Finally the dawn is upon us

Arsenal 2-1 Olympiacos 

Olympiacos is supposedly the weakest team in our Champions League group and before the game it was a popular notion that we will comfortably get past them. With raft of changes across the team, it was always going to be difficult for us to find rhythm in our passing. Song partnered BFG (Big Friendly German via Mr. Blogs) in our defence with the potato boy, Santos and Sagna on the side. Our new Brazilian had a game to forget against Blackburn and once again I was not particularly impressed with his defensive skills last night.

We started the game trying to find our footing but were easily broken down when tried to burst into the Greek side's defense. The first touch on the ball from Olympiacos resulted in a move from the left where we were lucky to not concede. It was not a pretty game in the first half much to the chagrin of Rosicky who looked completely out of sorts in the midfield. He was slow on the ball and made clumsy challenges all over the pitch. Arshavin was nowhere to be seen in the first half and most of the movement came via Oxman. His direct approach to the game is a whiff of fresh air for us fans who are frustrated with the overworked approach of Rosickys and Chamakhs to create or score goals. A peach of a pass from forward/midfielder/defender Song was deftly controlled by the youngster to lash past the goalkeeper for a fine finish and a European debut goal for Arsenal.

Olympiacos tried to open up the game immediately but were further punished in a counterattacking move when Chamakh was unable to put his boot at the end of a rolling Santos cross. Santos was on hand for the spillover and finished from a tight angle at the near post. It was the high point of the game for him as he misplaced his passes and was found short many a times for the remainder of the game. He looks more like a Brazilian winger currently deployed as a left back. Hope with time he can fine tune his radar and deliver on his defensive duties. Chamakh provided good link up play up front but was found wanting when he could have shot past the goalkeeper to make the scoreline 3-0.

We were made to pay for our naive defending when a short corner caught our defense flatfooted and Fuster was able to head the ball in from almost at the edge of the box. It was yet again an example of the lack of defensive understanding in the team. None of the player tried to prevent a short corner and Arshavin onlooked when Fuster was running in front of him to head the ball.

We were fortunate enough to not concede any more goals mainly due to our last ditch defending when Arteta cleared the ball off the line or due to Olympiacos' bad luck when Torosidis long range curling effort was denied by the woodwork. We looked short in our performance in the second half and barring a 10 minute renaissance period of Arshavin, we didn't have much to offer. The passing game didn't click yesterday which was understandable given the number of changes but few signs of complacency were visible. Sagna surprisingly looked off color and I'm worried about him for the upcoming game at WHL. He looked like a man desperately in need of rest. I hope he spends more time in the oxygen bubble until our trip to shiteland. It was a tricky game which didn't tell us anything new although it did showcase the attacking talent of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. Song once again had a massive game playing out of position and now I begin to wonder how he would fare when played as a striker. I'm sure Songinho will fare well in that position too.

Our performance lacked solidity and discipline which will be required against an outfit much better than we have faced over the last three matches since Blackburn. The game on Sunday will feature Arsene on the touchline and hopefully he will be able to cajole our players to put in a good defensive shift. With Robin in flying form, we will be able to score goals against the Yids but it's our defense which still gives me nightmares. But until Sunday, I can enjoy our third win on the trot. I can see the sun rising on the horizon and it's about time for a bright Arsenal morning.

WDL or WWW

I thought I knew the feeling of pain well but last evening it turned out otherwise. The emotional trauma of last evening will not be forgotten for a long time. I was among the unlucky few who were not able to watch Arsenal beat Bolton 3-0. I missed Chesney's brilliant save early on. I missed Robin completing his magnificent century of goals for us and I missed Arsene celebrating with joy Song's wondrous goal. I missed the rousing chants of One Arsene Wenger from the "vocal majority" at the Emirates, I missed watching the men in Red and White play. I hope yesterday's painful experience will not be repeated in future.

