In the history of protests, it’s got to be the dumbest ever. From what I read- and trust me, I couldn’t even be bothered to delve deep into it- if you’re going to the Blackburn game tomorrow, arm yourself with as many bin bags as your skinny (fat) arms can manage, and if you see any empty seats, be a nuisance and cover up our lovely seats with your trashy bin bags (again, I’m sorry!). It’s some sort of statement apparently, but I can’t quite make it out. Oh, I think I read a tweet about it clearing the garbage out from the club- Gazidis and Wenger. Wish I could find the actual tweet, but I don’t remember who tweeted/retweeted it. Anyways, I hope they remember to take the bin bags back home with them. Don’t want any littering!

I like the approach some have taken on Twitter though, with the hashtag #binbagplayers. Visit the hashtag on twitter if you’re bored and want a laugh. I think arseblog started it, or at least drew people’s attention to it. I see the whole protest as a joke anyways, so why not have some fun with it!? And like someone pointed out, it’s much better than booing, anyways. It’s very maddening though, as we’re just inviting unnecessary pressure onto the team/club, and drawing unwanted media attention to ourselves. I’d much rather the press talk about City losing to Everton, or Harry Redknapp’s trial. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind if they were talking about how absolutely dreadful we were, last match. All of those are important facts, not some bin bag protest by ‘fans’ with nothing constructive to do.

Having said that all, I quite understand that everything is not as we’d like it to be. It’s nowhere near close! People are upset. I’m upset, you’re upset, the players are upset. But I’m pretty sure Arsene is upset too! People always need a way to vent, and unfortunately, some have chosen the disruptive method of the dumping bin bags on seats. They might as well have gone the whole nine yards and dumped proper bin bag contents on the seats. The club is serving up rubbish after all, and we don’t like it, so let’s let them have it!

It is, however, worth noting that we ARE in a mess, and we’d all like it sorted. How is it going to be sorted? I haven’t a clue. Can I help sort it out? Not a chance. But at least I can support the team. I’m not saying be a lapdog and nod at everything. We’re all pretty smart (I’m giving some people the benefit of the doubt, here) and can identify errors, mistakes, whatever, but in whichever way you choose to react, a fundamental question that you should ask yourself is this- am I adding to the problem, or am I doing my best to avoid making a bad situation even worse? If your answer to the first bit is yes, you’ve got to hang your head in shame. Yeah, it’s said that “no pain no gain”, but it’s also said that a house divided against itself will fall. Instead of taking things out on the club, I don’t know, buy a punching bag. Find yourself a Spurs friend and slag them off all you want(okay, maybe that won’t quite work this season), but you get the picture. Oh yeah, someone else on twitter suggested writing letters to the club. I think that’s a cracking idea! Might not get read, mind, but you know, nothing like writing out your deepest feelings to make you understand it all yourself. Okay, maybe not, but you know what I’m getting at here.

Get behind the team, and YES, the manager, and whilst the season is still on, don’t try to be antagonistic. When the season’s done and dusted- not because I’m confident we’ll finish in the tip 4, but because your actions can’t act as distractions- let the gloves come off!

I’ve ended up going on a rant here, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one fed up of the “Arsene Out Brigade”, or whatever various names they go by these days. There’s nothing wrong with having a cause- it’s the way it’s gone about that irks. Who knows, Arsene leaving might be the best thing to happen, but on the flip side, it can equally, if not more so, be the worst thing that can happen. And a it’s not your call, stop throwing a strop because Arsene is still here, okay!?

On a completely unrelated note, we’re ACTUALLY playing a football match tomorrow! Hope we all remember this tomorrow, and by full time, we’ll be talking about glorious 3 points, not bloody bin bags!

Dev has already covered off the events of Sunday but the aftermath of THAT substitution still rumbles on.
Many of the players have leapt to the defence of our manager, RVP has gone as far as releasing a statement after camera’s caught him expressing himself in a similar fashion to us at that substitution;

“I was not having a go at the boss on Sunday — I was just sad to see Alex leave the pitch as he just gave the assist for our only goal.
“I was not questioning his judgement — I know it’s not my place to challenge what Arsene Wenger does…
“Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain had a calf injury. We did not know that but the boss did and brought Andrey Arshavin on.”
“The manager and I are fine and my relationship with the club is good.
“There is no problem, there is no conflict and there is no controversy.
“The boss knows that, I know that and the players know that.”

It says something about the severity of the incident when the club captain has to make a public statement defending his actions and backing his manager’s decisions.
Personally I don’t think I’ll ever forget the substitution. The noise and reaction was deafening, you couldn’t have been blamed for thinking we were taking off RVP and bringing on Teddy Sheringham (the c*nt). And no, I didn’t boo or give the boss stick. I’ll never boo my team cause it’s the team I love and pay money to support every week. If I ever felt the need to boo, I just would stop going and to be honest I rather the people who want to boo and give the team sh*t during the 90mins just didn’t turn up. Yes , I know everyone has a right to their opinion and the fans have a voice too, but for the 90mins respect the players and get behind them. Arsenal fans pride themselves of doing things ‘the Arsenal way’ with a touch of class and respect, events on Sunday have greatly damaged our reputation

So what now?

Well we fight on. Remember outplayed but never outgunned. We pray for the quick return of Arteta, Wilshere, Sagna and Gibbs. We need our players back in order to restore the much needed balance to the team. As for the great subject on peoples lips, Mr Wenger, I urge you to be careful for what you wish for.
Last week a comment on the WOA’s stated he wanted Wenger out and would take anyone to replace him as he’d had enough. Really? Is that the answer? Anyone. Is that what it’s now come down to? I doubt that person spoke for the masses but if the majority reading this agree then we’re set for some tough years.
I completely agree that Wenger has made a rod for his own back and his stubbornness in the market and on the pitch has created part of this mess but let’s not force the man out and then realise what we had when it’s gone.
I’m not going get the violins out and talk through his roll of honour because we all know how much the man has achieved with our club. I grew up and fell in love with Arsenal watching Graham’s team but I became an Arsenal fanatic watching the teams put together by Wenger.

The man has single handedly revolutionised our club from mid table obscurity to a world respected powerhouse in a stadium to be envied and facilities you would dedicate your career to.

However, everything and everyone has their sell by date and if Wenger continues down this path of stubbornness and on pitch naivety, he will destroy his own proud legacy. Wenger has himself said it is a short term project now so why go out in a frustrated manner? Build the squad up to handle injuries, create a true competitive spirit and go out in a blaze of glory.

The buck will always stop with the manager at any club but I strongly believe the board have more to answer for than Wenger. They’re letting him take all the flack and are non existent in the fight to keep the club competitive.
The next few weeks will determine not only the outcome of the season but potentially the future of Arsene Wenger. Come what May, the team need our support.
Remember;  Victoria Concordia Crescit.
The Arsenal.

Comments welcomes – @Tottz82

So here we are again, everyone is bickering and licking their wounds over another painful away defeat and I still don’t have broadband at home.

The Swansea defeat has invoked the sinking feeling we had back in August (maybe it has something to do with the transfer window).  Bringing in the new year has brought about our old problems; no defensive cohesion, individual errors and no fight.

We’ve all replayed the Swansea game in our heads since Sunday so I’m not going to go dissect the whole game to analyse where we when wrong. There are certain points I would like to raise that are still fresh;

1)  The Full back dilemma:

Wenger said a couple of weeks ago that to lose points due to lack of cover at left back would be ‘criminal’, well he’s done the crime so now we’re doing the time. IF we have been in the market for a left back on loan (let’s say Bridge for argument’s sake) shouldn’t this deal have been secured by the Fulham game? Why have we waited so long to put the problem right? I attribute both those defeats to our lack of full back cover.

 What people are doing unfairly is criticising Djourou and Miquel. Yes both have made mistakes and both have been caught out of position on occasions but in Miquel, we are talking about a rookie centre back who is being asked to play left back far too often. I actually think Miquel has done well considering the mess he’s been thrown into.

