Not So Much About Arsenal

Well, DC United certainly isn't looking good.  That's all I want to say about them now.

The USMNT finally hit their stride today in a 4-0 win in Columbus over Guatemala, which had beaten us 2-0 Friday.  It was pretty much a must-win situation, and they responded beautifully.  So, we're on track for the usual qualification for the finals and getting shown up there.  Still a lot of work to do, of course--two more games in this round, then the ten games in the hexagonal round.  But really, we should be in Russia.  It's hard to judge how good these guys can be in these things, because the opponents are not top contenders.  They sure looked good today.

It's halftime in the Olympic qualifying game vs Colombia, and "looking good" is not on the menu.  We're down 2-1 on aggregate and frankly are damned lucky it's not worse.  I will be one surprised yet delighted fan if I post an update that changes the outlook for Olympic qualification.  As it stands, we're out, and deservedly so.  The US was poor in the first half.

Euro friendlies had some bite to them, as the nations warm up for the finals.  The pick of the games I saw was England's fine comeback win over Germany, powered by the Tottenham contingent of Kane, Alli, and Dier.  Welbeck was quite good.  Walcott seemed happy to spectate from the bench.  Two fine goals put Germany up 2-0.  Welbeck rescued a seemingly certain goal kick to set up Lallana for a shot that was blocked for a corner, from which Kane manufactured a very nice goal.  Jamie Vardy scored a stunning backheel for the leveler.  Alli missed a sitter, but late on Dier crashed in a header off a corner for the winner.  Meaningless win, but picturesque and boding well for the future of England and Tottenham.

DC United 1 - 1 Colorado

It's just 2 points from their first three games, which is not good.  But I like this team.  They have lots of speed and attacking guile.  I think they'll be the terror of most MLS defenses by mid-season.  It looks like a very energetic squad, too, so I expect them to wear out opponents and grab points in the second half of games.  Worra did well in goal, but Hamid is better.  I've always liked Nyarko and I'm glad he's with us now.  It's early days, but this could be a team that improves all through the season and is a threat to win the Cup.  Or not.

Everton 0 - 2 Arsenal

It's great to win one comfortably, isn't it?  I thought before the game that this was a good time to be playing Everton, but I bet the Everton fans were thinking it's a good time to be playing Arsenal too.  The Toffees never looked like scoring, actually, and this time we refused to help them out by losing discipline in the second half and going all-out for more goals.  (Another referee would have awarded Alexis a penalty and allowed Giroud's goal too.)  I was happy with the professional way we closed out the game.  Our goals were both excellently taken, and of course the first has been shown thousands of times on TV.  Lovely movement.

It was heart in mouth time when Ospina was clattered into; I hope he's OK.  Elneny just keeps getting better, and Alex Iwobi looks as though he's going to be playing in the first team regularly next season.  Welbeck is showing why he was a wise purchase.  Ozil still does his job very well; Alexis is just not feeling it these days (nice assist).  The back line was solid, and Coquelin is back to peak efficiency.

International break, which I hope does not result in injuries.  I hate it when that happens.  Spuds win easily at the Lane, Leicester does well enough to win again, West Ham drops two against Chelsea and the red half of Manchester prevailed today.  So, we have four points on City, and five on United and the Hammers.  Third place is in our hands.  We can't even think about the two teams above us.

Juve won its derby 4-1, Napoli kept pace with some late goals, still three points back.  Roma seems destined for the third (play-in) Champions' League spot, and Fiorentina has a great shot at Europa League play again.

Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal

Well, we looked good at times in this repeat of the first leg, also a two-goal loss.  But it was hard to avoid the impression that Barça was toying with us at times.  Our opponents seem to sense that we are not going to finish our chances and we are going to give them plenty of chances, so they play with confidence and do precisely what they want to do.

At least Elneny finished one of the gorgeous setups he keeps getting.  I like him a lot.  He's putting his game together and will help us down the stretch.

And there's plenty to play for.  We're highly unlikely to challenge for the title and we're out of all the cup competitions, so it's back to that "fourth place trophy" again.  Forget about Spurs; they have six points and +13 GD on us (we do have a game in hand).  We'll survive a year without a St Totteringham's Day.  It may even do us some good.  City is one point back and +5; they will pass us unless we start playing.  So 4th means staying above Man U (5 points back and -6) and West Ham (3 back and -4).  We make our last visit to Upton Park on April 9, so that's a pivotal game.  The Manchester Derby happens this Sunday, so one or both of those teams has to lose points.  West Ham and Man U play the same weekend we play City, which could prove to be the day some hearts are broken.

I get the sense that changes are coming this summer, big ones.  Maybe a new manager; probably some important departures and arrivals.  Ozil and Alexis have decided that their Arsenal years are not going to help their reputations and will want to go to a club with ambition.  Our talented midfielders who spend as much time on a training table as they do on the pitch may have to make way for guys who are available on matchday for their £60,000 a week.  All these negotiations will be easier and cheaper if we are playing in Champions' League next year.


It is too painful to relate how Juventus lost to Bayern today, so I won't.

In Other News

DC United did not look brilliant yesterday but managed to keep New England out of the net at Gillette Stadium.  Despite their being blown out in the second half against LA, and now this, I'm reasonably optimistic.  I like the way Ben Olsen sets them up and prepares them.  The loanee from Argentina, Acosta, looks dangerous.  DeLeon is picking up where he left off--dominating midfield.  The defense looks solid.  We just need to start clicking and scoring.

Juventus won this weekend, and now sit in first place, three points above Napoli.  They will play Milan in the Coppa Italia final in May.  My other favorites, Roma and Fiorentina, are in third and fourth place.

Think happy thoughts...

Arsenal 1 - 2 Watford

The succession of toothless performances from the Gunners had prepared me emotionally for this disappointing and (to me) unexpected result.  Watford deserved the win.  They executed their game plan, we didn't execute ours.  Even at the end, Welbeck had the goal at his mercy at close range and inexplicably blasted it off-target instead of passing it in with only a defender to beat.  We beat ourselves, offensively and defensively, as much as Watford beat us.

There's no point berating a holding midfielder for his awful finishing when the best two first-half opportunities came his way.  Elneny played well today.  In fact, most Arsenal players did a good job.  As a team, though, they were not as cohesive and effective as their less-talented opponents.  Why?

We could talk about the mental toughness of the players, but I won't.  I'll question Wenger here, on tactics and on team selection.  I don't say he did anything obviously wrong, but I think that if Monreal and Bellerin were fit enough to be on the bench, they should have started.  Chambers may one day be a fine player for us, but on the day he was probably our weakest link.  Particularly in the second half, he was found wanting repeatedly, and you need some covering pace if you're going to play Mertesacker at right CB.  Gibbs was, I think, at fault for the first goal, at least as much as Gabriel or Mertesacker (who didn't even jump for the throw-in).  He seemed frozen, when it was obvious that he needed to close Ighalo down and help Gabriel.  You absolutely would not have seen Watford leave Giroud one on one with anyone that close to goal.  Monreal does not make that mistake.

Tactically, Watford needed to be pressed more energetically and we had to go at them at a faster pace.  This is a longstanding complaint we all have with Arsenal.  Until their first goal, and even after it, we built too slowly.  (Someone is going to have to sit Alexis down and talk to him about letting the ball go earlier.  He's capable of some excellent passes.  His dribbling is killing our offense these days.)

I don't want to hear any talk about this freeing us to concentrate on the league.  We booted the league away against United and Swansea.  The Cup was it this year, and now we've booted that away too.  Besides, why would we beat Watford (coming up soon) in the league when we can't beat them in the cup?  I'm at the point where I'm happy to see Leicester take it, if they can.

Wenger obviously will be concentrating on seeing out the season, but for the first time I'm thinking he may acquiesce in his ouster.  Players like Ozil and Alexis are not going to want to spend their prime years struggling to get into the Champions' League and being beaten in the round of 16 every year by their former squads.  Clearly, Stan Kroenke is running the club as a business, not a hobby, and is determined to take more money out than he puts in.  Fair enough; he's the owner.  But 2016 Wenger is not going to take a team whose spending is fourth in the league to first.  I wanted him to leave on his own terms, but I think that ship has sailed.

Szczesny won today, anyway.

Hull 0 - 4 Arsenal

Okay, Hull played really poorly.  But they'd held opponents scoreless in the KC for almost eleven hours, then we put four past the GK who left his cape in the locker room this time.  I congratulate Theo Walcott on his goals and assist, but he was not particularly good until the game had already been won.  I do think his first goal was very well taken.  He recognized where he needed to go and stayed onside, then executed as efficient a two-touch strike as you'll see.  His assist and his second goal got where they did because a defender touched them on.  Giroud's right-footed goals were nice examples of cashing in on golden opportunities, something we have not been great at recently.  (Nice assist from Meyler on the first.)

It was starting to seem weird that our injury list was so short, so the mass slaughter Tuesday was not unexpected.  Three injuries, three subs; and a fourth guy had to finish hurt.  Ouch.  But wasn't it a wonder that we had the personnel to compensate?  This team is deep.

There was a player-only meeting before the game at which Per, Arteta, Rosicky, and Cech imparted some wisdom or inspiration or something.  It seems to have worked.

Elneny did a fine job, I think.  He can't do everything Ramsey does, but he's the obvious candidate to pair with Coquelin in Ramsey's absence.  He's more disciplined too.  It may free up Ozil to get back to orchestrating the offense, without having to worry about Ramsey bombing through and losing the ball while flying across the opponent's goal line.  With Campbell, Walcott, Alexis, and Giroud healthy, as far as I know, we should have enough firepower for Watford, even without the impressive Iwobi.  Per and Chambers in front of Ospina is scary, but it could be OK.  Gibbs and Bellerin have plenty of pace, anyway.

After Watford (FA Cup) Sunday, it's off to the Nou Camp to receive another lesson, or execute the upset of the year.  Then Everton at Goodison on the 19th, and the international break comes at a good time.  We host Watford again, this time in the league, when that break ends.  Here's hoping the teams ahead of us stumble.

Tottenham 2 - 2 Arsenal

Before I get into the game, just consider for a moment that groups of fans fought before the match, and how stupid that is.  You may have seen the pictures; it appeared to be far less violent than such clashes in the hooligan era, but blood was spilled and the riot police were called out to parade around on their horses and swing their truncheons menacingly.  This isn't a sublimated religious war, like the Celtic-Rangers rivalry, or a separatist stalking horse, like Barca-Real, or Communist-fascist enmity like Roma-Lazio.  It's just two football clubs with grounds that are close to each other.  I'd like to see the clubs take some leadership in bringing rationality to the more rabid fanbase.  You can't expect the blogs or the players to do it, though idiotic antics such as Wilshere's go far beyond the acceptable.  Sermon over.

First off, great game, right?  Tackles were snapped into, pressure was relentless, work rates were phenomenal.  All the players internalized the importance of the game.  Recent stumbles by both squads intensified their desire.  Though he was not perfect over the course of the match, I even thought Michael Oliver had an excellent game.  He managed to keep in control and kept proceedings moving.  You don't get the close calls away; the players all know that.  And the result was a fair one, though frustrating for both sides.

For once, Wenger out-tacticked his opposition,  Two years ago I proposed to some of you that we ought to use Ramsey as a "false 9" to increase mobility, and that's pretty much what happened today.  Pochettino flunked his exam today by failing to make the changes that would have sealed the three points for Spurs after they went up a goal and a man.

Let's start with the midfielders.  Coquelin's yellows were both a trifle soft but both were justified.  Yes, Dier should have been sent off for what was actually more of a second yellow than Coquelin's.  But life is not fair and to their credit the players didn't sulk.  Until the sending off, I thought Coquelin was very good.  He'll learn from this.  He's a very important player for us and still one of the first names to go on the team sheet, after he gets back from suspension anyway.  Elneny was also good, though perhaps a tad too controlled, not making a lot of tackles.  Ozil did his job, I thought, and seemed a little more defensively committed.

Ramsey, Welbeck, and Alexis did their usual position-swapping throughout the game.  Giroud always works hard, but this was a game where speed was important and the game may have passed him by were he a starter.  Welbeck always looked a threat.  He's going to improve, too.  Ramsey's goal was very well taken, and he put himself about all game.  His pass completion rate was very low (60%, I believe), though that's a bit deceptive because all the pressing from both sides meant that there were a lot of interceptions.  Still, Ramsey and Alexis lost the ball passing and on the dribble at a very high rate.  But end product is how an offensive line is judged, and there were two fine goals from Ramsey and Alexis.

The defensive line looked rather shaky, I thought, even with the cover Coquelin and Elneny provided.  There were failed clearances, sliced clearances, and missed marks.  Bellerin's two assists excuse him for getting beaten so often on his side; Gibbs did much better than I feared filling in for Monreal.  Those two fullbacks have electric speed, which atones for many sins.  Mertesacker and Gabriel were worrisome at times.  Koscielny is the sort of CB that is best suited to playing against Tottenham, but he was not available.  Per is majestic defending crosses, but that didn't seem to be Spurs' mode of attack yesterday.

Ospina deserves a ton of credit for stepping up when it mattered most, and after a long layoff too.  He was fine.  I do believe he's been working on his technique on punts and goal kicks; they seemed to travel ten yards farther than they used to, and pretty much where he wanted them to go.  He really is an excellent GK and it's a shame that his horrible error against Olympiakos cost him so many cup appearances.  I was hugely impressed by his response today.

Perhaps we didn't cover ourselves in glory, but this game showed a fighting spirit that bodes well for the future.  There will be no time to think about the past as the fixture list stays crowded.  A win at the KC Tuesday would mean another Cup clash this weekend and a postponement of that game.  I like that, because that game in hand may be important if the leaders stumble.  Yes, I know that fifth place is more likely than first, based on recent form.  But it's all to play for.  We visit West Ham and Man City and have the opportunity to help ourselves against them.  All a team can do is win their games; we already held Tottenham twice and beat Leicester twice and can inflict no more damage on the teams currently above us.  They won't win the rest of their games,

Barcelona seems more of a distraction than an opportunity now.

Tottenham, What Do You Think of Wilshere?

Our big talking midfielder, the one time Future of English Football, has taken his usual position on a training table and will not be on the field at Wet Fart Lane tomorrow.  Not that it makes any difference.

The personnel we have can still make a run at the title this season.  But no one on the team believes they can do it, so why should we supporters?  It's dispiriting to see so many fine footballers adopt a losing mentality.  It's gotten worse as the season progresses too, despite getting most of our important players back.  (Would Cazorla have saved us?  Doubtful.)

Abusive relationships...there are three on display tomorrow in the NLD.  The first is Arsenal and Tottenham.  St. Totteringham's Day is a thing for a reason.  "Mind the gap" is a laugh line for Gunners and a bitter memory for Spurs.  I led with a reminder of Dopey Jack's chants at FA Cup parades to underline the deserved glee Spurs supporters will feel if they finish above us.  We will also deserve every taunt they fire at us.  Payback is a...well, we may find out what it is.  The other two abusive relationships are those between the clubs and their respective fan base.  Both have been underachieving for a while now, playing European football but not grabbing the biggest prizes (in Spuds' case, any prizes).  2004 seems a long time ago; how long ago must 1961 seem?  Both teams manage to play well enough, this past decade, to compete but never to win.  One set of supporters, maybe both, will take another beating tomorrow.

I'm not setting my alarm.  I'll turn the game on when I get up.  The last two league games have disgusted me so thoroughly that I find it hard to get excited at the prospect of playing Tottenham with so much on the line.  The players and manager apparently don't care all that much, so why should I?

I hope this is the last season I have to watch Theo Walcott pretend to be a good footballer.  I'd rather have any on-loan or youth player out there.  He's awful.  Maybe Crystal Palace could use him, but I doubt it.  He has the physical gifts, and can do marvelous things, but he doesn't feel like it most of the time.  Several of our players have been infected by his attitude, it seems, or maybe they have developed their own bad attitudes.  Wenger is not the sort of manager who'd call out players publicly, but I get the sense he isn't doing it privately either.  I've always been a fan of Arsene Wenger, but this season has shown that he does not have what it takes to get anything like the most out of the team he's assembled.

There will be a blog entry tomorrow, win, lose, or draw.  Leicester is looking more and more as though they may stumble across the finish line first.  Arsenal looks as though it's trying to finish third or fourth again.  It definitely won't feel like a trophy if they do.

Arsenal 1 - 2 Swansea

Soft.  You can add Cech and it's still the same Arsenal, only without being able to blame goalkeeping mistakes anymore.

In an even more aggravating fashion, Arsenal managed to lose to another makeshift team in bad form.  No excuses, guys.  Yes, you hit the post once and the crossbar twice.  Swansea's first goal was the eventual result of an uncalled blatant foul.  But once they had the lead, Arsenal should have been fit to close the game out.  This is again Wenger's responsibility.  The team should know how to play with a lead.  They look good at times, but all that really counts is end product, and it's not often there.

Swansea was OK.  They didn't collapse.  They pressed effectively at times.  Fabianski didn't have to do anything extraordinary.  But Arsenal was in their area numerous times.  There were few shots taken when the opportunities presented themselves.

I didn't get a good feeling when Sigurdson came in for the second half.  Sure enough, he sealed our fate tonight with a fine free kick that Williams bundled home.  No one in the crowd thought Arsenal was going to score, and with good reason.  Every time they were in there, they tip-tapped the ball until they lost it.  Crosses were floated in, not zipped in; what goalkeeper doesn't prefer that?

Every team in the league should want to play us now.  We're underperforming on an epic scale.  The team has seldom been healthier.

Leicester drew this week, and Spuds lost.  So did Man City.  Opportunity missed--maybe the best we're likely to get.  Obviously, we have to beat Tottenham.  And then we need help, while not dropping points like we have been doing.  We should be top of the league today; we flat out blew the last two games.  I don't know that there is a worthy champion this year, but there will be a champion.  One of these teams is going to take the league, with a fairly poor record for a champion.  It does not look as though Arsenal will be that team.

I would quite happily settle for another FA Cup at this point.  But now I'm being optimistic, aren't I?  We're just four up on the Manchester clubs--City has a game in hand--and five on West Ham.  If we don't turn things around, at least two of them will pass us and it's Europa League if we're lucky.



Oh, and DC United slunk out of the CONCACAF CL with a 0-1 loss at home last night to Queretaro.  They got their goal early, putting an end to any thoughts of a comeback in the tie.