13th April 2016: Ozil nominated + Iwobi on Okocha influence

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome to Wednesday on TremendArse. Arsenal may have blown their chances in the Premier League, both domestic cups, and the Champions League this season, but the consistently classy performances of one man haven’t gone unnoticed.

Mesut Ozil was today announced as one of six nominees for the PFA Player of the Year award and joins Dimitri Payet, Harry Kane and Leicester City trio Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez on the list.

Ozil’s chances of success are obviously very slim due to the fact the Foxes look very likely to win the title, meaning one of their players is surely favourite for the accolade, whilst Kane being the league’s top-scorer with 22 undoubtedly gives him an edge over our German assist-meister.

Yet with 6 goals and 18 assists from 30 Premier League appearances so far this season, it’s obvious Mesut fully deserves at least being in the mix for the award, which in itself must be particularly satisfying for both the player and his manager after he was widely branded a big-money flop in his first two seasons after arriving from Real Madrid in 2013.

Meanwhile, Aex Iwobi has revealed the advice he’s been receiving from his famous uncle – former football star Jay-Jay Okocha. The teenager told Arsenal Player:

Before that I didn’t even know he had Twitter!. All my friends were asking if I saw what my uncle had said so I checked it out. It is crazy and I’m just happy I’m making him proud and hopefully I will be even better than him. He was at the Watford game and the Barcelona game,” added Iwobi. “The fact he comes to watch shows it means a lot to him and he shows his support. It is good for me. [I get advice from him] almost weekly. He came to my house the other day. Unfortunately I missed him because I was here [at the training ground] but we do keep in contact a lot. He does tell me what I need to do and what I need to work on. He is always telling me that he knows a lot has happened and that I have come far, but he says to stay humble and that I will go far.

I’m not sure Alex is quite as naturally gifted as Okocha, because the latter had Ronaldinho-esque skill in his pomp, but I wouldn’t bet against Iwobi developing into a more consistently effective player.

Time will tell of course but our latest teen sensation clearly comes from good stock, seems to have a good head on his shoulders, is receiving some sound advice from those around him and could barely have made a more promising start to his professional career.

Iwobi also touched on his decision to play for the country of his birth, Nigeria, rather than represent England, where he’s grown up and made his name. He said:

It was a difficult decision picking Nigeria over England. England did contact me recently before I played my first competitive match for Nigeria, asking if I wanted to play for England. I’m very proud to represent Nigeria but I would like to say thank you to England for the chance they gave me, it was a difficult decision. The love Nigeria showed me… when I played for them in a friendly, the fans were just crazy. The fans almost eat you up because they love you so much. I’m enjoying playing for them. When you’re getting out of the airport there are fans already there screaming ‘Arsenal, Arsenal. Gunners for life!’ and it’s just mad. Some of them have Arsenal shirts and then others will ask me for Arsenal shirts. It’s a bit mad and the fans are crazy.

Right. That’s probably enough from Iwobi, at least until he’s banged in a hat-trick against Crystal Palace on Sunday anyway.

Arsene may hold his press conference tomorrow, or at least provide the official site with an injury update, so I’ll be back then as we start to look ahead to the game against the Eagles.

Laters.

12th April 2016: Cech on sportsmanship and Iwobi on his goal at Everton

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Welcome back. It’s still very quiet Arsenal news-wise so this will be the briefest of posts. A micro-post, if you will.

I’ll start with some words from fit-again Petr Cech, who spoke exclusively to the Arsenal Weekly podcast and discussed how football has taught him many things, including the importance of respecting his opponents. He said:

It’s a part of the game. For 90 or 95 minutes you are on the battlefield but then then the game finishes. Sometimes you enjoy the game more because it has these individual battles and individual challenges. Sometimes you think, ‘I love this part of the game because I was battling with the striker for every corner, every free-kick, pushing each other and trying to block each other’. When you finish the game you think, ‘Okay he gave me a time but I did well’ and then you’re happy with that. When you play the game for such a long time and you know the players you’re playing against, you know each other’s game better and you know them personally so sometimes you talk to them after. Not all the time, but sometimes. There are games where you speak to people. You have to respect your opponent and you have to respect the game. Everybody wants to win and it means everything to everyone. You play the game to win but on the other hand you have to respect your opponent and you have to respect the fact that sometimes the other team plays better than you and deserve to win more. You know they’ve spent as much time as you working hard and preparing to win, that they have given everything to that. Team sport not only teaches you the ability to work in a team, but also the ability to respect your opponent. This is a big part of sport.

Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi has been speaking to Arsenal Player about scoring his first-ever Premier League goal – at Everton a few weeks ago – and explaining the celebration that followed. He said:

That moment was crazy! When Hector got the ball and I saw the space, I just tried to sprint for my life. Thank God Hector found me, I got the ball and scored. I can’t describe the feeling, I started losing my head and the celebration… I don’t know where that came from, but I’m sticking with it now! The best way to describe it is that it’s my number [45], and the Gunners [are] Arsenal. I was just excited and also my friends told me to do something crazy, so it was for them. I already felt at home [in the team] but that goal made me a bit more confident, made me try a few more things and made me feel a bit more relaxed so I was happy to get it.

What can we say about Iwobi other than he’s got the footballing world at his feet right now. If he continues on his current trajectory in terms of development, not only will he surpass his famous uncle Jay-Jay Okocha’s talents pretty soon, we might actually win the league again at some point. Keep on keeping on Alex!

See you tomorrow.

11th April 2016: Xhaka, Marquinhos and two others linked as silly season starts early

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Evening all. Just a very quick round-up for you tonight because we’ve covered the reaction from Saturday’s disappointing draw at West Ham already and with our next game not until Sunday when we host Crystal Palace, it’s very quiet in terms of Arsenal news at the moment.

As is often the case when on-pitch talking points are scarce for the Gunners, transfer links to players supposedly on our shopping list begin to burgeon like Wayne Rooney’s waistline at Christmas. Granit Xhaka appears a very legitimate rumour, with Sky Germany having reported our interest a couple of weeks ago and barely a day passed since without a regurgitation of the story.

Today was no different, with the Evening Standard’s James Olley writing that we’re “confident of making” the Swiss international our first major summer signing. The player reportedly has a 25 million euros buyout clause in his contract but it doesn’t come into effect until the summer of 2017 and the German club are said to be holding out for £35 million for his services in this year’s window.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see but Arsene Wenger refused to rule out his interest in the player when asked about it in his last press conference so my money’s firmly on Granit becoming a Gunner sooner rather than later. Don’t argue with the logic.

Two fresher names being linked with Arsenal are that of 18-year-old Boca Juniors midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and Marseille’s 22-year-old Mario Lemina, also a midfielder, and currently on loan at Juventus. I know very little about both but from the briefest of YouTube scouting missions, I can reveal the former’s a typically skillful south American ball player, whilst the latter seems far more defensively minded and boasts a sturdier, more athletic build.

With Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky all expected to vacate our midfield and the club this summer, the chances are we’ll sign at least two central midfielders, so a less proven, younger talent being brought in alongside an established star like Xhaka would make sense.

My choice would be N’Golo Kante (I know he’s not that young – I just want us to sign him), particularly as he already seems to be agitating for a move away from the shock champions-elect Leicester. But then ball distribution is probably one of Kante’s lesser-polished skill-sets and if we’ve missed one quality in our midfield area too often this season in Santi Cazorla’s injury-enforced absence and before Mohamed Elneny arrived from Basel in January, it’s passing.

The last name on the list is PSG’s Brazilian defender Marquinhos, who is reportedly unhappy at his continued role as understudy to compatriots David Luiz and Thiago Silva and is eager to move on this summer. French publication L’Equipe mentioned us as possible suitors in today’s edition but with half of Europe said to be interested were he to become available, it’s difficult to see that one happening.

