Potential signing on show tonight & Struggling to find something positive about Arsenal…..

November 13, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Today’s gossip page first.

Arsenal are understood to have made tentative contact over a possible deal for Derby’s 17 year old midfielder, Will Hughes and has already received a glowing report from chief scout Steve Rowley! Hughes is set to play for England under 21′s this evening in a friendly against Northern Ireland.

Also on show this week will be Wilfried Zaha. He’s been called up for England and should be involved for England in a friendly against Sweden. Unless a deal has already been done, we won’t be signing him after Palace valued their played at £20 Million!! Pfff

Onto today’s post:

With Christmas just round the corner, it’s made me think of those little glass things filled with water, you know what I mean – they have a nice Christmas scene inside and when you shake them a snow storm begins. It’s lovely to watch.

Well, Wenger, his coaches and players are like the Christmas scene, only Wenger is protected by the board of directors rather than the glass and unlike the nice snowy scene, the one they portray is looking quite awful.

Wenger talks as if we are not watching the team play. He talks rubbish. Before we play he tells us how well the players have trained, how hard they have worked and its only a matter of time that Arsenals talent’s will raise its head and start to perform to the standards we would all like to see.

Well I for one am struggling to find a good word to say about our team, realistically, I struggle to say a good word in favour of the club right now and I feel like we are being robbed blind by high-priced tickets to watch such poor performances.

No pressure seems to be on Wenger to get results and I wonder at times why qualifying for Champions League is so important when we all realise that we will never win it. Lets face it we can hardly get a result against some of the average sides in the Premier League, so I don’t know why we expect us to beat top sides from other leagues around Europe.

Regardless of what fixture we are playing, I would field the strongest side available if I was Wenger as our supporters deserve nothing less. Our travelling fans are magnificent, they turn up in all weathers, sing their hearts out and spend whatever it costs to watch the team of they love. I have noticed that the travelling fans are on the increase and I suspect a lot of them do not bother with the home games, after all, why give money to a club who will not invest in a better squad?

Whatever we are playing for, the players have to battle from beginning to end and 100% is the level of commitment needed. If players need a rest then get enough goals in a game first and then they can get it by being subbed and if that doesn’t materialise then tough, players have to give their all until the game is over. Then they rest.

Make those loyal fans in attendance glad to have turned up to support the club and let them go home knowing that every player gave their all. !

For £40,000 a week, I would work my socks off and then go home to rest.

Our players have no excuse to be as bad as they are right now, they have fantastic facilities, they are well paid and with a bit more effort they could all play for their country. But the most important thing is to be as good as you can be for your club first and if you cannot make a commitment like that then maybe they should go home now and stay there!

Supporters have hearts, they watch a player and as long as they give their all they will speak well of them, give up and they will have them down as a quitter and they will never forget that.

This weekend we host our most bitter of rivals and it’s no time to be thinking about having a bad game. Players can become heroes or villains very easily during this fixture. If our lot can’t get themselves up for this one, supporters will call for heads to roll as losing to arch rivals is a big no no!

Whether players are a seasoned pro or a newcomer, they lose this one and they will definitely not be forgotten!

No glass vessel will save them……

Written by Steve Palmer

About these ads

145 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Are we missing Alex Song??

October 29, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Last August, at the height of the transfer fun fest, Arsene Wenger surprised everyone by sanctioning the transfer of Alex Song.

Off went our Cameroon midfielder to that familiar destination, that is, Arsenal’s Spanish Bankers, FC Barcelona, for a very useful fee in the region of £15 million.

After many senior appearances, Song joined his old team-mate Cesc Fabregas on the Catalan’s substitute bench.

Back in England and beyond, many Gunners gnashed and ground their teeth in frustration (Not me btw).

Meanwhile Arsene tried manfully to complete a permanent transfer for Song’s replacement, Nuri Sahin.

A forlorn attempt it turned out as our old mate, the delightful Jose Mourinho, ensured that the German born Turkish International midfielder, moved to Liverpool on an expensive loan deal.

The common view by many Gooners, not shared by me, was that Wenger had weakened the Arsenal midfield.

A view, that I don’t concur with, because I felt that Song was an unreliable player who went missing when the team were up against it.
A player with a liking for the ‘show-boat pass’, but also with a lack of discipline that often left his team-mate up the creek without a paddle.

