Well, right now to be a Gooner is to be blessed. Against Sunderland we witnessed a breathtaking first half performance and a clinical and efficient second half, resulting in a top of the table spot that is the icing on the sweet sumptuous cake that is Arsenal FC.
All this considering, we were lacking Santi and Poldi, and our German new signing had suffered a stomach bug and so really wasn’t at 100% AND had only trained once before with the lads. Which reminds me of some two snippets of good news; Olivier Giroud, last night after the game, tweeted that he is fine so that’s a relief, and reports are emerging that Arteta and Poldi have been responding exceptionally to treatment and are likely to return by beginning of October, which is in about two weeks. On the down side though, we lost Santi for three weeks it seems.
I am not going to repeat what has been said, rather I am going to explore an issue that has been overlooked, which is rather puzzling. The partnership between Wilshere and Ozil in the middle of the park.
Yesterday was Jack Wilshere’s best performance in an Arsenal shirt this season by a mile. And this was on the back of a poor performance for England. He played with the swagger, tenacity and confidence that once left the mighty Barcelona in defeat at the Emirates a few seasons ago. This was largely thanks to Mesut Ozil. Before the game, Wenger said that he believes Ozil will bring out the best of Wilshere. Anyone who still has doubts of that needs to re-watch that game.
I will take you back to a discussion we had sometime back regarding Wilshere’s best position in the team. I remember many argued that he is most natural in the number 10 role behind the striker but I insisted that Jack is a free spirit who best plays as a box to box, taking the ball in deep positions and surging up the field at will. I think I am vindicated on that front.
That aside though, yesterday we saw some of the best football from Arsenal, in a while. And before I go much further, let me state for the record that my man of the match is Aaron Ramsey, not just because of his goals but the boy was fantastic in attack and defence for the full 90 mins. Not even Arteta can displace him now.
Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Our midfield was dominant, and this will only get better as Ozil gets to play more with his team mates and Wilshere recaptures top form. Not to forget that once Santi, Rosicky and Poldi are reintroduced into the side, things will get very bad very fast for our opponents. In fact if I was Arsene I would take Giroud, Theo, Santi, Ox and Poldi and put them in a special training regime that focuses on movement off the ball and finishing, so as to capitalize on the unbelievable quality behind them. Yesterday, Theo should have given Ozil his first three assists in the league.
I was pleased we won 3-1 away but I still came out dissatisfied. I mean let’s be honest, based on the game alone we should have scored at least 6 goals (counting Theo’s three misses). Now consider if we were full strength and in this kind of form. We could realistically have gone in to double digits. That’s how much confidence and expectation I have in this team.
We play Marseille on Wednesday and for me every minute between now and then will be excruciating. I am now a junkie whose fix is watching the Arsenal ruthlessly annihilate their opponents. So for now, mine is to try and deal with the withdrawal symptoms until Wednesday.
After two weeks of international football, the Premier League returned today. Fans of many Premier League teams were desperately awaiting the debuts of many of their new signings; especially Arsenal fans, awaiting the debut of deadline day signing Mesut Özil.
And those Arsenal fans would not be disappointed.
Today’s match against Sunderland had ups and downs. In the first half, Arsenal were on fire, but after the break Arsenal’s tempo slowed for a while before we regained our form again at the end.
Arsenal started the day full of confidence and with the away-crowd behind them. Everyone involved was very excited to see the debut of Özil. He would come good in the 11th minute: our nr.11 controlled a long ball in the air wonderfully, touched it out in front of him, and played a fantastic ball to Giroud in front of goal. He happily fired the ball into the near post and gave Arsenal the lead: it is now four goals in four Premier League games for Giroud, and an assist for Özil on his debut.
After this goal, the whole game changed. The home crowd was essentially silenced and Arsenal began playing some of the most beautiful football they’ve played in a while. Wilshere did a wonderful job of taking on Santi’s position and drifting inside to help out the midfield. His understanding with Ramsey seemed improved, and both Aaron’s and Jack’s excellent understanding with Özil (and vice versa) was mystifying, especially because they have only trained together a very short time and they don’t even speak the same language.
Özil provided multiple chances to Theo with perfectly weighted through balls, but unfortunately Theo still is not in scoring form, however I give credit to Westwood for some fantastic saves.
We went into half time only 1-0 up, but with about 70% possession. Arsenal had dominated the first half, but perhaps this was their undoing at the start of the second half. Three minutes into the second half an overzealous Koscielny made a stupid challenge on Adam Johnson in the box. There was really no need for the tackle as he had no clear shot on goal and was on his weaker foot; however, he slid into him and the ref awarded Sunderland a penalty. Gardner rocketed the penalty into the lower left corner and Szczesney couldn’t do anything about it.
After this penalty the game changed once more. The home crowd roared and Sunderland suddenly stepped up and began dominating the game. Sunderland had numerous chances and really stepped up to the plate. However, this is where Arsenal showed that they are ready to win titles and just how important the signing of Flamini is.
I think that this game is very comparable to the Villa game: an early Giroud goal followed by a fairly soft penalty and then the crowd turns against the mighty Arsenal. In both games the ref was awful (although, the ref at Villa was worse, but let’s not discuss that). Point being, Arsenal were up against it in both games. In the Villa game Arsenal crumbled a little bit after the penalty and ended up losing, however this time Arsenal banded together. They fought through the bad part of the game and kept themselves in it.
Flamini was very critical in this; running about, clapping his hands, generally screaming and putting in tough tackles. The team banded together and fought against a Sunderland side that really wanted to win.
Arsenal finally found a breakthrough in the 67th minute. Jenkinson picked up the ball on the right flank and saw Aaron raising his hands; he swung in a low cross to the edge of the box, and Rambo venomously volleyed the ball across goal and in. The team’s reaction was fantastic and as I said before, spirit will do a lot for us this season. And getting down to business and pushing through that difficult time was all down to the team’s desire and hunger to win.
However, Sunderland did not just lie down and die. In the 70th minute Altidore broke down our right flank and all Sagna could do was grab his jersey and pull him back. This was perhaps the most controversial decision of the game and the main reason I’m not too angry with the ref, despite most decisions going Sunderland’s way. As Altidore reached the top of the box the ref blew the whistle. Sagna stopped, but Altidore played on and just managed to sneak the ball in the net after Szczesny slowed it down. The play was called back and Sunderland were given a free kick instead of the goal. Obviously, I’m happy with this and I believe it was the right decision, but I’m curious about what others think.
After this, Sunderland seemed to have the life sucked out of them. Arsenal found their groove once more and in the 76th minute Ramsey scored his second of the night. He darted in behind their defense and finished the ball right under Westwood.
Substitutions were made with Vermaelen making his return from injury and Nacho coming on for Walcott. Unfortunately, at the end Giroud seemed to twist his knee and Akpom had to come on for him. I don’t have any news on that, but I hope he’s not injured.
The game ended 3-1 to the mighty Arsenal and things are looking up: top of the league at least for tonight! Özil already seems to have gelled with the team, Giroud is on fire, it seems to be Rambo’s year, and the team looks to be a team of winners at last.
For now, I’ll leave you all with a few more questions than usual:
Is this Arsenal team ready to win trophies?
Is this Rambo’s year?
What did you think of Özil’s debut?
Can OG win the golden boot?
How important is Flamini to this team?
Should advantage have been played when Altidore scored?
Thanks for reading! 😀
Written by: Dylan.
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Sweet 16: AR16 blasts Arsenal into 16th successive CL campaign
Here are my thoughts on today’s second leg of our Champion’s League qualifier against Fenerbahce.
In today’s match Arsenal played very well in the first half, but then slowed down in the second half.
Arsenal started the day with a 3-0 lead on aggregate, and they would soon go 4-0 up. In the 25th minute Aaron Ramsey scored Arsenal’s first goal of the day. Podolski made a run through the middle of the field and when he reached the top of the box, he tried to slip Walcott through. Theo just got a touch and hit it across goal, where Rambo scored a poacher’s goal and put it into the open net. Two goals in two games in the Champion’s League for Ramsey, and it was quite clear that he would br full of confidence for the rest of the game.
In the 39th minute, Emenike broke down the left flank for Fenerbahce. He fired a shot that Szczesny could only palm onto the post. He then made a great close range save, although the shooter was called offside.
Right after halftime, Podolski went down with a hamstring injury. He went off on a stretcher, which isn’t a good sign. Gibbs would come on for him and play LW for the remainder of the game.
Arsenal played a very boring game throughout the second half, just trying to keep the lead and not get tired.
In the 60th minute Yaya Sanogo came on for Giroud. He had a very quiet game and didn’t do much, as we were mostly playing defensively after he came on.
In the 72nd minute Gibbs broke down the left flank. He swung a short, low cross into Ramsey’s feet and the Welshman happily volleyed it with one touch into the far lower corner. It was a very well taken shot and Ramsey was on top of the world.
In the 74th minute Ryo came on for Walcott and after that there were multiple fitness concerns, first about Jack and then about Aaron. Jack was clearly being targeted and really needed some protection from the ref, which he did not get. Then at the very end, Aaron went off holding his groin, but he was walking around after the game so he should be fit for Sunday.
Finally in the 90th minute, Ryo broke down the right flank and put a low short cross into Jenkinson’s feet in a play that basically mirrored our second goal. Jenkinson hit it well and was unlucky not to score.
Man of the match was clearly Ramsey who scored a hat trick across both legs and was involved in all aspects of our game. He seems set for a breakout season and I’m very happy for him.
Overall, Arsenal played well across both legs and will deservedly enter their 16th successive Champion’s League group stage. Now Arsene has no excuses: we are in the Champion’s League and the window is ending soon; signings need to be made.
For now I’ll leave you with some questions:
1. What did you think of our performance tonight?
2. Do we need to strength before the North London Derby?
Note for TA: this blog was written prior to yesterday’s game against Fulham.
How to get the best out of Podolski: Combine him with Gibbs and Ramsey!
Back in 2012 when Arsenal announced the signing of Lukas Podolski well before the opening of the transfer window, I was more than excited. The prospect of him playing alongside Theo and RVP convinced me that we were well on the way to concluding our trophy drought. However, the cruel nature of fate made sure that that summer window didn’t go as I hoped. I won’t go into details lest I awaken sleeping demons.
Anyway, my point is, even though we ended up losing RVP, in the back of my mind I knew that even though Poldi wasn’t as good, he could go a long way in replacing his goals. His first season was satisfactory at best. He started well but as the season wore on he seemed to lose his ability to influence the proceedings of a game. He was then dropped from the starting eleven and spent the rest of the season as a substitute. His goals didn’t dry up as his finishing ability is currently second to none in our team. Towards the end, injuries and suspensions to fellow attackers meant that he was our starting striker for the last three games; and to be honest he didn’t do badly.
The new season has begun and it is obvious that Wenger has picked up where he left off last season. Poldi has been involved in both games but only as a very late substitute. For a man who has over a century of international caps before the age of 30, and for one of the world’s best national sides, it is quite bizarre how his club career is panning out. In a time when Arsenal’s squad is thread bare owing to departures and injuries, Poldi’s omission is more than just a little baffling. But I do understand Wenger’s dilemma.
Poldi’s case is a strange one. On one hand, Podolski is one of the best finishers around. Even when he is having a poor game, for him it usually still is ‘one chance one goal’. He is also quite the crosser, especially from that left flank. On the other hand he has little to no influence on a game and therein lies his problem. Podolski’s movement is poor wherever he is played. He doesn’t know how to make runs, has no discernible dribbling ability and his pace is average at best. Podolski seems to spend 90% of his time on or around the halfway line, whether he is played on the left flank or as our target man. Every single time he is played up front the situation arises where a full back will make a run down the flank, but when he gets to the opposition box Podolski is nowhere to be seen and has no intention of getting into the box.
He has no grasp of how a striker should move whatsoever. This makes the team play around him. On the flank, Gibbs does a better job as a winger than the German. This, to me, is the reason why Poldi is second choice. It seems that his best position is as a second striker in a 4-4-2 formation, where he would play between the hole player and the main striker, because there his movement is limited but opportunities to shoot are plenty. Sadly, that is not how we play.
However, I have another suggestion. Wenger can start him on the left but he drifts inwards. Yesterday’s game against Fenerbahce showed that this can work so long as it is Gibbs who plays behind him. Gibbs was outstanding on that left flank, sending in crosses and even getting a goal. Ramsey was also outstanding, covering him perfectly when he went forward. This means that in this set up, Gibbs can do all the wing-work while Poldi drifts in, without having the pressure of being the main CF on him.
Whatever Wenger does about him, he should do it soon, because Podolski’s stature is such that he is not a bench warmer. If this continues, it is very conceivable that he will look for game time elsewhere.
We’re only happy when it rains – We’re only happy when it gets complicated! 😉
I was not very confident for our encounter with Jol’s Fulham today. I believed a combination of our fatigue from playing/travelling midweek and Fulham’s good start, as well as an ‘in-your-faces’ approach to the game by them, could prove too much for us. I was hoping for a win but counted on a draw.
My biggest concern were the lack of defensive midfield skills and formational indiscipline, as was so apparent against Villa last weekend. But I did not need to worry, as I had somewhat forgotten that Arsenal play more compact and disciplined in away fixtures compared to our home games, with defence and midfield moving up and down the pitch as a well-drilled double-unit, leaving very little space between the lines. This meant Fulham were given very little chance to penetrate the centre of our midfield and pounce on our potential frailties there.
It also helped that we played with three in midfield, where Fulham tried to play in a more traditional 4-4-1-1 formation; as a result, the Cottagers were often outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and outsmarted by our boys today. It was clear that Arsenal are a team and Fulham are a collection of individual players who still need to get used to each other.
Our team:
First Half
Arsenal started with the right tempo and clearly had the bit between the teeth. After ten minutes, Rosicky produced a fine ball over the Fulham defence to Theo; the Englishman did not hesitate for a moment and shot towards goal from within the box, but Stockdale was equally responsive and made a decent save. Arsenal then put a lot of pressure on Fulham with a number of Walcott corner kicks in quick succession, and it was really good to see that we were a real threat from these set-pieces.
It was also good to see that Szczesny was successful in finding OG on a number of occasions, but unfortunately the Frenchman’s headers did not end up near a fellow Arsenal player in most instances.
We were playing well and dominating early proceedings, but it still needed a bit of fortune to get the ball past the inspired Stockdale. Ramsey tried a shot from well outside the box but OG was in the way, despite him trying to make himself sparse. The Welshman’s drive hit Giroud’s leg, which fortuitously led to the Frenchman assisting himself. He pounced on his gift like a tiger and lifted the ball over the goalie with both style and composure: 1-0 to the good guys!
