So it's only been 2 years since my last Arsenal blog post, 'In Defence of Wenger and Giroud' and it seems I've been banging the same drum ever since on Twitter!
Anyone who follows me knows that I do a lot of defending of Arsenal, the manager and players, certainly more defending than the team manage on the pitch anyway...
I had so much to say about yesterday's game at Stoke that the limitations on tweet size made it difficult to get my points across. So I thought I'd write it all down in a blog post instead.
Firstly, while I accept that on the whole Arsenal performed pretty poorly, it remains a fact that the officials cost us all 3 points more so than we cost ourselves!
Namely a wrong offside call, and 2 penalties not given. If we'd run out 3-1 winners as we should've done if the officials had done their jobs properly, then all the anger and debate about players being played out of position etc etc would not have been an issue.
'But Lacazette's goal WAS offside', we saw the still image!' I hear some of you cry!
Well actually, no... Lacazettes goal was ONSIDE... and here's why;
In the current offside rule, if there's any doubt, the advantage has to be given to the attacking side!
Now I've heard people say the linesman had 'eagle-eyes' to spot Lacazette's boot a few millimetres offside the split second Giroud touched the ball to him, because the still image 'proved' it, but not even an eagle itself could've spotted that! It's impossible to be sure when talking about such fine margins at speed. The still image actually saved the linesmans neck. The goal should've stood because football isn't played in still images... play, freeze, play again...it's played in real time, and in real time Lacazette looked 100% onside, meaning there's very obvious doubt about him being offside, meaning advantage to the attacker!
Now if they brought in video technology for offside decisions then fair enough, the goal would've been disallowed and there could be no arguments. But under the current rules, the goal should've stood!
Ironically, video technology would still have probably won Arsenal the game, despite having that goal disallowed, as if they were used for penalty decisions, we would've been awarded at least 2!
The first half one on Bellerin being the most obvious, he was cleaned out right in front of the ref, but apparently the ref thought he'd 'stumbled' as he didn't book him for diving!
Bellerin should also have had a penalty in the 2nd half, but as he actually tried to save himself from going down, it made the ref think it wasn't a foul!
And we wonder why players go down in the box so easily! The reason is, if they don't go down, they don't get the penalty! End of!
This actually leads me to my next point.
The fact that Arsenal are probably too 'nice' to win the league!
Bellerin shouldn't have tried to stop himself going down. It's not diving, he was fouled, in the box... he was going down from the foul but managed to stop himself..... why??? The ball had gone, there was absolutely no advantage to Arsenal in him staying on his feet! He stopped himself because he's a nice guy! He's being honest, he doesn't think like a ruthless attacker! Winning isn't everything, integrity is!
Now I'm not saying his actions are wrong, far from it, just making the point that most of the team are too nice to win the league! Iwobi did similar in the Community Shield, he was fouled in the box by Luiz, but he kept his feet and ran on. That was more understandable as he had the ball, yesterday Bellerin did not have the ball!
Yesterday, halfway through the 2nd half, a Stoke player rolling about pretending to be injured, Arsenal on the attack.... what does Monreal do?
Kick the ball out of play!!!
That infuriated me. Obviously I knew the Stoke player was play-acting to stop our attack, and he was banking on a nice player to put the ball out.... and up steps nice guy Monreal to do just that!
It's not just Bellerin and Monreal though.... there's nice guys all over the pitch and in the squad!
I love those guys, but if you want to win leagues you need some nasty and some ruthless!
The invincibles had it in spades! Arsenal fans love the reaction of Keown, Parlour and Lauren at Old Trafford against Van Nistlerooy when he missed that last minute penalty... it showed a nastiness and ruthlessness and ultimately a burning desire to win!
I don't see any of that in the current Arsenal side.
Alexis has a little bit in him, Giroud the same.... and Coquelin when he plays too. But that's about it!
I've heard some Arsenal fans say Xhaka is a nasty bastard.... is he heck!!! He's another nice guy!
His red cards have nothing to do with him being a nasty bastard, more to do with the fact he can't tackle!
I just think Arsenal certainly have the talent to win the league, but they don't have the nastiness or ruthlessness required unfortunately. Yesterday confirmed it!
I see Wenger Outs were out in force again. This is always going to happen, especially after a defeat.
He did make some strange decisions. Taking off Kolasinac whilst keeping Bellerin on was one of them, another was removing Lacazette instead of Welbeck. He will have had his reasons for doing so, Wenger hates losing, he wouldn't make a baffling decision just to spite fans, as some think!
It's also not Wengers fault that a great passer such as Xhaka gives away a simple ball, and then runs out of position trying to retrieve the situation, leaving our defence exposed and thus conceding the goal that cost us the game!
Arsenal need to add more steel, height and physical presence to the midfield and the centre of defence. If they can do that, I still think we have a good chance of winning the league, especially if those players have a bit of nastiness about them!
If not, I'm afraid this current, talented squad is just too nice to claim the Title.
Whatever happens, I'm going to support Arsenal football club. We all have opinions, we all get frustrated, especially after days like yesterday, but I love my club! We are going to have some fantastic games this Season.... hopefully starting at Liverpool next week!!
See you in 2 years.... ;)
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Sunday, August 23, 2015
In defence of Wenger and Giroud...
So here we are, just a couple of weeks into the new season, bemoaning the lack of action in the transfer market, bemoaning the awful first game at home to West Ham, bemoaning the fact our rivals have spent silly money strengthening their squads, bemoaning the fact that Giroud couldn't score in the preverbial brothel...... it's being a Gooner on a loop, same old same old, Wenger Out, sack Gazidis, replace Dick Law, spend some f*cking money!!!
Except it's not.
It's not 'Groundhog Day', despite what many Gooners would have you believe, judging by Twitter and the sports radio phone-ins.
As I pointed out in my last blog post, things are very rosy at Arsenal, not gloomy.
Arsenal are in a very strong position compared to the last few years, both financially and in squad depth. We all know about the financial implications in building the fantastic Emirates Stadium, plus the consequent transfer restrictions.
We were told we'd still 'challenge' during this period of limited spending, and in continually finishing in the top 4 at the expense of big spending rivals, we did 'challenge'.... achieving this, year after year with a squad packed with keen but fairly limited players was incredible genius from Arsene Wenger and his staff.
The Wenger haters put a whole different spin on this achievement, claiming Wenger was to blame in not challenging for the Title or winning trophies during these barren years, as he sold our best players and bought cheaply.
Why do you think he did that?!
To get the stadium debt paid off as soon as possible, so Arsenal could get back to being the Club it always was before.... successful, challenging for Titles, winning trophies... and this time in a gleaming modern 60,000 seater stadium, as is fitting for a club of Arsenal's stature!
I don't believe any other top manager would have seen this through. Arsene Wenger could've left for Real Madrid, or any other club. He's on massive wages for sure, but could've earnt more elsewhere, plus practically guaranteed himself many more trophies on his CV.
But no.
He stayed at Arsenal because he loves the club. He took ridicule from a large section of his own clubs fans, culminating in vile abuse at a train station, plus having the likes of Gary Lineker laughing at him falling over and playing it to millions of Match of the Day viewers.
This is the treatment he got for his loyalty!
He still has more than a handful of detractors, stoked up by the likes of Arsenal hating media types
(Adrian Durham) or bitter ex players (Stewart Robson) or high profile idiots (Piers Morgan).
Every defeat or even draw, the 'Wenger out' brigade are out in full voice. They only go quiet when we win. Boy, do they hate Arsenal winning!
Now I appreciate anyone's opinion, but let's keep a sense of perspective!
Nothing is ever perfect, and nothing is ever a disaster. But it always has to be one of these 2 extremes at Arsenal! It's never somewhere in between, where the real truth lies...
The West Ham game WAS shocking. A massive anti-climax after a great end to the previous campaign, a convincing FA Cup win, plus a 100% winning pre-season. We were all brought crashing to earth with an almighty bump!
Twitter went into meltdown. I expressed my own disappointment, blaming the players for what I saw as over confidence coupled with an unseemly amount of arrogance. Other Gooners went right over the top.
Despite the loss of 3 points we should've won, it was only the first game. We could learn from this.
Arsenal are notorious for having terrible opening games. 3 years ago Man Utd lost their opening game to Everton, then went on to win the league at a canter!
We were not out of the Title race after one bloody game!!!!!
As it turned out, we DID learn from that game, with a battling win at Crystal Palace the following week!
One player who took the most grief after the West Ham game was Olivier Giroud. This was wholly unfair, as the whole team were rotten, even our brightest spark, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, gave the ball away for West Hams 2nd goal!
Petr Cech had a debut to forget, and everyone else, to nick Paul Mersons phrase, 'were running around with a fridge on their back'.
For a passing team, we couldn't string 2 passes together, and West Ham borrowed Mourinhos bus and defended for their lives, hitting us on the break.
I heard many people blame Giroud for our defeat saying he missed 'many good chances'...
Really?
I can only recall a couple of less than half chances, our midfielders were giving him little quality service and he was battling alone against a deep and packed defence, with very little space to work in.
At one stage he was almost knocked out by an 'accidental' clash of heads with Tomkins, which actually looked like a foul on him to me!
He kept battling on, because that's what Giroud does! He never hides. Everyone knows he lacks pace, but he has great movement in the box, his touch is fantastic for a big man, and he can finish!
I spent the days after the game tweeting clips of great things he has done, just to remind people who may have been thinking of jumping on the Giroud bashing bandwagon!
He scored a cracker again in the next game to Palace to prove my point. Thank you Oliver!
The farcical Benzema rumours aren't helping Giroud either. I don't think that transfer will happen and I've been tweeting as much all Summer long!
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't complain if we signed him, he's obviously quality, but is he £50millon worth better quality than Giroud? That's what you have to ask yourself!
My objection is to the clueless attention seeking 'In The Knows' who pop up every transfer window, selling dreams. Many Arsenal fans are so desperate for new signings that they'll believe anything they read. Then, if and when the transfer doesn't happen, Wenger will get the blame again, The Wenger Outs will have their days in the sun and the whole depressing merry-go-round will start anew...
The only person on Twitter that I think has genuine Arsenal connections is GeoffArsenal. If he's not saying it, it's most probably not happening!
Tomorrow night we have Liverpool at home.
This will be a tough game. The players have to get over the last home game quickly. Liverpool will play like West Ham did, Brendan Rogers likes to play a passing game, but he knows after last seasons 4-1 mauling that he can't afford to be 'open'.... Arsenal will need to be patient, but this time do the basics properly, which they failed to do against the Hamners.
I expect us to win..... and what's the chances that Giroud will fire the winner?!
Benzema who?
Except it's not.
It's not 'Groundhog Day', despite what many Gooners would have you believe, judging by Twitter and the sports radio phone-ins.
As I pointed out in my last blog post, things are very rosy at Arsenal, not gloomy.
Arsenal are in a very strong position compared to the last few years, both financially and in squad depth. We all know about the financial implications in building the fantastic Emirates Stadium, plus the consequent transfer restrictions.
