Written by Iron Man
on
Friday, 26 August 2011 13:05
The typical rollercoaster ride that is supporting Arsenal took all kinds of turns this week. Health and safety might need inspect the ride before letting us on in future. Also, someone needs to clean up the vomit…
Liverpoo
Very little to say about the game that hasn’t been said elsewhere already. I would be treading well trodden ground insofar as I would packing my knapsack, lacing up my Timberlands and hiking for over it for 176 miles.
It was a poor game in truth but yet we can say we were doing ‘ok’ up until Manny Frimpong’s red card. However, we shouldn’t be happy with merely being ‘ok’ in the first home game of the season against Liverpool. That’s like cutting your toenails and patting yourself on the back for not stabbing yourself in the face. I’m not buying into the hype that they are supposed to be any good this season on account of stockpiling the league’s most overrated players. They are still pretty average and a team we should be beating on our patch.
That said, the scoreline was no surprise once The Arsenal were reduced to ten men. Even so, it took some hapless defending leading to an unfortunate own goal for the scousers to seize the initiative. Their second was offside too. It wasn’t so much giving them a helping hand, rather it was like laying down the red carpet, inviting them into our home and letting them raid our fridge before offering our wife as a ‘gift’.
Not kidding around
A huge determining factor in the result was the fact the most of Arsenal line up wouldn’t have looked out of place at a lot of university Fresher’s Week parties next month. League debuts were handed to Carl Jenkinson, Mr. Frim and, most ludicrously following an early injury to Koscielny, baby-faced Ignasi Miquel. Given the fact the likes of Ramsey, Walcott and Szcezney would also be ID’d in most pubs and bars, it’s safe to say it wasn’t the most experienced Arsenal team you are ever likely to see.
Of course, the comical injury record forced the manager’s hand but Saturday ruthlessly exposed our current lack of depth. The squad right now looks thinner than an anorexic during Ramadan. There should never be a situation where a club of Arsenal’s stature should be forced to throw in so many untried and untested rookies so early the season. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for encouraging youth development within reason but even Gary Glitter would look disapprovingly at the way we are exposing our youngsters.
Mann-ing Up
Considering the fact they were thrust in at the deep end, the kids didn’t do too badly. An undeniable ray of light was Emanuel ‘DEEEEEEEENCH’ Frimpong whose performance before his red card has been rightly lauded from all quarters. After all the tippy-tappy, it’s refreshing to see a more combative element to the Arsenal midfield. There’s no way the team will ever be considered a ‘soft touch’ with this lad charging about like a rabid rhinoceros on speed. For all the talk of Arsene Wenger’s youth policy, Frimpong is like a personified middle finger to all the critics. Provided he can channel the recklessness that saw him dismissed into something productive, it’s safe to say he will have a long and prosperous career ahead of him.
Miquel also acquitted himself well for the most part alongside Tommy Vermaelen who had a beast of a game at centre back. He was heavily involved in the concession of the opening goal but hopefully he can shrug it off and the experience as a platform. Whether the young Catalan can make the grade remains to be seen but I’m sure we’ve all got our fingers crossed for him.
Nas-ty business
I don’t really want to give Samir Nasri the airtime. He chased the oil money and now he’s gone. In years to come, I have to say there will be very few lasting memories of his contributions with the cannon on his chest. I’m not denying his quality. He was fantastic and could have gone on to be a true Arsenal great but given his fleeting career at the Emirates, he will end up no more a mere footnote in the grand scheme of this at the club alongside the likes of John Jensen, Glen Helder and Kaba Diawara.
Nasri played his last game in an Arsenal shirt against Liverpool and credit where it’s due, he did put in something of a shift rather than skulk around the pitch clockwatching like others might. A lot of players wouldn’t have even played at all! In the end though, it was just a sad reminder of what could have been.
To say his departure has been somewhat acrimonious would be the kind of understatement akin to saying Vanessa Feltz could do with a salad now and again. His parting shot when joining City was to insult the loyal Arsenal fans who came up with that brilliant chant for him by declaring that we aren’t passionate. I’m sure he’ll see how passionate the gooner faithful are when 60 thousand odd people are calling him a cunt when he shows up playing for his new team.
UEFarce!
Following Saturday’s defeat, the knives were really out. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced such negativity surround the club. Players abandoning us, no-one coming in, injuries and two massive games that could well shape/define/end our season before the clocks have even been changed. After Liverpool, it was painful observing Wenger. He looked a broken man with no answers to the asinine questions being fired at him in the post match interview. To make matters worse, the no good, backward, shit for brains, micky mouse, wankhammer organisation known as UEFA decided to ban the boss from sitting on the bench for two further games following the initial and equally absurd one match ban he had last week. Apparently Wenger flouted the ridiculous punishment by communicating with the bench when he wasn’t supposed to. Having not even been told this was a condition of the ban, I don’t really see how he was expected to know. Arsene may be a fantastic manager but I’m not sure of his skills as a medium.
The often daft and outright mental ways in which most football organisations are run often befuddles me. UEFA pretty much turns a blind eye to regular and blatant examples of racism and cannot sort out the embarrassing mess that is the Europa League but somehow come down on our manager like a ton of bricks for pretty much nothing. To call them a joke would be erroneous seeing as most jokes are actually funny.
The ban was ‘delayed’ which allowed Wenger to take to the bench for the crucial Champions League second leg against Udinese – A make or break match that I’m sure had every Arsenal fan reaching for the Imodium to stop us all crapping our y-fronts with pre-match fear.
Given the build up, one would have thought the club was going to be dissolved in we didn’t progress. It was billed, without exaggeration, as do or die. The consequences of defeat would have been catastrophic etc. The regular appearance of the ‘broken crest’ in the papers would have outnumbered the actual number of words per page such was the dire straits we were in.
