Reflections of the match at Old Trafford: perspective required!
10/11/13
This afternoon has been a bit of a frustrating one for Arsenal fans, to put it mildly. We always knew this week was going to be a very tough one, playing fixtures against Liverpool, Dortmund and Manchester United in quick succession, is never easy at the best of times. However we have finished this week with two wins out of the three, 3 goals scored and only 1 conceded, to "you know who"! I think if we were offered this scenario before we played Liverpool last Saturday, which was a game in itself which was approached with quite a lot of trepidation by Arsenal fans, I think we'd have taken it.
Looking more broadly, we have now reached the November international break, which represents a fair chunk of the season completed, and The Arsenal are top of the Premier league, two points clear of the nearest challengers, and also top of the pool, dubbed "The Group Of Death" in UEFA Champions League. This represents a fantastic turnaround in fortunes, and a significant improvement. I think if you'd have said to someone after the Aston Villa farce on the opening day, back in August, that we'd be in this position at this time of the season, after playing the teams we have in the last week especially, they'd would have thought you were insane, and probably suggested seeing a doctor or perhaps even checking into "rehab"!
Furthermore to put the teams' "achievements" so far into further perspective, this has all be done for the most part without a string of squad members what would fairly be classified as "key players". The likes of England Internationals: Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin, German 100 cap+ international: Lukas Podolski and treatment room regular: Abou Diaby, are all to return at some point to the squad.
Therefore I think the foundation has been laid for this season, and it is a very encouraging one. We have started very well, and I believe much more is to come. The team didn't play as they can today, but still caused The Champions of England (although slightly out of sorts Champions so far this season), significant problems, and forced them into quite a panic by the end. I think that was evident by the fact that fierce "whistles" could be heard loud and clear from the home fans in injury time, none more so than from "injury time specialist" himself, Sir Alex Ferguson, who was seen tapping his watch in his trademark manner up in the directors box! We made them panic. And that in itself is praise indeed. Furthermore the fact that the despicable individual that is Robin Van Persie, felt the need to celebrate as if he had invented a cure for cancer when scoring, illustrates just how seriously they are taking our challenge this season.
I guess my point here is the following. Football, as I often say, has a habit of seeming effortless and "easy" in victory and somewhat disastrous in defeat. Today's game must be put into some kind of perspective, with a clear head and open mind. We ARE in great shape, despite the fact that it is another defeat at Old Trafford. But considering everything together, there are many many reasons to be extremely cheerful, encouraged and excited about what is to come this season. Our run of 14 wins out of 15 away games has come to and end. But this record, despite the fact it has ended, illustrates further what great spirit, togetherness and quality this side has (as Jamie Redknapp, who we all know is not always particularly endearing towards The Arsenal, rightly pointed out on Sky Sports after the game). The team has come along way, and will continue to progress and make a serious challenge on all fronts.
Yes, today was disappointing. I am not getting away from that, in fact I was gutted at the result as I did wholeheartedly believe that we would get at the very least a draw out of the game. However as I said, perspective is needed. Credit to United, they won the battle, but I genuinely believe (as the old adage goes) we are winning the war! I believe we are in better shape, and considering how far we finished behind them last season, this is gives further belief that we can win things, and confirms that we have very much improved.
So, keep your chin up lads, fans keep believing, don't get disheartened. This season we can, and I believe we will, be very successful! We have a great team, a great manager, and they have showed great quality, heart and courage so far. Time now to regroup, get the players that are not fit, fit, and we will be absolutely fine!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog - tweet me your thoughts on the game, and indeed on the season as a whole. Remember bear in mind the "context" of the whole season, not just this game!
10 November 2013
4 October 2013
@Mr_arsenal_blog on Arsenal's most significant transfer business this summer.
27/09/13
Welcome back to my blog. I haven't posted anything for many months now and don't intend to post regularly again. But I do intend to write the odd article on an interesting topic to do with The Arsenal. Today I will be discussing a crucial signing that Arsene made this summer, I hope you enjoy it. Stay tuned!
What an unbelievable summer transfer window that was for Arsenal. The mix of frustration, anger and euphoria all in the same window, was something that we have never witnessed before. In the end I believe we had a very productive transfer window, especially in terms of the players that the club managed to get rid off. The aptly named: "deadwood". I do think that this side of our transfer window has been very much, under emphasised. The fact is last season, and for a number of seasons before, we have had a very big squad including many players that were never really playing, never really contributing anything to the team, and to the cause. However they were collecting enormous pay checks. Clearly this entails a number of significant problems. Firstly the wages that were being spent on these players could clearly be spent much better elsewhere to bolster our wage budget to get in the top quality players in that we have been crying out for, that naturally demand much bigger wages. Secondly and probably actually more significantly the team spirit would have been detrimentally affected. Therefore I believe that in getting these players out was a great piece of business by the club, not only because it cleared up a lot of wages to allow us to pay bigger wages elsewhere, it also would have made the squad a lot tighter and I think that has started come across very well on the pitch. There is an absolutely fantastic team spirit at the club. No one can question the togetherness of the group now that is for sure. And I think that is partly down to the fact that those players that were not pushing in the same direction, that weren't involved in the team, have now gone.
In terms of the "ins" at the club during this transfer window there has clearly been one standout, marque signing. I am of course talking about Mesut Ozil. What an unbelievable moment that was for all Arsenal fans. After the summer of frustration we had experienced, where the original optimism of big signings being made had been quashed by a lack of actual activity. Many big signings were rumoured to be close, with the likes of Higuain and Gustavo especially said to be almost "done" on a number of occasions, however time and time again the club failed to get these players through the door. But as the saying goes good things come to "people who wait". And in the end, after all the waiting, one good thing did come, and that was the epic signing of Ozil. It is an incredible signing for the club, and at £42.5 million it absolutely obliterated our previous transfer record. I believe that it is an absolute watershed moment for the club, from now on in we should be able to attract more players of this level, and with increasing commercial revenue streams we should be able to afford these sorts of players more and more often, which of course is extremely exciting!
Clearly Mesut has had an absolutely massive effect on the team since he has arrived, and has created an incredible buzz around the club. He has given the whole club a massive confidence boost. However in many ways I believe that most significant signing in terms of righting the wrongs of the last few seasons, has been in the signing (or should I say resigning) of Mathieu Flamini. For me Flamini has been an absolutely beast since he has come back, and has really aided our defensive solidity this year. He really puts himself about, and is desperate to win the ball back whenever we loose it. But the most important and crucial thing in my opinion about his reintroduction to the team in my opinion, has been his exceptional leadership. It is a while since we have seen an Arsenal player screaming at his teammates, ordering them into position, and berating them when they step out of line, or make a silly mistake. This is great to see. We have been lacking someone in the last 5 years, since he left actually, who is prepared to just sit in front of the CBs and tuck in when need be, and to clear up the ball whenever the opposition is on the attack.
Whilst Arsenal were craving that extra bit of "stardust" which of course Ozil brings, in many ways I genuinely believe that Flamini has been the most important signing in terms of our impressive early season form, and long may it continue. Flamini is exactly what we have lacked. He gives our team balance, and also brings fantastic leadership and experience. Were he not on a free, nor an ex Arsenal player, everyone would be saying what an amazing signing it was. When the signing was made I said I thought that it was an extremely "shrewd" and "intelligent" signing and I believe that he has absolutely proved that so far. He has been superb. It is no coincidence that the team has looked much more solid for most of the season when he has been playing, because he does not mind just sitting in front of the back four which naturally brings the best out of the likes of Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere e.t.c as they do not need to worry about whats going on behind as much because Flamini fills them with confidence. And I believe the Flamini factor if you will, is a contributor to Aaron Ramsey's excellent form. Flamini has allowed Aaron much more freedom to go and play, and it is so great to seem him playing with this freedom. Flamini has been in my opinion the most significant signing thus far, however of course Ozil is an absolutely amazing signing who will continue to integrate more and more into the team, and get better and better, which is of course a very exciting thought!!
All in all it was a very strange transfer window at Ashburton Grove, but I think in the end with the significant clearance of the deadwood, the shrewd signing of Flamini and the incredible arrival of one of the worlds best and most talented players, Mesut Ozil, it was a good transfer window for the club. Moving forward we do still need another CF, but with the form of Olivier Giroud at the moment we should be okay until January, as long as he stays fit. However with the number of midfielders we now have at the club I can see Lukas Podolski given more of a go in his "preferred" CF position, rather than on the wing, in rotation with Ollie Giroud, which will be very interesting to see.
Thanks for reading. Over and out!!!! UP THE ARSENAL!!
Mathieu, the beast, showing great passion......
27/09/13
Welcome back to my blog. I haven't posted anything for many months now and don't intend to post regularly again. But I do intend to write the odd article on an interesting topic to do with The Arsenal. Today I will be discussing a crucial signing that Arsene made this summer, I hope you enjoy it. Stay tuned!
What an unbelievable summer transfer window that was for Arsenal. The mix of frustration, anger and euphoria all in the same window, was something that we have never witnessed before. In the end I believe we had a very productive transfer window, especially in terms of the players that the club managed to get rid off. The aptly named: "deadwood". I do think that this side of our transfer window has been very much, under emphasised. The fact is last season, and for a number of seasons before, we have had a very big squad including many players that were never really playing, never really contributing anything to the team, and to the cause. However they were collecting enormous pay checks. Clearly this entails a number of significant problems. Firstly the wages that were being spent on these players could clearly be spent much better elsewhere to bolster our wage budget to get in the top quality players in that we have been crying out for, that naturally demand much bigger wages. Secondly and probably actually more significantly the team spirit would have been detrimentally affected. Therefore I believe that in getting these players out was a great piece of business by the club, not only because it cleared up a lot of wages to allow us to pay bigger wages elsewhere, it also would have made the squad a lot tighter and I think that has started come across very well on the pitch. There is an absolutely fantastic team spirit at the club. No one can question the togetherness of the group now that is for sure. And I think that is partly down to the fact that those players that were not pushing in the same direction, that weren't involved in the team, have now gone.
In terms of the "ins" at the club during this transfer window there has clearly been one standout, marque signing. I am of course talking about Mesut Ozil. What an unbelievable moment that was for all Arsenal fans. After the summer of frustration we had experienced, where the original optimism of big signings being made had been quashed by a lack of actual activity. Many big signings were rumoured to be close, with the likes of Higuain and Gustavo especially said to be almost "done" on a number of occasions, however time and time again the club failed to get these players through the door. But as the saying goes good things come to "people who wait". And in the end, after all the waiting, one good thing did come, and that was the epic signing of Ozil. It is an incredible signing for the club, and at £42.5 million it absolutely obliterated our previous transfer record. I believe that it is an absolute watershed moment for the club, from now on in we should be able to attract more players of this level, and with increasing commercial revenue streams we should be able to afford these sorts of players more and more often, which of course is extremely exciting!
Clearly Mesut has had an absolutely massive effect on the team since he has arrived, and has created an incredible buzz around the club. He has given the whole club a massive confidence boost. However in many ways I believe that most significant signing in terms of righting the wrongs of the last few seasons, has been in the signing (or should I say resigning) of Mathieu Flamini. For me Flamini has been an absolutely beast since he has come back, and has really aided our defensive solidity this year. He really puts himself about, and is desperate to win the ball back whenever we loose it. But the most important and crucial thing in my opinion about his reintroduction to the team in my opinion, has been his exceptional leadership. It is a while since we have seen an Arsenal player screaming at his teammates, ordering them into position, and berating them when they step out of line, or make a silly mistake. This is great to see. We have been lacking someone in the last 5 years, since he left actually, who is prepared to just sit in front of the CBs and tuck in when need be, and to clear up the ball whenever the opposition is on the attack.
Whilst Arsenal were craving that extra bit of "stardust" which of course Ozil brings, in many ways I genuinely believe that Flamini has been the most important signing in terms of our impressive early season form, and long may it continue. Flamini is exactly what we have lacked. He gives our team balance, and also brings fantastic leadership and experience. Were he not on a free, nor an ex Arsenal player, everyone would be saying what an amazing signing it was. When the signing was made I said I thought that it was an extremely "shrewd" and "intelligent" signing and I believe that he has absolutely proved that so far. He has been superb. It is no coincidence that the team has looked much more solid for most of the season when he has been playing, because he does not mind just sitting in front of the back four which naturally brings the best out of the likes of Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere e.t.c as they do not need to worry about whats going on behind as much because Flamini fills them with confidence. And I believe the Flamini factor if you will, is a contributor to Aaron Ramsey's excellent form. Flamini has allowed Aaron much more freedom to go and play, and it is so great to seem him playing with this freedom. Flamini has been in my opinion the most significant signing thus far, however of course Ozil is an absolutely amazing signing who will continue to integrate more and more into the team, and get better and better, which is of course a very exciting thought!!
All in all it was a very strange transfer window at Ashburton Grove, but I think in the end with the significant clearance of the deadwood, the shrewd signing of Flamini and the incredible arrival of one of the worlds best and most talented players, Mesut Ozil, it was a good transfer window for the club. Moving forward we do still need another CF, but with the form of Olivier Giroud at the moment we should be okay until January, as long as he stays fit. However with the number of midfielders we now have at the club I can see Lukas Podolski given more of a go in his "preferred" CF position, rather than on the wing, in rotation with Ollie Giroud, which will be very interesting to see.
Thanks for reading. Over and out!!!! UP THE ARSENAL!!
Mathieu, the beast, showing great passion......
16 May 2013
Reasons for optimism at The Arsenal.
16/5/13
Well "Gooners" and indeed "Gooneretes", welcome. As we now approach the conclusion of another instalment of a Barclays Premier League season, as the curtain is getting ready to fall, you all know what is just down the road now! No I don't mean those muppets at Spurs, I mean of course the onslaught of rumour, gossip and endless transfer chat that awaits us at the end of every season, as the Summer Transfer Window commences.
Now I know we have heard lots of talk already, throughout the season, about what is needed at Arsenal, who needs to come in, what needs to change, who needs to be removed and so on. However expect that to be turned up a notch or two (or three) upon the final whistle at St James Park on Sunday afternoon. Once again (we hope) Arsenal will have qualified for the Champions League, which means (in theory) we should be able to attract top players to the club. This we must do, but as I will say in this piece, not as much needs to be changed as what people will have you think, a few tweaks, personell wise, tactically and indeed philosophically need to be made, but not major changes are required at The Home Of Football.
Let me start with a look back, before I attempt to look forward to this Summer's "window" and beyond. Let's not beat about the proverbial bush, when this season ends Arsenal are looking at an eight successive seasons without silverware, this is of course nothing short of unacceptable for a club like ours. Naturally therefore we HAVE fallen short once again, too often we have been found wanting in big games in the league, and on too many occasions we have been found out by relatively "weak" teams too. In the cups we have been knocked out by the B's (Blackburn, Bradford and Bayern) and as it stands we are going to just scrape into the Top 4 and Continental Qualification yet again. Therefore on the face of it not a very good season at all for the boys at Ashburton Grove. BUT.....
Despite this I feel very optimistic that what has happened this season, will stand us in very good stead for next season, and indeed beyond. You may think I am mad, and to be fair, you would not be the first or indeed the last no doubt, however I firmly maintain that Arsenal will win the league within 3 years. Why? Well, think "FCD": Financially, Contractually and Development(ly). These three words are reasons as to why I believe we can push on next season and beyond.
Let me start with F, Financially. Since we have moved to the fantastic Emirates Stadium, the home of football, the club has been under obligations to pay off debt, taken out to fund the stadium in the first instance. On top of this the commercial revenues that the club collects, have been relatively weak. This is all about to change. The stadium debt is almost relinquished, the commercial revenues are being cleverly and majorly vamped up (thanks to great work from Mr Ivan Gazidis), following a 35 million pound a year deal with Fly Emirates for the shirt sponsorship and a supposedly soon to be announced deal with Puma for a similar figure a year for the kit deal (to start in 2014). Considering that Arsenal is currently the 4th richest club in the world, with significantly lower commercial revenues than those mentioned above, our club is going to be even more magnificent shape financially. This will finally allow the manager the chance to spend money on the 3/4/5 quality players that we need to GENUINELY challenge for the titles, both domestically and on the continent. People say why has Arsene Wenger not spent money before? Well, the answer to that is twofold, 1) he hasn't really been able to and b) the overall package has not been affordable for Arsenal. By this I mean he has offered big money for players such as Juan Mata (around 20 million), Eden Hazard (around 30 million) who both went to Chelsea, and also Mario Gotze who Arsene offered around 30 million also for in 2011. However in at least two of these cases the club could not compete on wage demands with Chelsea in particular. In short, we have not been able to offer the entire "package" to the lad. Now, I believe this can now change. We should now look to these next two summer transfer window's especially as real chance to push on, and set a statement as to how we want to go forward, a statement to relinquish the tag of not spending money, a lack of "ambition" and of course banish the 8 years without a trophy to the history books. Now, I am not saying we ARE going to spend, but I feel confident that there is a large chance that we will do, as the financial setting of the club is now much much much stronger than it was before.
