There's some concern that Gooners could get carried away with Jack Wilshere fever: People who enjoyed watching Wilshere bang in his 3rd goal in 2 games.
Big Dane Nick Bendtner has started all 4 pre-season games, but only managed a goal and an assist after 4 goals and an assist in the previous game.
Vela followed up his hat trick with another goal.
Here's an example of the kind of hyperbolic adulation that is threatening to destabilize young Jack Wilshere:
Ode to Wilshere:
Jack, how thou art like a full-grown footballer; The timing of thine runs and passes is spot on. The grace of Wenger has smiled upon thee, and thou hast grabbed thine occasion with aplomb. Erstwhile thou hast been in high school, Henceforth: the great Stadiums of Europe.
Now that is way over the top, and completely uncalled for.
Arsenal announced today that they have signed Amaury Bischoff, the 21-year-old Portugal U21 international. This player is an unknown to most Arsenal supporters; in fact, he has only played one match for his previous employers, Werner Bremen.
Is this Wenger's promised "one, maybe two signings"? If so, he has done it again! While supporters are clamoring for an experienced player such as Gareth Barry or Miguel Veloso to buttress the supposedly depleted central midfield, AW has brought in young and/or unknown players to replenish the squad. Arsenal supporters have seen Denilson and Diaby play and we think we know what they can do. Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey are not unknown but are certainly untested. Jack Wilshere has attracted a lot of attention but, at 16, is still too young to make substantial contribution to the high aspiration of the club. And who is this Bischoff guy? AW says he "can play in the center or on the right wing" but can he make a difference in important games? Will he be like Bacary Sagna who was also a virtual unknown but has become one of fans' favorites because of his commitment and contribution? The shirt number that Bischoff has been given, 28, does not give any indication of AW's intention. We supporters are left to guess again.
One thing is for sure: Arsenal's central midfield is becoming "congested" again. It will be interesting to find out who gets to play along side Cesc Fabregas when games really count.
Normal service was resumed in Arsenal's pre-season. Nicklas Bendtner, who has been featured up front in all 3 pre-season games, was good for 4 goals, Carlos Vela scored 3, 16-year-old playmaker Jack Wilshere scored a couple, and set up at least a couple, and Theo Walcott score one. Those were the first Arsenal goals for Vela and Wilshere who are making their first-ever appearances for Arsenal this pre-season.
Here is video of Arsenal's 10 goals. You might want to hit mute before you hit play.
If Bendtner wants to displace Adebayor as first-choice striker, he's going about it the right way, I'd think.
But, anyone watching the game couldn't help but be impressed by Jack Wilshere. Sure it's difficult to gauge when the opposition is a pub side, but judging his performance relative to his teammates: compared to, for example, Mark Randall, who was seemingly about to break into the first-team last year; Wilshere did much, much more to use the occasion to make an impression.
As a 16-year-old, Wilshere will almost certainly not get a game in the first team except maybe in the league cup or possibly the FA Cup. Unlike 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey, Wilshere is not listed as a first-team player on Arsenal.com (neither is Randall).
Vela looks like he could be ready to play in the first team. I'd guess he'll be in the squad for league games. I think that this season Premier League teams will have 7 substitutes on the bench, instead of only 5.
Although Eduardo is the only player listed on Arsenal.com as injured, Rosicky says he's out until September.
In other news, Liverpool supporter Sixes and Sevens thinks Robbie Keane will slot right into the first 11:
Torres Keane Babel Gerrard Kuyt Mascherano An unsettled backline Reina
And Spurs'em On would like to see Spurs bring in David Bentley. If Bentley had stayed at Arsenal, he could have been useful last season at right midfield. It's often said that Arsene Wenger rarely makes a mistake when he lets a player go, but according to Actim Stats for last season on PremierLeague.com, Bentley, playing right midfield for Blackburn scored 6 goals and had 11 assists, while Eboue, playing right midfield for Arsenal had zero goals and 2 assists. Bentley forced his way out of the club, in the same style as Lassana Diarra, refusing to accept to wait for his turn in the first 11. He's been with Blackburn for three seasons and was on loan to Norwich the season before that.
To the tune of Elvis Presley's "The wonder of you."
When someone else would feel the pressure When someone else would lose the ball You find the space, You find the answers And always make a perfect call
Now when someone makes a brilliant pass They call it Fabregas-esque That's the wonder The wonder of Cesc
Manchester United won the Premier League and Champions League last season, and now manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he's placed a "bid for one player who would enhance us a great deal." Anyone who saw Berbatov's 4 goals in a game against Reading last season could be forgiven for assuming Sir Alex must be talking about Berbatov.
Here is video of Berbatov's 4 goals in the Reading game:
The other first-choice striker for Spurs, Robbie Keane, is allegedly a Liverpool target, and the prospect of losing both players, and the tactics employed by Man United and Liverpool, have Spurs in an uproar.
The 12-minute highlights of Arsenal's draw away to Szombathelyi Haladas were a bit on the drab side, which should come as no surprise to any sane person, but came as a bit of a let down for me.
Nicklas Bendtner continues his run up front. Wilshere got a start after his good performance in the first friendly. Vela got his first game as an Arsenal player, and had some good touches in the highlights.
I'd like to see Arsenal scoring goals for fun, but there were few signs of lethal finishing on display. Walcott's goal came from a one-touch finish setup by Bendtner.
It's got me half wondering if big Nick will get a chance in the first 11 to start the season, in place of Adebayor. On balance, from what we've seen over the whole of last season, Adebayor is a better player by some distance, but Bendtner has potential, and could get better.
The highlights of that game will have Arsenal Supporters looking forward to the return of more first-team regulars.
The Orlando Sentinel soccer blog has a post that points to an artcle in which the author writes that he trusts Arsene about the state of the Arsenal team regarding whether more "experienced" signings are needed for the upcoming season.
What do you think? Do we have a good enough squad to challenge for honors? What positions do you think need reinforcement? Speculations are rife about Villa's Barry or Pool's Alonso being courted to fill the vacuum left by the departure of Flamini. Perhaps they are not needed because Denilson and Diaby immediately come to mind who have the skills to slot in. But are they really good enough?
What about Adebayor who stirred up a tempest in the summer? Should we keep him? Is he good enough for a team with title ambitions? Who do we get if he is let go? There have also been rumors about Gallas leaving. If he goes, who must come in to shore up the defense?
The dearth of Arsenal football this summer and the approaching season heighten the anticipation of Arsenal supporters. The departure of key players last season adds to the uncertainty about what the squad will look like. We all have high hopes that the club will seize on the upward momentum created last season to climb higher in the EPL table but new players and the return of long-injured players only add to the suspense.
Thinking back twelve months, Arsene didn't sign any "big" name last term and the team got close enough for a title win. A lot of that was driven by the energy of Flamini. Now that he has left, I think a similar "spark-plug" must be found to keep the team moving forward. Whoever taking over the defensive midfield assignment must be a tireless worker to provide an example and motivate the rest of the team.
For two seasons running, injuries have decimated the front line. Perhaps a solution is needed to address that issue - accidents not withstanding (Eduardo and RvP). Maybe training methods must be changed or maybe more rotation (a la the Reds) is called for to ensure adequate rest. Here I get the impression that even though the squad is big, Arsene is very protective of the younger players by keeping them away from the rigor of the Premier League. The result is that the squad need to be even bigger if rotation is to be implemented. AW has a difficult job balancing between cultivating a large number of youngsters to feed the talent pipeline and not spending large amounts of money every year to keep the team consistently competitive.
Many familiar names are still in the first team. If injuries are not an issue, this squad as it is should be able to cope quite well with the demands of the new season because these players have already proven themselves to be up to the task. The addition of Nasri and Vela should add even more flair to the potent offense which scored 113 goals in all competitions last season. If the defense is strengthened, this team will go places.
Theo Walcott interview in the Guardian, coming right on the heels of being named a personal favorite at Wicked Deflection. Everything is falling in place for the lad.
The first pre-season game is in the bag. I caught the 10-minute highlights on Arsenal TV Online; recommended for all Gooners.
The first goal came form Jay Simpson, with the kind of finish you'd expect from a 20-goal striker. The Londoner Simpson then had the assist for the second goal to Nacer Barazite, whose finish was right off the top shelf. Barazite is a name that is known to the hard-core Arsenal faithful who have monitored the results of previous reserve-side outings; he gets his name onto the teamsheet from time to time. The Dutchman Barazite looks like he could be useful in the first-team squad. Of course, I said the same thing about Kieran Gibbs after a pre-season game last year, and he never made another appearance.
So a goal and an assist to Simpson, and the winner from Barazite. Both from top finishes. The kind of finishing that the first team desperately needs, especially with Thierry Henry now long gone, and Eduardo on the mend, after what had been an up and down start to his time at Arsenal.
But what do you miss if you only watch 10 minutes of highlights? The other 80 minutes. That's why I encourage you to do as I do, and keep up with the Goonerholic blog. We've added the time stamp in the side bar to let you know when a fresh one is up.
Goonerholic spins a yarn about midfielders Aaron Ramsey (an actual bona-fide member of the Arsenal.com first team with the number 16 strip) and Jack Wilshere being the key players.
Ramsey wasn't the only first-team player in there. Goalkeeper Almunia came off decidedly 2nd best for Barnet's opener, and there were others who were more anonymous, like Sagna, Clichy, Denilson, and Walcott.
Who caught Captain American playing in the 2002 World Cup eighth-final against Mexico?
You might want to hit mute before you hit play.
The USA beat Mexico 2-0. Captain America Claudio Reyna had a great game against Mexico. Check out the embeded football video: it's that 2-0 victory in the 2002 World Cup over Mexico.
This piece from Reuters goes some way toward illustrating why the excitement for football at the Olympics is so muted. Some of the players worth watching can't get permission from their club teams to play.
Hleb has left Arsenal for Barcelona. I'm a disappointed Arsenal Supporter. I liked Hleb a lot, and I thought he had a good season last year. He didn't score enough goals, 2, and I predict there'll be plenty of supporters saying "good riddance" as a result, but, for me, he was a big part of the midfield play that so often made Arsenal look so much better than the teams they played.
So now, Arsenal have lost Hleb from left midfield, Flamini from central midfield, and according to some observers, need an upgrade from Eboue at right midfield. It will make the pre-season and early-season games even more interesting, if that's possible.
If statistics are an indication, Ashley Young, who finished the 2007-2008 league season with 8 goals and 17 assists, numbers on par with Cesc's 7 goals and 19 assists, should be the Aston Villa player Arsenal should try to acquire, rather than Gareth Barry. Then, of course, there's Gabriel Agbonlahor, the forward who looked really dangerous when Arsenal played Aston Villa last season. High rollers like Man United and Chelsea take the best players from opposing teams all the time, sometimes, take the case of Sean Wright-Phillips at Chelsea, just to keep them from playing at all.
I'm all for pillaging Villa's first team to bring in both Young and Agbonlahor, but Arsene might be looking at Barry because Arsenal have suffered heavy losses in central midfield with Flamini, last year's starter alongside Cesc, off to AC Milan; Diarra, who only stuck around for half a season, now at Portsmouth; and Gilberto past his prime and perhaps on his way out.
My review of the Arsenal first team only identified Diaby and Denilson as candidates to play with Cesc in central midfield. The open position is for a holding midfielder, and Gareth Barry fits that description. He's received good reviews when he has started for England in that position. He's been playing at Aston Villa for several seasons, and his form has been up and down. He's not a very exciting option, but he might be a good one.
Diaby, shown here in his number 2 kit, is a more exciting option. During his time at Arsenal, he's done nothing to demonstrate, so far as I've seen, that he would make a good holding midfielder, but he can make some great runs forward. He really has a knack for using a little trickery to free up some space and burst forward.
Denilson, pictured above, from what I've seen, could do the job, and he would be my choice. Arsene Wenger hasn't trusted him enough to give him many chances to play, and I think I'd noticed a general trend against him in the consensus opinion of the Arsenal faithful, but I've remained a stout supporter, and repeat my call here for him to be given a chance as first choice in central midfield.
Back to stats, briefly, Paul Doyle took a look at the stats at the end of last season. Arsenal's starting left back Gaël Clichy was 2nd in the league in passing, right behind Cesc and right ahead of Flamini (top three passers being Arsenal players should be no surprise), and Clichy also led the category of intercepted passes with 136. I don't care who you support, it's hard not to like Clichy.
At the bottom of that Paul Doyle article there's a link to more stats from last season. I just noticed that some of those numbers, from Opta, contradict the numbers for Ashley Young and Cesc that I had above, from Actim, at premierleague.com.
Now that Nasri's signed, and taken over the number 8 jersey, recently vacated by Lassana Diarra, Arsenal supporters want to know good he is.
Here's some video of Nasri playing.
Samir Nasri only played briefly for France at Euro 2008. In France's strange game against Italy, Nasri came on as a substitute for the injured Ribery in the 10th minute, and was himself replaced when a France defender was red-carded, and France went down to 10 players. After the red card, Italy scored from a penalty kick, and even though France were a goal down, manager Raymond Domenech wanted to be conservative, and shore up the defense, so he replaced Nasri with central defender (and frequent bumbler) Jean-Alain Boumsong in the 26th minute.
Domenech's credibility was never very good at the best of times, and France went on to lose that game 2-0, but in his opinion, Nasri was a less desirable option than Sidney Govou who started that game, and stayed on when Nasri was subbed off. If Domenech is right, and Arsenal have signed a player who's not even as good as Govou, then Arsenal Supporters will have to keep their enthusiasm in check.
In France's other two games at Euro 2008, Samir Nasri only appeared as a sub against Romania, coming on for Benzema in the 77th minute.
Here's the player's file with French Football Federation:
NASRI Samir
Born June 26, 1987 in Marseille Midfielder Number of Selections for France's A team: 12 (6 friendlies, 4 Euro 2008 Qualifiers, and those 2 appearances at Euro 2008). Number of goals scored for France: 2 Jersey Number: 11
Awards
Finalist of the Coupe de France (2006) with Marseille Champion of Europe with France's under-17 squad (2004)
Clubs
Olympique de Marseille (2004-2008) Arsenal FC (England, since July 2008)
The big hype surrounding Nasri came a little over a year ago when he first broke into the French team (March 2007) and was being compared wishfully to Zidane. The page where I found that You Tube clip said Nasri is the new Zidane. There are any number of so-called new Zidane's, including Liverpool-reject Bruno Cheyrou and Ligue 1 journeyman Camel Meriem, so, again, Arsenal Supporters might not want to get too carried away in their enthusiasm.
His career with France peaked in June 2007 when he was a starter for two consecutive Euro 2008 qualifiers. He was featured, at least in portions of those matches, in Zidane's spot in a 4-2-3-1, playing behind Anelka, and he looked great.
In the category of gossip and rumors, Nasri allegedly doesn't get on well with Ribery, his France teammate, and his former teammate at Marseille.
From my vantage point, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger blew it by not signing Ribery. He was widely considered the best player in the German league during his first season at Bayern Munich, and is usually the best player for France when he plays.
For Marseille last season, with Ribery gone, Nasri had 6 goals and 11 assists.
When I've seen Nasri playing for France, he reminded me a little bit of Cesc, the way he's composed on the ball. Playing for Arsenal, I can easily foresee an outcry from fans, and maybe Nasri himself, about him being played out of position, having to play wide midfield, when his preferred position is as central attacking-midfield. Another possibility is that he'll have trouble getting a game.
Arsene Wenger has been on a bit of a losing streak: not winning competitions, unable to keep his squad together, a burgeoning reputation for underpaying players; I don't see Nasri as the player to make those problems go away, but I hope I'm wrong.
There has been a lot of speculation that Hleb might leave Arsenal, possibly for Barcelona, and that Nasri will be a good replacement. I'd rather see Hleb stay, and see Arsenal use a little more rotation so they can both get games. If Rosicky and Van Persie weren't so frequently injured, the team might be crowded in the attacker/midfielder - type position, but those two can't string together half a dozen games, and Hleb is a great player, so I hope he stays.
Posts
