ozil

5th January 2016: Coquelin on the Cup

Posted on by TremendArse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So I’ll see you tomorrow.

Adios.

31st December 2015: Elneny reportedly passes medical

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome to the last TremendArse post of 2015. The calendar year may come to a close in a few hours’ time, but the January transfer window swings open for business.

Reports this evening say Basel’s Mohamed Elneny has passed a medical ahead of his proposed switch to Arsenal and the transfer is now dependent on him gaining a work permit, which is expected to be granted. Excellent.

ESPN’s website has a great piece on the midfielder, which covers his move to European football from his native Egypt, compares him with his compatriot Mohamed Salah, and offers an insight into what kind of player and personality we’ll be adding to our squad. Well worth a look.

Elsewhere, Hull City manager Steve Bruce has revealed Isaac Hayden will be returning to Arsenal early from his season-long loan deal with the Tigers, because the defender/defensive midfielder wants regular game time – something he hasn’t been getting at the KC Stadium. Bruce said:

Isaac wants to play and I haven’t been able to play him enough. The form of Meyler and Livermore has been excellent so he’s found himself restricted. I’m disappointed and sad that we’re losing him because I do believe he could have played a big part in the second half of the season but he wants to play now. I can’t give him that. He goes back with our best wishes. It hasn’t really worked out for him because of other players in form. When we signed Isaac I was expecting to be without Livermore and he’s similar in the way he plays. Jake coming back into the fold has limited his opportunities.

With Mathieu Debuchy looking likely to be granted a move away from the club as he searches for regular football in an attempt to force his way into France’s squad for Euro 2016, part of me wonders if we’ve actually been the ones to instigate Hayden’s early return.

I mean, Calum Chambers is the likeliest candidate to play Hector Bellerin’s deputy if Debuchy does depart, which would allow Hayden to assume the role of ‘last resort defensive midfielder’ in our squad. I suppose if Hayden is immediately loaned out to another club upon his return to London Colney, we can put that theory to bed, but it makes sense at the moment, in my mind at least.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has been lavishing more praise on Mesut Ozil, this time enthusing about the German midfielder’s improved athleticism and leadership qualities. He said:

I think he plays in a position that suits him well. He plays in a style of football that suits him well. He is, today, maybe more in a more comfortable psychological position because he’s accepted and not so much questioned than he was in the years before. This season he was not stopped by injuries and I believe that he arrives at an age – 27 – that you think ‘it’s time for me to really be efficient in every single game, and I want to enjoy every single game’. When he was injured for a long period he worked very hard physically. He is a complete athlete. I also believe he has grown in stature and takes responsibilities, leadership in the team and on that front he has improved tremendously and looks determined to lead the team compared to when he arrived.

It’s hard to argue against the suggestion that our attacking strategy at the moment is predominantly: get the ball to Ozil at every opportunity, and in that sense, he’s not just a leader, but the leader of our side at the moment, especially in the absence of Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez.

Right, that’s it from me. Whatever you’re up to tonight, I hope you have a good one.

See you next year.

29th December 2015: Wenger praises Mesut’s masterclass

Posted on by TremendArse

Good evening Gooners. Leicester City host Manchester City later and although a win for the Foxes will take them above us in the Premier League table, I’m actually hoping they do manage to beat Manuel Pellegrini’s men.

Because in the long-run, it’s City who’ll emerge our biggest rivals in the title chase in my opinion. So I’d rather us keep our four point advantage over them, even if it’s at the expense of being dislodged from the top of the table temporarily by Leicester.

Anyway, a major reason we’re currently top is of course the majestic form of Mesut Ozil, who in the absence of the injured Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla, has seemingly grown even more influential than he has been all season, conjuring assists at will and playing like a Player of the Year winner in-waiting.

