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.
Showing posts with label Calum Chambers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Calum Chambers. Show all posts
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 3, 2014
Welcome Welbeck, But We Remain Short on Defenders
After a mostly productive summer transfer window, Arsenal signed Danny Welbeck at the 11th hour. The signing is a somewhat strange one for several reasons, mainly due to the fact that Danny Welbeck doesn't play center back. All in all though, I am happy with his signing and our business this summer, all totaled, looks pretty good.
Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina add up to a pretty impressive haul, now topped off with Welbeck. The only negative takeaway is that we were already short on defenders heading into the summer and that was before we sold Thomas Vermaelen. We also sold Ignasi Miquel to Norwich on deadline day so I just genuinely can't understand how we didn't add another center back.
So far Chambers has looked great there, considering he's only 19 years old. Still, in his first few games with us he's shown glimpses of his inexperience which will make it a risk to really depend on him for long stretches. Really it should be the other way around when talking about a teenage defender making the step up from Southampton to Arsenal — you'd think he'd be showing flashes of his future potential while looking like a raw talent overall. Chambers' signing may quietly be the best piece of business we pulled off this summer, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we need more than three fit natural central defenders.
The decision not to buy another center back may come back to bite us in the ass this season but I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. There have been whispers about youngsters Issac Hayden and right back Hector Bellerin maybe seeing action if needed but that again seems like a huge, unnecessary risk.
On his merits though, I think Welbeck could be a very useful player for us for years to come. His goal-scoring record is spotty at best, but he's still 23 as well and therefore is entering his prime. He adds to Arsenal's growing English core so it doesn't hurt that he's played with Wilshere, Ox and Gibbs before. When I've seen him in action for Man U, he's looked a pretty tricky dribbler, has good pace and is dynamic enough to play as an outright striker for us (which not all of our forwards can say is their best position). He looks good enough on the ball to fit in with our one-touch, flicky attack play and if his movement off the ball can reach Giroud's level, then he'll strengthen us greatly.
Overall, I'm very happy with his addition. Whatever criticisms there are about him, as there are with pretty much any player, he has scored goals in the Premier League before which can't be underestimated. I think that Yaya Sanogo will eventually come good, but we can't afford to wait for him to gain experience during real games in which real things are on the line. Welbeck's addition will take the pressure off of him to produce so he can still learn and grow into the player he can become.
I still think Alexis has a part to play with us as a central striker too, but I like the versatility that adding Welbeck gives us so that we're not really pigeon-holed into any particular lineup. Plus, with Walcott on his way back and when Giroud comes back in January, we'll have legitimate options. Maybe there's still time to buy a center back in January if need be, I just hope it's not too late for our title hopes by that time.
Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina add up to a pretty impressive haul, now topped off with Welbeck. The only negative takeaway is that we were already short on defenders heading into the summer and that was before we sold Thomas Vermaelen. We also sold Ignasi Miquel to Norwich on deadline day so I just genuinely can't understand how we didn't add another center back.
So far Chambers has looked great there, considering he's only 19 years old. Still, in his first few games with us he's shown glimpses of his inexperience which will make it a risk to really depend on him for long stretches. Really it should be the other way around when talking about a teenage defender making the step up from Southampton to Arsenal — you'd think he'd be showing flashes of his future potential while looking like a raw talent overall. Chambers' signing may quietly be the best piece of business we pulled off this summer, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we need more than three fit natural central defenders.
The decision not to buy another center back may come back to bite us in the ass this season but I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. There have been whispers about youngsters Issac Hayden and right back Hector Bellerin maybe seeing action if needed but that again seems like a huge, unnecessary risk.
On his merits though, I think Welbeck could be a very useful player for us for years to come. His goal-scoring record is spotty at best, but he's still 23 as well and therefore is entering his prime. He adds to Arsenal's growing English core so it doesn't hurt that he's played with Wilshere, Ox and Gibbs before. When I've seen him in action for Man U, he's looked a pretty tricky dribbler, has good pace and is dynamic enough to play as an outright striker for us (which not all of our forwards can say is their best position). He looks good enough on the ball to fit in with our one-touch, flicky attack play and if his movement off the ball can reach Giroud's level, then he'll strengthen us greatly.
Overall, I'm very happy with his addition. Whatever criticisms there are about him, as there are with pretty much any player, he has scored goals in the Premier League before which can't be underestimated. I think that Yaya Sanogo will eventually come good, but we can't afford to wait for him to gain experience during real games in which real things are on the line. Welbeck's addition will take the pressure off of him to produce so he can still learn and grow into the player he can become.
I still think Alexis has a part to play with us as a central striker too, but I like the versatility that adding Welbeck gives us so that we're not really pigeon-holed into any particular lineup. Plus, with Walcott on his way back and when Giroud comes back in January, we'll have legitimate options. Maybe there's still time to buy a center back in January if need be, I just hope it's not too late for our title hopes by that time.
August 18, 2014
Three Points From Three - Besiktas Preview
So since we last spoke, Arsenal won the Community Shield quite convincingly, then opened the Premiership campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the Emirates. Tomorrow, we travel to Turkey to face Besiktas in the Champions League qualification round first leg. Busy times all around but so far, so good.
I didn't get to watch the Palace game live, but I did watch it on DVR. Understandably, we looked a little sluggish & disjointed, likely due to the number of members of our squad who participated in the World Cup. That, plus Crystal Palace's blockade-style setup, made for a mostly frustrating match for the Gunners, except for our ability to get two goals just in the nick of time.
After Hangeland's opener from a corner kick for Palace gave them a 1-0 lead, Arsenal returned the favor through Laurent Koscielny in first half stoppage time. Then in the second half, Welsh Jesus scored off a rebound in stoppage time again to steal the three points for us, really. While it was disconcerting to see us concede another set piece goal, it was encouraging that we did what we had to do to get a win in the end, whether we played well or not. Cliche or not, it's more important to get wins at this stage until we work our way into form with each coming match. After Besiktas, it's Everton at Goodison Park, so we have to get better in a real hurry.
I think it's going to take us some time to regain the fluidity in our performances with our German contingent of Ozil, Mertesacker and Podolski yet to return to the lineup. Plus, our new signings are being thrown right into the starting lineup, which isn't a surprise for Alexis and Debuchy, but it still means they are getting used to playing with a whole new squad and a mostly new style of play. Another very encouraging sign is that 19-year old Calum Chambers looks the most settled and composed of the new field players we've signed (Ospina is still recovering from injury as Szczesny's backup in goal).
Even with that, I think we're still a signing or two away from fully fleshing out our squad with the obvious need for another center back and maybe even another body for the midfield. At this stage, we're probably looking at another deadline day deal if that is going to happen, but we will still be acclimating another new player into the system after the games have well and truly gotten going.
So right now, all that really matters are the results. Besiktas features a couple of familiar faces in ex-Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba, as well as former Arsenal youngster Oguzhan Ozyakup. We already face a bit of a fitness shortage at defense with Kieran Gibbs out for three weeks and Koscielny a doubt to start the match, but what else is new? Last year, we beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in the first leg so while I'm hopeful for more of the same, just to keep a clean sheet and nick a goal or two would set us up well enough for the return leg in London.
That's it for now though, until later.
I didn't get to watch the Palace game live, but I did watch it on DVR. Understandably, we looked a little sluggish & disjointed, likely due to the number of members of our squad who participated in the World Cup. That, plus Crystal Palace's blockade-style setup, made for a mostly frustrating match for the Gunners, except for our ability to get two goals just in the nick of time.
After Hangeland's opener from a corner kick for Palace gave them a 1-0 lead, Arsenal returned the favor through Laurent Koscielny in first half stoppage time. Then in the second half, Welsh Jesus scored off a rebound in stoppage time again to steal the three points for us, really. While it was disconcerting to see us concede another set piece goal, it was encouraging that we did what we had to do to get a win in the end, whether we played well or not. Cliche or not, it's more important to get wins at this stage until we work our way into form with each coming match. After Besiktas, it's Everton at Goodison Park, so we have to get better in a real hurry.
I think it's going to take us some time to regain the fluidity in our performances with our German contingent of Ozil, Mertesacker and Podolski yet to return to the lineup. Plus, our new signings are being thrown right into the starting lineup, which isn't a surprise for Alexis and Debuchy, but it still means they are getting used to playing with a whole new squad and a mostly new style of play. Another very encouraging sign is that 19-year old Calum Chambers looks the most settled and composed of the new field players we've signed (Ospina is still recovering from injury as Szczesny's backup in goal).
Even with that, I think we're still a signing or two away from fully fleshing out our squad with the obvious need for another center back and maybe even another body for the midfield. At this stage, we're probably looking at another deadline day deal if that is going to happen, but we will still be acclimating another new player into the system after the games have well and truly gotten going.
So right now, all that really matters are the results. Besiktas features a couple of familiar faces in ex-Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba, as well as former Arsenal youngster Oguzhan Ozyakup. We already face a bit of a fitness shortage at defense with Kieran Gibbs out for three weeks and Koscielny a doubt to start the match, but what else is new? Last year, we beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in the first leg so while I'm hopeful for more of the same, just to keep a clean sheet and nick a goal or two would set us up well enough for the return leg in London.
That's it for now though, until later.
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