The silly season is already upon us, given that our chances of silverware are gone and the last two games are pretty much meaningless, I am sure the speculation will be here to stay for a few months. Arsene has been speaking of transfers and he has said that a maximum of three players will come in.
The player who will arrive before the world cup will be Chamakh, I don't think many people have doubts about this news. I hope the other two will be a centre back and a goalkeeper. We will see, and I reckon we will be linked to a record number of theoretical signings, it gets more stupid by the year, Arseweb used to record the player links, nowadays it is almost impossible to keep up with the sheer quantity of bullshit.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Sunday, 25 April 2010
It's a funny old game
With our realistic title chances ending after that bizarre ten minute spell in Wigan, yesterday's game against City was never going to set the world on fire, especially given Mancini's love for a defensive line up and Tottenham's loss at Old Trafford making a point a very decent result for City.
There is always a strange satisfaction in a clean sheet for me, maybe it's because we don't get them that frequently these days. There were certainly a few positives to take from the game. Fabianski didn't fumble one into his own net, Silvestre didn't do half bad, big Sol was solid again and looked as quick as a whippet on speed, Samir Nasri was again inventive and involved, RVP is back and gave Emmanuel Adebayor a good tickle with his legs. One thing that was certainly confirmed by the game was the fact that Adebayor is a total prat and we did very well to get so much money for a rather limited footballer.
There was a real end of season feel to the game, City never really came out of their shell, content to sit with men behind the ball and time wasting from the off. There were only a few half chances, most of them falling to us, RVP narrowly missing with a decent curling free kick, Nasri testing Given with a firm effort in the first half, probably the best effort was Diaby's low crackerjack that looked to dislocate Shay Given's left shoulder as he tipped it wide for a corner.
So another season without silverware, but there's no doubt that we have made some real progress in some departments and with the right additions we will be a real force next year. Although some people think Arsene's time has come, these people would do well to appreciate just what he has established here, we are in a solid third position and will be in the Champions League yet again, this continued success means that our financial position is sound and now we can begin to invest some of our revenues in the new talent that can push us on to the next level.
There is always a strange satisfaction in a clean sheet for me, maybe it's because we don't get them that frequently these days. There were certainly a few positives to take from the game. Fabianski didn't fumble one into his own net, Silvestre didn't do half bad, big Sol was solid again and looked as quick as a whippet on speed, Samir Nasri was again inventive and involved, RVP is back and gave Emmanuel Adebayor a good tickle with his legs. One thing that was certainly confirmed by the game was the fact that Adebayor is a total prat and we did very well to get so much money for a rather limited footballer.
There was a real end of season feel to the game, City never really came out of their shell, content to sit with men behind the ball and time wasting from the off. There were only a few half chances, most of them falling to us, RVP narrowly missing with a decent curling free kick, Nasri testing Given with a firm effort in the first half, probably the best effort was Diaby's low crackerjack that looked to dislocate Shay Given's left shoulder as he tipped it wide for a corner.
So another season without silverware, but there's no doubt that we have made some real progress in some departments and with the right additions we will be a real force next year. Although some people think Arsene's time has come, these people would do well to appreciate just what he has established here, we are in a solid third position and will be in the Champions League yet again, this continued success means that our financial position is sound and now we can begin to invest some of our revenues in the new talent that can push us on to the next level.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Why did we capitulate? Calmer thoughts
There was a mixture of disbelief, anger and pure frustration in my veins on Sunday. Having had some time to reflect I feel we have learnt a lot about our players in recent weeks, some things learnt have been good, others not, what is clear is that we do seem to have a clearer picture of what we lack and what we need for next season.
Some of the reaction has been way over the top, some calls for Arsene's head on a platter are embarrassing. However when the most moderate and sensible commentators such as Goodplaya are saying some rather worrying things, I think now is definitely a make or break time for the manager and this is with good reason.
Mentality. Some players are leaders and fighters, Sol Campbell, Thomas Vermaelen and RVP strike me as such men, you need a core of these kind of characters in your side to fight through the tough times, the tough games and the tough challenges. Whatever the reasons for the surrender of certain players, it just occurs to me that maybe we need more fighters and less shirkers. Are all our players sufficiently motivated and determined to carry our club to the next level. One man who has shown a lot of recent fight has been Samir Nasri, he hasn't always played superbly but he has invariably run his socks off for the cause. When your team is playing badly you need your work rate and fight to pull you through, without this capitulation is much more likely. I wonder which players you feel lack these vital mental attributes to succeed at the highest level?
