New additions and the season ahead

I haven't had the time to post in a while and i will keep this one short too.

First, we qualified for the Champions League which was very important. We walked a thin line against Besiktas, but we managed to get through. Our play is anything than convincing though. I think our biggest issues are defensively. We sold Vermaelen which was a huge mistake. Chambers has played very well considering his age and experience, but he can be a liability at times. We did not buy a top class defensive midfielder which i feel is one of our biggest issues. The game against Leicester was a great example of us struggling at the back, we got lucky to escape with a draw.

Regardless of how many great attacking options we have, we are still not organized enough when defending and we DON'T press on the ball! I watched the Tottenham vs Liverpool game and it was two teams pressing non stop throughout the whole game. Both of their coaches demand full effort and organization; and even though Spurs got whooped, i am not going to lie: i feel they way Pochetino is having them play looks much better than anything we have done this season. Maybe i am overreacting, but i really feel that:

1) We have NO shot at winning the league unless we improve defensively
2) Even top 4 might be a challenge if we don't raise our level drastically.

I hope i am wrong and we come out and destroy City today, but i just don't see it happening. We have some tough games coming up, which will show if we really can shoot for the top or we are not good enough which i think is the case.

I think buying Welbeck was a good move. I still have some doubts about him being the world class striker that we need, but he has speed which Giroud lacked and if his finishing is solid, he will have plenty of chances to score a lot of goals and prove himself. He is definitely better than the hopeless/clumsy Sanogo! Campbell is better than Sanogo too, i rather see him play than the tall useless Frenchman.

Ozil is also becoming such a disappointment i can't stand to watch him play. His lack of effort is driving me nuts and i could probably close my eyes on that if he was producing assists and goals. He has not done that and his tracking back and defending is non existent. Everybody in England has been bitching about Wilshere not being good enough, but right now i would take him over Ozil any day. At least he shows effort and desire and tries to attack, not just walk around the pitch.

Anyway, sorry about all of my negativity, but i feel like in the past 6-7 years it's the same thing over and over: we are good going forward, shaky in the back and only good enough for top 4. I am tired of that and of us not being a complete team because we are missing a defensive identity and a solid defensive midfielder.

So, let's hope i am wrong about all of this and we put some good games together starting with Man City today!C'mon You Gunners!!!

Summer Transfers 2014 and Pre Season matches

So, it's almost that time of the year: the Premier League is around the corner!!! Everyone is excited and can't wait to watch their favorite team in action. It was another busy summer in the transfer market and for the first time in many years, Arsenal actually did some business nice and early, instead of waiting until the end of August to make last minute buys.

We had a quite a few players leave the club during the summer, some of them were welcome to leave and were released like good old Bendtner (it was about time!), Chu-Young Park (we never gave that guy the chance to play and we basically wasted 2 years of his career - makes you wonder why we even bought him); some were sold - Djourou, Eisfeld ; some were loaned out - Jenkinson; and some left on a free transfer - Sagna and Fabianski.

Obviously Sagna is the biggest name that left the team. Unlike guys like Adebayor, Van Persie or Nasri, i will never have bad feelings towards Sagna for leaving. The guy always gave his all for the team and left his heart on the pitch every time he played!! I was really happy for him finally winning a trophy last season and wish him all the best for his future.

TEAM NEEDS:

Given our results and performances last year, i felt that this summer we really needed to buy a Right back (to replace Sagna); TOP class Defensive midfielder (Arteta and Flamini are not good enough if we want to challenge the big teams); and a TOP class Striker (Giroud is a decent player but NOT a top class striker).

PLAYERS BOUGHT: 

Calum Chambers - Southampton - Very promising young player, could play as a right or left back but Wenger seems to want to play him as a central defender. I saw him play against Benfica and Monaco today and he showed good strength and athleticism. Definitely a guy who should progress and give us options anywhere in the back four.

Mathieu Debuchy - Newcastle - Sagna's replacement Debuchy is France's starting right back. He started all of their World Cup games except the one against Ecuador - where Sagna was the starter. He had a solid season with Newcastle last year and seems like an adequate replacement for Sagna. His challenge will be to keep the high standards Sagna set on the right back side for us and maybe even add an extra dimension going forward.

David Ospina - Nice - The Colombian goalkeeper also played for his National team at the World Cup and comes in to provide competition for Szczesny. After Fabianski left, Martinez was the only other goalkeeper who could back Szczesny up, so the purchase of Ospina was a good move for us. The issue will be his playing time especially if Szczesny remains the starter. Regardless, we DO need someone to push Wojciech who can get a bit cocky and careless at times. 

Alexis Sanchez - Barcelona - Our biggest buy of the summer. Sanchez starred for Chile at the World Cup and has had impressive moments while at Barcelona. Very fast player who has good technical skills and is a good finisher. The purchase of Sanchez definitely shows that the club wants to compete for the Premier League title. The biggest challenge Wenger faces now is finding the right position for the Chilean.

CHALLENGES:

Even though with the players brought in, we are starting to look like a side who should be able to compete for the Premier League title, i see quite a few challenges ahead.

