Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

“Both sides are good at what they do,” said Arsene Wenger, trying to be dignified and diplomatic after getting ridiculous stick from the Stoke fans and having to listen to them booing Aaron Ramsey.

Stoke are good at what they do, but what is the point? I mean really, what is the point? They probably won’t go down playing like that, but they’re not going to win anything either and no-one will hold them up as an example of achievement. They are a haven for tall, competent footballers who can sustain that style for ninety minutes.

In his post-match interviews Tony Pullis said he was proud that they hadn’t been beaten by any of the big teams this year. But what about the football Tony? What does Tony Pullis think of Roberto Martinez and Wigan?

The game itself was pretty dull stuff with the ball spending a lot of time in the air. Ramsey put in a really good seventy minutes. I want to give him the first mention because he got stick from the Stoke fans, which is pathetic, but has also been under attack from some Arsenal fans too, which I think has been unfair. He hasn’t been as good as he can be this season, but most a lot of players go through phases like that. Yesterday he was good.

So was Rosicky. He’s obviously thrown off the illness that sapped his skill and energy last week. He was probably our most effective player again and topped our Stoke match poll by some margin.

Gervinho was lively and showed some good moves until it came to shooting, so no big change there sadly. The two goals cam from rare lapses from both defences which were pretty tight throughout. Santos was brought on late in game, but to replace Benayoun rather than Gibbs. Arsene Wenger seems to like him as an impact sub who will take the game to the opponents when we are struggling to get through and I think he is right. Plus it has the advantage of keeping Santos involved when Gibbs is getting the starts.

Marouane Chamakh also made a rare appearance, but didn’t really get enough service to show whether we’ve been missing anything or not. Most Arsenal fans assumed that he and Diaby were brought on to add some extra height against the vertically challenging Stoke.

You can picture the scene in Pullis’ office can’t you? Scouts and agents describe a player’s qualities at length, show video clips. “His name is Messi boss and it turns out his long lost granny lives just down the road in Hanley. She’s getting on and he really wants to spend some time with her.” Pullis looks up from under his cap, “how tall is he?”

A single point against Stoke is not as good as we wanted, but it’s better than most of our trips there and with Wigan trouncing Newcastle it hasn’t done us much damage. Last season we lost 3:1. Newcastle are in a tight spot now with games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton to come.

Today Spurs play Blackburn and Chelsea play QPR. Both are at home and both should win. But the way this season is going who knows. This weekend could have a bit more to give yet.

Yesterday must have been ‘bring your child to work’ day at the BBC, as Match of the Day was rounded off by a ten-year-old doing an impression of Gary Lineker doing an impression of Arsene Wenger. Either that or Gary Lineker was just being a pathetic prat.

Stoke 1:1 Arsenal
Crouch, Van Persie
Szczesny
Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs
Song, Rosicky, Ramsey (Diaby)
Gervinho (Chamakh), Van Persie, Benayoun (Santos)

Stoke 0:0 Arsenal
Van Persie

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Stoke 0:0 Arsenal
Van Persie

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This is a big fixture for us and one with an unfortunate history to say the least.  It’s an even bigger game now that Chelsea have secured another route to one of England’s Champions League spots next season.  There are still a few twists left in this season but the key point is that only third place guarantees Champions League football right now and we need maximum points to do it.

Stoke play a basic, ugly and uncompromising game.  You could be charitable and say that’s fair enough when you’re trying to survive in the Premier League on their budget.  But the history of this fixture, particularly the booing of Ramsey last time, throws charity out of the window and the likes of Wigan, Norwich and Swansea shows that with sufficient management talent any club in the Premier League can aspire to play football if they really want to.

Stoke will be without defender Andy Wilkinson and maybe Jermaine Pennant too.  Last week Stoke got beat 3:0.  But we know that they can still stop us winning and from set-pieces (which for Stoke includes throw-ins) they can get goals.  Their last four home games have seen them get three wins and a draw.

Who will play for Arsenal?  Clearly Theo Walcott won’t.  Although there was better news about his hamstring injury from an England perspective, he won’t play for Arsenal again this season.

I think that the back five pick themselves, plus Song, Rosicky and Van Persie.  Who will get the last three places?   Alongside Rosicky I was hoping that there would be a choice to made between Diaby and Ramsey.  Benayoun could play a central role but I think it’s less likely.  But the news is that Diaby has been ill this week so he will not start. I guess it’s Ramsey then.

Which leaves the two wide positions up front.  Two from Benayoun, Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain.  You can make a case for any combination.  I think that one of them will be Benayoun.  Being intelligible for the Chelsea game gave him a break and I would have thought that the run-in was a time for experience.  On the other side it’s more of a guess.  Probably Gervinho to start.  If were chasing a result then Arsene Wenger can throw on Santos and the Ox to mix it up in the second half.

So I reckon:
_______ Szczesny ______
Sagna _ Kos _ Verm _ Gibbs
________ Song ________
___ Rosicky _ Ramsey ___
Gervinho _ RVP _ Benayoun

Come on you Gunners!

These are the two big Arsenal stories spread across the media this morning.  Let’s start with the most important.  The Van Persie story is based on comments by Roberto Mancini, responding to media questions.  Mancini has a bit more class than Barcelona types so he says first that he thinks Van Persie will stay at Arsenal.  But, if he didn’t, then of course Manchester City would be interested.  Well who wouldn’t be?

I’m afraid that this type of story, which at the moment all seem driven by the media rather than any particular club, is going to be a regular feature until Robin Van Persie’s contract situation is resolved.  Whether any club will get quite as down and dirty as Barcelona did over Fabregas remains to be seen, but we’re going to have to put up with it for a while.

I think the chances of Van Persie staying are good as long as we stay in the Champions League.  That dictates everything now.  If we stay in, we have more to offer in both finance and prestige.  It also means that the promises to strengthen the squad this summer are more likely to be kept.  If we don’t, then Van Persie is bound to be tempted by big offers for what is likely to be his last major playing contract.

The other big story is that Arsenal are close to nailing down terms to bring Lukas Podolski to the club this summer.  Even the BBC, which generally likes to be fairly certain a story is genuine before publishing, is going with this one.  What we don’t know of course is whether this is also tied to whether we have Champions League football or not.

If the Podolski story is true it is encouraging for two reasons.  First, it means Arsenal are working to get deals sorted out early and avoid getting trapped into the same supermarket dash of last year.  Second, it confirms that Arsene Wenger’s approach has become more pragmatic.  Podolski would be another mature head alongside the developing talent of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny.

Don’t get me wrong, I really approve of what Arsene Wenger has achieved in bringing in young talent.  If you look at the players we’ve discovered and developed it’s a fantastic record.  But I do wonder whether some of those moments where Arsenal gave choked and blown games might have been different with a a more even blend of youth and experience.

Meanwhile, away from the frothy transfer talk, young Szczesny has been having a bit of a dig at Chelsea.  Unlike some clubs, well Chelsea, he says that Arsenal players know who is boss.  Everyone here is equal, apart from Arsene Wenger – who is most definitely in charge.

A bit unfair on Di Matteo I suppose, but that’s how it is at big school Roberto.  It’s a welcome change to see Arsenal able to put the psychological pressure on its rivals for the first time this season.  We’ve been on the receiving end for so long that for a nano-second or so you might feel sympathetic and disapproving.

Nah!  Go for it.  Let’s have a follow up story tomorrow about how aging stars should be wary of Stoke’s energetic and unrelenting style!  We’ve got to wait until Monday night until our game so some entertainment and dropped points at the Bridge would be just the job to keep the weekend interesting!

Four central defenders can work, but four full-backs fail

Arsenal kept a clean sheet on Saturday despite not having a single fit fullback available.  Admittedly Everton are not the biggest threat but Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny and Vermaelen still had a job to do.  Perhaps on these days of more athletic ‘total football’, central defenders have to be more mobile and more comfortable on the ball.  Of those four players, only Mertesacker would have struggled at full-back and back-up Ignasi Miquel has also filled in well playing out wide.

Does it work the other way though?

The answer from Newcastle certainly seems to be no, as their back line of fullbacks shipped four goals at Norwich.  With injuries to Stephen Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini, I think they’re going to struggle now.  There are only so many that Demba Ba can get at the other end.

It is possible to feel sorry for Spurs?

Well it is nearly Christmas and they were playing Stoke, so let’s be big-hearted over this!  Spurs were robbed of a win yesterday by some dreadful refereeing.   Tottenham players were twice prevented from leaping for crosses as Stoke defenders clung on to them.  Ryan Shawcross made a goal-line clearance with his elbow.  Crouch used his arm to control the ball before setting up Etherington’s first goal.  Adebayor was no-where near offside for his disallowed goal, the Assistant Referee suffered severe tunnel vision and ignored the Stoke player, returning to the pitch after sliding out, who put three Spurs a yard onside.

Chris Foy and his assistants have helped tighten things at the top I suppose, but crap refereeing turns games into stupid lottery. I didn’t include the red card in the list as the second yellow was definitely a foul and quite a few referees would have done the same.

Blackburn and Bolton are in trouble

To be truthful, that isn’t just a lesson of this weekend.  But whilst these showed that they are consistent in their lack of talent, Sunderland and Wigan showed that they have some answers if only they can make it work often enough.

Meanwhile…

David Moyes apparently took the chance of Arsenal’s Birthday Party to cheekily ask Thierry Henry if he fancied a spell at Everton.  I’m sure Thierry was gracious enough to give him a sympathetic smile in return.

The media have decided that Szczesny isn’t the only ready to kiss Van Persie’s feet and that he is Real Madrid’s top transfer target.  I guess that for as long as Van Persie is fit and scoring we’re going to have to put up with these stories constantly.  Hopefully Robin will tell the Special One to kiss some other part of his anatomy.

Since the drubbing at Old Trafford we have played ten, won seven, drawn one and lost two.   It hasn’t always looked confident or pretty, but the season rebuilding work goes on.  Gervinho had his best game of the season and ran away with our Man of the match poll.

Van Persie dominated the Arsenal headlines of course, despite not coming on until an hour into the game.  Chamakh didn’t actually have a bad game, but he didn’t score and Arsene Wenger obviously feared for the momentum we have slowly been building.  Quiet a few have been moaning about Chamakh, but I feel for the guy.   He looks exactly what he is, a striker who isn’t getting enough time on the pitch to stay sharp.

Strikers need to play to get the confidence in front of goal.  With our formation and with Van Persie having the season of his career, there’s not a lot that can be done about it.  You could forgive him casting an envious eye over Nicklas Bendtner playing and scoring elsewhere, although his agent has squashed stories of a move.   Arsene Wenger appears to have promised a start on Tuesday to Park, which is goo for him, but will do nothing for the form of Marouane Chamakh.

Soem have also been moaning about our defending and we were all at sea over the Stoke goal.  But aside from that they didn’t do so badly, despite the disruption of losing Jenkinson.  Wenger got it spot on in keeping the pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny together.

Just for a change, most of the weekend’s football headlines were about other clubs, with City thrashing United, Chelsea losing to QPR and Liverpool dropping points at home to Norwich.  Much as City’s blatant buying of the title irritates me, this has all been to our benefit.  We clearly weren’t aiming for top this season anyway, so anything that spreads the others above us out is all well and good.

After the Carling match mid-week, we end the month at Chelsea.  Big test, but the games both clubs have had this weekend show that it isn’t a lost cause.

Arsenal 3:1 Stoke
Gervinho, Crouch, Van Persie, Van Persie

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Arsenal 3:1 Stoke
Gervinho, Crouch, Van Persie, Van Persie

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As we discussed yesterday, the first dilemma is how to replace the injured Jenkinson. Clearly it’s a toss up between Djourou and Koscielny. Koscielny is more experienced at filling in at right back, but just when we’ve tightened up at the back will Arsene Wenger want to disrupt his partnership with Mertesacker? I’m guessing not.

Then again, this game last season it was Squillaci who got the winner…….

Next decision – when to rest Robin Van Persie. The fact that Wenger had been musing over this one in public immediately makes me think that he is trying to mess with Tony Pullis’ head. Or maybe it’s the old double bluff. He’ll leave RVP out of the cup game against Bolton but he’ll definitely be needed against Chelsea next weekend.

I think he will start against Stoke. Another win will keep the run of brittle form going and consolidate our return to the top half of the table.

Arteta has been ever present since he arrived so maybe it’s time for a break. Arsene Wenger says there has to be some rotation, so how about Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain in midfield with Rambo to come on for another late winner?

I have to admit my team predictions haven’t been as good this season. Mainly because I’ve anticipated rotations that haven’t actually happened. But sooner or later Van Persie and Arteta will need a break.

We have a really solid record against Stoke, especially at home, but this isn’t a usual season and we will have to work hard for the win we need.

My guess for the team:

________ Szczesny ________
Djourou _ Merte _ Kos _ Santos
__________ Song _________
____Ox-Cham ___ Rosicky __
_ Walcott _ RVP _ Gervinho _