The reason we didn’t bring in cover at full back is because Sagna and Vermaelen are nearing returns into the first team. It’s a feeble excuse that has cost us 6 dear points and will have an impact come May.

2) Too many passengers:

I was there on Sunday and the frustration at a number of players not pulling their weight was vocal through out the away stand. The main perpetrators were Arshavin, Walcott, Yossi and for the first 30mins, Song.

Arshavin, has the ability but he doesn’t want to be there. His heart looks elsewhere and his performances are a pale shadow of the player we know he can be.

I defend Theo as I truly believe people are way too critical on him but on Sunday he looked a player devoid of any confidence, running the ball out of play and unable to find a Red shirt with a pass. He took his goal fantastically but he needs to step up and step up soon.

Yossi, correct me if I’m wrong but his best performances have come off the bench? For a player of his experience, he should be able to dictate play and calm things down atSwansea. Instead he gave the ball away along with cheap freekicks. Not good enough.

When we have stand full backs and 3 passenger players, the rest of the team really don’t stand a chance against a great footballing team asSwansea.

 
3) Expectations on Ramsey:

Aaron’s name was on the lips of many fans for the wrong reasons on Sunday night but I feel sorry for the lad. Wenger himself told us not to forget this was practically Ramsey’s first full season in the first team, unfortunately Le boss has forgotten that himself. Ramsey is a talented player but he is being asked to do the most difficult thing in the footballing world, fill the void left by Cesc. Ramsey isn’t ready to dictate play and control games in the final 3rd on his own. Sunday’s performance optimised what I’ve seen for the last month, he tries too hard to be the player he thinks we want him to be. Clever turns, flicks and backheels that never materialise, easily dispossessed and tiring at the end of games.

 We need to buy a playmaker to save the set up of this team and also let Rambo mature into the player in his own natural time. A school of thought is maybe that Jack will step up into that role but again how much expectation are we putting on to a young head??

I know may of you are waiting to criticise the team, Wenger and board below, you probably have every right to. I am hurting as much as any one of you but the bottom line fact is that this is the club we love so we need to get behind the players regardless of issues. 4th is still up for grabs and the United game at home is our chance to react the right way.

‘Wake up and focus’

Enjoy your Wednesday.

Comments welcome – @Tottz82

The Henry love in is in full force, just look at Arsenal.com for proof. As someone who was there on Monday night, I can’t blame people for getting carried away. It was a truly magical, fairytale and iconic moment that I will never forget. The moment Henry took to the touchline to warm up, the atmosphere and performance changed. The crowd became vocal, the players upped their game and watching Henry, he was genuinely going through every emotion with the fans. Then came the moment for him to enter the field of play. Leeds managed to keep the ball in play for 3-4 minutes while Henry waited to come on, the crowd were completely distracted, phone/camera flashes were going off all over the ground like that Robbie Williams Nikkon advert and when he finally stepped onto the pitch the place went wild. I tried my best to remember we were still level in the game but it was f*cking awesome to see my hero back in red and white. The goal itself was probably the most memorable moment in the new stadium so far (that’s up for discussion though), a beautiful ball from Song (his 8th assist this season I’ll have you know), and the rest was vintage Henry. Dipping shoulder, right foot curl into the corner… cue the mother of all celebrations. The players, the bench, the crowd went crazy for a good 2 minutes. Szczeny made some smart saves after but the talk, the chants and love was for our new/old number 12.

This said and enjoyed, we do need to move on and quickly. We have a tough away game at Swansea on Sunday and after the Fulham result the team need to react. The concern is, as always, defensive injuries and goal scoring. Coquelin limped off with a hamstring injury on Monday, Djourou is back from his ban and Mertesacker has been suitably rested. However, we need goals. The goal scoring stats have not been as impressive we’d hope and this puts pressure onto our depleted defence. RVP has delivered above and beyond for the team, while Theo, Arshavin and Ramsey have greatly under delivered. Before the usual comments arrive below about buying strikers and how much cash we’ve got etc etc… I remind you that we only play one striker in this system and that is RVP. Theo is a strong wide player who needs to return to goal scoring form and Ramsey needs to start chipping in like Cesc did before he left.

Gervinho win’s the Captain Obvious award for the day:

 ‘I don’t want the sale of Robin van Persie. Arsenal is a team that needs great footballers and leaders on the field‘

Gervinho has a point and maybe Henry being here for a couple of months will have a positive impact on those with expiring contracts and also players we are looking to sign in the summer. A certain Eden Hazard congratulated Henry on his goal on Monday on twitter, why not congratulated him in person Eden.. on the pitch… wearing a Red and white shirt… with an Arsenal crest… you following me yeah???

Ok, that’s it from me today. For those about to jump on the WOA’s telling the world about a 9 point gap etc etc, it’s January. Chill.

Apologies it’s a brief blog today but I’ll be back soon.

Have a good day.

@Tottz82

The frustrations still rumble on after the Fulham defeat. For someone who made the trip across London, I’m still replaying a lot of the game in my head and asking plenty of questions. Make no mistake it was a bad defeat that was very avoidable. Going into the game I had said that we needed to have an undefeated January, 3 away games, home to United and the start of the FA Cup. Game 1, defeat. Great.

How? Why? Who to blame? What now? Where from here?

How?

A game of two havles (sort of). Arsenal were in total control in the first half. Some great passing play and ball control meant goals looked inevitable. After a number half attempts, Arsenal did get one from an unlikely source when Koscielny nodded in from Ramsey cross after our corner wasn’t properly cleared. 1-0. Arsenal continued to push but they rarely troubled Stockdale in the Fulham goal. There was a strong penalty appeal when Senderos tripped Gervinho. The referee waved this and many Arsenal freekick appeals throughout the game away.

The second half was a different story. Arsenal either took their foot off the gas pedal or they ran out of gas after a tough schedule, either way Arsenal were a pale shadow of the team in the first half. While we huffed and puffed, the Fulham team grew in confidence and sensed at least a goal. Their confidence grew further when Djourou, who had been booked, was sent off for persistent fouling. Still one nil up, Arsenal then folded like a house of cards. The first goal came from Ex-Gooner Sidwell who simply ran into the area to head in on the 85^th. I then saw the 3 minutes on the board for injury time. By the time I considered taking a point; Zamora took advantage of a vacant left hand spot in our area and volleyed in the winner.

Why?

Everyone’s got an opinion for why. My opinion is that we didn’t rotate enough and an element of complacency kicked in along with the fatigue. After a gruelling few weeks, a few changes would have freshened up the team and given players the opportunity to stake a claim for a spot in the team. We didn’t and this lead to a leggy second half performance. I’m not going to sit here in hindsight and pick out who I would have played instead of whom but if they’re in the squad we should trust them.

Also, this result and outcome has been on the cards for a few weeks. We drew against Fulham and Wolves and got tight victories against Villa and QPR. We have not been our fluent footballing best for a  number of weeks.

Who to blame?

Well this is the part that everyone seems to enjoy these days, pointing the finger of blame. Ultimately the buck stops with the manager but I’ve always felt he’s ‘damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t’. To explain my point I take you back to the game against Wigan last season where Wenger made 8 changes and we were undone by an own goal in the last minute. The fans were furious with the boss for making so many changes. Fast forward a year and many were furious for the lack of rotation.

What now?

Well it’s January so we can expect signings right? I wouldn’t hold your breath. Henry is set to sign on loan, this will definitely bolster the squad and morale but he must not be the only signing. The next game is Leeds in the FA Cup, rotation is a given. The Swansea game comes almost 2 weeks after the Fulham game. That game now takes on great significance. The main first teamers rested, a tough 3 points is a must.

Where from here?

We need to focus on our results and don’t worry about Chelsea, Liverpool, City, United or Spuds. Let’s get to February with as many points as possible on the board, welcome back Wilshere, Vermaelen, Sagna, Jennikson, Gibbs, Henry and take the rest of the season from there.

There’s nothing else really to report, just keep calm and carry on Gooners.

