Well, news has it that Wenger himself is declaring Rosicky highly unlikely to play this Saturday. Not an exciting proposition given that it has been my position to slowly work Jack/Theo back into the lineup once we had hung 3 on the little birdies… Really not happy about this news but I do have an idea and it is a bit risky which means it will in all likelihood never happen. Here goes…

Gervinho…..Giroud….AOC/Podolski

Ramsey….Cazorla….Arteta

Sagna….Kols….TV….Monreal

Fabianski

And here is my thinking: Arsenal don’t have a possession problem, generally speaking. They have a kick the fuckin’ ball in the net instead of slowly carrying the damn thing all the way there problem. This lineup, albeit a bit risky on a number of fronts, would really push us forward a bit and rely on the speed of our front guys to get back and help on D. That is what I would emphasize in the locker room too: push forward, possess and attack from the wings (sounds pretty much the same as usual) and IF/when we lose possession haul your ass back and help on D.

Here is what I like about that lineup and why I think it will work: Gervinho has been in form (keep his confidence up), Giroud keeps his man-presence in the middle and AOC brings that Walcott-like pace albeit fit and 100% healthy. I would suggest that it be Podolski but there have been rumors flying that he has some sort of injury (?) and is actually unavailable. Personally I would rather it be him because I think he is one of the few not afraid to cannon it from distance but AOC would do just as well for me if the German is truly unavailable. Ramsey (in my opinion) has been playing well as of late, you finally put Santi in his natural position and let him roam as he always does regardless of where you put him and Arteta continues to act as our CDM. The back stays the same (albeit without the BFG pursuant to his argh for fuck sake red card). If we go up quick and keep the pressure on you can always take Ramsey off and go back to your 5 man wide back line with Gibbs taking his place (who always seems to do a great job getting forward anyways) and you can stay sharp on the counter. Late in the game you bring Jack in for Santi and push Theo in for AOC (Theo in for AOC would also work if we find ourselves in a nil nil situation as well, same goes for the Jack/Ramsey swap).

To me, the above suggested lineup keeps the players who are 100% healthy and in form in the damn game. If you want to run Jack in once we are hopefully up big you could also sub him for Santi to give him a breather as well.

Right, more on this to come once we get a bit closer to the game and I should have some pre-match thoughts up here sometime Friday.

Double Impact (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Double Impact was probably one of my favorite movies when I was growing up. Who doesn’t like a double dose of Van Damme? It’s like a regular Van Damme movie only you get twice the ass kicking in every scene! That is hopefully what we have on tap over the next week as Arsenal takes on Norwich this Saturday and then turns around and plays Everton on Tuesday (and then off to Fulham 4 days later!). The next two matches are at home and both require us to inject a little Van Damme into our play.

First up, Norwich. We owe these guys. We already endured a loss to them earlier this season and with these tweetie birds coming to OUR stadium playing against OUR home crowd we should handle them the way Van Damme handles all his enemies: with a swift flying split kick to the face! Actually, can you imagine how awesome that would be to see Van Damme round house a canary across the room?  Really though, this game is extremely important and we HAVE to win to carry momentum into the quick turn around with Everton. Our “soft” exposure this season shows how quickly our confidence (and form) can swing and last thing we need is a loss coupled with an Everton team ready to jump us in the table. And this is why I don’t want to see either Theo or Jack in the starting lineup on Saturday. We need Arsenal (as the lineup looked the last two weeks) to dominate, pull ahead, put the game away and then give those two a few minutes to get re-aquianted to the pace of play so we can inject them straight away into the match with Everton (if needed?). With our team playing as they are right now (what is that feeling? confidence?) there is even the argument that if they dominate Norwich do you even risk changing the lineup against Everton? My answer is yes, yes you do…

Everton. We are going to be tired (emotionally, physically, mentally) from our win (oh God please let this be) against Norwich and the need for pace and the likes of Wilshere’s possession game could be exactly what we need against a team like Everton. They are the blue collar workers of the EPL. They don’t mind getting dirty, they do what they can to win, and they will definitely punch you in the face if you bad mouth their mother (notice I didn’t say wife). That is why we have to inject pace, possession and the likes of a fully fit Theo (who maybe needed a bit of a mental break and less pressure) and Jack (who just physically probably needed the break after the shit hits that guy seems to take-c’mon ref!) in order to keep Everton where they belong; solidified and stable in the mid table.

