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.