The Inevitable Outlay
Yes yes, I slacked. I know. Life gets busy, yadda yadda yadda. It happens. Deal with it peoples. What matters is I still watch the games and arbitrarily dress up my child in Arsenal gear… he is only 4… months old. Doesn’t matter. Start early I say (something Wenger has yet to learn in transfer dealings).
Well, it has been a good run/start. We have capitalized on our excitement with the Ozil signing and rushed out to a nice start. You can’t be too disappointed with 12 points from 5 games (boy that turd we dropped to Aston Villa really hurts now…). We sit atop the table early on and have even opened our Champions League up with a win. Aside from the fact that players keep dropping like hornets after gorging on meat we are sitting pretty (looking at you Theo).
We really have to be worried about our depth. We started a young-in because of a banged up Theo. Santi was another game-revealing scratch. Aside from that I am going completely bonkers over Ozil’s play and Ramsey acting out like a straight up beast! Seriously, Rambo is flat out playing like a stud right now. Multiple times throughout the game against Stoke I said aloud, “Damn Ramsey is looking good”. The lad is simply out-hustling other players and is quickly capitalizing on the lack of depth. At this point, I don’t see Wenger sitting him save for a brief respite spell or two. Until then, if he is healthy and rested keep marking that man as the little engine that could.
Now, we have to be a bit worried about pushing through the schedule. At this point, tater totts is the only reputable team we have beaten (aside from Marseille) and this Wednesday sees us up against West Brom in the Capital One Cup (oh boy, here is where depth would be nice). That game then gets followed up with a visit to Swansea Saturday and another quick turnaround with Napoli visiting us Tuesday for Champions League AND back at West Brom for the Saturday… Any serious knock to our starters really puts us in a bind and sees our youth getting shoved straight into the limelight. Four (4!) games between now and October 6 (2 weeks essentially, you could say we have 5 games in 2 weeks given we just played Sunday-and if you are one of those buggers that think the week starts on a Sunday and not a Monday; WTF is up with the Calendar anyway?).
Now, given my satellite coverage I welcome the addition of so many games to my DVR. However, I don’t welcome them to a thin lineup getting thinner by the week. Our one consolation is the apparent fitness of Arteta (Hey! Look! It’s like a new signing!) and his inclusion in the last game. I would be a whole hell of a lot happier to have Arteta, Santi, Rosicky, Diaby (Ha!) and Poldi back and featuring regularly (shit is this how other teams operate?!). Oh what a feeling it must be to have a full and healthy team.
Love me some DVR.
I get it now. I finally understand the value of DVR. Truth is, before a little one, I could watch what I wanted when it was actually on. That’s right. I would sit through a commercial or catch Sons of Anarchy when it was actually aired (same goes for The League). But something happened once Jackson was born; I lost “my” time and time became very, very precious. Which meant that “my” time is early morning or late at night; which works well for catching EPL games when they air live.
We have a unique problem as ‘Merican supports of English clubs. Our ability to catch games is limited by: 1. Whether the single network here in the States will cover the match. 2. The actual time of the game (those early, early games are rough without DVR) 3. Sportscenter (now that the EPL is covered the scrolling scores can pretty much kill the anticipated outcome of a replay; which, mind you, is a lot of the excitement in soccer as we anticipate the buildup or extreme emotional explosion of a goal).
And so, as a newer parent, I am joyous over my little DVR machine and its wonderful ability to capture Arsenal (a big thanks has to go to NBC for also picking Arsenal games early on). It is a wonderful feeling know that if you chose to play with the little one while he is happy and awake (which is all the time in our case-fatherhood can be its own blog) that the game is there waiting for me. This weekend I get a double whammy of a game to boot (wait… triple instead?): Arsenal game. Ozil debut. Texas A&M vs. Alabama. Oh goodness this is a great time of year for watching sports.
As a completely unrelated note, I am a die hard Aggie as well (literally born there) so this was going to be a big weekend. It is of grand proportions now that we come back from the Interlull with a side sitting in 4th and a tremendous new addition to watch. It doesn’t get much better than this people. The signing of Ozil for us supporters is big. Not just in terms of $ but message, emotion, future, etc. The list goes on and on at this point. This is my first real big signing to experience with Arsenal too. I “joined” the club during a dry time. What I know is the drought. What is familiar to me is penny pinching, cost saving, butt puckering financial moves with nothing more than a nice shinny new stadium and uniform changes. My love of club is rooted in hope (which is probably why this trophy drought is easier for me to experience because it is all I know of Arsenal).
