Final Push

So here we are. Four games to go, and everything still up in the air. Our noisy neighbors languish in fourth, while we sit nervously in third, and Chelsea have somehow pulled off a win against Barcelona. I have never quite been part of such a close season, never mind the roller coaster ride that has brought us to this point.
When last season was reaching its conclusion, there was huge disappointment, but also relief that it was finally coming to an end. Summer would bring about changes. It did. Obviously, not very good ones. However, the way the team has grown together is something that has been pleasant to watch, and in the last two months or so, we went on a run that saw us convert a 10 point deficit into a 5 point lead over Spurs. We seemed unbeatable, and even showed the Oil Sheikhs that money, indeed, cannot buy you class. However, a direct consequence of reaching such dizzy heights is that the success often gets to your head. That is exactly what happened against Wigan.
The Emirates has become something of a fortress in the second half of the season, and to be outplayed by a team fighting for relegation really isn't something we can dismiss as a "blip". To use a (very) old expression, there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, and since top four is our trophy, we cannot take any opponent for granted.
We have tough games ahead, starting tomorrow - Chelsea at home, followed by Stoke away. These are obviously key games in the scramble for third/fourth. Win these two, and I think we're home. Lose, and this could be exactly like the end of last season, merely condensed into four weeks.
The Chelsea game, as I see it, is a must win. And there should be no reason why we can't. Chelsea fought like their lives depended on it when Barcelona came to visit on Wednesday. Credit to them, they came away with a win. The good thing for us is that they were knackered, chasing Catalonian shadows for much of the game. Roberto Di Matteo has said that he will rest a few players on Saturday. On top of that, David Luiz is injured and Ivanovic is suspended.
Chelsea now believe that they can protect their first leg lead at the Camp Nou, and so maybe, just maybe, they won't attach as much importance to the game as we do. We need our key players to perform, and I hope to God that van Persie overcomes his minor goal-drought. One goal in five games is definitely poor, especially when you consider that that one goal was a penalty. Of course, this is not to criticize Robin, for he is quite clearly the player of the season, and I can wax lyrical about his importance for hours. My point is, he needs to step up.
Theo Walcott is another big game player who needs to produce on Saturday. He is someone who relishes big occasions, and is at his best when he has something to prove. His battle against Cashley Cole will be key not only to our attacks, but also in keeping Juan Mata quiet (if he starts).
A player who will be missed more than anyone else, though, is Mikel Arteta. He has come to define consistency for us this season, and has been exceptional. He adds a certain composure to the midfield that was missing last season. Well, as the footballing Gods would have it, he's out for the rest of the season. He's been the ideal partner for Song in the double pivot in midfield. He allowed Song his forays forward and covered brilliantly. If that was not enough, he produces the occasional screamer, like the winner against City. Much like his hair, his possession stats are as close to perfect as you can possibly get. He's attempted over 2000 passes this season, with a success rate of over 90%!
His absence, then, certainly leaves us with a bit of a crisis in midfield. Personally I doubt that the boss likes Benayoun to play in the center. Song and Rosicky are certain to start, but what of the missing third player? Ramsey has come under immense criticism for his lackluster performances in the last couple of months. He has been abused both on the pitch and off it, and obviously that cannot be good for his confidence. However, I feel he has a lot of talent, and that will never go away. He's only 21, and has gone through a lot in the last year or so. If coming back from a horrific leg break wasn't enough, he lost his national team coach and has had to deal with the pressures of captaining his country. Not very easy, all that. And even then, he never shirks responsibility in a match, always asking for the ball when he thinks he can contribute. Perhaps he's trying too hard. He needs to relax on the pitch, and let the game flow naturally. I expect him to start on Saturday.
The other question mark is on the left wing. Who starts? Gervinho, Chambo, or Yossi? This is a tough one. Gervinho, for some reason (maybe fitness? confidence?) hasn't started for a while now. The Ox hasn't started in a while too, for whatever reason. The only player who has started with some regularity is Yossi Benayoun. He has developed a good understanding with Rosicky, and they offer a dynamism in attack that we don't have with Gervinho. Gervinho is a direct player - an out and out winger. Yossi constantly cuts inside and switches positions with Rosicky, giving variation to our play down the middle. However, he is ineligible to play against his parent club. So, given how cautious Arsene is being with AOC, Gervinho seems to be the one who'll start on the left wing.
At the back, we certainly welcome back Laurent Koscielny from a two match suspension, and how we need him! He adds so much to our defense, and has been one of the stand out players for us. One of the best defenders in the Premier League this season, maybe even Europe, we need him to keep Torres quiet.
Whatever the team, we will have to come out all guns blazing. We cannot afford a weak start, and certainly not an early goal (an early Chelsea goal, that is). If there's one thing Chelsea can do, it is to defend. This will definitely not be an open game like the one at Stamford Bridge was. Chelsea were a different creature under Villas-Boas, but have reverted to their old, boring, defensive, effective selves under Di Matteo.
The crowd has a major part to play, and it seems the Emirates has finally found a voice this season. Adversity brings out the best in us, doesn't it! It's been a crazy season, and as it heads into its final stage, we need to be behind the team one hundred percent.
No matter what, it'll certainly be an interesting match, but a lot depends on which Arsenal side decides to grace the Emirates pitch - the complacent, defensively frail one that lost to Wigan and QPR, or the determined, resolute, creative one that won against City?
Here's hoping that it is the latter, and here's to three points!

A Little Bump

As Mike Dean blew his whistle after fervently checking his watch again and again to make sure we didn’t have a second over the allotted four minutes, there was a sense of disappointment. 1-1 against a Fulham side who have really not proven themselves to be anything more than a low-mid table club this season, no offence, is not something anyone was expecting given the kind of run we’re on. There were some whispers of a drubbing too.

Well, this game was anything but. From the start, we looked sluggish, never quite running after the ball or showing that extra bit of energy to win it back. Of course, this was a direct consequence of the match on Wednesday against Dortmund, where we produced a brilliant performance to beat the in form German champions. The players were understandably tired, and only two from the eleven that played midweek were rested – Koscielny and Gervinho. I didn’t really mind that, since rotating too much would disrupt the rhythm of the team. But then, this is what you get if you have a solid, first choice starting eleven. You can’t expect them to play two matches in a week at full strength. That is where one notices the importance of having a deep squad, and rotating the team well enough.

To be honest, we don’t have the quality to do that often. One never knows what kind of mood Arshavin is in (we took that gamble today, and it failed. He was terrible), we have players who are good, but lack that extra bit of spark that has always differentiated the average footballer from an Arsenal player. I’m not naming names, but do we have a set of team who can do the job at Norwich away, and another set who can beat the German champions three days later? No.

And maybe we can’t have two complete sets with the disparity in the kind of money available to City or United and to us. But we can certainly afford to bring in quality reinforcements – ammunition we will need when we lose Le Forehead and Chamakh in January. What happens if we lose Song or van Persie to injury? There are things that I probably shouldn’t ask, but nevertheless someone needs to. Backup for Song is Frompong or Coquelin, and for van Persie is Chamakh or Park. The more experienced Chamakh will be gone in January for everybody’s favorite tournament – the ACN.

Now that I’m on a roll, let me finish my criticism. I assure you I have enough positives to make up! We had the worst start we’ve had in 50 odd years, and there was no reason for us to have that kind of start. I say that because the start is obviously linked to the summer, and we had the worst summer in some time, when it could so easily have been different.

We dragged ourselves down to such a point that we needed an incredible run to get back on track, and we set about doing just that. This unbeaten run, which now extends to 10 games, has been great, but it shouldn’t have been necessary.

Going into this game, we had some serious momentum with us. The key was to continue moving forward – keeping up with all the other teams fighting for those 3^rd and 4^th spots.

Being physically drained out didn’t help – there were a couple of sloppy passes that weren’t sharp enough, and we had to grow into the game. Santos was the pick of the players for me – he has learnt to curtail his forward runs, and is defensively a lot more available now than he was in previous games. I noticed this last game too, where he was still caught forward sometimes, but improved on his defensive duties. Good to see him doing that after receiving so much criticism for not tracking back.

Fulham were trying to slow the game down, and were successful – our best attacks came after winning the ball in deep midfield and playing quickly down the flanks. Walcott was particularly impressive, and he continues his hot streak. Arshavin, on the other hand, was shocking. He wasn’t very interested in the game, and his work rate remains abysmal. He had had ample rest before the game, and should really have been up for it. Instead, he fell in with his teammates and looked as though he had just finished playing a full 90 minutes yesterday. Poor. One wonders how long Wenger will keep him in the squad – a January exit does seem likely at this point, although with Gervinho gone we will need him to perform in that time.

