Norwich City 1-0 Arsenal: post match

After a boring international break, we slumped to an away defeat in a game we really should have been looking to take three points from. It’s a somewhat familiar Arsenal story but today it was somewhat different: we suffered from a terrible lack of chances.

Nobody likes to see Arsenal miss a load of chances and then lose, but at least when you do that, you can pin the blame on your strikers having an off day, and go into the next game knowing what you want to see changed. Today almost all our players were poor going forward: Gervinho was utter, utter garbage, Giroud couldn’t influence the game, and even the usually sparkling Cazorla uncharacteristically misplaced his passes and lacked the inspired through-balls which we’re so used to seeing from him.

The game started in cagey fashion as you might expect; Norwich were resilient and a bit cautious when it came to attacking, and we were just as nervy with our passing. Away from home you don’t perhaps expect the same slickness as you do at the Emirates, but we should aim to make up for that by being more direct and to be frank, we didn’t. After 20 minutes, with both sides having tried a couple of rangefinders and not much else, Alexander Tettey took a shot from outside the box, Mannone parried it but to an unsafe position, and walking Greggs advert Grant Holt pounced on the rebound. It was at much the same juncture in the game as the goal we conceded against West Ham, but we hadn’t looked anywhere near as threatening as we had in the first half at Upton Park. Mannone perhaps could have done better with the shot, and our midfield could have done better at closing Tettey down initially. Frankly, the goal was symptomatic of a performance which was lacking somewhat in quality from all sides of the pitch.

There was still time for us to contrive to almost concede another goal, when our marking went a bit Squillaci from a corner and their centre back, Michael Turner, really should have doubled the home lead, but headed narrowly wide. We went into half time having created nothing of note, especially in response to the Norwich goal. If we dug deep after going behind at Upton Park, today the team stood around and stared at the ground, waiting for someone to pick up the proverbial digging instrument.

You might have hoped for a good response after half time, but the team didn’t look very inspired. Admittedly, the passing was a little more precise, but we still failed to create a chance. Most of the problems seemed to stem from the over-cautious nature of our attacking play; rather than make a good run, players were too content to play the easy ball. Ramsey played the central midfield position upon which we would usually rely for some driving runs through the centre of the park, but the Welshman was less eager to do this than say, Diaby, and slowed down the play far too often. Even Gervinho, who usually drives to the byline and cuts the ball back across the area with a frankly religious zeal, was far too content to simply lay the ball back to Ramsey or Cazorla, who then had no runners to feed with a through ball. Our team was excellently vertical against West Ham when it needed to be, moving the ball from end to end with a pleasing pinball-like speed and precision, but that element was sorely lacking from the play today.

It was clear that something needed to change – the team had to become more direct or lose – and Wenger opted to unleash the Ox at a slightly earlier point than his usual 67th minute “Designated Substitution Time”. This seemed like a good plan, as Ox is always a runner willing to make something happen, but the hopes of Arsenal fans were dashed against the rocks of an injury that the winger picked up with only the first of his trademark bursts. Whether it was a case of not warming up properly or just bad luck, our most important sub was sidelined once again within 10 minutes for Arshavin. Though I still believe the little Russian can offer something to the team, it wasn’t there today; Norwich continued to defend stoutly and frustrate our attackers.

Norwich performed admirably and with a great deal of appetite, showing that they are keen to shake off the sibilant “second season syndrome” tag that has been somewhat unfairly attached to them. Despite their solid defensive plan and impressive work rate, they didn’t create anything more than us going forward really; a couple of defensive slips allowed them a half chance or two, but our defenders recovered in time to prevent the situation worsening. However, we’ve really got to look at our own performance rather than that of our opponents, and if you want to win trophies, you want to be good enough to beat your opponents, especially those of Norwich’s calibre, no matter how much effort they put in.

With still no sniff of a goal (a Cazorla free kick was comfortably saved), Arsene opted to use his third sub to chuck on the 17-year-old Serge Gnabry for the last 10 minutes. Though the youngster looked bright and quick-footed with a nice turn of pace, and laid on perhaps the best attacking pass of a meagre bunch (a through ball to Gervinho that was alertly snuffed out by a Norwich defender before the Ivorian could shoot), this was not the type of game where you ask a 17-year-old to step in. If we are comfortably beating QPR at the Emirates next week and Wenger chooses to bring on Gnabry, then that’s obviously fine, but you would expect more from the starting lineup against Norwich before you turn to a player who’s only just old enough to have a professional contract. There was no real sign of Jack Wilshere, and I don’t think Arsene really thought about bringing him in; he likely only travelled to make up the numbers with Coquelin injured, and Arsene will likely look for a comfortable situation, like the one imagined above, before he tries to ease Jack back into the side.

A tenacious cameo, but nowhere near enough to turn the game around.

The final whistle went, and the word on the lips of most was “lacklustre”. After our loss against Chelsea, I wanted the team to get nine points from the next three games – West Ham away, Norwich away and QPR at home – and that will, unfortunately, not be met. It is hard to point specific fingers, and though as fans we went into the game expecting a win, the team underperformed and ultimately didn’t deliver. Perhaps they, too, took a little too much for granted. In the end, we can look to return to winning ways in the league against QPR next weekend, but some improvement will be needed before we face Schalke in midweek.