And so that is why I am so ever excited for the arrival of Ozil. I know the message that it sends. I know the glorious history others experienced and what I get to be is excited. We got quality. We spent some real money. Now, let’s experience it.
Without further rumbling, let’s get on with the pre-match thoughts:
1. Ozil should start. He is hungry. He is fit. Wenger knows his footballing abilities and has followed him long enough to know that his game fits seamlessly within ours. Not only that, Wenger has the added pressure of putting his $47 million man on the pitch and in this case I don’t think that “super sub” is what he is thinking (unless he is hungry… and near a subway or jimmy johns). To me, Ozil is the German Cazorla. His presence is going to be felt throughout the game and it is needed from the get go. Plus, I don’t think the conversation Wenger had with him included “easing” him into the English came; not exactly the “confidence” that Ozil probably anticipates from Wenger.
2. We are still thin up front and Ozil in the staring lineup means Wenger can push Cazorla up top (like he did almost all last fucking season-still not a fan of it now). While I don’t think Cazorla fits up there, I think there is more reason for it now. First off (my defense), Cazorla was our ignition on the pitch, which to me means that he is not our winger but our facilitator-so put him in the middle. NOW, we have two guys that can fill that role: Cazorla AND Ozil. Plus, Ozil’s vision for the game is impecable. I don’t need to get into the stats. The guy plays ridiculous team football (basically Wenger’s wet dream). Thus, I get it given our thinness in the striking game up top. I don’t excuse it (we need another striker up top, yadda yadda yadda) but I think given our squad it makes sense… for now.
3. Let’s have some fun. The team is excited. We should play off that excitement. Which means Ozil should start and goodness gracious can you imagine if the lad scores a goal or puts one through to Giroud/Walcott/et al?
Right… lineups:
The Shez
Sagna Kols BFG Gibbs
Ramsey Ozil Rosicky
Walcott Giroud Cazorla
There is an argument to be made that Gibbs could be swapped for Monreal if we need someone more defensively inclined but man I just love Gibbs’ workhorse attitude and the way he can get forward so I think I stick with him in this one. The Shez (seriously not sure how I want to refer to him but I am tired of looking up the spelling of his last name and no, I’m not going to memorize it) probably should start here until Viviano actually settles in and starts to challenge for staring time. I give Ramsey and Rosicky the nod over everyone else for two reasons: endless effort and rewarding that effort (also they have been playing well as of late). The two of them seem to have stepped up (especially Ramsey early on this year) and in the wake of losing Arteta and Jack’s recent nagging issues I think the starts are well deserved. I also appreciate the cover that they can both offer (let’s be honest, who the F else are we going to start given our depth?!).
Here is where I think things can be a bit crazy when it comes to formation though. I don’t see a natural 4-4-2 playing out. Something more along the line may be a 4-1-3-2 maybe? All I know is that from a practical sense Cazorla drifts back, Giroud sits in the middle and Ozil can act as the fulcrum for all the ticky tacky business that hopefully ends in actual shots on goal (ie. goals).
The Flame, Jack, Sanogo, Jenks, Monreal, Viviano etc. all make up part of the bench and hopefully by the time any of them hits the pitch we are up 3 nil.
Odds are, everything I just said is bollocks. Ozil sits. Jack starts (re-injures self). Diaby makes the bench (only to re-injure himself getting caught up in his training suit). And we somehow win on a BFG header in stoppage time… Well, as long as we get the 3 points.
Whammy!!!
RM 2 – 0 MILAN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Oh it’s a good day to be a Gooner. Things started well over the weekend with our one-nil victory over our high spending rivals and concluded with Wenger pulling a fast one on us all with a big, fat signing of some German dude that apparently knows how to play soccer. So big and fat, mind you, that Wenger broke our previous transfer record and put this one up there with the second highest signing in BPL history. To say I am excited about Ozil’s arrival is a bit of an understatement. This is big. BUT, before we get to the divine addition, we have to bathe in the glory that is a victory against our hated rivals.
