October 14th, 2011
I’m mildly surprised I still remember how to do this. Blogging, it seems, is a bit like riding a bike: painful and disaster-prone at first, but when you return to it after an absence muscle memory takes over and eases you through. I’ve been reading the comments since my last blog – frankly, ages ago – and there is speculation as to whether I’m “dead” or merely “a disgrace”. I’m afraid it’s merely the latter – this blog does not come from beyond the grave. Instead, I’ve been in hibernation whilst the internationals have bored the living daylights out of anyone foolish enough to watch them.
The major Arsenal story of the international break – the one that almost tempted me in to actually writing a blog – was the outstanding form of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. After notching four assists in his previous game for the England U-21s, Chamberlain went as far as to score a hatrick in the game against Iceland. His last competitive match had been his Champions League debut, in which he also scored, after which he was left out of the matchday squad for the North London derby. Arsene Wenger is clearly determined not to rush his development, and says:
“He is ahead of schedule. Overall I think he has to add some ingredients to his game that will be absolutely necessary at the top but he has the basic talent – nobody can dispute that.
I am very happy for bringing him here. But of course now we want from him the commitment and the urgency that is requested in the Premier League.
One second of lacking attention defensively can cost you a game. That has changed in the modern game and that is why he is ahead of schedule. I think in the next few months he can add that to his game.â€
That’s the second or third time Arsene has mentioned the defensive weaknesses in Alex’s game – though how he can say that whilst continually picking Andrey Arshavin in a similar position baffles me. Perhaps he’ll be involved in some way this weekend.
The other good news is that our boys managed to come through the games unscathed. Tomas Rosicky picked up a minor problem, as is his wont, but should be fine for Sunday’s game with Sunderland. An extra days preparation is a real bonus for those players who’ve traveled to far-flung corners of the world, and should enable us to stave off any post-international fatigue.
Abou Diaby and Thomas Vermaelen, you may recall, were supposed to be fit to return after the international break. Predictably, they’re not. Both players are expected to be fit to return in around two weeks, with Diaby pencilled in to make his comeback in the Carling Cup clash with Bolton.
Arsenal have a new absence to contend with – that of Bacary Sagna, who is sidelined for several months with a broken leg. Arsene Wenger has suggested that Carl Jenkinson will fill the void this weekend, but once Vermaelen returns to action I wonder if Laurent Koscielny might be shunted wide, with Mertesacker and the Belgian in the middle. I suppose much will depend on how Jenkinson acquits himself over the next few games.
Jinx-hungry Robin van Persie, meanwhile, says he’s never felt fitter. Oh dear.
As I type this, stories from Arsene’s afternoon press conference are beginning to emerge. They essentially seem to be the same as the ones I’ve written up above, only with slightly different wording. Nevertheless, I’ll update you on those and preview the Sunderland match properly over the weekend. Because Gunnerblog is back. And football is back. Sweet, sweet relief.
September 26th, 2011
You might think a 3-0 win and a century of Robin van Persie goals would be enough to earn Arsenal some positive headlines this Monday morning. If you did, you’d be wrong. And very very naive. Arsenal are a side “in crisis”, and so tradition dictates that even a positive result will be spun in the most unfavourable manner possible.
The Sun joins the fun
In this instance, the chosen stick to beat us with is that of Robin van Persie’s contractual situation. As you’ll all know by now, he has less than two years to run on his existing deal, and is hardly in a rush to discuss a new one:
“I still have almost two years left, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy.”
And who can blame him? This is an Arsenal side beginning yet another period of transition. Van Persie held a meeting with Arsene Wenger this summer in which he asked for reassurances about investment in the squad following the sales of Fabregas and Nasri. That process has begun, and he’ll want to see if and how it continues in January. More importantly, he’ll want to know if he has a chance of playing Champions League football next season.
RVP’s next contract is likely to be the last major deal of his career. With the early part of his development so stunted by injuries, it could cover the period in which stands as the peak of his powers. He’ll want to make sure he gives himself a chance of winning the trophies befitting of his talent before it’s too late – ideally at Arsenal, but potentially elsewhere.
