Arsenal Winners

End of Squad Assessment 2009-2010, Pt 2.

2010-04-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

Defenders

3. Bacary Sagna. "There is still lots of room for improvement, his crossing has been very bad all season, if there is no one in the box, don't cross." Again, he has fallen short from improving this side of his game, his crosses are still awful and he still puts up crosses when we have midgets in the box, he must vary his crosses and learn when not to cross. This has also seen him relegated to the bench when we need to attack more with Eboué coming in for him. Defensively, solid at times, although the GA column shows everyone can improve.

Grade C.

5.Thomas Vermaelen. "hopes are that he is here to put one of the central defenders on the bench, as that shows squad improvement." Well that was never really put to the test, Kolo Toure was sold so he could not compete with him, and Senderos was obviously not an option for the coach. Has been consistent, scored goals, and initially had hunger we really neeeded in the team. However in the crunch games, he hasn't proved to be the man we really need at the back, failed to contain Drogba twice, failed to contain Rooney, confused by Messi showed that he has a long long long way to go. Also some questionable positioning and choices by him for key goals we have let in. Our GA column is still to big, and he must take some responsibility of that as well.

Grade C.

6. Philippe Senderos. " Returning from an injury ravaged season at A.C. Milan, the Swiss defender is rumoured to be looking for a transfer." 2 league cup games is all he could muster, and we only let in 1 goal. What was the point of sending him out on loan in January when we knew that injuries, suspensions could kick in? Good luck to him in the future, and possibly our best player due to only playing 2 games, which we both won and looked solid at the back in.

Grade B.

10. William Gallas. "This season which may be his last, in a World Cup year where he will hope to lead the France defence, he should be inspired." Easily our best defender this season, and once he became injured, things began to look scary at the back. Again, in the crunch games, he hasn't performed to the high levels we needed, and lets be honest, our GA column stinks, so he must also shoulder responsibility. However his quality was shown we risked him vs Barca and he is now out for the count.

Grade B-.

18. Mikael Silvestre. "Consensus is that he had a disastrous début season at Arsenal." Make that 2 disastrous seasons at Arsenal. Again, look at the games where we have let in large numbers of goals and he is there, Barcelona 4, Spurs 2, Wigan 3, Stoke 3, he is always there. Remember our 4-4 draws with Spurs and Liverpool last season, guess who was there?

Grade D.

20. Johann Djourou. "he hasn't delivered killer performances that will consign one of the other senior defenders to the bench, and thus remains just another of the squad players." Injured before the season started, he hasn't had the chance to play any games.

Grade N/A.

22. Gael Clichy. "Despite his all energy performances, there are some serious defensive cracks in his game, still loses concentration, and his crossing doesn't lead to assists." Another under par season from one of our elder players. He was injured and when he returned mid season, he was a big liability. Still the same deficiencies, still the same improvements needed.

Grade D.

28. Kieran Gibbs. "at this rarefied level, mistakes are punished, and his ultimate mistake was to slip in the Champions League semi final for Man Utd to score and take the advantage." 7 games this term, and his campaign ended by injury in December. I'm still not sold on Gibbs. He looks steady, but against the big teams, he will be exposed, and he is not good enough yet to dislodge Clichy.

Grade C.

30. Armand Traore. "His defensive and offensive work needs a lot of refinement as does his dribbling stance that makes it easy for the ball to be taken away from him." 11 games this season, and he has to say it hasn't been a success. He had a big chance to stake his claim when both Clichy and Gibbs were out injured, poor vs Chelski where Drogba sent him into orbit with a shoulder barge, poor vs Everton in the 2-2 draw, he still needs a lot of work.

Grade D.

31. Sol Campbell. Came back in January, and has helped the team, adding experience and a vocal presence. However we have also let in many goals under his watch, 2 vs Porto, 3 vs Stoke, 2 vs Spurs, 3 vs Wigan, so he cannot be lauded as a messiah. For his age though, he has been good, and it is a shame most of our young squad don't follow his example, at 35, he still fights to win despite having won a lot already.

Grade B-.

Verdict.
Individually, we have some decent defenders, but we can now see that we went into the season with too few numbers, and we also have not learned a clear defending philosophy that works. We have let in 39 goals in the league, way too much if you want to win anything these days. The defence as a collective has failed.

Arsenal 2009/2010 End Of Season Squad Assessment, Pt 1.

2010-04-17T04:51:00.000-07:00

After my season previews, I will now do the reviews. I started with the goalkeepers as you can see here.

GoalKeepers.

1. Manuel Almunia. " unless Fabianski applies intense pressure, he may slip into a comfort mode." This has proved to be very true this season. Following his two horror displays against Man Utd (Rooney penalty) and then Man City (own goal) away both in consecutive matches, he was dropped for 7 matches when Mannone stepped in for him. He came back against Spurs at home in October, made another error vs Wolves in November, gifted Liverpool a goal away in December, was chipped by Pienaar against Everton in January. he then punched the ball into his own net vs Man Utd, and he repeated the trick two months later vs Birmingham. He made a critical error of judgement vs Barcelona for Ibrahimovic's first goal, then in the second, he was chipped twice and allowed one through his legs. Finally against Spurs, he punched when he should have caught that led to their opener.

As you can see, that is way too many errors for a team looking to win trophies. He has probably cost the team the league with his blunders, if he never made them, draws would be wins, losses would be draws, and in a season where the league is tight, these have been very expensive gaffs.

If he lines up as Arsenal Number 1 next season, Wenger will have shown lack of ambition. I think he would realistically be a better number 2, he has some experience and will learn when he is in for short stints, but we cannot rely on him for the long term.

Stats, played 36, conceded 39. Grade E.

21. Lukasz Fabianski. "He needs to really step up this term and aim to relegate Almunia to the bench and keep him there." Well he clearly failed to do that this season. He was injured at the start of the season, however he has not shown that he is ready to be the number 1 for Arsenal. He made brutal errors such as allowing Insua to score a screamer against him in the Carling Cup, got his angles all wrong in the 3-0 loss to Man City in the Carling Cup, allowed some soft goals vs Stoke in the FA Cup, before his horror show in Porto.

If he is not getting games, he needs to go on loan for a season or two as he clearly doesn't look confident or in form. He can only get worse by sitting on the bench.

Stats, played 7, conceded 14. Grade F.

24. Vitto Mannone. " The most he can hope for is Reserve team football and the Carling Cup." Due to the poor form of Almunia early in the season, he got his chance, and he had an inspired performance vs Fulham, before showing his immaturity against West Ham where he cost the team a win.

Another who needs a loan spell, especially if a new keeper is acquired as he will not improve sitting on the bench. However statistically, he has been the clubs best keeper.

Stats, played 8, conceded 8. Grade C.

Verdict

It is clear for all to see, the goal keeping issue is the biggest one that needs to be addressed at the club this season. The stats for them all as a collective has been very very bad. To let in 58 goals and to have a sizeable portion of them as blunders is not acceptable, Fabianski should leave on loan, same as Mannone, Almunia demoted to number 2 and a top experienced keeper acquired who knows how to keep goal and is mature. Serious surgery required here.

Spurs 2 - Arsenal 1. Season Over.

2010-04-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Season over, I will start to do my seasons round up for players and their grades. As for the game, we had no heart, and no fight, and in a big game, if players refuse to do that, then expect defeat, simple.

Ratings:

Almunia 1: Punched the ball when he should have caught, and reacted to slow to Bale, he should sniff there is trouble.

Sagna 1: Still can't cross, and played Bale onside.

Campbell 6: What a shame we need a 35 year old man who has won lots to fire us up, he has nothing to prove.

Vermaelen 3: Injured early on.

Clichy 2: Can't defend properly.

Denilson 1: Forward passing?

Diaby 1: Forward passing or charging forward?

Nasri 2: No vision, no personality, this was a big chance to show he should stay centrally, on this form, will be back on the flanks.

Rosicky 2: Crap shooting.

Eboué 1: No end product. Not a RW, should just be a RB and that is all.

Bendtner 2: Scored, but as a striker, he needs to improve, crap first touch and movement.

Silvestre 1: Contract should expire soon, great news.

Van Persie 5: In 20mins, did more than we did for 70, and probably showed more creativity in all our games since November.

Walcott 1: Assist, but still has no IQ

Wenger 1: Don't blame injuries, you are the one playing players who are on the edge. Tactics stink again, and surely we can play a 3-5-2 to exclude Silvestre? That was a wasted sub in my opinion.

Barcelona 4 - Arsenal 1: Tactics tactics tactics......

2010-04-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

"Finally, Wenger will get what he has always wanted, a team that plays all out football, to really judge his side? I can tell all fans what to expect, we will be brushed aside by Barcelona because Wenger will not be smart, he will not change his tactics, he will not want to do all required to win."

That is what I wrote on March 28, and over two legs, this is what happened. We got outplayed over the two matches, we were never ever really in a position to win the tie. The first leg, we sustained a siege not seen since Mordor declared war on Gondor, Almunia kept the team in the game, but by that time, Barcelona had laid the foundation for what they aimed to do. From then on, the result was never in doubt from that night in London.

In the Camp Nou, Barcelona took us to the cleaners. Despite capitalizing on their high line once that Walcott squared to Bendtner to score, after that, our lack of quality, cohesion and tactics was on view for everyone to see. We should have defended with quality, instead, our lack of pressing and tactical know how saw Messi break our lines and slam home to get back in business. The second, Abidal did something our fullbacks never do, crosses on the floor especially when we have midgets up front, the ball found its way to Pedrito who laid it off to Messi who chipped past Almunia. The third, our high line was exposed by Keita who headed to Messi who chipped past Almunia, 3-1 at half time.

In the second half, Barcelona played clever, passing and inviting Arsenal to show if they had anything more, and we never, we never pressed, when we did have the ball, we never had any quality as Barcelona fought to get it back like a mother jealously guards her children. The fourth was coming, earlier on, Messi had made Vermaelen and Sagna look like amateurs, even nutmegging Sagna in the box, and for he repeated the trick, dancing past Eboué, past Vermaelen twice before putting it through Almunia's legs.

Why we never ever change tactics is weird. We never man marked, and Messi or Xavi, and if you decide to do that, you need to apply equal pressure on the team, we never did that. I also do not get why a team that is full of champions fought so hard compared to us. We have won nothing, and have everything to gain, yet Barcelona looked like they were the ones who wanted to be champions.

Some say we were missing key players, 5 of our starters, but Barca missed 4. It also shows that the squad needs more quality. I'm certain had Barcelona had 1 more of their key players out, they would have found a way to make the difference, we never found a way. Wenger has to take responsibility for not moulding champions, these guys are getting older and not yet on the level of being a champion.

I'm also angry we are always knocked out at the business end of the season, and every year we never learn. Last year, after Utd beat us, I wrote "Arsenal is now a DEVELOPMENT team and not a WINNING team, the future lies on the edge of a knife, ONCE YOU LOSE THE WINNING MENTALITY, IT'S HARD TO GET IT BACK, just when will we start WINNING again?" Even Wenger intimated that he may have to change after that game, and guess what, he never. This time he says we have to add in the summer, but I don't think he will.

Player Ratings

Almunia 3: Got chipped twice and another through the legs. Intimidate the striker, don't allow him to score, even clatter into him. Poor display.

Sagna 3: Still can't cross, never made the difference at the back.

Silvestre 1: Flopped for the first, too slow for the second, the third never prevented Messi from being distracted, subbed off by the fourth. Please Leave Now.

Vermaelen 2: Made to look foolish by Messi. Talked a good game, but when examined by the best players, he hasn't made the difference. Rooney and Drogba have all destroyed him, now Messi has done it too.

Clichy 2: Lax defending, and what a game to decide you are Roberto Carlos by starting to shoot, with woeful consequences.

Denilson 2: By passed all evening, no pace, no pressing, no personality.

Diaby 2: Released Walcott once, decided against doing it which ensured we never scored a second. Again fails to deliver in the big games, chasing shadows all night.

Nasri 2: No creativity, no pressing, no personality.

Rosicky 1: Was rated 50:50 for the game, it showed, awful.

Walcott 1: All he has is speed, whilst many thought he was our weapon, Barca had Messi who has speed and technique and intelligence, something Walcott doesn't.

Bendtner 2: Not making the difference in the big matches, needs more than hard work at this level.

Eboué 2: Allowed Messi to dance past him for the fourth.

Eduardo 1: Not for this level anymore.

Coach Rating

Wenger 1: Selection errors, Silvestre is no good, so either put Sagna there or switch to a back 3. Eboué should have started as well.As for tactics, we had none apart from try release Walcott, we need more than that at this level. Also what happened to the pressing we saw in the 6-1 win against Everton? If we did 25% of that, we would not have allowed Barca over 60% of the ball.

Arsenal 2 - Barcelona 2: Teenagers vs Men.

2010-03-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

Talk about a football lesson. We are supposed to be the best passing team in England, if we are, then we need to improve big time. Barcelona starved us of the ball all night, we only mustered 38% possession all game, and at home, incredible. For the first 45mins, we only had 1 shot on goal, and that was wide, whereas Barcelona had 12.

I do question what was Wenger's tactic for this match? Cede possession and then try hit on the break? If so, it was totally wrong. He should have had a man marker on Xavi as well.

Barcelona took their 2 goals very well, one after an Almunia special, and the other after our defensive line was caught out, nothing new to us Arsenal fans. Our two goals came from Walcott squirming a shot and Fabregas earning a harsh penalty which he scored.

Let me put it on record, any Arsenal fan should not be proud that we drew 2-2, and that we showed heart and desire. Since when were we Aston Villa or Chelsea that rely on that? We are Arsenal, we rely on technique and intelligence, and now the lies of Wenger have been exposed to the world that our players are nowhere near the best technicians on the planet. We may outplay teams like Portsmouth, but we never do it to the big boys, Barcelona do it to everybody, it doesn't matter who it is, be it Man Utd in a final, or Inter Milan or Chelsea, they will outplay them. I am only interested in winning, not drawing matches, we should do everything to win, and clearly last night we never, so there is nothing to be happy about. Arsenal fans have begun to become cowards by not demanding success and being happy by simply challenging, since when did that become acceptable? man Utd fans were fuming when they lost to Bayern Munchen, we are over the moon with a draw? Wake Up fans!

This then raises question about our transfer strategy. 5 of the Barcelona team were bought in, the rest from their cantera. So what they have done is buy the best players on the market to supplement their players.All the players on show for us tonight were acquired by Wenger, not under duress, by choice. We do not buy the best on the market,we buy prospects, and this surely has to change now. If we are serious about challenging for prestigious titles such as the Champions League, tonight showed how far away we are from the level required. We need to start buying players that take us closer to Barcelona's level.

Barcelona had players who have won domestic and international honours, every single one of them has won something, they are champions and played like it. We need to sign some champions. Wenger also has to change his tactics, not be scared, and go for it. Why were his players not prepared well enough? Why did Alves have so much space to do damage? Why did Xavi have freedom to pick his passes? This needs to change.

Another thing, why are we playing injured players? Arshavin got injured after being injured last week, Gallas never should have played and he is now out for the season and will never wear our shirt again as he will leave the club, Fabregas should not have played as he was injured. We have a big squad, what message does that send to Campbell/Silvestre, who are 100% fit but not played? What message does that send to Denilson/Nasri/Walcott/Eboué/Rosicky who could all have played for Fabregas and Arshavin, they are all 100% and don't start. The medical team needs to be fired for these decisions.

Player Ratings:

Almunia 3: Good saves, which were routine if we are honest, then made a clanger and was scared of the second. 1 mistake can undo all your work.

Sagna 2: Same old Sagna, crap crosses.

Clichy 2: Dominated by Alves, he should also learn to come inside with the ball.

Vermaelen 2: Exposed against an elite opponent.

Gallas 2: Should not have started the game.

Song 4: Showed guts and good passing, moved to defence and was not up to marking Ibrahimovic.

Diaby 1: Went missing.

Fabregas 2: Injured, should not have played, and selfish reaction when given a yellow card. Xavi showed him what being a regista is all about tonight.

Nasri 1: Alves had a good game because Nasri gave him a bye. Also crosses the ball when there is no one in the box, what is the point of that?

Arshavin 1: The man who says we need new players never pitches up again and gets injured.

Bendtner 3: Created both goals, but he is there to score, and never looked like doing it, especially when he heads straight at the goalkeeper.

Denilson 2: Over run in midfield.

Eboué 2: Not much.

Walcott 4: Created havoc and scored, but still needs to be intelligent.

Coach Rating

Wenger 3: Wrong selections by using injured players who are now probably all out for the season, wrong tactics by not pressing the team and applying man markers on the pressure points i.e. Xavi and Messi. Gets points for ensuring the team never capitulated, however not acceptable that his team is outplayed so comprehensively again at home.

Bham Disaster: Barcelona Nightmare.

2010-03-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, just when it looked like we had grown some balls and become smarter, we throw 2 points away, and the championship too. Make no bones about it, with only 6 games to go and the team 4 points behind and with an inferior goal difference, we had no business giving away 2 points.

The team never played the football required to win this game, Wenger had a very questionable team sheet omitting Arshavin, Eboué and Nasri, and starting Walcott instead. Diaby had a good game, although for all his tricks and moves, he never opened up Bham as much as he should have. Fabregas sucked after getting injured, and a note to Wenger, if players are injured, replace them, Nasri could do his job too. Walcott was awful again, Bendtner never looked like making the difference, Rosicky was intelligent but the others around him were not. At the back, Sol has no legs but has lots of personality, Song was steady, Clichy and Sagna gave their usual clinic in how not to cross the ball, seriously, what do they do in training?

Nasri opened the scoring with a nice drive, however he also missed two chances, one he tried to feed Arshavin when one on one, you need to be selfish in such regions. Arshavin sucked as well. This guy is lazy, he picks and chooses when he wants to play, and some say he is a potential Ballon d'Or winner? Ronaldo even when injured puts a solid shift in, Arshavin got 25mins and never did a tenth of the work Rosicky did. At this rate, we need players to replace him in the summer, seeing as he likes talking about new players all the time.

Almunia also sucked, this guy is so lucky to have a boss that thinks he is a real keeper. He can't kick or pass, one time he passed to a Bham player under no pressure. He fumbled a freekick, allowed one shot to hit the post, and saved the best till last with an early Easter present to Bham and Utd-Chelski by palming the ball into his own net, in the last 30 seconds of the game. My declarations, he should be dropped and shipped off when the team is mathematically out of the title race and told to find a new club, each performance sees his value drop. How many more mistakes should the other 10 players have to deal with? 97mins work undone by his antics.

