Szczesny – Page 2 – Bergkampesque

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.

Who turned Arsenal into EPL title contenders?

October 8, 2013October 8, 2013TotalArsenal

Well, it is not just Ozil!

Over the last month or so, ever since we made Mesut Ozil our record signing for the club, not a day goes by without some sort of news or article regarding how Ozil has transformed the fortunes of a struggling team and how we have been taken from being consistently ‘in crisis’ to ‘oozing class’.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m loving the attention that having a true world best (and he is the BEST play maker in the world, period!) brings to Arsenal, but it made me think that it should not be taken for granted that a solid backbone of a team existed in which Ozil has seamlessly slotted in. Cast your mind back to right before Ozil’s signing, the loss against Aston Villa. Hell had descended and it seemed to be the end. Apparently Arsene had “dithered” and “dilly dallied” and the result was only one free transfer and a seemingly long barren season up ahead.

The point I’d raise here is that we still had a good squad, a squad that had topped the table based on points collected since Jan 2013 till the end of the last season. Arsene had sorted out our best defensive partnership, he had sorted our Rambo’s position and form, Rosicky was back playing at a good level, and Jack was fitter than he had been in the last few seasons (the last one is still relative, since I personally don’t think Jack is as fit as he can be, but at least he has been able to get a solid preseason behind him). Tactically, Arsene had also more or less figured out a good way to utilize our best players and it was working. We were solid and we were winning.

Going into the summer, the need seemed to be a CF and a DM in priority, followed by perennial need for a GK and CD. The need was also to get rid of the fat of the squad. A number of people pointed out at this point that a couple of good signings would transform our squad from being solid to being contenders. Unfortunately as the summer progressed and the frustrations increased, the narrative changed back to Arsenal having a weak squad, loads of money in the bank and Arsene having no clue. Bring on the Villa loss and we were a club at war with itself.

Mesut Ozil wasn’t what we needed, but he was that someone who Arsene has always talked about, the player who improves a position, and in turn the squad, and no doubt he has. He has the Va Va Voom that we loved to talk about when Thierry used to score goals for us. Add to the Ozil signing the genius signing of Flamini and we have a central midfield core that any team in the world can be fearful about. More than anything, Ozil changed the narrative around the club, gave the fans and players confidence and showed the world that we meant business. But let’s take a look at some of the players he’s joined in… just so we can remind ourselves of our squad!

In defense we have Szczesny, he who was once touted as the most promising GK since the days of Seaman and Lehmann. After going through a bit of a self searching phase, he began to reach his best towards the end of the last season, and has begun this season brilliantly (barring the Villa horror show). Behind him we have Fabianski and Viviano, good solid backups.

Then we have the indomitable pairing of Kos and Per, both phenomenal defenders who compliment each other’s game brilliantly. I would go as far as to say that they’d be up there as the best defensive pairing in the EPL right now, Per with his uncanny reading of the game and ability to organize, and Kos with his pace and tackling. We have TV on the bench, the club captain who is rearing to prove himself again! What has been heartening has been the fact that TV has been quite happy to take his chance when it comes. I had for a while thought that maybe he may want to move on (there was some interest from Barcelona at some point) if he couldn’t have games here, but I’m glad he’s still with the club.

Gibbs, Monreal, Sagna and Jenks; four absolutely terrific players who compete with each other and the result is an improving standard of play. Monreal in particular, I feel is hugely responsible for pushing Gibbs to be better than he had been. Sagna is a rock, I hope he gets a new contract. The only weak link (if I can call it that) is Jenks, who still needs to work on his game in order to be a regular starter, but the boy has great potential.

Centrally we have terrific options, and even before Ozil we had fantastic options. We have versatile midfielders who can play a variety of positions in Arsene’s 4-2-3-1 formation. We have Rambo in the form of his life (the boy really deserves all the praise he’s getting), we have Rosickly, Santi and Ozil, all players who could be playmakers or drift in from wide centrally to make the killer pass or even play off the CF. We have Arteta and Flamini, the passer and the tackler, and we have Jack, who is slowly getting back to his best. If this was not enough, we have Theo and Ox who can give us pace from the wings, and Poldi who will score goals coming in from either flank. Oh yeah, we also have Gnabry!

Up front we have Giroud, who last season I said would be a superstar to anyone who would listen, and he is showing his class. The thing that I love about Giroud is his sheer hunger to succeed and to help and to score goals. He wants to be the greatest at the club and he is working hard to get there. You couldn’t ask for more. His hold up play and his finishing have improved fantastically this season. As back up to Giroud we are perhaps a little short, but we do have Theo and Poldi who could potentially play in that position, as well as Apkom, Sanogo and Bentdner. Ideally if Sanogo had been fit I would have loved to see him start the Capital One Cup matches. Don’t forget it was the same competition in which Giroud found his feet (or head) last season.

But the thing that I love most about the squad (pre and post Ozil) has been the togetherness, the camaraderie and the hunger to succeed. It’s such a pleasure to see Instagram or twitter photos of players celebrating together. Poldi, despite being injured, seems to be the chief cheerleader. The big players such as Per, Flamini and Arteta seem to be stepping up to guide the younger players. Even TV in a recent interview alluded to the fact that a club captain can do much even if he’s not playing.

So going forward I would love for this bunch to succeed, because in a long time I finally see the fruits of a long barren hard period coming to the fore. Win or lose, they will try, of that I’m sure, and as a fan I could not ask for anything more.

Let’s hope we have a terrific November and come Christmas we are still in a position to fight for the title.

Would love to know what you guys think!

Written by: Umair Naeem

http://umairn.wordpress.com http://www.facebook.com/UmairNaeemOfficial

http://www.twitter.com/umairn

Szczesny commands, Per & Kos top class, Giroud a cut above, Flamini the grinder: player ratings!

September 1, 2013September 1, 2013TotalArsenal

Togetherness has no price tag! With thanks to The Telegraph for photo — Togetherness has no price tag! With thanks to the Telegraph for photo

So 107 million pounds later we are still better than the spuds…Anyway straight to business, the player ratings.

Szczesny (8.0) – I have to say today he looked like the keeper we want to have between the sticks. Commanded his area expertly, fantastic communication with his defenders and made vital saves that made sure that three points remained at the Emirates. Top performance.

Gibbs (6.0) – By his standards he had an average game. Didn’t have much in him going forward and struggled a bit against Townsend. That said, he won his fair share of duels against him and slowly settled into the game as it wore on, especially with the introduction of Lamela. Finished the game strongly.

Per (7.5) – Powerful display by our BFG. Commanded the skies with his height, read the game well to make vital interceptions and most of all, controlled the game from the back. We now see why he has the armband albeit for now.

Kos (7.5) – As we have come to expect from the French man, top class display. Managed to keep Soldado out of the game and even managed to cover for Gibbs when he bombed forward or lost the ball. At the end, was at the heart of that fantastic Arsenal defence which stifled out the frustrated Spurs.

Jenkinson (6.5) – Was a surprise inclusion but he did put in a shift at right back. Showed good tackling but struggled a bit against the strength of Chadli in the opening stages. Settled as the game wore on.

Wilshere (5.0) – Was taken off before half time because he is ‘ill’ and it showed. Wasn’t his normal energetic self but did manage to carve out some decent chances. Hope he has a quick recovery over the international break.

Ramsey (7.5) – He really is coming of age. Energetic display all round, showing that right now no one is as committed to the cause as he is. Chased down every single ball and was always looking to instigate attacks. He needs to work on his final balls and decision making in the final third but other than that, wonderful performance.

Rosicky (6.5) – Put in a sublime performance, always looking to run at players and play dangerous balls behind the defence. Picked up a yellow card with a stupid challenge on Capoue though.

Cazorla (7.5) – Was his usual majestic self, always looking dangerous when on the ball. It is obvious that his technical ability was a class above everyone else. His movement was a bit subdued though, as a result of being played on the wing. Took two dangerous free kicks with the second one agonizingly close to making it 2-0.

Walcott (7.0) – His pace behind the defender was always a constant threat and this paid off when he swung in a low cross for Giroud to slot home. Would have piled more misery if it wasn’t for the outstanding Hugo Lloris.

Giroud (8.0) – Man of the match for me. Continued his goal scoring exploits making it 3 goals in 4 games with a wonderfully poked finish from Walcott’s cross that fooled everyone. Showed fantastic skill, composure and movement to score the goal. His work rate overall was amazing, despite the fact that we played a conservative game in the second half, making him a secluded figure upfront. Still won his aerial duels and chased down players. Needs to work on his pace on the ball. Sometimes his mind is sharp but his execution lets him down.

Flamini (6.5) – Looked like he lacks match fitness but still put in a decent performance. Made an interception that would have led to a goal chance if Ramsey hadn’t rushed his decision making. Received a yellow card for a crunching tackle on Paulinho.

Monreal (6.0) – Came on for Rosicky and should have put away a chance from a Walcott shot that was spilled towards him by Lloris. Otherwise was solid defensively and helped us see out the game.

Sagna N/A – Came on very late for Walcott. Didn’t have much time to influence the game though he made some important aerial clearances at the end to see out the result.

For me the most eye catching thing about our win was the collective team display. Everybody worked hard for each other tirelessly and gave nothing away.

It is always a good day when the Spurs kneel before our superiority. COYG!!!

Written by: Marcus

Pod delivers, Giroud, Rosicky & Theo show their team-value, Santi and Ramsey class: Fulham Match Report

August 24, 2013August 24, 2013TotalArsenal

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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Match Review: You can’t win a game against the ref

August 17, 2013August 17, 2013TotalArsenal

Here are my thoughts on Arsenal’s season opener against Aston Villa.

In today’s match, Arsenal came up against a group of cheating Villains. 😉 The team started off strong and played well throughout the game, only to be thwarted by the refs.

