Transfer talk. Difficult for Arsene.

A lot is being said about the coming transfer market. For the first time since I remember, theres news of Arsenal signing players before the market starts. Yes, Podolski looking done and dusted if most views are to be believed. Many also believe that Matias Suarez has also signed a pre contract agreement and will be joining Arsenal for sure. So, that looks like two players done already, and I have to say, very un-Arsenal like, isn't it? Moreover, we seem to have started talks with Mario Götze, another fantastic player, the kind every team would love to see in their ranks. 

I did a poll recently on TalkOfTheArsenal, on which players would fans want to see in an Arsenal shirt next season, here are the results. First is Lukas Podolski with 26.01% votes, second is Mario Gotze with 22.47%, third is Jan Vertonghen with 20.45% and the Eden Hazard with 10.61%. 

All the above players are fantastic, their technique is second to none and are all players anyone would love to see in their team. And I do believe that Arsenal needs to sign a couple of more players to really have a go in all the four competitions. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the team we have right now, and we're doing great, but sometimes we lack a little bit of an edge. To just kill the game off, or to find that killer defense splitting pass. Here is something else I also believe in, technique and skill is important to win the league, but so is team spirit. Look at our teams in the past few years, you'll see something missing which is there this time around, it's fantastic team spirit. 

Before I go on to why this transfer market will be difficult, let me help you recall the 2007 Carling Cup final that Arsenal lost 2-1 to Chelsea. I remember a fellow gooner saying that Wenger should play the big players, we have to win the trophy, but Wenger played the same team that had taken Arsenal to the final, and we lost, against the likes of Drogba and company, our players were probably not there yet. Why did Arsene do that? Why didn't he play the big players? Here is why, playing the 'kids' in the final was only being fair to them. They were the ones who got the team to the final, they deserved the plaudits for playing the final. Would you like it, if you worked hard for something and then were replaced by someone else just before the finale? No. It would leave a bitter taste in your mouth, wouldn't it? Wenger tried to keep the spirit alive. And kudos to him.

Now look at what I just said above with a broader perspective, when we started this season, we were classified as a team that were not good enough for the Champions League spot, and look at where we are now. These players have proved everyone wrong, they've worked together and clawed their way back to where they belong. They deserve all the praise they're getting right now. Now, how do you think a first team player will react when he is just replaced at the start of next season after he has fought so hard this season? He won't like it. How will other players around him react? There will be a question mark in their minds. People may say this is part of a players life. That maybe, but how many players who have taken Arsenal to third place this season be happy sitting on the bench next season? Few. And fewer will take that positively. Let's say we sign Vertonghen, who do we replace? Koscielny, who has been so instrumental at the back? Or Vermaelen? Who is one of the best defenders around. And if we don't will the Ajax captain, who is one of the most wanted defenders in Europe right now, be happy on the bench? Think about it. 

I do think Arsenal need a few more players, but not at the expense of the spirit they have right now. We need cover for Van Persie, Podolski would be a good option. But we need to make sure that we look after the players we have right now, make sure we tell them that they are integral to the club's future plans. We need a good center back, but I think a capable understudy to Koscielny, Vermaelen and Mertesacker would suffice. Someone like Jenkinson , or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who we can rely on. Arsenal do not need someone like Eden Hazard, who has made it his duty to flirt with every big club. Trust me, one difficult season at Arsenal and he'll be flirting with all the clubs around. We don't need that. 

Money can buy good players, but it cannot buy team spirit, which is equally important. Arsenal have to maintain the balance. And that is Wenger's responsibility. That's why I say, this transfer window is going to be the toughest one for Wenger. And I think he knows it. Think about it, it's never as easy as it seems. Simply signing players is never the solution.

I'll leave you with that thought! Until next time then! Keep the faith!