Barcelona

Finally, Wenger will get what he has always wanted, a team that plays all out football, to really judge his side? I can tell all fans what to expect, we will be brushed aside by Barcelona because Wenger will not be smart, he will not change his tactics, he will not want to do all required to win. Already he has come out saying we will not man mark Messi. Is he nuts? Fergie never man marked him in the final, and look what he did to them, he killed them. I bet if Fergie played them again, he'd put Fletcher on Messi for 90mins, it is worth it man marking. He needs to also look at last years semi-final vs Utd, we never changed and we got dismantled. Infact, look at the big games this year, Utd and Chelski knew what we would do and they simply went around us.

Some think that Barcelona are just all out football, but even Guardiola knows 2 games are not the same, and he changes from time to time, even captain Puyol admits this saying, “Our rivals have studied us a lot and we have to look for alternatives,” so we also need to be pragmatic. Some see it as a gift that Iniesta is out for the first leg, but they have many players who can come in to replace him, Keita Seydou-Busquetsa-Toure Yaya and even deploy Messi in midfield, so it is still very very tough.

Some say their defence is weak, but they know how to defend, they have let in only 4 goals in 8 games, we have let in 7 goals. They have scored 12 goals, we have hit 18, but they had a tougher group than us. However they have their full defence to call up upon apart from Abidal, we are down to the bare bones. They have Valdes who is supposed to be the weak link, but he always seems to win them the big games, we saw that in the 2006 and 2009 Finals where he saved his team, can Almunia do that for us? He has consistently shown he does not have the capacity for it.

If we play our 4-3-3 and then our timid 4-5-1 in the Cam Nou, Wenger is to blame for our impending elimination, we all know it is coming as we have seen it many times before.

Bham 1 - Arsenal 1: Guess who messed up again?????

2010-03-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

The picture says it all, we all know what Wenger has to do........

Exclusive: William Gallas To Leave Arsenal This Summer.

2010-03-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

Arsenal fans are about to receive the first bad news of the close season and this indicates that the club will need to go shopping, William Gallas will leave Arsenal FC this summer on a free transfer. The club has talked about extending his contract since August, but as yet, nothing has materialised. Since the preparations started for the 2009-2010 season, players such as Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Robin Van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Denilson, Eduardo, Alexandre Song, Abou Diaby, Carlos Vela, Tomas Rosicky, Vito Mannone have all signed the obligatory 'long term contracts' between July and December 2009. That is 13 contracts extended in 5 months, and we are now 8 months into negotiations with Gallas, I think we can all see where this will end.

William Gallas has a 'mulling order' on him after he was stripped of the captaincy. He was given a club record fine after his declarations on the status of the team he was leading in 2008, and since it came after a series of 'outbursts', the club decided to shackle him down. That is why you do not see him having any press conferences unless he is on national team duty, and that is strictly only with Domenech by his side. Any press he gives outside of these duties could see him get fined again.

William is keeping his options open, and will only announce he is leaving when Arsenal are out of all competitions, and the bets are on him returning to his native France to see out his career. His preferred destination is his home town club, P.S.G., however with their floundering in the league, he may look to Lyon or his former club Marseille who could provide him with European football. Money isn't a huge factor, France is about to increase taxes on sports men that has excluded them from paying up to 30% of charges on social obligations.

Just as this website was the first to announce that Arsenal would not acquire Felipe Melo when everyone else pointed out is was a done deal, and this website indicated that Juventus had already pressed shirts in Melo's name, this website has concrete information that Arsenal will have to find a new defender next season.

This is very bad operations by Arsenal, they have let an experienced player leave, the team needs more experience, Gallas has played nearly 500 games in his career, where are Arsenal going to find such experience to replace him? Gallas has played as well as he did in the 2007-2008 season where he nearly skippered the side to the domestic championship, now he is leaving. Djourou has been out for the season, Nortdveit barely completes 90mins at Nurnberg and when he does, he does so in central midfield, Campbell is not a realistic option for next season, Silvestre should leave. Arsenal are playing very dangerous games......

Hull City 1 - Arsenal 2: Too Close, But 3 Points Is All That Counts

2010-03-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

The matches are all ticking down, 8 more to go, Arsenal have 64 points, joint level with leaders Chelsea who have played a game less, and 1 point above Man Utd who have also played 1 game less. If Arsenal are to win the championship, they cannot afford any losses or draws, they require 24 points from the next 24, why expect anything less?

This match was a hurdle that needed to be overcome, and the team just about did it. The team started very well, lots of nice passes and movement, there was a sequence where there were 3 successive blind passes from the team as they ripped Hull apart with their skill. The team took the lead, nice build up on the right, the ball found its way to Arshavin who dinked in between 2 players and fired home, really nice goal.

From then, Arsenal continued to push a little bit, Arshavin missing efforts, is he becoming close mates with Bendtner? That said, Hull constantly tested the Arsenal defensive line, their Dutch striker being flagged offside before finally 'breaking' the trap and clashing with Campbell for a penalty. Bullard smashed past Almunia who had no chance, but it was a very very dubious penalty, the player was offside and in England, tackles like that are rarely a foul.....

After that, their captain Boateng got a red card, a natural consequence after the team focus on persistent fouling, he could have caused serious damage to Sagna with his tackle. Campbell also did his share, clattering into Zayatte, he was substituted. Campbell in my opinion should have got a red, we cannot cry foul when others tackle hard, we do it as well, Zayatte was on crutches at the end.

Hull then resorted to a 4-4-0, and sat very deep. Arsenal never took any shots until the final 4 mins, first Clichy, then Denilson, his shot was spilt and Bendtner smashed home, 2-1.

My view, the team could have solved this game earlier, this business of taking games to the limit is not too clever. The team faces West Ham, who are a good team, we need all the reserves for them, if the match was 'finished' after 70mins, we could have integrated Eduardo to play and get into form and not rush him. Secondly, where were the shots on goal? You don't win if you don't shoot, and yes, we can shoot from outside the box. Third, we need Gallas back ASAP, I'm not sure that Campbell can handle so many games in a week, he looked very shaky today.

Match Ratings

Almunia 4: Not much to do.

Sagna 3: Still scatter crossing, decent in defence though.

Campbell 2: Gave away a penalty, looked sluggish at the back. Headed everything away though, but clearly doesn't want the ball to feet.

Vermaelen 4: Decent game, not much to handle with.

Clichy 3: Bad crossing, good intercepts though.

Denilson 3: He seriously needs to hit the gym this summer, ridiculous he gets knocked off the ball so easily, bulk up.

Diaby 4: Carried the ball well and made some nice tackles, but not decisive.

Nasri 2: Bump back to earth, been very good in the last few games, offered nothing today.

Eboue 3: Not much impact despite some fine running.

Arshavin 3: Nice goal, but very wasteful and lazy.

Bendtner 4: Bad control, but held his nerve when the time came to bury his shot to clinch the points.

Eduardo N/A: Not much time,then again looks slow in legs and head.

Walcott 2: Still has very fine speed in his legs, but some of his passing and crossing stinks. Why cross or pass when there is no one in the box?

Coach Rating

Wenger 5: Used his best players available, although why did Denilson stay on for so long? Also when Hull went ultra defensive, he could have reacted quicker and introduced Walcott or Eduardo wide or up front. Apart from that, 3 points is what he is paid to deliver.

Arsenal 3 - Burnley 1: Slow but Exciting.

2010-03-08T05:31:00.000-08:00

So, Arsenal have drawn blades with the other big knights, Man Utd and Chelsea, and are now equal on points with Chelsea, and 2 points behind Man Utd. I am bittersweet about this result, it is bitter because we took so long to seal the deal and now have Fabregas out, sweet as it increases the pressure on the other teams who know they cannot afford to slip up.

The first goal, it saw Fabregas connect with Nasri, the latter it seemed looked to have dwelt too long and looked indecisive, but Fabregas made a small run and he lofted it over the defence with precision for Fabregas to slide under the keepers legs, really nice stuff.

After that, we were treated to a Bendtner masterclass in how to miss chances, it was trully ridiculous how many chances he missed, headers, tap ins, shots, the lot, he managed to mess them up. is Luciano Moggi of calciopoli his agent, because it is madness to miss so many chances?

Nugent broke the offside trap and again we were treated to an Almunia slow motion save, 1-1, with Burnleys only chance of the game. Almunia and Silvestre were awful, even Vermaelen for that, watch the man and get the line right.

Walcott was playing decently, and he scored the second, cutting in from the right and for a change, using his left foot to guide a shot beyond the keeper, 2-1. Arshavin and Eduardo came on, they never added much urgency, the former scoring the third with a low hard drive in the box.

This game shows some flaws in the team, you cannot spurn so many chances and hope to win a championship. Added the fact they play Porto for CL qualification, the team should have had an easy last 30mins to save up energy, instead they had to play the entire 95mins to secure a result, big shame. Nice to see Nasri centrally, more of the same, Bendtner needs to learn to score, Walcott needs to learn elementary control, some of the lapses of control he showed were a disgrace for a professional footballer.

Player Ratings

Almunia 4: Not much action, but failed to save the Nugent goal, wake up.

Eboue 5: Nice thrusting play from him, he should work on his left foot though.

Vermaelen 5: Decent, at fault for the equaliser though.

Silvestre 4: Attack the player, don't stand off them.

Clichy 4: Not much work, but should add much more in attack.

Denilson 5: Decent passing and squeezing space.

Nasri 6.5: Why isn't he deployed here more often? Not likened to Zidane for nothing you know Wenger!!

Fabregas 5: Injured, but scored a nice goal, big loss for Porto.

Rosicky 5.5: I love this guy, very involved and his intelligence is key to the team.

Walcott 5: Lots of speed, but his crosses need to be more measured and he needs to learn basic control.

Bendtner 2: 1 for being present, 1 for trying, but seriously, no striker for a team looking for titles can spurn so many chances, really ridiculous performance by him.

Wenger 5: Easy game to manage, but why play Silvestre and why not take Bendtner off earlier? Forget being nice, do what is right for results, take Bendtner out earlier, the game may have been over by 60mins and the team will be less fatigued for Porto.

The Gods Are With Us: Opportunity Arises.

2010-02-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

Those of you unfamiliar with the tales in the Holy books, there is a story of Moses, a former Egyptian prince, who leads the Jews out of Egypt, and God opens up the seas to lead them to the promised land.

Well, for Arsenal, this is happening for them now, and they better take advantage of this. Their championship rivals are beginning to have the sort of injury problems we had all season, and with 6 points the gap, there are 30 points left to play for after this weekend.

Chelsea.

Their goalkeeper Cech is injured, and maybe for a month, Hilario and Turnbull are not in the same class as him. They have Ashley Cole out for the rest of the season, and with his wife leaving him, there could be a mental strain on the squad, especially since his captain John Terry also had his own issues that have seem to have left him bewildered on the pitch. Essien is also injured, maybe for two more weeks, and he is a key player.

Man Utd.

The reigning champions have had so many injuries all season, now the chickens are coming home to roost too. John O'Shea is injured, new England captain Rio Ferdinand has barely played this season and his partner Vidic has also been injured and also had his head turned by teams in Spain meaning he hasn't been selected in many games. Brazilian Anderson is out for the season with a knee injury, Hargreaves hasn't played this year, Giggs has been out and may not make the AC Milan game with a bone fracture. Nani has been suspended just as he was looking the mustard.

Arsenal.

We are now used to injuries, and even though our list is still quite long, we don't play the opposition the other two will, we only have Man City and Spurs. We do need Gallas back asap, also we need Arshavin back asap.

Lets hope the troops believe they can pull this off.

Porto 2 - Arsenal 1: Arsenal have no keepers and no guts......again.

2010-02-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

What is wrong with our club? Just 24 hours before, I watched Man Utd come back from a battering in the San Siro, 1-0 down, they roared back to win 3-2. What did our team do? We saw our keeper gift Porto a goal, after Clichy continued his poor form by not tackling and closing down, then we saw Campbell and Fabianski, in alliance with the rest of the team not react to a quick free kick at point blank range, and the team were buried.

What is more worrying, is Arsenal have two shits in goal, Almunia has played like shit this season, Fabianski has also played like shit, Mannone started to play like shit and cost us points. Wenger needs to get real right now and secure a keeper who will arrive after the final whistle of the season. We will not win anything with such keepers, what a joke they are. Even Sczeny on loan, he is not yet good enough to start for us, maybe in 5 years, we don't have 5 years.

Another thing, Fabregas saying we made schoolboy errors, with an apparent dig at Fabianski, well he should shut up and learn how to take a corner properly. All of them sucked bar one, and even that wasn't enough. He also dropped his head, again. He never performs in the big games, he likes to slay small teams, but the big boys show him how far he has to go to be a top level player. Talent is not enough, you need sheer will as well, what prevented him running himself into the ground to tie the game for HIS side? If this is what he wants to act like, then give us the £50m and let him leave, because you are not good enough to make us champions.

Wenger needs to shut up as well. Why not tell your team that you need to be alert for 95mins? Didn't Sagna say we had learned from being switched off? We haven't learned, same as we haven't learned that our keepers stink and that Clichy is stinking and that we suck defending counter attacks. We used to be savvy enough to do crafty things like quick free kicks, now we have kids who know nothing about these tricks and we suck, what a shame.

For ratings, Fabianski gets a 0, Rosicky a 4, the rest get 2's, Walcott gets a 0, Eboue a 3, Wenger a 0.

Man Utd and Chelsea school Arsenal, but maybe not enough

2010-02-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

What a torrid run of games and results, having played 4 'top' teams in a row, Aston Villa 0-0, Man Utd 1-3, Chelsea 2-0, Liverpool 1-0, the team only managed to get 4 points out of 12, not good enough, furthermore, 4 games, 1 goal scored, 5 against. This is when the pendulum starts to swing for a team looking for the championship, and at the moment, Arsenal are 6 points behind the leaders Chelsea, make that 7 when you include their far superior Goal Difference and Head-to-Head count.

From the Aston Villa game, it showed that it was a big mistake to not buy players, creativity was stunted and there were no strikers. Man Utd came to London, and exposed Arsenal on the counter attack, Clichy and Almunia particularly looking like they were on loan to Man Utd for the day, Clichy owned by Nani, Almunia just ridiculous. Chelsea further exposed Arsenal, weak marking on set pieces then on the counter attack. Both games, Arsenal suffered using Arshavin as a point man to lead the attack. Liverpool also exposed Arsenal on the break, but never scored.

Only two major stumbling blocks are now in the final games, Spurs away and Man City at home, what is clear, Arsenal cannot slip up at all, no draws, no losses, they need 3 points in every game. With 12 games to go and chasing a 6 point deficit, it leaves 10 games to try win the league.

What angered me most is that Arsenal never changed tactics, Arshavin up front was never going to do anything, and why do the full backs always have to come forward, in fact, why do the central defenders come out? Ever see Vidic/Terry come forward? Look at their GA column, it explains a lot. Also I don't know what we do in training, do we know what a counter attack is? We need to stop them with small fouls and real defending, tell that to Denilson-Fabregas-Song-Clichy-Vermaelen-Sagna-Gallas. Also, teams now know we are crap on defending counter attacks, Liverpool barely play for quick breaks and looked good doing it, the team needs to react to this new reality and make teams try to win another way. Spurs and City will surely look to use this tactic and exploit the team on the break.

Match Ratings for all the games: Not much time, but here are the players who suck right now, Almunia (not a keeper or a sportsman) - Clichy (can't defend, can't attack, getting slow) - Sagna (can't cross so wastes the ball) - Vermaelen and Gallas (both paid to defend, too many goals are flying in, so they suck) - Denilson (no desire ) - Fabregas (no leadership in tough times) - Walcott (just leave) - Arshavin (talks about others not being good enough, on these showings, neither is he) - Wenger (no tactics, no new players in January, does he want us to hate him?).

Lets hope that despite those bashings, the team can do something special and fight to the bitter end for the championship.

Arsenal Push Forward, but still not good enough.

2010-01-28T03:17:00.000-08:00

League Form.

I haven't blogged since the 1-1 draw with Burnley over a month ago, and as you can remember, I was far from impressed. However since then, the team has shown resolve, taking 17 out of 21 points. Whilst coming back from behind twice to get a point from Everton, and to win after being 2-0 down to Bolton were all good, in this season, any points dropped is a missed opportunity, and another one was blown against Aston Villa last night.

It doesn't matter if people think Villa are a good team who are challenging for the Champions League, Arsenal needed 3 points yesterday. 1 point is not enough, winners look to beat everyone. This game is in the past, and what is a common consensus is that the next 3 games, Utd (H), Chelsea (A), Liverpool (H) will define the season. With a 2 point deficit to Chelsea who have a game in hand, all these games are now MUST WIN. Draws are not enough, 9 points is an obligation. Do I think we will get them? Not sure, I think Man Utd will beat us at home, we will lose to Chelsea away, and probably draw with Liverpool. Lets hope this isn't the case.

Transfer Activity.

Arsenal realistically needed backup in defence, a new body in midfield and definitely a new striker. So what has happened? Sol Campbell has come in and Senderos booted out on loan. Nothing else. This is very dangerous, and with 3 days of the window left, looks like no one else will arrive, what a shame. Vermaelen looks to have an injury that could keep him out for a month, meaning Campbell is now first choice with Gallas? Dangerous games indeed. Another defender is needed, how could the club bungle the Smalling deal? Also Eduardo looks to be out for 1 month, meaning only Bendtner is the only choice, Vela has sucked badly this year. Here is to hoping for a miracle and new players arriving by February 1.

Cup Competitions.

Just to say, I'm very angry at the way we keep throwing potential trophies away. Threw the Carling Cup away, yet Man Utd who won it last year and who have won every trophy they have entered in for in the last few years, are rejoicing by getting to another final. If it is good enough for Utd, it should be good enough for us, we need to take it seriously next season. The FA Cup was also thrown away with weird selections. Some say that he had injuries and had to jig up the line up, well if youth team players are the backup, it tells you that you need a deeper squad, buy new players. This means that the club is on a knife edge now, 2 high level tournaments left against elite ambition.

Burnley 1 - Arsenal 1: Arsenal are scared and don't have balls.

2009-12-17T04:40:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, just as we thought we were ready to show we really wanted the championship, we go and drop 2 points away from home. I won't write a lot on what happened last night, it was clear we needed 3 points, and whilst we took advantage of last weekend, this week we haven't and we have given 2 points basically to the leaders.

If we cannot cope with such a crucial point of the season, there is no hope for us winning the championship, you cannot say 1 point is good because Burnley beat Man Utd there, who cares, Man Utd beat us, so we have to win there, we need 3 points, 1 point does nothing for us.

What also irritates me is that the players never stood up and showed they wanted 3 points. Fabregas did, but he probably realised the others didn't and walked off with injury, awful mentality from the players. Champions always give their best, always force the issue, always go for a win, always find a way to win. Sadly we never.

8 points behind Chelsea, we better concentrate on Aston Villa for now, they are hot on our heels right now, if we aren't careful, they could cause us trouble again. We need to finish 3rd to ensure automatic qualification to the CL, that gives us an extra week or two off next summer (already talking about that, how sad for us fans).

As for player ratings, they all sucked apart from Fabregas who showed lots of quality before his injury, the type of form that commands a transfer war in the summer. Whoever fights that war will win as the rest of the players tonight never wanted a win. The worst offenders, Almunia, what a joke of a performance, he can't even kick the ball properly, and Walcott, if England take him to the World Cup and start him, they will get no goals created from him, he shouldn't be at any World Cup anytime soon until he can shoot or has more tricks.

Hull, oh well, lets hope for the best, and hope others drop points as well.

Liverpool 1 - Arsenal 2: Arshavin is a super Sniper.

2009-12-14T01:59:00.001-08:00

Back in business, well the result means we are, not so sure about the first half. On a weekend where Man Utd and Chelsea dropped points, anything less than 3 points today would have been a failure, and know what, it seems Wenger was able to transmit this to his players who came back for a change, more of the same please.

During World War II, there were many snipers aka designated marksmen to kill the Axis soldiers, one has been shown in English media with Jude Law in Enemy At The Gates, as Vasiliy Zaytzev. The one least known but very deadly was Ivan Sidorenko who had a confirmed 500 kills. Arshavin is following in this rich tradition, Liverpool can't handle his accuracy, his goal was so precise, no goal keeper would have had a chance, not Banks, not Zoff, not Kahn, not Buffon, and surely not Reina.

The first half really sucked and had me cursing the television at the under performance of the whole team. Liverpool had more desire to win, and knowing we needed 3 points, this for me was unacceptable, and with stories of Wenger losing his cool, he must have thought so too. We need to stop such silly performances, I don't care who the opposition is, because there is no footballing talent reason for our players to not do well in every game, at the very least, they should run and show determination and not look feeble and accept mediocrity.

Even though the team as a unit won, there are still major problems that need to be fixed immediately. Almunia is struggling, and may need to be put out of his misery soon, he is costing us goals and points, what the hell was he thinking of yesterday? There was another thing that made me angry, he threw the ball straight at Liverpool when he had Vermaelen as a short option but he went long, ridiculous.

Sagna crosses, if there is no one in the box, even if it is a nice cross, it is a bad cross because it is giving the ball away. Do you really expect Arshavin to get a header vs Agger? Get real, don't cross if there is no real chance of a conversion. Walcott sucked again, even if he was there for the Johnson goal, he added no value at all. He needs to work harder and add more to his game, not just his speed is good enough, we need a real footballer, not a sprinter.

Player Ratings:

Almunia 2: Cost us a goal, gave the ball away cheaply as well. Routine Save from Torres though.

Sagna 5: Solid in defence again, but crosses still leave a lot to be desired.

Gallas 3: Horror show, he needs a breather. Caught cold in midfield when Torres shot at Almunia, gave away a potential penalty, poor set piece marking, oh boy.

Vermaelen 4: Better than Gallas, but still not the rock we need, how many chances did Liverpool have in the first half, waaaaay too many.

Traore 5: Johnson never got much action, neither did Kuyt, so he did a decent job.

Song 6: This guy is a thoroughbred when the play is in front of him, his ball manipulation skills are on point, player of the season I think. Needs to work on gaining more speed though.

Fabregas 4: Bad passing, not much defensive work, not what we expect from him.

Denilson 5: Not visible, but effective, was the extra barrier required, especially in the second half.

Walcott N/A: That bad I won't grade him, won't waste any more words on him either.

Nasri 4: Cross for the Johnson goal, apart from that, he is no winger, he needs to be in midfield, not wide, please change it Wenger, this guy is the future of France and we are killing him.

Arshavin 6.5: Quiet first half, stunning goal, and done more than Eduardo and Vela have all season as a striker. One of the teams potential game changers.

Diaby 4: Not on long.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 5: He gets points for the half time rollicking, apart from that, he needs to read the game better, had Liverpool had luck and their shooting boots on, they would have been 3-0 at half time for sure. The continued deployment of Arshavin is good, but Walcott has no effect, he shouldn't be starting, I'd rather have Eduardo than Walcott, at least he has some vision, Walcott is just fast.

Liverpool vs Arsenal: Time To Test The Will of The Team

2009-12-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

Simply put, this game is a MUST WIN. Man City have done Arsenal a very big favour in beating Chelsea, and to fully profit from that, we need to take 3 points from Anfield, something we haven't done for a very long time. Should Chelsea win against Everton today, that gap will be 11 points with us having 2 games in hand, I won't take us winning those matches for granted, the only thing that counts is the points on the board, not the points that may or may not come.

I do worry though, Liverpool are supposed to be having an awful season, but they are only 4 points behind us, a loss and draw and them winning, and we are where they are right now, so Liverpool are not as bad as people think.

What is impressive about them is they will have already devised a tactical plan for Arsenal, with or without Gerrard-Torres-Aquilani, they will know what they want to do and how to do it. I suspect they will isolate Fabregas from who ever our point striker is and that could be enough to shut us down unless we adjust things, as if the space between Fabregas and the striker is big, we have no one else who can step up.

This is also a big test for our mentality, we need to play our lives out for 98mins, we need to realise we need to WIN, 3 points is absolutely required and anything less is a failure. I hope Wenger transmits this to the players and he also ensures he reacts for a change, and not by throwing on Walcott and Vela to run around aimlessly, but for them to take shots from any range, or long balls so we can strike off those second balls they head out, passing will get us nowhere if we are behind.

Up the Arsenal.

No To Carlton Cole

2009-12-08T05:43:00.000-08:00

I'm hearing many rumours and people wanting Carlton Cole.....what planet are you on? What do we need Carlton Cole for?

Arsenal need a player who can score first and foremost, now look at Cole's stats and tell me is a goal machine? We need a player who Arsene Wenger called 'a killer' after Man Utd laid the smack down in their 3-1 win last year. Carlton Cole is not a killer, so we don't need or want him.

Arsenal are supposed to be fighting for titles on 4 fronts, Carlton Cole isn't a player for titles, look at the strikers amassed at our competitors, Torres-Drogba-Rooney-Anelka-Barbatov, and we want to buy Carlton Cole? Are you serious? This guy has never scored more than 10 goals in a season?

He may be English, but the English player of high profile in our squad Walcott hasn't improved as we had hoped, so that shows don't just buy a player because he is English. Carlton Cole should go to Aston Villa and join Heskey, there is no place for him at Arsenal.

Wenger needs to get real, he needs to spend big cash, and if that means finding it by not renewing Rosicky's contract, so be it. To get the best, you need to pay for it,you sold Adebayor for peanuts in my view, £25m when other players were going for more like Gomez and Benzema, and you never spent that money, so you should have enough for Dzeko, or a double swoop of Oscar Cardozo and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Arsenal 2 - Stoke City 0: Eureka, Arshavin can play centrally!!

2009-12-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

What a welcome result, and lets be honest, a wholly expected one, 2-0 win at home in the midst of the worst run this season where the team had had 3 losses on the trot domestically. Without the star striker Robin Van Persie, and the injury of Bendtner, two strikers were used before today, Eduardo and Vela. In those three games, both never looked like they knew what central striking was about, not able to make runs, not able to hold time and create space, they both played stinkers against Sunderland, Chelsea and Man City where the team scored a mighty 0 goals.

So, it seems Wenger has had his eureka moment, and tried the Russian dwarf Arshavin as the point man. Against giant defenders of Stoke, Arshavin who this week complained the team lacked anyone to hold the ball, walked the walk and showed Vela and Eduardo what can be done when you use your intelligence and try find solutions inside a game.

Whilst Vela and Eduardo kept doing the same things and had the same results, Arshavin would see what would work and keep doing it. The Stoke defenders sat deep and close to each other, so Arshavin dropped deep and looked for when they split their lines. He scored one goal with a combination with Fabregas, and had he had his shooting boots on, he would have scored another 2 certain goals.

Fabregas also found time to miss a penalty and let his head drop for the rest of the game. Ramsey made certain of the points with a late goal.

Still there are weaknesses, Sagna is still crossing to nobody, and the team always looks to attack, even when the opposition are regimented and showing no sign of breaking their ranks, so why attack and hope you get through? Be patient and draw the opposition out, especially if you have the goal, why press for more if the opposition are sitting deep and playing on the counter, let them come try get the ball, we have the players who can keep it, so they should keep it.

Player Ratings

Almunia 3: Suspect on crosses, sort it out.

Sagna 4: Crosses are useless, stop it please.

Gallas 5: Not much action, decent, although no need to keep charging up field.

Vermaelen 5: Same as Gallas on all fronts.

Traore 5: Decent attacking play, but needs work on defending, which is his primary duty.

Denilson 4: Not awful, but never helped in ball retention.

Fabregas 4: Many bad passes, although set up Arshavin.

Rosicky 2: Poor performance,looks tired, and is now injured for a month.

Nasri 5: So so, not able to do what he does best in finding killer passes.

Eboue 4: Not an attacker, shouldn't be playing there, no end product.

Arshavin 6: Showed the strikers how to play centrally, now show the same attitude in every game please, no time for sulking.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 5: Made the most of the players at his disposal, although why keep playing Eboue anywhere other than right back is a mistake, he has no end product. Also why use Rosicky who looked bad for the 45mins he played? Also he needs to be the voice of the team, tell them to retain the ball better and not over exert themselves, conservation of energy will be key, so many games are coming up and the players need as much energy as they can get.

Man City 3 - Arsenal 0. No One Takes Us Seriously Anymore.

2009-12-03T00:56:00.000-08:00

As expected, the Carling Cup has been thrown away, in meek fashion I must add. Not only did the team lose, they played awfully as well. In 3 games, we have conceded 7 goals and scored 0, so much for spanking teams like Everton 6-1.....

The first goal, a catalogue of errors. Tevez took the ball from midfield, found a pass in-between Song-Billong and Eboue for Bellamay to exploit, Bellamy's cross was intercepted by Song-Billong who then passed out to Rosicky. Tevez was still hungry to chase Rosicky down, hustled the ball, played a one-two with Bellamy, then in 7 seconds, was able to waltz past Eboue-Song Billong-Silvestre before firing into the top corner. Wehere was the pressure, where was the tackle? There was none.

The second, Silvestre came forward with the ball, fed Merida who missed his pass to Rosicky, Richards fed Wright Phillips who ran on the outside of Silvestre, came inside, Silvestre simply backing off him and Wright Phillips smashed a shot into the far corner, Fabianski beaten again, 2-0.

The third, Ireland fed Bellamy who fired straight at Fabianski, Arsenal broke away with Rosicky who fed Merida. Merida lost the ball on the edge of the City box, Toure fed Ireland, Ireland swept it right to Bellamy who sped past a first Wilshere challenge, then sped past Billong-Song and Wilshere who bumped into each other, got into the box, squared right for Weiss to nip in ahead of Traore and make it 3-0.

Horror show when analysed like that, then again some said we were unlucky, rubbish. This team has no mentality or desire and can't tackle. This isn't Pro Evo where the button X works as a tackle, you need to take the ball or the man, period, not let them go past you.

Also, Fabianski sucks, two of the goals are his fault, the first, he got his angles all wrong. He covered the near post which had a very small angle and Troare had it covered anyway, leaving over 85% of the goal to be aimed at for Tevez, easy stuff for Tevez.

The second goal, again he got his angle wrong, the direction that Wright Phillips was coming from, there was no way he could hit the near post as the anglewas too acute, instead Fabianski closed that post down leaving Wright Phillips over 85% of the goal to aim at, that is easy to do. Fabianski needs to go on loan, and maybe for 3 years to learn how to keep goal, these are elementary mistakes.

Player Ratings

Fabianski 3: One good save, hard to criticise the third goal, poor technique and intelligence for the first two goals.

Eboue 2: A senior player, lacked energy, lacked desire, and never defended. Unacceptable.

Song-Billong 3: What kind of a tackle was that for the first goal? And for the third, he bumped into his own player, and picked up a cheap yellow card so is banned for Stoke.

Silvestre 2: He was ASDA for Man City, every little helps. Gave them loads of chances, he MUST NOT play in the first team.

Traore 2: You see Weiss is bombing in and you relax, what did you expect him to do, pass the ball, he was coming to score, wake up please.

Eastmond 1: Out of his depth today, simple as that.

Rosicky 1: A senior player, and he was lethargic, never led the midfield, and cost the first goal. You are a hero of mine, but this was awful 'Dumpling'.

Ramsey 2: Invisible, no combination play, no leading, awful.

Merida 2: Cracked the bar, but gave the ball away twice and it was costly, created nothing either.

Wilshere 1: Created nothing, and for the third goal, let Bellamy run for 45m and never once put in a tackle, just jogged with him, what is that?

Vela 2: Never came to get the ball, never had any shots, another bad game.

Trainer Rating:

Wenger 2: I don't care about the hand shake, if he doesn't want to he doesn't have to, at least he won't be a hypocrite. What I have a problem with is his fielded a team of kids against a top team, he is paid to win games, and this team was never going to win. The formation was inept, the midfield was over run and he never changed it. His selection also ensured if we went behind, we never had the players to change the result with out of form players like Nasri-Walcott-Eduardo kept at home, why? What do we do in training if we don't work on where we are weak? We don't know how to defend, and if you can't defend, which is the easiest thing in the game, it makes it harder to score, and scoring is the hardest thing to do in the game.

Man City vs Arsenal, Carling Cup, Wenger and his 18.

2009-12-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

Seeing the squad nomination list today for the away game at Man City reminds me of Leonidas and his 300. Leonidas was a man of honour, a man of glory, and he went down a path thinking it was right whilst knowing it would be his ultimate fall. How did he expect to contain a legion of continents with only 300 of his finest soldiers in the final stand at Thermopylae? The Persians had more weapons, more soldiers, and even if they were less skilled, the sheer numbers alone would make them win through intimidation.

Our squad today are lambs to the slaughter. We only have Rosicky, Song-Billong, Silvestre, Eboue who are players with experience and ready to take on the expensively assembled hoard of Man City. Where is Senderos? If he has been dropped, Wenger is playing a very dangerous game, we are 1 injury away from calling him to be on the bench, especially with Song-Billong going away at the end of the month, he needs as much match preparation as possible, this is bad management if he isn't injured or has a family problem.

Also, where are Nasri and Walcott? They need practice as they haven't played much and are regarded as first team players. Eduardo could do with a game too, to find his shooting boots.

One thing for certain, we will concede a goal, and when you know that, you know you may not win the game, I don't expect us to, and this is a trophy simply thrown away. What a shame for us Arsenal fans who pay top dollar, and for the travelling support too.

Arsenal 0 - Chelsea 3: Lightweights Squashed.

2009-11-30T05:37:00.000-08:00

Another smashing at home to Chelsea, last season, 4-1, this season 3-0, not even a goal to celebrate? The true value of Arsenal was shown last evening, to win championships, you need to show you can derail your opponents. Instead, Chelsea have shown us where we need to get to if we ever want to be champions again, especially in the short-medium term. Ashley Cole must have thoroughly enjoyed this, two assists, and Drogba put the icing on the cake with a thunderous freekick.

1) Solidarity.

Chelsea had easy pickings yesterday, they were all united in what they wanted to achieve, they attacked as one, the defended as one, no weak links, and when Obi did mess up, even Anelka would come back to help. Contrast that to Arsenal, the whole team never operated as a single unit, clear divisions in how the midfield, attack and defence play, no synergy at all. When facing a formidable opponent, you need to be one, otherwise you will fail.

2) Tactics.

This is something that needs to be addressed. prior to the game, Fabregas and Wenger said, "we'll play our game and see how it goes," compare that to Ancelotti who said after the game, "We knew that Arsenal like to play in the opponents half and we prepared very well our defensive positions, keep control of zones." Is it any wonder why Chelsea knew exactly how to win, and we never? You can't stick to 1 scheme in every single game, it is easy to plan for. We never prepare for the opposition, and only ever had 1 striker on the pitch at a time, so where will the goals come from? And since when did random crosses become a method of playing? We may be a small sized team, but with the right tactics, we can negate that deficiency.

3) Champion mentality.

Once we go behind, we never come back, especially against such big teams. The team feebly tried to come back by running hard and applying pressure, but they had no method in that madness, Chelsea are ready for high impact, you need to be intellectual to open them up, we sent in crosses for Eduardo, thinking Terry and Carvalho are short..... The team needs to react quickly, once the first went in, we should react, not after 2 goals have gone in. And this business of giving up after 70 mins sucks, Liverpool and Man Utd have shown in the Champions League that nothing is ever a lost cause. We need to stop giving up, and give our all for 95mins, I thought the players said they had learned to concentrate for a whole game after the Liege, AZ and West Ham games?

Player Ratings

Almunia 3: One good save, after that, the rest he could have at least reacted. The Drogba free-kick was because he decided to move and not be confident.

Sagna 2: Rotten crosses as usual, and two goals came from his side. Once upon a time, Sagna was a rock at the back, what has happened to him?

Gallas 3: Costly errors for the first two goals, couldn't handle the Chelsea attack.

Vermaelen 3: Latest Arsenal defender to fail to contain the Drog. Own goal and awful defending for the first goal.

Traore 3: Sent spiralling by Drogba when they fought for the ball, and Ivanovic did a similar thing to him. Got forward but with no quality.

Song-Billong 3: Carried the ball well and compressed space, only had 45mins, injury or tactical?

Fabregas 3: No invention, and as captain, gave up very easily again, becoming a ritual. In tough times, the captain should stand up tall.

Denilson 3: No passing, not much defensive work either, what value did he add?

Nasri 3: Not a winger, but still played there, why? Not able to unlock the doors for his team. He is best behind strikers, not on the flank.

Arshavin 2: Much is expected from him, but not on the same wavelength as his team mates.

Eduardo 1: No confidence, not a lead striker, got nothing from Terry and Carvalho.

Walcott 1: No technique or intelligence, very very very predictable, Cole and Ferreira had an easy time with him. Speed is not everything.

Vela 2: No right foot, and runs into blind alleys, never let off any shots, what was the point?

Rosicky 1: Made a few nice passes, but cowardly kicks on Obi, if he had shown as much ambition in his attacking play as those kicks, we may have actually scored.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 1: His marriage to one formation is killing the team yet again. Never deployed his players where they are best, Eduardo is not a lead striker, Nasri is not a winger, and why keep Rosicky on the bench for so long, he is one of our most intelligent players with experience against big opponents.

