Tottenham’s breakdown already beginning

By 1970’s Gooner

                      

I doubt it very much if Spurs will be challenging for a Champions League spot in the foreseeable future.

Harry Redknap was incredibly successful in putting a team together with enough flair and steel to challenge quite seriously for one of  the top four spots in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.

The timing was also right. Chelsea were in the last few years beginning to suffer from old age and from their owner's strange decisions on the managerial front.

In parallel the other North London team was still having to come to terms with the increased financial burden which the new stadium demanded.

Liverpool too, the other usual contender, is still suffering from the over excessive and ill advised transfer spending of their previous and current manager.

The goings on at Spurs at the moment point to a breakdown of a successful team and more importantly of its management which will inevitably result to an eventual meltdown.

The disruption will be so severe that it is doubtful whether spurs will finish inside the top 10 next season.

The manager and his coaching staff which master minded the meteoric rise of the club in recent years has for some unfathomable reason sacked! 

And the replacement looks like being the biggest flop of the decade, AVB, who was quite obviously out of his depth at Chelsea.

Additionally key players like Modric and Van de Vart who are world class players and were the key ingredient in making a good Spurs side an excellent one qualifying for the Champions League and challenging the top Premier League sides on an equal footing are set to depart.

This will leave Spurs searching for a new identity on both the management front as well as on the pitch.

And Arsenal’s domination of North London looks like being extended even further for a long time to come.

Giroud a replacement for RVP

By 1970’s Gooner

I would have thought that news of an imminent signing for the Arsenal squad would have been greeted with satisfaction.

Giroud, who is part of Laurent Blanc's Euro 2012 squad, scored 25 goals last season to help Montpellier win the Ligue 1 title.

The Montpellier manager, René Girard, insists that he is heading for Arsenal.

"Arsenal are very interested and Giroud wants to play in England, if Arsène agrees with the president, he will sign for them," He told the French radio station RMC.

Arsene has already added Podolski to the front line which is considered a logical signing as he is left footed and can play on the wing as he does for Germany thus providing a natural balance on the left which has been missing since Reyes departed the club.

He can as well (as Arsene usually utters) lead the front line. This is also important as RVP cannot play in all of Arsenal’s games can he?

But paying around 13m for another striker when you already have RVP AND Podolski sounds incompatible with Arsene’s previous history and transfer behaviour.

This leads me to the conclusion that Arsene is fearing RVP’s departure and is already making the moves to replace him, if need be.

RVP is 29 and can at this point command high wages AND play in a top team challenging for titles. The probability of him wanting out cannot be ignored. And Arsenal cannot afford to make him stay to the end of his contract and forgo 30m. Letting Nasri go last season is proof of that.

But we wouldn’t say no to both being on Arsenal’s books next season would we?

Blaming the defence is not enough Mr Wenger: Two weaknesses need correction

By 1970’s Gooner

                   

Arsene Wenger blamed the defence for their poor performance against Norwich. Well I am sorry. The poor performance at the back has to be viewed in the wider context of an overall poor team performance. Only then can we make sure that this is corrected for the crucial game against W. Brom next Sunday.

Mr Wenger has to consider the following:

Aaron Ramsey was the weakest link in midfield

He had another poor game where he neither provided midfield creativity nor did he attend to his defensive role when it was necessary to do so. He was almost a nonentity. And a team at this level cannot be carrying a player….

The central midfield’s inability to dominate the game created extra pressure on the defence which it has to be said did not rise to the occasion. But to only blame the defence is not enough.

Correction: Play Benayoun in midfield and bring in the Ox.

This will give another viable outlet on the wing for Arsenal (as well as Gervinho on the other side) and at the same time Benayoun will add tenacity and experience in midfield. Something that Ramsey could not offer.

The mental attitude of the players has to chang

It was quite evident that the players were affected by the significance of the game in deciding Arsenal’s Champions League status. Passes were unusually going astray and the overall nervousness was quite apparent especially in the 1^st half.

When the chips were down this was corrected for most of the second half. But Mr Wenger has to prepare them mentally for the next game so that they start AND finish in the same tempo and on a high.

Correction : Show the players the video of the home games say against Man City or Newcastle even the Milan game if you like. That’s the level of performance we would like to see.

The Ox or Rambo against Chelsea?

By 1970’s Gooner


We all know that Arsenal’s midfield will be significantly poorer for Arteta’s absence.

His role both as a calm and experienced midfielder who among other roles is sitting back and shoring up our line of protection in that vital area is immense. This is especially true when Song ventures forward, as he often does.

One wonders therefore how his absence will be filled in so that the imbalance is mitigated to a satisfactorily effective level. For imbalances in team selection are often a very significant reason for tasting defeats and heavy ones at that.