As can be expected, this early adversity gave Fulham new impetus to have a real go at Arsenal in this game, and we lost a bit of our initial concentration and intensity of play. However, Szczesny was focussed and decisive when he had to be and made two fine, instinctive saves from efforts by Taarabt and Duff in quick succession.
Good link up play by OG then led to a decent shot with the outside of his foot by Santi from outside the box, but it was not hard or precise enough to trouble Stockdale. At this stage, Cazorla was still looking a bit rusty, and he gave away a dangerous free-kick just outside our box. Our wall was poor but somehow we got away with it as Riise’s ball is smothered in the wall, and a relieved Szczesny can make an easy save.
During the second part of the first half, Arsenal start to look a bit tired and Fulham find more and more a way through the centre of our midfield. Luckily, Taarabt is desperate to shoot himself from outside the box on a number of occasions when there were better options for him, and all his efforts are wasted or dealt with by our Pole in goal.
Ramsey picks up an unnecessary yellow card which put him in a precarious position for the rest of the game. Luckily, the team played some fine counter football and especially Theo showed great composure and drive at this stage of the game, although his ball to Gibbs, after a run to the Fulham box all the way from midfield, was the wrong option.
Cazorla also started to find his feet and composure in the latter part of the first half. He was more and more enjoying his free role, and when he found himself not far outside the Fulham box with the ball, he had the vision to place a precise ball into Theo’s path. The Englishman takes an instant shot which is parried by Stockdale, albeit towards the outside of the Fulham box. Podolski is at the right place and the right time – after he started the attack in the first place with his ball to Santi – and shoots the ball high and precise into the Cottagers’ net: 2-0! And the fans sang with all their heart: ‘He scores when he wants’ 🙂
The goal was reminiscent of a Bergkamp goal more than a decade ago:
Second Half
Fulham came out with renewed desire and impetus – Jol is good at pep-talk – hoping to score an early goal in the second half, as to get the crowd behind them and start an onslaught on the tired legs and minds of our Gunners. But it is all quite toothless and Jol’s substitutions also do not have much impact, at least initially.
We start to look quite tired after sixty minutes, but once again our attackers come to the rescue. OG collects a ball brilliantly from defence at the half way line with three fine touches. Once again, Theo is there to collect his pass and drive forward towards the Fulham box. Theo plays the ball to Santi who takes it to the by-line, after which he lays it back to the onrushing Podolski. The German is allowed to take a first touch which enables him to trigger his brilliant left cannon of a foot for a well placed, and yet very hard, shot into the keeper’s left corner: 3-0 to the yellow and blues, and game well and truly over! 😀
The fans go crazy and serenade the likes of OG, Ramsey and Podolski with great passion: you can sense the happiness of the away support all the way into our living rooms. As John Lennon sang: Happiness is a warm Gun(ner). 🙂
Fulham do not give up entirely, and despite some very fine positioning and reading of the game by both BFG and Sagna throughout the game, they get caught out for once by a bit of magic from Berbaflop. The naturally blasé Bulgarian received the ball with his back to the goal near the by-line; he takes a touch, turns and shoots/passes towards goal – all in one, smooth move. BFG is too slow to react and Szczesny is only able to get his hands to it, but he parries it across his goal line, where Bent is very grateful to slot the easiest of chances into the net: 1-3.
Bent, apparently a big Arsenal supporter, has now scored against the mighty Red and White with five different clubs. I wonder how he feels about this unenviable record?! 😕
Fulham tried to push for a second goal after that but Arsenal brought on Jack and Nacho to firm up our midfield and defence. There were even further chances for us to score a fourth goal, but especially Theo lacked the killer-instinct of The Pod to take full advantage of his own hard work as well as the opportunities that came his way.
Conclusions:
The Pod announced himself onto the new season with two goals of the highest quality.
Giroud, Rosicky and Theo worked very hard, and often unselfishly, for the team today, and especially the Englishman showed a different side to his game against Fulham.
Santi grew into the game and together with Ramsey he was real class today: both produced a master class in modern midfield football play and made the likes of Sidwell and the former Spud-Smurf look very ordinary.
When Arsenal play away, we are more compact and disciplined in our defensive duties, and as a result, we appear to be less dependent on having a strong DM in our line-up. However, it remains to be seen whether this is the case against the stronger, and more settled teams.
Sagna impressed once again at CB and it looks like he and the BFG could form a very fine partnership if need be.
The FB’s, Jenks and Gibbs, played with good discipline and were full of energy and enthusiasm throughout the game.
Today’s game was ample evidence that we have a number of attackers who can score and produce assists, which makes it hard for the opposition to eliminate our attacking threats. This could become a real strength again this season.
The team already has good fitness levels, the players find each other relatively easily at this stage of the season, and there is a really good togetherness in the team.
More players are required to add strength in depth.
The team would still benefit from a quality attacker: especially a winger who can also play in the middle, or a nr.10 who can also play on the wing, would be very welcome.
A good game to watch, some pride restored and some real pluses to take from today.
Written by: TotalArsenal.
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Today’s match was the perfect response after opening the domestic season with a shocking home defeat to Aston Villa: Arsenal were able to strike back by thrashing Fenerbache in our Champions League qualifier, 3-0. Throughout the entire match, Arsenal were always the better team with our midfield bossing theirs, allowing us to set the tempo and dictate play.
After a couple of turnovers to start the match, we settled into the game very quickly with some convincing link-up play and one-touch passing around the opposition’s box. Halfway into the first half, Koscielny took a nasty kick to the face and left the game needing stitches to stop the blood that was profusely coming out from above his right eye. Still, this did not alter our game plan or confidence and we carried on just as we did before – dominating possession and the match. However, we were not able to score and the half ended in a goalless draw.
Fenerbache never really posed a threat in this half and struggled to even string together successful passes. This can be attributed to our players quickly closing down open spaces and by continually forcing them backwards. The only areas of improvement for the first half would have been our finishing and our general play in the final third. Due to having a striker like Giroud, we seem to force a lot of crosses into the box but lack the bodies there to capitalize on these chances. As we saw in the second half, we are a much more cohesive and dangerous team when we play the ball along the ground and attack through the middle.
Fortunately for the home supporters, Fenerbache looked more lively in the second half and even created a few scoring opportunities of their own. However, we were always the better team and never really looked in danger of losing this game. Gibbs opened the scoring in the 51st minute after receiving a fine cross-goal pass from Theo. However, the goal was only made possible after a brilliant through ball from Ramsey that set Theo up with the wonderful assist-opportunity.
From there, we never looked back and Ramsey added to his MoTM performance by putting away a goal of his own with a hard, low shot that fooled Demirel. To add insult to injury and to ensure our place in the Champions League group stage, we padded our lead on a well-taken penalty kick by Giroud. Theo was given a pretty fortunate call after he was taken down in the box with relatively little contact. Despite the goals scored in the second half, I still thought we looked more threatening in the first half and were just luckier to score in the second.
Before I begin on the player ratings, I’d like to explain how I arrive at the number a player receives. For me, a seven represents that a player has sufficiently done what has been asked of him and not much more. An eight signifies that the player has contributed more than the average player, but that either his performance has room for improvement or I’ve seen better games from him lately. A nine or higher is reserved for outstanding performances and is usually accompanied by tangible statistics on the score sheet. Ignore previous ratings from past articles, as I’ll look to be consistent from here on out in the new rating system.
Player Ratings:
Szczesny (9.0) – Was hardly tested in the first half, but he made a couple of brilliant saves at the end to keep our clean sheet. Great job on winning the 50/50 challenge on Sow, and really only made a mistake or two in his clearing.
Gibbs (8.0) – Great job at getting into scoring position on the first goal and combined well on a memorable series of one-touch passing in the first half together with Giroud, Cazorla and Ramsey. His crosses left much to be desired and sent quite a few straight into the opposing player who was defending him.
Koscielny (7.0) – Difficult to rate him any higher, but in the 30 minutes he did play, he was relatively untested aside from making an authoritative clearing header and breaking up a couple Fenerbache advances. It was unfortunate that he was the victim of a clumsy challenge by Webo, and I’m hoping for a speedy recovery for our best CB.
Mertesacker (6.0) – He was sufficient in keeping a clean sheet, but was caught out of position a couple of times on Fenerbache’s attacks. Sow noticeably got behind him on a couple of occasions, but fortunately for us, he missed wide on both those chances.
Sagna (7.5) – Continues to prove that he is more than capable of playing at both RB and CB. He was a commanding presence in the air in our own end and was assertive in his challenges when Fenerbache were on the offensive. Notably, he made a decisive and clean sliding challenge to break up the play when Sow was on the fast break in the second half.
Ramsey (9.5) – Easy candidate for MoTM as he provided the initial through ball that opened up the scoring and also scored the second goal to give us a comfortable lead. He was everywhere on the pitch tonight and continually frustrated the opposition with his relentless work ethic and getting a foot in on challenges. The only area of improvement would be turnovers, especially one in the second half that almost led to a Kuyt goal.
Wilshere (7.5) – Showed good forward thrust when running forward with the ball and created a few good scoring opportunities for us. It was his run and pass that allowed Ramsey open space to score the second goal. However, he ran right into opposing defenders on a couple occasions that led to turnovers when he could have passed the ball instead.
Rosicky (6.5) – I felt that Rosicky’s play was quite bi-polar; at times, he drove us forward with his passing and dribbling, but at other times, he made questionable passes that were either out of reach for our players or simply went astray. Still, he played satisfactory and nothing to really complain about (I just expected more after his performance against Villa).
Cazorla (6.5) – There were moments where Santi was unplayable with his one-touch passing and close ball control that allowed him to escape defenders closing down on him. Then, there were other moments where he more or less disappeared from the game entirely and looked exhausted. Santi is our most skilled player and I expect him to have a greater influence in every game. Fortunately for him, others stepped up today and took over the creativity reigns.
