Tag Archives: Arsenal

Pep Guardiola to City – Have Arsenal missed out?

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The end is nigh. Josep Guardiola Sala has agreed to join Manchester City in the summer. Our season is over. We might as well all pack up now and go home.

Hysteria, hysteria, hysteria.

I have a few thoughts about it, mixed thoughts, that I will attempt to share (badly).

Am I disappointed he is going to Manchester City? Yes. Ever since he was at Barcelona, I felt he was the right fit for the next Arsenal manager. On paper.

I have always said that if a better option than Arsene Wenger comes available, he must step aside and go. Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola & Carlo Ancelotti three such men. All would have been at a new(ish) club during a 12 month period. Have Arsenal missed out? Potentially.

His success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich is unquestionable, but also questionable at the same time. Hence the mixed thoughts.

Trophies, trebles, success. At both clubs.

But he clearly enjoys a club with a set up. Where global stars are already at the club. Where there is money to spend.

At Barcelona, he already had Puyol, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, etc.  In the 4 years at Barcelona, he spent €305million. And won it all.

Then onto Bayern Munich. Robben, Ribery, Neuer, Alaba, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and more. €180million over 3 years spent. And able to pick up his rivals best player on a free transfer.

Yes, his high pressing game causes issues. But is he a tactical genius? Is he a good coach? Who knows. Because everywhere he has been, he has had the best players. Or been able to buy the best players. He clearly enjoys an easy job.

Look at Barcelona. He left them in 2012 with just the Copa Del Rey in his final season. The season after he left Barcelona won the league. In total since he left them, Barca have won 2 out of 3 La Liga’s and the Champions League. They have had 4 managers.

Luis Enrique won the treble. Is he a managerial genius?

And at Bayern Munich. In the season before Pep Guardiola took over, they also won the domestic treble.

That brings up the question, is it Guardiola who is bringing success to these clubs? Or is it these clubs bringing success to Guardiola.

Of course, over the last 7 years, he has earnt the right to pick the club he joins. And of course he is going to pick the club which gives him the best opportunity of success in the Premier League. And that club is Manchester City. Why would he take on a challenge? Like Mourinho he has earnt his stripes. He does not need to take on a challenge, a tough job, unless he wants to.

And that then brings up the question as to whether he is the right fit for Arsenal.

Whilst the Arsenal job is not the hardest in the world, it is not as easy as Manchester City. Would he be the right man working within our wage budget – everywhere he has been he is in charge of a club with a much higher wage bill than Arsenal.

Does he fancy the job of fighting it out for a top player, rather than just slinging more money at them?

We label Guardiola as someone who likes a project. Yet he has never stayed anywhere more then 4 years. He says 3 years is more than any manager should spend at a club. So does he like a project any more then Jose Mourinho?

Mourinho is often derided for walking into easy jobs. For leaving after a 3 or 4 years. Is Guardiola any different? Or is he just more polite. More loved by the press. So they ignore his indiscretions?

He clearly has the arrogance of Mourinho. Announcing half way through the year that he plans to leave the club currently employing him. If you did that at your employer, gave 6 months notice, you would be put on gardening leave straight away. But Guardiola has now done it, twice. So in 3 years time, when at City, I imagine with 4 months to go in the season, he will be announcing once more that he is leaving.

That being said, he clearly has something about him. He clearly is a good manager. A good motivator. A good tactician.

It is disappointing that he is going to Manchester City rather than Arsenal next season.

Despite his bad points, like Mourinho, he guarantees success.

Arsenal are stupid to not have enquired about him. Maybe they did? But we probably know they did not.

But let’s not throw the toys out of the pram yet.

At the end of the day, Guardiola going to City in the summer makes no difference to Arsenal’s chances of winning the title now. In fact, it arguably strengthens it. Will players be that motivated to play for a manger who is set to leave (we all remember what happened at Manchester United when Fergie announced his original retirement in the early to mid 00’s).

And Yaya Toure, he will know he is off in the summer, having had a fractious relationship with Guardiola at Barcelona. Will he be at 100%? Or will it be a case of self preservation. Do not try too hard. Do not get injured. Work on a deal away.

A final thought, on the table would have been offers from Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United. He chose Manchester City. Arguably the easiest job of them all.

Pep Guardiola clearly does not like a challenge.

In 3 years time, PSG will be announcing him as their new manager. Get money on it.

Keenos

Who in Arsenal’s 2nd XI is pushing for a first team spot?

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To have and to hold.

That was the front page of the Arsenal programme yesterday for the FA Cup match against Burnley.

Despite the talk within the programme, and by Arsene Wenger and players before the game about how important the FA Cup and winning 3 in a row, the game ended up being used to play players who had not played much recently. Either whether they were returning from injuries, or players considered 2nd team.

In the past, Wenger has always said that he puts out a team that he thinks can win the game. Against Sunderland, he put out a stronger team than yesterday, due to the calibre of the opposition. Yesterday, just 4 first teamers made the starting line up, 2 of those coming back from injury.

So how did the second string get on? Did any of them do enough to push themselves into Arsene Wenger’s faults for the next few games?

David Ospina – Looked nervy. Looked unsure of himself. A few good saves, but his distribution came across as someone who was questioning his own decision. He often missed the quick break away, as if he was scared of messing it up. A good keeper. But not Cech good.

Calum Chambers – Take the goal out of it, which was a very good finish, he showed again that he just is not a right back. His lack of pace means he will continually get roasted by average wingers who knock the ball past him and run. He was exposed a few times against Burnley. At just 21, he clearly is a class player, but he needs games. In 2014, you would have had him alongside John Stones as the future of England’s defence. Stones has played, Chambers hasn’t. One is now going to the Euro’s, the other will be sunning himself in Spain. Maybe needs a loan deal next season to play 38 league games at centre back.

Gabriel – A competent performance, and it certainly would put a thought into Wenger’s mind as to whether he should be given a chance alongside Laurent Koscielny at centre back. The worry would be is that in defence, it is about the partnership, not the individual. Are Koscielny & Gabriel too similar? Would it be like when Koscielny & Vermaelen played together? Both aggressive centre backs who like to attack the ball up the pitch. I have a feeling Per Mertesacker will be back in.

Kieran Gibbs – For me, Gibbs was man of the match. He shone in the match. We know he is a quality full back, especially when we are attacking. He was a danger on the left hand side, playing almost more like a winger rather than a full back. Recently, he has been out of form. When he has started, or when he has come off the bench, he looked completely out of touch. Yesterday he looked sharp. Whilst he will not be taking Nacho Monreal’s place anytime soon. It will be good to know that once more we have the two best left backs in the league

Mohamed Elneny – I have seen people go to both ends of the spectrum. Some saying he was awful. And some saying he is the new Patrick Vieira. Let’s be honest. Both are wrong. When we signed him, I saw him described as tidy, efficient, unexceptional. And that is how he performed. He seemed to be everywhere, without being anywhere. And that is the key in the position he plays. Doing a lot of the unnoticed work. Keeping the ball moving. It was very reminiscent to Mikel Arteta before he had his legs stolen. Over 100 touches of the ball (more than any other player), he was busy. We have a good player here. enough to put pressure on Coquelin? Not yet. But certainly in the future he will.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – A good performance by Chamberlain. He has now been involved in our last 13 fixtures – starting 5 of the last 7, maybe he is finally getting a run that will hopefully see him improve. Of course, it was only Burnley, and Arsenal were attacking 90% of the time. But most of what Arsenal did well went through him. He also stuck to the right hand side for the majority of the game, rather than coming inside. And the pass that put Theo Walcott through was exquisite. With Joel Campbell running out of steam, Alexis Sanchez still returning from injury, and Theo Walcott being out of form and shot of confidence, I expect Oxlade-Chamberlain to start the next few games.

Alex Iwobi – I am really not sure what to think of Alex Iwobi. I do not know whether to rate him, or whether to not. He is still just a kid – just 19 – and he clearly has ability, there is just something about him that I do not like. Maybe it is his running style, he is a flurry of arms and legs. Or maybe it is he has a really tentative touch and pass. I do not know. But he performed well. Seem to revel in the free role behind Olivier Giroud allowing him to pop up right, left and centre. Obviously he will not be pushing Mesut Ozil for a starting place any time soon, but let’s loan him out to a Premier League side till the end of the season, see how he gets on (just not to WBA).

Subs;
Tomas Rosicky look tidy, got injured
Mikel Arteta will probably rarely be seen in an Arsenal shirt again

 

We are through, and that is the important thing. Looking at the teams still in the draw, it is anyone and everyone in football. An away trip to Leeds for the travelling fan will be nice, a home game against Shrewsbury for those who want the glory. Hopefully we avoid the big boys, and they all get each other.

Have a good Sunday

Keenos

shop pic

Arsenal v Burnley – Team Selection Headache’s

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I usually dislike “let’s guess what the team is for this weekend” blogs. They are simple guess work. And usually published just for hits and advertising revenue. No one really knows what is going on. They make educated guesses by looking at what colour training tops players are wearing, and who is fit.

However, with the FA Cup coming up on Saturday, I think team selection actually makes for interesting discussion.

In goal, you would usually expect to see Arsenal make the switch and put in the 2nd choice keeper. That is what we have done over recent years. However, it seems after his errors earlier in the season, David Ospina has completely fallen out of favour.

Against Sunderland in the 3rd round, Petr Cech started. And I would expect that continue.

Conspiracy theory: Petr Cech has a clause in his contract stating that he must start in the FA Cup, so as to avoid a situation where he is number 1, yet misses playing at Wembley when we make the final.

Right back is an equally interesting situation.

Mathieu Debuchy, like Ospina, has fallen out of favour. He will not play. That leaves Arsenal with Hector Bellerin starting again. Who plays at right back could depend what happens at centre back.

If Wenger go’s with Koscileny and Gabriel, it will free up Calum Chambers to replace Bellerin for a single game. If he decides to go for Chambers and Gabriel, then we have no choice but to keep Bellerin in the side. My bet is he will go for the later. With Koscileny getting a rest and Bellerin starting alongside Chambers & Gabriel.

Side note: Could we see Chambers play centre midfield with Koscileny and Gabriel being the partnership at the back?

Finally left back pretty much picks himself. Kieran Gibbs will start.

In central midfield, we will likely see whole sale changes. Mohamed Elneny will surely play his first game for the club. Likely alongside Mikel Arteta. Although Calum Chambers could also fit in their as per above. I imagine it will be the first pairing as Wenger will look to partner Elneny with someone a bit more experienced.

Moving forward, Alexis Sanchez will surely be given a 60 minute run out as he returns to fitness. At the opposite end of the scale, Mesut Ozil will be rested once more. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will also likely start in the middle, replacing the aforementioned Ozil.

On the right, it will be one of Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell and Alex Iwobi. If I was a betting man, I would go with Alex Iwobi. Although I would like to see Walcott return to the right hand side where he is clearly at his best.

Iwobi has been good, whilst not exceptional, in his performances so far at the club. He will be given a full 90 minutes to impress in my opinion.

Upfront is anyone’s guess. Will Wenger give Walcott a run out up top? Giroud barely played against Chelsea, is he injured? Who knows? Who cares?

So my predicted team?

Cech
Bellerin Chambers Gabriel Gibbs
Elneny Arteta
Iwobi Ox Sanchez
Giroud

Keenos