No tactical variation, Chelsea knew exactly what was coming,and he never changed it. Why not use 3 defenders and have two strikers on? Instead we kept with a 4-3-3 with inadequate players for it for 90 mins. Does he also approve of aimless crosses? He never told them to stop it, if he approves, he needs to stop this tactic, it doesn't work.

Time To Go To Work.

2009-11-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Arsenal need to clock in for work and get a job done, it doesn't matter how, they simply HAVE TO WIN. This is where we can really judge if we are ready to box with the top teams for a domestic championship.

Last season, the players never went to work and were destroyed 4-1 at home, in most instances, such a result should lead to questions on the trainer, especially as the team sucked all season. I called it '11 employees contracted for 90mins', this time round, all 18 members of the matchday squad need to stick together and be ready to bleed, or as Gallas said in 2007 after the Man Utd 2-2 home match where he scored a last minute equaliser, "We had to fight. We said if we had to die we would die together on that field."

The players need to understand, allowing Chelsea to extend their current 8 point lead at our expense is out of the question, as seen by other teams losing 9-1 in the league, we cannot rely on others to do the job for us, if you want something done, do it yourself. This means we need to chase goals, and unlike last season where Wenger elected to use 1 striker and have 2 on the bench, this time, use Vela and Eduardo together from the start, where else do you expect the goals to come from if they don't start?

Tactically, Wenger needs to change some things. This Ancelotti side is very narrow, but they can also change instantly to become a more wider team because Ancelotti has done a lot of tactical work with the players. We need to pressure who ever is at the base of their midfield and stop the ball coming out, and by doing this, we also leave ourselves open for Chelsea to run at our defence or shoot from range. As a keen watcher of Serie A, the way to beat Milan under Ancelotti was not stifle Kaka or Pirlo, but ensure Gattuso and Ambrosini never made the primary pass to them, Wenger needs to do this and whoever does it must be fit and concentrated for 90mins.

Silvestre has been a common denominator when we have lost heavily, and he seriously needs to have a good game, it is matches like this where we need him most, and if he doesn't have a good game, I expect the other 9 out field players to help him out and not leave him in the cold to freeze, if they do, we will lose.

I won't predict a result, but I'm certain we will lose if we don't force the issue and tell Chelsea we are willing to die, Chelsea have nothing to prove, nothing to lose, only everything to win, a loss and they won't lose top spot for another fortnight, a win and they have daylight over an opponent allowing them more room for error. We lose, we have no room for error, and are fighting for nothing for the rest of the season.

Sunderland 1 - Arsenal 0: Horrible

2009-11-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

No match review, all I'll say is the team never showed personality, Wenger gets a -10 for his tactical knowledge, and Gazidis gets a -10 for his transfer dealings, we sell a striker and don't replace him? Get real, to win a title, be it the FA Cup or the Championship, we need a squad for it, all it took is an injury to one player and we froze up, disgrace.

Almunia 0
Sagna -2: (Don't attack if you don't know how to, and fix your stamina and technique damnit!)
Traore 0
Gallas 0
Vermaelen 0
Song-Billong 0
Fabregas -2: (Where is a captain when the tough times come?)
Ramsey -3: (Don't expect a first team start in a bigger match after this performance)
Nasri 0
Rosicky 0
Eduardo 0

Wenger: -10. Read a book on tactics, your 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 is commonly seen as a boring 4-5-1 today. Why buy Vela and not play him from the start? You see the crosses aren't working, and you put Walcott and tell him to put more crosses in? You see your 4-5-1 isn't working, and that Sunderland are only have 1 striker, have you heard of using 3 at the back? It is better to lose 2-0 on the break than losing 1-0 without attempting to change. Without changing tactics, we will not win titles, please buy a book on them, I'm getting tired of sticking to one style of play all the time.

Arsenal 2 - Liverpool 1: Vibrant attack, still bad defending.

2009-10-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

As we have become accustomed, a win in the Carling Cup in mostly sparkling fashion. It is very refreshing to see some of the younger players bring such an attitude to their game, no fear,and playing as if it is their last game......in an attacking sense. In terms of defending, that is another issue.

Arsenal took a deserved lead when Merida smashed home after a good passing move, then Liverpool equalised with a stunning dipping shot, something that wouldn't have happened if he was closed down and if Fabianski reacted and got his distances right, nice goal, poor defence. The winner in the second half was really good, nice passing and evading before Bendtner smashed home from close range.

The good, well the passing was good and incisive, but this has to be expected. Nasri made his return, and fitness still looks an issue, he needs to get back into his rhythm, and coming after Wenger said that Ramsey and Merida were close to the first team, playing like this, they should be 1st choice subs, and the trainer really needs to ask why those ahead of these two don't replicate these performances, and are better? How must they feel not playing and other with lower performances at times ahead of them.

The bad, well defence again sucked big time. It really SUCKS how easy it is to carve our team up and create a chance, it is way too easy, i'm struggling to see what our defence scheme is throughout the club. Silvestre and Senderos were dragged out of position too easily and were not proactive in how they defended, we better hope Vermaelen and Gallas don't get injured, if they do, Wenger better use 3 defenders at the back as one of these two will cause big trouble, especially as we don't have a dedicated defensive midfielder.

Fabianski may've returned from injury, but Arsenal need a SPECIAL goalkeeper. He is a capable shot stopper, and will save the shots he has to, that is what any keeper should do, what differentiates a standard keeper from a star keeper is one who saves shots he shouldn't. The Insua goal was very preventable, there is no excuse for that ball to dip over his head.

Match Ratings:

Fabianski 4: Bad goal to concede.

Gilbert 5: Decent performance, covered for the rest of the defence.

Senderos 4: Needs to up his game to displace Gallas or Vermaelen.

Silvestre 4: For an experienced player, needs to perform better and lead the rest of the unit.

Gibbs 4: Didn't tuck in when required, not anticipating very well either.

Eastmond 5: Steady from the youngster, nothing special though.

Nasri 5: Not fit, not on his A-game either, more to come we hope.

Merida 7: Continue like this, and a first team berth is close.

Ramsey 7: Needs to play like this in the league, will become a useful player indeed.

Bendtner 6: Well taken goal, needs to play like this in the league more.

Eduardo 5: Good performance, must wonder why he is always playing in this competition instead of the bigger matches.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 6: Decent performance, good tactics, although could have subbed Nasri who was a bit of a disruption to the team as he wasn't fit.

Welcome to the Futures Present, Samir Nasri

2009-10-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

The French midfield playmaker has recovered from his injury, and will take his place in the team, in midfield. Samir Nasri is the future of Arsenal, and deployed in central midfield, Arsenal will see why he his name is still sung on the Velodrome terraces. He has a greater physical capacity than captain Fabregas, and is able to use both feet, both for the pass or the shot.

Having spoken to him after the 3-1 massacre against Man Utd, he indicated that players needed to take responsibility, and he is one of the players who can take responsibility. He needs to also secure his position in midfield for Arsenal, because with the World Cup looming if France qualify, he will not get into the side on the flanks, and the emergence of the likes of Moussa Sissoko and greater calls for Benoit Cheyrou in midfield, if Domenech is to ditch his double pivot system, he is a prime candidate to be the link man.

If the captain is to leave this summer, this is the man who will hold all the keys to opening the doors for Arsenal, I am a big fan of the Maghreb descendant, Arsenal, be prepared to be thrilled as he did at the Velodrome, bienvenue Samir.

West Ham 2 - Arsenal 2: Arsenal have learnt nothing, mistakes costs points.

2009-10-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, 2 points given to West Ham for nothing, and Arsenal deserved only 1 point, what a shame. Wenger and his boys are not behaving like championship winning candidates,we may play nice football (not today), we may have to score over 3 goals a game to win (we scored 4 goals twice last year and never won either game), we still suck defensively as a unit, players are not taking responsibility, no one is reacting, no one wants to win a major title.

The team took a deserved lead, Sagna decided to learn how to cross properly (only two good crosses in 94 mins), Green missed the ball and Van Persie was obliged to tap into an empty net. Then Gallas headed home the second goal, all before half time, and it looked liked curtains for a team in despair.

However, as any opponent should now know, try a little, and Arsenal will encourage you to score, Diaby gave away a cheap freekick (He gave away at least 3 in dangerous zones), Diamanti launched a shot, Mannone elected to palm it up when it should have been put wide, and it fell to Cole to bundle home, very easy, no reaction from the whole defensive unit in the box. The second, Billong-Song clipped Cole in the box, even if it was a dive or not, no need for that, and it was a penalty which Diamanti fired past Mannone, 2-2, two points given away, and it is not even Christmas.

Again, as this blog reluctantly points out, the team doesn't relish keeping clean sheets, and in relation to improvement, last season the team won here, this year they have drawn, so they have regressed in the result. The team was ahead by half time, and again took it very easy and casual, do we need 3 goals to win games now? The midfield and attack never looked to score a third goal, and went through the motions, and we have paid the price. On a day when our rivals have slipped up, we have failed to take the initiative and improve our prospects.

Player Ratings:

Mannone 2: Should have pushed that ball out for a corner, not into the direction of a striker, and cheap yellow card to get.

Sagna 4: Decent cross for goal, but now I can see why on France Telefoot1, the fellow Arsenal players labelled him and Silvestre the least technically gifted.

Gallas 4: Nice goal, but untidy and unstructured defending as a whole.

Vermaelen 4: Decent, but struggled aerially, also untidy defending.

Clichy 4: Did his job defensively, not much offensive work.

Song-Billong 3: Over run at time, not willing to tackle when he should, and costly clip for the penalty, not on song today my friend.

Diaby 4: Bad tackling ability, good technical ability, needs to take responsibility more.

Fabregas 4: Off colour, never made the passes he likes to make. Never took responsibility.

Eboue 4: Good link up with Sagna for the goal, but nothing else except wasting chances.

Arshavin 2: Never made any impact, never brought his A-game yet again, what is up with this guy? Arsenal need the real Arshavin, not this one, not the first time he has underperformed.

Van Persie 4: Decent, nice goal, not much after that, needed to take the lead and show he is the one to make the difference.

Bendtner and Eduardo NA: Both late subs, both came on far too late.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 3: On a week he celebrated his birthday, a catalogue of errors has cost the team 2 points. First, why select a right back as a forward winger, when he has two strikers on the bench? Secondly, why persist with a rookie goal keeper and keep our best keeper on the bench? Thirdly, why did it take the opposition to score twice for him to bring on bigger weapons to try win the match?

I don't get Wenger sometimes, we don't have the players for a 4-3-3 today, is it too much to ask for some variation to stifle the opposition, especially when we were 2-0 up? We have players like Ramsey who we could use in a 4-5-1 if you are worried about Nasri's fitness, or a 4-4-2 with Eduardo coming on? I thought the team was told to learn from conceding late goals, one in midweek, two this weekend, I thought our defensive patterns would have been rectified this year? Why is Almunia on the bench? Will it take the team dropping points with a rookie before he is reinstated? This has cost us today.

Arsenal will pay for same mistakes.

2009-10-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

This blog takes a lot of heat for being overly critical, but it is critical for one reason, the team has made the same errors for the past 5 years and not won, so if they make the same ones, they will continue not to win.

Even when Arsenal were scoring freely and beating teams by 2 goals or more margins, I have been critical at how some of the goals let in have happened. Finally,the chickens came home to roost on Tuesday. Let me catalogue the lapses:

1)Saha vs Arsenal, when Arsenal are 6-0 up. A goal the team had no need to concede, even if winning, you cannot let up, you defend with your life to the final whistle. Defending is a collective art, so why when Clichy has to come inside, why doesn't a midfielder take his spot?

2) Kaboul vs Arsenal, when Arsenal are 2-0 up. Again, after storming ahead, Arsenal never crushed Portsmouth, stepped off the gas, and allowed a very soft and preventable goal, and let us not forget, Portsmouth rallied well in the match until Arsenal scored a third.

3) Donati vs Arsenal, when Arsenal are 3-0 up and 5-0 up on aggregate. Again, the team relaxed, knew the tie was off, and decided to coast, and Sagna never applied pressure, Almunia never even tried to save the goal.

4)N'zonzi and Dunn vs Arsenal, when 0-0 and 1-1. Again, lack of dedicated focus, lack on concentration especially on the second, why was Sagna and Clichy both forward and none of Diaby/Fabregas dropping deeper to help Billong? Where was Vermamelen?

5) Bowyer vs Arsenal when 2-0 up. Again, when it looked like Arsenal would smash the opposition, the team relaxed, lost focus and a match that they should have seen out very early, became nervy until the dying embers of the game.

That is 5 preventable matches where Arsenal have shown they lose focus, so it is no surprise they couldn't see out the last game. West Ham may be in bad form, but without full focus, even when ahead, could rouse the team to fight back, putting Arsenal in a position they don't have to be in. This week, Bacary Sagna said the team had to learn to concentrate for the whole game. There were 5 instances already where they never concentrated, and were punished, why didn't they take those lessons? Please learn now, you are all professionals, this is a prerequisite.

Alexandre Song is a real Hardman now.

2009-10-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Many are still hoping for the return of a snarling and aggressive holding player in the Arsenal midfield, but they should be very proud they have one of the best players around in midfield. Alexandre Song-Billong after February has becoming one of the key components in the team, and when he was 'rested' in some matches last season, many openly questioned why he was rested when the team have so dearly needed him.

Alexandre Song-Billong has now shown he can hold his own for the team, and this comes after a very impressive outing in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations where he was elected into the team of the tournament, playing and aiding his team all the way to the final, and his presence was missed after he was injured in the final and Egypt took control of the midfield.

Now he has shown he has a true side of a winner, not taking any nonsense. There is a saying, 'a man who can sacrifice even his best friend is a man without weakness', and Alexandre Song-Billong is one who this applies to. Despite Emmanuel Adebayor crying when he left and some of the squad regretting his departure, his actions when he played Arsenal and his team won 4-2 has drawn a clear line between him and and Arsenal squad.

In the game, Alexandre Song-Billong never acknowledged his former team mate during the game and after it, and this exploded further during the last World Cup Qualification match in Yaounde, which Cameroon won 3-0, Alexandre Song-Billong imposed his stature on the Togo captain.

During the match, Alexandre Song-Billong picked the pocket of Adebayor at least 4 times cleanly to show he is a player of the top level, but this descended when Adebayor landed on Alexandre, and then proceeded to try unnerve Alexandre, kicking him twice, to which Alexandre retaliated by kicking him back. One thing the players of Cameroon are not guilty of are backing down, and his uncle Rigobert came to his aid to ratchet up the pressure on Adebayor.

Adebayor was then shaken up, and like a scared captain, demanded to be substituted, leaving his team rudderless whilst Alexandre went on to dominate the rest of the game. It must be said, that without Alexandre in the team following his 3 game ban, Cameroon had won 0, lost 1, drawn 2, since his return, they have won both games, and are now back in serious contention to qualify.

This has been taken further by Adebayor admitting in open, he doesn't speak to Alexandre anymore, and that he 'lost his cool' at they way he was being pick pocketed by the Arsenal enforcer, and head trainer Paul Le Guen has also stated that Alexandre is his second name on the list after captain Eto'o-Fils. His persistence in the Togo game outshone those of seasoned veteran Makoun. Arsenal fans should be proud of their young intelligent warrior in midfield.

It is a far cry from the days when Alexandre and Adebayor were close buddies, even appearing on a music video on French TV with Bacary Sagna last season.

Arsenal 3 - Birmingham 1: 3 goals, 3 points, Team Defence sucks.

2009-10-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

A win is always welcome, and based on the last time B'ham came for a league match at the Grove, it is an improvement on the draw they shared last time. The goals today were nicely executed, as expected, with the technicians the club has, this has to be expected rather than hoped for as a surprise. Van Persie slipped in a shot, Diaby rounded off a routine move, and Arshavin guided his goal home. Nice, obligations met, 3 points in the bag.

However, as all will have seen, there were so many errors made today, the first by Mannone, knowing Almunia is back, he needs to ensure he keeps him on the bench, the error today should not be tolerated, this is the big time, no room for such elementary errors. He had two choices, either catch the ball or punch it clear, he did none with conviction, and Bowyer shot into an unguarded net.

Then there were a string of missed passes, Gibbs is another who needs to bring his A-game to the table, with Clichy out injured, this performance was not one that will keep Clichy on the bench. Defensively, he lost his composure after a few missed passes and the error for the goal.

As a team, after B'ham scored, the team never reacted quickly to push ahead, and B'ham had many opportunities to score an equaliser, the midfield wasn't compact, the defence pushed up in suicide fashion for one B'ham chance that needed a fine stop by Mannone to keep it at 2-1. The midfield need to improve on regaining the ball quicker and constricting the space.

Arsenal were 2-1 ahead, why should we be the ones who have to soak up the pressure? Do we want to show we are a class above? There is no need to wait 84 mins to put a game to bed the way we did today. Do we not understand we face tough opponents every week, with Champions League as well, if you are 2-0 ahead after 20 mins, the game should be over, you should impose yourself on the opposition to know that there is no way back into the contest. I hope we learn from this, it is a long season, and with energy being sapped, players injured, errors we make every game, we need to stake everything in our favour to win matches, no need for such performances.

Player Ratings

Mannone 4: Bad error for the B'ham goal, he needs no praise for the other save as he was simply doing his job, that is what he is supposed to do.

Eboue 6: One of the better players, never arrowed in aimless crosses like Sagna loves to do, kept the ball well and created space on the offence.

Vermaelen 5: Decent performance, not much more.

Gallas 5: Decent performance, although when the line was very high, he should have been the one to set the depth, would have been very costly.

Gibbs 4: Many missed passes, lacked composure in defensive motions, not a good showing, won't displace Clichy playing like this.

Song-Billong 5: Decent performance, nice passing mostly, not compressing space however.

Diaby 5: Worked very hard, we all know he has good technique, but needs to improve decision making, improved performance though.

Fabregas 6: More involved defensively, however as a captain, needs to ensure the team are in charge all the time, came very close to having a draw.

Rosicky 5: Decent performance from the experienced man, although fitness was an issue, allowed B'ham to break past him very easily.

Walcott 4: Only saw 32mins of action, brutal follow through tackle ensured he played no more.

Van Persie 6: Looking decent as a leading striker, nice technique and distribution and variety of attacking positions.

Arshavin 5: Not able to get into the rhythm of the team, looks an individualist at times, needs to bring his collective A-game all the time. Nice goal though.