Within the first six minutes of the game, Arsenal were one nil up. Ox overlapped Rosicky down the left side line and the Czech played the ball down the line. Ox ran along the touch line, cut inside near the side edge of the box, and spotted Giroud. Giroud saw this, made a near post run, and put the ball across goal with his preferred left foot. It was a fantastic overlap by Ox and a fantastic near post run from Giroud, followed by a smart finish.

After this opening goal, Arsenal looked calm and collected. Agbonlahor made a normal run through the middle, got a lucky touch through Koscielny’s legs and found himself through on goal. Szczesny made the right decision to come off his line and go for the ball. He came out, and Agbonlahor touched it past him and dove like an Olympic swimmer over the Pole.

Let’s rewind a bit: even at this relatively early stage of the game the ref had been calling everything Villa’s way. Maybe to the ref it appeared that Szcz took down the Villain, but replays show the dive and exaggeration. This is why FIFA needs to allow reviewing technology, especially for red cards and PKs.

That aside, the ref incorrectly called the penalty. Szcz saved Benteke’s original kick brilliantly and was unlucky when the latter got the rebound and headed it in. An unfair 1-1.

Gibbs would then get unlucky. He and Weimann went up for a header, and Gibbs came out bleeding. The ref, once again incorrect, ignored a head injury when he should’ve stopped the game. Kieran will likely need stitches, but let’s hope he doesn’t have a concussion and can rejoin the team soon. After this injury, we were down to only 4 first team defenders and 0 left backs. This is another example of how thin the squad is, but I will touch on that later. Immediately, Jenkinson came in at right back and Sagna switched to left back.

After this, the refereeing only got worse. Call after call went against us. I was proud to see our players stand up for themselves, especially Jack and Aaron.

Eventually, Gabby would break into our box again. Kos made a smart tackle and hit the ball out of play, clearly getting the ball before the player. However, Gabby once again showed his true Villainous colors and dove like a scuba diver, and the penalty was called out of nothing. I can’t give the ref a break on this one. There was a ref behind the goal, on the sideline and on the field, and none could figure out that it was a good tackle. Even on live TV from a zoomed out camera angle I could tell it was a good tackle, so I don’t understand how none of the referees saw it. Benteke stepped up again and calmly tapped it home, after Kos received a yellow card.

Arsenal had many chances of their own. Rosicky went through twice and was unlucky on both occasions. Theo fought for a ball in the box and managed to hoof the ball across the open net, but it was deflected. Chances came and went, but one thing struck me as odd. The ref only seemed to call fouls for us when we had advantage, almost as if to stop us from building an attack. The game got very dirty, but once again the ref seemed to think Arsenal was at fault. Jack got a yellow for a challenge that wouldn’t have been called if Villa made it, but when Jack was constantly fouled there was nothing called.

In the end, the diving Villain got a run at our defense again. Kos dove forward to slow down the play and completely missed the ball and player. The ball rolled to Benteke, but Mertesacker and Jack had it covered. Strangely though, the play was called back and Kos was shown a second yellow despite clearly not getting any player! The call was incorrect and we can only hope that the card is reviewed and rescinded, otherwise we could be down to 3 first team defenders for our next premier league game. We are in desperate need of another RB, CB and maybe even another very young LB, if neither the CB nor RB is capable of playing LB. Down 2-1, and down to 10 men, all incorrectly. It looked bad, and in the end it was bad.

Arsenal continued to play well, and Aaron slotting in at CB. At this point I would’ve liked to see Podolski come on for Giroud, even if it was just to crush some Villain skulls. Sadly, he wouldn’t come on until it was far too late.

In the end, Arsenal would commit everyone to an offensive corner. Villa broke on our 3 defenders and scored a 1 on 1 goal. I don’t blame anyone of Arsenal at all: we had nothing to lose. If two wrong penalties hadn’t been called and Kos hadn’t been sent off, we wouldn’t have been in that situation.

At the very end, Sagna went up and over a Villa player and landed hard on his neck. It looked bad.

After the final whistle chants of “spend some f***ing money” and “you don’t know what you’re doing” went up in the stadium.

Overall, the team played fantastically and at the least deserved a 1-1 draw. They also played with a great spirit. And I think one of Wenger’s issues is that he doesn’t want to ruin this spirit. But most World Class players will have that spirit and if worse comes to the worst, buy relatively young (25 and under) and put that spirit in them over the years. We need reinforcements. The team we have now is great, but the squad is too thin. Let’s hope Wenger buys at least a DM, CB, and RB in the coming days before our next game. It looks bad now, but the season isn’t over yet.

For now I’ll leave you with some questions:

1. What did you think of the game?

2. How many players do we need before our next game?

3. Will Wenger sign players during this window?

4. Should Wenger get a contract extension if our only signing this window is Yaya Sanogo?

Thanks for reading.

Written by: Dylan.

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What if Arsenal bought no new defenders? Time to promote Miguel and Yennaris.

