November 10th, 2012
I expect Arsenal to make only one change today…
…and that will be an enforced one. Â Jack Wilshere is suspended so will drop out of the side, with Francis Coquelin the man most likely to replace him. Â Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are back in the squad , but having just recovered from injury are unlikely to be rushed straight back in to the side. Â Other than that, I expect Thomas Vermaelen to continue at full-back and Theo Walcott to keep his place on the wing.
I can’t help but feel today could be a big day for Olivier Giroud…
The Frenchman is quietly getting in to gear. Â Since breaking his duck against Coventry, he has started six games. Â In that period of time, he has amassed four goals. Â It means that despite all the criticism, he currently has more goals this season than, say, a certain Wayne Rooney. Â The blight on his record is that only one of those goals has come in the Premier League – a competition in which he has appeared in every game. Â A goal today would help give him some real momentum going in to the North London Derby.
It sounds like Theo Walcott is on the way out…
When asked about his contract situation this week, Arsene said:
“‘I don’t want to go into any details but you can believe me [that] we do the maximum we can to keep our best players.”
It’s a familiar refrain. Â It’s the same thing he said previously about Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, and Robin van Persie. Â The deadline for Theo to sign a new deal is fast approaching. Â For footballing and financial reasons, I’d like to see him sign a new deal. Â However, I’m afraid it looks to be too late for that.
Lukas Podolski is not entirely to blame for his own downturn in form…
Arsene Wenger puts it down to culture shock. Â I’d suggest it’s simply down to a lack of chances. Â The German has not scored for more than a month, but in that period of time I can’t think of a significant chance he’s missed. Â In fact, I can barely think of a single chance he’s missed in his time as an Arsenal player. Â He’s lethal in front of goal – the team just need to work harder to get him there.
It’s great to see Tomas Rosicky back in training…
I had almost forgotten that he was still an Arsenal player. Â It’s easy to forget how fantastic he was in the second half of last season, and he will add some much needed zip and verve to our midfield when he returns. Â It will also enable us to give Santi Cazorla some much-needed rest – the Spaniard has looked jaded in recent weeks.
March 14th, 2012
Considering the transfer window is firmly shut, it’s unsurprising that my thoughts have been entirely on the on-field action. Â However, away, from the pitch, Arsenal have also been making plenty of headlines. Â With some brief respite in our fixture list, here’s a quick look at some of the major contractual shenanigans of the last fortnight:
Tomas Rosicky’s new deal
The timing of the announcement of this deal is significant. Â Contract negotiations are a long, drawn-out process: Rosicky and the club will have been in talks over the past few months. Â Had a deal been concluded and made public eight weeks or so ago, the fan reaction would have been very different. Â At that stage Rosicky looked a shadow of the player Arsenal signed from Dortmund in 2006.
His recent form, however, has been startling, and I for one am delighted to see him staying. Â I don’t buy the argument that he’s been “playing for a new contract” – as I’ve already stated, Arsenal will have decided to try and extend his deal some time ago. Â It’s possible he’s been boosted by the manager’s show of faith. Â What’s far more likely is that he’s benefitting from his first run of starts in years. Â His combination of game-accelerating turns and passing and quite immaculate slide-tackles have been a vital component in our recent good run.
Handing Rosicky a two-year deal also represents a change of policy for Arsene Wenger, who had previously only offered players over thirty one year extensions. Â There will have been various factors involved in that gear-shift, many of them economic, but he has also doubtless been influenced by seeing the value of experienced squad members at other clubs, like Manchester United. Â The influence of Thierry Henry during his brief return to the club doubtless also gave Arsene food for thought.
The possible arrival of Lukas Podolski
The latest on this is that Dave Woods of the Daily Star reports that Podolski has now undertaken and passed a medical for Arsenal. Â This would not surprise me, and it’s worth noting that the Star are very close to certain influential members of the Arsenal hierarchy. Â It seems that whilst there are a few details of the transfer to iron out, Koln, Arsenal and Podolski all seem to have a determination for the deal to be done.
It’s hard to argue that this is anything but a good signing.  A fee of little over £10m for a player with almost 100 caps for Germany is extraordinary business.  Anyone who has seen Podolski play for Germany will have admired his pace, finishing, and ability to break quickly from the left-flank.  This season, he’s been in great goalscoring form, and after an ill-fated spell at Bayern Munich a few years back will be determined to make his mark at a big European club.
At 26, he is another example of the shifting age profile of Arsene’s signings. Â Should the deal be completed he’ll add another finisher to the squad – something that the likes of Marouane Chamakh and Ju-Young Park have been unable to provide.
The future of Robin van Persie
Some have speculated that Podolski could be arriving as a replacement for Robin van Persie. Â That is certainly not Arsene’s plan. Â The club will make every effort to keep Van Persie, and hope to be able to deploy him alongside the German in our front three.
