Category Archives: Arsenal

Arsenal’s Dirty Laundry

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So I sit here for the 2nd time in a week on a Virgin Train on the way back from the North West to Euston having seen Arsenal go 1-nil up and lose 2-1.

We have now not kept a clean sheet in 12 games in all competitions, and it is costing us big time.

Meanwhile, across the city Chelsea are running away with the league, mainly due to their ability to keep clean sheets. They have now kept 9 in their last 11 league games.

11 wins in a row, their form is scintillating. 4 of their last 6 games have been 1-0. Arsenal have won 1-0 just once this season.

A last minute winner against Burnley with the last kick of the game. We didn’t have to see the game out, the final whistle went as they kicked off.

Our inability to see out a game having gone 1-nil up has now cost us on 3 major occasions.

Firstly against Spurs, 1-nil up, we conceded a penalty and drew 1-1. Then mid week, 1-nil up against Everton. Lost 2-1. Finally tonight (you will be reading this tomorrow so it’s yesterday), 1-nil up against Manchester City. Lose 2-1.

From 3 games which we were in a position to win, we got 1 points. Dropping 8. We are 9 points behind Chelsea.

During the second half, Man City fans mocked Arsenal with our own song; “1-nil, to The Arsenal” they sang. And it bought it home. We can no longer win a game 1-nil.

Attackers win you games, defences win you Championships. I had a debate on Twitter with a fan who told me “clean sheets are pointless, it’s all about scoring goals”. My response was that his comment shows he knows little about football.

The fan in question was American. He wanted us to win every game 5-4. No surprise considering his nationality. He can’t understand the benefit of keeping clean sheets. He probably doesn’t understand the concept of draws either.

Clean sheets are costing us points. When you need to score at least 2 goals a game to win a match you put yourselves up against it straight away. Chelsea have seen out 4 of the last 6 1-nil. That is 8 points gained with just a single goal. They are top because they are not conceding.

A lot of people felt Mustafi solved our problems at the back, and whilst he has been missed for the last 2 games, he has still been part of a defence that has conceded a lot of goals.

If Arsenal are to get back into this title race – and we are still not out of it – we need to keep clean sheets. We need to turn the 1-nil leads we take into 3 points.

Until we can keep a clean sheet, we will not win the league.

Keenos

Has Mustafi solved Arsenal’s defensive problems?

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mus4

Arsenal have not conceded a clean sheet for 10 games. You have to go back to the League Cup home win against Reading on the 25th of October for our last one. Arsenal clearly have problems at the back.

Much of our defensive “problems” were supposed to have been sorted by the signing of Shkodran Mustafi for big money from Valencia. And whilst he has been a terrific signing, and he is yet to lose a game in an Arsenal shirt, he has certainly not solved Arsenal’s defensive problems:

https://twitter.com/SouthportDJ/status/809713697417560064

https://twitter.com/SouthportDJ/status/809711115836026880

In the last two years, or lack of success has been firmly blamed on our defence, and on one defender in particular, Per Mertesacker. But this ignores the facts.

In 205/16 Petr Cech kept more clean sheets than any other goal keeper, Arsenal conceded as many goals as Leicester, and just 1 more than the leagues two stingiest defences, Man U and Spurs.

The year before was not too much different. Arsenal were once again 3rd in the league when it came to ‘goals conceded’ Only Southampton and Champions Chelsea conceding less.

So what has happened at Arsenal? If Mustafi has so obviously (to many fans eyes) improved out defence, why has it seemingly gone backwards?

The first problem is our eyes often deceive us.

Per Mertesacker was often labelled a weak link as when he was beaten, our made an error, he would rarely be in the picture when a goal was scored. Where as when Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny make errors, it is not as obvious.

This year Arsenal have given their opponents a lot of chances. And a lot of these come from Mustafi and Koscielny’s lack of positional awareness.

Neither are as good positionally as Mertesacker, nor are they as good at organising the defence. What this leads to is a massive gap between the two defenders, leaving a lot of space for strikers to slip in between and get a chance. From Cavani in the Champions League, to lowly Ludogorets, our defence gives opponents very clear chances.

Even when we beat Ludogorets 6-0, the chicken farmers still had 10 shots and it was only poor finishing that stopped them scoring.

The weakness with Per Mertesacker was when a ball went in behind Hector Bellerin, Mertesacker would not have the pace to get across him. So Koscielny at left sided centre back would have to undercut the big German to get across to the opponent. This would then leave Mertesacker labouring to get back in the middle to cover whoever had run through from the away team. Koscielny wouldn’t get to the right quick enough, Mertesacker would be nowhere near anyone, Nacho Monreal would fail to drop inside to cover, and our opponents would be left with a simple tap in if the squared ball was right.

