Up the Arsenal!

The preseason training is is full swing and Arsenal again look like a very strong proposition to deal with the coming season.The intricate passing,quick movement off the ball and perfect finishing(Ok sometimes!).And when the opposition needs help, we are ALWAYS there to score the best ever own goal.Jenkinson, who’s had an almost perfect start to his Arsenal career quickly learnt how to arse things up.But then again, even that was done is style.We, the Arsenal, always do it that way.

Perhaps the 2-1 result was of very less importance and all that mattered was that the players had a good outing and improved their fitness levels.But I’m quite sure if we’d lost or even drawn it, the press would have quickly pounced upon our weaknesses and highlighted the “Spend some Fucking Money” campaign.They’d have called for Arsene’s head to be chopped off and Arsenal to buy a certain Barton for 40m pounds. In the end, it was a 2-1 win against FC Cologne and except for that Henderson’s injury and CJ’s own goal, everything went according to plan.

Gervinho opened his scoring account with a beautifully lobbed shot from outside the box which surely would have reduced his anxiety.Every striker wants to get off the mark and the longer he fails, the more frustrated he gets.There were some mentions on Twitter regarding Torres’ scoring record with Chelsea when Gervinho got his 2nd with the best one being from @Ebou_Ebou :

Random stat: Fernando Torres: 18 apps for Chelsea, 1 goal. Gervinho: 16 mins for Arsenal, 2 goals.

For me, Gervinho looks a very decent player but one that should be given his time to adapt to the PL.No matter how good you are, it always takes some time.Playing against Cologne in a friendly is no match for a Stoke determined to fight for every single ball(you know their players haven’t got any!). So I’m sure Gervinho will be a huge hit at Arsenal but if it does take some time, I, for once, will gladly wait.

Talking about new players, I don’t know whether Miyaichi will get his work-permit or not but if he does, there’s no reason as to why we shouldn’t see him on a weekly basis.He’s still young and has a lot to learn but his energy might prove very handy in our title assault next year.

And now we move on to Carl.What a buy! To be very honest, I thought for a 1m pounds player, he’d at most be average.He’s proved to be everything but.Very solid at the back and also going forward, and anyways you wouldn’t expect an average player to lob one from 20 yards into his own net.Don’t believe me?Try doing that yourself.But jokes apart,the guy looks destined to have a legendary Arsenal career.

Last year, we lost Frimpong and Ramsey to serious injuries and this year, we might just have yet another one.Henderson’s injury doesn’t look very good to me or either Arsene so all we can do is hope for the best.Talking about the midfield, I was wondering whom will we play as a DM during the Jan-Feb period when both Song and Frimpong ship themselves off to Africa for the African Cup of Nation.Two years ago, we THANKFULLY had Denilson but now even he’s gone.We are so screwed without him, let me tell you.

That’s it from me.Hoping to write more in the upcoming days but no guarantees.

Till then.

Current Squad Has Potential,Invincibles Had Pedigree

It was all deja vu again for all Arsenal fans worldwide on Sunday in a match which witnessed Ramsey return to the Britannia after a horrific leg break. Ramsey is amongst many other Arsenal players who have a lot of potential but still have to prove themselves. I’m sure they will but the timings may vary from player to player. Wilshere does it in no time, Denilson takes him whole life. So is it true to suggest that the current Arsenal team only has potential, not pedigree.

Let’s just rewind back to the 2003-04 season. Yes the Invincibles era. Every player playing to his full potential and having proven themselves to the footballing world. The likes of Seaman, Campbell, Toure,Viera,Pires and of course Thierry Henry had it in them to grind out results from the jaws of defeat and were the real title material. All of them have left Arsenal either for greener pastures or for money. Some have succeed, some have not. They have been replaced by young, cheap talent from across the globe. The question is, are they any better than the Invincibles?

Goalkeeper

Invincibles:Lehmann

Current:Szczesny

The young Pole has bags of talent and confidence to boast and is surely destined to be the solution to Arsenal’s goalkeeping conundrum. Lehmann on the other hand was another exceptional keeper with loads of experience.Based on his experience, Lehmann gets the vote here. But I expect to be proven wrong in the next 2-3 years.Not now though.

Defenders

Invincibles: Lauren Campbell Toure Cole

Current: Sagna Koscielny Vermaelan Clichy

The Invincibles had a defence which was solid as a rock and which conceded the least number of goals during the 2003-04 season. The current defence is hugely criticized for its lack of leadership and defending at set-pieces. The only present Arsenal player that I’d chose is Sagna over Lauren. Sagna is Arsenal’s unsung hero and would just edge Lauren.

Midfielders

Invincibles: Ljungberg Gilberto Viera Pires

Current: Wilshere Song Fabregas Nasri(Let’s just take him for simplicity)

Both of them are class. Viera’s fight and determination, Pires’ passing and close-control, Fabregas’ vision and one-touch passing and Nasri’s direct approach and ball control are all world-class.  The Invincibles had the best midfield at that time, we have ours at present.  I’ll chose Wilshere for Gilberto and Fabregas for Ljungberg(not a straight swap though!).

Strikers

Invincibles: Henry Bergamp

Current: van Persie Walcott

Henry and Bergamp had in them one of the world’s best striker partnership. Bergamp with his needle-like pass to Henry who obliged more often than not. Henry was the leading scorer during the campaign and was one major factor in the Invincibles’ achievements. Van Persie is obviously a very gifted player with one hell of a left foot. When he plays, there aren’t many better. But he’ll most likely spend more time on the sidelines than on the pitch. Walcott terrorizes defences with his blistering pace but he’s still not the finished product. His crossing is often frustrating but his finishing has been tremendous this season. Both Henry and Bergamp get the nod here.

So here’s how the combined team looks like:

                                                                                  Lehmann

                                              Sagna            Toure            Campbell            Cole

                                                                    Viera             Wilshere

                                                                   Fabregas           Pires

                                                                    Henry             Bergamp

Formation: 4-2-2-2

Manager- Arsene Wenger

So only 3 out of 11 could make it to the Invincibles team. The defence will only strengthen next year and don’t be surprised if it even becomes better.  I’m expecting a lot of disagreement on this one but bring it on.

(Picture courtesy of Chabbz, a regular here)

Vote for your team and also tell why in the comments section.

I had this Bad Feeling about The Game

Getting out of the Delhi Metro,  the public train here in Delhi, I felt relieved that I had made it without much fuss. It may seem an exaggeration but believe me it’s not. I had never travelled alone in a Metro before. I had done so in Taxis or Rickshaws but not in a train. So it was obviously weird for me the first time. I almost screwed it when my stop arrived.I realized I was on the wrong side of the train and the door which had opened was some distance away. I for a moment felt that as always, something bad would happen to me. You know when you get the feeling that why it always happens to you only. But I rushed, pushing other passengers on the side to get out and did manage to come out. It was fine until I thought this could be a bad signal about the upcoming game at the Britannia.

The game as you know was won by Stoke who despite having the biggest game in their history a week later put a hundred times more effort than most Arsenal players who were so poor that Stoke actually looked a decent side. The problem this time was the attack. Sure the defence made some huge errors but how many chances can you remember created by Arsenal.

We lacked the killer instinct of a good team. Not a great team but even a good team. The passing was decent but it was Stoke who looked more threatening than us. Not more than 2-3 chances were created by our so-called prolific attack. And people think we fail because of our defence. Don’t get me wrong, the defence was also poor. Djourou & Gibbs especially. I would even suggest that Gibbs has a lot in similar to Denilson. Sloppy footwork, low commitment levels and his passing. He, much like Denilson cannot make a forward pass. Gibbs is a fullback and at Arsenal ,he’s supposed to provide width and pace on that left-flank. But all he does mostly is cut inside and make a back pass .Clichy’s not great but every time Gibbs deputizes for him, Arsenal become worse. So I’d rather like Cichy to stay or a better player being brought in than play Gibbs.

I won’t like to mention more names but something was wrong. Devastatingly wrong. The loss of Fabregas and Nasri for me wasn’t responsible for this. Just look at the 2nd half of the Man United game to see what I mean. If we’d lost to United on Sunday, it would’ve been far less disheartening because of the players efforts on that day. They were committed, determined and didn’t let their concentration levels drop. But against Stoke, none of that was visible.C’mon you Arsenal Boys, at least show some commitment on the pitch. It was initially believed that it was the pressure that restricted us from winning in the business end. But now the pressure’s gone but today’s performance was still one of the worst of the season.

There are absolutely no positives to take from the game. Nothing. It was quite ironical that it was Stoke who played much better football. I wonder how Tony Pulis got his men fired up but Arsene Wenger couldn’t. There was more purpose from our boys in the second half but still very few opportunities created. Both Chamakh and Bendtner were decent and better than many of our players on the pitch. Koscielny and Wilshere were not great but better than the others. This game disappointed me to the extent that I didn’t even watch the match to the end and switched the T.V. off 4-5 minutes before the whistle. I didn’t so against United in the FA Cup, not against Chelsea at the Bridge and other matches where we had no chance. Not once in the season before. But to sum up,this was Arsenal’s weakest performance both defensively and offensively of the season.