Gunners Grind Out The Points
Jan 3rd, 2016 by 'holic
“We were not at our best but we had to dig deep and we can do that when needed. If you are down there then those are the matches you lose but they will not stay down there. They are a good team.”
In those three sentences Arsene summed up a frustrating afternoon better than most. It was the sort of afternoon when one departed the ground pondering whether Newcastle were that good, or we were not really at the races. Surprisingly, with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the flanks, most of our threat out wide came from the full-backs, and particularly Hector Bellerin.
Newcastle started as expected, defended in depth and tried to hit the hosts on the break. As the first-half wore on and they realised they were very much in the contest they grew in confidence. Petr Cech had to be at his best to deny Wijnaldum and Colback.
Arsenal chances were few and far between, although Mesut Ozil was again looking lively, if the only functioning piston in the engine room. Perhaps the best chance of the half fell to Olivier Giroud, but the impressive Coloccini was on hand to block. The Geordies were on the front foot either side of the half-time whistle too, and Cech again had to show his class to deny Wijnaldum twice.
Whatever Arsene had said to his team at half-time had some effect as a greater sense of urgency was displayed. Giroud headed just wide and then Ozil fed in Aaron Ramsey who was denied by the visiting goalkeeper Elliot. The latter had continued the long tradition of Newcastle ‘keepers eating up the seconds. How often though does that tactic come back to bite you? They wanted that time back in the 73rd minute when Laurent Koscielny got the breakthrough, diverting a Giroud header into the net.
The relief around the ground was evident, and for the first time Arsena found some freedom of movement. We very nearly had a ‘goal of the season’ to cheer when Ozil once again sent Ramsey on a weaving run on goal. Had his finish curled into the top corner it would have been a wonderful strike, but sadly it passed the angle of post and bar.
Newcastle will be buoyed by the stats that showed they had 49% of the possession, far more than most would have predicted beforehand. Steve McLaren was somewhat puzzled in the aftermath.
“I’m scratching my head as to how we got nothing from that game.”
He wasn’t alone. A popular saying, the mark of a good side is one that grinds out a result when not at their best, surely applies. Lest we forget we are still missing key players, particularly Coquelin, Cazorla, and Alexis, yet still look down on the rest of the Premier League past the mid-point of the season.
85 Responses to “Gunners Grind Out The Points”
First!
Nice report Holic, thanks for your superb work year in year out.
Fine report Guvna. The game I saw.
A thoroughly frustrating and drenching afternoon was fortunately relieved by the magnificent lunge from Kos. After the magnificent start we plunged into the slough of despond.
As you observe, without the genius of Cech, a few slices of luck and the incompetence of the Barcode forwards we could have experienced another Southampton style implosion.
This team needs rest, re-invigoration, re-inforcement and the return of the wounded. And very quickly. Most specifically we need to fill the gap left by Coquelin’s absence.
The next few fixtures may establish whether this squad is capable of delivering the premiership.
Onwards.
We really did labour for that win, but you could see Koscielny decide just minutes before his goal that he’d had enough and was going for it. Big goal in a big game.
I can understand why Ramsey would look to finish the “wondergoal.”
I can’t understand why in a tight game at 1-0 he wouldn’t simply play a square ball to Campbell for a tap-in to seal the game.
I know what Ozil would have done.
Awful conditions, horrible game to watch and some players missing in action (again) but 3 points thankyou and move on.
UTA.
We do need rest but we now have a week until the Sunderland cup game and we are likely to see a few players rested there which would give them ten days between yesterday and the Liverpool game, and according to reports we will also see Alexis return to the side for the cup game and him coming back would of course be rather massive. And the news yesterday that Coquelin is back running and that Santi could be back by mid-February was quite encouraging. If we can also get this Elneny guy in that would be a good thing.
Yesterday was not a very good game at all. But like the Guvnor points out, missing players like Coq, Santi and Alexis is inevitably going to affect us and yet we are sitting here at the top of the league. I don’t really get this argument that City have a much easier fixture list than we do, last time I looked they will be playing every team we will be playing bar Watford away (where we won 3-0 in case anyone’s forgotten). You could perhaps argue that our games are harder if you look at who you are playing where but MUCH harder? Not buying that at all, especially considering how dependent they are on Aguero and Kompany, two players who have a long history of being injured quite often. I am not saying we are favourites to win the league, but fact of the matter is that we are top of the league at the moment so we must at least have have done something right in those past 20 games. Keep going and let’s see where it gets us, I say.
Noosa: I think the explanation is that he was so knackered he simply didn’t see Joel.
I managed to catch the extended Sky highlights last night and it very much looked like that I picked the right game to miss. As others have said, we looked laboured and leaden footed at times. As others have also said, if you play that badly and still get the result then it’s not all bad.
With the exception of the odd excursion I think We have looked laboured for some time now. We have been carried by the genius that is Ozil. It’s high time others stepped up to the plate.
I don’t but this injuries thing anywhere near as much as some do. It obviously hurts if we lose quality players but football now is all about the quality of your squad. The biggest miss for me is Alexis. Apart from his obvious ability we miss his constant running and never ending enthusiasm. He is player than can lift a game when it is flat. As I said, others need to be able to contribute when the going gets a bit tough. There was a disturbing stat quoted on Sky yesterday. AOC did not score one goal or create one assist in the premier league for the year of 2015. I know he has been injured but there has to come a time when potential stops being potential and develops into quality.
Final word again on Cech. He brings quality organisation and class to the side. For too long we had to put up with second best with regards to goalkeepers. Cech shows what a difference it makes when you invest in quality. I hope those in control of the club have taken note. Learn from previous mistakes this January and May could be full of fun and frolics.
Nice write up H.
HNY all. Not a regular contributor but with holiday season have a littl more time on my hands and enjoying it, especially since we are top of the log.
Steve T, agree on AOC but the stat sounds like one I heard yesterday “Rooney has more goals than Messi and Ronaldo this year.” Without any great research I can remember
* a great dribble and assist against Man U in a cup game at Old Trafford, a ground we hadn’t won in a while.
*an assist in the FA Cup final, yes it was a cherry-on-top 4th but still a big game given it was a final.
* a winning goal in Charity Shield. A nothing game? Maybe but it instilled further believe that we can beat so-called big club and it was Mourinho’s.
Off to watch more football, hoping for “good” results this afternoon.
The difference Soweto is this. One stat is over 365 days and the other is over 2.
In my opinion he needs to start delivering on a more regular basis. I think that if you play Theo and AOC that I don’t expect our best options form wide to have to come from our fullbacks.
Fully agree Steve, like most I thought he would have “arrived” by now. Even JC is giving him a run for his money, who would have thought?
Chelsea turning the corner? Not to worry as I think they are irrelevant this term. More interested in later game.
Enjoy…
I’ve flown the floods but was not there yesterday do thanks for the report. I’m too long in the tooth to expect prospective title winners to play well every week- in fact it is better if they don’t and can still win because this leaves room for improvement. Three points are all that matter
For me JC lacks quality. However, you could never fault his effort, work rate or attitude. All top class. He is the sort of player that you genuinely hope succeeds.
Trust Everton to concede late in the second half.
Totts are the team that i fear most from the current TOP 4, although i am hoping their over-reliance on Kane gets found out. Hence its all the more frustrating seeing them score in the dying minutes.
Regardless its much fun following the other matches with the points secured this week. Need Martinez to show rally his troops for the next 45.
COYG
Cheers H!
We saw the same game, Holic and it wasn’t an easy one to sit and watch.
I thought our up-tick really began with the introduction of Joel Campbell. He’s not my favourite Arsenal player but his attitude is spot on. and he may yet manage to establish a ‘squad player’ slot for himself.
Ozil stood one head and a pair of shoulders above the others present. It was particularly pleasing to see the most skillful player on the field harry and chase and (audibly from 30 yards awaya) berate many of those around him for their lack of willingness to share the load on pressing from the front. Great leadership from the form player (outstanding in my eyes) in the Premiership.
JW, Alexis, Coq, Wellbeck and Santi would start for most teams in the BPL. Arteta and Rosicky would start for many. Their absence through injury is MASSIVE, particularly from the restriction it places on opportunity for rotation.
The squad we started the season with was, without a doubt, good enough to win the league. Absent these (magnificent) seven, Lady Luck has engineered an integral part in the squad for the remainder of the season. Lord Chequebook should stand up now, invite her to dance and play his part in sweet talking her and some new fresh blood into the club to play a part as the party rolls toward its climax in May.
“Lord Chequebook should stand up now, invite her to dance”
If only he had realised that his invite was for 3 years ago??? Who knows where we would be now if he had bothered to turn up? The physio room might not be so crowded and we might not have to risk players because the cupboard is bare.