We looked comfortable in possession, but the lack of pace killed us. We couldn’t speed the game up, and were closed down well by a very organized Fulham side. The goal seemed against the run of play, but it was that kind of game. Schwarzer was playing a blinder, and Thomas Vermaelen, while trying to hack the ball clear, only succeeded in rolling it past the diving Szczesny.

This woke te players up a little bit and we started to attack with more intent. The boss made very offensive changes, and ones that tactically made sense to me. Fulham weren’t going to attack a lot, and when they did it would be on the break. So the slow Mertesacker was replaced with Diaby, and Arshavin made way for Chamakh, while Gervinho came in for Ramsey. We shifted to something of a 4-4-2.

The changes worked, and we were pushing hard for the equalizer, with Gervinho being the chief architect of a many a dangerous move. We got our goal, and deservedly so. It came from a Walcott ball that was nodded past Scwarzer by none other than Thomas Vermaelen. We had eight minutes to win it, and the players knew how important it was to do so.

We built attack after attack and there was no doubting the commitment. However, this was how it should have been from the start, not just in the last ten minutes. There was too little time for another goal, and Mike Dean was almost too keen to blow the final whistle.

A word on the referee – it was a horrible game from him. Some of the calls were unbelievable. Tackles that should’ve been called for a foul, and fouls that were great tackles. On top of that, he wanted complete control on the pitch – anyone who appealed to him in the slightest got a warning, or in some cases a yellow card. No surprise, then, that we haven’t won any of the last ten games he has refereed in.

While previous Arsenal sides might have come out and won by maybe two or even three goals, that is just not how this side works. As Wenger put it, this side is less cavalier than the others. We are a solid team who play good football, but nothing too fancy. I have nothing against that.

We need some solidity, and we have that now. It is not too long ago when I would be sitting in my chair, my heart exploding as we struggle to hold on to a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes to go. Now I feel much more confident – in fact I believed that one goal was all we needed today to win, until of course they scored and we needed two!

This Arsenal side has something of a calmness and composure that the sides of the last few seasons did not. Even when we were a goal down, we did not stop believing – we had the belief to keep creating chances and did not panic. I think that is something that Arteta has been instrumental in bringing, along with the return of Vermaelen and the brilliance of Szczesny. We are also a lot more direct, and the over reliance on wing play that was so visible at the start of this season has been toned down.

This point could, maybe should have been three. But it is easy to see the team last season going a goal down and giving up. And I feel we should get used to these “narrow” victories that really flatter the opposition and don’t do justice to the domination we enjoy.

I’m fine with that as long as we keep on winning. It might not be as exciting, but it is certainly more mature. What do I think this side needs? I feel we need an exciting midfielder, and a talented forward to support van Persie. Mario Gotze and Alexandre Pato. Time to stop dreaming, isn’t it?

Anyway, what was important today was to keep the momentum going – we didn’t quite do that, but at least we didn’t completely stop. Now after the little business of the Carling Cup on Tuesday against City, where I expect the boss to let the reserves have a go at it, we resume our campaign for the Champions League places.

Up the Arsenal!

Dreams

It all started with a dream I suppose. Well, not exactly. To paint the entire picture, we must go back to Thursday night. That night, the night leading up to Friday, I did not sleep. One of the many side effects of procrastination is that one often ends up with an intimidating workload to be completed in a very short period of time – but I managed. I was in the groove and by the time the sun was rising, I was done with everything.

After I was finished with classes, my assignments all duly handed in by mid afternoon, I had two options – either to go to sleep, or stay awake. I decided to stick it up and finally sleep only at night so I could wake up in time for the match. For the record, I’m studying in the US, and since this was an early afternoon kick off, for me it meant waking up at 6.45 AM on a Saturday morning.

I was determined to make it, and somehow I managed to stay awake through the day. Then, I don’t know what happened. Somehow I just couldn’t go to sleep. It was terrible. Maybe there is a point before which you must go to sleep, and once you’re past it there is no hope for you. So it was that I went to sleep, like a typical college boy, at 3 AM.

And that was when I had the dream. The only thing I remember was Drogba scoring a few goals for Chelsea and continuing to haunt all Arsenal supporters. It was terrible. For some weird reason, my alarm went off right at the whistle and we had lost. When I took stock of where I was and the fact that the match hadn’t begun at all, I felt slightly relieved. Then came the realization that the Drog was not going to play, and I was even more relieved.

