Up For Grabs Now

A team it’s difficult to feel much animosity for. Bonkers Thierry-cheering fans (apart from that bell-ringing waistcoat bloke), a charming shed which they insist is actually a stand, and – crucially – usually good for 6 points every year.

Today should be no different if we can maintain our encouraging early levels of swashbuckle and sex-appeal. I expect to see the strikers chipping in today, though if that happens you just know the press will start wondering where Arsenal’s midfield goals are going to come from.

The move to 4-3-3 looks to have reinvented one man in particular: Nicklas Bendtner.

Of course it’s very early on, but from what we’ve seen Arsene is going to keep him on the right of the front three. And rightly so.

There’s clearly a reason why it’s Arsh-RvP-NB52 rather than Arsh-NB52-RvP, which is how pretty much any fan would arrange them.

So far Bendtner has actually performed the role of spearhead – winning high balls and knocking them down for van Persie and others – but (rather revolutionary this) he has done so from the right, as part of his role as a wing-forward. I think this could prove very effective, in part because it’s such an unusual approach, and in part because with Arsene you know the team is never going to play in a way which needs a conventional (ie central) spearhead, through whom play is channelled (aerially) for much of the game – Davies, Drogba, Shearer.

Where was the spearhead in the TH14/DB10 combo? It was ludicrously effective despite the fact that Dennis was always dropping off deep and Thierry drifted wide to get the ball at his feet.

We use the high ball approach only occasionally, and it can be really effective as a change of tack.

Ade used to try and play from a wide position, but was absolutely dreadful at this and always ended up running up a blind alley, or crossing limply to nobody. We’ll miss him in some ways, I’m not denying, but if Bendtner can turn himself into a threat as unconventional as that he offered at Goodison, then we’ll have a real weapon on our hands.

Back to bread and butter issues: Gabon, the team that could prove vital to Arsenal’s season.

The thinnest part of our squad is clearly defensive midfield. Denilson and Song have grown impressively into first-picks, but behind them it all gets a bit ropey. Diaby and Ramsey could probably deputise for Denilson, but there isn’t anyone who could really cover for Song. And everyone knows he’ll be at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Song: Indomitable

And here’s the thing. He might not. Song’s Cameroon team (bullishly nicknamed The Indomitable Lions), sit bottom of their tough-looking qualifying group, which includes Andepaymore’s Togo, Chamakh’s Morocco and, er, Daniel Cousin’s Gabon. Third-place or better qualifies you for the CAN.

Lion: Midfielder

 

 Cameroon have a double-header with Gabon up next, who have taken maximum points from their 2 games. If Cameroon lose those two, they’ll be big favourites to finish last, and miss out on African Nations Cup qualifications.

Of course, they could still qualify. Let’s just hope they don’t. And let’s also hope Arsene signs a burly defensive midfielder all the same.

COME ON YOU REDS TODAY

With all the doom-mongering and transfer-related whingeing that’s been going on, only the very perceptive will have emerged from this summer having retained the memory of Arsenal actually owning any players whatsoever. And some good ones, too.

Grabber has done a fine job of swarthily surveying our array of attacking players like the seasoned trooper that he is. Now it’s my turn, with the case for the defence.

Manuel Almunia: combines a career as a top-flight goalkeeper with a part-time role as a German-baiting waiter. Also combines being Spanish with being English, and not getting picked for Spain with not getting picked for England. An Arsene favourite. For years completely unfancied by all, sundry, and everyone else as a bench-warming, cross-flapping enigma, you’ve got to admire the pluck of the man Mad Jens once complained had “only started playing football aged 30″.  Hope he stays fit.

Lukasz Fabianski: A blonde girl in a pub once told me that Fabianski is the best looking Arsenal player since Flamini. Be that as it may, his carefully slicked down fringe didn’t do much to quieten the howls of agony when he inexplicably charged past the onrushing Drogba at Wembley in the spring. Still, we all make mistakes, and he’s made some decent saves. Only 24, and improving. But hope Manuel stays fit.

Gael Clichy: A big season for Gael as he tries to dislodge Evra from the France team. Evra looks permanently furious and fights with passing groundsman at the drop of a rake. Clichy is extraordinarily fast, but developed a nasty tendency to fall over at crucial periods, such as in injury time against the hated foe. Hopefully this will be stamped out and he will finally learn to shoot. A top player who should be looking to last the season this year.

Bacary Sagna: Arguably the best player in the world. Sure, you’d have to argue that one pretty well, but if we had eleven Bacary Sagnas… well, I’d stick four in defence and the rest would have to compete with the others for places. One could probably play in midfield somewhere. And we might get away with playing a couple in the Ladies team. A magnificent defender, a soldier, and a gentleman.

Thomas Vermaelen: If you can’t sign Nemanja Vidic, why not sign someone who looks a bit like him? Steely of eye, iron of jaw and proud of forehead, Vermaelen has all the physical attributes to prove the doubters wrong about Wenger’s ability to buy defenders. Plus, he’s captained Ajax already and at 24 should have valuable experience and some great years ahead of him. I think he will prove to be a very shrewd buy.

William Gallas: Still here. After all the huffing and sulking, Wenger did the unthinkable and got rid of plucky Kolo instead, which leaves a lot of responsibility with Gallas. Unfairly maligned for his generally solid performances in my opinion, Gallas’ experience will be hugely important. He should realise that it’s his last season at the top, nail his colours to the mast and play a blinder. Could still be a world-beating stopper for us if his head is right and he can gel with Vermaelen.

Johan Djourou: Cited by Wenger as one of the many (three) tall players in our squad, this could be a breakthrough year for the young swiss, who has clearly muscled himself well ahead of Senderos in the picking order. Must steer clear of injury, but a first team spot is certainly not beyond him this season.

Emmanuel Eboue: So good, we profiled him twice. Arguably the best player in the world. Mad, bad, and often dangerous to pass to. Let’s hope that when he does get on he plays in defence, that he continues to cut inside so thrillingly (and entirely unpredictably) and that he wins a penalty at Old Trafford with a dive so egregious that it shocks the world. Reportedly wanted by Barcelona as a replacement for the tediously magnificent Dani Alves, and who can blame them?

Back 4 Extras: Arsene Knows. More than anything he seems to know how to find lithe quicksilver young left full-backs. Kieran Gibbs will have to fight it out with Armand Traore to be Clichy’s back up this year, though both players could surely also be useful on the wing if pressed into action. Mikael Silvestre continues to cement his place as a firm fans favourite, which is why we all hope he’s used sparingly.

Alex Song: Turned himself into a bit of a lynch-pin by the end of last season, though that was partly because we didn’t have any other players left. A good start could see him kick on to become a major force, though you still wonder if Wenger doesn’t see him as a defender. The face of Arsenal’s cosmetics range, there is still time to make yourself smell like Song. Prone to dozing off against correctly-termed lesser teams, our soft underbelly is likely to completely collapse without him, unless we get another defensive midfielder soonish.

Denilson: Famously “not as good as Kaka”, as the woman behind me repeatedly insists on pointing out, Denilson is a very promising talent, who must be looking to really impose himself on the team this year. Blessedly injury-averse, the ever-present young square-pass merchant isn’t going to convince everyone, but he’s convinced Mr Wenger, who will want him, like Song, to add a bit of grit and consistency to his game. Also like Song, likely to be the scapegoat for any poor results.

Aaron Ramsey: Tidy, skilful and a future mainstay. Looked overawed at points last year, but should know his way around by now. Not one to hang about and clearly convinced of his ability (just in a Welsh, rather than Danish way, if you get me) Aaron is likely to see a lot of gametime, especially if no other central midfielders arrive. Did I mention that some Arsenal fans want to see a defensive midfielder brought in?

Prognosis: The patient is a bit off-colour for this time of year, and looks thin around the middle. Would benefit from a muscular injection in defensive midfield and centre-half. What an original conclusion.

Thank God the season’s here. There’s been far too much Arsene-bashing from the press and some fans, and futile, circular, transfer-related harping. A win on Saturday would be the best way to forget all about it.

By gum, it hasn’t been so long since our last game has it? And here we are again, all hopes and fears as Tony Adam’s Pompey roll into the Emirates.