As I didn't see the game live but only Match of the Day, it looked like Ramsey also had a cracker of a game and Theo is still 50-50 in 1-on-1. The point to note was that Bolton didn't have any threat up ahead on the pitch after David Wheater was sent off for pulling back Theo. It's understandable that Owen Coyle couldn't afford to be ambitious after his team was reduced to 10 men but the lack of urgency to snatch even a point was surprising. It was different from the Blackburn game where Junior Hoilett and Yakubu created problems for us with minimal attacking. Our defense was not really tested yesterday but another theory could be that we have worked on our defensive issues and have improved. I would like to believe the second hypothesis and it will be tested over the next week when we play Olympiacos and Spuds. I hope we can keep the winning momentum and make it WWW and WDL

Déjà vu all over again

Blackburn 4-3 Arsenal

Opinion

Last time I wrote about our team was after the Swansea win. We were not utterly convincing in that match but we were solid enough to grind out a decent result. That conclusion was partially vindicated when we were able to come back with a point from our European adventure away at Borussia Dortmund. It appeared that Arsenal was finally on the rise after a disappointing start to the season on the back of an equally disappointing summer. But in the aftermath of our calamitous defeat at Ewood Park, one is forced to re-analyse the Champions League game and accept that we're just plain lucky in that fixture. We were spared the blushes by some poor finishing from the current Bundesliga champion. Yesterday we notched it up a level and displayed a shambolic defensive performance.

Blackburn has already been labelled relegation fodder by the English media and for a change, they're spot on. Before the match, Blackburn had been sitting right at the bottom of the league table with just one point from their game against Fulham. Their manager, Steve Kean was facing the wrath of the fans and the players for not doing enough to build the team for the season and the resulting poor results. To give the whole situation an ironic backdrop, there were even protests against him before the game. I'm quite sure that Steve Kean would have already cleared his desk because a defeat against Arsenal was a sure eventuality. Similarly, Arsenal too would have fancied their chances against an opposition whose back was against the wall. But somehow we managed to screw it up and handed Steve Kean a lifeline.

We had Gervinho and Arshavin starting for us. The Russian has gradually started to look like the player we had signed 3 years back. There was Robin who had scored 8 goals in 10 games against Blackburn, a thorn in their side. Ramsey and Artea were in the midfield backed up by Song. It was very much a full strength frontline for us. As we always play, we bossed the possession, created many chances. Gervinho opened his account for Arsenal and so did Arteta. But then we wasted a lot many chances too. Gervinho was at fault for a blatant non-goal when he was too selfish to lay the ball for Van Persie. But still there were no signs in the first half of the upcoming doom. Blackburn started the second half brighter than us and we buckled under minimal pressure. Koscielny and Song who had an amazing game against Dortmund might want to forget their errors yesterday. Both of them gave the ball cheaply far too many times. One could argue that the balance was disturbed because of Andre Santos who was making his debut. I'm very much with that argument but then he alone didn't cost us the game. Yes he played Yakubu onside for his first goal and then created a 50-50 situation with his positioning for Yak's second but it was a collective capitulation at the back which led to the result. We were frivolous and abysmal in our defending.

Arsene argued in his press conference later that the team is missing the defensive confidence after the Old Trafford defeat but I beg to differ. We made basic defensive errors. The own goal which came off Song from Blackburn's corner, we were zonal defending! What was that all about, I thought that it went out of the league with Rafa Benitez. And then in the leadup of the second goal, Djourou commited himself on the byline when there was no need of it. Our other players were tracking back and Djourou should have just stuck himself to the Blackburn runner. The performance will not help Santos' confidence who looks promising while attacking. It was his debut game and his initial nervousness was visible. His lack of awareness could be attributed to these facts but others should have done better. Mertesacker, it appears will take more time to form a partnership with Koscielny but then he let's his man go too easy for my liking.

The game once again revealed that we have compromised on the basics. If Arsene keeps addressing the wrong question, we will never find the correct answer. We need to go back to the whiteboard/training ground and learn the basics of defending again. The most worrying outcome of the game was that we played with almost our full team and were still overcome by a lowly Blackburn unit. The few positives which one could draw are the maiden goals for Gervinho and Arteta and a sublime header from the shy Moroccan. Hope the goal can bring some much required confidence to Chamakh. But in the end it was a pathetic performance from Arsenal and probably a harbinger of the things to come this season.

Funny takeaway

Two Arsenal own goals.

Slow start of a chain reaction: finally an Arsenal win

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea

Report

Okay it wasn't a glorious win but it was three points indeed, I would take that. We have had an abysmal start to our season, bagging just half the points as Swansea in our first three games. After our Champions League qualification, we needed something to kick-start our domestic season and there is no better way to do it than to go out and win. With Vermaelen out injured, Per made his Arsenal debut. Arteta was slotted in the midfield alongside Ramsey, Frimmers deputed for suspended Song and Kieran Gibbs made a much welcome return to the left wing. Other than that it was a regular starting line-up.

