Tag Archives: Gabriel

Gabriel, Nasty November, Ethan Ampadu, FA Cup Draw, Wenger Statistics, Christmas Ideas

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Gabriel

Whilst Alexis Sanchez will get all the praise after his performance against West Ham, followed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one man could also walk off the pitch with his head held high. Gabriel Armando de Abreu, known as Gabriel Paulista or simply Gabriel.

With Hector Bellerin out for a few more weeks yet, Mathieu Debuchy joining him in the physio’s room, and Carl Jenkinson’s demise, Arsene Wenger took the decision to play Gabriel at right back against West Ham.

The more natural solution would have been move Shkodran Mustafi to right back – who has played their previously for club and country – and put Gabriel in the middle of the park. But Wenger decided it was better to keep the middle strong, and put Gabriel on the right. Rather than have two weakened positions, it meant just one.

It also meant that inside Gabriel there was the class and reliability of Mustafi.

Gabriel did a brilliant job against West Ham. Only once I can think he was beaten, and as the game went on he showed some attacking intent.

Obviously he is not a long term option there, and the quicker Bellerin returns the better, but good job Gabriel, bloody good job.

Nasty November

As you open your 5th door on your advent calendar, November is already a distant memory away as we look forward to Christmas. And with November over, it meant Arsenal could finally returning to playing title challenging football.

Arsenal’s poor November form has been highlighted by all and sundry. So how did the team actually fair in the horrible month?

In the Premier League, we were actually unbeaten. Winning 1, drawing 2. But it saw us drop from top of the league to 4th.

November also saw Arsenal knocked out of the League Cup by Southampton, and almost certainly resign themselves to 2nd in their Champions League group after a draw at home to Sunderland.

Our full record in the month reads: P 6, W 2, D 3, L 1. And as we go into December, our ‘poor’ form evaporates…

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/805407208087425025

Ethan Ampadu

Arsenal have reportedly ‘won’ the race to sign Exeter’s Welsh youth international midfield Ethan Ampadu, reportedly beating the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to his signing.

If the 16 year old’s name rings a bell, it is because he is the son of Arsenal under-18s Head coach Kwame Ampadu.

So the reality is it is a bit of non-story.

Before joining Arsenal, Kwame Ampadu was the U18’s coach at Exeter City. It was at this time the younger Ampadu joined the academy that his father was working at. When Kwame came across to Arsenal in 2012, Ethan, then 12, remained in Exeter, at school, and training with the local club.

Role on 4 years, Ethan is 16, finished his secondary schooling, and has not joined his father at a bigger, better club.

Ampadu became the club’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut aged 15 years and 331 days old in August, breaking an 88 year old record set by a chap called Cliff Bastin. He was recently named Wales’ Young Player of the Year.

A defensive midfielder, it will be interesting to see how quickly he establishes himself in his fathers under-18 side

FA Cup Draw

The draw for the FA Cup 3rd round is tonight, around 7.10pm. It will be live on both BBC Two and BT Sport. Arsenal, as always, are number 1.

Danger of Statistics

For a long time, I have been a slave to statistics, and will continually to rely on them alongside my own eyes when judging players. They are so important as statistics in themselves can not be biased.

However, the way an individual interprets statistics can be biased.

We have seen an example recently with many people rolling out the following statistic:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 2 trophies out of a possible 45

It is a damning statistic which does highlight a massive underachievement. Just a 4.4% win ratio. But then it is also a biased statistic as it deliberately creates a time period that to make Wenger look bad – after the 2005 FA Cup victory to today.

Let’s flip it another way:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 2 trophies out of a possible 11

The period picked was from the FA Cup victory of 2014 to today. This creates a win ratio of 18.2%. Vastly improved!

And that is how we manipulate the statistics to show that Wenger has either been very poor over the last 11 years (he has) or very good over the last 3 years (he has).

Of course, the longer the time period, the more accurate the statistics:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 9 trophies out of a possible 82

That is his record during his entire time at Arsenal. 11% of all trophies. 9 from 82 does not seem much. But then look at this:

Arsenal have won 29 trophies out of 263

That is the statistic since the end of First World War.

Since the Great War, Arsenal have won 11.1% of all trophies (League, FA Cup, League Cup & Europe) that they have entered.

So what can we actually conclude from these statistics:

  1. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have been below par over the last decade
  2. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have been above par over the past 3 years
  3. Arsene Wenger is bang on the average for trophies won throughout his career

Statistics can be interpreted however you wish, to either prove an argument or disprove it, to credit someone or discredit someone.

Arsenal Christmas Ideas

A few weeks ago we gave you some cracking Christmas present ideas for Arsenal fans. We have since had these come in…

PS: The deadline for buying a Clockend Clock and having it delivered before Christmas has now gone. If you order one now, you will not get it until January.

Arsenal’s captainless ship hits troubled waters

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The season has not even started yet and Arsenal are already in the midst of a crisis.

Per Mertesacker picked up an injury nearly 3 weeks ago which ruled him out until 2017. With Laurent Koscielny only just back in training, Mertesacker’s injury left us with just one senior centre back to start the season. Accident prone Gabriel.

