August 11, 2011
What Change is Needed at Arsenal? - Re-visited

Upon the 2010/2011 season’s end I wrote this article on the potential change at Arsenal. I stated, in the main, that it was far more a case of minor tweaks rather than mass overhauls, but the transfer window does not appear to have progressed along the lines Arsenal and Arsène Wenger had wished.

Goalkeepers:
What I suggested: Wojciech Szczesny to be handed the number one role, with Lukasz Fabianski to battle with him for it. Vito Mannone as third choice and Manuel Almunia to be sold (or shot out of a canon).
What has happened: they have tried, so far, in vain to rid themselves of Almunia. Pre-season matches and advertisements (he has not even been pictured in the new kit) suggest he will play no part in proceedings.
Potential changes: there was word that Wenger was interested in Craig Gordon, as a challenger for the two Poles, but realistically I don’t see it happening. The only thing that may happen is the departure of Almunia. No other change is needed.

Right Backs:
What I suggested: Emmanuel Eboué to be sold, Davide Santon to be brought in. Bacary Sagna to remain as first choice.
What has happened: Eboué looks like being sold to Galatasary very soon, while Carl Jenkinson has been brought in. Young and raw, but impressive at times in pre-season. Barring an injury to Sagna, he will get occasional games in the league and play in the cups. Good chances for him to gain experience. Promising prospect.
Potential changes: Eboué to be sold, nothing else.

Left Backs:
What I suggested: no changes.
What has happened: Gaël Clichy has been sold to Manchester City. I think he’s a decent left back but a defensive liability. There are definitely better out there, but it wasn’t a particularly problem-area. The lack of movement on that front suggests Wenger believes Kieran Gibbs can fill the void. The talent is there, but is the fitness? He has a very poor injury record and Armand Traoré didn’t exactly impress in his previous stint in the side.
Potential changes: for peace of mind as much as anything, I think Wenger should invest in a proven left back but that doesn’t seem likely. Realistically, I doubt anything will happen.

Centre Backs:
What I suggested: Laurent Koscielny-Thomas Vermaelen as first choice pairing and another brought in as a challenger (Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Christopher Samba, Jan Vertongen, Phil Jones or Mamadou Sakho). Johan Djourou as third or fourth choice and Sébastien Squillaci to be shipped off.
What has happened: very little, in reality. Phil Jones, Lancashire born and bred, elected to stay in his home area, despite Arsenal’s meeting Blackburn’s £16,000,000 price tag. A bid has been turned down for Phil Jagielka, but little else has come to the fore.
Potential changes: Wenger has promised investment in the defence. With a large windfall expected to come in soon, a signing cannot be far away. Scott Dann has been mentioned, but if he is to sign I doubt he’ll be the only one. It will make for interesting viewing.

Central Midfielders:
What I suggested: Denilson sold and a new backup defensive midfielder in. Do all possible to keep Cesc Fàbregas and make sure no others leave.
What has happened: Denilson has gone back to Sao Paulo on loan, but it looks as though the task of acting as backup defensive midfielders will fall to Emmanuel Frimpong and Henri Lansbury. And it looks as though Fàbregas is on his way (I was convinced Barcelona would not pay up). It is not finalised yet so he has not been replaced. No others look likely to leave.
Potential changes: a replacement must be brought in for Fàbregas. Juan Mata is a good option, but no signing will happen until the Fàbregas departure is complete. I don’t believe a defensive midfield signing will be made. Two players may be needed to bare the brunt of Fàbregas’s absence, or one superstar, like Wesley Sneijder (to take but one example).

