We all wants different things for Christmas. I want Assassin’s Creed II for PS3, Craig Burley wants his two front teeth, and Cesc Fabregas, our playmaker/captain/probable Messiah, wants a physical forward:
“Throughout the game [at Manchester City in the 3-0 Carling Cup defeat last Wednesday], we had a lot of possession but didn’t really have anyone to go in behind the defenders, apart from Carlos Vela. We had a lot of similar players who like the ball into their feet. Sometimes it’s true that you need a different kind of option.
Against Chelsea, I saw a team that was normal but a team that has probably the best striker in the world [Didier Drogba], and that makes such a difference. Without him, their team would not be the same. Perhaps we had the same kind of problem against Chelsea as the boys had at Manchester City, not really having someone whose game is to go beyond defenders.”
At the moment in time, however, it seems Cesc hasn’t been a good enough boy to get what he wants this Christmas. In the past few days, Arsene has denied rumours linking us with Mario Balotelli, Marouane Chamakh, Edin Dzeko and, much to my relief, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Arsenal.com has published some advice for fans travelling to Olympiacos tomorrow night. My advice would be to see if you can get a refund. The injuries we picked up at the weekened guarantee that it’ll be as weak a side as Arsene can feasibly field. Still, I suppose it’ll be interesting to see the likes of Wilshere again. And Athens is a lovely place.
Stoke’s towering hardmen are not the obvious team against which to give Andrey Arshavin his first game as a lone striker. However, an injury to Eduardo combined with the absence of Bendtner and Van Persie left Arsene with little choice: the tiny Russian had to go it alone.
The Times’ Alyson Rudd got it right when she said that the outcome was like an Aesop fable: Arshavin’s guile and trickery won out over Stoke’s brute force. I’ve only seen extended highlights of the game, but the Russian’s movement was superb, moving off the ball faster than the lumbering defenders’ turning circles could possibly hope to keep up with.
In the first-half Arshavin won a penalty (from which Cesc’s effort was saved by Sorensen) and then scored the crucial opener, exchanging passes with Fabregas before expertly allowing himself to pinball off the defenders’ challenges and fire cutely into the far corner.
In the second half Arshavin struck the bar and was directly involved in the build-up to our second goal, helping divert the ball into the path of substitute Aaron Ramsey, who strolled in on goal before finishing nonchalantly with the outside of his right boot.
A win was what was required and a win was what we got – not, however, without cost. Emmanuel Eboue, Tomas Rosicky and Armand Traore all left the field due to injures. Of those, it is unsurprising to learn that Rosicky’s looks to be the most long-term.
We’re suffering plenty of injuries at the moment, especially in attacking areas. However, the team and Arshavin found a solution that prevented us dropping further points. Whether or not it will work in the longer term remains to be seen.
This week sees two games of varying importance. A team of youngsters and oldsters will travel to Olympiacos, before a crunch game at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool will have been worried by Arshavin’s return to form. Very worried.
Not much time for bloggery as I’m about to board a train to Birmingham for work purposes. This means I won’t get to see the game today. And I’ll be in Birmingham. It’s a real double blow.
Arsene’s Friday press conference saw the manager play down bids for both Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko. Not only that, but he was keen to manage expectations ahead of the transfer window:
“Let’s not dream too much. In January you need to find a world-class player, who has not played in the Champions League, so we need a very good Christmas. I am not a big fan of January, that’s why I say I will be on the market but that doesn’t mean that I will buy. To find the players who have not played in the Champions League, who are world-class, who are available… I wish you good luck.”
It’s Stoke at home today, and I envisage the team will be: Almunia – Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Traore – Fabregas Denilson Ramsey – Nasri Eduardo Arshavin. Emmanuel Eboue and Tomas Rosicky will also be in contention to start.
Finally, I found out yesterday I’ll be attending Germany vs Ghana in next summer’s World Cup, as well as three as-yet-undetermined fixtures. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on Stephen Appiah, who will doubtless be linked to us despite being unemployed for the best part of two years.
So Arsenal are out of the Carling Cup. Calamity. The way some people have reacted you’d think we’d been ejected from the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup all in the space of an evening.
Arsene picked a team that had, as he called it, “a chance to win”. It wasn’t the biggest chance, however. Up against a multi-million pound side who had beaten our first-team 4-1 earlier in the season, I didn’t hold out much hope for the likes of Silvestre, Merida, and Vela.
We held our own for the first-half, but defensive errors were again our undoing. Tomas Rosicky, who looked rusty throughout, lost the ball cheaply to Carlos Tevez, and whilst Eboue backed off and Alex Song appeared to be looking for his keys on the Eastlands turf, Tevez advanced on goal before smashing a shot in to the far top corner.
The second goal was not dissimilar. Shawn Wright-Phillips was charging towards our goal, and Mikael Silvestre, perhaps gambling on Wright-Phillips’s erratic finishing, encouraged the winger to shoot. And shoot he did, his effort crashing in off the far and leaving Fabianski with no chance.
City’s third goal arrived as we poured forward looking to get back in to the game. Craig Bellamy broke away, skipped between two translucent challenges, and crossed to the far post for Vladimir Weiss to plant another stunning finish in to the net and end the game.
There was time for Fran Merida to strike the cross-bar with a dipping left-foot volley, but to be honest we never looked much like scoring. The likes of Merida, Vela, Wilshere and Rosicky all have tremendous technical ability but do look extremely lightweight. Andrey Arshavin has this morning complained about the side’s lack of height, but he’s hardly one to talk!
It’s disappointing to lose, but qualifying for the semis would have seen us in a two-legged tie finishing at Old Trafford: games our Carling Cup side would have been unlikely to win. Whenever we’ve reached the semis in the past it’s cost us plenty in terms of resource and injured players. Good riddance to the Carling Cup, I say.
After the game there was a spat between Mark Hughes and Arsene Wenger, with the latter refusing the shake the Welshman’s hand. My take is that a handshake is not a right – if Arsene was sufficiently offended by Hughes’ behaviour, he has no obligation to fulfill the expectation of a shake.
Philippe Senderos wasn’t involved at all, and it looks for all the world like he’ll be off in January. After Song and Sylvestre’s antics at centre-back on Wednesday night, it looks like we may have to dip into the transfer market in January. Either that, or buy Johan Djourou some new legs.
The game at City cost us a suspension for Alex Song, who was booked for a heavy body check. He’ll now miss the match with Stoke on Saturday, as will Theo Walcott, who is injured (again). Incredible to think that we’re in December and he’s only started one game this season. If it weren’t for ‘that’ hatrick in Croatia, he wouldn’t be anywhere near a World Cup place right now.
In Song’s absence, Arsene will turn to Denilson to play the holding role against a very physical Stoke side. It will be a good indicator as to how we might cope in January without Song. After three defeats in our last four games, victory of any sort if essential.
Finally, tonight ArsenalTVOnline is available for free on Arsenal.com – very generous. And if you’re not sufficiently enticed, I’ll be appearing (via telephonic communications device) on the Fans Forum programme with Tom Watt and Shovell at around 9pm. Log on and check it out.
I have to say I’m more than a little skeptical about this story. Not only is Arsene spending €30m on any player about as easy to imagine as Le Boss naked, but the manager is also a stickler for application and attitude. Balotelli’s talent has never been in question, but his mentality has.
Mind you, the stick Balotelli gets is very similar to that which dogged Robin van Persie’s time at Feyenoord. At 19, there’s plenty of time to set him straight. The key difference, I suppose, is that gambling on Robin cost just a couple of million.
If we do sign anyone in January (and Bacary Sagna is reportedly keen that we do), you can bet we’ll have to pay out a hefty chunk of agents fees. Between Oct 08 and Sept 09 we shelled out £4.8m to agents. Something tells me a large slice of that might have been on the tricky deal that brought Andrey Arshavin to the club, but that’s just idle speculation.
Mark Hughes has confirmed that Emmanuel Adebayor is likely to start tomorrow’s Carling Cup tie at Eastlands. With City on a dire run of draws, they badly need a win, so will go with pretty much their full strength team. For us, the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere may be joined by the experience of Fabianski, Senderos, Silvestre, and perhaps some of the players who didn’t start on Sunday – Rosicky, Vela, maybe even Walcott.
Finally today in the light of the defeat to Chelsea, arseblogger convened a special arsecast with myself, the worthy man from East Lower, and the esteemed Goodplaya. We chatted about the match itself, the squad’s chances for the rest of the season, and the January transfer window. Click here for a listen.
