Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal: Theo underachieves as the Gunners clinch the points

Like I said before the game, away days at St. James park are always hard. Yes, we still manage to win there, but our last three meetings with the Toons (now four) finished with a solitary goal to separate the two teams: 1-0, 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0.

However, there are different kinds of hard. Yesterday’s game proved hard to win because from 15th minute onwards Arsenal played 11 vs 10. We generally find it tough going to beat deep sitting teams with even squads, but that sending off ensured attacking was never really on Newcastle’s mind. Even late introductions of Perez and Cisse didn’t change that: McLaren’s side finished the game with only one shot (off target) and 26% possession. On the up side, Cech racked his second consecutive clean sheet without breaking a sweat, something he thoroughly deserved after putting in a monumental performance on Monday.

Theo Walcott

Just when I gave up predicting changes to the team, three happened at once: Kos for Chambers (expected), Oxlade for Ozil (the German suffered a minor knee injury) and Walcott for Giroud. The last change took me by surprise and eventually proved ineffective:

“I expected more space for Theo Walcott. At the start it looked quite promising but after 15 minutes it was a different problem for us. There was no space behind their defenders, the service through their lines was very difficult and they defended very well.”

In these 15 minutes, Walcott squandered a brilliant chance after being set up by Bellerin. Theo reappeared 15 minutes later (to spurn another opportunity after Krul parried Sanchez’s effort straight into the Englishman’s path) before vanishing in his entirety.

As Arsene always does, he persevered with his starting XI up until 70th minute and so Theo wasn’t subbed earlier. During these 70 minutes, Walcott  made 17 (!) touches: 3 shots (1 on target), 12 attempted passes (10 completed), 1 dribble and 1 ball recovery.

What I’m driving at is that Walcott was utterly useless up front. Despite his shortcomings, Giroud did more in his 20 minutes and that includes a shot in frustration and spurned big chance late on.

Aaron Ramsey, MoM

Yes, he was my Man of the Match. This game showed he is not a playmaker (Ozil, we need you), however we wouldn’t have won the game had it not been for Aaron Ramsey.

The Welshman had an 89% pass accuracy (89/100 passes completed), made 5 ball recoveries, created 5 chances for teammates (all from open play) and finally, his only shot on target (of two attempted) led to the only goal scored.

Aaron is not a 10 and I doubt he won’t feature there with a fit Ozil, but he made a vital contribution in this position yesterday.

Francis Coquelin

He had one of the best passing accuracies on field (69/73 - 95%), his long pass led to the penalty incident and his only successful dribble led to a dangerous free-kick, however it was his defensive contribution (as always) which played a massive part in keeping a clean sheet.

5 tackles (3 on the flanks, so he most likely stopped three counter-attacks), 11 ball recoveries, the Frenchman drew 3 fouls, one of which was a straight red for Mitrovic and finally, he showed immense maturity. It was obvious Steve McLaren sent out his goons to “rough Arsenal up”, yet Francis kept his composure and didn’t commit a single foul, let alone get a yellow. Bravo.

Putting the result into context

This performance was far from what is needed to mount a proper title challenge, however, let’s not diminish the importance of this win. Looking at other results, I realised just how vital it was.

City continued their impeccable run by beating Watford and now have 12 points in four games with 10 goals scored and 0 conceded, while both Liverpool and Chelsea lost (both at home). United, meanwhile, have a tricky away trip to Swansea later today and you don’t need me to remind you how Swansea played against us and United last year.

Transfer window

Yesterday Wenger said he remains open to strengthening in any position:

“We are open and we are in the transfer market. If we find an exceptional player in any sector, we will do it. At the moment I don’t know if something will happen or not.”

The Frenchman also remains positive overall and I do think we are in for a late surprise. If you ask me, I think Arsene has a striker in mind, though I’m not quite sure who that might be. I’m still convinced in the market where strikers are at a premium it’s easier to buy a winger and try Sanchez at centre-forward. The Chilean had a very positive performance yesterday. He took 7 shots (4 blocked, one off target, the other two made Krul work hard), created 2 chances and even had 6 ball recoveries. He also drew 5 fouls, some of which earned a yellow for the perpetrators. A lively performance from him, looks like he’s almost at his best.

Right, that’s your lot for today. A bit short from me, but not much to talk about really. Hope we’ll add another arrow to our quiver when I next write.

Until later

Newcastle preview: another vital game for the Gunners

We face Newcastle today and, once again, we badly need to win the game. It’s kind of funny to be in such a position 3 games in, but our less than spectacular start ensured we need a second away win in a row.

Interestingly enough, we have a very good record away from home: 6 wins and a draw in our last 7 games. So the last time Arsenal lost a game away from home was early February, at Spurs. I wonder whether this is not a simple coincidence, cause our home (as you no doubt heard countless times already) is pretty appalling.

Maybe it’s the atmosphere? Home fans tend to show their displeasure more often, simply because it doesn’t take much effort. Whereas demonstrating displeasure away is a more difficult task: it takes dedication to travel and support your team away, so away fans have less desire for bullshit.

Wenger also think home form can be related to the atmosphere:

“Our results away from home, with goalscoring opportunities and our finishing percentage has been higher recently.

Teams come and defend very deep at our home, so as long as we have not scored the first goal it is maybe more difficult to open up the defences and in the recent two games that is what happened to us.

Maybe we are not firing on all cylinders at the moment. By definition, the finishing is a little bit cyclical and it goes in cycles. Finishing qualities come and go and you do not always know why, but certainly at the moment we want it so much at home that we’re trying to force it a little bit.

It doesn’t look natural enough in our finishing qualities because we want to force the situation a little too much.”

Forcing it too much to please the fans, apparently. Or because the pressure is getting to the players. Whatever it is, right now we have to get used to the fact our away results are better than home ones.

Head-to-head

We have a pretty good record against Newcastle. We haven’t lost to the Magpies in 9 games, winning seven on the trot. Naturally, we won both games last season, 4-1 at home and 2-1 away respectively. Newcastle aren’t also very adept at scoring against us: last time they scored more than one was during that memorable 7-3 encounter in 2012-2013.

Our main man against the Steve McLaren’s side is Olivier Giroud: the Frenchman scored 3 goals in 2 games last year, all of them headed goals. On overall, he scored 5 headed goals from just 5 shots on target.

Newcastle’s campaign also hardly started with a bang: the Magpies managed two draws and a loss in the opening three games. However, they demonstrated resolute football against United in their last outing, something that ensured Newcastle got a point and a clean sheet; they also won their midweek cup game convincingly - by beating Northampton 4-1.

Their most two dangerous men are Florian Thauvin (who bagged a hat-trick of assists midweek) and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who proved a constant thorn in the side of United’s defense.

Team news update

Wilshere and Welbeck were earmarked to return after the international break, we already knew that. The more interesting (and worrisome bit) concerns Mertesacker and Koscielny:

“Mertesacker is still sick and we will know more about Koscielny today. He might have a test on his back today and I will certainly know more tomorrow morning. The less likely to be fit is Mertesacker.”

Mertesacker has a chest infection, didn’t take part in training today, so he is unlikely to feature. Koscielny, however, trained with the main group today and this suggests he should be ready: if so, I expect him to start alongside Gabriel.

Newcastle’s only doubt is Moussa Sissoko, who faces a late fitness test.

Squad and approach

I feel more and more stupid by the day, especially when opposition managers say things like that:

"To beat any of the top four teams you need to defend well, be compact and heroic.

We need to repeat that and be better on the ball especially at home where we need to keep the ball better than we did last week.

"With a sell-out crowd behind us we can hopefully make it very difficult for Arsenal."

“Better on the ball” is not saying much, since Newcastle only enjoyed 31% possession in their last league game with only 71% pass accuracy. However, the first bit “defend well and be compact” indicates Arsenal will once again play against a deep defending side.

The common theme that ran through most posts from Arsenal bloggers was how we could beat teams parking the bus. Two suggestions are the most discussed: width and pace. Andrea talks width here, while the lack of movement in this current Arsenal set-up is addressed here.

