Tag Archives: Arsenal FC

Mertesacker, Winning Dirty, Ozil and Cazorla, Barkley and Cavani

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Per Mertesacker

All the attention has been on the performances of Aaron Ramsey this season, but it is the Big Fucking German who has been our player of the year so far. A lot of fans still do not rate him. He still splits opinions. For me, it is down to one thing. You have people who understand football and people who do not understand football. Mertesacker is the best centre back in the Premier League. I struggle to name a better centre back in world football. Maybe Thiago Silva. But that is it. After a touring performance against England for Germany mid-week, he had yet another striker in his pocket yesterday. In recent weeks he has played against small, tricky, quick strikers (Suarez/Sturridge) and big, mobile, strong strikers (Lambert) and come out on top against both. Let’s start respecting a very special talent.

Winning Dirty

We used to moan that we could not win dirty. Against Southampton, against Dortmund, we did just that. Clean sheets and winning dirty. And what happens? Rather than fans praise the side for learning to win dirty, we now criticise them for not playing well. As the old adage go’s, the sign of potential champions is a team who can win when not playing well. We beat Southampton without playing well. A keepers mistake and a penalty. 3 points in the bag. Let’s praise the team.

Ozil and Cazorla

Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla have played less than 500 minutes of football together. Yet already fans are saying they can not play together. Talk about giving them a chance to gel!! It shows the fast food culture we are currently living in. Everyone wants everything now, and football is no different. Players get written off after 2 or 3 games, and the same is happening with this partnership. Lets get a few things right:

  • Talented players can play together no matter how they line up. You can never have too many talented players
  • Santi Cazorla is better out wide. 6 months at Malaga and 6 months at Arsenal was the only time he played on the wing. He got more goals & assists outwide last year then he did inside. And when he drops inside he give Gibbs so much space
  • The pair have barely played together in their correct positions this season, Ozil in the middle with Cazorla outside
  • Now Theo Walcott is back, we will see the partnership take a completely different dimension to the side

Lets give them time to learn their game.

Ross Barkley

This guy is super talented. Whilst there is no place in the Arsenal squad for him, and therefore we do not need him, I am a huge admirer of his talent. Ever since he broke through into the Everton side at 17, I have waited for him to break through as a superstar. A bit like Aaron Ramsey, he broke his leg at a young age (broken in 3 places) in October 2010. As with Ramsey, it put his career back 2 years. Now he is finally coming through. He is a beast physically and has brilliant technique. If England are to have any chance in the World Cup in Rio, they should partner Barkley and Wilshere in the England midfield, with Gerrard anchoring. Barkley is a talent, and my only fear is that as Arsenal do not need him, he will end up at Manchester United, where he will improved their midfield ten-fold.

Cavani

Rumours doing the rounds is that Edison Cavani is unhappy at PSG. Whilst it is mainly speculation, there is usually no smoke without fire. When there is such an arrogant presence such as Zlatan Ibrahimavic at the club, team mates will get rubbed up the wrong way. Ibra wants to be number 1, it is why he left Barcelona. The problem is Cavani has the talent to be number 1 at any club in Europe. A January move might be unlikely, but if he does come available, I want Arsenal to be leading the race for him. Imagine him ahead of Cazorla, Ozil, Walcott. He would be the missing piece.

 

Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott – Partnership made in heaven

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Theo Walcott is set to make his Arsenal return against Southampton for Arsenal this Saturday after being out for 2 months with a stomach injury. Since he picked up his injury, Arsenal have missed his pace and direction. His return from injury will change the way Arsenal perform, and he will add another dimension to our attacking formation. Adding the pace and width to change a game.

Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott have played twice together since the German joined the club. In the 1st game, away to Sunderland, Ozil put Walcott through a couple of times, with the German’s vision and Englishman’s pace combining well. Only some good goal keeping stopped Theo getting a couple of goals. In their second game together, against Marseille, Walcott got his only goal this season.

It was that first game against Sunderland where we really saw what the partnership of Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil could do. With opponent’s being naturally drawn to Mesut Ozil, it gives Walcott bundles of space on the right hand side. With Ozil’s vision and passing ability, he will be able to pick out Walcott for fun. He was put in by Ozil 3 times against Sunderland. He might not have scored, but after 21 goals last season, we know he can finish. It will only be a matter of time until the back of the net starts rippling.

To say the partnership could be similar to the Thierry Henry / Dennis Bergkamp partnership of the early 00s would be ludicrous. It is more similar to that of Nicolas Anelka / Dennis Bergkamp. Bergkamp once said that Anelka was a dream to play with, as his runs were simple and he made it easy for Bergkamp to find. On the other hand, Bergkamp allowed Anelka to play simply. Make the run and the ball will arrive, used to be the mentality.

The Ozil / Walcott partnership will be similar. All Theo has to do is make the run, and the ball will find him. People claim Walcott does not have a football brain. I find this insulting to a professional football. But if it were true, he does not need one with Ozil in the side. All he has to do is run in a straight line, Ozil will do the rest.