Defense: If Vermaelen is allowed to leave (which i strongly disagree with), we will be left with only Mertasacker and Koscielny as our main central defenders. From what i have seen so far, Ignasi Miquel still seems not good enough for a starting spot, Chambers is showing a lot of promise, but i am not sure he is 100% ready to be starting every week for Arsenal. That leaves us one injury away from having to play someone who is not ready to fill in the shoes of these two guys. I have been saying this for the whole of last season: Vermaelen has to be rotated with Koscielny and Mertesacker and be given enough game time to want to stay with us!!! Wenger has to put this in his stubborn head: ROTATION is a very important part of modern football. If you want to have strong competition for all the places on your team, you have to rotate players enough, so you have options!!! Letting Vermaelen go, would be a huge mistake and i feel this is something we don't need to do. If Wenger rotates the central defenders a bit (not every game but from time to time), this won't be an issue!
So overall, i feel our defense is not as impressive and solid as i want it to be. Left back is probably the only position where we have two guys who are close as far as their level, even though Gibbs is definitely better than Monreal. Bellerin impressed as a right back at the Emirates Cup, especially going forward, but Benfica never put us under too much pressure to see his defensive skills.

Midfield: We still don't have a TOP defensive midfielder. If we can buy Khedira from Madrid this would solve that problem immediately, but until i see it on paper, this position is an issue for me. Arteta and Flamini can do a job, but they are not the imposing, physical presence that you need in that position. Diaby might be an option, but he hasn't lasted more than a few weeks in the past 4 years, so we can't count on him staying healthy. I heard rumors that Wilshere might be put in that position, which is not a bad option, but his tackling easily gets out of control and i don't know if he has the required discipline to do the job there. That leaves us with a problem that needs to be solved if we want to tighten up our defense.

Another big issue for our midfield will be finding the right starting line up and you guessed it - the ROTATIONS - that need to be done! As of right now we have the following players listed as midfielders (without including Arteta, Flamini and Diaby): Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez; Walcott, Gnarby, Zelalem and Miyaichi! I am assuming the three players that would almost always start will be Sanchez, Ozil and Ramsey. The first two are way too expensive to sit on the bench and Ramsey was outstanding last season, so i think those three will start most games for us. When Walcott comes back he will probably be a sure starter as well. That leaves Wenger with the headache to find the right positions for everyone without losing the defensive balance that we need as well. Ozil and Cazorla have never impressed with their defensive work and that can be a big problem against the very organized teams. Finding the right balance on the pitch will be Wenger's biggest challenge.

On the brighter side, the fact that we have so many talented and proven players in our midfield will be a huge help when we are competing for the Champions League, FA Cup; Premier League and Capital One Cups. I just hope Wenger finds the right balance and does enough rotations to keep this team healthy and motivated!

Attack: Another area where there are question marks is our attack. Giroud has never been and will never be a striker of the quality of Suarez or Van Persie. He is a solid player, but that's it. We still don't have that top quality striker needed to make the difference in close matches. Even though both Walcott and Sanchez could probably play upfront, they don't have the size needed and if the delivery of passes to them is poor, they will struggle up front.

Which leads us to the next three guys that we have as an option: Yaya Sanogo was always a bit of the mark last season, he played a few games and showed a lot of desire and fight, but didn't provide the quality finishing expected up front. Yesterday against Benfica, he all of a sudden scored 4 goals and made us think that he might be an option if given the chance.

Joel Campbell had a good year on loan and then played very well for Costa Rica at the World Cup. He has said that he is ready to fight for his place and wants to play in the Premier League. He definitely has good qualities, but is he the finished product?

Then you have Lukas Podolski who is a great player and a good finisher, but at times his work rate is not what it needs to be. He gets lost on the wing sometimes and then kind of shuts off and doesn't do enough to get involved. He needs to step up his game if he wants to see game time this season.

So far this summer has been better than other because we did some business early and we can integrate the new faces more easily than in years past. There are still positions with big question marks around them and until i see a balanced team in all areas i won't say that we will be favorites to win the Premier League. If we don't fix the problem areas mentioned above, a more realistic target is another top 4 finish which we are all sick of by now, but the Premier League is getting stronger every year and we can't take anything for granted these days.

Let's hope we start the season with Community Shield trophy and many more after! C'mon You Gunners!!!

FA Cup: Arsenal vs Hull City 3-2 and what's next?

What a day yesterday was! Waiting for 9 years had taken it's toll on every Arsenal fan and i think the win yesterday was so emotional, because losing the final was not really an option. If this team was to ever start winning, it had to start with this FA Cup win. A lot of these players had not been able to cross the finish line for so long, another defeat might have scarred them for good. But they were able to fight through and scrap out a win that is of monumental importance for this club!!

The game itself was an emotional roller coaster. I expected a tough game because no team gets to a Cup final and just lays down without a fight. I also knew, that no matter what, we had to show resolve and win this game. That's the only way to become a winner: fight through adversity and believe that you can WIN! Those guys were finally able to do it. The start was as bad as it gets: 2 goals in 10 minutes both from scrambles in our penalty area. I am sure every Arsenal fan in the stadium was thinking "here we go again"! But Cazorla's goal was the turning point. At 1-2 down, we could still be patient going forward and needed only one more goal to stay in the game. If the score was 0-2 at half time, we would have been in deep trouble.

The second half we started putting Hull under a lot of pressure and it seemed a matter of time before we equalized. There were at least 2 or 3 situation where we should have gotten a penalty and had we lost this game, i am sure there would have been a major outcry against the ref. Luckily, Koscielny equalized and after that, there was only one team on the pitch. Gibbs could have done us all a favor, had he taken his chance in front of goal with 10 minutes or so to go. But i guess our first trophy in 9 years had to be earned the hard way! In extra time we missed a lot of chances with Giroud hitting the bar being the best one, until Ramsey finished the game with a great strike!! It was only fitting he would be the one, winning it for us, considering when healthy he has been our best player all season long! There was one more nervous moment left for everyone in red, when Fabianski decided to come out and try to clear a long through ball, allowing Hull the chance to maybe get to penalties, but the chance was missed and the FA CUP was ours!!!

