Month: October 2015

11th October 2015: Side-lined strikers refuse to sulk

Posted on by TremendArse

Sunday salutations. Man, do I hate club-football-free weekends. The internationals just don’t cut it. Bad teams, bad pitches and disjointed football for the most part. Anyway, the worst of it’s over now and by the middle of the week we’ll be able to turn our attentions back to the return of the real stuff.

In the meantime though, Olivier Giroud has been reflecting on losing his status as Arsenal’s first-choice front-man and showing just what a team player he really is, by admitting Theo Walcott deserves to start ahead of him given the England man’s fine recent form. Speaking to L’Equip, the Frenchman said:

It is something new for me. Whether it was at Tours, Montpellier or Arsenal, I have never experienced a situation like this, I have often played from the start. I need to take positives and to harden myself mentally. I cannot simply take refuge in work. At Arsenal, I am in competition with Theo [Walcott] for the striker position. But he is doing well at the moment, so there is no reason to change. I was in his place in previous seasons at Arsenal. I imagine what he must have been thinking. But I feel that the coach believes in me. It has been for several matches now that I have played less, that is for sure, but I do not need to be worried. I need a bit more game time but also to believe more in my abilities.

It’s been noted by many already but between them, Giroud and Walcott tick almost every box of attributes you’d want from a striker. The only ‘ability’ neither of them possess is perhaps being able to fashion a goal by themselves out of nowhere. Although if Theo gains more and more confidence from maintaining his current form, I actually think that’s something he’s capable of.

Beating a few men before slotting one away, or lashing one in from distance – I don’t think that’s beyond him. I’m sure Arsene Wenger, as he does all his players, will be urging Theo to ‘try things’ in the final third and I wouldn’t bet against him surprising people with what he’s capable of just as he has done by making a success of the striker’s role.

Funnily enough, one of the criticisms leveled at Walcott – not being aggressive enough – by many observers including myself, also applies to Giroud, despite him being built to bully defenders. He’s shown he can link the play and possesses fine close control at times, as well as decent finishing, but he needs to use his physicality far more. Hopefully a new found focus from losing his starting spot will bring that out but he needs to make sure it’s channeled correctly and not like it was in Croatia against Dinamo Zagreb.

Meanwhile, another Arsenal forward, Joel Campbell, has been speaking about his best traits as a player and insists despite not enjoying the best of times in terms of minutes played and getting on the score-sheet, he’s ‘always thinking about scoring’. The Costa Rican said:

I think I’m both (a creator and a goalscorer). I know it’s been many games with scoring, but this doesn’t put pressure on me, although obviously I’m always thinking about scoring. Although I’m not in my best form, I always give 100% on the pitch. I always try to give assists, to help my teammates and to fight for every ball.

I have to say I’ve far from made up my mind on Joel. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from him in terms of effort, ability on the ball, pace etc and can’t really remember him doing a lot wrong. That said, he’s clearly not quite ready to make an impact on the team and such is our position in terms of striving to challenge for the top honours, we can’t really afford to allow a player to develop in the team at the moment.

It’s certainly a far different situation to just a few years ago when we had several young, unpolished players populating our first team, but times have changed, and I think if Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck return to full fitness by January, the best option for the player may be a loan spell away. He’s definitely one I’d like us to keep hold of however, because I think he has it in him to improve an awful lot given regular games in the right team.

See you next week.

10th October 2015: In-form forwards and flowers

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. So Theo Walcott continued his fine goalscoring form this season by grabbing England’s opener in the 2-0 win over Estonia at Wembley last night, despite playing from the right of the attack to accommodate Arsenal fan and Freddie Ljungberg wannabe, Harry Kane, as the central striker.

After the game, Theo spoke about wanting to help the Three Lions complete qualification with a tenth straight win against Lithuania on Monday night, the harder tests that lie in wait for the national team and scoring for his country. He said:

We have to be proud of ourselves. Having nine wins after the disappointment from the World Cup and bouncing back the way the players have done – the backroom staff have changed things and things are working for us. This team is definitely hungry and eager to do well. We want to make it 10 on Monday night. It is a nice little thing to have – we want to win every game but we will be more tested in these friendlies coming up [against France and Spain next month] and everyone wants to win competitions and make this country proud. There are some young, eager faces in that dressing room who are keen to do well but we are only going to be judged when it comes to tournament football. It’s a dream come true to score for your country. I’d like to score more goals, but the most important thing I want to play for this team and for us to do well.

I only saw the first half of the game last night and Theo looked every bit as ‘buzzing’ as he’d declared himself at his pre-match press conference. Unfortunately, Adam Lallana, who played just behind him on the right of a three-man midfield, wasn’t really on the same wavelength as Theo, which to be fair, is far from surprising given they’ve only had a few days to train together.