Signing Mustafi has meant that Koscielny no longer needs to undercut, but it has created another problem.

When Bellerin gets caught out going forward, Mustafi drifts across to the right a bit to cover his full back, which is what a centre back should do. But then everyone else should follow. Koscielny should tuck in to cover Mustafi, either the defensive midfielder or Monreal tucks in to cover Koscielny, and the winger or defensive midfielder slots in to cover Monreal. But this is not happening.

Mustafi go’s right, and Koscielny is not covering his centre back partner, leaving a big gap between the two centre backs that a striker is exploiting.

A major reason why Koscielny is not covering is he is so concerned about Monreal. He is trying to cover his right back when he should be covering his centre back. It does not help when Alex Iwobi is also not covering his full back, so Monreal can not fully commit to covering the middle.

I do think Mustafi and Koscielny could develop into a decent defensive partnership, but it is clear that at the moment Arsenal’s defence is not keeping enough clean sheets.

Koscielny’s positioning has always been his weakness. I have got a lot of abuse for saying this before. But this probably highlights who knows football and who doesn’t. Koscielny has been caught out a lot inf the past. Too high up the field, too far left, diving in when a player is not a danger.

There is a reason why Koscielny has conceded more penalties than any other Premier League player since 2010. Because he is always out of position and having to lunge in to win the ball.

Koscielny has always performed better when he has a leader next to him. Someone who can organise him, direct him. Mustafi looks a classy player, better than Mertesacker, but at the moment the defence is struggling with positional organisation. I am a big believer of the effect games such as FIFA has on people. Many did not rate Mertesacker purely because they could not defend with him on computer games.

Good defences always work on partnerships. You have a leader. Tony Adams, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Nemanja Vidic. Arsenal currently do not have this out and out defensive leader. Manchester City have spent £150m trying to find one.

Mustafi could grow into the leader of the defence over the next 6 months, but at the moment he is the junior partner to Koscielny.

Arsenal defensive frailties have become worse this season. Mustafi has solved one problem but created another.

Keenos

Are Arsenal really that bad?

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So crisis club Arsenal are in the midst of another crisis after their defeat to Everton which left us in a crisis 6 points behind league leaders Chelsea.

The broken badges have reappeared in the papers, the moaner’s have spent 48 hours online slinging mud, the future of Arsene Wenger is once again under question. Arsenal are in shocking form. Out of the title race in December for the 12th year in a row. We could be 9 points behind Chelsea come Sunday. If only we had have gone for Per Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp when we had the chance. Then you see the following:

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Awful Arsenal are level on points with brilliant Liverpool, only behind them on goals scored. And a point above Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Everyone is going on about how Arsenal could be 9 points behind Chelsea. Well Man City could be 10 points behind them if results don’t go their way this weekend (IE Arsenal win).

So Arsenal are getting all the criticism after 1 defeat in 15 league games, whilst the Liverpool Love In is still very much still going on. Would Arsenal be in any better a situation in the league if they had Klopp or Guardiola? Probably not.

But it is the poor form of Arsenal that concerns most. We are on an awful run,

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Yet over the last 10 games, Arsenal and Liverpool’s form is exactly the same. Man City’s form is significantly worse than Arsenal’s – 6 points less.

Even if you narrow it down to the last 5 games, Arsenal are 2 points better off than Liverpool, and 1 point better off than Man City. Narrow it further to last 3 games, Arsenal have 6 points from 9, Liverpool 4 from 9, Man City 3 from 9.

In fact, looking at form over the last 5 games, only Chelsea have got more points than Arsenal. Liverpool sit 8th in the form table. So are Arsenal really that bad? Are Liverpool really that great?

Looking forward rather than backwards, Arsenal have drifted to 6 points behind Chelsea, and yes, it could be 9 points behind Chelsea after the weekend. But this is more to do with Chelsea’s brilliant form rather than Arsenal’s poor form.

Since losing to Arsenal 3-0 back in September, Chelsea have played 10, won 10, scored 24, conceding just 2 goals – 8 clean sheets. It is an incredible run of form which has taken Antonio Conte from favourite to be next manager sacked, to Chelsea favourites to win the league.

Chelsea’s blue machine looks in incredible form at the moment, and with a run of fairly easy fixtures coming up, I can see them easily increasing their win streak to 13 in a row. When a team is in the sort of form they are in, you only hope that Arsenal can keep hold of their coat tails and when (or if) they lose a bit of form, we are close enough to take advantage.

It has been an odd season, the press have already crowned Liverpool and Man City champions. It will be Chelsea’s turn next.