My Man of the Match: Arteta – best of a bad bunch and occasionally looked to create by running with the ball from his deep position, but was often lacking in attacking outlets. Had a decent shot on target near the end.
Anti-Man of the Match: Gervinho – a performance that didn’t so much have a frustrating side as a whole frustrating octagon. The Ivorian looked sadly unimaginative and lacking in bravery, and it was a wonder that he stayed on the field when Arsene chose to make his subs.

Stoke review, 3rd place situation and Podolski

Well, I’m now writing this on Tuesday evening, which means I’ve seen the results of both Chelsea-Newcastle and Bolton-Spuds. They throw a bit of light on the situation for 3rd, which I’ll get to later.

First up though we need to talk about the game against Stoke on Saturday. Going to the Britannia is not a pleasant experience for any team, and that’s reflected in some of the results they’ve ground out there this season alone. Tony Pulis’ Murderin’ Mob held both City and Spuds to draws there, so there was understandably somewhat of a sense of trepidation, especially since we’ve struggled at Stoke in the past. Wenger’s team more or less picked itself: as I suspected, Gervinho was chosen over Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right, but Benayoun also came back into the team. It seems a sensible inclusion; as we approach a slightly nervy run-in, we need the calm steadying hand of experienced pros in the team.

We started brightly, but suffered a bit of a setback when Matthew Etherington swung in a cross and Peter Crouch rose, not like a salmon but more like somebody extending a cheap umbrella, to head the ball past Szczesny. It was a pretty typical Stoke goal and one we’d probably have expected to face coming to the Britannia. However, we didn’t let ourselves be set back and responded quickly, showing some intent that paid off a few minutes later. Benayoun chased down a long ball, robbed Ryan Shotton (essentially a bargain basement Rory Delap who plays in defence, which is about as bad as it sounds), and held it up for Rosicky, who tickled a delightful ball to the far post where a salivating Robin van Persie was waiting. We were back on terms within about 5 minutes of conceding, which was good.

Then the game petered out somewhat. Gervinho failed to make contact with a cross, Ramsey shot wide, and we didn’t see too much the other side of the break either. We had a half decent shout for a handball on the edge of their box turned down, from none other than Ryan Shawcross. Apparently the Stoke fans booing Ramsey was somehow in defence of Shawcross, according to their manager. To me it just seemed like pointless, pig-headed hostility towards a player who has not wronged their club in any way. While we’re on the subject of Ramsey, I felt he coped quite well with the abuse and had a good game. To his credit, he never shied away from a challenge, which was an attribute we needed in such a gritty match. He seems to be steadily building up confidence, which is always good; it leaves a nice positive feeling for a player at the end of a season, and gives them a boost coming into the next.

The game chugged on a bit, cantering through a somewhat soft penalty appeal from Benayoun (if it had been given against us I would have been fuming) until they brought Rory Delap on in the 88th minute, which received a bizarrely rapturous reaction from the Stoke fans. I suppose he really is their football personified: creaking, not really of the same quality as most of its opponents, but still makes things somewhat tricky by having an infuriating “secret weapon”. That weapon was nearly a goal, as a long throw led to a box scramble and an impressively acrobatic clearance by Sagna. To finish the game off on a note that sadly summed up his career this far, Abou Diaby (acting as a sub) got the ball, dribbled past two Stoke players and pulled up with a hamstring injury. It was another setback for a player who encourages every time he is fit, but is frustratingly infrequent with those periods.

Tonight though, we find ourselves in a high pressure situation. Newcastle and Spurs both collected away wins, which puts them both within 1 point of us. We all now have two games to play. Thankfully ours may be the easiest of the lot, against Norwich and West Brom, two clubs with very little left to play for. West Brom have also had their manager poached by the FA, which could help us. Or Hodgson will rally the troops for the final couple of matches, and West Brom will achieve heights of footballing greatness to rival Barcelona. We’ll have to see.

Ultimately it boils down to us in the driving seat for 3rd, with two winnable games left to play. It is as simple as winning those two matches and confirming our Champions League qualification and a delightful finish to a season full of obstacles. 3rd place would also allow us to make our ideal signings much sooner as we can guarantee CL football.

This, of course, brings me to the encouraging news that the transfer of Lukas Podolski was confirmed this week. This was something quite a few people were sure of, but there was another group who would not believe anything until it appeared on the club website. An understandable stance given today’s transfer market, but the rumours were validated by both Cologne and Arsenal. The transfer was a very nice step; for 11m, we’ve got a versatile winger/striker with a real rocket shot who is proven at international level but still has a good few years in him. Hopefully the early arrangement of this particular deal shows somewhat of a change in transfer policy, to one which can both help retain the services of Robin van Persie, and also prevent the kind of kerfuffle that ensued at the end of last summer. Podolski will go some way to giving us strength in depth in the striker department, and with a few signings of his calibre, plus offloading the deadwood to give our quality youth more of a chance, we can start with renewed fire next season. However, first we need to focus on the two games we have left and set up a nice summer break for ourselves. See you later.

A quick Stoke preview before the game

Well, after what seems like ages (it’s painful being out of all competitions and having to wait so long for our fix of Arsenal) we arrive at a 3pm kick off away at Stoke. It’s no rainy Tuesday night, but it is still going to be tough. I called our 3 remaining games winnable and I think they are, but this one will probably require the most commitment as Stoke offer a “unique” challenge, if we’re being very, very nice to their style of play. I recall when Big Sam managed Bolton, going to the Reebok always used to be a bit of a bogey game for us, and now Stoke have taken that role as the “physical” team of the Premier league, which is shorthand for a team that does a lot of shirt pulling and scores from set pieces. We’ve endured these fixtures at the Britannia for the past few seasons, rarely coming away with much and often coming away with hurt players.

