Project Youth stutters, will Arsenal derail and fail now?

February 28, 2011

I don’t really know where to go with a post like this…

That Cup was probably the most bread and butter final we’ve had since we defeated Southampton a few years ago at Cardiff. We flopped on the big stage and we did in embarrassing fashion. It wasn’t about effort or any of the obvious things people keep pointing to, it was just purely down to two shambolic pieces of defending.

Nicola Zigic is a very limited player, he’s an oaf who if a foot shorter would certainly not be gracing the Premiership. The only way he was going to impact the result yesterday was if he was allowed to cause problems from set plays. Well his chance came shortly after Sagna gave the ball away to Birmingham who won a corner. The set play into the box was calamitous and amazing considering how many were involved. Koscielny lost Johnson who flicked the ball on. JD somehow mananged to lose the tallest man on the pitch who nodded past the flapping Chezzer.

All Arsenal’s progress defensively came spiralling undone when it counted.

Arsenal responded with a roaming Jack Wilshere run that ended up with him hitting the bar. Moments later he set the ball rolling for Arshavin who cut the ball back to Robin. The Dutchman was on hand to volley into the far corner. The Arsenal end erupted with noise. Could we be on our way to our first final win of the last 5 years?

Sadly it wasn’t to be. The second half never really kicked off. We stuttered with our play never truly breaking into full flow. Samir Nasri caused the most problems, in particular with a long ranger than was dealt with in apparent world-class style by Ben Foster.

Birmingham were creating as well. Fahey hitting the post. The big worry came for me with our substitutions. We took off Robin Van Persie and brought on Nik B, which really didn’t work. Then we withdrew Andrey Arshavin for Chamakh, which also didn’t work. The two players who were most likely to do some damage were taken off and replaced with two players who probably drew a cheer from the Birmingham end.

I was staggered that Rosicky wasn’t removed, he’d been absolutely awful all afternoon. What purpose does he serve the team these days?

Anyway, the writing was on the wall, Obafembi Martins of back flip notoriety came on and you sensed something could go off. His agent has been trying to get him a move to us for the last 15 years, this was revenge time. A ball looped into the box, Koscielny went to clear it, Chesney came out to catch it, the Frenchman missed, Chesney froze and the ball hit him, bounced to the Nigerian who was there to slot home the simplest of winners.

What a joke.

Everyone in the ground looked on open jawed. Pig sick. We knew it was over. There was no one left on the pitch who could save us.

The final whistle blew and we’d been beaten in the easiest cup final you’ll ever likely to see an Arsenal team involved in.

What are the ramifications of this now?

From a defensive perspective what we saw from Chesney was a touch worrying. He clattered Bowyer early on in a  Lehmann-esque rush of blood moment, he dithered for the first goal and it looked like poor communication for the eventual winner. The fact is, we called for his inclusion in the team so we’ll have to live with the mistakes he’ll inevitably make as he grows up in the hard and fast world of top class football. I’d suggest he is a bit more humble in his interviews going forward, I feel he’s putting unnecessary pressure on his shoulders with some of the things he says online. He did make some smart saves yesterday, but mistakes like those in the big games will lead to worries about pressure and whether he can handle it.

Oh for a bit of top quality experience between the sticks eh?

Kozzer has been doing very well of late, the mistake he made was pretty poor considering he wasn’t under any pressure. He’s great on the floor, not so good in the air and he does always seem to have a Senderos moment in him. Yesterday showed that he has a long way to go if he’s ever going to live up to the premature Paulo Maldini reputation he’s gained from many Arsenal fans over the past month. Tommy Vermaelen can’t come back quick enough, can he?

Games like yesterday weren’t lost on attacking impotence, they were lost because we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. I’d have liked another aerial specialist in the defence. Someone like Samba or Wheater would have done nicely because we really struggle against the aerial bully boys, even with JD in the side. Still, no signing in the January window would have saved yesterdays game.

The hardest thing to stomach is that a team so full of attacking verve and spark is completely lost without Cesc Fabregas. No one seems to have that killer directness when he’s not in the side. It really does make you fear what would happen should he leave for pastures new this summer. Sad thing is, performances like that will only embarrass the Spaniard. We need to show Cesc we’re a top side with or without him. Losing to Birmingham is poor however you box it up.

Was Wenger as bold as he could have been yesterday? I didn’t think so. I thought Rosicky in the middle of the park was a poor decision. If you’re selecting on form, the Czech shouldn’t be anywhere near the team. He done virtually nothing in most games he’s played this season and he’s certainly not capable of opening up defences like he used to. I’d have preferred Diaby or Nasri in the middle.

At least with the Diaby you have his height and the 50/50 chance he might have a storming game. I also felt Wenger’s subs lacked killer instinct. He took off the two players capable of turning the game in a second and brought on two cloggers. That for me wasn’t good enough. Ok, he’s protecting his players, but what will the cost of that be long-term now we’ve lost? Will resting Robin for 20 minutes be worth it if the team fails to respond because of the morale sapping Cup Final loss? Only time will tell…

We’ve been here so many times before. 1 bad result has often been enough to destroy our season. Could it happen again? What are these boys made of? Who is there, in that team, that is capable of lifting the spirits? Jack Wilshere has all the swagger of a future captain, but does he have enough experience to pick the boys up on his own? As fans we can wallow in self-pity, we can worry about what is going to happen, but we’ve got to get out there against Orient on Tuesday and support them 100% and hope for a response of epic proportions over the next month.

The feeling outside the ground was not a nice one. I was accused of being a Wenger apologist, so you can imagine how angry people were. These views weren’t expressed by jolly come lately’s, these were views expressed by fans who follow the club all over the country. However well we think we’re doing this season, beneath the surface there is a simmering fear amongst most fans that things are going to go horribly wrong like they have done for the past few years. We’re only ever 4 games from being out of everything, our season is teetering right now.

