Long live Arsene

Morning everyone.

I was planning to round off my review today, but the last two days were so news-packed, that you'll have to wait for the final part till Monday.

The news is both good and bad, so I'll start with the bad pieces.

Sagna has confirmed he will leave Arsenal when his contact expires on July 1st and I have to say, that's a blow. However slim were the chances of Bac staying, it was hard to imagine the Frenchman will never put on a red-and-white shirt again. I've become so used to his presence over the course of these seven years, that picturing our defence without him gives me the sense of irreality.

Whatever path Bac chooses after he's through with Arsenal, I wish him only the best. He's been rock-solid for us, never gave less than 101% on the pitch and his devotion and loyalty have (and never will be) questioned. He leaves us, yes. Does he leave us, because someone else offered him more? Yes. Do I have a problem with that? No.

Unlike Clichy, Nasri, Adebayor, van Persie, etc. etc., Bacary has stuck with Arsenal through the hard times. Unlike the aforementioned players, he's not leaving us at the peak of his career. And, unlike some of the players that has left Arsenal down the years, it's not instant success the Frenchman craves for. If he did, he would have stayed, having won his first major trophy with us.

Therefore, Bac only leaves to make some money to ensure his (and his children's) well-being after he hangs up his boots and I wish him all the luck. I'm happy he's leaving Arsenal on a high. I'd still prefer to see Sagna play somewhere in Europe, rather than pick a club in England, but I won't begrudge him joining City or Chelsea, if he so chooses. Farewell, Bac.

In other (more positive news) Arsene has signed a three-year contract extension.
I've already expressed my thoughts on the subject mere 10 days ago, when I first caught sight of it in the Guardian, so instead I'll focus on the interesting snippets from his interview.

On what this new contract means:

"The club has always shown faith in me and I'm very grateful for that. We have gone through fantastic periods and periods where we have to stick together and every time when that togetherness was tested I got the right response. I think I have shown some loyalty as well towards this club and hopefully we can make some more history. I am sure we can".

Well, I can mostly talk about the bad periods. Or, rather, period. I've started supporting Arsenal in 2005 and when they've won that FA Cup, I was still small too comprehend the enormity of that win. I do not even remember the reaction I had after that final. Had someone told me it would the last trophy I would see in nine years, I would probably not have believed them.

Down the years, I've become used to the feeling of falling just short of a trophy. Champions League final in 2006, Fa Cup final a year later, a loss to Birmingham in 2011, all the excruciating pain I've felt I remember almost too vividly. I could not believe my eyes when I saw these results. We were 1-0 up when I've been ushered into bed in 2006, could not get my hands on a broadcast in 2011 and, unfortunately, had sat through the entire game against Chelsea in 2007, when Walcott's strike was cancelled out by a brace from Drogba. I still hate the Ivorian for that.

And there's always been one person, that has suffered along with me. There were, of course, millions of devastated fans worldwide, but I could not see their reaction, therefore it's hard for me to relate to them. Our manager, however, is an entirely different story. I've seen Arsene endure all this suffering on the touchline, only it was much tougher going for him, than for me. I could always turn the TV off and go around the house punching the furniture, or just lie in bed for hours, staring apathically into the ceiling.

Arsene, meanwhile, could only restrict himself to this, and had to watch his side, the side he's put so much work into, being taken apart time and again, including this year's heavy away defeats. Therefore, words cannot express how happy I am that Arsene has been the one to put this trophy drought to an end. When he lifted the cup, everything he has endured suddenly was thrown into the light. The hard work, the emotional strain and the relief at finally breaking the deadlock were reflected in the look of sheer joy on his face.

However, back to the interview. On whether Arsenal is in a strong position now:

"I believe so because the fact that we have built a stadium, the fact that we have paid a big part of the debt back and the weight of the debt back now is not as strong and heavy as it was before. The fact that the Financial Fair Play rule comes in hopefully will stop [the] craziness that happened on this [transfer] market. With these two [things] together, I think we can fight on a more even level than before".

And that's another side of our manager. Not only did he stay with us through all the hard times, he's guided the Club through them. Arsene had a plan of how to make this club strong as early as 2003 (2002?) and he's persevered at reaching this goal. Arsene knew it would take time, he knew it'll be hard for us to compete for years to come, but he looked at a broader picture. He asked himself, whether he wants to be successful for a short period, or whether he wants to lay foundations for this Club to be successful for decades to come. And I think we all know how Arsene answered this one.

On whether the position the Club is currently in will help him build a new team:

"It's time for another one [to emerge]. It's the start of a new team and I believe [the FA Cup] victory was crucial in that belief. We have shown signs the whole season that we can be a great side and now it's [important] of course to have another successful season. We know we have to… have a successful June and July, that's where you strengthen the team. It's very important that we are good now in the next two months until the end of August, that we can give to the team some more quality and go into next season with the belief we got from [the FA Cup] win".

The mentality this side possesses is, frankly, outstanding. For all the setbacks we had had, the microscope the press had put our performances under, we had responded every time. The comebacks in the FA Cup are prime examples of how psychologically strong this side is.

The more interesting bit comes right after, and is further elaborated by this:

"What I can promise is that we work very hard on a market that is very, very congested with many people who have a lot of money. But we have a big advantage, players want to join us and if we find the right quality I'm sure we can strengthen the team".

Finally, transfers. And you know, I like the sound of it. Sure, it looks a bit familiar, with all the talk of how we will strengthen only in case we find the right players, but it's different nonetheless. For example, Arsene has talked of how we need to sort out the futures of Sagna and Fabianski and he we are. June hasn't kicked in yet, and we already know what will happen with these two. It's not the kind of outcome we had hoped for, but at least we know we'll have to strengthen in these positions. We have a lot of time to do this.

And of all this time, Wenger has singled out June and July to add to his squad. He understands it's important to be ready before the season starts and, as you all know, our first game will take place on August 9th against the moneybags. So let's hope for a productive transfer campaign before that.

Phew, that's it for today. Also, have a look at the rather impressive infographic from the official website, which analyses how well Arsenal faired under Arsene Wenger. Also, check out the latest part of my review, if you missed it, cause there was something wrong with the heading. And I'll return on Monday with an overall review of our season.

Until then, have a good weekend

Season review: part 4

Hello everyone.

Today is the final part of my player assessment, but first a couple of rather important things happened that I just can't ignore.

To start with, Giroud expressed his desire to extend his contract. The Frenchman's current deal expires in two years, but I don't see why we shouldn't give Olivier a new one this summer. I'll come back to this part later, though.

The second bit involves Fabianski. However sad it is, the elder Pole will leave Arsenal this July, when his contact runs out. He will move to Swansea and I do wonder what it means for Vorm, their current goalie. It's not like Fabianski is going there to sit on the bench, is it?

Anyway, that's for Monk to decide. It's his headache, his choice, so the responsibility lies with him only. On my part, I'd like to thank Fab for the work he's put in for us. He comes across as a decent and honest chap, he never threw tantrums of being only a back-up keeper and his professionalism was clearly visible this year. The Pole knew he would leave at the end of the season, yet his form never dipped and it was in large part thanks to him that we've tasted success in the Cup. Farewell to Fab in his new club, I really hope he gets the regular football he so craves for and fulfil his potential. He's got years in front of him to do so.

And now, strikers. Starting with:

Theo Walcott. Sadly, it's been another injury-ridden season for the Englishman. It took Theo some time to find his shooting boots early in the season, his first goal coming in late September/early October (against Marseille). It would be his last up until December, when Theo would make a glorious comeback, punching it two goals at the Etihad. He scored some more goals, became player of the month, then got knackered again, tearing his ACL against Spurs, just as he starred showing glimpses of promise in the central striker role. Never played after that, the Englishman is on course to miss the beginning of new season and he's definitely out for the World Cup.

Nicklas Bendtner. Everyone thought he'd leave in the summer, the Dane has agreed personal terms with some club, only for Wenger to pull the deal at the last minute. Reason? Well, Mourinho is a jerk. It explains a lot, but particularly in this case he didn't allow Arsenal to loan Ba, so we were left without any back-up. Quite why we didn't sign another striker earlier is anyone's guess, but that's another story.

