Fever Pitch, New Signings and The Final Push

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On Monday, Arsenal announced the signing of Lukas Podolski from Cologne on a long term deal. That the deal was in the works had been an open secret for months with the player reportedly having several medicals in January. What was surprising however was the fact that the deal was announced before the season had ended. In recent times the club have either done transfer business very early or very late as we saw last summer. When asked about this, manager Arsène Wenger had this to say;

“We want to make early signings if possible, yes. We wanted at least one target to be sorted out early. Now we are in a position where the second part of our signings will be to take care of the players who are injured and to get them back for the start of next season.”

I wonder what direction our transfer activity will take over the next few weeks and the rest of the summer. Of keen interest also will be our contract negotiations with Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott who are out of contract next year. Will we be prepared to let our Captain run down his contract if he decides not to sign a new contract over selling him to one of our rivals?

Though I feel that the club made the right decision in selling Samir Nasri to Manchester City last year, I am unsure if that would be a wise move as regards Robin van Persie given his immense contribution to our season this year in which he picked up both the PFA and FWA awards for Player of the Year. As for Theo Walcott, he has had another stop-start season which leaves opinion divided as to whether he is deserving of a new bumper contract.

Today, the club announced that the first-team squad would travel to Nigeria this summer for a pre-season match in Abuja on Sunday, August 5. I know I should be excited about this but rather surprisingly I’m not. Whilst I’m not against the visit, my major concerns are as to whether or not such sustained visits are sustainable given for a fact that despite the huge following the club has in Nigeria, I’m not sure how much significant revenue can be generated from a tour to Nigeria

I’m pretty sure the appearance fee has been paid but I’m sceptical as to whether or not a sustainable commercial revenue stream can be tapped into from the Nigerian support. Maybe I’m just bitter that having paid thousands of pounds to see my beloved Arsenal over the years, the rest of the country get to enjoy that passion for next to nothing. Nevertheless, I feel it’s a great opportunity for the club to connect to millions of their fans in Nigeria as well as gain new followership from my home country.

There is however limited information at this time about the tour of Nigeria. According to veteran Nigerian journalist Colin Udoh, one game is confirmed for Abuja, then an open training session and other off-field events down in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Other events will hold in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Minna and Akure. The second team will arrive in July and will play two games while the first team arrives in August and will also play two games plus other activities. That’s four games in total. I’m sure more information will be available as the dates draw closer.

With two games left to go in the Premier League, the only thing definite is the fact that Wolves have been relegated. Both Manchester teams are level with 83 points at the top of the table while the four teams below them are still unsure of their final positions at the end of the season with Arsenal in third on 66 points and both Tottenham and Newcastle on 65 points each. Chelsea who are in 6th place with 61 points have a mathematical chance of finishing third but realistically need to win the Champions’ League to play in it next year.

As such, Arsenal have it all to play for in the final two games against Norwich at home and West Brom at the Hawthorns. Two wins and we finish third with no worries about results elsewhere. Anything short of third place now is unacceptable.

There’s nothing more to be said. The stakes are clear and I hope and expect that the team rise up to the occasion starting from tomorrow which coincidentally is Arsène Wenger’s 900th game in charge of Arsenal.

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit!

North London is Ours! (The Diary of a Travelling Gooner Part 5)

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My feet still hurt from all the running I had to do yesterday to make the game yesterday. In fear that I would jinx the team again, I was repeatedly told by friends to stay away from the Emirates and burn my ticket. Instead, I decided to go to Church to intercede for my beloved Arsenal. At 12:32 I was just leaving Wembley Central Station and could only look in envy at the Cardiff and Liverpool fans who were headed up to Wembley Stadium for the Carling Cup final. Memories of last year came back and I quickly brushed them aside with the thoughts of a mouth-watering North London Derbyahead of me.

However, there was one problem. The game started in less than an hour and not only was I overdressed for a football game, I had left the match tickets back at our lodgings in Paddington. Yes, Boogie was with me to and it was to be her first game at the Emirates. We had less than an hour to change, get our tickets and head to the stadium.Severe delays on the Circle Line contrived to ensure that by the time we got to our seats, we were already a goal down and were looking increasingly uncomfortable on a very tense afternoon in North London.

We were soon two goals down via an Adebayor penalty which came about by another dive from Gareth Bale. Former top referee Graham Poll is of the opinion that the FA should introduce retrospective punishment for diving.  He says;

If it was a foul it should have been a red card for the keeper and perhaps Dean had doubts over the accuracy of his decision and left him on the pitch. Replays showed that Bale had not been fouled but I would not blame Dean for being fooled; rather look at the conduct of Bale and plead that the FA introduce retrospective punishment for diving. This would not need a change to laws of the game, nor permission from the IFAB or FIFA as it is up to each governing body to determine their own disciplinary code.

I quite agree with him as if one team gains an unfair advantage by a player diving, it is only fair that the guilty party should get punished for it retrospectively if it can be proven. However you look at the famous witch hunt of Eduardo by UEFA and Celtic a few years ago and wonder where the line will be drawn as regards video evidence and retrospective punishment.

Unlike in many other home games I have attended where we have fallen behind, Adebayor’s goal seemed to inspire the home fans and the chanting, singing and cheering seemed to be taken to another level. Bacary Sagna had earlier spoken about how the game held special meaning for him.

The first game was a nightmare for me because I got injured and was four months out. This match is a good opportunity to show that I am back and to be decisive even. I would like to win the game because it would be special to me. Every game is important but the derby is the killer one. This is one of the biggest games of the season and we know we have to win it. It will give us even more power to move forward.

His brilliant header in the 40th minute sparked an amazing comeback for Arsenal. A moment of sustained pressure saw Van Persie hit a shot against the far post, the rebound was picked up by Arteta who sent a sweeping cross back into the centre for Sagna to head powerfully into the far post. He picked up the ball and the crowed picked up their cheers.

Failed clearances by Kaboul and Assou-Ekotto saw Robin Van Persie pick up the ball just outside the penalty area. He twisted and turned through two Tottenham players to skilfully place the ball on his favourite left foot, he’d already picked his spot and simply curled the ball into the far post beating veteran Brad Friedel to level the scores at 2-2 going into the break. I thought the ball might have taken a deflection on the way in but after watching the replays, I had no doubt that his 29th goal of the season – deftly taken was truly one of exceptional quality.  Arsenal would go into the break with scores level but with the upper hand.

I think we all have to admit that this game was won by both the tactical masterstroke of Arsene Wenger, as well as the determination of the players to come from two goals down. His decision to start both Rosicky and Benayoun paid off as their experience came to the fore especially in the middle of the park where Tottenham were totally outplayed. So much so that Harry Redknapp kept moaning about it in the post match interviews. He said

We went 2-0 up but even then I could not say I felt over-comfortable. They were playing through us, outnumbering us and we had problems. At 2-2, we changed it and tried to thicken up in midfield but didn’t. We didn’t defend well all over the park and it was a big problem. We let people run and that’s not like us.

Tactical Genius?

And then Harry Redknapp lost it, he took off Saha and Kranjcar and introduced Sandro and Van der Vaart in a bid to toughen up the Spurs midfield. That just didn’t happen. They seemed unable to get the ball off Arsenal and unaware as to what to do to stemm the Arsenal offensive. Meanwhile, Adebayor kept running down blind alleys!

Usually Arsenal play through the wings with Walcott and Gervinho and this flaw was exposed against Milan last week. However I was impressed to see how well we held up the play in the middle of the park. Rosicky’s amazing contribution showed why if fit, he should be starting over Ramsey every week in the absence of Jack Wilshere. I never cease to be amazed at his ability to start a counter attack from the most innocuous of positions.

At 32, and for a player with his injury record, his build up play is exceptional. In a moment of brilliance, he broke free in another counterattacking move and fed Sagna just inside the box. The frenchman quickly returned the favour with Rosicky poking the ball beyond the approaching Friedel to put Arsenal in the lead for the first time in the match. It was too good a chance to miss. If he had missed it, Walcott was right behind him to pounce. The pendulum had now fully swung with Arsenal in the ascendancy.

By this time, the stadium was absolutely rocking and all the Spurs fan who had been screaming their lungs out with delight less than half an hour ago were silent. You can trust that the Clockenders were good enough to respond in song.

You’re not singing; You’re not singing
You’re not singing anymore!
You’re not singing anymore!

Fifteen minutes later Walcott pounced with a brilliant double. First van Persie left two Tottenham defenders sprawling on the edge of the area before finding Walcott whose first touch took the ball wide giving Friedel some time to react. Unfortunately the Englishman recovered in time to dink it over him to score his first league goal at the Emirates in 14 months.

In his earlier years, he seemed to always score braces and he replicated that form only three minutes later after some good work from Alex Song.The Camerounian completed a stylish dribble in the Arsenal half before sending a long ball into the Tottenham half. This time, the control from Walcott was brilliant as while the Tottenham defenders raised their hands to claim offside, Theo calmly picked his spot and then unleashed a shot into the far post. The comeback had been completed and we had put five goals past them. At this point, the celebrations were in full swing

There’s only one team in London
There’s only one team in London
One team in London
There’s only one team in London

The rest they say is history. We proved our point that we still are a better team and we moved back into third place now only 7 points behind Spurs. To be fair, it’s been a poor season and I really don’t care if Tottenham finish ahead of Arsenal this year. It’s been by far their best season in 50 years and our worst in under Arsene Wenger and if that gap is only 7 points, then they do have a long way before they can prove their worth as the better London team.  What matters most is that we finish in the Champions’ league places for another year…the 16th on the trot.

What is important is that this Arsenal team push on from this against Liverpool at the weekend and salvage whatever remains of the Champions’ League tie against Milan. Even if it looks like we are on our way out, lets bow out in style and with pride.

Lest I forget…

Adebayor what’s the score?

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit!

The Diary Of A Travelling Gooner – Part 4

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The dream is over!

Arsenal are almost certain to finish another season without any silverware. If you still think we will 5-0 against Milan, you deserve to be shot for being a waste of space. Yes shot! Just like the six shots we allowed the opposition on target this week (Milan five, Sunderland one) which all resulted in goals.

By the way, who was the dude who took his shirt off during the first half to reveal five or six Arsenal tattoos on his body in the cold. Hat doffed to you my man!

Someone should really own up as to who has jinxed this Arsenal team, my colleague claims Arsenal lose anytime I go to see them play…well that’s not exactly true.

It’s only been Aston Villa (0-2), Chelsea (1-4), Aston Villa (0-1), Fulham (1-2). Ok, too much information there.

Personally I blame it on Ben…did anyone notice him at the game?

You see there was so much more going on yesterday that was more exciting than the game like the Sunderland fans who only showed up after Kieran Richardson put them one-nil up and the rest that found their voices after the Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal. They deserve all the horrible songs we dished out to them yesterday as in my brother-in-laws words “the stadium really is a dump.”

I’ve been to a number of football grounds around England this truly is one of the worst I’ve visited, at least for the away fans. Small concourses and drab and disgusting toilets all contrive to give visiting fans the most miserable of experiences at the Stadium of Light or should I say sh*te? So bad the travelling Gooners all burst into song during the game.

We wanna go home; We wanna go home!
This place is a sh*te hole; We wanna go home

And home it was we went, with our tails between our legs after losing 2-0 to a team we beat last weekend albeit in a different competition. If we were looking at the bigger picture, we can say we got the points we needed in the league and need to sacrifice our cup competitions if we are to save our season and secure another season of Champions’ League football. However, we all know that painful cup exits often mark the start of miserable runs for Arsenal.

To say that the loss wasn’t unexpected would not be entirely far from the truth if we’re being honest with ourselves. It was a poor game riddled with miscommunication, and an apparent lack of conviction going forward especially in the final third. Where was the midfield for crying out loud? I watched the game with my sister, her husband and my significant other, all three who had never been to a football stadium and at best are armchair tacticians. However, even they could see the glaring lack of contribution and the anonymity of Messrs van Persie and Chamberlain in the game. Ok, young Alex popped up late on with an own goal but the game got clumsier by the minute and the fact that Johann Djourou was our most visible player proves a point as to where the real pressure came from.

The first goal was a nothing goal. Djourou gave away a cheap free kick after Alex Song escaped getting penalised for a handball in the box which I saw ever so clearly. Immediately I whispered to my companions that we would concede from the free kick. We were right behind the goal and I could already see that the defensive positioning on the set piece was poor. We failed to deal with the cross and the second ball found Kieran Richardson free on the left. He wasted no time in burying it into the corner of the net. Top marks to him for his celebration too! He ran towards the sideline and was handed a bottle. He threw it up and ran forward towards the corner flag with Cattermole catching the bottle and gulping down its contents. He then proceeded to remove the corner flag and should have been booked for that too. Webb boy let him get away with it. Do you wanna hear what we sung about him? Maybe another day.

The game went downhill from there and I can tell you that most of us Gooners were more focussed on keeping warm than keeping up with the game so much so that all my three companions missed Sunderland’s second goal. How I saw it happen was Chamberlain attempt a dribble and lose the ball just outside the Sunderland box to  Stephane Sessegnon who made a marauding run across the field and fed former Gunner Larsson whose shot came off the bar and went in off Chamberlain. Game over!

I had more worries about Coquelin going off early in the first half after being crocked by the Sunderland thugs than the scoreline of the day’s game. In all, it was a poor performance deserving of a loss.

What more can I say? We better get our act together before the North London derby next weekend. We have a string of important games coming up and it is essential that the right Arsenal team shows up. We are level on points with Chelsea and are 10 points behind 3rd placed Spurs with 13 games to go. We really need to give it a go in the final few games of the season if we are to finish safely in fourth and the onus lies with the Manager and the team to perform at their peak and close out the season well.

The shambles of last summer and the January transfer window are another day’s discussion and I hope we won’t suffer too much for our foot-dragging come May.

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit.

The Diary Of A Travelling Gooner – Part 3

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Three points were all we needed. Three points were all we got! Robin van Persie scored the winner on the hour mark after receiving an intricate pass from the much criticised Andrey Arshavin to make it 35 goals in 36 Premier League games in 2011 one short of Alan Shearer’s haul of 36 goals in 1996, scored over 42 games.

Arsenal tube station was packed as usual at 2:30 as the full time score between Man Utd and Blackburn was announced over the P.A at the station, the cheers of hundreds of Arsenal fans reverberated through out the building. Our biggest rivals had lost at home on the 70th birthday of their manager.

The only things that could be better would be poor results for fellow top four contenders Chelsea and Tottenham. Little did we know what the day held for us!

It was a bold move by Arsene Wenger to start Andrey Arshavin in place of the rested Gervinho. The boos rang out early for Joey Barton as expected and it wasn’t long before he was book for a petulant tackle.

I daresay that QPR were very determined in playing a pressing game with a high offside line while showing little or no intent going forward. From where I sat at the clock end, I could see two banks of QPR players close together in a straight line on either side of the halfway line. This strategy worked early on forcing Arsenal players to play the ball back into their own half repeatedly frustrating Arsenal throughout a goalless first half.

Although he forced Joey Barton into making a goal line clearance, it was a generally poor performance from Aaron Ramsey  who kept slowing down the Arsenal attacks due to the way he pauses after every pass and changes direction. Although this is key in helping Arsenal retain possession, it does no justice to our attacking ambitions and the impetus was clearly changed with the introduction of the resurgent Tomas Rosicky in the second half. His ability to turn defence into attack in a few seconds at high speed is unrivalled in this Arsenal squad.

Robin van Persie might not have scored the hat trick he needed to break Alan Shearer’s goal scoring record, he did just enough to finish a lovely weighted pass from Andrey Arshavin to put Arsenal in the lead. One nil to the Arsenal! Vintage Arsenal if you say – and a good way to end the year on a high. I’m no psychoanalyst but I really would like to know what was going on in Walcott’s mind when through on goal with only the keeper to beat, he chose to slow down, slip to the right and scuff his shot wide when he could have scored. Another case of a convalescing player?

An interesting thing happened with Arsenal 1-0 up and six minutes left to play. With the team about to take a corner, Szczesny darted out of his box and screamed at Per Mertesacker to go up for the corner. I was stunned to see him oblige and run up only for him to be ordered back into his half by Alex Song with a stern look. Now Mertesacker is the oldest of all three players but this event only showed that firstly Szczesny is confident enough to give instructions to a seasoned international defender, and that Song is now more tactically aware to know that while you are 1-0 up at home with a few minutes to play, it could do you some good to maintain your defensive composure rather that chase every ball as well as open up the team to a quick counter attack as was seen in the League Cup game against  Manchester City which ultimately proved decisive.

A worry early on in the second half was the moment Thomas Vermaelen hobbled off the pitch and down the tunnel replaced by the eager Francis Coquelin. For a few minutes I wondered what impact that would have on our formation but immediately noticed that he slotted into left back and was absolutely brilliant there. The season started with a lot of hype about Emmanuel Frimpong and the fact that he is now headed to Wolves on loan to gain playing time shows that Coquelin has moved ahead of him in the pecking order. The young Frenchman has played at both full back positions and as well as in midfield this season and has not looked out of place one bit. I daresay he’s blazing the same trail Flamini did in the 2005/2006 season where he played in different positions. After all playing in several games in different positions is better than playing in only one or two games in your preferred position. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t sign another defender. The Manager has already confirmed that he is in the market for a defender on loan at least till the end of the season.

I was at the Emirates for the first game in 2011, a 0-0 draw with Manchester City and can also say I was there for the final game today. Arsenal started the year in the top four and finished it in the top four where we deserve to be. Our man of the year is clearly Robin van Persie and only time will tell how far his influence will extend in 2012.

We play Fulham away on January 2nd and I don’t yet have a ticket. Maybe I’ll do the same thing I did when we played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge!

Have a wonderful 2012

Till next year…Victoria Concordia Crescit!

The Diary of A Travelling Gooner – Part 2 (A Disappointing Result)

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In the end Arsene Wenger suggested that maybe Arsenal wanted the win so much it affected their performance. Speaking to the press after the game, he said;

It was the kind of day where maybe we were not relaxed enough, maybe we wanted it so much, that we were a bit too much in the ‘wanting zone’ and not enough in just the technical zone.

I quite agree with this and believe we were a little complacent in the final third especially in the last few minutes where playing against ten men, we should have killed off the game. I am even so more worried about the future of Andrey Arshavin who once again was called on to make an impact from the bench but yet again failed to deliver.

I arrived at the Emirates rather pumped up for the game against Wolves. Two meals at the lounge ensured that food was not a worry on my mind and I could focus solely on the football. The Emirates Stadium has some of the best sight lines in the modern game and my upper tier seat at the clock end was no exception. Seated right above the travelling fans, I was sure that we would be in for some good chanting right through the game.

I was surprised to see Wolves kick off with a back pass straight to their keeper. It soon became clear that this was their strategy for kick offs. I must say Walcott was sorely missed on the wings as he was absent due to illness. An early scare came when Djourou who was filling in at right back yet again slipped allowing Wolves to breakthrough with the attack saved by a good block from Per Mertesacker. I must say that although I’m not one of his numerous critics, Tuesday’s game seemed to be one of his best in an Arsenal shirt. Yes, you might say it’s only Wolves but then again we didn’t win the game. They did put up a good fight.

I’m not sure whether the opposition were trying to play offside for the first goal but it was a brilliant take from Gervinho controlling the ball with his back to the goal then turning to the inside before slotting it in between the keeper and a defender into an empty net. Arsenal did a good job especially from Rosicky in turning defence to attack in a few seconds. This is why it would be foolish to let him leave in the January window despite plenty of speculations about it. It was a great assist also from Benayoun to Chamakh just marginally beating the offside trap.

Yossi Benayoun did pretty well early on winning the ball from his full back but it seemed as if we were all too tentative in the final third for us to have any penetrative effect on the game. A quality ball from Rosicky to Gervinho down the right saw him free to slip it through to Robin van Persie who on a good day should have buried the side foot. He slipped as he hit the ball sending it wide and out for a goal kick.

To be fair it was good to see players tracking back on both flanks but sometimes you need more than just desire to win football games as we saw. As we saw Wolves kept looking to play from the wings for a cross to Steven Fletcher but that simply didn’t pay off. However, against the run of play a slight tentativeness from Mertesacker saw Arsenal concede  a corner kick just before half time. The corner was half cleared and when Stephen hunt lofted it back into the box it took a wicked deflection sending it into the patch of prolific header Stephen Fletcher who wasted no time in directing it into the far corner of the net. From where I sat at the Clock End, I could see a despairing Szczęsny stretch to the full but unable to stop the shot. Wolves had equalised! The game would end at that scoreline.

I was disappointed in the performance of Alex Song. He was unusually sloppy in the first half and made so many bad passes. I can understand why the Manager hauled him off later in the second half after he was booked as he was starting to get feisty. Possibly he needs an extra warm up game for every game he misses out on to regain form!

I won’t comment too much on the sending off of Nenad Milijas as both sides were guilty of trying to convince referee Stuart Atwell to send off opposition players. However from where I saw it, it was surely a bad challenge on Arteta. Still, Wayne Hennessey the Wolves goal keeper was fantastic as he stopped a late header from Mertesacker as well as a point-blank shot from Vermaelen.

The visiting fans were the happiest after the game and they did well to rub it in that we played against ten men.

Arsenal missed a glorious chance to go fourth so wins against QPR and Fulham are non-negotiable if we are to harbour any realistic hopes of a challenge on the top four at the start of the second half of the season.

Ok so I was bored after the game and I decided to hang around at the car park to see the players leave. Many of them drove Audi Suv’s as the club has a partnership with the German automaker. Notable exceptions were Alex Song and Manuel Almunia who each own a Range Rover while Per Mertesacker  was seen driving a Mercedes Benz SUV. I’m guessing it’s the M-Class as I’m not very good at cars.

Laurent Koscielny was spotted in a white Mini Cooper while Ignasi Miquel sped off in a white Golf. Yes, a Golf! I’m not sure if Rio Miyaichi has passed his driving test yet as he was in the front passenger seat of another small car with a horde of girls in the back. Yes, little Rio and I’m not kidding. For some reason Robin Van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen didn’t show up, I’m guessing they either slipped out the visitors entrance or were in one of the cars with blacked out windows.

I’m looking forward to Saturday’s game against QPR and I hope we can get the three points we need to go into the new year on a high. I will update the post with more videos as they become available.

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit.