Redemption for Wilshere as Arsenal Top The League

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West Bromwich Albion (1) – (1) Arsenal
Wilshere 63’
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
Barclays Premier League

We all know about the amazing run Arsenal have been on over the last few weeks – 10 consecutive wins in a row and top of the Premier League and top of our Champions League group. Simply stunning form since the opening day defeat to Aston Villa.

Yesterday’s game against West Brom was always going to be a tough test – before the match I was nervous because they were a team full of confidence after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford and they had a newly signed Sessegnon – it’s well known that he can be a world beater in the first 8/9 games for  a new club and they he’s completely useless for the rest of the season and following years (Sunderland fans will be able to vouch for that) but unfortunately for us, this was West Brom’s 7th game of the new season.

They also had useful players such as Amalfitano (who is a hell of a find by the way) and a player who can also make a difference.

And so it proved.

Sessegnon and Amalfitano were lively and causing Arsenal all kinds of problems throughout the game. We didn’t play with our usual tempo partly because we had a demanding Champions League game midweek and partly because West Brom were so well organised. They sat deep, prevented us from having any space in the final third and broke on the counter attack with pace.

They opened the scoring after we failed to clear a corner only for Amalfitano to send in a decent cross for Yacob to score a powerful header at the near post. After that, we struggled to get our game going but Jack Wilshere, who has been in the press for all the wrong reasons this week, made up somewhat by driving Arsenal forward and scoring a well taken equaliser.

Overall, you could argue that a point was a fair result. Although Arsenal can count themselves lucky at certain points of the match – Nicolas Anelka had two massive chances to put West Brom two nil up and you would have to say that if they scored a second goal it would have been a step too far for us to get anything from the game.

Olivier Giroud did have a great chance after being put through with a wonderful through ball from Wilshere but he couldn’t get the ball past Myhill.

At the end of the day, we finish the weekend back on top of the Premier League table and are still 2 points ahead of Chelsea, 3 ahead of Manchester City and Tottenham and 6 ahead of Manchester United.

And after 7 games of the Premier League season and after the woeful performance against Aston Villa on the opening day, we would have taken all day long.

Onwards and upwards.

Jack Wilshere Is A Disgrace!

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As Jack Wilshere was spotted outside a nightclub smoking, Arsene Wenger appeared not to be too happy when this came up at this afternoon’s press conference.

The Arsenal manager mentioned the health and social issues of smoking, and the fact that it may have been acceptable for Johan Cruff to do it 20 years ago, todays athletes should know better.

Personally, I believe that any footballer who can’t refrain from smoking and drinking is a disgrace. Yes, they’re human beings like the rest of us but they are professional sportsmen. You are being paid huge amounts of money for your talent and athletic capabilities. Smoking is just downright stupid.

Personally, I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. I live a happy enough life and I don’t preach to others about drinking, smoking or doing drugs. It’s a personal choice and I happen to believe that doing those things can have a negative effect on your body. I eat healthy and exercise reguarly. I’m not gloating, that’s the personal choice I’ve made.

But if you’re a highly paid footballer then I don’t think that’s acceptable. I’ve supported Arsenal for over 26 years and the majority of that has been taken up by the Arsene Wenger reign. The words I will always remember when he first came to the club were:

“The body is like a car, if you put in the wrong fuel then you won’t go very far.”

And I completly agree.

You will get people saying “who cares” if Jack is smoking but Arsenal Football Club, thanks to Arsene Wenger, has high standards and expectations. It’s not a good example to set young fans, it’s not good for your health and it’s just stupid to do it outside a nightclub with all the press waiting to take pictures outside.

And the fact that the official website has commented on it with Arsene’s thoughts show that Arsene and Arsenal are dead against it.

If this was any other player at any other Premier League club, I would be branding them a disgrace as well.

Jack has the ability to be a great player for Arsenal but he’s a long way off being that yet and needs to get his act together and not waste his potential.

