International Break Completed With The Usual Injury Scare
Club football returns to the fore with the international break over. A Hungarian defender attempted to take this quite literally on Robin van Persie last night, a ghoul-ash challenge necessitating his replacement. According to Bert van Maarwijk, van Persie “should” be fit for Arsenal this weekend.
Using the word “should” gives the Dutch a get-out clause. The injury apparently was painful but not bad but like their Swiss counterparts, the KNVB medical staff have jumped the gun with the striker’s fitness before. Arsenal did not even mention the injury in their international round-up last night so no news is good news. Until it’s bad news.
With internationals it is always a dangerous path for player, club and country. If they come back injured, it is the cue for howls from managers. If they come back fit, the clubs complain that too much football is being played, conveniently leaving out “that does not generate any money for us“. Neither side helps themselves, Fifa needs to sit down with the confederations and work out a sensible calendar for matches, perhaps limited friendlies until the summer.
And then the FAs around the world do not help matters by arranging mini-tours at the end of a long season. Step forward the FFF (it’s too obvious) who are now tacking on two meaningless friendlies after their Euro2012 qualifier in June. Laurent Blanc wants them for a team building exercise which is a bit of a hoot as the only time that Les Bleus are united is when they hate their manager.
Proving himself a master of comic timing, Blanc believed that as Arsenal has a French manager, they will be understanding. He looked bemused as Jacquet, Lemerre, Santini and Domenech collapsed in a heap, laughing hysterically.
Elsewhere, Jack Wilshere played 70 minutes to universal applause, as did Tomas Rosicky. The England match was entertaining (for once) and Ghana gave a good account of themselves in the friendly. It was a chance to see some of the deep reservoir of English talent that exists and how well they are doing on the international stage.
Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna both played many minutes football over the past few days but they seem to be OK whilst Andrey Arshavin played lots and took the brickbats from former internationals. Good to see that low standards of punditry span the globe with ex-internationals always willing to put the boot into the current crop.
Back at Arsenal, Jens Lehmann did Manuel Almunia a favour by reportedly showing his lack of match fitness in the reserves defeat at Wigan. Perhaps now we can have a stop to the ludicrous sniping from the media that Arsenal are in such bad shape we need to have a 41 year-old goalkeeper. Hopefully Lehmann will remain an ex- Arsenal goalkeeper.
Talking of which, Bob Wilson is, as I am sure you are all aware, cycling around the UK next month, the full details of which can be found here, whilst you can donate here.
’til Tomorrow.
Posted on March 30, 2011, in Arsenal, Football, Premier League, Premiership, Soccer and tagged Arsenal, Football, Premier League, Soccer. Bookmark the permalink. 77 Comments.
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bloody hell am I first
Hmm, something tells me Blanc didn’t pay any attention to the relationship Wenger had with Domenech. I believe both men are French and didn’t get on. Fancy that!
http://www.arsenalisation.com
C’est la vie.
Some media are reporting that Jens had a nightmare, others that he gave an overall assured performance with 10-man Arsenal.
Vermaelen missed a season because of shitty internationals. Van Persie, the first half of a season. Just glad we had the strength of squad we did.
Can we recall Bob Wilson from his tour if we find ourselves in a jackpot?
Dups pointed out in a previous post that Rocky is 10 years dead tomorrow. Hope the club have organised something at the Emirates on Saturday.
A song or two is all that is needed. To do more might be ghoulish.
A minutes silence or applause?
There will def be loads of songs, I’m sure the club will announce something before the match. I reckon it’ll be a good atmosphere on Sat.
http://www.arsenalisation.com
Expecting the FA to do something sensible? No, sorry. Don’t understand how the words “sensible” and “FA” can occur in the same sentence.
When I saw Bob Wilson’s name crop up I thought we’d recalled him for a moment.
No need for Wilson when rumour has it that we’re going to sign Alex Manninger again. I’m so funny.
http://www.arsenalisation.com
Funny hearing the dutch coach dismssing the injury to RVP. Didn’t he say the same thing with that Placenta saga?. It turn out a bad injury and the Placenta did not help. Wenger had a spat with the dutch FA who refused to cough up the expenditure for the injury and now they look like they are doing the same thing. Lets hope it is minor as they say. This will be the 4th or 5th injury RVP picked on meaningless international duty.
