What went against the team was perhaps the bench-strength. Arsenal had Arshavin, Rosicky, Benayoun, Frimpong, Miquel, Chamakh and Almunia. On papers it is a strong bench, but we don’t play football on papers. Chamakh and Arshavin are going through the worst form of their lives. Arshavin had two glorious opportunities to score or to set a teammate, but ended up squandering both. Chamakh, apart from his hold-up play, is..well..useless at the moment. That’s where Arsenal lost the game. We didn’t have an impact player to come in and change the game for us. That we don’t have a single fit full-back is a different matter.

With Gervinho and Chamakh going to play in the Africa Cup of Nations in January, Arsenal must buy quality replacements. We are not only short in defence, we also need strikers to support the excellent Van Persie.

On Wednesday we play Villa, followed by a game against Wolverhampton at home. Must win games for us if we are to keep pace with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs.

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Couple of days ago, Arsene Wenger gave an interview to French magazine L’Equipe, where he admitted that his youth project had failed. Takes a big man to admit failure and this proves that the man’s ego isn’t as big as people (including yours truly) make it out to be.

Arseblog News has the English transcript of the interview, in which Wenger was asked if he thought the project he had started had finally come to an end. To which he replied:  ”For the first time since I have been here, I lost young players who were reaching maturity. I suffered. Because it is painful to separate with key players who you have invested a lot in, it’s painful when the results are not good enough. We are fighting with clubs that have far superior means to us. We cannot account for the difference in the financial potential of clubs like Manchester City and ourselves.”

He went on to admit that the summer recruitment wasn’t planned, and compounding the woes was the injury to Wilshere, Vermaelen, Diaby etc. Although the youth project didn’t work out, although we came very close to winning something, I think Arsenal now have a much better chance to win silverware than before. In Arteta we have a creative player who can also be a scrapper.  The midfield suddenly has the steel that we missed. Defensively we look more assured. In Dos Santos we have a left-back who can score goals, something we have missed ever since Ashley Cole decided to move West.

Would I’ve liked if Cesc and Nasri had stayed? Definitely. But I’m more optimistic about our chances in a long time. Let’s beat Dortmund tonight. C’moon you Gunners!

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It was a moral boosting win for the team too. Eight victories in the last nine games shows that the team is on the ascendancy now. The belief is back and I’m not saying they will win the title, but there is a very good chance that they will finish as one of the top four.

With no meaningful football for the past couple of weeks, my friends and I were discussing the developments over the season and it turned out to be quite an interesting discussion. One friend suggested that given the form that we are in, we could possibly go on to win the FA Cup at least, if not the League. While another suggested that it is still too soon to expect Arsenal to win something. Explaining further, he said that Arsenal and Arsene Wenger had known all along that moving to a new stadium would significantly reduce the club’s capacity to fight in the transfer market, and the only way they could keep themselves competitive was to qualify for the Champions League proper.

When asked to explain why, if this was the ambition from the very beginning, did the club not say so and why did the board and the manager always say that they had the money to spend if they wanted to, my friend said that ”Wenger never categorically said that we would WIN the league” and those who thought otherwise were being naïve.

The discussion trailed off to other things, but it made me realise how strong some peoples’ emotions are towards Wenger. Perhaps, for them Wenger is Arsenal and Arsenal is Wenger. I won’t deny that I think Wenger has taken our club forward and he is the best manager we ever had, but for me he is not the most important. Arsenal Football Club is more important than Arsene Wenger.

If qualifying for Champions League was indeed the ambition all along, then Wenger has been LYING to us all along. If we didn’t have the money to compete, then the board should have told the fans. Perhaps it was to ensure that the fans didn’t despair when the likes of Chelsea, United and City were buying players left, right and centre. But, for me, I’d any day like to be told the truth about the club’s financial capabilities rather than living in false hopes. In that respect, I must say I like Harry Redknapp. The old ‘twitchy’ tells things as is..a quality I admire.

What do you think?

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Next up we met Bolton in the Premier League and we won 3-0; two Van Persie goals and one from Alex Song. RvP scored his 100th goal for the Gunners and we managed a clean-sheet in a zillion years. Makes you wonder what Van Persie would have achieved had he managed to stay fit for an entire season.

It was an overall good 7-10 days for Arsenal, but what I want to talk about is the constant sh*t stirring by the media when it comes to Arsenal and its players. On September 24, Arsene Wenger said that he was ready to start contract talks with some of the senior players in the squad. Commenting on the situation of Van Persie, Walcott and Song, who all have two years left on their contract, he said:

“Yes, this starts now. We will try to convince them. Our desire is there to do it and we are ready to sit down with them.”

