http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/ en Copyright 2012 Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:14:40 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Honestly, I’ve taken my eye off most things Arsenal in the last week and a half with the London 2012 Olympic Games meaning I’ve been trying to understand the rules of judo and have been getting massively over-excited about track cycling and handball. I’ve watched some of the Olympic football tournament, but have been so engrossed in the other sport that the men’s football has generally felt like a needless sideshow. The women’s football tournament however was a superb advert for fans to follow the female game more, with Team GB beating Brazil. I’ve partly not been bothering myself with Arsenal news because the Olympic Games don’t come to a nearby city very often. The wave of Olympic excitement in and around London has been brilliant, with sport bringing people together and making people proud to be British. Also, there has been a severe lack of media coverage of football ahead of the new season, which is probably a good thing as it’s stopped me fretting and starting to worry about Arsenal too far in advance of the season. We go through enough emotions during the season so avoiding some of them in pre-season should be welcomed. The major Arsenal interest was in the women’s football tournament. The Team GB 18 player squad featured six Arsenal players, all of whom featured in their impressive 1-0 victory over favourites Brazil in front of a record UK crowd for a women’s match in this country at Wembley. Arsenal have been flag bearers on the pitch for women’s football for many years, however despite the success of the team, the women’s game has struggled for coverage and popularity. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/08/faster_higher_stronger.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/08/faster_higher_stronger.php Weekly Comment Arsenal Ladies Lukas Podolski Mikel Arteta Olivier Giroud Olympics Robin van Persie Santi Cazorla Steph Houghton Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:14:40 +0000 A new season, a new kit, a different pre-season venue to play in, but the seemingly the same old problems for Arsenal. In the second match of the pre-season Asia Tour, we played well against Manchester City, however couldn’t convert chances and were punished for some slack defending on the break. It’s important to remember that it was only a friendly; however it’s never good to lose to a rival like Manchester City, especially when the loss came in a similar fashion to many of the ones we’ve suffered in recent seasons. The squad for the Asia Tour is still missing a large number of first team players because of injury and fitness after Euro 2012, however we still fielded quite a strong team against Manchester City. Being honest, I didn’t rate our chances of winning the game as very high. We didn’t start with a regular striker, and had the inexperienced Kyle Bartley at centre back. Seeing a City team sheet including Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure was a concern, and their clinical counter attacking proved to be the difference. The 2-0 score-line didn’t do the match justice, but rarely does a result reflect the overall flow of a football match. Hopefully we can get these matches out of our system before the season starts; where we dominate, but don’t turn that pressure into goals. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/encouraging_but_frustration_ag.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/encouraging_but_frustration_ag.php Post Match Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Andre Santos Carl Jenkinson Chuks Aneke Gervinho Ignasi Miquel Kieran Gibbs Theo Walcott Thomas Eisfield Thomas Vermaelen Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:02:12 +0000 Then there was this. Robin van Persie's statement on his official website was damning of the club, and horribly misjudged. I'll be surprised if van Persie wrote it himself, because I'm struggling to believe that he would be so blunt about the club when financially we don't have to sell him, when he's still club captain and when the statement wasn't expected by the club. Most Arsenal fans have been through the mire enough times in the last few summers to not take van Persie's side of the story and not have sympathy for him. I can understand some fans siding with him about the different directions of the club, but ultimately Arsene Wenger is never going to spend the same amount of money as clubs like Manchester City. He never has done, never will do, and wouldn't want to compromise Arsenal's financial position. Wenger's stand point on this shouldn't have been news to Robin van Persie. He's been at the club eight years, and were it not for Wenger's policy, Robin wouldn't have been given the chances he had as a youngster, wouldn't have been backed despite his injury problems, and wouldn't have become the striker he is today.]]> http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/rvp_a_hero_can_be_quickly_forg_1.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/rvp_a_hero_can_be_quickly_forg_1.php Weekly Comment Arsene Wenger Robin van Persie Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:12:59 +0000 Finishing the series of blog posts looking at the Arsenal squad, I’m going to rate, and in some cases slate, the Arsenal players for their performances over the last ten months. To say it’s been an eventful season for Arsenal would be a massive understatement, so I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement with my ratings, so feel free to comment at the end of the blog. In my first blog post of the day following yesterday’s events surrounding our captain, it’s time to rate the strikers. 