Reality Check

I've decided that given the business end of the European Championships is upon us, now would be a good time to reintroduce my blog. And what better topic to write about than the wonderful and glorious England National Team. Always promising, never delivering. I am sorry to burst your bubble, fellow Englishmen, but we all need to be brought back down to earth. The normal English fan's stance of 'England really have a chance this time, we could win the *Insert Game/Competition* was replaced by the rather clever strategy (often mine when it comes to Arsenal) of playing our chances down. The rumour that the FA had booked the plane back for England after the last group game, though of course ridiculous, emphasised the pessimism surrounding England's chances before their first game. 

So here we are, a day before our nerve-racking Quarter-Final against Italy. The bitter pessimism has changed to optimism that maybe this could be our year, maybe this group of players won't let us down as they so often do. But let me ask you, what has changed? I thought about this question long and hard after our final group game against co-hosts Ukraine and have seriously struggled to come up with a reasonable answer. So let me break it down into the three games thus far that have got us into this position.

1) England 1-1 France

This result may have surprised a lot of people; especially those who watched the game. England started brightly, creating a few chances, most notably with James Milner rounding the keeper only to skew wide in front of a gaping goal. 

When Lescott headed in after the half hour mark everything seemed to be going well for England, too well in fact. And from this point onwards, we were outclassed by a decent, but not by any means fantastic French side. This is evident when you see that France enjoyed 65% of the possession and 7 shots on target. Fortunately for England; they were wasteful and only managed to convert from Na$ri's shot less than 10 minutes after we took the lead. 

We managed just one attempt on goal- Lescott's goal, of course.   We got a point, allbeit in an ugly fashion, but a country full of pessimistic England fans was prepared to accept that. 

2) England 3-2 Sweden

A captivating encounter- but should it have been this close? Just days before this game there were reports of unrest in the Swedish camp, with their own manager Erik Hamren even brandishing them 'cowards' after their encounter with Ukraine. The way I see it they are very much a one man team (though I don't think Ibrahimovic's ego needs feeding any more) and even he has his off days.

 On another day we could easily have lost this; and yes, I know that is an extremely negative way to look at it, but a team that only just manages to beat the unusually poor Swedish side deserve all of this praise? And this is not mentioning the dreadfully bland and uninteresting football that we played (and really, I know people will say it's not about the style of football, it's about the winning, but I think watching your national team play your favourite sport should be an enjoyable experience and this certainly wasn't).

3) England 1-0 Ukraine

This is what summed up our tournament thus far for me. Our inability to pass the ball 5 yards coupled with the sheer domination that Ukraine had over us in the first half shows just how poor this England side is. People say we defended well in this match, and indeed throughout the tournament, but i'm afraid I don't see it. Yes, Terry did well to clear the ball (even if it was behind the goal-line) and yes, we kept a clean sheet, but is this down to our defending or Ukraine's poor finishing? I put it down to the latter. 

On reading this you may think that i'm being harsh on a passionate England side- and that I will give them. But ask yourself if this England side even gets close to England sides of the past and other top sides in this tournament. Would a single England player get into the Spain team? Or the Germany team? If so, certainly no more than a couple. Are players such as Jordan Henderson, Martin Kelly and Stewart Downing in the same league as the Spanish subs (Fabregas, Navas, Busquets)? If you don't agree with what i'm saying, compare the starting XI tomorrow with the starting XI in the 2002 World Cup. I think you will be surprised. 

There is light at the end of the tunnel though, my friends. We are in the Quarter-Final (though I think anything less than this in the group we were in would have been criminal). We do have a chance of beating Italy (a bigger chance, for example, than Chelsea beating Barcelona). And there are some players performing very well indeed- for me Steven Gerrard is the standout player of the tournament to date, heavily criticised in an England shirt but he can be proud of his tournament whatever happens tomorrow. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hart, Terry and Cole have also put in their shifts. 

So let's get behind the England, there's no shame in losing tomorrow; but let's go out with a bang. And if we win, there is a large helping of humble pie waiting for me...

Just What the Doctor Ordered...

I think it's fair to say that we, collectively as Arsenal fans, feared the worst ahead of Sunday's face-off against our darkest rivals. It had been dubbed the 'most important derby of Wenger's reign' and some were talking about the 'switch of power' between the two clubs. Of course, none of us would openly admit that this was the case, even if we had been on the receiving end of this amazing scoreline. However, I do feel as though this is one of, if not the most important wins under Arsene.

It wasn't just the 'win' that made it so satisfying, although a win was of imperative importance. It was the manner in which the deed was done. Coming from two goals down in any situation is tough, but it does not get much harder than this.

We started the way many expected us to, on the back foot. Tottenham were playing their usual (for this season, and this season alone) passing, flowing game, whilst we seemed unable to play a two yard pass. Experienced players like Alex Song, Tomas Rosicky and even one of the stars of our season Laurent Koscielny had lost their basic footballing abilities, and it was shaping up to be a very depressing afternoon indeed.