But what that meant was some of Theo’s intelligent runs were wasted, as he hovered on the shoulder of the visitors’ back-line waiting to be released on goal. England’s other midfield playmaker on the night however, Ross Barkley, did eventually reward one of Walcott’s dangerous darts on the stroke of half time, threading a nut-megged through ball into the path of the Arsenal striker as he made a superb run from wide right to the far post, before taking two cool, clinical touches in opening himself up and placing the ball into the net.

People will say it was only Estonia, and it was, but it was still fine movement and top-class finishing from a man at the very top of his game. He’s certainly enjoying a very consistent patch at the moment. Now if he can turn ‘patch’ into ‘season’, who knows how far Theo’s goals can carry Arsenal and England between now and the end of the Euros next summer.

Elsewhere, both Santi Cazorla and Alexis scored for their countries last night and several other Gunners are in action over Cloid so, as always, for a comprehensive round-up of minutes played, goals scored etc, head over to the official site here.

In fact, just scrolling down that page I noticed Hector Bellerin was an unused substitute for Spain’s under 21s on Wednesday night which suggests he’s either carrying a knock, was rested, or Spain has even greater strength in depth than I imagined. Because it would take a cross between Cafu, Lillian Thuram and Superman to keep our Cockney Catalan out of any team on current form.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has gone all Swiss Toni, likening team spirit to flowers, saying you have to continually work on fostering it amongst a squad because it is vital for success. Asked about it’s importance, he said:

You can ask the question the other way around: can you be successful without team spirit? If I asked you that question, straight away you would say no. That just shows you how important it is. It’s difficult to put a percentage on it, but you know without it you have no chance. Afterwards, what is interesting is to know how big the team spirit is. You can have different degrees of team spirit, because without it you have no football at all – everybody would just do what he wants. But how far can you go in cultivating and developing that team spirit? That’s our target. We know that to have a chance of being successful, we want to be more of a team than any other side in the Premier League. Therefore, I believe it’s a little bit like a flower. You have to take care of it and look after it every day, or else it will slowly die. But as well, you can make the flower bigger, better and prettier if you care for it. We believe that part of the responsibility of the players and the staff is to take care of team spirit.

Jokes aside, high morale is unarguably a vital ingredient for any successful team endeavour, no matter what the setting, and I think it’s telling that Arsene has been all-too willing to rid the club of players who’ve reportedly been far from the most pleasant of characters, shall we say, in years gone by.

On the other hand though, in top-level professional football, I think I little nastiness can be a good thing. Some of the best players have had dark moods and providing it’s not too destabilizing for a squad, having one or two more temperamental characters can give you the perfect blend. I mean, as much as I love our current squad and rave about their ability, I find myself agreeing sometimes with critics who say we’re ‘too nice’.

Anyway, ever the idealist, Arsene may beg to differ and argue that quality of football can overcome the meanest of opposition mindsets, but the next time we’re left feeling like we’ve been bullied in a big game, perhaps he’ll revisit the subject. Or maybe he won’t.

Right, I’m off. See you in a bit.

9th October 2015: Gabriel gets real as he talks Brazil

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. A very brief one today because I’m as short on time as Jose Mourinho is in class, Chelsea are in history and Tottenham are in titles.

Gabriel, our feisty, no-nonsense, gem of a centre-back find from Brazil, has been speaking to Arsenal Player about his tough upbringing in south America, and a desire to improve his mother’s standard of living, as being the chief motivator behind his rise to stardom. He said:

She lived in a shack in a favela. I talk about it because I am not ashamed of saying it, and today I am proud of being able to help her, to give her a better life, and me as well because I always dreamed about it. Thanks to God, things are coming true. I have seen many things on the outdoor neighbourhood pitches. I have seen death, I have witnessed robberies, I’ve been robbed in Sao Paulo. I’ve seen many things. I practically grew up with this. But thanks to God I took a path in my life because, for all that I have seen, for the bad things I have witnessed, my life could have been very different. But I was strong. I thought about my mother’s story and told myself that my mother couldn’t go through this anymore. She can’t, she must have a better life. So thanks to God I took a different path and am here today. I am fulfilling a dream I had since I was little, and thanks to God things are moving in the right direction.

The former Villarreal defender also spoke of his hope he will be seen as a role model in his home country, where the pitfalls in society are plentiful, but a love of the beautiful game and the dream of becoming a professional offer youngsters a route to a better future:

Everybody knows about the corruption happening, and every day is a surprise. So I think Brazilians don’t like seeing that, but the kids have so many opportunities to play. Every neighbourhood has a football academy for the kids to follow this path, which is something I also want for the neighbourhood where I was born. I want to serve as a mirror to them, for them to see that I have gone through difficult times and managed to do it, and see that they can do it too. It’s not just me. If you work hard and respect the people above us, you can do it.