Look, this is a tough call heading into the weekend. Right now Arsenal are playing well enough to win without the likes of Jack/Theo. The current lineup seems to have a solid understanding of their game right now adding in some growing confidence and they can smell the Champions League qualification (oh it would be SO great to slip in again this year while gut punching Sp*rs out!). If you are Arsene, do you risk messing with that chemistry? Do you tinker just because you have arguably (I’ll give ya Wilshere but Theo has been a bit off lately) better options coming back? In baseball, when we would get on a winning streak you didn’t mess with it until you lost. However, here, I think the added likes of Jack, more than Theo, is where we can tinker without messing with the chemistry. The guy is a proven worker and ego is not a part of his game. Theo, however, could be the right amount of pace if, and God help me that I am about to say this, he would interject a little more of Gervinho’s attacking style into his play (and couple it with Theo’s own foot which is a much more spot on shot on goal).

This is where the “in Arsene we trust” really comes into play. Love him or hate him, the lineups we roll out over these next two games will determine an enormous outcry heard ‘cross the world for Arsenal fans if we don’t win them both. Truth is, at this point I don’t care what lineup is strung out there so long as by Tuesday night we have 6 points to claim from the two matches.

On another note, there is an interesting bit on the possibility of Arshavin retiring on ESPN (who the hell knows how true it is). I wasn’t a huge follower at the time he played a lot but in the few minutes he played this year there were some moments where he definitely still showed that he belonged on the EPL pitch. Very sad to see that he didn’t get regular playing time and I feel like he might have done well to be pulling minutes on one of the lower tabled clubs. Anyways, if he wants to move on then good luck to him and I hope he discovers the joy of the game soon again.

Not much to report on here Monday morning but I did fancy the results a bit from yesterday. I was really hoping a rejuvenated (?) Sunderland side could hold on to that 1 goal lead against Chelsea but not so much. Sp*rs then saw fit to equalize late against Everton and that result really had a positive effect on the standings as with a game in hand we can actually leap frog Sp*rs into 4th with a win and keep Everton from gaining ground on us.

I am hoping this current run into the finish does not become the new norm for Arsenal. Last season we saw a thrilling finish that had us jump into 3rd far too late in the season via some Herculean efforts by he who shall not be named. This year we are absent a dominant striker and find a much more cohesive team effort leading the charge with a new hero each week. That being said, I look back on our schedule and wonder what could have been had we just eeked out a few more points that were dropped needlessly earlier in the season:

• 8-18-12 (date)- Arsenal (away) 0 – Sunderland (home) 0: Easily should have netted a goal here. Dominated possession, tons of shots on goal. However, Arshavin came on late and actually provided a spark so that speaks to what the hell was going on at the time… (+2 points)
• 8-26-12- Stoke 0 – Arsenal 0: Almost an exact replay of our game with Sunderland. Arsenal the better side, dominated possession, plenty of chances (I recall a serious miss by Gervhino in this one) but no dice. Stoke always a tough play for us but we were at  home and gave this one away… (+2 points)
• 10-20-12- Arsenal 0 – Norwich 1: Yet another frustrating one to watch. Plenty of missed chances (Gervinho whiffing on one) and a reminder of our serious inconsistency to start the season (not entirely unexpected given all the new players) but we should have at least left with a tie here… (+1 point)
• 11-10-12- Fulham 3 – Arsenal 3: Ah yes, the one that really got away. This was an exciting and frustrating match to watch with Arsenal never quite putting Fulham away and with our final chance to take 3 at home coming down to the missed Arteta penalty. We had lost momentum and honestly this was a serious mental loss for us at the time even though we came away with 1 point (at home)… (+2 points)
• 12-1-12- Swansea 2 – Arsenal 0: No. This one pissed me off big time. 2 late goals by Michu and big misses on our end. Ramsey was the bright spark to this game but Arsenal gave up too much at home. A tie was the minimum we needed here and should have earned it… (+1 point)
• 1-30-13 Liverpool 2 – Arsenal 2: This was an incredibly exciting match and I had a lunch bet with a Liverpool friend riding on this one. What started off with me cussing and kicking the cat across the room had me jumping for joy as the tides turned after half. While either team could have won this one, Arsenal at home should have been enough to walk away with the victory… (+2 points)

Well, there ya have it. We could be sitting with a total of +10 on our current points haul and be by and large considered locks for Champions League at this point in the season. Granted, I admit that there are other games we might have dropped or left more points than we received (the 1-1 tie with Southampton on January 1?). Additionally, there are other games that we may have grabbed more points from but these matches stand out to me as the obvious ones where we played well enough to win but walked away with less than deserved.

Oh what could have been…

Thanks to WatchESPN I plan to put the ManU/City game on in the background today at work (some days my job really has some serious perks).

Cheers.

Well, on what appeared to be a beautiful sunny day (with great vocal support by our fans) Arsenal almost did the unthinkable (although more par for the course this year) and dropped points. If not for the constant clearing of legitimate WBA chances by what amounted to a back line of 6 in the end, Arsenal may have walked away with 1 point instead of the 3 they deservedly earned.