Unsurprisingly, Arsene Wenger was full of praise for his record-signing when he spoke at his post-game press conference yesterday, saying:

Mesut was the focal point of our team because we had a new midfield today and he gives reassurance with his technical security and ability. When we had problems in the first part of the game it went always through him and it gives you confidence and security. I have seen a few good games from Ozil but what is important is that he convinces everybody that he is not only a talented player but a player that is always willing to work for the team and work hard. He has added scoring goals to his assists and overall he is a complete player. I have not seen many of that quality but I was quite lucky in my career. For me I don’t like to compare players and he is an exceptional player. I think you have to give me credit that I defended that point of view even when you were sceptical about it. What is very important is that he comes as good as he can be and he is on his way. Is there a lot left? I don’t know, but what he is doing at the moment is fantastic.

I’ll be honest, when we signed Ozil right at the end of the transfer window in the summer of 2014, I wasn’t quite as excited and enthused as the majority of Arsenal fans seemed to be. Not because I didn’t rate him as a footballer, because my memories of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where Mesut first showed the world what he could do were still fresh.

But I had doubts over his ‘completeness’ as a player. They were the same sort of reservations I always had about Cesc Fabregas when he was lauded as being a cross between Pele, Diego Maradona and Superman during his time at Arsenal. Could he beat a man? Was he quick and athletic enough? Did he have regular goals in him? Or was he ‘just’ a passer?

Yet what his time at Arsenal has shown me at least, is that a) I hadn’t paid close enough attention to Ozil’s game while he was a Real Madrid player and b) his quality of passing and assists really in extraordinary. It borders on perfection, and in my opinion, is a level or two above even Fabregas at his best. Arsene once said something along the lines of ‘where do you find another Fabregas?’, but in Ozil, he’s found a considerable upgrade, and one who’s still improving.

Right, a brief one today but that’s it from me.

See you tomorrow.

28th December 2015: Gabriel and Ozil send Arsenal top

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Evening all. Mesut Ozil inspired a much-changed Arsenal line-up to a 2-0 win over Bournemouth at Emirates stadium this evening, to send us to the top of the Premier League for at least the next 24 hours.

Arsene Wenger made four changes to his starting selection from the Boxing Day defeat at Southampton; Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs, Calum Chambers and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Mathieu Flamini and Joel Campbell respectively.

The game had a pretty scrappy opening with both sides guilty of giving the ball away and failing to find any fluency in their passing but we took the lead after 27 minutes as Gabriel headed home from Ozil’s in-swinging corner.

The Brazilian defender was a threat from set-plays all game long and also defended faultlessly at the back bar one hairy moment where he appeared to kick a Bournemouth player rather than the ball inside our penalty area. It would have been harsh on him had a spot-kick been awarded but I’ve seen them given and we were a tad lucky to get away with that one I thought.

But there was absolutely nothing fortuitous about our second goal which arrived via the delicate, but devastatingly effective, left in-step of Ozil after 63 minutes. The German played a couple of one-two’s, the second with Olivier Giroud, whose flick left Ozil one-on-one with their keeper on the right. Instead of swinging his weaker right foot at it, our wizardry number 11 simply readjusted his body-shape to allow the ball to run across onto his favoured left peg and calmly passed the ball past their keeper.  What a goal and WHAT a player.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession (49%) but failed to create many clear-cut chances and in truth, it was a just the kind of comfortable win we needed after Saturday’s shock spanking at St Mary’s. We rested a few players, secured three points to send us top, Mesut Ozil inched closer to Thierry Henry’s Premier League assist record of 20 (Ozil now has 16) and Petr Cech also broke the division’s clean sheet record.

A couple of other things to note were that Theo Walcott had a day to forget I thought, Oxlade-Chamberlain played a little better than what he’s produced so far this season – the signs were there that he simply needs a run of games to build confidence – and Chambers performed adequately in defensive midfield but I’m still far from convinced he’ll be up to it against better opposition.

After the game, Arsene Wenger shared his thoughts on the match with the BBC, saying:

There was a little hesitancy at the start after our bad result on Saturday but slowly we got into the game and after that we created chances. After a disappointing result, not dropping points once again was most important for us.

And the boss also praised the outstanding Ozil, offering:

I said many times that he has added something to his game – a desire to be efficient and desire to score goals. He has become a complete sensational football player. I am very, very happy with his performances. He is one of the best in Europe certainly. In his position, he is sensational.

