Posts filed under '2011-12 Season'

Podolski confirmed; Third place far from it

413 comments May 1st, 2012

So the worst kept secret in football is finally out: Lukas Podolski will join Arsenal this summer.  It is, you won’t be in the least bit surprised to hear, a ‘long term contract for an undisclosed fee’.  Media reports suggest we’ll end up paying about €11m for the Germany striker – a very reasonable fee, and a consequence of the fact that he has just a year remaining on his contract.

Back in September few Arsenal fans would have bet on Arsene Wenger being in charge for 2012/13.  Now, however, it seems planning for next season is well underway, and Podolski is an important part of that.  Arsene says:

“We are delighted to secure the deal for Lukas and see him as an important part of our future. He is a top-class player, a very good finisher and a proven performer at club and international level. He is a very strong player and will provide us with good attacking options.

We are happy to have made this signing early and we are looking forward to watching Lukas contribute at the European Championship over the summer, a level where he has already made 95 caps at the age of 26. That is a phenomenal record and just shows his quality as a player.”

It’s interesting that in the week in which he’s admitted we have an over-reliance on Robin van Persie, Arsene makes a point of heralding Podolski’s ability in front of goal.

The player himself, meanwhile, seems excited about the second major move of his career:

“I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal Football Club and to play in the Premier League. Arsenal is one of the top clubs in Europe with a huge history. There are many top quality players at Arsenal and the style of football which the team plays is fantastic. I’m proud to become an Arsenal player and am looking forward to playing my first match at Emirates Stadium and doing my best for all the Arsenal fans.”

It’s quite the coup to have secured his signing this early.  A good European Championships would only have increased demand for Podolski, and probably his inflated his demands beyond our means.

Like his countryman Per Mertesacker, Podolski fits the new profile of Arsenal signings: mid-twenties, internationally decorated, and continentally-known.  His Bundesliga experience and muscular build mean that adaptation to the Premier League shouldn’t be too problematic, whilst his direct running and powerful shooting offers an immediate improvement upon the likes of Gervinho, Park, and Chamakh.  I expect him to be deployed on the left of a 4-3-3, although he also provides an option through the middle.

And therein lies the first concern with this signing: that it might be a replacement for rather than an augment to Robin van Persie.  I can’t pretend to know whether that will ultimately be the case, but I can say with a degree of conviction that it is not Arsenal’s intention.  Indeed, one hopes signings like this will help convince Robin to sign on and stay.  The second concern is Podolski’s failed stint at Bayern Munich, but as this article by Raphael Honigstein suggests, the player has matured significantly since then.  All in all it’s a good addition and something to be excited about ahead of next season.

As I write, Roy Hodgson is on the verge of being named as the new England manager.  I think it’s the right appointment, for various reasons, but it does mean our final game of the season will see us travelling to West Brom for Hodgson’s farewell.  He’ll want to end on a high, so that looks an increasingly tricky game.

The situation remains simple: win our two remaining games, and third is ours.  However, my dwindling confidence has inevitably got me hoping for slips elsewhere to make our lives easier.  Tomorrow night, Spurs travel to Bolton and Chelsea face Newcastle.  If Chelsea are held to a draw, and Spurs are beaten, a win for Arsenal against Norwich on Saturday would all but guarantee Champions League Football a week in advance.  Wishful thinking perhaps, but my nerves could use a bit of relief.

Stoke 1 – 1 Arsenal: Arsenal escape from Mordor with a point

30 comments April 29th, 2012

STOKE 1 – 1 ARSENAL

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

Let me start by declaring a bias: I really dislike Stoke.  I dislike their manager, their players and their fans.  I dislike their ‘style’ of play and their indeterminate evolutionary heritage.  So if anyone who is not an Arsenal fan accidentally stumbles upon this entry, and feels it’s a bit partizan: it is.  I dislike Stoke.

I do, however, have a grudging respect for the effectiveness of their set-piece based game.  With that in mind, I would gladly have taken a point before the game.  The bonus of seeing Newcastle hammered at Wigan makes it an even better result.

It could arguably have been more.  Arsenal outplayed Stoke, and even Tony Pulis was forced to admit we coped better than ever with their aerial assault.  We looked like a side who were focused, determined, and eager to take all three points.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, as we fell behind early on due to our sole lapse in concentration – Bacary Sagna failed to close down Matthew Etherington, and from that point on we were helpless – the cross and Peter Crouch’s header were both inch-perfect.

We recovered in impressive fashion.  The goal we scored was a combination of some great harrying and hustling from Yossi Benayoun to win the ball high up the pitch, an outstanding cross from the rejuvenated Tomas Rosicky, and classic movement from RVP to pull away at the far post to tuck home.

