Theooo, Theooo!

Why picking Theo Walcott is a great decision by Capello…..

It really is fantastic that Theo has finally got the call up by Capello, and I am not saying this just because he is an Arsenal player, but because he has got exactly the right characteristics that the modern England should have.

We should get rid of the hoof tactics the last two managers have used, and instead exploit the pace and trickery that we have in our country, while still making use of the natural defensive capabilities we never have a huge roblem with.

And this is why Walcott, Agbonlahor and Ashley Young can be the future of England for years to come. In fact even Aaron Lennon can become great for England, and he plays for Spurs!

The cameo’s that Walcott has produced since the Birmingham game have been very very impressive, and I think that Theo should not get a starting place with the Three Lions until he’s getting a regular starting position for Arsenal, but it makes sense to have a “supersub” in the squad for any team. I would argue that it could be better to have lightning pace and someone used to playing a substitute role on the bench than it is to have a seasoned pro who expects to start every game. And in a friendly scenario such as the game against France is, this is an ideal time to bring through players like Walcott, Agbonlahor, Wheater and co. who will be our team for many years to come.

Barazite impresses yet again as Reserves win

 

I’ve got to say that until tonight I’ve been feeling pretty depressed when it comes to the issue of Arsenal. But watching the Reserves completely outplay and outclass Pompey in every area has cheered me up no end.

In a team including Djourou returning from injury and Fabianski getting some match practice in, Arsenal were still extremely young in every other area, with everyone else under the age of 19, we consistently out muscled and out thought a Pompey side including big money signing David Nugent, Welsh international Duffy as well as experienced ‘keeper Ashdown and former Fulham player Sean Davis.

But despite the comparitively vast experience of the Pompey team, the team from the South Coast rarely threatened bar the half chances for Nugent and Davis in the first half. Arsenal also struggled to carve out openings until later on in the half, despite a lot of possession and several long distance efforts fom Fonte, Barazite and Murphy. And it was from one of these strikes that the goal eventually came from, a swerving Fonte effort falling to Murphy to score easily. Fabianski then ensured Arsenal would go in at half time with the lead by touching the ball over his bar from a header from a Portsmouth corner.

If the first half was comfortably Arsenal’s, the second half was even more so. The key to this was an increased tempo with the pass and move tactics so nearly ending in a goal on a number of occasions. All that was mssing was a second and decisive goal, but that wasn’t to come until late on. Before then there was chances falling to Barazite who constantly tormented the Pompey defence, as well as opportunities for Fonte and Murphy. It was this trio who constantly offered individual skill that Pompey did not have an answer to. The latter two of this trio were withdrawn later on though, with Fonte picking up an injury and Murphy being rested perhaps for the U18s game against Chelsea on Friday. But Barazite still got the goal he deserved, as a cross fell to the onrushing Ogogo who was clearly taken out by the until-then impressive Portsmouth left back. Up stepped Barazite to calmly convert the penalty to the ‘keepers right off the post.

Team:

———————– Fabianski ———————–

Rodgers —– Nordtveit ——– Hoyte ——— Steer

————————- Djourou ———————

Ogogo ——— Dunne ———————- Barazite

—————-Fonte ——— Murphy —————-

 Match Ratings:

Lukasz Fabianski - 6 - Had one thing to do all game, and that was comfortable.

Paul Rodgers - 7 - Got forward well, and won a lot of tackles by putting pressure on Pompey, although perhaps positionally could have done better.

Havard Nordtveit - 7 - Comfortably dealt with a player who last season was scoring for fun. Did have a few nervous moments when he let the ball bounce.

 Gavin Hoyte - 7.5 - Excellent throughout, never made a mistake, even if he wasn’t really over worked.

Rene Steer - 8 - Got forward brilliantly, defended well and showed willingness until the final whistle.

Abu Ogogo - 6 - Didn’t get into the game much, but he did cause the penalty and had a couple of good moments.

Johan Djourou - 7.5 - Impressive in a defensive midfield role against Sean Davis. Kept the play moving without ever really driving forward.

James Dunne - 6 - I am yet to be impressed by Dunne and that continued last night. He just doesn’t quite look up to it in terms of quality when you compare him with the other youngsters on show in my opinion.

Nacer Barazite - 8.5 - MOTM - Excellent technique, strength and link up play throughout the match. Looked very clever on the ball and worked to get possession back every time he did lose it. If he doesn’t become a very good player for a big club in the future, I will be very suprised.

