Arsenal v Sunderland; Match Preview
And so we start yet another new chapter in Arsenal’s 126 year-old history book. Tomorrow at 1500 GMT (1000 EST), the 2012/2013 Premier League campaign kicks off and it starts for Arsenal with a visit to the Emirates by Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland.
A lot of us are all interested in how the new look Arsenal will line up. Will Arsene go with a front line of Walcott, Giroud, and Podolski. Or will Podolski lead the attack supported on the wings by Walcott and Gervinho with Giroud coming on later to change things up.
I don’t care (well I do but I have a point to make). I am just happy there is football, especially Arsenal football. With every new season there is always renewed optimism and glimpses of hope. And this season start is no different. Sure, a 30+ goal scorer is gone. But a player who carried his team to a title single-handedly is in, one of Germany’s most prolific international players has also lined up, and the best Spanish player who doesn’t play for Barcelona or Madrid is in the squad. Not a shabby set of additions.
The key for them will be how well they adapt to the rigors of the Premier League. It’s a fair comment to say Ligue 1, La Liga, and the Bundesliga are not on par with the physicality and speed of the Prem. Still, players from those leagues have flourished in England and there is nothing to suggest that the three additions to Arsenal’s attack will falter.
The excitement of the new season is here and Arsenal are set to take on a bogey manager in O’Neill who always sets his teams up to play Arsenal well. He worked wonders at Aston Villa. The lack of love between the two managers is shall we saw – noticeable. Their criticisms and barbs are well documented. They simply don’t like each other. And with that backdrop, there is always a little bit of tension when they go head to head.
For Arsenal, the questions about the attack are few. Actually, there is only one – will they replace Van Persie’s goal quantity. The questions for the defense however, still remain.
Last season we shipped in 49 goals. For a club that wants to contend for titles that will win you absolutely nothing – and it did. This year however there seems to be a concerted effort on both the coaching staff and player’s part to fix this.
Newly promoted number 2, Steve Bould has set about the task of improving things in the defense department. And while the preseason tour to Asia showed there might be some concerns, its worth nothing that at that point the team had been practicing together with Bould for a week and none of the Asia games had a back four that looked remotely like our first choice.
The core defenders are raving about Bouldy’s influence with Kieran Gibbs being the latest:
“Steve has obviously brought a defensive emphasis to the team, because he was a defender too, and he’s bringing all his experience and knowledge of the game to us,” Gibbs told the Official Matchday Program.
“We conceded a few too many goals last year, so we obviously want to stop that,” he said. “I think most of the goals we conceded last year came from counter-attacking, so we’ll need to improve on that.
“That’s the sort of thing we have been working on, and everyone knows what we want to do in the team now, and how we can rectify the problems.
“We are looking at all areas to improve on really. So that could mean collective defending for example, but there are lots of elements we feel we need to work on.
I know we have a philosophy that the best defense is a killer offense but if you don’t have SOME defense the best offense isn’t going to matter – much. For Arsenal to succeed this season the defense must be the focus. I think the personal is fine. Gibbs and Santos on the left are good. Santos for the attack and Gibbs improves defensively every time I see him. On the right with Sagna injured Jenkinson will get the call up and that’s a bit of a question. He looks like he will come good but sometimes his positional awareness betrays him. The CBs are solid. I don’t care what the naysayers think, the personnel at CB are good and good enough to win silverware with. Kosicelny continues to rise to the occasion every time we see him. Mertesacker reads the play better than most defenders and does a good job of marshalling the defenders. His growth prior to his season-ending injury was amazing. And then there is our new captain – Thomas Vermaelen.
My only critique if Tommy is that he sometimes can be overly aggressive and thus takes himself out of plays. The QPR loss last season sticks out in mind on this. No doubt about I think over time he will be considered one of our best defensive players. But that takes time. For now he simply is the Verminator and is our anchor. How he goes, so goes our defense.
With Sunderland Arsenal face a team that needs time to mature under O’Neill. He hasn’t been able to bring many players with the exception of Louis Saha. However, in the long-term I think he will do good by Sunderland and seeing them in the top 8 or so isn’t a far-fetched idea but I don’t think that’s this year. This is the club’s first full season under the Irishman. And he is still trying to put his blueprint into play.
O’Neill will likely roll out with a 4-5-1 at the Emirates. He lacks any real fire power up front with Fraiser Campbell likely leading the line hoping to get something through Arsenal’s high line and on the counter. With Sessegnon now confirmed out and a lack of strikers Sunderland are going to be hard-pressed to get anything at the Emirates.
However, as we know, O’Neill always has his team prepared to play. They will likely be compact and look to block the passing channels with 9 men behind the ball. Arsenal will have to be creative and patient to get anything but in the end I think they well.
How the Match Should Play Out.
It’s the first game of the new season and Arsenal are basically a new look squad. Alex Song has a small knock (code for he is on his way out the door) so I expect the midfield will look like Diaby, Arteta deep with Cazorla in the CAM role. Cazorla should give the Gunners a means to unlock the compact defending of Sunderland. In the pre-season warm up against FC Koln he barely ever put a pass out of place and if you watched his performance in Puerto Rico you know what he can bring to this game. Sunderland, as we mentioned before will look to hit Arsenal on the counter with McLean trying to get the ball up to Campbell or Saha. The key here in the game – has Arsenel defense of counterattacking football improved. If it has, we will see a very long day for Sunderland and Arsenal will extend their opening day unbeaten run to 13 years.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal. Cazorla. Podolski. Giroud. With three new boys in the lineup all eyes will be upon them to see if the form shown in Germany vs Koln was true to what we can expect from them.
