Thanks For Everything Arsene, But It’s Time For You To Leave

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Michael Roberts

I wrote only yesterday that Arsene Wenger needed to learn his lesson from the other away games against the big sides. We were humiliated against Manchester City, annihilated at Anfield and lost at Manchester United. The result at Old Trafford was only 1-0, but this was against the worst Manchester United side in the last 20 years.

I also said that a draw would keep us in the race, a win would give us the belief we can win the Premier League and a defeat would mean we’re out of the running.

As it turned out, Arsene got his approach against a big team completely wrong again, and just like at Anfield, the game was effectively over as a contest after 17 minutes.

Regular readers will know that I have a hatred for Olivier Giroud. He is a second rate striker and concentrates more on his “poses” after missing a goalscoring opportunity. But the biggest reason I can’t stand him is because he is not good enough for Arsenal. And once again, he contributed to our downfall.

After only 4 minutes into the game, Giroud was beautifully put through by Tomas Rosicky but somehow managed to execute another lame shot which was easily saved by Cech. About 30 seconds late, Chelsea attacked and Samuel Eto’o scored a goal which Giroud could only dream of. Even though Eto’o is now 33 years old, the fact was he used to be a world class striker – and the chances he and Giroud had showed. Eto’o was composed, clinical and deadly when his chance came while Giroud, well know all about him and his poor finishing.

Against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United away we were in a healthy position in the league. So why not play for a draw? Or at least setup so you’re difficult to beat. We’ve show we can do it against Borussia Dortmund so why the f*ck can’t we do it against Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea?

If I can f*cking see it, then why can’t Arsene Wenger?

He’s just had a new contract worth £7.5 million a year and why the hell can’t he see that he plays far too open against the top sides?

Honestly, can someone answer that question?

We were 5 points clear at the top of the table in November and now we sit 7 points off the top. We haven’t dropped points against the “lesser sides” but we’ve literally thrown away points, and in dramatic fashion, against the top clubs.

We know today was Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game for the club and we all know he has been amazing for the club but today was an utter shambles. It was a disgraceful, pathetic performance with no tactical intelligence.

Is Arsene hell bent on giving the other title challengers massive confidence boosts? 6-3 at City, 5-1 at Liverpool and then this joke at Chelsea. I cannot understand for the life of me why Arsene plays such an open game. You could forgive him if he made this mistake once, but he’s done it 4 times now.

This season we have done amazingly well but unfortunately, Arsene has shown he has take the club as far as he can. If you collapse so badly against your main title rivals, then you have no chance.

Arsene Needs To Learn His Lesson And Not Make The Same Mistake Against Chelsea

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Michael Roberts

Arsenal find themselves 4 points off the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand. A win against Chelsea tomorrow would put us in a truly fantastic position but a defeat would do the opposite – it would virtually put us out of the race.

With only 10 games of the season left, the very tight battle at the top means the next couple of weeks will be vital as we go into the final stretch. Dropping points at this stage will mean an uphill battle – with 4 teams with a real chance of winning the league, the team that will end up triumphant will be the one who gets through the next fortnight without losing the most points.

So Arsene Wenger needs to learn his lesson from this season.

Against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United away we’ve been embarrassed. In those games, considering our position in the league during those times, draws would have been good results. But instead we got our approach completely wrong and lost 6-3, 5-1 and 1-0. The United result may not have been disastrous, but considering it was against the worst Manchester United side in the last 20 years, then it wasn’t great.

Draws are underrated and in those situations would have kept us in a strong position in the league and kept our rivals away from us in terms of points.

So it’s important we’re not too reckless against Chelsea and lose because we tried to go for a win. A draw keeps us in the race, a win gives us belief that we can go on to win the Premier League but a defeat would leave us in a position where we’d be out of it in my opinion.

Our record against the top teams is poor and we need to address that against Chelsea and Manchester City. The reason why we’d be out of the running if we lose against Chelsea and City is because they would get a massive boost from beating a title rival and the fact that they’d win a 6 pointer.

So will Arsene learn his lesson? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

#COYG

Sagna’s Wage Demands? Giroud Back To France?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Michael Roberts

We all know that Bacary Sagna’s contract ends this summer and for the last few years, he’s been hesitating to sign a new deal. He’s 31 years old and I suppose, he sees this as his final chance to make a big money move or get an improved contract from Arsenal.

I’ve said over the last few seasons that it was obvious he was leaving this summer because he would have signed ages ago. Players like Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and even Theo Walcott all know that refusing (or “delaying”) the chance to sign a new deal forces Arsenal’s hand. We either let them go or give them a mega deal to stay.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I didn’t even think Sagna would be staying beyond this season for this reason – if he wanted to stay then we would have secured a new deal 2 or 3 years ago. Now if you believe the latest reports, Bacary is after a new deal worth £90,000 per week and a £6 million “signing on fee”.

Other sources say we’ve made an improved offer on his current £60,000 a week deal, and put £75,000 a week on the table.

There is no doubt about the quality of the player, he’s been one of our most consistent players over the last 5 seasons. But should we give in to his demands? Only Arsene will really know the answer as there are many things to factor in.

Does he think Carl Jenkinson is ready to step up next season? Is Sagna’s versatility and ability to play in central defence invaluable to the team? Does Arsene think Sagna still has a good 3/4 seasons left in him? Only the boss can answer those questions.

Personally, I think his departure was on the cards a long time ago and unless something drastic happens then I can’t see him in an Arsenal shirt next season. With his demands he’s essentially asking us to compete financially with teams like PSG who are after his signature, and we just can’t do that.

Meanwhile, fellow Frenchman Olivier Giroud is “apparently” considering a move back to France on the wishes of his wife Jennifer.

No idea if this is complete hearsay but I did hear rumours that he was off in the summer last week and I suppose if the price is right then I don’t think there will be many Arsenal fans that would miss him terribly.

Giroud splits Arsenal fans; some think he’s utterly useless and isn’t good enough for Arsenal, while others think he gives 110% and gives us that extra dimension.

I think it’s certain to say though that if Arsene sold Olivier Giroud and replaced him with a top quality striker, that he wouldn’t be missed by many.

[Vote Here] Has Tomas Rosicky Fired Arsenal Back Into The Title Race?

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Michael Roberts

With Tomas Rosicky’s wonder strike after 2 minutes of the North London Derby, Arsenal managed to take home all 3 points from their nearest rivals.

After the goal, we defended well, kept together and kept ourselves in the title race.

Or did we?

We still have Premier League games against Manchester City and Chelsea, so after we’ve played those matches I suppose we’ll have a better idea of whether we’re really in the race.

So did Tomas Rosicky fire Arsenal back into the title race? Cast your vote below:

surveys

Why Arsenal Can Beat Bayern And Progress Tonight

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Michael Roberts

So tonight is the big one. After losing 2-0 at home against the reigning European Champions, we face a the though prospect of going to the Allianz Arena needing to score at least 2 goals to stay in the tie.

Impossible? No, but there’s no doubt the odds are heavily stacked against us.

We won 2-0 there last season and Bayern went on to progress on the away goals rule. We scored an early goal, they missed a few chances and things got nervy at the end when Koscielny scored with 5 minutes to go. We couldn’t nick that vital third goal but we showed that we’re no pushovers in Europe.

In our last 5 visits to Germany, we’ve won 3 games and drawn 2 which is an excellent record. It shows how resilient we can be and that when it matters, we can get a result.

I would be much more confident if we had our first choice back four, but Gibbs is injured. A defensive line of Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker and Gibbs is one of the best in Europe in my opinion. The four of them defend so well as unit and regular readers will know that I don’t rate Monreal, since he featured in the heavy defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool. And for me, he was also one of the major reasons we conceded the two goals against Bayern in the first leg.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Monreal is also injured meaning that our options are to put Thomas Vermaelen at left back, or to move Sagna to that position and play Carl Jenkinson at right back. Vermaelen has only just come back from injury so could be a risk and people forget that Jenkinson played in the Bayern game last season. What will Arsene do? I suspect he will play Vermaelen even though I think it’s a risk.

Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are certain to anchor the midfield with a bit of fight and organisation and further up the field Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud are nailed on to start. So the last midfield position is between Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and I have a feeling he might start with the Czech. He’s played in Germany before and sets the tempo in the big games, as well as being able to track back and throw his weight around in midfield.

Obviously, tonight hinges on the first goal. Like at Dortmund, we had to withstand a lot of pressure before nicking a goal at the other end. If we can keep a clean sheet anything is possible but like tonight, if Dortmund scored first you just know that would have opened the floodgates.

If we can keep it tight, then Bayern will feel the pressure and we can slowly edge our way into the game. But if they score early then our heads will drop and it will be one long, tough evening indeed.

In a way, if Bayern did score it wouln’t make a huge different in terms of an aggregate score as 3 goals would see us through. But obviously that is something we need to avoid.

They say you need some luck on nights like these and tonight is no different. If the Gods of fate are playing fairly then we are definitely due some luck in the Champions League. One top of the harsh decision to send of Szczesny in the first leg, we also had a petty sending off at Barcelona (Robin van Persie) and another in the Champions League Final (Jens Lehmann) so we’re due some good luck.

Perhaps Bayern will have their goalkeeper sent off and some of their defenders will score a couple of unfortunate own goals. But maybe that’s asking a little too much.

As long as Arsenal put in a determined, focused performance and give it everything they have, then that’s all you can ask for. And if we do manage to surprise everyone and progress, then that’s a bonus.

You can say many things about Arsene Wenger but one thing I will say is that no matter which team we face, I believe that Arsenal can always win. I have never gone to watch Arsenal thinking they had no chance of winning that game. Because of the style of play Arsene adopts, I always think we can score goals.

So tonight we’re going to need a bit of faith and a bit of luck.