Santos injured for 3 months, Bronze Statues unveiled and post match thoughts!

Evening Arsenal fans,

The weekend has once again come and gone and so to has real, meaningful football. A weekend which saw a sumptuous Robin Van Persie strike to clinch a pretty bland affair thus maintaining our charge up the table. Whilst we did re-enter the top 4, our rightful home, it was only momentarily as Chelsea managed to beat the previously unbeaten Manchester City.

Now whilst I am glad they have lost and as such the stupid suggestions that they are in some way better than the Invincibles team can be laid to rest once and for all. I am ultimately disappointed in that we are no longer in the top four. Also this win could go a long way to galvanise a team with some top quality players, not exactly what we want from one of our closest rivals. Well, either way we are where we are, and that is 5^th. We are not too far behind the pack and that is all good news.

With no football midweek, we have a bit of a “calm before the storm” moment right now. There is no doubt all of our players could do with a well deserved rest before the colossal task of taking on the money might of Manchester City. It will be a tough game and knowing that Robin Van Persie will get a week to rest his amazing self is reassuring to some extent, even if it comes at the expense of my boredom.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I love him. I really, really do. I bought a pair of trainers a few years back, which I customised to have his name on them which screams sexual stalker but I assure you that is not the case. I do not know his new address or anything.

Well my weird obsession aside, we had some scintillating football promised to us for the weekend just gone as well as the club celebrating it’s 125^th birthday. Unfortunately the football was not the type we had hoped for but a win is a win and a quite fitting score line to celebrate this great clubs birth – 1 nil to the Arsenal.

What a great 125 years they have been, from our inception as Dial Square to our name changes; Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Arsenal and then of course Arsenal in 1913 following our migration to the North of London. From our great managers and fantastic football league records, one thing is abundantly clear. There has always been a class in the way we have conducted ourselves as a club and that is why we are the only club with a “the” at the beginning.

The unveiling of great legend bronze statues of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry preceded the game and the atmosphere at the ground prior to kick off was certainly carnival-esque.

The Arsenal took on Everton in a game which saw Mikel Arteta go against his former employers and was settled by a Robin Van Persie wonder goal. I love him. *Looks away in a shifty manner.* Really I am not weird.

As mentioned earlier, Chelsea’s win over Man City ensured we remain out of the top four but has also proved that Man City are by no means unbeatable. I expect that whilst it will be a tough game on Sunday, it is one I hope that we will rise to the challenge for and continue our excellent form.

Without trying to go into speculation overdrive with a stop off at dream city, if we beat Man City this coming Wednesday, we will be back with a shout at the title. Of course it is fantastical in many ways, even if we do win, but we are not out of it, and with the propensity other teams have shown to drop points much could hinge on the transfer window and any business we may or may not do.

However, let’s take a step back from crazy land and be a bit more realistic. It is a tough ask to go to the “fraudulent naming deal stadium” and come away with anything let alone a win. And if the task was not difficult enough, it is made all the more tricky given the sad news that Andre Santos is likely to be out for 3 months following surgery to his ankle.

With no fit full back you would expect the four centre backs that filled in at Everton to continue. Though there are clear disadvantages, the natural width, pace and work up and down the flanks, that the first choice provides, there are some advantages as well. It was clear that having all three of Koscienly, Mertesacker and Vermaelan greatly assisted our defensive display. All three had great games and all did admirable jobs filling in when needed. Whether they will play as well as a unit against the onslaught of a £100m attack is up for debate but we shall see.

Aside from that I don’t think there is much to report on aside from the pre-January obsession with transfers and possible targets and the ten new players we need. My thoughts on this are simple Mario Gotze and a striker would be fantastic failing that just a striker is all we really need. With Wilshire coming back and another creative midfielder you would say we have 2 good to great players in all the forward positions. The only area really weak at the moment is up front, and that is despite having the best striker in the world. Especially with Chamakh's future more and more likely to be outside of Arsenal, one would think that a striker would be absolutely essential this window.

I leave you with those words of wisdom.

Until next time!

GoonerVerse.

The future of our fringe players and post match thoughts!

Evening all,

Apologies for the late post but been bogged down by life today in ways that have prohibited a timely post.

