Your Chance To Vote On The Best Arsenal Players Of The Season

It’s that time of year when everyone reflects on the somewhat tumultuous journey we’ve been on this past season. Today we give you all the opportunity to vote for those players you believe were the most influential in the campaign.

I have added a supplementary poll at the end to stimulate discussion for the day.

In order to avoid any subliminal bias on my part creeping into your choice, I have listed the players in alphabetical order according to their surname.

This last poll is about your choice of what type of player we should buy if we could only bring in one new top quality player in the summer transfer window……..

Just added this last one for a bit of controversy …

Apologies if you think I’ve left any player out, Coquelin is undoubtedly a talent but he hasn’t really played enough to be in consideration.

You can view the on-going results by clicking the box at the bottom of each poll, we shall publish the final results.

I hope you’ve had fun, please carry the debate on your choices through into the day’s comments.

Rasp

St Totteringham’s Day – Report & Player Ratings

That was a very, very nervous experience made all the more intense by the fact that we were expected to win. Some how being the underdog in crucial games makes it just that little more bearable when a loss is inevitably considered before and during the game. But win we did and by doing so we secured the chance to play Champions League football next season which I believe makes it sixteen seasons on the trot, no mean feat when you consider just how desperate and disappointed those around us were at missing out again.

Does that introduction work? Nah, it was nail biting hell, ninety four minutes of torture before the release of the final whistle and the opportunity to laugh at the pained faces of those left wondering “if only” at White Hart Lane. That’s better, that’s more like the introduction that this game deserves.

It was in fact a very professional win, every player followed the game plan, nobody panicked, all of which lead to our just desserts safely being locked away at the home of football.

As I sit hear in the afterglow, looking back at the season I think it has to be said that the single most important decision made was that to drop Vermaelen. This is not meant as a poke at the Belgian, I am convinced he remains a very popular player amongst Arsenal supporters; it’s just that everything points to him being put on the bench as the spark that galvanised the defence.

Do any of you remember the debate that divided us over which centre back paring would be the most successful? Half the people said Vermaelen and Mertesacker and the other half said Vermalen and Koscielny, I was one of those arguing that the later combination would be more mobile. But I think it is fair to say no one argued for Mertesacker and Koscielny.

Well there you go, those two flanked by Gibbs, Nacho and Sagna have proved to be a very solid defensive unit indeed.

Did you notice how much more controlled Sagna was in his attacking play today, no wild crosses and solid as ever in his defensive duties.

I can’t finish the defence without giving Koscielny special attention; he was the standout player of the day and the Man of the Match by some distance. Koz, you have no idea how much happier you have made all of our summers; for you, your performance and your goal we salute you.

The midfield worked well together. Ramsey was immense and will rightly pick up the AA award for the most improved player. He started the season coming on as a sub on the right wing and did very well; he then got his chance to start in the middle and was poor, poor to the point of serious abuse. From there he disappeared back to the bench, reappearing after the spud loss to progress to being undroppable which is where he is today.

Sadly for our Spanish Captain couldn’t lead us to the end of the game but the Ox came on and added fire to the midfield belly. Have you noticed how well he and Walcott work together? Theo is the senior player and is able to tell the Ox exactly what he wants to happen, the upshot is that Theo plays with a greater confidence.

If I have one minor moan it would be that Rosicky was a bit sloppy by his usual high standards. Many will not like me saying this but I think we were a bit fortunate that Wilshere got injured when he did because if we had carried on playing the same way we did against spuds I believe we would not be in this happy position today. Rosicky is an attacking midfielder who interacts well with the most talented player we have at the club and Wilshere is nowhere near that yet.

And on the subject of the most talented player at the club I am sure we are all agreed that the AA award for best player of the season goes to Cazorla, he ran his socks off again and boy what a great buy he turned out to be.

Podolski, not being so brilliant in the air, forces Sagna and Gibbs to send the ball into the box along the ground rather than hoofing it high which is one of my pet hates; his tally of assists this season is very impressive. As to whether he is the answer to our number nine issues I neither know nor care today, I am just pleased with our not quite so BFG.

It was a good day to be an Arsenal supporter, we need to push on from here with some quality summer signings but I will leave you with my favourite image of the day. Remember the end of the game when the Sky cameras went over to White  Hart Lane? Well think of despair of their faces and chuckle.

Have a great day.

Written by LB

Following on from LB’s excellent report Rocky would like to offer these player ratings:

Szczesny: little to do but exuded confidence. 7

Sagna: very solid performance. He still seems a fraction slower than before his leg breaks but he defended well against Newcastle. 7

Gibbs: got pulled out of position a bit in the first 20, but played very well thereafter. 7.5

Mertesacker: typically good showing from the BFG. He is one of the best CB’s in the EPL. 8

Koscielny: a perfect performance at the back, augmented by as coring the all-important winning goal. 9 (MOTM)

Arteta: it was clearly a risk starting him, but he played with his usual efficiency before having to retire with injury early doors. 7

Rosicky: not everything came off for TR7 but he was involved in some of our best moves and his work rate was incredible. 7.5

Ramsey: phenomenal effort as we’ve come to expect. Some of his best work is unspectacular and, therefore, is missed by many. An invaluable player on the day. 8

Cazorla: drifted out at times but was a persistent threat to Newcastle and fought very hard for the cause. 8

Walcott: plenty of effort and skill from Theo, who was double- or triple-teamed throughout. It was a relief that his late effort that hit the post after great solo play did not turn out costly. 8

Podolski: Lukas was up for this one and fought hard in both attack and defence. Got a head on the ball to set up Koscielny’s winner. 7.5

Subs

Oxlade- Chamberlain: it was a surprise when Oxo slotted in to the holding midfield role vacated boyar teat, but hE did well. 7.5

Giroud: his hold-up play was good and his presence helped see us through to kids debating. 7

Wilshere: not time enough to do anything special. 7

 

Cazorla Conducts : Arsenal 4 Wigan 1

Last night was the next in a long line of must win matches, must win if staying ahead of that lot down the road is important, which it is.

