Arsenal Season Review 2008/2009

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Well what an interesting season.

It’s hard to evaluate this campaign, mainly because it’s difficult not to judge it against seasons gone by.

This campaign is the 4th in Arsene Wenger’s youth experiment and once again it has provided entertaining football but not the results. We reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup, and finished 4th in the league.

And the question isn’t whether this year was a success or failure but whether Arsenal fans are growing tired of being sold the future. We are promised that these kids will come good.

But the problem is that I, like other Arsenal fans just don’t believe it.

I’ve watched and supported Arsenal for almost 20 years and I haven’t seen this level of poor performance before. I’m not talking about talent, but basic desire and fight. I’ve brought this point up several times during this season and to me anyway, it seems like we’ve reached a point where most of our players think they have made it.

And it was this lack of heart that meant we were out of the title race by November.

We lost against Fulham, Stoke, Manchester City and Aston Villa, and then we had the farce against Spurs at home when Arsenal we leading 4-2 with only 2 minutes remaining. We managed to collapse and concede 2 late goals and only draw that game. That was truly unforgivable, but showed the fans this team wouldn’t get anywhere this season and that was later proved to be correct. Could you see any of our successful sides under Wenger capitulate a lead like that? Exactly.

A gripe I’ve had this season was the desire of the players and back in December I wrote:

One thing I would like to know is does Arsene Wenger have any idea how disillusioned Arsenal fans have become over this current and frankly average team?

Does he know there is a high level of negativity amongst the Arsenal supporters?

You will get those people who will spout the obvious “you’re not a proper Arsenal fan” just because I’ve made criticisms but where do you draw the line? No football team has a divine right to be in the Top Four or in the Champions League every season and while it might be an extreme example look what happened to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United. Those sides were at the top of their game and look where they are now.

I’m not asking for much.

I would just like to see a football team that is willing to compete. Over the last 10 years I haven’t seen a team lacking in fight, spirit and desire as much as this current crop of players.

I don’t want £40 million signings like Kaka or Messi. Just players who have pride in wearing an Arsenal shirt. Players who realise that it’s a privilege to play for Arsenal Football Club. We’ve had players in the past like Ray Parlour and Mathieu Flamini who weren’t the most gifted footballers but they always gave 110% every time they crossed that white line.

They knew what it meant to play for Arsenal.

It actually hurts me when I see players like Eboue, Song and Diaby just stroll through games. Where’s the heart?

Arsene has had the unadulterated faith of the Arsenal fans over the last few years because each season has seen a gradual improvement on the last. But after leading most of the 2007/2008 season and then losing key players such as Flamini, Hleb, Gilberto, Lehmann and Senderos in the following summer (and Diarra in the January transfer window) then it was clear that this season wasn’t going to be an improvement on the one before.

Some of you will question the quality of some of those players but the fact is some of them have gone on to sign for some of Europe’s biggest teams; Real Madrid, AC Milan and Barcelona (with mixed success I’ll admit).

Our response was to bring in Silvestre, Bischoff, Ramsey and Nasri.

And added to our plight, our over-pampered kids (who constantly hear from the manager that they have incredible ‘mental strength’ every week) decided not to perform this season. We already knew the desire of players like Eboue, Diaby and Song but this season players like Adebayor who were excellent and determined last season weren’t even bothered anymore.

What chance did we stand in the Premier League?

So in the end we were essentially in a battle for 4th spot with Aston Villa, and in all honesty we were aided by an Aston Villa collapse.

Yes, we went 21 Premier League games unbeaten but how many were draws? If a high percentage of those were victories then surely a 21 game run would have put us right back in the title race. But we finished a massive 18 points behind eventual Champions Manchester United. Particularly disappointing when you consider the season before we finished 3rd and only 4 points off top spot in the league.

But Arsene single-handedly saved Arsenal’s season with one signing. And that was Andrei Arshavin.

Since he arrived in January we saw a different Arsenal. Not title challenging but far better than the side which played in the first half of the season. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he carried the side on many occasions and that wasn’t more evident than in the 4-4 draw at Anfield. Basically, if it wasn’t for him we probably would have lost 4-0 and we wouldn’t have ended Liverpool’s title challenge.