Wingers:
What I suggested: bring in Eden Hazard or another out-and-out winger and keep the rest. Stop using Nicklas Bendtner as a winger.
What has happened: Bendtner is on the verge of leaving. Gervinho has been signed - similar to Hazard, but older and perhaps more ready for the Premier League. He also has a better goal and assist record than his former team mate. I did not forsee Samir Nasri expressing a desire to leave, though. A replacement must be signed for him. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed too, but is perhaps one for the future. Ryo Miyachi’s obtaining of a work permit is a huge boost - an out-and-out winger with blistering pace.
Potential changes: Bendtner and Nasri are certain to leave. Gervinho has replaced the Dane, but the money generated by Nasri’s sale must go towards a replacement for him. Mata seems ideal, but if he is signed, a number 10 OR an out an out winger must be signed too, with Fàbregas on the way out.

Strikers:
What I suggested: unless a switch to 4-4-2 was on the cards, no changes were needed, though this was before Bendtner expressed his desire to leave.
What has happened: there was certainly interest in Karim Benzema that was swiftly quashed by José Mourinho. Since then, nothing, really. Gervinho is well capable of filling in up front and is more comfortable there than Bendtner was on the wing. Robin van Persie is the ideal first choice, while Marouane Chamakh is a capable second fiddle.
Potential changes: another central striker is a possibility, but an unlikely one. Not a necessity at this point in time.

10:08pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZWYsLy8C1rhx
(Notes: 7)
  
Filed under: football arsenal fabregas cesc van Persie miyachi szczesny 
August 9, 2011
4. Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona, 16th February 2011

No one gave us a chance. Following on from last year’s thrashing at Barcelona’s hand, everyone assumed this was just another chapter of the same story and that a weaker Arsenal would get a more brutal beating from a stronger Barcelona.

Only this year there was a little more nouse about Arsenal, and far fewer injuries. Last year, there was no Robin van Persie, an injured William Gallas and Andrey Arshavin needing replacement before half time, an idiot between the posts, Cesc Fàbregas needing to be rushed back from injury, Alex Song at centre half, Denilson playing - in short, that team was in no fit state to tackle the strongest team around. This year, the only injury was to Thomas Vermaelen. Wojciech Szczesny would start in goal and they were not going to suffer from their own naïvety as their counterparts of the previous year had. The only real change to Barcelona was the switch of David Villa for Zlatan Ibrahimovic - a definite improvement.

Many of Barcelona’s games seem to follow a pattern - the opposition decide they’re going to ‘get in their faces’ and not be ‘pushed around’. This idea seems as though it is paying dividends until the clock reaches the tenth minute, at which point Barcelona become near-impossible to dispossess. From there it’s a slow, painful and demoralising death for the challengers, as the Catalans slowly drain them of their stamina, strength and in some cases, their collective will to live. Their ball retention is the best going, by far, but it was not a destruction à la their last Emirates Stadium encounter. Arsenal had a gameplan and it was working - push Barcelona up the pitch with the high line and aim to play on the counterattack. In rewatching the game, it was plain to see that the back four waited for Barcelona to get past Song and Jack Wilshere and then charged them down. This worked in places, but a high line is always a risk, especially against the forward line of Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez.

The Catalans broke past the line of defence three times in the first half. Once it was a sloppy pass by Song that meant, five touches later, Messi was bearing down menacingly on the goal. It was a narrow escape as the little Argentine fired wide. Uncharacteristic, but credit must go to Szczesny, who held his ground and stayed on his feet until just before Messi opened fire. The second time led to a goal. Gaël Clichy was caught behind the line and Villa needed no second chance to exploit the yard of space his poor positioning provided. Villa rarely misses and Szczesny had no chance. Barcelona were now a goal up. It would then have been easy to let them run riot, but it did not shift Arsenal’s game plan. They were broken through a third time but Pedro’s eventual goal was (somewhat luckily) ruled out for offside.

Though this is not to say that Arsenal had no opportunities through the first half. They came closest on a counterattcking move, involving van Persie, Fàbregas and Theo Walcott, with the latter two in something of a role reversal, as Walcott supplied the through ball from the centre circle and Arsenal’s captain sprinting onto it down the right hand side. The pass was slightly overhit, but Fàbregas made it onto the end of it in time to send a cross towards van Persie, which was just headed away by Abidal. Walcott came close in the early stages, while van Persie was unlucky with one effort and foolish with another, taking too much time before shooting and allowing Gerard Piqué to recover and force his shot wide. 

