Summer thoughts

Hi all,

I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve written and I can only apologise for that. There are a few reasons why I became so lazy in the last few months of the season, namely having issues with my old job and then starting a new one meant that I had very little time to indulge in blog writing. Secondly, I became VERY disillusioned with Arsenal in the last few weeks of the season – we were in with a real shout for the title and then just capitulated in a manner I am not accustomed to seeing. I can take being beaten as long as every player on the pitch puts in 100% effort; this sadly was not the case.

Here are a few thoughts:

The last few months of the season

Whilst I always thought that we would fall short in the title race, I found the manner of our defeats to Wigan and Blackburn absolutely disgusting. You know things are bad when you’re watching Arsenal leading 2-0 at Wigan and you’re still expecting Arsenal to mess it up. These two games summed up everything about the current Arsenal squad – lack of depth, lack of effort and total immaturity. I do not deny that we were decimated by injury; in fact, we were missing 5 or 6 of our first team players which would be a problem for any team. Looking at the positives, not many teams could cope with our injuries and still finish third but something does need to be addressed as it’s gone beyond coincidence now – there must be something inherently wrong with the set-up at our club. The only player who came out with any credit from the last few months of the season was the oldest player in our squad – Sol Campbell. His drive, passion and commitment put the other players to shame. I thought his performance at Spurs was outstanding and I still maintain that he was the best player on the pitch that night. An honourable mention must also go to Gael Clichy who I thought began to show glimpses of his best form when he returned from injury and let’s hope he carries that into next season.

Players who just aren’t up to the job

There are a few players that clearly are not good enough and don’t even deserve to wear the shirt – as I said, if you don’t want to give 100% the go to a club where you will. I’ve identified a few players I feel we should sell on this summer:

Denilson – An absolute waste of space

Silvestre – No comment necessary

Arshavin – A mercenary, I don’t mind as long as he gives it his all but he clearly doesn’t. The great players are those that combine their immense talent and skill with a work ethic that very few can match, the simple fact is he’s lazy and therefore will NEVER be a great player. Let’s sell him now whilst we can still command a big fee and try and recoup some of the money we spent.

Walcott – I have to agree with Chris Waddle, the guy has absolutely no football brain whatsoever. Walcott is a victim of his own hype, he’s 21 and thinks he’s a top class player, sadly he isn’t. I genuinely think that he’s a championship player at best and I for one fully back Capello’s decision not to take him to South Africa.

Eduardo – Tragically, that broken leg at Birmingham ended his career as a top class player – it’s just a case of what might have been but what we know is that he is no longer good enough for Arsenal - time for him to move on.

Players who need to raise their game

There are also some players who have one last season to prove their worth to the club:

Nasri – Whilst the guy has lots of talent, he just doesn’t perform on a consistent basis. I want to see him play like he did against Porto, we know he has it in him but he just doesn’t do it often enough. Samir rarely has what you would call a ‘shocker’ but he still needs to move up to the next level or I don’t see him having much of a future at the club.

Rosicky – Last chance saloon comes to mind… I don’t blame Rosicky, we can’t expect a player to come back from two years out and be at the same level. He showed glimpses last season but needs to show more, I do like him as a player and I think he could be valuable for the squad.

Diaby – One of the most infuriating players I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt with the unique ability to look a world beater and a conference player all in one move! What concerns me is his minimal work ethic, if he can improve that then I think he still has a future at the club but he will have to prove it next season.

Cesc Fabregas saga

We knew it was inevitable and I think the way Barcelona outplayed us at the Emirates was a key factor in him deciding that he wants to go back to his boyhood club. The way Barcelona has behaved in all of this is an absolute disgrace however I don’t think any of us are all that surprised. Once again Arsenal has behaved in a dignified manner and I thought the statement they made yesterday was classy and was exactly what I wanted to hear. That being said, I still think the move will go through, we are playing hard ball. I for one would not accept a penny less than £60 million for him and whilst I would be sad to see him go, no player is bigger than the club. That sort of money could enable us to buy the type of players we badly need such as a new goalkeeper, a couple of centre halfs and a midfielder. We might not have our star player but it’s about the team and I’ve no doubt if invested wisely we could be a genuine force next season. If he does stay, then I think it’s based on assurances from Wenger that he will be reinforcing the squad heavily this summer and I do hope that’s the case. I’m sure this will drag on over the whole of pre-season so we’re in it for the long haul although I hope we don’t make the mistake of selling him on the last day of the transfer window without having a suitable replacement already in place.

Player of the season

Fabregas – He had an awesome season carrying the team for much of it. The fact is if he stays, he needs some help as he can’t always do it alone. Had he stayed fit we might have taken the title race down to the last day.

Most improved player of the season

Song – Just superb, I think he is one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. What impresses me so much is his close control and magnificent technique, he has that great ability to get himself out of tight situations with ease – the bar has been raised so expectation will be high next season.

Young player of the season

Ramsey – Was just beginning to establish himself as a first team player when that animal broke his ankle. Ramsey is the heir to Fabregas and if Ramsey was not out until November (or longer) I think Wenger would have been more comfortable in selling the Spaniard. Whilst he still has areas to improve, he is clearly an exciting player. There is some concern that he might not be the same player when he returns from injury, I disagree, as I don’t think his injury was anywhere near as bad as Eduardo’s so I think he’ll be alright.

That’s all folks, if anything interesting happens over the summer then I’ll blog about it – much the same as Arsenal, I do not comment on transfer speculation. I’m not going to blog about the World Cup either as I’d rather be watching it than writing about it!

Enjoy the sun!

Post Porto thoughts

Evening all.

I must first apologise for my lack of posting in the last few weeks, my new job has got the better of me but I do promise to post a bit more regularly from now to the end of the season.

What a win against Porto, had we not conceded such silly goals in Portugal I'm sure that we would have been home and dry before the second leg. I thought we were excellent against Porto, our passing was superb and more importantly, the players who needed to stand up and be counted did so. Campbell started a little nervously but settled into the game and had Hulk in his back pocket for the majority of the game. Hulk may be big and strong but he is no match for Campbell and that was clearly evident on Tuesday night. Nasri had a superb game, he is clearly suited to the Fabregas role and makes me feel confident when our captain is unable to play. The truth is that Nasri will only play that position when Fabregas is injured but should the Spaniard decide to head back to Barcelona in the summer we can at least feel comfortable in the knowledge that we have a ready made replacement willing to take his place. I had been disappointed with Nasri this season, however maybe I have been a little harsh as he clearly isn't a winger.

A word must go out to Bendtner, I have always maintained that he can be a top player for us. The fact is that he gives us a presence up front that has been severely lacking since Van Persie was injured. Yes he may miss easy chances but he is full of confidence and doesn't let bad performances put him down, he will have a big role to play for us for the rest of the season. The fact is that he was the only player in our entire squad that could have scored the equaliser at Stoke and he is a vital player. I also have to hand full credit to Eboue, last season I was sitting in the Emirates absolutely disgusted at the booing my fellow fans gave him - I will never boo an Arsenal player and never will. Eboue has done himself immense credit and makes me proud as an Arsenal fan, he is someone who has knuckled down and proved his worth to the club and clearly has a special relationship with the fans. His cameo against Porto was magnificent and for me his goal was the best of the night. In a football world full of ego's, I think it's refreshing to have Eboue has a part of our wonderful football club.

Next up is away at Hull, a difficult game but one I expect us to win and if we want to win the title then we have no choice - 3 points is a must.

I'm also delighted to announce that I've been selected to attend an audience with Ray Parlour at the Emirates on Monday, which I'll be attending with my father. Hopefully I'll be asking a question so make sure you have a look at the recording when it's available on Arsenal Online. What's so funny is the countless hours I listened to my dad complaining about Parlour throughout the Graham and Rioch years only to hear nothing but praise when Wenger turned him into a true Arsenal legend. Every team needs a Ray Parlour and thankfully for us we had him and for that I'm eternally grateful.

Winning comes at a price

Poor Aaron Ramsey, I have to say I was sickened by the injury on so many levels. To see a player lying on the floor with his ankle hanging off is a terrible sight and something I wish on no footballer. The fact that it's happened to us again almost two years to the day that Eduardo suffered a similar injury is very hard to take. In some respects I think the Eduardo tackle was different, Martin Taylor's tackle was absolutely disgusting whereas although a very late challenge by Shawcross in this instance I don't think there was any intent to break his leg. That being said, it was a late tackle that most of the time a player will get up from but unfortunately for Aaron his foot was in an awkward position before the tackle went in and because of the that the leg was broken. Make no mistake, it was a red card and I just hope and prey that the Welshman will play football again. Ramsey was superb up until he got injured today and was clearly becoming a first team regular, the fact that Denilson didn't even make the bench today said it all. I wish Aaron a speedy recovery and let's hope he will come back stronger and have a magnificent career with Arsenal football club. It also puts into perspective the whole John Terry, Wayne Bridge handshake which is really beginning to bore me.

On to the game... the first 20 minutes we were awful, when Stoke went one nil up it was a case of 'here we go again'. Once we got back into the game we were simply magnificent, the hunger, the passion and the fight was all there in one of our best displays of the season. We all want this Arsenal team to stand up and be counted, when the pressure was on we delivered. Our equaliser was a fantastic header, the jury's still out on Bendtner but the fact is that he's the only player in our squad that can score a goal like that. Second half we came out of the blocks like Usain Bolt, we were full of energy and I was sure that we would go onto win the game. When I was watching the Arsenal players reactions after the Ramsey incident I was certain that we would have the Birmingham scenario all over again. It must be so awful to see a team mate in so much pain and for 5 or 6 minutes we were shaken and we couldn't get our rhythm at all. When these things happen, you really see what a team is made of and that's why I'm so proud of the Arsenal. Seeing the celebrations for the third goal showed me the solidarity in the team, the will and desire to win is there and we have given ourselves a fighting chance to win the league.

The positives - for me Campbell was imperious, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Wenger resigned him but the old timer has proved what a magnificent defender he is. Yes his pace has gone but great defenders don't need pace. A word too for Clichy who I thought gave his best performance in an Arsenal shirt for at least two seasons. This was the Clichy of old, first into the tackle, great going forward and full of energy - I hope he can continue in this vain as there still may be a place for him at the club come next season.

The negatives - The booking for Song was an outrage, if anything it was a foul on him but now he misses the next two games. Luckily we don't have what we would call difficult games coming up but with the injury to Ramsey we will have to play Denilson which is a worry. I hear Diaby might be back for next weekend, I hope so because we need him. My solution is simple, providing Gallas returns, play him with Campbell at the back and push Vermaelan into the holding role.

So a vital 3 points marred by Ramsey's injury BUT tonight showed me that we have it in us to go and win the title and what a tribute that would be to our little Welsh wizard.

Come on you gunners!

Post Sunderland thoughts

A vital 3 points gained against Sunderland on Saturday, I suppose it didn't really matter how we performed as already knowing that Utd had lost at Everton it was crucial we picked up maximum points. We outplayed Sunderland without being overly convincing, the killer instinct was missing but that wasn't a surprise without Arshavin and Diaby. Although I'm not convinced by Samir Nasri, I thought he had his best game of the season and hopefully will push us on in the title run in. I've always been a fan of Eboue and thought he was excellent on Saturday, whilst he isn't as solid defensively as Sagna, the fact is that going forward he offers us so much. It's an enigma for Wenger as Sagna is a superb defender but that is only half the job of a full back, let us not forget that Eboue was our right back in the year we got to the Champions League final when we only conceded two goals and that was in a game we were playing Barcelona and down to ten men for 80 minutes. The simple truth is that Eboue is simply superb going forward and he can actually cross a ball which Sagna is literally unable to do. I would stick with Eboue at right back for now and see what happens, should he weaken our defence significantly then Wenger can bring Sagna back in with little fuss.

