premier league – Page 25

Swansea Review: Rambo still on fire, Özil quiet, but Gnabry promising

September 28, 2013TotalArsenal

After a tough penalty win against West Brom midweek in the Capital One Cup, Arsenal faced a trip to Wales today to take on Swansea City.

The game today saw Arsenal have a very slow start. Swansea dominated the early game, swinging in crosses and taking long shots. However, with our tall defenders and determination, we managed to keep the Swans out.

Arsenal had an unchanged line up from last week’s Premier League game against StokeCity. I found it interesting that Gnabry kept his place, despite playing 120 minutes and a penalty shootout midweek.

The first half was very open and it was very much a back and forth affair. The one major scare of the first half came when Szczesny came way out of his box, on the goal line, only for Michu to keep the ball in and for the Swans to swing the ball into the box. However, I believe offside was called and no resulting goal would have counted.

The rest of the first half was a rather boring, albeit, open game. However, in the last minute of stoppage time in the first half, Serge Gnabry had a fantastic penetrating run from just beyond half field to the edge of the 18 yard box, laid it off to Giroud, who dragged it wide. It was not the best finish, but an excellent demonstration of Gnabry’s potential. Gnabry seems like the type of player who can play either wing or in a CAM type position, and I’m very interested to see how he develops.

Overall, the first half was tense, but at the same time, there was not much to talk about. Both sides went about their business and played their trademarked beautiful styles of football, with each side frustrating the other.

In the second half Arsenal came out much stronger. They seemed more determined and ready to win. Speaking of Gnabry, he would get Arsenal’s first goal of the day. Arsenal broke down the field and some smart passing got the ball to Rambo just outside the box. Aaron then slipped Gnabry through on the right of him, without looking. Gnabry took a calm collected touch, and then blasted a cool finish past Vorm in to the lower right corner of the net, in the 58^th minute. Seeing Gnabry score his first senior goal for Arsenal was exciting and he really was a standout player today. His movement and passing was excellent and he’s starting to demand a place in the squad, maybe even a consistent place in the starting 11.

Not long after, in the 62^nd minute, Arsenal would score again. The man of the match, Aaron Ramsey, would score his 8^th goal in 8 games. Arsenal broke down the field again with some absolutely incredible passing, including a heel flick out to the sideline by Ramsey. In the end, Giroud reversed the ball to Rambo, who took a touch and slammed the ball into the roof of the net. I was really impressed with Rambo today, not just because of his goal, but also his physical strength, tempered with some smart tackles in defense.

After this goal, Arsenal seemed to settle down and become a little complacent. We tried to possess the ball and pass it around and it worked, until the 82^nd minute when Arsenal’s complacency cost them. Ben Davies of Swansea made a run down the field, played the ball to Bony, and Bony put it back over the top of our defense for Davies to poke into the net. Mertesacker tried to get a tackle in, but he couldn’t reach it and Davies poked the ball past Szczesny. I blame our players for switching off, they really should’ve had more focus, but they were excellent the rest of the game so I will forgive them.

The rest of the game was a tense affair, with cards flying and tough tackles being put in by both sides. Jenkinson, Monreal, and Arteta came in to shore up our defense, and it worked. Arsenal was strong enough, physically and mentally, to hold on to the lead. Another winning goal for Rambo and another away win for the Arsenal. 8 away wins in a row, tied for the club record. This team really is something special.

An excellent 2-1 away win to the Arsenal and we are top of the league once more! Let’s hope we can keep this winning streak up and keep our number one spot. This team looks willing to do anything to win every game in every competition and that’s what any fan of any club loves to see. The team seems to be together and willing to fight for the badge and fight for each other.

For now I’ll leave you with some questions:

What did you think of today’s game?
Does Gnabry demand a spot? If yes, in the starting 11 or on the bench?
Do you think Gnabry could play as a CAM?
How do you think Rambo did today?
Will we break our away win record?

Thanks for reading! 😀

Written by: Dylan.

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

September 28, 2013September 28, 2013TotalArsenal

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

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

Swansea's Liberty Stadium — Swansea’s Liberty Stadium

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Predicted Line-Up:

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

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

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

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

UP THE ARSE!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Report & Ratings: Orcs slain, Rambo does it again, Özil is unbelievable

September 22, 2013TotalArsenal

After a tough midweek away fixture in France, Arsenal faced a visit from Stoke this weekend. Today was set to be Özil’s home debut and the fans would not be disappointed by what he had in store.

The game today saw Arsenal start out strong but become tired in the second half and start to drag a little, before some late substitutions brought some life back into the game.