After an awful yet ultimately meaningless defeat yesterday I felt very underwhelmed, underwhelmed by both the performance and the result. If last week with our second string was promising, last night was anything but. The side were overran, overworked and ultimately outplayed by a hungry team who caused all sorts of problems for a team who played like they had nothing to play for.

Perhaps it is a sign of the times that such calamitous goalkeeping is such a shock but in reality it was almost a weekly matter that we would see such humorous debacles such as the Manone scissor kick or the Fabianski follow the leader and leave an open goal.

Regardless of that it was an unacceptable performance from a side that for all accounts and purposes should have been out there to impress. I expected a hungry performance from the likes of Coquelin, Frimpong and Chamberlain but essentially was subjected to one of the dullest Arsenal performances in a long time.

Whilst the work rate of Olympiakos must be admired, one thing is clear. Our second string, whilst all talented tidy footballers need to be playing in order to progress as situations where they were pressed and rushed were ones that they really struggled in. You can’t help but think that if they were to have more games under their belt they would have had more success getting the ball out of their own half.

So whilst the result was as unimportant as any in recent memory so was the performance by the team. The question then is; where do these players go from here?

I cannot imagine the likes of Frimpong nor Coquelin getting many chances especially given the imminent return of Diaby (again) and the eventual return of potentially our best player in Jack Wilshire. It is difficult to see opportunities arise unless of course the boss wants to treat the FA Cup as a League Cup. This is something I will not be happy with but would not be overly surprised. The logical step for both of the player’s development is to be sent out on loan to top flight, ideally Premier League clubs to get the invaluable experience they so desperately need.

Then we have the older, more experienced fringe players in Arshavin and Squilacci who, on the evidence of yesterday are going to find it even more difficult to get close to the starting XI than ever before. Whilst I understand Squilacci being unable to perform to some extent, Arshavin is going to run out of excuses, even from his most ardent of backers. It is becoming more and more difficult to justify his role in the squad and I personally feel losses have to be cut and he should be removed from our squad. Whilst undoubtedly full of talent, he has the work ethic of a 13 year old that hangs around outside a Budgens “supermarket” on his BMX asking people to buy him cigarettes. The number of times he just gave up yesterday was unbelievable. I am about 15stone and his height and I could have run more than he did last night.

Lastly we get to our second and third choice strikers. Sorry to steal Mr. Arseblogs’ line, as time goes by the “less the transfer of Park is understandable”. I cannot understand how in a game where we had nothing at stake could the little Korean still not make an appearance, I know injuries were unfortunate but it is seeming like a pointless signing. Not that the other striker in the reserves offers anything better. Whether it is confidence or incompetence, I am not qualified to say. All I know is that he is not good enough and from what I can tell never will be for our club so again let’s cut our losses and move him out for the type of money that has been mentioned.

All of this coupled with the injury to Santos and last night is looking more and more like a disaster by the second. I understand the logic for playing him but it was a gamble that never really offered great returns so was never worth taking. We should all just count out blessings that Vermaelan was not injured last night.

Seeing as we officially without all four of our fullbacks life could be fairly difficult for the foreseeable future, especially with the all important game against city coming up. I imagine it will either mean bringing in Miquel who looked fairly good or moving Vermaelan out to the left and shuffling the rest. I am not sure which way to go and do not envy the challenge the boss has over the next few games.

So whilst I would like to say that the last leg of Champions League fixtures was the one I was hoping for, I cannot really. Well that is until you see the two “dominant Manchester clubs” crash out of the Champions League at the first hurdle!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Got that out of the way, now back to sleep and a depressing life.

Good night to you all.

GoonerVerse

Arsenal vs Olympiacos Preview, Team new and Frimpong the Super Soldier!

Morning all,

As Tuesday dawns upon us we realise the type of team we are; one that plays in the Champions League. Had this been a Spursday Thursday, I would feel much different. I wouldn’t feel the glow of optimism sprouting from my being as we approach an ultimately meaningless encounter in the context of the Champions League, but exciting nonetheless. Exciting because there will be a wealth of talent on display, much of which rarely has the opportunity to shine in competitive matches and believe me this will be competitive despite the lack of importance from our perspective. This was highlighted by Wenger when he said:

“It is true that some of the players do not play many games but they will be even more motivated to show they deserve to play. I wanted to bring this team because they gave a hard time to Manchester City last week. This side will be up for it. I would be deeply disappointed if our winning attitude was not right. I will make sure we walk out there with an immense desire to win the game.”

