselves into the ground, we will need to have strong and ready replacement on the bench if needed, which is probably around 65 minutes into the game.

Predicted line-up for tomorrow’s game:

The defence is more or less a given, as I cannot see us play Mertesacker in a game like this and Szczesny has been rested: Mannone – Jenkinson – Koscielny – Vermaelen – Gibbs.

The midfield probably will see the most substitutions during the game; I expect at least two for that area. I reckon we will start with: Arteta as sole DM, and Cazorla and Rosicky as our double AMs. Arteta could be replaced by Ramsey if he gets tired, or Coquelin will get a chance. I expect Cazorla to play the full 90 minutes and Rosicky to be replaced by the Ox or Diaby after 2/3 of the game.

Up-front it will most probably be Gervinho – Giroud – Theo. They will have to help out defensively of course, but their main focus has to be on creating danger in attack and scoring goals. There will not be much on the bench to replace one or two of our attackers, so they will have to give their all for 90 minutes. The Ox could come on late as an extra attacker or to replace one of the wingers. It should just be enough to be a real threat against the Germans.

Predicted line-up/preferred line-up:

Ars v bay final
Giroud will be our link-up striker, helping out midfield if and when he can. Theo and Gervinho will combine wing-play with moving into the centre to support the Frenchman, if and when possible.

I really hope we will approach this game with a very attacking mind-set and game plan/formation.

If we approach the game with anything less, Bayern will smell blood and give us a bloody nose of huge proportions: it could become a real nightmare leading to a demoralising loss.

We have no option but to play to our strength, which is attack, attack, attack and make the best of it, and who knows we might just do it. I don’t expect it, yet I would not be totally surprise if we did it. Remember we are THE Arsenal.

Now bring on Die Lederhosen and let the Canon roar!

Come on You Rip ROARING Gunners – Do us proud!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Nacho Monreal: arguably the best Left-Back we’ve had since Ashley Cole

TotalArsenal

Monreal_2894059

During the January transfer window one thing was clear, Arsenal needed signings. More so, due to Kieran Gibbs’ unfortunate but rather inevitable (as we have come to expect) injury. The thought that we would have to depend on Andre Santos at left back for any amount of time was one that nobody who holds Arsenal dear was willing to entertain. Luckily though, Arsene Wenger was on the same wavelength as everyone else on this. He quickly raided Malaga for the second time in less than a year, and brought in Nacho Monreal.

I must admit I had never heard of him before, which is annoyingly typical of many Arsenal signings over the past few years (see Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny etc). The only consolation I held was that Malaga have emerged as one of the teams in Europe that seems to churn out world class talent on a constant basis. That said though, I still had my doubts and even youtube at the time did not have any comprehensive coverage of him. However due to the Gibbs’ injury, Santos ineptitude, and nature of the transfer (deadline day and all), I did not have to wait long to see him play. He made his debut in the fixture at home against StokeCity, 2 days after his arrival and boy what a performance he produced.

In whatever perspective you want to look at it, Nacho still comes out on top. First of all, this was a game where we had to improvise defensively following a last minute injury to Koscielny, so you wouldn’t have expected the back line to run with any sort of cohesion. Secondly, it was against Stoke (the premier league bullies). Thirdly, not only was this his debut, the transfer was so sudden and hurried that he hadn’t even said goodbye to his former teammates. He was still very much in transition. Yet despite all this, he put in a performance that wowed even the deepest sceptics around. From the first contribution he made in the game, it was clear that we had struck oil.

I can confidently say that Nacho is arguably the best left-back we’ve had (defensively) since Ashley Cole abandoned us for the blues. I have watched every game he’s played since he signed for us and his attributes are there for every one to see. The trait that sets him aside from the plethora of left-backs who’ve tried to succeed Ashley Cole, is his positional discipline. Nacho knows that he is a defender first and that forms the basis of his game. Even when he attacks, he has his system geared to tracking back in case our opponents counter attack. This is massive for us, because he knows when to go forward and when to hold his line at the back. As a result he has completely shut our opponents out on that left wing. Against Aston Villa, Cazorla who played on the left did not have to support him defensively even once. That is how good he is.

Another impressive attribute is his strength in the air. All I will say about this is that Nacho is 5’10 and he absolutely dominated the game against Stoke aerially. If that doesn’t speak for itself then maybe everything I have known since I evacuated my mother’s uterus is wrong, and Spurs are actually champions of Europe. Then there is his tackling, an area which he is decidedly outstanding.

Against Aston Villa there is a tackle he made on the left touch line (I can’t quite remember against who) to keep our attack alive. I was left in awe. I only saw such feats from Roberto Carlos. His ability to dispossess players on the tackle without committing fouls is positively shocking, to say the least. I am inclined to believe that that particular tackle earned him a place in goal.com’s team of the week.

Finally, his attacking threat: let us not forget that his assist earned us three points last weekend. I can’t yet say he is as good as Gibbs when going forward but Arsene seems to believe that this side of his game will come out eventually. Even if it does not, he still has earned the right to be our first choice number 3 even when Gibbs is fit. Nacho has turned the tables in the sense that in a position where we were woefully lacking, we now have two of the best in the league.

The cherry on the cake is that we acquired him for around 8.4 million pounds. That is about 2 million pounds more than we got Santos for. Incredible! Plus he only turned 27 recently so he still has a good 6-8 years of service to the Arsenal. Save for the signing of Cazorla, this is the first time Wenger has got it right in a while.

In times when we are in turmoil and constantly under siege, Nacho is one of the few things that remind us we are the Arsenal and not just some mid table team struggling to get by. With a few right moves in the market to complement him, we could build a team that will rein havoc on the likes of Spurs for years to come.

COME ON YOU GOONERS!!!

Written by: Marcus

Arsenal v Aston Villa: Three Positives and Two Negatives – Oooh Santi Cazorla!

TotalArsenal
Super Santi delivered the goods today!
Super Santi delivered the goods today!

Three positives:

  1. Nacho’s wing-play and crossing: I thought Monreal had a good game today. Every time he comes and supports the attack on the left wing, Nacho makes himself available and exhibits excellent composure. His final ball is also very good, and it looks like he will be an improvement on Gibbs who still needs to develop further with regards to his delivery into the box. His pullback for Cazorla’s second goal was pure class, but there were more examples of good delivery into the box today: a very promising development.
  2. Jenkinson’s composure and general wing-play: I thought Carl did well today. He put a number of sharp balls into the box, especially in the second half. He also played with good drive and hunger, and had some fantastic battles with Agbonlahor. One or two headers could have been better and his link-up play with Arteta was a bit rusty, but that is to be expected after not playing many games in recent months.
  3. Cazorla’s finishing: Once again Theo, and especially Giroud, did not have their shooting boots on, but Cazorla was in fine form today and scored a brace in the process. The diminutive Spaniard was everywhere and seemed to revel in his free role today. He worked very hard; helping out the team as much as possible up-front, in the middle and at the back. It has been a while since we had a midfielder who makes such great runs into the box and Santi positions himself really well. Many a player would have blasted the ball for his second goal, but his composure and technique made sure that this chance was not wasted. In his free role on the wing we might get a new fox in the box, and today Santi has been worth his weight in gold: without him we would not have won today.

Two negatives:

  1. As a unit, our defense still lacked organisation and structure: Once we scored the first goal, Villa were able to build up decent attacks on a number of occasions; and both our midfield and defense were not cohesive and well-disciplined enough to take back control, especially in the first half. The game flowed up and down, and we were wasteful in not scoring the second goal during that phase. However, Villa also had a couple of decent chances; and had they scored, it would not necessarily have been against the run of play. Diaby had started strong in the first 20-30 minutes, but faded away towards the end of the first half, and Arteta was turned over a few times as well. As our two ‘DM’s’, Arteta and Diaby have some way to go, and on days like these, I am still smarting about our loss of Alex Song last summer. I also felt the triangle of Mertesacker, TV and Szczesny looked unorganized, or should I say allover the place, at times. The Villa goal was a well-worked counter-attack by them, although our fullbacks did not cover themselves in glory: Jenkinson’s header should have been aimed better and Nacho should have closed down Weimann’s shot. However, from that distance he should not be able to score and I thought Wojcieh should have done better. Our defense remains an area in need of improvement.
  2. Lack of clinical finishing by Theo and especially Giroud: Football is a team sport, and let me say first of all that both Theo and Giroud worked hard for the team; especially the Frenchman worked his socks off. However, both players lacked composure and clinical finishing skills in the box today, and especially Giroud lacks quality at the moment. It looks like he is trying too hard again, which seems to influence his decision-making and execution quite a bit. I like Giroud for his work-rate, but hard work will not be enough to make it at Arsenal, and the jury remains out about him. Theo made some good runs on the wing and put a few more than decent balls into the box, but him and Giroud do not have a great understanding between them as yet, which is also costing us at the moment.

In conclusion:

A vital win at this stage of the season and well-deserved, I thought.

Although, it should be said that Villa played also well today, and did not just park the bus against us. They soaked up pressure well and were regularly dangerous; especially on the break.

Santi made a real difference today and I am really happy he stepped up when our three midfielders; Arteta, Diaby, and to a lesser extent, Jack, did not have one of their best performances.

Eight days rest now, and time for the team to reflect on the last week and get ready for the all-important derby with the Spuds. We will need to be more solid in our defensive play, and dominate the midfield area better, as well as being more clinical up-front. Not much to do then! 😉

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Five Arsenal positives for the rest of the season

TotalArsenal

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As our anxiety is growing bigger and bigger, with only three days left till the transfer window shuts again and, as yet, not a single purchase made, I thought it would be good to look at the areas in which Arsenal have made progress over the last few months.

I have said in previous posts that, whether we like it or not, Arsenal are going through a major period of transition again this season. Transitions take time and are hard to speed up; and they come with pain and disappointment as well as occasional joy and promise of what could lay ahead for us. Liverpool and the Chavs are going through a major transition, and the Spuds are always going through one! 😛

As football supporters, we are always inclined to respond to the here and now; heavily influenced by the performance and result of the last (few) game(s). But, it is also important to look at how things are for Arsenal structurally, and there are strong signs now that our team is getting better in terms of scoring goals and midfield dominance. Our one area of major concern is the defensive side of the team, and I will zoom in on this area in a future post.

Here are five Arsenal positives for the remainder of the season:

1. Scoring goals: RedNose has recently hailed his strike-force as the best ever. Well at £24m per year in salaries for van Judas and Shrek alone, he would certainly hope so. Yet, MU have only scored three more goals in all competitions than Arsenal this season: 76 compared to 73 for us. Our four highest scorers: Walcott (17), Giroud (13), Podolski (11) and Cazorla (8) have scored only one goal less than the Mancs top four goal scorers: Van Judas (22), Hernandez (14), Rooney (10) and Cleverley (4). Walcott and Giroud have scored 30 goals and are closing in fast on the ‘super-duo’ of Van Judas and Shrek, who have only scored two goals more. Our attackers are starting to gel now and are likely to become even more productive in the next few months.

2. The Theo Walcott effect: Since Theo was ‘reinstalled’ in the team again – ten games ago against Southampton away – Arsenal have scored 2.5 goals per game. By contrast, every time Van Judas led the line for us during the last two seasons, we never managed to score more than 1.95 goals per game on average, over a sustained period. There has been a positive psychological impact as a result of Walcott becoming a starter again and subsequently signing a new contract, and he has also added a much needed extra dimension to our attacking play. The partnership of Theo and Ollie is a very promising one, as together they have all the attacking attributes you could dream of.

3. Return to fitness of midfielders: the return to full fitness of Rosicky and Diaby has come at the right time. With Arteta picking up an injury, and Jack and Santi needing to be rested more regularly now that the big, crucial games come thick and fast, it is great to have quality and experienced players like Rosicky and Diaby available again. Add to that the progress being made by Coquelin, and a surprisingly good performance by Ramsey in Arteta’s anchorman role, and there is reason to be hopeful that we are finally starting to get full value out of the quality of players we have available for our midfield positions. We still need a beast of a DM, though! 😉

On top of that, JW10 has finally been played in ‘the hole’ position, and what a difference he has made in those games. We now have at least two options in this pivotal role: Jack and Santi, and we all know that Rosicky can give both of them a break as well.

4. The Gibbs-Podolski partnership: this is getting better and better. I have said before, they look like brothers on the pitch: there is a natural understanding between them, and their style of football and running look very similar. Podolski is quickly growing into this season’s king of assists and he has also scored a good number of goals already: eleven in total of which seven in the PL. Gibbs excellent runs and wing-play allow Podolski to move closer to the box, where the German can be most dangerous for us. Podolski has been demonstrating some great crossing skills recently as well, and I am hoping that Gibbs will learn from him fast; as this remains one of Kieran’s main areas of improvement. The longer these two play together the stronger they will become, and I reckon they will play a big part in the remainder of the season for us.

5. Vermaelen is coming good again: The Belgium Rottweiler has found his form again recently and is starting to lead by example once more. I still think the best thing for Wenger to do is hand the armband to either Mertesacker, Arteta, Szczesny or even Jack, and allow Thomas to be himself again and do what he does best: focus on defending and terrorise the opposition.

In Jack, TV5 has found a fellow extrovert leader on the pitch, and I reckon that since Jack’s full return to the first-team, Thomas has started to play a lot better by concentrating on his own game a lot more. We are desperate for at least one of our CB’s to play at their best, and with both Koz and BFG going through a bit of a form-crisis, we need TV5 to keep on going, and improving further.

Clearly, the defence is our biggest worry at the moment, and I am hoping that Wenger and Bould will be getting this area right for us as soon as possible now too. The purchase of a solid, disciplined and experienced DM could also really help in that department. Part of me wants us to buy another, quality CB: somebody in the mould of Sol Campbell. But another part of me remains confident that Koz, TV and BFG can between them sort things out. Let’s hope they do!

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Has Arsene already signed the new Pires and Ljungberg?

TotalArsenal

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For all those of you checking constantly whether we have bought somebody yet, these are not easy times. I used to be like that, but I have learned not to bother with any gossip unless it is confirmed by Arsenal.com or the BBC. The combination of a relatively low position in the league, our current inability to hit some decent form consistently, and the lack of transfer activities, is making us all restless and grumpy.

Firstly, let me state that I am hoping for 1) a beast of a DM, 2) a traditional winger and 3) a back-up, PL-experienced goalkeeper. If nobody arrived by the end of the month, I will be very disappointed. But, it is pretty useless to talk about potential targets, as Arsene is utterly unpredictable and probably does not exactly know what/who he wants himself at the moment; as per his recent comments.

However, with the return to fitness of Diaby and Rosicky, and the rest of our squad all fit and available, and Theo now being played through the middle regularly, we could potentially see a change in formation to 4-4-2, and I reckon we have the players for it.

For the sake of discussions, let me first give a few of my personal views:

  1. Ideally, we need a strong, physical DM, who can play football as well;
  2. Arteta and Jack don’t offer enough in terms of physical strength/ ball winning skills;
  3. Jack does not wear the nr.10 shirt for nothing; he should play higher up the pitch;
  4. Cazorla is a great player, but I would play him on the wing; he does not give our team enough shape and purpose when he plays in the advanced midfield position in our current 4-2-1-3;
  5. Both Jack and Rosicky are our best players in terms of conducting our play i.e. giving shape and purpose to our football: one of them should play in the advanced midfield position;
  6. Podolski is not a winger, but he has formed a good partnership with his twin-brother Gibbs, and if he could get fitter and sharper he could become fantastic in that position for us.
  7. I like the thought of Theo and Giroud play together up-front, but it will take time and it will only work in my view if Arsenal start playing in a 4-4-2 formation.

Given the above, I would absolutely love it – and I know I am not the only one who would welcome this – if we were to change to 4-4-2 from now on. In an ideal world, Arsenal could line up in midfield and attack like this:

Cazorla – Wilshere – New DM/Diaby – Podolski

———————–Theo—Giroud———————–

Giroud could be our attacking pivot, and Theo could have a free role: at times adding support to our wing-play, and other times combining with Giroud to create and score goals, or running on to through-balls from our midfielders. The longer Giroud and Walcott would play together the better their partnership would become.

With Cazorla and Wilshere we have two fantastic midfielders who can help on the defensive side as well as creating chances for others. However, it is important that we add more steel in the centre of defence. A fit Diaby could do it, but we cannot count on him for long: therefore, a new DM should be bought as soon as possible.

I would love to see Cazorla and Podolski on the wings in this 4-4-2 formation: they would both add defensive support as well as a real assist and goal threat. Cazorla could be our new Pires, although not playing on the left but the right, and Podolski could be our new Ljunberg, although also playing on the other side. With Ox, Coquelin, Gervinho, Eisfeld, and Rosicky we also have decent cover for our left midfield and right midfield positions.

Cazorla could be cover for Theo and Podolski could replace Giroud, and I would not be surprised if we were to buy another central striker if we were to change to a 4-4-2 formation. I hear some of you say, Arsene will not go back to 4-4-2, no way! You are probably right, but don’t totally disregard it, as I can not see him putting either Theo or Giroud on the bench for long spells.

But, let’s say, Arsene sticks to his beloved 4-2-1-3 formation: how could it work better for us?

Well, as per my personal views above, I would like to see the following formation in midfield and attack:

——————Arteta/Diaby—New DM/Diaby—————-

————————-Wilshere/Rosicky—————————

Cazorla/Ox——-Giroud/Theo–Pod/Theo/New Winger

I reckon Arsenal would play far better football than we currently do with this combination of players. Jack or Rosicky would give our play purpose and structure; a proper DM would give us steel in midfield; or, if and when Diaby is fit, he could form a fine partnership with Arteta (as per the start of the season).

Arsenal could either play with Theo or Giroud in the middle, depending a bit on the opponent and/or current form. There are also good options for the wing, although it would be great if we were to buy a very good, dedicated winger to give us more variety in this area, in the next few weeks.

All in all, plenty of opportunities to further fine tune the team for Arsene, and it will be interesting to see what will happen in the next few weeks.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Swansea preview: Sagna or Jenkinson, Rosicky or Cazorla, Theo or Giroud (or both)?

TotalArsenal

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Regular readers of Bergkampesque will have noticed my glass half full attitude towards Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. I  remain confident in Wenger’s ability to turn things round for us this season, and I also believe in the squad of players we have (give or take a couple of necessary new signings). However, it is about time that Arsenal show what they are made of now, after a disappointing performance against Southampton this week; and I expect nothing else but a committed, full-blooded performance for 90+ minutes.

Swansea will be up for this and will be full of confidence after their recent win at Ashburton Grove.  Arsenal will have to come out of the blocks with only one thing in mind: to take this game to Swansea with a high tempo and a strong focus on attack. To be fair, as we saw during our last encounter with the Swans, they are happy to sit back and absorb the pressure we will put on them; only to pounce back on the break as much as possible.

It is therefore important that we play a lot more cohesive tomorrow than we have done recently; with lots of ball retention, constant pressure on the Swansea team, and defending, creating and attacking collectively, rather than the disjointed efforts we saw against Wigan and Southampton recently.

Sagna or Jenkinson?

From the moment Sagna’s inexplicable defensive clearance led to us conceding a goal against Southampton, our right back turned into a shadow of his former self for the rest of the game. Until then, he and Ox had been our main attacking option as virtually all attacks came from the right. But his confidence was totally shot and he made mistake after mistake after his bad error that led to the goal.

So what to do tomorrow; play Sagna again or give Jenkinson a game? I reckon it will be dreadful for Sagna’s confidence if he is not played again tomorrow, and Wenger will probably play him for that reason alone. I hope he comes good again, as Sagna always gives his all. With Jenkinson having signed a new contract and Bacary hoping to get a new contract offer soon, it could be that the Frenchman is justifiably worried about his future, which in return might be affecting his confidence at the moment.

Rosicky or Santi?

We continue to struggle with the shape of our team and with that the purpose/directness of our football. I have written about the need for a more all-round DM, who should free up Jack to support the attack more regularly. At the moment Jack needs to help out too much defensively, and Santi is often isolated as a result. I believe Santi is at his best when he can play close to our CF and we need Wilshere to get closer to him in order to make this happen.

Rosicky always gives the team a good shape and real purpose and I wonder whether it is now time to give him a start instead of Cazorla. Cazorla could start on the wing, maybe instead of Ox or Pod. Alternatively, Jack could get a well-earned rest, and  Rosicky  could play next to Arteta, and with Cazorla in his normal position. But whatever it is, I reckon we need to play Rosicky tomorrow: he can give us the much needed impetus against the Swans.

Theo or Giroud?

Another big selection dilemma for Arsene. My personal view, as per recent posts and comments, is to play them both together in a 4-4-1-1. Giroud can be the pivot for our attacking play, who gets the midfield higher up the pitch with his ball retention skills, and also launches Theo into promising positions. Theo can move around and combine wing-play with centre forward play. However, I would eat my foot if Arsene was to start with both Giroud and Theo up-front and with four in midfield, so a choice has to be made between the Frenchman and the contract hugger.

Given the fact that Swansea play very compact and well-organised at the back, and the need for Theo to have space at his disposal, I reckon will start with Giroud in the middle, and possibly with Theo on the wing for tomorrow’s game.

Predicted Line-Up:

—————Szczesny——————

Sagna – BFG – Vermaelen – Gibbs

———Arteta——-Wilshere———

—————-Rosicky——————-

Theo/Ox——-Giroud———-Santi

 

At times during the match tomorrow, Santi and Rosicky could move to the wings in midfield and Theo and Giroud could play closer together. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. We need a great performance and a convincing win: it is time to kick-start the season properly now!

Come On You Rip Roaring Gunners!

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Did Jack give away our future line-up in attack? Could Arsene go 4-4-2?

TotalArsenal

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A few days ago I watched the Reading – Arsenal game again, and this time I listened with a bit more care to what Theo and Jack had to say when they were interviewed by Sky Sports after the game.

Arsenal had just played some fantastic football, and Theo Walcott had played up-front from the start of the match for the first time. Wilshere had battled in midfield like a true warrior, but the night really belonged to Santi Cazorla, who had scored a hat trick and produced a fine assist for Theo’s goal, our fifth on the night, as well. But I reckon Santi’s English is nowhere near good enough to be interviewed by the monolingual English media, so both Theo and Jack were asked to step forward.

When asked whether we had seen a bit of the old Arsenal again, Jack responded: “We showed the old Arsenal today. Obviously, we have to tighten defensively: we gave a few sloppy goals away. Theo up-front and Chambo on the wing – it was great and we played some of the old stuff, and we need to continue that going forward.”

That seems to be quite a  statement of what Jack sees as ‘playing like the old Arsenal’: Theo up-front and the Ox ‘Chambo’ on the right. In the same interview he also said that Theo and Santi had been ‘different class’ on the night.

I wonder whether Jack inadvertently let slip how the team is going to play more regularly from now on, during that interview.

Since then, Arsenal have indeed played with Theo in the middle and the Ox on the right, and it is starting to look like this might well be our ‘Plan-A’ from now on: Pod on the left, Theo in the middle and Ox on the right wing.

But where does this leave Giroud? Does it mean, he will become our ‘Plan-B’ and start most games on the bench, or will Wenger swap attacking systems and formations depending on the opposition?

The latter seems unlikely: it just is not Arsene’s way. He likes to have one all-encompassing system which concurs all, rather than adjust the system of football/formation depending on who we are up against.

But I can also not see Arsene demoting Giroud to his Plan-B, and leave him on the bench in most games.

So this leaves me with Herb’sArmy’s question from this afternoon, could we/ should we move to 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1)? I reckon if we were to do a poll the vast majority of fans would really want it.

For me 4-4-1-1 needs a creative genius behind the striker who also can score a lot of goals, which would be either: Cazorla, Rosicky, Wilshere, or Ox. Ox and Wilshere still have to start scoring goals regularly, and Rosicky does also not have the best goal scoring record. So that would leave us with Cazorla as the best candidate at this stage.

But what about 4-4-2, with Giroud and Theo working very close together, and getting service from four multi-disciplined/talented midfielders: Arteta, Wilshere, Ox, and Santi? There is back up from Podolski, Rosicky, Ramsey, Coquelin, Diaby (??), and hopefully Arsene will buy a DM in January as well. It would also mean that Arsenal would need to buy another striker as back up, in case of injury/suspension to either Theo or OG, this January.

Giroud and Theo offer everything a strike force needs to have, and a force it would be. I must say, my mouth is watering all over the key board thinking about 4-4-2 with the personnel we have available, and the possible additions we could see this January.

But what do you think?

Written by: Total Arsenal.