Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

The fact that Arsenal have posted a big profit shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone.  Although a lack of surprise here would clearly have left some bloggers with nothing to rant about.

It is customary to use the adjective ‘healthy’ before ‘profit’, but that doesn’t really apply in this case.  As we know, the profit comes from player trading.  The reason we are in surplus is because the club dithered so long over the sales of Nasri and Fabregas last year that there was no time to line up replacements of similar ability and price.

The longer this went on, the more it imparted a sense of uncertainty until it got to the point that no-one would sign until the Champions League spot had been secured.  In the end, Arsenal bought a load of players, but not the big signings that would have resulted in a genuinely healthy, but lower, profit.

Barcelona played their part as well, with their totally unscrupulous behaviour, but how Arsenal responded was in the club’s hands and it was that dithering that compounded the problem of the actual departures and gave us the horrendous start to the season.  Well, we’ve recovered now, to an extent, and it would be churlish not to acknowledge that.  But the real test for the club’s management is how they play it this summer.

We can’t buy anyone before the end of the season, despite the impression given by some blog headlines, so Gazidis makes a reasonable point in calling for fans to set some of this aside for the last dozen games and cheer the team on to the best result we can get.  Those bloggers calling for less cheering in response to the financial results are clearly bonkers.

But Gazidis and Stan Kroenke need to understand that in doing so we’ll be taking it on trust that they’ll make a better fist of it this summer.  We need to see evidence that they gone into the transfer window with a serious game plan this time that sees a few true quality players brought in early, so that they are integrated into the set-up from the start of the season.

The club cocked-up last summer and the owner can only expect support to weaken if they do it again.

As it goes, Arsene Wenger didn’t make too bad a job of the last minute supermarket dash.  Arteta and Mertesacker have been solid assets and Santos was beginning to show promise before injury.  Benayoun has been a useful loan player. Park of course remains a complete mystery.

But if we hadn’t beaten Udinese and secured the Champions League spot, I doubt we would have got Arteta and Mertesacker.  Everything depends on that fourth spot.  Every weekend really is like a cup final.  Sometimes the cliches really are true.

It would be nice to claim that I knew we could do it.  But I must confess that I was a pessimist yesterday morning.  The terrible, effort-free performance at the San Siro and the downward momentum from going out of the FA Cup as well left me very fearful.

Strangely, that feeling began to lift even before we scored.  OK so the first goal was soft, Vermaelen’s defensive colleagues had left him with the impossible task of covering two advancing forwards single-handed, but it was clear that Arsenal really had come to play.  Tottenham had the run of the first ten minutes, but not over the Arsenal team of Milan or Sunderland.

At one-nil down I was even wondering if I could feel good about a narrow defeat if it was accompanied by signs of regained fight and skill.  As it was the North London Derby I swiftly pushed such soft thoughts out my head, of course it would still hurt in the morning.  But such were the hopeful signs that it did cross my mind.

After the first goal we stepped up our attacks rather than fold and Spurs’ second goal was against a turning tide.  And it was never a penalty!  I really don’t think that either Gibbs or Szczesny brought Bale down.  Mike Dean gave the penalty immediately, but then seemed uncertain what to do next.  If it was a penalty then surely someone had stopped a clear foal-scoring opportunity?  Surely someone had to get a red card?  Dean consulted his assistant for a long time.  What were they talking about?

It was one of those occasions when you wished you could hear, rugby style.  Clearly the assistant couldn’t tell Dean which player had felled Bale, because no card followed.  Did he even agree that it was a penalty?

Anyway, Tottenham were two goals to the good and Adebayor was obviously enjoying his birthday.  But not for a lot longer, because despite being two goals down, Arsenal were now flying and creating chance after chance.

Perhaps being two goals down rather than one actually helped.  The Arsenal players had nothing to lose now but their souls.  There were some frustrating moments though.  Walcott burst through on goal brilliantly with a fantastic burst of pace and then wimped out of the responsibility of shooting, passing to Van Persie who was surrounded by three defenders.  Rosicky had a great flicked on header superbly saved by Friedel.

A lovely ball from Walcott slipped Van Persie into the box and he hit the post.  Surely all this pressure had to pay off?  It did, Van Persie was still picking himself up while Gibbs and Arteta rescued possession and fed the ball back into the box for Bacary Sagna to head home.  Fantastic.  Even more fantastic, Sagna picks up the ball and sprints back to the centre spot.  He hadn’t come here to lose to Spurs.

More pressure, more chances and then, out of nothing much, a beautiful curling shot from Van Persie beats Friedel and we’re level.  We might even have gone into half-time ahead, but it was progress enough.  Spurs player’s heads were dropping and their fans were stunned.

Sagna and Van Persie may gave been the scorers but the pressure was created by Song, Arteta, Benayoun and most of all Rosicky.  They dominated midfield and were unrelenting in closing down, tackling and feeding the ball forward again.

Redknapp certainly noticed, swapping a striker for another midfielder at the break but it made no difference.  It was all Arsenal after the that.  Soon Rosicky got his just reward with his first goal in two decades or something and no-one deserved it more.  Tomas Rosicky was our overwhelming choice as Man of the Match – over 70% of the vote in our poll.  Spurs were beaten from that point.  Nothing left.

Theo Walcott, his mind now cleared of self-doubt surged and shot at goal again and again getting two.  It seems to be all about confidence with Theo.  Once he found it, Spurs couldn’t handle him.  They couldn’t handle anything by that stage.  The substitutes had no impact and their play became more ragged.

Scott Parker lunged in on Vermaelen and knew immediately that he was off.  We might have had more but who care.  FIVE – TWO to the Arsenal.

It was one of those unforgettable games that we will think back to for years.  I’m guessing that the White Hart Lane shop won’t be doing a special DVD this time! Maybe just a replica of Bale’s Oscar.

Who cares that it’s Monday morning, nothing can go wrong today!

We will return to earth at some point, we are still clinging on to fourth by just goals scored and we have Liverpool away next week.  But time enough to think on that one later – we ARE fourth and we beat Spurs FIVE -TWO.

Now, what time does my Spurs supporting colleague get to work?  I promise not to be any harsher than his text at 2:0!

Arsenal 5:2 Spurs
Sagna,Van Persie,Rosicky,Walcott,Walcott

 Loading ...

Gareth Bale dived. Watch the replays as many times as you like, Gibbs and Szczesny didn’t touch him. Explains the difficult discussion the ref had with his Assistant – Who should get the card? Neither. No card given.

Remember the storms over Pires and Eduardo? Well where is it now? Or is diving only a problem when it’s a foreigner? That can’t be it surely?

Arsenal 5:2 Spurs
Sagna,Van Persie,Rosicky,Walcott,Walcott

 Loading ...

Well no-one saw that coming, not the Ox or Gervinho but Yossi Benayoun to start. The other news is that Gibbs is fit. Yes, I know, me too!

So the team looks like this:
_______ Szczesny _______
Sagna _ Kos _ Verm _ Gibbs
_________ Song _________
___ Arteta ____ Rosicky ___
Walcott __ RVP _ Benayoun

On the bench: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Miquel,Oxlade-Chamberlain, Park, Gervinho, Chamakh.

Above all, you hope it is going to be a game. Unless we’re slaughtering them of course. Tomorrow I will meet every Spurs fan I know, on the train, at work, all day. Above all, you hope it’s a game. There’s nothing worse than a pitying Spurs fan. Why does it means so much? Don’t know, it just does.

I hope that today the players know it to. If we got another display like the AC Milan game, their lack of will would bite hard.

But enough of the Jaws-like mood music, what of the game? Yesterday Chelsea found a bit of rhythm whilst Bolton got lost. Newcastle let Wolves back in for a draw and have no goal difference at all. So position-wise we will stay fifth whatever. Well not quite, but if we win five-nil or lose fourteen-nil it will be a memorable game indeed. But never mind position, this is going be a tight race and quite apart from it being the Derby, we need three pointsto stay in touch with Chelsea.

Three questions on team selection I think: Gibbs or Vermaelen, Rosicky or Ramsey, Walcott or Oxlade-Chamberlain? The first two will come down to fitness and I expect we will see Vermaelen at leftback and Rosicky in with Arteta and Song. The third choice? Walcott on experience, or AOC for more enthusiasm and variety? Then there’s the question of who will help Sagna more with Bale? Personally I’d go for AOC.

______ Szczesny _____
Sagna _ DJ _ Kos _ Verm
_______ Song _______
___ Arteta __Rosicky __
AOC ___ RVP _ Gervinho

Not long to wait! Come on you Gunners!

And as if that isn’t tight enough, we’ve got to stop a downward run that’s put us out of two competitions in two games (near as damn it).  Oh and the next game is the North London Derby.  Plus Chelsea and Newcastle are at home to the clubs currently 19th and 18th in the league.

No pressure then!

Our league form recovered slightly this month of course with wins against Blackburn and Sunderland, but that matters little now after the last ten days.  This is a big, big pressure game.  Big choices for Arsene Wenger on just who is up for it and how to play it.

Spurs haven’t been perfect of late, they only got a draw against Liverpool and they had that little blip away at Wigan.  But they go into this with fewer worries.

Arsene Wenger will doubtless give some squad news later today.  Word at the moment is that Koscielny and Gibbs are fit which will give us a reasonable back four.  I say reasonable because personally I think that missing Per Mertesacker is bad for us.  He gets some stick over his lack of pace, but he bring a balance that we don’t have with Koscielny and Vermaelen together.  Thomas Vermaelen of course will have to put his nightmare in Milan behind him.

The biggest Arsenal news today is that ticket prices for next season are being frozen, apart from at Club level.  Don’t see what else they could have done really.  Any rise in price would have been met with howls of anger and bad press.  As it is, we really need everyone behind the team on Sunday and any other announcement on prices would have just hacked fans off even more than they are already.  But for all the distress that we feel right now I hope that everyone will be shouting their heads off at the game.

Come on you Gunners!

There’s plenty of ranting and raving amongst Arsenal fans this morning which isn’t surprising or even unwarranted. Some of the stuff is a bit unreal, but that’s true every day now!

What we have left now is the fight for fourth. It’s achievable, but at the moment we have a downward momentum that will be difficult to turn round. I hope that the home crowd can try and play a part in that, as well as the team and management.

The game against Sunderland was always going to be tough after Wednesday and started of course with another defensive reorganization. Koscielny and Gibbs will hopefully be our for just the one game because our patchwork back four only survived about ten minutes before Coquelin was helped off clutching his hamstring. On came Sebastien Squillaci. He hasn’t played in ages and it showed as he misjudged the flight of the ball and struggled to stay goal-side of Sessignon.

He must so regret his move to Arsenal. He had a solid reputation where he was and things didn’t start to badly. But now he lacks confidence and pitch time. And as fourth or fifth choice he inevitably only plays when Arsenal are up against it.

Yesterday we weathered an early onslaught but never really found a rhythm. We could have had a penalty, but we could have conceded one too. We were found out by two determined goals that both went it off our own players. Neither was the fault of the player involved, but it just seemed to some up where we are at the moment. As on Wednesday, the response to going behind was to drop Van Persie a bit deeper and put someone in ahead of him. Henry on Wednesday. Walcott this time. Didn’t work this time either. Neither really got into the game.

That doesn’t mean two strikers isn’t the answer. It’s just that at the moment it seems like a last gasp panic measure. And I’m not sure that Theo makes a great point-man. If this is plan B, then how about:
_______ Song ______
AOC _ Arteta _ Gervinho
_______ Van Persie __
____Chamakh _______

I know Chamakh hasn’t impressed but he has only played bits of games and he is probably more of a threat in the middle than Walcott. He can use his head too, which would give us variety.

But the main thing we need now is heart, in big measures. Last year, going out of the cups put us in a real spin, but we clung on to that Champions League place. Now we have to do the same, despite more teams in the mix this time. The rest of the season looks like a mini-league of Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool. The other three have their troubles too, but it’s going to be a big challenge.

Come on Arsenal.

Sunderland 2:0 Arsenal

 Loading ...