The Morning Before THE Night

With Villarreal looming on the horizon, what better way than to issue a rallying cry for Arsenal to storm forward and take the crown. Well, if that is your point of view, do not pay any attention to Ian Wright, who this morning turned the milk sour, bemoaning the lack of silverware for the last four years. Interestingly, Wright is critical of the fact that the club has not won anything since the 2005 FA Cup, forgets that during his spell at the club, the trophy cabinet was as empty as it is now for a similar period before Wenger arrived and built a double-winning side.

He has words of encouragement for Theo Walcott, believing him to be the messiah, the answer to the “problems”:

With Theo down the middle, supported by a few more quality signings, the Gunners might actually win something

In his search for the populist view, Wright has to slant negatively. Remember this is the man who advised his son to sign for Chelsea as a great career move. Where Wright has irked me is his assertion that everything is rosy because of the return of Theo, Cesc and Adebayor. In their absence, the team had negotiated its way to fourth, an FA Cup semi-final and the quarter final of the Champions League. The benefit of the returning trio is that they enhance the squad and enable the push for trophies between now and the end of the season but please, do not undervalue the efforts of the squad in their absence.

Ahead of the fixture tomorrow, Arsene has been playing a load of old James records, citing “This is our destiny calling”:

We don’t want to be tentative at all. We want to be decisive but you can only do that if you decide to play in a very positive way. I don’t believe that we are a team who can play for 0 – 0; that’s not our natural way

Who am I to disagree but being able to shut up shop is a much undervalued quality. Where required, the 2006 Champions League run contained those results away from home and at Highbury, albeit a very nervy one against Real Madrid. The crucial aspect of tomorrow is going to be patience. Villarreal have lost Senna who was their most influential player last week. That may give Cesc a freer rein but teammates have to step forward as well. Walcott and Nasri will be key on the flanks to stretching the play. Even though Villarreal have to score, I do not for one second believe they will come out and attack Arsenal; it will be counter-attacking, similar to the style that brought them victory in Athens in the last round. A bit of patience is going to be required on and off the pitch.

‘til Tomorrow.

Hello Dr Jekyll, Meet Mr Hyde In Arsenal Win

Wigan Athletic 1 – 4 Arsenal

1 – 0 Mido (18)
1 – 1 Walcott (61)
1 – 2 Silvestre (71)
1 – 3 Arshavin (90)
1 – 4 Song (90)

In the end, it was a flattering scoreline as is always the case when the net is found twice in injury time. Despite this, Arsenal were the better side in the second half, having been the footballing equivalent of ‘on the ropes’ for much of the first. Talk in this morning’s papers and in general is of the match’s pivotal moment when Alan Wiley showed Kieran Gibbs a yellow card, a decision he got wholly wrong. Looking at the incident several times, a red card would have been entirely unjust.

As it was, some justice was done when Watson’s free kick struck the inside of the post and bounced out. In a race for the ball, Valencia pulled Gibbs to the floor hence the Wigan midfielder was sent tumbling; a free kick to Arsenal, not the home side. Far from proving the spurious theory that officialdom favours the top four, the accusation of the referee being a ‘homer’ carried more weight.

The incident deflects attention away from more pressing concerns. The first is that of the injury sustained by Johan Djourou. Initial reports suggest he might be back for the FA Cup semi-final next weekend although that may be optimistic. It leaves the centre short of cover with only Silvestre really an option. Song could cover but that would mean an alteration to the formation that has served Arsene very well over the last three games, Diaby’s absence would necessitate moving Fabregas to a deeper role. That said, the re-introduction of van Persie may well bring that about anyway.

Wenger will be concerned with the first half performance. Consecutive away games this week has seen Arsenal perform poorly in the first half, overpowered by opponents technique or energy. That the second halves of the matches have seen a diametrically opposite performances, the energy, passing and speed of thought have phased opponents for long periods. Wednesday, at home, will hopefully see ninety minutes of that.

Wigan deserved their lead. Fabianski is being criticised for not stopping the shot yet that denies credit to Mido for his finish. Yes, the defender was on the line behind the ‘keeper but had the Pole not attempted to stop the ball he would have been chastised; a no-win situation. I found the marking to be lax from the set play and that is more discouraging, Sagna’s header being incredibly weak to try and clear the ball. The defence that had been previously tight was undone with relative ease, highlighting the three changes required from midweek.

A fourth change came when Djourou departed and Silvestre entered the fray, once more at a difficult time, ten minutes before the interval. The second half began with Arsenal rising to the challenge of reducing the arrears. Even so, there was still another scare, Mido beating Fabianski to the ball, his header lacking the pace to beat Gibbs to the goal-line. Minutes later, the match was all square. Arshavin bundled the ball to Walcott on the right-hand side of the penalty area, the finish leaving no doubts as to the youngster’s confidence in front of goal this season.

From then on, it was a case of when the winner would come, not if. The breakthrough came ten minutes later. Fabregas was freed on the right, rifling in a cross for Silvestre to turn home. The collapse in the home team’s morale was visible at this point. Having weathered storms, they limped to the finish line, looking to have been edged out by the second half performance. Wigan could not resist some Keystone Cops defending to make the final result more emphatic.

Adebayor broke purposefully from van Persie’s pass before criminally under hitting the ball in an attempt to free Fabregas. As it was Jason Koumas opened the door with his own inattention to his opponents, teeing Arshavin beautifully for the Russian to drill home. There was more to come. Picking up the ball from a throw-in, Song found Fabregas who returned the ball to the Cameroonian. Wigan offered no defence as Song began his audition for the West End, twinkling toes and body swerves taking him past Scharner’s challenge whilst Bramble offered a Gentleman’s Excuse Me before the Arsenal midfielder finished low into the net.

It is a tough match to comment on the player’s individual performances, most were poor in the first half, remarkably improved in the second. Song and Arshavin were two who stood out from that pack for consistency. Gibbs grew in confidence as the game progressed, encouragingly so. Fabianski had his moments but for both it was a useful runout ahead of the upcoming fixtures.

The win was vital, heaping pressure on Villa ahead of their clash this afternoon. With Everton a point behind them, the ideal result will be a draw, leaving the gap at eight points. Of more immediate attention for Arsenal is the visit of Villarreal and then the FA Cup Semi Final against Chelsea. Getting the walking wounded fit will be crucial for this busy period, especially since the return to Premier League action is marked by the visit to Anfield on the 21st.

‘til Tomorrow.

Are Wigan-er Get Fourth Spot?

Considerably later than intended but here’s today’s effort nonetheless.

The next seven days are crucial to the hopes and ambitions that remain for the season. Starting at the whatever-the-hell-it’s-now-called Stadium, Wigan are the first test. It will be a stark contrast to the game on Tuesday. Wigan will no doubt copy Villarreal and put the Arsenal players under pressure. Whereas the Spaniards were comfortable hunting in packs to ‘nick’ possession, an English-style firm challenge can be expected this afternoon.

Injuries have been well documented. Arsene adopted his best ‘Fluff’ Freeman voice and announced that Gibbs will be in at Number 3, preferred ahead of Mikael Silvestre. His stay is not assured though as the manager assured everyone that he will be seeing how the youngster copes before deciding if Gibbs will be appearing on Wednesday. Johan Djourou is widely expected to be certain of replacing William Gallas at Number 5. Despite the media assertion, there is not a lack of depth in the Arsenal backline in normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances and concerns may be well founded if any more injuries are sustained in the rough and tumble of the Premier League. In at Number 1? Lukasz Fabianski who has been decent in the major tournaments when required. Not ‘arf!

Andrei Arshavin will come into the line-up giving someone a rest. I have a suspicion that it will be at the expense of of Theo Walcott in the starting XI if Arsene keeps to the 4-2-3-1 employed since the return of Cesc and Adebayor. An alternative would be to rest Samir Nasri and bring Eboue into the right-hand side, a firmness of tackle to counter Wigan’s approach. With the fixtures upcoming I would not even consider anyone who is vaguely fit for more than a twenty minute run out. If anyone had doubts about the attacking depth available to Wenger, a bench that could include van Persie and Eduardo ends those misplaced thoughts. The only other potential change might be Bendtner starting up front. Even though Adebayor is only just returned and in good scoring form, a small rest might not go unappreciated with three games one week perhaps stretching the muscles too far?

I would expect today’s line-up to be:

Fabianski; Sagna, Djourou, Toure, Gibbs; Denilson, Song; Eboue, Fabregas, Arshavin; Adebayor

A win is crucial in turning the screw once more on Villa and asserting some authority over fourth place. On the back of the unbeaten run, it is not over-confidence to expect it. Yet we have been here before. Wigan last season was an abject performance on a ploughed field of a pitch. Arsenal were expected to over-run the hosts and failed to do so. This time, a more cohesive performance is indicated by previous outings.

One player who will not be returning to Arsenal at any time whilst Wenger is there is Lassana Diarra, often held up as a sign of Wenger’s failing in the transfer market. There is an aspect of romanticism about the player’s spell at Arsenal. He had a couple of good games but was also distinctly average in others. His departure showed a lack of character on his part, unwilling to fight for a place at Chelsea, he repeated the process at Arsenal, seemingly unable to reconcile his inability to usurp Mathieu Flamini, blaming the manager rather than looking at himself.

According to the Real Madrid, ahem, ‘star’ – no doubt already a legend in his own mind – he believes he never played for Arsenal:

I did not learn anything [from Wenger]

Diarra went on to prove that he is barely out of nappies:

I learned more from Mourinho. [He] taught me to fight

Far be it for me to observe that in departing Arsenal so quickly, he showed a distinct lack of fight. Life is full of quirks – the spell checker observed that ‘Diarra’ was not in the dictionary; it proffered ‘disarray’ as the number one choice…

One of wish I can grant for him:

I feel like I never played for Arsenal

OK, you didn’t. Genuinely, I do not remember you. I was merely being polite earlier when I mentioned a couple of good games for I cannot recall seeing you in the Arsenal red.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow.

Tom, Bill, Manny, Gael All Out. Anyone Back In?

Ahead of the visit to Wigan, the Arsenal balloon has had a Martin O’Neill-sized pin thrust into it and is slowly deflating thanks to the confirmation of the injuries sustained in Spain in midweek.

William Gallas is confirmed as being out for the remainder of the season whilst Manuel Almunia and Gael Clichy are going to miss arguably the most defining ten days of the season. Little surprise that this has happened for it sums up everything about 2008/09 so far; things go well and then wham bam, something comes along to try to derail the squad’s hunt for silverware, with not so much of a “Thank You, Ma’m” in sight.

Tough as this situation is going to be to deal with, I believe the squad can do just that. On paper, we have the players to cover those absences. Where their replacements cannot match them is the experience that they bring to the pitch. Each of them has played in big matches for the club or their previous employers in the case of Gallas. In the squad though, Arsene has options aside from goalkeeping where Fabianski is the option. Djourou seems most likely to come into the centre although Silvestre and Song can do so.

Left back has the choice of Gibbs or Silvestre. It would not surprise me to see the youngster play on Saturday with Silvestre taking over on Wednesday and against Chelsea. Problematically for Arsene, neither has a cast-iron case for inclusion nor exclusion. Where Gibbs has Clichy’s pace, Silvestre has experience to compensate. Suddenly, the decision to sign the Frenchman in the summer does not look as poor as some would have you believe.

It is not all bad news. Eduardo and van Persie are both having fitness tests later today over their groin injuries which suggests that one or both of them might well be available for midweek and the FA Cup semi-final, almost a case of the ‘Injury Fairy’ saying, “OK, I’ve weakened your defence but now I’ll strengthen your attack”.

Apparently, Tomas Rosicky refused to play for the reserves last night. Well, that is stretching the truth to the point of breaking – oops, there it goes, ping like, well you imagine what you want – as Wenger observed:

Tomas Rosicky, at the moment, is not close to coming back. We have to be very patient there

Patience is a virtue that Wenger and Rosicky have in abundance when it comes to the Czech’s recovery. It would be better to have Rosicky back, fully fit, than to have him bouncing in and out of the squad as is the case with Eduardo.

The key to overcoming all of these is going to be teamwork. Wenger re-iterated a point made by Cesc. The manager said:

I am confident we can score goals, we did before anyway. What is important to us this time is that we’re a team who are relying on the quality of our passing and collective play

The captain observed about the performance in Castellon:

we showed character and came back in the second half.

In truth, there is nothing more to be said. On occasion in the first half of the season, the accusation of not being a team was levelled more than once. There is an element of truth in that but more accurately, it was a case of young players growing up in public. Since December, there has not been one case that immediately springs to mind where that is the case. In fact, the opposite has been more prevalent. Poor performances have not resulted in defeat, points ground out. The next step is to take draws and convert them to wins for we know losing situations can be retrieved.

’til Tomorrow.