May 22, 2013May 22, 2013TotalArsenal

What if Arsenal bought nobody this season?

I know this is sacrilege to the transfer horny hordes out there, but it is a necessary question to ask in my opinion. The paint on the old season has not even dried and everybody is talking greedily about the players we need to buy – and I have been as guilty as anybody. We all feel we have £70m+ burning in our holsters! 🙂

Yet, I feel there is not enough recognition for the incredible feat our boys have achieved since our painful loss against the Spuddies.

Winning the last five away games in a row is worthy of high praise, and so is winning eight of the last ten games. Add to this our five clean sheets (six including Bayern away) and conceding only five goals in 10 PL games, and we can only say that our boys have done us proud to fight back with all they had after the derby defeat.

The key question we have to ask is whether we can, and should, build further on this team.

To do this properly, let’s assume nobody is going to be signed in the summer, so we can analyse the strength as well the potential in this team going forward. For good order, and to avoid the nutbums to come on to the blog in hordes, I am not saying we should not buy anybody this season.

In three separate posts, I am going to look at the areas of GK/defence, midfield and attack.

Defence

Our defence has improved from last season, conceding 37 goals compared to 49 a year ago. Yet, we know that, except for the last ten games, they have been inconsistent: often conceding unnecessarily and early on in games, after which the team is faced with big mountains to climb. In the crucial one to one matches with our nearest rivals, our defence has not been good enough, especially in the first halves of our encounters with them.

It would be wrong to put all the blame on Vermaelen, as everybody in our defence has made costly mistakes this season. It is also fair to say that as a unit they were not provided with enough protection, and the switch towards a more conservative double-DM formation in which Ramsey and Arteta were ordered to stay tightly together and focus first and for all on their defensive duties, rather than venturing forward constantly, has made a big difference.

I feel the biggest problem for Vermaelen was his inability to combine the leadership duties, both of the defence AND the team as a whole, with performing his own CB duties to a high level of concentration and execution. He failed in this, and many of us could see from quite early on that Vermaelen was not made for the captaincy.

Other than instructing Ramsey to play more conservatively and closer to Arteta, the pivotal decision in turning this season round has to be the benching of the Lion of Flanders. It allowed the BFG to become the organiser/leader of defence and Arteta to take on the leadership responsibilities of the whole team.

I love TV5, and really hope he is going to stay put, and fight for his place. But this cannot be as our captain, and he will have to work very hard to dislodge the more and more solid CB-pairing of BFG and Koz.

There are some vague rumours that TV will leave this summer, but if we want to consolidate the newly found strength of our defence, Arsene needs to do everything to keep him. One injury to either Koz or BFG, and TV gets another chance to work himself back into the team. We need at least one quality, experienced CB on the bench, and TV would be ideal for this. The question is whether he would be happy to accept this scenario…

With Squillaci surely leaving now and Djourou probably not returning to the squad after the summer, there should now be a chance for Miquel. He is a very stylish player who lacks experience, and I would love to see him get first team games next season. We also now know that Sagna can play centrally, and so we should have both two experienced – Vermaelen and Sagna – and a talented option to cover for the CB positions. However, this does mean we need to hold on to both the Belgian and Frenchman, and if we don’t, we need to replace them as we need to keep a certain level of experience within back four.

Our current CB-pair of BFG and Koz is a combination of the tall and stable organiser type with the ‘first-soldier’, highly energetic type of CB. I reckon in TV and also Sagna we have more than decent replacement for the first-soldier type CB, but we do not have another ‘organiser’ type, ready to slot in.

I believe that Miquel has great potential for this, but he would not be adequate cover (yet) if and when the BFG is out for a long period. Perhaps Koz can be turned into this type but I am not entirely sure whether this would benefit us much. TV is not that type and neither is Sagna, so this is an area Wenger might have to look at.

We are likely to see an enormous ‘Battle of the FB’s’ next season, as Sagna and Jenkinson will compete for the RB position and Gibbs and Nacho for the LB position. It is fantastic that we have two good players for each position, and only if Sagna were to leave would we need to find experienced cover – and that is why I believe Arsene will not let the Frenchman go: what would be the point?

It might also be time to promote Nico Yennaris, who can play in midfield but also as a FB. It would allow us to use Sagna more regularly as a CB – especially in the domestic cup games – and give both Jenkinson and him a break now and again.

I reckon Szczesny has done enough to convince Wenger he is still our nr.1 with a number of good performances since he returned to the first team. The key issue remains whether we have good enough back up in case the’ Pole in Goal’ gets injured, suspended or suffers a huge drop in form. Mannone and Fabianski both had stints in the first team and both did relatively very well.

But I still think this is the one area were Arsene might invest a bit of money to bring in a PL-experienced goalkeeper. However, if he decides not to then the risk would be relatively low.

So all in all, our defence is looking pretty good and if we keep everybody there is no urgent need to bring in new players.

Written by: TotalArsenal.

