Stoke at home is the perfect test for us right now. We know exactly what we're going to get, they're motivated, and we have the opportunity to impress the supporters with a commanding performance in a game everyone should expect us to win easily. Will the Gunners show up? I think so. I'd love for us to throttle the Orcs and run up the score early, so we can pull Mesut and play Lacazette alongside Aubameyang for a while. That said, we could of course do what we did against Brighton or Swansea. A test.
This World Cup in Russia thing has come along at a good time for a grand gesture. England should boycott, and every other nation should join them. It wasn't Qatar-level crazy for Russia to have been awarded these games, but it was thoroughly corrupt. And now we have Putin ordering hits on English soil, one after the other, to include serious injury to UK citizens in the process. That's after his successfully pushing Brexit. What are they waiting for, him to assassinate the Queen? Of course, the key test of such a move would be whether others, especially Germany, supported the UK and not FIFA and the TV networks. You may say it's sour grapes coming from an American (and Italy supporter). But really, did the US, Italy, or England stand a chance of winning the World Cup under any circumstances this year? Germany's the favorite, and here's a chance for them to seize moral leadership of the "Free World" as they used to say. I'm surprised I don't see a movement for this.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Arsenal 3 - 1 AC Milan (5-1) Europa League Round of 16
It was a very ominous start. One minute in, Milan had a golden opportunity blasted just wide of Ospina's near post. After a good spell for the Gunners, Koscielny had to be replaced (Chambers) with what looked like a back problem. He'd been bumped on an offensive corner, but it didn't seem like a hard blow. (Speaking of hard blows, this was another physical game; Milan fought hard.) At about 34 minutes, it got even more ominous as an unpronounceable player for Milan sent a 28 yard screamer into the far lower corner to put the Rossoneri a goal away from forcing extra time. It was completely against the run of play; we dominated the half.
The main point of controversy will be Danny Welbeck going down very easily in the area when given a tap on the shoulder from a Milan defender. I'm not used to thinking of Danny as a diver, but this is one pen I would not have given. Donnaruma went the wrong way and Welbeck scored the penalty he'd won. A minute or so later, a ball came up off an Italian boot in our box and hit Chambers's arm. I've seen these given, even though it couldn't have been intentional, but this was a no-call. Milan's corners were awful all game, which was great, since that's not Ospina's strong suit. 1-1 at the half didn't do our dominance justice, but it preserved the two goal cushion so I felt good about it.
Milan looked a little better after the break, but not much. We had more of the ball and more chances, though things did open up some and it was an entertaining match. Donnaruma had been making excellent saves in goal for Milan, but on a 25 yard blast from Xhaka around minute 70, he could not keep it out even though he got two arms on it. Welbeck was on hand to tap it in (if he was onside) had the keeper not gathered it in, though. 2-1 for the good guys and everyone breathed easier. Milan would need three goals now, and even though they'd fashioned a few chances, they never looked like finishing them. Ospina had something to do with that, but mostly it was poor work from Milan. Welbeck got another gift when Jack stood a short cross up perfectly for Ramsey to head it in, but he managed to hit Donnaruma with it, and the ball bounced up and to Danny for the easiest goal he'll ever score intentionally. (I have faith that he'll put one in for us off his pancreas one day.)
Like the game in Italy, it's hard to say how much of this result was us and how much was Milan being very poor. But the passing was crisp and we were getting in good positions constantly. Aaron and Jack had very good shots kept out by great saves from Donnaruma. After that first minute, our defense looked organized. It was a great team performance.
