Besiktas 0-0 Arsenal: need a better performance in London

Evening folks.

So, on Tuesday we played out a 0-0 draw against Besiktas and the game turned out to be every bit as hard as I've predicted. There are positives to be taken from the game, first and foremost that we haven't lost, while also keeping our goal intact, but we also had a hell of a hard night.

First half

Koscielny and Wilshere were deemed fit to start, while Gibbs and Sanogo were left behind. Giroud started up front and it would prove to be not the best of decisions from Arsene. Bellerin, Miquel and Flamini (who recovered from his illness) made the bench.

It was obvious from the off Arsenal will have to dig deep to win the game. The atmosphere inside the stadium was so hostile even I felt uncomfortable just listening to all the whistling and booing. What it was like for the players in red-and-white, I don't like to think about.

The quality of the pitch, the heat and Besiktas players themselves (spurred on by the crowd) ensured we had a difficult first fifteen minutes. In fact, had it not been for Szczesny's alertness, Arsenal could have gone behind twice. The Pole deflected Ba's shot onto the bar when the striker's ambitious attempt from the half hit the target and then came out on top once more, when the Senegalese got behind Chambers and nearly slotted the ball home on the volley.

Arsenal then started to get back into the game, but lacked a clinical finisher in the final third. Alexis was creative and bullish, often creating space, but his teammates failed to capitalize on the Chilean's wit and energy. Cazorla flashed an effort wide, Wilshere's clever shot was saved and Giroud missed two clear-cut chances.

For the first, the Frenchamn received the ball in the six-yard box, but failed to to unleash a shot on the turn and for the second, he even failed to connect with the ball, after being weaved clean through by a clever lob pass from Ramsey. We could have paid dearly for such wastefulness a minute from half-time, but, thankfully, Ba dragged his effort wide with only Szczesny to beat.

Second half

The second period started with a bang. Giroud set up Ramsey, but the Welshman took too long on the ball when one-on-one and the defenders returned to snatch the ball from him. Besiktas responded immediately, but Sahan, mercifully, curled his shot just wide of the far post with Szczesny clutching thin air.

The affair soon got muddled. Besiktas had more of the ball, though we created better opportunities on the counter. The ineffectiveness of Cazorla, Giroud and Wilshere (completely lost in that second half) ensured we didn't make the most of our chances.

Then, on the hour, another problem added to the growing list of Arsene's worries, as Arteta had to be replaced because of an injury. Flamini came on, did his usual stunt (got booked), but was a positive influence overall. He wasn't as fluid or creative in his passing than the Spaniard, however.

Things quickly gone from bad to worse. We already had Monreal and Flamini on yellows, with Arteta subbed due to an ankle injury, then, on the 80th minute, Ramsey pulled back someone-someone and was branded a second booking. Arsenal was down to ten men, with ten minutes to go. I fully expected Arsene to close up shop and imagine my surprise when it didn't happen. Sure, Besiktas again saw more of the ball, but we actually could have nicked a winner right at the death.

First Chambers headed wide from a corner and then Oxlade powered his way into the box, danced around a defender and fired a vicious effort which rebounded off the post. Replays showed their keeper got a hand to it, otherwise we would have returned to London victorious, I suspect.

The aftermath

This is what Arsene had to say after the game:

"We always want to win but look, Besiktas could have won the game, and we could have won the game as well. Maybe a draw is a fair result because both teams had chances to win the game. We know Besiktas are a good team. They played with 100 per cent pace and did fought for every single ball. We faced a very good Besiktas team tonight who were at our level. Their commitment was absolutely fantastic."

Hard to argue with any of the above, really. I remember we had a very hard qualifier against Udinese a couple of years back, but back then we were not as strong financially and didn't possess such a roster of players. However, as I've said before the game, away games in Turkey are always very hard, for a number of reasons.

Now we need to get the job done at the Emirates and only a win will see us through. However, we'd be without Ramsey and very likely Arteta, while the performances of some others leave a great deal to be desired.

I, for one, think that Cazorla, Giroud and Wilshere all had a bad game. And I cannot grasp why. The World Cup is no excuse, because Sanchez, Debuchy, Koscielny and others delivered. And these have played a lot more than the aforementioned trio. However, if we are to remove Santi, Olivier and Jack from the starting line-up in a return leg it will add up to five changes, coupled with Ramsey's and (possibly) Arteta's absence.

Anyway, we have a game against Everton looming large, so we can discuss the squad choice tomorrow. For today, though, it's hard to say anything conclusive on the result against Besiktas. I have a good feeling we'll be able to overpower the Turks inside the Emirates, but it's only a hunch. Though I still think we shouldn't worry just yet. We have another game coming up and it's important we get a good performance in that one, to build up confidence.

Whether we have the ability to do it with the players we have, I'll be back to speculate on tomorrow.

Until then

Besiktas preview: find that rhythm

Evening folks.

It's Besiktas away tomorrow and the team has already travelled to Turkey. We are, however, in a spot of trouble with some of our players sidelined, so picking a capable starting eleven can prove to be tough.

Goalkeeping

No doubt in my mind Szczesny will start. Had Ospina been fit I wouldn't be so sure, but with the Colombian international still nursing a thigh injury, he wasn't even included. Ospina, like Walcott, will miss both qualifiers.

However, Szczesny definitely needs to be told by Arsene to keep his game safe and simple. The stakes are too high and it will be hard to get a positive result in any case, we don't want to make our life harder by serving Besiktas a couple of blunders on a silver platter.

Defense

It pretty much picks itself and it's scary. We could potentially end up without Koscielny (achilles) and Gibbs (hamstring), so only four senior defenders will be available: Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker and Monreal.

"We will assess Koscielny on Monday; if he's fit and capable to play, we play him. It was our plan to bring the Germans back in contention for Everton. But in case of emergency I will take Mertesacker.

"But we have Bellerin, who was 19 today, who can come in. We are a bit short. I hope Koscielny responds well to today's game."

Such a summary gives me the creeps. No word on Gibbs, Koscielny is a doubt and Mert is short on fitness and could be rushed back anyway. When Arsene brought up Bellerin it became painfully obvious just how short we are in the defensive department.

Why haven't we addressed it earlier? It was obvious Vermaelen will go (he was injured anyway) and that Debuchy, Koscielny and Mertesacker will all have a short pre-season. Yes, we've brought Chambers in (as a right-back, mind you) and that is why we are still afloat. He can play defensive midfield, right-back and centre-back, so I don't expect further arrivals in the first two areas, but we were always going to end up short in the middle now that Vermaelen's tenure has drawn to a close.

I'm all for promoting Bellerin, don't get me wrong. He's impressed during the Emirates Cup and it will only be sensible to have the Spaniard in the first squad, as it allows Chambers to cover at centre-back if needed, but even in that case we only have 7 defenders, two of which are 19. A further addition is vital, even if the player won't play against Besiktas. As for the Turks, what we have, we hold. Fingers crossed Koscielny is all right and will still be after the game.

Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace: a victory hard-fought, but thoroughly deserved

Evening everyone.

First off, I have to apologise: two days ago I stated that Pulis is the current manager of Crystal Palace, but I was wrong and only found out about it yesterday. Keith Millen is now in charge of the proceedings, while Tony Pulis left the club on August 14th. I don't have the faintest idea why the manager of the season left the Eagles so abruptly and without an obvious cause, but I don't really care. I never liked Pulis as a person and I am convinced the Premier League will be much better off without him.

And now, onto the game itself. I've said in the preview that should Arsenal find it's rhythm we'll have no problems sweeping Palace aside. That explains why we nearly dropped points in the first game: we've never truly kicked on and only our desire and willpower saw us get the win (the first one in six years in a season opener). Which was no less than we deserved. However, the game was rather tedious with few chances created, so I'll go with the manager on this one:

on the last-gasp winner…

It was not the plan, the plan was to win the game, but because of the physicality and organisation level of Crystal Palace, it was very difficult for us. We lacked a bit of pace in the final third to change what we built up into dangerous situations.

Well, it was obvious before the game what Palace's plan will be: put ten men behind the ball and boot it long towards Chamakh. And try to get the maximum from set-pieces. The fact that this plan almost cost us two points is what surprised me: shouldn't we be ready for these situations? Shouldn't there be a plan B if plan A doesn't work? Why, for example, the manager changed Sanogo for Giroud instead of trying Alexis up front? You don't judge the winners, especially on the opening day and against a team defending so deep, but had we not won, questions would definitely have been asked.

on the patience of the supporters…

I am grateful for that because before, sometimes we had to face that frustration. Today, at 1-0 down they stayed behind the team. At 1-1 when we started to have heavy legs, they gave us some energy.

The fans really got behind the team and spurred the Gunners on, which was a magnificent sight. And just what the team needed. When there are sixty thousand people inside the stadium singing "We love you Arsenal" it's something to behold. I think the difference between yesterday and last year was our actions during the transfer window. Buying players doesn't win you games and titles, yet the effect on the fans is almost the same.

on Calum Chambers…

I must say, honestly, we bought him as a right back, but in my opinion he could play centre back. I tried it in pre-season and from game to game he becomes stronger. Today he had a remarkable performance.

Man of the match. Chambers started alongside Koscielny and had another great game: tackling, intercepting and, basically, laying waste. He was even spotted bombing forward later on, with Arteta (an unsung hero with a 96% pass completion) dropping back to cover for the Englishman. My personal pick, however, happened in the first half: we've lost possession and Palace tried to break on the counter, only for Chambers to commit a cynical foul on the half. Got booked, but stopped a dangerous attack like a seasoned pro. Love this guy.

on Laurent Koscielny…

He can respond [to setbacks like the first goal]. We had concerns about playing him today because he didn't practise for two or three days, but he has outstanding physical qualities and pace. He's another one who is at the right place in the box. He is not the tallest but if you look he is always on the first or the second ball in the box as a defender, and that's a great quality.

Need a scrappy goal from a set-piece? Call the Frenchman. He's done it at least four times in decisive moments (West Brom two years ago, Newcastle a year back, Hull in the final and now), so I think congrats are in order. Right attitude, match-saving goals.

However, I also wanted to take note of some things I didn't like. They could easily have cost us yesterday, so I hope they won't happen again. Starting with:

Wojciech Szczesny

I've hailed him after the Community Shield, now it's time to point out his flaws. He's made two mistakes yesterday: at 0-0 and at 1-1, so both could have easily led to a loss. The first one happened when the Pole went full Almunia and decided to sweep up. His clearance fell to Chamakh and were it not for Koscielny, we could have found ourselves down. The second happened deep inside the second half, when Szczesny tried to look too cute and clever and played cat-and-mouth with whatever bloke spearheaded Palace's attack. Instead of clearing his lines when under pressure, Wojciech tried a return pass to Debuchy, the pass which was nearly intercepted. Arsene needs to tell our №1 to cut this out, or he won't remain our №1 for long.

Santi Cazorla

It feels odd to level critique at him, but I see no way to soften the blow. Santi failed to make his mark on the match, with misplaced passes and badly thought-through decisions pursuing him the whole game. Him shifting to under-the-striker when Wilshere was substituted for Oxlade didn't help in the slightest: Santi failed at least two passes which were potentially dangerous and once lost the ball near the box. Luckily, his mistakes didn't prove costly, though it remained a mystery to me as to why the Spaniard wasn't taken off for, say, Campbell. Hope it's just one bad game for Santi, nothing more.

We've won it in the end and boy am I glad we did. Despite Palace's organisation and time-wasting antics we've knuckled down and worked hard, showed desire and determination and had Ramsey in the box at the right place at the right time. I'm sure we'll become more fluent in our game as the season progresses, but for now we've got the job done, while, for example, United, lost. (Is it possible? A mighty United side, aspiring champions with the world's bestest manager, lost? At home? To Swansea? Don't know how to put even more sarcasm in writing, so this will have to do).

That's yer lot for today, back here tomorrow with Besiktas preview.