Sunderland. Louis Saha. Without a wealth of strikers, O’Neill grabbed Saha off the transfer shelf. He hopes that the forward can add to his overall attack options, which right now look limited.
Projected Lineups:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Frimpong (knee) Wilshere (knee) Sagna (ankle) Rosicky (tendon) Koscielny (calf) Oxlade-Chamberlain (ankle)
Sunderland: Sessegnon (ankle) Brown (knee) Vaughan (hernia) Bardsley (ankle)
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal:
Sunderland:
Last Meeting (EPL):
Arsenal: 2
Sunderland: 1
Goals For:
Arsenal (away): 0.0
Sunderland (home): 0.0
Goals Against:
Arsenal (away): 0.0
Sunderland: (home): 0.0
Last Five:
Arsenal:
Sunderland:
Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 0
Sunderland: 0
Match Official:
Referee: Chris Foy
Broadcast Information:
US: Arsenal Player 1000 AM EST
UK: Arsenal Player 1500 GMT
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!
www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Sunderland: 0
Until next time – Stay Goonerish!
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Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’
There were three acceptable possibilities for Wenger on Saturday in descending order, the first a compelling Arsenal performance capped with lots of goals, the second a tight win, and the third a draw. The fourth possibility was unacceptable, a loss, and that would have invited fan unrest.
So Wenger got the third option, the limp option. The option he could fudge with statements like “we drew when we had Van Persie”.
A scan of the web shows people making grand statements on Arsenal’s prospects for the season based on one performance. That’s just silly. Give it 10 games and see how the new boys are settling and what shape is emerging.
I see Walcott is staying quiet on his contract. That suggests to me that his agent hasn’t had a lot of interest (or any?) and so they’ve been content to feed off the pressure building on the club created by the angst with Van Persie and Song leaving. I would try and sell Walcott. He’s hopeless and I’ve said that for years, he’s not worth his current salary let alone an upgrade. If he wasn’t English he’d be slated. The upside is that he is English and as such he will generate a notable fee of perhaps 14m pounds.
The club should also sell or cut Rosicky. Like Van Persie and Diaby the guy is glass. We’ve seen with Van Persie that players owe their club nothing even after the club stands by them year upon year. So it’s time to sweep out the crocks. De-clutter. Rosicky may not attract a transfer fee given his age and total crockness. Cancel his contract and pay him off.
Likewise Ramsey seems to be joining the lineage of damaged players who will never fulfil their potential due to the hatchet men. There is no point in keeping him, the upside is non-existent, he huffs and puffs to no good effect. I’d sell him. He’s got a transfer value being young and British.
If we can sign a left back I’d move Gibbs on as well.
Diaby can’t be moved because no one will buy him. He’s like Van Persie before last season. He needs one stella season and then he can be hocked off because you can be sure he won’t have any allegiance to Arsenal Football Club if he feels he is wanted by… say… Barcelona. I’d keep him, and see how he goes this season, we might get lucky and he does a Van Persie.
As Steve says, we’ve chosen to be a second tier club now, and it follows that we should box smarter. We can’t afford to carry crocks and kids – only the top tier can do that. “Produce or pi** off” should be our motto. As Stagg and Ty tell us “players owe the club nothing” and the mirror image is that club owes the players nothing. If the player is a bad investment then move them on.
Wenger needs to see the cleanout through to its natural conclusion. He needs to declutter, get rid of the players that produce little and are an annual drag on the payroll. That will achieve a number of things;
– It will create a squad culture of only having players who produce, like Everton, and like Wenger’s first Arsenal teams. He typically had small squads and wringed everything out of them. Only post-Highbury has he gone for large squads padded out with youth and unfit non-performers.
– It will free up money for buying more Podolski’s and Cazorla’s.
So ideally Wenger will continue the clearout and we’ll trim the squad and payroll to a sensible level. Out goes…
Used by; Arshavin, Chamakh
Just useless; Walcott, Bendtner, Park, Squillaci
Crocks; Rosicky, Ramsey, Gibbs
Inwards…
Leftback – not that hard to buy for this position, sounds like we’re chasing one anyway
Midfield – we’re light here, Wilshere is still not back and Diaby is glass. We only really have Arteta and young Coquelin.
Attack – the major cleanout above plus Van Persie and Song means we have lots of room to buy a top attacking talent.
Why not raid Everton for Baines and Fellini? Do to them what Barcelona and City do to us. Isn’t that reality?
The Nuri Sahin option. I don’t like loan deals for Wenger, it doesn’t seem to mesh with his management approach – it’s never given us a good return. We should either buy the player outright or leave him alone.
@Kiwi, if by useless, you mean our 2nd leading scorer for a few years, then yes, that’s Walcott!
we need to make sure we sell all our best offensive options!
@stag133,
Stagg sometimes your comments lack both accuracy and sense.
Walcott was ‘2nd’ once – last year. And even then he scored the princely sum of 8 whilst the CB Vermaelen scored 6 and the deep midfielder Arteta also scored 6. Hardly stella! And surely not enough to compensate for his alround shite play.
The previous year he scored 9, and wasn’t ‘2nd’, and the much maligned Chamakh scored 7.
@Kiwi, First of all the left back position is the hardest to fill position in all of football. Second your lets cut everybody and just pay them approach is just silly. You would pay twice for a position and I’m certain that you will not get so much better at every position to make this scenario feasable. We will not raid Everton because they already gave up Rodwell and don’t need to sell anybody else unless we come up with silly money and Arsenal tries to buy good players and value witch is nearly impossible when you are buying EPL players that are any good. Steven Fletscher was Sunderland worth 13 Mil. Pound thatsjust shows you how grossly overvalued british playes are. And if you say we are a second tier football club than you surely knowwhat the approach of every lower level club is? Buy for value and find diamonds in the dirt that is your youth system. We already do that and we complement it with one or two mojor signings every year (before silent Stan we did that successfully) That was the approach that made us a contender but we overdid it a litle with the youth movement and we had some transfers that didn’t pan out. We are not a second tier club we are in aslump and thats all quit overreacting to everything.
And why for heaven’s sake can’t we just go back to a 4-4-2???
What is the point of playing only ONE striker against a side that is defending very deeply and is not even attacking you?
What is the point of playing 3 midfielders against a side that has less than 30 percent of possession.
YET, even in the final minutes, with us chasing the game, Wenger, the tactical genius, continued with the woeful 4-3-3.
How about we start Podolski and Giroud TOGETHER in the MIDDLE, let them feed off each other’s knock downs and movement???
How about Santi plays the Pires role on the left, AOC plays on the right, while Arteta and Coquelin (or Diaby) in the middle??
Does one need to be a genius to know that it is pointless to have THREE central midfielders (doing what exactly?) against a team with 11 men behind the ball?
Before, genius Wenger started using this 4-3-3, he NEVER used it (and even disparaged it). So no matter the opponent or circumstance, he stuck to a 4-4-2. Now, he is doing the exact same thing with 4-3-3. Wenger is really the least flexible manager of any medium/top club.
Lets face facts, even if Wenger bought five world class players today, we’ll probably still not win anything due to his HORROR show tactics.
Neither Gibbs or Jenkinson offered anything in attack today. yes, we were organized at the back and Arteta performed his DM duties admirably. However, neither of our FB’s alternated in pushing up-field to provide width on a regular basis.
Sunderland therefore really only had to protect the central area which quickly became clogged. We need to get some balance between defensive and attacking shape to utilize that part of the pitch which is conceded to us opponents.
I thought Santos as a substitute for Gibbs would have provided more offense rather than Giroud for Podolski. My next substitution would then have been Giroud for Walcott who was largely ineffective for most part followed by Ramsey/Arshavin for Diaby.
Hindsight is a bitch, but what else is new?
@Caribkid, lots of agreement here. I think not
losing was the clear priority so all the offensive sorts did a lot less
pushing up from the back and Jenks choked every single ball he tried to fire
in there. He ain’t gonna win the lottery for long if he cannot put those
balls where he needs to….(Le Coq, I think might’ve been a sub, or better
starting choice….Obviously we’ll do better with Kos and Sagna back. Hell,
speaking of older French defenders, Gallas looked decent for Spurs today–
those thinking Mexes is the answer need to smell the freaking cafe….)
The manager took a very conservative approach playing people according to
their “value” and hoping for the best. In descending order of transfer fees,
it sure would’ve been sweet if Arsh, Gerv, Lulu, Giroud or Theo could’ve
nicked us a goal–for their confidence or for moving them on or for calming
the “spend some fucking money” rabble. Since they didn’t, we judge the non-
scoring performances and the Spaniards look very worthy indeed. On today’s
display, I fear there will be no takers for our third Spaniard, “Feo”
(meaning: ugly)….
Regarding Song and the meta-narrative….It’s self-loathing when everybody
who plays for your club is shit(e) and everybody who doesn’t is awesome. Of
course, the reverse is true as well. As we saw today, you don’t just put on
the shirt and suddenly become RVP. Santi, however, looked very Cescy in his.
For years I’ve read about how poor Song was (on this site and AA before).
Personally, I think he did well with the talent he has and he seemed to have
a nice, relaxed demeanor. I think he’ll enjoy Barca maybe more than they’ll
enjoy him. Obviously, Barca are a team that needs to win every time out and
he’ll be great at one-touching and playing long balls in easy games. Busquets,
Puyol, Mascherano and Pique have or would struggle defending in England and
Song is right there with them. I think he’ll do quite a bit better than Hleb but I
wonder if he’s a starting defender in Clasicos or late rounds of the CL….
At a certain level the gamesmanship gets intense and there are tougher boys
out there than Joey Barton who took out Song AND Gervinho in our opening
fixture a year ago. (Same score, btw, but this was prolly tougher, being in
front of the hostile home crowd…..And good work Toonies, getting rid of
Joey and replacing with the likes of today’s goal scorers, Ba and Ben Arfa.
They took the first round in the “Battle for 4th”, it appears….)
So now, a long week (of practice and re-grouping, I would hope) before
another team happy to play for nil-nil. My sources tell me signings are
imminent, but not for new attackers….winky face….
But maybe it’s an even longer two days until MNF for the new ManU supporters
amongst us…. Any chance Hank Jr. will be doing the theme song?–I don’t
think he’s compared David Cameron to Hitler…. In all seriousness, I can
understand the need to vent AND I appreciate those who are beyond angry with
the club….IF you actually watch and comment with intelligence….
@Highburyterracesteve, for years I’ve heard how incredible Song was on this site…
and now that he’s sold, … eh, he wasn’t that good, right?