It meant Bendtner stayed and at one point he didn't look all that bad. Goals against Hull and Cardiff got a lot of fans on his side, but the TGSTEL spoiled everything with his stunt in Copenhagen. He was shuffled out of the squad and will leave without playing for us one last time. I cannot say I'll get emotional about Bendtner's departure, though. Had he not been a lazy and arrogant guy that he is, we would not have so many problems getting him off the books earlier.

Yaya Sanogo. A mystery signing to many, we didn't see the Frenchman at all during the first four months. He appeared out of nowhere in January, was handed surprise starts against Liverpool and Bayern and did well, truth be told. Hasn't scored any goals, but his partnership with Giroud proved effective indeed, despite Sanogo still being very raw and Giroud being a striker with limitations.

Still, Yaya is too young to even play back-up to Olivier. I won't be surprised should we loan him out next season, especially if a quality striker like Morata or Remy comes in. However, I did like what Sanogo brings to the team and I'm beginning to understand just why Arsene had signed this guy.

Lukas Podolski. The German pulled his hamstring during his second game of the season and didn't play up until December. Slowly, but surely, he has been building momentum, something that resulted in Poldi starting all the games in May and a couple in April. Scored a lot (12 goals in 27 appearances), but, unfortunately, it's his defensive work rate, that makes Poldi a bench sub. However, no one will deny the German is a devastating weapon, even if he's used sparingly. Podolski confirmed he'll stay at Arsenal next season and it's a good thing he will.

Olivier Giroud. Ah, yes. The Frenchman has been christened one of our most controversial signings and you can sort of see why. Despite the fact, that Giroud has improved from previous season, it's still obvious, he's far from perfect. He's notched 22 goals and 12 assissts in all competitions this year yet he's got one of the lowest conversion rates in the league. The Frenchman has also become a lightning rod for all our failures in February and March.

However, people are overlooking one simple fact: Giroud is not a top-top forward. I don't mean to offend him, hell no, but we should just accept, that the Frenchman has his limitations. Oh, he didn't live up to Lineker's or Carrager's expectations in February and March? How about him not having Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere and Walcott to feed him and make runs behind his back? Or is it just an inconvenient fact that gets in the way of a crappy good story?

Personally, I don't have a problem with the Frenchman. He was pushed to the limit this season and, despite his return not being as great as we would like it to be, he's become integral to the way we play because of his other qualities. Namely, because Giroud is expert of holding up play and bringing other into it with his neat flicks and one-touch passes.

He wants a new deal? Fine with me. I was scratching my head last summer why Arsene only talks of how any striker we bring in would only complement Giroud, but not replace him, but now I get it. It's not his goalscoring qualities Wenger values so much, but rather the way Olivier glues our play together in a way Ozil, Cazorla or Rosicky can not.

It's easy to see, how a quick forward, deployed alongside Giroud can improve our finishing. Even when paired up with raw and inexperienced Sanogo, Giroud seemed much more dangerous, imagine what will happen, should we bring someone like Remy in. That's a topic for another day, however.

Phew, I'll leave at that. Back on Saturday with an overall review of our season.

Until then

Season review: part 3

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow I continue the assessment of how well individual players did this season. And we are moving on to midfielders:

Mathieu Flamini. I've seen a lot of eyebrows raised over this signing back in August, but now but it seems everyone views the Frenchman as a true DM. His ability to shore things up is amazing, as is his his attitude. You can be sure, that if some injustice happened to an Arsenal player, Mathieu will be the first to stand up. There were a lot of cynical fouls from the Frenchman (some of these I rather liked), he's missed quite a few games through suspension (still had an almighty 27 appearances in the league), but his influence was such, that at times we bemoaned his absence from the starting line-up.

Jack Wilshere. Surprisingly, featured less, than Flamini. His season was once again disrupted by injures, but the Englishman will be remembered for his wonder-strike against Norwich. Overally, though, Wilshere was inconsistent in his performances. Sometimes he was the hero (Marseille), sometimes the games have flown him by (Man City). Hope Jack won't get knackered during the World Cup and improves next season.

Mikel Arteta. Unlike Jack, our de-facto captain was the definition of consistency. Started whenever he was fit and played for 120 minutes both in the semifinal and the final itself. The highlight of the season was, of course, his converted penalty against Everton, which the Spaniard had to retake. Also, scored his spot-kick against Wigan during the shoot-out. It's unclear, whether Arteta will stay, but fingers crossed he will. His metronomic passing and overall attitude will be hard to replace.

Aaron Ramsey. Splendid. 14 out of 10. Simply great. The presence of the Welshman at the start of the campaign was what lifted us to the top. With Ozil still settling, Cazorla not at his best due to Confederations Cup and Podolski and the Ox out injured, Ramsey made the difference, scoring and scoring and scoring again. At one point, he was much better output-wise than Giroud, and the Frenchman started the season in flying colours. The Welsh Jesus also helped the defence out, something that resulted in our most brilliant run in years. Then Aaron got knackered and our title bid faded. And then he returned again and scored at least twice, both times against Hull and both were crucial goals. Despite injury keeping him out for three months, I'm positive he'll be voted Player of the Season on the official site.

Thomas Rosicky. The Czech played so great a part, that he managed to bag around 25 appearances by mid-January and was immediately offered an extension. But not the one-year-long-same-terms one. His deal will run for three more years, and his salary will also be substantially increased. This is all the result of his performances, the drive and desire he brings to the team. At times, Thomas seems as devoted to our cause, as invested in the team, that I get the feeling he'll stay with us long after his career as a footballer is over. Best moment of the season? Cup goal against Spurs. It encapsulated everything good about his style of play, the drive, the energy, the desire and, on top of all that, great technique on the ball. His celebration can only be matched with Walcott's 2-0 gesture.

Santi Cazorla. The little Spaniard had a quieter second season, something that may be down to him not having a proper pre-season. However, he stepped his game up in January and kept his foot on the gas till the very end. Scored some good goals along the way, his brace against Fulham and a brilliant I'm-not-losing-this free-kick in the final are the definite high points. Santi also slotted home the decisive penalty against Wigan. Talk about winning mentality.

Mesut Özil. Our star acquisition had a somewhat tame first season, but, then again, who didn't? It always takes time to get used to a new league, so my blood boils, when people suggest he's "nicking a living at the Emirates". The German chipped in with 7 goals and 14 assists and was invaluable in carrying out quick transitions from defence to attack, making it so much easier for us to play on the counter effectively. My only worries about him are that Mesut wasn't able to impose himself in big games, while I also didn't like the way he takes penalties. The first is manageable, he will learn, and as for the second, we have plenty of other capable takers. We should just accept that penalties isn't his thing and move on.

Kim Kallstrom/Abou Diaby. These guys haven't played a lot. Abou only appeared once (against Norwich), so it's fair play to say his contribution was non-existent, while Kallstrom featured a bit more. The Swede even started once (against West Ham, when he played a full game), but his output was minimal due to the fact, that he arrived at London Colney injured. This injury kept him out for a month and then, suddenly, Ramsey was back and we didn't need reinforcements anymore. Kim will return to Spartak, but we still should contemplate bringing in a replacement. Just to be a bit better off number-wise.

Serge Gnabry/Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Just like the previous two, didn't play much, though the reasons were different. Gnabry is still raw, despite catching the eye with at least two quality performances (Stoke and Tottenham), while the Ox was injured for almost the entire campaign. Showed glimpses of his talent in January and February, scoring against Liverpool and Crystal Palace (twice), but, just as he has convinced the manager to deploy him week in, week out, got knackered again. I sincerely hope he will be able to deliver on his promise next season. Same goes for Gnabry, by the way.

That's it for today, I'll be back on Thursday to assess how well our strikers did.

Until then

Season review: part 2

Hello.

Today I thought I'd continue with my squad assessment, but first there are a couple of things to take note of.

First, Arsene has a received something close to £100 million on transfers. It's a considerable sum and I sincerely hope we will spend this money. And not to buy one player on a deadline day. While acquiring Ozil was great and all, the manner was nervy, to say the least. I'd prefer we do our business as early as possible this summer, especially since the first game will be against Man City and the reigning champions will be completely up for the task.

Another interesting bit concerns player departures. The Club has issued a statement, which informs us of four such departures: Aneke, Boateng, Park and Bendtner. Or, as I like to call him, Presidentner.

While the first two players I hardly know of (cause they never made the step-up to the first team), Park and Bendtner are more interesting. As a footballer, the former will always remain a mystery to me, nor will I understand why we have signed this striker back in 2011. I've seen him once on the pitch (as a sub), some even say he's scored once, but the lack of information on him speaks for itself. Good luck to him, though, wherever he ends up.

Presidentner, meanwhile, finally makes his not-so-great exit. We have tried to get the Dane off the books for at least three seasons. He played for Sunderland (did well there), Juventus (rarely featured before injuring his groin) and us, this season. It seemed at one point like he could become a decent backup striker to Giroud, scoring important goals against Hull and Cardiff, then he did his Copenhagen trick and disappeared even from the bench. I still think Bendtner can have some good years in front of him, if he puts in some effort, but I'm relieved we won't have to track his progress and pay his wages. Farewell, Bendtner, wherever you go.

And now, on to our defenders. Starting with:

Kieran Gibbs. Our left-back has had one of his most (if not the most) successful seasons in red and white. Played quite a lot (41 appearance, 7 of them from the bench), was the model of consistency, was wrongly sent off against Chelsea and capped it all off with a save from the line in the final. Injury in February hindered his progress, but I was calm each time Gibbo started on the left. Unfortunately, he won't go to the World Cup (Baines was paired up with Luke Shaw), but, then again, he will be able to get a good pre-season with little to no risk of getting injured.

Nacho Monreal. Though you kinda get the feeling the Spaniard was peripheral to our plans, 20 starts and 36 appearances tell their own story. I still think the majority of these substitute appearances came when Arsene was keen to shore things up when defending a slender lead, but 20 starts remain. Unfortunately, there was a stretch when Nacho was so unreliable, that Vermaelen started on the left instead. However, the Spaniard was at times much more of a threat in the final third, so there were both ups and downs in his career this season. But he's definitely second-choice to Gibbs, mostly because his consistency and positioning leave a great deal to be desired.

Thomas Vermaelen. Our skipper had a hard season. Just thirteen starts, only seven of these in the league and this because he's not nearly as reliable as Koscielny or Mertesacker. Therefore, he was only restricted to when either of them were injured or suspended. The Belgian did well when called upon, though, but our defence just doesn't look rock solid with Thomas in it. He may well try himself elsewhere next season, and who would blame him? I do hope we'll find a proper replacement if he goes, though, to say nothing of the fact, that a centre-back has still to be on our shopping list, regardless of whether Vermaelen goes.

Laurent Koscielny. Well, 12 out of ten. Simply great. Yes, yes, there were some moments of madness involving the Frenchman (Why always him? I suspect, there is something to it), but Laurent has been consistently brilliant. I've lost count, how many different (and talented) strikers he's put in his pocket. From the Dutch Skunk to Luis Suarez, all of them suffered a similar fate. Like everyone else, was taken apart at Etihad (though he came off at 2-1 with an injury), Stamford Bridge and Anfield, but was great otherwise. Also, scored a couple of important (however scrappy) goals, including the equaliser at Wembley.

Per Mertesacker. Same as his French counterpart, but seems less assured with Vermaelen by his side. The German also scored some goals, his strike against Wigan stands out.

Carl Jenkinson. On him it's hard to make a definite judgement. Mostly came on to strengthen the right flank so we can hang on, but had nonetheless started some games. I remember bemoaning his presence in early December (I think), after we've lost Sagna and had to stick to Carl for the games against Napoli (0-2) and Everton (1-1). I thought at the time that we would have fared better with Sagna starting these games, but a week after we played the Toffees Sagna was available and we got smashed by City. Oh, and let's not forget our back-up right-back scored his first goal this season, so he's definitely got potential to make a step-up. Not next season, though.

Bacary Sagna. The model of consistency. Once again had a great season, showed his ability to play at any defensive position and got that piece of silverware for his efforts. Unfortunately, Bacary hasn't agreed new terms with us and it's unlikely he will between now and July 1st. The Frenchman seems to be leaving to play for Manchester City and I'm not going to hold it against him. Unlike Clichy, Nasri, Toure and Adebayor he's leaving at 31 and I can understand why he does it. It's about the money, the money we cannot afford to pay him and, as it's likely to be his last professional contract, I have no problem with it. The best of luck to the Frenchman, he's had seven great years with us and got that trophy at the end.

Phew, that's it for today. I'll be back Monday with a review of our midfield.

Until then

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