We’ve got our Arsene back…
In stoppage time, with Arsenal winning this match by three goals to nil, the cameras caught Arsene Wenger bellowing at an Arsenal player.
It  may have seemed unnecessary, but I interpreted it as a sign that his focus is greater than ever. Many of us have doubted Wenger’s powers in the last few seasons. What’s clear is that –  even if they had ever faded  – they have now returned with a vengeance.
Wenger has always been something of a perfectionist. This season, he has shown he is prepared to be a pragmatist too. His perfectionism is no longer confine to Arsenal’s aesthetic dimension, but seems to encompass a broader appreciation of the games. Whereas once he was cavalier, he is increasingly practical. He seems to take pride in the team’s defending once more. He’ll have been just as satisfied by the clean sheet as the three exquisite goals.
A couple of weeks back, Santi Cazorla told The Guardian:
The manager is more concienciado, more concentrated, more conscious.
He’s more demanding. It’s been a long time without winning anything and he’s determined.
Arsenal are reaping the benefits of Arsene’s renewed vigour.
Aaron Ramsey was a class act…
The way he took the goals was sublime, but his celebration (or lack thereof) underlined his class. For home fans to applaud a visiting conqueror requires a very special set of circumstances. Fortunately, Cardiff fans had the sophistication to recognise that Ramsey is more of a cause for pride than disparagement.
This was Mesut Ozil’s best game for some time…
I’ve been tentatively critical of his recent displays, but he was excellent in Wales. The two assists were laced with the kind of pinpoint precision one expects of the uber-technician, but his all-round game was excellent too.
Mesut Özil completed 38 out of 40 passes in the opposition half today. Two assists. Absolute class.
It wasn’t Olivier Giroud’s best day…
In the first half, there was the rather embarrassing moment when he neglected to play to the whistle and pulled up when through on goal. Then, at the start of the second half, he saw a close-range effort cleared off the line.
Giroud can’t be expected to excel in every game – hence why Arsenal need to invest in another forward in January.
Theo Walcott reminded us of what he can do…
His cameo from the bench was brief but explosive. Unfortunately for Theo, he may merely have reminded Arsene of how effective he can be as a late substitute against a tiring defence. Being a superb substitute is something of a poisoned chalice.
Wojciech Szczesny deserves enormous credit…
At 1-0, Szczesny made a couple of crucial saves, including one outstanding stop to deny a powerful Frazier Campbell header.
The Pole has now kept five clean sheets in his last six games.
Arsenal must keep up the momentum…
We now face two home games against Hull and in-form Everton. It’s vital we win both games to give us a cushion heading in to the crucial double-header against City and Chelsea.
Fortunately, with the squad returning to something approaching full-strength, we finally have the option to rotate without reducing the potency of the XI.
Kieran Gibbs was a decisive figure at both ends of the field…
Shortly after clearing a miscued Per Mertesacker clearance off the line, Gibbs bounded up the other end of the field to supply the telling cross for Theo Walcott to fire home.
Those few minutes encapsulate a finely-balanced match. Mertesacker’s mistake could so easily have seen Marseille grab the opener, and as Arsene Wenger shrewdly observed in his post-match conference, the first goal is so often crucial in these ties. As it was, Gibbs bailed us out, and it a similarly misjudged header from Marseille full-back Jeremy Morel tipped the balance of power our way.
Gibbs has had a terrific start to the 2013/14 campaign, firmly establishing himself as first-choice left-back ahead of Nacho Monreal. It’s a shame for Gibbs that international recognition remains unlikely – Roy Hodgson seems understandably taken with Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines. However, as an Arsenal fan first and foremost I’m delighted that Gibbs’ brittle body is not being exposed to the rigours of the international schedule.
Theo Walcott…
…has taken an undue amount of stick this season for both Arsenal and England. Although this was his first goal of the season, he has consistently been one of our most dangerous players. And it’s not as if Walcott has been missing open goals. Had Wojciech Szczesny pulled off the saves Kieran Westwood did to deny Walcott at Sunderland we’d be hailing the shot-stopping of our Polish ‘keeper rather than laying in to the opposition forward.
That said, Szczesny is doing pretty well himself…
After an inauspicious start, Wojciech Szczesny has had a very solid start to the season. Were it not for some sloppily conceded penalties, the big Pole would have a couple more clean sheets to his name too. Perhaps the presence of two experienced back-ups in Fabianski and Viviano is helping focus his occasionally wandering mind.
Jack Wilshere outshone Ozil on the night…
It was good to see the young Englishman take the game to Marseille, cutting in from his left-wing position to drive at central defenders and try to make things happen. I know Wilshere himself prefers to play deeper, picking up the ball from the defenders and scooting through the midfield, but I like seeing his acceleration and artistry applied in the final third.
