Season review: part 1

Hello everyone.

Though it seems like only yesterday that we've played the last game (cup-winning final against Hull, wasn't it?), news is already on the thin. True, the transfer mill is churning out new names every day, but I'll spare you these rumours. We'll have a full summer to speculate on potential new arrivals, for now I'll just try to put this off for as long as possible.

And this can mean one thing only: season review. I've decided to start with how well individual players did. This review will be broken in four parts, and today I'll concentrate on the first. Which is:

Goalkeepers

Our number one goalie was, of course, Wojciech Szczesny. He's made 46 appearances (2 qualifiers included) and kept 21 clean sheets, 16 of these in the league. This achievement of his was marked with a Golden Glove, thoroughly deserved, in my opinion. Sure, the younger Pole started between the sticks in our big away defeats, but, realistically speaking, he could do little to avert the crisis. Wojciech did his best even then, though.

Speaking of his performances, the Pole came across as calm and composed, commanding in the box when it mattered, coming out of the goal to sweep up (not in the way Fabianski did on Saturday) and was consistently brilliant overall. Made some important saves that ensured we got the points in a number of games. All in all, my pick for player of the year.

Our number featured less, but proved his worth when called upon. Fabianski made only one league appearance, in which he duly kept the clean sheet by stringing together a couple of late saves.

However, Fab cut a much more impressive figure in the cups, where he's made a total 10 appearances, two of these against Bayern in the Champions League.

He could do little to prevent Bayern from winning the tie, but he at least ensured we remained in it till the very end by putting in two decent performances.

I cannot say, how good Fab was in the League Cup (didn't watch West Brom game and he definitely wasn't at fault during our loss to Chelsea), but he was the definite FA Cup hero for me.

Not troubled enough against Spurs (ha) and Coventry (understandable), he emerged as the saviour in the 5th round, denying Suarez and Sturridge time and again. Mind you, it was also a psychologically challenging game, as we've been torn to pieces a week before courtesy to the same Mugmashers. Fab's early second-half stop is, perhaps, the most vital of them all, when the scores were level and suddenly Suarez found space for a shot in our box. The elder Pole ensured we then kept our lead, his save from one-on-one with Sturridge standing out.

Fabianski then was relatively comfortable in the quarter-final, as Arsenal cruised past Everton, but became MoM against Latics in the semi, by palming away two penalties.

He was then played in the final itself, and, while I've stressed a number of times it wasn't his greatest game ever, did his part and got the medal. I still hope the Pole will stay, with that win turning things around, but it's unlikely at this stage.

Oh, we also have Viviano. I would have laughed him off, and raised my eyebrows at the signing, but thing is, I know for a fact the Italian is a great goalie. The fact he didn't feature at all just shows how good those higher in the pecking order are.

When we signed him, everyone was happy, weren't they? We all bemoaned the lack of a proper third-choice shot-stopper and, though it wasn't our most problematic position, greeted the Italian with open arms.  There seems to be a buy-out clause in his contact, but something tells me, Viviano won't stay, after going through the season with no games under his belt. On a happier note, he did provide the most hilarious moment of the season for me, after someone took a photo of the hungover Italian after the Cup final. See it below.

So, that's it for today. Check back on Saturday, I'll be back with the second part.

Until then

Arsene to sign on + transfer rumours round-up

Hello everyone.

The celebrations and all other things linked to them continue among both the players and the fans and I'm completely fine with that. Moreover, as soon as I'm able to get my hands on one of those yellow ribbons, I'll pin it on my shirt immediately. I already have a glorious badge to pin it with.

Among all these festivities, the press hasn't forgotten to keep pressing Arsene on a matter of his contact and his transfer plans for the summer.

On the first one, our manager has (in the immediate aftermath of the final) confirmed he'll stay on and that the announcement will happen soon, cause he's going to the World Cup on June 10th. The Guardian reports it'll be a tree-year long deal, worth £24 million. That means Arsene will get £8 million a year, thus becoming fourth highest-paid manager in the world (unless I'm much mistaken), behind Guardiola, Mourinho and Lippi.

More importantly, however, is that Arsene will have been the manager for over 20 years when this new deal expires and that's a historical achievement. I'm glad the boss will be able to both oversee a new chapter in the history of the Club he's put so much work into, and walk away on his terms when the times comes. That is, after he's sure he's done everything humanly possible to bring Arsenal to greatness. Whatever Arsene's shortcomings are, you'll never be able to find fault with his desire and work rate. He really has done an awful lot for the good of the Club, from bringing in new philosophy to building a new stadium.

