A Fresh Start For Arsenal?
Sep 10th, 2011 by 'holic
Good morning ‘holics, and welcome to the start of a new month, and effectively a new season. The important jobs in August were to secure Champions League football and then to strengthen the squad. Now it is time to set about recovering an eight point deficit on the leaders over the course of the remaining thirty-five Premier League fixtures.
A home game against Swansea that might have struggled to sell-out had August’s objectives not been achieved has now become a hot ticket. The fanatical and the plain curious want to see if the new look Arsenal can reproduce the best football of Wengerball mark three, but add the missing backbone and consistency. We won’t get the full answer today, but we should have a clearer idea come five o’clock of how quickly the new faces can gel.
The injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and Jack Wilshere mean we are likely to see debuts for Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta, but Arsene Wenger hinted in his Friday press conference that Kieran Gibbs may be preferred to ‘not completely match fit’ Andre Santos at left-back.
Strangely the result may depend on how Swansea approach the contest. In recent years we have seen the likes of Hull and West Brom come to the Grove with a game plan to frustrate, deny space, and hit on the counter to secure the points. There is a theory that Swansea are more similar to Blackpool, who came to play their football last season and were buried. The visitors have a point more than us having secured goal-less draws against Wigan and Sunderland, but they came unstuck against Manchester City. Interestingly they have picked up only one booking so far, in sharp contrast to us, yet to complete a League game with eleven players..
I have to be carried along by the wave of enthusiasm that has been generated by the new signings. Obvious weaknesses have been addressed, and experience has been added. If this side can hit the ground running then we could be treated to a decent and much-needed victory. My heart, rather than my head, has me backing a 4-0 to the Arsenal at 16/1 with Stan James. Foolish? We shall see.
Wherever you are watching the game, have a great day ‘holics.
63 Responses to “A Fresh Start For Arsenal?”
Hardly first?
Im hardly the first one?
Holic, top drawer as always!
so, anyway, the rules of rugby… 😉
An interesting article holic,but i dont see d reason why ANDRE SANTOS should not be giving d nod to start today,francis coucline came back from under 20 world cup just over a week ago and start at old traford the other day,please there is no time 4 experiment just play our beast possible team and lets see how they gel . A bottle of large guinness stout to wet my appetite plz
The right statement for this Arsenal side could be to sign M’Villa, Hazard and another striker next summer!
Then we are competing again with the Mancs and the Chavs giving them nothing but trouble!
Will we do it?…no!
So what will this side bring? Balance, experience, flare and the commitment which has been lacking from parts of the squad at times (hopefully).
So here’s to a fresh start!
If Park makes the bench then it’s 3-0 (RVP, Park and Arteta) even 4-0 (RVP, Park, Arteta Yossi or Theo) to the Arse!
Otherwise it should be a straight 2-0 (Arteta or Yossi and RVP)
I’m getting excited and confused!
I’ll stick with 2-0 (Arteta and RVP)
Absolutely cannot wait for this one to kick off.
It’s been a rough, rough few months and this afternoon should see us turn the corner and head towards better days.
Very excited to see how Arteta will settle into the side and what kind of link he’ll estalish with RVP. Also looking forward to seeing the big German at the back and, of course, more from the legend that is Frimpong. Finally, I’m hoping we get at least 20 mins from the Ox.
Would be lovely to have a weekend where I don’t have to swerve MotD and the Sunday papers, and to see Arsene with a smile on his face – lord knows the geezer deserves it.
Come on you Gunners!
Oops, once was enough. I have great faith in the new signings what with their previous experience either international or premier league. I think it will go the way of being a bit cagey today but the foundations need to laid for wengerball 4, the style of play we have feeds off of confidence and today is the perfect opportunity to kick start that. To all attending today, enjoy and to the rest of us pull up a stool and lets start early. Mine is a pint half full with an optimistic chaser. Come on you reds, its great to be a Gooner!
Optimistic, but nervous as well. Can’t imagine what tonight will feel like if we don’t take 3 points today.
This is before everybody asks.
Streams for today – http://www.esrojadirecta.com/ or http://firstrowsports.eu
Bookmark both.
I personally like the second website more but these are the best websites now that myp2p.eu is down.
Good luck, you know you can always email me if you have problems (snir_geuli@hotmail.com)
Some very interesting quotes from Wenger on the SkySports link about his “hell” of a summer. He said two pertinent things: 1) Fab and Nasri weren’t fully here last season, and 2) he’s been having issues with his existing squad complaining about the lack of signings.
With those issues addressed to a large extent, let’s see if the boys can grab the bait and do the business.
Of all the signings, I’d really like to see Santos in action – any takers for some Winterburn-style wonder goals? Not since the days of Cole have we really had a full-back consistently creating goals and assists.
Honestly, when Johnny Wilkinson is preparing for his penalty kicks he looks like he’s waiting for Wolfie to make an entrance…
I amongst many others are not convinced that these signings change much at all. We have exchanged the following;
Arteta for Cesc…….. Arteta has a similar style to Cesc but is nowhere near the quality.
Benyoun for Nasri……. No contest Benyoun is an injury prone, squad filler who is not in the same league as Nasri.
Mertesacker ….. in at the moment to fill in for Vermaelen, probably weaker due to his lack of EPL experience but once Verm is back a huge improvement over the dopy Koscielny!
Santos for Clichy……… unknown, not sure if this guy will be any better as playing in the Turkish league and looking good means little when coming to the EPL.
Park for Bendtner……..will at least be a 100% increase in workrate any possibly a better striker than NB. However playing and scoring for Korea against the likes of Lebanon & Kuwait, along with playing for relegated Monaco in the substandard Ligue 1 means nothing!
SO all in all no real change in the way we have been playing for the last six years …..plenty of meaningless possession & lots of sideways & backwards passing, but as Always little end result. Lord help us if Robin VP gets a lonish Injury!!!
At least Wenger will be able to breath a little easier for a few weeks while we play Swansea, Blackburn & Bolton, all of whom are sides that we should knock over without much fuss….if we don;t going into the game against Sp*rs may well be a very nasty affair!
Forever hoping we improve though……..!
Pretend to be the original Matt.
Valencia for Ronaldo.
Owen for Tevez.
Football is not like for like.
Matt: Is Benayoun really that injury prone? He missed most of last season, yes, but that was because he ruptured his achilles and in the five seasons before he played 34, 29, 30, 32 and 30 league games. If he has recovered fully I don’t see why he should be cast as “injury prone”. I for one am rather happy we got him in, he’ll bring us hard work, the odd goal and valuable experience.
You also forgot Gervinho. And he is the one that you should compare against Nasri, not Benayoun.
Snir@14, very good point.
Oh, and Matt@13: there already is a Matt who writes regularly here so to avoid confusion it would perhaps be a good idea for you to change your name a bit.
i have to disagree with some Gooners who calls this *the start of the season*you’re kidding right,every Gooner knows that every pooint is valuable…and that we cant just accept the incompent way this summer has been managed.
we are being americanized by gazidis,fox and the rest of the gang,and i dont like it…
the way The Arsenal have been handled lately is shameful,we are ridiculed ,and to top it off we went after a hat Lady 😉
the signings this summer was hastely and bad,what happened ?wat does it say about Our beloved Arsenal having to gel the team so late ? why did wenger allow the ingrate cesc to leave for less money ?are we being run by the whores from catalunya ?
wenger man up…stop all those lies…be a man..
and the board..well the sooner you get out especially hilly woody the better..
up the Arse and up Usmanov
Holics,
I have to say I’m getting tired of having to defend AW every single week from all kinds of people who never comment when it’s nice and rosy.
C’mon, think of something new.
One Arsene Wenger, There’s only one Arsene Wenger.
That’s all I gotta say.
I think Usmanov has a friend in Norway, Snir.
