Written by Mean Lean on Thursday, 12 January 2012 15:50

Hello fellow Gooners,

The Thierry Henry hype has been going through the roof since our victory at Leeds United on Monday. You can imagine how much this is winding up our rival supporters, it certainly would do for myself had Les Ferdinand come back for Tottenham. That actually reminds me of a Tottenham supporting mate of mine who tried to argue that Ferdinand was a better all rounder than Henry and would prove more successful at shite hart lane. Yep, I know you have the same Tottenham friend, most of us do it seems.

Recently I have had to put my Tottenham mocking locked away in a safe for now as their victory over Everton has put them joint second in the league. A very scary thought I know but they still have some very difficult places to go to in which I hope they will fall.

Back to my point on Henry, questions are being asked whether he will start alongside the recuperated Robin van Persie against Swansea on Sunday. I just cannot see anything of the sort happening. Arsene Wenger didn't exactly rule it out post Leeds match. He said how both players can play wide, and that both have already played together. He also said that he didn't know what he would do yet. I think coming off the bench with 20 minutes to go is completely different to starting the game.

You could say it is Henry-listic to expect a full game so quickly. Boom boom and so on.
I know I am a little late but it is truly fantastic news that Francis Coquelin has signed an extension to his current deal. I love his appetite and desire on the pitch. I have come to the conclusion that I like the aggressive intercepting type player. It is why I was a big fan of Gael Clichy when many others were not and is why I have always stuck by Laurent Koscielny. Coquelin has that bite, that determination to get ahead of his man and win the ball. It would be fun to have a whole team of that type of player. The opposition wouldn't be able to make more than 10 passes per game.

He deserves his new contract and has given his all even when playing in a position that he isn't used to. I hope that we can get our main players fit so we can rotate Coquelin with Song when the time is right. I know we were home and dry against Wigan when he came on but his distribution was lovely in the middle of the pitch.

His path to the first team is very difficult with Song. Arteta, Wilshere and Ramsey in his way but he is or at least will soon be more than good enough to have a run in our midfield.

Aaron Ramsey has spoken about how much he is looking forward to playing with Jack Wilshere as he hasn't had much chance to do so due to injuries to both midfielders. Due to the influence of Mikel Arteta, I wonder how often those two will get the chance to partner each other apart from injury and short term rotation. It will be interesting to know what will happen to Jack Wilshere when he is ready for regular starts. Mikel Arteta is now a vital part of our spine. Alex Song is the defensive shield as well as our assist man (never thought you'd hear that did you?)

It would be easy to say that we should drop Ramsey and play Wilshere but as far as I can remember, Wilshere has played as the attacking midfielder once against Sunderland last season at the Emirates and Wenger changed it because he was not getting the best from him. I am sure he spoke post match about Wilshere being better with the game ahead of him so let us wait and see what transpires over the coming weeks.

Forgotten man Wellington da Silva is rumoured to be moving to CD Alcoyano in the Spanish second division on loan as his game time had vanished at Levante. Strangely enough, I had a dream last night about Wellington moving somewhere else, so it was quite strange to read the rumour today.

I haven't given up hope on the player who is regarded very highly by the Arsenal staff, on a technical level at least. The doubts have been about his mentality. Hopefully he will have grown up a little and turned over a new leaf.

Robin van Persie had a reputation when he joined us as a youngster and he has turned out pretty decent I would say. He might have turned out a different way had he not joined Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. Wellington was not afforded that same luxury as he was denied a work permit to play in England.

Football is about timing and circumstance as well as talent so we will never know how far he could have come since signing for us. I hope we manage to keep him for long enough to get him to the club before making a long term decision about his future.

Back tomorrow.

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Comments (27)

• 12-Jan-2012 17:24 | | John
  

  Van Persie had a reputation yes, but his commitment was never in doubt, he was just difficult to work with. Wellington's Lack of commitment could be a big hindrance for his development. Can't really see a loan to a 2nd division club in Spain is going to motivate him but hopefully I'm wrong

• 12-Jan-2012 17:34 | | eddie  - very witty
  

  Henry-listic. Genius

• 12-Jan-2012 17:49 | | Vuja De
  

  To my mind, nothing has changed for Arsenal as a result of Spurs victory over Everton yesterday, and them moving into joint second with Man Utd.
  
  Arsene and Arsenal have their eyes on Man City...they are the pacemakers in our league, and the ones to catch.
  
  12 points is not insurmountable, and Arsene and Arsenal will keep plugging away to reduce that gap, whilst hoping that City and the other two teams above us drop points between now and the end of the season.
  
  As I've written here before, Arsene and Arsenal won't give up on chasing the title unless & until it becomes mathematically impossible to do so.
  They may not be making any public noises about it right now - being 5th makes it smart not to do so - but privately, that's their target in the league, first and foremost.
  
  So some fans can get anxious & make noises about where Spurs are, and us supposedly chasing 4th place, but Arsene and Arsenal have higher ambitions. They are just not shouting about it from the rooftops.
  
  I like Coquelin and am also glad that he has extended his contract. I see him as an emerging all round midfield player, not just a so called "defensive midfield" player.
  
  So to my mind, Coquelin provides backup - at present - for any of the three midfield slots, and I certainly don't buy into the rigid narrative that he can only be a back-up for Song.
  
  Incidentally, did anyone see the Man City v Liverpool game yesterday, in particular the performance of Andy Carroll? OMG!!! £35 million pounds for that? A shocking judgement from Daglish. And to think that Liverpool got rid of Ryan Babbel - a better player in my view - and replaced him with that.

• 12-Jan-2012 19:30 | | redboy  - redboy
  

  Spuds are looking at man city and man u all wenger looks at is 4th place not this season .

• 12-Jan-2012 19:46 | | Passenal
  

  "Coquelin has that bite, that determination to get ahead of his man and win the ball. It would be fun to have a whole team of that type of player. The opposition wouldn't be able to make more than 10 passes per game."
  
  The trouble is that I think Coquelin will continue to get more injuries and probably bookings unless he learns to channel that energy. He was rather too gung ho on Monday IMO. And in the CC game against man c, he had run himself into exhaustion and could not get back at Aguero for the goal. How would he have got through 30 minutes of extra time? A footballer's career is short enough without wasting energy like that. You have to use your head as well. Hopefully he will learn that as he gains more experience.

• 12-Jan-2012 21:26 | | Vuja De  - I Agree with Passenal
  

  @ Passenal,
  
  I agree that Coquelin has to learn how to pace himself throughout a game, and to channel his energy wisely. As you stated, he'll learn as he gains more experience.

• 12-Jan-2012 23:10 | | MeanLean
  

  Passenal & Vuja De,
  
  I would say that is more Frimpong than Coquelin so far. Whenever I have seen him play, he has seemed quite channeled and well timed. He isn't reckless and is just very committed.
  
  It is also easy to see why he puts so much in his games, he isn't able to get the amount of games that he wants so when he gets the chance, he wants to prove his worth. We must also not forget that compared to many first team players, he has had limited minutes on the pitch so he will need to iron out any flaws that others have had more chance to do.

• 12-Jan-2012 23:14 | | MeanLean
  

  Just read the Tim Stillman column on Arseblog
  
  http://arseblog.com/2012/01/daddy-took-their-t-birds-away/
  
  There are many great quotes that some would do well to read and think about.
  
  "However, I still get the impression the fun is slowly eroding from the sport. Supporters are guilty of forgetting the point of the pursuit in the first place. We live in a time when a 1-1 draw in a pre season friendly can produce sustained heckling and booing. A victory for your local rivals in a match your team has no participation in invites the acid tongued prophets of doom, astride their social networking soapbox. Victories are written off with an expectant shrug, mere numbers on a screen."
  
  Here is another and it is so true. A few names instantly spring to mind.
  
  "I absolutely refuse to join those cunts that put their estimation of their punditry abilities above the team. You know the misogs I’m talking about. Those that slagged off Koscielny last season so refuse to acknowledge his excellent form. Those that wouldn’t so much as get to their feet if Squillaci scored a forty yard bicycle kick in the last minute of a North London derby, but would heckle themselves hoarse if he was spotted picking his nose. The game is supposed to be more fun than that and Monday night showed us it can be."
  
  Great stuff from one of the best on the net right now I would say.

• 13-Jan-2012 02:48 | | East Stand Alex  - Hear Hear
  

  Had someone sitting next to me on Monday, all he could do is complain about Arshavin, call him brainless, and theorise about why Wenger would use such a waste of space. Whenever Arshavin did something good (and I thought that was a decent few times), he just shut up, waiting for the next error. The guy was an absolute expert when it came to Andrey's pass selections, but kept mistaking quite a few of our other players for each other...
  
  And the guy who's regular seat this one took is constantly loud in his expertise on who shouldn't be playing; and two guys behind me spot the wrong pass and poor shot, every time. And, and, and...
  
  Tim and yourself are very right. More than letting trophy challenges slip away, more than injuries scuppering promising team consistency, more even than Chamakh heading towards goal then spinning away rather than taking the chance on (see, I'm not one to think the team is perfect), THE most frustrating thing at the Grove is all the fans who'd rather be right than watch the game, encourage the team, and want all our players to do well.
  
  It gets so bad I wonder if the stadium deserves to see any success. But then we have so many great, passionate and knowledgable fans as well. So, of course it does!!

