Saturday round-up and West Brom preview.

September 25, 2010

Today sees us take on West Brom at the Emirates. Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT and coverage will begin on J-Sports Plus at 22:54 JST.

 

The manager revealed that both Diaby and Rosicky are doubts for the game and were set to undergo fitness tests yesterday. As of yet, I haven’t heard anything with regards to the results of said tests. Though I think that we can assume that Diaby won’t make the game as he has a history of taking time to recover from injury. Perhaps Rosicky will make the bench. Squillaci missed the Spuds game with a muscular problem and he may make the team today. Eboue is also struggling to be fit due to a knee problem. I would be fairly certain that Gibbs will not be involved in the match day squad as there is no point in taking any kind of risk with him. He will probably be back for the game against Chavski, even though the manager has said that he has a chance to be involved in the Champions League game in midweek.

 

That should see us line up with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Arshavin, Vela and Chamakh. That’s assuming a worse case scenario in that only Squillaci shakes off the ‘small’ injury he had. I think that if we didn’t have so many players carrying small injuries, that Wilshere would certainly have been rested for this game, but I don’t think that we can afford to rest him considering that Cesc is definitely out and there may be a small question mark over Rosicky and Nasri. Though Nasri said after the Spuds game that he should be okay. Who the third man in central midfield will be will depend a lot on the outcome of the fitness tests, otherwise it will go to Wilshere, or one of JET, Eastmond or Lansbury or Nasri.

 

The team needs to re-focus quickly for this game as it is a game in which we must get all three points. We are already playing catch-up on Chavski and cannot allow them to get any further ahead before our against them next Sunday.

 

Yesterday, following the announcement to the club’s finances, there was the inevitable outcry as to why we don’t spend money and that Arsenal has gone from a football club to a business. However, I think that much of the criticism has been grossly unfair on both the manager and the club. Given the number of rich benefactors that have entered the game, had Arsenal stayed at Highbury they would now be dead in the water as they just wouldn’t be able to, or have any future chance to, compete financially. Therefore, the move to the Emirates was vital in order to secure the long-term future of the club, without the need for rich investors. In order to make this move work, the club had to put itself into a scary amount of debt and for this to work we had to embark on a youth development oriented approach to the future. Financial prudence had to be exercised.

 

This approach was accepted in the beginning by most, if not all, fans as we all knew that it was what was needed. However, over time, some quarters became more and more angry and disillusioned with the club and its seeming reluctance to spend. What sometimes has gotten lost in the argument is that in the beginning the money just wasn’t there to invest and then in the more recent years, although the money has been available the manager has not wanted to buy a player that would block the progress of the young players that he had spent the last four, five or six years developing. The manager himself said as much himself in Matt Law’s article in the Daily Express:

“We make a profit because we don’t spend – simple as that. What is unbelievable is that people reproach me for making a profit, but nobody says a word about those who lose money.

I manage in a safe way, but it looks like we are in a business where the quality is to lose money. You know I have the wrong reputation. I’m not scared to spend money, but the job of a manager is not to spend as much money as possible.

To get Chamakh for free – instead of getting credit I get accused for getting him for free. ‘Why did you not spend £20m for him?’ If I bought him two years ago for £20m, then it’s OK. But when you get him for free it’s, ‘Oh, Wenger didn’t spend money again’.”

 

The manager really must feel like he just can’t win. If he spends money and buys players he will either get stick from the fans for bankrupting the club or from the media for fielding a team of foreigners. Likewise, when he is financially prudent and tries to bring through young talent, he gets killed for turning the club into a business and being reluctant to spend. It seems that no matter what he does he will get castigated by someone, so I prefer he continues with the policy he has now.

 

In the same article, the manager went on to defend his youth oriented policy:

“I am reproached for not buying players but, for example, if I buy players Jack Wilshere doesn’t come through, so you cannot have everything. I have a development policy to educate the players and the most difficult thing is to stand up for the policy and play them.

I’ll give you one day the list of those players at the top level who have made careers with me. You will be absolutely astonished – nobody else in the world has made so many careers.

How do I know? First, make a list of the players who started their top-level careers at Arsenal. People like Djourou, Senderos, Clichy, Gibbs, Fabregas, Song, Ashley Cole. If you go all the way back through the names it is unbelievable the number of players who started at this club.

But I speak about me. When I go back to Monaco, the number of players that started with me – Petit and Thuram. When I arrived in England nearly all the Manchester United team had started there, but not recently.”

 

The Daily Mail somehow manage to get a big article today out of the fact that Wenger doesn’t generally share a drink with the opposing manager after a game. Quite why this is an actual story is beyond me. Why would ANYONE want to share a drink with the likes of Pulis or Allardyce? Now, I could envisage him sharing a drink with Ancelotti as he seems like a genuinely nice bloke. But, why would he want to share a post-game drink with two managers that have had nothing but bad things to say about him? Speaking on the matter Wenger told the official site:

“I’ve got nothing against it. When you play away from home you are in a hurry to catch the plane and you are playing three days later. Once I do my press, and my press can last quite a while, I have no time. Most of the time my assistant will go and have a drink.

