Arsenal

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.

1st October 2015: No defence for the defence

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome to a brand new month on TremendArse. Whatever your thoughts on Danny Murphy as a pundit, and mine are indifferent; he’s not as insightful as Gary Neville usually is but then he’s no dreary dolt, like Michael Owen, either, I thought the former Liverpool midfielder summed up our recent defensive displays perfectly when he spoke on talkSPORT today:

I’ve watched Arsenal in their last two games and I must say, defensively, Arsenal have been absolutely all over the place. Naive, gung-ho, thoughtless – it’s really not that difficult to play a bit more defence minded. With the players they’ve got going forward they will create chances.

Naive, gung-ho and thoughtless – exactly my sentiments about our defending when the full-time whistle blew on Tuesday night. If five goals had glossed over our frailties at the back last Saturday at Leicester, there was no similar attacking camouflage against Olympiakos and the brittleness we’re so often accused of was evident for all to see.

So what can we do to improve? The two central defenders likely to play in our next game at home to league leaders Man Utd on Sunday, due to Laurent Koscielny’s hamstring strain, have been discussing the debacle against the Greek champions and offering their views on what we need to do better.

First up is Gabriel, who has urged calm and remains confident we can still qualify from our Champions League group despite still having to face Pep Guardiola’s currently rampant Bayern Munich side twice in our remaining four fixtures:

It was a complicated night [against Olympiacos]. We were in a good place in the first half, defending well, we were happy. But the three goals were our own fault. We only have ourselves to blame for conceding them and now we have to rest, work harder, and then on Sunday come back and have a good game. We just need to be calm. We have to work hard and focus on putting in a good performance [against Manchester United]. I am sad that we lost an important game at home. But we can still qualify. We have a very strong team, with some very good players. We now have to try to win the remaining matches in the group.

Our vice-captain Per Mertesacker was similarly forthright in his appraisal of our last game and says it will take a while for the players to clear their heads before they can refocus and try to produce a far better performance against Louis van Gaal’s men at the weekend. He told Arsenal Player:

First of all, we are disappointed because we started quite well, especially on the break after they had set-pieces. We lacked that concentration and it is not understandable why we drifted and did not do the job we are used to doing. That is not acceptable and we will be punished [for that] in the Champions League. We need to get behind the ball and play better defensively. We lacked discipline, even when you get a goal back don’t rush yourself. Get your discipline back and with possession you get your chances. If we are not disciplined and do not chase the ball we have got no chance. We have got a couple of days to look back on that performance. I think everyone will have regrets and it is good to take that away. It will take a couple of days to recover and to think about Manchester United and play in a different competition, which will be a good opportunity to come back to the Emirates and play our football with possession and dynamism.

At least the players seem to have recognised their mistakes, evaluated where they went wrong and are clear in what they must do to improve. Or so you would say if this was the first instance of us f*cking things up to such an outrageous extent, but it’s not. It’s about the 151st time in recent memory, so I don’t blame any fans for yawning at Gabriel and Mertesacker’s words and switching off from the subject. To be honest, I’m not sure how we improve our squad’s collective mid-set and intelligence but that’s the issue I think here, brains, not ability.

The old ‘lack of leaders’ cliche certainly gains an awful lot of credence after results like Tuesday’s and as much as I lean towards the ideal of pure football, having the right mix of steely characters in combination with an easy-on-the-eye game-plan is crucial of course. Looking at our squad, only Francis Coquelin strikes as a player with the requisite organisational qualities. The rest of them to a man, including our captain Mikel Arteta and his deputy Mertesacker, have proven themselves lacking in that department.

Even if our football can be improved on the training pitches at London Colney, I’m not convinced character can be developed in the same manner, so the next time we dip into the transfer market, rather than focusing just on ability with the ball at a player’s feet, perhaps we need to scour the market for the kind of individuals who can make us a bit more of a savvy side when the sh*t starts hitting the fan in the midst of a game.

See you on Friday.

30th September 2015: All-too-familiar failings leave us facing early Euro elimination

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening. We’re now facing the ignominy of failing to qualify from our Champions League group for the first time in 16 years thanks to a 3-2 defeat to Olympiakos last night, with the nature of all three goals conceded best described as pitiful from an Arsenal perspective.

The first arrived after Gabriel and Koscielny attacked the same ball as it was floated into our box and the former eventually raced out to block a shot, deflecting it over the bar. When the resultant corner was swung out to the edge of our penalty area for their player to hit first-time, Mesut Ozil was the only one to read it and react. But then, inexplicably, he pulled out of a possible slide to cut the ball out and appeared too scared to engage in a challenge. An all-too-familiar unwillingness to get physical from our flimsy German schemer.