Smells like team spirit

  

Silent. Calm. Poised. Arsenal's engine - Mikel Arteta

Arsenal has taken to not just winning, but doing so from spectacular situations. In the last four premier league games, Arsenal have come back from losing positions to win the game. I'm told that is a record, and I'll believe that. Against Sunderland, Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle, Arsenal have conceded first and then gone on to win the game. And these teams are not pushovers, three of them are challenging for fourth spot and Sunderland were reborn from ashes after Martin O'Neill took charge. Amazing performances. Amazing results. If there was anything in this world that could stop Wenger's 'mental strength' speeches, well, this is it. These performances show enough mental strength.
On monday night again, we fell behind to a well taken goal by Ben Arfa and responded immediately by Van Persie scoring. Theo Walcott has really stepped up and is delivering world class performances, and he did so on monday as well. Arsenal dominated the game, and looked stronger everywhere and finally were rewarded in the 94th minute when Vermaelen charged in and put the ball in the net. Kudos to him for running 80 yards for the goal, he really is a winner, the kind of player who will score the winning goal in a cup final. 
In this game, Newcastle rarely looked threatening. Arsenal seemed to hold on to possession very easily and run the game at a good pace for the entire 90 minutes. This is what brings me to Mikel Arteta. Arteta comes from a country with midfielders like Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas, so maybe he does not get due credit for how good he actually is. On monday night, what he does so well was on display clearly. Arteta sat right in front of Vermaelen and Koscielny, took the ball from them and distributed it all over the field. He had the most passes in the game and had 20 more than the second highest number of passes. Arteta rarely looks for that killer final through ball that splits defenses, he calmly switches wings, he brings players into the game who weren't being utilized in that move. Arteta runs the game for Arsenal.
Arsenal have the highest average possession this season at 58.5%, most credit goes to Arteta for this. When the defenders win the ball, all they have to do is give the ball to Arteta, who then picks out the right pass to the right player, he frees the defenders from the burden of picking the right pass. Should any player lose the ball then, our center backs are prepared and in position to meet the oppositions attack. Arteta's clever distribution has helped Arsenal keep possession and hence concede fewer goals. His clever distribution keeps the opponents chasing the ball, it doesn't let them settle into positions and make it difficult for Arsenal to find the gaps in defenses. His quick distribution ensures that players like Rosicky and Song pick out the gaps. Gaps that Arteta creates by keeping the ball moving. And this helps the attack. In Arteta, Arsenal have their very own midfield magician. Most cameras are never aimed at Arteta, he's never the most exciting player from the neutral point of view. He's silent, calm and his passing technique is second to none. He sits behind the scenes and directs Arsenal's every move. At the beginning of every attack stands Arteta. The world seems to think he's Cesc's replacement, he's not. He plays another role, a role as important. A role the press will never concentrate on. Arteta might not be as good as Xavi, but he's not too far behind either. Let's give him due credit. He has an amazing impact on the game, and I don't think he'll be the one on the bench when Jack is back. The Newcastle game was a testament to how good Arteta is.
 Apart from that, I loved the fiery Van Persie we saw on the pitch. It's something we often saw in Viera and this passion is something you want to see from your captain. I've gone on and on about this teams team spirit, and Vermaelen shielding Van Persie in the tunnel was just that. You don't mess with out captain. Wasn't that what Jack tweeted? It's great to see how much respect Van Persie has earned from the squad. 
Lastly, I think I should stop saying 'Keep the faith', because clearly everyone does now. Have a happy week gooners. Everyone reading this while at work, don't worry, next midweek will be here soon, and we'll watch Arsenal again. Cheer up. Till then, stay happy, keep others happy.

'I can pass it there'

Longest Weekend.

You know why I am saying that. A weekend without an Arsenal game, just not a weekend. Although seeing Liverpool and Spurs face defeat does make up for it a little bit. 
All the good in the world right now seems to happen to Arsenal. In recent weeks we've won everything, and our competitors have lost everything. Podolski seems to be done and just has to arrive in London and smile in front of the camera wearing an Arsenal jersey (Yes, I know it isn't official, seems close though, does it not?). And we have only seen positive news on the injury front, Jack seems to be getting closer and all the others bar Diaby seem to be back! Clearly, if there is a god, he's turned into an Arsenal fan. 


Anyways, I am pleasantly surprised by Arsenal signing a player before the transfer window. There seems to have been a change of mind upstairs, and the fans love it. Podolski is exactly what we have been crying out for, right? A proven player, not an 'un-cut diamond'. A big name signing, someone every player at the club will look up to. Also at the perfect time, he's 26 right now and will play his top game at Arsenal. Something a lot of past players at Arsenal, didn't do. I love Cesc, but it's him I talk about. Either ways, Podolski seems to be perfect for Arsenal right now, some also claim such a signing will help convince Van Persie to sign a new contract. 
Coming to that, I know Van Persie has said that he will talk about his contract only after the season, but something tells me he will stay. With Cesc I had a constant feeling that he will go, a feeling encouraged by his constant flirting with Barcelona. And Nasri just decided to behave expensive after a couple of months of good football. I do not see any of the two situations arise with Robin. He's playing well and he seems to want to lead this team somewhere. He really is the ideal captain, and an ideal captain does not leave things when the going gets difficult, he stays put and makes the change he wants to see. And I'm sure Robin will. Does seem like I'm writing a Cesc-bashing post, does it not? So be it. 


Coming to the game on Monday night, I think we will be very close to full strength. Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Gibbs at the back. Arteta, Song and Rosicky in the middle. And Gervinho, RVP and Walcott up front. Newcastle is a good team and a good football club, but I do not see this team lose after the couple of weeks we've had. Rosicky is in the form of his life and if he continues that, Newcastle will have trouble just dealing with him. Forget Van Persie up front. 
Honestly, I would love to see Oxlade-Chamberlain in the role he played against Milan, but he's been sick all week and Wenger has said he's going to be cautious with him. So I doubt he will have a large part to play. All said and done, no Joey Barton this time so maybe we can rule out any sort of provocation this time. I expect we will win and remain fourth with just a point behind Spurs. "Best North London team". Still laughing over that.
All that there is to it, I think Arsenal will finish third this season. And have Van Persie and Podolski next season. Look forward to the game on Monday. 
As always, keep the faith. (Do I need to say that anymore?).   

Thank You, Arsenal

In my last post I mentioned how Arsenal might be on the brink of history against Milan. But it still seemed far off. 
I mentioned how an early goal will lead to Arsenal dominating the game. And scoring goals with relative ease. The atmosphere before the game was absolutely amazing, online, offline and at The Emirates. Arsenal started the game in the best possible way, Koscielny scoring a header of a corner in the 6th minute. This was the goal that we needed. It set things off perfectly. After that Arsenal kept having a go at Milan. A special word in for Rosicky, he almost seems like a new player. Running the entire game for Arsenal, brilliant brilliant game by the Little Mozart. And, he was the one to get our second goal, with a cheeky little shot that sneaked in. Belief now seemed to flow out of every Arsenal player on the pitch. Oxlade-Chamberlain proved that he is more than ready for the big stage. Playing against the Italian champions in the champions league, he looked comfortable and assured that he can play as an attacking midfielder. He didn't seem out of position and did enough to track back when required. Clever movement by him in the box won Arsenal the penalty that Van Persie converted perfectly! 3-0 and just half time! Scoring 2 more goals in the next half should be do-able right? At half time we were in a much better position than I had hoped. This was again, one of the most glorious moments as an Arsenal fan, what a fight back! I said it then and I will say it now, there is no other team that could have put in such a performance after a 4-0 loss in the first leg. I think I say this for all Arsenal fans, I loved that moment. We all know what happened in the second half, we didn't score another goal and we didn't go through. But that moment at half time was enough to make this game one of the best moments ever. Who would have thought at the start of the season that this Arsenal team was going to beat Milan 3-0? Nobody right? This is a great Arsenal team, with team spirit that I'm sure can match the best ever Arsenal teams. In the second half the players seemed tired and rightly so, they had played 3 games in the previous week some of them. Arsenal didn't go through, but we went out like champions. The long nosed Ibrahamovic said in his interview how he feared Arsenal would score every time we attacked. This was the brilliance of this team. The brilliance of the performance that they put in. Yes, we have not won a trophy in the past 7 years, well, I don't care. It's for moments like these that you support a football team. And how many moments like these do teams around us produce? Not many. It's an honor to support this team, this football club. I know that the players will be proud of the performance that they put in. And they should be, they should know that the fans are proud of them and their performance. I think I can finally say that the belief is back within the fans as well, and we have the players to thank for that. And hence I say, Thank You, Arsenal. Thank you for moments like these. I know we will win a trophy soon, and it will be with these players only. I can look at these players and not worry about wether they will be at The Emirates next year or not, something we could not do in the previous years. Something tells me that all these players will remain with Arsenal and win that trophy. 
As always, keep the faith. Sometime now till the next game. But an important one nonetheless. Newcastle then.

Are we on the brink of history? Milan II

The beauty of football is that anything can happen, and that is the way we look at it.

      

                                                                                                  - Robin Van Persie

I write this feeling insanely positive, and I'm hoping most gunners around the world share that feeling with me.

A little more than a week ago, people were talking about Arsenal collapsing and not finishing fourth. Since then, we have shut these people up, wiped the smirks of Spuds players and fans, showed Liverpool how to finish and made it clear that we mean business. I have reason to feel insanely positive.

We suffered a heavy defeat at Milan in the first leg, it seemed impossible to turn things around then, but looking at how we have played since, there seems to be a small chance that we will turn things around. The manager thinks so, and I'm sure our captain has made it sure that the entire team thinks so too. 

Everything seems to be going our way, except a little problem with midfielders. 

Coming to today's game. I really don't know who will start in midfield, maybe just Song and Rosicky and play an extra attacker? Maybe. I don't know who will start, but I do think that Arsenal can score 4 or more goals today. Look at how this team plays when they believe they can win it! Today, the players are under no pressure at all, they know that. It's a tie nobody expects Arsenal to overturn, so the players will have a go at it. They will not play with the 'handbrake' on, as Wenger sometimes puts it. That is why I think Arsenal can win this by a huge margin. At the end of the day, there is hardly any criticism coming the players way, irrespective of the result. Only a lot of praise should we turn this around!

Here is what Wenger will be telling the players "Have a go, enjoy yourselves, show them what you are about". And rightly so, today I have no doubt that the players will play like they own the other team. They will put everything they have at stake to play their own game, something we did not do in Milan.

What I think will be very very important, is a strong start, making it clear to Milan, that it's not over yet. Let's look at it this way, the Milan players must have kept an eye on Arsenal in the last 2 weeks. And in the last 2 weeks a lot has gone Arsenal's way. And hence, there will be a seed of doubt in their minds, that maybe it's not over yet. Maybe scoring 4 goals wasn't enough. Should Arsenal get a goal in the first 15 minutes today, this small doubt will enlarge into fear that they are collapsing, and then the Milan players will be all over the place. And the Arsenal players will gain even more belief. Scoring four goals then would not be a problem. Let me spell it out, if Milan think this tie is over, they are wrong, because Arsenal don't think it's over yet, Arsenal are going to have a go at them, and they will be punished for any complacency. 

Robin is right, anything can happen in football, Arsenal can score 4 or more goals today. It's all in the mind, Arsenal players know they can turn this around. And if they do, they will go down in history books.

The stage is set. They players are up for it, there are going to be 60,000 screaming Arsenal fans at The Emirates making the London tube tremble, and there is no pressure on the players. Look at this from a broader perspective, everything seems perfect. Arsenal just need a good start, should we get that, wait and watch how easily we will keep scoring. We are in for a great great match. This team seems to want it, and that is all that matters. Keep the faith, that is what will keep this team going, and maybe put their names down in history. There are two ways to look at today's game, either, we lost the tie in Milan. Or, are we on the brink of history? Think about it.

YES, WE CAN.

Arsenal shock Anfield. Memories. And winning ugly.

Yesterdays win against Liverpool at Anfield will never be remembered for the football that Arsenal played. But, even so, it has given me some of the fondest memories as an Arsenal fan. I'll come to that in a minute.
Both teams went into the game charged up, coming off good weekends. Liverpool even felt the need to parade their Carling Cup before the match. Anyways, the line up was unchanged from last weekend and why wouldn't it be? Liverpool started the game the better side, coming at us with waves of attack. And we kept denying them. Ultimately, clever movement and theatrics helped Suarez get a penalty. Kuyt stepped up, and Szczesny made the save. Dirk Kuyt took the rebound and Szczesny made the save again. How great is that? Truly great. Here comes my memory number 1 - Did you see the way Vermaelen celebrated after Szczesny saved the penalty? It simply showed that even when the other team was on top, the spirit was unbeatable. Moving on, Liverpool kept attacking, and they got the reward when Henderson's low cross was sliced into the net by Koscielny. Now comes my memory number 2 - Immediately after the own goal when Koscielny was down, Szczesny walked up to him and pulled him up! Now, that's great character, that's getting each others back. Did that dent Koscielny's confidence? It did not, had he been left sitting there, maybe it would have. Szczesny made sure Koscielny was up and about like nothing happened. Liverpool kept pressing for a second, but something seemed to be going our way. Yes, we'll call it luck. And eventually, out of the blue, Sagna whipped in the perfect cross, and well, Van Persie does not miss from there, does he? Perfect cross, perfect header. 1-1. We went into the break not at the top, but not out either. Szczesny being our best player, keeping us in the game.
In the second half, Arsenal seemed more assured, we were keeping possession and playing our passing game. It was a tight game, with both teams implementing their own tactics. Long balls by Liverpool and quick passing by Arsenal. Off the ball however, Mikel Arteta took a shoulder on his face, I think it was accident, it happens sometimes right? He seemed out cold and had to be substituted, on came Diaby. Now, after that uncomfortable few minutes of stoppage, people expected Arsenal to be a little rattled. Only that they weren't. We kept the ball calmly. Showing mental steel and belief. I loved it. Diaby came and showed how we have missed him, running past players with ease and taking long shots. But, it was short lived as he was replaced by the Ox after 23 minutes or so. I feel for the poor guy, I hope he can be ready again as soon as possible. The game looked like it was heading for a draw. With Liverpool being the better side, but having nothing to show for it. Arsenal was keeping possession towards the end, and that seemed to frustrate Liverpool. Alex Song had the ball, he neatly chipped it over the Liverpool defense for Van Persie to volley it in. Making him the 8th highest goal scorer in Arsenal history. What a player. What a captain. And now came my memory number 3 - Van Persie kissing Song's foot. It showed how this man, who is technically so much better than his team mates, values their contribution. He makes sure they get the credit for what they do. If that's not the sign of a great captain, I don't know what is. 
Arsenal got the critical 3 points yesterday, but they showed something more important. The ability to support each other. Arsenal's previous teams did not have that. Arsenal was lucky to win yesterday, but there was something that was constantly going our way, that was team spirit, created by the players themselves. So, the world will say Arsenal did not deserve to win the game, I say they did, not for the football, but the small moments they created in between, the ones I've mentioned. Yesterday showed us how important they are. I'll leave you with that thought until midweek.
As always, keep the faith. The season is not over. But we are in a good position. Until midweek then, who knows what can happen? 

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC.