Champions league secured, Team spirit Up and A season whose fate is in our hands..

 

 What seemed a very tricky run of games was successfully navigated by Arsenal. Prior to the Everton game i wrote last week that the results from Goodison Park and the return leg of the Besiktas tie will go far in shaping our early season outlook. Fast forward 7days and we have done just that. We picked a valuable point away at Merseyside then closed out the Besiktas game despite facing the worst scare of elimination we have ever faced at this stage of the competition. We were lucky in many respects over the two legs and credit to Besiktas who pushed us all the way, but at the end of the day we showed that our 17years longevity in the Champions league isn't just talk. There's bags of experience in this team and when the going got tough we called on that experience to bail us out. 

Our reward following that game was to be placed in a rather difficult group with Dortmund, Anderlecht, and Galatasary. 13-14 points i reckon will be enough to see us top this group..Something we absolutely must endeavor to accomplish this time around seeing that our previous finishes in 2nd place at the group stage has not helped our cause in the tournament. We must see ourselves as capable of fighting with the best the continent has to offer and beating them. Athletico Madrid last year showed us that it isn't always all about the size of your budget or the Big names in the team.  A compact unit possessing the right Talent and focus is what you need far more than the egos. Its been said in some quarters in the media that its pointless celebrating being in a tournament for 17 years without having won it. Even though these haters will like to deny they don't know  its the consistency in participation that we are celebrating, i have to admit we have underachieved in the Champions league viz-a-viz our now regular 2nd round exit year in year out. We must do something about that. I believe in the quality of our team and can say quite confidently that on our day we can beat anyone over  two legs. Its time to make a proper quest for this trophy, for the benefit of the Club, our Great Manager and the fans. So how do we do this is the big question.

We no doubt have boosted our confidence to high levels with our early season results. Our form on the pitch in terms of cohesion can be better but things could also have been worse. The team still needs to gel better upfront and with Giroud out long-term, that  fluency is what we need to find fast. Alexis Sanchez was superb against Besiktas at home, showing the kind of finishing and guts that made me an admirer from his Barcelona days. I remain one of those who reckons he'll be a great signing for us because at Arsenal he will get the regard, trust and respect that the Catalan side never really gave him in his 3years there. The weekend game with Leicester will see a very confident Arsenal side looking to grab the maximum points to anchor itself at the top-end of the table. And with the Transfer window 2days away from slamming shut (as i write this Saturday Morning), our fate this season can still be said to be in our hands.

 Do we buy to offset the Giroud absence going forward? or do we as the boss says in this interview make do with the crop of hitmen we already have.  My feeling is that we must find someone who will come in and give our opponents that fear factor up front. The guys we have Podolski, Walcott , Sanchez and Sanogo all have their qualities but don't need reminding what a big signing can do for the morale of the squad. Plus knowing our Injury curse, any of Poldi, Theo or Sanchez may cop a niggle (God forbid) leaving us in regrets when things start to hot up. If we agree that our sights are set on bigger things than the FA cup this season then we must spare no effort to realize just that. Monday is deadline day and at Center Back we need one more man , a DM (defensive midfeilder) too and then that forward conundrum needs to be buffered. Maybe the Boss will do the Versatile player who will combine the CB/DM roles and then get in a striker if he can get the right price. Fingers crossed we come out stronger with the right buys to help us achieve our goals..later

That rare occasion when a draw feels like a victory

 

This match at some point looked like a mirror image of the tie in April..Everton looking Rampant and Arsenal looking limp indeed. It was almost unbelievable to watch. The first half was as bad as you can imagine,we enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges with a couple of half chances falling the way of Chamberlain. However Everton looked more purposeful going forward while on the other hand we didn't look like a team who were sure how to go about finding the net.Alexis was all over the place, while Ozil on the left didn't look Dangerous at all. It was the kind of game you just prayed we would get the first goal to help bring a bit of calm to our game but that didn't happen. 

The manner of the goals we conceded were avoidable, first it was Chambers with a careless foul on a player who was going nowhere resulting in the set piece that saw them nick the first goal. 2nd goal was one the officials didn't exactly cover themselves in glory. First an obvious foul on Mertasacker went totally ignored.. then the offside call which given the linesman's position (which was perfectly in-line) should have been given. So 2-0 down and it looked like lightening was about to strike twice in the same location.

Cue the 2nd half changes where Sanchez was excused and Giroud who's more familiar with the rigors of games such as this was brought in to add presence in the box. It paid instant dividend as his first contribution was to lash a volley just wide of the crossbar. A warning of what was to come. Camped in their half, we stoked up the pressure on Everton with chances falling to Giroud and Ramsey but none taken. Just when it was starting to look like that lifeline would not be coming, Ramsey was first to meet a good cross by Carzola and made it 2-1 in the 83rd minute. At that point,with our tails up i kind of knew we'd draw the game..especially as Everton were looking exhausted. And so it proved, in the 89th min Giroud climbed above Distin to connect with a well floated ball from Monreal from the left & nodded us level.

