My top ten moments as a Gunner (2005-2015)

In what is essentially a follow-up to Gary’s worst 10 moments, I decided to liven things up with my BEST 10 moments. Keep in mind I can only talk about those I’ve seen with my own eyes, so I’ll only cover the period from 2005 onwards. I’ll list them in chronological order. Hope you’ll enjoy the ride!

FA Cup final: Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United (5-4 on pens)

Two moments still stand out for me: Arsenal had a dire attacking performance due to being injury-stricken (no Gilberto and Henry, while Wiltord left the Gunners a year earlier) and backs-to-the-wall defending with some brilliant Lehmann saves.

We had to rely on Bergkamp leading the line alone (I think it was his last official game for the Club), a young Robin van Persie and Jose Antonio Reyes who failed to adapt. So Arsene did the very unusual thing for him and set out not to concede. In a cup final against Manchester United with the likes of Ronaldo, Keane and Giggs all still on top form.

And it worked. Lehmann bailed us out of trouble time and again, before finally saving a penalty from Scholes in the shoot-out. Viera cooly converted his spot-kick (his last game for the Club too) and won our only trophy for the next 9 years.

2006 Champions League run

Yes, I know we lost it in the end and I still fear we missed our best chance of winning the trophy on that night in Paris, but hear me out. As a fan who has just started supporting the Club witnessing Arsenal overpower European giants time and again by relying on a rock-solid defense and a brilliant keeper was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Lehmann set a record that season, a record which hasn’t been bested still, of stringing together 10 clean sheets. Ha came close to 1000 minutes without conceding a goal before being sent off in the final.

Nonetheless it was a joy to watch. Our Invincible squad was still mostly intact (Viera and Bergkamp) exempting, but we were hit hard by injuries and got to the final playing a back four of Eboue, Senderos, Toure and Flamini, with Henry also swinging in and out the squad. And yet we made it to the final, beating Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal (thank you, Jens!) in the process. It was the first time Arsenal reached semi-finals and the final itself.

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona (2011)

I watched that game while on winter vacation in Thailand. The TV was old, but it worked properly and showed the thing I couldn’t have missed: the last sixteen tie against Barcelona. Our squad was still pretty shambolic at that stage: only Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie and, to a lesser extent, Arshavin and Rosicky were up to scratch against the mighty Catalans. Oh, and let’s not forget about Jack Wilshere. Walcott was injured (I think), Arshavin and Rosicky started the game on the bench.

The first half was all Barca. They pressed, played their tika-taka and went in front through David Villa. However in the second half Arsenal mounted an unlikely comeback. Van Persie struck on the 78th minute from an unbelievably tight angle, while Arshavin (who entered the fray ten minutes prior to our equaliser) took his chance from a swift counter attack. 2-1, and an Arsenal side with Eboue, Senderos and Koscielny (in his debut season) came out on top against the overwhelming favourites.

Arsenal 1-0 Leeds United (2012)

Just a 3rd round FA Cup game on the face of it. But I’m sure you all understand why I brought this game up: it marked the return of the King.

That’s right, Thierry Henry made his grand entrance that night. After Gervinho went to play at the African Cup of Nations, we needed cover in attack. Thierry Henry was training with the team during that period, as he always did ahead of a new season in MLS. The season wasn’t bound to begin for a few more months, so Arsene asked Red Bulls’ permission to loan Thierry. They did not object.

