Coquelin

13th September 2015: Sunday night Stoke review

Posted on by TremendArse

Sunday night. It’s everybody’s favourite time of the week. Shirts are ironed, bags are packed and pencils are sharpened as we look forward to another five days of lessons, lectures or if you work, pure, unadulterated, boredom before we get to enjoy the whole weekend thing again. Nice.

Anyway, before we look at the week ahead, which heralds the return of the Champions League, time to take a peek back at yesterday’s post-match reaction and Arsene Wenger was fulsome in his praise of Theo Walcott after the England forward scored a very impressive opening goal against Stoke, as well as the team as a whole for creating so many chances:

His goal was outstanding. The quality of his movement, the quality of his control and the quality of his finish was absolutely outstanding. It’s a real striker’s goal. Scoring is a bit cyclic, up and down, but with the quality of the players we have we know we can score goals. We did against Stoke and if we continue to create that number of chances we will score much more. We had 30 shots on goal and we created bags of chances. We played with good mobility, good movement and good combinations with high technical quality. The only regret we have is that between the number of chances we had and the number of goals we scored, maybe the difference is a bit big. Overall it’s good to win.

I suppose in one way, Theo whole game was outstanding – consistently being in the right place at the right time. I mean, I think it’s a little too simplistic to suggest that any old player would have been in the positions he took up to give himself a chance of finding the net yesterday and although his finishing was found horribly wanting on every occasion bar his goal, on another day, with more confidence in his game, he could easily have grabbed at least a hat-trick.

Like he did against West Brom in the last Premier League game of last season for instance, which I believe, contrary to lots of others, wasn’t just down to the generosity of disinterested opponents. His first that day was a screamer any goalie would have struggled to keep out, his second a stunningly, fast-thinking piece of self set-up play and opportunism to dink the ball past the defender before poking home on the stretch past a keeper left with no time to react, and his third, an intelligent bit of reading to ghost in at the far post for a tap-in.

The other thing about having a mobile front-man, or more mobile than Olivier Giroud, is that we can stretch and disorientate defences, which in turn creates more space for others to work in – something Theo highlighted when discussing his role in the team yesterday:

It’s difficult in any position. The Premier League is the best league in the world and you’re playing against the best players. You’ve just got to adapt to the game you’re playing and then if players drop off, you keep on moving and hopefully create space for other people. That’s all that you can do and when you get given the opportunity you have to try to grab the goals when you can. Luckily I managed to grab one out of my many chances.

Okay, so even if ‘outstanding’ can’t be applied to Theo performance considering his catalogue of spurned opportunities, one man who certainly can claim to have produced a performance worthy of that description is Francis Coquelin, and team-mate Santi Cazorla told the Final Whistle after the game, that the Gunners are lucky to have him:

It’s amazing playing with him. He’s helped me a lot. He plays well, he defends well and I think he’s one of the best players in this position. We are lucky because he plays for Arsenal and I enjoy it a lot with him in this position.

At times, when people say Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are adequate cover for Coquelin, they’re actually underestimating the qualities he brings to our side I think. That isn’t to knock either of our back-up options for the defensive midfield role, because they have their own strengths, but neither of them can reproduce anything approaching the combination of recovery speed, tenacity and ‘win it and give it’ dynamism Coquelin has in his locker.

If there’s one player in our squad who I think is absolutely critical for our chances of success this season, because of his quality as well as the lack of true alternatives, it’s him. Cotton wool him up Arsene!

See you next week.

6th September 2015: Coquelin and Cech on Euro hopes

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening. Thanks for dropping by. A post as short as an amnesic goldfish’s memory for you today, because A. I can’t really be arsed, and B. there is so little going on Arsenal-wise, that Newsnow may as well suspend it’s dedicated category. Thanks a lot Cloid.

Aaron Ramsey was in action for Wales earlier this afternoon and they could have secured qualification for next summer’s Euros with a win over Israel, but failed to find the net and had to settle for a goalless draw. Hal Robson-Kanu, who led the Welsh attack, was released by Arsenal as a kid apparently. I didn’t know that until today, so thanks Twitter. And if you didn’t before reading this entry – you’re welcome.