All too predictably Sp*rs took the lead four minutes into the game. They saw what seemed like kilometres of space in the middle of the Arsenal defence, and played Louis Saha through. In typical Tottenham fashion, he then blasted the ball which deflected via Thomas Vermaelen's foot and looped over Sczcesny's helpless head. Tottenham do get lucky breaks against us, don't they? (Think the Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and David Bentley goals, as well as Rafael Van der Vaart's handball 'goal' in the return leg earlier this season). Lucky breaks aside, you make your own luck in football and all that.

We looked fragile, Sp*rs looked dangerous. It would have taken either a very brave man or an extremely optimistic Gooner to predict an Arsenal win from here. The next 15 minutes was a period of intense Sp*rs pressure, and although they never really threatened Woj's goal, they were cutting our defence open far too often for my liking. I could single out any one of those defender's for their defending for the first goal, or the next 15 minutes, but I don't feel this is down to individual errors. No, it is something far more worrying than that, it is the defence as a unit. This needs to be sorted fast, and it seems to have crumbled (defending as a whole) ever since Mertesacker got injured. I'm not saying he is the perfect defender, nor has he fully adapted to the English game yet, but he is the organiser of our defence and that is something which he does extremely well.

From this point onwards, the game belonged to Arsenal. We were starting to pass the ball vaguely accurately (Hurray!) and we were actually looking a bit more creative around the Sp*rs box, particularly when Yossi Benayoun was involved. Which is why the second Sp*rs goal was all the more cruel. Bale took the ball from just inside our half and charged at our defence, revealing the pace, or lack of it that Gibbs has. He got into the box and Sczcesny charged off his line, and took him down. Wait, no he didn't! There was no contact whatsoever! Bale was booked for the third time this season for diving, and it was a freekick to Arsenal inside our own box, no problem. Sadly not, as we all know Mike Dean does love a penalty or two in a game, and sure enough it was given. Adebayor then hammered it home past Sczcesny from the spot, ignoring the 55, 000 jeering Arsenal supporters and sensibly deciding not to celebrate.

So 2-0 Sp*rs after just 34 minutes, it was all looking pretty grim for Arsenal. If a win was looking unlikely before, near impossible now. I for one could barely watch anymore, and the supporters around me were actually voicing their discontent (when Arsenal fans are making noise, something terrible/brilliant has happened). It took a bullet header from Sagna just six minutes later to give the Arsenal fans something to cheer about and some hope, and the task became somewhat more feesable.

You could see by the players' reaction to this goal that they were hungry to get back in the game, and we actually saw, first hand, some of the spirit and grit Arsene so often talks about when questionned about this team. Three minutes later, in the 43rd minute, came our equaliser. And what a way to do it, van Persie turning around three Sp*rs players before curling one past Friedel from the outside of the box. A peach. Tottenham players deflated, Arsenal ones uplifted.

If there was one player that still wasn't getting those simple passes and control right, that is young Theo Walcott. In fact before we got back into the game, the Arsenal fans, including myself, made it clear to him what they thought of his recent performances. It's fair to say that he responded to this criticism in an extremely impressive manner after Wenger decided to keep him on after half time for the 'quality of his runs'.

Half time wasn't really welcomed at the Emirates, we had our rhythmn and at that moment it seemed like anything was possible. However, the half time break did not change a thing, and we emerged from the second half even better than we ended the first. Surely enough, six minutes into the second half, Tomas Rosicky capped off an excellent arsenal move with a poachers finish and a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down against our biggest rivals was complete. Calls of 'We want you to stay 'Arry Redknapp' echoed around the Emirates towards the Spurs fans, and '2-0, and you fucked it up!'. Nothing else seemed to matter by this point, the defeat in the FA Cup, the thrashing in Milan, even the other Sp*rs game, because this was really quite special. Finally this Tottenham side were being taught a lesson, and as one banner at the Emirates stated, "Class is Permanent".

We weren't done yet, though, oh no. 15 anxious minutes later, Robin van Persie found himself in akers of space down the left wing, and when both remaining Sp*rs defenders came to him, he drove the ball to Theo Walcott, who simply ran into the box, taking an extremely poor touch on the way, but chipping over Friedel and into the net to make a quality goal. He may have had an extremely poor game, in fact many extremely poor games, but for this split second, all was forgiven. And you could see how much it meant to him.

The icing on the cake came three minutes later when Theo again popped up in space, making an excellent run into the box and squeezing the ball into the corner out of Friedel's reach to make it a fine, fine day for any fan of Arsenal Football Club. (The rest of the game passed without many talking points; Parker got sent off a minute from the end after a hack at Vermaelen's ankle gave him a second yellow- Vermaelen looks to be out for Saturday's trip to Anfield as a result).

How important was this win then? Well, for one, it reminded the rest of the Premier League, and the Arsenal supporters that this team does have some quality, does have some belief, and does have some desire to win football matches, particularly against Sp*rs. The question does have to be asked, though, why we couldn't play this sort of game more often this season. I'm not calling for us to put five past every opponent, though that would be helpful given the amount of goals we concede. I'm asking for us to do the simple things right. The defeat at Sunderland epitomised what we need to be doing, pressing, busting a gut to win the ball back from the opponent, getting those all important tackles in, and defending properly.

Because we did defend properly against Sp*rs, other than the first 15 minutes or so. In fact, as Arsene so rightly puts it, we got the perfect balance between defence and attack. Think what would have happened, where we would be if we had played anywhere near this standard in Milan or Sunderland. Even think back, if you can bare it, to defeats at the hands of Swansea, Fulham and Blackburn. All games we really ought to be winning, and had we done the job properly in them we would currently be ahead of Sp*rs in the table.

One can probably now say that if we do finish above Sp*rs, we have qualified for the Champions League, so is this a realistic aim? Yes, I believe so. With 12 games left, seven points is attainable, and with Sp*rs still having to travel to Chelsea, Everton and Sunderland, and play Man Utd at 'three point lane' next weekend, 3rd place is all to play for. It would be very like Arsenal to throw it away to mid-low table teams, though, so it most certainly is not going to be easy.

Tricky looking games at home to Chelsea, City and Newcastle and away to Stoke City are all winnable, and we must set out with a positive attitude that we can gain full points. Champions League Qualification is vital, one feels to achieve it we must be winning at least 2 of the above mentioned games. If we don't we may be looking at losing some of our stars: van Persie, Sagna, Walcott and Sczcesny have all been targetted by other clubs, Champions League clubs.

Victory against Sp*rs was blissful, but we mustn't revel in it for too long, Anfield awaits...

Man of the Match: Tomas Rosicky

And Another Season Collapses...

Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal

This is becoming all too familiar. Within the space of 4 days we have, effectively, crashed out of two competitions. Where does it leave us? Well, it almost certainly means we will go yet another season without winning anything. But this is not what bothers me the most. I can accept going out to better opposition, I can even accept bowing out to a team like Sunderland, who are clearly on a high and working extremely hard for their manager, Martin O'Neill. What I cannot accept is being outplayed by inferior opposition, and showing no desire or grit to get back into the game. Quite frankly had that second goal not got in I still don't think we would have equalised; we were just not winning any of the individual battles in midfield, and even the simple, short passes weren't coming off.

A one-off, bad performance? No, not really. The truth is we have become more accustomed to seeing that Arsenal team this season than the one we would all like to see. It's quite sad, really. So what's the problem? Well, in my eyes, there are two main things.

1) We simply are not the team we used to be. We have sold top quality players without replacing them, and we are now beginning to see the result. I have said this time and time again, players like: Arshavin, Walcott, Rosicky, Squillaci, Djourou, Ramsey, Diaby, Denilson, Chamakh, Bendtner etc are NOT good enough for a top four club. We lack any real depth in our squad and even our first XI misses a few quality players.

2) There's a lack of true desire in the club. Some of the players at the club are overpaid, and don't look like they even want to play for Arsenal. If you compare the work rate of someone like Vermaelen, or Oxlade-Chamberlain to that of a Squillaci, or an Arshavin, you will see that there is a huge gulf. Arshavin has even said that he does not like England, and I doubt Squillaci's having much fun being our 5th choice centre back. The wages we are paying these players, in particular someone like Chamakh, who we got on a free, could be the difference between keeping van Persie and selling him.

So long-term, what's the solution? What's the point of qualifying for the Champion's League? To get the money that we won't spend? To qualify for a competition that we won't win? Or to attract those top quality players that we won't buy? I honestly believe that the best thing for Arsenal Football Club is for us to miss out on fourth place. Then there will be no excuses. There's no way Wenger can then turn around and tell us that we've had a successful season. Because a top four finish is a successful season in his eyes, no matter what else happens.

enger has even said that he would change his philosophy in the transfer market if we did, in fact finish outside the top four. Whether he stays or goes, things will change if we don't qualify, and it will force the board to act and give us the funds to buy some quality. And may even force a squad overhaul, similar to the one I have so long been pleading for. Who knows.

ne thing I know for sure is that I am completely fed up of seeing this crap every season. It has only been getting worse year after year and something drastic needs to happen. Should Wenger get sacked? I don't know. I have always been his biggest fan, but I am struggling to see where he goes from here. The problem is there is no clear candidate that isn't already at a job to replace him. And no, we will not get Mourinho, whether we would want him or not.

So I regretfully finish this post looking ahead at a particularly bleak season, wondering how it could possibly get worse than this. With Spurs coming to the Emirates next week, I've found my answer...

An Unsavoury Away Day in Milan...

AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal

There's something we neither expected nor wanted. It was always going to be a hard fixture, but we are better than this. Shortly after Kevin-Prince Boateng (an ex Sp**s player, to make it all the more painful) thundered a shot onto the crossbar and over the line, Ibrahimovic was released by a great ball and he ran past Sagna with ease. Yes, he was, debatably offside but no way should he have been allowed to run into our box unchallenged like that. He continued his unchallenged run into the box with a bit of trickery, before chipping the ball into the centre for Robinho to head home. Half time, and we were 2-0 down, already. We had barely got the ball in the Milan half, let alone threaten their goal, Abbiati might as well have not been there.