In this state of semi consciousness, I gathered enough strength to reach for my phone and see what was going on. I vaguely recall reading something that implied that Szczesny was making his customary miracle saves, and that our defense was all over the place. So for the next 45 minutes or so, I kept drifting in and out, periodically waking up from some terrible nightmare where we lost 4-3, 3-2, scraped by 2-2, and won 2-1, in what order I can’t remember.

I finally woke up as Walcott scored, courtesy of my recently recruited Gooner roommate. It was a beauty. The way he got himself up and weaved through two defenders, while leaving Cashley in his wake was magnificent. I haven’t quite been his biggest supporter, but if he continues to put them away like that, I’m fine with it.

Judging by the comments on Twitter and the commentary, I gathered that the defense on both sides had been dismal and the attack, ridiculous. I can’t recall when Chelsea had last been 3-2 down with half an hour to go.

Like most people, I could see that this was not over. We were defending with heart, although technically we seemed pretty poor at the back. At the time, however, all I cared about was Chelsea not getting another goal. Somewhere around the 75^th minute I was involuntarily shivering, and no, it was not due to the cold (at least not entirely).

Let me make this clear. I was expecting nothing from this game. I was mentally prepared for us going down at the Bridge, but now that we were leading, the finish line almost visible on the horizon, I had genuine hope of winning it. Typical Arsenal, isn’t it? At that moment, I would have liked nothing more than for someone to turn the TV off, but I sat glued to it. There is something about football that turns us into obsessive people – where we have no control over ourselves. I was screaming at every decision given against us (the ref was as poor as some of the defending), and praying for another goal to make it a two goal lead.

It was only when I was assured of the result and watched and re-watched the highlights that I appreciated the technical details of our play – the swift, slick passing, playing almost on the counter, exploiting Chelsea’s high line, etc etc (much like we did against Barcelona at home). All that didn’t matter then. To be honest, little else in life mattered at that point, apart from eleven players winning a football match. The comforting thought was that I was not alone at all in bordering on the unstable when Arsenal played. There were thousands of people who cared as much, if not more. Somehow that gives it all a special meaning, as though it matters, as though an Arsenal win would make the world a better place.

The goal did come, but it was Chelsea who scored. Of course. And it was Juan Mata who had hit a screamer right into the top left corner. I had my head in my hands, saying to anyone who would listen (and I have a feeling even our neighbours did) that we had bottled it.

Five minutes later though, an incredible tumble from John Terry let van Persie through, who was never going to miss given the kind of form he is in. He Cech-mated the goalkeeper (not the best play on words, I know), and slid the ball into an empty net.

Chelsea were now committing everyone to attack. I had my heart in my mouth when the ball fell almost perfectly for Juan Mata to volley in twice, once with nobody in goal. Two excellent blocks ensured that we survived. Koscielny, who is fast developing into a great defender, was having a brilliant game once more.

Deep into injury time, we scored again while on the counter attack, and throughout the move I was screaming at the team to slow the game down and play keep ball. But when van Persie blasted a left footed shot past Cech to complete his hat-trick, I was screaming once more, rejoicing in the fact that we were almost assured of the three points.

So that was that. We had won, and what a win this was. I won’t say I never dreamed of the result, for I did, quite literally. This, however, felt like another one. A 3-5 result at Stamford Bridge never happens, right?

van Persie had been phenomenal, and Ramsey and Koscielny had played some of the best football they ever had in an Arsenal shirt. What made it more special was that we deserved the victory. There was that feeling of finally having proved ourselves to the world, to all the doubters out there. If a 3-5 win at Chelsea isn’t proof that we’re back, I don’t know what is.

Above all though, it reminded me of how much I love the club. It was clear that every player on that pitch in the red and white loved the club. They knew what the victory meant; they knew what it meant to play for Arsenal Football Club. The players going to the away supporters and saluting them after the game was over proved that.

This is why we do it everyday, isn’t it? This is why we are willing to go through those final 20 minutes of intense nail biting and shivering and praying. It is matches like this one, like the one against Barcelona, when we see the glory of this great club on full display.

It was a magical match that finished in our favor, and for a little while at least, the world is indeed the better for it.

Captain's Game

On Sunday afternoon, we went into another must win game – a game against a struggling Sunderland side that was looking for an opportunity to bounce back. And what better team to do that against than Arsenal? Let’s face it. We have had the worst start to a season in more than 50 years. We are playing a particular brand of football where we typically score a goal, concede one or two as a result of very questionable defending, and finally lose or, if we are luck, draw. Yes, yes, the team is practically brand new, we are without some of our best players, the panic buys need time to settle in, etc etc. The painful truth is, however, that football is cold and cruel. If you don’t play well enough, you don’t get into the top four. As simple as that. All the excuses can be thrown straight into the garbage can. We had the summer to rectify the mistakes from last season and improve the squad. We didn’t. Once the season starts, we have to put that behind us and do whatever we can to stay up there with the big guys.

This was an important game – both in terms of confidence building, and getting points on the board. We fielded a starting eleven that was probably the best we possibly could. Jenkinson started at right back, and Rosicky replaced Ramsey in central midfield since the latter had slight muscle fatigue.

We got off to the best possible start, with van Persie, that Dutch wizard, put us in front with a great finish from Gervinho’s pass. With his right foot, too. The captain had justified his program notes, where he claimed to be completely committed to the club, and also made it clear that, despite media implications, he was indeed NOT living on the streets, and had a roof over his head. Thank goodness for that.

The first 20 minutes were all Arsenal, and one caught not only glimpses, but the entire image, in distinct colors, of the Arsenal we have all grown. We should probably have been 2 or 3-nill up during that period. Captain Vantastic (yes, that was terrible, but I wanted to use it!) was robbed of a goal by the football gods when he took Arteta’s pass exquisitely while turning on the edge of the box, and then attempted the most delightful of chip over the keeper, only for the ball to hit the inside of the post and out. It was as though the spirit of Bergkamp was throbbing inside Robin.

After that, we realized that we weren’t supposed to be this good. The passes started getting slower, less accurate, and Sunderland started to grow into the game. Of course, we were still controlling the game in terms of possession, but well, when do we not? The second goal that everyone could sense coming was not to come in the first half. In fact, Arteta gave away a free kick outside the box about 25-30 yards from goal. It was an improbable distance, but Larsson had other ideas. He unleashed a curler that bent into the top left corner. Szczesny could do nothing about it. Rosicky didn’t even bother to turn and look if it had gone in or not. It was top, top drawer and Becks himself would have been proud of it.

Of Chants, Voodoo, and Curses

Arsene Wenger, at some point in his career at Arsenal, made a deal with the devil. Maybe it was at the 2005 FA Cup Final, maybe the 2006 Champions League final. If it was the latter, however, it didn’t turn out well for us at all. We are so out of favor with the Fortune Gods, it is unbelievable. If losing the match on Sunday wasn’t bad enough, we lost Bacary Sagna for at least three months with a broken fibula. Of course, when our medical team say three months, they really mean he’ll be racing Wilshere for a come back. Ok, maybe not, but you get the point.

I feel happy for Wilshere though – he’s just had a baby, and at least will get time to spend with his little boy. All I hope is that he returns to doing what he does best – no, not unprotected sex – before Archie Wilshere joins the Arsenal academy.

Well, enough dilly dallying – straight to the game now. We were being written off before it even started, with Spurs the favorites to win for the first time in a long, long time. The other talked about point was how we would deal with Adebayor. By we, I mean both the players, and the fans. While the former did their best in keeping him relatively quiet on the pitch, the latter were, quite honestly, disgusting in their attempts to bring the man down. More on that later.

There are so many issues with the club and the team to be addressed that a small, concise summary of the game will have to suffice for the moment. We dominated possession early on and dictated play, although were unbelievably sloppy in possession at times, and made a habit of giving the ball away in dangerous areas. Our defense was stretched quite often (surprise, surprise), but we were saved more than once by the brilliance of Wojciech Szczesny. That guy has been massive for us throughout the disaster that is this season. However, he could do nothing against our defense, which was intent on conceding a goal.

They did. It was Adebayor’s flighted through ball that found Voo doo Vaart, who used his shoulder/arm to bring the ball down and then struck the ball sweetly across goal to finish. Of course, the handball wasn’t given. To be frank, it was difficult for the ref to spot, although it escapes me what the assistant was doing at this point. Maybe he was busy looking up the complicated FIFA rulebook, wondering whether he was within his rights to call the foul, and whether technically it was handball in the first place.

Voo doo Vaart then celebrated with the fans, something that would technically earn him a yellow. At this point he was on one already, and a second would have led to him being sent off. So the goal technically resulted from a handball, and Rafael technically should have been sent off. But whoever in the world cares about technicalities, right? Yes, I concede the rule about the celebration is a stupid one, but it is all the same a rule, and Spurs were very lucky not to be down to ten men.