GoonerHolic ;
thats right :)and to be honest if you look at *the american way*its not really the way to go..look at how USA and the kroenke’s of the world runs their business…not very good is it ?
and nice to be in your league on the fantasy premier league GoonerHolic…Denilsonx all the way ;
c’mon you gunners !
Snir Geuli..
c’mon mate..we all have opinions..i just change the nick from tomstoned to denilsonx…how many times have i defended Denilson mate ;..
and im not blaming only Wenger…but this summer he has been pretty awful handling Our Beloved Arsenal…
still c’mon you gunners !…
Nice one ‘Holic (how’s the head?)
If we score 4 without reply today, I shall be back to doing Mexican Cartwheels ;).
I will however give the Holic pound’s prediction a wide berth. One nil to the Arsenal will do, 3 points is all important.
COYRRRs
I’ve got no problems with people having their opinions but when people only come here when Arsenal’s state isn’t rosy and not have anything to say when we win it pisses me off.
The other thing I can’t stand is the fact that people try to make sure everyone agrees with their opinions so they leave out important facts to make their opinion sound better.
When ALL facts are considered there’s only one result = One Arsene Wenger.
Park is in the squad.
Snir Geuli mate
its life…people get far more upset when things go wrong…but i agree with you somewhat..
but we all agree on one thing Our Beloved Arsenal is THE only team eh ? 🙂
lets get behind the team …and spank swansea…and send em home like a good welsh pudding ;
The fact that it’s life doesn’t mean I can’t get mad about it, does it :)?
Don’t worry, today will be a good day.
Afternoon all ,
Nice post Holic , gonna be interesting today .
Think we might concede , ( just to remind us that there’s still a lot of work to be done ), so 3-1 to the Arse .
VP , Walcott and Benny .
COYRRRs
Agreed with N7 @9 and Snir @17: Wenger deserves to have a smile on his face. Come on Arsenal and the new boys!!!
Nice early post holic. Should be a good test. Arsene will smile no matter what I think. He has the press well worked out and you wont get a ” I would love it ” moment from him.
I’m stuck in the middle of a big move halfway across the country so I won’t be able to watch, but I’ll be checking in and following in spirit! Hopefully we’ll look back on today as the day the season turned around and really got moving.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
Good afternoon. I’m with tabs on this, I always feel we’re vulnerable to concede against anyone so it’s 2 goals required for a win today.
With the new signings we’re going into today’s match with excitement and anticipation and I for one cannot wait!
Hoping for a good day today. Arsene really deserves a win to shut up the naysayers and get a nice smile back on his face. I hope the boys deliver. I’m looking forward to seeing the stylish Arteta as he’s a player I’ve always admired playing. I’ve one request though: Can all the doom-mongers give us a break and allow the team to get on with the season? Let’s go Gooners!
Gervinho for Nasri…… ok I have no problem with that……… still the same not as good quality, was ok in the French Ligue which is not exactly the best league in the world……..in the EPL we shall see. don’t think he will have much that much success against full backs if he is played wide.
Benyoun….sorry but you ought to check his history, his seasons were littered with games when he had to go off with knocks, and then he missed games because of them.
Snir Geuli
Wasn’t comparing like for like was looking at players brought in for players they replaced in the squad to try and ascertain whether we had improved or gone backwards likewaise would the style change or would it remain the same ad I summerized and said that I thought that there would be no changed in . Please look closer and understand before tryng to belittle the comment. If you read my first sentence I said “I amongst many others are not convinced that these signings change much at all” Which defines exactly what the situation regarding the signings is……… none of us know whether these signings will change much but at first glance it doesn’t look as if it will and the next 3 matches should be straigtforward results for us based on the standard of the sides as they are at the moment….. the one concern is that we may win against Swansea but if we don’t then the pressure will increase and the games will get harder and harder culminating with the game at sp*rs.
But as I finished by saying …….I am forever hopeful that we will improve….. and I sincerely hope that is what we all hope for – Isn’t it??
Nice one ‘holic.
A win, a win, my kingdom for a win!
Nothing else really matters today.