Overall i'll give the performance a C-.. Our turnovers in midfield were astronomical, many of them left us badly exposed. We need to find a way to cut them out somehow or it'll be Etihad all over again whenever we meet another top side. However a point is always welcome compared to no-point at all, especially if its a point drawn from the jaws of defeat like last night. All attentions shift now to Wednesday as another tricky battle awaits.

Match Preview: Everton vs Arsenal ( A chance to remind the merseysiders who's Boss)

 

To say the next two games in Arsenals calender are season defining will be stating the obvious...beginning with Everton today we've got to start shaking off whatever is left of the cobwebs of pre-season left in our setup. Tuesday night was in my opinion not of the standard you'd expect from us;and for all the positive post-match talk Arsene dished out after the game, in his heart he won't have been happy with that performance. Many have attributed it the effects of new players bedding in, others have said its the world cup hangover..while some have even blamed the pitch in Turkey. Irrespective of the source of our lack of cohesion, one thing is for certain, rustiness or not we're going to have to find a way to positively Navigate Everton as well as Besiktas to give our season the early boost it needs.

Goodison park marked for me one of the dark points of last season. A hapless Arsenal team lacking in confidence were ruthlessly put to the sword by an Everton side that seemed ready to finally fulfill its Top 4 aspirations. They thoroughly deserved their win on the day and in 90mins of play had managed to expose at the time what was a 1-track, and rigid Arsenal game that lacked a Plan ''B''.  Looking bereft of ideas Upfront and shaky at the back ,Vermaelen and Per were unable to respond to the questions asked by the rampaging Lukaku resulting in a resounding 3-0 defeat... But this time around its a fresh season and a chance to show the Hosts that last season was just a one-off. We have added to our team and on the back of our trophy wins, aren't the diffident side that visited them in April. We will be out to show our fresh impetus to top this Division and lay down the early marker of our title ambitions but questions marks will arise with regards to whether the lessons of our last defeat were Learnt. Their game plan of Lukaku on the Right against Monreal proved devastating, as time after time that Physical mismatch exposed us to repeated incursions from Barkley and Mirallas who were constantly making runs from deep to stretch us by exploiting the spaces that kept popping up.

The bad news is that Gibbs will not be available for this tie and his Spanish deputy will have to fill in again. Its a no-brainer to say the Englishman copes better with the physical side of things better than his deputy, but if  Chamberlain starts he could well provide the much needed help Monreal will need to prevent any re-occurrence of last term. 

The other big question in our camp is the probability of including the Germans in the game Today. The boss expects them to be ready to play but will need to take a further look to determine who will be included.  Giroud has come under some heavy fire also in the wake of his indifferent performance on Tuesday and it'll be interesting to see who gets the nod between him and Sanogo as the attack spearhead. Sanchez has worked hard and has shown a willingness to run his socks off for the cause but bar Mancity at the community shield he has struggled to stamp himself in games. The League points have already began to count though and we'll need him to acquaint himself with the team's wavelength a.s.a.p. A win will definitely see us in first or second position at the end of the other Week 2 fixtures, but more importantly it is the Mental fortitude we emerge out of this game with that will go a long way in determining our fate come Wednesday next week. C'mon Arsenal

Arsenal overcome early setback to Edge 3 points against Crystal Palace

 

 Ok Not as comfortable as we would have liked but in this League there's no such thing as an entitlement... what you see is what you get..like i said in the preview i didn't think Palace would be a walkover and so it proved. No sooner had the game kicked off did we realize what we were in for..Palace set up themselves for the familiar defensive lock-out, with perhaps the hope of snatching the odd goal and pulling of a Swansea vs Man U on us. We labored to create anything tangible and like it happens all the time during games like this, the lack of goals started to create tension in the stands that trickled over across to the players on the pitch. Misplaced pass after misplaced pass became the order of the day and suddenly we weren't looking so comfortable as we did in the Charity Shield. Arsene started with Sanogo as the point man in attack and though the Young french-man has shown promise in that department, today he was comprehensively dealt with. The combined experience of  Hangeland and Kelly ensured he had no joy upfront. It was Hangeland who gave Crystal palace the lead with their first Corner, steering a back header into the bottom corner after catching our defenders cold. If our game was off, going by how ponderous we had played until then, going behind only made things worse as we were now suddenly facing defeat in the eye. But Up-stepped the man who grabs big-goals when we need them.. Koscielny. The CB timed a lovely chipped freekick from Sanchez and headed us level..1-1..cue relief across the emirates.

Crystal palace for all their graft and hard work resorted to time wasting which infuriated me..if they hadn't done that, i would have been more than happy to give them credit for their performance. Their greatest undoing though was going a man down with less than 4 minutes to go. Jason Puncheon receiving his marching orders after a second bookable offence. That event would go on to have a significant influence in the final few minutes of the game which saw the visitors under massive pressure. Because  when a loose ball fell in the box after a corner wasn't properly dealt with, an unmarked Aaron ramsey poked home the winner 2-1, and the points were ours. Puncheon may have been marking Ramsey had it been 11 v 11...

so 3 points and after the weekend run of results we sit in 2nd position behind Mancity who tamed Newcastle 2-0. For us all our attention shifts towards securing a UCL place by dispatching Besiktas. It looks on paper another easy tie, but Turkish sides are no pushovers...The build up to that will be put up later..until then ciao