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Arsenal 2 – 1 Newcastle: Arsenal complete quartet of comebacks

180 comments March 13th, 2012

Thomas Vermaelen celebrates the late late winner against Newcastle

Arsenal 2 – 1 Newcastle

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

This is becoming a run that beggars belief; it’s putting the ‘mental’ in to ‘mental strength’.  Thomas Vermaelen’s late late goal made Arsenal the first side in Premier League history to come from behind to win four consecutive games.  And three of them have been snatched with stoppage-time strikes.

For sheer drama, none of them match last night.  Perhaps it was that took place at an almost-full Emirates.  Perhaps it was the fact it robbed Alan Pardew and the time-wasting Tim Krul of a precious point.  Or perhaps it was the sheer guts of Vermaelen’s fifty yard, lung-bursting run to meet Theo Walcott’s cross.  It’s difficult to say, and to be honest, it doesn’t matter.  But it was brilliant.

Something has changed in this team.  It would be nice to pin-point a precise moment when things started to go in our favour, but the reality is that the upturn in fortunes is down to a combination of factors.   The return of our full-backs has added width and defensive stability.  The emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has given us a direct, penetrative option from the left, and brought the best out of Theo Walcott on the right.  Tomas Rosicky is playing the best football of his Arsenal career, and in this form is richly deserving of a new contract.  And then, of course, there’s the consistent excellence of Robin van Persie.

It might be a little whimsical of me, but I also think it has something to do with the brief but potent return of Thierry Henry.  His sheer presence seemed to instill a belief and confidence in the squad, and maybe went some way to remind the players of what it means to represent Arsenal Football Club – and the legendary status that will be bestowed upon those who bring glory to its name.

For the first time in a long time, Arsenal play without fear.  In they go behind, they believe they can retrieve it.  If they go in to the tackle, they believe they can win it.  The ghosts of Eduardo, Ramsey and others have evaporated, and Arsenal players are throwing themselves in to challenges like they’re impervious to pain.  The commitment is fantastic, and it’s bringing results.

There will inevitably be a lot of talk of reeling in Spurs.  With the ups and downs of the past few months, my principal target remains fourth spot and a chance of Champions League qualification.  Anything beyond that will be a bonus – albeit a very welcome one indeed.  For the first time in a while, Arsenal are beginning to look up as well as down.

Arsenal 3 – 0 Milan: Now let’s fight for more nights like this

208 comments March 7th, 2012

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

Last night, for an enthralling ninety minutes, Arsenal dreamed an impossible dream. Laurent Koscielny’s header turned the preposterous in to the improbable. Tomas Rosicky’s sidefoot transformed the improbable to the enticingly plausible. And then Robin van Pesie’s penalty set up a second half laced with that cruelest of baits: hope. In the end, sadly, it wasn’t to be. The dream was no more than that, and exhaustion took its inevitable toll on Arsenal limbs, minds and voices as Milan survived to lick their wounds and fight another day.

As the full-time whistle blew, an exhausted Arsenal side collectively fell to their knees, shedding sweat and, in some cases, tears. Rarely, however, can a team have lost a tie and been met with such a resounding chorus of approval. The vast majority of supporters remained behind to salute a heroic effort. Arsenal failed to claw back the prize of a Champions League quarter-final, but did recapture an enormous amount of pride.

In the past fortnight, Arsenal have beaten arch-rivals Tottenham, cup-winners Liverpool, and the champions of Italy – in two cases by a margin of three goals. It is a run that has done much to heal the wounds in the relationship between players and supporters. Last night they stood together, and their combined efforts did much to repair the club’s bruised reputation.

It was an extraordinary team performance, but it would be wrong to overlook the contribution of certain individuals. In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger reserved special praise for Tomas Rosicky, who has typified our recent resurgence. After the North London Derby, many called his performance his best in an Arsenal shirt. I would say that last-night’s display leapfrogged even that showing. He was everywhere, chasing, harrying, and knitting up the gaps between midfield and attack with a tireless combination of artistry and application. One wonders if, finally, he is beginning to return to the heights he hit prior to spending almost two years on the sideline with injury.

Beside him in central midfield, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed incredible maturity. His progress from Championship to Champions League has been seamless – at every level his talent has shone through. It’s not just that, though: he’s gutsy. His run to win the penalty told you everything: he picked up the ball and drove at Milan, daring them to try and stop him. Everytime he is in possession, he is determined to make something happen. And he is 18 years old.