Secondly, let me discuss the "C" in my equation: "Contractually". For the first time in a number of seasons, ALL of our big and most influential players are secured, tied down to long-term contracts. Hurrah! Unlike the last two summers we have not got players like Nasri or RVP (Purse-Strings) in contractual positions where they can effectively "force" the club's hand. Our best players are all tied to long term contracts and, touch wood, these players should not be on the move. This means that finally we can build on the squad that we have, rather than trying to re-build from mercenaries that have moved on. This is positive, no doubt. We have got an extremely capable "basis" from which to build upon. Players like Santi Cazorla, Mertesacker, Koscielney, Arteta, Podolski are all quality players who should be and, on recent evidence in most cases, are in the prime of their respective careers. These players can be successful with Arsenal, and with the chance to add players from other clubs, resulting from the financial elements mentioned above, we can really have a go at challenging the Manchester clubs.
Finally let me answer the "D" part of my statement. Development(ly). You may be wondering why when listing players of particular stature above e.g. Cazorla, Mertesacker, Arteta e.t.c. I didn't mention the likes of Wilshere, Walcott, Gibbs, Ramsey e.t.c. Well, that is because they form the key for this part of my argument. These players, along with the likes of Jenko, The OX e.t.c., should form part of Arsenal teams for years to come. This season they have all made an profound impact on the first team. Theo has surpassed 20 goals for the first time, and is the highest scoring Englishmen across all competitions, Jack has come back from a long lay-off and impressed, the likes of Gibbs have progressed majorly in my opinion, and Ramsey especially in the last month or so has really started to show what he can do, and thankfully has finally started to reward the patience and believe that I gave to him on twitter e.t.c. especially earlier in the season. These lads will form a key part in our team over the next few seasons, they are all (as made clear in the previous part) on long term contracts now, and most importantly they will ONLY get better and better, and will ONLY contribute more and more both on the pitch in terms of quality and off it in terms of leadership and so on. This is crucial and indeed very exciting.
So, my message to you is: don't believe the doom and gloomists' around, Arsenal are very much on the edge of success. I believe that WHOLEHEARTEDLY. If we can combine these three factors FCD (that I have outlined), that is sign 3/4/5 quality players with the increased financial superiority we have now, and continue to put faith in our quality young players, I fully believe we can win the league within 3 years, as I have maintained all season!! BUT, BUT, BUT, this is all meaningless if we don't win on Sunday. We HAVE to get into the Champions League, in order to attract players, no matter how much money we could or could not throw at them. SO, Arsenal players, I put it to you, CONCENTRATE on the game fully, WIN the game, and THEN we can look forward to a EXTREMELY exciting and prosperous time ahead.........
16/5/13
Well "Gooners" and indeed "Gooneretes", welcome. As we now approach the conclusion of another instalment of a Barclays Premier League season, as the curtain is getting ready to fall, you all know what is just down the road now! No I don't mean those muppets at Spurs, I mean of course the onslaught of rumour, gossip and endless transfer chat that awaits us at the end of every season, as the Summer Transfer Window commences.
Now I know we have heard lots of talk already, throughout the season, about what is needed at Arsenal, who needs to come in, what needs to change, who needs to be removed and so on. However expect that to be turned up a notch or two (or three) upon the final whistle at St James Park on Sunday afternoon. Once again (we hope) Arsenal will have qualified for the Champions League, which means (in theory) we should be able to attract top players to the club. This we must do, but as I will say in this piece, not as much needs to be changed as what people will have you think, a few tweaks, personell wise, tactically and indeed philosophically need to be made, but not major changes are required at The Home Of Football.
Let me start with a look back, before I attempt to look forward to this Summer's "window" and beyond. Let's not beat about the proverbial bush, when this season ends Arsenal are looking at an eight successive seasons without silverware, this is of course nothing short of unacceptable for a club like ours. Naturally therefore we HAVE fallen short once again, too often we have been found wanting in big games in the league, and on too many occasions we have been found out by relatively "weak" teams too. In the cups we have been knocked out by the B's (Blackburn, Bradford and Bayern) and as it stands we are going to just scrape into the Top 4 and Continental Qualification yet again. Therefore on the face of it not a very good season at all for the boys at Ashburton Grove. BUT.....
Despite this I feel very optimistic that what has happened this season, will stand us in very good stead for next season, and indeed beyond. You may think I am mad, and to be fair, you would not be the first or indeed the last no doubt, however I firmly maintain that Arsenal will win the league within 3 years. Why? Well, think "FCD": Financially, Contractually and Development(ly). These three words are reasons as to why I believe we can push on next season and beyond.
Let me start with F, Financially. Since we have moved to the fantastic Emirates Stadium, the home of football, the club has been under obligations to pay off debt, taken out to fund the stadium in the first instance. On top of this the commercial revenues that the club collects, have been relatively weak. This is all about to change. The stadium debt is almost relinquished, the commercial revenues are being cleverly and majorly vamped up (thanks to great work from Mr Ivan Gazidis), following a 35 million pound a year deal with Fly Emirates for the shirt sponsorship and a supposedly soon to be announced deal with Puma for a similar figure a year for the kit deal (to start in 2014). Considering that Arsenal is currently the 4th richest club in the world, with significantly lower commercial revenues than those mentioned above, our club is going to be even more magnificent shape financially. This will finally allow the manager the chance to spend money on the 3/4/5 quality players that we need to GENUINELY challenge for the titles, both domestically and on the continent. People say why has Arsene Wenger not spent money before? Well, the answer to that is twofold, 1) he hasn't really been able to and b) the overall package has not been affordable for Arsenal. By this I mean he has offered big money for players such as Juan Mata (around 20 million), Eden Hazard (around 30 million) who both went to Chelsea, and also Mario Gotze who Arsene offered around 30 million also for in 2011. However in at least two of these cases the club could not compete on wage demands with Chelsea in particular. In short, we have not been able to offer the entire "package" to the lad. Now, I believe this can now change. We should now look to these next two summer transfer window's especially as real chance to push on, and set a statement as to how we want to go forward, a statement to relinquish the tag of not spending money, a lack of "ambition" and of course banish the 8 years without a trophy to the history books. Now, I am not saying we ARE going to spend, but I feel confident that there is a large chance that we will do, as the financial setting of the club is now much much much stronger than it was before.
Secondly, let me discuss the "C" in my equation: "Contractually". For the first time in a number of seasons, ALL of our big and most influential players are secured, tied down to long-term contracts. Hurrah! Unlike the last two summers we have not got players like Nasri or RVP (Purse-Strings) in contractual positions where they can effectively "force" the club's hand. Our best players are all tied to long term contracts and, touch wood, these players should not be on the move. This means that finally we can build on the squad that we have, rather than trying to re-build from mercenaries that have moved on. This is positive, no doubt. We have got an extremely capable "basis" from which to build upon. Players like Santi Cazorla, Mertesacker, Koscielney, Arteta, Podolski are all quality players who should be and, on recent evidence in most cases, are in the prime of their respective careers. These players can be successful with Arsenal, and with the chance to add players from other clubs, resulting from the financial elements mentioned above, we can really have a go at challenging the Manchester clubs.
Finally let me answer the "D" part of my statement. Development(ly). You may be wondering why when listing players of particular stature above e.g. Cazorla, Mertesacker, Arteta e.t.c. I didn't mention the likes of Wilshere, Walcott, Gibbs, Ramsey e.t.c. Well, that is because they form the key for this part of my argument. These players, along with the likes of Jenko, The OX e.t.c., should form part of Arsenal teams for years to come. This season they have all made an profound impact on the first team. Theo has surpassed 20 goals for the first time, and is the highest scoring Englishmen across all competitions, Jack has come back from a long lay-off and impressed, the likes of Gibbs have progressed majorly in my opinion, and Ramsey especially in the last month or so has really started to show what he can do, and thankfully has finally started to reward the patience and believe that I gave to him on twitter e.t.c. especially earlier in the season. These lads will form a key part in our team over the next few seasons, they are all (as made clear in the previous part) on long term contracts now, and most importantly they will ONLY get better and better, and will ONLY contribute more and more both on the pitch in terms of quality and off it in terms of leadership and so on. This is crucial and indeed very exciting.
So, my message to you is: don't believe the doom and gloomists' around, Arsenal are very much on the edge of success. I believe that WHOLEHEARTEDLY. If we can combine these three factors FCD (that I have outlined), that is sign 3/4/5 quality players with the increased financial superiority we have now, and continue to put faith in our quality young players, I fully believe we can win the league within 3 years, as I have maintained all season!! BUT, BUT, BUT, this is all meaningless if we don't win on Sunday. We HAVE to get into the Champions League, in order to attract players, no matter how much money we could or could not throw at them. SO, Arsenal players, I put it to you, CONCENTRATE on the game fully, WIN the game, and THEN we can look forward to a EXTREMELY exciting and prosperous time ahead.........
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!!
25 April 2013
The real reasons as to why Arsenal fans are so angry about Van Persie's departure, ahead of his "return" to the Home of Football this weekend.
I'm back! I am sure you are all absolutely delighted about that. No? Rude! Joking aside, I haven't posted anything since February I believe, a long time indeed. I have just been so busy with University preparing coursework, studying, and more recently revising, attending games and keeping up to date with all things Arsenal of course. I don't expect to write as frequently as I did before again, because I simply don't have the time, however I aim to write articles every now and again, about particular issues that I feel are of interest involving our beloved club.
Hope you enjoy my blog.
Best wishes and UP THE ARSENAL!!
Ollie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout the whole of last season two things were going on simultaneously. Our captain and talismanic hero figure, Robin Van Persie, was putting in a string of world class performances week after week, getting us all of our seats, at The Home of Football and all over the world where Arsenal fans were tuning in game after game, to see what our captain and idol would pull off next! Alongisde this, constant speculation was running through all media outlets, surronding his future, the "will he won't he" debates surronding his contract discussions were in full swing, and of course all our fans were hoping and praying for the day when they could turn on their TVs, check twitter and Arsenal.com to see the news that RVP had signed a new deal! Alas, this never happened!! In truth we all know what happened, and it is not an exageration either to say, that we still in some way feel the pain and "betrayl" of what happened.
It is clear now that whilst in public Robin was saying till the end of last season, and all the way to his speech upon winning the PFA Player of the year award, that his future would be decided in the following weeks, in private he had already made up his mind, and had already been is discussions for a matter of months with the two Manchester clubs in particular. He did not renew his contract, he realeased that RIDICULOUS statement where he questioned the clubs ambition, questioned the manager, the board, and quite frankly made an absolute mug of the club, his team mates and perhaps most importantly, considering we paid his wages, the fans!
Now, I want to clear up a few myths about this. I have heard many people looking "in" as it were, from outside the "Arsenal community" saying "oh, you are just bitter because he left" e.t.c. Now for me this is not true, I personally have no problem with him leaving the club per se, because quite frankly it is a fact of life, at some stage in all walks of life, including football, people (players, staff, managers, coaches e.t.c.) all move on to pastures green, in the pursuit of a new lifestyle, a new culture new challenges e.t.c. This is life. Most peopole in normal walks of life however, move on in a respetful and dignified manner, and do not alienate their friends, colleagues and employers at their current office e.t.c. To illustrate this, I still hold the likes of Cesc and Song in high regard, because they left (especially in the case of Cesc) in a dignified manner, and still show respect towards Arsenal. And perhaps MOST importantly, they went abroad where they could not affect Arsenal in a domestic sense. However this was the not the case with Mr Van Persie.
Had he been up front with the fans throughout the season and said something along the lines of "look, I really feel that at the end of the season I need a new challenge, I think it will be good for my family and for myself if we head of for pastures new" blah blah blah, whatever, and then moved somewhere abroad. That would have been absolutely fine, everyone would be reasonably okay with that. As I said, everybody moves on in life at some point. However instead, he continously lied, continously decieved the fans and the club by expressing his love for Arsenal, and telling tales which illustrated the "Class" that he felt Arsenal posses e.t.c whilst hiding the fact that privately he had already practically sealed a move away from the club. Not only was this tapping up on the part of the Manchester clubs, which I still to this day cannot understand how they managed to get away with it, but it was just pure lies and darn right deceitfulness. This is what REALLY bugs with me.
It seems that it was not only the fans he was decieving but also the manager, and his biggest supporter over the years, Arsene Wenger. The boss set out at the beginining of the summer transfer window last year, to really strenghten and to expand the quality of the club's squad, firstly in order to challenge more at the top end of the table, but also in the hope of persuading RVP to stay with the club beyond the end of the exisiting contract he had, clearly beleiving that this was possible! However after the likes of Podolski, Giroud and the quite frankly GOD like Santi Cazorla had been bought in, Van Persie acted to completely tear Arsene's plans apart and force through a move to Arsenal's bitter rivals United (a club who for me are level with Spurs in terms of dislike and rivalry), a move that as I said was pracitcally already sealed, apart from the transfer fee with Arsenal.
In short following these decietful and disrepectful actions, towards a club that quite frankly RVP would be absolutely no where without, the club itself had absolutely no option but to sell. As John Cross said in the mirror this week, his position at the club, not alone as captain, was untenable! However he should have been sold abroad, this is something that all Arsenal fans have been discussing all season. If he had been sold to the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan e.t.c I honestly don't think the fans would have any real contempt towards him, but to lie to them throughout the season, to decieve them by pretending to love the club e.t.c. and then on top of all of that to force the club into selling to a bitter domestic rival, who he had clearly been talking to throughout all of this, really was the ULTIMATE act of betrayl. That is why, to the non-Arsenal fans that don't understand this contempt, I feel so bitter towards him. After all we (as a club) did for him, after all the support and love that us fans gave him through period of such frustrating injury troubles and so on, to behave like that and to force a move to a domestic rival, who I still believe we would be competing with had we held on to RVP, given the signings we made last summer to complement him, really was as I said the ultimate betrayl!
Therefore this weekend, when I travel to the Home of football once again for what should be a fascinating game, I will be fully expecting an extremely hostile, and angry reception for the man that drove himself from a hero to a villain in a very short space of time and because of the blatant lack of respect and because of the blatant lies that he told. Quite frankly that is what he deserves.
However I must stress that I will not be joining in any chants about his previous rape trial and so on, as I do feel that oversteps the mark! Let's boo, jeer, hiss, whistle e.t.c. whenever he gets the ball, but lets maintain that "class" that he so readily spoke about before, or was that just lies too????
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
I'm back! I am sure you are all absolutely delighted about that. No? Rude! Joking aside, I haven't posted anything since February I believe, a long time indeed. I have just been so busy with University preparing coursework, studying, and more recently revising, attending games and keeping up to date with all things Arsenal of course. I don't expect to write as frequently as I did before again, because I simply don't have the time, however I aim to write articles every now and again, about particular issues that I feel are of interest involving our beloved club.
Hope you enjoy my blog.
Best wishes and UP THE ARSENAL!!
Ollie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout the whole of last season two things were going on simultaneously. Our captain and talismanic hero figure, Robin Van Persie, was putting in a string of world class performances week after week, getting us all of our seats, at The Home of Football and all over the world where Arsenal fans were tuning in game after game, to see what our captain and idol would pull off next! Alongisde this, constant speculation was running through all media outlets, surronding his future, the "will he won't he" debates surronding his contract discussions were in full swing, and of course all our fans were hoping and praying for the day when they could turn on their TVs, check twitter and Arsenal.com to see the news that RVP had signed a new deal! Alas, this never happened!! In truth we all know what happened, and it is not an exageration either to say, that we still in some way feel the pain and "betrayl" of what happened.
It is clear now that whilst in public Robin was saying till the end of last season, and all the way to his speech upon winning the PFA Player of the year award, that his future would be decided in the following weeks, in private he had already made up his mind, and had already been is discussions for a matter of months with the two Manchester clubs in particular. He did not renew his contract, he realeased that RIDICULOUS statement where he questioned the clubs ambition, questioned the manager, the board, and quite frankly made an absolute mug of the club, his team mates and perhaps most importantly, considering we paid his wages, the fans!
Now, I want to clear up a few myths about this. I have heard many people looking "in" as it were, from outside the "Arsenal community" saying "oh, you are just bitter because he left" e.t.c. Now for me this is not true, I personally have no problem with him leaving the club per se, because quite frankly it is a fact of life, at some stage in all walks of life, including football, people (players, staff, managers, coaches e.t.c.) all move on to pastures green, in the pursuit of a new lifestyle, a new culture new challenges e.t.c. This is life. Most peopole in normal walks of life however, move on in a respetful and dignified manner, and do not alienate their friends, colleagues and employers at their current office e.t.c. To illustrate this, I still hold the likes of Cesc and Song in high regard, because they left (especially in the case of Cesc) in a dignified manner, and still show respect towards Arsenal. And perhaps MOST importantly, they went abroad where they could not affect Arsenal in a domestic sense. However this was the not the case with Mr Van Persie.
Had he been up front with the fans throughout the season and said something along the lines of "look, I really feel that at the end of the season I need a new challenge, I think it will be good for my family and for myself if we head of for pastures new" blah blah blah, whatever, and then moved somewhere abroad. That would have been absolutely fine, everyone would be reasonably okay with that. As I said, everybody moves on in life at some point. However instead, he continously lied, continously decieved the fans and the club by expressing his love for Arsenal, and telling tales which illustrated the "Class" that he felt Arsenal posses e.t.c whilst hiding the fact that privately he had already practically sealed a move away from the club. Not only was this tapping up on the part of the Manchester clubs, which I still to this day cannot understand how they managed to get away with it, but it was just pure lies and darn right deceitfulness. This is what REALLY bugs with me.
It seems that it was not only the fans he was decieving but also the manager, and his biggest supporter over the years, Arsene Wenger. The boss set out at the beginining of the summer transfer window last year, to really strenghten and to expand the quality of the club's squad, firstly in order to challenge more at the top end of the table, but also in the hope of persuading RVP to stay with the club beyond the end of the exisiting contract he had, clearly beleiving that this was possible! However after the likes of Podolski, Giroud and the quite frankly GOD like Santi Cazorla had been bought in, Van Persie acted to completely tear Arsene's plans apart and force through a move to Arsenal's bitter rivals United (a club who for me are level with Spurs in terms of dislike and rivalry), a move that as I said was pracitcally already sealed, apart from the transfer fee with Arsenal.
In short following these decietful and disrepectful actions, towards a club that quite frankly RVP would be absolutely no where without, the club itself had absolutely no option but to sell. As John Cross said in the mirror this week, his position at the club, not alone as captain, was untenable! However he should have been sold abroad, this is something that all Arsenal fans have been discussing all season. If he had been sold to the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan e.t.c I honestly don't think the fans would have any real contempt towards him, but to lie to them throughout the season, to decieve them by pretending to love the club e.t.c. and then on top of all of that to force the club into selling to a bitter domestic rival, who he had clearly been talking to throughout all of this, really was the ULTIMATE act of betrayl. That is why, to the non-Arsenal fans that don't understand this contempt, I feel so bitter towards him. After all we (as a club) did for him, after all the support and love that us fans gave him through period of such frustrating injury troubles and so on, to behave like that and to force a move to a domestic rival, who I still believe we would be competing with had we held on to RVP, given the signings we made last summer to complement him, really was as I said the ultimate betrayl!
Therefore this weekend, when I travel to the Home of football once again for what should be a fascinating game, I will be fully expecting an extremely hostile, and angry reception for the man that drove himself from a hero to a villain in a very short space of time and because of the blatant lack of respect and because of the blatant lies that he told. Quite frankly that is what he deserves.
However I must stress that I will not be joining in any chants about his previous rape trial and so on, as I do feel that oversteps the mark! Let's boo, jeer, hiss, whistle e.t.c. whenever he gets the ball, but lets maintain that "class" that he so readily spoke about before, or was that just lies too????
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
4 February 2013
From "boo boys" to "sign da ting". The fast transformation of Theo Walcott.
04/02/2013
It was 26th February 2012, the day of arguably the biggest fixture in the Arsenal calendar in any given season, at the Home Of Football Vs Tottenham Hotspur, The North London derby. Around 30 minutes in to the game, Arsenal were 0-2 down, at home to their bitter local rivals, meaning the time the team were sitting 12 points behind their rivals in the hunt for "Champions League" qualification. It was in a quite frankly the "disaster scenario" for Arsenal and our fans. However one player that it seemed was taking the brunt of the stick was Mr Theo James Walcott, Arsenal's number 14. He seemed to be completely out of sorts, short of ideas and completely shot of any kind of confidence or believe. The fans were really getting on his back, frustration was well and truly "in the air", and he was feeling the full force of it! It was very sad to see.
However from 1/2 time in that game to now, I do not think that Theo has looked back. This was something that I was thinking about the other day, and was just mentioned on the Fans Forum on Arsenal Player. Since that moment he has gone from the brunt of criticism, with many fans loosing patience with him and calling for him to be sold, to people begging for him to sign da ting and rejoicing when he did. This is a quite remarkable transformation really. He has been absolutely sensational this season, is currently on 18 goals and 11 assits for the season, formulating an involvement in 29 of Arsenal's 76 goals this season. A great contribution.
He has looked every inch the quality player that he is, and has oozed confidence throughout this season which has really shone through in his play. He has also started to really use his pace more effectively and more frequently. I remember in previous seasons, sat at the game just shouting for Theo to take the defender on, because he just has such pace, but this was never really forthcoming. However, in this campaign he has looked just so much more dangerous. I believe this is partly down the fact that he has played almost as a "false winger" if you like, in the sense that he plays on the wing, however comes inside much much more frequently than he has done in the past. This has meant that he has made many more runs across the defence, meaning that he has got "in behind" the opposition, with his pace, a lot lot more than he had prior to this campaign. This has meant that he is a lot more of a threat to the opposition, therefore has scored more goals, simple hey! He really has used his pace much more frequently.
It is not just his goals that have made him a key player, and a crowd favorite, at The Arsenal. But it's also down to the fact that he has also made massive improvements in terms of his delivery, his crossing, from wide areas. In the past he was one of those very frustrating players, almost like Gervinho now, who would do great, get towards the byline and then just completely fluff the cross, or elect to pass when he should have shot, or shot when he should have passed e.t.c. This was extremely frustrating for us fans to see. This led to many so called pundits to claim that Theo did not have a "football brain". However, this season all has changed. The fact that he has 11 assists shows this. His delivery or "final product" as I like to call it, has improved beyond all recognition really. The one that really sticks out for me is the cross that he made during (ironically) the game against Spurs at home this season, where he whipped in a delicious cross with his back to goal for Mertesacker to score that fantastic header to put us level. It really was a great example of how he has really improved in this area. It really is great to see this from Theo.
So when you remember the reception that Theo was getting during the game against Spurs at home last season, to lets say, the reception he got during the Newcastle demolition at The Emirates this season. Where cries of "sign him up sign him up sign him up" were ringing round for most of the second half. So in less than a year he really has gone almost from zero in some parts of our fan-base to hero almost throughout. This was clear during the "sign da ting" process until recently. He really is a key player for us, that is for sure. And to go from the performance and frustration in the first half vs Spurs last season to where he is now, he really has shown tremendous mental strength, perseverance and belief in his own ability and quality.
Lets hope that Theo continues to develop, continues to improve for many many years to come at Arsenal. As I said on my article discussing Walcott and Bale, he still has a number of years before he reaches his "peak years" so this really is exciting!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog - do tweet me your thoughts!!!
THEO THEO THEO THEO!! .................
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
04/02/2013
It was 26th February 2012, the day of arguably the biggest fixture in the Arsenal calendar in any given season, at the Home Of Football Vs Tottenham Hotspur, The North London derby. Around 30 minutes in to the game, Arsenal were 0-2 down, at home to their bitter local rivals, meaning the time the team were sitting 12 points behind their rivals in the hunt for "Champions League" qualification. It was in a quite frankly the "disaster scenario" for Arsenal and our fans. However one player that it seemed was taking the brunt of the stick was Mr Theo James Walcott, Arsenal's number 14. He seemed to be completely out of sorts, short of ideas and completely shot of any kind of confidence or believe. The fans were really getting on his back, frustration was well and truly "in the air", and he was feeling the full force of it! It was very sad to see.
However from 1/2 time in that game to now, I do not think that Theo has looked back. This was something that I was thinking about the other day, and was just mentioned on the Fans Forum on Arsenal Player. Since that moment he has gone from the brunt of criticism, with many fans loosing patience with him and calling for him to be sold, to people begging for him to sign da ting and rejoicing when he did. This is a quite remarkable transformation really. He has been absolutely sensational this season, is currently on 18 goals and 11 assits for the season, formulating an involvement in 29 of Arsenal's 76 goals this season. A great contribution.
He has looked every inch the quality player that he is, and has oozed confidence throughout this season which has really shone through in his play. He has also started to really use his pace more effectively and more frequently. I remember in previous seasons, sat at the game just shouting for Theo to take the defender on, because he just has such pace, but this was never really forthcoming. However, in this campaign he has looked just so much more dangerous. I believe this is partly down the fact that he has played almost as a "false winger" if you like, in the sense that he plays on the wing, however comes inside much much more frequently than he has done in the past. This has meant that he has made many more runs across the defence, meaning that he has got "in behind" the opposition, with his pace, a lot lot more than he had prior to this campaign. This has meant that he is a lot more of a threat to the opposition, therefore has scored more goals, simple hey! He really has used his pace much more frequently.
It is not just his goals that have made him a key player, and a crowd favorite, at The Arsenal. But it's also down to the fact that he has also made massive improvements in terms of his delivery, his crossing, from wide areas. In the past he was one of those very frustrating players, almost like Gervinho now, who would do great, get towards the byline and then just completely fluff the cross, or elect to pass when he should have shot, or shot when he should have passed e.t.c. This was extremely frustrating for us fans to see. This led to many so called pundits to claim that Theo did not have a "football brain". However, this season all has changed. The fact that he has 11 assists shows this. His delivery or "final product" as I like to call it, has improved beyond all recognition really. The one that really sticks out for me is the cross that he made during (ironically) the game against Spurs at home this season, where he whipped in a delicious cross with his back to goal for Mertesacker to score that fantastic header to put us level. It really was a great example of how he has really improved in this area. It really is great to see this from Theo.
So when you remember the reception that Theo was getting during the game against Spurs at home last season, to lets say, the reception he got during the Newcastle demolition at The Emirates this season. Where cries of "sign him up sign him up sign him up" were ringing round for most of the second half. So in less than a year he really has gone almost from zero in some parts of our fan-base to hero almost throughout. This was clear during the "sign da ting" process until recently. He really is a key player for us, that is for sure. And to go from the performance and frustration in the first half vs Spurs last season to where he is now, he really has shown tremendous mental strength, perseverance and belief in his own ability and quality.
Lets hope that Theo continues to develop, continues to improve for many many years to come at Arsenal. As I said on my article discussing Walcott and Bale, he still has a number of years before he reaches his "peak years" so this really is exciting!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog - do tweet me your thoughts!!!
THEO THEO THEO THEO!! .................
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
3 February 2013
Why Theo Walcott is massively UNDER-rated and UNDER-valued by most people, especially the media.
3/2/13
Today when watching the Tottenham Vs West Bromwich Albion match on Sky, Jamie Redknapp said that Gareth Bale was "definitely up there with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo". Now before any Bale fans abuse me I would like to make it clear, that I am not an Arsenal fan who will deny the strengths of a rival team or their players as on the whole, I am a football fan and acknowledge "good football" and footballers. He is a fantastic player, and the Premier League as an entity is very very lucky to have players with his ability in our league. However, the amount of praise and adulation that he gets is, in my opinion, absolutely mind boggling. Would you have him above the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Falcoa, Van Persie, Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Mata even? I would say no. Would he genuinely get into, lets say the Real Madrid team (as he has been linked there)? I would say no. Would he get in the Barcelona team, no. Would he get in the Manchester United team? Well yes! But he is so overrated by so many now, that in my opinion it over shadows other GREAT players.
One such player in my opinion is Theo Walcott. Now I am not saying that Bale is worse than Theo, nor am I saying that Theo is superior, however the difference in praise that the two players receive is in proportionate in my opinion to the level of performance of the two players. As I always say "stats don't lie". And the stats say that Gareth Bale has played 28 games this season, has scored 11 goals and contributed 6 assits for his teammates. Whereas Theo has scored 18 goals, contributed 11 assists in 29 appearances for Arsenal this season and has scored 2 hat-tricks, plus has more pace than Bale. Furthermore Theo has scored 60 goals for Arsenal and Bale has scored 47 goals for Spurs, whilst both playing, on the whole, in the same position (on the flank), and finally are a similar age. Therefore my point is, what can Theo do to receive the adulation and the praise, especially from "outside" the Arsenal circles, that his performances, especially this season, deserve?
Theo Walcott has been fantastic this season, I personally have always believed that Theo will become a 20/25 goal a season player, because he has fantastic finishing ability, coupled with great pace and fantastic intelligence. However for much of his career he has been labelled "inconsistent" and it has been claimed that he has "no football brain". However in my opinion this season and in the 2nd half of last season as well he has really really stepped us his performances, and is becoming a very very good player. His pace is phenomenal, as it always has been, but what has certainly improved specifically is his "final product". By this I mean his crossing, which was highly criticized in the past, and of course also his goal "return" which as I said before stands at 18 for the season. He has also in my opinion become better at using his pace more effectively. I have been critical of this in the past, in the sense in the past he would try and run almost through a player rather than to try and show him the outside and beat him for pace, or knock it past the defender, and run on to it. Both these things he has began to do much better over the last 2 seasons. Against Liverpool on Wednesday I thought he was excellent in this area, he frequently looked to get past the defenders, and on the whole was very successful at this indeed.
Therefore I put it to you, why is it that Bale is rated SO highly by so many, to the extent that he is labelled effectively the 3rd best player in the world, when his contribution and his stats are actually lower than Theo's? But that is not really the whole point, my point really is more specific to Theo. That is that I do not believe that Theo receives the praise for his performances and his importance for Arsenal. What frustrates me is that whilst the contract negotiations were going on with Arsenal recently the media were very very quick to say "is this another important player to leave Arsenal" and oh "they can't afford to loose him", but when it comes actually to his performances they do not seem to praise him like he should be. For me he is probably one of the first names on Arsene Wenger's team sheet, whereas at the start of the year he was on the bench. Furthermore in my opinion he is an absolute shoe in for England. But this is not portrayed through the media.
Maybe this is because Theo is not as extravagant or as flash as Bale, he does not crap the headlines for diving e.t.c. like Bale does. Therefore maybe the reason for his lack of coverage and praise in the media is because he does not cause any kind of controversy and therefore is not really "talked about" outside of "Arsenal circles". Maybe this is the case, however what is obvious to me is that he is underrated across the country. The exciting thing for us Arsenal fans is that he is still on 23, and therefore is still at least 4 years away from his "prime period", if we assume that a players prime is around the age of 27/28. Therefore there is still lots to come from him, as is the case from Bale.
However one thing is clear to me, and that is that Theo will continue to create more goals, will also create more assits, but maybe they are just different kind of players. Perhaps we have to accept that. But the point here is, given the stats which I have outlined, why is the praise and media coverage between the two players so different? It seems that there is almost public worshipping of one (Bale), and a kind of luke-warm, mild, reception for the other (Theo).
Perhaps I am being to eager to compare the two, do tell me if I am, but it just seems very very odd to me that one player (with a worse return) is being almost worshipped by many so called pundits, and one is just sort of getting on with his job, doing very well scoring more goals than the other, creating more for his team-mates, and not getting the same treatment. For me this is very strange. Would I have Gareth Bale in the Arsenal team? Well yes of course because he is a great player, would I have him instead of Walcott, no not a chance. Because Theo has contributed more to our team, and is a great player and servant for Arsenal Football Club.
Do let me know your thoughts, but for now all I have to say is that I cannot wait to see Theo continue to develop over the coming years, and am so pleased that he has signed a new contract (he has signed da ting), and will continue to grace the Emirates grass at such pace, for many years to come (we hope)!! He really is a very exciting player!!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!
Do tweet me your thoughts! @Mr_arsenal_blog
3/2/13
Today when watching the Tottenham Vs West Bromwich Albion match on Sky, Jamie Redknapp said that Gareth Bale was "definitely up there with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo". Now before any Bale fans abuse me I would like to make it clear, that I am not an Arsenal fan who will deny the strengths of a rival team or their players as on the whole, I am a football fan and acknowledge "good football" and footballers. He is a fantastic player, and the Premier League as an entity is very very lucky to have players with his ability in our league. However, the amount of praise and adulation that he gets is, in my opinion, absolutely mind boggling. Would you have him above the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Falcoa, Van Persie, Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Mata even? I would say no. Would he genuinely get into, lets say the Real Madrid team (as he has been linked there)? I would say no. Would he get in the Barcelona team, no. Would he get in the Manchester United team? Well yes! But he is so overrated by so many now, that in my opinion it over shadows other GREAT players.
One such player in my opinion is Theo Walcott. Now I am not saying that Bale is worse than Theo, nor am I saying that Theo is superior, however the difference in praise that the two players receive is in proportionate in my opinion to the level of performance of the two players. As I always say "stats don't lie". And the stats say that Gareth Bale has played 28 games this season, has scored 11 goals and contributed 6 assits for his teammates. Whereas Theo has scored 18 goals, contributed 11 assists in 29 appearances for Arsenal this season and has scored 2 hat-tricks, plus has more pace than Bale. Furthermore Theo has scored 60 goals for Arsenal and Bale has scored 47 goals for Spurs, whilst both playing, on the whole, in the same position (on the flank), and finally are a similar age. Therefore my point is, what can Theo do to receive the adulation and the praise, especially from "outside" the Arsenal circles, that his performances, especially this season, deserve?
Theo Walcott has been fantastic this season, I personally have always believed that Theo will become a 20/25 goal a season player, because he has fantastic finishing ability, coupled with great pace and fantastic intelligence. However for much of his career he has been labelled "inconsistent" and it has been claimed that he has "no football brain". However in my opinion this season and in the 2nd half of last season as well he has really really stepped us his performances, and is becoming a very very good player. His pace is phenomenal, as it always has been, but what has certainly improved specifically is his "final product". By this I mean his crossing, which was highly criticized in the past, and of course also his goal "return" which as I said before stands at 18 for the season. He has also in my opinion become better at using his pace more effectively. I have been critical of this in the past, in the sense in the past he would try and run almost through a player rather than to try and show him the outside and beat him for pace, or knock it past the defender, and run on to it. Both these things he has began to do much better over the last 2 seasons. Against Liverpool on Wednesday I thought he was excellent in this area, he frequently looked to get past the defenders, and on the whole was very successful at this indeed.
Therefore I put it to you, why is it that Bale is rated SO highly by so many, to the extent that he is labelled effectively the 3rd best player in the world, when his contribution and his stats are actually lower than Theo's? But that is not really the whole point, my point really is more specific to Theo. That is that I do not believe that Theo receives the praise for his performances and his importance for Arsenal. What frustrates me is that whilst the contract negotiations were going on with Arsenal recently the media were very very quick to say "is this another important player to leave Arsenal" and oh "they can't afford to loose him", but when it comes actually to his performances they do not seem to praise him like he should be. For me he is probably one of the first names on Arsene Wenger's team sheet, whereas at the start of the year he was on the bench. Furthermore in my opinion he is an absolute shoe in for England. But this is not portrayed through the media.
Maybe this is because Theo is not as extravagant or as flash as Bale, he does not crap the headlines for diving e.t.c. like Bale does. Therefore maybe the reason for his lack of coverage and praise in the media is because he does not cause any kind of controversy and therefore is not really "talked about" outside of "Arsenal circles". Maybe this is the case, however what is obvious to me is that he is underrated across the country. The exciting thing for us Arsenal fans is that he is still on 23, and therefore is still at least 4 years away from his "prime period", if we assume that a players prime is around the age of 27/28. Therefore there is still lots to come from him, as is the case from Bale.
However one thing is clear to me, and that is that Theo will continue to create more goals, will also create more assits, but maybe they are just different kind of players. Perhaps we have to accept that. But the point here is, given the stats which I have outlined, why is the praise and media coverage between the two players so different? It seems that there is almost public worshipping of one (Bale), and a kind of luke-warm, mild, reception for the other (Theo).
Perhaps I am being to eager to compare the two, do tell me if I am, but it just seems very very odd to me that one player (with a worse return) is being almost worshipped by many so called pundits, and one is just sort of getting on with his job, doing very well scoring more goals than the other, creating more for his team-mates, and not getting the same treatment. For me this is very strange. Would I have Gareth Bale in the Arsenal team? Well yes of course because he is a great player, would I have him instead of Walcott, no not a chance. Because Theo has contributed more to our team, and is a great player and servant for Arsenal Football Club.
Do let me know your thoughts, but for now all I have to say is that I cannot wait to see Theo continue to develop over the coming years, and am so pleased that he has signed a new contract (he has signed da ting), and will continue to grace the Emirates grass at such pace, for many years to come (we hope)!! He really is a very exciting player!!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!
Do tweet me your thoughts! @Mr_arsenal_blog
27 January 2013
A rumoured Arsenal defensive target who could actually be really great for us!
27/1/13
Hello all, sorry for lack of activity on here recently but I have been very busy with University work e.t.c. and therefore have simply not really had time to actually write any blogs, which is a shame. BUT good news, I'M BACK!! No, just kidding, but hope you enjoy my latest post.
So let's get straight into the action as they say. Last week I read an article which basically said, that we (Arsenal) are going to rival Liverpool for the signing of Ashely Williams the defender and skipper of Swansea City. Now to be honest this will be just another of those unfounded media stories, and I don't really believe it quite frankly. However when I read this at first I thought, why would we want this player? But when I sat to think about it, I actually thought that this really could be a great idea for Arsenal. And i'll tell you why!
Firstly he suits our play. He is a very dynamic and intelligent player who is extremely comfortable on the ball, and a great passer/distributor. We all know that Arsene Wenger requires his defenders to bring the ball out of defence, and pass from back to front. That is why all of our defenders (with the exception of Squillaci of course), are very very good on the ball. This is something that Williams could offer us for sure. When you watch him playing for Swansea, who have a very similar passing based strategy to us, he is very good on the ball, so this could actually mean that he would fit in well with our style of football.
Secondly he is physical. He is a strong player who can certainly mix it up with most CFs in the league physically which of course is a great attribute. This is something which I think we require. We need an imposing, traditional British style defender, who can really just control and impose himself on opposition attackers, to give us a more consistent defensive level. I am not saying our defenders are not good, because I believe that in Vermalean, Mertesacker and Koscielney we have great defenders, and in Miquel we have someone who I believe will actually develop into a very very capable premier league CB in years to come, who is also very good on the ball, in the Arsenal mould. But I just think that we could do with someone that whilst fitting in with out style of play, offers more physicality and strength to our back-line for sure. I have often spoke on twitter of the need to strengthen the "spine" of our team, and by this I mean central defence, central midfield and centre forward. All successful teams have very strong players in each position. And at the moment I feel we are a few short, so this could certainly help us in terms of competition.
Thirdly he has Premier League experience and is a good leader (he is the Swansea and Wales skipper). I have always said that we need more leaders in the squad, and therefore he could offer this, and I have also said that we need to start buying from within the Premier League more, because of the need for players who are a) proven and b) can just slot in quickly to the way that we do things in this country and in this league.
With only 3 quality CBs at our disposal currently we are only 2 injuries away from being rather stuck! So we certainly need strengthening there. Unfortunately I see it almost inconceivable that we will sign a defender this window, but in the summer perhaps we will. However I see Ashley Williams being a potentially GREAT signing for our club, because as I said he is experienced, he is strong and he is a good on the ball. And perhaps more importantly, he is a great leader and also he will offer great competition and potential for rotation in our team which is extremely important.
What do you think to this story? Do you think he could be a good option for us? Tweet me your thoughts @Mr_arsenal_blog.
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
27/1/13
Hello all, sorry for lack of activity on here recently but I have been very busy with University work e.t.c. and therefore have simply not really had time to actually write any blogs, which is a shame. BUT good news, I'M BACK!! No, just kidding, but hope you enjoy my latest post.
So let's get straight into the action as they say. Last week I read an article which basically said, that we (Arsenal) are going to rival Liverpool for the signing of Ashely Williams the defender and skipper of Swansea City. Now to be honest this will be just another of those unfounded media stories, and I don't really believe it quite frankly. However when I read this at first I thought, why would we want this player? But when I sat to think about it, I actually thought that this really could be a great idea for Arsenal. And i'll tell you why!
Firstly he suits our play. He is a very dynamic and intelligent player who is extremely comfortable on the ball, and a great passer/distributor. We all know that Arsene Wenger requires his defenders to bring the ball out of defence, and pass from back to front. That is why all of our defenders (with the exception of Squillaci of course), are very very good on the ball. This is something that Williams could offer us for sure. When you watch him playing for Swansea, who have a very similar passing based strategy to us, he is very good on the ball, so this could actually mean that he would fit in well with our style of football.
Secondly he is physical. He is a strong player who can certainly mix it up with most CFs in the league physically which of course is a great attribute. This is something which I think we require. We need an imposing, traditional British style defender, who can really just control and impose himself on opposition attackers, to give us a more consistent defensive level. I am not saying our defenders are not good, because I believe that in Vermalean, Mertesacker and Koscielney we have great defenders, and in Miquel we have someone who I believe will actually develop into a very very capable premier league CB in years to come, who is also very good on the ball, in the Arsenal mould. But I just think that we could do with someone that whilst fitting in with out style of play, offers more physicality and strength to our back-line for sure. I have often spoke on twitter of the need to strengthen the "spine" of our team, and by this I mean central defence, central midfield and centre forward. All successful teams have very strong players in each position. And at the moment I feel we are a few short, so this could certainly help us in terms of competition.
Thirdly he has Premier League experience and is a good leader (he is the Swansea and Wales skipper). I have always said that we need more leaders in the squad, and therefore he could offer this, and I have also said that we need to start buying from within the Premier League more, because of the need for players who are a) proven and b) can just slot in quickly to the way that we do things in this country and in this league.
With only 3 quality CBs at our disposal currently we are only 2 injuries away from being rather stuck! So we certainly need strengthening there. Unfortunately I see it almost inconceivable that we will sign a defender this window, but in the summer perhaps we will. However I see Ashley Williams being a potentially GREAT signing for our club, because as I said he is experienced, he is strong and he is a good on the ball. And perhaps more importantly, he is a great leader and also he will offer great competition and potential for rotation in our team which is extremely important.
What do you think to this story? Do you think he could be a good option for us? Tweet me your thoughts @Mr_arsenal_blog.
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
21 January 2013
Mr Arsenal Blog's Tactics Weekly.
20/01/13 - Reviewing the Chelsea show.
Well yet again, it was a massively frustrating day yesterday for us Arsenal fans. The first half was really poor, but once again we were robbed by the referee who made two big SHOCKING decisions. I think we really need to find out why we keep starting games slowly, as we did again yesterday, and start playing for the 90 minutes like we have in the last two 45 minutes Vs Swansea and Vs Chelsea. It is so frustrating to see us start the game so slowly, and then dominate the next half when we are already behind, and have a mountain to climb. So what went wrong in the first half. Let's break this down here, and I aim to discuss this with this article.
This really was the definition of the cliche of a "game of two halves". In the first half we were second to every ball, played very deep, played with no penetration and once again did not press the ball. We allowed them far to much space to work, because we sat too deep and effectively just watched them play football. We have to start coming out of the blocks fast, pressing high up the pitch as a team and stop allowing teams to just play out, and get around us so easily. That is exactly what happened. Arsenal needed to play higher up, by doing so they would have pushed Chelsea back towards their own goal, and would have made it a lot lot harder for them to just play the ball around us with such ease, as they did in the first half. This has been a real problem this season, we do not push high up the pitch and work hard enough of the ball, especially in the first half of games. You look back across the season so far and you will see that in most games we have played quite well in the 2nd half but in the 1st half we are just so slow and are not fighting enough off the ball, with the tenacity to get it back, and hold on to it.
Linked to this problem of holding on to the ball is the result of real sloppiness in my opinion. Yesterday we did not take care of the ball at all in the first half, we seemed happy to just stroke the ball around without any real conviction. This meant that we gave it away too cheaply, and this cost us directly for the 2nd goal. Other than the fact that the 2nd goal (the penalty) should have been a goal, because Ramires CLEARLY dived, however Diaby faffed around on the ball and was robbed of it, which led to a Chelsea break, and ultimately the goal. The whole team was guilty on this front, there is no conviction in our passing. This has to change. However in the second half this changed, we started trying to get higher up the pitch, we passed the ball forward quickly and efficiently and funnily enough we looked far more dangerous, and Chelsea could hardly get out of their own half. It was exactly the same against Swansea in the FA Cup on Wednesday. If we actually start doing this in the first half, I can absolutely GUARANTEE you that we will win most games, because we have great quality, but in the first half for most games this season we have not imposed ourselves enough on the opposition and been just too sloppy and lethargic, it was the same yesterday!
Furthermore I think our players have been guilty in the last two premier league goals, of being "sucked in" far too easily. You look at the first goal yesterday, you had Mertescaker too close to Vermalean, leaving space behind for Mata (who of course then scored), and you had Sagna who was FAR to high up the field, and did not track back quick enough at all. The players have to be more disciplined in their shape, and not allow space to open up. It is simple thing that I am sure all of you that play football will have been told many times, do not get sucked into the ball. You have to keep your shape. And that is something that they didn't do effectively in the 1st half, and that cost us. YES both goals should not have been given because the referee made a disgraceful decision not to give the foul on Coquelin, and was clearly guessing for the penalty because it was a clear dive. However having said this, the players have to help themselves more by keeping their shape, and tracking back much quicker than Sagna did for example yesterday.
In terms of the criticism that this Arsenal team has been getting in recent days I would like to outline what I think about this. My basic opinion is that this team has a lot of quality and a lot of talent. You look right through it, we have the likes of Podolski, Cazorla, Walcott, Arteta, Wilshere, Gibbs, Vermalean, Mertesacker to name a few, these are ALL international players. And in the case of Wilshere and Gibbs especially have massive talent to fulfil. So I will not accept that they are not a good team, there is a lot of quality there that needs to be fulfilled. And as I have outlined in this piece, I think it is an application issue that is holding them back. We do not press the ball enough, do not work hard enough of the ball, and do not look to impose ourselves on the opposition from the start enough. I almost think that the players do not realise how good they actually are, and maybe you could point the finger at the boss for that, in the sense that maybe he needs to give them more confidence to go out and play to their potential, I don't know. But all I do know is that this quality is not being shown enough for a whole 90 minutes.
We do need add players to this squad, and I am confident that we will. What I have noticed in recent weeks is that Arsene has been a lot more open in his frustration during interviews, than we've ever seen before really. So I do think that he acknowledges that we need a few faces, and he has said this in the media, that he wants 1/2 quality introductions. But as always we are going to just have to wait and see what materialises.
For now we do have quality in the team, and we need to start showing it from the off. There is NO point showing after half time, because often the game will have passed them by at that point, so we have to start IMPOSING our own quality on the opposition from the start. That for me is the key point from this, the word imposing. We need to impose ourselves, both offensively and defensively from the off. Press the team hard and high up the pitch and look to attack with more urgency, more tempo and drive as we have been doing in the 2nd half in the last week, but for the FULL 90 minutes of the match.
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
20/01/13 - Reviewing the Chelsea show.
Well yet again, it was a massively frustrating day yesterday for us Arsenal fans. The first half was really poor, but once again we were robbed by the referee who made two big SHOCKING decisions. I think we really need to find out why we keep starting games slowly, as we did again yesterday, and start playing for the 90 minutes like we have in the last two 45 minutes Vs Swansea and Vs Chelsea. It is so frustrating to see us start the game so slowly, and then dominate the next half when we are already behind, and have a mountain to climb. So what went wrong in the first half. Let's break this down here, and I aim to discuss this with this article.
This really was the definition of the cliche of a "game of two halves". In the first half we were second to every ball, played very deep, played with no penetration and once again did not press the ball. We allowed them far to much space to work, because we sat too deep and effectively just watched them play football. We have to start coming out of the blocks fast, pressing high up the pitch as a team and stop allowing teams to just play out, and get around us so easily. That is exactly what happened. Arsenal needed to play higher up, by doing so they would have pushed Chelsea back towards their own goal, and would have made it a lot lot harder for them to just play the ball around us with such ease, as they did in the first half. This has been a real problem this season, we do not push high up the pitch and work hard enough of the ball, especially in the first half of games. You look back across the season so far and you will see that in most games we have played quite well in the 2nd half but in the 1st half we are just so slow and are not fighting enough off the ball, with the tenacity to get it back, and hold on to it.
Linked to this problem of holding on to the ball is the result of real sloppiness in my opinion. Yesterday we did not take care of the ball at all in the first half, we seemed happy to just stroke the ball around without any real conviction. This meant that we gave it away too cheaply, and this cost us directly for the 2nd goal. Other than the fact that the 2nd goal (the penalty) should have been a goal, because Ramires CLEARLY dived, however Diaby faffed around on the ball and was robbed of it, which led to a Chelsea break, and ultimately the goal. The whole team was guilty on this front, there is no conviction in our passing. This has to change. However in the second half this changed, we started trying to get higher up the pitch, we passed the ball forward quickly and efficiently and funnily enough we looked far more dangerous, and Chelsea could hardly get out of their own half. It was exactly the same against Swansea in the FA Cup on Wednesday. If we actually start doing this in the first half, I can absolutely GUARANTEE you that we will win most games, because we have great quality, but in the first half for most games this season we have not imposed ourselves enough on the opposition and been just too sloppy and lethargic, it was the same yesterday!
Furthermore I think our players have been guilty in the last two premier league goals, of being "sucked in" far too easily. You look at the first goal yesterday, you had Mertescaker too close to Vermalean, leaving space behind for Mata (who of course then scored), and you had Sagna who was FAR to high up the field, and did not track back quick enough at all. The players have to be more disciplined in their shape, and not allow space to open up. It is simple thing that I am sure all of you that play football will have been told many times, do not get sucked into the ball. You have to keep your shape. And that is something that they didn't do effectively in the 1st half, and that cost us. YES both goals should not have been given because the referee made a disgraceful decision not to give the foul on Coquelin, and was clearly guessing for the penalty because it was a clear dive. However having said this, the players have to help themselves more by keeping their shape, and tracking back much quicker than Sagna did for example yesterday.
In terms of the criticism that this Arsenal team has been getting in recent days I would like to outline what I think about this. My basic opinion is that this team has a lot of quality and a lot of talent. You look right through it, we have the likes of Podolski, Cazorla, Walcott, Arteta, Wilshere, Gibbs, Vermalean, Mertesacker to name a few, these are ALL international players. And in the case of Wilshere and Gibbs especially have massive talent to fulfil. So I will not accept that they are not a good team, there is a lot of quality there that needs to be fulfilled. And as I have outlined in this piece, I think it is an application issue that is holding them back. We do not press the ball enough, do not work hard enough of the ball, and do not look to impose ourselves on the opposition from the start enough. I almost think that the players do not realise how good they actually are, and maybe you could point the finger at the boss for that, in the sense that maybe he needs to give them more confidence to go out and play to their potential, I don't know. But all I do know is that this quality is not being shown enough for a whole 90 minutes.
We do need add players to this squad, and I am confident that we will. What I have noticed in recent weeks is that Arsene has been a lot more open in his frustration during interviews, than we've ever seen before really. So I do think that he acknowledges that we need a few faces, and he has said this in the media, that he wants 1/2 quality introductions. But as always we are going to just have to wait and see what materialises.
For now we do have quality in the team, and we need to start showing it from the off. There is NO point showing after half time, because often the game will have passed them by at that point, so we have to start IMPOSING our own quality on the opposition from the start. That for me is the key point from this, the word imposing. We need to impose ourselves, both offensively and defensively from the off. Press the team hard and high up the pitch and look to attack with more urgency, more tempo and drive as we have been doing in the 2nd half in the last week, but for the FULL 90 minutes of the match.
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
19 January 2013
Why Theo signing a new deal is BIG news. And why I believe the board deserve a lot of credit for once.
19/01/13
Yesterday we saw the image on arsenal.com, that we had been hoping to see for the best part of half a year, Theo with a pen in his hand signing da ting!! The saga that had been going on for so long that I think many had convinced themselves that he was going to be leaving either in the transfer window, or on a bosman (free) transfer in the summer. As Arsene said the other day, when negotiations take this long, it is never really a good sign, and more often than not you would expect either party to withdraw from the negotiating table completely. Fortunately, that was not the case, and we have a deal. Theo has signed a new contract, believed to be for 3 and 1/2 years, and will therefore be staying at the club. This is of course great news for us, and completes the job in terms of extending the contracts of all, our so called "British Core". 6 British players have all now signed new "long term contracts" with the club over the last month.
However undoubtably this one was the most complex of those mentioned to sort out. I think this is down to the fact that Theo is that bit older and a lot more experienced and therefore this was arguably a bigger contract for him in his career, furthermore of course there was the issue over his playing position, which seemed to take forever to be sorted. Theo always maintained that he wished to remain at Arsenal, but saw himself as a striker rather than a winger, even though we have seen big improvements in his wing play in recent seasons. In recent weeks he has been given a chance to play at CF and I think that this has given him more confidence that he will be given at least some games at striker, and therefore contract talks I think have become easier.
But now it is done we can move on, but we have to say it is such great news that this deal has been sealed. First things first Theo is a quality player, he has 30 caps for his country and is our top goalscorer this season so far with 14 goals (more than he has scored in any other season). He has been a bit inconsistent from game to game over the years, but one thing is for sure, he is unplayable when he is "on it", and what is also very pleasing for Arsenal is that he is a great finisher and is pace is effectively second to none. So for us to hold on to him is massive in my opinion. It has been well documented over the last few years how many top players we have lost in recent seasons, so it was so important to make sure that this did not happen again. And it hasn't, so that is absolutely fantastic. Theo has showed great loyalty, he has stuck to his word and has been honest and has signed the contract. This is brilliant news for Arsenal, and I cannot wait to see him continue to score goals and terrorise defenders for many more years to come, I think he still has lot more potential to fulfill which is exciting, especially as he learns to play as a CF.
I also think that whilst Theo deserves lots of credit for sticking to his pledge that he wanted to stay at Arsenal, I think the board also deserves credit for this deal. I know that the board have taken quite a lot of stick this season, which I don't think is always fair as they are not the ones on the pitch each week, but the fact is they have taken a lot of stick. I agree in part that they do need to spend more money and they do need to give Arsene more support, but I do think they have become a scapegoat whenever we don't win a game, which is not right. But regardless of this, they could easily have given up on this contract extension as it really really dragged out. But they haven't they kept trying to get people round the table, they kept making offers to Theo's representatives, stuck at it, and they have their reward, the club has re-signed him! So I do think that they deserve credit for this, because as I said they could have easily thrown the towel in and just let him go. But they realised he was a very important player, and have pulled it off.
Where they do deserve stick however, lays in the fact that they let this contract get into the situation that it did. To allow a player of Theo's quality get to the final 5 months of his contract almost, is poor management. I know that Theo was un-happy at the fact it took them so long to invite him in for negotiation and he felt undervalued by the club because of this. So you could argue that they have got away with this one, because the player was keen to stay! However this must not be allowed to happen again. With Theo signing on for only 3 1/2 years the board's motives now should be to show to Theo ambition, get quality players in and when he gets to within 18 months of the end of this contract, get him and tie him down!! That is the key, if they do not do those things, we will be in exactly the same panic again, and could loose him, therefore might not get away with it again!
It is great news that he has signed a new deal, and I hope that he will celebrate his new deal with a fantastic performance tomorrow, whether that be up front or on the flank, and score a few goals!!
UP THE ARSENAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpccf8qgSt4
@Mr_arsenal_blog
19/01/13
Yesterday we saw the image on arsenal.com, that we had been hoping to see for the best part of half a year, Theo with a pen in his hand signing da ting!! The saga that had been going on for so long that I think many had convinced themselves that he was going to be leaving either in the transfer window, or on a bosman (free) transfer in the summer. As Arsene said the other day, when negotiations take this long, it is never really a good sign, and more often than not you would expect either party to withdraw from the negotiating table completely. Fortunately, that was not the case, and we have a deal. Theo has signed a new contract, believed to be for 3 and 1/2 years, and will therefore be staying at the club. This is of course great news for us, and completes the job in terms of extending the contracts of all, our so called "British Core". 6 British players have all now signed new "long term contracts" with the club over the last month.
But now it is done we can move on, but we have to say it is such great news that this deal has been sealed. First things first Theo is a quality player, he has 30 caps for his country and is our top goalscorer this season so far with 14 goals (more than he has scored in any other season). He has been a bit inconsistent from game to game over the years, but one thing is for sure, he is unplayable when he is "on it", and what is also very pleasing for Arsenal is that he is a great finisher and is pace is effectively second to none. So for us to hold on to him is massive in my opinion. It has been well documented over the last few years how many top players we have lost in recent seasons, so it was so important to make sure that this did not happen again. And it hasn't, so that is absolutely fantastic. Theo has showed great loyalty, he has stuck to his word and has been honest and has signed the contract. This is brilliant news for Arsenal, and I cannot wait to see him continue to score goals and terrorise defenders for many more years to come, I think he still has lot more potential to fulfill which is exciting, especially as he learns to play as a CF.
I also think that whilst Theo deserves lots of credit for sticking to his pledge that he wanted to stay at Arsenal, I think the board also deserves credit for this deal. I know that the board have taken quite a lot of stick this season, which I don't think is always fair as they are not the ones on the pitch each week, but the fact is they have taken a lot of stick. I agree in part that they do need to spend more money and they do need to give Arsene more support, but I do think they have become a scapegoat whenever we don't win a game, which is not right. But regardless of this, they could easily have given up on this contract extension as it really really dragged out. But they haven't they kept trying to get people round the table, they kept making offers to Theo's representatives, stuck at it, and they have their reward, the club has re-signed him! So I do think that they deserve credit for this, because as I said they could have easily thrown the towel in and just let him go. But they realised he was a very important player, and have pulled it off.
Where they do deserve stick however, lays in the fact that they let this contract get into the situation that it did. To allow a player of Theo's quality get to the final 5 months of his contract almost, is poor management. I know that Theo was un-happy at the fact it took them so long to invite him in for negotiation and he felt undervalued by the club because of this. So you could argue that they have got away with this one, because the player was keen to stay! However this must not be allowed to happen again. With Theo signing on for only 3 1/2 years the board's motives now should be to show to Theo ambition, get quality players in and when he gets to within 18 months of the end of this contract, get him and tie him down!! That is the key, if they do not do those things, we will be in exactly the same panic again, and could loose him, therefore might not get away with it again!
It is great news that he has signed a new deal, and I hope that he will celebrate his new deal with a fantastic performance tomorrow, whether that be up front or on the flank, and score a few goals!!
UP THE ARSENAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpccf8qgSt4
17 January 2013
Why Pep Guardiola chose Bayern over Chelsea and Co. Could he be Arsene Wenger's eventual replacement at Arsenal? My thoughts on a potential manager merry go round.
17/01/13
Well yesterday we saw the somewhat surprising news that Mr Josep Guardiola, the mastermind of 14 trophies in 4 record breaking years as manager of FC Barcelona, would be joining Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munchen. Considering only earlier this week we were under the impression that Pep would be heading for the Barclays Premier League this summer, potentially with Chelsea his destination, this was a shock. I have always maintained that Pep could well replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal in the event of Le Prof stepping down. It may well be that he still replaces Arsene Wenger at Arsenal in a few years time, but one thing we know for sure is that he will be Bayern Munich manager for the next few seasons at least! So why did he make this move? What can we expect from his time in the German province of Bavaria? And could he really end up at Arsenal in the future?
Given the intense media speculation and gossip over the last few weeks it was quite obvious that the world's most in demand football manager's next move would become clear. And indeed it has. He has opted to turn down the cash of Chelsea in pursuit of more stability and class of the German giants. Let's make one thing clear, Bayern Munich is a massive club, without doubt one of the biggest in Europe. It has an unbelievable new stadium, a fantastic training facility and perhaps more importantly for someone as forward-thinking and revolutionary as Guardiola, it is a club with an asteem and prosperous academy system that has produced players such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller over the last decade or so. I am sure that this will have been a great draw to Munich for him especially when you consider that when he took over at the Nou Camp he moved on established internationally acclaimed players such as Deco and world player of the year winner Ronaldinho in exchange for young, talented, youth graduates such as Pedro and Sergio Busquetes and during his time at the club as a whole ushered in players such as Tello, Cuenca and Martin Montoya, into the first team from the club's incredible La Masia academy system.
I would also maintain what I have said before regarding Pep's next move, that he wouldn't want to risk his reputation and stature within the game, by going to work under such a trigger happy chairman as Roman Abromovich is, at Chelsea. When you consider that Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions and The FA cup and was sacked, Ancelloti won the double one season and was sacked the next, a world cup winning coach, Scolari, was gone within 6 months as was the talented Villas-Boas who was in fact even guaranteed by the Russian, that he would be given plenty of time and support in ushering in a new philosophy in terms of playing style and youth development. But he too was dismissed after 6 months. So when you consider the great reputation that Guardiola has in the game, and rightly so given his success in Catalonia, why would he want to risk this by going to a club that could quite feasibly dismiss after only a few bad results, as happened with Di Matteo only this season. It is believed that Roman Abromovich took it upon himself to pull out all the proverbial stops, to encourage Guardiola to come to Stamford Bridge, and it's been speculated that he was offered as much as TWENTY million a year to take up the job. An astronomical amount of money. But to Guardiola's credit he has gone with his heart and his beliefs rather than his bank balance, and in my opinion this is very refreshing to see in the modern game.
As I said in the introduction to this article, I have held the view for a number of years that Pep Guardiola would be the perfect manager to replace Arsene Wenger. He is someone that has a very similar footballing philosophy to Mr Wenger, and also somebody that actually came to Arsenal a number of years ago, when working towards his coaching badges. Given this, I believe that one day he could be Arsenal manager, and as you may have seen in a previous article of mine, I had thought that if this season finishes with Arsenal in an unsatisfactory situation, Arsene could step down with Guardiola coming in, given that next season would have been the first season that he was available to take over a new club!
However of course this is not going to happen as he will be in Munich now, and of course I would
also prefer Arsene to stay at the club and be successful again, that would be an ideal scenario. But a few years down the line when Arsene Wenger's contract expires maybe this could be the time that Guardiola could be approached about taking over the reigns at Ashburton Grove! He has signed a 3 year contract at Bayern, and therefore this may not be possible. Regardless of this, what is clear is that he does have "Arsenal DNA" (to coin a popular phrase), and at some point down the line I am convinced he will be Arsenal manager. With Arsene's contract expiring at the end of next season (2014), it would appear that in order for this to happen, Arsene would have to sign on again for a few years in order to coincide with Pep's contract at Bayern.
Of course in all of this we mustn't forget the situation with others, such as Jurgen Klopp, who himself has done an incredible job at Borussia Dortmund, and would also be a very capable replacement for the legend that is, Arsene Wenger at the club. Furthermore, we also have to consider the future of the likes of Ferguson at Manchester United, Mancini at Manchester City and Mourinho at Madrid. These could also be on the move within the next few years, which would also open up a potential job in England, for Pep (presuming he would never take the Madrid job) to come to and manage in this country, as we assume would be of interest to him, somewhere down the line. Finally with Arsene Wenger and Ferguson in particular highly unlikely to ever manage another club, you could argue that there is currently a very small group of managers that could manage at these clubs, so it is no wonder that the likes of Mourinho, Klopp and Guardiola are in high demand!
Anyway, it is all shaped up to be a fascinating few years in the manager merry-go round!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
17/01/13
Well yesterday we saw the somewhat surprising news that Mr Josep Guardiola, the mastermind of 14 trophies in 4 record breaking years as manager of FC Barcelona, would be joining Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munchen. Considering only earlier this week we were under the impression that Pep would be heading for the Barclays Premier League this summer, potentially with Chelsea his destination, this was a shock. I have always maintained that Pep could well replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal in the event of Le Prof stepping down. It may well be that he still replaces Arsene Wenger at Arsenal in a few years time, but one thing we know for sure is that he will be Bayern Munich manager for the next few seasons at least! So why did he make this move? What can we expect from his time in the German province of Bavaria? And could he really end up at Arsenal in the future?
Given the intense media speculation and gossip over the last few weeks it was quite obvious that the world's most in demand football manager's next move would become clear. And indeed it has. He has opted to turn down the cash of Chelsea in pursuit of more stability and class of the German giants. Let's make one thing clear, Bayern Munich is a massive club, without doubt one of the biggest in Europe. It has an unbelievable new stadium, a fantastic training facility and perhaps more importantly for someone as forward-thinking and revolutionary as Guardiola, it is a club with an asteem and prosperous academy system that has produced players such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller over the last decade or so. I am sure that this will have been a great draw to Munich for him especially when you consider that when he took over at the Nou Camp he moved on established internationally acclaimed players such as Deco and world player of the year winner Ronaldinho in exchange for young, talented, youth graduates such as Pedro and Sergio Busquetes and during his time at the club as a whole ushered in players such as Tello, Cuenca and Martin Montoya, into the first team from the club's incredible La Masia academy system.
I would also maintain what I have said before regarding Pep's next move, that he wouldn't want to risk his reputation and stature within the game, by going to work under such a trigger happy chairman as Roman Abromovich is, at Chelsea. When you consider that Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions and The FA cup and was sacked, Ancelloti won the double one season and was sacked the next, a world cup winning coach, Scolari, was gone within 6 months as was the talented Villas-Boas who was in fact even guaranteed by the Russian, that he would be given plenty of time and support in ushering in a new philosophy in terms of playing style and youth development. But he too was dismissed after 6 months. So when you consider the great reputation that Guardiola has in the game, and rightly so given his success in Catalonia, why would he want to risk this by going to a club that could quite feasibly dismiss after only a few bad results, as happened with Di Matteo only this season. It is believed that Roman Abromovich took it upon himself to pull out all the proverbial stops, to encourage Guardiola to come to Stamford Bridge, and it's been speculated that he was offered as much as TWENTY million a year to take up the job. An astronomical amount of money. But to Guardiola's credit he has gone with his heart and his beliefs rather than his bank balance, and in my opinion this is very refreshing to see in the modern game.
As I said in the introduction to this article, I have held the view for a number of years that Pep Guardiola would be the perfect manager to replace Arsene Wenger. He is someone that has a very similar footballing philosophy to Mr Wenger, and also somebody that actually came to Arsenal a number of years ago, when working towards his coaching badges. Given this, I believe that one day he could be Arsenal manager, and as you may have seen in a previous article of mine, I had thought that if this season finishes with Arsenal in an unsatisfactory situation, Arsene could step down with Guardiola coming in, given that next season would have been the first season that he was available to take over a new club!
However of course this is not going to happen as he will be in Munich now, and of course I would
also prefer Arsene to stay at the club and be successful again, that would be an ideal scenario. But a few years down the line when Arsene Wenger's contract expires maybe this could be the time that Guardiola could be approached about taking over the reigns at Ashburton Grove! He has signed a 3 year contract at Bayern, and therefore this may not be possible. Regardless of this, what is clear is that he does have "Arsenal DNA" (to coin a popular phrase), and at some point down the line I am convinced he will be Arsenal manager. With Arsene's contract expiring at the end of next season (2014), it would appear that in order for this to happen, Arsene would have to sign on again for a few years in order to coincide with Pep's contract at Bayern.
Of course in all of this we mustn't forget the situation with others, such as Jurgen Klopp, who himself has done an incredible job at Borussia Dortmund, and would also be a very capable replacement for the legend that is, Arsene Wenger at the club. Furthermore, we also have to consider the future of the likes of Ferguson at Manchester United, Mancini at Manchester City and Mourinho at Madrid. These could also be on the move within the next few years, which would also open up a potential job in England, for Pep (presuming he would never take the Madrid job) to come to and manage in this country, as we assume would be of interest to him, somewhere down the line. Finally with Arsene Wenger and Ferguson in particular highly unlikely to ever manage another club, you could argue that there is currently a very small group of managers that could manage at these clubs, so it is no wonder that the likes of Mourinho, Klopp and Guardiola are in high demand!
Anyway, it is all shaped up to be a fascinating few years in the manager merry-go round!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
15 January 2013
13 January 2013
Mr Arsenal Blog's Tactics Weekly.
13/01/2013 - reviewing the Manchester City game.
Well, what a shame that was. I was, as I am sure all of you were as well, so much looking forward to this game today, it was all shaping up to be a fantastic day of competitive football and really was an ACTUAL (for once) "Super Sunday". I was so excited to arrive at the ground again today, just thought it was going to be such a good game.
However, as we know, the game and the spectacle that we were hoping for, was absolutely ruined so early on by the sending off. Now at the time I was so furious at this, as was everyone else in the ground, a feeling of "shell-shockness" seemed to flow round the crowd as Laurent Koscielney made his way of the pitch and down the tunnel. I would like to make it clear that, despite my inevitable anger, it WAS in fact a penalty (link to the incident will be at the bottom of this piece), but I do not think that it was a red card because a) it was very early in the game and b) I think the ball was going to the goal keeper anyway. But regardless of this that was the situation that reared it's ugly head unfortunately. Therefore as soon as that happened, quite frankly we were never going to win the game, and a loss was inevitable! That's what the disappointing thing is for me, the fact the great spectacle we had hoped for was completely taken away. Because of the sending off I don't think you can read much into the performance of either team, because of these conditions. But regardless of this however, we did make a number of mistakes for both goals and I am now going to outline this, but also outline what I think we can take from this game, in a positive light!
Let's get the negatives over with first! As we know the fact we were down to ten men of course made it very very hard for us to defend efficiently, because naturally they would have the spare man over every time. But despite this both goals could have, and SHOULD have been avoided. The first one came as a result of Arsenal switching of, and loosing their shape at a quick free kick. When a foul is given by the officials, we need the leaders in the team, to make sure the players do not switch of and think they have a few seconds rest, because as we saw this is not the case. They took a quick one, caught as out played it wide brought into the box, and boom it's 1-0. Which of course gave us a HUGE mountain to climb. Going down 1-0 to the Champions is bad enough, but with 10 men, i'm afraid that was it, game over! But the fact is, that was poor from the team. As you will see, I do feel proud of the players for the way they fought considering we were up against the Champions, with a man down for effectively, the whole match. But, that should not happen, I remember at Under 8 sort of age, when playing football we would always be shouted at if we turned our back and switched off at a free kick, when they could take it quickly. You have to be alert, aware as to what is happening. And the players were not on this occasion, and they paid the penalty!
Moving on to the 2nd goal! This was also very avoidable, which of course is frustrating. We put too much "risk on the ball" in the wide areas, gave it away cheaply, Gibbs was then beaten to a loose ball, which City then dribbled down the side, played in, Mertesacker missed the clearance which left Silva to shoot which was blocked by Wojiech, only to be tapped home by Dzeko! This also should have been avoided. We should have cleared the ball in the wide areas, or at least distributed it quickly and efficiently out of the "danger zone" if you like, and then played it up field. We cannot afford, especially when down to 10 men against the English Champions, to be sloppy on the ball. I said at the time of sending off, "right, now we have to be super disciplined on the ball, and try and hold on to it as well as we can", however we didn't manage that, and this was exactly what we didn't do for the 2nd goal!
Final negative of the game I thought was the performance was the lack of anything really from Santi. I have seen that people were slagging of Theo for his performance, but to be fair we were playing with 10 men, and also Theo did not get ANY service throughout the match. I think he tried to move around, tried to make runs (I specifically watched him throughout for this), but was not given the through balls and passes that is required. And part of this, I believe, was as a result of lack of creative activity from Santi. Who of course has been a little magician at times this season, but I think in a few games he has been COMPLETELY invisible. And today, unfortunately, that was one of those moments for sure. He didn't probe the defence, in the sense that he didn't distribute the ball well at all, was too slow, and passed up the chance to shoot on a number of occasions, when in good areas of the field (around the box). We really needed a performance from him today, firstly because we were missing Mikel, so we needed Jack and Santi to really step up in a creative fashion, and secondly because we went down to 10 men and therefore needed him to create some chances for us to have a chance of coming back into the game, but this was not the case. Maybe he is in need of a rest, I don't know. But it sure is strange that we still havent seen Rosicky come on in the league, when it is clear that Santi is struggling at times to be fresh, so why not give Rosicky a go? I don't know.
But as I said before, there were positives we can take from this fixture. When a team goes down to 10 men after such a short time in the game, it would be VERY easy for the team to hide away, to feel sorry for themselves and to almost give up. But I think they did the opposite! They really fought for the ball, when City looked like scoring the players blocked they harried the ball around the box, and I don't think you can fault that. Of course you could say we didn't take the chances that we DID have, such as Giroud from a set piece, put a header wide, and of course Theo had a shot blocked of the line where I think he should have placed the ball better, but as I said, they fought hard for it, and they kept the scoreline reasonable if you can put it that way. Of course loosing a game at home is not satisfactory for a club like Arsenal, but in the circumstances, it could've ended up a "cricket score", but the players fought valiantly to make sure this wasn't the case, this is pleasing.
So on the whole it's been a very disappointing day. I was very optimistic going into this match that we could do well, however this didn't pan out that way. But moving forward we have an absolutely MASSIVE few weeks coming up. Those of you that know me, will know that I am a guy that is always reasonably optimistic about things, but the next few weeks could either make our season or kill it, that is the severity in my opinion of what is to come. We have Chelsea away next, and if we don't get anything there it is feasable that Liverpool could be level with us, and then of course we have that team (Liverpool) at home in the next Premier League. Therefore it is feasible we could end up around 8th, where Liverpool are now, after these games, IF we don't see a response from the lads. Throw the FA Cup replay Vs Swansea on Wednesday, into the equation as well, and I think you can start to see my point. This is an absolutely enourmous few weeks for our season. Firstly we have to find a reaction to this game, without Koscielney and Arteta for these upcoming weeks, and secondly we have to enter the market place as well for a few players. If we do these two things and some good results in the league, win the replay, and acquire 1 or 2 good players, our seasons should be okay! If we don't however, I really worry about what would happen especially when you consider the champions league knockout round 1st leg Vs Munich is also looming!
But let's stay optimistic, that is a good way to be, as the players and the staff need our support after a day like this, where everything really went against us, and lets give credit where it's due, the players did show application and fight today in difficult circumstances, but the manner of the goals we conceded was not good enough, and when you consider that had we not made 2 bad erros for the 2 goals, we could have managed to hold for a draw with 10 men! That is encouraging of course, BUT we did make these errors, so ultimately we very disappointed!
So we go now to Stamford Bridge hoping for a good win! And until then I wish you a good week!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdqwi4z0D40 - penalty and red card incident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09TpvqokJwU - the goals. See the errors!
13/01/2013 - reviewing the Manchester City game.
Well, what a shame that was. I was, as I am sure all of you were as well, so much looking forward to this game today, it was all shaping up to be a fantastic day of competitive football and really was an ACTUAL (for once) "Super Sunday". I was so excited to arrive at the ground again today, just thought it was going to be such a good game.
However, as we know, the game and the spectacle that we were hoping for, was absolutely ruined so early on by the sending off. Now at the time I was so furious at this, as was everyone else in the ground, a feeling of "shell-shockness" seemed to flow round the crowd as Laurent Koscielney made his way of the pitch and down the tunnel. I would like to make it clear that, despite my inevitable anger, it WAS in fact a penalty (link to the incident will be at the bottom of this piece), but I do not think that it was a red card because a) it was very early in the game and b) I think the ball was going to the goal keeper anyway. But regardless of this that was the situation that reared it's ugly head unfortunately. Therefore as soon as that happened, quite frankly we were never going to win the game, and a loss was inevitable! That's what the disappointing thing is for me, the fact the great spectacle we had hoped for was completely taken away. Because of the sending off I don't think you can read much into the performance of either team, because of these conditions. But regardless of this however, we did make a number of mistakes for both goals and I am now going to outline this, but also outline what I think we can take from this game, in a positive light!
Let's get the negatives over with first! As we know the fact we were down to ten men of course made it very very hard for us to defend efficiently, because naturally they would have the spare man over every time. But despite this both goals could have, and SHOULD have been avoided. The first one came as a result of Arsenal switching of, and loosing their shape at a quick free kick. When a foul is given by the officials, we need the leaders in the team, to make sure the players do not switch of and think they have a few seconds rest, because as we saw this is not the case. They took a quick one, caught as out played it wide brought into the box, and boom it's 1-0. Which of course gave us a HUGE mountain to climb. Going down 1-0 to the Champions is bad enough, but with 10 men, i'm afraid that was it, game over! But the fact is, that was poor from the team. As you will see, I do feel proud of the players for the way they fought considering we were up against the Champions, with a man down for effectively, the whole match. But, that should not happen, I remember at Under 8 sort of age, when playing football we would always be shouted at if we turned our back and switched off at a free kick, when they could take it quickly. You have to be alert, aware as to what is happening. And the players were not on this occasion, and they paid the penalty!
Moving on to the 2nd goal! This was also very avoidable, which of course is frustrating. We put too much "risk on the ball" in the wide areas, gave it away cheaply, Gibbs was then beaten to a loose ball, which City then dribbled down the side, played in, Mertesacker missed the clearance which left Silva to shoot which was blocked by Wojiech, only to be tapped home by Dzeko! This also should have been avoided. We should have cleared the ball in the wide areas, or at least distributed it quickly and efficiently out of the "danger zone" if you like, and then played it up field. We cannot afford, especially when down to 10 men against the English Champions, to be sloppy on the ball. I said at the time of sending off, "right, now we have to be super disciplined on the ball, and try and hold on to it as well as we can", however we didn't manage that, and this was exactly what we didn't do for the 2nd goal!
Final negative of the game I thought was the performance was the lack of anything really from Santi. I have seen that people were slagging of Theo for his performance, but to be fair we were playing with 10 men, and also Theo did not get ANY service throughout the match. I think he tried to move around, tried to make runs (I specifically watched him throughout for this), but was not given the through balls and passes that is required. And part of this, I believe, was as a result of lack of creative activity from Santi. Who of course has been a little magician at times this season, but I think in a few games he has been COMPLETELY invisible. And today, unfortunately, that was one of those moments for sure. He didn't probe the defence, in the sense that he didn't distribute the ball well at all, was too slow, and passed up the chance to shoot on a number of occasions, when in good areas of the field (around the box). We really needed a performance from him today, firstly because we were missing Mikel, so we needed Jack and Santi to really step up in a creative fashion, and secondly because we went down to 10 men and therefore needed him to create some chances for us to have a chance of coming back into the game, but this was not the case. Maybe he is in need of a rest, I don't know. But it sure is strange that we still havent seen Rosicky come on in the league, when it is clear that Santi is struggling at times to be fresh, so why not give Rosicky a go? I don't know.
But as I said before, there were positives we can take from this fixture. When a team goes down to 10 men after such a short time in the game, it would be VERY easy for the team to hide away, to feel sorry for themselves and to almost give up. But I think they did the opposite! They really fought for the ball, when City looked like scoring the players blocked they harried the ball around the box, and I don't think you can fault that. Of course you could say we didn't take the chances that we DID have, such as Giroud from a set piece, put a header wide, and of course Theo had a shot blocked of the line where I think he should have placed the ball better, but as I said, they fought hard for it, and they kept the scoreline reasonable if you can put it that way. Of course loosing a game at home is not satisfactory for a club like Arsenal, but in the circumstances, it could've ended up a "cricket score", but the players fought valiantly to make sure this wasn't the case, this is pleasing.
So on the whole it's been a very disappointing day. I was very optimistic going into this match that we could do well, however this didn't pan out that way. But moving forward we have an absolutely MASSIVE few weeks coming up. Those of you that know me, will know that I am a guy that is always reasonably optimistic about things, but the next few weeks could either make our season or kill it, that is the severity in my opinion of what is to come. We have Chelsea away next, and if we don't get anything there it is feasable that Liverpool could be level with us, and then of course we have that team (Liverpool) at home in the next Premier League. Therefore it is feasible we could end up around 8th, where Liverpool are now, after these games, IF we don't see a response from the lads. Throw the FA Cup replay Vs Swansea on Wednesday, into the equation as well, and I think you can start to see my point. This is an absolutely enourmous few weeks for our season. Firstly we have to find a reaction to this game, without Koscielney and Arteta for these upcoming weeks, and secondly we have to enter the market place as well for a few players. If we do these two things and some good results in the league, win the replay, and acquire 1 or 2 good players, our seasons should be okay! If we don't however, I really worry about what would happen especially when you consider the champions league knockout round 1st leg Vs Munich is also looming!
But let's stay optimistic, that is a good way to be, as the players and the staff need our support after a day like this, where everything really went against us, and lets give credit where it's due, the players did show application and fight today in difficult circumstances, but the manner of the goals we conceded was not good enough, and when you consider that had we not made 2 bad erros for the 2 goals, we could have managed to hold for a draw with 10 men! That is encouraging of course, BUT we did make these errors, so ultimately we very disappointed!
So we go now to Stamford Bridge hoping for a good win! And until then I wish you a good week!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdqwi4z0D40 - penalty and red card incident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09TpvqokJwU - the goals. See the errors!
11 January 2013
Ticketgate - my take on the whole scandal surrounding the clubs ticketing and pricing policy.
As I am sure you are all aware lots of has been made of the last 48 hours or so especially, since Manchester City reportedly handing back circa 1000 tickets to Arsenal because many fans did not want to pay the £63 price that Arsenal had set for this game. But it is something that has been discussed also by Arsenal fans for a long time. Subsequently once again the media has had a field day, as they do whenever something to do with Arsenal can be criticised and sufficiently slagged off! Since Manchester City have become a Premier League "force" Arsenal have placed them within the "Class A" ticketing band which also includes fixtures against Manchester United and The Scum, naturally therefore they are placed at the upper end of the pricing structure. Once again as I said the media have used this a chance to slag of the club, the board e.t.c. But let me try and put some perspective on something which is, as Le Boss put it "a delicate subject"!
First things first as I said this is a Class A fixture, therefore it is a game that many people will want to attend to watch the drama that I am sure and I hope will unfold (in Arsenal's favour of course). Therefore naturally the supply and demand model will apply. Furthermore as it is a "class a" game, NOT all of our away end tickets will be priced this way, as the media will try and make people think. This is a big game, therefore naturally it will have a big price!
Furthermore unlike City we do not have an oil rich backer behind us that can just pour money into the club like its going out fashion! Arsenal as a club and as a business relies on match-day revenue for its overall financial strength, hence the initiative which is now in action by the club to grow our "commercial revenue streams" e.g. new deal with Fly Emirates agreed recently. Therefore in order for us to compete going forward, or even have the chance to compete with the other clubs around us, we have to accept that we are going to need to pay a premium for the pleasure of watching our club play at the home of football. There isn't really much else the club can do.
Clearly I myself am frustrated at the price of tickets, our season tickets cost upwards of £1100 each, so I am well aware of this issue. However as I said, we have to accept that if we want to be able to compete with the likes of Manchester City going forward, our ticket prices are going to be high, and we are are going to have to grow and expand as much as is possible our commercial revenue capabilities. Which is something that we know Ivan Gazidis especially is working towards. The Fly Emirates agreement that I mention is case in point, of this.
Therefore to summarise, we have to make it clear that this is not the price of ticket that is charged for every game, nor is it the price that is charged for the home end either I believe. The club relies on this revenue to be able to fulfil its ambition going forward and therefore unless a Sheikh Mansour type figure comes along, we are going to have to just accept that us fans will have to pay a premium if we are going to be able to see our team compete at all. It's a difficult topic I know, but The Emirates sells out 90% of the time that I am there (which is most games) and we have an absolutely ENORMOUS waiting list for season tickets, and therefore clearly most fans accept this. The prices will be high!
Let's hope that ticket-gate doesn't distract from what should be a fantastic game on Sunday Vs Manchester City, and from what could be in my opinion a good win for The Arsenal, lets hope so!!
UP THE ARSENAL
@Mr_arsenal_blog
As I am sure you are all aware lots of has been made of the last 48 hours or so especially, since Manchester City reportedly handing back circa 1000 tickets to Arsenal because many fans did not want to pay the £63 price that Arsenal had set for this game. But it is something that has been discussed also by Arsenal fans for a long time. Subsequently once again the media has had a field day, as they do whenever something to do with Arsenal can be criticised and sufficiently slagged off! Since Manchester City have become a Premier League "force" Arsenal have placed them within the "Class A" ticketing band which also includes fixtures against Manchester United and The Scum, naturally therefore they are placed at the upper end of the pricing structure. Once again as I said the media have used this a chance to slag of the club, the board e.t.c. But let me try and put some perspective on something which is, as Le Boss put it "a delicate subject"!
First things first as I said this is a Class A fixture, therefore it is a game that many people will want to attend to watch the drama that I am sure and I hope will unfold (in Arsenal's favour of course). Therefore naturally the supply and demand model will apply. Furthermore as it is a "class a" game, NOT all of our away end tickets will be priced this way, as the media will try and make people think. This is a big game, therefore naturally it will have a big price!
Furthermore unlike City we do not have an oil rich backer behind us that can just pour money into the club like its going out fashion! Arsenal as a club and as a business relies on match-day revenue for its overall financial strength, hence the initiative which is now in action by the club to grow our "commercial revenue streams" e.g. new deal with Fly Emirates agreed recently. Therefore in order for us to compete going forward, or even have the chance to compete with the other clubs around us, we have to accept that we are going to need to pay a premium for the pleasure of watching our club play at the home of football. There isn't really much else the club can do.
Clearly I myself am frustrated at the price of tickets, our season tickets cost upwards of £1100 each, so I am well aware of this issue. However as I said, we have to accept that if we want to be able to compete with the likes of Manchester City going forward, our ticket prices are going to be high, and we are are going to have to grow and expand as much as is possible our commercial revenue capabilities. Which is something that we know Ivan Gazidis especially is working towards. The Fly Emirates agreement that I mention is case in point, of this.
Therefore to summarise, we have to make it clear that this is not the price of ticket that is charged for every game, nor is it the price that is charged for the home end either I believe. The club relies on this revenue to be able to fulfil its ambition going forward and therefore unless a Sheikh Mansour type figure comes along, we are going to have to just accept that us fans will have to pay a premium if we are going to be able to see our team compete at all. It's a difficult topic I know, but The Emirates sells out 90% of the time that I am there (which is most games) and we have an absolutely ENORMOUS waiting list for season tickets, and therefore clearly most fans accept this. The prices will be high!
Let's hope that ticket-gate doesn't distract from what should be a fantastic game on Sunday Vs Manchester City, and from what could be in my opinion a good win for The Arsenal, lets hope so!!
UP THE ARSENAL
@Mr_arsenal_blog
5 January 2013
Now time has come passed to take stock, and the situation is clear, what do I think about the Robin Van Persie departure to Manchester United?
Well, I am sure like most of you I could describe my thoughts on this in very few expletives! However, on this occasion I will try and stay calm, and outline what I really think about this whole debacle that unravelled really over the last few years. Let me start however by putting the situation into some kind of context, if I can. He is without a shadow of a doubt a quality player, we cannot kid ourselves on that front, and also we cannot kid ourselves that he was absolutely vital in our charge from early disaster to 3rd place in the Premier League last season. But the fact is he wanted to go, and quite frankly he made his position at the club in my opinion untenable through that quite frankly outrageous "statement" that he released in June. Therefore him staying was never really an option I would argue, that said however what followed was in my opinion absolutely disgraceful! Both on the part of the player for behaving as he did, and on the side of the club for selling to them. This hurts.
This was a man that before he had even joined Arsenal was accused of sexual assault in his home country, which Arsenal supported him through, and signed him regardless of this record. Also, for most of his career at Arsenal his talent was spoilt by an almost constant injury threat. He would get fit, play brilliantly, give us all hope, and then get injured again after 3,4,5, whatever, games. But, did we turn on him? Did we loose faith and support on him? NO. He had our full entire support throughout these injury crises, and it really was that. We were patient with him, we gave him our unconditional support all of the time, and when he got fit once again we treated him like a returning hero, before then once again being let down by injury.
However this changed in the second half of the 2010/2011 season where FINALLY he managed to stay fit, and as expected was brilliant. He then stayed fit for the entire 2011/2012 season, which was a miracle really considering his previous record by the way, and again was brilliant and scored I think 37 goal across the season and was the tip of our spear, as the leader and talisman of the team.
So haven gone through all that, and having had all the support he could possibly have had through those issues to get him to where he belonged, on the top level as one of the best strikers in the world, did he show us the support and loyalty, when we needed, like we did when he needed it? Well, I think we know the answer to that. He refused to sign a new contract which is his decision, but then released that "statement", which in my opinion, effectively stuck two fingers up at the club and the fans, and basically said, I don't care what you have done for me and how you have stood by me, I am only interested in me, and am therefore going to use you to get more money and go elsewhere, and don't care what situation this leaves the team, and perhaps more annoyingly, the fans, who completely idolised him and therefore feel betrayed and heart-broken by what he did.
So that's why I am annoyed by his actions, but as I also said above, the club also are not at all without fault on this front. And again the situation should certainly have been handled differently. Firstly his contract should NEVER have been allowed to get to the stage that it got to. The club should have made more of an effort to tie him down when he first came back from injury, and therefore was in no position to demand anything because he would have just come back, and even with that considered when the contract did get to the point it did, and when the discussions started at the end of last season the club should've acknowledged more what a world-class player he is, and how important he was for us, and given him the money that would be available to him on the market, because I simply WILL NOT accept that this move was ANYTHING other than money orientated. The fact is, United won nothing last season so what gives anyone the right to say that he has gone there for trophies? Yes, they have won more than us over the last few years obviously, but it is just so obvious that this was money orientated. Therefore, Arsenal should have stopped being so stubborn and just offered him the money that he is worth on the market. I understand that formal contract discussions never actually began, but I believe that is because Robin KNEW that Arsenal would not offer him the money that would be available elsewhere, so contract talks were redundant. That's what I think.
But then the club, once they had realised that his position in the team was practically un-tenable, had to make a brave decision. Did they try and patch things up, like City did with Tevez for example, and make him stay? OR, did they sell him on to a "suitable" club! Well, of course we know what happened, they let him muck them about and forced them to sell him to a bitter rival of the club, which they gave into. This is so poor, it hurts. We know for a fact that Juventus were in for him, and we know that City and United were also in for him. It is believed that the likes of Madrid and Barcelona did not express interest, but I am sure if offered the player they would have taken it. Therefore to sell to United was just completely ludicrous, it hurt the club in terms of selling to a rival, and it hurt the fans to see our hero (at the time of course), score goals for a club we dislike as much as them. Therefore this move by the club was so stupid. This is the way myself as a fan looks at it.
However once again I have to try and put some kind of context to this. The fact is RVP (the traitor) decided himself that he wanted to leave, and decided that he want to sign for United. And he probably made it clear to the club, that's where he wanted to go. So can the club do anything else, given if they don't sell him, he would've gone for nothing this summer coming (2013 summer window). So you could argue, as painful as it sounds, the club had no option but to sell to the club that was a) offering to buy him and b) the club the player wanted to go to. This in my opinion is the reality of football, the player holds the cards. Because the fact is if Arsenal had accepted a bid from say Juventus, RVP would probably NOT have signed for them, because he wanted to go to United. So I hope you can see the problem the club had. BUT, we cannot cover the facts up, and those facts are the club SHOULD have a) sorted out before it finally came to a conclusion and b) made more of an effort to assure him that they would offer him the money he would deserve on the open market place! They didn't do this, so in the end the club mucked it up completely, and we lost in my opinion one of the best, if not the best, number 9 in the world (with Falcoa).
So, it hurts a lot to see the man who was our hero, our leader, our talisman last season, strutting his outrageous ability for United, and let's face it if he scores against us again, at The Emirates, this feeling will ONLY get worse. However, I would stress that whilst I know it is extremely difficult, we have to try and get over it now, as there is no point, no benefit, of having a breakdown on social media, whenever that idiot scores for them. We cannot do anything now, so I am going to try and move on, and hope that we can, but I am not sure I will ever fully get over it, because of the lack of respect he showed both us (the fans), the club, and his team mates, and also because of the lack of pro-action that the club showed to hold on to him and not sold him to United.
Anyway, UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
Well, I am sure like most of you I could describe my thoughts on this in very few expletives! However, on this occasion I will try and stay calm, and outline what I really think about this whole debacle that unravelled really over the last few years. Let me start however by putting the situation into some kind of context, if I can. He is without a shadow of a doubt a quality player, we cannot kid ourselves on that front, and also we cannot kid ourselves that he was absolutely vital in our charge from early disaster to 3rd place in the Premier League last season. But the fact is he wanted to go, and quite frankly he made his position at the club in my opinion untenable through that quite frankly outrageous "statement" that he released in June. Therefore him staying was never really an option I would argue, that said however what followed was in my opinion absolutely disgraceful! Both on the part of the player for behaving as he did, and on the side of the club for selling to them. This hurts.
This was a man that before he had even joined Arsenal was accused of sexual assault in his home country, which Arsenal supported him through, and signed him regardless of this record. Also, for most of his career at Arsenal his talent was spoilt by an almost constant injury threat. He would get fit, play brilliantly, give us all hope, and then get injured again after 3,4,5, whatever, games. But, did we turn on him? Did we loose faith and support on him? NO. He had our full entire support throughout these injury crises, and it really was that. We were patient with him, we gave him our unconditional support all of the time, and when he got fit once again we treated him like a returning hero, before then once again being let down by injury.
However this changed in the second half of the 2010/2011 season where FINALLY he managed to stay fit, and as expected was brilliant. He then stayed fit for the entire 2011/2012 season, which was a miracle really considering his previous record by the way, and again was brilliant and scored I think 37 goal across the season and was the tip of our spear, as the leader and talisman of the team.
So haven gone through all that, and having had all the support he could possibly have had through those issues to get him to where he belonged, on the top level as one of the best strikers in the world, did he show us the support and loyalty, when we needed, like we did when he needed it? Well, I think we know the answer to that. He refused to sign a new contract which is his decision, but then released that "statement", which in my opinion, effectively stuck two fingers up at the club and the fans, and basically said, I don't care what you have done for me and how you have stood by me, I am only interested in me, and am therefore going to use you to get more money and go elsewhere, and don't care what situation this leaves the team, and perhaps more annoyingly, the fans, who completely idolised him and therefore feel betrayed and heart-broken by what he did.
So that's why I am annoyed by his actions, but as I also said above, the club also are not at all without fault on this front. And again the situation should certainly have been handled differently. Firstly his contract should NEVER have been allowed to get to the stage that it got to. The club should have made more of an effort to tie him down when he first came back from injury, and therefore was in no position to demand anything because he would have just come back, and even with that considered when the contract did get to the point it did, and when the discussions started at the end of last season the club should've acknowledged more what a world-class player he is, and how important he was for us, and given him the money that would be available to him on the market, because I simply WILL NOT accept that this move was ANYTHING other than money orientated. The fact is, United won nothing last season so what gives anyone the right to say that he has gone there for trophies? Yes, they have won more than us over the last few years obviously, but it is just so obvious that this was money orientated. Therefore, Arsenal should have stopped being so stubborn and just offered him the money that he is worth on the market. I understand that formal contract discussions never actually began, but I believe that is because Robin KNEW that Arsenal would not offer him the money that would be available elsewhere, so contract talks were redundant. That's what I think.
But then the club, once they had realised that his position in the team was practically un-tenable, had to make a brave decision. Did they try and patch things up, like City did with Tevez for example, and make him stay? OR, did they sell him on to a "suitable" club! Well, of course we know what happened, they let him muck them about and forced them to sell him to a bitter rival of the club, which they gave into. This is so poor, it hurts. We know for a fact that Juventus were in for him, and we know that City and United were also in for him. It is believed that the likes of Madrid and Barcelona did not express interest, but I am sure if offered the player they would have taken it. Therefore to sell to United was just completely ludicrous, it hurt the club in terms of selling to a rival, and it hurt the fans to see our hero (at the time of course), score goals for a club we dislike as much as them. Therefore this move by the club was so stupid. This is the way myself as a fan looks at it.