Add to the mix the forced absence of Benayoun who has been in form lately and you have real selection problems.


The two candidates are The Ox and Ramsey (Diaby and Coquelin are not yet match fit). Ramsey would be an obvious choice as central midfield has been his position in so many starts this season.


But I am sorry, he has not impressed. If anything he has failed to make an impact worthy of Wenger’s faith in him.


I have written not so long ago on this subject with regard to Wenger’s insistence in starting him for successive games, day in day out, and hoping that with more games he will improve (just as he did with Fabregas who took the chance by the horns and Denilson who miserably failed).


Ramsey at the moment cannot be an effective midfielder as he neither creates chances for the forwards nor does he defend anywhere as efficiently as Arteta, Rosicky or Song can. He also fluffs his chances in front of goal as we have seen time and time again.


Picking Ramsey in a trio of midfielders with Song and Rosicky would in my opinion result in Chelsea overrunning us in that vital area with dire consequences.


The Ox on the other hand is a different proposition. He has shown that he is very tenacious in his marking and tackling of opponents.

He has played in that position against Milan and was quite effective. He was actually brilliant in that game. And he has shown that he is not phazed at all by the big occasions.


At the moment he is a far more effective player than Ramsey and if you are good enough then you are old enough.

Wigan played brilliantly but it didn’t have to end this way

 

By 1970’s Gooner

Arteta’s injury proved to be significant in Arsenal’s defeat to Wigan tonight.

He injured his foot trying to send a cross in from a difficult angle and from the resulting corner Di Mateo raced away from him towards the Arsenal goal eventually scoring Wigan’s first. Arteta could not run back as he was waving to the bench to be subbed.

Ramsey came on but by the time he got into the game they raced away and scored their second. Ramsey’s introduction weakened our midfield in my opinion as we lacked Arteta’s nous as well as his defensive qualities.

We were overrun in midfield as a result and this contributed to a lackluster performance. It also meant that very few quality balls got through to RVP.

Wigan played intelligently, keeping the ball and playing without panic. Wenger’s decision to keep faith with Benayoun meant that we could not stretch their wing back system of 3 2 4 1.

Surely when the other team employ a system that packs the middle of their defence the way in is to open the game up on the wings by using two out and out wingers, not one.

Benayoun kept coming inside all the time thus playing into their hands. Theo Walcott also had a game to forget which meant that we had no penetration on the wings.

AND Wigan played brilliantly.

Three mistakes need to be put right against Man City

 

By 1970’s Gooner

The first and most important mistake that needs to be corrected is complacency. We have to once and for all eradicate the attitude of complacency that seems to engulf the Arsenal players over and over again. And this is a trait that has been in existence throughout Wenger’s reign at Arsenal.

It often shows its ugly head whenever we put in a run of impressive displays. The players begin to believe their own hype and the eulogies that the media shower on them. And that’s when we are at our most vulnerable. Players step on to the pitch not mentally right and when you go under pressure from early on you find it very difficult to change.

QPR also wanted it more than Arsenal. They are after all fighting for their lives. And they fought and scrapped as you would expect from a team facing the abyss.

The second aspect that needs to be put right is Vermaelen’s forays into the other half. This needs to be cut out. We can win games without the help of our central defenders going forward and leaving huge gaps behind.

And the third is Wenger’s insistence on playing Ramsey come what may. What was he thinking about playing Ramsey on the left of the midfield?

He was out of his depth against Everton and repeated a worse performance against QPR. Not only were we were playing with the handicap of one ineffective player, the team had no balance as Ramsey kept drifting in all the time which meant that QPR were not stretched on that side.

Additionally too many of Arsenal’s attacks had to come from Walcott’s side and QPR made sure that they loaded that side of the pitch and for most of the game kept Walcott quiet(except for the goal).

Wenger should have started with Gervinho or even the Ox instead of Ramsey and the result may have been different.

I say may have been because complacency was evident everywhere.

I am sure it will not be there against Man City next week.

Wolves: Why the hell did you sack Mick McCarthy Mr Morgan?

By 1970’s Gooner

I am first and foremost an Arsenal supporter but I am also very dedicated Wolves fan due to family connections. I always watch the Wolves games if they are not on at the same time as Arsenal’s.

I was very surprised when Mick McCarthy was sacked. He did after all get the team up into the Premier League and kept them there year after year. So you would expect that he would have been given the chance to guide the team in the remaining 13 games or so.

But no Mr Morgan had to take action….My arse what action he took. He sacked a tried and tested manager and replaced him with a rookie assistant coach. A coach who after all is carrying on where Mick McCarthy left.

