Tag Archives: Alexis Sanchez

Great result, awful stadium

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When Aaron Ramsey came at 1-0 and 25 minutes to go, my mate turned around to me and said “here we go, half an hour of hanging onto the lead.” My response was that it was frustrating when we are 1-0 up and our substitutes take the pace out of the team, resulting in us being unable to hit teams on the counter.

“FFS Ramsey” I shouted i the 93rd minute, as he missed his 3rd chance of the match. But by then, the game was over, we were 5-1 up, and it was said entirely in jest.

Arsenal played brilliantly. There first half play did not give them the goals they deserved, last ditch tackles in the first 10 minutes stopping us scoring a tap in.

When Arsene Wenger signed Alexis Sanchez, a few said he would be a striker. Wenger saw him as sharing attributes with Luis Suarez. His hard work, his technical ability, his pace and his ability to finish any chance. He could be Suarez without the attitude. Many scoffed, and it has taken into his 3rd season at Arsenal to be played up top.

And Arsenal’s opener reminded me a lot of Luis Suarez. Sanchez chased down a poor pass, got to the ball 1st, and was clean through with Mesut Ozil on his shoulder. Other players would not have chased down that ball, Sanchez did. GOAL.

His hat trick was brilliant. 3 different goals, including a sublime (albeit offside) 3rd where he left the keeper on the floor without even touching the ball. He is World Class.

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5-1 away from home took us into second place and closed the gap in goal difference. But as good as we were, West Ham were equally as bad.

Slaven Bilic looks a broken man. Just 6 months ago many Arsenal fans had him at the top of their list as a replacement for Wenger – I did find it odd that this was based on good punditry whilst working for the BBC, whilst the same fans moan about Wenger working for French television.

West Ham are 1 point above the relegation zone. 12 points from 14 games. And a big reason for that is the stadium.

The London Stadium (Olympic Stadium? Whatever it is now called) is awful.

However bad we all thought it might be, it was worse. A lot worse. It is simply not a football stadium.

Massive gaps throughout the stadium, a huge distance between upper and lower tier, a massive distance from the pitch, and West Ham fans unable to fill it.

I actually feel sorry for West Ham fans. At least when Arsenal moved, it was 2 roads over from the current stadium, and an arena purpose built for football. West Ham’s new ground is shit.

It is a 20 minute walk from the nearest station before a game, this turns into a 45 minute walk after a game, going backwards and forwards through the Olympic Park, through Westfields, to get to the station. And the area is grim at night.

No local pubs, no burger vans outside, no one selling flags, scarves, nothing associated with normal football grounds.

It actually makes me wonder whether next year I will be back (if they stay up). The stadium is that bad.

At the time they won the Olympic Stadium, West Ham fans thought they had won the lottery. But like with many lottery winners, there comes a darkness. And that darkness is a stadium which is not theres, not made for football, and where the stewards celebrate Arsenal goals.

And the ultimate darkness could be that they get relegated.

It was a great result, but it is an awful stadium.

Happy Sunday

Keenos

Arsenal’s Spine of Leaders

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A follow up on yesterdays blog about The Curse of The Arsenal Captain.

For the first time in a very long time, it feels we have a team of leaders. A team of captains. A team that can be relied upon to rise to the occasion.

Since the invincibles were demolished, we have always struggled from a leadership point of view. A team too young, a team too inexperienced, a ship without a captain. And we have suffered from it.

I am sure in 2007/08, we would have won the league had the leadership of the team been better. We were top of the league and flying when Eduardo had his leg broken against Birmingham. Our captain, William Gallas, sat on the floor and sulked. Arsenal won 1 of their next 7 games and finished 3rd.

In 2013/14, we were once again top in February. We had led since the 2nd game of the season. And we fell apart. Finished 4th in a one horse race for the title. A run of 2 wins in 9 games. Once again a lack of leadership on the field. A season saved by an FA Cup win. It should have been a league and cup double.

But looking at the time now, it looks different, it feels different. Arsenal have a spine of leaders.

Petr Cechuntitled

The goal keeper position at Arsenal had been a problemsince before Jens Lehmann left. Whilst Petr Cech has had a couple of off games, what is undeniable is the leadership and experience he has bought to the squad. Cech has played nearly 700 domestic games and capped for his country 124 times. Now retired, there was talk of him being next Arsenal captain in the summer. He captained the side against Liverpool, but ultimately the armband went full time to Per Mertesacker. He is a man who has won everything domestically and on a European stage.

Laurent Koscielny

For so long, Laurent Koscielny looked lost without a leader next to him. He would drift positionally and basically struggled. But something seems to happened over this summer. At the Euro’s for France he was the senior partner in all the centre back partnerships. He was the leader of the defence. On his return to Arsenal, due to Mertesacker’s injury, he found himself as the senior centre back, and how he has grown. At 31, he has now been at Arsenal for 6 seasons. A regular for club and country. It has got to the point where the timid Koscielny should now really be Arsenal captain.

Shkodran Mustafi

Whilst Shkodran Mustafi has not been around the club that long, his leadership was recently praised by Alan Smith; “Those at Arsenal confirm that he is no shrinking violet when it comes to speaking up in the dressing room. A new arrival, maybe, but the 24-year-old is not afraid to say his piece”. You see it on the pitch as well. The way he dealt with Diego Costa in the early exchanges against Chelsea set the tone for the rest of the side. Mustafi is a World Cup winner.

Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka: a born leader who will finally bring some grit to Arsenal. That is how The Guardian described Granit Xhaka upon his unveiling. Since then, Arsene Wenger has also commented on his leadership qualities. Last season he was made Borussia Mönchengladbach captain. As he grew as leader and talisman, the team grew around him. He is barely 24, but has already been capped 48 times by Switzerland. A future Arsenal captain? Many on this list could be.