It’s often been said elsewhere that one of the reasons south America continues to churn out more quality footballers than any other area of the planet is because ‘street football’ is still thriving, unlike in Europe and particularly here in England.

I spoke to Tim Vickery, the Brazil-based football journalist for the BBC, about this subject almost ten years ago now and asked him why, in his opinion, other nations lagged behind Brazil in skill etc. He cited the demise of street football as being a major reason. The other factor of course is the one mentioned by Gabriel above – a burning desire to escape poverty which drives kids to give it all their all on a football pitch and in their dedication to the game.

That point was made about Alexis Sanchez recently and although this is a very interesting topic, it’s also one that deserves far greater time and research so I’ll leave it for another time, but I do still have that interview with Tim somewhere so will dig it up and perhaps post bits of it on here at some point.

I know there were internationals taking place tonight involving Arsenal players, as there were last, but I’m afraid I’ll have to leave discussing them until tomorrow or Sunday.

Whatever you’re doing, have a good one.

Laters.

8th October 2015: Stars align to create our formation

Posted on by TremendArse

Like lots of things in life, the formulation of a football team owes as much to chance and timing as it does to carefully considered construction. None more so than our current first-choice selection in my opinion, which, when you scan through it, is full of near-misses, unlikely success-stories and unforeseen captures.

Take Petr Cech, who would even have dreamed the Chelsea legend would swap Stamford Bridge for Emirates stadium a year ago? Or Hector Bellerin, how many gave him a chance of becoming our undisputed first-choice at right-back in the summer of 2014?

If you replace Gabriel with Laurent Koscienly from Sunday’s starting line-up against Manchester United, you’d be left with most observers’ best Arsenal 11 and you could say every player’s success, or mere presence on the list, is a surprise in one way or the other.

Per Mertesacker? Written off as too slow for the Premier League only to become one half of arguably the best central defensive pairing in the league. Indeed, his usual accomplice in pocketing attackers, Koscielny, was considered a liability at the back a few years ago, yet is now rated as one of the best in the business in his position.

Nacho Monreal was never a good enough left-back people insisted, myself included, yet a spell at centre-back last season brought out a more tenacious side to his game, improved his aerial ability and now you’d struggle to name a better left-sided full-back in the division.

Then there’s Francis Coquelin. Renaissance Coquelin more like, from on-loan at Charlton and a failed left-winger in Germany with Freiburg, to statistically the best defensive midfielder in Europe. Mind-boggling. Alexis Sanchez’s arrival from Barcelona – if you saw that coming, even at the start of summer 2014, you’re either high up the Barcelona hierarchy or a big, fat, liar. Ditto Mesut Ozil. Completely out of the blue.

Aaron Ramsey struggled in his early years, enjoyed a stunningly prolific goal-scoring season in 2013-2014, which was completely unexpected after failing to convince for a number of years, albeit very early ones in his career, was booed by sections of the home support and is now playing very, very well in a new position on the right, providing our side with vital balance.

On to Theo Walcott. In all honesty, I’ve been championing his cause as a striker for years amongst friends, and for the last few months on this blog, yet even I’m slightly surprised at quite how quickly and smoothly he’s taken to the role. I thought it would take him a longer stretch of games to settle up front than it appears to have done.

I’ve left Santi Cazorla until last because not only has his reincarnation as a deep-lying, game-controlling, creative yet defensive, all-action maestro been startling considering his past as either a more advanced number 10 or wide player, but Arsene Wenger has also admitted he was uncertain whether the diminutive Spaniard was physically compatible with a fast, ferocious English top flight. Speaking to Arsenal.com, the boss said:

You could question whether he was physically equipped to play in the tough Premier League. It’s true that I had that doubt, but his quality was so big that I was ready to take that gamble. His technical quality, his right foot, left foot, his availability, his vision and the quality of his passing made me go for it. I thought, ‘If there is a team in the Premier League where he has a chance to make it, it’s with us.’ That’s why I went for it.

Arsene also revealed he’d been aware of Santi’s talents years ago and that Invincible Robert Pires, who played with him at Villarreal, had raved about Cazorla’s quality:

After that Robert Pires moved to Villarreal and played with him. Sometimes I asked Robert, ‘Are there any good players there?’. He said to me straight away, ‘Cazorla is a fantastic player’. So Robert was a scout for me! He at least confirmed the impression I already had about Santi.

Anyway, whether it’s luck, coincidence, cultivation or a concoction of all three, our current selection have a mouth-watering chemistry if Sunday’s showing is anything to go by and I can’t wait to see what they can achieve assuming they stay fit.

Finally for today, the FA have fined and warned both Arsenal and Chelsea following the scandalous clash at the Bridge last month when Diego Costa cheated his side to victory, and some of our fixtures around the Christmas period have been moved around for television.