And so Thierry Henry was introduced to the proceedings in the 68th minute, after we couldn’t break Leeds down. It took him only ten minutes to score, something he did in his usual fashion: by cutting in from the left and slotting the ball into the far corner. I will say no more, just leave you with this video:

Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal (2013)

We made an utter mess in our home game at the Emirates (sounds familiar?) and went into the game as complete underdogs, needing to either win 3-1 to take the game into extra time or win by three goals. At the Allianz Arena. It was a monumental task for three reasons:

1. Bayern were having a bloody good campaign both domestically and in Europe. They haven’t conceded twice in one game for God knows how long
2. No one in Europe managed to beat Bayern at their turf by two goals
3. Our campaign was on a negative spiral (I believe that’s the phrase, Andre?) We have just lost to Tottenham, 4th was slipping out of our reach. On top of all that, our first-choice keeper (Szczesny) and our captain (Vermaelen) were abysmal. Both were dropped for that game (Szczesny was suspended, truth be told)

Our plan was to score a quick goal and then shut shop. We did just that. Giroud scored from a Walcott pass in the 3rd minute, Fabianski produced a brilliant performance between the sticks and then Koscielny headed home in the 86th minute. Bayern were scared out of their wits at that point and kept the ball at the corner flag for the remainder of the game.

Topping the table in 2013-2014

No one expected us to do that. Yes, we signed Mesut Ozil (Ya Gunners Ya), but still the form we demonstrated was out of this world good. Ramsey was phenomenal, Ozil was phenomenal, our back 5 (Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs and Szczesny) was phenomenal.

We won 17, drew 4 and lost only 3 games (the first loss came in the first game). We deservedly were at the top till early February, at one stage 5 points clear of 2nd-placed City (or was it Chelsea?). Unfortunately, injuries to Ozil, Giroud and Ramsey sent our season to kingdom come, however, a nice surprise was awaiting the fans at the end.

Winning the FA Cup in 2014

We had a very tough run and the toughest games were the ones everyone thought were a bit easier: Wigan and Hull. Before that we had to take down Tottenham, Liverpool (with rampaging Suarez and Sturridge) and Everton in brilliant form.

Then we almost lost it against Wigan (thank you, Per Mertesacker!), before mounting an almighty comeback against Hull in the final. Two goals down inside 8 minutes, Gibbs header off the line and then Cazorla’s free-kick. Koscielny equalised from a corner deep into the second half, before we finally broke down a stubborn Hull side with a little help from Ollie Giroud and man-of-the-season Aaron Ramsey. Watching a happy (and completely soaked in champagne) Arsene lift the cup still brings a smile to my face.

Signing Alexis Sanchez (2014)

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, not Mesut Ozil. Why? The answer is simple: while I knew Ozil was a great player, I haven’t really seen much of him prior to his switch. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t calm down for a week when we snatched Ozil on deadline day, but Sanchez represented something more.

The Chilean's capture confirmed Ozil was not a lucky bounce. It showed we really are capable of signing world-class players from the biggest clubs in Europe. Furthermore, I was watching Alexis Sanchez play all June for Chile and dreamed of us getting him. What a player, I thought. If only we could sign him…

And then we did sign him. Even before Germany were crowned champions. Sanchez went on to have a massive campaign, almost instantly becoming a favourite among the fans for his sheer passion, hunger and desire to succeed. What a man.

Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal (2015)

That fateful night we lifted the curse of Old Trafford. We lifted it in the best way possible: by dominating a toothless United side throughout. Monreal scored a typical Arsenal goal after Oxlade danced through Red Devils defense. Rooney’s header cancelled our goal goal out, however.

Then Welbeck stepped up. Pouncing on an underhit backpass from Valencia, he rounded off De Gea and slotted the ball into the empty net, before celebrating with gusto. The irony of a player who Van Gaal named “not up to scratch” knocking out your team still makes me sneer.

FA Cup success in 2015

We had once again made it to the final, though our route was easier than last time around. However, I’ll remember that win for the emphatic performance in the final itself.

We dominated the entire game, with Aston Villa failing to record a single shot on target. Meanwhile, we scored four goals, Sanchez screamer standing out among them. One success in the cup can be coincidence, two consecutive trophies are not: Arsenal is back.

Wrapping it up

That’s it, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you enjoyed re-living these moments with me. I know I did. Share your own best moments in the comment section below.

Cheers!

Arsene has rediscovered his ruthless touch and it's good to know

Hello everyone.