Robin, however, came out saying that he was not ready to start negotiations now and would rather wait until the end of the season. He said:

”I still have almost two years, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy – we have games every three or four days.”

The media turned this into another looming crisis for Arsenal, with headlines like ‘Arsenal suffer another blow as captain Van Persie refuses contract talks‘

Really? Is it really ‘another blow’ for Arsenal? As far as I understand, it is quite normal for a player to postpone his contract talks. I fail to understand why the media has to sensationalise everything. First and foremost, it depends on the player when he wishes to sit and discuss the offered contract. Secondly, Van Persie is a professional and has the right to see everything that is on offer and then take a decision.

Perhaps he will not extend his stay at Arsenal and will look to go somewhere else after 2013. He is 28 and this will be his last big contract and he has every right to choose where he wants to play. It is similar to any professional in any field.

The media, however, are always quick to make it sound like everything is doom and gloom. They do it especially in the case of Arsenal. Case in point the ankle surgery of Wilshere. He went under knife on Monday and his rehabilitation is expected to take 3-4 months. Guess what? Another ‘blow‘ for Arsenal.

This is not even funny any more. Perhaps they sensationalise things to sell their paper, but they should show logical, reasoned, clear journalism sometimes. How about reporting facts without padding up things and reaching illogical conclusions? Highly desired but unlikely to happen.

Image source: Arsenal.com

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Against Blackburn on Saturday, the defence capitulated once again and Arsenal, from a commanding position, ended up losing 4-3.  The Gunners had an excellent start and dominated proceedings and deservedly went ahead through Gervinho.  Arteta, Ramsey and Song dominated the midfield, allowing  Gervinho, Van Persie and Arshavin to do what they do best.  Arsenal went ahead in the 10th minute and it looked like they had the game well under their control.

In the 25th minute, however, a clever pass from Junior Hoillet between Mertesacker and Koscielny allowed Yakubu to sneak in and flick the ball past Wojciech Szczesny into the net.  At that point it looked like a mere ‘footballing accident’ as Arsenal still dominated and Arteta duly restored their advantage with a superb finish. The score remained 2-1 in Arsenal’s favour at halftime.

Blackburn again equalised in the 50th minute when Alex Song scored an own goal from a freekick. Buoyed by it, Blackburn pressed Arsenal up the pitch, bombarded the area with aerial balls and Arsenal cracked.

Panic set in amongst the players and 2-2 soon turned to 3-2 and then 4-2, with Koscielny scoring another own goal.  Chamakh managed to pull one back late in the 85th minute but it was too little too late.  Arsenal now lie in the 17th position with just 4 points from 5 games and a goal difference of -8, their worst start in 58 years.

At this point of time the manager has to do some serious thinking about what is going wrong with this team.  Why is i that Arsenal always have defensive problems? Some years back the fans complained that the likes of Senderos should be replaced and better defenders brought in.

Arsenal fans saw the likes of Toure, Gallas, Senderos and that Machester United reject go,Koscielny, Vermaelen and now Mertesacker come in…but the defence still leak goal. Why?

None of these are bad players mind you. Djourou, Mertesacker and Vermaelen are regulars with their national teams and have enough experience. Then why do they look so disorganised when playing for Arsenal? Is it because Arsenal lack a proper defensive coach to impart his knowledge?

Arsenal do recognise where the problem lies and to be fair to them they are trying to rectify it. It’s just sad that their little experiment with zonal marking backfired badly against Blackburn.  Common sense dictates that while defending a corner, the tallest player should mark their tallest player.

Against Blackburn with this new system, Metesacker got drawn towards the front post, leaving the others to mark Christopher Samba.  Arsenal were lucky to concede just 4 goals because Samba came pretty close to scoring from corners on a couple of occasions.

Arsene Wenger is under tremendous pressure and it will take a Herculean effort to rescue the season. He must take it one step at a time, the first step is to sort out the defence.

Image Source: Arsenal.com

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I am willing to accept that because we got full three points and because it was the first game after our last day buying spree. But from tonight — when the lads step out to face Borussia Dortmund — they will be assessed. The new boys will be judged on their performance and tonight’s performance will give us a hint of how the season is going to pan out for the club.

The game against Swansea saw Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker make their full debut. Arteta is a known commodity in the Premier League.  To be honest I wasn’t too excited initially because I wanted Arsenal to sign a ‘world class’ player. I was hoping for a Kaka or an Edin Hazard kind of signing. Perhaps even a Yoann Gourcuff.  But having played in the league for ages, I guess he brings with him experience in the middle of the park that we were lacking after Cesc’s departure.  Arteta has creative vision and can unlock defences. He is a bit of a scrapper too and is defensively more astute than Cesc was. The only drawback in my opinion is that he doesn’t move the ball forward quickly enough. But that should improve.