Back Friday.

7th October 2015: Walcott wants striker role for England

Posted on by TremendArse

Hello and welcome back. Theo Walcott held a press conference while on international duty this afternoon and says he’s ‘buzzing’ after Sunday’s performance against Manchester United and wants to play centre-forward for England.

I know everyone would like to see me up front. Playing there for England, that’s what I want to do.

With the two Dannys, our own Welbeck and Liverpool’s Sturridge, not in the current Three Lions’ squad due to injury and caution respectively, Theo clearly has a greater chance of getting game-time through the middle than he would have otherwise. Whether England have the players capable, or willing, to provide Theo with the requisite service for him to be a success is another matter.

I say ‘capable’ because there’s no English midfielder with even half the creative ability of a Mesut Ozil or a Santi Cazorla, and ‘willing’ because I often get the impression that unlike other top countries, our national selection appear to be in competition with, rather than in alliance with one another. They all want to steal the show, hog the limelight, score the winner etc and very often that means they make the wrong decision when in possession.

Anyway, so long as Theo returns fit and healthy to face Watford on Saturday week, I couldn’t care less if he plays up front or in goal for England, because until we reassess what attributes we rate in a footballer as a country, we won’t be winning anything, so none of it matters. Qualify, don’t qualify – we have as much chance of lifting the Euros next summer as Newcastle do of winning the Premier League this season.

Elsewhere, Ozil has been speaking to German publication Bild about Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League clashes with Bayern Munich and the Gunners’ chances of winning the domestic title. He said:

It is true that there is a lot of pressure on us in the Champions League. We can beat Bayern, though, if we play at the same level as against Manchester United. I was a bit surprised to see Bayern beat Dortmund 5-1. Bayern’s results show that they are in great form. We have a lot of respect for Bayern, but we are not afraid of them. We are playing at home and we know how to score goals and be successful against Bayern. Of course, it will not be easy, but we have the potential to beat any team. We have a great team with a lot of world-class players. Our goal is to win the Premier League title. I think we can achieve it this season if we do not get any major injuries. But the season is still long.

Meanwhile, Ozil’s Arsenal colleague and fellow German Per Mertesacker has been discussing Arsenal’s attacking play in the United win, suggesting the players should be more convinced of their potential for such stunning football. He said:

It’s very important that they find each other in the final third. You could see the little pass from Theo Walcott to Mesut Ozil, how important that was, just a tiny little ball, and on the break we are very dangerous. The start was not shocking for us, I think we are capable of doing that, but we have to kind of remind ourselves that we can do such things.

Maybe one way of reminding themselves would be have the three goals from Sunday played on a loop in the changing rooms before every game but what’s also important to remember, is that the mesmeric quality of our football last weekend was all rooted in a collectively high level of effort. The harder you work, the luckier you get, or whatever the saying is.

Right, that’s where I’ll leave it for today because there is nothing else to talk about thanks to our old friend, Cloid. The lingering c*nt.

Til Thursday.

6th October 2015: Defenders talk, starlet signs

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. Cloid is here, so news is scarce, but thankfully, a few of our players have been speaking about various stuff, not least Sunday’s scintillating showing against Manchester United at Emirates stadium, so let’s take a little look at what they’ve had to say.

First up is vice-captain and one half of the blossoming Petr-Per relationship bringing much needed experience, maturity and security to the team, Per Mertesacker. The German World Cup winner says the Gunners ‘clicked’ defensively against Louis van Gaal’s men, called the win ‘special’ and expressed his hope the team’s confidence is just as high after the international break. He said:

We had a good understanding [defensively]. I think a lot clicked today. If one of us won a duel, the other would be there and that was the same in the second half. If he [Anthony Martial] ran past one of us, which can happen, someone else would be there straight away. It went well from the start and that’s always crucial. When you take your chances and are strong defensively, that’s a clear indicator that you feel good. [Sunday] was just special and then it’s always difficult for your opponents to gain a foothold when they are so far behind after 15 minutes. You could see how much the team wanted to respond [from Olympiacos]. As a team you try and remind yourself of what you can achieve and you could see that we have a lot of confidence. I hope that we can display that again in two weeks.

I suppose on the one hand, the current break from club football allows us to savour a brilliant win for a little longer than usual without the risk of a bad result replacing our joy with a new-found sense of doom. But on the other, there is the worry that any momentum in confidence and performance could be lost before the players reassemble to face Watford a week on Saturday.

Particularly when you factor in the potential for injuries while the players are away with their respective countries. So you can fully appreciate Arsene Wenger’s comments about ‘praying’ for his players to return unscathed because there isn’t much the club can do other than hope for the best and perhaps implore national coaches to look after them and not over-train or over-play our players over the next fortnight.