However, this was a chance. A chance for the Arsenal side to show what they are made of, to show the promised 'resilience and spirit' that Wenger so often comments on. The tie was far from over, an away goal would change the look of the game completely. And the introduction of Saturday's hero at Sunderland Thierry Henry was a very positive one. Particularly when you consider the little, if no impact that Theo Walcott had on the first half. Rosicky and Walcott, our two wingers for the first half, really might as well have not been there. Wenger complained about the state of the pitch (which was, by the way, horrendous), particularly the strips on the wing. Well, rightfully, he made no big deal of it after the game, as our winger's were pretty much anonymous anyway.

The chance went begging. In fact, it was just four minutes into the second half that Milan seized the chance to grab the killer goal. From here it looked an uphill battle, to say the least. Any fightback would have been impressive, but it was far from impossible. Even had we scored one, we would have left ourselves a realistic chance of qualifying for the quarter finals. And to be fair, we did start to pressure them a bit from now. Most notable was a lofted ball to Henry, from which he produced a lovely flick on to Robin van Persie's left boot, and he volleyed at Abbiati's goal, producing a fine save (which he celebrated as a goal!).

The introduction to the scene of fan favourite Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would have been welcomed by any Gooner watching, but even he failed to produce much on the night. It wasn't until the 79th minute that Milan finally put the game, and more importantly, the tie, completely to bed. Ibrahimovic surged into the box, and went over under the slightest of challenges from the clumsy Djourou. To be fair to Djourou, it did look a bit soft, but you just cannot take those risks in your own box. Surely enough he slotted past Sczcesny, putting the icing on the cake for the home side.

We can count ourselves lucky that it was only four, on another day it could so easily have been more. Our defence looked shaky for the entirity, and this may have had something to do with Gibbs returning from injury. This left Vermaelen and Song having to constantly cover him rather than think about their own respective duties. This may have had something to do with Vermaelen's unusual sloppy performance.

This has, inevitably sparked more 'Wenger out' fans into life. Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their views, but it does seem as though Arsenal fans are changing their mind about the boss every game. The reality is we were not going to win the Champions League, it would have taken a miracle from somewhere. Yes, it was horrible having a night like that, but in some ways I think we can take the positives from this. Whilst Chelsea might progress past a talented Napoli side, we are unlikely too, and I think this will come to our advantage in our race for fourth.

One thing's for sure, today's game at Sunderland is a must-win in what is realistically speaking our last chance of silverware. It is of the utmost importance, and we need to pick ourselves up and focus on it. And as Sunderland proved last Saturday, they are no pushovers. We won't have Thierry to come and bail us out this time, so let's see some leadership and fight, and, for once, some real quality from Theo Walcott.

Otherwise this could be season number seven...

King Thierry's Parting Gift

The word 'legend' is often used to describe players who clubs supporters have become particularly fond of. Personally, I think it is overused. How else could you then describe someone like Thierry Henry? This man is a true legend, not just an Arsenal legend, but a footballing one too. After all, his return was widely greeted by players and fans from all over the Premiership, just happy to see a footballing great back where he belongs, I guess.

What makes him a legend, you ask? Well, it's hard to pinpoint that exactly, but here's three main points:

1) He has now scored 229 goals in 376 games for Arsenal (incl sub apps)

2) His ability to lift the crowd and the spirit inside the ground, his very presence has excited the fans ever since he scored an impressive 26 goals in his first season.

3) His tireless effort game in, game out. He won't score or even play well every game, but one thing you can always bet your house on is that he will put 100% in.

I shan't go on, you get the idea. For those that missed it, shame on you, but here's a brief summary of the game:

The first half produced little chances from either side, and what else can you expect when the home side puts every man they've got behind the ball? To say they parked the bus would be a massive understatement; but credit to them they defended extremely well given the 120 minutes they had played on Wednesday. There were a few half chances; most notably Robin van Persie's quick fire shot to Mignolet's left hand side which produced a decent save.

There was a slight change of tactic for the home side after the break; they decided to get out of their own half to somewhere vaguely near the Arsenal goal. This clearly worked for them as they started putting pressure on the Arsenal defence, forcing a couple of top quality saves from Woj, who, once again, put in a solid performance. It looked very much to be a game in which the first goal would be the decisive one, and for the opening 20 minutes of the second half this looked as though it would be Sunderland.

This goal came in the 70th minute, and it couldn't have been much more unfortunate. Mertesacker was passed back the ball, and with James McClean running towards him (but a fair distance away) he collapsed into a heap on the floor. McClean then grabbed the ball, ran it into the box, and hit a sweet shot the Sczcesny's far corner. A good finish, one might question though whether it was very sportsmanlike to play on, and if he didn't realise that Merte was injured, then maybe his team should have done something about it afterwards. It appears I stand alone with this view, so we'll let that one go. Let's hope, by the way, that Mertesacker recovers quickly from what looks to be an ankle ligaments problem- he will be sorely missed.

Arsenal teams in years gone by might have given up at this point. Fortunately, they showed their spirit, grit and desire to win the game shortly after Mertesacker was replaced by Aaron Ramsey. With one of his first touches, his shot cannoned off both posts before finally crossing the line. That was perhaps the bit of fortune we needed in a game which we had fallen behind in such desperately unlucky circumstances.

This game was now up for grabs, and the momentum was with us. However, both teams were creating chances in the final 10 minutes, and it appeared it would be a frustrating afternoon after all. However, in the 91st minute, Andrei Arshavin plucked a fine cross into the centre of the box, where one Thierry Henry was lurking, and sure enough he poked the ball past the keeper to give us a vital three points.

Deserved? Maybe not, but these are exactly the kind of games we need to be winning, where we need to make our own luck, and show the real desire to win the game. It's that sense of urgency to get the goals that we've been lacking, and that's what Thierry brought to the team yesterday. In some ways, a more pleasing win than last week against Blackburn, but we mustn't dwell on this for too long.

With Milan away on Wednesday, and Sunderland away again next weekend (FA Cup 5th round) we cannot afford slipups. We are more than capable of taking a result back from Italy, and as we've showed we can beat Sunderland, so no excuses. We should have Gibbs playing on Wednesday if Arsene thinks he's fit enough, but no Mertesacker. This will be Thierry's last ever game for Arsenal (surely!?) so he will be desperate to make a difference, what we wouldn't give to have him come off the bench to score again on Wednesday.

After all, '230 goals' does sound a lot nicer than '229', doesn't it?

Premiership Predictions

Don't normally like doing this, as one of the great things about the Premiership is the unpredictability of it, but i'll give today's games a go.

Manchester United v Liverpool

Always a fierce derby, and this is set up to be one of the fiercest to date. Luis Suarez, having come off the bench against Sp**s midweek for his first appearance since his 9 match suspension, is set to start his first game back since the ban came into effect. The victim of the crime? One Patrice Evra of Manchester United. Expect to see goals in this game to follow the suit of many of the magnificent games between top of the table teams this season. United haven't been their usual selves this year, but then again, it has been a very, very strange year in the Premiership. I think United will have too much for Liverpool today, and they will come out on top at Old Trafford.

Prediction: 3-2

Blackburn v QPR

After their mauling at the hands of Arsenal, Blackburn will be desperate to recover quickly, and recover quickly they must or they will soon face a huge uphill struggle to stay in the Premier League. Arguably their two key players, definitely two important players for them, Samba and Yakubu look set to both start after an (injury?) and suspension respectively had them miss Blackburn's trip to the Arsenal. QPR are without Cisse after he attempted to throttle (OK, maybe that's a little harsh) a Wolves player last week. They are, however, still fresh and rejuvenated by several new signings, including the debutant scorer versus Wolves last week Bobby Zamora. Both defences look like they will leak goals, so again expect to see a high scoring match, and I can see them seeing out a draw.

Prediction: 2-2

Bolton v Wigan

I'm afraid I just cannot look past Bolton for this one, after watching Wigan producing several below par performances this season (and that's being kind) and seeing Bolton stage a huge recovery in January from their disastrous first half of the season.

Prediction: 1-0

Everton v Chelsea

An interesting one, and a hard one to call. Everton haven't been up to their usual standards this season, but traditionally start badly and finish on a high. Loanees Royston Drenthe and Landon Donovan have energised the team a bit, and the tradition looks set to continue. Chelsea meanwhile have suffered one of their worst first halves of the season in a very long time. Their defence isn't the solid back line it used to be, but the new arrival of Cahill from Bolton coupled with David Luiz's improved performances have made it stronger. The quality that one is used to seeing from a Chelsea side in past years (players like Drogba, Lampard and Terry at their primes) is not there anymore, but they will be hungry for victory after the devastating blow of dropping a 3-0 lead versus Manchester United. Both teams will be up for it, i'm going for a draw here.

Prediction: 1-1

Fulham v Stoke

Both sides have had a pretty poor season, but Fulham are looking a bit better at home, and Stoke pretty dismal away from home. I think this one will be close, but Fulham to edge it with Dempsey on song.

Prediction: 2-1

Sunderland v Arsenal

My main call of attention today, and after Sunderland were pushed to extra time against Boro midweek, I think the Gunners will gratefully take three points today. The introduction of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain recently has been brilliant for the team, and with him and RvP expected to start, I can't see a fatigued Sunderland side being able to stop them. Arsenal's defence is, however, typically vulnerable to stupid goals.

Prediction: 1-2

Swansea v Norwich

The Swans have stunned the Premiership with confident, passing football this season, and they have been rewarded with what looks to be another League in the Premiership (at least). Norwich, another promoted side, have also done extremely well, and I can see the two sides cancelling each other out with very different games. I'm going for a bore draw here.

Prediction: 0-0

Sp**s v Newcastle

As an Arsenal fan, I've found myself thinking, praying, that Spurs will not and cannot keep up their incredible form in this campaign. However, this week, I genuinely think they will drop points. Newcastle's forward duo of the two Demba's looks lethal, and I can see this being an exciting, flowing game, that will see them both picking up a point.

Prediction: 1-1

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn...and the Rollercoaster Ride that is being a fan of Arsenal Football Club goes on...

Well, well, well. Not a bad way to end a bad run of form and, dare I say it, turn our season around. For the first time this season we saw glimpses of the 'old' Arsenal on Saturday, and to me it is just frustrating that we cannot perform anywhere near that standard on a regular basis. It was one of those days where everything went right for us, in a season where one might say we have had more than our fair share of bad luck. Let's not hype it up too much though, as for a large part of the game we were playing against a very poor 10-man Blackburn side.

However, I think we cqan take more from the game than just the result. In particular, we were once again shown the qualities that 18 year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain possesses. We as Arsenal and England fans have been told recently not to get 'too excited' about him, after the slightly (or in my case, massively) disappointing progression of one Theo Walcott. In this case, it is hard not to get 'too excited'; he has arguably been our best player in each of the last four games, and yesterday he was quite brilliant. Not only did he create one and score two goals, both of which an established striker would be proud of, he was constantly a danger to the Blackburn defence. Every time he got the ball the 55,000 Arsenal fans at the Emirates came alive, as did he. And maybe this is why Wenger did not sign an attacking player in January, much to the disbelief (not) of the Arsenal faithful. We will have to wait and see.

Another pleasing performance was Theo Walcott's. I personally am quick to criticise the 21 year old, but credit to him for an outstanding showing. A hat-trick of assists is arguably harder than the scoring itself, and similarly to Chamberlain, he looked lively throughout. His assist to Chamberlain himself came from a surging into the box, dribbling his way through four Blackburn players on his way; albeit getting a little bit fortunate. A good way to answer his critics, of which there appear to be many.

However, a good performance against a lacklustre Blackburn side without the experience of Samba or Yakubu, does not, for me, prove anything. When he turns it on he is undoubtedly a brilliant weapon to have and unleash. But when he only produces this sort of performances three or four times in a season, it isn't much use to us. Especially when you consider he has only missed out in one of the Premiership games we have played this season. How many goals has he scored? 3. How many assists? 7.

Now let's turn to AOC's stats; granted a little bit misleading after the sort of game he just had. Games? 5. Goals? 2. Assists? 1. Already he has proved he has more of a cutting edge and an eye for goal than Theo, and this answers a crucial question for me. That question is, of course, what happens when Gervinho comes back from the African Cup of Nations. For me the answer is easy. Start with Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain out wide, and introduce Theo to provide what could be some crucial bursts of pace towards the end of matches when the opposition has tired. Whether Arsene will agree with me is anyone's guess, knowing him he'll probably start someone completely different (Arshavin?).

Then there is the slight matter of Robin van Persie hat-trick. The most pleasing thing about this wasn't that he got his hat-trick, but that all the goals were the kind of goals that we have been missing in recent years. These are the 'poacher's' goal, and in my opinion he made the job of Theo Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain considerably much easier by making a number of terrific runs in and around the box. I don't think anymore need be said about this guy, everyone can see he is one of the on-form strikers in the Premiership and the World, and I just hope he continues in this vain against AC Milan next week.

Before that, though, we face a rejuvenated Sunderland side at the Stadium of Light, where we have come into problems in recent years. Perhaps a slightly disappointing thing for Gunners' fans is that Nicklas Bendtner cannot face his Parent Club, so we will have to put up with a certain Stephane Sessegnon. One feels that our defence will have to be at their very best to stop him along with the promising James McClean from scoring. We will also find out later tonight who our FA cup fifth round opponents will be, as the replay between Middlesbrough and Sunderland takes place. We will play the winner's of that tie away from home for the first time in a cup game this season.

Most years, we would probably accept a draw at Sunderland as a decent result, but this year that is definitely not the case. Anything less than a win is points dropped, and with Chelsea facing a tough fixture of Everton away, you might feel that we could gain some points on them this weekend.

More on the all important Champions League fixture at Milan after the weekend, until then, though, let's hope that we can continue where we left off on Saturday. In Arsene we trust...for now.

A Win, a Draw, Transfer Deadline Day, and all in 4 days...

Where to start? Bit of a strange week to be an Arsenal fan, that one, better start from the beginning, and the crazy FA Cup tie against Aston Villa on Sunday.

That first half simply was not good enough. It underlined our need to add some real quality to the squad. First, it showed the desperation for someone to strengthen our attack; there were plenty of good chances, but it appears the only player able to consistently find the back of the net is that man, Robin Van Persie. As we've learnt from the ultimate one-man-team, Liverpool, this is a very dangerous position to be in. 43% of our goals this season have come from the big man, and it is frightening to think where we would be without him. This is not to say that the wide men (Gervinho, Walcott and now the Ox being the only consistent starters there) are not up to it, but it is fair to say that none of them are proven to be decent finishers.