I can’t wait to see Benagoon, for me, he was one of the most exciting captures of the TDD. I’d love to see him and Park come off the bench and make an impact.
Time for a quick BM and it’s off down to the bar, to warm the tv up.
COYRRR!!!!!!!
I hope the players are as hungry as we are for a win. We bloody need it.
At first glance it doesn’t seem if signings will change much?
Depends who’s glancing.
I think our squad is much stronger than last season albeit our first 11 is weaker.
I’ve said this before.
We aren’t as exciting as last season, but we’re stronger.
Stream anyone please COYRRGS
I need a stream also
I thought it was live on telly
Cunts!
Guys, have a look at my @10 comment.
For now – http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/82816/4/watch-arsenal-fc-vs-swansea-city.html
http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/82816/1/watch-arsenal-fc-vs-swansea-city.html
The previous stream is off air now.
First action Arteta = class
The stream at 40 is back on air and in HD
That save was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
LMFAO that was worse than Almunia!!!
Arshavin was there cause he didn’t wanna track back eh 😆
It’sfunny when it’s not happening to us. 😆
Arshavin can’t breathe!
He looks exhausted after 45 minutes.
Can’t say that I expected any more fluidity in the first game with quite a few good passers out. We’ve done well enough keeping the ball 2/3 of the time, scoring a goal and keeping a clean sheet this far. I would love to ask for more, but now is not the time. Let’s win this, and then play a bit better in the next game!
Not sure about Mertesacker based on this half, but I’m still happy with him as a signing and will give him time. It might well be the hardest position on the pitch to just walk into and do solid job without never being out of position. Flair players may have a harder time shining at a new club, but an easier time not looking completely out of place (or rather position!). Speaking of, Arteta has done quite alright hasn’t he?
On to the second half then ladies and gents! Keep supporting the lads, we’ll play better game by game.
The game is here guys.
http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/82816/1/watch-arsenal-fc-vs-swansea-city.html
…as Snir has already said 😀
Toby – Was thinking the same. PM looked a bit confused on his defensive assignments. Like when to leave it for Kos and when to go for it on his own.
But how good is Kos?! Brilliant!
For some reason that stream does some samba-dancing for me. It’s quite fluid but the picture kind of dances from left to right, rinse repeat. I’ll have to go with some stream with commentary I don’t understand. Even if I must say that most of the time I don’t _understand_ English commentary either…
Arshavin was good offensively but was awful defensively and looked exhausted.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Yossi on for him or even Santos on for him playing on the wing and providing both cover for Gibbs and some attacking threat.
1-0 to the Arsenal, 1-0
My goodness is lady luck having a laugh.
The opposition missing a sitter in stoppage time after we’re 1-0 from a GK howler?
What’s wrong with that sentence?! 😕
Not feeling that confident after the last 25 odd minutes so I think I’ll wait with any player reviews. For now, I am going to be happy with the 3 points, the clean sheet and the fact that Benayoun didn’t start the game instead of Shava.
A drink of choice for everyone and a double for the Swansea keeper. I think he’ll need one.
Numpties will take that one, gratefully. 😀
Phew.
A welcome 3pts, but bloody hell ….
Glad I’m standing next to a beer tap.
THREE POINTS!!
Back on track… just…
Difficult to judge until we come up against a well established Premiership team — but we’ve lost against similar opposition in the past…
But THREE POINTS — the only thing that matters just now.
Checking the FFL results is much faster this week, on this end at least. Aside from Arshavin, it would appear the Gooner Massive has taken a blow but in how many senses of the word I wouldn’t dare to say. 😀
Heh, Holic you should have followed the zico pound @ 23 😀
My observations on the match now published >>>>>>>
Matt (2)@59- I agree, today was EXCLUSIVELY about the 3 points, no more no less.
This was a vital first step in rebuilding the shattered confidence and ridding the collective consciousness of the 8-2 for players and fans alike.
I have to say I was impressed with both Dyer and Sinclair, they were a constant menace throughout and were the two most dangerous players on the pitch.