On the second subject (transfers, remember?) Arsene said, that first the futures of Fabianski and Sagna need sorting out, before any other players are brought in. This is what Fab said after the Hull game:

"Probably that was my final game for Arsenal football club and I am really proud of that final game. I'm really proud that probably my career [at the club] ends up with a trophy. We will see. In the next few weeks, I will know more. 

"It's difficult [to leave], for sure. But I think my decision is made purely on playing regularly each week. That's the main case for me. This club has been fantastic with me. I really love this club. It's just purely a sporting decision."

And, as sad as it sounds, I can understand the elder Pole. Though this final won't go down in history as the best game Fabiabski played for us (that Almunia-like charge out of the box nearly made me wet my pants), Lukasz had been brilliant for the last two seasons. He's one of the reasons we got to the final, he played a big part in winning it, but he's just not first-choice. I have seen an opinion, that we would not have found ourselves 2-0 down had Szczesny started between the sticks. Wojciech was very much in control of the situation when we played Hull in the league, and that was the result of his fearless claiming of crosses. He was commanding in his own box, elbowing away anyone who stood in his path (our defenders included) and that was why, despite all puffing and huffing from Hull we never really seemed in danger.

Fabianski was less confident when coming out, something that allowed Hull to score their second and nearly tuck away a third goal. And I've already mentioned that terrifying charge late in the game.

Elsewhere, Sagna seems to be in two minds about leaving Arsenal in the summer:

"I don't know...I've been talking with the club for a long time and we'll try to find a solution."

Sounds like there's an outside chance and, in my heart of hearts, I harbour a hope, that the piece of silverware we've just won will help us keep the Frenchman. Realistically, though, he's very likely to leave. There are reports linking him with various clubs, so it may be high time to start looking for a replacement.

Apart from these two, there are also lingering doubts over Vermaelen, Arteta and Podolski, but, as none were mentioned, I suspect they won't be leaving. Or at least that a contingency plan has already been put into motion, so the ones that will go, will be replaced right away. On other possible transfers, Arsene said:

"We have to bring in two or three players to strengthen the squad, that's for sure. Unfortunately, everywhere we go, there are many teams on the market at the moment."

Well, that's how it usually is. Top teams compete for top players and there is only so many of these, even less for sale. If we've brought Ozil in, I'm sure we can cope with such rigours of the market, so I'll go no further here.

Especially because the first sentence is more interesting. If you asked me to pick three most problematic positions (assuming we keep the likes of Sagna and Fabianski), I'd say we need a striker (of a different playstyle to Giroud), a centre-back (having just three is risky) and probably a DM to replace an ageing Arteta. Maybe we can also throw a winger in, for good measure.

In these positions, we've been heavily linked with Loic Remy (who costs around £8 million), Aurier and Richards (from £8 to £12 million) and James Milner (something in the region of £12 million). Let's say their clubs want a bit more and we are looking at roughly £40 million, while we have £100 million available. £60+ million for Fabregas and a centre-back, eh?

However, all of the players mentioned above seem like good enough options for me. They have a lot of experience playing in the Premier League (bar Aurier) and seem like decent and capable chaps. Remy, for instance, was one of the few Newcastle players, who had a good season.

You have to keep in mind, though, that: a) this is all speculation, nothing has been agreed yet and b) Arsene can have his own (and completely different view) on these guys. There's a good chance he won't want to sign them, even if we they are available. And that's fine with me. Arsene knows a lot more than I do, he understands way better, which players can really strengthen the squad and what is good value for money.

So let's see, what he does. Oh, by the way, you can read the full interview here. Give it a go, it's much more interesting, than it appears to be.

Also, check back later this week. If nothing of note happens, I'll be back in a few days for a review of our season as a whole and what part our players, erm, played in it. If something interesting does happen, check back anyway, cause I'll report it.

Until later

Arsenal 3-2 Hull: the Arsenal way

A jolly good evening to you. Though one of the best (if not the best) evenings in my life happened yesterday, the photos from today's parade keep me smiling even as I'm writing this.

Oh, did I forget to say it? WE WON THE CUP! And won it in the most Arsenal-ish way possible. The game last night was Arsenal in a nutshell: from a horrendous start to a superb goal that became the winner, we had it all. I'm still overwhelmed with emotion (I suspect, I'll be for quite some time), so I'll break my review in paragraphs.

The first 15 minutes

God, these were reminiscent of Chelsea and Liverpool defeats. Two quick-fire goals from set pieces stunned Arsenal and were it not for Gibbs match-saving clearance from a corner, the game would have ended before it even began.

While their first goal was clearly a training ground move, it still had a touch of good fortune about it. Had the effort from Huddlestone not landed at the feet of Chester, I don't think we would have found ourselves 1-0 down.

The situation only got worse in the 8th minute. Quinn sent in a cross, Bruce (Alex) out-jumped both Koscielny and Giroud, but his shot was palmed away by Fabianski. Only to then be hammered in by Davies from a rebound. Fortunately, Gibbs came to the rescue in the 14th minute to ensure we remained in the game.

Cazorla's free-kick

Slowly, but surely, Arsenal started to get the game under control. In the 17th minute, Cazorla was bundled over near the box and Lee Probert, in what would become one of the few adequate decisions in the entire game, called a foul against Hull. From a resulting free-kick Podolski tricked the Tigers' defence into thinking he would be the one to take the shot, instead Cazorla did. He fired a screamer of an effort into the top corner and the game was on.

Half-time talk

"The manager's speech at half-time was brilliant. [He told us] to keep believing in how we should do it and keep performing. 

"He told us to stay calm. We had done the most difficult thing, which was to score the first one [after going two down] so now the game was open, we had plenty of time to do it, we could not rush it."

This is what Arteta said post-match and to me this looks like the turning point in how the game unfolded. We had chances to equalise before half-time, but Ozil, Giroud and Podolski all saw their respective shots blocked. Admittedly, those were good moments, but they were far from clear-cut chances we had created in the second half.

The penalties

Yes, you got it right. The penalties. There were several of them (four, to be exact) and they all had one thing in common: all had not been given. Though Arsenal was turning the preesure dial towards the red zone the entire second half, little came off before Sanogo substituted Podolski. Except these penalties.

There was a clear (and deliberate) handball, Cazorla was first tripped and then bundled over and in-between Giroud was held back. Lee Probert either pretended he didn't notice or he's the blindest man I've ever seen. The fact that he's a professional referee (laughable, right?) prompts me to think it's the former option.

A french tandem

When Sanogo came on, the scale of the fight has changed. Hull's defenders were already dead on their feet, the appearance of a 6'5 foot tall machine of a man was what finally cost the Tigers their dreams.

After making his entrance, Sanogo took off some of the load from Giroud shoulders, enabling both of them to create chances by bumping passes off one another. Needless to say, it was the younger Frenchman, who won the corner-that-wasn't for us (poetic justice, Probert).

However, the way these two strikers interchanged got me thinking. Perhaps, Wenger wants to revert to a more traditional 4-4-2 and Sanogo may become that second spearhead. But not next season. He's still a long way from a finished article, so a striker is a must in the summer.

Extra time

We had chances to kill the game in normal time, but Gibbs and Sanogo blasted wide (the former from a killer position), while Giroud saw his two efforts saved by McGregor. The game went into extra time and again we had the upper hand.

Giroud cracked a header against the bar, Ramsey fired a bazillion efforts over and it seemed like Hull was going to see the game out. Luckily, Arsene Wenger and Aaron Ramsey had other ideas.

Our manager brought on Wilshere and Rosicky for tiring Ozil and Cazorla to add some zip and these two played their roles brilliantly, with the Englishman proving his worth in the 108th minute.

Wilshere passed the ball to Ramsey near the box, and a quick interchange involving the Welshman, Rosicky, Sanogo and Giroud saw the latter poke a backheeled pass into Ramsey's path. The first-time effort from the Welsh Jesus explained why he got that nickname.

The dying seconds

We could have made it 4-2, but it would not have been typical Arsenal. Instead, a mess-up from Mertesacker and Fabianski nearly cost us, but Aluko put his effort wide.

THE CUP

We've got it in the end. Our 9-year trophy wait is over, the players got a big boost and already there are reports suggesting Sagna will stay. Winning does funny things to people, eh?