We were told we'd still 'challenge' during this period of limited spending, and in continually finishing in the top 4 at the expense of big spending rivals, we did 'challenge'.... achieving this, year after year with a squad packed with keen but fairly limited players was incredible genius from Arsene Wenger and his staff.
The Wenger haters put a whole different spin on this achievement, claiming Wenger was to blame in not challenging for the Title or winning trophies during these barren years, as he sold our best players and bought cheaply.
Why do you think he did that?!
To get the stadium debt paid off as soon as possible, so Arsenal could get back to being the Club it always was before.... successful, challenging for Titles, winning trophies... and this time in a gleaming modern 60,000 seater stadium, as is fitting for a club of Arsenal's stature!
I don't believe any other top manager would have seen this through. Arsene Wenger could've left for Real Madrid, or any other club. He's on massive wages for sure, but could've earnt more elsewhere, plus practically guaranteed himself many more trophies on his CV.
But no.
He stayed at Arsenal because he loves the club. He took ridicule from a large section of his own clubs fans, culminating in vile abuse at a train station, plus having the likes of Gary Lineker laughing at him falling over and playing it to millions of Match of the Day viewers.
This is the treatment he got for his loyalty!
He still has more than a handful of detractors, stoked up by the likes of Arsenal hating media types
(Adrian Durham) or bitter ex players (Stewart Robson) or high profile idiots (Piers Morgan).
Every defeat or even draw, the 'Wenger out' brigade are out in full voice. They only go quiet when we win. Boy, do they hate Arsenal winning!
Now I appreciate anyone's opinion, but let's keep a sense of perspective!
Nothing is ever perfect, and nothing is ever a disaster. But it always has to be one of these 2 extremes at Arsenal! It's never somewhere in between, where the real truth lies...
The West Ham game WAS shocking. A massive anti-climax after a great end to the previous campaign, a convincing FA Cup win, plus a 100% winning pre-season. We were all brought crashing to earth with an almighty bump!
Twitter went into meltdown. I expressed my own disappointment, blaming the players for what I saw as over confidence coupled with an unseemly amount of arrogance. Other Gooners went right over the top.
Despite the loss of 3 points we should've won, it was only the first game. We could learn from this.
Arsenal are notorious for having terrible opening games. 3 years ago Man Utd lost their opening game to Everton, then went on to win the league at a canter!
We were not out of the Title race after one bloody game!!!!!
As it turned out, we DID learn from that game, with a battling win at Crystal Palace the following week!
One player who took the most grief after the West Ham game was Olivier Giroud. This was wholly unfair, as the whole team were rotten, even our brightest spark, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, gave the ball away for West Hams 2nd goal!
Petr Cech had a debut to forget, and everyone else, to nick Paul Mersons phrase, 'were running around with a fridge on their back'.
For a passing team, we couldn't string 2 passes together, and West Ham borrowed Mourinhos bus and defended for their lives, hitting us on the break.
I heard many people blame Giroud for our defeat saying he missed 'many good chances'...
Really?
I can only recall a couple of less than half chances, our midfielders were giving him little quality service and he was battling alone against a deep and packed defence, with very little space to work in.
At one stage he was almost knocked out by an 'accidental' clash of heads with Tomkins, which actually looked like a foul on him to me!
He kept battling on, because that's what Giroud does! He never hides. Everyone knows he lacks pace, but he has great movement in the box, his touch is fantastic for a big man, and he can finish!
I spent the days after the game tweeting clips of great things he has done, just to remind people who may have been thinking of jumping on the Giroud bashing bandwagon!
He scored a cracker again in the next game to Palace to prove my point. Thank you Oliver!
The farcical Benzema rumours aren't helping Giroud either. I don't think that transfer will happen and I've been tweeting as much all Summer long!
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't complain if we signed him, he's obviously quality, but is he £50millon worth better quality than Giroud? That's what you have to ask yourself!
My objection is to the clueless attention seeking 'In The Knows' who pop up every transfer window, selling dreams. Many Arsenal fans are so desperate for new signings that they'll believe anything they read. Then, if and when the transfer doesn't happen, Wenger will get the blame again, The Wenger Outs will have their days in the sun and the whole depressing merry-go-round will start anew...
The only person on Twitter that I think has genuine Arsenal connections is GeoffArsenal. If he's not saying it, it's most probably not happening!
Tomorrow night we have Liverpool at home.
This will be a tough game. The players have to get over the last home game quickly. Liverpool will play like West Ham did, Brendan Rogers likes to play a passing game, but he knows after last seasons 4-1 mauling that he can't afford to be 'open'.... Arsenal will need to be patient, but this time do the basics properly, which they failed to do against the Hamners.
I expect us to win..... and what's the chances that Giroud will fire the winner?!
Benzema who?
Friday, July 17, 2015
Arsenal can win the League, even without further signings!
Yes. You read that right.
Of course you need some luck along the way, but It's what I firmly believe!
And here's why;
People are quick to say that apart from Cech, it's the same squad as last year, when we finished 3rd, how can we improve our position without more signings?
Firstly, it has to be remembered that last season came off the back of a World Cup where 3 of our players reached the Final.
They were all jaded as a result, Podolski left on loan, Özil had a long term injury and Mertesacker looked shot to pieces for the first few weeks back!
On top of this, we had 2 tough Champions League qualifiers to play, which our rivals didn't have! Most of our focus were on these games as it was imperative that Arsenal were in the Champions league group stages once again.
We had new players finding their feet.
Debuchy looked a solid good signing, but soon picked up a nasty long term injury that kept him out for most of the season. As a result, another new signing was used at right back sooner than was planned. Teenager Chambers had only ever had a handful of Premier League games for Southampton and was really thrown in the deep end at Arsenal!
To start with he flourished, for one so young and inexperienced, he impressed a lot of us with his confidence and ability.
Unfortunately, his form, as is reasonable to expect, started to dip, culminating in the away game at Swansea, where he was given a torrid time by the speedy and tricky winger Montero, in a game we went on to lose.
Chambers is versatile and keen, but he's no right back, I see him as a centre back with huge potential!
So the decision was made to promote Bellerin from the reserves and give Chambers the break he needed. What a good decision that turned out to be!
Koscielny missed chunks of the first few weeks of the season so due to our lack of alternatives, the unpopular Monreal was used as an emergency centre back. This became the making of him as an Arsenal player. Fans warmed to his effort and commitment in an unusual role, and as a result his confidence grew and he eventually replaced Gibbs as our first choice left back. In January our lack of centre back options was rectified by the signing of the hugely promising Gabriel.
Back to the beginning of the season, Szczesny was under fire and making mistakes, whilst new keeper Ospina was injured after the World Cup.
In front of this cobbled together and out of sorts defence, our defensive midfield options were startlingly thin. Arteta was injured and Flamini was showing his limitations. It wasn't until Coquelin was recalled from a loan stint at Charlton that the problem position that had lasted for years was finally solved!
Coquelin was nothing short of a revelation in the role! He'd been nothing more than a utility player for years, being used as a right and central midfielder, and a right back when needed. When not filling in somewhere, he was invariably sent out on loan. It looked like he had no future at Arsenal, although it must be noted, Wenger never sold him.... he could have done easily and no Arsenal fan would've batted an eyelid if he had done so. He must've seen something in him!
Coquelin himself must take enormous credit. I remember him as being box to box player when he did get games. He attacked AND defended! He will have looked at the team and thought that with the class of attacking midfielders at Arsenes disposal, he'd have no chance of making the team in his favoured role, but he'll have also thought that the team was crying out for a no-nonsense defensive midfielder, sacrificing himself in a way for the good of the team, putting some balance between attacking and defending that we desperately lacked.
He identified that this was the only way he could cement himself into the first team, and in his first game back, away to Champions Manchester City, he put on an eye opening and impressive show, totally nullifying the threat of David Silva and helping Arsenal to a famous and well deserved win! Alongside him, little magician Cazorla, was just as impressive, playing a deeper role than usual, taking the ball off Coquelin, buzzing around and setting up attacks.
Again, early in the season, our main striker, Giroud, picked up a nasty injury and missed a few months. New signing Welbeck filled in admirably and weighed in with a few goals, most notably with a hat-trick in the Champions League. Despite this, he isn't yet a prolific finisher, but together with Alexis, he works his socks off, defending from the front, chasing and harrying.
Walcott was also still out with the injury from the previous season!
Add to all this, injuries to Wilshere, clattered by United's McNair at the Emirates, and to Ramsey and the Ox, it's little wonder that Arsenal lost so many points in the first half of the season!
In this time, Chelsea opened up a huge lead in the Title race. This is where we lost the League.
In the 2nd half of the season, once our problems were finally alleviated or solved, Arsenal really flew, even managing to be mentioned when the destination of the Title was brought up!
Unfortunately our first half of the season put pay to that dream.
Instead we won the FA Cup for the second year running, and for a record 12th time, and we won it in style, 4-0 against Aston Villa, with Alexis, Ozil & Cazorla on fire.... in fact the whole team put on an 8 or 9 out of 10 performance!
For the second half of the season we were the best team in the league and picked up the most points!
And this is my point.
Those people that say 'it's the same squad as last year, how can we improve our position' forget all the things that I have just pointed out!
Most of our previous problems have been solved. Important positions have been filled. New players and younger ones have settled into the team and are raring to go!
Important players who suffered long term injuries are back!
We have 2 players for every position!
We have no qualifiers to play this season!
No World Cup hangover!
We have a world class keeper at last with the experience of winning everything!
We have new and young players who have now won a trophy at Arsenal, breeding that all important winning habit as a result!
Let all the doubters and Wenger haters find the negatives in that lot!
Arsenal go into the new season in better shape than they have done in many years!
I expect Alexis Sanchez to have an even better 2nd season, he's established as one of the world's best players already, he can go on to become an Arsenal legend alongside the likes of Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira!
A fit and firing Walcott will be a great weapon to have, as demonstrated by his last few games of last season. Ozil is looking physically stronger and more confident as a result, Wilshere can get back to his marauding best, he could even do a 'Ramsey' and start adding regular goals to his game, judging by his scoring end to the season!
There's too many reasons to be positive to list!
On top of everything, the next batch of kids look bright and exciting too!
Arsene Wenger looks to have re found his mojo!
For me, whether we sign another DM and striker or not, we are going to properly challenge for the League Title again this season!
And I can't wait!
Of course you need some luck along the way, but It's what I firmly believe!
And here's why;
People are quick to say that apart from Cech, it's the same squad as last year, when we finished 3rd, how can we improve our position without more signings?
Firstly, it has to be remembered that last season came off the back of a World Cup where 3 of our players reached the Final.
They were all jaded as a result, Podolski left on loan, Özil had a long term injury and Mertesacker looked shot to pieces for the first few weeks back!
On top of this, we had 2 tough Champions League qualifiers to play, which our rivals didn't have! Most of our focus were on these games as it was imperative that Arsenal were in the Champions league group stages once again.
We had new players finding their feet.
Debuchy looked a solid good signing, but soon picked up a nasty long term injury that kept him out for most of the season. As a result, another new signing was used at right back sooner than was planned. Teenager Chambers had only ever had a handful of Premier League games for Southampton and was really thrown in the deep end at Arsenal!
To start with he flourished, for one so young and inexperienced, he impressed a lot of us with his confidence and ability.
Unfortunately, his form, as is reasonable to expect, started to dip, culminating in the away game at Swansea, where he was given a torrid time by the speedy and tricky winger Montero, in a game we went on to lose.
Chambers is versatile and keen, but he's no right back, I see him as a centre back with huge potential!
So the decision was made to promote Bellerin from the reserves and give Chambers the break he needed. What a good decision that turned out to be!
Koscielny missed chunks of the first few weeks of the season so due to our lack of alternatives, the unpopular Monreal was used as an emergency centre back. This became the making of him as an Arsenal player. Fans warmed to his effort and commitment in an unusual role, and as a result his confidence grew and he eventually replaced Gibbs as our first choice left back. In January our lack of centre back options was rectified by the signing of the hugely promising Gabriel.
Back to the beginning of the season, Szczesny was under fire and making mistakes, whilst new keeper Ospina was injured after the World Cup.
In front of this cobbled together and out of sorts defence, our defensive midfield options were startlingly thin. Arteta was injured and Flamini was showing his limitations. It wasn't until Coquelin was recalled from a loan stint at Charlton that the problem position that had lasted for years was finally solved!
Coquelin was nothing short of a revelation in the role! He'd been nothing more than a utility player for years, being used as a right and central midfielder, and a right back when needed. When not filling in somewhere, he was invariably sent out on loan. It looked like he had no future at Arsenal, although it must be noted, Wenger never sold him.... he could have done easily and no Arsenal fan would've batted an eyelid if he had done so. He must've seen something in him!
Coquelin himself must take enormous credit. I remember him as being box to box player when he did get games. He attacked AND defended! He will have looked at the team and thought that with the class of attacking midfielders at Arsenes disposal, he'd have no chance of making the team in his favoured role, but he'll have also thought that the team was crying out for a no-nonsense defensive midfielder, sacrificing himself in a way for the good of the team, putting some balance between attacking and defending that we desperately lacked.
He identified that this was the only way he could cement himself into the first team, and in his first game back, away to Champions Manchester City, he put on an eye opening and impressive show, totally nullifying the threat of David Silva and helping Arsenal to a famous and well deserved win! Alongside him, little magician Cazorla, was just as impressive, playing a deeper role than usual, taking the ball off Coquelin, buzzing around and setting up attacks.
Again, early in the season, our main striker, Giroud, picked up a nasty injury and missed a few months. New signing Welbeck filled in admirably and weighed in with a few goals, most notably with a hat-trick in the Champions League. Despite this, he isn't yet a prolific finisher, but together with Alexis, he works his socks off, defending from the front, chasing and harrying.
Walcott was also still out with the injury from the previous season!
Add to all this, injuries to Wilshere, clattered by United's McNair at the Emirates, and to Ramsey and the Ox, it's little wonder that Arsenal lost so many points in the first half of the season!
In this time, Chelsea opened up a huge lead in the Title race. This is where we lost the League.
In the 2nd half of the season, once our problems were finally alleviated or solved, Arsenal really flew, even managing to be mentioned when the destination of the Title was brought up!
Unfortunately our first half of the season put pay to that dream.
Instead we won the FA Cup for the second year running, and for a record 12th time, and we won it in style, 4-0 against Aston Villa, with Alexis, Ozil & Cazorla on fire.... in fact the whole team put on an 8 or 9 out of 10 performance!
For the second half of the season we were the best team in the league and picked up the most points!
And this is my point.
Those people that say 'it's the same squad as last year, how can we improve our position' forget all the things that I have just pointed out!
Most of our previous problems have been solved. Important positions have been filled. New players and younger ones have settled into the team and are raring to go!
Important players who suffered long term injuries are back!
We have 2 players for every position!
We have no qualifiers to play this season!
No World Cup hangover!
We have a world class keeper at last with the experience of winning everything!
We have new and young players who have now won a trophy at Arsenal, breeding that all important winning habit as a result!
Let all the doubters and Wenger haters find the negatives in that lot!
Arsenal go into the new season in better shape than they have done in many years!
I expect Alexis Sanchez to have an even better 2nd season, he's established as one of the world's best players already, he can go on to become an Arsenal legend alongside the likes of Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira!
A fit and firing Walcott will be a great weapon to have, as demonstrated by his last few games of last season. Ozil is looking physically stronger and more confident as a result, Wilshere can get back to his marauding best, he could even do a 'Ramsey' and start adding regular goals to his game, judging by his scoring end to the season!
There's too many reasons to be positive to list!
On top of everything, the next batch of kids look bright and exciting too!
Arsene Wenger looks to have re found his mojo!
For me, whether we sign another DM and striker or not, we are going to properly challenge for the League Title again this season!
And I can't wait!
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
My Twitter followers are Craneflies and the Arsenal Season ahead!
Well it's over a year since my first and last blog post!
I'm about as prolific at blogging as Roberto Soldado is at scoring for the enemy!
Truth be told, composing a short snappy 140 character tweet is a breeze compared to blogging. The best Arsenal bloggers have my utmost admiration, especially the ones who litter their posts with well placed humour! It's a skill to be respected.
