Mr Arsenal Blog's "tactics weekly"

17th September

WHAT a performance on Saturday, The Arsenal sure did deliver for us and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Why did we do well however? What were the key tactical points, the key performances that we can take out and discuss from it?

Clearly in a game where you win 6 - 1 the "attack" has to be key. The way that they attacked moved and almost "toyed" with Southampton, was incredible. But what was the most significant for me was the way the midfield and the attack moved and integrated together. For me the movement and link up between the attack players (Cazorla, Gervinho, Podolski and The Ox) completely bamboozled the Southampton defence. Can you imagine being the opposition manager trying to work out how to mark the opposition? Because you have no idea where each player will actually pop up!! This balance was a key point in our win. Yes Gervinho started as the CF, however Podolski, The Ox and Cazorla also popped up in the middle as well as on the wing and in "the hole". Southampton didn't know where to turn next. Couple those things with Gibbs rampaging around the "corner" from the left, and Jenkinson (who by the way his improvement over the last year has been superb) from the right and Arteta and Coquilin/ Rambo pulling the strings behind, and you start to get the picture as to why Southampton were so bamboozled by us!

Furthermore as far as "off the ball" action is concerned, as I discussed in my feature last week after the Liverpool game, our shape was excellent. This was evident again. As our Skipper (The Verminator) said in his programme notes on Saturday "I think you can see, that the whole team - not just the defence, but every area - is working really hard at shape and organisation". And as I said last week, the whole team has to get into the right discipline defensively, and NOT just the so called "defenders". Every time we lost the ball we got into 2 banks of 4 and were disciplined in this shape, and more often than not we won the ball back eventually without any real issues! This was down to the whole team defending, players like The Ox and Podolski tracking back and likes of Arteta and Coquilin in the middle working their socks off to keep the shape! Once again this was very evident. As the skipper says, the whole team has to defend and this is what so far this season I believe we have really got the knack off, and for me that is excellent. Because we all know that Arsenal can score and WILL score. But in the last few years, we have always let in stupid goals. If we can maintain this shape when we do not have the ball, we will go FAR! This for me is obvious. I just hope we maintain this, and keep concentrated throughout, throughout the season!

As I have a banged about on twitter, the amount of options we have at the moment is absolutely outstanding and in my opinion this is the best "squad" that we ever had. I genuinely mean that. YES the team itself is not as good as the 04 team e.t.c, but the squad has so many options which quite frankly excites me. This again was key against Southampton. Diaby could have played, he was rested in came Coquilin and Rambo later on, Giroud was rested so on came Gervinho/ Podolski, Theo came on later on, Koscielney was on the bench. Wilshere is coming back, Rosicky is coming back, Sagna is coming back. There are players available in every position! And this means we can rotate and keep players fresh and ready for the whole season, and shouldn't "burn out". Competition breeds success. This is excellent. And for this reason I believe that we will go far. The Southampton game outlined this, we made a number of changes, left players on the bench e.t.c and STILL scored 6, this is very very exciting in my opinion. The team seems ruthless and hungry, and I believe this comes partly from increased competition because the players know that they will get dropped if they don't perform. This makes me excited!

Finally I wish to talk about the Mr Arsenal Blog's player of the week. Now after a game where the team wins 6-1 it is very difficult to decide on this, but for me because of the vast improvement that he showed on Saturday, Gervinho is my player of the week. He was just like a player "re-bourn". I was just so pleased with the composure and the intelligence that he showed throughout, because so often his decision making or "final ball" if you like, was off the boil which often cost us goals and ultimately (and more importantly of course - points)!   On Saturday however he was played through the middle and he caused the opposition absolute chaos throughout through his movement, his intelligence and at last his distribution. He was putting the ball into the right areas when he needed to, and he also shot when he needed to and got 2 goals. This was something which seriously frustrated me last season that he didn't shoot when he should've or when he shot when he should have passed. His improvement shone through on Saturday, and this was massively pleasing! He is my player of the week. However, special mentions must go to Gibbs, Podolski and Santi "The Magician" Cazorla, who were all also absolutely outstanding and through remarkable (at times) link up play, they carved the opposition to shreds.

Tweet me your thoughts @Mr_arsenal_blog - I do reply to all comments!!

Mr_arsenal_blog's - "Tactics Weekly" (discussing tactics and standout performances for Arsenal each week.......)

4th September 2012. 