I'm going to chop the game ball into three pieces and give them to Mustafi, Monreal, and Bellerin. They were instrumental in shutting down attacks and maintaining possession. Chambers was good too, though not up to Kos standards. Xhaka seemed more switched on today, though he did give the ball away a couple times in our half. Jack did his job and was generally quite good, though I wasn't as impressed as the FS1 commentators were. Aaron did very well and (as usual) covered a lot of ground. Mkhi was good but seemed to run out of gas in the second half; it was no surprise to see Elneny brought in to replace him, and Mo really shut things down. (I love that guy.) Welbeck did a good job leading the line, but I would like to see him win more headers. I'm saving Ozil for last, because I want to register my complaint about him registering his complaints against his teammates' passing. I'm sick of seeing him throw up his hands, give a disgusted expression, and put his head down as he walks back after his run was missed or he wasn't found by a pass. His defensive commitment was conspicuous by its total absence. (I was happy to see him taken out for Kolasinac, who was fine.) Ozil was good in possession but not great. I think the team carried him today more than the other way around. It's going to cause problems in the squad if our highest paid star keeps acting like this.
Well, it's on to a European quarterfinal (albeit the second-tier one) for the first time in eight years. I'm daring to hope again, though Atletico is not going to be this easy to play. They have world class strikers and are well coached. (I hope Simeone considers a move to London.) Never did I imagine that Arsenal would take Milan apart like this. At times, we were playing with them like a cat plays with a mouse. The guys need to take some confidence from this very well played tie. How we lost to the likes of Brighton and Swansea is a mystery. That's in the past; the men can bask in the last three victories through the international break, come back, and (I hope) continue their winning ways in the EPL and Europe.
The main point of controversy will be Danny Welbeck going down very easily in the area when given a tap on the shoulder from a Milan defender. I'm not used to thinking of Danny as a diver, but this is one pen I would not have given. Donnaruma went the wrong way and Welbeck scored the penalty he'd won. A minute or so later, a ball came up off an Italian boot in our box and hit Chambers's arm. I've seen these given, even though it couldn't have been intentional, but this was a no-call. Milan's corners were awful all game, which was great, since that's not Ospina's strong suit. 1-1 at the half didn't do our dominance justice, but it preserved the two goal cushion so I felt good about it.
Milan looked a little better after the break, but not much. We had more of the ball and more chances, though things did open up some and it was an entertaining match. Donnaruma had been making excellent saves in goal for Milan, but on a 25 yard blast from Xhaka around minute 70, he could not keep it out even though he got two arms on it. Welbeck was on hand to tap it in (if he was onside) had the keeper not gathered it in, though. 2-1 for the good guys and everyone breathed easier. Milan would need three goals now, and even though they'd fashioned a few chances, they never looked like finishing them. Ospina had something to do with that, but mostly it was poor work from Milan. Welbeck got another gift when Jack stood a short cross up perfectly for Ramsey to head it in, but he managed to hit Donnaruma with it, and the ball bounced up and to Danny for the easiest goal he'll ever score intentionally. (I have faith that he'll put one in for us off his pancreas one day.)
Like the game in Italy, it's hard to say how much of this result was us and how much was Milan being very poor. But the passing was crisp and we were getting in good positions constantly. Aaron and Jack had very good shots kept out by great saves from Donnaruma. After that first minute, our defense looked organized. It was a great team performance.
I'm going to chop the game ball into three pieces and give them to Mustafi, Monreal, and Bellerin. They were instrumental in shutting down attacks and maintaining possession. Chambers was good too, though not up to Kos standards. Xhaka seemed more switched on today, though he did give the ball away a couple times in our half. Jack did his job and was generally quite good, though I wasn't as impressed as the FS1 commentators were. Aaron did very well and (as usual) covered a lot of ground. Mkhi was good but seemed to run out of gas in the second half; it was no surprise to see Elneny brought in to replace him, and Mo really shut things down. (I love that guy.) Welbeck did a good job leading the line, but I would like to see him win more headers. I'm saving Ozil for last, because I want to register my complaint about him registering his complaints against his teammates' passing. I'm sick of seeing him throw up his hands, give a disgusted expression, and put his head down as he walks back after his run was missed or he wasn't found by a pass. His defensive commitment was conspicuous by its total absence. (I was happy to see him taken out for Kolasinac, who was fine.) Ozil was good in possession but not great. I think the team carried him today more than the other way around. It's going to cause problems in the squad if our highest paid star keeps acting like this.
Well, it's on to a European quarterfinal (albeit the second-tier one) for the first time in eight years. I'm daring to hope again, though Atletico is not going to be this easy to play. They have world class strikers and are well coached. (I hope Simeone considers a move to London.) Never did I imagine that Arsenal would take Milan apart like this. At times, we were playing with them like a cat plays with a mouse. The guys need to take some confidence from this very well played tie. How we lost to the likes of Brighton and Swansea is a mystery. That's in the past; the men can bask in the last three victories through the international break, come back, and (I hope) continue their winning ways in the EPL and Europe.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Arsenal 3 - 0 Watford
In the summer of 2016, we went to England to (among other things) watch the Ultimate World Championships. Our daughter represented her adopted country New Zealand (which did well). The games were held on university fields adjacent to the Watford training ground, and the tournament used their facilities. (It was of course next door to Arsenal's training ground, which a uniformed guard forbade me to even take a picture of from the access road, let alone enter.) I started thinking fondly of Watford FC. Now I fucking hate them. Deeney is a grade A asshole, and Richarlison-whatever is such a blatant diver he should be yellow carded on sight.
So it was with great pleasure that I watched their demolition today at the Emirates. Deeney's crap PK, making possible Cech's 200th EPL clean sheet and first AFC saved penalty, was the two-inch thick icing on a very tasty cake. I didn't even mind the bad call that awarded them the penalty after seeing that block. I HATE it when players (Jack does it all the time) just knock the ball past a player and run into him to get a free kick, and it's even worse in the box. Compounding that Atkinson error was the failure to award Mkhitaryan a penalty for getting absolutely wiped out with a slide tackle a couple minutes later. At least he didn't buy Richarlison's dive a few minutes from the end.
Nice goals, right? It has to be said that Watford could have had a couple as well, but they were not good enough to make the most of their opportunities. We made do with our second choice center backs after Mustafi was kicked out of the game (sheesh, could Watford have been any more obvious that their whole game plan was "kick Arsenal"?), and AMN looked very good deputising for Hector. Auba seems quite comfortable now and the two connections he made with Mikhi bode well for the future. I hope we get Lacazette back for Milan but even if we don't the rest that Ramsey, Bellerin, and Kos got should set us up nicely.
I am going to complain about Xhaka again. He was too casual on the ball throughout the game, and the guy just has to jaw at the referee enough to warrant a card. This is idiotic. Most clubs clamp down on this from whiny players, but Wenger could never cure Giroud or Xhaka of this dopey habit. I'd levy severe fines for that sort of nonsense. If Granit put that energy into coming back for the ball insted of waiting for it to get to him as an opposing midfielder nips it off him, he'd be a better player. Mikhi gave the ball away quite a bit too, but at least he committed himself to atone for the error each time.
I would be remiss if I did not utter a hearty virtual Nelson Mundt "Ha Ha!" at the Spuds crashing out to my second favorite team, the bianconeri from Torino. Delightful. Chiellini rubbed it in, too. Tottenham actually outplayed Juve over the 180 minutes, but once again it was "just enough to win" from Szczesny's new team.
So it was with great pleasure that I watched their demolition today at the Emirates. Deeney's crap PK, making possible Cech's 200th EPL clean sheet and first AFC saved penalty, was the two-inch thick icing on a very tasty cake. I didn't even mind the bad call that awarded them the penalty after seeing that block. I HATE it when players (Jack does it all the time) just knock the ball past a player and run into him to get a free kick, and it's even worse in the box. Compounding that Atkinson error was the failure to award Mkhitaryan a penalty for getting absolutely wiped out with a slide tackle a couple minutes later. At least he didn't buy Richarlison's dive a few minutes from the end.
Nice goals, right? It has to be said that Watford could have had a couple as well, but they were not good enough to make the most of their opportunities. We made do with our second choice center backs after Mustafi was kicked out of the game (sheesh, could Watford have been any more obvious that their whole game plan was "kick Arsenal"?), and AMN looked very good deputising for Hector. Auba seems quite comfortable now and the two connections he made with Mikhi bode well for the future. I hope we get Lacazette back for Milan but even if we don't the rest that Ramsey, Bellerin, and Kos got should set us up nicely.
I am going to complain about Xhaka again. He was too casual on the ball throughout the game, and the guy just has to jaw at the referee enough to warrant a card. This is idiotic. Most clubs clamp down on this from whiny players, but Wenger could never cure Giroud or Xhaka of this dopey habit. I'd levy severe fines for that sort of nonsense. If Granit put that energy into coming back for the ball insted of waiting for it to get to him as an opposing midfielder nips it off him, he'd be a better player. Mikhi gave the ball away quite a bit too, but at least he committed himself to atone for the error each time.
I would be remiss if I did not utter a hearty virtual Nelson Mundt "Ha Ha!" at the Spuds crashing out to my second favorite team, the bianconeri from Torino. Delightful. Chiellini rubbed it in, too. Tottenham actually outplayed Juve over the 180 minutes, but once again it was "just enough to win" from Szczesny's new team.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Milan 0 - 2 Arsenal (1st leg Europa Round of 16)
I'm not gonna lie: I expected us to get steamrolled today. Welbeck up top, no Bellerin...it seemed ominous. The first three minutes gave me no reason for optimism. (Why do we come out every game in the last several years and look so vulnerable at the back?) But we found our stride, and started moving the ball very smartly. It became clear that Milan did not have the speed to take maximum advantage of our rather slow set of defenders, we controlled the air, and our mids totally outplayed theirs. Mikhi's goal was deflected, but he hit the crossbar subsequently so I feel he deserved one on the night. I liked his hustle all game too. Aaron (courtesy of Mesut) caught Milan napping just before the half for one of the easiest goals he'll ever score. The second half was decent game management on our part and very sorry attacking on Milan's. Really, they looked awful. I can't believe they haven't been beaten in their previous 13.
Kolasinac looked quite good before he had to go off. i hope it wasn't serious. AMN was a fantastic replacement, though, and was extremely effective. What was Mustafi doing in the offensive third, especially after we'd taken the lead? He was caught out a few times, and once he was leveled by Ospina as he struggled to get back on defense after coughing up the ball. That guy is scary. Chambers did OK but he too had scary moments.
All in all, a good day at the office. It's something to hold on to when AC Milan visit the Emirates next week. We may need that cushion if we can't replicate this excellent performance. Surely the rossoneri won't be that bad.
Kolasinac looked quite good before he had to go off. i hope it wasn't serious. AMN was a fantastic replacement, though, and was extremely effective. What was Mustafi doing in the offensive third, especially after we'd taken the lead? He was caught out a few times, and once he was leveled by Ospina as he struggled to get back on defense after coughing up the ball. That guy is scary. Chambers did OK but he too had scary moments.
All in all, a good day at the office. It's something to hold on to when AC Milan visit the Emirates next week. We may need that cushion if we can't replicate this excellent performance. Surely the rossoneri won't be that bad.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
BHA 2 - 1 Arsenal
They got me again. Seriously, I must be industrial grade stupid. I figured we'd start playing with heart and skill and be organized. What a moron. The game was lost early when our typical lack of anything approaching defensive awareness presented a very energized Brighton with enough opportunities to score four goals. They got two, and as it turns out that was plenty.
