I’m not going to sit here and start slagging off the Arsenal team and saying how poor we played and this, that and the third. The facts are that we lost 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a superb finish from Park Ji Sung. In a game like last nights it was always going to take something out of the ordinary to separate the teams and the little Korean supplied that for United.
In all honesty United probably just about shaded it overall, they looked more threatening than we did going forward and despite boasting the majority of possession we failed to create any real significant chances, other than Chamakh’s shot that was blocked by Vidic. United pressed us all over the pitch and failed to give us much time on the ball, they were happy to let Koscielny and Squillaci have the ball but when it came to giving it to Wilshere, Song or Rosicky in the centre, a United wave of pressure leapt onto us and we were unable to conjour up a killer ball.
It wasn’t a game for attacking players, Rooney and Nani looked threatening in drips and drabs but on the whole I felt we dealt with their threat quite well. However we didn’t seem to put Ferdinand or Vidic under any pressure and they were able to deal with Chamakh quite easily. I was disappointed that we didn’t get at Rafael a bit more, because he is probably the weak link in the United defence and I would have liked to see Nasri, Arshavin or even Walcott run at him as there are question marks over his defensive abilities. Arshavin had another poor game where he failed to make an impact and genuinely looked like he couldn’t give a S***, and in a game where a moment of brilliance from one of our ‘big game players’ could have made all the difference, Arshavin failed to stand up to be counted for.
Szczesny looked very accomplished in goal and made a few saves including a very Schmeichel-like save to defy Anderson in the second half. Other than a few dodgy clearances early on in the game, I think we can be proud of the young pole’s debut and he did his chances of staking a claim for the number one jersey no harm at all, and I personally believe he has the ability as well as the potential to be a great number one for us and one of the best keepers in the world.
The reason why Evra’s statements before the match get to us as fans, as well as the players is because there is an element of truth involved in what he is saying. Last night’s game was a prime example of what Evra talks about in the press, and lets face it even though Evra is a nasty piece of work, what he is saying about ‘men against boys’ isn’t far short of the truth. Last night’s defeat was our 5th in 6 games against United and makes it over 4 years since our last victory at Old Trafford came. The difference between us and United is that they showed a level of maturity in seeing the game out and when their chance came they took it. Us on the other hand struggled to create anything meaningful and when our chance did come it was squandered. The little things make a difference and although the term ‘men against boys’ makes me physically sick every time I hear it, its only because its true that it actually hurts.
The frightening thing looking at the team sheets before the game last night was the lack of leaders we had on the pitch defined by Rosicky as our captain, who in all fairness had a pretty poor game and was non existent for the majority of it. I couldn’t pick out any players from our starting line up who I looked to and said ‘yes, we are going to win because so and so are playing’. United on the other hand was different. Wherever you looked you could see a leader on their team, from Van der Sar in goal, to Rio and Nemanja in defence to Rooney up front. Having those leaders in the team are so important in gaining results in big matches and make the difference between winning and losing. The problem with us is that we have so much talent on the field but no natural leader that when the tough gets going is there to make sure the players don’t lose their heads and make sure the game is seen out, and the 3 points have been won.
The deciding goal came just before half time which was a real killer blow to our hopes as a goal before half time really did alter the moods of the players. Incidently that is the 7th goal we have conceded between 31-45 mins so far this season and has been a feature of our defensive issues this term, in regards to the fact that we lose concentration far too easily before the half time whistle. Another interesting stat is that we have gone 1-0 down 6 times so far this term and out of those 6 times we have gone on to lose 4 of the games. Something there isn’t right and maybe heads do drop when we go 1-0 down rather than showing belief like we have in recent seasons in coming back from behind. Also we have been losing at half time 4 occasions this season and on all 4 occasions we have gone on to lose the game. In comparison to us being level at half time on 8 occasions and going on to win 5 of those games. Going back to the stat I gave earlier about the conceding goals just before half time, I think it shows how important it is just to see the game through to the half time whistle and how important a goal just before half time can be in respect to the final outcome of the match.