Welcome to my brand new feature, "tactics weekly". I will be outlining the key tactical observations of The Arsenal's games each week, including: the two key tactical decisions/ adaptations and implementations, and also discussing which players stood out the most and why. I will also name the Mr_arsenal_blog's "player of the week" in each feature, each week! ..... I hope you enjoy!

For me this week, there is only one place we can start. And that is talking about the defensive effort of the team in our recent matches, and the evident work of big Steve Bould and rightly so! The main, and of course most pleasing statistic that I can mention is simply: 3 matches and 3 clean sheets. This is absolutely fantastic and I am absolutely delighted by that, as I am sure you all are as well. We have taken a lot of stick for our defensive "weakness', and it seems ("touch wood"), that this is now in the past! But focusing on this week, why were we solid? As many are aware our formation is very fluid, but it is essentially a 4-2-3-1 shape, which can very easily become 4-4-1-1. And this is exactly what we did defensively in this game this week. When we lost the ball, our wingers tracked back to form a 2 "banks of four", which was very effective. Why was this effective? Well, firstly the discipline of the players was fantastic. They kept this shape and that meant that it was very difficult for the likes of Gerrard, Allen and Co to break us down in the midfield and at the back, and to be honest they rarely threatened us. This discipline must stay, because at the top level when you are playing against top top players if one or two players step out of line, out of this shape, then straight away you are going to be in trouble, and at risk of conceding. In this match, and in the first two matches, the team has been very disciplined and have kept a good shape, this is excellent. 

Who is to credit for this? Well, firstly you have to credit the whole team because they are the ones clearly working hard on the training ground and taking their practice on to the pitch! They have done great on this front so far. But for me it is no coincidence that Steve Bould has come back into the first team set up at London Colney, and the defence is a "mean machine", as Jamie Redknapp wrote in the Daily Mail. Put simply this guy is one of the greatest centre backs in Arsenal's history, and as I am sure you are all aware was part of the great "Bank of England". When the legendary Arsene Wenger, our leader, first arrived at the club he famously said: "When I first came to Arsenal, I realised the back four were all university graduates in the art of defending". A great quote, but Steve Bould was of course a big player in this defensive unit, so he sure knows "the art of defending", and this it seems he is getting across to the players. It is clear that he is really working on the teams shape off the ball, and also how they keep this shape, sticking together. This takes work, and it is clear that this is exactly what has been put it, with the help of Mr Bould. 

Furthermore much has been made of the decision or perhaps lack of decision, to directly replace Alex Song in the transfer market before last Fridays 11pm deadline. However on Sunday afternoon at Anfield I would suggest that many of those fears were, for now at least anyway, left behind. I have in recent weeks "championing" the idea of having no, as I have been putting it, "specialist" defensive midfielder in the side. As Roy Hodgson said before the Euros he doesn't believe that you always need someone who's job is to literally sit there, and cover, whilst others go forward. For me I believe that the way we have it now, is good. We have two players playing in a more deeper role (so far Arteta and Diaby), and one (Cazorla) slightly further forward. This allows us lots of free movement and interchanging positions. This really suits our style of play. When we have the ball one player sits and covers, and one player goes forward and supports the attack, and the player further forward (Cazorla) plays just off the centre forward (Giroud or Podolski). It is kind of like the roles of central midfield in a 4-4-2 where one goes one sits, one goes one sits e.t.c. e.t.c. I think this works well and on sunday against Liverpool this in my opinion, was great. Arteta and Diaby worked very well together and clearly comunicated well with one another and were in good posistions both forward and in cover for the majority of the time, this also contributed to Liverpool's lack of threat, because one was always back covering Vermalean and Mertesacker. Against Liverpool on Sunday it was always going to be key to be disciplined in midfield when they had the ball, because we knew that Rodgers' teams like to hold on to the ball and pass it in midfield, and therefore we had to be very disciplined in that area, and this we were. I believe that the midfield was an enourmously key factor as to why we came out victorious at Anfield! 