So just the four names doing the rounds today and that’s with me only taking a half-arsed look around. I’m sure there’s lots more and they’ll continue to grow both in number and frequency as the summer approaches and then unfolds.

With next season being the last of Arsene Wenger’s current contract and the pressure on him to deliver big at levels never seen before, a busy close-season of transfer activity at Arsenal is anticipated. A major overhaul of the squad is in the offing and I for one am pretty excited about that prospect, especially if it involves first team integration for a player already on Arsenal’s books – a certain Wellington Silva.

See you on Tuesday.

10th April 2016: Arsenal make work seem appealing + West Ham reaction

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Sunday greetings. Dropping points at Upton Park was bad enough, but seeing Leicester and Tottenham both win comfortably today means it’s been a weekend to forget.

The irony that a new working week will now provide a timely distraction from football is pretty galling, but at the moment that’s the truth of the situation. So thanks Arsene, nice one Arsenal, good job Sunderland and cheers Manchester United – I’ve never looked forward to a nine-to-five more. I hope you’re proud of yourselves …

I suppose I ought to take a little look at the reaction from the West Ham game however, even if I’d rather do anything but. First up it’s Arsene Wenger, who gave his take on the game to Arsenal Player, saying:

We were [in control]. There are always a lot of positives. Overall, you can say it is not a bad result to draw here, but in the context of the league, where we are and what we want to achieve, it is a very bad result for us. I wanted to win the game. In the end we had the opportunities to score a fourth goal, but we were not calm enough. I think we rushed our game in the box and that is disappointing. One or two times on the counter-attack the pass didn’t come quickly enough out of the feet and that is why we missed.

A decent appraisal I suppose but about as comforting as a smack in the mouth. A few of our players also had their say on the match, with Laurent Koscielny bemoaning his side’s frailty in one-on-one duels and explaining how they should have defended the threat of Andy Carroll in hindsight. He said:

We are disappointed. When you are 2-0 up and they come back, it is difficult. We have played well in the game but lost some important duels. They played on the counter-attack to cross the ball to Carroll who is good in the air. We conceded the same amount of goals [as them] today and it is difficult to come away with one point when we wanted more. He is quality when it comes to heading the ball. If you want to win the duel, you need to be stronger and arrive early on the cross. You can’t let them get a cross in easy because they have some good players on the wings. It is a job for everyone, not just the defender.s The guys on the flanks need to help their team-mates with defending. We will fight (for the title). We are professional players and we want to win. They [Leicester] have some important games. We will fight to the end. Mathematically, it is not finished so we will try.

Mohamed Elneny also insisted the team would continue to give it their all in the hope that somehow, Leicester and Tottenham collapse in the last few games of the season. He said:

We will fight until the end, until the last game in the league, to achieve what we want. Let’s see the final outcome then. Today we wanted to snatch the win even though we were playing against a strong team. Maybe the final result is not this much in our favour, however we are doing our best in each game. We conceded two goals at a very hard time. We should have ended the first half 2-1 up but the equalising goal came at a very crucial moment. At the start of the second half we started organising our team to win the game and step up our performance, however we conceded a third goal so we tried and pushed to get an equaliser. We finally did that but we couldn’t snatch the win in the end. We are fighting for the league title, this is why we had to play in an offensive mode to win the game, but thanks God for the final result. The best is yet to come.

You have to admire the optimism of our Egyptian enforcer, even if it’s very, very unlikely to see it vindicated. Danny Welbeck was more sombre in his appraisal, saying all we can do now is focus on ourselves:

I said before the game that we wanted to win the game, so it is points dropped. With the circumstances, going two up and then a goal behind, to get the equaliser was good. It was disappointing [not to win]. Stuff happens in football that is hard to explain. It is just one of those things. We tried to. It was difficult and they were threatening on the break as well. It was a difficult game for us. We just need to focus on ourselves and play the game that we want to. There is no point in us looking at other teams because we can’t affect them.