However, I don’t really expect changes, bar Koscielny for Chambers. Wenger seems to hold Ramsey in very high regard and is reluctant to drop the Welshman in order to add another dribbler or winger.

This Ramsey obsession (may I be excused) can also stem from the fact Bellerin plays at right-back. While I’m not in any way taking a stab at the young Spaniard, he is sometimes more careless in his movements, relying on his speed when caught out of position. To give us a bit more security (and Hector a bit more protection), Wenger may be inclined to use Ramsey.

And look, this whole “Ramsey on the wing” debate (cheers, Dave!) can be a tad inflated. I’m guilty of this too, of course. If you ask me even now, I’d say “drop Ramsey and play Ox” to give us width, but we haven’t been too shabby going forward in the last two games in terms of chances created, shots taken etc. etc. Sure, our play is a bit lopsided, as Ramsey constantly drifts inside to create overloads, but I’m perfectly fine with that as long as the tactic bears fruit in attack and Rambo gets back in position when switching back to defense.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Bellerin - Koscielny - Gabriel - Monreal - Coquelin - Cazorla - Alexis - Ramsey - Giroud

The verdict

As always, I believe we have enough quality in the side to beat the opponent at hand. I’m not too worried Mert won’t make the game if Koscielny does, since Mitrovic isn’t much of an air threat. Also, the Koscielny-Gabriel partnership is quite intriguing I think you’ll agree.

It’s what happens further up the pitch that troubles me more. We showed against Palace and Liverpool we can create chances, now we need to take a further step: start converting these chances. I’m not talking only about Giroud here: Alexis, Ozil, Cazorla can all contribute more than they did. In fact, the only goal scored by our player was a stunner from Giroud, so he must be under fire less.

That’s it from me for now. Fingers crossed Arsenal have what it takes to get a win and then we’ll get to enjoy an uninterrupted couple of days of the transfer window with all the rumours and crazy money for bang average players. The mere thought of this makes me drool (heavy sarcasm).

Until later and don’t forget to tune in to the ever-brilliant Omar for the live game commentary here.

Ambition? Competition? Completion? Why Arsenal fans need to take the transfer window easier

“I am always confident that a last-minute situation or solution is available, because the transfer market is especially moving in the last four or five days. But at the moment I cannot promise you that.

We have specific targets but sometimes you get an idea from somebody because you didn’t know that the player you like was available and if you get an opportunity you do it.

We work very hard, you know I have a team around me who work day and night to find good solutions. I am 24 hours available per day, so I am involved in the decision of course, but at the moment we are not close to signing anyone.”

These comments made by Arsene Wenger yesterday seemed to re-open Arsenal fans’ wounds. Or, to put it more accurately and less mildly, kicked up a shitstorm. Personally, I find these comments perfectly acceptable and even soothing. Yes, soothing, because I was more worried we were doing nothing in the transfer window, content for Cech to become our only acquisition. Contrary to what I thought, we are actively involved, have targets and are open to taking gambles.

Yet most found these remarks infuriating. The subsequent accusations of Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis, the board members and the Club in general fall into 3 major categories: lack of ambition, inability to compete with other top clubs and “traditionally failing to buy these extra 1-2 players”. So let’s look into all three in greater detail.

Ambition

“Arsenal are unambitious. Rivals are strengthening, while we sit on our asses. We accept mediocrity. We are content with 4th place and aren’t interested in making that extra step to challenge for the title”.

It’s not the exact quote from some individual, rather, it sums up a view a lot of Arsenal fans hold in general. All of this is bullshit. Let’s dissect this bullshit one piece at a time.

1). Arsenal are unambitious

For me, the definition of ambition is simple - striving to achieve more. Arsenal are accused of not wanting to achieve more. This assumption is based on the fact we have only bought one player. A simple connection is made: players improve a team - the more players you buy the better the team is - we have bought only one player - we don’t want a better team - we are unambitious.

This logic fails to take into account the quality of players a team already has and the quality of players brought in. This logic makes Tottenham the most ambitious club in 2013 and Liverpool in 2014, only because they have bought 7-9 new players in one window.