Experience. Personally I don't think experience is our biggest problem, we just lack the right balance in the squad in terms of playing attributes, we have a lot of experienced seasoned internationals. Experience may be a bit of a red herring I feel.
The Personnel. There is no doubt that in certain areas (GK, CB, DCM) we do not have the quality. We lack a first choice centre back pairing that complement each other, the quality cover is also not there, this is also the case in defensive midfield.
Coaching/Organisation. There are undoubtedly some things that we are brilliant at, for example our fitness and technical levels are top notch. One thing that can definitely be pointed out is the lack of cohesion we have as a team, whether this is more down to the personnel than the coaching is difficult to work out as an outsider, but something is certainly amiss.
Overall we're not far off, but there are clear deficiencies in several key elements that are needed for success at the highest level. I think massive changes to the squad would be too much and huge shifts in players can create new problems, but minimal change would be too little. I think we need to send out a message to those who have not shown the fight or passion for the club, at least a couple of players must be jettisoned to send out a stark warning to the remaining squad members. Those players that we do recruit in the summer must be cut from the right wood, they must be battlers, they must be willing to fight for the club, we need to unearth the Sols of the future if we are to recreate another golden generation.
Some of the reaction has been way over the top, some calls for Arsene's head on a platter are embarrassing. However when the most moderate and sensible commentators such as Goodplaya are saying some rather worrying things, I think now is definitely a make or break time for the manager and this is with good reason.
Mentality. Some players are leaders and fighters, Sol Campbell, Thomas Vermaelen and RVP strike me as such men, you need a core of these kind of characters in your side to fight through the tough times, the tough games and the tough challenges. Whatever the reasons for the surrender of certain players, it just occurs to me that maybe we need more fighters and less shirkers. Are all our players sufficiently motivated and determined to carry our club to the next level. One man who has shown a lot of recent fight has been Samir Nasri, he hasn't always played superbly but he has invariably run his socks off for the cause. When your team is playing badly you need your work rate and fight to pull you through, without this capitulation is much more likely. I wonder which players you feel lack these vital mental attributes to succeed at the highest level?
Experience. Personally I don't think experience is our biggest problem, we just lack the right balance in the squad in terms of playing attributes, we have a lot of experienced seasoned internationals. Experience may be a bit of a red herring I feel.
The Personnel. There is no doubt that in certain areas (GK, CB, DCM) we do not have the quality. We lack a first choice centre back pairing that complement each other, the quality cover is also not there, this is also the case in defensive midfield.
Coaching/Organisation. There are undoubtedly some things that we are brilliant at, for example our fitness and technical levels are top notch. One thing that can definitely be pointed out is the lack of cohesion we have as a team, whether this is more down to the personnel than the coaching is difficult to work out as an outsider, but something is certainly amiss.
Overall we're not far off, but there are clear deficiencies in several key elements that are needed for success at the highest level. I think massive changes to the squad would be too much and huge shifts in players can create new problems, but minimal change would be too little. I think we need to send out a message to those who have not shown the fight or passion for the club, at least a couple of players must be jettisoned to send out a stark warning to the remaining squad members. Those players that we do recruit in the summer must be cut from the right wood, they must be battlers, they must be willing to fight for the club, we need to unearth the Sols of the future if we are to recreate another golden generation.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
An absolute shambles
In a strangely optimistic way, the fact that we threw away three points today against Wigan may actually be a kind of blessing in disguise. Let me explain.
We have been on contention for the title in the last few weeks, yet our Achilles heel has been exposed time and time again, against Chelsea, Birmingham and Tottenham for just three examples, the shambolic defending on show has been nothing but shocking.
We can make excuses, injuries, luck, et cetera, but frankly many of the defensive problems are down to the fact that we have not defended solidly all season and our squad is weak in certain areas. Arsene cannot hide from this now, it is out there in the open and he must do something in the summer, there is no room for any more excuses.