Because of the decent run since January many people forget how abject we were from August to December. Some of the performances (such as against Boro) were truly terrible. We drew that game with a shocking lack of heart and effort and what can you put that down to? The worst thing was that only a week before Hull’s Marlon King ripped that same Boro defence to shreds. Marlon King did more damage than we did which is criminal.
By December, we had conceded the same amount of goals at Spurs, who at the time were in deep relegation trouble. The sad fact was that from the best defence in the country (in the invincibles season) we had one of the worst. Now you can point the finger at individual mistakes and injuries but ultimately Wenger is the man who overlooked the defence.

We lack that resilience that we had last season. If we play well then we’ve got a chance, but if we don’t we’ll lose. We can’t grind out results anymore and that is a problem. We are a confidence side and we don’t know which team will turn up on the day. In the Champions League, we were comprehensively beaten by Manchester United over two games, and Chelsea gave us a footballing lesson in the league. Once things go wrong we give up.

You will turn and say our players are young and need experience but Arsene’s ethos is ‘if you’re good enough you’re old enough’ and that is reflected in our annual wage bill. We pay roughly the same amount on wages as Manchester United. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to know that Eboue, Diaby and Denilson are on comparable wages to Hargreaves, Fletcher and Anderson – proven winners. No wonder you see several of our young players stroll around the pitch. You will find it hard to argue that half of our squad apply themselves as much as Ray Parlour or Mathieu Flamini did. Yes, they are different players but the fans aren’t stupid and they know when people aren’t applying themselves on the pitch. Look at Adebayor this season for example.

One of the major things I will remember from this season is Arshavin being missing from the starting line-up against Chelsea in the FA Cup. As things turned out a victory would have seen us in the final against Everton, and no disrespect to them but we would have been favourites to lift the cup. And if we did manage to win it then I would have considered this season to be a success – it would have been the first trophy this young side had won and could have been the catalyst for further honours in the future.

But for one reason or another Arsene decided not to play his strongest side, and even Nasri was on the bench.

Some people believe that Wenger wanted to save Arshavin for the Premier League game against Liverpool because 3rd place was more important to him. Other theories are that Arsene was wary of Chelsea’s aerial threat and decided that Diaby would provide better cover from set-pieces, although when have we ever seen Wenger concentrate on his oppositions tactics? Then rumblings from the infamous Q&A session with Wenger suggested that he wanted his young side to prove that they could win the big games, and he admitted it didn’t work.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and maybe Arshavin wouldn’t have made a difference. But it’s hard to ignore his influence after he smashed in 4 goals at Anfield only days later.

When you look at the Arsene Wenger Q&A transcript it makes hard reading.

It’s obvious some Arsenal fans aren’t happy with what they see on the pitch, and it’s disheartening to see a great man like Arsene Wenger having to defend himself against all these types of questions. There’s no doubt he is the most important man in Arsenal’s entire history and he has transformed a mid-table side into one of the biggest clubs in the world. The fact is Arsene is a victim of his own success.

The pressure has never been as intense, and Wenger is right when he points out that Liverpool, a massive club themselves, haven’t won the title in 19 years. He is also right to defend his players, because there’s nothing else he can do but. As fans we take defeat and poor performances to heart and rightly so, but Arsene will be feeling the pain a million times more.
Arsene has made some mistakes this season, but a lot of the players have let him down as well. He puts faith in these players and rewards them with increased wages and they don’t pay him back. And front of that particular queue is Adebayor

So the strange feeling I have after this season is one of disappointment, anger and pity for the manager.

Disappointment and anger because some of the performances this year have been quite disgraceful. It’s not the defeats so much as the lack of application from the players. All you can ask as a fan is the team to give 110% once they cross that white line and have pride in wearing the shirt of Arsenal. The first half of the season was poor and then when it mattered (the Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals) we didn’t turn up.

Then the manager.

What is it down to? Is it because he is stubborn and fixed on his unique vision, or is it because he has no money to spend? Does he lack a number two who questions his decisions? Sometimes when you have so much power at a club like Arsene has then you have a distorted view on things.

Wenger has stated that if Arsenal don’t win a trophy in the next 2 years then his experiment would have failed. I’m glad to see the back of this season and am already looking forward to next with my usual hope and faith for a brighter season. After all, that is what Arsene is selling to us, so come August we will have to hope that the squad is strengthened in key areas and we have a team that can compete and do us proud.

Will United Regret Not Finishing Us Off?

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Manchester United (1) – (0) Arsenal
Old Trafford, Manchester

Overall a disappointing performance but in the end a 1-0 defeat isn’t catastrophic, considering what could have been.

For the first half an hour United were all over us and we had to rely on Almunia to make some really fantastic saves; from Tevez and Ronaldo in particular.

The fact was United were much better. We lacked any urgency which was surprising considering this is the Champions League Semi Final. Once again Adebayor was infuriating as he lacked any energy or desire, and added to his poor touch it’s clear the form of last season has completely disappeared. For a 5 man midfield to work the striker needs to hold the ball up well and while Adebayor did this fantastically last year, this season he has been a shadow of his former self.

Diaby and Walcott were on the whole ineffective, and as an attacking force we didn’t click at all. Lots of pretty passing triangles but no real penetration or goal threat. Fabregas was lost and you couldn’t help thinking he would be far more dangerous playing deeper where he can control the game, and play those brilliant through balls.

Nasri was okay, but along with Fabregas struggled to make any real impact because of the lack of intelligent running from Diaby, Walcott and Adebayor.

It was hugely disappointing considering Porto and even Spurs scored twice at Old Trafford recently and Liverpool managed four. But we didn’t have the man who bailed us out at Anfield – Andrey Arshavin.

We can afford to play badly if you have a genius like that in the side but not with jokers like Adebayor.

But despite the poor attacking display, there were some positives.

As I’ve already mentioned we only lost 1-0, which is quite frankly a miracle considering the chances and possession United had. Almunia was excellent and Ronaldo hit the bar in the second half – trust me we were lucky to only concede the one goal.

And despite the terrible defending for the corner from which United scored, overall our defence was good.

Kieran Gibbs was sensational, and along with Toure and Almunia was possibly our best player. Even Ronaldo was reluctant to take him on and tended to drift inside instead. His composure and overall performance was excellent and he was one of the few positives tonight.

Toure was another player who had a great game, and I lost the amount of times he cleared up at the back. He made some brilliant tackles and put in a fantastic shift tonight. Even Silvestre (who setup the United goal) did well at times, as did Sagna on the right.

So despite a poor performance tonight, we have a second chance at the Emirates in 6 days time, and we have to step it up at home and I have no doubt we will. We have to make sure that we make United regret not finishing us off at Old Trafford, because trust me they could (and probably should) have.

It will be a completely different game at The Emirates, but the danger is if United nick one then we need three. But we got past Roma (just) with a 1-1 aggregate score in the 1st round knock-out stage so anything is possible.

Bring on the second leg.

Andrey Arshavin: A Masterclass Analysis

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Last night Andrey Arshavin showed us all a master class. Since yesterdays performance (where he literally carried the team) I can’t stop watching the goals because they were truly phenomenal.

If the finishing wasn’t impressive enough, the sheer desire in this guy is top class. Only a handful of players were actually bothered and make no mistake the Russian got us out of jail.

Don’t forget, we were playing a side who are fighting to win the league. And although there were a lot of negatives (including the poor defending and the lack of desire) the fact is we were leading the match 3 times with a patched up back five. With Gallas or Djourou alongside Kolo at the back I seriously doubt we would have conceded some of those sloppy goals.

But obviously the main positive was that man Andrey Arshavin.

Every goal had something special:

Goal 1

A nice ball wide from Song to Nasri plays the ball into the corner which Liverpool get back for Mascherano to lose to a Fabregas challenge. Nasri picks up the loose ball and plays a beautiful reverse pass into Cesc who looks up and picks out Arshavin to smash the ball into the net off the bar.

Arshavin Analysis

Despite having 7 Liverpool players in the box when Fabregas plays it square Arshavin cleverly waltzes in between central defenders Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher and has the quality to shoot first time and pick his spot in a crowded penalty area.

Goal 2

Fabianski’s goal kick is headed on by Arshavin which is headed towards Arbeloa by Jamie Carragher. Arshavin nips in front of Arbeloa, runs towards goal and fires the ball into the side netting.

Arshavin Analysis

When Carragher heads the ball forwards Arshavin is a good 7 yards behind Arbeloa and still manages to get the ball. The desire and ability to dispossess the defender is impressive enough but the finish was world class. He had 3 defenders charging him down but he still had the quality to rip the ball past Reina from the edge of the box.

Goal 3

Nasri has a little run in the middle and passes to Arshavin out on the left. He plays it back to Nasri who crosses first time and Aurellio ‘clears’ the ball which goes straight to the Russian who controls the ball with his first touch and scores with his second.

Arshavin Analysis

How many Arsenal players would have just slashed at the ball and missed? The only other player in the squad who would have the ability to control the ball in the crowded area and pick his spot would be Eduardo, which highlights how well the goal was taken. After playing in Nasri out wide he has the awareness to take up a position on the middle and the composure for the goal is breathtaking. Watch it again, he makes it look so easy it’s unreal.

Goal 4

Arsenal defend a corner from which Theo Walcott runs about 50 yards and plays in Arshavin who smashes the ball past Reina for his fourth.

Arshavin Analysis

It’s the last minute and yet Arshavin runs 80 yards to support Walcott on the break. To take the goal so well after busting a gut is sensational and he’s made all 4 goals look so easy. Fantastic desire, fantastic goal and fantastic energy so late in the game.

And if you didn’t love Arshavin already then here’s an interview on the Arsenal.com website. He plays down his contribution in the first half and talks about how he needs more time to settle in at Arsenal!

Arshavin Embarasses Liverpool – And Arsene Wenger (w/ Player Ratings)

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Liverpool (4) – (4) Arsenal
Arshavin (36′, 67′, 70′, 90′)
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool

What a crazy game.

And what shambolic defending, from both teams.

The bottom line was that tonight too many players (possibly because of an FA Cup Semi Final hangover) weren’t in the game at all. Denilson was particularly dreadful, and Cesc Fabregas wasn’t in the game at all. Bendtner was lazy and couldn’t even be bothered doing the simple things such as closing down or making runs, and then we have our defending.

And somehow we drew the game 4-4.

On reflection, we didn’t deserve anything from tonight’s game. We were very sloppy at the back, we were completely beaten in midfield and upfront Bendtner was toothless. So how the hell did we score 4 at Anfield?

Two reasons; Fabianski and Arshavin.

Fabianski had to be called upon so many times it was ridiculous. Liverpool dominated throughout and he really kept us in the match. And Arshavin had 4 attempts, 4 of which were on target and he scored 4 goals.

This guy is world class. All 4 goals were superbly taken and he was our best player by a country mile. I cannot tell you how good this player is – without him we would have left Anfield with what we deserved – absolutely nothing.

Make no mistake, tonight was a smash and grab in every sense of the word.

So you wonder why the hell Arshavin didn’t start against Chelsea at the weekend. The mind truly boggles – what was Arsene Wenger thinking? This guy has been our best player since he arrived and not to play him in the FA Cup was a travesty – I still can’t get over it. If he can score 4 stunning goals against Liverpool at Anfield then what could he have done against Chelsea?

Arshavin didn’t just embarrass Liverpool tonight, he embarrassed Arsene Wenger.

Because all he needs is one chance. He proved that tonight.

Liverpool’s first equalising goal came from a shocking ‘clearance’ from the usually solid Sagna, who looked a bit jaded after only just coming back from injury. Kuyt had two chances to cross the ball and he finally found Torres for a well taken header.

The second was from a deep cross which somehow made it over the line, and the third wasn’t great either. Torres did well to make the space and score but it was far too easy, and once again Fabianski was exposed.

And the fourth was in injury time.

As a defensive unit we weren’t comfortable all night. Liverpool were on top for the majority of the match and throughout the game made chance after chance. It was almost the Fabianski show and he had to make a lot of decent saves to keep us in it.

But against the run of play Arsenal amazingly managed to take the lead. Fabregas did well to nick the ball away from Mascherano on the edge of the box and find Nasri. Then the little Frenchman played a brilliant reverse pass back to Cesc who squared for that man Arshavin to smash the ball into the net.

We lead 1-0 at half-time and collapsed in the second. Silvestre seemed hell bent on playing short back passes which put us under pressure time and time again. Toure was trying to do what he could but he couldn’t cover for the hopeless Silvestre, who in all honesty is past it and I am really worried about playing Manchester United twice with him in the side because it will be a massacre.

But after Liverpool took the lead Arshavin popped up again.

Arbeloa got dispossessed by the little Russian and he ran towards goal before smashing the ball into the side netting for 2-2. Simply a stunning strike by anyone’s standards and amazingly we were back in it.

The third was terrible defending from Liverpool as Aurelio decided to do a Sagna and give the ball straight back to the opposition from a cross. Unfortunately for him it fell to Arshavin who duly smashed the ball under Reina for his hattrick!

Don’t be mistaken, no-one else in the Arsenal side would have scored that goal.

And to really put the cat among the pigeons his fourth was another sumptuous strike. Walcott went on one of his slalom runs after a Liverpool corner and played in Arshavin, who smashed the ball passed Reina with his left foot.

4 attempts and all of them went in.

This guy is unbelievable. Two goals with his left foot, and two with his right.

If we had him available to play in Europe I’d be confident of going all the way. Because Bendtner and Adebayor aren’t good enough or clever enough to out fox defenders like Vidic and Ferdinand.

Player Ratings

Lukasz Fabianski – 8/10
Put the nightmare of the Chelsea game behind him, despite conceding 4 goals. He made some excellent saves throughout the Liverpool barrage and you couldn’t fault him for any of the goals, which were all caused by shocking defending. Kept us in the game because you wouldn’t have argued if Liverpool scored 7 or 8.

Kieran Gibbs – 8/10
One of our better players despite only being the youngest in the side. Coped well with Kuyt for the most part but wasn’t helped by Silvestre’s antics at the back. Very energetic and always wanted to attack although he was caught out defensively a few times during the first half.

Kolo Toure – 7/10
Made some excellent tackles and tried to keep the defence together the best he could. Torres caused him problems all night but managed to keep him down to 2 goals when it could have been more.

Mikael Silvestre – 4/10
Truly terrible. Slow in body and mind, Silvestre is sadly past it. Struggled at the weekend and struggled tonight – 2 games in 4 days is probably asking too much but the number of lazy passes (both to the goalkeeper and other team-mates) was unbelievable. He was always in trouble once a Liverpool player was running towards him and has Fabianski to thank for keeping it down to only 4 goals.

Bacary Sagna – 6/10
The usually reliable Sagna looked a shadow of himself tonight, making several mistakes. But you can put that down to a return from injury because he hasn’t played that badly since he’s worn the Arsenal shirt.

Samir Nasri – 6/10
Floated in and out of the game but ineffective overall. Had a tidy game but hardly influential.

Cesc Fabregas – 6/10
Well he has kept his unbeaten league run going as Arsenal captain but bar the assist for the first goal was pretty anonymous. Moved the ball well but couldn’t get control of the game which was disappointing considering Steven Gerrard wasn’t even playing.

Alex Song – 6/10
Did okay, and was much better than Denilson. Made some descent tackles and passes but at times wasn’t interested in helping the team defend. Too many times Liverpool players had shots from distance and he would just stand there and watch instead of closing down.

Denilson – 4/10
I’m not sure if he’s tired or in his comfort zone but he was terrible tonight and contributed nothing. Actually, that’s not strictly correct since he did manage to give the ball away several times in dangerous positions. His ‘pass’ to Torres after 4 minutes to set up a shot sums up his performance.

Andrey Arshavin – 10/10
He didn’t get much of the ball throughout the game from his team-mates but that didn’t matter. He took all of his goals superbly and showed the quality he is, which is world class. He’s been our best player for the last 4 months now and it was a shame his team-mates didn’t show the same desire tonight, because despite playing badly overall we could have even won the game because of this guys brilliance. It is not an exaggeration to say he carried us tonight.

Nicklas Bendtner – 6/10
Pretty lethargic and like most of his team-mates didn’t seem bothered. For a player who is supposed to be hungry and fighting for a first team place he didn’t even attempt to close down defenders or make runs for his midfield which is something you have to do if you’re the lone striker.