Of course last night was a disappointing result and is now our 5th defeat in the league already, however we still are up there and as long as everyone is dropping points we are still going to be in with a shout. Hopefully now with RVP and Fabregas back in the side we can bounce back and put this defeat behind us and put United under some pressure, because United are by no stretch of imagination unbeatable, so they will drop points its just up to us to be there to capitalize.
That is all for today, Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed.
Szczesny – 8
Clichy – 5
Squillaci – 6
Koscielny – 6
Sagna – 6
Nasri – 6
Wilshere – 6
Song – 5
Rosicky – 5
Arshavin – 5
Chamakh – 5
Van Persie – 5
Fabregas – 5
Walcott – 6
United v Arsenal Preview
Posted on: December 13, 2010
So its Monday morning and instead of writing about the weekend’s results I sit here instead talking about the game tonight. Now Monday Night Football is no strange thing to us and I’ve always quite enjoyed it, because lets face it Monday Nights aren’t exactly full of things to do. However to have a United v Arsenal match on a Monday night has ever so slightly bamboozled me. Normally I’m used to watching games like Blackburn v Sunderland on a Monday night and now tonight the biggest game of the season is being showcased. I guess this really shows how much money plays a part in football these days.
Anyway on to the important stuff, the game tonight. A win tonight would firmly put us in the driving seat for the title race, whereas a defeat would install doubts into the players minds, as that would make it defeats against United, Chelsea and Spurs and 5 losses in total for the season. In my eyes United are there for the taking, this has to be the weakest United team I have witnessed in my 19 years of life. However we aren’t exactly firing on all cylinders either.
Historically we have had some good moments at Old Trafford and alternatively we have had times that are hard to forget. Who can forget Wiltord’s strike winning us the title in 2002, equally who can forget the 6-1 mauling we received in 2000. Old Trafford seems to bring out the best and the worst of both teams and I think this season will be no different.
The last 10 games against United have only seen us come away with 2 victories and suffering 6 defeats, and in our last 10 trips to Old Trafford we have only won once and suffered 8 defeats. That record has left us Arsenal fans without much to shout about in recent times against United and is something that needs to change if we are going to be victorious this season.
United’s defence is as shakey as I have ever seen them, they have conceded more goals than us this season and with Rio looking very unconvincing at the back, I don’t think we will get a better chance to beat United than we will have tonight. Of course however United are unbeaten so far this term and have the best home record in the Prem(W-7 D-1 L-0). If we are going to get a result tonight then we have to be solid defensively and exploit their weaknesses at the back.
It could well be Samir Nasri’s game tomorrow, if he plays well then I think we can come back with all 3 points. His direct approach, pace and trickery could be too much for United and if he delivers tonight could be a very good night. Juries still out on who will start tonight for either team as both managers have rotated quite a lot this term. A late fitness test will determine whether Fabregas will travel or not, but I think a place on the bench is all the Spaniard can hope for. Koscielny and Squillaci will probably start at the heart of defence and I reckon Arshavin will keep his place in the team, even though I think Walcott deserves a start ahead of him.
Song will have an important role to play tomorrow and it will be his job to sit in front of the back four and give us some added protection. I think he is a better player when he does a defensive job rather than pushing on and thinking he is Fabregas. I would like to see Song, Wilshere and Rosicky play through the middle if Fabregas isn’t fit of course, with Walcott and Nasri down the flanks. Alternatively I wouldn’t mind seeing Nasri through the middle with Song and Wilshere, with RVP, Chamakh and Walcott playing in a front 3.
Hopefully Evra’s comments in the press will spur us on to do well and will give us the ammunition to give United a real stuffing and what they deserve. It’s about time we put Evra’s mouth to rest because every season he says something and somehow it seems to get to us. Hopefully tomorrow night Nasri can shut him up once and for all.
Thats all for today though guys, enjoy your Monday and we look forward to that 8pm kick off. Cheers
On a cold, miserable night at the Emirates the team performed a bit like the weather, the odd gust of wind in a game of very few attempts at goal, but I suppose we can’t complain we are in the last sixteen of the Champions League for the 11th season running. Once again not very impressive at home and we looked very nervy up untill Van Persie slotted home the first half penalty, to say we deserved the lead would be an overstatement, we hardly even tested the Partizan keeper. When Partizan equalized you could sense that everyone could predicted that this would happen and was a typical ‘I told you so moment’. Thankfully late goals from Theo and Samir rescued 3 points for us that proved needless in the end as Shakhtar rightfully topped the group beating Braga.
