Archive for April, 2007
April 10th, 2007
And we got a point. And Bolton and Everton drew.
There end the positives.
On a day when Arsenal fans everywhere wanted (nay needed) a positive display to make up for the sides recent ineptitude, they got arguably the worst of the lot in a game played at snail’s pace.
Incase you didn’t know, Abou Diaby played upfront. That’s a measure of just how good Baptista and Aliadiere are at the moment. Illness to Tomas Rosicky meant Aleksandr Hleb got another opportunity to hammer a nail into his Arsenal coffin, and all in all we looked like a team who didn’t believe we could score, let alone win.
We’re still on track for fourth place. But this team needs serious, serious surgery in the Summer. They’re so uninspiring that I can barely write about it. I just hope that Arsene’s positive comments are just for morale’s sake, and that he is in truth preparing for his most crucial summer of spending to date.
April 9th, 2007
Saturday’s Initial Thoughts was probably the most reactionary and negative post I’ve ever written on here. But I still stand by it. Yes, yesterday’s game was extraordinary – we dominated and created many chances, only just failing to score. But it’s happened again and again this season. Even Arsene’s “we could’ve scored ten” press conference sounds familiar.
I’m not going to go through the chances we missed – it’s too painful – but it’s worth a word or two on the players who failed quite so spectacularly.
The centre-backs were a complete mess for the goal. As individuals, Kolo Toure and William Gallas are two of the best on the continent. However, they urgently need to establish some kind of partnership. Toure’s form is in all kinds of trouble, and Gallas looks like a player disillusioned with a move he was so positive about in August of last year. There’s a lot of work to be done in the Summer.
The left-hand side of Clichy and Rosicky is one of the few areas that I believe doesn’t need too much tinkering. However, both players are flawed in their own way – although Clichy’s recovery pace is unbelievable, going forward he often lacks end product. In spite of this, there’s no reason to replace him this Summer. Gareth Bale is a decent player, but other areas need attention more urgently. Rosicky is a good player, and can be a valuable member of the squad. But if he wants to play regularly, he needs to score more. When he arrived I thought he would be a 10-15 goals a season player.
I don’t know why I laboured under this impression. He scored just 19 times in 149 appearances for Dortmund. Alex Hleb, meanwhile, grabbed a mean 13 goals in 137 appearances for Stuttgart. What on earth made Arsene think that in a harder league, playing out of position, they would somehow fair better?
The right-hand side needs a complete overhaul, which might even include Rosicky switching to the right. Either way, a new full-back and winger must come in. I was leafing through an old programme today – from the Watford game back in September – and in Arsene’s programme notes found some praise of our right-side:
“Eboue and Hleb have formed a great partnership because one can slow the game down and keep the ball, and the other can overlap and then the ball comes through from Fabregas or Hleb.”
And at the time, it was true. Now, both players can be considered liabilities. Hleb certainly “can slow the game down“, but for all the wrong reasons. On Saturday, his positioning, passing, and dribbling was atrocious. I didn’t even like his hairdo. Eboue too is failing to show the form of last season’s Champions League run. When does “bad form” become “rubbish player”?
Cesc and Gilberto almost deserve an article to themselves. Brilliant as individuals, they don’t win us games. I for one hope Abou Diaby starts in the centre today. You can praise Cesc all you like, but no league goal this season? Not good enough. I’m not asking for thirty. I’m asking for five.
Upfront, Emmanuel Adebayor worked hard on Saturday and actually had a good game. Even so, he should have scored with at least one of his chances. He’s a good hold-up player, but he’s hardly Alan Shearer when it comes to finishing. After the failure of Baptista, we need more goal-hungry players in the squad – and I’m getting Klose to identifying the men we should target.
I think that’s enough for now, especially when you consider we’ve got to worry about Newcastle this afternoon. With the cloud of negativity surrounding the club, it won’t surprise you to know I’m already worrying about what Obafemi Martins might do to our defence.
I’d take a point. Let’s see.
April 7th, 2007
I would say that I’m “surprised” or even “amazed” that Arsenal lost today, considering the type of game it was. I would – except I’m not remotely surprised – I’ve seen this too many times before this season.
I’m sure Arsene will talk afterwards about the players’ “spirit” or how “we created so many chances”.
Like I give one solitary fuck.
April 7th, 2007
Yesterday was Arsene’s weekly Friday press conference, and seeing as he’d been silent all week, there was plenty to say. He moved quickly to deny any link with Daniel Alves, to reaffirm that Thierry Henry will be staying in the club, and to refute claims that we’ve signed giant teenager Yago Fernandez, even stating, “We do not know the boy”. Either Arsene is a very good liar, or Yago is going to be pretty disappointed.
In amidst all the denials, Arsene did confirm that Mathieu Flamini might well leave, perhaps even adding in a sly dig about his refusal to fill in at full-back. He also added that the futures of Jose Reyes, Julio Baptista, and Jens Lehmann will be decided in the next month. I don’t expect any of those players, nor Flamini, to be here at the start of next season.
Predictably, Arsene was asked about Stan Kroenke’s investment in Arsenal, and the subsequent takeover rumours. Whilst he was quick to point out it’s only a 10% investment at this stage, rumours suggest that Kroenke’s stake could increase pretty sharpish. It’s clear that there has been a softening of attitudes. Although Arsene talks about preserving the club’s values, it seems we’ve come along way since these quotes:
“I find it more reassuring that my owners are English and they are, first of all, fans of Arsenal Football Club. I will go one day and the players will go one day but the owners will be the same. They are the people who really transmit the values.”
My favourite quote of the day was Arsene on Carlos Tevez. He said:
“I have always liked him. I like strikers who do not run backwards when they have the ball. He is mobile and he goes forwards. He commits people and is very positive. He tries to make things happen.”
Hm. Tevelicious.
We’ll get a good look at him today, as we take on West Ham. Arsene is going to stick with our rubbish back four, after yesterday conceding that Gilberto doesn’t enjoy playing centre-back (despite Arsene liking him there).
Ahead of that there will be changes in midfield, and there’s a strong possibility that Tomas Rosicky and Freddie Ljungberg could both come in. There’s a massive weight on the shoulders of Emmanuel Adebayor to provide the goals we’ve been lacking in recent weeks.
First home game in exactly a month. If we weren’t so terrible at the moment, I’d be pretty excited.
April 6th, 2007
Who is Stan Kroenke? It’s the question everyone is finally asking after he bought up ITVs 10%. If the other major shareholders are willing to sell, he seems the man most likely to be at the helm of any takeover. Now, at this stage, I could produce a poorly researched piece on Stan The Man’s bio. Or I could just point you in the direction of Wikipedia and stop pretending to know things I don’t.
What I did do was go and ask the people who know all about Kroenke and the benefits he can bring to a club: the fans. The folk over at the St. Louis Rams NFL team, who Kroenke co-owns, didn’t have a huge amount to say but were nonetheless positive:
“Kroenke is a straight up guy. He lives in Missouri, but owns teams that also are in Denver and has never threatened to move them. He wants to win, and will spend money where necessary in order to do so. You got a pretty good minority owner in Stan Kroenke.”
So he probably won’t be airlifting the Emirates to Missouri. Which is a relief.
The view from NHL side Colorado Avalanche was fairly consistent, whilst Kroenke is a good owner, he’s a bad, bad man. They’re not a big fan of his connections with Walmart:
“He is a great person to own your club if you want him to spend money on your team(i.e. have a winning team) You know that his pockets are almost endless. Our dynasty would not have happened without the man and his willingness to spend and his general “hands off” approach. He trusts his managment teams to run the club. On a personal level, I absolutely hate what he stands for and the personal values he holds. Anyone that is part of the Walmart ownership lacks a basic set of moral values and any respect for workers. He is bad for the American fabric and small towns everywhere.”
“Love him as an owner, hate his family.”
And so what of the Colorado Rapids – the soccer franchise that has led Kroenke to his investment in Arsenal:
“To date, Kroenke and KSE have shown no interest whatsoever in soccer or the Colorado Rapids. The GM is a business person with no soccer background. The Rapids front office is amateurish and its web-site poorly managed. Enough said!”
“What the above quote fails to mention is that KSE just spent millions on a new soccer facility for the Rapids and from everything we fans can see the budget for the team has gone way up going into the 2007 season. Kroenke is not a very public figure. He doesn’t seem to be involved in the day to day operations of the Rapids. He’s seems to see soccer as a good investment with a lot of growth potential in the US.”
“Kroenke sees sports as a business. There’s absolutely no chance that he bought into Arsenal so he could sit in the stands wearing a scarf and singing songs. And I doubt if Stan pays much fan attention to the various sports teams he is fielding. If Competitive Dwarf Tossing was to start a league, the KSE organization would be out there beating the bushes for the most aerodynamic little people they could find.
That said, Kroenke tends to run his businesses in a professional manner and delivers on his promises. When he bought the Rapids, he said that he would build a stadium and he delivered a first-class soccer complex. I think that as a businessman, Stan realizes that teams have to win in order to be profitable. He wasn’t afraid to spend money for the Avalanche and he’s taken the Nuggets from a useless collection of stiffs to a (somewhat underperforming) assortment of talent.
By the way, you don’t think that Americans are buying EPL teams for the personal gratification of owning a piece of history, do you? In the US, sports is a very lucrative business. They buy into teams because they see a wonderful financial opportunity. When you feel Kroenke’s hand on your wallets, you’ll know why he’s there.”
Interesting stuff. I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions, but it’s worth reading what the Arsenal Supporters Trust say in the Guardian.
No transfer news today. I’m too tired for all that rubbish. I talk about it briefly on todays arsecast though.
Thanks for the co-operation of a bunch of American people.
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