One of those players will probably start today. Ramsey didn’t have a fantastic time when we visited last season, but that’s quite understandable – it was the site of his horrific leg break and he was subject to some frankly astonishingly stupid booing. If a player faked injury to have one of your defenders sent off, that’s OK, but when his leg gets snapped in two like a twiglet and the sent-off player in question clearly does not protest, then you can see that it’s an understandable decision. I don’t think we boo players who got ours sent off, except Joey Barton but every football fan has licence to boo Joey Barton, it’s within their rights.

Ramsey will be facing a hostile crowd again, as will all of Arsenal’s players. I talked about the odd game Ramsey had against Chelsea, where his passing was excellent but he got caught in possession often, so he’ll have to try and iron out the creases today. We’ve got no Theo, so I think Yossi will feature down the left with one of our fast wide men down the right. I’d say it’s a real toss-up between the Ox and Gervinho; Oxlade-Chamberlain’s rugby-player build shows in his high level of strength for an 18 year-old, but in the cauldron of the Britannia Arsene may opt for Gervinho who offers a bit more experience, and it may be an opportunity for everyone’s likable Ivorian half-forehead half-man to get back into some form with a start.

Stoke don’t have too much to play for at this stage of the season, entrenched comfily in midtable, but they won’t be looking to drop any points unnecessarily. Everyone will need to be prepared to fight for high balls and set pieces, and Stoke won’t make it easy. A recent stat came out saying that Szczczczczesny, the big Pole in the goal, has successfully dealt with (punched to safety or caught) 98.5% of the crosses he attempted this season. As a stat, this really shows how we benefit from a keeper who can show confidence in the air after Almunia and Flappyhandski, and he’ll need to be on his game to stake a claim for every catchable effort today.

Turn up, give it all we have and we’re capable of a win. At this stage, especially with Chelsea in the final of the Champions League, 3rd means even more than it did before, and we have to really make that spot ours in the last three games – we do not want it out of our hands. Today’s game is the first step.

Reviewing the Chelsea game and our situation

Although as a review of the Chelsea game it’s a little belated, we’ve now seen the Champions League results, which cast a somewhat different light on our situation, so I think it’s worth talking about the game and where it puts us.

Really, however… there’s not much to say about Saturday’s game against Chelsea. Although the previous fixture promised a bit of a goal-fest, neutrals had left after the first half when it became clear that 0-0 was the match’s destiny. Nobody was really having a good day up front, though the best performances were to be found in defence. I felt like Ryan Bertrand was getting talked up a lot because he never appears for them usually and he got Theo on one of his many “off days”, while Koscielny was being underrated while making a ton of saving tackles. Kos also headed a free kick onto the bar – he looked a little surprised that it dropped to him, he was in a ton of space – after RVP had bundled a free kick onto the near post when you’d usually expect him to put it in blindfolded. Or with three blindfolds on. However, the RVP form dip continues, probably more caused by overplay than anything else, and it wasn’t to be.

Chances were even more few and far between in the second half, where Chelsea seemed to be rehearsing their performance for the big show at Camp Nou. Van Persie made one turn too many and failed to get a real shot off, he sliced a volley off a beautiful ball by Ramsey, and Gervinho couldn’t quite fashion anything out of a nice one two. Up front for them, Kalou and Torres were their usual hilarious selves and Sturridge once more proved that he is often too greedy for his own good, favouring a left footed shot over an obvious square pass more than once.

The more interesting area of the game for me was our midfield. Arteta’s injury forced Ramsey into starting and he had a bit of a weird one. His passing accuracy was absolutely immaculate, with 97% completed, but not many of those seemed especially optimistic, which is something fans are now criticising him for. Poor Rambo, he just can’t win; accused of trying too much elaborate trickery and “glory passes”, now he doesn’t do enough. One area where he looked vulnerable in the first half was being caught in possession, which he was multiple times, but he then chased back quite well and won it back from himself on more than one occasion. Overall it was a bit of an odd game for Ramsey but an improvement from some of his previous form, for which he was unfairly scapegoated in my opinion. He seems a little indecisive but he’s getting there.

Rosicky was his usual tenacious self and was moving the play up quickly for someone of his age, but he wasn’t quite as effective as he had been against Wigan on the Monday night (he was one of our best players in that game going forward). Song continued his quota based play of being mainly good and performing one stupid giveaway, but thankfully Florent Malouda was not going to do much. Rosicky gave way to Diaby around the 55th minute, and he completed a decent 35 minutes without injury, which was nice to see. Without Arteta and Jack without a prospect of coming back before the season ends, we need all the fit central midfielders we can get.

In the end it was just a case of us not being able to break down a well organised Chelsea defence. However, the result on Wednesday night could let us feel a bit better about this; Barcelona couldn’t break down a Chelsea team that had only 10 men, after John Terry had pulled the extraordinarily dickish move of attempting to give Alexis Sanchez a dead leg off the ball and not gotten away with it. Chelsea did defend well, and Torres even scored. His failure has made him bizarrely likable to me, I don’t know exactly why. Real Madrid crashed out on penalties tonight to Bayern Munich, so the latter will be playing Chelski in the final. But why is this important for us?