Aaron Ramsey

It is over 3 years since I spoke about Aaron Ramsey being next Arsenal captain. Much has changed since then, and he has perhaps fallen down the pecking order a bit. But this is a man who was made the youngest ever Wales captain at the age of 20 years 90 days. He was the key man in Wales’ recent Euro’s run. He has already been at Arsenal 9 years and is 26 in December. He is one of the senior pros at the club. Someone others will look up to.

Mesut Ozil

Whilst Mesut Ozil has never really been a captain, his leadership comes across in his performances. A truly World Class talent, others look to him to perform. When he plays well, the team plays well. Everything go’s through him. German player of the year for 4 of the last 5 seasons , this is a man who is the best German player, in the best German team for 25 years.

Alexis Sanchez

When you see the man at the top of the pitch putting in a shift, closing players down, chasing every ball, it changes the mentality of the rest of the side. They all start doing it. For Chile, Sanchez is a God. He is the main man. And he revels in it. Leading the line, he is their superstar. Their game winner. Whilst Claudio Bravo might be captain, Alexis Sanchez is the leader. When he performs, Chile perform. What he brings to Arsenal is the cherry on the cake. The man at the top of the field, over the hill first, leading his troops. 100 caps for his country, he could become a legend for his club.

I will let Arsenal legend Alan Smith’s comments summarise the article;

“Of course, that is how it should be. Strong voices and views go hand in hand with successful teams. Yet Arsenal have not always been blessed with such forthright sorts, whether by coincidence or through a deliberate policy from Arsene Wenger.

“They say that has changed now, that some players speak up with a little more force.”

Keenos

Note: If your comment is “Cazorla over Ramsey” please understand that is not what we are discussing in this blog. Well done to you for fixating on one single point rather than celebrating finally having a squad of leaders.

10 reasons Arsenal beat Chelsea

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1) The Scoreline – Arsenal scored 3 goals, Chelsea did not score. Pretty simple really.

2) The midfield battle – Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla dominated the first part of the game. Coquelin playing high up the pitch, pressing, Cazorla having the freedom of the park. When Coquelin got injured, Arsenal were able to replace him with Granit Xhaka. Not since being able to replace Gilberto with Edu have we had such a class midfielder on the pitch. And Xhaka continued where Coquelin left off. Destroying the Chelsea midfield. And winning the battle against N’golo Kante.

3) Mesut Ozil – Often criticised for not stepping up in the big games, Ozil showed why he is a world class player. They way he turned Kante on the edge of the Arsenal box, ran the length of the pitch, leaving Kante in his dust, and then got to the far post to volley it in was magnificent.

4) Alexis Sanchez – When we signed Sanchez, their was talk that he would be a striker at Arsenal. Recently Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying that Sanchez could be a mix of Suarez and Aguero. Many scoffed, saw it as reasoning behind Wenger not buying a striker. But this is a player, remember, who plays upfront on his own for his country, and led them to victory in the last 2 Copa America. His pace and power upfront is a threat. And with 47 goals goals in 100 games, he certainly knows how to find the back of the net.

5) Theo Walcott – Over the summer, most wanted him out, I wanted him out, but yesterday he put in a performance that we have not seen for years. In 2012/13 Walcott was excellent. 21 goals and countless more assists. He looked like he had finally arrived. Then he had 3 years of injury and uselessness. This season he seems to have turned it around again. Yesterday was his 3rd goal of the season. As a comparison, Joel Campbell has 3 league goals in his Arsenal career. If Walcott keeps it going, it will be testament to both his change in attitude and Arsene Wenger’s man management skills.

6) Hector Bellerin – Is there a better right back in world football at the moment? He had Eden Hazard in his pocket. He can defend and attack. And can start 20 meters behind an opponent, catch him up and win the ball easily with space to spare.

7) Arsene Wenger – A lot will say that yesterday was partly to do with Antonio Conte getting his tactics wrong, but let’s give Wenger some credit, he got his tactics spot on. From playing Sanchez up top, encouraging him to drop deep pulling David Luiz out of place, Coquelin’s high press, Bellerin pushing tight on Hazard and Cazorla playing deepest of the midfield giving him the time and space to dictate the game. Even Wenger’s subs worked out. Xhaka, whilst forced, showed strength on the bench. Gibbs tightened the left hand side, and Olivier Giroud gave us a target man upfront and extra height at corners. Wenger got it right.

8) John Terry – You need a leader at the back. In recent seasons Arsenal have struggled without Per Mertesacker. Man U have not found one since Rio Ferdinand retired. Man City with Kompany look leaderless. And Chelsea showed without John Terry that they are clueless at the back. Sanchez’s goal came from a Gary Cahill mistake. And Ozil’s was by both Cahill and Luiz going towards Sanchez leaving Ozil free at the far post. Without Terry, they did not have someone who could direct play.

9) Calm Costa – Not exactly Diego Costa being calm, but more the Arsenal centre backs being calm around Costa. Koscielny and Mustafa look a partnership already. Both won the ball, cleanly, off Costa, but went in hard enough to leave him on the floor moaning. towards the end of the game, Koscielny once more left Costa in a heap, Costa reacted running half the length of the pitch to confront both the ref, than Koscielny. The Frenchman laughed it off, Costa got booked. It was an uncompromising performance by Arsenal’s new centre back partnership. And a captains performance by Koscielny.

10) Selfies – Finally, Rio Ferdinand “slammed” Arsenal for a post match selfie. Yet a year ago, he said Roy Keane was “out of touch”

Up the Arse

Keenos
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