Goodbye Cesc

Our best player is gone. He is gone and he will never come back (fricking £130million buyout clause, you're shitting me Barca). His departure has left a creative void in our team which will be difficult to fill for anyone currently present in the squad. Some believe that Aaron Ramsey will be the next chief artist in our midfield but I seriously doubt his abilities. Cesc had a different football upbringing and with his super skills, he could only be emulated but not matched.

I have been bitter with Cesc for his behavior towards Arsene and Arsenal. But now when you think about it with a calm head, the protracted transfer saga looks justifiable. He has always wanted to go back to Barcelona and play for his hometown club. And with no silverware with Arsenal that attraction became an obsession. When Cesc was made the captain, he was criticized for not being 'English' enough on the pitch. Whenever he had an off day, the team was slagged off for being only about the possession and no result. He was the captain and the sole provider of the creative spark in our team. Mind you, Arshavin also has a mighty stat for the assists but there was too much pressure on Cesc. That pressure resulted in niggling injuries and a dodgy hamstring. So I think that he had had enough with us and just wanted a leave. If Nasri had signed a new contract with us early in the second half of the season, things would have been different. But his desire or should I say greed to play for a different club, gave Cesc another reason to move on with his career too.

Cesc is a special player and he will go on to have a great career with Barca. The only way he will not finish his career at that whore of a club is if GBP devalues to peso level and some Chinese club nicks him off those cheating Catalans. I will live to see that day, some day.

A team called Arsenal

Beating champion-elect Manchester United one day, turning over against mid-table Stoke City on the other, that's my team Arsenal. This team has had so many off days this season, that an abysmal performance has started to look normal. After that calamitous defeat in the Cup final, we haven't been able to pick ourselves up. The niggling injuries have come back and we could hardly maintain the momentum of an occasional good game.

Yesterday against Stoke, we delivered probably our worst performance of the season. The match started in a familiar fashion with Arsenal dominating the possession in first 10 minutes but hardly created anything. We have started strongly every single game this season and just imagine if we could have actually made use of it, sigh! But as usual, we were lacking in the final third of the pitch, where it matters the most. On the left, Arshavin was the culprit of losing the ball far too many times and with Gibbs in place of Clichy, it was a cakewalk for Pennant. Stoke was playing according to a specific plan and a part of it was to make Arsenal players look bad in their challenges. Gibbs was getting caught up ahead of the pitch and with Arshavin not tracking back, Pennant was a continuous threat. Due to some unscrupulous defending, Arshavin gave away a cheap free kick right next to the corner flag. Pennant's delivery was nothing exceptional but our defense managed to turn it into a pearler. Djourou was supposedly marking Jones and was facing him. I don't know how he thought he could run for the ball from that position. As Pennant crossed the ball, Djourou lost his footing and the ball just hit the unmarked Jones and dawdled in. Everyone knows that we're crap at defending set-pieces but nobody knew that we're this crap.

What ensued thereafter, it was pretty clear that Arsenal just didn't want it. We were frivolous in the midfield and there was no sense of urgency or diligence from the players. Ramsey who had a good game against Manure was seemingly out of this depth in this one. I hate to say it but he was visibly affected playing at that horrible stadium and in front of their booing audience. With our players going forward, he made an uncharacteristic mistake when, I don't know how, he managed to scoop the ball in the path of Pennant. With Koscielny covering Jones, Djourou should have just gone on to close him. But his lackadaisical approach provided Pennant the space and time to shoot and the deflected shot flew past our hapless goalkeeper for Stoke's second. The effort was not undeserving but it was a nothing strike, one which should have been blocked by our defender.

Item that should have been thrown inside dressing room at HT

Possible item which was actually thrown

The second half brought a 4-3-3 approach with Bendtner and  Chamakh replacing Arshavin and Ramsey. As a result our ball play improved but there were still no clear cut scoring opportunities. Bendtner tried to shoot from outside the box but Begovic had it covered. Chamakh scoffed a good chance and Van Persie was denied by some last ditch defending. Apart from that there was no action until we brought Rosicky in place of Song. Whatever you think of Rosa, but he made an immediate impact when he turned away from his marker and setup Robin. Van Persie still had to turn away from the defender which he did and let go a thunderous low shot with his chocolate leg to give Arsenal hope of leveling the game. But apparently no one was interested in it. In the next minute Djourou's crappy clearance gave back the ball to Walters who kept his cool and slotted past the surging Chesney. It was done and dusted after that, with Arsenal showing no comeback spirit, the final whistle remained a mere formality.

We were average all over the pitch. Theo hardly played any role yesterday and looked out of sorts. In the midfield, Song had a decent game and closely marked Jones at times. Jack was in a fiery mood. His tackles were not at all helped by his agitated demeanor and the crowd of 20,000 cavemen baying for his blood. Pennant made too much of his one good challenge on the ball and the Stoke players, sticking to the plan, tried to make it look a red-cardable offence. It led to a scuffle but eventually both the players got away with yellow. I hope the other Stoke players made a note-to-self that you don't mess with Jack.

In the defense, Gibbs was once again poor. His positional sense could be compared to a headless chicken. I doubt his physical ability as well because he is very slow in coming back to his position. If he wants to start in the Arsenal team, he really has to step up his game. Djourou also had a game to forget. He is playing his first season as our first choice defender and coming back from a long term injury, it's always difficult to perform consistently. He has been massive for us in the games he had played but for the last few (starting with Bolton-away) he has been caught off-guard at times. He was a doubt to start against Stoke but cleared his fitness test before the game. With Shittaci on the bench and Vermaelen just returning from his long-term injury, I'm speculating that Djourou was forced to start this one. He has performed so well for us all this season that the only justification I could see for his faltering performance is fatigue. I'm sure that he will come back stronger and fitter after the summer.

At the end of the day you have to judge our team by their effort and yesterday there was none. Even when we went a goal down, we never forced the issue and didn't come up with the goods. It was as if the players have already made their summer plans and just want to go on a break. It would have been nice to see Arsene make some changes up front but then he never does, well he knows better. The season is now really over for us and I just want the players to have some "decency" to avoid defeat in the remaining two fixtures. Now I'm really not asking much of the team, just be a decent bunch and don't lose. Let's see.

Chesney ball woes or not?

I've mentioned in my previous posts about Chesney's poor ball distribution. To investigate this claim I've included the chalkboards of his ball distribution from the game against Manure at the Emirates.


 by Guardian Chalkboards

Chesney attempted almost same number of passes as Van der Saar but successfully completed them at a lower rate than his adversary. The possible reason for the relative low success rate is his straight long passes which are rarely claimed by RvP and Van der Saar's higher number of short passes. It's a foregone conclusion that we lack the aerial prowess but like United we should be closing down the short forward passes from the GK. It's a pity that Chesney has been made to look inferior in this statistic by the lack of industry from our outfield players. 

Rambo II and the comeback of Arsenal's self-belief

Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester United
Ramsey 56

Finally, Arsene has outwitted Sir Alex tactically. Cesc was ruled out of the game because of a possible dead-leg-kind-a situation which brought Aaron Ramsey in the midfield. In the first 20 minutes it was a typical Arsenal performance, lots of possession and industry without any shots on goal. But the intensity was high and we looked like a wounded lion out to take down his opponent. We have suffered much at the hands of Manure recently and it was heartwarming to see that the team was playing for pride. It made Sir Alex get out of his seat and deliver instructions to his half-brained minions right from the beginning.

Without Cesc, Arsene opted to play Jack and Rambo alternating between the advance and the holding role. It was a refreshing approach which had a huge impact on the game. Arsenal bossed the midfield and went forward at will only to be let down in the final third sometimes by lack of creativity, shooting or a crowded defense. But amidst all this frenzy, Theo crossed peach of a ball with Robin and Vidic going for it in the box. Vidic realizing that he will miss the ball, used his hand to clear and deny Robin from thumping it in the back of the goal. The linesman should have made the easy call of a penalty but somehow chose to ignore the foul. That was probably the only flashing point of the first half but we definitely ended it on a high.

Nasri picked up a knock, from I think Evra, in the first half and the Russian giant started the second in his place. We started the next forty-five very much from where we had left but were once again not able to pry open United's defense. Then Ferguson made a decisive change which eventually changed the course of the game. Probably thinking that our Russian will be slow on the wing, he went for Valencia in place of Anderson. Owing to that tactical change, we found more space in the midfield and the goal came right in the next minute. Robin held up the ball on the right in their box and three of our players charged in for the cut-back, yes, I repeat three players. That left space for Rambo to charge in and score through the defender's legs with the ball kissing the far post. It was a beautiful first time finish from more or less the same position from where Jack has miscued his shot in the first half. The goal clearly rattled Manure's cage and they came at us like hungry racoons.

Commentators expected a typical Arsenal meltdown which has been a regular feature this season but thankfully it never happened. We were solid at the back with Sagna owning Nani and Song keeping Rooney quiet. Another outstanding performance was to come from Shava who tracked by like a hero putting in great defensive tackles. It was a brilliant game for him and he nullified any threat which could have possibly come from average Valencia. I would say Clichy had a good game as well barring that one cock-up where he tried to dribble past a striker, nothing just the usual Clichy-stuff. United didn't particularly create impressive moves but they shot on goal with purpose only for Chesney to make couple of brilliant saves. There were few nervous moments when Shittaci came on for the injured Djourou but others ensured that he doesn't end up pooping the party. Overall we defended as a unit and were solid as a rock. If we had put in such a performance week-in week-out, then the Emirates would have been a better place but then we are Arsenal.

Our 1-0 win over the champion-elect United says a lot about our game yesterday. Cesc's exclusion proved to be a boon and forced Arsene to shift tactically. It brought something new to the table and Sir Alex was outwitted by him. The performance would have restored Ramsey's self-belief and will fuel him to excel in the remaining games. I think we will see a lot of him in our last 3. Arsene couldn't have asked for a better victory and the lads were finally able to deliver. If we win all our next three games anything can happen so keep believing.

Oh Mental Strength Where Art Thou

Finally I will accept that we're out of the title hunt. This Arsenal team has forced me to believe that we're not even good enough to finish second in the league. Yesterday away at Bolton, once again we had around 70% possession but still managed to have less shots on target than them foul-playing orcs. Arsenal has conceded most goals from set-pieces in the top flight (56% via @Orbinho) and that's another ugly feather added to our ill-shaped cap of this season.

We started the game brightly, with couple of shots from outside the box and a long chip from Robin to Theo. For a moment I believed that Bolton will be at the receiving end of things but as Arsenal always do it, they proved me wrong. Wojciech made a superb save at our end but Sturridge poked in from the resulting corner. We tried to do something about it but couldn't manage it until the second half when Robin neatly finished with a good cut back from Cesc inside their box.

During the entire second half we had them under the cosh but were not able to create a proper scoring opportunity. Arshavin was subbed in the 70th and won few corners. But we were again incapable of taking any advantage of them. In the end it was "deja vu all over again" when Chesney made a brilliant save but them orcs scored from the resulting corner mainly owing to some poor marking. Djourou had a terrible game at the back, consistent fouls and some horrible decision-making. He has been playing at a good level but yesterday he was someone else, like a deer in front of the headlights who doesn't know whether to go forward or back. Clichy played his normal game, switching off time to time, no tracking back and losing the ball at crucial points in a move. Sagna didn't look fit to me. He is just back from his injury and I believe that he's playing through the pain. For me only Chesney had an excellent game and rest of the team was just par or may be below.

When you look back at our season (which is not over yet), the real positive is the emergence of Jack and Chesney. They duly embody the never-say-die attitude and their energy has been the only solace to the bereaved fans. If only our other players had shown the same courage, we would have been close to winning this title. But mental strength is part of an athlete's talent and not everyone has it. I also follow professional road cycling and one of the top riders Tom Boonen once said in his interview that good riding technique and physical strength are skills but mental strength is a talent. When you have both, you become a winner. Boonen is not my favorite rider but what he said is absolutely true.  It's difficult to have 11 mentally strong players in a team  but if you have few key players who have the self-belief and the hunger to win, they can rally the others and collectively become a dogged unit. Self-belief/mental strength comes from performance and to perform you need self-belief. It's a vicious circle and I don't have a solution for it. One thing has become very clear that this team is not yet capable of winning titles and miss something very important. I couldn't put my finger on it but hope Arsene identifies the problems and rectify them over the summer. After all, Arsene knows.

Once again...

Following up from my last post, I can safely say that our players did come out for the derby as hungry warriors. They showed real intent and passion to win the game and in the first half looked very much like doing that. But once again we let slip a two goal lead and gifted the opposition a point. A game which could have lifted our spirits right up, we let it slip away from us. Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom because we did come back from the Lane with a point in Nasri's male purse.

It was a fast-paced (franatic pace in words of Arsene) football match between two teams who more or less have similar quality players. But as an Arsenal supporter, I will always expect my team to be better than the others. In the 2nd half, it was apparent that our players were tired because of continuous counter-attacking and constant pressing. If you come to think of it, these are professional footballers playing in supposedly the best league in the world employed by one of the top football clubs in the world. They get paid massive sums of money to do their job, that is to play regular competitive football and perform with full intensity. Yet they were unable to deliver the physical performance which was required in the game last evening. As many other bloggers have already pointed out before that physically our team is not the best in the league. They suffer from chronic injuries which have greatly reduced their physical sharpness.

There were also positives to take from the game. Nasri and Fabregas played with passion and desire contradicting the hypothesis of their departure proposed by the British media. These players want to be a part of a successful (i.e. trophy-winning, not 2nd in the league) Arsenal team and that is that. They're not going anywhere and will stay with us the next season and I can bet my left testicle on it. Along with their continued presence next season, I would really like to see some experienced specialist professional coaching our back four. Barring Clichy, we have good defensive players in Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou and Vermalean. I think what we miss is someone who can give them specialist tips and can also help them add steel about their performance. Hopefully these issues will be addressed over the summer and rectified before the next season because once again we look so close but yet so far. 

Matter of Pride

Yay, Robin scores and we're out of jail...oh wait, free kick at the edge of our box, booya straight in the wall, oh wait...WTF, pelanty!!! Kuyt scores and we're doomed...nooooooo!

I know that most of the seasoned Gooners were not jumping out of their seats after we scored the penalty in the 98th minute. They were thinking that could we defend the lead for the remaining two minutes and as it turned out, we couldn't. It was a typical performance at the Emirates where we kept most of the ball (68% possession) but were not able to create enough chances to score a field goal. Blackpool was a lesser opposition and with their open play and defensive frailties we were able to penetrate their back four. But Liverpool is a better side and a team which is on the up. In spite of that fact, we were pretty impressive and played most of the game in their half. Diaby (Jack was a little off) was able to keep the ball all the time and we pressed hard in the midfield which didn't allow them to complete their passes accurately.

Where we lacked was in the final third. It's now a familiar pattern and harping more on it will not improve the current predicament of our team. For once I would like to see our players be more direct in front of the goal, something which Bendtner is good at (but then he's bad at keeping the ball...). There was no plan B for us and we always missed that final intricate pass which could have annihilated their defense. I thought Shava would be our savior but by the time he came on, the team was disoriented and had lost the formation. His impressive nippy runs inside the box ended up vaguely.

But the fate had decided something else for us and we were awarded a very late pelanty when Cesc was brought down by orc-looking Spearing. RvP duly scored and it was like a sweet redemption for the team. But then we are Arsenal and we like to complicate things. As soon as the game started we found ourselves defending an edge-of-the-box free kick. It should have been the last action in the game but somehow the referee decided to extend the game. After getting smashed against our defensive wall, the ball was half-cleared in the box and the slightest of touch from Eboue was enough for Lucas to dive. Liverpool was awarded the pelanty which Kuyt converted to nullify the game.

Eboue in happier times (source: BleacherReport)

It would be worthless to blame only Eboue for the mistake and I will blame the entire team. I agree that Eboue lost his concentration for that last minute which costed us the game. But he was not the only one, there were players who should have cleared the ball properly but they didn't. It was once again a collective defensive shamble from us which gifted a point to the opposition. We have come up short defensively umpteenth time this season. It's heart-aching to recall but Spuds, Newcastle, Birmingham games have left a dark botch on my memory. 

I think we should just forget about where we're in the league and where we will finish. Let's just play for the Arsenal pride now. Let's play to show all the suckers out there what we're capable of. Each of our player should now feel like a warrior whose kingdom has been duped away from him and all he has got left is his pride. We should play for our honor and beat those cock-on-the-ball Yids and those uncivilized yokels from Old Trafford. I will now take 2nd, or 3rd or 4th in the league but for once play like the real Arsenal.