Tag Archives: Arsenal

Tottenham v Arsenal – A player by player review

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August 2013 seems so long ago. That is when I wrote a comprehensive player by player review before the Arsenal v Tottenham match at the Emirates Stadium. It caused some controversy, and attracted plenty of debate from both sides. Since then, Arsenal have signed Mesut Ozil, he has been labelled the first step into the future for Arsenal, and then been written off as a flop. Spurs have changed as well. They saw their spending reach £100m, on many players who do not play, and have sacked their manager, recruited a PE teacher, and scoured the globe for a replacement for him this summer. Back in 2013, the final score was Arsenal 87 Tottenham 77. How have things changed?

(Line ups based on who has played most games per position/likely line ups)

Szczesny v Lloris

At the start of the season, Wojciech Szczesny had a few question mark’s over him. Many called for a more experienced goal keeper to be signed. He had a mistake in him, and often that mistake led to a goal. Since then, he has grown into arguably the best goal keeper in the Premier League. Whilst De Gea, Cech and Hart have all made many mistakes, Szczesny has put in world class performances on a weekly basis.

The only other goal keeper to be as solid as Szczesny this season has been Hugo Lloris. Bar a shaky performance against Chelsea last weekend, where he was also badly let down by his defence, Lloris has been a consistent performer. Yes, he still has a habit of being a bit Hollywood but he, alongside Szczesny, is one of the best keepers in the Premier League.

Szczesny 8 Lloris 8

Sagna v Walker

Bacary Sagna has been superb this season. After a couple of poor years, mainly due to injury, he has returned to the consistent full back that saw him twice named in the PFA Team of the Year. He puts in solid 7 out of 10 performances every game.

Walker has gone backwards this season. In what was supposed to be his breakthrough year, leading to being England’s 1st choice right back in Brazil, he has been exposed in 2013/14. Whilst his pace and power is not in question, nor is his ability going forward, he is consistently out of position. Kyle Walker is starting to remind me of Emmanuel Eboue. Brilliant going forward, but a liability in defence. His seat on the plane is now under threat, with Smalling & Jones seemingly preferred at right back ahead of him.

Sagna 7 Walker 6

Metersacker v Dawson

When I wrote this summary in August, this was the most controversial. Spurs fans came out in mass saying I was clueless for rating Germany’s 1st choice centre back higher than England’s 9th choice. Since then, a lot has changed.

Per Mertesacker has become even better. So much so, he is equally the best centre back in the league alongside Vincent Kompany (both offer something different too eachother and would compliment each other well).

Michael Dawson, whilst an admirable defender who plays with his heart on his sleeve, is just not in the same class. The clear difference between the players is that whilst Mertesacker is a starter for Germany, ahead of a lot of talented defenders, Dawson is not even in the thinking of England selectors. Dawson is like a poor mans John Terry. Mertesacker is a stroller and plays the game at ease.

Mertesacker 9 Dawson 6

Koscielny v Vertonghan

Koscielny has been consistent this season. Consistently doing a good job man marking, consistently making up ground and out running opponents, and consistently giving away penalties. He still has a rash challenge in him, and has cost us this season with a few last ditch attempts for the ball. However he has become a solid performer alongside Mertesacker.

Veronghan has had an odd season, starting at centre back, then being moved to left back due to injuries. It is hard to judge his performances this season due to being moved about so much, however his class still remains. An athlete in a similar way to Koscielny, although he is a little less rash, It is likely he will leave Spurs in the summer as he seeks playing centre back and playing week in week out. Would I have him at Arsenal? No. But he would get into most other Premier League sides.

Koscielny 8 Vertonghan 9

Gibbs v Naughton

The first change on the list. Due to injury, and lack of other options, Kyle Naughton has often been played left back, rotating with Vertonghan. The weaker of the two full backs bought from Sheffield United (alongside Walker) in 2009, he is a right back playing left back. The fact he is at left back having played just 14 games this season shows Spurs’ problem in the position. He is Tottenham’s weak link.

Kieran Gibbs has improved dramatically this season, although his injury record is still worrying. 34 games played in all competitions, there was talk of him going to Brazil ahead of both Ashley Cole and Luke Shaw. Personally, I would still take him alongside Shaw and Baines as all 3 could also be the sides left winger. Gibbs is class. He just needs to stay fit.

Gibbs 8 Naughton 4

Flamini v Sandro

Both headless rabbits. Both more likely to be booked than create a goal. Both more likely to be sent off than score one. Whilst both give both sides a nasty edge, both are also likely to leave their side down to 10 men. They are the sides ‘liability’ as well as the rock which allows others to play. Neither is world class, both can be improved in. In fact, this is the most fair match up in this very one sided report.

Flamini 6 Sandro 6

Ramsey v Dembele

When I wrote before the tie at the Emirates, Aaron Ramsey was the ‘man of the moment.’ Meanwhile I was comparing Mousa Dembele with Jack Wilshere. Transfer’s have since taken place meaning that Dembele now plays deeper and Wilshere is not a starter in Arsenal’s strongest 11.

After the last game, Aaron Ramsey went from strength to strength before succumbing to injury on Boxing Day. Despite this, Aaron Ramsey had already scored 13 goals in 27 games. Dembele has 2 from the same amount of games. Ramsey also leads assists, 7 to 1. If this was a boxing match, Ramsey would have one by 1st round knock out.

Ramsey 9 Dembele 6

Ozil v Eriksen

OK, it is likely that Mesut Ozil is out for a month, but as Spurs have a Christian Eriksen song dedicated to Ozil, and Arsenal have an Ozil song dedicated to Spurs, I thought it would still be fair to compare them.

Eriksen, sen, sen; He’s our number 23.
Eriksen, sen, sen; Came to play for AVB.
To the left to the right; He’s our midfield Dynamite.
When he plays for the Lilywhites; He makes Özil look sh*te.

How does it feel to be Tottenham?
How does it feel to be small?
You sold Bale, we signed Mesut Oziiiiiil, Mesut Oziiiiil.

Not only does Ozil have the better song, he is also the finished article. A truly world class player. Meanwhile, people are still talking about Christian Eriksen’s potential. In the league this season, Ozil – the flop – has 4 goals and 8 assists, whilst Eriksen – a revelation – has 3 goals and 3 assists. Eriksen’s talent is not in doubt, he is a brilliant player and will surely use Spurs as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Ozil 10 Eriksen 8

Oxlade-Chamberlain v Lennon

In august, it was Walcott v Lennon. It was a white wash.Walcott 9 Lennon 6. With Theo being out, will be up to Oxlade-Chamberlain to step up. The fact that Oxlade Chamberlain was selected for England v Denmark and is a certainty to go to Brazil, whilst Aaron Lennon was probably in Face’s Nightclub in Gants Hill throwing some shapes.

Whilst Oxlade-Chamberlain is no Theo Walcott, his performance against Bayern Munich shows he is on the brink of becoming one of Europe’s top players. Versatile, two footed, pace, balance, strength and passing, he is perhaps Arsenal’s most complete player. Aaron Lennon, meanwhile, is just a quick runner.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 8 Lennon 6

Cazorla v Townsend

One is a 2 European Championship medals and is capped 61 times for World Champions Spain. The other is the future of English football who, at 22, has played just 37 games for Spurs. Townsend has played for 10 clubs in his short career. It is likely that his career peaked with that goal against Montenegro. Cazorla might have had a poor season this year, but his 4 league goals is still more than Andros Townsend has scored in his entire Premier League career. One is a top international, the future is well, certainly not the future of English football

Cazorla 8 Townsend 6

Giroud v Soldado

In August, I rated Soldado higher than Giroud, based on the Spaniards performances in Spain. 7 months on, Soldado has scored just 2 league goals from open play and looks out of depth in the Premier League. He has been so poor that it there is a good chance that Emmanuel Adebayor might start ahead of him.

Olivier Giroud is certainly not an Arsenal first choice striker. He showed against Everton that he can make an impact against tired centre backs when he comes off the bench. Starting, he tends to struggle against top sides.  Both still rely heavily on others to make their chances. Giroud’s 18 goals to Soldado’s 11 swaps the 6-7 score from August into the Frenchman’s favour

Giroud 7 Soldado 6

Arsenal 88 Tottenham 71

Keenos

10 signings who have been bigger flops than Mesut Ozil

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In 50 years time, if they were to label the current age of football, it would be given the title ‘The Reactionary Age’, a time where one win see’s you labelled as title challengers, and one defeat see’s fans demand the managers head. A period where Tottenham reserve Andros Townsend can have 1 good game and be labelled as the future of English football, booking his seat on the plane to Brazil, whilst triple German Player of the Year Mesut Ozil has apparently lost his seat on the plane after going off at half time with an injury.

You have to wonder, with the current reactionary state, what would have happened to the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires had they been making their debuts this season. Would Cristiano Ronaldo, labelled as a “fancy dan cheat” when he first arrived, ever of become the worlds best player? Even more recent players, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker were written off after barely a season – they are now the best centre back partnership in the world. It seems we are very quick to right off a player as a ‘flop’ and it is dangerous to do so.

Yes, there are many big money flops who have played in the Premier League. Fernando Torres’ and Andriy Shevchenko’s big money moves to Chelsea never paid off, Juan Sebastian Veron’s time at both Manchester United and Chelsea, Andy Carroll, firstly at Liverpool, then  at West Ham, has flopped. And what about Owen Hargreaves contribution to Manchester United? But Mesut Ozil is the 2nd most effective and consistent attacking midfielder in the Premier League. The Premier League spent £630 million in the summer and an additional £130 million in January, and many players have contributed a lot less than the under fire Mesut Ozil. Here is 10:

Erik Lamela (Roma to Tottenham – £25.8m)

The man who was set to replace Gareth Bale at Spurs arrived with a big transfer fee and big expectations. In a deal worth up to £30m, it is unlikely that Spurs will have to ever pay any of the ‘additional bonus payments’ as he is set to become the biggest flop ever in the Premier League. 3 league games started, 0 goals scored. That is nearly £10 million a start. And apparently you can not divide by 0, so I can not work out his goals/cost ratio. He has at least contributed 1 assist in the total of 9 games played in the Premier League. Spurs even tried to sell him in January!

Marouane Felliani (Everton to Manchester United – £27.5m)

When Arsenal were signing Mesut Ozil, Manchester United were signing Marouane Felliani. Many experts claimed Arsenal would have been better off buying the Belgium. Pointing out Arsenal required his strength and steel in defensive midfield rather than Mesut Ozil’s guile. Of course, these experts forgot that Felliani spent most of his time at Everton playing behind the striker. The big man has struggled to get into Manchester United’s midfield, despite it being useless. He has more red cards for Manchester United this season than he does goals and assists.

Willian (Anzhi to Chelsea – £30m)

Snapped up by Chelsea under the noses of Spurs, it could be argued that Tottenham got a lucky escape, until you remember they then turned their sights to Erik Lamela. £30m for an attacking midfielder who had a reputation for a hard shot, Willian has scored 2 goals with 6 assists in all conceptions. Super-flop Mesut Ozil, remember, has 6 goals and 13 assists this campaign. In Willian’s defence, he has not been helped by Mourinho turning him into a defensive forward (later to be known as the ‘Willian Role’). Although his record shows that he is not a goal scoring midfielder. You would certainly expect more for £30m.

Roberto Soldado (Valencia to Tottenham – £26.4m)

It is a pity that Roberto Soldado scored his 2nd league goal from open play against Cardiff City on March 2nd, as it meant the joke “What does Asmir Begovic and Roberto Soldado have in common? They have both scored 1 goal from open play” was no longer as funny. The Spaniard has been so bad that Emmanuel Adebayor has been recalled to the Tottenham 1st team.

Juan Mata (Chelsea to Manchester United – £37.1m)

He might have only just recently joined Manchester United, but in the Reactionary Age, I will happily label him as a flop. In 6 games since his move, he is yet to score and has 3 assists. In the last 6 games for Arsenal, Mesut Ozil has 1 goal and 2 assists. If one is on a poor run of form and makes him a flop, then likewise, we have to chuck Juan Mata into the fold too. You get the feeling with a side who already has Wayne Rooney, Kagawa, Nani and Young in its midst, Mata is a vanity signing, made by Moyes to make him look good.

Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina to Manchester City – £22m)

A one time, long term Arsenal target, the decision of Arsene Wenger to pursue Gonzalo Higuain, and later Luis Suarez, led to Manchester City jumping in and signing the Montenegrin captain for £22m, despite already having Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo & Edin Dzeko in their squad. A mixture of injuries, unimpressive displays, and the pure weight of players ahead of him has led the 24 year old to start just 2 league games this season.

Andy Carroll (Liverpool to West Ham – £15m)

Last season, Andy Carroll joined West Ham on loan and scored a magnificent 7 goals in 24 years. This led to the Hammers spending £15 million on him. 2 league starts, 0 goals and 1 red card later has led Sam Allardyce saying he is finding it hard to pick between Andy Carroll and Carlton Cole, who they released on a free in the summer.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Gary Hooper and Johan Elmander (Sporting, Celtic & Galatasaray to Norwich – £13.5m total)

A 3 in one special here. Struggling for goals? Go out and buy 3 new strikers who scored 56 goals between all of them last season. End result? 10 goals between them over 70 games. Not really what you would expect from 3 high profile summer signings expected to score the goals to keep you up. Norwich are the second lowest goal scorers in the Premier League this year, despite signing the 3 strikers. Crystal Palace would have run them close for this spot had the secured the services of Lord Bendtner alongside Lady Chamakh and Dwight Gayle.

Mamadou Sakho (PSG to Liverpool – £18m)

The long hyped French centre back was sold to Liverpool despite being PSG’s youngest ever captain. Another one linked to Arsenal (more to do with him being young and French) the question on those who know a thing or two about football was ‘why would PSG let him go if he was any good’. And the answer is clear. He is not as good as Football Manager makes it out. Shifted between centre back, the left of a back 3 and full back, the Frenchman is now looking like a very expensive mistake. He has played just 13 games in all competitions for Liverpool, whilst Kolo Toure has been picked ahead of him.

Dani Osvaldo (Roma to Southampton – £15m)

Buy a player who has scored 42 goals in 3 years in Italy and Spain, then watch as he kicked and head butted a team mate, leaving ‘blood everything’ before later reportedly brining a samurai sword into training. They might have got 3 goals out of the Argentine, but it is unlikely he will ever play for again. A £15m buy bombed out within 6 months is surely a flop.

Keenos

Out of the Champions League, but on to Spurs

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I am not the worlds biggest fan of the Champions League. In fact, I have found over the years that my enthusiasm for the competition has waned to such an extent that I now find the competition boring, and find going to the mid-week clashes – especially the group stages – has now become a laborious task.

So it is over for one more year. Whilst I would love to win the competition, I would have loved to have gone got to Lisbon (My schedule would have then been Norwich, Wembley, Lisbon, Wembley, Magaluf) I am never to disappointed when it is over.

The Champions League is merely a cash cow, designed to make the richer clubs richer, to increase the gap in domestic leagues between those in the competition and those not in. Add in the additional revenue for sides through gate receipts and the Champions League can generate upwards of £50million to a side who merely makes the second round.

It is a competition regularly won by whichever club has spent the most money on developing the biggest squad (both in wages and transfer fees). In Arsenal’s history of the competition, we have never been in the top 8 of this, so us winning has always been fairly unlikely – with only Liverpool and Porto bucking this trend. Last night the Bayern side was a perfect example. An expensively assembled squad which had the likes of Thomas Muller on the bench, it is clear that Arsenal are still in the second tier of European sides, behind the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich – and the oil sides PSG, Chelsea and Man City, when it comes to what resources we have available. The cap however, is closing.

Without sounding defeatist, the best Arsenal can hope for in the Champions League is pocketing the cash and running. We will get a bit of a run if the draw is right. But as soon as we face one of those bigger sides who have a larger squad and better players, we are out. Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich have shown this.

So the run is over. The dream is over. Arsenal have pocketed £50million which will enable them to continue to increase the gap between them and fifth, whilst never really being a threat in the competition.

So we now move on to other business. Starting with Spurs away. No matter what is happening during a season, for a fan, Spurs away is the BIGGEST fixture. More will be written on this fixture over the next couple of days, and hopefully it ruffles as many furthers up the road as the lead up to the home ties did.

With Tottenham not due to play their European tie until Thursday against Benfica, Arsenal have a clear advantage. They would have flown back from Germany last night, spent the night in their own beds, before a nice easy training session today where the club can assess injuries. Hopefully Ozil was only taken off as a precaution. Hopefully Oxlade-Chamberlain did not run himself into the ground. Hopefully Ryo Miyaichi was not detained at customs for being ineligible.

A victory against Spurs will bury any ‘hurt’ that being knocked out of the Champions League has created, and will also keep us in the title race.

Had you given me 4 points off top and in the FA Cup Semi Final in mid-March at the beginning of the season, I would have taken it. We have plenty to still look forward to this season. Back the boys.

Keenos