Olympiacos have more than a shout of going through if they beat us which will mean we can expect the frosty atmosphere to be particularly severe as we take them on with a depleted team in their own back yard. Their fans will expect a result and you can expect a hostile atmosphere which in itself is great experience for the lads.

More exciting however will be another opportunity to watch the Ox in action. He has impressed on nearly every outing this season and has seemed to make life difficult for the opposition regardless of quality. I would expect a positive performance to heap more pressure on the boss to include him for League matches in the future. I am sure that is one bit of pressure the boss wont mind having.

Also expect real performances from some of the other fringe players. This may well be their last chance this season to prove themselves on the big stage following our League Cup exit last week. In fact I expect many to go out on short term loans following this busy period to ensure that they have the game time to develop. One of the key players in this regard is Frimpong. After a superb performance last week, he will be eager to demonstrate his worth to the team. He is Arsenal through and through and you can see that every time he has put the shirt on but you feel that if he is to kick on he really needs some experience in top flight football. Perhaps the touted loan move to Wolves may come to bare fruit which could represent the kind of opportunity for Frimpong that Wilshire had two seasons ago at Bolton. Wenger obviously sees great potential in him so now I think it is down to heed the advice given to him and really make that next step up. Wenger remarked:

"I love his raw enthusiasm, the only problem is to keep him on the right track. Like every generous guy, you don't want to see him lose that. He's a real fighter. You would love to go to war [alongside] Frimpong. But he also has to use his energy in a positive way because sometimes too much energy can be a handicap. He has a good mixture of confidence, humility and energy. He learns as well. So after the heat, he accepts that he needs to think about what is wrong and right. Football is made about what the game wants not what the fans in the stands want. Good players always respond to the game situation and make the right decision taking all the emotional part out of it.”

I really like the last part as it sums up well the feeling for an enthusiastic come aggressive personality playing for the club he loves. It would be easy to get carried away with the crowd cheering your aggressive challenges to go that one step too far but I am sure as he matures it will become less prevalent in his game.

With regards to team news it is unclear who will get the nod today but I expect a much similar team to the one that played against City last week. I even expect the same formation of 4-4-2 to accommodate the game time both Park and Chamakh need so desperately. Rosicky is included in the squad but could be touch and go for fitness but I expect to see him at some stage. My predicted starting line up for tonight is:


                                                            Fabianski

Yennaris                             Djourou                                 Squilacci                    Miquel

Oxlade Chamberlain                       Frimpong                           Coquelin                Benayoun

                                             Park                                  Chamakh.

Although like last week don’t be surprised if the defence is supplemented by a heavyweight in Vermaelan or Arshavin to play.

So with that I shall leave you to enjoy your day!

Come on you Gunners!

GoonerVerse!

Arsenal Squad to Face Olympiacos...

Evening all,

Today we saw the Champion’s League squad announced as well as having the news of our FA Cup third round opponents of Leeds. We will talk about that when we get closer to the time so let’s have a look at the squad for tomorrows tie in Greece.

As expected, Arsene Wenger has named a much changed squad to the one that faced Wigan for that thumping win. With Arsenal already through to the knockout stages, guaranteed to be top of the group there is little value in risking some of our big name players.

Moreover, this is a fantastic opportunity to give some of the fringe players another opportunity to shine as well as some of the promising youngsters.

After the fantastic display against Manchester City last week in the League Cup, the same set of players have another chance to show what they are made of! I for one am very excited for a number of reasons. 

I love watching football without having the feeling that I may have a heart attack which is something which has happened more often than not this season. Secondly it is nice to know that Robin Van Persie will not get injured in the match tomorrow as well as some of our other key players. Lastly, I love having the chance to see our fringe players, so all in all I am looking forward to this immensely. 

Though the team will have many youngsters who rarely get the chance they crave, the team will still have a number of experienced internationals in Park, Chamakh, Benayoun, Arshavin, Rosicky and Vermaelen.