One interesting note about our starting line-up today: Theo Walcott was set to start the game on the right wing, before a change was made about 10 minutes before kick off and 18 year old Serge Gnabry made his first Premier League start for Arsenal. From what Wenger said, Theo had an abdominal problem and should be fine.

All three assists today came from our record signing, Mesut Ozil. And surprisingly, we put three goals past Stoke through set pieces! This truly shows how good Özil’s delivery is.

Özil showed off his excellent delivery for the first time today after just five minutes. The German had a wonderful shot from a free kick just outside the box. Begović dove and managed to palm it away, only for the man of the moment, Aaron Ramsey, to fire the rebound coolly into the net.

Then in the 26th minute the Orcs would get lucky. A decent ball was hoofed in the box by Orc #1. Per was unable to keep up with Orc #2 and Orc #2 fired a shot against the post. Had it been on target, Szczesny likely would’ve gotten to it, but it cannoned of the post back to Orc #3, who put it in the net. Not much can be blamed other than Per’s lack of pace. Maybe someone should’ve been tracking Orc #3, but I’ll put this goal down to luck because the ball could just have easily hit the post and gone out, or bounced to Szczesny or anywhere but back to a Stoke player.

Özil would then show his class again, delivering a corner in to Per who flashed it across goal with his head, only for it to be cleared of the line. However, Özil and Per would repeat this in the 36th minute and this time Mertesacker’s looping header would find its way just inside the far post. It was an excellently placed header for the second time that game from our BFG. He looked thrilled to score for the Arsenal again, and it’s always great to see the goals coming from all over the team.

After half time the team seemed to tire. Playing three fixtures in a week really seemed to take its toll, especially on Jack and Aaron. I would’ve liked to see Ryo come on for Jack around the 60^th minute to keep the team fresh and to protect Jack from the vicious Stoke players, but the subs would come eventually.

Özil would deliver his final assist in the 72nd minute, again off a set piece. He curled in a cross from the left side if the field and this time it would be Sagna to put a looping header over Begović. As far as I know, this was Sagna’s first goal since he played his part in the first 5-2 against Tottenham. We really need to get that lad signed up on a contract extension, even if he has to make the move to centre back permanently as he ages and his mobility leaves him. He knows the Arsenal style of play and has experience and talent; we really do need to keep him.

The game, once again ended 3-1 to the mighty Arsenal. The only real complaint being that we didn’t keep a clean sheet. However, we are once again top of the league and this time we will stay there.

Player Ratings:

Szczesny: 7/10; Had a rather average performance. Wasn’t at fault for the goal and did well smothering a low cross late on.

Sagna: 7.5/10; Also had a rather average performance, but did well to score the goal. Still looking solid in old age and needs to be resigned.

Mertesacker: 8/10; Was an animal at the heart of our defense today. Jumped on Jones’ bad touch when he was nearly through on our goal and scored an excellent header to put us ahead.

Koscielny: 7/10; A quiet performance, but sometimes that’s what you want from defenders. Just went about his business, did well to distract Begović on Per’s goal and it’s good to see him being less rash and not giving away penalties.

Gibbs: 6.5/10; Also quiet, but seemed quite tired. Didn’t do much going forward and Flamini seemed to be covering at the LB spot a lot, implying that Gibbs was out of position a bit too often. He did have his moments though.

Ramsey: 7/10; Was in great position to score the rebound off the first free kick, but tired quickly after so many games in such a short time.

Flamini: 7.5/10; Had fantastic distribution and did well covering for the tired Gibbs when he was caught out of position. He continued to show his value to the team and his signing looks to be a stroke of genius.

Özil: 9/10; Had fantastic delivery from set pieces. Four especially notable ones, including the three goals and Per’s first header.

Gnabry: 7/10; Had some good moves down the field. Could’ve been through on one occasion, had Huth not leveled him. Also looked strong defensively. Looked great for an 18 year old and hopefully he gets more chances soon.

Giroud: 7/10; Had a rather average game. Tried an acrobatic effort late on, but really didn’t do much creating chances for others or himself. However, was helpful defensively and won more than a few free kicks.

Wilshere: 6.5/10; Was clearly targeted by Stoke. Had his moments in the first half, but tired quickly and should’ve been taken off sooner.

Substitutes:

Ryo: 6.5/10; Came on late for Gnabry. Didn’t do much, but added some pace to the team towards the end and did well to keep the ball in once down the right wing, but had a terrible cross. Overall, needs more time. I expect him to play midweek.

Monreal: 7/10; Shored up our defense at the end. Subbed on late for Wilshere.

Arteta: 7/10; Made his return from injury. Subbed on late for Özil in his more natural attacking midfield position. Will likely play midweek for fitness.

Note: This is my first time doing player ratings, at the request of JB. Please tell me what you think and if you would like me to continue doing this.

For now I’ll leave you with some questions:

What did you think of the team’s performance today?
How important is it for Arsenal to sign Sagna to a new deal?
Do you think Wenger is responsible for the team’s good form and togetherness?

Thanks for reading. 😀

Written by: Dylan.

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

September 21, 2013September 22, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsenal vs the Orcs Pre-Match Report

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

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

Let’s get in to it shall we:

Missing in Action:

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

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

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

Predicted Line-up:

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

Previous Encounters:

Arsenal v Stoke 1-0

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

Have a look at the goal and aftermath here:

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

Stoke v Arsenal 0-0

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

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

Form Guide: Arsenal: : WWWWW Stoke: DWWWL

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

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

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

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

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

One to Watch:

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

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

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

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

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

Key-Match up:

Arsenal vs Asmir Begovic

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

Pre-Match Finger:

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

Pre-Match pat on the back:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3) What player/position is your weakest?

JOWLERMONKEY: Strikers, neither good or hungry enough.

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

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

4) Which Arsenal player would you like and why?

JOWLERMONKEY: Wilshere, fast dynamic, good feet.

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

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

JOWLERMONKEY: Defence.

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

6) Özil, will he live up to the hype?

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

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

7) What is your prediction for the match?

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

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

Prediction:

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

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

Oz: Will Arsenal beat the Stoke City Orcs?

Eagle Star: Hmmmm 1-1 I feel.

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

Eagle Star: Dangers…yes, score…no!

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

<insert Shawcross Scared pic>

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

Oz: You’re a star Eagle…get it????

Eagle Star: <disconnected…and blocked>

What is your prediction?

Theo or Giroud…who will score?

Will we shut down their set piece game?

Written by: Oz Gunner

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Is Arsenal’s Tight (small, tiny, down to bare bones…) Squad Actually an Advantage?

September 20, 2013TotalArsenal

Wednesday evening’s CL opener, sandwiched between tough league matches (Sunderland away, Stoke City at home) asked the question: is this team ready to fight on multiple fronts? We got the needed result in our very difficult group, but a quick glance at our bench – or a (necessarily) longer look at our guys out injured – suggests that we have a much more complicated task in the longer term.

It appears we escaped the South of France without any new injuries, but there was some concern expressed when Theo Walcott came off (walking slowly and not smiling) not long after his sumptuous volley which put us ahead. A quiet match from Olivier Giroud in his old stomping grounds was also a worry given his twisted knee late in the Sunderland match. If either of those two are not fully fit going into the Stoke match, who do we have to step in?

The answer, at the moment, is youth players or guys who are in the squad but not necessarily for their goal scoring. Fingers crossed and I won’t dwell on the hypothetical questions. It’s no great secret that Arsenal was looking at strikers throughout the transfer window and that coming away without reinforcements in this area is (one of) the biggest question marks hanging over the squad. Regardless, barring any “miracle” recoveries from the likes of Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, our best bet for Sunday is that the same 11 who started in Marseille are ready to go again. We have a few fresh bodies to shore up matches we’re winning (Jenkinson, Monreal, Vermaelen) but not much firepower if we had to chase a result.

On the other hand, watching (or hearing and reading about…) the struggles of our rivals, it’s questionable if a bigger squad is the answer.

Chelsea lost at home to Basel Wednesday night and were booed off the pitch. Did Jose Mourinho do the right thing in letting Romelu Lukaku go back out on loan or leaving Fernando Torres and André Schürrle out of the team for his CL opener? With players like Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Eto’o, Willian and Demba Ba (not to mention Frank Lampard…) the list of their attacking assets would seem enough to see off Basel, wouldn’t it? Still, they couldn’t. Is this their wake-up call (equivalent to our Aston Villa opening day debacle) or is it a sign that, despite all the talent, they don’t have players who are comfortable taking on the moments which turn losses into draws or draws into victories? And, of course, this was on the heels of losing at Everton and drawing at Manchester United…

The other silly money club, ManchesterCity, is in a similar quandary. After bludgeoning Newcastle in their first league match, they’ve been a lot less convincing. Some of the issues appear to be at the back with injuries in defense and mistakes by their (still very young) keeper, Joe Hart. Again, however, there seems, amongst the options further forward, a lack of that player or two who will really make it all happen.The loss at Cardiff, the draw at Stoke, with the Manchester Derby looming, along with David Silva injured on international duty, would seem to be taking all that hair of Manuel Pelligrini further towards the solid grey sported by our own Arsene Wenger…

And speaking of hair issues and Manchester Derbies, how goes it for United? For me, Rooney with the protective headgear is better than seeing his arse to forehead transplants, and there appears some notion that he and the guy we made prematurely grey (RVP) are finding a measure of togetherness. Still, prodigious talents like Nani and Kagawa have become fringe players and the English/Welshmen in United’s midfield (Carrick, Cleverly, ancient Giggs…) seem serviceable if deathly unexciting. On the plus side, Moyes at least seems to have a pecking order even if it would seem to favour the older English habits of strong wing play (Antonio Valencia) and crossing married to the “new” English diving of Ashley Young (and the old French variety in Patrice Evra). With £27million, Maroune Fellaini (and his fro) strongly in the mix and Rooney wearing the half-cap, the wide players certainly have things to aim at. Big match there on Sunday…

Of course it’s all far too early to tell and we’re just getting started on these extra midweek matches. Still, points are points and, after getting all the tensions out with our opening day slip on the proverbial banana skin (…slip, rhymes with blip…) we are looking better.

Mesut Özil, even if he might not have impressed in Marseilles as he did at Sunderland, seems a very good addition. Pound for pound Mathieu Flamini looks even better (winky face)… Certainly they’re not obviously displacing any healthy players and thereby causing disgruntlement or consternation… In fact, it could be argued that it’s just the opposite and that others are playing better with the new midfielders around them.

While new signings are relegating former stalwarts to the benches and shadow squads up in Manchester and across town at Chelsea, our new players are filling obvious holes and are already showing big dividends. We are thin, but we seem unified.

A question, I believe, in this era of mega-money clubs might be: How many (high quality) players can you keep happy and productive and fully focused on getting results for your club? Corollary questions might include: Is there a tipping point where a club loses collective focus by having too many quality players? What is the ideal sized squad and is it perhaps better to have blend of established stars and up and comers?

I’m curious what people think and most certainly Arsenal are charting a different course than the three clubs who finished above us last season. While (very, very) risky, I think there’s a chance our club may have an intangible advantage (to which Total alluded in the previous post) which may allow us to compete with the bigger squads and even eclipse them.

The proof (however, of course…) is in the pudding and all the clubs will be judged match over match and season over season. The focus then must be on what’s in front of us and our match on Sunday (preceding the “big one” in Manchester…) is a “must-win.” There’s no love lost between “Sparky” and Arsene, nor between the players left over from the Tony Pulis era and our own. Will Stoke revert to their defensive roots? They have a keeper in Begovic who all the bigger teams (supposedly, according to the tabloids…) lusted after during the transfer window, and a central pairing of galoots and set-piece specialists in Huth and (Ramsey-reducer) Shawcross.

In other words they won’t necessarily be easy to break down. Scouting reports suggest that their offensive play and work on the break—N’Zonzi is not the worst as a fulcrum player–is more sophisticated, these days, than just trying to win throw-ins. One would guess that, while we’ve been travelling in Europe, they’ve been drilling in ways to neutralize and/or beat us.

Do we have enough resilience—clearly, at the moment we lack the quality in depth—to get the needed result? At this point in the season conclusions are premature yet, with each match, declarations will be made…

For me this is a(nother) real opportunity…For 3 points and to establish, in front of our home support, that we are onto something genuine with our team. Coming off the back of a gutty 1-nil against our local (and most hated) rivals AND the signing (and presumed first home outing) of Mesut Özil, we should have good home support. Still, if we struggle, or if referee Mike Dean does his usual thing and calls everything against us, it could quickly turn into a repeat of opening day. As such (for me at least) the match seems extra critical… In my opinion the home support—and being able to replicate our awesome away form—10 wins in 10 matches(!!!)—is the next frontier for the Gunners (and the Gooners…) and could give us the boost we need as we move into more difficult parts of our fixture list.

What do you guys say?

Written by: 17HighburyTerrace

Determination, hunger, team spirit, new signings: Arsenal can win the league!

September 9, 2013September 9, 2013TotalArsenal

Do Arsenal have a shot at the title?

I’ve actually intentionally waited for the euphoria and excitement (in me) that came with the deadline day signing of Mesut Ozil to die down, before I wrote this post. Simply, because I want this post to be as objective and as factual as can be.

So the question in everyone’s mind is: will we be able to push for a trophy this season with the signings we’ve made?

Is this the year to win some silverware again?

That is an opportune question: one that I will address by analyzing our signings and the competition. I will start by obviously putting aside Yaya Sanogo, because he obviously wasn’t brought in for the first team, which leaves us with Viviano, Flamini and the big one, Mesut Ozil.

It goes without saying that Ozil is the signing everyone wanted, and quite frankly, we landed gold. In the past 2 seasons, I have felt that even with Cazorla in the side we haven’t been creating enough clear cut chances. Our game has been characterized by a slow build up consisting of a lot of tentative passing, which more often than not leads no where, except when Wilshere is in form. With Ozil, however, that is all going to change and I expect Giroud and Theo to be the main beneficiaries of this.

Then there’s our second master signing in the Flame. Admittedly, I wasn’t too excited when we brought him in, but within a minute of his introduction against Spurs he won me over. It is worth noting that his performance came off the back of a long time without game time, so he can only get better. In my opinion, he solves our DM issues and then some more, considering he can play as a full back too. Then there’s Viviano, Italy’s number two goal keeper. He is actually a good GK who will not just serve as Szczesny’s deputy but will fight him for the number 1 spot, which I think is what the pole needs in order to fully unlock his potential.

We are not without our weaknesses because I feel we are still in dire need of a striker, a fourth CB and a winger, with the latter being the least important to really solidify our team.

In terms of our competition, there have been quite a few developments.

First of all, I expect Liverpool to compete for 4th place but not much more. They’ve made good signings and a good start, but their signings are youngsters who will need a lot of time to adapt.

Then there’s city who’ve made some class signings but have an uncharacteristically poor defence. I watched them get repeatedly carved open by Hull last week, to my utter disbelief. Don’t get me wrong they are still title contenders, but their defence might be their downfall.

Then there is Mourinho and Chelsea: the title favourites in my view. They have a mean defence but if Eto’o doesn’t perform, and Torres doesn’t step up, they might struggle because the title isn’t won on perpetual 0-0 results. That said, you can’t underestimate Mourinho: anyone can win the league without a functioning strike force, he can.

Then we have Spurs, the biggest spenders. They have assembled a very good squad but it remains to be seen how long it will take them to gel. That is always the danger you face when buying more than 4 players at a go. What I can tell you for sure is they are definitely stronger than they were last season, and I expect them to mount more of a challenge this time round, eventually becoming title challengers.

Finally, there is Man Utd. They lost their godfather in Sir Alex and are currently a team in transition. Moyes may not have found his rhythm yet, but let’s not forget that this is the exact team that won the league by a landslide. It’s difficult to tell where they stand, at least for now.

With all that in mind, I believe that Arsenal are genuine title challengers. It may be by just a whisker considering injuries – especially up front could ruin us – but as it stands, if we can keep Giroud and Theo fit until January and take advantage of our first ten fixtures, we can find ourselves in a very favourable position come February.

Based on the determination, hunger and team spirit we currently possess, anyone who doesn’t rate us with the best is asking for trouble. If you don’t believe me, ask the Spuds.

Written by: Marcus.

Arsenal to win the treble, Manchester United to finish fifth, Benteke season top scorer, Southampton to win FA cup? Make your predictions here!

September 7, 2013September 7, 2013TotalArsenal

Make your Mystic Meg predictions here! :) — Make your Mystic Meg predictions here! 🙂

As it is the inter-dull and we have to get ourselves through another weekend without meaningful footie, I thought it would be fun to ask you to make predictions for the new season. Non-Arsenal supporters are invited to join in with their predictions.

Here are your thirteen questions for this season (all questions refer to the end of the season):

What will be the PL top six?
Which clubs will get relegated in the PL?
Which clubs will win the Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch leagues?
Who will be in the top-three of PL goal scorers?
Who will be in the top-three of PL assists this season?
Which clubs will reach the FA Cup semi-finals and who will win it?
Which clubs will reach the Champions League semi-finals and who will win it?
Which three PL teams will concede least goals away from home?
Which three PL teams will concede least goals at home?
Which three PL teams will collect least yellow cards?
Which three PL teams will collect most red cards?
Which three PL managers will be sacked first this season?
Who will finish above the other: Arsenal or Spurs – Man United or ManCity – Liverpool or Everton – Swansea or Cardiff – Aston Villa or West Brom – Sunderland or Newcastle?

Three points for every correct sub-answer and five bonus points for correctly answer the whole question. Winner will be announced after the end of the season.

Either you just write the answers down in a comment or copy and paste the questions and then write answers after each question.

Written by: TotalArsenal.