Just a thought.
Thanks all,
Let’s hope we see some action at Highbury House/Shenley this week.
Theo doesn’t seem to know what’s expected of him these days. His ‘heat map’ shows he’s responded to criticism of his defending to the extent he now rarely strays out of the Arsenal half! This is ridiculous, he needs to forget (or be told to think less about) defence and do what he’s best at – attacking, getting in behind and winning games, not saving them.
As for time wasting what bugs me is that refs adding on time can actually work in favour of time wasters. The extra four minutes played yesterday (made up mostly of time wasted) gave Toon more opportunity to save the game than they deserved. If they had scored in added time it would have been THANKS to their time wasting. Once 90 minutes is up time wasters should be penalised by refs NOT adding on time if they’re behind. Just my opinion.
Oskar
Noosa – Ramsey is Hollywood Joe and the reason he didn’t simply square it is exactly the same as why he tries the impossible pass instead of the simple ball wide, and why he does stupid things like backheels on the edge of his own box.
Not a team player in my opinion.
Other opinions are available 😉
Imho a bit unfair not to mention Cech as the other functioning piston in the match report as we owe him the result more than any other player on the pitch. Also to be fair it was a great game by Newcastle, they’re on the up and if it wasn’t against us I’d feel sorry for them for not getting a point. I actually feel sorry for them all the time for having such a massive twat of an owner.
Now games like this are the reason this team has the highest yearly win ratio of all Arsenal teams in the premiership era. Thank to Dr Faustus for the link.
As for the chequebook not too sure the winter is the right time to spend big, no “world-class ™” player seems available as far as we can see. One or two additions in the Monreal/Gabriel class would be perfect.
And thanks to behind the 8 ball but gunning for glory for the link about the forgotten man (Bobo Primorac), whom I had forgotten 😉
Just picking up on some interesting news coming from friends of mine in the States. Apparently Monday is the deadline day for NFL teams to submit bids to relocate to LA. There are apparently 3 teams in the running, one of which is The Rams owned by our very own Silent Stan. To make the move I’m told that part of the conditions are that a sum of $550 million needs to be deposited. On top of this also comes the cost of a new stadium.
Now, this may be all a storm in a tea cup. It may however be that Stan is using Arsenal as a way of funding activities Stateside? I don’t know if there is anyone that side of the pond that can throw any light on the whole situation? Those I know seemed quite concerned though.
Interesting times ahead. If it’s true then it may explain a few things.
Ive seen nothing that indicates the tams are seriously persuing a mive to LA. Admittedly, these things are probably kept pretty tightly under wraps.
But lets not jump on the bandwagon that somebt stan is just some clueless selfish yank, shall we?
And Ramsey, not a team player…? Ill have to give that one some time because franly, it doesn’t compute. Not one bit.
A belated happy new year from Cambridgeshire to all. I have to say, Saturday’s game was the wettest since Chelsea about two years ago. In the North Bank, the damp and the wind pervaded back to row 20 or more and everyone was huddled and rugged up against the damp. It didn’t help to have started the day viewing the Newlands sun on the TV!
I agree with most of the above, but mainly I think we are seeing the effect of playing the same team for about 6 weeks. To take 9 points out of 12 is a real result over that period; outstanding against Man City, poor against Southampton, fairly ordinary (but lifted by Ozil) against Bournemouth and frankly lucky (and bolstered by Cech) against the Toon. Now comes a 10 day lull before our next big test of Liverpool, Stoke away (will be my first away game this season and not on my own season tickets – it’s impossible getting away tickets at the moment) and then Chelsea. 7 points out of 9 there would be another great period.
Let’s hope this quiet week, with no league cup semi final, refreshes minds and bodies. I’m fascinated to see what team AW puts out next Saturday. I would rest, as a minimum: Ozil (play Ox at 10, Sanchez to start); Giroud; Ramsey and maybe both centre backs. A new signing to start? Who knows?
Cech it out, he is our saviour in more ways than one. Cech was magnificent saturday and it was because of him and an equally wonderful Kos that we won. Cech is just reassurance and solidity personified.
If Elneny is done, get him on to the pitch now, say against sunderland. Wenger hinted that there will be a couple of signings and if he is one, wonder who is the other. Aubamayang says a few, i say no chance.
