Why signing Victor Wanyama would release the shackles on Santi and Wilshere

January 25, 2013January 25, 2013TotalArsenal

Is Wanyama the beast of a DM we so desperately need?

Much has been made of Arsenal’s midfield with the arrival of Santi Cazorla and return of Jack Wilshere. On Paper, Arsenal ideally have the strongest midfield in the league, but that hasn’t been the case on the pitch.

The preferred combination in the middle of the park consists of the supremely talented trio of Wilshere, Cazorla and Arteta who, on paper, all possess the ability to outplay any team short of Barcelona. That has not been the case and has been, in my opinion, the foremost cause for Arsenal’s poor campaign so far. This is primarily because of the deeper, defensive midfield position.

Since the departure of Mathieu Flamini, Arsenal have never had a player whose sole purpose in the team is to protect the back four, break up play using brute strength and sheer intimidation, and generally bully the opposition players. Alex song was groomed for the role, but as soon as he made his first successful through ball and realized he could attack, he never looked back. For all his assists, Song left Arsenal extremely vulnerable to the counter attack during his forward surges; and punished we were. Severally in fact.

Then came Mikel Arteta. I must say he performed this role very well last season but people seem to forget that he is an attacking midfielder and has been all his life. It is commendable that he did so well last term but eventually this move was always going to backfire for a couple of reasons.

First and fore most, Arteta’s game is all in the mind and not the body. He is a footballer first and an athlete second. This means that his greatest assets are his ability to read the game and his passing abilities, and while these are fantastic attributes to have, they may not work completely for a defensive midfielder; especially in a league as physical and as fast paced as the EPL.

Secondly, Arteta is a very slow player and doesn’t have the pace to chase down players when he loses possession; nor does he have the muscle to hold on to the ball when he has it. This has resonated this season, as Arteta has struggled against teams who press hard and use brute force at a high tempo.

This has had a domino effect because as a result we lose possession very easily. It means that Wilshere and Cazorla along with our wide players have to track back and help out as we are constantly under siege.

Ultimately, this then curbs our attacking play and our strikers end up with little to no service, which means Arsenal are now unable to control games like we are used to do.

Which brings me to Victor Wanyama. This 21 year old Kenyan midfielder plays for Celtic as a midfield destroyer. He is a man mountain in the mould of Michael Essien, with good pace and a Wilshere-esque type of work rate and heart. He was signed from Beerschot for £600,000 in 2011 but Neil Lennon now values him at around £15M: such has been his impact!

This season he has been a revelation in the Celtic midfield; propelling them past Barca to the champions league knock out stages. Wanyama can best be compared to Micheal Essien in terms of physique and style of play. He is adept in the tackle and can bully even the toughest players in the EPL. His versatility means that he can play at the centre of defence, or even at right back. He is also a technical player who can pass his way out of any situation, and can produce sublime long passes.

He is also oddly quite the proficient goal scorer with 6 goals so far this season; one against Barcelona. This is because he has excellent aerial ability and has quite a shot on him. Every time you watch Celtic play, it is difficult not to notice him due to his dominance in the midfield.

As far as Arsenal goes, this is just what the doctor prescribed. He would be the missing link that releases the creative shackles on Santi and Wilshere, allowing them to do what they do best: unlock defences.

Signing Wanyama would be a master stroke for Wenger as he would slot seamlessly into the EPL, and very few players have his kind of physique, if any. He has the determination and work ethic to hassle down and tirelessly dispossess opponents; all the while committing only a few fouls. He would also increase our aerial threat during set pieces.

Best of all, at £15M, he’d be signing a player who would make an instant impact, yet still have room for improvement; Wanyama being 21 years old.

We would have to fend off interest from Fergie and act fast, but it would be well worth it!

Watch him here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2KJWzV8T5Q

Written by: Marcus.

Ramires out-cheats and out-muscles our midfield: just the sort of player Arsenal are missing!

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013TotalArsenal

Lack of leadership & organisation cost us again – Ramires out-cheats and muscles our midfield

Lack of leadership & organisation cost us again

Once again, we were beaten yesterday by a set-back. Yes it was a blatant foul by Ramires on Coquelin, and yes Mertesacker should have stepped up quicker, and yes Sagna should have been stronger, and yes Szczesny should have been nearer to the goal-line to have a better chance of saving Mata’s fine goal; but these things happen sometimes. Just like it took our defence ages to organise themselves and adjust mentally to what was required after Koz was sent off against Man City last week, Arsenal once again were unable to cope with early adversity on Sunday.