I can’t remember a Champions League home game where we have looked so flat going forward, Arshavin just looked like he didn’t want to be there. He was embarrassing, his attitude stank and every time he got the ball he gave it away. He may have 8 assists in the Premier League so far this season, but he didn’t look capable of a successful back pass to Fabianski, let alone setting up a goal for someone. I just can’t put up with Arshavin deciding to turn up to a game where he feels fit, I would sooner drop him and play Theo. As soon as Theo came on you could see the difference and a goal pretty much straight away, atleast he actually looks like he wants to wear the shirt. Arshavin should be dropped against United, not sure whether he will care too much but we should have him not caring from the bench rather than in the starting line up.
Van Persie and Chamakh in the starting line up didn’t quite do it for me, of course they will need time to get used to playing with each other, we can blame the lack of camaraderie and link up play down to lack of games together. However taking all that into account, I’m still not sure about them playing in the same team. On paper it should work, but too many times they were both coming deep for the ball and when we had the ball in wide positions, you look to see who’s in the box and you find Arshavin in the middle, and Van Persie and Chamakh our two main heading threats are hanging out wide. It just doesn’t make sense to me, obviously they will need a few more games together before we can really criticise, so we will see how that link up pans out over the christmas period.
The Partizan goal summed our season up defensively. Incapable of keeping a clean sheet and we give the opposition one chance and they score. Squillaci had a poor game for me, he hesitated in closing down Cleo for the goal and didn’t look comfortable at all. In contrast I thought Koscielny played quite well and he hustles attackers very well. However we just seem to switch off a few times every match which will allow the opposition to have a chance.
Shots to Goals Conceded Ratio Premier League; (Premier League Statistics)
Fabianski – 4.61
Almunia – 4.33
Cech – 6.76
Van Der Sar – 5.15
Hart – 5.35
Gomes – 5.75
Reina – 4.66
These Stats show that both of our keepers have the lowest shots to goals conceded ratio out of all the keepers playing for top six clubs. It shows that we dominate a game but give away a chance and the other team has a 1/4 in chance of scoring against us. It’s a statistic that needs to be put right because we can’t carry on giving teams a few chances to score and they gratefully accept.
I went to the game last night with 4 guys that have never been to the Emirates before and they were astonished with how quiet the ground was. They believed it may have been down to the cold weather and the tension in getting a result. But to people who attend the Emirates regularly you will know that the atmosphere always tends to be quiet. In contrast while us Arsenal fans were moaning how cold it was, the Partizan fans had their shirts off and sang throughout the whole game, whereas our fans sang in drips and drabs for a few seconds at a time, I am positive the lack of atmosphere at the ground effects our home form.
Well heading into the 2nd round draw tomorrow I am not confident at all. I just hope we don’t draw Barca, Real or even Bayern. Schalke will be the easiest draw for us and with our away Champions League form even that will be a difficult tie. Whoever we get we are going to have to play better than we have in the last 4 Champions League games or else we could be staring down the barrel of elimination.
That is all for today though folks, Champions League draw tomorrow so hopefully we will get a bit of luck and avoid Real and Barca atleast. Cheers for reading, have a great Thursday.
Fabianski – 6, Gibbs – 6, Squillaci – 5, Koscielny – 7, Sagna – 6, Arshavin – 4, Denilson – 6, Song – 6, Nasri – 7, Van Persie – 6, Chamakh – 7, Eboue – 6, Walcott – 7, Bendtner – 6
Arsenal v Partizan Preview
Posted on: December 8, 2010
Well no need to stress the importance of winning today’s game, We the fans know it, Wenger knows it and so do the players. Theoretically and on paper this should be an easy win just like our previous Champions League home games, however the games against Braga and Shakhtar didn’t have this kind of pressure to go with it. It will be interesting to watch this Arsenal team under pressure to get a result. In recent years we haven’t looked too clever under pressure to get a result and Championships and cup competitions have been blown as a consequence. A win will be enough to see us qualify, we really don’t want to be thinking about any other result.
An early goal will be key tonight, if we can get that all important early goal then I think you could be looking at a massive win. However the longer the game stays at 0-0 the more nervy we will become and with our defence already vulnerable the more likely we will be to concede, which would be a total disaster. An early goal will see the goals flow, we don’t want to be leaving it late looking for a 90th minute winner.
Wenger will field a strong side tonight, I have my own doubts over Nasri’s fitness after he picked up a reported knock against Fulham on Saturday so I would not be surprised if Rosicky or Walcott started ahead of Nasri who could be left on the bench. I think tonight will see RVP get his first Champions League start of the season and only his 3rd start so far this term. This really is RVP’s type of game, a chance for him to set the scene alight and I would not be surprised if tonight isn’t the Robin Van Persie show and Chamakh to take a rest on the bench.
Koscielny is back in contention after recovering from the concussion he suffered at the weekend which reportedly was going to set him back 3 weeks, but he should get a start tonight, which is good news after Djourou has been ruled out with a thigh injury. Eboue is also set to return ahead of schedule after it was thought that he would be out for a couple of weeks, maybe a Sagna rest tonight is on the cards.
In the last 10 season’s the last game of the Champions League hasn’t been a very good omen for us, all be it most season’s we have already qualified before we get to the last game. Our record in the last fixture of our last 10 last Champions League campaigns is;
W – 3 D – 3 L – 4
The biggest vote of confidence however is that our record at home in the last 10 years of the last fixture;
W – 3 D – 2
Hopefully a 4th home win in our last fixture will be what we are talking about this time tomorrow morning. I will be at tonight’s game so catch me there, Enjoy your Wednesday and fingers crossed we will be in the draw for Friday afternoon.
Cheers.
We have all heard the saying ‘offence sells tickets, defence wins games’ and this quote can be applied to the Premier League in respect to the best defensive record takes home the Premier League. Since the 1999/2000 Premier League season 7/11 times a team has won the title they have had the best defensive record or on 3 occasions have had the second best defensive record. Only once in the last 11 seasons has a team won the title and had the 6th best defensive record in the league, and that was United in the 1999/2000 season where they conceded 45 goals.
The 1999/2000 season was also the only season in the past 11 years where a team conceding over 40 goals had gone onto win the Title. In the last 11 years only 4 teams have won the league conceding over 30 goals in one season, the other 6 times the team has conceded less than 30 goals and gone on to become league champions.
The problem with Arsenal’s lack of success in the past 11 years has been due to the fact that we can’t stop conceding goals. The lowest total we have conceded in one season was 26 in the 2003/2004 invincible’s season where of course we won the title. In the past 11 years we have in fact only had the best defensive record in the Premier League once, and that was the invincible’s season as stated above. That season was also the only season in the past 11 years where we have conceded less than 30 goals in a season. On several occasions we have actually conceded over 40 goals in one season, including last season, the 02/03 season(42) and the 99/00 season(43). All these statistics point towards the fact that we have failed to keep up with the best teams defensively and have suffered the consequences.
In the last 3 seasons the goals we have conceded per season are significantly on the uprise. 07/08 season we conceded 31 goals, 08/09 season we conceded 37 goals and last season we conceded 41 goals. In the 07/08 season United won the title and only conceded 22 goals, 9 fewer than we did. In 08/09 Chelsea won the title conceding 24, a huge 13 goals fewer than we did and in the 09/10 season the winner’s Chelsea, who had the 2nd best defensive record, conceded 32 which was 9 fewer than we conceded last season. These signs are not encouraging and shows that we are not exactly improving as a defensive unit. Of course each season is different to another but considering the title has only ever been won once by a team conceding over 37 goals in the last 11 years, it is worrying that we are still struggling yet again this season.
So far this season we have conceded 18 goals already in 16 Premier League games and although we sit smartly at the top of the table, we only have the joint 4th best defensive record so far. The average amount of goals conceded by a title-winning side in the past 11 seasons is 29. The average in the past 4 season’s is 26 goals conceded by the title-winning side.