How Has Arsene Turned It All Around?

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Well I’ll be damned.

If my figures are correct then Arsenal are now 16 games unbeaten in the Premier League.

And I’m not sure what I’m surprised about the most. Because the first few months of this season were shambolic. Seriously, it was agonising to watch. There was no desire, no effort and we were losing to teams like Hull City, Fulham and Stoke.

Amazingly now we’re in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League, the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup and in 4th place in the Premier League, 3 points ahead of Aston Villa (albeit they have a game in hand).

And we are actually 10 points behind Manchester United, who many people have been calling ‘untouchable’ throughout this Premier League campaign. Now I’m not saying we’ve got a chance of winning the league, but if you consider the amount of stupid points we’ve dropped (with sloppy defeats and unnecessary draws) then we’d be right in the race.

The gap between us and the other top 3 teams has seemed mammoth at times this season but are we really that far behind?

It’s an old cliché but football really is a funny old game.

Because only a few weeks ago things looked so bleak for Arsenal, where we were minutes away from being 8 points adrift of Aston Villa.

So why have things suddenly started to look up?

The first reason is the arrival of a certain Andrei Arshavin. Seriously, this guy is quality.

He is truly a world-class player and I love him. He’s intelligent, energetic, full of skill and already has a handful of assists to his name. He’s also got an eye for goal (unlike previous midfielders who now warm benches in Barcelona) and adds a new dimension to this young Arsenal side. His arrival at Arsenal was a much needed injection of hope for the club and it’s no co-incidence that his arrival would coincide with our best form of the season.

The only downside is that we can’t use him in Europe, because he has the ability to make the difference in these kind of games.

But we also can’t ignore the recent form of Aston Villa.

While Arsenal have been solid in defence (although you wouldn’t think it if you saw some of the goals we concede), Aston Villa have been leaking goals and have literally been in free-fall. They haven’t actually won a game (in all competitions) since February 7th, when they beat Blackburn Rovers in the league.

Since then they have been knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton, threw away the UEFA Cup against CSKA Moscow and drawn 1 game and lost 3 in their previous 4 Premier League matches.

And this weekend they have to face Liverpool (who are as of writing trailing 3-0).

Then there is the faith Arsene has put in his players.

Bendtner, Song, Denilson, Diaby and Eboue have been the main focus of debate among Arsenal fans and I guess that even now most people are still undecided about these particular players.

Eboue has to be one of the most infuriating players Arsene has ever had during his time at Arsenal. We know he explosive pace and has the ability to take on players but his form has been too inconsistent. He is certainly the player with the most highs and lows this season and you just don’t know what you’re going to get. His form of late has been good though so that would have kept most fans onside, for now.

And I’ve always liked Nicklas Bendtner.

I can’t fault his workrate and he is far more intelligent than Adebayor. He is more of a team player and while his touch can be poor it’s still better than the Ade’s. And the key for me is this kid is improving all the time and is hungry. On the other hand it seems like Adebayor just can’t be bothered anymore. His body language and behaviour haven’t been the best and since his pay-rise it would appear that he has lost his desire.

But hopefully he’ll prove me wrong when he returns and goes on to help Arsenal finish the season strongly.

How about Song, Denilson and Diaby?

Personally, I’m not a fan of Song. As a squad player I think he’s adequate to fill in now and then but he’s just not good enough for Arsenal. When you talk about players like Cesc and Arshavin then Song isn’t really fit enough to clean their boots.

Denilson is a tough one, but overall this season I’ve been impressed with him. Whenever I’ve watched him play he’s been solid and done a job for the team. Not very glamorous but keeps the side ticking over with simple passes and protecting the back four. It’s not his job to make things happen so to an extent some of the criticism he’s had is unfair. He’s still very young and you can see that Denilson is a player who will improve with more experience.

And then we have Diaby. I’ve liked him when he’s played out wide or in the hole because he’s not afraid to shoot and he has the ability to pick out a dangerous pass. I think he’s a good player but you wonder where his place in the team is if Cesc, Rosicky, Nasri and Arshavin are all fit.

The final thing to say is thank you Arsene for setting up a potentially exciting end to the season.

Because during the first half of the campaign I (like many others) doubted the ability and desire of this current squad.