Omg camon van theman u r doing well on black bern pls came back.
Well said Gersha!
If placenta doesn’t heal an injury then nothing will.
http://www.arsenalisation.com
YW, I don’t see how Lehmann looking unready to play in the reserve match helps put a stop to the media sniping. If anything it feeds it. No one mentions anything too bad about ManU’s aged keeper because he is still one of the best in the PL, so it is really about how desperate Arsenal found itself with injuries and no options to back up someone we almost sold in January and were looking to replace with a new #1 in the summer. That makes an appetizing story for those who don’t mean us any good, now that they have largely written us off for the title. I hope it ends the sniping too as it isn’t helpful to us, but the best outcome would have been a good outing. The only positive I see is from this is that Arsenal supporters might stop calling for Lehmann to play and undermining Almunia. We need to get behind him until Szczesny can recover. We should remember that up until West Brom at home he had been pretty good playing behind an almost entirely new CB corps at the start of the season and then Vermaelen went down forcing the new CB’s to accelerate their adaptation to Arsenal and the league.
RvP was truly excellent in his 45 minutes yesterday.
6 points between 11th place and the bottom in the EPL. Extraordinary. Blackburn are in 13th place but only three points off the bottom. Going to be a scrap on Saturday. Wouldn’t be surprised if RvP gets rested regardless.
With international football, the best players play so much, too much football it seems. Whenever there isn’t club football I know I am disappointed, though, and demanding to see Arsenal games. Perhaps the CC should be eliminated from the schedule or make it a genuinely youth developmental cup and give the players a winterbreak in January. I like YW’s idea of holding all friendlies and international qualifying and tournaments in the summer. It cuts down on travel during the club season which would be shortened without all the international breaks. It creates more of a tournament atmosphere for international play before the WC and Euros. They should eliminate the Confederatons Cup.
RvP was injured at their place and Manuel Almunia had an excellent game.
Internationals should be dropped altogether
Frank,second your motion.internationals should be scrapped.
Not sure if Chamakh featured for Morocco in their Nations Cup defeat to Algeria on Sunday, but they play Botswana in another qualifier tonight with the group wide open and all to play for. Lets hope he comes through both matches okay. Might need him at the weekend although he’s bound to be knackered.
Oh I didn’t realise that, Markus. Fit or not I can’t see Maruoane travelling from Botswana tomorrow to play on Staurday. Robin’s back in then. Better be fit.
Hang on a minute though. Whoa, whoa. Playing in Morocco. Whats that a three hour flight, same time zone?
Damn. The group really is wide open if this is up to date (group 4):
http://nationscup.mtnfootball.com/live/content.php?Category_ID=1148
Curiously it is billed as a friendly game, Markus. Right, Maruoane, you are in, son.
Not sure but it may be in Morocco which would be no problem for Chamakh’s travel.
maybe after euros, VP should retire from international football. Seriously.
Chamakh played but i heard there was drama and he might have lost his mind a little. so they(media) say.
i heard the ref was giving algeria all the calls or something and Chamakh finally lost it rolling on the ground. But dont be alarmed, we Africans can be dramatic.
You’re right Frank it’s only a friendly, as reported on the Arsenal site. I was wondering why they were playing a team who aren’t in their group… D’oh.
Wilshere is so good he even improves the performances of those around him.
Yup, Frank & Limestone, Chamakh should be fine to play… flying 3hrs from Morocco to the UK, is like Montreal to Halifax or Calgary to Winnipeg/Vancouver. Who would you start on saturday: Chamakh or van Persie?
goonerwife says at 1:11 pm & 1:14 pm:
Agreed! Retiring from the national team might just prolong van Persie’s club career. ‘Cos at the rate he constantly gets injured, I can see his career over in a year or two. And that would benefit no-one. Least his fans.
“Chamakh finally lost it rolling on the ground. But dont be alarmed, we Africans can be dramatic.”
Could this be start of a new Chamakh? I can only hope.
