Jack in the box

Hello everyone.

The last couple of days saw an interesting discussion spring: the role of Jack Wilshere in this current team. Does he have any role to play, where does he fit in if so, and what should be done if City comes knocking on our door in the summer? A couple of articles from Gunnerblog, some heated discussions on Twitter and I've made up my mind on the matter.

Does Jack have a role to play?

Or, if we paraphrase it, what can Jack do that others cannot? What are the qualities that make him stand out? What is his edge over Cazorla and/or Ramsey?

I believe Jack has at least two very important qualities: his dribbling ability and his undying love for the Club.

Let's take a closer look at the first. I believe his knack to take on defenders head-on is unparallelled. I think that in this regard, he's the best at Arsenal.

I don't mean to say his close-quarters control is superior to Cazorla's or Ozil's. I solely focus on Jack's ability to carry the ball past defenders and between the lines. Watching the Chelsea game I thought this was precisely what we lacked: we had enough quality passers on the field, but not enough, ahem, dribblers. As a result, we tried to pass it around Chelsea's organised defense. Defense which was set up to counter exactly that.

And don't scream "Cazorla" at me. I have watched the Spaniard all season and know he hasn't got a nickname "little magician" for nothing. Santi is great for getting out of tight spots. Much like Oxlade. But when there's space in front of him, the Spaniard will prefer to play a one-two or make any other pass. He rarely tries to get past a defender with a skill move.

Ozil prefers another option entirely. He tries drawing defenders to himself and then passes the ball to a teammate to both continue the move and cut off several opposition players. If there's a player between the lines, Ozil will find him. If the German is without the ball, but there's space between the lines, he'll attack it. Indeed, much of his work is work in grey zones, work without the ball. That's why his influence is hard to measure. We only know how to measure on-ball actions. Closer to the point, though, and Ozil isn't the type of player to take defenders head-on. He has neither the pace, nor the physique, although Mesut put on some muscle recently.

Rosicky is the only player in the squad to possess Jack's ability, but the Czech is 34 doesn't get playing time and can leave in the summer. I'd even go as far as to say he is likely to leave. Which will break my heart, but it's another story entirely.

Where does Jack fit in?

Having sufficiently answered (I hope) the first question, I'm going to try and answer the second. For whom the bell tolls should Arsene decide to reinstate Jack?

We can safely say it's not Coquelin. Though Hodgson deployed Jack in a deeper position, the national team and Arsenal are very different. In their set-up, game plan, resources, style and, most importantly, opposition and manager. Wilsh may do fine for England, but he won't do as well for us in deeper position. For now, he has neither the discipline, nor the humility to stay away from the action and be content to just tackle and intercept. Besides, we have a ready-made product in Coquelin, who does that job outstandingly. Making him play second fiddle to Wilshere is both stupid and unnecessary. And risky, we may lose some points while Jack will be learning his trade in a new position.

We can also assume it's not Ozil Jack will be looking to displace. Though Arsene shunted Mesut wide to accommodate Jack centrally earlier in the campaign, I'm quite sure the Frenchman won't do it again. His decision was (at the time) dictated by a need to play Ozil into form while also trying to get the Ramsey-Wilshere partnership to gel. The latter part hasn't really worked, though there may be hope for it yet.  Then again, Ozil has been brilliant since his return, bagged a player of the month award and is on course to bag a second.

Besides, Jack is not your typical playmaker. Ozil is. Mesut is always on the lookout for a perfect pass. Remember his Reading pass? Of course you do. He is selfless to the hilt, just think back when he tried to play Walcott in against West Ham instead of shooting himself. Jack is unlikely to do that, though his passing ability is impeccable. Wilshere is just not that type of player, despite spotting number 10 on his back. He'll try to carry the ball himself.

This leads me to the only plausible conclusion: Jack is fighting for a place with Cazorla and Ramsey. Overtaking either will be hard, though not impossible. Cazorla has hit 30 and rumours persist he may leave. Whether it's this summer (no, God, please, no!), next, or in a couple of years, Jack has time to simply wait Santi out. It's not like the Spaniard will play all games anyway.

With Ramsey it gets harder. Jack and Aaron are approximately the same age, however they do the same things in a different way. Ramsey plays more without the ball, Jack with it. Jack's way into the team may be Aaron's patchy form. I think you will agree with me there's not much between Ramsey and Wilshere in terms of quality and so both can edge it.

What if City comes knocking?

It doesn't necessarily have to be them, but you get the idea. I've brought up City cause they have their homegrown quota to worry about. They can with the same success come knocking for Walcott or even Gibbs.

The question in essence remains, however. Do we sell Jack is someone offers a lot of hard cash? I'd say no. We are no longer in a position where we have to sell our players to make a profit. Arsene himself confirmed it.

There may arise another problem. What if Wilshere wants a raise next summer? His contact runs out in two years. Next summer only 12 months will remain. I think next year will be crucial for Jack. If he plays regularly, if he fulfils his enormous potential, if he pins down a regular spot in the team, give him a raise. On the merit of his performances. If he doesn't perform, well...we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

But I won't sell him this summer. Not for all the money in the world. He's our player, he provides depth and genuine quality and he loves the Club. And Arsene loves him. I'm sure he'll give Jack all the chances in the world. If he kept Diaby that long, Jack will stick around till the cows come home. Unless something extraordinary happens, Jack should be here next season at the very least.

Righto, enough said. Voice your opinions in the comment section below.

Cheers

Arseneal 0-0 Chelsea: a decent point

Arsenal's winning streak came to an end yesterday after our attempts to break down Chelsea's defense proved fruitless. And look, it's not the worst way to end our run: we battled a point from the inevitable champions, while dominating the Blues in territory and possession. Yes, the result plays into Mourinho's hands more than into Arsene's, however, our chances of catching up always looked slim, even more so after Chelsea managed to grind out all three points against United. But I maintain yesterday’s draw can prove very valuable to us in the end.

Arsenal are now joint third, two points above United and level with City. But we have a home game against Sunderland in hand. Not a bad place to be in, considering the way our campaign kicked off.

Much like against Burnley, though for different reasons entirely, not much actual football happened during the 90 minutes, so I'll just concentrate on points of interest.

The squad

Arsene named an unchanged side from his previous two PL games. Mertesacker was deemed fit and was reinstated straight away, Bellerin was preferred to Debuchy and Rambo had another outing on the right.

And all these players had a very good game. Mertesacker was solid throughout, dominating the air completely even after Drogba came on.

Ramsey, though by no means a winger, played nicely. Some of his lovely flicks kept our attacks ticking under difficult circumstances and his all-round game was much better than against Burnley.

The Welshman looked better still when moved infield for the remaining ten minutes of the game. I especially enjoyed his ability to run past defenders with the ball, when Cazorla and Ozil struggled to do that all game. Aaron greatly reminded me of Wilshere in that regard.

Finally, Bellerin for Debuchy. While it's not indicative of anything just yet, it was interesting to set the Spaniard get the nod. Does that mean he has become our number 1 or was it just because Debuchy needed a rest after playing 120 minutes against Reading? We'll have our answer next week.

And if the scales are tipped in Bellerin's favour, I won't be worried in the slightest. Hector had a brilliant game. Much like Coquelin, he has proved indispensable since the turn of the year. Both demonstrated consistency and ability to cope with whatever opposition, so I won't lose any sleep should Bellerin win the race for that right-back spot. When a man keeps the player of the year in his pocket for the entire game, then he's ready to play week in, week out.

Mesut Ozil

While not MoM for me (Bellerin stole the show), the German is definitely my pick for player of the month. Even yesterday, when space was scarce and goalscoring opportunities hard to come by, Mesut created three chances, made 107 touches (most any on-pitch player mastered) and completed 71 out of 76 passes. Instrumental.

Yes, he missed that late chance. I have to see the replays again, but I think shooting was never on Ozil's mind. He tried a dummy in the hopes of Welbeck ticking it away, so I'd sooner blame Welbeck than Ozil.

Henry's remarks

"I think Giroud is doing extremely well. But can you win the league with him? I wouldn't think so".

"He does a job, and he does it ever so well, but you can't win the league.

"Arsenal were at the top of the league last season, but everyone was saying they are not going win the league.

"I think they need to buy four players - they need that spine. They need a goalkeeper, they still need a centre back, they still need a holding midfielder and, I'm afraid, they need a top, top quality striker to win this league again.

"He [Arsene Wenger] has to do it. You need to have this competitive thing within the group - to win the league, that has to happen."

"Players need to perform, also. I will single out Mesut Ozil. Against a top-four team, that was his eighth game today - zero goals and two assists," he added.

"That is not enough. Overall, since he has been at Arsenal, he has 14 assists. You look at Cesc Fabregas, he has 16 assists in one season. Players at one point need to perform."

What a load of bollocks. Forgive me, but it's true. And it makes me very sad to see Henry a) jumping on the bandwagon b) expressing common opinion without giving it much thought or analysis. Let me dissect this steaming pile of, erm, dung.

First up, Giroud. Only a week ago Henry was hailing the Frenchman, one game later, a game, in which Giroud was denied space, marked by two to three defenders at a time and basically devoid of service and wham! Suddenly Giroud had become not good enough for Henry. Let's just ignore the fact he played against one of the most organised defenses in the world and forget about 18 goals in 28 games, shall we?

I won't dwell on Mesut Ozil. His contribution goes far beyond goals and assists, yesterday he was among the best performers anyway and if Henry fails to see it, then I guess he should reconsider being a pundit. Or Sky should ask themselves a question why this man is being paid millions when he struggles to see the obvious.

Finally, "the spine of the team".

Goalkeeper

Let me make myself perfectly clear: if an opportunity to snatch up someone like Lloris comes along, then I'd sell Szczesny in a heartbeat. But the newcomer will have to earn his place, in my opinion. Ospina has done nothing wrong. If Szczesny stays, then no, we don't need a new keeper.

Centre-back

The acquisitions of Gabriel and Chambers combined with Mertesacker's top performance yesterday should have flown under Thierry's radar, otherwise he wouldn't have said we need another defender.

We'll only need one if Mert leaves. And the new guy should be behind at least Gabriel in the pecking order, maybe even Chambers. So even if BFG departs, the need won't be very pressing.

Screening midfielder

As back-up to Coquelin, we probably need one. As long as Arteta leaves. Otherwise, we don't. Haven't Henry been paying attention to how well Coq played? That he is, indeed, statistically superior to ANY screener in the BPL? Or does Henry only bring up the numbers when they confirm what he says?

Striker

Just read my article.  We don't (and we most likely won't) buy a striker. It will signal an end to either Akpom's or Sanogo's career, greatly diminish Welbeck's chances, consign a brilliant Giroud to the bench and may even affect Sanchez.

Oh, about Sanchez. Thierry remembers we still have the Chilean? Maybe he also remembers Sanchez was bought AS A CENTRE FORWARD?

Regarding what Wenger should or shouldn't do. Thierry has been under the Frenchman's guidance long enough to know better than advising Arsene. Wenger always does things his way, he never buys for the sake of buying and he rarely listens to anyone else's opinion. For better or for worse, that's just how he is.

Thierry's comments deeply sadden me. Mostly because I love the man for everything he's done at, and for, Arsenal. From what I've seen and heard so far, he's been pretty average at punditry. Just the other day I said that, while he may turn out to be an average pundit, at least he's on our side. That he'll shield Arsene and his players from (often unjust) criticism on TV. And here we are. Henry criticizing the players, the manager and just basically jumping on the bandwagon. Without looking at a broader picture, without saying anything new or exciting. What a shame.

Final thoughts

I've seen a healthy portion of criticism aimed at how we weren't good enough to win the game and I find it strange. You can't realistically expect the team to win every game, and it's not like we've suffered a humiliating loss yesterday. We got a point against soon-to-be-champions by demonstrating some maturity and determination. The way Chelsea celebrated the draw tells you who was closer to winning the game.

As I said, it can turn out to be a valuable point indeed, so I see no need to chastise the team for the performance or, indeed, the result. Leave it to the TV pundits.

Have yourselves a good week

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Chelsea preview: not for the title

This review will contain very little it terms of actual team news and possible line-ups for Sunday. These have been brilliantly covered by Andrea and Tim  already, so I decided to focus on something else entirely. Bear with me.

This year I've witnessed a rather unusual and, therefore, interesting phenomenon. I'm not even talking about 2014-2015 season, I'm only taking the 2015 calendar year into consideration.

And this phenomenon is the first of such kind in my memory of supporting Arsenal (the period which stretches over a decade). Namely: I've witnessed a change in narrative. For almost ten years the media hailed City, United and Chelsea in varying degrees. City's successes have been rather peripheral over the said period. I'd even go as far as so say they have hugely underachieved given their resources.

United did a much better job of staying media's darlings: for 7-8 years which saw us decline and before Ferguson retired United were dominant in the Premier League. Arsenal has last been in the mix for the Premier League crown in 2004-2005. After that we have (until last season) been forced to put up with financial restraints and our primary goal was to just stay in the top 4.

In 2006 Mourinho quit (or was fired from, depending on who you believe) Chelsea and the two-year stint of Chelsea's domination drew to a close. United, led by Sir Alex Ferguson made their grand entrance and from 2006 till 2013 have won 5 (!) titles, only losing to Chelsea in 2010 and going out to City on goal difference in 2012. In 2013 Ferguson retired on a high, leading United to their 20th title, 13 of which happened to be under Sir Alex's guidance.

In the summer of 2013 Mourinho returned to Chelsea and it was the lowlight of that summer. Words cannot describe how I hate the man. Whilst acknowledging his achievements, I reserve my right to hate him on a purely basic level as a disgusting person and human being.

The media, however, were drooling over the return of the Portuguese. I can see two reasons for this: 1) he was (and still is) regarded by many as a great tactician and a successful manager 2) his persona and personality were much needed to fill the void left by Sir Alex's retirement. And so the media embraced Mourinho.

Fast-forward one-and-a-half year and the landscape has changed. Despite the Portuguese being on course to win his first title after coming back, media's wankfest (forgive me) has dwindled down significantly. The reason? But of course, the Portuguese himself.

Or rather, his nasty temper coupled with a thoroughly unattractive style of football. The first seeds of media's growing tired of Mourinho's antics can be tracked as far back as October. I can pinpoint the exact date, if you like - October 5th. It was the day Arsenal lost to Chelsea at Stamford. For me this will be remembered as the day we stood up to Chelsea on the pitch. Despite playing without several key players like Giroud, Arteta and Debuchy (and with a half-dead Ozil), it took Chelsea a penalty and a late goal when we opened up to snatch up the points, the points, dare I say, they didn't deserve. We were the better team on the day and, were it not for two moments of brilliance from Hazard and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named respectively, we would have at least got a point.

But we didn't and it was easy to see how the media could have continued with their usual tune of "Mourinho's a tactical genius, Wenger is still to win against Jose etc. etc.". To my immense surprise, the media took our side (if we exclude rags like Daily Fail). At the very least, their cries weren't as loud and pronounced as before. Mourinho's despicable behaviour prior to that game definitely played a part. He carried on in his usual fashion after that and by February articles like this began to surface. Then, a week before Chelsea hosted United, Jeremy Wilson came out with an article on how Arsenal can overtake Chelsea. Whilst acknowledging the possibility of that was slim to say the least, I noticed something that I liked: the media was ready to cheer for Arsenal, unlikely as it seemed we could win the title. Because cheering for Chelsea became unbearable even for them.

These wounds are self-inflicted. Mourinho's constant dissatisfaction, name-calling and throwing toys out of the pram is finally turning the public opinion against him. Even a section of Chelsea's fans is discontent to see "Zouma and Terry head the ball away for 90 minutes, given the wealth of attacking talent at Mourinho's disposal). They say you cannot force change, that it should come naturally. That people will embrace it when the time is right. And the time looks to have come. The stage is set for us to beat Chelsea on Sunday and reap the rewards. Here's why else we should do it.

It will boost our chances to finish second immensely

The most obvious reason. Seeing as United didn't get anything out of their match against Chelsea, the Red Devils still trail us by a point having played a game more. That means if we beat Chelsea and then win our game in hand, we'll be at least 4 points ahead of United, meaning even a loss away at Old Trafford will keep us above them. There's a small problem, however, as our game in hand actually comes AFTER we face United, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

It will complete our personal "big teams' scalps" collection

This season saw us turn a decisive point in our development as a team: we've learnt to adapt to our opponent. We now have several plans going into the game, can fall back on several formations and have enough quality players to carry out any plan Wenger is willing to utilise. This has led to us approaching games against City, United and Liverpool in three completely different fashions and come out on top in all three. Beating Chelsea will put to bed any remaining doubts about our ability to beat big teams.

Chelsea are a bunch of frauds waiting to be exposed

In three months Chelsea haven't won a single game by more than a one-goal margin. They still have 6 wins in 9 games, but I think you quite clearly remember the manner in which they've beaten Hull, Stoke and QPR. United game is another story entirely. The Red Devils had 70% possession and took 15 shots to Chelsea's 7. And look, given Chelsea's long track record of parking a double decker in away games against big teams, this would have been perfectly understandable. I am myself the advocate of such measures when they bring about the desired effect. When we had under 40% possession against Liverpool and City away I didn't complain. We took 4 points out of two tough fixtures and could have taken all 6. Didn't work against Tottenham, but again there was no reason to complain. We had a plan, sometimes these doesn't work. It's football.

But there's one small niggle regarding that Chelsea-United game: Chelsea played at home. At Stamford Bridge, in front of their fans. Sure, they were devoid of Costa and Remy, however, they still had Oscar, Willian, Quadrado (ahem), Hazard and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And they got men behind the ball, were totally dominated in terms of territory and possession and it was mostly down to luck that they got the points.

No doubt they'll play the 7-3-0 at the Emirates even if Costa or Remy make it. I want us to beat them comprehensively not the least because of that. I have a feeling we would beat them in a fair end-to-end fight, except that they won't play fair, therefore we'll have to exercise caution and not throw men forward. I'll even be content if Arsene decides to give Jose some of his own medicine by parking the bus and inviting Chelsea. Only we all know it's not the Wenger way and I'm happy it isn't.

That's it for now. Keeping fingers crossed we'll do what needs to be done on Sunday.

Come on you Gunners.

Why we won't buy a striker this summer

"If you want a defender, you buy him, if you want a striker, you make him"

It's not the exact phrase Wenger once used, but the idea is the same. However, we shouldn't extrapolate it and assume that by "making a striker" Arsene meant only academy graduates. In fact, I do not remember when was the last time a striker coming through our academy made the grade at senior level.

On the other hand, take a look at the strikers we had in the last decade. When was the last time Wenger bought a ready-made product? Even the great Henry was a winger at the outset. Van Persie too was a winger.

True, our target-men came in as centre-forwards. Bendtner, Chamakh and Giroud were all brought in as such, however, all of them were far from finished articles upon joining. Reyes and Alexis stand out, but I have a very fleeting impression of the Spaniard to pass judgement, while Alexis has so far played around 5 games as a CF. They have something in common, though: both were young when they joined. Things didn't quite work out with Reyes, but I have a feeling Sanchez is not viewed by Wenger as someone who doesn't need further guidance in his development.

Way I see it, by saying that "we make strikers" Arsene rather meant that he buys raw material to work with. He buys a young player (or a player in the early stages of his development) and then converts him into a forward or shapes his style of play to suit the team. It's a long process, but one which brings about the desired effect.

With summer fast approaching, more and more often I hear cries how we desperately need a "world class" striker to challenge. Names like Benzema and Cavani are thrown around. Arsenal fans say we need someone like Henry, but are quick to forget that Arsene made Henry into a goalscoring machine. Thierry was bought at 20 years of age and, as I've stated above, he was bought as a winger, not a forward.

I won't be at all surprised if Wenger doesn't buy a forward this summer. In fact, I'll be hugely surprised if he does. To my mind we already have the personnel we need. Let's take a look at these unsung heroes.

Olivier Giroud

The Frenchman upped his game drastically this year. In his debut season he scored only 17 goals in 47 games. His second saw a slight improvement: 22 goals, but it's important to keep in mind he played 51 games and started 46 of those (he only started 33 in his first season, thus Ollie played considerably less then. He has actually gone back in terms of goals-per-minute ratio).

This season he has already netted 18 times in just 28 appearances. And look at the variety. He scored with his left, with his right, with his head. From inside the box and from outside. Against big teams (and big teams away). His performances have been nothing short of brilliant this season.

And I think it's the result of hard work. Giroud's emergence as a clinical finisher is down to putting in real effort over two years. Arsene bought a striker with potential and converted him into a true forward in two years time. Right now Ollie has the best minutes-per-goal in the entire league. He bested Aguero, Costa, Kane etc. The Frenchman has become undroppable.

Danny Welbeck

“He can make himself a better player [here] because I can help him. He's a young boy, he's not 24 yet and let's not forget that some players who arrived here at the age of 23 made huge careers here so I hope we can contribute and help him.”

I think this phrase by Wenger kind of flew under the radar. But it really shouldn't have, because Arsene used it intentionally: both to take the pressure off the new signing and to focus everyone's attention on a simple fact Welbeck is not a complete package.

However, most seemed to have forgotten about this in a hurry. Danny is still learning his trade and even this year he showed noticeable signs of improvement.