If Mr Morgan wanted to shake things up then the last thing he should have done is replace him with his assistant!

He should have at least employed an experienced Premier League manager who would have given the team new ideas and an impetus to play for survival.

Now we are shipping fives and sixes and are going down like a sinking ship.

Arsenal find their leaders but also a weak link

 

By 1970’s Gooner

I feared that Newcastle will provide very stiff resistance coupled with offensive capability. Demba Ba along with Ben Arfa and Oberton just behind provided an attacking threat in the first half that threatened to derail us.

They were supported by a very combative central midfield which included Tiote and Cabaye. Add to that mix their manager Alan Pardew who,due to previous history with Wenger, always manages to create problems for us.

And it looked like that when they got their goal. I knew then that we were in for a hard night.

The main reason for that was Kieran Gibbs’ positioning. He was way out of position when Arfa received the ball and when he did get back into position he made the mistake of allowing Arfa on to his favoured left foot rather than directing him to the other direction.

Gibbs has not been at his best since his come back from injury. His positioning in recent games has left a lot to be desired and the same has to be said of his attacking forays. He rarely gets round his man when he is forward and his rare crosses are not up to standard.

I hope that with more games he will improve but it has to be said that due to the brilliance of all the other outfield players at the moment his displays stand out so much more. He is the weakest link now.

And what brilliant displays we are all enjoying. Brilliant displays from new found leaders running down the spine of this Arsenal team.

At the back Vermaelen has, since his return to the team but more importantly in his preferred position in the middle of the defence, been absolutely fantastic. A real leader in defence but also going forward for the dead ball situations as well of course committing to attack when required.

In central midfield Arsenal have found their maestro. An orchestrator that this team has so obviously been lacking ever since Cesc departed and Wilshere vacated due to injury. Tomas Rosicky has provided determination, speed, forward passes and tenacity. A new leader in a very important area of the pitch.

And of course RVP has been a leader since this remarkable season started. He leads from the front and this I think inspires the rest of the team to follow suit.

If Theo keeps this level of performance then he will be another ‘leader’. And what a fantastic performance he put in last night. He was simply unplayable.

The quality of the display, the pathos and work ethos of all the players and above all the quality that this team contains make them as good or even better as the two top teams in the League.

Arsenal’s new tactical approach bodes well for the near future

By 1970’s Gooner

There were many positive signs that emerged from last night’s encounter with Milan.

Firstly the Ox gave a performance that was absolutely fantastic. For an 18 year old to have performed at such a high level of quality means that he along with Wilshere, Szczeny, Walcott and Song contain Arsenal’s hopes for a very bright future indeed.

The Ox along with Song run the midfield. The Ox did everything but score. He defended tenaciously, spread the passes, went forward, took the corner kicks and won the penalty. What more could you ask for?

We all castigated Wenger for buying another kid for so much money early in August. But now we are all eating humble pies!

Szczesny, I consider the best goalkeeper in the Premier League after Friedle. He is better than Joe Hart and much better than De Ghea. His performance last night was almost faultless bar one clearance which put Gibbs in some bother.

But the most significant improvement in Arsenal’s performances of late has been a change of tactics only made possible by one man.

Tomas Rosicky doesn’t hang about. When he gets the ball the only thing in his mind is to turn and go forward. If there is an opponent in front of him then he will dribble round him. His passes are always forwards and direct. And the rest of the players follow suit.

This makes Arsenal an infinitely faster team with a very high tempo. And the pressing that is put upon the opponent holding the ball by usually two Arsenal players acting as a hunting pack makes for a relentless approach that not many can live with.

If only we had a more decent bench. We could have been challenging even for the title!

Transfer fee for Podolski shows Wenger’s intent to put things right

By 1970’s Gooner

Lukas Podolski has told FC Koln that he has decided to move to the Premier League and that his chosen team will be Arsenal.

Information coming out of Germany indicates that all that is left for the move to happen in the summer is for the two clubs to agree a transfer fee.

Podolski’s contact runs out in 2013 and apparently Arsenal are willing to pay 15.250 m a sum which is expected to satisfy his present club.

Apparently Wenger made a move for Podolski in May 2011 offering 17m and again in November for 19m! But FC Koln were not willing to sell and Lukas himself did not want to move in mid season.

In addition to the transfer fee Podolski’s wages are expected to reach around 82.000 per week or 4.3 m per year!

This indicates that Arsene Wenger is already planning for next season in an attempt to avoid the last minute transfer fiasco of last summer where two major players left and three players came in on deadline day.

It also indicates that he is seriously worried that RVP will be unwilling to stay unless Arsenal show real intent in challenging for honours next season by bringing in quality signings.

Better late than never.