This will be a slightly more sketchy report than I usually do because:

a) I was there so did not have benefit of copious replays
b) I’d met other AAers in the Tavern prematch.

Everywhere you looked every conversation you caught was tense and nervy, the Dean effect was discussed, the ability to throw away good work with a defensive lapse, the lack of a much needed finisher.

Come full time we were happy Gunners wondering why we were so worried.

The early goal a poachers header by Podolski from Cazorla’s corner took some fingernails away from teeth, the ball had gone over Mertesacker’s head and Wigan defenders failed to clear the danger, the story of their season.

Unfortunately the team then found the handbrake as they have done so often during this run in and seemed to decide one was enough.

This affected the crowd, tension grew as we sat deeper allowing Wigan to play their patterns, I really like the way Wigan play forward, they always seemed to have an extra man even when we were well set defensively, we got pulled about left and right. But with a bit more quality when we were in possession we should have been able to punish them on the counter, however we didn’t appear to want to leave our half.

Everyone put in a shift, then Dean started to try and influence the game, allowing some robust challenges on red and white shirts to go unpunished, one particularly memorable one was on Santi which led to a Wigan attack while Dean surprisingly to everyone but the conspiracy theorists waved play on.

Not so long after Dean awarded what appeared to be a very soft free kick on the edge of our area. Maloney stepped up and looped it over our wall into the corner of the net, it was a well taken free kick, but Pod could have been a little braver in the wall.

The boos at half time were reserved for Mike Dean as he left the pitch.

The second half started and we were still a little nervy but at least we were now on the attack a bit more, and trying to use the ball better in possession.

It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that we could breathe a little easier, Santi released down the right flank produced the best cross of the game, Theo had taken a good position in the centre and met the ball to finish. Theo Theo reverberated around the Emirates, but the real difference was Santi’s cross, we had put in many a poor cross from the right before that or chose the wrong options, Santi just looked up saw his target and put it on a plate.

Moments later we were on our feet again, Santi helping the ball through to Podolski who flicked it over the approaching Wigan keeper.

Ramsey then rounded off a very productive 10 minutes and another high energy display from himself with a much deserved goal, you could see the relief in his celebration. It was a very good goal, finding himself on the left wing he was released by Santi again, he ran with purpose towards the area, and without many options he decided he would have one for himself, cutting onto his right foot and finishing high into the net.

“Are you watching Tottenham?” Asked the Emirates faithful, I’m pretty sure they were, and the thought of them crying in their beer was very heartwarming.

The only worrying development towards the end of the game was Arteta limping off with a calf pull, which leaves us a selection dilemma come Sunday, Podolski’s goals also give Arsene another decision to make with Giroud available for the final game.

At the final whistle celebration in the home end quickly turned to respect for Wigan players, manager and fans, with most around us applauding Wigan players as they came over to commiserate with their fans. The Premier League will be a less entertaining place without them.

The team then went on its traditional lap of appreciation, BFG walking closest to the fans, fist pumping his way round, the crowd sang to the players, after this troubled season it was as if some of the wounds have healed, we can see they care, they know we care, and in unity we can only grow stronger.

Player ratings

Szczesny 7 could have done better with goal

Sagna 7 solid at back, crossing poor

Koscielny 7.5 solid

BFG 7.5 solid

Gibbs 6.5 not his attacking self in the run in

Arteta 7.5 keeps us ticking

Ramsey 8 Another high energy display wrapped up with a goal

Rosicky 7.5 took up good positions, moved the ball on

Cazorla 9 Genius

Theo 8 worked hard tonight, good finish

Podolski 8 two good goals

Written by Gooner in Exile

A Hard Fought Draw

This was on paper always going to be the most tricky game of our run in and chase for a Champions League spot. Added to the normal nerves of entertaining United was the return of Brave Sir Robin, and the indignity of having to give said Dutchman and his new teammates a guard of honour on to the pitch after winning the title last Monday. As a mark of my disgust I did not enter the living room until that silly business had been completed.

On to the match, Arsene had picked the side most of us would have expected before the game. Podolski in for the suspended Giroud and with a chance to prove that his future in the team rests in a central striking position.

I posted the following comment before kick off yesterday:

What do I want today? 3 points obviously…..but more importantly I want us to take the field showing a belief that we can win. Too often this season we have gone out in games against Top 4 competitors with a look of a team destined to lose and given a performance to match.

From the start the team set about United in a fashion we have not seen for quite some time. We pressed the ball, were quick to the tackle and competing for the second ball, so much so that within 1 and a half minutes we got our reward, Brave Sir Robin gifted possession to us in the centre circle, Cazorla picked out Podolski who moved it on to Rosicky who picked a lovely pass in to the feet of Theo, despite the tight angle he dispatched the ball past a static De Gea.

Maybe this would be a good day after all, the best thing about this was that we did not stop or slow down for the next thirty minutes, continuing to press and fight for possession and being quick to block out United attacks.

Cazorla tried a curler to double the advantage but De Gea saved well (although a bit dramatically) and Ramsey breaking fed Podolski who shot from a tight angle when perhaps he should have squared it to where Theo was waiting, perhaps he was trying a little too hard to prove a point. Maybe young Aaron chose the wrong option with Theo looking better placed to shoot.

United started to get in to the game, but in the main were restricted to crosses and deep runners trying to get on the end of them, Szczesny saved well with his face from the Dutchman in the one clear chance they created.