And it was all a little bit predictable wasn’t it. In the 91st minute of the final friendly, Gabriel go’s into a nothing challenge, studs get caught in the turf, and reports indicate his season is over before it has even begun.36FAE85100000578-3728319-Gabriel_s_injury_took_the_shine_off_a_fine_second_half_performan-a-3_1470599916171

It leaves us in a situation where against Liverpool we are either going to have to start with youngster Calum Chambers and new boy Rob Holding, or play Nacho Monreal or want away right back Mathieu Debuchy at centre back.

Some might say we have been unlucky to get injuries in two senior centre backs. That is correct, we are unlucky, but we are also negligent.

Before the window opened, centre back is a place we all agreed needed improvement.

Per Mertesacker can not defend from the halfway line, and Gabriel simply can not defend.

My thoughts were simple. Buy a partner for Laurent Koscielny. Per Mertesacker becomes 3rd choice. Gabriel get’s shipped out. And either Rob Holding or (more likely) Calum Chambers go’s online to a Premier League side to play 38 games.

That way we have a senior centre back partnership. A 100-capped international backing them up, and a youngster gaining experience and developing. Obviously with Per’s injury, the part where Gabriel is sold does not happen. He stays as 3rd choice.

With Mertesacker’s contract set to expire in 2017, it would then see us have the new centre back, Koscielny, Chambers and Holding as our options. It is so simple on paper.

But we have not moved for a centre back. Even with Mertesacker out till 2017, there was no movement in the market. It was almost like we were happy with an inadequate Gabriel and an injury prone and not yet in training Koscielny to see us through the season.

Now of course, we could have signed someone like Mustafi and he could have gone over against Manchester City and be out for the year. Injuries happen. But then at least then we still would have had Gabriel who could then partner one of the junior guys.

To be in the situation we are less than a week before our 1st game of the season and we do not have a single senior centre back to call on is an utter disgrace. And it highlights the lack of leadership top down currently within the club.

Starting at the very top, Stan Kroenke has been a hands off owner at Arsenal, unless it is time to put the hand in the cookie jar.

I actually have no issue with an owner not getting too involved. We have seen numerous times throughout history an owner being too hands on with a club, and more often that not in ends in tears.

Players being bought by an owner who the manager does not want. Owners going into dressing rooms to take team talks. Even owners dictating to the manager who should play. If you are not an expect in a certain industry, you should not get involved, even if you are the owner.

The owners job is to put the right person in charge of running that business. For Arsenal, that man is Ivan Gazidis.

Gazidis is another who seems to lack leadership. It is worrying that he is Arsene Wenger’s “boss” but it is Wenger who was involved in appointing him. Does Wenger report to Gazidis? Or does Gazidis report to Wenger?

Whilst David Dein is certainly someone I do not want involved in Arsenal anymore (if you think he is the messiah, learn your Arsenal history), there has certainly been a lack of leadership since he and Keith Edleman left the board.

Dein and Edleman got the job done. They pushed Arsene Wenger. Demanded the best from him. Gazidis does not do that.

It should be Gazdis’s job to force the hand of Arsene Wenger. Tell him that we need to be buying the best. Let him know recent performances in transfer windows have been unacceptable.

Our recent transfer dealings have been embarrassing. Both in terms of getting players in, and attempts to get players in.

The negotiating team are clearly not doing their job. The manager not picking his targets. And both of these report to Gazidis. He needs to be leading the club over the summer transfer window, but he seems to disappear.

Maybe he is scared to challenge Wenger? Scared that the man below him who hired him could fire him.

And then we come to Arsene Wenger himself. We all know, deep down, he, not Gazidis, runs Arsenal Football Club. The buck stops with Wenger.

His leadership of the club over the last decade or so has been underrated by many. He led the ship through the choppy waters or a financial crisis which saw the club unable to compete to keep its best players, let alone compete for top ones.

But that ended 3 or 4 years ago. And he has not changed his ways.

Arsenal are no longer poor. But Arsene Wenger acts like we are. He is like your lottery winner who still buys Tesco Value noodles.

He seems to settle for mediocrity. Settle for just getting by doing the minimum possible. And that filters down to the players. Players who celebrate finish 4th. It is not good enough.

Finally we come down to the players.

There is actually a good handful of leaders in the playing squad. Sanchez, Cech and the new boy Xhaka have all captained club and / or country at points in their career.

So to be sitting here, less than a week before the season starts, and not have a club captain is an utter disgrace.

13 Premier League starts by Arsenal’s captain in the last 3 seasons. It really is an amazing stat.

And once again there are question marks over who should be captain.

At one point it looked like Per Mertesacker would be given the armband, after all he was Mikel Arteta’s vice-captain.

But with a question mark over his place in the first XI, it would once more be a case of the club captain not starting.

His injury ruled him out of the running.

Next in line seems to be Laurent Koscielny. But is he a leader? He has never been a captain, and is not the most vocal on the pitch. You feel he would be getting the armband due his longevity at Arsenal, not due to his leadership ability.

The net result is Arsenal do not currently have a club captain.

We are leaderless. From the top down. The boardroom, the training ground and on the pitch.

Keenos

Ps: Today the blog (this form) is 3 years old. In that time we have had over 2,000,000 hits. A big thank you to every contributor, and every reader.

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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

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