Alexis Sanchez is already a concern of course, with the groin injury that forced him off late in the second half against United, and although Arsene accepted his star forward would want to play for his country, particularly against a team like Brazil who they face later this week, you’d hope sense would prevail regardless of the player’s desire to play and he’s left out if at risk of making his injury worse.

Elsewhere, Per’s central defensive partner on Sunday, Gabriel, has been speaking to ESPN Brazil about his red card at Chelsea and Diego Costa, the Arsenal fans, wanting to stay a Gunner for a long time and learning from his new team-mates. He said:

As I walked off after being sent off against Chelsea I thought the fans would hate me, but the support was unbelievable. I have been tested by Costa before in Spain, I think he knows that we were causing him issues, but this is life, we move on. God is always fair but I should have listened to my manager and Cech when they said not to react to Costa. We will play again. The Arsenal fans make you realise how big this club is, I will post one picture and my phone will go crazy for 3 days. I want to stay here for a very long time, I don’t speak the language yet but I feel at home and this club is perfect for me. Having two players to learn from like Per and Laurent is a gift from God. I am shadowing them and picking up lots of things. I want to learn more from Laurent he is really good at coming from behind and taking the ball, I’d like to bring that to my game. Cech is a great keeper he talks to me a lot, I have learnt a few phrases that I know he will say, he is a leader.

If his refusal to be bullied by Costa and his eagerness to stand up for team-mates is anything to go by, Gabriel posseses plenty of leadership qualities himself, ones which will only grow the longer he’s at the club and maintaining his level of performance. Not wanting to tempt fate but he’s barely put a foot wrong since arriving in January and as many have observed, seems to relish defending as much as Frank Lampard does deep-fried Mars Bars.

Finally for today, Alex Iwobi, who was so impressive in pre-season when given a chance to travel and play with the first-team squad, has signed a new, long-term contract the club confirmed today.

I’ve only seen him play for us a couple of times, including the game in which he scored against Lyon at the Emirates Cup this summer and my initial thought was that he’s quick, slick and a little more efficient in his distribution than say, Chuba Akpom, has looked at times. Who knows how he’ll develop at this early stage but he’s clearly highly regarded by the club and is part of a long list of very promising young forwards on the books at London Colney.

See you on Wednesday.

5th October 2015: Damn it feels good to be a Gooner

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. I don’t know about you, but my usual Monday morning blues, much like Chelsea’s presence in the title race, were nowhere to be seen today.

No feeling of dread at the prospect of another long working week, no fantastical thoughts of a career change, or perhaps even relocation to sunnier climes. No siree. All I felt was pure, unadulterated bliss, having watched us produce a powerhouse performance like yesterday’s. So thank you Alexis, thank you Arsene and thank you Arsenal, it’s not always easy, but at times like these, being a Gooner seems like a privilege.

Unsurprisingly, Arsene Wenger was very happy with the team himself, when he spoke to the press after the game, and explained his side’s game-plan against Manchester United:

I believe in the [first half] we started very strong and decided to press very high and play with great pace, and we did that very well. After in the second half we decided to be disciplined, control the result and we did that very well. We had two aspects in our game that was pleasing and we were convincing today. It gives us a strong answer to all the questions raised in the week.

And when asked if the destruction of the team who went into the weekend as league leaders was the perfect end to a difficult week, he said:

We won our last Premier League game 5-2 and we won here 3-0 so in the Premier League we have scored eight goals in two games against two difficult opponents. Overall it was a convincing performance. It was a strong response against Manchester United following our disappointment on Tuesday night.

Arsene also shared his thoughts on the performance of two of his players specifically. First, he discussed Theo Walcott, praising the striker’s display and pointing out the 26-year-old is still improving as he adjusts to life as the team’s central spearhead:

I must say Walcott had a hugely committed performance today in a hugely convincing way. He didn’t score but I like to praise the strikers when they don’t score and contribute and give assists. He was involved in two goals – Ozil’s and Alexis’ [second] one. He did really fight today and showed he can fight, commit and protect the ball as well. He is gaining some aspects of his game as a centre forward and they are improving.

Next up for appraisal was the youngest member of our first-choice selection – 20-year-old right-back Hector Bellerin. The manager conceded that along with the rest of his defence, the Spaniard had not enjoyed the best of games against Olympiakos but was much improved against United and picked out Bellerin’s aerial prowess on Sunday as unexpectedly strong. He said:

He has improved defensively and I think his defensive performance was average against Olympiacos, like most of our players on Tuesday night. On that front we responded very well and he was part of that. He is very good in transition from defence to attack but even in the air he was good today and he won some surprising headers. He is 20 years old and when you look at what he is doing already I think he has a great future.