It’s not really a 4-3-3…
Arsenal conventionally line-up in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. Right now, things are a little different. With Wilshere drifting infield from his wide starting position, and Theo Walcott playing almost as advanced as Olivier Giroud, Arsenal have adopted a South American style “magic square” in midfield.
It’s something we saw a bit of last season, with the likes of Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla stationed on one flank, with an advanced forward like Walcott or Lukas Podolski on the other.
You can read more about our new tactical system in my latest column for Bleacher Report, here.
Fatigue is the greatest threat against Stoke…
We don’t currently have a squad capable of withstanding rotation, so Arsene will almost certainly have to call upon the same set of players for Sunday’s game at Stoke.
If the players can muster some energy, we should have more than enough to dispatch Mark Hughes’ side. The supposed evolution of Stoke’s game from Stone Age to Bronze Age  should play straight in to our hands.
It will be Mesut Ozil’s home debut, and the Emirates should be rocking. I can’t wait.
This ought to have been a good weekend for Arsenal.
A fixture against relegated QPR presented an opportunity to stamp our authority on the race for Champions League qualification. It was a chance to comfortably secure three points, and perhaps even surpass Chelsea’s goal difference advantage.
Chelsea themselves were set to travel to Old Trafford. If they were to slip up in any of their remaining four league games, this was surely the one.
As it turned out, Arsenal scraped to an unconvincing 1-0 win at Loftus Road, turning in their worst performance in weeks. That in itself is no bad thing: at this stage of the season results are everything.
However, Chelsea’s unexpected triumph at Old Trafford darkened the mood and precipitated a flurry of finger-pointing. If Spurs were to win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, it would be truly out of our hands.
Let me be clear: if Arsenal finish fifth, it will not be the fault of Manchester United for losing to Chelsea. It will not be the fault of Alex Ferguson for fielding a weakened team. It will not be the fault of Robin van Persie for failing to put them to the sword.
Nor will it be the fault of Bacary Sagna for his mistimed lunge on the Dutchman at the Emirates, or Olivier Giroud for missing several presentable opportunities in the home game against Everton.
This will not have been decided by one incident, or one game. If Arsenal falter in their final match against Newcastle, that will wrongly be remembered as the day Arsenal lost the Champions League spot.
The truth is it would have been lost long before, as a consequence of systematic summers of failure and a season of dreary disappointment.
The fact we’re even in the running for the top four is the consequence of an extraordinary and anomalous run, but that good form should not allow us to overlook everything that came before.
The final league standings will be the consequence of 38 games. Unfortunately for Arsenal, the first 28 of those games yielded just 13 wins.
I enjoy the race for fourth, because it provides the illusion of genuine competition. As a supporter, you crave contesting something until the last second of the season. The thrills and spills of that kind of topsy-turvy battle are what make being a fan such an enthralling experience. However, it’s not a real trophy. It’s a surrogate.
What’s more, the margins are so fine that I’m not sure they allow us to make any valuable judgements. I’m not sure that if Arsene Wenger finishes a single point ahead of Andre Villas Boas it makes his season that much more successful.
As it stands, all we can do is sit and wait. By the time we play our next game against Wigan we should have a much clearer idea of exactly what’s required. Wednesday night’s clash between Spurs and Chelsea will be critical.
You’ll have to forgive me for feeling a little ambivalent about the whole thing. I hope we make the top four, but fundamentally I am more interested in why we finish 20 points behind United than whether we finish two points ahead of Chelsea.
If Arsene Wenger thought Arsenal had any realistic chance of progressing against Bayern Munich, Wojciech Szczesny would be playing tomorrow.
If we had designs on producing a remarkable comeback, surely we’d be selecting the man most likely to keep a clean sheet. Conceding would take the chance of victory from implausible to impossible. And yet we’re preparing to select one of Lukasz Fabianski or Vito Mannone: a pair of keepers not entrusted to play against the likes of Bradford and Blackburn in the domestic cups, with Szczesny “rested” at home.
You don’t “rest” players in the biggest games. The decision suggests that Arsene has declared tomorrow a dead rubber and is focusing attention upon an increasingly important domestic campaign. On balance, it’s hard to argue with that point of view. Even the most optimistic Gooner will struggle to make a case for Arsenal being in the hat for the quarter-final draw.
If the tie were a bit closer, I have no doubt that Szczesny would play. I suspect Lukas Podolski, left at home to nurse a niggling ankle problem, would also be in the side. As thing stand, Arsene is being pragmatic. Reaching the Champions League quarter-finals is less important than being in the group stage next year.