 
I recognise that [can make me seem aloof] but there’s no bad feeling in that, I just feel after the game you stay on your own and you don’t want to disturb people. I’ve always had that philosophy, even in France. When I arrived here I didn’t know anyone. The managers all knew each other and played alongside each other but when you arrive from a foreign country you don’t know anyone.

I’m not shy, I didn’t even know this tradition existed before I came here. And it’s not that we have nothing in common – we love football and we both love to win. I’m always happy to meet people at the Emirates but away from home we want to get away as quickly as possible. After the game my mind is on the next game but sometimes other managers go quickly as well. When we are at home we always invite them in.”

 

That’s about all I have for today. I’m glad it’s Saturday and that Arsenal are live on TV again. No need to go chasing the stream today.

 

Have a good weekend. I’m off to debate (with myself) whether or not I should go out drinking in Tokyo/Yokohama tonight, or just have a chilled evening at home with cans of Kirin and shouting expletives at the TV.

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Injury updates and a look towards the weekend.

September 23, 2010

As exclusively revealed here yesterday, the scan on Gibbs showed only bruising. We can consider ourselves very fortunate that he will only be out for a relatively short period of time as he is a player that is very important for us this season as we need him to keep up the pressure on Clichy to perform week-in-week-out. Although the injury was feared to be the second metatarsal, which is different to the one he broke before, another metatarsal break would have been a major blow for the player and his development. So, bullet dodged.

 

Hopefully another ten days of rest will sort Vermaelen out and he can make it back for the Chavski game.

 

Enough of the bad news and on to some better news on the injury front. I can reveal that Diaby, Walcott and Van Persie have all started running again and so they are slowly making their way back towards being available for selection. However, as of yet, no date has been set for the return of any of the three players. I suspect Diaby will be the first of those to return, though given his injury history that may be a wildly optimistic prediction. One way or another, the above three players and Fabregas should all be pretty fresh for our traditional hell month, November. I haven’t heard anything on the Bendtner injury front.

 

Looking ahead to the weekend and we will be taking on West Brom at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT, which means coverage will begin at the much more convenient time of  22:54 JST. I am really looking forward to being able to watch the game at a more sociable hour. The game will be shown live on J-Sports Plus, while at the same time J-Sports 2 will be showing Liverpool vs Sunderland. The early game between Man Shitty and Chavski will be shown live on J-Sports 2 from 20:39. Looks like it will be a decent evening of football for me.

 

The team selection for the weekend should see Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci and Clichy play in defence. Midfield is likely to see Song, Denilson, Rosicky, Eboue, and Arshavin start with Chamakh again being the lone man up front. I think that Wilshere will be rested and Nasri may also be rested as there was a slight fitness worry over him at the end of the Spuds game.

 

The last thing we need is to take risks with the fitness of the players, so it would be prudent to exercise some caution with Nasri if there is any doubt at all over his fitness. Wilshere could also do with a little breather ahead of the Champions League and Chavski games next week. We should learn a little more about the possible weekend team selection over today and tomorrow as the manager’s weekly interview and press conference appear on ATVO.

 

Looking at the Carling Cup this could be our best chance for years to go on and win it. Liverpool, Chavski, Everton and Man Shitty are all out and it would be nice if we could get a favourable draw in the next round. We all know that for any of the big teams, the Carling Cup is the lowest priority, however, this team needs to win something in order to instill that belief and winning attitude. They need silverware, regardless of how low of a priority that competition may be. They need to experience winning a final. They need to know that they can do it. If that happens, it could be the catalyst to start an era of dominance for this team. I know that that last sentence is a bit Myles-esque in its hyperbole, but I really think that once the first trophy comes more will quickly follow. Much like going out drinking at the weekend and needing to use the bathroom, this team needs to break the seal. This is a sentiment echoed by Rosicky in the Daily Express.

 

I have a feeling that Wenger’s team selection against Spuds revealed that he may be coming around to the same way of thinking. Outside factors such as the easing of the club’s debt may also mean that there doesn’t need to be such an emphasis on blooding youngsters in this competition as we are not as reliant on that for continued success as has previously been the case. Or, it could just be that we have seen many of these players playing in the Carling Cup for a number of years now and it doesn’t feel like we are playing a weakened team in that competition anymore. These players are, for the most part, ready for inclusion in the first team squad and so the fruits of previous Carling Cup campaigns are paying off. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. All that I know is that I would love to see this club win a trophy this season and if that trophy is the Carling Cup, so be it. We have to start somewhere.

 

Speaking to the official site following the Tottenham game, Rosicky revealed his admiration for Jack Wilshere and he basically echoes the thoughts and sentiments that all fans have for our emerging star:

“He is great talent. For his age he has a great brain and he has a great future. When he has got the ball he is very calm, that’s something that sometimes younger guys don’t have – they panic a little bit or something.

With him you don’t see that though – he is very comfortable with the ball. That’s the first quality you are looking for and he has got that. Obviously we want Cesc in our line-up but all players who started showed that they are ready.”

 

Even though I am Irish, the fact that Wilshere is an emerging English talent does make him a bit more special. I suppose it also helps that the emergence of the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, JET and Eastmond gives the media one less thing to denigrate Arsenal for. All of these players have big futures in the game, hopefully that future is at Arsenal. The days of the media harping on about Arsenal not fielding any English players, not that that should make a difference anyway as it is about quality not nationality, should be at an end.

imageThe future?

