Tag Archives: She Wore

Patrick Vieira set for Arsenal return

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We wake up this morning that Patrick Vieira could be on the verge of leaving Manchester City this summer.

When Vieira joined the Manchester City coaching staff in 2011, having recently stopped playing for the club, many Arsenal fans were critical of Arsene Wenger and the club for not doing enough to bring the former captain home. At the time, I could understand why Vieira went straight from playing for City to joining their set up as Football Development Executive. A made up title to keep Vieira round, pay a high wage, and use him to attract players.

Since then, Vieira has reportedly become a decent coach. Now the reserve team and Elite Development squad manager of Manchester City, he has spent 3 years gaining his coaching qualifications, and is highly regarded.

All of the cards are now falling into place. With his contract expiring, and his coaching experience, and Vieira still living in the Hampstead mansion he owned when playing for Arsenal, the club need to make an offer to bring the former captain home to London, and take his place amongst the Arsenal coaching staff.

Early reports are that he could be on the way to Bayern Munich to manager their ‘B’ team. This just further highlights how highly regarded he is throughout football. Any offer from Arsenal would surely gazump any approach by Bayern Munich.

Whilst being a top player does not necessarily make you a top coach or manager (Roy Keane, Tony Adams), Vieira has shown ability, and just having him around the club would be a good influence on the young players within the squad.

With Robert Pires  employed by the club as an Ambassador, Thierry Henry having a larger involvement in the club whilst undertaking his coaching badge, Freddie Ljungberg set take his badges,  and Gilberto Silva having recently been invitedback to the club to do some coaching, the return of Vieira alongside these invincible’s could see Arsenal end up mirroring the Ajax set up.

Imagine having 5 invincible’s on the training ground on a daily basis. All that would be missing would be Dennis Bergkamp.

The time has come for Arsenal to pull out the stops and bring Patrick Vieira home.

Keenos

 

Where has Krystian Bielik gone?

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He was signed with a bit of a fan fare, many people quoting a single new paper article stating that we had signed the new Patrick Vieira. The hype became so great that a day after his signing, many Arsenal fans were calling for him to start in the FA Cup match against Brighton.

But since his signing, what has happened to Krystian Bielik?

The hype when we signed him was vastly unjustified. This was a barely 17 year old Polish midfielder who had only played a handful of senior games. Many people had built their views on the numerous papers and blogs which called him a ‘wonderkid’ and labelled him as the new Patrick Vieira.

Bielik

‘The new Patrick Vieira’ label had come from a single newspaper report, which every other newspaper then picked up on and quoted. This was then picked up by various blogs, and then it became a self fulfilling prophecy. Fans were getting excited, despite having never heard of him before December last year, and having never seen him play. The original article only labelled him as the new Patrick Vieira because he was tall and a teenager. I doubt they have ever seen him play.

The signing of Bielik seemed to be hit by delays and more delays. It should have been an easy deal to complete, but it took weeks of drawn out negotiations, resulting in us issuing a ‘Missing Persons’ Poster. It seems that Bielik is now making a habit of disappearing.

Despite all the hype, he has pretty much not been heard of since he joined. After the 1st week of people clamouring for him to start (although this was probably more due to our issues in the middle of the park than his talent), the hype seems to have quietened down (again, maybe this is due to Coquelin stepping up). So nearly 2 months after he signed, where has the New Patrick Vieira got to?

The youngster made his debut for the Under 18’s at the end of February, playing 60 minutes in a 3-1 defeat to Norwich – watched by Arsene Wenger – and then 75 minutes against Leicester a few days later.

He then went on to play the full 90 minutes for the under 21’s in a 1-0 defeat against Derby where he had a header cleared off the line. His performance was described as “quiet but tidy.”

Bielik did not play in the next U18’s match against Norwich (another defeat), nor in the 0-0 draw with Blackburn of the U21’s. It is clear that Arsenal are taking his progress slow.

It was unreasonable to expect him to go into the first team straight away. Arsenal are doing the right thing with him. There is no need to rush. 6 months training with the first team, and breaking through and performing with the youth sides will be good for his development. Do not expect to see Bielik near the first team soon. This is a talented young lad who Arsene Wenger has said will not play this season.

Keenos

 

Monaco, Sanchez, Ozil & Walcott

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Monaco

Last night Arsenal were not glorious defeat. Arsenal were not unlucky. It was not a result to be proud of. Ultimately, Arsenal were dumped out at the 2nd round of the Champions League once again. And we were victims of our own downfall.

Yes, 2-0 away at a side who had not conceded a home goal since November is a good result, and as a single game, it was an excellent performance, one of our best of the season, but the Champions League is over 2 legs, and having conceded 3 at home in the 1st leg, we did not deserve to go through.

