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Arsenal 1 – 0 Stoke: Podolski breaks Stoke hearts, and I laugh

653 comments February 4th, 2013

Arsenal 1 – 0 Stoke
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

This wasn’t a great game…
It’s hardly surprising when you consider the opposition.  Stoke are a horrible side, in every respect.  I find their style of play and their character equally repulsive.

Their performance at the Emirates was one of the most negative I’ve ever seen by a Premier League team.  It was a strange tactical decision when you consider our vulnerability at the back.  If Stoke had gone for us, we might just have buckled.

As it was, we simply had to be patient, and the late introduction of Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski helped bring about the tipping point.  When Stoke did occasionally venture forward, Mertesacker and Koscielny had more than enough to deal with anything The Potters threw at them.

I’m delighted the goal was scored in ‘controversial’ circumstances…
The brief reprieve provided by the linesman only made the crushing blow of Podolski’s goal all the more profound for Stoke’s players and manager.  It hurt them, and I’m glad it did.

Nacho Gonzalez…
…had a solid if unspectacular debut.  I suspect we’ll accustomed to describing him in that manner: he seems to be a no-nonsense, safety-first kind of player.  That’s fine by me: not enough of our supposed defenders are willing to be defenders first and foremost.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain…
…is having a difficult season.  If only there was a cliche to describe the struggles of a player who made a significant impact in their first season, only to then struggle to replicate that form second time round.  Alas.

Chamberlain has two basic problems.  The first is that the outstanding form of Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski has limited his opportunities.  The second issue is that when he is afforded a chance to start, he invariably tries too hard to impress.  On one occasion on Saturday he beat his man to get to the byline, only to turn back and try to beat him a further two times.  By the time he eventually got his cross away, all the men in the middle were marked.

The Ox could learn something from Podolski: efficiency is key.

One of the most interesting battles took place away from the pitch…
Bizarrely, the Arsenal stewards decided that the second half of this heated game would be the opportune moment to try and convince the singing section of the crowd to break the habit of a lifetime (well, six-and-a-half years) and sit down.  Needless to say, they failed, and gave up after about ten minutes amid chants of, “Stand up if you love Arsenal!”.

On the subject of the Arsenal fans…
I can’t help but chuckle at our continued failure to master the scansion of one of our own chants.  Arsenal fans are fond of singing a certain ditty that implies that the mother of the manager of our local rivals may be seeking employment as a lady of the night.

Whenever the manager changes, so must the chant.  While there is usually a period of adaptation, we are now six months in to Andre Villas Boas’ reign, and still that chant dwindles embarrassing out whenever it reaches that crucial point.

The problem, it would seem, is the sheer number of syllables in Villas Boas’ name.  Might I suggest using the popular acronym ‘AVB’, and that way we can get on with questioning the honour of his mother in the time-honoured tradition.

Thoughts on: Stoke, Theo & the transfer deadline

36 comments August 29th, 2012

After a month of hard work and hedonism, I am back at the familiar grindstone.  Only it’s not a grindstone, it’s a laptop.  And this is less of a job and more of a hobby.  But other than that, it is literally exactly the same as returning to a grindstone.

On Sunday Arsenal drew 0-0 at Stoke in a game that won’t go down as a classic.  I understand the concerns about having now played 180 minutes of the season without scoring – especially the day after Robin van Persie lashed in his first goal at Old Trafford – but I still think a draw at The Potteries is a creditable result.  The back five coped admirably, and when you consider that we included the inexperienced Mannone and Jenkinson that’s some achievement.  It’s also worth noting that we didn’t look overrun in central midfield, where Mikel Arteta and Abou Diaby occupied the deep-lying roles.

One notable absentee was Theo Walcott, left out in favour of Olivier Giroud with the Ivorian Gervinho retaining his place on the flank.  At the time I pondered whether or not Theo’s omission might have anything to do with his contract situation, and judging by today’s headlines perhaps I wasn’t too far off the mark.

There is now just one day between today and transfer deadline day.  For those of you who are terrible at maths, that means the deadline is in just two days.  And yet this remains a major issue that still requires a resolution.  Last night both Walcott’s representatives and Arsenal were privately insisting that talks were still ongoing, although the story in every newspaper absolutely reeks of an agent trying to force the club’s hand – either to up their offer, or to allow the player to go.

There is rumoured interest from both Liverpool and Man City.  I’d consider City unlikely – they will almost certainly snare Scott Sinclair from Swansea as their fleet-of-foot British replacement for Adam Johnson.  Liverpool, however, seems to make a lot of sense.  Brendan Rogers loves a winger with pace – look at his use of both Sinclair and Nathan Dyer last season.  Walcott himself is a self-confessed boyhood Liverpool fan, and wouldn’t be put off by a lack of Champions League football if he felt he’d get a guaranteed first-team place.

As Saturday shows, he’s not guaranteed that at Arsenal.  His success last season was built on a partnership with Robin van Persie – without that, he is vulnerable to competition from the likes of Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski.

However, to lose another statistically productive attacking player – and big name – would still be a big blow to the club, especially with so little time to replace him.  I confess I had an inkling that this news might be in the offing – just a day before I tweeted some information that we were making enquiries around Europe for attacking players, particularly in wide areas.  If we are to lose Theo, we’re already looking at potential replacements.

What’s slightly worrying is the breadth and speculative nature of some of those enquiries.  We’ve asked about a couple of players for the first time in the window just two days before its end.  All signs point to another chaotic finish to the transfer window.  Several players are guaranteed to leave – Henri Lansbury became the first yesterday, joining Nottingham Forest for a bargain £1m – and I’m still hopeful one or two might arrive.

Hopeful without being expectant, I should say.  Doing a deal this late can be tricky, but at least I know we’re trying.  It could yet be a very busy few days.  Brace yourselves.

Nuri Sah-Out as Arsenal travel to Stoke

61 comments August 25th, 2012

In discussing Alex Song’s move to Barcelona earlier this week, I was guilty of talking about the imminent arrival of Nuri Sahin as his replacement as if it were a done deal.  In my defence, I wasn’t the only one.  Almost every major media outlet had him ‘on the verge’ of joining Arsenal, with some newspapers even reporting that a medical had been undertaken.

Now, as you’re probably all well aware, the deal is dead – or, as Arsene quipped at yesterday’s press conference, “not alive”.  The answer as to why became clear a little later in the presser.  When asked by a journo why it is Arsenal fail to push certain deals over the line, the manager responded that “99% of the time it is because we don’t want it”.  He cited that all too often the “financial conditions” of the deal do not match the club’s expectations, and so we walk away.  It seems that this is exactly what happened here.

Real Madrid knew of Arsenal’s public and pressing need for a central midfielder.  They also knew of rival interest from Liverpool and Spurs for Sahin.  To the outside eye it looks as if they were probably asking  for too much money on three counts: for the loan fee, for the percentage of Sahin’s wages we would pay, and crucially for the option to make the deal permanent.  We’ve buckled.  Liverpool, the club who paid £35m for Andy Carroll and £20m for Stewart Downing, seem happy to oblige.  Good luck to them.

So now Arsenal have just over a week to find an alternative.  To be honest, we’re still pretty well-stocked for central midfielders, although I do worry about the absence of a physical presence in the Song mould.  Arsene is talking about the possibility of adding players in “one or two” positions – I’d imagine those to be defensive midfield, and possibly right-back.  However, as he’s shown with Sahin, if the deal isn’t right he’s happy to go in to the season with the squad he has.  It is a very different situation to last August’s trolley-dash.

There are still many who could leave: Squillaci, Arshavin, Bendtner and Park are all still on the books.  The revolving door at Colney could soon be whirring in to a frenzy.

Before all that, however, there’s a very important game at Stoke to contend with.  Laurent Koscielny is still out, but with the giant Per Mertesacker available that’s not the blow it might otherwise be.  Per’s height will be important in surviving another aerial onslaught.  The back four will probably be unchanged from last weekend’s draw with Sunderland, whilst I won’t be alone in hoping that Wojciech Szczesny comes through a fitness test and prevents Lukas Fabianski from returning to the scene of several heinous crimes.

In midfield I expect Arteta and Diaby to continue in the deeper roles.  Arsene may look to bulk up the midfield a little, shifting Cazorla in to a wide role and bringing in someone like Ramsey or Coquelin.  Upfront I expect Lukas Podolski to start, although Olivier Giroud’s physical presence might give Arsene some food for thought.  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also back in the squad and pressing for inclusion, but I expect him to start on the bench.

It’s always a tough fixture, but a victory would provide a real lift.  After another topsy-turvy week in the transfer market, we could all do with something to celebrate on the field.

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.