September 3rd, 2014
The Leicester game…
…was the latest in a string of uninspiring performances that have formed our start to the season. After our convincing victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield, many expected us to make a fast start in the Premier League. Not so: we’ve looked leggy and listless much of the time.
Part of the problem seems to be that we are struggling to come to terms with a new system. At Leicester, we once again employed the 4-1-4-1 formation we’ve seen in recent weeks. Yaya Sanogo was installed at the point of the attack, with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil alternating in the wide roles.
It didn’t really work. Arsene seems certain that he wants to include Santi Cazorla, Ozil and Alexis in his first XI, but hasn’t quite worked out how. Personally, I think he ought to have kept faith with Alexis through the middle. After an encouraging display against Besiktas, this could have helped establish him as Arsenal’s new centre-forward. Instead, another opportunity was misguidedly handed to Yaya Sanogo.
At this stage in his development, Sanogo should not be playing for Arsenal football club. Judging by his late transfer business, Arsene Wenger has recognised that too. I’m not willing to write Sanogo off entirely — I did that with Alex Song and was proved wrong. However, at present, if you deposited him in to the third tier of English football, I’m still not convinced he’d stand out as impressive.
Danny Welbeck is a smart signing…
All the good things people claim to see in Sanogo, I see in Welbeck. He is quick, agile, powerful, and a very willing worker.
He reminds me of Emmanuel Adebayor when he first arrived from Monaco. It’s easy to forget now, but in those days Adebayor was a ball of energy, tearing about the pitch trying to make a positive impression. He was partnered with a Thierry Henry riddled with sciatica, and was charged with doing much of the Frenchman’s heavy lifting for him. Pay rises and plaudits eventually killed off Adebayor’s work-rate, but in the early days he was a real handful.
Of course, there was a trade-off for all that perpetual motion: he couldn’t really finish. Adebayor once conspired to miss two open goals in the same game, on a dark night away to Portsmouth. Welbeck has suffered similar woes in front of goal. Hopefully Arsene Wenger can give him the confidence and composure he needs to develop, as Adebayor did, in to an accomplished goalscorer.
I feel good about this one. Welbeck has all the raw attributes, and we have the ideal coach to oversee his development. He is a huge upgrade on Sanogo, and I expect him to make an immediate impact.
The lack of defensive cover…
…is genuinely difficult to understand. We’ve known we needed another centre-back for some time now. Many of us were calling for an additional signing in January. When Arsene Wenger sold Thomas Vermaelen, he admitted that he would need replacing. And yet nothing has happened.
I can only think that the unexpected progress of Calum Chambers threw Wenger’s plans a little. Speaking to The Guardian last week, he said:
Today we are in a position sometimes, if you always buy, you can never give a chance to a player. We take now the example of Calum Chambers. Calum Chambers played centre-back because I gave him the chance to play centre-back. If I had four centre-backs already because I had bought four, I would never have played him. And he would sit on the bench and play in the youth team.
I think contained in that quote is something approaching an explanation of what was going on in Arsene’s head. He doesn’t want to block Chambers’ path to the first-team.
However, that’s a crazy way to think. Even as fourth-choice, Chambers would still get plenty of game time, especially given his versatility. What’s more, he’s arguably not even ready to be the immediate back-up for Koscielny and Mertesacker. Impressive though he has been, his inexperience has also been evident on several occasions.
We were far stronger at centre-back last season than this. Not only did we have the experience of Vermaelen in reserve, but we also had Bacary Sagna to call upon as emergency cover. No-one can convince me that Nacho Monreal is a centre-half in the making.
Arsenal will need to be very lucky to get away with their lack of defensive cover until January.
August 29th, 2014
Well, here we are. Another season is underway. I initially wrote ‘well and truly underway’, but then deleted it. In truth, this period between the opening fixture and the transfer deadline always feels like an extension of preseason. The window ends, there’s a flurry of late deals, and then club football goes on a two-week break while some dull internationals are played. When we return in mid-September, that’s when it really feels like the campaign has kicked off.
That seems truer this season than most. The fact that a large portion of our squad is still recovering from their exertions in the World Cup means we’ve had an unusually slow start. Our performances have yet to impress, but fortunately the results haven’t suffered too much. We’ve shown fight if not fluency, getting late goals to pick up valuable points against Crystal Palace and Everton.
I’ve been in Edinburgh throughout August, but returned this week to see my first live game of the season. Arsenal got the job done against Besiktas, but it wasn’t easy. Mathieu Debuchy was certainly unlucky to pick up that second booking, but he’d been wobbling uneasily on a disciplinary tight-rope all evening. He must curb his aggressive streak if he’s to avoid more red cards in future.
Watching our side in the flesh, it became apparent to me that we are very much a team in evolution. The midfield, for example, appears to have been slightly restructured over the summer. Last season, Arsenal typically played with two men in a double-pivot, with Mesut Ozil floating ahead. Mikel Arteta would hold with Aaron Ramsey given greater license to break from deep alongside him.
This season, there’s been a slight shift in emphasis. Rather than the customary 4-2-3-1, Arsenal have been employing something more akin to a 4-1-4-1. There is a pure designated holding player, with two dynamic midfielders deployed further ahead.
This system was presumably implemented in part because of the available personnel. Ozil missed the start of the season, and Arsene Wenger had to find a way to accommodate both Jack Wilshere and Ramsey. This formation allows both those players to break forward, secure in the knowledge that an anchor man is on hand at all times to fill in.
However, Ozil’s return has not prompted the expected reversion to last season’s shape. Instead, the German has twice been positioned on the left flank. Against Besiktas, Ozil found himself ousted to the wing, with Santi Cazorla asked to play a busy box-to-box role in the centre. Last season, that deployment would have seemed improbable at best. Throughout 2013-14, Cazorla was routinely used on the flank in order to grant Ozil a free role through the middle.
Perhaps during the international break Arsene will take the opportunity to restructure his midfield once again. However, it’s also possible that he has decided that playing Ozil as a pure number 10 leaves his midfield too exposed. This summer, Ozil played predominantly as a winger for the German national team, and that experiment turned out pretty well for Jogi Low’s side. A hypothetical central midfield three of Arteta, Ramsey and Cazorla certainly has more energy and commitment to the defensive side of the game than one containing Ozil.
The remodelling of the team does not end with the midfield. In the past week, there has been significant evidence that Arsene Wenger plans to renovate his attack too. When Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez back in July, I said I thought he’d been bought as an alternative to Luis Suarez – the brilliance without the biting. His future, it seemed to me, was as a centre-forward.
However, I did not expect him to be picked there so early on in his Arsenal career. In just Sanchez’s second Premier League game, he was named at the point of the Gunners front-line. That initial experiment failed, but Wenger was forced to repeat it in midweek having lost Giroud to a broken tibia. Against Besiktas, Alexis fared rather better. Not only did he grab the winning goal, but he also showed class and courage to hold the ball up against defenders who towered above him.
With Giroud confirmed as being out until Christmas, many Arsenal fans are incredulous that Arsene Wenger does not deem recruiting a new striker a priority. However, as far as our manager is concerned, he has already bought a £35m striker this window: Alexis.
For more than a year, Wenger has been chasing a mobile forward with a good pressing game. Wenger didn’t buy a striker last summer because he couldn’t get his number one target, Suarez. He didn’t buy a striker in January because a player of the requisite calibre and attributes was not available. This summer, Alexis came on the market, and Wenger moved quickly and efficiently to get his man.
I’m sure that in an ideal world Wenger would like to bed Sanchez in as his centre-forward over a period of several months. Giroud’s injury robs him of that luxury. Alexis’ evolution must be sped up, and the team’s with it. However, Wenger presumably reasons that there’s no point threatening that process by buying the ‘wrong’ type of centre-forward. If he has already decided that Sanchez, rather than Giroud, will be his team’s long-term focal point, why derail things by bringing in another square beg for his newly-carved round hole?
Of course, Alexis can’t play every game. But if our team is being rebuilt to accommodate a slighter, speedier forward, then Arsenal already have an ideal back-up in their ranks. Within a matter of weeks, Theo Walcott will be available for selection. When Alexis needs a rest, he seems the obvious player to step in to the void.
In the meantime, Walcott will flourish on the right flank. Alexis is more of a ‘false nine’ than a true target man. Against Besiktas, it was intriguing how frequently he dropped deep to collect the ball and join up with the midfield. On more than one occasion, I spotted Alexis furiously gesturing at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to dart in behind him. He will find Theo Walcott a far more willing runner. In combination, the pair could be devastating.
The possibility of fielding Walcott as a centre-forward ensures Yaya Sanogo will remain third-choice in the pecking order. What’s more, Wenger has Joel Campbell to consider. Many Arsenal fans spent the summer crying out for Campbell to be given an opportunity at Arsenal. Some of those same fans are now furiously demanding a new striker. You can’t have it both ways.
If it were up to me, I’d bring in an experienced frontman who guarantees 10 goals. Loic Remy, for example, is a proven Premier League finisher with an excellent record. I’d recruit someone of that ilk to add depth and experience to our options. If that meant sending one of Sanogo or Campbell out on loan, so be it.
Arsene doesn’t see it that way. Rightly or wrongly, he believes giving playing time to Campbell and Sanogo is a better investment of resource. What’s more, I suspect he envisages a restyled attack modelled around Sanchez and Walcott. Giroud’s injury robs him of a Plan B, but Plan A is still good to go.
I hope Arsenal will be active between now and the end of the transfer window. They still need another centre-back, and a holding midfielder would be handy too. With Giroud out, the first XI could do with an injection of height and power – if only to help them cope at set-pieces.
However, at this stage I’d be surprised to see another attacker arrive. Giroud’s injury doesn’t derail Arsene’s plans, it merely accelerates them.
July 27th, 2014
To my considerable surprise, Gunnerblog is 10 years old today.
I can’t believe that it was fully a decade ago when I took my first faltering steps in to the world of blogging. Although I have neither the time nor inventiveness to blog on a daily basis, the site (and its accompanying Twitter feed) has been a pretty consistent presence in my adult life. It’s brought me huge satisfaction, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has looked in along the way. Without the support, the debate and the encouragement I almost certainly wouldn’t have made it this far. Thankyou. It continues to be a pleasure.
Writing about Arsenal is a particular joy this summer, with the club conducting it’s transfer business in an unfamiliarly efficient manner. Today, the club added David Ospina to a growing list of signings alongside Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez.
Ospina looks to be a fantastic acquisition, especially at the bargain price of around £3m. His signing follows the growing trend for every elite club to have two top class goalkeepers. With Ospina around, Wojciech Szczesny faces a real battle to keep hold of the No. 1 shirt.
Another announcement could be just around the corner. Arsenal are also on the verge of declaring a deal over Southampton’s England U-19 captain Calum Chambers.
I have to say, I’m enormously excited about this one. I watched Chambers play right-back against Arsenal back in January, and was struck by his athleticism, technical ability and poise on the ball. The youngster obviously made a similar impression on Arsene Wenger, who is prepared to spend in excess of £10 million to get his man.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, Wenger admitted that Chambers’ versatility was one of the main attractions:
“He hasn’t played many games but the English players on the market in England are very expensive. At the end of the day I was ready to take a gamble because he is a one for the future. Â
He is a player I wanted because I rated his quality and intelligence. He is only 19 and can play at centre-back, right-back and central midfield. I hope he will give us competition for the players in those three positions.”
Wenger was disappointed to miss out on Phil Jones a couple of years back, but now it seems he has the promising, powerful, adaptable English defensive player he’s been craving.
On that note, I’d better depart. Thanks again, and here’s to the next decade of drivel.
July 15th, 2014
The signing of Alexis Sanchez has left me elated, but it shouldn’t leave anyone surprised. Looking back at the last 12 months, we should all be kicking ourselves for not calling it sooner. The clues were there all along.
The trail begins last summer, when Arsene Wenger gave us the clearest indication as to the sort of striker he was interested in signing. He abandoned negotiations over Gonzalo Higuain to focus all his energies on Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. He even went as far to claim he was never “especially†interested in the Argentine. At the time I dismissed it as mere rhetoric; now I wonder.
In Suarez, he found almost everything he was looking for. A striker with pace, mobility and versatility. Someone who could play alongside Olivier Giroud as well as instead of him. Someone with the desire to hound defenders as well as the skill to baffle them.
There was no point adding another hulking number nine. For better or worse, the Suarez deal collapsed. Months passed and rumours linked us with the likes of Marios Mandzukic and Balotelli. I remained dubious. Like Higuain, they’re principally target men in the Giroud mould. They’re nothing like Suarez, the player Wenger was prepared to break both the bank and an unspoken ethical code to get.
There was another clue, too. In November of 2013, the manager told the assembled journalists.
I have said many times that Europe still produces many fantastic football players, but if you look well we do not produce strikers well. Very few, all of the big strikers come from South America.
The criteria were clear. Quick, nimble, tigrish and mobile – and possibly, given Wenger’s comments, South American. You didn’t need to be Sherlock. Hell, you didn’t even need to be Sherwood.
Enter Alexis Sanchez. Without wanting to blow my own trumpet (I haven’t the flexibility, for one thing) I first mentioned his name back in April. Even then, I should’ve arrived at it sooner. I watched Sanchez produce a masterclass at Wembley for the Chilean national team in the very same month Arsene Wenger heralded South American strikers. That came halfway through an outstanding season for Barcelona, in which he scored 20-odd goals and made nearly as many assists.
The World Cup confirmed that this was a player whose star was very much on the rise. He was superb for Chile, playing a crucial role in their victory over Spain and almost knocking out Brazil long before the Germans humiliated them on home soil.
While the rest of the world woke up to Sanchez this summer, I suspect Arsene was on the case long before. The World Cup’s not what will have brought him in to Wenger’s sights. It will, however, have brought up the price considerably. Those who know best say the deal could total £35m. Even as a huge fan of the player I’d say that’s a bit steep.
But we paid it. And sometimes, that’s what you have to do. We bullied Liverpool and Juventus out of the reckoning because we wanted the player enough. We were bullish, we were bold and we got the deal done. I like that. I’ve missed that.
For Barcelona, Sanchez has played predominantly on the right-hand side of the attack. I expect him to start his Arsenal career there too, covering for the injured Theo Walcott. However, it’s my firm belief that when Walcott returns it will be Sanchez, not Theo, who gets a run as a centre-forward.
He’s much more suited to it than the Englishman. He has the touch required to receive passes fizzed in to him from a distance. He has the desire to chase down lost causes, and the dribbling ability to squeeze between markers. In recent months, he has added a coolness in front of goal to his game. Some may question his size, but there is not an ounce of fat on Sanchez’s stocky frame. There’s not an ounce of cowardice in his character either. I watched the likes of Gary Cahill and Phil Jones bounce off him at Wembley. I saw Thiago Silva chasing shadows in Belo Horizonte.
If Luis Suarez can thrive as a centre-forward in the Premier League, so too can Sanchez. Our man has much of the brilliance, without the biting. He has the tenacity, without the teeth. For all those times when off-field issues intervened with on-field matters, I never wanted Suarez. In Sanchez, I feel like we’ve got the next best thing.
Arsene does too. It’s taken 12 months, but in Alexis Sanchez he’s finally found the man to fit the mould. I can’t wait to see him in action.
—
Alexis Sanchez is wearing the new Arsenal Puma kit, which is available from JD Sports.
January 27th, 2014
Southampton 2 – 2 Arsenal
Match report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
You can’t win ‘em all…

In the heat of a closely-fought title race, it’s easy to forget that you simply can’t win every game. In isolation, a draw at Southampton is not a bad result. However, I suspect the Arsenal fans’ disappointment with the outcome stems from a pre-emptive anxiety about the fixtures we face over the coming weeks. Although this was a tough tie, it’s relatively easy compared to the harrowing schedule that awaits.
There was plenty to admire about Southampton…
In the first half, they were excellent. I had sort of assumed they were something of a spent force this season. After a superb start they appeared to have burnt out. Perhaps the players were guilty of making the same assumption. Despite having had a day less to prepare for the game, they absolutely flew out the blocks. The Saints didn’t march in – they stormed in, and their way with out wives. Their superiority was perfectly captured by convincing manner in which Jay Rodriguez bullied Bacary Sagna throughout the 90 minutes – a rare sight indeed.
This was one of our worst performances this season…
Apart from a seven minute spell at the start of the second half, we were all over the place. The most worrying development was the return of a genuine sense of chaos in our play. On other occasions when we’ve dropped points this season, the machine has simply failed to function efficiently. Against Southampton, the machine went haywire. Nothing really seemed to work. Conceding a goal immediately after taking the lead is particularly concerning: that sort of sloppiness is unlike the Arsenal defence we’ve come to appreciate in 2013/14.
We missed a “box-to-box midfielder 
The midfield looked horribly disjointed. Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere were all out injured, so Arsene Wenger was forced to field Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini behind Mesut Ozil. The gap between the defensive midfielders and the playmaker was enormous, and Southampton were able to exploit the space between at will. With Ozil playing high up, close to Giroud, there was no obvious link between the midfield and the attack. It wasn’t pretty.
Ramsey’s injury set-back is a big blow…
It seems the Welshman is set to miss the next four to six weeks, having aggravated his thigh injury. Obviously his dynamism in the middle of the park will be a big miss, but the main reason I was so keen to have him back was his goal contribution. With Walcott out, I hoped Ramsey could take up the strain. Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud are both quietly racking up the goals, but with Arsene Wenger patently unwilling to use Lukas Podolski I wonder how many genuine goal threats our first XI offers. Mesut Ozil’s last goal certainly feels like a long time ago.
Transfers: Just when I thought I was out…
…Arsene has dragged me back in. Speaking to Sky Sports News after the game, he seemed relatively optimistic about the prospect of a new acquisition before Friday’s deadline. I can only think that the injury to Ramsey has forced his hand. For a few weeks now, he’s been saying that “unless we have another injury†we have no major need. That injury, unfortunately, has arrived. Time to push the Draxler button?
Further Reading: ESPN | Bleacher Report
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