There were moments where we flirted with a second goal.  Gervinho ducked out of a a simple header, Ramsey fired wide from the edge of the box, and Yossi Benayoun took a tumble in the box, asking for a penalty which he’ll know in his heart of hearts would have been a very soft award.  Despite our dominance, Stoke are always a threat when the ball is out of play, and they nearly punished us from a late Rory Delap throw-in; Bacary Sagna redeeming himself with a spectacular clearance from under our crossbar.

And so, a point it was.  Although we haven’t won in our last three league games, this was by far our best performance since the victory over Manchester City.  Particular credit is due to Aaron Ramsey, who put in a committed and industrious display on a ground which must hold some dark memories for him.  As for the Stoke fans who booed him?  Well, it’s a level idiocy beyond comprehension.  I hoped the empathy and compassion between football fans that sprung up off the back of terrible incidents like the Fabrice Muamba collapse might help put an end to such hateful attitudes.  I was wrong.  Arsene speaks with great eloquence about the situation here:

“I don’t think you can be especially proud to boo Aaron Ramsey, I don’t see what he has done wrong. It’s an old story where the fans of Stoke stand behind their player but it shouldn’t go as far as booing Ramsey.

I think sometimes when I go out on the pitch at the end of the game, and people are angry or hateful, I would like a little picture to send home for them to show their son or daughter, and then come back next week and see if they will do it again, see if they are proud of you.”

Beautifully put. We can, however, be proud of Ramsey and his team-mates for a very creditable point. Two games left; two wins required. Play like we did yesterday, and it’s eminently possible.

Three. It’s a magic number.

731 comments April 28th, 2012

Three games left, three wins required, with third place the prize.

As you all know by now, fourth place is a risk we cannot take, rewarding us with only the a fifty-fifty chance of having an opportunity to qualify for the Champions League.  Third place takes you straight in to the group stage, and is currently in our hands.  To lose it now, having been granted so many repreives already, would be simply ungrateful.

Today is undoubtedly the trickiest of our remaining three fixtures.  It is a sad and unsatisfying fact that we have not won at Stoke since the game in which Aaron Ramsey picked up that horror injury.  Whilst Stoke, Norwich and West Brom all ostensibly have nothing to play for, Tony Pulis’ dislike for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal is so strong that he simply won’t allow his side to roll over today in the manner they did at St. James’ Park last week.  Make no mistake, they will be up for this.

Arsenal’s defence will have to be at their very best to cope with the catapulted throw-ins of Rory Delap or Ryan Shotton.  It is just this sort of game, facing the height of Peter Crouch, that 6 ft 6″ Per Mertesacker was bought for.  In the absence of the giant German, Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen will have to be at their springy best to keep our Crouch, Shawcross, Huth and more of Stoke’s lumbering orc army.

In midfield, we’ll miss the discipline and steel of Mikel Arteta.  It’s possible Francis Coquelin could be drafted in, but the most likely starter is Aaron Ramsey.  What better place to recover his form than ‘the scene of the crime’, as it were?

Ahead of that, Theo Walcott’s injury means that Yossi Benayoun will come straight back in to the side.  The other wing spot will most likely go to one of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Gervinho – although there is always an outside chance that Ramsey or Rosicky will be shunted wide to provide some more defensive stability.  We’ll once again be looking to the newly-crowned Footballer of the Year, Robin van Persie, to score the goals to fire us to victory.

It’s not an exact science of prediction, but last night I dreamt about the game in some detail.  Arsenal came from 2-1 behind to draw 2-2.  We scored a third, from a set-piece, that was wrongly disallowed.  In the end, I was fairly happy with a point, and I think I would be today too – seven points form our final nine should – SHOULD – be enough.  Crucially, it’d be enough to guarantee we finish above Spurs, regardless of what happens with Newcastle and Chelsea.

You can hear me discuss Stoke, the race for fourth, and our potential new kits in my first appearance on the Arsenal America Podcast.  Have a listen.

Is Tony Adams ready to return to Arsenal?

315 comments April 26th, 2012

I should preface this article by warning that it’s speculative.  I can’t claim to have any inside track on this matter. But here are the facts as we know them:

  • After defying expectations by deciding to remain on for a further twelve months last year, Pat Rice is due to retire this summer.
  • Arsene will therefore be looking to appoint a new assistant
  • Tony Adams is more of a presence at Arsenal than he has been in years

That last point perhaps requires some expansion.  I’m not referring to the very public appearances Tony has made, both in bronze and in the flesh.  Instead, he’s been attending games, sitting in the executive areas, and crucially has been spotted at the London Colney training ground on several occasions.  A friend of mine has been up to Colney twice in recent months – on both visits they spotted Adams.  This, of course, could be coincidence.  Or it could indicate that an Arsenal legend is preparing to return to the fold.