The boys either man up, stand up and make their attitudes count. Or the curl up and die like a bunch of pathetic over paid wannabe superstars.

It’s as simple as that for me. We have it all to play for now and as fans, we have a duty to back them in the ground. This is either going to be a turning point for the good or a turning point like one of those miserable Greek tragedy things.

I’m numb today… I’m hoping to snap out of this by lunch time. There is nothing as grotty as losing in a Cup Final. I’m mentally hungover. I’m pretty sure the beer hasn’t helped. I’m pretty sure the curry I nailed at midnight didn’t help. Still, we’ll get over this… we’re in as many competitions as United now.

Good luck Gooners… stay strong, keep your phone switched off, Spurs fans are on the loose…

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Posted by Pedro

Arsenal have been pot-less for 6 years, this afternoon we’ll put that right!

February 27, 2011

…Kay Sarah Sarah, whatever will be will be, we’re going to Wemberly, Kay Sarah Sarah!

So who the hell are Kay and Sarah? Well I don’t give a monkey’s, this is Le Grove’s first Wembley final and we can’t wait!  We’ve been begging the manager to put a strong side together for the Carling Cup and this season he’s finally done it, and guess what, we’re in the final!

It used to be called the league Cup and in 1993 Arsenal became the first team to win the Cup double, so it meant something then, I don’t remember losing to Swindon, but I do remember losing to Luton in that same competition, and I also remember winning it against Liverpool, and they never lost when Ian Rush scored first, well they weren’t counting on Charlie Nicholas were they!

So this competition used to mean something to Arsenal, and even when we lost to the chavs we still had a host of stars in it, well who cares, the boss is taking it seriously now and I am going to my first NEW Wembley Cup final and I can’t wait, we are finally going for some silverware.

We’ll start as rightful favourites but Cup finals often throw up surprises so we must be careful not to take them for granted, Luton still rankles!

We need to get in their faces and chase down the ball if they get it, keep the ball and pass them off the pitch, then let our forwards have it, if he starts with Arshavin, Robin and Nasri, I expect a goal fest.

If Song can keep his shape, stay in his own half and not get booked early then he will control their attacks, if Diaby plays and doesn’t give the ball away then we will have the power to over run them and let them know they won’t get away with their bully boy tactics.

The defence in full flow are as good as any defence under George Graham, and now I’m not worried about the panic we used to see, I put a lot of that down to our new wonderboy Chezzer, his family are coming over from Poland so I expect him to shine.

Make no bones about it Grovers, today we go into battle, it will be a war and we have to stand up and be counted, it reminds me of a time long since gone. 1066.

Their was a tribe of Vikings from Norway and they went by the name the Berserkers, a name from which our word berserk came from, these were nutters the Vikings often used as shock troops because they had no fear and kicked the shite out of opposing armies (teams)

They had no class and many believe they were on drugs (Black pudding and tripe) they did quite well until they came over and met the silky skilled Saxons (Arsenal), under King Harold (Wenger) Well needless to say they threw everything at those heroic and handsome Saxons and tried all their dirty tricks and unfair play, but the day was carried by the good guys and they won 4 nil.

Oh and yes, they also smelt bad, like a 4 day old rotten fish shoved up the rectum of three week old dead sheep in the middle of a heatwave in a nasty hot country somewhere where no-one washes.

Then the nasty ginger haired northerner was sent back home with his runners up medal and sacked shortly after they got relegated (Fergies mate).

The moral of the story is beauty and skill will always win over ugly, dirty cheating Northerners.

Today Arsene Wenger and his team will show the footballing world what it has to look forward to for the next 10 years.

Go Arsenal and do your duty, your fans expect, this is your time, this is our time and this could be the start of the greatest season ever witnessed in World football, it starts today, good luck and bring us back a trophy!

Follow the day a Pedro manned twitter account! Pics galore! @LeGrove

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Posted by Geoff

It’s Captain Robin for the Cup final, at last, a fitting vice captain! Come on Arsenal!

February 26, 2011

I really wish it was Cesc, not because he is world class and we need him, not because he said win it for the fans not me, but because he is the closest we have to a Mr Arsenal, for me he has become the Tony Adams type of Captain we have been lacking, for me he is the real deal and my heart goes out to him, I hope when we beat the Brummie bullies tomorrow, he comes out and lifts the Carling Cup with Robin.

So one more day to go Grovers, one more day to fulfil our destiny, win this ‘and the floodgates will open’ as many, including the manager say. Me, I believe winning breeds confidence and if we do we can push on, I don’t even want to think about anything else, so for the next two days this blogger has his head firmly in the Arsenal sand.

How will we play and who will we play? This is my guess, if all are fit.

Chezzer

Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy

Wilshere Song Diaby

Nasri RVP Arshavin

This team will tear them a new ‘R’ sole, Diaby will be the one and not Rosicky, for me he is the right choice if he fulfills his promise, he also owes us one after costing us 2 points against Newcastle and for acting concerned after he kicked John Terry’s head in, that wasn’t cool Abou, not cool and not clever.

We are now solid at the back and we aren’t playing ManU, we are playing a bottom side with two ex gooners and a circus freak in their side, show them no respect and chase every ball boys, let’s win this in style, let us that are going enjoy the day early, don’t put us through what you did against barca! (nail biting I mean!)

