premier league – Page 20

Arsenal Season Review: Four Improvements and Three Negatives

June 2, 2014TotalArsenal

It has been a whirlwind of a season for Arsenal this year. The poor start to the league before the incredible run of form that saw us lead the league table for a mighty long time followed by the collapse in the league and finally the FA cup triumph that ended the trophy drought. For many observers, this seems like a typical Arsenal season and sure enough in some aspects that is the case, but I have seen real progress in this team this term. Of course the proverbial monkey is off our back now that we won the cup, the biggest testament to this growth.

One of the biggest strides we have made this season (if not the biggest) is the assembly of the rock solid defensive unit of Szczesny, Koscielny and Mertesacker. For me Koscielny is the best defender in the league. Mertesacker is Mr. consistent and Szczesny’s golden glove prize says everything I need to. Bac has been phenomenal for us too, but i hesitate to dwell too much on him as his departure is all but rubber stamped. This defensive unit (barring the humiliation at the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool and city) was the best in the league. The aforementioned defeats are a result of our poor tactical nous at the middle of the park but I will get to that in a bit. Defense has been a major achilles heel for Arsenal since the pairing of Campbell and Keown but that is now a thing of the past. In Szczesny, we have a true heir to David Seaman’s throne.

Secondly, has been Arsenal’s ability to grind out wins, which is a testament to the brilliance of our defense. Before when Arsenal took an early lead you always felt nervous at 1-0 because we would eventually crumble and either draw or lose. This season however we have learned how to ‘win ugly’ as many would put it. Perfect examples are the wins against Spurs, Dortmund away and many more.

Thirdly, there is the coming of age of some of our players. Biggest of them all, Aaron Ramsey. I mean we all saw his potential before his leg break but nobody could have predicted what we saw this season. He has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has consistently put in match winning displays when fit, sometimes showing lashes of skill that the likes Ronaldinho and Zidane would be proud of. Another has been Theo Walcott. Though he has been injured for the most part, he has shown that he can be the 30 goal a season player we always thought him to be. It’s a shame we lost both at such crucial times of the season.

Last but not least, is the fact that Wenger has finally shown us that he is willing to spend money on world class talent. With the acquisition of Ozil, Wenger has proved that he is willing to spend big on the right players, something he will need to do more of if we are to build on our recent FA cup success. I find it hard to believe that our first trophy in years after we brought in a world class player is pure coincidence.

There have been a few negatives that saw us surrender the league title to Man City. They can all be summed up in one sentence; Wenger’s lack of tactical prowess. This comes out in a number of ways.

First and most frustrating of all is his inability to manage his squad effectively. Arsene Wenger simply does not know how to rotate his squad. He will play his best 11 week in week out until they either get injured or lose form due to fatigue. In my opinion apart from Theo Walcott, all the other injuries we got this season could have been avoided. Allow me to explain. When we started the season, we had Wilshere and Theo injured but were coming back. Wilshere’s had been long term and Theo’s short term. This meant that Ramsey got his chance to play, along with Gnabry. However, not long after Theo returned, regaining his place on the right meaning we had a midfield of Arteta, Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott and Santi (our best line up). So they played until Theo was injured again. But Wilshere soon returned. Note that with his well documented injury issues, he needed to be eased back in. Wenger would have none of it. He was played, even at times on the flank leaving a fit Ox and Gnabry on the bench. His worst performances came from the flank mind you. This team played on until both Ramsey and Wilshere (both of who thrive on the B2B role and would have shared the responsibility brilliantly) were injured due to the sheer amount of games they played. All this while, the Ox, Gnabry and Rosicky on the bench. Same to Mesut, a player who needed to be carefully introduced to the English game. He was played until he lost form and ultimately got injured yet Tomas sat on the bench unused. Look at players like Mertesacker and Bac who played almost every single game this year when TV5 was left unused. Podolski, one of our best players played a very small part in our league campaign despite being our best finisher. The examples go on and on. What is the point in having a big squad if the boss won’t use it?

Secondly I feel that our traditional beautiful game has been compromised. Our lack of pace makes what used to be scintillating displays in slow, labored, boring football. Our quick paced passing was seen in flashes like in that fantastic goal vs Norwich but majority of the time it was that slow passing that was at times difficult to watch. This made defences harder to break down, a major reason why we seldom won by big margins. We need some pace in that team.

Finally, Wenger’s lack of a midfield plan. Gary Neville said that at times it is like Wenger picks his midfield and asks them to play as they feel. For most parts I tend to agree with him. He has managed to assemble a very talented midfield but they are all too similar, especially when we lose the ball. There is no positional discipline, no tactical defensive shape, no coordinated pressing of the ball. This leaves the defense open and vulnerable to attacks. This explains the routs we received. Wenger, at the very least, needs to bring in a proper DM who shields the back for properly. Arteta’s lack of pace and aging legs have been exploited more than once this season.

All in all, it has been a good season. The lads have tasted victory and now it is up to Arsene to bring in 3-4 world class players ( a world class DM of the Javi Martinez mould, a pacy, goal getting left sided winger and a 30+ goal a season striker) to elevate us to title and UCL contenders. At this point, no Gooner is willing to go back to the trophy-less years – rather would see our glory days return.