9. Ju-Young Park One on those rushed through the checkout during Arsene Wenger’s trolley dash at the end of the summer transfer window, Ju-Young Park hasn’t really made his mark on Arsenal Football Club. The Korean captain was cheap, and did score an excellent goal against Bolton in the Carling Cup, but he just wasn’t given the chance to prove himself for the first team. That was partly down to the form and fitness of Robin van Persie, but also because I don’t think Wenger trusted him to lead the line. Undoubtedly a strange signing. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_str.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_str.php Weekly Comment Ju-Young Park Marouane Chamakh Robin van Persie Thierry Henry Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:28:40 +0000 Continuing the series of blog posts looking at the Arsenal squad, I’m going to rate, and in some cases slate, the Arsenal players for their performances over the last ten months. To say it’s been an eventful season for Arsenal would be a massive understatement, so I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement with my ratings, so feel free to comment at the end of the blog. Moving up the pitch, it’s time to look at the midfielders. 2. Abou Diaby The international man of mystery was only seen in fleeting glances during last season. His campaign was summed up by his cameo against Liverpool at Anfield. He came on in the second half, looked rusty in some of his runs forward but still showed he has some real talent on the ball, but then he tweaked a muscle and went off again. I can understand the argument for cutting our losses on Diaby and getting him off the wage bill because of his injury record, but we’ve seen with van Persie and Rosicky, that patience can eventually lead to a player flourishing at Arsenal. I think Diaby can still become an important part of our midfield, we just need him to stay fit for a prolonged period of time. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_mid.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/07/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_mid.php Weekly Comment Aaron Ramsey Abou Diaby Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alex Song Andrey Arshavin Emmanuel Frimpong Francis Coquelin Gervinho Jack Wilshere Mikel Arteta Ryo Miyaichi Theo Walcott Tomas Rosicky Yossi Benayoun Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:58:18 +0000 Continuing the series of blog posts looking at the Arsenal squad, I’m going to rate, and in some cases slate, the Arsenal players for their performances over the last ten months. To say it’s been an eventful season for Arsenal would be a massive understatement, so I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement with my ratings, so feel free to comment at the end of the blog. Having analysed the goalkeepers, it’s time to look at defenders. 3. Bacary Sagna The French full back had a season that was affected by two leg breaks, but when he was available, we were reminded how important he is to the team. Sagna doesn’t do the spectacular things, he does the important solid work. He loses marks in his end of season rating for missing a large slice of the season through injury, and for his crossing still being indifferent, however looking around the league, I can’t think of another right back I’d like in the squad. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/06/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_def.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/06/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_def.php Weekly Comment Andre Santos Bacary Sagna Carl Jenkinson Ignasi Miquel Johan Djourou Kieran Gibbs Laurent Koscielny Nico Yennaris Per Mertesacker Sebastien Squillaci Thomas Vermaelen Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:51:18 +0000 Now that I’ve completed my own exams this summer, it’s time for me to rate, and in some cases slate, the Arsenal players for their performances over the last ten months. To say it’s been an eventful season for Arsenal would be a massive understatement, so I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement with my ratings, so feel free to comment at the end of the blog. I’ll go through the squad over the next couple of weeks, and will start at the last line of defence; the goalkeepers. 1. Manuel Almunia There really isn’t much to say about the Spaniard given he didn’t play a single minute for the Arsenal first team in 2011/12. He’s now been released and is without a club. It’s felt like he hasn’t been an Arsenal player this season, and he did spend a short loan spell at West Ham but returned quickly after they decided that Robert Green was better. The way Almunia was side-lined could seem a little harsh as he’s always come across as one of the nice guys in football, however ultimately he was too error prone. The two matches against West Brom in 2010/11 effectively ended his Arsenal career, but because of a lack of suitors, and injuries to Fabianski and Mannone, he hung around at the club last season and was on the bench a few times, however never made it onto the pitch. I hope his career doesn’t meander into nothingness; however I fear it might, which would be a shame. Season Rating: 0/10 http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/06/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_goa.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/06/end_of_year_exams_2012_the_goa.php Weekly Comment Lukasz Fabianski Manuel Almunia Vito Mannone Wojciech Szczesny Sat, 02 Jun 2012 11:58:22 +0000 Arsenal added the motto ‘Forward’ to the bottom of the club’s crest for the 125th anniversary season, and for a large slice of the season, that was looking like an embarrassing move. It seemed like we were a club in decline, and one that was definitely moving backwards. No-one could have envisaged that we’d end the season with a higher points total than the previous campaign, and finish a place higher. It might only be a small step, but we have gone forward as a team and as a club this season. Whilst we should be rightly pleased at how we recovered from the dreadful start, this achievement shouldn’t be looked at as the be all and end all for this group of players. It needs to be the start of something. We’ve stumbled over the line, but finishing third not only puts us back in the Champions League group stage, it gives us more clout when negotiating new contracts for certain members of the current squad, and helps us in the transfer market to attract players. One of the reasons for the ill-advised trolley dash at the end of last summer was that we weren’t able to guarantee potential signings that they’d be playing in Europe’s top competition because of the Champions League qualifier with Udinese. We won’t have that problem this summer. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/05/forward_amazingly_yes.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/05/forward_amazingly_yes.php Post Match Andre Santos Arsene Wenger Kieran Gibbs Laurent Koscielny Pat Rice Wojciech Szczesny Yossi Benayoun Mon, 14 May 2012 23:28:25 +0000 At 2.45pm on Saturday, it looked like we were going to be in desperate need of Tottenham suffering another lasagne induced bout of food poisoning, as in 2006. However at 4pm on Sunday, things weren’t looking quite as desperate. However given Arsenal’s remarkable ability to throw away our good work this season, we should probably start planning in the kitchen just to make sure we secure third place. If Arsenal fail to finish in the top three, it will be our own fault. We’ve had the chances to secure that position, but have so far contrived to blow every one of them. To have one final chance is unexpected, but it must be utilised. On the basis of the season we do deserve to be where we are, you’re not third by accident after 37 games, because whilst we’ve had our failings, so have our closest challengers. The team should learn from the numerous mistakes we made against Norwich and give everything to take advantage of our final chance, as failure to do so could still result in Europa League football. Our recent run is concerning ahead of the final game because we haven’t won for four matches now. After our win against Wolves, we’ve lost to Wigan, and drawn with Chelsea, Stoke and Norwich. A win in any of those games, and we’d virtually be safe in third place. It’s amazing that our fate is still in our hands, but the form ahead of a must-win match doesn’t fill me with confidence. At least in the draws with Chelsea and Stoke, we generally defended well. That wasn’t the case against Norwich. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/05/time_to_prepare_the_lasagne.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/05/time_to_prepare_the_lasagne.php Post Match Alex Song Gervinho Kieran Gibbs Laurent Koscielny Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Thomas Vermaelen Wojciech Szczesny Yossi Benayoun Mon, 07 May 2012 23:21:50 +0000 After the great comeback this season, Arsenal are stumbling towards the finish line as the need to secure third place in the league has become greater. Chelsea's unexpected success in Barcelona means we have to take the possibility of them winning the Champions League seriously. The thought of Chelsea being the first London team to win the Champions League isn't a good one, but to have them also put us in the Europa League by taking the fourth spot in next year's tournament, would be close to unbearable. There's two ways to look at the Stoke match. It's easy to say that we dropped two points against a team that haven't had a brilliant season. However, on the positive side, it was a point gained at a stadium where we've had little success in recent seasons. With Newcastle's defeat, it's a shame we couldn't extend our points lead in third, but we still have third place in our hands. Beat Norwich City and West Brom, and we come third. Simple. However this is Arsenal, it's unlikely to be simple. We can still optimistic about the two games though, as there were plenty of positives to take from the Stoke draw. We've been quick to go into our shell at the Britannia before, but we saw an Arsenal team on Saturday that were willing to face up to the more direct Stoke tactics, and then play our own attacking game. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/a_stumble_but_not_a_fall.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/a_stumble_but_not_a_fall.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Abou Diaby Gervinho Laurent Koscielny Robin van Persie Thomas Vermaelen Tomas Rosicky Yossi Benayoun Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:47:30 +0000 The season isn’t over, but watching the match between Arsenal and Chelsea on Saturday, it would have been easy to think that both sides had nothing to play for. For Arsenal, we are in danger of undoing the good work of the second half of the season by not finishing off the job of finishing third. Apart from Newcastle’s good run of form, we’re fortunate that the teams behind us can’t put a string of good results together. The team looked fatigued against Chelsea, which is understandable at this stage of the season, however when the opposition were in a similar state and were mainly focussed on defending, it’s frustrating that we couldn’t win the game. It’s hard to be angry at the result though, because it was a poor game, and Arsenal didn’t force the issue or grab the initiative to press forward for a win. We’re still in a good position to finish third, but we have to take the last three matches seriously and not just let the season drift and meander away, as it did at the end of last season. The negative vibes that built up during the last few weeks of last season then continued into the summer, and things hardly went smoothly in the last off-season. Fatigue does play a part, but it’s also the case for every team. The players should be able to deal with it and be prepared to give everything, otherwise we’ll find ourselves slip out of the top three, and possibly the top four. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/a_dangerous_meander.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/a_dangerous_meander.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Abou Diaby Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Gervinho Laurent Koscielny Robin van Persie Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:18:50 +0000 Wigan blog: Great escape on for giant-killers However the best thing about the way Wigan Athletic are playing at the moment, and thing Arsenal really should learn from, is to pressure the ball high up the pitch, to play with freedom and without fear. A classic Wenger-ism to say that we have the handbrake on; Wigan's was non-existent at the Emirates whilst ours was firmly on. With so few games left this season, that shouldn't have been the case.]]> http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/we_can_learn_a_lot_from_wigan.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/we_can_learn_a_lot_from_wigan.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Alex Song Andre Santos Bacary Sagna Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Thomas Vermaelen Tomas Rosicky Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:28:42 +0000 I thought the match away at Wolves would be more nerve racking than Sunday’s Manchester City game. Despite our good recent run, I can never be sure which Arsenal team will turn up for each match, and with memories of the QPR defeat still fresh, there was a fear in the back of my mind that we’d end up being remembered as the team that Terry Connor’s Wolves actually managed to beat. As it turned out, I haven’t been that relaxed when watching Arsenal for a while. To be 2-0 up inside 11 minutes adds a large degree of comfort to any match, but when the opposition are down to ten men, you immediately feel like victory should be assured. The team still had to do the job well though, and whilst we could have scored more goals, and could have absolutely demolished Wolves, Arsenal were professional in the approach and got an important three points. Wolves played well considering they were a man down for the majority of the game. They certainly attacked us more than Manchester City did with 11 men, and they closed us down well. However there was always a sense that should Wolves threaten a way back into the game, we’d just step up our game and kill the match off. That’s effectively what Yossi Benayoun did; just moments after Wojciech Szczesny’s superb save. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/five_ahead_five_to_go.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/five_ahead_five_to_go.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Andre Santos Johan Djourou Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Wojciech Szczesny Yossi Benayoun Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:04:45 +0000 Unsurprisingly, the majority of the media focus after Sunday's match has been on Manchester City's fading title challenge, and a certain Italian striker. However this being an Arsenal blog, it's time to redress the balance and give our team the credit they deserve for a fantastic win. The victory wasn't without its difficulties, mainly of our own making with some interesting finishing in front of goal, however no-one could deny that we deserved to win and outplayed and outclassed our opponents. On paper, the match was between two teams with completely different philosophies on running a football club, with one attempting to buy the best players, and the other having a self-sustaining business model. There was also one team chasing the title, and the other 13 points behind them in a scrap for the top four. If you were an outside observer watching the game, you'd never have guessed correctly which club was which. We looked like the team that were chasing the title because we actually were intent on attacking to try and win the game. It's been a while since we were involved in the title race right until the end of the season, but we know as Arsenal fans that in these sorts of games, you need to make a statement. City didn't do that. It was partly because we didn't allow them to. Arsenal put the QPR defeat behind them and played with the confidence that comes with winning seven games in a row. However, Manchester City again came to the Emirates and were mainly concerned with defending. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/forget_title_talk_we_deserved.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/forget_title_talk_we_deserved.php Post Match Alex Song Arsene Wenger Laurent Koscielny Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Thomas Vermaelen Tomas Rosicky Wojciech Szczesny Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:18:50 +0000 Arsenal's recent run of form has been fantastic, but our celebrations about claiming third place have been premature. The ‘Mind The Gap' jokes, Spurs' demise and our own winning streak have been worth celebrating and enjoying, however we can't assume that we'll finish above Tottenham and that third place is ours. Momentum is a strong thing in football, and we've used it brilliantly to our advantage recently as we turned the momentum against Spurs through Bacary Sagna's thumping header in the North London Derby. We now have to work hard to make sure that the slip up at Loftus Road, and Tottenham's win against Swansea, isn't as big a momentum swinger as Sagna's header. Maybe it was complacency, but the team seemed to take their eyes off the ball against Queens Park Rangers and there wasn't quite the same level of work rate and incisive attacking that we displayed during our winning run. We do need to put the defeat in some perspective though. The fact we're in a battle for third place at all is brilliant considering how dark some of days were this season, and we have to give credit to QPR. They've beaten Chelsea and Liverpool at Loftus Road, and are in a relegation scrap where others around them are picking up points. They had to raise their game, and they did. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/no_time_to_count_chickens.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/04/no_time_to_count_chickens.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Gervinho Theo Walcott Thomas Vermaelen Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:35:30 +0000