Month: January 2016

10th December 2016: Campbell, Bellerin, Iwobi, Wellington Silva

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. We travel to Liverpool on Wednesday of course, but with a few days still remaining until that game, time now to look back at some of the reaction to yesterday’s FA Cup win over Sunderland.

First up it’s the manager Arsene Wenger, who compared the rise to first-team prominence of Joel Campbell this season, with Francis Coquelin’s ascension from Championship loanee to undisputed first-choice defensive midfielder for the Gunners last term. The boss said:

He is kind of in Coquelin’s position last year. Nobody expected him [to do well] and now he is taking his place in the team and he is ready to fight for the position and he is efficient. I agree [that he is playing with confidence]. That comes out of his game. Compare one month ago to today, he believes he belongs there and has a right to play.

I shared my thoughts on how good a player I think the Costa Rican has become for us in yesterday’s post, but one word I didn’t use to describe his game was ‘efficient’, as Arsene does above. Yet that’s probably the best one to sum him up.

He’s efficient going both ways; in attack he picks the right pass 99 times out of a hundred, or shoots first-time if at all possible, and when chasing back he doesn’t merely track an opponent’s run, he tries to forcibly win the ball back at the earliest opportunity. When you consider he’s not 24 until June, Campbell’s still got plenty of time to improve a great deal and if he consistently produces performances like yesterday, he’ll surely stay first-choice even with everyone fit, just as Coquelin has.

Aside from Campbell though, the other standout players for Arsenal against the Black Cats were the two youngest members of our starting line-up, Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi, and both spoke to the official site after the game. Bellerin discussed the club’s aim of winning a third, consecutive FA Cup, as well as the team’s performance against Sunderland, saying:

That is the goal of the whole team. We love this competition and the fans love this competition so we need to try and do our best. We are trying to get the third in a row. We knew it would be a hard game. It is always hard in the third round of the FA Cup. We had a tough opponent and a lot of changes so we had to adapt to that. We didn’t start really well but the team responded like it should. It was a great effort by the team and it was very nice to get through to the next round. They started pressing really high and we knew we had to be a bit safe when playing the ball. Sometimes we make mistakes and that is normal but we knew how to respond to it. The team was up to the challenge. We didn’t rush the game and we knew we had to be patient. It is nice to get the three goals and that is confidence for the team as we have a difficult week ahead.

Whilst a jubilant Iwobi expressed his delight at realizing a child-hood dream of being an Arsenal player, saying:

It is amazing. It is the best feeling ever. It is a dream come true. Since I was a young boy I have always wanted to put on my shirt with Iwobi on my back with the Emirates [crowd] screaming my name. As a young kid I always wondered if I would get there and to have this opportunity today, I’m just thankful. It was a young boy’s dream come true. Playing at home with everyone screaming your name and giving you the confidence to express yourself – it felt like a proper debut. Training and playing with them [the first team] every day is such a learning curve. Hopefully I can train with them more and play more so I can develop every day.

The lucky, lucky (but obviously extremely talented) b*astard. I remember dreaming about pulling on an Arsenal top with my name on the back, the fans chanting my name as I left five defenders for dead, beat the keeper with a dizzying piece of skill before stopping the ball on the goal-line, kneeling down and heading home …

But back to reality and Iwobi really does seem another great prospect with a stride similar to Abou Diaby and a penchant for low-hanging socks like Alexander Helb and Paulo Dybala. He did the simple things well yesterday from a central midfield stationing and fully deserved the applause he received from the fans when he was substituted in the second half.

Finally, Wellington Siva was in Cup action for Bolton yesterday and very brief highlights of our Brazilian prospect in action can be seen on the BBC website here. For the record, if you haven’t followed this blog since I started it in June last year, you’ll be unaware how highly I rate Wellington, so I’ll tell you now: very, very highly.

Higher than any other un-established player under contract at Arsenal and although there were reports in the past questioning his mentality and fitness, I think those issues are now non-existent and I fully expect him to stake his first team claim at Arsenal next season, having had a year to acclimatize to the English game.

Til next week.

9th January 2016: Three first-time finishes put Arsenal into fourth round

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. Arsenal made it 13 FA Cup wins in a row by beating Sunderland 3-1 at Emirates stadium this afternoon, thanks to goals by Joel Campbell, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud.

Our defence of the Cup began with us boasting a much-changed line-up featuring Alex Iwobi in central midfield alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with Calum Chambers backing them up in the defensive midfield role.

At the back, Petr Cech retained his place in goal with David Ospina – expected to start by many – not in the squad at all, and Kieran Gibbs and Gabriel replaced Nacho Monreal and Per Mertesacker respectively, from last Saturday’s starting line-up against Newcastle. Campbell and Theo Walcott kept their places on the flanks and Giroud again led the line.

I actually missed the first 20 minutes of the game and once I’d found a stream and settled down, we were a goal down – but just about to equalize. Laurent Koscielny had been caught in possession with 17 minutes played, after Gibbs gave him the ball under pressure and left him little time to sort out his feet. Jeremain Lens nicked the ball and finished emphatically past Cech at the near post.

Sunderland’s lead lasted just 8 minutes however, because Iwobi released Walcott down the left, he took on his marker before cutting the ball back into a busy penalty area for Campbell to saunter onto and nonchalantly guide home into the corner first time. As it would turn out, it was the first of three, one-touch finishes by Arsenal players on the day but this one was easily the hardest to execute.

Campbell carefully adjusted his stride to connect with the ball at the peak of it’s bounce, ensuring he kept it down and on target. Intelligent work from a player who seems to be going from strength to strength as our right-sided attacker.

The Costa Rican doesn’t appear to have a weakness in terms of his effectiveness for the side, now that he’s producing goals on a regular basis. He rarely gives the ball away, his passing is accurate and well-weighted, he can play the intricate game in small spaces, he tracks back like Alexis Sanchez – I’m struggling to find an area he’s obviously weak in.

But back to the game and after going into the interval level, we survived a scare in the second period when Steven Fletcher saw his header rattle our crossbar with Cech, for once, beaten. It was quite an open game at this stage but after Arsene Wenger sent on Ramsey and Mikel Arteta for Iwobi and Chambers after 67 minutes, we took control of proceedings and were ahead within five minutes.

Hector Bellerin and Campbell played a one-two down our right-hand side and the Spaniard crossed for the on-rushing Ramsey to guide home left-footed at the near post. Three minutes later, Bellerin produced an even better assist for Giroud to tap home, as he threaded a precise pass with his instep across the Sunderland defence to the far post. With Mesut Ozil given the game off, Bellerin emerged as our chief goal-creator to further embellish is burgeoning reputation.

Then came the moment everyone had actually turned up, or tuned in, to see: a first competitive appearance in Arsenal colours for none other, than Jeff Reine-Adelaide. The French teenager didn’t have time to embarrass an opponent like he did Kevin de Bruyne in the Emirates Cup last summer, but he did get himself on the end of a cross and force a corner after having a shot at goal smothered by their keeper.

Coincidentally, we produced the same result, courtesy of the same three goal-scorers, as our win over Sunderland at Emirates stadium back at the start of December. But this time, our reward is a place in round four of the FA Cup rather than three points and we’ll find out who we face next when the draw is made on BBC’s The One Show on Monday night.

See you on Sunday.

8th January 2016: Sunderland in the Cup kick-starts testing run of fixtures

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Friday folks. Arsene Wenger held his press conference this morning ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup third round clash with Sunderland at Emirates stadium, and insisted his side won’t be taking the competition lightly as they attempt to win it for the third consecutive season.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce indicated earlier in the week that he’d rest several first-choice players tomorrow, with a Premier League game at Swansea on the horizon next mid-week, but Arsene says he’s only looking as far ahead as the next game and won’t be prioritizing any one competition over another. He said:

We want to win every competition we participate in. The FA Cup is one of them, for us it is an important competition. Confidence is a global thing and you can’t really separate it from one competition to another. My energy is about giving absolutely everything to win the next game. The next game is the FA Cup. For us it is a very important competition as always. We just this week had the semi-finals of the League Cup. The teams gave absolutely everything. I saw Everton against Manchester City and it was a top-class game. That’s what you want – the teams to commit. At our level, you do not choose when you commit and when you don’t. This is a serious competition. I’ve won the FA Cup six times – that means I take it seriously. In the whole history, nobody won it more. That means as well that it’s not so easy to win it. You want to feel as well that your team is ready for every single challenge and the FA Cup is one that matters to us.

Whilst I don’t doubt for a second that Arsene genuinely wants to win every game he manages, we’re likely to rotate our squad quite a lot tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday’s league game at Liverpool, so we’ll undoubtedly be under-strength against the Black Cats. Yet that’s merely part of management; using your resources sensibly, and so rather than being disrespectful to the world’s oldest cup competition, he’ll just be doing his job.

Arsene also explained he won’t be expecting an easy ride against Sunderland, despite their boss hinting at resting players, and highlighted the importance of a competition he’s won a record six times, and Arsenal have lifted on a record 12 occasions. He said:

I’ve been in the job long enough to not expect any weaknesses from Sam Allardyce because I know him well enough to know that his team will be focused and motivated no matter who plays. In the Premier League you cannot say that the managers play weaker teams because everybody has a squad of 25 players who are of Premier League level. The FA Cup is a great competition. We take care of this competition like everybody does. Everybody dreams of winning the FA Cup. There may be some priorities at some stage of the season for some clubs who think they are in trouble and have to make these kinds of decisions, so they choose. We are confident because when we perform we know we can beat anyone in the Premier League. We have learnt this season that the Premier League is tricky and we play at home in front of our crowd where we feel that we can qualify, but we have learnt against Sunderland that on the break they were dangerous. It was a very hard-fought win against them.

That game was at the start of December and despite taking a first-half lead through Joel Campbell, we were made to work very hard for the three points after Olivier Giroud scored an own-goal just before half-time.

The striker made amends in the second period, heading home an Aaron Ramsey cross, before the Welshman sealed a 3-1 win himself right at the death. With memories of that game still relatively fresh then, we should be well aware that tomorrow is likely to a be very testing, even if both sides will likely be missing some key players.

But if we can win, it’d be a great start to a difficult run of fixtures that sees us travel to Liverpool and Stoke before hosting Chelsea.

Back post-match.

COYG!

7th January 2016: Sanchez still sidelined but Arteta available for FA Cup clash

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. As Arsenal prepare to welcome Sunderland to Emirates stadium on Saturday and begin our defence of the FA Cup, Arsène Wenger today revealed the latest team news ahead of the game.

The big news is that Alexis Sanchez won’t be risked as he recovers from his hamstring injury but club captain Mikel Arteta is back in contention for a starting berth following his own injury lay-off.

Discussing the latest prognosis for several of his troops, Arsène said:

The team news is that, from last week, we have no big injuries, and the squad will be similar to the squad who played the last game against Newcastle. Will a young player or two start? I haven’t decided yet. The bad news of the week is that Alexis is not quite ready. It is a precaution because of his hamstring, and it takes a few more days. He’s not bad but he’s not ready. Nothing’s changed [from the original timescale] with Santi. It could be a bit shorter with him because he’s often quicker [to recover] than you expect him to be. Cazorla and Coquelin are doing well. Tomas Rosicky is not far, he’s back in full training next week, so should be available soon. Mikel (Arteta) is available.

So Sanchez shouldn’t be far off, Rosicky’s nearing a first appearance of the season, Arteta’s back and Cazorla and Coquelin are making good progress from knee injuries – but there’s no word on Jack Wilshere or Danny Welbeck. That’s obviously a big concern because whilst Arteta and Rosicky offer depth and cover, the England duo are genuine contenders for first-choice selection, if they could just get fit!

Mohamed Elneny still hasn’t signed, so with the above updates in mind and considering we’ve heard noises about significant rotation; with Mesut Ozil, for instance, being given the weekend off so he can rest up for our trip to Liverpool next midweek, and perhaps a first competitive start for Jeff Reine-Adelaide after his two-goal showing for the under 21s earlier this week, I’m guessing we could line-up a little like this against the Black Cats:

Ospina

Chambers Gabriel Koscielny Gibbs

Arteta Ramsey

Campbell Reine-Adelaide Oxlade-Chamberlain

Walcott

My reasoning behind the selection is that Olivier Giroud and Per Mertesacker haven’t had a rest recently, whereas Laurent Koscielny sat out our win over Bournemouth. Also, Mathieu Flamini is our only truly defensive midfielder in the absence of Coquelin and I wouldn’t want to risk losing him to injury ahead of our game at Anfield.

Giving Ozil the weekend off completely, makes sense, seeing as he’s our best player, I can’t remember the last time he was rested, and we’re royally f*cked if he picks up a knock. And who doesn’t want to see Jeff play? Let him loose I say. A start for Alex Iwobi is another possibility and it was interesting to read last month that he’d been deployed as a central midfielder for our development teams. Yet if Iwobi does start, I’m guessing it’ll be on one of the flanks.

Elsewhere, rotating both fullbacks is a given, I’d have thought, and I would have selected Mathieu Debuchy at right-back, shifted Calum Chambers infield and rested Koscielny too, but seeing as Debuchy didn’t make the squad for our win over Newcastle as his future at the club remains uncertain, I’m not sure he’ll play against Sunderland.

If he does, then great, and we can rest our entire back four, but after Tony Pulis ruled out interest in taking Debuchy to West Brom recently, Aston Villa manager and former Gunner Remi Garde has revealed he’s spoken to Arsene about the fullback. Garde said:

I had a conversation with Arsène a few days ago about some of the players and Mathieu Debuchy was among these players. It’s too early and it won’t help me or anyone to go forward in this style to make too many more comments.

If we do allow Debuchy to leave, surely it should be at the end of the window, which would let us rest Hector Bellerin for the Sunderland game and the fourth round of the FA Cup – scheduled for January 30th – should we progress.

We’d be keeping an experienced squad option for at least the rest of the month and Debuchy would then have the remainder of the campaign to play his way into the France squad for Euro 2016 at another club – something he clearly values above helping Arsenal to trophies.

That’s about it from me for another day.

See you tomorrow.

6th January 2016: Zelalem’s loan extended

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. A very quick round-up for you tonight and I’ll begin with confirmation that Gedion Zelalem’s loan spell at Rangers has been extended until the end of the season.

The 18 year old midfielder has, evidently, impressed enough in his 12 league appearances so far for the Glasgow giants to have his stay prolonged and that can only be good news for his development.

Rangers are of course in the second tier of Scottish football but playing in front of big, demanding crowds at Ibrox should stand him in good stead if and when he makes his mark on the Arsenal first-team. And playing against older, tougher and more experienced pros will no doubt improve his physical attributes, a little like Jack Wilshere when he went on loan to Bolton.

I must admit I haven’t paid much attention to how he’s been getting on this season and the little I have seen of him was during pre-season for us the summer before last, I think, when his passing and vision really stood out as being his best attributes. If I were to compare him to any more-established player in world football at the moment it would be Thiago Alcantara, formerly of Barcelona and presently keeping Bayern Munich’s midfield ticking over.

Whether Zelalem will end up making a career with Arsenal only time will tell, but he must look at the current Arsenal squad and think he has a great chance, for no other reason than we’re not especially well-stocked with players boasting his signature skill-set.

I mean, we have plenty of central midfielders but bar Santi Cazorla, none that would claim dictating the play and ball circulation as their main strengths. Wilshere may disagree and England seem intent on deploying him as a deeper-lying playmaker, but Arsene Wenger is on record as saying he views Wilshere’s best role as being further forward, as one of the three behind a lone striker in our currently favoured formation.

Which leaves Mathieu Flamini (defensive, old), Francis Coquelin (defensive), Aaron Ramsey (more box-to-box and passing’s far from his best asset), Mikel Arteta (old, injury-prone, surely on the brink of retirement) and if he eventually signs, Mohamed Elneny (defensive, box-to-box). So if Zelalem can prove he’s ready for first-team consideration at Arsenal by the start of next season, who knows? Maybe he’ll do a Cesc Fabregas and be running the show in the Arsenal midfield sooner rather than later …

Moving on now but sticking with the ‘exciting prospect’ theme and Jeff Reine-Adelaide has been talking to Arsenal Player and discussing his career to date. He said:

Lens had followed me for a while. They came to supervise me in a district tournament where I was voted best player on the pitch. They came to my house to discuss things with my parents. Everything went really quick [after that]. Lens were in Ligue 1 and had a bit of a financial problem. They didn’t have enough players to be competitive. We were in the bottom three for most of the season and didn’t manage to save the club from relegation. I was lucky Arsenal came [in for me]. I could have been a Ligue 2 player in France. I’m so grateful to be here. I was happy – very happy actually. The fans seemed to be happy too. In fact, everyone was happy for me, including the coach and that is important. Of course it was a strange feeling, the media talks only about superstars. I was very surprised but of course happy. My parents told me I have not done anything yet – they told me to keep my feet on the ground and that I should keep working hard. I think I need to improve every single day when I train, show that I’m focused and concentrating and show that I want to succeed. I need to show I will never give up, then, if one day I get my chance, it is my duty to show the coach to put his trust in me. Then I will fight to regularly be in the first team.

As with Zelalem, his participation in pre-season football is the extent of my scouting of Jeff, but as I’m sure we all remember, the Frenchman’s silky-smooth Emirates Cup showings last summer left fans marveling at his talent and excited by the player he might become for the club.

However their Arsenal futures eventually pan out though, right now both Zelalem and Reine-Adelaide have shown they have the footballing ability to be Arsenal first-teamers. So as always, it will be a combination of luck, timing and their progression over the next year or two that will ultimately determine whether they’ll become Arsenal first-team regulars, or have to make a career elsewhere.

Til Thursday.

5th January 2016: Coquelin on the Cup

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back.  We begin our defence of the FA Cup on Saturday of course, when we welcome Sunderland to Emirates stadium, and as we build up to the game, Francis Coquelin has been discussing the competition with the Arsenal Weekly podcast.

Amongst other things, our tough-tackling midfielder revealed he was hungry for more silverware, having won his first major honour when we lifted the FA Cup back in May. He said:

It was my first major trophy with the club so I don’t want to sleep on this. I’m still hungry, even hungrier, and I want more, like everyone else at the club. The players are really stepping up and really want this silverware. It was a great moment but you need a little bit of the magic of the FA Cup to come back before the memories come back. When it does start, people will be looking at the pictures of themselves with the trophies and thinking that we need to hold it for a third time. What is nice is that the first round of the competition is at home and that’s great for the fans. It’s always going to be tough against Sunderland. They gave us a difficult game a couple of weeks ago, so we know it will be tough. They’re going to want to beat the champions as well, so they will be really, really motivated and beating us could give them a boost in their season as well. Everyone will be prepared for it. I don’t know if anyone’s ever held the FA Cup three times in a row before but it would mean something big for the club. We want to win any trophy so if we can get this one, we will.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Flamini has been praising team-mate – and BFF – Mesut Ozil, calling the German ‘easily one of the best’ players he’s ever played with. He said:

We all knew he was a top player but I’m glad he’s proving it every game. It’s very important to have him on our side because, as you can all see, he can make the difference at any time. He has been giving so many assists and has been making so much difference in the past few games, so it’s a pleasure to play next to him and it’s also a pleasure to watch him on the pitch. His vision is something that you don’t find very often, so he’s easily one of the best players I’ve ever played with. We are close friends and we have a good time on and off the pitch. That’s very important because, if you want to be able to perform, you have to feel happy in your head and feel confident off the pitch. I believe he is [happy] here and we have such a great atmosphere here that it makes it very easy for him to feel comfortable.

And finally for today it’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has been speaking to Arsenal Player about the importance of versatility in a footballer, saying:

Versatility is an extra string to a player’s bow. Look at someone like Philipp Lahm, who is one of the best right backs in the world but can go into midfield and play as if he’s one of the best midfielders in the world. All through your career you will be asked to play in different positions here and there and obviously the needs of the team come first, so if you have to fill in in a different role, you will be expected to do that. If you look at our midfielders, they are often asked to play in different positions. Aaron has played out wide and he goes out there and puts his own spin on it and does a good job. Over the years I can remember Tomas Rosicky playing out wide as well. If people play in another position, maybe they will play it slightly differently to someone else but they will put their own spin on the game. So for everyone it is important to have a versatile side to your game.

Now normally, after a a quote, I’ll share my thoughts on what’s been said, agree or disagree etc etc. But today, I can’t be asked.

So I’ll see you tomorrow.

Adios.

4th January 2016: Giroud has confidence in team-mates

Posted on by TremendArse

With the January transfer window open for business and Arsenal inevitably being linked with new names everyday, Olivier Giroud has suggested our squad is strong enough to win the title as it stands.

Speaking after the win over Newcastle on Saturday, and reportedly in response to Alan Shearer’s opinion that we need a new central defender, defensive midfielder and striker, Giroud said:

Tell me where (Arsenal need strengthening)! Just tell me where! I will explain the opposite judgement. We have very good players as well on the bench, young players waiting to come in. They are very talented. I am not worried about it. Danny Welbeck will come back in a month and a half. Theo Walcott can play up front, Joel Campbell is doing well with his national team up front. If I am less good or get injured, we still have a solution.

Whilst it’s great to hear the big striker being so complimentary about his team-mates, I think if the opportunity to buy a Luis Suarez, a Robert Lewandowski or a Gonzalo Higuain presented itself, we’d be all over it.

Perhaps it was the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang-to-Arsenal rumours doing the rounds on Saturday that played a part in Giroud being so adamant that we’re sufficiently-stocked up front, seeing as he’d likely lose his place in the starting line-up to such a big-money arrival, but I’m not sure I agree with Oli to be honest.

It was nice of him to provide a time-frame for Danny Welbeck’s return, but as he says, that’s six weeks away and given how long he’ll have been out, it’s unlikely we’ll see the best of him until next season. Theo Walcott has shown he can play upfront this season but Joel Campbell is unproven in that position for us, even if he does play there for his country.

All of which means if Giroud or Walcott pick up an injury, we’re a little bit f*cked up front. So if we can snare an Aubamayang mid-season, we should definitely be looking to do it in my opinion. Giroud also admitted Arsenal would be signing a new player – “an Egyptian one” – referring of course to Mohamed Elneny’s imminent arrival from Basel.

And our number 12 then spoke about the experience in this Arsenal squad, including his own of winning a league title in France, and suggested we have the right blend age-wise. He said:

To be a champion, I know [what it takes] because I was a champion with Montpellier. You need a bit of luck and sometimes you cannot play a fantastic game [but you need to win] and even more so because Manchester City are doing well. If I can advise the young players I will do it. We have a couple of experienced players like Mathieu Flamini, Petr Cech and people like that. We have a good mixture of experienced players and young players and the older ones bring confidence to the youngest and lead them. That is what I try to do sometimes – always encourage and in a nice way show them the best solution. It is very important in a group to say things to carry on with what we have. We are really pleased with the [Newcastle] win and it shows we have that mental strength and character.

Nothing to disagree with in that at all and again, it’s great to hear that the older pros in our squad are seemingly relishing the role of guiding along their younger team-mates.

Something so many of our squads have lacked since we moved to Emirates stadium is the right level of maturity and it’s widely considered the single biggest factor in our relative lack of success in that time. We’ve always had the talent, just not the ‘know-how’. Our performances so far this season, most of them anyway, suggest we’ve finally found the right mix. But we still have to prove it …

And on that note, I’ll leave it there.

See you on Tuesday.

3rd January 2016: Debuchy to depart as Elneny nears arrival

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. I missed this yesterday, but according to Arseblog News, Mathieu Debuchy is close to completing a loan move to West Brom.

It’s far from unexpected, given the defender’s been very vocal about his desire for regular first team football ahead of Euro 2016, but it does mean our squad is weakened depth-wise. So it’ll be interesting to see if Arsene Wenger has a new signing lined up, or will instead trust an internal option to be Hector Bellerin’s deputy between now and the end of the season.

Calum Chamber’s is the obvious candidate but to be honest, I think the former Southampton man is best at centre half and I worry about his lack of pace at right-back, especially after what Swansea’s Jefferson Montero did to him last season. So if we can’t recall Carl Jenkinson from his loan at West Ham, I’d prefer a new signing. Torino’s Brazilian Bruno Peres for instance, if you really want a name.

Anyway, while one player heads for the exit door at London Colney, another should soon be arriving at Arsenal, as Mohamed Elneny’s move from Basel edges closer. Sky Sports reported this afternoon that we’re ‘on the verge’ of sealing his signature, so perhaps they’ve learned that his work permit application has been successful and he’ll pop up in a picture special on the official site as early as tomorrow. We’ll see.

But back to yesterday’s win over Newcastle now and a few words from our match-winner Laurent Koscielny, who spoke to the media after the win. The defender discussed the game and his goal, saying:

It was a tough game. Newcastle were playing very well, especially on the right-hand side with their right back and Sissoko as well. It was difficult but in the end we won and that is the most important thing for us. We started the game well in the first 10 to 15 minutes. We had good movement with good passes. After that we were a little bit tired and at this moment we knew we needed to be stronger at the back to keep a clean sheet. After that we knew we would have the opportunities to score the goal. During the game this was the case and then I scored from a corner to help us win 1-0. Sometimes we need to win like this. I’ve scored against them (Newcastle) before but the most important thing is that the team wins and I am happy with the goal. We need to stay top. I was given the opportunity to score on the second ball and I did it so I was happy. It was important to start the New Year with a win.

Meanwhile, his central defensive partner Per Mertesacker gave his take on the victory, telling Arsenal Player:

We put in everything and we had to because Newcastle were good on the break and could have taken the lead as well. When you dig in and fight for your team-mates you get your reward. We never lost our lost our focus or our passion, and neither did the fans. We believe we can be a good team if we put the effort in. That is what it is all about. That is what I kept saying to the lads. To keep a clean sheet as long as possible and we did it all the way through. We are a threat offensively and could have scored more in the end. We need to share the ball better at times in front of the goal. We are pretty delighted with the performance where we did well and now we are looking forward to 2016 and having a successful season.

I’m not sure about the performance, but I was ‘pretty delighted’ about the three points. In all seriousness though, it’s great to hear both Koscielny and Mertesacker talk about being aware of the importance of keeping a clean sheet. Too often over the last decade or so, Arsenal teams have lacked maturity and attacked with little focus on keeping it tight at the back.

By contrast, our current crop stay compact and keep their shape throughout the 90 minutes and show far more patience when they fail to score early. There’s no mindless, over commitment of numbers in attack and it’s made us a far better balanced team. That said, we haven’t looked quite as secure defensively since Francis Coquelin’s injury so hopefully Elneny, if and when he signs, can be as effective a safeguard for our rearguard, as the Frenchman.

See you next week.

