Mesut, Aaron, Jack, Santi, Tomas: ideal cure for PTB.

December 7, 2013December 7, 2013TotalArsenal

I don’t know about you but when I have to do tedious tasks, like completing spreadsheets, peel potatoes or listen to MotD analysts, my mind often wanders to Arsenal moves and goals as a coping mechanism.

Our second goal against Pool-victors Hull, for example, serves as the perfect tedium killer. Every time I think of that goal a smile forms in my face: the way the Hull players wanted the ball over the line, the perseverance of Nacho and Ozil, the sharp combinations between Ramsey and Ozil whilst moving constantly, and the beautiful, beautiful measured ball into the box by the Welshman to the German, followed by a fast, precise, deadly finish by Ozil. Stuff of day dreams.

Watch it again, from about 58 seconds onwards:

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

Arsenal currently have five fit, multi-talented midfielders who can combined so well in tide spaces that we seem to have finally cracked the Park The Bus approach of some of the teams coming to the Emirates. Of course it helped that we scored an early goal against Hull, but it was also clear to me that they just could not deal with the movement and passing of our midfielders on Wednesday.

And if the movement and passing is good now, just imagine what it will look like in the future. Ramsey and Wilshere maturing further, Ozil settling properly into the team, Santi in his best form again, Rosicky coming in to replace tired legs at the start or during the games, and Ox returning fit and hungry to the team. Add to that the super talents of Eisfeld and Zelalem, and one or two others, and you know the future is bright.

It does make me think, though, what sort of football Arsene and Steve are aiming to play mid to long term: is this it or will we see another dimension added to our game?

I mention Steve Bould on purpose as I am equally impressed with the current defensive shape and discipline of the team. What initially seemed an awkward relationship between two strong-willed and passionate characters has slowly developed into one of great strength and depth. In recent seasons, there often was an obvious split in the team of the ‘defence seven’ – GK, defenders, and two defensive minded deeper laying midfielders – and the attacking four with the a limited amount of integration between the two ‘blocks’.

It worked for us when we needed to get results, but it was often hard on the eye, and was always going to be an interim measure as long as Wenger is ultimately in charge.

Now, after a summer of stability through keeping all our key players (except Gervinho, who I reckon we should have kept at least another year), and adding the extra dimension of Ozicle and the steel and extrovert leadership of the foxy Flamini to our talents, Wenger and Bould have evolved the team to the next – yet I feel not final – stage.

There is a lot more fluidity to our play and our team no longer look like two autonomous, task-orientated units. Only when we play the bigger teams, we still struggle a bit with playing as an integrated, holistic defending and attacking team. This is something the team will get better at the longer the players are together, and our two games against the Oilers will show us how far they have come.

We can look forward to the likes of Santi, Jack, Mesut, Aaron, Alex and Tomas becoming more and more a free moving, all conquering midfield attacking machine this season, with Flamini or Arteta offering defensive support behind them and Giroud being the pivotal, holding attacker up-front. On top of that, they get constant support from one full back at a time. There is growth in Gibbs and Jenkinson, and Nacho and Sagna are solid, safe pairs of hands for us.

Mid to long term, other than adding some strength in depth in some key areas (CB, DM, RB, CF), I can see us getting a top quality 24/25 year old left midfielder/winger. He would add another dimension, especially if and when combined with Theo on the right. That for me would be the next stage of growing our team into an all conquering machine again. It would give us variety in our approach to opponents and style of play.

We have not been lucky with our purchases for the LW/LM position in recent years; in fact, it seems to have some sort of curse ever since the one and only Pires left us, with Reyes, Arshavin and Gervinho, and to some extent Podolski, all failing to properly make it there. Let’s hope Arsene’s can find the final piece of the jigsaw in 2014 – either in January or the summer – and this team will become even better.

But what do you think fine fellow Gooners:

Have Arsenal found the cure for PTB teams now?
What style of football would you like Arsenal to play and are we there yet?
Is the LW/LM an area in need of real improvement (rather than adding cover as in the DM, CB, RB and CF positions)?
Who would be your nr.1 choice for the LW/MW?
Who would be your nr.1 priority purchase in January?

