Arsenal 1 – 0 Swansea
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
A few games in to Jack Wilshere’s comeback, I scoffed at those who had suggested it would take him a little time to get back to his best. His first few all-action displays suggested to me that Wilshere had hit the ground running, and was immediately playing at something close to full capacity.
How wrong I was; how right they were. Jack was merely finding his feet. In the last two matches, Wilshere’s development has accelerated dramatically.
This isn’t the Wilshere we remember. This one’s better.
This Jack Wilshere is armoured with months of gym work and a fierce desire to make up for lost time. He is physically and mentally stronger for the ordeal he has suffered, and it shows. Against City his courage and resilience saw him emerge as the heartbeat of this Arsenal side. Against Swansea, he took on a different kind of responsibility.
Ever since his return, Jack has worn the hallowed number 10 on his back. This, however, was the first time since his injury we’ve seen him play as a number 10. The position fits him as well as the shirt. Freed of defensive responsibility, he was a constant menace to the Swansea defence, and it was no surprise when his twenty-yard strike proved the difference.
I have no doubt that Wilshere will follow Cesc Fabregas in moving forward from a deeper role to play behind the striker. It may not be immediate, but it will be soon. In his mid-teens, Jack made waves in youth football as a scorer and creator of goals from midfield. The tools he has learnt playing deep will make him a better all-round player, but ultimately his future lines in the attacking third.
Deploying Jack there also seems to give Arsenal better balance. Behind him, the platform of Abou Diaby and Francis Coquelin looked relatively secure, and moving Santi Cazorla in to the front three did little to diminish the Spaniard’s influence, and added fluency and creativity to our forward play. Coquelin did particularly well on the night – I was heartened to see the team’s least experienced player cajoling his team-mates back in to position as we hold on to our 1-0 lead.
This was a well deserved victory, which would have been much more comfortable but for some poor finishing from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. Despite the likelihood of the former signing a new deal, and my growing affection for the latter, my one hope for this transfer window is that we bring in a goalscorer. With each passing day, however, that hope diminishes.
This is no time for negativity, though. Arsenal have maneuvered past a difficult draw with Swansea and are still in the cup. What’s more, I saw enough tonight at the Emirates and Stamford Bridge to think that we might be able to give an imploding Chelsea side a very good game on Sunday.
If we do, you can bet that Jack Wilshere will be at the heart of it. Thomas Vermaelen is Arsenal’s captain in name alone. That armband, just like that number 10 role, is Jack’s destiny.
My bet is on him to fulfill the role permanently one day. Are you interested in doing some betting on an upcoming Premier League fixture? Make sure you head over to www.bwin.com and check out their fantastic odds!
Excellent. Jack was immense and I think he will flourish in the no.10 role.
You people are ridiculous, we all know Jack is a wonderful player. Now leave the kid alone and stop pumping the captaincy into his head. Let him enjoy his football without giving him any ideas. If in future he will become our captain, then let it stay there, (in future). For now give the kid a break and let him enjoy his soccer career. Ag, you people are disgusting.
You are also getting carried away and forgetting AW and the Board will soon sell off Jack to either Barca or Manure! What future are you dreaming of?
So what?
Sir Arsene can make ten of him…
plus it will be another £20m in the bank….nice business!
Well said Moses. Don’t rush the captain’s band on Wilshire. Vermalen’s in a dip in form but he’ll get better again and in time Wilshire can get the band.
Meanwhile, i’d still love to see Sneijder join Arsenal. His price and wage should be within arsenal’s means. A midfield of Arteta, Wilshire & Sneijder with Carzola either on the right or resting and Podolski on the left would be brilliant. Wishire’s runs combined with Sneijder & Cazorla’s passing and long range shooting and Arteta’s defensive positioning should be enough to secure a 4th spot, if not more.
Luckily Sir Arsene is running our club and not you…. £25m for a 29 year old? plus his £22m in wages…so basically throw away £47m over 4 years….sounds like good business…If you’re Portsmouth or Leeds.
I would concentrate on laying your lawn rather than trying to give tips to Sir Arsene.
Jack’s play is starting to remind me more and more of Cesc’s. He is always looking to go forward. Since Cesc left the Arsenal midfield has constantly been needing a player to take the ball at the heart of the opponents. Tommy Rosicky and Diaby(when he is playing like he did at the start of the year) are the only other Arsenal midfielders with this ability and they are too inconsistent.
Of course it’s very similar – Sir Arsene made them both.
When will you Englanders ever learn?
Pep goes to Bayern…
I was starting to think that we would never score until that fine finish from Jack. There still seems to be confusion and miscommunication when the attacking players find themselves in and around the box. We could and should have scored more than 4 goals yet we ended up with one and looked nervous defending that slim lead. Due to the nature of our game we will always give our opposition a chance of nicking a goal on the counter. I honestly don’t mind that as long as we’re scoring more goals. Arsene needs to balance this team. We should if possible have the exact same line up for a few weeks in a row so that the players can get used to each others game. Like it or not we still need to strengthen, if not I don’t think we’ll make the top 4.
Your right, dispatching the swans at the second asking (at home to boot) certainly isnt reason to think we have a team that can mount a serious trophy challenge.
wenger out
hahaha, he is going to city, manu or barca. believe me!
First of all, he is not going ….Didn’t you see him kiss the badge last night?
And even if he does go, it doesn’t matter. Sir Arsene will make another. Just like he does every year.
Let Wenger sign a solid DM and a clinical CF. Then things will turn around for good…
Jack is parfect as young as he is let wenger sgin player and leave arteta to play on is role up arsenal
exactly arteta is not a defensive mid …simple and is being played out of position , we already no wenger is a fool , but a lucky fool ,the idiot should have tied up deals for ba and villa as soon as the window opened and we would be competative again as we don’t have the time to let chirod learn his trade while playing as he should have been a back up striker as was the original plan and after persie it is ba for the prem strikers and then you have a real dm in villa that would have allowd us to rotate diaby and arteta in there actual positions in an around jack with a solid defensive man behind at all times ….ba at 85g a week and 7.5 mill was an absolute bargain completely missed by le fool who instead will go get some arty farty technical type who has never played in the prem and will again take time again , this team is crying out for power and strength we have to many midget technical players a couple of strong no nonsense beasts it what is required so lets hope le fool starts doing his job with a bit of urgency and like he actually cares about the fans and not just his romantic view of things where he can take twenty years to build a team
Even more important than Jack’s performance is Wengers decision to finarly move carzola out wide finally. Carzola is more pires than bergkamp. For me ideal situation is Pold and Giroud fight it out for the lone striker role, carzola and chambo playing/fighting for the left wing position with the kind of freedom carzola played with last night and walcott and gervinho rotating on the right.
Jack behind the striker with arteta and diaby holding. I thnink this was always Wengers plan for this squad but injuries have hampered this plan. It was interesting to see coquelin play the box to box role as opposed to the holding role yesterday and he was actually really good at it. He is more cleverly than gilberto silver
Man U have reaped huge rewards with this setup, with carrick holding and cleverely providing drive and energy in the box to box role and rooney behind the main striker.
Now that you’ve finished giving soccer advice to Sir Arsene – maybe you want to give some business advice to Richard Branson too.
You peasants are not fit to shine Sir Arsene’s cock – so just back off and watch how the master does it.
Arsenal, just about, beat a Swansea B team.
Lets not forget that.
oh but they will Me
gotta be positive tho..thats what they blind say
we’ve got a great squad
a pussy for a manager
and a pathetic phat cat board
replace the last two and we’ll see quick progress!
who gave us lots of space too. Nothing I saw tonight inspires hope in me for this season. Enjoyed the game, sure. See us getting anywhere? no.