Well, it means that we should prioritise getting third place, not just Champions League qualification. As if we needed any more motivation – 3rd place guarantees you CL football and allows much easier shopping sessions in summer than 4th does. The summer of 2011 should be decent evidence of what can happen if things happen to go a little wrong. We have 3 winnable games upcoming and should focus on them, not the performance of others. The chance for 3rd is still in our hands, Spurs are collapsing like a house of cards under a force 5 gale and Newcastle have a tough run in that includes City and Chelsea. Our next game is against Stoke though, so expect “physical” and “old fashioned” play from the local Neanderthal men. The fans will likely be trotting out their boos for Ramsey, as they did last time, for that heinous offence of having his leg broken by one of their thugs. Let’s hope the game goes smoothly and we can come away with something, as it won’t be easy, but it is definitely a task we are capable of undertaking with vigour.

Tomorrow, I hope to make a post about how possible squad reinforcements could give us some tactical variety next season. See you then.

Real Chelsea preview

The Chelsea game is upon us. As I write this I have the benefit of who’s available in terms of teams and who’s not, and there are a few tidbits that could mean a lot.

In the Arsenal camp, Kos returns from suspension and Benayoun is inelegible. I think Kos’ return will be a big boost, many Arsenal fans are coming around to the view that he’s been one of our best players this season and has really rehabilitated himself since the clanger in the CC final last year. He’s faster than Djourou and has a better sense of positioning in my opinion, and the Verm/Kos partnership was looking to solidify before his suspension. Benayoun’s ineligibility (he obviously can’t play against his parent club) is a bit of an issue, as with Arteta’s injury, Arsene might have been looking to play Benayoun in the middle instead of on the wing – he’s shown that he likes Yossi in the big home games, so it’s unfortunately an option we’ll have to do without.

Central midfield is an interesting conundrum for us in the Chelsea game. Arteta’s injury deprives us of a player of whose playstyle we don’t really have an exact replica. Coquelin, arguably, is closest to his kind of player but is of course still out with knacked hamstrings. We have a choice of two midfielders who can play centrally – Diaby, although I would pick him if fully fit, is going to be benched – and they are Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain. So what do either of them offer to the team?

The Ox

Oxlade-Chamberlain has featured only once in a true central role this season, where he started against Milan in our 3-0 home leg. That was undeniably a fantastic performance, where he tracked back fiercely, sprayed passes accurately and looked a constant threat. However, Chelsea are a very different kettle of fish to a Milan side so self-assured of going through that they accidentally conceded 3 goals in a half. Chelsea will probably come looking for a win to keep alive their hopes of CL football. Would this help or hinder a central Ox? Hard to tell. He would have more tracking back to do, and although it is something to which he devotes a good amount of effort, it seemed to tire him early against Milan. However, the game would perhaps be open in a similar way – while Milan sat back and tried to soak up the attacks to little avail, Chelsea could also leave space to be attacked while they come forward themselves.

Rameses

Everyone’s favourite (or least favourite for some Arsenal fans) celebrity-murderin’ midfielder has got a lot of stick lately. I suppose I should make it clear here that I quite like Ramsey. Admittedly he has frustrated by getting himself into good positions then shooting off target or dithering too long on the ball, but that is something he can work on and press to improve in his game. Coaching the ability to find those positions is much harder, perhaps near impossible, so I think his play does show encouraging signs. Despite his flaws I don’t think he deserves the pointless abuse he’s been getting. We have seen the kind of effect that constant fan criticism can have on a player (Arshavin) and we don’t want to go there again. Rambo had an excellent game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, so the boss might opt to play him tomorrow. If you’re asking me, I think we should go for it with the Ox, but only Wenger really knows his players inside out.

In terms of Chelsea’s team news, we learned today that they will be without Didier Drogba for the game. That’s a big plus for us – even if Di Matteo was not planning to start him, that’s a powerful option of which he’s now deprived. This means Torres will likely play as the lone striker, who is a very different prospect to handle. The return of Kos gives cause for optimism though, as his pace will let him keep up with Torres’ runs in behind. I think we will see a lot of rotation from the Chelsea first team that played against Barca on Wednesday as Di Matteo saves their strength for the return leg; David Luiz is still injured. I think Essien and Sturridge will rotate in, and possibly Bosingwa, whose tendency for comedy defending could open up their left wing.

This brings us to what the main game plan is for us. I think we need to take the game to them in much the same way we did City. I want to see every player putting in a real shift. Gervinho may get a start, which I think will be beneficial for regaining some of the rhythm he lost at the ACN earlier this year. Gibbs appears to still be out so Santos will be supporting him and with luck will score a goal like he did in this fixture earlier in the season, and treat us to a little more samba dancing. Can’t get enough of that.

We know how to play in home games. Monopolise possession, use the wings to threaten and try and give it to Robin in a good position. If our side can bounce back from the Wigan game, I have faith that we can get a good result, but this is a fixture against more opponents with a lot to gain so it won’t be easy. See you after the game – hopefully it’ll be a happy meeting.

 

Brief Wolves review, Wigan review and Chelsea mini preview

Having been beset by history timed essays, self-created Latin tests and economics mock exams, I’ve had little time to update the blog over the past few days since the game against Wolves. I’ll try to sum up what I’ve missed in this entry though.