No we can’t, sadly. I guess we should start looking over our shoulders at those just behind us in the league as much as we set are sights on overhauling Tottenham into second place, because even if we can still very feasibly finish ahead of our north London rivals, we also need to be wary of the two Manchester teams in the race to secure a top four finish.

As such, the one big positive from this weekend’s results then, must be that we now have a six point lead over fifth-placed United with just six games to go.

Have yourselves a wonderful, football-free Monday everyone.

Back tomorrow.

9th April 2016: Arsenal waste comfortable lead at West Ham

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Welcome back. If the title was unlikely before today’s match at West Ham, it’s now all but gone after we were pegged back from 2-0 up to eventually draw 3-3 at Upton Park.

I missed the opening portion of the game but tuned in just before Mesut Ozil latched onto Alex Iwobi’s pass to fire us into the lead after 18 minutes. When Alexis Sanchez then doubled our lead 17 minutes later, with a very similar goal and again with Iwobi the architect, in truth, the scoreline felt a bit flattering because the hosts had seen a legitimate goal by Manuel Lanzini ruled out for offside and the contest was pretty even.

Remarkably, the Hammers hauled themselves level and went ahead inside 10 minutes either side of the half-time break. Andy Carroll grabbed all three, heading home Aaron Cresswell’s cross after 44 minutes, equalizing in the second minute of first-half added time, and then powering in another header at the far post seven minutes into the second period.

A friend texted to goad: “Oh look, Arsenal have Arsenal’d”, and it was difficult to disagree. From cruise control to chaos in the blink of an eye, we continue to make unforced errors in games, providing our opponents with just the boost in confidence they need to capitalize on our shortcomings and it’s as predictable as it is infuriating. Unless we’re eight-nil up and playing against seven men, it’s impossible to feel confident Arsenal will see out a win.

I think it was Iwobi who gave the ball away under no pressure in the build-up to their first, just as I was willing us to get to half-time with our two-goal cushion intact. But given his role in our first-half goals and overall display, it would be more than harsh to be too critical. And in fairness, aside from those costly ten minutes, we played pretty well, looked fluent and although it’s a pointless hypothetical, if the game lasted another ten minutes or so, I’d have backed us strongly to grab a winner.

Unfortunately the reality is we’re now 10 points behind the league leaders with just six games to go and another top four finish is the best we can hope for for yet another campaign. After the game, Arsene Wenger had his say on Carroll’s impact, why Arsenal struggled and where it leaves our hopes of the title. He said:

First of all because he [Carroll] is good in the air. We lost a bit of urgency when we were 2-0 up after 43 minutes. We had a good game today but a bad result. We played with a weakness that is redundant in the season. If you look at the goals we have conceded since the start of the season, [most of them] are headers in our box. That happened today. It is difficult to go into any assessment of [our own] performances. I have to look at it again. I don’t think Koscielny was at fault at the goal. The first goal, when you are 2-0 up with 43 minutes played, with the experience we have and the way we mastered the ball, then at 45 minutes it is 2-2, you [put] yourself [in] a decline. This is because you give hope to the other team, that is where that little moment in the game made us pay heavily. Third in the league with 59 points. That is not where we want to be but we have made it much more difficult for ourselves now to have a chance to win the Premier League. We have to keep going no matter what and hope. You never know what can happen. As well, we have to look behind us as people are chasing us. We have to be serious and focus on finishing as high as possible. Where that is, I don’t know. This is one of the places where you could drop points but you see the game and feel guilty you have dropped points.

There’s isn’t a lot more to add really. A slim chance of the title is now flickering on the verge of invisibility. All we can do is hope Leicester choke dramatically, Tottenham do likewise, and we win our remaining games. I’m not holding my breath.

Enjoy your Saturday nights if you can folks.

See you on Sunday.

8th April 2016: Premier League Preview – West Ham away

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Happy Friday. I have to say I’m looking forward to this weekend more than usual, what with Arsenal playing West Ham in the early kick-off tomorrow, Anthony Joshua fighting American Charles Martin for a heavyweight world title belt after that, and then a nice, lazy, Sunday in store to eat, sleep and revel in doing absolutely nothing. Bring. It. On.

So hopefully Arsenal can get things off to a flier and set the tone for the next 48 hours or so by exacting revenge for our opening day defeat at the hands of the Hammers at Emirates stadium.

Judging by Arsene Wenger’s words yesterday, the likelihood is our starting line-up will be largely unchanged, with Petr Cech returning in goal for David Ospina the only realistic alteration. That said, David Ospina been very solid in Cech’s injury absence and made some eye-catching saves so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Columbian kept his place in the side for now.

As for our opponents, while we’re still missing the likes of Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, they’ll be able to call upon a fully fit squad which contains some genuine quality in the likes of Manuel Lanzini and or course, the outrageously gifted Dimitri Payet. And Arsene gave his take on our opponents when he spoke to Arsenal Player earlier in the week. He said:

They are a strong side and that’s the message they gave us on the first day of the season [when West Ham beat Arsenal 2-0 at Emirates Stadium]. They surprised us with their quality, they have 50 points now and that’s not a coincidence. Overall I believe they’ve sacrificed the Europa League a little bit, surprisingly, but that has paid off for them in the Premier League. They have had a very strong season.

As for his own team, the boss explained why he’s unlikely to rotate at Upton Park, called for consistency from his team after two league wins in a row heading into tomorrow’s match and highlighted the strength in depth of his squad, saying:

What you try to find is always the right pieces of the jigsaw that work. Sometimes you are forced to make changes and sometimes players move up in training and they make steps and statements that push you to give them a chance. When it clicks, it is even more positive. There is an emergence of players that come up and come back from injury. Sometimes, the balance of the whole team clicks and all these players fighting together helps you to find the right blend. The continuity of our games against Barcelona and Everton was collectively [very good]. We respected those games and we had good possession, great movement and we wanted to score goals. Ideally, we combined offensive efficiency with defensive efficiency in that game. We looked quite solid. I think our game is convincing. What we need to show is consistency with the team, and in the last three games I feel our quality was a high level that raises the confidence. On top of that, we have players who have just come back like Mathieu Flamini, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, so the competition is there. Petr Cech is back too. In every position, you have competition, and that is very positive.

With Leicester and Tottenham not playing until Sunday, when they face Sunderland and Manchester United respectively, we have a chance to close the gap on both the teams above us if we can beat the Hammers and exert just that bit more pressure on them ahead of their games this weekend.

With just six more games to play after tomorrow, every fixture is clearly all but a title eliminator so here’s hoping our players are fully focused, can play in a similar vein to our recent wins at Everton and over Watford and keep our faint title hopes alive.

Back post match.

COYG!

 

 

7th April 2016: Wenger on team news, reluctance to rotate and learning from Leicester

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Evening all. It seems like an age since we last heard from Arsene Wenger but the boss was back in front of the press this morning as he held his pre-West Ham press conference and discussed everything from team news to transfer speculation and lots in between.

I’ll start with the latest on our injury list ahead of our trip to Upton Park on Saturday and the big news is that Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini “could” return to action against the Hammers. Here’s what Arsene had to say:

We have a similar squad available. Ramsey could join the squad again because he had a good training session on Wednesday and would normally have a final test on Friday. There’s a possibility he could be back in the squad. Flamini is in a similar situation to Ramsey. Santi and Alex [Oxlade-Chamberlain] are the only injuries now. At the moment we [are waiting] on Alex coming back to fitness and Santi to practise. They should not be too far. Overall, the injury situation looks quite good. Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere will play for the under-21s on Friday night.

To be honest, even if Ramsey is deemed ready to return, I can’t see how he gets back in the side at the moment because Mohamed Elneny and Alex Iwobi’s recent form surely makes them impossible to leave out. The former’s passing, and blossoming partnership with Francis Coquelin in the middle of the park has been, as far as I’m concerned, the catalyst for our transformation from a bit of a misfiring shambles, into a fluently functioning and winning team again. So that’s one of Ramsey’s roles unavailable.

Then there’s the right hand side where Alexis Sanchez is currently playing, in part because he’s struggled on the left but also to accommodate Alex Iwobi, who’s impact in the three starts he’s been afforded in our last three games has made him integral to our threat in the final third. It’s a little unexpected, but right now the reality is that the only member of our British core worthy of a starting place is the one who will, in all probability, start against the Hammers – Danny Welbeck.

It was unsurprising then, given the above, that Arsene explained he was unlikely to change what’s been a winning formula for him of late, whilst also maintaining the title race was still far from decided. He said:

I’m always reluctant to change what works. [It is] down to the confidence gained from our last two games. Team play has improved in those games and our game is based on mobility, speed and technique. We have found a good balance in our game. We know that we need nearly the perfect run and we know as well that we don’t look only in front of us, we look behind us as well. We are chased by a group of teams who can make it very difficult for us so we have just to focus on our performance and hope we finish [the season] in a very strong way. As long as it’s mathematically possible, there’s a strong possibility [Arsenal can catch Leicester]. You look at the difficulty of the Premier League and they have been very consistent but every game is very, very tight. That can go the other way.

And speaking of the Foxes, the boss cited their shock surge for the Premier League crown this season as vindication for his long-held and often-criticized belief that money doesn’t guarantee success. He said:

What we learn from Leicester City is what I knew for a long time, which is that it’s not just only down to the amount of money you spend. It’s down to the quality of players you bring in and sometimes the opportunities are not always necessarily linked with the amount of money. If you look well, they finished very strongly last season and on top of that they brought some players in who have given them something more, like N’Golo Kante. He had a huge impact. We have spoken about [West Ham’s] Dimitri Payet – you could say along with Payet he is one of the players who had a big impact in this league.

He’s right of course, money alone doesn’t secure silverware, but it sure as hell helps. The other thing is that more than once after we’ve lost to the likes of Chelsea in the past he’s come out post-game and witheringly said something like, “They use their money well”, suggesting his team were beaten by a cheque book rather than the wit of an opposing manager. I love Arsene but he can’t have it both ways …

That’ll do for tonight.

See you on Friday folks.

6th April 2016: Alexis on injury fears, ambition and Ozil

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Welcome to Wednesday on TremendArse. I’ll start this evening with an admittance from our south American superstar Alexis Sanchez that fear of sustaining another injury has hampered his performances since he returned from a two-month spell on the side-lines earlier in the campaign.

The Chilean tore his hamstring in our draw at Norwich at the end of November, and went on to miss 10 games in all competitions before making his comeback from the bench against Chelsea in late Janaury. Since then, Sanchez has struggled for goals and form by the lofty standards he set in his debut campaign.

There are mitigating circumstances of course, in that he failed to have a pre-season with Arsenal after helping Chile to win the Copa America last summer, before being rushed back to action by Arsene Wemger a lot sooner than most people had anticipated. Anyway, here’s what Sanchez had to say:

Before my injury I was 100 per cent fit. I was feeling well. After the injury I wanted to get back but it was hard. I had a setback and when I played a match, I was scared I would get injured again because the thing I like most in the world is playing football and when I can’t play, I feel sad. Football is my passion, my life and I always want to win. If I lose, I always go home sad, I can’t sleep and that upsets me. When I win, my team-mates are happy and enjoy their families the next day. Football is my life. I think I have adapted well to the club but I am never satisfied with what I do. I want to win the Premier League, the Champions League. I always want to win everything.

Despite having returned from injury over two months ago now, I think it’s fair to say Sanchez is still searching for his top gear. But with the Arsenal team a lot more settled and fluent in recent games, his own personal performances also seem to have improved, partly also perhaps because of a switch to the right flank. He’s notched up two assists and a goal in our last three games against Barcelona, Everton and Watford, so the signs are that he’s approaching something close to his best form again.