I can’t decide whether this is awesome or bad: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Colombian-fans-took-a-dead-body-to-football-matc?urn=sow-wp375
I’m sliding towards epically awesome
Thankfully the interlull almost over. Rather desperate when we get to talk about transfer news in March.
Just watched a 10 minute utube video of Dennis Bergkamp greatest goals. DB10 is the greatest Arsenal player of my era. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think DB10 was Arsene’s first big money big name transfer. Soemtimes big names work out pretty well. Correct me if I’m wrong again but we were one of the biggest spending clubs in England in those heady days. The insanity that has become the transfer market since Abramovich and Galactico’s and Man City has made it a lot more difficult but perhaps the phobia for “big names” and the absolute insistence that we never overpay even a little no matter what the market demands has gone a bit too far. Now that our finances have improved may be the pendulum can swing back the other way a little this summer.
We hope there is no injurie but fatigue.
Arsene was Dein/Rioch – more Dein than Rioch I’d imagine, as he’d only just showed up.
Whoops, I meant Bergkamp…
Anyone see that SSN Thierry Henry special? It was a rubbish hour of journalism but it was interesting to hear The Great Man speak about Bergkamp, who he referred to as being the best player he’d ever played alongside.
http://www.arsenalisation.com
And there’s much more to it than that. Arsenal was going nowhere fast in 1995 – the squad was poor, apart from in defence, we’d just lost Graham to a bung scandal and there were no youngsters coming through. We were even in danger of going down going into the last few weeks of the season.
We’ve never been considered consistently big spenders, but have splashed out in times of trouble. 1995 was one, when we got Platt and Bergkamp – it was that or the abyss for us. Funnily enough, Bergkamp was 2 million cheaper than Collymore, who moved to Liverpool that summer.
And Bergkamp was a big gamble as well – it wasn’t a clear cut case of splashing out on a superstar at the top of his game; he’d had a terrible time in Italy and looked like he’d be one of those players who starts brightly before fading. Luckily for us he had his best years in London.
It’s worth noting that, when we do spend money on high-profile players, it’s often someone who’s either fallen out of the limelight through injury or poor form, or is coming to the end of their contract.
Pires, Overmars, Henry, Nasri and Bergkamp were all signed off the back of rubbish years.
The rest of the time we try to get to the player before he makes a name for himself.
Whats up folks!
I’ll keep on boring people then…
The main difference now is that we’ve got an amazing academy producing at least two new squad players every season, as well as unfair financial competition from ManU, Spuds, City and Chelsea forcing us to find innovative ways to stay competitive. Over the last six years our only choice has been to invest in youth. Considering the amount of money our rivals have spent that time, I think we’ve done well.
And sorry to ramble on, but Arsene’s always utterly focussed on the long term. No panic buys, no knee-jerk decisions, no “what the hell, let’s throw in an extra couple of million to meet their asking price”.
He often gets slaughtered for his match-day tactics, but even in individual games his thinking is informed by the long-term consequences. So you won’t see him hauling many players off half time if they’re struggling. He even demonstrates his faith in the side selected by giving them as long as possible to get a result before using subs. And, to many punters’ chagrin, he lets many of his players learn on the job.
And about the massive amount of young pros we have at the club now – of course we don’t expect more than a small fraction to make it at Arsenal. What we’re doing there is creating a competitive environment for the younger players and giving potential a chance to flourish. Just five years ago we’d see nearly every graduate out on his backside by his 19th birthday. Now it’s much harder to let them go, especially as so many are starring for League One and Championship Clubs.
And something else I’ve been hearing grumbles about. When we sign a 15 year-old from abroad, we’re not pinning all our hopes on him becoming a first team player. Initially he’s there to join and improve a talent pool, from which a couple of first team-ready players should eventually emerge ever season.
It’s about the group striving together, chopping each other’s heads off and absorbing the life-force of their rivals in the understanding that there can only be one.
OK, scratch that last part.
“There can be only one” of course.
There are so many players out on loan this season, 19 at one point, that I wonder if the business model of the club has changed more than some realise. Being on loan used to be a euphemism for on the way out. Not any more. Not bloody likely.
I could do more or less without international football, though I do enjoy the big tournaments from time to time. But scrapping them is in the realm of fantasy at this point. Organizing them better would still be of benefit. Yet with FIFA as it is, even that may be rather fantastical as well.
Not at all, Frank.
And the ones who eventually don’t make it can be sold. Let’s just say guys like Bartley, Afobe, Lansbury and JET don’t make the grade; we’ll get a load of money for them, if not from the initial sale then on sell-on clauses. They’re already doing well for league clubs as youngsters, so would most likely only improve from here.
JW in 2008. He’s so tiny – who’d have predicted then that he’d be starting as a central midfielder for us within two years. AW probably already had it all worked out.
OOU:
Not trying to diss all that has been done the last 6 years. Relatively inexpensive methods were a necessity. Our academy should produce a steady stream of excellent squad players and hopefully the occasional superstar and gives us the basis for long term stay around the top of the table. Just my opinion, but it feels like the pendulum has swung past the sweet spot between youth development, fiscal conservativism vs. using the transfer market. I suspect we could safely do more to supplement our internal development then we have in the last couple years.
Very interesting and coherent points you made, OoU. One issue I am wondering about is your point about tactical decisions and long-term player management. I am not so sure that AW is or would be willing to sacrifice potential points if he recognized a tactical change worth making in a game in order (in the one example you mention here–perhaps there are other things you also had in mind to illustrate the point) to protect a player’s confidence by not replacing him earlier, say, at the half. After all, he does make substitutions for tactical reasons in the second half and taking a player off at 45 or 65′ isn’t an evident boost to a player’s confidence or symbol of the manager’s faith really, is it? In either case there would be a need to manage the player’s confidence that AW employs. Furthermore, there could be a lot of tactical reasons why he seldom makes changes at the half except for injury and so on that don’t have long-term consequences or player confidence specifically in mind. Firstly, it is even a question of to what extent he has a tactical matchup with the other team in mind either in the original lineup or the substitutions; it is possible as he seems to suggest himself that he is principally concerned with how Arsenal play and what fitness, sharpness, combinations are most suitable before each game in accomplishing Arsenal’s objectives and way to play. Perhaps he thinks halftime changes wastes the value of the rest and the opportunity to refocus players on their performance and that it is better to adjust once the new rhythm of the game is understood in the second half, which takes 10 or more minutes. Perhaps, he feels the value of the substitution is decreased if the new player has to go for 45 minutes rather than with full intensity for the remaining 20 or 25 minutes, and so on. I don’t know, but I wonder if there is more to it than protecting a player’s confidence by making a change a bit later, especially if the tactical consequence was sacrificing changes for a better result. I think he is too competitive to do that.
The main reason why I suggest caution in making the specific connection you do here (and perhaps there are better or other examples of what you mean) is that some of the grumblers and critics also talk all the time about how AW coddles his players and this sort of link gives ammunition to the notion that he is willing to sacrifice results to protect players self-belief, which I don’t think is really the case. Anyway, I would be eager to hear your further thoughts on one of the several interesting points you brought up.
Excellent stuff Big Al.
(Just saw your post, LG – if you give me a few hours I’ll be back later, because there’s something interesting to bring up about the whole coddling thing. These long posts take ages.)
You wouldn’t want to diss what’s been done in the last six years, Bill. Arsenal has been established as a top European club in that time.
I always get nervous when the discussion turns to finances because, apart from being rubbish at that stuff, it’s not easy to make firm inferences about the club’s situation and how much is available to AW for transfers. I do know that if you sign a big player and you have to pay his wages. Other players performing just as well are naturally going to want their salaries brought in line with his. So there’s a knock on effect.
Other than that there’s the danger in intervening in an organic process by buying ready-mades ahead of young players (a bit like the silly notion of buying Reina when we’ve got Szczesny). It’s costly money-wise and would be to the detriment not just of the players who immediately miss out on a place in the team but also the youngsters who are developing behind them. We’ve got a strong identity; talented youngsters join us because they know they’ll get a chance.
Anyway, I feel more comfortable looking at what we do know; we’ve got a strategy that has kept us in the top four recently in the face of ridiculously unfair competition. And we’re second in the league with our fate in our own hands going into April. Take our best XI – nine of them joined the club before the age of 21. And the best part is its still improving.
