Monday, October 28, 2013

Wenger versus Mourinho Revisited?

No, no no.  It's about the football, right?  It's true that the grandstanding Mourinho of old didn't show up at first upon his return to the Premier League.  But as of last Saturday, he is officially back to his scene stealing ways.  Arsene, however, claims to be above that.  I may be more biased, but Arsene wins in the class department, hands down.

But, for every other non-egocentric football loving lifeform, it's about advancing to the quarter finals in the Capital One Cup.  Mourinho in his game playing ways first announced that he would play a youth-type team, Jose retracted that statement, instead whining about how Chelsea's schedule is harder than Arsenal's.  Waaaaa.

So, really, who knows what Chelsea is going to offer on the pitch come tomorrow?  Instead, let's look at what we may have to offer.  We know who is not going to play.  Arteta is out with a red card, and Flamini has some sort of groin pull.  So I doubt he will be risked which leaves the DM position open.  Frimpong is still short of coming back from his 3rd, 4th, 2nd knee injury.  Wenger states that Isaac Hayes will be considered.  He's used as a defender or midfielder, so we could see him start.  We know Vermie will get a start, and I would not be surprised to see Sagna start alongside him in the center with Jenks on the right, Monreal on the left, and Fabianski in goal.  I see the middle and wings getting filled with Jack, Santi Ryo /Gnabry (if fit), and Bendy starting up front.

We are playing at home (on our short grass), and with the way the Emirates has been sounding, the boys should feel lifted and revved up to bring home a win.  No matter what team the Special Happy One puts on the pitch, our guys have to be solid defensively.  Mourinho has the defense of his first team solidified, and his midfield maestros firing, but there is no saying what his second or third tier group will look like.  It kind of makes it exciting, not knowing what version of the Blues we are going to face.

In other news, this link to Lewandowski  is not going away.  It is still too hard for me to imagine he would not go with Bayern, but stranger things (with umlauts) have happened, and sometimes umlauts and strange happenings attract more of the same.  If you were Lew, wouldn't you want Ozil lofting a beautiful pass up to you?  Nod your head.  Of course you would.

That's it for now.  I'll be back later in the week to dissect Jose the Cup match and talk about one of our biggest games yet against Liverpool on Saturday.

Until then, have a good one Gooners.

Edit:  How did I forget about TR7?  Of course, I would expect him to start.  He gievs great pace, movement, and defensive cover.  Sorry about the exclusion.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace...Back to the Grind

 This match did not turn out to be exactly the spanking I was looking forward to.  Coming off of a loss at home in the Champions League necessitated a postiive display to restore confidence and morale.  On one hand, we obtained both.  We came away with three points, breaking away while down to ten men.  That win required resilience, determination and grit.  On the other hand, our apparent sluggishness perhaps was a warning of players needing  rest, or more worrying, not taking our competition seriously.

Crystal Palace seemed wary of us at first, staying compact in defense and looking nervous when our midfield began to attack directly.  But as time again shows in these games, the more an underdog can keep the opponent from scoring, the more their confidence grows.  By the end of the first half, Palace had three shots on target to our one.  It was one of those games where one becomes worried the Arsenal could lose one to nil.

However, the second half proved more fruitful.  Gnabry had come on as a substitute for Flamini (pulled groin?) in the 8th minute and not only provided some much needed width on the field, but earned a penalty as well.  Serge headed to the touchline with the ball looking as if he were going to attempt a cross, but cut back, causing Guedioura to upend him inside the box in the 47th minute.  Mikel took the penalty, curling it into the upper left corner.  The goalie dove the right way, but the strong shot proved out of reach.

Funny how things can turn on a dime.  One minute, Arteta is celebrating his goal, then less than 20 minutes later, he's sent off with a controversial red card.  Chamakh chested down a long ball in the 65th minute.  Arteta ran with him attempting to slow him or poke the ball away.  Their feet became entangled, they both went down, and Foy showed the red and sent Mikel off because of the last man and goal-scoring opportunity rule.  Looking at the video below, you will see that there was no foul from Arteta on Chamakh.  Chamakh pushed Arteta away which caused their feet to tangle.  Bad call.

Nail-biting stuff.  Could we hold on to a one goal lead with 20 minutes to go in the game?

Crystal Palace tested us.  Szczesny had two fine saves that kept us in the game.  This one in particular required excellent reflexes.  Thanks to those saves, Szczesny was awarded MOTM.  Someone who played excellently albeit somewhat more quietly was Bacary Sagna.  He chucked in some lovely crosses and kept the two Palace wingers in his back pocket.  When are we signing him to another contract?




Giroud's performance this game was a bit sub par in my opinion.  He still worked hard and won header after header, but his touch seemed slightly off.  Thanks to his workrate, however, he was able to get on the end of a lovely loft from Aaron Ramsey and head home the final nail in Eagles' coffin.  Having missed another header earlier, it was nice to see the technique shine in the second.  Timing his run, eye on the ball, heading it downward.  Lovely.

Some final thoughts on the match.  It seemed to me that most of our offense went down the right side.  That could be from Santi being slightly off form from his injury?  A more balanced approached needs to be found.  We were way too predictable in that respect.  Also, I found it interesting that Arsene was asked if he were surprised about how long the grass on the pitch was.  His response cracked me up.  So very Arsene.

"No we expect that everywhere we go. I will soon have a pitch at home with long grass to practice for when we play away from home."

That's all for now.  Much of the squad will get to rest for the Cup game against Chelsea on Tuesday.  I'll be back for the preview.  Oh - did I mention we are still top of the league?

Have a good one Gooners.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Just Like the Old Days...But Better - Arsenal 4-1 Norwich

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It wasn't Thierry Henry hooking up with Bobby or Berkamp sliding a pass through to Freddy.  Instead it was Jack, Mesut, Santi, Ollie, and Ramsey with the flicks, backheels, and volleys that sealed Norwich's fate.  Why am I savoring this win perhaps more than those of times gone by?  I think it's because of the drought of pretty play endured by the fans over the past few years, and seeing those young players that we wrung our hands over (as Wenger persisted in being patient), coming good and enjoying their football.

What more pleasure is there in seeing Aaron Ramsey shake and bake his way past Norwich defenders to put the ball in goal? A player abused by his own fans just last year is having fun.  Having come on in the 37th minute for The Flying Flamini (head collision), Ramsey took until the second half to put on his shooting boots, scoring in the 83rd minute.

If shake and bake isn't your cup of tea, take a look at Arsenal's first goal - aptly named WengerBall.  Santi passes to Giroud who goes to Jack who gives it back to Giroud, who then then lofts the ball back to Jack who calmly slots it home.  If you think that last sentence was confusing, take a look at the two backheels that were exchanged - they left the Norwich defense completely bewildered.

And let's not forget our mega-star signing who scored his first two Premier League goals in front of a rip-roaring Emirates crowd.  He looked as though he thoroughly enjoyed his triumph too.
Ozil Ramsey Norwich celebration

His first goal was a header - really unusual for the creative midfielder.  The timing of his run to get on the end of Ramsey's cross was perfect, and he threw himself into it.  His second goal came off a great assist from Giroud who caught a cross from Rosicky on the volley and jabbed it back toward Ozil.  One touch each.  Perfect.

The fun of watching the Arsenal game was magnified by the surroundings in which I watched.  I traveled to North Carolina this week to visit old friends and fellow Arsenal fans Jeane and Doc who now are part of a group called The Triangle Gooners of Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. They frequent a pub called Bull McCabes.  The bar was stocked full of enthusiastic Gooners who were cheering, clapping, jeering, and best of all, chanting authentic Arsenal chants.  Loved it.