It’s been a while since I last wrote. Unfortunately, it’ll be the case for the entire month of July, as I’ve decided to gain a bit of working experience and thus took up work as an intern for a firm providing legal services. Ah well, I guess I had to do it at some point. Not that I regret the decision, far from it, the whole experience just drains me and leaves little desire or energy for anything else.

However, back to Arsenal matters and the euphoria from us signing Petr Cech still hasn’t died down. For a couple of days (Monday and Tuesday) my timeline was unreadable: it was a big chunk of Cech happiness. A nice change from the usual scepticism about our acquisitions in the summer transfer window.

Comparisons are now made how the last two times Arsenal signed a world-class goalkeeper (David Seaman in 1990 and Jens Lehmann in 2003 respectively) we went on to win the league title next season, losing just one game in 91-92 and none in 03-04. Make no mistake: Cech is world-class. He averaged 15 clean sheets in a season for the last 11 seasons, has a save percentage of 78% in his last three campaigns. He has also won everything there was to win at Club level with Chelsea and set the new record for most clean sheets in the BPL.

However, I’ve come to treat stats with caution. For example, David Ospina’s save percentage over his last two seasons is 83-84% (that includes his season with Nice, Arsenal and two international tournaments), yet few are convinced he is the long-term answer. As we can see, even Arsene is unconvinced, so much so he went out and bought Cech. It probably signals the end to Ospina’s career, unless the Colombian suddenly changes his mind and decides he wants to play back-up to Cech. Seems unlikely to me, so farewell David Ospina. You can read my tribute to him here.

So while I still consider Cech world-class based not only on his stats but also his performances for Chelsea, I’ll do the unthinkable and judge him on his performances for us. Also his attitude, which I quite liked from the bits I’ve seen, like this classy interview. Watch it. Finally, I think Cech’s experience will be hugely beneficial to our back four. It is much easier playing behind a commanding and calm goalkeeper.

What makes this signing even more pleasing, is that Arsene got one over Mourinho, who explicitly said Cech left against his wishes. Isn’t that delicious. Mourinho refused to sanction the deal, he told he’d rather Cech rot on the bench than join rivals from PL. So Cech went over Maureen’s head and Abramovich sanctioned the move, something that Cech confirmed in his farewell letter. Now Mourinho has gone bonkers publicly, saying he believes Chelsea made a mistake in letting Cech come to Arsenal, made it abundantly clear again he was against it & said he hopes such a thing never happens in the future.

Get this: he basically went on record and accused Abramovich of making a decision he disagreed with. The Russian oligarch was soft-hearted enough to grant Cech his wish, however I doubt he’ll be as lenient towards his employees when they so publicly go against him. It’ll be interesting to see how this one develops. Abramovich didn’t hesitate to fire Mourinho once, I’m sure he won’t hesitate to do it again.

However, I’m writing this article not so much as to laud Cech as a player and a person. I’m not even writing this to glee about Mourinho’s lividness and his obvious strained relationship with Mr. Abramovich, though whatever makes Maureen angry makes me happy. Rather, I detect signs of ruthlessness from Arsene Wenger. Ones that started to become evident last summer, after Wenger signed Debuchy and Chambers and shipped Jenkinson out on loan. Arsene recognised Jenko wasn’t good enough for the here and now, so he went and bought two players. While Chambers’ stock will only rise with the years, Debuchy’s won’t. A player who we bought for 12 million pounds will have little to no re-sell value when his contract expires.

Sounds familiar? It should, because it’s exactly what Arsene did with Cech. Cech is 33, he’s a proven, world-class goalkeeper, but we bought him for roughly 10 million and by the time his current deal runs out (it is rumoured to run till 2019), he’ll be 37. Definitely in the twilight of his career, with hardly any re-sell value. I believe this thought was originally expressed by @Arseblog. In short, Arsene just spent 10 million he’ll never get back. And he’s done it for the good of the team, for it’s short-term future, for it to stand a real chance to challenge next season, not in 3-4 seasons.