The next set of games in the league are crucial. Pool, stoke and chelsea. Stoke seems to be the toughest knowing our mental block going there as well as the fact that they are playing much better than expected. Pool at anfield looks a draw and then have we really turned a corner, chelsea game should answer that. 6 points out of 9 should be a good tally, although 7 or 9 will be great as well.
last note to spurs, they look good, composed, organized and seem assured. Europa will hopefully take them off the boil for they seem well on their way to a top four and an outside chance for the league, albeit a lot of things falling in place.
Cheers, Holic !
Hope you didn’t get too soaked sitting down there with all the important people !
Well, we often say any win will do, as long as we get the three points and Saturday was surely a case in point. We have been carrying anywhere between 7 and 10 injuries for just about the entire season, so to be sitting top of the pile at the half-way point is a minor miracle.
I would agree that The Ox is failing to deliver at the moment but he was certainly trying hard to get things moving on Saturday. His body language betrays a complete lack of confidence at the moment, possibly due to the fact that every time he has had a run in the team, it has been stalled by a serious injury. He must be almost afraid to play flat out – something he will have to overcome if he is to make the step up.
Aaron Ramsey is a tricky one for me. I have huge admiration for the way he has overcome his horrendous leg break and the way he has always conducted himself. I wouldn’t go as far as Cynic and say he is not a team player – i do think he is still playing in the wrong position.
He should not be trying backheels and tricks around the edge of our area and he almost hurt himself on Saturday trying some weird back/side heel at a ball that looked to be going out of play. And to ignore Campbell while going for the glory shot was a terrible decision.
He does put in a huge amount of work for the team though.
I think he needs to be playing the advanced midfield role, as he doesn’t have the defensive instinct for the deep lying role. The trouble for Aaron is that we have a bloke called Özil playing there – and he’s quite good.
Oh, did I mention that Anthony Taylor is a complete disgrace of an excuse for a referee ? He fusses over every single thing that doesn’t matter and misses the vast majority of what does.
On Saturday, the crowd were screaming, again, at Newcastle’s time wasting. In response, Taylor gave us some sort of Gallic shrug, as if to say, “well, what can I do ?”
Cards, Anthony. Cards.
You are allowed to give them to the opposition too, old chap.
I thought Ramsey had a great game, for the opposition !!!???
He is starting to resemble a combination of all the worst parts of Wilshire artetts and flamini….
Horrendous to watch him being such a try hard failed showboater..
Just running around the field in circles at one pace chasing his numerous lost passes..
Made numerous beautiful passes to the opposition, luckily all wasted by the opposition
Diaby was better then Ramsey, when hen he was injured on the bench…
As for the no pas to Campbell, doesnt deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt on his back, but sadly Wenger will continue to pick Ramsey.
No more flamini or Ramsey anywhere in the squad, please arsene……
Steve: Stan can not use Arsenal for funding anything of significance. He doesn’t own a large enough percentage of the club to be allowed to use it to leverage loans against (think you need something like 99% for that), and while he could conceivably force through a decision to pay dividends those dividends would have to be far too large for the club to be able to pay them if they are to yield Stan significant enough money for funding other activities. The infamous three million are of course peanuts in this context.
@SteveT
What Lars says above; other than the ‘expenses’ extracted for the last 2 years, Stan has taken nothing out of Arsenal Plc.
And what should it explain? We’ve actually spent more money in the last 2 years (Ozil, Alexis) than we have before, so not sure what the point is here?
So Ramsey is not a team player now or he is all shite according to some of our own fans here!!
Football players fall under two categories – those who always shoot when they have a sniff of goal and those who look for other options before they choose to shoot (very often by that time the chance to shoot is gone). In our team Walcott, Ramsey, Ox, Giroud and Alexis are instinctive shooters. They will shoot 9 out of 10 times in that kind of a position. Yeah Ramsey didn’t cross the ball but the skill with which he got himself in that one vs one position against the keeper with two wonderful dummies was a marvellous piece of skill. Very late in the game after a proper shift this guy comes up with such a worldie move and yeah we are busy criticising him here. He scored a similar goal against Norwich two seasons ago after selling two dummies and it was a real beauty of a goal. This chance was a simpler one when compared to that goal so no wonder he backed himself to score in that moment. I also feel that TV coverage with slow motion replays often does disservice in moments like these. If seen in real time it would reveal the split second he had to make that decision and after having sold two dummies and being in such momentum, it was just a natural instinct on his part to go for the shot.