• 13-Jan-2012 06:50 | | Colesy
  

  Whilst the chap next you Alex may have been irritating and moaning throughout the match (one which we won), it seems your point is more about supporters who don't support every single player, who don't believe in every tactic of Wenger is not allowed to voice an opinion.
  
  Doomers as many people like to call them are supporters like you- they just have different opinions. They don't want the club to fail. They don't want the team to lose or the Spuds to win. They don't support other clubs whilst spending hours of their week visiting sites like this one. They don't despise certain players on a personal level. They do however, question the purchasing/transfer decisions of the manager and his tactics. They also question the indefinite and unquestioned belief shown in certain players who have failed to win over everyone else and prove themselves at PL level and above all, they want a team which will compete at the top and not settle for 4th spot - we are not Liverpool or Aston Villa or Everton and shouldn't accept that we are only ever going to compete with them for CL qualification. No, we should push to achieve higher goals.

• 13-Jan-2012 19:03 | | East Stand Alex  - VCC
  

  And I think that's the crux Colesy. A lot of fans support the club, but don't support this team. But on a match day it's the team that needs support, to play better and feel that extra motivation to get the result.
  
  Look, I see Wenger making plenty of mistakes. Taking off Cesc in the CL final, when his out-passes were the only thing holding Barca's defenders back - a few minutes later they'd scored. Not starting Arshavin in the FA Cup semi because he wanted to give the team confidence ahead of the CL. Huge mistake imo. His buying tactics have been misguided since Dein left imo. His media handling has become repetitive and predictable and tedious imo.
  
  But other managers make mistakes too. Fergie does. Mourinho does. Capello does. Maybe Guardiola is immune at the moment as he has Messi and Xavi to cover them. But Wenger has far more of a positive impact that outweighs the errors. He must do. This season's relative recovery is a case in point.
  
  And yes, I can see, and be annoyed that Denilson's slow tracking back leaves men free, and has cost us goals; but that doesn't mean he shouldn't make safe passes. People sit in the stadium and moan that he passed sideways - that's his instructions. People sit and shout that Arshavin should go back to Russia. Why? Because someone hasn't read his attempt to inject some pace into our attack and gone quickly enough into the space. But people decided they don't like his work rate, even if it's his instructions to stay up the field as the outlet pass, and he gets the negativity.
  
  It's fine to not agree, dislike some players, some tactics. But during the match is not the time to get on a player's back. Nervousness and losing confidence only makes players play worse. Why would anyone want their team to play worse?
  
  I think that awful result against the spuds last year was as much to do with the way the supporters changed the atmosphere after the first goal, as it was due to the players, or the opposition,. The stadium seemed to get angry then nervous about the mistake that cost the first goal. That transferred to the players. And our support did nothing to help them back. They just groaned every misplaced pass. The Grove is a loud stadium, it has an effect. I see it so often. Of course, experienced players may shrug off an atmosphere, but young ones will struggle to do so. It'd be a shame if Arsene's philosohy, which does promise much, is only sure to fail because the supporters can't support it. And I've even heard Wilshere get the treatment after a couple of mistakes. The forgiveness amongst some supporters seems to have gone completely.
  
  Have your own opinion. Discuss it in the pub, before and after the match. Fight to the hilt for your point of view during the week, on sites like this. March against the board. Write letters of complaint. Argue at the AGMs. It's all good and necessary. But surely during the actual match anything other than support is counter productive. We'll always have a lack of songs at the Grove but it shouldn't be a ground where groans of dissatisfaction are the loudest noise each afternoon.
  
  I think our motto is poignant and necessary. And should be heeded. For the good of the team and the club.
  
  VCC

• 14-Jan-2012 16:06 | | Colesy
  

  East End Alex - I'd like to shake your hand mate. Our opinions may not be the same about what's right & wrong with the club but you make some good points and your argument is well constructed, thought out and presented with passion, belief but lacking the crass name calling and language only a school kid would think is cool. Good on you.

• 14-Jan-2012 20:08 | | East Stand Alex
  

  Cheers Colesy. And I would hope soon that we have little to disagree on, with our team finally starting to furnish the new mantelpiece. And all the players earning themselves some songs.

• 15-Jan-2012 07:53 | | Tony  - Hats off to East stand Alex. WOW!
  

  @ East Stand Alex; hear! Hear!!.. truly a great and passionate speech, absolutely inspiring. Thank you. knowing there're gunners like you out there really makes me feel great to be one.
  Check out some of the articles on the untold arsenal site, i think you might enjoy most of them as well as the comments.

• 19-Jan-2012 13:02 | | Spectrum
  

  " And to think that Liverpool got rid of Ryan Babbel - a better player in my view - and replaced him with that."
  For every Andy Caroll there's a Marouane Chamakh.
  