But speaking of the Euros, they take place in France, who will be hosting their first tournament since they won the World Cup on home soil in 1998, and Francis Coquelin has been telling the official site how he would love to force his way into Didier Deschamp’s squad for the tournament. He said:

Every player wants to represent their country and the Euros in France is something massive for any French player to be a part of. To be part of the squad would be amazing but there are loads of things to do first and the most important thing is Arsenal. If I play well here maybe I will get a chance for France, but the most important thing is Arsenal. As any French player would, though, you want to play for France and hopefully it can happen one day. It would be unbelievable. I won the Under-19 Euros and it was something unbelievable as well. To win the Euros with the French national team would be even more crazy. If I perform well here, maybe I will get the chance to play for France but I think the most important thing is to stay focused on Arsenal and then things will come along.

Aside from the fact Francis is proving himself to be a very, very good footballer, his mentality should be highly merited too. Not only are his words above a great reflection of a man who’s grounded and focused, but his on-pitch demeanour since he established himself in this Arsenal team epitomises the kind of traits that detractors of Arsene Wenger’s side so often highlight as supposedly lacking. He’s vocal, an organiser, and showcases genuine leadership qualities. And the 24 year old, despite at the time being about seven by my maths, fondly remembers watching Thierry Henry and co lift the World Cup:

Of course I remember it. All my family were watching the games so I remember it well. It was such a great feeling. To play in front of a home crowd in France would be unbelievable with the support of all the French people. We have to wait and see, and work hard, that’s the most important thing.

Elsewhere, Petr Cech has also been discussing the upcoming international tournament, telling the Arsenal Magazine he hopes the Czech Republic can still secure qualification after dropping points in both of their last two fixtures. He said:

Since I joined the national team, I’ve never missed a European Championship. I’ve always qualified. Ever since I was 16 I’ve played in every single European Championship at every level so I hope that run will continue. I used to play in France and it would be special for me to play the Euros there. We had an absolutely brilliant start to the campaign. We won our first four games, including matches against Holland and in Turkey. Unfortunately we’ve dropped points in the last two games – we drew at home against Latvia, which was a blow because we had a lot of chances. In our last game we played Iceland away and although we went 1-0 up, we lost the match. I think this is the game we look back at and can have regrets because if we had got a point or three, it would have put ourselves much closer to our target. We complicated our situation a little bit but we are still second and have four games to play. I believe that we have the team to qualify and hopefully we will prove it.

I bet Cech wishes his country could call on our effervescent number seven Tomas Rosicky right now, but hopefully they can secure a place in the finals and Rosicky can have something to look forward to after another prolonged period on the sidelines.

See you next week.

4th September 2015: Cumbersome ‘Cloids’ and rating Renaissance Coquelin

Posted on by TremendArse

A warm welcome back. I’m glad it’s Friday but sort of wish it was next Friday in a way. Not wanting to wish my life away or anything you understand, but I wouldn’t mind being able to ⇒⇒ fast forward past this annoying void of club football; the likes of which shall now be known as Cloid ©®™, as in, ‘another f*cking Cloid’s coming up next week dammit, just as Joel had nabbed his 8th goal in three games and was hitting some form as well…’.

And there are plenty of Arsenal players in action over the course of this current Cloid, but to be honest, I haven’t really been keeping up with who’s playing where and all that stuff, so if you’re someone who prides yourself on knowing exactly how many minutes Hector Bellerin was or wasn’t afforded on his first call-up for Spain, then there’s always International Watch on the official site for a comprehensive round-up of Arsenal involvement.

My engagement with Cloid over the next week or so will be restricted to random moments when I’m switching channels and stumble across a game in which players who interest me are playing at half pace, trying to avoid injury and get this this sh*t over with as quickly and carefully as possible. Like earlier this evening in fact, as I discovered Mesut Ozil was in action for Germany as they hosted Poland.