By the half it was 1-0 to the Catalans, but it was not all doom and gloom on the terraces. There was a cautious optimism amongst the Arsenal faithful. They were only a goal away and we were posing an attacking threat. All was most certainly not lost. Indeed, as the second half began, the home crowd were in full voice, as they had been through the first half, and would continue to be through the second. In its short life, the Emirates Stadium had never experienced such a raucous atmosphere, or anything approaching it. It was a relief, in some ways - if the rest of the crowd would not sing and shout on this, of all occasions, then they would never do so. The second 45 were slightly more open than the first had been, with there being a more potent flow to the games of both sides. All the while the Londoners were looking more and more likely to get a goal, but the threat of Barcelona was always a looming shadow, lurking in the background after every missed attempt on goal.

Credit here must go to Laurent Koscielny. He almost marked Messi out of the game and on one particular Barcelona attack, Pedro was clean through behind the line of defence until Koscielny miraculously managed to disposes him without bringing him down. It was a game that showed all his good qualities as a defender, and though he was liable at the Carling Cup final just two weeks on, it left me completely convinced of his abilities. As the game went back on forth, it was plain to see that it would not end 1-0 to Barcelona, but it could so easily have gone either way. On 78 minutes, Clichy produced a nice bit of improvisation, chipping the ball to the waiting van Persie in the area; what followed was spectacular. With Nicklas Bendtner arriving in the area, everyone assumed that the Dutchman’s next move would be to play to ball towards the big Dane, even Victor Valdes. Spying a football-sized gap between ‘keeper and post, van Persie opened fire. From the other end of the ground, where I was sat, we saw the ball disappear behind the figure of Valdes, then re-appear in the now rustling net.

Cue pandemonium.

The best thing about watching and rewatching clips of the goal is that as the television coverage shows the replays, the crowd are seeing them at the same time, and as the ball sneaks through that minute gap between Valdes and the upright, there is a clearly audible collective intake of breath. Many, myself included, initially thought there may have been an element of luck about the goal, but it’s clear to see van Persie knew exactly what he was doing. Now there was the belief that we could actually win this. We didn’t have long to wait for the second.

It was another example of the end-to-end nature of the match. Barcelona were on the attack, then Koscielny made the tackle, Bendtner played it short to Jack Wilshere - another who played fantastically - who played it short to Fàbregas, then two touches later, Samir Nasri was flying down the right hand side. As he slowed up, it looked as though the chance my have alluded him. The ball in looked misplaced, as it was behind the onrushing van Persie, but Nasri clearly saw more than we did. The ball fell to Arshavin and within a second the ball was again in the back of Valdes’s net. Delight. The Emirates had never felt that level of jubilation - truly that stadium’s finest hour (so far).

Barça would continue to attack and despite the natural tendency, as Arsenal fans, to panic, there was a feeling that we knew we had won, and even as they spent the last 5 minutes camped in the penalty area, we knew the victory was ours. Wilshere and Koscielny were the outstanding performers on a night no one in the ground will soon forget. I still have the flags that were given to us on display in my room; despite the injustice that was the second leg (Bussacca, you cheating swine*), you can’t ever take away from the joy, jubilation and sense of triumph that came with reigning victorious over this Barcelona. I returned from the game hoarse and emotionally and physically drained and with a sixth form interview the following day, but that did not stop me from rewatching and reliving the last 90 minutes again. Unforgettable evening.

*no, I won’t let it go.