Part of the reason for this, was down to this weeks Mr_arsenal_blog's player of the week, Abou Diaby. The lad was absolutely outstanding against Liverpool. He ran the show, his passing was immense, his dribbling was unstoppable at times, he was composed, he was strong, he was disciplined, he was just put simply BRILLIANT!!! Now I know that many many fans, myself included, have been extremely frustrated by Abou in the last few years, because I think most fans acknowledge that the lad has talent, of that (to me) there is absolutely no question, but his injury record has been absolutely torrid it really has. The situation was very much like that of Robin Van Purse from a few years back, where we all knew what he was capable of, but his injury record meant that many were questioning whether we should hold on to him. And it seems that in both cases we were right, although of course we have now lost Robin, as both players came back to fitness and form (just a shame one of them also came to be a judas as well as fit!) But back to Diaby, everything he did on Sunday was exceptional. I know it is a very very very commonly used comparison, but he really did remind me of a young Pat Pat Viera, he was strong, disciplined and technically superb! All qualities that Viera had for us, although I would say that Abou is quicker and probably more capable of those great dribbles we saw on Sunday. The moment of the match for Abou was without a doubt that brilliant 75 yard dash which set up that chance (which absolutely should have been finished) for Giroud. He spun past Gerrard charged at the liverpool players, and they quite frankly had no answer to his pace, strength and dribbling skills. It was without a doubt his best performance for us, and it is this reason why he is my Mr_arsenal_blog's player of the week! LONG may it continue, just hope he stays fit on international duty! (fingers crossed).

Finally my man of the month for August is Santi Cazorla, our new Spanish maestro was absolutely brilliant in our two games last month, absolutely ran the show. His composure on the ball, and technical quality is going to proove absolutely key to our season. I believe he has the ability to be the most feared attacking midfielder in the league. He is a top player, and it is no wonder people in Spain reffered to him as the "best player outside of Barca and Real"!!  

That's it for this week, hope you liked it! All in all Sunday was a very good day for Arsenal fans. We beat Liverpool convincingly Podolski and Cazorla scored their first goals, and were fantastic. But this is just the start, we must not get complacent! To be honest Liverpool were very ordinary and therefore we must continue to improve. I have faith we will. I just really hope that Giroud his the net soon, that is the only thing that was missing from our game on Sunday. However we must remember we have only had three games, so shouldn't worry too much!! 

leave me your comments @ #MrArsenalBlogTacticsWeekly on twitter! And lastly UP THE ARSENAL!!!! 

P.S. I have just come across this great Arsene Wenger quotes, here is the link, so check them out. The man really is a legend isn't he, and has come out with some great stuff!! .........

http://www.football365.com/news/8750/5643990  

Reflecting on the start of the season, the culmination of the Summer supermarket, and more! 

As I hope you are all aware the season is now two weeks old, after fixtures at the home of football against Sunderland, and away at Stoke City, the season is therefore in full swing! This is great! The madness has commenced once again! Marvellous! Where will the season take The Arsenal? Only time will tell, however what we do know is how we have looked and shaped up in the first two instalments of our countries' fantastic league! With these games in mind and the summer’s ins and outs so far most people seem to know what Arsenal need to add in the next 24 hours or so, what do I think? Well, hold your horses, you're about to find out.........

But first let me talk about the first two games of Arsenal's Premier League Campaign 2012/2013. After the acquisitions of, in my opinion, some quality players (Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud) I was very much optimistic ahead of our first fixture against Sunderland, and most of what I thought actually came to fruition, however this was not reflected in the result one bit. Did we dominate the game? Yes. Did we have lots of possession? Yes. Was Cazorla the hub of the team's attacking threat? Yes. These were all things that I expected prior to kick off, which were evident post the full time whistle. The team played well, and we looked very good going forward, and arguably what was more surprisingly following the trials and tribulations of recent years was how, in both games, solid we were as a team defensively. This use of the phrase "solid we were as a team" I believe is key, because as many of you who either followed me on twitter or read my blogs throughout last season, or people that have ever sat next to me at matches for that matter, will know I always bang on about defending from the front and "pressing" the opposition. It is all very well saying that a team has to be solid at the back, but I believe that it is more important to defend as a team. You only have to look at Pep Guardiola's Barcelona (from the last 4 years or so) to realise how effective defending from the front to the back can be. Regardless, in the games against Sunderland and Stoke, especially Vs Stoke, this was something that we did very very well indeed. Particularly in the 1st half whenever Stoke won the ball, our midfield and wingers seemed so keen to swarm around the man on the ball and hustle him to win back the ball, and this at times was very effective.

This of course needs more work to become very effective indeed, but I found it very encouraging to see. What was also very pleasing, again especially when you consider past difficulties, was how well we defended against Stoke's usual tactics, the methods that have caused us a lot of bother in recent seasons. We are very smart when defending near our own goal line not to give away needless corners, which they can hurt you from, and we were also very effective at defending their "trademark" long throws and free kick routines. This was naturally very pleasing indeed because, as we all know, since Stoke City's introduction into the Premier League we have struggled to counter their physical threat and unusual tactics, in particular when playing away at the Britannia Stadium.

The fact that we have not scored a goal yet this season, in the two games that we've played, is of course disappointing, however I have been encouraged by the quality of our play going forward, albeit not actually finishing them off, and how solid we have been as a team. Overall I am not buying into all the "doom and gloom" and other nonsense that both the media and some of my fellow fans seem to be banging on about. The facts are these, we have a few new players coming in who have integrated well, but who need more time to fully integrate into the team and to our style of play. This will come, and in the case of Giroud and Podolski in particular, they WILL bang in the goals, I am very confident of that. I believe that quality shines through, and these players are of a high quality. Cazorla has integrated seamlessly really, and is already, as I said earlier, the "hub" of the team. He is so composed on the ball, can pass in all manner of ways and is a very intelligent player. I am confident that these 3 players, plus one or two more that I hope will arrive today or tomorrow, will proove to be great success stories at The Arsenal.

So what can we expect from the next day or so in terms of transfer dealings in football's supermarket? Well, as it is football, not a lot! It is always un-predictable; I think we all know that by now. However the question of what we actually need or require to do, is certainly a much more answerable one. Well, much has been made of our midfield options people saying that we need to get a new "defensive midfield" player, I am not so sure. I have actually quite liked the shape we have had with two "non - specialist" defensive midfield players, I feel that it gives quite a nice balance. So far one player has sat deep whilst the other goes forward, and this is very interchangeable which I believe fits our style of player like a glove. This allows us plenty of freedom. Besides, Mikel Arteta is a very capable player in this role as he has proved last season as he actually covered for Song in that role a lot last season, when Songo was rampaging forward. Furthermore Coquilin is super talented and will play, and of course Jack Wilshere is, well we all know, brilliant and will be coming back in due course. This is without even mentioning Ramsey, Diaby, Rosicky, Frimpong e.t.c. So I actually feel we don't need a "specialist" DM, however that does not mean that I would not like us to sign a central midfielder as I do feel that we need another experienced player in there of technical quality (maybe Cabaye), but this is not a priority! What however IS a priority is a CF. Of course Robin Van Traitor has left, whilst the talented Giroud and the experienced campaigner Podolski have arrived. Despite this two strikers is NOT enough, we MUST acquire another. Chamakh could go, Bendtner will go and is not good enough anyway, and we can ignore Park. So all in all, if someone gets injured out of Giroud and Pod, we are basically screwed; we MUST do something about this, no doubt!!! I hope we will sort this before tomorrow evening 11pm.

Anyway, all in all, do not believe all the doom and gloom rubbish that is being bandied around all day every day in the media about us, Arsenal has always coped with players leaving, and will continue to do so for a long time yet! I am confident about the season ahead, not saying we will win the league, but we will win something, and for a club that hasn't won anything for seven years (and counting) that is the main thing for us this year, to end that ridiculous drought! We have to develop a culture of winning things at this club that will sort out the problems of players leaving all the bleedin time (but we won't go into that).

Where we have been weak defensively in recent years, big Steve Bouldy seems to have been working hard on, which already seems to be working, and with the new signings integrating I actually feel we have a lot to look forward to!! 

Hope you understand my thoughts and opinions!! Let's hope we remove the dust in our trophy cabinet and add something of worth to it!

UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!!!! 

A shift in transfer policy at Arsenal or just the coming together of long term plans? Reflections of the transfer window so far, and a look forward to the big "kick - off"! 

For a number of years now, "Gooners" have been un-happy with the transfer policy of the club and have claimed that we only ever signed young and un-proven players from abroad, who have a lot to give to the club in a medium to long - term perspective. This at times has not gone down well, but over the last year or so, this has began to change, and the club has actually brought in some established players in European football to really push the team on! This is great news for the club, as it gives us a good chance of actually challenging the likes of Untied and City, in the premier league, and perhaps the likes of the Spanish giants: Barcelona and Real, in the champions league, if we keep building! Our "policy" seemed to shift somewhat last summer when we brought the likes of Mikel Arteta, an established player in the peek of his career. I think many people were shocked by this, because the boss has in recent years, preferred to "develop" players as opposed to just buying established Premier League players. But what are the reasons for this change? Why did we not do this before?

Well, I believe there are a number of reasons for this, the first being financial restrictions. As we all know, the club has invested an astronomical amount of money in the last decade on facilities including the training ground, medical centre, property developments and of course the greatest stadium in the world, The Home of Football, has been constructed as well, all at great cost to the club! This has meant that the club has not been able to spend huge numbers of money on playing staff, because they have had to "service" the loans e.t.c that were taken in order to fund the fantastic infrastructure that we now have. These improvements in infrastructure, are absolutely imperative to the development of the club, especially in the long term as it gives as a platform to grow financially and on the pitch. In addition to this the club has always said that they want to live "within their means" and grow "organically" if you like, and therefore were not prepared to rack up big debts buy buying expensive top players, like the likes of Manchester City. These things have meant that we were not prepared to spend big money on players, which of course is extremely frustrating as a fan, however we HAVE to accept this, and realise that we will benefit massively from this very very soon! This is something which I believe, we should be very very excited about! However, in order to preserve the financial strength of the club we have not spent big on established stars, up till now!

So why have we now seen established players like Podolski and Cazorla come in? Well firstly I believe a key factor in this is the changing face of football, since the likes of Manchester City have to come to the forefront of things. What do I mean by this? Well it is clear that Arsenal can no longer afford to grow players otherwise we will just get left further and further and further behind City, this is why I say that City have changed the face of football, because teams have to change in order to acquire players and at least try to compete with them in the league. I believe that Arsene Wenger acknowledges this and absolutely knows that he has to bring in players of established quality, otherwise he is going to completely left behind and isolated, and eventually that could lead to him loosing his job! I therefore believe that he has been partly forced into buying more established players in their peak, to help bring success to the club NOW!! He is certainly under a GREAT deal of pressure from the outside to deliver success for the club, and to end our drought, but I do not believe that the drought has forced him to make these big signings, as of course he always wants to win trophies, but I believe that he acknowledges that the team needs top experienced, and prooven players at the club to actually take us to that next step, and let's hope together, that we can achieve that this season! The strength of young players means that with this sprinkling of quality from outside such as Podolksi, Giroud and Cazorla we can challenge for honours and I believe that the experience that these guys bring, coupled with the experience of the likes of Van Persie (if he stays) Arteta, Vermalean and Sagna can really help us to push on further!

All in all I have been extremely encouraged by this summers' dealings to date, and I hope that this continues! The squad appears to be in great great shape going into the first game of the season, barring a few injuries e.g Bacary, and I believe that this season will be a successful one for us. The players that we brought in last summer: Arteta, Gervinho and Mertesacker especially I believe added something, but the players we have brought in this year are of the quality needed to push us to win things this season. I am excited to see how the team bonds together, and how the new boys settle in, but I am very confident that they will do so well. I do think that before August the 31st we could do with another defender, maybe a fall back, but I do believe that we are in great shape as it stands!

So BRING ON Sunderland in just over a weeks time.  I absolutely can't wait, I am delighted that we have at last brought in some top quality players from Europe, all of whom are experienced campaigners in different leagues, and in the cases of Podolski (100+ caps for Germany_ and Cazorla (double Euro winner and World Cup winning team member) especially with their national teams, and I believe that this season will be a successful one, but as we ALL know the Barclays Premier League is one in which NOTHING can be taken for granted, nothing can be banked upon and we MUST hit the ground running early and get some good points on the board in the first few weeks of the season! If we do this we will do great. There is so much competition in the premier league these days and it is bound to be tight, but if we just get on with our business, ignore the rubbish the media spout out, we can be up there fighting for the championship and if we challenge there to the wire and pick up a cup or 2 along the way it will be a great season for us! LET'S DO THIS GOONERS!!!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!! THIS CAN BE OUR YEAR!

UP THE ARSENAL

(twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - tweet me your thoughts)

Reflections of "PRE - Pre Season", what can we achieve? Unleashing the shackles of "safeness"! What will the new season provide us with?