Ramsey is one of the best box to box midfielders in the world right now. His drive and momentum are vital to this team especially now that we rely more on the counter attacking style than the ball possession style. I also think that his combination with Ozil has the potential to be absolutely lethal – far more potent than the Ozil-Cazorla combination. And some of criticism he has received for not crossing that ball has been really disproportionate…
Evening all. We got absolutely drenched, Trev. Row seven gets no protection from the elements.
Lars and Esso, there is a fear some have expressed about him using his Arsenal stockholding as collateral, which he unfortunately can. In reality the worst case would be the Uzbek could effectively own the club outright if Stan defaulted on such a deal. He is far too smart a cookie for that, I believe.
Sad to see another member of the Double squad passed away today.
RIP John Roberts.
I seem to remember he was known as ‘ Garth’ and was immensely strong. I once saw us win a match 2-0 against West Brom at Highbury and he got both goals.
I’m not sure that Stan might use Arsenal as collateral but there must be a chance that he might sell it. That might be a welcome move but not if we get Usmanov as the owner. This would make us no better than Chelski and we have always had so much more class than them. Having said that Kroenke has never sold any part of his empire. It just seems to me that his relationship to us is only as a cash cow, not as a treasured possession. I doubt he has enormous emotional attachment given the time he spends over here. From my experience of cash cows they are rarely sold unless the offer is fantastic and there is a pressing need for a large amount.
As for Ramsey I like the lad although even if in his central role he isn’t the player he was two seasons ago, partly because he keeps picking up injuries. I understand he is a little more extrovert and outspoken than his demeanour on TV suggests but he chose us over Man U and has given us excellent service since that day. He is worth ten goals a season in that role and I expect him to notch some crucial ones in the second half of the season .
As for the FA Cup we do want to defend our trophy properly but need to rest some key men. Assuming Elneny is cleared to play I suggest the following team might be likely
Ospina
Chambers Gabriel Koscielny Gibbs
Elneny Ramsey
Campbell Sanchez Ox
Walcott
Subs
Macey, Monreal, Flamini, Arteta, Gnabry Giroud, Jeff
Debuchy looks like he is off on loan but if he stays he might play with Calum moved to midfield or centre back. I presume Fat Sam won’t play his first choice xi with a big league game coming up a few days later.
Lars and Esso
I hear what both of you say but I don’t trust Stan. I accept that may make me more sceptical than most but for me the only reason Stan is involved with Arsenal is for his own personal gain.
I hope it is all garbage but as I said, I just don’t trust him.
So Rafa is sacked after less than an year in the job and Zizou is now Madrid manager! With no first team management experience.
I am sure some “clever” journalist will ask Arsene about DB10 or TH14 taking over after he leaves. Arsene’s sly response would be amusing…
TTG
Sadly there won’t be very many Holics in this bar that remember John Roberts.
Wasn’t the most skillful of players,but always gave 100% for the Club.
Bob Wilson said ” he was a gentle giant and a loyal friend,who was a vital member of the double winning squad ”
Only 69 yrs old,
Another domino falls.
Desi @29,
You see the trouble with describing people as “we” or “some of us”, is that it lumps us all in together. I don’t know if your admonishments were aimed at me but I did try to give as balanced a view of Ramsey as possible in response to some other comments.
I stand by what I said, which was not hypercritical. I assume from your own comment that you found Ramsey’s contribution to Saturday’s game faultless. I doubt very much whether Aaron himself would claim that to be the case.
He is undoubtedly a very hard worker and, as TTG said, is probably worth 10 goals a season playing through the middle. But, one of rhe best box to box midfielders in the world ?
When playing deep he does need to cut out the drag backs and fancy flicks – not 100% of the time but it is most often an unnecessary risk to take in front of the back four. In midfield he could, with the vision of Ozil, keep the ball moving much more quickly at times, rather than the extra touches, twists and turns that slow the attacks down so often.
I do like him, I think he has the potential to be a top player but I don’t think he is there yet. One of the best midfielders in the world would have seen Campbell, in the incident you’re talking about, and squared the ball for a tap in.
That’s what Özil would have done. He IS one of the best in the world.
On a general note, it would be handy if posters named the people they are responding to – it would save us getting dragged into repetitive arguments unnecessarily.
Sorry if I have.
Aye, Clive,
It’s not been a great New Year so far for Gunners of that era.
RIP John Roberts.
Dr F. I wonder if Barca thought like that when they appointed Pep Guardiola?
John Roberts was before my time but always sad to see an ex Arsenal man pass on to the other side. Especially one so young. RIP.
Clive@35: John Roberts played some 80 games for Arsenal at centre half, including 18 in the 1970-71 double winning side, though he didn’t play in the Cup Final. Worked as a driving instructor after he retired. Different times. RIP.
@Trev: For all the criticizing of Ramsey in central midfield I don’t remember Cazorla covering himself in glory when playing alongside Flamini earlier this fall. Actually I remember that pairing to be significantly worse. Flamini’s energy’s his main asset and it’s on the wane compared to when he joined 2.5 years ago. He can muster it for a game or two but it’s too much to ask of him to do it consistently over 3 months. To be blunt I don’t think any box-to-box midfielder would look great when paired with Flamini these days.
To make matters worse we also switched from a midfield 3 of Coq, Santi, Ramsey to a midfield 2 of Flamini, Ramsey. When the entire team defends tooth and nail like against City it works but when it’s half-assed we get found out like against Southampton and Newcastle (even if we won it). For all his hard work Campbell doesn’t remotely contribute to the midfield solidity we had with Rambo on the right nor does he get Bellerin to contribute to the attack much. To be fair Campbell has progressed beyond expectations this season and nothing indicates he’s peaking yet.
The next two months will be tricky until we get midfielders back from injury. Hopefully Chambers and the new signings will bring some relief but we can’t really count on it imho.
@Dr F: It’s a desperate stunt from Perez to shield himself from the fan’s ire. He’s on a hot seat after all his meddling. I have no idea how Zidane will perform but if he’s remotely successful Perez will have to lay low as no one at or around the club would take his side if a conflict arose. Poisoned chalice either way and well overdue…
And what we were all expecting 😉
https://gfycat.com/BrilliantHatefulDwarfrabbit
Another driving Instructor Ned. ?
Stan doesn’t need to mortgage his Arsenal stake to move his Rams to LA. He is the second wealthiest NFL owner and has an investor group that will privately finance a stadium on the former Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood in LA, which Stan already owns. Californians won’t pay for taxpayer funded stadiums; any new NFL stadium in LA would come in at around $2 billion. Also the fee that Stan would have to pay to move the team gets split between the other owners. Plenty of scope for negotiation there, even though there are three teams biding to make the move, as the NFL is desperate to get a team into such a big TV market at LA (No 2 after New York), from which the league has been absent for 20 years. Stan’s financial interest is that the Rams could potentially go from being one of the least valuable teams in the NFL to being in the five most valuable because LA is such a bigger market than St. Louis. He could also defray his costs by sub-leasing the stadium to the Chargers (the two teams play in different conferences). Rams spent 49 seasons in Southern California before moving to the Mid-West so in one sense it would be a return home.
Interesting, Ned, thanks for that.
You do write some very good stuff.
Steve T @ 38: I was referring to Arsene’s opinion which has consistently been a traditional one regarding top level management requiring some experience. I was simply pointing out that this question of his successor would definitely be raised in the next press conference and DB10 or TH14 as prospective candidates…I find his multi-layered responses to tricky questions like this very amusing, and greatly instructive in arts of public speaking.
Pep was not a guaranteed success. It worked for Barca for a variety of reasons, not least because of an extraordinarily stellar group of footballers most of whom were already in place when Pep joined. There hasn’t been anything fundamentally visionary or trendsetting about his management, but he has been immensely successful in applying everything he had learned from Cruyff and in being able to maintain a great team focus and work ethic. All kudos to him but he remains an exception in achieving that type of success in one’s first senior management opportunity. Proving the rule.
Matt @ 41: Perez must have appointed close to a dozen managers in as many years. Zidane would know what he is getting into, and probably is relying on some success simply by the virtue of being able to motivate his excellent squad (with a few defensive signings here and there) to catapult his career.
More you think about it, more extraordinary (in the most positive sense) the Arsene-Arsenal love affair seems to be.
Please read the following links if you want to understand how much of a financial heavy weight Stan is. Separate from his wife, he is a billionaire & his wife is separately a billionaire.
http://www.forbes.com/profile/stanley-kroenke/
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlm45fljdi/28-st-louis-rams/
http://www.businessinsider.com/st-louis-rams-los-angeles-value-2015-1
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2015/07/21/tv-deals-boost-nfl-revenue-to-new-record/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-11-18/nfl-owner-stan-kroenke-wants-to-take-over-l-a-
Özil may well have picked out JC with the perfect assist, but would the latter have actually converted it? Being wise after the event is all very well, but only what actually happens is ever certain in football.
It’s easy to pick on Rambo for not passing him the ball, but how many times have we complained about our guys wanting to walk the ball into the net? I like to see a player willing to shoot on sight, and I’m betting Rambo’s critics would be singing quite a different song if he’d scored.
Elneny straight into the side if available? In a cup game with no second chances? I think not. Pool away would be my preference.
Oskar
Ditto what Trev said about Ned. Informative stuff Ned.
Oskar
Its unusual that Benitez has been sacked so prematurely. Ordinarily in Madrid, you only get sacked after you win something and not before. A basket case of a club.
I don’t know what other drinkers think, but for me Arteta will leave at the end of the season. Normally, you’d think that the captains armband would naturally pass to the Vice Captain we have in Per Mertesacker. However, I think Per will be supplanted by Gabriel before the season is out. (It will be most interesting to see if Per will play against Barca). Therefore the question arises of who could become the next Captain? And from where I sit, there is only one other realistic appointment and that is Petr Cech. The man just exudes authority and is one of the primary seasons why we find ourselves on top of the table. What a brilliant signing he has been.
Nice report Holic. Despite the fact that Newcastle played well and created chances – they never really controlled the game I felt. McLarens comments that Newcastle were somehow hard done by because Cech played so well were unfair I felt. Its not “hard luck” when the opposing GK does his job and puts in a top class performance or if your own team cannot capitalise on the chances created.
Joe, if the man just exudes authority then why stop with captain when high chancellor is available? 😉
I must agree he seems like a good choice and at least would have to be better than the last time Arsene apponted an ex-Chav to the position or the time he appointed a captain who left us to become a current Chav.
The first time Zidane head-butts the referee can we expect him to get yellow or red?
Answer: If RM are playing in the Champions League and the referee is Massimo Busacca, or his ilk, it depends on the quantity of money exchanged just prior to kickoff.
Trev, Otd: Kind words, much appreciated.
A couple of other things to remember about Kroenke is that he is, at base, a property developer. He made his fortune by building shopping malls around new Walmart superstores. His wife, Anne, is a Walmart heiress, which is why she is a billionaire in her own right. He has also built a couple of stadiums for his various U.S. sports teams and developed broadcasting networks around them, which is how he extracts revenue from his teams even as their capital value increases.
Zidane is the 11th coach to be appointed in Florentino Perez’s 12 years as club president across two spells. just about says it all.
@SteveT
Mate, you’re more than entitled to be ultra cynical, sceptical about Silent Stan. Absolutely no doubt his involvement in Arsenal Plc, is for financial gain, either for him personally or for his Sports Franchise Vehicle business. He’s no more a fan of football (‘soccer’) or Arsenal than Steve Perryman.
Americans long ago recognised the commercial potential in Sports Management. Think back 30 years – our clubs were still being run by the local D grade business celebrity as a joke, whilst in America; – SuperBowl, World Series, and multi million dollar deals for TV rights and players’ salaries were already in existence.
Interesting to me that since the gravy train really took off in England, majority of foreign owners (excluding the oligarch vanity purchases and middle eastern feudal despots doing a PR job for their rotten regimes) have been Yanks chasing a buck. So far Stan seems to be the only one who’s backed an outright winner. Where it all ends up no one knows.
As said, I share your cynicism mate, but I’m keeping me powder dry till there’s definitely something worth shooting at.
Probably be too late by then, mind.
Joe, good call on Petr Cech as the next captain.
Trev@36,
My comment about Ramsey was addressed to Cynic@19 and Pisspoor Pass@26, and you’re right – I should have specified that instead of a generic ‘some of us’…
And just to clarify, I don’t think Ramsey had a faultless game on Saturday – in fact far from it. But that move where he went for the finish instead of crossing was definitely one the better things he did in the game. His position of the deep lying midfield enforcer is one where it is extremely difficult to have a faultless game – even more so when opposition teams play with two defensive midfielders like Newcastle did with Tiote & Colback.
Like Katikani, who goes back to play in Japan, Elneny did not show up for Basles’ first training session after holidays.
(homepage FC Basel)
Joe
I hadn’t thought of Cech as a potential next captain but it makes a lot of sense. I don’t generally like goalkeepers as captain because they are so divorced from the front players positionally but Petr is a very experienced and stable character and as you suggest BFG is likely to stop being an automatic choice. I prefer Gabriel to him in the CB berth already.
There aren’t many obvious candidates in the rest of the squad. Ramsey was the Welsh captain but has been stripped of the honour . Several other players might make good skippers eg, Nacho, Santi and Koscielny but it is hard to know if they would have enough personality and drive. An interesting choice would be Ozil. He is very respected and completely selfless and it might bring his personality out more.
I often think you need a whole team of steely characters out there rather than one dominant personality. I think we are moving towards that .
The specific diabolicalness depends in part on who you are drawn against in the FA Cup I imagine. Not to underestimate the capacity of Sunderland to engineer a cupset though.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35229287
And now for something completely different, a brief exercise for the anti-colonialists among us. In the following sing-along video clip, substitute your local indigenous icon for the words “Daniel Boone” to see if you have subverted the standard cultural dialogue in your country. In the North American context I chose Sitting Bull who was not only a “BBig MMan” but whose name scans well with this particular lyric:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggQM1es2Tc
I imagine John Macadam could be a possibility in the Scottish-Australian context, and certainly since the Macadamia nut seems to have been named for him. 😉
Mikel Arteta, like his countryman Ponce de León before him, has officially found the fountain of youth having appeared in the U-21 team today.
http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1516/post/under-21/u-21s-arsenal-3-2-blackburn-report
It was the Jeff, however, who has dwelled in the fountain of youth for several years now, who was able to score two goals for the Arsenal.
Have the Spaniards already started to refer to The Jeff as “El Jefe”?
Thought that meant ‘The Boss’ or ‘The Chief’ in colloquial Spanish?
Bt8
The U21s are doing much better this season having dropped out of the top division a couple of years ago. Wenger is clearly trying to diversify the experience and extend the range of some of the likely lads. Bielik is mainly playing as a centre back and Iwobi in central midfield . My friends who occasionally see them regard the potential stars as Pleguezelo who missed much of last year with injury, Malen a 16 year old striker and Willock who regularly trains with the first team. It would not be a complete surprise if Willock made the bench on Saturday.
Bielik is clearly one who has a chance and The Jeff may well actually start on Saturday although he may only make the bench .
Nice to see some potential new stars developing.
For those who missed it we did sign a top English international from Liverpool today to improve our midfield. An exciting signing!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3385760/Fara-Williams-joins-Arsenal-Ladies-Liverpool-two-year-contract.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Esso you are correct. In good humor they might call him just that with no disrespect intended to the real boss. 🙂
TTG thanks for the report. Maybe Arteta was auditioning for a player-coach role? Pleguezuelo has my vote for his great name. 🙂
Give Alexis the armband and let him lead this Arsenal team by example.
The only problem with naming a Cech or an Ozil or a Koscielny or an Alexis as captain is that whoever is named soon gets the kiss of death planted on them, in the form of a long term injury and resulting drop in quality, or turns out to be a turncoat (Fab4; van Pussy).
Barring the kiss of death factor, Cech would be a good choice. For an out of the box choice from the younger group, what about Le Coq? Plays an instrumental position, and has the temperament to gee up his mates.
Good suggestion, BJ. No doubt his coqiness would be a big asset.
Whoops.
A real asset then.
It is being reported in Egypt that Elneny has received international clearance to join Arsenal.
this gettin’ up in the mornin’ll have de stop
?
Ain’t that the truth, cba
COYG
So the FA ..with Dyke leading are going to ‘shoot themselves’ if England don’t progress from their group… Interesting!
😀
Not worth the £75m-a-year deal?
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35227015
I should say not what with the newly minted Manchester United “faithful” walking out on their club in droves. Why support such a playing style when Manchester City are just down the road and have more money on their side? 😉
Any thoughts on which shirt number Elneny will get? Cech has the No. 33 Elneny wears for Basel and Alexis the No. 17 he usually plays in for Egypt. We have Nos. 9, 29, 30, 31 open then nothing until 40. He probably will get one of 29-31. I assume the No 9 is being saved for the superquality striker we are going to sign in this window 🙂
BB@78: If they don’t, there will probably be a queue of others who would do it for them.
bt8b@79: There are some of us who would not watch them play in any style at any price.
amen brother ned
as john peel said
watchin’ that shower
is collaboration
.
Anything but 9 hopefully, Ned.
Recent history is not good.
Elneny new new nine nine? No no….
Hehe Buster. 🙂 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Didn’t Yaya make 42 fashionable?