Feedback welcome on twitter – @Tottz82

August

I have found a bit of time, and distance, to gather my thoughts on the ups and downs of the season so far. It started badly. Late in the transfer window we saw Cesc and Nasri depart, leaving us with a squad lacking in depth and quality going into the new campaign. And we paid the price for that. In our opening fixtures we lost Gervinho and Frimpong to suspensions, which rubbed salt into a very sore wound. Looking back now you can see that we never really stood a chance in our games against Liverpool and Man Utd. The only positive note in August, results wise, was the victory against a good Udinese side. As disappointing as our results back then were, the two games against Udinese gave me confidence we would come good.

August culminated in ‘that’ defeat against Utd, which I was unlucky enough to witness in person. Utd were on fire back then. The champions always have a strong start to the following season, tending to thrive off the buzz of the last. And we played them on one of those days where everything they did turned to gold and everything we did resulted in a red card, free kick, or goal conceded. It was a terrible result but, as I will explain below, possibly a blessing in disguise.

A few days later came the end of the transfer window. After the Utd game it was clear that we needed reinforcements desperately. Would a draw or win at Old Trafford have convinced AW otherwise? We’ll never know. By now though, what we do know is not to assume that he’ll make any signings in a transfer window. The defeat at Utd made sure of it though, and in the final days of the window we signed Mertesacker, Park, Benayoun, Arteta and Santos. All of whom, perhaps Park aside, have impressed highly since.

Mertesacker, while painfully slow on the turn, is an experienced international who seems to have found a great understanding with Koscielny and Vermaelen. Benayoun is another experienced player who will prove to be important for us this season. His work rate is excellent and AW clearly trusts him enough to bring him on late in games to seal a result. The OX was signed in early August and is going to be a gem of a player, waiting to explode on to the scene. Arteta is a top, top class footballer who should have been at Arsenal a few years ago. His play is more subtle than Cesc’s but he has formed a formidable partnership with Ramsey and Song in the middle. Santos was unfortunate to have been injured recently. After shedding a few pounds he made the LB position his own, driving forward at every opportunity and prodding a leg in when it was needed defensively. To Arsene’s credit, his signings at the end of August were top draw, and yet again he paid reasonable fees for all these players.

September

The problem with signing players that late on in the window is that they still need time to settle and gel. Going into September this was an Arsenal side I hardly recognised. We hadn’t bonded with our new acquisitions and it all felt a bit strange. Fast forward to now and this team is one we can really identify with. We have our boys in red and white back again.

Still, we needed time to gel and our defensive instabilities were not yet rectified. We lost at Blackburn, undeservedly, but due to frailties at the back and an infuriating inability to convert four or five golden opportunities in the last few minutes. Despite this defeat, we won every game in September apart from the draw in Dortmund, which came courtesy of a wonder-goal conceded in the last minute.

October

October started with a defeat to Spurs which I was unable to watch due to the death of my grandfather. From what I was told by biased and unbiased friends, we were unlucky to lose this game. They scored with a possible handball and a goal which Chezzer ought to have saved, I thought. We also had spells where we tore them to pieces. Nonetheless we lost and it represented a bad start to the month. We more than made up for it though.

The remaining five October fixtures returned victories. A last-gasp goal by Ramsey in Marseille was a sweet one, only overshadowed by a stunning victory at Stamford Bridge. Going into this game we had had a great run of form. However, this was our first real test since losing to Spurs and the whole nation was ready to write us off. We went behind twice. Arsenal teams of old would have crumbled. This team was brave and fearless. The celebrations at the end of the game reflected the importance of the result to the club and its supporters. It was the moment that made us realise we had healed our wounds from the summer, and were ready to fight until the season ends in May. I knew we had it in us, that level of character was there in our result in Italy against Udinese. The rest of the nation did not, however, and a result and score line like that was always going to make the world take notice.

November

November is normally a disaster month for Arsenal, but this one was relatively fruitful. We were the first English team to qualify as group winners in the Champions League, and our fine league form continued as we remained unbeaten for the whole month. Even in a lacklustre display against Fulham we had it in us to pluck a draw out from a game we would have lost in seasons past. The only sour note came in the defeat to City in the Carling Cup. Not the worst tournament to go out of, but you never like losing any game as an Arsenal fan, especially to a side like City who fielded a strong team against an inexperienced Arsenal side which matched them for 83 minutes or so.

