We've been crying out for it since before the start of the season. After knowing we needed at least one more central defender and Arsenal doing nothing to address it in the summer transfer window, all hopes were pinned on us making a signing in January. Knowing how this club has operated in the past, there was a large part of me that wasn't sure we would even do that.
Then, lo and behold, stories started to emerge about Arsenal looking to sign Gabriel Paulista, a Brazilian center back for Villarreal. Again, the cynical side of me thought it sounded almost too good to be true; surely, we would somehow mess this up and if we did bring in anybody, undoubtedly at the last possible minute of transfer deadline day, they would be an equivalent of the Kim Källström signing last January (already injured, slightly washed up, etc...).
As it stands though, we are on the verge of completing his signing now that he has been granted a work permit. All that remains is for Gabriel to pass a physical, which reportedly took place earlier this afternoon, and Arsenal should be announcing the deal soon. Although I still wish we could have identified a target sooner than this, I am extremely pleased with the job the club has done in making this signing.
This is actually an extraordinary signing, compared to most of our transfer business over the past decade or so. That we were able to identify a target and successfully complete the signing with time left to spare in the transfer window is much different than how many of our previous deals have worked. I also like the fact that Gabriel is just on the cusp of entering his prime (much like Danny Welbeck) and is not simply coming here to be a backup. Our first choice defensive pairing is still Mertesacker and Koscielny, but we were going to have to address the need for more center backs at some point as they are 30 and 29 years old, respectively.
Gabriel's signing has also drawn a lot of comparisons to that of Koscielny, for several reasons. In the small amount of video I've seen of him, all from admittedly dodgy YouTube compilations, his playing style has looked extremely similar to the Frenchman's. At 24 years old, Gabriel is also the same age Koscielny was when he joined us from Lorient and was pretty much equally as unheralded and unknown. Those in the know have given him very good reviews, though, and he has been a part of a very airtight defense in La Liga with Villarreal this year. So hats off to the Arsenal for making a very important signing in a time of need, which is not easy for any club to do. Well, except for those clubs for which money isn't an object, but for any real football club, it is.
It's also amazing that we were able to get around the work permit issue, which has been a major hurdle for us in the past. One such player who experienced those issues, Joel Campbell, will actually be heading the other way in exchange for Gabriel on loan for the rest of the season. Whether or not that spells the end for his time at Arsenal remains to be seen, but it certainly does look that way. I'm just glad the club gave him a chance to see what he could do in our team, albeit a very limited one. I've seen Campbell play a few times for Costa Rica and I saw the game he scored in against Manchester United in the Champions League last year, there was just little-to-no room to see him getting into the team ahead of the players we already have. But after the long, drawn out chase for his signature, only for his work permit to get rejected and having to send him on loan after loan after loan, at least we tried to see if it could work out or not. I wish him all the best at Villarreal and the Spanish league will likely end up suiting his style a lot better than England.
This past week really couldn't have gone any better. Our trip to Manchester City resulted in a famous victory for the Gunners, possibly a paradigm-shifting one, and everybody in the media had to talk about how great we were for days on end. Then, this FA Cup round saw Man U forced into a replay by the lowest-ranked team left in the tournament, Chelsea lost 4-2 after being up 2-0 at home against Bradford, Spurs gave up two goals at the death to lose 2-1 and Man City lost 2-0 to second division Middlesbrough. We followed that with a 3-2 win over Brighton, which sees us move on to the 5th round of the FA Cup and gives us our fourth win in a row, which is the first time we've done that all season. In the next round, we face a home match against the Middlesbrough team that knocked City out.
Plus, Theo and Özil scored their first goals after their injury spells and Tomas Rosicky turned in a masterful performance, notching a goal and an assist. So all in all, things are looking up in a major way for us. The challenge will be to build off of this positivity and try to make this season a real success.
January 16, 2015
Arsenal to Take on Champions While We Await Defensive Reinforcements
The calendar has turned from 2014 to 2015 and Arsenal's hopes for the new year to be a symbol for a fresh beginning face a serious test as we prepare to head to Manchester City on Sunday. So, we may not have exactly gotten off to the greatest start to the new calendar year, losing 2-0 at Southampton on New Year's Day in an overall listless performance. But since then, the Gunners have rebounded fairly well, with wins over Hull in the F.A. Cup and Stoke in the league.
Our biggest challenge this year (well, other than injuries) has been getting a run of positive results going. That will be extremely difficult to establish again with this weekend's trip to the reigning champions but after last year's blowout loss at their place, a good performance will be seen as progress. For me, it's too late for moral victories for us. Sure, there will be something to be said if we play well and only lose by a goal or something, rather than looking like deer in headlights again as we concede goal after goal. At this point in the league campaign, though, we have to get results.
I believe that if we play well enough, we can beat any team in the league and that includes the defending champions. While I don't expect it in the slightest, our chances of pulling off the upset at the Etihad start with defense. We should have our top choice central defensive pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny, who both give us so much solidity at the back that we look shambolic without them playing together. With Kieran Gibbs a doubt, Nacho Monreal should keep his place at left back as he has played very well in recent weeks. Arsene Wenger has an interesting choice to make at right back now that Mathieu Debuchy is expected to be out for three months with a dislocated shoulder. Either Calum Chambers or Hector Bellerin will be drafted in and while I expect Arsene to go with Chambers, who has played more games so far, I'd be inclined to start Bellerin. To me, Chambers has thrived more in the center of defense than as a right back and Bellerin's pace and ability going forward are better. Bellerin's defending skills might be below Chambers, but he has acquitted himself well when he has played and I'm just worried about the slower Chambers going against the quickness of David Silva and Sergio Aguero. I also think Chambers should be preserved as a backup to Per and Koscielny while we wait for the club to sign defensive reinforcements.
In the midfield, Francis Coquelin has been a revelation and should retain his place along with Tomas Rosicky and hopefully Aaron Ramsey will come back in, if he's fit enough to start. Mesut Özil is also back in contention after returning to action last week against Stoke, but I'd opt for the in-form Santi Cazorla to keep his place at central attacking mid and keep Özil as an option off the bench. Up front, there's no way Olivier Giroud doesn't start with the magical Alexis alongside him. The Chilean has been even better than advertised for us this season, coming off a two-goal performance last week and accounting for the most goals + assists of any player in the Premier League.
On paper, we should have more than enough firepower to match Man City, who will be without Edin Dzeko and $amir Na$ri, which is a shame only because the latter can't be kicked up into the air by Coquelin or Flamini. In our first meeting with City at the Emirates, Arsenal went charging into the lead from exquisite goals from Alexis and Jack Wilshere, only to see us hold on for dear life for a 2-2 draw that we honestly could have (should have) lost. The keys will be whether we can match their intensity and play within an organized shape. If we lose our confidence and defensive shape, we will be battered again.
As for transfer news, we still somehow haven't signed a defender yet with the exact midpoint of January upon us. It will seriously be criminal if we don't sign a defender this window, as short as we've been all season, with Debuchy essentially lost for the rest of season now and with Per having played almost every minute of every match thus far. The good news is that Wenger has been uncharacteristically forthright about our attempts to bring in at least one defender. With Arsenal, though, you never know for sure. We have completed the signing of 17 year old midfielder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw, but he is definitely one for the future. There have been crazy, outlandish transfer rumors, as there are with any transfer window. The bottom line is that we knew since before the season started that we were short on defenders, it ended up biting us in the ass (just as anyone with half a brain could have forseen) and it would require us to act in the January window to rectify. Until we do, this season will be seen as one in which we willfully chose to damage our own title challenge by not addressing a very unbalanced squad, simple and plain. For the sake of the club and its fans, the clock is ticking to change that or otherwise face more outcry and anger than ever seen before.
Our biggest challenge this year (well, other than injuries) has been getting a run of positive results going. That will be extremely difficult to establish again with this weekend's trip to the reigning champions but after last year's blowout loss at their place, a good performance will be seen as progress. For me, it's too late for moral victories for us. Sure, there will be something to be said if we play well and only lose by a goal or something, rather than looking like deer in headlights again as we concede goal after goal. At this point in the league campaign, though, we have to get results.
I believe that if we play well enough, we can beat any team in the league and that includes the defending champions. While I don't expect it in the slightest, our chances of pulling off the upset at the Etihad start with defense. We should have our top choice central defensive pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny, who both give us so much solidity at the back that we look shambolic without them playing together. With Kieran Gibbs a doubt, Nacho Monreal should keep his place at left back as he has played very well in recent weeks. Arsene Wenger has an interesting choice to make at right back now that Mathieu Debuchy is expected to be out for three months with a dislocated shoulder. Either Calum Chambers or Hector Bellerin will be drafted in and while I expect Arsene to go with Chambers, who has played more games so far, I'd be inclined to start Bellerin. To me, Chambers has thrived more in the center of defense than as a right back and Bellerin's pace and ability going forward are better. Bellerin's defending skills might be below Chambers, but he has acquitted himself well when he has played and I'm just worried about the slower Chambers going against the quickness of David Silva and Sergio Aguero. I also think Chambers should be preserved as a backup to Per and Koscielny while we wait for the club to sign defensive reinforcements.
In the midfield, Francis Coquelin has been a revelation and should retain his place along with Tomas Rosicky and hopefully Aaron Ramsey will come back in, if he's fit enough to start. Mesut Özil is also back in contention after returning to action last week against Stoke, but I'd opt for the in-form Santi Cazorla to keep his place at central attacking mid and keep Özil as an option off the bench. Up front, there's no way Olivier Giroud doesn't start with the magical Alexis alongside him. The Chilean has been even better than advertised for us this season, coming off a two-goal performance last week and accounting for the most goals + assists of any player in the Premier League.
On paper, we should have more than enough firepower to match Man City, who will be without Edin Dzeko and $amir Na$ri, which is a shame only because the latter can't be kicked up into the air by Coquelin or Flamini. In our first meeting with City at the Emirates, Arsenal went charging into the lead from exquisite goals from Alexis and Jack Wilshere, only to see us hold on for dear life for a 2-2 draw that we honestly could have (should have) lost. The keys will be whether we can match their intensity and play within an organized shape. If we lose our confidence and defensive shape, we will be battered again.
As for transfer news, we still somehow haven't signed a defender yet with the exact midpoint of January upon us. It will seriously be criminal if we don't sign a defender this window, as short as we've been all season, with Debuchy essentially lost for the rest of season now and with Per having played almost every minute of every match thus far. The good news is that Wenger has been uncharacteristically forthright about our attempts to bring in at least one defender. With Arsenal, though, you never know for sure. We have completed the signing of 17 year old midfielder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw, but he is definitely one for the future. There have been crazy, outlandish transfer rumors, as there are with any transfer window. The bottom line is that we knew since before the season started that we were short on defenders, it ended up biting us in the ass (just as anyone with half a brain could have forseen) and it would require us to act in the January window to rectify. Until we do, this season will be seen as one in which we willfully chose to damage our own title challenge by not addressing a very unbalanced squad, simple and plain. For the sake of the club and its fans, the clock is ticking to change that or otherwise face more outcry and anger than ever seen before.
November 6, 2014
Back to Being the Punchline
One of the best parts of last season, apart from finally winning a trophy, was Arsenal's extended run atop the Premier League. Being in first place for so long did a lot to restore a sense of pride among Gooners all over the world. It served as a reminder that our club could challenge for titles again and erased some of the embarrassment factor that accompanied being an Arsenal fan over the better part of the last nine years.
A few shambolic defeats in the second half of the season brought us crashing back to Earth a good deal, but winning the FA Cup made it feel like a successful campaign and raised hopes for more to come. So far this year, that hasn't been the case at all and Tuesday night's 3-3 draw against Anderlecht further reinforced Arsenal's reputation as a laughingstock.
The come-from-behind draw does little damage to our prospects of advancing out of our Champions League group, despite the fact that a win would have clinched our passage to the knockout stage. Dortmund would also still hold a three point lead on us even if we had won. It would have been a major statement to still be in the running to win our group, though. To capitulate in a match that should have been a dominant win and throw away any chance of winning our group at the same time hurts. As a club, we're resigning to the fact that we are clear-cut second favorites in our group and whether that might be true or not, it's disappointing that we didn't earn the results needed to battle that notion until the end.
As for the match, there is no way that being 3-0 up should result in anything other than a win, no matter who the opposition is. The old cliché can be true about the precariousness of a two goal lead, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's goal to put us up 3-0 should have iced the game. It should be said that Anderlecht's first goal was obviously offside, though allowed to stand by the referee. After that goal, though, we reacted shockingly poorly, as Anderlecht drove the game from then on. The mental toughness that Arsene Wenger praises so often in games we win late or fight to hold on for was nowhere to be found that night.
As gloomy as that draw left me feeling, there are still positive things happening. Alexis Sanchez continues to play absolutely out of his mind and in the form he's in, it appears as though we really have signed a very special player. Some of our players are returning from being maimed, too, with Theo Walcott back in action, Olivier Giroud close to returning to training and Mesut Özil and Mathieu Debuchy making progress as well. Also, full credit should go to Anderlecht, who we should have lost to in our meeting in Belgium. They played us very tough, even while 3-0 down when it's extremely difficult to push on and much easier to give up.
So not all is lost as we prepare to face Swansea on Sunday. It's just that instead of being able to build on a winning streak in all competitions, our confidence will have taken a hit after throwing away a sure win at home to lesser opposition. It remains to be seen if we respond with a passionate, focused performance or if doubt creeps in. Now into November, the same inconsistency Arsenal has shown since the start of the season remains the same.
A few shambolic defeats in the second half of the season brought us crashing back to Earth a good deal, but winning the FA Cup made it feel like a successful campaign and raised hopes for more to come. So far this year, that hasn't been the case at all and Tuesday night's 3-3 draw against Anderlecht further reinforced Arsenal's reputation as a laughingstock.
The come-from-behind draw does little damage to our prospects of advancing out of our Champions League group, despite the fact that a win would have clinched our passage to the knockout stage. Dortmund would also still hold a three point lead on us even if we had won. It would have been a major statement to still be in the running to win our group, though. To capitulate in a match that should have been a dominant win and throw away any chance of winning our group at the same time hurts. As a club, we're resigning to the fact that we are clear-cut second favorites in our group and whether that might be true or not, it's disappointing that we didn't earn the results needed to battle that notion until the end.
As for the match, there is no way that being 3-0 up should result in anything other than a win, no matter who the opposition is. The old cliché can be true about the precariousness of a two goal lead, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's goal to put us up 3-0 should have iced the game. It should be said that Anderlecht's first goal was obviously offside, though allowed to stand by the referee. After that goal, though, we reacted shockingly poorly, as Anderlecht drove the game from then on. The mental toughness that Arsene Wenger praises so often in games we win late or fight to hold on for was nowhere to be found that night.
As gloomy as that draw left me feeling, there are still positive things happening. Alexis Sanchez continues to play absolutely out of his mind and in the form he's in, it appears as though we really have signed a very special player. Some of our players are returning from being maimed, too, with Theo Walcott back in action, Olivier Giroud close to returning to training and Mesut Özil and Mathieu Debuchy making progress as well. Also, full credit should go to Anderlecht, who we should have lost to in our meeting in Belgium. They played us very tough, even while 3-0 down when it's extremely difficult to push on and much easier to give up.
So not all is lost as we prepare to face Swansea on Sunday. It's just that instead of being able to build on a winning streak in all competitions, our confidence will have taken a hit after throwing away a sure win at home to lesser opposition. It remains to be seen if we respond with a passionate, focused performance or if doubt creeps in. Now into November, the same inconsistency Arsenal has shown since the start of the season remains the same.
October 28, 2014
Time to Go Streaking
It's been a long time since I last wrote, but in the month I've been gone not a whole lot has changed. Every Arsenal player of all time suffered injuries... okay, that's an exaggeration but it feels that way for sure. Our form has still been up and down; we've lost some matches we may have have gotten more from and won some matches without performing all that well as a whole. As we enter November, there is some disappointment that we've failed to build on the early season form we enjoyed last year. Injuries have played the biggest part in that, but even with some very key additions we don't look like a team that will be challenging for the league, which we did look like for most last season.
That's not meant to sound too pessimistic, especially since it is still very early in the season. In the league, we've faced several early tests having played Man City, Spurs, Chelsea away and even Everton, despite the fact that they've struggled a lot thus far. Furthermore, we've rebounded somewhat in our Champions league group, though it has to be said that we were extremely lucky to get out of Anderlecht with a win. After falling behind 1-0 in the 71st minute to a goal from former DC United winger Andy Najar (who I'll love forever), scoring twice after the 89th minute to escape with the win made the scoreline misleading. It would've been pretty disastrous had we lost that match, especially since we were so listless through most of the game. In the end, all that really matters is the win and at least we pulled that off.
Last Saturday's win against a reeling Sunderland side wasn't our greatest possible performance, either. It did establish some important positives for us to build on. While both of Alexis' goals came off of hilarious errors by Sunderland, he was aware enough to capitalize on them and his chipped finish for the first one was sexy as hell. We also kept a clean sheet, which isn't all that impressive considering the opposition but for us almost anything is possible so we'll look to build on that, too. With all of the injuries to our defenders and our lack of backup options, we'll gladly take as many shutouts as we can get.
Our upcoming games in the league continue to present us with a chance to get a win streak going, which could boost our confidence and see us hopefully rise up the table a little more. Up next, we face Burnley and it would be very worrying if we don't have our most dominant performance of the year thus far against them. After that, we play Swansea away and then a somewhat revamped Manchester United at the Emirates. Their form has been up and down, similarly to ours, but they are definitely a better side than last year and we failed to beat them even then. Then we play West Brom (A), Southampton (H), Stoke (A), Newcastle (H), Liverpool (A), QPR (H), West Ham (A) and then Southampton (A) again on New Year's Day. So there are some good chances to get a run going, with some pretty tricky games mixed in there as well.
We also have the reverse fixtures for each of our Champions League matchups, so we have a lot to get sorted over the next several weeks. We should be getting Giroud, Debuchy and Özil back, among others, around New Year's. The hope is that by then, our forward combinations start to flourish and we can keep our makeshift backline intact long enough to buy more defenders. These are pretty big hypotheticals, but that's the situation we find ourselves in.
That's not meant to sound too pessimistic, especially since it is still very early in the season. In the league, we've faced several early tests having played Man City, Spurs, Chelsea away and even Everton, despite the fact that they've struggled a lot thus far. Furthermore, we've rebounded somewhat in our Champions league group, though it has to be said that we were extremely lucky to get out of Anderlecht with a win. After falling behind 1-0 in the 71st minute to a goal from former DC United winger Andy Najar (who I'll love forever), scoring twice after the 89th minute to escape with the win made the scoreline misleading. It would've been pretty disastrous had we lost that match, especially since we were so listless through most of the game. In the end, all that really matters is the win and at least we pulled that off.
Last Saturday's win against a reeling Sunderland side wasn't our greatest possible performance, either. It did establish some important positives for us to build on. While both of Alexis' goals came off of hilarious errors by Sunderland, he was aware enough to capitalize on them and his chipped finish for the first one was sexy as hell. We also kept a clean sheet, which isn't all that impressive considering the opposition but for us almost anything is possible so we'll look to build on that, too. With all of the injuries to our defenders and our lack of backup options, we'll gladly take as many shutouts as we can get.
Our upcoming games in the league continue to present us with a chance to get a win streak going, which could boost our confidence and see us hopefully rise up the table a little more. Up next, we face Burnley and it would be very worrying if we don't have our most dominant performance of the year thus far against them. After that, we play Swansea away and then a somewhat revamped Manchester United at the Emirates. Their form has been up and down, similarly to ours, but they are definitely a better side than last year and we failed to beat them even then. Then we play West Brom (A), Southampton (H), Stoke (A), Newcastle (H), Liverpool (A), QPR (H), West Ham (A) and then Southampton (A) again on New Year's Day. So there are some good chances to get a run going, with some pretty tricky games mixed in there as well.
We also have the reverse fixtures for each of our Champions League matchups, so we have a lot to get sorted over the next several weeks. We should be getting Giroud, Debuchy and Özil back, among others, around New Year's. The hope is that by then, our forward combinations start to flourish and we can keep our makeshift backline intact long enough to buy more defenders. These are pretty big hypotheticals, but that's the situation we find ourselves in.
September 30, 2014
On the Brink of a Big Week
A lot has happened since the last time I checked in, including a 3-0 smashing of Aston Villa, an exit from the Capital One Cup at the hands of Southampton and a 1-1 draw in the North London derby that felt more like a loss. As we cross into the month of October, Arsenal still have yet to establish much positive momentum. The positives are there — we're still unbeaten in the league, we have five of our six Champions League group stage fixtures ahead of us and even our exit from the league cup means less fixture congestion for our threadbare squad to have to contend with. At the same time, the flipside to each of these things is evident, too.
We sit nestled in our familiar fourth place spot in the league and though we're undefeated, we haven't found our form with only two wins and four draws. When it comes to the cup exit, many Arsenal bloggers have pointed out that it was a missed opportunity to give some of our youth players and reserves games, especially since some of them may be heavily relied on due to the injuries we've suffered. Our chance to get back on track in Europe comes tomorrow against Galatasaray with the pressure on us after being dominated by Borussia Dortmund. Our next game after that is the rather shit-inducing matchup against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It has been hard to build momentum with all of the injuries we have encountered. We signed Danny Welbeck and he has looked really good in our team, bagging his first goal against Villa, but then we lost Giroud for 3 months. Our decision not to sign any more defenders immediately cost us even further when Mathieu Debuchy went down with a long-term injury, too. Mesut Özil struggled to find form of his own, then just when he notched a goal and an assist in the span of two minutes, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere all get injured in the next game.
In terms of our season, it is still early days but Arsenal have yet to look like the team that rattled off 10 straight league wins around this time last season. Of course, those wins came after a dispiriting opening day loss, so things can turn around pretty much at any time. I feel like the pieces are there to do it, with Alexis looking great, Santi Cazorla still a wizard on the ball, Welbeck leading the line well, and so on. It's also worth mentioning that Calum Chambers has been an incredible signing and in each appearance he has made, he has played way beyond his 19 years of age would suggest.
The team will need to respond tomorrow against a very tough Galatasaray team after failing to beat a poor, flat Spurs side that we really should have beat. A draw at home wouldn't be the worst result in the world but after losing our opening match, we really can't afford to drop any more points. Galatasaray did us a favor by drawing their opening match against the supposed underdog of the group, Anderlecht. However, we have yet to see if that is a good omen for us tomorrow or if Anderlecht are being underestimated more than they should be.
As for Sunday's match against Chelsea, it remains to be seen whether we can keep from self-destructing against a top four team on the road again. The hope is that we'll have learned from the mistakes of last year and/or gotten over the psychological hurdles that we face with those teams last year, but then we felt that way last season after it happened against City. And then Liverpool. Then Chelsea. Then, to some extent, Everton. Chelsea also look like the best team in the Premier League this year by a long way, which is very painful to admit because I truly hate them all with a burning rage. It would be fantastic to upstage Mourinho by handing them their first loss, but if we held on for dear life and scraped at least a draw from them, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
The news from today is that Jack will be in the squad tomorrow, though my guess is that he will not start. Also for all Arsenal fans' required daily reading, Arseblog raised a good argument for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to play in central midfield with the injuries we've had there. Ox has looked very good this year, his equalizer against Spurs was as clutch as hell and maybe he can step up in the position in which we have the most depth.
Until next time.
We sit nestled in our familiar fourth place spot in the league and though we're undefeated, we haven't found our form with only two wins and four draws. When it comes to the cup exit, many Arsenal bloggers have pointed out that it was a missed opportunity to give some of our youth players and reserves games, especially since some of them may be heavily relied on due to the injuries we've suffered. Our chance to get back on track in Europe comes tomorrow against Galatasaray with the pressure on us after being dominated by Borussia Dortmund. Our next game after that is the rather shit-inducing matchup against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It has been hard to build momentum with all of the injuries we have encountered. We signed Danny Welbeck and he has looked really good in our team, bagging his first goal against Villa, but then we lost Giroud for 3 months. Our decision not to sign any more defenders immediately cost us even further when Mathieu Debuchy went down with a long-term injury, too. Mesut Özil struggled to find form of his own, then just when he notched a goal and an assist in the span of two minutes, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere all get injured in the next game.
In terms of our season, it is still early days but Arsenal have yet to look like the team that rattled off 10 straight league wins around this time last season. Of course, those wins came after a dispiriting opening day loss, so things can turn around pretty much at any time. I feel like the pieces are there to do it, with Alexis looking great, Santi Cazorla still a wizard on the ball, Welbeck leading the line well, and so on. It's also worth mentioning that Calum Chambers has been an incredible signing and in each appearance he has made, he has played way beyond his 19 years of age would suggest.
The team will need to respond tomorrow against a very tough Galatasaray team after failing to beat a poor, flat Spurs side that we really should have beat. A draw at home wouldn't be the worst result in the world but after losing our opening match, we really can't afford to drop any more points. Galatasaray did us a favor by drawing their opening match against the supposed underdog of the group, Anderlecht. However, we have yet to see if that is a good omen for us tomorrow or if Anderlecht are being underestimated more than they should be.
As for Sunday's match against Chelsea, it remains to be seen whether we can keep from self-destructing against a top four team on the road again. The hope is that we'll have learned from the mistakes of last year and/or gotten over the psychological hurdles that we face with those teams last year, but then we felt that way last season after it happened against City. And then Liverpool. Then Chelsea. Then, to some extent, Everton. Chelsea also look like the best team in the Premier League this year by a long way, which is very painful to admit because I truly hate them all with a burning rage. It would be fantastic to upstage Mourinho by handing them their first loss, but if we held on for dear life and scraped at least a draw from them, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
The news from today is that Jack will be in the squad tomorrow, though my guess is that he will not start. Also for all Arsenal fans' required daily reading, Arseblog raised a good argument for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to play in central midfield with the injuries we've had there. Ox has looked very good this year, his equalizer against Spurs was as clutch as hell and maybe he can step up in the position in which we have the most depth.
Until next time.
September 18, 2014
Gunned Down in Dortmund
Arsenal's Champions League group stage couldn't have gotten off to a crappier start as we lost 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund in a game in which the scoreline didn't reflect how thoroughly dominated we were. Dortmund was the superior team from start to finish, while on the other hand Arsenal was sloppy and lethargic. It was an extremely worrying performance on a big stage, but all we can do now is regroup and focus on beating Aston Villa this weekend.
The only two bright spots in defeat were Wojciech Szczesny's play in goal and the full debut of Hector Bellerin. If it weren't for some outstanding saves from Szczesny (as well as some pretty bad misses by Dortmund) we would have been subjected to another five or six-nil loss reminiscent of last season, which is the last thing we need. Szczesny did come way out of goal and get easily rounded by Aubameyang on their second goal, but the defending leading up to that was so bad that it may not have mattered.
Bellerin also stepped in and performed well at right back, considering he's only 19 and it was in a very intimidating European venue. I love everything about the Dortmund fans and the atmosphere they provide is the envy of any club, I just wish we didn't have to keep facing them. It would be great if Bellerin is ready to contribute at right back for us this year, all of the buzz around him has been how good of a prospect he could be. However, between him and fellow teenager Calum Chambers, it's a lot to expect them to consistently produce, especially as defenders. If Bellerin has a season as close to the one that Serge Gnabry had last season, that would be incredible. But with Debuchy out for so long, we may not have to luxury to manage his minutes the same way and it could negatively impact his development, as well as Arsenal's results.
One more silver lining, though, is that Galatasaray and Anderlecht played to a 1-1 draw, so the fact that they both dropped points helps us early on in our group's standing. Still, when a team like Arsenal can't string passes together or simply retain the ball, it's always going to be a struggle for us. It was another lackluster performance by Özil, which gets more worrying with each game that has to be said. But for that matter, the same could be said for Wilshere, Ramsey, and Arteta, among others, and I feel that they'll be able to turn it around. Welbeck's misses in front of goal didn't help matters, either. We knew what his goalscoring record was before we signed him and now he'll have to come into his own, which again I believe he will do. Whenever a striker is new, there is extra pressure on him to score that first goal so once that happens, I think he'll have one less thing to worry about.
Our performance last Saturday against Man City was much better, so hopefully we can get back to playing like we did that day. It's also worth mentioning that this was our first official loss of 2014-15, it was just the way we lost which was inexcusable. Arsene may have to consider whether this formation can work with our players or not. Whatever the case, we have to put this game behind us and make up some ground in the Premier League with a win in our next game.
The only two bright spots in defeat were Wojciech Szczesny's play in goal and the full debut of Hector Bellerin. If it weren't for some outstanding saves from Szczesny (as well as some pretty bad misses by Dortmund) we would have been subjected to another five or six-nil loss reminiscent of last season, which is the last thing we need. Szczesny did come way out of goal and get easily rounded by Aubameyang on their second goal, but the defending leading up to that was so bad that it may not have mattered.
Bellerin also stepped in and performed well at right back, considering he's only 19 and it was in a very intimidating European venue. I love everything about the Dortmund fans and the atmosphere they provide is the envy of any club, I just wish we didn't have to keep facing them. It would be great if Bellerin is ready to contribute at right back for us this year, all of the buzz around him has been how good of a prospect he could be. However, between him and fellow teenager Calum Chambers, it's a lot to expect them to consistently produce, especially as defenders. If Bellerin has a season as close to the one that Serge Gnabry had last season, that would be incredible. But with Debuchy out for so long, we may not have to luxury to manage his minutes the same way and it could negatively impact his development, as well as Arsenal's results.
One more silver lining, though, is that Galatasaray and Anderlecht played to a 1-1 draw, so the fact that they both dropped points helps us early on in our group's standing. Still, when a team like Arsenal can't string passes together or simply retain the ball, it's always going to be a struggle for us. It was another lackluster performance by Özil, which gets more worrying with each game that has to be said. But for that matter, the same could be said for Wilshere, Ramsey, and Arteta, among others, and I feel that they'll be able to turn it around. Welbeck's misses in front of goal didn't help matters, either. We knew what his goalscoring record was before we signed him and now he'll have to come into his own, which again I believe he will do. Whenever a striker is new, there is extra pressure on him to score that first goal so once that happens, I think he'll have one less thing to worry about.
Our performance last Saturday against Man City was much better, so hopefully we can get back to playing like we did that day. It's also worth mentioning that this was our first official loss of 2014-15, it was just the way we lost which was inexcusable. Arsene may have to consider whether this formation can work with our players or not. Whatever the case, we have to put this game behind us and make up some ground in the Premier League with a win in our next game.
September 15, 2014
Arsenal Hold On For Draw as Injuries Mount
Arsenal's game against Man City this past weekend ran across the entire spectrum of all things positive of negative. The goals we scored were amazing, while the goals we let in through sloppy defending were... um, not. The fantastic individual performances were also great, however Mathieu Debuchy went down with a serious injury. On the whole, it was a match that left me with a ton of mixed emotions.
Overall, there was a lot to like. It's not like a draw at home against the reigning champions was a bad result, it's just that tying the game after being ahead always feels like a huge missed opportunity. It's still too early in the season to really count these as two dropped points, but had we held on for the win against a team that is certainly a lock to finish top-four, it would've been massive. In typical Arsenal fashion, we were on the front foot from the beginning of the game, only to concede a goal on the counter attack. It was a little bit unlucky that Flamini's initial tackle sent the ball down line to start City's break, instead of rolling out of bounds, but it was Flamini's failure to track Aguero that allowed him to score. Dominating possession and shots and finding ourselves 1-0 down is nothing new and after that Szczesny made a brilliant one-on-one save that kept us in the game. Had he not, it would've been a totally different matter for us to have to come back from two goals down.
That save ended up paying off massively as Jack Wilshere scored a great equalizing goal midway through the second half. City turned the ball over in midfield, which led to Jack starting a flowing passing move before receiving a final pass from Aaron Ramsey and smartly finishing over Joe Hart. Wilshere was a standout performer on the day and it was a great response to all of the negative criticism he's received over his potential and performance for both club and country.
The other standout player was Arsenal's second goalscorer. Alexis Sanchez was excellent, from his running and pressing all over the field, to his dribbling attacks with the ball. His goal, volleyed in from Wilshere's headed assist, was an extremely skillful finish. The two goals were of such a high quality that it was definitely a shame to let City equalize, again from a totally unmarked player and again from a set piece.
The injury to Debuchy, who is now set to miss two months, is very concerning though. Our decision not to add to the defensive ranks continues to make less and less sense. It's a simple fact that injuries (not even to mention suspensions) have to be accounted for. With Calum Chambers coming in at right back, we have no natural backups at center back. Arseblog discussed the possibility of Hector Bellerin and Issac Hayden seeing first team action and honestly, under these circumstances, we may not have much of a choice.
The truth of the matter is that injuries are increasing across the board and not only at Arsenal. Maybe it has to do with the fact that most of the players at this level are playing virtually all year long. Even our players who didn't represent their countries at the World Cup this summer played their last game on May 17 in the FA Cup Final and had to return for preseason training in early July. Not even two full months off, and the players that did return from Brazil got even less of a break than that. It can't be a coincidence that most of our injured players (Gibbs, Giroud, and now Debuchy) played at the World Cup.
And when you think injuries are uniquely an Arsenal problem, take a look at Borussia Dortmund, tomorrow's Champions League opponent, and their injury list. That's Reus, Sahin, Ji and Kirch, not including Gundogan and Blaszczykowski whom Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also mentioned as being hampered in an interview with the Evening Standard. That's not to underestimate their quality, nor the intimidating atmosphere of their home fans. It's always a tough test to go to Dortmund and pick up points and tomorrow will be no different.
Overall, there was a lot to like. It's not like a draw at home against the reigning champions was a bad result, it's just that tying the game after being ahead always feels like a huge missed opportunity. It's still too early in the season to really count these as two dropped points, but had we held on for the win against a team that is certainly a lock to finish top-four, it would've been massive. In typical Arsenal fashion, we were on the front foot from the beginning of the game, only to concede a goal on the counter attack. It was a little bit unlucky that Flamini's initial tackle sent the ball down line to start City's break, instead of rolling out of bounds, but it was Flamini's failure to track Aguero that allowed him to score. Dominating possession and shots and finding ourselves 1-0 down is nothing new and after that Szczesny made a brilliant one-on-one save that kept us in the game. Had he not, it would've been a totally different matter for us to have to come back from two goals down.
That save ended up paying off massively as Jack Wilshere scored a great equalizing goal midway through the second half. City turned the ball over in midfield, which led to Jack starting a flowing passing move before receiving a final pass from Aaron Ramsey and smartly finishing over Joe Hart. Wilshere was a standout performer on the day and it was a great response to all of the negative criticism he's received over his potential and performance for both club and country.
The other standout player was Arsenal's second goalscorer. Alexis Sanchez was excellent, from his running and pressing all over the field, to his dribbling attacks with the ball. His goal, volleyed in from Wilshere's headed assist, was an extremely skillful finish. The two goals were of such a high quality that it was definitely a shame to let City equalize, again from a totally unmarked player and again from a set piece.
The injury to Debuchy, who is now set to miss two months, is very concerning though. Our decision not to add to the defensive ranks continues to make less and less sense. It's a simple fact that injuries (not even to mention suspensions) have to be accounted for. With Calum Chambers coming in at right back, we have no natural backups at center back. Arseblog discussed the possibility of Hector Bellerin and Issac Hayden seeing first team action and honestly, under these circumstances, we may not have much of a choice.
The truth of the matter is that injuries are increasing across the board and not only at Arsenal. Maybe it has to do with the fact that most of the players at this level are playing virtually all year long. Even our players who didn't represent their countries at the World Cup this summer played their last game on May 17 in the FA Cup Final and had to return for preseason training in early July. Not even two full months off, and the players that did return from Brazil got even less of a break than that. It can't be a coincidence that most of our injured players (Gibbs, Giroud, and now Debuchy) played at the World Cup.
And when you think injuries are uniquely an Arsenal problem, take a look at Borussia Dortmund, tomorrow's Champions League opponent, and their injury list. That's Reus, Sahin, Ji and Kirch, not including Gundogan and Blaszczykowski whom Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also mentioned as being hampered in an interview with the Evening Standard. That's not to underestimate their quality, nor the intimidating atmosphere of their home fans. It's always a tough test to go to Dortmund and pick up points and tomorrow will be no different.
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