The announcers tried to keep our interest up, but in truth it was an ugly game in which Arsenal did pretty much everything stupid and careless they could think of to make a bottom half team look like a world beater. I don't see any reason to keep Wenger around a day longer; do you? The players don't believe in him, the system, or each other. As professionals, this is deeply embarrassing to them, but none of them is being provided with the preparation and instruction that every other professional team in the fricking planet gets.
What point is there to playing in Europe at all? Stan seems to want to ruin the club. Maybe someone should tell him that while tanking in the US means you get better draft choices, tanking in the rest of the world means that eventually you get relegated.
Tell me you didn't want Giroud out there in the second half. I sure did. I know fuck all about football. I coached rec league girls for a decade and never played organized outdoor. But I could set up the Gunners better than Wenger at this point. I'm not kidding.
The board has to fire Arsene. He's been given several years more than any other club would give any other manager. Fire him NOW. Take Bould with you, Arsene. Bring in any available solid manager as caretaker and then find someone who can get more out of a very talented bunch of players, and who can target the GK, backs, and other positions we need improvement in. But I think that this team could have been in the top four mix with a good manager this season. We sure don't have one now. Rehiring him was epically stupid.
The announcers tried to keep our interest up, but in truth it was an ugly game in which Arsenal did pretty much everything stupid and careless they could think of to make a bottom half team look like a world beater. I don't see any reason to keep Wenger around a day longer; do you? The players don't believe in him, the system, or each other. As professionals, this is deeply embarrassing to them, but none of them is being provided with the preparation and instruction that every other professional team in the fricking planet gets.
What point is there to playing in Europe at all? Stan seems to want to ruin the club. Maybe someone should tell him that while tanking in the US means you get better draft choices, tanking in the rest of the world means that eventually you get relegated.
Tell me you didn't want Giroud out there in the second half. I sure did. I know fuck all about football. I coached rec league girls for a decade and never played organized outdoor. But I could set up the Gunners better than Wenger at this point. I'm not kidding.
The board has to fire Arsene. He's been given several years more than any other club would give any other manager. Fire him NOW. Take Bould with you, Arsene. Bring in any available solid manager as caretaker and then find someone who can get more out of a very talented bunch of players, and who can target the GK, backs, and other positions we need improvement in. But I think that this team could have been in the top four mix with a good manager this season. We sure don't have one now. Rehiring him was epically stupid.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Orlando City 1 - 1 DC United and Saturday Roundup
AOC got another assist today. It's amazing what a little coaching can do. There were some other games in the EPL too, but who cares? I just hope Stoke gets relegated.
Szczesny was all smiles on the sideline hugging his new dad Gigi after Juve got a last minute winner at the Stadio Olimpico over Lazio. Since Roma defeated Napoli 4-2 in Naples later, Juve is a point behind Napoli and has a snow-delayed game in hand, it's looking good for them. I believe Juventus is home for their remaining game. Just as in the EPL, there will be a mad scramble for the last ECL slot. At least one of Inter, Roma, and Lazio will miss out. Milan has a decent shot at making it too.
DC managed to bottle an easy three points tonight after getting a 1-0 lead (having missed a penalty earlier) and going a man up for a deserved red on the oddly named PC. United looked a bit dodgy for the remainder of the half, and in the second, they were terrible. Orlando deserved more than the point they earned with a too-easy equalizer in stoppage time. I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from United, given the situation. They couldn't keep the ball and they could not prevent chance after chance for the undermanned Orlando. The 11 men always get a few breakaway chances when the 10 men are pressing, but DC never looked like scoring on them, constantly making wrong decisions or failing to attack the goal. It's going to be another long, painful season if they don't improve dramatically.
Szczesny was all smiles on the sideline hugging his new dad Gigi after Juve got a last minute winner at the Stadio Olimpico over Lazio. Since Roma defeated Napoli 4-2 in Naples later, Juve is a point behind Napoli and has a snow-delayed game in hand, it's looking good for them. I believe Juventus is home for their remaining game. Just as in the EPL, there will be a mad scramble for the last ECL slot. At least one of Inter, Roma, and Lazio will miss out. Milan has a decent shot at making it too.