Look forward to it, OoU, and appreciate your thoughtful posts this morning.
The Englishman who works on the opposite wing seriously believes that Jack Wilshere will lead England to victory in the 2018 world cup! Talk of great expectations of a man from a place called Cheltenham!
Fuck right off FA, FFF, KNVB, MFI, FIFA, UEFA and all our wanky internationals always injuring our players and boring the shit out of me.
you tell em dexter
Okay not much action on here today. Those guys up above, (limstone and one of us i think) gave us some glorious reading material. Usually when i see those long posts i read into a bit then end up skipping. I actually agree with what most of you are saying. I feel like all of us would make a great army if we combined forces and went to the emirates together in a huge group. that probably won’t happen, but i know that when i’m watching the games there are plenty other good folk who are feeling the same way i am. Angered for 10 minutes, glorious after a goal, nervous during those last 10 minutes while to try and hold on to our lead. these are the things that make me feel something the Arsenal, and feel for the thousands of other people who are following along with me. I really didn’t have a point with all this but take it as it is. peace yo
alright lots of errors in that post. to that i say, fuck you grammar.
I understand that there might be other tactical considerations, but I really don’t think it is too much of a stretch to suggest that AW keeps players on the pitch to demonstrate faith in them and build their confidence. It would be pretty consistent with other aspects of his man management; he never publically criticises individuals in anything more than a light and constructive way, and he’s definitely a coach who offers his players the opportunity to play themselves back into form.
When former players are asked about AW they’ll often talk glowingly about the faith he put in them. Many the greats under Wenger were given time when many people wondered what they were doing in the side – Pires, Song, Nasri, even JW are memorable examples.
Obviously I don’t think it’s quite right to say that he sacrifices results for the sake of player development, more that he proves his faith in his charges by giving them as long as possible to repay his belief. I don’t for one second see it as a fault – it’s about seeing the bigger picture, but for it to pay off it’s imperative that the team stays together. AW’s said as much a number of times. When players in their prime move on the whole strategy starts to look a little perverse. Summer 2008 set us back a couple of years for sure.
As for the coddling thing – well, the average age of our squad is pretty low. And I think AW’s inherent positivity and protectiveness could possibly be accentuated, knowing how young they all are, to ensure that they’re not hampered by that handbrake he often talks about!
The only manager I can think of who got success with a side as young as this was van Gaal. His style was about discipline. Apparently training sessions were devoted to endless tactical drills to make up for his players’ lack of experience. That’s not AW’s way – he’s probably only raised his voice two or three times in 14 years.
So to me, AW, since he’s started bringing through youngsters, has become a kind of Wenger Concentrate. All of his old traits are intensified; he bristles in press conferences at the hacks and when clueless punters criticise his players at those shareholder evenings; he celebrates with more abandon than ever on the sidelines, and in interview we hear the same line “we go from strength to strength”…
Gah, it’s late and I can’t do this anymore , I hope I at least partly addressed the point, LG!
And I hope my endless posts aren’t to blame for the lack of action on here today.
Anyway:
I’ve very much enjoyed reading your posts today, OOU.
Really good stuff OOU and Limestone! Very interesting thoughts.
Your turn Limestone!
Hope RVP will be fine for Saturday!
its really quiet around here!
Goodnight folks!
Robin van Persie’s son
brian eno is greatness.
What a star you are, Big Al
is it true wilshere is going to be a dad?wish him the best but wish he’d just stay out of the papers a bit.
Would not be surprised if we punched 4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire’s defence on Saturday.
RIP ROCASTLE
Rocky rocastle rest in peace. Always remembered.
http://aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/let-the-sprint-for-the-title-begin/
Today’s effort. Neck on the block time.
Really enjoyed your posts yesterday, Oofus. Excellent points well made.
Sylvain Wiltord is in a movie called Le Mac. His role involves a transfer to Arsenal.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ-p3sagofk&w=480&h=390
http://aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/stone-cold-friday-time-to-gun-down-the-fools-panel/
No joke, today’s post is really here. This early!
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