From the little I saw, Ozil was his usual silky self, roaming around playing little passes that seem far from flamboyant, but are devastatingly effective in helping his team control possession and create goal-scoring chances. He was sorely missed at Newcastle despite us managing to win the game I thought, so I’m glad he’s back fit and look forward to seeing him return to our line-up when we face Stoke at Emirates Stadium a week tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Arsene Wenger has been speaking about one of his favourite subjects – mental strength. The boss was obviously responding to pretty scathing criticism of his squad’s supposed psychological shortfalls by Gary Neville on Sky a couple of weeks ago, and suggested not only do pundits need other pundits to provide punditry of their punditry, but that back-to-back FA Cups are proof that there is no inherent mental weakness in the Arsenal dressing room. Speaking to beIN Sports (and transcribed by Arseblog News), he said:

Opinions for me have to be documented. We won the cup last year. You don’t win the (FA) cup unless you are mentally strong, believe me. That’s why I don’t agree with that. You have to respect everybody’s opinion. Pundits are just people who are filmed by a camera and give their opinion and you have to accept that but if a pundit gives an opinion and is not right in six months, nobody will come back and say: ‘well, why did you say that six months ago? You were completely wrong.’ It’s just an assessment and an opinion you have to respect. The modern world, people are informed. People are informed and have opinions but at the end of the day someone had to make decisions. People who make decisions have to be responsible and stand up for their decisions and that’s not exactly the same for the opinion. That’s part of our job, to be confronted with different opinions and to accept that sometimes people are wrong and sometimes people are right. That’s part of it. I disagree of course.

Which is fair enough, particularly when you consider a large portion of what was said by Neville revolved around his belief that Arsenal could not win a title with Francis Coquelin as the defensive midfielder, which ignores the fact that the renaissance of Francis as an Arsenal player was arguably the single most important factor in our superb second half of last season.

Plus the fact that the Frenchman is statistically one of – if not the – best defensive midfielders in Europe this calendar year. The guy’s played out of his skin and barely put a foot wrong. Ironically, Neville made his comments on the night of our game against Liverpool, in which Coquelin’s crucial first-half ball recoveries epitomised what he brings to our team; superb reading of opposition through balls and attacks, pace in chasing back, tackling and tenacity. What he admittedly lacked in that particular game was poise and precision in his passing, but then that could have been said for our entire team that night.

Generally, his passing, both long and short, is brilliant. It was his pin-point, cross-field pass which led to our opening goal in May’s FA Cup Final for instance. And for someone who’s not blessed with gigantic height, his ‘heart’ and ‘desire’ (two qualities presumably adored by England’s assistant manager Neville) more than make up for that. Plus he’s actually very good in the air regardless.

I think when insisting you need two, ten-foot tall, imposing, no-nonsense animals in the middle of the park to win the Premier League, Neville’s forgetting his beloved Man Utd enjoyed the vast majority of their success with Paul Scholes and Roy Keane as a midfield duo – neither of whom were built like Nemanja Matic or Morgan Schneiderlin height-wise.

For me, Coquelin’s fast developing into our own version of Claude Makelele (only with more pace), because the thing that set Makelele apart, was his reading of, and efficient reaction to, danger. Coquelin has shown similar signs of game intelligence and if he can keep it up over the course of a season and beyond, ‘the Makelele role’ may well have to make way for ‘the Coquelin character’, in footballing parlance.

See you on Saturday.

3rd September 2015: With Welbeck out, can Campbell be this season’s Coquelin?

Posted on by TremendArse

The rapid returns from injury of Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere now obviously take on added importance  – hopefully both aren’t far from full fitness.

This time yesterday, I, like all Arsenal fans, was blissfully unaware that Danny Welbeck had already undergone surgery on the knee injury he suffered in April and would be unavailable for ‘a period of months’.

The last update on his fitness had suggested the former Man Utd striker would return to the first-team fold shortly after the current international break, so today’s news combined with our failure to recruit a new striker before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, now leaves us worryingly short of central striking options.

After Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, if you discount Alexis Sanchez – who in his few cameos in the position last term was far from convincing – we’re now left with Joel Campbell as the most natural option at the tip of the attack. I’m almost speechless at how quickly the air of pre-season optimism engulfing the club has been blown away and replaced by clouds of impending doom.