Another Fab Required & Injuries

Cesc is top of the media pile this morning with non-playing activities dominating. The FA are asking Arsenal to pass on their observations about ‘Gobgate‘. I hope the hierarchy at the club will not let Arsene fill in the report unless of course, they find another way of saying, ‘I didn’t see anything‘. Given that no-one was around to witness the ‘incident’, it will be a short report. Arsenal will no doubt be seeking an extension to seven day deadline. After all, if Hull take an interminable amount of time to file the complaint because of people’s holidays, I am sure that Champions League and FA Cup commitments are a damn sight more plausible than needing to top up the perma-tan. As for UEFA, a phrase involving the words ‘horse’, ‘stable door’ and ‘bolted’ springs immediately to mind.

The real fallout from the Spanish is not yet known with no official pronouncement on the fitness of either of Gallas or Almunia. The latter is widely believed to be out for a couple of weeks. It puts Fabianski totally in the spotlight with the second leg and FA Cup a week or so away. Personally, I think he will come through with flying colours. He has performed well for the first team when required but these are bigger games than he has perhaps been used to.

Fabianski recognises that he is not the Arsenal Number One yet:

I am maybe not ready to take over the number one spot yet – but I am ready to play. I respect what Manuel has done for the club. He was playing great for the last couple of months. Now the situation is like this and I have to play – I am ready

It is good to see that Almunia’s contribution is being recognised. Too often he is dismissed as lightweight. This season, he has rarely put a foot wrong, consistency of performance winning over his doubters.

Most of the adverse comments come from the fact that he is not in the Spanish squad internationally. Let’s be honest, Almunia does not claim to be better than Casillas who is in the top two ‘keepers in the world at the moment. Personally I think he is on a par with Reina and Lopez. More than anything, I suspect that he suffers on this front because he never performed for a high ranking team in La Liga.

The media is full of negative comment when his ‘potential’ British nationality is mentioned. The brutal truth is that Almunia is as good as any English goalkeeper at the moment. Perhaps that issue ought to be addressed rather than questioning the Arsenal custodian.

Crucially, Fabianski will not have Gallas in front of him. Setanta decided yesterday was a good time to put words in Nigel Winterburn‘s mouth and whilst the ex-Captain’s absence is a blow, only time will tell if it is massive. Djourou has for a long time been thought of as one of the bright hopes from the first wave of younger players who breeched the first team squad. He has done well this season when called upon and provided a solid wall as Villarreal found on Tuesday. Consistency is all that is required from the centre backs given the turbulence of the early part of this season.

’til Tomorrow.

Ad’s Fab Despite The Pain In Spain

UEFA Champions League Quarter Final, First Leg
Villarreal 1 – 1 Arsenal

1 – 0 Senna (9)
1 – 1 Adebayor (65)

Were Arsene to write a novel, he might well paraphrase Charles Dickens and call it A Tale Of Two Halves. For all that the first forty-five minutes were ponderous and predictable from Arsenal, the second was lively and inventive. Having failed to muster a single shot on target in the first half, Arsenal will probably feel that they should have sealed their passage into the semi-finals in the second. Villarreal has, no doubt, the same opinion after they dominated the match for a similar spell.

It is hard to put the poor first half display down to one thing in particular. The hosts opened brightly, putting Almunia under pressure from minute one. Clichy cleared off the line before a stunning strike from Marcos Senna deservedly gave Villarreal the lead. There are times when you have to put your hands up and admire a shot when it is hit as powerfully and truly with clear direction into the net.

Could it have been stopped? I am not so sure. Song is being criticised yet the fault of the goal is more widespread than that. Clichy had raided down the Arsenal left and was slow to recover his position, Nasri left to cover the Villarreal player unmarked on the right touchline. Song had tracked back with Rossi, covering the run in front of the defence. When the ball went back to Senna in the centre, Toure or Gallas should have stepped forward to take Rossi but were slow to do so meaning the Cameroonian appeared slow to shut down the opportunity.

It was a signal for the hosts to become more confident with the backing of the home crowd. Almunia had been injured in an early challenge, succumbing to the inevitable and replaced by Fabianski. The Pole was called into immediate action and produced two good saves. Whilst there was a question mark over the parry that the initial shot brought, the reflexes and positional awareness shown in preventing the follow-up entering the net, were outstanding.

Ten minutes before half-time, Arsenal were quite literally limping towards the interval. Early speculation is that Gallas will miss the remainder of the season with ligament damage in his knee. If Villarreal thought Djourou would be the weakest link in the defence, they were mightily wrong; he rarely put a foot wrong, if at all, as soon as he entered the fray.

Whatever Arsene said at half-time worked almost immediately. Whereas moves broke down as soon as the attack entered the final third in the first half, the second period saw passes and crosses fizzing into the Villarreal area, penning the hosts back, even if the intended targets did not always get to receive the ball. An equaliser looked inevitable and arrived. Walcott had been pushed too wide for a real opportunity and surrendered the ball cheaply with a weak shot. Seconds later, the ball was recovered and Fabregas lifted a stunning pass into the area. In reality, it was a good ball that Adebayor’s finishing made stunning. A bicycle kick requires good technique at all times; when there are three defenders in close proximity, Adebayor’s control and execution were quite simply outstanding.

There were chances for either side after that although for most of the time, it seemed very likely to be Arsenal who would be taking the lead into the second leg. It did not happen and in reality, a draw was probably a fair result. Wenger will be the happier of the two managers but one away goal is not an overly high number to retrieve. Certainly Villarreal are not under the same pressure as Manchester United are now under. It was refreshing to see the headline in The Sun this morning citing the paucity of The Team That Everyone Told Us Was The Best In The World being told in no uncertain terms that they “Blew It” whilst Arsenal “Drew It“.

There were the usual unsavoury incidents that are sadly de rigeur on the continent. Fabregas was pelted with objects, the likely outcome of which is a £1,000 fine for Villarreal. A true deterrent if ever there was one. The actions of the Spanish players though show that UEFA and FIFA have much ground to travel before referees get respect. Fabregas’ yellow card was preceded by the usual motions from home players to show the card. I understood that this was an automatic booking but am not holding my breath for the authorities to take any actions.

The concern now is the injuries are starting to pile up once more. Having welcomed back three players from the long-term sick list, Gallas appears to be out for the season, Almunia for a few weeks. The problem is that neither of their replacements has an obvious replacement, other than Manonne. No disrespect to him but I would be genuinely concerned if something happened to Fabianski before Almunia is fit again. Perhaps Tomas Rosicky can reverse the trend when he appears for the reserves tomorrow night.

’til Tomorrow.

Champions League QF Preview: Villarreal (A)

After a weekend of DIY – I still prefer GSI – with a brief but welcome interlude caused by the cruise against City, this is it. The start of a four match run that will go a long way to deciding whether the unbeaten run built since December 2008 was a tease or finishes with a meaningful end product.

Of the absentees at the weekend, only Samir Nasri was deemed fit enough to make the plane to Spain. Theo Walcott, despite his and Zabaleta’s best efforts, has travelled even though he did not train yesterday. It will hopefully mean that the only change to the starting line-up is the replacement of the ineligible Arshavin by Nasri.

It would be unrealistic to expect Villarreal to lie down and let Arsenal walk all over them. Fabregas will no doubt be tightly marked by Senna, an impressive defensive wall for a number of years for the hosts and for his adopted Spanish nation. That being the case, it will be a stern test of Fabregas’ tactical nous, drawing his international team-mate out of position to create space for others to occupy. In this area, van Persie will be missed.

Having reached this stage on five previous occasions, Arsene will be keen to improve what is a pretty dismal record held. Mind you, the five quarter-finals that he has guided the club to is substantially more than had been seen before. That it is almost the expectation now shows how far we have come in his time in charge. It seems so long ago that the defeats in Germany and Greece in the UEFA Cup had been met with not too much disappointment, more relief that we were actually competing once more in European club competition.

Being knocked out at this stage has been painful though, especially since the defeats have been in situations where the outcomes were in our own hands for the most part. Valencia won in the final quarter of the game; aggregate leads at Anfield and at home to Chelsea should have meant that progress was made. The omens are not good if that is what you are looking for although the positive is that an Arsenal victory in the quarter-finals of the Champions League has always been followed by a trip to the final.

Tonight’s line-up will be something like:

Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor

If Walcott is deemed to be at risk from the weekend, then Eboue will slot in on the right. Indeed, it would be little surprise if the Ivorian did that anyway with Wenger perhaps looking for a more solid defensive line-up. The danger in emphasising that attitude is when attacking options are lost. Walcott provides a good outlet in that respect which is why I think he will start.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ‘til Tomorrow.