Until then, enjoy the win

Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin

Crystal Palace preview: smash and grab

Evening everyone.

All right, I take my words back: the Internet connection here is atrocious. It's slow, you cannot log in two gadgets simultaneously and logout procedure is a pain. Also, you can just forget about watching videos and downloading music. Hell, even the pictures take a while to pop up in your news feed or elsewhere. This hotel won't be getting a positive review from me.

Anyway, onto matters more interesting and we face Crystal Palace tomorrow in a season opener. We play at the Emirates and the kickoff is a late one: at 5.30. Taken into account we play Besiktas away on Tuesday, the situation is far from ideal, but we have to knuckle down and try to win both games.

We'll have to do so without at least Walcott, Ospina and the Germans (Gnabry included). During his press-conference today, Arsene has confirmed Theo won't return until late September, while Ospina is out for two to three weeks due to a thigh injury he sustained against Brazil. Ah, damn these international games.

Ryo also won't play for a while (the manager refused to give a time frame on him), but I've basically given up on him. Same with Diaby. The Frenchman has resumed normal training, but I just don't know. He's only played once during this pre-season (as far as I can remember) and then sustained an 'insert any body part here' injury and went straight to the hospital. I'm sure the staff there greeted Abou as one of their own, given him his usual room and assured his belongings haven't been sent out yet. Cozy.

However, in a good piece of news, Koscielny will be available and there are even whispers Mert can feature. I won't rush our vice-captain back if it was up to me, seeing as Chambers looks very good and shouldn't be unduly troubled in a pair with Kos. I even look forward to how well they will interact.

With Ospina out, Szczesny should start and Martinez (who've been promoted to the first team and given number 26 shirt) will provide backup. In defence, it's Debuchy-Koscielny-Chambers-Gibbs who should get the nod. Again, Mertesacker may be an option (having only featured during the group stages for Germany), but I see no point in rushing him back. We can manage without him for now.

The midfield also shouldn't be much changed. It's Arteta-Ramsey-Wilshere for me and it looks sensible. With Ozil unavailable and Cazorla being utilised on the left (especially in the absence of both Walcott and Podolski), this trio looks the best we can get.

Wilshere wants to prove himself, so he will start at every opportunity, Ramsey is, well, the Welsh Jesus with a haircut to rival Giroud and Arteta is the captain. I expect the Spaniard to start every game by default. Which basically means we're unlikely to buy a 'DM' everyone so craves for. One of my readers raised a point that it's unacceptable, that a DM should definitely be bought, as Arteta tends to be overrun in big games and you can see the logic behind his thinking. However, Arteta is no Vermaelen and I don't think the manager has entrusted the Spaniard with the armband to then unceremoniously drop him. So the issue of big games remain and Arsene will have to find a solution. Especially after all the talk of how we should improve on our record against the top six.

In attack, it'll probably be Cazorla, Alexis (why has he opted to write Alexis instead of Sanchez on his shirt?) and either Giroud or Sanogo. I've been thinking about this decision two days ago and ploughed for Giroud in the end. After all, the elder Frenchman possesses valuable experience in the BPL and, as much as you can see why Arsene puts so much faith into Sanogo, I don't think Yaya is ready yet. He will, of course, play during this season (and I suspect he'll play a lot), but he's not yet first-choice.

I'm also interested where Campbell will fit in. He's definitely behind the likes of Sanchez and Giroud, but right now it seems he's even behind Sanogo. Which means, he's just an afterthought, should everyone stay fit, which makes me dubious once again as to why we haven't loaned the Costa-Rican out. Guess we'll see soon enough. Arsene said he has plans for Joel and I hope that involves actually using him for something else other than (occasionally) letting him warm up the bench. Otherwise it won't make sense.

I haven't bothered to look up what kind of Orcs Pulis will throw at Arsenal come tomorrow evening, but should we catch our rhythm it won't matter. Arsene has himself admitted we are just too much quality, so let's prove it on the pitch tomorrow. A win in front of our fans will be the best way to start a season.

As always, I'll watch the game tomorrow and give my thoughts on it in two days, so stay tuned.

Until later and c'mon you Gunners

Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin

An unlikely scenario

Evening everyone.

The countdown to the first (official) game of the season is well and truly on, but the euphoria of Arsenal beating City isn't dying down. Which is understandable. We had huge problems dealing with the moneybags last year and to get up from 6-3 and deliver on such a scale demonstrates how far this Arsenal team progressed.

We were in a mess at the Etihad. Szczesny was helplessly watching the ball ripple in the back of his net time and again, Koscielny was subbed at 2-1 to give way to an erratic Vermaelen, Arteta was overrun in midfield. The peak of entropy was reached when Wilshere, frustrated at not being able to impose himself on the game, flipped home fans the bird. I even have a lurking suspicion we finished that game with ten men.

And what a way to bounce back. Almost all the players I've mentioned featured three days ago and they demonstrated just how professional they can be. I was especially impressed with Arteta and Wilshere, who seemed to have undergone a radical change since the thumping at the Etihad. Arteta was calm and composed in the centre of the park, while Jack didn't try to shape the game the way he sees it, but rather caught its natural rhythm and adapted to it. It was after this game that Arteta was named captain.

Did the change of formation help our skipper to shine once more? I've already noticed how we played with almost three holding midfielders against Monaco and Benfica, but this bit looks at the situation in greater detail. Against City this weekend Arsenal had no clear under-the-striker player. Arteta sat back as always, but Wilshere and Ramsey were deployed on the same (imaginary) line and both were much closer to our skipper, than usual. A inverted triangle, if you like.

This ensured both Ramsey and Wilshere had space to spray passes and burst forward, but it also allowed our back four to be much better protected. Both Aaron and Jack traced back to either help Arteta out or cover the flanks. Or one of them stayed behind, while the other bombed forward. 

I like this setup, cause it allows to bring the best out of all three, while balancing the game in midfield, but it's unlikely Arsene will be willing to use this formation as default. When Ozil returns, he will play much further upfield than Ramsey and Wilshere did against City. For now, though, we're all set to start the campaign with a kind of 4-1-2-3, while Ozil is being eased into action.

However, there's another interesting dilemma Arsene will have to solve before Crystal Palace comes to town. A year ago I would have laughed at the possibility, but now it doesn't seem as unlikely. Who will Arsene pick as a centre forward for the season opener: Sanogo or Giroud? The author of this article comes to the conclusion that it's still a bit too soon for Sanogo to establish himself as our first-choice forward, but he also hits the jackpot several times.

Thing is, even at this early stage of his career Sanogo has qualities Giroud doesn't have and is unlikely to develop. Sanogo is a surprisingly quick runner (that with his height), while Giroud is more static. Sanogo can drag defenders into channels opening up space for his teammates, while Giroud finds it tough going. Most importantly, Sanogo can beat defenders with his face to the goal, thus creating space out of nowhere, something Giroud can't do. And it's a vital quality, let me tell you. For two years I couldn't pinpoint why exactly I felt a tinge of uneasiness every time Giroud tried to take defenders on. Three days ago it hit me: Olivier isn't technical enough with the ball at his feet to come out on top in a 1v1, but Sanogo, for all his rough edges, can do this.

However, one thing remains is certain: Giroud is a more clinical finisher right now. His goal against City highlighted it. Could his younger counterpart pull that shot off? I doubt it. Also, Giroud possesses valuable experience playing at the top level, so he's likely to remain a our go-to striker for this season. But that's not to say Sanogo won't play. With the manager's faith in him and the flashes of promise he's demonstrated, Sanogo should play a lot.

Finally for today, there's a lot of rumours linking Arsenal to different defenders, but nothing concrete for now. I'm hoping we'll add in that department over the next three days, for Koscielny seems to have suffered a slight injury. The prospect of facing any PL team with Chambers and Montreal for central defenders is a bit uncomfortable. Especially since Mertesacker has only just returned and it's unclear how soon it is till he's ready.

Right, that's it for today. Back here on the 15th with a proper preview of our first game.

Until then