Rui Fonte - 7.5 - I know you shouldn’t stereotype, but you expect Portuguese attackers to spend a lot of time rolling around, and that was definitely the case last year with Fonte, but not this year. This year physically he looks far better, his first touch is sublime and he holds defenders off excellently. His great shot led to the first goal as well.

Rhys Murphy - 7.5 - He was sensational for the youngsters last year, but got injured early this season and is slowly edging his way back. He drifted in and out of the game,but scred a typical strikers goal that showed exactly what he is all about. He was also tirelessly making runs behind the last man, which shows what kind of striker he is really.

Subs:

Jay Thomas (on for Fonte, ‘70) - 6.5 - Showed glimpses of potential with some wonderful passes.

 Cedric Evina (on for Murphy, ‘75) - 5 - Barely touched the ball, and the only time I can remember him recieving the ball in a dangerous position he got fouled.

Craig Eastmond (on for Djourou, ‘80) - 6 - Made a fantastic pass through the heart of the Pompey defence, but wasn’t on for long.

Match Ratings: Arsenal 1 - 1 Middlesbrough

 

Manuel Almunia - 6 -  Had one save to make, which as it happened, he had no chance with. Played as a sweeper all game.

Bacary Sagna - 6 - Disappointing, he had nothing to do defensively yet wasn’t very impressive going forward despite the time and opportunities that he had to roam forward.

Kolo Toure - 7 - I didn’t think that Wenger needed to drop Senderos who has been pretty much faultless recently, but Toure got the goal that saved the match and committed defenders when going forward late on.

William Gallas - 6 - Didn’t do much except pass sideways and into midfield. Defensively untroubled.

Gael Clichy - 6 - Also pretty disappointing. He and Hleb lacked the understanding they normally seem to have and so a lot of the attacks on the left when backwards .

Emmanuel Eboue - 7 - He was decent gong forward although decision making wasn’t always great, generally he at least had some urgency. Faded in the second half though.

Cesc Fabregas - 6 - Played some fantastic through balls at times, but was too slow most of the time for my liking.

Mathieu Flamini - 5 - Wasn’t needed defensively, and his energy going forwards wasn’t great to be honest.

Alexander Hleb - 5 - Nothing came off for him, except one truly brilliant reverse pass which on another day Fabregas would have buried and we’d all be praising his genius.

Emmanuel Adebayor - 5 - Bad first touch, lacked pace and didn’t ask enough questions of the Boro defence. I sincerely hope he finds his form again soon.

Robin van Persie - 6 - Clearly not match fit in my opinion. Created the odd moment of danger but still a while before he’s back to his best.

Substitutes:

Nicklas Bendtner - 6 - Added a presence late on.

Theo Walcott - 6 - Didn’t get the ball enough, because when he did have it he made a difference.

Philippe Senderos - n/a - Wasn’t on for long enough.

Arsenal 1 - 1 Middlesbrough

Four points in twelve games is clearly not title winning form, and when you look at the fixtures that we have had: Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Wigan and on Saturday the 1-1 draw against Boro’, these are all fixtures that we have gone into the match thinking that the most likely outcome would be three points. The fsum total of four points that we have got, then, are more than just disappointing - they are bordering on disaster.

And despite the three previous draws, I still travelled to the Emirates with all the optimism you could possibly want or need - the three points were virtually ours from where I was standing. And in the first ten minutes, we all but blew Boro’ away, with fantastic passing allied to direct running making Middlesbrough cling on to the match desperately. Adebayor had the ball in the net and the goal without a doubt should have stood - how you can be offside having been played through by an opposition player I will never know. Eboue then had a cross hit the crossbar and from that point you could see that luck was not with us.

But with Boro struggling to get out of their half, even with Arsenal’s passing and movement not flowing at its brilliant best we seemed assured of the win. But then we gave away a dubious free kick, which Schwarzer hit long towards the offside Aliadiere and the onside Tuncay, with the Turkish winger latching onto the ball and crossing for the now (apparently) onside Aliadiere to score against us, his former team.

The sighs were audible around the ground, and a familiar story that was repeated every week last season began to take shape as the first half slowly drew to a close.