The Englishman reminds me greatly of Giroud when Olivier just joined us. He possesses the raw ingredients to become great and he's only 24. I'm pretty certain that, in a year or two, Welbeck will become a true successor of the Frenchman. Moreover, I think he can become an even better striker, since he has that electric pace and is more dangerous with the ball at his feet.

Imagine Giroud with pace and the ability to dribble past opponents. That's what Welbeck can become and he can reach these heights by, say, 25. By the peak years. A mouthwatering prospect.

Chuba Akpom & Yaya Sanogo

Wenger puts a lot of stock in both these players. With Chuba he demonstrated it by offering a new five-year deal.

While with Sanogo we have seen something else, something Akpom might not yet be ready for. Namely: the Frenchman featured in some key games in 2013-2014. He started matches against Liverpool and Bayern, was thrown on in the Cup final and scored his only goal against Borussia, after getting a surprising nod ahead of Alexis Sanchez.

These are the sure signs Arsene rates his younger compatriot highly. Although Sanogo was subsequently shipped out on loan, for me he represents the next step after Welbeck.

We have a compete striker in Giroud, Welbeck on the brink of becoming one and then Sanogo and Akpom, one of whom will succeed Welbeck should all go well. I say "one of whom" because I don't think there's room for both.

They are approximately of the same age and more or less in the same development phase. So it's either one or the other.

The verdict

When I look at our strikers, I see a project in the works. And I don't think it's a coincidence. If everything goes according to Arsene's plan, we'll be stocked on strikers for ten years maybe.

Buying someone ready-made will disrupt this grand plan. And we all know how Wenger: a) likes to see his projects through b) much faith he puts in his players. So I'll be hugely surprised should someone come on this summer.

One last thing. I haven't mentioned Alexis Sanchez and where he fits in this picture. That's because I really don't think he does. He cannot perform the role of the target man and we've been reliant on a system involving a target man for maybe ten years. Bendtner, Chamakh and then Giroud. Van Persie looks an exception to me, an exception that only confirms the rule. So I don't think it's likely Wenger will abandon the existing model unless forced to.

Sanchez can become our plan B. But he's not your lone striker in a 4-1-4-1, at least not in the Premier League. He's a good winger, a decent CAM, just not a focal point like Giroud. The Chilean lacks the physicality, and the crucial (for us) ability to win aerial duels.

Right, enough said. Voice your opinions in the comments section below.

Cheers, and until later

Reading 1-2 Arsenal: into the final

That was nerve-racking. Much more than any of us would have liked. After the game I rushed for my validol. I know a couple of my friends who rushed to pubs or their secret alcohol stashes to ease the pressure.

But we made it into the final and, first and foremost, I want to clear up some points on the overall impression from the game. So here goes.

Some general waffle

I’ve seen quite a few Arsenal fans on Twitter complaining about the way we won the game. That it wasn’t a convincing gung-ho win over a supposedly much inferior opposition. To these guys I’ll quote Andrew Mangan (more commonly known as @arseblog):

“Firstly, I don’t think the changes to the team worked. Neither full back contributed a great deal to the play in general, and when you look at how Monreal and Bellerin have been playing recently that was certainly an area that weakened us.

Secondly, Reading played very well and tried to make it as hard as possible for us to play through them. Defensively they were very well organised and switched on. And thirdly, the occasion played a part. It was a semi-final and in my memory of watching this club, I can’t ever remember an easy game at this stage of the competition, regardless of the opposition. “

I’ll discuss the first point he made separately, for now I want to concentrate on the second and third.

In my opinion, Reading deserves huge credit for the way they played. They fought from the first minute to the last and, despite coming up relatively short on the offensive side (they only had three moments: the goal, the saved shot and the two-on-one against Koscielny), their defensive performance was nothing short of admirable. It wasn’t the “parking bus” performance, no, but Reading were hugely effective at their thing. They went into the game with a plan and executed it perfectly. Hats off.

And secondly, there are no easy games in the FA Cup semi-final. Andrew Mangan has been supporting the Club much longer than I have, so when he says that even the Invincibles never had an easy ride, well, that’s saying something. There are simply no pushovers at this stage. No one can “accidentally” make it into the last four.

And now, onto some less general points.

Martin Twatkinson, the ref

After some decent showings from referees (I still remember how godly Michael Oliver was in our 2-1 win against United), I started to forget how inept English referees are. Yesterday I was reminded about that.