Sagna 4: Misplaced pass led to a corner, that the team is never comfortable defending. He also needs to stop crossing, simply gives the ball away.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 6: Obligated 3 points, deployed his assets in decent fashion, but why did he allow the team to suffer for so long? The team was 2-0 up very early on, do the pragmatic thing and ensure the mentality of the team is that of being an immovable object, B'ham were allowed into the match way too easily. The fixture list is going to be crunch time soon, we need to conserve energy and get a right attitude for such matches, because with this attitude, we will lose crunch matches.

Arsenal 6 - Blackburn Rovers 2: Irresistible flaws.

2009-10-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

13 years under the Wenger administration, the Arsenal fans have become used to attacking football painted by artists. This afternoon, the same applied, the football that was produced was akin to football produced on the continent. This team is filled to the rafters with midfield technicians of the high quality, Rosicky-Arshavin-Nasri when he returns-Diaby, and the chief protagonist Fabregas. On this display, it is no wonder the team has been able to score 24 goals in 7 matches. All praise for the attacking style shown.

The downside though is probably something I keep mentioning, the midfield is not compact in defensive motions. The opposition seem able to pass easily around the halfway and 10 m behind, with no applied pressure around them and sufficient space to think for a pass. The use of a 3 man midfield also has repercussions for the defence, the prevalence of one-on-one duels, which if the opposition win, they are in on goal. The full backs as well today were not in good form, the crossing poor as usual,and lax defending, especially Sagna, who of late looks like he is in a comfort zone with the casual approach he takes at times.

In terms of the championship race, the result today means little, Arsenal beat Rovers 4-0 twice last year, so they were expected to smash them again today and pick up the obligated 3 points. Wenger needs to rectify the faults though on show today if he wants to get a team to be consistent and efficient unit able to attack and defend in equal quantities.

Player Ratings

Mannone 5: Two goals let in, probably his last match for a while as Almunia 'recovers'. Not much he had to do.

Sagna 4: Bad crossing, bad defending, what has happened to the Sagna of Auxerre and two seasons ago? He has become casual in his approach and isn't looking to improve his level.

Gallas 5: Not as commanding as he can be, probably thinking of skippering France in the upcoming matches as Henry may not play.

Vermaelen 6: Defensive lapse allowed a cheap goal, stunning strike to equalise, after that coasted through, lets hope he tries to maintain his level for a very long time.

Song-Billong 6: Good link man today, however needs extra work tactically to compensate for his low mobility. Needs to work with Fabregas and Diaby, you need to defend as a collective, not individually.

Diaby 5: Flashes of skill, but today he has seen what he is up against with the performance given by the other attackers, and with Nasri to return, this is another chance he has spurned. Needs to work as a collective when defending.

Fabregas 7: 3 assists, 1 goal, top performance by the captain. However needs to show the same aptitude in defensive motions where all the work is being left to Song-Billong. If he works on his defensive game, he will be a much better player.

Rosicky 6: Getting close to full fitness, however his maturity and genius influence is there for all to see. Get fully fit and he will be a major asset.

Arshavin 6: Nice goal, and more involved today than he has been all season, maybe warming up for the German invasion next week.

Van Persie 7: Nice goal, varied the points of attack, some nice build up work too. Will need to work on his poaching skills though in the future.

Walcott 5: Not on long, but long enough to score. Bigger thighs as well.

Ramsey 5: Also not on long, but some really delicious passing and appreciation of space.

Bendtner 5: Also not on long, 2 chances, 1 goal. 1 aimless run showing he wasn't on the same wavelength as his team mates.

Trainer Rating

Wenger 8. Deployed all his weapons where they should be, never interrupted them in the game as well, and some good substitutions. However maybe he could tell the team to close down more aggressively to ensure the opposition have no breathing space. Also could have instructed them to slow the game down more after the 4th goal and to be more compact and see the result out. Gets extra marks as well today for staying as long as he had, 13 years is a long time, lets hope the trophies come back soon.

Arsenal 2 - Olympiacos 0: Lots of cooking, no taste.

2009-09-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

In the Champions League, any win must be congratulated as you play opponents that have earned their national federation right to play abroad. For most of the game, Arsenal were the better side in an attacking sense, and by attacking relentlessly, they had little to defend. A taste of what may be enjoyed if all players remain fit, all the clubs premier technicians were on show bar Nasri, Fabregas-Rosicky-Diaby-Arshavin-Van Persie.

Inevitably, this led to lots of very good approach work, and against Nikopolidis who did a 'Mannone' saving everything, it took Arsenal 78mins to get past the Greeks. Whilst all the approach work was very good, where was the finishing? Do Arsenal require a finisher in the box still? Also the opposition were able to breach the lines a few times, why can't the team become more compact when an attack breaks down? This is something I keep seeing, the midfield not becoming compact and constricting the oppositions chances. Onwards and upwards then.

Player Ratings.

Mannone 5: Did his job when required.

Eboue 6: Good attacking.

Gallas 6: Very firm performance

Vermaelen 6: Very firm performance, no need for his all action style today.

Clichy 5: Can still improve yet in all departments.

Song-Billong 6: Never looked in trouble, infact got others out of trouble.

Fabregas 6: A bit like we are used to, although bad shooting, needs to mark better though.

Rosicky 5: Nice work, but fitness and not tracking back, hopefully once he has been fully rehabilitated he will get back to his Dortmund levels.

Arshavin 5: Still not getting into the matches enough for my liking. Nice goal though.

Diaby 5: The real Diaby never came out, the Diaby Arsenal need, the Diaby that can dominate a match with his technique. He is setting the bar very low for himself, what a shame for both player and the club.

Van Persie 6: Works hard, but Arsenal require a finisher in that role. Good for him to score as well though.

Trainer Rating.

Wenger 7. Deployed his resources where required, good tactical scheme, made changes when required, not many complaints when things go well. Maybe he may have to find a way to get Eduardo or Vela into the side as the team needs a striker that can finish all the creativity the side creates.

Green Light for Diaby.

2009-09-28T15:36:00.001-07:00

Samir Nasri-injured, Denilson injured, Tomas Rosicky rehabilitating, the time has come for Abou Diaby to stand up and emerge as an Arsenal player. If there ever was a do or die moment for an Arsenal player, this is it. In a 3 man midfield, Fabregas and Song-Billong have laid their claims, and unless Diaby does something special, he will relinquish the last posting to Samir Nasri at the end of October when he returns.

As pointed out in my early season preview, Abou Diaby has the tools to cement a place in the Arsenal team, what he hasn't done yet is apply himself mentally to becoming an elite champion. He cannot become a holding player for Arsenal, but he has the abilities to act as buffer to teams passing and breaking at Arsenal through his technique. As for his assertiveness, he showed it against Portsmouth by scoring two powerful goals to compliment his good performance.

Also, in the French set up, he is a certainty to be called up on Saturday in the France matches against the Faroe Islands and Austria, and is a dark horse to start as Raymond Domenech looks to add more attacking ability in midfield and the word is that Toulalan will be 'rested' as he hasn't been on form for Lyon, partly because he has had to play in defence, but also to find a new solution to having two pure holding players.

The time for Diaby is now, I personally feel he can rise up and declare himself to the Arsenal fans. He has the ability, few players get called up for France just after playing two matches, Diaby has done that in one of the most fiercely competitive positions in the French team that has a long queue in midfield. If Abou realises that he must apply himself mentally to using his abilities, and to produce performances over 90mins and not just 5-15mins a game, then he will have solved a few of the problems that Arsenal face.

Fulham 0 - Arsenal 1: Mannone fights alone.

2009-09-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Oh well, 3 points is what matters they say, but another performance for me that was not convincing. We are coming accustomed to misplaced passes, especially in midfield, lack of cohesion in midfield as well. That Mannone was the stand out player for Arsenal today by far shows that the rest of the team never took responsibility and tried to make the result easier for the young stopper. Arsenal have to improve and control matches better.

Match Ratings:

Mannone 7: Did far too much work, and congratulations to him for not shirking responsibility. Now look to improve, 1 good game doesn't make a career.

Sagna 5: So/so, would be nice if he could come off the axis instead of always head down and cross.

Clichy 5: Better from the left back, although still commits himself too much, it will cause trouble if he doesn't change that.

Gallas 5: Needs to be more proactive, why is the goal keeper having to make so many saves?

Vermaelen 5: Same as Gallas, also at set pieces, if you are not tall enough and can't jump high enough, find a solution like putting the jumper off.

Song 5: Not dominant as at the start of the campaign, he needs to step up and be the master, otherwise the trainer is obliged to find a new player.

Diaby 3: he has immense talent, but without mental application to it, you get nowhere. The best keeper of the ball at Arsenal and for France, and he turns in performances like this. When you get dropped, don't make noises, you will deserve it.

Fabregas 4: Misplaced passes, not enough defensive work. A top player when he combines it all, he isn't at the moment. Also needs to guide others around him to elevate their levels.

Arshavin 1: Clearly unfit, so why play him? Get fit then play, Arsenal doesn't need passengers this season.

Van Persie 5: Still not convincing as a central striker, at least he has a goal to his name now. Shoot from range more often.

Bendtner 5: Maturing, always plays with guts. Now needs refinement, not sure he will get that on the flank.

Rosicky 4: Not much time to show his true worth.

Eboue 4: Same as Rosicky.

Manager Rating.

Wenger 4: Why start an unfit Arshavin? Why keep an ineffective Diaby on for so long? Why not make changes to ensure that not many shots are aimed at the goal keeper? You can't keep the team under pressure for so long. Also why play youngsters in the Carling Cup, and then not promote them to the league, and instead use unfit players like Arshavin, when will Wilshere start in that case? Ramsey plays well mid week, then is on the bench for Diaby? I hope you have taken note of under performers, and make changes accordingly on Tuesday.

Game to measure improvements: Rosicky to start.

2009-09-25T02:45:00.000-07:00

A key to Arsenals hopes for domestic success will hinge on reversing negative results they incurred last season. Last season, Arsenal drew at Old Trafford, this season they lost, last season they lost at Eastlands, this year they repeated the result, last season they drew at Goddison Park, this year they won.

Next on the list is Fulham, the team that exposed what was to come during the season, beating Arsenal off a corner 1-0, in one of the worst displays of the campaign. Fulham are not playing as they were then, and Arsenal are in a better rhythm in this moment than they were last year, so the scope for a better result is there.

This match could examine how Arsenal will fare this term, Fulham are a team that have some ability, their defence and midfield synergy is impressive, in that they can defend deep and spring on the counter at the right moment. Arsenal will have to be brave and persistent to get the openings and also be compact in midfield to constrict the game in their favour. Another important aspect, post that game, the trainer Wenger admitted to the team not having the mental preparation and application to meet the challenge on the day, we saw this against Liege, a repeat and his team could face problems again. Walcott will be on the bench, Tomas Rosicky will make his full return to the starting line up as well.

Arsenal need to get 3 points from game, they need to reverse the negative results last year to gain the points they dropped so easily last season.

2 Wins, 1 disaster, 1 redemption

2009-09-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Post the double defeats in Manchester over the last 3 weeks, Arsenal went to Belgium, fell behind to 2-0 after 5 minutes against Standard Liege, played horribly, but managed to win 3-2, 1 good Bendtner goal, two other scrappy and questionable goals. A win is a win, but it is a glimpse of prospective poor performances this side is capable of. Not to be focussed from the first whistle is a sin on both the trainer and the players. Against stronger and more mindful opponents, there will be no way back.

I won't do match ratings for that match, as all of them were rotten.

Today, 4-0 win over Wigan, first clean sheet of the season, long may it continue.

Mannone 5, Sagna 5, Gallas 6, Vermaelen 7, Clichy 5, Song 4, Fabregas 5, Diaby 5, Eboue 5, Eduardo 5, Van Persie 4, Bendtner 5.

Paid back with Interest, 4-2 loss to Man City.

2009-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Some may have been happy with the sale of Adebayor, I for one was not, especially at £25m to the worlds richest club. The numbers do not lie, he scored 24% of the teams league goals in the last two seasons. Some may be angry at his celebration and provocation, but some Arsenal outlets were proud to say he was a cancer and we never needed him now that the goals were being shared around the team. The fact remains, unless you have players who can score every game, and in the tight games, you need a striker, Arsenal lacked that today. We should not have given Man City and Adebayor the platform to do what they did today.

As for the match, well, a very very very poor performance. With the squad already being stretched with injuries, we cannot employ the new 4-3-3 to the same effect if the primary players are not playing. The goals we conceded, well all collective mistakes. The first, why did the team allow a routine ball into the box, have they not learned that this is a weakness that time on the training ground will fix? Almunia was very casual as well, and put the ball in his own net, a big shame.

The second, a very lazy pass from the captain, and Clichy being over enthusiastic set the pieces in motion, there was complacency again collectively in not all going back to stop the impending danger, and another goal, very simple.

The third, Clichy went diving into a tackle, he never came out with the ball, then Gallas and Vermaelen never spotted Adebayor in acres of space, the dive by Almunia was in slow motion as well, another easy goal.

The fourth, Clichy over ran the ball, had it stolen, Man City jogged with the ball up the field on a counter attack, Rosicky who was fresh never tracked the dangerous runner, and Wright-Phillips chipped home. Where were the covering runners in midfield? See a pattern?

For these goals, were Arsenal undone by extraordinary skill or moves? No, basic elementary mistakes, lack of team work as well. Collectively they never fought back to show who was boss. To be a champion, you give your best to the end, and yet again, we already saw the players give up with 10mins to go. Fabregas should be the last one to give up hope, yet again he was the first. Collectively, if Arsenal do not defend as an entire unit, we will continue to leak goals, we are already on 8 goals against, not good at all.

Ratings.

Almunia 2: Very poor the the first, no authority over team mates, could have done something for the third and fourth strikes.

Sagna 3: Still crosses to nothing, until that changes, he should stay at the back and not come forward, it is simply losing possession with his crossing ability.

Clichy 2: Three goals have his fingerprints all over them. He needs to calm down and measure his game, you will never see Evra give up such incidents that lead to goals.

Gallas 3: Comes forward looking for goals, but as the last line of defence that ships 4 goals in one match, you can never be praised.

Vermaelen 3: His poorest display in an Arsenal shirt. Maybe the hammering by Spain last week is still in his system.

Song 3: On the counter, we were skinned, he needs to fall deeper if he knows he has no pace. Also beaten very easily by Richards for the second.

Fabregas 2: Poor pass that led to the second, not at the races. As a captain, we need him to fight to the 95th min, he looked like he gave up at the 80th min. Is the captaincy a burden too much for him?

Denilson 3: Not much to say, not visible, but not a disaster unlike others. Still plays with guts.

Diaby 2: He needs to bring his A-game, we saw glimpses of his undoubted ability, but he is not good enough to play well for 10 mins out of 95mins. He needs to play well for 95mins.

Bendtner 3: Played well over the internationals as a central striker, deployed on the flank for his club. Lots of effort, not much quality output.

Van Persie 3: Not involved, keeps smacking the woodwork. Not sure he can be the central striker the team needs to score goals.

Rosicky 2: Nice to see the talented player back, especially with a goal, but watch the second and fourth goals, he was fresh and never bust a gut to get there before the attacker. We need the whole package Tomas.

Man Utd 1 - Arsenal 0.

2009-08-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Arsenal have lost their first match of the season losing 1-0 to the English Champions. Compared to the second match loss in the Champions League, there was a big improvement, and today, there was a clear building from the 0-0 at the end of last season. So where did the team go wrong?

1. Failure to manage the match. Arsenal went 1-0 up, and poured forward for a second without abandon. Arsenal were the team in command, and as a team in command, they should have forced Man Utd to work hard to come back into the contest and earn their goals. Instead, they gave Man Utd cheap chances, and as champions, they took them. Arsenal should have killed the game early, they never managed the game in their favour, and the balance swung the other way. Utd went 2-1 up, became more compact in midfield, forcing Arsenal to work and they played on the break, good managing of the match.

2. Response. Arsenal failed to find the resources to respond to going behind, and this meant they could not get back into the contest. Champions find a way to get back into a game, I don't think we gave every single ounce possible to get the result.

Ratings:

Almunia 4: Needless penalty to give away, could have reacted a bit better to the Diaby goal.

Sagna 4: Still needs to work on crossing, on accuracy and necessity of them, either way, it gives possession away.

Gallas 6: Proving again he is a defenders defender.

Vermaelen 6: A good acquisition thus far, good reading, good passing.

Clichy 4: Bad crossing like Sagna, needs to refine his game more.

Song-Billong 5: Did good defensive work, although he could have used his good passing to more use to create more openings.

Denilson 4: Moved around, never created or looked like leading a charge to make the difference. Steady though.

Diaby 4: He never played to his high potential, ignore the own goal, he looked a bit fatigued until that goal where he tried to make ammends. We are still waiting for him to arrive, he has the capacity, just not done it.

Eboue 4: Steady, but not ready to make the difference in a key position that should yield goals.

Arshavin 3: Good goal, but nothing more, way off form, he needs to put himself at the disposal of the collective. He is good, but not good enough to be a passenger which he is at the moment, especially since we know he can help the team make the difference.

Van Persie 5: No goals yet, lots of work, but needs to be a killer in front of goal, and to take more chances, you don't score if you don't shoot enough.

Make Hay While The Sun Shines.

2009-08-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

For nearly 8 months of this calendar year, the trainer, and board have been asked to seriously evaluate the deficiencies in the team and invest in new players. However since June, Arsenal have sold Adebayor and Toure for £40m, while bringing in only Thomas Vermaelen for £10m. This is not what many supporters including myself had in mind for this summer.

However once the season has started, and your team has scored 12 goals in 3 games and only let in 2, all is 'forgotten'. It was not long ago since the team had a disaster end to the season after bad play and squad status, and only after Vermaelen has come into the starting line up and a better balance and playing to the squads strengths have the supporters forgotten about the last 9 months.

The truth is the squad still needs to be augmented. We all know that Arsenal always have players injured at any one time, 7 players at the moment, what is to guarantee that that list will not grow? However even discounting injuries, we have sold a defender and not replaced him, we have lost a striker who scored 24% of our league goals in the last two seasons and not replaced him. These are significant gaps that have been 'erased' by the destruction of Everton and Portsmouth, will they be exposed when the teams points ratio falls as it will throughout the season? Is that the time to then bring up these issues?

If we analyse our Champions List squad list, we have 3 slots still available for acquisitions, and if we do not prepare for when the rain comes, we will only have ourselves to blame. Adapting to the Arsenal ethos takes some time, even for the best players, only addressing these issues in January may be too late where every point is vital in the Premier League these days. For my money, I'd still like to see a central defender capable of pushing both Gallas and Vermaelen for a spot, I'd like to see another striker come in to replace Adebayor, and possibly another genuine wide player if Wenger intends on pursuing with an expansive wide counter attacking style. Central midfield as yet is the least of our worries, we have 7 players all ready to play there, and if we continue with the attitude of collective play, and if Denilson-Diaby-Song are all struck down,we can deploy Djourou there.

