Arsenal Make it 9/10, Do Chelsea Stand a Chance At the Ems?

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Do they? No.

Looking at the run-in fixtures back in January, I was pretty happy with how things looked. Spurs had a difficult run of games in Ferbruary/March, and while we still had to face City, Chelsea, and Spurs themselves, they were all at home.

And that’s really been the difference this season from last. The Emirates is a fortress. Or at least more of a fortress than it’s ever been in it’s short history. We have not only been winning, we have been almost Barcelona-esque in our dominance of teams. This, I believe, is down to the new atmosphere at the Emirates, borne from the wins against Spurs and Milan.

And it’s a strange sort of dominance. We have pressed extremely well lately, a result of the season long gelling the team has done, and we’ve pushed teams back, forcing them to defend in their own box for most of the 90 minutes.

But we’re not splitting defences and creating a lot of chances. Everything seems to nicely until we get to the edge of the box, and then we’re unable to find that final pass or shot. Rosicky and Arteta have the work rate and maturity to dominate the middle third and push us forward. Benayoun’s inclusion on the left has given us a bit more stability than the erratic Gervinho. But neither of those three can play that precise, threaded through ball that players like Cesc and Silva have made a living on.

Song can play those passes sometimes, but only sometimes. RvP is the only one who can do it consistently but he plays up top, as a #9. He is often the one making the run that the pass needs to pick out. Song has often provided those for him, even in past seasons, but again, Song is a #6 or a #8, never a #10. If he is afforded space deep in midfield, he will make those passes, but when the defences are tight and the pressing against us is good, he doesn’t really have the technique to make those passes.

Maybe this flaw in our game is why we have not quite been able to replicate our form away from home. We aren’t able to have the territorial dominance that we enjoy at home (that is, we aren’t able to camp in our opponents’ halves), and we often have less possession, so our attackers get less chances to try to create something. In the end, we often don’t create that much and end up losing.

So that is something that needs to be addressed in the summer. Maybe Wilshere (or even Diaby or Ramsey) are the answer for next season. For now, we must enjoy this flawed but amazing team as they sweep all that is in front of them.

The latest to be swept were Wolves. At their own ground, too. It was almost like a home game. We had 71% possession. 3 goals scored. 0 against. Sounds like a routine home win.

Now we have just two away games left to play. Stoke and WBA. Those have to be considered our toughest games.

At home we face Wigan, then Chelsea, then Norwich. We will beat them all handily. Chelsea are poor and the way we dominated Man City, you have to say we would absolutely murder the Chavs at the Emirates.

EXCLUSIVE: Do Arsenal Need M’Vila? Speculating on Speculation

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Wenger has confirmed that there is a conscious effort being made by the club this season to prevent last year’s disaster summer, where the signings were made at the very last minute. The Podolski signings, which appears to be near completion (yay!), shows there is truth to Wenger’s statements. But Podolski isn’t the only one being linked to us this year.

Among all the rumors and paper talk, this man Javier Perez has caused quite a stir in the Arsenal community by claiming Arsenal have already tied up deals for Matias Suarez (he reported this back in January) and Shalke startlet Lewis Holtby, and we are close to signing Vertonghen, and we are interested in M’Vila, and…well, that’s about it.

If that’s all true, then I guess I can’t complain. But the amount of players we are being linked to goes completely against Wenger’s comments that we are looking for “quality” rather than “quantity.”  And I agree that we don’t need too many players.

The striking department needs reinforcements. We know Chamakh and Park will probably leave. Bendtner probably will not make a return. I would like Arshavin to come back, but the way the team has performed without him has probably sealed his fate. And when you look at the fact that RvP is far and away our highest scorer, you can see we need some serious additions in the attacking positions.

So Podolski and Matias Suarez make perfect sense. Players like Gotze, Hazard are the creative attackers that we have also lacked, so they make sense too. So yes, creative players, goal scorers, we can expect a couple of those to be signed.

But you look at our holding midfield positions, and I think we are very well stocked in that area. It’s important to remember that Wenger doesn’t like to play with an out-and-out defensive midfielder who just sits in front of the back four and just focuses on making short passes. Wenger wants his midfield to be dynamic and fluid. He wants our holding midfielders to be able to attack, to go forward at times and contribute in the final third. Song hasn’t developed a knack for assists and goals over the past two seasons by accident. Wenger encourages him to go forward. When asked about Song’s increasing attackingness, he remarked that we don’t want to be in trouble, but fool the opposition into trouble. The rotating midfield and the attacking defensive midfielder is a part of that.

And if we keep that in mind, then the arguments people make that Wilshere, Diaby, Arteta – they aren’t really DMs, doesn’t hold much water. We don’t out pure DMs, we want complete midfielders. Wenger wants a team of all rounders, not specialists. The midfielders we have including the ones just mentioned, have been brilliant in the holding roles for us. Arteta, in particular, has added a maturity and calmness that our midfield has lacked in recent seasons, especially without Cesc. He is great at reading the game and winning the ball, but also excellent at keeping it, with his precise passing.

So players like M’Vila? Do we need him? Aren’t we essentially “killing” Coquelin and Frimpong if we bring him in? And one virtue mentioned of Vertonghen is that he is “versatile” and can play in midfield. Well, we don’t need him to play in midfield!

One argument made in favor of bringing in M’Vila is that it will allow Song to play further forward in a more playmaker type role. I couldn’t disagree with that train of thought. Song doesn’t have the passing ability or technical quality to play higher up in midfield. He often makes those passes because he is afforded space in his deep position, and doesn’t need the vision of a Fabregas because everything is in front of him. To be able to get 8 assists from his position is remarkable, but to get 8 from an attacking position is a different task altogether, and one that Song isn’t suited for.

And speaking of Vertonghen, we are all set in the center back position, too. Vermaelen, Koscielny are a superb partnership. Mertesacker and Djourou offer good options. Backing the first teamers are Miquel and Bartley.

We already have such a big squad with several promising young players on the verge of breaking through who deserve a chance. And we can only have 25 players in the squad, and a limited number of foreign players, too. So is Wenger really looking to add four or five players this summer? And in positions where we already have plenty of depth?

I don’t think Wenger is looking for a clearout either. Yes, the obvious names who haven’t played this season will leave. But other than that I don’t see anyone leaving.

But maybe Wenger is after all of these players, and he’s just trying to think ahead, and stay a few steps ahead of our big spending rivals.In recent years, we’ve often lost out on transfer targets to the likes of Chelsea and Man City. So the focus has always been on trying to sign players when they are very young, and promising them a chance to play at Arsenal.

Perhaps that is why Wenger is trying to tie up deals for these young players like M’Vila, Holtby, Vertonghen, because maybe they are bound to turn into stars and if we need them two or three years from now they may already be at Real Mad.

And players like Rosicky and Arteta are getting on in age. They don’t have much more than a couple of years at the top level. So it makes sense that Wenger might be trying to find replacements right now. And maybe there are question marks over the potential of some of our young guns. This season we’ve been excited by the performances of Coquelin and Frimpong and Miquel, but the coaches at Arsenal know their potential better than anyone. If it looks to them like some of them might not make it, why not dip into the transfer market and get players that we know will succeed at the highest level.

In the end, we’ll just have to wait and see how much truth there is to the speculation, and what exactly Wenger’s plans are for the team next season. I would prefer if we sign two or three quality, experienced players, rather than stuff the squad full of young hyped up starlets, but that’s just me. Either way, Arsene knows.

 

A Look at Arsenal’s Defence: Have We Really Been That Poor?

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Right now Arsenal sit 3rd in the league. With a rather poor goal difference of +20. We’ll all agree that this isn’t one of the greatest Arsenal teams in history, having gone through some very poor periods this season.

But it’s become a bit of a cliche that Arsenal are poor defensively. The fact seems to be that Arsenal can’t defend, and they certainly can’t defend a lead. We’re not only bottlers, we’re bottlers who can’t defend. Lee Dixon says it on MOTD every week. It must be true.

I think we’ve had plenty of problems this season, but our biggest problem in my opinion has been lack of true technical ability (apart from RvP) in attack. The lack of creativity and precision in the final third is why Henry was brought in in the first place.

Our defending has certainly been part of the problem (we have the 10th best defence in the league, having allowed 39 goals). But we are not as bad as people make us out to be. We actually have some very, very good defenders at the club, who despite being ridiculed so often have performed better than most in the league. So lack of quality is not the problem in our defensive third. I think that we actually have a good defensive base on which to build a good team next season, but there’s no denying we have, at times, just been bad at defending. Let’s look at the statistics to see what the issues are.

The first thing is home form vs away form. Away from home we have been poor defensively. Languishing in the bottom half of the table with the 7th worst defence in the league with 27 goals allowed. That is 6 goals worse than Aston Villa, the team we completely thrashed on Saturday.

At home we do amazingly well. We are joint second with Liverpool with just 12 goals allowed. That is 5 goals off the leaders Man City.

That makes sense, because our performances at home have been a lot better than our away performances. The Emirates is turning into a real fortress, while away from home we still tend to wobble. And this leads us into the next issue, which is that of our two periods of poor runs. First in the beginning of the season. The second came in January.

In August and September we conceded 14 goals in 6 games. 8 of them coming in the one match at Old Trafford.

In January we allowed 7 goals in 3 games.

In both those periods we allowed goals at a rate of 2.3 goals per game.

The rest of the season we have allowed 18 goals in 21 games, at a rate of 0.85 goals per game.

Now that proves something that I had known was true. We defended badly in August and September because we played poorly overall, because of the state the squad was in early in the season. Wenger did some very late transfer business. By the time it was done we had already had our Old Trafford drubbing. Players like Arteta and Mertesacker came in and needed time to settle into the team. The reason we defended badly in that period was that the team didn’t work well enough as a unit.

Once the team had had time to gel, the performances improved, and we went on a good run in the league. Until January. That was the month of no fullbacks. The lack of fullbacks not only made our attack weaker, it made our defence weaker as well. Vermaelen and Djourou are good center halves but they are not equipped to play in wide defence. When United visited the Emirates, they targeted the flanks, and won the game because of our poor defending in the wide areas.

With the team settled down, and our injury problems eased, I believe we are a very good defensive team. One thing that makes us so good is that we tend to control the games through our possession. Against Villa, for example, we had 73% possession. Barcelona like. And that allowed us to restrict Aston Villa’s attack and keep them to 0 shots on target. But the quality of our defending is such that even without complete control on the game, as was the case against Everton, we still manage to keep our opponents out. Everton, despite their dominance at times, couldn’t create any clear cut chances, and forced Szczesny into just one save.

Conclusion: If we can avoid another turbulent summer, and avoid more injury crises, we should be one of the best defensive teams next season. Boom goes the dynamite.

 

Arsenal Proving the Doubters Wrong

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Not much to say about the victory over Aston Villa. It was the comfortable victory that we needed, for the sake of Arsene Wenger’s health. It was what we deserved, too, having dominated Villa completely from the first whistle to the last.

The defenders, again, were crucial. Gibbs and Sagna always pushing forward. Vermaelen and Koscielny, too, joining the attack whenever possible. At times we were a bit gung-ho, and left huge gaps which Aston Villa (and Albrighton) could have done better with.

But I like this ultra-attacking (to use a FIFA term) approach. It doesn’t let our opponents settle. We knew what Aston Villa’s approach would be. And at times we have allowed that approach to work because we’re too slow to get going. The crowd loses it’s voice and the opponents get comfortable and even confident. But against Aston Villa, as has been the case in our recent home games, we attacked with 10 men and left Villa with no answer.

Away from home we will have to be a bit more cautious. Overloading the opponents works well if the other team is sitting back and letting us have the ball, but usually at their own grounds team like to defend higher up and make it difficult to keep the ball. The key against Villa was possession. We had 72% of the ball. Against a team like QPR away from home we can’t expect such emphatic dominance. Especially this season when our away performances have been rather poor at times. But it’s good to see us turning the Emirates into a real fortress.

So now this leaves us with 7 wins from the last 7 games, with 8 more to go. The way we are playing we can expect to win most of the remaining games, especially with our most difficult games, Chelsea and City, both at home. With form and momentum in our favor, we are favorites to finish 3rd. Things can change, as Wenger said, but this team has proven that they have the quality to match the very best teams. If you take out the first 7 games of the season, Arsenal, United, and City would be tied at 51 points at this stage. Worst team under Arsene Wenger?

 

Why I Would Love to See Del Piero at Arsenal

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One of the unfair criticisms of Wenger over the years has been that he does not value experience enough. I think Wenger does value experience in his team, and has often explained his sides’ failures in recent times by saying they were naive and lacked experience. Wenger knows that experience and maturity are key ingredients to a title winning side. And I do think that if it was completely up to him, without any other factors, he would have held onto Vieira, Henry, Pires, Campbell until their retirement.

However, the fact is in the last 5 or 6 years we’ve had a team that has been severely lacking in that department. The mental toughness that fans and managers and pundits often talk about has often been absent from Arsenal, which has led to several failed attempts at winning trophies, despite the obvious talent in the side.

That doesn’t mean Wenger hasn’t tried to bring in some experience into his team. Rosicky, Gallas, Hleb, Eduardo, among others, were all experienced signings. Gallas, of course, having won two titles with Chelsea. He’s even brought in players like Campbell, Henry, Lehmann on short terms deals to help the younger players.

But he’s been unlucky with these experienced players. Mostly they’ve failed. Gallas was a terrible captain, Rosicky and Eduardo spent most of their time injured, Hleb screwed us and left for Barcelona, and it goes on. I haven’t even mentioned players like Silvestre, Squillaci, and Almunia, who perhaps had the right mentality, but just not the talent and skill to lead Arsenal’s precocious young talents.

Wenger hasn’t given up on these experiments, though. He wants to sign another such player: Del Piero. He is 37 years old, and has achieved everything a player can in his very long career. He’s scored 288 goals for Juventus in 708 appearances. He seems like a nice guy too, promoting cancer research and such, and he’s known for his sense of humor. As a person he seems to hold the right values, and has been loyal to Juventus throughout his career.

Apparently we want him to come here in a sort of player-coach capacity. Playing when needed but mainly there to help the kids develop. Several of our players said how much Henry helped them in his short time at the club, and if Del Piero comes to Arsenal for a season or two he could have an even bigger impact. And not just that, he’s a big name, and will help improve our image around the world.

To have a player of that caliber would be huge for Arsenal, even if he’s got one foot in the grave (career-wise, of course). I would love to have him at Arsenal. His experience and know-how could prove to be key in helping us win titles in the seasons to come.

 

Arsenal 1 – 0 Everton, Ramsey Plays on the Left

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So here we are. In 3rd place. A point ahead of The Mighty Totts, and 6 points ahead of Chelsea. Except for the first 15 minutes or so we played like the best team in the world. We were passing and moving the ball so quickly that Everton didn’t know what to do. The rare occasions when Everton did win it, our pressing was so good that they could barely string three passes together, often having to just kick it into the crowd.

But after the goal Moyes yelled at them a lot from the touchline and they started pressing us more intensely, tackling harder, fouling when they had to. Aside from the yelling, Moyes made the tactical switch of pushing Fellaini up into a higher midfield role. Fellaini is a ball-winner. He wins balls. Lots of them. In fact, he is the best tackling midfielder in the EPL. So shifting him up the pitch represented the shift in Everton’s tactics. They were going to try to press us and try to win the ball higher up. It also meant Everton now played a more direct game, looking for Fellaini with long balls that he often won in the air and caused us some problems.

Everton played well, but not well enough to deserve anything from the game. They dulled our attack quite a bit with their pressing and physical play, and they looked quite threatening themselves. However, they managed just 1 shot on target all game. They will rightly complain about the disallowed goal, but after such a lack of end-product to their attack, they have only themselves to blame.

As for Arsenal, it was another hard fought win. Robin van Persie should have doubled the lead a couple of times. Rosicky should have won us a penalty. Another goal would have made things much easier (or much worse if you’re Liverpool), but it wasn’t to be. We had to hang on to our 1 goal lead til the end. Seeing the lack of chances we were creating, Wenger decided to use his subs to bolster our defence. Walcott came off and Ramsey moved to the right to defend against Baines. Djourou came on to help us win some headers. That took care of Everton’s only two real threats – Baines and Fellaini – and we saw the game out quite comfortably. Well, it was quite an unpleasant experience to watch,  but looking back, our defence was hardly troubled. Our back four was immense. Sagna in particular was impressive in the air, winning 14 out of 17 aerial duels.

What was interesting about the setup was Ramsey and Rosicky together. But unlike at Milan, Ramsey played just to the left of Rosicky. Defensively speaking, he was a left winger, but in attack he didn’t play like one. He was very central, and played much like a central midfielder does. He never dribbled with the ball or tried taking players on. It was all about quick pass and move. We were effectively playing with 4 players in the center of the pitch, and I would have expected us to keep the ball a bit better than we did at times. The downside of having Ramsey one flank, rather than a Gervinho or Ox, is that our pace in attack and hence our counter attacking ability is diminished. Walcott remained our only “out-ball” and Everton kept him fouled very well.

Wenger has recently played a midfielder out wide on the left recently, and putting Ramsey there simply continued that trend. I’m not sure if this is a temporary measure until Gervinho has been deemed to have recovered fully from his post-ACN fatigue, or if he wants the benefit of a passer on one flank, which also has the effect of freeing Walcott on the other flank to focus more on his running.

Against Everton neither of those advantages showed. We didn’t keep the ball very well, and Walcott had a relatively quiet game. Ramsey, the make-shift winger, had a mixed game. He passed the ball well enough (81% accuracy) and created two chances, but ultimately the shape we had wasn’t working.

We might have been better off putting Gervinho on for Ramsey earlier in the game. That way we could sit back, soak up Everton’s pressure, and have two pacy wingers to release with long balls. And the added pace of Gervinho might actually have pushed Everton back a bit and eased the pressure on our midfield and defence. That might have been a good decision, I don’t know.

But all that really matters is that we won. 1-0 and 1 point ahead of Spurs.

 

Arsenal’s Attacking Center-Halves: Koscielny & Vermaelen

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As we already know, Vermaelen scored the crucial 95th minute winner against Newcastle. The late goal may have been an example of Arsenal’s mental strength and fight and all that. But the fact that it was Vermaelen who scored that goal was no coincidence. He was making runs into the box and attacking crosses all day. It was a tactical ploy by Arsenal to use Vermaelen’s aerial ability as a weapon in breaking down Newcastle’s stubborn defence.

Arsenal’s center-halves need to be good attacking players. We like to build from the back, so their distribution from deep is extremely important. Wenger recently commented on the importance of a center-half’s passing as teams now often play 451 which leaves one of them free, and the attack builds through them.

So we know they have to be good passers. Vermaelen and Koscielny are exactly that. Against Newcastle, Vermaelen 53/64 passes, an accuracy of 84%. Koscielny made 58/68 at 85%.

Early on in the match, their passing from deep was important as Newcastle pressed high up. But as the match wore on, and Newcastle sat deeper in their own half, and we kept the ball high up in our attacking third, their role shifted.

Vermaelen, in particular, became almost like a midfielder, making late runs into the box to get to the end of crosses. He had 3 attempts on goal, forcing a good save from Krul from one of them, and scored from another.

Attacking runs from center-halves can be extremely useful in breaking down defences, because they are almost impossible to mark. A striker cannot be expected to track their runs, so when they invade into the opposition half unmarked, they can wreak all sorts of havoc on defences. Leaving a center-half up front as a target man isn’t as effective, because they lose the element of surprise and lacking the attacking nous of strikers, are easily marked out of the game. The key certainly seems to be the fact that they are defenders who are running from deep.

One thing that helps them late in games is the fact that center-halves don’t do as much running during a game. They are fresher towards the end and so can make those attacking runs and also use their freshness to their advantage in the final third.

So having center-halves who are good on the ball is really important, not just for building attacks but also contributing in the final third. And having a center half who can score goals, not just from set-pieces but also from open play like Vermaelen, that is an even bigger plus. People have often criticized Arsenal for not having a plan B, but using our center-halves as attacking players certainly is an effective one.

 

Arsenal 2 – 1 Newcastle: Newcastle Press but Arsenal Dominate

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Pardew lined up his side in a 451. To most commentators and pundits this is a negative tactic, but the truth is that that isn’t always the case. Sacrificing a striker for an additional midfielder means you can press the opposition in midfield, disrupt their passing, win the ball early, and even keep it a little better.

With a 442 the usual approach is to sit back and let Arsenal have the ball. This means the team defends deeper, but can play a more direct game with two strikers to aim for. Tottenham tried this very approach at the Emirates.

Perhap’s the Spurs’ miserable failure was why Pardew was keen on matching Arsenal in the middle. Their plan was to let our center halves have the ball, but mark our holding midfielders (Arteta and Song) tightly, not allowing them any space. Vermaelen and Koscielny thus saw a lot of the ball, but their passes often didn’t meet the intended target.

For the opening goal, Newcastle’s tactic worked perfectly. Vermaelen gave the ball away, and Newcastle players poured forward, outnumbering Arsenal’s defenders. Ben Arfa then showed sublime skill to finish off the move.

But we didn’t let them settle, RvP having equalized only 1.5 replays later. And from then on, our quality showed. We absolutely dominated in every respect. And this is the problem with trying to match Arsenal in midfield, we will always get the better of you, and the chances will come. Arteta was, once again, unfazed by Newcastle’s heavy pressing, and finished with a 94% passing accuracy, having completed 84 out of 89 passes, creating 4 chances in the process.

Our other dominant player on the night was Theo Walcott. Everything we did in the first half went down our right side. Newcastle’s pressing meant our short passing approach didn’t always work, and with them pushing higher, they left space in behind. So Theo was our out ball in the first half. Everyone looked for him, trying to exploit his pace against Newcastle’s relatively high line.

This is why Theo will always be such a key player for us, especially in big games. If teams do try to press us and squeeze play, they have to contend with Theo’s speed on the break. Would we have beaten Barcelona without him? No. He was the key reason why, despite our passing game not flowing, we remained a threat in the first half. And it was no surprise it was him who got the assist for Robin’s goal. His stats were just as impressive as Arteta’s. 1 assist (should be 2, really), 6 chances created, 24/29 passes completed in the final third. Man of the match.

In the second half Newcastle dropped deeper, and midway through they reverted to more of the 442 counter attacking approach. They sat deeper and deeper, wasted time more and more frequently. They were playing for a draw and, frankly, they couldn’t be blamed, such was our dominance.

We ended up getting a well deserved win. We had 23 shots to their 4. Alan Pardew’s suggestion that they deserved something from the match couldn’t have been more delusional.

Sure, Newcastle worked very hard and fought til the very end for that point. But hard work and fight only overcomes talent if the other team doesn’t show the same desire. Arsenal did. We really, really wanted those 3 points, and worked our socks off to get them.

 

Arsenal – Newcastle: Routine Home Win

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So this is what I’m seeing: Szcz thumps the ball forward to no one in particular as he always does, and surprisingly, RvP wins the ball in the air. It falls to Rosicky who controls it with one deft touch. The little mozart is oozing confidence. A man dressed as a zebra tries to close him down, but he easily turns him, runs with the ball. RvP, Theo, and Gervinho run ahead of him. Rosicky slows down to survey his options, or so it appears. In actuality he has seen, with the eyes in the back of his head, Song making a dashing run from midfield. Rosicky dallies on the ball, pretends to have a cup of tea at the edge of the box, and as soon as Song flies past him he releases the ball past the static line of zebras. Song is clean through, the flag stays down, and he side foots the ball into the far corner. A finish RvP would be proud of.

I have a strong feeling we will win this game. This should be a routine win. Newcastle are mediocre away from home. Arsenal are imperious at the Emirates. Spurs, the team that can’t stop losing, beat this lot 5-0, so what chance do they have against us?

So yes, I am confident.

Newcastle have some quality players in the side this season, but they can’t match us pass for pass. We will most certainly outplay them. Where they have caused trouble to the big teams has been through direct football, using their physicality to good effect.

Demba Ba and Cabaye have been in their best players. And they have been just as good away from home as they have been at St. James’s. If we can dominate possession, which we probably will, that reduces their threat massively. Their main threat will be set pieces and if we can concentrate and be well organized, we should be able to get the win.

Newcastle don’t really have a very solid back line, and I expect them to struggle against our three striker, especially RvP, for obvious reasons. If we can pass the ball well, keep a healthy supply going to our forwards, they will get chances and Theo and Gervinho will miss a few, but RvP should take them.

But what’s great about our side at the moment, especially at home, is that the threat is coming from everywhere. Against Tottenham it was Sagna who started the scoring. Rosicky got the crucial third. Literally whole team scored against Blackburn. And against Milan Rosicky and Koscielny got on the scoresheet.

We’re not so much a one man team anymore, and a bit more difficult to defend against. Assuming, of course, that our excellent form recently continues.

Don’t know what else to say about Newcastle. It will all depend on how they line up. Pardew said before the game that they had no chance of beating Arsenal, and that they would be happy to finish in the top 8 this season. Was he just being honest, or is he trying to take the pressure off a team that hasn’t won in their last 3 games? Hmm.

If it’s the former, if he is being honest and thinks they have no chance, then expect them to park the bus and play for the 0-0. I wouldn’t like to see that, to be honest. But maybe that isn’t such a bad thing, because Newcastle don’t really have the players to play that way.

If it’s the latter, and Pardew has a sneaky little plan to press us high up and try to play on the front foot, then it would be a lot more interesting. They really haven’t got anything to lose, so they might just go all out for it.

But either way, The Arsenal should be too good for them on this occasion.

Oxlade-Chamberlain Shines in the Center

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The Milan game was bittersweet. We played really well, and did what I thought we needed to, which was to outplay Milan and restore some respectability. But we didn’t just outplay them, we blew them out of the water in the first half. At 3-0 up you’d have thought we can easily do it now. But half-time allowed Milan to regroup, and having given so much in the first half, our legs couldn’t carry the momentum for 90 minutes. So we fell just short, which hurt.

We’re out of Europe again and we have no chance of winning a trophy. But the positive is that the team’s doing well. We’re still in the same old predicament that we’re in every season. We won’t win any silverware this season, and will probably do just enough to get ourselves into the Champions League.

But there’s a lot of promise in this team. Exemplified by Oxlade-Chamberlain. His shirt number, 15, should give us a hint as to where his long term position is. He’s been cracking on the wing, but has the vision and technique (and strength) to be a real force in the center.

He played as part of a midfield trio against Milan, after making a short appearance there against Newcastle. He hasn’t been spectacular by any means. But he’s shown he has the quality to play there and will grow into that role as he gains experience.

His stats against Milan read like this: 2 shots, both off target; 25/31 attempted passes; 1 chance created, 1 assist (those were from corners); 0/2 take-ons; 1 tackle; 1 interception.

He played a deeper role than Rosicky, who was the tip of our midfield triangle. And in the hectic first half, Song would often be caught up field, but Ox was positionally disciplined, and covered well for his more experienced partners when needed. He was also disciplined with his passing, picking the right pass rather than trying too much, but when he did run with the ball, he looks like a threat. One such run won us the penalty.

He’s already a very mature player, who can develop into a complete midfielder. I can see us playing Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey all together in midfield, because they are all players who are creative but don’t shirk their tactical responsibilities.

But what makes Wilshere, and Ox so special is their ability to skip past defenders even in midfield. It is something Diaby can do as well, and we’ve missed it horribly this season. Wilshere’s ability last season to beat 2 players and then supply the ball to the forwards was invaluable. This season we’ve been more static, because while Arteta is a brilliant passer, he’s not as forward thinking as Wilshere was. He can’t drive through midfield like Wilshere, Ox, and Diaby can. That has probably hurt our creativity as much as losing Cesc has.

For now Wenger will continue with Ox out on the wing, when he does play. But he can be a crucial player for us in the run in, and it might just be in the center of midfield rather than as a flying winger.