The Arsenal squad is one that is built around players who need game time which I am sure they will relish. Particularly, the trio of Frimpong, Coquelin and Oxlade-Chamberlain are ones to watch tomorrow. Arsenal squad: Fabianski, Mannone, Park, Chamakh, Benayoun, Coquelin, Frimpong, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Squillaci, Djourou, Vermaelen, Santos, Rosicky, Ozyakup, Yennaris, Eastmond, Miquel.

Well with that I shall leave you to it!

Have a lovely night and speak to you tomorrow!

GoonerVerse.

Arsene Wenger’s Worst Signings - Part 2

Evening Gooners,

I sit here today hung over and suffering but still full of joy. Joyful that Arsenal bounced back from their mini-blip in fine style with a thumping 4-0 victory. Arsenal were well on top for the majority of the match and it was great to see such a variety of scorers. As much as I love seeing Van Persie score it was great for some of the other lads to chip in. Four different scorers from the one man team… I love it.

As promised, I have finished the list of worst Arsene Wenger signings which for some reason has been more popular than his best signings. Anyway, here is the conclusion of the list:

5. Alexander Hleb In: £13.5m     Out: £15m

On the surface this seems a strange choice, especially so high up the list. He was a tidy player who was a first team regular and a vital part of the team in his time. He came with very high expectations and was regarded as one of the most feared players in the Bundesliga. It was somewhat surprising then that in his time at Arsenal he was too scared to do anything of substance. I am surprised that bookies did not take bets on how many times he would pass the ball from a goal scoring opportunity. It was very frustrating to watch him and I imagine even harder to play with. Despite that Arsene Wenger managed to turn a profit when Barcelona inexplicably wanted Alexander Hleb. It is fair to say his awful performances weren’t rewarded with an extended run in that team.

4. Richard Wright In: £6m      Out: £3m

Richard Wright signed for Arsenal for a relatively large fee for a goalkeeper and was lined up to be the long term replacement to David Seaman. Despite playing second fiddle, the expectation was that he would be the man to be the pillar of Arsenal’s defence for many years but it just was not meant to be.
He got a chance to show his worth sooner than expected when he came in for the injured David Seaman. He did not take it as his form can only be described as atrocious and was quickly usurped by the young Stuart Taylor.

His Arsenal career was very short, in fact just a year which saw his stock fall by 50% and to the relief of many a Arsenal fan, he was never seen sporting the Arsenal Goalkeeper Jersey.

3. Pascal Cygan In: £2m      Out: £2m

Despite being a part of the Invincibles side which swept all before them, Cygan can only be described as a liability. He made you cringe watching him and one can only wonder how a professional footballer can look so unnatural on the football pitch. He rarely looked comfortable and every moment he touched the ball was a moment of anxiety for anyone who supported Arsenal.

It was amazing then that, Arsene Wenger actually managed to find a buyer that was willing to pay them £2m of real money. Truly stunning.

2. Jose Antonio Reyes In: £11m     Out: £10.5m.

Jose Antonio Reyes was only 20 when he joined Arsenal from Sevilla in the January transfer window of 2004 for around £11m. He struggled to ever really settle in at the club and despite some good form in patches he managed to score just 23 goals in two and a half seasons. This wasn’t a great return from a player who had some huge expectations and was touted as one of the future greats. He took time to get off the mark despite scoring on his debut. Just a shame it was at the wrong end of the pitch.
Despite immense potential, being homesick clearly took its toll on him. His form seemed to coincide with the weather and quickly returned to Spain ultimately leaving as a failure and one of Wenger’s most disappointing acquisitions.

1. Francis Jeffers - In: £8.5m     Out: £2.6M

Francis Jeffers was hands down Arsene Wenger’s worst signing ever. From whichever angle you look at it, it was a disaster. He lost huge sums on him, he hardly played and when he did he resembled the thing you need to look out for when taking a stroll in the park. He came with the title of the "fox in the box" something Arsenal apparently needed. Wenger signed him from Everton in 2001 for a mammoth £8.5m and only managed to get £2.6m when he offloaded a few seasons later to Charlton.

