Entries Tagged 'Arsenal Analysis' ↓

Firstly, at 10.42pm last night I ordered a small half mighty half full house pizza from Dominos. You are probably thinking ‘What the hell is he on about this time?!’. Well, I’m am the ultimate predictor. Yes yes I know, but I really am. I predicted Jose walking, I predicted England to beat France in the World Cup when everyone was writing England off, I predicted Arsenal to be better this season without Henry and so far I am correct. Then I predicted what I was going to do at 10.42pm last night; eat a Dominos pizza. And so I did.

Back to the real world… need I talk much about Arsenal? Not really. But I shall. ITV4’s presenter summed it all up in one line after the 5th goal by Fabregas:

‘This is perfect football from Arsenal. What an excellent display we have had tonight’

He was right. It was perfect football. Everything was clicking; Walcott’s pace, Hleb’s skills, Fabregas’ inch perfect passing, Almunia’s calmness, Sagna’s physical presence, Gallas commanding the back line. It all worked, it was like Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma at the Opera; it was smooth and classy. Nessun Dorma translates to ‘Nobody Shall Sleep’, and last night nobody at the Emirates was bored thus didn’t fall asleep.

Jens is becoming ever more frustrated with Wenger. Jens will be sold soon. Whether it’s January or July, it does not matter. Jens will be sold; he will go back to Germany and then retire after a year. But it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter because we have Fabianski who in 4 years time will be as good as Cech. At the moment Almunia is getting his chance and fair play to him. I always backed Almunia, on Goonersweb I said he will shine once given a chance. He buckles on the big stage, but he will learn to handle the pressure once he gets big games under his belt. 

A keeper should be judged on his ability to save shots when not called upon for large amounts of a match. The perfect example is Cech; in 2005, Chelsea’s defence were the best around. Cech was not called upon for 80 minutes of most of their matches, then in the 85th minute, would save a header that was going in the bottom corner. That is the sign of a world class keeper, a keeper that can barely be called upon for 80 minutes of a match but is still able to save a good shot after 80 minutes. Almunia done that last night. Twice late on, Slavia had the chance to get a goal. Both shots were world class, and both saves were world class. I’m not saying Almunia is world class. I’m saying his saves were world class. Make of that what you will.

So Arsenal play Liverpool on Sunday, who lost to Besiktas tonight. Momentum is with us, and on paper we should easily win, however it will be a hard game. Gerrard will be eager to stop the humiliation Liverpool are suffering at the moment. I predict a draw, but at the beginning of the season I would have taken a draw, and so would every person reading this blog but you just won’t admit it.

Meanwhile, Saw 4 is coming out soon. Saw 4 is the most entertaining film I’ve ever watched. It’s logical, and I like logical films. At first glance it looks like a blood filled film with no real meaning behind it, however the morals behind the storyline are exceptional. The producers use horror to emphasise the importance of appreciating life. ‘If you don’t appreciate life, you do not deserve to live’. Jigsaw is right. At the risk of sounding like someone who works for the Saw PR department, I can easily say it’s one of the best films I’ve ever watched. The best however is Shawshank Redemption, which was rated the 2nd best film ever. If you have seen neither of the films, then get off my site and be ashamed of yourself. Never come back and never read my articles again… actually scrap that, read my next one then bugger off

I’ll leave it at that.

Ramin

This weekend was eventful. Very eventful. England lost to South Africa, but winning the World Cup would have truly been undeserved. The Springboks deserved their victory, but we all saw the passion the rugby team give compared to the football team. The country is proud of England for what they showed last night after their embaressing start to the World Cup. They were not at their best, but still managed to get to the final. Was it due to poor opponents, or luck? Both. But England weren’t complaining. I’m not in the mood to debate ‘England vs Rugby’ at the moment, I want to talk about something more important, so I will leave that for my next article.

Wenger has changed. Wenger done something we’ve never seen him do before; he made exceptional tactical subsitutions which changed the game for us. After 60 minutes, Wenger thought to himself, ‘Bolton are here for the taking. They have no manager and we are all over them!’. Then he told Pat Rice, ‘Time to bring Walcott on’. Pat replied, ‘Yes Sir, your wish is my command…. OI THEO GET WARMED UP YOU’RE COMING ON!’. What I just wrote is effectively not true, but something along those lines happened.

Wenger has never been a manager to make effective subsitutions; during the champions league final we had 8 whole minutes to throw the kitchen sink at Barcelona, but we did not. Wenger should have added an extra dimension to our attack and switched from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. We had nothing to lose. We were a goal down, either two things were going to happen if he changed the tactics a. We would have scored or b. Barcelona would have scored. Losing 3-1 and giving everything to try and grab a goal would have pleased me more than sitting down the packed pub with my friends and seeing the most gruelling 8 minutes of football I’v seen as an Arsenal fan. Those 8 minutes seemed to last forever.