Having done that, Arsene also ended a career of one of our current goalkeepers. most likely Ospina. After only a period of adaptation, very good season for Ospina too, one in which his mistakes were few and far between, Arsene is selling David. After just one season. An international goalkeeper 26 years of age.

He also very obviously leaves Szczesny on the bench and Martinez still waiting in the wings. He basically says: “I’ve brought in a class act and you lads watch and learn from him. We’ll see how it goes”. He has three goalkeepers: 26-year-old, 25-year-old and 23-year-old. Nonetheless he buys a 4th one and is intent on making him first-choice. This is what I call ruthless.

It’s not that Arsene hasn’t shown his ruthlessness in the period of financial abstinence. He benched Vermaelen and Szczesny in 2013 after the Tottenham debacle. These aren’t the only examples, just the most recent ones.

It doesn’t mean Arsene doesn’t trust his players, on the contrary: he gives them countless chances. It was also the case with Chezza and Verminator. It’s not that he doesn’t prefer his players to outside solutions. Every transfer window he states that he does, his words are usually back by his actions, when he refuses to buy and instead gives players like Ramsey a chance. This trust often pays off. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes Arsene reaches his inner limit.

He looks to have reached this one in January, after Szczesny’s weak display against Southampton. He benched the Pole, played Ospina in all the remaining league games and now bought Cech. Something tells me Arsene would have sold Woj, had Ospina expressed his desire to stay.

I have to say I like the ruthless Arsene Wenger. One which won't tolerate mediocrity and/or shortcomings of his players for only so long. One which can go and splash the cash on a player with no re-sell value in the future. One that addresses not only our long-term problems, but also our burning needs.

This deal is good from a footballing point of view, but it also sends out a message. That we can both nick players from our direct rivals and won’t give our current crop a carte blanche to do whatever they please and still remain on the books.

Roll on the new season

Our targets are slipping away...or were they our targets at all?

I'll tell you something you'd probably never believe: in a way, Twitter ruined me. Yes, I got the sense of not being alone by joining it and I'm happy I did. But there's a downside (isn't there always?): I now find it really hard to formulate a definitive opinion on something.

I like to call that phenomenon information overload: there are too many voices, facts, rumours on Twitter. Everyone has his own opinion, sometimes even his own agenda. Because of the excessive amount of information thrown at me, I (like everyone else on here, I guess) have two ways out: either change my opinion quite often, or stand firm whatever. Both aren't ideal options.

You'd be amazed, but there are a lot of things I haven't given much thought prior to joining Twitter. For example, I have never doubted that Wenger is the man to lead us forward. Funny thing is, if someone asked me why, I'd struggle for an answer. Maybe because I haven't known Arsenal without Arsene and was scared of change. Most likely I'd say I had an inner feeling that Arsene is the best man for job.

But I'm getting sidetracked here. The reason I'm writing this article is not to wax lyrical on some rhetorical question: rather, I wanted to discuss the concept of buying players. Fear not, I won't wander into the transfer rumours territory. Rather, I'll try to explain why all Arsenal fans shouldn't do it and why we shouldn't clamour for players only to subsequently be disappointed at the fact they signed for someone else.

There are a couple of things you should keep in mind when a new rumour surfaces. However likely it seems, however you want to believe it, take it with a gigantic piece of salt. With a few notable exceptions, you’ve been duped, lured by clickbait.

Don’t believe the press (part 1)

It’s the first rule. With not much to chew on in the summer, the press (sometimes spoon-fed by agents), prints transfer stories, 95% of which have zero credulity. For me, only the following sources are credible sources of information:

BBC
David Ornstein
Guardian
Sky Sports
Kike Marin
Jeremy Wilson

If these have confirmed the transfer, start enjoying the fact. Write articles, make videos, tweet about it. It’s as good as done. You can also believe these guys on rumours.

Don’t believe the ITKs

It’s a temptation, I know. When you see a fellow blogger claim a transfer is close, it’s hard not to get excited. However, the more I watch such accounts, the more I come to the conclusion what they do is pure guesswork. They are just a little better at guessing than everyone else.

I highly doubt any of those have an “inside source at the Club”, unless it’s the bus driver or the photographer. People who deal with multi-million transfers sign confidentiality agreements. I doubt they’ll risk their place by informing someone on Twitter. So ignore the ITKs.

Don’t believe the press (part 2)

You shouldn’t only ignore the press when they run the rumour story or claim for the deal to have been completed. You should also do likewise when sentences like “Arsenal miss out on” and “Liverpool (or United, or City) beat Arsenal to the signing of”. Especially if the Club that “has beaten us to the signing of” is way less prestigious/competitive at the moment. Just look at the recent transfers.

Dybala joins Juventus

We were accused of “missing out on” Dybala, who joined Juventus “instead”. You know how much Juve paid for the Italian? 32 million euros + 8 million in add-ons. Almost 30 million pounds for a player who had one successful season. Now, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have blossomed in PL, players far less successful at their previous clubs did (Henry & Bergkamp being the most prominent examples), but I’ve seen nothing to suggest we were in for him. Apart from clamouring from fans and some articles in Mirror/Metro/Sun (pick any).

Kondogbia signs for Inter

Another player who “slipped from our grasp”. The accusations flying around with him were almost hilarious, simply because Arsenal fans accused Arsene, Ivan, the board and whatnot on the basis of one good game in the CL. Kondogbia cost Inter around 25 million pounds. Whatever anyone says, you don’t buy a player like that to bench him and chances are we would have done just that after Coquelin’s renaissance. Moreover, I have once again seen no respectable sources confirming our interest.

“Gunners target Jackson Martinez joins Atletico”. What? Who said the guy was ever our target? Him and his agent? These people are talkers. Any player can say “Arsenal are interested in me”, it doesn’t mean we are. Remember Zigic? Anyway, I forgot to cite his transfer fee - 25 million pounds. For a 28 year old (or is he 29?) You telling me we should have flushed 25 million down the drain when we have Giroud and Welbeck, who fit the same mould? At a time when we have other areas to strengthen?

Wrapping it up

You know what all these rumours have in common? The clubs where these players have ended up. Unless you are planning to tell me Juventus, Inter and Atletico are bigger than Arsenal and offered these players something we cannot, then it means we were never in for any of those players. Martinez himself said he fancies Arsenal, so why didn’t we buy him? That’s right, we were not interested. The other two haven’t (if I recall correctly) at any point said they wanted to join Arsenal or have already received offers from the Club.

Do you think they would have refused to go and work with Arsene Wenger, who’s a renowned specialist in developing young talent? Look at what Vlad Dragomir (our first actual signing this window, a 16-year-old Romanian player) said:

“The Arsenal offer seemed the best to me, I felt that this is my place.”

Vlad Dragomir is our first summer signing

He then went on to say he couldn’t miss the opportunity to work under Arsene Wenger for the reason I mentioned above: because Arsene knows how to nurture young talent.

So don’t believe the rumours. Don’t shed bitter tears when we “miss out” on players. No point getting yourself down when we weren’t even in the mix. Trust me, we will sign the players we need (Cech *cough* Cech). They just don’t have to be the ones hyped up by the press.

Until later

Why do some of our fans hate David Ospina?

Why the hate on Big Dave?

I’m writing this article for two reasons: the first one is stated in the title and will essentially be the crux of this piece. I will get to it in a bit, after saying a few words on the second point, which I consider no less important.

Namely: I wanted to bid farewell to David Ospina. This is what he was recently quoted saying:

"They [Fenerbahce] are dealing with my agent. At the moment the only thoughts I have are for Colombia. I will not betray my team."

This confirms earlier reports that Fenerbahce have indeed made an offer for our current №1. While Ospina didn’t say “a deal is completed and I’ll leave for Fenerbahce after the Copa America” the mere fact he’s having talks with other clubs means Arsene has given the green light for the Colombian to leave. Amid all the Cech speculation gathering pace (Sky Sports and David Ornstein, arguably the most reliable sources after dot.com, have gone on record saying the transfer is close to completion), it’s understandable. Moreover, I’ve heard Ospina himself wants to leave if Cech comes in, simply because he doesn’t want to be relegated to the bench again, something that will inevitably happen, as Cech’s intention is to play regularly, otherwise there would be no incentive to leave Chelsea in the first place.

I get Ospina completely. He came in as a firm №2, battled his place from inconsistent Szczesny and produced a string of solid performances. Yes, the Colombian wasn’t flawless, but his mistakes are few and far between, while his calming influence on the defense cannot be measured (and therefore, appreciated) enough. Why should he start on the bench having done so little wrong? He deserves to be №1, in fact, I’m pretty sure he would have remained our №1 if Cech had been unavailable.

If it was up to me, I’d leave Ospina and loan out or sell Szczesny. As it is, Ospina will probably seek pastures new this summer and not because Arsene doesn’t want him. It’s sad really. So I would like to take this opportunity and wish Ospina all the best at Fenerbahce or wherever he ends up. Farewell, my friend.

And now onto my first point. As soon as Arsenal’s fanbase caught whiff of the fact Ospina could be the one to leave should Cech come in, something I haven’t expected (and wasn’t prepared for) started: fans began to mock, ridicule and abuse our Colombian goalie. All his mistakes were brought out in the open and dissected, all his drawbacks (at least they looked like drawbacks to these fans) were recalled. In a nutshell, our keeper became a pantomime villain, a persona non grata, a mediocre shot stopper. A nobody, for whom no respect and/or love should be expressed. So in my article I’ll try to find a logical explanation to this highly illogical behavior.

Is David Ospina a bad player?

No and he’s definitely nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be. Sure, he made a couple of mistakes, but it’s part and parcel of being a football player. Just because Ospina is a goalkeeper, his mistakes are easier to isolate and beat him with. I liked how @JokmanAFC summed it up in his article:

“All goalkeepers have a thankless task. If you play well, you will receive a modicum of praise but it is to be expected. They have one job, to deny goals being scored. Just fulfill the task given. If they drop a clanger, then it is scrutinised to its core and stories regarding poor form will abound. All thanks to one mistake.”

For every Monaco performance there’s a Galatasaray one (remember that game?). For every Swansea there’s a Sunderland. For one mistake against West Brom there’s a string of saves against Tottenham, one which spared us the blushes of being swept aside at White Hart Lane.

Yes, Ospina doesn’t look like a Hollywood shot-stopper; however this doesn’t mean he is a bad goalkeeper. He came in right after Szczesny’s debacle at St. Mary’s and, while the improved performances since January the 4th are not down to Ospina alone, he has still done a very important job at a hard time. Simply by going about his business in a calm and professional manner. Having such a goalkeeper helps the defenders psychologically. Yes, Ospina may not be great; yes, he may have had the benefit of playing behind a settled back four and an in-form Francis Coquelin; however, he made his contribution and it was a telling one.

Is David Ospina a bad person?

That was Flamini's downfall. Flamini is not a great player, but he gave the fans a legitimate reason to be unhappy with him by leaving in the manner he did. While I personally won’t hate him (maybe because I didn’t remember how he left and had to be  reminded), I can kind of understand other fans. They go overboard with their hate, surely they do, but there is a reason.

This part is not applicable to David Ospina. As is the case with on-field, he appears calm and professional off it. Likeable even, dare I say. Just look at this bit from his interview with the Guardian:

“I think that when you are going through difficult times, you have to ensure you are working twice as hard and you are always prepared. You have to hold your head up, too. You can’t be moping and all downtrodden. You need to be prepared in training during these difficult moments and just be ready to grasp any opportunity when it comes.”