December

I must admit that I missed a few games in December due to the 11-hour time difference between London and Melbourne. I did not watch the Olympiacos game because we had already qualified. It seems that was a good decision. Our performances against Wigan and Everton were efficient and professional and both resulted in victories. I watched the game against City (despite the 3.10am Monday morning kick-off!) and was thrilled with our work-rate and bravery. People continue to expect us to bottle these big games but we held our own, and can feel unlucky not to have taken a draw against an overwhelmingly more resourceful opponent. Our final pre-Christmas fixture was against Villa in which Yossi Benayoun grabbed a late, but vital winner for the club. It was important to bounce back from the City defeat and to get back into that winning habit again.

RVP

The whole team has really come of age since August, and they continue to do us proud week in, week out. However, it would be impossible to write a review on the first half of the season without dedicating a few lines to Robin van Persie. We have always had world-class players at Arsenal under AW but this guy is the best striker in the world right now. I wouldn’t swap him for any other striker in the Premier League. He has everything you ask for from a player in his position. Aerial ability, goalscoring free-kicks, tap-ins and wonder goals. The strike against Everton is, at the moment, the goal of the season. If you study his technique in the replays of this goal, it is simply breath-taking to watch. Every time I see it, it gets better and better, and the replay from behind the goal shows how his body-shape changes to adapt to Song’s lofted pass. Watch it and imagine how difficult it must be to execute in real time, in fractions of a second. Pure class.

2012

As vantastic (sorry I couldn’t resist) as RVP is, he continues to be our main goal-scoring threat. I am hoping that a clinical striker is signed in January as we lose Gervinho and Chamakh to the ACN. Arsene has hinted that King Thierry might be coming home on a two month loan deal. Could we ask for a better Xmas present?

We have drawn AC Milan in the Champions League round of 16, which will be played out in February/March. We could have faced easier opposition but they are not Barcelona, and we have beaten them before, so we have nothing to fear. With Sagna, Wilshere, Jenkinson, Diaby, Gibbs and Santos all to return to the side, we can hope to have a formidable squad heading in to the final straight.

When asked where I thought we would finish the season in the depths of our August misery I never flinched in replying ‘top 4’. I thought we would be in the top 4 again by Xmas and we are one point off as things stand. We have a favourable-looking Christmas/new year schedule in which we can hope to take at least 10 out of 12 points (3 already taken including Villa). If Santa is kind this year maybe he’ll let us have all 12.

Where the season goes from here remains to be seen. For now, I hope you all have a great festive period and New Year, and here’s to a Red and White 2012.

JAT (you can follow me on twitter @j1mm7t)

A quick fire blog from me today, a number of reasons why:

1)      There’s no a lot going on in the World of Arsenal

There seriously isn’t. We found out yesterday that Santos will be out for 3 months with ligament damage, leaving us with zero fit full backs, yikes! It’s a real pity for Santos as he’d started to show signs of improvement on the pitch and on his waistline. A 3 month absence will open the door to almost fit but not there yet Kieran Gibbs. I know what you’re all thinking, but that’s the only option we’ve got as buying another left back will leave us with 3 left backs when they’re all fit, unnecessary. Vermaelen, Mr ‘All action hero’ himself had a fantastic game at left back against Everton and he will deputise in the short term. As the first defender to score 10 goals in under 100 Premiership games, we have an able deputy.

Le boss has joined in the pantomime season by teasing the papers (and fans) in a game of ‘will he spend in January?’ … Oooh yes he will, oooh no he won’t..

“We lose players like Chamakh and Gervinho to the Africa Cup of Nations so hopefully, touch wood, we do not get any injuries to our strikers. But if an opportunity turns up in that department then we will buy,”

“Economically the whole environment has changed and people suffer more. The clubs will suffer more financially and it’s much more difficult. Maybe we will have some opportunities because we are in a good financial situation.”

Those that read my column regularly know that I won’t be drawn into all the rumours as the transfer window draws nearer because we will never be able to accurately call it. The media will attempt to know what we’re up to behind the scenes but I doubt we even know what’s going on behind the scences ourselves!

They say a picture speaks louder than a 1000 words so all I’ll say is this:

2)      I’ve lost the lead to my SLR camera.

I’ve been itching for a reason to take my SLR camera to the new stadium and the 125^th birthday gave me one. With new statues, fans in a celebration mood, legends on the pitch and the always beautiful stadium, I was able to get some lovely shots but only to find out I can’t upload any of them as I can’t find the lead. I, like any male in a relationship, have to blame my missus as she was the last person use the lead! Sorry Gooners, I wanted to share them with you but I can’t.

However a friend of mine and a far better photographer, @Jummy_cliff was not only able to capture the moment but upload them too. Check them out > http://t.co/3uzPHlTu

3)      All roads lead to Sunday

Man City’s defeat to Chelski brings an end to their 15 game unbeaten start, not exactly 38 games of invincibility is it?! On the surface it’s not the best result as Chelsea leap frog us to 3^rd but I believe we’ve not only got enough to match Chelsea but better them over the course of the season. Avoiding defeat on Sunday to Man City is our first task. More build up to the big game over the next few days…

Have a great day Gooners.

Feedback welcome – @Tottz82

Arsenal went into the final group game in a rare situation, qualified and top of the group. With this being the case Le Boss rightly rotated the squad and the team selected was close what we’d call a Carling Cup team. It was never going to be an easy game as Olympiacos needed a win to keep up their hopes of qualification.

Team :

Fabianski, Santos, Vermaelen , Squillaci, Djourou, AOC, Coquelin, Frimpong, Benayoun, Chamakh.

I was quite shocked to see Vermaelen starting given he has only been back for a few weeks and his current form is up there with RVP.

The first Arsenal chance came from Chamakh running onto a wide through ball and cutting back for Arshavin who was thwarted by the keepers legs. Soon after Frimpong curled an effort just wide but the worry was always the shakey defenders sticking us in it. And what we all feared when we saw the defensive line up happened. The Olympiacos goal was classic Arsenal at their sloppy best. Arshavin lost the ball in typical Arshavin fashion and under pressure Squillaci managed to nutmeg Djourou who’s leg it deflected off to fall into the path of the striker who rounded Fabianski in no mans land.  Poor stuff.

Fabianski was then injured in a collision with Veraemlen and the keepers back luck continued as he was forced off injured. Unfortunately Vito Mannone, his replacement, had a nightmare introduction. Vito came out to head a long ball out side his area, the ball fell to an Olympiacos player who composed himself , shot and Mannone who was rushing back lost his bearings and chose to air volley the ball instead of catching it. A goal you’ll see again and again on football blooper DVD’s. Truly awful stuff.

The second half started in the same way the first half did, Olympiacos pressed our defenders, ready and waiting for a mistake. The tactic was working as we lacked any sort of compsure from the 5 at the back. To compound the misery, Santos pulled up injured and was stretched off to be replaced by Miquel.

Arsenal got themselves back into it through the substitute Miquel who sent a cross into Chamakh who teed it up for Yossi to hit beautifully on the volley.

The game started to open up as Arsenal fancied their chances to nick a draw. The running was coming from Yossi, AOC and Rosicky. If Arshavin and Chamakh has shown the same intent as the former 3, we would have scored at least one more goal. However they didn’t and a goal always seemed unlikely.

Olympiacos pressed for the 3^rd and in keeping with the rest of the goals, Arsenal were happy to present them with this. A free kick was floated in and the header hit the base of the post leaving their player best placed to tuck it in. We appealed in vein for the offside flag but the blame lay directly with the 4 defenders who rushed out carelessly.

As the Greek’s wildly celebrated their 3^rd goal and probable qualification, their party was cut short as news was filtering through that Marseille has scored 2 goals in 5mins, sending Marseille through at the expense of the Olympiacos. The stadium was filled with silence and shocked players as the waited for the final whistle. In the end their victory was in vein.