Walcott changed the game yesterday. He came on and we all saw his pace outlined on MOTD. Wenger must be applauded for that, because 1 year ago he would not have made that substitution. He would have sat there and remained stubborn on his tactics, opting to hold out and wait for a goal. This year Wenger has been more brutal then ever; he is dropping players that aren’t performing, he is selling players that are deemed surplus to requirements, and he is buying players to raise the competition levels for starting places.

Wenger reminds me of Oscar Wilde. Wenger has the class and wit of Oscar Wilde. He stood at the AGM meeting and made a remarkable speech without looking at his notes once. He answered all our questions without us needing to ask questions, because he knew what we wanted to hear and delivered it. Football has never seen a manager like Wenger, when he leaves I will cry and sob like a two year old because Wenger has given us the best football anyone has ever seen.

Arsenal compared to last season are a step above. When we miss a chance, we smile. When we mess up a pass, we smile. When we go 1-0 down, we smile. Why? Because we are enjoying our football. Arsenal play best when underdogs. When pressure is on Arsenal, Arsenal find it hard to perform. We were written off this season. We were told we would never win anything until Wenger bought experience. Thank fuck Wenger is in charge and not some idiot who believed all that.

However, all of what I’ve said is irrelavant when compared to my next point. It doesn’t matter how much of a genius Wenger was on Saturday with his substitutions, or how well we played. Arsenal needed a win after their two week international break to keep momentum going. A 1-0 win would have been enough. Why? Because after a break, the most important thing is to pick up where you left off. I said this in my article written just before the international break. I was right.

If Arsenal lost to Bolton, it would have changed our season. Momentum is a strong force which should not be messed with. We have now won 11 in a row in the league, even if we lose our game in hand, we have a 2 point league. That is a brilliant back up to have. I keep saying this, but this year we will win the league. We really will, and when we do, I will take a sip of my fine Chilean wine and laugh at all those who wrote me off.

Until that point, I will sit and write articles as if my life depended on it. Furthermore, you will read them as if you’re life depended on it.

Ramin

I know. The world has gone mad, for once the international break has come at the perfect time. Why? Because after Arsenal’s mad 20 minutes on Sunday where they let in 2 goals against Sunderland, who I must say at one point looked like taking the lead, the team needs a rest and a chance to get away from headlines such as ‘How Long Can Arsenal Keep Up Their Good Form For?’. Normally at this time of the year I sit down at lunch with my colleagues and I say ‘Fecks sake, the international break has disrupted us again’, it’s almost an annual rant. Not this time.

The players will all go away and serve their countries as if their lives depended on it, then come back fresh. Things were starting to look shaky after the defence let in 2 goals, however, with a break to forget about the Sunderland game, the team will come back stronger than ever and beat Bolton at home 2-0, who under Sammy Lee look a fraction of the quality they looked under Allardyce. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ must be ringing around the Reebok Stadium after only 2 months of Sam leaving; why did Sammy change the tactics?

Bolton had turned into a nifty team who were getting good results for the first time in years. Sam left, and if you ask anyone what the main objective is when a manager leaves, they will reply to keep consistency. Sammy should have carried on playing the boring, long ball tactics Sam introduced. But hey, Sammy can turn it around, and the only positive is that it can only get better for Bolton.

More so, Togo may not qualify for the African Cup Of Nations, and that’s a bloody good thing for us. Togo and Mali are tied at the top of Group 9 with only the top team qualifying. Hypothetically, we want Kanoute to bag a hat trick and beat Togo 3-2  so Togo are eliminated, with Adebayor scoring a brace; one 70 yard pile-driver and one amazing overhead kick from the half way line. Thus, Adebayor comes back with more confidence than before, and as we should all know by now:

Adebayor + Confidence = Goals Galore

Back to France Arsenal. Adebayor has come out and said ‘My partnership with Van Persie is magnificent’. Thanks for stating the bleedin’ obvious Emmanuel, but it’s good to hear it. RVP and Adebayor are like shampoo and conditioner; one without the other doesn’t show the best results. When Adebayor is without RVP he looks lost and disinterested, this is because him and Robin have built up an excellent understanding together. Furthermore, Robin has an intelligent footballing brain just like the legend Bergkamp had. Robin has elegance, class and exceptional shooting ability, he makes something out of nothing. When they play together, two things happen: 1. Adebayor becomes a target man who holds the ball up until RVP arrives to smash the ball in the net 2. RVP slides Adebayor through and Adebayor scores a great goal.