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Koz – BFG – Szczesny: An Impenetrable Triangle is Slowly Forming

May 16, 2013May 16, 2013TotalArsenal

Since Arsene dropped his captain and first choice goalkeeper to the bench, after the painful and costly loss against you know who, Arsenal conceded just five goals in ten games: 0.5 goals per game.

Vermaelen has started just one game out of those ten (against Norwich) but Szczesny was reintroduced to the first team against Everton, after which he started in all games again (five in total). Koscielny basically took his chance with both his floppy ears and never looked back. Fabianski did well in his five consecutive games, conceding just three goals. But then he got injured, apparently, and his last chance to claim the nr.1 goalkeeper position at Arsenal went up in smoke.

We will have to see what will happen with Fabianski and Vermaelen this summer, but I reckon not many of us are expecting them to be here come September. I hope the Lion of Flanders will stay and fight for his position, but for Fabianski it would no doubt be best to find himself a team where he will be regarded as the nr.1 goalkeeper.

Nine games of (new) partnership between Koz and Mertesacker are not really enough to make a strong claim about the long term viability of it, but with conceding just four goals in all games, including Bayern, MU, Swansea and West Brom away, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic.

Of course we should take into account the additional support our defence has had in those last ten games, by both playing Arteta and Ramsey in a more conservative and deeper set-up in midfield and by clipping the wings of our full backs to some extent. But the German and Frenchman have formed a great partnership that deserves credit.

For me, despite Fabianski doing well too in his games, both Koz and BFG are not complete without Szczesny behind them. This is a very promising triangle in the heart of our defence and I am starting to feel very positive about it going forward. Somehow, these three get the best out of each other, and the whole is a lot greater than the sum of its parts.

Szczesny is an extrovert and ‘confidence-player’, who imposes himself on his opponents. He also has great technical ability, but his cocky-nature can get him into trouble which sometimes leads to poor and costly mistakes.

Mertesacker is an imposing figure and a natural organiser; he has great overview, and is a fine reader of the game. He is also calm under pressure and deals well with personal mistakes and set-backs for the team. However, we also know he is not the fastest and gets beaten in one-on-one situations at times.

Koscielny is very energetic and athletic, a great tackler and strong in the air. He reads the game, and positions himself, very well. But, his over-exuberance makes him prone to the odd mistake which sometimes leads to costly (own) goals against us.

However, Koz has hardly made any mistakes recently and the same goes for Mertesacker and Szczesny. There seems to be a growing a fine understanding between the Frenchman, the Pole and the German and they are compensating for each other weaknesses to a large extent.

Mertesacker’s organisational skills and natural calm seem to help Koz and Szczesny with balancing their energy levels, composure and decision making. Koz and Szczesny’s speed of thinking and ability to act quickly and decisively are covering well for the BFG’s slowness in turning and vulnerability of being left in a one-on-one with fast and agile attackers.

The three of them are bit by bit forming an almost impenetrable triangle and it also looks like the FB’s are both benefiting from this, as well as adding further value to our solidness at the back.

Sagna and Mertesacker work well together, but I have also noticed how Jenkinson and Mertesacker form a fine partnership on the right side of our defence – both compensating for each other’s weaknesses (inexperience and positioning in case of Jenkinson).

Koz and Gibbs are also starting to gel and support each other better and the same goes for Koz and Nacho. Although, the latter partnership is still more of a work in progress.

All in all, there are some really positive signs with regards to our defensive solidity and although it is still early days, I reckon this is an area Wenger and Bould do not have to worry about too much this summer (except for adding some strength in depth in case Vermaelen does not stay).

But would you agree with that?

Written by: TotalArsenal.

Four reasons why Arsenal should not buy another GK this summer

March 29, 2013TotalArsenal

Will Wojciech be our nr1 Goalkeeper next season?

Arsenal fans (especially us on Bergkampesque) have been holding many great debates and discussions regarding who should join and leave Arsenal in the coming summer. Once the season is over, Wenger will be looking to buy players in a number of different positions to strengthen our squad, in preparation for competing for major trophies next season. Wenger will certainly be looking to acquire players in some/all of the following positions: GK, CB, RB (only if Sagna leaves Arsenal at the end of the season), DM and CF/ST.

Many Arsenal fans have been calling for Wenger to buy a new GK for the last couple of seasons, with Szczesny being our only competent GK in our squad, and with Fabianski and Mannone both classed as being unreliable. This season, Szczesny has been a shadow of his former self: we have seen a dramatic loss in form which has led to us witnessing Wojciech making many schoolboy errors throughout this season in very important matches for us. And now even more Arsenal fans are calling for Wenger to buy a new GK in the summer, to help relieve some of the pressure on our young No.1 GK.

However, I feel we do not need to buy a new GK in the summer for a number of reasons.

Buying a new GK would certainly make Szczesny lose all of his confidence and would lead to his form dipping even more. We have seen this already at Arsenal when Fabianski came into the Arsenal team for Almunia, and most recently, when Szczesny came into the Arsenal team for Fabianski. Almunia and Fabianski lost all of their remaining confidence, meaning that whenever they played for us they were just a bag of nerves.