Though it is a bit harsh to him seeing as he was a young player who had little to no playing time, the sheer hype around him is reason enough for him to take the top spot. A truly, truly awful player and by far Wenger’s worst ever signing.

GoonerVerse

Wigan vs Arsenal Preview: Team news, The Ox and our striker problems.

Afternoon to all in the GoonerVerse,

We are approaching an increasingly vital game on the back of a mini blip of sorts. Whilst our performance was admirable mid-week a setback here and the button men on Fleet Street will be sharpening their knives to really stick it in.

I think today’s game is vital, not because the pressure is up again, I just think this is exactly the type of game we should be winning and to maintain our surge up the table we must continue in the vain of form prior to the Fulham game. I spoke at length then, that perhaps the problem may have been complacency more so than fatigue but either way this is a game we should not be taking lightly. Wenger asserted as much in his pre-match notes when he said “For us of course the three points are the target, no matter who we play. We dropped two points against Fulham and it is important we get back to winning habits."

The manager has spoken of the importance of the upcoming game and all the players have had sufficient rest, bar Koscienly, so we have no such excuses this time. I anticipate we shall return to our collaborative team ethic of working hard for each other and building from the back. From that solid base we can launch attacks against a team whose luck is bound to get better. It is imperative that we ensure we are ruthless as I think it may be a tighter affair than the table may suggest, especially given their recent successes against us. To be completely honest, I think this will play into our hands as Roberto Martinez has already spoken of the need to play football.

“We both need the points for different reasons, so it will be a great match. You can’t beat arsenal by trying to be solid and defensive, they will find a way through… there are always plenty of goals in the games here. We both treat the ball really well and play football from the back… we will have to put a lot of our energy into trying to break them down at the back.”

This is clearly an indication that it will be an open game, especially from their perspective. Martinez is unbeaten against Wenger at home and I think he thinks he knows how to hurt us. We must be prepared and I am sure the right preperations have been made. Such are the recent league results that we as fans would expect to win this match with ease but the reality is that it will be a huge battle. One, the likes of Arteta, Song, Vermaelan and Koscienly will be crucial warriors in.

With injury news relatively good in that there are no new casualties from the Carling Cup match, however the sad news that Diaby has had yet another setback has permeated through. Though it comes as no surprise to anyone that has followed his injury plagued career, I can’t help but feel sorry for the lad. He has showed glimpses of brilliance but is unfortunately now going to be stuck in a bit of loop of little niggles, recover and play, more niggles and recover etc. The other long term injuries are Wilshere (ankle), Gibbs (stomach), Jenkinson (back), Diaby (hamstring), Sagna (ankle), Ryo (ankle).

So without those players I expect the starting line up to look like this:

                                                            Szczesny

Koscienly                  Mertesacker                          Vermaelan                Santos

                                    Song

                                                                        Arteta

            Walcott                                   Ramsey                                 Gervinho

                                                            Van Persie

Certainly with that line up you would expect to beat a side in all sorts of trouble but stranger things have happened especially with Arsenal. I still expect a win, I would put my penny or two on a two nil win with Van Persie to score first.

Aside from the match there have been two issues which have dominated Arsenal press since the Man City match midweek. These have been what role Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should play in the squad and whether we have any backup strikers worthy of the shirt.

Let’s start with the Ox; after his sincilating performance midweek, where he caused international defenders all sorts of problems, questions are understandably being asked as to why he hasn’t had more opportunities. My feelings on this are simple enough, he is good enough so should be included in the squads and be given an opportunity where possible. The last part of that sentence is crucial though, where possible. With the situation we were in at the start of the season Arsene Wenger did not really have much choice but to stick with a consistent line-up especially as things were looking up. He has had some opportunities and I think he will get more. Arsene Wenger’s record in blooding young players is second to none so rest assured when he is completely ready Wenger will play him!

The second of the major issues is our dependency on Robin Van Persie for goals and the lack of a deputy that can come in and do a job. I do not want to use this as an opportunity to speculate what will happen in the transfer market but one thing is clear: Chamakh is not going to be good enough and neither is Park, not at the moment anyway. This means that we will need to do something to remedy this whether it is a foray into the transfer market or use someone else up there but an injury to RVP will be difficult to cope with.

I know there is lot’s of hysteria around Wenger’s comments regarding him not buying this transfer window but he has made these comments before. I can guarantee that if the right player is available he will buy him. If you look at Wenger’s comments carefully he doesn’t fully rule out a signing which is understandable, he does not want to knock the confidence of players who are already low on it.

"At the moment, I do nothing in January, we have a big squad, but if you knock at my door and say 'I have a fantastic player for you', I will not turn it down… If we have no injuries, we should get away with it because we have Oxlade Chamberlain, who can play there, Park, Arshavin and Van Persie. So we still have offensive players, but we could be a bit short if we have an injury.”

Well I think that’ll have to do it for the day. I will speak to you all tomorrow!

GoonerVerse.

Arsene Wenger’s Top Ten Worst Signings - Part 1

Following the hugely successful Top Ten Wenger signings many fans (I assume of other teams) were quick to point out a number of his failures. So I though, in the interest of fairness, that I should compile a list of Arsene Wenger’s worst signings. I thought that this would be easy as there are so many off the top of your head. Then I thought about the issue more deeply and struggled to come up with a definition of failure. It is easy to determine success as it is very measurable but how do you define failure in a relatively successful period in the club. If it is trophies than surely the last few years of transfers have been awful but they surely aren’t the worst.

I have then considered price tag and expectation alongside role in the team as something to measure against. If any of these were high for the three aspects I just mentioned, then I will be more critical. For instance a player who comes in on a free transfer and nobody has heard of him will not be measured against the next big thing who flops regardless of who the better player is. Slightly different criteria to my last series but the same principle so let’s crack on!

Honourable mentions must go out to Pascal Cygan, Oleg Luzhny and Philipe Senderos all very poor players who had some bright moments which kept them out of the dreaded list below. Looking at the position, anyone think they might be seeing a trend or perhaps this is just a coincidence.

10. David Grondin - In: £500k    Out: Free

We start off with someone I doubt many fans outside of Arsenal will even recognise. In fact you would be forgiven as an Arsenal fan to not have even heard of him. He only made four appearances for the club with only one in the Premier League and was bought at the same time as Christopher Wreh (a close miss on the list) who was cheaper and played more. In fact Wreh even started in the FA cup final. Either way Grondin is the first on our dubious list.

9. Jermaine Pennant – In £2m     Out: £3m

Jermaine Pennant was signed as a 15 year old with ridiculous expectations. I myself was caught up in the hype and expected miracles. To be fair, he did score a hat-trick on his first start for us which everyone hoped would set the tone for his career but a string of legal problems mainly due to drink driving offences scuppered his career at Arsenal. Whilst he didn’t play many games and was sold for a profit he was definitely a failure given the expectations he came with.

8. Tomas Danilevicius – In: £2m     Out: Free

Another one who enters the list in the category: “Who the… is that?” To that I say, a really bad player. He was a tall striker signed by Arsene Wenger for around £1m, yes twice the fee he paid for Nicolas Anelka and what a difference. He clearly didn’t impress as he did not last very long at all. He was loaned out and eventually sold only able to make a handful of appearances. A really bad buy by any measure.

7. Igor Stepanov - In: Way too much

Despite a relatively bright start for Arsenal where he was beginning to establish himself as an option it all went very wrong one fateful day in February. It was unheard of that the Arsenal back four would concede 6 goals in a single game but Stephanov did his utmost to ensure that he could disprove these ideas. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for the goals. The fans would never forgive him and neither had it seemed could the boss. He never recovered and neither did his Arsenal career. Not only was he awful he was one of the major contributing factors to one of Arsenal’s worst days ever.

6. Mikael Silvestre In: £300k     Out: Free

If Igor Stepanov was bad for Arsenal than Mikael Silvestre was atrocious. He never ever displayed anything but calamitous displays and was almost immediately hated by Arsenal fans. Not for anything he had done in his past or even his work ethic but the fact that he really looked awful every time he stepped on the pitch. There was no surprise that he was to be sold, the only surprise came when Werder Bremen actually wanted him. Truly past it.

Tomorrow we should have pre-match news and a roundup of a few other bits and bobs... The list of worst signings should be concluded by the weekend.

Have a lovely evening!

GoonerVerse