Let’s have a heated debate! 😛

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Aaron Ramsey: One Blogger Makes Amends…

December 2, 2013December 2, 2013TotalArsenal

Note: I actually wrote most of this BEFORE the CardiffCity match, but it is more apropos than ever…

His performance in that match was simply awesome, even “magisterial,” as Ray Hudson would say… The placement of both goals was exquisite. The first was a great run and an extension of a sublime pass from Mesut Ozil. The second took more effort…something that AR-16 is NEVER short on… He ran the break; tried to play Theo Walcott in, but kept running (of course); took the return pass (a touch to take the ball away from the defender, which, to be frank, appeared a tad heavy…); and struck with deadly precision into the top corner against a stranded (but onrushing) keeper. Wow! It could even be argued (okay this is a stretch…) that Ramsey had a hand in the 2^nd goal—the one that clinched the match—because his running is such an example to the team, and Flamini made like Aaron and kept running so that Ozil could put the ball on a platter and seal the points. To top it all off, he celebrated none of the goals against his former club and responded with a local sign to their accolades as he left the pitch. Class in every regard…

So, without further ado…I present…My Ram-Sey A-Pol-O-Gy…

Aaron Ramsey, I’m sorry, very sorry, if I ever said a bad word about you. You are Da Man and as much a ray of sunshine to this Arsenal squad and Gooners everywhere as that image at the top of the (unbelievable) tattoo you’ve had etched onto your leg… Good job on recovering from the (brutal) leg break. Your leg, like your spirit, is (maybe) “ink-destructible”… (Oooh, that too was a stretch…)

In truth, I think my worst offense was an occasional moan that we didn’t have the players to keep you out of the starting line-up. At the same time, I consistently noted that maybe you belonged there as you always had the engine to go the full 90. The fact that you kept going (and going and going…) and trying things (including audacious shots from distance…) brought out the haters, and I don’t think I ever crossed into that category. (Critical yes, hater, no…) It also helped bring out a never-say-die attitude in the squad which may have been THE key factor in our painful-yet-successful get-up for 4^th last season and one that has clearly carried over to this year’s efforts.

With 8 goals in the league and 13 overall (plus, how many assists?…) you’ve stepped into the (scoring) void and become one of our biggest stories, if not THE biggest. The critique used to be “squad player at best,” and your versatility and engine may have changed that to “Best Squad Player,” if not “Best Player in the Squad.” With Wilshere struggling (for fitness and form), Ozil getting used to his new landscape (full of Shawcrosses ready to scythe him down…), and big layoffs for Poldolski and Walcott and Cazorla, we’ve needed an attacking midfielder (if not a second striker) to play off our other workhorse, the one whose name rhymes with “Hey Jude.” You’ve answered that call and then some. Many will insist that your best spot is as a defensive midfielder, or at least a 2^nd in the double pivot, but no matter where you start, that ability to run and run and run means that you’re never too far off the ball. A little bit of confidence and suddenly it’s the net (not row Z nor the corner flag) that you’re finding…

This weekend you returned to Cardiff, where you played (starting at the age of 8…debuting in the first team at 16…) and where you did a few months on loan during your long re-hab. It must’ve been (at least somewhat) bittersweet. I couldn’t truly gauge the response (watching on the telly as I was), but I did hear a smattering of boos on your early touches. That you were such a key figure in a dominant team performance was ultimately acknowledged, and I would guess that the hops in an ale would remove any bitterness even the most dyed-in-the-wool Cardiff supporter might’ve tasted earlier.

In praising you, we cannot help but discuss the injury. In fact, I’d rather not dwell on it nor repeat what we all know. Instead, I’d prefer to touch upon another scar which you must bear, the loss of (Wales manager) Gary Speed, who (perhaps prematurely) made you Captain of Wales. To take two such blows, one to flesh and one to spirit, is something that surely has shown you the full spectrum of life. Image is one thing; self-belief (self-worth?) is another, and transiency is always with us. No matter how the world judges you, you must find your own contentment and live with yourself… I believe you have taken these lessons and done the absolute most you could with them. Well. Done. Lad.

My hope is that all of Wales can salute you and that you become Captain again, in time. Even if you haven’t gone off to Spain for the world record transfer fee, you may be the best Welsh player in the world (at the moment at least)…

Speaking of players off to Spain…(and I don’t really mind the other Welsh fellow heading that way…) That was a tough moment when OUR guy, Cesc Fabregas did the same two summers ago. It was a very dark moment for Gooners and very tough on you to slot in for Cesc. As such, you bore the brunt of more than a few disgruntled fans. I guess the manager believed you could take it and hoped you were (maybe) recovered from the leg break more than you were (or than was humanly possible).

At that time, you were still recovering and still very raw. As a guy who was always the best player (in his age group at least), you were more comfortable running with the ball. Cesc is a fantastic player, but his strength lies in single touches and knowing the field before receiving the ball. You, in fact, are a far stronger athlete, and, as time goes by, you are picking up some of Cesc’s attributes. I believe you can thrive in our fluid set up and work well from any starting position, though, for me, AW was correct and a #10 you are. More importantly, over time, I’ve seen less reliance on running with the ball (and better running in general—less over-striding, less of that running-in-quicksand futility chasing lost causes…), and you’re picking up the many moves of the other technical types we’ve brought in. I see more left-footed touches a la Santi, though certainly multiple right-footed touches and quick circles (in the style of Tomas Rosicky) could earn you the nick-name of another classical maestro…(Milo—who are the leading lights in Welsh classical music?…) Fewer touches and quicker thinking (and continued goal scoring) will make us cease to long for Cesc, while audacious creativity and a taste for flare brings to mind another who played in Spain (Zidane). As long as you try those things closer to the opponent’s goal than to our own, I’m fine with it…

In the end—the end, hah, you’re only 22!—it’s a great story of perseverance and redemption and one of faith—both personal and on the part of management. I remember 2008, when AW took you to Austria for the Euros and you decided to sign for us instead of ManU. He was scouting Nasri and Arshavin at the time, but you’ve turned out to be much more valuable than either. Along the way, many doubted that it was the right choice. Hell, some might have even said we should have done like Sir Alex and bought Michael Carrick (or Anderson…) instead. Sometimes, investing in the future, even a future which might appear to have been snapped in two (in two places…), turns out to be worthwhile…

Well done, Aaron. Well done Arsenal. Apologies, all around… 😉

Written by: 17highburyterrace

Is there a better midfield in the PL than Arsenal’s?

November 28, 2013TotalArsenal

If you think that our goals last season were almost entirely scored by four players – beautifully spread out between them – and three of them have hardly played any football this season, there is every reason to believe we can at least continue – if not improve further – our two goals a game average. Last season we did not score many goals from the mid-mids: Rosicky, Wilshere, Ramsey and Arteta (except for his well taken penalties) seldom or never got the ball over the all important line.

But this season, we finally are getting goals from our central midfielders and this is a great sign of good things to come. Ramsey has been in red and white hot form, and Jack and Ozil have also scored a few goals already. And yet, the midfield is not fully clicking as we would like them to do; and so there is plenty of scope for further improvement.

With the likes of Rosicky, who unfortunately is less successful in finding the net, Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere, we have four footballers who can play in various positions and be both finisher and creator whenever they feel like it. The more they will play together the better they will become as an attacking unit, and once they hit top form they will become unplayable.

Add Ox, Pod and Theo to the mix and it becomes even more interesting. The idea that we have three to four footballers who can score goals regularly and pick a defence splitting pass at any moment in the game, is simply fantastic. On Tuesday we saw some fantastic through-balls from Wilshere, Rosicky and Ozil, and it was good to see Jack in fine form again.

Jack in 'the hole' was a big surprise but he looked rusty once again, unfortunately! — Nice fag Jack?! 🙂

Some are wondering what has changed in Jack and the answer is nothing, other than simply hitting form; or maybe his body is finally starting to feel good again. One thing is certain for me: it has nothing, niente, nada, rien, niks, nichts, to do with a change in attitude by ‘Jack the lad’. Being a huge fan of SJW, I have studied his behaviour and persona a bit, and I am convinced he is the total professional who gives his all in every game!

With Jack hitting form now and Theo returning to the first team, there is further opportunity for Ozil to get settled into the team and learn to master the art of being the advanced central midfielder in our 4-2-1-3 formation. This still seems to be a bit of a new challenge for him, especially when we play the stronger teams and we tend to sit back more. But I am sure Wenger will work with him on this, and his fellow midfielders will help out as well.

As you know, I am a big fan of treating every game as a cup match – OGAAT OGAAT! – and we should not look further than the next game against Cardiff. But I am also looking forward tremendously to us playing the Southern and Northern Oilers next month and to see how our midfield holds up against theirs.

If, with a bit of luck, we can keep our team fit for a while, and can play with our strongest midfield and defence and OG is available in those games, I reckon we can beat them both.

If we win those midfield battles, or are at least equal to the Oilers’ midfields, I reckon we will win the league: December will tell us a lot, imo.

Will that finally shut up ‘those in the know’ – the Hansens, the Shearers and other perfect cures for insomnia – about Arsenal’s chances to win the title? Aah who cares, you should only rate an opinion of someone you rate as a person, and the rest is water of a duck’s arse stuff.

Let’s OGAATly play Cardiff on Saturday and work our socks off for another three points; that will bring us to 31 points and will put pressure on our desperate chasers to stay in touch with us (all playing on Sunday).

Let’s do it for Pat and show him our love and let’s help him beat that bastard called Cancer – Victoria Concordia Crescet! Pat we are thinking of you!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere: who will be the next Fabregas?

November 16, 2013November 16, 2013TotalArsenal

On a night when eleven South-Americans made Chile Con Carne of a disjointed and uninspired England team, Jack stood out as the only one with ‘football intelligence’. It keeps amazing me how not a single national manager has been able to get a particular style into the England team since many a year, and Hodgson is also failing in this respect.

Chile are a decent team but not more than that; yet, they made England look poor on the night. They put pressure on England all over the pitch and never allowed them to have a sustained period of pressure on their goal. And when the Chileans had the ball, they passed it round so much better and with so much more purpose and penetration. It was a lesson in modern football for the English boys and a clear indication they have a long way to go.

Despite some committed performances by Rooney and Lallana, only Jack was able to break the stranglehold of the Chileans and then move the ball forward intelligently – leading to the (few) best attacks on the night. Yet, it is clear that Wilshere is nowhere near 100% fit and in form, and we really need to hope hard that this will change rather sooner than later, both for Arsenal and England.

This brings me to the discussion of who should play in the hole for Arsenal, both short and long term. There are various candidates but nobody has totally convinced me they have all that it takes to perform all the required tasks for this position to a high level.

I reckon in a 4-2-1-3 formation the one in the ‘1’ – the one in the hole – is the most important player of them all. He should:

Instigate our attacks
Help out defensively in midfield
Give shape and structure to the team
Produce a large number of assists and ‘penultimate assists’
Score goals regularly

For me, the player who embodies these five qualities in a 4-2-1-3 formation better than anybody else is Cesc Fabregas. Our former maestro has it all but is currently wasting it away at his other boyhood club.

I reckon Cazorla is good at 1, 4 and 5, but his defensive abilities are not great and neither is he able to give shape to our team very well as he lacks the presence and physical strength to boss the middle of the pitch. He likes to wander off and move where there is space, rather than hold the fort in the middle.

Ramsey is growing into a great player now and offers a lot towards the above five points. He has started to score goals and produce assists, and his defensive abilities are impressive as well. He also has potential to give shape and structure to the team and instigate our attacks, but this is not showing a lot yet. I reckon he is best positioned in the box-to-box role right now, but could be considered for the AM role in the future.

Rosicky adds drive and purpose and is great at instigating attacks. He does not score anywhere near often enough and neither does he produce a great number of assists, but his defensive abilities are great and, most importantly, he also gives a lot of shape and structure to our team when played through the middle. When Rosicky plays we often play our best ‘Wengerball’ football.

But for me, there are two candidates for the ‘man in the hole’ role: Ozil and Wilshere.

Jack is a natural midfield general and remains the best candidate in the mid to long term imo. He loves to stay in the middle and boss the area, he can defend and pick those defence-splitting passes, and he is starting to score goals now.

However, something is not right with him at the moment and it is more than a lack of form – and nothing to do with confidence as some believe, as I reckon Jack is a very confident person. No, something is not right with his body and fitness levels: it is to do with his running and feeling in his foot, and it all seems to stem from the operations he has had on his foot in the last 12 months or so.

I really hope he will come good and that we, the supporters, honour our role and support the guy through thick and thin (taking into account that he is still very young and what we were like around his age….).

That leaves me with Ozil, who does very well with regards to most of the above mentioned required qualities. He instigates attacks really well, produces a lot of assists and scores goals regularly, and his defensive qualities are okay but not great.

The one area where I still have doubts is in his ability to give shape and structure to our attack: to really boss the midfield.

Fabregas was brilliant at this, and I would like to see more dominance and presence of our record signing going forward. Some believe that Ozil goes missing at times, but this is only true in a ‘shape-giving’ sense, as he will always give his all during the match. Mesut is just a clever player who constantly is anticipating what will happen next and how to maximise on this (similar to Fabregas), and he will keep doing this as long as he is on the pitch.

It might well turn out that Ozil is best positioned ‘on the wing’ – in a free role; a bit like Santi in a way. But I would like Ozil to link up better with his fellow midfielders and to start owning the centre of the midfield more; to drive the team forward and to give more shape to our football and attacking play.

And I hope Wenger will get him there gradually, just like he did with our former El Capitan.

Or maybe, Wenger still has a space for our prodigal son? 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YzUVDUWB_A

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Mozart shows his metal – BFG-Koz solid – Rambo’s knock-out – great team performance

November 7, 2013TotalArsenal

Another Rambo Knock-Out by our Welsh Wolf :) — Another Rambo Knock-Out by our Welsh Wolf 🙂

Dortmund – Arsenal analysis and afterthoughts

After lacking a bit of luck a fortnight ago at the Home of Football, last night we definitely had it back on our side. As expected, both teams played chessball in the first half in which all players moved along like chess pieces to deny the other pieces space, and at the same time desperately trying to gain some themselves.

We defended really well as a team, give or take a moment or two. If you watched the simple demolition by Dortmund of Stuttgart on Friday, you will agree with me that our team did really well to deny die Gelb-Schwarzen space and time on the ball in the area where it could hurt us. To see our team play with such discipline and maturity, AND with such sacrifice to ‘our style’, was very satisfying. They still managed to create a few very good chances, but mainly from set-pieces, and it is fair to say we rode our luck at times.

I felt our weakest area was our left side of defence. BD are very dangerous from their right side of attack and they put a lot of pressure on Gibbs, Koz and our ‘DM’s from that area. Cazorla did his best to help out, but defending is not his strongest point and a fit Jack Wilshere would have been the better option last night.

The first part of the second half was more of the same. As in the first half, our attackers did not seem able to hold on to the ball for long in the areas where they could hurt Dortmund. We were not able to play close enough together to play our triangles and move forward with possession and sharp passing, and this tells us all about how good Dortmund are: they forced this on to us with their chasing and excellent positioning, which not many teams are able to do.

However, gradually the game opened up and the chess-positioning lessened, and we started to play some better midfield/attacking football. Arsenal’s first, and directly deadly, chance of the game came out of nothing. Ozil floated in a ball towards Giroud; the Frenchman won the aerial battle and laid the ball off to Rambo – who scores when he wants – and he wanted it badly: 1-0 to the good guys and game on!

And boy did it take the bounce out of Germans – Scheiße! hahaha 🙂

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/775095792.gif

But Dortmund were not allowed back into the game by the collective ‘concordia’ of Arsenal. They did manage to produce a few half-decent chances but so did we, and it could as easily have been 2-0 as 1-1 at that stage of the game. Ramsey had a good opportunity to score a brace, after a perfect cross from our multi-functional CF; and the BFG launched himself in the air towards the ball like a B52 Bomber from an Ozil cross from the sidelines, but just could not reach far enough for what would have been a certain goal.

The team battled on and everyone gave what they had left in them to secure the win. Every single player deserves praise, but I would like to bring to light our CB-pairing and Rosicky’s performances.

No team will ever win something meaningful without a solid CB partnership, and the Koz-BFG partnership is developing into something special with now three clean sheets in a row. They are not fully there yet, and there will be a new test for them at Old Toilet, but boy are we lucky to have them playing together right now.

And then there was Rosicky, of whom I said he seldom performs well two games in a row. Yesterday, he proved me wrong with a MoTM performance against his former club after having played against the Chavs and Pool in an eight day period. TR7 was absolutely brilliant in all areas of the pitch and his defensive play and ‘professional meanness’ were outstanding. He put his body on the line for Arsenal and gave his all, and it is this hunger, passion for the club, talent and experience that make him such a valuable player for Arsenal. I hope he’ll stay fit and at Arsenal for a long time, and develop into our very own Ryan Giggs.

All in all a fantastic, and much needed, win in Europe and TOTT. These boys are making us SO PROUD. Same eleven against the Mancs…

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Arteta and Santi are Back, Ramsey roars on: Match Review

November 3, 2013TotalArsenal

Match Review: Questions have been answered

Liverpool came to the Emirates on Saturday looking to capitalize on Arsenal’s midweek slip up against Chelsea. Arsenal would have to respond to that midweek loss well because the winner of this game would go top of the league.

Wenger played a strong lineup, but had to field a relatively weak bench due to injuries to Jack and Serge, among others out for the longer term.

Arsenal started the game strong and looked in the mood to really make this a horrible day for Liverpool. The ref was pretty fair from the beginning and did not fall for the SAS diving, so credit to him.

Every week Liverpool’s formation makes less sense and weakens them down the flanks even further. This week Liverpool played a very central heavy formation perhaps hoping to break up our midfield passing, but all they succeeded in doing was giving us too much space on the wings.

This would first become evident in the 19^th minute. Arteta played Sagna through down the right hand side. He outran the out of position Cissokho and swung a cross into the middle. It was behind Giroud, but Santi had made a run behind him and headed the ball after a bounce. The ball hit the post, but Santi followed up and sliced it calmly into the net. Our little number 19 scored his first goal of the season against Liverpool just as he did last season.

Arsenal remained dominant for the rest of the first half. Arteta was fantastic at breaking up play in the absence of Flamini. Giroud got a few chances throughout the game, but he just could not put the game to bed.

After half time Liverpool were forced to change formation to have any hope of winning.

Their chance to do so would just about die in the 60^th minute. Ozil gave Ramsey a nice little chip to the top of the box. Aaron calmly trapped the ball and let it bounce a few times. And as any player full of confidence would do, just let rip on the half volley. The ball dipped and swerved and made its way in just under the crossbar. The goal itself was incredible, but sadly will probably be overshadowed by Begovic’s goal.

The confidence this team has, is embodied in Ramsey. We are prepared to take chances offensively now because we now have no fear of our defense not being good enough when we lose possession. This has led to some incredible passing and play this season and it’ll only get better as the season goes on.

After this goal no one really looked like scoring. We put on Monreal to shore up our defense on the left, but soon after Gibbs went off with a slight knock and Vermaelen came on at left back. Jenkinson came on at the end to maintain our clean sheet and it worked. Liverpool came close a few times at the end, but we were ready and organized at the back and kept our 2-0 lead.

At the final whistle Arsenal went five points clear at the top of the league and showed the rest of the league that we mean business. Many had questioned if we could play our game and win against big teams and questioned if we can do it every week, and this win showed that we can. This month will be big and if we get wins against Liverpool, Dortmund, United, etc, we will really show everyone that we are starting a new era where Arsenal will return to dominance. I maintain that City is our biggest competition in the league, after seeing them run rampant in a 7-0 win against Norwich earlier in the day. Our games against them will probably be the biggest of the season.

Overall, the team was fantastic today with standout performances from Szczesny, Arteta, Cazorla, and Koscielny. Giroud probably could’ve had a few goals, but overall the score line is a pretty good representation of the game.

For now I’ll leave you with some questions:

What did you think of the game?
What kind of message did this game send to the rest of the league?
Who do you think our toughest competition is for the league title?
Who was your man of the match?

Thanks for reading! 😀

Written by: Dylan.

Arteta leads, Szczesny stands up, and Ozil, Rambo and OG pure class

October 26, 2013October 26, 2013TotalArsenal

But above all, another great TEAM performance!

The captain answered his critics once more... — The captain answered his critics once more…

Well, Well, ToTL with 22 points and a fine goal difference of 11 after just nine games! The boys did us proud today. Chris Foy tried his best to ruin it for us, but even he could not stop us.

I thought before the game this would either be very easy or we would have to dig deep; and as we all know, it became the latter. Just as against Norwich, Flamini had to leave the game very early, but this time it seemed a groin injury rather than a reoccurrence of his concussion. And just as last week, we lacked a bit of shape and rhythm once he had gone, although Arteta impressed with not just his positioning but also his willingness to put his body on the line.

The pitch was very slow and the Eagles defended resolutely, but we also played at too low a tempo and often not close enough to each other. And when we did play a bit closer together, our triangles did often not work out, due to inaccurate passing and under-par first touches. However, the boys managed to get into the box a few times and got close to scoring with chances for the (still very rusty) Cazorla, Rambo and Giroud.

To be fair on Palace, they played well in the first half and created a few good chances themselves, as once again we allowed them to play football in the space in front of our ‘D’ and were opened up a bit too easily. Part of their strategy was to get easy free-kicks in put-the-ball-into-the-box areas, and Foy easily obliged to support this ploy. But we also were a bit naïve in giving away such free kicks too willingly, making it easy for the 13^th man to have his influence on this game. Luckily, we defended most of these free-kicks (and corners) resolutely, which was a welcome sight.

0-0 was a fair score to go into the break with, and it was clear we had to up the tempo of our passing and make better runs into the danger area, if we were to get the three points from this game.

We did not have to wait long for a break. Gnabry, who plays with such an incredible maturity and composure for his age (born in 1995, the same year Dennis arrived at Highbury!), found himself in the box with the ball – after good, patient and incisive triangle-combination football by Arsenal – and he cut the ball back superbly, denying the onrushing Guedioura any opportunity to control his adrenaline surge before it was too late. As a result, the Algerian fouled the young German in the box and this time Foy could not get away with denying us a penalty (we could have had one in the first half).

Up steps our captain, and you kind of feel if he misses this one we will not win today. But his penalties are as sharp and immaculate as his haircut and bionic stare, and he makes it 1-0 to the good guys with an unstoppable effort.

The game can now truly begin, as Palace will need to come out of their defensive setting to get anything out of it. We press and play with a lot more swagger and it seems only a matter of time before we will score the all important second goal. But Foy was still part of the ploy and he grabbed his opportunity with both hands when Arteta and our former Moroccan Gunner collided about a Boeing 747 away from our goal. The gel-man tried to compensate a characteristically bad first touch (his feet have never been his strength) from what was a very promising through-ball with barging into Arteta: they both went to the floor and Foy sends our captain to the showers. It is easy to be resolute if you know what you are doing…. 😕

Arsenal now had to defend and Arsene made excellent substitutions with bringing on our best all-round midfielder Wilshere and safe pair of hands Nacho for the tired Cazorla and, the tactically sacrificed, Gnabry.

We have discussed the need to keep a clean sheet more regularly if we want to beat the Chavs (and others) to the title this season, and today we really needed it to clinch all three points. Up steps our Pole in goal; first denying a beautifully executed shot by Joel Ward with a full stretch, ever so slight fingertips-touch onto the crossbar; followed by a strong, one handed match winning save from Jedinak venomous volley from just outside the box. Szczesny remains a work in progress but today’s performance, for which he was given the MoTM award, will help him tremendously – and he needed it.

The team looked tired but ALL worked hard to fight for the three points. I loved the way Ozil picked up balls in and around our own box and kept it to win time and space, and what a fine, strong balance he has. Jack was able to keep the ball under pressure and move forward with it, not allowing the Eagles to sustain their attacks. Nacho did great work on the left wing, both defensively and in attack, and almost scored a Theo-esque goal late on.

I looked at Giroud and Rambo and they seemed exhausted; the game against Dortmund and the 10-men second half efforts against Palace clearly taking their toll. But they never gave up and dug very deep into their reserves, and this is what we should remember when either of them has a less effective game: these boys really care about Arsenal – the absolute opposite of mercenaries!

And it came as no surprise that the final word of this exhilarating game was for our finest work horses. Giroud collects the ball in midfield with his back to the opponent’s goal – who is currently better in the PL at doing this?…. – and passes to Rambo, who is still able to accelerate past a few Palace players into the box, and somehow finds the composure to produce a measured ball onto the head of the onrushing Frenchman, who places the ball just above Speroni’s left shoulder, leaving him no chance to save it: 2-0 to the mighty Gunners and game over.

A hard fought win, three points, ToTL, and more evidence that this team has real backbone: Ooh to! Ooh to be! Ooh to be A Gooner! – Ooh to! Ooh to be! Ooh to be A Goooner!

http://www.fcsongs.com/Arsenal_FC_-_Ooh_To_Be_A_Gooner.html

Bring on the Oilers! 🙂

Written by: TotalArsenal.

The Flame is back – Rambo or Arteta – Gnabry to start?

October 25, 2013October 25, 2013TotalArsenal

Very short Crystal Palace v Arsenal pre-match today, as I am knackered.

The Eagles could either put up a proper fight tomorrow and like savages throw everything at us, or they might crumble from the first minute of the game. Hard to tell, but whatever they do Arsenal’s quality should shine through and three points should be taken home tomorrow.

We need to rock on and play with discipline and focus and once the game is won, I hope the boys have mercy with their wounded opponents.

I reckon Arsene will start with a strong as possible side, as he will really want to win this and not leave anything to chance tomorrow. Many of the first teamers can have a rest during mid-week, so every reason to start with our strongest eleven at Selhurst Park. For me, that would include Jack Wilshere, but it looks he might be rested tomorrow to allow his ankle to recover further. If there is no Jack, then I reckon Gnabry will get another game on the right.

And who will play in the double-DM pivot? Flamini is back and should play, and I reckon Arsene will play Ramsey next to the Frenchman in order to give him a boost to his confidence after a rare mistake by the Welshman in last week’s CL encounter with Dortmund. For me, Aaron is a natural B2B and Flamini will allow him to express himself again. It could also be that Arsene will play FlamTeta in the pivot, as that would give him the more solid defensive structure he seems to prefer in away games. We will have to wait and see.

Defence should remain the same, but maybe Fabianski gets a rare start tomorrow….?

Predicted Line-Up:

I just hope we will play with a high tempo from the start and try to win this game as quickly as possible, and not give the opposition a change to get into it. A nice and quiet Selhurst Park is what we want. I am also hoping for a rare clean sheet as we need our defence to start building some momentum now with some big games coming up soon.

OGAAT – UTA – CoYG!

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Giroud to crack Hummels & Subotic, Ramsey to replace MF20, can we tame the Lewan?

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013TotalArsenal

Arsenal vs Dortmund Preview: Time to Show Europe Who We Are

Intro:

We find ourselves now one half a week away from our breathtaking display against Norwich. The team is full of confidence and our goal should obviously be a win. A win against Dortmund will show we are ready to be big winners not just in England, but on a European stage as well. As a bonus, beating Dortmund twice will severely limit their chances of moving on to the next round of the Champions League. Stopping Dortmund from progressing could impress the Dortmund players greatly and perhaps make people like Reus and Lewandowski want moves to Arsenal, possibly even moving it up to January if they are already out of the Champions League.

This fixture last time:

The last time Arsenal faced Dortmund at the Emirates was a game we won to move us on to the knockout stages of the Champions League. All three scorers on the day no longer play for their respective clubs. Van Judas scored a brace for us and Kagawa scored for Dortmund. Hopefully we can repeat that winning performance.

Here is my expected line up for tomorrow:

I expect Ramsey to fill Flamini’s spot as he did during the Norwich game at the weekend. Other than that, we should be keeping a similar line up to keep the strongest team possible.

Key Battles:

Giroud vs Centre Backs: The centre back pairing of Hummels and Subotic is quite the solid wall at the heart of Dortmund’s defense. However, from what I hear this pairing has been having issues lately. Giroud will have to be prepared to take advantage of that and use his strength to hold off the two and do some link up plays on the edge of the box, or he must be willing to get above the two in the air for headers. Giroud is quite slow, but Dortmund’s centre backs aren’t fast either, especially Hummels. Hopefully this will leave Giroud with some space to receive the ball in open space and find another player before he is closed down. I think this is a battle that Giroud can win, if he’s prepared to keep up his usual work ethic.

Centre Backs vs Lewandowski: As important as the battle of striker vs their defenders is, the reverse is just as important. Lewandowski is a very quick and tricky striker to deal with. He will be trying to take advantage of Mertesacker’s lack of pace and his partner Koscielny will have to help out a lot, if Lewandowski is prepared to do a lot of running at our defense. However, the height of our defenders should mostly eliminate the aerial threat of Dortmund. I think this is a battle that will depend on the service Lewandowski gets rather than the quality of the people directly involved.

Arteta vs Mkhitaryan: Directly following the statement about who Lewandowski will get service from, I’ll now mention the depending factor in who will be the winner of the previously mentioned battle. Arteta will have to keep Dortmund’s new playmaker shut down. With Flamini out, Arteta will be our only defensive midfielder and he will have to step up and break up the play like Flamini does. He will have to be willing to put in a lot of tough tackles and not let Mkhitaryan get the ball off his feet. I think Arteta will struggle in this battle, but with some help from Ramsey he will be able to do it.

Casualties of War:

Arsenal: Podolski, Diaby, and Ox will all miss out on this game due to their long term injuries. Walcott is also out after a slight setback following surgery. The only other injury is Flamini, who has a slight concussion and will sit out the game because of a five day rule more than any real concerns.

Dortmund: Kehl, Gundogan, and Pizczeck will all miss the game with long term injuries, with a large group of Dortmund players just recently returning from injury.

Predictions:

I’m predicting another close 2-1 win for the Arsenal. I predict Reus scoring against us first and then an Arsenal comeback that will be talked about in years to come, with Giroud and Özil scoring incredible goals in the second half to turn the game around. I also expect Jack to have a man of the match performance. Hopefully there will be no further injuries to our side and we will win and show all of Europe that we mean business.

Questions:

1. What are your predictions for the game?

2. What is your preferred line up?

3. Will a win here announce our arrival on the European stage?

COYG! Let’s show the rest of Europe why they should fear us!

Thanks for reading! 😀

Written by: Dylan.

Who will replace Flamini and who will start on the ‘wings’?

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013TotalArsenal

Thoughts on the game tonight

A 'rare' start for Nacho? — A ‘rare’ start for Nacho?

So tonight we really get to see whether this imperious form we’ve been in was down to a lucky fixture list or do we really have the stuff of champions. Arsenal play their toughest game so far this season against last years champions league runners up. There’s a lot to be said about this fixture so I’ll get down to it.

Arsenal go into the game on the back of an incredible unbeaten run, confidence sky high and with the squad looking healthy and raring to go. Flamini has been ruled out of the tie and I think he’s going to be a big miss. However, I think Ramsey should be a no brainer to start alongside Arteta in the centre of the park with Ozil in front of them. On the left flank, I expect Cazorla to get the nod and on the right i’d stick with Jack. I expect Rosicky to get some game time and probably Gnabry and Bendtner too. The latter’s involvement dependent on how the game goes. The only change I’d make would be to give Gibbs a rest and play Monreal tonight.

Dortmund on the other hand have had a shaky start to their Bundesliga campaign but I can assure you that it will count for nothing if we do not play our A game. In fact Jurgen Klopp has gone as far as branding BVB the underdogs of the tie which I don’t believe is true, but then again what do I know? They have their fair share of injuries but still have an incredible team. They miss Ilkay Gundogan but have Marco Reus back. Dortmund have 4 players whom I think must be marshalled. Lewandowski is obviously a no brainer but the more dangerous ones (for me) will be Reus, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, especially for counter attacks. Ramsey must continue his form and will be called upon to help out Arteta, especially once we lose the ball. Wilshere too must be ready to defend when needed.

I expect this to be an open game so the tactic should be to try to strike early and decisively. By this I mean, if we can take a 2 goal lead into the half we will force BVB to come out and go for it which will swing things in our favour. BVB, despite having two very good defenders in Hummels and Subotic, aren’t known for their collective defensive capability so I’m hoping we can take full advantage of that.

Sagna and Gibbs/Monreal will have to be at their best because choking out Aubameyang and especially Reus will be a necessity if we are to keep BVB at bay. Reus is an incredibly talented, incredibly mobile player so there will have to be clear communication and coordination between our defenders if we are to stop him. The two are Lewandowski’s main supply lines, and so this is a priority.

Finally, if we can impose our game on them and dictate proceedings (and not just for a period of the game but for the full 90 mins) I feel we can get the points. Wenger must know that if the team takes the foot off the pedal for even a few minutes, BVB can and probably will punish us. I will not predict the scores or outcome of the game but all I will say is that I feel good about it. This is a game the neutrals will enjoy as it features two of the best attacking sides in Europe.

Come on You Gooners!!!!

Written by Marcus