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

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.

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......

"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.

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.

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?????

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

Exclusive: William Gallas To Leave Arsenal This Summer.

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......

Arsenal Push Forward, but still not good enough.

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.

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

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.

No To Carlton Cole

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Make Hay While The Sun Shines.

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.

New Arsenal Leaders

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.

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?

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.