Finally, a word for Wenger. As much as I was happy for the team, I was twice as happy for our manager. He'll get the plaudits he deserves and his relieved and happy face as he took to the pitch after the final whistle was the best reward for me. Arsene guided this team through a dark period, he stuck to the Club and the players and he deserves every bit of credit he can get. See his happy face below.

That's it, my fellow Gooners. Have yourselves a nice week. I know I will.

Cause it's Arsenal

Hull City preview: treble

Hello everyone.

So, it all comes down to this. A cup final. The first one in three years. And, just as it was back then, we're overwhelming favourites to lift the cup.

However, that's where I'd like to stop drawing comparisons with that fiasco. I remember I wasn't able to watch that game, because it wasn't broadcasted (can you believe this?), but I was quietly confident we'd win. You can imagine my surprise, anger and sorrow as a late mess-up saw Birmingham win the cup.

This is what Arsene said on that final:

Look, you can always slip or have a lack of communication. You can never guarantee that will never repeat. The only thing is that what happened to us was in the last minute of the game and that leaves you very, very little time to respond.

Little time indeed, that's why I hope there won't be any such thing tomorrow.

There's also no room for complacency. Hull may have finished sixteenth, we may have beaten Steve Bruce's side twice, and they most definitely will play without both their top strikers (I remind you, Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long are cup-tied), but they are still a Premier League team. Hull have still got to that final, therefore taking them lightly can be costly.

Arsene acknowledges that our status as favourites doesn't guarantee us anything and should not lull us into a false sense of security:

“To be favourites doesn't guarantee you anything. It just means if you turn up on the day of the game with a good performance you have more chance of winning. So let's focus on turning up with a great performance.
“I don't believe we need any warning [about Hull]. We know that a final is a final, that Hull are a Premier League team, they can pass the ball, they can create chances. It's just down to us to perform well on the day of the game.
“I honestly don’t feel there is any danger of complacency - we know the difficulty of the task. If you look at our run in the FA Cup, we’ve had a hard run."

A hard run is a mild word. It could have been made harder only if we had to play City in the semi-final, but then again, didn't we nearly go out at that stage? Wigan proved more than capable opposition by demonstrating they hadn't beaten City earlier at the Etihad for nothing. The Latics sat deep against a disjointed Arsenal side, took their chance on the counter and went within 8 minutes of going through. Only our character and grit prevented it. Then Fabianski did the rest.

Oh, by the way, Fabianski. Should he play? Way I see it, there are two possible variants. I would not be surprised at either outcome.

First one: Fabianski starts the game. It's not like there's no reason in this decision. The elder Pole is our cup goalkeeper and, more importantly, he's why were got into the finals in the first place. His match-saving performance against both Liverpool and Wigan saw us through. Moreover, a good day at a sunny Wembley may just convince the Pole to stay. Which will be wonderful, cause it'll save us the pain of finding a back-up keeper of his standing. No small feat.

Second one: Fabianski doesn't start. Instead, Szczesny, as our №1 goalie, regains his place between the sticks. Again, the benefits are clear. Wojciech has featured in roughly 45 games this season, he's been near impeccable and, more importantly, he will definitely stay at Arsenal beyond the final. Far beyond. The younger Pole will definitely itch to help his team win a final, it'll mean a lot to him, not the least because of that three-year-old mistake.

Apart from this dilemma, the squad should be pretty straightforward. Vermaelen and Oxlade-Chamberlain face a race against time to make it, everyone else is available. Sagna will play and, when asked whether the Frenchman's contract situation can affect the way he (Sagna) performs, Arsene said:

I told you many times for me a professional is to give your best until the last day of your contract. That's for me the real professional. I don't doubt his integrity, his desire to win and his commitment at all.

So, I expect our usual back four, Arteta and Ramsey as DMs, Ozil under Giroud and Cazorla and Poldi on the flanks. It's our optimal line-up and I think we should stick to it.

Speaking of Arteta, he is another player, whose future is not secure. Along with Thomas Vermaelen and Lukas Podolski, the Spaniard is soon out of contract, but, unlike these two, his contract will expire in a year. Our de-facto captain will hold talks with the club this summer and I really do hope they go well. Arteta has become an integral cog to our machine since joining from Everton three years ago and, despite his age, still has a lot to offer. He may sometimes be slow on the ball and not able to track runners, but his brilliant positioning and near-perfect passing ensure he almost never needs to. Another thing to consider, is the sheer number of players leaving. Fabianski, Sagna and Viviano will most definitely leave, while we also need at least a striker and a centre-back to challenge for the title next year. It's already four players to buy, do not let this situation get out of hand by allowing Arteta or Vermaelen (and Podolski) to leave.

Anyway, it's a topic we can discuss on a summer day, when we have nothing better to do, for now let's concentrate on the cup. And win it. End this goddamn trophy drought.

Come on you Gunners

The tale of two Poles + Arsene talks manager rotation

Hello everyone.

The grand finale is still a couple of days away, but there were some interesting pieces both in the media and coming from our manager, so I decided to talk about these.

Starting with the good news: Szczesny will receive the Golden Glove. I was under the impression that with the same number of clean sheets, the keeper with a better CS -to -games played ratio becomes the sole recipient, but it seems I was wrong. Both Cech and Szczesny will receive this accolade and I'm so much happier for the Pole.

I've already said I think the younger Pole has done remarkably well this year (he is my candidate for the player of the season) and it was hugely important for him to be noticed and rewarded for his effort. We've conceded 41 league goals, 20 of those came in just four games, which means only 21 goal in 34 matches. That's almost 0.5 goals per game and exactly half of those games were clean sheets.

These numbers are brilliant, something that was acknowledged by the FA (or whoever awards the prizes) and so Szczesny gets his much-craved reward. Good for him. 

His older counterpart, Fabianski, was meanwhile talked up by Koscielny:

"Lukasz is a very good goalkeeper. He's a big professional and he's the first in training to prepare".

Well, was there any doubt? Fab had little practise during the last year (couple of years?), but was brilliant when called upon. Something Koscielny talks about:

"He plays the FA Cup - a little like Iker Casillas at [Real] Madrid, who plays in just the cups. But he's done the job well, every time when you call on Lukasz to play he has done the job".

I gotta admit, I like Fabianski's character and professionalism. He's featured on a number of (highly) important occasions and was always brilliant. Sometimes (more often than not) Fab slotted in with little to no time for preparation (Bayern Munich this year) and was the reason we won or at least didn't lose the game by a greater margin, if we had some other second keeper.

Two occasions stand out for me this year: Liverpool and Wigan in the FA Cup. During the former he made a string of fantastic saves to repeatedly deny both Suarez and Sturridge, thus ensuring we won. As for Wigan, he was the absolute hero during the penalty shoot-out, making two crucial stops to give Arteta and Giroud some breathing space and a platform to build our success on. And I haven't even mentioned just how good the Pole was a year ago in an away match against Bayern.

It'll be sad indeed if Fab goes in the summer, but I hope we'll at least crown his stint at Arsenal with the FA Cup. It may even change the Pole's mind, who knows.

In other news, Arsene has given a usual pre-game press conference, where among other things, he discussed the current situation with Premier League managers. On Sherwood he said:

For me if it's a Tottenham manager or any other manager it's always sad news when somebody loses his job. The only thing that looks a bit worrying is that the speed of the rotation level in the Premier League gets quicker and quicker. That's not a very good sign for the Premier League.

No comment here, didn't like that clown. And on the overall situation:

I think every club has the responsibility to make the right decision. I believe that technical stability is important for the development of the game. At the moment people think a lot about that so we accept in our job as well that if directors are not happy, or owners are not happy with us, that we can lose the job. But still technical stability is important for the development of the game.

Well, that's a bit more interesting. It's the first time in my memory so many managers were fired inside one season and that just demonstrates how important instant success has become.

The owners, the board, etc. etc. do not value stability any longer. Only delivering numerous trophies can help you keep your job at this high level and even that seems to under threat nowadays.With Guardiola hinting at a move away and even Pellegrini warning his own club against trying to force a certain play style on him, the situation is unstable even at the seemingly successful clubs.

The Club top executives do not understand that it's hard to hit the ground running immediately and so seek external solutions, when a manager doesn't deliver on their (sometimes overly ambitious) standards. The problem is not so much as who the manager is, but rather how much time he has spent with the team. Every manager needs some time to adapt to a new club in order to achieve something. All of this makes me value Arsene even more. We can say whatever we like, but Arsenal is the most stable club in the league for the past 18 years. And I think it's no coincidence we've reached and maintained such a high level under the guidance of one man only.

That's it for today. Back tomorrow or Saturday for a complete preview of the cup final.

Until then