Dortmund – Arsenal: Predicted Line-up

November 6, 2013November 6, 2013TotalArsenal

Europe is beckoning!

The-colors-of-a-changing--008 — I was so high after the Liverpool result, I was able to take this picture! 🙂

Just a quick one, as I have no time at the moment.

Tonight Arsenal have the sort of opportunity we love football for: a top football encounter with the current nr.2 of Germany playing the nr.1 of England. It does not get much better than that, but if you are not looking forward to tonight’s game, you most definitely are a Spud! 🙂

Formation wise, there is not much to say. The team is likely to be unchanged with a small chance that Gnabry will start instead Rosicky and Monreal for Gibbs.

Tactics wise, there is not much to say either: play the Liverpool game again. Play compact and make the middle watertight; play a high tempo and don’t let them settle where they can hurt us; combine well and penetrate them where it hurts them; switch over quickly from defence to attack, and from attack to defence; be lethal when presented with opportunities.

Outcome wise, I feel good about this game. A draw would not be a bad result, but a win is on the cards. Less pressure now we are away from home and our almost strongest team will start tonight: the defence is in tact, Zorro is back, Cazorla is finally warmed up, Ozil is ready to lift himself to the next level, Giroud and Ramsey are on fire, Rosicky is back in his spiritual birth place, and Wenger deserves a belated birthday party.

Time for the boys to announce themselves properly in Europe. Let the battle commence.

COME ON YOU RIP ROARING F*CKING BRILLIANT GUNNERS MAKE US PROUD!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

If Everybody’s Fit at Arsenal, Who Should Play?

October 16, 2013October 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Just imagine this scenario: all our players are 100% fit and chomping at the bits. Wouldn’t that be brilliant: a wonderful selection headache to have if you were in Arsene’s shoes!

Who would you choose to play against Pool at home and the Mancs away, and Dortmund in the CL? I reckon there will not be much disagreement about our defence and first choice goal keeper, but for our midfield and in attack it all becomes a little bit less clear.

Now just for the sake of a bit of fun, imagine you are given the option to choose out of our fully fit selection and that this team would have to play the remainder of the season without anybody getting injured any more.

On top of that, you can choose one player from the PL who does not already play for MU, MC, Chavs or Liverpool: who would you choose in your line-up? Ooh there is one more rule Jambon is not allowed to replace our fine first-choice goal keeper. 😉

Well this would be my favourite ‘fully fit line-up plus one PL player’:

And what a bench this would leave us with: Fabianski, Monreal, TV, Jack, Theo, Pod, Rosicky, Arteta, Gnabry etc…. And I would like Arsenal to buy Benteke to add more strength on our bench.

Maybe one day pigs might fly and we can make fully use of the enormous strength within this squad: is it too much to ask?!

Anyway, fine fellow Gooners, what would your season-long, first-11 be and who would you like to add from any PL team other than the Manchester clubs, Chavs or Pool (and feel free to pick your favourite formation as well)?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Ramsey in the hole, FlamTeta double DM, Sagna for BFG? Pre-match report

September 28, 2013September 28, 2013TotalArsenal

I don’t know about you but I like Swansea. They are easy on the eye, love to play smooth passing football, and as a club, they are run with a good vision and effective succession planning. I thought they would suffer after losing Rodgers to Pool, but targeting and successfully recruiting Laudrup was a mini-master-stroke by the club’s board, and you can bet on it that Laudrup’s eventual replacement will be another excellent manager. Getting this right is probably the most important aspect of club management, and you only have to look at the likes of QPR, Sunderland and Aston Villa to know what I mean.

Today’s game is another fine challenge for the boys. We played the Jacks eight times in the PL and it never ended in a draw, so it probably will do this time hahaha 🙂

Swansea's Liberty Stadium — Swansea’s Liberty Stadium

Swansea are likely to miss their captain, and Arsenal summer pursuit, Ashley Williams and the excellent Hernandez is also out, but as they also rested many first teamers in Birmingham – where as holders they went out of the league cup without much fight (1-3) – the Jacks will relish Arsenal coming to town.

Arsenal will have to give their all, remain defensively solid, which means winning the battle in midfield and play very disciplined in front of the defence, and as always, take our chances when they arrive. We did this better than our opponents in recent games and that’s why we won time and again.

Arsenal have quickly become an efficient team: even when not playing our so acquainted fluid football, we still manage to win games by remaining relatively solid defensively – although one clean sheet in the PL indicates need for further improvements at the back – and deadly upfront, with both Giroud and Ramsey in the early-season PL top-scorers list:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers

Every season we seem to have an area where for a long period of time we have multiple injuries: centre backs, full backs; and this season it looks like our mid-wing positions are suffering with injury after injury. We will miss Theo’s speed and thrust: he offers an extra dimension which makes it harder to defend against us with total control. Both Ryo and Gnabry had long games and look not yet ready to perform on the big stage from the start. I expect them to be on the bench though, and at least one of them will come on as a sub.

Luckily, there is good noise coming from Arsenal regarding Podolski, Santi and Rosicky returning in the next few weeks, and let’s hope Theo comes back within a month as well. As a result of our lack of ‘wingers’, I reckon Arsene will play all his established midfielders from the start today. It makes us nicely compact and effectively allows us to play 4-5-1, one of my favourite line-ups for Arsenal. We will need to be compact in midfield because that is Swansea’s strongest area: control the midfield and we’ll control the game.

