Almunia, 7: Did well. Claimed the ball when it came in from corners or crosses, and made a couple of smart saves. Question marks can perhaps be asked about the first goal - would Cech have let it in? - but largely blameless aside from that. Main problem seems to be his lack of gravitas: he doesn't have the same presence as Jens, which might have unnerved the defence slightly.
Traore, 6. A weak link, I would have to say. Did well getting forward, but, especially when exposed by Diaby's defensive naivety, Chelsea had much joy in attacking down their right hand flank. Bale and Clichy may prove to be a superior partnership of left-backs.
Toure, 6: Defended stridently and marshalled the team well, before losing his temper and marring his performance. His form has been patchier this year than many have suggested.
Senderos, 6.5: Beaten by Drogba for the second goal, but was not at fault for the first and actually did reasonably well against his nemesis for the majority of the game. I still think there's a top defender in him.
Hoyte, 6.5: Solid without being spectacular. Whilst eminently preferable to Eboue at the moment in all areas apart from attacking flair, Justin really needs to learn how to get forward more if he's going to entrench himself in this position.
Diaby, 7.5: Excellent, Vieira-esque passing, movement and skill. Needs to tackle more and Wenger should stop playing him out of position on the left. It's clearly not his natural position, as seen by his frequent forays into the centre which left Traore exposed. A real prospect and let's hope his ankle is not too bad. Could have won the game early in the second half.
Denilson, 7: A massive test for the youngster, and one he came through in a largely positive fashion. Notably tired by the latter stages of the second half. Was slightly out-muscled by the, er, weight of Lampard, Essien and Ballack, but he won't be next time.
Fabregas, 8: Superb - largely dictated the game, and showed he can run almost any midfield. Also, extra-marks for taking on a man twice his weight and possibly coming off best. He needs more silverware though or he could become frustrated at the club. He also needs to start scoring and improve his shooting.
Walcott, 7.5: The real Theo Walcott stands up. A blinding goal which he thoroughly deserved, and which will hopefully shut some of his critics up. Not always able to beat Bridge, but showed enough talent to emphasise his colossal potential.
Aliadiere, 6.5: Huffed and puffed, and made a nuisance of himself without ever really looking like a real goal-mouth threat. If not now, when?
Baptista, 7: In retrospect, a good performance. If not for Cech's superb save he would have scored, and did cause the Chelsea defence problems. I'm still relatively undecided as to whether he's really Arsenal quality, but I don't think that performance would have done him too much harm.
Subs:
Eboue, 5: Skinned for the goal, unable to get forward, and an idiot in the melee. A new right-back must be found, regardless of his attacking potential.
Hleb, 5: Disappointing. Nowhere near as effective as his cameo at the Lane. Rosicky may have been a better option, if he'd been available.
Adebayor, 5: Not given enough time and was unable to get into the game. His, perhaps understandable, reaction to the sending off was ill-advised, probably precluding any removal of his ban.
A few final points
- Whilst he has been subsequently praised for it, Mourinho's intervention - and Arsene's - onto the pitch was not the right thing to do. To me, it smacked of a manager desperate for the lime-light and prolonged the incident.
- Will the Chelsea fans be punished at all? The celery throwing was, obviously, unlikely to cause injury, yet still riled the Arsenal fans up, and it's also worth remembering that the reason Gary Lewin was able to treat Terry so quickly, was due to his presence at that end to treat Almunia, who had been struck by a missile thrown from the Chelsea end.
- Is winning everything? Would Arsenal fans prefer our current crop of inconsistent artistry, or a ruthless trophy winning machine? A lot rides on the future of our young lot, but they need to start winning things either this year or next.
- Drogba and Cech won Chelsea the final. Cech was magnificent; Drogba took his chances. They were the difference, and were it not for them we would have prevailed. For the difference between us and Chelsea to be so slim is obviously a cause for hope, but we need to start tangibly showing it soon.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Pyrrhic victories and moral victories: a weekend in Cardiff
I've literally just got back from Cardiff so sit back and relax: this may be a long one.
My first cup final and could have I asked for more? Yes, would be the answer: an Arsenal victory. But that rather obvious matter aside, it was a great day out in Cardiff; one in which I felt proud of the club, most of its players, and almost all its supporters.
Coming to the Arsenal end of the stadium was like a mini-festival. All the pubs were bulging; one had the Buzzcocks belting out as Gooners chanted our songs down the streets. Most pubs were so busy that we had to head halfway down Queen's street to find one in which we could get served in a reasonable amount of time. At this juncture I would add that perhaps its time that us Gooners stopped pandering to Spuds idiocy, and no longer chanted songs which use the 'Y' word, or songs of that nature. These chants wouldn't exist if not for the Spuds self-labelling, but I'm not afraid to say I dislike them.
It was my first time at the Millenium stadium and quite an atmosphere had brewed at the Arsenal end by the time I arrived. The stadium, despite being bigger than the Emirates, had managed to maintain a sense of intimacy much more successfully than our abode. Moreover, standing was almost mandatory throughout which further helped build the electric atmosphere throughout. No stewards telling you to sit down here.
Indeed, if the final had been decided on the fans' performance, Arsenal would have won hands down. The Chelski fans were pathetic: I didn't hear them chant til after they'd taken the lead, and their 'hilarious' celery throwing antics (we couldn't tell it was celery at the time I might add) further emphasised their lack of class. Aside from a brief lull after their second goal, the Arsenal fans were superb throughout, and we even belted out a few songs after the final whistle to our young lads collapsed on the pitch. I must admit to leaving before the presentation, but I didn't want to be anywhere near the stadium when Lampard et al. lifted the trophy.
The game itself was a frantic affair; a wonderful spectacle due to the ambition and attacking flair of our kids. Put simply, we should have been two or three up within twenty minutes. Had it not been for Cech - utterly superb throughout - we would have been, Baptista unlucky not to score with an excellent curling effort from outside the box. Theo's goal was superbly taken, and I can only hope this earns him some respite from the ridiculous criticism he's received of late. I'm happy I was there to see his first Arsenal goal.
But, despite having little possession, it was clear we were weak on our left side. Traore, our rawest player, was at left-back, and Diaby, whilst excellent, consistently drifted into the centre leaving the young defender even further exposed. It seemed apparent to me quite early on that Chel$ea would get joy if they attacked through their right-flank, but it still took a poor piece of linesmanship to gift Chel$ea their first goal.
My immediate concern was that the Chel$ea goal could knock the stuffing out of the young players. Far from it. Chel$ea didn't really threaten for the rest of the half, while we continued to stream forward; it's a credit to our youngsters that the game was still so finely poised until so late on.
The incident which changed the game, in retrospect, was the Terry injury. Us plebs in the opposite corner had no inkling as to what was going on, not even who was injured until the substitution was announced. The injury ultimately favoured Chelsea in a number of ways: it galvanised their players, slightly traumatised ours, and also removed one of their weakest performers (in the game itself) from the field.
It gradually became clear that our early energies were also being to take their toll on our players energy levels. Traore in particular seemed to be suffering, not least for the introduction of Robben, who offered Chelsea a far greater degree of creativity upfront than in the first half.
Still, we had yet more chances to seal the game. Diaby should have scored when one on one with Cech, and would have scored if almost any other goalkeeper had been playing. The major deficiency in Cesc's otherwise stunning abilities was demonstrated by his miss a few minutes later. It's an area in which he must improve.
With so many missed chances and young legs tiring, the winner had a certain inevitability to it. Denilson, who's distribution had begun to suffer as the second half progressed, gave the ball away, Robben skinned Eboue, and Drogba beat Senderos to score. The Chel$ea fans finally started singing; it never really felt as if we would get an equalizer.
All that was left was the unsightly melee. Many commentators have postulated that this rumpus almost came out of nowhere, but it had been brewing for some time. Chel$ea had put in a number of very cynical challenges throughout, hacking down players who were almost through on goal and constantly making snipey, niggling kicks. Coupled with a late goal and officials giving almost every 50-50 decision Chel$ea's way, Kolo had had enough of Chel$ea's excessively aggressive, unsporting attitude when Mikel grabbed his shirt. Adebayor was wrongly sent off, and I was astounded to see Fabregas and Lampard escape with yellows, as their little tete-a-tete seemed far more violent.
The melee also had the unfortunate effect of cancelling out any injury time that had been accrued in the game, ending our already slim hopes of a revival. The whistle was blown shortly after, and a number of our lot, including Theo, Cesc and Denilson all collapsed on the floor near our end, Almunia running from his goal to try and act as the paternal figure he'd become to the team.
Final thoughts? Another heroic defeat for the Arsenal in a final, the second in less than twelve months. A third cannot be countenanced; potential must be realised sooner rather than later.
Our team deserve all the plaudits they get from the game: they were the only one's really trying to play football. Its incredible that Chel$ea still play in their dull, long-ball, unadventurous manner, despite the money they have. Winning ugly is occasionally acceptable, but for it to become the norm for a team must sadden Chel$ea fans. At this rate they will be remembered like the Italian world cup winners of last year: winners, but nothing more; no myth of their greatness will ever be constructed in the manner of our Invincibles.
Chelsea's victory may have been pyrrhic, and ours moral, but ultimately they took the silverware home with them. I enjoyed my weekend in Cardiff immensely - but next time I want something more tangible than a moral victory to take home with me.
Player ratings to follow.
My first cup final and could have I asked for more? Yes, would be the answer: an Arsenal victory. But that rather obvious matter aside, it was a great day out in Cardiff; one in which I felt proud of the club, most of its players, and almost all its supporters.
Coming to the Arsenal end of the stadium was like a mini-festival. All the pubs were bulging; one had the Buzzcocks belting out as Gooners chanted our songs down the streets. Most pubs were so busy that we had to head halfway down Queen's street to find one in which we could get served in a reasonable amount of time. At this juncture I would add that perhaps its time that us Gooners stopped pandering to Spuds idiocy, and no longer chanted songs which use the 'Y' word, or songs of that nature. These chants wouldn't exist if not for the Spuds self-labelling, but I'm not afraid to say I dislike them.
It was my first time at the Millenium stadium and quite an atmosphere had brewed at the Arsenal end by the time I arrived. The stadium, despite being bigger than the Emirates, had managed to maintain a sense of intimacy much more successfully than our abode. Moreover, standing was almost mandatory throughout which further helped build the electric atmosphere throughout. No stewards telling you to sit down here.
Indeed, if the final had been decided on the fans' performance, Arsenal would have won hands down. The Chelski fans were pathetic: I didn't hear them chant til after they'd taken the lead, and their 'hilarious' celery throwing antics (we couldn't tell it was celery at the time I might add) further emphasised their lack of class. Aside from a brief lull after their second goal, the Arsenal fans were superb throughout, and we even belted out a few songs after the final whistle to our young lads collapsed on the pitch. I must admit to leaving before the presentation, but I didn't want to be anywhere near the stadium when Lampard et al. lifted the trophy.
The game itself was a frantic affair; a wonderful spectacle due to the ambition and attacking flair of our kids. Put simply, we should have been two or three up within twenty minutes. Had it not been for Cech - utterly superb throughout - we would have been, Baptista unlucky not to score with an excellent curling effort from outside the box. Theo's goal was superbly taken, and I can only hope this earns him some respite from the ridiculous criticism he's received of late. I'm happy I was there to see his first Arsenal goal.
But, despite having little possession, it was clear we were weak on our left side. Traore, our rawest player, was at left-back, and Diaby, whilst excellent, consistently drifted into the centre leaving the young defender even further exposed. It seemed apparent to me quite early on that Chel$ea would get joy if they attacked through their right-flank, but it still took a poor piece of linesmanship to gift Chel$ea their first goal.
My immediate concern was that the Chel$ea goal could knock the stuffing out of the young players. Far from it. Chel$ea didn't really threaten for the rest of the half, while we continued to stream forward; it's a credit to our youngsters that the game was still so finely poised until so late on.
The incident which changed the game, in retrospect, was the Terry injury. Us plebs in the opposite corner had no inkling as to what was going on, not even who was injured until the substitution was announced. The injury ultimately favoured Chelsea in a number of ways: it galvanised their players, slightly traumatised ours, and also removed one of their weakest performers (in the game itself) from the field.
It gradually became clear that our early energies were also being to take their toll on our players energy levels. Traore in particular seemed to be suffering, not least for the introduction of Robben, who offered Chelsea a far greater degree of creativity upfront than in the first half.
Still, we had yet more chances to seal the game. Diaby should have scored when one on one with Cech, and would have scored if almost any other goalkeeper had been playing. The major deficiency in Cesc's otherwise stunning abilities was demonstrated by his miss a few minutes later. It's an area in which he must improve.
With so many missed chances and young legs tiring, the winner had a certain inevitability to it. Denilson, who's distribution had begun to suffer as the second half progressed, gave the ball away, Robben skinned Eboue, and Drogba beat Senderos to score. The Chel$ea fans finally started singing; it never really felt as if we would get an equalizer.
All that was left was the unsightly melee. Many commentators have postulated that this rumpus almost came out of nowhere, but it had been brewing for some time. Chel$ea had put in a number of very cynical challenges throughout, hacking down players who were almost through on goal and constantly making snipey, niggling kicks. Coupled with a late goal and officials giving almost every 50-50 decision Chel$ea's way, Kolo had had enough of Chel$ea's excessively aggressive, unsporting attitude when Mikel grabbed his shirt. Adebayor was wrongly sent off, and I was astounded to see Fabregas and Lampard escape with yellows, as their little tete-a-tete seemed far more violent.
The melee also had the unfortunate effect of cancelling out any injury time that had been accrued in the game, ending our already slim hopes of a revival. The whistle was blown shortly after, and a number of our lot, including Theo, Cesc and Denilson all collapsed on the floor near our end, Almunia running from his goal to try and act as the paternal figure he'd become to the team.
Final thoughts? Another heroic defeat for the Arsenal in a final, the second in less than twelve months. A third cannot be countenanced; potential must be realised sooner rather than later.
Our team deserve all the plaudits they get from the game: they were the only one's really trying to play football. Its incredible that Chel$ea still play in their dull, long-ball, unadventurous manner, despite the money they have. Winning ugly is occasionally acceptable, but for it to become the norm for a team must sadden Chel$ea fans. At this rate they will be remembered like the Italian world cup winners of last year: winners, but nothing more; no myth of their greatness will ever be constructed in the manner of our Invincibles.