Arsenal came surging out of the blocks and Ramsey came very close to scoring when he shot high from a delectable Arteta pass. It was good to see a more flexible formation where Arshavin was also able to play centrally. In one of his moves, he set up the ball for Theo who outsprinted his marker and nudged the ball towards the goal in his run only to be cleared by a sliding Swansea defender. Arsenal was composed in the first half and as usual dominated possession. But as the game progressed, Arsenal started to look more and more labored. Swansea defended resolutely and denied space around the box. Our situation was not helped by gradually fading Arteta and clueless Ramsey who couldn't find any channel to pass. Historically there has been an unacceptable trend of away goalkeeper's having a field day at the Emirates and it looked like one of those days. But then it's natural that God start to repay us for all the pain that has been caused by Almunia's shite goalkeeping. The first payment arrived when Vorm collected Theo's miscued pass and tried to roll it to one of his players only to hit the heel of a fellow Swansea defender. Arshavin, cheeky little Russian that he is, was at hand to graciously accept the candy and shoot it right back into the goal. I was happy to see the Russian getting his due and hope that it helps him to regain his confidence and enthusiasm playing for Arsenal.

Swansea started the second half better than us, Scott Sinclair especially providing them some spark. Apart from Robin hitting the post with his curling effort, Arsenal couldn't make any notable move. It turned into a scrappy affair and I resorted to praying for Arsenal to finish the game with three points. Robin was substituted for Chamakh who had a good header denied by Vorm. Benayoun, who came on for Arshavin, spent most of his time running around the pitch aimlessly. In the end it was more comfortable than it looked and Arsenal hung to a much needed win.

Opinion

Formation: What looked like 4-5-1 was a more malleable formation. Gibbs and Sagna were allowed to run as fullbacks which helped Theo and Arshavin to play more directly towards the goal. Gervinho would have caused havoc against Swansea and was missed in our attack. Arteta was disappointing with his positioning in the second half when he played too far ahead and Ramsey was made to do most of the passing. It's still early days for him and surely he will improve over the course of the season.

Defence: Thank God for Chesney. Since the start of this season, the merits of a world class goalkeeper have become quite evident. Chesney has provided a solid base for our defence which neither Fabianski nor Almunia could provide during their term as Numero Uno. Koscielny had a fantastic game at the back and appeared to possess all the qualities of an Arsenal legend. He has climbed a hill in his learning after the Carling Cup debacle and looks a matured player. Per had a patchy game but it is understandable being it was his debut. There is some way to go before he comes to term with the physicality of the English league. Gibbs appeared more confident and top quality when going forward but he is still unclear of his positioning while defending. He made some good sliding tackles and had a decent game but it's expected better from him. If he can manage to remain fit, he will face stiff competition from Santos.

Funny takeaway

Swansea player, Stephen Dobbie (14)

Arsenal, Arsenal All the Way

When your critics poke you with little stick, it's always good to give them back in the nuts. Arsenal just did that last evening. Lately, Arsene and Arsenal have been slagged off in all corners of the media. The haters, up to some extent, have been successful in turning Gooners against their club. But the manner of our win against Udinese, and the eventual $$$ league qualification has reunited the fans again. Our traveling contingent of supporters had a night to remember at Stadio Fruili and I'm sure the story will be passed onto the forthcoming generations of Gooners.

For a big club like ours, there really shouldn't be such joy and jubilation over a measly qualification match for Champion's League. After all we have been playing in the competition for last 14 years. When Arsene was asked about the importance of last night's game, he said that it was not crucial. Obviously the man knows. But we have been struck by so much bad luck that even the most optimistic Gooners had their apprehensions going into the game. But Arsenal delivered and did that under some testing conditions. With Gibbs injured and Traore not fit enough to start, Sagna was drafted in the LB position and Jenkinson started on the right. Djourou recovered from his injuries to play alongside Vermaelen. As we're one goal up after the first leg, it made sense for Arsene to start with Frimpong and Song in the midfield to provide cushion for Ramsey. With Gerinvho and Walcott on the wings and Robin at the front, we had enough quality on the pitch to get past Udinese.

We were the better side for the first 20 minutes and created some good chances with Gervinho. Theo should have done better when he had an opportunity in front of an open goal but mysteriously chose to hit straight at the goalkeeper. Robin struck on the rebound but it was again stopped by Udinese' goalie who had a pretty good game which is not uncommon for any GK. Udinese gradually found rhythm and attacked our goal with more purpose. In the tail end of the first half the diminutive striker Di Natale, who was denied earlier by the goalpost, scored with a header. Song was caught up ahead on the pitch and one long pass from the centerline found Pinzi on the edge of our box who dinked the ball for Di Natale to beat Chesney at his near post. Udinese's buildup of the goal was so swift that our players were caught out of position. After that goal, all those half chances missed by Arsenal started to look costly.

I was not sure which Arsenal will turn up in the second half and going by our recent performances, I thought that a brooding set of 11 bodies would take on the pitch. But it was the other way round. Arsene substituted Frimpong for Rosicky and that had an instant impact on the game. We passed the ball more fluidly and our pace looked menacing. Gervinho made a glorious run on the left of Udinese goal. He cut outside his marker close to the goal-line and cut back a ball through the legs of three Udinese defenders for Van Persie to tuck the ball neatly in the back of the net. But the match was far from over when Vermaelen looked to have hit on the hand from an Udinese corner. Di Natale took to the spot but was denied a goal by a wonderful save from Chesney. That was a pivotal moment in the tie and it sucked the life out of Udinese. Shortly thereafter, Sagna counter-attacked and laid the ball in the path of surging Walcott who ran past his marker and beat Udinese goalie at the near post. It was a job well done by our No. 14 especially when he had missed a sitter in the first half. Udinese never seemed to recover from the sucker punch and for the last 10 minutes one could clearly hear Arsenal fans chanting at Stadio Fruili.

It was one of the biggest nights in the history of the club. After the departure of Cesc and Nasri, we needed a real positive sign and the win was the sign. But the shortcomings in our performance didn't go unnoticed. It looks like Djourou hasn't recovered in form post the defeat at Bolton during the last season. We need a better centerback who can share the work load with Vermalen and Koscielny. One real area of concern is the left back position. Almost all of Udinese attacks in the first half came through that wing. If Arsene wants to play Russian roulette with Gibbs' and Traore's minutes on the pitch, then we'll be made to pay dearly for it. As I've said many times before, Ramsey has a very long way to go before he's capable to replace Cesc. But then it's harsh to expect a player who has had a different training than Cesc to play tiki taka like him. I feel that Jack is a better candidate for that role as he's a better learner of the game than Ramsey. Whatever be the case, we need to replace Cesc before the transfer window shuts on us. We need more depth in our squad because the mid-season work load could be overwhelming for the current bunch. I don't hope Arsene to make any signing before the last day of the window but I'm sure there will be additions to the squad. Until then, Up the ARSE!

Curious Case of Unlucky Arsenal

The misery at the Emirates has reached such levels that even my non-football watching friends know that something is wrong with Arsenal. Media has tried really hard to portray that among the big clubs in Premier League, we're the worst. During the game yesterday, some bloody commentator even said that Arsene's last big signing was Jose Antonio Reyes, fricking looney forgetting our Russian. But if we look at the football which was played against Liverpool for the first 70 minutes, Arsenal didn't do bad at all. Liverpool had Carroll, Henderson and Charlie Adam, their latest stellar signings, starting for them. But throughout the ponytailed gobshite's stay on the pitch Vermaelen had him in his pocket . Our vice-captain didn't allow him a single header and won every tackle. Pool's other two starlets in the midfield looked totally out of their depth and didn't have much impact on the game. It was pretty obvious that Charlie Adam is slower than an obese midget, that potato, I just hate him.

Coming back to Arsenal, it was surprising to see Nasri start for us. Only Arsene knows how he has allowed things to come to this. Even though Nasri was rattled after the chants against him at Newcastle, he put in a good shift. He made few good runs and was one of our better players in the midfield, sadly the other one couldn't complete the game. I missed Frimpong's first yellow as I was shifting myself from a dodgy stream to the telly but I know that it was needless. Until his second yellow, he had a good game, won the ball many times only to be squandered later by his teammates. He's a physical player who likes to make tackles and if he wants to finish games in the future, he will have to control his reckless aggression. I think Theo has his heart set on the role once performed by the former No. 14. But he looked short of ideas yesterday and his crosses were baffling. I'm sure Arsene will have a word or two with him after his performance. Adding to our midfield woes, Arshavin had a game to forget. Although he had had many such games last season but an improved performance was expected of him this time. He couldn't thread a single pass and continuously lost possession. Only one time when he managed to pass the ball, Robin shot tamely at it. With Ramsey struggling in the role of our midfield conductor, it was ensured that there's no supply to Robin who wandered all over the pitch just to get the ball to his feet.

After the game, I was not worried about the result. It could have been much worse if SZCZ was not in the goal. He made some amazing saves and in one-on-one situations, I think he's among the best in the league. Although, one could argue that he played a part in Liverpool's second goal by coming off his line too early but in a game already lost due to bad decisions, an error in judgement will only become a part of his learning. In the heavy downpour, Arsene cut a worrisome figure. He has had a difficult summer and if he stalls on further action, it will be a very long season for him and everyone attached to the club. One thing that struck me the most is the number of injuries we have had for past two seasons and this season doesn't seem to be any different. There has to be something fundamentally wrong because this situation couldn't be all due to bad luck. Our already thin squad is made to look thinner because of regular injuries. We should reanalyze our training approach, players' physical regimes and their diet because the continuous flow of crocked players to our infirmary is getting completely out of hand.

Defeat against Liverpool can become a stepping stone for the new season. There were positive takeaways like Vermaelen's supremacy in air and his marshaling skills during set-pieces, Frimpong's hunger for ball-winning tackles in the midfield, Chesney's growing aura between the poles. But the lack of quality and creativity in our midfield was apparent. Cesc's departure has created a void in that department which will not be helped by Nasri's acrimonious adieu. Arsene need to plug that hole or we will continue to struggle to score goals. Also required are a genuinely fit leftback and a good back-up for centerback position. As Le Boss mentioned, that we will have to trust his judgement and we do trust him, but it will be interesting to see if he trusts our demands or not.

Death of tippy tappy, advent of a new Arsenal?

Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal, all my life singing...I can't get this awesome Arsenal anthem out of my head. Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal...

Ok, so last night was not that bad. Udinese is a decent side with a good last season in Serie A and beating them 1-0 is definitely a better result than beating Swansea 4-0 (cue Nasriism). We were missing our red hot striker Robin due to "that" ludicrous card but Theo put in a good shift. Gervinho once again displayed why he will be the Premier League signing of the season. I understand that he is currently playing on a different frequency than his teammates but once he gets it right, the trap door will be open and the hounds will be released, hounds with massive forehead. We didn't particularly dominated the possession because there were too many misplaced passes and giveaways from Song and Rosicky. But on the other hand, Ramsey was impressive albeit missed the consistency. You can't just create one or two good chances in a game and sit back, one has to try continuously to pry open the defence. Aaron is a hardworking and a down to earth bloke who is still learning the trade, I'm sure he will be a whole lot better with few more games as the artist-in-charge in the midfield. Overall our defence was solid and barring one or two last ditch tackles, there were no hairy situations.

I have always been consistent with my opinion on Gibbs and it was once again on display that he is not a Premier League level player. A player can possess great talent and sublime skills but if his body can't take the rigor of top level competitive football than he's not cut out for it. I really can't understand how can Arsene jeopardize our team given the knowledge of Gibbs' fragile physique. He has hardly ever played 3 complete games in a row and asking him to be our first choice left-back will put more pressure on him and the team. He could be a good squad player but with his level of fitness, it will be difficult for him to fill in as our first choice. A complete mirror image of him is Bacary Sagna. The man is made of metal. He goes in for tough tackles much more than Gibbs and plays full 90 minutes in every fixture. Either Arsenal staff has missed a trick in building up Gibbs strength or he's not cut out for it. The LB problem is crying out loud to be solved but ignoring it will put unnecessary pressure on other players as we saw last evening when Jenkinson was in the a soup couple of times.

After the game I was not all doom and gloom, in fact I was happy with our performance. I liked the way how Vermaelen calmed the nerves in the last 10 minutes, when we are the most susceptible to committing outlandish mistakes, if only he had been there last season. Also Fabianski can kiss his No.1 dreams goodbye because last evening, SZCZ was a rockstar between the poles. He seem to have matured after the Carling Cup drama and looks confident and calm. As Cesc is gone and there's no imminent replacement in sight, I somehow get the feeling that the days of tippy tappy are over. Arsenal this season could be about defending solidly, fighting in the midfield and counter attacking with blistering pace. If the future beholds that scenario, then I can't wait to see Arsene's new creation to perform in it's full glory.