He didn’t make any really costly decisions, no. We may have actually been cut a break when Debuchy’s handball went unnoticed. But to say the ref controlled the game would be very far off the mark.

Our players were bullied all over the pitch. Every one of our players (Debuchy included. Fresh from injury, mind you. Had someone broken him in his debut game, I would have gone through the roof) got his share. The extent varied, but one thing is sure: we’ve lost Mertesacker. He limped off with an ankle injury, one which is likely to keep him out of action for the remainder of the season.

And the ref allowed the bullying. Disgusting.

The changes

Apart from Debuchy, our changes didn’t work. Szczesny and Gibbs were at fault for the goal. The former had little to do apart from the goal, the latter was crap all-around. His passes didn’t connect, I do not recall him making a single good cross and Reading got in theirs from our left-hand side. Welbeck was just invisible while he was on.

I’ve already said a couple of times Wenger likes one romping and one conservative full-back. Bellerin and Monreal were such. Debuchy is conservative, so playing him with Gibbs (romping) made sense. Or, rather, it would have made sense, had Debuchy been fully ready and Gibbs was not utter shite all-around.

Wenger wanted to give Debuchy a run-out before we face Chelsea? I can understand that. What I cannot understand is why neither Chambers nor Bellerin made the bench. Furthermore, all theories should go to hell when it’s obvious Gibbs is out of form. Play your in-form guy, play Monreal. If that means two conservative full-backs, so be it.

I don’t want to see Chezza or Gibbs start in the final. Both did nothing to displace Ospina and Monreal and there’s no room for rotation or sentiment in the final. You should just play your best XI there. And ours doesn’t include either Szczesny or Gibbs.

You’ll say I have double standards. That I was fine with playing Fabianski in the final last year despite Szczesny being our number 1. And to this I’ll say: Fabianski deserved his place last year. He showed with his performances against Tottenham, Coventry, Everton, Liverpool and especially Wigan that he’s up for it. Szczesny did nothing of the sort and only United posed a real threat.

You can read more on why it was wrong to rotate yesterday here.

Width, goddamn width to our play

Like it was against Burnley, we couldn’t stretch the play. Alexis did his best on the left, but wasn’t sufficiently helped by Gibbs, our right flank was dead.

Why? Because Aaron Ramsey is not a winger and Debuchy didn’t want to get exposed and roam upfield. To his credit, I think he did admirably defensively, however, our attacking game suffered. Without Oxlade, Bellerin and (for the most part) even Walcott our flank was lifeless.

Wenger doesn’t want to shift Ozil wide? Understandable. Arsene prefers Santi to Ramsey in a deeper position? I’m fine with that. Then bench Ramsey and play someone who’s a winger, or at least closer to being a winger.

My personal pick (with Oxlade out) would be Theo. He improved things offensively yesterday after coming. He has nearly won us a penalty. Wenger fears Walcott won’t track back? Play a defender who’ll manage the defensive stuff on his own. Debuchy or Chambers. For obvious reasons it would be highly risky to play Bellerin behind Theo.

Or play someone else on the wing. Wilshere, Rosicky, Gnabry maybe. Just not Ramsey.

Ozil and Sanchez

These guys won us the match. Ozil completed 100 out of his 114 passes, created 9 chances (set the new record in the FA Cup’s history) and bagged two assists. Everything good that happened yesterday was because Ozil was on the pitch.

Sanchez, well, what can you say? He took us into the final with his two goals. These were his 21st and 22nd goals respectively. Alexis is only the third player in Arsenal’s history to score 20+ goals in his debut season, behind Ian Wright (30) and Thierry Henry (26). Five more and Alexis leapfrogs the great Frenchman:

“He has made a fantastic contribution this season. He looked to struggle a little bit to get into the game but he has that stubborn resilience and that individual potential that allows him to always create something special. He gave that again today.I'd hate to see the damage Alexis would cause if he did get into the game."

Final thoughts

Those who say we didn’t deserve to get through should watch the game again. 23 shots and 72% possession suggest otherwise. Were it now for Federeci, who made some brilliant saves from Gabriel and Ramsey, to name a few, the game would have ended in normal time. Why is it that opposition goalkeepers always have a game of their lives against us?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that we’ll play in the final. And there we’ll face Aston Villa, who has beaten Liverpool. Thank God we avoided that “Steven Gerrard’s birthday is on the Cup’s final day” narrative.

Now, what did she wear?

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