DC managed to bottle an easy three points tonight after getting a 1-0 lead (having missed a penalty earlier) and going a man up for a deserved red on the oddly named PC. United looked a bit dodgy for the remainder of the half, and in the second, they were terrible. Orlando deserved more than the point they earned with a too-easy equalizer in stoppage time. I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from United, given the situation. They couldn't keep the ball and they could not prevent chance after chance for the undermanned Orlando. The 11 men always get a few breakaway chances when the 10 men are pressing, but DC never looked like scoring on them, constantly making wrong decisions or failing to attack the goal. It's going to be another long, painful season if they don't improve dramatically.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Arsenal 0 - 3 Manchester City
At the half, when I'm writing this first paragraph, I have to say I am not feeling as down on the squad as I was at the half on Sunday. I'm annoyed at how easily City sliced through us, and am wondering where the hell our central midfielders were, but we could have had a couple goals ourselves had the finishing been better or the defense not so lucky. Anyway, we have another 45 to play and if this finishes 6-0 then we'll have to accept it and start preparing for Brighton.
...OK, full time, and City managed the game to perfection. Aubameyang took a poor penalty that was saved smartly, but otherwise Arsenal's attacks were smothered without incident. I believe we outshot them, but there's no question who was going to win this game.
I don't think we made a substitution. It's as though Wenger has forgotten he's a manager. If we weren't ever going to turn this around, there's Brighton to think of on the weekend.
I didn't see the players give up. I will not be dumping on them. I love Ramsey; he never stops running. Kolasinac seems to have gotten his full speed back.
This is a weird feeling for me. The season hasn't lost meaning this early since I've started following the Gunners about 20 years ago. There's still Europa League, but it seems fanciful to imagine us winning that after the Ostersunds second leg debacle. I'll be watching and hoping, but I have no expectations there. We're going to finish 6th, so there's no "fourth trophy" to work towards. Our visit to Old Trafford is the only time we'll be playing a top five team. It's a matter of grinding out wins in the games we have left, if we can, and trying to beat our European opponents (Milan's first up).
No one's reading this blog anyway, so I may take a break from it on occasion. It's primarily a way for me to get the feelings out of my system and sort out how I think about the club and the way we're playing and how it's run. I wonder if I shouldn't transfer some support to DC United, who inaugurate their new stadium this summer. Juve is still on Napoli's tail in Serie A, so there's that. (If only they can nip Spuds in their ECL second leg...)
...OK, full time, and City managed the game to perfection. Aubameyang took a poor penalty that was saved smartly, but otherwise Arsenal's attacks were smothered without incident. I believe we outshot them, but there's no question who was going to win this game.
I don't think we made a substitution. It's as though Wenger has forgotten he's a manager. If we weren't ever going to turn this around, there's Brighton to think of on the weekend.
I didn't see the players give up. I will not be dumping on them. I love Ramsey; he never stops running. Kolasinac seems to have gotten his full speed back.
This is a weird feeling for me. The season hasn't lost meaning this early since I've started following the Gunners about 20 years ago. There's still Europa League, but it seems fanciful to imagine us winning that after the Ostersunds second leg debacle. I'll be watching and hoping, but I have no expectations there. We're going to finish 6th, so there's no "fourth trophy" to work towards. Our visit to Old Trafford is the only time we'll be playing a top five team. It's a matter of grinding out wins in the games we have left, if we can, and trying to beat our European opponents (Milan's first up).
No one's reading this blog anyway, so I may take a break from it on occasion. It's primarily a way for me to get the feelings out of my system and sort out how I think about the club and the way we're playing and how it's run. I wonder if I shouldn't transfer some support to DC United, who inaugurate their new stadium this summer. Juve is still on Napoli's tail in Serie A, so there's that. (If only they can nip Spuds in their ECL second leg...)
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