Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

What has happened to Arsenal’s sleeve tradition?

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I never want to become one of these who moans after a game just for the sake of moaning. We know what these people are, very bitter angry young men. A quick look at Twitter and Facebook at half time saw the boo boys already putting out their agenda.

People blaming Arsene Wenger at half time for it being 1-1:

Don’t blame the time of year, blame the stubborn blind fool in the dugout. Wenger Out.

It’s 1-1 at half time, a decent Arsenal performance, and their equaliser was from a very debatable penalty. But some silly-billies just can not wait to moan can they. Sitting behind their laptop watching at home on their sofa. I guess having a go at Wenger stops them beating their wife.

I never want to become one of these people. So Let’s start with the positives.

A 3-1 victory keeps us up at the top of the table with the other 3 sides in the title race also winning over the weekend. Nothing gained, nothing lost.

4 point gap between us in 4th and Spurs in 5th as that lot up the road failed to go unbeaten for the season of autumn. We need to look upwards, not downwards.

Another 2 goals for Alexis Sanchez and a poachers goal by Theo Walcott – in fact all 3 goals were poachers goal – with Olivier Giroud coming off the bench to add another assist to his season statistics, things are good at Arsenal.

Even with playing Gabriel at right back having seen Mathieu Debuchy limp off, Arsenal were never in any real trouble. Another day, another referee, Arsenal would have been out of site at half time with Bournemouth struggling to keep 11 men on the field.

Now on to the moan.

What has happened to the old Arsenal tradition of the captain picking the sleeve length?

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It is fairly clear Theo Walcott is wearing short sleeve shirts, Nacho Monreal long sleeve. So what has happened to this tradition?

A few weeks ago it was raised that Arsenal players were no longer wearing the same sleeve length. It was justified when a club official said that all players were wearing short sleeve, but some players were wearing a long sleeve base layer.

Back in 2013, Mathieu Flamini created a massive furore within the club by cutting off his long sleeves to turn his shirt into a short sleeve one. He was allegedly given a dressing down by Wenger  and publically promised never to do it again.

Fast forward 3 years and the tradition is well and truly out of the window.

In the first half, Theo Walcott was wearing a short sleeve shirt with a base layer underneath.

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You can see above by the blue line that go’s around the cuff of the long sleeve shirt. Mohamed Elneny and Alexis Sanchez are both in long sleeve. Theo Walcott in short sleeve. At half time Walcott removed the base layer, exposing himself as wearing a short sleeve top.

It was not just Theo Walcott, Gabriel and Mustafi also wore short sleeve shirts (although you could make a case for Mustafi’s being rolled up.)

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I for one am very disappointed that this piece of Arsenal tradition seems to be left in the past.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, sleeve length does not win you the league. You would always prefer players to be comfortable if it means they perform. But it is part of Arsenal’s history, Arsenal’s tradition, Arsenal’s class. The captain picks the shirt length, and everyone else follows. It shows unity, togetherness.

To finish on a positive, Arsenal won 3-1.

Granit Xhaka was excellent.

Keenos

Arsenal missing diminutive midfield star

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Four games without a win in the early start of 2016. 3 draws and a defeat. That is what derailed our title challenge in 2015/16, dropping us from 1st to 4th in just a handful of games.

The key factor of our drop in form? The absence of Santi Cazorla.

29 November 2015. Norwich away. A 1-1 draw. On the face of it, not very significant. In the grand scheme of things, an away draw in the Premier League is not a game which loses you a title.

But it was the injuries Arsenal suffered in the game that would define the season. Alexis Sanchez hobbled off after 60 minutes, but it was not the diminutive Chilean whose absence would be felt by Arsenal. It would be the diminutive Spanaird that would be missed.

Arsenal's Santi Cazorla goes down injured against Norwich City.

Cazorla went down with injury in the 46th minute after being fouled. After a minute or so delay whilst he received treatment, he hobbled back on and actually completed the 90 minutes. It was only after the game that Cazorla was diagnosed with knee ligament damage. It rules him out until April. He would not actually bee seen until the last game of the season.

In the short term, Santi Cazorla being out did not really damage Arsenal. After the draw against Norwich, Arsenal won their next 3 games, and 6 of their next 7 in the Premier League. FA Cup and Champions League wins saw this go to 8 wins in 9. The talk at the time was for all the love and praise for Cazorla, his absence was not really felt.

But it was over the long term we started to notice his absence. The short term form was great but, after the run of 6 in 7, Arsenal would only go on to win another 6 league games when Cazorla did not play. 6 out of 17. Awful form. Not title winning form. We were lucky to finish 2nd.

In the 2nd half of the season, Arsenal struggled to transition the ball from defence into attack. No deep lying ball player who could pick the ball off the centre backs and launch it further up the field accurately.

In Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey, we had plenty of willing running, but not much subtile play. The play that Santi Cazorla gave us.

Arsene Wenger actually stumbled on playing Cazorla deeper when he was asked to do a more defensive job in the 2-0 away win against Manchester City in January 2015. He was Man of the Match. Ran the game. City could not get close to him.

What Cazorla gives you when playing deep is exceptional. Pirlo-esque. Maybe even better.

Having someone so talented play so deep gives Arsenal so many more options in attack. It means we can go from defence to attack quickly. It means Mesut Ozil does not need to drop deep to pick up the ball. And with Cazorla being two footed, it opens up both sides of the pitch.

Cazorla can get involved in the short passing, intrinsic play, but also hit it long if needed. He is a double threat. And also impossible to mark.

When someone is so deep, with so much ability, it gives opponents a conundrum. The attacker midfielder (someone like Ozil) is not going to work hard to get around a defensive midfielder to stop him playing. This leaves opponents in a conundrum.

Do they push forward a defensive midfielder to get around the deep lying ball player, to stop him, which in result will leave less protection in front of the defence, more space for the likes of Mesut Ozil. Or do they keep disciplined, don’t chase Cazorla, and end up letting him run the game.

Pirlo did it brilliantly for years for club and country. Cazorla does the exact same job. The main difference between Cazorla and Pirlo is that Cazorla is two footed.

Whilst I think we do clearly miss Santi Cazorla, I also think there is a little bit of getting better when not playing.

We see it in football, we see it in cricket, sportstars get better when they are not playing, if the team is struggling. By Santi Cazorla not being involved when Arsenal’s 2015/16 title challenge went up in smoke, it made people put two and two together. It made people put him on a pedastool.

We have seen them same at Manchester United with Michael Carrick. The more he does not play, the better he seems to get. The same with Paul Scholes for England.

There is no argument that all 3 players are (or have been) brilliant players. But there is certainly some part that they were made to seem even better when they were not playing.

This season he picked up an injury in the 6-0 victory over Ludogorets. 6 wins in a row before his injury. 3 wins from 7 since his injury. We miss Santi Cazorla.

At 31, with 2 long-ish terms injuries in 12 months, and his contract coming to an end (allegedly) at the end of this season, Arsenal have a decision to make on Santi Cazorla.

Do they stick with him in the hope he gets injury clear, and has a long career like Pirlo. Or do we look at the over 30 data and injury record and start planning to replace him now.

But it is not easy replacing a player like Santi Cazorla. Especially his two footness. It can not be underestimated how key opening both sides of the pitch from the middle of the park can be.

I see names such as Isco banded about. Or playing Ramsey and Granit Xhaka in tandem. But sometimes we have to accept some players have such a special  gift that they are irreplaceable.

Is Santi Cazorla irreplaceable?

Keenos

Vincent Kompany explains Arsenal’s injury problems

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For a long time I have been of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with Arsenal’s training, medical team, pitch, or forcing players to return early, when it came to our injury issues over the years.

I had a much more basic reasoning for Arsenal’s injury problems. That we had too many players who were naturally injury prone.

The recent problems of Vincent Kompany has supported my opinion further.

The Belgium international has now picked up his 35th injury since joining Manchester City. And incredible amount. Despite many different managers, many different training programmes, one thing has remained a constant, Kompany being injured.

It is not just the amount of injuries he has had, but the length of time it takes him to return from injuries. 9 weeks for a ‘slight thigh strain’, 6 weeks for a minor calf strain. Not only does Kompany pick up a lot of injuries, he also takes an age to recover from them.

In 2015/16, he suffered 5 injuries, seeing him out injured for 283 days our of 365.

He reminds of the likes of Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby. It takes an age for him to get fit, and when rumours start rumbling that he is fit once more, or he actually steps on a football pitch, he breaks down again. Another month+ out.

Daniel Sturridge is another one. Always out injured. Takes forever for him to return, and he is only a slight ankle twist from being out for another 6 months.

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The likes of Daniel Sturridge & Vincent Kompany picking up so many injuries when others around them seem immortal can not be a coincidence. It will be due to the physical make up of their bodies.

We are all unique. Some of us put on weight just by looking at a Krespy Kreme, others can eat for 6 and never put on weight. Some take a dozen days a year off work with colds, headaches and other alignments, others haven’t taken a day off work in 12 years. It is all to do with our genetic code.

And it is the same as with muscles and joints. Some of us are built strong. We would have never have picked up an injury. When we fell out the tree as a kid, we bounced, got back up, and climbed back up. Others are built weak. Always turning an ankle on a kerb. Always in and out of hospital as a child due to breaking arms just falling over.

We are all made differently.

When it comes to Arsenal, the biggest reason we suffered so many injury problems over the years was simple. We had too many players who were naturally injury prone.

Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Samir Nasir, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs and, of course, Abou Diaby. The majority had injury issues when they joined us, injury issues whilst playing for us, and injury issues after leaving us.1551

You could perhaps carry one or two injury prone players. Talented guys who when fit, were
worthwhile keeping around. Arsenal did this when they had both Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie. The effect of the Dutchman being out was felt less due to having decent back up.

The trick is simple. Do not have too many injury prone players in your squad at one time. And if you do have one who often breaks down, ensure the back up players are of sufficient quality.

There is no point keeping someone like Abou Diaby around if his cover is Jack Wilshere. Then Jack Wilshere’s cover is Aaron Ramsey. The odds are all 3 players will be out at the same time. And then you are screwed. This happened more than once at Arsenal.

This year, however, feels different. We do not seem to be carrying as many naturally injury prone players in our squad as yesteryear.

The likes of Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta have left us. Jack Wilshere out on loan. Last year these 3 players scored 303 Premier League appearances between them. With Jack Wilshere making the only start.

But offloading all three, Arsenal have basically taken 3 guys out of the treatment room, off the PhysioRoom.com Premier League Injury Table, and instantly made Arsenal’s injury problems less problematic.

No changes in training, no changes in pitch, no horse placenta. Just getting rid of injury prone players has given us a fitter squad.

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Of the 6 players currently out injured, none of them would be described as injury prone.

Santi Cazorla is borderline. It is his 2nd long injury in 12 months, and how long it it taking him to get back fit is mystifying, nearly to Tomas Rosicky levels. Danny Welbeck is similar, But neither are yet at the level of the likes of Diaby, Rosicky, or Arteta.

The others out injured are not a worry.

Now by getting rid of those who are historically always out, it has meant that we have felt the impact of injuries less.

Santi Cazorla is out. in previous years, we would also have Arteta, Wilshere and Rosicky out. Which would have left us with just Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin in the middle of the park. Ramsey would then pick up an injury for being over played – and he has only just returned from 3 months out – and we would be screwed.

But Arteta, Wilshere and Rosicky have been replaced with Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka. Two players with good injury records. And what that has left us with is options, even when a couple of key players are out injured.

Per Mertesacker is another one. The Arsenal captain’s absence has not been felt as Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel has remained fit. Koscielny’s long term achilles and back issues seem to have cleared up.

So there is no genius reason why Arsenal have not suffered the injury problems this season that we have previous. It is just that we have less injury prone players.

Arguably just Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott.

The likes of Vincent Kompany, Daniel Sturridge, Andy Carroll & Jack Wilshere highlight that injuries are often more to do with the players own individual make up, rather than anything more serious than that.

Think of history. Arjen Robben, Darren Anderton, Jamie Redknapp, and many, many more. Players who were always injured. Whilst team mates barely missed a game.

For me, Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck are in last chance saloon. Both have now missed a lot of game time over 12 months injured. If they can not get fit, and stay fit, then they should be shipped out, replaced with players who can stay fit.

Chelsea won the league a few years back using hardly any players. They kept everyone fit. The same with Leicester last year. Spurs only fell away when they started to lose players in the last 10 games. Fitness is key in the Premier League. You need to keep your players fit.

And to keep your players fit, you need to recruit fit players.

It does not matter how talented you are, if you can not stay fit, you are useless.

Keenos

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