  " ******************"

• 19-Jan-2012 13:14 | | MeanLean
  

  Can you believe that Wenger spent all that money on Chamakh? I wish we had King Kenny ey Spectrum. He would have bought real quality like Downing, Henderson and Carroll. Real quality English talent that Wenger fails to see.
  
  I wish Arsene could be more like us eh Speccy?

• 19-Jan-2012 20:07 | | Anonymous
  

  Colesy you are off your nut!! We are not Liverpool? No we need another 6 titles. Only the Pool have been able to keep the numbers up with Man U. Get real! In terms of league titles, Cups and the CL we are behind both Man U and Liverpool. Try being realistic and compare like with like. Don´t talk down to those who´ve done more than us.

• 22-Jan-2012 17:07 | | Spectrum
  

  Mean - Yep, we got Chamakh for free ( as usual ) . And if you remember, Wenger waited for a year so we could. Wise management ? Don't think so. Dalglish has bought duds, but he didn't miss who we should have had - Luis Suarez. He was available, Wenger was sniffing around him for a while, and he wouldn't have broken the bank. But for some reason the boss lost interest in him. Hmm. Can't think why.
  
  He ain't English, but neither is Chamakh. But the difference is like chalk and cheese. Who would you rather we had to partner Robin ? Do I even need to ask that ?
  
  " ******************"

• 22-Jan-2012 17:17 | | MeanLean
  

  You are probably not aware of this but Arsenal are currently playing against Manchester United as you spread doom and gloom.
  
  It is currently 54 minutes and you are writing long responses to people. I only know this because I am alerted on my phone.
  
  Games up pal. Nothing you do from now on will convince me that you support Arsenal.
  
  Unlucky today at City by the way.
  
  I am going back to watching the game.

• 22-Jan-2012 18:44 | | Man United Killer  - Hey Spectrum.Long time buddy!
  

  Sometimes I really wonder why you still bother.I have to give you credit.
  In Arsene we rust indeed

• 22-Jan-2012 19:14 | | MeanLean
  

  Arsenal lose and surprise, surprise Spectrum and MUK are out in force.
  
  So did you not watch the game like Speccy also?

• 22-Jan-2012 20:40 | | Colesy
  

  ML - be fair. Whilst Spectrum might be vocal tonight, he's been all over your blog of late. It's not like he's just come onto your site today.

• 22-Jan-2012 22:09 | | Man United Killa  - One sided ML
  

  ML...You are funny.i have to say.There is no where for you to hide now is there? I am not surprised you choose to stick with the same banal set of words."Arsenal lose and surprise,surprise Spectrum and MUK are in full force".
  Did you see me here after the Fulham,Leeds and Swansea games? Why dont you get objective for a second?This attitude of yours is nothing short of shocking.
  You might be happy with what Wenger is doing but that is your opinion.I'm sure people have different perspectives as far as that goes.What will be interesting to hear is what you think of 'your' manager's performance.Performance reflects leadership..And please do us a favor.stop making lousy conclusions based on biased observations on reasons why we visit your website.

• 22-Jan-2012 23:26 | | MeanLean
  

  Objective? When have you been objective when the team deserved praise? When were either you or Spectrum being objective when we beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? or against Borussia Dortmund?
  
  Spectrum was responding back to various old comments in the middle of Arsenal vs Manchester United. That leaves me hugely suspicious, especially when he does not say one positive thing about Arsenal.
  
  That leads me to believe that he has an agenda and it is the same with anyone who can only post negative points about a club they 'support'
  
  I have criticised many players this season, I have criticised the club for not acting quick enough during the summer, although not all of it can be blamed on the manager.
  
  I am explained that I haven't understood certain decisions such has not rotating over Christmas and not using Rosicky enough. So excuse me for thinking I am more objective than you.
  
  You seem to think I am a fan who thinks the manager can do no wrong and hides away from any issues, if you read my articles and posts then you will soon understand that it is not the case.
  
  Flipping that around to you, show me a handful of comments that you have made when we have won or played really well and you pointed out and spoke about those good points? You will struggle to do so.
  
  That for me is not objective.

• 22-Jan-2012 23:27 | | MeanLean
  

  Yeah since we have started to lose games again. Before that he was nowhere to be seen.

• 22-Jan-2012 23:30 | | MeanLean
  

  Let's get one thing straight here. I am more than happy to debate with Gooners who are not happy.
  
  Gino92 is a perfect example. You can tell that he is a Gooner, he loves the club and is simply not happy with results or performances.
  
  That is fine, even if I disagree with certain things, that is perfectly understandable.
  
  It is those who pretend to be Arsenal 'supporters' that get my goat. Those who will do all they can not to have a good thing to say about anything to do with the club.

• 23-Jan-2012 01:13 | | Man United Killer
  

  All the stuff you type especially in your last paragraph is so NOT TRUE.Jesus!Where is your memory ML?

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