I can understand it of course. A lot of Arsenal supporters when we unveiled Petr Cech at the end of June, were assessing a squad that had finished the previous campaign third in the league and having secured a second successive FA Cup with a convincing win at Wembley and expecting us to mount a serious challenge for the title. Perhaps even manage a sustained run in Europe.

There was also the added anticipation of further ‘Gunner Galactico’ signings to follow in the footsteps of Cech, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to Emirates stadium. After all, the new TV deals had armed the league with obscene money to strengthen squads and players all around Europe were expected to be easy prey. We were looking like a million bucks with the promise of a further lorryload of dough. Then came a perfect pre-saseon, including Arsene Wenger’s first-ever win over Chelsea to secure the Community Shield and hope had turned into expectation. Requests into demands.

Yet after two wins, a draw and a defeat from our opening four league games, in which we looked a shadow of the team who sailed merrily through pre-season, and the lack off any additions at all before the transfer window closed on Tuesday, familiar grievances about the manager’s work and the squad’s quality have come hurtling back like Francis Coquelin closing down an opposition attack.

It goes without saying that collectively we must improve to keep pace with a far stronger Man City squad to last year’s, but has any other team suggested as title-winners improved? It’s too early to know definitively of course but given the start of the league season, and looking at their transfer business with the window now closed, I’s say no.

In a very particular order; Tottenham have no chance, Liverpool have lost their influential – if past it – captain, as well as their brightest star in Raheem Sterling, Man United have certainly added a number of players but discarded at least just as many, with those arriving far from certain to be of a higher calibre, whilst Chelsea have lost Didier Drogba and Cech from their dressing room, and only really added the, admittedly undoubted, quality of Pedro to their first-choice selection. Plus the Blues have a manager who’s as likely to cause mayhem at a club, as he is to win a trophy. So comparatively speaking, when you consider all that, we’re not badly positioned at all from my perspective.

But to go back to the beginning of this this post, whilst cover for Coquelin was my personal, primary reinforcement priority, our striking situation with Welbeck out for ‘months’ means another player will now have an opportunity he’d otherwise not have been afforded to provide the ‘internal solution’ Arsene often trumpets.

I have to admit too, that as a fan, I get as much joy from seeing an academy player, or a young unestablished hopeful, go on to make a lasting impact on our first-team, as I do from seeing a world class new signing sprinkle our play with stardust. More so maybe. But I appreciate that’s just me and if you were to ask me my preference exactly as we’re struggling to score a consolation against Dinamo Zagreb, who lead five nil at Emirates stadium in added time, I’d almost certainly have a different opinion.

But until then, I’m genuinely excited at the possibility of Campbell rediscovering his Man Utd-slaying form, his World Cup scoring skills, and proving himslef a left-footed, Samuel Eto’o-style striking sensation for us. This year’s Coquelin-esque, late-comer to the fans’ conscience as a first-team starter, who’ll save us millions in the next summer market and negate the need to sign Robert Lewandowski. 

Seriously though, I still haven’t seen nearly enough of our Costa Rican to form an opinion on him either way, but it’s having the chance to do so that I’m relishing, when the real stuff returns after this international break.

Finally, good luck to Welbeck on what will hopefully be the speediest recovery from such an injury anyone’s ever seen. Just make sure you’re back in time for the Champions League semis Welbz!

Back on Friday.

2nd September 2015: Window verdict? We should have widened the hunt

Posted on by TremendArse

So, after the transfer deadline passed yesterday without so much as a Kim Kallstrom-style scrap to provide supporters craving new signings with something to chew on, Arsene Wenger has confirmed the suspicion among many, that our lack of movement was due to a perceived shortage of squad-enhancing talent available in the market.

Speaking exclusively to beIN Sports, the boss highlighted Man United’s extravagant outlay on Monaco’s 19 year old prospect Anthony Martial, as the perfect illustration of demand exceeding supply like Frank Lampard shopping for cake. He said:

What happened last night with Monaco, who sold Martial to Manchester United for €80m, I’ve heard … Martial scored 11 goals in the French championship – that sums it up well. That means it’s not the money that’s missing at the moment, it’s not the desire of investment that is missing, it’s the number of players available who can strengthen the big clubs.