The second goal of the game would be vital and it looked like it was only going to be ours but from half hour onwards we seemed to be paying the price for our frenetic start opportunities to counter attack were being slowed down, a few loose passes appeared when previously we had been precise and quick.

With the half time whistle approaching Bacary Sagna made a poor backpass to BFG, he has played in the same team long enough to know BSR would be looking for it, he picked up the ball and raced towards goal, Sagna worked hard to get back and the angle for any shot was tight but Sagna, red mist fully descended, lunged into a risky tackle, his outstretched studs made contact with the ball but from behind as he was the tackle would be a foul anywhere else on the pitch. In Sagna’s defence he must have been surprised to see BSR as he had been firmly tucked in Koscielny’s pocket up to that point. The Dutchman picked himself up and scored the penalty to level going in at half time.

The goal could not have come at a worse time. With legs starting to tire we needed to go in ahead and to be able to be lifted to push on, unfortunately we went in to the break heads down and regretting yet another individual mistake that have cost us too often this season.

From the restart it was clear United had been given a piece of the managers mind, it also looked like any rebuilding of confidence in the home dressing room in the second half had not worked. United were waiting to kill us on the counter attack, that they didn’t was testament to the defending of Koscielny and BFG and the keeping of Szczesny.

Mertesacker so often taking up positions to deny passes or make a large obstacle to surpass, Koscielny was his normal dynamic self quick into the tackle and clean interceptions, it is a shame that the appointment of Vermaelen as captain robbed Koscielny of so much game time this season. We have sorely missed his pace and power and it has been an important feature of our recent form.

Sagna had some more troublesome moments and most of United’s threat came from that side combined with midfielders struggling to match runs.

Going forward we were toothless, the ball got in the final third but there was no zip around the pitch either passing or running. Podolski appeared to have run out of steam after 55-60 minutes, he was failing to win any high ball or compete meaningfully. We missed Giroud’s workrate and ability to occupy defenders….he is an aerial threat that centre backs have to actively mark, which opens more space for the technicians in the team to use.

By the end it appeared that neither defence wanted to lose it and both attacks wanted to win it, there were large amounts of space from defence to defence and that gave us less chance to create a winner.

Wenger tried to force the issue bringing on Wilshere for Rosicky, Gervinho for Podolski and Ox for Ramsey. This did inject some more pace in to our play but we were restricted to more long shots, one from Cazorla just not carrying enough pace to beat De Gea.

Dowd brought the game to a close with a point acceptable to both. It was a shame that we could not get a winner, but as I have said before you get what you deserve in football and if you make mistakes like Sagna’s you do not deserve to win a game of football.

But the performance especially that in the first half was what I was looking for when I posted my early morning comment, we refused to be bullied, we stood up to the challenge, and we matched them physically man for man.

Only a fool would argue that BSR would not make our team better, but on yesterday’s performance not many of them impressed me enough to think they would make us better in other positions.

Ratings

Szczesny – 8 some good saves and a confident unflashy performance from the under fire young keeper

Sagna – 4 offensively poor, and cost us the equaliser

Mertesacker – 7.5 another solid performance from BFG, his experience and reading of the game makes him a far better defender than people give him credit for.

Koscielny – 8.5 (MotM) tucked BSR in his pocket where many other top strikers have sat before. Quality performance from the best Centre Half at the club

Gibbs – 7 not his attacking best but kept Valencia quiet most of the game

Arteta – 7 because of the way United play his defensive role was different today requiring him to track runs rather than intercept and clean up loose balls. He didn’t do this to the required standard too many late runners hitting the box untracked. With the ball he was his same reliable self.

Ramsey – 7 looked to tire early, some good passes and touches early on, was getting in good offensive positions all game without always being picked out.

Cazorla – 7 a relatively quiet game but forced De Gea into two good saves.

Rosicky – 7.5 good pass for the goal, lively about the pitch and unfortunate not to get a bit more curl on a well imagined shot.

Walcott – 8 great finish for the goal, and a constant threat to slower defenders. Needs to be much better without the ball. Did Evans a favour by keeping him at arms length when Evans appeared to want to come in and rub foreheads.

Podolski – 5.5 very poor in the centre forwards role, hope he improves over next two games, we will need him to help bring the midfielders into the game.

Subs
Wilshere – 6.5 very quiet didn’t really get into the pace of the game

Gervinho – 7 we became much more mobile with him on the pitch but with United defending deep there was little or no space to exploit.

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7 looked to get hold of the ball and attempt to influence the game.

Written by Gooner in Exile

Get A Grip Gooners

I know it’s normal after a loss for a lot of supporters to go super negative. I’m not immune to that feeling, my weekend was ruined like all of you. Maybe it’s my nature, but I have learned to eventually look at the bright side. I was also cheered slightly to see United lose. Yes, happy for Spurs, because I consider ManU our competition this season, not Tottenham.

The negativity I’m referring to is less of a problem with the regulars on this site, who are pretty fair and reasonable. We all know there are many so – called “supporters” attacking our guys even under better circumstances. There are a few things I would like to point out.

Even though we didn’t have our best performance on Saturday, if you watched the match, you saw that we were in it the whole time. We must give credit to Chelsea for showing up at our place and playing at a high level. It’s not simply a case of us underperforming against a weaker opposition. They worked hard and it showed. But we did throw it away. If not for mistakes on set pieces, we might have deserved a win, or at least a draw. But like Cint Eastwood says in Unforgiven “deserves got nothin to do with it”.

Everyone complaining about Arsene’s CB choices is making me crazy. We have three great center backs. The best first three compared to any team in the league. Our fourth and fifth choices are ok also. Every time we concede a goal, we have to hear the geniuses tell us why the wrong man was left out. Mertesacker has been a rock, but he can and must rest occasionally. I think he started six or seven matches already. For years we have complained about lack of depth and rotation causing fatigue to our starters, and late season weakness, whereas United and City have been fresher at the end. Also, again, I’m a huge Merts fan, even before he joined us.