I sympathise with his position. It’s not like Samir Nasri, who left aged 24 and yet to achieve his full potential at Arsenal. Van Persie has given good service, and 100 goals in to the bargain. If he goes, it will be with a heavy heart. It’s up to the club and the manager to give one of the remaining jewels in our crown a reason to stay.
I don’t expect any major negotiations to take place until after Christmas, and there may not be a decision until next summer. There were some stories circulating that City could come in for RVP in January, but those are most likely the work of RVP’s representative Darren Dein, who will be doing his utmost to stir the proverbial pot and make sure wherever RVP signs his new deal, it’s more as much cash as is humanly possible.
There’s plenty of other, less disconcerting stuff to read about Van Persie today. In this piece Arsene compares his positional play to that of Messi, whilst here RVP talks through some of his favourite goals.
Finally, a nod to arseblogger, who turns 40 today. On the day of his birth, back in 1971, Maltese outfit Sliema Wanderers beat Icelandic side IA Akranes by four goals to nil in the UEFA European Cup first round first leg. In every sense, a momentous day for football.
September 25th, 2011
RVP celebrates his 100th Arsenal goal
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
In the circumstances, this was just the result we needed. Three goals, three points, a clean sheet, and a landmark moment for the talismanic Robin van Persie.
At half-time, the result was still very much in the balance. It was 0-0, and Wojciech Szczesny had produced an outstanding early save to keep his sheet clean. Arsenal should have gone ahead when Mikel Arteta played in Gervinho, but the Ivorian’s touch was too heavy and the ball ran through to Jussi Jääskeläinen.
Bolton were marking very tight in midfield and Arteta seemed to be carrying all the creative responsibility. Aaron Ramsey was having little impact, and Walcott and Gervinho struggled for space on the flanks. Despite missing Gary Cahill through illness, Bolton looked secure at the back and a threat on the break.
Occasionally, Arsene Wenger’s critics accuse him of lacking tactical acumen. However, his post-match explanation of his half-time team-talk instantly dispels that myth:
“I felt that in the first half we were a bit impatient sometimes, that we didn’t move the ball quickly enough, that our midfielders came a bit deep because we were man-marked. That exposed us a bit to counter-attacking and we had less support up front. In the second half, maybe because they were fatigued as well, our midfielders played higher up and we became straight away more dangerous.”
Our second half display was also helped by two things that settled our obvious nerves: an early goal, and a sending off for Bolton. First, Van Persie finished superbly from a narrow angle after the referee waived play on when Gervinho was brought down in midfield. Then David Wheater was dismissed for tugging back Theo Walcott after he’d been played in by an improving Ramsey.
It was a game in which we saw the good and the bad of Walcott. He showcased his electrifying pace, racing behind the defence to leave Wheater fatally training, and reaching a Ramsey pass to cross for RVP to nudge home his second goal of the game and 100th for Arsenal. He also showed just why he frustrates, missing a couple of glaring opportunities – one when set clean through by the impressive Alex Song. On balance it was an effective display, and Arsene will hoping that the knee injury which forced him to limp off is not too serious.
It was that second goal, created by Walcott, that killed the game, and made for a fantastic landmark for Van Persie. He joins sixteen other Arsenal centurions in passing the milestone, and his pride in doing so will only be tempered by the thought of how many he might have were it not for a succession of injuries.
Alex Song gabbed a deserved late third, stepping inside his man to curl in to the top corner. The three points mean that a win at White Hart Lane next weekend would take us above them in the league – as if any more incentive for a North London Derby were needed.
I thought there were plenty of positives to take from today’s game, albeit against ten men. Mikel Arteta continues to look every inch the class act we hoped he would be, and Alex Song appears to be stepping up to the midfield mantle with some incisive passing to match his essential physical presence.
