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Groan’s player review 2010/11 part 1: Holding the gloves

May 302011

The season is over, and the long summer has begun. With no World Cup to distract us (not that it was exactly riveting viewing last year), we have nothing but three months of scurrilous transfer rumours, antagonistic agent quotes and the drama of the fixture announcement. What a day that will be.

In fairness, this summer does promise to be busier than normal – plenty of players look to be on their way out, and the obvious deficiencies of the squad mean that more should arrive. But before we get to that, I wanted to look back over the season as a whole, marking each individual player and suggesting where their future lies. I’m not one for wholesale changes, so you won’t see me calling for fifteen departures, but there are certainly those whose time appears to have passed.

This is part one of a four part player review, examining the goalkeepers. The defence will come later today, followed by those further forward.

1. Manuel Almunia

Almunia started the season as undisputed number one, with his rivals either considered too error-prone or raw to challenge him. He ended it behind Fabianski, Szczesny, and even the returning Lehmann. He had only one highlight – a terrific performance in the Nou Camp when all others were injured, but the lowlights were many. On the opening day, he was beaten at his near post by a Ngog fizzer, and a string of wobbly displays hit their nadir in September’s home defeat to West Brom where, despite saving a penalty, he had an absolute shocker. A mystery elbow ‘injury’ followed, presumably of the ‘frozen out’ variety, and he returned only for the occasional cup match (again, when injury meant he was the only rotational option) and that fine display in Barcelona, which is the only reason his rating is not even lower.

Season Rating: D-
Future: A dead cert to leave this summer, perhaps on a free transfer.

13. Jens Lehmann

A remarkable story. Retired from all football, he was re-signed late in the season due to a freakish set of injuries, and should be commended for a) coming in when he did, b) being in such good shape considering he is now 41 and c) working so hard to help the team. His only appearance came at Blackpool, and had advantage not been played for Blackpool’s goal, he could easily have been sent off, but his presence around the squad has been great, if only for the inevitably strongly worded points he has made. A coaching career beckons.

Rating: No rating
Future: Continuation of his coaching qualifications, followed hopefully by a return to the club in that capacity some day.

21. Lukasz Fabianski

Woeful in pre-season despite repeated chances to prove his worth, he was put back on the bench for the start of the season, and did not convince in his early cup displays, particularly at White Hart Lane, where he allowed Robbie Keane’s tame effort to slip past his limp hand. But when Almunia was frozen out, he came in for an extended period, and began to assert himself, replacing errors with the fine saves he has always been capable of, none better than at Wolves, where a string a terrific stops won us a very tight game. Other impressive performances against Man City and Everton boosted his confidence further, and he looked set for a long stint as first choice until injury curtailed his season. With Szczesny’s subsequent emergence, Fabianski is likely to have gone full circle, back to number two.

Rating: C+
Future: Surely certain to stay, as deputy to Szczesny.

24. Vito Mannone

Every club needs three keepers, and Mannone is certainly behind Szczesny and Fabianski in the current pecking order. For most young keepers, that is an acceptable position, particularly when you get the opportunity to gain experience by going on loan, as the Italian did this season. His problem is that he isn’t backing up older keepers – he is 23, while Szczesny and Fabianski are 21 and 26 respectively. With the Poles set to stay and hold the gloves for the foreseeable, chances will be limited at best for Mannone.

Rating: No rating
Future: Depends on his ambition. If he wants to play, he may have to leave. Perhaps another season on loan as a last chance to push on.

53. Wojciech Szczesny

What a season the younger of the Poles has had. Began the campaign as third choice at best, he ended it with many calling for him to be handed the gloves for the next ten years. Commands his area like no other keeper on our books, he is brimming with confidence bordering on arrogance. Still needs to improve – some of his decision making is rash at present, but at 21 those mistakes are inevitable. He is not number one because of his age, he is number one because he is, right now, the best keeper we have. Some say he isn’t ready and should be number two for another season, but signing a keeper better than the young man would be prohibitively expensive, and will not happen. He is our number one.

Rating: B+
Future: Bright. Hasn’t been confirmed that he is ahead of Fabianski (the Poles haven’t been fit together since Szczesny’s run) but surely is first choice now.

Click below for part 2 – the case for the defence, and come back tomorrow for the midfield and attack. In the meantime, please leave your comments and ratings in the comments below.