Sensational indeed. Personally, I felt the German was so much better than anybody else on the pitch it was embarrassing. Obviously that includes his own team-mates and it’s always a little disconcerting seeing Mesut roll his substantial eyes, puff out his cheeks and gesticulate in frustration as the Ox or Giroud or Walcott fail to live up to his lofty standards and play the right pass or mis-control the ball.

But on the other hand, he really is a rare talent and the ultimate team player so I’m sure he’ll continue laying chances on a plate for his team-mates and elevate their standards by leading by example. And on a personal level, Ozil will take some stopping from winning the player of the year awards if he keeps up this kind of form between now and the end of the campaign.

Mohamed Elneny’s signing is reportedly nearing completion and hopefully he’ll be available for our next game which is at home to Newcastle on Saturday. As if a new central midfielder signing wasn’t necessary enough, Jack Wilshere’s latest set-back makes it even more of a priority.

For now though, we can enjoy getting back to winning ways and leading the Premier League.

Back tomorrow.

16th December 2015: Cech on clean-sheet record + Wilshere on Ozil

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. A very brief one today because I’m as short on time as Jose Mourinho is on dressing-room support at Chelsea, plus there’s not a lot going on seeing as we don’t play until Monday night.

Petr Cech, who’s enjoying an impressive, and hugely influential, first season with Arsenal, has been speaking to Arsenal Player about equaling David James’ record of 169 Premier League clean sheets. He said:

I’m not really into the records and the individual trophies. But some achievements you cannot ignore and to be in a position where I can break the all-time clean sheet record is something that I never thought I would be able to do. When I came over, people started talking about the clean sheets and the records, and I thought 169 was impossible. I would have to be here a long time, play every game and you don’t get a clean sheet in every game. The fact that I managed to come to that point is a great achievement. I’m glad that people are noticing what I try to achieve,” he added. “As a player you try to achieve something that people remember you for. Not only that you score one goal or make one good save, you want to set the example that this is not the one-season or one-game wonder. You want to make sure you compete and perform every single game, that you prepare and show the example that you can stay consistent and at the top level as long as possible. I’m really happy that these things I’ve achieved, people realise that I’ve worked to achieve it, so the recognition is great.

After a nightmare start on the opening-day of our Premier League campaign, when he was at fault for at least one of the two goals we conceded in losing 2-0  at home to West Ham, Cech has been sensational for us in my opinion. Crucial saves, a calming influence, a reassuring presence behind the defence – and that’s just when he playing. His off-pitch input at training and in the dressing has reportedly been just as important.

When he eventually hangs up his gloves, which will be a good number of years away yet hopefully, he may well be remembered as the finest keeper to ever play on these shores, particularly if he wins a title or two with us.

Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere has been speaking about Mesut Ozil’s arrival at Arsenal and called the German’s capture as being ‘massive’ for the club. Jack told Arsenal Player:

I think we knew what sort of player Mesut was. His history as a player and the clubs he has played for… to bring him in to play with us was massive. I remember watching [the TV on] transfer deadline day and seeing that Arsenal were interested in Mesut Ozil, and you almost didn’t believe it. When he arrived the players were buzzing and the fans were buzzing and I think that gave us all a massive lift. I watched him for a few years, he was another player who started off young and went to a big club like Real Madrid. I remember watching him a few times and thinking that this player really understands football. You can tell he really understands football and to play alongside him is something special.

I’m not sure precisely how many times Wilshere’s started a game alongside Ozil, but I can tell you it’s not nearly enough and that’s mainly down to Jack being injured for the vast majority of the German’s time at the club. Hopefully when our no 10 eventually returns we’ll get to see the two left-footers form an immediate understanding and who knows, with the likes of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin injured, we might even see a central trio of Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey with Ozil just ahead of them.

I’m dubious whether that would work given all three are primarily attack-minded midfielders but if the two Brits in that trio could share the defensive duties, acting like pistons in alternating between dropping deep and holding a position in front of the defence, and breaking forward to join the attack, it could actually work magnificently. Between the three of them, we’d have legs, lungs, distribution, creativity, assists and a goal-threat …

Anyway, something to ponder and argue about.

See you on Thursday.

1st December 2015: Cazorla ligament damage, Sanchez uncertainty and bullish Bellerin

Posted on by TremendArse

So we begin a brand new month but sadly, it’s the same old sh*t when it comes to Arsenal and injuries. Reports today say Santi Cazorla has, as feared, damaged ligaments in his knee but the club are still assessing him and how long he’ll be unavailable remains uncertain.

What is for sure however, is that both Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez will miss our crucial Champions League game at Olympiacos next week. And speaking of the Chilean, he’s either got an ‘outside’ chance of making our game against Manchester City on December 21st, or he hasn’t, and will miss our next six matches, depending on who you believe.

So I guess it’s time to have a look at the boss’ options in midfield and further forward, in their absence. For the immediate future, with Mikel Arteta also missing through injury, Aaron Ramsey will have to partner Mathieu Flamini because the only other options we currently have available for the two central midfield berths are Calum Chambers and at a stretch, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The two wide attacking starting spots can be shared between Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell, the Ox and Kieran Gibbs and the sole striker role by Olivier Giroud, Walcott and Campbell. So we still have options and different things we can try despite our substantial injury list. With all those players fit, my preference would be to play Walcott from the left, the Ox from the right, with Giroud centrally, although Arsene Wenger would probably opt to swap the Ox and Walcott.

With our defence at full strength and Mesut Ozil thankfully still available, remarkably, we’ve got a pretty strong selection to call upon. Certainly one I’d be confident can beat the vast majority of sides in the league, but it’s games like the one against City in three weeks that would be the worry.

Jack Wilshere was also reported to be making good progress a couple of weeks ago, with a return date of Boxing Day when we travel to Southampton, penciled in as his comeback game. Then there’s Danny Welbeck, who’s due to return near the New Year and even if Sanchez misses the next month, he’s unlikely to be out much longer as hamstring recoveries don’t usually suffer setbacks.

Arsene’s main challenge I think, will be to get the team to adjust from having Cazorla and Francis Coquelin in the engine room to players with different skill-sets. For instance, for all of Ramsey’s qualities, his distribution isn’t nearly on a level with Cazorla’s so perhaps, as he already does quite often in fairness, Ozil will need to drop a little deeper, a little more often, to dictate our play from the middle of the park.

One man who’s very confident we can cope regardless of which players are out injured however, is Hector Bellerin. Speaking to Arsenal Player, the right-back said:

I have said it before, there is great depth in the team. There are a lot of young players in the team waiting to come through, and we have a lot of quality training with us every day. They are ready to step up so obviously every single player on the bench can do the same job as every single player in the starting XI. We don’t need to worry about [the injuries to Alexis and Koscielny]. The only thing we need to do is go out onto the pitch with the right mentality, it does not matter who we play.

Whilst I admire Hector’s confidence in his squad-mates, and completely agree about the team needing to have the right focus and mentality, we’ll undoubtedly be weaker with the likes of Cazorla, Sanchez and Coquelin missing through injury.

Whether we’ll be strong enough in their absence to win enough games to maintain our challenge for the two big trophies remains to be seen. We’ll find out soon enough.

See you tomorrow.

27th November 2015: Wenger on Ozil, Sanchez and bargains

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Friday folks. Although we don’t play until Sunday when we travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich, Arsene Wenger held his press conference yesterday and provided an update on team news. Apart from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who the boss said ‘maybe’ and ‘should’ be available, we’ll have the same squad from our midweek win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Considering how well Joel Campbell played against the Croatians, the boss will have a bit of a dilemma when selecting his side because you’d expect Aaron Ramsey will now be ready for a start having been eased back into action from the bench last Tuesday. Anyway, I’ll take a closer look at how we could line-up in tomorrow’s preview.

But for now, onto some words from the manager about his two most expensive signings for the club. First up it’s his record buy Mesut Ozil and Arsene discussed how his German schemer has developed his game since joining Arsenal, saying:

What is interesting about Mesut’s game is that he is not only a provider now, he likes to get on the end of the things. What he has added to his game is the runs into the box. He played before like he was not too much obsessed [by goals] and more by providing, and I think he has a much better balance in his game now, giving, assisting and scoring. At the start, in the first season, there was a lot of scepticism around him. I think the quality of his performances have turned opinions. He now has the support of everybody who loves Arsenal. You look at the players who give our assists and you will see who does it. I think the best assist player at the moment is Ozil, but we have many providers. We have Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla – they are all people who can create chances. You could see Campbell the other night has given a great assist to Alexis. I think all our players have technical ability to do that.

Ozil’s assisting capabilities are beyond question of course, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s at all unfair to suggest the number of goals he scores himself could certainly be improved upon. On the other hand, Ozil’s altruism is what makes him such an effective player, so what might be better, is if his team-mates converted a greater proportion of the opportunities he creates.

Next up for praise from the boss was Sanchez and after calling the Chilean’s fellow south Americans Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani ‘animals’ in the past, Arsene says his own Latin American attacker, along with Leicester City’s free-scoring striker Jamie Vardy, is like a king of the Premier League jungle:

They are like the lion, he has to catch the animal in the first 200 metres. If he doesn’t get there, after he’s dead. They are these kind of killers. When they go, it is to kill and after they have to stop. His resistance is remarkable. What is also remarkable is that he goes to South America, he comes back Thursday night and on Saturday he can play without a problem even if he’s jet-lagged. He would have been a perfect tennis player.

I’m sure Sanchez would have excelled at any sport he’s have chosen to pursue as a career but needless to say, I’m pretty glad he went with football.

Finally, ahead of what was ‘Black Friday’ today (which if you didn’t know, is when retailers mark up goods by 500 percent, then offer them at ‘huge discounts’ so they can boost sales and clear old stock, while the general public engage in physical scraps to get their hands on said goods), Arsene was also ribbed about his own reputation for being cautious with cash as he was asked if he liked a bargain. Here’s what he said:

What is for us a bargain is to buy players of top quality, because only top quality strengthens our squad. I can tell you I bought Patrick Vieira for £2.5m and it was a top bargain because he was a top-quality player – it would be difficult to repeat these kind of buys now. That looks for me a very important one now, because he gave me credibility for my career here at Arsenal. Maybe if you look purely financially [there are others like] Anelka for £500k or Petit for £4.2m – today these numbers look so ridiculously low, but it’s impossible to do better. What is most important is the quality of the player and, on that front, even for example we paid high money for Ozil and Alexis – the highest we’ve ever paid – but I don’t regret it for a second. I still think it’s absolutely fantastic because we have the money and because the players are top quality.

A bit abrupt but that’s it for tonight.

Til Saturday.

25th November 2015: Awesome Ozil and spritely Sanchez keep us alive

Posted on by TremendArse

Greetings. So our 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb last night, combined with Bayern Munich’s 4-0 success against Olympiacos, keeps alive our hopes of progressing to the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

But those results also ensure we’ll play in the Europa League should we fail to get the right result in Greece in a fortnight’s time. A win by any score-line other than 1-0 or 2-1, will be enough to see us make the last 16, so fingers crossed we can complete a remarkable comeback in our group and continue in Europe’s premier competition in the New Year.

Last night’s starting line-up saw Arsene Wenger make two changes from the team that started against West Brom last Saturday; Mathieu Flamini replaced the injured Francis Coquelin and Joel Campbell came in for Kieran Gibbs, with the fit-again Aaron Ramsey taking a place on the bench.

Dinamo actually started the game on the front foot and tried to catch us cold, but in truth, never looked like scoring before we took control of proceedings and played most of the first period in their half of the pitch. Mesut Ozil was our standout performer in the opening 45, so it was fitting he should be the one to break the deadlock just before the 30 minute mark.

The move began in our right-back area as Santi Cazorla, Hector Bellerin, Oliver Giroud and Ozil all combined superbly, albeit with a smidgen of good fortune, before the ball found it’s way to Flamini in space on half-way. The Frenchman adroitly played it forward to Alexis Sanchez on our left flank, while Ozil and Giroud sprinted into Dinamo’s box. Sanchez spotted Ozil’s run and sent over an inch-perfect cross for the German to convert with a stooping header without breaking stride.