So already this season we are on course to conceding 40+ goals and unless there is a dramatic turn around defensively in the second half of the season, then we will do extremely well to win the title this season according to the statistics. Chelsea the favourites for the title at the start of the season have conceded 11 in their first 16 games. One encouraging factor for change however would be the fact that United have conceded 16 in their 15 games so far, but of course we know how United come strong in the second part of the season, it’s just a question of whether we can also.
I think its safe to say that defensively we haven’t been good enough this season, after 3-2 defeats to Tottenham and West Brom. It’s at home defensively where we must improve. We have conceded 10 goals already in 8 home games, which is far from good enough. Our away defensive record is much better only conceding 8 goals in 8 away Premier League away games. So one sign of encouragement would be that if we were to sort out our home form and keep up our away record then we are within a shout this season.
The second half of the season is going to be so important, Chelsea will recover from their recent slump, United will most probably pull their act together, despite being unbeaten so far, it’s up to us to sort out of home record and our defensive problems. If we can do these two things in the second half of the season then this season may be one to remember. The return of Tommy V, may help us out in that respect because there is no doubt that we have missed him this season.
Thanks for reading, Leave plenty of comments. Cheers enjoy your Tuesday.
Oh what a difference a few wins can make, a few weeks ago after defeats to Tottenham and Braga we were writing ourselves off after a very poor November. Now we sit here top of the table with a smart grin on our faces largely thanks to the brilliance of Samir Nasri on Saturday. After a pretty poor start to our league home form this season, many punters would have had a few bob on Fulham snatching something from the Emirates on Saturday and they would have got a decent return if it wasn’t for two pieces of Samir magic. Two expertly manoeuvred finishes won us 3 points after a pretty lacklustre display.
Samir has come on leaps and bounds this season and has added directness to his play reminiscent of his Marseille days. He has an incredible knack of just keeping hold of the ball and managing to find a way past his opponent. Not blessed with tremendous pace, he has a sort of Robert Pires edge to him and this season has proved to be very effective. This season was always going to be a big season for Samir after 2 inconsistent seasons. This term already he has bagged 11 goals in 19 games which is nearly already more than he has scored in the past two seasons accumatively(12). With 4 goals in his last 3 starts, this rich run of goalscoring form has been vital to us sitting top of the league and has really compensated for the absence of Fabregas.
Of course United have a game in hand, but that just makes the game next Monday all the more important, because a win at Old Trafford next week will open the gap even further and certainly put us in the driving seat for the first time this season. Before that though is a midweek European cruncher against Partizan, which is a must-win game in order to qualify for the next phase of The Champions League. I have my tickets ready for that match and hopefully a good win to match the occasion.
In other news I stated on Twitter last night that Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (JET) is set to join Wigan on loan for the rest of the season. Speaking to Jay on Saturday he didn’t seem 100% certain on the loan move but it seems likely that it will happen in the next few days. Bolton are also thought to be in the running but I think Wenger is a fan of the way Roberto Martinez sets his teams out attacking wise, so therefore Wigan would be first choice. Hopefully JET will gain a lot of what Jack Wilshere learnt on his time at Bolton last season and that will spur him on to improve as a player and who knows maybe JET will be a regular next season. His time has come and I think he is ready for the Premier League.
That’s all for today though, remember where you heard the JET news first, I was the first to break it on Twitter and it is first hand information. Take care and Enjoy your day. Cheers
Try the Question of the Day
Samir Nasri has scored two goals for France, however against what teams were they scored against?
Fabianski – 7, Clichy – 6, Koscielny – 6, Squillaci – 6, Sagna – 6, Arshavin – 6, Wilshere – 6, Song – 5, Rosicky – 6, Nasri – 9, Chamakh – 6, Djourou – 7, Walcott – 6, Van Persie – 6
On the day where England bid to host the 2018 World Cup excitement has arisen around England and it would be magnificent if the World Cup was to come to England. By the time I write my blog I would have heard the news regarding the result of the bid, so my fingers are crossed from this point onwards.