 

That’s a longer post than I had expected to write, so I’d best just stop here. But before I go, check out John Cross’s article on tackling. It’s a good read.

 

Take it easy.

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It’s a long one today – (that’s what she said)

September 17, 2010

Yesterday saw the annual shareholders Q&A taking place with the manager. There wasn’t a huge amount of new information to come from it, but it is always nice for the shareholders, who are also fans, to ask questions to the manager and hear what he has to say. For more detailed comment on, and quotes from, the Q&A, check out The Goon Blog which has a three part post on the event: Part One; Part Two; Part Three. Arsenal Insider also has an in-depth post on the evening.

 

Wenger spoke about how Almunia and Fabianski were exposed to a lot of pressure in the summer, but neglected to mention the fact that all of that pressure was put on them by the manager himself by carrying out his open quest to sign Mark Schwarzer, always refusing to confirm who would be the club’s no1 for the current season.

 

There were some questions about signings and club ownership but the manager did a Matrix style dodge of the latter by just saying that he is a club employee and it is not his position to try and influence the ownership structure of the club. Regarding signings, he said that he is happy with the business that we did in the summer and that he always makes sure to meet a player before signing them. Unlike Ferguson, who signed Bebe without even having seen the player, neither in the flesh nor on DVD. I don’t understand why someone would sign a player without ever having seen him play or met him, especially when you consider that millions of pounds are at stake.

 

Anyway, on the financial side of things, the manager defended his spending policy by pointing out that in his time at the club we have built both a state of the art training ground and a new stadium which are the envy of most clubs across Europe. Whilst this is a very important point to remember, it also seems clear that there has been some money there to spend and the frustration that the fans feel, and vent, stems from the fact that we know there is money available and that over the past few seasons we have always been just one or two signings away from being a trophy winning team, but the necessary player investment has not happened, or at least the investment that the fans have perceived to be necessary anyway. Knowing the team is so close to being great, but for the required investment not to happen is hard for fans to take.

 

However, the manager should be applauded for keeping the club in the Champions League, and competitive, throughout the transition phase from the start of construction on the Emirates until now, despite such a restricted financial environment. To an extent, I can understand the slight reluctance to spend the available money as he knows that if the signing doesn’t work out, then he has chucked money away that he couldn’t afford to chuck away. Unlike someone like Redknapp, Wenger thinks long-term, but fans think short-term and get frustrated. He did reveal that the club is trying to get him to look at lucrative pre-season tours and it is something that he is open to as long as it isn’t in the same year as an international tournament and that it is for the right reasons.

 

There is an article in The Daily Mail where Keown talks sense and Townsend talks through his chocolate starfish about Wenger’s call for players to get more protection. The frustrating thing about this whole issue is that people are conveniently ignoring that Wenger isn’t calling for more protection for Arsenal players, he is calling for more protection for ALL players and an end to reckless tackling where players have no intention to play the ball. There is a difference between a hard and fair tackle where a player is honestly going for the ball, and a tackle where the player is more interested in stopping the other player than going for the ball. Anyway, it seems like the media and the English managers have once again begun circling the wagons and Wenger’s calls for change will get lost under the tag of ‘whinging.’ Warning, the above link has a horrible picture of the Eduardo injury towards the bottom of the article. Surprise, surprise, Graham Poll also misses the bigger point that Wenger is trying to make.

 

Following Wenger’s calls for a crackdown on bad/reckless challenges the media have, predictably, trotted out the xenophobic and moronic views of Allardyce and Coyle. The former being a long-time walrus lookalike and the latter probably being a bit bitter that he didn’t get Wilshere on loan again this season. I’m just waiting for them to complete the unholy trinity by cracking out the comments of Pulis over the coming weekend, whether or not the article with his comments will come with a picture of a naked head butt remains to be seen. Googplaya talks a lot of sense on the issue here.

 

Speaking of stupid tackles and recklessness, Aaron Ramsey has been talking about his comeback from injury. Fingers crossed that his recovery continues without any major setbacks, though I suppose some niggling muscular injuries are to be expected:

“No, I won’t have any second thoughts. I’ve seen the X-rays, I’ve seen the scans and the leg is strong so I won’t be thinking about the injury when I go in for a challenge. I have started running now and I have had good days and bad days but it is coming along and hopefully I can get back soon. There is no pain anymore.

The only good thing to come from this is that it has helped me realise how much my career means to me. Now I can’t wait to get back training and playing.”

 

Jack Wilshere has been talking about his breakthrough into the first team and how much he enjoys playing alongside and learning from Cesc. Let’s hope that he will have more than just this season to learn from our Catalan captain:

“It is perfect playing with Cesc and Alex in midfield. Playing with people like Cesc Fabregas makes it easy for you. He will talk to you and talk you through games. You saw what Cesc could do against Braga – it is perfect for me to learn from him.

It is good to get games and hopefully I can push on from here. I am just trying to break into the Arsenal first team. Last year, I had to go out on loan to get some games because there were some world-class players at Arsenal, but I have come back with more experience and the boss thinks I am ready to challenge for a place. All I can do is challenge and show them what I can do.”