But I’m not willing to write off Vermaelen and Koscielny as weak players, as some have been doing all of a sudden. Koscielny, is a super active defender, the type that will inevitably cause an own goal more than less dynamic players. MOTM many times last season. Remember his performance two years ago against Messi? How many players can do that? It wasn’t luck, it was skill. For the record, Torres’ goal on Saturday was a great effort showing talent, he deseves the credit. Shouldn’t we be more concerned that Luiz was completely unmarked on that play. And Vermaelen has been having his best season so far in defense, though, his fouls around our box hurt us recently.

I’m sorry guys, I just don’t think it’s right to be complaining that Vermaelen is Captain at this moment. We complained when Cesc and RvP were named Captain as our Marquis players. Even though we knew they probably weren’t the right guys to lead. So, after Fabregas and Nasri left us, and our disastrous start last season, and all the shaken confidence, Tommy V was the first to stand up and extend with us, also citing loyalty after a long injury. He’s a fighter with the right attitude, and he’s shown better discipline by not getting caught forward as much this season. My only worry has been that he would resist rotation as captain, I hope that won’t be a problem. And what will be the answer when Mertesacker eventually makes a mistake, you know people will find a reason he shouldn’t have started, maybe that he needed rest. It’s laughable.

In defense of the defense, Have we still not been scored against in open play? (That including matches vs City, Chelsea and Liverpool) If that’s right, then I don’t think we should be criticizing or looking for player changes, we need to figure out what is wrong organizationally with set pieces. When I defended Szczesny a couple weeks ago, after his mistake against Southhampton ( some were complaining that he got the start over Mannone after that one - – you know who you are ) I pointed out that Chezz has been much better at taking charge on set pieces in the past year. You know, all the pointing and yelling before the ball comes in, maybe that actually makes a real difference, if its the correct pointing and yelling. By the way, to all Chezzers critics, watch the replay of his mistake, you will see him cringe in pain when he comes down on his ankle and drops the ball. He was man enough not to take to twitter to point it out in his own defense.

So, I’m not sure if Mannone is to blame, maybe the Captain should be taking charge, or some other combination of problems, including coaching, but whatever it may be, we need to figure it out as a team. Because over all, our defense has still been excellent, and our midfield also. The front is still a work in progress, but I’m hopeful. It’s very easy to be critical when things go wrong, I know that I do it too, but the last thing I try to do is attack our own guys. We need to stay positive and encourage our team. It’s a long season, and we have some very good players returning soon. Much to look forward to.

Written by johnnie – jnyc

Kos strikes Oil at the Etihad

Early news from the Arsenal camp was that the Lion of Flanders had a thorn in his paw and wouldn’t play. Many of the pre-match debates had discussed playing Koscielny in place of the BFG but as it turned out fate had made the decision for us. Ramsey was preferred to either the Ox or Giroud for the 3rd place in the front three. Last season this tactic sometimes left us a little unbalanced. We would see.

With a Mekon and a Klingon lining up against each other, visitors to the Etihad could be forgiven for thinking they’d dropped in on a Science Fiction convention. Would Arsenal reach warp factor 6?

Arsenal began the first half dominating possession. An early Ramsey centre needed a near post run and Santi fired in a long range shot from too far out to trouble Hart. A series of tika taka passes in the City half drew a foul from Kompany who seemed personally affronted that Arsenal were taking the urine on his home ground.

At the other end Corporal Jenkinson easily dealt with a momentary threat from Sinclair and Aguerro managed to force a good save from Don Vito in the Arsenal goal.

On 13’ Arteta played a delightful chipped pass to Gibbs who hurried a first time volleyed pass harmlessly across the goalmouth. Then came, perhaps, Arsenal’s best chance of the first half. A beautiful pass from Ramsey inside Cliché (Niall Quinn trying to outdo David Pleat) to Gervinho but his first touch was as heavy as Na$ri’s wallet.

The Oilers rarely threatened with the BFG and Gibbs particularly impressive. On 18’ an excellent team move resulted in an overhit cross from Gibbs when the area was packed with red shirts begging for a decent ball. Then Jenkinson picked Lescott’s pocket, pulled the ball back to Podolski but the German blazed over with his right foot. Another super attacking move almost resulted in a golden chance for Santi but the man with a dead rat on his head just got back in time to intercept.

In the 37th minute Gervinho hit the side netting and the Gooners at the other end of the ground thought it had gone in for one second, provoking much hilarity from the home fans relieved at something to laugh at having been outclassed at home for the whole of the first half.

A needless corner 5 minutes before half-time then resulted in Don Vito coming and not claiming. Podolski didn’t do enough to stop Lescott from heading in. Mannone made another save from Dzecko immediately after the goal with Arsenal still rattled, disbelieving that with all their first half superiority they were one down. Arsene Wenger shook his head, the curse of Mike Dean seemed to be rearing his ugly head yet again. (to be fair, Dean had a good game and didn’t celebrate when Lescott scored!)

Santi still had time to create another couple of half chances before the break but to no avail. An excellent display from the little Spaniard, Man of the 1st Half by a country mile.

Mankini used his tactical nous at halftime and brought on Rodwell to replace Sinclair who had had to climb out of Jenkinson’s pocket to go for his half-time cuppa. Nullifying Santi was obviously in the Italian’s mind despite his team going in one goal to the good. Citeh’s plan seemed to work immediately the 2nd half began. Either that or the Arsenal squad had been smoking a little something they’d brought back from Montpellier. Arsenal’s build-up became slow and ponderous. Gibbs again put in a poor cross after a delicious Diaby through ball and Jenkinson put the ball too close to the keeper when in a similar position to Tuesday night.

The movement and fluidity of the first half had disappeared. Players on the ball had no options, meaning the ball often worked its way backwards. Gervinho sliced a couple of decent chances well over the bar and his comedy collision with Ramsey seemed to sum up the way the game was progressing for the Gunners.

At the other end Mertesacker made a series of brilliant interceptions when the blue Oilers attempted to catch us on the break. His reading of the game is just sublime.

The substitutions of Diaby and the Pod for Walcott and Giroud then seemed to open up the game. Jenkinson and Walcott fired in dangerous crosses. Mertesacker and Koscielny were called on to make some excellent tackles and interceptions when Citeh broke upfield.

In the 82nd minute a real rasping drive from Santi forced Hart into the best save of the game and resulted in a corner. The ball bounced out from Lescott and Kos drilled the ball high into the net for a glorious equaliser. Cue pandemonium.

A little period of keystone cop defending immediately after the goal saw Mannone make a crucial save before Aguerro put the ball wide. Ramsey made a great run, then the BFG another magnificent interception prompting the Away Boys into a chorus of We’ve Got a Big F*ckin German. The last minute saw another excellent passing move from The Arsenal result in Gervinho again blasting over the bar. It wasn’t our Mekon’s day in front of goal. Garcia pulled down Jenkinson and was rightly booked but we’d already settled for a point.

All in all it was an excellent point for the Gunners, Citeh being unbeaten for over 30 games at home, not many opposition teams even claiming a point in that sequence.

The Away Boys were magnificent as usual keeping a rendition of Money don’t buy History going throughout the game  and they warmly applauded the whole team off the pitch including my Man of the Match, Per Mertesacker.

Ratings:

Mannone – Didn’t get to the ball when coming for the corner but made some decent saves which kept Citeh at bay……7

Mertesacker – Imperious. How could we ever have doubted he could cope with the Citeh attack?……9

Koscielny – Some superb defending and a real humdinger of a goal to give City’s owners the sheikhs……8

Jenkinson – The Corporal controlled Sinclair in the 1st half and had another excellent all-round game….8

Gibbs – Excellent both in defence and joining in the left side attacks…..8

Diaby – A little patchy from the big man, especially just after half time…..7

Arteta – It’s difficult to ever see Mikel having a bad game…….8

Ramsey – Contributed well in the first half and seemed to come to life after he dropped back to replace Diaby……7

Cazorla – Magnificent in the 1st half and his blistering shot led indirectly to Kos’ goal…..8

Podolski – Lukas didn’t fire today but he deserves some slack after recent performances…..7

Gervinho – Not Gerv’s steadiest day in front of goal but worked hard throughout….7

Subs:

Giroud – 71′ – Olivier tried a few flicks and layoffs and caused a nuisance….7

Walcott – 72′ – Some interesting moments in his cameo but looks a little lost…..7

Coquelin – 90′ – Not long enough on the pitch…..7

Written by chas

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s pre-match advice.

There is a belief that today will have a big impact on how the season will develop for Arsenal, I understand why but do not agree. This is just a 3 point away game – same as any other. Yes, MC are Champions and rivals and one could say this is a 6 pointer but we have seen teams win the title whilst losing to their direct opposition; consistency is the key to winning the title, ask SAF.

And what is point of the above? Well, it is about pressure, pressure causes fear and fear results in our not playing to our highest level.  Think of the young Theo Walcott. First games he was superb and we thought we had signed the next Overmars, but Theo was too young and impressionable to cope with such expectation and suffered accordingly. Thankfully he has rediscovered some of his youthful verve and precocity, assisted but the new kid on the blocks maturity. Fear messes you up  (I was going to use language Peaches’ mother would have found offensive )

Today is not a Championship decider, far from it; a loss to Norwich/WBA will do as much damage to our pretensions. But, of course, we are not going to lose…..

Manchester City: MC come into the game on the back of two tough away games. I thought they played very well against Madrid and were unlucky not to get at least a point, however they were fortunate at the Orcs and we must hope they perform as poorly today. I fear that if both teams play to their maximum potential we will lose. City have a truly stellar team particularly in attack, however there are weaknesses – Maicon or Kolarov are susceptible to pace. Clichy we know is prone to the odd quirk. Sadly, Kompany has proved himself to be an excellent defender – possibly the best in the PL.

€400m buys you a very good side, in fact it buys you the title of Champions. It can buy you YaYa Toure, a colossus of a player, and the will o’ the wisp talents of David Silva. A front line of Aguero, Tevez and/or Dzeko is potent but we have a defence which on a good day can cope with their movement.

Which brings me onto the manager. I liked Mankini, he seems to be a principled man, a deep thinker about the game and he has that wonderful Italian brio, BUT in my eyes the Tevez palaver lost him any kudos he had. How can a manager bend over to a player like that? Pragmatism is one thing, public humiliation another. Would Mr Wenger have given Tevez another chance? Ask Pennant, Bentley, Song, etc etc Diss the Arsenal and you get shown the door – no matter how good you are. Watching Tevez kiss the badge is sickening. If any manager could be arsed to deal with Tevez’s advisors he would be anywhere but in Manchester, but no-one would take the risk of signing a flake, a brilliant footballer but a flake.

Arsenal: Koscielny or Mertesacker or Vermaelen? The playing of BFG midweek would indicate that Mr Wenger will start with Koscielny and TV. That said, Kos has no pitch time and BFG has been superb so far, plus there is a 5 day gap between games. Tough decision and an important one. Will AW risk an attacking midfield or go for a more defensive set up with Coquelin instead of Diaby? Diaby was poor second half in France, but he gives height to the midfield which could be important at set pieces. I would like to see Coquelin but expect to see Diaby

The full backs pick themselves though I would love to see Santos get a game  - he offers something extra insomuch as he is a better crosser than Gibbs and can play left side midfield.

Should AW continue with The Gerv in the centre or bring back Giroud? Will OG’s aerial expertise trouble the City CB’s more than the pace and unpredictability of The Mekon? The Ox or Theo ?

My team:

The bench is getting stronger as players return from injury. We must hope Don Vito gets through unscathed. Good as Shea is, he is not ready for such a high profile game watched by a billion people.

Just loved this man – a season ticket holder in the West Stand

My hope is that we play our possession passing game and not revert to the second half performance of Tuesday. Should we continue to play as a unit and work hard  in City’s half, we can win this fixture. If we sit back and defend it will be a long afternoon.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (FDR Inaugural speech 1933)

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy

The Sagna Conundrum

The Sagna Conundrum

The first thing to know about the Sagna Conundrum is that it does not involve Bacary Sagna.

The Sagna Conundrum is a problem created not by his presence, but by his absence, and it comes down to this: when our super-consistent French right back is not available, who should take his place?

It’s a pressing question, given that Sagna will not be ready for the start of the new season.

The principal contenders to take his place are Carl Jenkinson, Johan Djourou, Francis Coquelin and Laurent Koscielny.

Last season, due to Bacary’s injuries, they all got a number of games at right back.

The conventional wisdom is that Djourou was a disaster and Jenkinson, despite showing some promise, was out of his depth; but that both Coquelin and Koscielny proved to be adequate stand-ins.

My own view – based primarily on memory of past performances – is that central defenders do not make good full backs because the FB role requires so much more mobility than they are used to. I prefer midfielders to step in if we are out of orthodox (or experienced) full backs.

From my recollection, Coquelin and Jenkinson filled in well, but the two centre backs – Koscielny and Djourou – struggled.

Memory, however, can be an unreliable guide, so I decided to take a more detailed look at how the four contenders fared when they stood in for Sagna last season.

	Djourou	Jenkinson	Coquelin	Koscielny
Played	11 (10 plus 2 halves)	7	5	3.5
Won	4	4	4	3
Drawn	2	1	1	0
Lost	6	2	0	1
Goals Against	16	13	5	3

According to this table the average points per game during each of the four’s tenure at right back was as follows*:

Djourou: 1.16 Pts Per Game (with an average 1.45 Goals Conceded Per Game).

Jenkinson: 1.86 PPG (1.86 GCPG).

Coquelin:  2.6 PPG (1.0 GCPG).

Koscielny: 2.57 PPG (0.86 GCPG).

Like all such studies, there are inherent problems with drawing conclusions from these figures.  For example, if you look at Jenkinson’s “Goals Against” you would think him a liability. But eight of those goals were up at Old Trafford, when the lad had hardly ever worn an Arsenal shirt in anger and in a catastrophically weakened and confused team.

Similarly, although Djourou’s stats look the worst, they include two games against the eventual league champions, one against Chelsea and one against Manchester United, as well as a dead rubber ECL game at Olympiakos where a partly second string Arsenal team lost 3-1.

Nevertheless, I feel there is enough evidence to show that our big Swiss fellow is not cut out to be a right back. Indeed, when he was hauled off at half time in the home game against Manchester United (and replaced by the embryonic Yennaris) it may well have been a sign that Arsene Wenger had finally come to that same conclusion himself. I doubt we will ever see Djourou in that position again.

Jenkinson’s stats look a lot better if you remove the Man Utd away game from the mix (and he can hardly be blamed for that collective fiasco). He then has a Points Per Game average of 2.16 and a Goals Against of 0.83.

Surprisingly – and contrary to my recollection – Koscielny’s record as a right back is very good. I recalled him seeming to struggle, but the figures prove otherwise. His three-and-a-half games included two “easier” fixtures (Norwich away, Wigan at home) but also one-and-a-half tough ones (Dortmund at home and Manchester City away).

Conclusions: For me, the table above is generally encouraging because it shows we can expect a solid performance from any of Jenkinson, Coquelin and Koscielny when they are compelled to play right back.

I am happy with Djourou in the mix as one of our centre backs, but he does not function well at full back and, hopefully, we have seen the last of him in that position.

I mentioned Yennaris earlier. Last season he took the right back spot in a Carling Cup game (2-1 home win over Bolton) and in the second half against Man Utd at the Emirates. According to those who have been watching our pre-season friendlies he seems to be showing promise.

With Jenkinson and Yennaris maturing, we may well soon find ourselves in a position where playing other players out of position at full back is a thing of the past.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. Do you think the table has merit? Does it tally with the evidence of your eyes? Are we sufficiently covered within the squad for the right back position or do you feel we should be looking to sign someone?

RockyLives

*Before the eggheads among you start quibbling with my maths, I made certain adjustments to allow for the half games (for example, if we conceded a goal during a half in which Djourou did not play, even though he played in the other half, I have not marked down that goal in his “Goals Against” column.

Koscielny for Captain?

Koscielny to be our new captain, now that he has agreed a new five-year contract?

The Guardian has been reporting this weekend that Koscielny has agreed a new five-year contract, and if this is true then that is fantastic news.

With TV and Mertesacker already on long contracts, it should mean that we can finally expect some consistency in our central defence.

Over the last few days, we have discussed the importance of consistency in our defence, and it also became clear that most of us believe Koscielny is our best central defender at the moment.

I reckon Laurent would also make the perfect new captain for Arsenal, and if it is true that he signed a new contract – and the Guardian appeared to be very sure about it: “Laurent Koscielny, meanwhile, has agreed a new five-year contract”, then he will definitely get my vote.