I have no doubt the Swans will approach this game as a ‘let’s go out there and enjoy ourselves’ one, and we need to be focussed from the start. This is the sort of game in which we need to set the tone from the start and be on top of them for large parts of the game. Many of our first teamers had a well-deserved rest and so we should be able to win this game, but only with hard work and focus will we do so. Luckily we have Flamini and Arteta to make sure we’ll do just that.

Predicted Line-Up:

I am expecting Arsene to give the BFG a rest, after playing so heroically against West Brom for us. It looks like our French maestro is not so keen anymore on the Koz – TV partnership, although it is still early days. Therefore, I am going for Sagna replacing the German in this one. I admit, it is a bit of a gamble but it looks to me Arsene believes Sagna is better than Vermaelen and Koz at replacing the BFG’s ability to organise our defence.

In midfield I expect a lot of rotation during the match, but I reckon we’ll see Arteta and Flamini playing in the double DM positions. In the ‘3’ in front of the DMs, I am expecting Jack, Ramsey and Ozil to start: all can play in the hole and on the ‘wing’ in our formation, but I reckon Ramsey will get a chance in the hole today – just a gut-feeling though.

I don’t like doing predictions, as I am a bit superstitious about jinxing it that way, but please feel free to give us yours, as well as what you believe the starting line-up will be. I am asking for the boys to give their all and then somehow our quality should make the difference.

OGAAT fellow Gooners: one game at a time! Focus, hunger and decisiveness at the crucial moments: Bring on the Jacks!

UP THE ARSE!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Time for Ryo, Eisfeld, Hayden and Olsson to shine: WBA preview

September 24, 2013September 24, 2013TotalArsenal

We discussed the options for tomorrow’s line up more than enough in yesterday’s post, and to be frank, I have not got much of a clue who Arsene will play against WBA. Arsene is Arsene and he will do what he thinks is right. I have a horrible feeling he’ll play a lot of regulars and it might backfire on us; the nightmare of Bradford still lingers on in my mind.

I don’t care much whether we go through or not, but I just want us to play good football and give some youngsters a proper chance to shine.

Some interesting points came out of yesterday’s post responses:

Quite a few fellow bloggers don’t believe that Koz and Vermaelen should play together; that either should be combined with Mertesacker, or even Sagna, rather than play as our duo CB’s. Although, I agree that Mertesacker is our first choice CB – a point I have been making for the best part of two years – I still believe that Koz and Vermaelen can play really well together, and I feel strongly that they should start in tomorrow game against WBA;
The cyber-room was also split about who should ideally play as our double-DM pivot, and I agree with the observation by some fellow bloggers that it’s wonderful to have options for these crucial positions now. I, for one, would love to see Arteta and Flamini start a few games together, especially in away games or games against fellow top-teams. This is not to say that I do not rate Ramsey: the absolute opposite is true. Ramsey is doing great and adds a dimension nobody else is capable of offering at the moment. Against WBA I am hoping wise-head Arteta will start with a youngster next to him – either Hayden or Olsson should get a chance as a starter tomorrow;
The other points of discussion were about who should play up front – Akpom or Bendtner – who should play in the hole – Eisfeld, Arteta- and who should play on the wing. The latter seems to become our problem-area this season, with Cazorla, Podolski, Ox, and now also Theo, out injured for significant periods already. We will now need Gnabry to stay fit when we play Swansea and Napoli, and I would not be surprised if he will not be risked tomorrow. This should mean that Ryo will get a start and I hope he will do well. I am also hoping to see Eisfeld, in the hole or on the wing.

Other than seeing us play some good football with passion and focus, and a few youngsters doing well, I am keen to see whether our ‘second string’ – if indeed Wenger gives most of our first team players a rest, which is definitely not a given – can play in the same shape and style as we are now getting used to with the current ‘first teamers’.

I am particularly interested in whether Akpom or Bendtner can play the ‘Giroud-Holding-Striker’ role effectively, and whether Eisfeld will be able to shine in the hole, if indeed he gets a chance there tomorrow.

Hoped for, but not predicted, line-up:

All in all, plenty to look forward to. 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

In two years time, Real Madrid will beg Ozil to return – who to play against WBA?

September 23, 2013September 23, 2013TotalArsenal

Apparently, Florentino Perez recently said our record signing was not able to deal with ‘the pressure’ at Real Madrid and that is why he was allowed to leave. Whatever Perez exactly said about about Mesut Ozil’s departure does not really matter to us, but for his own sake, the self-celebrating president would do wisely to make things up with our nr.11 before he has properly burned his bridges.

I truly hope Ozil will be a Gunner till the end of his career, just like our saintly Dennis did once he arrived from Inter. It might become the best yardstick of the club’s growth in stature in Europe if we could keep hold of him, whilst building a truly successful team around him.

I have little doubt that Arsene will move Ozil to another level in the next two years and turn him into an even better footballer.

He will allow him to play in the hole like a proper nr.10, and build a team around him. Yet, Wenger will simultaneously develop Ramsey, Jack, and Ox, and one or two others, into exceptional footballers, which means that the pressure to be the main man will be somewhat spread across a number of players. This is already the case right now, as the likes of Flamini, Arteta, BFG, Cazorla, and to some extent, Theo, Giroud, Rosicky and Podolski co-share the team-leading responsibilities with him.

Ozil looks at home like a frog in a pond, and yet it is clear he is only playing at 70% of his capability, as the telepathic relationships between him and his teammates simply need time to fully develop. The really good thing right now is that we keep winning whilst Ozil, and to a lesser extent Flamini, get time to properly grow into our first team. It is fair to say that the fixtures list has been very kind to Arsenal in that respect, but we deserve it after a number of tough starts in recent seasons.