Well fingers uncrossed for the time being though otherwise I wouldn’t be able to type, the real news coming out of the club was a few days ago when Wenger publicly stated he would not be signing anyone in the January window and then reiterated the point again yesterday. Many critics will say well we’ve lost 3 home games in the league so far this season, how can we not bring anyone in? That of course is a fair point, we haven’t exactly set the world alight at home this season other than in the Champions League and the 3 league defeats at the Emirates so far this season could have just as easily knocked us out of the title race as they could have put has 9 points better off, luckily for us we are still in with a shout and only 2 points behind United.
However realistically who on earth could we buy in January that would vastly improve the squad, taking into account that most players would be cup tied for the Champions League(if we qualify of course), would take until May to acclimatize to the Premier League or finding a club who would actually let one of their best players go half way through the season. It’s alright saying we need a new keeper but whom exactly? Shay Given just doesn’t tickle Wenger’s fancy and Mark Schwarzer has just signed a new contract at Fulham this morning. Fabianksi is the number one and playing quite well and Szczesny has just put pen to paper on a new 5 year deal. Any keeper we sign will only holt Szczesny’s progress to be our new number one.
Vermaelan’s injury is worrying but reports this morning suggest that Arsenal have now understood the injury and that can only be good news. The only reason Arsenal would need a new centre back is if we lost one for the whole season. Reports of Gary Cahill joining seem to be a bit of a shot in the dark because we already have Squillaci, Djourou, Koscielny and Vermaelan. Signing another centre back would give us 5 and that is way too many centre backs competing for 2 places. If Vermaelan’s injury is as bad as it seems and he is ruled out for the season then I would look to bring a centre back in on loan, but a 5th centre back being bought only means the exit door is open for someone in July.
It just isn’t realistic to sign anyone in January, I can’t think of one single player who would be a realistic beneficial signing for us in January and this is the reason why Wenger will not sign anyone in January unless we suffer a serious injury either to Vermaelan or one of our strikers. Unless that happens then its going to be a pretty dull transfer window for Arsenal, and I would imagine it will be a pretty dull transfer window in general, with no teams willing to part with their best players and a lack of cash floating around for many clubs in the Premier League.
Ipswich Town was pulled out of the hat in the Carling Cup Semi Final draw and it is definitely a draw we can be satisfied with, and also it gives a chance to beat a Roy Keane side. I just love beating Roy Keane. Don’t get me wrong though Ipswich will be a tough task. They are struggling in the Championship and this will probably be the highlight of their season and their only chance of success this campaign. complacency will have to be dealt with otherwise an upset is a genuine prospect.
The Winner’s of yesterdays Question of The Day was Sirach (@yebsAFC) and Rhodri Thomas (@Loxi25). The answer was Carlos Vela who has featured in 11 games this season and we have only won 6 giving him the lowest win % of 54.5. Congratulations to those two and unlucky to everyone who took part.
That’s all for today folks, take a look at today’s question of the day and good luck with that. Cheers for reading, make sure to leave plenty of comments.
Stat of The Day – The 3 times we have been losing at half time this season, we have gone on to actually lose the game.
Question of The Day – Who did we beat in the fourth round of the League Cup the last time we won the competition? and who scored the winner?
After three days away from the blogging scene I have returned this morning for my usual post match review. I don’t usually take time away but I’ve just been so cooped up recently with work, time has evaded me. Anyway enough of me rambling on lets talk about what we all came here for. Not exactly fireworks in last night’s display but the job was done and with United being absolutely murdered away to West Ham it was a very important victory in regards to us taking a step to winning a trophy this term. Arsenal are now 4/6 favourites to take home the Carling Cup and a win in the Semi Final’s will send us to Wembley.
Historically we have done well in this competition before so its nothing new that we have reached the Semi Final’s, we just normally do it with a team full of youngsters. This season Wenger has used the competition to give first team players games and to help players regain their fitness and has taken it much more seriously. Wenger’s team selection this year has signalled his intent to win one Trophy at least and I’m pleased to see this, it should have happened far sooner in the teams 5 year run without a trophy.