Things started well enough with Ramsey providing decent pace and the entire front line doing well to put pressured on West Brom. There were some early frustrating issues, Sagna’s crossing (or lack thereof) for instance, but it was Arsenal’s Ivorian hope that help strike gold (Gervinho could be heard yelling, “damn right it was a beautiful pass!”-we all know that was a shot amigo). It was great to see Rosicky put not one, but two (2!?) in today. The man did his best RVP (he who shall not be named) impression yet.

The build up on both goals was great and Arteta needs to be credited for an almost 60 yard pass onto a rushing Gervinho. I am still not sure though if Gervinho really meant to shoot that first bullet at Rosicky’s head or not; don’t care in the end as I am just happy someone was on the other end of anything Gervinho! The only truly frustrating miscue came by way of the man that up to that point I thought did a great job: Ramsey. The lay off and touch play between Cazorla and Giroud was brilliant in the 43rd minute. We have seen this relationship between them before and I really hope it continues to blossom for year to come. Sadly, Ramsey’s first touch after the duo’s flirting was a bit much and what should have been an easy strike turned to the equivalent of a muffed PAT (otherwise known as a Gervinho impression). That said, I still liked what I saw from Ramsey today and believe the added depth of his play will benefit Arsenal the rest of this year and into the next when we get back to playing for, you know, hardware (what?!).

Now on to my real issue with this game: Per’s awful red card. No, it was well earned. What was awful about it was his tact in that moment. Putting aside the fact that he just got punked (you can see him looking to the sideline in a moment of prayer/desperation that a flag would go up), I am more pissed at the idea of his decision making  after he got outplayed. Please, someone, explain to me his logic in fouling and risking getting a red card when up 2 nil? What harm would have occurred to have just continued to keep pressure on Shane Long when he played the ball, play the odds that he might miss the shot anyways (or have it blocked by Fabianski) and play on without risking being sent off causing your team to play down a man the rest of the match?

Here is the way I see it:

Worse case if you allow Long to continue without the hard challenge: goal scored but you keep 11 men on to finish the game.

Best case: he misses anyways and you dodge a bullet albeit I still write some shitty things about how I can’t believe you start for your National squad and while you are tall your brain has turned to mush from altitude sickness.

Instead, we had the worst of the worst: red card, penalty scored, play down a man for 20+ minutes and just barely (BARELY) scrap out a win. Just bollucks if you ask me. This was a tactical error made worse by bad judgment. Bad form Fräulein. Look, Per has been fairly solid for most of the season even though our backline has gone through some changes and a series of matches with complete boneheaded decisions (still can’t tell if it is the players or the coaches) but I expect more out of a guy as experienced as Per. I am reminded of the scene from the movie A League Of Their Own (just don’t, I know there can be some jokes made about me here) where Tom Hanks’ character is yelling at one of his outfielders for throwing the ball to the wrong base and allowing a run to score needlessly.

The point is not that Per caused the game to be lost but rather that his move caused the dynamics of the game to completely shift and almost cause it to be lost (save for some serious misses by Lukaku, thank goodness that guy didn’t start the match, and the rest of the WBA side). In the end, I am just damn happy we walked away with 3 points and definitely did not have this in mind when I figured it would be a “tough test”.

Now if we can see those above us slip up I will resolve myself to be made even happier.

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! (Photo credit: Dave Robinette)

Match day is almost here and I really can’t wait. For us west-coasters, I’ll be setting my alarm to get up and catch the match early Saturday morning. In truth, I am just happy that Fox Soccer is carrying the game.

If you recall, WBA gave us some trouble earlier this year and it was only by way of Arteta converting two penalties that we pulled out the victory. Additionally, there was that bit of a flop by Santi that gave us one of those penalties and it is rather nice to see that he hasn’t done something of the like since then (God knows they will bring it up, replay it, talk about it and endlessly analyze it before the match).

I believe that WBA away is going to be a tough test for us. Though we have been playing well the last few weeks, with a bit of added pressure, we have to win to keep pace and hopefully pass Chelsea or Sp*rs (hopefully both). We seem to like to drop points we shouldn’t this year and that is my concern here. No significant lineup changes are contemplated at this point so we should have roughly the same mix of souls from the Reading match. It will be interesting to see if ol’Arsene sticks with the same lineup or goes with a bit of a change. My hope is that he throws the same bunch out there and gives Santi the power to move as he wishes (please just put him back in the CAM position).