Which I suppose is true to an extent. Ask any number of football fans to name the world’s top set of true number 9s for instance, and you’re likely to hear the same names over and again; Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani and Sergio Aguero. Yet how many were ever likely to be sold this summer? Certainly not the first two or the last on the list, but maybe, at a stretch, the three names in the middle may have been attainable.

There were rumours of Real Madrid’s willingness to part with Benzema providing they could secure Marco Reus as his replacement and perhaps that’s what led us to believe we could tempt the Frenchman from the Spanish capital. But while we seemingly put our eggs in that one Bernabeu-based basket, accomplished finishers a level or two down, like, say, Carlos Bacca, Luiz Adriano and Jackson Martinez, were being enticed elsewhere. These forwards may not be seen as starry as Benzema and co, yet many would consider them an improvement on our current options up front.

So you could say the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have a point in suggesting the club would benefit from a review into it’s strategy for identifying and securing new recruits for the first-team squad:

This isn’t an issue that affects just one transfer window and seems to indicate a wider structural issue. In recent years Arsenal have overhauled both their Academy and their medical set-up. We urge the board to now open a full review into its arrangements for scouting and purchasing players.

Yet Arsene can point to great purchases in the last few windows to counter that claim and as it happens, he did just that:

Am I happy with the investment I make? Yes, every time. I bought Sánchez, I bought Özil, I bought Cech, I bought Gabriel last year. But when you have to invest you have to find the players to invest in. The problem at the moment is finding the players that guarantee you are a better team afterwards.

Personally, I’m guessing we may have done things differently this summer given the chance again. Of course I can’t be sure, just as every other fan, reporter or pundit can’t unless any are privy to inside information, but it feels as though there was real desire on both the manager and the club’s part to improve the squad. Like we’ve gambled on first-choice targets being secured and sacrificed second and third-choice options in doing so.

If for example we’d known Benzema was a complete no-go from the get-go, a player like Adriano – the second top-scorer in last season’s Champions League with nine, and just one shy of the number managed by the freakish talents of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar – who moved from Ukraine to Italy for a paltry fee of 8 millions euros, would, on paper, have been the perfect addition. A relatively cheap roll of the dice for a player in his prime at 28, and proven at the highest level in European competition. What’s the down side?

In fact, to quote Arsene himself, he once said something along the lines of ‘the only guarantee with an expensive purchase is expensive wages’, so why the sudden complete about turn? Why cant we take calculataed risks with all sorts of players if we think they’ll improve our squad over any length of term? If a 30-something player can be brought in to improve the squad for a season or two, a Davor Suker-esque signing if you will, why not?

Then of course we have the issue with our lack of like-for-like, specialist defensive-midfield cover/competition for Francis Coquelin. Geoffrey Kondogbia – who I thought was outstanding against us twice at Emirates stadium last season (once in pre-season and again when it mattered more in the Champions League) – admittedly commanded a hefty fee when he moved to Inter Milan but had talent, time – and hence resale value – going for him.

Then there’s Grzegorz Krychowiak, rated by many regular La Liga spectators as the best out-and-out defensive midfielder in Spain – bar possibly Javier Mascherano, who plays most of his football further back these days anyway. The fast, imposing Pole had a widely reported, affordable release clause and many respected reporters were suggesting Arsenal interest was very real this summer. But a bit like Benzema, he took to social media towards the end of the window to declare he was staying with his present employers. Now perhaps they were both just responding to completely fabricated reports of Arsenal interest, or maybe, negotiations came to an irreparable impasse.

And even if none of the players I’ve mentioned above were ever true targets these last couple of months, surely there are others out there who could have added something to our squad? Bayern Munich bought Douglas Costa and he looks incredible so far this season. Arturo Vidal also moved to Bavaria – would he not have been a better option than Mikel Arteta or Mikel Flamini to challenge Coquelin? How about Steven N’Zonzi as a deputy for Coquelin? And with now relaxed work permit rules, I’ll stick my neck out and suggest there might just be a a few south American stars playing in their domestic leagues and primed to make waves across the ocean in Europe.

At the same time, I don’t for a second doubt the intentions or efforts of the boss and his staff. I think they tried but in the end got it wrong, when with a little more luck they may have been far more successful this summer. Arsene will be the first to admit everyone can always improve and the AST urging the club to evaluate their strategy this summer can only be a good thing. I would suggest scouting should be a key concern if we genuinely didn’t think there were enough players out there who could strengthen our side. Just as with Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in front of goal recently, perhaps we need more conviction next time, along with increased awareness of opportunity.

On the bright side, with one glaring oversight in defensive midfield, I still think we have a very talented, exciting set of players at an average age where improvement is almost guaranteed. The rapid returns from injury of Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere now obviously take on added importance  – hopefully both aren’t far from full fitness. And this piece on the official site evaluates Arsene’s options brilliantly I think.

Til tomorrow.

16th August 2015: Acrobatic Giroud and forceful Sanchez secure win over Palace

Posted on by TremendArse

That was certainly much more like it from Arsenal. A 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park this afternoon, secured thanks to a stunning strike by Olivier Giroud and an own-goal forced by Alexis Sanchez, sees us shoot up this embryonic Premier League table to 11th.

Arsene Wenger thankfully opted to correct last week’s bizarre decision to move Santi Cazorla from central midfield to the left flank, and the Spaniard returned to partner Francis Coquelin in front of the defence today.

Alexis Sanchez came into the starting 11 at the expense of a benched Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, to play from his usual left-sided role, with Aaron Ramsey moving to the right. At the back, Hector Bellerin replaced Mathieu Debuchy at right fullback.

On what was a newly-laid Selhurst Park pitch, and by the look of it, a widened one too, we immediately appeared a far more composed, cohesive, and hence creative, attacking unit than against West Ham on the opening day. It’s hard to pick out an individual for praise in that opening spell because they were all outstanding and the hosts were left chasing shadows for the most part.

But at the heart of it all was Cazorla, who regulated our passing from deep and proved no less a defensive asset, taking up great positions on several occasions through sheer intelligence and game-reading, to halt Palace attacks.

For me, and I said this after our pre-season win over Everton last month, Cazorla is critical for our functioning as a side and must be played where he was today. If that means the likes of Ramsey and Jack Wilshere have to play in roles they wouldn’t consider their first choice then tough luck I’m afraid, because they simply cannot replicate what Cazorla produces in that position.

And with all the talk of a new striker need amongst fans and pundits alike, Giroud showed he has plenty to offer at the tip of the attack by acrobatically volleying home Mesut Ozil’s considered left wing cross to put us one nil up after 16 minutes.

It was undoubtedly a world class finish by a player who may not be in the very top bracket of strikers, and even today showed signs of frustrating more refined team-mates (especially Ozil) with his, shall we say, less than nimble footwork, but who can be a potent poacher against a lot of defences in this league. It really was some effort to kickstart our goals scored column for the new campaign.

Inevitably though, we didn’t maintain our hypnotising opening spell of football for the whole of the first half, and Palace punished some rare bad defending by Laurent Koscielny to restore parity through Joel Ward’s skidding long-range strike after 28 minutes.

In truth, it was a criminal lack of closing down by our otherwise impeccable number six and all the more baffling as it smacked a little of complacency – something the manager said was partly to blame for our defeat seven days ago. It was almost as if the Frenchman did’t think that player would trouble Petr Cech from that range. Unfortunately for us, Ward produced a great strike and Cech could do nothing to stop it arrowing into the bottom corner to his right.

Cue a social media maelstrom of ‘Mesut’s sh*t’, ‘we’re all f*cked’ and ‘Wenger’s a wally’ until that is, we regained the lead courtesy of a Bellerin cross to the back post, which was met by the whirlwind that is Sanchez, whose header may well have been en route to the inside of the far post, but was instead diverted into his own net by Damien Delaney ten minutes into the second half.

The impressive Coquelin, who was cautioned in the first half and clearly targeted by the home support and players as a man they could help to get sent off, was removed from the action and replaced by the Ox just after the hour mark, with Ramsey moving into the centre alongside Cazorla.

It was a timely intervention by Arsene as Coquelin had been warned one more foul would result in his dismissal. We then made further changes to shore up our defence as Palace chased an equaliser, bringing on Mikel Arteta and Kieran Gibbs for Sanchez and Ozil to help close out the game as we did against Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley a fortnight ago.