Four minutes later, we doubled our lead. Dinamo tried to pass out from the back, Nacho Monreal nipped in to win the ball, flew forward and centered for Sanchez to coolly side-foot home. We’ve developed quite a knack of scoring goals in quick succession in games this season and here was another example in what was a must-win game.

It was more one-way traffic for most of the second half and we killed the game off with about 20 minutes to go. Campbell picked up the ball on the right, cut infield, played a precise reverse pass into Sanchez’s path, and our hyperactive Chilean danced around their keeper and fired into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

At that stage, we’d made just the one substitution, with Ramsey replacing Giroud and I’m sure I wasn’t the only Arsenal fan hoping Jeff Reine-Adelaide might get his first competitive minutes for the club. Alas, it wasn’t to be and instead Arsene sent on Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy for Cazorla and Bellerin with eight minutes remaining. The big spoilsport.

After the game, the boss had this to say on our performance and chances of qualification:

We played at a good pace, produced a game of quality that we wanted. I believe the speed of our movement and passing gave Zagreb a problem. From then on, once we had scored the first goal you could see the chances were coming. It was important that we did not concede the first goal as we looked dangerous [going] forward. Overall we had a game of quality that we controlled well. What we wanted was to come out of this game with a chance to qualify and we needed to do the job and Bayern Munich needed to do the job and they did that well. It gives us a chance but how big the chance is I don’t know. I believe we can do it.

We now have Norwich away at the weekend, then a full week to prepare for Sunderland at home before we travel to Olympiacos for what will be a decider for second place in the group.

Hopefully we’ll have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and perhaps even Theo Walcott, available by then for what will be a difficult task in one of the most vociferous and hostile atmospheres in Europe. But that’s two weeks away and attentions now return to the Premier League where we need to get back on track after picking up just 1 point from two games either side of the international break.

I’m not sure if Arsene will hold his press conference in the morning or on Friday but either way we should at least have an injury update tomorrow as the boss usually speaks with the official site on a Thursday.

Till then.

17th November 2015: International involvement + Ozil on improvement

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. There are a few Arsenal players in action for their countries tonight, but not as many as there might have been, after the match between Belgium and Spain was called off amid security concerns.

The cancellation of the fixture means that Santi Cazorla will have had a full week off since playing competitively when we face West Brom on Saturday, which is obviously welcome news for Arsenal.

I’m writing this with one eye on the television as England host France at Wembley, where Kieran Gibbs has started the match for the hosts and Laurent Koscielny for the visitors. Olivier Giroud has been left on the bench for the right-footed Oliver Giroud – Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Elsewhere this evening, Alexis Sanchez, Petr Cech and David Ospina could all feature for their respective nations, whilst Gabriel and Joel Campbell will play for Brazil and Costa Rica respectively, if selected tomorrow evening.

With plenty of our international players already in London due to injury and Mesut Ozil given a pass for these internationals by Germany, it means we should be relatively well-rested as a squad for the weekend, which considering how jaded we looked against Tottenham, is just as well. Collectively we needed a breather.

Our one big fear, fatigue-wise, remains Sanchez of course, but with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain nearing a return to full fitness, perhaps we can rest the Chilean in some of our upcoming games as some have already suggested. We’ll see.

Moving on and onto some words from Mesut. Our assist king has been discussing the development of the Arsenal team and his own ability to dictate games. He told Arsenal Player:

I think as a team you can see that we’ve become more mature. We’ve learnt from our mistakes and you can see on the pitch that we’re more steady. We’ve had some setbacks this season but we’ve learnt from them and it shows on the pitch that my team-mates are looking for me even more and I’m able to control the game better. You can see that we function well as a team. It doesn’t matter who plays from the start, we’re always there. You need a big squad if you are to be successful and that’s why things are working well. When you look at the past seasons, we’ve always been a technically-strong team but when we played against big teams, we dropped points. In the second half of last season and in this year so far, we’ve proved ourselves against the biggest teams. You learn from your mistakes and we can measure ourselves with the best. That distinguishes us as a team.

He’s right of course, the maturity of this Arsenal team in terms of ‘game-management’ has been very noticeable this term and I think a big reason for that must be the Cech influence.

