Mertesacker – Page 3 – Bergkampesque

Jack in the hole, Captain Per, RambOx, Pod-OG-Theo up-front

August 16, 2013August 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Jack in the hole: let's hope he is fully fit and ready to direct our attacking play against Villa. — Jack in the hole: let’s hope he is fully fit and ready to direct our attacking play against Villa.

Arsenal – Villa preview report.

At last it is here: the new season kicks off tomorrow. Having been tortured long enough with transfer fairytales and make beliefs, at least we can focus again on meaningful football. Our game against Villa tomorrow is a tricky one, even though Arsenal are at home. Paul Lambert will be happy to have survived a very difficult season at Villa and I have little doubt he will have worked hard this summer to improve his squad and his team’s quality of football. In reality, they have nothing to lose and will approach the game with both a good game plan and a ‘let’s go and enjoy ourselves’ sort of attitude.

Therefore, it is key for Arsenal to start the game strong and determined, with a high tempo and lots of pressure on the Villa midfield and defence from the start, whilst at the same time focussed and organised in defence. The latter will be a bit of a test for the team now that Arteta is ruled out, and the most important selection choice Arsene has to make is who to play in the double DM pivot.

I reckon he will go for Ox and Rambo tomorrow. Ox really impressed me during his cameo against Scotland for England this week: he was disciplined and focussed and did not make a single mistake in the more defensive midfield role he was given. However, I reckon Rambo will move into the Arteta role and Ox will take over from Rambo, and both will be given clear instructions to keep it tight at the back and guard the shape of the midfield throughout the game. The good thing about Ox and Rambo is their enormous energy and forward thrust (especially Ox), but it remains to be seen whether they can make us forget about Arteta’s great, fox-like ability to give shape and purpose to our midfield.

I am praying for an early goal for the good guys, after which we keep the pressure up and profit fully from the space Villa will have to open up in order to get a goal back. But it is more likely that Villa will sit back and absorb our pressure, and Arsenal will have to be both disciplined and creative to get into scoring positions, whilst constantly dealing with the threat of quick and incisive counter-football as well as lethal Villa set-pieces. It won’t be a walk in the park tomorrow, that is for sure.

If Wilshere is fit to play, I reckon he will start in the hole tomorrow. The two other options for this position, Cazorla and Rosicky, are likely to start on the bench against Villa, but should come on later in the game.

At the back, the team picks itself more or less. I expect Szczesny to start, Per and Koz to be our CB-pairing, and Gibbs to start as our LB. If Sagna is fit he is likely to start; if not, it will be Jenkinson.

Mertesacker will be the captain, and I reckon he is the best candidate to become our long-term captain. So, let’s see how he does tomorrow.

Up-front, it is not much rocket-science either. Gervinho has gone and Sanogo is not fully fit, and with Cazorla returning late from his international match, I reckon it will be Pod on the left and Theo on the right, with OG in the middle. All three carry a good to great goal threat, and hopefully they will fire from all cylinders tomorrow.

Predicted Line-up:

Let’s hope for a committed, full-on game, and NO FURTHER injuries, and a nice win for the mighty red and white.

COYG!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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The one defender to complete our set into a title winning defence

June 25, 2013June 26, 2013TotalArsenal

One of the positions in our team for which there is general consensus we need to strengthen, is at centre back (CB). Towards the end of the season we found a defensive stability in Koscielny and Mertesacker that hasn’t been seen since Keown and Campbell were shutting out opposition strikers back in the early 2000’s.

These two – Kos and Per – formed a defensive partnership that saw us finish the league as the third best team in the league defensively. All I can say about this, is whatever Steve Bould is doing is working wonders. It’s never easy to come in and teach the same set of players new tactics – especially in one season – and expect to see such progress, but he has pulled it off.

However, Thomas Vermaelen, our club captain, had a torrid season by his extremely high standards. Mistakes plagued his game, and at some point, I couldn’t even recognize the player who barely a year before was the obvious successor to RVP.

That said though, we know how good he is and therefore any calls for him to be moved on are seriously myopic. Then we have Squillaci, who all I’m going to say about him is, thank God he has been moved on. Our final two CBs are Djourou and Miquel. Djourou was loaned to the Bundesliga, and quite honestly, I’d rather he stays there permanently. Miguel is talented but still too young and raw to be promoted to the first team.

This means that we have three functional centre backs. Everyone knows that every top team especially in the EPL needs a minimum of 4 good defenders. This is why we have been linked with a host of defender such as Adil Rami, Matts Hummels, Ashley Williams, Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Martin Skrtel, among others.

I would, however, like to throw a certain defender’s name in the ring; Phil Jagielka.

Jagielka is a 30 year old CB who captains Everton and plays for the English national team. About 3 years ago we were strongly chasing him, but the then Everton manager David Moyes, refused to fold. For me, he ticks all the boxes. He is tall (good in the air), strong, experienced, has a fantastic mentality, a tough but fair tackler, a leader and a fantastic reader of the game. Also for a 30 year old, he is extremely athletic and is in the prime of his abilities. In my opinion, compared to all the players we have been linked with, save for maybe Hummels, he is a far superior option.

I watched him ever since he shut Man Utd out on their opening game, and I must say I am outraged that Rio Ferdinand was awarded a spot in the team of the season, ahead of him. Jagielka was absolutely solid all season and a very big factor why Everton have performed the way they have in the past few seasons. Plus, his consistency is amazing. I watched about 26 Everton games last season and he did not have a single bad game. Not even one. In fact, the more I watched Everton play, the more I wondered why he is not plying his trade in a top four team, because he certainly has the ability. Even when he dons the three lions jersey, his class is there for all to see.

Like I said earlier, Per and Kos have formed a fantastic partnership. This is largely attributed to the fact that the two complement each other. Kos athleticism, tackling, ball playing skills and all round charisma is complemented by Per’s composure, reading of the game and aerial ability. Even by Arsene’s admission, Per is not the tidiest of players nor the best, but he gets the job done. Please note that I am not by any means downplaying his abilities or contribution to the team.

Jagielka performs the same function for Everton except he IS a very good player. He is faster, a better tackler, more energetic, and despite Per’s height advantage, is very good in the air. This is evidenced by the number of goals he scores with his head and the number of aerial clearances he makes. He is also a much more physical player. When you compare Jagielka and Mertesacker, the former comes out on top in my opinion. For me, he would represent a significant upgrade to Per and would form an even meaner defence alongside Kos. He would also push the level of competition for places in that back line up a notch.

I couldn’t tell you how much he would cost if we went in for him, or even if he would be interested in joining us, but with Moyes and probably a few key players leaving, you never know. Plus with the current building we are doing, our strong finances and champions league football, we would have a very strong hand at the negotiation table.

I’d like to repeat that this is all my opinion. I feel Jagielka is the kind of player who would form a title winning defence, and we should really consider taking advantage of Everton’s period of transition, and snap him up.

Written by: Marcus

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What if Arsenal bought no new defenders? Time to promote Miguel and Yennaris.

May 22, 2013May 22, 2013TotalArsenal

What if Arsenal bought nobody this season?

I know this is sacrilege to the transfer horny hordes out there, but it is a necessary question to ask in my opinion. The paint on the old season has not even dried and everybody is talking greedily about the players we need to buy – and I have been as guilty as anybody. We all feel we have £70m+ burning in our holsters! 🙂

Yet, I feel there is not enough recognition for the incredible feat our boys have achieved since our painful loss against the Spuddies.

Winning the last five away games in a row is worthy of high praise, and so is winning eight of the last ten games. Add to this our five clean sheets (six including Bayern away) and conceding only five goals in 10 PL games, and we can only say that our boys have done us proud to fight back with all they had after the derby defeat.

The key question we have to ask is whether we can, and should, build further on this team.

To do this properly, let’s assume nobody is going to be signed in the summer, so we can analyse the strength as well the potential in this team going forward. For good order, and to avoid the nutbums to come on to the blog in hordes, I am not saying we should not buy anybody this season.

In three separate posts, I am going to look at the areas of GK/defence, midfield and attack.

Defence

Our defence has improved from last season, conceding 37 goals compared to 49 a year ago. Yet, we know that, except for the last ten games, they have been inconsistent: often conceding unnecessarily and early on in games, after which the team is faced with big mountains to climb. In the crucial one to one matches with our nearest rivals, our defence has not been good enough, especially in the first halves of our encounters with them.

It would be wrong to put all the blame on Vermaelen, as everybody in our defence has made costly mistakes this season. It is also fair to say that as a unit they were not provided with enough protection, and the switch towards a more conservative double-DM formation in which Ramsey and Arteta were ordered to stay tightly together and focus first and for all on their defensive duties, rather than venturing forward constantly, has made a big difference.

I feel the biggest problem for Vermaelen was his inability to combine the leadership duties, both of the defence AND the team as a whole, with performing his own CB duties to a high level of concentration and execution. He failed in this, and many of us could see from quite early on that Vermaelen was not made for the captaincy.

Other than instructing Ramsey to play more conservatively and closer to Arteta, the pivotal decision in turning this season round has to be the benching of the Lion of Flanders. It allowed the BFG to become the organiser/leader of defence and Arteta to take on the leadership responsibilities of the whole team.

I love TV5, and really hope he is going to stay put, and fight for his place. But this cannot be as our captain, and he will have to work very hard to dislodge the more and more solid CB-pairing of BFG and Koz.

There are some vague rumours that TV will leave this summer, but if we want to consolidate the newly found strength of our defence, Arsene needs to do everything to keep him. One injury to either Koz or BFG, and TV gets another chance to work himself back into the team. We need at least one quality, experienced CB on the bench, and TV would be ideal for this. The question is whether he would be happy to accept this scenario…

With Squillaci surely leaving now and Djourou probably not returning to the squad after the summer, there should now be a chance for Miquel. He is a very stylish player who lacks experience, and I would love to see him get first team games next season. We also now know that Sagna can play centrally, and so we should have both two experienced – Vermaelen and Sagna – and a talented option to cover for the CB positions. However, this does mean we need to hold on to both the Belgian and Frenchman, and if we don’t, we need to replace them as we need to keep a certain level of experience within back four.

Our current CB-pair of BFG and Koz is a combination of the tall and stable organiser type with the ‘first-soldier’, highly energetic type of CB. I reckon in TV and also Sagna we have more than decent replacement for the first-soldier type CB, but we do not have another ‘organiser’ type, ready to slot in.

I believe that Miquel has great potential for this, but he would not be adequate cover (yet) if and when the BFG is out for a long period. Perhaps Koz can be turned into this type but I am not entirely sure whether this would benefit us much. TV is not that type and neither is Sagna, so this is an area Wenger might have to look at.

We are likely to see an enormous ‘Battle of the FB’s’ next season, as Sagna and Jenkinson will compete for the RB position and Gibbs and Nacho for the LB position. It is fantastic that we have two good players for each position, and only if Sagna were to leave would we need to find experienced cover – and that is why I believe Arsene will not let the Frenchman go: what would be the point?

It might also be time to promote Nico Yennaris, who can play in midfield but also as a FB. It would allow us to use Sagna more regularly as a CB – especially in the domestic cup games – and give both Jenkinson and him a break now and again.

I reckon Szczesny has done enough to convince Wenger he is still our nr.1 with a number of good performances since he returned to the first team. The key issue remains whether we have good enough back up in case the’ Pole in Goal’ gets injured, suspended or suffers a huge drop in form. Mannone and Fabianski both had stints in the first team and both did relatively very well.

But I still think this is the one area were Arsene might invest a bit of money to bring in a PL-experienced goalkeeper. However, if he decides not to then the risk would be relatively low.

So all in all, our defence is looking pretty good and if we keep everybody there is no urgent need to bring in new players.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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Koz – BFG – Szczesny: An Impenetrable Triangle is Slowly Forming

May 16, 2013May 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Since Arsene dropped his captain and first choice goalkeeper to the bench, after the painful and costly loss against you know who, Arsenal conceded just five goals in ten games: 0.5 goals per game.

Vermaelen has started just one game out of those ten (against Norwich) but Szczesny was reintroduced to the first team against Everton, after which he started in all games again (five in total). Koscielny basically took his chance with both his floppy ears and never looked back. Fabianski did well in his five consecutive games, conceding just three goals. But then he got injured, apparently, and his last chance to claim the nr.1 goalkeeper position at Arsenal went up in smoke.

We will have to see what will happen with Fabianski and Vermaelen this summer, but I reckon not many of us are expecting them to be here come September. I hope the Lion of Flanders will stay and fight for his position, but for Fabianski it would no doubt be best to find himself a team where he will be regarded as the nr.1 goalkeeper.

Nine games of (new) partnership between Koz and Mertesacker are not really enough to make a strong claim about the long term viability of it, but with conceding just four goals in all games, including Bayern, MU, Swansea and West Brom away, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic.

Of course we should take into account the additional support our defence has had in those last ten games, by both playing Arteta and Ramsey in a more conservative and deeper set-up in midfield and by clipping the wings of our full backs to some extent. But the German and Frenchman have formed a great partnership that deserves credit.

For me, despite Fabianski doing well too in his games, both Koz and BFG are not complete without Szczesny behind them. This is a very promising triangle in the heart of our defence and I am starting to feel very positive about it going forward. Somehow, these three get the best out of each other, and the whole is a lot greater than the sum of its parts.

Szczesny is an extrovert and ‘confidence-player’, who imposes himself on his opponents. He also has great technical ability, but his cocky-nature can get him into trouble which sometimes leads to poor and costly mistakes.

Mertesacker is an imposing figure and a natural organiser; he has great overview, and is a fine reader of the game. He is also calm under pressure and deals well with personal mistakes and set-backs for the team. However, we also know he is not the fastest and gets beaten in one-on-one situations at times.

Koscielny is very energetic and athletic, a great tackler and strong in the air. He reads the game, and positions himself, very well. But, his over-exuberance makes him prone to the odd mistake which sometimes leads to costly (own) goals against us.

However, Koz has hardly made any mistakes recently and the same goes for Mertesacker and Szczesny. There seems to be a growing a fine understanding between the Frenchman, the Pole and the German and they are compensating for each other weaknesses to a large extent.

Mertesacker’s organisational skills and natural calm seem to help Koz and Szczesny with balancing their energy levels, composure and decision making. Koz and Szczesny’s speed of thinking and ability to act quickly and decisively are covering well for the BFG’s slowness in turning and vulnerability of being left in a one-on-one with fast and agile attackers.

The three of them are bit by bit forming an almost impenetrable triangle and it also looks like the FB’s are both benefiting from this, as well as adding further value to our solidness at the back.

Sagna and Mertesacker work well together, but I have also noticed how Jenkinson and Mertesacker form a fine partnership on the right side of our defence – both compensating for each other’s weaknesses (inexperience and positioning in case of Jenkinson).

Koz and Gibbs are also starting to gel and support each other better and the same goes for Koz and Nacho. Although, the latter partnership is still more of a work in progress.

All in all, there are some really positive signs with regards to our defensive solidity and although it is still early days, I reckon this is an area Wenger and Bould do not have to worry about too much this summer (except for adding some strength in depth in case Vermaelen does not stay).

But would you agree with that?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Arteta and Ramsey’s limitations exposed – BFG keeps dream alive – no width = one-dimensional

April 20, 2013TotalArsenal

BFG - The Dream Catcher's goal made the difference today — BFG – The Dream Catcher’s goal made the difference today

Three very valuable points and seven out of nine over the last week. These are the hard facts and the rest is relatively unimportant. It is now all about survival, getting in the top-four, and build further over the summer.

However, our performance today against 10-men Fulham was an absolute pain to watch. Of course, it is our third game in a week and all that bright light makes one a bit tired…… but we made this so hard for ourselves and we looked so much like a team who played together for the first time; something we have witnessed more than a few times this season. It remains a mystery to me!

Arsenal’s extra man advantage meant we could not leave Arteta and Ramsey to sit back a bit and absorb pressure – something we have done regularly in recent away games – but that they needed to play higher up the pitch and keep Fulham locked-in at their own half.

Both the Welshman and the Spaniard have given a lot for us against the Canaries and Toffees, and it was clear that they did not have the same level of energy, composure and discipline as they did in recent games. But regardless of this, it was also once again evident that both players slow our play down and struggle with the creative, attacking side of midfield play; and for me, they were the main reason for our inability to stamp our authority on the game today, once Fulham were reduced to ten men.

I believe both players are very valuable squad players and especially Arteta deserves to be a first team starter again this season, but with Diaby being Diaby and Wilshere and Rosicky currently struggling with having the continuous health and stamina for such demanding positions, we are a bit light in midfield at the moment.

And it showed badly today. With Sidwell out, we should have dominated the midfield and worked gradually and systematically towards scoring our second goal, but we remained shapeless and clueless for large parts of the game.

It also did not help that our wings are not working at the moment. Santi and Theo did not stick to the wing enough to give the necessary width to our game, and they also did not link up with their FB’s enough to give another dimension to our football. It is starting to look like our wings have become a dirty, infested area where no attackers want to be. This will need to change.

Most of our attacking play was focussed centrally, and was rather very laboured, slow and predictable.

We also witnessed again Arsenal’s difficulties with passing round the ball. How often do we see effective triangles between our players? We used to play close together and pass our way towards the box, centrally or via the wing, but now players do the opposite: as soon as a pass is made towards somebody in space, the passer runs away; leaving the recipient with very few passing opportunities behind. This is sooo un-Arsenal like; it is unbelievable!

The lack of passing, combined with some bad first touches throughout most of the team, and the absence of courage to find quick and risky through-balls – especially Arteta and Ramsey seem allergic to taking a bit of risk in their passing – are making us look very mundane at the moment. In a game like this, where we played a team with a man less for eighty minutes, it really showed up.

And I don’t think this will change again this season. Rosicky tried his best to add some quality to our play, and Cazorla always adds something, but as a team we looked laboured; lacking invention, imagination and thrust. Jack made a positive contribution but it was also not enough to regain composure, purpose and control over the game.

Luckily, the BFG had an inspired day both in defence, and especially, up-front, as his header at Fulham’s far post, from Koz’s ‘assist’ made all the difference.

Giroud and Szczesny conspired to give it almost all away in the latter stages of the game: the former by getting himself sent-off, albeit harsh, and the latter by spilling the ball from a safe he made from a free-kick which led to a goal, which luckily but rightfully, was ruled offside.

The performances of both Koz and the BFG were one of the very few positives today as they managed somehow to keep a clean sheet for us today.

We are now in a paradoxical situation where we play well below-par at times but still collect seven out of nine points during a pivotal week for us. It would be foolish to count on our luck continuing for the remainder of the season, and with Giroud out for at least one game – unless his card gets rescinded – Arsene and Steve have their work cut out to somehow get this team to play with purpose, thrust and invention again.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Rosicky, Ramsey and Gerv: invaluable ‘fringers’ – BFG’s mistake last chance for TV5 – Ideal TH-Che result?

April 9, 2013April 9, 2013TotalArsenal

Fringers Rosicky, Ramsey and Gerv prove to be invaluable

I was only able to watch the match highlights of our game against WBA, but have now read a few match reports as well. We have often debated on BK about the team lacking strength in depth but with key players missing or being ‘rested on the bench’, it is becoming clear our squad is stronger than many of us thought. No Diaby and no wilshere, but Ramsey and Rosicky have been filling their hiatuses more than adequately. No Podolski or Walcott, but Gervinho is both scoring and creating assists at an impressive rate at the moment; and Cazorla is proving to be super valuable – being able to play in various position with apparent ease and effectiveness.

Although our home win against Reading was to be expected, winning away against Bayern, Swansea and now West Brom with key players missing is not a mean feat at all. It is great to see our fringe players pulling their weight at the moment. Rosicky’s experience and never-say-die attitude is driving our team on, which must be a great relieve to the likes of Cazorla and Wilshere who just cannot do it in each and every game. From what I have read, Cazorla had a relatively quiet game, but Ramsey, Rosicky and Gervinho compensated for this with their drive and desire to win.

Ramsey missed a real sitter, but he just keeps going and does a lot of the dirty work for the team. And he also produced the assist for Rosicky’s second goal. Gervinho took the ball into the box on a number of occasions, and, at least at the moment, he has the composure and the skills to create real danger for us where we need to hurt our opponents most.

Gervinho, Rosicky and Ramsey are all not regarded as first-11 players this season, but they are proving to be invaluable for us at the moment, and long may it continue. Have they got enough, though, to make it into our first-11 team on a more permanent basis; and if not, will they be happy to stay at Arsenal for much longer?

Their performances underlined for me that we have plenty of strength in depth in the squad, and that we do not need a great number of new players this summer: a DM, another attacker, and an experienced GK as back up, and we are ready to rock next season (assuming that no key players will be sold this summer). Do fellow Gooners agree?

BFG’s mistake last chance for TV5?

I was disappointed in Per on Saturday: with leading the game 2-0 there was no need for him to take a big risk with a misjudged and clumsy challenge. A player of his experience should know the risk of making such a dangerous interception. Maybe he did not think he would get a red card, but the detrimental impact to our team of conceding a goal was a lot smaller than him being sent off with a straight red card and missing the next match; something he should have been aware of.

Our improved defensive performances in recent games are for a big part due to the leadership vacuum at the back having been filled through leaving (our captain) Vermaelen out and the BFG taking over control, instead. We all know that Mertesacker has some weaknesses, but he is good at reading the game and organising the back. I reckon, he will be missed in the next game, but at least it gives Vermaelen a chance to proof himself again.

As the Belgian is our captain, I reckon he will be responsible again for organising our defence and I am hoping he will come good again. Fingers crossed!

I am convinced that if Vermaelen’s performances in the remaining fixtures this season are not to the expected standard, he will become either a squad player or be sold in the summer. What do you reckon: will Vermaelen be able to fill the organisational void left behind as a result of the BFG’s suspension?

What would be the Ideal Spuds-Chavs result this weekend [please ignore reference to the game being played this weekend: it is a mistake]?

Let’s hope we will win our home game against Norwich. I don’t need to tell you that the single biggest risk we run regarding this game is the team underestimating our opponents. Norwich need the points and played really well at the Emirates last year, and with a nothing to lose attitude, they could cause an upset.

But let’s assume the boys are focussed and give their all and the three points will come our way; what would be the ideal result in the Spuds-Chavs game this weekend? This question is all about whether we think we can finish third or whether we believe fourth is the most realistic final position for us this season.

With only two points between us and the Chavs, I reckon we should aim for third, and therefore hope for, and this sounds truly horrible, so I will whisper it: a Spuds win. It would mean that we get ahead of the Chavs in the table and with our game in hand – compared to the Spuds – we should be able to get ahead of them as well. However, a Chavs win and Arsenal winning their games against Norwich and Everton, would create a healthy four points gap between us and the Spuddies…. This also sounds very attractive, as the Chavs could still be caught at a later stage…. What do you reckon, fellow Gooners?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Poor Tommy Vermaelen: another victim of the leadership trap

March 27, 2013March 27, 2013TotalArsenal

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.

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

March 14, 2013March 14, 2013TotalArsenal

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.

Sunderland preview: big game for BFG, Miguel and Rosicky to start? Plus Line-up

February 9, 2013TotalArsenal

I have been once to the Stadium of Light, back in Nov 2009. It was a miserably cold day and we got beaten by a single goal scored by Darren Bent. We did not play well, but did not deserve to lose either; often the faith of away playing teams who do not take their chances. A game best forgotten.

Today’s trip to the fine Stadium of Light (although in Newcastle the ‘L’ is pronounced as ‘Sh’) will be another big test for our team. Sunderland are positioned around mid-table and have nothing to play for anymore, other than getting above 40 points as soon as possible. So, with the visit of The Arsenal, we can expect the Black Cats to approach the game with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude, and play well above their normal level of home performances. I also expect them to get stuck in and make it a physical battle.

If we are not up for this game, we will end up dropping points; despite our fantastic record against the Black Cats. Playing an away game after an (mini) International break is also far from ideal, and I am more hoping for three points than banking on it. 😕

The BFG will have bad memories from his last trip to Sunderland, caused by the season-ending injury he obtained there about this time last year. He also played for Germany on Wednesday and fatigue might make him extra vulnerable. I will keep a close eye on Per and see how he will perform: we will need him to play at his best today.

With Vermaelen out and Koz a doubt, Arsenal have no other option than to play the BFG, and we could also see Miguel start today. Clearly, with Arsene allowing Djourou to go out on loan for the rest of the season, he must feel it is time to give Miguel more playing time, and unless Koz has recovered enough from his mid-week knock – he also started for his national team – I reckon we will start with two Spanish defenders for the first time in our history (?).

The big question is whether Jack should start again, after playing a whole match against Brazil. We cannot afford to drop points, but there is also our big match against Bayern in 10 days time. Jack fully commits himself physically and with midfielders like Gardner, Vaughan and (possibly) Cattermole, he will find strong, physical resistance, and there is not an insignificant risk of Jack picking up an injury today. Wenger will have to make a big call.

Luckily, Arteta is back and did not play mid-week, and Diaby and Rosicky are also available. So, I reckon both Santi and Jack will start on the bench today, and together with the Ox they are likely to play the last 20-25 minutes of the game, if needed.

Predicted Line-up

Some games deserve a big preview, but today is all about attitude, desire, work-rate and winning the physical battle. If Arsenal put in a proper, fully committed shift our qualities should get us through. Let’s hope, our players will do us proud today.

CoYG!!

Written by: Total Arsenal

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

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013TotalArsenal

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?

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.