Although we gifted a few clear cut chances to Sunderland it was down to one man and that was Sylvester. An absolutely dreadful defender who should not be playing for a club like Arsenal, I understand that Sol was tired after Porto but the guy is a solid defender and has proved that he is still the unbeatable force he once was, albeit a slower one! Not every great defender needs pace, first and foremost they need to be able to defend and Sol can do that whereas Sylvester can't.

An interesting piece on Walcott by ArsenalVision, citing Sven Goran Eriksson as the main reason why he hasn't fulfilled his potential. I agree 100% and funnily enough I said the same thing to my father last week. As I've said many times here, I'm not a fan of Walcott and do not believe he will make it at Arsenal. Much to my amusement, after the game I saw links on Newsnow; 'Walcott inspires Arsenal" etc. Why read those articles, clearly written by someone who wasn't at the match. Walcott was dreadful, I don't think I've seen a footballer with so little intelligence and awareness of what's around him.

So it's Stoke next Saturday, have we learnt from the cup defeat a month ago? I would hope so but something tells me it might be the same old story. I see the game as one of the trickiest in our run in, should we win then I might just start to believe that we might finish second (There's no way we will win the title, we simply aren't good enough) which would be an excellent achievement in my eyes.

Until then...

Why Wenger hasn't bought a new goalkeeper

Evening all.

I firstly must apologise for not having written for a while, the reason is simple - there hasn't been anything worth writing about! It's painful when Arsenal are on a break, we just have to make do with the Arsenal blogs that write for the sake of writing even when there is nothing to say.

Wednesday night is a big night, Porto will be a tough game and one I would be happy if we came away with a score draw. We have lost at Porto before but these were games when we were already through in our group so I wouldn't read too much into it. It looks like Arshavin and Song will miss out, quite how much we will miss them remains to be seen but unfortunately no Song means the return of the ultimate water carrier Denilson. It seems that Wenger has realised that Denilson should not be part of a full strength midfield but needs must and as long as the Brazilian at least puts in the effort then he might be alright.

The main reason for this post is regarding the number one jersey at the club. As regular readers will know, I think Manuel Almunia is the worst goalkeeper I have ever seen at Arsenal and I would pick every other Premier League goalkeeper ahead of him. I believe there is a reason why Wenger has not made a big money signing in goal and his name is Wojciech Szczesny. The young Polish goalkeeper is at Brentford where he is earning rave reviews. I've seen him play a couple of times and he really is the real thing. Brentford fans say that he's the best goalkeeper they've seen at the club in over 30 years and even Wenger said that he has been identified as someone going to the very top. Why would Wenger sign a long term goalkeeper when he has someone ready to take the number one spot next season? Even if the Sorenson reports were true, that was only going to be a very short term solution.

Just watch this video and you'll see what I mean.

I'm convinced he is going to have a great future at our club, we just have to see out the rest of the season with that clown in goal...

Same old Arsenal

Once again we were undone by the brilliant Drogba, in the end he was the difference between the two teams. I actually thought we played fairly well today and after losing two early goals we responded well with a bit of fight that was lacking last week. Our defending was poor for both goals, the sad thing is that we learnt nothing from the Utd defeat. The second goal was a carbon copy of the Rooney strike last week, the way he cut inside to shoot was just too easy and we left ourselves a mountain to climb for the remaining 70 minutes.

The fact is that we dominated the match, the midfield played well but were let down by a lack of killer instinct up front. Even when we did break through the Chelsea defence, Nasri wasted a golden opportunity. The football was nice but there was no end product, if Drogba was in our side, we would have won the game. We have now gone three games without scoring which is a bit of concern, if only Wenger had reinforced in the transfer window then we would have had a real shot at winning the title. Sadly, our premiership season is now more about retaining our place in the top 4, we need to be looking over our shoulder as should we lose against Liverpool on Wednesday then things are wide open in a bad way. The game is a crucial one, Liverpool are not Utd or Chelsea so I would expect us to beat them. It's hard to criticise the boys as they did play well, we are close to having a great team with just a few players short of something special. After Wednesday we go into a period of games where we shouldn't drop points so anything is possible.

One thing that did get on my nerves today was Sky's coverage of John Terry, it was disgusting the way they talked about him as a victim rather than someone who cheated on his wife with his best mates girlfriend. Sky really need to take a good look at themselves as I thought they were a disgrace.

Player Ratings:

Almunia 5 - Didn't do much wrong but once again he concedes with the first attempt against his goal, kicking was his usual poor standard.

Sagna 7 - solid but can't cross, let's give him a rest and play Eboue who is much better going forward.

Vermaelen 6 - Never gave up and made some decent challenges, has to take some of the blame for the two goals.

Gallas 6 - Did okay, tried to drive the team forward.

Clichy 5 - Poor for both goals, did better going forward today.

Song 7 - Good performance, used the ball well.

Diaby 7 - Thought he had a good game, was commanding in the middle even though not fully fit.

Fabregas 7 - Tried but lacks quality ahead of him.

Nasri 7 - Did play well today but should have scored.

Walcott 4 - I've never seen a player with so little awareness of what's around him, Theo your time is up - a career in the championship beckons.

Arshavin 5 - Should have scored in the first half, too easily muscled off the ball - not a central striker.

Subs:

Bendtner 5 - Gave us something different, still doesn't look fit.

Eboue 7- Did well when he came on, was good going forward - should start on Wednesday.

Rosicky - 6 - Did okay, should have had a free kick when he was bundled over by Cole.

The player that got away

Evening all.

I've been doing a lot of thinking in the last few days, name me an Arsenal fan who hasn't. Having read some pathetic over reactions by many of the blogs since our humiliation to Utd, I think we need to put things into perspective. Chelsea's draw at Hull last night has made things wide open again at the top, if and it's a big 'if' we beat Chelsea on Sunday then we're right back in the race. We're a wounded animal at the moment and I fully expect us to put in a better performance at the weekend. Will that be enough? It's impossible to say, if Denilson is on the team sheet then we might as well go home. I'll be really disappointed with Wenger if the Brazilian starts, Ramsey is a much better option or if Diaby is fit he must play.

I've been thinking about the player that left Arsenal in the last few years who I genuinely feel we miss the most of any that has moved on in recent times - his name is Alex Hleb. After an indifferent first few seasons at the club, Hleb was instrumental in our title challenge back in 2007/8. Something I'll always maintain is that Hleb was one of the most skillful players I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt, his ability was unlike any other. Absolutely vital to our attacking play, he was able to beat players at will and often hold on to the ball when it looked impossible to do so. One of the criticisms of Hleb was that he didn't score enough goals, it's true to say that he wasn't a goal scoring midfielder but then he didn't need to be. Hleb made so many goals for other players and was crucial to our counter attacking play and I don't think we've ever been the same as counter attacking unit since he left the club. Samir Nasri was bought as his replacement but has always flattered to deceive, I for one am worried that he just isn't what we need, I hope he proves me wrong but he's done little to suggest that he's going to be a world beater. Hleb in our current team would be absolutely fantastic, Arsenal was the right club for him and it's a shame he had to leave to realise it. Who can forget that wonderful goal Fabregas scored at Anfield in 2007? Hleb waited and waited to release the ball to his best mate and we got our equaliser.

I'm sad that he never made it at Barcelona but then again the odds were stacked against him when in order to play he had to get into the team instead of Lionel Messi - Hleb was good but he's wasn 't the best player in the world.

I hope this article makes you think, Hleb WAS a great player and one we miss more than you think.