My Sincerest Apologies to Arsene Wenger

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When Arsenal lost to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season, every Arsenal fan was angry and upset. We had one of the most frustrating summer transfer windows to date, bringing in only Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini on a free, had spent absolutely nothing of our massive “transfer war chest” and just been humiliated at home to a side that struggled to stay in the Premier League last season.

We made the same old defensive mistakes, performed poorly and clearly needed new players to revitalise the club. In terms of winning trophies, we were miles off.

But yet again Arsene Wenger, not for the first time in his 17 year reign as Arsenal manager, didn’t panic and got on with his job. He endured abuse from the fans and questions from the press – Arsenal were in crisis. But 6 weeks on we are top of the Premier League by 2 points and 8 points clear of the reigning Premier League champions, top of our Champions League group (labelled the “group of death”) and have only lost 1 of our last 22 games.

Unbelievable eh?

We brought in Mesut Ozil, who is truly a world class player and we are playing some of the best football we have seen in a good few years. Our confidence is sky high, we are getting players back from injury and the whole squad seems to be flying at the moment.

The performance against Napoli last night, especially for the first half an hour, was immense. I was privileged to have witnessed such wonderful football – it was ridiculously good.

So I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to Arsene Wenger. I will admit that after the opening day of the season I lost my rag. Even though now after taking some perspective and realising things weren’t as bad as we all thought, Arsene knows.

The results, performances and position we find ourselves in at this moment in time is just a dream. If you said we’d be top of the league, be on a huge winning streak, performing with massive confidence and playing the football we have been on the 17th August I would have told you that you were crazy.

In Arsene we trust indeed.

Who Are The Favourites for The Premier League Title? Chelsea, United, City or Arsenal?

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After 5 games of the campaign so far, and that horrific opening day of the season against Aston Villa, Arsenal find themselves top of the Premier League with 12 points.

Tottenham Hotspur are second on goal difference, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are on 10 points and Manchester United find themselves in 8th position, on 7 points.

So 5 games in, who are the favourites for the Premier League?

Before the season began, Chelsea were installed as favourites with the bookies and Manchester City second. Manchester United were third favourites while Arsenal were well down in fourth, being around 14/1 if I remember correctly (which I thought was fair at the time but I’m sure those odds have gone down a little with the signing of Mesut Ozil).

At the time of writing, the current odds for the Premier League title are as follows:

Manchester City – 7/4
Chelsea – 3/1
Manchester United – 9/2
Arsenal – 6/1
Tottenham Hotspur – 10/1
Liverpool – 14/1

And they all seem fair enough at this moment in time.

Manchester City have the strongest squad in the Premier League and look determined to win the title back after losing out to Manchester United last season. And their performance on Sunday was one of hunger and intent, and it was clear they really wanted to send out a message to the rest of the Premier League.

Chelsea were the easy season favourites but their form has dipped recently and their performances have been less than convincing. They lost against Everton last week, and made tough work of Fulham at the weekend. There seems to be a bit of funny business with the striker situation as well, with some not convinced that Samuel Eto’o or WIllian were actually Jose Mourinho signings. It was obvious Mourinho wanted Rooney as the spearhead of his new Chelsea attack and with Juan Mata out in the cold, there seems to be a small amount of discontent at the Bridge. Of course, Jose Mourinho is a born winner and his track record is the best in the business, so underestimating Chelsea would be extremely foolish. If Chelsea are struggling now, then what will they be like once they start firing on all cylinders?

Then we have Manchester United. David Moyes has had a tough run in already this season, having played Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in his first 5 games. While some rate David Moyes and the job he did at Everton, I completely disagree with that. I know Everton supporters who were glad he left because his brand of football was boring and tactically he was very limited. It is interesting to note that he has never won a big game. He failed to win a single Merseyside Derby in his 11 year career at Everton, and last season I remember this vividly, he failed to beat Wigan Athletic at home in the FA Cup. Victory would have seen a clear path to the final as the next opponents were Millwall in the semi-finals. And then he had the Champions League Qualifier against Villarreal in the 2005-2006 season and lost that too.

