Newcastle V Arsenal; The Preview..

Good morning all, 

Although we have a good record at Newcastle, I have a feeling that today's game will be a very difficult one for us. We have won our last 5 league games, which I said in the preview to the West Ham game, is the first time we have done so that this season. I also said last week that it would be a pivotal weekend due to our opponents having difficult fixtures; but this week will be even more important. Liverpool host United on Sunday, so a win here will be vital in piling on the pressure for both teams before there match. It seems I will be saying that this week is pivotal between now and the rest of the season. I like this quote from Arsene Wenger;

"In the disappointment, it’s important that we don't forget we won the game on Tuesday night."

That is exactly what we must remember; we put in a very good performance and although it was not enough to put us into the quarters, let's hope we can maintain that momentum, and even look to replicate it again today.

As I said on Thursday, there is no big news when it comes to the team news, with the only player likely to return being Tomas Rosicky, whereas we have no new injuries from last Tuesday. Wenger did say, however, that we have a few bumps and bruises and he will have to look at that, but in general the news is positive. Here's the team I would go with;

                             Ospina

Bellerin  Mertesacker  Koscielny Monreal

                    Coquelin  Ramsey
                             Cazorla

     Welbeck                                Ozil

                            Giroud

I would also possibly look to bring in Rosicly if he is fit, but It would be hard to drop either one of Ozil or Cazorla. Fatigue, may make that decision easier for the manager, but Cazorla didn't start last week against West Ham and he always looks to play Ozil when he can. He is on good form as well at the moment, so I would keep him in. I think the defence speaks for itself, maybe there is an argument to bring Gabriel back in, but I think Per should keep his place. Ramsey should definitely come back in as he has looked like the player from last season that we all wanted to see, with 2 goals too boot in the last 2 games. The big decision is Sanchez dropping to the bench, but he has looked tired in recent games and should sit this one out, especially since he will almost definitely start for Chile against Brazil next week (albeit at The Emirates, thankfully). Although the manager has admitted that he needs a rest, he also said that he can't really afford to, here's what he said, from Arsenal.com;

“He’s a bit fatigued. “Also, because he is in a position where he has scored less, he wants to force his game and then he is more included in physical battles. 

“Maybe goalscoring is on his mind so he wants to do too much and he wants to force his game. 

“I’m tempted to rest him at some stage, I have been for a long time. It’s not that he won’t let me, I will decide that!

“It’s just that every game now is so important, you always have a hesitation to do it.”

It's great that Sanchez, unlike a lot of players, wants to play every game but there comes a time when, he will have to be rested, especially with Liverpool coming up straight after the international break. It would be terrible if he got injured; so let's do the most we can to prevent that.  I think we can win today without him; Newcastle aren't doing so well at the moment.

In the last 16 games we have only lost 3 games, while in stark contrast, the bar codes have only won 3 in the same amount of games. We have also beat them 6 games in a row, the culmination of which was that delicious 4-1 win back in December. It is also worth pointing out that Newcastle will only have 13 outfield players available for the game according to John Carver. The list of absentees also include Papiss Cisse and captain Fabricio Coloccini,who both miss out through suspension. Looking at this only makes it more likely for Newcastle to beat Arsenal now, doesn't it?

Let's hope we can keep up the momentum of the last few weeks, and when we look at the last time we won a second leg tie 0-2 after a 1-3 home reverse, against Bayern Munich, we remained unbeaten for the rest of the season; that sounds like a good omen to me.

Right that's it, lets hope for the victory that we need today, I'm going for a 0-2 win. Let me know your predictions for the game in the comments and what team you would play.

I'll have a review tomorrow so come back for that.

Have a good one.

Subjectively,Cosmic Kid.

Paul Scholes; Now Talking Nonsense For A Living..

Hello again and after the manager decided to have his press conference yesterday there isn't really much news to write about. I have come across, however, more nonsense from yours truly, Paul Scholes yet again. He seems almost as obsessed about Arsenal as Mourinho. I have yet to hear any insightful analysis from Scholes. I may not particularly like Gary Neville and certainly not Jamie Carragher, but at least they can offer some form of analysis rather than just constantly give out and criticize (alright I admit, it's stretching it a bit with Carragher). There is a lot more to offering football analysis than this constant moral high ground crap the Scholes seems to be sprouting at every opportunity. 

As I said in the Monaco: immediate reaction post, just because someone was a great footballer, and he was, it doesn't necessarily qualify them as a great, or even partially good football analyst or writer. Just like, for example, it doesn't necessarily mean they would be good managers either.

Here's what he said in his piece in The Independant;

"In Monaco, Arsenal showed what they can do when the shackles were off and they had to attack."It was a brilliant performance against a very average team, even if they did not get the third goal they needed. Typical Arsenal, that when the pressure is off, they played their best football."

He may well have a point in terms of Arsenal performing when the pressure is off, but didn't they beat United at Old Trafford when the pressure was really on? As an Arsenal fan, which Paul Scholes certainly is not, I think that game was our most important so far this season, and I said as much. The United game, at Old Trafford, where we hadn't won in 8 and a half years previously carried so much weight in terms of how our season would progress; in the minds of many we were already out of Europe, we are not in the title picture, so the F.a. cup was our last chance of winning a trophy. Where was the article from Scholes saying that we stood up to the pressure then? Where was the article saying that united couldn't handle the pressure? There was no article saying that. In fact he wrote an article saying he was impressed by Arsenal's midfield. That was it. Nothing substantial on how poor united were.

Isn't the point in having a former player, one as great as Paul Scholes, to offer some form of insightful, intelligent analysis into what happened in the game, and not to just merely state what every other football writer has said, especially from those who haven't played top level football.  It's not as if this would come as a shock to anyone but yet again, he has taken another swipe at Mesut Ozil;

"It was another game from Özil, and another failure to make the big difference. It was not his worst performance, and he had a role in the first goal for Olivier Giroud, but how long must Arsenal wait for him to deliver the moment that wins them a tie like that against all the odds? He found space but his touch was not great. He tried hard but he slows Arsenal down at times. He was bought to make a difference on nights like that".

I just cannot understand how Paul Scholes fails to see the class of Mesut Ozil. What is it with this Irish and Brittish way of thinking that what you do on the pitch has to be something immeasurable and everyone must be able to qualify it into a nice little highlight reel, without actually looking 10 yards away from the ball in a match? Why is it that people cannot accept that off the ball movement is just as important as what a player does when they have the ball? Is Paul Scholes able to see that which is not obvious?

I am getting tired of defending Ozil and so are most people who have to also, if I can see the qualities of Ozil, if a lot of Arsenal fans can see his qualities, if his teammates can see his qualities, if his manager can, then why can't Paul Scholes? Remember he was one of Germany's best players in the World Cup and had a great game in the final too, is it just that he has a World Cup medal that Scholes can't handle?

Here's what he also said about the shirt swapping at half time, for the record;

"As for the shirt-swapping at half-time, as I said on ITV, I don’t like it. We never did it at Manchester United because there would have been an explosion from Sir Alex Ferguson when he saw you come back into the dressing room. But even if that had not been the case, I would never have done it. I was there to win a football match, not to start a memorabilia collection".

Why does he discuss the shirt swapping? How does that have anything to do with the match itself? Why doesn't he write about the details of the match and use his knowledge from his playing days as to how the game unfolded, rather than on the most pointless detail of the whole night? This is also another fine example of that moral superiority nonsense; the 'we would never have done it at Man United because of Sir Alex Ferguson', part. Does that supposedly make him better? Is that a dig at Arsene Wenger? Perhaps if he did explode on Mesut Ozil we wouldn't have lost the tie, is that the point he is making? Besides, what does swapping your shirt have to do with winning a football match? Players are there to win a game, he is right about that, but they aren't there to go to war. They can talk to each other when the whistle has gone, it's not as if they are stopping the game to do it. Anyway, it was the Monaco player who wanted Ozils shirt, maybe Scholes just never done it because he was never asked at half time? Who knows.

Remember Scholes gets paid to talk on television and write these articles, isn't it fair to say that he is living off past glories, like some people say about Wenger? I watch football analysis on television to be told something I didn't pick up on myself from the game, because I have never played at the top level and I don't have any writing qualifications, as I said in my very first blog post, but Paul Scholes just doesn't do that.

Anyhow, that's enough of this nonsense, I will be back later on today or tomorrow with a preview for the Newcastle game. Follow me on twitter @Cosmic__Kid.

EDIT: I wrote another guest piece for the All Arsenal News site, 'Why I think Arsenal are a better team this season', so have a look at that and let me know what you think.

Have a good day.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

F.A. Cup Semi-Final Date/ Champions League Seeding..

It has just been announced that our F.a cup semi-final with Reading will take place on Saturday the 18th of April at 5.20 p.m. This will also mean that our Premier League game against Sunderland at The Emirates has been re-scheduled for a midweek date on Wednesday the 20th of May, at the usual 7:45 p.m kick off time for midweek fixtures.

In other news, according to Sport Witness, our win against Monaco on Tuesday night will have a bearing on our seeding for any European competition next season. What I don't understand is, why there is no mention in the article about the seeding changes from next season, whereby the league winners and holders will be in the top seed. Therefore, the article doesn't really make much sense, but the reason I wanted to highlight this is the fact that this really shows our poor European performance over the last few seasons, and even if the seeding system was not changing , then we would not be a top seed anyway. Here's the crooks of the article;

The 0-2 victory puts us back in 8th position ahead of Porto, who temporarily moved ahead of us us to their victory last week. It is important that we remain in 8th position as this puts us among the top seeded teams, and theoretically have an easier path into the latter stages of the competition, but as we have seen the last few seasons, that doesn't seem to be the case with Arsenal.

Porto may well over take Arsenal, however as they have progressed into the quarter finals of the competition. If they were to overtake us then our best hope would be that one of the teams placed ahead of us in the seeding would not qualify for next seasons competition through their domestic league (providing, of course, that we qualify ourselves). Looking at the other teams in their Leagues only Shalke are the only team in danger of failing to qualify as they remain in 5th position, but only 3 points off Bayer Leverkusen in 4th.

It seems pointless to me to worry about who will or will not qualify and what seed we will be in the competition, firstly we have to qualify and secondly, we should be aiming to match the bigger clubs in Europe, and if we want to do well in this competition we will have to play the at some point anyway. Besides, who knows we could even make it easier on ourselves by knocking one of the bigger teams out at the group stage. I mean, what do we really have to lose when it comes to Europe anyway? Not being the best losers in Europe? I can handle that.


What do you think, should we care about our European seeding? Is the new seeding system good for the competition, and more importantly will it really impact on us? Let me know in the comments.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Pre- Newcastle; Press Conference..

Hello again as I said in the team news post, I'd have a look at the press conference from this morning, so here's a look at the main headlines, as per Arsenal.com;

On players surrounding referees... 

"Greg Dyke has my complete support. We all have to respect the referees and make their job as easy as possible. It’s difficult enough today for referees to master the situation because they are criticised a lot as well. I include myself in that as well, we have some improvements to make there". 

On reminding players of their responsibilities... 

"Yes, but I don’t think we are doing that too much". 

On strengthening the squad... 

"We are not in a transfer period. We just have to continue to focus. Ninety five per cent of the players will still be here next season, and what is important is the attitude of these 95 per cent of the players - and how much we improve and how much we can push on now until the end of the season. We are in the semi-final of the FA Cup, we are in a strong fight in the Premier League. It’s important to focus on these targets and that we do that straight away on Saturday". 

On having a good record at Newcastle… 

"We have good memories at Newcastle but they are always very tight, very difficult games. They are in a position where they are not under threat to go down. They always have a very motivated crowd and they always play well against us, which makes it a tight game" 

.
On Newcastle appointing an interim manager... 

"John Carver is a permanent manager. The length of our permanence today is very difficult to define. The average life expectancy of a manager in England is 12 months, so it is very difficult to predict how long any of us will be in charge. He has the qualities to do the job".

So the usual praising of the opposition team and manager nonsense, but it's good to hear him come out against players surrounding referee's because it really is becoming a joke. I can understand players wanting to say something to the referee and being annoyed by a decision but when the whole team runs over, like Chelsea and Hull in the last week, for example, it makes a referee's job almost impossible. Horrible behaviour.

Isn't it ridiculous being asked a question about the transfer market? What qualifies these people as journalists?

Wenger also had his say on the away goals rule, echoing what I said in this post here, in terms of possibly only counting away goals at the end of extra time;

“Two teams have gone out on away goals, which I think should be questioned because it’s a rule that is outdated now and has to be changed. I've fought for that for a long time.“I think maybe you can count away goals after extra-time like in the League Cup in England. “It should count maybe after extra time because this current rule was created in the sixties to encourage teams to attack away from home. Since then football has changed. The weight of the away goal is too big today.

The manager didn't believe, however, that with no English teams progressing to the quarter finals that it  pointed to a crisis in the English game;

“I don’t think that you can draw a general conclusion. “In a direct knockout, it’s important that you’re very efficient and a bit lucky as well.
“None of the teams, apart from Barcelona, look to be superior in Europe today. Two other teams, Chelsea and Arsenal, could have gone through. I don’t think there’s a lot wrong, we now just have to focus on our next targets.
“We are a better team today than four months ago. There is a fantastic spirit in the team, there is great quality as well, and we need to rectify what we haven’t done well in the first leg against Monaco and continue to improve.
“We have won 13 of our last 15 games and that's down to consistency, quality and improvement.”

I would tend to agree as it really was down to the fine margins and a ridiculously out dated away goals rule that  saw two English teams go out. At least with Chelsea they blew their own chance for not taking advantage of having an extra man for so long and only seemed to make them more defensive.

Wenger was also asked about the title race;

“At the moment we are too far away from Chelsea.“But we have an opportunity every week to get closer and for that we need positive results from us, and negative results from Chelsea. “The only thing we can master is positive results from us. I believe Chelsea still has a very good cushion and very good security. They still have a game in hand so I believe they are too far apart at the moment. “It is very tight. We are on the neck of Manchester City but straight behind us we have Manchester United and Liverpool. Even Tottenham and Southampton are not completely out of it.
“It is down to our performances until the end of the season. I do not say second is good. I just think how can we win our next game at Newcastle, after giving it all on Tuesday night.”

It's hard to disagree again as we really are too far behind to even speculate on the title race, have a look at my views on the title race here. Let's just hope we can keep winning and make sure we secure our top 3 spot first ad foremost, before looking at what's ahead of us. Yes, I know we should be challenging for the title, but in the position we are now, there's no point crying over spilled milk.

 The manager also highlighted one of the key concerns this weekend, in terms of the team recovering from Tuesday night. I have no doubt that it would have taken a lot, both mentally and physically out of the team and that will be one of the key factors that determine the result Saturday; how we recover.

Right, that's your lot for now, keep an eye out for more. Let me know your early thoughts on the Newcastle game in the comments.

Follow me on twitter @Cosmic__Kid.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Pre- Newcastle; Team news..

Good morning to you all, Arsene Wenger has met the press this morning to give all the latest on the team news in the build up to the trip to St. James' park this Saturday. Here's the latest, as quoted on Arsenal.com;

On the team news in general…

"We have no new big injuries, we have some knocks, but nothing major. Mathieu Debuchy is two or three weeks away, Arteta and Wilshere as well. Arteta will maybe come back after the international break. Tomas Rosicky is hopefully available again for the weekend". 

On Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy… 

"They are still two or three weeks away".

On concerns about fatigue...

"West Ham was a very physical game. In the second half of the Monaco game we played some of our players offensively. We paid a little bit for it. It is a concern. We have to see how everyone recovers".

It is no surprise to hear that we have a few knocks and bumps, so let's just hope they aren't serious enough to keep anyone out of the squad. I was also hoping to hear that Rosicky is fit and ready to go as he would have added more impetus Tuesday night, so it's  a bit disappointing to hear that he hopes he will be available; if he is, he should ad probably will start. Wenger seemed more cagey than usual. let's hope that he isn't hiding anything too serious to any of the players, forget that he said there are no new big concerns; it's never too good when the manager is cagey.

Right i'll have a post up in a while on the press conference in full, so come back for that.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Monaco v Arsenal: Player Ratings..

So we're out of the Champions League again after losing on away goals, in a rather predictable fashion. As I said in the immediate reaction post, all the criticism the team gets should only be for the first leg calamity. Yes, I know we are all sick of saying 'it was a good performance in the 2nd leg' and what have you, but the fact is that it was a very good away performance, but we just gave ourselves too much to do. The team gave everything to get the result they needed, and were unlucky in the end. We had our chances but couldn't take them, so we are out. Now we have to bring our focus back to Newcastle in the Premier League run in. Here's how I rated the players from last night's game;

Starting Lineup:

Ospina-7- Had literally nothing to do in the game, can't really add anything more.