Chelsea's victory may have been pyrrhic, and ours moral, but ultimately they took the silverware home with them. I enjoyed my weekend in Cardiff immensely - but next time I want something more tangible than a moral victory to take home with me.
Player ratings to follow.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Carling countdown, Jens speaks!, Thierry's foot.
Only three days now until the big day in Cardiff and my first cup final. Obviously, it would be nicer if it were, say, the Champions League, but I'll settle for this for now.
The most positive news today regarding Sunday is the injury to Terry, which will see Chel$ea's 'talisman' miss the game. Personally, I had half been looking forward to him playing, repeating what he said to Ledley King to Baptista, and watching as the Beast crushed him under his gargantuan thumb. Heh.
A few others who won't be involved are Jens and Thierry, who were both in the news today. Jens has been complaining about the amount of games played in England and I think he's got a point. Much as the Carling Cup has proved a fertile breeding ground for our youngsters in recent years, it is, still, a pretty pathetic competition nowadays. We already have one domestic knockout cup - possibly the only one with any real meaning in Europe - and we don't need another. Perhaps it should only be open to non-Premiership teams.
Jens also made the point that despite all our recent games, he actually hasn't been playing too much, with Manuel coming in for all the recent cup matches. To my mind, goalkeeper is a position you don't rotate. If one man is up for the job, you continually use him to keep him at the top of his game. Jens was a fraction away from saving PSV's goal on Tuesday: would he have saved it if he'd had the sharpness which would have come from the two FA cup games? The rationale behind rotating our keepers at the moment seems to be an attempt by Arsene to placate Almunia, and even, possibly, to ease him into the first team next year. I've said it before: Manuel is solid back-up but he's not a first choice keeper for a club of our level. If we are to commit the folly of letting Jens go this year, a replacement must be purchased.
Thierry Henry has also been in the paper complaining of an inflammation to the ligaments in his foot. It amazes me sometimes how fickle football fans are: I've read several comments along the lines that Thierry is 'looking for excuses' due to his 'poor form', and even that we should have sold him when we had the chance. Indeed, the idiot behind me hasnow taken to shouting 'go away' (in less polite terms) to Barca every time Henry makes a mistake nowadays. I presume he didn't celebrate when Thierry scored our last minute winner against United earlier in the season.
Thierry's form of late is worthy of a (lengthy) article of its own. What I will say is that he is our top scorer of all time. He can do things with the ball that no one else can do in our current team. His form this season has been patchy, but he's still scored several vital and superb goals (Liverpool, United, Boro, Blackburn) since Christmas.
Before you abuse him, remember all he's done for the club, and remember all players go through dips in form. Also remember that Thierry's left hand side production line (pires/cole/reyes) has gone, and that Thierry may be adjusting to the start of the decline in his pace.
He stuck with us; we should stick with him.
Til later. Gb.
The most positive news today regarding Sunday is the injury to Terry, which will see Chel$ea's 'talisman' miss the game. Personally, I had half been looking forward to him playing, repeating what he said to Ledley King to Baptista, and watching as the Beast crushed him under his gargantuan thumb. Heh.
A few others who won't be involved are Jens and Thierry, who were both in the news today. Jens has been complaining about the amount of games played in England and I think he's got a point. Much as the Carling Cup has proved a fertile breeding ground for our youngsters in recent years, it is, still, a pretty pathetic competition nowadays. We already have one domestic knockout cup - possibly the only one with any real meaning in Europe - and we don't need another. Perhaps it should only be open to non-Premiership teams.
Jens also made the point that despite all our recent games, he actually hasn't been playing too much, with Manuel coming in for all the recent cup matches. To my mind, goalkeeper is a position you don't rotate. If one man is up for the job, you continually use him to keep him at the top of his game. Jens was a fraction away from saving PSV's goal on Tuesday: would he have saved it if he'd had the sharpness which would have come from the two FA cup games? The rationale behind rotating our keepers at the moment seems to be an attempt by Arsene to placate Almunia, and even, possibly, to ease him into the first team next year. I've said it before: Manuel is solid back-up but he's not a first choice keeper for a club of our level. If we are to commit the folly of letting Jens go this year, a replacement must be purchased.
Thierry Henry has also been in the paper complaining of an inflammation to the ligaments in his foot. It amazes me sometimes how fickle football fans are: I've read several comments along the lines that Thierry is 'looking for excuses' due to his 'poor form', and even that we should have sold him when we had the chance. Indeed, the idiot behind me hasnow taken to shouting 'go away' (in less polite terms) to Barca every time Henry makes a mistake nowadays. I presume he didn't celebrate when Thierry scored our last minute winner against United earlier in the season.
Thierry's form of late is worthy of a (lengthy) article of its own. What I will say is that he is our top scorer of all time. He can do things with the ball that no one else can do in our current team. His form this season has been patchy, but he's still scored several vital and superb goals (Liverpool, United, Boro, Blackburn) since Christmas.
Before you abuse him, remember all he's done for the club, and remember all players go through dips in form. Also remember that Thierry's left hand side production line (pires/cole/reyes) has gone, and that Thierry may be adjusting to the start of the decline in his pace.
He stuck with us; we should stick with him.
Til later. Gb.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Goonerboy is one; Arsenal are one down.
Uncork the champagne! Get the party rings! Pull out the cocktail sausages!
Goonerboy is one!
Picture the scene (apologies in advance for the use of the third person, but I feel grandiose):
It was exactly a year ago today. Goonerboy returns from the pub 'tired and emotional' after celebrating Arsenal's historic victory. He has so many opinions wrapped inside himself that an outlet must be found. And thus the blog is born.
Three hours later, and even after realising that he had no programming knowledge whatsoever, Goonerboy has finally set up his blog, and a few RSS feeds for his two readers.
Since then things have changed. My initial plan to post daily was slowly chipped away by a combination of studying, working and, it must be said, lethargy. I've received lots of lovely favourable comments, some interesting criticism, and also some out and out abuse from some of the rather imbalanced souls who stalk the 'net.
Most importantly, and largely thanks to NewsNow, I've also obtained readers - nearly 200,000 unique page visits in a year. I hope I've entertained you and I will endeavour to continue. Who knows, my plans for the 'Goonerboy Cultural Review' blog may also come to pass at some point. Or, perhaps not.
Anyway, perhaps we should re-cork the champers on the basis of last night's result.
Another frustrating display, almost the antithesis of that famous night in Madrid. Despite our creativity we didn't have the cutting edge required to break through the massed ranks of PSV defenders. My dislike for Ronald Koeman - borne in 1993 when he fouled David Platt in that qualifier - continues to grow. I'm worried that he knows how to nullify, and even how to defeat, Arsene's tactics.
A tense return leg has been set up. If we are to progress we need at least two goals (or, a shoot-out, but who'd want that?). We were unlucky last night - on another day, Rosicky's goal would have creeped in, and Thierry's shot would have flown into the net. But the return leg will surely tell us as much about last year as this year. Was last year a one off? Was that our big chance to secure the Champions League under Wenger? Or can we do it again?
One thing's for sure: it's going to be emotional.
Goonerboy is one!
Picture the scene (apologies in advance for the use of the third person, but I feel grandiose):
It was exactly a year ago today. Goonerboy returns from the pub 'tired and emotional' after celebrating Arsenal's historic victory. He has so many opinions wrapped inside himself that an outlet must be found. And thus the blog is born.
Three hours later, and even after realising that he had no programming knowledge whatsoever, Goonerboy has finally set up his blog, and a few RSS feeds for his two readers.
Since then things have changed. My initial plan to post daily was slowly chipped away by a combination of studying, working and, it must be said, lethargy. I've received lots of lovely favourable comments, some interesting criticism, and also some out and out abuse from some of the rather imbalanced souls who stalk the 'net.
Most importantly, and largely thanks to NewsNow, I've also obtained readers - nearly 200,000 unique page visits in a year. I hope I've entertained you and I will endeavour to continue. Who knows, my plans for the 'Goonerboy Cultural Review' blog may also come to pass at some point. Or, perhaps not.
Anyway, perhaps we should re-cork the champers on the basis of last night's result.
Another frustrating display, almost the antithesis of that famous night in Madrid. Despite our creativity we didn't have the cutting edge required to break through the massed ranks of PSV defenders. My dislike for Ronald Koeman - borne in 1993 when he fouled David Platt in that qualifier - continues to grow. I'm worried that he knows how to nullify, and even how to defeat, Arsene's tactics.
A tense return leg has been set up. If we are to progress we need at least two goals (or, a shoot-out, but who'd want that?). We were unlucky last night - on another day, Rosicky's goal would have creeped in, and Thierry's shot would have flown into the net. But the return leg will surely tell us as much about last year as this year. Was last year a one off? Was that our big chance to secure the Champions League under Wenger? Or can we do it again?
One thing's for sure: it's going to be emotional.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Oh dear, what a terrible game.
Arsenal is an obligation for me; a desired obligation but one nonetheless. So when I awake, how can I put this, in a rather poor state from being 'tired and emotional' the night before, I still put the effort in. I drag myself out of bed and across London to support the team that means so much to me. I would add that whoever decides games should be played at 12 on a Saturday obviously has no social life.
And then this. Two words, as suggested in my headline, spring to mind: oh and dear.
All credit to Blackburn, I've never seen a team so ruthlessly play for and achieve a replay. Keeping 47 men behind the ball all game worked very successfully. Whilst, on a rational level, I can understand their tactics, on a, perhaps higher plain of thinking, they did not play football against us. Ruthless pragmatism is not something I wish to associate with football.
Yet, despite their legions of defenders, we should have cruised the game. The reason we didn't was as much due to our deficiencies as their limitations. Henry is not a centre-forward and is badly missing Pires/Reyes/Cole. Watching Theo is becoming unbearable: I want him to succeed so much but today he couldn't beat his defender. Neither for that matter could Freddie, who was painfully awful, alternating between sitting on his backside complaining and failing to beat him man. Aliadiere's effort can't be faulted but, ultimately, produced nothing; Flamini needs too many touches and is not a good enough passer.
The only bright spot was William Gallas's return, but today we needed a match-winner and he was not one.
I've seen some poor football matches before but the game today is up with the best/worst of them. Turgid, frustrating, painful and pointless. And, to cap it off, another trip up North. Here's hoping eh?
And then this. Two words, as suggested in my headline, spring to mind: oh and dear.
All credit to Blackburn, I've never seen a team so ruthlessly play for and achieve a replay. Keeping 47 men behind the ball all game worked very successfully. Whilst, on a rational level, I can understand their tactics, on a, perhaps higher plain of thinking, they did not play football against us. Ruthless pragmatism is not something I wish to associate with football.
Yet, despite their legions of defenders, we should have cruised the game. The reason we didn't was as much due to our deficiencies as their limitations. Henry is not a centre-forward and is badly missing Pires/Reyes/Cole. Watching Theo is becoming unbearable: I want him to succeed so much but today he couldn't beat his defender. Neither for that matter could Freddie, who was painfully awful, alternating between sitting on his backside complaining and failing to beat him man. Aliadiere's effort can't be faulted but, ultimately, produced nothing; Flamini needs too many touches and is not a good enough passer.
The only bright spot was William Gallas's return, but today we needed a match-winner and he was not one.
I've seen some poor football matches before but the game today is up with the best/worst of them. Turgid, frustrating, painful and pointless. And, to cap it off, another trip up North. Here's hoping eh?
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bolton succumb to our Valentine's Day charms
Crikey, what a game. I wasn't expecting 120 minutes of, frankly, unmissable action: my prediction for the game had been for Bolton to edge us out in a dour affair.
But we did what we do best: fast, one-touch, incisive football. Gone were the hoards of long-balls pumped up from the back, which were a painful feature of the original tie. Back was Arsene's patented pinball football.
A bold team selection, especially in midfield, paid off. Hleb was utterly superb on his return, tackling, creating, running and passing with the ball almost glued to his feet. He's so instrumental to keeping the team ticking over at the moment that his performance last night highlighted just how much we've missed him of late. There is talk of a re-occurrence of his injury, but we should all hope for the best, because he will be instrumental to any success we have in Europe this season.
On the left, Rosicky was excellent and should have had an assist from a superb cross to Baptista during the first half. Diaby looks a little jaded after having been out for so long, but showed enough touches on the ball to remind us of his promise.
In between these three was the man of the match: Denilson. What a performance from such a young lad, over 120 minutes. He seems to play like Cesc but with a greater physical presence, and he's almost instantly established himself as someone pushing for a starting position in the team.
Other honourable mentions should go to Aliadiere, whose excellent run set up Freddie, Clichy, who is defying my early expectations of him this year, and Adebayor who should have had a hat-trick were it not for his inability to fire the ball into an open net. Adey's running, work-rate, but also incisiveness on and off the ball, have caused many teams problems this season. His finishing is not at the level of van Persie but he's putting himself in a position where it's hard to justify dropping him.
Put simply, the game should never have gone into extra-time. Despite Gilberto's excellent penalties against spuds, questions should be asked as to whether he should be our second choice penalty taker. Rosicky might seem a better option to my mind. Yet Gilbs miss only became an issue due to Baptista's howler of a game. He battled, kept running, and kept putting himself in positions to attempt shots on goal, but his touch and finishing were utterly atrocious last night. Despite his league-cup heroics, the jury is still firmly out.
But, this season, the longer games go on, the better we play it would seem. It was vital for us to score in extra-time because we would have lost the shoot-out. Say what you will of Bolton, but even the most optimistic Gooner would have to say that they would be able to find five penalty takers rather more quickly than us last night.
And thus up stepped Freddie to score a goal which asks as many questions as it solves. Is he back? Was that a last hurrah? Can he somehow return to the Freddie we all knew and love? Time will tell but that goal will have at least guaranteed him a few starts in the coming weeks.
The game ended in farce, Anelka somehow escaping a red-card, Baptista blazing the ball over, and then Adey scoring the simplest goal he'll ever get.
We deserved it. We deserved to finally break this ridiculous hoo-doo that a rather average team of hackers of had over us. And we did it our way, as it were.
But we did what we do best: fast, one-touch, incisive football. Gone were the hoards of long-balls pumped up from the back, which were a painful feature of the original tie. Back was Arsene's patented pinball football.
A bold team selection, especially in midfield, paid off. Hleb was utterly superb on his return, tackling, creating, running and passing with the ball almost glued to his feet. He's so instrumental to keeping the team ticking over at the moment that his performance last night highlighted just how much we've missed him of late. There is talk of a re-occurrence of his injury, but we should all hope for the best, because he will be instrumental to any success we have in Europe this season.
On the left, Rosicky was excellent and should have had an assist from a superb cross to Baptista during the first half. Diaby looks a little jaded after having been out for so long, but showed enough touches on the ball to remind us of his promise.
In between these three was the man of the match: Denilson. What a performance from such a young lad, over 120 minutes. He seems to play like Cesc but with a greater physical presence, and he's almost instantly established himself as someone pushing for a starting position in the team.
Other honourable mentions should go to Aliadiere, whose excellent run set up Freddie, Clichy, who is defying my early expectations of him this year, and Adebayor who should have had a hat-trick were it not for his inability to fire the ball into an open net. Adey's running, work-rate, but also incisiveness on and off the ball, have caused many teams problems this season. His finishing is not at the level of van Persie but he's putting himself in a position where it's hard to justify dropping him.
Put simply, the game should never have gone into extra-time. Despite Gilberto's excellent penalties against spuds, questions should be asked as to whether he should be our second choice penalty taker. Rosicky might seem a better option to my mind. Yet Gilbs miss only became an issue due to Baptista's howler of a game. He battled, kept running, and kept putting himself in positions to attempt shots on goal, but his touch and finishing were utterly atrocious last night. Despite his league-cup heroics, the jury is still firmly out.
But, this season, the longer games go on, the better we play it would seem. It was vital for us to score in extra-time because we would have lost the shoot-out. Say what you will of Bolton, but even the most optimistic Gooner would have to say that they would be able to find five penalty takers rather more quickly than us last night.
And thus up stepped Freddie to score a goal which asks as many questions as it solves. Is he back? Was that a last hurrah? Can he somehow return to the Freddie we all knew and love? Time will tell but that goal will have at least guaranteed him a few starts in the coming weeks.
The game ended in farce, Anelka somehow escaping a red-card, Baptista blazing the ball over, and then Adey scoring the simplest goal he'll ever get.
We deserved it. We deserved to finally break this ridiculous hoo-doo that a rather average team of hackers of had over us. And we did it our way, as it were.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Problems with English football? Blame the foreigners!
So after a week in which another insipid, embarrassing display is turgidly eked out by our excuse for a national side, the great English national obsession has returned: when all else fails, blame Johnny foreigner.
Not only do they steal our jobs, women, parking spaces etc., it is, of course, the hoards of foreign players in the Premiership which is the cause of our current squad being even shallower than an English undergraduate student.
Says who? Says Terry Venables, England assistant coach/wet nurse. Says Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the League Managers Association. Says Steve Gibson of Middlesbrough. People, in short, whose opinions still carry much weight in the opinion-forming red-tops of England.
It's interesting to read the blame shifted onto foreigners ruining our national game in the same week that the FA decides it can't be bothered to build a national school of footballing excellence in Burton; in a week in which Crewe, a club which has survived on the production of youth talent for so long, announces its fears on the future of English academy football; in a week in which another English club goes under the hammer, sold to foreign investors who care nothing for our game aside from maximising the lucre they can make from it.
And when even Sam Allardyce is refuting these suggestions, you know how deep the systemic problems in English football run. He puts his case simply and cogently: Gareth Bale, a prestigiously talented young footballer, was, but a few weeks ago, being touted around the Premiership for a price of £10 million. At the same time, Sam signed four European youngsters for less than a million Euros in total.
The Bale example serves its purpose. It illustrates the dearth of British talent being produced, painfully exacerbating the ridiculous inflation of their prices when they come to market. Remember Curtis Davies, who we were linked with? £8 million please, minimum. Mr Kolo Toure, half a million. I doubt Arsene has to use his economic training too much when thinking of these decisions.
The only way British football will improve is by coaching youngsters properly. I read an interesting piece this week in The Telegraph, which contended that Theo's current difficulties are probably caused by the lack of technical coaching he'd received until arriving at Arsenal. He's a fast lad and was probably told to just try and knock it past players and run past them. Only now is he probably receiving a decent footballing education.
Youngsters in the UK are made to play on full-size pitches, while attributes such as aggression and power are valued over technique. And when Steve McClaren issues useless platitudes such as hoping that English courage and heart will win games, you realise how bad things have become. Footballing ability, not 'spirit of Agincourt' speeches, are what win football matches Steve. Maybe you should try coaching that, if you can.
There's no point in running some 'affirmative action' campaign to give English players a leg-up into the Premiership. If they are, they'll be found wanting even more compellingly at International level. Moreover, teams such as Brazil and Argentina have, for a long time, not been the place where their international players ply their trade. We need a situation in England in which footballers are being produced who are good enough, or have the levels of technical ability, that they can play in a variety of leagues, such as the more technical La Liga, not just the up-and-at-em Premiership.
So before blaming Arsene for the problems of England, realise why he chooses who he does. He doesn't look at the passports of young players: he looks at their ability. And the production line has been derailed in England for some time, something for which he cannot be blamed and something which has even tried to reconcile - see the handing of a professional contract to the 17 year old Mark Randall this week. If anything a reduction in the number of foreign players in the Premiership would make the situation even more dangerous. It would lower the overall standard of English football and lead to greater defeats.
I'm glad we have so many foreigners in our league: it makes our league better, more enjoyable to watch. Rather than get rid of them, we should focus on creating players who can compete with them. Only then will we have a national team worth watching.
Not only do they steal our jobs, women, parking spaces etc., it is, of course, the hoards of foreign players in the Premiership which is the cause of our current squad being even shallower than an English undergraduate student.
Says who? Says Terry Venables, England assistant coach/wet nurse. Says Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the League Managers Association. Says Steve Gibson of Middlesbrough. People, in short, whose opinions still carry much weight in the opinion-forming red-tops of England.
It's interesting to read the blame shifted onto foreigners ruining our national game in the same week that the FA decides it can't be bothered to build a national school of footballing excellence in Burton; in a week in which Crewe, a club which has survived on the production of youth talent for so long, announces its fears on the future of English academy football; in a week in which another English club goes under the hammer, sold to foreign investors who care nothing for our game aside from maximising the lucre they can make from it.
And when even Sam Allardyce is refuting these suggestions, you know how deep the systemic problems in English football run. He puts his case simply and cogently: Gareth Bale, a prestigiously talented young footballer, was, but a few weeks ago, being touted around the Premiership for a price of £10 million. At the same time, Sam signed four European youngsters for less than a million Euros in total.
The Bale example serves its purpose. It illustrates the dearth of British talent being produced, painfully exacerbating the ridiculous inflation of their prices when they come to market. Remember Curtis Davies, who we were linked with? £8 million please, minimum. Mr Kolo Toure, half a million. I doubt Arsene has to use his economic training too much when thinking of these decisions.
The only way British football will improve is by coaching youngsters properly. I read an interesting piece this week in The Telegraph, which contended that Theo's current difficulties are probably caused by the lack of technical coaching he'd received until arriving at Arsenal. He's a fast lad and was probably told to just try and knock it past players and run past them. Only now is he probably receiving a decent footballing education.
Youngsters in the UK are made to play on full-size pitches, while attributes such as aggression and power are valued over technique. And when Steve McClaren issues useless platitudes such as hoping that English courage and heart will win games, you realise how bad things have become. Footballing ability, not 'spirit of Agincourt' speeches, are what win football matches Steve. Maybe you should try coaching that, if you can.
There's no point in running some 'affirmative action' campaign to give English players a leg-up into the Premiership. If they are, they'll be found wanting even more compellingly at International level. Moreover, teams such as Brazil and Argentina have, for a long time, not been the place where their international players ply their trade. We need a situation in England in which footballers are being produced who are good enough, or have the levels of technical ability, that they can play in a variety of leagues, such as the more technical La Liga, not just the up-and-at-em Premiership.
So before blaming Arsene for the problems of England, realise why he chooses who he does. He doesn't look at the passports of young players: he looks at their ability. And the production line has been derailed in England for some time, something for which he cannot be blamed and something which has even tried to reconcile - see the handing of a professional contract to the 17 year old Mark Randall this week. If anything a reduction in the number of foreign players in the Premiership would make the situation even more dangerous. It would lower the overall standard of English football and lead to greater defeats.
I'm glad we have so many foreigners in our league: it makes our league better, more enjoyable to watch. Rather than get rid of them, we should focus on creating players who can compete with them. Only then will we have a national team worth watching.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Arsenal slightly hungover after too much Carling.
Yesterday's result perhaps emphasises that we shouldn't really hope for anything about fourth place this season. Yet I don't think we should fall into despondency about not winning the game; if anything I was fairly pleased that we've come through another difficult away day oop North without a defeat, a marked improvement on last year.
We no longer seem to be a team that gets 'out-muscled' in away matches. When we don't get results its now more likely that we were simply out-played on the day, or that certain players under-performed. And when that player is Cesc, we're bound to struggle, given that our entire team is moulded around his ability to dictate game with his passing. Despite not playing the full 120 minutes on Wednesday, Cecsc was notably off-colour and never really got into the game.
The team is missing Hleb as well. For all his running and effort, Flamini is not a right winger and his limitations in that position were exposed yesterday. He lacks the creative vision and flair to be the type of threat that Hleb provides and which Walcott was learning. There might have been a case for throwing Theo on for the last ten minutes yesterday, but Arsene's decision to bring on Denilson was probably correct, helping us remain solid and earn a draw.
Mike Riley must have some form of vendetta against us because the penalty was slightly absurd. On first viewing it does look like a penalty, but Riley, a 'top-level' referee should have known better. Yakubu has subsequently admitted, so I've heard, that Philippe made minimal to no-contact in the incident.
One-nil down, again, and one-player down, things did not look good, so I'm pleased we battled back to win the point. Of course, it would have been nicer if we'd have used our dominance to have won the game, but I'm confident that next season the team will fully click. It took Ferguson about three seasons to turn round United, and it may be the same for us.
At the moment, Adebayor's touch is still betraying a little too often and Tomas is not providing enough clinical through-balls from midfield. But both have decent work-rates and will improve.
A pressing issue that must be resolved is Jens contract. He is such an important figure to the club that he must stay on next year. I really don't think Almunia as what it takes to get anywhere near the level that Jens is currently at. We need to keep Jens so he can keep making crucial, world-class saves, such as his one from Viduka's low effort when the score was one-nil. We also need him for his reaction to the penalty: he imposes himself in games and shows all the passion I want to see from Arsenal players. To let him go due to the 'one-more-year' policy would be criminal.
The match showed that things are getting better, but slowly. A positive first step would be to tell Adey and Thierry to stop doing that dance every time they scored, or at least to create an alternative version involving the whole team. An Arsenal conga perhaps?
We no longer seem to be a team that gets 'out-muscled' in away matches. When we don't get results its now more likely that we were simply out-played on the day, or that certain players under-performed. And when that player is Cesc, we're bound to struggle, given that our entire team is moulded around his ability to dictate game with his passing. Despite not playing the full 120 minutes on Wednesday, Cecsc was notably off-colour and never really got into the game.
The team is missing Hleb as well. For all his running and effort, Flamini is not a right winger and his limitations in that position were exposed yesterday. He lacks the creative vision and flair to be the type of threat that Hleb provides and which Walcott was learning. There might have been a case for throwing Theo on for the last ten minutes yesterday, but Arsene's decision to bring on Denilson was probably correct, helping us remain solid and earn a draw.
Mike Riley must have some form of vendetta against us because the penalty was slightly absurd. On first viewing it does look like a penalty, but Riley, a 'top-level' referee should have known better. Yakubu has subsequently admitted, so I've heard, that Philippe made minimal to no-contact in the incident.
One-nil down, again, and one-player down, things did not look good, so I'm pleased we battled back to win the point. Of course, it would have been nicer if we'd have used our dominance to have won the game, but I'm confident that next season the team will fully click. It took Ferguson about three seasons to turn round United, and it may be the same for us.
At the moment, Adebayor's touch is still betraying a little too often and Tomas is not providing enough clinical through-balls from midfield. But both have decent work-rates and will improve.
A pressing issue that must be resolved is Jens contract. He is such an important figure to the club that he must stay on next year. I really don't think Almunia as what it takes to get anywhere near the level that Jens is currently at. We need to keep Jens so he can keep making crucial, world-class saves, such as his one from Viduka's low effort when the score was one-nil. We also need him for his reaction to the penalty: he imposes himself in games and shows all the passion I want to see from Arsenal players. To let him go due to the 'one-more-year' policy would be criminal.
The match showed that things are getting better, but slowly. A positive first step would be to tell Adey and Thierry to stop doing that dance every time they scored, or at least to create an alternative version involving the whole team. An Arsenal conga perhaps?
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Carling Cup semi-final second leg, player ratings.
Almunia, 6.5. Played well, but I’m not convinced he’s Jens’s long-term successor. He panics, rushes out of his goal, and doesn’t communicate with his defenders well enough. Whilst he’s improved since his arrival, if Jens is to leave we need to enter the market this summer.
Traore, 6. Clearly very raw, even allowing for some encouraging forward play. I don’t think he’ll be bursting into the first team anytime soon.
Kolo, 6. Should have scored in the first half, but otherwise decent enough performance.
Senderos, 7. Re-gaining the composure that makes him such a great defensive talent. Powerful in the air, but needs to improve his distribution.
Hoyte, 6.5. Massively improved from the start of the season and is finally looking like an Arsenal player. Whether he’ll ever really be a top-class defender is yet to be seen.
Denilson, 8. Excellent. Won tackles, took shots, passed the ball well: looked very much like the combination of Rosicky and Gilberto Arsene promised. A younger Fabregas?
Gilberto, 8. Oh, how we’ve missed Gilbs. Did an incredible amount of tidying up and ball-winning in the midfield which helped the team settle and dominate.
Diaby, 6.5. Some lovely touches and good distribution. It’s great to see him back and he needs a run in the team before we’ll really see the best of him.
Theo, 6. Caused problems with his pace down the right, but his final ball was lacking. His corners were pretty dire also. However, if you were the person sitting near me who shouted ‘go back to Southampton’, or were one of the countless others hurling abuse at him 1) you are a moron 2) please desist. He’s 17, he’s going to get better, and you’ll look mighty stupid when he does if you continue to abuse him. He needs confidence so support him.
Aliadiere, 7. Good performance, one that’s suggests he can contribute to the club in the second half of the season. He should start in the final. Whether he has a long-term future at the club remains to be seen.
Adey, 7. Excellent finish; huge-work rate. Those who boo Theo are undoubtedly those who also jeered Adey at the beginning of the season.
Rosicky, 7.5, Great performance: lots of energy, verve and imagination. I’d give him that goal.
Clichy, 7, did very well after coming on. Excellent coming forward and defensively. Hopefully now establishing himself as Cashley's successor.
Fabregas, 6.5, A little subdued, but helped keep the midfield glued together in extra-time.
Cardiff awaits for our young guns.
In the end, it all seemed a bit too easy: even after having given Spuds a 2 goal head-start, they still couldn’t progress.
Walking down the Holloway Road, it was quite apparent that this was big game for both clubs. A massive police presence to cope with the notably enlarged away end, showed that the Carling Cup has re-emerged as a trophy that clubs are interested in winning. This might partially be due to our use of exciting young talent, and also due to, until this year, Chel$ea’s monopoly on the Premiership.
On taking my seat, I noticed that only a handful of the season-ticket holders who normally surround me were present. So the crowd was, perhaps, a little like the team: inexperienced at the grove, and definitely very excited. My area, which, it has to be said, is usually quite sedate, was transformed into a veritable cauldron of noise - although the presence of a shrill ten year old behind me was not greatly appreciated.
Even the most myopic of Lily whites would admit that we dominated the game. They had a few chances, but a combination of poor finishing and alert goalkeeping put pay to any idea that they might take the lead. Indeed, had it not been for some clumsy finishing by Adey and Kolo, we would have gone in at half-time ahead.
The goal when it came justified our dominance. Some excellent work by the impressive Rosicky carved out an opening for Adebayor, who finished with wonderful composure. I do actually like the little dance he did with Henry, but I would echo Arsebloggers’ concerns about excluding the rest of the team. But, being Arsenal, nothing is easy. The twelve-year-old behind me had started screaming – literally – about how Almunia should be ‘worried, very worried’ about the free kick that led to the goal. Hopefully next time he’ll have learnt his lesson about the importance of not ‘jinxing it’ in football.
After holding out the Spuds for the last ten minutes, there was only ever going to be one winner in extra-time, with Aliadiere and Rosicky both bagged goals which their performances richly merited.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
A song for Charlton, and second leg preview.
Yes, possibly the most momentous moment since the departure of Pascal Cygan has occurred: Alex Song has left Ashburton on loan for the rest of the season. The cynical amongst us may see this as Arsene following the dictum that 'revenge is a dish best served cold' - especially as Alex has received possibly the most stick of any player during the Wenger era. While this criticism has perhaps been overstated, it's also not unjustifiable on the performances I've seen. Whether we ever see him in an Arsenal shirt again remains to be seen; I'm certainly not holding my breath.
The team news for tomorrow is not great. Baptista has now been ruled out, a great shame considering his red-hot form in the CCup this season. He definitely seems like a player who's best when he starts and plays up-front, rather than Arsene's current tactic of throwing him on in centre-midfield for ten minutes at the moment. On the plus side, his injury does seem to be less serious than first feared.
While a partnership of Adebayor and Aliadiere is probably the more likely, I would like Theo to get a chance up-front. He needs a goal and playing as a striker would surely facilitate this; on the wing he seems to be struggling to beat players, causing him to lose confidence and impairing his subsequent shooting ability. I heard a bit of abuse directed towards Theo at the game on Sunday, and while he didn't have a good game the crowd needs to get behind him. He's a young lad and heckling him for missing a few chances is not the way forward. I seem to remember Adebayor receiving similar criticism when he missed chances last season and now he's a folk-hero. And, unlike Song, Walcott clearly has the potential.
Who's going to play in midfield tomorrow also remains a question. Walcott may have to play in midfield as, with Hleb and Eboue(?) out, who else will play on the right? And with Rosicky rested and Freddie injured, who's going to play on the left? Diaby didn't seem too comfortable on the left last time, but I think Diaby-Denilson-Gilberto-Walcott may be the line up.
Whoever plays, I still think we'll have too much for them.
The team news for tomorrow is not great. Baptista has now been ruled out, a great shame considering his red-hot form in the CCup this season. He definitely seems like a player who's best when he starts and plays up-front, rather than Arsene's current tactic of throwing him on in centre-midfield for ten minutes at the moment. On the plus side, his injury does seem to be less serious than first feared.
While a partnership of Adebayor and Aliadiere is probably the more likely, I would like Theo to get a chance up-front. He needs a goal and playing as a striker would surely facilitate this; on the wing he seems to be struggling to beat players, causing him to lose confidence and impairing his subsequent shooting ability. I heard a bit of abuse directed towards Theo at the game on Sunday, and while he didn't have a good game the crowd needs to get behind him. He's a young lad and heckling him for missing a few chances is not the way forward. I seem to remember Adebayor receiving similar criticism when he missed chances last season and now he's a folk-hero. And, unlike Song, Walcott clearly has the potential.
Who's going to play in midfield tomorrow also remains a question. Walcott may have to play in midfield as, with Hleb and Eboue(?) out, who else will play on the right? And with Rosicky rested and Freddie injured, who's going to play on the left? Diaby didn't seem too comfortable on the left last time, but I think Diaby-Denilson-Gilberto-Walcott may be the line up.
Whoever plays, I still think we'll have too much for them.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Feed the Beast and he will score (at both ends)
Firstly, any absences in posting during the coming weeks are due to an absence of domestic broadband. Somehow, improving my service has resulted in me having none. Oh the irony.
Anyway, to business. A fantastic draw for the kids at the Lane on Wednesday - one full of hope and promise for the future, if not the present, of the club. But, it was almost so disastrous. Our first half performance was not very good. A soft goal – perhaps ironically caused by the ineptitude of two of the more experienced players on the pitch – and a pitiful own goal by a man who had a howler of an opening 45 minute conspired to leave us in a rather unpromising position at half-time. My fears that the youngsters could be scarred, rather than blooded, by such an intense game seemed to be materialising.
Yet, I was always confident we could pull ourselves back into the game. Indeed, if this season were to be named, it would be ‘the season of the comeback’. We’ve gone behind countless times this season, and, more often than not, we’ve fought back to get a draw or a win. It seems that this is a trend that all our squad members are following.
The second half performance was as good as I’ve seen by any Arsenal team this season. Spuds couldn’t live with our high-tempo, precise passing, and it seemed only a matter of time before we opened our account.
And thus scored Baptista.
His first goal came from a mixture of battling and admirable composure; his second from putting himself in a fine position to exploit Robinson’s bizarre goalkeeping error. In the end we could, and perhaps should have won, with Theo unable to convert a golden opportunity near the end.
The lily whites aren’t going to get a better chance than that to put one over us, and, to be frank, they blew it, big time. One could almost feel sorry for them. Almost, and especially not after the horrendous treatment meted out to several Arsenal fans after the game.
Quite simply, we oozed class in the second half. Whether it be Fab, who had a colossal game in the midfield, Hleb, who surely won over some of his misguided critics with a wonderful cameo disappointingly ended by injury (4 weeks out apparently – I’m distraught), or Eboue, who looked a real handful on the right wing, our boys had far too much for the relatively average opposition they were facing. As for the rest, Denilson was excellent and looks a real prospect, Traore still looks promising, despite being skinned quite a few times by Lennon, Hoyte is definitely improving, and the Beast is finally beginning to really earn his sobriquet.
My main concerns were Theo and Diaby. Diaby, justifiably, struggled in his first full start after injury as he was played out of position on the left. I have very high hopes for him, but Denilson might be breathing down his neck sooner rather than later. And Theo needs a goal. It’s ridiculous that so much pressure is being heaped on him so soon, but he needs a goal in order to really settle into the team. Whilst he improved vastly when put into a central striker position, rather than out on the wing, I just hope that his head doesn’t drop due to middling performances such as yesterday. He’s the real deal and he’s not fully showing at the moment. I think we all have faith in him though.
So, hopefully the kids can dispatch the spuds next week and a rather appetising cup final with Chel$ki will be on. Although, if the Arsenal system of developing youth were to come face to face with a policy designed around spending ludicrous wads of cash, I fear some form of nuclear explosion will occur.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Arsenal player ratings from Sunday.
As promised, ratings are as follows:
Jens, 7: Not the dominant, colossal presence that he was at Old Trafford earlier in the season, and he flapped at a few crosses. Fine subsequent saves made up for this, and he was sound otherwise.
Eboue, 7: The pros and cons were there for all to see. A fabulous, world-class cross for Henry came after a number of embarrassing theatrics. However, he is improving as a defender and I can’t see Wenger buying a new right-back in the summer.
Phil, 7.5: The only defender we have who has a real presence in the air. Watching him win so many headers was a joy. But, not as comfortable on the ball as Djourou, and he was partially responsible for the annoying long-ball stratagem.
Kolo, 7: Quietly solid and booked with unjustifiable alacrity early in the game.
Clichy, 7: Nullified Ronaldo and Giggs. Good going forward, and not over-awed by the occasion. Hopefully he can continue with his current rate of progression. Slightly at fault for the goal.
Hleb,5.5: a poor game by his standards, and seemed to miss Gilberto as an outlet. The occasional pass did come off, but the lack of his usual creation and penetration was a major cause of the regression to long-balls.
Fabregas, 7.5: Kept going for 95 minutes and dominated Scholes in the middle of the park. Not quite at his magisterial best but still the best midfielder on the pitch.
Flamini, 7: Good, solid performance; did enough to suggest he can be a squad player who can come in for the big games and not be the weak link. Best when keeps things simple.
Rosicky, 7: Another player who battled to the end, and was instrumental in both goals after switching to the right. Still acclimatising to the team and the premiership but his class is obvious.
Henry, 7.5: Not a big game player, apparently. Floated about for most of the game, in an occasionally insipid manner, but came good when it mattered. Individually saluting the fans at the end was a lovely touch.
Adey, 8: Didn’t actually threaten in the manner he has in previous matches, but lead the line in a vibrant, physical manner that Arsenal fans haven’t seen for a long time. His hunger is palpable and we will win things with him leading us forward.
Subs
RvP, 7.5: Superb finish for the goal from a difficult angle. His injury is a major blow though, and the absolute best we can hope for is that he’ll be back sometime around the PSV game.
Baptista, 6: not enough time to get into the game. These ten minute cameos are not the way forward for him. Robin’s injury is his opportunity.
Ashburton Grove comes of age to open up the title race.
Well, they don’t come much sweeter than that do they?
It was with a degree of trepidation, therefore, that I approached the Emirates on Sunday. And when the two teams opened lethargically I wondered what type of game would transpire. United had opted for a rather curious 433, with Rooney on the left and Giggs down the middle. To my mind Ferguson incorrectly started Larrsson in front on Saha as he hoped to remind us of that night in Paris. But he didn’t seem to overly trouble our defence. Saha’s pace might have given Senderos a few more difficulties.
A few rather curious refereeing decisions were made. Kolo was booked immediately for a challenge rather than giving him a verbal warning; Henry and Adebayor were denied two 50-50 penalty decisions. A lid was kept on the rather farcical handbags between Eboue and Rooney, which again highlighted the deficiencies of Eboue as a character. He really needs to cut it out.
An anti-climatic first half was ended by two good saves from Jens; saves that he might not have had to make if he had been a bit more decisive in coming for the ball from corners. As the players trooped off at half-time, 0-0 seemed about right.
A stirring comeback did not immediately seem to be on the cards. We carved out a few opportunities but seemed to be reduced to speculative long-range efforts. Even worse, we began to repeatedly hack long balls up to Adebayor, who was consistently beaten in the air by the excellent Vidic. We gave up trying to play our brand of football and an air of desperation began to grow. Hleb – who had a disappointing game – was withdrawn yet Robin struggled to create a threat.
Player ratings are posted separately, in a special bumper Goonerboy…
Friday, January 19, 2007
Lauren's off: where does this leave our full-backs?
Yes, he of the 10,000 mile death-stare has gone to play 'abroad' [as Sol thinks at least] at Portsmouth. It does seem a bit odd that Arsene so hastily shipped him off after Ralph was within days of a return to the first team after a year on the sidelines. One can only conclude that Arsene thinks that he'll never be the player he was before the injury, or that in keeping Ralph he could impede the development of Justin Hoyte and Eboue.
The latter would seem to be the case given some of Arsene's recent comments. Indeed it seems incredible that Justin has gone from a player who many thought had no real future at the club, to perhaps becoming our first choice right back. Whilst Eboue undoubtedly has the edge on Justin in terms of attacking flair, he remains painfully suspect at the back. Like Gael, he too often lets the ball float over his head to players on the wing behind him, or lets players behind him cut in to score. Moreover, his theatrics are becoming an embarrasment to the club. Arsene has publicly voiced his displeasure at Eboue's diving and play-acting, and even his team-mates seemed to give him short-shrift during his confrontations in the Spud derby.
Could Justin, therefore, be first choice right back? Perhaps. He has definitely shown signs of improvement over recent weeks - including a very Lauren-esque death stare against Tugay in the Blackburn match last week -but he struggles when getting forward.
A combination of Justin and Eboue's plus points would therefore possibly create an ideal right-back; individually, neither of them are anywhere near the finished article. Personally, I would have liked Arsene to have retained Lauren to oversee Justin and Manu's development for the rest of the season at least. I'd definitely have preferred Lauren's experience for a few more months than the paltry sum we'll receive from Portsmouth.
The question remains therefore: will Justin or Manu really make the grade? And how long should we wait until we find out. Similar questions could be asked about the ability of Clichy to really become a permanent replacement for Cashley. I do worry that, at least at present, we have 3 full-backs who would all be excellent cover, but don't warrant starting positions. Could a case be made for recalling Kerry Gilbert, or does his future lie elsewhere? Hopefully, they'll all prove me wrong.
To finish, a picture that says everything about Lauren's commitment to the Arsenal. Goonerboy, obviously, does not condone violence on the football pitch. But United? at OT? That game, along with the 0-0 v madrid recently, were surely two of the greatest 0-0s of all time. It was worth the fines and suspensions. Thanks and so long Ralphy.
The latter would seem to be the case given some of Arsene's recent comments. Indeed it seems incredible that Justin has gone from a player who many thought had no real future at the club, to perhaps becoming our first choice right back. Whilst Eboue undoubtedly has the edge on Justin in terms of attacking flair, he remains painfully suspect at the back. Like Gael, he too often lets the ball float over his head to players on the wing behind him, or lets players behind him cut in to score. Moreover, his theatrics are becoming an embarrasment to the club. Arsene has publicly voiced his displeasure at Eboue's diving and play-acting, and even his team-mates seemed to give him short-shrift during his confrontations in the Spud derby.
Could Justin, therefore, be first choice right back? Perhaps. He has definitely shown signs of improvement over recent weeks - including a very Lauren-esque death stare against Tugay in the Blackburn match last week -but he struggles when getting forward.
A combination of Justin and Eboue's plus points would therefore possibly create an ideal right-back; individually, neither of them are anywhere near the finished article. Personally, I would have liked Arsene to have retained Lauren to oversee Justin and Manu's development for the rest of the season at least. I'd definitely have preferred Lauren's experience for a few more months than the paltry sum we'll receive from Portsmouth.
The question remains therefore: will Justin or Manu really make the grade? And how long should we wait until we find out. Similar questions could be asked about the ability of Clichy to really become a permanent replacement for Cashley. I do worry that, at least at present, we have 3 full-backs who would all be excellent cover, but don't warrant starting positions. Could a case be made for recalling Kerry Gilbert, or does his future lie elsewhere? Hopefully, they'll all prove me wrong.
To finish, a picture that says everything about Lauren's commitment to the Arsenal. Goonerboy, obviously, does not condone violence on the football pitch. But United? at OT? That game, along with the 0-0 v madrid recently, were surely two of the greatest 0-0s of all time. It was worth the fines and suspensions. Thanks and so long Ralphy.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Transfer window round up: Lauren, Freddie, loanees, Beckham.
Busy times for Goonerboy this week, as the post Christmas malaise of returning to work fully hit home. Hence the lack of posts, which I shall try to rectify this week.
It's been a good week for the club, with our youth system received a stunning vindication in the 6-3 crushing of Liverpool at Anfield. I wasn't able to watch the game, and turned on the BBC website at half-time to find we were 4-1 up. A pleasant surprise I have to say. From accounts I've heard, almost everyone played well - notably Baptista, who is beginning to re-earn his 'Beast' sobriquet, Aliadiere, and (who would have thought it) Alex Song. Liverpool didn't put out a full strength team, but the likes of Gerrard, Garcia, Bellamy, Fowler and Alonso were present so they can hardly say they were understrength in comparison to us. Indeed, it was interesting to note how ineffective Gerrard was, who I think has become a typical English player: arrogant, and unwilling to do the gritty midfield duties, forcing Benitez to play two defensive midfielders next to him as he plays Roy of the Rovers.
Anway, Aliadiere's fantastic performance was surely only a stay of execution regarding his transfer. He stated after the game that he wants to 'stay and fight for his place' but I don' think he's being realistic. We now have four top quality strikers in front of him: Henry, Adeabayor, van Persie and Baptista, with Bendtner and Walcott waiting in the wings. He's not good enough to displace those 6, so, unless he's content with being a peripheral squad player, he should leave.
One man who almost certainly will leave by February is Lauren. A great shame, I feel, as he was usually a rock at right-back, and also physically stood up for the team, something we've missed over the last year. I think Arsene must believe that Ralphy won't ever fully recover from his injury, and, due to his age, selling him now makes sense, albeit in a fairly ruthless way. I'm still not convinced we have another quality in our full back positions, however.
A player who should leave is Freddie, but I think he won't go til the summer, when a move would be better for both player and club. He can't cut it anymore, but unless we get someone of the likes of Ribery in, we need him as cover. Arsene must, however, not see him as a first XI player anymore.
In the Friday press conference, Arsene also confirmed that Larsson would be leaving - a shame, but I don't think he'd make it for us - and that Muamba and Bendtner would return. It'll be interesting to see whether the latter pair get a run in the first team, because they've been very good for Birmingham.
Finally, a word about Beckham. He was, once, a good player, and, from dead balls, he still is. However, like Michael Owen, you get the feeling with Beckham that he was a young player that people thought would become a true great, but instead was merely rather good. It's a shame that he's decided to go to America, because the move, surely, is not about football. To suggest that you can just get in a few big players and change American attitudes towards football - I was appalled he was calling it 'soccer' - is incorrect. American's like american football, american baseball and american basketball. There is, as I know from my blog stats, a sizeable minority who do like football - and I applaud them for their good taste - but bringing over Beckham won't be the start of a societal change of attitudes towards football. I think there's a lot more dignity in seeing out your career as a sub in the Bernabeu, or even as a starter for a lesser premiership club, than playing in a half-empty pitch in a far away country for shed-loads of cash. But being a sub isn't good for brand Beckham - how will he become an even bigger celebrity? The move sums up everything that is wrong with modern football to me.
Half an hour til Blackburn - let's hope we can continue our good run of form.
It's been a good week for the club, with our youth system received a stunning vindication in the 6-3 crushing of Liverpool at Anfield. I wasn't able to watch the game, and turned on the BBC website at half-time to find we were 4-1 up. A pleasant surprise I have to say. From accounts I've heard, almost everyone played well - notably Baptista, who is beginning to re-earn his 'Beast' sobriquet, Aliadiere, and (who would have thought it) Alex Song. Liverpool didn't put out a full strength team, but the likes of Gerrard, Garcia, Bellamy, Fowler and Alonso were present so they can hardly say they were understrength in comparison to us. Indeed, it was interesting to note how ineffective Gerrard was, who I think has become a typical English player: arrogant, and unwilling to do the gritty midfield duties, forcing Benitez to play two defensive midfielders next to him as he plays Roy of the Rovers.
Anway, Aliadiere's fantastic performance was surely only a stay of execution regarding his transfer. He stated after the game that he wants to 'stay and fight for his place' but I don' think he's being realistic. We now have four top quality strikers in front of him: Henry, Adeabayor, van Persie and Baptista, with Bendtner and Walcott waiting in the wings. He's not good enough to displace those 6, so, unless he's content with being a peripheral squad player, he should leave.
One man who almost certainly will leave by February is Lauren. A great shame, I feel, as he was usually a rock at right-back, and also physically stood up for the team, something we've missed over the last year. I think Arsene must believe that Ralphy won't ever fully recover from his injury, and, due to his age, selling him now makes sense, albeit in a fairly ruthless way. I'm still not convinced we have another quality in our full back positions, however.
A player who should leave is Freddie, but I think he won't go til the summer, when a move would be better for both player and club. He can't cut it anymore, but unless we get someone of the likes of Ribery in, we need him as cover. Arsene must, however, not see him as a first XI player anymore.
In the Friday press conference, Arsene also confirmed that Larsson would be leaving - a shame, but I don't think he'd make it for us - and that Muamba and Bendtner would return. It'll be interesting to see whether the latter pair get a run in the first team, because they've been very good for Birmingham.
Finally, a word about Beckham. He was, once, a good player, and, from dead balls, he still is. However, like Michael Owen, you get the feeling with Beckham that he was a young player that people thought would become a true great, but instead was merely rather good. It's a shame that he's decided to go to America, because the move, surely, is not about football. To suggest that you can just get in a few big players and change American attitudes towards football - I was appalled he was calling it 'soccer' - is incorrect. American's like american football, american baseball and american basketball. There is, as I know from my blog stats, a sizeable minority who do like football - and I applaud them for their good taste - but bringing over Beckham won't be the start of a societal change of attitudes towards football. I think there's a lot more dignity in seeing out your career as a sub in the Bernabeu, or even as a starter for a lesser premiership club, than playing in a half-empty pitch in a far away country for shed-loads of cash. But being a sub isn't good for brand Beckham - how will he become an even bigger celebrity? The move sums up everything that is wrong with modern football to me.
Half an hour til Blackburn - let's hope we can continue our good run of form.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Arsenal show themselves to be a big game team at Anfield.
If it's one thing that's become abundantly clear over the last twelve months, it's that our current bunch of players do have the ability to step up and perform on the real big game occasions. We showed this in the Champions League against Madrid and Juventus, but also in the final when, considering we only had ten men, we were within a whisker of winning. More recently, our victory at Old Trafford, our draw at Stamford bridge and our home performance against Liverpool have shown we can beat the top teams. Indeed, it's been our inability to grind out performances against the teams below us in the league which have ruled us out of contention this year - something that is hopefully in the process of being remedied. Whether it's because the 'big' teams play more openly against us I don't know, but we have to find a way to beat the 'park the bus' teams.
It's been a long time since Liverpool have been beaten at Anfield; and they would have been even more up for the game considering they're holders of the cup. Thankfully, 'tinkerman' Benitez left Bellamy on the bench, a player who might have caused us some real problems. Conversely, Wenger got his tactics spot on, playing not so much a 4-4-2 as a 4-2-2-2, with Gilberto and Flamini playing as defensive midfielders, and Hleb and Rosicky roaming around in front, rather than playing as anything approaching conventional wingers.
Whisper it quietly, but today, and only today, the suspension of Fabregas may have helped. His suspension precluded Wenger from playing the Rosicky-Hleb-Fabregas midfield which has over-elaborated play so much of late. Instead, Flamini came in and had an absolute, if understated, blinder. Flamini and Gilberto were so good that they practically nullified Gerrard and Alonso - no mean feat. Perhaps there's a case for saying only two of Fab, Hleb and Tom should play if we're only going to play four in midfield? Either way, with Diaby also soon to re-emerge, I would question the logic in purchasing another central midfielder.
Beside them, Hleb and Rosicky were excellent. It's funny watching pundits, because they never directly say how good a player Hleb is. They always lump into 'Arsenal's style of play', which does him a disservice as he was instrumental in the first goal. Moreover, he tackles very well in midfield, and also very rarely gives the ball away when he's on his game like today. I wish he could gain a little more consistency, because when he's on song, he's one of the best players in Europe. It was wonderful to see Tom score two fantastic goals, both of which were long overdue. He has the ability to get the 10-15 goals a season we need to make more of a challenge for the league next year. Like Hleb, consistency is the key.
There were a few edgy moments, notably after the Liverpool goal, but its a credit to the team that they held on. And to see Thierry score his trademark 'run the length of the pitch' goal after we held out so well just about made my week. Despite having a quiet game, make no mistake, he's back. A word also for Phil Senderos who was excellent, winning the headers which most of our other defenders struggle with.
Sometimes on here - like after our defeat at Sheffield - I post a rant. After this game I hope it's clear why: the potential and the quality that the team demonstrates in games like today needs to be shown more often, because if we can find consistency, even in only one competition, we will win silverware this season.
It's been a long time since Liverpool have been beaten at Anfield; and they would have been even more up for the game considering they're holders of the cup. Thankfully, 'tinkerman' Benitez left Bellamy on the bench, a player who might have caused us some real problems. Conversely, Wenger got his tactics spot on, playing not so much a 4-4-2 as a 4-2-2-2, with Gilberto and Flamini playing as defensive midfielders, and Hleb and Rosicky roaming around in front, rather than playing as anything approaching conventional wingers.
Whisper it quietly, but today, and only today, the suspension of Fabregas may have helped. His suspension precluded Wenger from playing the Rosicky-Hleb-Fabregas midfield which has over-elaborated play so much of late. Instead, Flamini came in and had an absolute, if understated, blinder. Flamini and Gilberto were so good that they practically nullified Gerrard and Alonso - no mean feat. Perhaps there's a case for saying only two of Fab, Hleb and Tom should play if we're only going to play four in midfield? Either way, with Diaby also soon to re-emerge, I would question the logic in purchasing another central midfielder.
Beside them, Hleb and Rosicky were excellent. It's funny watching pundits, because they never directly say how good a player Hleb is. They always lump into 'Arsenal's style of play', which does him a disservice as he was instrumental in the first goal. Moreover, he tackles very well in midfield, and also very rarely gives the ball away when he's on his game like today. I wish he could gain a little more consistency, because when he's on song, he's one of the best players in Europe. It was wonderful to see Tom score two fantastic goals, both of which were long overdue. He has the ability to get the 10-15 goals a season we need to make more of a challenge for the league next year. Like Hleb, consistency is the key.
There were a few edgy moments, notably after the Liverpool goal, but its a credit to the team that they held on. And to see Thierry score his trademark 'run the length of the pitch' goal after we held out so well just about made my week. Despite having a quiet game, make no mistake, he's back. A word also for Phil Senderos who was excellent, winning the headers which most of our other defenders struggle with.
Sometimes on here - like after our defeat at Sheffield - I post a rant. After this game I hope it's clear why: the potential and the quality that the team demonstrates in games like today needs to be shown more often, because if we can find consistency, even in only one competition, we will win silverware this season.
Friday, January 05, 2007
What is the point of Arsenal's loan system? And other transfer thoughts
It seems that Anthony Stokes is on his way out of the Emirates. Not that he was ever really in of course, but after his blistering form in the SPL, you might have thought he'd have been given half a chance at the Grove. Especially as he can't be any worse than Jeremie 'where's the barn door' Aliadiere. The SPL is no match for the Premiership, but it's no worse than the Championship - where the bulk of our other loanees are. And surely his value can't fall so much in half a season that he isn't worth keeping for at least that period of time. The mooted £2.7 million is a decent price, but it seems an unnecessary sale.
With Stokes gone, Larrson and Lupoli practically out the door, and Bendtner and Muamba by no means guaranteed a future if and when they return, the question must be begged: what is the point of our loan system?
Is it to give promising youngsters a chance at first team football, in order to assist their development into our first team? Or is it just a 'try before you buy' situation - a shop window for their quality so we can get a decent price? I was always of the impression it was the former situation, but, given the events of late, I'm inclined to think its the latter. It's notable that youngsters such as Walcott and Fabregas - who obviously have the quality and who Wenger has clear faith in - are retained by Arsenal in order to oversee their progress. I think from now on, I'm going to view loans as almost invariable precursors to sales, a situation I hadn't fully accepted until now.
If we are to believe Arsene then no-one will be arriving any time soon. But it's fun to speculate. And that wry Alsace smile of his can be taken in a number of ways.
If ANR [back on www.anr.uk.com at the moment] are to be believed, Nigel Reo-Coker could be on his way. I'm not sure I fully do believe them, and do we really need another central-midfielder? Especially a sulky one who's likely to cost upwards of £12 million?
The same prima-donna behaviour puts me off buying Buffon. He's a fine keeper, but can the Emirates, large as it is, contain his ego? I'd much rather us try and buy one of Scott Carson, Ben Foster, or Craig Gordon, who have all been oustanding, if young, and who all know the English game.
The other players I'd like to see the club buy are Ribery and Gareth Bale. We need more options at left back, and a winger who can get goals - if Ribery can play on the left, it would be a done deal for me.
I expect us to buy no-one and that may be, even with a weak squad, the best way forward. Perhaps some consistency until the summer will help to separate the wheat from the chaff in the squad. I do remember Arsene saying he'd buy no-one last year as well though...
With Stokes gone, Larrson and Lupoli practically out the door, and Bendtner and Muamba by no means guaranteed a future if and when they return, the question must be begged: what is the point of our loan system?
Is it to give promising youngsters a chance at first team football, in order to assist their development into our first team? Or is it just a 'try before you buy' situation - a shop window for their quality so we can get a decent price? I was always of the impression it was the former situation, but, given the events of late, I'm inclined to think its the latter. It's notable that youngsters such as Walcott and Fabregas - who obviously have the quality and who Wenger has clear faith in - are retained by Arsenal in order to oversee their progress. I think from now on, I'm going to view loans as almost invariable precursors to sales, a situation I hadn't fully accepted until now.
If we are to believe Arsene then no-one will be arriving any time soon. But it's fun to speculate. And that wry Alsace smile of his can be taken in a number of ways.
If ANR [back on www.anr.uk.com at the moment] are to be believed, Nigel Reo-Coker could be on his way. I'm not sure I fully do believe them, and do we really need another central-midfielder? Especially a sulky one who's likely to cost upwards of £12 million?
The same prima-donna behaviour puts me off buying Buffon. He's a fine keeper, but can the Emirates, large as it is, contain his ego? I'd much rather us try and buy one of Scott Carson, Ben Foster, or Craig Gordon, who have all been oustanding, if young, and who all know the English game.
The other players I'd like to see the club buy are Ribery and Gareth Bale. We need more options at left back, and a winger who can get goals - if Ribery can play on the left, it would be a done deal for me.
I expect us to buy no-one and that may be, even with a weak squad, the best way forward. Perhaps some consistency until the summer will help to separate the wheat from the chaff in the squad. I do remember Arsene saying he'd buy no-one last year as well though...
Saturday, December 30, 2006
An embarrassing, disgraceful defeat to end the year.
Unlike the Premiership, Goonerboy decided to have a bit of a Christmas break - hence the lack of posts of late. But after a performance like that, comments are mandatory.
What an abject performance. Spineless, bloated, over-elaborate rubbish. I'm not sure if our players realised it, but trying to play one-touch football on a first world war-esque quagmire doesn't work. Especially when you have players of the touch of Baptista and Aliadiere playing.
Yes we had injuries. But so did Sheffield. And moreover we had the entirety of the summer to create a squad which could compete when these injuries occurred, and Arsene/the Board didn't get enough quantity of quality in. When you're down to the last ten minutes of a game you're scrapping desperately to win in wet southern Yorkshire, you don't want an 19 year old debutant to come on; although at least Denilson actually bothered to put a shot in on goal and at least try to test the outfield player that Sheff had been forced to put between the sticks.
What were our players thinking when Kenny went off injured? It would seem not, 'lets not get some quick shots in on goal to try and catch out a player who isn't a goalkeeper'. They seemed more along the lines of, lets try and play one-touch along the penalty box-line, let the Sheff players get back in depth, and then lose the ball. I'm not one of those people who normally scream 'Shooooot' every time we over-elaborate our play, but the match was crying out for some incisiveness today that we seemed incapable of producing.
There were more than a few culprits for our malaise, and names should be named.
Tomas Rosicky was over-elaborater in chief. After a stunning early goal in the season, all my fears about him being played out of position, and needing time to acclimatise to the Premiership have come to pass. He's good enough, but he's not a left winger, and he needs to simplify things sometimes. Why can' Arsene buy players and play them were they want to be played? Is it so much to be asked?
Jeremie Aliadiere is not good enough to play for us, nor will he become so. His first touch was dire, and he didn't really look a threat. Van Persie can do everything Aliadiere does with considerably more skill and aplomb. To have Bendtner out on loan when we're crying out for a half decent striker is madness.
Julio Baptista seemed to think you get five minutes before a challenge in the Premiership. He grew considerably during the match today, but what was he doing stuck out on the left wing? Again, he's a central player, played out of position, acclimatising to the premiership. He should be running directly at people, down the middle. And speeding up his thought to action process considerably.
Justin Hoyte is not good enough. His positioning is poor, he doesn't get forward, he gives the ball away cheaply. I know Eboue and Lauren are injured, but Eboue isn't good enough either, and loaning out Kerry Gilbert seems almost capricious in the circumstances. We need a new right back.
Gael Clichy was better but we need another left back. Knowing Arsene, it'll be Gareth Bale, but we need someone now as well as for the future.
The rest didn't cover themselves in glory but wern't awful. Kolo is beginning to worry me at centre back; he sometimes really does look like a midfielder playing in defence, relying on his recovery speed too much. RvP's petulance was annoying but I'd be frustrated to play to in a team like the one Arsene put out today. Flamini was anonymous which was unacceptable given the opposition.
The cold, hard fact-of-the-matter is that we couldn't beat a stand in keeper playing for a bottom four side today. That is not good enough and something must change more profoundly than just waiting for injured players to come back. Our squad, once the bones are picked away, is too light-weight, too many youngsters of unproven ability. Sure we've scrapped wins against Watford and Wigan away recently, but we're in fifth, 17 points off the top and I foresee a desperate struggle for a Champions League place yet again materialising. I expected a little more than that this year.
What an abject performance. Spineless, bloated, over-elaborate rubbish. I'm not sure if our players realised it, but trying to play one-touch football on a first world war-esque quagmire doesn't work. Especially when you have players of the touch of Baptista and Aliadiere playing.
Yes we had injuries. But so did Sheffield. And moreover we had the entirety of the summer to create a squad which could compete when these injuries occurred, and Arsene/the Board didn't get enough quantity of quality in. When you're down to the last ten minutes of a game you're scrapping desperately to win in wet southern Yorkshire, you don't want an 19 year old debutant to come on; although at least Denilson actually bothered to put a shot in on goal and at least try to test the outfield player that Sheff had been forced to put between the sticks.
What were our players thinking when Kenny went off injured? It would seem not, 'lets not get some quick shots in on goal to try and catch out a player who isn't a goalkeeper'. They seemed more along the lines of, lets try and play one-touch along the penalty box-line, let the Sheff players get back in depth, and then lose the ball. I'm not one of those people who normally scream 'Shooooot' every time we over-elaborate our play, but the match was crying out for some incisiveness today that we seemed incapable of producing.
There were more than a few culprits for our malaise, and names should be named.
Tomas Rosicky was over-elaborater in chief. After a stunning early goal in the season, all my fears about him being played out of position, and needing time to acclimatise to the Premiership have come to pass. He's good enough, but he's not a left winger, and he needs to simplify things sometimes. Why can' Arsene buy players and play them were they want to be played? Is it so much to be asked?
Jeremie Aliadiere is not good enough to play for us, nor will he become so. His first touch was dire, and he didn't really look a threat. Van Persie can do everything Aliadiere does with considerably more skill and aplomb. To have Bendtner out on loan when we're crying out for a half decent striker is madness.
Julio Baptista seemed to think you get five minutes before a challenge in the Premiership. He grew considerably during the match today, but what was he doing stuck out on the left wing? Again, he's a central player, played out of position, acclimatising to the premiership. He should be running directly at people, down the middle. And speeding up his thought to action process considerably.
Justin Hoyte is not good enough. His positioning is poor, he doesn't get forward, he gives the ball away cheaply. I know Eboue and Lauren are injured, but Eboue isn't good enough either, and loaning out Kerry Gilbert seems almost capricious in the circumstances. We need a new right back.
Gael Clichy was better but we need another left back. Knowing Arsene, it'll be Gareth Bale, but we need someone now as well as for the future.
The rest didn't cover themselves in glory but wern't awful. Kolo is beginning to worry me at centre back; he sometimes really does look like a midfielder playing in defence, relying on his recovery speed too much. RvP's petulance was annoying but I'd be frustrated to play to in a team like the one Arsene put out today. Flamini was anonymous which was unacceptable given the opposition.
The cold, hard fact-of-the-matter is that we couldn't beat a stand in keeper playing for a bottom four side today. That is not good enough and something must change more profoundly than just waiting for injured players to come back. Our squad, once the bones are picked away, is too light-weight, too many youngsters of unproven ability. Sure we've scrapped wins against Watford and Wigan away recently, but we're in fifth, 17 points off the top and I foresee a desperate struggle for a Champions League place yet again materialising. I expected a little more than that this year.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
In defence of the flag ban.
There's been a lot of anger about the flag ban coming from several Arsenal related websites. The general consensus has been: 'it's political correctness gone mad', or something along those lines, and also an opportunity for rival fans to criticise us for not being an English club.
Now, I've made my views on Arsenal and foreign players know before, and, while I can understand the anger of many fans, I also feel there has been a great deal of unwarranted over-reaction to the club's policy.
The club didn't ban all flags because it hates fun, or because of some warped puritanical PC mindset. It did so because certain supporters had put up flags in the ground which could be very easily taken to be of a politically inflammatory nature, and which could have unnecessarily soured the match day atmosphere at the ground. I actually saw, I think, the flag that led to the ban: a Turkish Cypriot flag which was unveiled at a home match this season. The issue of the political ownership of Cyprus is one that has led to warfare between Turkey and Greece: I don't really think its fair, as some have argued, to say that those who complained should, essentially, just get over it because it's not that big a deal. It is, and we should respect the feelings of those involved.
So what does the club do, especially when it was undoubtedly mindful of the large Greek, Cypriot and Turkish communities that live in North London and support Arsenal? Does it ban the Turkish Cypriot flag and anger those of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot origin? Does it ban just Cypriot related flags and possibly anger all Greek, Cypriot and Turkish Arsenal fans? Does it ban Turkish flags or Greek flags? Where would the spiral end? Why not all flags of a 'politically sensitive' nature? I can't think of many flags that don't potentially fit that criteria. I wonder what the reaction would be if I brought a German flag to our games to support Jens, who has, of course, been labelled a Nazi by opposition fans on numerous occasions just because of his nationality.
Thus, the blanket ban on flags could be considered an over-reaction, but its the most politically sensible thing to do.
I would also ask those who bring flags to the games, does it really offend you so greatly not to be able to take a national symbol to a club which, I would hope, prides itself on its multi-national flavour? Arsene doesn't judge a player by his passport, and neither do I. If you take an England flag to a game, does that mean you, albeit only tacitly, support our English players a little bit more? And if not, then why nationalise your support? Wouldn't it be nicer if we could carry banners and items of support into the stadium, that just showed our support for the club, without, I would suggest, needless national connotations?
There is a time for signs of nationalism in football: it's called international football. If you want to wave your flag around do it then. I support the English football team, but, personally, I don't really enjoy the nationalistic baiting and stereotyping that goes along with the international game.
The bottom line is, we don't need flags in the stadium. They don't show our support for the club in any greater way than a non-nationalised Arsenal supporters' item. One of the most beautiful things about our club, for me, is that it transcends national boundaries. We are an English club, due to our location, heritage and ownership; but we have supporters around the world, many of whom support Arsenal with as much passion as those born in North London do.
Why, when we've all come together to support our team, must we find ways of re-dividing ourselves due to some supposedly overwhelming desire to wave a flag? I think a ban is a bit harsh - decidedly authoritarian - but I agree with the sentiment behind it. Arsenal football club is not a nation-state: it's more and better than that.
Now, I've made my views on Arsenal and foreign players know before, and, while I can understand the anger of many fans, I also feel there has been a great deal of unwarranted over-reaction to the club's policy.
The club didn't ban all flags because it hates fun, or because of some warped puritanical PC mindset. It did so because certain supporters had put up flags in the ground which could be very easily taken to be of a politically inflammatory nature, and which could have unnecessarily soured the match day atmosphere at the ground. I actually saw, I think, the flag that led to the ban: a Turkish Cypriot flag which was unveiled at a home match this season. The issue of the political ownership of Cyprus is one that has led to warfare between Turkey and Greece: I don't really think its fair, as some have argued, to say that those who complained should, essentially, just get over it because it's not that big a deal. It is, and we should respect the feelings of those involved.
So what does the club do, especially when it was undoubtedly mindful of the large Greek, Cypriot and Turkish communities that live in North London and support Arsenal? Does it ban the Turkish Cypriot flag and anger those of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot origin? Does it ban just Cypriot related flags and possibly anger all Greek, Cypriot and Turkish Arsenal fans? Does it ban Turkish flags or Greek flags? Where would the spiral end? Why not all flags of a 'politically sensitive' nature? I can't think of many flags that don't potentially fit that criteria. I wonder what the reaction would be if I brought a German flag to our games to support Jens, who has, of course, been labelled a Nazi by opposition fans on numerous occasions just because of his nationality.
Thus, the blanket ban on flags could be considered an over-reaction, but its the most politically sensible thing to do.
I would also ask those who bring flags to the games, does it really offend you so greatly not to be able to take a national symbol to a club which, I would hope, prides itself on its multi-national flavour? Arsene doesn't judge a player by his passport, and neither do I. If you take an England flag to a game, does that mean you, albeit only tacitly, support our English players a little bit more? And if not, then why nationalise your support? Wouldn't it be nicer if we could carry banners and items of support into the stadium, that just showed our support for the club, without, I would suggest, needless national connotations?
There is a time for signs of nationalism in football: it's called international football. If you want to wave your flag around do it then. I support the English football team, but, personally, I don't really enjoy the nationalistic baiting and stereotyping that goes along with the international game.
The bottom line is, we don't need flags in the stadium. They don't show our support for the club in any greater way than a non-nationalised Arsenal supporters' item. One of the most beautiful things about our club, for me, is that it transcends national boundaries. We are an English club, due to our location, heritage and ownership; but we have supporters around the world, many of whom support Arsenal with as much passion as those born in North London do.
Why, when we've all come together to support our team, must we find ways of re-dividing ourselves due to some supposedly overwhelming desire to wave a flag? I think a ban is a bit harsh - decidedly authoritarian - but I agree with the sentiment behind it. Arsenal football club is not a nation-state: it's more and better than that.
Monday, December 18, 2006
A disappointing weekend of sport shudders to a halt.
Firstly, the Portsmouth game, or, as it could be known, 'Jeremie Aliadiere's last game for Arsenal', at least in the Premiership. I didn't actually think he was that bad, especially as RvP showed no desire to work with him at all. But Arsene's decision to haul him off after 55 minutes is probably the end for old Jezzer.
In the first half, we were flat, insipid and uncreative. There was no movement or urgency; our defence was often shambolic. Portsmouth, inevitably, nicked a goal just before the end of the half and we probably deserved it. Two men almost came to blows in front of me as the teams walked off - one had booed and the other confronted him. It was that type of performance. To cap it all, I'd somehow conspired to pay £7.30 for a pint of lager and a rather average pie in the build up to the game. Not good.
Nothing really changed after break. Panic continued to ensue in defence, and with Portsmouth's chipped second goal, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It took Adebayor's arrival to inspire a comeback, and the big man scored a terrific goal and helped set up a second. Why, precisely, he was rested is a mystery to me. He's young and in form: don't play him in the Carling Cup if he needs a rest. It has to go down as a selection error by Arsene. Subsequently, Hleb, Walcott and RvP all had chances to win the game but spurned them. Watching Chelsea twice come from behind to win, away at Everton, painfully emphasised the gap between us and them.
A few positives can be gleaned from the game. Clichy seems to be improving; Gilberto continues to inspire; Adebayor is rapidly becoming a colossal, vital figure; we can fight-back. Maybe with Rosicky, Henry and Gallas we'll push onto win games like the one on Saturday; maybe not.
However causes for concern also continue to manifest themselves. Hleb is a constant source of invention, but noticeably slows play when he receives the ball. Walcott at times looked very much a young boy playing with men. Fabregas was effectively, and worryingly, marked out the game. Eboue is, I hate to say it, looking like he's not good enough defensively. Arsene didn't help matters by being consigned to the stands, a matter Goodplaya has thoughtfully analysed.
So, again another performance which inspires hope and anguish in almost equal measure. Is progress still being made?
The other disappointment this weekend occured at about 5am GMT on the other side of the world, as England's cricketers meekly handed back the Ashes. I could write a lengthy diatribe on this matter, but its bile would probably dissolve your screen. Let's hope to see an improvement, from both England and Arsenal, in a few day's time.
In the first half, we were flat, insipid and uncreative. There was no movement or urgency; our defence was often shambolic. Portsmouth, inevitably, nicked a goal just before the end of the half and we probably deserved it. Two men almost came to blows in front of me as the teams walked off - one had booed and the other confronted him. It was that type of performance. To cap it all, I'd somehow conspired to pay £7.30 for a pint of lager and a rather average pie in the build up to the game. Not good.
Nothing really changed after break. Panic continued to ensue in defence, and with Portsmouth's chipped second goal, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It took Adebayor's arrival to inspire a comeback, and the big man scored a terrific goal and helped set up a second. Why, precisely, he was rested is a mystery to me. He's young and in form: don't play him in the Carling Cup if he needs a rest. It has to go down as a selection error by Arsene. Subsequently, Hleb, Walcott and RvP all had chances to win the game but spurned them. Watching Chelsea twice come from behind to win, away at Everton, painfully emphasised the gap between us and them.
A few positives can be gleaned from the game. Clichy seems to be improving; Gilberto continues to inspire; Adebayor is rapidly becoming a colossal, vital figure; we can fight-back. Maybe with Rosicky, Henry and Gallas we'll push onto win games like the one on Saturday; maybe not.
However causes for concern also continue to manifest themselves. Hleb is a constant source of invention, but noticeably slows play when he receives the ball. Walcott at times looked very much a young boy playing with men. Fabregas was effectively, and worryingly, marked out the game. Eboue is, I hate to say it, looking like he's not good enough defensively. Arsene didn't help matters by being consigned to the stands, a matter Goodplaya has thoughtfully analysed.
So, again another performance which inspires hope and anguish in almost equal measure. Is progress still being made?
The other disappointment this weekend occured at about 5am GMT on the other side of the world, as England's cricketers meekly handed back the Ashes. I could write a lengthy diatribe on this matter, but its bile would probably dissolve your screen. Let's hope to see an improvement, from both England and Arsenal, in a few day's time.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Are Arsenal becoming a second half team?
During the glory years of the Wenger reign Arsenal were rather simple. We sprinted out the blocks, landed a series of blows on our opposition, and tried to knock them out quickly; a bit like a boxer who tries to KO his opponent within three rounds.
Nowadays we're more likely to gain a victory on points after a twelve-round slog-fest. The result is the same, but it's not always easy to watch. And the master of this new strategy is, ostensibly, Emmanuel Adebayor, who is fast becoming the king of the 80 minute goal - partially because he usually needs about 2-3 warm up chances before he slots one home.
I didn't watch the entire game last night; by the sounds of things I should be grateful. I haven't read a good word about the first half performance, and it seems that it took the indignity of a Emile Heskey near-miss to wake us up from our malaise. I could only start watching at around the late 50 minute mark, and one of the first things I saw was Adebayor spurn a pretty gilt-edged opportunity, set up by Theo. The game afterward was pretty scrappy. Baptista almost scored with a cheeky, if wonderfully struck, free-kick; Jens spilled a chance, albeit one far harder than Robben's, and was saved by Kolo; Adebayor missed another opportunity. We looked a bit blunt. At one point, Freddie was put through on the left. Instead of smashing the ball first time - as you know he would have done 2-3 years ago - he took a touch, over-complicated things and the opportunity was wasted. It seemed to sum up our approach in attack.
But then little Cesc came on and changed the game, putting in a wonderful tackle to win the ball, before floating over a beautiful route-one ball that Adebayor managed to control and poke through Kirkland's legs.
It seemed that we might just have been worth the win; but only just. The negative tone of the usually upbeat Arseblog surprised me but it doesn't seem like his comments were wholly unjustifiable.
However he was wrong to state that we wouldn't have won a game like that a year ago just because we won 3-2 up there last year. Last night's performance was ugly, and full of points we could criticise. But the fact remains that, without three vital players, and players who needed to be rested, we held things together and got a result that keeps us up in third. By December last year, we were in near free-fall in the league and, to me, the fact we did get a result shows we are slowly improving.
We need to improve our first half performances, because - with a few notable exceptions this season - its been our lethargy out of the blocks which has led to difficult games. But, I'm still encouraged that we can battle for 90 minutes, and pull a result out on a December night in the Northwest. What's important now is that we build on this result, tell Eboue to concentrate more, and, though I hate to say it, think about our long-term goalkeeping plans.
Nowadays we're more likely to gain a victory on points after a twelve-round slog-fest. The result is the same, but it's not always easy to watch. And the master of this new strategy is, ostensibly, Emmanuel Adebayor, who is fast becoming the king of the 80 minute goal - partially because he usually needs about 2-3 warm up chances before he slots one home.
I didn't watch the entire game last night; by the sounds of things I should be grateful. I haven't read a good word about the first half performance, and it seems that it took the indignity of a Emile Heskey near-miss to wake us up from our malaise. I could only start watching at around the late 50 minute mark, and one of the first things I saw was Adebayor spurn a pretty gilt-edged opportunity, set up by Theo. The game afterward was pretty scrappy. Baptista almost scored with a cheeky, if wonderfully struck, free-kick; Jens spilled a chance, albeit one far harder than Robben's, and was saved by Kolo; Adebayor missed another opportunity. We looked a bit blunt. At one point, Freddie was put through on the left. Instead of smashing the ball first time - as you know he would have done 2-3 years ago - he took a touch, over-complicated things and the opportunity was wasted. It seemed to sum up our approach in attack.
But then little Cesc came on and changed the game, putting in a wonderful tackle to win the ball, before floating over a beautiful route-one ball that Adebayor managed to control and poke through Kirkland's legs.
It seemed that we might just have been worth the win; but only just. The negative tone of the usually upbeat Arseblog surprised me but it doesn't seem like his comments were wholly unjustifiable.
However he was wrong to state that we wouldn't have won a game like that a year ago just because we won 3-2 up there last year. Last night's performance was ugly, and full of points we could criticise. But the fact remains that, without three vital players, and players who needed to be rested, we held things together and got a result that keeps us up in third. By December last year, we were in near free-fall in the league and, to me, the fact we did get a result shows we are slowly improving.
We need to improve our first half performances, because - with a few notable exceptions this season - its been our lethargy out of the blocks which has led to difficult games. But, I'm still encouraged that we can battle for 90 minutes, and pull a result out on a December night in the Northwest. What's important now is that we build on this result, tell Eboue to concentrate more, and, though I hate to say it, think about our long-term goalkeeping plans.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Arsenal earn a point, and prove several, over at the Bridge.
A great result today on the back of a great performance. Indeed, had it not been for, surely, a contender for goal of the season, and a hideous foul before hand, we could be celebrating one of the best wins in the club's recent history.
I had been nervous before the game. I felt we were on to a hiding without the experience and ability of Kolo, Henry, Rosicky and Gallas. But a lot of young players stood up today and were counted, and that can only bode well for the future. It seems that our current youngsters are good enough to win the title, especially if we can keep them together and continue their progression together, but it may not be this year, or even next.
My main concern after the Porto game was that we would play too deep and invite Chelsea pressure onto us. That, and the fact that Chelsea would have too much power in their midfield for us to deal with. To get the result we did entailed a towering performance from Gilberto, who looked every inch Club Captain today - not just in his performance, but in his general conduct, notably trying to calm down several inflamed situations. He does a, at times, simple job, but he did it exceptionally today; his ability to break up and redistribute play was key to our midfield bearing a near onslaught at times.
Flamini took his goal well, but was largely anonymous otherwise. For me, this is a good thing - it showed he was sticking to a simpler task of assisting Gilberto, rather than attempting the more grandiose manoeuvres that he can struggle with. I'm still unsure as to whether he can step up and become a really integral player to the team, but if he keeps on scoring vital goals, and making vital deflections, he can surely only press his claim more compellingly.
The rest of the midfield was also excellent. Hleb caused Chelsea all sorts of problems, even if he did blaze over a glorious opportunity to win the game; Fabregas's continued gravitas and maturity is nothing short of stunning; van Persie has increasingly impressed me of late with his all round contribution to our performances, especially when being asked to play out of position on the left. Adebayor led the line very well, yet could have done with a little more assistance. I think he looks far more convincing as the 1 in a 4-5-1 than Henry, and he seems to be more of a threat to defences than he was even at the start of the season.
The defence also did well. Djourou continues to impress, and Clichy also had a very decent game. Eboue had a fairly decent game, but was caught out ball-watching on occasion, allowing the ball to float over his head to a player he hadn't noticed. It was encouraging to see Phil take on Drogba and not be overawed, but his lack of pace, and general edginess was a concern at times. Djourou has to start in front of him if there's a choice between the two.
And as for Jens... a superb save from Robben was counterbalanced by an awful flap at a corner, and a near fatal error in the 94th minute. The skin of Mathieu Flamini's studs saved him on the second occasion. Jens needs to eradicate these little niggling errors that he seems to be making at the moment. And as for the Drogba incident...I was glad to see the referee only book the two of them for their outrageous 'handbags at five paces' moment.
The game was a fascinating encounter, the first half going to Chelsea, the second a clear-cut score-draw. After we'd managed to stem the tide from the first half - and survived Lampard's numerous attempts to find the deflections that seemingly only he can find - I always fancied us to push on and take something from the game. And when we scored, I honestly thought we would win. I'm more than happy with the point as it is, as I think it proves a lot about the bottle and potential of our fledgling side.
As for Ashley, do we really need to talk about him? He pouted, fouled, and played reasonably, if, it must be said, without ever looking considerably better than Clichy. It was a bit like seeing an ex with a new boyfriend, when he strode out against us: it was a bit odd, it hurt a little, but the reasons for the separation were so compelling that ultimately it didn't bother me too much. His fevered ego seems to have found its El Dorado in West London and I'm happy to leave it at that. We miss him a player, maybe, but certainly not as a person, and if Clichy can continue his progression, we hopefully won't miss him as a player for too much longer.
Chel$ea's general conduct probably won them no new friends: Drogba's hideous diving, the swarms of Chel$ea players around the referee when he dared book Ashley for an awful foul on Hleb. Indeed, its games like today when you realise that money can buy you success, but not respect or class. And I'd like to think that a team with an average age of 23 won a lot more of that today than their opponents, and, in doing so, again emphasised the extremely bright future that our club is hopefully heading towards.
I had been nervous before the game. I felt we were on to a hiding without the experience and ability of Kolo, Henry, Rosicky and Gallas. But a lot of young players stood up today and were counted, and that can only bode well for the future. It seems that our current youngsters are good enough to win the title, especially if we can keep them together and continue their progression together, but it may not be this year, or even next.
My main concern after the Porto game was that we would play too deep and invite Chelsea pressure onto us. That, and the fact that Chelsea would have too much power in their midfield for us to deal with. To get the result we did entailed a towering performance from Gilberto, who looked every inch Club Captain today - not just in his performance, but in his general conduct, notably trying to calm down several inflamed situations. He does a, at times, simple job, but he did it exceptionally today; his ability to break up and redistribute play was key to our midfield bearing a near onslaught at times.
Flamini took his goal well, but was largely anonymous otherwise. For me, this is a good thing - it showed he was sticking to a simpler task of assisting Gilberto, rather than attempting the more grandiose manoeuvres that he can struggle with. I'm still unsure as to whether he can step up and become a really integral player to the team, but if he keeps on scoring vital goals, and making vital deflections, he can surely only press his claim more compellingly.
The rest of the midfield was also excellent. Hleb caused Chelsea all sorts of problems, even if he did blaze over a glorious opportunity to win the game; Fabregas's continued gravitas and maturity is nothing short of stunning; van Persie has increasingly impressed me of late with his all round contribution to our performances, especially when being asked to play out of position on the left. Adebayor led the line very well, yet could have done with a little more assistance. I think he looks far more convincing as the 1 in a 4-5-1 than Henry, and he seems to be more of a threat to defences than he was even at the start of the season.
The defence also did well. Djourou continues to impress, and Clichy also had a very decent game. Eboue had a fairly decent game, but was caught out ball-watching on occasion, allowing the ball to float over his head to a player he hadn't noticed. It was encouraging to see Phil take on Drogba and not be overawed, but his lack of pace, and general edginess was a concern at times. Djourou has to start in front of him if there's a choice between the two.
And as for Jens... a superb save from Robben was counterbalanced by an awful flap at a corner, and a near fatal error in the 94th minute. The skin of Mathieu Flamini's studs saved him on the second occasion. Jens needs to eradicate these little niggling errors that he seems to be making at the moment. And as for the Drogba incident...I was glad to see the referee only book the two of them for their outrageous 'handbags at five paces' moment.
The game was a fascinating encounter, the first half going to Chelsea, the second a clear-cut score-draw. After we'd managed to stem the tide from the first half - and survived Lampard's numerous attempts to find the deflections that seemingly only he can find - I always fancied us to push on and take something from the game. And when we scored, I honestly thought we would win. I'm more than happy with the point as it is, as I think it proves a lot about the bottle and potential of our fledgling side.
As for Ashley, do we really need to talk about him? He pouted, fouled, and played reasonably, if, it must be said, without ever looking considerably better than Clichy. It was a bit like seeing an ex with a new boyfriend, when he strode out against us: it was a bit odd, it hurt a little, but the reasons for the separation were so compelling that ultimately it didn't bother me too much. His fevered ego seems to have found its El Dorado in West London and I'm happy to leave it at that. We miss him a player, maybe, but certainly not as a person, and if Clichy can continue his progression, we hopefully won't miss him as a player for too much longer.
Chel$ea's general conduct probably won them no new friends: Drogba's hideous diving, the swarms of Chel$ea players around the referee when he dared book Ashley for an awful foul on Hleb. Indeed, its games like today when you realise that money can buy you success, but not respect or class. And I'd like to think that a team with an average age of 23 won a lot more of that today than their opponents, and, in doing so, again emphasised the extremely bright future that our club is hopefully heading towards.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Pragmatism and professionalism leads to progression
Not the most exciting of games yesterday, it has to be said. Not quite ‘backs to the wall’ stuff as even
Monday, December 04, 2006
The Thierry Henry 'situation', part 2.
I was, perhaps, a little hasty yesterday to write that there was 'no' Thierry situation. I hadn't watched the post-match interview with Wenger, and, I have to admit, he did seem rather frosty when talking about the incident with Thierry.
However, I feel vindicated that, generally, this incident has been blown out of proportion. It seems that Arsene has probably told Thierry two things today: one for definite, the other, I hope.
Firstly, he would have told Thierry that it is he who decides who plays in the games. Thierry might have desperately wanted to play on Saturday, and his wobbly shows his commitment to the club, but doing it so publicly makes him a) look like a bit of a prima-donna and b) questions Arsene's authority. Thierry clearly hasn't been at his best this season, but he hasn't been rubbish either, as some fans with extremely short memories are claiming. A fully fit Thierry can do things for us that no other player can: he was the extra 5% that won the game in Madrid, or got the draw against Spurs last year. It has been interesting to see us play some great football without him this year, but let's not go too far and say he's past it. He needs a rest - not just to recover from the injury, but in general, after playing nearly 60 games in a calender year. He had a rest due to niggling injuries about this time last season, and came back re-energised for the second half of the season. I hope that happens again.
Secondly, I hope Arsene told Thierry not to question him in public, i.e. not to flatly contradict Arsene's statements on our transfer policy in the forthcoming window. I know Thierry wants what's best for the club - not just himself - but he, more than anyone, should trust Arsene's judgement. Indeed, I do wish he'd get rid of that column altogether in the Sun.
There's been a lot of rubbish printed about the whole affair. I hope this is the end of it. I certainly think that Arsene is trying to make a point to Thierry that he is not more important the team/club by, hopefully, getting some good results this month, but to suggest this is the start of some lengthy Vieira-esque 'end of the affair' between Thierry and Arsene and Arsenal is wrong.
It's been good to see that the most judicious pieces on the situation have come from fellow Arsenal bloggers. I point you to the, always superb, Arseblog, Gunnerblog and Goodplaya.
This, on the other hand, angered me. To suggest that Thierry had no right to be on the pitch at the end is nonsense. He's the club's captain. Read what Emmanuel Adebayor had to say about Thierry's involvement on Saturday. Quite the opposite.
So, Arsene has probably laid down the law today to Thierry; perhaps, even told him some uncomfortable home truths about who exactly is boss. But, I don't think there's much more to it than that.
However, I feel vindicated that, generally, this incident has been blown out of proportion. It seems that Arsene has probably told Thierry two things today: one for definite, the other, I hope.
Firstly, he would have told Thierry that it is he who decides who plays in the games. Thierry might have desperately wanted to play on Saturday, and his wobbly shows his commitment to the club, but doing it so publicly makes him a) look like a bit of a prima-donna and b) questions Arsene's authority. Thierry clearly hasn't been at his best this season, but he hasn't been rubbish either, as some fans with extremely short memories are claiming. A fully fit Thierry can do things for us that no other player can: he was the extra 5% that won the game in Madrid, or got the draw against Spurs last year. It has been interesting to see us play some great football without him this year, but let's not go too far and say he's past it. He needs a rest - not just to recover from the injury, but in general, after playing nearly 60 games in a calender year. He had a rest due to niggling injuries about this time last season, and came back re-energised for the second half of the season. I hope that happens again.
Secondly, I hope Arsene told Thierry not to question him in public, i.e. not to flatly contradict Arsene's statements on our transfer policy in the forthcoming window. I know Thierry wants what's best for the club - not just himself - but he, more than anyone, should trust Arsene's judgement. Indeed, I do wish he'd get rid of that column altogether in the Sun.
There's been a lot of rubbish printed about the whole affair. I hope this is the end of it. I certainly think that Arsene is trying to make a point to Thierry that he is not more important the team/club by, hopefully, getting some good results this month, but to suggest this is the start of some lengthy Vieira-esque 'end of the affair' between Thierry and Arsene and Arsenal is wrong.
It's been good to see that the most judicious pieces on the situation have come from fellow Arsenal bloggers. I point you to the, always superb, Arseblog, Gunnerblog and Goodplaya.
This, on the other hand, angered me. To suggest that Thierry had no right to be on the pitch at the end is nonsense. He's the club's captain. Read what Emmanuel Adebayor had to say about Thierry's involvement on Saturday. Quite the opposite.
So, Arsene has probably laid down the law today to Thierry; perhaps, even told him some uncomfortable home truths about who exactly is boss. But, I don't think there's much more to it than that.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The importance of scoring first; the Thierry 'situation', or lack thereof.
A great, great win yesterday; one the club badly needed after a depressing succession of defeats.
The match hammered home the importance of getting the first goal to our style of play. Teams play cagily even at 0-0 when they're at the Emirates, but if we keep on gifting opponents a head-start it allows them to play even more defensively, making our task even harder. Indeed, Sp*rs should have gone one up yesterday. Malbranque's chance in the 11th minute was their 'welcome to Ashburton, have the first goal on us' opportunity and they should have scored. When they missed, I sensed things might go our way afterwards.
There was an element of luck in all three of our goals, but our victory was very much deserved. Frankly, we played Sp*rs off the park, and made them look average. It was great to see such a battling, yet skilful performance, one we need to see more often this season. The only real negatives to be drawn from the game were the injuries to Rosicky and RvP, Rosicky probably now out for the Porto game as a consequence. I thought he struggled a bit during the game, and faffed around on the ball a bit too much. I was disappointed with Eboue's theatrics, which are endearing him to no-one. Also, I thought Arsene could have used his subs a little earlier: if you're coasting at 3-0, why not give Theo 20 minutes instead of 5?
Aside from these relatively forced whinges, the rest of the team was outstanding. Jens spilled the ball when he perhaps should have caught it, but was solid otherwise. It was quite amusing to see Kolo berate him for his mistake as well. Kolo and Djourou were rock solid, and Kolo seemed to be everywhere, putting several important challenges in. For me, Djourou should now be third choice centre-back. He looks a lot more composed at the back than Senderos and more comfortable on the ball. Clichy put in a good performance as well, largely nullifying Sp*rs' main threat - Aaron lennon - which is no mean feat, and getting forward impressively.
In midfield, Freddie put in his best performance for a long time. He battled and tackled well - which is what we can still expect from him - but it was nice to see him actually beat his marker a few times. He looked a threat, but we can still improve on him. Gilberto and Fabregas were outstanding, in markedly different ways : Gilberto broke up any sp*rs possession superbly; Fabregas distributed it in a consistently threatening manner. It was great to see Gilbs dispatch the two penalties with such aplomb, and he really rose to his role as captain. Fab was so dominant in midfield that he basically dictated the game. Indeed, the only means by which the 'Zokora is the new Vieira' comparison was valid, was by the way Fab completely took him out the game - much like when Paddy came over with Juve.
RvP had a great game, playing intelligently and unselfishly. It's been great to see him steadily improve over the last few weeks: I always felt he had the talent to be a great player, but its nice to see him thinking a bit more about his team-play. I do hope he didn't handle on purpose, however, because that's not how I want to see Arsenal players behave.
But, my man of the match has to be the Togolese goal-machine that is Manu Adebayor. Silencing, yet again, his myriad critics, the big man put in a colossal display, not just finishing his chance superbly, but leading the line in a wonderfully authoritative manner. Some people have forgotten that Manu is only 21, and I think over the course of the next two years he could develop into a truly potent centre-forward. Now, if he could just replicate this form against some of the lesser teams...
The atmosphere inside the stadium was also wonderful. Really loud, constant singing, and a real sense of jubilation and pride. People have complained about the lack of atmosphere in the Emirates, but we showed what type of atmosphere can be produced in the ground - an atmosphere which I'm sure influenced the result. We need to try and re-create that atmosphere more often, just like the team needs to re-produce that type of performance on a more regular basis if we want to take anything from this season.
Finally, a word on the Thierry 'situation'. For a man supposedly suffering from a rift with the club, he did a wonderful job of 'hiding' it. He was in the tunnel before the game, pumping up the players; Adebayor, in a touching moment, ran to acknowledge him after his goal; he celebrated with the team on the field after the game. There may well have been an argument in training, but I hope there was - it shows Thierry's desire and passion for our club. He's frustrated because he knows just what the Arsenal-Spurs game means to Arsenal fans. I think he was also frustrated because he realises that trying to plough on and play with an injury has not been a great idea. I expect he'll miss the Chelsea game to try and rest up properly. The journalists who have hyped up the 'rift' are the same ones who confidently predicted TH's departure to Barca throughout all of last season. They're probably still smarting from that, or they've realised what great copy Thierry is - either way, they're peddling a misleading story.
I expect Baptista to come in for Tomas on Wednesday, a game that's really important to the immediate future of the club. It's not a '£40 million' game, but exiting at this stage would be a real blow after all our progress in the competition this year. I'm confident we can get a result out there.
Til later. Gb.
The match hammered home the importance of getting the first goal to our style of play. Teams play cagily even at 0-0 when they're at the Emirates, but if we keep on gifting opponents a head-start it allows them to play even more defensively, making our task even harder. Indeed, Sp*rs should have gone one up yesterday. Malbranque's chance in the 11th minute was their 'welcome to Ashburton, have the first goal on us' opportunity and they should have scored. When they missed, I sensed things might go our way afterwards.
There was an element of luck in all three of our goals, but our victory was very much deserved. Frankly, we played Sp*rs off the park, and made them look average. It was great to see such a battling, yet skilful performance, one we need to see more often this season. The only real negatives to be drawn from the game were the injuries to Rosicky and RvP, Rosicky probably now out for the Porto game as a consequence. I thought he struggled a bit during the game, and faffed around on the ball a bit too much. I was disappointed with Eboue's theatrics, which are endearing him to no-one. Also, I thought Arsene could have used his subs a little earlier: if you're coasting at 3-0, why not give Theo 20 minutes instead of 5?
Aside from these relatively forced whinges, the rest of the team was outstanding. Jens spilled the ball when he perhaps should have caught it, but was solid otherwise. It was quite amusing to see Kolo berate him for his mistake as well. Kolo and Djourou were rock solid, and Kolo seemed to be everywhere, putting several important challenges in. For me, Djourou should now be third choice centre-back. He looks a lot more composed at the back than Senderos and more comfortable on the ball. Clichy put in a good performance as well, largely nullifying Sp*rs' main threat - Aaron lennon - which is no mean feat, and getting forward impressively.
In midfield, Freddie put in his best performance for a long time. He battled and tackled well - which is what we can still expect from him - but it was nice to see him actually beat his marker a few times. He looked a threat, but we can still improve on him. Gilberto and Fabregas were outstanding, in markedly different ways : Gilberto broke up any sp*rs possession superbly; Fabregas distributed it in a consistently threatening manner. It was great to see Gilbs dispatch the two penalties with such aplomb, and he really rose to his role as captain. Fab was so dominant in midfield that he basically dictated the game. Indeed, the only means by which the 'Zokora is the new Vieira' comparison was valid, was by the way Fab completely took him out the game - much like when Paddy came over with Juve.
RvP had a great game, playing intelligently and unselfishly. It's been great to see him steadily improve over the last few weeks: I always felt he had the talent to be a great player, but its nice to see him thinking a bit more about his team-play. I do hope he didn't handle on purpose, however, because that's not how I want to see Arsenal players behave.
But, my man of the match has to be the Togolese goal-machine that is Manu Adebayor. Silencing, yet again, his myriad critics, the big man put in a colossal display, not just finishing his chance superbly, but leading the line in a wonderfully authoritative manner. Some people have forgotten that Manu is only 21, and I think over the course of the next two years he could develop into a truly potent centre-forward. Now, if he could just replicate this form against some of the lesser teams...
The atmosphere inside the stadium was also wonderful. Really loud, constant singing, and a real sense of jubilation and pride. People have complained about the lack of atmosphere in the Emirates, but we showed what type of atmosphere can be produced in the ground - an atmosphere which I'm sure influenced the result. We need to try and re-create that atmosphere more often, just like the team needs to re-produce that type of performance on a more regular basis if we want to take anything from this season.
Finally, a word on the Thierry 'situation'. For a man supposedly suffering from a rift with the club, he did a wonderful job of 'hiding' it. He was in the tunnel before the game, pumping up the players; Adebayor, in a touching moment, ran to acknowledge him after his goal; he celebrated with the team on the field after the game. There may well have been an argument in training, but I hope there was - it shows Thierry's desire and passion for our club. He's frustrated because he knows just what the Arsenal-Spurs game means to Arsenal fans. I think he was also frustrated because he realises that trying to plough on and play with an injury has not been a great idea. I expect he'll miss the Chelsea game to try and rest up properly. The journalists who have hyped up the 'rift' are the same ones who confidently predicted TH's departure to Barca throughout all of last season. They're probably still smarting from that, or they've realised what great copy Thierry is - either way, they're peddling a misleading story.
I expect Baptista to come in for Tomas on Wednesday, a game that's really important to the immediate future of the club. It's not a '£40 million' game, but exiting at this stage would be a real blow after all our progress in the competition this year. I'm confident we can get a result out there.
Til later. Gb.
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