Robin van Persie’s excellence is so consistent that one almost forgets to mention it. Alex Song was dogged, and Theo Walcott covered an enormous amount of ground on the right-flank. The entire defence, too, deserve credit. Chasing goals left us exposed to the counter-attack, and the defenders and Szczesny all showed tremendous awareness and commitment to the cause to keep the clean sheet that made our progression even remotely achievable. I was particularly staggered by the performance of Vermaelen, who several times in the space of one game put his body on the line to get to the ball first.

In the end we suffered from not having the required quality on the bench to freshen up the side. After an hour we looked spent, but a midfield injury list that reads Wilshere, Arteta, Diaby, Ramsey, Benayoun, Coquelin, and Frimpong meant our options were limited. Park and Chamakh were thrown on, and whilst the Moroccan did put in the required leg work, there was to be no late miracle.

However, this remained an undoubtedly great night – and the sort that only the Champions League can provide. There is something electric about the atmosphere, something spine-tingling about the anthem, and a grand sense of occasion that only European football’s great names can provide. When Arsenal’s league form has faltered, I’ve read some fans suggesting that finishing outside the top four doesn’t matter as there is no point qualifying for a competition that you are not going to win. I can say with absolute conviction that I’ve never felt more opposed to that statement than I did last night. At the risk of sounding like I’ve bought in to UEFA’s marketing strategy, the Champions League is the World Cup of club football. It’s a glamour-filled, continental party, and I want Arsenal to be there. If we lose our seat at Europe’s top table, it might be some time before we muster the money and the might to be there again. We all want to push on and challenge for silverware, but will be that much easier to do is we have occasions like this to keep the likes of Van Persie at the club, and inspire others to join him.

I was bowled over by what I saw last night. Arsenal may have lost the tie, but I couldn’t have been more proud. Proud of the performance, and proud of the club. Lesser men would have given up before kick-off. Lesser clubs, I would argue, would have crumbled after what we have been through this season. And yet there we were, putting the sword to one of Europe’s finest. The fans who sang so loudly, the players who worked so hard – they all need to know that if they show similar levels of commitment between now and May, they will be back on that stage, with a chance to put things right. Let’s make it happen.

Milan Preview: Chamberlain to get central role?

14 comments March 6th, 2012

I don’t know if I speak for all Arsenal fans, but I’m rather looking forward to tonight.  A couple of big wins in the league have changed the mood in the camp, and what previously looked like a humiliating dead rubber now feels like an opportunity to face glamorous opposition with, really, nothing to lose.  No one has ever over-turned a four-goal deficit in Europe and the Champions League betting reflects the uphill task Arsenal face.  To all intents and purposes, we’re already out, but any sort of positive result would be catalytic fuel on the fire of our momentum.  And if – IF – we were to score a couple of early goals… well, you just never know.

Possible team to face Milan

A succession of injuries in midfield means we have little option but to be gung-ho about our attacking intent.  We’re without Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Frimpong, Diaby, Benayoun and Coquelin, whilst doubts persist over Tomas Rosicky.  If the Czech is fit, he’s certain to partner Alex Song at the base of our midfield.

Ahead of that, I think Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may be afforded a start in the roaming central role he briefly occupied against Liverpool, with Gervinho and Theo Walcott on the flanks.

Some have suggested the possibility of switching to 4-4-2, but we’re perhaps the only team in the world for whom introducing a second striker (Park or Chamakh) probably makes us a weaker attacking force.

Robin van Persie will, of course, play.  Some fans are already quaking with fear about the possibility of Robin picking up an injury.  I don’t think you can go through a season, or indeed a life, with that sort of attitude.  He might get a knock, but it’s no more likely to happen tonight than in any other game – or arguably even a training session.  And the idea that we have any chance of getting a decent result without him is more fantastical than our hopes of qualification.

As I said though, you never know.  Football can be a strange and miraculous sport, and the likelihood of going out is not a reason not to bother qualifying.  I admire Arsene’s guts here.  He could written it off, and said: “Yeah, we’re out, I’m going to play the Reserves”.  Instead, he is rallying the troops:

 “When you are a top-level competitor, even if statistically we have a 5% chance, what is important is that we believe that we can be in this 5%. That is what is at stake for us. Let’s make sure that we do not miss out because we did not believe in it.”

Well put.  Arsene and Arsenal were deeply hurt by the 4-0 hammering in Milan, and tonight is, in the first place, about restoring some pride.  Any kind of win would undoubtedly be a good thing.  If it’s by the margin of a few goals, and close enough to get us excited about the remote possibility of reigning the Italians in… well, then it’ll have been a very exciting night indeed.