Meanwhile, as the ball was struck towards our goal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain half turned away in just the same cowardly, ‘what if the ball hits me in the face?’, manner in which his team-mate had done a split-second earlier, and the ball deflected off his foot before nestling in the corner with David Ospina helpless. An all-too-familiar moment of brainless botching from the Ox.

We then equalised almost instantly as Sanchez cut infield from the left, fed a good run by Theo Walcott and the England man found the net, thanks largely to poor keeping.

But back to our terrible concessions. Olympiakos’ second goal was quite simply a bad mistake by Ospina, as he misjudged his position, palmed a corner over his own goal-line and despite his best attempts to claw the ball away, saw the goal awarded by the first fifth official to ever make a decision of any kind whatsoever. Bad keeping but then, as Arsene said after the game, all keepers make mistakes.

In the emotional aftermath of a disappointing defeat like last night’s, people will obviously point to Petr Cech’s omission for such a vital game and blame the boss, but aside from the fact he was reportedly nursing a small calf injury, Cech has already shown this season that he’s far from faultless and frankly, I disagree with most fans that say Ospina’s a bad keeper. By my reckoning, that was his first major error in an Arsenal shirt and that he’s suddenly being portrayed as the reincarnation of Manuel Almunia is way wide of the mark.

So onto the third and my personal favourite in terms of summing up our players’ infuriatingly, brainless management of games at crucial times over the last countless campaigns. There are too many examples to list and the most recent before last night was after we pulled a goal back against Monaco at home and recklessly left ourselves open at the back whilst chasing an equaliser at 2-1 only to concede a third.

So having restored parity last night when Sanchez headed home to make it 2-2 from a precise Walcott cross, we had plenty of time on the clock to calm down, clear our heads, regain composure, remind ourselves of the score and the fact we didn’t need to rush a winner, yet did need to ensure we didn’t concede a third at all costs.

Instead, we conceded almost straight from the kick-off. Evidently, we were assuming the visitors couldn’t possibly get a third, were disorganised, half-arsed in our defending, with Per Mertesacker’s lack of a challenge as the ball was struck past Ospina encapsulating the criminal complacency.

After that, despite plenty of effort, we failed to grab a third equaliser and now have zero points from our first two games with a double header against Bayern Munich next up in the competition. Perfect.

A wider worry though, is our home form this season. That’s now two defeats, a draw and a win over Stoke, with five conceded and four scored at Emirates stadium. That needs to change and we have the chance to do it on Sunday when he entertain league leaders Man Utd.

As far as I’m concerned, Europe can take a back-seat for the next three weeks because we now need to ensure a likely early European exit is offset by a genuine tilt at the Premier League title. That said, on the evidence of last night, we’re too timid and too stupid as a squad, to end the long wait.

Back tomorrow.

29th September 2015: Champions League Preview – Three points a must

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. So the Champions League returns this evening as we host Olympiakos and after losing at Dinamo Zagreb on matchday one, picking up all three points against the Greek champions is almost a must if we want to reach the knockout stages.

As such, I’m expecting Arsene Wenger to field as strong a line-up as possible which, with a bit of luck, will include Francis Coquelin who has been a doubt with a knee injury. There’s also been some rumours flying around that Petr Cech has some form of minor injury and may not be risked with David Ospina replacing him between the sticks and if that is the case, I’d rather we didn’t take any risks despite the importance of a win tonight. We’ll see.

Elsewhere in the team, the boss spoke about checking on the recovery of those who had played both against Tottenham in the league cup a week ago and Saturday’s win at Leicester and the only players who started both games are Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini. The latter has already been ruled out of tonight’s game through injury so perhaps we’ll see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replace Ramsey on the right of the attack.

But with Mikel Arteta also sidelined, if Coquelin doesn’t quite make it, Ramsey would likely be needed to play in central midfield even if he is in desperate need of a rest, because with Jack Wilshere recovering from a fractured leg, we really are down to the bare bones in that area of the pitch at the moment.

Olivier Giroud serves a one-match ban for the red card he received in Croatia and Gabriel could potentially return in defence after serving his own suspension domestically. All that considered, my guess is we’ll line-up as follows:

Ospina;

Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal;

Coquelin, Cazorla;

Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez;

Walcott

That team looks more than capable of getting the win, although we’ll need to be wary of a side who Arsene suggested will have prepared well for this game because they are dominating their own league with ease, having won five out five so far this term.