Although he was prompted to give his opinion on those two players by reporters, Arsene made clear his belief that every one of his players, from goalkeeper all the way through the team to Theo at the top, played well when he spoke to Arsenal Player after the game:

You can say from Petr Cech up to Theo Walcott everyone had an outstanding performance and a convincing one. I like to observe teams when they are under pressure to see how united they are and how well they respond. It was important when you are a bit shaky to start well. Alexis got two goals and everybody up front always looked dangerous and our midfield looked balanced and sharp. It was a good game. You go through disappointments in the season and the way we responded was very convincing. I like this group and I like even more the performance we have shown today.

Sometimes, a few members of the team stand out in a win, with the rest rated as unremarkable, but like the manager, I genuinely felt that all 11 players on the pitch for us yesterday contributed to our success in a big way. It was the complete team performance; expansive yet compact, disciplined yet adventurous.

Although, as Arsenal fans, we can appreciate better than most the fact that emotions can alternate drastically between joy and despair from fixture to fixture, for the next fortnight at least due to the international break (Cloid), we can all say: damn it feels good to be a Gooner.

Back tomorrow Gs.

4th October 2015: Arsenal gun down Man Utd in broad daylight

Posted on by TremendArse

Every now and again, this Arsenal team produces the sort of spell of ruthless, rat-a-tat football, that doesn’t so much leave our opponent punch-drunk, as lying prone in a pool of their own blood, riddled by bullets and gasping for life.

Liverpool were the victims back in April, when we scored three times in eight first-half minutes, but today, it was the turn of Manchester United to get gunned down in a glorious hail of the Gunners’ artistic ammunition. Goals by Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil then Sanchez again, all before the 20 minute mark, killed the game and sent us up to second in the standings.

The parallels with the 4-1 win over Liverpool didn’t end with the quick-fire goals and Ozil getting on the score-sheet; Sanchez’ second strike this afternoon, cutting in from the left and unleashing an exocet past David de Gea, was almost identical to our third against the Merseysiders. Only today’s was even better I thought; more top-cornerish, possibly more powerful and definitely after the red-hot Chilean had dribbled past a greater number of bedazzled defenders.

Afterwards, Arsene Wenger spoke about the message today’s 3-0 win sends out to Arsenal’s rivals in the Premier League:

To win in a big game is always a statement. We are in it, we are two points off the league leaders, Manchester City, so I hope that result today will give us belief to fight for it.

As expected, our starting line-up confirmed Petr Cech’s return in goal, Gabriel partnering Per Mertesacker at the heart of our defence, Nacho Monreal taking over from Kieran Gibbs at left-back and Theo Walcott retained as the central striker at the tip of our attack.

We began the game on the front foot, forcing a succession of corners in the first few minutes before Sanchez opened the scoring. Francis Coquelin, as he did countless times all afternoon, nipped in ahead of an opponent to win the ball before Ozil and Aaron Ramsey played a one-two on our right which resulted in the German sending a cross to the near post with his weaker foot.

Sanchez, the hyperactive and super-alert phenomenon that he is, was quicker to read and react to the delivery than any United defender and darted from the back to the front post, to apply the most sublime of flicked, back-heeled finishes to the move, to give us the lead with just over five minutes on the clock. Commentating for Sky Sports, Gary Neville conceded:

They’ve been all over United from minute one, punch after punch…

He was spot on, and less than two minutes later, we doubled our lead. Chris Smalling clipped a speculative ball forward, Gabriel rose unchallenged and nodded it down to Santi Cazorla, he played it forward to Sanchez, who flicked it infield to Ozil first-time. The German then released Walcott ahead of him, who scared the life out of their retreating back-line with his pace as he flew into the penalty area, before cutting the ball back to Ozil to pass the ball emphatically into the corner leaving De Gea motionless. Neville summed up the situation at that precise moment:

Arsenal are rampant, United can’t get near them. Every pass is precise, it’s clinical, it’s perfect…

It took a further 12 minutes for the next brutal assault on the netting behind De Gea, but it was certainly worth the wait. Hector Bellerin took a throw midway inside our own half on the right and found Ramsey tight to the touchline and being pressed by Ashley Young. The Welshman simply flicked the ball away from his marker, spun and strode forward before playing it inside to Walcott who was demanding the ball like a player really enjoying his game.

The striker’s two touches; the first, with the outside of his right foot, to spin away from the defender and back towards his own goal, and a second, on the swivel using his left instep, to shift the ball wide left to Sanchez, were the very definition of efficiency and allowed his team-mate just that split-second extra to receive the pass unchallenged, skip infield past a few, forlorn United bodies and bury the ball into the far top corner. Cue Neville:

They can’t believe it, these Arsenal fans, in and around us here, that is absolutely brilliant from Alexis Sanchez…

Except they could believe it, because as mentioned above, we’ve seen Arsenal and Sanchez do this in the fairly recent past. It’s a bit like when pundits said Arsenal finally adopted a sensible contain and counter game-plan in a big match at Manchester City last year, completely oblivious to the fact Arsene had set his teams up pragmatically, plenty of times previously, like when we beat Bayern Munich away from home a few years ago, playing exactly the same way.

Anyway, Aaron Ramsey should have grabbed our fourth from a pin-point Sanchez cross but got his attempt at a finish all wrong, side-footing the ball high and wide. Anthony Martial then nearly pulled a goal back just before the interval but Cech spread himself superbly, stretching out a leg to block the shot and maintain our three-goal lead heading into half-time.

With the game all but won, we sensibly decided to play it safe in the second half, keep compact, let United enjoy possession and attempt to hit them on the break. A manager accused of only knowing how to play one way was now adopting two very different approaches within the same game. In fact, when he identified that United’s half-time substitutions were resulting in us being dominated in the middle of the park, Arsene instantly ordered Ramsey to shift into the middle alongside Cazorla and Coquelin, and told Ozil to play from the right to rectify the issue.

As much as United huffed and puffed however, they failed to make many clear chances, mainly because they’ve built their team around Wayne Rooney, a player who can’t run, and on the evidence of today, can’t pass, shoot or tackle either. But one England international who showed he can do all those things was Walcott. Many are calling it his best performance in an Arsenal shirt and whilst I think he’s had better games in terms of his overall attacking influence, Theo was undoubtedly brilliant this afternoon.

Silky in his link-play, confident, hard-working going both ways – this is the Walcott we all want to see but truth be told, few thought they ever would, even if personally, I’ve always had faith in him and believed in his potential as a striker for us. Here’s how Arsene assessed Walcott’s display after the game:

I  must say Walcott had a hugely committed performance today in a hugely convincing way. He didn’t score but I like to praise the strikers when they don’t score and contribute and give assists. He was involved in two goals – Ozil’s and Alexis’ [second] one. He did really fight today and showed he can fight, commit and protect the ball as well. He is gaining some aspects of his game as a centre forward and they are improving.

Although Theo was excellent, I thought he was one of 11 others who were just as good. To a man the players all performed at a very high level today and contributed to what was a fantastic result.

More post-match reaction etc from me tomorrow but for now, it’s time for MOTD2 and another look at today’s murdering of Man Utd.

Til next week.

3rd October 2015: Premier League Preview – Win against United long overdue

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Saturday. Unless your name is Jose Mourinho obviously, because then it’s anything but, and there’s a good chance you’ll be getting sacked in the morning, you specialist in verbal diarrhea you. Is he still speaking?

We host Manchester United tomorrow afternoon of course, and having just checked, I’m slightly shocked to find that our last Premier League victory over tomorrow’s opponents came way back in May 2011, when Aaron Ramsey’s carefully-placed low strike secured us a 1-0 win at Emirates stadium.

Since that game, we’ve played them eight times in the league and lost five of those matches, conceding 17 and scoring just 7 times along the way. Of course those aggregate scores are skewed somewhat heavily by that infamous 8-2 at Old Trafford, and we did beat them in our last meeting in the FA Cup, but still, we’re long overdue to put a few past United. Needless to say, tomorrow would be the ideal time to do it as we look to bounce back from our midweek defeat in the Champions League and keep pace with the challengers for the title.

Arsene Wenger spoke about the fixture at his pre-match press conference yesterday (despite the assembled media’s best attempts at keeping the conversation on David Ospina and the Olympiakos defeat), explained why his team will go into the game in confident mood and also pointed out that no team can be identified as likely champions, given the close proximity in points of the teams at at the top of the table. He said:

It is a special fixture because usually Man United are always fighting at the top. It has an even bigger meaning now because there are three points between the teams, and we play at home in a big game. We have just come from a big win at Leicester and we want to continue our run. We are the only team who has beaten [Leicester], so I don’t see why we should not believe we can beat Manchester United. At the moment it is too difficult to say that any team dominates the championship. It is so tight that one point more after seven games does not mean you will suddenly make a big difference in the league. It is settling at the moment and it is a very important time in the Premier League but you cannot come to a conclusion that one team is above everybody else.

In terms of team selection, Laurent Koscielny is ruled out with a hamstring strain but Gabriel is available after serving a one-match suspension for last week’s win at Leicester so barring any last-minute injury concerns, the Brazilian should play alongside Per Mertesacker in central defence and I’m guessing Petr Cech will have recovered sufficiently from the ‘slight alert’ over his calf to take over from Ospina in goal.

Elsewhere, I think the team picks itself. Our two Spanish fullbacks, Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin in midfield, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Ramsey ahead of them with Theo Walcott again leading the line and looking to score his 13th goal in 14 Premier League starts. I suppose Olivier Giroud has a chance of starting in Theo’s place given the fact he was banned for Tuesday’s game and may therefore be physically fresher but I can’t see it. Theo’s in fine goalscoring form and I’d be amazed if Arsene left him out.