Come On You Gunners.  You never know, this might be our last night in the Champions League for a while.  Let’s enjoy it.

Liverpool 1 – 2 Arsenal: Robin Rocks Anfield

572 comments March 3rd, 2012

Robin van Persie meets Alex Song's pass to volley home the winner

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

Last week we blew away Spurs with a five-star, five-goal derby demolition. This victory at Anfield could not have been more different: we absolutely sneaked it. And, to me at least, it felt just as sweet.

That is in part because in recent months Liverpool have become a team I love to hate. The disgraceful conduct of the club and in particular their manager during the Luis Suarez affair have left a horrible taste in the mouth. As regards Suarez himself, the media’s fawning over his performances doesn’t seem to tally with his consistently wayward finishing.

That said, his movement certainly gave us plenty of trouble. Arsenal were able to start with the same XI that beat Tottenham, and we started the game in a worryingly similar fashion, with plenty of gaps in and around the defence. Fortunately, however, Liverpool’s poor form in front of goal continued, and in Wojciech Szczesny Arsenal had a goalkeeper absolutely determined to keep them at bay.

That was never more clear than in the 19th minute, when Liverpool were awarded a penalty after Suarez went through on goal. Upon first viewing, he seemed to throw himself over Szczesny without any contact. The super super slow-mo replay seems to illustrate a little bang of the shin-pads, but how the referee saw it through a crowd of players and just how such a tiny nick caused Suarez to fly up in the air still bemuse me.

Dirt Kuyt stepped up to take the penalty, but Szczesny flung himself brilliantly to his right to save. However, the ball fell back to the Dutchman, and it looked for all the world as if he would tap in the rebound, only for Szczesny to dive across goal to palm it away. It was a breathtaking display of athleticism and determination.

Szczesny was, therefore, predictably peeved when beaten shortly after by his own man, as Laurent Koscielny failed to sort his own feet out and scuffed Jordan Henderson’s whipped cross in to the near post.

At this point, Arsenal simply weren’t in the game. Our midfield trio seemed too disparate, and Liverpool were exploiting the pace with some the constant movement of Suarez and Kuyt. Then, from nothing, an equaliser. Bacary Sagna found enough space and time to whip in a delicious cross to the near post, and Robin van Persie got the wrong side of Jamie Carragher to nod past Pepe Reina for his thirtieth goal of the season.

With just over half an hour played, it was 1-1. At the same point in the Spurs game, we had given a much better performance yet found been two nil down. It is, as they say, a funny old game.

In the second half, Arsenal improved significantly. A long break in the game at the start of the second half for an injury to Mikel Arteta slowed Liverpool’s momentum, and Arteta’s replacement Abou Diaby actually put in a pretty effective 28 minutes, giving a powerful, precise display and showing little sign of ring-rust. Diaby himself was withdrawn shortly before the end with a possible thigh problem, but the early signs are that it was precautionary. As for Arteta, he has gone to hospital with a concussion, but the club are hopeful he’ll shortly be fully recovered. Fingers crossed for both players.

Liverpool conspired to miss more chances – Martin Kelly somehow miscued from six yards out – but as the game wore on Arsenal began to create opportunities on the break, especially after introducing the pace of Gervinho for the ineffective Benayoun.

Liverpool needed a lesson in how to take a chance, and they got it from Robin van Persie. As the game entered stoppage time, Alex Song picked the ball up thirty-five yards from goal. He hadn’t had a great game, occasionally overrun in midfield, but had already displayed his eye for a crucial pass with a scything through-ball for Kieran Gibbs that led to a chance for Theo Walcott. This time, he clipped a beautiful lofted pass in to the path of Robin van Persie. Just as against Everton a few months back, Van Persie took the shot on the volley. This time, however, instead of striking across the ball with his laces, he placed a side-footed effort inside the near post. Pepe Reina didn’t even move.

It was a magical goal. Some have called it ‘Bergkamp-esque’. It’s a huge compliment, but RVP is his own man, and this was pure Van Persie. He shares that talent that all great players have to foresee a scenario before it happens; the vision to see a goal before it is scored, and the talent to execute it to perfection. Pure brilliance.

Arsenal then saw out eight minutes of injury time, incurred by Arteta’s injury, with surprising maturity. Sub Alex Chamberlain even came close to adding a third with a rasping shot from the edge of the box.

Six points from games against Spurs and the scousers is a tremendous return, and if we can make it nine against Newcastle we’ll have given our chances of finishing in the top four a tremendous boost. As regards yesterday’s result, we owe plenty to key men at either end of the pitch: Wojciech Szczesny and Robin van Persie. Szczesny underlined his enormous potential with a match-winning display, and as for Van Persie? Well, we’re running our of superlatives. In fact, we’re well past that. We’re running out of ways to say that we’re running out of superlatives.

After the game, Sky saw fit to spend the majority of their ‘post match analysis’ discussing whether or not Van Persie would sign a new contract with Arsenal. Outside of a transfer window, I find such chat dull and pointless. As he’s stated many times, he’ll make his decision at the end of the season. In the meantime, it’s impossible to question his commitment to the cause. Last summer pundits were queueing up to say that he “wasn’t captaincy material”, but all season long he’s demonstrated that he’s a player determined to lead by example. His class was underlined by the fact he handed his Man of the Match champagne to Szczesny – a week after doing the same for Theo Walcott.

This win definitively puts Liverpool out of the race for fourth place – though for my money it’s been a straight fight between us and Chelsea for some time. As I type this, Chelsea have just been defeated by West Brom at the Hawthorns, making this a tremendous day for Arsenal fans. Fourth place is now officially in our hands. Gooners will be quietly hoping this defeat doesn’t seen Andre Villas Boas dismissed – he’s doing us plenty of favours at the moment.

There are still plenty of big games between now and May, and we’re all aware that a three point gap at this stage is only worth so much. What’s infinitely more valuable is the fight this squad are displaying: this was their fourth comeback in the space of little more than a month.

We’ve had some dark days this season. Let’s enjoy the good ones.

Midweek musings: RVP, Podolski, Andre Santos

32 comments February 29th, 2012

Greetings, one and all.  I’ve been so busy of late that a midweek blog has become something of an unaffordable luxury.  However, with the horrors of Internationals upon us, I reckon it’s probably best that we huddle together and warm ourselves by a reassuring, Arsenal-flavoured fire.

I don’t know what percentage of the readers of this blog follow me on twitter.  If you don’t yet and are considering it, abandon that plan:  I will only stress you out, as I seem to have devolved in to the football fan equivalent of Chicken Licken.  In the last  48 hours I have stated, on separate occasions and with a worrying degree of certainty, that Robin van Persie and Mikel Arteta were both suspended for the game at Anfield, and that Van Persie had picked up an injury in training with Holland.  On each occasion, I was incorrect: the fact that Arteta and RVP have reached five yellow cards ceased to be relevant after December 31st, and the decision to let Van Persie sit out training with Holland last night was predominantly precautionary.  The sky, it seems, is not falling after all.  Apologies: I shall endeavour to be more thorough in the future.

Of course, we’ll still all be praying that RVP and others come through tonight’s internationals unscathed.  We have a massive game at Anfield on Saturday morning, and to be without the Dutchman in particular would be an enormous blow.  There’s rather a nice piece by Henry Winter here which makes clear his importance to the club.  Some papers have attempted to attach some drama to the fact that Van Persie will not enter in to discussions about a contract renewal until the end of the season.  To most Arsenal fans, however, it comes as no surprise.  Van Persie will want to know whether or not Arsenal will be competing in the Champions League, and in the interim one cannot question his absolute commitment to making that happen.  When those talks do happen, I don’t doubt that Arsene and Ivan will attempt to throw money at the problem by offering Robin a very competitive contract.  In some respects, they’d be better throwing it elsewhere: what’s most likely to keep him is a competitive Arsenal team.

Perhaps one of the summer recruits will be Lukasz Podolski.  German tabloid Bild claims the player has decided that his future lies with Arsenal – the sole obstacle is for the two clubs to agree a fee.  Knowing us, that remains rather a big obstacle, and the article itself seems speculative at best.  Let’s wait and see on this one.

A bit of good news to end with: Andre Santos has said on Twitter that he expects to be back playing in the next fortnight.  That’s a huge boost for us – prior to his injury, his form was outstanding.  Although Kieran Gibbs recovered from a shaky start to have a strong second half against Spurs, for me Santos is a superior player, and certainly provides a more experienced option at left-back.  When Santos returns, we’ll discover if Arsene sees it the same way – if, that is, Gibbs can stay fit long enough to make Arsene have to choose.

Right, that’s all from me. Enjoy your Wednesday.