However once again I have to try and put some kind of context to this. The fact is RVP (the traitor) decided himself that he wanted to leave, and decided that he want to sign for United. And he probably made it clear to the club, that's where he wanted to go. So can the club do anything else, given if they don't sell him, he would've gone for nothing this summer coming (2013 summer window). So you could argue, as painful as it sounds, the club had no option but to sell to the club that was a) offering to buy him and b) the club the player wanted to go to. This in my opinion is the reality of football, the player holds the cards. Because the fact is if Arsenal had accepted a bid from say Juventus, RVP would probably NOT have signed for them, because he wanted to go to United. So I hope you can see the problem the club had. BUT, we cannot cover the facts up, and those facts are the club SHOULD have a) sorted out before it finally came to a conclusion and b) made more of an effort to assure him that they would offer him the money he would deserve on the open market place! They didn't do this, so in the end the club mucked it up completely, and we lost in my opinion one of the best, if not the best, number 9 in the world (with Falcoa).
So, it hurts a lot to see the man who was our hero, our leader, our talisman last season, strutting his outrageous ability for United, and let's face it if he scores against us again, at The Emirates, this feeling will ONLY get worse. However, I would stress that whilst I know it is extremely difficult, we have to try and get over it now, as there is no point, no benefit, of having a breakdown on social media, whenever that idiot scores for them. We cannot do anything now, so I am going to try and move on, and hope that we can, but I am not sure I will ever fully get over it, because of the lack of respect he showed both us (the fans), the club, and his team mates, and also because of the lack of pro-action that the club showed to hold on to him and not sold him to United.
Anyway, UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
2 January 2013
Johan Djourou: story of ultimately unfulfilled promise.
It seems that we are about to bid farewell to our Swiss defender Johan Djourou. It is reported in the German press this evening that a fee of around 2 million euros has been agreed between Hannover in Germany and The Arsenal, and it seems therefore that in due course, Djourou will depart North London for Germany.
Many Arsenal fans it seems are relieved that he has gone as they do not see him being able to offer anything to Arsenal, and they may have a point, however I look upon this departure with a feeling of sadness actually. This is because I believe Djourou leaves with unfulfilled promise and talent. I look back 2 seasons to the 2010-2011 season where in my opinion Djourou was absolutely magnificent at the back for us, alongside (at the time) the new signing Luarent Koscielney. They formed a great understanding and managed to play absolutely brilliantly against the likes of Lionel Messi, David Villa, Didier Drogba e.t.c. at the Emirates in wins against FC Barcelona and Chelsea, that season. In fact is form was such that, when he got injured at Old Trafford in the FA Cup in early 2011, I recall many Arsenal fans were panicking because they did not want to see him out of the team, such were the level of his performances for the team. At the start of 2011 Djourou and Koscielney actually broke a Premier League record for the amount of clean sheets in a row, and were looking really really good together, during Thomas Vermalean's (our current skipper) long injury lay-off that season.
I thought at the time, that this was going to be the start of a very successful Arsenal career in defence for Johan, however it wasn't to be. Johan was knocked out of the team through a mixture of injury and a dip in form, which in turn coincided with Arsenal dropping out of the Premier League title race, and also you could argue the return of Thomas Vermalean from the treatment room. He has never recovered from this, and therefore has never really had a run in the team since. This is why, I believe, when we have seen him play, he has been below par because he has not been able to get any real run in the team, which of course makes it difficult to come in and play only on a handful of occasions in any given season.
This is why I say farewell to Johan, a likeable fella, with a heavy heart. I think he has probably not had the best luck over the last few years, had he not picked up an injury in that season (2010-2011) he probably would have had a longer run in the team, and who knows may be staying at the club. However, as it happens, it has not worked out like that, and he will now be leaving our club to play in the German Bundesliga. I wish Johan all the best, and hope that he will show over there the ability that he showed, for us, in that season 2010-2011, and it is with regret that I say we didn't get to see that form on a continued basis!
Moving on, what now for our defence? I would not actually expect Arsene to go and buy another defender to compensate for the departure of Johan, instead I believe that Miquel will probably be promoted up the ranks if you like, as he has ability. He is someone who is very comfortable on the ball, has good pace and has impressed me when he has played for the team over the last few seasons, mainly in the League Cup, but also when called upon last season to play LB, during an injury crisis, and performed admirably at City in late 2011 out of position there. Therefore I fully expect Miquel to step up to our 4th choice CB, however I would not be at all shocked if we sign a new CB in the summer, this is probably the thing to do!
Anyway, once again I thank Johan for his contribution to the club, and as with most departures of our club he leaves with my best wishes. I think he is better than a lot of people think, but ultimately could not get a long enough run in the side! Good luck Johan!!!
UP THE ARSENAL
@Mr_arsenal_blog
p.s. Everyone please check out a great young Arsenal blogger's page, the link for which is below:
http://sameoldarsenal.wordpress.com/
It seems that we are about to bid farewell to our Swiss defender Johan Djourou. It is reported in the German press this evening that a fee of around 2 million euros has been agreed between Hannover in Germany and The Arsenal, and it seems therefore that in due course, Djourou will depart North London for Germany.
Many Arsenal fans it seems are relieved that he has gone as they do not see him being able to offer anything to Arsenal, and they may have a point, however I look upon this departure with a feeling of sadness actually. This is because I believe Djourou leaves with unfulfilled promise and talent. I look back 2 seasons to the 2010-2011 season where in my opinion Djourou was absolutely magnificent at the back for us, alongside (at the time) the new signing Luarent Koscielney. They formed a great understanding and managed to play absolutely brilliantly against the likes of Lionel Messi, David Villa, Didier Drogba e.t.c. at the Emirates in wins against FC Barcelona and Chelsea, that season. In fact is form was such that, when he got injured at Old Trafford in the FA Cup in early 2011, I recall many Arsenal fans were panicking because they did not want to see him out of the team, such were the level of his performances for the team. At the start of 2011 Djourou and Koscielney actually broke a Premier League record for the amount of clean sheets in a row, and were looking really really good together, during Thomas Vermalean's (our current skipper) long injury lay-off that season.
I thought at the time, that this was going to be the start of a very successful Arsenal career in defence for Johan, however it wasn't to be. Johan was knocked out of the team through a mixture of injury and a dip in form, which in turn coincided with Arsenal dropping out of the Premier League title race, and also you could argue the return of Thomas Vermalean from the treatment room. He has never recovered from this, and therefore has never really had a run in the team since. This is why, I believe, when we have seen him play, he has been below par because he has not been able to get any real run in the team, which of course makes it difficult to come in and play only on a handful of occasions in any given season.
This is why I say farewell to Johan, a likeable fella, with a heavy heart. I think he has probably not had the best luck over the last few years, had he not picked up an injury in that season (2010-2011) he probably would have had a longer run in the team, and who knows may be staying at the club. However, as it happens, it has not worked out like that, and he will now be leaving our club to play in the German Bundesliga. I wish Johan all the best, and hope that he will show over there the ability that he showed, for us, in that season 2010-2011, and it is with regret that I say we didn't get to see that form on a continued basis!
Moving on, what now for our defence? I would not actually expect Arsene to go and buy another defender to compensate for the departure of Johan, instead I believe that Miquel will probably be promoted up the ranks if you like, as he has ability. He is someone who is very comfortable on the ball, has good pace and has impressed me when he has played for the team over the last few seasons, mainly in the League Cup, but also when called upon last season to play LB, during an injury crisis, and performed admirably at City in late 2011 out of position there. Therefore I fully expect Miquel to step up to our 4th choice CB, however I would not be at all shocked if we sign a new CB in the summer, this is probably the thing to do!
Anyway, once again I thank Johan for his contribution to the club, and as with most departures of our club he leaves with my best wishes. I think he is better than a lot of people think, but ultimately could not get a long enough run in the side! Good luck Johan!!!
UP THE ARSENAL
@Mr_arsenal_blog
p.s. Everyone please check out a great young Arsenal blogger's page, the link for which is below:
http://sameoldarsenal.wordpress.com/
1 January 2013
Mr Arsenal Blog's tactics weekly.
Tuesday 1st January - reviewing the Southampton match.
Firstly Happy New Year to all my readers, I wish each of you all the best for the new year 2013, also thanks so much for your support with these blogs it really is appreciated. So onto the game, all in all it was a disappointing performance and result from Arsenal, we certainly did not hit the level offensively that we reached Vs Newcastle, and were sloppy defensively in parts as well. The boss summed it up well I think when he said "we were not great" after the match. I hope that this can change ahead of some very important games Vs Chelsea and Manchester City, which are looming in the next couple of weeks. What were the main points from this game however? Why were Arsenal not able to win this match?
Firstly once again the movement and the speed of thought and passing was not at the appropriate level today. It is increasingly frustrating that I seem to have to talk about this in every other article I write about The Arsenal at the moment, but it is a real issue that needs rectifying, and that was very evident again in this match. As I have said before it is all well and good having more of the ball, which in this much we did just about have more of the ball (with around 55% compared to Southampton's 46%), however you have to provide imputes for the teams attack, by combining good passing (which I would say we have on the whole), with good intelligent and creative movement off the ball. Without this it will always be hard to stretch a defence. On Saturday we scored 7 goals despite not showing great movement, maybe that was because of Newcastle being tired, which was positive. However the point is I haven't really seen the Arsenal team show intelligent movement of the ball for some time now, which to be frank is a real concern.
Against a team, with all due respect to them, that started the day in the bottom three, we should clearly have more shots on target (according to BBC Sport we had 4) than we did. I wholeheartedly believe that lots of this is down to a lack of movement off the ball. We have to move defensive units around, without this the defence of any team will be able to keep its shape and not been pulled out to areas, where they do not want to go, and therefore ultimately struggle to test the opposition goalkeeper, which to be fair was the case today as we can see from that stat. As Arsene said after the game "we were not creative enough and did not play with purpose". This is what I am getting at. There was a lack of conviction today in the teams attacking, that cutting edge was really missing from our play. We have to find this in order to make real progress.
Something which really took my by suprisse today was the performance of Bac Sagna. This is a lad who is usually "Mr Dependable" if you will, someone that is one of the most consistent performers in the league, week in week out. However today it is not harsh to say, he was absolutely inept, shocking, almost lost at times. As someone said on twitter it was as if he was "drunk" from some kind of New Years Eve celebration. I would suggest that is not the case, however I would say the point is valid, because he really did not look, for want of a better phrase, "jaded" (thanks for that Arsene). Bac was clearly at fault for the goal that we conceded, because he failed to clearly the ball into the box upon several opportunities, and also offered very very little going forward.
This leads me on to something that I noticed on Saturday at The Emirates for the Newcastle because you could see that our fall backs were not fulfilling their attacking roles frequently enough. Apart from on two occasions one for our 4th goal for Theo where Gibbo ran on into the box and cut the ball back to the penalty from which Theo scored, and another when he got into the box and shot at the goalkeeper. However apart from that they did not get forward frequently enough to create width and ultimately attacking opportunities. I think this is something that we have to improve on as our system requires the fall backs to create the overlap, and we have not been doing this frequently enough recently, with the exception of the Reading game away (won 5-2), and as I say we really need to improve on this. Sagna had a poor game today and to be honest I was not impressed with either of them on Saturday either, which is a concern, as Sagna did not block the crosses from coming in frequently enough and Gibbs let Ba and Marveux especially free at the far post, from which they both punished us for.
Hopefully we can improve on these areas ahead of our next game Vs Swansea in the FA Cup and then of course hit a good level of performance again for the City game at the Home of Football a week on Saturday. As I have said before, there is a long way to go in this season still but I do believe that this is a really key month for us, with some big games coming up, and also with the transfer window being open again providing an opportunity for us to strengthen, it is indeed a very important few weeks for the club. As I said on twitter today, and in my last article (the 1/2 term report), our stats from the season so far show that we are good in all areas apart from our shot to goal ratio, which points to a lack of ruthlessness up front. Therefore I think it is clear that we need a new striker in this window, a proven goal-scorer someone that commands the ball and has urgency to score, something which seemed to be lacking today, that's for sure.
This is a big month for Arsenal, and a big few weeks coming up. The game on Saturday Vs Swansea in the FA Cup is in my opinion SO important, we cannot afford to be knocked out of another competition, after the shambles of the Bradford Capital One Cup game, we have to go on a good run in this competition. If we are going to do this, we must re-create the good from our win over Newcastle, and let's be positive, and there were many good things! So let's hope we do!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
Tuesday 1st January - reviewing the Southampton match.
Firstly Happy New Year to all my readers, I wish each of you all the best for the new year 2013, also thanks so much for your support with these blogs it really is appreciated. So onto the game, all in all it was a disappointing performance and result from Arsenal, we certainly did not hit the level offensively that we reached Vs Newcastle, and were sloppy defensively in parts as well. The boss summed it up well I think when he said "we were not great" after the match. I hope that this can change ahead of some very important games Vs Chelsea and Manchester City, which are looming in the next couple of weeks. What were the main points from this game however? Why were Arsenal not able to win this match?
Firstly once again the movement and the speed of thought and passing was not at the appropriate level today. It is increasingly frustrating that I seem to have to talk about this in every other article I write about The Arsenal at the moment, but it is a real issue that needs rectifying, and that was very evident again in this match. As I have said before it is all well and good having more of the ball, which in this much we did just about have more of the ball (with around 55% compared to Southampton's 46%), however you have to provide imputes for the teams attack, by combining good passing (which I would say we have on the whole), with good intelligent and creative movement off the ball. Without this it will always be hard to stretch a defence. On Saturday we scored 7 goals despite not showing great movement, maybe that was because of Newcastle being tired, which was positive. However the point is I haven't really seen the Arsenal team show intelligent movement of the ball for some time now, which to be frank is a real concern.
Against a team, with all due respect to them, that started the day in the bottom three, we should clearly have more shots on target (according to BBC Sport we had 4) than we did. I wholeheartedly believe that lots of this is down to a lack of movement off the ball. We have to move defensive units around, without this the defence of any team will be able to keep its shape and not been pulled out to areas, where they do not want to go, and therefore ultimately struggle to test the opposition goalkeeper, which to be fair was the case today as we can see from that stat. As Arsene said after the game "we were not creative enough and did not play with purpose". This is what I am getting at. There was a lack of conviction today in the teams attacking, that cutting edge was really missing from our play. We have to find this in order to make real progress.
Something which really took my by suprisse today was the performance of Bac Sagna. This is a lad who is usually "Mr Dependable" if you will, someone that is one of the most consistent performers in the league, week in week out. However today it is not harsh to say, he was absolutely inept, shocking, almost lost at times. As someone said on twitter it was as if he was "drunk" from some kind of New Years Eve celebration. I would suggest that is not the case, however I would say the point is valid, because he really did not look, for want of a better phrase, "jaded" (thanks for that Arsene). Bac was clearly at fault for the goal that we conceded, because he failed to clearly the ball into the box upon several opportunities, and also offered very very little going forward.
This leads me on to something that I noticed on Saturday at The Emirates for the Newcastle because you could see that our fall backs were not fulfilling their attacking roles frequently enough. Apart from on two occasions one for our 4th goal for Theo where Gibbo ran on into the box and cut the ball back to the penalty from which Theo scored, and another when he got into the box and shot at the goalkeeper. However apart from that they did not get forward frequently enough to create width and ultimately attacking opportunities. I think this is something that we have to improve on as our system requires the fall backs to create the overlap, and we have not been doing this frequently enough recently, with the exception of the Reading game away (won 5-2), and as I say we really need to improve on this. Sagna had a poor game today and to be honest I was not impressed with either of them on Saturday either, which is a concern, as Sagna did not block the crosses from coming in frequently enough and Gibbs let Ba and Marveux especially free at the far post, from which they both punished us for.
Hopefully we can improve on these areas ahead of our next game Vs Swansea in the FA Cup and then of course hit a good level of performance again for the City game at the Home of Football a week on Saturday. As I have said before, there is a long way to go in this season still but I do believe that this is a really key month for us, with some big games coming up, and also with the transfer window being open again providing an opportunity for us to strengthen, it is indeed a very important few weeks for the club. As I said on twitter today, and in my last article (the 1/2 term report), our stats from the season so far show that we are good in all areas apart from our shot to goal ratio, which points to a lack of ruthlessness up front. Therefore I think it is clear that we need a new striker in this window, a proven goal-scorer someone that commands the ball and has urgency to score, something which seemed to be lacking today, that's for sure.
This is a big month for Arsenal, and a big few weeks coming up. The game on Saturday Vs Swansea in the FA Cup is in my opinion SO important, we cannot afford to be knocked out of another competition, after the shambles of the Bradford Capital One Cup game, we have to go on a good run in this competition. If we are going to do this, we must re-create the good from our win over Newcastle, and let's be positive, and there were many good things! So let's hope we do!!
UP THE ARSENAL!!!
@Mr_arsenal_blog
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