http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/ en Copyright 2012 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:38:54 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 1 – Robin van Persie, 2 – Robin van Persie, 3 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 4 – Mikel Arteta, 5 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 6 – Robin van Persie and 7 – Thierry Henry. The last few weeks have been extremely trying for Arsenal fans. We were in serious need of a lift, and three points against Blackburn, however they came, were going to be the only way for some of the unrest amongst supporters to quieten, even if momentarily. The aforementioned seven reasons should give the team some deserved leeway with fans, as they finally showed, for the first time in the league in 2012, that they aren’t going to give up easily in the battle for fourth. With the other results from the weekend, we’re now three points behind Chelsea in the race for the Champions League, plus they still have to come to the Emirates. There is a lot to happen between now and then, but we’re hardly in a disastrous position. I mentioned in my last blog that failure to beat Blackburn might lead to a change needing to be made, not necessarily of manager, but a change. The 7-1 thumping was proof that the Arsenal style can still rip teams apart. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/02/seven_reasons_to_be_cheerful.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/02/seven_reasons_to_be_cheerful.php Post Match Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Thierry Henry Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:38:54 +0000 Before being all doom and gloom, let’s start with the positives from last night. We ended the losing streak in the league. Obviously we’d like to have won, but given our recent form we have to be slightly relieved not to have lost. We also created a lot of chances. Particularly against Fulham and Swansea, that wasn’t happening. However, again we’d like to have converted at least one of those. There were other positives, with Wojciech Szczesny looking solid again. By his own admission, he’s not been at his best recently, but he did well to spread himself when N’Gog was through in the first half, and his save at the feet of Mark Davies late on was vital. We’ve conceded stupid goals at Bolton numerous times before so a clean sheet was very welcome. That was aided by the return of Bacary Sagna who gives our back line a much more balanced look. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed again with some more direct running. He has been a real breath of fresh air in a terrible run of form, and gives us real hope not just in the long term, but for the rest of the season. On current form, when Gervinho returns from the African Cup of Nations I’d like to see the Ox on the right and Gervinho on the left. I think Theo Walcott needs a reality check to knuckle down and improve. Oxlade-Chamberlain can easily replace him for Arsenal and England. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/02/that_unfamiliar_sinking_feelin.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/02/that_unfamiliar_sinking_feelin.php Post Match Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Arsene Wenger Theo Walcott Wojciech Szczesny Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:46:14 +0000 Except for Thierry Henry’s goal against Leeds, the start to 2012 has been thoroughly forgettable and could ultimately have a long lasting effect on the second half of our season. With 45 minutes to go in the last match of January, although it didn’t seem possible, things had got worse. Aston Villa had undone us from a short corner and then picked us off on the break. Given how we’ve gone out of the FA Cup in recent seasons with a whimper away to Manchester United and Stoke City, I wasn’t expecting any sort of comeback and was going to have to accept that we’d have given up a chance of a trophy to concentrate on the league. Most of us won’t know who said what in the Arsenal dressing room at half time, although to turn the match on its head in 16 minutes was a superb effort from the team. A lot of them have come in for a lot of criticism of late, most of which has been deserved, however this match was a reminder that some of the guys in this side are made of sterner stuff that recent Arsenal teams. It was also an indication that the team can be ruthless if needed and are determined to end the trophy drought. The first half performance wasn’t bad, but it lacked intensity. Everything seemed slightly subdued. The players seemed to be waiting for something to happen to turn our bad run around. It would have been easy for the team to feel sorry for themselves at half time. We were in a similar situation at the end of last season against Aston Villa and lost 2-1 as we didn’t show enough determination in the second half. We did show determination on Sunday. Often when chasing the game, we’ll end up playing a number of meaningless passes around the opposition box and not create anything, but against Villa, we went more direct, but still in an Arsenal style. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/2nd_half_must_set_the_tone_1.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/2nd_half_must_set_the_tone_1.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Bacary Sagna FA Cup Laurent Koscielny Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Tomas Rosicky Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:31:20 +0000 For the third Premier League game in a row, we've lost a match where we could, and should, have got some points. When looking at the match out of context and just comparing it to our last meeting with Manchester United, losing 2-1 is a lot better than losing 8-2. However humiliating and utterly depressing that result was, the defeat at the Emirates was almost more infuriating because of our desperate need for points, and how we failed to claim those points when they were there for the taking. One of reasons for not taking those points that has been heavily focussed on by some fans in the immediate aftermath of the game, was the substitution of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the introduction of Andrey Arshavin. Before talking more about that, it's worth giving the Ox his due praise. We need to be realistic about Oxlade-Chamberlain as he's still only 18 and won't produce performances like that every game, but he was superb against Manchester United. He played without fear, he ran with the ball, he ran hard for the team and picked up a great assist. There were moments when his inexperienced showed, but his enthusiasm, direct dribbling and skill on the ball more than made up for up. I was sceptical about Wenger spending a substantial chunk of money on the Ox in the summer as I wasn't sure if he was needed. I can now see why he was signed and it just makes you wonder why he wasn't unleashed earlier. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/more_gutting_than_the_82.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/more_gutting_than_the_82.php Post Match Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Andrey Arshavin Arsene Wenger Laurent Koscielny Per Mertesacker Robin van Persie Tomas Rosicky Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:36:18 +0000 In recent years, this Arsenal team have been outplayed before; most notably by Barcelona at the Nou Camp a couple of times. However I can’t remember being completely outplayed by a newly promoted team. We weren’t just outplayed in terms of the score line, but we were outplayed at our own style of football. Swansea deserved to win the game and must be given an immense amount of credit for the way they played, however from an Arsenal perspective, the defeat was seriously avoidable again. The team seemed incapable of keeping the ball for a sustained period of time to build pressure on the hosts, with some individuals frustrating a lot of fans. Injuries have taken their toll, but Arsenal should still have had enough quality to get three points. We all know that when fit, our best starting XI is capable of beating anyone, but the hallmark of a great team is being able to pick up points when key players are missing. It seemed that some of the players on the pitch were about as useful as some of those who were absent from injury. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/out_arsenaled.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/out_arsenaled.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Andrey Arshavin Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Thierry Henry Thomas Vermaelen Wojciech Szczesny Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:09:35 +0000 Who writes his scripts? The one played out on Monday was almost too good to be true. It was the sort of story that only appears in dreams or in comic books. A superhero returning to his home in a time of need and providing the winning moment, or a King returning to the arena in which he once reigned and reclaiming his place on the throne after being written off by many; whichever way you look at it, it’s barely believable and is the stuff of a legend. However the word legend and Thierry Henry fit together. The stage had been set for him, and after entering from stage left, he nailed his lines to perfection. This wasn’t acting though. This was the real Thierry. There were no pre-planned movements, finishes or celebrations, it was all natural ability and raw emotion from the great man. As soon as Thierry Henry received the ball from Alex Song’s slide rule pass in the inside left position, everyone in the stadium knew what he was going to do. Thierry probably knew, but he didn’t need to think about it. He’d done it numerous times before when wearing red and white, so what to do came to him instinctively. The first touch was superb before the trademark finish. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/the_perfect_script_for_the_per.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/the_perfect_script_for_the_per.php Post Match Alex Song Thierry Henry Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:38:42 +0000 2011 might not have been great, but the start to 2012 has been dismal. Whilst most people see the New Year as a fresh start, Arsenal began the year looking fatigued and tired, and in serious need of refreshment. Hopefully that refreshment will come in the form of a couple of new players, and some enthusiasm and encouraging performances from players in the FA Cup. Despite playing well in the first half against Fulham, the busy Christmas period took its’ toll on the team and they lost all control on the game. Some of the fundamental mistakes that we hadn’t been making in recent weeks returned at Craven Cottage. The injuries and the red card didn’t help the situation at the back, but both goals that we conceded were avoidable, and came from individual errors. What also made the match immensely frustrating was that the last results of 2011 had all gone in our favour, and a win at Fulham would have put some pressure on those above us, and kept us in the top four. 2011 ended so well, and now at the start 2012, that feels wasted. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/can_we_go_back_to_2011.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/can_we_go_back_to_2011.php Post Match Gervinho Johan Djourou Sebastien Squillaci Theo Walcott Thierry Henry Wojciech Szczesny Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:22:52 +0000 After the football year for Arsenal was generally quite forgettable, 2011 ended well with the win over QPR, meaning that we finished the year in the top four. Considering where we were earlier in the season, to be in the top four going into the New Year is a superb effort by everyone at the club. We have been helped massively by the weekend’s results, with Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester City all dropping points. As I mentioned after the Aston Villa match, this period of the season is all about results, and of the top clubs, we got the best one at the weekend. It does add a bit more frustration to the Wolves game, as a win there would have put us in an even better position, but it’s hard to complain where we are, given where we’ve had to come from this season. The QPR match should have been a lot more comfortable than just a 1-0 win, however we learnt our lesson from Wolves and were solid at the back for most of the game. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny were both very good, whilst Francis Coquelin gave a good account of himself when asked to play in an unfamiliar left back position. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/new_year_an_old_face_and_no_fu.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2012/01/new_year_an_old_face_and_no_fu.php Post Match Francis Coquelin Marouane Chamakh Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Thierry Henry Thomas Vermaelen Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:16:29 +0000 It’s easy to write off the Wolves match as ‘one of those days’. One where we have a large number of shots, the visiting goalkeeper plays a blinder and we find ourselves generally lamenting the lack of a plan B. Ordinarily, we’d just accept that whatever we tried, we just weren’t going to score. However the position we find ourselves in at the moment means we can’t afford to have ‘one of those days’. With Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City dropping points the day before the Wolves game, it was the perfect opportunity to move into the top four, and put some pressure on Tottenham. Whilst Wayne Hennessey did have a superb match, the lack of a plan B when Robin van Persie couldn’t find the net continued to be a worry. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/we_cant_afford_to_have_one_of.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/we_cant_afford_to_have_one_of.php Post Match Aaron Ramsey Ju-Young Park Marouane Chamakh Podcast Robin van Persie Thierry Henry Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:19:33 +0000 We weren’t as good against Aston Villa as were against Manchester City, but when you score a late goal to claim all three points, who cares? At this stage of the season, obviously it helps if performances are good, but ultimately with games coming thick and fast, it’s just about getting the job done. With the moving of the Wolves game, we’re going to head into a period of three games in less than seven days. Players will get tired physically and mentally, so maintaining a fluent style of play will be tough. Grinding out a win at Aston Villa was a great way to set us up for the hectic festive period. As I mentioned in my last blog, we could easily have slipped into a bad run of form following the Manchester City game. We had to somehow find a way of getting a result against Villa, otherwise we’d be playing even more catch up football during the Christmas period, and be at risk of other clubs getting away from us. It may not have been pretty, but that’s what we did. No-one would have predicted Yossi Benayoun to be the man to get on the end of a corner, but we’re all grateful he appeared at the back post. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/points_over_performance.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/points_over_performance.php Post Match Christmas Francis Coquelin Robin van Persie Tomas Rosicky Yossi Benayoun Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:41:22 +0000 Our last visit to Manchester was forgettable to say the least, and considering the way Manchester City destroyed their neighbours, who had subjected us to the horror of 8-2, fear of a thrashing on Sunday would have been understandable. However the team showed that the horror showing in late August is miles behind them. Yet us fans were still left frustrated. The performance was very good, although there was a feeling that one, even three, points were there for the taking. I was worried before the match that I was confident we’d win the game, fearing my confidence could lead to an embarrassing defeat. We definitely weren’t embarrassed, but it seems that all too often in the big games in recent years, we’ve come out of the match with a lot of credit, but no points. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/not_eclipsed_by_the_blue_moon.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/not_eclipsed_by_the_blue_moon.php Post Match Post Match Andrey Arshavin Gervinho Marouane Chamakh Mikel Arteta Thomas Vermaelen Wojciech Szczesny Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:02:20 +0000 It seemed fitting that, on a day where Arsenal were celebrating the amazing history and heritage of the club, the final score against Everton was a score line that has become synonymous with the Arsenal. I doubt that there have been many 1-0 wins down the 125 years of Arsenal Football Club that were won by such a sweet volley. With three true legends of the club deservedly honoured and immortalised outside the stadium, the modern day icon and legend of the current team continued to do his best to lead this new and developing team to make history of their own. As a squad, the current team aren’t nearly as good some of the ones represented by the legends at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, however they’re nowhere near as bad as we all feared they would be at the start of the season. A classic 1-0 win now looks even more valuable after the footballing weekend, with Tottenham and Manchester City’s defeats opening up the top four again. Chelsea’s win against City knocked us back out of the top four after we temporarily held the position, however it did signal the end of the last team’s unbeaten start to the season, so we can all breathe easy about still being the only Invincibles. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/a_good_old_10_for_good_old_ars.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/a_good_old_10_for_good_old_ars.php Post Match Andre Santos Ju-Young Park Marouane Chamakh Robin van Persie Thomas Vermaelen Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:14:12 +0000 The defeat in Greece was, in most respects, completely meaningless. However that doesn’t mean it wasn’t disappointing to see Arsenal get turned over given our recent form as a club. It also served a reminder of the dark days of the not-so-distant past, when our defence looked shaky and we were prone to spectacular goalkeeping mistakes. Our first team defence, which had been beginning to look settled, is now going to be without its’ left back for the foreseeable future as Andre Santos picked up an ankle injury. We now have no fit full backs, either on the left or the right. Despite being our best centre back, I suspect Thomas Vermaelen will fill as a left back, with Johan Djourou as the right back. Laurent Koscielny can then move back into the centre to play with Per Mertesacker. It also means we’re one injury away from Sebastien Squillaci playing regularly again. Having said last week he had a good game against Manchester City, Olympiacos saw the return of the Squillaci that we thought had played his last game for Arsenal. Per Mertesacker might have some critics, but he is such a massive improvement on Squillaci. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/not_important_but_still_annoyi.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/not_important_but_still_annoyi.php Post Match Champions League Lukasz Fabianski Sebastien Squillaci Vito Mannone Yossi Benayoun Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:39:00 +0000 Wigan hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal in recent seasons. The North West of England in general has been regarded as somewhere Arsenal don't like to go, especially when it's wet, and cold, and grey, and overall pretty grim. However, the new look Arsenal barely broke sweat as we swept Wigan away in the sideways rain, and our waves of attack. In terms of the overall state of the team, many will argue that the match didn't tell us much about the side, however I think the ease of the victory was extremely encouraging. It feels like a long time since we went away and won so comfortably; not just in terms of the score line, but in the performance as well. Apart from Jordi Gomez's early chance that was blocked by Andre Santos, we didn't allow Wigan to build on any momentum they built up by beating Sunderland last weekend. Our draw with Fulham and defeat to Manchester City could have put the development of the team on hold, and although they weren't awful performances or crushing defeats, we had to respond positively as we know Arsenal have had an amazing ability to implode in recent seasons. The response was excellent and puts us just one place off the coveted top four. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/demons_of_the_dw_banished.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/12/demons_of_the_dw_banished.php Post Match Gervinho Mikel Arteta Robin van Persie Theo Walcott Thomas Vermaelen Wojciech Szczesny Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:34:20 +0000 So our first chance of a trophy this season has gone, however I doubt there were many Arsenal fans who didn’t feel proud of the efforts put in by our second string against moneybags Manchester City. Apart from the strikers, it was hard to fault the performances of those in red and white on Tuesday. The effort and work rate of the side were fantastic, everything was there in the performance except for in the final third. Given we had players facing up to an opposition that cost a lot more to assemble, they gave a fantastic account of themselves and dominated the game for long periods. The only difference between the sides, that highlighted the monetary difference, was finishing in front of goal. When given the chance, Sergio Aguero took it. When there was a sniff of a chance near the end, Marouane Chamakh couldn’t convert. Otherwise we matched, and bettered, those with the bigger cheques. http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/11/defeated_but_not_disheartened.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/arsenal/archives/2011/11/defeated_but_not_disheartened.php Post Match Carling Cup Emmanuel Frimpong Francis Coquelin Laurent Koscielny Marouane Chamakh Samir Nasri Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:58:00 +0000