He was nothing spectacular, but what else do we have shielding the back 4?
oh, that’s right, NOTHING.
and… yes, heaven forbid that soccer fans would want to watch RVP and Rooney line-up in the same
team… maybe you don’t like good football…. as you’re accustomed to watching the Arsenal for the last 7 years, but I appreciate the game, and watch all leagues and all teams.
it’s entertainment… and yes, I hope RVP scores a hatful… I like the player, and his game.
You like the laundry only.
@Caribkid, I didn’t mind bringing Giroud on. I thought his size and physical presence might have provided a different attacking option as our short passing wasn’t breaking Sunderland down. I can’t understand why Ramsey was brought on though. What was he supposed to add/provide? I would’ve left Podolski on also, but I would prefer to see him on the left side. He was involved in several of the sequences where we did manage to get through the defense. His freekick was also dangerous and I would’ve left us that option on the field.
@USGunner, You have to cut Gibbs some slack in this game if you covering for Gervinho that’s one of the most unthankfull jobs in football. I mean if you do the overlap (it happend 4-5 times) you are getting either a lazy bad placed ball when your pace and positioning advantage is already gone (because Gervinho holds the ball until his defender falls asleep than he makes his move or passes because he also beginns to snooze) or you aren’t getting the ball at all and if he looses the ball in one of his 1v3 encounters you are the man with his pants down.
@USGunner,
I have no complaint about bringing Giroud on, as a matter of fact that’s was my intention to say, bring on Giroud instead of Walcott and move Poldi out to the wing or go 4-4-2.
The Goalie
Was solid just needed twice and had no dangerous situation to handle
The Defense
Jenkinson
did nothing noteworthy and hopefully he can stand his ground against tougher opponents until Sagna is back.
Merte
impressed with good pressure up the pitch after dead balls he often delayed Sunderland counter attack and as always showed his great positioning.
Vermalen
Was a quiet game as a skipper had some offensive runs but those didn’t turn into anything.
Gibbs
Looked improved had 4 great sliding takles and won all his duels on the sideline. Often stayed back to cover for Gervinho in case one of his 1vs3 dribbles leads to a counter attack.
Diaby
Played further up the pitch than expected had no injury and played nearly as much minutes as last season. Is probaly the first to go if a linup change is made because he didn’t do much.
Arteta
Looked impressive and was the drop back man if Vermalen or Dianby wen’t on an fruitless offensive adventure. He made the simple passes and was the bail out man if someone got stuck. Tried to find Cazorla or shifted the game from side to side to keep the Sunderland moving.
Cazorla
Some brilliant moments and some decent long range shots but as a attaking midfielder timing and chemistry with your Wingers and Strikers is the most important thing at this stage its obvious that the team has to develope in those areas.
Wallcott
Had some good 1vs5 dribble/runs but was nowere to be found for long streches of the game.
Had a great cut back that Podlski coudn’t finish.
Gervinho
Was a constant threat and beat double teams regularly. Overdribbled in 90% of the time but he nearly always did beat his man and made smth happen. Had a missunderstanding with Poldi that could have been a great chance. Best man on the pitch in my eyes but he frustrated so much. A rare thing to accomplish the most annoying player but man of the match.
Podolski
Worked his butt off but had no chemistry whatsoever with the midfield. His running lane and his timing often were counterproductive and he coudn’t get a break. Every time there was a free ball or an awkward bounce he drew the short stick. Had a good chance to score but with two defenders closing in coudn’t convert Theos cutback.
The Subs
Ramsey
Had two mediocre shots on goal and that was that utterly unimpressive performance but didn’t screw up either
Giroud
Had a freeby after a gorgeous set up from Cazorla that would have made him and Cazorla a Fan favorite instantly. But looked good overall. He often tried to shoot immediately wich is smth badly needed.
Arshavin
Needs to be sold horror show. Killed all the momentum at the end of the match with 3 giveaways and a free kick conceded. Didn’t do anything positive other than showing signes of life so other clubs may make a bid for him. Other than his magical first half of a season he didn’t produce for this club. He simply isn’t capable of playing for a top 3 Team in the EPL and needs to make way for the Ox and Ryo (whom we should have keept).
Oh and I see Wenger and all his loyal fans are getting into the whole, we don’t need a replacement for Song schtick. Nuri Sahin, a slight playmaker is supposed to be the “replacment” for the ONLY borderline “DM” we had.
But everything is going to be OK, because you know, we don’t need a DM to win stuff, we just need to attack and attack. No need for protection of the defense that conceded 50 goals last season!
Nevermind that every single WINNING team in history has SOLID DMs. Never mind that even the Spain and Barca have SEVERAL SOLID DMs.
Never mind that even the winning Brazil, Ajax, Madrid, Milan, Man U teams of old all had SEVERAL SOLID DMs.
Never mind that even the old Arsenal teams that WON
had solid DMs.
Nevermind that even the Invincibles that Wenger himself coached had TWO solid DMs.
But no, we’re gonna re-invent stuff … afterall, Wenger is God and he knows it all.
@Fred, I agree with you here. We’ve missed/lacked a strong, physical defensive presence in front of the defense since . . . well, since we last won silverware.
Let me start by saying that I am upset at the loss of RvP not necessarily because he went to ManU, but because I thought Arsenal was the right place for him to really be his best and be a central part of building a team’s fortunes. He will surely have some success at United, but he will not be the leader and focal point of the team the way he was/would’ve been with us. Would he have been the difference today? Maybe. However, it’s time to get past it and cheer on the new boys.
With respect to today’s game, I think a few commenters are overreacting to the result. Sunderland’s negative tactics/performance was totally expected, but Arsenal clearly dominated throughout. We lacked in end product, but that will take a little time to figure out. We have several new pieces that we need to find the right places for. I thought Santi showed a lot of invention in the center, but will need a little time to get to know his new mates. I personally would like to see us go with Giroud up top, Podolski on the left, and Gervinho/Walcott/Chamberlain on the right. But however you line them up, they will need some time to click as well.
I thought the defense was spot on today. I liked the Vermaelen/Mertesacker axis and even thought Jenkinson did well on the right. Sunderland didn’t offer too much in the attack, but there was never a moment where I didn’t feel that we had things under control. Props to them. Szczesny could’ve slept through this one.
Bottom line is, it was the first game. We didn’t get the ideal result, but there was a lot of good. Give them a few games to get into a rhythm.
P.S. I was also impressed with how involved and vocal Bould seemed from the bench. There was some actual coaching going on.
@USGunner,
Jenkinson is hands down the most of his depth, out of his place member
of this embarrasing Arsenal squad. He belongs in League One or a mid-table
Championship team at the very best.
(Side note: Before he joined Arsenal he had started only 2 games for
Charlton in League One. Both of them cup games. So had never actually
started a League One game.
He was loaned out to Conference teams – because that is how highly
Charlton valued him!
Jenkinson is the very definition of a football “lottery” winner.
Any opposition with half a brain would tear him to pieces. His only strong
suit (allegedly) is his crossing. And even that is not any better than
mediocre.
Jenkinson can not start for ANY EPL team … but he can start for Wenger’s
Arsenal.
@Fred,
*most out of his depth*
No edit button.
@Fred, I agree that Jenkinson has much to prove – he is still young. However, I thought that he was solid enough in today’s game. He didn’t commit any notable defensive errors and made the necessary tackles. His forward play was mixed. He did get forward on several occassions; although, he didn’t always connect on his final pass. Of course, that sums up a lot of our play overall today.
I would add that I don’t really care how Charlton viewed him. I only care about how he performs going forward. Today I thought he did the job defensively. As you say, he’ll need to step up and do it on a consistent basis and against tougher competition to show that he belongs.
0-0 home against a toothless Sunderland…
could have lost… but could not have been a more disjointed offensive effort…
To be expected, when so many players have barely kicked a ball together…
Well, at least we know what the squad will be for the rest of the season with the possibility of Sahin coming in on loan to “REPLACE” Song.
We once again will win our annual trophy “positive net transfer spending” and hope Newcastle, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool falters so we can get CL money once again next year.
A reminder to all those who chose to blast RVP for his earlier site statement, Arsenal knew he was leaving and Giroud/Podolski is his replacement by committee. Nothing else will be spent on another striker so let’s hope neither Poldi or Giroud get’s injured.
However, we do have quite a few LAN’s in Arshavin, Dench, Diaby, Rosicky, Sagna and Wilshere.
The defense did look solid, but then again, playing against a team which can’t defend doesn’t really say much. Once again, we created many half chances but the finishing touch was elusive.
Oh well!!!!!!!! 2 0 1 2 is upon us.
Nice to see some of the old-timers back….There are ManU blogs out there, I would suspect….Cheers for coming here to wish (inflict?) pain upon us (would-be
supporters)…..
Indeed, this is the new normal….Matches in early season will be tough for the selling clubs….and good opportunities for the mid-table teams playing for nil-nil. The game needs serious rearrangement transfer windows in the same time frame as leagues, no pointless internationals for a start….Oh well….
Sunderland did the deed today so credit to them. Where are Theo and Arsh going? (Unfortunately) nowhere…. Soon they will be our two highest paid players (probably, WTF do I know….)
Of course we’re woeful. If the emotion of the recent kick-in-the-teeth transfers wasn’t so raw and/or I was a neutral, it could be argued that it was a handy point in the battle for our CL position and not the worst way for our new boys to get used to the hostile home crowd…..
But I’m not. It’s just another kick in the teeth, but at least there are bright spots if not stars to be seen (which you get with the repeated blows to the head)…. Santi looks a player, and the clean sheet was logged (I worried with the introduction of Elmohamady and Saha, but at least the best right foot in the match, Larsson, came off)…..
Predictably our attack was disjointed. LuLu looked nervous and was in the way of just about all his teammates. Of course, given head-down or brainless (Gerv/Theo) types to complete his front line, it’s not wholly his fault. The Spaniards (who can’t even kick a ball for their national squad) were head and shoulders better than everybody else. Diaby survived (I think) and his daisy cutter looked better than Ramsey’s. How do you say chocolate foot in French? Giroud certainly should learn the term.
For me the team was overly negative, but a loss would have been worse (if you can believe it)…. Gibbs looks improved but I would’ve liked to have seen Santos, maybe as a sub rather than the little Russian haircut new father fellow. If we’re gonna play runners (Gerv, Theo on the wings) at least let Giroud head it down to them rather than (tiny by comparison) Poldoski.
So, no (intelligent) movement, no teamwork (because it’s a whole new team) and all the quality (RVP) and even not so quality players (Song) happy to take smaller roles at the “big” clubs. This is what the next tier of football looks like. Hopefully a long week (of practice) before playing on Stoke’s long grass (but widened and lengthened pitch–and thus closer to a at least as supportive supporters….) allows for a better performance and result next Sunday.
Forward, that’s our motto…..but beware, it’s gonna be a loooong slog….
I hope the RvP-Rooney axis blossoms incredibly.
I hope they pummel Everton 6-0 with both strikers scoring hattricks.
I hope Man U pummels us home and away, with RvP scoring the winners – despite the boos.
I hope both of those strikers score over 25 goals each while cantering away with the league.
I hope that if Man U reach the CL final, RvP scores a last minute winner and is carried shoulder high by all his teammates.
Basically, ANYTHING that would maximize the pain of Wenger, his loyal fans and the Board, I hope happens.
@Fred, oh, I definitely understand that thought process.
– 23 shots, but only 3 on target. Maybe we shouldn’t have sold our best striker THREE days before the OPENING GAME.
– Two players who are clearly leaving this summer – Walcott and Arshavin, STILL playing for the club.
– Just looking at the teamsheet and bench, an incredibly underwhelming feeling overcomes one.
We have the MOST MEDIOCRE squad we have EVER HAD in the Wenger era. Even in our darkest days at least we had folks like Cesc, Nasri, Ade, Hleb and RvP.
Then our problem was no good supporting staff or back ups. Now we have NO real world class players and a mediocre support staff.
Arsenal is done and dusted really.
Wenger must go.
ARSENAL’S TITLE CHALLENGE ENDED ON FIRST DAY.
Impressed with Cazorla and (for the most part) Gervinho. The rest….”all too familiar”
Looks like this is the lineup. No longer worries about who ISN’T there anymore.
The Gunners have decided to use Lukas Podolski as a lone striker, with Theo Walcott and Gervinho providing support from the wings. French striker Olivier Giroud is on the bench, as is Aaron Ramsey, while Carl Jenkinson starts at right-back in place of the injured Bakary Sagna. (Courtesy SB Nation.)
I cannot take it.
It’s opening day of a new ARSENAL season and the first post on MY site (or at least one which was created, in part, I think, to give holdovers from the old Arsenal America site a place to post) is from a guy who actively wants Arsenal to lose today, ideally in “embarrassing” fashion…..
Fuck that.
It’s a new season, we’ve got a game to win and I’ve got a TV to shout at (quietly, at least until my family wakes up)….. I’m heading to GameDayChat, if anybody cares to join me.
Go On You Gunners!!!!!!
@Highburyterracesteve,
I’m there with you. I am GDC just before kickoff
I simply can’t forgive the club for selling RVP to Manchester United.
Can’t get past it.
Then I heard the rumor that Chicharito might come the other way… and I thought, hmmm, that might be interesting…
But NO. That’s NOT the case.
And Chelsea “inquired” about Chicharito… and were told NO CHANCE. GO THE FECK AWAY.
Do you see the difference here? Do you understand what United had said here?
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THEY SELL A GOOD or GREAT PLAYER to a DIRECT RIVAL.
They may not need Hernandez any longer…. but they will NEVER sell him to Chelsea or Liverpool or City… it would NEVER happen.
I thought it might have been part of the RVP deal… but its not. He might be sold, but not to a rival…
Now, the rumors have Song being told, he’s done.
OK, this guys said he was HAPPY to stay at Arsenal… never said a bad word.
OK, we sell him to Barcelona …
WHO IS COMING IN.
If … if…. iF….
we can get Sahin in… and M’Vila…. Dempsey… Mexes… a DM… a CB…. a LB…
(no, I don’t mean all these guys or positions)
If we go get additional players of this “level” of talent…
then the ONLY thing I will have to complain about is IMPROVING ManU…
for CASH.
If we spend the money, immediately…. on improving the team in key areas with a high level of talent… then I am IMPRESSED… I am HAPPY… I am HOPEFUL.
I still want to believe, to wish, to dream…. to want to watch.
@stag133,
We’re all a little bit gutted.
But maybe you should share around the blame.
The club offered him a new contract – he didn’t want it.
Van Persie’s case is unique, he owed the club more than any other player. If you choose to ignore that then you’re argument rings hollow.
@Kiwi, RVP didn’t owe the club anything but that doesn’t condone his behaviour.If you are a professional player don’t say you love the cluband don’t insult the fans intelligents and issue silly statements when you wan’t to drive your price down.
Nobody likes to loose a player to a superior rival. But WE HAD NO CHOICE. Just let us look at this unique situation. RVP publicly said he want’s out, he has one year left on his deal, Arsenal can’t leave 35mil.$ on the table, there is just one bidder for him.
WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED to do ?
Hold on to him and risk that he destroyes the looker room and doesn’t give it his all to prevent getting injured. Cause more fuss when the winter transfer window opens.
@Kiwi, he owed the club NOTHING.
They made 24 Mill on the sale of the player… and he SAVED THE CLUB last season, keeping them in the CL this year.
How much is that worth financially for the club? Probably more than he has ever made as a player.
i’m not saying that van persie contributed to the invincibles. i’m saying that he joined an elite team surely hoping to continue as part of an elite team in the future. regardless, i certainly don’t hold rvp or any player responsible for the direction of a club. that is management’s responsibility. look at man united. yorke left, cole left, keane left, schmeichel left stam left, van nistlerooy left, beckham left, ronaldo left etc. and they kept winning. why, because the club wanted to keep winning. that was more important to them than making money. arsenal seem to have a different agenda; cashing in on the legacy of the invincibles as well as good young talent like cesc and van persie who they bought for cheap and made a fortune selling.
question; do you believe 20 year old van persie, with his talent that drew interest from barcelona, would choose to join the current arsenal over another top team? i wouldn’t, unless i was looking for a stepping stone. rvp joined a top team that seemed to want to stay on top but management made some strange decisions and seems disinterested in becoming a top team again. like i said earlier, if you were 29 year old rvp, what would you do?
@joshuad, very well said Josh. Agree totally.
@joshuad, sorry kiwi. meant to put that as a reply to you previous post. this site is not as user friendly as it used to be.
@joshuad,
No worries, it is a bit harder to follow a thread.
can’t hold it anymore. arsenal have managed to piss me off to the utmost of pissed-off-ism. sure, that’s not a real word but it’s a term that best describes how i feel right now.
you do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, sell the best player in the premier league to your rival. ever!
never, ever, ever!
this includes the final year of said player’s contract! it’s unthinkable; like man utd. selling ronaldo to arsenal in 2009.
if you do sell, don’t have the audacity to say to the media that you didn’t have a choice. we all know the other choice. say to the player, you are third best in the world right now, under contract to arsenal, and no one we’re interested in doing business with has managed to meet our valuation of you. in less than one year’s time, you’re free to play for whom ever you agree terms. as for the now, tighten up your adidas, pull on your fly emirates jersey, and go score goals. that is all.
last season, i went on about how van persie was a football purist and how important it was for him to have someone to play with. i also went on about how you can’t just lean on one player to save the day every single game. in a top team, that burden is unbearable. i said the same about henry back in 2006. football is a team sport and the best players are going to want to play in a team with other top players to help with that burden.
last season, van persie was stuck with ramsey to create for him. i called ramsey a gti driver behind the wheel of a gt3. every bad game arsenal had, ramsey was in the team. he played a lot of minutes behind the best center forward in the world and only contributed four league assists (all against bad teams). i don’t blame ramsey for being what he is but a team like arsenal needed better and the club didn’t bring in the requisite quality.
now put yourself in van persie’s shoes; to go from joining the invincibles and playing with bergkamp, hleb, and fabregas to aaron ramsey. the drop off in quality is significant. regardless, van persie still managed to nearly make history in goals scored in a single bpl season. despite his effort, not only did arsenal fail to challenge for silverware, but the next best team still finished an amazing 18 points clear. if you were van persie, what would you do?
@joshuad,
Van Persie was NEVER a part of the great era. He came in on the tail end and never contributed anything at all. The irony you wholly miss is that he was a key reason for the era failing to continue.
@Kiwi, Kiwi, he was NOT a key reason for the era failing to continue.
We had a chance to make a serious run for trophies in 3 or 4 of the last 7 trophy-less seasons.
The club chose to NOT ADD KEY PLAYERS or REPLACE ONES SOLD.
That’s not on Van Persie’s shoulders.
@stag133,
It is on his shoulders.
Clubs cannot carry an infinite number of players. You carry crocks, you suffer.
You need to face up to these realities. Serious managers understand this and are more cut-throat.
Wenger is too sentimental like a lot of supporters.
Mourinho and Ferguson have more balance.
My apologies DAG, this relates to the previous thread and…you know…that ex-striker who clogged the treatment room ;-)
You really can’t see it? Wenger fawns and indulges RvP for seven bad years, each and everyone typified by Robin spending long and frequent periods in the treatment room and then gingerly rehabilitating. The team struggling on the field due to the absence of our ‘great attacking player’. Next season, starts with wishful hopeful comments about his fitness followed by the same nonsence. All the time he is being paid his lavish remuneration and the club bears the downside.
Then, the sun comes out. Incredibly he has an injury free season. The first ever. He scores a lot of goals in this breakout season (the same as Henry did every year). Just maybe Wenger’s unique patience will be rewarded, maybe Robin the beneficiary of Wenger’s fatherly attitude would ‘come good’ and repay over the next few seasons not only Arsenal’s enormous seven year investment but also and perhaps more importantly Wenger’s personal commitment to Robin’s career.
But no, after one good season Van Persie thinks of only himself, he ignores everything Arsenal has done for him and thinks of the new opportunities that his one good season might now offer. What about repaying Arsenal and Wenger for what is in football unusual and uncommon grace? Forget it. He IGNORES the manner in which he has been treated, engineers an immediate transfer (remember his statement?) and joins the club and manager most hated by Arsenal and Wenger.
What a first class smuck. This is the most cynical classless act of selfcenteredness that I’ve observed. It surpasses Cole, Adebayor and Nasri – none of them enjoyed the same level of indulgence that Van Persie did. There was nothing unusual about them they just played and then left, albeit with a bit of acrimony.
What next? What is Van Persie’s legacy? What if Diaby comes good this season and then engineers a move away? Or maybe Rosicky. Van Persie has proven in the most extreme way that clubs should treat players with no sentiment whatsoever – they deserve nothing better.
Marseille manager José Anigo described the actions of Flamini “a beautiful treason”, I wonder what he’d say about the ingratitude of the Judas Van Persie?
@Kiwi, sorry, kiwi, but you know we don’t agree. for years, you’ve had this sort of disdain towards van persie. bottom line is robin owes the club nothing. if the club wanted to get rid of him, they could have but they didn’t. why? robin van persie is clearly exceptional and like i’ve said over the years, you make exceptions for exceptional talent. the club stuck with him because they knew what he was capable of when he eventually stayed fit.
we’ve talked for years about the difference between being injury-prone and suffering bad injuries. van persie has suffered bad injuries from bad tackles. nothing that anyone can do about those. as for being injury-prone, when was the last time you saw an injury-prone player play every game for club and country for over 20 months without getting injured? injury-prone players can’t do that.
as for the club putting all their eggs in the van persie basket, that’s not his fault. arsenal had a very capable back up in adebayor but the club cashed in on him. that’s not robin’s fault. neither is the idea to pick up the inadequate chamakh from the freebie bin as cover.
robin joined the invincibles squad back in ’04. look at what he’s watched the club he supported as a kid morph into. the decision to leave was not a difficult one. most of the players in arsenal’s starting eleven tomorrow wouldn’t have even been good enough to make the invincible’s reserve team, let alone the 18 on the team sheet on match day. at 29, like henry, he had a decision to make; persist with this team that seems to have no direction towards winning, or move to greener pastures. if you were in his shoes, what would you do?
@joshuad,
“…bottom line is robin owes the club nothing…”
This is where you lose sight of first principles.
Arsenal is like any business or sport, there is a contract, they pay players for services – so by definition the players very much owe the club something. Robin van Persie got paid for services that he never delivered and in that sense he is an extreme case.
Like you, Van Persie is now choosing to ignore that reality and to sweep under the carpet the fact that Wenger and Arsenal indulged him – incredibly.
I never had a disdain for Van Persie – until now. I saw him for what he was – a poor asset.
Now I see him as an ungrateful young man, who, like you chooses to hold the club to account on the one hand and then walk away when it suits his individual ambition.
You can’t have it both ways. Van Persie is just another tardy example of extreme ingratitude and a sport that spawns spoilt and selfish overpaid players. And sadly it’s getting worse not better. So…the next time you start down the track of sentimentality Josh and how players are ‘just people’ save it. And remember what Van Persie has taught us – it’s nothing more than a contractual arrangement, and the minute either party can manipulate it for their advantage they should do so.
@Kiwi, van persie did have a contract but his requirement to honor that contract was voided when arsenal accepted the 23 million quid from manchester united. as for the injury-riddled years, van persie got injured playing football. you can’t possibly hold that against him. that’s like having a soldier on a four year contract and being mad that he can’t do his job because he got his legs blown off in combat. had he injured himself crashing his motorcycle or snow boarding, then i would agree with you.
as for arsenal indulging him, that was a gamble that only recently paid dividends. however, it was the club that took that risk because of his talent. it was the club who took even a bigger risk in selling adebayor. neither of those were van persie’s doing.
i understand your frustration with the way this business works these days. while i don’t condone or condemn the actions of the players or clubs in how they deal with each other, i have accepted it as the way things are done.
Lineup is decent DAG, but Carzola won’t start after trekking all the way back from the Caribbean. His replacement will be OX.
Gibbs versus Andre is a tossup much like Jenkinson/Coquelin and Yennaris at RB.
We should still be too much for Sunderland at home but our front 3 will need to score.
With Song out of the mix our team has no steel in the MF. This may be a problem against many of the “stick it in their face” BPL clubs, and, Sahin or Wilshere will not be the answer.
Alexander Song has cleaned out his locker and left Arsenal.
Club hope to finalize a deal worth £17 million with Barcelona this weekend.
Arsenal are also working on finalizing the deal for Nuri Sahin to move to the club on a season-long loan.
hoping for an embarrassing loss… but I think we’ll probably manage a draw… likely conceding the late equilizer after most fans have left to beat the traffic!
;)
@stag133,
As in Arsenal suffer an embarrassing loss? Or Sunderland.
@DaAdminGooner, really?
yes… as in ARSENAL get embarrassed, the fans boo them off the pitch,
and the questions for Arsene in the post-game cause him to be his usual pissy-snippy Frenchman!
one can dream, can’t one?
Once we sell Song, we’ll be close to being ahead in the transfer market this Summer…
sell off Bendtner, Kyle Bartley was sold (nobody even mentioned)… Arshavin… Theo…
we could possibly make 20 Million this Summer yet.
and after all… that’s what really matters.
good piece of business, that… aye?
@stag133,
Sorry Stag but no matter how fucked up our board or manager get with their policies I will never ever hope that my team, Arsenal, suffer an embarrassing loss.
That’s not supporting.
Stag, we have our differences but that’s just a ridiculous statement to make.
@DaAdminGooner, DAG.
You know, I’m torn.
If Arsenal have any reasonable amount of “success”… then please, tell me what will change at the club?
Sometimes you have to burn it to the ground, to rebuild it.
If we challenge for the Top 4 spot… you know the Golden Chalice of Arsene Wenger…
Then the fans still show up… the seats are filled… the hot dogs are sold… the club make a fortune AGAIN, and it keeps on going…
just like they want it to.
LONG TERM… think long term…
I am not interested in the club aiming for 4th… why would ANY Arsenal fan be happy with the model of success?
I am not interested in the club fleecing the fans AGAIN and making a massive profit AGAIN…
I am not interested in the club keeping the status quo…
I am still very much torn.
As ANGRY and OUTRAGED that I am about the club selling the best player we have to MAN U…
(and I don’t really care that we sold RVP that much, its WHO he was sold to…)
I actually like the players that we brought into the team so far… and I do NOT BLAME these players left
behind… they can only go out and do their best… and if they give a good effort, that’s all one can ask of the guys on the pitch.
I have an actual HATRED of the board… Wenger…. and management/ownership right now…
they have literally taken the club I LOVED… away from the fans…. in many respects.
It is NOT the same old Arsenal that many fans grew to love… with the beautiful quaint band-box stadium, and always giving their best effort to win …