Certain players are simply not Arsenal quality, Silvestre and Fabianski are two clear examples of this, their careers at the club should be over and if not, then serious questions should be asked regarding the manager's judgement. Fabianski has made error after error this season, while Silvestre is clearly well past it.
In all honesty we are not good enough defensively and have not been all season, I don't think the recent dropped points have been particularly surprising, it's been going on all season, we have conceded almost forty goals this season. Our defense needs proper surgery this summer, I think there's no hiding from this now, the money is there and it must be spent.
We have been on contention for the title in the last few weeks, yet our Achilles heel has been exposed time and time again, against Chelsea, Birmingham and Tottenham for just three examples, the shambolic defending on show has been nothing but shocking.
We can make excuses, injuries, luck, et cetera, but frankly many of the defensive problems are down to the fact that we have not defended solidly all season and our squad is weak in certain areas. Arsene cannot hide from this now, it is out there in the open and he must do something in the summer, there is no room for any more excuses.
Certain players are simply not Arsenal quality, Silvestre and Fabianski are two clear examples of this, their careers at the club should be over and if not, then serious questions should be asked regarding the manager's judgement. Fabianski has made error after error this season, while Silvestre is clearly well past it.
In all honesty we are not good enough defensively and have not been all season, I don't think the recent dropped points have been particularly surprising, it's been going on all season, we have conceded almost forty goals this season. Our defense needs proper surgery this summer, I think there's no hiding from this now, the money is there and it must be spent.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Lacking 'maturity' and the close season predictions
Our lack in certain areas of the squad is obvious and has been for some time. In my opinion a degree of blame must be positioned outside Arsene's door, he has had the opportunities to strengthen and he has not done so. To keep this in context there has definitely been some progress from last season, however this could have been considerably greater if the right purchases had been made at the right time, obviously this is much easier to say 'Championship Manager' style than to do in practice, nonetheless there is now no doubt in the majority of Gooners' minds that some significant changes must be made to the squad this summer by the manager.
Stasis and maintaining the status quo will result in the same failings next season if nothing is done. The fact that Arsene openly admitted that we lack 'maturity' against Spurs is a sad indictment on his own decision not to buy some solid experienced players for the squad over the past couple of seasons. He is now pointing out our clear lack of defensive strength in depth, another thing that has been blatant for some time.
Take out first team squad and analyse it. Realistically you need one top keeper, one solid deputy and a decent third choice, two full backs for each side, arguably four quality centre backs, two decent defensive midfielders, four other all roundish midfielders, four decent wide players and four strikers. This analysis takes a bit of guessing and a few assumptions. I shall assume that the only youngsters ready for contention are Wilshere/Wojciech Szczęsny and I will assume that Gallas/Silvestre/Campbell are off.
Goalkeepers. We need a top notch stopper, Almunia has not been good enough. Wojciech Szczęsny may be good enough in the long term but if not ready yet then we need to invest in an experienced stopper.
Fullbacks. Here we are ok. Sagna/Eboue at right back and the latter may well be about to displace the former given their recent form. Gibbs/Clichy is enough at left back.
Centre backs. Here we are woefully short. Vermaelen is on the team sheet but we need a top notch commanding partner for him. If Djourou gets fit then he can be a decent squad player, Campbell can stay on for a year maybe, but we still need one more, whether Bartley is up to the Premiership will be key, if not then we need two centre backs for sure.
Defensive midfield. We are very weak here, Song is our only midfielder who can defend, we need at least one more player who can play this role, I would also argue that we need to replace one or two of our technical ball players with more physical and robust all round combative midfielders. The balance of the squad is way off, we need more Parlour type players. JET, Lansbury, et al should not be forgotten as well but they are arguably more attacking players.
Midfield. We have enough technical ball players, of this there is no doubt. We have Cesc, Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky, Nasri, Merida and Ramsey.
Wide forwards/Wingers. We have plenty of attacking midfielders but not many are genuine wide men, maybe this isn't neccessary given the 4-3-3 system. I would count Arshavin, Walcott, Wilshere as these players, obviously the likes of Merida, Nasri and Rosicky give us a flexibility in this department.
Strikers. We have RVP/Bendtner/Eduardo. Eduardo is running out of time to prove himself, as is Vela. It looks like at least one of these two will leave in the summer, Chamakh appears a done deal.
Overall it seems obvious that we need to strengthen ourselves up defensively. We do not need any more young players either. Arsene needs to go out and buy an experienced goalkeeper, at least one experienced centre back and a defensive midfielder. This is a minimum. We need more defensive strength in the first team and on the bench, there is also an argument that we need to sort out the way that our defense is coached to cut out the basic errors we have been making far too frequently of late. It is the manager's job to address these problems with our squad and if he does not then he should take the blame, sometimes enough is enough.
Stasis and maintaining the status quo will result in the same failings next season if nothing is done. The fact that Arsene openly admitted that we lack 'maturity' against Spurs is a sad indictment on his own decision not to buy some solid experienced players for the squad over the past couple of seasons. He is now pointing out our clear lack of defensive strength in depth, another thing that has been blatant for some time.
Take out first team squad and analyse it. Realistically you need one top keeper, one solid deputy and a decent third choice, two full backs for each side, arguably four quality centre backs, two decent defensive midfielders, four other all roundish midfielders, four decent wide players and four strikers. This analysis takes a bit of guessing and a few assumptions. I shall assume that the only youngsters ready for contention are Wilshere/Wojciech Szczęsny and I will assume that Gallas/Silvestre/Campbell are off.
Goalkeepers. We need a top notch stopper, Almunia has not been good enough. Wojciech Szczęsny may be good enough in the long term but if not ready yet then we need to invest in an experienced stopper.
Fullbacks. Here we are ok. Sagna/Eboue at right back and the latter may well be about to displace the former given their recent form. Gibbs/Clichy is enough at left back.
Centre backs. Here we are woefully short. Vermaelen is on the team sheet but we need a top notch commanding partner for him. If Djourou gets fit then he can be a decent squad player, Campbell can stay on for a year maybe, but we still need one more, whether Bartley is up to the Premiership will be key, if not then we need two centre backs for sure.
Defensive midfield. We are very weak here, Song is our only midfielder who can defend, we need at least one more player who can play this role, I would also argue that we need to replace one or two of our technical ball players with more physical and robust all round combative midfielders. The balance of the squad is way off, we need more Parlour type players. JET, Lansbury, et al should not be forgotten as well but they are arguably more attacking players.
Midfield. We have enough technical ball players, of this there is no doubt. We have Cesc, Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky, Nasri, Merida and Ramsey.
Wide forwards/Wingers. We have plenty of attacking midfielders but not many are genuine wide men, maybe this isn't neccessary given the 4-3-3 system. I would count Arshavin, Walcott, Wilshere as these players, obviously the likes of Merida, Nasri and Rosicky give us a flexibility in this department.
Strikers. We have RVP/Bendtner/Eduardo. Eduardo is running out of time to prove himself, as is Vela. It looks like at least one of these two will leave in the summer, Chamakh appears a done deal.
Overall it seems obvious that we need to strengthen ourselves up defensively. We do not need any more young players either. Arsene needs to go out and buy an experienced goalkeeper, at least one experienced centre back and a defensive midfielder. This is a minimum. We need more defensive strength in the first team and on the bench, there is also an argument that we need to sort out the way that our defense is coached to cut out the basic errors we have been making far too frequently of late. It is the manager's job to address these problems with our squad and if he does not then he should take the blame, sometimes enough is enough.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Fight, defending and our failings, plus ratings
It's hard to disagree with much Arsene said after the game, many of us can also empathise with Arsene's feelings of frustration and disappointment. As Arsene says we were never really under threat, we didn't use the large amounts of possession we had well enough, we lacked sharpness in the final third on the whole.
For me it has been our ability to leak soft goals that has cost us this season, this has been for several key reasons. None of our goalkeepers have been on top form, we have not got the strength in depth in terms of centre backs, Sagna and Clichy have not had the best of seasons, while there has been no defensive midfield cover for Song, our inability to press as a team has also meant we can be a bit easy to cut through at times.
Some of our players were magnificent last night, while some were not. Sol Campbell was awesome, the fight and determination he showed was not apparent in the whole side, Nasri was excellent, Clichy worked hard as well. There were too many under performers, Sagna has not been at his best for a while, Almunia is just not quite good enough, Silvestre is way short of being good enough, Denilson and Diaby seemed to miss Song, Rosicky and Eboue were ineffective in the final third, while Bendtner was too isolated. RVP came on and was magnificent, he had the fight of Campbell combined with the cutting edge of Bergkamp, a truly electrifying performance, Theo gave us more of a cutting edge on the right as well.
Almunia - 3 - Erratic and a poor punch out for the goal.
Sagna - 3 - Off the pace and badly out of position for the second goal.
Campbell - 10 - Terrific fight and some tremendous tackling. Has he another year in him?
Vermaelen - Injured early on.
Clichy - 7 - fought hard and was one of our better players.
Denilson - 5 - Average.
Diaby - 6 - Frustrating given his ability.
Nasri - 8 - Always looking for the ball, inventive and hard working. Our best midfielder.
Rosicky - 5 - Ineffective.
Eboue - 5 - Tried hard but no end product.
Bendtner - 6 - Isolated.
Subs
Silvestre - 1 - Not up to it. His pass near the end summed up his season's contribution.
RVP - 10 - Fantastic.
Walcott - 7 - Gave us a cutting edge out wide.
Overall we have definitely made progress this season, unfortunately we have come up short when it matters and this is really symptomatic of how we are just not quite good enough in a few areas. We need a better goalkeeper. We need to defend better as a team and this also includes having a bit more depth in the squad in certain defensive positions. We need more luck with injuries, the number of key players we have lost this season for long periods has been quite ridiculous.
One thing I have particularly noticed this season has been how our defensive weakness has seen us unable to soak up pressure and kill teams on the counter attack, this has been a hallmark of our previous double winning sides under Arsene. Other teams have beaten us with our own old game, we have often conceded a cheap early goal which then enables the opposition to sit back, defend in numbers and then kill us on the break, this has happened so many times, Everton, Chelsea and Spurs are just three recent examples. We need to rediscover this footballing dimension for next season, possession does not win you titles, defending solidly does. It is a bit of a vicious cycle, our defensive weakness means we can only really play one way, we need to learn to defend better and we may need to change a few personnel to do this, this will then mean that we could soak up pressure when we need to, we need this dimension to our game back.
For me it has been our ability to leak soft goals that has cost us this season, this has been for several key reasons. None of our goalkeepers have been on top form, we have not got the strength in depth in terms of centre backs, Sagna and Clichy have not had the best of seasons, while there has been no defensive midfield cover for Song, our inability to press as a team has also meant we can be a bit easy to cut through at times.
Some of our players were magnificent last night, while some were not. Sol Campbell was awesome, the fight and determination he showed was not apparent in the whole side, Nasri was excellent, Clichy worked hard as well. There were too many under performers, Sagna has not been at his best for a while, Almunia is just not quite good enough, Silvestre is way short of being good enough, Denilson and Diaby seemed to miss Song, Rosicky and Eboue were ineffective in the final third, while Bendtner was too isolated. RVP came on and was magnificent, he had the fight of Campbell combined with the cutting edge of Bergkamp, a truly electrifying performance, Theo gave us more of a cutting edge on the right as well.
Almunia - 3 - Erratic and a poor punch out for the goal.
Sagna - 3 - Off the pace and badly out of position for the second goal.
Campbell - 10 - Terrific fight and some tremendous tackling. Has he another year in him?
Vermaelen - Injured early on.
Clichy - 7 - fought hard and was one of our better players.
Denilson - 5 - Average.
Diaby - 6 - Frustrating given his ability.
Nasri - 8 - Always looking for the ball, inventive and hard working. Our best midfielder.
Rosicky - 5 - Ineffective.
Eboue - 5 - Tried hard but no end product.
Bendtner - 6 - Isolated.
Subs
Silvestre - 1 - Not up to it. His pass near the end summed up his season's contribution.
RVP - 10 - Fantastic.
Walcott - 7 - Gave us a cutting edge out wide.
Overall we have definitely made progress this season, unfortunately we have come up short when it matters and this is really symptomatic of how we are just not quite good enough in a few areas. We need a better goalkeeper. We need to defend better as a team and this also includes having a bit more depth in the squad in certain defensive positions. We need more luck with injuries, the number of key players we have lost this season for long periods has been quite ridiculous.