Tomorrow will begin in a boozer on the way to Wembley, it will end in a boozer in Upper street celebrating with any gooner still standing, why Upper street? It’s trendy, near my office and it’s in N1! Any N number will do, I can’t wait, the only problem with going, is not seeing the TV coverage, but I’ll sacrifice that to be back at Wembley winning a cup, the last time I was at Wembley was watching Tony Adams captain England in the last ever game against Germany, the last time I was there watching Arsenal was with Pedro in 1998 when we we won the FA cup and Anelka scored, hmmm happy days, let’s hope we do similar tomorrow!

There are reports out there that Nasri has signed a new £26mil 5 year deal, if it’s true, get in on the official site and give the team a lift, good going if it’s true and sure to keep Cesc around!

Have a great day Grovers, tomorrow is what we have been waiting for, some silverware!

See you in the comments!

Follow the day a Pedro manned twitter account! Pics galore! @LeGrove

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Posted by Geoff

Toral-ably boring story | Arsenal report a loss (GASP!) | Vote on your centre mid!

February 25, 2011

It’s a double Arsenal blog here today as I’m handing over to Geoff to manage the weekend’s build up. Enjoy!

Sorry, I’m really struggling to get as excited as everyone else about yet another 16 year old in our ranks. Barcelona have come out and said they find it immoral that we’re poaching youngsters from them and I find it hard to disagree. Fair enough they nab 8 year olds from round the world, but let’s be honest, it’s not quite the same taking a ripened youth player as soon as you’re legally able to flash a big bag of money at them.

I know people will point to them trying to nab Afobe and Aneke, but honestly, does anyone think they truly thought they’d get those two?

‘Senor, would you like to join our youth set up?’

‘Err, what language do you speak over there?’

‘Spanish’

‘Mate, do one’

I love being English and ignorant, the national fear of a new language is something we should be thankful of with our youth players.

We can point to their failed pursuit of Cesc but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what they do to destabilise our players, they’ve still got to pay £60million to prise them away. They paid us a load of money for an ageing Overmars and Petit, they took Hleb of our hands and they gave Thierry a good couple of years. We don’t do badly out of them.

As Arsenal fans we get bent out of shape about a lot of things, but the main gripe we’ve had over the last ten years has been that Chelsea and City have bought success (the latter are close). I’m not sure how we can be so smug about what we do with the kids? Aaron Ramsey isn’t wearing an Arsenal shirt because of his love for Arsenal, he’s wearing an Arsenal shirt because we offered him 4 times what United did.

We’re the Real Madrid of the under 21′s.

If you base your success on grooming young mercenaries, it’s very hard to complain when the big karmic cycle comes full circle and bites you in the Arse-nal. I’m not saying don’t sign these player, I’m just saying that whichever way you look at it, the way we go about it is wrong.

Still, football is a dog eat dog world… except we’re eating puppies.

Anyway, it looks very likely that Arsenal will be embarking on a tour of Asia, Japan is the destination we believe. Who told you first? Yep, it was us. I guess Japan works out nicely, it appeases the bank balance, it gives those crazy Japs something to scream about other than that David Beckham Brylcreem advert that must be getting old and it means Arsene Wenger can sink a few Kirin’s with his old Sumo wrestling buddies.

I had no news on the Cesc injury yesterday, Pam wasn’t playing ball. It didn’t matter though, Arsenal.com ruled him out for Sunday but they reckon he’ll be ready for Barcelona. I did wonder last night whether it worth risking him… why?Well…

1) The Premiership & the Champions League are a higher priority

2) If he lasts 20 minutes in the final, that gives Birmingham a huge boost

Theo is obviously out now and there are the long termers in Vermaelen and Fabianski who won’t be available.

Sunday is going to be interesting, who now slots in alongside Song and Wilsherre?

Nasri: The obvious candidate to play in the middle is the in form Frenchman. He believes his best centre but all the evidence points to the contrary. I think he disappointed there last year in the Champions League and I feel his pace and power is more beneficial outwide.

Arshavin: The curve ball choice would be the Russian. His tight control, ability to pick out a pass, have a shot or dribble past people makes him a contender, the trouble is, does he have the engine or mental attitude for a final?

Rosicky: He keeps the ball ticking with his intricate passing, he works tirelessly but when it comes down to the crunch, is he the man to deliver the killer pass? Will he ever have a shot on goal?

Diaby: On his day, he is a central midfield destroyer. His long rangy legs can pull a ball out of a huddle of men, his mazy runs are hard to track and he has a great finish when he fancies it. Trouble is, for every great game, there are generally 3 bad ones. He’s been injured and for me, he doesn’t merit a start. That’s never stopped Arsene before though!

Those are the 4 choices, knowing my luck, he’ll probably opt for Denilson! Get voting and stop it from happening, Arsene Wenger’s selection depends on you!

Finally, a bit of finance for you…

Due to all the factors laid out to you a couple of weeks ago… lack of player sales, the property boom finishing, 17 lavish contracts drawn up and weak commercial deals I can reveal via the AST that Arsenal are expected to announce a small interim loss next week. Now, this isn’t anything to work yourself into a panic over and it doesn’t mean that we’ll do the same in 6 months time. It just means the first half of the year has been more of a struggle as most of our cash will be about in the second half of the year.

Anyway, you heard it here first. A  big thanks to Tim Payton and the AST for keeping us all informed! For the full details, read AST report.

Pedro

Cesc and Theo miss the Carling Cup final but fear not, Diaby has made himself available

I have to say it does amuse me that a top player like Ramsey and a swash buckling prospect like Lansbury can’t get near the team and in Ramsey’s case needs weeks and weeks of comeback games.

Yet Diaby, the most injured player in Arsenal’s history gets back in the minute he deems himself fit, what gives? I have always rated him highly, he is a player that has immense skill and is a big lad, but he became a marmite because he infuriates in equal measure, for instance, he was man of the match against Newcastle, then he stupidly gets sent off and costs us a win, then goes to France and tells the world he will succeed Vieira, then he gets a thigh strain, and our sources say it’s in his head. Yet the minute he declares himself fit, he’s straight in, me I would sooner have a player that is fit and raring to go, I think Lansbury and Ramsey should get their chance.

I feel so sorry for Cesc and we will miss him big time, I expect Robin to lead out the team but Cesc should be, it’s his team and his time, I have to say this recurring Hamstring is becoming a worry, how do you cure that? Is it something that will always flare up like a groin strain or can it be fixed?

What happened to Vermaelen, every time Wenger mentions him it’s 3 weeks? Is he coming back this season Arsene?

Finally I would like Arsene to sort out Nasri’s contract, it’s all very well bragging that Eboue has just extended his contract but we don’t care, get Nasri tied down and brag about that, that’s what we all want.

Cesc, he should be leading out this team on Sunday, Cesc if you are reading this, you and Theo will be missed big time, let’s get in the other two finals to make up for it!

Have a great days grovers, countdown begins.

Geoff

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Posted by Pedro

Arsenal Injury nonsense | Squillaci a great buy | Stoke taught a lesson

February 24, 2011

My oh my, there is nothing quite like waking up to a morning knowing you’re going to have to lavish yet more praise on your favourite player. I took time out to say something nice about the Frenchman yesterday and as happens in all religions, you do something nice and you are rewarded with something nice… immediately. This little comment here…

‘so this is also a great opportunity for Squillaci to show that he is in fact a good defender.’

… could prove to be the defining moment in our season.

The team lined up exactly as I suggested it would with Nik B taking centre stage for once. The game opened brightly, Theo Walcott was found in space early on, he let off a rasping shot that nearly blew the back post from its foundations. Moments later, the Englishman found himself through on goal again but his tame effort was dealt with. We had our heads up and Jack Wilshere was combining well with Cesc to really open up Stoke.

The fans were incredibly vocal about that scoundrel they had playing at the back.

Ryan Shawcross, is a ‘tanker’ apparently?

Nik B found some space in the box from a corner, he controlled the ball, chipped a half volley into the box, Squillaci back tracked on himself and nodded home a poachers header! A super goal from a defender you’ll all agree has been nothing short of Baresi-esque this season!

Well done that man!

Anyway, it didn’t take long for bad news to strike. Cesc pulled up with what looked like a tight hammy, he walked off to rapturous applause, Andrey Arshavin came onto the same welcome. I haven’t heard anything from Pam on this injury yet, what I will refer you to is my match report after Braga when she told me it wasn’t that serious because he didn’t pull up. Think about how obvious it was that Samir had hurt himself? Maybe Cesc just felt a tightness and didn’t want to risk anything…

Andrey kept play ticking over and Arsenal reverted to controlled football. We held possession without ever really threatening. It is worth noting that Nik B’s work rate was exceptional and he made some telling passes. Stoke still took time out to remind us that actually, they’re a very tactically aware team. A few of their long throw in’s caused a bit of panic in the box but the defence and Chezzer dealt well with them. John Carew also fired off a fierce shot that our keeper was more than equal to with a long outstretched save. He was met by a chorus of…

‘Arsenal’s number 1, Arsenal, Arsenal’s number 1′

Haven’t heard that song in a while… the crowd must know something eh?

The second half wasn’t anything to really write home about. Andrey pulled off an outrageous piece of skill when he controlled a long ball perfectly, then chipped the ball inside his man, cut it back to Theo who fired embarrassingly wide. Despite a great opening 10 minutes, Theo really wasn’t at the races yesterday.

He was chopped down by a late challenge, which the dithering referee didn’t deem a foul. He went off on a stretcher. Again, I’ve heard all sorts of stories about his injury from all sorts of people who wouldn’t know. If I get anything solid late, I’ll tell you. I’m hoping this could be a case of Theo being a big girls blouse (I love that phrase, like a big girls blouse is the epitome of femininity).

The game petered out towards the end, there was a nervy freekick to deal with, thanks to Denilson and a last-minute corner that we defended excellently.

The game finished 1-0, that was a fantastic result and the red and white army go marching on!

Conclusion

I felt the team put on a strong showing all over the park last night. There wasn’t really a weak link anywhere. The team fought hard for each other, I didn’t get the sense we were bullied and we ground out a very good result. At times I did feel that people had Sunday’s game on their minds, we were a little casual about winning the game 1-0 and I know plenty of people in the ground felt that way. Still, if you can play like that and not concede, then there isn’t much to complain about.

Sunday is coming up fast now, we’re a possibly a couple of key players down but we’ve got to accept that injuries at this time of the year are inevitable. They’re collateral damage, providing they’re not too serious, we’ll deal with them. Sure the 2nd team on its own is weak, that’s not to say all the players in the second team are poor. Andrey is more than capable of coming into the side on Sunday and having a blinder, Samir can slip into the middle and Nik B proved last night how good he can be when he’s given a run in the middle of the park.

Also, a big shout out to the defence. They played as a unit yesterday, communicated fantastically all night and earned a great clean sheet. Squillaci was very good… that performance will give him belief.

Everything is starting to come together now. We’ll take Orient apart next week, we have the advantage against Barca, we’re in the final of the Carling Cup and we’re now only a single point behind United.

A win on Sunday could give the whole team the belief they need to carry them through the last few months of the season. Alex Ferguson once said all players are tired at this stage of the season and that it’s mental attitude that gets you to the post first. I totally agree. This team feels like it’s grown up and that it’s ready to deliver. Pound for pound, there isn’t a better squad.