Things started well enough for our boys and the link up play early on was looking good; we even responded fairly well on the counter. You can’t argue with the lineup that we put out there as a few mix-up changes with Jenks replacing a sick Sagna and Kols sliding back into his spot alongside the BFG. Other than that, this was our healthy regular lineup and so not much else surprising the lineup card.
Things progressed nicely throughout and you could tell we were the more cohesive team; though we gave up a bit more possession than I would have liked. Let’s not kid ourselves here, this is a very good Sp*rs lineup and one has to think that they will be playing a much different game come our second match. They have depth, quality strikers, and a decent keeper to boot. But alas, they lost. We won. All is right with the world.
As to the game, we witnessed a beautiful Santi set piece strike only to be saved by Lloris’ outstretched arms. Theo terrorized on the wing and Santi danced to perfection. In the end, Giroud netted yet another goal and his scoring rate seems to have improved already in this campaign. His run toward goal, anticipating the low cross, and the re-direct was very well played. He is certainly earning his keep here and I am very happy to see him scoring early in games and in the season. Fact remains, he is our (only) striker and we need him to keep playing well. The arrival of Ozil should work in his favor as Giroud stays firmly planted in the starting striker spot (with the likelihood of even more setup service).
The one sure-fire in-game arrival was yet another possible injury to Wilshere (just stop all contact with Diaby!). Flamini came in as replacement after Jack was seen wincing in pain, calling for a sub. Flamini is the type of conservative player Wenger loves so I was glad we were already up; I don’t seem him pressing our team toward goals. All things aside, we did what we needed to grab a much needed win at a fairly important time. We should have played this one to a 2-nil or 3-nil win (Ramsey’s crazy shot over goal or, much more closely, Nacho’s Gervinho impression) but a W is a W is a W.
Now, on to this addition of Ozil. We signed a player, in his prime, from one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the world. Pulling Ozil from Real Madrid is crazy-awesome. He is quality that can play for ANY team (save for Real?). No, from Real’s point of view I believe this was a business move. They wanted Bale, needed to offset the huge cost, and had serious issues with excessive lineup depth that would result in players not being happy about their playing time. Oh, the “whoa is me” problems that Carlos has to face these days…
I don’t really care how it all came together business-wise. We needed a statement signing and I think this type of signing puts other players on notice that Arsenal are in it for much more than a bargain. Granted, we did not add what we needed but the talk of shock coming from Real players over the loss of Ozil is something to behold; they miss him and are surprised that he left. This is great news for Arsenal (and no I don’t believe that bit about Man U not wanting him-sheesh).
No matter how you slice it, this is a big win that should set up well with adding players come the January transfer window (yes, I am that crazy for already thinking that far ahead BUT WE ARE SHORT PLAYERS!!!). Oh, and funny how Arsenal makes a late bid for Ba. WTF ARSENE!?!? Where was that a year ago you duffer!?!?
Our other signing, Viviano, is perfect (IMHO). He adds the competition the Shez needs but doesn’t kill his confidence with a swift kick to the bench. It’s a perfect situation: we get a solid, experienced keeper for the year with an option to buy. If we need to keep him, boom we purchase. If we don’t, thanks for the depth and we wish you well. Truth is, I hope he does well here and he stays so that we have someone ready for the loss of Fabianski (who will have to leave soon I imagine). Kudos for the cheap pickup. Too bad it also didn’t come with another CB, DMF and Striker…
On a separate note, and quite sad, we have lost Podolski for three (3), count them THREE, months. This is a big blow to our lineup as he could really link up well with Ozil given their national team experiences. I am hoping that Poldi’s time on the table is spent encouraging and plugging Ozil with all that is great about The Arsenal experience. And no, Podolski coming back in three months is not like a January signing Wenger so don’t even start with that bullshit. Calling it here first.
We have a little bit of a spell now with the first international break hitting us. Hard to argue with 2 wins from our first 3 games but the fact remains we should be sitting here with three (3) solid victories. Here is hoping all our boys come back healthy and ready to pull down some more points!
AmericanArse 