Arsenal had all the pressure for all the second half, but were somehow kept at bay by Middlesbrough, while the referee showed signs of increasing incompetence. And I am not complaining about the ref because the result went against us - he made some terrible decisions against Boro as well, although as we had all the pressure obviously we had the worst of it. Van Persie came close with a left foot strike from outside the area, Fabregas had a header shave the post but the pressure still didn’t have any effect on the scoreline.

With five minutes remaining we got an undeserved corner as Eboue clearly fouled Young heading towards the by-line, and from the resulting superb delivery that Fabregas gave Toure was there to head in past the obstructed Schwarzer (obstructed by his own player I’d like to add). It was less than Arsenal deserved, but if you can’t take chances you will slip up again and again and we did that on Saturday. One thing is for sure - if we do not rise to the challenge of Chelsea with some effective football, we’ll be found dumped out of the title race before we play Liverpool in the Champions League in three weeks time.

Ireland disappointed by Nicholas’ decision

 

Arsenal U16 player Oliver Nicholas has opted against playing for Ireland after being called up by the England squad for the U16 age group this week, as well as playing a part in England’s Victory Shield campaign late last year.

This is a blow for Ireland as he seems to be highly rated (although I personally have never seen him play before so I can’t back this up) and had played for Ireland prior to the Victory Shield. Nicholas qualified for Ireland’s national team because his grandparents came from Waterford in Ireland, but when England offered him the chance to join their set up instead, Nicholas couldn’t refuse, and Vinny Butler, the Irish U16s coach will not try and convince him that this is the wrong decision.

“I was a bit annoyed about it but sometimes players only get asked to play for England after they have represented Ireland.” He told the Irish Daily Star that “he’s made his decision and I won’t be trying to convince him to change his mind.”

RVP will be vital

 

First of all, sorry for not writing in a while, and not doing a match report for that *cough* scintillating game with Wigan at the weekend.

There’s no point in writing up match ratings or a report now though, so I’ll get on with the points at hand, the main one of which is the impact that van Persie can have on the rest of our season. In my opinion he is the best technically gifted player at Arsenal, and with the likes of Fabregas and Hleb this is a big compliment to the guy, and part of his technical qualities of the ball lead him to being very possibly our best match winner that we have.

The one complaint is that he does not score easy goals very often, but in my opinion that is what Adebayor is for, and what we are missing it seems from the last five or so games (bar the match at the San Siro) is that we really need to have that spark of genius that all the top sides have. While van Persie has been away for a long time, he seems to me the best chance we have of getting that spark, because while Fabregas and Hleb can create something for other people out of nothing, setting someone else up relies on the recieving player finding the net, and we all know that as a team we have not got great finishers, except perhaps Eduardo who is obviously out of the picture for a good while.

Therefore we need someone who can let fly from 25 yards and find the net, and van Persie is this player that we need. He has the directness and the tricks that can beat a marker and open the game up in much the way Ronaldo does at Man United, and there are not too many better left feet in the Premiership when it comes to shooting from range.

But this will not come back to van Persie instantly after so long out, that would be asking too much of him, but if we can start to win games again rather than draw them, in a couple of weeks, at the most crucial time of the season, I believe van Persie can be our saviour on more than one occasion.

Youth International Round-Up

 

In another indication of the strength of Arsenal’s current crop of youngster, there have again been numerous international call ups for some of Arsenal’s brightest talents.
New signing from Gillingham, Luke Freeman has been called up to the England U16 squad for the very first time, while that same squad features three other Arsenal players, with the U17s including two Gunners and the U19s having a sole representative in their ranks. That is a total of seven English youngsters, a very impressive total for a club that supposedly doesn’t care about English players.

Of course,it is well documented that Arsenal are well-known for their influx of foriegn talent, and these players will also be getting international recognition in the coming weeks. In the Spanish U16s, our latest recruit, Ignaci Miquel has been called up by Spain, while Fran Merida has already played for the U19s this month against Portugal. (You can find details of that match in my round up of the loanees later on today). Unfortunately I have been unable to find details of matches for the likes of Barazite, Sunu, Nordtveit and Rasmussen, who will also presumably be in action for their respective countries and age groups.

Full list of fixtures involving Arsenal players:

Spain U16s

Ignasi Miquel: 10-12 March - Training Camp, Madrid.

England U16s

Sam Byles, Luke Freeman, Emmanuel Frimpong, Oliver Nicholas: Montaigu Tournament, France.