Bellerin-7- Another good run out for the young right back. He was was targeted a bit with long balls as that really isn't his strong suit. He defended reasonably well, and his speed in behind was always a threat.

Mertesacker-7- Once again Per was solid and has responded excellently to the criticism he received from the first leg. He completed an excellent 97% of his passes.

Koscielny-8.5-MOTM--One of our best players on the night, which is unusual to say about a central defender when Monaco offered nothing by the way of attacking intent at all. He really is getting back to his best. 

Monreal-7.5- Again he was excellent. Defended well on the rare occasion he was asked to and got in some great attacking positions, for some reason the Arsenal players had soemething against using the left hand side all night. Great ball across the box for Ramsey's goal. 

Coquelin-7- I thought he was having another solid game, but was seacrificed for the more attacking Ramsey.

Cazorla-7.75- He had a good solid game, and was involved a lot. According to Opta, he made a huge 121 passes, which is a record for an Arsenal player in one Champions League game since Opta record that data in 2003/04. i would have gave him an 8, but he was sometimes a little slow on the ball for my liking, but hey, what do I know?

Sanchez-6- Nothing came off for him last night. His worst game in an Arsenal shirt and needs a rest in my opinion. Was booking for diving.

Ozil-7.5- I thought he had another good game last night. The criticism of him is beyond ridiculous, it makes me wonder what kind of people thought he was before we signed him. Let's hope he keeps his form up.

Welbeck-6.75-  He was involved quite a bit last night and In fairness he looked dangerous, but he just kept over running the ball and his first touch was off. He seems to have gone a bit backwards since the start of the season. I know this rating will divide opinion as I saw a lot of people thought he had a very good game.

Giroud-7.5- He looked very good again tonight although he did seem to be involved more in the first half. His finish for the first goal was excellent, but got in the way of Sanchez adding that third. Been great since his return from injury and the over reaction nonsense after the first leg.

Subs:

Ramsey-7.25- He made a big impact when he cam on and scored a very good goal. I'm still not sure why he didn't start last night (I would have started him for Welbeck, if you're wondering).

Walcott-5.75- I thought he was easily the worst player on the pitch. Even when Sanchez has a bad game, he offers a lot more. I can't (and do not want to) see Walcott getting back into the team for a sustained period. He Offered nothing when he came on, unless you stretch it and say he set Ramsey up through hitting the post?

Gibbs-6.5- Came on to add some extra pace and fresh legs on the Left Hand side but had no real impact. At one point he seemed to pass the ball to Ramsey, inside the box surrounded by Monaco players. In fairness he wasn't on for too long, but I would keep Monreal in the team.

Right that's your lot for now, keep an eye out for more. Let me know what you think in the comments, was I too harsh on Welbeck and Walcott? Was I too generous to Koscielny?

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Monaco: Immediate reaction

First of all, apologies for not getting around to the full preview I wanted to do today, but it was St. Patrick's day and all..

Deflated. I think that is the best word I can come up with to describe this all so familiar, but even more depressing of feelings this time around. It really is more disappointing to lose this tie. Monaco are a very average team and I cannot remember us being so dominant in Europe. According to Opta, we had 70.75 % possession which was our most dominant Champions League display since November 2010 against Braga. That doesn't really surprise me and it's why I think that the away goals rule is absolutely ridiculous. It was brought in to make away teams less defensive and hope that they attack more, but that just doesn't work in the modern game. The only team that went out to attack in both legs was punished tonight. Why not go to extra time and if the game ends level still, then bring the away goals into play? No i'm not making excuses for our shambolic, kamikaze defending in the first leg, as that is what really cost us this tie. We all felt it at the time, and unfortunately we were right; the 3rd goal was the killer.

This was a very strange game I thought, as we were completely dominant and, to me, It seemed like Monaco were not even bothered with counter attacking. All they wanted to do was not concede three goals so congratulations to them for achieving that I guess. Losing this tie was completely down to ourselves, however. The first leg was a catalogue of errors, and spoke more of our tendency to combust at the worst moments, rather than our opponents quality and that's what separates this year's loss in comparison with the others. I genuinely believe that we would have won that first match 9 times out of 10. 

The players put in a great shift tonight, but I just don't understand why they can't start from the first leg. How can they do that to themselves again?  It can happen in football that you lose matches you shouldn't; but because we lost this tie after 4 previous failures at this stage it just makes it so frustrating. This isn't a new feeling, but it is the worst of those feelings. I really don't want to be too harsh on the players, but as I said in yesterday's post; there is no glorious failure this time around, just failure and it's ridiculous to have to say that after winning an away European match 0-2. It's just the most Arsenal thing.

Here's what Ramsey had to say after the match, as quoted on Arsenal.com;

"We’ve always played teams like Bayern Munich and Barcelona, “No disrespect to Monaco, but I thought we’d have a really good chance of qualifying. We were given a tough test from the first game.
“It’s not an easy place to come and their record has shown that. We've been full of confidence recently and we knew we could come here and give it a real go to maybe qualify, but we came a bit short in the end.
“We’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t qualify. We won 2-0 and gave them a good go. On another night we may have got three or four but it wasn’t to be.
“We have to learn to keep ourselves in the game in the first leg. That’s what we’ve been punished for again this year. We need to be a lot more wise in the first game then go to places like this and win. That’s the main thing that we need to put right as quickly as possible.”

I thought Ramsey was very good tonight, made a real impact on the game when he came on and got a good goal as well. I think it was a mistake not starting him tonight, I know, the benefit of hindsight and all that, but I'm sure you thought that too, when you saw the team. I hope he is able to maintain this form for the rest of the season. I know it's just been two games, but this is the Ramsey I want to see. He will be really important for the run in.

I can't understand the criticism of Ozil again tonight; I can't tell whether it's more boring or ridiculous at this stage (Paul Scholes analysis is a joke. Just because someone was a great footballer, it doesn't mean that they have the intelligence to talk about other footballers on television). Sanchez had his worst game in an Arsenal shirt, but he still gave his all so I can accept that; he can't be our best player in every game, all season, but I do think he could do with a rest, to be honest. His booking for a dive was a very bad call by the referee.

I will have a better look at the game tomorrow, as I think it would be pointless to do it now. All the criticism the team gets is due to the first leg and it really is something we have to improve upon. We gave it a good go and in the end it wasn't enough.

We are the glorious failure's and the one more goal team; we are Europe's best losers.

We have to bounce back against Newcastle this weekend and move our focus onto achieving second place and retaining our F.a cup. This can still be a very good season.


That's it for now, player ratings and such tomorrow;
The luck of the Irish just wasn't with us tonight.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Monaco: Can We Do It?

So it's the evening before our second leg tie against Monaco, in which we trail 1-3 from the first leg at the Emirates. Isn't that the most Arsenal thing ever? We should be out of the competition but it feels as though we could still go through. A lot of people, including myself, felt that after the game we were out and that was it, but all of a sudden with the injection of confidence from beating United and sailing through on that wave crest to comfortably dispatch West Ham, optimism is building. We are of course up against history in that no team, in it's current format has ever gone through needing more than one away goal, but what was that I was saying about stats in this morning's post? Oh yea they don't really matter; what really matters is winning 3-0, not whether it has happened before, remember everything has to be done for the first time. So, why not this? 

I think we can do it, although they beat us 1-3 in the first game I still felt that they weren't really that special, no disrespect to Monaco. We had a really poor night. The players looked nervous, we couldn't string more than 5 passes of the ball together and Giroud couldn't score we just couldn't score. Mertesacker had a horrible game, our attackers were anonymous, the stadium seemed flat; basically everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. In fairness, Monaco did counter very well; but it's easy to do that against a team who couldn't score no matter how many chances they had and also had their slowest defender pushing up as a midfielder. Any team in the world could have bet us that night.

I just hope tomorrow that we go through, because I have had enough of this heroic losing nonsense; there is no heroic loss against Monaco. If we go out and beat them 0-2, so what? It's not like we beat the team that's going to go on and win the tournament, again no offence intended. The loss against Monaco hit me harder than even the 0-6 thrashing away to Chelsea last season; it was a horrible night and it seems to have equally hurt the rest of the fan base. No, I didn't expect to beat Monaco easily at all, there defensive record speaks for itself, but I did expect it to be a close two legged affair, with maybe one goal in the difference, I certainly didn't expect either team to be virtually out of the competition after the first leg.