At the back we coped well with the supposed threat of Kevin Davies, on as an early sub for the injured N’Gog. Mertesacker and Koscielny were happy to let Davies win the majority of long-balls; they got tight enough to him to prevent him bringing the ball down, and were able to intercept the second ball every time. For all the headers Davies won, barely a single one reached a team-mate.
Our concentration at set-pieces was better too. It was heartening that when defending a corner in stoppage time, at 3-0 up, Wojciech Szczesny was bellowing at his team-mates to concentrate. A clean sheet will do the defence a world of good.
Next up it’s Olympiakos in the Champions League. Another home game, and a chance to maintain that momentum ahead of that crucial derby game a week today.
September 3rd, 2011
With all the fuss over deadline day, I almost forgot there was a round of internationals to be played last night. Several of our new boys were in action, with strike pairing Robin van Persie and Park Chu-Young grabbing the headlines. Park scored an excellent hatrick against Lebanon, before RVP went one better by netting four in the Netherlands’ 11-0 win over San Marino. Follow the links for video clips.
Whilst the level of opposition has to be taken in to account, it’s always good for a striker to score goals, and Park showed his potential with a variety of finishes: a stretching volley, a powerful header, and a neat finish across the keeper. He looks like he can score all kinds of goals, which is more than can be said for Marouane Chamakh – who, at the moment, can’t score any.
As a rule, it seems our players have been more successful in their internationals than in their recent club form – and the good news is that so far I’m yet to hear of any injuries. English fans will have enjoyed watching Theo Walcott give an impressive performance on the right-hand line of Fabio Capello’s new look attack, with his driving run helping to create the third goal for Wayne Rooney. In the same group another Brit, Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey, scored in a 2-1 win over Montenegro.
Andrey Arshavin‘s impressive dribble set up Russia’s winner against Macedonia, whilst Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny only made the bench for France as they saw off Albania.
The same was true of Per Mertesacker, which is fine with me - I’d rather him rest than run the risk of injury. The other two new boys, Mikel Arteta and Andre Santos, are not on international duty, so should arrive at London Colney in the next couple of days to join the rest of the squad for training.
There’s a lot of debate about whether or not Arteta can match Cesc’s class on the pitch, but he’s certainly very classy off it. Yesterday he spoke to Sky Sports News about his transfer. He spoke with great humility and honesty about his departure from Everton – it was clearly a difficult decision for him, somewhat akin to Cesc’s departure from Arsenal. Hopefully he will show the same loyalty and commitment to us as he did to Everton. You can see the video here.
The night before the senior internationals, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his debut for the England U-21s, and impressed, setting up a couple of goals including this beauty from loanee Henri Lansbury. Now that we’re almost a week on and I can mention the game without wanting to cry, I ought to say that I was quite impressed by his little cameo at Old Trafford. Despite the circumstances he showed some real guts, going on a couple of mazy runs and spraying one nonchalant fifty-yard pass across the pitch. Although the signing of Yossi Benayoun (who captained Israel in a 1-0 defeat to Greece) will nudge him a little down the pecking order, he looks like he’s ready to fight for this place. The Carling Cup tie with Shrewsbury on the 20th looks like a chance for him to make his first start as an Arsenal player.
Yesterday the club named their 25-man squad for the Premier League. I say 25; it was actually 22. Chamberlain is one of several players who do not have to be named due to their age.  The only surprise is that Manuel Almunia is a) included and b) still here. I’m guessing he couldn’t find a club to match his wages. Still, at least it means we have plenty of depth in a position that provided us with no end of trouble last season.
There are a couple of transfer stories doing the rounds, suggesting we made enquiries for Yoann Gourcuff and Clint Dempsey. I’m sure that’s true: Arsenal clearly had an extensive list of targets and had to explore them all. I don’t know about you but I’m still recovering from the madness that was transfer deadline day. There was no blog yesterday, and if it’s alright with you I might take Sunday off too. To be honest, I’ll probably do it even if it’s not alright with you, because I’m just horribly inconsiderate. I’ll be back in force next week with some in-depth pieces on our new players ahead of the Swansea match.
Only a week until we get to see the new boys in action…
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