One thing I have particularly noticed this season has been how our defensive weakness has seen us unable to soak up pressure and kill teams on the counter attack, this has been a hallmark of our previous double winning sides under Arsene. Other teams have beaten us with our own old game, we have often conceded a cheap early goal which then enables the opposition to sit back, defend in numbers and then kill us on the break, this has happened so many times, Everton, Chelsea and Spurs are just three recent examples. We need to rediscover this footballing dimension for next season, possession does not win you titles, defending solidly does. It is a bit of a vicious cycle, our defensive weakness means we can only really play one way, we need to learn to defend better and we may need to change a few personnel to do this, this will then mean that we could soak up pressure when we need to, we need this dimension to our game back.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Too many schoolboy mistakes cost us dear
Firstly one must give some credit to Spurs for their first win against us in the league for some time, but frankly we shot ourselves up the arse today. It may be a cliche, but you will never win the league with the defensive howlers that were exhibited tonight.
The first goal for the spuds was a nice hit, but Almunia should have caught the corner, he was under no pressure, he was then a bit slow to react to Rose's volley. From that moment on we were always chasing the game, and this suited our inferior opposition, they could sit back and defend in numbers and then hit us on the counter.
It could all have been so different if Campbell's early effort had crossed the line, we could then have picked the spuds off on the break. For the rest of the first half we huffed and puffed, we lacked a real cutting edge offensively, Bendtner was isolated, Rosicky and Eboue weren't doing the job.
Bale's goal was shocking, Sagna was caught playing him onside when he should have been well off, it was elementary stuff. Time and time again this season we have conceded cheap goals like this and in the end it is this which has cost us the title for all our offensive prowess.
The last twenty minutes saw us hammer the spuds, how they only conceded one was a down to a mixture of luck and excellent goalkeeping. RVP and Walcott made a huge difference, the former was looking as sharp as a razor and would have had a hat trick but for Gomez' heroics.
Overall this game summed up our season's failing in a way. We were unlucky with injuries to so many key players yet again, but our squad is far too weak in certain areas to absorb certain absentees, for example at centre back and in central defensive midfield, we need more strength in the squad and this has been obvious for some time. We were unlucky to come up against such inspired goalkeeping, however you create your own luck to a degree and the cheap goals we conceded have been the story of the season.
The first goal often changes the game, and this was perfectly demonstrated today, we started so well, we were knocking the ball around very sweetly and looking by far the better side, then we took the shotgun to our own head. We need to defend better next season if we are to win the title, Arsene should go about addressing this problem before anything else. Spuds fans should enjoy the win because they won't be getting another for some time, what a bunch of dysmorphic cretins they are.
The first goal for the spuds was a nice hit, but Almunia should have caught the corner, he was under no pressure, he was then a bit slow to react to Rose's volley. From that moment on we were always chasing the game, and this suited our inferior opposition, they could sit back and defend in numbers and then hit us on the counter.
It could all have been so different if Campbell's early effort had crossed the line, we could then have picked the spuds off on the break. For the rest of the first half we huffed and puffed, we lacked a real cutting edge offensively, Bendtner was isolated, Rosicky and Eboue weren't doing the job.
Bale's goal was shocking, Sagna was caught playing him onside when he should have been well off, it was elementary stuff. Time and time again this season we have conceded cheap goals like this and in the end it is this which has cost us the title for all our offensive prowess.
The last twenty minutes saw us hammer the spuds, how they only conceded one was a down to a mixture of luck and excellent goalkeeping. RVP and Walcott made a huge difference, the former was looking as sharp as a razor and would have had a hat trick but for Gomez' heroics.
Overall this game summed up our season's failing in a way. We were unlucky with injuries to so many key players yet again, but our squad is far too weak in certain areas to absorb certain absentees, for example at centre back and in central defensive midfield, we need more strength in the squad and this has been obvious for some time. We were unlucky to come up against such inspired goalkeeping, however you create your own luck to a degree and the cheap goals we conceded have been the story of the season.
The first goal often changes the game, and this was perfectly demonstrated today, we started so well, we were knocking the ball around very sweetly and looking by far the better side, then we took the shotgun to our own head. We need to defend better next season if we are to win the title, Arsene should go about addressing this problem before anything else. Spuds fans should enjoy the win because they won't be getting another for some time, what a bunch of dysmorphic cretins they are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)