I’m hoping we’re going to break in that virgin trophy cabinet this Sunday…

We’ll start previewing the final tomorrow!

See you in the comments!

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Posted by Pedro

Exclusive about, errr, you! | Staggering salary offer | Key injury update

February 23, 2011

Good morning Grovers! It’s cold, it’s wet and we’re playing Stoke. In fact, looking out the window, it looks like the scummiest team in the North has brought down it’s dour miserable atmosphere along with it just to hack us all off. Still, apparently we can’t complain, we’ve made about 50 more fouls than them this year.

Tonight we host them at the Emirates, it’s the game that was postponed before Christmas and it’s an absolute must win for us. I’m pretty sure we’ll have far too much in the locker for them and hopefully the boys see this one as a bit of a personal vendetta and they truly do dish out a spanking.

There’s not really much to look out for with Stoke. They’ve got a few players in their side that are hugely underrated. Ricardo Fuller is certainly one of them, factor in John Carew and Robert Huth from set pieces as well. They’ve also added Jermaine Pennant to their set up. If Stoke pick up a freekick anywhere near the half way line onwards, they pack out the box and the ex-Arsenal man fires a looping ball just before the 6 yard box, this either baffles the keeper into a mistake, confuses the defenders or the ball rolls in off someone’s back.

They’re also a massive threat from throw in’s. Rory Delap, with a pass rate completion of about 12% had to be good at something. His bullet throws have caused even the very best keepers nightmares over the years. Having played against many teams myself that adopt this tactic, it’s not so much the height that is the problem, it’s the alien trajectory that is hard to compute. It kind of floats at pace and it doesn’t have any spin like a corner. The keepers at Arsenal have all the problem set plays loaded up onto ipads, hopefully they’ve been studying the how the set plays go off and practicing them in a real world scenario this week.

Make no mistake, this is a big game for Chezzer tonight. It’ll also be a big game for the midfield. We must try and avoid throws in dangerous areas but most importantly, we’ve got to avoid clumsy fouls all over the place. They’ll be looking for them so we’ve got to stand them up opposed to chopping them down. Song, that text was aimed at you…

I’ve got a good vibe for this one. We’re without Koscielny and Robin. Pam the tea lady spoke to me and she laughed off any suggestions they were long-term absentees. Both the players should be fit and raring to go for the final, they’re just being rested due to a bit of tightness. In fairness, this game is perfect for Nik B to strut his stuff in the CENTRE. You’d have to say that if there is a weak area of Kozzer’s game it’s in the air, so this is also a great opportunity for Squillaci to show that he is in fact a good defender.

Chezzer

Sagna Squillaci JD Clichy

Jack Song Cesc

Theo Bendtner Nasri

It’ll be tight out there tonight, make sure you’re vocal if you’re a fan because the boys will need you. This will not be a pushover!

In other news there has been wide spread panic online about the state of Samir Nasri’s contract. We’re getting into the Flamini zone and that £80k a week deal still hasn’t been penned. Now, I’m confident that the in form Frenchman is going to sign. He seems really happy whenever I’ve seen him interviewed, his girlfriend lives over here and he’s settled in a side that looks capable of winning things. However, we’ve been here before. I don’t understand why a player would be stalling on signing something that could more than double his wages? Every week it goes unsigned is another week of lost earnings?

Lets hope Sammy has more scruples than our last Marseille import. I do worry that mega money offers from Chelsea, Madrid and City might sway a young man. Hopefully Wenger’s puppy dog eyes look will do it. That thought has just made me feel a bit queezy…

Did you hear about new Barcelona signing Toral? According to sources close to Barcelona, we offered him a staggering 35x more than they did to join us. It’s highly amusing to hear their fans moan about us financially doping the youth systems. A bit like getting a lecture on public finances from Gordon Brown. It’s great to nab these kids but I’d like to see us pursue senior players with the same vigour going forward.

Finally, as it’s finance countdown week, I thought the following information from my best friend Tim Payton at the AST would be interesting. There is always a lot of hotly contested debate when it comes to the  £127.6million that sits in our bank account as of 1 June 2010.

Well people, I can sadly announce that this is but a mere accountancy trick. The time period coincides directly with the period the clubs coffers have been swelled with the money from people paying off their massive season ticket debts to the club. So basically, kind of like someone judging your wealth after you’d been paid a years salary on the 1st of June.

From that money, we pay salaries, bonuses and expensive other costs. Apparently staging a match can cost up to a £1million a game and of course, there is the hush money Denilson, Eboue and Diaby are paid.

My exclusive for today is this though. Last year, cash reserves had risen significantly, apparently this is because last summer, Arsenal fans were far quicker to pay for their season tickets than ever before, to the tune of a whopping £14million! I’m not sure whether this was because of a sound North London month at the races, or perhaps because many people gave up their tickets last year and the newbies were just showing off. Either way, it’s good to know that if you lend a gooner a crisp £10 note, you’ll get it back in good time!

Also now that the property is debt free, all flat proceeds are cash in the bank, but not in accounting terms.

There is some good news as well, when you take out all furture costs plus the debt servicing requirements, we’ve got a cool £30million to play with… so I make that a large percentage of an Andy Carroll, or possibly an Eden Hazard? Anyway, we can give you more details on that when the interims are announced.

You will have to tune into the AST – via Le Grove – for that next week!

It’s all give, give, give here…

So there we have it, a beautiful end to a miserable Wednesday morning post. Remember, if you’re one of those nerdy types with a twitter account, you simply must follow us @LeGrove and do make sure you give @TimPayton from the AST a follow. He’ll be announcing all the finance details as they happen next week. He’s the most informed online source on that front on the web.

Enjoy the night and if you see someone with a begging cup sitting out in the pouring rain, don’t give up your money for them, it’s probably a Stoke fan!

See you in the comments!

P.S. I have a couple of singles going for a very fair price tonight. E-mail in if you’re interested. Also, that Arshavin video might have found a new home somewhere else.

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Posted by Pedro

Arsenal Revenue Gap: Consider it plugged. £21million sound good?

February 22, 2011

So, it’s many fans favourite time of the year next week, that time we all become very excited about how well we are run as a club. As Arsenal prepare to announce not so record profits, it’s time to ponder the what the ramifications of keeping our star players last summer will be.

Whichever way you look at it, Arsenal fans are paying the most on average for their tickets out of any club in Europe. We’re smack bang in the middle of one the richest Cities in the world and we’re paying a premium to support out club. I guess it’s to be expected. Big Corporates like Barclay’s, Goldman Sachs and Nike have seats at our ground, we’re revered as one of the most exciting clubs in the world and our salt beef bagels are amongst the best, you’d think that would be enough, right?

Well, the AISA e-mail went out yesterday and they reckon the club are refusing to deny that there could be a season ticket price increase in the offing. The AST have confirmed that our profits will be down this year because we’ve refused to sell a marquee player, so basically, something has to give if we’re to generate enough profit to fund lavish £8million players every summer.

So, I’ve been doing some digging around to get some fair numbers I can punch into a snazzy spread sheet. In 2006 United put their season ticket prices up by an average of 12.3%. I think that’s a fair figure to start at considering they too are servicing a monster debt. Difference with them is their debt is mostly serviced through ridiculous commercial deals. Our smaller debt is serviced by piss poor deals by the same standards.

Anyway, here is how it would look (I accidentally put 12.6% in the box, if you think I can be assed to change all the figures below because of that you’d be mistaken).

Price Hike Season tickets

So Arsenal could increase their revenue by£12.76million with a 12.3% increase in our ticket prices. On average, that would hit the average fan by £7.86 a game, or £212.76 across the season. Coupled with the increase in VAT, the eye watering prices we’re paying at the pump and the hike in train fares… well, it doesn’t look pretty.

So what else could we do to raise a little revenue?

Well, how about those poncing away fans who come over and sing loud songs at our expense? They seem to be getting away with things scot-free. Just remember here, I’m using standard baseline costs I’ve found online to give you a flavour, but here is the deal on away fans.

Away day revenue

So, in a dream world where under-privelaged clubs sold out their allocations, above is how the ticketing revenue streams would look. We take about £7.5million from other clubs fans. However, delve a little deeper and it seems those buggers are paying far less than we do on average. Surely we’re not giving mates rates to people wealthy enough to travel the country drinking copious amounts of beer and spending huge sums on doing something they can more than afford?

Their average ticket price is roughly £46 compared to the home fans average of £62.

Is that not on or is that not on?

My proposal? Let’s claw some back from the people who come to our ground once a year. I mean, seriously, we’re a great team to watch even if we’re dishing out a spanking. So why not up the price of their tickets to take the pain away from the home fans? You know, like how we should levy foreign truck drivers for using our roads?

Away fans price hike

So a little 36% increase on away ticket prices gives Arsenal an additional revenue of £2,658,000 a year. That’s looking very good to me. That almost has Diaby’s salary covered, just about £10k a week short of it in fact.

If you think that’s where I’m going to stop, you’d be so damn wrong.

Here is my next great idea possibly stolen from a German club and maybe a little bit from the London Underground Oyster card system.

Apparently, so I’ve heard anyway from a trusted source, Bayern Munich operate a cashless system for away fans. If you want to buy beer, you have to pay the money upfront and you’re sent a beer card. You stick £30 on it and you’re good for the game. Apparently the cards are valid for 2- 3 years, then the money is absorbed by the club.

This generates a lot of additional revenue because there isn’t a dedicated following to all the away games and one would suspect most card go in the bin or get lost over that period. A similar thing happens with Oyster Cards on the London Transport system. There was £30million in unused ticket credit as of 2010 for the calendar year previous.

Arsenal should do that same for away fans to our ground. I know Micros have the capabilities and they do all our tilling systems. So below are the crude numbers. Imagining that away fans are heavy drinkers, and even the tightest fan will end up buying at least 3 drinks during an away game, here is the maths.

Beer Revenue

So right there, through drinks, we’ve raised potentially another £2.5 million taking our total additional away fan revenue to £5million. Pretty impressive. If we knocked that off the home fans ticket, that would reduce our season ticket rise from 12.6% to about 7.5% which would cost us about an extra £126.25 a season.

Far more palatable.

Could be a possibility. People pay £54 to see Chelsea play and we are much more of a pull.

However, I have an even better idea than that. Why don’t we bring back terracing? Here are my assumptions…

  • We could rip out the seats and triple the away fan intake and price accordingly.
  • I’ve lowered the drink spend to £7.50 per heard opposed to the £15 per head in the previous example
  • I’ve lowered our away ticket price to £36

Beer + Terracing = Good times

So all of those factors combined give us an additional revenue for £21million, doubling the opportunity you’d get from the maximum season ticket price increase the fans would allow.

Now, before the finance nerds jump on my back and batter me with their pocket Casio’s, understand that the point here isn’t that my numbers are anywhere near bang on, the point is that Arsenal have many top minds working behind the scenes and I feel going for the obvious revenue generator… sticking it to loyal customer… is a little bland considering the salaries they’re all raking in.

If there was no such thing as a sell out for the away fans, we could easily increase the amount of people through the gate. It would get the atmosphere rocking at the Grove and it’d show that we’re visionaries in the world of football. Remember, terracing alone has never been the cause of tragedies, just how they’re managed.