As for the opposition, despite Anthony Martial dominating discussion given his solid start to life at United, Juan Mata has been playing pretty well too and Arsene praised the former Chelsea man’s quality yesterday, as well as highlighting United’s other dangermen, saying:

He is an intelligent player and his position is a bit secondary. What is important is the timing of the moment to get rid of your marker and the quality of your vision, and Mata’s quality of vision is very high. Let’s not forget at Chelsea he was twice voted player of the year so that is a quality he always had. United have a few dangerous players. The danger can come from Martial, Mata and Depay. Maybe Mata has been in top form of late but with these types of games it is important you are focused on defending well as a team as the danger can come from anywhere.

Individuals aside though, I don’t think United have been anything special at all so far this season. I saw them host Wolfsburg on Wednesday evning and thought they were very fortunate to win the game. The Germans were the better team. But then when you make as many squad alterations as United have, finding fluency takes time and hopefully we can capitalise on their lack of familiarity with one another.

Despite losing this fixture last season, we actually played very well and Jack Wilshere’s chance when one-on-one with David de Gea sticks out as one that may have led to a different result at full-time. Taking the lead in these big games, as lots of managers often point out, is vital. So if we can reproduce that same level of intensity in our game but take our chances this time, I expecting us to pick up all three points and show that maybe we’re serious contenders this year after all.

Back post-match.

COYG!

2nd October 2015: Wenger stands firm as he’s grilled on goalkeeper selection

Posted on by TremendArse

Good evening Gooners. There’s only one place to start today and that is with Arsene Wenger’s press conference this morning, where the manager was unusually tetchy as he faced a bit of an inquisition into his team selection for last Tuesday’s loss against Olympiakos.

Asked again about his decision to play David Ospina rather than Petr Cech in goal against the Greek champions, the boss went on the defensive, stating his belief that both his goalkeepers were ‘world class’ and that Ospina was not to blame for the defeat in midweek. He said:

Looking at Ospina and Petr Cech, I think I have two world-class goalkeepers and it is the easiest choice I have to make because I can pick either of the two and I am very comfortable. It is the most difficult as well, because the two of them are world-class players and always you have to leave one out. No matter who plays you have a good goalkeeper in goal. One pundit says something on television and all behind that they repeat exactly the same thing. It is quite boring because nobody came out with numbers of this game where the game was won and lost. It’s quite depressing to read that and to hear that, to all come just to the same conclusion and not watch well what has gone on on the pitch. We have lost the game because we didn’t defend well, yes the goalkeeper made a mistake but we could still have won the game [despite] that.

I like the fact reporters are now asking difficult questions at these gatherings because for far too long I’ve felt that managers generally get too easy a ride from meek journalists, who are either afraid, or incapable, of making the kind of inquiries that would elicit insightful responses.

I’m not saying we’ve got to a stage where managers are intelligently grilled on tactical nuances or offered blunt appraisals by the press on certain players, as you often get in other countries for instance, but moving away from simply asking for an injury update or a manager’s ‘thoughts’ on something or someone is a step in the right direction in my opinion.

That said, what Arsene highlighted about Tuesday’s game is hard to argue with. Yes Ospina made a terrible mistake which led directly to us conceding a goal but then if, for example, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had done better on that first-half counter attack we had and scored or set-up a goal, perhaps the game would have turned out very differently.

Too often, one moment in a game is used to define the entire ninety minutes of action and that’s a bit simplistic. So in that respect, I agree with the manager – our loss had far more to do with collectively bad defending and in-game management by the team, than the selection and performance of the goalkeeper on the night. A better question to ask would have been ‘why do Arsenal seem to have these games every so often when they show all the intelligence of 11 Robbie Savages?’. Arsene then expanded on where he felt we went wrong, saying:

Maybe we lost the focus to defend and we just thought that we want to score more now. We were too much orientated on offensive drive and not enough on defensive caution. We learn from victory and we learn from defeat. We are eager to learn from what happens to us but it is true the disappointment is that it happened to us before and it has happened again.

Which goes back to what I said earlier this week that we were basically just a bit thick for a period in that game. Having just made it 2-2 and with plenty of time on the clock for a winner, we should have regrouped and taken our time in finding the next goal whilst ensuring we kept it tight at the back.

Anyway, that subject’s getting a bit boring now and if the squad’s soul-searching in the latter part of the week leads to a win against United on Sunday, then we might look back and say our shambolic showing in the Champions League was perfectly timed as far as our title challenge is concerned. That’s what I’m clinging to anyway.

Back tomorrow with a preview of the United game.

Have a good one. Laters.