An Open Letter To Match Of The Day

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Dear Match of the Day,

I have been watching your programme for the best part of 25 years (apart from the 3 year blip when you lost the rights to ITV, glad you got that sorted out in the end) and I think it would be fair to say Match of the Day should be an impartial show (especially as it is funded by the public).

But last night the “punditry” of Alan Shearer reached a point where enough is enough. As well as pointing out the blatantly obvious on a regular basis, his “expert insights” make Robbie Savage and Jamie Redknapp seem like scholars of the beautiful game.

Yesterday, despite Arsenal having the best form in the Premier League since January 2013 and just convincingly beaten a rejuvenated Liverpool side to go 5 points clear, he failed to even acknowledge that Arsenal could win the league.

Now of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion but the obvious refusal to look at the facts that are right their in front of them is baffling. We are a quarter into the Premier League season and while there is a long way to go and teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United could always close the gap, to still dismiss Arsenal as genuine title contenders is ridiculous.

There is a clear bias from his so-called “objective” views and his dismissal of Chelsea’s defeat to Newcastle United as “a bad day at the office” was unsurprising, as you can be sure if Arsenal lost 2-0 at St James’ Park he would be saying Arsenal lack the mental strength and ability to win when they’re not playing well.

Also, he is unprofessional, referring to his mates in the game as “Moyesy”. Even Jamie Redknapp, the weakest link at Sky Sports, is still professional enough to address managers with their actual names.

Match of the Day has been labelled a show that is dated and lacking ideas, and having Alan Shearer as a pundit is certainly one of the reasons why. Gary Lineker even acknowledged Arsenal’s impressive performances of late, labelled us “looking invincible”. Sky Sports have recruited Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville and together they are by far the most insightful, intelligent and often amusing football pundits in the country. They know what they are talking about, have fair and unbiased opinions and don’t churn out the same old dross week in and week out.

You’ve put Mark Lawrenson on the sidelines this season and it’s time to do the same with Shearer.

Yours Sincerely,

Arsenal 4 Life Weblog

Arsenal Absolutely Fantastic As They Cast Liverpool Aside (w/ Player Ratings)

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Arsenal (2) – (0) Liverpool
Cazorla 19′, Ramsey 59′
The Emirates Stadium, London
Barclays Premier League

Arsenal are now 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League after a simply stunning performance against second place Liverpool.

It was the first time the two teams had met as first and second in the league in 20 years and with Chelsea losing to Newcastle in todays early kick off, Arsenal could amazingly increase their lead to 5 points by the end of the day.

But we had to overcome a Liverpool side full of confidence and with a strike-force on fire.

But Arsenal were absolutely sensational today. Our main concern was absence of Mathieu Flamini but we had learnt our lessons from the Chelsea and Dortmund games and put in a performance worthy of potential champions. We were unbelievably good, completely deserved all 3 points and our 5 point lead at the top of the league.

Mikel Arteta put in a real captains performance, marshalling the side and really setting the tempo. The back four were solid, with Sagna in particular playing fantastically well. The midfield of Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla and Özil was top drawer and Liverpool couldn’t cope with our incisive, purposeful and slick passing, even though they were the ones playing with five in midfield. Olivier Giroud was immense once again up top, holding the ball up well, linking up play and running for the team like a man possessed.

And both goals when they came were top class.

Sagna was put through on the right hand side by Arteta, and his first time cross was meet by Cazorla who was unlucky to have his headed effort hit the post. But what wasn’t unlucky was his half volley from the rebound, which he smashed in with aplomb with his right foot.

A special goal by a special player!

At half time we came out of the blocks and cometh the hour, cometh the man of the season so far.

A sublime pass from Özil found Ramsey on the edge of the box, and without panicking or rushing himself, he coolly waited for the ball to crop and smashed in a blistering shot from 20 yards. Two world class goals and a 2 goal lead in such an important match.