Wow, the "Pre - Pre season" period (as I like to call it), the period we are now in, is always a very "interesting" one to say the least, especially for someone such as myself, and most of my "readers", who are a citizen in the "twittering world" (check me out @Mr_arsenal_blog if you’re a "twitterer"), as it seems that as I scroll through my "timeline" each day, it seems that we are signing ever player under the proverbial sun, people claiming that deals are "99% done" at times, "100% done" even and unfortunately it seems that we more often than not are jumping the gun, anticipating signings before they are done, and in some cases not even targeted by the people in the club itself, as it turns out!

But the facts are this is a very very important summer for The Arsenal in my opinion, we have to build on what we did last season, and have to make a few changes and a few additions to really push us on, to the next level which we MUST get to! First things first we have to hold on to our players, and keep them fit. I believe that the key for a successful team is simple COMPETITION FOR PLACES throughout the season! At times this season when we had players fit it brought the best out of them, that is because people have to fight to keep their place and fight to get into the match-day starting 11. This is really important, but for this to be the case more often we need to sign some quality. 

As many of you who follow my twitter account (@Mr_arsenal_blog) will know, I am always optimistic and I think it is important as a fan to be such, however I do like to put a realist spin on things at times, as we have to be honest and frank with our assessments of where the team and the club is, at any given time! The fact is, IF we add to the signing of Podolski (which, by the way, I am extremely happy about), with the rumored signings of Giroud to add extra goal threat, and M'Villa to add extra steel and strength as well as yet more technical Prowess to our midfield options, and definitely another CB option as well, I believe that we can really compete next season. IF we don't do this, then we will be stuck in and around where we were this season fighting it out for Champions League qualification for the next season, which quite frankly, (despite the fact that it WAS a great achievement to get there considering where we came from), is where none of us GOONERS want to be! We need to get OUT of the current trend of "competing" with the best; we need to actually BE THE BEST!! For the last few years we have not been as I would call it "ruthless" in the transfer market, and we need to be more like this. Again as I have mentioned before on here and on twitter, I don't want us to just go out and buy everyone because that is not the way to get success, we just need to get in the right players of quality and in the right places, and not be safe all the time, we do need to "push the boat out" - (apologies for the clichés'), to be the best, and this is something that over the coming weeks I hope the club does. 

Now on this theme of being "safe" I was chatting to a good friend of mine this week, who is not an Arsenal fan, but a man who does make some very good and true points on all football maters, and sees football in a non - biased viewpoint, which I have a lot of time for it has to be said. However he made the observation that everything at Arsenal in the last few years has been very safe, very cagey, basically lacking in ambition. Now this seems like a common theme, but he went deeper than the common perception, which I thought was interesting. He explained that he felt Arsenal were very safe off the pitch (in terms of players recruitment - uneasy to spend that extra few £million), as well as actually on the pitch - especially in the last season. Now, I can really see where he is coming from now, because as I said above at times we have not been "ruthless" in the transfer market, and a key example of this would be the Juan Mata scenario from this time last year. The club had the chance to sign him, to acquire his services, because Valencia CF said, offer x amount of money and he is yours' (effectively), however the powers at be reportedly kept going with what they saw to be his "value", and sure enough we lost him to the blue team (whose name escapes me)!! This is classic Arsenal case, as the fact is we are the 4th richest club in the world, and as I keep saying we therefore CAN afford to pay that bit extra on players just to get them through the door, this is what we need to do more often, and this summer for example if Rennes (M'Villa's owners) say we want x and we are offering a million or 2 less, just stump up the cash!!! That is how you are successful, as we cannot afford to keep letting other teams, other clubs leave us behind in the market, and it's the same with contracts for the players that we ALREADY own (RVP I’m thinking of you), if he wants 10 000 more than we are offering or an extra year, give it to him! You know, we have to push out a bit to get to where we need to be! 

That point went on longer than I thought it would, but on to the "on the pitch" issues. For years (in the Wenger days anyway) Arsenal has been seen the world over as a great purveyor of the "beautiful game", Arsene has always set his sides up to attack, which has received mixed responses as some believe we need to win ugly! However this season especially at times, we seemed to be content with the situations we got ourselves into, I’m thinking in particular Norwich and Wolves at home, where we got ourselves into the lead EARLY through great player, and then seem to step of the proverbial "gas pedal" and therefore allowed the opposition back on to us, and this is a point which I have made before, but one which my friend linked in with the whole "safe issue", we get the ball and unlike when we were in our prime we don't seem to want to kill off the opposition we seem to want to play it "safe", pass it round the middle not look to get players in behind, and when we don't have the ball to often (not always admittedly), we aren't ruthless to press and close the opposition down (which is something which I seemed to spent the whole time last season shouting from the stands), this needs to change if we are to be successful next year, we must unleash the shackles both on the pitch and off the pitch!!! We must look to kill off the opposition more, close them down be ruthless, and that is almost the same in the transfer market, we must hunt down the players we need, stump up the money and get them “through the door”, you see the two issues meet, we are too “safe” at the moment, this must change, and with the early signing of Podolski, it gives me hope that this is changing, we wanted him WE GOT HIM!! Hope this continues!!