Indeed, their current manager, the Portuguese, former Estoril right-back Marco Silva, was in bullish mood when he spoke at his press conference yesterday, explaining that whilst Arsenal and Bayern Munich are favourites to emerge from the group, his side have prepared well, are ambitious and ‘have to go for it’. He said:

We know it will be a difficult game, how big a team Arsenal are and we respect them, but we believe in our own strengths and are ready for a strong game. We are going to come here and show our best self, to show what we can do. We have analysed the jobs which Arsenal do well and will try not to make mistakes, bring to them match what we have done in training. If you asked people who would be the first two in the group, people would say it is Bayern and Arsenal, but football is not like this – there are no rules to say the favourites must win all of the games. We did not manage to win against Bayern, and yes the Dinamo win over Arsenal has made it more difficult for us, but we have our own ambitions and there are no limits to them. You have to go for it and we hope that we can change the situation in the group.

In terms of the history between the clubs, we’ve faced Olympiakos six times previously – all in the Champions League group stages – winning our three home games but losing the three at their place. So the omens for tonight at Emirates stadium at least, are good.

The first meeting in north London came in September 2009, when we beat them 2-0 thanks to goals from Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin. The next was two years later and goals by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos secured us a 2-1 win, and the last match between the sides in London came in 2012, ending 3-1 in our favour thanks to strikes by Gervinho, Lukas Podolski and Ramsey.

Not long left until the teams are announced now  so I’ll leave it there and see you tomorrow.

COME ON ARSENAL!

28th September 2015: No rotation required when we host Greek champions

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. Who stayed up to watch the blood supermoon last night / early this morning? No? Me neither. But any talk of lunar events like today’s never fails to make me crave Jaffa Cakes. Timeless advertising from McVities right there.

As an aside, something else I think transcends the fourth dimension, is the irrefutable class of Arsenal football club. Watching Arsene Wenger and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain speak at their press conference earlier today, ahead of our Champions League game against Olympiakos tomorrow night, it was a pleasure to listen to them both speak so honestly and eloquently as representatives of the club, especially when you hear the vulgar, venomous drivel others in the game (naming no names but I’m talking about Jose Mourinho) spew on a weekly basis.

Anyway, the game tomorrow has become a must win if we want to avoid a group stage exit after losing at Dinamo Zagreb. When you consider we still have to play Bayern Munich and Robert ‘five goals in nine minutes’ Lewandowski twice, then taking maximum points against the other teams seems our easiest route to the knock-out stage. Arsene said as much today, agreeing that winning the game was vital, whilst refuting the claim that our loss in Croatia on matchday one was because he made too many changes to his first-choice line-up:

You have to win your home games if you want to qualify from the group stage, it is simple as that. We cannot afford to drop points now against anyone at home. I don’t believe it (defeat in Zagreb) is down to selection at all, I believe that the 20 players I have available can play in every single game. I close my eyes, just take a position and I am confident we have a very strong team. On the day [at Zagreb], basically the same team played at Tottenham and won in the League Cup in a game that was much more physical, so I believe it was just on the night that we didn’t play well.

The latest team news revealed Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta are both out of contention with ‘slight muscular problems’ but should only be unavailable for a matter of days. So it’s just as well then that Francis Coquelin was pictured training today, albeit with his knee strapped, and the boss says he’ll see how the Frenchman responds to two days worth of training but expects him to be ‘alright’ for tomorrow.

In defence, Gabriel is available again after serving a one-game domestic suspension and perhaps the Brazilian will be brought straight back in to give either Per or Laurent a rest before we host Man United on Sunday. That said, Arsene says the game at the weekend will have no bearing on his selection. Instead he’ll look at players who’ve played three times in the last ten days or so as possible reasons to rotate:

The game will not interfere with that at all. It is more the games we played before that could have an influence. Some players had two tough games at Tottenham and at Leicester, where they were a high level physically. I will have to analyse that today and make my decisions.

Arsene also said he hadn’t decided who he’d pick in goal for the game tomorrow but I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t Petr Cech to be honest. With five days between the games, we have plenty of time to recover before we host United, so there’s no need whatsoever not to go full strength against the Greeks.

He was also asked if the increasingly competitive Premier League was having a detrimental effect of English clubs’ performance in Europe and said he thought it was too early to tell:

I believe that the Premier League is very, very tough. Is that an influence or not? I don’t know but it’s a bit early to come to any conclusions. We have to wait a little bit longer. A second year without [English clubs] being successful and you could come to a conclusion of, ‘Yes, there’s something we have to analyse deeply’, but I don’t believe so at the moment. You cannot say [English clubs] are at that level [of the past] now because in the last two years Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the Champions League. We have to say they were the better teams. Are we far away? I don’t think so but we have to show that with our performance.

My own take on the subject is that I think people sometimes overplay the strength of our league. Yes it seems to be producing more favourable results against the bigger sides than previously but to suggest other leagues aren’t as strong is wide of the mark I think. Barcelona were battered by Celta Vigo just last weekend and Sevilla’s success in the Europa League in recent seasons are just two small examples of why other leagues aren’t as weak as we often make out they are.

Til Tuesday.