The next few weeks will be interesting.  Flamini is out with a concussion.  We have Dortmund at home on Tuesday, Crystal Palace on Saturday, and then Chelsea for the Capital One Cup again on Tuesday.  That takes care of October.  Then fasten your seatbelts for November when we play Liverpool, Dortmund (away), Manchester United, Southhampton, and Marseilles all before Thanksgiving.  Our longer term injured players should be returning in time to rotate the squad.

In the meantime, savor being top of the league yet again.  Like I said, this is fun, like the old days, but...well...you get it.

Have a good one Gooners.



Thursday, October 10, 2013

A Draw Before Interlull - is your glass half full?



Interlulls are difficult to say the least.  They are made even more so by the fact that we left off in the League top of the table.  Drawing at West Brom may have not been the exact result that we wanted, but I don't think anyone can complain about our first place position.  Any honest Gooner would tell you that circumstances are polar opposite of what we thought they would be back in August. I think the lack of free-flowing performance last Sunday was due to several issues.  Firstly, I give credit to West Brom for playing hard and tactically sound footy.  Clogging up our middle and pressing three players to our one who was on the ball congested the lanes of our passing, made it look like we were dribbling the ball into a striped crowd, and frustrated us with fouls that went uncalled.  Jack in particular spent most of his first half prone on the pitch waving his hands in the air appealing to the ref for a foul (really the only area of his footballing that drives me crazy).

Secondly, with our injuries, and thereby lack of rotation, I would wonder if some of our regulars are getting a bit tired.  Ramsey came off and iced his leg after what we would now consider a sub-par performance from him.  Mertesacker also was solid, but made a couple of judgmental errors.  He was one of the defenders that spaced off while Yacob ran to meet the ball with his head.  Very un-Per of him.  The bad news is our most tired players are off now on international duty traveling distances and running on fumes.  That is worrisome.  The good news is by the time the lull has been put to sleep, we should have impactful players returning from injury.  Santi and Yaya are due back October 19th with possibly Poldi, Theo, and Sagna back the week after.  We have some serious games coming up after the break, so these returns are well-timed indeed (I just saw Tommy has a shin injury?  Jeesh - he just got back!).

But, the 19th seems a long way off on the football horizon.  All we have to entertain us are stories of Jack possibly being misquoted about a comment when asked about some non-English player playing for England.  This controversy comes on the tails of his smoking debacle (for which he took ownership - well done Jack-o!).  Yep - that's how slow the news is.  We don't seem to have any injury news coming in from our boys training internationally but the matches themselves begin the 11th.  Our boys from Germany, England, France, and Spain all play on Friday, Oops - and lets not forget Nicky B. who is back in the Denmark squad.  I'll be scouring for injury news Saturday morning.

That's all for now.  I may post a few thoughtful articles between now and the end of the break.  Until then, good luck trying to stay awake and have a good one Gooners.


Saturday, October 5, 2013

Can Arsenal Continue Their Smokin' Hot Winning Ways? West Brom previewed



It's most unusual here in the Midwest with these beginning days of October being humid and hot and thunderstorms popping up here and there.  It's taking some adjusting to get used to after previous cool and seasonable weather.  Being an Arsenal fan has been the same in a way.  Starting off as a fan of the Invincibles, the last several years I have acclimated to expecting young, talented players to not reach their potential, or after doing so, leaving for greener and richer pastures.  Seeing the young come good and spending riches to bring in the cream of the world crop has seen us top the Champions League Group Stage and the Premier League table (until this morning). Winning is so much more enjoyable than steamy and sticky weather.

West Brom will prove another tricky test.  They are sitting mid-table, but are coming off of a win where they beat Manchester United 2-1 and were,  inarguably, the better looking team.  Playing in the West Midlands again a team gaining confidence can be problematic.  Although over the summer, their squad was thinned, losing loaned- out- from- Chelsea Lukaku as well as Gera, Fortune, and Thomas.  They did acquire Anelka, but he is currently a doubt because of an ankle injury.  And yet, Steve Clark and company grabbed three points last week playing a 4-4-1-1 using Anichebe up front and Sessegnon slotting in behind him.  The second goal in particular was due to Manure's defense allowing Amalfitano to dance his way to the goal pretty well unimpeded.  Arsene may well employ the defense used against Napoli to ensure that doesn't happen.

The combination of Arteta and Flamini sitting behind Mesut and the wings was particulary effective.  Not surprising really when you consider that Mikel and Mathieu are the Ying and Yang of defensive football.  Mikel is discipline, technical, calm, and metronomic  in his passing.  Matty is all passion and grit.  He flings himself sideline to sideline breaking up plays and making stinging tackles the opponent will remember.

As far as they rest of the squad, Sagna is out for three weeks with a hamstring injury so Jenks will be starting at right back.  Arsene will have to decide between Gnabry, TR7, and Jack.  Jack did not start against Napoli and will be chomping at the bit to get a starting position back, but he may also be in the doghouse after his smoking incident.  Considering how hard a worker Jack is though, I think he will pay a fine (to Per), get a talking to from Le Boss about health and PR concerns (fire your reps Jack.  They did you no favors), and be in contention for starting.

Up top, the decision picks itself.   Unless Giroud gets hurt, Bendtner will start from the bench.  I'm of the mind that if we start hard and fast like we did against the Italians, we will put West Brom on the back foot and bring home a win.

So here's hoping our terrific effort and performances repeat themselves against a team that is attempting to evolve.  A win will reestablish us as table toppers.  I could get used to that.  But, let's get rid of the mugginess, shall we?  That is one thing I don't want to get used to.

Have a good one Gooners.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Is This Really Happening?


Is it really happening?  Top of the League.  Ten wins in a row.  Six points and four goals on aggregate in the group stages of the Champions League.  Two of those goals are away.  And accomplishing all of this with what has been termed by everyone, including our manager, a thin squad.  It's magical. It's magical in a way that a small child goes to sleep dreaming of Santa and wakes up to a mound of presents.  Amazing.

We may have rued Higuain joining Napoli leaving us with only Giroud.  We moaned when Cabaye didn't appear and we didn't acquire Bender.  I have never loved being wrong about the season's prospects more than I am right now.  Elated doesn't come close to describing it.

Herr Ozil was again a revelation with scoring his first Arsenal goal on the bounce after Ramsey offered up a terrific cross from the right side.  Ramsey playing on the right a year ago would have made me bury my head into my hands.  This season's Rambo Ready is an entirely different animal.

Coming into this match, Giroud had gone three games without a goal.  His all around play was still impactful, but I must admit, there was a tinge of doubt way back in the dark recesses of my mind that wondered if his early goal scoring form was a fluke.  I am delighted to say he vanquished all sorts of dust bunnies and any other sort of creatures that inhabit dark recesses.  He not only took part in the set up play that gave rise to Mesut's goal (won the header, held up the ball, passed it to Ramsey), but added to his goal tally by putting away an Ozil assist.

And it's not just a couple of individual stand out stars that are making a difference.  Don't get me wrong, signing Ozil seems to have conferred upon our boys even more confidence and inspiration that they achieved at the end of last season.

But it's a team thing:



Just one more observation before I go.  Wenger solved the Arteta/Flamini rotation issue by playing them both.  Why not?  Flamini has the energy to break up play anywhere on the field, and according to Wenger, deal with Hamsik.  Arteta was on the pitch to read the game and keep possession of the ball - a stat that increased to 67% after previous percentages of only 59% and 48% at Swansea and West Brom respectfully.

So we are on to West Brom on the weekend where some rested players from tonight (gasp - we were able to rest players?) will probably make an appearance.  I'll be back with more euphoric Arsenal thoughts before then.

Such as - what are we going to do with Santi when he returns?

Nice to have that problem.  Have a good one Gooners.