With regard to Gervinho, if confidence is really all he needs then starting another match up top should be enough to quell his little boy issues. If Arsenal struggle early then we get into the whole bit about do we attempt to stick it out for the rest of the game (showing “confidence”) or pull the changes and do whatever is necessary to get the 3 points (yes please). For this Arsehole, I am really hoping Arsene runs the exact same lineup out there and tells Gervinho to keep on truckin’ at the defense. It seems that with the seasonal gelling that has occurred (why the F does this always take them so long?) I think the rest of the team can handle the Ivorian strikers miscues without losing “confidence”.

There was also a bit of concern that Nacho (libre) would be kept out because of his knee knock last week but reports are that he has recovered well enough to play. Personally, I think his ego was hurt more than his knee after that shitty misplay on D. All things aside, I would be happy to see either Nacho (libre) or Gibbs out there.

On a positive note, ESPN has been reporting that Jack and Theo may be fit enough to return for the Norwich match. Honestly, I really don’t want to see these guys rushed back into the bench or lineup for that matter; especially if they are not 100% fit. There is no reason to believe that Arsenal can’t handle WBA and Norwich without them and I would rather have a fully fit, fully rested, fully prepared lineup for the run ins with Everton, Fulham, and Man U. We have to get at least 7 points from those matches to keep the pressure on those above us in the table. My fear is that if we pull a Gervin-NO against WBA that Arsene will be tempted, or the players themselves, to push into the lineup too soon against Norwich and then find themselves not playing the rest of the season. Given that Norwich is at home, I would rather our English stalwarts return for the home match against Everton than Norwich.

That’s all for today. Post match analysis to come Saturday morning.

Arsenal 4 – Reading 1

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home! Oh… right… Well, that was one game I rather enjoyed this year. Arsenal finally came out and dominated a lower team from beginning to finish (except for that bone headed defensive lapse where Monreal Nacho-ed himself out of position). Really though, a pleasure to see Arsenal play a complete 90 minutes and control the opposing side like a top tier (?) team should.

I’ll be honest here, I was a bit worried before the game started. First, the lineup. I really thought that AOC had “played” his way into the starting lineup. Additionally, I really was a bit annoyed by trying to place (squeeze) Carzola up left. The guy is a straight up CAM. Just leave him there dammit. Glad to see the interchange between him and Rosicky didn’t bugger it all up. Third. Gervinho starting. Shit. It’s ok, maybe someone will be able to be near or far post to put one of his shitty shots through goal. In the end, the lineup worked and we nabbed 3 needed points (could this be the year of the Chelsea collapse? They do have the makings for one-disgruntled manager, slim lead in points, their own version of Gervinho in Torres).

All things aside though, I still can’t stand Gervinho even after his fairly (teeth clenched) solid game. He did quite a good job attacking a much weaker side, put one into the net and provided 2 for others but the guy STILL screwed things up at times and had me wanting to put the five dollar remote through the screen of a thousand dollar TV!

Example 1: great movement in the 21st, solid run up, and then scuff the shit out of the shot. Serious kudos to the Reading defender as he obviously knew how to play his man (sit back. sit back. wait. wait. you know he will do it. and… yep, scuffed shitty shot. I’m a genius).

Example 2: 24th minute, great run up again, solid movement and… wait for it… oh! there is the Gervinho I know! Scuffed shitty shot!

Example 3: 42 minute, front of goal, shot over the top…

Example 4: Shitty wide open header… You get the point here.

Gervinho could have EASILY had a hat trick in this one against seriously inferior opponents (they hung 5 on us earlier this year? sheesh…). And look, I have to be honest here, I can’t stand him. I want him gone. I enjoy his attacking style (sometimes and albeit only against subpar opponents) but he scrubs WAY too many of his shots and in this year alone I still have nightmares of his shitty shots no more than 10 yards out in the middle of the box. Not to mention that he seems to have brain farts right in the middle of his run up at goal (ok. slip past this guy. done. dribble here. beat that guy. OH SHIT! the goal! what do I do! oh! shoot! wait?! what just happened?!) If there was a team calling for his services I would happily oblige and I hope Arsene does so this summer.

On another note, I haven’t touched on the Diaby news because I just can’t bear the thought of what this guy has had to deal with. He really looked sharp at the beginning of the season, got injured again, never really looked the same and now he is out long term again. For the Yanks who don’t know, he is basically the Stuart Holden of Arsenal and I just want the guy healthy for an entire year to see what he can do for the club. Well, much luck to him but I think this may be the end of his Arsenal career because at some point we will just have to move on (and so will he).

Oh, and don’t even get me started about the missed call on Giroud. It was a penalty. Everyone knew it was and if the score were nil-nil at that point I think it would have been called. That said, the ref surely had his head up someone’s arse because even a blind man would have saw that one.

Alright arseholes, until next time. Enjoy the shot of Gervinho hopefully taking the long walk off into the sunset…

Gervinho (Photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald)