An unlikely scenario

Evening everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until then

Arsenal 3-0 City: up for the second cup

A very good day to you.

Without further ado: we've won the Cup! And we've done so in a glorious, thrilling and entertaining way. My thoughts are still in a scramble after a fantastic day out in the sports bar, so I'll break my review down in points. Starting with:

The atmosphere

It was great both in the bar, which was overrun with Arsenal fans and, of course, inside the stadium. The cups were presented before the game, Pat Rice made an appearance (and a memorable one) and large swathes of fans were sporting red-and-white colours. I gotta say, our fans were brilliant throughout the game, so much so they have run out of chants by its climax. "There's only one Arsene Wenger", anyone?

The line-ups

It was obvious Arsene meant business by fielding such a strong side, but saying City's squad was weak would be a lie. Sure, the defense was make-shift (what do you want with three key players out?), but midfield and attack were packed with quality. To say they've missed Aguero means to diminish City's earlier achievements, cause they've basically won the BPL without the Argentine.

For us, Chambers started alongside Koscielny at the heart of the defense, Wilshere played under the striker and the striker himself was Sanogo. This choice raised some eyebrows (including mine), but the Frenchman showed just why Arsene placed so much belief into him.

The goals

Cazorla, Ramsey, Giroud. Two assists from Sanogo. We could have been 3-0 up by half time, but Sanchez didn't make the most of his one-on-one. However, while Cazorla's and Giroud's strikes were touches of class from the Spaniard and the Frenchman respectively, my personal favourite is Ramsey's goal.

The Welsh Jesus picked up where he left off last season, but it was the build-up play that caught the eye.
We came flying out of the blocks on the counter, Sanchez sliced City's defense apart with a perfect pass which found Sanogo and the Frenchman laid the ball out on a silver platter for Ramsey. Aaron smashed the ball into the bottom corner from close range. Brilliant team work and a classic Arsenal goal.

Individual performances

Is the idea of singling players out in a team game wrong? I'm not sure. When we talk about a particular player, we have to keep in mind that he operates in a certain environment. In other words, he's only as good as his teammates, that's why it's hard to pick someone out as a shining example after a poor performance and vice versa, everyone could become MoM after a good one.

However, as I've mentioned earlier some of the manager's choices looked questionable on paper, so I have to give credit where it's due to:

1. Wojciech Szczesny. Not a questionable choice, but his performance was brilliant. Strong in the air (made just one mistake late on, when we were already miles ahead), quick reflexes (I can recall at least two great saves) and ready to sweep up for his defenders. Ospina has to get well quickly, or he'll find it nigh on impossible to win this two-horse race with Wojciech.
2. Calum Chambers. I've run out of superlatives for this guy. I've seen Calum in three games and he looked mature beyond his years. Tackling, intercepting, winning aerial duels and doing all this while being ridiculously photogenic. Chambers' mere presence at the heart of our defense is soothing, maybe because he makes hard stuff look easy. He reminds me of Mertesacker, but another comparison from a guy on Twitter caught my eye: Tony Adams. A bit soon to say that, but I love the way this guy thinks.
3. Jack Wilshere. Ran his heart out (no surprise here), but had method to his actions. Very few misplaced passes, some lovely dribbles and, most importantly, Jack slotted in without any trouble. The fact that he caught the rhythm of the game and adapted to it is very promising indeed. Got subbed late on, but fully deserves all the applause he received.
4. Yaya Sanogo. Looked very sharp and not a little bit out of place. Nastasic and Boyata are probably still wearing sunglasses, such a headache the Frenchman gave them. His actions up front ensured Yaya got two assists and he also could have scored, but dragged his shot just wide. When Giroud came on, we've lost some of Sanogo's restless energy up front. Got a great goal in return, though.
5. Arsene Wenger. The mastermind behind our great display. He personally oiled and honed this Arsenal machine and it works. We had a strong starting eleven, a fantastic bench and that's without the German trio and Walcott. We'll surely add another centre-half, but make no mistake: this side is rife with quality already. We need someone to replace Vermaelen, but only for the numbers to look good.

The aftermath

We got ourselves another trophy and have comprehensively beaten the reigning champions in the process. Those who say Community Shield is nothing to be particularly proud of are either Arsenal haters or City fans. And you don't want to waste your nervous system on both, do you?

Bottom line is this: you have to win either the BPL or the FA Cup in order to have a shot at Community Shield, so the trophy is as real and valuable as it gets. Embrace it.

I haven't included the manager's quotes from the press conference, but it doesn't make these any less enlightening. So check them out. And the highlights. I know you don't need me to view these on the official site, but personally I can watch us ripping City in two for hours on end.

One last thing. The Internet isn't particularly hard to come by here in Zakinthos, but I still can't use it as regularly as I need to write daily posts. So check back every two days and I'll definitely be here for all the previews and reviews.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin

Saturday morning quickie

Hello folks.

Turns out my plane is leaving later than I thought, so I have time for a quick round-up for you.

Starting with the big news: Vermaelen is on his way to Barcelona. From what I can gather, United and Barca were fighting tooth and nail over our captain and Wenger capitalised on the situation. United wanted Vermaelen for £15 million, we wanted a player + cash deal. Van Gaal said no deal, Arsene said go to hell and sold Verminator to Barca for the same amount.

It's a brilliant piece of business we've done, so I don't get the reaction of most people on Twitter. We've sold our third-choice centre-half for approximately £5 million more than I expected and he's not going to our direct rivals. Just think of it: we've sold a player who've been sitting on the bench for 18 months and before that had an atrocious run of form for another 6 and we've sold him for such money. Put your hands together for Le Prof.

The player himself wanted to go to United (at least at first), but then Barca did their magic and persuaded another one of our captains to join them. I don't much care what they did, but it's an amazing piece of business for us.

Now we need a centre-half, though. And I'm sure Wenger will bring someone in. There are rumours he can buy a player to fill both at the back and in midfield and I don't see a flaw with this plan.

In other news, we've drawn Besiktas in the Champions League. Not the best opponent possible, as we know the atmosphere there will be fiendishly hard (remember how last year Fenerbahce's fans didn't allow our players to get a good night's sleep?). On the other hand, Besiktas is definitely inferior to Fener and we've powered past them without problems last year, so I'm not overly concerned. Travel and away fans are an issue, but our squad is quality, no doubt about that.

Finally, the game against City. The basics remain the same, I've gone over these yesterday, but it appears City will have to make do without some key players. Aguero, Negredo, Lampard, Fernandinho, Demichelis, Kompany, Sabaleta and our old pal Sagna all miss out. While their midfield is rife with good players and City will hardly notice the absences of Lampard and Fernandinho, their attack and defense have suffered considerably. Pellegrini's side still has Djeko and Jovetic up front, so we should be on our guard, but the blow to their defense is damaging. Two right-backs and two centre-halfs, three of these would have started under different circumstances. I think it's high time to pick City apart. We can even try breaking through down the middle, that with Sanchez up front and their make-shift defense.

Arteta has also talked about how important this game from a psychological point of view and I agree. We'll be fighting not only against City, we'll be fighting back from three huge defeats we've suffered. If we come out on top, in just one game, it may become a turning point.

So c'mon you Gunners.

That's it for today, I'll do my best to get back to you tomorrow (after the game) or in two days, so check back here.

Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin

Early City preview: a few loose screws to tighten

Morning everyone.

Arsenal had an open training session yesterday and both the session and the press-conference that followed were interesting.

During the session, the absences of Ospina, Vermaelen and Gnabry were noticeable. Gnabry seems to have a neck strain, Ospina has a (thigh? hip?) injury, but I don't think Verminator's omission is because he has an actual injury. Given the manager's quotes on our captain, I think it's only the matter of days before Thomas leaves:

"I've said since the start of pre-season that Thomas could leave us because he needs to play now. He had an outstanding attitude and behaviour but he's in a position where it's difficult to stand in his way if he finds an interesting opportunity.

"Ideally yes [I would rather sell Vermaelen abroad]. It is an option. I don’t want to tell you [which clubs are interested] but we have offers from abroad as well."

He later went on to say that United made a bid, but it's the manner in which Arsene speaks about Vermaelen's departure that makes his leave imminent. When he so openly speaks of a player's desire to go somewhere else and then ends up confirming we have received bids for him, then you know Vermaelen is as good as gone.

We've been immediately linked with Agger and Nastasic, but both links are weak. They are here just because the manager basically stated Vermaelen will part ways with the Club, so let's not concentrate on these names for now.

However, we can concentrate on strengthening DM's position and here we seem in a spot of bother:

"We were never close to signing him [Khedira] because Jack Wilshere has come back fit and in midfield we have quite a few offensive box-to-box players".

Coupled with Sporting's president statement, that he received no offers for Carvalho, it seems both of our much-hyped targets were never on the list. Doesn't mean we don't have other targets there, or that we can't turn our attention to these two, but, in the light of Arsene talking up Wilshere and Chambers, I won't be surprised if we don't add in that area.

I've told before I find Wilshere unconvincing in the role of deep-lying midfielder. He once again had lapses of concentration against Monaco and he was played alongside Arteta, mind you. As for Chambers, he looked really good in central defense, clearing up even for Koscielny (!), but I fear he's too young to be handed DM's position on a regular basis. We shall see what happens, there are still three weeks to go.

All of this leads us to our next game against City. Even Arsene views it as part of pre-season preparation, so I give up. I still think it's better to start with a win and a cup, however unimportant it is, so we should field our strongest side, in my view.