So, after just over two months of this season, do we miss Billong, because I have to say, for myself, that we do not!

With Jack Wilshere back on the scene, along with Emmanuel ‘Dench’ Frimpong, I personally think that we are well stocked in
midfield. Coquelin and Diaby (Don’t laugh), add versatility and dynamism to the more technical assets of Arteta and Santi the Genius.

,Long term Tomas Rosicky will add his verve and tenacity to the mix.

Serge Gnabry is coming to the boil nicely and could prove to be a sensation in the second half of the season and Thomas Eisfield is showing encouraging signs of developing into another Freddie Ljunberg and could well get some 1st team exposure in the near future.

Then there is the Arsenal DNA that is Nico Yennaris, who, just like Jenkinson, is developing nicely just under the radar, so not many fans notice him. How many fans consider Nico when they’re talking about squads, teams and formations?

I strongly suspect that Nico gets a run of games, he’ll become as indispensable as our Finnish Englishman rampaging down the right flank.

With those same fans asking ” Where the Hell did he come from?”

Written by Allezkev

330 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Defender departs, Walcott & Chamakh to stay? Arsenal offer a ray of hope in this debt ridden world of football…

July 24, 2012

I come from a country where there is so much inequality. So much so that only few people in the country can afford what you really call a necessity i.e. modern medicine facilities, nutritious food etc.

The reason for a lot of this is down to a corrupt government and, its by and large corrupt policies. As a tax payer we pay for things that are not even there while the biggest criminals of the country roam free and sit in our nation’s Parliament. These able leaders are given less chances but leaders with no backbone, get promoted because of their lineage.

Now, you know why I love Arsenal, it reminds me of my country.

But then Arsenal is not just doom and gloom, Arsenal means much more than that. Arsenal stand for all that in modern days we have forgotten about – Morals, Ethics, Self Sufficiency, Sustainable development, love, peace, unity, togetherness and much more.

I’ll just give a small example of that.

During last few months I have come across many fans who say our wage system and wage structures are crap. They say we pay mediocre player too much. They say we need to differentiate between a Superstar and a first team player.

I’ll ask the same thing to you folks, if the same happened to you at work would you be happy?

Let’s for example say –  if you are working in sales job and there are 10 of you in the same department and one is paid twice as much as you even though you both do the same job, would you be happy??

You wouldn’t mind if the other person sells more than you and thereby gets hefty commission, but would you like it if there is differentiation between your basic pay? I wouldn’t!

That is how I believe the AFC wage structure works, the wages include bonuses which are based on a player’s appearances, assists, goals, pre-assists among other things. So, if any player is injured for a season then he’d lose some part of wages and if I am not wrong then every players is insured and there by we maybe able to claim part of their wages and we take care of our fallen ones.

As a club we do care of our injured ones don’t we?

We nurture them like nature does, we don’t differentiate between any of our first team players, there by keeping equality and this is the feeling that touches me the most. I know I am going to be slandered for this but it’s how I feel.

Being in Education I always feel we are not just an entity but we are a school of thought. One which says, we would not sell our souls to Satan just to achieve what we want. Ironic coming from a guy whose nickname is Satan, isn’t it? But then isn’t it true that when you make a deal with Devil, you know what you’d have to pay in the future.

We say it is important to be at the top of the world but that should not be by pushing some one off the top and killing but by building that one more step and creating a new shelf for us. We say ‘yes football is more important than life and death’, but it’s not more important than blood, sweat and tears on which we want to build our empire.

We say in the ocean smaller fish is eaten by a bigger one but there is a way for both to co-exist.

For me, in this corrupt, debt ridden and dead world, Arsenal F.C. present a ray of hope.

I know it presents me with a chance to visit the roots of humanity and humility and that is the reason why I am a proud Gooner and all the time the club keep on believing in our philosophy, I will always be.

I will never be ashamed of Arsenal F.C. even if they haven’t won anything for 7 years.

Written by Satan to Saint

Titbits:

Pedro Botelho has left us and returned to Brazil with Atletico Paranaense, not sure what finances are involved but he’s another off the wage list.

