North London Derby Preview Part 1 : A Look At The Opposition

On this Sunday, The 3rd of March, otherwise known as Derby Day to the people of North London and to the millions of supporters of the 2 clubs all over the world, The Arsenal will take on Tottenham Hotspurs, otherwise known as the SCUM! This derby has grown in significance in recent seasons since Arsenal have stopped competing for the league and have become a direct rival to Spurs for the battle to finish in the top 4. The bragging rights are not the only things in question anymore. A win on sunday will put us just a point off them and might be enough to trigger than famous Spurs slide that happens almost every season. Who could forget last season when they were 2-0 up at the Emirates and could have gone 13 points ahead with a victory but Arsenal roared back and won the match 5-2. That defeat sparked an unbelievable slide and from a position of dominance Spurs could only finish 4th and eventually missed out on the CL thanks to Chelsea winning against Bayern. A defeat at their own turf could trigger the same sort of decline again. However if we lose this game we’ll go 7 behind them and maybe 5 behind Chelsea which could be too much to make up for us at this late stage of the season. So Arsenal just can’t afford to lose this game. Arsene Wenger has a fantastic record against Spurs, losing just 5 times out of 39 clashes with the scum. Earlier this season we beat Spurs 5-2 again. Unfortunately we couldn’t build on that win enough and are still outside the top 4. But still the memories of scoring 5 past them and Ade getting sent off will be cherished forever.

In this post I’ll have a more closer look at the opposition, their possible lineup, their strengths (Bale) and their weaknesses ( One man team).

Goalkeeper

The French International Goalkeeper and Captain Hugo Lloris has established himself as their no.1. He’s a quality keeper and a fantastic shot stopper. Hasn’t made any mistakes off late but he should remember the 5 goals he conceded against us last time. I wouldn’t expect any gifts from him though.

Fullbacks

Kyle Walker is a very good RB. He’s decent going forward and his crossing is also good but can be suspect at the back. If Podolski starts it will be an interesting battle. If he doesn’t then Monreal will have to make those forward runs since Cazorla moves to the center a lot.

On the left it could be either Vertonghen or Benoit Assou Ekotto. It will be interesting to see who AVB goes with. I think he will go with BAE to cope with the pace of Theo Walcott.

Center Backs

There are many options for AVB here. He has Dawson, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen and maybe even Kaboul to choose from. AVB will likely go with Dawson and Vertonghen in my opinion. It could be Caulker as well instead of Dawson.

Central Midfield

Dembélé and Parker have been starting together recently for them. With Sandro out it looks like that combination will continue. Dembélé is a powerful player and will be a dangerous opponent whereas Parker is a tough tackler and has a great engine. Not much creativity in that midfield though.

Wide Positions

On the right it will be Lennon. He has pace to burn but more often than not fails to deliver the final ball well enough. But he is a quality player and it will be a tough test for Nachoman.

On the left it could be the new signing Holtby or Dempsey or Sigurdsson or even Bale. It depends on the fitness of Defoe. If Defoe is fit then Bale will play on the left otherwise he will play in a free role behind Adebayor. If Defoe is not fit then this position is a potential weak point for Spurs.

Strikers

Defoe has been out for a while now which has given Adebayor an extended run in the side. Our favorite hate figure however has been so poor that he even missed an open goal against West Ham in the last game. As always he’s been lazy and not bothered to put up much of a fight. However he always gets fired up whenever he faces us so could be dangerous. I’m not sure about Defoe’s fitness situation but I hope he will stay injured as his pace and shooting could prove to be deadly.

Gareth Bale

No matter how much we analyze the other players Spurs is all about one man and one man only. His name is Gareth Bale. Some say he is as good as Ronaldo. I say he’s been a good player for Spurs before but it’s only this season that he’s really showed super quality. Can he continue this rich vein of form? I hope not for our sake. The bad news is that Sagna is out. He could have handled Bale out wide. We’ll have to hope Jenkinson will be able to deal with Bale. Vermaelen will have to be on the top of his game as well and he needs to protect Mertersacker. Szczesny will also have to play well to keep out his long range shots. It will be really tough though since he is a really quality player.

Overall I must admit Spurs have a good squad and they have an exceptional player in Bale. They also have a strong home record. So it’s not gonna be easy at all. But we have the quality and we have the players to go up there and come up with a positive result. I believe we will do it. COYG!