2nd January 2016: Koscielny shoots down Magpies

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. So despite playing very poorly, Arsenal have pulled two points clear at the top of the Premier League after Laurent Koscielny’s winner gave us a 1-0 win over Newcastle, whilst Leicester City were held to a goal-less draw at home by Bournemouth.

The result was also our 100th 1-0 win of the Premier League era, yet there can’t have been too many  in which we were as bad performance-wise as this afternoon. We made Steve McClaren’s side look like Barcelona, as we struggled for fluency in our passing and to create meaningful goal-scoring chances.

That said, how often have you heard the old adage that ‘champions pick up points even when they play badly’? Loads of times, that’s how many, so let’s hope today was more evidence we can indeed win the title rather than a sign some of our players just aren’t very good.

Arsene Wenger made three changes to his starting line-up from last Monday’s win over Bournemouth; Koscielny replaced Gabriel in defence, Nacho Monreal was restored at left-back with Kieran Gibbs dropping to the bench, and Mathieu Flamini came into midfield at the expense of Calum Chambers.

At a rain-soaked Emirates stadium, the visitors enjoyed the better of the first half in terms of scoring opportunities and not for the first time this season, we had Petr Cech to thank for making crucial saves with our back four beaten.

But the stop that sticks out came in the second period, when Mesut Ozil gave the ball away in midfield, Newcastle broke forward and as our defence parted with worrying ease, Ayoze Perez threaded a pass through to put Georginio Wijnaldum one-on-one with Cech.

Thankfully, by the time the Dutch midfielder composed himself and shot, Cech had already raced off his line to close down the target and the ball ricocheted off his body and to safety. It was an intervention as valuable as a goal at the other end and illustrated, yet again, the value of having a truly great keeper between the sticks.

Yet despite being horribly off the pace and off our game, we managed to take the lead with 17 minutes left on the clock. Ozil swung in a corner from the right and the ball was headed upwards by their left-back. Olivier Giroud managed to get his head on it first as it dropped and send it towards the far post, where Koscielny ghosted infront of his marker to volley home, on the stretch, with all the six-yard-box prowess of Gerd Muller in his prime. It was more than harsh on the visitors but who cares? Not me.

Aaron Ramsey should have then added a late second but having beaten two defenders inside their penalty box, he club-footed a great chance wide when he had Joel Campbell and Hector Bellerin free to his right begging for a tap-in. The pair of them threw a little strop and who can blame them? If you shoot in that situation you better score and Ramsey didn’t. But we held on for the win and moved clear at the top. It was just a shame Manchester City scored two late goals at Vicarage Road to turn defeat into victory against Watford and take the cherry off our New Year cake.

After the game, Arsene discussed the game and sympathised with Newcastle, telling the BBC:

We were not at our best but we had to dig deep and we can do that when needed. If you are down there (in the table, like Newcastle) then those are the matches you lose but they will not stay down there – they are a good team. It was about solidarity, tired legs and taking a chance from a set piece. We were not at our best today, but over Christmas in four games we took nine points so we can look back and say we did 75% of our job as we lost at Southampton.

Which is just as well when you look at our remaining fixtures in January. After the FA Cup tie at Sunderland on Saturday, we travel to Liverpool and then Stoke, before entertaining a rejuvenated Chelsea in our next three Premier League fixtures.

So to have emerged two points clear from the festive period gives us some room for error over the next few weeks, even if nine points from nine is obviously what we’ll be striving for.

Til tomorrow.

1st January 2016: Happy New Year

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy New Year!

Looking back at the last 12 months, Arsenal have made great strides; a second consecutive FA Cup, a second consecutive Community Shield and Calendar Champions by some distance:

Hopefully 2016 will be even better and in a year’s time we can look back at a title win, a Champions League triumph, or who knows, maybe even both! If you can’t dream on the first day of a spanking new year, when can you?

See you tomorrow, either for a match-preview or a match review – I haven’t decided yet.

Laters.