But alas, we won. You can read ML’s match report for all the gory details but I’ll reserve special praise for our man in nets.
Poles Apart
When you look back over the years of failure, you ask yourself how different things might have been if we actually had a proper keeper rather than that Spanish lad who evidently used to dip his hands in vats of grease before matches.
The fact that we now not only have a competent keeper between the sticks but also one with the potential to be one of the best out there fills me with the kind of warmth one can only get from drinking a bottle of Tabasco sauce. I’m not ashamed to admit I cheered louder for Wojciech Szczesny’s emphatic penalty save than I did for either Robin or Theo’s goals. Of course, any goalkeeper can save a spot kick but when the pole in the goal palmed Di Natale’s effort up over the bar, it was like the cherry on the icing on some sort of glove-shaped cake. Like Manny F above, Wojiciech is a testament to Wenger’s sometimes correct faith in promoting from within.
Still would have liked someone else in the interim period, mind.
Buy Buy Wenger!
Yes, I’ve lazily stolen an oft repeated and quite tedious pun but the sentiment holds true. The boss is currently presiding over the weakest squad since his arrival in 1996. As it stands, I would back the team in those awful months under Stewart Houston in 1995 to do a job over this lot. As much praise as I heap on the youngsters, they aren’t even close to the finished article and simply cannot be relied on solely. If Wenger is going to keep the critical vultures at the door and stop the team from plummeting down the league, he unquestionably has to stick his hand in his pocket. Even with everyone fit (haha, yeah, I know…) this is still a squad of players that doesn’t invoke any reaction other than ‘meh’.
The fact that we are going into Sunday’s match with no recognised defensive midfielder available is outrageous for a club expected to challenge for anything. It’s obvious to all that recent sales have really blunted the attacking creativity and defensive issues will always remain be it through inexperience or injury. Speaking of which, until the club stop employing medics that learned their trade simply by watching a few episodes of Scrubs, injuries will always be a problem.
What is clear is that reinforcements are essential. Who and how much are irrelevant in my eyes so long as they are good enough. There’s been something of a clamour for names simply because they are names. I’ve heard Phil Jagielka so many times, I’m starting to think that it’s actually MY name! For me, whether it is Gary Cahill or a some yeti man from the Himalayas, I couldn’t give a monkey’s so long as they are good enough. I’d like to think Wenger is the same and that by September 1st, some real quality would have been added to improve the team.
14th Time lucky?
Beating Udinese meant that we made the Champions League for the 14th consecutive year. IF I was to be negative, I would say that is 14 years failing to win the damn thing. But of course, we would rather be there than not (Hello Harry. Enjoy your Thursdays…) and every year presents an opportunity to end the drought.
This year’s group stage draw sees us face Marseille, Olympiakos and German Champions Borussia Dortmund. Not the most difficult draw but far from the easiest. It would be wise not to underestimate how difficult all three away trips are likely to be. Can’t say I know what shape the Greek side are in but all I know is that it’s not a country Arsenal have enjoyed massive success down the years. The shock UEFA Cup exit to PAOK Salonika back in 1997 still has me scratching my head. The German side’s dominance of the Bundesliga last season cannot be ignored. A trip to the very noisy, very yellow and very intimidating Westfalenstadion is not a trip Arsenal will relish.
The Boss of course has history with the French side who basically cheated him out of success with Monaco in his native country way back when. The motivation is there for him to get his revenge but not many sides come away from the Stade Velodrome with a great deal.
Home form will be vital and may well be where fans take note of Nasri’s ‘no passion’ criticism and make Ashburton Grove a frightening arena for all the sides visiting.
We should, in theory, be good enough to navigate our way through but as I say, it is far from guaranteed. Also, as we found to our cost last year, the difference between finishing first or second in the group could have a major impact on any further progress in the competition.
Looking ahead
With the fragile state we find ourselves in at present, there are no three scarier words in the English language than ‘Manchester United Away’. But unfortunately this is what we have to face up to on Sunday. As has been the running theme in this piece, the squad is depleted and lacking experience. The last thing anyone connected with Arsenal would want is to have to go to Old Trafford to face a United side that looked annoyingly and ominously impressive in their violation of Sp*rs on Monday. Any confidence boost that may have come with Wednesday’s win may well be obliterated on Sunday. To make matters worse, it looks like Tommy V will squeezing his way into the already overcrowded treatment room having picked up a ‘knock’ in Italy. It could make for some very painful viewing…
HOWEVER, in recent years, our best results against those Northern monkeys have come when our backs have been firmly up against the wall. In 2006, after another pretty disastrous start to a season (two draws and a defeat if memory serves me correctly…) the Arsenal marched up to Old Trafford, looked on par with a United side that went into the match with 4 wins from 4 and sat comfortably atop the Premier League tree. As the match was drawing to a close, dearly departed Cesc Fabregas threaded a fantastic through ball to he who we will not speak his name and we came away with a 1-0 win against all odds. No-one could forget Thierry’s late header later on that season too.
Two years later, having recently lost to the likes of Hull and Stoke, The Arsenal welcomed the Champions to the Emirates where many expected them to turn us over only for Samir Nasri (spit!) to sparkle with two great goals in a 2-1 win.
Then there was last season where only smile raised during the spectacular collapse was a well deserved 1-0 win thanks to Aaron Ramsey’s second half strike.
What I’m essentially saying is that we can retain a glimmer of hope. All and sundry will be expecting them to pull down our collective pants and give us the kind of pounding that would make Ron Jeremy wince but if the Arsenal team, whoever plays, can raise their game and find the right kind of motivation, who knows? Maybe a United victory might not be the forgone conclusion many are predicting.
COYG!!!!
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