The game itself was pretty dull, Wigan didn’t really look at the races and we didn’t shift out of first gear. An own goal from Alcaraz and a Bendtner finish from a Vela cross sealed the win for us. We had chances to really put the game to bed, but this was the first time in a long time where we have been 2-0 up and I have felt very comfortable. Good performances from Van Persie, Djourou and Gibbs were the highlights of the display and also RVP came away with 70 minutes under his belt and seemed to be unscathed (Touches wood).
Not too many negatives to take from last nights game other than only giving JET 10 minutes playing time once again. It’s great Jay is actually getting games but 10 minutes is hardly enough time to make an impact and impress. Maybe if we had been 3-0 up Wenger would have bought him on earlier, but I just feel like if your going to give the boy a chance then it has to be a real chance not just 10 minutes here or there. Who am I though to criticise Wenger’s skills in player development, I’m sure he knows what he is doing and just giving Jay a taster and something to work harder for in training and impress further in the reserves.
Overall though a fairly positive night, one step further to winning a trophy, RVP gaining some playing time, Gibbs playing very well and another clean sheet from Szczesny. Its imperative that we go all the way in this competition so this team knows what it feels like to win a Trophy together. For many players this will be their first trophy as a professional footballer and will be their first experience of actually winning something. If we do go all the way in the Carling Cup this could serve us well in the title race because for once the team will be full of winners and confidence.
Someone pointed out to me the other day that Arsenal are ‘a team full of losers’. Not loser’s in the fact that they ate their packed lunch alone in the canteen when they were 15 because they had no friends, but loser’s in respect to the fact that hardly any of our player’s have actually experienced winning a trophy, not just with Arsenal but any other team as well. This season we have bought in Chamakh who has won a French league title with Bordeaux and a few domestic trophies, as well as Squillaci who has won 5 league titles on his travels. Other than that however our best players don’t know what it feels like to win anything domestically. RVP, Sagna, Vermaelan, Nasri, Fabregas, Clichy and Song have never won a league title in their careers.
Now I’m not sure whether this has been a factor in recent years where we have failed to win a Trophy but it’s no coincidence that United’s and Chelsea’s squads are full of players that have won Trophies not only at their clubs now but with previous clubs also. Arshavin, Rosicky, Chamakh, Clichy and Squillaci are the only players at the club that have experienced Domestic League title success. Maybe this is why in recent years we have bottled it at the end of the season, because we don’t have enough players in the team that know what you have to do to win a league title. It’s just a thought but it explains to an extent of why we haven’t won anything since 2005.
Of course in order to gain experience of winning league title’s you have to actually win one first and I feel like winning the Carling Cup can give the team the belief and also the relief of winning something to push them on to do well in the League race. In recent year’s we have lacked belief and confidence when it has come to the final hurdle and in many of the last few season’s we have dropped out of all competitions pretty much within a few weeks or so. If we can win the Carling Cup and stick around in all competitions for as far as we can then maybe that could well prove to be the turning point in the title race.
Thanks for reading. Leave lots of comments please and answer my Question of The Day if your smart enough
Stat of The Day -Djourou has the highest win % at the club so far this season, having won 10/12 games he has played in.(83.3%)*
Question of The Day – Having featured in at least 7 games, Which Arsenal player has the lowest win % so far this season?
*featured in 7 games requirement
Szczesny – 7, Gibbs – 7, Djourou – 7, Koscielny – 6, Eboue – 6, Vela – 7, Wilshere – 7, Denilson – 6, Walcott – 6, Bendtner – 6, Van Persie – 7, Eastmond – 6, Nasri – 6, Emmanuel Thomas – 6
3 points secured and our great recent away league form continues, yesterday’s victory making it 4 wins on the bounce. The first half performance was great, just like the one against Spurs last weekend, and just like Spurs last weekend we were 2-0 up at the break thanks to 2 great solo efforts from Arshavin and Nasri. To be honest we should have 3/4 up in the first half and the game should have been killed off.