Anyway, some food for thought! How would you improve revenue at the club?

Let me know what you think in the comments section!

P.S. The AST have another round of questioning for a meeting they have coming up, if you’ve got any financial question or just questions in general you’d like asked to Ivan Gazidis, drop them in the comments with a twitter style hashtag #Questions and we’ll see if we can get them answered. I’m hoping to get some info on that £100million we have sitting in the old cash reserves this week, so stay tuned! Oh, and here is that Andrey video under a different guise.

P.P.S. You might have heard about the tragic earthquake that has struck Christchurch over in New Zealand. The death toll currently stands at 65, with many more feared to be trapped. if you’ve got some spare cash, please send it there way via the Red Cross Donations site. Thanks to Ralphy for sending over the information!

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Posted by Pedro

How’s your foot Arsene? Does it feel shot again? Arsenal Match Review

February 21, 2011

It’s tough writing match reports like these because firstly I understand the importance of resting players at this stage of the season. Don’t forget, we’re the only club in all 4 competitions. Also, don’t forget that for the first time in 68 years, our injury list only boasts two players. One of those is long-term and the other just likes being there because he’s keeping himself fresh for next year’s Balon D’or awards when he’s a Barcelona player.

Resting players, whatever your thoughts, is inevitable.

You also have to look at last night from Wenger’s point of view. Most of the players he stuck out there are or have been internationals. The team he was playing were about 54 places below us in the league. We SHOULD have been able to turn them over with a second string, in fact, I reckon our Carling Cup kids team would have done better.

However, I also think you have to ask a man of the Wenger’s experience to look at how this second string team have fared against weaker opposition when given a chance this season and to make an assessment based on those games. We dropped points against Wigan, we drew against Leeds and struggled against Huddersfield. We also managed to lose against Ipswich. All poor teams, all second stringers playing, all poor results.

The first half was a bit flat, sure we dominated the possession statistics, bragging about that is a bit like me bragging about beating my 7 year old cousins at literally every game we play… they’ll learn.

The one notable chance of the first half came when Kieron Gibbs did well to work himself into the area, he pulled a shot across goal where Chamakh was on hand to turn the ball wide from 8 yards. An exceptional miss by anyone’s standards.

Our moment came early in the second half, the 53rd minute if I’m being precise. Nik B had been trying his damnedest to get a shot off, the ball came back to him, he pushed into the box, cut a cross back to Rosicky who nodded it into the far corner for a great headed goal.

Arsenal began to turn it on from there, Andrey Arshavin doing his best to get on the score sheet only to be denied by the outside of the post. You never feel a game is over unless we have more goals than there are seconds on the clock. This sad fact came home to ruin the Nando’s I had planned later on.

An Orient player by the name of Tehoue, who looked like the standard bad guy in most 80′s cop films rolled onto the pitch earlier, he hussled the ball through Miquel and Gibbs, Squillaci couldn’t catch him, he fired his shot at Almunia, the Spaniard, to my surprise couldn’t get down for it, they were level.

How f*cking embarrassing.

I couldn’t even say it wasn’t expected… when it’s our second string, we never win.

Resting players is fine, but surely there is no point in doing so if you are doubling your cup fixtures every time? If the players on show are not good enough to turn over these lowly teams, isn’t it about time we recalled some of the players on loan who would be good enough to despatch these teams?

I don’t want to go on a witch hunt here, but the usual suspects were making the usual errors. It doesn’t matter how good Song has been this year, when he’s teamed up with the toothless Denilson in the middle of the park, it’s a recipe for flat unimaginative football. He’s a very average player and I think it’s about time Lansbury or Ramsey are brought back in from their loan spells so they can have a go. The Brazilian has had 150+ games to make a mark and he’s regressing. Just because you’re a young footballer, it doesn’t mean you’re entitled to an upward pattern in your career curve. Although it does mean that you’re entitled to far fatter contracts than you’re deserving of.

Nik Bendtner is not and never will be a wide man. He’s a big powerful central striker. Would Liverpool put Andy Carroll on the wing? Not a chance! Chamakh has been nothing short of awful over the past 2 months. He hasn’t scored since November and his contribution to the shooting tally has been embarrassing for a striker we waited 18 months for. I’ve watched him play out wide for Bordeaux, why don’t we stick him wide instead of Nik, his skillset is far better suited to that position.

What about Miguel? Well, bar looking like the Spanish love child of the Karate Kid, he did look very assured at the back for large parts of the game. He had size on his side and he’s very good with the ball on the floor and he didn’t allow himself to be shoved around. However, should he have been playing a game of such magnitude? Was he 50% at fault for the goal? Possibly… it’s by the by. I just don’t think we should be giving an 18 year old his debut in a match as important.

Move over Henri...

Almunia was given a game again, after 2 minutes he’d already spilled a shot. Should he be saving a strike that is directly at him? In my humble expert goalkeeping opinion, he certainly should have. The exceptional trait of the Spaniard’s career has generally been making errors that he could pass off as non-errors. He never bails you out of a tight spot, he’ll never keep out anything difficult and he’ll always, always look like he’s just been told that one night stand in Magaluf did have herpes.

I’ve no doubt we’ll be debating whether he should have saved it in the comments today. Ask yourself this, would Chezzer have got down to that? Of course he would have.

What’s the point in getting hugely upset though? This is the year of the replay. Sure Arsene has shot himself in the foot again by fielding players he shouldn’t trust, however, I’m sure we’ll bring them back to the Grove, we’ll infuse the team with a few first teamers and we’ll tear Orient a new one. They’ll walk away with a million pounds extra revenue, their fans will have a nice day out and we’ll progress into the next round of the FA Cup where we’ll face Manchester United.

Now, that game is of the UTMOST importance. Wenger made the mistake of throwing this game a few years ago when we lost 4-0 at their place. That had a dreadful impact on the rest of our season, so this is his chance to rectify his mistake. We need to beat United, we can’t give them any sort of morale boost that could kick them into a 10 game winning streak. Regardless of how you see the FA Cup, beating them would ensure us safe passage to the final and hopefully a cup double. If we lose that game, we stand to galvanise their belief and derail out title chase.

Arsene, you have a lot of thinking to do before that one.

Right Grovers, I’ll see you in the comments!

P.S. Follow us on twitter @LeGrove , please be warned, there will be tweets that are supposed to be taken light heartedly, I know some people struggle with that concept. Follow us on Facebook, I don’t spam it and it makes the authors at LG feel special to have lots of friends. Finally, never miss a post and subscribe to our daily e-mail, we only share your details with the finest cheap meds companies on the world wide web.

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Posted by Pedro

Arsenal look to batter the Orient and keep up the competition for competitions.

February 20, 2011

What Arsene Wenger said was the problem with no competition, is players get in the comfort zone and that’s bad, the problem with too much competition is players get demotivated and that’s also bad, so he feels we are in a good place right now.

That’s all well and good if the players you have are great players, well we have a few that are not so great, we also have a few that are often injured and I believe that is as bad as the previous paragraph.

He also said this. ‘The attitude and the commitment of the team to deliver is sensational. I said that in September when everybody questioned us, absolutely everyone. It is important we keep this commitment and desire in every training session. The real pride will be when we look at each other at the end of the season and we have given absolutely everything to go as far as we can. I am confident this team will do it’

Arsene, I am still questioning it, there’s no doubt we have talented players, Cesc, Wilshere, Arshavin, Theo and Nasri were all sought after when we bought them, that’s no surprise, players like Sagna, Clichy and Djourou were real finds, Chezzer in goal has been the keeper we have wanted for years (and we’ve been telling you that all season), and Song has improved no end, but had we added a few decent players in the summer we could have been 12 points clear and you know what? It wouldn’t have killed us. The time for crowing boss will be in May, not now.

Anyway I have to admit I was very wrong about Kozzer, when he joined  I said on the blog that I hoped he would be the new Keown, he was rubbish for half a season but since Christmas has been a revalation, what to do when Vermaelen comes back? No problem, that’s the time for rotation, either could step into the DM role as well, so we at last have options.

We also have Frimpong and Coquelin to return in the summer and I rate both highly, I really do.

A few have said that Wenger didn’t get many prizes for tactics against Barca, Arsene and Pat, brilliant, you got the tactics spot on and made 2 great substitutions against Guardiola and we applaud you both, it was also the first time I’ve seen Pat Rice get out of his seat and shout, well done Pat, it was great to see and took me back.

I feel we need a big win today to give the boss more options in the coming weeks, it’s time to see if Denilson, Rosicky, Bendtner and Squillaci are worth keeping, today they ought to be fighting for their Arsenal careers, I hope they have blinders, I really do, I want to see every Arsenal player do well, though why Lansbury is out on loan is beyond me, his goal celebration yesterday was as good as it gets. Time to bring him and Ramsey back.

So enjoy today, I hope we score 6, but don’t forget it’s the FA Cup, don’t forget Crawley yesterday and spare a thought for the chavs, they’re out, I wonder how many of them start supporting Man City now!

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Posted by Geoff

Orient tomorrow, let’s turn on the style Arsenal, pot a few reds!

February 19, 2011

That witty little quip was of course aimed at Barry Hearn, the Orient Chairman, a very nice man I have to add, with a very dodgy handicap, yes I have played golf with him, I gave him 5 strokes and he shot a 79 on a very tough course, I’ll stop short of name calling, but dubious for sure. And yes, he did win.

He is though one of life’s nice guys, so I hope we put them out of their misery quickly, both for his sake and of course mine, after the Barca game, I’m not sure I can go through another 90 minutes of that, my ticker won’t have it!

The Orient skipper Scott McGleish, who despite his name was born in North London and is a Gooner, in fact both his sons are Gooners as well, so it will be a mixed day for them, but at 37 he will have his work cut out.

I hear Djourou is going to play after his back recovery, but Diaby has a thigh strain, I don’t want to be negative but he signed at the same time as Theo and Adebayor and has spent most of that time in the treatment room, now forget his ability, but there does come a time when you have to call it a day, we could have a half decent player in there that would be an asset, instead of waiting for one that may be one day if he could stay fit and un-suspended.

I think Wenger needs to bring back some of our loanees, we are still in four competitions and we are getting thin on the ground so I would bring back Lansbury, Ramsey, Thomas and Afobe, then we can see what they’ve got.

Well we should be out of one competition soon anyway, the Carling Cup is just around the corner and after that a much needed rest.

This will be the team tomorrow, although I wouldn’t play it, I think he will.

Almunia

Sagna Djourou Squillaci Gibbs

Denilson Fabregas Rosicky

Bendtner Chamakh Arshavin

I would try and keep the nucleus of the first team, winning breeds confidence and familiarity fosters togetherness and too many changes can screw all that up, he will make changes though because we have some tough fixtures coming up but we shouldn’t take this game lightly, they will be at home and we don’t need a replay, remember Ipswich, Leeds and Huddersfield? We had trouble with all of them.

Go for the jugular Arsene and put this one to bed early, get a 4 goal lead so we can all relax!

Have a great day Grovers tomorrow should be a hoot!

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Posted by Geoff

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