It goes like this: Szczesny-Debuchy-Koscielny-Chambers-Gibbs-Arteta-Ramsey-Cazorla-Campbell-Oxlade-Sanchez. At centre-half I don't think it'll be reasonable to play Vermaelen, cause his mind will be occupied with something else, while a not-fit-enough Giroud should be dropped in favour of Sanchez, who looked much more the part. The debatable position is under the striker.

Here we have three options: Cazorla, Rosicky and Wilshere. The last two allow us to shift Cazorla wide, which may be preferable, but there is another problem. I'm not sure Rosicky will hold out the entire game, while Wilshere is more of a runner, than a passer. We can, of course, start Rosicky and then replace him with Wilshere, which is like-for-like, so I don't exclude this option.

Cazorla just seems to me a more natural back-up to Ozil, while Campbell on the flank is not much of a risk. He's had a good game against Benfica and seemed to be in a farther stage of preparation than most, despite playing in the World Cup. And we can always sub him with Wilshere, should the Costa-Rican fade in the game.

City, meanwhile, has more options to choose from, but they have only one new face, because FFP seems to be taking it's toll. All of the others are known quantities, three players (Aguero, Sabaleta, Fernandinho) are unavailable, so we'll have an easier time. It means Sagna will make his debut and, as he already said something nasty about us, while the boss confirmed Sagna has turned down a three-year contract offer, I don't think Bacary will be greeter warmly by Arsenal fans. And I can get them.

All in all, I think we have enough resources to beat City and start the season with a bang, so let's do it.

In other news, Djourou has completed his move to Hamburg and I'm not surprised. He never made the grade for us, while he had a decent season in Germany, so this decision is the best for all parties involved. All the luck to the Swiss.

Finally for today, Champions league draw will take place today and we can face Athletic Bilbao, Copengagen, Lille, Standard Liege or Besiktas. All of these don't pose a serious threat to us, though, for obvious reasons, I would prefer we land Standard or Copengagen. Which means we'll land on of the other three. If you want to have a read on them, check out this article from Gooneracrossthepond. It's insightful.

One last thing. I'm going away tomorrow and will be back on August 23rd. Whether I'll miss the game against Everton is unclear. It's also unclear how often (if at all) I'll be able to report from there, but check back here anyway. I'll go out of my way to watch the three games (City, Crystal Palace, Champions league qualifier) and provide you with at least a preview and review for each. If City's review appears on 10th or 11th, then I'm probably good. Check back on those dates.

And follow me on Twitter). @AlexBaguzin

Until later, have a good day

On how this summer is different to the previous one

Hello folks.

The week continues to drag by with little to no news, but I've noticed an interesting trend during this transfer window that wasn't there last year, namely: Arsenal's been dominating the transfer market.

Seriously, just look at the other top English clubs. Liverpool? Bought a slew of (mediocre) players, but only because they've sold Suarez for a hefty sum of money. Chelsea? The moneybags had a couple of good acquisitions, but these were sponsored by Luiz and Lukaku? United? Shaw and Herrera, but rumour has it, they'll be putting a load of players on sale as soon as they get back. City? Where are they? Only Sagna and Lampard joined them, both as free agents.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's been firing cash at will. And it's not like we're going to stop. This article gives us a bit of an insight into the manager's thinking:

"But I think the second half of August, the 15th to 30th, will be busy again".

Looks like the remainder of our business will be done in these two weeks. But really, we don't need much. A DM (Carvalho, please?) and someone to replace Vermaelen. His departure seems to be a question of "when" rather than "if". And that's it. Two players, tops.

And who has left us? Two keepers? Bought Ospina. Sagna? Debuchy is the answer. But, while Fabianski, Viviano and Sagna were important players, none of them were leaders or, as we can see, none were irreplaceable. I dare say the ones we've brought in are actual upgrades, not just some young and inexperienced prospects.

Other big clubs haven't been able to spend as freely without first selling someone valuable. Even Barca sold Sanchez and Fabregas to compensate for Suarez. And the answer as to why we're splashing cash without losing talent and they are not is a simple one: Financial Fair Play.

Problem is, the clubs I've mentioned are unprofitable, despite the fact they actually win things. Arsenal, on the other hand, is a profitable club, despite all the moaning about the 4th place. That's what we've been building towards for 10 years. A self-sustaining model. We can spend what we earn, while other cannot. Because they don't earn. They lose money, even when they win trophies. So in order to buy someone, they'll have to first sell someone. Now let's see how their managers can operate on a tight budget. For now, it's not like they are having a good time, is it?

Finally for today, for those who've missed my last post, I've finally figured out how to subscribe using RSS. Just download an RSS reader of your choice, enter arsefanblog.blogspot.ru (.com may not work) and you are good to go. Also, you can follow me (@AlexBaguzin) on Twitter.

That's it for today. Back with the new bits as soon as they appear.

Until then