A hint of De Ja Vu and ‘here we go again’ probably flashed across the minds of every Arsenal supporter watching the match as Aston Villa scored just after the restart, after Clark smashed a shot past Fabianksi, despite Carew standing directly in front of the keeper obstructing his view in a offside position. However we did what we were unable to do against Spurs last week which was score a third after Chamakh’s smart finish. At that point we thought great, the anthem ‘We are top of the League, say we are top of the League’ was on repeat in my mind, I just didn’t want to say anything to anyone just incase disaster struck.
When Aston Villa pulled a second back, once again I thought to myself ‘here we go again’ is no lead ever comfortable with this team? From that point on it was always going to be hanging on time and we we’re going to have to defend resiliantly. The fourth from Wilshere knocked the game on the head, but you just can’t help thinking why do we do it to ourselves? The rollercoaster ride this team takes you on is sometimes unbearable. We must be the only team in the world where even if we were 3-0 up the other team still feel like they could be in with a shout. Is it too easy for us, that we just have to gift teams a way back into the game for a tougher challenge. Don’t get me wrong we deserved the win, but the 4-2 scoreline just shows that we made it hard work for ourselves.
The performance of Arshavin will earn him great reviews in the Sunday papers, he certainly showed how he can play if he is up for it and what a threat he is. That is the Arshavin that we love to see, but 90% of the time he just doesn’t look bothered. Maybe that week off helped him and for once maybe he thought his place in the team was not safe. Consistency is the key with Arshavin and on his day he is capable of making something out of nothing and he absolutely tore Villa to shreds yesterday. Despite being very ordinary so far this season you can’t knock his 6 goals and 9 assists, just imagine what his record would be like if he played like he did yesterday every week.
The starting of Koscielny all but clears up Wenger’s selection policy. Koscielny is going to be used for League games and Djourou in Europe. It’s not the right selection policy in my eyes but it’s what Wenger seems to be endorsing. Today was only the 4th game Koscielny and Squillaci have won by starting together in their 9 games so far, and the 2 we conceded was the 13th they have conceded in the partnership so far. It still just doesn’t do it for me, I just feel so vulnerable watching Arsenal with Squillaci and Koscielny playing together and Djourou can’t do anymore than he has been doing recently to warrant a starting place in the team. Its wrong I think players should play on merit and Djourou deserves a place in the team.
Tomas Rosicky for me has the potential to be as threatning as Samir Nasri and Andriy Arshavin if he could just be more prolific and clinical in front of goal. He has only scored 16 goals in 107 appearances in a gunners shirt. He needs to do what Nasri has added to his game this year which is score more goals. He is yet to get off the mark this season and today he had numerous chances to do so. If he started scoring goals he would be such an asset to the team because his passing ability, his movement and his creativity is second to none, it’s just always the final product which lets him down. Something to work on.
Wigan at home next in the Carling Cup and I would expect starts for Van Persie, Walcott and Gibbs in an attempt to get them some games. That game will bring a close to a disastrous November which could prove to be the difference at the end of the season. Nevertheless we are still only two points off the top from United and we have just ended Aston Villa’s unbeaten home record so far this season. A Chelsea loss tomorrow will seal a good weekend and hopefully a Liverpool victory will burst the Scum’s bubble as well.
On another note it was great to see Robert Pires back in English football again, not sure what impact he is going to have for Villa but the man is a Premier League legend and I’m just happy to see him back in England again. Thanks Bobby.
Only one person got yesterday’s Question of The Day correct and that was Rhodri Thomas(@Loxi25), who got the answer of 10 games without conceding a goal in the 2006 Champions League correct. Congratulations to him.
Enjoy your Sunday and treat yourself to a few Yorkshire Puds on me. Cheers
Stat of the Day – Yesterday’s victory makes it 12 games without defeat at Villa Park
Question of the Day – In the 2003/2004 Invincible’s season, How many goals did Pires and Henry score combined in all competitions.
Leave your answers to the question as a comment or @ me on twitter.
Fabianski – 7, Clichy – 6, Koscielny – 6, Squillaci – 6, Sagna – 6, Arshavin – 8, Rosicky – 7, Song- 6, Wilshere – 7, Nasri – 8, Chamakh -8, Gibbs – 6, Djourou – 6, Denilson – 6
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