It is difficult to know where to begin with a defeat like that. I’m going to avoid a blow by blow account of the game – by now you know and are probably sick of the details. We had a ton of possession, a stackload of corners, but came up against an excellent keeper, an organised defence, and got sucker punched at the other end.

None of those facts are rare in cup competition – they are the recipe for most upsets. But for a decade and a half, Wenger’s Arsenal have avoided defeat in such circumstances, always finding enough to earn at least of replay on those danger days, enabling us to chuckle at the Liverpools and Spurs of this world, regularly dumped out by lower league opposition. None of us are laughing tonight.

The post match reaction has been understandably hostile. I do feel that some of the anger is misplaced, particularly at the decision to rotate a few players. I’ve seen many comments that we were ‘prioritising Bayern over Blackburn‘ which isn’t something I buy into. The facts are simple – we are playing the Bundesliga giants three days after a Championship side, and if we were looking to win both matches (as we should be), we should logically play the strongest possible team against the Germans and rotate against Blackburn, in the knowledge that a team of eleven internationals should have it within them to defeat a side who until recently have been the laughing stock of football.

Today’s problem was not that we rotated – we still fielded a team that would be expected to win – but that the eleven that started the game did not do what was expected of them, did not perform at the level required of them. Football is a squad game and the notion that we should play our strongest eleven in every game is a foolish one. We won’t beat Bayern without Wilshere, Cazorla and Walcott – we can and should still defeat any Championship side at home in those circumstances. That isn’t complacency, that isn’t believing we just have to turn up to win, that is just the opinion that if the eleven that began the game had played to the standard we demand from them, and that they are capable of, we’d still be in the cup. They didn’t, and we aren’t.

A big problem with this Arsenal side is the inability to learn from past mistakes. I don’t believe that players don’t try, but performances vary too wildly in intensity, which has a similar visual effect. I’ve lost count of the number of times that players and staff have come out after games admitting that opponents had been underestimated, which is disappointing the first time and inexcusable on every subsequent occasion. I sincerely hope that the club has more sense than to allow such quotes to appear this week but you never know with our PR team. They did, after all, create a poll asking if fans would prefer fourth place or a trophy. Who are we, Spurs? Come on.

Where do we go from here? Well, to Bayern on Tuesday. I’m not saying for a moment we brush this under the carpet, but no players or staff will change before the summer, so any speculation on significant changes are moot at this point, and emotions are running too high to even have a rational discussion in those areas without getting lost in a sea of shouting. We must deal with what we have until then – a Champions League campaign that may or may not be short lived and a battle for fourth. Is that ideal? Not in the slightest – it is actually faintly depressing to type – but we are where we are and no amount of complaining will change it. The season needs rescuing in the meantime.

One of my biggest fears is that when he finally leaves, Wenger’s reign as Arsenal boss will be remembered for days like this, rather than the glorious and unprecedented success he has also brought. I hope it never gets that bad. For some, it already has. I doubt I could ever get to that stage – there have been too many good times.

Some more fun times wouldn’t hurt. Tuesday would be a good place to start.

 

The moment when Walcott scored the fifth and final goal in a 5-2 come-from-behind thumping of our nearest neighbours, who would finish the game with ten men having claimed beforehand that they had ‘closed the gap’, elicited a strange feeling – a repetitious one, an echo of a previous experience. Strangely familiar, if you will.

Of course, some experiences are worth repeating, which is why we all watched the game, and followed it up by chuckling in front of the highlights, particularly at the Spurs fans who cheered so joyously when they took an early lead, in the belief that the pre-game bravado was going to be followed up by a victory to wipe out the memory of the humiliation they received back in February. Instead, they suffered a replica caning, and left long before the end once more, with the taunts of the brilliant home crowd ringing in their ears.

Arsenal fans have a reputation for being a little bipolar, both for swinging between raucous support and despair on matchday and for the contrast in volume between the home and away fans. I’ve always found that to be a baffling accusation, particularly given that a lot of the home and away fans are in fact the same people, and I find it highly unlikely that they sing their hearts out at Carrow Road and then sit rigidly in their seats at the Grove. There is a difference in atmosphere, but I think that is borne more from the corporate feel of our stunning amphitheatre rather than the actions of the individuals within. Still, when the place is rocking, it is something to behold, and yesterday’s game was played out to the backdrop of a united fanbase driving the team on with inspirational force. It was a beautiful thing to see and hear.