 

On the injury front, there must have been some flying pigs over north London on Wednesday evening as the team came through a full game without picking up any new injuries. The news got slightly better when it was revealed that both Vermaelen and Diaby have been penciled in to be back for the West Brom game. Though it is disappointing that Vermaelen won’t be available for the trip to Sunderland tomorrow and his recovery has been a bit slower than expected. The squad for tomorrow’s should be the same as for the Braga game but there should be some rotation of the starting eleven.

 

Cesc and Clichy have been talking about how they feel that we can win the something this season and the fact that the Champions League final is going to be taking place at Wembley just serves as extra incentive to do well.

 

Right, I think that I have written enough for today, hopefully you have managed to stick with it until the end.

 

Have a good Friday. I have a busy weekend of high school festivals during the day and evening drinking sessions ahead. I will TRY to make a post tomorrow with a match preview, but may not have the time.

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We’ve got Six Fabregas.

September 16, 2010

Good morning. I think that we can all be happy with the result of last night’s game and especially with our performance. The team played really well and it is a great sign that even with so many players absent due to injury the team can still put in top quality performances.

 

Granted, Braga may not be the greatest team in the world and they made the team’s job a lot easier by allowing our players space and time on the ball. But, we shouldn’t forget that they dispatched Celtic and Sevilla in order to get to the group stage and they finished ahead of Porto in the league last season. So, they are by no means pushovers.

 

As expected, the team, lined up in defense with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci and Clichy. Though, in midfield, we started with Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas and Arshavin with Chamakh playing up front. I had thought that Wilshere may have been rested for the game as he has played quite a lot so far this season but he had a good game and his cheeky little back-heel for Chamakh’s goal was the icing on a good all-round performance by him. Let’s hope that he can keep his feet on the ground, because if he can do that he will develop into a world class player.

 

The goals came from Fabregas (penalty and header), Chamakh, Arshavin and two for Vela. Fabregas was great again and I think he is now back to his normal level, which is great. I also think that the arrival of Chamakh has made a difference too as his link play, holding up the ball and work rate is something that we were missing up front and it is nice to have a striker that is not afraid to get hurt in order to get on the end of a cross.

 

The most exciting thing about this season is that the team seems to have grown, learned and improved when compared with the last two seasons. That is great to see and it is also good to hear the manager say that we can no longer use being young as an excuse for not winning. The manager, players and fans all know that it is time for this team to deliver, no excuses. I, for one, really have a feeling that this could be a big year for us.

 

I’m not just getting carried away on the basis of last night’s result, but if you look at our games this season we have certainly grown as a team and the only blemish on our record is the 1-1 draw at Anfield, which is never a bad result, especially when you are a goal down with one minute left on the clock. Compare that with ManUre, whereas we are gaining a point late on, they have twice lost points late on.

 

The team has character and is showing signs of a greater resilience. Let’s hope that they can continue this vein of form as we can all remember them starting well before only to let their work-rate drop and as a result the performances and results  reflected that. Hopefully this year they will put right that issue.

 

After the game the manager spoke about the quality of our performance:

“We won the game but I believe as well we played the game we wanted to play, at a high pace, with top technical quality and with a lot of creative attitude and a good concentration and collective spirit. Our game is based on that. It’s our philosophy and, for long patches of the game, we managed to express that. I believe we had many good performances on the pitch. Everybody played quite well, we were sound at the back, Wilshere had a very good game as well. Everybody played well.”

 

I suppose the only real downside of the performance was the poor accuracy of Arshavin’s passing and that is an area that he needs to work on. At one stage his passing accuracy was around 56%, which just isn’t good enough at that level. Defensively we could be a bit more solid, but hopefully that will come as Koscielny and Squillaci get used to the league and each other. Clichy is also a bit of a worry and it can only be a good thing that he now has Gibbs breathing down his neck.

 

The manager also revealed that Diaby has some bruising and ligament damage. We can only hope that they crack out some Oleg Luzhny placenta to help his recovery along and that he is back in training sooner rather than later.

 

Next on the agenda is a trip to the Stadium of Light at the weekend and it is a game where the team will need to stay fully focused in order to keep our current good run going and to keep pressure on Chelsea and ManUre. The game is a 17:30 GMT kick-off, which means that it’ll be a delightfully convenient 01:30 JST kick-off here… I hate when we have a late kick-off, though at least Sunday is a day off.

 

That’s about all for today. Check out Arseblog and Gunnerblog who will probably have a more in-depth report on last night’s game. Though, I suppose that’s what newspaper websites like The Guardian are for.

 

The shareholders’ Q&A session should be taking place this evening from 6pm-7pm, so hopefully there will be some interesting things to come out of it.

 

Right, that’ll do for today. Take it easy and enjoy the feeling of a 6-0 victory in the Champions League.

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Hoping for a Braga-n 3 points.

September 15, 2010

Tonight sees us take on Braga at the Emirates and it is a game that we really need to win in order to get our Champions League campaign off to a good start. We need to hit the ground running. The team needs to be careful though, because it won’t be any easy game and Braga have already dispatched of some decent sides (Celtic and Sevilla) to get to this stage, so I imagine that the pre-game team talk will involve a warning to not mess around and to take the game seriously.

 

On the injury front, we will be without Diaby whole is currently out for an undetermined period of time. At the moment, only the next two games have been confirmed. Though, when it comes to our players, and Diaby in particular, I think that we can  expect it to be a minimum three or four week layoff. We don’t do short term injuries. That’s not how we roll. I guess we should just consider ourselves lucky that his leg didn’t end up destroyed like Eduardo’s or Ramsey’s. The art of tackling is certainly a dying one, if not already dead. The player himself was certainly a lot more laid back about the tackle than I would be if I were on the receiving end of that it:

“I will miss our first game in the Champions League but to be honest I am lucky to only miss two or three games, I really thought I would be out for a long time. Bolton is a very physical team and to be honest the tackle was a strong one, but it is Premier League football, people are committed, so it is fine for me.

I hope the team start the Champions League with a victory, the first game in any competition is always very important.”

The terms ‘physical team’ or ‘committed team’ is British newspaper speak for ‘dirty.’ At least that statement won’t allow the likes of Pulis to come out with his ‘moaning like a drain’ rubbish.

 

The manager has again called for more protection for players, but you get the feeling that the empty-headed English managers and media will get all xenophobic and say that there is no need for something to be done and that Wenger and Arsenal are a team of softies. That kind of attitude drives me nuts and I really don’t think that anything will be done until one or more of the current England squad are put out of the game for an extended period of time.

“The tackle was very bad. I cannot protect the players; only the FA can do that. I love the English game but people are more interested in controversy than protecting the players. Why should I create another story? You asked me how the tackle was and it was bad. But I don’t know if my views are taken seriously. Diaby has been injured from an unfair tackle. I’ve watched it 10 times and it is an unfair tackle. But people just think I’m protecting my players by saying that and that I have a [vested] interest.

Don’t get me wrong – sometimes my players commit bad fouls. Yet the beauty of the game is down to the fact that you play with commitment, with passion but also with the right intention. If you have a good sliding tackle where the player takes the ball, it’s as good to see as a player scoring a goal. But when a guy closes his eyes and jumps with anger it’s not right.

I’m not enough, alone, to change things. Managers, referees, people who watch games, even journalists have to take responsibility. It’s a matter of respecting the rules. The problem is that, when I say it, it is only considered ‘controversial’ and it is just ‘Wenger, Wenger, Wenger, Wenger’.”

The problem is a mixture of racism and stupidity, the former by the media and the latter by stupid pundits like Mark Bright that come out with statements along the lines of ‘I’d rather be elbowed in the face than spat upon.’ That’s the kind of idiocy that you are up against and it’s the type of stupidity that gets broadcast on TV and radio and then absorbed by the average fan. There is nothing wrong with a physical game, that’s what we love to see but it has to be played with the right attitude and desire. Players need to try to win the ball rather than rough up their opponent. I truly believe that if the likes of Kevin Davies were not English he would have umpteen red cards to his name but, as he is English, he just isn’t that kind of player. (I should point out that I am not anti-English, I’m against xenophobia, especially when it gets in the way of improving the game.)

 

Anyway, rant done. Tonight should see the recall of Sagna and Clichy to the defense and that would see us line up with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci and Clichy at the back. In midfield, I expect us to line up with Song, Fabgreas, Nasri, Eboue and Arshavin with Chamakh again plowing the lone furrow up front. Well, that’s the team that I would go with, but the manager may well decide to go with Denilson instead of Nasri to offer a bit more defensive stability. Though I am sure that Rosicky will also be hoping to get a start. Vermaelen is still unavailable with his achilles injury.

 

There is an interview with Chamakh on the FIFA website where he talks about life so far at the club.

 

Here’s hoping that we take all three points tonight and that my waking up at 03:45 to watch the game will be worthwhile.

 

Take it easy.

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Fulham preview and news round-up.

May 8, 2010

The final game preview of the season is here and a little more news has begun to trickle through regarding tomorrow’s game, though it has come more from the Fulham side in that both Duff and Zamora are confirmed as missing out. Both are welcome absentees from an Arsenal perspective as it was Zamora that tortured Sol a few years back in what turned out to be his final game for the club in his first stint here. So, I’m sure Sol will be happy to not have to face him again, as am I, because he has been in good form this season.

 

The manager said that there is a chance that Clichy will play, but to be honest I would rather see him take a chance on Gibbs as it is the final game of the season and even if Gibbs were to have a setback, there is still plenty of time for him to recover before the new season gets underway. Not that I want him to have a setback, but you know what I mean. I think that Gibbs will be the future of the club at left back, so it would be nice to see him get a bit more playing time under his belt before the end of the season.

 

Both Van Persie and Arshavin should start the game, probably Walcott, too, with no other players to return since the Blackburn game. That leaves the manager with one huge decision to make, that being who to play in goal tomorrow? If indeed Almunia DOES have an injury, then it is a choice between Lukarse and Mannone. Neither of those choices fills me with great confidence but, I would pick Mannone ahead of Lukarse as we know that Lukarse has a definite mistake in him in every single game he plays, guaranteed. Mannone may be younger and less experienced, but I would have more confidence in him to do a job for us tomorrow, especially as he had such a good game against Fulham before. It’s crazy that Arsenal are in the situation where we’re hoping our third choice keeper plays instead of our 2nd choice, but that’s where we find ourselves so we just have to get on with it. Pray to whatever god or higher power you believe in that Wenger goes out and buys a quality keeper in the summer.

 

So, our probable line-up tomorrow will be: Mannone (hopefully), Sagna, Campbell, Silvestre (God help us), Clichy, Walcott, Eboue, Nasri, Diaby, Arshavin and Van Persie.

 

I think Eboue will keep his place after looking bright and making some good runs against Blackburn last week. Though we may see Eduardo start in place of Walcott. If that happens, we could see Arshavin and Van Persie starting in the wider positions with Eduardo up front. Van Persie plays out wide for the national team, so he could be a good support for Eduardo, who is likely to play his last game for the club tomorrow.

 

Elsewhere, the boss says that Tottenham deserve their place in the Champions League and as much as it pains me to say it, you can’t really disagree with that. After 38 games, the league table doesn’t lie. But, we’d better not let those bunch of c*nts pip us to third. I was at the Villa game a good few years back on the final day of the season when ManUre clinched the title on the final day by beating Spuds and a bunch of Spuds c*nts came down to Islington to gloat/goad the Arsenal fans. So, we can’t give them the chance to do something similar again.

 

The boss also came as close as he ever has to confirming a transfer without actually confirming it when saying this about Chamakh:

“It is not officially done, but we are confident on the boy. When all is clear we will come out and announce it.”

 

So, we are a step closer to having our first signing officially announced. Now, Arsene, get the finger out and sort out our goalkeeping and central defensive issues, please.

 

Of our current league predicament, the manager had this to say:

“I am surprised because I thought we would make the points before now. I know this match comes after a few disappointing results and of course since we have gone out of the Champions League there was a little downer in our heads. But I think we have enough pride and quality to finish the season well and to secure third place.”

 

It’s the job of the manager and his staff to make sure that the players retain their focus, fight  and desire, despite the disappointment of going out of the Champions League. You get the feeling that there was an air of complacency floating around the club in that they thought that a 3rd place finish was a given. This year should be another lesson to the team that nothing can be taken for granted in the league. But, how many times do they have to be taught this lesson? I wonder can Demento lend his hairdryer to us this weekend, because some of the players need a good kick up the arse.

 

Talking about possible transfers and team progression the boss had this to say:

 

“If we bring some players in then they have to be experienced. I think we have been in the race this year with the team we had. We will be stronger next year just with the internal improvement and with the experience these players will have. The additions will be minimal but if there are some they have to be really top class.”

 

In a strange way it is the final line of that quote that scares me the most, because we have heard the manager say this before and he has then gone out and signed Silvestre. Fingers crossed he means actual quality players this time. They don’t have to be expensive, as long as they are good. Also, I hope that our players actually do learn from the experiences of this season.

 

Anyway, this is the final game of the season, it’s at home, so I hope that our fans will give their all to drag the team across the finish line. The team needs our total support tomorrow. One game, three points. Let’s get the job done.

 

One final note, I’d like to wish Robert Pires (one of my all-time favourite Arsenal players) all the best in finding a new club after Villarreal told him that they won’t be renewing his contract. I still wish that we had never let him go.

 

Take it easy. I’ll be back on Monday.

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The final Friday.

May 7, 2010

This is the final Friday of the season for The Arsenal and as of yet things have been a bit slow news-wise today. Things have also been a bit quiet on the official word front, in terms of a confirmation/denial of the Chamakh(alaka) Boom deal. But, I suppose no news is good news.

 

Since my last post, Spuds beat Man Shitty 1-0 thus securing a crack at the Champions League for them and putting a bit of pressure on us to get a result against Fulham this coming Sunday. Not that we didn’t want our team to go out and get a result against Fulham, regardless of the Spuds game, but to be in the situation where we need to get a result in order to absolutely guarantee automatic qualification for the Champions League just shows how poor we have been over the final month of the season.

 

It amazing how a few inept and lazy performances have done so much damage to our overall assessment of the team’s performances and progress over the season. There are still a lot of issues with this squad, the greatest of which being in defense, but the team is on the cusp of improving it’s league position this year and that isn’t something which should be overlooked. That said, I think the performances of the other teams around us have made us look a bit better than we actually were. Yes, we may finish third which would be an improvement, but in terms of overall quality I am not sure we have actually improved a great deal. Certainly with regard to injuries picked up, we have taken a step backwards this season, though not all of those could be legislated for.

 

This season has shown that players like Vela, Diaby, Silvestre and Eduardo are not up to the task of representing Arsenal. The jury is still out on Rosicky and I would like to see him get another season to see if he can regain some form when playing regularly with Cesc, Van Persie and Arshavin next season. I mean, who wouldn’t struggle for form when playing alongside mediocre players such as Denilson and Diaby, who can’t really be arsed giving their all.

 

Of the four others mentioned above, I would expect Silvestre and Eduardo to depart in the summer but I don’t see Wenger letting Denilson or Diaby go. I quite like Diaby, he is capable of putting in great performances. The only problem is that he is even more capable of being a lazy sod that puts in some woeful performances.

 

Team news ahead of the Fulham game is a bit thin on the ground at the minute as ATVO still hasn’t put up the manager’s weekly interview in full yet, though today’s press conference should shed some more light on that matter a bit later. However, it would appear that Clichy is the only one of the players absent from the Blackburn debacle that has a chance of returning. It’s frustrating to not have Song for such an important game and it’s also disappointing for the player himself to not get the chance to play in the final home game of the season after having his best season for us. It seems likely that Arshavin and Van Persie will start. Let’s hope that Arshavin puts in a decent performance, he’ll need to be phenomenal if he wants to trick Barca into buying him in the summer…

 

I share Arseblogger’s incredulity at those that would like to see Spuds finish ahead of us in the league. How f*cking stupid is that? How in the name of f*ck would that help our cause in any way? If we finish fourth and then go out in the qualifiers, then you could forget any chance of splashing the cash next year. So those people need to get real and get behind OUR team, not those crowd of tossers down the road. We need automatic qualification for the Champions League, end of story.

 

My brother is heading to the game this weekend, so I’ll be crossing my fingers that he doesn’t jinx us and that we can take advantage of what will almost certainly be a weakened Fulham team. They will rest some players and those that will play will not want to pick up an injury, though there will also be some that try and play their way into their manager’s plans ahead of the Europa League final next Wednesday.

 

Anyway, that’s about that for today. A whole lot of nothing really. I’ll have more news, views and hopefully some concrete team news tomorrow. Time for a bit of Arsecast action (on the iPhone, nothing sleazy), check it out if you don’t already. Also, check out the ‘It’s Up For Grabs’ podcast with Alan Davies, too. Both are quality.

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A kick in the Flaps.

May 4, 2010

Well, what can you say about that? Lukarse did it again. I can forgive him for the first goal as I do think that he was fouled, though he could still have done better. But, for the second goal, well, he really was rubbish. There’s no excuse for him not being able to get to that ball. It proved, once again, that he isn’t good enough to play in a top four team.

 

I remember Jens Lehmann getting axed because he made two mistakes at the start of his final season at the club. Well, Lukarse has made mistakes in pretty much every game he has played in. It’s not good enough. It wouldn’t be acceptable in a school team so it certainly shouldn’t be acceptable at a club that likes to think of itself as being in the top ten of Europe’s elite.

 

Blackburn set out to test the keeper by lumping balls into the box and getting players around him to put pressure on him. That’s a totally understandable tactic to use given Lukarse’s propensity to crack under the slightest bit of pressure. So, I can’t blame Blackburn for doing that. All they did was target our obvious weakness at the back. People used to do the same to Lehmann to try and get him to lose his cool, but those incidents generally didn’t result in the mother or all rickets. Taxi for Lukarse, please.

 

To be fair to Lukarse, he did make some good saves prior to the first goal. The only problem was that the customary mistake was always going to come. With an outfield player you can generally afford a mistake or two, but when it’s the keeper making the mistakes, then those mistakes generally result in a goal. How many points have we thrown away this season because of goalkeeping errors?

 

What was utterly infuriating was the general lack of fight, ambition and ability displayed by the team. Too many players on show yesterday just aren’t up to scratch, I’m afraid. Diaby, yet again, was wholly forgettable. Vela, as someone said on Twitter, puts the ‘meh’ in Mexican. A lightweight not up to the strength and pace of the Premier League.

 

To be fair to Eboue, he started brightly and made some good runs. Van Persie got himself a rare headed goal, from a flick-on by Sagna (who went a bit Stevie Bould for a minute). Unfortunately that was to be about as good as it got. Oh, there was a great chance for Vela to score but he didn’t really get anything on the ball and it skittered wide.

 

Watching the game, which kicked off at 01:00 JST, on a stream in bed didn’t help my mood, especially in the second half when we were particularly poor. By the time Eduardo came on, it didn’t really make any difference, for two reasons; the first being that we created f*ck all in the second half so he was never going to get the ball and the second being that he hasn’t really looked like a serious goal threat since Taylor tried to take his leg home as a trophy.

 

Talking about Lukarse’s performance, Wenger said ‘…I think he had a good game.’ As much as I love you Arsene, I’m going to have to take issue with describing Lukarse’s performance as good. The keeper’s job is to make saves, instill confidence in his defense and keep the ball out. Making a few decent saves but then undoing all of that with a ricket doesn’t, in my book, count as having a good game.

 

To be beaten by Wigan and Blackburn due to defensive errors and a general lack of effort is infuriating. It shouldn’t matter that the league challenge is gone and the players lack motivation. There is still third place in the league to secure. What happened to pride as a source of motivation? Those players owe it to Wenger, who has backed them to the hilt through thick and thin, as much as they do to the fans to give their all in every game. To go out onto the pitch and not bother your arse putting in a shift, yet then expect a pay rise every year or two just isn’t on.

 

The last few games have highlighted the inadequacies in the squad and the players that, although talented, aren’t good enough or hardworking enough for a team playing at the sharp end of the Premier League. Losing seven away games in a season just isn’t good enough. I was at the game when we secured the unbeaten season. How far, far away this squad is from that level. You look at the size, ability and desire of the respective players and it is just night and day.

 

I have no idea what plans the manager has for summer restructuring and rebuilding, but I pray that he has a plan in place with definite targets to go for. I just hope that one of those targets is a keeper.