One reason Arsenal are in a supposed crisis (even though they are clearly not) is due to our fans. A bunch of fans who’s threw their toys out of the pram the second the final whistle went against Everton. And 48 hours later they were still moaning. They are the loud minority. The silent majority just got on with their lives. I saw one fan tweet 1,000 times on Wednesday. All an anti-Arsenal, anti-Wenger, anti- Ozil narrative.

In some fans eyes, Mesut Ozil can do no right. He can score a hat trick, and people will moan when it was against a bunch of chicken farmers, and not against Manchester United. They love to shout and cry every time he has a poor game. We an in an era where a player seems to be only as good as his last appearance. You wonder how someone like Dennis Bergkamp would get on in the current era. He often went missing for Arsenal in games.

Then we have Alex Iwobi. The racist abuse he has received by some so called “fans” is disgusting. It has been condemned by many fans. The abuse has come from children who are clearly to young to own mobile phones, and who’s parents really should monitor their internet activity, or from foreign fans who often sit on YouTube throwing disgusting comments. Twitter really does make people feel that they can say anything without any reprisals. That sitting in front of a screen abusing someone racially is OK as you are anonymous. If someone chucking about racist comments to players or fellow fans was ever caught as a game, they would be harmed. Seriously harmed.

People need to remember who they are, what they are and who they represent.

I fully understand people being upset when Arsenal lose. I am. My mates are. Most people are. But being upset is not an excuse to throw around abuse. To Ozil, to Iwobi. Some have even abused Aaron Ramsey on an Instagram picture he posted of his young son. I have recently read an admin of an Arsenal Facebook group which has nearly 25,000 likes post the following up:

I want a scandal and his name in ruins, want his reputation in shreds and him knocked off his pedestal, as this is what will hurt the AKBs, to see their messiah humiliated, this would give us WOBs a sense of vindication (we are right anyway) and forever haunt the AKB clowns. I have never called him a nonce (as some have) but any sort of scandal would do me, the seedier the better.

You are so upset after a victory that your response is to go online and say you want Arsene Wenger, a 67 year old man, to be involved in a scandal. And let’s be honest, ‘the seedier the better’ we all know what type of scandal you want him to be involved in. All because we lost a single game. How rotten must your life be? You are probably someone who sits online all day, every day, abusing everything to do with Arsenal, because you love Arsenal.

The behaviour of our fans after a defeat makes it seem like we are in a much worse position than we are. And the media just eat this up. Knowing that disgruntled Arsenal fans are going to click and repost any article that supports their narrative.

With a platform’s such as Twitter and Facebook, many fans spend a lot of hours reading and absorbing information. If that information is bile, it is negative, you can end up getting drawn in. Drawn into the belief that Arsenal are in awful form. Ignoring the facts, ignoring the league table. You end up sitting their pining for Guardiola, dreaming of Klopp, when the reality the clubs they are running are in no better situation than Arsenal,

You look at Ronald Koeman, who has once more got the better of Arsene Wenger, and praise him highly. A brilliant manager. But you ignore the fact that he has won 1 in 10. You forget Manchester United have won just 3 league games since August. You end up in a spiral of negativity, which is hard to come out of.

The best way to get out of the spiral is to put the phone down, come off social media, take a break. Go outside. Get some fresh air. Get some reality in your life. Then when you return, you notice the league table. Arsenal are 3rd, level on points with 2nd place Liverpool. A bit of a distance from inform  Chelsea.

Things are Arsenal are not that bad. They have never been that bad. Just the narrative written makes it appear things are bad.

12 years without a league title might be bad, but how about 25 years (Liverpool), 19 years (Everton), 35 years (Aston Villa) or 55 years (Spurs).

Want to know what bad is? Aston Villa. A massive club. 7 league titles, 7 FA Cups. 5 League Cups. And of course, 1 European Cup. They are currently 13th in the Championship.

Or Everton. When Arsene Wenger took over, Arsenal had just 1 more league title than the Toffee’s and 1 more FA Cup. Roll forward 20 years and Everton have not won a trophy since 1995, and Arsenal are now 4 league titles and 7 FA Cups ahead. Everton fans still dream of a new stadium that will make them competitive again, Arsenal have had theirs for 10 years.

So you think Arsenal are bad, look at others around you.

It reminds me a bit of the meme ‘1st world problem’. Whilst we are moaning about Amazon not delivering a PS4, or Debenhams not delivering the right chairs, children around the world are dying due to lack of water. It is all about perspective.

And the reality is, Arsenal are not that bad. We are not in bad form. We are not that bad in the league. And over the last 10 years, whilst just 2 FA Cups might seem bad, the reality is it is not.

So get out from behind your screens, watching on your illegal streams, defining your life by a social media persona, get some fresh air, and start backing the team.

Life is too short to be a bitter middle aged man moaning all day about football.

Keenos