By this logic, Chelsea are almost as unambitious as we are, as they have only brought in Pedro, Begovic (to replace Cech) and Rahman. Begovic came in to plug a hole, not to improve the squad, Rahman is an unproven quantity. That leaves Pedro as their only lucrative signing. The Blues still have glaring holes in their squad (e.g. only six defenders, two of whom are Rahman (unproven) and Terry (seemingly on decline)), unlike us. Yet the same logic that makes us unambitious, makes them ambitious, because “they have won the title”.

People fail to grasp that ambition is future-oriented. Just as they can say “Arsenal won’t win the title because they haven’t bought new players”, I can say “Chelsea will fail to retain the title because they haven’t bought new players”. Do you see why this logic is flawed? Chelsea have already won the league with exactly the same squad and second-placed City finished 8 points behind.

2). Rivals are strengthening, while we sit on our asses

Have any of our rivals bought a player who’s better than our players? United have probably bought one such player - Schneiderlin. A player who they paid a lot for (and are paying a lot to) and who we didn’t really need. Coquelin is a much better sweeper and he is doing grand. Maybe Wenger would have altered the system to accommodate Schneiderlin, but that’s another story. He didn’t view Morgan as vital as to pay so much for him - and I agree with Arsene here. Schneiderlin is simply not worth such money.

City have bought Otamendi, Sterling, Delph and Roberts. The latter two only to make up that HG quota and both these players aren’t better than the ones we have. Whether we could have used Sterling and/or Otamendi is debatable, but the money paid for them (coupled with the fact we don’t need these players - again) ensured we weren’t in the mix.

Chelsea I mentioned above. In my humble opinion we could have used Pedro - you know I think we need another left winger - but one player for a position which will be third in the pecking order of most fans isn’t worth talking about.

I’ll allow myself to omit Liverpool and Tottenham from this list, simply because they won’t realistically fight for the title, while we will. Not that I think any of their acquisitions would have presented an upgrade on our players.

3). We accept mediocrity

I’ve partially dealt with the subject above - none of the players our rivals bought (barring probably Schneiderlin and Pedro) are better than what we have. Accepting mediocrity is buying players of the same level you already have. Accepting mediocrity is wanting us to sign Austin or Nolan. Bringing in world-class players 4 summers in a row (Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Cech) is very, very far from accepting mediocrity.

4). We are not interested in challenging for the title and are content with 4th

Even having to explain why this is bullshit is laughable. Every single club without exception want to do better next season, regardless of how well they’ve done in the previous. That’s why they seek sponsors, expand their fanbases and bring in new players - they want to do better.

This is the part where I think I have to apologise to any Spurs and Liverpool fans still reading this. I’ve said earlier (though indirectly) these clubs can be dubbed as unambitious because they have brought in a lot of players who haven’t delivered. But ambition has little to do with end result. Like everyone else, these clubs wanted to be better next season, that’s why they bought said players at the time.

If we were content with 4th, we wouldn’t be buying players each summer. Wouldn’t hire new coaches or try out new formations. Your team doesn’t have to be world-class to finish 4th, something Arsene proved time and again in the period from 2006 to 2013. The fact we do all of these things means we are interested in improving, in moving forward. That’s the reason we built a new stadium. To become better in the future.

What’s improvement in our case (regarding last season)? We finished 3rd and won the FA Cup, so challenging for the title seems the only logical improvement. The reason we bought Cech is because we want to improve. We were perfectly fine with Ospina and Szczesny, yet we went out and bought someone else. Someone who would enhance our squad. That’s what I call striving to win the title.

Competition

Here Arsenal fans are divided in two camps: those saying we can’t compete with the likes of City and Chelsea and those who expect us to do just that. Both camps are wrong...though not completely wrong. It all depends on what you mean when you say “we can/can’t compete”. For me, competition in football can be of two types.

Financial competition

By which I mean club’s ability to sign players. Here I agree with those who say “we can’t compete with Real/City/PSG”. Simply put, Arsenal doesn’t have pockets to match those of PSG/Real and when it comes to a direct battle for a player against one of the big boys, we can’t offer the same transfer sum or huge wage. Nor should we, in my opinion, but that’s not the point here. So we are left looking to buy great players when they become surplus to requirements at other big clubs (Ozil, Sanchez), purchasing good players in the hopes of making them better (Giroud) or unearthing/developing young talent before others do.

Of course there are other factors to be taken into account when some player is willing to move: whether he wants to live in London, or to work with Wenger, or he likes our style of play, etc. However, ceteris paribus, we don’t have the financial muscle to compete with the likes of Real or City financially.

On-pitch competition

Here I’ll side with those who say “we can and should compete”. Unlike competing in the transfer window, here we can compete with the big boys. The league title is not decided by how good a big team plays against other big teams, or, to be more precise, it’s not decided SOLELY by that. I don’t have the numbers, but I think I won’t make a grave mistake by saying Chelsea’s top 6 record was second to City’s, yet they finished 8 points above. That’s because Chelsea dropped very few points against the lesser lights. So, while head-to-head clashes with direct title rivals are important, it’s how you fare against mid- to low-table teams that decides whether you’ll win the crown.

Not convinced? Here’s some simple maths for you: Arsenal finished 12 points off the eventual winners Chelsea last season. Let’s omit our results against top 6 and see where else we could have picked up points: Southampton (3), 2 x Swansea (6), Hull (2), Leicester (2), Sunderland (2), Everton (2). 17 points at least we dropped against teams outside the top 6. We easily could have finished above Chelsea despite picking up only 11 points against top 6 to Chelsea’s 17.

Arsenal have one of the best squads in the league and a very astute manager who knows how to get the best out of his players. I think I can realistically expect us to beat any opponent with an inferior squad and resources for its strengthening. Which includes all but three teams in the league.

Furthermore, as we have shown last year, we can also take points off those three teams, so while I won’t expect us to win both games against City, Chelsea and United, I know we definitely can rob them of some points.

Completion

“Once again we are 1-2 players short of having a complete squad. Same old, same old”.

Where does this even stem from? If we are talking number-wise, Arsenal have 22 players, two for each position - ideal balance (even though I counted Joel Campbell). Moreover, we are much better off numerically than the overwhelming majority in the league, including Chelsea, who only have 6 senior defenders (and I’m being generous here by counting in Rahman). Yet I see no one screaming Chelsea are “1-2 players away from having a complete squad”.

Maybe this thought originates from not having enough QUALITY players? Then another problem arises: we already have a quality squad, one which is hard to enhance, because the next step is buying from the top shelf.

Do you see any players from the top shelf being readily available? And since the number “1-2” wasn’t picked at random (I hope), then we are looking for 2 specific players from the top shelf: a DM and a striker. So the question really is: do you see a world-class striker or sweeper available?

I don’t. All top strikers are at top clubs and have no incentive to leave whatsoever, unless something changes drastically in the few days of the window remaining. Like the said top clubs finding a replacement, a player becoming surplus to requirements or becoming unsettled etc. etc. Otherwise, you can’t expect us to force PSG or Real to sell if they (and the player) don’t want to.

All top teams scrape for a striker and don’t find one. That’s why City are incredibly lucky to have Aguero, but that’s also why they forked out 30 mil on Bony. That’s why Chelsea don’t have anyone (beyond Costa). That’s why United will most likely only have Rooney come September 1st. That’s why Real or PSG haven’t bought a striker for ages. That’s why clubs are overpaying for Benteke or are willing to overpay for Berahino: not only world-class strikers aren’t available, strikers as a breed are becoming extinct.

While regarding a sweeper, well… I think we can all agree Coquelin is invaluable to us, so we need back-up at most. But back-up should come at reasonable prices, since back-up won’t play the majority of games. Hence paying over the odds for Kondogbia or Schneiderlin would have been stupid for more reasons than one. And, by the way, Schneiderlin is not a destroyer. Neither is Arturo Vidal.

Phew, I’ve made this post long enough already. Hats off if you stuck with me. Hope I gave you food for thought.

Back with a preview

Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool: Cech stands firm as Gunners come up short

There are draws which feel like a point rescued and draws that feel like points dropped. Yesterday’s result falls into the second category for me for two reasons:

1. We expected a win. Quite rightly so, given the overall quality of our squad and the overall quality of Liverpool’s
2. The last impression sticks. By that I mean we’ll look at the second half, see the chances we created (and squandered) and bemoan the dropped points. Despite the fact we only just escaped the first half without conceding

The reality is such that a draw was probably a fair result. Liverpool were much better in the opening 45 minutes, we dominated for the entirety of the second period. And yet a draw feels like an opportunity missed, for the reasons I listed above.

As always, I’ll go over the points of interest.

Calum Chambers and Gabriel

The big news before the game was the sudden unavailability of both Mertesacker and Koscielny. Mertesacker was struck down with illness, Koscielny is reported to have suffered a back injury. Neither made the bench.

That left us with Chambers and Gabriel as only viable options and I thanked heaven we now have 4 centre-backs. I also long since wanted to see these guys together in central defense, as I thought (still think, actually) that Calum and Gabriel are the future. I liked what I’ve seen from the duo in the cups last year and during pre-season. That being said, I was still worried that our recognised pair of central defenders was out before such an important game.

My misgivings quickly turned into downright horror as I witnessed Coutinho, Benteke and Milner slice our defense open time and again during the first 45 minutes. There was nothing I wanted more than for Wenger to sub Chambers for Debuchy or Gibbs at half-time and shift the Frenchman or Monreal inside. I’m happy that Wenger didn’t do that, though he was tempted:

“You’re always tempted. I wondered whether I needed offensive players on the pitch. I knew that the most important thing for us was to get to half-time at 0-0. We knew the second half would be different.

He (Chambers) responded well. It was important for him. You sit there and you wonder how far he can go without losing competitive confidence. In the second half he did well. He’s a good footballer and he will come out of that stronger, with the belief that when he had difficult moments he can come out of it stronger.”

After the game I rushed to see Chambers’s stats and was surprised to see he had a 82% passing accuracy (40/49, only two passes misplaced in our third), made 2 interceptions and one tackle (out of two attempted). For comparison’s sake, Gabriel (who visibly looked more solid) was an 88% passer (43/49, one misplaced in our third), also made 2 interceptions, though had a 100% success tackle ratio with 4 completed. Both defenders were good with clearances (6/6 for Gabriel and 8/10 for Chambers) and in recovering the ball (11 recoveries for Gabriel and 6 for Chambers).

So why did Gabriel look more solid? I only have one explanation: Chambers ALLOWED his opponents more. Allowed to shoot, allowed to dribble past, lost positional battles. His struggles came from off-the-ball actions, thus it’s harder to measure exactly where Chamber came up short.

Petr Cech, the world-class keeper

Quite simply, Cech kept us in the game during the first half. Though the amount of saves he made is pretty evenly split between two halves (5 and 3 respectively), it’s the quality that counts. In the second half Cech was tested with two distance shots (Coutinho and Milner, I think) and one vicious attempt from Coutinho, which happened inside the box.

During the first half, however, only Benteke’s shot from a tight angle was a more or less routine save. The other four were nothing short of spectacular: quick reflexes to deny Milner at the near post, saving Benteke’s shot from point-blank range, parrying Firmino’s drive from the resulting corner and tipping Coutinho’s effort onto the post. Cech also claimed two crosses in that first half.

Overall, he was awarded MoM and, had it not been for a combination of bad luck/poor refereeing/atrocious finishing, Cech would have got us three points. As it stands, he rescued one.

Ramsey’s disallowed goal

In the eighth minute Cazorla treaded a fine through ball to Ramsey and the Welshman slotted it home from close range. I was already on my feet shouting “Goal!” when I saw the linesman’s offside flag up. An offside flag which shouldn’t have been up, as the replays showed: Ramsey was perfectly onside, the way Benteke was early in the game before Coutinho hit the bar.

We were robbed early on. I’m sure the goal would have changed the flow of the game, however it was incorrectly ruled out. We had 82 minutes to score another (plus added time), though. We didn’t do that, so people screaming themselves hoarse “we would have won had the goal stood” can go fuck themselves, because the offside goal wasn’t the sole reason we didn’t win.

Giroud and Alexis

You know why I put them together despite most saying Alexis had a much better performance than the Frenchman? Because both were utterly wasteful in front of goal. Ramsey, who played on the wing despite not being a winger, had a much better performance in that regard, with 2 of his 3 shots hitting the target (both forced Mignolet into spectacular saves) and a disallowed goal.

Opta counted 2 big chances Arsenal squandered: Alexis hitting the post and Giroud testing Mignolet from 6 yards out. Both arguably should have been converted.

I counted a bazillion of missed big chances: Alexis failing to plant a header on target, Alexis fumbling a shot after he and Ozil pressed Lovren and Skrtel into a mistake, Giroud missing THREE chances at the near post (two blocked and one he didn’t even get a foot to). Makes it at least five on top of the two mentioned.

Yet when Theo came on, he was utterly useless. He disappeared for the whole 20 minutes and never resurfaced. No shots and ONE pass in 20+ minutes. One. Pass. It didn’t help in the slightest the teammates tried to cross the ball instead of keeping it on the ground, but ONE pass. For someone on 140k-per-week and aspirations to become a deadly striker, Theo has hugely underachieved.

Coquelin, the man, the myth, the legend. The DM, by the way

The only bright spark apart from Cech and Gabriel. Someone who was truly impressive on a night when most have been found wanting. In the 80 minutes he was on the pitch, Coquelin had an 91% pass accuracy (69/76, one misplaced in our third), he racked up 5 successful tackles (of 6 attempted), made 5 interceptions and recovered the ball a whooping 15 times. Something which amasses to roughly 17% of total ball recoveries Arsenal made (80). In short, Coquelin once again proved he is that beasty DM Arsenal fans vied for.

And you know how some fans reacted to this monumental performance? By calling Coquelin a bad passer, a braindead sweeper and demanding the immediate acquisition of a new Arteta (with legs), so that we could play Ramsey alongside that shiny new DM (who isn’t actually a DM, because Arteta is not) in order to liberate the Welshman. That’s despite a fine display from Aaron and actual proof Coquelin doesn’t in any way hinder Ramsey’s game. Just how stupid and ungrateful can some people get?

The aftermath

It was a tale of two halves, a tale with a rather disappointing end to it. We had a lot of chances we didn’t take that we really should have. I haven’t even mentioned  how we could have scored in the dying seconds, only for Skrtel to scythe his clearance just wide of the post. Mignolet parrying Ox’s fine low drive and Gabriel heading over from a resulting corner.

We now have 4 points in three games, with only one goal scored (and one own goal, remember?). Our recent home form is also far from encouraging: 1 point out of 6 possible, no goals scored. If we extend it to the last season, the picture will become ugly indeed: 1 win in 6 games (West Brom), 4 goals scored (all against West Brom!) and a meagre return of 6 points out of 18. Worrying.

We now have a week to recoup, get at least one of Mertesacker/Koscielny back (both is better), conclude our transfer business (unless we want to conclude it on 30th and 31st) and prepare mentally that nothing but a win against Newcastle will do. Here’s hoping we’ll do just that.

Until later

Liverpool preview: first home win needed

It’s Liverpool at the Emirates on Monday and I’m cautiously optimistic about the outcome of this game. Not so much because we demonstrated brilliant football in the first two games (though our first half against Palace was pretty damn inspiring), but because Liverpool simply don’t look up to scratch.

They’ve won the first two games, however neither can be labeled as convincing performances. A late 30-yard strike from Coutinho and an offside goal from Benteke is hardly a sign of a swashbuckling style to come.

That being said, the players found out the hard way what complacency can lead to. This is the Premier League, where even the newly-promoted teams don’t go down without a fight. Seeing as form at home is usually key when mounting a title challenge, we should build a decent record to have a go:

“If you want to have a successful season you want to be strong at home. Normally we are strong at home. This is an opportunity to show that.”

Team news update

The news is that there’s basically no news:

“We have nobody back from the players who did not play against Crystal Palace. All of the players who were available at Crystal Palace should be available on Monday night.”

The closest to a return is Jack Wilshere, though the Englishman won’t help us before the international break:

“[Playing before the international break] is a bit too optimistic, it’s too early to think he would be playing for England. After the international break he has a chance, but before the international break he has no chance.”

The good bit is that Alexis Sanchez is now fully fit. Which is pretty amazing, considering he took part in both Premier League games, thus his preparation has been disrupted. But then it would probably be foolish to expect anything less from our Duracell Bunny:

“On Monday night he will not be short of full fitness. It’s surprising because when he has not got the basic fitness required, he has the mental resources to dig deep and be combative to fight. He also has the talent.”

As for Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers side has seemingly lost Henderson to a foot injury. The captain limped off at half-time against Bournemouth and didn’t take part in full training today. I expect Emre Can to take up Henderson’s place on Monday, effectively partnering James Milner at the base of the midfield.

Approach

This is what Brendan Rodgers said on how his side will approach the game:

“If you assess the last 10 games Arsenal have lost at home, it was about dangerous possession for the teams who won. They only averaged four shots on target with 43% possession. That tells you you don’t need to dominate the ball but you can dominate the space. That is important in the away games.”

If these words are anything to go by, it means Liverpool will cede possession and try to hit us on the counter. Quite how the brilliant attacking-minded Can and Milner will help them turn defense into attack quickly is anybody’s guess (maybe that’s what Rodgers been working on all week?), but that’s not the important thing here.

The important bit is that Liverpool will try to push us out of their half by pressing men in possession. Knowing we have a knack of attacking down the middle (no wonder, Ozil and Cazorla play there), they’ll probably try to congest the middle of the park.

Where does it leave us? In need of width. As such, I can see Oxlade coming in for Ramsey. The trick with Ramsey on the right in this particular case will not work again, as Liverpool are now playing with a back four. Oxlade, meanwhile, will give Gomez a torrid time and provide us with an outlet when things get crowded in the middle of the park.

The other possible changes Wenger may be tempted to make? Gabriel for Mertesacker and Walcott for Giroud. Both are unlikely in my opinion. In case with Gabriel it’s simple: Wenger seems to prefer Mertesacker at this stage. His aerial prowess and positioning can be vital when up against Benteke.

Theo up front for Giroud has the potential to be quite ineffective. With Liverpool sitting back Theo won’t have much space to thrive on, while I don’t fancy his chances in a direct battle with Skrtel and Lovren. Theo’s hold-up play is also whack, something that can only impede our flow in and around the box.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Bellerin - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Monreal - Coquelin - Cazorla - Ozil - Alexis - Oxlade - Giroud.

The verdict

Last time we faced the Mugmashers you all remember what happened. Our high-energy approach, crisp passing and lightning speed in possession proved too much to for Brendan Rodgers’ side to cope with. Our pressing game was spot-on and despite Liverpool’s best efforts to push us out of their half, they failed miserably, something that was down to Arsenal just passing the ball around their press.

Coquelin was one of the key figures then: his sweeping abilities broke up a lot of Liverpool’s attacks before they even managed to cross the halfway line. I expect Coquelin to be no less important on Monday.

However, we were caught out on the counter a couple of times. Liverpool no longer have Sterling to rely on in these situations, but Coutinho is still around. He mostly operates from the right, with a tendency to drift inside, so we’ll need Alexis, Monreal and Coquelin to be fully switched on defensively.

That dangerous counter-attacking style Liverpool deployed last time is what made me consider Gabriel at centre-back: Mert was a bit suspect in April and sometimes struggled to keep up with the speed. We’ll see if whether Arsene is thinking along the same lines soon enough.

All in all, while I don’t expect us to cakewalk the game, I’ll be hugely surprised if we drop points. The quality of our squad is such that should we turn up with the right attitude (like against Palace), the three points should be ours for the taking.

So come on you Gunners.

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