Please Arsenal, don't set yourselves for a needless fall, make hay while the sun shines.

6-1 win, Real or Fake?

2009-08-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

6-1, what can I say? I never thought we'd score so many goals, well done to the team and to the trainer for a good start to the season. We scored two goals off set pieces (Gallas and Vermaelen), two from the skipper Fabregas, a curling effort by Denilson, and a poachers goal by Eduardo after Arshavins shot hit the post. We took all the opportunities that came our way, that is very positive.

However, I find it hard how to view this result, it is a one off for sure, but Everton were so bad than we were so good, they plain and simple looked off colour, even the trainer alluded to them 'not having the high physical energy' they usually do. Defensively, Vermaelen and Gallas look a good fit, they seem to take their defensive work very seriously, which is good to see, they held a good and consistent defensive line. The full backs still need to improve their attacking play, Clichy is not yet at top rhythm.

The midfield was our most dominant feature, as a collective they played very well, Song-Billong, Denilson and Fabregas were really on their bit, and played a good game as a unit. The attacking trio up front were okay, but were not 'killers', we will need them to fire soon in a big way if this new formation is to make the difference.

The negatives, call me a cynic, but still no clean sheet, we need to be switched on for 95mins, 1 goal given up breeds bad habits, especially a goal that Everton did not deserve, also the reaction of the players to it shows they never took the task of keeping a clean sheet seriously enough. We let up too many easy goals last campaign, we must not accept this.

We also need to be more compact in midfield, strangle the opposition of possession, Everton created chances they did not deserve. Finally, why chase 6 goals and play full tempo for 95mins? We don't have a winter break, the game was dead at 3-0, why not keep the ball and conserve energy? If we do this in every game, we will be worn out by January, we all saw Barcelona were jaded in January/February, and they had a winter break in a less combative league, we need to play with our heads, 3 points is all we need, not goals galore, when Rosicky returns, he will tell the players to calm down, conserve energy.

Next up Celtic Park, lets hope for a favourable result.

Phoney War is nearly over.

2009-08-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Emirates Cup has come and gone, and we have regained the title we relinquished last year. It has been some decent workouts, some facets of the team are improving, some still show clear flaws that if they aren't rectified, will haunt the team at the business end of the season.

The use of 3 central midfielders is something i have personally always prefered in a 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1, precisely because the bulk of our best players are comfortable in central midfield, they are not then asked to perform roles like playing on the flank which reduce their effectiveness. The midfield 3 so far has been decent, i won't praise it more until we show we can maintain it over a period of time without getting scared of our opponents.

In attacking motions, it means the ball is worked around well, however in defensive motions, there is big trouble, sat in the Directors Box yesterday, we come under pressure so easily, attacking teams are able to fly at our defence easily, and you wonder why at least one of the 3 players does not try eliminate this, preferably all 3 will make haste to prevent any pressure on the defence. This needs major refinements yet still, if it cannot be solved internally, then maybe externally will be a starting point.

The defence still showed they are not capable of keeping clean sheets, the goal we allowed Atletico to score was bad defending, and the second half against Rangers was comical to be kind. we assume Vermaelen is a quality starter, we still need a quality backup player, Silvestre-Djourou-Song Billong should not be first in line, last season showed all it took was 1 injury to Gallas for the floodgates to open.

Also a special mention for Wilshere, what a talent he is, but expectations must be reduced, i am not sure he is ready to be the player we rely on to make the difference, defenders in a competitive arena will wear him down physically to reduce his impact, we need to wait another 2 seasons at least before the team can count on him to make the difference.

RIP Bobby Robson

2009-07-31T04:05:00.000-07:00

This is not Arsenal related, but i can trace my love for football due to a few instances, all linked to the World Cups of 1986 and 1990, all in epic matches involving England and Robson.

Although i was far too young for 1986, the 1990 World Cup is more a memory, growing up in Southern Africa, the whole continent was behind the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. That they took England to the break, a team which Robson trained, i was compelled to watch more of that England team. The tears of Gascoigne are also a memory, and of Robson consoling him.

The 1990 England team doesn't get the respect it deserves, Robson was able to get a technical team as far as they have ever gone since 1966, not forgetting his stint as Newcastle trainer in the late 90's-early 00's. It is a shame that he was not lauded enough during his lifetime, not many other English coaches have had any success on the continent, having trained and mentored real legends like Ronaldo and Figo, and bringing on Mourinho.

REST IN PEACE ROBSON.

Hannover 0 - Arsenal 1

2009-07-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Just a short one, the first half was very good indeed. I won't read too much into the possession and attacking work, Arsenal are renowned for being able to pass triangles against anyone, and although we only scored 1 against the worst defence in Bundesliga 1 and 2 (69 goals let in in 32 games tells it's own story), we should be scoring more than once. In the 4-3-3, we looked good.

What really was good in the first half, COLLECTIVE DEFENDING, and the team being COMPACT and a good DEFENSIVE LINE. The defensive duo were very good in the defensive work, holding a good line and intelligent defending. The midfield spacing between attack and defence needs more work towards the forwards, but they were very compact and compressed space very well.

Second half was different, Djourou needs serious work defensively, he never held the line well and so many long or through balls came in. If Arsenal want trophies, we need a top rate defender as 1st choice sub, on this form, Djourou still shows his genesis as a midfielder in bad positioning.

Next up Atletico Madrid, the true indication comes vs Rangers on Sunday. Then we have a cleare picture what is required.

New Arsenal Leaders

2009-07-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to speak with a former Gunner and present player, both French after the 3-1 hammering by Man Utd in the Champions League. That one player said there was a lack of leadership, and that it was up to the new players to make a stand showed that Wenger is evolving his Arsenal team.

The old guard is nearly out, the new Arsenal is taking shape. Adebayor-Toure-Fabregas represent the past, and i will not be surprised to see Fabregas leave the club next summer after the World Cup. One player who should have been in this camp, Robin Van Persie, has been waiting to see where he stands, and he has not been in the same camp as the old guard, and he should now side with the new guard.

Who are the new guard? Andrey Arshavin-Manuel Almunia-Samir Nasri represent the big influences both on and off the pitch now. These are the players who will be the future of Arsenal.

Kolo Toure has been a good player to the club, a symbol for anyone arriving that dedication will ensure you get a chance at Arsenal. Forget his performances in the last few years, thank you Kolo, and best of luck at Man City.

The Defensive Midfielder Question.

2009-07-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

In most ideal teams for Arsenal, you are likely to see the recurring 'Nasri-Fabregas-New DM-Arshavin'. There has been so much distrust in the players vying for the perceived position to play in central midfield with the captain, namely Denilson, Alexandre Song-Billong, Abou Diaby. In an ideal world, Arsenal would have the financial circumstances of Real Madrid and buy all the best players in the world, in which case not more than 3 or 4 players would remain in the team. The fall from last seasons heights has been firmly placed on the aforementioned 3 players, when the whole team dis-functioned, the defence was more porous, the captain had his worst season in an Arsenal shirt (something that has gone under the radar so easily), the strikers fell below their qualities.

The question is, why do the fans want a new midfielder? Some in part due to the nature of English football that is blood and thunder, as intimated by Dennis Bergkamp in words to Andriy Arshavin, but also the success experienced last season where Mathieu Flamini fought for everything. Compare that to the understated and quiet operations of Denilson, a player more likely to pass and keep possession has not been enjoyed, similar to Claude Makelele who was insulted in his first few months for showing the art of a holding player to the English public. However to those who analyse his performances without prejudice, will see he has been one of the better players last season, and he actually does his job very well.

Alexandre Song-Billong is another one who is bypassed as not being a star player to play for Arsenal, yet his performances at the African Cup of Nations were more effective than the Africans he is compared to, namely Michael Essien and Michael Jon Obi, both of Chelsea. His prime assets are his passes, but after the dour 0-0 draw with Sunderland, he found new belief in his ability, and has begun to use his body to greater effect. We must not forget he is a player who Cameroon have failed to win when he hasn't played thus far in World Cup Qualification, losing to Togo, especially losing the midfield battle due to his absence from suspension.

Abou Diaby is a player that many do not see as a holding player any more, but the word from the training ground and France setup, he has better ball manipulation skills in tight areas than anyone in the Arsenal squad and better than Lassana Diarra in the French team. One way of absorbing presure for your team is keeping the ball and releasing it quickly, something Lassana does so well now for Real Madrid, something Abou has yet to translate from the training ground to the pitch on a consistent basis. Lets not forget it only takes 2-3 games in a row for him to get a call up to the French team, even ahead of former favourite Flamini, so the French technical staff see the talent there.

So why are Arsenal still clamouring for a new holding player, when they already have two players that played well in spells in an inconsistent team last season in a whole new midfield, and a player who may yet realise his potential? If fans want an improvement everywhere, then you can pick bones in the whole team, is Clichy a defender, are the defensive pairings effective, are those on the flanks ready to open the pitch up, is the strikeforce as efficient as perceived after the sale of Adebayor?

Personally, it will take a concerted effort from the WHOLE team for midfieldto be strong again. If players like Zidane would bust a gut off the ball and still had Deschamps and Davids behind him, then why can't Arsenal's front players do the same? To leave the whole defensive responsibility on one player is asking for trouble.

Arsenal Squad Austria: Senderos Last Chance Saloon?

2009-07-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Arsenal will announce the pre-season squad which will travel to Austria to play SS Columbia on Tuesday and begin the real pre-season preparations for what will be a long and arduous season for the club and many players. NO player from the First Team squad will be left behind unless there is a last minute injury, what remains to be seen is which players from the Youth squad will make the cut. As it is, Arsenal have a squad of 28 players, 3 Goal Keepers, 10 Defenders, 11 Midfielders and 5 Strikers, which is a large group already.

One player who has kept a dignified silence and worked extremely hard in training thus far has been Philippe Senderos. Having spent last season on loan at AC Milan where he failed to get a deal, the teams that have hovered for his signature in the ensuing weeks have not been to his wanting. Will he stay and fight to win a first team place? He must try emulate the attitude of Mathieu Flamini who two years ago made the central midfield position his own and kept the then Copa America winning captain Gilberto-Silva on the bench.

The first goal Arsenal conceded yesterday cried out for a commanding and organizing defender to deal with, Vermaelen-Gallas-Djourou-Silvestre, all rivals, failed to deal with it, would Senderos have done better? In January to March 2008, he deputised well for Toure, and performed so well, the consensus was why did Senderos have to make way for Toure after his AFCON 2008 return.

There is still a spot up for grabs alongside Gallas, he is the second tallest player in the squad, and he is the only one to have shown himself capable of withstanding an aerial assault in the team. The question is does he back himself to leave his rivals on the bench and finally realise his potential? If he stays and fights, he will be an asset to the team.

Barnet 2 - Arsenal 2.

2009-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

A so/so start from Arsenal, however drawing 2-2 with a low opponent even in a friendly is not as bad as the performance that went with it, especially in the first half. There are still some remnants of the bad points from last season.

1) No cohesion of the primary defensive unit and no organizer. Four central defenders played, Djourou-Gallas-Vermaelen-Silvestre, and none could organize the defensive scheme for set pieces, and the longer this persists, more goals will flow. This is the easiest route to score vs Arsenal. If you do not have a tall defender, then find other solutions to counter this threat, unsettle the opponents so they don't have clean runs to do damage. BIG BIG BIG IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED.

2) No emphasis on reclamation of the ball when it is lost. There is no need for a defensive midfielder if the other members all contribute to stopping the team coming under pressure. This is a serious issue to be addressed, the attackers must also work hard and become defenders as soon as the ball is relinquished. Oneplayer cannot be expected to perform this if the opposition uses 3-4 players to attack.

However as i noted earlier in this blog, Rosicky and Arshavin have already developed a relationship as both speak Russian, and it is a pre-cursor to the 1 playmaker - 1 fast player model that Wenger will look to employ this season on the flanks.

Dzeko to Arsenal?

2009-07-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

There is emerging word emanating from Brazil that Wolfsburg are due to make a €15m bid for Internacional striker Nilmar with a view to completing a deal by the end of next week. The official line from the Wolfsburg hierarchy is that they want to augment the Wolfsburg attacking line-up that includes Grafite-Caiuby-Esswein who have all played in the pre-season matches thus far whilst German Player of the Year Edin Dzeko is nursing an ankle injury sustained after a kick from Andrea Barzagli a week ago.

There was a well publicised dispute between new trainer Armin Veh and the Bosnian hitman earlier in the summer after a move to AC Milan was blocked. It has also come to light that the offer from AC Milan was only around the €19m mark. Dzeko signed a new contract that included a buy-out clause, the value is unknown but it will be close to the amount Mario Gomez went for to Bayern Munich, €30m. Trainer Veh has begun implementing a more defensive approach with a 1 striker system, possibly designed for Europe, having Nilmar gives them 3 top level strikers, of which Nilmar will demand first team football to keep his place in the Brazil team.

The window of opportunity has opened again, it remains to be seen if Arsenal make a move for a player who must have been the most consistent striker from February-May as he guided Wolfsburg to their first ever Bundesliga crown. Of all the potential options, ignore the transfer fee, this is a player who is entering his peak who has all the technical qualities to play for Arsenal.

The Return of Tomas Rosicky

2009-07-17T04:49:00.000-07:00

The Czech midfield maestro will make his long awaited return tomorrow at the pre-season match against Barnet as he will start the match. The Czech had been due to return after the Roma matches last season, there were no real setbacks, but as Arsenal had secured 4th, there was no need to risk him. As for the cup matches, it was felt his mental preparation would have taken much longer, especially to play in matches of such magnitude.

The word from the training ground is that he has a good relationship with Andrey Arshavin, and that his technical ability is there for all to see, all that needs to be put to test is his mental hurdle after such a long time, and if he is able to get into the rhythm of the team quickly, a starting berth is there for the taking. He is applying himself well in training and is working at just getting to the level of the squad after such a long time out. Rosicky is often the man everyone forgets about when naming their ideal team for the season, he may just force them all to re-evaluate those thoughts as he is aiming to get back to being an important cog in the first team

Welcome back 'Little Mozart', and we all hope you return to your best as soon as possible.

Arsenal Squad Assessment Part 5

2009-07-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

Having undergone a look at the squad, just how does it all merge together to ensure Arsenal have the best chance of success in 2009-2010?

1) Collective Responsibility.

Last season, Arsenal took a long time to gel collectively, and by the time they did, they were out of two competitions, the Carling Cup and the Premier League. Defensively, the defensive unit played on their own, especially the spacing between and towards the central defenders, unless the central defenders can set the agenda as a duo first, the defence will be easily opened up.

In midfield, it was startling, it was four players playing an individual game with no cohesion and identity. Nasri did his own thing, Walcott and Eboue their own thing, Fabregas failed to knit the team together and it left Denilson to try cover up for everyone else. Another showing of this in midfield, the highest concentration of talent at the club, and the season will not be well again.

The strikers were left on little service, and thus we never saw the best of them as they constantly had to drop deeper to retrieve the ball. An enduring sight was Arsenal having strikers outside the box and a cross arriving with only opposition defenders present.

2) Individual Responsibility.

As with a young team, it takes them time to get into the habit of taking responsibility. Marcel Desailly on French TV constantly criticises the French team and their young players like Benzema-Nasri-Diarra-Ben Arfa as not taking enough responsibility for themselves and their team. The play badly and then hide and hope no one remembers. This syndrome exists at arsenal, players can under perform and then they hide behind the excuse they are young. They all need to take responsibility for their own performances, only then can they take responsibility for the team's performance.

3) Champion Mentality

Arsenal need to find the mentality of a champion, and this manifests itself in never giving up, always giving their best, and doing anything to win a match. Tactically they must also apply themselves to winning matches and giving themselves the greatest chance for winning matches, instead of containing the opposition. Arsenal have good players capable of beating elite opposition if they set themselves up to win those matches, in the crunch matches however they set up to contain the opposition and no champion wins games in such a manner.

Verdict: I am sure Arsenal can improve on two of the three aspects outlined, however i don't think they believe they are champions, there is still an inferiority complex that gives the advantage to the opposition. The squad may be decent, but may also lack the mental strength for a marathon campaign, a 38 game journey takes mental strength, and with many of the team already used to low finishes, the step to becoming top of the pile may be a step beyond Arsenal. Another year of further development.

Arsenal Squad Assessment Part 4.

2009-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

The final part of the Arsenal Squad for 2009-2010, this one focuses on the strikers.

Strikers

9.Eduardo Da Silva. Possibly the best finisher in the Arsenal squad, all Arsenal fans have a special feeling for the Croatian after his horrendous leg break over a year ago against Birmingham City, that had a lasting impression on the squad's mental fragility. He made a brave return in the cup competitions, scoring 3 goals, all special efforts to underlie his immense goal scoring talents, and not forgetting his return to the Croatia team with two assists and a goal. He also had a few injuries after not playing for so long, so we all expect him to be near full fitness this season. His first task is to carve a niche for himself in the team, as it stands, Adebayor and Van Persie are the starting strikers, and the only way he can displace one of them is to be a goal machine. This is a big ask for him, but if he impresses in the pre-season matches, he could be given that lifeline of being the striker the team relies on.

11. Robin van Persie. The player of the season for Arsenal with a career best of 20 goals in all competitions. In the past, his fitness and discipline was a major concern, and to some extent it still could be, he missed 10 matches in the league, but this is a vast improvement over previous seasons where he missed 12-18 games in the league. He has also assumed a more senior role in the team, although he got a petulant red against Stoke, he rose to the big occasions when he could. On the plus side, he now has a right foot as strong as his left which in the past was a major weakness in his game, and he has started to score crucial goals to make the difference. There is still some way to go though, discipline, he chalked up the most cards in the squad, 1 red and 9 yellow, this means he misses more games due to bad discipline than fitness.

12. Carlos Vela. The Mexican striker has become a cult hero thus far, mostly from his exploits in the Carling Cup where his class showed through with some well crafted goals, curled shots and chips. In the league when the team was going through a bad patch, he was deployed on the wide left to use his speed, however his impact was not as great as it is when he is in the penalty box or running into it. For him to have a big impact this year, he must become more mature and try be the one to make the difference in the League and Champions League, The Carling Cup is the place to gain confidence, but that confidence must be fuel in the bigger matches, he must look to displace one of the starting strikers. Tactically, he still has some way to go as well, but that only comes with experience.

25. Emmanuel Adebayor. The man everyone loves to hate, and possibly a player who does not hold some of the fans in the best light as well. The previous season he scored 30 goals to cement himself as a senior striker, only to drop to 16 goals the following one, and this compounded with bad PR from himself in agitating for an increased contract has led to him being fed to the lions. However despite this, he chalked up 1 less goal than Van Persie in the league and was among the top assist makers for the side, so he operated at the same level as his peers at the very worst. To make a bigger impact this year, he must rediscover his work rate that had served him so well in his career before last season, the more pressure he applied high up the field made his job easier to score against a reorganising defence, from a static start, he wouldn't have as much influence. He must also make more darts into the box rather than staying outside and looking for the final pass. More work on his left foot would aid his variety as well.

26. Nicklas Bendtner. Another play who gets heat for under performance, but of all the strikers, he has a genuine big upward curve. He has 2 less goals than Van Persie in the league which shows he has some quality, and he has become more versatile by willingly playing on the flanks when requested. However he needs to work on the same wavelength as his team mates, too often he rushes on his own without being in synch with the others. His finishing technique requires better refinement, something he is improving on. He has a big aura and belief in his qualities, this is a season where he must genuinely look to put one of Adebayor or Van Persie on the bench and stop being the first choice sub or a man for the aerial game as he has good qualities that are more than just heading.

Verdict. The strikers last season accounted for 31 of the 68 goals scored in the league, which is a decent return, but with the chances the team creates, this amount could be better. Arsenal have a wide selection of different strikers with different qualities, and all of them need to make the step up from last season to increase their tallies, a team that concedes goals needs ultra effective strikers to win matches.

Arsenal Squad Assessment Part 3.

2009-07-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from the previous two sections that focussed on the goalkeepers and defenders, this is for the midfielders.

Midfielders

2. Abou Diaby. This will be his 5th season at the club, and despite flickers of what he is capable of, it is safe to say we are still waiting for him to arrive as a big player for the club. He still had a few lingering injury problems, which hopefully will have been cured after his summer with renowned physical preparation specialist Renaud Longuevre to improve his physique. Size will never be an issue with Diaby, what has been a problem is mental application, he seems to hide and hope no one mentions it when he plays badly,unless this changes and he applies himself, he will remain an enigma. He also needs to have more confidence to make use of left foot to open the pitch up. Still a long way to go for the tall midfielder.

4. Francesc Fabregas. The new captain, the 2008-2009 season was underwhelming at best for the fulcrum of the team. He sustained an injury that kept him out for just over 3 months. Before his injury he never held the midfield as he had done the season before, after his injury he was deployed at the apex of the midfield where his mobility was exposed against elite opponents. Technically, there is little for the Spaniard to improve on, maybe to develop a greater use of his left foot to open the pitch up more. Mentally he was a let down at the end of the season, as captain it is a prerequiste that he is the last one to let his head down, but he was among the first to do it. Regarding his comments not having a 'defensive insurance policy' behind him is a vote of no confidence in his team mates that played there, maybe he should have adapted his game to aid this area, Arsenal have the same players this coming season in central midfield, and unless he adapts to this reality, it may be another lost season for his immense talents.

7. Tomas Rosicky. The Czech international never made an appearance all of last season, and in that time there were disgraceful rumours on why this was. Despite being the forgotten man, he was the glue in the team that challenged on three fronts the season before last. His chemistry with Hleb off the flanks created chances galore for all the other players. In his absence, Arsenal missed a genuine leader and organiser of the structure of the midfield due to his maturity, something that Andrey Arshavin rectified in his short time at the club, which emphasises the impact of an established player. To get fully match fit and stay fit is where Rosicky will need to get for this season, if he achieves this, he will be a candidate to start all the matches as he has all the attributes to be a leader in midfield.

8. Samir Nasri. An encouraging début season from the French playmaker, the goals came all in a few months which indicated to him becoming a key player. However he struggled to adapt to playing on the flank, he was unable to come inside with or without the ball, and this stole his biggest attribute, finding passes to the strikers or runners. He still hasn't developed sufficiently from his biggest weakness at the Stade Velodrome of scoring more goals after very good work. For him to make a bigger impact will depend on his deployment, central midfield is where he shines most as shown in his cameos there when Fabregas was injured, notably Roma (home) in the Champions League where he was finding the passes. If he remains on the flanks, he needs to find a way to come inside and still be creative which took Hleb two seasons to master, a hard transition for a natural playmaker.

14. Theo Walcott. The English striker-cum-winger had a decent season. He scored a hat trick against Crotia which elevated his confidence before becoming a targeted man and that led to many injuries. 6 goals in all competitions is a decent return, he has a lot of deficiencies, but that indicates he also has a bit upward curve still to arrive, the question when will it? He still hasn't got the better of a top level fullback over 90mins, the elite opponents shut him down completely because of his tactical and technical shortcomings such as not being able to come inside with the ball with conviction and not having a left foot to increase his options. If he gathered these skills rapidly, combined with his speed, he would scare elite opponents, at the moment speed is the only weapon he has, and speed can always be countered by well prepared tactics, which the likes of Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra have executed on him.

15. Denilson. The player with the most appearances last season in the league, the Brazilian had a break out season despite his many critics. He only missed one game due to being rested by the trainer Wenger against West Ham, after that he was a constant. He was the only one to fully realise that there was a spot for grabs and he gave his all to obtain it, he although maybe tried to hard which led to blow out for him. He also played on the flanks and showed tactical understanding to move flanks to help a team mate. Many say he is not a good holding player, however they should watch his performance against Roma (home) where he delivered a textbook performance in how to execute it. He still has scope to improve, to be better positionally and maybe enhance his long passing range to augment his good short passing qualities. If he isn't given an opportunity to build on his solid displays from last season and other players keep their jerseys, there will be a sign of favouritism from the trainer.

16. Aaron Ramsey. He had many of his chances in the Carling Cup where he was the director of the symphony, however in the bigger games, he never had the same impact. Tactically there is still a long way to go for the Welsh youngster, and he needs to develop the mentality of a player at a prestigious club which means every player must have the capacity to make the difference in every game, regardless of age.

17. Alexandre Song-Billong. The Cameroon midfielder grew in the latter stages of the season, and the start of this came after the disaster 0-0 match with Sunderland where him and Denilson passed across and not forwards, leading to Fabregas telling both of them that they were wearing important shirts and needed to show more courage when wearing it. After that, he was like a man reborn, he had shown small stretches of good form like in the closing stages against Chelsea (away) and Liverpool (home) where he took responsibility to keep his team in the game. Until then he was only showing 20-30 mins of quality, in the last third of the season he was giving 80+ mins of quality which has led to him being demanded as a starter for Arsenal. He still has scope for improvement, to be better positioned and setting the scheme of the midfield. More use of his left foot as well will be very welcome, as well as more communication with the defenders.

19. Jack Wilshere. Another youngster who is still far away from the first team despite his prodigious talents. He was good in the Carling Cup, even better in the FA Youth Cup where he was head and shoulders above everyone else despite being the shortest player on the pitch. I do not forsee him playing in the bigger exposure games yet, he is still very young and needs to identify his weakness' and work on them himself.

23. Andrey Arshavin. In 4 months, he has revitalised the fortunes and hopes of the team, aiding the team with goals and assists, he is a mature performer who showed his experience in being the organiser and leader of the midfield and how they should structure themselves. Added to this, after a goal, he was the one speaking to the players on what they must do instead of celebrating wildly. For him to improve though, he must get into the game more often, a scary thought as he does so much without being in the game much. Maybe his deployment as well may give greater returns to the team if he is placed behind a striker than on the flank.

Verdict: The numbers are present in midfield for Arsenal not to have to juggle too much, however deployment and collectively is where the destiny will be decided in the most important part of the pitch. Nasri and Arshavin are not at their best when deployed on the flanks, Diaby so far is not at his best on the flank or as a deeper midfielder, Fabregas has shown no confidence in his current team mates so how will he react, Walcott as yet is not a top level wide player. If positive solutions are found to these doubts, then the Arsenal midfield have won more than half of the battle with their technical ability alone.

Arsenal Squad Assessment Part 2.

2009-07-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from the previous section of the goalkeepers, this one is for the defenders.

Defenders.

3. Bacary Sagna. Current first choice right back, he is a consistent performer, however his effectiveness in his second season hasn't been as stellar as his début season. There is still lots of room for improvement, his crossing has been very bad all season, if there is no one in the box, don't cross. He also needs to work on coming infield with the ball instead of only moving on the axis. Improve on this, added to his reliable defensive work, the right side will be locked.

5. Kolo Toure. The veteran at 28, since his lofty performances under Sol Campbell in the Invincibles and Philippe Senderos in 2006 in the Champions League, he has regressed markedly. Underlying fitness issues to his mobility, and his non-genesis as a defender have combined to making the fans favourite a weak link in the defence. To improve and play a big impact, he needs to improve his physical conditioning, and communicate with the other defenders, in particular Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas, with whom he has been very bad with.

6. Philippe Senderos. Returning from an injury ravaged season at A.C. Milan, the Swiss defender is rumoured to be looking for a transfer. Despite stretches of good form, he hasn't managed to sustain it, only for an elementary technical error to undo his good work. To improve, he'd need to read the game better and play in unison with his co-defender, however with more teams buying quicker strikers, he may be caught cold on the turn.

10. William Gallas. Ignoring the events off the pitch, many which have been blown out of proportion, and are not as corrosive internally than many think, the former skipper is the best defender at the club. He has shown a champion spirit on many occasions, when the team needs a goal to get points, you can rely on Gallas. This season which may be his last, in a World Cup year where he will hope to lead the France defence, he should be inspired. He cannot improve in the aerial game, but we hope to see sharper last ditch tackles which are his forte.

18. Mikael Silvestre. Consensus is that he had a disastrous début season at Arsenal. He never seemed to communicate at all with the other players, then again he arrived 10 days before the close of the market last year. Despite this, he has experience that in theory should help the team, he only needed 3 games with Arsenal to earn a recall to the French squad after a 2 year wilderness, so the quality is there in parts. If he is able to form a bond with the other long standing players in defence, he will be a useful cog in the squad.

20. Johan Djourou. The Swiss defender had a decent shot at the games that he started last season, and has become one of the fans favourites because he is a tall player 'to deal with the high balls'. However he hasn't delivered killer performances that will consign one of the other senior defenders to the bench, and thus remains just another of the squad players. His genesis as a central midfielder show at times where his positioning and reading of the game put the team in trouble. This season he must dedicate his all to establishing himself as the best defender at the club, rather than a stand in player.

22. Gael Clichy. This will be his fourth season as a starter, and his previous three have been satisfactory, two seasons ago he edged his compatriot Patrice Evra as the best left back in the league. Despite his all energy performances, there are some serious defensive cracks in his game, still loses concentration, and his crossing doesn't lead to assists. He is a good player at the moment, Arsenal need him to be better, he must improve on these aspects of his game to become a better player.

27. Emmanuel Eboue. A versatile player who has played everywhere except as a striker, but he bore the grunt of a disgruntled fanbase when boo's rang out as he was substituted against Wigan. Most other players would have been left totally shattered, not the Ivorian who has had tragedy in the cival war in his country, and to his credit he has maintained his smile and work rate in training i gather. Despite this, a berth in midfield will be limited this term, and unless Bacary Sagna has a long term injury, chances are limited there too. He can work on his overall game to improve, but with no assigned position to work on, the levels he can aspire to are limited.

30. Armand Traore. He has returned from a loan period at Portsmouth, where he played mostly in midfield. Opportunities in defence will be limited, and maybe as well in midfield. His defensive and offensive work needs a lot of refinement as does his dribbling stance that makes it easy for the ball to be taken away from him.

40. Kieran Gibbs. The youngster got extended spells in the team, first choice in the Carling and FA Cups, and a run at the end in the League. However at this rarefied level, mistakes are punished, and his ultimate mistake was to slip in the Champions League semi final for Man Utd to score and take the advantage. Despite this, he has a big upward curve, he appears to respect hid defensive duties and is not cavalier, he also respects keeping the ball is vitally important for a full back. It will take a mammoth effort to dislodge the incumbent Gael Clichy, but this must be his ultimate goal.

Thomas Vermaelen. The former Ajax defender and Belgium international has been bought in to hopefully play as a first choice player. I have never seen him play so i have no assessment of him, but hopes are that he is here to put one of the central defenders on the bench, as that shows squad improvement.

Verdict: Individually, Arsenal has some good players, they do lack cohesion and a definite plan in the art of defending. All of them have scope to improve, which they must, statistically the defence is still a major problem, 31 goals conceded in 2007-2008 and 37 conceded in 2008-2009, so defence has been a long standing issue, and it requires a big improvement and desire to stop goals from this unit as a collective as well individually to take responsibility for no goals being given away.

Arsenal Squad 2009-2010 Assessment. Part 1.

2009-07-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

The wait is nearly over, from Monday 13 July, the squad will begin to work more intensely with the ball and the identity of play which will be employed for the season. I will give an assessment of the squad, goalkeepers first, defenders second, midfield third and finally strikers. Any new acquisitions will be addressed at the close of the market in September.

GoalKeepers.

1. Manuel Almunia. The current number 1, his third season as a regular beckons. He thrived in his first as he had Jens Lehmann breathing down his neck, his second he had little competition, and despite being a very good goalkeeper, unless Fabianski applies intense pressure, he may slip into a comfort mode. Last season he made the difference between more goals being scored, showing he understands the destiny of the team are in his hands, he also had bad errors though like Ronaldo-Bentley.

21. Lukasz Fabianski. He needs to really step up this term and aim to relegate Almunia to the bench and keep him there. To do that, he needs to calm down and realise the destiny of the team is in his hands, this he never did last season where he appeared casual and suicidal in the chances given to him. A place in the Poland squad is up for stake, so he needs to step his game up. A classic case of an able deputy is Juventus, Buffon was injured, Manninger played with distinction many thought he should have played more games, we need this from our Pole.

24. Vito Mannone. A number 3, i do not think he will get many chances, he isn't ready to hold the destiny of the team in his hands that affects results. The most he can hope for is Reserve team football and the Carling Cup.

Verdict: Almunia has a possible England place to play for, Fabianski has to perform to get a place in the Poland 2010 squad, between these two, if they play towards these objectives, Arsenal can have some inspirational performances, just like Lehmann who realised this reality in 2005 to become Germany Number 1 in 2006.

Sky Sports Liars......for now.

2009-07-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the reports of Sky Sports that St Etienne dynamo Blaise Matuidi was in London last night are not true according to my links at the base where his team are preparing under Alain Perrin.

St Etienne are currently based in the south of France, Chambon-sur-Lignon, and yesterday the team went through it's paces on their arrival, and after some fitness work, they began working with the ball, and the central midfield pairing of Matuidi and captain Loic Perrin moving around together. Training finished in the late afternoon.

Today, the team began training just before noon, and followed roughly the same routine, but this is a team already deep into it's preparatins after a disasterous season where they just escaped relegation despite having a talented squad. Matuidi was present and joking with Bafe Gomis and Dabo, whom he trained with closely today.

If Matuidi was able to 'sneak' out and be in two places at once, he really is a special human being! There is talk of Gelson Fernandes in the French papers joining the Geeens, in the anticipation of Blaise leaving, however this has yet to be put in motion.

No Melo-Drama, laughing at you Arsenal!!

2009-07-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Arsenal will not acquire Felipe Melo, neither will Emmanuel Eboue opt for a switch to Fiorentina. What has been published on the Fiorentina website is another sign of botched transfer negotiations with a club from the Peninsula, a lack of local knowledge.

When you propose a transfer in Italy, you need to have the deal sorted out within 2-3 days maximum before it collapses, the Italians are not ones for drama and saga's, you either put your money where your mouth is, or you are publicly shamed as not being professional enough to conclude a deal.

Arsenal witnessed this with Inler last season, then again they did not have a sporting director and relied on the trainer to do it himself, Arsenal seem to have made the same error again, they made tentative noises in December, they had from May 24 to conclude a deal and were unable to do it. Much maligned Juventus sporting director Alessio Secco seems to have learned from his errors, and has swooped in promptly to get his recruits, Diego-Cannavaro, and he has botched the D'Agostino deal by stretching it for over 3 weeks. It seems this is the same error Arsenal have made.

Juventus have signed Felipe Melo, and he will be presented as a Bianconeri player next week, and they have already begun printing Melo-4 as his squad number.

"No Fight for the Title=End of Youth Policy"

2009-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

The words of the trainer Wenger to French Radio RMC today. The key statement when asked if he was close to joining Real Madrid, he said no, and that it is because he has built this young team. He then went on to say the important quote: "Je ne nie pas que ce sera une année décisive. Si on ne se mêle pas à la lutte pour le titre, il faudra tout reconstruire." This translates as "I don't deny that this will be a decisive year. If this team doesn't fight for the the title, then it will have to be reconstructed."

In the interview, the trainer says not many acquisitions are required to supplement the squad, and that will depend on possible departures. He also is banking again on a fit squad, especially in midfield to make the difference, compared to last season where it was a whole new midfield.

The most decisive year for Arsenal. If you ever want to find out what the trainer really thinks, don't look on arsenal.com or on local reports, he along with many of our players speak to the French media.

Abandoned Project.

2009-07-01T00:23:00.001-07:00

It was interesting last night to see the presentation of Kaka, he never said he was persuaded to join because of the potential salary or the potential players that Real Madrid would buy, but instead all it took for him to come was when Perez told him about "a specific project". This project undoubtedly means collecting titles and making Real Madrid the best club and team in the World, and at any cost, sporting ambitions come first.

Since 2004, Arsenal have had a project, to blend young players with our Invincible champions, that soon turned into building a young team, i am not sure what the project is now, but i lean more towards getting more money, thus a financial ambition over the sporting ones. A clear example, releasing two kits this summer which will only be worn this season, if you buy all three including the home one, it's £120 on shirts alone.

If the club had as much ambition on buying quality players every season like they bring out quality shirts, the trophies would have arrived a long time ago, instead they look for money to pay unproven and under performing players(Walcott earns £60k/wk, Ozil who destroyed England on less than £10k/wk), the board have chosen the wrong path.

Oh, and the transfer window is open now, all the team has is Vermaelen, i frankly don't care what Gazidis does now, we need all the players before pre-season training begins next week, Perez has shown he is a true CEO, he thrills the fans, puts sporting ambitions over financial ones.

The End is Nigh

2009-06-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

I for one have lost total confidence in the clubs captain, it is well documented in his statements this summer, and last summer, what is worrying is he doesn't learn and keep his mouth shut.

He talks about feeling liberated with the Spanish squad, and about the Arsenal dressing room being disjointed, why air the weakness' in public, especially if you are the captain?