I’ll be back with part 2 of the preview on friday with team news and predicted lineups.

Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 1! Oh Santi Cazorla!

Sheer Relief and Joy! Those were the feelings shared by gooners all over the world at the final whistle yesterday. After getting dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of Blackburn and all but knocked out of the CL at the hands of Bayern, three points were needed more badly than ever before. Thankfully the team delivered those 3 points against relegation threatened Aston Villa and lifted spirits at the Emirates after what has been a truly turbulent week.

The match couldn’t have started any better for the Arsenal. Cazorla opened the scoring after just 6 minutes. It was a low and powerful shot from the little Spaniard after his initial shot was blocked by a Villa defender. That early goal was crucial as it calmed the nerves of the edgy Emirates crowd. As we have seen before the crowd gets quite nervous and frustrated if the team doesn’t score a goal within the first 15-20 minutes which actually adds to the pressure the players are already in.

After the opening goal we all hoped that the players would build on that and kill the game as soon as possible. But this Arsenal side seems incapable of doing that as has been proved time after time. Despite enjoying lion’s share of the possession, Arsenal just couldn’t get that 2nd goal. Giroud had a frustrating time of it once again, missing some great chances. It is commendable that he gets into those goal scoring positions so many times and it is because of his good movements that he does that every game but he needs to start putting those chances away. He needs to start scoring some goals regularly. We need to see him celebrating more often rather than the usual sight of him getting frustrated after yet another missed opportunity.

In the first half Villa had some dangerous opportunities. Szczesny made a couple of decent saves to keep out Agbonlahor and N’Zogbia. The lack of confidence among the players was clear and without that 2nd goal the danger was always there. First half ended at 1-1.

Arsenal team came out for the 2nd half and was pressing for that 2nd goal right from the start. Giroud missed another chance as he decided to shoot rather than pass the ball to Wilshere who was in a great position. Wilshere was clearly frustrated and shouted at Giroud for that. Afterwards Giroud had a good header saved by Guzan. Arsenal had corner after corner but couldn’t get any joy out of those set pieces. The tension was growing and so was the fear of a Villa equaliser. It came from a counter attack.

We had a free kick and we put men forward for that. Villa broke and Weimann ran from inside his own half, all the way to our goal and hit a powerful shot past Szczesny. A keeper of a premiership club should be able to save a shot like that. It was terrible, terrible stuff from the young Pole and sadly it’s becoming too common. He needs to improve and improve fast. We don’t even have a capable number 2 to provide him some competition.

So after dominating the 2nd half Arsenal conceded a goal and had around 20 minutes to get the winner. The players really went for it and got the reward when Wilshere found Nacho who made a great run into the box, he then pulled the ball back into the center of the box and the incoming Cazorla found the back of the net with a clinical finish. It was a brilliant goal and the celebrations were wild. The substituted Jenkinson was celebrating as well which was a great sight. In the end Santi saved the day!

In the league we’ve been unbeaten for 5 games now. At the moment we are just a point behind Spurs, who play on monday against West Ham. Next week we have to go to White Hart Lane to take on the scum. Hopefully West Ham will beat them so that we can go ahead of them at their own ground. But no matter what happens in that game we now have a decent result going into the North London Derby. Everton losing yesterday was also good as it gives us some breathing space in 5th place. At the end of the day Arsenal won yesterday and that’s the most important thing. God knows we needed this win and we needed some scope for celebration.

So enjoy this victory everyone! Till next time!

Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Preview

After back to back home defeats against Blackburn and Bayern, Arsenal are back again at the Emirates this time taking on relegation threatened Aston Villa in the premiership. A week ago this game looked to be a comfortable home fixture for the Gunners but once again it’s been proved that a week is a long time in football. Last friday Arsenal fans were pretty happy going into the Blackburn game. We won a very difficult game at Sunderland, playing with 10 men for quite some time yet managing to hold on for the 1-0 win. It really seemed like a turning point but as has been proved now that it was just a false dawn.

Aston Villa are struggling quite badly this season. They have been in the relegation dog fight for most of this season and at the moment find themselves in 17th place, just a point ahead of Reading. They are fighting for their premiership status and recently have shown plenty of fighting spirit. They went to Everton a couple of weeks ago and went 3-1 up but in the end Everton got a draw thanks to a late late Fellaini equalizer. So it’s not gonna be an easy game at all for Arsenal especially at the current troubled state of our own team after back to back home defeats. Benteke, N’Zogbia and Weimann are the biggest threats from Villa. Benteke in particular worries me. In some games he has looked quite unplayable and has tremendous strength and power which could really trouble our defence.

Wenger is likely to bring Giroud back into the starting lineup. Sagna has been ruled out so Jenkinson should start at RB. Nacho will start at LB. It’s likely to be Vermaelen and Mertersacker as the CB pairing.

In midfield I personally would like to see Rosicky start. Wenger might not do that but I think we could do with his energetic performances. The kind of performances that really helped us last season. Unfortunately I see Wenger continuing with Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla.

Upfront it should be Theo on the right, Podolski on the left and Giroud playing in the CF role.

YFF Player Picks

There are a lot of potential great picks this week from the Arsenal side. Theo could go big in this game but I think Giroud is the best bet as he can take advantage of the shaky Villa backline. Jenkinson is a great filler and could get some nice points from SC and CW. Cazorla is there in most teams already as well. Nacho is also quite a decent bet preupdate.

Score Prediction

Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 1

Giroud, Walcott, Benteke

I hope the players will bring their A game tomorrow as we really need a good performance and the 3 points to lift the spirit at the club. We still have to fight for finishing in the top 4 and we are 4 points off that target at this stage. Tottenham will have a tough game this week at West Ham and Chelsea are at Man City so this is a golden opportunity to reduce the gap. Fingers crossed we will take it.

COYG!

Wenger Out!

8 years without a trophy. In most top European clubs a manager would get sacked after 2 years without silverware, in some cases 1 trophyless season would be enough for the owner. Just ask Roman. But it’s not the same at Arsenal. We have the Arsenal way of doing things whatever that is. The gooners have been very patient with the Board and the manager over the years. It’s only in the last couple of seasons that the voice against them has grown stronger.

Those who have known me for some time would know that I used to be one of the staunchest supporters of Wenger. No matter what I believed in him. In Arsène we trust right? Wenger would make things right again. In this post I’ll look back at the trophyless years and try to make sense of it all.

2005-06

The final season at Highbury ended quite memorably with Henry scoring a hattrick against Wigan which combined with Lasagnagate at West Ham for Spurs secured the 4th and final CL spot for Arsenal. We had an amazing CL run, beating the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal and played the only CL final in the club’s history. We came so close to winning it too. Just 14 minutes away from holding onto that 1-0 lead. Henry could’ve made it 2-0 as well but missed an easy chance earlier. It was a sad night in Paris. This season was also quite significant because our long time captain Patrick Vieira left for Juventus and Henry had become the new captain. Vieira came back to Highbury with his new team Juventus and got beat which was a memorable moment for everyone. Young Cesc Fabregas proved his quality that night and throughout that season. Wenger also brought in Hleb, Adebayor, Diaby and a very young Theo Walcott. The season would’ve been a huge disappointment but the CL run and somehow managing that 4th spot made it into a decent one.

2006-07

The first season at the Emirates was a hugely disappointing one. Arsenal finished 4th again, a huge 21 points off the champions Manchester United. In the FA Cup and the CL Arsenal were knocked out pretty quickly. The only good run came in the League Cup where Arsenal lost in the final against Chelsea. The biggest transfer this season was the departure of Ashley Cole to Chelsea. It turned out to be a quite significant transfer since that was the first time a premier league rival managed to get one of our biggest stars with the power of their financial muscle. Reyes also left and it was the end of the road for many of our older stars like Pires, Bergkamp, Lauren and Sol Campbell. The major triumph was managing to keep Henry but he had a poor season as he struggled with injury. Gooners were quite disappointed but there was still optimism.

2007-08

The season started with the devastating news for most gooners that our King, Thierry Henry was leaving for Barcelona. For many of us he was the man, our most favorite player and one of the best in the world. His departure shocked everyone and everyone wondered about the future of the club. Ljunberg also left the club but Wenger brought in Eduardo, Sagna and Fabianski. The squad played really well and led the table for most parts of the season. One afternoon in Birmingham proved fatal when Martin Taylor broke Eduardo’s leg and then Birmingham scored a late equaliser to sneak a draw. This prompted then captain Gallas to throw a tantrum at the other end of the ground. Arsenal never recovered from that and despite leading the table for two-thirds of the season and going into a 5 point lead with 12 games to play, Arsenal ended up finishing 3rd. This season is still quite fresh in my memory. Everyone wanted Wenger to strengthen the side in January to make sure we don’t let the lead at the top slip but he didn’t buy anyone and let Diarra leave. When Eduardo got injured it left us short of options upfront. In the end that season proved to be one of huge regret as we were so close to winning the title. We were just 4 points behind the champions Manchester United. That was the first time I started questioning Wenger. I truly believed his stubbornness of not going out and buying a couple of players in january cost us the title. In the CL we reached the QFs and in the League Cup we reached the SFs. . Even though there was disappointment everyone was full of hope as our young players started to show real quality and there was optimism for the next season. This was the last time Arsenal really looked good enough to win the league.

2008-09

This season was another one of those so close yet so far types. Gooners were again saying the same thing  “If only we had a couple more quality players we would have won the title”. Wenger brought in Nasri and Arshavin but Gilberto, Flamini and Hleb left. We finished 4th and reached the semifinals of the CL and the FA Cup so there was still hope but to be honest this was a season of frustration as we didn’t seem to have a strong enough squad to compete for the title and people were getting frustrated at the lack of trophies.

2009-10

This was the season where Adebayor and Toure were sold to Man City. It was a sign of things to come. Wenger only brought in Vermaelen which frustrated everyone. Arsenal finished 3rd in the league and was out of the title race in february. Didn’t do too well in the other tournaments as well. A season to forget.

2010-11

Arsenal looked to be challengers for the title for a while this season and came closest to ending the trophy drought but somehow managed to lose against Birmingham in the league cup final. The same Birmingham side that went on to get relegated later. Szczesny and Koscielny’s combined howler at the death letting Martins score the winner will haunt the gooners till we win another trophy. In the CL Arsenal beat Barcelone 2-1 at the Emirates in a hugely memorable game but couldn’t complete the job at the Nou Camp. Once again the squad was 2 or 3 players away from being strong enough.

2011-12

This was perhaps the turning point of the current Wenger hatred. Nasri and Fabregas were both allowed to leave and yet Wenger was refusing to buy players. Then Arsenal got hammered 8-2 against Man Utd and he brought in 5 players in 2 days. The team was reliant on Robin van Persie and it was his goals that made the team finish 3rd somehow. Overall it was a hugely disappointing season and the gooners became seriously angry at how things were going. The new majority shareholder Stan Kroenke was viewed as a businessman who just wants the bank balance to be good and didn’t share the fans’ desires of trophies. Wenger out brigade was getting stronger.

2012-13

Selling RVP to Manchester United was a huge slap in the face for the gooners. Every gooner in the world hates Man Utd and to see our captain, our best player playing for them was just too painful. Things have been going from bad to worse. The squad just doesn’t look good enough. Despite playing our full strength side we couldn’t beat Bradford in the league cup. Then Wenger decides to rest players and the team gets knocked out of the FA cup against Blackburn. Bayern Munich came to town and ripped us to shreds 3 days later. Arsenal used to be a side teams would get scared to play against. Now we have become a mid table team. We have not a single world class player. In previous seasons other clubs would look at us and see quite a few players they would want in their side. Last season it was RVP but this season? I doubt there’s even 1 player the likes of Man City and Barcelona are looking at. As I look back it has become quite clear to me that Arsenal have been on the decline since 2008. The team has just not been good enough. Wenger refused to spend many times which cost us winning any trophies. The club has also looked quite weak and has not managed to keep hold of oour biggest stars. How can Tottenham keep Bale despite not having CL football and we can’t keep Cesc, Nasri, Song and RVP. If we had those 4 at the club rather than Gervinho, Ramsey, Giroud and Arteta we would be challenging for the title. At the end of the day the league is the best judge for a squad’s strength and since 2008 we just haven’t come close to winning it.

At the end of the day it is crystal clear that the team needs a change. We need a revolution at the club. When Wenger came in he created a revolution which saw us go on a glorious run for a decade. But it has fizzled out and we need a new one. Who’s it gonna be?  I don’t know. But change is what we want and change is what we need to save our club from turning into Liverpool.