I can’t pretend to know what Robin will decide to do, but my gut tells me that if he feels Arsenal can challenge credibly for trophies in the next three years, he will stay. Â He loves the club, he loves the role of captain, and he wants to make it work. Â His decision will be influenced more by ambition than by money: Arsenal will be happy to make him the highest-paid player in their history.
Jan Vertonghen
The Times are reporting that Spurs are about to beat Arsenal to the signing of this Belgian defender. Â Good luck to them: my information is that Arsenal are not interested in signing a centre-half this summer. Â Whilst I don’t doubt we have kept a watchful eye on a talent like Vertonghen, Arsene currently believes the quartet of Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Djourou, with Miquel and Song available as back-up, is strong enough. Â And I’d be inclined to agree.
–
Right, that’s yer lot. Â Now back to the football.
March 7th, 2012
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Last night, for an enthralling ninety minutes, Arsenal dreamed an impossible dream. Laurent Koscielny’s header turned the preposterous in to the improbable. Tomas Rosicky’s sidefoot transformed the improbable to the enticingly plausible. And then Robin van Pesie’s penalty set up a second half laced with that cruelest of baits: hope. In the end, sadly, it wasn’t to be. The dream was no more than that, and exhaustion took its inevitable toll on Arsenal limbs, minds and voices as Milan survived to lick their wounds and fight another day.
As the full-time whistle blew, an exhausted Arsenal side collectively fell to their knees, shedding sweat and, in some cases, tears. Rarely, however, can a team have lost a tie and been met with such a resounding chorus of approval. The vast majority of supporters remained behind to salute a heroic effort. Arsenal failed to claw back the prize of a Champions League quarter-final, but did recapture an enormous amount of pride.
In the past fortnight, Arsenal have beaten arch-rivals Tottenham, cup-winners Liverpool, and the champions of Italy – in two cases by a margin of three goals. It is a run that has done much to heal the wounds in the relationship between players and supporters. Last night they stood together, and their combined efforts did much to repair the club’s bruised reputation.
It was an extraordinary team performance, but it would be wrong to overlook the contribution of certain individuals. In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger reserved special praise for Tomas Rosicky, who has typified our recent resurgence. After the North London Derby, many called his performance his best in an Arsenal shirt. I would say that last-night’s display leapfrogged even that showing. He was everywhere, chasing, harrying, and knitting up the gaps between midfield and attack with a tireless combination of artistry and application. One wonders if, finally, he is beginning to return to the heights he hit prior to spending almost two years on the sideline with injury.
Beside him in central midfield, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed incredible maturity. His progress from Championship to Champions League has been seamless – at every level his talent has shone through. It’s not just that, though: he’s gutsy. His run to win the penalty told you everything: he picked up the ball and drove at Milan, daring them to try and stop him. Everytime he is in possession, he is determined to make something happen. And he is 18 years old.
Robin van Persie’s excellence is so consistent that one almost forgets to mention it. Alex Song was dogged, and Theo Walcott covered an enormous amount of ground on the right-flank. The entire defence, too, deserve credit. Chasing goals left us exposed to the counter-attack, and the defenders and Szczesny all showed tremendous awareness and commitment to the cause to keep the clean sheet that made our progression even remotely achievable. I was particularly staggered by the performance of Vermaelen, who several times in the space of one game put his body on the line to get to the ball first.
In the end we suffered from not having the required quality on the bench to freshen up the side. After an hour we looked spent, but a midfield injury list that reads Wilshere, Arteta, Diaby, Ramsey, Benayoun, Coquelin, and Frimpong meant our options were limited. Park and Chamakh were thrown on, and whilst the Moroccan did put in the required leg work, there was to be no late miracle.
However, this remained an undoubtedly great night – and the sort that only the Champions League can provide. There is something electric about the atmosphere, something spine-tingling about the anthem, and a grand sense of occasion that only European football’s great names can provide. When Arsenal’s league form has faltered, I’ve read some fans suggesting that finishing outside the top four doesn’t matter as there is no point qualifying for a competition that you are not going to win. I can say with absolute conviction that I’ve never felt more opposed to that statement than I did last night. At the risk of sounding like I’ve bought in to UEFA’s marketing strategy, the Champions League is the World Cup of club football. It’s a glamour-filled, continental party, and I want Arsenal to be there. If we lose our seat at Europe’s top table, it might be some time before we muster the money and the might to be there again. We all want to push on and challenge for silverware, but will be that much easier to do is we have occasions like this to keep the likes of Van Persie at the club, and inspire others to join him.
I was bowled over by what I saw last night. Arsenal may have lost the tie, but I couldn’t have been more proud. Proud of the performance, and proud of the club. Lesser men would have given up before kick-off. Lesser clubs, I would argue, would have crumbled after what we have been through this season. And yet there we were, putting the sword to one of Europe’s finest. The fans who sang so loudly, the players who worked so hard – they all need to know that if they show similar levels of commitment between now and May, they will be back on that stage, with a chance to put things right. Let’s make it happen.
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