4:55pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZWYsLy864UGR
(Notes: 5)
  
Filed under: football Arsenal barcelona barca fabregas van persie messi wilshere szczesny history fan piece favourite games 
April 14, 2011
Arsenal Goalkeepers: a Frank Assessment of the 2010/2011 Season So Far

Leading into the season, there was a general consensus that Arsenal needed three things: a new Goalkeeper, a central defender to cover Vermaelen and Djourou/Koscielny and a holding midfielder in act as backup for Alex Song. Speculation is rife that Arsene Wenger tried very hard to sign Pepe Reina from Liverpool, but the Merseysiders refused to sell to a rival. Then Arsenal refused to pay an extra £2,000,000 (on top of the slightly meagre £2,000,000 they had already offered) for Mark Schwarzer, of Fulham. Was this decision justified or could it ultimately be the decision that costs Arsenal the Premier League title?

Manuel Almunia - the Spaniard started the season as Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper, much to the chagrin of many of the Club’s fans. On the first day of the season, he was definitely suspect for Liverpool’s goal; a powerful near-post effort from David N’Gog. A powerful shot, yes, but no top class keeper should be beaten at his near post. A bad start.

But he did improve as games went on. Over the next six games, Arsenal would drop points just once, succumbing to a last minute equaliser against Sunderland, for which Almunia could not be held responsible. Then came a fateful day at the Emirates Stadium, as West Bromwich Albion came to town. The flailing stopper felled Peter Odemwingie to concede a penalty, but saved Chris Brunt’s poor spot kick to go some way to redemption. This was until the second half, in which he confirmed every suspicion that he was a man not up to the job of being part of a Premier League winning team. Odemwingie scored, then one minute later, Gonzalo Jara, with few options in the box, seeing a gap between Almunia and the post, he went for it. To his shock, and the shock of everyone else in the ground, rather than save it, the Spaniard didn’t save the ball, but more let it hit him en route to the net. The calamitous afternoon would not end there. Odemwingie chasing a loose ball in the Arsenal penalty area - one which Almunia should have claimed. Rather than return to his goal, he elected to follow the Nigerian, who sent the ball across to Jerome Thomas for 3-0. Disaster. He would not feature again until January and not again in the League until April. Officially, this was due to an injury, but words from people at the club suggest it was a demotion.

His first game back was against Huddersfield Town, which passed with no problems. His next game was away at Leyton Orient. He had little to do throughout the game, but in the last minute, Jonathan Tehoué lashed a shot towards the net, which Almunia somehow managed to let under his body to allow Orient to level the score. The replay was elementary. After Wojciech Szczesny dislocated his finger at the Nou Camp, Almunia was thrust back onto the front line. He gave a good shot-stopping performance, but it is not inconceivable that Szczesny would not have let Messi’s first goal past him.

With Szczesny injured, it was Almunia’s job to be the number one ‘keeper. His League return was, somewhat ironically, against West Brom. If Baggies’ fans had fond memories of him before this game, they would only grow by the end of it. 3 minutes in, the home side won a corner. Between Sebastien Squillaci, Laurent Koscielny and Almunia there was no communication and they conceded a goal. In the second half, Youssuf Mulumbu punted the ball hopefully upfield. Despite an awkward bounce, Squillaci had the ball under control and had Koscielny and Sagna either side of him. The situation was totally under control until Almunia flew from his goal, pushed the 30-year old Frenchman off the ball, leaving Odemwingie - Almunia’s tormentor once more - with a completely open goal. There are no words for how ridiculous the circumstances of that goal were. Truly. Even worse for Almunia was Jens Lehmann’s assured performance against Blackpool, making his exploits look (somehow) more amateur.

Verdict: assuming that his mistakes were the cause for dropped points (perhaps unfair), Almunia’s mistakes caused Arsenal to:
drop 2 points at Liverpool;
drop 2 points against West Brom (September);
go to a replay against Leyton Orient;
and a further 2 points against West Brom in March. 

Points gained at his hand: none.

6 points dropped at his hand, in just 8 League games; he was demoted to third choice after a shocking performance against West Brom and only regained his place due to Szczesny, Fabianski and possibly even Vito Mannone being injured. On the whole, a season which showed why so many were calling for Arsenal to sign a new goalkeeper. 

Lukasz Fabianski - the Pole’s performances last season provided no foundation for hope, in terms of future Arsenal goalkeepers. On top of the numerous errors last term, his pre-season and first game were very poor showings indeed. In his first game, a 4-1 Carling Cup victory over Tottenham, Fabianski failed to save a very weak Robbie Keane shot, meaning that Spurs had pegged Arsenal back to 1-1. It looked as though his poor performances would carry on from the 2009/2010 season. However, after Almunia’s ‘injury’, Fabianski became first choice goalkeeper ahead of a Champions League trip to Partizan Belgrade. He was beaten by a Cleo penalty and had little to do for the rest of the match, until Partizan were awarded a penalty. It would be Cleo to take it again and had he scored, Arsenal’s lead would have been diminished to just one goal with a nervy final 5 minutes ahead of them. But Fabianski made an excellent save to turn the penalty round the post. After this, the Pole’s confidence looked to have increased tenfold. Even from the resulting corner, he leapt from his goal to catch the ball with ease.

His next game was a 2-0 loss to Chelsea, for which he was at fault for neither of the two goals. As the weeks progressed, the promise of Fabianski of which Arsene Wenger has spoken seemed like it was finally coming forth. He looked strong and calm between the posts, but it was not without a blemish. In a home match against Newcastle he showed further flashes of his initial start to the season. When none of his defence picked up on an open Andy Carroll as a cross was floated into the box, Fabianski flapped in vein to get the ball but the former Newcastle striker beat him to it and scored. Arsenal lost 1-0. Though he recovered well from this setback, playing a pivotal role in away wins at Everton and Wolves. For the rest of his season he made no clear errors. His last game was against Manchester City in which he had almost literally nothing to do. He suffered a shoulder injury which required surgery and would have no part in the rest of Arsenal’s season.

Verdict: assuming that his mistakes were the cause for dropped points, Fabianski’s mistakes caused Arsenal to:

drop 3 points at home to Newcastle.

He recovered brilliantly from a very poor start; finally beginning to look a commanding presence in his area to go with excellent shot stopping ability. It was extremely unfortunate for him that his season was ended so prematurely, just when he was starting to look solid and dependable. It looks as though next season that he and Szczesny will fight it out for the number one shirt (and with Almunia looking very likely to leave, this can be seen in a more literal light too). 

Wojciech Szczesny - signed from Legia Warsaw at just 16 years old, Szczesny has always had huge potential. Last season he was incredibly impressive in his loan spell at Brentford and has always been earmarked for greatness. On a personal level, I had only seen him play once before this season - a Carling Cup match with West Brom when he was just 18 - his command of his area was a marvel for someone of such a formative age. His first appearance came in the same cup competition as his first match for Arsenal and the team eventually emerged as 4-0 victors. Szczesny went quite a way to showing why he has been so hyped. He produced a fantastic fingertip save from a long range Alan Smith piledriver to tip it over the bar and then made a very good save from a Joey Barton free kick. The potential was evident for all to see. His next game was the next of Arsenal’s Carling Cup run. He had very little to do in the match against Wigan Athletic but with Fabianski’s strong showings in the League, the number one slot seemed out of his reach for the time being.

Then Lukasz Fabianski suffered a thigh injury on the eve of Arsenal’s trip to old Trafford. Szczesny’s League début would come against Manchester United; this would faze many 20 year olds, but not Szczesny. One key feature of the Pole is his confidence and self-belief are those of a man well beyond his years and experience but certainly not beyond his ability. He performed admirably at Old Trafford; the visitors fell to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a looping Park Ji-Sung header, but he made a Schmeichel-esque one-on-one save from Anderson, spreading himself as United’s Danish legend was so famed for doing. He looked strong on his début, despite not having an exceptional amount to do. 

Fabianski returned to first choice after his recovery until he suffered the injury which left his season over. Here was Szczesny’s chance and he grasped it with both hands (no pun intended). In the first of his run of starts, Arsenal drew 1-1 to Leeds United. The away side went ahead through a penalty and while they were still in the lead, Luciano Bechio headed directly at Szczesny’s goal. The Pole produced a magnificent reaction save to parry the header away. The next game was a 1-0 loss to Ipswich, in which he was beaten by a strong Tamas Priskin finish, one which he had little chance of saving. The next goal that went past him was a 25 yard rocket from Bradley Johnson. Few goalkeepers in the World would have reached it. In his time between the posts, many fans were more confident and relaxed with him than they had been with the previous two occupants of the position, despite his youth. Between this and the Carling Cup final, only an offside Louis Saha effort, two Joey Barton penalties, close range finishes from David Villa and Leon Best and a rifle from Cheik Tioté would get past him. The number one shirt was, and still is, well and truly his property.

He speaks with great love and affection for Arsenal and London and has said that he would be more than happy to spend his whole career at the Emirates. Seeing the return of Jens Lehmann at age 41 (21 years his senior) has prompted the idea that he could occupy the role for the next generation; he’s definitely got the talent, the drive, the ambition and the potential.

This is all bypassing the disaster that was the Carling Cup final. After just 5 minutes, Szczesny could easily have been sent off for a foul on Lee Bowyer, but had a stroke of luck when the Birmingham City midfielder was incorrectly ruled offside. Nikola Zigic made the breakthrough for Birmingham through a corner after he lost his marker, Johan Djourou. This left Szczesny hopelessly flapping at the loose ball and Birmingham a goal up. Arsenal levelled and were dominating proceedings until the 89th minute. A weak header into the box bounced tamely towards the goalkeeper, who had Laurent Koscielny in front of him. Koscielny set himself to clear the ball but upon either seeing or hearing (or even both) Szczesny behind him, he pulled out half way through the clearance. Unfortunately, he still got a slight touch on the ball, which altered its path, meaning rather than drop into the waiting Szczesny’s arms, it bounced off his shoulder straight into the path of Obafemi Martins, who described it as “the easiest goal ever”. 

He was excellent in Arsenal’s 2-1 home victory against Barcelona. As Lionel Messi charged down his goal, he stood his ground and eventually forced the Argentine to place the ball wide. He remained reliable and solid through the rest of the game and presence in the box and judgement played a huge role in the home side limiting the La Liga champions to just one goal. The second leg in the Nou Camp was almost more anticipated than the first leg had been. 20 minutes in, Daniel Alves fired a free kick at goal. When the goalkeeper caught it, it seemed elementary. Then he threw the ball straight into touch and the look of anguish on his face told its own story. He was taken off and ruled out for up to 6 weeks with a dislocated finger. A sad end to what could have been a wonderful night for both the team and himself.

Verdict: personally, I attribute the Carling Cup final débâcle to Koscielny rather than Szczesny, meaning he cost the team no points or wins. Add to this excellent performances against Barcelona, Manchester United and many other teams along the way, it was clear that Arsenal have a potential great of goalkeeping in their hands. It was announced that he may be ready to feature for Arsenal in their clash with Liverpool and the relief with which the vast majority of fans treated this is worth a thousand words. He has made a huge impression and one which will last. 

But did Arsene Wenger miss a trick by not signing an experienced goalkeeper at the start of the season? Over the three ‘keepers, 9 points have been lost: 9 points which would mean Arsenal would be top of the League at this point in time, but at the same time, they may have lost many more points had it not been for the excellent showings of Fabianski and Szczesny. I believe that if signing a new goalkeeper would have halted or affected the development of the latter Pole, it was the right decision not to buy. His talent is undeniable and if he continues his development at the club, there will be no need to buy a goalkeeper for many years to come.

1:36am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZWYsLy4HqELk
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: football Arsenal almunia fabianski Szczesny 
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