WENGER OUT! 

 

The Genesis of BanglaGooner

I’ve been an Arsenal fan since the start of the 2001/02 season. Like most other premiership fans from the sub-continent, I sort of had to choose a team to be my own. The reason behind choosing Arsenal was definitely the style of play. I watched a few highlights programs of the 2000/01 season and just fell in love with the way Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal played. That was the moment where I, a 15 year old guy from Dhaka, became a gooner.

In my first full season as a gooner I had the privilege of watching the Arsenal win the title at Old Trafford. Being a teenager that time I probably didn’t fully understand the significance of that feat. The thing I really enjoyed was being able to laugh at most of my mates in school who were Man Utd fans. Now as I write this blog entry and look back at the past it really seems so magical. These days we can’t even get close to winning the league and almost always struggle at Old Trafford. Winning the league and that too at The Theater of Dreams seems too good to be true, like a fantasy. That’s how it was from 2001-2006. 2 League titles, 1 of those unbeaten in 2003/04, 3 FA Cups, 2 Community shields and 1 Champions League Final. I watched The Arsenal win 7 trophies in 5 years! When Patrick Vieira scored that winning penalty to beat Man Utd in the FA Cup Final in 2005 who could’ve known that would be the last trophy for Arsenal in 8 years!

The first 5 years of being a gooner was simply brilliant. I remember that unforgettable night at the San Siro where we beat Inter 5-1 in their own backyard. That amazing Invincibles season where we went through the whole season unbeaten and won the title at White Hart Lane to put the icing on the cake. That Bergkamp goal against Newcastle. So many amazing memories!

The funny thing is that those days I used to be unhappy at us just winning the FA Cup or just winning the league. 1 trophy just wasn’t enough. Why can’t we win the Champions League? Why can’t we do the double again? Why can’t we go for the treble? Those were the questions that I used to ask back then. Considering the current state of the Arsenal team those problems seem ridiculous now.

The next 8 years of being a goooner couldn’t be any different for me. I remember in the last season at Highbury, the 2005/06 season, there were talks about how the move to the Emirates stadium would help Arsenal financially. Now we can compete with the likes of Manchester United for transfers. Also Arsenal’s slick passing style would be great in this bigger ground. There was so much optimism. Henry scored a fantastic hattrick against Wigan in the final game at Highbury and secured the 4th and final Champions League spot for us at the expense of our bitter local rivals Tottenham. The future looked so bright. Arsenal made the final of the CL with an injury ravaged squad that season. We had Flamini, Senderos, Touré and Eboue as the makeshift back four for most of that campaign and yet we had the best defence. We were so close to winning that final in Paris as well. Just 13 minutes away from winning that elusive trophy. We were supposed to build on that and strengthen, bring trophies to the Emirates Stadium playing the Arsenal way. Sadly none of that has materialized.

Following Arsenal living in Bangladesh is not an easy task. I have to stay up till 145 AM to watch the midweek or the CL matches and could only go to sleep at 345 or 4 AM. It’s not easy going to work the next day. Most of the time Arsenal don’t get a positive result so it becomes even more difficult. But over the last 13 years I don’t think I’ve missed too many games. At the end of the day Arsenal is my love and no matter how much my love hurts me I just can’t stop loving it and I just can’t stop caring. My mood on the day following an Arsenal match depends on the performance of the Arsenal. I could have a miserable day like today, the day after Bayern or I could have the biggest grin possible like the days after our traditional 5-2 wins against Spurs!

Win Lose or Tie I’ll be an Arsenal fan till I die.

Over the last 13 years of being a gooner I’ve followed some Arsenal blogs, been part of Arsenal forums, wrote weekly match previews for a few of those forums. Sometimes I thought about creating my own blog but for some reason or other I never got to doing that. In recent seasons things have been going from bad to worse. Gooners have been fighting with each other, in the grounds, in the cafés, in the bars and also on the online messageboards/twitter/blogs. After the nightmare against FC Bayern last night, which followed the debacle against Blackburn on saturday, I just felt that it was time to launch this blog. I needed some place to express myself, my views on my beloved team. I hope gooners will find my views interesting and thought provoking and will share their views with me.

Till next time.