Monthly Archives: September 2010

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
September 30, 2010 posted by arseblog

A dollop of perspective required.

Its very much the way of football these days that most of the stories this morning centre around Lukasz Fabianski.

It seems that footballers are judged pretty much only on their last performance. Have a good game and you’re Johnny Wonderful, cock something up and you’re Johnny Useless. At the moment Fabianski is the former with endorsements from teammates Jack Wilshere:

It’s been hard for our ‘keepers at the moment and that was a great response from him. He made a good save at the end as well. Fair play to him.

And Kieran Gibbs:

He is a great keeper or else he wouldn’t be here. He put in a great performance. I think he felt like he had a point to prove. He has shown great character and he doesn’t hide away.

While Fabianski himself is looking to start on Sunday against Chelsea and says all the criticism didn’t affect him:

I was never really bothered by all the things said. I was always trying to focus on my job and my work. That is what I was always doing and that is why I am grounded. I am ready to play against Chelsea.

While I was delighted he put in a good shift against Partizan the other night I think people need to remember it was just one game. One good performance is nowhere near enough for the manager to justify all the terrible ones that came before it. It’s not enough for people to say that he’s turned things around. It is just one good performance.

If he can maintain that then I certainly won’t have any complaints but it doesn’t make me much less worried about him facing Chelsea should he play on Sunday. The only thing he’s done consistently in his Arsenal career is make mistakes so he’s got some way to go to prove that he’s got what it takes. If we’re a half season further on and he’s been solid throughout then perhaps we can start to think he’s a player who just went through an appalling period in his career. Until then he’s got to go out and prove himself every single week. Arsene called his performance against Partizan ‘faultless’. He needs a run of those.

One thing to consider is that the problem with our goalkeepers isn’t necessarily all with them. If you read this piece about Polish goalkeeping coach Krzysztof Dowha? then you might suspect our coaching is at fault. It can’t be a coincidence that all our keepers display the same traits, the same lack of dominance in the box, the same skittishness every time there’s a corner or set piece. Almunia is like that, Fabianski is like that, Mannone, when we’ve seen him, is like that. Either we’ve just been unlucky to get three keepers who all share the same faults or something is amiss on the training ground. I know it’s a point that’s been mooted before but maybe it’s worth some serious consideration.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Bacary Sagna has turned his attention to Chelsea, saying:

We have to play our football. We know we have the quality to beat them. It will be an open game, but it will be about us, not them.

Not much of that makes sense to me. Playing our football reminds me of that risible William Gallas teamtalk that Sky spied on that time. “Play your football guys, play your football”. About as inspiring as wet underpants.

And if it’s an open game against Chelsea I would fear the worst. Perhaps, for once, we need to tame our attacking instincts and play a more disciplined game. Defensively we haven’t exactly been brilliant this season. We’ve only kept a clean sheet in two games those were the 6-0 spankings of Blackpool and Braga. We’ve conceded in every other game and you have to go back to 2005 for our last clean sheet at Stamford Bridge (a 0-0 draw).

So an open game is probably not a good idea. Chelsea, despite being monstrous cunts, aren’t exactly mugs at the back and have won the last six games against us. It’s time to turn that around, for sure, but we won’t do it unless we stay solid and those who have specific jobs to do do them properly.

More to come on that game in the next couple of days. Not much else going on so I’ll be back tomorrow with an Arsecast. Until then.

Match reports
September 29, 2010 posted by arseblog

Partizan 1-3 Arsenal: Lukasz feeling Fab

When a Kieran Gibbs foul gave Partizan Belgrade their second penalty of the night I have to admit I was worried. I know there was only a few minutes to go and they were down to ten men but I have the utmost confidence in this team’s ability to completely implode at any moment.

Cleo, a very manly looking Brazilian woman, had scored his first penalty of the night in the first half but this time Lukasz Fabianski had the measure of him, dived to his right and made an excellent save. Afterwards he let out a roar, like King Kong crossed with Godzilla, delighted that something, at last, had gone right for him.

He received a big thank-you hug from Gibbs and when, a few moments later, he got both hands to a close range snap shot you knew something had changed because instead of the ball going just inside the post it went just outside. Another fine save. Arsene Wenger said afterwards:

We have seen the player tonight who we see in training. He had a faultless game. I know it is in him. He got it out in the game tonight and hopefully that will give him the needed belief and confidence. I am confident he will come out as a great keeper, I have always said that.

Now, one swallow does not a summer make, not by any means, but I have to say I was genuinely chuffed for him. I still harbour serious doubts about him, one good performance doesn’t come close to convincing me that he’s the man for the job, but if Almunia’s injury means Fabianski has to play then we should all be glad that he played well last night. A penalty save will restore some confidence, as will his game in general, and it’s far better to have him feeling better about himself than going to Stamford Bridge on the back of another howler.

Just 1.19% of fans who answered the goalkeeping poll fancy the goalkeeping Pole but clearly Arsene Wenger is in that very small minority. He’s continued to declare his faith in Fabianski, causing eyebrows to raise higher than a stoned Carlo Ancelotti, yet some of that was repaid last night.

Another young man who continues to repay the manager’s faith in him is Jack Wilshere. He was fantastic again last night and showed vision beyond his years in setting up Arsenal’s first goal. His drag back/side and backheel to set up Andrei Arshavin was first class, like Henry or Bergkamp in their pomp, and he seemed to enjoy a more advanced role last night. What was telling, I think, is that when Chamakh made it 2-1 both the Moroccan and Wilshere were taken off.

Arsene said it was because Wilshere had been on the receiving end of a few tackles and he wanted to protect him. Which is fair enough but I think it’s a sign that Wilshere will be in the starting XI against Chelsea on Sunday. When you consider his age and his relative inexperience it’s amazing but when you look at what he does on the pitch, and how well he does it, it makes perfect sense. He’s been our best midfielder this season, why wouldn’t he play?

Denilson’s handball for their penalty seemed relatively inconclusive, despite many replays, but I have to say I’d want it if it were up the other end. It was a typically ill-timed goal to give away. We might have been further ahead, chances were missed, but instead we found ourselves pegged back. Their keeper was having a night that must have been making Fabianski think ‘You jammy bastard’. When Chamakh was fouled the ref gave a penalty and a red card. It looked a bit soft, I have to say, but the Moroccan has a brilliant knack of getting ahead of the last defender meaning only an obviously perfect challenge will save the day.

Arshavin stepped up, fired the penalty down the middle and the keeper saved. It was, let’s face it, a shit penalty. The Russian’s effort against Blackpool was unsaveable, a perfect spot kick. He ought to remember that the next time. Partizan battled well after that but when Rosicky’s cross found Chamakh he headed against the bar and followed in to nod home the rebound to make it 2-1. Sebastien Squillaci opened his Arsenal account with a fine glancing header from a Nasri corner and that was that.

Of course we had the late penno drama and the emergence of Fabianski as a now 100%, undisputable, world class goalkeeper, but it was a victory I thought we deserved. The performance wasn’t brilliant but it was important to get ourselves back on track ahead of what is going to be a very difficult game at Chelsea on Sunday.

Some confidence needed to be restored and one thing perhaps overlooked is that it was our first away win in Europe since the 3-2 comeback against Standard Liege on Sept 16th 2009. That’s another little hurdle, psychological or otherwise, overcome. It leaves us top of group H, 6 points from 6, and ready to face a double helping of Eduardo’s new pals at Shaktar Donetsk.

So, plenty of time between now and Sunday to discuss Chelsea. The one bit of team news we got from last night is that Thomas Vermaelen is going to miss out. Achilles problems are notoriously slow to heal, and it’s the sort of injury that can lead to very lengthy spells on the sidelines if aggravated. We’re right to be cautious about this.

You would suspect it’ll mean a big, big test for Laurent Koscielny if he gets the nod. Johan Djourou looks like a player still in need of games, no big surprise after a year out, and I think the manager will be looking to see how his new signing responds after what was a fairly dismal performance against West Brom. The man himself talks about the physical side of the English game. He’s already had a great battle with Kevin Davies, one which he came through with flying colours really, so there’s a bit of groundwork there for what is going to be a tougher scrap against Drogba, who combines his physical strength with a lot more footballing ability than Davies.

Anyway, as I said that’s all to come over the next few days. Now though, I must go consume some kind of pig related breakfast.

Till tomorrow.

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
September 28, 2010 posted by arseblog

Partisan Partizan preview

So Champions League tonight and a chance to put a few things right after the weekend.

The most notable piece of team news is that Manuel Almunia is out with an elbow injury meaning Lukasz Fabianski gets another chance. There are those who think Almunia’s absence is due to his performance at the weekend. I don’t buy it. I think he’s genuinely injured.

It’s not as if his form has been terrible all season, he’s made one big mistake, and as well as that you generally only drop a player when you have a reasonable replacement that you know you can depend on. With the best will in the world Fabianski has done nothing to prove to Arsene Wenger that he can be relied on. Not in Europe, not in the cups, not in the league. It just makes no sense that Almunia would be left at home for any reason other than an injury.

On Fabianski the manager says:

As a manager you can give a chance to a player who is good enough and I believe in his talent. He gets another opportunity to show how good he is.

Which is kind of what we’re all afraid of, I suppose. There’s a very logical part of me which says that there’s simply no way that Fabianski can continue to make ludicrous mistakes the way he has. I’m sure he’s set a record for consecutive games without not cocking something up, so by the law of averages he’s due a decent game. However, the law of averages could very well be named after Jude Law and he’s a cunt so anything could happen.

I genuinely hope he plays well because I don’t want anything other than an Arsenal victory. I really don’t want to see any Arsenal player fail. I don’t think it’d be great if we won 6-5 and Fabianski was at fault for all the goals thus forcing the manager to address the situation. Let’s face it, he’s had plenty of evidence before now and done nothing so who’s to say more butter-fingered shenanigans would change anything now? As well as that these are the goalkeepers we have until January at the earliest. All the complaining in the world can’t change a thing. That doesn’t mean I think Fabianski should have any long-term future with us if he does have a good game. I just want Arsenal to win.

A side-note to all this is that there does seem to have been a slight change in the pecking order. Wojscez©® will be on the bench tonight, apparently moving ahead of Vito Mannone who was considered the number 3. It’s tough for the Italian, we have four keepers at the club, which is probably one too many. It means somebody is never going to play and as the reserves generally use younger players he could go through the entire season without a sniff of football. Nevertheless, the younger of the Poles will be happier with his lot, I’m sure.

The other absence of note is Abou Diaby. He had an abysmal game against West Brom and with slightly more cover in the midfield area he could well be paying the price for that. He wasn’t mentioned by the manager as injured in his pre-game briefing and the pictures of the team training on the official site show Diaby involved. It’s possible he picked up a knock during the session but such was the paucity of his performance on Saturday it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he’s been left at home as a consequence of that.

I expect Jack Wilshere to come back into midfield to replace Diaby and either Denilson or Rosicky leaving Eboue on the bench. Kieran Gibbs is fit, having passed a fitness test, and I think he should play. Players need to learn that poor performances mean others get their chance and Gael Clichy needs to learn that as much as anyone. I know Gibbs is still relatively raw but he deserves the chance to stake a real claim for the left.

As for the game itself Arsene says:

We realise that we need to be focused in every single game, produce performances in every single game and that is what I believe we have learnt from Saturday. I believe in the intelligence of my group players and I have no doubt in their talents.

We will be highly motivated and will try to redress what was not right on Saturday.

His comments on the official site here suggest the defeat at the weekend was down to lack of discipline than lack of effort but it’s about getting the basics right again. Defenders need to defend, the midfield needs to offer them the right protection, we’ve got to pass the ball to another red shirt, things like that.

We’ve got a massive game coming up on Sunday, so while all the focus has to be on Partizan, coming back home with three points is important. Not just for our Champions League campaign but to restore some confidence ahead of a game we simply cannot lose this weekend.

In general Arsene Wenger’s teams have responded well to setbacks and poor results. Maybe these days it takes us a bit longer, the manager saying his team needs to be confident to play football the way he wants them to play it, but given what lies straight ahead there’s no time to feel in any way sorry for ourselves.

On the face of it a draw wouldn’t be a bad result but a victory tonight would go some way to getting things back on track. Let’s see what you’re made of, Arsenal.

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
September 27, 2010 posted by arseblog

Goalkeeper poll