I never for one second thought we would win today and frustratingly, I can’t say I was shocked to watch Fabianski (then Mannone) Squillaci, Arshavin and Chamakh do little to improve their battered reputations. I see little point in sitting here and player bashing when the game was built up as a ‘nothing’ game. I am frustrated, along with the majority of you, in many of the performances but what the City and Olympiacos games have shown us who is ready to support step up when required in the first team and who should be no where near the first team. Playing away in the Champions League is never easy (ask City and Chelsea). There is little point in over reacting to the result or performance. I hope Santos and Fabianski are not seriously injured and will look forward to seeing all the rested players looking fresh on Saturday.

Bring on Everton!

Comments welcome @Tottz82

On paper and in the bank Arsenal faced an extremely tough challenge in the quarter final’s of the Carling cup against Man $ity. The night started with a minute’s silence / appreciation for the late and great Gary Speed. He never played for us, I’m not Welsh but I really liked Gary Speed as a player, person and a manager. When I heard the news on Sunday morning I was surprisingly upset and am still asking the question ‘why?’ For the man that made Ramsey the Welsh team captain, I hope he rest’s in peace.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that Arsenal stuck to their guns and brought in the fringe players.

Team versus City:

Fabianski, Djourou, Squillaci, Koscielny, Miquel, Frimpong, Coquelin, Benayoun, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Park, Chamakh

The City team cost over £119m (Arsenal £33m) to build plus a lot more on the bench.

The game kicked off for Nasri as it was going to continues as he was booed in every touch. I’m no Nasri fan and while I was pissed off with him for the entire summer his performance against Liverpool when the team was severly depleted was extremely professional. To the point the fans even sung his name. He’s said a few things afterwards but I really didn’t listen or care.

Things they make on Blue Peter now

The first chance of the night fell to Arsenal after a brilliant passing move leads to Park shot saved well from a Coquelin cross. On second viewing, Park’s shot seem to hit both his feet before the keeper did well to save.

AOC, who had a exciting first half pop up with a first time shot 30 yards out and the lanky City number 2 keeper saved brilliantly as it was dropping into the top corner. A stunning strike but an equally stunning save kept it level.

City flattered to threaten our goal but their moment of the first half came as City brought on one of their youth academy graduates (honest!), Aguero for Kolorov but Nasri trotted over to the touchline, shook hands as he was going off only to be bemused to why Kolorov is going off. Same ol’ Nasri, ready to leave.

The worrying sight of the night was Park and Chamakh huffing and puffing but their games were not suited together. Both are not the fastest and both want to link up play rather than beat the defender. I know they cost a few bob more but Aguero and Dzeko complimented each other very well on the night, could the ever improving AOC have played upfront? Potentially.

The breakthrough goal, in the 83^rd minute, came from an Arsenal corner unfortunately. City picked on a stray ball when Yossi and Kos both went for the tackle which led to a lightening break to let Aguero tuck in the goal. A real sucker punch for the team and City’s FIRST shot on target.

We only really had one chance after that. A cross was flashed across the box and how Chamakh didn’t throw himself at it like an old school number 9 I’ll never know. Van Persie’s ‘Come on’ reaction from the bench summed this up.

City won 1-0.

However, even though I write this after expecting to be beaten I’m gutted for some young Gunners that really stepped up against 10 internationals out there. Frimpong, Coquelin, Koscienly, Djourou and Chamberlain were simply brilliant. They wanted to win every 50 50, they wanted to drive forward and they wanted to win it for the The Arsenal. Their performances, not only tonight but against Bolton and Shrewsbury, justify our Carling Cup policy on and off the pitch.

We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of tonight, the positives by far out weigh the negatives. We do need striker with a cutting edge to back up RVP, the world can see that. I think we will sign someone in January but that’s not for now.

Sometimes you have to step back, take stock of what you’ve witnessed and put it in perspective. Last night is one of those nights and we have to take pride in a defeat that does hurt.

Bring on Wigan, some well rested first teamers and a bench of younger players who have shown they can step up if needed.

Come on The Arsenal!

Follow yours truly on twitter – @Tottz82