COME ON THE ARSENAL – this is our year, we have got it, IF we do the right things now!!!!!!!!!!

UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Patrick James Rice, a true “Gunners” Legend. Player and coach, culminating to over 4 decades of fantastic service! Farwell Pat! Thanks for all the memories.

This weekend the Gunners will play West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, where the final chapter of an incredible season for my beloved team will be scripted and the story closed. It has been one hell of season, we haven’t had the success and the silverware that we all so desperately crave and wish for, but the trials and tribulations that we have been through, have been superb and the way the team has responded time and time again is equally so, and makes me very proud to be a Gooner! For us fans the season has been a painful one, not good for our health that’s for sure, but the curtain we hope will be closed in a very positive manner this Sunday, and this I look forward to with happiness and excitement.

As well as the season, another thing that will be coming to a close is the fantastic contribution of Mr Patrick Rice of Northern Ireland, to our equally fantastic club.  Having joined the Gunners in 1964 as an Apprentice he has been at the club (apart from 4 years as a player at Watford) ever since, and his service and tutelage of the club through this period, should not and will not go unnoticed, this will be remembered. He has served us with distinction is his role as a player, as a fantastic fall back as Youth Team Coach, as a caretaker manager for a time and of course more recently, for the last 16 years at least, as Mr Arsene Wenger’s right hand man, as his assistant coach! Bringing together 42 years of fantastic devoted service to our club.

The man is quite simply a legend! He goes, we are led to believe, as a result of chronic knee trouble which I am told causes him huge pain and he clearly feels that now is the time for him to “hang up his boots” or perhaps more apt “hang up his clipboard” for good. This chap certainly deserves it because of his undoubted contribution to Arsenal over the years, now is the time for him to move on and to pave way for the next generation of former Arsenal players come Arsenal Legends to take up his mantle as a coach for the team, alongside Arsene.

Pat served us with distinction as a player winning many titles and plaudits along the way, as a relatively young Gunners fan I never got to see him play for us, but I am told by my Father that he was fantastic and one of the top of his generation and what I have read about him since certainly points to such an acclaim, he will go down no doubt as an Arsenal Legend and I look forward to seeing his face at club events and occasions in the future, where he will considered as the aforementioned words of "Arsenal Legend"!

Thank You Pat for your service to our club and all the best!

All that leaves me to say now is that, if it is as we are led to expect, big Steve Bould will come in as his replacement, (another Arsenal defensive legend), we wish him also all the best in his role and look forward to him having all the success he deserves, furthermore we thank him for his fantastic work as youth team coach, helping to bring through cracking protégés such as Jack, Wojiech and the like!! Finally I watch on with interest as to which Arsenal Legend will take up his mantle as Youth Coach, as we are told by Arsene that he prefers to appoint men from inside the club, people who have been involved in the club for long period of time, jobs within the coaching team, at the club!

Do follow me on twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - i do reply to all your thoughts. What are your over-riding memories of Pat, and his Arsenal "legacy" if you like? 

Very frustrating afternoon, but what are the refs up to? Tale of a disgraceful show from the officials, why are they so poor? Supporting the team!  

Before I start my little rant, I would just like to say thanks everyone for your support since I started this blog a month or so ago, it has been very encouraging to hear your support and kind words. Right let's get down to it, today was a very frustrating day. As I set of to the game with my Uncle we were ready for what should be a routine day for Arsenal. Whilst we accepted that Norwich City are a very decent team, and one of the real surprises of this season this year, but still we were expecting an easy win. Then when Yossi curled in that brilliant one early on in the match, I thought right here we go this is going to be comfortable and convincing. But no, ooh to be a gooner hey! 

The team came out the blocks firing and I remember saying at the start that the team look fired up and ready to seal their place in the Champions League proper for next season. We were getting forward and were fighting for the ball, all was good. And then after the breakthrough we became very flaccid and limp, the passing was sloppy and slow, the movement was almost non existent and of course Norwich to their credit took advantage of that but we have to say the Arsenal players did not take advantage of their early lead and this is very concerning. 

I don't want to write a match review, as you can clearly get those elsewhere but the fact was overall we were not good enough and the Arsenal boys have really got to take a real hard harsh look at themselves after today, because their ability to kill of Norwich was not good enough, that has to improve. After taking the lead we should have pushed on, but no, we fell asleep everything became very limp and slow. And each goal we conceded quite frankly, despite how well the opposition played, were poor from our point of view! The 1st was a mistake from the goalie, the 2nd was a deflection and the 3rd, well, and we just let them in! It was very disappointing indeed!

But having said that the officials could have cost us big time today, yes we were not good enough but the referee and his assistants had a big effect! As I said I would like to stress that YES we were NOT at our best at all, we were poor but I will not accept people that say that the ref isn't at all to blame because the facts are these: the ref lost control of the game he allowed Norwich to keep kicking the ball away waste time, and did not give what was an absolute blatant penalty for us right at the end, which would have all but sealed our passage into the champions league next season, this decision is what hurts me and what I find absolutely impossible to understand at all! Yes you could argue that Koscielney gave Martin's shirt a bit of a tug in the first half, and that could have been a penalty, but it was not exactly as stonewall nor as obvious as the rugby tackle on RVP at the end in the box, just as he was about to put the ball into the back of the net. 

I don't understand how in a league as big and successful as ours that refs can keep having such an effect on games, it is just getting to the point where it is ridiculous and results, league positions and ultimately clubs fortunes that are being sacrificed and limited directly through the referees incompetency! It is something that I really cannot understand, why are referees making so many important mistakes and ridiculous decisions. The decision not to award a penalty today was laughable! It really was incredible; I just do not fathom it at all. And to be honest last week we should have had a penalty away at Stoke, when Yossi was knocked over in the box, and that therefore (as I was discussing with my friend @igooner7 on twitter) is 4 points that the ref's have cost us, just in the last 2 weeks and that would have sealed as already in 3rd and all would be rosy, rather than gloomy and uncertain once again! And it wasn't just that RVP penalty claim as well, there was also the blatant one where the player’s arm was up, and his hand hit the ball in the 2nd half after the Ox crossed it! 

As I write this article I am watching the game again on my IPad and it has to be said Norwich played extremely well, credit to them, and we were not at all at our best that is an absolute certainty. Wojiech was very poor today, our midfield lacked control and composure and our attackers passed up so many chances to score and render our performance irrelevant, as we should have won, that is a fact! But what frustrates me about this all is the fact that, YES we didn't play well and YES Norwich were fantastic and to be fair deserved something, but the fact is the ref missed an absolute stone-waller and could have cost us Champions League football next year. Despite all that I have said about our own performance the ref cost us the game at the end of the day, and therefore when people say that you can't blame the ref for the result, I have to say if he had given that blatant penalty we would have (at least) had the chance to win the game from 12 yards! It just frustrates me! 

But despite this the way once again some fans have reacted really angers me, calling for the boss to be sacked and players never to play for us again and bitching at each other accusing fans of being this and that, it really is stupid, I just wish that fans could unite and support the team till the end and not knock their confidence! For example Aaron Ramsey has been the but of fans' critics recently and that has clearly got to him and therefore put him in a viscous cycle, because he gets stick, he looses confidence as a result, therefore his performances are affected, he gets more stick and he looses confidence again. It has to stop, I really believe in Victoria Concordia Crescit and we have to stick to this, us fans have to get behind the team and hope that we do enough next week against WBA, that's the situation and we have to believe that we could do it! 

But how we did not get that penalty, Anthony Taylor the referee was an absolute disgrace today!!! Sky Sports agreed on the commentary that it was a disgraceful decision! But we still had many many chances to win it, and didn't so that's that I suppose! For the neutral I suppose it was a great game and a great advert for the Premier League, there was chance after chance followed by chance, but not good for us at all! That is very much for sure, we should have won and we didn't!! 

Anyway we cannot change that, we HAVE to go to WBA next week and get the win and hope that other teams help us and do the rest! 

UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Please follow me on twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - send me your thoughts I do reply to them all! What do you think to the performances of the team and the officials, can we still finish 3rd? Will Spurs and Newcastle drop points!