Of course, we only have to look at Ozil’s current statistics to know that his settling into the team is going hand in hand with producing the goods for Arsenal already: two assists per game is simply magic, and long may it continue. I agree with Wenger, though; the best is yet to come, and this is all to do with Ozil being able to give shape and purpose to the team on a constant basis.

Once that happens, and the likes of Podolski, Cazorla and Ox return to the squad as well, the real party can get started.

I predict that Madrid will be begging on their knees for Ozil to return in two years, and that Perez will come to see the German Wizard’s departure as the biggest mistake during his Presidential era. He might even do ‘a Robben’ or ‘a Sneijder’ and win the CL with Arsenal. Mesut is ours now and here to stay, and he will have the last laugh!

WBA line-up

I am really looking forward to the WBA game. I love to see our youngsters combined with our more experienced players and play some fine football in the process; and usually the League Cup does not disappoint in this respect. It will be really hard to predict an accurate line-up for Wednesday, and I am inviting fellow BK readers to give us their first eleven.

Who would you like to start against WBA and in what formation (and why)? Who should captain the team?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Monreal & Gnabry instead of Gibbs & Jack? Ramsey to win it for Arsenal?

September 21, 2013September 22, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsenal vs the Orcs Pre-Match Report

That’s right the Stoke City Orcs have landed at Ashburton Grove, and this time it’s without their goblin manager Tony Pulis leading the charge. Under Pulis, Stoke played some absolutely deplorable football, so much so that their FIFA 2013 controls looked a little something like this:

This would be very annoying to any Stoke fan playing the game because an attempt at a low through ball would result in a sky ball hoof up to Crouch. But when you kill one, another equally evil manager, grows in their place…Mark Hughes. Mark Hughes has got them playing better football which would please the Stoke supporters. It’s something that should please Arsenal supporters as well because their old approach was our Achilles heel (RIP Delap’s towel). They are still a very dangerous team so Arsenal will need to be at their best today if they want to come away with the three points.

Let’s get in to it shall we:

Missing in Action:

Arsenal: Podolski (Hamstring), Ox (Knee), Arteta (Thigh), Diaby (Knee), Rosicky (Hip), Zelalem, Santi (Ankle), and Sanogo (back).

Bear with me here, now my theory is Santi is not in fact injured but he has been given time off. It’s not the first time Arsene has done something like this in the past. It is strange that Santi played the full 90 minutes against Chile and showed no sign of injury. It was also very strange that nothing was said about him until after the Sunderland game. Santi had a busy off-season with limited time off, so perhaps Arsene is being cautious and doesn’t want to run him into the ground this season. Arsene is also renowned for suggesting certain players are injured, in an effort to shelter them from reports suggesting they’ve been dropped. Now call me a conspiracy theorist all you want, but it does seem awfully coincidental that Santi goes missing right when Jack is fit and Ozil has been signed. Arsene would prefer the ‘injured’ story over endless stories and questions about Jack or Santi being ‘upset’ about dropping to the bench. I think if Ozil or Jack picked up an injury, Santi would make a miraculous recovery. Rested or injured? You decide!!!

Stoke City: Whelen (Hamstring), Muniesa (Groin/Pelvis), and Ness (Hip/Thigh) will miss this fixture.

Predicted Line-up:

I’m a bit torn for this game to be honest. We’ve got a good thing going at the moment but I’m a bit worried about some of our players entering the infamous ‘red zone’. Gone are the days where you could rotate your squad a little against lesser opposition. You can’t really get away with it anymore because every game is tough in the premier league. Gibbs has been in red hot form this season but based on his previous injury record (coupled with the ferocity of Stoke), I’d go with Monreal at left back. I’d give Jack a rest and put Gnabry out on the left. It may be a drop off in quality but that boy can play and could be an unknown quantity for Stoke. He scored a double midweek playing as a striker; add that to the match winner he scored last week and he’s in blistering form. I wouldn’t change much else though (partly because we have that many injuries so our options are limited, and I wouldn’t want to unsettle the squad too much.)

Previous Encounters:

Arsenal v Stoke 1-0

It took a deflected free kick from Lukas Podolski to see us over the line in this fixture. Although we were dominant in periods, Asmir Begovic denied us numerous times thanks to some brilliant keeping. We saw the emergence of newly signed LB Nacho Monreal, and based on the hype HH created from his excellent post Nacho did not disappoint. Shawcross did his best to intimidate the ref in an effort to overturn the goal (also thought he would have a go at Arteta to show just how big a w*nker he really is), but he did not succeed.

Have a look at the goal and aftermath here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKObQFVnq4M

Stoke v Arsenal 0-0

We were held to our second consecutive goalless draw. We defended well but despite taking over the game for large parts we were very toothless in attack. Santi was mesmerizing and Giroud nearly pinched it late with a magnificent lob attempt. You can see the highlights below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNvp9hQoisQ

Form Guide: Arsenal: : WWWWW Stoke: DWWWL

We’ve won 5 in a row now and seem confident in getting results when the heat is on (quite the change from previous seasons). Arsenal will be in a confident mood for this one.

Stoke have had a good start under Mark Hughes. They were unlucky to lose against Liverpool, they beat West Ham away, and they held ManchesterCity to a goalless draw.

This week I’ve dipped into the Arsenal Archive and pulled out this video clip. It’s the 1970-71 FA Cup semi-final against stoke city. Those old enough to enjoy it saw Peter Storey drag Arsenal back and force a replay (which we eventually went on to win!!!). Have a look at this article detailing how Arsenal denied Stoke FA Cup success in the 70s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Sl5tmzbuM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/stoke/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8472000/8472714.stm

One to Watch:

Former Blackburn midfielder Steven N’Zonzi. I’ve found him officers; he’ll be at the Emirates on Sunday. Those who haven’t heard N’Zonzi is ‘being hunted by police for his connection with a roadside altercation with a cyclist.’ You can read all about it here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2418523/Steven-Nzonzi-hunted-police-roadside-altercation-cyclist.html

I for one am glad I will not be at the Emirates for this one. The thought of getting mugged in the stalls by Pennant or N’Zonzi haunts me in my sleep. Those going to the game should jump on Arsenal direct; they’ve got a special on now for this game, here’s an image below:

In all seriousness though, N’Zonzi is a bulldog in midfield. Although he handed in a transfer request in the summer, he’s put his head down and stuck to the task. He won man of the match honours against both West Ham and ManchesterCity this season. He shackled Yaya last week…this week he has Ozil to deal with!

This week’s one to watch has to be AARON RAMSEY. I can’t say anything more about his season thus far that hasn’t been said already. He’s a menace all over the pitch thanks to his endless gut running, and more importantly he’s becoming a constant danger to the opposition. His importance to this squad can’t be exaggerated enough at the moment. With Giroud in top form (5 goals from 6 shots on target this season) and World Class Ozil on the pitch, we could fall in to the trap of becoming too over reliant on them. That sort of over reliance can easily be targeted by opposition managers. Aaron Ramsey isn’t allowing that to happen. Both he and Walcott will not allow opposition players to double or triple team Ozil. Bring in Santi and you have a nightmare scenario for any opposition manager. It’s the sort of situation which could see more and more teams drop off in the second half (good prediction midweek Alcide) as their press is stretched all over the pitch by Walcott, Ozil, Santi, Giroud, and Ramsey. We all know Ramsey’s history with Stoke so there is no need to explain why Aaron will be fired up for this one…and he’ll have a crowd full of supporters backing him every step of the way!

Key-Match up:

Arsenal vs Asmir Begovic

Before Begovic signed from Portsmouth in 2010 he was a keeper I wanted to see playing for Arsenal. While I am very happy with Szczesny, but Begovic is a top quality goalkeeper (probably not well liked in England considering he’s keeping Butland out), and he has proved it time and time again against us in the past. If he makes a couple of good saves early on, you’re going to have to pull something special out to get past him for the remainder of the game. Begovic could be the difference between a win or draw so let’s hope he’s having a bad day.

Pre-Match Finger:

This week’s finger goes to penalties!!! Like Szczesny they are getting on my nerves! It’s as though the umpires guess their decisions half the time because they aren’t in the correct position to be 100% certain. Please for the love of Christ (Dennis) get some 3^rd umpire technology. It’s not like it’s going to the slow the game down that much (some games you won’t even need to use it). Plus if you are going to overlook players rolling around on the ground and diving…it’s the least you can do! It’d kill two birds with one stone because we’d be almost 100% certain on the decision, and the refs can decide whether or not the person involved dived. It’s not fair that commentators can say “every forward does it”…it’s CHEATING!!!! The game should be doing all it can to cut it out and strengthen its image. I’m sick and tired of hearing “Man U won because player X went down in the box and player Z was sent off”. I don’t want to hear fossils whinge about the game changing either…it’s an improvement! The technology is there, USE IT!!!

Pre-Match pat on the back:

This week’s pat on the back is going to Arsene Wenger. It may be early days but he’s got the squad looking in tip top shape again. I don’t think there has been a manager in recent history that has copped as much flack as Arsene has. Once upon a time Arsenal fans adored Arsene, but as trophies dried up the supporter base began to turn. He’s not perfect, he’s not without fault but he’s still got his magic hat! He deserves to go out on top, and I hope this Arsenal team can start delivering for him!

‘Ask the opposition’ returns again this week. It is designed to get some friendly banter from our opposition fans and get their insight for the match ahead. This week the answers were kindly provided by Jowlermonkey and Waddos_Legends (both from the StokeCity board on www.not606.com . Let’s see what they’ve written for us this week:

1) You cleared out quite a few players during the transfer window. How do you rate your transfer window (ins and outs)?

JOWLERMONKEY: Glad to see the back of some players, fantastic that we now have a left back, needed to buy another striker.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: Our transfer window was quite good with the exception that we did not address one of our weakest positions and that is we needed two fresh young fresh strikers. Marko Arnautović was a great signing and he looks a beast so I’m really looking forward to what he can do in front of goal. We have another one coming in January from the USA, Juan Agudelo but we needed another sooner as we cannot score goals.

I was pleased to see a lot of the “Pulis Deadwood” players moved on and also pleased we at last bought in a recognised left back in Erik Pieters. Stephen Ireland was another great signing and the retention of Jermaine Pennant was another good piece of business. Loaning out Cameron Jerome for me to Crystal Palace was a mistake.

2) How is Mark Hughes travelling? Will he take you places? Better than Pulis?

JOWLERMOONKEY: I didn’t want Mark hughes, but said i’d give him his chances to hang himself. much better than Pulis.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: Early days yet to see if Hughes will take us places but we are certainly playing better football under Hughes than we ever did under Pulis. i actually feel confident going into certain games now especially away from home as before I looked on all away games as we were going to lose. Our current league position and points tally does suggest we are on the up!

The football under Tony Pulis was dire and towards the end he lost the Stoke crowd. The attendance is still suffering now and it will take a few seasons to change this back.

3) What player/position is your weakest?

JOWLERMONKEY: Strikers, neither good or hungry enough.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: As mentioned above our weakest position is in front of goal and Jon Walters as probably cost us 4 points so far this season so I would have to say him. Missed a 88 minute penalty at Liverpool this season away and 2 clear cut chances on Saturday against Manchester City.

The player just loaned out to Wigan Ryan Shotton is Stokes worst player now that is still technically on the books!

4) Which Arsenal player would you like and why?

JOWLERMONKEY: Wilshere, fast dynamic, good feet.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: The only Arsenal players I would like to see in the Stoke shirt would be either Ozil or Santi Cazorla, as I don’t think any other player would slot into our style of play and these 2 players are top players.

5) Which player/position do you feel is our weakest?

JOWLERMONKEY: Defence.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: I feel Arsenal are weakest at the back, can’t name one player in particular but this is definitely an area you struggle in hence why you brought in the ex-Stokie and old school friend of mine ” Steve Bould”.

6) Özil, will he live up to the hype?

JOWLERMONKEY: Fantastic player. Will need to be protected but has always produced the goods.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: Ozil already is showing his brilliance and will definitely live up to his reputation as a class act!

7) What is your prediction for the match?

JOWLERMONKEY: Hoping for a draw but you should beat us comfortably.

WADDOS_LEGENDS: Stoke have yet to get anything from the Emirates in the duration of our stay in the premier league. Again as i have said above I’m more confident this season and I predict a close game with 1-1 being the outcome and us picking up our first ever points there. No doubt Ryan Shawcross will be booed from start to finish as per for the “Ramsey Incident” but this helps him to lift his game and fire up his sparring partner Robert Huth!

Prediction:

Stoke have had an impressive start to the season but I do not see them troubling us at home. We’ve beaten them 5/5 at the Emirates, and Mark Hughes has lost his last 6 games at the Emirates (in that time he’s managed Blackburn, ManCity, Fulham, and QPR…how on earth does he keeping getting jobs??). Crouch will be isolated up front so they’ll only get joy out of set pieces (we’ll have to lift our game in this department because we let Marseille have a couple of cheapies midweek). A comfortable and assured performance should see Arsenal victorious 2-0.

For this week’s psychic prediction I contacted ‘Eagle Star’ for the third week. He better lift his game though otherwise I’m going to have to consult our very own Jgc-damus. Here are his responses:

Oz: Will Arsenal beat the Stoke City Orcs?

Eagle Star: Hmmmm 1-1 I feel.

Oz: The way they play it wouldn’t surprise me if they went for the draw. Will we concede from a set piece?

Eagle Star: Dangers…yes, score…no!

Oz: Can you please put a curse on Ryan Shawcross. I’m not sure what but maybe some Paranormal Activity type scares when he’s at home.

<insert Shawcross Scared pic>

Eagle Star: That’s not my area of expertise Oz but I can contact someone who is.

Oz: You’re a star Eagle…get it????

Eagle Star: <disconnected…and blocked>

What is your prediction?

Theo or Giroud…who will score?

Will we shut down their set piece game?

Written by: Oz Gunner

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Mesut Özil: History, Strength, Weaknesses of the best nr10

September 16, 2013September 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Nik produced a very fine post about half a year ago on how Arsenal could beat Bayern in our CL encounters with them. Nik is based in Germany and knows German football really well, and that’s why I asked him to write a background post on our new super-quality signing. He did not hesitate to say yes, and below you will find a very fine post about MO11. Enjoy. 🙂

TotalArsenal.

The Perfect Transfer?

Thanking the Guardian for today's picture. — Thanking the Guardian for today’s picture.

Born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, Mesut Özil joined Schalke in summer ‘05 at the age of 16: a move that really kicked off the career of the best number 10 in the world.

Only half a year later he starred in the prestigious indoor tournament ‘Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup’. Schalke won the Cup beating youth sides of Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen, Basel and some others along the way. Özil was top scorer and impressed with his footballing intelligence and technical skills. He also was ‘chief actor’ of Aljoscha Pause’s short-film ‘Mesut17’ – only available in German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXR5BDU3sQ

In the movie Joachim Löw, Jürgen Klinsmann’s assistant at that time, and Uli Stielike, German U20 coach back then, talk about Germany stepping up their youth-development and the possibility that Mesut Özil could become a part of Germany’s 2010 WC team. Özil himself talks about wanting to play for Germany despite not having acquired the German citizenship yet. Later that season, Özil made his debut for the German U19 and went on to win the U19-Bundesliga.

At the end of the short-movie Özil was asked how he rates his chances of playing in the first team for Schalke. Özil confidently replied ‘by the end of the season, I think I will make it’. It only took seven months before Özil was handed his first Bundesliga match on the opening day of the 2006/07 season, coming on as a substitute after 80 minutes. Özil went on to make 20 appearances for Schalke and 10 for the U19 national team.

Özil started 6 of his 11 games for Schalke in the first half of the 2007/08 season, before Schalke announced they will not give him a new contract. The reason for the decision were long running contract talks with Özil’s father and agent, Mustafa Özil which did not come to any conclusion.

Bremen signed Özil on January, 31st 2008, deadline-day. He made 12 more appearances including 6 starts for Bremen until the end of the season and was able to score his first ever Bundesliga goal.

Objectively, Özil moving to Bremen was the best possible move inside of Germany for him. He was able to learn from the best number 10 in the Bundesliga, Diego. Diego was the heart of Werder Bremen’s great offense and he collected 13 goals and 11 assist in the ‘07/’08, and 12 goals and 6 assist in the 08/09 Bundesliga seasons.

The 08/09 season saw the breakthrough of Mesut Özil.

Collecting 3 goals and 15 assists, scoring the winning goal in the DFB-Cup final and reaching the UEFA-Cup final, saw him become one of the most established young players in Germany. On international level, Özil collected his first senior cap in a friendly against Norway, and he won the U21 Euros, being named the man of the match in the 4-0 final victory over England, where he scored 1 goal and produced assists for 2 of the other 3 goals.

With the departure of Diego, the 09/10 season was perfectly set for Özil to become the key-player for Bremen. He delivered 9 goals and 17 assist and led Bremen to another DFB-Cup final, which they lost to Bayern. Özil made his first competitive game for Germany in the WC qualification against Azerbaijan and has been present ever since. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and his move to Real Madrid a month later, saw Özil’s popularity rise on a global scale and his well documented development to being one of the best number 10s in the world (I consider him THE best number 10 in the world).

Strengths:

For me Mesut Özil has two major strengths:
1) His vision. It is absolutely amazing how Özil always picks the right pass at the right time. He sees possibilities, spaces, runs that no other would see and therefore collects all those assists. Every time I see him play I get the feeling that he has a radar in his vision.

2) Technical skills. Özil is one of very view players who could run half an hour with the ball at his feet with another player chasing him, without losing the ball. He has absolutely perfect control of the ball at any time.

Weaknesses:

His biggest and only real weakness to me is his defensive work. Most of the time he gets robbed of the ball or plays a bad pass he is disappointed with himself, and does not track back immediately. Fortunately he doesn’t lose the ball too often.

The perfect transfer?

Over the course of the transfer window I have read what feels like millions of stories, rumors, articles and gossip. My mood went from great we have 70 million to spend to, are we going to spend at all; and I know most of you felt very much alike.
But when I read that we were close to signing Mesut Özil on deadline-day, I went absolutely crazy.
I believe that we could not have made a better signing to strengthen our attack, for the following reasons:

All our front players will profit from Özil’s passing. (Theo in particular);
At times, our possession did not seem to get us anywhere, because we were just playing it from left to right and back again. Özil is the player who will unlock the defence when we play too many square passes;
Wilshire, Ramsey, Ox, Zelalem, and all other young central midfielders, can and will learn a lot from playing with Özil.
He is just 24.
He is a statement of intent from Wenger. (hopefully)

Now, do you agree with me on his strengths and weaknesses, and do you think we could have made a better single transfer this summer?

Written by: Nik.

The interview that tells us what Wenger is trying to achieve

September 15, 2013September 15, 2013TotalArsenal

A few days before last year’s CL final was to be played, Arsene was interviewed by Eurosport about his thoughts on the two finalists: Bayern and Dortmund. When he was asked who he believed would win he said it would be Bayern, and the reason he gave was the larger number of 28/29 year olds in the Bavarian team. This is what he had to say:

“If we analyse rationally, Bayern Munich are Champions League favourites.

First of all, experience weighs in their favour because they have reached three of the last four Champions League finals.

Secondly, they have the edge because they have reached a point of maturity both technically and tactically.

You need players who are 28 or 29 for that. Bastian Schweinsteiger (28) is their natural leader, while Franck Ribery (30), Arjen Robben (29) and Philipp Lahm (29) also play significant roles in the team.”

This is a link to the whole article:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/arsene-wenger/bayern-muscle-too-much-dortmund-194621001.html#more-id

At the time, I thought that was quite a remarkable thing to say by Arsene; after all, he has been investing heavily in bringing through young/inexperienced players since the move to Ashburton Grove, and the average ages of his teams have repeatedly been low in recent times.

Of course, it makes sense that having a team full of established, quality players at the perfect crossroads between physical health and experience, which I agree with Wenger is around 28/29, is a very good basis for winning a final against a far younger and inexperienced team. And although Dortmund played the better football, it was Bayern’s experience that saw them finish the final as winners.

The interview made me also reflect on our team, and what I find quite remarkable is how the age and experience profile of our first/best possible team has changed significantly over the last few years.

Although still buying and bringing through young/inexperienced players, Arsene has also invested heavily in quality/experienced/’older’ players. It looks like his attempts at evolution have been boosted by systematic purchases of experienced, yet fully to bloom (in most cases) quality players.

I reckon, this would approximately be Arsene’s strongest team if we were to face a top PL or European team and all are fit this season:

If we stretch the ‘ideal age group’ a bit, say from 27 till 30, Arsene would be fielding six players with the perfect balance of health and experience: Sagna, Koz, Mertesacker, Flamini, Cazorla and Giroud. He would also have a number of experienced, yet top-fit, players on the bench: Nacho, Vermaelen, Viviano & Pod, and to some extent Rosicky, who, although a lot older, is still relatively very fit (if not injured 😉 ).

The table below shows how much experience we now have in our squad:

Player	Age	League Games	Internationals	FIFA WC ranking *
Szczesny	23	81	14	Below 30th
Viviano	27	263	6	6^th
Sagna	30	268	36	23^rd
Koscielny	27	233	12	23^rd
BFG	28	278	92	2^nd
Gibbs	23	71	2	14^th
Nacho	27	220	13	1^st
Vermaelen	27	208	43	10^th
Flamini	29	213	3	23^rd
Arteta	31	376	–	–
Ozil	24 almost 25	206	48	2^nd
Rosicky	32 almost 33	298	92	26^th
Cazorla	28	295	58	1^st
Podolski	28	278	111	2^nd
Giroud	26 almost 27	227	21	23^rd
Theo	24	204	35	14^th

* of the country playing for

As you can see, our best line-up would have a strong core of experienced quality players with good players on the bench to add further to it.

We do of course have a number of players who are still well below the ideal age, but are yet more than good enough to make the first team on a regular basis: Walcott, Ozil, Szczesny, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey; and Ox and Jenkinson – and possibly Bendtner – are not too far away from it either.

This gives us a squad of 20 to 21 players who can all make a decent to very large contribution to this season’s quest for silverware. Some will argue we need more quality squad players, and they might have a point, especially up-front.

But I still believe Wenger has slowly but steadily put a squad together with the right balance between players at the perfect age on the one hand, and younger, yet established quality players on the other hand.

And the good thing is, he has done this gradually, through incremental changes and just a few additions this summer: there is no need for another transitional season. Ozil is so good that he will fit in like a glove and Flamini fitted in from the moment he walked on to the pitch again against the Spuds (although there are some tactical issues he and Wenger will need to address, but that is for another post).

It goes without saying that we need to be a bit lucky with injuries this season, and the first signs have not been promising. But despite the injuries, the team has started the season well, and there appears to be a robustness in the wider squad now which allows us to cope with these a lot better than in previous seasons.

Hopefully, a quality striker will be added in January (why oh why did Arsene not get one this summer….), so we have good strength in depth in all areas; and if Giroud can stay fit and on fire till then, Arsenal have a real chance this year of winning some silverware.

The balance between experienced quality players and up and coming quality players is very good, and with other PL clubs going through transitional phases, this could well be our year. It looks like Wenger has been following his own advice and has been working hard to put together a squad that can compete this year, if not next year, for serious silverware.

Bring it on! 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

27 goals/81 assists in 157 games: Arsenal just signed a world top-ten footballer

September 2, 2013TotalArsenal

Mesut Ozil - our very own toad in the hole ;) — Mesut Ozil – our very own toad in the hole! 😉

The second biggest transfer fee in British history belongs to Arsenal!!! The acquisition of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for £42.4 million almost triples our previous highest transfer fee paid of £15 million. His rumoured wages of £130k/week is £25k more than our next highest player (rumoured to be Walcott).

So, did Arsenal get a bargain or overpay the odds to acquire Ozil’s services? Well, transfermarkt has him appraised at a value of €40 million (or £34 million). However, given today’s transfer market and the inflation of player price tags, I believe that we have paid market value for an individual widely considered to be the best playmaker outside of Barcelona’s Iniesta.

With 27 goals and 81 assists in 157 appearances for Real Madrid, it’s easy to see why Ozil is rated so highly. In the last three La Liga seasons, he’s finished 2^nd, 1^st and 2^nd in the assist table. One may be quick to point out that Ozil’s stats are inflated due to playing alongside other world-class players, in addition to one of the most clinical finishers in the game today in Ronaldo. But, having watched Ozil play both live and on TV over the years, he was indeed the player that made Real tick. When Ozil was not on his best form Real inevitably suffered, and the creative playmaker was often shut out in those contests.

This brings me to the criticism that generally follows a player of Ozil’s world-class quality; because of his vast amount of skill, he seems disinterested at times and does not appear to have the work rate/passion to allow him to be seen in the same light as players like Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta and Xavi. Ozil can occasionally drift in and out of games, but can easily change the outcome of a game with one defence-splitting pass or a run up field on the counter.

Unlike Theo or Podolski, whom are often criticized for doing nothing for large portions of the game before ultimately scoring, Ozil is constantly involved and likes to make things happen. His weakness comes from his own frustration – he becomes visibly upset when he does not receive the ball frequently enough, or the players around him do not finish the plethora of chances he creates for them in every game.

That said, you will rarely see Ozil waving his arms in the air, complaining to the referee or diving. He is the type of player that stays up through contact and just likes to get on with the game. When pushed, Ozil has a bit of a mean streak in him and is not afraid to get into the face of the opposition – watch him get pissed off at Villa in the El Classico brawl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Pp3O7v1EI

Last season, Ozil started 23 La Liga games, in addition to 9 substitute appearances. He managed to contribute 9 goals and 13 assists in 2,022 minutes played, providing 2.9 key passes per game (more than any other player at Real Madrid) and creating a total of 24 big chances. For every 22.1 minutes played, Ozil contributed a key pass. On the other hand, Silva, statistically the best in key passes per minute played in the EPL, contributed a key pass every 24.2 minutes played. In fact, across the 5 big leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1), Ozil contributed the most key passes in comparison to minutes played! (All stats courtesy of whoscored.com.)

Now that we’ve established that Ozil is one of the elite playmakers in the modern game, it’d be a disservice to not highlight his pace and ball control. He’s got an exquisite touch and his ability to control a ball in the air or along the ground is something to behold; in fact, the EPL has not seen anyone with his ability since Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in 2009. Ozil’s speed can be compared to that of Jack when he’s 100%, as his acceleration, change of pace, lateral agility and speed with or without the ball, make him unplayable on most days.

Then, one must also consider the fact that Ozil is only 24 years old. He is still yet to reach his peak and with the world already at his feet, there’s no telling just how good he could be if buys into Arsene’s tutelage and the overall plan.

Now the big question remains, how will Ozil slot into Arsenal’s starting 11?

In all likelihood, Ozil will play in his favoured CAM role. He’s most influential when played there and he’s capable of breaking down a defence on the counter, around the edge of the box or with deep over the top/long balls. Playing him centrally also allows him to drive our team forward with his darting runs to give shape to our attack. This will also allow him to find the seams to play either Theo cutting in from the right, OG in front of him or Santi on the left.

Santi is most effective when played wide left, mainly because he’s the type of player that likes to see the play develop and join in on the attack at a moment’s notice. Ozil, on the other hand, enjoys making things happen on the pitch and to be in full control of the game. I have no doubt in my mind that the two will form an outstanding partnership with some of the most gorgeous combinations that the EPL and Gooners will have ever seen.

Whether we want to admit it or not, the fate of Arsenal’s future will be intertwined with this record breaking transfer – if Ozil continues his world-class production or betters it, it will surely convince management that spending big in the transfer market can yield positive results for our club. The appetite for risk will slowly increase and perhaps we’ll see more signings in and around the £20-40 million mark.

However, if Ozil by some fluke loses form and does not work out like the much-maligned Torres at Chelsea, we may see the end of massive spending by our beloved club. Unlike Abramovich at Chelsea, Arsenal do not have unlimited funds and we generally work under a conservative basis – this failure would then represent further proof that spending big in the transfer market is not the answer to our club’s woes.

Still, I believe that Ozil will be a massive success, and Arsenal FC will be reaping the benefits of Real overlooking a top 10 footballer in the world for years to come.

Written by: Highbury Harmony

Nacho/Cazorla or Gibbs/Pod – Rosicky or Wilshere – Pod or Theo: Wigan preview.

May 13, 2013May 14, 2013TotalArsenal

Ten days without an injection of Gunners footie, whilst having to watch the rest in action, is not easy.

We know the results this weekend did not go our way, but we should not forget that the most important result was achieved a week ago, when the Spuds failed to beat the Chavs, and as a result, our destiny was left in our own hands, or should that be, twenty-two feet and eleven heads.

Wigan have sometimes been brilliant over the last few months: one of the very few shining lights in what has been relatively a dull PL season, especially in 2013. And it all reached an almost unthinkable crescendo last Saturday, when they claimed their first ever serious title in their history, and against all odds. An unbelievable achievement, and one of which the Wigan fans will live for a long time.

Despite Wigan’s considerable gap with those above them, and just two games left to play for them now, the Latics have also still their faith in their own hands. A win against us and then against Villa at home, and they will play PL footie again next season. Benteke moments of madness could yet cost the Villans dearly and see Wigan survive.

Of all the teams who are not entirely safe at the moment, there is no doubt I would prefer Wigan to survive. But faith has it that we need to beat them in order to have the best possible chance of securing CL footie next season, and we cannot afford to indulge ourselves in sentimentality.

We need to win, and ideally with a large margin – five goals would be nice! – in order to have a better chance to finish third (a win against NU and a Chelsea draw against Everton would then see us finish above the Chavs). Before the visiting Latics fans start biting my neck off, let me state that I do not expect us to win with such a margin, and that I am more hoping for, then simply expecting, a win tomorrow.

Both teams like to play football but the Latics like to absorb pressure and pounce on the counter: something they are very good at.

Wigan’s strengths are predominantly in midfield. In the away fixture they made life very hard for us in the middle of the pitch. They kept it narrow and stopped us from passing the ball around; as a result, we often lost the ball and found it hard to get it back again. During that game it became painfully obvious we were missing a beast of a DM to help us contain and regain the ball better in midfield. We won the game after being rewarded a softish penalty – which Arteta put away with great composure – and Wigan wasting a number of good chances which were mainly created through sharp counter-attacking football.

So the script for this game is straightforward: both teams need to win and it will simply be another cup-final tomorrow. Great for the neutral spectator, nerve-racking for Gooners and Latics!

How will we line-up:

I reckon it will be Szczesny, Sagna, BFG and Koz in defence. The only big question is: who will Arsene play at LB: Nacho or Gibbs?

This will depend on how much he wants to attack from the left wing. If he wants to attack a lot from there, I reckon he’ll combine Gibbs and Podolski: our best partnership if both are fully fit. However, if Arsene wants to remain less adventurous, and there is a very good reason for this against Wigan, he is likely to go with Nacho (and Cazorla on the left wing); and I believe that’s what he will do.

In midfield, I believe Arsene will stick with our Welsh-Spanish double DM-pivot and the big question is once again: who will play in the hole? Will it be Rosicky, Cazorla or Wilshere. I am going to choose Rosicky, as his experience, and Jack potentially still not being fully fit/ in form, would make him the safest bet.

In our attack, I am going to go for the usual suspects. I would love to see us play a bit of wing-football again, but I reckon that our most capable players for the wing, Ox and Gervinho, will start on the bench, and that Arsene will go for a ‘fluid-three’ of Cazorla, Podolski and Theo. All three have scored a lot of goals this season, and so it makes sense to have them start against Wigan tomorrow.

Let’s hope Podolski is fully fit, or at least fit enough for this crucial game, and that the team will have been practicing a lot over the last ten days to get the best value out of him in the central position. A lot will depend on it. Let’s also hope Theo will continue to get back to his best and Cazorla’s ambidextrous shooting boots will find the net tomorrow.

Predicted Line-Up:

Arsenal are likely to start with the same eleven as ten days ago against QPR

We all know what this game means and what needs to be done. Nobody can say they are not warned about Wigan’s ability to cause a major upset. Let’s hope the boys are focussed, fully fit, start strong and never look back.

We need a passionate and yet professional performance by our boys: time to play for the shirt and for the future once more. And let’s hope the crowd will reflect that passion with their levels of support tomorrow.

Let’s get the three points and move above the Spuds again: Let’s give them a sniff of the mighty red and white Arse!

CoYRRG!!!!!!

Written by: TotalArsenal.