Arsenal don’t need to progress tonight, but they do need to restore a modicum of pride. We travel to Swansea on Saturday for a difficult and crucial league game. Restoring some confidence with a creditable result in Germany would be a huge boost, especially for a squad which will be rattled by the loss of the inspirational Jack Wilshere.
We’ve got a huge battle on between now and the end of the season. My delight at Liverpool’s victory over Spurs at the weekend was tempered by the knowledge that Brendan Rogers’ side are now making significant ground on us. Arsenal need to fight for fourth and yet are in real danger of slipping to sixth.
The Bayern game is about finding reasons to believe, for players and fans alike. Let’s hope we get some.
After transfer deadline day, the mood among Arsenal fans was surprisingly positive considering our domestic results thus far. A fistful of new signings offered the opportunity of a fresh start. The honeymoon, however, has not lasted long. If there was anything likely to puncture the morale of the supporters, it was injuries.
Surprisingly enough, the worst news has not come from participants in the dreaded interlull. Although both Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott missed their respective games last night with minor muscle strains, they’re not expected to be major doubts for Saturday. The worst news has come from two players who stayed at home with what we had believed to be relatively minor problems. Turns out, in true Arsenal fashion, they’re much worse than we feared. On Monday it was confirmed that Jack Wilshere will miss at least two months, and then yesterday Arsenal revealed that Thomas Vermaelen had undergone an operation which means he will miss at least a month of training. His likely return date is the home game with Sunderland on October 16th, meaning he’ll miss Champions League ties with Dortmund and Olympiacos as well as the North London Derby.
The news casts a slightly different light on our transfer activity – the staff would have been well aware of these injuries when negotiating for the likes of Mertesacker and Arteta – and means those players will immediately become integral to the side. The big German wore the captain’s armband for Germany last night (in a game in which Wojciech Szczesny was outstanding for Poland), and should be ready to go straight in to the team on Saturday alongside Laurent Koscielny.
In midfield, Alex Song will still be suspended, so Mikel Arteta should start alongside Emmanuel Frimpong and Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey was named Man of the Match in Wales 1-0 defeat at Wembley last night, and gave a commanding midfield performance as captain. With the departure of Cesc and Nasri on top of Wilshere’s injury, it’s clearly a huge season for Aaron. I don’t doubt his talent, but sometimes he seems to try too hard, playing 50-yard Hollywood passes when a simple ball is on. It’s easy to forget what a fantastic recovery he’s made from his broken leg, and perhaps he’s just a little over-eager to make up for lost time. If he can start to use the ball more maturely that will be a big step along the road back to where he was just prior to his injury.
Frimpong, meanwhile, has once again declared his intention to play for Ghana. Selfishly, I’d like him to play for England: a) because it means we won’t lose him for African Nations football, and b) because I’m an England fan! That said, he was born in Accra and his Ghanaian heritage clearly means an enormous amount to him, so best of luck to him. There are African Nations tournaments in January 2012 AND 2013 – the only consolation being that Cameroon are unlikely to qualify for this season’s tournament, meaning we won’t be entirely bereft of defensive midfielders.
Upfront, there’s a slim possibility of a debut for Park, who has scored again for Korea – that’s now four in his last two games. It’s clear he’s a decent technical finisher, and in a team like ours he’s certain to get chances. I actually think that at the end of the season we may look back on his signing as something of a bargain.
We may also witness a home debut for teenage flyer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The teenager has been in superb form over the International break with England U-21s, with this cameo against Israel particularly impressive, setting up all four England goals:
It sounds like he made a decent impression off the pitch too, when the squad decided to have an ‘X-Factor night’ bonding session. The Daily Mail claims:
“Arsenal’s man-of-the-moment Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – according to observers – ‘brought the house down’ when impersonating Will Smith by rapping the theme tune to his old comedy series, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.“
On a serious note, he looks a hell of a talent: quick, powerful with an eye for a pass. We shouldn’t let any disappointment that bigger names didn’t arrive cloud the fact we’ve signed a hugely promising youngster here.
We’re slightly fortunate that the injuries to Wilshere and Vermaelen come at a time when the fixture list is a little less daunting than it has been until now. In September we have home games with Swansea, Shrewsbury, Bolton and Olympiacos, as well as trips to Dortmund and Blackburn. In that period we are able to welcome back Song and Gervinho from suspension, as well as adding five new signings in to the mix. It is no exaggeration to say that, with our new look squad, all those games are winnable. What a different season it would look then.
Come on Gunners. Let’s turn this around. Starting on Saturday.
