Arsenal vs Newcastle 7-3

Where do i start today? Let me first say that except for the 2nd and the 3rd sloppy goals that we allowed, this was our best performance in a long, long time!

We started the game very well, Oxlade had a good opening in the first minute of the game! After the initial pressure we put on Newcastle, the game evened out until our first goal. From there until half time we controlled the game, limited Newcastle to very few chances and we should have scored more. The way they equalized was pure garbage and Wilshere was at fault, all the way. Second half we started strong again, went ahead twice to only concede 2 sloppy goals back, but in the end our effectiveness up front today was too much for Newcastle and we deservedly won the game!

Normally i start with the defense, but today i want to start with Theo's performance. He had quite a game and not only made me happy by helping us win, he also helped my fantasy team get some pts. I thought his play today was very, very good and the scary part is that he could be better. All three of his goals were great: great finishing on all three, combined with pace and some dribbling when needed (3rd goal). He also had two assist from which, the first one for Giroud's first goal was simply a perfect cross. Where i feel he could have done better was his passing. We had a 3 vs 2 counter attack in the 39th minute where Theo had the ball and should have passed it to Cazorla, instead he waited too long and then when he did pass it, it was a bad pass. Similar situation in the second half: we had a counter in the 57th min and again Theo had the option to pass to Cazorla or Podolski and instead he took a bad shot at goal. If he can get a bit better at making the right decision/pass at counters, he would be close to unstoppable. 

The defense today was up and down. Great first half, good pressing on the ball and very few chances for the opposition. And then, twice we allowed goals that were sloppy to say the least. Sagna had a tough time with Obertan today. The Frenchman has good pace and simply outran him to set up Newcastle's second goal. Otherwise Bacary was solid but if we weren't playing so well in attack his mistake might have cost us. I would love to see Jenkinson get some games and not because he is better, but so we have two guys that are rotating at that spot. Vermaelen was solid and had no fault for any of the goals. Koscielny had a good game except for the second goal. After Sagna got beat by Obertan, his cross went right by Koscielny who should have closed down the angle and never allowed him to cross that ball. Gibbs also had a good game, an assist and some great runs forward, but he fell asleep for Newcastle's third goal. Ba sneaked behind him and just tapped the ball in. So, a lot of positives for the defense during big parts of the game, and a few bad mistakes.

 Our midfield and attack were outstanding. Podolski had a hell of a game and was involved in almost everything. He gave a superb pass to Theo for the first goal; then he set him up in the 36th minute when Theo should have scored again; gave another great pass to Gibbs who then assisted for Theo's second; and to top it off - scored a goal himself as well! This was one of Lukas's best games for the club and what i loved the most, was his unselfishness: he gave some great/smart passes in situations where he could have shot himself. Arteta was good as usual even though he didn't do much offensively (which is not his job anyway). Wilshere had a tough first half and fucked up miserably for their goal: you either stay where the wall is, or you don't. Also, unlike him, he pussed out and turned his head away from Ba's free kick, instead of heading the ball and blocking it. He made up for all of that in the second half: had two assists and hit some great crosses from corners as well. Cazorla was also very good today, even though he had only one assist, his passing was very sharp and he had some great one-touch passes throughout the game.  Oxlade-Chamberlain had a good game too. He scored a very nice goal and was active on the right side for most of the game.

Giroud obviously had quite an impact for a second half substitute. Both of his goals were very well taken and you can tell he is playing with confidence even though he hasn't played much lately.

So, today was a good day for the Gunners nation. Not only we got a very important win at home, but we actually played WELL! Considering that all of our games coming up in January and February will be pretty tough, it is a good time for us to start playing well. For a first time in a while i was excited about my post! C'mon You Gunners!

p.s. I still think that we need some players in January (left back, defensive midfielder) and i still stand behind my words that we need more squad rotation.

Wigan vs Arsenal 0-1

For those of you who expected a post after the Reading game, i am sorry! I was working and i taped the game but i never had enough time to watch it, so i had to skip a post. If one day i get paid to do this, i promise i won't miss a game :).

It was a tough game today. Everyone was ecstatic after our big win at Reading on Monday, but people seem to forget that everyone these days can score at least 3 goals against Reading. I wasn't impressed with us today. The result was great. Our game - not so much. The first half was pretty even and uneventful. Wigan were doing a good job of pressing us up the pitch and they had two good chances which were both missed by Kone. One of them should have been a goal: Wigan played a high deep ball and we had Mertesacker trying to chase Kone, a race which the German will never win. Kone luckily, slowed down and then mishit the ball otherwise we would have been 1-0 down. We had one good chance in the 9th minute when some good passing got Oxlade in a good shooting position but he tried to beat Al Habsi at his near post.

The second half we started very well. In the 46th and 48th minutes we had two great runs by Oxlade down the right, both ended with good crosses, Theo connected on one of them but shot it right at Al Habsi. Nothing much happened after that, until a great one-two between Theo and Cazorla, got us a penalty. It was a bit soft, but there was contact by Beausejour, who didn't need to foul Theo. Arteta showed some balls and scored and from then on, it was all Wigan. We pretty much sat back and defended for our lifes until the rest of the game which was very stupid. We gave them ton of possession and especially in the last 10 minutes of the game, it seemed the ball was a hot potato and we would do anything to kick it as far as we can, instead of passing it around and finishing off the game. Wigan missed a few more very good chances, Kone again one of the guilty parties.

The defense today was not very solid. Wigan had a lot of chances, we looked nervous especially towards the end of the game, but somehow we kept a clean sheet which is the only positive. Mertesacker was clumsy at times, but also had some very good blocks and tackles. Sagna was very active, but also got caught sleeping a few times and there were some dangerous runs on his side. Same could be said for Gibbs: played well but on more than one occasion in the second half, Stam was running free on our left side (with Gibbs no where in sight) and only his inability to cross the ball saved us from big problems. Vermaelen was maybe the only one who didn't make any memorable mistakes.

In midfield, we were average. Not bad, but not great. Cazorla had some good through balls, but overall, he didn't have much impact on the game. This is the thing that is still missing from him: consistency. He had a great game at Reading and then follows it up with an average one with Wigan. Wilshere was not at his best either. Very active today, running everywhere, but not very efficient. Missed a lot of passes and went into some dangerous challenges. He gets so much into the game, that sometimes slides for balls in a way that is dangerous for his own health. I would like to see him be a bit smarter and protect himself better. Arteta was solid and showed some nerves putting away the penalty. Oxlade was probably our best midfielder today. He still dribbles too much sometimes and doesn't always look to pass, but he had some brilliant runs on the right followed up with some good crosses. Also had a good shot on goal saved by Al Habsi. I don't think he should have been subbed by Ramsey considering that he was our most active player!

Podolski was very disappointing today. On more than one occasion our players were trying to press the Wigan defenders and he was standing good 3 meters away from his man and just watching. He never looked very threatening. Theo found it tougher as a lone striker today. He didn't have too many chances and at times was isolated up front. I definitely think playing as a striker is a great position for him, but he needs to become clinical with his finishing because in games like today he won't get many chances and the few he gets, he has to convert. You can definitely see his lack of size as a striker but he can make up for it with quickness and good positioning.

To sum it up: great two wins in a row, but also a bit misleading. We are not playing great football, still having a tough time to close out a game, and still looking shaky in the back. More improvement is needed, but we will take the 6 pts and hopefully keep getting better.    

Arsenal vs West Brom 2-0

We finally played well enough to deserve a somewhat controversial victory. There is no way to tell if we hadn't gotten the first penalty, would we have scored anyway and won the game, but there is no question that we played much better today than in any of our last 4 games. Our passing was much sharper and quicker, we pressed much better as a team and i feel we probably would have won the game regardless of the two penalties we got. Having said that, Cazorla should be absolutely embarrassed about his dive today. I am sure he will get a lot of shit about it in the next few days and deservedly so. There was absolutely no contact and he grabed his ankle like someone chopped it with an axe. I hope he learns from this and never does it again.

I thought our defense was solid throughout the game. I do feel that West Brom never got into a rhythm and never really put is under continuous pressure. They were missing a lot of passes, so for big parts of the game we were able to win the ball back quickly and keep possession. The fact that we had 59% off it, is a clear indication that we were controlling things.

I thought our biggest improvement from the past few games was our midfield. When we attacked, players were trying to play with one touch passing and always looking to go forward. Wilshere was outstanding today. He is finding the touch in his passing and is becoming more dangerous with every game that he plays. He had some great runs forward, gave some great through balls and was involved in everything we did. Not to mention that he runs non stop for 90 minutes. Arteta did what he was supposed to do: scored both penalties, which was extremely important. He did have a bad giveaway in the 84th min but luckily West Brom didn't capitalize on it. Cazorla was very active and had a very good game, except for the diving part. He was a constant threat going forward and was linking up well with the rest of the team. Oxlade had a quiet first half, but was much more positive in the second half. He had some great runs on the right and was unlucky when some of his crosses were not met by an Arsenal player. I don't know if he fouled Popov to get the ball in the build up for our second goal, but after that he made a great move in the penalty box and deservedly won a penalty. 

Gervinho was very active today but also very inefficient. He had some great chances to score with his feet and with his head and missed them all. This is what is frustrating for me with him: he can put himself in good positions but rarely does he make the right decision with ball, or sometimes his execution is simply not good enough. Still, today he was at least creating something up front, so he wasn't absolutely useless like he normally is.

Giroud had a good game. It was a bit frustrating for him because no one could give him the good pass to put him in a real goal scoring position, but he worked hard and was combining well with the rest of the team. He just needs to whine a bit less, he is a big guy and it's embarrassing when he whines to the ref that he was being fouled in the back or something. You are 6'3, get up and keep playing.

Positive result today. Our game was much better. We still have long ways to go to play well consistently and until i see us put 3,4 good games in a row, i am not going to rush to be too optimistic. But today's win is a start. Let's hope we build on it!

Arsenal vs Swansea 0-2

Tough one today. And this post will be a bit longer than usual because there are a lot of things that need to be discussed. Let's not kid ourselves: The Premier League has changed and that's a fact. You no longer have teams who are happy to come play the big teams and hope they go home without being embarrassed. With the amount of new coaches that are in the League, half of the teams in it, are playing the style of football once only Arsenal was known for: a lot of possession; quick one touch passing; always looking for open spaces and trying to be creative up front. To be successful with that type of football you need to do two very important things well: 1) be quick and decisive going forward ; 2) defend as a team and press the opposition EFFECTIVELY, so you can get the ball back or limit their chances. And as crazy as this sounds, i think we are not/haven't been good enough in both of these aspects of the modern game!

On point 1) I am curious to see, when you look at our possession numbers per game, how many of the successful passes we make are backwards to our defenders and goalkeeper; and side to side between the defenders. I bet you, that it's very high. Most teams that we play, allow us to have the ball, but as soon as we get into their half of the pitch, they press us hard and we end up passing the ball back between our defenders. By doing that, we create the illusion that we are controlling the game but in reality we are not creating any real chances. Our attacks take too long to develop and very often they finish with a cross in the box, which in a game like today when Giroud is on the bench, comes to the likes of Cazorla and Gervinho who are not good headers of the ball. When you combine this with the fact that a lot of teams are also getting better at keeping possession, our chances to score per game are very limited.

The picture bellow illustrates how well Swansea are putting us under pressure as soon as we get into their half of the pitch. Almost every Arsenal player is covered and being pressured by a Swansea player:

Now, on my second point that we don't defend as a team and press effectively, you can look at these pictures bellow:

We have three players around Yueng but everyone is looking at him and the ball and no one is closing him down...

...2 seconds later he in the middle of our own half and still there is no one close enough to him, to prevent him from passing...

Here Michu is on the ball, deep in our half. We have 4 of our players standing in a semi circle and 2 Swansea players next to Michu with no one pressing him OR covering them....

Don't get me wrong, i am not saying we are not trying to press the opposition and win the ball back. A lot of times, we TRY. But we do it in an unorganized way: 1 person is running around, chasing the player with the ball while the rest are watching. The opposition passes the ball a few times, our player gets tired and says "fuck it, i am done running for now". We need to get better at pressing as a TEAM, where when one of our players is pressing on the player with the ball and the rest of our team has covered every opposition player who is nearby, thus forcing them to kick the ball away or pass it to the goalkeeper.

I really don't know if Wenger is the coach who will help us achieve that. For the past 10 years we have never, ever, pressed well as a team. We used to compensate for that by being good offensively. But now-days when teams are organized, they limit our chances and we become an average team that a lot of times runs out of ideas. The scary part is that i thought today, Wenger had the line up correct except for the fact that Gervinho was playing as a striker. He even made the changes early enough and brought in the correct players: Giroud and Oxlade. So, tactically he didn't fuck up the starting line up that much or his changes. That brings me back to the two points i made in the beginning: we are NOT good enough defending as a team; we are NOT good enough going forward. The last two games, both Everton and Swansea looked much sharper in their attacking style and the one touch passing, than we did.

The only solution that i see for us is to:

#1 Get better at defending in an organized way
#2 Start playing more decisive in attack by using quick passes and one touch football
#3 Stop signing and get rid off shitty players like: Squilaci, Fabianski; Denilson; Djourou, Santos and Chamakh and not to forget Gervinho! Ramsey needs to go too, UNLESS he stops being so sloppy and casual with the ball and starts taking accountability for what he is doing on the pitch. I like Diaby, but "i have played" more games for Arsenal than he has.
#4 BUY or bring back from loan, a few good players in important positions: (left back to cover for Gibbs; defensive midfield to give Arteta a breather once in a while (Frimpong); another striker to rotate with Giroud or move Walcott to striker; even another right back, if you don't re-sign Sagna).
#5 Get rid of Gazidis or slash his salary in half, maybe then he will start thinking about what's important for the team and not only about profits!

A few words about the game today. We started slow and didn't create anything for the first 20 minutes. Once Vermaelen and once Szczesny had to save us from being scored on. We woke up a bit after the 25th min and we had some good attacks until the end of the half, unfortunately all of them finishing with crosses in the box. Vermaelen saved us again in the 30th min after making a great tackle on Dyer during a counter by Swansea. It was a high ball, kicked by their keeper, Michu won the high ball and set up Dyer who is lightning quick. This is how i envision using Giroud and Theo together: long ball, Giroud wins the header, Theo outruns everyone and scores. Too bad we rarely used them that way.

The second half we started very well and put them under pressure for the first 20 minutes. But that was about it. After that, Swansea regained their composure and even though Szczesny saved us again in the 83rd min, eventually they got what they deserved and scored. I thought Vermaelen and Szczesny were our best players today. Jenkinson had a decent game but made a bad mistake for the second goal. Mertesacker was also decent but a bit slow to react for their first goal. Gibbs was solid and put a lot of effort going forward. Cazorla finally had a good game. He was very active and took some good shots at goal. Theo and Wilshere weren't very effective today. Gervinho was useless and wasted the only good chance he had. Podolski was also pretty ineffective.

Hoping for better times to come, but the future looks average. I don't think we will make top 4 this year if we don't improve drastically.