The game itself turned on another moment of madness from the man who rarely endears himself to his existing employers, let alone his former ones, and when Adebayor recklessly planted his studs into Cazorla’s ankle, despite the Spaniard being a long way off the ground, there was only going to be one outcome. Howard Webb, who actually had an excellent game (something that isn’t said enough when a referee performs well) produced the red, and the excellent start made by the visitors evaporated. Mertesacker powered a header home, his first for the club, to level the scores, before Podolski and Giroud all but ended the game by the break, the latter after excellent work from Cazorla, fortunately unhurt by the earlier act.

At half time, my only wish for us was to push onwards. Never at our best when sitting back, it was clear that our best option was to keep attacking, and perhaps make this a humiliation that Spurs’ season would not recover from – they have plenty of recent history in that regard. Apart from a wobbly opening to the second half, and a few worried moments after Bale reduced the deficit, that was exactly what we got. We never settled for what we had, we kept trying to drive another nail in the beliefs of all of those that thought this would be The Season Spurs Finish Above Arsenal, a phenomenon many young fans have never seen.

Picking out individuals seems churlish after such a focused and impressive team performance, but the triumvirate of new signings were all excellent – Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski threatened throughout – and Walcott answered yet more critics with a barnstorming display down the right, capped off with a goal after he moved to the centre. But despite all our excellent attacking verve, one man at the back deserves special mention, and that is Laurent Koscielny, who covered superbly on at least three occasions in the first twenty minutes when Vermaelen found himself in the wrong position. The captain started in wobbly fashion, but to his credit grew after those early moments and was superb from there on, but without Koscielny’s alertness we could have been in big trouble in those opening moments.

Ultimately, North London superiority was re-established (or just re-emphasised, if you believe it was never really lost), and while there are those who still cling to the claim that Spurs have the better team or squad (the sight of Huddlestone lining up in midfield against Wilshere, Arteta and Cazorla was entertaining on that particular front), I don’t believe they will be a challenger for a top four berth this season. Say what you like about Harry Redknapp (and after his embarrassing performance on Match of the Day last night, you or I are unlikely to say anything positive), but Spurs looked a better team under him than they do now, and I stick to my pre-match prediction that Everton will finish above them. I also fully expect St Totteringham’s Day to arrive in the customary months of March and April, rather than being delayed to the final day.

But all that is for another time. For now, we bask in the glow of another thumping victory over those who seek to overturn us. Monday morning looks brighter for all that face those on the other side of the fence, and a much needed feelgood factor is back.

I might go and watch those highlights again.

 

That was painful.

On the face of it, a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford isn’t something to get you too bent out of shape – they win the vast majority of their home games and the scoreline suggests a tight match nicked by the odd goal. Sadly, the scoreline today bore no resemblance to the pattern of the match itself, in which the two United scored should have been a few more, and the one we mustered was with the last kick of the game, and barely celebrated.

The teamsheets made for worrying reading. Aside from the sideshow that always accompanies former players making their return, the thought of Santos trying to combat Valencia was not a prospect many were looking forward to, while Mannone’s continued presence in goal is an accident waiting to happen. Ironically, Mannone was good throughout, pulling off an excellent save from Rooney in the first half and van Persie in the second, and along with Mertesacker is the only player that can hold their head up and say they played well. Santos, on the other hand, was every bit the weak link United were hoping he would be.

Better full backs than the Brazilian will struggle with Valencia’s power, pace and trickery, but the winger found life embarrassingly easy at times today, and dominated the flank all day. Probably the only foot he put wrong was in the early moments of the second half, when he miskicked a tap in that would have put them two up long before they eventually put the game to bed. That stemmed from a bad mistake from Vermaelen, who will not look back fondly on this game, having started by presenting the returning van Persie with a golden chance that he was never likely to miss, in doing so casting aside our entire game plan. It would be fair to say that captaincy has not enhanced the Belgian as we hoped it would – instead he has been culpable on a number of occasions so far this season, and were it not for the armband his position in the starting eleven would surely be in question, an unthinkable suggestion a year ago.