We showed how average this Monaco team was last night and, infact, had finishing been better, both last night and at home, we could have scored 5 or 6. We should have scored 5 or 6. A 2-0 win away at Monaco should have been expected. It should have been building on a comfortable home victory. But we bottled it at home. That last second goal at the Emirates putting the nail in the coffin.

We are out and deserve to be so.

Spurs fans however need a reality check. For some time, we have known that there footballing lives is dictated by our failures, rather than their success, and their boasting about us being out, and them having made more quarter finals in recent years shows how small time they are. They got knocked out of the Europa League, are 7th in the league, lost in the League Cup Final, and are out of the FA Cup. Their season is over.

As things stand, Spurs will need need Arsenal to win the FA Cup for them to get into Europe next season. There is a sensible Spurs fan out there:

Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez is a brilliant player. He plays the game the way everyone should. Realising you have a talent, working hard at it, and playing with a smile on your face. You know his life is football. You get the sense he is more interested in kicking a ball about than the money in the bank.

At times this season, he has single handedly won games for Arsenal. But in his last 11 games, he has gone off the boil, with just 1 goal and 1 assist in that time.

It is natural for players to have peaks and troughs throughout their career. Even more usual is foreign players to have an average 1st season. The fact Sanchez started so brilliantly just further highlights his current dip of form.

The worry for me is Sanchez’s response to this dip in form. Rather than keeping it simple, playing himself back into form, Sanchez seems to be burying his head in and complicating his game. Last night was a perfect example.

Sanchez continually gave the ball away, continually ran into blind alleyways. Yes, he was fouled a lot, and wrongly booked for diving, but it was certainly his worst game in an Arsenal shirt so far.

At 74%, his pass completion was only better than Olivier Giroud, of our starting 11 – Cazorla, Ramsey & Ozil were all over 84%, Coquelin 94.6%. Yes, I know that passing is not his game, but 74% is very low, that is dribbling.

He only successfully completed 1 dribble, and was disposed more than any other player 0 bar Giroud, and with just 1 shot, which  was off target, he contributed little.

You could see last night why he does not suit Barcelona and why they were happy to sell him. He is not a team player. It reminds me of when you play FIFA online in the mode where you play as a single player. There is always someone in your team who every time they pick up the ball, they attempt to run it the length of the field and score. They usually mess up. Sanchez is that sort of player.

He needs to learn to get his head up, to notice his team mates, to play the simple pass. He does not need to try and win the game single handedly every time.

Despite the criticism, he is a quality player and will continue to get better.

Mesut Ozil

Whilst Alexis Sanchez seems to be immune to criticism, Mesut Ozil seems to be able to do nothing right in the eyes of most journalists and some Arsenal fans. Since he has returned from his injury, he has been in sensational form, and last night was no different.

The reports from last night would make you think Ozil had a stinker. Bet lets look at things:

Successful dribbles – 6 (Match high)
Passes – 101 (Only Cazorla completed more)
Pass completion – 84.2%
Kay passes – 2 (Match high)
Touches – 126 (Only Cazorla had more)
Crosses – 8 (Match high)

Yes, he might not do the defensive work load some demand, but that is not his game. Complaining that Ozil does not put in enough tackles is the same as moaning that Mertesacker does not put in enough crosses, our Bellerin does not make enough saves. It is not his game.

As for the shirt swap. Some people were up in arms over this, but in my opinion, if you are the one being asked to be swapped with, it is actually a good thing, as it shows your opponent believes himself to be inferior to you. Kondogbia asking Ozil to swap was very different to Santos asking van Persie to swap.

Theo Walcott

What to do with Theo Walcott. Since he returned from nearly a year out, he has struggled. Struggled to make the starting 11, struggled to make an impact when he come’s on.

The chances he has missed since returning from his injury are into double figures. Against West Ham he could have had a hat trick, last night he should have scored – hitting the post.

The problem is he plays on the edge of the game. Bar hitting the post last night, he did little else. In 25 minutes of football, he touched the ball just 4 times. In comparison, Gibbs was on the field for half the time yet had 21 touches.

I have long been a fan of Walcott, and 2 years ago he was one of the best players in the Premier League and had finally looked to have become a man, then he got injured.

He is now 26, and as examples of Michael Owen and Fernando Torres show, players start to slow down in their mid-late twenties, and if you have not developed other aspects to your game (as Giggs & Henry did) you will struggle. Walcott is now in that boat.

With one year left on his contract, Arsenal have a decision to make. Do they offer him the deal he wants, which, with his recent injury record and dip in form could be a waste of money in a year or so, or do Arsenal cash in this summer.

I feel it will be the later. I would not be too surprised to see Walcott moved on and Arsenal sign Raheem Sterling, who also has 1 year left on his contract. Or even a shock move for Gareth Bale.

The fact is, our right hand side is the weakest part of our attack. Walcott can be improved on. I think he will be improved on.

Keenos