My day to day Arsenal thoughts are posted on Twitter here;
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
Loved and hated in seemingly equal measure by Gooners, I just tell it as I see it! We all have opinions, and they all differ! The World would be a boring place if we all agreed all of the time!
I have over 43,000 followers, the vast majority of which are Arsenal fans. I often get grief for my Twitter numbers, for I follow everyone back and I actively follow Gooners. This is just how I enjoy using Twitter! Probably part of my 'collectors' nature that I've had since I was a kid. When I was young I used to go into the apple orchard at the back of my home and collect Craneflies (Daddy-Long-legs) and bring them inside and release them in my bedroom! I had hundreds buzzing around as I went to sleep! They kept me company during the dark nights and the long days.
Now I'm older, my Arsenal Twitter followers are my Craneflies!
Even better, I'm able to interact with them in a way I was unable to with my Cranefly friends!
Following so many Gooners keeps me bang up to date and informed on Arsenal news too! One of the best things about Twitter is the instantaneous way a tweet jumps to the top of your timeline, before being replaced by a new tweet and slowly moving down the line. News cannot be spread any quicker. It's a brilliant and simple medium that blows other sites such as Facebook right out of the water!
I believe every football fan should open a Twitter account, it's a perfect way to share news and opinions about your favourite club! Most Clubs have a ready Twitter audience of fans numbering thousands, Hundreds of thousands or even millions! Unless you are Spurs of course....
The way I use Twitter works for me. I make no apologies! Live and let live people!
Now onto the Season ahead.
It's amazing how one poor result and performance can totally deflate expectations! Yes, we were pretty bad against Monaco, but before that, we were fabulous against Benfica! If the games had been played the other way round the mood would be totally different! It's just the way of the world for football fans, you're only as good as your last performance! In reality, none of it really matters or will have much bearing on the coming season. If anything, poor performances in pre-season can focus the mind, make teams prepare better and train harder for the main event! Some of our players are clearly not match fit, especially the likes of Giroud, who have only just returned to the fold after extended post-World Cup breaks.
Alexis Sanchez looks a real livewire, once he is match fit he will give us a new dimension that we have been lacking in recent years. Calum Chambers looked like he had been an Arsenal player all his life! It's hard to believe he's only 19 and that he has only ever made 22 appearances in the Premier League!! He's an outstanding prospect, whether used at centre back, right back or defensive midfield. He clearly has an inner confidence in his ability, which is vital for an Arsenal player. His versatility makes him priceless. He's a fantastic buy again by Arsene Wenger, even if his fee of somewhere between £12 million and £16 Million looks excessive for a young inexperiened player. Compare it to the £32 million Man Utd spent on Luke Shaw, it looks an absolute bargain! Chambers looks at least as good as Shaw and could go on to be even better!
Mathieu Debuchy looks like another fine buy! What better way of replacing the outgoing Sagna than with a younger player currently keeping Sagna out of his national side! I was impressed with him against Monaco. In fact, the 3 new signings in that game were our 3 best players on the pitch! A very positive sign!
We saw David Ospina in the World Cup and he looked like a more than capable keeper, although his penchant for punching balls when he could catch them has me a little worried if I'm honest! Hopefully he will keep Szczesny on his toes and drive him onto even better performances and consistency.
I still think we need a defensive midfielder and a centre back before the transfer window closes, especially if Vermaelen leaves as is expected. Thomas's story is sad.... he looked like he'd become an Arsenal great and when we first bought Mertesacker it was a case of which one of him or Koscielny plays alongside Vermaelen! No-one expected Thomas to be the fall guy, but Mertesacker and Koscielny built up a brilliant and understanding partnership. In central defence, a strong partnership is much more important than individual talent!
As for the defensive midfield position, I think Arteta has seen his best days already, as has Flamini. Arteta is a little slow for the role and gives away too many free kicks which puts us under unnecessary pressure, especially as we still tend to struggle when facing set pieces, as our 2 conceded goals in the Emirates Cup showed! Flamini was great last year but is booked in almost every game he plays in and was only ever signed as a stop/gap before a bigger, younger and stronger DM was aquired.
I think both players would be ideal as squad players with their experience and love of the Club, but it's time for a better, more mobile sitting midfielder to give us insurance at the back for when our more attacking players bomb forward! Various names have been linked all Summer long, the likes of Khedira, Schneiderlin, Carvalho and Bender. Any one of them would improve our chances of being successful. Don't be surprised if we don't sign one of these before the window ends! Maybe Arsene will even sign a name from out of nowhere, much like he did with Chambers! No-one called that signing! Which makes it obvious that most of the ITK's (In The Know's) are actually ITDK's....
Finally the striking positions. A lot of Gooners think we need a World class addition in this area. I don't. Of course, if the likes of Radamel Falcao signed it would be fabulous, but is it really necessary? We have Alexis, Giroud, Campbell and the suddenly free scoring Sanogo, not to mention others who can play centrally such as Walcott and Podolski! We also have the likes of Akpom coming through, who looks an exciting prospect!
All in all, there is so much to be excited about this Season! Add quality in the positions I've mentioned and we have a squad more than capable of challenging for the Premier League Title AND the Champions League! When have we realistically been able to say that in the last few years?!!
Winning the FA Cup last season will help our mentality, as will having 3 returning World Cup winners in our squad!
First stop, The Community Shield and Manchester City. That will give us a good idea on where we stand. It's a friendly, so the result isn't all important, but a fine performance against the current Champions will allow us to go into the new Season with real hope and belief!!
I for one can't wait!!
Come on Arsenal!!
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
I'm about as prolific at blogging as Roberto Soldado is at scoring for the enemy!
Truth be told, composing a short snappy 140 character tweet is a breeze compared to blogging. The best Arsenal bloggers have my utmost admiration, especially the ones who litter their posts with well placed humour! It's a skill to be respected.
My day to day Arsenal thoughts are posted on Twitter here;
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
Loved and hated in seemingly equal measure by Gooners, I just tell it as I see it! We all have opinions, and they all differ! The World would be a boring place if we all agreed all of the time!
I have over 43,000 followers, the vast majority of which are Arsenal fans. I often get grief for my Twitter numbers, for I follow everyone back and I actively follow Gooners. This is just how I enjoy using Twitter! Probably part of my 'collectors' nature that I've had since I was a kid. When I was young I used to go into the apple orchard at the back of my home and collect Craneflies (Daddy-Long-legs) and bring them inside and release them in my bedroom! I had hundreds buzzing around as I went to sleep! They kept me company during the dark nights and the long days.
Now I'm older, my Arsenal Twitter followers are my Craneflies!
Even better, I'm able to interact with them in a way I was unable to with my Cranefly friends!
Following so many Gooners keeps me bang up to date and informed on Arsenal news too! One of the best things about Twitter is the instantaneous way a tweet jumps to the top of your timeline, before being replaced by a new tweet and slowly moving down the line. News cannot be spread any quicker. It's a brilliant and simple medium that blows other sites such as Facebook right out of the water!
I believe every football fan should open a Twitter account, it's a perfect way to share news and opinions about your favourite club! Most Clubs have a ready Twitter audience of fans numbering thousands, Hundreds of thousands or even millions! Unless you are Spurs of course....
The way I use Twitter works for me. I make no apologies! Live and let live people!
Now onto the Season ahead.
It's amazing how one poor result and performance can totally deflate expectations! Yes, we were pretty bad against Monaco, but before that, we were fabulous against Benfica! If the games had been played the other way round the mood would be totally different! It's just the way of the world for football fans, you're only as good as your last performance! In reality, none of it really matters or will have much bearing on the coming season. If anything, poor performances in pre-season can focus the mind, make teams prepare better and train harder for the main event! Some of our players are clearly not match fit, especially the likes of Giroud, who have only just returned to the fold after extended post-World Cup breaks.
Alexis Sanchez looks a real livewire, once he is match fit he will give us a new dimension that we have been lacking in recent years. Calum Chambers looked like he had been an Arsenal player all his life! It's hard to believe he's only 19 and that he has only ever made 22 appearances in the Premier League!! He's an outstanding prospect, whether used at centre back, right back or defensive midfield. He clearly has an inner confidence in his ability, which is vital for an Arsenal player. His versatility makes him priceless. He's a fantastic buy again by Arsene Wenger, even if his fee of somewhere between £12 million and £16 Million looks excessive for a young inexperiened player. Compare it to the £32 million Man Utd spent on Luke Shaw, it looks an absolute bargain! Chambers looks at least as good as Shaw and could go on to be even better!
Mathieu Debuchy looks like another fine buy! What better way of replacing the outgoing Sagna than with a younger player currently keeping Sagna out of his national side! I was impressed with him against Monaco. In fact, the 3 new signings in that game were our 3 best players on the pitch! A very positive sign!
We saw David Ospina in the World Cup and he looked like a more than capable keeper, although his penchant for punching balls when he could catch them has me a little worried if I'm honest! Hopefully he will keep Szczesny on his toes and drive him onto even better performances and consistency.
I still think we need a defensive midfielder and a centre back before the transfer window closes, especially if Vermaelen leaves as is expected. Thomas's story is sad.... he looked like he'd become an Arsenal great and when we first bought Mertesacker it was a case of which one of him or Koscielny plays alongside Vermaelen! No-one expected Thomas to be the fall guy, but Mertesacker and Koscielny built up a brilliant and understanding partnership. In central defence, a strong partnership is much more important than individual talent!
As for the defensive midfield position, I think Arteta has seen his best days already, as has Flamini. Arteta is a little slow for the role and gives away too many free kicks which puts us under unnecessary pressure, especially as we still tend to struggle when facing set pieces, as our 2 conceded goals in the Emirates Cup showed! Flamini was great last year but is booked in almost every game he plays in and was only ever signed as a stop/gap before a bigger, younger and stronger DM was aquired.
I think both players would be ideal as squad players with their experience and love of the Club, but it's time for a better, more mobile sitting midfielder to give us insurance at the back for when our more attacking players bomb forward! Various names have been linked all Summer long, the likes of Khedira, Schneiderlin, Carvalho and Bender. Any one of them would improve our chances of being successful. Don't be surprised if we don't sign one of these before the window ends! Maybe Arsene will even sign a name from out of nowhere, much like he did with Chambers! No-one called that signing! Which makes it obvious that most of the ITK's (In The Know's) are actually ITDK's....
Finally the striking positions. A lot of Gooners think we need a World class addition in this area. I don't. Of course, if the likes of Radamel Falcao signed it would be fabulous, but is it really necessary? We have Alexis, Giroud, Campbell and the suddenly free scoring Sanogo, not to mention others who can play centrally such as Walcott and Podolski! We also have the likes of Akpom coming through, who looks an exciting prospect!
All in all, there is so much to be excited about this Season! Add quality in the positions I've mentioned and we have a squad more than capable of challenging for the Premier League Title AND the Champions League! When have we realistically been able to say that in the last few years?!!
Winning the FA Cup last season will help our mentality, as will having 3 returning World Cup winners in our squad!
First stop, The Community Shield and Manchester City. That will give us a good idea on where we stand. It's a friendly, so the result isn't all important, but a fine performance against the current Champions will allow us to go into the new Season with real hope and belief!!
I for one can't wait!!
Come on Arsenal!!
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Only Newcastle stand in our way!
So now, the time is near...
Tomorrow is Arsenals date with destiny! If we win at Newcastle we will be in the Champions League yet again! The fact it would be at the expense of our poor neighbours Spurs would make it even sweeter!
Win by more than 2 goals and there is even a chance we could take 3rd place from Chelsea and in doing so not have to play a 2 legged qualifying game before the start of the season! This would be more than fantastic, but right now I will settle for 4th place and watching Spurs lick their wounds once more....would Player of the Year Gareth Bale really stay and pursue the 'glory' of the Europa League when he could be mixing it with the elite players and teams in the Champions League? This is Tottenhams problem, and I hope it's one they are going to have!
There are some that assume Newcastle, safe from relegation, will already be on the Beach and will not bother putting in any effort against Arsenal! Total baloney! For a start, Alan Pardew and Arsene Wenger have history, and the Newcastle boss will be keen to get one over on him, especially after the humiliation of a 7-3 thrashing at the Emirates earlier in the Season! Some of the Newcastle players will be playing for their places in next seasons team, after all, they have only just avoided relegation after a very disappointing campaign when so much was expected of them after the previous seasons heroics.
There is also the fact that they will be playing in front of 50,000 screaming Geordies, desperate for the team to erase the memories of the 6-0 home drubbing by Liverpool. Forget Pardews claim that he wouldn't mind losing 4-0 to Arsenal as long as they were safe from relegation, this was just a soundbite to express his relief at survival, now the game is almost here he will be demanding that his players end the season on a high! There are season tickets for 2013-2014 to sell at St Jame Park!!
We have to assume that Spurs will beat Sunderland at home, even though it's not guaranteed! Spurs have a history of choking when the going gets tough and it would be keeping to character if they lost or drew when a win would have sent them into the Top 4! Sunderland boss Paulo Di Canio is talking up the importance of getting a win, not least because the result could cost the Club 4.5 million pounds, depending on where they finish in the league!
Finally there is Chelsea..... after their trip and win in the Europa Cup final in midweek they have a tough home game against Everton, who will want to say goodbye to out going manager David Moyes with a strong performance! There is even the possibility of a play off match between Chelsea and Arsenal to decide the 3rd and 4th positions should Arsenals match end in a 2-1 win to the Gunners and Chelseas match finish in a 0-0 draw, as the teams would then be level on points, goal difference and goals scored! A unique scenario!
So, it's all to play for, and the eyes of the World will be on Arsenal as the Title and relegation issues are already sorted.
I'm predicting an Arsenal win and Champions League football again, but it's going to be a nervous time for Gooners everywhere! Better get your nails cut so there is nothing to chew come 3pm tomorrow!
Carl
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
Tomorrow is Arsenals date with destiny! If we win at Newcastle we will be in the Champions League yet again! The fact it would be at the expense of our poor neighbours Spurs would make it even sweeter!
Win by more than 2 goals and there is even a chance we could take 3rd place from Chelsea and in doing so not have to play a 2 legged qualifying game before the start of the season! This would be more than fantastic, but right now I will settle for 4th place and watching Spurs lick their wounds once more....would Player of the Year Gareth Bale really stay and pursue the 'glory' of the Europa League when he could be mixing it with the elite players and teams in the Champions League? This is Tottenhams problem, and I hope it's one they are going to have!
There are some that assume Newcastle, safe from relegation, will already be on the Beach and will not bother putting in any effort against Arsenal! Total baloney! For a start, Alan Pardew and Arsene Wenger have history, and the Newcastle boss will be keen to get one over on him, especially after the humiliation of a 7-3 thrashing at the Emirates earlier in the Season! Some of the Newcastle players will be playing for their places in next seasons team, after all, they have only just avoided relegation after a very disappointing campaign when so much was expected of them after the previous seasons heroics.
There is also the fact that they will be playing in front of 50,000 screaming Geordies, desperate for the team to erase the memories of the 6-0 home drubbing by Liverpool. Forget Pardews claim that he wouldn't mind losing 4-0 to Arsenal as long as they were safe from relegation, this was just a soundbite to express his relief at survival, now the game is almost here he will be demanding that his players end the season on a high! There are season tickets for 2013-2014 to sell at St Jame Park!!
We have to assume that Spurs will beat Sunderland at home, even though it's not guaranteed! Spurs have a history of choking when the going gets tough and it would be keeping to character if they lost or drew when a win would have sent them into the Top 4! Sunderland boss Paulo Di Canio is talking up the importance of getting a win, not least because the result could cost the Club 4.5 million pounds, depending on where they finish in the league!
Finally there is Chelsea..... after their trip and win in the Europa Cup final in midweek they have a tough home game against Everton, who will want to say goodbye to out going manager David Moyes with a strong performance! There is even the possibility of a play off match between Chelsea and Arsenal to decide the 3rd and 4th positions should Arsenals match end in a 2-1 win to the Gunners and Chelseas match finish in a 0-0 draw, as the teams would then be level on points, goal difference and goals scored! A unique scenario!
So, it's all to play for, and the eyes of the World will be on Arsenal as the Title and relegation issues are already sorted.
I'm predicting an Arsenal win and Champions League football again, but it's going to be a nervous time for Gooners everywhere! Better get your nails cut so there is nothing to chew come 3pm tomorrow!
Carl
https://twitter.com/CarlBovis_AFC
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