Overall, we produced the necessary result against an improved Palace outfit who will no doubt make life difficult for all the top teams when they visit south London this season. Our first three points of the season safely on the board and a return to a more fluent formation before we entertain Liverpool a week tomorrow – the best possible response to last week’s defeat.

Meanwhile up in Manchester, Jose Mourinho hooked his captain after 45 minutes and saw his reigning champions get handed a lesson in expansive, expensively-assembled attacking play, as Chelsea hilariously lost 3-0 to ensure zero wins from their opening two games for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

So almost the perfect Sunday, and I say almost, because although it’s always a pleasure to see Mourinho and Chelsea get beat, the best result from an Arsenal title challenge perspective, would surely have been a draw between last year’s top two – especially considering the commanding manner in which City have started their season.

Back tomorrow with post-match reaction etc.

Until then.

13th August 2015: Phone calls and alarm bells

Posted on by TremendArse

In a couple of hours time, it will be 19 years to the day since Arsenal signed arguably the greatest all-round midfielder these shores have ever seen – the one-man midfield that was Patrick Vieira.

The Frenchman’s reported desire to leave the club on a couple of occasions at the start of the new millennium obviously plays a role in this, but I think on the whole, Paddy’s influence on our success in his time with the club perhaps isn’t quite afforded the acclaim it deserves. Maybe I’m wrong but that’s the impression I often get and certainly in comparison to the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Anyway, as we approach the anniversary of his arrival, Arsene Wenger has been speaking about the vital role he played in Vieira’s capture, despite not being manager of the club at the time. Speaking to Arsenal Player, he said:

I knew him very well because he played his first game with Cannes against Monaco in a post-season friendly. He played against one of my players who was quite tough and he dominated him physically. He was 17 years old at the time and I said after the game that this player would make a big career. I wasn’t wrong there. I had a big hand in [signing him], yes. I did it from Nagoya. I think he trusted me because when I called him on the phone, he was in Amsterdam to sign for Ajax. He was in Holland, he was there to sign but I knew his agents. I spoke to Patrick and said, ‘Please, stop. Come to Arsenal.’ They were waiting at a hotel to go to the headquarters of the club to sign and I could just stop it. The next morning, he flew from Amsterdam to London. My whole history could have changed [without convincing him to join Arsenal]. That’s the coincidence and the luck in life. I just had the right luck to intervene at the right moment.

Of all the successful signings Arsene’s made in his tenure at the club, Vieira for me, remains the pick. Not only was he a complete midfielder of the highest calibre, he was a leader’s leader whose qualities we haven’t come close to adequately replacing since his departure.

But one man who is certainly making a good fist of replicating Vieira’s authority in the middle of the park at the moment is his compatriot Francis Coquelin. Of course Coquelin doesn’t have the height or rangy ball carrying capabilities of Paddy in his prime, yet he does share a certain tenacity and ball-winning prowess.

Unfortunately last Sunday, Coquelin, like may of his colleagues in fairness, seemed to forget their lines and contrived to let West Ham win at Emirates Stadium with relative ease. But the midfielder says the squad have heard the alarm bells loud and clear and are determined to use the loss as a spring board for future success, starting at Selhurst Park on Sunday:

It’s been a wake-up call for everyone. Considering the recent results we had before that, going really well in pre-season, it’s disappointing and it was not an Arsenal performance. However, in bad things, good things can come out too. It’s good that it happened in the first game so that now we can pull ourselves together with 37 games left. We’ve got time to put things right and that needs to start on Sunday. Everybody realises that we need to put more in. When you look at different teams I think a lot of them are ready. You look at Manchester City when they played against West Brom, I think they played really good football. We need to pull ourselves together and it’s going to be a real test on Sunday because Crystal Palace have a really good squad. We know the quality we have and we need to respond straight away. We’ve been working really hard in training and we need to put all of the training effort into the game.

And speaking of our next game, the manager has revealed the latest team news, which sees Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin declared fit and ready to play, with Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck all still on the treatment table.

Back Friday.