Overall, a massive, massive win which was absolutely huge in our season. Our first real test in the Premier League and we passed with flying colours. Questions were asked about our title challenging credentials and whether we could increase our lead by 5 points by the end of the day and we did that emphatically.

Player Ratings:

Wojciech Szczesny – 8/10
Had a few saves to make and made them with assurance and confidence. He is really becoming a top, top keeper and he was faultless today.

Bacary Sagna – 9/10
Unbelievably good today – crossed for the vital first goal and owned the right side of the pitch. Linked well with Rosicky, Arteta, Cazorla, Ramsey and Özil and defended excellently. Went forward with real purpose and provided an important attacking outlet on the right hand side.

Per Mertesacker – 8/10
Calm, collected and solid at the back. Organised the defence well and made some vital interceptions and defensive headers.

Laurent Koscielny – 9/10
Outstanding against Luis Suarez. Was aggressive from the outset and gave the Liverpool striker no time whatsoever. He pipped him to the ball, went in hard and really set the tone. Kept Suarez in his back pocket.

Kieran Gibbs – 8/10
Full of energy as usual and defended well. Up and down the left hand side with purpose and drive until he came off injured towards the end of the game.

Mikel Arteta – 9/10
A real captains performance and lead by example. Great determination and hunger, and pulled the strings from central midfield. Positionally excellent, he was the hub for the team to start attacks and he filled the void left by Mathieu Flamini.

Aaron Ramsey – 9/10
Linked up well with Rosicky, Cazorla, Arteta and Özil and showed real determination and desire. Full of energy and completely deserved his goal. He has a never say die attitude which really showed on the pitch.

Tomas Rosicky – 8/10
Arsene Wenger plays Tomas in the big games and you can see why. He is energetic, puts in a tackle and presses the opposition and makes it hard for them. Linked up well with the rest of the midfield and a real unsung hero in this side.

Santi Cazorla – 9/10
For me he hasn’t been himself in the last couple of games but today he was back. Great movement, great desire and he was magnificent today. Fantastic range of passing which opened up Liverpool and took his goal so well. That was a goal only a world class player could have scored. Instinctive and top class.

Mesut Özil – 8/10
Was the man who the passing possession went through and his intelligent passing and movement created space for Arsenal to attack into. The pass for Ramsey was truly sublime and only a handful of players on the planet could have executed that pass. And yet another assist for the master of assists.

Olivier Giroud – 9/10
Immense is the word I used for Giroud because that’s what he has been this season, and he was the same today. Caused Liverpool loads of problems and held the ball up so well, linking up the play and bringing others into the game. Without Giroud in the side we would struggle.

Liverpool Can Take Advantage of Arsenal’s Glaring Weaknesses

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Our performances and results this season has been sensational, but there’s no denying that of late we’ve had a dip in form. We’ve lost to Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea in recent weeks, and although the first could be put down to being “too naive”, and the second down to being in a competition we “don’t care about”, then fact is we made the same old silly mistakes which we used to make in seasons gone by.

A draw against Dortmund would have been an excellent result but we got caught with a sucker punch on the break. Some will say we were unlucky but without Mathieu Flamini we are susceptible to conceding the type of goal where we are caught out at the back, and concede from a break from the opposing team.

It happened when Robert Lewandowski scored, and again without Flamini against Crystal Palace, we found ourselves hugely exposed on the break. This time however, Arteta and Chamakh collided and the break was stopped but this highlighted the huge gap we have without Flamini’s defensive positioning and energy.

Against Chelsea, they were happy to sit back and catch us on the break. You can argue all your like about the negative tactics of other teams, but the fact is it’s a simple tactic that works well against Arsenal – without Mathieu Flamini in the side.

It is no coincidence that the games we lost (Chelsea and Dortmund) where home games – games we are expected to have the majority of the attacking possession. Without Mathieu in the side we are exposed at the back and even against Crystal Palace, even though it was an away game it’s a game where we had most of the ball.

So the huge question is can Arsenal learn their lesson?

We play Liverpool at The Emirates and we don’t have Mathieu Flamini in the side. If Brendan Rodgers was looking for a gameplan it’s pretty obvious what it would be. They have Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge in fantastic form and both strikers are very very quick. In Steven Gerrard they have a top top quality player (see what I did there) who can ping 40 yard through passes with extremely accuracy.

So if Arsenal don’t learn their lessons then Liverpool are more than capable of picking us off. If that happens, I can see us losing this game 3-1.

If we had Flamini, I would be much more confident. In fact I wouldn’t be worried at all, because with him we are a different beast. But with the obvious and massive deficiency in our team I am extremely concerned about today’s game.

Because even though it’s only the 10th game of the season, it’s a marker for our whole campaign. Sure, it’s just three points at the end of the day but for the last two seasons our record against the Top 6 has been nothing short of dreadful. It’s terribly poor and winning tomorrow’s game would put some of those demons to bed and give our squad a massive boost of confidence going into the rest of the season. But if we lose (which is a possibility) then all the talk will be about Arsenal having the same old problems with the inability to beat any of the top sides.

The only “top” side we’ve beaten this season is Napoli so why should Liverpool have anything to fear?

The Starting Eleven Arsenal Should Play Against Liverpool

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With Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lukas Podolski and Abou Diaby still out with long term injuries, and Mathieu Flamini out for the next couple of weeks, our options in midfield and attack are somewhat limited.

Olivier Giroud is the only option up front but he looks burnt out at the moment. The way he collapsed after the final whistle against Crystal Palace summed up the huge effort and dedication he has in this Arsenal team. He has been simply awesome this season, and needs someone to come in a ease the burden.

The back five selects itself, so it’s the options in midfield Arsene has to choose. We don’t have Mathieu Flamini so who should the boss pick alongside Mikel Arteta? The only options are Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey has played in the “deeper” role before but while he has the engine to do that job his natural instinct is to go forward and that has left us exposed at the back, so he would be better further up the field with Jack the one sitting a bit deeper. Plus Jack puts himself about a bit more and isn’t afraid to make a tackle.

arsenal-liverpool

And the rest of the team selects itself. With Ramsey in the more advanced midfield role, Ozil and Cazorla make up the attacking backup for Olivier Giroud.

The game will be won and lost where Mikel and Jack are playing. If Liverpool are going to hurt is it will be on the break – that’s how Dortmund punished us, Crystal Palace caused problems (which lead to the Arteta red card) and Chelsea were happy to sit back and get us on the counter attack.

Will we learn our lesson and not be so defensively naive? We’ll find out today.

Is The Chelsea Defeat The Start of a “Negative Spiral” of Results?

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The defeat to Chelsea has split the opinion of Arsenal fans – some think it was a nothing game in a competition we have no interest in winning, while others seem to think it could be the start of a downturn in our fortunes.

Since the beginning of the season and the defeat on the opening day, our form has been sensational. But now with a defeat to Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea – the question is can Arsenal actually beat any of the top teams?

We’ve beaten the likes of Crystal Palace, Norwich, Stoke, Sunderland and Fulham but lost against the only real top teams we’ve faced so far – Dortmund and Chelsea. And with Liverpool, Dortmund (again) and Manchester United coming up, are Arsenal up to the task?

There’s no doubt that the next couple of weeks will shape Arsenal’s season but it appears that when against the really top teams, and teams that have excellent tactical managers, then we fall short.

We were to naive against Dortmund, and got hit with two sucker punches. The same happened against Chelsea last night. Do we have the “mental toughness” Arsene Wenger talks about so much? Are we still defensively solid or will we always get found out against the top teams?

Liverpool have Suarez and Sturridge firing on all cylinders, Dortmund have the ultra-clinical Lewandowski and Manchester United for all their failings have Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie – two world class forwards.

The next three games pose huge tests to Arsenal’s title credentials and unless we get our act together and stop conceding these avoidable (and costly) goals, then it is going to be a long hard November for Arsenal.