With 70 million to spend in the summer and Wenger needing to strengthen the squad in a number of positions over the summer, I think a new GK is not a necessity and buying one would not be the best way to utilise our transfer budget.

Buying a GK would use up a considerable amount of our transfer budget which could be better used and invested on outfield players. I feel we need a new CB, DM and CF/ST much more than a new GK. In the last few matches Fabianski has played in goal and has looked pretty solid. Therefore I propose we extend Fabainski’s contract by one year, as he is perfectly capable of stepping in for Szczesny when needed, and buy a new GK in a couple of seasons’ time.

Szczesny’s development would also suffer if a new GK is brought in. At the tender age of 22 years old it is essential that Szczesny gets as much game time as possible so he can continue to mature and develop as a GK. Other young GK’s in the Prem i.e. De Gea and Hart have also made numerous mistakes which have cost their teams vital points, with the latter also making many mistakes for his country. Szczesny must play as many matches as possible so he can learn from his mistakes and grow into an experienced world class GK.

Also, if a new GK does come to Arsenal in the summer, would he even be the GK we need? If we were to get a GK, he would need to be a fair bit older than Szczesny, and experienced at playing at top club and international level; so he would be able to teach and guide Szczesny by sharing his experiences and wisdom with him.

We would not even be able to attract this type of GK as he would want a guaranteed starting spot which would completely ruin the development of Szczesny, which I feel Wenger does not want to do. Why would an experienced GK who has played at the top level throughout his career at club and international level want to warm our bench? This means that any experienced GK who would be willing to sit on our bench would not be worthwhile buying, as it is likely that he would not have the quality to improve on the likes of Fabianski and Mannone.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Written by: AFC

Will the uber-confident Szczesny learn from Bendtner’s mistakes?

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013TotalArsenal

Wojciech Szczesny is one of the most interesting characters at Arsenal. The Pole in goal certainly does not lack confidence; some might even say he is too cocky for his own good. Remember the Bob Wilson/Szczesny quote? Bob Wilson: “The loan to Brentford will be good for you Wojciech?”. To which the Pole responded: “No Bob….. I will be good for them.”

However, for a 22 year old he is also very level-headed and he interviews very well. When he was interviewed after his heroic performance against Liverpool last season – especially the Dirk Kuijt double penalty save – he really impressed me with his excellent English, professionalism, calmness, and of course, his uber-confidence.

We all know that on the day, Wojciech can be brilliant, but this season, for the first time in his young career, things are not going great for him. Most of us prefer a cocky, very confident goalkeeper to a more subdued, humble one. Good goal keeping is in the end not just a matter of technical skills; having a strong, dominant personality is also very important.

But it is harder to warm to such a person if and when things are not going so well. Suddenly the arrogance, which seems to go hand in hand with very strong levels of self believe, becomes less attractive.

When Szczesny let in the Aston Villa equaliser at the weekend, I noticed him just looking ahead with no sign of disappointment in himself. It really annoyed me. I would have liked to shake him at the arm and say: wake up Wojciech, you let our team down again, and it is not good enough: own up to your mistake!

The difference with Joe Hart, who also made a mistake this weekend which led to him conceding a penalty, was very big. Hart looked disappointed with himself and showed regret for what he potentially had done to the team. When he subsequently saved the penalty, there was real relief and an outburst of pure joy. I prefer human beings, including goal keepers, to be like that.

But with Szczesny we get mostly one and the same emotion: he always wants to look in control and ooze confidence. Sometimes, this really works; especially in games in which he is under a lot of pressure, like the recent game against Sunderland, or the mentioned earlier game against Liverpool last season. But in games in which he has very little to do, he has been, at least recently, prone to making costly errors.

In all three recent games against Blackburn, Bayern and Villa he could have done a lot better with the goals we conceded. Of course, preventing goals is a team job and all conceded goals have usually more than one guilty party, but Wojciech played a significant part in them all.

To make progress in life, work and sport, moments of self-reflection are very important. Very self-confident people tend not to do this much, if at all. Yet, a healthy dose of self-doubt and humility is sometimes required in order to learn and improve; to progress to the next stage or phase in life or work. And most important of all is to learn from mistakes.

Another Gunner who has no lack of confidence, and who truly believes he is the best of us all, is the almost forgotten, and no doubt forlorn, Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner. Nicklas totally lacks humility and the ability to allow some healthy self-doubt into his head. The Dane is an ok striker and with hard work and a strong motivation he could even become a good one. We should not have had to buy Giroud this summer; Bendtner should have worked himself into the first team by now. But his cockiness prevented him from listening to Arsene’s advice and give everything to force himself into the team.

Instead, he jumped at the opportunity offered by Juventus to come and join them on loan. He has made a meagre nine appearances for Juventus, and probably most of them as a (late) substitute. For many years, he has been saying that once he reaches the age of 24/25 he will be the best striker in Europe, but as he turned 25 last month, we can say now that this is clearly not going to happen.

I feel that Bendtner’s uber-confidence and arrogance is holding him strongly back from becoming a proper, settled striker who makes the best of his footballing career. And what a great shame it is.

Szczesny seems to be more level-headed and professional than Bendtner and I hope he will use this season as an opportunity to learn from his mistakes, and reflect on how he can develop further and become the all-round, quality goalkeeper that we desperately need at Arsenal.

The next few months might become the most important of his career to date.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Sunderland Review: Szczesny & Sagna our Fiercest Warriors in Impressive Team Display

February 10, 2013TotalArsenal

We always knew Sunderland would be a tough, physical matchup considering their track record of being a solid defensive squad, and the pointless International friendlies that were scheduled midweek. Fortunately, Arsenal were able to escape the Stadium of Light with a much needed three points that catapulted us over Everton to fifth place before their clash with Manchester United later today. This game was a true test of our character since we had to weather out the storm for 28 minutes with only 10 men.

Before the game even started, we were thrown a curveball with Koscielny not feeling well and Sagna having to deputize for him at the CB position, with Jenkinson filling in at RB.

The first half began with strong physical play from both sides, with both Cattermole and Jenkinson making some careless challenges resulting in yellow cards. The physical play continued throughout the half with Sunderland players targeting Jack and Theo at every possible opportunity. It was a pleasure to see Ramsey, Jack and Arteta respond with some physical play of their own and take down some Sunderland players in the process. Arsenal was full of attacking intent and we came at them with pace and astute passing that broke down their defense on numerous occasions. As Sagna pointed out in an interview with Arsenal.com earlier this week, the free flowing nature of our attack often leaves us susceptible to counter attacks, and Sunderland had a couple quality chances themselves to get on the board. Theo was particularly dangerous with the ball at his feet and Sunderland seemingly stood still and watched him, as he easily maneuvered around their defense and created a few quality scoring chances. However, Mignolet was looking like he’d be impossible to beat after making some fantastic saves and us being too wasteful in front of goal; we were all left wondering if this would eventually come back to haunt us yet again.

Fortunately, after several missed chances, Santi was finally able to give us the lead in the 35^th minute on a fantastic cross crease strike.

The second half started exactly how the first half finished, with both teams trading chances and plenty of physical battles. Jack left the field in the 50^th minute after being fouled by N’Diaye and it was more of a precautionary measure by Wenger, since he had played a full match midweek vs. Brazil. Twelve minutes later, Jenkinson fouled Sessegnon after he was beat and collected his second yellow card of the game and was sent off the pitch.

From there, Sunderland took the game to us and continued to challenge our defense and threatened to score. Steven Fletcher had the best chance to equalize on a clear one on one with Szczesny but was denied by aggressive play from our stopper. Sessegnon gave us trouble on both flanks all game and had a few quality chances to score but some poor decision making kept them scoreless.

Theo had the best opportunity to give us a two-goal cushion when Santi sent him in on a clear break, but the post denied his chip shot over Mignolet. Arsenal was able to hold onto the clean sheet and the crucial three points, thanks to some outstanding saves by Szczesny and headers/clearances by Giroud, Mertesacker and Sagna late in the game.

Player ratings:

Szczesny (9.0) – My MoTM and the main reason Arsenal were able to keep a clean sheet. Szczes was certainly the difference maker today as he made 6 quality saves, with three late in the game (Fletcher one on one, in addition to Fletcher and Bramble headers). Good aggressive play on challenging shooters and jumping for high balls in our 18-yard box by our young keeper.

Monreal (7.5) – Nacho is already looking like he’s played with Arsenal for a while and adds stability to the LB position. His phenomenal first touch on controlling balls in the air was there for everyone to witness and he made all the right passes and runs in the offensive zone. Sessegnon did beat him in the first half, however he was trouble for us all night and the defensive lapse never even led to a shot on goal.

Mertesacker (7.0) – The BFG positioned himself well to make some great clearance headers at the end of the game and kept our back line well organized throughout the contest. His one major mistake came in the second half when he cleared a ball right at Fletcher that gave him a clear chance to equalize. Fortunately, Szczesny bailed him out.

Sagna (8.5) – I thought Sagna did a magnificent job filling in for Koscielny at center half. He was very disciplined defensively and never risked his positioning by venturing forward to join the attack. He added a nice physical presence in the heart of our defense and made some game saving clearances in the second half. For me, he was the one of out best players on the pitch today, and it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll get another chance at the CB position.

Jenkinson (6.0) – In the first half, Jenkinson was very steady, joined the attack well and mitigated any risks by clearing the ball out when under pressure. However, in the second half he was beat by Sessegnon on two occasions and one eventually led to his ejection from the game. Both of his fouls were rightfully penalized and they were careless tackles that he could have avoided with better positioning. The sending off put our team under a lot of pressure to come out with the three points and his rating is reflective of this. He might deserve more of a break since it was his first PL start in a while, but I would have to like to have seen Jenks be more disciplined in his tackling.