Written by: Marcus

Arsenal – Newcastle preview & line-up: Are you ready for some football?

April 27, 2014TotalArsenal

Finally, after a very long week since Arsenal beat Hull City 3-nil at the KC stadium (in a preview of the FA Cup final) the team will play another match. This time it will be Newcastle United coming to the Emirates for a Monday Night match. I attended this fixture last season and it fell on another weeknight, albeit during the crowded festive period. That one ended with was a crazy 7-3 score-line featuring a Theo Walcott hat-trick. Olivier Giroud almost matched Theo’s display coming off the bench and netting two, with only the post denying a 3^rd. Also scoring that night were Lucas Poldolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. It was a gaudy score-line and a total we haven’t come to close to equaling since, but it was also a particularly unconvincing night, especially at the defensive end. Three times we took a lead only to have it equaled. Also, the post-match salute to all corners of the stadium by Walcott, who had been allowing his contract to run down, seemed like a farewell. Despite the 7 goals, the team seemed somewhat at sea.

It was a very long time ago and much has changed since. Of course, much also has remained the same.

One of those elements is that both clubs, contrary to usual policy in the Premier league, are still managed by the same men. Arsene Wenger (16 years) and Alan Pardew (3) are the League’s two longest serving managers, but both have weathered intense times at their respective clubs. For Wenger, it was a long campaign to get his team into the Champions league places (including a nervy 1-nil at Newcastle to end the season) followed by a summer of great potential (“money to spend”), great disappointment (we didn’t spend any in picking up two French players, Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini). Finally, at the deadline, after a devastating opening match loss to Aston Villa and worries about winning a Champions League Qualifier (vs already banned Fenerbache) and squeaking past arch-rival Tottenham in a 1-nil, Wenger (somewhat, at least) mollified critics by obliterating Arsenal’s transfer record and bringing in Mesut Ozil for 50 million Euros. From those early season difficulties we had an upbeat Autumn but a slow unraveling as injuries (and no replacement buys in January) combined with big defeats against title contenders dumped us out of that race and have brought us to another series of nail-biters as the club tries to hold on (again) for Champions league qualification.

In this same period, Pardew, whose team was spirited but ultimately callow in the 7-3 result I witnessed, has ridden maybe even a greater tidal wave of ups and downs. The January directly after the loss at our place featured even more recruitment in the “Neufchateau” vein, bringing in French (and French speaking) talent, including Yoan Goufran, Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Moussa Sissoko. Although these buys somewhat made up for the loss of Demba Ba (who scored two that night but was subsequently bought by Chelsea), it must be remembered that Pardew and Newcastle were coming off a 6^th place finish in the league. Despite the wave of purchases, Newcastle played poorly in the 2^nd half of the season and only avoided being pulled into the relegation battle because other clubs (Reading, QPR and Wigan) played worse and went down rather easily.

This past summer Newcastle withstood transfer links (including many with Arsenal) over holding mid-fielder Yohan Cabaye and added another Frenchman (and long supposed Arsenal target), Loic Remy, on loan from QPR. The Autumn went well and Pardew had his men playing outstanding football. They sat well in the top half of the table with the highlights being 1-nil victories at Tottenham and Manchester United and a 2-nil home win over Chelsea. In their final match of 2013 they played Arsenal almost even, only to lose to a long free-kick from Theo Walcott which received the slightest of touches from Olivier Giroud.

Again, however, they’ve been in a free-fall since the turn of the year, losing Cabaye to Paris-St Germain in the January window, getting pounded in the Tyne-Wear derby (a 3-nil loss to Sunderland at St. James Park) and now having lost 5 league matches on the trot. This most recent period has been compounded by a touchline ban for Pardew following a head-butting incident against a Hull City player.

That ban finally comes to an end with our match, but Pardew, who exchanged shoves with Wenger in 2006 when he was in charge at West Ham, has promised a calmer demeanor. Meanwhile, our own manager, despite finally getting his men winning again in their last two matches and looking better for retaining Champions league qualification (thanks to Everton losing 2 of their most recent 3 matches) and having a post-season date in the FA Cup final, seems under more pressure than ever. Supporters demand more than merely treading water and the potential of lifting the domestic trophy seems insufficient relative to failing—with some big score-lines against—in both the title challenge and against the defending champions Bayern Munich (again) in the European tournament. Wenger, who has mysteriously been holding off on signing a contract extension, has promised to do so, but this news seems to be greeted with more weary resignation (if not outright anger) than excitement by a majority of Gooners.

But that is ALL background. There IS a match to be played and it’s actually an important one for Arsenal. (In fact, all of these remaining matches are important and the fact that they haven’t been played—and won—may be the essential reason Wenger hasn’t actually signed.) Who will we play and what should we expect from our opponents?

I believe we’ll see a line-up unchanged (or nearly so) from a week ago at Hull. Poldolski continues (how can you drop a guy who is scoring 2 goals per match?) as will the mid-field group, buzzing again with the returns of Ramsey and Ozil. It’s possible some game time will be given to Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Kallstrom, Sanogo and/or Flamini, who all seem healthy or, in the case of the latter, is not suspended. According to Wenger, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere continue out injured but Tomas Vermaelen is available, so it’s possible that he might reprise his role at left back instead of Monreal, which seemed an effective set-up vs West Ham. Here is my best guess at the starters:

Predicted Line-up

Newcastle, by contrast, seems to be limping into this confrontation. Mercurial MF/Forward Hatem Ben Arfa is reported to be either injured or sent back to France. Other injuries appear a near constant throughout the Newcastle line-up, but big man Shola Ameobi has been scoring and Loic Remy may want to try and impress Wenger. Overall, IF Arsenal play their game and limit their mistakes, they should be able to exert enough pressure over the 90 minutes to cause Newcastle to crack. Goalkeeper Tim Krul’s most recent clean sheet was vs Crystal Palace on 22 March; his last in a road match was at Norwich on 28 July. If we can breach his defenses and net one, others might follow and we could be in the clear. In other words, unlike the 7-3 free-for-all I attended on 29 December 2012, I’d expect a match much more like the one we played exactly a year later up in Newcastle where it took that Walcott free kick and Giroud glancing touch, plus a stout, unyielding defensive performance of our own, to see them off. Everton has gifted us a bit of breathing room in the race for 4^th but I’d prefer a bit more. The sooner this CL qualification is settled, the better.

Finally, on a personal note… As much as I enjoyed all the goals in this fixture last season, the best part was meeting a fellow blogger—Arthur 3 Shedds (from another site, where I used to participate) and his wife, who acted as our guides and mentors. We met pre-match outside the Finsbury Park station (my boy wearing my Sagna 3 kit to serve as the identifying agent) and they took us up the Seven Sisters Road (into the area of North London where Arthur—not his real name—grew up) for a meal of Turkish food before returning to the stadium and the match. Fun as it was, they had a long train ride back that night (they live in Charlton these days) and invited us to their place later in the week. That was a nice time as well and meeting them was a real highlight of our time in London. My point is that personal meet-ups can be a great by-product of all this writing about our shared interest, our football club. My hope is that I can meet some of you folks for a match or elsewhere. (Lake Tahoe in the mountains of California, where I live, is a pretty primo place to visit….) As much as it’s a pleasure (and, at times, a pain…) to share thoughts about our club, the human element is what makes it all worthwhile.

So, some football!! (a match vs Newcastle). What do you think?

Written by: 17highburyterrace

Giroud v Davies, Pod v Wenger, Ozil v Fitness: Hull City Preview + Line Up

April 20, 2014April 20, 2014TotalArsenal

Hull City vs Arsenal Preview: Time to Cement 4^th

Intro:

This fixture lines up with another important fixture in the league, Everton vs Manchester United. We will have to hope United will beat Everton and we can extend our lead to 4 points. That will nearly lock up 4^th place for us, as Everton still have to face Manchester City. People say this is an FA Cup final rehearsal, but I disagree. The FA Cup final will be a different stadium, a different atmosphere, a different competition, and different players (Jack will be back for us, Long and Jelavic will be cup tied for them). That being said, this is still a big game and a definite must win for us.

This fixture last time:

Last time this fixture was played, it ended up in a very comfortable 2-0 win at the Emirates. Bendtner scored early in the first half, and Ozil scored early in the second half. I don’t expect to see Bendtner play tomorrow (or ever again in an Arsenal jersey), but Ozil will return tomorrow and I hope he gets on the score sheet again.

Line-up:

I expect Flamini and Ozil to return to the lineup, and I reckon Santi and Kallstrom will be dropped. I believe Santi will be dropped due to his small physical stature, and Poldi will stay in due to his more physical presence being lined up against the fast and physical Elmohamady. Flamini will go up against the big presence of Huddlestone. I expect Verm to keep his spot after a fantastic performance against Carroll midweek, and due to Gibbs’ late fitness test.

Key Battles:

Giroud vs Davies: Davies is a talented, physical centre back who has really come into his own this season. Giroud will face a tiring and very physical battle, especially in the air. But if he wins it, then Giroud could be looking at a goal or two tomorrow.

Ozil vs fitness: Ozil has had a long rest and after that, he will be firing on all cylinders. Being an attacking midfielder is partially instinct, but a lot of it is like being an artist. Inspiration is key. Watching lots of football and seeing what other players do is important for a CAM because it gives one an idea of things to try in games. After so long out, Ozil will have lots of ideas, but he will have to be fit to produce his usual world class passing and assists.

Podolski vs Wenger: This is another chance for Podolski to show Wenger what he can do and grab his spot for next season. Two goals mid-week is a good start, but he needs to be more consistent and score more goals per minute to earn his spot, because scoring is pretty much all he is good at (relatively, he can do other things, but not so that other players in our squad can’t do these better).

Casualties of War:

Arsenal:

Monreal and Gibbs face late tests, Diaby is back but not fit, and Walcott continues to be out with his ACL injury. Wilshere and Gnabry should be back soon, hopefully next weekend.

Hull City:

Hull doesn’t appear to have any injuries that I can find. Long and Jelavic will return after being ineligible for the FA Cup semi-final.

Predictions:

I predict a 3-0 to the Arsenal. Giroud, Ozil, and Sanogo will all score in a comfortable score line for the Arsenal.

Questions:

1. What are your predictions for the game?

2. What is your preferred line-up?

3. Do you think Everton will drop points again

COYG! Let’s seal 4^th place this weekend!

Thanks for reading! 😀

Written by: Dylan.

4-4-2 till the end the season? Arsenal – West Ham Afterthoughts

April 16, 2014April 16, 2014TotalArsenal

After the FA cup semi-final game against Wigan I was critical of both Cazorla and Podolski. I felt they did not do anywhere near enough to justify the trust Wenger put in them, their seniority in the team and the wages they collect every Friday afternoon. But yesterday, against the Hammers, they both performed significantly better, powered on by the veteran playmaker Rosicky behind and around them.

Cazorla played with a lot more zest and invention, even occasionally taking on defenders in and around the box to make things happen. He added another dimension to our attack yesterday, benefitting from Rosicky’s drive and willingness/ability to motor on our attack.

The other big positive yesterday was the Pod’s brace. We all know that if there is a chance in the box, Lulu is the man who should be at the end of it. His hammer of a left foot is absolutely deadly, especially in the box.

This has made me think again about what to do with the Pod: should we keep him and where should we play him in our formation/team?

The problem with him is other than a great finisher, and the occasional attempts to go past his man on the left flank and get the ball in the box, he does not offer much to the team. Wenger does not appear to like these sort of players: we only have to think about Arshavin, who although a different kind of ‘left winger’ – let’s face it, neither of them really are – also had special individual attacking qualities but was neither blessed with great stamina and team spirit.

Without Theo, Jack and Ozil, the Ox still learning and Rosicky unlikely to play each and every game till the end of the season with the same vigour as last night, will Wenger opt for what looks like a 4-4-2 formation during the last games of the season? With Giroud (or Sanogo) our main target man and the Pod feeding off him with the same hunger and deadliness as he did against the Hammers?

Could this be Arsene’s new Plan B?

I thought it looked like we did indeed play more or less in a 4-4-2 formation, albeit with the full backs providing most of the width. Rosicky helped the DM-pivot duo of Arteta and (the growing on me) Kallstrom in the middle to keep things tight (and we have been looking a lot better defensively over the last two games, despite the two goals conceded), whilst Cazorla seemed to revel in his free role behind the two central attackers (with Rosa adding thrust and creativity).

I have little doubt that a 4-4-2 formation could be a safe way towards gathering as much points as possible till the end of the season, especially with Ramsey (and soon Ozil) coming back to full fitness and Kallstrom and Flamini being available too. But will it mean a lot of crosses into the box, with both Pod and Giroud attacking them, and with Cazorla lurking for any scraps?

Would this formation suit Pod best?

And finally, would Wenger really go back to such basic formation, even just as a temporary measure to keep us above Everton?

Over to you, FFGs 🙂

TotalArsenal

Six PL games to go: where will Arsenal finish?

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014TotalArsenal

images (2) — Technically, the double is still a possibility, but even the biggest optimist will have given up by now.

If it was not for the incredible bonus of still being in the FA-cup, with a great chance to win it this time round, we would feel quite deflated right now. Having been top of the league for so long, it looks like we have to battle it out for fourth place once more; and our game against the Toffees this weekend will be another game of the season event.

For me and many other Gooners, it is this annual déjà-vu experience that is so frustrating: the realisation that we once again are not able to push through to the next level – that feeling that we are standing still. Whether we win the FA-cup or not, deep down we know that we are still short of breaking into the very top of national and international football. As such, it constantly feels we are not making much, if any, progress.

This, however, does not take away the importance of winning the FA cup this season. For all the young guys in this team it is just the tonic they need. I want the likes of Ramsey, Gibbs, Ox, Wilshere (hopefully), Jenkinson, Szczesny, and one or two others who form our long-term future, to experience winning something; and they will not get a better opportunity to do so.

The optimists – often also Wenger-loyalists – point towards key injuries and/or the fact that transition takes time. The doomers point towards lack of tactical qualities of the manager, or lack of player purchases and/or lack of investments – having ‘real balls’ – by our major shareholder. I said last season that I would give Wenger one more season to start making real progress, and will leave it till the end of the season to pull my conclusions.

Looking at our remaining six games, they are all winnable; and if we beat Everton this weekend it might well spur us on to get 18 out 18, which would leave us with 82 points at the end of the season. Now, where would that leave us?

Remaining games of current top four:

Arsenal: West Ham, Newcastle United and West Brom at home; Everton, Hull, Norwich away.

Liverpool: Man City, Chelsea and Newcastle United at home, West Ham, Norwich, Crystal Palace away.

Chelsea: Stoke, Sunderland, Norwich at home; Swansea, Liverpool and Cardiff away.

Man City: Southampton, Sunderland, West Brom, West Ham and Aston Villa at home; Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Everton away.

Current League table:

Liverpool: Played 32, 71 points (GD 49)

Chelsea: Played 32, 69 points (GD 38)

Man City: Played 30, 67 points (GD 67)

Arsenal: Played 32, 64 points (GD 19)

Everton: Played 31, 60 points (GD 18)

Liverpool are on a role, but I predict it will come to an end soon. I can see them drop points in at least four of their remaining six games and we might well still catch up with them.

The Chavs have the easiest run-in of all of our competitors and they remain the favourites to win the league. I really hope they don’t, but I reckon they will. They might drop points against Liverpool but should be able to win the rest…. We need another surprise away loss by the Chavs to catch up with them and let’s hope there will be a couple of Welsh Whirlwinds blowing….

Man City are only three points ahead of us but have two games in hand. With five winnable home games they should be uncatchable for Arsenal, although they could drop a lot of points against the Liverpool clubs and CP. If they were to drop two to four points at home, we could still catch up with them, but let’s face it, this is highly unlikely.

So, in fairness, the PL title is a battle between the current top-three, and unless all three slip up disproportionately we will not win the league, even if we were to win all six remaining games. However, there is still every incentive to try and win each and every game, both to secure a top-four finish and see whether we can still finish third or even higher.

Let’s continue to OGAAT and finish as strong as possible: fight for every point till the end.

COYG! 🙂

Just for fun, a few questions for debate:

Who will win the league and why?

Other than Arsenal, who would you like to win the league and why?

What will be the top-five at the end of the season?

What was, according to you, an acceptable finish for Arsenal at the start of the season?

What is an acceptable finish for Arsenal as things stand now?

Do you feel the club has made progress this season and why?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Arsenal-City Review: Is this the (latest) season changer?

March 30, 2014March 30, 2014TotalArsenal

First up, read nothing but this! Not only am I a great writer but all the others are misleading. This feeling of course is true of any match report and news. Read enough and you can find any interpretation you want. I read many, all of which said that in the first half City owned Arsenal. Oh, and we were lucky.

Second, for those who wondered, no, I never expected my 4-2-4-0, but a man can dream a little, no? 🙂

Hmm, so I got to watch on Arsenal TV, courtesy of Sky Sport who likely scheduled it to show a blood bath, mostly for those who also watch NASCAR for the crashes.

Half 1: I saw City get the one and it was deserved. Good break, good shot and good rebound finish. Equally, well defended over a turnover, forced the worst available shot, which was unfortunately excellent and off the post or Scz and the post. And once you’ve the rebound like that, well it’s anyone’s story.

Each side had moments forward and some pressure. City had more shots, but few of any threat or intent. Arsenal had less BUT they were probing a lot more. Just missing going forward in the last effort. Equally several opportunities to get something in the box. For motion with intent we had less ball but, really it was a game of midfield back and forth. City, more ball and shots, Arsenal more threat/probing.

The common factor, both sides defended really well as a team and both did so relatively deep. Key point CM noted. City and DeMechelis were slightly the better. Arsenal were also the less lucky, the rebound (admittedly after pressure) and a realistic contact and penalty not called early on.

Players of the half? OG was very good but a bit lonely. Team defense and Gibbs especially, also. Pod going forward, not so much going back (thank you Gibbs), and TR was always present, almost opposite of Yaya interestingly.

Who won the half? On points, clearly City, on pressure, perhaps Arsenal. How can I say that with less possession and less shots? Well 3 yellows to City to 1 to Arsenal, and invisible Yaya (Toure), and a large number of corners to Arsenal for a team with lesser possession, shows that we were winning, if only just a very very little, most places BUT the all important scoreboard. Still we were forward enough and with some threat just not quite coming off. As we now know the second half would bear a bit of all that out..

Half 2: I won’t reiterate in detail, really. Very much like the first half but we had more possession so the game ended almost equal. Again, with few exceptions Yaya was invisible. The one time, early in the half at 50mins saw them with a great chance well covered by Scz whose luck turned on rebounds from the first half.

One minute later, it’s all open, and first TR and then Santi are at goal with venom. And then in this open phase, at 52:44, FLAMINIIIIIII!

All that probing that the pundits were calling useless or signs of failure .. Well, one probes not to always score, but to eventually score. The eventually came despite still very good team defending by City.

This ushered in some Arsenal dominance and almost immediately Sagna offers an almost second goal cross. We were definitely on top in ways the pundits said City were in the first half. But, for real.

This ushers in my thoughts on pundits and The Jordan Effect. If Michael Jordan did something ridiculous, it was amazing and he got the foul! Anyone else was an idiot. Seems that way with Arsenal, so read nothing but your unbiased correspondent here! 🙂

Then the Pod almost got it for us… Then and then and … We were definitely playing with them.

The rest played out as we know. We won half two decisively but not dominantly, and they did get some opportunities as befits a top team in any game, and thus we were not dominant or lucky enough to pull it out. A “fair” draw in my final thoughts on it.

Overall: lots of good probing, lots of good team defense, and what looked like two top teams having an even or near even go at it. City don’t leave thinking we aren’t top tier and neither should we in my opinion despite our penchant for a wee touch of gloom.

Player of the game: Demichelis, his defense was the extra thing that kept it for City. My opinion but he was disruptive everywhere.

Luckiest keeper: Draw. Both were lucky once.

Impact player: Draw Flamini and Rosicky, with honorable mention to Sagna who very quietly had about 8m crosses in.

Invisible players: TV, Yaya, Nasri. Not bad but not there really. Not OG who was part of the goal with good hold up, but also somewhat lonelier as we sat back a touch. Something we must solve if we play more this way, although the injured would help there with more B2B types off field just now.

Now my thoughts on signs and portents: No, Prince, I am not a believer but for lightening pre-match it was fun. However, I will point out I got the deeper defense, lineup, and half the final score right. Don’t knock the burnt offerings! 🙂

So, will this be the end of season changer?

I have to believe that our confidence will be lifted. We played well and evenly for the most part with what is likely the top team in the league. My thoughts:

A. Confidence should be high just when we need it to get through the injuries and the season well. We may not win the rest of our games but we could. The same for all our competitors so…

B. We can play well with a very depleted team, which again has to help going forward and next year.

C. Our need for steal down the middle is clear, though we did well today. TV to DM might be a better deal than trying to find the perfect beast DM for many £.

But, will it change the season?? Well, like the burnt offerings, it’s hard to tell. But, back to my portents.

I was at church with family having seen the scoreline. Sat there contemplating as one does and of course “football is life” when suddenly the ground is shaking. Yet another bloody earthquake here in Christchurch, though a mere 4.0 it was shallow and thus relatively intense in shaking.

So, I was contemplating life and Arsenal and many things. At church… and the earth moved !!

Read into it what you will!! 🙂

Cheers — jgc

Arsenal-City Preview & Ideal Line-up: 4-2-4 with FlamTV in ‘2’!

March 29, 2014March 29, 2014TotalArsenal

Of portents, signs and not much tactics…My very short match preview, if you will.

Normally, I’d be all about tactics and how to play the game, maximise our strengths and so on. But, time, tide, injuries and such have taken their toll. So, today, a bit of a metaphysical approach. First, the “context”.

For me, this is now a “nothing to lose” game. The “must win” before the last game or two was if we’d won or drawn Chavs and beaten Swansea. It would have been the 3rd of my 3 top games of March (Spurs, Chavs, City). So far, we are 1W and 1L (followed by a draw against Swansea).

Now, the must win games are Everton and Wembley (at least nearer term)…

Bigger picture.

I didn’t expect to win the league, so that we are close and will hopefully remain so, is good enough. We are in the picture for one of the better trophies so should be happy about that. For those disbelieving regulars on this site, re-read the tone after 3-1 loss at home to AV in game 1… My overall take, we are not so bad as the last two, and not quite so good as the first 65% of the season that came after the AV game #1. Without injuries it is far closer to the latter than the former, and so be it…

Now on to the game tomorrow / today itself.. I think we need to focus defensively and play our game. Not too aggressive. The first 20 mins are our downfall or our victory all too often. I think we play for the 0-0 or 1-0 stolen win, given the cast of players available. My lineup, I have two, the “standard” and the “jgc chefs special”. I expect the first, which is:

I see Flamini wanting to make up for last time and we still need some steel.

Now the chef’s special.

This one says that if you stop Yaya you are a long way to stopping City. Of course, easily written in a few key strokes and they’ve plenty of others to step up and attack but basically, it’s time to clog the middle and I think for those who want to see something really different:

Yes, gentelfolk, the world famous 4-2-4-0. Nothing says I want to hammer any ***hole who comes down the middle like Flamini-TV5 in the middle. Rosicky will have to drop more to provide some service forward perhaps.. Kallstrom has played outside back and can again methinks, if you are worried about Jenks.. The front 4 can be more fluid and will have to work forward and with some aggro as needed, but Rosicky, Pod and Ox are all comfortable going forward at the front if needed and perhaps that would open up some “threat” we have not been able to with all our injuries. Finally, I have a major prize for anyone who a) believes this will happen; and if b) it does actually happen!!

Now, onto the omens, because tactics aside, with all these injuries, it’s gotta be about the burnt offerings and reading the chicken innards. So, here goes…

The SIGN: I wore my Arsenal jersey today for the first time in awhile, mostly due to different reasons of not being able to on prior game days. I have not worn it since we were last winning lots, as happens.

The PORTENT: Was out riding a kids duathlon course with my 7 and 10 year olds this afternoon. The 10 year old blasted ahead as he does, I was with the 7 year old. Anyway, he’s a bit of a dreamer and, how shall we say, tends to use all the footpath, as he looks about at everything. In doing this and going around/between a couple of people while riding in front of me, he loses it on a small footpath edge and falls .. Of course right in front of me.

I have few options here. There are people and small dogs everywhere (and I know how Gerry is about running over dogs!), but I am headed right towards his neck (likely also bad). So, swerving to a side we put several years of bicycle racing experience to work and bunny hop him. Sadly, not clipped in like the old days so height is limited, but I miss him and do my first ollie over the handlebars in 20 years (it’s not magically gotten any more fun, I have to say!).

The OMENS:

The bad ones: Well, we crashed and there were huge tears (not to mention the 7 year old 🙂 ). Equally, I dislocated a finger and his perfect 7 year old chin is marred by a small cut from his helmet straps.

The good ones: Well, the ladies cricket team was there playing and rushed to our aid, and both he and I like sporty young women. He eventually did ride the 6km home, an attractive 20-something physio cricketer helped me stop from pointing left whenever I meant forward.

The great one: My Arsenal jersey was unmarked or damaged.

So, read what you will into all that… I am calling it either 1-0 Arsenal or 37M – 3 City. It’s all about the first 20 mins for us lately so…

Gentleman (and Ladies)….

Find your couch (to hide behind)!!

cheers — jgc

Arsenal v Swansea afterthoughts: Another PL title bites the dust

March 26, 2014March 27, 2014TotalArsenal

For those who have not been lucky enough to go to an evening home game, I can tell you the stadium is absolutely magnificent in the evening darkness – both on the outside and inside. It shines, everything is squeaky clean and you have a feeling – especially when you are packed away right towards the back, under the gigantic roof of the North Bank – that you are ‘spectating’ the game in an enormous cinema.

I walked towards the stadium from the Highbury and Islington tube stadium, after meeting a few friends in the home-supporters-dedicated Arsenal pub ‘The White Swan’. It was great to see so many people playing football, jogging, playing netball, doing yoga, etc in the park on the way to the ground. On evenings like these London is simply irresistible. It is just great that our new stadium fits so well – so naturally – into the area, as if it has always been there; as if a gigantic spaceship has squeezed itself cosily into the warm nest of the good part of North London (go and visit the also ‘recently’ build Sunderland and Mansour City grounds for example, and you know what I mean).

The Game

Arsenal started with good intentions but it became quickly clear that this would not be an easy evening for us. It just hung there in the air. You could sense it throughout the whole stadium and the early – far too easy – goal by Bony turned this collective fear soon enough into stone cold reality. Bony’s opener was the sort of goal you expected us to score against inferior opposition a long time ago: a simple cross into the box and the striker outruns and out-jumps the defender: 1 – 0. It belonged to a different, pre-millennium era; yet we had it inflicted on us by Swansea yesterday.

The fans stayed behind the team and sent out encouragement, and the players tried their best to get back into it. But our attacking efforts looked laboured and lacked invention and movement, and everyone had to dig very, very deep to somehow make things happen. Just before we scored the equaliser in the second part of the second half, I was asking myself why we were no longer using the left wing. The pattern of our attacks was continuously the same: try to break through the middle with complicated 1-2-3s, and if we cannot get through, give the ball to Sagna.

Swansea were quite happy for the Frenchman to have it on their left: he will either cross it into the box where there is only Giroud to deal with (and there were far too few runs into the box by our midfielders), or he will play it back to one of the midfielders; who will once again try to break through the very well set up central defensive wall of the Jacks…

Luckily, within just 66 seconds, first Gibbs and then Podolski were finally able to breach the wall from the left for our two goals (which I saw right in front of me, luckily), and the supporters at last woke from their collective slumber. There was a real sense of relief and renewed hope throughout the ground. Unfortunately, this did not last long; as the team did not seem to know whether to attack for the third or sit back to protect the slender lead, the fans grew uneasy again very quickly. There was a real lack of leadership during this period on and off the pitch, and the substitutions did not help much either.

The cruel O.G. by Flamini sealed our faith, and the last bit of hope that we could still challenge for the title this season disappeared into the cold North London night for good.

In conclusion.

There was no lack of trying or hunger in the team, but what we did lack was freshness (especially Giroud looked like a spent force), imagination and self-belief. We played one-dimensional, predictable football, and as a team we just could not break the spell we were under.

The question I asked myself during the game was: How many of these players will play next season, if say we added a quality DM and CF/LW in the summer and everybody is fit?

The back four and GK will be pretty similar, with only Koscielny replacing TV5. But in midfield and attack we would not see many of yesterday night’s starters back, I reckon. All of them: Arteta, Flamini, Ox, Rosicky, Cazorla and Giroud will still have a place in our squad and they can all add value to our team; but with so many key players injured, collectively, they were just not able to reach the required level to deservedly beat Swansea.

Fatigue and low self-confidence will have played a role in this, but a lack of collective quality was also apparent. Of all these players, Ox has great potential to develop into a first team regular, but the rest will very likely become back up players or have to fight for their place. And as long as they do not have to play all at the same time, this is absolutely fine.

Theo would have added pressure and thrust on the right. Ozil and Wilshere would have added composure, thrust and invention through the middle and from the wings, and Ramsey’s box to box engine is missed more than anything else right now.

But it seems all of these players are not available for Saturday’s encounter with the Northern Oilers and Wenger and Bould will have to work their magic to somehow get this team ready for battle. Maybe KK, who did some nice stuff when he came on, will hold the key….

Let’s all flock to Cornwall on Saturday to position ourselves behind GLIC’s sofa. 😛

But as always, let’s keep the faith and support the team till the end.

TotalArsenal.

Arsenal – Swansea City Preview: Same team bar Koscielny?

March 25, 2014TotalArsenal

Time for our Lion of Flanders to motor us forwards again?

Get Back on the Horse!

Kicked off the horse (and then stomped upon) Arsenal must hoist itself back into the saddle to play Swansea City tonight in a league make-up match. This is a match that we simply must win and win in a bit of style to right the wrongs from Saturday’s indigestible lunchtime date with Chelsea. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time this season where we’ve needed a visible response. After shipping 6 goals against Manchester City in mid-December, we held Chelsea goalless at home in a nil-nil. That same score-line followed our horrific 5-1 loss at Anfield in a similar home match vs another “big” club: Manchester United. Swansea, even though they beat us 2-nil in this same fixture last season, have had a difficult season, replacing (up and coming?) manager Michael Laudrup, with Garry Monk, but still languishing only 4 points above the relegation zone. Arsenal, we thought, was having a much better season but amidst another (all too predictable?) “injury crisis” seems to find itself unraveling at just the wrong time, despite the fact that winning this “game in hand” could see us pull within 4 points of the league leaders–despite the spanking we’ve just received at their hand. Dropping points against Swansea would move us from another single (and isolated) 90 minutes of humiliation into a full blown end-of-season crisis. We need to move on from the Chelsea beating by winning the 3 points we gave away so easily on the weekend.

Additionally, the match has implications for more challenging encounters on the horizon. Manchester City comes to our stadium on Saturday and we must show a certain readiness for that one. After that, Everton away looms. They’ve just beaten the team we play tonight (Swansea, in a 3-2 scoreline) and they are the team who will be hoping we drop points to make that match a true “6-pointer.” We stand 8 points clear but they have a match in hand, so any incentive we give them means our CL spot will be “up for grabs” in Liverpool, to borrow the famous quote of twenty five years ago….

We can only play the matches one at a time, so let’s keep our eyes on the ball and focus on this one.

Swansea come to Ashburton Grove not having won in their last 8 matches, but they may catch a big boost with the return of Miquel Peréz Cuesta, more commonly known as Michu, the man who scored two late goals to beat us in this fixture last season. If he takes the pitch, many will fear his “sounds of silence” goal celebration and it could be an interesting test for our central defenders, given that Captain Tomas Vermaelen will be at the start of “at least 4 matches” alongside Per Mertesacker due to a Laurent Koscielny calf strain. Wilfried Bony, always a handful just because of his raw strength and power, may also prove a threat.

On the other hand, new Swansea manager Garry Monk may try and control the match by keeping possession rather than pressing for goals. In their position, and with so many Arsenal midfielders missing, this could be the best path to nicking a single point or more. In a relegation battle, each point is precious and given our own troubles, the Swans may be sniffing blood in the water. If they can keep us from scoring (as they did in last season’s fixture) putting Michu in as a sub might further inhibit our attack, given that I believe we’ll start with our better attackers on the pitch rather than the bench.

With that, I give you our starting 11. I believe Wenger, a manager who believes or at least wants to believe in his players, will go with the guys who “failed to show up” at Stamford Bridge. As such, the only change will be Vermaelen for Koscielny. I realize this is at odds with those who favor dropping as many as possible, but so it goes. We’ll see.

If there’s some fiddling in between those two extremes it could be a chance for a debut for Kim Källström (in place of Tomáš Rosickỳ). I know nothing about the Swede, but he provides double the umlauts which we’ve been missing since Mesut Özil twanged his hamstring at Bayern Munich. On the other hand, Rosickỳ has three special accents/symbols above the letters in his name…. My expectation is that KK could make his Arsenal debut as a sub if we appeared comfortable in the match; otherwise, his signing is another albatross around our manager’s neck and I doubt the legendary manager, under immense pressure once again, would dare to use him. If we must chase the win, the more expected subs would be Yaya Sanogo and Serge Gnabry. Not a lot of experience scoring late goals, but you never know, and Gnabry’s nice one against the same team in South Wales earlier in the season might prove a lightning-can-strike-twice sort of opportunity…. Flamini and Monreal or Jenkinson might be the more conservative route to help lock up a win.

Predicted starting 11:

Bigger issues.

In this age of an in-your-face, everyone-is-a-pundit news (and scream) cycle, we went—in the space of 15 minutes—from celebrating Arsene Wenger’s 1000^th match as Arsenal Manager to lamenting that it probably meant he was due a few more. Jose Mourinho’s words about Wenger’s “legacy of failure” echoed—without even being uttered—after our 6-nil defeat. Can the manager turn that humiliation into “just 3 points” or will it be the straw that finally cracks the camel’s back, and now, out of (what remains of the concept of) respect, we are consigned to watch the big humped beast fall into full collapse? My hunch is that Wenger is a better “manager” than many of us think and that we will respond to the adversity and build the tiniest of platforms heading into another tough battle against a club with which we aspire to actually compete. Or at least that’s my hope…

What do you think?…

Written by: 17highburyterrace

Preview – Arsenal Predicted Line-Up. The cannon will be loaded!

March 21, 2014March 21, 2014TotalArsenal

Just a quick one, as I have been busy over the last few days (and the regular match pre-viewers are all hiding 😉 ).

Tomorrow we are going to beat the Chavs. Why? Because it’s Wenger’s special day and the team will show an incredible unity and hunger, and because karma has a date with the self-adoring one.

Forget about the statistics, the history, the Maureen-factor – tomorrow is Wenger-Day. We are going to fight for every ball and for each other, we are going to load the cannon and shoot the proverbial out of the Chavs.

It will not be nice, it will not be pretty, some players might get hurt, but we will win tomorrow. We will win it for Arsene.

Predicted Line-Up

This is the line-up that will do it:

Maybe Rosicky starts instead of Arteta or Flamini in the double DM-pivot; he could also start instead of Podolski. Is he fit? I reckon he is, but he would be a good game changer to come on in the second half.

It could be that Wenger goes for the unpredictability and uninhibited thrust of Sanogo instead of Giroud. But I reckon the man from the French Alps will start once again. Maybe KK starts in the hole and Santi moves into Pod’s position…. all possible. But whoever plays tomorrow, they will give their all: you can count on it!

Time to load the cannon. Time for battle.