Having only a day in between matches could work in our favour. After results as frustrating as Friday’s, players and managers always want to have another chance to get it right as quickly as possible. You could argue the same about Pompey, I suppose, but after being obliterated 4-1 at home by struggling West Ham you’d rather think they’d need time to pick themselves up and regain belief. Instead of which they’ve had a day off and must now play Arsenal. 

Tony Adams (TA6) will rightly receive an enormous ovation, as such a pillar of the club deserves. Likewise Campbell, Ralph and Kanu, Invincibles all, should be made to feel right at home. Realistically, not Diarra.

That said, I don’t think Adams will be long for the Pompey job. Once an unproven young manager strings a run of poor results together (albeit his squad is crumbling around him), recent history shows that they always get the boot in favour of someone older and wiser (or sometimes just newer, as in Sbragia’s case), not because they aren’t necessarily good managers, but because most clubs’ budgets cannot countenance the blow of relegation and so extreme short-termism is the only option.

If he does lose his job, I’d love to see Arsene bring him in as a defensive coach. I’ve long thought that Arsene might benefit from basically not bothering to coach defending himself (in the same way that there are specialised goalkeeping coaches), and instead allow a specialist defensive coach to decide defensive strategy, especially things like defending set-pieces.

I know we defend as a team, blah, blah, blah. The thing is that there’s something painfully uncomfortable about our current back four which suggests they really don’t know quite what they’re meant to be doing. People bark on about new signings, but a new signing in the same defensive system can’t change all that much in my opinion unless they’re a massive ego in their own right who will insist on doing things their way, which sounds good in theory but a bit like Gallas in practice.

Arsene could still insist on having his full-backs galloping forward and maintain a certain style of distribution to the midfield. What I think someone like Adams could improve is the muddy bread-and-butter business of defending, which has always seemed to rather bore Arsene.

Back to today’s match. Adebayor returns after his ridiculous suspension. Djourou and Clichy may also come back, though I wouldn’t put the family cat on it, while Song misses out, apparently still injured – so I hope all those who suggested he got hooked by Wenger at Villa because he was playing terribly feel terribly guilty this morning.

Song’s loss is a bit of a puzzler for Wenger midfieldwise. I reckon he’ll put Nasri on the left, Eboue on the right, Denilson with Diaby in the middle. Diaby’s preference for aimless ambling in ineffectual areas of the midfield over things like pressing and tackling would put a lot of pressure on Denilson if this is the midfield today. An alternative would be to drop Eboue (Hooray!), put Diaby on a wing and Ramsey in the middle. The lad looked raw against Villa but it’s always tough to come into a game at the stage he did – the intensity’s high and nobody’s tired enough yet to give you any fitness advantage. Played from the start he might be able to get his teeth into the game a bit more.

Always interested to know your thoughts on today’s game and who you’d pick, so stick them underneath as always.

TRANSFER RUMOURS: No less a bastion of journalistic probity than the News of the World newspaper has today unleashed a three-headed Arsenal transfer-rumour monster which is clearly completely baseless and apparently intended only to worry frantic Geordies. They claim we’ll sign Shay Given, Steven Taylor and Charles N’Zogbia as part of Wenger’s big change of mind (which is itself a lie).

We’ve always been linked with N’Zogbia though I’ve never really understood why. He’s out of contract at the end of the season so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him signed in a sort of vague, Bischoffian manner. Taylor could be good I suppose, if given the right defensive coaching (see nods and nudges above), while Given would be a curious signing seeing as Arsene quite clearly rates Almunia highly. As do I for that matter. He’s another that seems to suffer simply because he wasn’t signed expensively as an established talent.

Allez les rouges!

As the reaction to our draw with Liverpool became more and more confused – “Liverpool grab brilliant draw against 10-man Arsenal” (eh? how does that work exactly?) – Arsene was asked in his post-match about the prospect of Carlos Vela being loaned out, his interest in Andrei Arshavin and the possibility of a move for Carlos Tevez.

“No, no, and no“.

This is terrible news for the idle rumour-mongers across the web and in the offices of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, who last week ran screaming headlines about Arshavin and Tevez and followed them up with learned opinions about Arsene’s imminent change of heart. They talked with grave certainty about the enormous sums piled high at the Emirates just waiting to be splashed on a range of long-haired strikers. But they still couldn’t be arsed to fabricate a single quote from within the club or “sources close to Arsene”. What evidence for Arsene’s great epiphany? None, nada, diddly squat.

So it’s bad news for them. They’ll have to find new big names and big new numbers to fill their headlines. Heaven forbid they should actually do some journalistic research. But is it really bad news for Arsenal? Is it bad news for Arsenal’s fans? I’m not so sure.

It seems to me that this season more than any other has seen Gooners aligning themselves with tabloid transfer hysteria. We’re not having a good season, what do we need to do? We need to spend, and spend big. That’s the consensus.

It’s total bollocks. I don’t give a monkey’s how much we spend, I just want good players. We currently require the acquisition of good players on the wing, in defensive midfield and in central defence. Everybody agrees on that. As far as I’m concerned these players can cost 20 million or 20 quid and I wouldn’t care less as long as they’re good enough. Nor do I care if I’ve heard about them, or if I’ve seen them in major tournaments, or if “Sport.com” says they’re really really good. When Eduardo and Sagna signed nobody had the first scoobie who they were and neither of them were very expensive, yet they are both absolutely class players.

But that’s not the attitude most Gooners have right now. Many have bought into the tabloid myth that spending money brings success by itself. In fact it doesn’t bring concrete success to anyone other than the media, who have an easy story which will sell them lots of papers. It’s as if Tottenham’s high-spending and laughably disastrous last 20 years never happened, or we Gooners just weren’t paying attention. 

Where there used to be a certain pride in Arsene’s ability to underspend his rivals and still compete, there’s now a rather ugly antagonism towards him, an insistence that he spend very big on a really big name right now, as if any future success would then be down to every pea-brained nutter who’s been screaming hysterically for a headline signing for the past 9 years, and nothing to do with Arsene.

And this antagonism has spread to infect many fans’ attitudes to certain players, chiefly Denilson and Alex Song, forever the scapegoats this season for any of the team’s shortcomings. Now both of them have put in some pretty dreadful performances, but both of them have also had games when they have been – as yesterday – little short of magnificent. Yesterday was the second time that Song has effectively neutralised the threat of Gerrard. And their performances are recognised by the rest of the squad – yesterday Van Persie singled out both players for praise – so it isn’t just Arsene who rates them. Van Persie is a top class Dutch international who has played with great players at club and international level. He might be worth listening to on this one.

But instead of getting the credit they deserve as young players performing superbly in big games, they get slated yet again. In my opinion this is because these two have come to represent Arsene’s policy of buying very young players very cheaply, then blooding them very early. It’s a very risky strategy, and a strategy which has major flaws as well as major benefits.

I reckon if Song had been signed for £9 million from Lyon in the summer and Denilson had come in last January from Valencia in a nice exciting £12 million deal, you wouldn’t be hearing anything like the dog’s abuse these two get week by week. Nothing like it. People would have way more patience with them and they’d want to see them doing well. You get the sense that some Gooners approach the game wanting Arsenal to win, no doubt, but also wanting to have a right old go at Alex Song. It’s totally perverse.

I’m not saying that either of these players should be first team regulars or that we shouldn’t bring in better players in their positions, I just don’t think they’re getting a fair hearing from Arsenal fans right now.

That’s my opinion. You probably disagree. Let me know, and don’t spare the expletives.

Well, that was angry, breathless, and, purely as a football game, a bit bollocks wasn’t it?

You all saw the key incidents, I’m sure.

An explosive goal of rare grace and ingenuity from Van Persie. The sort of goal only he can score. The kind of footballing brilliance where you pretty much punch the ceiling as the net bulges, your mouth hangs open and your guts jump for joy, but part of you can’t help thinking “why can’t he do that all the time?” Probably because it’s really really hard to do – even for him.

Liverpool hit back with their first decent attack of the game - a high-bouncing hoof caught out Djourou as Keane snuck in front of him and finished magnificently. The guy’s a pillock, but what a well taken goal. I won’t blame Djourou or Almunia. Keane hit it so early that there was little they could do from their starting positions, where normally a touch or an extra bounce would have allowed them to recover.

Cesc hobbled off and will be a major concern. The TV cameras showed him holding his shirt to his face and the great man looked very frustrated. Let’s hope it was just a heavy knock and he hasn’t sustained a profound injury. His frustration could simply have been because he knew he wouldn’t be able to play the second half, not necessarily anything longer. Fingers crossed. We need him.

In the first half Arsenal had a surprising amount of joy playing high, direct balls for Adebayor whose knock-downs into the midfield gave us several decent attacking platforms in an advanced area of the pitch. This seemed to dry up in the second half as the reshaped midfield struggled a bit without their injured General.

Adebayor had been looking pretty pissed off all game and put in a really stupid challenge considering he was on a yellow. Of course the Liverpool prat made a meal out of it so big you could have added a few sprouts and called it a Christmas Dinner, and our fans were rightly outraged (as was Arsene). Still, a silly thing for Adebayor to do when he’s on a yellow card. Very silly in such a big game which looked there for the taking with 11 men. The boy needs a rocket up him if you ask me, and fast.

From then on the game got even scrappier, the moronic Howard Webb booking our players at every possible opportunity and Liverpool showing the kind of lack of ambition which could well deny them the title. Pretty much 35 minutes against 10 men missing their captain and heartbeat. A chance, you’d think, to kill off a rival’s fading title hopes and compound their Christmas lead. No attacking substitutions until Babel on 70 minutes and still no real thrust to their attack. !Rafa, no me jodas! Donde esta los cojones?

Finally, a word on the performances of Song and Denilson, two players much maligned who will doubtless have to face all kinds of misguided criticism after this result. Rarely has there been such a gap between Arsene’s belief in a player and the fans’ suspicion of them as there currently is with these two.

Well, I’ve got news for their haters. I’m not saying that they have both been consistently outstanding this season or anything like that, nor am I saying I’d want them in a first-choice midfield every week. But today they played superbly against a vastly more experienced Liverpool midfield and both of them out of their natural position. Where was Stevie G? Song had him. 

For once, let’s just stand up and give them a bit of credit, shall we. Two battling performances (not perfect, by any means) but certainly well worthy of the shirt in my opinion.

What did you think of the match then? Post your views underneath and we’ll have a right old chinwag.

A very good Monday to you all. Not such a good Monday for myself, but there you are. Not really your problem, I suppose.

What is all of our problem is Arsenal’s weekend. That was a weekend that Arsenal needed like I needed another beer at one last night, which was not at all. I, however, can piss out beer, whilst we cannot piss out our defence, much as I wanted to after Saturday’s ironically piss-poor display.

Before this run I was firmly in the ‘Arsene knows’ camp about our transfer policy, but increasingly it looks like it’s just not going to cut it. Aside from anything else, an injection of rock-hard experience in the middle of the park would give everyone else in the team a boost, and perhaps a bit of belief.

For the time being, however, we have to consider how we can get everyone pulling together. The midfield situation is ridiculous. Alex Song is not a Premiership starter, and if he’s ever going to be he’s certainly not going to develop into one over the next two months. Diaby, for all his flashes of greatness, is similarly erratic.

It’s obvious and also sounds stupid, but the way to start winning games is to start winning games. It would be great if this could happen against Fenerbahce on Wednesday, and then even better if it could continue into Saturday. Beating United would be exactly what the team needs – confidence from victories maketh a weak defence strong – remember the 2005 Champions League run. Admittedly there were some older heads, but the back four which conceded two goals before the final featured a much-maligned Senderos in the middle and Flamini at left back. I’d dearly like to see this lot find some of that form in the league. All it needs is a bit of that siege mentality to get everyone working together – look at Hull.

In hindsight you’ve got to say that was as important as any part of Flamini’s departure – he’d been through the fire already, and knew what the team were capable of. Denilson, for all his promise, has not had that kind of baptism. Perhaps something can be forged from the current turmoil. We desperately need to stop teams thinking they’re going to get a result against us – ironic perhaps but this won’t be such an issue against United, who probably always feel they can beat us.

Lots to ponder, anyway. Weekend is the big one but wouldn’t it be nice to polish off the qualifying round at this stage? Particularly with the injuries from the weekend I’m sure Arsene would like to be able to rest the likes of Cesc and Clichy over the next month. Van Persie has rested himself of course, the muppet – a shame, as he was very effective against spurs and seemed to be getting into the kind of form we know he’s capable of.