There’s more to him than this particular bit, but I can’t take another quote without ripping it out of the valuable context. Read the article in full here, you won’t regret spending your time and will get a clearer picture of what a man Ospina is.

Wrapping it up

Having scrapped out the obvious, there are only two reasons left why the fans are chastising out Colombian shot-stopper and neither are good enough in my book:

1. Fans somehow think Szczesny is the guy with potential, while Ospina has already peaked. Hence if they had to choose who leaves should we buy Cech, they’ll pick Ospina most of the time
2. Some are scared that as long as we have two international goalkeepers at the Club, a 3rd one won’t join, so they want to get rid of one of the two as quickly as possible

Both arguments are flawed. I get fans are more attached to Szczesny because he loves the Club and has been here longer than his Colombian counterpart, however, saying “Szczesny can be world-class and Ospina can’t” is shooting for the stars. Only a year separates them. Ospina had a solid first season, his season of adaptation, while Szczesny is either too hot or too cold and it has been the case with him for five years now. He only seems to play well when in danger of losing his place. Also, if he couldn’t get his head straight for so long, who said he suddenly will when Cech joins? And please stop saying Ospina can’t be world-class. You don’t know that and David is still young. Not much older than Szczesny at least.

The second argument is no argument at all. If Arsene wants to bring in Cech and Cech wants to join Arsenal, then he will. He will do so after receiving reassurances he’ll be №1, so worrying on that front is silly, chastising Ospina is downright stupid.

So I struggle to understand why Big Dave attracts such hatred, having done so little wrong. But then I struggle to understand many things. Like how you can clap Fabregas and boo Sagna at the same time. Or blame Ozil for shirt-swapping. Or want Song back.

All of this makes me really sad. At times like these, I don’t want to be associated with GoonerFamily.

I’ll leave it here. Hope I gave you something to chew on

Would you rather...?

“I expected Aaron Ramsey to be in there as well with 10 or 15. We need another player who gets 10 or 15 goals but we have a good mentality and good cohesion in the team. There is something happening. You can see that.”

That’s what Arsene Wenger said after we thrashed Liverpool at the Emirates this season. In the immediate aftermath people interpreted his words as if Arsene wants to bring another player from the outside. After the dust had settled, it dawned on a lot of fans the Frenchman didn’t say “I want to buy a 10-15 goal player”, rather he was quoted saying “We need another player who gets 10-15 goals”. As such, he could have meant an internal solution.

No, not promoting Akpom or Gnabry in the hopes they can score the amount of goals in question. Getting more out of the existing personnel, players like Oxlade or Welbeck, seems more likely. However, my colleague Andrea has explored this possibility in depth here, so I won’t stop on it any further.

Rather, I want to concentrate on another problem entirely, one which seemed pretty straightforward at first, but not so much after I gave it some thought. Namely: what is easier: scoring an extra 10-15 goals or conceding 10-15 less? What is more efficient, achievable? What is Arsene more likely to do, try to add extra firepower in the hopes that more goals will get us a better end result or stitch up our defense so that additional clean sheets help us grind out points?

Concede less

I’ll start with this option, simply because it seems Wenger is more inclined to go this way. Why? Because we haven’t been linked with a lot of attacking-minded players, but look to be on the brink of signing Cech. Moreover, Howedes recently confirmed Arsenal made him an offer. It’s not crystal clear whether we made that offer in winter or very recently, but the important thing here is that Arsene seems keen on improving our defensive record.

This year we have conceded 36 league goals, but only 11 of these came after Ospina claimed the spot between the sticks as his own. In other words, we have conceded 11 goals in 18 games.

Now, I’m not saying it’s entirely down to Ospina: it’s not. He certainly chipped in with his calming presence, one which Szczesny is yet to learn how to exude (assuming he stays), however, Coquelin also blossomed around mid-January + we finally stabilised our back four.

Whichever way you put it, 11 goals in 18 games is impressive. Had we kept this rate up from the very beginning, we would have conceded roughly 23-24. Chelsea, with their famous double-decker, conceded 32. Southampton 33.

And yet Arsene is looking at our defense. He hinted Gabriel will feature more, Cech deal has been done to death already. For me, it’s hard to say exactly how much impact Cech can make on his own. Sure, he is a great goalkeeper, but how many goals can he prevent all by himself? How many points can he get us on a one-man mission?

My friend, a United fan, said De Gea was immense this season. That he bailed his team out of trouble time and again. That the Spaniard alone got United 12 points minimum. Let’s assume this is true: can Cech do the same? If he can 12 points on top of the ones we earned this season it will just about suffice to win the league.

However, we shouldn’t forget two things: United had a very leaky defense this year, which contributed to De Gea’s image of being a great goalkeeper. We, as I’ve demonstrated above, did grand in the 2nd half of the season with a goalie between the sticks who most consider mediocre. Moreover, let’s assume Cech wouldn’t have the mistakes our goalies made this season. Ospina made a grand total of one (against West Brom) and it didn’t matter anyway. Let’s say Cech would have kept out Gomis’ header. Alright, that’s one point in 18 games taken aboard.

Szczesny wasn’t at all impressive prior to him being dropped, but how many clangers did he drop? He made 11 errors over the course of TWO last seasons, 5 led to goals. Even if all 5 happened in 2014-2015 and even if these 5 goals were the only difference between a draw and a win (which they weren’t), we get a maximum of extra 10 points.

So Cech could have (hypothetically) won us 13 points. These probably would have sufficed, but only just and only after a great push of imagination from me. (All goalie stats courtesy of @AFCStatReport. You can find his article here).

Score more

It’s going to be another push of imagination from me, though a considerably less one. In short, if I had to choose between buying a new goalie and purchasing a player who can get us extra 10-15 goals, I would have chosen the latter. Here’s why.

I can easily single out a number of games, where one goal would have been the difference between one point and all three. Here they are

1. Leicester (a)
2. Tottenham (h)
3. Chelsea (h)
4. United (a)
5. Sunderland (h)

I haven’t counted in Everton, Hull and City, because in the first two instances we were chasing the game and got a point thanks to a last-gasp equaliser, while with City we have conceded late, surrendering our winning positions. All those games could have in fact been won with a better defensive effort. However, I think we can add Swansea at home to this list, because had we scored at some point prior to 85th minute, we would have probably won.

So, in these 6 games we managed to pick up 5 points only. Scoring mere 7 extra goals (2 against Swansea) could have seen us get 18 points out of 18. Only Chelsea presents a problem in this list, every other team is not that hard to score an extra goal against.

I have only used up 7 goals, I still have (hypothetically) 3-8 goals left and we would have won the league title even with these extra 7, finishing on 88 points with Chelsea on 86. I think even the existing personnel is capable of that final little push. We were highly unlucky to have Oxlade and Welbeck injured in the last month (when 4 games out of these 6 occurred), while Walcott and Wilshere were still regaining match sharpness. At the outset of the campaign we had other factors at play which prevented us from picking up more points: injuries to key players, instability at the back and post-World Cup syndrome. Alas.

Closing comments

When it comes right down to it, it’s all speculation on my part to while away the time, both mine and yours. However, I don’t think defenders and even goalkeepers should be our prime concern: as I’ve demonstrated with solid numbers, not just opinion-based blabber, we had an astoundingly good second half of the season. We don’t need extra defenders based on that. We don’t need a new keeper.

What we really need is a settled back four and an injury-free season. If we manage to accomplish that, I’m not so sure we need any fresh recruitments at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I don’t want Arsene to bring anyone in, or won’t be excited when he does. I also don’t think all the players who can improve us are out of our reach. I am just of the opinion we have enough potential to challenge even without new faces.

Over and out