More a question of what Arsenal is missing than who Arsenal is missing?

A Saturday loss damages the remaining part of the weekend.  I for one took off from the television and twitter. Did various random things to get away from the football. I had no doubt in my mind that the moment we lost and dutchie scored, the media pages and twitter world would be absolutely scathing of Wenger and of Arsenal. I was not disappointed.  I know that the loss was huge, in terms of challenging for some respectability on the football ground.

So what is that Arsenal is missing?

·        Pace on the flanks?

·        A more reliable left back?

·        An accomplished finisher?

·        More than one of the above? All of the above?

Or is the answer off the pitch? Is the problem Wenger and the club management?

The answer is something we are debating to death. A team which got us excited pre-season and at Anfield cannot have deteriorated in quality over a month. After all we got our wish of seeing Jack Wilshere, partnering Arteta and Cazorla. It was the dream midfield we were craving for. The back four except for a few issues has the names which we were desperate for a few seasons back. For me the team we put out against United at Old Trafford comes close to our best in terms of personnel. So the performance shouldn’t have been far from the best. But the performance was nowhere near the quality of the team

Clearly the issue for me is not the personnel. Yes, a quality winger wouldn’t harm us. But the issue is something else.

My time off football and twitter was spent for some reading and watching some clips of cricket on YouTube. I started co relating a bit between attitude and ability in cricket versus football and I think I found my answer.

Different sport similar dynamics

Australia was touring West Indies in 1995 and it was at this time the mighty West Indies were coming to an end of an era of domination. This was also the series when the shift in power took place. During the second test at Trinidad, Curtly Ambrose was running in full steam bowling to Steve Waugh. Not many batsmen in cricket at that time had the courage to look at Ambrose. The intention was more to survive and save your knuckles. Scoring was a bonus. It was with such background, Steve Waugh stood up to Ambrose. Steve Waugh was not dominating Ambrose by any stretch of imagination. But all of a sudden, Steve Waugh let off a few words which were to the effect “What are you staring at? F%&@# off”. Anyone who has seen Ambrose will first tell you that his stare is one of the most dangerous and it would look like he would cut your head off. You don’t mess with a 6 foot 7 bowler. It took Richardson the Windies captain and Umpire David shepherd to calm Ambrose down.

 

 

Steve Waugh was a master at mind games.

 

So what’s the big deal?

The big deal is how Steve Waugh managed to get under the skin of arguably the most dangerous bowler of that time. Steve Waugh was not a gifted cricketer. He was poor compared to his twin mark Waugh. But what he lacked in cricketing ability, he more than made up in mental strength. Steve Waugh set up a decade of Australian super dominance in test cricket. Because of his grit and astuteness with which he set up many a win, he became one of the hated cricketers (captain) for opposition fans. He was the best contender and everyone hated how strong he was.  Of course once he retired many players professed a respect for him. It only proves one thing, till the time you are good in sport, you won’t find many admirers.

Arsenal fans don’t like Rooney, Hazard or Mata. We know they are good players. But we will never have great respect for them, till the time they are retired or move out. Need a better example? Drogba ? Till the time he tormented most of the teams, not many praised him. Sure the odd word of respect etc.. But the moment he left, everyone in the league sang praises. Cazorla and Wilshere will not be liked many fans around the premier league. They know they are good.

Now the converse, it’s easier for opposition (ex Arsenal) players to respect Arsenal till the time we don’t compete. That is what Arsenal will have to change

Now, coming back to today. For me this is what is missing at Arsenal, not today, but for a few seasons now, we have been the good boys of the league.  What we need is Steve Waugh like grit and ruthlessness.

There are a couple of instances which showcase this point.

1)        The pre match build up in the tunnel when dutchie came greeting our players. Nice gesture, but I would have expected one of our players to give him a cold stare. A stare to tell him “F&*^% off – we are better off without you and don’t care what your intentions are”. Sagna who was behind vermaelen gave him half that stare. It’s not personal. Just before a big game, there is little need to be paly with an opposition player.

2)        The second instance has received the highest attention. It really shocked me. Why Santos had to walk up to dutchie and ask for his jersey is absolutely beyond me. Here we were, shorn of confidence in the first half. Santos should realize, he can still be friends with whoever he wants to. But such a crucial game, where he himself had arguably had the weakest displays , it would have been expected that he focused more on improving his performance than running for an opposition shirt.

 

Jack Wilshere is fragile but not in the head

 

Throughout the game, there was a lack of passion and determination. Quality is something we have in abundance. I cannot understand why our players were nervy for majority of the game. It seemed to have an effect on the game. Like they say, driving with the hand break on.  Vermaelen’s clearance was nervy and so was his performance for the rest of the game. I never expected that from Vermaelen, he is one of our strong characters.

The biggest performance from an Arsenal side came off the pitch. The away fans were magnificent. Some of the chants were vile and a majority of the supporters are ashamed. But that aside the passion is outstanding. I wish the players really get around understanding this. How much these passionless performances hurt fans.

On the eve of the United game there was blog post from James Wareing which touched upon the rivalry. If the rivalry is still the same as it was in the years of Henry, Viera, Bergkamp, and Campbell? If you have not read, you can read it even now here at 1nildown2oneup.net  . Probably it will be easier to answer now.

If you want a comprehensive analysis of the game , there’s not many better than this guy. GoonerDesi

Not all about mental strength

It is not to say the only issue was the state of mind. There have been many tactical analyses done to show how Ramsey was ineffective on the right, Santos poor in positioning at left back and how Arteta was kept quiet by Rooney. All correct. The injuries to Diaby, Rosicky and Oxlade Chamberlain couldn’t have come at a worse time. But being so dependent on an injury prone player and a teenager is not a great position to be in.

If you have been reading blogs, most of the guys have advocated a change in formation. But tactics don’t seem to be a Wenger thing. Like Rocky Balboa didn’t want to go southpaw in Rocky II. He said “I don’t need no tricks”. It’s good to believe in your team and have an ideology. But to keep pace with the competition, a change in formation and fresh ideas are desperately required. I really thought, if not the change in formation, the least Wenger could have done is play Arshavin, instead of Ramsey and then introduce Theo later. The players too need to hold their end up. We cannot afford to concede silly goals in a league where competition is at this level. Two goals united scored were both defensive lapses again. United fans may say they should have scored 6, but they couldn’t  Our keeper plus a bit of luck was on our side. How many times do we say that?

I may be in the minority but, I do think our performances will turn around. We need to convert the quality on paper to performances on the pitch

Oh the Ambrose and Steve Waugh incident

Ambrose did give Steve Waugh, the sweet chin music making him hop around the crease. Steve Waugh got away with it. Though Aussies lost that game, they won the test series and rest is history. West Indies have not been able to ever recover. Not all Waugh’s doing, but he did play a very small hand. If you are interested in seeing the whole incident, check it out here

 

 

 

2012
11/05
CATEGORY
Match Analysis
Talking Tactics
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Arsenal Vs Reading. A Bollywood script

I wanted to restart this blog on a positive note. Took a break for various reasons. Not that I wrote prolifically before. In hindsight I regret not writing during the period when we won at Liverpool, drew at City and hit Southampton for a six.
Well, it looks like I have not waited in vain. What an unbelievable night of football it was. These cup games are a bit tricky. Wenger has clearly laid out his priorities for the club. You can disagree or agree. But as the man in charge he has complete right to do so. One of the perplexing things about many people disagreeing with Wenger is they have taken the list as straightforward priority.
Wenger outlined his priority was

1)        Premier league

2)        Champions league

3)        Qualification for champions league

4)        FA cup

5)        League cup

Now many of the people, media and former players have obviously brought out the “Arsenal lack an ambition argument”.  However, I feel many are reading the list incorrectly. I am sure Wenger will not throw away an opportunity to win multiple competitions. After all we did reach the 2011 league cup finals and fielded our A team which went down.  So for me it’s more of option 1 and Option 4 not Option 1 or Option 4.

The league cup or FA cup needs intelligent planning. Of course a full strength squad will help us massively. What we need is that one success. Cup or league. I remember in the Arsenal history DVD, Frank McLintock explains the psyche of a team which is looking to win something. He goes on to explain how the victory in Inter-cities fair cup of 1970 gave the team belief and created a platform for the double which followed.   More on this later

Now coming to the game against Reading.  The moment we went into extra time, the first thought which came into my mind was, this is almost like a script for Bollywood.  For people who are not familiar, for many decades and even now in some cases, Bollywood movies were made keeping a complete family audience in mind. So you would have some comedy, action, tragedy and drama. For me the game at Madejski Stadiumwas no different. Now, I don’t think we need to go into which parts were tragedies etc…

As I said these games are really tricky, remember the 1-0 loss to Ipswich in 2011.Teams from lower leagues or low rank in the EPL get a chance to have a go at bigger teams which usually field a second 11 or a mix of academy/reserves. For teams like Arsenal, the team has to gel and win. There will be players playing for the first time , who will not know how other players move. Going out of a cup tie witch a chance to go to the quarter finals at stake doesn’t sound great. At the same time the demands of various ties and rotating the squad make it difficult to field a first 11.

Mistake in selection?

A first look at the team sheet made me slightly nervous. It was definitely not the back four which was the weak point. After all, except Ignassi Miquel at left back and Martinez in goal, our other 3 can be called first team contenders. But the concern for me was the midfield. Defenders at Arsenal have become used to the shielding from our defensive midfielders. The work rate of even the wingers and forwards has gone up. So the first line of defence is now higher up the pitch.

For this game however, Wenger decided to start with both Coquelin and Frimpong. Though both of them have their own qualities, I felt a lack of experience and composure could hurt the defensive side.

I like Frimpong for his attitude, passion and love for the club. They are qualities which are difficult to imbibe. He did say he was not fit enough to stake a claim in the first team.  Don’t know if that was the reason, but he did go missing in the game.

It’s not correct to blame any single player for what ensued, if there was one word to describe it, I would say it was “Chaos”.  It was also a result of a lack in some sort of leadership on the pitch. It’s quite surprising that Djourou was given the captain’s band. Not that there was a clear candidate for the honor. But when you are running around and lacking cohesion, it helps if one person takes charge, shouts orders and calms the players down.

All the three goals scored by Reading were aided by Arsenal. It’s to say there was no moment of brilliance which resulted in the goals. That is not to show Reading in poor light.

Reading did their job, Arsenal didn’t.

The own goal from Koscielny was the one which scared me a little. Koscielny for my money is not much far away from Vermaelen or Mertasacker. In fact he has been better than both on his day. That is what worries me, regarding him. This goal would be his 4th own goal. From a player of his ability, we would expect more. This guy had Messi in his pocket. I am sure it’s the lack of game time and erosion in confidence for whatever reason which is affecting him. For Arsenal to move ahead in cup competitions and be a strong contender in the league, Koscielny needs to sort this out. He is too good a player to be letting in own goals. I felt he would have played better if given captaincy. But again he doesn’t look like a guy who is vocal and shouts to get things in order. Koscielny grew into the game. But he was very upset with himself for the first half.

Game changers

I know there were a lot of us who felt coming back from 4 goals down was close to impossible. Given the effort in the first 40 minutes, no one would be faulted too.  I didn’t know for sure what would happen, but I did feel if we could score one goal before half time, the whole thing would turn on its head.

The first goal was spotted by many as the game changer. Walcott has shown in recent times how much he has improved his finishing. Wenger said the correct thing, you either have the instinct of a striker or you don’t. Walcott has it. We cannot be trying to score by walking into the goal. We need to have players spotting .One huge complaint against the team is we need to start playing to the strengths of goal scorers. Walcott was continuously making runs in between the defenders. Someone needs to start spotting the runs and Walcott will do the rest

 

 

More alternatives to score

Finally we have a proper target man

 

 

This is where we come to our 2nd game changer. Olivier Giroud. If ever I wanted one thing at Arsenal, it was a big dominating striker. Giroud for me is no less than Drogba. He has quick feet, moves into goal scoring positions and works hard for the team. If we have lacked anything at Arsenal, it’s some sort of conversion from corners. We get on average5 corners every game. But we do very little the corners.  In fact we suffer on the break. When teams get the ball out and run towards our goal. Giroud has been changing that. His header for Arsenal’s 2nd goal was truly exquisite. To bend and dig the ball out that way for a header reminds me of how Drogba used to successfully attack the ball and score. Skill and strength. Giroud has scored only a couple of times. But I don’t think anyone can disagree about the goals he can score. The goals are coming people. They are going to come much faster than they did for someone else. He is not going to take 8 years!

Giroud’s goal truly changed it. The team moved with belief. The quality improved and there was a sense of purpose in moving the ball. One of the biggest complaints I have against Wenger, is the way he has played Arshavin. After the game against Coventry, Wenger acknowledged that probably Arshavin’s best role is behind the striker. Ceteris paribus (keeping all things same – I love showing off my economics once in a while), Arshavin is probably as good as Cazorla. At least till the time Arshavin is here we could make use of him.

Probably not a game changer, but it was nice to see Chamakh have a good outing. I was shocked when he was left on the field and Gnabry subbed. But hey we don’t say Wenger knows for nothing. I never saw chamakh scoring those types of goals. I associate him more with headers and tap ins. Never knew he could L1+ kick. Fair play to him. It’s better to have him contribute something than sitting on the bench.

Of the young brigade Coquelin redeemed himself in the 2nd half. He will be putting enormous pressure on Frimpong.  Eisfeld looks close to 1st team. You can see he has Rosicky like movement. I like the fact that he goes on about his job calmly. Nothing flashy.  He has a knack of finding space without much effort. With Eisfeld and Coquelin retaining the ball, Arshavin looked more at ease. Gnabry is another player who has skill, but he showed against Schalke, he still has time.

The other big game changing aspect was our away support. For me their constant chanting and singing had a huge effect. I think the chants of “We want our Arsenal back” worked. Fans for away games put in a massive effort to out sing and out chant opposition fans. They deserve much more effort than what we put up in the 1st half. Wenger did well to thank most of them. His humor is back these days, said he appreciates the fans for staying with the team. But a little less appreciation for fans who left. Cheeky!

More than the game, the result was very important. There has been a goal drought for the last 3 games. We have played 3 games after the international break and scored 1 goal. It was imperative to find the rhythm .7 goals should take care of the confidence. Like many of you are saying on twitter, let’s go and win this cup.  Bring on United.  See you real soon!

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2012
11/01
CATEGORY
Match Analysis
Midweek thoughts
4 comments

Mr.Wenger’s first order of business back home

So what should be the first thing Arsene Wenger be doing, now that the team is back from the Asian tour? Sign Cazorla, Sahin ? Sell Arshavin , squillaci or Bendtner? For me the answer is simple. The first thing we as a club should be doing is resolving the RvP deal. That aspect in itself is convoluted. So I won’t go there.  But an almost equally important task is getting Theo Walcott to sign a new contract. Theo for me is as important as RvP if not more.

Like @sudiptarsenal said to me yesterday , a deal must have been agreed already, else the media would have been coming out with a new destination for him everyday.

The initiation for this post was the tussle on various social media sites regarding Theo. Should we retain Theo Walcott or let him leave? Here comes the part where the “experts” step in. If we retain him, how much does he deserve for his inconsistency and inability to become the Messi everyone thought he would be. And if we sell him, what is the price we should be getting for someone in the last year of his contract. I respect everyone’s opinion. Isn’t that the reason social media exists? So that opinions can be expressed and shared with like minded people? Yes, I agree too. But there are certain times, when we are better off being more thoughtful about what we say.

The moment, there was a report (rumor) that Liverpool were offering 20 million for Theo; I was amazed at the number of responses saying get rid of him. Undoubtedly Theo bore the brunt of Robin hatred. Some people going on to blame Theo for being the same selfish type of player. Parlances being drawn without much thought. Well what happened after that was Theo went on to the tour of Asia and was understandably the biggest star player.

The look of a guy who is unhappy or about to leave his club ?

Theo has been pretty decent for us. Not just as a player but as an ambassador for the club.  I mean, if my boss didn’t give me a role I knew I could do well, I would do more than be vocal about a couple of times. During all these years he has been asked to play as a winger, he has tried to adapt while taking flak for not being able to cross.

Theo captions his painting : Love Football – Love Arsenal                                                          (searched for this picture for about three hours , got it thanks to @sudiptarsenal)

There has been never been a shortage of plaudits and brickbats for Theo.

Messi called him one of the most dangerous players he has played against. Cesc Fabregas counted him as one of the best at Arsenal. Harry Redknapp conceded, when Theo is on song (take it easy) he is unstoppable. Van Persie said it more than once, Theo is a 20+ goals a season striker.

But then one of the ex-Arsenal players Stewart Robson called him “an athlete who puts on a pair of football boots” and a search on Twitter for Theo I am sure will show up as many dislikes and hate comments.

I am not going to be saying all the guys who criticize Theo are wrong. Footballers grow up pretty quickly. They are not the everyday average college going kids, they are early bloomers and at a time when most kids go to college or are beginning to think about a career, footballers are in the prime of their careers.

At 23, Theo Walcott is regarded as a player who is in his prime; the level of expectations on him is phenomenal .Every time Theo plays for Arsenal, a goal or assist is what is expected. Absolutely fair. I expect the same. But what is unfair is the criticism levelled against Theo.

Theo the player till last season 

So how is Theo as a player?

Quick – unbelievably quick.

Anything more?

According to me he is more than raw pace.

1)      Pretty good awareness on the pitch

2)      Makes intelligent runs behind the defenders

3)      Unbeatable in a through ball situation

4)      Sublime finishing. (2 goals against Tottenham?)

5)      Terrific support for a main striker

Mostly used as a winger, Theo has been relied on getting crosses and providing assists to the main striker. How has he fared? Decent I would say. There are undoubtedly moments when he has frustrated us all. He could have done a bit more. Last season Theo had his best year yet at Arsenal starting 32 games and appearing as a sub 3 times, he scored 8 goals and assisted 8 goals. For me Theo is beginning to come into his own. His contributions have been significant last season. Not just directly in terms of goals and assists but in term of overall team play. Making a contribution in tracking back.

The next couple of seasons should see us Theo making that transformation from a 8 goal per season player to a 15 goal per season player and eventually the 20+ goals player Robin has tipped him to become.

So where is the mismatch between expectations and on field performance?

Is Theo performing to the standards he is capable of? Probably No.

Firstly the biggest mistake which could have happened is throwing up comparisons. My first recollection of Theo Walcott was accompanied by a commentator dubbing him a Messi like player.

Walcott is no great dribbler and I strongly believe passing the ball in tight areas and crossing are not his strong points. His strong point is off the ball movement. Also off late, his finishing

The 2nd half against Spurs , 1st half against wolves away and against udinese (CL qualifier) are some of the matches that spring to my mind. Making those intelligent and high pace runs behind the opposition defence.

Somehow we need to start playing to his key strengths, bring in a little variety

Lastly, from Theo’s own perspective he needs to increase his involvement in the game when things are not going our way. Far too often you can see that Theo drifts away from the game.

The Wenger angle

The one complaint I have against  Wenger is the fact that we rarely experiment (Pre season this year shows we may finally be changing some aspects – more on that later). Theo has voiced more than once his preference of playing down the centre in the role of a striker. Wenger has missed an opportunity in my opinion. Either during a carling cup match or a game where we were ahead , Theo could have been played down the centre , just to understand if he is suitable or not. Even if Wenger knows that Theo has time to make that transition, a little experiment would have been pretty good. At the very least it would have been an incentive for Theo himself. However Wenger on a couple of occasions did say he sees Theo as striker. So lets wait and watch

Can Theo Walcott still add something to the Arsenal Squad ?

But this is all what we have seen till now . Going forward as any good attacking player, Theo would be expected to graduate ,adapt and learn a few more tricks.

So does Theo have it in him ?

Apart from all the good stuff we have discussed above one key aspect which has caught my attention is the striking ability of Theo Walcott.

Have a look at this video, the training kit launch.  This was the first time I saw him take a free kick and I was truly amazed by how smooth and sweet the strike was. Watch the video from 0:50 to 1:08

Now when we come to think of it most of Walcott’s goals are deft touches or ones he has slotted into the goal. Very rarely does he smash the ball into the goal.

Next up the goal against Sweden at Euro2012. Again it was a goal where he made the ball dip from outside the box. That was an affirmation that he indeed does have a sweet strike on his right foot. If you have watched the pre-season games , Walcott has gone for the goal twice from outside the penalty box. Once against City and another against kitchee. Though he didn’t score , he didn’t miss by much.

A little bit more of self belief perhaps

However , one of the things which surprised me and also disappoint me a bit was his statement after the goal against Sweden. He said “I think I surprised myself. During the warm-up I put three goals in the top corner past Jack Butland and he wasn’t too happy about it. I thought it took a deflection which is why my celebration was little bit odd. But I’ve seen it again and it didn’t. I didn’t know I had that sort of Ronaldo dip in me so I should try it more often”

For me there is a positive I read in there , that Theo has realised he can score a goal like that and I believe what we are seeing pre season is his attempt at going for more of those goals.

At the same time , it also points to a slight lack of self belief. Which I hope is a thing  of the past

The wow factor

Now what is the wow factor ? The ability of a footballer to make you stand up and anticipate some high skills move. Theo has got this in abundance and I can only see that being augmented.

Basically , this also means we will be able to drive our commercial deals around it. Theo has been tipped as the most popular star in the current squad on the just concluded tour of Asia. You wouldn’t want to lose a player like that , would you ? It will be very important for Arsenal to have a sense of continuity in the team. We need to hold on to the nucleus of our side and as many on twitter have said , what will hurt the most is Theo playing against Arsenal.

At 23 years Theo has still the best of him to come and I think he will be playing a very important role in the next couple of years as we continue to play some amazing football and continue or quest for silverware.

Closing comment 

A lot of us have opined that the demand of £100,000 per week doesn’t justify Theo’s current market standing. Think of it from a different angle. When he meets up with his England team colleagues at the Euros or any other international tournament and sees Downing earning £80,000 or Adam Johnson earning a salary which is more than £100,000 would he not question that for his ability and comparative contribution he should be getting the same. I mean isn’t that how we drive our salary negotiations? Don’t for a moment tell me you don’t do that. It’s a different issue with the club philosophy and sustainability model. At 23 you don’t expect a player to understand all that. That is where Wenger needs to step in and cite the case of  koscielny who has been rewarded with a better contract on the basis of his performance. Let’s hope Wenger has done that and much better.

2012
08/01
CATEGORY
Player Analysis
Talking Tactics
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A case of bad defenders or bad defence?

It’s been some time since I last wrote and I am going to turn a blind eye(in this post) to what’s happening around captain Vantastic and the whole board room saga. If you however want to read something on these topics my recommendation would be for these two articles.

1)      A very pragmatic view  from @desigunner on RvP

2)      In defence of Gazidis and revealing Usmanov  by @positivegunner at 1nildown2oneup.net

Okay. My last post was on the retirement of Pat Rice and I think it’s only fitting that in this post I write a little about our incoming 1st team coach – Steve Bould. At the outset, I think the whole process was superbly handled. It’s a sign of stability and progression. Wenger clearly believes understanding the club’s tradition and belief in the philosophy is one of the key requisites for anyone who has to have a responsible position in the coaching department.

Steve Bould is no stranger to The Arsenal. Like Pat Rice he has spent a major part of his career at The Arsenal. First as a player and then as a youth coach. I am no expert of The Arsenal pre 2001-02. A lot of my knowledge is acquired either through the history DVD, books or people on twitter. So I will not fib about what sort of a player he is etc… But I base my observations on what I have heard. In the The Arsenal history DVD, when the Wenger years start, Arsene himself accepted that he inherited a back four which was one of the best. The quartet of Adams, Winterburn, Dixon and Bould an integral part of George Graham‘s team. Another interesting aspect of the initial Wenger years was the fact Wenger was able to induce his type of fluid football into players who were considered to be boring and one dimensional. It just shows that bunch were willing to try something new. Of course they didn’t take it kindly that Wenger cut off the booze supply!

Bould is highly respected by the reserves players

I believe an even bigger contribution from Bould was during his days at the academy and as reserves coach. The Arsenal reserves have had a good amount of success in the past. Every player who has graduated from the academy has only great things to say about Bould. A testament to his abilities and man management. Promotion of Bould points to Wenger’s belief in the structure and the strength in depth at The Arsenal. It will also help him that a few of the academy players are now in the senior team.

Pat Rice has been a great servant for The Arsenal. Dave Seager @goonerdave66 pointed out to me the fact that he was not the most gifted footballer, yet the career he has had is a testament to his determination. But it was time for a change and trying a different approach. For long Wenger has stuck to his guns and operated in a certain way. Change will not mean a radical shift. Fluency and flair will still be the aspects which will be demanded and incorporated into the play. But even Wenger should acknowledge that the team now needs certain defensive steel when they play. It’s not lost on any of us that Bould’s reserve team doesn’t have the best defensive records. But many of us already think alike, that coaching he senior team will be a different aspect altogether. Let’s not forget, the reserves team would probably have a higher focus on developing a style of play which has passing and movement at its forefront.

So what would we all expect of Bould? Undoubtedly, he will be expected to bring defensive solidity, being a successful center back himself. How badly do we require some sort of solidity? While we all are debating about how many players we need to buy, exactly which player we need to buy or which of the players we will need to dump, I thought it’s a good idea to go back and review our season.

One area which I was very confident before the season had begun was the defense. I mean we arguably have one of the best pairing at center back. Last season was about defensive stability, after all Wenger went out and brought that center back we were all desperately asking him to bring in for the last 3 years. Agreed, Mertesacker is no Samba, Cahill or Vermaelen. But still, he is a fine addition. Reads the game very well and his lack of pace and strength is made up by his positional sense. I know some will instantly disagree but more about that later.

So how has the defense fared? Did they live up to expectations? Proof is in the pudding (is that how it’s said?)

Goals conceded analysis

The fact that we have conceded 49 goals (highest in the Wenger years) has not gone unnoticed. There has been a good debate about what the reasons have been. Undoubtedly the game at Old Trafford has contributed highly, 8 goals. To put the 49 goals into perspective consider the following

a)      Average goals conceded per season since 1996 is 34.88 with the lowest at 17 goals conceded in 1998-99

b)      Last season , The Arsenal have trailed Everton, Liverpool and Sunderland in goals conceded

c)      The Arsenal had a clean sheet in 13 games, the last 15 years our average clean sheets per season is 15 games.

49 goals conceded this season are way too many. In fact 15 goals higher than the average goals we have conceded in the last 15 years. Is there an explanation to this? We had addressed the weakness from set pieces. So, where did we go wrong?

I thought of going a little deep and came up with this analysis. Now a caveat even before you read this. Most of the numbers here are straight away categorizations. But there are a few where the categorization is slightly dicey. Example, the goal by Morrison where he pulled Mertesacker aside is categorized as a defensive mistake. So is the goal where Welbeck beat Djourou and scored the 1st of the 8 goals. So the categorizations are my verdict on a particular goal. Could be off the mark, by say 10%.

So here are the stats,

Goals conceded analysis per month

The striking aspect for me, even before I went into the numbers was our tally of own goals.  I clearly remembered a couple from Koscielny. But 5 own goals strike me as too many for a club vying for top honors.

There are certain goals in here which are absolutely unavoidable; the free kick of Larsson is an example. So would be the goals from open play short range. Goals which are worked through intricate passing.

So which are the ones which are avoidable?

Straight away, goals from defensive mistakes, long range shots (Szczesny conceded he should have stopped that strike from Kyle Walker at white hart lane), penalties and corners.

I have thought about this for a while, can we stop own goals? Yes, we can minimize them, after this analysis I visualized the own goals. What is required is awareness to what is happening around the person. Koscielny had great a season but was the culprit on two occasions. The one against Blackburn was clearly avoidable. Of course it will take a bit of luck too. But the key is doing your job as a defender. If it still happens?  tough luck.

But the bigger issue is goals from defensive mistakes, now the way I classified the goals, was to go through the match reports. I am not saying all of them are right but yes most of them are. Undoubtedly our biggest problem has been discipline and lack of focus. We never seem to go through a full match without defensive mistakes. The only issue is we pay sometimes and get away sometimes. As the season ends what is recorded and remembered is the list of mistakes which resulted in a goal.

So what does this classification tell us?

There has to be an explanation for the number of goals. It’s not a single reason that has resulted in this tally of unhealthy goals. It’s definitely a mix of reasons and can be listed as

a)      A very shaky start to the season. Conceding 10 goals in the opening 3 games (8 against Manchester united) never helped.

b)      8 games without recognized full backs (10th Dec to 29th Jan) took its toll. We conceded 10 goals. During this period we lost to Swansea away, Fulham away, Man United home and drew against Wolves at home. These were all winnable games.

c)      More importantly during the above period, we played our four recognized centre backs through the back four.  Immediately after that Mertesacker got injured.

d)      Injuries to key players meaning some of the defense players had to be stretched. Vermaelen for example had to play Centre back and Left back, and some of the defensive mistakes in the closing stages of the season came from him.

e)      The number of defensive mistakes was higher during the ending of the season. I would attribute that to nervousness and fatigue.

f)       A lack of consistency in the defensive formation. My count is we played 19 combinations for the back four.

g)      Playing players out of position. Djourou playing at right back cost us two games. The one against Man United, when Giggs whipped that cross to Valencia and the game against Fulham when he was caught out of position and had to resort to hard tackles till he eventually saw red.

Do we have bad defenders or a bad defense? What is the solution?

Does this all mean we have a set of bad defenders? Across the board all our defenders and our beloved goalie had a bad game at some point of time or the other. But they also had some amazing games. Up the field the same can be said about Song. Arteta has been the clear exception and how much of it is a coincidence that he is a more experienced player who is far more composed in tense situations?

Djourou was ineffective at right back in a couple of games. But remember it is the same guy who put in decent performances at centre back.  I have been heavily critical of Djourou on twitter. He does make mistakes and was more than once caught out of position. But as 4th choice CB, Djourou isn’t that bad. Yes he lacks versatility. If we can get a defender who plays CB and RB in place of Djourou I wouldn’t mind that, but I would not lose sleep over him being in the team as CB.

I am slightly cross with Song. If song has one big drawback it is that he has lapses in concentration. I would have loved to dig some numbers to support this, but song has been guilty of losing the ball in dangerous areas and making the wrong passes. That is where squad rotation could have helped him. Unfortunately Arteta was injured at the end of the season and even with Arteta playing, our options were limited to Ramsey or Coquelin. Coquelin was busy playing right back (also inexperienced) and by the time Sagna was back Coquelin got injured. Ramsey began the season well, but lost confidence and faded away. That’s what hurt The Arsenal.

I was very skeptical about Mertesacker a lanky crouch like personality in our defense. It’s not as if he is fast and it’s not as if he makes up for lack of speed with strength. But what he lacks in pace and strength, he makes up in his positioning and game reading ability. For a first season in the premier league, he was pretty ok, other than the one time he got bullied off the ball to concede a goal.

Hopefully this is not going to be the case next season, either with our injured players returning or new players being brought in.

So, it’s not a case of bad defenders as much as it is a case of bad defensive organization and some misfortune with the injuries.

We have minimized our vulnerability to set pieces, sure. So how did we do that? Tried a few different things and got lucky? Sometimes it’s funny when some of us fans (including me) think the think tank at the club is not paying attention to these things. They are and better performance against set pieces is a sign of the coaching staff attending to those problems. With Bould taking over I am very optimistic about there being a far better defensive organization

2012
07/07
CATEGORY
Talking Tactics
3 comments

Arsenal superstar and squad number 2 retires

One point advantage over the chasing pack and two games to go. Who will score and how do we tackle Norwich? Undoubtedly, this game has huge repercussions. Champions’ league football is vital for Arsenal due to many factors. A win today will keep us on that path. Over the last few games, we have been missing the spark in our play. Reasons galore, but today it will not be about playing great football. It will be about winning those three points and keeping third position. If we happen to win it playing pretty, that’s a bonus.

No long ago there was a poll conducted on le-grove.co.uk on what was more crucial for Arsenal. Champions’ league or cup success. The result was absolutely unanimous. Majority of us want to see Arsenal playing champions league football and that takes priority.

But in all this desire for champions ‘league, beating Norwich and getting new players , today is a significant day for a different reason. The game against Norwich will probably be the last time when Patrick James Rice – Pat Rice will be sitting in our dugout at Emirates. Anyone who has been a fan of Arsenal or remotely knows Arsenal history will be aware of the contributions and achievements of Pat Rice. But I would still like to do a quick re-cap.

Playing Career

Pat Rice joined Arsenal in 1964 as an apprentice at the age of 15. He turned professional in 1966, playing as a substitute mostly. It was in the season of 1970-71 that Pat rice started making a regular appearance in the Arsenal side. The very first year he started playing full time, Rice achieved the double. It was one of the three doubles he was involved in. One as a player and two as an assistant coach.

The 1970-71 double winning side, by their own admission was not the best at playing beautiful football. It was the mental fortitude and the desire to win. Rice was among the youngsters who would go on to achieve huge success. Significantly he was one of the few who stayed with the club even after the side was dismantled (in the words of Frank Mclintock)

Anyone who has seen him play will agree that he was probably the best crosser in the team. I recently saw Arsenal – The official History. Most of my opinions and observations on Pat Rice are based on what I have seen in the DVD.

There are two moments which stood out in for me. The cross to Ray Kennedy which was headed for a goal and an exquisite pass to Malcolm McDonald (Supermac). The immediate thought on seeing the pass was that “looks like a pass which Sagna or Rosicky would have made”. It is no surprise that Wenger has stuck with him. Like a great player recently said you either have the football vision or you don’t.  Pat Rice definitely had it. My favorite moment is the 1979 FA cup final. When Arsenal leading 2 goals to none let Manchester united come back. Eventually Arsenal scored the third and won the cup. It’s got to be one of the best moments of his career, when he lifted the cup.

Rice continued playing for Arsenal till 1980 when he moved to Watford. Bringing to an end 14 years of playing time at Arsenal.

 

Coaching Career

Pat Rice returned to Arsenal almost immediately and I wouldn’t need to tell you with what he has achieved and how he has ensured great stability.  Helping Wenger achieve two doubles and that blockbuster unbeaten run in the league, he surely had a pivotal role to play. If wenger had the vision, Pat Rice definitely had the ability to ensure that vision was realized.

But there is a different side I would like to throw some light on.

Football jobs are not like regular jobs. I have had my boss tell me – Love your job but don’t get obsessed with your company. Well in any sport for that matter, clubs/franchises need people who know the values and tradition. They need people who have the passion for the club. They don’t come much better than Pat Rice.

Today Coaches/Managers and support staff are the first ones to get an axe when the goals are not achieved. It’s a superb achievement to be an assistant coach for 16 years. The fact that Wenger trusted Pat Rice to help him achieve his vision is a testament to his abilities.

There is one incident which comes to my mind instantly when I think of Pat Rice

At the league game at Etihad against Manchester City, the players lined up in the tunnel and there was a certain discomfort between the Arsenal players and Nasri. Nasri was twitching and was definitely nervous facing us. After a moment, Pat Rice came out with a few substitutes and while walking towards the dugout, went over to Nasri and said “How are you Samir. Good luck”. Shook his hand and just kept walking. Nasri of course didn’t understand the magnanimity of the person or the gesture and was honestly taken aback.

In a moment I understood what is it to be an Arsenal player and the responsibility of representing the club.

As we move forward, it is important to honor and celebrate the work of a  man who has given Arsenal 42 years of his life.  Like I said to @savagegooner some time back, Pat Rice is Mr. Arsenal. It’s more than DNA.

Lets win the game today for Pat Rice.

2012
05/05
CATEGORY
Legends Corner
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Who to partner Song? | Barcelona in town

Wigan disaster

There is no point in writing a match analysis, when the reasons for our performance were glaringly visible. At the same time there is no point in blaming one player for the performance. Everyone had a bad game. Yes, a few worse than the others, but it doesn’t matter. Because there was no single performance which could have lifted us out of the rut.

Congratulations to Wigan though, notwithstanding their time wasting tactics, they played unbelievably well. They clearly had a strategy and were determined to execute it to near perfection. The most surprising part was that they targeted the Arsenal right flank with Moses tormenting Sagna, through the game. It was simply clever. Sagna when he is playing at his best is the one who starts off the attack and cleanly mops up any danger from counterattacks. By targeting Sagna, the other benefit was restraining Theo. Sagna coming back from injury has benefited Theo the most. It’s pretty simple actually. When Sagna is at his best, he is almost a winger and Theo needn’t be one. He can drift inside and make those runs behind the defenders. Of course there were other reasons for the defeat and nothing sums it all up all better than what Wenger said during his post-match comments

“There was cohesion missing in our play. Some players tried to do more on their own”

Arteta!

The worst possible aspect of the Wigan game is Arteta getting injured. How massive a blow is that? But when you are playing at the highest level, the chances of injuries are always there. It will be the same next year, when we will hopefully be playing in a few more competitions than we are now. Arteta is a vital clog and has been holding that position in central defense superbly well. Indications are that he will be out for the rest of the season. That’s really a blow for us, especially with crucial game against Chelsea this Saturday.

Who to play with Song!

So the million dollar question is who will play with Alex Song. The worst thing about our midfield issue is we have the highest number of players there and actually some very terrific players. Ideally we shouldn’t be in this sort of a mess.

But we are where we are! So who to play against Chelsea. It should actually be a no brainer, Ramsey should slot in right away. For me he is still the best bet. You cannot regain form and confidence by sitting on the sidelines. Ask Chamakh. Irrespective of what many people think, Ramsey has a role to play at Arsenal. The reassuring part is Ramsey has the confidence of Wenger. That is what matters most.

The other choice is to start Diaby. That is actually perfect. Diaby has the technique and fits the role. But the issue is how long Diaby will last? He has an all-round ability much like Arteta and if I may so, he is just a little more talented than Arteta. Injuries have played havoc with his career and have not helped Arsenal too. The last team update, Diaby was declared fit and back in training. So it would be great to see him back in action.

The most popular choice is sending out Oxlade chamberlain into the role. If he could play against Milan why couldn’t he against Chelsea? Yes, he could but as seen from the game against Wigan, he can have a bad game too. He tried to do too much on his own and kept losing the ball. It can happen to the best of players. We need to keep reminding ourselves that this guy is just 18 years old and is playing in his first season. It could be one hell of a gamble and it could backfire. There is no doubting his ability, but for such a crucial game, a risk of that proportion is not advisable.

So not much of an issue, huh? We got three players and we need to choose one to play! Let’s leave that to Wenger then.

How many goals for Barcelona tonight?

Enough about Arsenal. There is a champion’s league semifinal tonight. What a contest it could be. I must admit, I was writing off Chelsea completely. Looks like they could put up a fight for at least 45 minutes. Both sides are talking up each other’s chances of winning. Chelsea have been lavish in their praise of Messi & co. While Barcelona have done quite some research to talk about some good points for Chelsea tonight. It will either be a damp squib with Chelsea defending all night and making that odd counter attack or it will be Barcelona demolishing Chelsea. Chelsea dominating and beating Barcelona? Yeah sure!

Parting shot!

· Guardiola dismisses Chelsea link as pure ‘fantasy’. Wonder who was brave enough to think that he would actually even think of making that move.

· Frank Lampard said in his pre match press conference that Messi is the best player in the world, but reminded everyone that he has never scored against Chelsea. Ooh! Not a smart thing to do Frank. Giving Messi a challenge when he is actually short of new challenges.

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2012
04/18
CATEGORY
Midweek thoughts
Talking Tactics
6 comments

Hey Monday, can you top that Sunday? Gunners are here .

So, I presume lot of you must have had a hangover celebrating Spurs getting thrashed . The FA cup semifinal was absolutely cracking. I actually thought Tottenham had it in them to beat Chelsea. How wrong was I! Frankly, I couldn’t care less who won. But there were some pretty interesting moments in the game.

First things first

Chelsea as a club will never gain any respect, it was despicable on some of their fans part not to honor the minute’s silence. This may be harsh, but I mean it, the behavior is a reflection of some of their players and the club as a whole. It’s nice for the club to come out and criticize that section of fans.

Why will Tottenham never ever be a big club?

Well I don’t mean to go into the thousands of reasons for that, but a few are worth noting

1) Their defense is utter nonsense: They seem to accumulate all the used and spent center backs in the league. Gallas didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. At one point during the 2 nd half he gave up tracking Malouda.

2) The truth is they managed to play pretty football for some time. But to do it consistently, you need to have a squad which believes and more importantly has the skills. Except for Modric, Bale and Van der vaart, none of the other players have any great quality. (Adebayor is hardly a spurs player, offer him what they pay Modric , he will vanish in a second)

3) The manager cannot concede defeat after issuing a battle cry just 2 weeks before (didn’t he say bring it on Arsenal? – for the 3 rd place). From winning the league title to being happy with 4 th , it took 2 months. Some ambition huh!

Manchester United are reportedly closing a deal to buy Nicolas Gaitan from Benefica for 20 million. That’s pretty much curtains for Luka Modric to move to old Trafford. Wonder if Chelsea still feel he is worth 40 million. Not smart Tottenham!

The refs screwed up again!

I am no expert in refereeing and am pretty much an amateur with a lot of football rules. But I never thought it was a goal yesterday. Also, is it not a foul to impede the goal keeper? Terry did not impede, but he absolutely barged into the goal keeper. Of course, the gentleman he is, he admitted after the match that the ball possibly did not cross the goal.

Cricket was probably the first sport to have reviews and video help. Third umpires assisting on field umpires etca… , yes it’s a much slower sport, but it has helped in bringing a lot of fairness into the game. Tennis has done the same, with the review system, where each player is given three chances for appeal in a single set. It’s worked wonders.

With football it is not that straight. The USP of football is the pace of the game. So there will be a small compromise to get those decisions right. UEFA started with referees behind the goal post, but it looks like it was a scheme devised to give one man the best possible view of the action. And let’s face it, if it’s not your team which is at the receiving end or you are a neutral, one gets fun out of these situations. But the time has come for football to be a little more open to change and think of the best possible way. Probably selective referring of decisions, a contentious goal, handball or a dive? Since these influence a game more than anything else.

Remember, the referees have a tough job of getting the decisions right, with just one look. So they have a tough job. But the more one team is awarded penalties in respect to others, the more of conspiracy theories.

So Monday is here and so are the Gunners!

Enough of the losers and goons. Let’s admit it, a weekend without the Gunners is absolutely devastating, and worse, we have to watch the goons and divers. Anyway the gunners are here today and Monday suddenly is more appealing. We play Wigan at home and it doesn’t get much easier than that! Well, not really. Wigan are a team on the up and have started on their traditional season end surge which ends with holding on to their place in the premier league for one more year.

There is little doubt Arsenal will be aware that Wigan can easily repeat their last week heroics. Wigan have been playing pretty decent football all season. It was their finishing which let them down for a majority of the games. They play a lot like Arsenal, moving the ball forward and creating chances.

Needless to say, except for the aberration at Loftus road, our form has been right up there. There is no reason not to win, get 3 points and keep pull away from everyone. But this is a little tricky nevertheless.

The first uncomfortable factor us Koscielny being unavailable. This is a big test for Djourou. Against Wolves, he had a decent performance, though hardly tested. Wigan have the ability to test our center back. Vermaelen should be able to provide good leadership. One notable fact during the Wolves game was Song and Arteta taking turns to stay back. Probably it will be the same today. Gibbs is back in training and I presume he will start. Santos is a wonderful character, but against Wolves he had a couple of nervous moments.

The rest of the team selects itself and that’s a good sign. So what could be the probable line up ?

Starting: Sczezsny, Sagna, Djourou , Vermaelen , Gibbs, Arteta , Song, Theo , Rosicky , Benayoun and RVP

Subs: Gervinho, Santos, Oxlade Chamberlain, Fabianski, Jenkinson and Ramsey.

Player to watch out? Theo Walcott, he had an amazing 30 mins against Wolves. His confidence is growing day by day and it’s becoming clear as to how dangerous he can be with those runs. His finishing has improved by leaps and bounds. Arsenal to score in the first 10 minutes, which will calm the players and bring the best out. Hope the fans at Emirates are up to it. Let’s go gunners!

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2012
04/16
CATEGORY
Talking Tactics
Uncategorized
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