 

Right, I’m too annoyed to write any more today. That’ll have to do.

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Posted by thenorthbank

He is the Walrus, goo goo g’joob.

May 3, 2010

So today sees us take on that horrible walrus and his bunch of journeymen. I always hate games against his teams because they never have any interest in actually playing football against us, they just want to kick players. There’s also the fact that he deludes himself into thinking that he always outwits us tactically, which is a load of c*ck. Instructing your players to kick the other team off the field isn’t tactically outwitting anyone. Though, of course, it never gets labeled as that, instead it is called ‘committed’ or ‘getting in their faces’ which gives it the misleading notion of being a good trait for a team to possess. Let’s hope we blow them off the field today and stick it to their hateful manager.

 

I don’t expect the team to change much from the one that faced Wigan. The keeper and back four should be the same. In midfield, I think that we will line up with Diaby, Song and Nasri in the middle, as Denilson has been ruled out for the rest of the season. I would go with Walcott and Van Persie out wide and Bendtner up front in order to give us a bit more aerial presence.

 

Almunia is still ruled out with his phantom wrist injury and it’s quite possible that he has played his last game for the club. I like Almunia, he seems like a very nice guy but, to be honest, he isn’t the required standard to be the Arsenal no1.

 

I also expect Arshavin to be out for the remainder of the season, joining Vermaelen, Denilson and Gallas on the list of muscular injuries, which seem to be one of our fortes.

 

For the kicking journeymen, Emerton, Grella, Samba and Diouf may all return. So expect some spitting and kicking from the latter.

 

I heard a rumour that the pitch at Ewood Park hasn’t needed fertilizing since the walrus took over as manager as his players do enough sh*t-kicking on it for that not to be warranted.

 

I won’t comment on the Arshavin quotes until they have been verified one way or the other. Though I suspect it’s a bit of agitating by an agent looking for a payday rather than the player himself.

 

Right, that’s it for today. Come on you Reds!

 

(One final note, the ‘walrus’ moniker comes courtesy of Arseblog. If you haven’t already read that site, check it out. You should also check out Gunnerblog, Goonerholic and East Lower)

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A decent result, shame we didn’t spoil the party.

May 17, 2009

So, yesterday saw us draw 0-0 with ManUre at Old Trafford. We dominated the game without ever really creating much in the way of clear0cut chances. Song played very well at centre-half and he is certainly more useful there than Silvestre.

 

Diaby was very disappointing yet again. He is a frustrating player as he seems to just lope around the pitch and make lazy passes. He has the physical stature to be able to really impose his authority on a game and boss the midfield but he seems to choose not to use it. Very disappointing, but what can you do.

 

Adebayor gave an interview to Football Focus yesterday wherein he basically criticised the Arsenal fans for giving him such a hard time. Well, I’m sorry, but if you spend a season wandering aimlessly around the pitch without any effort to challenge for a ball and then at every given opportunity talk about how other clubs want you then you can’t expect the fans to do anything else than give you a hard time. If you disrespect the club by whoring yourself to AC Milan, then don’t expect the fans to sing your name with the same gusto as before.

 

Even at ManUre the fans haven’t completely forgiven Ronaldo for his whoring himself to Real Madrid but the big difference is that Ronaldo is still producing the goods on the football field so things are relatively rosy for him. Adebayor has done fuck all on the pitch all season. I know that you can point to the number of little injuries he has picked up, but the fact is that in the majority of games he has participated in he has not put in the required work-rate. It would appear that he and Diaby have struck some kind of bet to see who can out-lazy the other, much like Flamini, Hleb and Fabregas struck a bet to see who could get the most goals in a season. Except the latter bet was of benefit to the team, the apparent Adebayor and Diaby bet is of benefit to fuck all. If we can flog both and get in the region of £23m for the pair, then that would be great and would allow the manager to get in some players that would actually contribute to the cause.

 

It’s a shame really that things have gone so sour with Adebayor because he was a massive player for us last season. If only he had kept the same attitude and work ethic this season he would still be a firm fan favourite, despite his flirtations with admiring clubs the fans would forgive him for that if he was producing the goods. I think that is the point that the player himself seems to be missing, if his interview yesterday is anything to go by.

 

Of yesterday’s game, Arséne had this to say:

“United are worthy champions. They did well in every single competition and that is very difficult. It was a very interesting championship. I think United won it because they got more points at home than any of the other teams in the top four. Our ambition was to win the game. United were very cautious, and we did not find an opening. We lacked sharpness and quality in the final third but overall we dominated the game. United’s strength is to defend well and that is what they did today.”

 

As much as it pains me to say it, ManUre are worthy champions this season. They have been the most consistent team and deserve the title. We are clearly some way from achieving a similar level of consistency over a season. But, there is hope for us should we sign two or three players with the required quality and work ethic.

 

According to the Daily Mail the boss’s transfer budget has been cut to £13m for the summer, but that is a figure that they have more than likely pulled right out of their ass. The papers are full of speculation about how much the boss has to spend, but the club are never going to tell anyone exactly how much they have to spend as that would affect the prices they are quoted for players, so we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of wheeling and dealing that Arséne does when the window opens.

 

Okay, that’s all for today. Enjoy your Sunday.

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