So it was hardly surprising he has failed to win any of the “big” games this season. Against Chelsea he ran out of ideas, against Liverpool he had no answer and the Manchester City game was a shambles. Like Chelsea, if they go a goal down then they don’t know how to respond. A lot was made about the absence of Robin van Persie yesterday but with a powerful midfield with Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, playing with Carrick and Fellaini and not with a midfield three was suicidal. But then again maybe I’m being too simplistic.

And we have Tottenham Hotspur. They sold Gareth Bale and brought in a lot of quality players. They have yet to gel but once they do then they will be a very good side. Do they have the mental capacity to mount a real title challenge? AVB was disastrous at Chelsea and bottled 4th place last season, but he has had success with Porto – although the merits of that success are under dispute as his road to Europa League success was relatively easy (he didn’t have to face a single side from Germany, Italy, France, England or Holland). I think they best that can hope for is a Top 4 finish, and that is being optimistic.

Liverpool are an interesting side. They bought a lot of players over the summer and they have been solid (Southampton aside) this season. They have definitely improved on last season but I can’t see them finishing in the Top 4. They have Suarez to come back and he will improve the team, but will he be as effective as he was last season? If he’s looking for a move away in the January Transfer Window then who knows.

Then our beloved Arsenal. How will they fair this season? Since losing to Tottenham Hotspur last season (when AVB famously said we were in a “negative spiral of results”) we have played 18 games, won 15, drawn 2 and lost 1 – which puts the Aston Villa result into perspective. Like it or not, our form has been excellent and is that of a title challenging team.

But the $64,000 question is can we do it?

At the moment, the signs look positive. We have a settled squad and have only a couple of new players (and even then one of them used to play for us) to get used to the “Arsenal way”. Defensively we look better than we have for a long time (with Sagna an excellent deputy centre back) and cover in the full back positions. In midfield we have a lot of top quality options, when everyone is fit (Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Santi, Flamini, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain) and in terms of attackers we have Ozil, Theo, Ryo and Oxlade-Chamberlain. The only position where we are a “little light” is upfront, with Giroud and Podolski our only recognised strikers (I don’t even want to think about having to use TGSTEL).

A lot has been made of the management changes at Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. Personally, I only believe the team that will suffer from this is Manchester United. They are incapable of winning any big games which can be decisive in the title run in. They won’t have any problems winning the smaller games so they will still be up there or thereabouts. Pellegrini is a manager who likes attacking football and they will entertain this season – they have a formidable squad and will always have an excellent defence marshalled by Vincent Kompany, who is immense. Playing the way they are, they will win most of their games. Chelsea, are a team that could struggle but this is Jose Mourinho that we’re talking about. By hook or by crook, he will find a way to start bulldozing teams and getting the results he needs. Don’t be fooled over the talk of finding a “new style” of playing football – this man is in the results business and is very good at it.

For me, it is a 3 horse race between Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Manchester United look off the pace to me, and I don’t think Tottenham and Liverpool can sustain any real title challenge.

So what do you think? Leave your opinions in the comments section below.

Mesut Özil Shows His True Worth As Arsenal Top The League (w/ Player Ratings)

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Arsenal (3) – (1) Stoke City
Ramsey 5′, Mertesacker 36′, Sagna 73′
The Emirates Stadium, London
Barclays Premier League

Today’s game against Stoke City marked the home debut of record signing of Mesut Özil, and boy didn’t he show us what he brings to the side.

Much has been made of Arsene Wenger’s summer transfer policy which has seen Yaya Sanogo, Mathieu Flamini, Emiliano Viviano and Mesut Özil join the club. Some supporters have said that we really needed another striker, either a player who is more clinical than Olivier Giroud or at least someone as cover if the big Frenchman gets injured.

With Lukas Podolski injured and Nicklas Bendtner our only backup, that would seem to be a valid argument. But in his 79 minute performance, Mesut Özil showed exactly why he was brought to the club.

His performance wasn’t a massive one, one where he dominated the game from start to finish. But what he did show was his class and more importantly, how he can fire this team to the heights of competing for the Premier League title.

He played just under 80 minutes and assisted all 3 Arsenal goals. The first from a freekick, which was saved and Ramsey scored the rebound. Then he floated in a corner for Per Mertesacker to score a tidy back header and Bacary Sagna scored the third Arsenal goal with a looping header from another Özil freekick.

While Giroud will be given the responsibility to score the majority of goals this season, Özil has shown that he can make things happen and help setup goals for any member of the team.

And that is a valuable asset to have. He will no doubt create many opportunities over the season for Giroud but making chances for other players in the team is just as, if not more important. You will remember his clever back heel pass for Gibbs against Marseille midweek – giving any player in the team a chance to score improves our team no end.

Stoke were solid as they usually are, putting their boot in as you would expect. But Arsenal mixed it up and showed they can score goals from set-pieces. With Özil orchestrating the corners and freekicks we have another string to our bow. Theo used to take that responsibility and did a decent job but with Özil taking the set-pieces we have that extra threat in the attacking third.

We’ve seen games like this in the past end in frustrating draws or even worse, defeats. We struggled to make any clear chances from open play but with the outstanding quality of Özil from freekicks and corners we didn’t have to.

As it stands, Arsenal top the league after 5 Premier League games, and by two points to boot (this was written before the Cardiff v Tottenham game, which we can all hope they lose). And who would have thought that was even possible after the home game against Aston Villa?

Player Ratings:

Wojciech Szczesny: 6/10
Wasn’t needed to make any massive saves but did well well called upon. Was left exposed by the defence for the goal and didn’t have much chance with that.

Bacary Sagna: 7/10
Very solid defensively and did well in the attacking third as well. Scored with a brilliant looping header which killed the game and secured all 3 points.

Laurent Koscielny: 7/10
Made some excellent interceptions and coped well with Jones and limited his threat throughout the game. “Almost” scored from the Mertesacker header but succeeded in putting off Begovic enough for Arsenal to take the lead.

Per Mertesacker: 8/10
Real captains performance and was solid for the whole game. Organised the defence well and was a threat from set-pieces. Was unlucky from his first header from a corner but scored with his second chance and that gave Arsenal a valuable lead.

Kieran Gibbs: 6/10
Was solid and kept Nzonzi relatively quiet. Made some good crossed early on and linked up well with Wilshere and Özil on the left.

Mathieu Flamini: 8/10
Outstanding and made some excellent and vital interceptions. Full of running, positionally sound and made some great tackles. In a game which was tight, Flamini kept the threat from Stoke at bay. Never shy to organise the team and becoming a massive player for Arsenal.

Jack WIlshere: 6/10
Struggled at times with the physicality of Stoke’s midfield and couldn’t get his passing going for large spells. Seemed off the pace at times and should have done better with a lay off to Giroud in the first half.

Aaron Ramsey: 7/10
Was all over the pitch and linked the midfield and attack really well. Fed in Özil whenever he could and once again, was in the right place and the right time for his goal and took it with supreme confidence. The man bang in form at the moment.

Serge Gnabry: 7/10
Came in for Theo Walcott who was ill but was excellent I thought. Not phased one bit making his only second Premier League appearance in an Arsenal shirt but held the ball well, made the right passes and coped well with the physical Stoke approach.

Mesut Özil: 8/10
Made his home debut under a massive weight of expectation and didn’t disappoint. Linked play well and while he didn’t take hold of the game or dominate it like some expected, made 3 goals for the team. The assist master lived up to his reputation.

Olivier Giroud: 7/10
Found it difficult against the physical Robert Huth and the massive cunt that is Ryan Shawcunt but did well overall. Won several freekicks and won a few of the phyiscal duels when asked. Had a couple of half chances but didn’t really have a clear chance to score. But a solid performance from the front man.