How to resurrect our season – Part 1

Now that January begins to loom large on the horizon, just a day away, what do you think Arsenal need to start to ascend the league table once again, to hold off Villa’s challenge while simultaneously pulling ourselves closer and closer to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United?

 

Well, here is my answer (Stage 1):

 

What do we have at the moment?

 

First we need to analyse what we already have in place, and for that we need to look at our current squad, starting with the defence.

 

Goalkeepers: Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone

 

I am of the opinion that a goalkeeper is of course a crucial piece of any teams’ jigsaw, but is heavily reliant on the strength of those around him, and this is definitely something that needs to be considered when studying this position. Almunia has proven himself a decent enough goalkeeper who makes few mistakes, and for a second choice ‘keeper, that is ideal. For a top four team who wants to challenge for trophies, it isn’t really enough. Meanwhile, the two goalkeepers behind him are inconsistent but potential stars, so I certainly wouldn’t sell them next month, and we cannot afford to promote them either. So maybe we do need a new first choice goalie? But we are not Manchester City and cannot afford to strengthen every area which needs attention, and in comparison to the backbone of our team, I would keep with the same goalkeeper until the summer unless a bargain presents itself.

 

Rating: 6/10 – A new goalkeeper would be nice, but it’s probably a luxury.

 

Right Backs: Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure

 

Although Sagna, the best right back in the league last season, hasn’t had the same sort of start to this years campaign, his performances against Chelsea and Villa in particular showed exactly what he is made of and I wouldn’t swap him for any other right back in world football. Behind him we have Eboue, who is immeasurably better in his natural position, and Kolo Toure who is more than capable of doing a shift on the right flank if needed, providing he stays at the club. And even if he left, a right back is certainly a position we won’t look to buy for in January.

 

Rating: 9/10 – One of the few areas we have strength and depth in already.

 

Centre Backs: William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Kolo Toure, Mikael Silvestre, Alex Song

 

 There is really no end to our problems in the centre half position, and one or two acquisitions are needed to really improve things. William Gallas can be a fantastic defender still, and I admit that even though his actions as captain mean he will never endear himself to the Arsenal faithful, and rightfully so. But I wouldn’t sell him in January now my anger at his stupidity has now passed. It looks like Djourou is now first choice centre back now as well, and the young Swiss international will become a great defender even though consistency and injuries are a problem. And so I think we need a more experienced player to share his place. In fact, even if he was already world class I think a central defender is key because we have only four natural centre backs for 2 positions, something which could easily cost us.

 

Rating: 4/10 – Definite improvement needed to be as good as the other top four defences.

 

Left Backs: Gael Clichy, Mikael Silvestre, Kieran Gibbs

 

One of my greatest fears is that Gael Clichy will get a lengthy injury, because the cover for him is terrible. Silvestre can do an OK job for the odd game, but can’t act like an Arsenal full back should act in the fine tradition of the position under Wenger – full backs at Arsenal should roam forward, take players on, deliver crosses, link up with the strikers and creative midfielders – he can’t do that. Kieran Gibbs has the potential to do that, but defensively is very shaky still. But like the goalies, we probably can’t afford to buy a decent 2^nd choice left back.

 

Rating: 7/10 – Great first choice left back but the cover isn’t anywhere near as good.

 

 

So to summarise, our defence is largely acceptable, with the first choice full backs excellent by anyone’s standards, and the goalkeeper decent enough to get a top four finish with. But it the central area that we will need to focus on in the transfer market to avoid giving up easy goals when under pressure.

 

In the next article I will take a look at the midfield, an area of the pitch massively affected by injuries.

Trio land loan moves

Three of the brightest talents in the reserves at Arsenal are set to continue their footballing education after Arsenal accepted loan offers for them ahead of the January transfer window which opens tomorrow.

 

Firstly Nacer Barazite will continue to play at Derby through to the end of the season despite Paul Jewell leaving the club after their weekend loss to Ipswich. Barazite was along with Wilshere the stand out player in the reserves last season and has done pretty well so far in the Championship, and even though he has had to adjust to playing in an unfamiliar right wing role for the Rams he leads the team in assists. But with Jewell leaving, maybe whoever comes in will realise the previous managers mistake and have the courage to play Barazite up front behind a target man, or on the left of midfield to allow him to influence play more. Derby were desperate to keep the young Dutchman and hopefully he will continue to develop in the remainder of the season as Derby surely begin to fulfil their potential in the run-in.

 

A more surprising move has also been announced today, with Gavin Hoyte being snapped up by Watford, another Championship club with plenty of troubles, and with the Hornets having conceded the most goals of any Championship team so far, Gavin Hoyte should be kept busy if Brendan Rodgers decides to throw him in immediately.

 

Finally Jay Simpson confirmed last week that he would also be leaving Arsenal temporarily, and, following his excellent appearance against Wigan in the Carling Cup, there was no shortage of clubs wanting him on loan, including more than on Premiership side. In the end he decided upon West Brom, rejecting among others Peterborough, who ironically will become Jay’s first opponents this weekend as the Baggies look to progress in the FA Cup.

 

But this trio could be only the start of a mini-exodus of the clubs talent, with Kieran Gibbs, Mark Randall, Henri Lansbury and co all hoping for similar moves in the New Year to help develop their careers a step further.

 

With all three players recently signing new contracts at the club, there definitely seems to be a future for all of them at the Emirates provided they take their chances to impress at their new clubs, and I wish them all the best for the rest of the season.

 

 

Eduardo makes successful return in 2-0 win

Eduardo successfully completed his return from ten months out on the sidelines, playing 45 minutes as Arsenal made light work of Portsmouth reserves, eventually coming through 2-0 winners and dominating the game throughout.

Obviously very rusty, the Croatian striker almost got the dream start to his comeback after just three minutes, a fantastic Wilshere through ball splitting the defence and leaving Eduardo one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He hesitantly turned inside the recovering centre back but went down under a soft challenge before he could apply the finishing touch.

There was plenty of possession for Arsenal, and Eduardo did link play well and made intelligent runs that were nearly picked out on another couple of occasions, but unfortunately the final ball was never perfect for the Brazilian born striker. But he did look very sharp even towards the end of the half, when he received the ball, turned nicely and curving the ball towards the bottom corner of the net, only for the massively framed Pompey goalkeeper to prevent the ideal comeback. The Croatian striker withdrew at half time with a slight strain, but he’ll be pleased with the workout which showed just how sharp he is despite the long lay off.

However, after the break the chances kept coming, and eventually the pressure told when Randall converted a fantastic pass from Fran Merida to take the lead, before Wilshere helped set up Kieran Gibbs for a brilliant drive into the top left corner. Overall a great work out for Eduardo and the fringe players which helped highlight some of the talent we have at the club, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Fran Merida all impressing hugely on a good night out for the youngsters.

Eduardo to finally return tommorrow

In what could be the only positive piece of news that will brighten an Arsenal fans day this week, Eduardo will hopefully make his comeback tomorrow night, after over half a year out following Martin Taylor’s horror tackle that ended the Croatian striker’s season while at the same time sparking the self destruction of the table topping Arsenal team from that point onwards.

The opposition will be Portsmouth reserves, and according to Young Guns (http://youngguns.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/arsenal-to-pack-underhill-for-eduardos-return/) there could be an amazing 4000 fans to welcm him back. It is also on Arsenal TV for those who live too far away for a trip to Barnet on a cold winter night, and with many other star talent on show it should be a good watch, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Amaury Bischoff expected to play a part in the match as well.

It will with any luck be a comfortable and safe return to the striker whose recovery has been remarkable, and I will be writing a match report and account of the match shortly afterwards for those who cannot witness the match first hand. One thing is for sure, Eduardo is exactly the type of player we will need in the run in before May.

How long should Wenger get?

Of course, this is almost a knee-jerk reaction to the bad results we have had throughout this season, and I can almost hear most Gunners shouting at the computer screen in indignation at the very thought that tere could be an end for Arsene Wenger, our most successful manager ever.

But hear me out. It is not that we have a terrible team. We don’t, no matter what it might seem like, have a bunch of players who are only mid-table standard. Denilson has got awful stick this season, as has Eboue. But surely the reason for this is not that they are bad players, but that Wenger has put them in a position where they cannot win. Since he joined the club everyone has recognised the talent Denilson has, he is a great passer, he can dictate play excellently and there is the odd goal in him as well. The problem he has had this year isn’t that the talent he once had has disappeare, but that he is a victm of circumstance that he needs to be rescued from. He is not a player who should be on he right wing, or a partner fo Fabregas, but this wouldn’t matter very much if he was only a bit-part player, he is a fully capable substitute for Fabregas and can even do a temporary impersonation if a winger ifhe is really needed. But asking him to do it every week, at the age of 20, in a team not performing, has crippled Denilson as a player and for that we can only blame Wenger.

The same applies to Eboue. The Ivorian was a good right back, and could have been a fantastic understudy to Sagna. That duo at right back is easily Championship-winning quality in depth. But instead he plays wherever and whenever Wenger wants, messed around constantly. Of course he’ll give the ball away when you want a half fit right back to play left wing against Premiership opposition – again it isn’t Eboue’s fault – the lack of confidence he must have it is fortunate he keeps the ball as much as he does.

Wenger, you see, has made crucial mistakes in the transfer market every year since the last time we won a trophy. Vieira was let go too early, that much is obvious. But give Wenger credit, he did manage to rebuild the team despite that, even Henry leaving didn’t affect the improvements we were gradually making, and it all came together last season. Flamini had come out of nowhere to become a fantastic defensive midfielder, Gilberto was on hand with his experience, Hleb kept the ball and helped create chances, Walcott had improved enough to become a real threat, while Adebayor was looking  like a striker we could rely on for goals once more.

But in the summer Wenger threw it all away. We sold Diarra, Flamini and Gilberto in just 6 months, and bought no replacement – pure madness in football. All three had their bad points, but they are also all committed, intelligent and willing to do the dity side of the game in order to win. If we had kept just one of those, or we had bought a similar player to replace them,  we’d be far closer to the top of table. The comes the winger situation that is very similar to the DM one. Hleb left, something he wanted to do and perhaps wecouldn’t have prevented. But towards the end of last season it was proven that we were a man short on the flanks with Rosicky’s injuries, Walcott’s inexperience and Eboue and Diaby simply not being good enough on th wings for a top four club. But despite this there was only one player to come in to replace Hleb, Samir Nasri. He will be a star for Arsenal, I am confident of that, but lacks the experience to know how to win, and the strength to fit in to the EPL without any adaptation.

Wenger has of course done a lot for the club, more than possibly we even know about, but all managers have pressure to perform or hey are kicked out. All, that is, except Wenger and possibly Ferguson. It is not on that that is the case, everything is all too easy for Wenger to have  years and years wihout success to rebuild a new team each and every year. The frustration is that we are only a few quality, experienced players away from a real title challenging effort, but Wenger refuses to spend. I think there has to be pressure put on him from the fans, not pressure on the players but on our manager, before he will finally splash the cash we need to spend. I certainly think if we are not any stronger by summer there may come a time that Wenger will have to accept his principled ways are not suited to the everchanging, money grabbing world of the Premiership.