Newcastle vs Arsenal 0-1

 Today's game was like a deja vu from last year's finale when we beat West Brom away:

1) Koscielny was again the man of the match
2) He scored the deciding goal
3) We won a must win game
4) We didn't play well, but we got a result

The main difference between today's match and last year's is that today we defended much better than an year ago and based on how little Newcastle threatened us in the second half, i feel we deserved to win this game.

When you think about our season, this is the first time in many years when our team has gotten so many scrappy wins. I haven't looked at the statistics but i am sure this season we probably had the most 1-0 wins that we have had in an looong time. Our victories were less flashy and less convincing, but we didn't throw as many games away, as we have done in years past. Does that mean that we are ready to win the Premier League next year? I don't think so. But it shows that we have made some improvements in the toughness area department. We are able to scrap out results when we need to and that is very important for any team that wants to win trophies. So if we make the right additions to this squad, and improve a lot of things (i will mention those later) we might have a shot at winning something next year!

Now, back to the game today. Let's just say that it wasn't the best game to watch. Both teams showed very little creativity going forward and the clear cut chances were far and between throughout the game. We started the first half decent, but Newcastle created the first chances of the game with Cisse missing a great opportunity after Mertesacker was well beaten by Mbiwa. The game continued with both teams trying to impose their will. We had cracks in the defense, especially down the left side where Gibbs were beaten more than once. Going forward, Cazorla missed a good opportunity in the 30th minute after a good pass from Gibbs. Ben Arfa had a dangerous shot over the bar towards the end of the first half.

In the second half we started well and after a mix up and a bad clearance by Harper, Theo had a good chance to score but his shot was blocked by Newcastle's keeper. Podolski was complaining that Walcott didn't pass the ball to him, instead, he should have been attacking the penalty area and maybe would have been able to tap in the rebound from Theo's shot. In the 49th minute Koscielny made his only mistake for the whole game by over pursuing Goufran almost to the middle of the pitch, which opened a huge gap in our back line, luckily Cabaye's through pass was too long and Szczesny collected it. 3 minutes later Koscielny scored a great goal after a free kick and a header by Mertesacker. We really needed this goal because i was sure Tottenham will find a way to score against Sunderland. After the goal, we pulled back a bit but Newcastle weren't able to create many chances. Theo could have finished the game off in the 91st minute, after he made a great run and beat the last defender, only for his shot to hit the side post. That miss coupled with Bale's goal, made the last 5 minutes of our game incredibly uncomfortable for me and all Arsenal supporters. Luckily we defended strongly and came away with a vital win for this team!

The defense was definitely shaky in the first half. Mertesacker was beaten early in the game and then was out of position on a few occasions. He settled down and played much better in the second half. Sagna was our second best defender after Koscielny. He stopped a lot of attacks on his side and was constantly going forward and even had a few decent crosses!. Gibbs on the other hand had a rough game. More than once he was way out of position and Newcastle's attacks kept going through his side of the pitch. Especially in the first half. He did make some of his trade mark runs forward and created a great opportunity for Cazorla in the 30th minute, but defensively it wasn't one of his best games. Koscielny was the man of the match, hands down! Not only he scored the winning goal, but defensively he was a rock the whole game. Made numerous very important blocks; rarely got caught out of position; he was a constant threat at set pieces!

Our midfield was average today. Cazorla continues being stuck on the left wing, so even though he was very active, he wasn't able to influence the game they way he can. Ramsey had a decent game. Made some good passes, had a few good runs, but also gave away some sloppy balls. Rosicky wasn't as sharp going forward and his game wasn't flowing today, but watching him chase players in the 90th minute and trying to win the ball was an absolute joy. What a complete professional and great competitor! He is older than most of the guys on the team but he realized how important this game was and he wasn't saving any energy for the off season. Check out the video below:

Oxlade came in and did a good job. He had some good runs/passes even though at times his final ball was a bit off. But overall he did well. Arteta was a surprise just being on the pitch, maybe they should have let him recover and not play today. Hopefully his injury is not too serious.

Up front Podolski was almost unnoticeable again. I keep repeating that he is not suited to play in the striker's position. He doesn't have the size; he doesn't attack the penalty area well enough to try to get at the end of crosses; a lot of times he goes back way too deep to get the ball. He was average at best in our last game, but just because he scored ,Wenger played him again at the same position. Walcott also wasn't great today, but he was way better than Podolski. He had some very good runs; gave some good crosses; forced two great saves from Harper and with a bit better execution, he would have been on the score sheet.

So today's result was very very important for our team and the Gunner nation! It's sad that we are so excited and happy to be 4th, but the reality is that this season, 4th place was the best we could do and we really had to earn it as well! It's great to snatch Champions League football out of Spurs's hands. It's great for our ability to attract players, that we made it to the Champions League. Now, the most important part for us is to take the next step necessary to start winning trophies. To take that next step, we need a few things to happen:

#1. We need a few good signings over the summer. I would say our main priority should be 1) a right back (in case Sagna leaves); 2) another striker but only from great quality, we don't need some random clowns. If we buy a striker it has to be someone like Mario Gomez from Bayern Munich or Jovetic from Fiorentina.3) We also need a strong defensive midfielder. Arteta has been doing a great job for us in that department, but that is not his natural position and he is not that young to play every single game. Frimpong if he stays healthy might be a good option. Getting 2 or 3 quality signings will ensure we have competition for every spot on the pitch! This way we can be competitive on a few fronts.

#2. If/After we get these signings, Wenger has to MANAGE the team correctly! What i mean by this is that guys like Carl Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Vermaelen; have to get playing time!!! We CAN NOT play the same exact team non stop. That is Wenger's favorite thing to do: if the team is winning, do not change anything. The problem with that is that players get injured and when the subs haven't gotten enough playing time they can't come in and play at the same level immediately. Squad rotation is and has been Wenger's Achilles heel for many years now. I can't stress how important that is.

#3. We can't continue to make players play out of position. Can Cazorla play on the wing? Ofcourse, the guy is good enough to play a fucking goalie if needed. Does that mean we take advantage of his strengths? No. He is most effective playing through the middle. Same thing with Podolski. He is not good enough to play in the striker position and he should not play there. He should be on the left wing.

#4. Do not fucking sell anyone!....except Gervinho, Denilson, Squillaci, Santos and Chamakh :)

I still have doubts about Wenger abilities to adapt to the modern game and the changes he needs to make to his style of management. But i do believe the actions mentioned above are absolutely necessary if we are to take the next step and start competing for something more than 4th place every year! C'mon You Gunners!!!

Arsenal vs Wigan 4-1

First, i want to apologize for not posting about the QPR game, but i only saw the first half of it and even though i taped the rest, based on what i saw and the final score, i didn't feel like wasting 45 minutes of watching us struggle to put QPR away.

I did watch today's game and the result is definitely very good for us. It was a must win game for both teams and the scoreline might suggest we easily trashed Wigan, but in reality i wasn't impressed with our play and the main reason the score was 4-1 were the bad defensive mistakes made by the Latics. Which is the main reason why they are getting relegated as well. They can play some good football (as Man City found out Saturday), but way too often they shoot themselves in the foot by horrible mistakes at the back and giving away easy goals.

We started the game well and dominated possession throughout the whole first half. Unfortunately we didn't create much in front of Wigan's goal and the real chances to score were missing. Our goal came after a corner kick and very bad marking by Wigan. The rest of the half we kept things under control, until Mike Dean decided to give an imaginary foul against Maloney, who scored a very good goal from the following free kick. I was a bit disappointed Szczesny didn't save it, considering Maloney had scored in the exact same manner against QPR a few weeks ago. Me and pretty much the whole stadium, knew where he was going to shoot and Wojciech still couldn't get there.

In the beginning of the second half the game was completely different: we looked a bit nervous and Wigan started playing with a lot more confidence. In the 47th minute Kone forced Szczesny into a great save and this time our keeper showed much more composure. This woke us up a bit and we started pressing again, Walcott set up Cazorla with a great cross, but Santi shot twice at their keeper. A few minutes later the Spaniard returned the favor and this time Walcott showed great pace and desire, to squeeze his shot past Robles and make it 2-1. This goal deflated Wigan and five minutes later they had another horrible mistake at the back with Scharner playing Podolski onside, the German's finish was great and the game was pretty much over. Ramsey scored his first Premier League goal four minutes later and i am glad that he did because up to that point he had played a very average game with two costly giveaways that could have been goals for Wigan. All in all, we did what we had to do - get the three points, but i feel that there are many issues that need to be addressed:

1. Cazorla should not be playing on the left wing. He is much more useful to us when playing through the middle, but Wenger stubbornly continues to make him play on the wing.

2. Podolski is not good enough playing as a striker. He should be playing on the left and i don't care if he likes that position or not, the three games that he played as a striker, he hasn't impressed me at all. He doesn't place himself well for Walcott's crosses; he doesn't make good enough runs to take advantage of Theo's pace; he is not strong enough to out-muscle defenders (same could be said for Theo but at least he has the speed to run by them).

3. We are still not decisive enough in the final third. We have a lot of possession with very little real chances to score. We need to get much better at creating and finishing chances.

4. If we don't play Giroud through the middle, Walcott should be the striker with Oxlade playing on the right wing and Podolski on the left, Cazorla in the middle. One player i would love to see us buy is Mario Gomez! The guy is a proven goal scorer and a big upgrade from Giroud. If we have someone like him at the top of the attack, Theo's crosses will be actually useful.

The defense today was pretty solid. Both Mertesacker and Koscielny had very good games. Koscielny made a great clearance in the 24th minute when Szczesny came out unconvincingly and Kone was ready to head the ball in the empty goal. Gibbs was very good and shut down McManaman for most of the first 45 minutes. Sagna was also solid and there weren't too many attacks going through his side of the pitch. Szczesny was average. He made some good saves, but he was at fault for the goal and as mentioned above, made some questionable decisions.

The midfield was average to good. Rosicky was very active as usual, even though he was having a hard time breaking Wigan's defense down. A lot of his through ball passes were stopped but he had a good game. Arteta was solid. Ramsey as mentioned earlier had a very average game and created some dangerous situations for us with his giveaways, but he did score a nice goal and he doesn't seem to get down on himself even when he is playing shitty, which is a good trait. Cazorla had a very nice game regardless that he is playing out of position. He assisted for the first three goals and if we can win our last game, these assists might be the difference between playing in the Champions League as opposed to Europa League!

I thought Walcott was by far our best player. He constantly tormented Wigan with his runs and kept sending great crosses in the box, even though more often than not, we couldn't take advantage of them. He also showed great hustle and good positional awareness to score our second goal. The run he made for his goal is a great example of how Podolski should attack the middle of the penalty area, when Theo is running on the wing. Podolski scored two good goals, but as i mentioned earlier I don't think he should be playing as a striker.

So, great result for us. I hope we can pull off one more win on Sunday and get the fourth spot, but beating Newcastle at St James' Park won't be a walk in the park. Hopefully we will play a good game and we will make it happen!