For many seasons, ever since Vieira left, a great number of Gooners have been saying that Arsenal lacked real leadership on the pitch. Many of us are longing for the powerful, outspoken, ‘heart on the sleeve’ leadership during the years of Adams and Vieira. Henry and Fabregas were brilliant at leading by example but most of us felt something was missing: they were not naturally born leaders and as a result were struggling with some vital aspects of leadership we were craving for.

Robin van Persie was a fantastic captain last season, however much it pains me to say that. But, even if he were to stay, which is very unlikely now, he should never be our captain again.

Arsenal is desperate for a new, very capable leader on the pitch. A good captain leads by example, is extravert on the pitch, can galvanise a team when we face adversity, is an excellent liaison manager between the management and the rest of the squad, has authority and diplomacy in dealing with discipline issues on and off the pitch, and plays for Arsenal with total conviction.

I reckon Koz has all these qualities, although he might have to develop one or two once he has become our captain.

You are invited to vote for our new captain at the end of this article. To help you make up your mind, I have summarised below the key characteristics, as I see them, of good captaincy of our beloved Arsenal.

A good captain:

• Leads by example: not just with good personal performances, but also with high energy-levels/commitment, and a never-say-die attitude. He never spares himself, always gives everything and plays with his heart on his sleeve. He will also stand up for his players and let nobody be bullied by the opposition;

• Is blessed with a high level of social-emotional intelligence: he understands what is going on inside other players, and is able to support them accordingly, on and off the pitch;

• Is extravert: he is not a constant shouter, but he likes to talk to this fellow players and make himself known when things are not going right;

• Is a great communicator with the crowd/fans, and an ambassador for the club. He understands what the fans want and are concerned about, and gives good interviews to the press, by always representing the club professionally and with real passion;

• Is a great ‘liaison-manager’ between the players and management. He has got the respect of Wenger, the coaches and the players, and is able to translate messages, up and down, and down and up, effectively;

• Is a team player/ team builder: he will regularly praise, on and off the pitch, contributions made by others and helps the team in becoming a strong unit.

A new captain should also be on a contract that has at least two more years to run, and ideally more than that. It should also be a player who has a passionate, rather than a calculative, commitment towards our club: one who is likely to stay for a long time.

Luckily, we have a number of candidates for the captaincy role, and I am sure, we will all have our preferences.

Please, feel free to elaborate on your choice for captain with a comment.

Thanks for taking part!

TotAl.

No team has won the Premier League without a centre half.

Can a team win the prem without one?

To start a debate on this subject we need some caveats and small preface questions;

What’s the difference between a centre half and a central defender?

Is it only a case of different names for the same position? Am I engaged in nothing more than semantics? Are there actual differences in playing styles? And if so from where does the difference arise?

In the land where football began the defensive back line consists of full backs and centre halves, or centre backs, on the near continent those playing in the traditional centre half position are known as central defenders. Now is this just a case of you say “tomato” (American accented) I say tomato (English accented)?  My summation is “No” its not only a serious question it goes to the very heart of why our defence has been so leaky, and moreover its at the core of why we haven’t gotten our hands on any of home made silver wear recently. I’d go even further and state until we have a centre half in the back line winning any of the 3 home grown competitions may prove to be beyond us. Why do I say this? Well………..

Football on the near continent is primarily played full square on the ground. The leagues of real significance as we all know are in descending order The Spanish, Italian and German. That’s not to say the others aren’t important, we as a club for example have imported widely from outside of these three biggies. France, Holland and Belgium have served us very well with their player offerings. Of the three big European leagues only the German league has any form of aerial bombardment included in its play and even that doesn’t compare with the type of play so often seen in the premier league. In Europe the English Premier League is seen by many Europeans as the most exciting league to watch, with its fast paced all action helter-skelter style, but the league is also seen by many of the same, as the least tactically aware. The kick and rush style with long balls played over the top isn’t a tactic you’ll come across on the continent, and as stated above the type of aerial bombardment that’s common place in Britain is not elsewhere. So this is where the divide begins.

A typical centre half in Britain is raised with this style of play and has developed a way of dealing with it which differs greatly from a typical European central defender. What’s the difference? To answer this question I want to go back to our last great league winning defence. It wasn’t inherited as some of the uninformed like to put forward, it was built by Arsene. It contained the recently retired Sol Campbell. A more typical no nonsense centre half I submit it would be hard to find. What was the secret of this defence? Sol’s Head! Play a ball in over the top and Sol would beat whoever its intended target was and “head” it back where it came from. Fire a ball into the area from a set piece and rest assured if the keeper didn’t catch it Sol would “head” it away and out of the danger zone. I lost count how many times this would happen in games.

It’s actually in the manor that a CH will move forward and attack the ball that significantly shows the difference in approach between the two types of player fulfilling the same role. CD’s instead of moving forward to attack a ball will wait stationary, or move back to give themselves room to bring the ball under control. What does a typical central defender do that’s so different? European central defenders have developed a style of play to deal with long balls played over the top. Their natural instinct is to allow the ball to drop to the ground and immediately bring it under control, and play it out from the back turning defence into attack. What’s wrong with that I hear everyone ask? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Except in the fast paced rough and tumble of the premier league as the typical CD lets the ball drop he’s liable to have one or two of the opposition all over him like a rash. Which if its inside his own area is very dangerous and so makes playing the ball out from the back very difficult, our centre halves are raised with the idea that if the ball lands at your feet the best way to play it out from the back is launch it into row “Z”.

You see teams who play long balls over the top (think of everyone favourite Stoke) tend to rush forward and crowd the box. It’s also often been a strategy successfully employed by Taggart & Co especially in the last 15 minuets when they are either behind or desperate to force a win. Bringing up the infamous Taggart aka Sir Alex Ferguson reminds me to add a caveat. Are there any Grey areas in this Centre Half Central Defender divide? As with most things in life there most certainly are as illustrated by an ex charge of Taggart’s Jaap Stam. A central defender who played more like a centre half than most centre halves, JS as a player wasn’t particularly mobile and certainly couldn’t be called quick, but he was very strong and determined and he read the game well, and he had that trait that a centre half just has to have “A head” and Jaap Stam headed more balls away from Man U box in the 3 short years he was with them than anyone else.

This brings up a further observation why did the Campbell Toure partnership work so well? If a CH is so important why not have two? Well let’s look at how the partnership worked. A long ball gets punted up field towards a target man normally a centre forward whose job it is to nod it down into the path of an on rushing midfielder or attempt to bring it under control and hold it up while reinforcements arrive. As it’s in flight and on its way Sol sees the danger and jumps in sync with the striker. Now either he wins it out right in which case the ball is on its way back where it came from or he misses it but with Sol’s help so does the striker. If they both miss it behind them as the ball drops to the ground Kolo T mops up. Again I can’t even begin to calculate how often this sequence took place, but if we could bring up those stats I’d hazard easily more than 10 times per game.

After going 49 games unbeaten with this defensive system why wasn’t it continued? It was! I think most of the top teams analysed how and why Arsenal had been so successful and emulated the formula. I think we as a club were the only ones who didn’t; perhaps we were too close to the action. I’d say our system was most successfully copied by everybody’s favourite player of the moment John (I isn’t a racist is I Cashley) Terry and his defencive partner Ricardo Carvalho at Chelsea. Taggart successfully employed the Ferdinand Vidic model. While most recently the CH CD combo was still being work by Lescott and Toure (again). Why wasn’t it continued at Arsenal? Well Sol left for Portsmouth under strange circumstances i.e. his “Head” wasn’t on straight? Too much pressure, or whatever, and we’d ended up with William Gallas by default as a result of the Cashley Cole affair. In other words without much analysis we went with what was available to us.

The upshot of which was we suddenly had two European style central defenders in our back line and were without a centre half for the very first time, in our clubs history. The rest as they say is history! We had one of the least effective defences in the league. Without realising it, or even meaning to Arsene had proved a point about two CD’s and the Premier League. Many said the previously oh so dependable Toure just couldn’t play with Gallas. Not exactly true, played together on Tuesday or Wednesday nights in the CL they were fine, but the combination didn’t work for the Prem. How could it? Without a centre half to relieve the pressure on both the keeper and the defence in general our defence was suddenly under the microscope. If the keeper couldn’t replicate “safe hands” Seaman and collect high balls we would be pressured into conceding, and we were. We became the team that couldn’t defend set pieces and that perception lasted until very recently. In point of fact I don’t think we are particularly strong on set pieces even now. We did have a respite though when for a short period our defence was bolstered by the returning old Mr Campbell. In that short interlude our leaky bucket defence became almost water tight again, and I looked forward to the following season, knowing once again we might have a chance at the title, fate however would cruelly intervene. Sulzeer Jeremiah fell for and married a Geordie Lass and moved north so she could stay near her roots. (Love will do funny things to a man) I blame that bloody Woman! She probably cost us the title. Mind you I blame my wonderful “better half” whenever I can’t find a pair of socks or a clean shirt. Yes I admit it I’m a dinosaur.

What’s to be done? Well…………First off try to remember that successful centre halves or successful central defenders come in pairs, so partnerships have to be formed. Next up a very quick analysis of our current defenders. (With the centre half central defender debate firmly in mind).

1) Let me start at the furthest end of the spectrum by saying there are in the words of the song “reasons to be cheerful”. We now have for the very first time in an age a proper British style centre half in the squad. Step forward Kyle Bartley, he may well be only a prospect but at least we’ve got one. Why am I happy about this? Well I’ve followed KB’s progress and as this article expounds I’ve wanted a CH back in our squad for an age. I’ve wanted KB to be promoted into the first team for an age. He might be unproven in the Prem but at least we’ve got him. I hope he can be paired up!

2) I want to continue with the much maligned Johan Djourou. JD is a little bit of a hybrid he’s neither a centre half nor a typical central defender. That might be because he’s Swiss? I honestly haven’t seen enough Swiss football to know if there are any reasons for a player to develop CH tendency’s in the Swiss league. He can and does do a bit of both. When partnered with Le Kosh he immediately played more of a CH role heading everything he could. JD was a successful defender for us, as the stats show when he wasn’t played out of position and partnered correctly. Every team needs 4 CH/CD’s and I’ll be saddened if he goes although like RvP his injury record reads like a hospital casualty department list.

3) I’m choosing Vermaelen next simply because like JD is a bit of a hybrid and KB apart the closest we have to a CH he attacks the ball in the manor of a CH certainly not like a CD. You find TV5 running forward to jump and meet an incoming ball in the manor of a CH. However he also plays in the typical CD style by playing out from the back, which probably comes from his Ajax background. When fit he’s probably currently our first choice centre back.

4) Laurent Koscielny is the most typical Euro style CD we have and he is probably the best CD any of us have seen at the club. His intercepting skills are a joy to watch and if he had a CH of the quality of our dear old Sol partnering him we’d probably have the best defence in the prem. That’s how highly I rate him.

5) The BFG? I just don’t know I haven’t seen enough of him in an Arsenal shirt to really make a judgement. He’s not a CH and he seems to be a one off CD.For a big man I’m yet to see him attack an incoming high ball. He’s worryingly slow for a modern day CD because since the changes took place to the off-side rule (Passive – Active – 1^st phase 2^nd phase). Neither Tony Adams nor Bouldie would be deemed quick enough and the BFG’s slower than them. He does have some admirable qualities as a defender though, he’s bloody big, strong and therefore intimidating and he reads the game well and it seems he can marshal the other defenders. For me the jury’s still out.

Written by richie