Eduardo has not played much yet, but he will be excellent next season. Next season, the headlines will not only be ‘Can Arsenal Win Back To Back Premiership Trophies?’ after we win the league this year, but ‘What Is The Best Partnership Up Front For Arsenal?’.

On another note, Ten Cate has agreed to join Chelsea. This is not good. Ten Cate was the reason Barcelona played the lovely, attacking football they played in the Champions League when they won the competition in 2006. Now he’s gone, Rijkaard has come under severe criticism and under intense pressure from fans and media. Frank relied on Ten Cate, Ten Cate would say ‘Frank, play Ronaldinho on the left pushing up forward acting as a striker, Messi on the right, Eto’o up front with Deco through the middle.’ Voila. This is what made them good. Frank wanted to play Eto’o up front and Ronaldinho behind him. In fact, this is what Frank done for a short spell and still does at times. Ronaldinho through the centre is not the same as Ronaldinho on the left.

Ten Cate is world class, Ten Cate is the equivalent of Eto’o and Drogba as a strikeforce for a team; unstoppable. Everyone respects Ten Cate and one day he will take over an elite club and win the champions league with them in his first 2 seasons. When Wenger leaves Arsenal, I want Ten Cate taking over. But that seems unlikely now.

Finally, the other half has been bugging me to explain how the offside rule works as I always shout ‘Ref you tosser that was offside!’, then turn my head 90 degrees to see her looking at me in a perplexed manner saying ‘what’s an offside?’. So on Saturday at 2.30pm I thought I’d explain it whilst we were down the pub. I sat there for 20 minutes using 3 pint glasses (2 representing the defenders and 1 the attacker) and explained it to her. ‘Ahhh I understand now’ she said. At 2.40pm she jumped up in the middle of the pub and shouted ‘Refs thats offside!’, everyone turned around and looked at us. The person next to her said ‘The offside rule counts in football not Rugby luv’. In utter embarassment (my cheeks were as red as the tomatoes my mother picks from the bottom of our garden) I sat there and quietly sipped the rest of my pint. I’ve never been so embarassed in my life. At least England beat the Aussies to sweeten the embarassment.

 Ramin

Sorry I meant For Himself! Not surprising to see Usmanov expressing interest in buying our beloved club. Do we need it? No. Will it happen? Not yet. When will it happen? If it did, probably next year. Usmanov has built up his 23% stake in Arsenal and wants to take full control; however, he knows the current board won’t sell until the earliest date of next summer. So Usmanov bought the shares before Stan could, and thought to himself, ‘I will buy the shares now, and when the board want to sell their shares I will quickly buy them before anyone else, and hey presto, I will own the second richest club in the world’.

Wenger doesn’t mind Usmanov taking over, because it would see Dein returning. Arsenal without Dein have coped, but Arsenal without Dein in the long term will not cope. Dein helped get the finest youngster in at the time i.e. Reyes for only £12.5m when Sevilla wanted £17m minimum from other teams. Dein helped get Walcott, the finest young talent in England at the time, for £5m initially, when Southampton wanted £7.5m from Man Utd and Chelsea initially. Dein helped snatch Rosicky from under Athletico’s noses for a bargain £6.7m. Rosicky was Spain bound and just hours before Athletico were going to fax the papers to Dortmund, Dein flew in and said ‘We want him for £6.7m’, Athletico could not turn Dein down. Dein was pivotal to Arsenal’s transfer dealings. He has contacts nobody else in the world has, he can get a bargain, and more importantly, will get a bargain when he wants a player. Wenger doesn’t want any other person taking over, because they would offer nothing. Usmanov offers Dein in his takeover and Wenger + Dein= Arsenal.  

Anyone else taking over would put pressure on Wenger as they would want instant success, but Wenger knows Arsenal need him more than he needs Arsenal. Arsenal without Wenger would be nothing at the moment. Half the team would walk out if Wenger was sacked, and the effect on players would be detrimental. No player is bigger than the club, but in this case, the manager is. But not in a bad way. Notice I say Arsenal without Wenger would be nothing at the moment. This is because there will be a time where Wenger goes and we can do nothing about it. But when Wenger leaves, he will leave us in a position where another manager can come in and confidently help us win the league in his first season. Wenger will step down, retire as a manager and be our director of football, in fact, Wenger will probably choose who succeeds him.

The board trust Wenger and if Wenger said ‘I want Le Guen in charge after I leave’, the board would look at Le Guen and take him into serious consideration. Why? Because Wenger is a genius. Never have I seen a manager with a sound economics understanding like Wenger. In football, Economics is complementary to the running of a good football club. I study economics, and I recommend the youth of today to do so as well. Wenger has a special bond with Arsenal, he is a god, a legend, the messiah, the man; themyth; the legend. Ok, now I’ll stop anally penetrating Arsene. But you get the point. At first I thought a takeover was not too bad, our debts were a burden on our summer spending. But after seeing our profits it convinced me that we don’t need one and will not need one until Wenger leaves.

Wenger doesn’t need money to operate; he has a brain that is worth all the money in the world. Mourinho cannot cope without money; he could not get as far as we done in the champions league and he spent £350m trying to do so, let alone manage a club like ours with only a maximum of £10m to spend every summer. We done what Mourinho wanted to do throughout his reign as Chelsea manager; we got to the champions league final while the furthest Chelsea went was the semis in 2005. However, this year either Chelsea will win the Champions League or Madrid will. I said this on my other blog (under ‘My Name Is Ramin And I’m An Alcoholic) and I still back my choice.

Chelsea will shut everyone up and shock Jose by winning the champions league in their first season without Jose. Why? Because Roman wants to be able to ring Jose and say, ‘Jose, I parted ways with you with good intention of winning the Champions League, and that is what I’ve done.’ Jose will then say ‘Roman, piss off or I’ll tell the media about how I slept with your wife’, to which Roman will slam the phone down and order his Russian assassins to kill Jose. This probably won’t happen, but it would be fun to see. We’ll leave it at that.

Ramin

If it were to be another unbeaten season, then Wenger would be the second best manager in the world to ever grace the planet, behind Cloughie. We all know he is a genius, but he would be an absolute genius if he could mark such an achievement again, with the tight budget he has had over the past couple years. Our unbeaten run now stretches to 14 games following on from last season, and we’re all starting to believe this young team will turn out to be something special.  At the moment, everything is clicking for Arsenal. Our movement, our ball control, our passing and even our defending. Under Wenger, Arsenal are a team where off the ball movement is a catalyst to our great form. Without Wenger, off the ball movement probably wouldn’t be important. Why? Because no other manager thinks like Wenger does.  

Arsenal play a unique brand of football no other team do, it’s called quick football. It’s a new brand; there is long passing football, short passing football, pressing football, wing play football, counter attacking football, but we play quick football. Our players focus on what they do when they don’t have the ball. When Fabregas has the ball, he can play it to Hleb without having to look where Hleb is standing. Why? Because Wenger has added natural flow to our team and the team have built such a bond together their instinct tells them where players are running. This bond was not apparent last season or the season before, hence why we played poorly, but this season the players are building a bond and now we see the results.   

We saw this during our unbeaten season. Henry would play the ball into space, and Pires would latch onto it. It was no coincidence, Thierry wouldn’t just play the ball anywhere and hope Pires latched onto the ball. It was always a perfect weighted ball which cut the defense wide open. We don’t do that much anymore, we play a more direct approach and vary our tactics. We now play long balls, take long shots and score from set pieces. But we still play quick football.  

During pre-season Arsene’s wife, better known as Mademoiselle Wenger, asked Arsene what our chances of winning the league this season were, he replied by saying, ‘we will win the league this season, but we have to change our tactics. We must play quick football and take long shots, score from set pieces and become more physical’. Wenger then said to himself, ‘We will have Fabregas in the middle who will be the player that links defense to attack, we will have the human treadmill aka Flamini next to him to help the work rate of the team and recover the ball when we lose possession, we will have Sagna at the back, who will be our rock going up and down the wings, and we will have Van Persie, who once receives the ball, can make something out of nothing’. Then he sipped his French wine, sat back in his rocking chair and fell asleep. This probably didn’t happen, but I reckon it did; I know it did. So I stand firm in what I believe. When did this conversation happen? I reckon on the 3^rd August at around 17.30. 


Fabregas is a future Arsenal captain. Against West Ham, he showed us he never gets fazed. Hleb was hacked by Noble, and you could tell Flamini and Fabregas had plans to teach Noble a lesson. However, I don’t condone violence unless it’s self defense. And in football there is no place for violence. Fabregas is becoming a man. He is maturing, and he is turning into a special player. You don’t see players like this very often, but when you do, you make the most of watching them. Fabregas will be the Arsenal captain in 2014; after Gallas retires at the age of 33, to which Kolo takes the armband at the age of 29, and retires at the age of 33. This takes us to 2014 when Fabregas will be 27. That is the right age for Fabregas to be the captain. If you don’t agree with me then it’s ok, but deep down you know I’m right. Meanwhile, I sat in my living room last night and saw Man United grind out a poor, poor result at Brum. Nothing is working at United, last season they were a team, this season they are individuals.This is our best shot at a title; Chelsea are crap, Rafa’s rotation will kill Liverpool’s title chances, and Man Utd’s poor form will not aid them. This is Arsenal’s season. As one band once famously sang, ‘I can feel it in my fingers’.