So, that was the 2011 transfer window!
New Signings:
Mikel Arteta
Joel Campbell (but out on loan with no UK work permit)
Gervinho
Carl Jenkinson
Per Mertesacker
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Park Chu-Young
Andre Santos
In on loan:
Yossi Benayoun
Like a new signing:
Ryo Miyaichi (gained UK work permit)
Departures:
Gael Clichy
Emmanuel Eboue
Cesc Fabregas
Samir Nasri
Armand Traore
Out on Loan:
Nicklas Bendtner
Joel Campbell
Denilson
Henri Lansbury
Carlos Vela
What else could go wrong? How about Sagna and Vermaelen out as well, that’s what.
So Arsenal started with: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Djourou, Koscielny, Traore, Coquelin, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Van Persie and Arshavin.
If you include our quest to sign Gary Cahill, that means that not one of the back four would be our first choice to start. For twenty minutes the pretence was maintained, but the pressure was all one way. Bravely, or foolishly, Arsenal tried to play the way they always play; trying to move the ball forward and keeping a high line. But the Manchester United players knew that it was for show and kept pumping in the attacks.
Jenkinson and Traore were getting outnumbered and outplayed. Walcott and Arshavin don’t provide much cover at the best of times. These were the very worst of times. To be fair to Jenkinson, he never hid, never shrank from the task, but he still got beat again and again.
Arshavin, when he did tackle, seemed determined to get sent off. He got a yellow for a tackle that could easily have got a red. Later he made a similar tackle and Howard Webb had mercy on him, no other explanation for him staying on. Coquelin – what a game to have to make your Premiership debut. I thought he did OK in the circumstances, better than I hoped, but he couldn’t do much to stem the tide either.
The first goal when it came was soft. Anderson, I think, chipped the ball over the retreating centre backs, they let it bounce, never recovered position and Danny Welbeck headed in.
Just for a moment there seemed to be a reprieve. Evra pulled Walcott back in the area and we got a penalty. Could Van Persie make it one-all? No. Terrible penalty and Manchester United started surging forward again.
The second goal required a better finish but came from a poor headed clearance from Traore directed straight into the middle. Szczesny had no chance from Young’s shot.
The third was a clinical freekick from Wayne Rooney. Szczesny did well to get his fingers to it, but couldn’t keep it out. Then, in the dying moments of the first half, Rosicky (our best player today?) combined with Walcott and he nutmegged De Gea. Three-One. We weren’t out of sight but it was as close as we got to respectability.
The second half was all one-way traffic. I wasn’t surprised when Oxlade-Chamberlain came on, but I thought he would replace Arshavin. In fact it was Coquelin who trudged off. Didn’t understand that at all. Anyway, Man Utd got another five, you all know that and I can’t be arsed to describe them. We got another consolation goal through the determination of Jenkinson and Van Persie but we are not consoled.
I guess we all knew it was going to be bad, but this was a humiliating rout.
Szczesny: didn’t deserve to concede eight, there were a couple where he might of made a better decision, but he made loads of saves too, so he shouldn’t be hard on himself.
Back Four: Dire. But not through lack of effort. Jenkinson played his heart out and will be distraught. He got a second red in the end, to add to our troubles. Koscielny was probably the best. But as a unit they were hopelessly outclassed. Djourou conceded more freekicks than I could count. After Jenkinson’s red, Walcott found himself at right back and conceded a penalty, so he was replaced by Lansbury. He knows how to tackle, but it was late in the game by then to be of any relevance.
DM: The pressure on Coquelin must have been immense, and I he didn’t deserve to be part of this humiliation on his debut. When he was taken off, we didn’t really have a holding player. I guess the idea was we could get back into the game with more attacking pace, but the next goal was United’s.
AM: Ramsey and Rosicky didn’t do too badly when they got the chance. In fact Rosicky seems a man transformed this season. He seems to have more energy and more purpose. He tackle, holds the ball passes. But he was on to a loser today. OxLade-Chamberlain didn’t get a touch for ages. He had one good run, but like Coquelin, this was the debut from hell.
Wings: Walcott worked hard, he earned a penalty and got a goal. Arshavin was lucky to stay on. lost the balled and often left Traore facing two incoming red shirts. Yes he created the odd chance, but not enough.
Forwards: Van Persie will be seeing that soft penalty kick for a long time. It was the chance to equalise and it was given up easily. Yes he scored, but by then United were six-one up. Chamakh was sent on at seven-two. Just to share the pain I guess.
It was painful to watch. I’m not sure when we were last beaten so comprehensively, though I’m sure some statto will tell us *. On the telly Merson was laying into Wenger, saying we should have set out to play differently. More defensively. Looking at the bench I don’t think we had many real options anyway. We could have played Lansbury from the start I suppose, but it would still have been a desperately inexperienced set-up.
This game was lost before today. We need that other central defender. Traore isn’t great cover for Gibbs. Not sure Gibbs is that great anyway. Rosicky is trying the rise to the challenge of senior attacking midfielder with more passion and skill than any of us would expect. But it was never going to be enough at Old Trafford.
For me, the people who represented Arsenal best today were the away fans. They kept singing and chanting long after the club deserved it. Collectively, they were my Man of the Match.
Never has an international break been more welcome for the club. But the real key is the next three days. Let’s seal the deal with Cahill and get the most creative midfielder we can lay our hands on. In and ideal world, another left back too. But today, it doesn’t look like an ideal world.
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* 5th November 1960. West Ham 6:0 Arsenal, so worst result for nearly 51 years!
Like many fans I feared the worst for Saturday. The whole Fabregas/Nasri saga going on when the club should have been focused on the opening games and then the catalogue of problems/misfortunes in the run-up and the match itself.
What else could have gone wrong with the preparation?
* Song gets a ban so the holding role is a Premiership debut for Frimpong.
* Gibbs and Traore injured so a Premiership debut for Jenkinson, with Sagna having to play on the left.
* Rosicky needed resting and Wilshere and Diaby injured, so a selection dilemma over Nasri.
* Gervinho unavailable because of his red card.
Then in the game:
* Koscielny injured early on, so Ignasi Miquel has to come on, making a third Premiership debut.
* Frimpong’s inexperience and rash approach gets him a double yellow reducing Arsenal to ten men.
* Rearranging the formation after Frimpong’s red card means bringing Lansbury on, bringing the Premiership rookie count to four.
* Liverpool still have Luis Suarez to bring on as a sub.
* Ramsey collides with a Miquel clearance and the ball ends up in the net.
*Plus the play could have been stopped for offside before the goal anyway.
But for seventy minutes my hopes were building that we would at least come away with a point. And any game at nil-nil can be won by either side. Obviously Liverpool were on top for most of the game, but Arsenal were competing with good heart. Samir Nasri was more than keeping up appearances; he was our best player outside of the defence.
Sagna, Vermaelen and Jenkinson were doing OK and early sub Miquel was surviving, albeit in rather nervous fashion. Szczesny looked the business pulling off one magnificent save in particular.
Frimpong was hindered by an early yellow card, but showed why Wenger has high hopes for him. The tackle that earned him the second yellow though was terrible and couldn’t be argued against.
After that the pressure on the ten remaining grew and grew. You could sense the growing danger but even then it was a bit of bad luck that finally turned it. Not entirely bad luck, it came from a hurried attempt at a clearance by Miquel, but the rebound off could have gone over the goal or low enough for Szczesny to recover. But it didn’t and the resistance was broken. After that it was all one way traffic and Suarez eventually got a second near the end.
So after that hour of hope it was the result originally feared. The Arsenal players trudging off didn’t really deserve it, but the club did. Whilst the tactics of Barcelona have been the root cause of Arsenal’s summer problems, you can’t see where the club has acted to strongly enough to regain the initiative. Now we still have even more urgent transfer business to do and one hell of an important game on Wednesday.
Some described the Liverpool match as a ‘must win’ but it wasn’t in itself. But Wednesday is a must win. Failing to qualify for the groups stage of the Champions League is a big drop in status, and with Manchester City’s oil-fueled renaissance, getting that status back will will be a tough fight.
To make that challenge worse, I suspect that the best of the players that the club is talking to this week will wait until Wednesday before making their mind’s up. No Champions League will not help them put pen to paper.
As Ferguson would say, this week it really is squeaky bum time.
C’mon Arsenal!
Two competitive games in and were already looking a little thin with injuries and suspensions. To add to selection dilemmas, we take a slim first leg advantage to Udinese on Wednesday. Mess up then and Arsenal’s status changes.
Do we face the prospect of having to rest key players for the first home league game of the season?
It starts off easily enough, Szczesny in goal. Sagna at right back, Koscielny and Vermaelen in the middle right? Unless of course Vermaelen is needed at left back. But if Djourou is still injured that would mean Squillaci! OK, so Koscielny and Vermaelen in the middle.
On the left, Traore or Jenkinson? Assuming Gibbs is still injured. Rumour has it that Traore might go out on loan to QPR. Surely that means we’re bringing in someone else at left back? But for Saturday it could mean Jenkinson.
Song is suspended for stamping on Joey Barton so Frimpong in front of the back four.
Central midfield? We appear to have two fit and experienced options – Ramsey and Rosicky. But they could be the only two fit for Udinese too. Lansbury? I think that Wenger will cross his fingers and stick to the two ‘R’s.
In fact, I think that Wenger is more likely to gamble on injury than on untested players. So I think that the front three will be Walcott, Van Persie and Arshavin.
So, the team that picks itself:
_________Szczesny_______
Sagna_Kos_Verm_Jenkinson
_________Frimpong_______
_____Ramsey____Rosicky_
Walcott____RVP___Arshavin
What do you think?
What should we Gooners make of the world today? Yesterday Arsenal showed some promise, but some familiar frailties too.
The papers have dutifully filled their pages, but not with anything new. Some bloke called Fabregas wants to go and may be replaced by some bloke called Mata. But some other club may hijack the deal. Meanwhile Arsenal are poised to sign Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Chris Samba and Scott Dann. But not today.
The Sundays get the best football material during the season but lose out on breaking anything new on transfer gossip. Some have wrestled a highly non-committal Harry Redknapp quote into a North London blood feud, but Harry’s more likely to be wondering what time to light the barbie.
Presumably today we will see Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Gibbs at the back and they will show us a bit more nous and composure. Which doesn’t mean that the likes of Jagielka and Enrique wouldn’t be welcome additions.
Most impressive pre-season displays so far have been Frimpong and Gervinho. Frimpong looks like he’s going to make up for his lost season. But he’s still young and there is every chance of him and Song disappearing to play for their African national sides at the same time. What happened to that Biglia rumour that flashed around the web last week?
Gervinho seems to have great pace and passing ability. I like the way that he and Arshavin keep swapping sides. His assist for Van Persie yesterday was inch perfect. More of the same please!
Apparently Arsene Wenger has told Paul Lambert that Henri Lansbury is staying at Arsenal this season. It would be good to see him on the pitch today.
Enough already, time to make sure lunch appears before the Grand Prix starts and plan when to reveal the existence of the second Arsenal game of the weekend. ‘But it’s not even August yet!’
Two players on the edge, one looking in, hungry for his chance; one surely wondering what the future holds.
Abou Diaby is one of those frustrating players who shows you enough talent to keep you interested, but goes missing at key moments with an indifferent display that lets the side down. Which means for a club of Arsenal’s ambition we should probably be ruthless and find someone better. I doubt Alex Ferguson for example would put up with such inconsistency.
Then there’s the sad fact that he has spent so much time injured. We’re told that there is no prospect of him playing in August. Which also means he isn’t going anywhere in the transfer market either. It must look a bleak season from where he’s sitting.
Henri Lansbury is another midfielder on the margins, but with more reasons to be cheerful than Diaby. He is travelling in the opposite direction with Arsene Wenger saying yesterday that he rates the young Englishman and at least one other premiership club interested.
But you sense a bit of a dilemma for him too. He knows that Wenger is under pressure to weave some more experience into the youthful make-up of the squad and the departure of Fabregas and Nasri wouldn’t guarantee enough midfield space for him as they would have to be replaced by at least one significant signing.
Personally I hope he stays another season and gets some chances. Arsenal have a lot of games to play. Denilson wasn’t good enough and Diaby isn’t consistent enough.
A player like Lansbury should get a decent chance to shine but have to prove themselves faster than the years that Denilson hovered around the edge of the team. Keeping a player that long on the fringe makes them complacent and harder to sell.
Arsenal have annouced their 23 man squad for the games in Malaysia and China. So who’s going and who’s staying. And if they’re staying, does it actually mean they’re really going?
Goalkeepers -
On Tour: Szczesny, Mannone
On Hold: Almunia, Fabianski
According to the BBC, an Arsenal spokesman has hinted that transfer negotiations for Manuel Almunia could be in the offing with the club having more to say on Monday. Lukasz Fabianski is still recovering from the injury to his shoulder in February.
Defenders -
On Tour: Djourou, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Sagna, Squillaci, Traore, Vermaelen
On Hold: Eboue
Emmanuel Eboue apparently has a calf injury and the rumour mill has been pretty quiet for a while. There was some early talk of a move to QPR but nothing has materialised.
Midfielders -
On Tour: Arshavin, Denilson, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Nasri, Ramsey, Rosicky, Song, Wilshere
On Hold: Diaby, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas, Fabregas, Lansbury
Diaby has an injury and, according to The Mirror this week, Arsenal are open to offers. Then again, other reports say Arsenal have turned down offers. Craig Eastmond broke an ankle back in April while on loan at Millwall. Not much on Jay Emmanual-Thomas. There have been rumours of him being a make weight sale or loan in a deal for Cahill, but nothing substantial. Fabregas, well of course he has an injury hasn’t he! The Sun today says that a season-long loan deal will send Lansbury back to Norwich for regular Premier League football.
Forwards -
On Tour: Chamakh, Van Persie, Vela, Walcott
On Hold: Bendtner
The BBC story on Almunia above also puts Bendtner in the same boat: something happening on a transfer soon, more to be said next week.
Of course, not everyone who is going is necessarily staying!
A lot of Arsenal bloggers are predicting big changes for the game against Newcastle. I not so sure. The are bound to be changes, but how big will they be if we are really serious about all competitions this season?
I would keep Fabianski in. That may be tough on Szczesny but the team comes first and every first-team game that Fabianski gets will build him up. How fit is Koscielny? I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back at the weekend rather than on Wednesday. No point in rushing people back from injury if you don’t need to. I think the fullbacks will be changed.
My guess is that Bendtner and Walcott will start, to see ig they are up to ninety minute fitness now. That leaves three midfielders and one forward position.
What is Vela for? I’ve been wondering for a while and will be even more confused if he doesn’t appear against Newcastle! So that leaves three from: Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Denilson and Rosicky. Could Lansbury be in the mix as well – he did well at Tottenham. Diaby is still out I think. I think that Wenger will want some experience in there to give direction.
If we really are taking the Carling seriously, I expect:
_________ Fabianski ____________
Eboue __ Squillaci __ Djourou __ Gibbs
___________ Denilson __________
_______ Fabregas __ Lansbury _____
Walcott _____ Bendtner _______ Vela
What do you think?
Earlier this week Harry Redknapp lectured Arsene Wenger on the right tactics for the Carling Cup. He said Arsenal should take winning trophies more seriously and stop sending out boys to do a man’s job.
Well, fair does, maybe he’s right. What with being such an experienced manager. After all, he has managed a lot clubs and bought and sold a lot of players.
So thanks for the advice Harry!
Now Harry is wittering on about diving, but 4:1 is 4:1 and from what I saw Arsenal could have had more decisions out of the referee with a load of ‘professional’ fouls from Spurs as they tried to hold the Gunners back.
The rise of Jack Wilshere continues. He feels like a fourth summer signing. Loads of confidence for his age. Good to see Lansbury survived Harry’s team advice, I thought he was excellent too.
Only downsides to the night seem to be a possible injury to Gibbs and another nail in the coffin for Fabianski. Not sure if the latter really counts as a downside. I think most fans have given up on Fabianski and would rather see one of the two younger keepers in as number two.
I hope Gibbs hasn’t got a broken bone. Clichy’s poor form so far could create the opening he needs to break through and it would be tough for him and Arsenal to miss out through injury.
All in all a great night to lift the spirits after Saturday. Come on Arsenal.