Giroud (6.5) – Aside from the very well taken penalty kick, I thought Giroud looked very average. He had a couple of nice combination plays in the first half and showed that he is capable of making nice passes and fancy touches if given time and the opportunity. However, I forgot he was even on the pitch in half of the first and the entire second half, until he stepped up at the spot and scored. As our lone center forward (for the time being), we need more from him if we’re to beat better opponents.
Walcott (7.5) – Theo did a great job of causing problems for Kadlec all night, and his pace and movement were always a threat. He provided two assists in the game, which solidified an above average rating, but he was extremely wasteful throughout the entire match. He had plenty of chances to receive the ball in and around the box, but instead lost possession because of very poor touches and passes. Theo has yet to show the goal scoring form of last season, though it’s nice to see him very involved in our offense.
Jenkinson (7.0), Podolski (3.0), Monreal (6.0) – I thought Jenkinson did an excellent job coming in at RB. He was running up and down the flanks and contributed as best he could in the offensive zone. He nearly scored at the end of the game and provided a couple good crosses into the box (unfortunately no one was there).
Difficult to rate the latter two players since they both came on pretty late in the game, but I thought Podolski was awful. He seems to be lacking fitness and confidence – his first touch off a beautifully played pull back pass by Nacho stood out as a big wasted opportunity.
Despite all the positives, there are still some concerns. Against a more skilled and determined team, we could have easily been exposed since there was far too much space between our midfield and defense in the second half when the game opened up. Our center backs, notably Mertesacker, were also caught out of position on a couple occasions, which allowed Fenerbache some great looks at goal that fortunately went wide or were brilliantly saved by Szczesny.
We also need to start capitalizing on our scoring chances (such as those in the first half) and become more decisive in the final third. Our strategy of crossing the ball into the box does not work when there is only one individual (sometimes none) in there. I believe Arsenal football is always more successful when played along the ground and this calls for a more mobile and fluid striker up front.
Finally, playing away from the Emirates seems to be the solution for allowing us to settle into games quicker. The tension and hesitation were noticeably absent and the squad was full of confidence and decisiveness instead. We cannot continue to play poorly at home as it takes away what is supposed to be a massive advantage – we need to approach the game in the same free-flowing manner that we do on the road. All in all, we managed to qualify for the Champions League group stages (barring some bizarre miracle) and it was a great game that should hopefully give us some confidence and momentum for the upcoming clash against Fulham.
Jack in the hole: let’s hope he is fully fit and ready to direct our attacking play against Villa.
Arsenal – Villa preview report.
At last it is here: the new season kicks off tomorrow. Having been tortured long enough with transfer fairytales and make beliefs, at least we can focus again on meaningful football. Our game against Villa tomorrow is a tricky one, even though Arsenal are at home. Paul Lambert will be happy to have survived a very difficult season at Villa and I have little doubt he will have worked hard this summer to improve his squad and his team’s quality of football. In reality, they have nothing to lose and will approach the game with both a good game plan and a ‘let’s go and enjoy ourselves’ sort of attitude.
Therefore, it is key for Arsenal to start the game strong and determined, with a high tempo and lots of pressure on the Villa midfield and defence from the start, whilst at the same time focussed and organised in defence. The latter will be a bit of a test for the team now that Arteta is ruled out, and the most important selection choice Arsene has to make is who to play in the double DM pivot.
I reckon he will go for Ox and Rambo tomorrow. Ox really impressed me during his cameo against Scotland for England this week: he was disciplined and focussed and did not make a single mistake in the more defensive midfield role he was given. However, I reckon Rambo will move into the Arteta role and Ox will take over from Rambo, and both will be given clear instructions to keep it tight at the back and guard the shape of the midfield throughout the game. The good thing about Ox and Rambo is their enormous energy and forward thrust (especially Ox), but it remains to be seen whether they can make us forget about Arteta’s great, fox-like ability to give shape and purpose to our midfield.
I am praying for an early goal for the good guys, after which we keep the pressure up and profit fully from the space Villa will have to open up in order to get a goal back. But it is more likely that Villa will sit back and absorb our pressure, and Arsenal will have to be both disciplined and creative to get into scoring positions, whilst constantly dealing with the threat of quick and incisive counter-football as well as lethal Villa set-pieces. It won’t be a walk in the park tomorrow, that is for sure.
If Wilshere is fit to play, I reckon he will start in the hole tomorrow. The two other options for this position, Cazorla and Rosicky, are likely to start on the bench against Villa, but should come on later in the game.
At the back, the team picks itself more or less. I expect Szczesny to start, Per and Koz to be our CB-pairing, and Gibbs to start as our LB. If Sagna is fit he is likely to start; if not, it will be Jenkinson.
Mertesacker will be the captain, and I reckon he is the best candidate to become our long-term captain. So, let’s see how he does tomorrow.
Up-front, it is not much rocket-science either. Gervinho has gone and Sanogo is not fully fit, and with Cazorla returning late from his international match, I reckon it will be Pod on the left and Theo on the right, with OG in the middle. All three carry a good to great goal threat, and hopefully they will fire from all cylinders tomorrow.
Predicted Line-up:
Let’s hope for a committed, full-on game, and NO FURTHER injuries, and a nice win for the mighty red and white.
COYG!
Written by: TotalArsenal.
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Here are my thoughts on Arsenal’s final pre-season friendly against Premier League rivals, Manchester City.
In today’s match, Arsenal started slow and ended slow, but really played some great football for the middle 60 minutes of the game.
Our first goal was an early one. ManCity was putting us under huge pressure and it seemed as though we were going to be torn apart, but Arsenal wasn’t going to just lie down and die. Aaron Ramsey took the ball off the foot of a City player, ran at the City midfield, got his head up, and played a through ball right onto Walcott’s foot. The pass was incredible: perfectly weighted, right to Theo’s foot, and it was a pass that took great vision to spot. However, the run dictates the pass; and Walcott’s run was brilliant. Theo was patient (which was important so that he wasn’t offside), waited for Clichy to turn, and as the ball was played he used his speed to make a diagonal run across the face of Clichy, go in on goal, and chip Joe Hart. Great run, great pass, great finish.
Our second goal would again see Ramsey and Walcott combine to embarrass Joe Hart once more. The City midfield was relaxed and Aaron made a run into the space between Manchester’s midfield and defenders. Santi played a straight forward ball to him, and rather than try to be fancy and dribble through the defenders, Aaron played a quick ball back to Theo; Theo one touched it back to him right through two defenders, and Rambo rounded the keeper and placed the ball calmly into the net. Ramsey and Walcott both looked very mature, calm, and unselfish for this goal which was fantastic to see from two players who have been known to dribble too much.
Not long after that, Arsenal would grab a third. City were slowly passing around the ball in our half, one of our defenders made a good tackle, the ball rolled to Santi’s foot, and Santi played a quick ball to Theo. Theo received the ball and quickly turned. He saw he had space and ran with the ball down the touchline. He saw the chance to play a long ball and sliced a humongous cross all the way to the other side of the field, putting so much power on it that he actually fell over. Giroud saw the ball coming, opened up, touched it by the City defender, and chipped Joe Hart: a world class finish for a striker who looks set for a big season.
Giroud would later score a beautiful volley, but it would be called offside. It would’ve been another Walcott assist and it was indeed a beautiful cross from him. However, an interesting part of all of these chances is how quickly we turned defense into offense, something some say we’ve lacked without a true DM. However, Ramsey especially is learning how to do this very well, and bringing in Gustavo would give us another player who is absolutely brilliant at doing just that: something to make note of. 😉
City would pull one back in the 79th minute. A long through ball saw Negredo touch the ball past Koscielny and calmly finish the chance. In fairness, Arsenal had made a large number of changes and most of them were youngsters, but that doesn’t excuse Kos’ relaxed defending on this goal. We’ll give him that one, though, as he had a great game overall. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen when we play them in the league, though.
A final interesting point was that Sebastian Perez made his debut for Arsenal in this friendly, but without officially signing for Arsenal (or at the least, it hasn’t been announced yet). Perez looked very committed to Arsenal already though; even picking up a very professional yellow card to stop a Manchester attack. For those who don’t know, Perez is a 20 year old Columbian defensive midfielder on a week’s trial at Arsenal. He looked fairly impressive with a few smart turns and tackles, but from what I saw he looked more like a box-to-box midfielder than a DM.
However, all I’ve seen of him was this 23 minute debut, and I did hear that he started as a number 10 and slowly moved his way back through the midfield to DM, so that could explain it. I expect he’ll be signed soon, and that’ll be a very nice signing, but for the future.
Speaking of which, Wenger made comments after the game, admitting that our squad is thin. This seemed odd to me, as it would have been the perfect time to gloat about how his squad was “capable of winning the title”. However, it’s good to see Wenger admit this, and it seems as though he is ready to make not just one, but a few signings.
Overall, the team played well on Saturday and hopefully this win will inspire the team and lead to us starting the season strong.
For now, here are some questions:
1. How did you think our squad looked on Saturday?
2. How many signings do you think Wenger will make?
3. Can this squad handle the fixtures that lead up to deadline day without reinforcements?
Will we see more of Mr Reliable as one of our CBs on Friday?
Whilst the transfer shenanigans continue without any let-off, Arsenal’s current team has actually been playing some very watchable footie. It is fair to say that the opposition has not been much to write home about until now, but nevertheless our football has been good.
It is only early days and things could change a lot over the next four weeks, but based on the first three games of the campaign we can pull a few conclusions:
Wall of RamTeta: it looks very much that Arsene will continue with Arteta and Ramsey in the double-DM pivot. Enough has been written about this in recent posts, so no more on this from me now.
Our AM, whether it is Rosicky or Wilshere, have been very quick in turning the game from defence to attack. They very often opt for the ball over the top, or a diagonal ball to find one of the wingers with a precision pass. Our AMs have been very mobile and driven to move the game forward quickly, and long may it continue.
The team has been pressing the opposition really well given the rustiness at this stage of the campaign and the humid weather in Asia. Ramsey has been leading by example with regards to this but the whole team has been chipping in, and collectively they have been very successful in winning back the ball regularly until now.
Theo, but also Gnabry and to a lesser extent Ryo, are being ‘launched’ constantly from midfield. This is all part of our quick defence to attack turnaround approach, and for the first time in a long while Arsenal are now really utilising the speed of Theo and others. It has led to many very good chances for Theo and I expect to see more of it this season, with our Speedy Gonzales hopefully converting more of his opportunities. Theo has got the speed and the good first touch, and now he needs to improve his lethalness. He will improve further this season, I reckon.
The full backs – one at a time – are once again key in setting up attacks from the wing. Unfortunately, Jenkinson and Gibbs have looked rusty until now, but they are both players who appear to need a number of games in a row before they start to shine.
Giroud has looked very positive and focussed until now, and six goals in three games will help him to build further on this. He will, of course, face tougher opposition this season, but his sharpness up-front is a very welcome sight.
Zelalem has been showing us lots of promise until now. He is very confident, calm and classy on the ball and can pick a through-ball with incredible ease. A great prospect.
Ox and Jack have looked really up for it and, IF they can stay fit for long spells this season, they will be……dare I say it……like two new quality signings.
All in all, plenty of positives and let’s hope the team will continue to progress over the next few weeks.
Predicted Line-up against Urawa Red Diamonds:
I reckon Fab will start in goal, and Jenkinson and Gibbs will get another chance to become more effective both in defence (especially Jenkinson) and up-front. I expect Sagna and Mertesacker to start, although there is a chance that Sagna will play with Miquel. I am expecting Arteta and Ramsey to get a rest and for Arsene to try another double DM combination tomorrow. Ox needs a start and Aneke should get a proper test as well, so I am going for these two tomorrow.
I expect Jack to play in the hole from the start and Myachi and Theo (or Gnabry) on the wing, and Giroud will probably not start this time round, so I am going for the Pod as our striker. The latter needs a good game and I have a feeling Wenger will give him the striker position tomorrow.
Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey were two of our best players in that unbeaten run at the end of last season. Arsene devised a double pivot system that saw them sit in front of the back four, leading to one of the best defensive records we have had in years. Arteta was the last line of defence in front of the back four, and Ramsey played a box to box role but mostly spent his time alongside Arteta, shielding our defence from attacks.
This system worked wonders defensively, but I must admit our offensive quality suffered.
Thing is, though, Arteta ideally is not a DM despite the fantastic work he’s done there for us. Arteta, at Everton, played as the ‘hole’ player for the better part of a decade and was their star man. His passing, vision and goals made Everton tick. Again, while overall he has performed admirably there, at times he suffered, especially the recently concluded season. This is the main reason Wenger introduced Ramsey alongside him: to give him some much needed support.
As it turned out, this was a match made in heaven, because Arteta’s strong point is reading the game and Rambo’s is tackling, so they seem to compliment each otherperfectly.
This is all well and good, but you have to remember one thing, Wilshere was injured. You can play around with the tactics and formations all you want, but the fact remains that a fully fit Jack Wilshere is one of the first names on the team sheet. Not only that, considering what Santi achieved last season, he has made the hole position his. Add that to the fact that Arsene Wenger came out and admitted that our midfield needs a physical DM and has made it a transfer priority this summer, you realize that these two players are in danger of losing out.
Like I said earlier, Santi and Jack are not about to lose their positions in the team or be moved around to accommodate anyone, simply because they are our two best players. What stacks the odds against Arteta and Ramsey even more is the fact that Santi and Jack showed that they can work together to devastating effect. You do not need to look past our 5-1 hiding of West Ham to see what I mean. Considering that Jack is fully fit and so is Santi, we are looking at a situation where Arteta and Ramsey would be fighting for one spot, DM.
Let’s face it; neither is good enough to make the DM position their own. Not if we indeed are building a team to challenge for trophies.
Last season Mikel showed that he can not shoulder the defensive burden alone. Ramsey, on the other hand, does not have the defensive talent to do it alone (despite his energy and his eagerness to tackle; 80% of his tackles ended in him conceding fouls). Neither has the physicality or defensive acumen to dominate the defensive half of our midfield like Vieira did for us, Wanyama did for Celtic, Essien did for Chelsea, Sven does for BVB and so on and so forth.
Wenger has realized this and that is why he’s chasing the likes of Fellaini; and with the bounty we have right now, you wouldn’t bet against us. If reports are to be believed, we triggered Fellaini’s release clause of 23 million pounds and had a 19 million pound bid rejected for Lars Bender. Even if it’s not them we end up signing, we have seen the amount we are willing to shell out for a DM. Do you really think Arsene Wenger is going to spend 20 million on a player who will come and sit on the bench? I don’t think so, and that is why following all logic, it seems that Arteta and Ramsey’s time in the starting 11 is soon coming to an end.
On the bright side, though, they’ve shown what they can do for us and therefore will provide solid cover AND competition for whatever combination is preferred.
Written by: Marcus.
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