When I heard him yell “small details” to Per Mertesacker at the end of our Community Shield victory over Chelsea at the start of the season, it was confirmation, for me at least, that Cech would have a hugely positive effect on our squad off the pitch as well as on it.

Yet, another big reason we’re able to control games is the mesmeric ability of Mesut. He’s already produced 10 assists, broken records and generally just been a joy to watch. I said it in a recent post but if he maintains his current form until the end of the season, he’ll take some stopping from being crowned the best player in England this season.

Til tomorrow.

11th November 2015: Wolves, Welbeck and Ozil

Posted on by TremendArse

A warm Wednesday welcome to you. When the only live football on TV on a midweek evening in November is Chelsea Ladies v Wolfsburg Women, you know you’re in the middle of an international break.

I actually quite like the women’s game, and I’m a big fan of Arsenal’s very own Kelly Smith, who has a left peg in a million, but that said, tonight’s offering on Eurosport was about as enticing as a trip to the dentists.

If it was the Chelsea men’s team versus wolves on the other hand, I might have tuned in. But actual wolves mind, not Wolverhampton Wanderers. Otherwise that too, would have been about as enticing as a trip to the dentists.

I mean, anybody can watch buses being parked just by going to their local garage, but seeing Jose Mourinho and his players being chased all over the Stamford Bridge pitch by a ravenous pack would make for superb entertainment by anybody’s standards.

After the match, Jose would no doubt have blamed an offside wolf’s tail, a distracting howl or Arsene Wenger, but nothing would have be able to detract from the fact his team had been ripped to shreds …

Meeeeeeeeeanwhile, Danny Welbeck, who I think could prove himself the best all-round striker we currently have at the club, if he can just get and stay fit, has been speaking to the Arsenal Weekly podcast about his move from Manchester United in 2014, and how his England team-mates already in north London made the transition easy for him. He said:

It makes it easier for you because, like any situation in life, if you go somewhere and see a familiar face then you can obviously bond with them. Knowing the England boys from international duty and growing up with them in the youth teams made it easy. They integrate you into the group a lot easier with the other lads as well. It was a new challenge but it was an exciting time for me to approach a new situation, move from Manchester to London and all of the stuff that goes with it. It was a whole new city, not completely new as I’d been to London before, but it was weird knowing that I was going to be calling London home and not Manchester. The thing that you miss the most is your family and that’s the most important thing. A lot of my family and friends do come to London to see me anyway. They come to all the home games so I get to see them quite a lot anyway. But I was leaving something that I knew after growing up in Manchester, coming to a new city, it’s an exciting period.

It may sound like a cliche but I think Welbeck has all the attributes to be one of the best around. I know he has a lot of doubters, who bemoan his finishing etc but I think he’s at the perfect club and has the perfect manager to help him become the finished article up front.

Of course first he has to play in order to improve and score the goals that win Arsenal games, so it was very worrying to read unconfirmed reports his injury wasn’t improving, and he may even be side-lined for the rest of the season.

The official update is that he’s still expected back around the turn of the year so fingers crossed those rumours were way wide of the mark and he’s back to provide Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott with competition in the second half of the season.

Elsewhere, Mesut Ozil, who incidentally, has shown signs of a fine mutual understanding with Welbeck in the relatively few times they’ve played together (think Villa Park last season), has been speaking to Arsenal Player about adding more goals to his game:

After training there are a few shooting drills that can help with self-belief. In general, when you look at my chances in front of goal, I’ve taken them well. Every player wants to score goals. I’m intending to score more this season than in previous years. It’s most important for us to perform well and to be successful – I’m looking forward to giving assists or scoring goals. My aim is to score more goals this season than in the last two. I think I’m on a good path and will achieve that.

His assists alone so far this season must have him in contention for the player of the year award, and if he keeps producing them at his current rate, he’ll take some stopping.

Especially when you consider that bar Jamie Vardy, there aren’t many stand-out contenders to be Eden Hazard’s successor. There’s a long, long way to go obviously, but it wouldn’t be the first time one of Arsene’s predictions proved spot on.

Back tomorrow.