Archive for November, 2010
November 8th, 2010
Arsenal 0 – 1 Newcastle (Carroll 44)
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
In the last few weeks, Lukasz Fabianski has been the subject of not undeserved praise from Arsenal fans. There have been impressive performances against Chelsea and Manchester City, and a run of consecutive games, as well as Almunia’s continued absence through “injury”, have seen Fabianski establish himself as the number one goalkeeper
However, yesterday the Polish goalkeeper produced a familiar flap which ultimately cost us the game. Up until now we’ve been pleasantly surprised by his performances, simply because last season he was making that sort of rick in each game he played. I suppose the law of averages suggests that eventually he would have a few games without a calamitous error. And he managed it. Against Newcastle, that run came to an end.
When a free-kick was launched fully forty yards in to our penalty area, Fabianski came to claim but lost out to an impressive leap from Andy Carroll, allowing the ball to bounce in to the goal. If a goalkeeper comes, he simply has to get something on the ball. Even if he can’t catch it, a punch will suffice. If Fabianski just remains on his line Carroll has to produce a quite incredible header to score. As it was, with the Pole charging recklessly out of goal, all Carroll had to go was get a nick on the ball.
The mistake is just cause for a reassessment of Fabianski’s status – and, perhaps, for swallowing a nice cold cup of realism. At the start of the season he was considered a joke. It’s going to take more than going a few games without chucking the ball in to his own net to change that.
Of course, the defeat wasn’t entirely his fault. We didn’t, after all, manage to score a goal ourselves. I didn’t see the full ninety minutes, but the sparse ‘highlights’ suggested that we never really managed to put a well-organised Newcastle side under a concerted period of pressure.
It’s a hugely disappointing result, especially in the light of losing to West Brom just a few weeks back. Arsene promised we wouldn’t be so complacent this time round, but it sounds as if that’s exactly what happened. Koscielny was sent off late on, and we can have few complaints. Had it been Chamakh rather than Nile Ranger brought down, we’d all have been baying for the red card. Though a few pedants would be asking just why Koscielny had fouled Chamakh.
Chelsea, it turns out, went on to lose at Anfield. I felt an unusual concoction of relief and frustration. Relief that we remain just five points behind, doused in exasperation with the fact we so carelessly threw away a chance to move within two points of the league leaders.
With respect to Newcastle and West Brom, both of whom were excellent at the Emirates, there is simply no excuse for losing those games. It leaves us with barely any margin for error at home – and that means it’s even more imperative we beat Chelsea and United on our own turf. Frankly, it’s about time.
November 7th, 2010
On my way to work yesterday, I dropped in to a cafe to pick up the obligatory coffee for anyone enduring office hours on a Saturday morning. Waiting for the foamy goodness to emerge from behind the counter, my eyes were drawn to a garish tabloid front page about the personal life of our manager.
I have no comment on the allegations. All I want to say is this: it’s interesting to note that not one single credible sports news outlet has referenced the story. Not the BBC, not The Guardian, not even Sky.
All I have to say is this: there are plenty of crap newspapers peddling crap stories. There is only one Arsene Wenger. Remember that, and sing it loud this afternoon.
Manchester United scraped another win yesterday, meaning it’s vital we pick up three points at home to Newcastle. How are this United side still unbeaten? They’re the worst Fergie team in years. Wayne Rooney is out-of-action and out-of-sorts. Yesterday they gave a start to a reanimated corpse called Owen Hargreaves, and when he disintegrated after less than ten minutes, they brought on a player who looked like a homeless competition-winner. Partly because that’s almost exactly what Bebe is. What’s worrying is that United teams usually pick up form in the second half of the season. Their performances up until now should have them adrift, and yet there they are, right in among the chasing pack.
All of which means we’ve got no room to slip up. Fortunately, we go in to the game on the back of some good injury news. Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song and Denilson are all fit to return to the squad. Koscielny, Sagna, and Chamakh, none of whom started in the Ukraine, can also come back in to the team.
It means that Arsene could plump for several different permutations. The defence should be fairly straightforward: Fabianski behind the French quartet of Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny and Clichy. In midfield, Fabregas and Song are certain starts. In the continued and concerning absence of Abou Diaby, Wilshere seems the obvious choice to complete the trio, but Arsene might go for the physicality of Denilson against Newcastle’s robust outfit. Upfront Chamakh and Nasri are both automatic picks, and then it’s a straight choice between Andrey Arshavin and Theo Walcott. On form it’d have to be Theo, but Arsene might be loathe to give Walcott’s recuperating limbs two starts in a matter of days.
You’ll remember we faced Newcastle not too long ago with a rather different team. A 4-0 win at St. James’ Park exaggerated the gulf between the two sides – in truth it was a closer contest in which we capitalised on a couple of lightening breaks.
That wasn’t Newcastle’s strong team either. After adding the likes of Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan back in to team, they recovered from their League Cup lashing with a stunning 5-1 thrashing of neighbours Sunderland. Carroll in particular was outstanding, and Squillaci and Koscielny will have to be at their best to keep him quiet.
Still, score an early goal and we know that Newcastle can be vulnerable to the counter. A win is essential. For our position and the league, and perhaps for Arsene.
Come On You Gunners.
November 4th, 2010
Of late, I’ve spent most evenings working until 10pm, which means any Arsenal evening game is invariably watched on delay. It’s 22.48 here now, and I’m just sitting down to watch the match. Hold on to your hats: this narrative is about to get linnear.
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Line-ups: On paper we look weak. I’m surprised we’ve got Eboue and Djourou ahead of Koscielny and Sagna, and Craig Eastmond has never struck me as a player who looked ready for the Champions League. For Shakhtar, Eduardo starts ahead of his inevitable goal.
7 mins: Samir Nasri just danced past a few players and hammered a thirty-yard effort against the post. Not quite as good as his free-kick that hit the bar at the weekend, but a decent effort nonetheless.
9 mins: I accidentally pressed Fast Forward on my Sky Plus control just as Theo Walcott broke to score. Imagine watching that break in Fast Forward – it was quick enough in real time. WHAT a goal. A Shakhtar corner is headed out by Rosicky towards Walcott on the edge of his area. Theo stabs the ball to Jack Wilshere, who pokes a lobbed through-ball deep in to Shakhtar territory. The rest is just an astonishing display of athleticism, as Theo bursts away from two men, accelerates towards the goalkeeper, and slots calmly beneath him. Absolutely breathtaking. He even had time for his Usain Bolt-style glance at the linesman before a powerful sidefooted finish. Thierry would be proud.
14 mins: Jack Wilshere just played a beautiful clipped pass out wide to Tomas Rosicky. His ball for Walcott’s goal was so instinctive, and yet so precise.
16 mins: Shakhtar get in behind Eboue too easily, but Jadson’s sidefooted effort is blocked by the head of Johan Djourou. Great block to prevent a certain goal, but then as the ball comes back in Jadson’s header strikes a post. Fabianski then makes a decent stop. From nowhere, Shakhtar look a threat.
24 mins: An outstretched Djourou leg prevents Adriano reaching Gai’s cross. Djourou has made some important interventions already. Eastmond then tries to release Walcott on the break, but his touch is a bit heavy.
26 mins: Eboue booked for a tackle from behind. In Europe that’s always a yellow. Hubschman also booked for taking out Jack Wilshere higher up the pitch. Shakhtar felt Wilshere should have been sent off in the Emirates game, and they may look to make him pay tonight.
27 mins: And now Shakhtar have equalised. Free-kick from the left gets a flick from that centre-back whose name reads like a monkey has stamped on the keyboard, Chgrygygngggskxi, and Craig Eastmond deflects it past Fabianski for an own goal.
35 mins: Nicklas Bendtner has pulled up with what looks like it might be an achilles problem. Could be his ankle. That is bad news. The boot is off and the stretcher is on, but he’s able to walk off.
37 mins: Bendtner is back on. I imagine they’ll give it to half-time and see how he’s doing.
39 mins: Bendtner is in space on the right and plays an instantaneous pass in to Walcott, but Srna just nicks the ball away. Crucial tackle, brilliantly timed.
45 mins: And Shakhtar will go in at half-time 2-1 infront. They can thank Gael Clichy for that. The left-back has several chances to clear but dithers, and Srna nicks the ball as neatly as he did in his own penalty area. He then has the awareness to find and unmarked Eduardo, whose finish is clinical. Told you he’d score. No celebration mind.
45 mins: And that’s half-time.
Well it’s been interesting. Jens Lehmann is in the Sky studio and says we slipped in to a comfort zone. Leonardo disagrees, saying Shakhtar have bossed it. I’m inclined to agree. It’s good to see Jens: can you imagine what he would have done to Clichy if that mistake had been made on his watch?
Second half about to get underway. Nicklas Bendtner is alive and well.
48 mins: Lovely feet from Eduardo to turn in to the penalty area, but he’s halted by Djourou, who has looked better tonight than in previous weeks.
54 mins: Fantastic chance for Wilshere. He makes it himself by closing down the Shakhtar defenders, and when the ball breaks he ought to punish them but his curled effort is just wide.
55 mins: Carlos Vela is being readied for action. Am I supposed to feel something other than indifference?
55 mins: What a goal that would have been. Emmanuel Eboue plays a preposterous pass across his own penalty area, but the quick feet and quick thinking of Gael Clichy means it starts a move which ends with a left-footed Walcott volley being saved by the Shakthar keeper. The commentator says the move was ‘lucky’ – in fact it involved some risky but thrilling pass-and-move play.
58 mins: On comes Vela, at the expense of Eastmond. I have to say I rarely think Eastmond looks like a Champions League footballer in the making, let alone someone ready for it now. Nasri has dropped deep, and Vela is out on the left flank.
60 mins: Bringing on Vela to turn the game around seems a bit fanciful. He specialises in late goals when we’re already well in front.
62 mins: Jadson wants a penalty, and at first glance you can see why. Oh, on the replay, it looks more like a dive. Silly, because Squillaci was committed and could easily have made the foul anyway.
64 mins: Lovely turn and pass from captain Rosicky but Srna gets there before Vela.
65 mins: A forty-yard pass from Gael Clichy finds Squillaci at the back post but his header is to close to the goalie. Great chance.
68 mins: Great muscular turn from the industrious Rosicky, who picks out Theo Walcott, but the Englishman’s left-footed shot is tame. If we are to create another goal tonight, I’d put money on Rosicky being at the heart of it.
70 mins: Walcott bends a twenty-five yard effort, but it’s an easy catch for the keeper. You can’t knock the young man’s confidence. Good to see. Chamakh is preparing to come on.
71 mins: Walcott is playing from the left-flank at the moment, and cuts in to fire a low shot in to the goalie’s chest. Seven goals already this season, and there could be plenty more if this sort of direct running and shooting continues.
72 mins: Bendtner off, Chamakh on. Alan Smith accuses the Dane of a ‘lack of form’. He had two goals in two games, prior to tonight. Chamakh, meanwhile, has scored in his last six Champions League appearances. It’d be useful if he could keep that run going tonight…
81 mins: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is on for Theo Walcott. Good game for Theo: 5 shots, 5 on target, 1 goal.
84 mins: JET nods down, Vela spins and volleys, but it’s straight down the middle. Time is running out.
90 mins: Shakhtar break but Fabianski gets down to block Moreno’s chance to end the contest.
Full-time: Disappointing result, but of all the games we face in the next month or so, this is one in which a defeat is just about palatable. Still, it means we may have to win our two remaining group games in order to secure top spot.
November 3rd, 2010
As we travel to the Ukraine to face Shakhtar, we’re looking light in midfield: Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson and Diaby are all missing. Fortunately, their absence is slightly balanced out by the renewed availability of a reinvigorated Jack Wilshere.
Wilshere’s new contract is reportedly worth £50,000 p/week. If he progresses as I envisage, it’ll need renegotiating again within 18 months. His burgeoning star will explode once Fabio Capello finds room for him in the England team, and we’ll have a national sensation on our hands.
For now, however, I’m quite happy that he’s just our sensation. And so, it seems, is he. His words about the club when signing his new deal were genuinely heart-warming:
“Arsenal Football Club has been like a second home for me and my family since I was nine years old. To be offered a new contract means everything to me.
At this point in my career, when I’m only 18 years old and still learning so much about the game and myself, this is the perfect club, the perfect team-mates, the perfect fans, the perfect backroom staff and most importantly, the perfect manager to help continue that.
I’ve got a long way to go before I can become the player I dream of becoming and I’m sure I’ll keep making the odd mistake, but it is a massive help for me having a special manager like Arsène Wenger and so many quality team-mates and the unbelievable Arsenal fans around me. I believe there is a lot more to come from me.â€
Of course, there is part of me that jolts at his use of “at this point in my careerâ€, panicking already that there will come a point when sunnier climes and bigger pay-cheques beckon. But it’s important to try and allay those fears, and enjoy Wilshere for what he is: the most authentically Arsenal-bred player seen in years.
Jack has been with the club for half his life. Alright we pinched him from Luton, but taking on the nine-year old Wilshere is different from signing the 15-year old Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. By that time, Cesc already had that now infamous ‘Barca DNA’ – and we’ve benefited from that on the pitch. Jack’s DNA, however, is all Arsenal.
I’d also argue that Jack’s DNA is that of a Number 10, but tonight he’s almost certain to continue in the holding role. With so many other potential incumbents injured, he’ll be partnered by either Craig Eastmond or a re-programmed Samir Nasri, with Rosicky ahead. Arsene seems keen for Wilshere, Nasri and Rosicky to share the creative burden, though I’d be a little surprised if he selected them all in central midfield. Even by his standards that would be a little cavalier.
The defence should be largely unchanged, but there will be rotation upfront. Marouane Chamakh, and Andrey Arshavin is absent with a virus – his replacement in yesterday’s press conference, Nicklas Bendtner, is in line for a start tonight.
Theo Walcott ought to play too, and when asked yesterday Arsene Wenger reiterated his belief that Walcott will develop in to a centre-forward. I can’t see that happening particularly soon: the 4-3-3 means we need a player more adept at holding the ball up. Whilst Theo’s movement and pace are a real threat, I’m not sure he’s good enough with his back to goal to play that role. However, he has been used there on a couple of occasions this season, late on in games when we’re happy to sit deep and look to counter. For now, I’m happy with him playing wide. Our fluid system means that starting on the wing doesn’t prevent him from making bursts through the middle. Remember that when Thierry Henry, with whom inevitable comparisons are being drawn, played ‘upfront’ his starting position was often hugged against the left touchline.
The date for our League Cup Quarter-Final has been announced: we will face Wigan on the 30th November at 7.45pm. In the wake of Arsene’s decision to take the competition more seriously, several youngsters have gone out on loan. Mark Randall joined Rotheram, only to break his collarbone immediately. Two younger prospects, Tom Cruise and Benik Afobe, have joined Carlisle United and Huddersfield Town respectively. Afobe is certainly one to watch: his pace and finishing prowess have seen him heralded as a star of the future. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who had been expected to leave on loan, has travelled with the squad and could play a part tonight.
It won’t be an easy game, but the motivation to win is that it would pretty much tie up top spot in the group, and allow us an opportunity to rest players in the remaining games. I think we might struggle with so many absentees, so would be happy to take a draw. Shakhtar will certainly want some retribution for the humiliation handed to them at the Emirates.
November 1st, 2010
Arsenal 1 – 0 West Ham (Song 88)
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Let me just start by saying…
I didn’t see the whole game as I was stuck in a disused tunnel deep beneath Waterloo train station. I managed to check the score at 85 minutes, when we were locked at 0-0. Despondent, I headed back underground, my heart sinking even deeper than the tunnel took me. When I reappeared to discover we’d nicked it, I was delighted.
Winning was crucial…
On a day when Chelsea scraped a win at Ewood Park, it was vital we picked up three points at home. When we reach the end of November, Chelsea enter a run of five consecutive potentially tricky fixtures: Newcastle (Away), Everton (Home), Spurs (Away), United (Home), and finally Arsenal (Away). It is essential that we are close enough to capitalise on home advantage come that fixture on the 27th December.
This was a familiar game…
How many times last season did we require late goals to claw points away from a team whose keeper had played a blinder? This campaign has been slightly less stressful, although we did require a late late equaliser at Anfield. In those dying moments, having a strong bench can make all the difference: the ability to throw the likes of Walcott and Bendtner in to the fray can be decisive.
The difference , however, is in our improved defence…
Last season, at 0-0, we might have found ourselves punished for a slip at the back. This year, with the reinforcement provided by Koscielny, Squillaci, and a rejuvenated Fabianski, we were solid enough to mean that one goal gave us the victory.
You can’t fault Song’s attitude…
Alex Song (or Alexandre Song Billong as he is known by Wikipedia and Pro Evolution Soccer) may only be 23, but he has already done something rather extraordinary in his football career. He has transformed from a joke, an embarrassment, an indictment of all the flaws in Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy, to an undoubtedly key player. He’s done that predominantly through hard work and the kind of persistence that saw him arrive in the box late on to head home the winner. Lukasz Fabanski take note: redemption is possible.
Song forms part of our strongest midfield trio…
For me, the best midfield we can pick is one of Song, Fabregas, and Jack Wilshere, who has just signed a new long-term deal with the club. It’s a combination we haven’t seen it all too often this season due to Cesc’s injury and Jack’s suspension, but it started both the 6-0 win over Braga and the 5-1 victory over Donetsk. Getting that trio together again is a tantalising prospect.
Arshavin is close to being dropped…
For the first time in his Arsenal career, Andrey Arshavin is facing up to the prospect of not making our first-choice XI. The form of Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, combined with a downturn in his own performances, could soon see him on the bench. Arshavin is due to appear at tomorrow’s pre-Shakhtar press conference: knowing his forthright and outspoken ways, he’ll doubtless have a few words to say about his own form.
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