Archive for November, 2008
November 11th, 2008
After the rousing victory over Man U, Arsenals kids will get another chance to impress in the Carling Cup. After the 6-0 demolition of Sheffield United, this time we’re up against Premiership opposition in Steve Bruce’s Wigan.
In spite of the tougher task, Arsene says that “90%” of the side who played in the last round will be involved, and you have to say they fully deserve another chance. The team that faced Sheffield United was:
Fabianski
Hoyte
Djourou
Song
Gibbs
Wilshere
Ramsey
Randall
Merida
Vela
Bendtner
With Bendtner increasingly vital in the absence of Van Persie and Adebayor, I don’t imagine he’ll be risked tonight. Instead, I wonder if we might see Amaury Bischoff. Since returning from a long-term groin (or hip, I forget) problem, Bischoff has made three Reserve team appearances and scored one impressive goal. The Reserve side has been changed to a 4-4-1-1 system to accommodate Bischoff in the ‘Number 10’ role, and I wonder if he might be fit enough to be deployed behind Carlos Vela tomorrow.
The ever-informative Young Guns claims to have unearthed the full squad for tomorrow’s game, and that suggests that if Bischoff is not able to start we may see Jay Simpson or Rui Fonte in his place.
Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking about the talent of Fran Merida, whose emergence has been somewhat overshadowed by the presence of Brits like Wilshere and Ramsey:
“Merida is different to Cesc [Fà bregas], but he is very dangerous in the final third. If you analyse a game and look who gives the ball every time in the final third, you will see Fran. “That is the most difficult part of the game and that is where he is strong.”
There’ll be 60,000 in the stadium tonight, and plenty more watching on Sky. It’s a night for someone like Merida to make a name for themselves.
I’m confident at least one of them will. Come on you (young) Gunners!
November 10th, 2008
Arsenal 2 – 1 Manchester United (Nasri 22, 48, Rafael 89) Highlights here
Ugly football does not exist for any reason other than neccessity.  Whatever the media might have you believe, a team like Stoke is designed not on the back of some kind of home-spun, ‘English’ integrity. The line-up and tactics that Stoke and others employ are merely a consequence of the fact that there are not enough top quality footballers to allow every team to play with the same kind of aesthetic excellence those lucky enough to be at the Emirates Stadium witnessed yesterday.
Alex Ferguson called it “fantasy football”, and for once I’d be inclined to agree with his purple-facèdness. It was one of the most exciting games I can remember watching in person. Seeing Fabregas and Nasri taking on Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov was an artistic duel to capture anyone’s imagination. It was the kind of game which must attract new fans to football, and remind those whose lives have long been intertwined with the sport just why they love it so much.
The game was an extraordinary spectacle, and whilst I fully believe that our committment and class warranted the three points, I will admit that on another day it could have been very different. There were so many chances that this could very easily have been another 4-4.
Whilst the performance was spectacular, it was the result that was of paramount importance. After draws against Spurs and Fenerbahce sandwiched the defeat at Stoke, questions were rightly being asked of this team’s capacity to deliver success in the short-term. A win against United was as strong a response as we could have envisaged. Whilst we showed the odd defensive lapse, Manuel Almunia (and later Lukasz Fabianski) were both commanding and decisive. Sagna and Clichy were their usual outstanding selves, whilst Mikael Silvestre’s partnership with William Gallas continues to show promise.
Silvestre is not the long-term solution to our defensive woes, but he does show the value of signing the odd experienced player: unlike some members of our squad, playing for Arsenal does not represent a stepping stone to a ‘bigger’ club. Being what Arsene doubtless considers the ‘wrong’ side of thirty, he cherishes every minute he gets to play at this level, and is subsequently as keen to prove his value as any teenager. Alongside him, Gallas looks significantly more comfortable, and Saturday marked one of the maligned captain’s finer performances in an Arsenal shirt.
Our front six had an average age of just 20, but their youthful exuberance proved too much for Manchester United, particularly the rapidly ageing Gary Neville – another subject of criticism, Denilson, was particularly outstanding. Every time the play broke down he was there to pick up the second ball and start another intricate passing move. Whilst he and Cesc don’t function particularly well in a 4-4-2, the extra body of Diaby seems to allow them both to flourish. Bendtner and Walcott worked hard and were a threat on the break, but special credit must go to the scorer of both goals: Samir Nasri. With five goals in just twelve games, and a creative instinct to boot, he looks like a fantastic signing. It’s remarkable to think that he is still only 21. Whilst the second was undoubtedly a better strike, both goals showed an awareness of the neccessity to take chances early and authoritively – a lesson Aleksandr Hleb never learnt.
However…
Fantastic though Saturday was, one game does not answer the many questions posed by defeats against Fulham, Hull, and Stoke. We will always have a chance against the big teams because, for the most part, they come out and look to play football. Not only does that make for an entertaining spectacle, but it also affords us the neccessary space to conduct the kind of elegant passing move that led to Nasri’s superb second.
With our topsy-turvy form this season, it has often been said that all Arsenal fans can hope for is to win the next game. Until a significant run of form is established, that doesn’t change. This victory, however enjoyable, can only have true worth in the context of our season if it acts as a catalyst for change.Â
What it ought to give us is belief.  The defeat at Fulham, in only our second match of the season, infected the squad with a seed of doubt that has since festered and eaten at the fragile confidence of our young players. By triumphing in adversity yesterday, they may well have delivered an antidote to that doubt.
Right from kick-off (setting aside a nervy six minutes of stoppage time), there wasn’t a soul in that stadium who did not believe in Arsenal’s quality. The fans believed – the support was vocal and vociferous, and the cheers that met every successful pass or crunching tackle only served to invest the team with a desire to give yet more. The players believed – they never shirked the physical battle, and had the confidence to play the passing game at which they excel despite both the occasion and the opposition. And on the touchline stood Arsene Wenger – a man who has never stopped believing, and whose faith has been questioned, criticised, and occasionally ridiculed.Â
Fans, team and manager are football’s Holy Trinity (and if we worship Arsenal, then Arsene is the father, the team: his son, and the fans: a rather rowdy holy ghost). The three share an interdependent faith. On Saturday, every party fulfilled their share of the bargain. If we are to experience such glorious occasions again this season, that has to continue.
With faith restored, the path forward is clearer.  Fans, players, and manager alike must recognise that their performance levels must not alter, whether it’s Manchester United, Middlesbrough, or Macclesfield. On Saturday we witnessed the scale of our potential. Any further slip-ups will feel all the more frustrating in light of that. We have set the standard. Now, together, we must live up to it.
I talk like this is news, whereas perhaps we’ve merely forgotten something that is critical to Arsenal’s entire philosophy. Our club motto:
Victoria Concordia Crescit
–
Victory Through Harmony
 A sentiment, I’d suggest, worth bearing in mind.Â
Have a good week.
November 8th, 2008
Note: I originally wrote a preview that had both positive and negative elements. In order to suitably prepare us for today’s occasion, I have deleted the more negative content. Enjoy.
People talk about games like today’s being make or break. Sink or swim. Essentially, it’s just another play on the win/lose dichotomy (though obviously, it might be a draw. What happens if it’s a draw? We’ll be neither made nor broken. What an anti-climax).
I think, realistically, if we harbour any ambitions of a title challenge then we need to avoid defeat today. If we lose it’ll be our fourth defeat of the season, meaning we’ll have lost one third of our league games. It doesn’t really bear thinking about.
There are plenty of reasons for concern, principally our injury situation. With a squad as small as ours, we really need pretty much all of our five doubts to declare themselves fit to stand a chance. In particular, Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna are two players I wouldn’t like to see us line up without. Sagna and Clichy will flank two from Gallas, Toure, and Silvestre. Assuming all three are available, it’ll be interesting to see who Arsene plumps for in such a big game. I think Walcott and Nasri will be deployed wide of Cesc and Denilson, with Abou Diaby playing just off Nicklas Bendtner.
When you look at it, it’s an incredibly young front six: the average age is just 20. I said in the week that we look like a Carling Cup side, and with Robin van Persie now suspended, that’s more true than ever. That said, our Carling Cup side has pulled out some magnificent results in the past, so…
Even so, something in Arsene’s press conference yesterday made me a little angry. When asked as to why he doesn’t feel the need to recruit more vocal lieutenants, he replied, “I rely on my experience”. Which is fair enough, yet somehow he expects his players to get by without the same benefit. Just as Arsene’s years in management have put him in a good position to make the right decisions for the football club, so experience on the pitch gives players the platform to make the right decisions in the heat of the game.
If we lose today, the down-beat mood around the club will threaten to last all the way until January, and possibly beyond. We’re badly in need of a lift, and with some key players out, there is a chance for someone to become a hero today. Back in 2006, nobody expected us to beat Manchester United, but back-up striker Emmanuel Adebayor poked home a goal that for two years made him a terrace favourite. Today, the stage is set for a Bendtner, a perhaps a Diaby, to make a similar impact.
In the immortal words of Kevin Keegan: I would love it, love it if we beat them. Come on Arsenal!
November 7th, 2008
The course of this match was established from the minute our line-up was published. We do not have that many injuries. Put aside the long-term absences of Eduardo and Rosicky, and yesterday we were without Gallas, Adebayor, Walcott, and the unheralded Eboue. Manuel Almunia may have been injured, or if you believe Myles Palmer, he may have been dropped. But in the outfield, our line-up looked as if it had been decimated.
It is worrying that the loss of Adebayor and Walcott makes us look so unpromising on the attacking front.  Whilst he performed well, the fact that Aaron Ramsey, a seventeen year-old who has never started a Premier League game, was forced to start is quite remarkable.
The front six of Ramsey, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Van Persie and Bendtner seriously lacked pace. If good football is founded on the “pass and move” principle, then this lot were alright at the passing, but less proficient at the ol’ moving.
A line-up containing Fabianski, Djourou, Silvestre, Denilson, Ramsey, and Bendtner is not good enough to call itself an Arsenal First Team. It more befits a reserve or Carling Cup side. I am not writing these players off, but for various reasons, I do not perceive them as currently possessing the requisite quality to mount a challenge in the Champions League or Premiership. When you consider that’s pretty much half the side, something is very wrong.
There were boos after the game, but they weren’t boos of anger. They were boos of disillusionment at what is happening with this side at the moment. Arsene says the players are tired, but we’ve barely had a third of the season.
I waited a day to write this report in the hope that my mood would improve, and I could focus on the positives from a performance that seemingly lacked invention and energy.
As is clear by this post, my mood hasn’t improved. I hope I haven’t depressed you. We have a day to lift the mood amongst the fans and the players before Manchester United visit. Hopefully Arsene’s press conference will help bring back some of the positivity.
Till then.
November 4th, 2008
Would the man in the picture to the right roll over and accept defeat like the majority of our players did at Stoke?
Would he have allowed Spurs to score two goals in the last five minute of a game that was otherwise won?
I think the answer to both questions has to be a resounding, “No.”
Martin Keown, the man whose last spell coaching at the club coincided with a record-breaking run of clean sheets that took us to a Champions League final, is considering returning to football, possibly alongside his old defensive team-mate Tony Adams at Portsmouth.
With our defensive deficiencies increasingly obvious, it’s clear that we require some new input. The defenders we have are, for the most part, OK. What they lack is organisation and discipline, and a guru of the defensive arts like Keown could instill that within weeks.
Keown would also provide a solution to the problem highlighted by arseblogger whilst talking about Gilberto’s departure:
“Gilberto spent a long time at the club. He often spoke about the great traditions of the club and he had players like Vieira, Keown, Henry, Pires, Ljungberg, Bergkamp etc who could instill in him the traditions of the club. Who have we got now?”
No-one. But hiring Keown would ammend that. A couple of weeks back there was a rumour about Dennis Bergkamp returning to the club as a coach. Much as I love Dennis, it is Keown’s know-how that is required just now. Either that, or take Steve Bould off Under-18s duty and get him to sort out the first team.
Both Keown and Bould crop up in this piece by Lee Dixon (all these names are making me nostalgic), in which Dixon divulges just how our legendary defensive line-up dealt with set pieces:
“It was not up to me to deal with set-pieces but the responsibility of the growbags, as I call them. We had two or three of the best attackers of the ball in Steve Bould, Martin Keown and Tony Adams and we would always use zonal marking at corners.
It was all right for me and Nigel Winterburn as we would just stand on the post and have a breather!
The rest would set up with someone on the near post marking the opposition player and Adams and co would be spaced out across the six-yard line with a gap between them. If the ball went in their area they would go and attack it – they did not worry about the opposition.”
Amazing to think we were once blessed with three players with the aerial ability of Adams, Bould, and Keown – especially when compared to our current collection of dwarfish centre-halves. What sweet relief would it bring to our defensive woes to have a player who could be commanded to just go and challenge for the ball, with a reasonable chance of winning it? It certainly would’ve helped on Saturday against Delap’s pesky throw-ins.
Enough reminiscing. I might cry.
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