It’s not unusual to find a former player at the training ground.  At various points this season, Colney has been graced by the likes of Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, and Jens Lehmann, who is currently undertaking his coaching badges.  Arsene’s door is always open to his former players, whether they simply need a place to keep fit, or want to pick his brains about a problem.  Adams’ appearance, however, is surprising.  He’s been somewhat resistant to the idea of returning to Arsenal in any capacity other than as manager.  It’s clear that for ‘Mr. Arsenal’, playing second fiddle to anyone – even Arsene Wenger – would be difficult.

So what’s changed?  Well, perhaps Adams has learnt some humility.  His early years as a manager were, frankly, disastrous.  Spells with Wycombe and Portsmouth did little to convince anyone that he had a future as a number 1.  He has now resigned from his role as manager of FC Gabala in Azerbaijan, instead taking up an ‘ambassadorial’ role.  Perhaps he has accepted the need to learn his trade from more a better, more experienced man.  And perhaps the backwaters of European football have instilled in him a desire to come home.

Is he the right man to take over from Rice?  Well that’s another question entirely.  Certainly, his managerial career to date has been far from convincing.  His record as an assistant, however, is far better – working under Harry Redknapp, he drilled an effective and mean Portsmouth defence.  Internal candidates like Steve Bould and Neil Banfield would doubtless feel they were able to do the same, and might provide less of a challenge to Arsene’s authority.

My thoughts about Adams are in part influenced by proceedings at Stamford Bridge where Roberto Di Matteo and Eddie Newton, a pairing unceremoniously sacked from lowly West Brom little over a year ago, have just led Chelsea to a Champions League Final.  Sometimes, it seems, there is a value in having an inherent understanding of the culture of the club.  Pat Rice, of course, has that in spades.

And so does Tony Adams.  He is Mr. Arsenal.  And that sums it all up.  I’d welcome him back with arms as open as those with which he celebrated that famous goal.

 

Fourth is now a risk we simply can’t take

378 comments April 25th, 2012

Not having the hardiest constitution, or the deepest pockets, I’m not really one for football betting.  Even if I was, I’m not sure I would put money on Bayern Munich in the forthcoming Champions League final.  All of which means…

Fourth is now a risk we simply can’t take

We should have known something was up. A day that began with portents as ominous as Denilson returning to Arsenal could never end well. As it turned out, the return of the crab-like midfielder was the first sign of the apocalypse. The second was Chelsea eliminating Barcelona to reach the Champions League Final.

There are big implications for Arsenal. Roberto Di Matteo’s side are now just one game from snatching the Champions League Qualification spot normally awarded to the side who finishes fourth. Fourth would always have been a risk – our tie with Udinese this season showed just how treacherous the obligatory qualifying round can be. Now, with the possibility that even that opportunity to qualify might be whisked from under our feet in Munich, it’s a risk we simply cannot take.

Arsenal have three games remaining. Win them and we will be third. It is in our own hands, and letting it slip through them at this point would be criminal. We travel to Stoke on Saturday, before hosting Norwich, then going to West Brom on the final day. None of those three sides have anything in particular to play for. There is no reason we should not take nine points.

Even seven would probably be enough. The big concern is the forthcoming game at Stoke, where we traditionally struggle. Now is surely the time to try and put that hoodoo to bed; and what better place for Aaron Ramsey to recover his form than on the ground that nearly ended his career?

Transfer News

As I mentioned, it seems Denilson is on his way back to England this summer. If I were him, I wouldn’t bother unpacking – I don’t imagine it’ll be a long stay. Sao Paulo have been unable to agree an extension to his loan deal, primarily because Arsenal are looking for a permanent buyer. Denilson is one of a crop of players that also includes Manuel Almunia, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and Andrey Arshavin who will be shunted off the wage bill in an attempt to fund new contracts for the likes of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott.

Congratulations to Chelsea

Despite the fact it’s something of a disastrous result for Arsenal fans, I can only offer my congratulations to Chelsea on an extraordinary performance at the Nou Camp. There is a lesson to be learnt there: whilst Chelsea aren’t your traditional underdog, they showed that no side is unbeatable, no contest pre-determined. With the exception of the idiotic John Terry, they were a credit to themselves and the Premier League.

Right. Off to wash my mouth out.

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