Following the early goal, our response was disappointingly flat. United’s tactics were perfectly simple – they harried Arteta, denying him the space to pivot and supply his midfield colleagues, and as a result Cazorla dropped deeper to get involved, thus putting him in an area of the field from which it is more difficult to create. Then, when they won the ball back, the spread it wide to Valencia and charged into the box. None of that was unpredictable, or even a new approach in our recent meetings, but it worked worryingly easily.

Mannone’s saves and United’s wastefulness were keeping us in it, none more so than on the stroke of half time, when Rooney put a gift of a penalty well wide. But while we improved after the break, they still created the bulk of the chances, and when their second eventually came, no-one could be surprised, even though Evra winning a free header six yards out tells a story of its own about our defending. The closest we came was when Giroud smacked an effort against the outside of the post, before Cazorla gave an already flattering scoreline a bit of gloss with a superb effort in the final moments.

Before then, we were down to ten men, when Jack Wilshere ignored the last chance saloon he was in and went in late on Evra, a red card decision that I don’t think anyone can question. I would argue that Cleverley should have seen red earlier – his challenge didn’t warrant the final warning he was given – but so one-sided was the match that it surely would have made no difference. The gulf between the sides was far greater than the 2-1 scoreline suggests, and United looked like they had plenty of gears to go through had the situation required it. It never did.

All in all, it was a very bad day at the office, and isn’t the first since the international break ended. There is, however, a danger of criticism going too far, as it certainly did on Twitter during and after the match. Every staff member at the club was vilified as a moron, every player dismissed as hopeless, even those who actually performed adequately. Suggestions were made that no-one cared, that it was all the fault of people not even in the stadium, and much more. I understand the frustration, I really do, but I wish the post-mortem didn’t include so much mud-slinging. It really helps no-one, and creates a poisonous atmosphere from which it is difficult to recover.

But, at the same time, these are worrying times, and Wenger has some serious issues to sort out, and quickly. November is packed with hurdles, and we need to stop tripping over them if those at the front are going to stay in sight.

Like I said, a painful day.

 

Liverpool 0 Arsenal 2 (Podolski 31, Cazorla 68)
(Premiership)

There was a moment in today’s game where you sensed that something had changed with this Arsenal side. Lukas Podolski had just put us into the lead after an electric break involving Santi Cazorla, but up until then the match had been fairly even, so a response was expected. Pressure was certainly anticipated, given that we were up against a Liverpool team eager to impress their new manager, and backed by a supposedly raucous Anfield crowd, but as we awaited the reaction, a strange sense of comfort washed over many of us, the kind of comfort that a single goal lead hasn’t provided in years.

Liverpool looked bereft of ideas, certainly ideas that would cause the towering duo of Vermaelen and Mertesacker any serious issues, and they had no-one (bar Downing, so genuinely no-one) to threaten from the bench. The goal had already proven our potency on the counter attack, and with further pacy options waiting in the wings, we had plenty of threat if the home side pushed forward too far. And Liverpool knew it. One goal down at home, in the first half, against a side supposedly not at their best, and their belief was gone.

Heads dropped on the pitch, and in the crowd. You could hear a pin drop in three quarters of the stands, with the away support gleefully going through their repertoire and banishing the notion that Anfield is an intimidating place to go. On the field, Arsenal chests puffed out, and an unprecedented level of control was taken of the match. For the rest of the game, Mannone was troubled only by a few crosses (that the defence dealt with) and a couple of late efforts by Shelvey, which came after Cazorla’s strike had put the game beyond Liverpool’s reach. It was bizarrely comfortable.

A lot of the comfort stems from the improved defensive solidity throughout the team, to the point where Liverpool lost the belief that they would ever break us down, an impact we’ve rarely had on opposition teams in recent years. Most are putting this down to the Steve Bould effect, and there certainly is a big element of that, but I don’t think it is all that simple. You also have to bear in mind that the defensive side of our squad is settled – our first choices and reserves in the whole of the back line are unchanged from last season, and that alone helps the cohesion.

However, you can see Bould’s influence on the organisation, particularly from set pieces. It is easy to overlook the fact that we already had plenty of coaches who were defenders in their day (including the outgoing Pat Rice), but ultimately fresh ideas rarely hurt, and a man schooled in the George Graham era is always going to have new wisdom to impart. In a way, we saw the merging of two Arsenal eras – Graham’s fearsome, physical and impenetrable back line and Wenger’s slick attacking units. For every body thrown on the line to deny Liverpool an opening, there was a beautiful thirty pass move dizzying them into submission. The defence was classical, the goals were counter attacks attributable to the best of Wenger’s ideals.

It was a potent combination, and far too much for a Liverpool side who were made to look extremely poor. When you consider that this was the same team that should have beaten the champions last weekend, it was a very creditable victory that should instill the squad with a great deal of confidence. The attacking unity was much improved, particularly between Podolski and Cazorla, and the improved barriers at the back mean that we shouldn’t have to go chasing a game over and over again (no more stupid 4-3 losses to Blackburn, please). And all this without Szczesny, Koscielny, Sagna and Wilshere. Not bad, not bad at all.

One of the most pleasing things about the game was that we didn’t just outplay Liverpool, we outfought them. Defensive responsibility was never shirked, most evidenced by the hugely impressive Podolski, who took it upon himself to protect Gibbs throughout the entire match, playing a box to box role from the flank. But while the whole team performance was impressive (Jenkinson’s second half shackling of the impressive Sterling, and Arteta’s efficiency throughout deserve special mention), the standout man was one who spent the match confounding critics in a big way – Abou Diaby. The guy was an absolute monster in the middle of the park, with power combined with incredibly quick feet, and Liverpool never got near him. Even when he suffered a Skrtel clattering in the second half, he just got up and carried on dominating those around him, providing the platform from which the likes of Cazorla could build.

Fitness will always be the worry when it comes to the Frenchman, but he served up a timely reminder of why we have stuck by him so long – he is a fearsome talent when fit and firing. He always takes a few games to get up to speed, and too often has then been cut down by another problem. He deserves better, and it would be a wonderful story for this to be his breakthrough year after so many seasons of strife.

Back to the present, and today could be a breakthrough match. Two goalless draws left many unsure whether to be optimistic about the clean sheets or pessimistic about the lack of goals, but the signs of improvement are now clear to see. Time to build on them.

A good day.

 

Morning all.

Arsenal fans don’t take a lot of riling. Most football fans are a sensitive bunch, but it seems that our club has more than its fair share of the bipolar. One minute we are a signing or two away from seriously challenging for honours next season, the next we’re doomed to abject mediocrity. And often the difference is the width of the post. Literally (not in a Redknappian sense, but actually literally).

This post is going to require a preface, so here we go – one point from a pair of homes games isn’t a great return, and neither performance could be described as inspiring, or will live long in the memory. But I’m still left with the confused view of a man who seems to have seen a different couple of games from the most vociferous of supporters. The team were accused of things I don’t believe to be accurate, and the wrong players continue to be singled out for unnecessary and frankly pathetic abuse. Let’s start with Wigan.

Wigan

The general consensus from the Wigan game is that we were complacent. Lazy. Felt we just ‘needed to turn up to win’ (or whatever that ridiculous phrase is). It has become accepted fact that we breezed through the game without a care in the world, handing a victory to the opposition without putting up a fight.

That’s not what I saw.

I saw a poor performance. I saw players making the wrong decisions in the final third, players not quite connecting with their efforts on goal as they would like, players who occasionally mislaid crucial passes. And of course, I saw a shabby opening fifteen minutes that ultimately cost us the game.

However, I did see effort. I saw a team desperately looking to break down an impressive Wigan team who defending manfully and skilfully. I saw players making passes that were inches away from being perfect. I saw tracking back, and determination going forward. In essence, I saw what I wanted to see – a team who wanted to win and were willing to put in the hard yards to do so.

Sometimes, you don’t win football matches, and it isn’t always because you were complacent. I feel people are too quick in their efforts to find snap explanations for draws and defeats – it always has to be because we were lazy, or that at least three players were a disgrace to the shirt. You never hear anyone say ‘sometimes, shit happens‘. Look at United yesterday – 3-1 and 4-2 up against an Everton side who have struggled for goals, and they blew it, drawing 4-4 and letting City back into the title race. Were they complacent? Were they cocky? Or was it just one of those days?

Hats off to Wigan, by the way. They were brilliant on the night. We all stayed behind to applaud them off, which felt like a nice touch (well, when I say ‘all’, I mean those that remained – around me I reckon only about one in three seats were still occupied at the final whistle, which I hated). I hope they stay up, I really do.

Chelsea

And so to Saturday lunchtime, and a home game against a Chelsea side who made some changes and parked the bus ahead of their second leg with Barcelona on Tuesday night. Last time we watched Chelsea on a Saturday lunchtime, they played out a bore draw with Spurs, and this was no different. Calling it attritional would be paying it a compliment. Yet we still had the best chances – Van Persie would normally bury at least one of his, hitting the post from Walcott’s free kick and firing straight at Cech later on, while Koscielny was also unlucky to see his header crash back off the crossbar. In a week where the woodwork favoured Chelsea enormously, they could and should have lost to us and Barcelona, but escaped on both occasions. That isn’t to say that we were complacent, poor or lazy, or even that Chelsea defended that well, but sometimes you get matches were the narrow margins go against you.

Consider this. For about three years, Chelsea beat us routinely, both home and away. And what’s more – we got used to it. We went into games hoping for a result, but secretly preparing for the inevitable defeat. Now, they come away from the Emirates delighted with a fortunate point that doesn’t even help them that much, while we look on, disappointed. How times change.

Players

Not only did I feel that some of the reporting of the team performances this week was inaccurate, but I felt the assessment of some of the individual players was off kilter too. I think most of us would accept that Arsenal fans have particular targets when things aren’t going well, and while some of that is borne out of a succession of poor displays or poor attitude (read: Eboue), some of it is less warranted. The usual suspects bore the brunt again this week, none more so than Aaron Ramsey, who I will return to in a moment.

Do you know which players I thought were poor this week? Van Persie had two sub-par games, Song was below par too, Sagna was unusually shaky against Wigan, while Walcott did little in either game. Even the Ox was anonymous. Now, reading that list, I’m pretty sure I can gauge many of your reactions, and they will be angry. How dare I criticise those players, you may ask? Well, here’s the thing – you can say a player has had a poor week without abusing them, without saying they are crap or should be sold. There is a middle ground, which is this – each of the players I have listed, to different degrees, have had excellent moments this season, and I value every single one of them as a crucial part of this Arsenal team. But sometimes, players have poor games, and chances are, they are honest enough about it to admit when they do, and don’t seek to blame less culpable members of the team. So why do we?

Ramsey didn’t set the world alight in either game, but he did ok for me, particularly against Chelsea. We praise Rosicky for his endless running, yet conveniently ignore that Ramsey does the same thing. He is frequently compared to Denilson, which is among the worst links I’ve ever known. Denilson’s problems were two-fold – he didn’t try to create much, preferring the safe options, and he didn’t work hard enough to win the ball back when we lost it. Ramsey cannot be accused of either. He loses the ball precisely because he tries things, and he works his bollocks off trying to regain possession, particularly after his own mistakes. On Saturday, he copped abuse when he lost the ball to a man he never saw, and never got a shout about. Surely we should be criticising the lack of communication from his teammates?

I’m not saying Ramsey is on form. He isn’t. But when a player is off colour, all we ask is that he works hard to get himself back to previous heights, something that Arshavin, Denilson, Chamakh and others have failed to do. So why, when a player shows us the desire we’ve been crying out for, do we vilify him anyway?

When I hear the groans from the stands, when I hear the disgusting abuse some of these guys face from a minority of their own supporters, I find myself fearing what we could lose. We have some precocious talents at the club that have everything they need to have tremendous futures. I just hope they want to have that future with us. Sometimes, I wonder why they would.

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