I accept that Mertesacker is a slow turner and lacks pace in general, but I have always felt he was our best defender because of his organisational skills and special awareness/positioning. I have also said on numerous occasions that Vermaelen is not a good captain, but a great first soldier for the team. Against Chelsea we lacked organisation and order, and this was not just down to our CB’s not leading the team.

Both our DM’s were out-foxed and out-battled by the Chavs’ midfield and as a result did not offer enough protection to our defence. But for me, the main culprits are Vermaelen and Mertesacker, the former as the captain, and the latter as the one who simply depends on his organisational skills for being in our defence in the first place.

After we conceded the first goal, Arsenal were all over the place: our shape and discipline were gone, and Chelsea were able to control the ball for large spells without us having any say in it. Wilshere tried desperately to organise things but was in the wrong position to do so effectively.

The second goal, a penalty scored by FF, was a direct result of the lack of discipline and organisation in our midfield. Ramires was allowed far too much space in our box, and Szczesny, who had spotted the danger, had to cover far too much space. The Brazilian danced around him and when the Pole decided to outstretch his long leg, the former decided to cheat and fall over it.

It was never a penalty, but you can see how the referee was fooled by it. But the most important lesson to learn is that our team deals badly with unexpected set-backs, and it has cost us dearly again.

Ramires out-cheats and out-muscles our midfield

Both Diaby and Coquelin were taught a lesson today by the hard as nails and cheating Ramires. I loved the way Coquelin did not give up and put everything into his game yesterday. However, it was also clear that Coquelin has some way to go, and we only have to look at Ramires’ performance to realise what we are missing at the moment. I thought both Ramires and Mata were a class apart yesterday yesterday; by far the best players at Chelsea at the moment.

Mata’s first touch and finish were sublime for Chelsea’s first goal, but there is so much more to his game that stood out. His positioning and constant movement are simply fantastic, and so are his positional awareness and work-rate.

Ramires’ is also hard-working and has great positional sense, but on top of that he is streetwise and hard as nails. He put fear into Diaby and Coquelin, even though they both did not give into his bullying too much. Both Diaby and Coquelin missed the battle-preparedness of Ramires, and most of all, the experience of the Brazilian. He got away with far too much yesterday, though, as the referee was incredibly lenient towards him, but his overall performance made the difference in the match in my view.

It is hard to put my finger on what exactly makes the difference between the displays of our DM’s and Ramires, but a lot has to do with timing; as in knowing when a hard tackle has to be made, and when and who to rile of the opposition. We got this in the past from players like Petit and Vieira, and also from the career-self-destructor Flamini.

Many of us agree that we miss a beast of a DM in our team. We need to find a Ramires type as soon as possible: an experienced one, who can also guide Coquelin to the required level.

It also fair to say that we are simply missing ‘beastliness’ throughout the team. We only collected one yellow card yesterday: compare that with the number of cards by MU against the Spuds yesterday, and you know what I mean.

I don’t mean raw nastiness, but the ability and determination to fight and be very physical when needed; to leave a foot in now and again and rile the opposition a bit; to not just rely on the technical and tactical aspects of our football but also battle for every ball. Wilshere has it, Vermaelen has it, Sagna has it, Giroud has it, but too many don’t have it, and the addition of a traditional DM with some footballing skills, and ideally also, a beast of a CB, would make a world of difference to our team this season.

No Arsenal team should be called ‘a bit timid’, and no Arsenal team should lack leadership and organisational skills when things are not going our way.

It is time for Arsene to sort it out and he only has ten days left to do so.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Letting Alex Song go is proving to be costly for Arsenal

November 12, 2012November 13, 2012TotalArsenal

Last season’s ‘under-song’ Cameroonian hero, Alex Song, has been the one player Arsene could not afford to let go without replacing him adequately this summer.

There have been many fellow Gooners last season who kept pointing out that Arteta was so much more important than Song; that it was the Spaniard who did all the defensive hard work, whilst Song was simply not sticking to his defensive tasks, and was as such letting the team down. But they were wrong, and it is only becoming clear now how much the Spaniard needed the Cameroonian to do his job properly.

I was pretty devastated when I heard Song had been sold to Barcelona. The combination of Song and Arteta in the centre of our midfield had grown into something special: they got to know each other really well, and became very good at sharing the responsibility of both shielding the defence and helping out our attack. In a poll I organised during the summer on the ‘ArsenalArsenal’ blog, Song and Arteta were voted as the best Arsenal pairing of last season.

Song was clearly asked by Arsene to help out on the creative front. Our most advanced midfielders, either Ramsey or Rosicky, were often struggling to make things happen up-front, and needed support from either Arteta or Song in our 4-3-3 system. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Song not Arteta, who took up this task; and he did it with verve. Without his double-figure assists tally – 14 in all competitions, and 11 in the PL – we would never have finished in the top-four last season.

In his last year at Arsenal, Alex Song showed he had become an all-round midfielder. Yes, he sometimes gave the ball away unnecessarily, and suffered occasionally from a lapse of concentration, but they seldom or never led to us conceding a goal. Song was a slow starter during games, but once he got going he was unstoppable: a total force to be reckoned with. One of his best games was the home win against Milan in the CL last season, in which he played as a classical DM in front of our defence. I will never forget his performance in that game.

There were some rumours that Song had fallen out with Bould and Wenger, as a result of not sticking to instructions given to him during practice sessions in the summer. But it is far more likely that Song was sold because he and his agent kept asking for a new contract that included – by all accounts – a significant, but not entirely unreasonable, pay increase as the main objective.

Song believed he had earned this; as he felt his performances, status and contributions to Arsenal’s overall achievements had significantly risen during the course of last season. I think he had a point, but he obviously upset Wenger so much that the Frenchman allowed him to move on.

Barcelona came knocking on the door, and before we knew it, he was allowed to join the Catalans and our former hero Fabregas, without much of a fight at all. Two players who had been developed to incredible levels by Arsene were allowed to leave when they were at the prime of their footballing lives: such a shame!

I can see why Wenger believed he could compensate the loss of Song, but until now it has not worked out for us very well. Diaby made us instantly forget about Song, but then he got injured – no surprise there. His replacements: either Ramsey or Coquelin, have struggled to convince us in that pivotal role, and only now that Jack is back are we starting to get our shape and control back in midfield.

Arteta has started really well, but once again is being overplayed and should have been rested more. However, Arsene has limited options to replace him. Coquelin and Frimpong are still too inexperienced and Wenger has not risked them in the ‘anchor’ position yet. All recent games already turned into ‘must-win’ encounters, in which Wenger feels he needs to play his strongest team every time.

In my view, we have really missed Song during the last few months. He can play in both Arteta’s position and the linchpin position (the one next to Arteta in a 4-2-1-3) and he would have helped us to keep a better shape in our formation; and deal with pressure on our defence a lot better. Arteta would have been rested more, and Cazorla would have had better support in trying to create attacking moves in the last few months, if and when the Cameroonian would have played in the linchpin position.

Arsenal remain thin on the ground with regards to a long term, adequate replacement for Arteta in case of injury. I am all for giving Coquelin a chance in the ‘anchor’ role, but he is inexperienced and it all comes with a high risk: it is better to keep easing him into the team.

Arsenal should not have sold Song last summer imo, but hopefully Arsene is still on the look-out for a strong and experienced defensive midfielder, who can also help out on the creative side if and when required.

Total Arsenal.

Dark clouds are gathering above Ashburton Grove

November 10, 2012November 10, 2012TotalArsenal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total Arsenal.

Arsenal – Chelsea: may the battle of the midfields begin!

September 29, 2012September 29, 2012TotalArsenal

Just a quick post to kick off the day. Individual player ratings will follow later in the day.

I don’t know about you, but I could hardly sleep last night; entirely caused by the excitement of the anticipated battle that lies ahead for us. No doubt there will be battles all over the pitch, but whoever wins the battle in midfield will surely win today.

And what a battle lays ahead for us.

Arsenal’s most selected midfield this season has been: Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla. But with Chelsea likely to just play Torres up-front, their midfield will consist of five players: two ‘holding/deeper’ midfielders – most likely to be Fat Frank and Mikel – and three multi-disciplined attacking/creative midfielders – most likely to be Mata, Oscar and Hazard. If we are not careful the Chavs will dominate our midfield today and I cannot imagine Arsenal starting with just three in our midfield.

As per my post yesterday, I reckon that Ramsey will start again. It worked very well for us against the Nothern Oilers and we need him again against the Southern Oilers imo. But will that be enough: our four of Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey, Diaby against their five: Mikel, Lampard, Oscar, Hazard and Mata? I think it will; especially if you take into account both Gervinho’s and Podolski’s ability and willingness to help out in midfield.

But, I would also not be surprised to see us start with five in midfield, with just Giroud on top, and Ramsey, Diaby, Arteta, Cazorla and Podolski all behind him. It would totally overpower Chelsea and all these midfielders can both create and score goals at this level.

Whatever our formation, we need to boss Chelsea in midfield from the start, so they don’t get into any rhythm of attacking football. We need to bamboozle them from the moment the ball is kicked, and to take at least one of our early chances as soon as possible.

My prediction: 3-1, but I settle for a dry 1-0!

COYRRG!!!!

Total Arsenal.