I don’t think the game against Wolves bears too much analysis, all except for the fact it didn’t bode too well for the later game against Wigan to me, fears we will see were realised on the day. We looked to be cruising really – the game was pretty much killed off with the red card in the first 15 minutes, and the fact that Terry Connor was forced to take off a midfielder to replace his centre back (Bassong, nicely enough on loan from Spuds) meant that the game was never really going to see a lot of possession for Wolves. Their few chances came from breaks, and forced a good save from Szczesny. Although Djourou’s forced inclusion was a bit of a worry for some, he acquitted himself well since his poor performances at right back earlier in the season. Song looked a little lax and Walcott was a bit off after his devastating opening twenty minutes, earning the penalty and finishing his chance well. Otherwise it was a good performance – Ramsey, who comes in for stick often, motored away quite well in midfield, and Benayoun was rewarded for his hard work throughout the match with a goal. However, we didn’t really need to try much against ten-man Wolves, and there was a shade of overconfidence that seemed to creep in. Wolves’ situation is pretty damn poor – they have a manager who appears out of his depth when in the spotlight, a bunch of players that lack motivation and a group of fans who, judging from their chants in the game, are somewhat resigned to relegation.

One club that aren’t resigned to relegation are Wigan. They’d fired a warning shot with a well-earned win against Manchester United earlier in the week, so we had to be wary. We started brightly in the first 5 minutes; it looked to be the kind of Arsenal home performance we’d come to expect from our run of good form. However, to give the credit to Wigan, they were sharp and we were not. When a corner was cleared, we switched off a bit, the usually rock-solid Bacary Sagna poorly judged a header to RVP, we lost the ball, Di Santo lost his defender and managed to get it over Szczesny and poked it in. It was a bit of an odd goal to concede but we’d shown our capacity to come back this season, so not all seemed lost. Our hopes took a bit of a blow with the second goal. Neither team seemed to expect it, but soon after the kick off, Moses had suddenly taken Sagna to the cleaners and squared it to Jordi Gomez, the ball squirmed away from the Pole in goal and into the net. It was a surprising one-two punch that seemed to wake the team up a bit, and one which hurt as both goals had been scored with Arteta off the pitch with an injured foot. We couldn’t bring on Ramsey quickly enough and perhaps it could have made a difference for the second goal, but we have to look at the players we had on the pitch and the mistakes they made.

Ten minutes after, with a lot of pressure on Wigan, Vermaelen stayed forwards and headed in a nice Benayoun ball. The celebrations were a little subdued as it seemed that we were having to work back from a handicap we’d given ourselves. Up to half time the game slowed a bit but we had a lot of possession.

Again, to give credit to Wigan, they once again came out fighting. They stayed calm, formed up a solid two banks of five (with even their striker dropping back) and looked to spring forward when they had the chance. Our players looked a little jaded; they were working hard but couldn’t really make things happen. Gervinho came on and tried a little twinkle-toed action but couldn’t find a way past his solid full-back opponent. Theo was devoid of optimism and reminded us how frustrating he really can be in his inconsistence. I felt Ramsey was a little unfairly criticised but I could see where it came from – he seemed reliable enough but never really made any visionary passes at all. Santos appeared to be making the best effort in the match – he barrelled forward a decent amount but missed a good chance to put us level. Unfortunately that was probably our last clear-cut chance in a real attritional game, and Moses could have put Wigan further ahead but rushed his shot and hit it straight at Szczesny.

Overall it was a game that reminds us not to get complacent. Third place is NOWHERE NEAR assured, and in the last matches of the season, we can’t afford to drop points in the way that we did. This loss didn’t let us capitalise fully on a home loss the Spuds suffered against Norwich last week, the team’s performance was lacklustre and needed a bit of a kick up the arse (no pun intended) from Arsene, who apparently gave them a bit of a rollicking after the match. There’s been some words said about their time wasting, but any team would do it in their situation. As for the handshake “incident”, it bears so little speaking about that it’s insignificant. RVP clearly didn’t have a problem shaking hands with other Wigan players, so why Caldwell was trying to show him as unsporting is a mystery.

A quick flurry of rumours, surrounded by a shit-stirring article from the Sun that tried to “horrify” Arsenal fans by showing RVP at Barca’s hotel, was rightly dismissed by most as rubbish. Surely it had nothing to do with the fact one of his oldest teammates, as well as an international colleague, was in town and he wanted to meet up. Nothing at all.

And Barca takes us onto Chelsea. Writing this just after Chelsea squeaked, and I mean squeaked like a very clean mouse with an unoiled hinge, a 1-0 win against Barca, it creates an interesting situation for the game on Saturday. Chelsea will either take a big motivational boost from the match, or be tired out from chasing Barca’s shadows all evening (though to be honest, it didn’t look like they were pressing much). I think we definitely need to take the initiative against a side that has gained confidence over the past couple of weeks.

Until Friday, where I’ll make a fuller preview of the match (with hopefully some news on our central midfield situation), see you later.

City review and Wolves preview

In the thick of revision/days out with my family, I’ve had not much time to update the blog since Sunday’s win over City. But what a win it was, eh?

I had a good feeling before the game that we’d properly go out and try to win. I didn’t expect to see any of the lethargy displayed by some usually reliable players at QPR (Song, Vermaelen) and hoped for a more attacking left wing, with the Ox or Gervinho starting.

