Tag: defence

Poor Tommy Vermaelen: another victim of the leadership trap

TotalArsenal
Has the Leeuw van Vlaaderen lost his bite?
Has the Leeuw van Vlaaderen lost his bite?

I like Thomas Vermaelen: he always plays with his heart on his sleeve and has only said nice things about our club. From the start of the season, however, I have argued that not Vermaelen but Mertesacker should be our captain.

Wenger tends to undervalue the importance of choosing the right captain, and as a result our on-field leader is often chosen based on a mixture of length of service and importance within the team. I agree with Wenger that leadership is a responsibility of the whole team, and there definitely is a need for more than just one leader on the pitch. But for most footballers the captaincy of a team still means a lot, and many players benefit enormously from the presence and guidance of a proper captain.

To lead a team, whether at work or in sports, you need to have certain capabilities. I have seen many a colleague promoted to a leadership role while totally not suitable for it. Often technical specialists within a team/department/organisation are promoted to a leadership role as a means of reward for his/her great contributions to the business, or as a retention measure.

But a technical specialist often does not know how, or even like, to deal with leadership issues: such as sorting out inter-colleague disputes, or having to stand in front of a group and tell them what to do, give them a rollocking, or motivate them.

Thomas Vermaelen is a technical specialist. He is a good defender with plenty of stamina, and great in the air and on the ground. But he needs to concentrate on what he does and remain focussed throughout the game; if he doesn’t he will make mistakes.

And this season TV5 has made a number of painful and costly mistakes; most notably against MU when he meekly gifted VJ the ball, so the Dutchman could do nothing else but score. And there have been more of these sorts of avoidable and costly mistakes, and many have occurred in the top games.

Vermaelen needs to be left to do his job, and rather be led by somebody else than having to lead others. In my view, Arsene should never have offered him the captaincy, and Tommy should never have accepted it.

The natural leader in our defence is Mertesacker: leading the line is his biggest asset, but with Vermaelen as our captain, Per was not able to be his natural self. On top of that, because Vermaelen was our captain, another fantastic CB suffered in equal amounts: Koscielny. Until recently, Wenger played his captain automatically, if and when fit, which meant that Koz ended on the bench most of the time. Yet many of us have argued that Mertesacker and Koz are our best pairing out of the available CBs.

I reckon Vermaelen is quite similar in style and quality to Koscielny, but since he was made captain, Vermaelen has dropped dramatically in form. So much in fact, there are now strong rumours he will be sold this summer. I reckon there is some truth in this, but it would be a real shame. I don’t see him necessarily as a first choice CB, but he would be great back up; and we know from previous seasons how much we need strength in depth in this area of our defence.

The best thing to do now is to remove the captaincy from Vermaelen asap, and give it either to Arteta or Mertesacker; the latter being my preference.

Mertesacker, whether the new captain or not, should be made responsible for organising our defence and lead this area of our team. Vermaelen and Koz can then compete with each other to become Per’s first choice partner at the back, and I have no doubt that whoever wins this battle will thrive under the guidance and organisational skills of the BFG.

It is not yet too late for Tommy, but I feel strongly he has become the next victim of the leadership trap; and unless Koz gets injured or suspended, we might not see him many more games in an Arsenal shirt. That would be a real shame.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Beautiful defending and the great sound of ‘2-0 to the Arsenal’

TotalArsenal
The BFG
The BFG

 It is a legitimate thing to defend…in a legitimate way!

Last week was arguably one of the best we have had this season – first we won an away match against one of the best European teams (if not the best one), and managed to restrict them to no clear-cut chances, and then we won in Wales against Swansea with another brilliant defensive performance in which opponents had no shots on target. It’s not just that we won two away matches against tough opponents that made me especially happy, but also the fact that we managed to reply to our home defeats against those same opponents. And, all that without Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Wojciech Sczszesny in the first eleven, and with Lukasz Fabianski on the goal after more than a year without an appearance.

These two victories could hardly be described as typical Arsenal victories in the Wenger-era. Both opponents had bigger share of possession (both teams had 55 percent), but neither of them managed to transform possession into something more efficient.

These victories could hardly be described as „park-the-bus“-type of defending, given that we had more dangerous attacks and counter-attacks than both Bayern and Swansea. Both victories had brilliant defending based on sound foundations, and I think that is exactly how we should do it until we get ourselves a world-class striker.

Remember, not so long ago, we were defeated by Bayern at home and against North London Chokers away. In both defeats, the most heard comment with reference to the Arsenal games in South-Slavic languages was that Arsenal have „neither head nor tail“, since our performances in front of both goals had been terrible and expensive.

There are some people who seem to confuse terms „quality defending“ and „anti-football“. Restricting opponents’ chances in a legitimate way doesn’t necessarily means that you are an anti-football coach.

If you are a responsible manager, you will do your best to use club resources (including players you have) in the best possible way. You can’t make a banana-split out of a lemon, but you can make a decent lemonade.

Let’s take a look at another last-16 CL match. When AC Milan played Barcelona at San Siro, they completely nullified all Barcelona qualities, and switched Lionel Messi off. Barcelona had all that possession they wanted but in both final thirds of the pitch, it was AC Milan who got what is really important: a clean sheet and two scored goals. When their manager Allegri abandoned his tactics from the first game, and his players like Ambrosini opted not to fight for every ball, the Italian giants were destroyed and Messi scored two out of four Barcelona goals (one of them should have been ruled out due to offside).

There is a similar example from our favourite season 2003-04 when we lost 0:3 against Inter at home only to beat them 5:1 at Meazza. Inter were managed back then by Hector Raul Cuper and he came at London without Christian Vieri but still demonstrated the highest level of quality defending, and got themselves a comfortable victory. We all know what happened in reverse fixture. Cuper was sacked, and Inter appointed Alberto Zaccheroni as their manager. Zaccheroni didn’t follow the path made by Cuper and, despite Vieri’s return to the team, and Arsenal playing without Vieira, Lauren, Keown and Wiltord, Inter managed to lose  not just the game, but also a high aggregate lead against us, which  Cuper had left to Zaccheroni.

One might say (and it could be true) that Arsenal’s success during the Wenger-era was based on George Graham’s defense, and Arsene Wenger’s midfield and attack; before adding that problems only really started when Wenger tried to apply his way of defending which neglected the physical part of the game.

It is a great thing when you can have both fluent attacking football and results; something that we had with Invincibles. But sometimes one of those things has to be sacrificed, and we all know which one any fan would opt for. Our performances during the Champions League campaign in 2006 were hardly breath-taking (especially second leg against Villarreal), but we managed to knock-out Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal without conceding a goal in six consecutive games (ten, when we count group phase), and we were unlucky to lose against Barcelona in the Final. Speaking of Barcelona, we were very close to knock them out from the Champions’ League in 2011, despite the fact that we failed to make a single shot on target in second leg.

Now, I mentioned above the terms ‘quality defending’ and ‘anti-football’. If there is a team that represents everything that Wenger’s Arsenal hasn’t been, it’s Stoke City managed by Tony Pulis. Their football has been more like rugby, as it is full of horrible tackles that go unpunished thanks to the lenient policy by Football Association towards the actions of the ‘Butchers from Britannia’. Is it because FA wants to preserve traditional English football? Do they keep Stoke City afloat as some sort of ZOO in which the last examples of traditional English football based on muscles, tackles and challenges can be seen? In the first match we played against Stoke this season, their players made three fouls that deserved red cards. They got none.

But there is this thing called karma for that too. When FAnchester United lost to Real Madrid mostly thanks to the fact Nani got sent off, they couldn’t believe that someone could give a straight red card to their player. When Pierluigi Collina backed referee Cakir, I realized that the biggest problem United had in that game was the fact that they are used to the criteria of another bald referee, who tolerated a life-threatening tackle by Nigel De Jong in World Cup Final in 2010. And that’s how karma works:  Italians put their trust into Pierluigi Collina who gave penalties and red cards against Juventus despite the status Juventus have had among most of Italian referees, and they were rewarded with 4th World Cup title in 2006, where they showed classy defending and being runners-up at Euro 2012; while England – who consider Howard Webb as their best referee – failed to reach any Final since 1966, and will mostly regret the poor taking of penalties and stupid red cards being received by FAnchester United players.

Alas, my point is, ‘quality defending’ and ‘quality football’ are not mutually exclusive terms; just like ‘beautiful football’ doesn’t necessarily means ‘quality football’. Being called ‘one-nil-to-Arsenal’ again wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to us.

After all, if we continue with performances like the previous two fixtures, we might even earn a new nickname: ‘two-nil-to-Arsenal’!

Written by: Admir.

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.

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

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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

Bayern Review: No Discipline, No Leadership, No Cohesion, No Cutting Edge.

TotalArsenal
One of the few positives: Jack stood out once again.
One of the few positives: Jack stood out once again.

Key conclusions:

  1. We are seemingly incapable of learning from our mistakes, and keep giving away games before they even have started properly;
  2. Arsene cannot settle on a formation and style of play at the moment, resulting in a continuous lack of cohesion, and systemic and focused approach to our football;
  3. Theo, alone up-front, did not work;
  4. We lack extrovert leadership;
  5. We lack quality in certain areas;
  6. We lack a beast of a DM;
  7. Our painful period of transition is to continue for quite a while.

After a promising start, Arsenal gave once again the game away with a couple of defensive mistakes. Against MU away, and Liverpool, Chelsea and ManCity at home we did exactly the same, and in top football this is utterly self-defeating.

I really thought our defence would be fully prepared for this happening again last night, and therefore would focus from the start. When I say defence, I do not just mean the back-five of Szczesny and his four defenders in front of him. Of course defending is a team responsibility and for both goals the rest of the team deserve at least some of the blame.

Our two ‘DM’s were wrongly positioned to block of the midfield runner on goal, Kroos; and for the second goal we simply missed height at the near post. Especially Van Buyten/Muller’s goal was bad to concede: really amateurish and it effectively meant the game was over without it ever having started properly. This has now become a very worrying pattern and I struggle to see how we can get out of it any time soon. With big games coming up against Everton, Spuds and MU, this is the biggest worry we currently have.

It is so disappointing that nobody seems able to organise our defence properly. All our defenders are good but nobody seems to have the overview and leadership skills to make us a strong unit and organise our defending. Our defence is a combination of individuals and is crying out for an organisational leader like Adams or Campbell used to be for Arsenal. Vermaelen, as our captain, comes short, and Mertesacker is also disappearing into his own shell far too often.

At least there was fight left in us. After conceding the second goal the team tried hard to get back into the game, and some healthy aggression was on display. We were not producing anywhere near enough decent chances, but at least were able to get back into the game after a big mistake in the German defence from one of our corners, early on in the second half. Well done Podolski for being in the right place and accepting the double gift – it should never have been a corner in the first place – with both hands.

After that we had a good spell, and it was really important to keep the pressure on Bayern. We managed to do that for about 10 minutes, and I was hoping for Wenger to make earlier-than-normal substitutions to sustain our momentum. He did not do that and the game was finally lost by conceding another goal. This was the best worked goal of the game, but it still needed a big slice of luck by the Germans to go in.

Who knows what could have happened if Giroud had finished a half decent chance inside the box, after Rosicky’s fine diagonal pass and Theo excellent first touch and cross, had put him in a scoring position. Unfortunately, it fell to his ‘wrong’ foot and his effort was directed straight at the keeper.

Our defensive play failed us and cost us the game, we did not dominate midfield enough, we did not create enough chances, and our ploy to play Walcott up-front did work for us either. Bayern were too strong and indeed out-classed us for large parts of the game.

However, we showed fighting spirit in short spells and Wilshere grew into the best player on the pitch in the second half. We will never know whether we could have made this a proper contest if our defence had stood stronger and got proper hold of the game.

There is no doubt, though, our midfield needs further strengthening with a beast of a DM: having two deeper laying midfielders with defensive responsibilities will sometimes work, but in games like these it is so important to have a strong physical, athletic presence who can protect our defence and move on play quickly and effectively.

Giroud on his own up-front has clear limitations, and so does playing Theo there. We were not able to launch the Englishman into a promising position anywhere near enough, and we also missed proper wing-play last night. I still believe that playing Theo and Giroud together up-front is our strongest option currently, as their combined strength could become a force to reckon with. I thought it was a mistake to play Theo alone up-front: the team has not settled at all on this formation and many automatisms were missing last night.

How many times last night did we see a player being ‘dumped’ with the ball in an isolated area, surrounded not by fellow players but by ant-like Germans, trying to nick it of him as soon as he receives it? What has happened to us playing as a close unit, our triangles, our cohesive play based around possession and passing, and us taking collective responsibility?

Jack, once again, tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck but too many of our players were not able to follow suit. We lack that sort of extrovert leadership at the moment, and relying on Jack alone to drive us on is not going to work.

In order to start winning our encounters with top-teams, significant improvements will have to be made:

  1. Leadership, discipline and organisation in our defensive play;
  2. More physical presence in midfield, allowing Jack to be freed up to run the show;
  3. More extrovert leadership throughout the team;
  4. More quality throughout the team, especially on the wings and up-front, so we can produce better chances and take them more regularly when they occur;
  5. Settle on a formation and train the entire squad to understand it, including every player knowing how they should play in their position(s)/what their roles and responsibilities are. Also, Arsenal need to improve significantly on both playing the pressing game and keeping hold of the ball ourselves by passing it round.

I thought, naively in retrospect, that this team was able to raise itself for the game last night, and would show step improvements in most, if not all, of the above mentioned five areas. They did not, and a lot more work will have to be done in the next six to twelve months.

It all remains to be seen whether Wenger and Bould are able to complete the transition in that sort of time span, and it is a certainty that the patience of the fans will be tested to the absolute limit for quite a bit longer.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

 

 

 

The Big Feeble German – Per, was ist los mit dir?! Arsene, add some defensive steel, please!

TotalArsenal

images (11)

What has happened to our Big F*cking German all of a sudden? Yes, we have always known he is not the fastest; that he is not the best jumper in the league; and that he turns on his axis slower than an oil tanker stuck in the Thames, but he compensated for most of this with his ability to read the game so well, his organisational skills, and the calm he brought to our defending at the back.

Per, was ist los mit dir?

TGStv-WasIstLosMitDir993-690

What has happened to our cool and controlled German warrior? I have always been a big fan of Mertesacker, as I feel he adds something to our defence that all our other defenders and our GK need, and at the same time lack themselves; calm, organisational skills, extrovert motivational skills, and ability to read the game so well.

But recently, especially since his return from sickness during the Christmas period, he has not looked himself anymore, and has regularly been all over the place in our defence.

Without Per finding back his form and composure again, und sehr schnell bitte, Arsenal will be in big problems. In an ideal world, I would like Arsene to find a Central Defender with the organisational skills of Mertesacker, and Vermaelen’s physical abilities – mean tackling, speed, and force in the air: we need a new Sol Campbell so desperately!

But these sorts of players are notoriously hard to find, and other than Vincent Kompany at Man City, none of the current PL top teams can boost a world-class central defender in their teams at the moment. Terry at Chelsea and Vidic at MU still have their moments now and again, but they are spent forces going forward.

There is a minute chance that Arsene will still buy a quality CB before the closure of the TW, but whoever it might be, he will take time to settle in and make a meaningful difference during the remainder of the season.

I am not giving up on the BFG just yet, but I feel strongly that the rest of our season will depend on him finding back his form as soon as possible: if he doesn’t, I reckon we are doomed. TV and Koz are too similar to be our CB-pairing and neither of them have been in consistently good form themselves.

Our strike-force is hitting form with on average 2.5 goals per game since Theo has fully returned to our first-team again, and Ollie is starting to find his feet properly in the PL; but they cannot compensate enough for the incredibly poor defensive performances of late.

Arsenal effectively gave away all three games  in the first half of each one of them, against fellow Top-Four contenders; ManCity, Chelsea, and now Liverpool. After those awful first half defensive performances, it became an uphill struggle, which we failed to complete successfully each and every time.

Although, in hindsight, our draw against Liverpool was not as bad as it first looked, given Chelsea’s and Spuds’ drawing their games as well, and at least keeping Pool three points behind us for the time being.

If Arsene is not able to find a quality CB before midnight, we can only hope he will be able to buy the beast of a defensive midfielder most of us have been crying out for. I have written so much about the need for such a DM that I am not going to spend one more word on it today.

Come on Arsene, add some steel and organisational skills to our defensive positions before it is well and truly too late!

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Five positive developments for Wenger to turn things round

TotalArsenal

Whether we like it or not, we are going through another transitional period. Supporters have every right to be disappointed in the club for being once more in this position.

However, we are where we are, and there are some developments within the team and on the field which could play a major part in turning the season round for us anytime soon.

Arsene Wenger has been here more than once before in his career, and he has always managed to turn back to winning ways eventually – albeit without turning this into silverware at the end of the season for quite a while.

The season is still long, and although it looks like Arsene just cannot make this team gel and play in a cohesive and effective way, things could fall into place again in the foreseeable future.

Five developments that could turn things round for Arsenal:

  1. There has been an even spread of goals between our Arsenal strikers this season, and we are more than matching the strike-force of the Mancs at the moment. Theo scored 8, OG 6, Gervinho 5, and Podolski scored 5 too = a total of 24 goals in all competitions. The Mancs: van Judas scored 11, Hernandez 8, Rooney 3, Wellbeck 1 = a total of 23. It is now really important to start scoring more in the games that matter; especially in the Premier League. Giroud has started to do that, and with Theo back in the starting-11 and the Pod hopefully finding his form again, Arsenal should be able to increase the goal per game ratio in the PL significantly.
  2. The imminent return of Gibbs and Szczesny to our ‘five in defence’ should help us considerably in going back to the tight defence Arsenal had at the start of the season. Mannone did relatively well, but the return of the more experienced and demanding Pole will mean a step improvement for us; and the same goes for Gibbs who has been missed tremendously over the last few weeks. Arsenal still have statistically one of the tightest defences and there is every reason to believe we can get back to a period of solid defensive performances.
  3. The return of Jack Wilshere has made a big improvement to the team. In our 4-3-3 system, he plays in such an important position and he has all the skills to link our play together; to both support Arteta and Cazorla in their respective duties of protecting the defence and making things happen in attack. He is getting fitter by the game, and we simply are dependent on him in terms of keeping a good shape to our team and starting to play the way Wenger wants us to. Hopefully Rosicky will be fit soon too, so Jack and Santi can get a break now and again.
  4. Our wings will soon be in full flow again. 4-3-3 only makes sense when a team possesses aggressive wing-play. Last season we had Theo and Sagna forming a formidable partnership; and at the start of this season, we saw the development of fluent wing-play on the left between Gibbs and Pod. Just imagine both wings starting to operate at their full potential again: it would make a huge difference to our team
  5. Last but not least, we should hope for the possibility of us going on a winning run again. A good win against the Spuds could rekindle our season and lead to a run of good results. Our players could start clicking together all of a sudden, and there are no more inter-lulls to break up our momentum again.

Admittedly, I am trying to convince myself that all is not lost and Arsenal will turn this season round, but reading the above again, I can see how things could still fall back into place for us.

Total Arsenal.

Dark clouds are gathering above Ashburton Grove

TotalArsenal

Today’s performance against Fulham has confirmed what many of us have feared: Arsenal’s decline in form and performances are of a structural nature, rather than a periodic blip.

Every recent game has seen shoots of improvement: Wilshere’s return has given us more dominance of the midfield; Theo’s return on the wing has helped with us scoring more goals; and Giroud is slowly coming good.

However, as today’s game showed once again, Arsenal continue to struggle with their own identity; we are shapeless, plan-less, and organisation-less. The 4-3-3 formation is not working for us at all.

We keep playing the same midfielders who are exhausted and simply unable to dominate our midfield anymore. Arsenal are often outnumbered in midfield by opponents and I have seldom or never seen us so bad at both passing the ball round with real verve and intent, and hunting down opponents from the moment we lose the ball. We look knackered, clueless and lost at sea.

Our defence is all over the place: we got beaten from a set-piece, a counter-attack, and from a simple penetration of our penalty box (by giving away a penalty). There is no cohesion or systemic play between our defenders at the moment; no shape, no organisation and no believe.

We are all over the place and nobody is taking command. TV should do it but cannot do it, Mertesacker can do it but is not the captain. Mannone is trying hard but is visibly not part of the defence and is left to his own devices far too much.

I am sure somebody has figured it out by now, but when was the last time Arsenal gave away a 2-0 lead to go behind to 2-3? Unbelievable! We are 11 games into the season and there are no excuses anymore: let’s get back to basics again and defend a clean sheet at all cost.

Arsenal scored five goals in five days and there is hope that we are finally getting back to a semblance of a strike force. However, as a unit the strikers are all over the place and offer very little support to our beleaguered midfield, with the exception of Giroud. OG should still improve further on his ability to hold on to the ball and shield it better, but at least he is now getting better in this area. But Podolski and Theo have both been rubbish at making themselves available and holding on to the ball. As a trio: Giroud, Theo and Podolski need to gel a lot more, but this should hopefully improve over time.

Just like around this time last year, we are operating with three autonomous mini-teams – defence, midfield and attack – who are not linking up enough with their counterparts in order to help each other. Arsenal are definitely less than the sum of its parts at the moment, and by the looks of it this is not going to change any time soon.

There are very dark clouds gathering above Ashburton Grove and Arsene has his work cut out to make a swift and lasting improvement.

Patience and time are running out, and Arsene and Steve better put their sleeves up to take us once more to the land of Wengerbal.

Total Arsenal.

Arsenal’s season until now – Five areas of improvement

TotalArsenal

Shiny happy Gunners – Mean Defence – The Conductor is back – Goals by many – Quality on the bench.

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I was convinced that with the departure of brave sir Robin and Alex Song, and the arrival of our three major signings: Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla, this season would be another transitional one, and that we should not count on Arsenal winning any silverware this season. However, there are plenty of signs that this might not have to be a trophy-less season, as the new players have settled in a lot quicker than expected, and we have come reasonably well through a difficult fixture list.

All in all, there are five areas of improvement on which we can build our hopes for winning something soon.

1.) Shiny Happy Gunners

Whilst Arsenal made good progress with regards to the levels of togetherness and passion with which we played football last season, the whole team appears to have made further progress this season. Especially Podolski and Cazorla seem to smile all the time and play with great joy and passion. Add to that the likes of Arteta, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Jenkinson, and hopefully soon: Frimpong, Wilshere, Diaby and Rosicky, and many others, and we have now a team full of key players who love to play football, and are really happy to play for Arsenal. It has been a long time since we have been so deprived of mercenaries and long may it continue.

What would we give to play for our club? The answer is: absolutely everything! So, it is always important to see our players play with real passion for the club and give their all: that’s the least we should expect. I love the enthusiasm and shiny, happy faces of this season’s team and it bows well for the future.

2.) Mean Defence

How long have we been craving for a mean defence? Now, we are not there yet, and the last two PL games have been a harsh reality check for Arsenal, but there are still signs that our defence will be more solid this season. Five goals conceded in the first seven PL games is a huge improvement from last season and if we can keep this average up for the rest of the season we will end up with 27/28 goals conceded, which would be a huge improvement compared to last season’s PL tally of 49.

Mertesacker has really settled down in his second season and after his injury. Bould is working hard with especially the defence, and every single defender has come out saying how much they enjoy working with him. We have also been relatively lucky with injuries and there is plenty of quality cover in all positions; with the exception of the goalkeeper position, where we lack experience (although Mannone has not done that badly until now).

3.) The Conductor is back

Fabregas has finally been replaced and Cazorla has been a total revelation. What a great player we have in Santi Cazorla: Wenger has got himself a new conductor and that’s why he has been smiling again in the last few weeks. See also my recent post about our new Spanish maestro: https://bergkampesque.com/2012/10/10/arsenes-best-signing-since-moving-to-the-emirates-could-lead-us-to-the-top-again/

4.) Goals by many

After a difficult start, Arsenal is starting to score a good number of goals now, and they are nicely shared between all our attacking players. We should be really glad we are no longer uber-dependent on brave Sir Robin to score the majority of our goals: five goals by Gervinho, four by Podolski, four by Walcott, two each by Cazorla and Giroud, and a handful of players who scored one goal in all competitions since the start of the season. Let’s hope Giroud and Cazorla will improve further and the rest will keep up their great scoring form, and we will be fine this season. 13 goals in the last four games is a sign that Arsenal is making good progress.

5.) Quality on the bench

Despite a number of injuries to key players in defence and midfield: Szczesny, Sagna, Wilshere, Rosicky, and recently, Diaby, we have still been able to field a good first team, whilst having quality players on the bench. As long as we can bring on the likes of Koscielny, Walcott, Ramsey, Coquelin and Giroud after 60 or 70 minutes into a game, we have a good chance to hold on to a lead, or change games round. I reckon we need to invest in an experienced goalkeeper and a classic DM to further strengthen the team, but that’s it.

The above five improvements have made a real difference compared to last season, and are likely to provide a solid foundation for future, if not imminent, successes.

Keep the faith, fellow Gooners!

Total Arsenal.

Vermaelen Caught between Bould-dozer and Wenger-Wings

TotalArsenal

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What has happened to our defensive discipline in the last few games? Arsenal started the season so well-organised in defence; conceding just two goals in our first five PL games. But with Vermaelen and Koscielny all over the place against Chelsea, and the Lion of Flanders bombing forward like a total nut-bum whenever he feels like it, it is difficult to say whether Arsenal have made progress or not.

Vermaelen’s kamikazes have been rightly criticised by the majority of the fans. His attacking endeavours against Olympiakos and West Ham – mostly late in the game when we were already ahead, seemed unnecessary and left us vulnerable at the back.

I cannot imagine Steve Bould feeling very comfortable with that, but I have no doubt that TV5 is simply acting on instruction. I guess the theory is to keep attacking in order not to invite pressure on our defence, and by going for a two (or more) goal-lead rather than closing up shop, we have a better chance to finish the game with all three points in the bag.

Bould-dozer has been asked by Wenger to sort out the defence this season, and in order to complete his task successfully, he will surely have doubts about defending a lead with risky attacking football late in the game.

But what is Wenger’s role in all of this? Although Arsene will really want a tight defence – which manager wouldn’t?! – he will also want Arsenal to play attacking, attractive football: to keep its identity. He will also have noticed that except for the goal-fest against Southampton at home, we were simply not scoring enough goals in the fist five games.

Something needed to change, and I reckon Vermaelen finds himself now caught between the Bould-dozer’s need for defensive discipline and Wenger’s desire to play attacking, heavenly football. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In the last two games, we have seen a lot more involvement of our defence in our attacking moves. Gone seems the tight defensive discipline where only one of our four defenders – mostly one of our Full Backs – would go out to support our attack. Gone, seems the conservatism of the CB’s to focus on defending first and for all.

We all got the biggest shock of the season so far, when we conceded two super-soft goals from set-pieces against the Chavs. It just felt that overnight we lost our magic and we were back at the Arsenal defences of ‘recent old’. I reckon a lot had to do with the managers’ decision to keep Mertesacker on the bench. Big Per has made incredible progress in his second season at Arsenal, as his organisational, game-reading and natural leadership skills have all come properly to the fore, and Arsenal appears to be lost without them.

Vermaelen and Koscielny are similar CB’s. They remind me of Gallas, Kolo Toure and Martin Keown: energetic, adrenalin-driven, high levels of stamina, aggressive, strong in the air and on the ground, good tacklers, with good timing and good ability to go forward from a defensive position, if and when there is space for it. Every team needs a CB like this if it wants to be successful.

Mertesacker, on the other hand, reminds me of Sol Campbell, and to a certain extent of Tony Adams:  he is calmer, and has a strong ability to organise his defence and keep discipline. Good in the air and on the ground, but clearly not the quickest turner and not the fastest defender. His reading of the game is so exceptional, though, that he will seldom find himself in a position where his weaknesses are exposed, and can subsequently be exploited by the opposition. Every team also needs a CB like this if it wants to be successful.

I have no doubt that Mertesacker will play a pivotal role this season, and our ability to win something will hinge disproportionately on him staying fit, most if not all of the season.

Mertesacker’s continuous selection will also allow Vermaelen to keep bombing forward, and keep both Bould and Wenger happy at the same time. The German has the ability to organise the defence, including one or two deeper laying midfielders, in such a way that the gaps left behind by the Belgian are appropriately covered.

There is a delicate balance to be struck between defensive discipline and attacking football, and one of the most interesting developments to watch this season, is how Bould and Wenger will work together to achieve it.

Let’s hope we end up with a Bould-dozer kept in the air by Wenger’s heavenly wings!

Total Arsenal.