I had high hopes for this seasons European campaign, not necessarily that they would win it, but that we would put in a good showing. I can accept losing to a better team, but I just don't accept what happened three weeks ago, it wasn't good enough. It's time for the players to stand up now and give the fans the result they deserve.

Our away fans have been excellent again this season, (the fact that Spurs couldn't sell there allocation on a Sunday afternoon and we managed to bring 9,000 on a Monday night to Old Trafford, speaks volumes), and they will all be out there again tomorrow night hoping we go through. The way I see it, we are out of the competition and we need to score at least 3 goals to qualify. I think that's the way the players should look at it. 

I really think that there is a good chance we could beat Monaco 3-0, think about it; forget the first leg ever happened, if we were playing them tomorrow in that first leg and won 3-0, would many people be that surprised? No I don't think so. Let's just go out there and get the result that I think we're more than capable of getting. After all, wouldn't that also be the most Arsenal thing ever?

Right that's it for today, I will be back tomorrow with a more conventional preview, so come back for that. Let me know what you think in the comments, i'm intrigued to hear people's opinion on the game tomorrow.

Follow me on twitter @Cosmic__Kid 

Have a good night,

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Mourinho: Arsenal are title contenders

Good Morning to you all,

Yes I know anything that man says has to be taken with not just a pinch of salt but a bucket of salt, or something like that. However after Chelsea drew at home to the Saints yesterday we are now just 7 points behind them, albeit crucially, they have a game in hand. However, we still have to play them at the Emirates, and if we were to beat them, I'm sure there would be more than a few nervous Chelsea supporters. 

I know Wenger has never beaten Mourinho, but as I said in the build up to the United game; stats like that really don't mean anything. They get blown out of proportion and people twist them to say what they want to say. I like to use stats, but only as a guide. Anyway why does it matter that Wenger has never beaten him? It's not like they managed teams against each other in the French or Portugese League's, and played every season, they have only been in the opposite dugout for Arsenal v Chelsea games. Why does this matter I hear you mutter? Well for the simple reason that Chelsea have had better teams than we have, well beside's the first season, perhaps, (2004/2005), which were two draws. Also we have a bad record against Chelsea anyway, ever since Ambramovich pulled up. 

Anyway the point I wanted to make faster before waffling on was that it doesn't matter that a team with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry didn't beat Mourinho's Chelsea or a team with Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie didn't beat Mourinho's Chelsea; all that matters is that this team beat Mourinho's Chelsea. They are capable of doing that and previous results should not matter. Don't believe all the nonsense that is reported when the game comes around; it's not about the manager's. 

Anyway let's have a look at both teams remaining fixtures;

Arsenal:                                                                                           Chelsea:

Newcastle (A)                                                                                   Hull  (A)                                                          

Liverpool  (H)                                                                                    Stoke  (H)

Burnley  (A)                                                                                      QPR  (A)

Sunderland  (H)                                                                                Man United  (H)

Chelsea  (H)                                                                                      Arsenal  (A)

Hull  (A)                                                                                            Leicester  (A)

Swansea  (H)                                                                                   Crystal Palace  (H)

Man United  (A)                                                                                Liverpool  (H)

West Brom  (H)                                                                                West Brom  (A)
           

                                                                                                          Sunderland  (H)
                                                             

First of all it's important to note that the matches, although lined up at the same time, will not all be played the same weekend due to Chelsea's game in hand and our participation in the F.a cup semi- final. Chelsea are not in the cup semi-final because they lost 4-2 at home to Bradford (HA HA).

For the record here's what Mourinho said, as quoted in The Daily Mail;

"Of course Arsenal are in it,"They are seven points behind Chelsea, but have one less match to play than Chelsea."Both City and Arsenal are in the title race. It depends on the momentum for Arsenal - the 3-1 defeat against Monaco or the 3-0 defeat against West Ham? 

"So the danger is always there. But I keep saying, we are there. If someone had told me in August that, at the end of March, we'd be six points in front with a match in hand, I'd have signed for that immediately".

Personally I think we have no chance of winning the title, there is far too few games with far too big a points gap to catch up. Also we would have to win every game left and hope that City also drop points; there's too many variables we need to go right. Still it is a sign of clear progress in the team that this is even talked about, who would have thought anyone would be saying this a couple of months ago? I think we have a far better chance of going through against Monaco.

 However, it might get interesting if they drop more points and we beat them at the Emirates...

Right that's it for now, keep an eye out for more. I'll leave all the speculation to you lot. Let me know what you think in the comments. Is the title race back on? Do we have a chance at all? 

Follow me on twitter @Cosmic__Kid.
Have a good one.

Subjectively, Comic Kid.

Arsenal v West Ham; Player Ratings

Hello again, I must say I really enjoyed the game yesterday, we played some good football, and thoroughly enjoyed the win, anyway if you want more on that then go and see my review here.   Right I don't have much time so let's get down to the whole ratings business, where a non- professional footballer, with no writing experience gets to judge players, and rate them on their performance, its a lovely world we live in isn't it? Hey you're the one reading it!

Starting Lineup:

Ospina-7- He didn't have much to do, made one or two run of the mill saves but overall a quiet day for him and while many people criticize him for his short kicking, I would much rather that to Szczesny's kicking where he seems to put us under pressure every time he kicks it out. 

Chambers-6.75- It felt a bit harsh giving him a '6.5', but i don't think he quite deserves a higher score. He was good going forward and put in a couple of good crosses, but players ran in behind him too often. I still think he's better in the centre.

Mertesacker-7- Again I think Per had a good game and kept things calm at the back, also not afraid to boot the ball up field when everyone else is intent on playing tennis football, I like that. Good on you, Big Per. Of course he is always going to get caught on pace in games but it still surprises me how good his reading of the game is, and along with Koscielny sweeping up, it was never a big problem.

Koscielny-8- Another great game at the back, looks to be at his best and hopefully over the Achilles injury. Nothing really more to add.

Monreal-7.5- Another solid game and at this rate I can't see Gibbs getting back into the team, (then again, I think Gibbs will start Tuesday). We were never really troubled on his side today as i'm sure West Ham, in direction from the revolutionary Sam Allardyce, targeted Chambers more so.

Coquelin-7.5- I thought he was very good again, and made some great tackles. Although he didn't keep the ball too well at times. Can't have your cake and eat it I suppose.

Ramsey-8- Ramsey looked like he was caught in a time trap and must have thought he was playing in a game from last season, because that's how it looked to me. He had a great all round game, some lovely inter-play with Ozil and Giroud, and scored a great goal. He even put in a defensive shift too, can't ask for much more than that.

Walcott-5.5- Not his best game for Arsenal, as nothing really went right for him. His movement was good but I think if anything he just got in the way of some of the other players rather than help the team. He will need to improve if he wants to get into the team on a regular basis.

Ozil-7- I think he had another good game with some great inter-play with Giroud and Ramsey as I mentioned in the match review. He frustrated me a little, however, as he had multiple opportunities to shoot but chose to pass more often than not. He also had a 5 minute spell where nothing went right for him, but all in all, another solid game.

Sanchez-6.5- He didn't have his best game for us, but it's hard to be too critical of him due to the effort and commitment he always puts in. Hopefully he will be fresh for the Monaco game.

Giroud-9-MOTM- I don't think we can ask much more from him. He did some quality flicks in and around the box, bringing others into play and scored a great goal, It's what you want from your striker, isn't it ?

Subs:

Welbeck-6.5- The usual problem with Welbeck; he get's into good positions and made some good runs down the left hand side, but couldn't find the right ball afterwards. I think he will start at Monaco on Tuesday night.

Cazorla-7- He looked really good again when he came on and grabbed the assist for the third goal with that lovely ball across the box. He will be a key player in Monaco.

Flamini-7- I might be generous in giving him a '7' but scoring a goal with his first touch is nothing to be sniffed at, especially for Flamini. Wasn't really involved besides that.

Right that's your lot for now, keep an eye out for more.
Follow me on twitter @ Cosmic__Kid

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Review: Arsenal 3-0 West Ham; Wouldn't that be nice Tuesday night?

Good morning to all the Gooners out there after another comprehensive victory, in another London derby. It got better later on as City managed to put in another woeful performance and lost away to Burnley, which leaves us only a point behind them in second place. As I said in the preview we were looking for our 5th consecutive Premier League win and to get it in such a comfortable fashion is pleasing.

Arsenal were on top for much of the first half but couldn't break through the stubborn West Ham resistance until the final seconds of the first half in which Giroud,, after some great one touch play around the box, took the ball off Ramsey and absolutely thumped a shot off the post and into the net. It was a great goal and that was also Giroud's 6th goal in his last 8 Premier League games (he also has 3 assists). Not bad for a player who got a ridiculous amount of criticism after the Monaco game. He always seems to respond well to criticism, meaning Arsene's 'mental strength' phrase would be well placed here. 

In truth we should have went into the break with a bigger lead after some great goalkeeping by Adrian kept the score line reasonable, most notably from Ramsey and Walcott. When Theo was played in i'm sure you, like me, were expecting the net to bulge but he just kept going with the ball, like he froze and was afraid of  shooting (not the only time an Arsenal player would suffer from that not shooting when there is a chance kind of nonsense). I know it seems odd that he would ever hold back from shooting at any time in a game, but to me he still didn't look 100%, so maybe after all there's nothing else behind him not playing, other than trying to nurse him back properly from injury.

West Ham came out after the break and were on top for the first 15 minutes, searching for an equalizer, but for all their huffing and puffing Ospina was never really troubled, besides the usual run of the mill saves. It always felt comfortable for Arsenal. Even in the first half when they caught us on the break more often (from sitting deeper, and us pushing forwardlooking for the opener), I thought Koscielny dealt with everything they had; he had an excellent game and looks back to his best. So too, did Tony Cottee, who was commentating, as he could do no wrong in his eyes. He gave Per a grueling any time he did anything; 'There he goes again Mertesacker, leaving people run in behind him, depending on his buddy Koscielny to clean up the mess'. 

Ramsey scored the second goal, his first since that volley (worth another look) against Galatasaray I believe, which is partly down to injury but also form. He had a really good game Ramsey, was involved in everything and but in a shift defensively aswell. This was another excellent goal, with Giroud providing a perfect dummy for the Welsh man, and then bounced the ball back and forth again before Ramsey said he had enough and hit the ball into the rood of the net.

I think what really would have bugged me if I were a West Ham fan is the fact that Flamini scored with his first touch. I mean that's just insulting isn't it? This was a far more basic goal, with Ramsey playing in Cazorla who slid a delicious looking ball, low, across the box giving the French man no chance of missing. 

According to The BBC, we had 68% possession and 19 shots, on target with 9 of them, compared to West Ham's 1 shot on target from 7. I think that says it all really and its good to see us win with the majority of possession and playing on the front foot after all the talk of only being able to win with less possession. Variety, my fellow Gooners, is what we have, not only in terms of playing style but also in terms of the attacking option we possess.

Here's what Arsene Wenger said after the game, as per Arsenal.com;

"We had a good focused performance,"We had some weaker moments but in the first half it was all us."At the start of the second half we had some problems but we kept a clean sheet and in the final 20 minutes it looked like we could score again, which we did.
"For 80 per cent of the game we were in control. Maybe for 10 or 15 minutes in the second half they put us under pressure but you expect that in a derby when a team is 1-0 down. "We had some problems coming out of the dressing room when our energy dropped a bit. We found the energy again after and that made the difference."

I tend to agree with everything Wenger says there and i'm sure most Arsenal fans would. So, all in all a nice win that set's us up lovely for the trip to Monaco.

Right that's that, I'll have the player ratings up soon. in the meantime follow me on twitter @ Cosmic__Kid.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

West Ham Preview..

Morning all, hope everyone is looking forward to the game.

I think this game against West Ham is important in terms of where the team are at at the moment. Leave me expand on that, looking at our results in all competitions this season we have only gone more than 5 games without a loss once, which was at the start of the season before that loss away at Dortmund (What a horrible match that was). Even when you look at out Premier League results, the start of the season was also our longest run in terms of not losing, with that being 6 games before Chelsea. The longest we have went since then at any point in the season without a loss is 4, which we are currently on now. So we are on a good run at the moment, and are looking for our 5th Premier League victory in a row. That's why I think this match is important besides the obvious need to stay ahead in the top 4 race and consolidate 3rd place with a view to 2nd; consistency. Let's hope the team can go out and get that win and keep the confidence levels up ahead of Tuesday night (We can always hope, can't we?) and do what we haven't done since the start of the season and win that 5th game in a row in the league. 

I have gone through the team news in the press conference post, with the gist being the team is pretty much the same from the united win besides the return of Mathieu Flamini, and the absence of Oxlade-Chamberlain, one in and one out, it's how it always is at Arsenal. i think the manager will make a few changes to the squad, with Walcott coming in and possibly a rest for Sanchez. We might also see Ramsey getting a start. So here's the team I think Wenger will pick;

                            Ospina

Chambers Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal

                   Coquelin  Ramsey

  Walcott               Ozil             Welbeck

                           Giroud 

I think Chambers will get a start to help with the aerial battle and to give him some game time, with Bellerin more likely to be used against Monaco on Tuesday night. I also think Gibbs will play Tuesday over Monreal; simply for the added pace both these fullbacks bring.  I know the manager said that the mid week game will not affect his team selection but I don't think there's any chance that it won't; he really wants to get through and believes we can do it. I can see him bringing Ramsey in to give Cazorla a much needed rest, and Walcott coming in for Sanchez. Welbeck should keep his place; how can you drop him after scoring at Old Trafford? Then again the more I think about it, for him to leave both Cazorla and Sanchez on the bench would be strange, but it makes sense when looked at on an individual basis.

The only changes I would make to that squad, were it to be the starting lineup, would be to start either one of Gibbs or Bellerin, and since I think playing Chambers would be a wise option in terms of dealing with the aerial threat (which he looked really solid on Monday night when he came on), I would start Gibbs. Playing both Chambers and Monreal takes a bit of pace off the team so I would always have one of Gibbs/Bellerin. I used too many names in that paragraph there, but anyway we move on.

West Ham come into this game having spent the last while in Dubai hoping to gain from the benefit of warm weather training. The Hammers also haven't won in any of their last 7 league and cup games, while Arsenal are looking at their 8th home league win in a row for the first time since November 2005. Big Sam also has a few concerns over some of him players with Song facing a late fitness test to determine whether he plays. Ener Valencia is also out injured after he cut his foot on a broken tea cup. Yes, you read that right, what do you possibly say about that? The visitors will also be without Tomkins, Reid, Carroll, and Cole. While Jenkinson is ineligible. It's nice to be able to name a reasonably long injury list for the opponents isn't it?

I'm sure Allardyce will set his team up to get in our faces and give us no space on the ball; with one aim to nick a goal from a corner, the usual carry on from his teams. We also have to worry about the counter attacks, however, with Sakho filling in for Carroll and supplied by Stewart Downing, who has looked a decent player in the centre this season. Keep an eye out for their left back, if he plays, Cresswell, who likes to get forward a lot (probably less so today) and has a good cross on him.

Right lets have a look at some stats, as per Opta;

• Theo Walcott has scored five goals and set up three more in his last four Premier League matches against West Ham United. 
• West Ham have won none of the last 13 Premier League fixtures against Arsenal (W0 D2 L11), losing the last eight in a row. 
• The Hammers have scored the first goal in four of the last five Premier League  meetings with Arsenal but the Gunners have come back to win on each occasion. 
• Olivier Giroud has scored four goals in his four Premier League appearances against West Ham.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League London derbies at the Emirates, but West Ham were the first team ever to beat Arsenal at their new stadium back in April 2007.
• The Hammers have won just one of their last seven Premier League London derbies away from home.
• Sam Allardyce has never coached a winning team away at Arsenal in the Premier League, losing seven and drawing three of his 10.
• Olivier Giroud has scored eight goals in his last 10 Premier League starts.
• West Ham (15) have scored the most headed goals in the Premier League, while only two teams (Burnley 17 & Stoke 11) have conceded more than Arsenal (10, same as QPR).

Right so that's your lot for now, I'll be back after the game either today or tomorrow. What do you think the team should be? What's your score prediction? Let me know in the comments below.

Come on the Gunners!!

Follow me on Twitter @ Cosmic__Kid.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Arsenal's Best 11?

When I was writing my piece on the 'British Core' for All Arsenal, I came across a very good article in The Irish Mirror, in which it discussed Arsenal's best 11 this season, using opta and Who Scored statistics. It used each players average ratings on their performance in each match so far this season and this is the team they came up with, or rather is statistically Arsenal's best 11:

                            Ospina

       Bellerin Gabriel Kosciely Monreal

        

                 Coquelin  Cazorla

       

           Welbeck    Ozil     Sanchez

          

                           Giroud

First off just a couple of key points: Gabriel's average rating is obviously a lot higher seen as he has only made 2 starts and came off injured in the third match, so theoretically it is easier to score a higher average rating than if he had made, say 30 appearances all season. I was also surprised that Debuchy wasn't in the team, but then again Bellerin has been excellent. I'm sure the other player that surprised many was Chamberlain and his exclusion from the squad. Therefore it is interesting to note that the 3 players closest to making the starting lineup would have been, yep you guessed it: Debuchy, Mertesacker and Chamberlain.

Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil are in the top 3, in that order, with Sanchez been rated the highest. This may surprise a few due to the ridiculous over the top criticism Ozil has received, but i'm a big fan of his and it didn't shock me in the slightest.

Here's a look at what my starting 11 would be, assuming all players are fit, which is as likely as Spurs winning the Premier League in the next 5 years. Which in case you didn't know is zero, anyway here it is:

                                Ospina

    Debuchy Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal

                      Coquelin   Ramsey

           Sanchez      Cazorla        Ozil

                               Giroud

So I made just 3 changes. I still believe that Debuchy is our best right back and Bellerin will serve as an excellent understudy. Mertesacker, although not at his best this season is still vital for the team I believe, as he is a calming presence and a leader. Ramsey comes in to make the team more solid and give us a lot of energy in the centre with Coquelin, while the other change sees Ozil move to the left and Cazorla just that little bit more attacking in the centre. I think Ozil has been very good working from a wide position and since our team is very fluid, where players actually start natters less than say, a rigid, long ball team like..eh... Man United, for example.

Obviously this wouldn't be the team i'd pick for every game, for example at home against the lesser teams, who come to defend i'd bring Bellerin, Chamberlain and perhaps Welbeck in.

Right that's it for today, What would your best team be? Do you agree with the stats on our best team this season? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Pre-West Ham Press Conference..

Arsene Wenger has given his press conference this morning in the build up to the West Ham game this weekend. Here's what he said in relation to the team news, as quoted on Arsenal.com

on Oxlade-Chamberlain…
It's a classic hamstring. That means he will be out for three weeks, four weeks maximum. He will not be available for England as well.

on the frustration for Oxlade-Chamberlain…
It's very frustrating for him because he played more games than ever this season. In the last two months I feel he was a bit in and out. He has shown again on Monday night what an important player he can be for Arsenal and for England. It's a shame that in the final sprint and he's not there.

on how the Ox reacts mentally…
How much I don’t know but it is affecting him because he loves to play. He is keen to play for England and I think it is a big blow for him. He knows as well that it is the type of injury where you can recover quickly and come back. But it is not an ideal moment.
on England squad announcement…
It's coming too soon for Jack Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

on Jack Wilshere…
I don’t know how long it will be before he returns because we have to respect the progression of his training. 

on Flamini and Gabriel…
Flamini is back in the group today and available for selection. Gabriel should be back on Sunday.

on when Arteta will return…
In fact he’s in full training today. I think three weeks.

So unfortunately it seems that the reports are true about Chamberlain which is bad news but what's even worse is the fact that Wenger doesn't know how long Wilshere will be out, I mean how many times have we heard this now? It's beyond ridiculous. The good news though is that Flamini (whatever you think of him) is available and Gabriel will be returning slightly sooner that expected. The return of the skipper is also most welcomed.

Here's a look at some of the other headlines as per Arsenal.com;

On the tight top 4 race..

“I like it because every game is important and you feel it is a period where you need composure, focus and mental strength, “It is interesting to watch your players and see how they respond to that.
“It's important to have a good mixture between focus and composure. That's not easy to find because the tension can be too big.
“Every year it gets more difficult because you have more teams who can compete for [the top four]. In future years it will be even harder. We know that every single game is decisive now. We are already looking forward to the next game.”

 On Bellerin being offered a new contract and will it impact on Jenkinson..

"That is true. "Will it impact on Carl Jenkinson? At the moment in my head, no".

On how the Monaco game affects team selection…

"I agree that the Monaco game is a very important game in the Champions League. Tomorrow is of the same importance. That’s why I just have to focus on tomorrow. What can affect my team selection is the players who have played a number of game this season. I always rotate game by game but never more than two or three"

Right it's good to know that Wenger won't be affected by the Monaco match when picking his team, as the West Ham game should be the focus as we have plenty of time afterwards to worry about the Champions League tie. Also it's good to see that the reports about Bellerin signing a new contract is true as I was speculating on yesterday, have a look at that here.

Wenger was also talking about Sanchez, and had this to say about him;

“We are very happy with him - he is a credit to Chile because he shows qualities that I hope you all have in your country,“He is committed, ready for a fight and has a huge desire to win and of course he is an exceptional player".

So that's that, he was also complimentary on Song and said that he looked 'focused and motivated'. Let's hope we can build on the United performance and get the win as this could turn out to be a big weekend with some big matches. On Sunday United play Spurs at Old Trafford and if they manage to lose that game after being knocked out of the cup then that would be a huge blow to them. No, I don't worry about Spurs, even if they win Sunday. As Roy Keane once said; 'Spurs will always let you down'.

Right that's it for now, more from me later so have a look out for that. Follow me on twitter here @ Cosmic__Kid.  Also I wrote a piece on the breakdown on the 'British Core' at Arsenal, for All Arsenal.com, so have a look at that and let me know what you think.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

.

Bellerin To Sign New Contract, according to Reports. Jenkinson to be Sold?

John Cross, a renowned Arsenal fan and journalist, writing for The Mirror, has reported this evening that Arsenal's impressive young Right back, Hector Bellerin will sign a new contract, with it said to be 4 years long. 

I really hope that this is true as Bellerin has been excellent in deputizing for the injured Debuchy, who has been out injured since January from that thuggisg push in the back from Stoke'sMarko Arnautovic, which Sky Sports somehow describing the incident as;

'The France defender tangled with Stoke midfielder Marko Arnautovic after 11 minutes and was left clutching his upper arm having slammed into the path around the pitch and then the promotional boards'.

Yes  I know that the incident happened in January and that it's old news but I'm still quite peeved by it, why is it that reporters can't describe an incident as it is? Like last night on Sky Sports again when Graeme Souness (who I actually like as a pundit) was asked if Chelsea harass referee's more than other club's and to me it seemed like he thought so, but wouldn't say it. Why not? It's what they are paid for. Now I could be completely wrong on Souness altogether, but that's just what I got from it.

Anyway back to the contract and the other question that has to be asked is about Carl Jenkinson, what does this mean for his future at Arsenal? Personally, even if Bellerin doesn't sign a new contract, I always thought he was off anyway, it is a pity though as I think he has been excellent at West Ham this season and looks as though he has a great future ahead of him. If he does leave, I wish him all the best. John Cross says that Arsenal are looking for £6 million for him, let's hope Arsenal put a buy back clause in it.

Right that's just about that, what do you think about our right back situation? Do you think Bellerin has earned the new contract? and if so, do you think he will be ahead of Debuchy in the pecking order? Do you think Jenkinson will be off? Would you like to keep him? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Sam Allardyce not surprised by Monaco victory at Emirates..

Sam Allardyce has met the press in the lead up to the game at the Emirates this weekend and as usual didn't really have anything interesting to say besides the usual pat on the back for himself, this time he didn't miss the opportunity to tell everyone that he wasn't surprised by Monaco's victory at the Emirates a couple of weeks ago. He truly is one of the greats, isn't he, Sam Allardyce, able to predict things that have already happened. That's the kind of foresight needed to finish in the top 10. Fantastic. Anyhow, here's what he said, as quoted in The Express:

“In terms of Monaco, we haven’t got the quality of players they’ve got. I think that’s the first and foremost.
“Monaco have been what we haven’t this year, and that’s being extremely good at not conceding goals.
“Everybody thought that it was an easy tie, but it wasn’t when you look at their defensive record. I think when they played, they had only conceded one goal in the last 11 games.”

Big Sam also revealed that Alex Song is struggling with a knee problem, and was left at home while the rest of the West Ham squad traveled to Dubai for some warm weather training, but it is expected that he will make the West Ham squad for the weekend.

I must give Allardyce some credit, however, as he did go on to make some valid points about the premier league bringing in a  mid season break, as quoted in The Wharf;

“The time of the year was perfect in terms of the training facilities”. “My old friend at Blackburn Michel Salgado helped us out. The lads have enjoyed the quality of Dubai which is very important at this time of year. The little bit of rest physically and mentally will help us focus more on the last 10 games of the season.
“I’ve been doing for the past 14 years with all of the teams I’ve had. The research into this needs to go to the League Managers Association to add to the fact that the Premier League needs a mid-season break, and I think the evidence is there for all to see.
"It reduces the risk of injuries. Teams coming out of Christmas and New Year are very fatigued and it’s why the English teams that play in big European competitions are not advancing to the latter stages, because everyone else has had a break and they haven’t. For us, it’s just about doing what we normally do, getting away for a few days and coming back and hopefully increasing the level of results than we previously had and hopefully that will work over the next 10 games.”

Remember I said valid points, not interesting, there's a difference. Finally, how great was it to see P.S.G stuff Chelsea last night? P.S.G deserved to go through 100%, there was some despicable behaviour from the Chelsea players last night, no more so than John Terry who managed to stand on Oscar's head, while fluffing his arms around like a headless chicken, barging his way up to the referee. Just says everything about Chelsea, doesn't it? They are more concerned with getting players sent off than the welfare of their own team mate.

Here's a Question; if Wenger was slaughtered by everyone for being so naive and far too attacking against Monaco, then should Mourinho not face the same criticism for going so negative against a team with 10 men? (Not for the first time this season has his defensive tactics cost his teams points; the draws at both City and United, for example).

Before I forget, I wrote a piece on the Just Arsenal News site on which players deserve new contracts, have a look at it and let me know what you think. It's a really good site for anything Arsenal related.

Anyhow that's it for now, more from me later or tomorrow. follow me on twitter here @ Cosmic__Kid.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Song: How To Beat Arsenal..

Alex Song has been speaking to the press in the lead up to West Ham's trip to the Emirates this Saturday, with the former Arsenal player adamant that West Ham can pick up a win if they follow Monaco's example at the Emirates. The Express quotes him as saying;

"I know this stadium very well and I know when you play with Arsenal it's very hard, but I think Monaco is how you want to play when you play in the Emirates,"The best thing to do is to try to be together, defend together very well and when you have the opportunity to go on the counter attack, you have to do it very well like Monaco did it."If you want to go to Emirates and try to play you will not have any chance to win the game there because this stadium is very hard to play in."You have to stay together very compact and not give them any room, then take the opportunity on the counter attack. "If we do this very well like Monaco did, then we can get a good result there."

West Ham have been on a bad run of late with no wins in their last six and have suffered back to back defeats which has seen them slip down to 10th in the table. Arsenal are currently on a 7 game home win streak in the premier league and will look to continue that when West Ham visit at the weekend. If Arsenal are to win then they will have to keep Song's impact on the game at a minimum, with him been well accustomed to Arsenal having made 143 appearances for the Gunners.

Anyway that's that.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Early West Ham Team News..

Wenger has delivered the latest team news in the build up to the West Ham clash this weekend, here's a link to the article on the official club website. It's unusual for the Manager to give the team news on a Wednesday, such is life I suppose, anyhow here's what he said:

On Chamberlain;

"Chamberlain has a hamstring strain, the only thing we don't know is how bad it is because usually the scans are only done 48 hours after the accident. That will be done today [Wednesday]".

On Wilshere;

"Jack is progressing well, he is not back in training yet".

On Flamini;

"Mathieu is training, he could be available for the squad on Saturday".

On Gabriel;

"Gabriel may be [available] next week, he should come back into training on Sunday or Monday".

On whether the Monaco game will affect his team selection;

"No. We were at a high level of fatigue because we played against Monaco, Everton, QPR, Manchester United, all very physical games. I will have to test medically, physically, how the players are on Friday, and I will make my decision then. The big priority is of course West Ham".

First of all it's good to hear the manager saying that the priority is the West Ham game rather than the Monaco tie which is all but over. Please don't let us win that game 0-2 for God's sake. Secondly good news on Gabriel with him being close to training and also Flamini given that we are low on genuine central midfielders in the squad at the moment. It's really disappointing, however that there is no real news on Wilshere, it seems to me that, when Wenger uses the 'he is progressing well' phrase it always seems to mean that a player isn't really close to a comeback, let's hope i'm wrong on that one. Not surprising that there isn't any news on Chamberlain, lets just keep our fingers crossed that the reports from yesterday are not true and he is back sooner than expected.

Right that's it, let me know what you think in the comments, any early speculation on the West Ham game?

Subkectively, Cosmic Kid.

More reaction on United win; Old Trafford What was all the fuss about?

Of all the pictures banded around after last night, I think this is my favourite; it doesn't come any more conclusive than that.

Never have I been so happy to be wrong, as I was saying on the blog  prior to game I wasn't feeling too confident about the match and looking at the stats only made that apprehension worse, overall though we deserved the win and I 'd go as far as to say that we were comfortable in the second half; what did Szczesny have to do? Beside's kicking out poorly throughout and taking on Rooney in a way that only goal keeper's can when they do that stupid drag back thing inside the box (Why do they do that?), and generally looking nervous throughout, I can't actually remember him having to make a save of note in the second half. Right first of all let's get down to the reaction from the Arsenal camp after a stunning victory at Old Trafford which leaves the Gunners in with a chance of retaining the F.a cup for the first time since 2002 and 2003.

In an interview after the match Wenger said that;

“I’m very happy because it was an important game for us,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “To go to an opponent like Manchester United in the FA Cup, in a direct knockout, you have to win.“Mentally we were prepared and started on the front foot without any apprehension. We put them under pressure from the start and overall, we deserved to win the game. “Winning here shows that we are improving and progressing. To win a big game helps to increase the belief of the team.”“Nacho’s had a great season until now and I’m very happy that he scored. “He provoked the penalty at Manchester City as well and today he scored. He had a great game.“We play so many games that you have to rotate and I felt that Danny had a great game. Not only a great individual game, but showed great teamwork. He worked extremely hard and that’s good.“Most of the time it’s mentally not easy to deal with returning to a former club and he dealt with it well. He was focused on his game and that’s it.”

Welbeck also gave an interview after the match;

"It's good for the team that we're through to the next round, in the semifinals at Wembley," Welbeck told the club's official website."To get the goal was good for me but it was all about the team performance tonight."It was a great reception. It wasme but I tried to be respectful." "It was about being professional, keeping my focus and motivation. I kept plugging away and then got on the end of Antonio Valencia's backpass, beat David de Gea and got the winning goal."I'm just really pleased we're through to the next round."I stayed professional and I was just doing my job. To be able to get back on the scoresheet and get through to the next round is the most important thing rather than scoring against United."

Right that's enough of the post match reaction stuff so; you can get all the rest on the club's official site, as I have linked above. I picked out a few interesting stats in another great 'By the numbers post on the Arseblog site', I picked out a few key stats I wanted to mention. Firstly, the obvious Welbeck to Falcao comparison is in order. Welbeck has now scored 8 goals this season compared to Falcao's poor return of 4. If that, according to Louis Van Gaal makes Welbeck a bench player, then what does that make Falcao? I'm sure I wasn't the only calling on the referee to book and send off Fellaini during the game due to his constant fouling, the stats only back me up; of Man United's 22 fouls committed in the game, 8 were committed by Fellaini alone; and even more startling then him staying on the pith at the end of the match was that the referee let Fellaini off with 7 fouls before booking him.


The stats also suggest that United dominated the passing during the game with making 123 more passes than Arsenal, (476-353 overall), however, as is pointed out on the Arseblog post, United only attempted 12 more passes in the Arsenal final third compared to the 159 times Arsenal did in theirs (159-147 overall).This amounted to United only attempting 33% of their passing in the Arsenal final third,compared to Arsenal's attempted figure of 42% in the United third. With the Arsenal players running more with the ball and playing at a faster pace it meant that United had to make a lot more tackles (thus, the overall high foul count on their behalf) than Arsenal in a very high amount of 51 attempted tackles compared to the Arsenal equivalent of 41. Arsenal also out scored United on the amount of successful tackles; with that figure standing at 30 to United's 28. Finally when it comes to aerial duels, it would be no surprise to learn that Fellaini won a successful 5, but for all United's long ball play the player who won the most aerial duels was Laurent Koscielny with a very impressive tally at 7. Koscielny also won a huge 33% of Arsenal’s overall aerial duels. Again, have a look here at the full post on the Arseblog site. 

The stats  really stand to back up the assertion that Arsenal were the better team, created the better opportunities, were better in passing, were quicker in their general play and even better in the aerial duels. Oh yeah they also scored one more than United also. 

Right that's it for this post, don't forget to leave any comments on the above, keep an eye out for more and follow me on twitter here @ https://twitter.com/Cosmic__Kid . 

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

Chamberlain set to be Ruled out for 4 Weeks, Reports Say; Walcott to get his chance?

It appears that the latest news about Chamberlain's injury is  not good for Arsenal fans as he looks set to be ruled out for up to 4 weeks. The Mirrior reports that he will have a scan on Wednesday in order to diagnose the seriousness of the injury. If the reports are true then it will mean Gunners will be missing a key man at such an important part of the season. It would rule him out of the game at home to Liverpool on the 4th of April and only give him a small chance of making the Chelsea match later that month. It is also reported that he will miss England's upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and the friendly against Italy later this month also, but that really is the least of any Arsenal fans concern. The 'OX' produced yet another good performance last night and looked threatening throughout. He was fast, direct and never gave Luke Shaw a moments rest before he was substituted. The injury was the only real disappointment on an otherwise great night for the club.

What does this mean for Walcott, however? Last night when the substitute was being made he seemed ready to come on, was wearing his kit, only to sit back on the bench. No one seems to know what happened, but I have a hunch that Theo assumed that he would come on. Look at the fact's; would Wenger make a substitution at the 50th minute mark?  It would certainly be strange as we all know, often to our frustration, that Wenger tends to wait until the 70th minute and after. Why would Wenger tell Walcott to get ready, only to change his mind a moment later? It is certainly possible, but I don't think so. Walcott has been an un-used substitute in 4 of the last 5 games, so I think its fair to say that its not down to easing him back from injury. I think the problem here was made perfectly clear when Wenger said that 'only players who make defensive contributions can play' in a previous press conference; to me that was clearly directed at Walcott. There is no doubting his quality in the final third, but overall I don't think Walcott offers the team enough; he doesn't have the workrate or defensive capabilities of any of his main competitors in Sanchez, Welbeck or Chamberlain. The next few weeks will give us a clue as to Wenger's intentions, with Chamberlain's injury. I think Walcott might start at the weekend. Could it be that Walcott is a  'Home' player option only? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that his day's at Arsenal may be numbered, however.

Also, here's a really good article in the Telegraph, about some of United's horrible behaviour from last night. It's time players like Rooney are pulled up; English or not.

Follow me on twitter here,@Cosmic__Kid.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.

United v Arsenal: Player Ratings..

Great stuff from the team last night, it was a very nervous opening but we grew into the game and overall I enjoyed the match in the end. A couple of things bug me, however, firstly; the injury to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had another great game last night, is a blow, and as of yet there has been no word as to the extent of the injury; when I get more I'll post it. Secondly; we could have won by more, if it wasn't for great goalkeeping by United's player of the season David De Gea, we really could and should have scored 3 or 4 goals. I suppose it's better not to be greedy at this stage and keep the big win for our trip back to Old Trafford in May. Right so, to the player ratings.

Starting Lineup;

Szczesny- 6- I thought he looked very nervous throughout; his kicking was poor and even worse is that he still tries to take on player's in the box,  that drag back on Rooney infuriated me, there's no need to take needless risks like that. He did, however make a good save in teh first half from Di Maria, I think it was. Not his best night, but then again it's not his best season.

Bellerin-7- He started off quite shaky; but as was the case with a lot of players he grew into the game. He was wrongly booked for the first real tackle of note in the match inside the first 5 minutes, and did well throughout the game not to get sent off. He made one more foul in the seond half but the referee was right to keep him on the pitch; as was Arsene to bring him off and not tempt fate. All in all he looked dangerous going forward; very quick as we know and quite solid at the back. Another solid  night for the young Right back.

Mertesacker-7- Looked nervous and Monaco-esque at the start and gave away a needless corner. He perhaps could have came over more to support Koscielny for the United goal if your being harsh. Nothing else to report as Per went about his business quietly and effectively last night. Continuing his recovery from the Monaco nightmare.

Kosciely-7.5- Looked back to his best last night; could have done better for the goal but apart from that he was imperious throughout and won 33% of Arsenal's aerial duels, and won more than Fellaini (with 7 to his 5). He even made some of his trademark interceptions. Let's hope he can keep this form up and the Achilles injury at bay. He will be a key player for the season end

Monreal-8- One criticism of Monreal was not getting close enough and stopping Di Maria delivering the cross for United's goal. He made a great contribution at the other end with a well taken goal, and when you consider the fact that he won the penalty at Man City as well earlier in the season; his attacking play really has taken a whole new level this season. Overall another excellent night for Monreal who has been our best defender this season, has a great first name too.

Coquelin-8.5- MOTM- Another excellent game last night; he was making tackles, making interceptions, sprayed the ball around more efficiently than in other games; basically everything you need in a top class defensive midfielder. He gives great energy to the team and really protects that back 4; there seemed to be some concern that he had picked up an injury but he got through the match fine. What a season he is having.

Cazorla-7.5-  Another performance at the standard we are beginning to expect of Santi every match it seems now; used his quick feet to get out out of a few tricky situations; but that's just normal for him. Passed the ball well, and helped the team tick over, he really has been important to us in the deeper position in covering for Arteta. His work rate again was most impressive, made another few sliding challenges. Christmas comes every day with Santi.

Chamberlain-7.5- Gave everything you expect of him; Made some great runs, none more so than when setting up Monreal's goal, had plenty of energy and worked very hard for the team as well, he also seemed to hold on to the ball better than in previous matches. Very good performance in his best season for Arsenal so far. Let's hope the injury isn't too bad.

Ozil-7.5- Thought he went missing for parts in the first half, but really grew as the team did in the second half (or would it be the other way around?) He was a key cog in the attacking machine again tonight and his work rate was even more impressive. Having a good season; even better since his return from injury, we will need him throughout the seasons end.

Sanchez-7.5- Another solid performance from the signing of the season and was really unlucky not to have scored a goal; he gave Valencia the run around for the night, he must have still had him in a daze when he decided to assist Welbeck. Work rate is never in doubt; great player.

Welbeck-7.5- Was going to give him a 7 but how harsh would that have been, giving he scored the goal that knocked United out in their own backyard? In the first half he looked very nervous and his first touch alluded him, he also struggled to hold the ball up for our midfield runners. He looked a different player in the second half with a point to prove; he took his goal really well, he made Valencia make the mistake. Hold up play was a lot better. Solid season so far for Welbeck.

Subs:

Ramsey-7- Came on for the injured Chamberlain and gave a lot of energy to the midfield and worked tirelessly also. Nothing much to report except that its nice to have him back from injury. Did well to prevent himself from needlessly running into the box looking for a goal.

Chambers-7-Came on for Bellerin to prevent a red card. He looked solid throughout, was very disciplined and won few headers that Bellerin wouldn't have been able to get at. He will be looking to get back in the team; what am interesting battle we have at right back. 

Giroud-7- Earned a 7 simply through work rate alone, he didn't have much to do when he came on but he ruffled a few of the United centre backs in the air; he also made a great recovery sliding tackle after he won the ball. Excellent season for Giroud, who was surprisingly left out of the starting lineup.

Right that's about that; Walcott didn't get on again today are his days numbered? Surely he will start against West Ham at the weekend? Also shout out to the Manager who got his tactics spot on and surprised Van Gaal by going for the win. The referee also had an excellent game and wasn't afraid to make the big calls, good job. 

As a side note, is it just that the standard of refereeing has been so poor this season that we feel the need to praise him? Or was it down to his actual performance? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Right, I'll have another post up later on the game overall, so keep on eye on twitter here @ https://twitter.com/Cosmic__Kid, for that.

Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.