How can we have confidence in him to put 100% in every game? He talks about some players being weak and not good enough, as if he played like Xavi and Iniesta last season? He talks about wanting to win trophies, yet in the crunch games he failed to perform. He talks about emulating Ronaldo, but Ronaldo performed miracles even when those around him were not as good, did our captain do this?

This is his last season, and if we know that, why not let him go now and give Nasri his spot, Nasri is the future of this team in central midfield. Gazidis should call Perez and ask for €50m for him. And just to think Gallas, a better captain in my view, is still hated yet he never talked about leaving the club and was devoted 200% to being a winning captain.

Arsenal Rehab...NO, NO, NO.

2009-06-16T09:08:00.001-07:00

Stop lying to us, if you want to leave, just say it and pack your bags with your mouths shut. First the captain, a few days ago he waxed lyrical about if Guardiola called him, he'd leave without thinking, only for him to say today that he never said that and he wants to stay.

What does he take us for, and he added the extra insult of “Coming over with the national team has been total liberation for me.

“I feel happy to be able to be playing in the Confederations Cup with this top-quality team.” And this is supposed to be the Arsenal captain?

Next is Bacary Sagna, a player who had a solid debut season, only to follow that up with a season where his crossing success rate as high as Kolo Toure's wild free kicks, he hears that Perez wants him for the Madrid project and he is not against it, only for him to deny it moments later, what does he think this is? Gael Clichy is the only player of honour, he was linked with Madrid and he instantly said no.

Then again how can we blame the players when even the coach admits he may want to go there in public?.

If they really wanted to stay, why can't they keep their mouths shut like Eduardo-Almunia-Walcott-Nasri-Rosicky who we have not heard this summer? They don't allow speculation, Clichy showed how to handle it by saying NO. Those that want to leave, please save us the time and lies, GET OUT NOW, you can be replaced, bigger and better players have left before you and Arsenal FC are still here, we won't allow you to hold this prestigious club to ransom.

Premier League Clean Up!

2009-06-11T13:27:00.001-07:00

Ronaldo Officially removed..

Alonso and Drogba next.

Yeah what a great gift for Arsenal, two of the most important players in the league are leaving, i'm already hearing critics say this only proves the poor condition English football is in, but you know what, its just a blessing!!. No it's time for some fresh blood, room for new stars, and new times.

to sum it up: Ronaldo out, Vermaelen in!, cheers

Two Weeks To Build For The Title.

2009-06-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

There are two weeks to go until the transfer window opens, and possibly one signing may arrive before the window opens. This is a step in the right direction, but considering we are likely to buy a player from abroad, they need at least 1 month to sort their personal lives out, so signings must be closed in now, it is nearly 1 month away from our first pre-season friendly, we return to training a week before this match. Gazidis and Wenger, sort the ins and outs ASAP so we know the team before pre-season, other clubs in Germany-Italy-Spain have already done the bulk of their improvements, we need a lot of improvements.

However the main idea i have, can Arsenal win the title? Statistically, in the last 3 seasons, the minimum threshold for the title is 27 wins, Manchester United have had 28 wins in two of the three. In that same time, Arsenal have had 19-24-20 wins, this shows there is still a lot of room for improvement. To achieve those 27 wins, we may need to beat all the teams 10-20 in the table twice to get 20, and then beat teams 7-9 twice and maybe 1 win against the other rivals to make the 28 wins.

Even then, that may not be enough. We draw far too many games as well, 11-11-12 draws in the last 3 seasons. When you look at Arsenal's chances of being domestic champions using these figures, you can see it is a big ask and improbable. Even if we buy 3-4 more players, i am not sure we have the cutting edge and stamina to last a 38 gruelling campaign.

The Most Important Summer Signing Is........

2009-05-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Whatever moves are made this summer, this is the most important, the trainer Arsene Wenger must be kept at the club. The Board have let him down, and this is impacting on his prestige globally as a trophy man, his rivals Ferguson and Mourinho all bagged league triumphs this year, a rookie trainer Guardiola has won a league title playing football the way Arsene Wenger does, so it comes as no surprise he may want to enter into a deal with the devil to win what he deserves.

We all know that Wenger plays mind games all the time, but to say something of this magnitude on a prestigious TV show indicates there may be some truth in Perez wanting him. For years Wenger has had to convince his players not to leave, this time it must be the board who must convince Wenger to stay, a tough ask indeed. Lets not forget that this season was thrown away by the board by sacking keys cogs in the structure, and just like the team, never replaced them, leaving Wenger having to multi task in recruiting, managing contracts,and coaching. We have seen the results on the pitch this season.

The Board needs to sort it out now, get stability in the boardroom, be it selling up to Uzmanov or most likely Kroenke, or getting rid of both of them, and then to quit playing hard ball with money, what kind of football team gets involved in property gambling and has no reaction to the quality of the squad falling every year? This Board is too concerned with being noble and reaping profits, whilst other boards are concerned with winning trophies. They need to release big money for new players, we are already at the bottom of the class of the 'Top 4', we are clinging onto that spot, we are closer to 5th than 3rd. Now they risk losing their biggest asset, the trainer who ensured Arsenal moved to a new stadium.

Some Pride Kept Intact

2009-05-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

A respectable 0-0 against worthy multi Champions Man Utd, but at least the season doesn't end with another hammering or hard defeat. We lined up in a rough 4-5-1, and whilst it gave us a lot of balance and control in midfield, we lacked the objective of the game, an ability to score. It is solutions like this that we must find asap before the season kicks off in 3 months time. Another aspect that i did not get it constantly throwing in crosses when there is no one in the box? Also the picking on Evra was childish, and no club like Arsenal should be involved in such negative actions.

Ratings

Fabianski 6: Good performance, then again United never tested him, good charge out vs Tevez.

Sagna 6: Solid as nails as a defender, needs to show more in his crossing, don't cross if there is no one in the box.

Gibbs 6: Not much work, handled Ronaldo well.

Toure 6: Close to back what we expect from him, got forward as well.

Song 7: Good showing, made tactical fouls as well.

Denilson 7: Doesn't funnel the opposition into blind alleys, but a good micro link man.

Diaby 6: We need to see more, he is not an average player, he can really scale the heights if he pushes himself more.

Fabregas 6: Where has his passing gone?

Nasri 7: We need to find a place for him in central midfield asap, very mobile and can spot the moving pass.

Arshavin 5: Invisible.

Van Persie 6: Up against tough defenders, could not get anything from them.

*Little noises about Adebayor who never travelled after a very revealing interview on BBC Football Focus, his future is in the air.*

At Least We Won't Have To Do This Tomorrow.

2009-05-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Transfers That Will Not Happen.

2009-05-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Some fans really amaze me, a) by how stupid they are and b) how much football do they really watch? This applies not only to the fans, but some well known pundits, many who have worn the Arsenal shirt.

YaYa Toure
Who in their right mind thinks Toure will switch a 98 000 capacity stadium, a team coached by one of the best exponents of the position in the last 20 years for a team that is so much smaller? This is lazy transfer wishing, just because we have his brother Kolo, is this why he is constantly linked? Let us not kid ourselves, YaYa is the holding player because he has Iniesta and Xavi in his positions, it's like Petit who had to play in midfield because he had Blanc-Desailly-Lizarazu in his natural positions. Look at YaYa for the Ivory Coast, he plays with Zokora and is the creative hub of the team, at Monaco he was the same, so why would he play Fabregas' second fiddle when he is just as good in that role? Enough of the YaYa talk, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

Giorgio Chiellini
A player who is playing for the most supported team in the world, has ambitions of emulating the achievements of other great defenders, spent an entire season in Serie B just to come to a foreign team when he has his whole career ahead of him? Wake up, this will not happen, the Juventus fans will kill the directors of Juventus, then kill Chiellini then come to London and target our top brass in the board. Enough of the Chiellini talk, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

David Villa
He looks like he will move, but why come to Arsenal, when he has Barcelona and Real Madrid both battling to sign him up. Both clubs have bigger stadiums, bigger exposure, bigger finances, and have a better chance of winning trophies every season, something our 5 year drought proves. Forget it, this is a guy who is among the Top 3 strikers in the last 5 years in Spain with Forlan and Eto'o, why pack that up and come to Arsenal? Enough of the Villa talk, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

The sooner we realise we cannot attract such players, the quicker we can realise just who we can.

Big changes, or we will fail again.

2009-05-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

During pre-season this year, many Arsenal fans could see it was not shaping out well, and we all hoped it would change around miraculously and we would find our feet. Unfortunately, what we saw at Barnet, Stuttgart, was a pre-cursor to all we have seen this season. Too many changes, teams built on the younger players like Denilson, teams already being shuffled like Eboue in central midfield, and a disorganized defence were all apparent and not rectified in time, even today we can see the results of it.

Last season, the pre-season was very sharp, the team was united, we won the Emirates Cup and Amsterdam Tournament, and we went on to fight in 3 out of 4 tournaments with conviction. This season, we had a half baked pre-season, and we have had a half baked season, we were lucky in the draw for the Champions League until we met the Champions who taught us a big lesson, we had a lucky draw in the FA Cup until Chelsea beat us, the kids were not good enough for the Carling Cup, and we lost too many games before Christmas to eliminate us from a title tilt very early.

Next season, i have big worries, the full pre-season schedule has not been announced, but we have very little time indeed to get things right if we are to win a big trophy next season. Our first game is Barnet on July 18, thus most of the squad have just over a month off, the African players like Toure-Eboue-Adebayor-Song will have a match on June 20, so they will not make the Barnet game as they will need an extra week or two off. Fabregas will be at the Confederations Cup until the end of June, so he will only be back in training towards the end of July, and we are built around him. Theo Walcott will also be at the European U-21 Championships and will be back late as well.

The Emirates Cup is on August 1-2, and the league starts on August 15, before we have to play a Champions League qualifier on August 18. This is a punishing schedule indeed, and it gives us 1 month exactly to find all our tactical solutions and integrate any potential new signings into our style. This also means any signings MUST be made before Barnet so they can have a full pre-season with us. This is where we have to get it right, we need to take this period seriously, prepare well and you perform well.

This is a taste of a team that was at ease, yet ready to perform, we need to see this kind of attitude this summer.

This is no TEAM, it's 11 EMPLOYEE'S who are contracted for 90mins.

2009-05-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Gosh, that was a true horror show today. Despite some good moments, even those in a Sunday League game know the basic rules, if you concede, ensure you can outscore the opposition. Thus you either need an awesome striker up front, or numbers that break forwards...Arsenal have neither and decide to only have 1 striker and 4 on the bench.

Arsenal have no defence, those up the pitch don't want to do it, those paid to do it at the back look like it's a foreign job to them. The common denominator when Arsenal have caught a bashing has been Silvestre (4-4 Spurs, 3-0 City, 4-4 Liverpool, 4-1 Chelsea), but the others offer no help. Fabianski needs to calm down or get out.

Wenger yet again is the primary fault though. How many times has his trick of Diaby on the left worked? How many times has his 4-5-1/-4-2-3-1/whatever new formation he employs worked? Until this is sorted out, we may see more results like this.

Ratings:

Fabianski 2: Not good enough, caught starring for the first, bad movement for the second, went walk about for the third, too slow to react for the fourth.

Sagna 3: Bad crosses, outnumbered on the overlap, got an assist though.

Toure 2: Never takes responsibility, had an own goal and argued with Drogba, we need a defensive leader, not a player just who plays.

Silvestre 3: Bad marking, but cleared and cleaned up better than Toure. Bad summer buy.

Gibbs 4: Not outplayed, but with the team so far behind, we needed a converted winger to rampage more to get us back in the game.

Walcott 2: No brain, no left foot, and a new contract! Too predictable, just as Gallas warned him, needs to step up to justify his starting spot and £60 000 contract.

Song 5: Not mobile, but physical and clean passing, a delicious lob to spot Walcott as well. One of the better players unfortunately.

Fabregas 2: Early card and the goal came from his foul, from there, his head dropped, no inventive passing, resign as captain if the job is too big.

Nasri 5: Has not found his role in the team, lots of technical brilliance and knows how to use it, but not finding the route to goal for himself or other team mates.

Diaby 1: How many chances does he want, although on the flank, it should allow him more space to express himself. Bad decision making, a loan spell or a transfer, he is a passenger we do not need unless he lives up to his talent.

Van Persie 3: Not a lone striker, not in the box enough, not a match winner today.

Denilson 4: Not much impact.

Adebayor 3: is he a striker or a link man? Strikers must pass and get into the box, not hang around trying to find a pass. Two shouts for a penalty, looks lazy at times.

Bendtner 6: Scored a good goal, a very direct player, lots of energy, and tries his best. If everyone tried like him, we may be somewhere not losing like this.

How To Succed By Not Trying

2009-05-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Arsenal is truly fantastic, it is the place to be to get rewarded for not winning. Johan Djourou who has played half the teams games gets rewarded, Theo Walcott is in the same boat, less than half our games and he is rewarded. Clichy and Sagna have shown the ideal reaction, a new contract and money means you can now drop your performance levels. The biggest example of this is Adebayor who has shown just what a new contract means.

There is no other profession in the world apart banking where this happens, do employees get rewarded for not scaling the heights, and when they do get rewarded, they slip even further. The board has to answer some serious questions, they say the Club has no cash, yet it rewards mediocre standards, and when they do reward good performance, they slip even more, lets not forget the trainer also signed a new deal and we have seen what he has done this season.

Now we know where all the money is going, it's like a Ponzi scheme if there ever was one in a football club. The Board are a disgrace.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together.

2009-05-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Two teams with big ambitions are now contemplating another 10 months wasted, at least Chelsea beat the other bird to get a Final in a few weeks for the FA Cup.

The match on Sunday will see two teams with nothing left to play for sparring in front of a lifeless crowd. One team was dismantled, the other paid the ultimate price for being too pragmatic.....both are losers in the grand scheme of things.

At least Chelsea now know Hiddink can't achieve the things they want and he will be sent back to Siberia in 3 weeks time, Arsenal are contemplating extending the stay of the trainer who has not won for 4 years now, incredible!

But it is fine Gooners, 4th spot is a good achievement, lets just remember we have a lovely stadium and we can all watch the Invincible DVD to keep us happy, who cares if you have spent over 3 000 minutes this season watching your team with no reward, the players are young and are improving.

The Inquest Begins.

2009-05-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

As the case is, to find out what Le Boss really says, do not catch it on the BBC or SkySports, instead turn to the French Media. Speaking to French Media, the Arsenal chief confessed "This is my biggest disappointment. Fans were expecting a great evening ... And to disappoint them like that, it's a huge disappointment. "....."I have to take a step back and review the situation. In recent months we were making good progress. But we are failing to win the matches that really matter. This calls for reflection. "

Upon speaking to one Arsenal squad member who also played, he opined ,"I was very surprised that the leaders of the team gave up so easily, we have 60 000 fans who have come to see Arsenal fight for 90mins, and if we are to lose, let us lose with them in mind."

Two conclusions from this, the Arsenal manager has realised that this is the last straw, and the frustations of the fans will be intensified more next season unless significant changes are made. He also realises that this team has shown it is not equipped to win trophies, in the big matches, the team constantly loses, think of the title run in last year where his side threw the matches against Chelsea and Man Utd, and also threw away the match against Liverpool in the Champions League.

The second is one player has realised he has to break ranks and take leadership in this side, such a defeat will increase this players stock with the fans, whilst some other senior members must take a good long look at themselves in the role of this crushing defeat.

Dismantled.

2009-05-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well we have become used to this, losing big matches, this time in embarrassing fashion. The fact is, we are NO LONGER CHAMPIONS at anything, all it's taken is a new stadium for us to LOSE THE REALITY of what we are here to do, WIN. This result was not determined just today, it's been coming all season, our experimenting at Old Trafford threw half the game away, today we finished the job off.

How often do you see Evra having to make a clearance from a cross right in front of his goalkeeper? How often have we seen Ronaldo shoot from ridiculous distances? How often have our defenders been split apart on a simple passing move? But it's fine, the manager will tell us we have belief, we have quality, we were unlucky, the future is bright. The board will tell us the structure is good, the model is correct, we are self sustaining etc. If David Dein was still around, Arsenal would be back in business already.

Arsenal is now a DEVELOPMENT team and not a WINNING team, the future lies on the edge of a knife, ONCE YOU LOSE THE WINNING MENTALITY, IT'S HARD TO GET IT BACK, just when will we start WINNING again?

We were dismantled, and this is a prelude to what we must endure in two weeks, we will be one of two teams to give Man Utd a 'Guard of Honour' when they retain their third title. Congratulations to United, they have shown us what is required to operate at this level, no more talk of Arsenal having 'World Class' players, the only thing of World Class merit is when the team plays well.

Ratings.

Almunia 5: You shipped three, over 180mins you kept us in it though. You deserve a pay rise.

Sagna 4: How many completed crosses has he had this season, also a second late into challenges he won last season.

Gibbs 3: Fatal slip, the question is why is a 'Big Club' using an inexperienced 19 year old in a game, or stretch of the season at this magnitude?

Toure 3: Does not communicate, is not a defensive master, should not be our best defender.

Djourou 3: Same as Toure, our defence is rubbish, no 'Big Club' should have such a defence.

Nasri 5: Got on the ball, and showed he is a playmaker. If you can't work as a unit, it's all in vain.

Song 5: Among our better players, although if you don't work as a unit, it's all in vain.

Fabregas 3: No passing, his head went down quickly.

Walcott 1: No control, still has not been able to get the better of a top class full back.

Van Persie 2: Never came to get the ball.

Adebayor 1: He should thank his midfielders for this, they never gave him anything.

Do or Die Time yet again.

2009-05-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

As we have become used, Arsenal's season comes down to one game to define a season, this time we must beat the reigning European CHAMPIONS, World CHAMPIONS, English CHAMPIONS, League Cup CHAMPIONS....get the drift? Manchester United have not lost for 24 games in Europe, and taught Arsenal a lesson at Old Trafford, thank God we have Almunia.

I hope the manager Wenger does not mess around with fancy formations or deployments, we need to be simple, play to our strengths, take the game to the opponents, and crucially WIN. This means no 4-2-3-1, no 4-5-1, it means 4-4-2, and if Van Persie cannot start, Bendtner can, after all he has scored 14 goals, 2 less than Adebayor and 3 less than Van Persie, he can score so play him.

It also means stop the Diaby project immediately, he was supposed to offer physical battling vs Chelsea and Man Utd and did not, he was supposed to get forward and try score and did not, it's like playing with 10 men, only that he takes up space. Play Song or Denilson and lets get on with it.

For the sake of all Arsenal fans, lets stop playing attractive football and lets start playing WINNING FOOTBALL. This starts tomorrow Wenger, the players and fans need to get that WINNING MENTALITY back now.