When its not going right...

At what point is under-achieving acceptable? Is poor form an excuse?

Point a) Arshavin, for what he is paid should be burying chances like he got against Huddersfield. Flipside Point b) Arshavin, who has admitted is suffering poor form and a lack of confidence showed excellent work-rate and desire and is still giving 100% to try and drag himself back to form.

For me, I'm firmly in point b. The very least I expect is for Arsenal players to compete and fight to win. Arshavin didn't give up for a second and worked hard from the second he stepped on the field. His defensive block surely denied a goal-scoring opportunity and showed his determination to get his diminutive frame in the way.

My colleague suggested that its still not enough. We should still expect more for what we pay him.

I'd love to hear what you guys think, everyone I speak to seems to fall between these two points so it would be great to try and work out what the general blogosphere think.

WG.

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He's off form...but he still got two assists/Team performance

Last night was a good night. It was a good team performance against a resilient Ipswich side that knew if they kept it tight they might sneak it. It took patience, verve and sparks of individual class.

Arshavin is having a dip in form of late and much has been made of it in the media and in the blogosphere. Personallly I've been there when nothing seems to be happening for you and everything you touch on the pitch falls to dust. You just have to play through it, just like any sport and Arshavin is trying so hard, perhaps a bit too hard.

However, last night despite constant anti-Arsenal commentary on the BBC, Andrei managed to pull out two assists last night. Firstly providing a great corner for Koscielny and then excellent work to put through Cesc for the third. In terms of corners, Andrei put in about 4 of that exact same corner into the same area for Koscielny to attack and Fulop was able to get to most of them just before Koscielny but on that occasion he was slow to get off his line and Kos finished well. It was a good corner into a good area that consistently took the goalkeeper off of his line and into a dangerous area.

It was a good team performance though, Wilshire was excellent, Fabregas was commanding and battling, Bendtner looked a bit dangerous out on the wing and we were solid at the back. Though Ipswich offered very little going forward as they tried to defend their lead.

Now its all preperations for Huddersfield, another team performance required and we need to get this result first time. We cannot afford a reply this time. Our upcoming fixture list is congested enough thank you!

For now though, for a brief few minutes - Congratulations Gooners, We're in the Final.

WG

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Turning the lights on at Elland Road

With the visit of Arsenal, Ken Bates was forced into investing an extra 50p in the meter to keep the floodlights on in what was a thrilling game of football.

Nasri tormented, Song battled and our defence was excellent last night. Koscielny and Djourou's job was made easier by Leeds playing tubby Billy Paynter who's as mobile as a bus, but they handled the threat well and neither of them put a foot wrong in 90mins. Both of them are seeing their stock rise at the moment with their consistent, reliable performances.

Nasri's goal was typical of him at late, everything is working for him at the moment, superlatives escape me as I search for originality, perhaps simply everything he touches turns to goals. This in stark contrast to poor Arshavin. I actually feel so sorry for him right now, we've all been there when everything you try just doesnt come off...you have to play through it and get out of the other side but its a killer. He worked so hard last night, he was even trying to win a defensive header, HIM!! ... he's only 3ft tall! (slight exaggeration).

Sagna's goal was exactly what he needed and he should do it more, a few minutes earlier he chose to put the ball across the box and Bendtner failed to get on the end of it when I think he really should have put something on it. It was an excellent, swerving powerful shot that Schmeichel should have saved, but the power beat him.

A point of frustration to me is Nik Bendtner. He's not a right winger, he never will be. He's not got the pace or the tricks in the locker to beat the left back. I know last night with the rotation Wenger didn't feel he had anyone else to put there but I would put Vela out there (he's not gone out on loan yet has he?) because he has pace and tricks to burn. In fairness to Bendtner, it was a frustrating night but he redeemed his performance somewhat with the cross for Van Persie, it was a peach and made Robins job very easy indeed.

Lets hope this is the first of many cups we continue to progress in, we need to thrash Ipswich. I didn't want to preview last nights game because I didn't want to jinx it. I'm glad I didn't. Bring on the Latics at the grove on Saturday, I can't wait!

WG

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Whatever happened to Andrei Arshavin?

Its January and the January blues are kicking in. The transfer window is open and so far the rumours have been blissfully quiet, no outright courting of our players so far and that can only be a good thing...or a sign that we are dealing with the enquiries in a positive manner and therefore the press isn't being used as a crowbar.

Its a worry to me that I see some of our better players under-performing over 90mins. Arshavin hasn't produced a good 90minutes for a long time. Which makes me think about the reasons for it. Is it a) Defenders and teams are wise to his game and are nullifying him (Leeds shut him down very effectively). b) He's frustrated at the league position and the results and no longer wants to play for us. c) He's had his spontanaety trained out of him and as his own words have indicated, he's more of a team player now. Or of course is it d) None of the above or even e) all of the above.

He became our most expensive transfer signing on the back of his style and performances for Russia and Zenit. For me, he's not producing that form for us at the moment.

WG

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Shoot the messenger, stop the press!

I find myself bemused at the constant rattling of people's cages about Wenger not being up for the job. These are the people who called him god 5 years ago.

He has kept us competitive, admittedly without silverware but noone has a god-given right to that. We're not an awful side and we are still in the title race. When did reason forsake many in our society? I'm a passionate fan and I hate losing to anyone, but it happens. Especially this season where its seems the top twelve in the league seem more than capable of beating each other, albeit sometimes in a fortunate manner.

I'm not going to sweep the loss under the rug, its still very much hanging over me, but I'm dealing with it and I see no reason to start shouting at the management. We needed to gamble but the players need to shoulder the burden, they are on the pitch, they need to take the initiative to gamble and get players in the box at any given time.

Direct your constructive criticism at Arshavin for example who was very wasteful, but remember he is hot and cold and we needed him there for a spot of genius, it just didnt happen for him.

WG

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Super Nasri carries Arsenal forward

Nasri was superb last night. He was at the core of everything good that went on the game last night. I felt for Chamakh, it just wasn't his night, everything was a yard too far in front of him or hit to him a bit hard or just caught him unawares. Games like that happen to a striker and hopefully he'll save a few goals for ManYoo next week.

Arshavin looked exhausted again, I wonder if we need to create a fitness regime for him or keep him back a bit in training to stop him from becoming so tired. It can't be good that he struggles to play 90 mins after 4 days rest. He was another player who didn't have a good day at the office, but again I'm hopeful he's saving himself for monday.

Denilson is a quandrary that I'm struggling to see light at the end of the tunnel for. He's a solid player, but he needs games to get match fit. That was never more obvious than last night but when he puts in performances like last night who's going to give him 90mins? I wonder with the dearth of central midfielders that we have now whether he will go in Jan or the Summer. If it was me, I'd try and get him a short term loan somewhere from Jan to the end of the season and see how he does. He's capable of being a good player but he's struggling for form.

Walcott showed the best bits of his game last night, he took players on down the line and attacked the space behind the defenders with pace and verve. He showed his quality with a great placed finish. The question is of course, can he do it regularly. He took advantage of tiring legs from Partizan and tore them apart. I don't deny his quality, but his consistency will be criticised, perhaps unfairly due to injuries and he's still so very young.

In truth I'm pleased we qualified, I'm not bothered that we're going to face a good side, you have to face them sometime to win. If we're good enough we'll do just that.

WG

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The importance of being Samir - Part 2

See part 1 here

Samir Nasri's career has been meteoric. He began playing with Marseille when he was just 9 years old. He rose through the youth ranks and he started playing in Ligue 1 in the 2004/2005 season at the age of 17, where he started 13 games and came on as a substitute in 11 games, scoring one goal.

In the 2005-2006 season he saw European action in the form of the UEFA cup where he played 10 games and then the UEFA Intertoto Cup where he played one game and scored on his debut and only game in the competition.

I have nicked the below career stats from Wikipedia to highlight his career so far.

As of 4 December 2010 ^[19]

Club	Season	League			Cup [20] [21]			Europe			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Marseille	2004-05	24	1	0	1	0	-	0	0	0	25	1	-
	2005-06	30	1	0	5	0	-	11	0	0	46	1	-
	2006-07	38	3	6	7	0	-	4	0	0	49	3	6
	2007-08	30	6	11	4	0	-	8	0	3	42	6	14
Total		122	11	17	17	0	-	23	0	3	162	11	20
Arsenal	2008-09	29	6	2	5	0	3	10	1	0	44	7	5
	2009-10	26	2	5	2	0	1	6	3	0	34	5	6
	2010-11	13	8	1	2	2	0	4	1	2	19	11	3
Total		68	16	8	9	2	4	20	5	2	97	23	14
Career Total		190	27	25	26	2	4	43	5	5	259	34	34

At 23 years old, he's played a considerable amount of football. For the purposes of this article I am not going to look at his international career as the games are infrequent and selection doesn't necessarily reflect form.

I'm sure its relevant that we are seeing the best of Samir now that Gallas is no longer at Arsenal. Bundle that with a settled home life and we are reaping the benefits. Deemed as something of a playboy in his final days at Marseille, it is refreshing to know he is still in a steady relationship with Tatiana Golovin - a french Tennis player who lives with him in Hampstead.

I remember watching him vs Porto where he danced through the defence and scored. I went practically mental at that and spent the next ten mins trying to convince the mrs to watch the replay. I said at the time I wished he would do that more often and its refreshing to see another of my wishes come true.

Samir has taken his best ability, the ability to control the ball at full pace and is applying it against the opposition far more regularly this season. I think this is more to do with his advanced position, starting farther up the pitch, closer to the opposition back line. At pace he's terrifying. You either foul him or let him through.

Long may it continue, because with him in the side, Arshavin, Fabregas and Rosicky have someone to play with, someone to read that stabbed first-time pass into space behind the opposition. Something that Samir is excellent at. Don't be fooled into thinking he is Fabregas-lite, Wenger doesn't want to replace Fabregas with Samir, Samir is something else altogether.

WG

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What now ? Away to the Villains!

We're away at Villa park this weekend in a game where pride needs to be regained after two bad defeats. It seems we're doing a lot of pride chasing this season, disappointingly so considering the quality we have on the pitch.

To my mind its not our football thats the problem, its not the skills or the height of the players thats the problem. Its the team mentality. If Wenger can't scream at them and motivate them then they need a leader on the pitch to do it. For too long we've had players who lead by example. Leading by example doesn't make anyone buck their ideas up..it makes them think they've got a crutch to lean on when they aren't playing up to scratch.

A lot is made of our lack of a leader, but I do believe as Wenger says its a collective responsibility to communicate and support and chastise in a constructive manner. We need our players to find their voices. Bendtner has a big gob but doesn't use it to tell players where he wants the ball, if you can't be arsed to run, ask for it to feet!. Walcott is the fastest thing on two feet at the club but doesn't tell people to put it over the top or run into space screaming for it. He should work those channels all the time and kill the left back that he's playing against. But he doesnt. He drops short, plays little one twos and cuts inside.

We've got a team who play combinations, they play them blindfolded so when it doesn't work it really doesn't work and we lose to silly opponents. The maturity isnt there to be brave enough to tell the other players in the team what you want to get the best out of your game.

So what to do away to the Villains? Arshavin and Theo on the wings, Nasri through the middle with Wilshire and Song supporting. We will counter attack them with pace and try and play through them, hoping Chamakh can continue his form up front.

Hoping... thats not going to win us this league. We need to improve, now.

WG.

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Lift up rug and sweep....furiously.

I've considered it, even written it but I have no intention of publishing my review of this weekends game. I just don't want to talk about it. My post was full of vitriol and not for anyone's eyes but my own. I've since rediscovered my centre and I'm at peace.

Tomorrow then, away to Braga. Clichy, Arshavin and Van Persie all miss the trip to Portugal in a game where we need all 3 points. Clichy has a back injury, Arshavin is knackered and Van Persie is still chasing full fitness. I would suggest however that it might be better for RvP to travel and play 30 mins or a half against Braga unless he is injured?

We're still short of the likes of Almunia, Diaby and the luckless Vermaelen due to their respective injuries so we will probably see a starting eleven similar to what started on Saturday. I hope Vermaelen recovers soon, I feel we're missing that communicator, that leader at the back hugely.

I would like it, I really, really would if Djourou started instead of Koscielny, he's in much better form. I'm restraining myself from saying anything unnecessary here, we all know what happened at the weekend.

I expect a much improved defensive performance tomorrow night. My ideal squad for tomorrow is below, tell me what you think

Fabianski
Sagna	Squillaci Djourou			Gibbs
	Wilshire Song
Nasri		Fabregas		Rosicky
		Chamakh

So, ignoring the results at the weekend lets all get behind our boys and support them. We can win tomorrow night and continue our march out of the group stage.

WG

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A good dose of Geordie Charm

..only it was Arsenal that were doing the charming.

On paper 4:0 is a bit of a drubbing, in reality on the pitch Newcastle were outclassed.

Pre-match players like Peter Lovenkrands were saying that Arsenal are Barca-lite and they knew exactly what to expect and had a game plan to stop us. I don't think Newcastle really thought Wenger was being serious when he said that we were really going to go for the Carling Cup.

What we saw last night was both Walcott and Bendtner returning from Injury in their first proper run out and they showed what we've been missing at times. Bendtner's finishing yesterday was vicious. Theo demonstrated that his composure in the final third is markedly improved and I'm really pleased for the both of them. Where it leaves them in Wengers mind is anyone's guess. Can I see Wenger dropping Chamakh? No, he's been extremely effective and productive for the team. Will Bendtner return to the wing role he started last season? If so what for Walcott? Walcott will never be the target man in a 4-2-3-1 formation, he's too little and easily knocked off the ball.

Can Walcott push out Arshavin from the starting line up? I expect to see a lot more rotation from Wenger as he tries to keep key players fit for the season. Fabregas, Arshavin and Nasri will be wrapped up in cotton wool to ensure they're there at the business end of the season.

Is it crazy to say we've got too many players now?

Where's RVP going to fit in? Rosicky was awesome last night and I think should start at the weekend, but who'll drop out from the Citeh game for him?

Its crazy and I love it. We've got a stunning squad now. This isn't hyperbole, the proof is in the pudding. Last nights result was a good one and proved we have a strong squad.

A few words about Sczcesny last night. 1) He is fricking huge isn't he?! Last time I saw him was playing for Brentford on loan and he looks like he's grown a few inches since then?! Maybe it was just the performance. 2) He's brave, he dived at the feet of the Geordies and didn't flinch when pouncing on the loose ball when he could have got booted in the head. He can do the glory photo saves just as well as the "put your body where it hurts" saves. 3) Not afraid to shout at his defence, when marshalling his defence he was not afraid to open his gob and shout at the players. You can't be a good goalkeeper if you are quiet.

It was a good game for him and I hope he gets another chance in the next round. We should tie him to a chair and drip water on his head until he signs a new contract. In a year or two's time he should be really ripping down the door.

Did anyone else think he looks a bit like Frankenstein's monster? It was a discussion I had last season with a Bees fan.

WG

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Nasri's in great form - worth a punt

Samir Nasri has been instrumental in our performances this season. He really is exactly what this Arsenal version is all about, pace, movement and releasing the ball early to Chamakh and then running on for the return. Well worth a punt if you are a betting man, Nasri to score, I'd probably have a go at Arshavin scoring too!

Its worth mentioning the success Chamakh has been as a target man. He really is what Wenger was looking for. Balls into him are rarely wasted and his distribution is exceptionally good. The ball sticks to him and when we play 4-2-3-1 we need our target man to be able to release the likes of Nasri, Arshavin, Fabregas, Wilshire and Rosicky from midfield to go forwards and create havoc which Chamakh does extremely well. Hence his great relationship with Gourcuff at Bordeaux.

With his head Chamakh is pretty good, his movement off the ball is very good. He works the opposition defence and if his finishing was a bit better he would be topping our scoring charts. Naturally some of this will improve as he learns more about the Arsenal way and is better at anticipating the balls played into him. Lets face it, where else do players muck about with the ball on the edge of the opposition area instead of having a shot. We're always looking for that cheeky through ball that makes the defence look daft.

Great team news for today, Bendtner is back and apparently in the best shape since October 2009, which can't be bad. Theo is back too so a trip on the bench for him I reckon, bring him on in the second half against tired legs. Some bad news about Koscielny - he's injured his back and is unavailable for selection. Fortunately however, Djourou has declared himself fit so at least we have two centre backs available in him and the excellent Squillaci.

I hope Wenger retains faith in Fabianski, Wookie needs games and to be honest even if he makes a howler it wont be any worse that the spanish waiter does with alarming regularity.

All said and done, I'm really confident, bring it on Brum, I'm not afraid!

WG