Yearly Archives: 2015

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s last chance?

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This morning’s news that Aaron Ramsey is set to miss a month with a hamstring injury gives an opportunity to another Arsenal youngster to finally get a solid run in the team. And potentially his last chance to show that he is good enough to be more than a bit part player in the clubs future. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Signed a few day’s before his 18th birthday for a fee rising to £15million, Arsenal were, according to Southampton fan’s, signing ‘Theo Walcott, but can play football.’

It took him no time to get up and running, scoring his first Arsenal goal a month later in the League Cup against Shrewsbury Town. He followed that up with a goal against Olympiacos in the Champions League, becoming the youngest Englishmen to score in the competition.

This was 4 years ago.

Move forward to today, Chamberlain is now 22. And for me, he is one of the most overrated players at Arsenal and, the injury to Ramsey presents his last chance to show he is good enough.

A big criticism of Theo Walcott over his career is that he “does not have a football brain”. It is something that Chamberlain has never been labelled with. Yet everytime I watch Chamberlain play, he always seems to be behind play. In his early years, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but 4 years on, he has not improved in his positional sense.

When we are attacking, and he is playing wide, he never seems to be in the right position, ready to receive the pass. He is always a few yards behind where he needs to be. He is a reactive footballer rather than a proactive one.

When he receives the ball. He is sensational. Probably the best dribbler England have at the moment. He can bet a man without a problem. Be it pass or a trick, he has both.

But once he has beaten that man, he becomes a frustration again. He either go’s on to try and beat another 2/3 men, ends up running down a blind alley and loses the ball or, more often than not, beats that first man, or even the first couple, then plays a lazy, poor pass, ruining his good work.

And how often over the last few years has he been caught out in his own half? Whether it be playing a poor pass or trying to dribble out of trouble, and very quickly putting himself and the team into trouble.

I just do not rate the bloke, or at least not as high as some people.

And let’s compare him to Theo Walcott.

Walcott has been much criticised throughout his Arsenal career for not delivering. Yet let us compare the two based on their first 4 seasons at the club:

Theo Walcott – 136 games; 18 goals

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 116 games; 12 goals

In Theo Walcott’s 5th season at the club, during which he turned 21, he scored 9 League goals. Walcott was better, at a younger age than Oxlade-Chamberlain. The next two seasons after, Walcott got 31 goals and countless assists. Chamberlain, at 22, is essentially in the first season of those two seasons, and he is a million miles behind Walcott.

The problem is he lacks end product.

For all the nice work he does on the ball, he just does not get enough goals and assists. Last season in the Premier League, he scored 1, made 1. The year before, it was 2 goals, 1 assists.

3 goals and 2 assists in 2 years is simply not good enough. When you compare to Theo Walcott, 10 goals 4 assists, you wonder what the hype is around Chamberlain.

Infact, last year, Chamberlain produced less going forward than Hecror Bellerin, with 2 Premier League goals and one assist.

And this season has been no better.

In 453 minutes of Premier League & Champions League football, he is yet to register a single goal or assists. Yes, he scored a cracker in the Community Shield, but that was a friendly. It is simply not good enough.

What perhaps shows Chamberlain’s issues up is that with Walcott playing upfront, it left the wide right position up for grabs, and Wenger went Aaron Ramsey  over Chamberlain.

Now some will criticise Wenger for that. Ramsey is not a winger. He is useless outwide. Wenger is just trying to accommodate him. Etc, Etc. And to some extent, I agree. Which is why this period whilst Ramsey is out is important for Chamberlain. He needs to stamp his authority on games and show that he is good enough, moving forward, to be Arsenal’s first choice right winger.

With Walcott playing upfront, and Giroud and Welbeck in the squad, it seems Wenger is happy with the strikers. With the lack of top draw strikers in world football at the moment, if Theo Walcott continues his progress, they will be the options for the next few seasons. That then leaves the wide right position up for grabs.

I would be very surprised if Wenger see’s Ramsey as the long term option on the right wing. That leaves him with 2 (possibly 3?) choices.

  1. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain steps up and proves himself
  2. Arsenal go out next summer and buy someone
  3. Danny Welbeck

At the minute, Chamberlain is in the driving seat. A month or more to show he is good enough. If he fails, Wenger will surely be looking elsewhere to compliment Sanchez on the left. There is an abundance of wingers out their in world football who could come in and contribute more than what Chamberlain does at the moment.

This really could be his last chance.

Keenos

Wenger’s tactics, Hector Bellerin & Back to the Future

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Tactics

One of the biggest criticism’s over the last decade or so about Arsene Wenger is his tactics and in game management:

  1. He does not consider the opposition enough when setting out his team
  2. He does not have a Plan B
  3. His substitutions are predictable

Last night, and over the last few games, he is possibly turning a corner.

On the first point, he has always been of the opinion that if he sets his team up to play how he wants them to play, and they play to his game plan and to the best of their capabilities, the team will win, no matter who the opposition are or how they set up. It is arrogant.

It means we do not expose other teams weaknesses, and are not prepared for their strengths. And time and again we have lost due to clear under preparation.

But last night was different. There was a clear game plan different from normal. Let Munich have the ball, and hit them on the break with our pass. Rope a dope. It was like watching us play under Graham in the early 90s.

It take’s some luck. Giving the opponents a lot of time on the ball means they will create chances. You need to hope your keeper is on form, and if one gets away, it go’s the right side of the post. And then up the other end, you need to take your chances, and get some luck going your way.

And we had that last night. For a striker in such great form, Lewandowski should have buried that late chance. But great work from Koscielny and a great save by Cech kept it at 1-0. On another day, Munich would have had an early penalty (Sanchez hand ball) and Koscielny would have clattered into the back of Lewandowski giving away a second penalty and a red card.

Up the other end of the field, Walcott had a great shot saved, and then our first goal had a massive element of luck to it as Neuer repeated Petr Cech’s error earlier in the season against West Ham by coming out for a ball and getting no where near. 2 World Class keepers doing an identical error. Shows we are human.

Essentially, Wenger got his tactics spot on yesterday. As he did against Manchester United. Hopefully he continues to look at the opposition when deciding his game plan, rather than resorting to type and wrapping himself up in the arrogant egotistical bubble he has been in for 10 years.

As for substitutions and having a Plan B, Olivier Giroud is quickly becoming Arsenal’s Super Sub.

Olivier Giroud was never bought to be Arsenal’s number one striker. He was always signed to be Plan B. Back up originally to Robin van Persie, he found himself leading the line. It should have just been for a season, but Arsenal’s failure to capture Higuain or Suarez meant he was up top for a second season.

Alexis Sanchez was bought in, originally, to do the same role he does for Chile. Striker.  It did not work, and for the 3rd season in a row, Olivier Giroud was our 1st choice striker. Then this season again, a failure to land Benzema left Wenger relying on the big man again. Until he decided to staqrt Theo Walcott upfront.

What that mean is Giroud began to do what he was bought for. An impact sub.

At 6 4 and strong as an ox (not the Ox, who for me is the most overatted player in England), he causes problems when he comes on against turned defences. He is able to bully them. Win every ball, and provide a great outlet. His lack of pace is not as exposed as much, playing up against two centre backs who have spent 65 minutes chasing Walcott. He is a great asset to have.

Whether it is to close out the game, or to chase the game, bringing on someone like Giroud in the last 25 minutes is a game changer. It is nice to finally have a Plan B.

Hector Bellerin

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/650987705753583617

What a star he is becoming. Way back in 2013 he first came onto my radar as someone who could make the step up from talented kid to potential first choice right back. Since then, he has come on leaps and bounds and has now established himself as not only Arsenal’s best right back, but the best right back in the league.

It is little more than a year on from his full debut against Borussia Dortmund where he looked shaky and out of place, to say the least. Last night he was the best full back on the pitch.

Yes, Douglas Costa gave him a few problems and did made him look a fool once, but that happens when you are playing up against someone with a bag of tricks. The importance is that after he does you once, you do not let him do you again. And for most of the game, Bellerin had Costa in his pocket. So much so that Costa swapped wings in the second half.

This season, with us playing Ramsey at right wing, Bellerin has had a big task on his hands. Both defending and basically being our right winger. And he has done well.

The last few seconds of yesterday’s game sums up his season. His ability to get forward at pace, beat the opposing full back, and put in a good cross is an asset to have. He did it against Watford as well. He is a talent.

I jokingly said that yesterday showed his naivety. In the last few minutes, winning 1-0, our right back is bombing forward and putting a cross in, rather than either sitting back so we don’t get exposed, or running for the corner. Obviously I was jesting (and got some abuse), what he did yesterday was class. To have that pace left at the end of the game and energy to get his head up and play the ball shows his brilliance. Just remember though, if he does it again, plays a poor cross, and the opponents go up the other end of the field and score, do not criticise Bellerin. You can not celebrate yesterdays brilliance then moan if it go’s wrong.

Hector Bellerin is secure as Arsenal’s first choice right back. Debuchy will leave this summer. If he continues in his current form, he will be starting for Spain at Euro 2016.

Looking in my crystal ball

So we are back in with a chance of Champions League qualification. Just 1 point off second, we are back in the game. So looking in my crystal, this is what will happen:

Arsenal will travel to Munich, and lose. Meanwhile, Olympiakos, having stolen a victory in Zagreb, will do the double by winning at home.

Bayern Munich 9
Olympiakos 9
Dynamo Zagreb 3
Arsenal 3

Up next for Arsenal is a home match against Zagreb. Surely we will not see a repeat of Olympiakos. 3 points to The Arsenal. Bayern Munich host the Greeks. A win for the German’s see them qualify, and get top, with a game to go. They will go all out for the win. And get it.

Bayern Munich 12
Olympiakos 9
Arsenal 6
Dynamo Zagreb 3

So that brings us to the last round of games. Arsenal away to Olympiakos. Winner takes all…

One thing is for sure, the club were struggling to shift tickets for the Dynamo Zagreb game before yesterday. I bet the sell out ASAP.

Keenos

Damn lie’s and false statistics – Arsenal a big club before Wenger?

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Arsenal Twitter is a fun place. One person makes a misguided comment and, like the butterfly effect, arguments and debates ripple throughout the online community, veering off into different tangents, with people arguing from different corners of the globe, but all tied in to that original, single tweet.

Yesterday was one of those occasions, where a single tweet started a debate about re-writing Arsenal’s history before Arsene Wenger took over.

https://twitter.com/Blackburngeorge/status/656142439145697280

Often I would not bother writing a blog over one tweet, usually debating on Twitter instead putting the mistake right. However, a ludicrous tweet like this needed a bigger platform and more than just 140 characters to put right.

So Let us look at the stats:

  • Since taking charge of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has not finished below Spurs. That is 20 years. A remarkable achievement
  • Throughout the 101 seasons that Arsenal and Tottenham have existed, Arsenal have finished above Spurs 74 times, Spurs 27 times above Arsenal. That is 74.74%.
  • If you remove the “Wenger Years”, Arsenal finished above Spurs 54 times. That is exactly 66.66666666%
  • In the last 50 years, Spurs have only finished above Arsenal 11 times
  • Spurs have not finished above Arsenal in 2 consecutive seasons since the 1966-67 / 1967-68 season
  • Under George Graham, Arsenal’s average finish was 4th. During the same period, Spurs average finish was 9th
  • Since Spurs were last promoted to the top division of English football and Arsene Wenger taking over Arsenal (1978-96), Arsenal’s average finish is 5th, Spurs 9th
  • Since World War 1, Spurs have been relegated 3 times, spending 13 seasons outside of the top flight. Arsenal have not been relegated during that time
  • Since World War 1, Arsenal have finished above Spurs 64 times, or 81% of the seasons

So yes, whilst Arsene Wenger’s record against Spurs is remarkable, and better than any manager in our history, to say that before Wenger, “we finished below Spurs as often as not” is simply a lie and a writing of history.

No matter whether you are “Wenger In” or “Wenger Out”, let’s have a fair debate. Do not make up lie’s to support your narrative. You will get found out. And it will destroy any argument you have.

Glad to have cleared this up.

Keenos