Arteta (7.5) – Our squad is more organized when he’s in the lineup and he sets up the play from deep with astute passing and vocally dictating to players where the open spaces are. On counter attacks, he would often aggressively challenge the opposition and concede free kicks to allow the rest of our team to catch up. He effectively killed some time near the end of the game by holding on to the ball and not rushing the play up field for a counter attack. However, he made one visible mistake when he questionably held on to the ball and lost possession against a pressing N’Diaye right in front of our back four.

Ramsey (8.5) – Has there been a player who has made greater improvements over the last few weeks than Ramsey? Much like Arteta, he was aggressive in challenging the opposition on counter attacks, defended the RB position against Sessegnon once Jenkinson was sent off the pitch and ran up and down the field the entire game. In the first half, he made some good penetrating passes in the offensive zone and had a great shot on goal that was met by a fantastic diving save. His rating would have been higher had it not been for his wasted breakaway shot right at Mignolet just before the first half.

Wilshere (7.0) – He never really had the opportunity to settle into the game and establish himself since Sunderland’s focus was to foul him and take him out. Still, in the 50 minutes he did play, he effectively drove our team forward and helped dissect Sunderland’s defense. However, Jack uncharacteristically had some misplaced passes in the final third that led to quick counters for Sunderland in the first half.

Cazorla (8.5) – Santi was all over the pitch and his rest last week vs. Stoke seemed to rejuvenate him. Our most dangerous player offensively, he was the main beneficiary of Sunderland’s defense zoning in on Jack. He was given space to move around the pitch and played some dangerous balls in the final third and opened up Sunderland’s stingy defense. His goal in the first half proved to be the match winner and his slick pass to Theo in the second half would have been a nice complement to the performance he put in today. With that said, his shot over the bar near the end of the game was very questionable and it gave Sunderland one more chance to attack down field for the equalizer.

Giroud (7.5) – Defensively, Giroud did all we could ask for from a striker; he ran up and down the pitch to help out at both ends, pressured Sunderland’s defense to rush the ball up field and made some crucial clearances with his head when we were down to 10 men. His movements were great as he got himself into prime scoring areas but his finishing left much to be desired. He had a beautiful pass that sent Ramsey in alone and was involved in other dangerous link-up plays that led to quality scoring opportunities. However, he was also at fault for holding on to the ball for too long and getting stripped, in addition to a few other misplaced passes that stopped our attacking momentum in the first half. His decision to shoot (well over the goal) on a quick break near the end of the game, when he had open men to his left and right, thankfully did not cost us. Hopefully Giroud’s finishing will improve in time for the critical clash vs. Bayern in the CL.

Walcott (7.5) – Theo’s darting runs with the ball really helped set the tone for Arsenal in the first half. He created so many scoring opportunities for himself that it was disappointing to see him miss on all four of his clear scoring chances. Much like Giroud, his lackluster finishing could have cost us on other days, but fortunately not today. Even though he did not score, his overall performance was solid and he contributed an assist on Santi’s goal. Also worth mentioning was that he honoured his defensive responsibilities today, especially when we were down to 10 men and helped Ramsey defend Sessegnon.-

Diaby (6.5) – He came onto the pitch at a disadvantage since we were down to 10 men, 12 minutes into his substitute appearance. It’s difficult to make an immediate impact coming cold off the bench and it was evident in some early give-aways by Diaby. As the game continued, he started being more careful with the ball and was involved at both ends of the pitch. His physical presence in the midfield was exactly what we needed to see out the one goal lead.

Miquel (Incomplete) – He made a late cameo appearance to help protect our one goal lead. It would have been nice to have seen him play more minutes to help discover if we have a quality fourth choice CB. I believe that had Jenkinson not been sent off and if we had been winning by more than one goal, he would have been brought on as a substitute earlier in the second half for Jenkinson, with Sagna being pushed out to RB again.

Final conclusions

With both Chelsea and Tottenham winning their home games today, it was vitally important to return from Sunderland with three hard fought points in the bag. Arsenal played a game of two halves, but both halves contained really good stuff.

In the first half, we were able to dominate play for large periods and create a number of fine opportunities, and some of our football was simply sublime. However, we were wasteful and only scored one goal which kept Sunderland in the game.

In the second half, Arsenal’s resolve was tested by the combination of Jack’s injury and Jenkinson’s sending off. We have often been questioned by the media and pundits if Arsenal are a club that has what it takes to grind out wins like today’s; there was a willingness to fight for every ball and defend our lead at any cost. All the players played well in protecting our lead, but a special mention to both Szczesny and Sagna who fought with pride for the shirt and led the team by example.

Arsene should now be able to rotate a few players for our game against Blackburn in the FA Cup. This means that some of our key players may be rested for ten days before our CL round of 16 tie with Bayern.

A good result today and perfect preparation for two important games coming up.

Written by: Highbury Harmony.