Arsenal 4 Life: An Apology…

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Well, my review of the Liverpool game was met with some venom wasn’t it?

Looking back on the review, it did seem well over the top. As the game went on, I was content with the performance but once Liverpool went down to 10 men, I was growing more and more frustrated that Arsenal couldn’t take advantage.

Apart from Rosicky’s shot in the 87th minute Reina had nothing to do really. And the equalising goal we did score was fortuitous to say the least.

But as many have commented, a point away at Anfield isn’t the worst result.

I suppose the difference in supporting Arsenal over the last few seasons, for me anyway, is taking each game as it comes. In the glory days we could afford to look forwards and believe we could make back points later on in the campaign. These days, I view every Arsenal game as a cup tie. The Premier League is ruthless and it isn’t like Spain and Italy, where 65/70 points is enough. In England, you need at least 85/90 points if you want to win the league.

Hence why Benitez and Mancini, successful in their leagues back home, have and will struggle with the Premier League. A conservative approach that works in Spain and Italy won’t work over here. [1]

Anyway, I’m going off an a tangent.

The last few seasons have been a roller-coaster and it is frustrating to see the obvious problems not resolved, like the lack of a goalkeeper or defensive cover in the middle.

So I promise that I’ll try and post with more optimism, so it’s a good job we’ve got Blackpool tomorrow…

What An Absolute Disgrace That Was!

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Liverpool (1) – (1) Arsenal
Reina O.G. (89′)
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool

What an absolute farce.

I was hugely optimistic going into the opening game of the new season and I thought that Arsenal would put in a decent performance at Anfield but how wrong I was.

Arsenal have had the best part of 4 months to bring in a competent goalkeeper and they haven’t done so. Arsenal fans haven’t got much confidence in Almunia or Fabianski yet they are the two main keepers we have in the squad.

And today was just ridiculous.

The first half was cagey, and Liverpool give Arsenal a massive lifeline.

Joe Cole flies in on Koscielny in the corner and gets sent off. The tackle was reckless, and you could argue it could have been only a booking but the fact was at the start of the second half, Arsenal had a one man advantage.

So what happens?

Arsenal self-destruct.

Within minutes of the restart some amateurish defending results in half a chance for David Ngog, who is possibly the most unpopular player amongst the Liverpool fans, and from a tight angle he lashes the ball into the net via the near post.

A decent goalkeeper shouldn’t be beaten from that angle!

Manuel Almunia has never been and will never be good enough for Arsenal Football Club.

And for the rest of the half I was hugely frustrated, not just with how the game panned out, but how Arsene Wenger, with his worldwide scouting network cannot find a single goalkeeper who isn’t shit. Honestly, the mind boggles, is it that hard to find a keeper who doesn’t make mistakes in every game?

I honestly believe that Almunia might be Arsene Wenger’s love child from an illegitimate relationship and he is being blackmailed into playing him and keeping him at the club.

How many points does he have to cost us before Arsene says that’s enough?

And literally 3 minutes later, Almunia made another massive blunder to give Liverpool a free header from a set-piece, which should have been taken and we would have been 2-0 down.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen and we only had a single goal to pull back.

But without Fabregas or Van Persie we looked completely lost. We had tonnes of the ball, but nothing to show for it. Reina had nothing to do for the next 40 minutes and Liverpool were extremely comfortable sitting back and soaking up the “pressure”, not that Arsenal were particularly penetrating.

It was the same old story – the game was getting far too narrow and Arsenal refused to get the ball wide and get in behind the Liverpool defence. So essentially Liverpool just had 2 solid banks of four and sat there, which is what you would expect from a team who were down to 10 men.

And the sad thing was, throughout the entire 90 minutes you would never have know it was 10 against 11. Arsenal didn’t make that extra man count and only a handful of players should be happy with their performances.

Sagna and Clichy were energetic as usually, trying to push on at every opportunity and support the attacks, although their crossing was woeful. Vermaelen and Koscielny were solid and seemed to gel well together, and I was pleased at how the débutante performed. Ridiculously though, he was given a second booking for a handball which was nowhere near being deliberate. Torres lashed the ball onto his arm from a yard away and he was given a yellow card. The decision was even more farcical when you consider David Ngog had a clearly deliberate handball unpunished earlier in the second half!

The rest of the team however were a disgrace.

You know how I feel about Almunia, and if Arsene refuses to bring another goalkeeper in before the transfer window closes I might consider giving up on Arsenal. It is completely ridiculous, to be 1 or 2 players away from a real squad challenging for the Premier League. Does Arsene like being “close” to having a title winning squad? I don’t understand the logic!

Unfortunately, Arsenal’s other new signing Marouane Chamakh looked completely lost. His first touch was poor, and his movement was none existent. He really should have been replaced by Van Persie with at least half an hour to go, because he was useless. So it was ironic then, that he contributed to the equaliser which was a Reina howler.

Too many players were on the periphery of the game, and contributed nothing. Arsenal were powder puff, and don’t let Reina’s own goal take anything away from the extremely poor performance. Rosicky and Van Persie had their moments when they came on but overall we didn’t play as a team. The whole game was summed up when Arsenal had 6 men on the break and they managed to waste a golden opportunity to nick all 3 points. It would have been completely criminal and completely undeserved, but the chance was there.

Maybe I’m being over critical as it was the first game of the season, but Liverpool put in more effort and more of a performance today. They had 10 men for over 45 minutes, but because of our deficiencies we gave them the lead.

Things need to change, and fast.

Premier League Predictions: 2010/2011

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No matter what the experts and pundits say, no-one (not even a psychic octopus) could even predict the outcome of a Premier League season. Everyone can make educated guesses, but even I was surprised that Tottenham got into the Top 4 last season, and Liverpool collapsed in spectacular fashion.

You can leave your own predictions in the comments section of this post, and we can look back here in 9 months time and see how accurate we were!

Here’s my 2 cents worth anyway:

Premier League Champions: Arsenal

I have to say this don’t I? The question is do I believe it?

Well the biggest news is that Cesc Fabregas is staying for at least one more season, whether he wants to or not. He’s always given 110% whenever he’s worn the Arsenal shirt so I don’t see that changing in this campaign, despite all the talk that “his heart isn’t at Arsenal”. We’ve made 2 signings in Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny and lost 5, in William Gallas, Philippe Senderos, Mikael Silvestre, Sol Campbell and Eduardo da Silva. So on paper at least, the squad is weaker than last year.

And we still haven’t solved our goalkeeping situation, which for me is the biggest obstacle Arsenal need to overcome if we are going to have a successful season. Jens Lehmann was completely nuts but he was a top goalkeeper. Since his departure the simple fact is Almunia or Fabianski are not up for the task. When your own supporters are calling you Basil Fawlty and Flapianski then you know the fans don’t have confidence in their keepers.

But who do we need? Fortunately it’s not my job to scout and chase possible candidates but names like Mark Schwarzer, Joe Hart and Shay Given have been banded around in recently months with no real substance. Citeh would be insane to release one of their quality keepers to us, and besides, I don’t rate Shay Given at all. One of my closest friends is a Citeh supporter and thinks he’s rubbish on set-pieces and crosses because he doesn’t come off his line. A top shot stopper yes, the ideal solution, no.

Then again, anyone would be an improvement on what we’ve got, so I am praying that Wenger pulls out an 11th hour transfer out of the bag.

My heart says Arsenal will overcome the odds, stay lucky with injuries and somehow pull off one of the most surprising title challenges of recent years. Manchester United haven’t really strengthened, and the same goes for Chelsea. Liverpool have added but are still well off and I just see Tottenham struggling in the league with a possible Champions League campaign ahead of them. That leaves Manchester City, who have a great squad of players but is Mancini the man to gel the team and get consistent results and performances? People are comparing them to Chelsea when Mourinho arrived but along with the big name signings they had possibly the most ruthless manager leading them. And I just don’t think Manchester City have that.

So along with my completely unwavering pre-season optimism, I believe that Arsenal have a real opportunity to do something special this season, if they stay injury free for most of the season. But you ask yourself how likely that is looking at our recent track record!

We should have won the league in the 2007/2008 campaign, and last year we looked the real deal until we lost Robin Van Persie for the rest of the season. With Arsenal, you’re playing with fine margins and everything really needs to go for us if we want to get to the top of the table. Is it possible? Of course it is, and the belief from the squad and manager is there, we just need to keep fighting until the end.

My heart says first, but my head says third.

Runners Up: Chelsea

As I see it, the strongest rivals are Chelsea.

They have a squad of born winners. Winning is all they know and that is so valuable in this league, and they have it in abundance, along with Manchester United. I’ve talked about that winning mentality being so vital in the Premier League and Chelsea and United are streets ahead of the rest of the league in that respect.

People comment on Chelsea’s ageing squad, but that isn’t going to be a major factor for me. They have quality all over the pitch and have that ruthlessness instilled by Mourinho. You could argue that the trophy that they covet the most, the European Cup, could distract them but the depth of their squad is impressive. But like Van Persie for us last season, you wonder how they would cope if Drogba was injured for any decent length of time.

Third Place: Manchester United

Last season Wayne Rooney was immense, taking over as the focal point of the team in Ronaldo’s absence. Manchester United have a knack of essentially basing an entire team around their best player. and while it could be argued that makes them a one man team the fact is it is effective an not many teams can stop it. They do it so well and over the last 3/4 seasons they have been fortunate that Ronaldo and Rooney have both played injury-free for the whole season.

Wayne Rooney would be a bigger miss for Manchester United than Didier Drogba or Robin Van Persie for Chelsea and Arsenal.

And after a draining World Cup campaign, it is possible that Rooney might struggle for parts of the season, although in fairness that’s more of a hope than the likelihood it will happen. But if they pick up one or two injuries in key areas they might struggle to keep up. And the form of Berbatov is key – his inability to score even the simplest chances towards the end of last season cost Manchester United dearly and made the difference in United not winning the league – after all they were only a single point away from Chelsea.

Fourth Place: Manchester City

Manchester City are the unknown quantity really, some are tipping them for the Premier League Title, while others think they will sneak fourth. I just don’t think Citeh have the managerial set-up to win the league, although Roberto Mancini has won Serie A before.

For me, it takes someone special to bring all of those superstars together in such a short space of time and make them into a real force and that man isn’t Mancini, it’s Mourinho. The squad is far too good for them not to make the Top 4 but the title is just beyond them I feel.

Like Arsenal, belief is the key for Manchester City. If they get off to a flyer in August, they could surprise everyone and do it, but when the chips are down I think they’ll struggle. Manchester United and Chelsea always believe they will win whatever the situation, but for Arsenal and Citeh they need the momentum and belief to make it all the way, and that’s where I think Manchester City will fall short.

Plus, the sight of Adebayor lifting the Premier League trophy doesn’t bare thinking about…

Relegated: Birmingham, Stoke City & Blackpool

It’s not just because Birmingham and Stoke City tried to ruin the careers of two of our favourite players (okay, it is a little) and you might think I’m insane choosing teams that finished 9th and 11th last season but hear me out.

Birmingham won’t have Joe Hart and Stoke City… yeah f*ck it, I don’t think they get relegated I just hope they do. I’m not going to lie, I still hold a very strong grudge.

I could argue that they exceeded expectations last season and this year teams will be able to figure out how to play against them, and that the expectations for the new season will be unrealistic and they will struggle with that burden. There, some half decent reasons!

And I would love it if Blackpool managed to stay up, I really would. Everyone loves an underdog and Blackpool on paper are ridiculously out of their depth. But Ian Holloway is a great character and it will be entertaining to see them stay in the league. Who knows, a decent start to the league and they have a fighting chance.

Top Scorer: Wayne Rooney

Absolutely everything goes through Shrek and you can bet after huge disappointment in South Africa he will be hell bent on impressing this season.

He has added heading to his repertoire of goals so expect more of the same this season, and he was only 3 goals off Drogba last year as well.

Join The Arsenal 4 Life Fantasy Football League!

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I’ve used the official Premier League fantasy football game for a good few years now and it never occurred to me that it might be fun to set-up a league just for you Arsenal fans, so here it is!

The game is completely free and I’ve set-up an “Arsenal 4 Life” league so you can enter your team by following the instructions below.

How to join the league:

  1. Go to http://fantasy.premierleague.com/
  2. Sign up for a free Fantasy Football team
  3. Select your team (You can change it as many times as you like before the season starts)
  4. Click on the ‘Manage Leagues’ link
  5. Find ‘Join a Private League’
  6. Enter the code: 732837-170969

Feel free to pass on the code to friends so they can enter their team as well.
If you’re still having problems joining/signing up just leave a message here and I’ll try to help.

So who is your tip for being a bargain signing this season?

Campbell / Koscielny / Fabregas / Goalkeeper

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It looks like Sol Campbell is moving to Newcastle United, which isn’t really that surprising. Arsenal can’t really offer Sol guaranteed football every week and at Newcastle he’ll probably be a regular. It would be interesting to know what wages Newcastle are paying him though, considering they are reportedly tightening their belts and Sol notoriously seeks the higher pay-packet.

And that brings us to Laurent Koscielny. After spending somewhere in the region of £10 million for his services, it’s clear that Arsene’s 3 main central defenders will be Djourou, Vermaelen and Koscielny.

There’s been a lot of speculation from Arsenal blogs about whether the young Frenchman is good enough but Arsene and his back room staff are starting to get a reputation for unearthing top quality defenders from relative obscurity. We had Bacary Sagna in 2007, Vermaelen in 2009 and we now have Laurent Koscielny. People cite playing in Ligue 2 a couple of seasons ago as a reason why he isn’t good enough, but the guy is only 24 years old. Andrei Arshavin didn’t exactly light the world on fire in his earlier years but look at how good he is now.

And I suppose I have to talk about our captain, Cesc Fabregas.

In my younger days I would happily speculate about transfer rumours and stories but these days I’m not bothered until something actually happens. Anyone can say a deal has been done or that he’ll move next year but it’s all hearsay. I’ve read in some places that Arsenal and Barcelona have “agreed” that Cesc will stay one more year and will move to Barcelona next year. Well that story is pretty convenient isn’t it? He might well move next season but that doesn’t mean a deal has been struck now.

If I’m honest, I guess I just don’t care about the situation anymore. People ask me about Cesc leaving and I tell them I’m not bothered. It’s been dragged out so long I couldn’t care less about whether he stays or goes. Arsenal have clearly said that they don’t want to sell, and it’s obvious Barcelona won’t stump up the cash, so no amount of b*llocks from Barcelona coaches, staff or players about Cesc’s DNA will change the fact he won’t be leaving unless we’re offered at least £50 million.

If Cesc stays, then great. If he leaves, then good luck to him. He’s always given 110% when he’s worn an Arsenal shirt and has never disrespected the club like plonkers such as Hleb or Adebayor. The club always comes first and is far bigger than any player, and we’ve learnt that over the years. Players like Vieira, Henry and Bergkamp have left the ranks over the years but we’ve always coped and pretty well by all accounts. As many have already pointed out, Wilshire and Ramsey are promising youngsters who already look top drawer and could step into Cesc’s shoes.

I will remember the comments he made before the World Cup, when he talked about a discussion he had with Arsene Wenger:

“It was probably the greatest conversation I have had with someone in my life.”

I would love to know why that was the case.

Finally we come to the goalkeeper situation. We’ve been heavily linked with Mark Schwarzer, which has surprised me really, because while I’ve always believed he was a decent goalkeeper, I doubt whether he’s good enough for Arsenal. I realise the ridiculousness of that statement when we’ve got goalkeepers such as Manual Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski on our books but Mark Schwarzer?

But it is an area that we seriously needs addressing. For the last 3/4 seasons, we’ve had a major handicap of having a poor goalkeeper. Last season, we were close to pulling off a remarkable sequence of wins towards the end of the campaign which would have given us a fighting chance of winning the title only for it to be completely ruined by Almunia’s comedy moment against Birmingham City at St Andrews. I know Almunia has made some mistakes in his time but I struggle to find one as ridiculous as that.

I just wish Arsene would spend £10/12 million on a top quality goalkeeper – because if you got 5/6 good seasons from him then it would be an excellent investment. Goalkeepers generally stay at a top club for a good number of seasons (Van Der Sar, Cech, Reina, etc.) so I don’t see why Arsene is so reluctant to splash out on a keeper.