AW has recently been talking about the possibility of new recruits. The name of Cavani and Zaha were mentioned. For a fact neither will be coming to Arsenal in this transfer window. Cavani has a £52m buy out clause. We couldn’t even scrape £7.5m together for Ba so forget about Cavani. Zaha is more of an option but even there Crystal Palace want money plus players to aid there push for promotion. Who we gonna give them? Arshavin? Schilacci? Not even Crystal Palace would take on such Poundland specials.
It’s all a smoke screen I’m afraid. Prepare for disappointment fellow Gooners.
@wenger_out
BoB, I was bemused by this Wenger quote myself. I believe Wenger talks about new signings to pluck up the spirits of the doughty British folk and give them renewed hope that the Arsenal may once again form a team that can be competitive with the oil-mongers of Siberia and the Middle East. But why would Wenger speak of names like Cavani now?
I believe Wenger is giving us a red herring by speaking the name of Cavani. Wenger is not in the market for Cavani, but to stop the media from hounding his steps as he sneaks down to Paris for an illicit liaison, he must give a transfer story, lest the hacks of Fleet St get a sniff of his nefarious affairs.
Well, Its good to see Jack at his best. But it is worrisome to hear him look up to a Liverpool Player as a role model. Anyway, i dont blame him. I blame Arsene for selling all the expected role models in Arsenal to rival clubs
i understand nigel adkins is free. i suggest we hire that man as a manager of the arsenal, and then we can entice further southampton recruits like luke shaw to our side. watch then, as we slide into a relegation battle and we can finally be a real club with real problems, keeping it real…
we love the arsenal, we do!
we love the arsenal, we do!
we love the arsenal, we do!
oh arsenal we love you!
Chaps, I read this from Wenger about Abou Diaby. I know Diaby gets a bad rap from you chaps, but after reading this quote, I feel Wenger’s done the right thing by giving him your monies for his 60,000 a week contract so he can spend it on the rehab table and be masseused daily.
“It is a big period for him. He is conscious of it. He does everything, but you do not want to put any pressure on him because he has enough. He puts himself under so much pressure, Abou.
“He is a very conscientious guy. You should see how he works, how he is focussed every day, because when a guy suffers as much as he did he becomes very professional, very rigorous.
“You have some guys, they can drink five beers, come to training, and play and go home and nothing happens to them. And you have other guys who have to look after everything.
“When you have a guy who is injured a lot, and he has not a serious life, you can say ‘you see, you are punished’.
“With Diaby, he has a very serious life, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t go out, and is very conscientious in training. So you always feel sorry for him, so you always touch wood it will go well for him.
“Of course (lesser players would have given up). Honestly, what he has gone through is unbelievable.”
Wenger did admit to feeling an even greater loyalty towards Diaby because he feels the nature of the original injury was so unjust and is at the root of all the subsequent problems.
“It is frustrating because it all started with a bad tackle at Sunderland, in the last minute of the game, of the last game of the season, which was decided already,” Wenger said.
“So you always think ‘One thing that was so stupid can have such an impact on a career of such a big player. When he plays at his best, of course. Arsenal have a different dimension.
“If you love football and you see a player like Abou, you want him to have the career he deserves, especially when he has the attitude that he has.
“You are in a position where you have to have patience. Because what did he do wrong? Nothing. At least you have to give him a chance.”
Wenger thrust Diaby straight into the line-up after four months out and that shows his faith and how much he rates him as a player.
The Gunners boss, set to start with Diaby again at Chelsea on Sunday, says his countryman is so talented that when fully fit he would be the first name on their homeland’s team sheet.
Wenger added: “I am not the only one who says that. In France, everybody says that.
“He can defend, he can attack. He is strong in the challenge. He can dribble. He can pass players. He is very quick in the transition, offence, defence. When you win the ball he cn cross the pitch quickly. And he is good in the air.
“Once you put all these qualities together… and he is a fighter. With great stamina. So when you put all these qualities together… Of course I would put him next to Jack (Wilshere).”
Official…. Theo SignedDaThing…!!