Part 2 – A case for the defence

Part 3 – The midfield mix

Fourth in a two horse race – the collapse only Arsenal could achieve

Analysis, Arsenal News 13 Responses »

May 232011

Following Arsenal these last few weeks has felt a little like being a nightclub DJ at 3am when everyone left an hour ago. It has been an effort to muster up the interest, largely because it has been so plainly obvious that the players felt precisely the same way. That some of them were playing for their futures didn’t seem to hit home, neither did the fact that at no point was our season officially over. Every match until the very last one mattered for some tangible reason, even if it was eventually the failed avoidance of a Champions League qualifier.

How did we get here? Just two months ago we had the league title in our hands, and were riding high off the back of a stunning win over Barcelona. We had a healthier squad than usual, were in a cup final, and Van Persie was scoring for fun. The latter is the only thing that has remained, and for that the Dutchman should get immense credit. Sadly, his astonishing achievements have been overshadowed by the malaise that hangs over the heads of his teammates.

It is extraordinary to recall that the league title was truly a two horse race, and we were one of the horses. It is worth noting that United’s total of 80 points is five fewer than they managed last season, when they didn’t even lift the trophy. Even with their late winners, their ability to pull a result out of the fire, they were there to be beaten by a solid team. But none was to be found.

Even after we started to fall away, when Chelsea were hitting form and second place looked in danger, I said that it wouldn’t take a brilliant run of form to hang on to a top two slot. Chelsea had a tough run in and would drop points – they should be relatively straightforward to catch again. And I was right – they lost two out of their last three games and finished on 71 points, a massive fifteen less than last season. And they were indeed caught on the final day, but not by us. By Manchester City.

And just to be clear – City haven’t had a massively improved season, contrary to what you will be reading. They only managed four more points than last season, a season in which they didn’t reach the Champions League. Their 71 points would not have been enough for a top four finish two years ago.

There have been great moments this season, flashes of brilliance and even good spells on form early on. But we have chucked it away in spectacular fashion. Put it this way – after 27 games, we were on 56 points. Sixteen points from the last eleven games would have been enough for second place, but we managed just twelve. That is relegation form, stretched out for nearly a third of the season. It is a quite remarkable collapse.

All we can hope for is that this is the trough from which we start to climb. The fallibility of the squad is now an unquestionable fact – not even Wenger can claim few changes are required. And although he is still talking about the players in a positive light, I’m going to ignore that entirely and look at his actions. He either wants to keep, or get the best price for, each individual, so he isn’t going to be publicly admitting some of them aren’t actually up to much.

In that regard, the wheels are already moving. Denilson and Bendtner have already stated their intentions to leave, Rosicky is unlikely to get another contract, and Clichy’s contract situation gets more untenable by the day. I’m less concerned about Nasri as all the noises I’m hearing are that his contract is due to be signed imminently, but others will surely be on their way out. Almunia and Eboue are dead certs.

Not even Wenger can lose six or seven members of his first team squad without bringing in replacements. And he will have funds – Clichy and Bendtner appear to be highly sought after and will command decent fees. This summer could and should be the busiest we’ve seen in years.

With Chelsea, City, United, Liverpool and maybe even Spurs likely to improve next season, it will need to be.

Arsenal thoughts – the great fade, desire, Stoke and the mystical squad overhaul

Analysis, Arsenal News 10 Responses »

May 132011

It has been a while. I’ve been on a self-imposed blogging break, partly due to work pressures, partly to do with an inability to collect my thoughts into something coherent. If I had written anything, chances are it would have been something of a ramble, repeating many of the things I’d said before, with a few platitudes thrown in for good measure. In other words, it would have resembled one of Wenger’s recent post-match interviews. And we know how well they’ve been going down.

So here are my collected thoughts on each of the pressing issues.

The fade

There certainly is a massive air of negativity around the club at the moment, and understandably so. Fading so badly towards the end of a season once is understandable, particularly when you’ve been struggling with injuries as we have in recent years. But not only has that excuse evaporated – Vermaelen aside, most have been available – our fixture list has been so spread out that the usual fatigue is not applicable. Since losing to Barcelona on March 8, we’ve had only one midweek game.

It annoys me that the pundits were right when they pointed to our mental fragility. It winds me up that those comments made earlier in the season, and dismissed during our optimistic moments, have been proven accurate. Two wins in eleven games is an appalling return when challenging for silverware, and the knowledge that even a semi-decent finish to the season would have resulted in Cesc lifting the Premiership trophy makes the collapse harder to bear.

We do lack leaders and organisers. That is no slight on Cesc or his captaincy, which I think is untouchably excellent. When people claim we are missing drive, they miss the point by accusing our captain. It is a bit like being in a supermarket with one till open and a massive queue. There is no point complaining to the person at the till – it is everyone else who is the problem. You cannot single-handedly make a team drive forward, likewise you cannot unfrighten ten jittery teammates by yourself. Everyone has to stand up and be counted, and quite frankly, Cesc is one of the few that do. I cannot understand people who think selling him would be a good move.

The other star of recent weeks has been Van Persie, but despite him scoring so freely, we’ve actually only scored twice in four of our last seventeen games. When you consider that he is breaking goalscoring records, you start to realise he is doing it alone. One of the fundamental strengths of the 4-3-3 system is the swarming nature of the attack, the fact that threats come from six angles at once. Right now, you nullify Van Persie and Cesc, and you nullify the team.

As many others have said, it isn’t all about personnel. Chamakh is the prime example – he arrived as a bulldozing, committed, throw his body on the line type of striker. Now, he is a timid shell of that former self. Is that all down to a lack of confidence, or do we have that effect on players?

Desire

I don’t buy the argument that this team doesn’t want to win, or doesn’t care enough about winning to try hard. Instead, I think complacency has set in to a chronic level, to the point where even one of the many lessons we should have learnt this season have not sunk in. This goes beyond just buying new players – someone needs to come in and kick some people up the backside. Wenger isn’t the screaming type, but I don’t see any reason why the likes of Lehmann and Keown cannot become a menacing presence on the training pitch, giving honest assessments and frank criticisms where necessary. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t believe the players are mollycoddled, but to quote an old phrase, there is no fire in their belly. Put the same squad out next season with the desire United show every week, and we’ll win the league. I have no doubt of that. But right now, we’re miles off.

Stoke

…were not particularly physical, not particularly aggressive and not in the slightest bit hostile. They didn’t even play that well. But they didn’t need to – we were so woeful that we handed them goals on a plate and then showed no urgency in recovering the situation. It was appalling to watch, and could only be forgiven if the season was truly over.

And just to make the point – it isn’t over. City are two points behind us with two very winnable games remaining. One loss and we could be looking at a Champions League qualifier in August. Had Everton not done us a massive favour by beating City last weekend, we would already be behind them. It baffles me that the players seem so apathetic to their situation.

The summer

Despite everything I’ve said above, despite the complete and utter flatness around the club right now, I do not expect many changes this summer. Four or five players are likely to leave, some more obvious than others (anyone seen Denilson recently?). Three or four are likely to come in, down the spine of the team. But there will be no massive overhaul, no ten-man Championship Manager-esque clearout.

Perhaps more important are the peripheral changes. The right coach to give a fresh approach, the right change in attitude from the manager to his failing troops, the right switch of system. Any of those things could elevate this squad without making any personnel changes, but without them it doesn’t matter who we sign – the collective is currently wrong, and the collective doesn’t get fixed by signing Christopher bloody Samba.

This is a massive summer.

Thoughts on Kroenke, Usmanov and the road ahead

Analysis, Arsenal News 8 Responses »

Apr 112011

I’ve waited until now to discuss the takeover story to give myself a little time to digest the news, and analyse what it realistically means for Arsenal Football Club. It is very easy to jump to snap judgements on whether it is a positive or negative thing, and as usual there are many shades of grey. Or perhaps, now we’re American-owned, gray.

Some of the details are still sketchy, but the definitive news we have is largely positive. That is, of course, expected – if there is any negative aspects to the takeover, they would hardly be announced, but the signs are good from a financial point of view. Here is what we know:

1) Kroenke owns 62% having purchased Lady Nina’s and Fiszman’s shares. News from tonight’s meeting with the AST suggests that he does not expect to gain many more shares, which would maintain the plurality of ownership that has served the club well for so long. He certainly doesn’t expect to get close to the 90% mark that would force shareholders to sell. In other words, if you are a shareholder, you have full rights to hold.

2) Usmanov is not going away. The only statements from his camp have stated that he feel screwed by the club. Hilarious. It is almost as if he didn’t expect to be ousted, which is somewhat odd considering his conspicuous absence from the board. But he has also insisted that he has no intention to sell. Strangely, this actually helps the plurality. Small mercies.

3) The board is fully behind Kroenke. At least publicly, and it is hard to imagine that there is much dissent in the ranks. His time on the board seems to have impressed – from chairman to manager, taking in all the major shareholders (minus one oversized Uzbeki) – they are all behind him assuming majority control. Whatever happens from here, such unity can only be a good thing.

4) Splits between Lady Nina and the board have been overplayed. No doubt that there is sour feeling there, or at least there was. But they have reunited in a common cause. Perhaps they all have the club’s interest at heart, perhaps Usmanov is such a classic arch-enemy that they have headed in the same direction – away from him. But it has emerged that Usmanov made a counter offer to Lady Nina of £13k a share, well above the agreed sale price with Kroenke. That she turned it down speaks volumes.

5) The purchase will not be leveraged. Unlike the feared Glazer model, Kroenke will not be saddling the club with debt to buy his share in it. That does not mean he is paying up front – he is laying down the equivalent of IOUs to be paid later, likely because his money and assets are tied up. I fully expect this to be twisted in the coming days by those seeking to find dirt where there is none.

Beyond that, we know little. While the financial side of things is promising, in that the structure and the fiscal strength remains largely untouched, it is unknown how the move will affect the on-field aspect over the coming years. I suspect it will change very little – Kroenke appears to have bought in to the long term strategy of the club, and is known as an extremely hands off leader. More than likely he will focus on the commercial side of the club, building the ‘brand’, if you will. The mystical transfer kitty is unlikely to be immediately forthcoming – the club will continue to be self sustaining, and that in itself is more limiting than the Chelsea or City approaches, for example. And rightly so.

Reading this so far, you probably think I am 100% behind the takeover, but that isn’t the case. I’m probably 40% for it because of the long term stability it suggests and the continuation of the club’s ethos, but 60% is being held back to see what happens over the next year or two. I really think it will be that long before we see the full effect of Kroenke’s leadership, largely because I don’t think much will change in the short term. And until he starts talking, we will know little more.

There will, however, be immediate fallout from this, and that concerns one Alisher Usmanov. The PR wheels are already in motion, the words ‘political prisoner’ have re-emerged, along with promises of what he would do if he were in charge. Which is easy in his position – you can promise anything when you know you will never have to deliver. The lockdown has long prevented him from assuming control, and this move alienates him even more. Anyone is his position would be hugely irritated at the turn of events, but he will find no sympathy here.

Elsewhere, that will not be the case. Already a couple of the sites running pro-Usmanov stories are continuing that line. Now, I’m not one to deny anyone their opinion, and there are those out there who make reasonable points that are clearly their own, but what struck me about some of those sites before is how similar their ~~scripts~~ articles were. The pattern is predictable – a series of digs at Kroenke’s expense, reference to Usmanov’s successful business ventures, ability to fund a massive transfer fund, and culminating by harking back to the good old Dein days. Now, there are elements of truth in there – Kroenke is largely absent and silent, and Usmanov is rich. But beyond that, it doesn’t bear up to much scrutiny.

I am sure that some of you are reading this and disagreeing. Perhaps you are unwilling to write Usmanov off, perhaps you think he would be good for the club. But as far as I’m concerned, the further he is away, the better. Not because of his business acumen, which is impressive. Not because of the fact he is a documented United fan – this is business, after all, and in some ways that is irrelevant. But because in my opinion, the values of the club would be destroyed if he took control. He cannot be ignored in his current position, and dialogue will have to (and should) be continued, but I certainly consider it good news that his chance of owning the club outright has gone.

Beyond that, we will have to wait and see. There will be much spin over the next few days, of that there can be no doubt. But I am cautiously hopeful.

Elsewhere, we won a football match yesterday, and a highly entertaining affair it was too. A microcosm of our season so far, we were brilliant in spells, missed hatfuls of chances, and then almost threw away three points. Credit to Blackpool though, if they go down, they will be sorely missed. I hope they survive – their defending might be terrible, but their attacking play is mesmerising at times. Remarkable that a team that threatening may drop out of the league.

And that is about it for today. The next few days will be fun.

The day Twitter went mad – storm in a Wenger teacup

Analysis, Arsenal News 31 Responses »

Mar 182011

What a day. There are occasions when I don’t keep abreast of the day’s sporting news – a busy day at work, a day away from the laptop and phone – it happens. The most notable one was the day of Henry’s sale to Barcelona – I remember being oblivious until a family phone call in the evening that took a few minutes to figure out. Sometimes you aren’t aware of events until the furore has died down.

Today, I could tell something had happened – my Twitter timeline was enormous, unusually so. Had Wenger got slapped with a mighty ban? Djourou had another twist in his injury saga? Something takeover related, perhaps?

No, none of the above. Instead, it was all about Wenger’s dubious use of the word ‘never’ when describing his expectations over Thomas Vermaelen’s fitness. As with many misleading stories, the context is vital, so here is his full quote:

“For Thomas Vermaelen the season is over. In fairness he has not played since September, I never expected him to be fit before the end of the season. He is not out on the field yet and it is impossible [for him to play] after six months without competition. I am confident he will have a full recovery but for this season we cannot rely on him.”

If, like me, you read this and see nothing particularly wrong, then apparently you are in the overwhelming minority. The major issue has been with the words “I never expected him to be fit before the end of the season“. People have taken that to mean that back in January, when he had the opportunity to sign a covering central defender, he knew that Vermaelen was unlikely to play again, and chose not only to make no purchases, but lie to the Arsenal fans with an overly optimistic assessment.

The quotes came out on Twitter, and as with everything stuffed into 140 characters, context was entirely absent. The pot had been stirred, the torchlight was burning, and people were making a beeline for our manager. A liar, an idiot, a moron, a deceptive fool whose time was up – all descriptions I saw tonight, from our own fanbase. People I have a lot of time for got caught up in the madness and wrote entire blogs on how it was another example of him losing the plot.

Excuse my language, but for fucks sake, take a step back and look at the full quote. It is fairly clear to me that he went for an assessment on Vermaelen’s fitness yesterday or today, and did not expect to be told that Vermaelen would play a part in the rest of the season, largely because there is not long left, and he has been out for so long that the remaining recovery, plus light training, plus full training, plus a couple of reserve matches would take us to mid May. He even clarifies this pretty clearly in the line that follows the contentious one.

What he doesn’t mean is that in January, he expected Vermaelen to be out for the season. The word ‘never’ does not refer to ‘from the day he was injured, I knew it was a season ender‘, because that plainly isn’t true. He couldn’t have been more explicit at the time, in January, and since. Only now that he has been out for so long has Wenger accepted that Vermaelen would not feature again this season, irrespective of how soon the medics feel he can return to training. Today, he ‘never’ expected the medics to give him a report that suggested Thomas would make it – essentially he is saying ‘it doesn’t matter how his Achilles is now, he isn’t going to be match ready by May anyway’.

When you look at it like that, it is not unreasonable in any way. Of course it is frustrating for all of us, much as I’m sure it is frustrating for the manager, not the mention the player, but I suspect that today’s ire has had a great deal more to do with the risk Wenger took in January as opposed to the comments themselves. It is almost as if many have been waiting for an opportunity to slam him with a great big fat ‘I told you so‘. Today, by taking something wildly out of context and warping the meaning, they got their wish.

Part of that is understandable – Wenger certainly took a gamble in January. Vermaelen was some way from fitness, Djourou was doing fantastically well but his record suggested an injury was likely (the actual injury he got was unfortunate, however, and could have happened to anyone), Koscielny was looking fine while Squillaci has flattered to deceive. We had a similar depth to last January, when Sol was brought back to boost the numbers. This year, a bigger gamble was taken.

It seems that gamble is the real issue that caused today’s storm. But I can’t help but feel it is enormously counterproductive to be waiting for an opportunity to write the doomsday stories, and I’ve been really disappointed to see so many rip into Wenger so mercilessly over something he didn’t even mean. Put simply, Wenger is not enough of a moron to say that sentence in the way people are taking it, yet that simple fact doesn’t lead people to investigate further.

What is perhaps more concerning is that it hasn’t been the press overreacting – look for the story in the papers and you’ll see only loose references. It is the Arsenal fanbase picking this up and running with it, and quite frankly it has been horrible to watch.

The 24/7 news cycle has a lot going for it, Twitter in particular – news arrives fast, some excellent journalists are on hand and willing to interact with the public, and great debate and discussion can quickly be had. It is a fantastic medium. But sometimes it encourages a mob mentality, where people react without thinking and get caught up in the crest of a furious wave. It can happen to anyone – I’ve seen some very reasonable people involved today, and perhaps if I had been on Twitter when it came out I may have joined them. Being reactionary is one of the easiest traps to fall into.

But we are all Arsenal fans. We get furious when the press twist things to suit their own agenda. Let’s not do the same.

“For Thomas Vermaelen the season is over,” confirmed Arsène Wenger at his pre-match press conference.

“In fairness he has not played since September, I never expected him to be fit before the end of the season. He is not out on the field yet and it is impossible [for him to play] after six months without competition. I am confident he will have a full recovery but for this season we cannot rely on him.”