Daily Bits and Bobs

What is Ozil doing? Champions League secured, now to push on…

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

A skinny Boy George.....
A skinny Boy George.. Or the next Andrew Ridgeley??

What is he wearing? Got to love him eh…..

Thierry Henry:

Arsenal must sort out this injury situation.

I honestly don’t know why the get so many. Arsenal would have won the title within the last four or five years but for all these injuries.

Surely not with Big Ollie Thierry?

Does he not know we now have Shad… Come on Thierry, keep up…..

Ok, kidding of course but he’s probably right and this season is proof of that. Had we started the season playing the way we have in 2005 with most of our players fit, we’d have been crowned PL Champions by now.

But as said, we have Shad and all hope sits with him working his magic for a long time just as it appears he’s been doing of late. I’m even starting to believe he’s finally got to the root of Diaby’s problems. He is to Arsenal what Noel Fitzpatrick is to animals. I love Noel…

All the talk seems to be about next season, how we look like having a squad which if all stay fit, can win the Premier League as long as we add a few players.

All that needs to be placed firmly on the back burner as right now we have think about one thing only. Champions League has been secured as the Dippers can’t catch us now but we need to stay focussed, secure second or third spot and then win the FA Cup. If we achieve both, Arsenal will have had a better season than last.

Tonight it’s Swansea at home and we need a good result with a few goals after City won 6-0 yesterday. A win which sent Qpr into the Championship and I won’t miss Joey Barton that’s for sure…

Head-to-head

  • The teams are meeting for the eighth time in the Premier League. So far, they have won three apiece.
  • The other result was a 2-2 draw the last time Swansea visited the Emirates, where the Swans picked up a point thanks to Mathieu Flamini’s last-minute own goal.
  • Swansea have had to come from behind to get seven of the 10 points they have earned against the Gunners.
  • 21 of the last 22 goals in this fixture in all competitions have been scored in the second half of the match.

Swansea are looking for a third consecutive league win and have won two of their last three away matches.

Arsenal are on a better run having won nine of the last ten league matches, the only blip was a draw against the Chavs. Our record at home has been ok having won 24 so far and losing just once but the nine draws are what cost us the title this season. Eighteen points dropped at home won’t win us anything.

Conceding goals at home though has been much better in 2015 with just two chances getting passed David Ospina in our last seven Premier League matches at the Emirates.

As we all know, 2015 has seen us seriously improve all over the pitch with the only criticism being we don’t take enough of the chances we take. I don’t think we shoot enough either. Aaron Ramsey did last Monday and it reaped reward. We have to do that more often, especially tonight against Lukasz Fabianski.

He’s a very good goalkeeper, he’s showing that this season and playing regularly has certainly helped him but we Arsenal fans know, put pressure on him and he can flap.

Three points are crucial tonight and if the boys carry on playing the way they have been this year then we should get them but Swansea will be no pushover. They’ve beaten us once this season and they’ll want to beat us a second time. We have to be at the top of our game and not let that happen.

As for the team selection. It’s not broken Arsene, so don’t fix it. Not with so few games remaining. Although I have a sneaky feeling Theo Walcott will finally get a start.

COYRRG’S!

 

rico

167 thoughts on “What is Ozil doing? Champions League secured, now to push on…”

  2. rico says:

    Thanks Devil..

    Thank goodness Chambers won’t be at right back this evening.. In fact AW has hinted he’ll only play central defence or midfield…

    Bang goes our CDM then.

  3. Hell Raising Devil says:

    We have had it from the horse’s mouth then Rico…….no defenders. At least AW said that. We now have the following players for the defence…….

    Bellerin, Jenkinson, Debuchy, Per, Kos, Gaby, Chambers,Gibbs, NAcho……..that makes it 9 players. so one will be leaving on loan…….Jenks. AW said he will not buy a defener.

    As with regards the keeper…….I still say OOOOOOsspina will be the number 1 next year. And those who think AW will get Cech, Casillas or any other keeper are simply illuding themselves.

    Shopping will not be at the flea market but I believe that AW will go and buy a DM.

    and maybe a forward…..while releasing/selling Sanogo,Campbell and Poolski.

  5. Hell Raising Devil says:

    We have Gnabry and the OX to come into the team.

    I have a sneaky feeling that if we do not get a CDM, it will be Gnabry who will be pushed to play there.

    but I still feel that a forward will come to AFC next season.

  9. Tai says:

    Morning all,

    Good post, Rico.

    Yeah, Le Boss said no defender is needed and seems to have high regards for Gabriel. If he believes so, then let’s trust him.

    Like Dev, I’m for Ospina too. Thatt leaves us with just one real chance of strengthening – DM…Wenger will add a solid DM…unfortunately though, it may not be Schneiderlin.

    Striker? I don’t believe Arsene will get one. He won’t relegate Giroud to second choice. Giroud is good enough for this team considering general play. Instead, he may occasionally push Walcott top front.

  11. Wavy says:

    Good comments Rico.
    Barton, mmmmm, even though relegated he will continue to tweet……….the twat!
    I can’t see many coming in either, maybe a striker, but who and from where and at what cost? Project youth did not die it was just having a breather. I think there will be some quite gifted footballers emerging from the junior teams next season. We’ll see?

    Morning match day gooners everywhere.

  12. lance peters says:

    if we get a DM and striker added to this squad , we will compete for league next year. injury free

  13. scottfromoz says:

    I was watching some highlights from the weekends game, and a blast from the last came up…thought he’d retired…..Wilfred Bony.
    Yet another example of a top striker fading way at Chelksi.
    Yet another example of “if we have him, the others don’t”.

  15. rogerbij says:

    Random from Ozil! Ok, so agree that we have a sweet squad right now, but there are a lot of names that will leave in the summer. Not deadwood exactly as in other years, but not starters either. I think Rico had a list recently? Something like this

    Jenkinson
    Podolski
    Sanogo
    Campbell
    Park??
    Flamini
    Rosicky
    Arteta to stay but hardly play

    So of course Arsene will buy, and hopefully its all about quality. Thats 8 players I list above, and some of them wont need to be covered for. But I think it is entirely realistic that Wenger buys 3 quality players, and 2 quality players at least (ie not kids).

    Im still picking a DM, another creative midfielder to fill in for rosicky/flam/arteta and a striker (Lacazette for me all day long)

    Nice imagination with Gnabry as a DM, but I cant see what qualities mean he is suited for the role, other than he can kick a football pretty well.

    3 points tonight and we are rockin. With Man Utd getting CL football maybe it takes the pressure off for next Sunday too? But only if we beat Swansea so ManU dont really expect to sneak 3rd.

  17. rico says:

    Diaby but not Jenks Roger 🙂

    No Gnabry as DM for me either, would be a waste imo.

    Lacazette, Morgan/Kondogbia, Isco/Reus – Simples.. 😉

  21. rico says:

    Ha ha Drake, don’t believe all the manager says….

    Sky Sports reckon we are interested in Tom Cleverley… 😮

    🙂 Scott..

  23. rico says:

    For those who get Sky Sports One – there’s highlights of a friendly fixture at 6.30pm and again 11pm – it’s between a few of the Arsenal Invinsibles against SS’s presenters and others. Lewis Hamilton (who confirmed he really is an Arsenal fan and always has been) plays, Henry, Campbell, Bobby, Merse etc etc….

  24. Tai says:

    Despite the presence of fans’ favourite, Fabregas, my most cherished Arsenal player was Rosicky…something about the little Mozart makes him special.

    Unfortunately, age is robbing me of my friend…

    Today, my favourite Arsenal player is Santi Carzola. Unfortunately for Santo he came in the era of Xavi and Iniesta. I have never seen a player use both feet so effectively. His close control, change of direction, caressing the ball make him a joy to watch.

    Sadly, age is creeping in again. Can’t God let him play forever?

  25. Rick says:

    Afternoon Rico and the house.
    Goals by Ottiwell Iwobi and Serge have given under 21’s a 3-1in at Bolton

  27. BT62 Gooner says:

    Gnarby scored for the U21s in a 3-1 Arsenal win….Iwobi and Brandon Ormonde Ottewill got the other two…

  28. rico says:

    Afternoon Rick. The reason your comments go into moderation is because you haven’t been including your name and the url attached to your details is not liked by the spam filter…

  32. rico says:

    Bt – finally a win in the Academy, wonders will never cease.. lol

    Good for Gnabry, big season ahead for him imo..

  33. andrewh1313 says:

    Afternoon, we got a match coming at last?

    Sorry rico, didn’t get back on site yesterday, my local team is Southend United. They fail in play-off semis every year!

  37. rico says:

    Arsenal subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Wilshere, Rosicky, Walcott

    Arsenal team to play Swansea: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud

  39. goonster says:

    Afternoon rico fired up are ya 😀 the lads should be up for this Swansea has what it takes to frustrate us and beat us. Let’s keep our concentration and wipe the floor with them. They a due a thrashing soon.

  42. goonster says:

    Lol rico I am fired up. Brianna is taking her afternoon nap. Life is good. Just grabbed me a beer and waiting anxiously. Come on you gunners.

  44. rico says:

    It’s a charity match Goonie involving Henry, Sol, Parlour, Bobby, merse – it was funny.. Sol Campbell is a real porkie these days….

  56. goonster says:

    That was a straight red maam. That’s the kind of tackle thst broke abou. Refs should clamp down on that. It’s dangerous.

  58. goonster says:

    rico that was a career ending tackle. He should be off. I don’t care if it’s the first minute of the game.

  69. goonster says:

    Gee we lack width. We need a ball carrier through the middle. Ramsey is wasted on the wings. Come on arsene.

  70. Micko says:

    My biggest worry, what’s Ozil gonna do if the tramp wants his clothes back !

    C’mon Arsenal.

  72. andrewh1313 says:

    Pathetic ref. And crowd for allowing it without loud booing. Should have been a din every time ball got near Shelvy. Hurrah!!!!! Should be off now.

  80. goonster says:

    This is probably the worst I ve seen arsenal all season. Yann boring boring arsenal lol.

  82. Bob John says:

    Our attitude is piss poor tonight. All that hugging and shit in the tunnel has been brought on to the pitch. We are getting knocked off the ball too easily and have no urgency.

  86. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Swansea plan 1 Arsenal 0 !
    We need speed!!!!!
    Boring boring Arsenal! No shoots or just one or two!!!!!

  87. rico says:

    They sure look to be a bit casual. Get some bloody fire in their bellies at half time and let’s see a much better performance!

  91. goonster says:

    Rico fire in their bellies won’t do them any good set that fire inside their ass and watch them play Swansea off the park.

  103. goonster says:

    Alexis is FUCKING annoying sometimes. He could have squared that ball to rambo. What a douche?

  121. scottfromoz says:

    Saying that, this is on our attackers.
    We’ve had plenty of relatively easy chances and hit the target every time.
    Trouble is, Fabianski has been the target.

  123. rico says:

    We’ve gone back to the early part of the season Scott, why find the back of the net when we can shoot at the keeper…

  126. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Who was to blame for Flapphandski during his time at the Ems???? Fabianski himself or the team in front of him plus AW???

    I think Flappyhandski got MOtM today.

    And AW kept the wrong Pole.

  129. scottfromoz says:

    Bloody disgraceful.
    Wenger AGAIN got it wrong by taking Giroud off.
    When we are chasing a goal late, the crosses are flying in yet who do we have….Theo, who would not win a challenge in the air v Sean.
    Sanchez should have been replaced.
    His worse game for us and I Swansea did their homework on him….force him wide and he always cuts back inside onto his right foot.
    Nacho should be asked if he was nailed to the floor, and every player who took a shot should be asked did Fabianksi have a target on his chest.
    Disgraceful.

  131. scottfromoz says:

    Devil, I’m sorry, but I disagree totally.
    Fabianksi never made a save.
    All he did was caught the ball…we never tested him one single time.
    He did nothing wrong, but he had the easiest possible night.

  132. goonster says:

    Seriously what happened today?? I have no words to describe how sick I feel right now. God am so angry. I said it from the onset. The setup was wrong taking out OG was stupid. One of Santi rambo or ozil could have been hurled off. This is why I don’t get wenger sometimes. Good night guys.

  134. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Swansea won us twice this season!!!!
    At emirates we have won 3 games, lost3 or 4 and drew one!
    they have always the same tactic!
    and what can we do with Walcoot on the center?

  136. andrewh1313 says:

    At least it brings Wenger back down to earth how good we are. Finishing about 15 points behind Chelski. Took 63 minutes to have a shot on target!!!! Crap.

  137. scottfromoz says:

    Andrew, our shooting was crap, but so was the decision making……there were at least 7-8 occasions in the first half where we should have taken the shot from 20 years out but stuffed around.
    As Rico said, back to old habits.

  138. kel says:

    What a load of bollocks that was. Tippy tappy, slow build up crap, getting caught by a basic counter attack.. 🙁 i don’t want to be to harsh but fuck me that was the silly old Arsenal of before Xmas… i just hope it wakes them up ffs…

  141. allezkev says:

    Disappointing result, but as long as we don’t finish 4th it doesn’t really matter wether we’re 2nd or 3rd….

    It would have been nice to finish 2nd, but maybe Wenger needed to be reminded that we’re still short of being title winners.

    This way at least it might concentrate Wengers mind on strengthening this summer, rather than going with what he has next season…

  142. Micko says:

    Didn’t see the game tonite, sounded woeful by all accounts, close but no cigar rico, Champions League secured….why bother pushing on !!!

  144. kel says:

    I missed most of the Hull game scott, but I’ll take your word for it… tonight’s game was just so frustrating for me, just typical Arsenal becoming complacent and a bit arrogant which lead to are old achillies heel of getting sucker punched.

    We can’t win them all of course, so let’s hope that this result acts as a good swift kick in the balls… because that was a game we should never have lost.

  145. ScottfromOz says:

    Kel, not sure what the cause is, but it’s the same old problem…..not enough movement on and off the ball.
    When we slow things down, we are shit.
    Jack made some difference when he came on but Rosicky would have changed things dramatically, and Ox would have cut them to ribbons…..I know he’s not available.
    Such a disappointing performance.

  146. potter says:

    We are obsessed with passing, we often do series of short passes between two or three players to gain little or no ground . Against bus parking teams you have to attack with pace . Tonight we had Swansea playing with 10 men behind the ball and one up front , in effect we had 3 players marking him Mert and Kos and Coquelin leaving us outnumbered 7 against 10. We played with little width Sanchez , Cazorla , Ozil and Ramsey all occupying the same area going inside and trying to thread passes through the eye of a needle . Still it’s not a surprise we have seen it so many times before . After we had taken Giroud off Wilshere actually started running and committing defenders it’s a shame that Theo could not find the room to do likewise . You could excuse it were it a one off however Swansea have done it to us before and we just don’t seem to have the ability to adapt when necessary.

  148. Adam says:

    Morning Rico and all. Shocking game at the Emirates last night. Letting Swansea dictate the pace of the play was unforgivable. All the same old shortcomings were there again. Over passing, no directness, far, far too square etc, etc. too many players way off the boil too. Rubbish really.

  149. rico says:

    Morning Adam and all..

    I had a sneaky feeling something like that was going to happen last night. Too much praise has been thrown at the players by the manager, too much confidence from the players chit chat and last night I think they were a bit over confident…

  150. tsgh says:

    another earthquake in Nepal?

    Morning fellow Gooners…; a wasted evening…

    Scott- would you believe Flappy has get the highest number of clean sheets? At least one of 2 top keepers all season

  151. rico says:

    AW on on Arsenal’s inconsistency inside the box…

    ‘I just told you, we rushed our finishing. Sometimes we were maybe too eager to finish alone rather than passing the ball. Sometimes we had to force the situation and in the end you have to give them credit – they defended well’.

    Is he having a laugh? The over passing cost us, what’s wrong with shooting?

  152. tsgh says:

    andrewh1313 May 11, 2015 at 10:13pm- stop on Sir.

    Have we improved? Capital NO!
    I have to agree with Goonie above too- Alexis should be taken off against teams who park the bus… reason Pep bought him and hardly played him…

  153. Adam says:

    Rico. As an event it was a waste of time going to watch. If you want to win the PL which I assume is the plan, you really cannot afford performances like that. It throws into sharp focus whether some players at the club have any future, given the style of play Wenger favours. I cannot see where a few of them fit in.

  154. tsgh says:

    Micko re 10:51..”Champions League secured….why bother pushing on !!!”

    you know finishing 4th gets Stan more money than finishing 3rd. 😛 as long as we qualify for UCL proper

  156. rico says:

    Adam – I strongly suspect AW will talk about the positives and he and the players will carry on in the same vein…

  157. Drake says:

    Morning all im glad we lost,when wenger said theo for cf and chambers for dm i mad because that how we lost title last season when he said we have lord bentner.he needs to know that we are forced to sign a dm and cf,if we are to improve.

  158. rico says:

    Ts – if all other clubs have shot straight at him the way we did, no wonder he’s one of the better keepers…

  159. Adam says:

    Rico. You are certainly right there. We have had a good run for sure though. But we failed last night, badly. Let’s hope Wenger can use that defeat positively now.

  161. Drake says:

    I know that there is no need to single out players but i feel like these ones are the reason we lost the game sanchez,ramsey and jack.sanchez hold the ball much longer,he hides this with his goals,jack is simila to him too.they dont know how to play a quick pass.ramsey with sanchez i feel like they were selfish they wanted to go for glory when they could have been smart and go for better options

  163. tsgh says:

    It is good to be brought down to earth before we face LvG and Dick Advocat…
    We can’t go into thouse games thinking we just have to turn up…

  165. Drake says:

    Yes rico we needed tomas.favourism is killing arsenal,i can bet money that next season wenger will find a way to get jack on the starting 11.

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