The second position is a defender. I think that all 52,000 Arsenal fans that were present at the Emirates yesterday could see that something in the back four just wasn't quite right. We seem to be giving away needless goals from set pieces for fun, offering no defensive resilience whatsoever. Whether we should actually sign anyone, to me anyway, is debatable. Let's start by looking at our [starting] back four yesterday, which were: Vermaelen, Koscielny, Merte, Coquelin. Vermaelen has been one of our most consistently brilliant players over the last few years, he's the one person in the Arsenal defence that we've always been able to trust. Is he a left back? No, but for the moment, we can probably manage with him filling in for the two injured ones. Then we have the two centre backs, Kosc and Merte. Both, for me, have been very solid so far this season, despite a perhaps a few dodgy Djourou-esque moments from Merte, and they combine well together with Merte's height and Kosc's pace. And then Coquelin right back. This guy is inexperienced, and a central midfielder playing out of position at right back let's remember. All things considered, I thought he did a sterling job filling in for Sagna on Sunday, and clearly offered more attacking prowess than Djourou. So there we have it, a perfectly decent back four. So what's the problem?

Well, for me, it's simple, it is not the individual defenders that are the problem with the defending, it is the defending of the team as a unit. This is the mentality of the team and their defending as a whole. For example, the first goal conceded vs Villa was a simple short corner crossed in and headed in to the back of the net with ease. Yes, Hutton jumped high to get it, but none of the Arsenal players around him looked like they wanted the ball as much as he did. And this is not just the one case, we don't seem to be able to defend set pieces at all well, and I think this is a problem with the mentality of the team in their approach to defending, rather than their technical abilities. The other obvious problem is that we lack some real cover to the back four now. The obvious one is Song, but he is becoming increasingly more attacking, and less reliable in tracking back and defending. More on that later.

So there we go, no need to dwell on what could have been now; the transfer window is shut and barring getting rid of Andrei Arshavin to Russia (a move which I can't see many Arsenal fans being too upset about) any further transfers to and from Arsenal Football Club will have to wait until the summer, where, once again, we will wait in agony and desperation, hoping, praying that Arsene will do the sensible thing and bring some true quality in. This is what happened in January to a lesser extent, and whilst it wasn't a surprise to see that the only addition to the squad this transfer window was an injury prone 18 year old midfielder from Dortmund (sadly not Mario Goetze) it was a bitter disappointment given our current situation.

That brings me to the game on Wednesday, a 0-0 draw at the Reebok against an improving Bolton side. Now most seasons a draw at the Reebok might be considered a respectable result to take away. However I think this time round Arsenal fans have every right to feel aggrieved and let down by their sides showing on Wednesday night. Bolton have been in and around the relegation zone all season, and after losing the last three League games, and six out of the 11 away games this season, dropping points really wasn't an option.

Was I surprised that we did? No, not really, in fact I was slightly surprised to have even come away with a point. Games like this require a lot of grit and determination from every one of those players, and this is something that we have not seen often enough in the past few years. In reality, we probably did deserve to come away with at least a point, if not three, but the finishing once again was not good enough. Granted, we got a bit unlucky, RVP could have had a hat rick had it not been for the woodwork and some brilliant last ditch defending from David Wheater (who I thought had an outstanding game, by the way).

The main reason we lost though, for me, was the sheer wastefulness of one Theo Walcott. Now, I haven't been his greatest fan for a while, but even his biggest admirer will tell you that the two chances he missed he really, really should have put away. They are the kind of chances that if they were presented to RVP, you would barely even need to look to know the ball ends up in the back of the net. Now this is fine if the Bolton game was a one of for him. But, i'm afraid it wasn't, and as Walcott said before the Bolton game

"I know my displays haven't been good enough"

This is an understatement. And whilst it's all good and well him coming out and acknowledging his poor displays, it would be quite nice to see some evidence to show that he is not, in fact, completely useless. When he is played alongside Oxlade-Chamberlain, it is almost embarrassing to see how much more efficient and technically better Oxlade-Chamberlain is than Walcott. I may be being harsh on the boy, but the way I see it he can barely make the simple passes, let alone score (something which he has done just a handful of times this season). So, Arsene, drop him. There are a number of options open to replace him, including Yossi Benayoun, Tomas Rosicky or even, dare I say it, Mr Andrei Arshavin. And what's happened to this guy Park? It strikes me he is just there to fill up the numbers of the squad, and if Wenger is considering giving him some actual game time he is taking his time about it.

I shan't bore you any longer, let's just hope that our situation (crisis?) hasn't got so bad that we even worry ahead of tomorrow's early kick off against Blackburn. As Wenger said, every game from now on is a cup final, and after seeing what Blackburn did to United at Old Trafford they certainly should not be underestimated. The gap between us and Chelsea stays the same, but we surely cannot afford to keep missing chances to close the gap, there are after all only 15 cup finals to go...

Quick mention to two blogs worth looking at if you have a chance:

http://thebluelions.wordpress.com/ if you want, God forbid, a Chelsea blog.

http://caughtbysport.wordpress.com/ if you want a more all round Sports blog.