Arguably his best performance for us this season, aside from his hat-trick at Leicester in September, came in our mauling of Manchester United in October, when Sanchez scored twice in that ruthless opening 20 minutes in which we scored three times at Emirates stadium. And the forward suggested that game must be the blueprint for Arsenal, as well as lauding the quality of Mesut Ozil:

Before that match, we all had hunger and desire to win — you could see that in the eyes of the players before we went on to the pitch. When all the players have that look of hunger of wanting to win things, it’s difficult for another team to beat us. Ozil is a fantastic player. When I’m on top form, 100 per cent fit, because he has such quality, he can give me the ball with ease and that sets me up for scoring.

Needless to say our two most expensive-ever buys are also our two most influential attack-minded players, so hopefully we can keep them fit for the remaining eight games of the season and then tie them down to new contracts because there just aren’t many of their quality available in the market right now.

Finally for today, after promising there was more to come from him in yesterday’s post, Mohamed Elneny has revealed his joy at grabbing his first goal for the club having netted against Barcelona at Camp Nou last month, and also suggested the Premier League title is still within Arsenal’s reach this term. He told Arsenal Player:

I was very happy with it. However, I wasn’t happy with the result of the game as we didn’t qualify for the next round. It is something that you can’t describe afterwards – but I was very happy to score against Barcelona in the Nou Camp – it was a very beautiful feeling. Also, selecting it as Goal of the Month was very good. I hope to score more goals in the future, hopefully to help the team to win the league title this year.

Let’s hope so Mo. In fact, I can picture it now, Elneny smashes home the title-winning goal on the last day of the season against relegated Aston Villa, as Chelsea beat Leicester at Stamford Bridge, with Tottenham having dropped out of the picture entirely after going on a six-game losing streak.

It’s still on. I’m tellin’ ya …

Back tomorrow.

5th April 2016: Mertesacker refuses to moan + Zelalem to get his chance?

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. A quick round-up for you this evening and I’ll start with some words from our vice-captain Per Mertesacker.

Having lost his starting place to Gabriel in recent weeks, the German World Cup winner has revealed he’s unaccustomed to his current status as back-up, but far from throwing his toys out of the pram and demanding more action, Mertesacker says he has his chin up and will wait for his chance. He said:

I’ve got to admit it is new to me. I’ve been around a long time now and this has not so often been the case, but I’m in good spirits, am fit and I have no pain. Of course I’m playing less, but I’m sticking at it. Maybe I’ll get another chance. Things change quickly nowadays. You get ups and downs as a footballer and you’ve just got to remain professional, and I’ve always been that down the years. That’s why I’ve survived for so long in this business. I listen closely to what the coach says and he knows that he can count on me, no matter what happens. I want to show him in every training session that I’m ready when needed. The team needs every player, whether I’m on the bench now or not – I don’t just write it off. I always look ahead positively and that is the best way to get over the disappointment of not playing.

He may lack pace, but Per’s attitude is clearly faultless. Even if ideally I’d love a top-quality new arrival in central defence, I really hope we keep hold of Mertesacker because as a personality and a professional, he’s a big asset for Arsenal in my opinion.

The defender also gave his take on this season’s Premier League title race and thinks the Gunner’s still have a good chance of upsetting the odds and nicking the crown. He said:

It’s not totally over yet. If we win all of our matches, then we’ve got a good chance. We’ve got to keep focusing on that and that’s why we’re taking things game by game. We’re trying to concentrate fully on our next game against West Ham. We have a bit more time now that we’re not in any other competition so we don’t have to concentrate on anything else, other than the title.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Elneny has been speaking about winning the official website’s Player of the Month award for March and promising there is a lot more to come from him in an Arsenal shirt. He said:

I am very happy to be Player of the Month for such a big club. It feels very good, it will motivate me to have more faith as I play in the team and it shows how the fans love and believe in me. It is very helpful to feel that you are loved by the people in the club and the fans – and I still have more to give the team. So, I would like to thank all the people who nominated me. This is just the beginning. Hopefully, I will contribute more and more to the team in the future.

And finally for today, The Daily Telegraph’s Jeremy Wilson reckons Arsenal may look to internal options as well as new recruits, when bolstering their central midfield this summer after the anticipated departures of the likes of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky.

Wilson suggests Gedion Zelalem, on-loan at Rangers this season, will be given a chance to prove himself in pre-season and cement a place in our first-team squad for next season. I’ll admit I haven’t paid much attention to how Zelalem’s been getting on in Scotland but what’s beyond debate is that he’s a brilliant passer from in front of the defence and we could do with more of those.

Aside from Santi Cazorla and Elneny, we haven’t got too many of that tempo-dictating ilk at the club, so I suppose he has a good chance to establish himself over the course of the next campaign like fellow teenager Alex Iwobi has done this. Time will tell and my guess is that it’ll be his physical readiness, rather than any doubts over his his footballing ability, that will decide his short-term future.

Until tomorrow.

4th April 2016: Wenger salutes squad after Watford win

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome to a brand new week on TremendArse. With next weekend’s game at West Ham still what feels like an eternity away, time now to take a little look at some of the reaction from our 4-0 win over Watford.

First up we have the manager Arsene Wenger, who has been praising the mentality of his side, despite the fact his squad showed all the cerebral fortitude of a shoe, in getting beaten by Manchester United and Swansea City recently. Here’s what he had to say:

We have only one target now. We have come through difficult periods and the team who finishes top is the team who can continue to perform and get results even when the period is a bit more difficult. This team has a good mentality. I’ve had many teams in my life and this team is top quality. They have gone through a bad period but, when you play like that [against Watford], that shows that mentally they are pure. You have to find a team who clicks at the right moment. You have a whole lot of different reasons [for it happening], because your injured players come back like Welbeck and because of the emergence of players like Iwobi.

Personally, I think what’s far more important than mindset is the the footballing chemistry of the team. I mean, I’m sure Aaron Ramsey’s mentality is second to none, but the fact he can’t pass the ball to save his life, yet was playing as our chief distributor from the middle of the park during our ‘difficult periods’ this season, is no coincidence.

Not that it’s all on the Welshman of course, because Olivier Giroud being able to run, or Theo Walcott not being scared sh*tless of the ball, would also have helped immeasurably, but midfield’s the area I would pick as the stand-out problem position for us this season, with it’s lack of adequate functionality in key games being the main reason we’re so far off top spot in the league as things stand.

That said, for all the ridicule Arsene attracts by consistently praising his players’ mental strength, why he does it is obvious – to build confidence among his players. Plus we’ve sorted our problem area now it seems, providing we can keep Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin fit and firing for the remainder of the campaign. Indeed, Arsene was full of praise for the duo after the win over Watford, saying:

Both of them are improving offensively. When Coquelin plays with Cazorla, Coquelin is the defensive player which made them a perfect pair. Then Coquelin focused more on defending and Cazorla more on attacking. Now both [Elneny and Coquelin] share the job, so the balance is a bit [better]. They’re more similar. We have four attackers in front of them so we need people who can defend well in central midfield.

Understandably, the manager also singled out Alex Iwobi for praise after the teenager scored one and set one up in only his second-ever Premier League start:

These people (Arsenal fans) have seen many good players over the years and they know straight away when a player has something special, so they acknowledge that. You cannot cheat people. They’ve seen how quickly he’s improved and how well he’s played. It’s surprising how quickly he’s integrated into our game. He’s worked with us since the start of the season and he has grown, gained confidence and when he came in he had an impact straight away. That’s benefited from the fact that he knows everybody and they trust him as well. I didn’t expect that level of efficiency or impact on the scoresheet.

It’s hard not to get carried away by the impact Iwobi’s made in these last few games and although it’s worth stopping for a minute and remembering just how young and inexperienced he still is, the way he’s playing at the moment does make you wonder if he might prove the difference between an all-too-familiar fourth-place finish, or something far better come the end of the season.

Imagine thinking that even just a few short weeks ago. You just never know in football …

Until tomorrow.