Although the former expectation was fulfilled (as we’ll get to later), the latter was confounded by a choice of left wing I hadn’t considered. The boss plumped for Yossi Benayoun, with Gervinho injured, and Ramsey benched along with the Ox. Yossi seemed an odd choice at first – at face value it seemed that we weren’t going in with the intent to terrorise the full backs, as the Ox had done so well against Zabaleta in our League Cup clash with them earlier in the year.

However, I was quickly proved wrong about this tactical selection. As the game progressed it became more clear why Yossi had been selected; he drifted inside, but knew when to move centrally and when to stay on the wing, an instinct that has been nurtured by his years of playing experience and one which Ramsey doesn’t quite have yet. Something I also noticed was that Gibbs often moved further up the pitch than Yossi; the Israeli man’s covering instincts meant that he was able to track back in a way that Gerv/Ox/Rambo don’t quite provide. A splendid tackle in our box showed the high work rate that he offers for the team, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that in the three starts he’s had, Benayoun has faced down big clubs like City, Spuds or Liverpool. The stability he provides down the left flank is a useful option.

Frankly, from the very first whistle, this was a game we deserved to win, and win a little better than we did in the end. Although it’s already been said, the crucial aspect that swung the game was the midfield. In this game, our starting three man midfield worked the best I’ve seen all season; it was a well oiled machine, with routines it repeated countlessly to excellent effect when both defending and attacking. Song was titanic as a tackler, dispossessing Na$ri and co whenever it was needed. Arteta was a pivot point for the rest of the attacking section of the team, always finding his way into space and finding another pass. Rosicky played as well as he has been these past weeks, proving his tenacity and helping switch the play from flank to flank.

Although our cause was helped a little by Yaya Toure going off injured early on, we’d already asserted a lot of confidence in the first 15 minutes. We moved forward into their half calmly but with a sense of speed; we were rewarded for these efforts with a series of corners. The game’s first notable chance on goal came when Robin rose to head the ball – it was going in but Vermaelen, in his dogged determination to get the ball in himself, accidentally blocked it from crossing the line, it ricocheted off the bar and out. A little unlucky but it was a warning to City; Vermaelen wouldn’t save them next time. Indeed, Verm saved his performance from this mishap by putting in a solid shift at the back alongside Koscielny.

The other big moments of the first half, besides our constant possession, were the antics of Mario Balotelli. I’ll admit, I initially enjoyed his silly moments when he first arrived (the whole “because I am rich” story is pretty funny) but when he acts like he did on Sunday, it becomes less of a laughing matter. He filled his first half with late tackles, including this horror on Alex Song:

Frankly when he acts like this some action has to be taken. He was extremely, extremely lucky to escape the vision of the referee, who apparently saw that a challenge took place but could not see the clash of legs between Song and Balotelli. This incredible luck extended yesterday when the FA revealed that they wouldn’t be taking action, because of the nature of the ref’s decision – Balotelli can’t be cited even though Atkinson didn’t see the whole challenge. Arseblog has already spoken about how other football associations around the world are more than happy to retroactively ban players if their conduct was unacceptable and it seems neanderthal to refuse steadfastly to ever review decisions, especially in this case where it wouldn’t “undermine a referee” at all.

After half time, with Balotelli oddly still on the pitch (he had neither been subbed off or sent off), the City players had obviously enjoyed a talking-to by Mancini and came out with a little more fight in them. However, despite a couple of half chances, they didn’t produce anything and the game subsided once more into Arsenal dominance after 60 minutes. This kind of game was foreign to City – the last time they had only 35% possession was in the interminable bore draw in this same fixture last season – and they looked out of their depth. The midfield trio I’ve already spoken about was fighting to win every ball over City’s makeshift opposition. I remember a moment that summed up the teams brilliantly, where a ball down the pitch fell towards Arteta and Na$ri. Arteta jumped unchallenged by that little greedy urchin to head it away, and when he didn’t succeed at first, he jumped again and got it away from our penalty box. The two number 8s together like that really showed the difference between our two teams on the day, and it was a performance I think all Arsenal fans can be proud of.

Vincent Kompany was putting in an inspiring performance for City, a real captain’s effort, yet it wasn’t inspiring other members of his team to any particular heroics (especially Balotelli, who petulantly kicked the goalposts and parts of the Emirates pitch when things didn’t go his way). Despite Kompany’s defensive power, we still carved out a few chances. One of Song’s signature lifted through balls dropped onto RVP, who headed onto the post, continuing his “barren” spell. However, our most glaring chance game when a Sagna cross fell to Walcott, whose (really very nice) flicked first-time shot was turned onto the post by Hart. From there it got a little crazy – a marauding Vermaelen tried to turn in the rebound but slipped and knocked it onto Benayoun, who, standing on the goal line, failed to make a proper contact with the ball; his deflection bounced off Lescott and then the post, dribbling out. You get the feeling that if the game hadn’t turned out as it did, we would have rued that miss beyond belief, but the team never seemed to lose faith and kept going.

Bar a few half chances for City, we had all the play, and the Emirates really ramped up the noise as the clock counted down. You felt that the whole crowd, and the players, knew we had to give it to City properly here. In the 87th minute, David Pizarro tried to carry the ball forward from his own half, but Arteta steamed in and robbed him of the ball, took a few steps forward, and blasted a shot past Hart from about 25 yards. It was a perfect moment that encapsulated his man of the match performance, and felt so right.