Chamakh has spoken about his future and whether he is staying or going:

Yes. If I am staying here with Arsenal, I will do my best for the team and give the maximum. I hope this season I will play more than last. I have not spoken with the manager but I will soon.

 I am determined to stay.

Theo steals the day though, he too has been talking whilst on tour in Asia:

I’m not at all fazed by the speculation.  I actually don’t have a clue about all the reports.  I just like to get on with things and work hard.  My agent and the club will talk things out and when there’s something to be decided I’ll get involved.

Of course I am excited about the future of the club. Not many people recognise we’ve qualified for the Champions league so many years in a row. Now the next step is to prove them wrong by winning trophies.

Staying? Sounds like it…..

Finally, Mancini is upset as his Sheik won’t give him the money to buy our captain, well not until he has sold Adebayor and Tevez…

Ha ha!!

Arsenal play their first game in Asia tonight against Malaysia XI, kick off is at 2.45pm UK time….

That’s it, have a good day all…

517 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Twenty players out this summer? PSG want Chamakh for starters….

March 29, 2012

Arsenal are entering that period of the season, when difficult decisions are being made on the futures of many fringe players.

I don’t mean the likes of Sebastian Squillaci, Nicklas Bendtner, Manuel Almunia, Denilson, Carlos Vela and Lukasz Fabianski as it seems fairly certain that most, if not all of the above, will be leaving Arsenal this summer.

There are quite a few others though who Arsene Wenger could be seriously asking himself, if they have a future at Arsenal?

The likes of Craig Eastmond, Sean McDermott, Gavin Hoyte, James Shea, Rhys Murphy, Sanchez Watt, Vito Mannone, Kyle Bartley,
Ju Young Park, Chamakh, Yossi Benayoun, Henri Lansbury, Pedro Botelho and not forgetting Andrei Arshavin!

That’s 20 players in total…

Would Wenger really agree to release 20 players???

I cannot see so many leaving at the same time, despite so many excellent young players eagerly waiting to take their places in the 1st team and Reserve squads.

Wenger will probably send many of them out on loan again and we might very well be surprised at who Arsene retains rather than who he releases.

Take Ju Young Park for example, even if Podolski joins and Campbell gets a work permit, what would be gained by selling him now that he doesn’t have military service hanging over him? Also, we cannot be sure if our annual injury jinx will switch it’s attention away from our defenders, onto our forwards next season so it might be prudent to have an extra striker in the squad, just in case the worst case scenario decides to fall upon us.

Maroune Chamakh – most Arsenal fans are certain that Wenger will sell him, especially if Podolski joins but Arsene Wenger seldom does what we all think he’ll do, so don’t be surprised if Chamakh stays, at least for one more season.

I certainly wouldn’t be surprised at all, despite the newspapers being full of the story that PSG want to sign him for £5-6 Million.

Yossi Benayoun is a good professional and a good team player, but his salary is rather on the expensive side for someone who plays so few games.

What about Yossi, would he accept a pay-cut to stay?

Unlikely in my opinion and that’s why I expect to see our Israeli midfielder returning to Chelsea in the summer.

Bartley, Lansbury, Eastmond, Hoyte, Watt, McDermott, Shea, Murphy and Botelho are all in their early 20′s and need 1st team football at this stage of their careers, playing in the reserves is no good to them.

My own view is that Bartley, Lansbury and Eastmond will stay Gooners but go out on loan again.

The others, well that’s anyone’s guess.

I believe that Botelho is under contract to us for one more year and I strongly suspect that he’ll spend that year on loan in Spain again, before leaving for good in 2013.

Vito Mannone is in his mid-20′s and needs regular first team football, a summer transfer for him would probably be best for all concerned.

Wenger has made it clear that he likes Andrei Arshavin and despite loaning him back to Zenit St Petersburg, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him returning to the fold for next season.

Despite all the rumours, we cannot be certain that Wenger will sign anyone!

It seems that Mario Gotze won’t be leaving Dortmund for another year at least. Jan Vertonghen, despite his come and get me plea, could quite easily end up at White Hart Lane and Lukasz Podolski is now talking up a move to Lazio Roma.

So we might be a position next summer, of having to hold onto what we already have, as no replacements arrive.

Don’t be surprised if next seasons new additions turn out to be Junior Hoillett, Joel Campbell and Ryo Miyaichi…!!!

We all know what Arsene is like, bless him and we all know that we have a CEO who is all mouth and no trousers….

Finally, today Arsene Wenger will find out if he is to face another touchline ban in Europe after the ‘goings on’ in the tunnel after our Milan game. I think we all know what the outcome will be don’t we?

Written by Allezkev

246 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Wenger ready to start with SIX strikers! She might be getting ready, but that Fat Lady isn’t singing yet…..

March 6, 2012

Well an interesting weekend of football, our 2-1 win at Anfield was a gruelling match but two superb goals from our talisman Robin Van Persie secured all 3 points. Granted we didn’t play our best football and as all the media and pundits publicly stated that we rode our luck.

Chelsea also had a bad weekend, they lost not only their game against West Brom 1-0, but their manager Andre Villas Boas as well after Roman Abramovich finally lost patience in not winning.

The good news of course is that we sit 3 points ahead of them.

It’s an interesting talking point about Chelsea, where their owner is hands on and as soon as he feels that his chosen manager is not producing, he sacks them almost immediately. Where as with our own club if, had we operated the same way, we would surely have lost Arsene Wenger a long time ago, especially in the early part of this season, but we are in it for the long-term, the board realise that the club comes first and the season is from start to finish, not just a couple of bad results.

Arsene Wenger was selected by a board of directors, his history and his background and his personality were carefully investigated, they instilled in Arsene what they wanted and Arsene told them his plans long-term and the two parties agreed and they are still confident in one another after 16 years.

Getting back to the football, Tottenham played Manchester United on Sunday at White Hart Lane and lost 3-1.

Last Saturday morning as we went into the NLD, they were a huge ten points ahead of us but now that gap has been reduced to just four points.

This shows just how easy it is for any team to hit a bad run and what seems an unassailable lead, can disappear in just a couple of weekends.

With that in mind I come to tonight, our return leg against AC Milan.

Arsene Wenger:

At the moment, basically I have only two midfielders, Song and Rosicky. That means we have to play with four strikers. We can play any system you can imagine until tomorrow night. But I will not tell you that now.

I am tempted to play Oxlade-Chamberlain down the middle, we will see. I have 24 hours and I have to see if Rosicky is available or not. If he is not available then I will be in a very difficult situation, because I don’t know what I can do then. I hope he will make it. He told me yesterday [Sunday] that he will. But the medical staff are not sure.

I can play six strikers if I want, I have enough. I have Chamakh, Park, Van Persie, Gervinho, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain. I can take a risk, because I have no choice, basically.

We go into this game needing five goals and a clean sheet to go through to the next round.

Many would call an unassailable lead for Milan but I would give us a better than average chance. We are at home, in front of our own fans, fans who showed against Tottenham what voice they have to support our great club. We have fans in great numbers whereas Milan will tonight have a few, unlike the away fixture.

I know that many supporters have different views on how we approach this fixture, some believe we should field a weak team and concentrate on securing fourth place or above in the Premier League, others believe that finishing higher that Tottenham is the ultimate.

We are still in the competition albeit trailing by four goals, and I believe we should attack them and try our dambdest to get those goals back, if we go out there with belief and play like we did against Spurs and show the doggedness we showed against Liverpool we will give ourselves a good chance.

We can’t win the Premier League, so what have we got to lose?

Eight years ago, Deportivo lost 4-1 away to AC Milan in the first leg of a quarter-final of this competition then in the return leg and in front of their own fans, they spanked Milan 4-0 to go through.

If they could do it, so can we!

We must show commitment and the will to win, send a message out to the world that we are going to fight to the bitter end. Let them know we will not lay down, make everybody look over their shoulders and say, don’t forget the Gunners they are not finished yet and until it’s mathematically impossible, keep your eyes open.

Any team in the world knows that if they play the Arsenal at home it will not be easy, lets keep that going tonight, we are not out of this competition and we won’t be until the Fat Lady starts singing!!

We can win this game, we can get the result we need to go through, the goals we need to continue our journey but if we don’t I know it wont be for not trying.

COYG’s.

Written by Steve Palmer

264 Comments | Match Preview | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Surely his career is now over with us? Defender & Striker set for return….

February 10, 2012

After reports yesterday confirmed that Nicklas Bendtner will have a day in court for causing damage to five motor vehicles a few months back, if his career wasn’t already over with us, surely it is now?

I know we should all follow the golden rule of innocent until proven guilty but, I can’t see Wenger welcoming Nik back, not for one minute. One incident too many for the big Striker.

Arsene Wenger confirmed yesterday that we have no new injury concerns ahead of this weekends clash with Sunderland, that’s if it goes ahead of course with all the bad weather. He also confirmed that Gibbs and Chamakh are fit and looking for a starting place, that’s good news on Gibbs, but as for Chamakh, I don’t think his return will get the Sunderland defence quaking in their boots, do you?

Other good news is Carl Jenkinson is roughly two weeks away from full training and as the fixtures are soon to come fast and furious again, his return will be more than welcome.

Frimpong had his surgery yesterday so now it’s a long road to recovery for the young lad, hopefully we will hear a bit more on how that went.

Wenger didn’t miss out on seeing Gervinho’s wonder goal for the Ivory Coast:

It was a cracking goal against Mali, they were the better side but he made the difference. They scored only one goal, Gervinho made it and you can basically say he scored it on his own because he started on the halfway line and finished in a cool way.

Sometimes he rushes his decisions a little bit but I was very happy that he kept calm and finished in a very controlled way.

That’s great news for his confidence and his country as well because I believe they are the best team in Africa by a big distance at the moment. Hopefully they will get rewarded in the final.

He creates those dangerous situations but the coolness he misses a little bit. That can help him to do that. I feel he proved that with us. Also, who doesn’t want to be a hero in his own country? That will help him to be recognised in his own country and therefore boost his confidence levels.

We saw it too Arsene and we all hope he can bring that kind of ‘coolness’ back to London with him, he has had so many chances in front of goal but on too many occasions he fluffs his lines at the vital moment. Now we all know what he can do, maybe now we’ll start to witness hm doing it for his club…

That’s about it for today guys and gals, bit of a rushed one as someone has to clear the snow!! ;)

Have a good day all….

142 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Still no win in 2012!!

February 2, 2012

So, same old same old for our side last night, lots of the ball, yet not once could we hit the back of the net.

The first quarter of an hour was all us and we came close when Robin had a header cleared off the line and our striker nearly turned provider when he found Ramsey but his shot went straight to Boltons goal keeper. Robin then had another chance blocked and Chamberlain saw his effort go wide of the post.

Bolton had chances, Ngog held off Koscienly to get his shot in, but couldn’t get passed Szczesny.

David Wheater then caught out our defence with a back-flick  to Ngog who again got his shot in, but to our relief, it went wide.

With just over fifteen minutes to go in the first half, Chamberlain set Walcott free, he had just the keeper to beat, he had time on his side but his shot managed to hit the keepers foot and off for a corner. (If only Henry on Robin had that chance)

We put a whole lot of pressure on the Bolton defence, but still managed to get to half time without making any of it count!

Into the second half and we started well again but the same old pattern of play, all ball and no end product in fact it was until on the hour mark that Boltons keeper had much to do.

Ramsey played Walcott through but his passageway was blocked.  Sagna whipped in a cross which Robin got his boot to but saw the ball hit the outside of the post and Koscienly too had a chance from a corner which he headed wide.

Oxlade-Chamberlain fired over and Koscielny headed the resulting corner wide of the far post.

Bolton had a couple of half chances but they too couldn’t make them count.

Time for the old boys to grace the pitch – Thierry Henry and Kevin ‘elbows’ Davies.

Ten minutes left and Robin’s class nearly paid off, he spun on the corner of the penalty area and chipped a ball in on goal and over the head of a helpless Bogan, it wasn’t going to happen was it, the ball bounced off the top of the bar and finally found its way to Walcott but he made a right hash of his volley! Another golden chance gone missing!!

With full-time only minutes away, Mark Davies thought he’d earned Bolton a penalty, the referee thankfully was having none of it! Seconds later the same player did nearly win the game for the home side but his shot went inches wide….

So, we still haven’t managed to win a Premier League fixture this year.

Champions League qualifying place in May??

I don’t think so, Europa will be a struggle at this rate……

136 Comments | Match review | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Could this Manchester City reject be the answer?? Another Southampton player linked…

January 12, 2012

At 15 years old, Neil Taylor left or was allowed to leave Manchester City – he moved to Wrexham, which many may believe was a step down, even at his young age but more than likely, he just wanted to be back home in Wales.

Now though, he is hitting the headlines for Swansea and he’s still only 22 years old.  Taylor is considered to be a left back/left winger, just the kind of player that Arsene Wenger likes, adaptable he may call it, killing two birds with one stone is more like!

Long and short-term solution?

The player already represents Wales at full international level and maybe it’s time for his country captain to have a word in Arsene’s ear.

Taylor has already said that he’s ‘flattered by the interest shown by Arsenal’. Of course he goes on to say that he’s enjoying playing for his current club, what else could he say?

Some will be thinking ‘what about Gibbs’?

Life at the top is tough and as much as we fans make like Kieran Gibbs, his fitness is already a real concern so what will he be like as the years go by? His body already seems very injury prone and surely that will only get worse.

Maybe it’s time for he and Arsenal to part company?

Gibbs attitude and love for our club can never be called into question, he’s a great young professional lad but he cannot be relied on to last an entire season without having time out on the sick-bed. However, what our club could do is invest in Taylor, let he and Gibbs fight it out at left back (well, when Gibbs is fit) and push Santos up into Arshavin’s supposed position – then, by all accounts we would have three left backs, but two very good wingers and the three together will get a lot of playing time and none of them would get the hump – simples! ;)

Talking of left backs, another story suggests we are looking at Southampton yet again for our next young recruit. This time it’s Luke Shaw, the young English left back who is yet to play for the first team. He’s valued at £4M and every club is out to nab his signature…

Another Southampton purchase on the cards?

Watch this space on that one I guess!

Rumours were out yesterday that we had secured a deal for Eric Abidal from Barcelona – he’s now 32 years old and out of contract in the summer so I honestly can’t believe that such a deal has taken place, unless of course Barca have allowed the player to leave for free this month in a way of saying thank you to Arsene Wenger over the Cesc deal?

You just never know, eh?

Then of course we have all the stuff reported to be going on with Chamakh and Squillaci, suggestion is that Chamakh is wanted by Fiorentina, something which perhaps most Arsenal fans would like to go through – nice guy and all that but we need something more than he is able to give us.

Squillaci, well Lyon are interested, shame really as I’m sure he could have been good for us. ;)

Have a good day all, no potatoes today eh…

247 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Sulky, Sullen and often Arrogant!! Glad Henry has returned??

January 7, 2012

The return of King Henry has certainly exercised the minds of many Arsenal bloggers in recent days. Everyone it seems, has their own theory as to how and why he is back?

Don't knock his return, relish it........

For me being able to come here & train, being in the dressing room & seeing all the training staff, I have no words to describe it. To wear the jersey one more time, I can only be honoured.

People think I’m just saying that, but when I left this club I cried, and I cried for the statue. I haven’t cried a lot in my career but when I do it seems something is happening with Arsenal.

Mischief makers have been spreading rumours of discontent, especially among some of the younger members of the squad concerning Henry’s return. These rumours rumbled along briefly before rapidly disappearing from where they first came and that is back into those mischief makers imagination!!

Personally – I fully welcome the return of Thierry Henry.

He will give the majority of Arsenal fans a boost and something to anticipate during the months of January and February.

Of course I’m under no illusion that TH12′s signing is borne out of the usual rule of thumb used by our management and spendthrift Board, that is of course, cost effectiveness!

Arsene Wenger knows exactly what he will get from Thierry and he has already had an insight into the relationship that TH12 will have with his new and temporary team mates, having seen how everyone interacted during TH12′s period of training since he has been with us.

Maybe the attention focussed onto Henry will work in a positive way by diverting the spotlight away from other squad members like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ryo etc, therefore allowing less fuss to be made when they actually start playing more often.

Youngsters like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ryo Miyaichi and Benik Afobe, can only benefit from working and learning alongside Henry, just as Henry benefitted and learned from training with Dennis Bergkamp.

It still isn’t clear how Wenger intends to use Henry…

Many, myself included, believe that TH12 will be used as an ‘impact substitute’, coming off of the bench against tiring opponents with 15 to 20 minutes remaining and to give van Persie a breather, or when we desperately need a goal.

How much more comforting will it be for Arsenal fans to see Henry coming on instead of the out of form and out of confidence duo of Arshavin and Chamakh.

Robin has gone away to sunny shores for a break and Wenger has confirmed that our new Number 12 will be in the squad to face Leeds on Monday. Just how fantastic is that? The FA Cup, a home fixture with The Emirates no doubt full to the brim, nothing more than the player deserves….

I know that a few Gooners have mixed feelings about King Henry’s return but I’m going to enjoy every moment that he’s on the pitch in an Arsenal shirt.

It’s not often we have the chance to view a living legend in action for our club.

Don’t moan about it. Relish it….

Written by Allezkev

195 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

The Post-Christmas Hangover….

December 28, 2011

This year we got to enjoy Boxing Day without an Arsenal fixture, thanks to the 24-hour strike by union workers shut the London Underground down, and had a knock-on effect on London surface and national rail traffic. So prior to Christmas, our club announced that our home fixture with Wolves would be pushed back 24 hours. An extra day of rest, which would hopefully translate into a good performance and three points…

Certainly, the opportunity was there. Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool all dropped points, the latter two at home. While City remain well off our radar for the time being, we came into today with an opportunity to leapfrog Chelsea and put some distance between us and Liverpool.

The official site ran a piece quoting Arsene as saying that Ju’s “adaptation” time is over and he now has to step up and show his quality. Seeing that he – once again – was not on the bench today, I am not sure just where and when he will be afforded his opportunity. If it won’t arrive until Chamakh departs for the African Cup of Nations next month, then there was no point to the article. Who knows…Perhaps Chamakh’s psyche is so fragile that Arsene is loath to even use Ju until the former is unavailable for selection. Anything resembling that speaks more to Chamakh’s unsuitability for our club than anything else.

There was also a piece quoting Arsene saying OC would be “ready to play” in 2012. He was on the bench but did not make it on the pitch…

Prior to the holiday weekend, Arsene also discussed Robin and his pursuit of the calendar year goal scoring record, suggesting the record is secondary (which I agree with) to team results and implying that our captain may rest one of these two (QPR upcoming) home fixtures, and stressing that other players need to be rested.

As it was, Robin did start, JD returned to the side at right back, Theo missed out due to illness (did he eat something on Christmas that did not agree with him?) and Ramsey rested for Rosicky. Benny was the direct beneficiary of Theo’s misfortune, taking his place.

We lined up Szczesny, TV, Mert, Kos, JD, Arteta, Song, Rosicky, Benny, Robin and Gerv. Al, Miquel, Coq, Ramsey, OC, Arsh, and Chamakh made the bench.

Wolves are a side we have done well against – both here and at Molineaux – in recent seasons, and we got ourselves in the scoreboard fairly early. Wolves threatened briefly before Rosicky picked Benny out. The latter bisected the Wolves defence with a great pass to Gerv, who decked Hennessey, and slotted home between a pair of defenders. Eight minutes in, a goal from someone other than Robin – a great start, and surely a platform for us to surge into fourth and perhaps improve our goal difference…

Sadly, that was not to be…

With 15 minutes gone, we should have doubled the lead, Gerv turning provider, but Robin shot wide. Robin then tried to chip Hennessey but Ward got back to head the ball out for a corner. Just past the half hour, we had another great opportunity, as Robin picked Henry’s pocket and played to Rosicky in. With room and time for a shot, he opted to pass – one of several instances where we should have instead shot – to Arteta, who had his attempted shot blocked. Robin then took the shot himself in our next attack, but Hennessey got down and tipped the ball around the post…

Wolves had not yet had a shot on goal, so perhaps it was inevitable that they would make their first – and only – shot on goal count.

The equalizer was more about our inability to deal with the set piece: we couldn’t clear a corner, Wolves played the ball to Hunt, whose deflected shot found Fletcher and he headed in from close range. Unfortunately, an inattentive Song played Fletcher onside, so the goal stood and we were back to square one…

We tried for an immediate response, Rosicky turning and shooting, but too close to Hennessey. Jarvis had given JD an uncomfortable afternoon, and Wolves had a good passage of play through him right before halftime, but didn’t create anything. Robin worked his way into the Wolves area right at the end of the two minutes extra time, but the move broke down and we went into the break level.

We kicked the second half off with no changes to either side. That changed within a couple of minutes, however, as Zubar apparently did his knee after colliding with Gerv. He tried to carry on, couldn’t and Stearman had to replace him five minutes in. On 57 minutes, we Kos’ cross clearly struck Berra’s arm. Referee Atwell awarded a corner instead of a penalty, and TV was booked for dissent.

Gerv then went on a great run with the ball, bringing into the box, but instead of shooting when he had the chance, he passed to Song, who was crowded out. At this point, we dominated play, but continued over-think and over-pass the ball…It was starting to resemble us at our ineffectual worst of last season’s run-in…

Arsene made his first change with 25 minutes remaining, Arsh replacing Benny, who I thought didn’t have that bad of a game. Henry then fouled Gerv to concede a free-kick in a good position. Robin took it and curled the ball towards the top corner, but Hennessey just tipped it over the bar at full stretch.

By now, the pressure on the Wolves defence and keeper was almost non-stop, with Hennessey saving a point-blank Mert header, with Rosicky then shooting wide…

With 20 minutes remaining, Song and Fletcher squared up. The former was booked, and Arsene replaced him with Ramsey soon after.

Five minutes later, Wolves were down to ten men, after Atwell showed Milijas a straight red for a challenge on Arteta. Honestly, I thought the Wolves player was unlucky to be sent off here – if it were an Arsenal player for the same challenge, I would be furious…

As it was, we couldn’t really make the extra man count.

The final 15 regulation and 6 extra minutes were a one way procession to the Wolves goal. Robin had a handful of good chances – including a one-on-one – but Hennessey denied him each time and when we did beat Hennessey, Arsh hit the post instead of the net.

Arsene made his final change with 5 regulation minutes left, Chamakh replacing JD. While Arsh looked improved for the second consecutive appearance (albeit without making a telling impact), all we got from Chamakh was more of the same. His only contribution was to take Robin out when both players collided going for a header – fortunately, our Captain was able to continue.

At this point, if Ju cannot give us more than Chamakh does, perhaps we should just release him from his contract…

After a great save to deny TV, Hennessey was then booked for time-wasting during the stoppage time but Atwell didn’t add any extra time on, and blew the whistle just after six minutes. And so we allowed a golden opportunity to slip through our fingers…

We started the day in fifth and finish it in fifth. Five seems to be a relevant number, as that is also the amount of points Wolves have now picked up away from home. They have more or less been road kill away from Molineaux – and not particularly good there, either – making our failure to win today look that much worse…

At the same time, it has to be mentioned that we are not the only side this happened to. For Wayne Hennessey, read David Stockdale, the Fulham keeper who frustrated Chelsea in a very similar manner at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day. Add frustrating draws for Man City and Liverpool against opponents they also would expect to beat fairly comfortably.

Other than Spurs (who won 2-0 at Carrow Road in the late kickoff) and Man United (who once again saw Wigan roll over and hand them three points on a platter), none of the top six had a good round of fixtures.

So it is best to get this one out of our system and look to take it out on QPR on New Year’s Eve day.

If Arsene is thinking about making wholesale changes there, I would urge him to reconsider. For now, I think we will have to start our strongest available side, try to rack up some goals early and perhaps put ourselves in a situation where three players can get partial breaks through substitutions.

I don’t think we can afford to put ourselves in a position to drop more points, after what happened yesterday.

The thing that continues to worry me is that lack of impact our subs have been making. Benny’s goal at Villa Park is the first decisive contribution I can remember for a while. Before that, Robin had to rescue us as a sub, when Arsene had intended to rest him.

Normally, Arsene mechanically brings on the usual suspects (Arsh and Chamakh) at seemingly pre-determined intervals and it rarely makes a difference.  Yesterday it certainly did not. As long as we continue to persist with these two players as first subs, I think the more difficult it will be for us to come back in games…

This wasn’t a good result but we have a chance to make up for it on Saturday. Looking at the frustration on many of our players’ faces, I expect a response versus QPR.

If this isn’t motivation enough, then hopefully the prospect of settling some accounts with a certain Joseph Anthony Barton will do the trick…

We owe him, and not just a little bit…

Written by Oliver

112 Comments | Match review | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 478 other followers