Per Mertesacker, the giant central defender, along with Philipp Lahm, is the most experienced defender in the German national team. Standing at 6’6″, he is very good in the air and provides a sort of aerial shield to the defence. Comfortable with the ball on his feet, Mertesacker is known for his clean tackles and has a very good record in terms of bookings received.  He had a good debut the other day against Swansea and looked quite calm and assured. One drawback, however, is his lack of pace that can be exploited by the quick forwards.  His strength and Vermaelen/Koscielny’s quickness should see Arsenal have a stronger defence than before.

Chu Young Park and   The captain of the South Korean national team is a tenacious striker with speed and agility as his main weapon.  He is comfortable with both feet and has an excellent technique. Although he comes from the French League where the pace of the game is considerably slower than the English game, Park is expected to adapt quickly and can turn out to be an astute signing by Wenger. Also, the South Korean is known for his excellent freekick technique.

On the other hand, the biggest strength of the Brazilian left-back Santos is his strength. Perhaps better known for his attacking abilities than his defending, dos Santos is more comfortable playing the ‘wing-back’  role than an out and out left-back.  He is expected to produce what Gael Clichy, despite his tremendous pace, failed to produce — quality crosses. Where Clichy failed, dos Santos is expected to excel. He also can chip in with goals from time to time, something which Arsenal haven’t had since Ashley Cole left for Chelsea.

With these signings, Arsenal now have the experience in the team that was lacking.  Now, it is time to push forward and rescue the season that began on such a disastrous note.  And that should start from tonight. Give a good fight, never give up and show who the real Arsenal are. C’moon!!

Update: Starting XI: Szczesny; Sagna; Mertesacker; Koscielny; Gibbs; Song; Arteta; Walcott; Benayoun; Gervinho; Van Persie.

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More to follow……

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Following the humiliating defeat at the hands of Manchester United, Arsene Wenger has moved in quickly to sign South Korean striker Chu Young Park from AS Monaco for GBP 3 million.  Arsenal’s fifth acquisition of the summer (The other four being Gervinho, Carl Jenkinson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlein and Joel Campbell) was earlier reported to be close to signing for Lille and had even completed the first stage of his medicals.

However, following reported interest from Arsenal, the 26-year-old South Korean flew to London and passed his medical. He has been given the Number 9 shirt and will go straight into the first team.  After putting pen to paper on a three year contract, Park said:  “I am very hounoured and I feel very happy to be at Arsenal. They are a team that I dreamed about when I was young. I am very proud to be an Arsenal player. I just want to show how good I am and prove myself. ” “It feels like a big step up but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to perform. I will work very hard, I will train very hard and I will show that I am able to be part of this Arsenal team. I will work hard to prove myself and build a reputation with the Arsenal fans. I have to show what I can do on the pitch. I will do my best, show heart and give everything for this Club,” he added.

Park is a versatile player who can play as a striker as well as a winger.  He has good speed and is good in one-on-situations. But perhaps he is best known for his free-kick taking ability and has been compared to David Beckham.

There are also reports that Arsenal have agreed a GBP 6.2 million fee with Turkish side Fenerbahce for Brazilian left-back Andre dos Santos.  The 28-year-old has is reportedly close to signing a four year deal and will provide much required experience to the Arsenal backline.

However, the most exciting news for Arsenal fans will be the impending signing of German international Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen. After the recent public spat between Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers over the signing of Gary Cahill, Arsene Wenger has decided to cease pursuit of the England defender and has turned his attention to the 75-times capped German. The 6’6″ defender will bring much needed height to the Arsenal defence. At GBP 8 million, the 26 year old is a bargain buy for Wenger, because he brings with him not only defensive solidity but also an attacking threat from the set-peices.

Arsenal are also said to be looking to bolster their midfield and have made enquiries about Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun and Salomon Kalou.

Meanwhile, following his horrendous display on Sunday, Arsenal have sold Armand Traore to QPR for GBP 2 million.

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Sure we were without Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna, Gervinho, Alex Song, Jack Wilshere  and Kieran Gibbs. Sure we played a young team, but so did United. In fact,the average age of the United side was younger.  In Van Persie, Walcott, Arshavin and Rosicky, we had experienced players in the park. Djourou and Laurent Koscienly in central defence are an experienced pair too.  But our defenders looked shaky, lacked confidence and there was hardly any communication between them or with the keeper. United had both their first-choice central defenders (Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic) injured, yet the likes of Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Patrice Evra marshalled their lines superbly.

Why can’t our defenders do that? Why is it that whenever there is a long ball to our final third we panic? Why is it that whenever a player takes on one of our defenders and runs at him with the ball, our defender invariably gets the man and not the ball in dangerous positions.  Perhaps something is very wrong with the way we coach our defenders.

We sold our two best players recently after wasting the entire summer.  Eventually Wenger and Ivan Gazidis had to give in and sell both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. But we wasted so much time in the affair that we now do not have their replacements and the transfer window shuts at 11pm GMT on August 31.  Wenger will have you believe that more than 20 people are burning the midnight oil trying to get the deals done. He will also tell you that Arsenal want ‘super quality’ players to improve the side.  And that is what is frustrating.  We all saw the quality of Juan Mata the other day and Arsenal did make enquiries about him. But Wenger decided he wasn’t ready to pay what Valencia wanted for him. This, after he knew all along that he must let Nasri go and that he was set to receive GBP 70 million from the sale of players this summer.  No one but Wenger and Gazidis are to be blamed for the situation we find ourselves in now, where the transfer window closes in two days and we are severely short of personnel.  As things stand right now, he must rely on reserve players to fill in those positions and going by the way United mauled us today, we are in big big trouble.

Today’s humiliation is a lesson for Wenger. He’ll do well to learn now or else he must go.  His youth policy, although successful in producing quality players, so far has failed its ultimate goal — win trophies. His grand scheme was to hold on to the young players, have them play together for years and forge an unbeatable fighting unit.  But for me that plan was never going to materialise because we somehow weren’t able to hold on to our players. He let Flamini go just when he and Cesc were developing perhaps the best midfield partnership in England. He persisted with Denilson, didn’t give enough chances to Bendtner, bought Chamakh to warm the bench. The list is endless.

Wenger needs to spend and spend big now.  The competition has become tougher now. It’s no longer the threat of United and Chelsea now. Manchester City look very dangerous, Liverpool have come back strongly and even the Spurs have improved a lot. If the situation continues, Arsenal could very well see themselves pushed down to fifth or sixth in the league.  The ball now is in Wenger’s court and it will be interesting to see if today’s humiliation has any positive effect on him. One surely hope it does….for Arsenal’s sake.

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Arsenal were a goal down at half-time and had to respond. Robin van Persie made it 1-1 and within five minutes the Italians were awarded a penalty after Tomas Vermaelen was adjudged to have handled inside the box.  Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a brilliant save to deny Antonio di Natale and keep Arsenal in the tie. Later Theo Walcott put the tie beyond Udinese by scoring the second. With the negativity and the media-created doom and gloom surrounding the squad, it was a very astute performance and the players showed true grit and determination.

Following the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, Arsenal have sold Samir Nasri to Manchester City.  There transfer window closes on August 31 and Arsenal are yet to find a replacement for the duo, who were perhaps the two best players of the club.  Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, although very talented, are still quite raw and it will be unfair to expect them to perform the way Cesc and Nasri did.  Perhaps it was a wise decision to let Nasri go, since he was on the last year of his contract and he had refused to sign an extension.  Next summer he would have moved for free so it was better to let him go. And when you receive GBP 24 million for a player who is on the last year of his contract, you really cannot say no.  So now Arsenal have GBP 70 million from the sale of Fabregas (GBP 35 million, Barcelona), Nasri (GBP 24 million, Manchester City), Gael Clichy (GBP 7 million, Manchster City) and Emmanuel Eboue (GBP 4 million, Galatasaray).

Now is the time to spend the amount to bring in experienced players to complement the youth.  With less than a week left before the transfer window closes, Arsene Wenger and the board must act quickly.  Emphasis must be put on the midfield now, because that is where the team are lacking right now in terms of creativity.

It is impossible to find a player to replace Fabregas, but worryingly all the players that were linked with Arsenal have either decided to stay back at their respective clubs or have gone on to join other clubs. This is a cause for worry because being the seventh biggest club in the world, Arsenal do have the financial strength to pay these players. Perhaps the players believe that they don’t stand a genuine chance to win anything if they play for Arsenal. If that is the case, then it really shows how far down the club have fallen since the Invincible days.

Arsenal have lost their chase for Juan Mata, who has joined Chelsea. The Argentinean that we were after a month or two ago has joined Inter, while Edin Hazard has decided to stay with Lille and then there was this story about Arsene trying to bring in Kaka for a season-long loan. Apparently Madrid want to sell him instead of loaning, which Arsenal dont want because at 29, he has no resale value.

The point is, defensively we need a left back because Kieran Gibbs is injury prone and Armand Traore is unreliable. We have three good centrebacks. In defensive midfield we have Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong who both are excellent. It is the creative side of the things that need immediate solution or else it is going to be a long and painful season ahead.

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