As I said earlier, it’s a performance all the fans can be proud of. All our starters gave everything. As for the subs, Andre Santos was the earliest one to come on (Gibbs’ groin fatigue keeps him out for tonight’s match). I should declare here that I really like Andre Santos. His cheeky grin, slight chubbiness and odd style of running just endear me to him. He’s got that Brazilian cool that’s impossible not to love. He put in a good performance; despite his early yellow card, his defensive skills looked otherwise solid and he provided yet another body in attack. The Ox came in late and was not especially involved, except for the moment that involved the other sub, Aaron Ramsey. A Santos pass allowed a breakaway, where Ramsey bore down on goal with RVP and Ox to his right. Ramsey chose to shoot, which I wouldn’t blame him too much for. However, his finish was horrendously wide. Thanks to the fact that Arteta had already scored, the miss became comical rather than tragic, but it probably would have been nice to score one way or another, especially if that way was RVP.

Ah well. We move on from a really great win that took us 2 points above Spuds, a triumph of good over evil if ever there was one, to our match today against Wolves. Just like the QPR game, it’s an away match against a relegation team, but it has a bit of a different feel; QPR are genuinely fighting for survival, and although it pains me to say this, it looks as if Wolves have already given up. We have to expect a win against (let’s not mince words) the worst team in the league, and an early goal would definitely help us towards that. Hopefully we can use this game as a nice way to continue a good run as we approach a match against Chelsea, our last real big game of the season, and RVP can get his eye in once more. Remember, he went on a mini-drought before his hat trick at Stamford Bridge, so we might expect some greatness in coming matches.

Gibbs is out so Santos starts, Kos is banned so Djourou comes in (and Squillaci lurks on the bench), and Gerv stays out. His injury is fairly minor according to Arsene, but he’s not ready to be rushed back into the side. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of wingers Arsene puts out – whether he goes with the safe option of Yossi, continues his experiments with Ramsey on the wing or gives the Ox a start. Whatever happens, I’ll see you tomorrow for a review of however the match turned out.

Looking further ahead than Sunday’s game

There’s no real first team game time to talk about before we face Man City on Sunday, so for today’s post, I’ve decided to look further ahead into the future a little. I’m mainly thinking about our transfers and prospects next summer.

Today and yesterday I spotted a lot of rumours flying around on Twitter and in the tabloids. Podolski stories abounded – Mad Jens was talking about how he’d have to perform at our club as if it were a done deal, various news pieces talked about “clinching” and “securing” the Podolski deal and things generally looked good. The brief “will-he-won’t-he-Lazio” stories of a month or so ago seem to have evaporated, as well they should have; it was taken from a throwaway comment where Podolski said that it would be good to play with Klose.

The Yann M’vila rumours were also flying around today, but I’d be wary of them as a keen Arsenal fan. M’vila would certainly be a good signing for us – he’s got a lot of years ahead of him, he’s shown a good record at club level, he’s vying for international call ups and would slot well into the French infrastructure that Arsene provides. It would also be good to have someone to keep Song on his toes – so much of our defensive work, not to mention starting offensive moves, is contingent on his positioning and passing that it would be good to have a replacement. Frimpong could possibly step into the breach, but he lacks a little refinement, while Le Coquelin Sportif doesn’t have his defensive grit yet.That’s not to say that either player is poor – they’re young, it’s natural that they lack in some areas as all rounders – but I’d feel safer if we had a sure bet as a DM to step in who could provide similar advantages to Song. M’vila certainly looks the part, but there are a few obstacles in the way to signing him. Though I don’t think his price would be prohibitively high, it’s always up to AW to decide who is worth enough of the transfer budget. He’s also in the French league, and while we’ve seen that some players can adapt well and thrive after coming straight from it (Clichy), other players often struggle to find their form from Ligue 1 – Gervinho has nowhere near his previous goalscoring record, and Song took years to establish himself as he has nowadays. Again though, it’s down to AW. I trust his judgment in spotting talent, especially French talent. However, I wouldn’t assume we’re too close to any kind of deal; I rubbished the Podolski to Lazio rumours as throwaway comments in an interview, and when an interviewer outright asks about how it would feel playing under Wenger to a young French player, you’ve got to expect a positive response, so nothing is concrete at all.

The point of Frimpong and Coquelin seems a good one upon which to discuss the team’s youth prospects. We will be spoiled for good young midfielders next season – assuming fitness, we have Wilshere, Frimpong, Coquelin all ready to play, then a little older we have Ramsey, Diaby, and the experienced hands of Song, Arteta and Rosicky. Even this omits to mention Chuks Aneke, currently on loan at [reston. Aneke is an interesting player – he’s tall and rangy but appears a sight less glass-legged than Diaby does, but still has that great touch that looks strange on such long legs. However, he’s not another “next Vieira”; his style is more roaming and forward-looking than a tough tackler. Whether he’s ready for first team action is contingent on Wenger’s judgment and the success of his loan spell; he may be sent to another PL club, or a Championship one. Looking at the wider picture, we have a great number of possible midfield configurations next year, and it will be interesting to see for which ones Wenger plumps. I think from the current midfield three, the Arteta role or the Rosicky/Ramsey role look equally vulnerable to a returning Jack or Diaby; Song appears a real mainstay by now.

On the wings, we will also have a real amount of options, although many offer the same sort of play. Gervinho on the left, along with Ryo (who I don’t think will see another loan spell), and the Ox capable of either flank, would just add to the threat posed by Walcott on the right. Arshavin may also return, one can never know. Podolski would provide quite a different idea, a goalscoring inside forward rather than a fast winger, so again our options are mixed. I’d expect the starting wingers next season to be most often Podolski (if he comes) and Theo, though Ryo is proving himself an able player on either flank and Gervinho, at least in my opinion, will improve. Still, it’s better to have a squad with too much quality than not enough.

Up front I expect RVP’s selection (if he stays) will be a given most games, but because of his recent tired look, it would be better to have a striker who can give him a rest from time to time. Podolski could slot in there if needed, and Benik Afobe, on loan at Reading, is also showing promise with his strength and speed, although he could do with a little finishing refinement.

All in all, it’s a future bursting with possibilities. See you later.

 

Thinking tactically about the QPR game

I feel like in my immediate review of yesterday’s game, I didn’t go into much detail about how our tactics seemed a little off, so now is as good a time as any to discuss that.

Ramsey on the left was the glaring point that I feel like Arsene got wrong yesterday; I mentioned how I didn’t like it, but not really why. Essentially, I see Ramsey as a busy central midfielder – he passes, moves the play up the pitch and all that jazz. He’s not a winger though, but I can understand why Wenger chose to play him out there.

Every team is more attacking at home (except Everton, who aren’t very attacking anywhere). In our recent games, I’ve seen Gervinho or the Ox more commonly on the left side at home, and Rosicky and Ramsey on the left when away from home. The idea is that Ox and Gervinho play as more purely attacking players, whereas Rosicky/Rambo can cover the left back position if Gibbs bombs forward, as he is wont to do.

There are a couple of problems with this though. Ramsey and Rosicky (as we saw in Milan) have a tendency to gravitate towards the centre; this is hardly a fault, as they’re central players by trade. This means that Gibbs comes forward, and if possession is lost on the left, we end up with an over-saturated centre of midfield and nobody covering the left channel. The attack is also a little weaker with this, as Gibbs is on his own on the left quite often. The overlapping play of Walcott and Sagna is so useful because they know when to both hit the touchline, or when Walcott can drop off into the centre to get another man in the box. Unfortunately Gibbs, perhaps due to injuries and rotation, hasn’t built up a rapport with his left side partners, and that ends up with us being narrow.

At home, Gerv/Gibbs works well as that’s a setup that gets balls into the box, overlaps and attacks offensively. However, when away from home, we might need to rethink the setup a little – it’s certainly a puzzle. With a top class full back like Sagna, who can charge up and down, the pure forward that is Walcott works well. You see similar results in Barcelona’s team; Dani Alves’ stamina allows him to essentially make up the right wing by himself, as Iniesta comes inside so often to crowd the central attack. Gibbs is an ace attacker, but he’s neither of these full backs. Nonetheless, I expect a more optimistic attacking left side against Man City, who have proven to be a little vulnerable when taking pressure on both flanks – Micah Richards’ own tendency to get forward could allow us a few juicy chances down that flank next weekend.

See you later.

QPR review

Well, that certainly wasn’t the result I predicted, or was hoping for.

We started off with Ramsey playing on the wing. I like Rambo but I don’t like him as a wide player (or a CAM compared to Rosicky, really), so it wasn’t a decision I was sure about. And it turned out to be a bit of a poor one. We didn’t look like we had the sureness of touch going forward that we had in previous games, and the opening was very cagey – we got turned over a lot in both halves, Walcott wasn’t playing as wide as I wanted him to (his link ups with Sagna have been beneficial to the side recently) and we looked both nervous and overconfident at the same time.

When the goal came, it wasn’t too surprising. However, the man at fault was. TV5′s performances have been solid since his shocker vs AC Milan but he had a poor one today, and his mistake to let Adel “Tricky” Taarabt in for his first PL goal was unnecessary. He made another mistake for the second goal and generally got bossed by Bobby Zamora, who seems to have an unfortunate knack for putting in great performances only against us. In fact, both our centre halves, usually solid, had a poor one today. Kos was decent at best.

The equaliser was a little lucky, but we did respond to the goal brightly. RVP tried to shimmy past some players, his pass/shot was blocked and it rolled to Walcott who put it in well. We need to grab those scrappy goals if we want to get 3rd, and it looked like we might be turning it around up to half time.

However, QPR came out strong again, we didn’t look like scoring and were vulnerable again to QPR, so when Diakite put the ball in, it felt a little inevitable. This looked like a January performance, a game where the team hadn’t been a firecracker but a damp squib. From then on it stayed a pretty unenjoyable campaign of us trying to get it forward, never really being incisive, and eventually losing possession. RVP had a chance where he was through on goal; on a better day, he would have broken his (bizarre for this season) dry spell of two matches but Kenny reached his shot across and tipped it behind.

Song looked to be trying his glory passes but overhitting them, Walcott wasn’t beating his man (Taiwo) and our subs were ineffective – Gerv didn’t give enough of an end product and the Ox wasn’t on long enough to turn his bright start into anything substantial. When RVP whacked a free kick into the wall, it summed up a day where QPR really came out fighting and we didn’t.

However, after the run we’ve had it feels odd to rip into the players, as was the vogue in January when we had a streak of poor games. We just have to pick ourselves up and try hard to beat City at the Emirates. We’re at home, it’s a big game for both teams, so hopefully the players realise what’s at stake in the race for 3rd and really give their all. Can’t ask for too much more than that.