Ozil and Walcott have only played twice together. Ozil, Cazorla and Walcott have yet to play together. This becomes even more mouth watering. As now you do not just have Ozil or Cazorla having the ability to find Walcott, you now have Ozil and Cazorla. Arsenal’s play will be very simple. Play around in the middle and on the left, drag the defenders over, then a quick through ball between full back and centre back and Walcott will be away. The 3 behind Giroud gives me exciting thoughts!

How Arsenal line up behind these 3 will be interesting. With Arteta & Flamini battling for 1 spot, and Wilshere and Ramsey the other, it does give us options. And we can play a combination of any 2 of the 4 and we will be strong. To think, with players returning from injury, our bench against Southampton could read: Fabianski, Monreal, Vermalean, Flamini, Wilshere, Rosicky & Bendtner. Who said we had no strength in depth?

It is crazy to think that Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil have only paid twice together this season. It is perhaps testament to how well Arsenal have started that they are still top, despite last seasons second best player (Santi Cazorla being 1st) being out for 2 months. There have been games where Walcott’s pace and width have been missed – WBA away springs to mind – and his return will only make Arsenal stronger.

Whether he starts or is on the bench for the game against Southampton, one thing is for certain, his return makes the Arsenal side better, and the Ozil/Walcott partnership will go from strength to strength.

Keenos

Did Nike restrict Arsenal wearing suits?

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Picture the scene, it is a big match in the Premier League. Sky camera’s are there early, eagerly awaiting live pictures of the players coming off the coach. The pictures will be used by all news outlets across the globe. They will reach as many people as who watch the game itself. Sky Sports News, for example, show live footage of every Premier League club arriving to their respected ground on a Saturday. Pre-game has become big news.

Now you are the kit sponsors of a club. You also have your logo’s on the club tracksuits. Be it Nike or Fly Emirates, or whoever is sponsoring the club at that point, your logo is on that track suit. Now there are only a the few times it is worth having your logo on the track suit. The first is training ground pictures, however these are often covered up by bibs. The second is when players wear tracksuits as they get off the coach and these pictures are beamed around the world, beaming your logo around the world.Arsenal Tracksuit

Now previously, when the discussion of wearing suits before games has been raised by fans, the answer from the club has always been clear and unequivocal. Arsenal did not wear suits as the management of the club felt is more important for players travelling to games to be comfortable than smart. Anyone who commutes in a suit will know that, travelling over long distances, they can get uncomfortable. How many people reading this wears sweatpants and hoodies when they go on long flights? Elastic wastes, cotton t-shirts and track tops are more comfortable the suits. It was a legitimate reason for not wearing a suit.

Before the game against Liverpool, as revealed by ourselves, Arsenal re-introduced the wearing of suits before home games. In a clear move away from the previous stock theory of comfort, it is clear the clubs policy has changed. When the journey from London Colney to the Emirates is so short – 17.8 miles, 57 minutes in current traffic, wearing a suit should not be problematic. It makes me think, was the previous stock answer actually a cover up for Nike and/or Fly Emirates?

With kit deals being so lucrative, sponsors want to get their maximum value. Part of this is having those pictures of players arriving to the stadium pre-game. The thinking is that it was actually in the contract of both Nike and/or Fly Emirates that players would arrive to games wearing tracksuits, bearing the sponsors logos, rather than suits.

It is rumoured that upon taking the captaincy last summer, Thomas Vermaelen requested the players start to arrive to games in suits. Smarting themselves up, showing the class that is required to represent Arsenal Football Club. Usually at Arsenal, what the captain wants, he gets, when it comes to fashion. The most famous example is every player wears the same length sleeve as the captain.

Now if Thomas Vermaelen wanted the players to wear suits, why has it taken so long for the clubs to role this out? The only answer can be that it was not implemented to appease the sponsors. Since then, Arsenal have renegotiated their deal with Emirates, as well as signed a new kit sponsorship with Puma. Within these new deals, you have to think Arsenal removed the clause that players will wear tracksuits to games, therefore opening the way up for players to wear suits for games.

With the Nike deal now basically over, and the new Emirates deal in place, the previous restrictions placed upon the club by the sponsors is now lifted. And that means Arsenal players will once again wear suits to games.

Arsenal Suits

It is a sad indictment that Arsenal were willing to sell their class, their history of wearing suits, to the sponsors, but that is the world we live in now. A world where your stadium is now names after a sponsor. A world where the level of corporate income is more important than the standard of coaching. The game is now about consumerism rather than sport. But that’s another blog!

Anyway, no matter what the reasons are that we are back wearing suits, it must continue. We are the classy club in England. We have the history. We are the gentlemen of the game. Arsenal players wearing suits before games should not be about sponsorship, should not be about politics, it should be a given. Arsenal are class.

Keenos