Montaigu Tournament Fixtures:

19 March - England Vs Japan - Le Poire Sur Vie - 5.00pm

20 March - Germany Vs England - Le Poire Sur Vie - 7pm

22 March - England vs USA - Les Brouzils - 3pm

24 March - Playoffs/Final - TBC - TBC

England U17s

Tom Cruise, Jack Wilshere: UEFA U17 Elite Round Tournament, Tel Aviv, Israel

UEFA U17 Elite Round Tournament Fixtures:

25 March - England Vs France - Rishon Le Zion - 3pm

27 March - England Vs Russia - Rishon Le Zion - 3pm

30 March - England Vs Israel - Nes Ziona - 3pm

England U19s

Kieran Gibbs: International U19 Friendly

25 March - England Vs Russia - Stadium:MK - 7pm

Aaron Ramsey linked with Arsenal

 

Not many people may have heard of Aaron Ramsey yet, but in my opinion from what I’ve seen and heard by living in Wales, either by seeing Wales Under 21 matches or by watching highlights of several matches he has been involved in, this lad seems to have a massive future ahead of him, and reports today suggest that we are still in the race for the 17 year old, despite reportedly having a £1m bid turned down last summer.

The Daily Mirror has today reported that Arsenal are tracking the 17 year old, and I think that we might just go in for him, whether it is in the summer or perhaps not until the end of next season, as he seems to fit our style of play very well. He is composed on the ball and has even featured for Cardiff’s first team on several occasions, playing centrally and using his very good vision and technique to spread the play around the pitch effectively. He even scored a goal in the FA Cup to highlight his potential. Ramsey first played for Cardiff when he made his debut aged 16 years and 123 days against Hull last season, making him their youngest ever player, surpassing John Toshack’s record.

The man who first discovered Wales’ brightest young talent, Gary Lewis, is very happy with the progress that he has made:

“I think Cardiff have done a great job bringing Aaron through,” Lewis said. “They have protected him in a way, but then fast-tracked him when that needed to be done.

“They have placed hurdles in his path and he has cleared every one so far, he is developing very well. And I feel they have introduced a finesse to his game. I saw him play against Wolves in Saturday’s FA Cup victory and, when you look at that little ball he played to put Paul Parry through, that little touch is the most obvious difference.

“I’d love to see him play in the Premiership, hopefully with Cardiff, but he has got everything in place to become a top, top player. Personally, I see him as a Bryan Robson type. Not afraid to put a foot in, but creative as well and, of course, able to score goals.”

And his current manager Dave Jones is also very happy with the youngsters potential, but is trying to ignore the hype surrounding the teenager and concentrates on treating him in the best way for his career.

“We have to be very, very careful, we all need to relax on the kid and be aware of his development, progression and age. He now needs to learn to put his foot on the ball and dictate the pace of the game - he is 17 years of age and he is not going to have that skill as part of his game yet. This kid will be bigger and better than a lot of those who have come through at Cardiff City, but I stress it must be done right.”

He has now played ten senior games for Cardiff, and it is probably a question of when rather than if Aaron Ramsey will leave the Bluebirds, but I do think that they should keep hold of him for another season before a big club gets him. However, with a “london-based club” already making a seven figure bid for him last summer, I would hope that it is Arsenal who win the race for his signature should he be sold.

Match Ratings: Arsenal 2-0 AC Milan

 

I am so tempted to just give the whole team 10’s, but I will (try to) be sensible about it:

Manuel Almunia - 7 - He had a faultless display, although wasn’t called upon very often and didn’t actually need to work for any of the Milan shots in reality. 

Bacary Sagna - 7 - Strangely enough I would say it was not one of his best games for us, as he did not get forward as much as he has done in some games. Solid defensively as ever though. 

Phillippe Senderos - 7.5 - Did well in defence and made only one slight mistake which Clichy dug him out of. Kept Inzaghi quite enough. Should have scored though…. 

William Gallas – 8: A much better performance from Arsenal’s (cough) inspirational leader. Marshalled defence well when he needed to, and showed real emotion at the end. If he could perhaps keep his passion in check while out on the field when we lose matches it would save him from the media limelight quite a bit.  

Gael Clichy - 8 - Back to his usual self. Tireless running and never got caught out in defence. Vital defending against Pato after Senderos’ mistake.

Emmanuel Eboue – 6 - The only poor player in the white shirts of Arsenal last night. Didn’t offer too much intelligence going forward, and didn’t stretch Milan’s left side. I’m sure he could have exploited Maldini’s lack of pace if he’d ran down the line a bit more. 

Mathieu Flamini - 9.5 - Fantastic. As simple as that. Probably the most improved player in World football this season. Kept Kaka in check, and Gattuso and Pirlo were also victims of the battling midfielder who is fast becoming a fans’ favourite, at least in my opinion. If every player had as much commitment as he does, we’d never lose a game again.

Cesc Fabregas - 9.5: Had all the skill to go with Flamini’s agression and determination, in a simply brilliant midfield partnership. Got the decisive goal as well to round off one of the best individual performances I have seen for quite a while, although this comment is aimed at Flamini as well - they were both immense.

Abou Diaby – 7 - His inclusion was my only concern in the starting line up when I saw it, but he coped well, making a couple of good challenges tracking back and kept the ball far better than he has done normally this season. 

Alex Hleb – 8.5 - Toys with defenders for fun. His movement was second to none, and but for two superlative performances from certain other players, he would get the Man of the Match award without a doubt.   

Emmanuel Adebayor - 8 - Will be giving Milan’s defenders nightmares for a while yet. Work rate was brilliant, attitude spot on, and grabbed a goal which will be of great personal worth to him.

Substitutes:

Theo Walcott - 7 - Did excellently when he came on, almost setting up Gallas for a goal, tackling Kaka superbly, and then running past a Milan defender to give Adebayor Arsenal’s second goal, all in twenty minutes.

Gilberto Silva - N/A -Wasn’t on for long enough to warrant a rating.

Perfection……

Last night was billed as a triumph of youth over experience, but I think that Wenger has built a side that has both of these qualities, and that factor coupled with Wenger’s brilliance has given Arsenal a third famous win in Europe in as many years. While before in Turin and Madrid we did have the semblance of seasoned players such as Henry, Pires, Ljungberg and Campbell, this victory was achieved entirely by Arsene’s third generation team, and from last nights performance every other team in world football can be fearful of how good this side could be.

It could have been four. That is quite a statement to make about a game with the current European champions on their own patch, and it is even more shocking when it is completely and utterly true. The first fifteen minutes were unsurprisingly edgy and tense, Arsenal having the front foot, then Milan making a counter attack, only for Arsenal to do the same, but despite the franctic energy of the opening minutes, only one really clear cut opportunity was made, with a Milan corner deflected goalwards before Fabregas, on the line, kicked the ball clear of danger.

Milan then had their best period of possession in the whole game for five minutes, but there were only glimpses of chances for Inzaghi and Pato, although the Brazilian starlets chance was perhaps better than his attempt at converting it suggested it was.

And then it was Arsenal’s turn to shine. Fabregas, Hleb and Flamini ran the show from then on, passing around the masters of such football in a way which was almost humiliating for the home side. And just after the half hour mark in the game, Arsenal’s probing pressure brought about a clear cut chance. Adebayor’s tireless running made the chance, cutting inside three Milan players and squaring to Fabregas, whose powerful swerving strike could only rebaound off the bar. Milan did try and counter throughout the Gunners’ spell of pressure, but as soon as Kaka got the ball Flamini or Fabregas would be right next to him, coming in with a decisive challenge to end the playmakers immediate threat.

Arsenal did not get the goal they wanted and looked like they needed before half time, but quick out of the blocks they looked to correct this detail in the opening minutes of the second half, creating two massive chances that agin Arsenal failed to convert. The first fell to Senderos at the back post from a corner, somehow failing to direct the ball past Kalac from six yards out. Then it was Eboue’s turn to miss a gilt edged chance, being played through brilliantly after lovely build up play, before the Ivorian blasting the ball wastefully wide with just the keeper to beat.

With twenty minutes left, Wenger through on Walcott in a do or die move for Arsenal, and it seemed to do the trick. The diminutive Englishman was amongst the action pretty soon, getting the ball from a fantastic Hleb throughball, but was just unable to lay the ball off to Gallas for what would have been an easy tap-in had Kalac not jumped on the ball to intercept a certain goal.

But with five minutes left we finally got what the players so clearly deserved: A goal. And when it came, it could not have fallen to a more deserving player, as Cesc Fabregas let fly from 30 yards to grab a vital goal. And when Walcott raced away and beat the Milan defence for pace before laying off a beautiful ball for Adebayor to get his first Champions League goal, it was no less than Arsenal deserved.