Till Sunday then...

Why Arsenal's 'crisis' is much better than it seems...

Recent results, and, in particular, the devastating home defeat to rivals Manchester United last weekend have provoked many angry responses from the Arsenal 'faithful'.

However, I feel the so-called 'crisis' Arsenal are said to be in has been much over-hyped and exaggerated, and in many ways we can look back on the first half of this season as a relative success since the dreadful opening games and results. After all, on the 1st October, after having played six games, we lay 13th in the table sandwiched between Wolves and Sunderland, and we had accumulated just 6 points. I think you will all agree that we have somewhat recovered from this disastrous start.

There have been many extremely positive results for Arsenal fans to look back on with pride in this 'crisis', and, equally importantly, many encouraging performances. Most notably was the 5-3 away defeat of Chelsea, who, conveniently, seem to be our rivals for fourth place this time round. For me though, this was just one of many encouraging results and performances. Three weeks later was a very solid 2-1 victory at Norwich, which showed a glimpse of the grit and spirit an Arsenal team is capable of to grind out those important points.

The problem is, though, that this is not happening enough. The amount of times, not just in this season, but in the last five, that we have given away ridiculous goals, or let what seemed to be comfortable leads slip is beyond belief. This is the difference between a mediocre 4th placed team and Champions. How many times do you see a Man Utd or even a Chelsea give away leads late in the game?

This is what is constantly costing us one or even two places in the League, and this is what worries me the most. A couple of examples that still haunt me, and many of you, i'm sure, are both from last season. First, was the memorable (for the wrong reasons) 4-4 draw at Newcastle. Even the most optimistic Newcastle fan, and the most pessimistic Arsenal fan would not have predicted this, and, when the Arsenal were four up at half time even I recall saying 'This is a great chance to bolster our goal difference'. And then there was the 3-2 defeat at Wigan, where, similarly, we let a 2-0 lead slip to, somehow, lose.

Another rather vital problem that some Arsenal fans, and the man-who-can-do-no-wrong Arsene Wenger need to wake up and realise is that our squad really isn't good enough. What is really needed in the summer is a squad clearout. This would be the chance to get rid of any players that quite frankly, aren't up to it, and the ones that aren't interested. My recommendation would be:

Arshavin- Great at first, and looked like he would turn into an Arsenal legend after the 4 goals he put past liverpool at Anfield. Now, though, everything that he had in that first year at Arsenal seems to have faded, and it seems as though he can barely put a foot right. Get him back to Zenit and off the Arsenal bench, please.

Djourou/Squillaci- Both are, quite frankly, not top four players. Would make perfectly good defenders for a mid-table team, but unless we want to end up there, i'm afraid they've got to go.

Denilson- Lightweight, very average player. He's not young anymore and just not good enough.

Rosicky- Another player who was absolutely brilliant at first, one of our best players when he arrived, but had a major injury crisis. Some players recover from these, notably Aaron Ramsey, but this guy hasn't. He's not a bad substitute, but I reckon he's not going to be too happy seeing out the rest of his career on the bench.

Nicklas Bendtner- It seemed a good move loaning him to Sunderland at the beginning of the season. And I think it was, because the fact that he cannot stand out in a pretty average Sunderland side makes it clear that he's not going to make it as a top Arsenal player.

Marouane Chamakh- Another 'Arshavin'. His first few months at Arsenal were fantastic, he was our regular scorer with Van Persie out injured. As soon as RVP got back in the side though, and Chamakh was his reserve, he has been poor at best. His movement in and around the box is so minimal it's a joke. Doesn't look confident or able enough to score- get rid of him while we can still get a few pounds for him!

Park Chu-Young- This is one signing of Wenger's that I simply do not get. He signed him at 26, when a Striker should be starting to peak. Yet, nearing the end of January he has started just four matches and come off the bench in one (against Man Utd!) When he was signed, Wenger said about him:

He will add true quality to our attacking forces and will be a valuable addition to the squad".

Well Arsene, we would really like to see this promised 'true quality' and if it is not there, get him out.

Now on to the more upbeat side of things. The only current top 6 side that we have yet to play away from home is Liverpool. This gives us a big advantage going into the second half of the season. Defeat away from home to the Man City's and the Man Utd's is acceptable. Defeat at home, however, is out of the question. In fact, I feel as though we are more than capable to beat any side in the Premiership at home. And any side out of the top six we should, arguably, be beating away from home. This is not to say that we are going to get all of these results, but our fixture list is definitely much kinder to us.

We are also close to being able to get back some vital players/positions in the team. The fact that we, arguably, were playing our eighth choice left-back, Nico Yennaris, against Manchester United, underlines the desperation for our full backs back. Jack Wilshere, on the other hand, has had a setback in his recovery from a pre-season injury, and I think it could be a while until we see him back in the team, if at all this season.

We are not, by any means, in an ideal situation, but I feel with some luck, and some good, solid defending (a mean feat in itself) we can get into the all-important Champions League places, and who knows, maybe even mount a challenge for either of the cups we are still in.

One can only hope...