Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Arsenal show tremendous bouncebackability

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“But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” ~Rocky Balboa, 2006

In football, you will lose games. It is part of the game. Even during Arsenal’s unbeaten season of 2004, we lost games. We lost both legs of the League Cup semi final to Middlesbrough. And in April, we were knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League in the space of just 3 days.

It is not about losing games, it is how you bounce back from losing games and keep moving forward.

In 2004, we did not let that double cup disappointment damage us. We got up and continued fighting, and ended the season with a gold Premier League trophy.

This season we have had some horrendous results.

  • An opening day loss to West Ham
  • Double Champions League disappointment to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos
  • Cheated at Chelsea
  • Smashed at Sheffield Wednesday

But after each defeat, Arsenal have bounced back.

The West Ham loss saw us go to Crystal Palace and win – how long ago does signing “we are staying up” feel?

After the Chelsea fiasco, it was a mid week destruction of Spurs. Our greatest night so far this season. And after Olympiakos, We went on a run which saw us beat Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

It is only the Zagreb game where we failed to win again straight after – the defeat against Chelsea.

Iain Dowie first coined the word bouncebackability in around 2004. It was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the same year as greats such as ASBO and Chav.UntitledOver 10 years on from Dowie creating this word, it could become out buzzword for the season. For after every great defeat, Arsenal have a great victory.

And we showed it once more this weekend.

After our lowest point of not just the season, but a few years (probably since Bradford), we bounced back with a tremendous victory against Swansea.

OK, we rode our luck, Gomis bottling a one on one, and under other circumstances the 2nd goal would have been disallowed for a foul on a goal keeper, but 3-0 certainly did not flatter us.

It seems to be our new away tactic. It worked against Watford, and it worked again Saturday against Swansea. Defend. Let the opponents exhaust themselves, then hit them.

Whilst the pre-mentioned luck did play a part, it was world class goal keeping by Cech, and Bellerin running from London to Swansea quicker than it took my train to get home yesterday to get in to tackle Gomis as he rounded the goal keeper was not luck. Brilliant by both players.

Hector Bellerin could become Arsenal’s greatest ever right back.

And up next is away to Bayern Munich.

Arsenal can go to Munich without fear. Despite having been knocked out of the Champions League in both 2013 & 2014 against the German giants, they failed to beat us at the Allianz Arena on both occasions. An Arsenal victory and a draw the respective results.

The fans heading out there can expect a great week. Many of whom would have done an over nighter at Swansea, which in itself followed up a 3am return from Sheffield. These are the hard miles. And hopefully they are rewarded with a good performance on Wednesday.

And hopefully the fog does not delay their flights today too much!

Even if we go down the negative route, and end up getting spanked at Munich, we know this side has the mental strength to bounce back.

At Spurs in the League Cup, the discussion was “I would take the defeat against Chelsea to win tonight.” And it could be the same again. Would I take a defeat against Bayern Munich to guarantee a victory against Spurs? Of course I would. But let’s be positive.

Level on points with Manchester City
4 points ahead of Manchester United
8 points ahead of Spurs & Liverpool
14 Points ahead of Chelsea

We will lose more games this season. As will Manchester City. But remember, it is not how you lose, it is how you lose and move forward.

Keenos

 

Arsenal injury crisis and who will play against Swansea?

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Well it finally happened. After a positive few weeks with some brilliant victories, Arsenal have crashed and not quite burned. Taking the Sheffield Wednesday defeat out of it, Arsenal have another crisis to deal with. And it is a familiar old enemy.  Injuries.

I have lost count now how many season’s have been wrecked by injuries. Some of it is unlucky. Much of it is having too many players with poor injury records. Most of the issues stem from the squad being too small, too lightweight, under resourced.

And here we once more sit, only in October, facing our first injury crisis of the season.

With 8 players out, we top physioroom.com’s league table. Again.

It is the usual suspects out injured once more, leaving us short on both central midfield and on the right wing.1

We just about have the centre of the park covered, with Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil & Flamini available, but even then, we are just one injury from Glen Kamara being on the bench.

The worry for this weekend is the right side of midfield. 6 of the 8 injured have played on the wings in recent years. Alongside this, two of our fit midfielders (Ozil & Cazorla) could also cover there. But with the 7 outfield players that are injured, it leaves us dangerously short.

So what are our options?

Move Cazorla or Ozil, and play Flamini in the middle

Is Flamini good enough? Probably not. But it is the option that would keep the most experience in the side, and meaning that players are playing in positions they have played in before. My favourable one would be Ozil to go outwide and Cazorla to remain in the middle. The reasoning behind this is that we will need the attacking midfielder to drop deep, as neither Coquelin or Flamini are exactly great passers. Cazorla is superior to Ozil in doing this.

Also, Ozil is a little bit quicker than Cazorla, and more adept to playing on the wing.

We would lose some of our width, as Ozil will look to drop inside, however he would be interchangeable with Cazorla, and hopefully if he dropped inside, Cazorla would fill in outside.

An alternative is playing Calum Chambers central midfield alongside Coquelin.

Push a full back forward

On the right wing, we could start Debuchy at right back and push Bellerin forward. Hector Bellerin certainly has the pace to cause problems on the wing. And at worst, he would just need to get chalk on his boots. His pace is enough to cause a full back problems. It would give the side width. Giroud would be able to feed off his crosses and it would ensure the middle of the park remains strong. The big worry would then be Debuchy at right back. If Montero plays, he would rip Debuchy a new one.

Alternatively, we could play Gibbs on the left wing, with Sanchez moving across to the right. Monreal and Gibbs would be a bit more solid defensively than Debuchy & Monreal, but maybe not as good going forward. Gibbs ha splayed on the wing in his youth, and has often been used as a defensive substitute on that side of the park, and linked up well with Monreal. He can play there if needed.

Trust in youth

Joel Campbell (ok he is not young anymore) or Alex Iwobi could both play on the right wing providing cover. but both looked useless on Tuesday night.

Had Campbell put in a half decent performance, he would have got his opportunity. But he did not. same go’s for Iwobi.

Arsenal could look at trying to do a deal to recall Serge Gnabry, who Tony Pullis basically said will not start for WBA in the near future. It will not happen for this weekend, but Arsenal should explore the situation for forthcoming games.

Keenos

 

After last nights performance, is Arsenal Youth cupboard bare?

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Two blogs in two days. That is what having no sleep yesterday, and having shed loads of coffee today does to a man. Also having booked a day off work, it left not much else then to sit and contemplate yesterday’s performance.

In this mornings blog, I was heavily critical of the Arsenal youngsters that played. Iwobi, Kamara & Bennacer. All clearly out of their depth. Clearly not good enough.

Added to this, Arsenal have not exactly pulled up any trees in recent years in youth competitions, finishing bottom of the U18s last season and only 4 wins from 11 games (and to points off league leaders Chelsea), it is clear we have some issues. Although our U21s are currently played 5, won 5.

If Iwobi, Kamara & Bennacer are the best we have coming through, it is unlikely we will be developing the next Jack Wilshere any time some. It is just as likely that we will not be developing the next Emmanuel Frimpong either, by the standard set of those last night.

Saying that, this is only half the truth. When you actually dig down into Arsenal’s youth set up, including reading Jorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth site, it is perhaps easy to establish that Kamara, Iwobi & Bennacer are not the best youngesters coming through. And last night, the simple fact is, our best youth products were not available for selection.

Going through Arsenal’s loanees page and the aforementioned site by Jorge Bird, there is a list of 9 players all aged 20 or under, who did not play last night. All of whom have a brighter future than Kamara, Iwobi & Bennacer.

Hector Bellerin – I am sure had it not been for his progression into the first team which has seen him become, in my opinion, the best right back in the league, Bellerin would have played last night, and we would all be going on about his potential. Instead, he is the first name on the team sheet (actually, second as the goal keeper go’s first) and we talk about his ability now, rather than his potential. Still just 20.

Serge Gnabry – Kind of the forgotten man at Arsenal. He made is debut in the League Cup competition 3 years ago against Coventry in a 6-1 victory and the season after, looked to be making great strides, playing in 14 games in total, and getting a nomination for European Gold Boy. However, his 2014/15 never got up and running due to that Arsenal curse. Injury. This year, he finds himself off loan at WBA, where Tony Pullis recently said that Gnabry “just hasn’t been for me”. Whether it is Gnabry’s weakness at the breakdown, or because he is not the best scrummager, that has led to him being dropped by Pullis is not clear.

The lad is a clear talent. The effect of his injury has had on him we do not yet, and the year spent playing rugby for WBA will not help his development. But he is still just 20. That is 3 years younger than Joel Campbell and just a year older than Alex Iwobi. He is a stand out talent.

Next season, he will return to the Arsenal squad, probably taking Joel Campbell’s place, providing the back up on the wings for Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain & Walcott.

Gedion Zelalem  – Alongside Gnabry, he is another youngster who made his debut a few years ago. After a few solid pre season tours, he found last year, like Gnabry, curtailed by injury. Now on loan at Rangers, he is still just 18. Incredible for a player who has been at the club for so long.

His current loan deal is set to expire at the end of the year, but so impressed with him, Rangers are looking to extend that until the end of the season.

Last night, he surely would have provided the side with the vision and passing it sorely missed?

Chuba Akpom – When we let go Benik Afobe – whom many still complain about – it had nothing to do with Yaya Sanogo, and everything to do with Chuba Akpom. Nearly 3 years young, Akpom had all ready taken over Afobe in terms of talent when he was just 18. With just 3 goals so far this year on loan at Hull, he still has someway to go to fulfill his potential that at one time, had Barcelona sniffing around. He might not make it at Arsenal, but he is better than anything on show last night (and better than Sanogo).

Dan Crowley – Last night, we failed to create anything. I can not remember a single clear cut chance. After Oxlade-Chamberlain went off, it left Flamini as our midfield creator. Still just 18, he is a pocket dynamo. His loan spell at Barnsley was today cut short, with the press reporting this as ‘failing to make an impact’. However, with a lack of midfield options, he might find himself back at Arsenal and with the first team. Think Jack Wilshere. Just not as good.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – He of the very angry mother who last season was banned from the club after a bust up with club staff. If he was not any good, the club would have good rid after the issue – ala Jay Bothroyd – but they kept with him. He became the second youngest player to play for Arsenal in the Champions League last year against Galatasaray, where he played through the middle. Comfortable on the ball, he has power and pace and can pick out a path. Sadly, a loan deal with Ipswich stopped him playing. He has impressed their if you are wondering. And he is still just 18.

Isaac Hayden – At Hull alongside Akpom, the former U21 captain is still just 20. With 2 appearances to Arsenal to his name, the centre back / defensive midfielder would surely have been a better bet (and is a better prospect) than Glen Kamara.

Jon Toral – His future could well end up as being the answer to the quiz question “Which player joined Arsenal on the same day from Barcelona as club legend Hector Bellerin?” But for now, he is simply still a prospect. His career has not taken off as much as Bellerin, but he is a good player. He scored his first senior hat trick for Brentford last year during a loan spell. Currently at Birmingham, he is perhaps another who, whilst might not have a long term future at Arsenal, is certainly better than those who started last night.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide – Up until now, everyone we have discussed has been out on loan. Jeff is different. He is currently playing for France in the FIFA U17 World Cup. Just 17, he was this summers player that Arsenal fan’s over hyped after a few good performances in pre season.

I am sure we would have seen him in this year’s League Cup had it not been for drawing Spurs in the 3rd round, and him being away yesterday on International duty. If you want to see what we missed, he plays tomorrow for France against Costa Rica. I know nothing about him, but YouTube makes him look good.

Also currently at the tournament are 17 year old fowards Kaylen Hinds, Chris Willock & Stephy Mavididi, all of whom are their representing England. Add in the likes of Bielek (17), Dragomir (16), Bola (17), Fortune (16) & Nelson (15), all of whom this years League Cup was perhaps a year or two too early for their development (maybe Bennacer falls into this as well, he is, after all, just 17), we do have some decent youngsters at the club.

 

Last night was not a good example of the youngsters we have at the club. Due to different reasons, many of our top prospects were not available last night, leaving the likes of Kamara, Iwobi & Bennacer to be the best of the rest. All 3 would struggle to make an Arsenal U21 side. A side which, had it played last night, would probably have gone through to the next round of the League Cup.

Arsenal U21 side:

Masey
Bellerin Chambers Hayden Bola
Zalelem Crowley
Gnabry Jeff Naitland-Miles
Akpom

Bench: Huddart, Moore, Bielek, Toral, Willock, Hinds, Mavididi

Keenos