So what's next for this team?

That is the million dollar question, isn't it? I feel that this win has shown two main things: these players proved that they can win trophies and from here on, the sky is the limit for this team! At the same time, there are holes that have to be plugged in and addressed if we want to get to the next level (winning the Premier League title and the Champions League)!

In my last post i mentioned that i believe Wenger has to go and i wanted him to win the FA Cup as his farewell present! The reality is that the only way we would have let him go is if we did NOT win the FA Cup. Now, it's certain that Arsene will sign a new contract and keep going. I have nothing against him and i have always said that he has done more for this club than anyone else! But if he does not make the right changes this summer, i fear we won't be able to progress much from this year. What do i mean by this:

#1. We NEED a top class Defensive midfielder! I can not stress this enough! Arteta and Flamini are both good players, but they are not good enough to be our main starters. In many games this season, it was clearly visible that Arteta has a tough time keeping up with fast, physical players. He can be our rotation guy, but we need a strong defensive midfielder as a starter, who can keep the balance between attack and defense. The losses to Man City and Liverpool were great examples of us not having that balance and being punished for it.  I have been hearing that Javi Martinez from Bayern is not getting along with Guardiola, he might be a perfect fit for us!

#2. Wenger has to have a plan B! One of his biggest weaknesses in my opinion is his refusal to adjust his tactics based on the opponent he is playing. We can not just blindly attack regardless of who we are playing, i love our identity and our style, but there are games where you have to be a bit smarter and set your team in a certain way. The two losses mentioned above come into mind again.

#3. Squad rotation is a must! If we want to challenge for titles on all fronts we need two teams of similar level. That's why keeping Thomas Vermaelen is a must!! The only way he will stay, is if he knows that he will play more than once in a blue moon. Wenger needs to rotate him with Koscielny and Mertesacker, otherwise he will go somewhere where he can play regularly. Against teams with very quick strikers and wingers you can easily pair Koscielny with Vermaelen who are a bit more mobile than Mertesacker.

#4. We need a good replacement for Sagna! With Sagna's departure all but certain, we need to buy another good right back. Jenkinson is a decent player but right now, he is nowhere near the level of Sagna. Bacary has been incredibly consistent in the last few seasons and has been constantly improving his game - i used to make fun of his crossing which used to be awful, but in the past two years even that part of his game had improved. If Micah Richards is healthy and available (and doesn't ask for astronomical salary), he can be a good option for us.

#5. We need a top class striker!  Giroud finished the season strong but we need an alternative- someone quicker and shiftier, which will be a different challenge for defenders. Sanogo is similar size to Giroud and is nowhere near ready to be a starter for us. In the games i have seen him play so far, he shows a lot of desire and fight, but is very clumsy with the ball. He had numerous chances against Hull to take some shots at goal, instead he was trying to twist and turn with the ball and kept losing it. He will probably get better with time but we need a top class striker now.

If Wenger can adapt his style a bit and work on the 5 things i mentioned above, he might be still the right man for the job for us. Otherwise the memory of this FA Cup win will quickly fade with the fans, because they want progress. Winning this first trophy in so long, will only increase their appetite and hunger for more. We have a squad that with the right additions, should be able to achieve much more! So now Wenger has to prove that he is able to build on this win and move the club forward!

I am looking forward to this summer and hopefully our management buying the final pieces of our puzzle, so next year we are ready to win more trophies in this very competitive Premier League! C'mon You Gunners!!!

FA CUP Winners!

More on the game and what's next for this team, tomorrow...For now, enjoy!!!!

Everton vs Arsenal 3-0

Wow, i did not see this one coming. I thought there is a chance that we might lose the game today, but i didn't think we would be COMPLETELY outplayed. The bottom line is that today Everton just played us out of the park. They pressed us better; they were better moving forward and creating chances; they limited us to only one real goal scoring chance; from start to finish they were the better team.

We obviously have a few positions that we have to improve and i have spoken about those in almost every post for the past few weeks, but today i felt we also didn't really have a clear idea how to break Everton down. When we tried crossing from the wings, we had no players in the penalty area who could convert those crosses. When we tried to go trough the middle, we could not find the right pass to create space and we also did not have a forward who could create something for himself (cough, Giroud is pretty useless up front, cough). It's hard to beat a well organized team when you don't really commit to a certain strategy and you just pass the ball around hoping something good will come out of it.

 A few other things are also clear: Monreal is a decent player, but he is way below Gibbs's level. He struggled all game long with the likes of Lukaku and Coleman. Giroud is pretty much in the same boat: decent player but that's about it. He can't create anything for himself. He can hold the ball well with his back to the goal and win a lot of headers, but he lacks speed and creativity. He is not someone who you are scared to cover, not to mention he is pretty quick to go down to ground when under pressure. And then cry about it.

Flamini had a great game against Man City and he is a born leader: very vocal and has a ton of heart. But i have always said that his pressing on the ball is awful. I don't think he even realizes that he NEVER closes people down. He stays a few feet away from them and then just barks orders to the players behind him. The problem with that as you can see from the two pictures below, is that the opposing players with the ball have all the time in the world to pick a pass and execute it. The pass Baines gave to Lukaku for the first Everton goal could have easily been prevented if Flamini had closed the ball down. Instead, he assumes his favorite defensive position: legs wide apart, giving the player with the ball plenty of space and the result is a cross from Baines, with no one being able to block it.

I thought Cazorla also had a very poor game, he kept missing passes and couldn't really get his game going. Podolski had some good shots in the first 10 minutes of the game and then he disappeared completely. Rosicky was probably one of the few players that was pushing the envelope and trying to create something by taking on players and attacking the goal. Ramsey had his first game in over 3 months and i was happy to see him on the pitch. Hopefully he can stay healthy because he was unstoppable in the first part of the season. 

I still don't understand why Kallstrom does not get any game time. If you bought him because he is good, you should let him play and see if he is good enough to play for this team. Especially since Arteta has been struggling in the past few games. Or maybe i am the only one who thinks Arteta is not good enough in the middle of the pitch.

I still think that we should be able to win our next five games and finish in the top 4. Some of the teams we play are fighting to avoid relegation, so they won't roll over for us, but if we want to play Champions League football next year, we have to show we deserve it. Everton still have to play Southampton and Man City so i can see them dropping points, but we need to take care of our part and win the rest of our games.

Lastly, i really think it's time for Wenger to go. I love the guy and i hope he can win the FA Cup this year and retire as a winner. But i do think his time has come. We need a fresh face, someone who can still keep our identity and the way we play football, but who is better at organizing us defensively and is able to rotate players and adapt to the modern game. Someone like Michael Laudrup, Jurgen Klopp or even Roberto Martinez. I wouldn't mind if Wenger helps with finding who should succeed him. He could also stay at Arsenal as a technical director or help develop the young players at the club. Regardless, he is a legend at Arsenal, but the time has come for the club to move on!

Arsenal vs Manchester City 1-1

So, i haven't had time or desire to post since the last two games with Chelsea and Swansea. Needless to say there wasn't much to post about anyway. Against Chelsea it looked like Wenger did not learn anything from the Liverpool beat down we suffered in February. A common theme in all these bad losses that we had this year against the top teams, was how we conceded goals: one of our midfield players makes a bad pass or losses possession of the ball = quick counter = goal for the opposition. The first three goals we conceded against Chelsea were all started by giveaways in midfield. Sometimes it's Arteta (who i feel is the biggest liability in our midfield), sometimes it's Cazorla, sometimes Oxlade and today was Podolski. It doesn't really matter who the player that gives the ball away is, what is important is that we are not prepared for it and teams punish us over and over.

Today's game compared to our last few showings was OK. I felt that we had chances to win the game (especially Podolski's shot being blocked by Hart's leg was very unlucky). We still looked vulnerable, but at least we played a bit smarter than other times. When Gibbs saw how much pace and quickness Navas has in the first 10 minutes, he stopped going forward as much and dropped back a bit, so he can control the Spaniard. The rest of the game i though Kieran did an awesome job defending Navas's runs. But he made and ADJUSTMENT! Something we haven't done very well all season long. In the big losses that we suffered this year against Chelsea, Liverpool and City, the cause was the same: we never adjusted our playing style! There was no plan B. So when you don't make an adjustment you get punished. That's where i feel Arsene has struggled for years, he is not tactically flexible. We have to suffer big defeats over and over, before something changes.

Anyway, today we got a decent result. It would have been much better if we had won the game, but we needed a response and we did play some good spells of football. I though Cazorla was very good and always threatening going forward. Rosicky was also dangerous even though he had some reckless challenges. As i mentioned, Gibbs adjusted well after the first 10 minutes, Sagna delivered some great crosses from the right side, there was one that should have been converted for sure. Vermaelen and Mertesacker were solid for the most part, i think the Belgium is someone who we should NOT let leave if we want to be a team challenging for a title in the upcoming seasons. He should be given more game time and rotated with Koscielny, instead being a bench warmer. Flamini had a good game and was everywhere on the pitch. If anything, he looked more like an attacking midfielder then a defensive one. He also scored a nice goal. Podolski had a decent game, but missed a great chance to win it for us. Giroud was his usual self - working hard and winning a lot of high balls, but not a lot of end product from him. He also loveeees laying on the ground and making faces every time he gets tackled. I felt Oxlade should have come in a bit earlier if we really wanted to push and try to win this game.

I left good old Arteta for last because i finally decided to record a typical giveaway that he does at least ONCE EVERY single game! I am not blaming him for lack of pace or the strength needed to fight off challenges - i blame Wenger for putting him as a defensive midfielder when he lacks the attributes needed to be one!     

Since he brought Kallstrom as a defensive midfielder, i hope we will see him play instead of Arteta for a few games and decide if he is a better alternative. Until then, expect more clips like the one above.

With the FA Cup being our only realistic chance of silverware i do hope we can at least keep fourth place, the game against Everton next week will be huge in deciding that. Let's hope we show up ready to play! C'mon You Gunners!

Tottenham vs Arsenal 0-1

Huge win today! Doing the double over Spurs in one season is extremely enjoyable! (Triple if you count the FA Cup:)!! I am not going to lie, for the first 65 minutes of the game today i was screaming at the TV and pulling my hair: #1) we should have scored two more goals on the counter and put the game away #2) Tottenham could have scored at least 3 themselves!

I know it was a strange game simply because Rosicky decided to score the prettiest goal of his Arsenal career in the 2nd minute of the contest! Obviously, scoring that early changed our mindset and we sat back a lot more than we probably would have otherwise. But for large periods of the first 65 minutes, i didn't think we belonged in a title fight: we weren't pressing enough and we allowed too much space for the Spurs players to operate in. On top of that Oxlade wasn't able to score (or at least pass to Podolski) during a lightning counter attack. I felt that this is a Spurs team really shaky at the back and we couldn't take advantage of that, or at least put them under more pressure! 

But to their credit, everyone settled down around the 70th minute and we kind of closed shop at the back. The last 20 minutes of the game i felt that we were defending very calmly with the exception of the constant booting of the ball up field, instead of stringing a few passes together. Wenger actually made good substitutions considering how thin our bench is and we were able to close the game out!

I have been mentioning this a lot lately, but i still feel that Arteta continues to struggle big time in the middle of the pitch. For playing such an important holding role his speed is a huge concern, i would play him a bit higher up the pitch because when he loses the ball deep in our half, he just can't recover. I wonder if Kallstrom will be a better alternative if he is fit enough? Oxlade continued his excellent play even though he was asked to play a bit further back today. His speed allowed him to burst forward whenever he had the opportunity and he had chances to double our advantage on more than one occasion. Hopefully his finishing will be sharper next time. Rosicky was outstanding and his goal was unreal! The guy is capable of shots like that, it was great that today his aim was spot on! Cazorla was lively throughout the whole game and even though he had some uncharacteristic giveaways, he had a solid performance.   

The back four were outstanding today! Mertesacker won pretty much every high ball in our penalty area and almost scored on the other end! One of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt. Sagna was also outstanding. He had to deal with the speedy Rose the whole game and to be honest, i feel that he wore him out, because towards the end of the game Rose was not flying forward as much. Gibbs and Koscielny were also very solid and Koscielny blocked what looked like a sure goal after Szczesny had a sloppy attempt on the ball. Other than the mentioned casual mistake that Szczesny made, he also had a good game.

Podolski worked hard all game and had Oxlade rolled the ball to him in the first half, he would have had a tap in goal. Surprisingly though, he was out of gas in the 70th minute and Wenger did well to sub him. I don't know if he is not a 100% because he was a sub for a long period of the season but he has to bring his fitness level up, so he can last 90 minutes! Giroud was almost invincible for long periods of the game, but to his credit in the last 15 minutes when we were booting everything up field, he won a ton of high balls and won us a lot of extra seconds.

All in all, a tremendously important result for us because it leaves us in the title race!!! We definitely need a better performance against Chelsea next week, but hopefully the team gets a lot of confidence from this win and steps it up. If we play with more purpose going forward and do a better job of taking our chances we can pull off a result at Stamford Bridge! But if we allow them too much space and time on the ball like we gave Tottenham today, we will have a tough time getting a result there. C'mon You Gunners!!!

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal 1-1

The miraculous away win we needed today did not happen. In all honesty, Bayern were the better the team and controlled the game from start to finish. What really impressed me is how high up the pitch they press and force you to give the ball away, thus controlling the possession and the game. I wish good old Wenger would apply press like this, but that will never happen. Our pressing is always a bit chaotic and inefficient with some players not covering their responsibilities. We did a good job of not conceding in the first half, but except for a couple of really good runs from Oxlade, we were constantly under pressure and had a tough time getting the ball out of our own half.

Once they scored in the second half, you knew it was all over. I am glad Podolski scored a nice goal (even though his push on Lahm was probably a foul) and we at least got a draw, but the reality is that we were outplayed. One of my biggest regrets is that we never tried to sign Guardiola when he left Barca. He would have been the perfect coach for us and Wenger could have passed the torch to him.

It has been obvious this season that Arteta definetely struggles against quick passing teams. He is just a step behind and is forced to foul with sliding tackles. Flamini on the other hand is a bit faster but his pressing is god awful - his favorite position is 5 feet away from the player, with hands on his quads and just pointing to other defenders where to cover - never closing the distance to the player with the ball. We need a solid presence in the middle of the pitch for next season! 
Oxlade has to be a starter in every game we play from now until the end of the season!!! He is the only guy with enough pace and dribbling ability who can cause chaos in the opposing teams defenses. He gives the ball away cheaply at times, but he makes up for it with effort and tracking back.

Ozil's effort on the pitch continues to be a joke! I had such high hopes when we signed this guy, but i can't stand watching him dragging on the field. Just look at the video below and tell me if this guy is playing with any effort and desire?  

Not to mention, to see him sprinting is a miracle. If we are trying to press teams, forget about counting on him to close people down. Until he starts putting effort and desire on the pitch his place is on the bench:

I was actually impressed with Wenger subbing him at half time and i hope it was because the lack of effort, not because of the hamstring injury that he supposedly has.

We have only the FA Cup and Premier League left to focus on now with the FA Cup being our top priority. If we have to be realistic, we will have a tough time catching up Chelsea at the top considering the run of games we have coming up. Our team is just not good enough at the moment. I think with a few good performances we can stay in the mix until the end, but i don't see us pulling out the Premier League.

FA Cup on the other hand is our best chance for a trophy and if we don't win it, i don't think Wenger should come back. I am not saying Wigan, Hull and Sheffield are bad teams, but if we can't beat these guys to win a trophy, we might as well forget about winning one anytime soon. The pressure will definitely be on us, but these guys have to finally show some balls and perform.

Stoke City vs Arsenal 1-0

I am sure every Arsenal fan out there is furious right now. Not because we played terrible game or had an awful performance. Because we (the fans) have been dissapointed so many years in a row, that at some point you start losing faith that you will get over that hump. Games like today's game at Stoke, are the games you have to scrap out a result and do whatever you need to do, to get the three points.

We obviously weren't able to do that. The performance wasn't all bad. We were pressing well for most of the game (which is usually one of our problems), but we were lacking speed and burst up front. This is why i was so surprised that Oxlade-Chamberlain did not start today. You know Stoke's defense is very organized and you need some mobility and speed to break them down. Not only Oxlade didn't start, but Wenger waited until the 74th minute to put him in. For the 20 minutes he played, he created more chances than the whole team did for the first 75 mins!

This is where i feel we are a little short in having a chance to win the title this year: our coach does not have that "it" factor when it comes to picking the right players to win some tricky games.That douche bag Mourinho starts Schurrle today for the first time in forever and the guy scores a hat-trick. I am not saying that he is a genius or knew Schurrle will score 3 goals today, but it seems that he always chooses the right line ups to get him crucial wins. In our case, it was obvious that we will need some speed up front today, but Wenger leaves both Gnarby and Oxlade on the bench which are two of our faster players going forward.

The team made some bad decisions on the field as well. Cazorla blew our only meaningful chance in the first half by being greedy and taking a shot when he should have passed to Podolski who was in a much better position to score. Too many times we would isolate Sagna on the right and he would just cross the ball and Stoke's defense would deal with it easily. Only when Oxlade came in, did our attacks become more dangerous. Giroud was isolated for large periods up front and when he did get his feet on the ball, he didn't do much. Wilshere and Rosicky were trying hard but weren't very sharp in their passing. Cazorla was dissapointing.  

I do think the penalty decision was complete bullshit and Koscielny was unlucky to get a penalty for that, but you have to be able to deal with that and come back and win the game. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't and it really didn't seem that we had enough belief that we can score 2 goals in 15 minutes. Even a draw would have been a decent result considering the situation, but Sanogo missed a golden chance at the end created by - guess who- Oxlade.

On a side note: Charlie Adam is a piece of shit! He is a good player, but he consistently goes studs in at players and i have no clue how he always gets away with it! He stomped on Giroud today, he destroyed Bale's ankle a few years ago and recently he did the same to Paulinho (i know these tools are Spurs players but that's not the point). Someone should punish that fucker on video review or something.

Anyway, considering the games we have coming up, this is was a devastating result for us and i am afraid that we can easily go on a downward spiral and fall apart. We will definitely need all the mental strength and belief that we can muster. I am hoping this team will stay strong but i do feel that if we don't win anything this year, Wenger needs to go.      

FA Cup Arsenal vs Liverpool 2-1, Arsenal vs Man Utd 0-0

Let's start with today's game because we did get a positive result and it was an important win for us from a psychological stand point. I am enjoying this victory because we had a bunch of players rested and we pulled off a great result. But i can't close my eyes to the fact that with a little bit more composure in front of goal, Liverpool could have put up a similar scoreline to the one they beat us at Anfield with. Sturridge should have scored twice in the first 15 minutes and this game would have had a completely different outcome. We did press well and we were moving the ball nicely in the first half, so the goal we got was somewhat deserved. What troubles me though, is how many times our defense got opened up so easily throughout the match! And the pattern was always the same: long ball from Gerrard or Coutinho and our high defensive line is easily beaten - allowing 1 on 1 opportunities for their forwards. Luckily for us both Sturridge and Suarez could not find the goal today and Fabianski had the game of his life. I repeat, Fabianski had a solid game! That happens to him on average: once in every 40 games. But the reality is that teams that are on their game, will punish us big time if we allow opportunities like that. I hope Wenger realizes that and i think he does, he just doesn't know what to do about it!

There was a 100% second penalty against Suarez and if he hadn't done the worm dance after he got fouled maybe they would have given it to him. He overreacted so much, that i guess Webb was like "after this theatrical shit, i can't give you a penalty dude, that's just embarrassing". Oxlade was our best player today, he is very positive with his runs and he is not afraid to shoot. We just need him to stay healthy! I also can't believe Wenger took him out in the 76th minute, if anybody should have been taken out, it should have been Sanogo who had not played a competitive match in 5 months. Instead he played 87 minutes - another "genius" decision from the Professor. Sanogo seems an interesting prospect, he didn't impress me with his first touch or his dribbling, but he has good size and a big stride, i need to see him play more to get a better impression. Podolski keeps proving that he needs to be playing more regularly, except for the stupid penalty he gave away, he had a solid game and scored a great goal. He is always a threat and he should be starting on the left almost every game. I still don't think Arteta and Flamini should be playing at the same time even though today they did OK. 

Ozil had finally woken up against Man Utd, but today he was back to being mediocre. He did give a great pass to Oxlade who set up Podolski for the second goal, but i expect much more from him and the game against Man U was a step in the right direction, but he needs to keep his level up every game. So, good win for us today but very troubling signs defensively and i don't think we will get so lucky the next time a team has so many chances against us. 

ARSENAL vs MANCHESTER UTD 0-0

I thought we responded very well after the defeat to Liverpool, the team was playing with great hustle and desire, but if i can sum up the Man U game with one word, the word i would use is ineffective. We were pressing up the pitch like crazy and everyone was hustling but we weren't organized enough while doing that! We had 2,3 players pressing the same guy with the ball, instead of covering the players they were responsible for. So we would expand a lot of energy with very little end product. We still controlled the game though, but real chances were tough to come by and when they did, we wasted them with ease. I felt, that was one of the weakest Man Utd teams we have faced in the last few years, not so much the players they had on the pitch, but the confidence they played with - they were ours for the taking and we just didn't have enough quality at the final third to take advantage of that. 0-0 was a fair result in the end, considering "the traitor" Van Persie would have scored in the 2nd minute, had he not slipped before he kicked the ball. And then Szczesny denied him with a great save in the second half. I also feel that Ferdinand coming in for Rafael was bad for us, because him and Vidic as a pair, are one of the best central defending pairings in the EPL (no clue why Moyes doesn't start them every game). Ozil finally had a good game, he was fighting for the ball and was taking people on trying to shoot or pass. That's the player he should be in every game. Unfortunately for us, he rarely shows that much desire or fight game after game. Because of the Chelsea stumble at West Brom, we are only one point away from them, but i really feel that defending the way we do (allowing too many chances for opposing teams), we will really need A LOT of luck to win the title. The only plus for us is that there are so many good teams fighting for the top spot that we will have a chance no matter what.

The last thing i want to mention is the team i think Wenger should be playing on regular basis: Szczesny at goal. Sagna, Mertesacker (rotated with Vermaelen against speedy teams), Koscielny, Gibbs. Monreal can rotate with Gibbs when needed, but Gibbs should be the starter. Arteta OR Flamini as defending midfielder, NOT both at the same time. In front of him Ozil and Cazorla as central midfielders with Podolski on the left, Oxlade on the right and Giroud in the middle. Wilshere and Rosicky can be rotated with either Ozil or Cazorla, Gnarby can be rotated with Oxlade and Sanogo with Giroud. The bottom line is that we have a lot of quality but we need to put our players at the right spots for them. Playing Cazorla on the left and Podolski on the bench is not ideal for either player, yet Wenger continues to do it all the time.

We have a big game against Bayern on Tuesday and if Wenger has any brain left, he should make sure we don't go forward like morons, instead be patient and defend well. We can't go back to Munich with a bad result like last year, even 0-0 will be a good result because we are capable of scoring anywhere. But if we go out and try to attack non stop, i am pretty sure our shaky back line will be punished badly. C'mon You Gunners!     

Liverpool vs Arsenal 5-1

I have been meaning to write a post ever since the Southampton game, i just never found the time. But our performance in the first half today made sure i can spend most of the second half writing this, instead of watching our inability to have any defensive organization.

It's very easy after a game like this for every fan to point fingers and say "We suck", "We are not good enough" etc. But the painful truth is that after the Southampton game, i was thinking: "we have enough quality players needed to win the title this year, but i don't think we are defensively organized enough to get it done"!

In the Southampton game we were dominated in the first half, but were only 1-0 down. Somehow we scored 2 goals in the beginning of the second half and you would think that we should have enough composure to close the game out, instead we concede a goal 2 minutes later and the worst part was that we were beaten by a simple long ball and our defense was nowhere to be seen.

All the talk during the transfer window was how we need another striker to compete for the title and so on, but the reality is that we need a really good defensive midfielder to hold this team together. Arteta and Flamini have been doing their best, but neither of them is an imposing physical player. Someone like Yaya Toure would be the perfect for that role (the guy has amazing strength and control over the ball). The other thing Wenger has to be aware of is that Flamini and Arteta playing at the same time is not a good combination. Even before Flamini got sent off against Southampton they were struggling to work well together in our midfield.

The second and more important problem is the fact that i just don't think Wenger knows how to organize a team defensively! I have been saying for years that we don't press teams properly when we don't have the ball  (you can read my posts from the last few years). On top of that we are not efficient enough going forward: at times we leave too many holes in the back without much end product up front. That is not a problem for us when we play weaker teams because a lot of times they don't convert the chances they get, but when we play a team like Man City or Liverpool who have a lot of good players going forward, we have no clue how to go forward without exposing ourselves in the back.

I watched Chelsea beat Man City on Monday and i remember being so jealous of the way Mourihno had set up his team: No more than 4 players at a time were attacking when Chelsea were going forward which was shocking to watch, but that ensured that City had no open spaces for their deadly counters. Instead Chelsea were sitting back, being organized in defense and every chance they got, they broke forward in lightning fast counters without over committing a huge number of players. They could have easily scored 3 or 4 goals if they were more composed in front of goal. The bottom line is that Mourinho knows how to set up his team to give them the best chance to win. Wenger on the other hand does not have a plan B: we just go forward trying to put teams under pressure even if we get punished by counters over and over! The 6-3 scoreline at the Etihad in December is a great example.

 Another problem with good old Arsene (which i have talked about a lot as well) is the lack of personnel rotation. If he had given Vermaelen more opportunities to play during the season, he could have probably used him today instead of Mertesacker not because the German had an awful game or anything but just because Liverpool have so much speed on their team: Sturridge, Sterling, Suarez etc...Against a speedy team like that, you can make an adjustment in your tactics and come out with a more mobile defense but Arsene would never think of changing a team that has been playing well. Never. Regardless if that might be a helpful and useful change. His stubbornness would not allow him to alter his vision or tactics. Jose Mourihno on the other hand would have no problem changing his line up if he thinks that would give him the best chance to win.

Do we still have a chance at winning the title this year? Sure. Things might happen, there are too many teams that are playing well for one team to just dominate until the end. Do I think that we are good enough to win the title? On paper yes, but in reality i highly doubt it. I just don't see Wenger all of a sudden improving our inability to stay organized when we need to defend or go forward more cautiously. Let's hope i am wrong and i have to apologize (which i will, if we win the title) for doubting Wenger's ability to win it all.

p.s.Last thing i want to mention is Ozil. He continues to under perform and since the first few weeks in which he showed what he is capable of, he has been terrible! No desire, no fight, no hunger. It looks like he still can't get used to the physicality of this league but he has had long enough to get his shit together. If that's what we get for 42 million pounds, that's a fucking joke. Like our performance today.

FA Cup Arsenal vs Tottenham 2-0

It's been a while since my last post and unfortunately i won't be posting as regularly as I used to, but i will do my best whenever i have the chance. A lot has happened since my last post and most of it has been positive news surrounding AFC! We are still on top of the league, we just eliminated the annoying Spurs clowns from the FA Cup and we are still in the Champions League even if we have the tough task to play against Bayern Munich.

We had a little hick up in the league after drawing with Everton and losing to Man City pretty badly, but i think the 0-0 draw with Chelsea at home was very important for us, even though it was an ugly and not very entertaining game. Psychologically, if we can stay ahead of Chelsea and Man City until our direct games against them it will give us the confidence that we need to believe that we can win the title. That's why the wins at West Ham and Newcastle away and home against Cardiff in the last few weeks were so important for us.

The one thing that continues to worry me is the fact that Wenger still has a tough time rotating the squad and at times he can't find the right formation for us to be most effective. What do i mean by that? For example against West Ham on Dec 26th when we won 1-3, we needed an injury to Aaron Ramsey to force him to change the formation and turn the game around. Prior to Ramsey getting injured, Cazorla was playing on the left, Walcott on the right with Ozil and Ramsey in the middle and Arteta behind them. Santi Cazorla's favorite and most effective position is playing through the middle where he can influence the game with his control and passing of the ball. At the time we were down 1-0, Cazorla was struggling to make an impact on the left and i honestly felt that we will have a tough time winning this must win game. I was also cursing and wondering how long will it take for Wenger to make a change? The injury to Ramsey forced his hand and he put Podolski on the left and moved Cazorla to the middle. Obviously Podolski had a huge impact on the game, but i also feel that having Cazorla back to the middle of the pitch helped us turn that game around. Was Wenger going to make the same substitution if Ramsey didn't get injured? And if he was, when was he going to do it?

The situation with Thomas Vermaelen is similar. I understand that Koscielny and Mertesacker are playing well together, but if you want to have a balanced and dependable squad you have to make rotations and let other players get games so they can stay match sharp. Had Koscielny not gotten injured against Man City on Dec 14th i don't think Vermaelen would have smelled the pitch until a FA Cup game. That's not right. Vermaelen is a great player who had a shitty season last year, but he is a top class defender. You have to be able to keep him involved by giving him starts either for the Champions League or for the Premier League. Wenger does neither until someone gets injured. For comparison Chelsea have only one certain starter from their central defenders in the Premier League - John Terry. The other two: Cahil and Luiz are being rotated almost every other game. This allows each one of them to be match sharp when they are needed. Jose Mourinho has been annoying the fuck out of me all season and i would love nothing more than us rubbing a Premier League title in his face, but i have to admit that Wenger can only learn from his rotation policies and the effective substitutions that he makes.  

Anyway, i am glad that things are going well for us and i only mention the rotation and formations issues because i feel that we are really close to winning the title this year and i feel the aforementioned things might turn out to be very important down the line in the title race.

As far as our performances, we have been playing some very good football at times, but more importantly, we have been able to win games even when we haven't played so well. Ozil is one of the players that needs to step it up. At times he is too casual with the ball and his effort level is very questionable. He is still a special player who will be very important for us, but he needs to realize that English football is physical and he needs improve his effort on the pitch. Ramsey  has started to slow down a bit. Even before his injury his level had started to drop which is understandable - he was on fire for quite a long time! I do feel though, that he needs to steer away from the bad giveaways he is prone to make. I understand he can't play phenomenally all the time, but when he is not playing well, at least he should learn to not be sloppy with the ball. One guy that will be very important for us down the stretch is Podolski. He is top class and can give us some much needed goals and finishing. I definitely hope he stays injury free so he can contribute. Gnarby is a guy that i am very impressed with. Every time he has been asked to step in and play, he has been outstanding! He is only 18 yrs old, but he plays with maturity beyond his years, he is a great alternative to Theo on the right wing. Wilshere is also someone that we will need to continue to play well. He has to stay out of trouble and control his temperament but he is ability is unquestionable. I expect more from Cazorla, i know he has seen less game time than what he is used to, but in many games now he is not as sharp as he needs to be, the FA Cup game against Tottenham was a step in the right direction for him.   

The Tottenham game yesterday was a good illustration that if we play our football while being solid at the back, we can be a very effective team. We completely outplayed a Spurs team that was under somewhat of a "resurgence" without giving away too much at the back (the Eriksen miss being our only hiccup at the back). Unlike our performance against Man City where we created a lot going forward, but we were awful defensively. Against the big teams like Chelsea and Man City we have to make sure we stay solid at the back and go from there, not just blindly attack the whole game.

And lastly, if we can get a good striker in the transfer window, that would be a big boost for us and it will take a lot of pressure off Giroud. We will have 2 make or break months in February and March! February we have games against Liverpool, Man U and Bayern Munich back to back. And in March we have Bayern, Tottenham, Chelsea, Man City and Everton in a row. If we can be healthy and play smart those 2 months we have a good shot at winning the Premier League which is the ultimate goal. There is a lot of time left this season, but this team looks ready and hungry for success. I hope we can pull it off! C'mon You Gunners!!!