Arsenal: Injuries Continue to Torment Arsene Wenger’s Side

Seven games into the new season and signs of last few years' problems begin to emerge again. It has always been a worrying factor, a most of the times deciding as well, that Arsenal’s players drop like flies with injuries throughout the season.

So far, nothing has been done to change that. Currently, Arsenal, along with unlucky Sunderland, are the team with most injured players in the Premier League.

Acoording to the assembled injury table of physioroom.com, here’s how it looks:

1. Arsenal – 9 injured players: Gibbs, Fabregas, Vermaelen, Diaby, Walcott, Van Persie, Frimpong, Bendtner, Ramsey.
2. Sunderland – 9 injured players: Gyan, Richardson, Ferdinand, Turner, Campbell, Mensah, McCartney, Gordon, Meyler.

Further down the table, here is how things look for Arsenal’s rivals:

5. Tottenham Hotspur – 7 injured players: Corluka, Kaboul, Gomes, Defoe, Dawson, O’Hara, Woodgate.
7. Chelsea – 4 injured players: Benayoun, Kalou, Lampard, Bosingwa.
13. Manchester United – 3 injured players: Hargreaves, Valencia, Carrick.

Things look grim in that department, and have looked so for several years now. Hope that something will be done to fix that before it becomes a major problem is the only thing left for the Gooners.

The full table can be examined here.

Arsenal: Four Things We Learned From the Gunners' Visit To Anfield

he first brick of Arsenal's newest Premier League campaign was laid yesterday in front of a uncomfortable crowd of Liverpool fans jam-packing the mythical Anfield. The match was going to be tough and all the players and managerial staff knew it.

As the game progressed, an image, differing from the one pundits and fans had in their minds, began to form.

With a pretty evenly distributed arms between the two teams, the skirmish finished in justified stalemate, 1-1. The boredom of the result was dispersed by the affairs that unfolded in front of the- content-to-see-the-beginning-of-the-new-season football fans.

Four events, especially, pointed the direction of a truth-seeking gaze – truths that may just well lead to repairing the past mistakes or foretelling the outcome for the teams and new season.



An Average Arsenal without Captain Cesc Fabregas

After Wenger's statements in early preseason preparation, it was hardly surprising to see that two of the most important players for Arsenal were not going to take part in the season opening game at Anfield. Leaving Robin van Persie on the bench, and team captain Cesc Fabregas completely out of the squad, Arsene Wenger stayed true to his intentions to give them a good rest after a tiring World Cup.

That inevitably affected Arsenal.

At times, despite the creative flair of Samir Nasri, and Andrey Arshavin, the Gunners looked unimaginative and dull. Simple short passes and persistence through the centre, especially in the first half, painted the picture of a team trying to keep possession but lacking sharpness to capitalize from it at the same time.

The final touch was missing. The distributions to the lone striker upfront were predictable and easy to deal with for the experienced Liverpool backs.

Someone with vision was missing to wreak havoc in the Liverpool defense with a well executed through or high balls. Someone exactly like Fabregas.

The team needs him, for his absence was once again felt on the field. Despite grabbing a valuable point in a difficult encounter, the staff must work throughout the season to ensure that the team will not fall into the void of relying on a single player.



New Signings Ready for the Premier League Challenge

Arsene Wenger is known for his accurate assessment of talent and right qualities when looking for possible team-upgrading players. Maybe he has succeeded in doing that yet again.

Maroune Chamakh looked like exactly the type of weapon Arsenal needs for its attack. His energy and fearless commitments to clashes provided another dimension for the Gunners's game. And in one such case, it proved to be crucial for the final result.

Maroune lurched forward to meet Pepe Reina for a 50-50 ball, won it, and following Reina's mistake, evened the result near the end of the game.

The other signing, Lauren Koscielny, also put up a good official debut. His performance was tainted only by the second yellow card he received in injury time.

Near the end of the first half, he felt what was like to play in the Premier League when new Liverpool addition Joe Cole made a committed tackle that missed the ball, landing on the French defender's right leg.

If it hadn't been the protecting pads, Koscielny's career at Arsenal could have been brought to an abrupt setback. But he found strength to go back and finished the game with a resolute facial expression.

While it's too early to conclude whether the new signings are a success, they must be credited for their good start. “A piece of English football; we are not afraid to taste it.”

Once again, well done, Mr. Wenger.


The Gunners Face a Familiar Season of Pain Yet Again

The excessive use of force to disrupt the technical game of the men clad in red and white has turned into something of a trade mark for the opposing teams. And how can you blame them? It has worked miracles so far with its efficiency.

The tactics look bound to stay the same this season. A single game has passed, and we already see the signs of concern.

Joe Cole's tackle on Lauren Koscielny and Steven Gerrard's sweep on Maroune Chamakh are just the beginning. The Arsenal players have to toughen up in order to deal with this problem. But that is not the only solution.

The referees must be more strict and able to differentiate between commitment and just pure ill-intended aggression. Something they have failed to do on numerous occasions in the previous years.

One thing is certain: the Gunners will have to test their pain threshold once again, and hopefully, this time, they'll come out on top with no major casualties.



Scoring Goals Out of the Blue Can Make the Difference

We all know that the difference between a good team and the champion is that the champion will score important goals even when they do not deserved to. How many times have we seen Manchester United or Chelsea play bad and be victorious?

This is exactly what happened with Arsenal on Saturday.

That's not to say they didn't deserve the draw, but they were certainly heading for a defeat had it not been the lucky Chamakh intervention that lead to the mistake of Pepe Reina.

If Arsenal can sustain the spirit they showed against Liverpool, luck just might turn the tide this season.

One game – a tough one – one point. It's not what someone would call a disappointment.

Premier League High-Tempo Style: Arguments For and Against

In the last several years, one league has stood up with its dominant philosophy on the European international stage: the English Premier League.

Why? The answer is simple: higher tempo of playing, the superior fitness that stems from it and the mentality to never give up until the final whistle is blown.

But looking into the prevailing style of this so enormously successful league, we see it has disadvantages as well as advantages.

What are they, you may ask?

Here they are:

Pros

Firstly, it must be noted playing at a higher-than-usual tempo requires almost perfect body fitness. Faced with a strenuous battle with himself, a football player must be well prepared beforehand. The importance of a successful outcome is thus placed on the preparation, or the training.

Undeniably, footballers from the English Premier League are fitter than their counterparts abroad. Constantly pushing for perfection, their bodies begin to resemble those of athletes rather than the bodies of people who simply exercise regularly.

They can’t be blamed. Modern football in England requires for a player to have a totally fat-free body with muscles well used to continuous energy-consuming work.

Alternatively, if one stops to think for a second, it makes perfect sense. The ramifications of the use of such peculiar style are beneficial, both financially and in terms of popularity, for English football.

The higher dynamics of this style will make it much more appealing to eye. Hence, the popularity worldwide will rise significantly.

Another ramification comes from the fact when people recognize this superior fitness of the footballers, they would expect them to fully fulfill that potential. Referees, as part of that group of people, do not differentiate from that opinion.

They allow a more direct, more physical style of play which will lead to less interruptions of the game. I could easily, with a hand on my heart, say that I watch more football – the quintessential meaning of it – in England than anywhere else in the world.

Apart from that, the dynamism of football that is played and the superior fitness the players develop in result of it allow a distinct advantage to English teams on the international competition stage.

How many times have we seen an English club progress to the final stages of an international competition – such as the Champions League, for example?

I am in no way saying that this is the only factor for that to happen, but it certainly is up there with the rest of the defining ones.

However, like everything else, the dynamic style of play has its disadvantages too.

Cons

It has been proven that accession of fitness is in direct ratio with the increase of testosterone in the blood. Testosterone is the hormone responsible for muscle and bone growth, but it also affects the mood.

Most often the more of the hormone someone has the more signs of aggression he will show.

Yes, better fitness, coupled with an approving nod from the referee, equals a more aggressive style of play.

This is one of the main disadvantages of the direct style of play that is worshiped in the Premier League. Not one or two ghastly injuries have we seen following a little more than usual aggressive encounter.

That exertion to the maximum is often the biggest causing factor for lighter injuries even. During every season, in England, an astounding amount of injuries are sustained by players. Especially near the end of the season when almost all have been squeezed out of the athletes and their bodies begin to crumble beneath the cumulated stress.

Despite defying all believes, the human body is not meant to take so much stress, a fact proved annually by the increasing number of injuries that occur.

Another negative effect that stems from the direct high-tempo style of play is the type of battles that occur on the field. A more dynamic game, in which the players move at all times, especially if organized pressure is applied in order to get the ball back in possession, would benefit battles in the sort of one versus two players rather than one versus one. With football being a team game, players must cover for each other, help each other.

In this way, if they have the sufficient fitness to keep burning that energy, we, the fans, would be most likely supplied with one player trying to out-battle the two or three facing him.

This, nonetheless, put the emphasis on defensive football and also restricts the usage of technique and tricks as they are rendered almost useless.

Drawing the Line

Football in England has become a huge commercial business in which rarely the health of footballers is taken into consideration. The satisfaction of the fans and customers has become more important.

High-tempo direct style of play has something tantalizing about it that lures people to enjoy its pure tension-charged atmosphere and pay more and more to watch their favorite teams exert to the maximum while they sit comfortably in their chairs.

As long as money is pouring into the kitty of the FA, they wouldn’t care if a player has sustained an open fracture, a head trauma, or anything else as ghastly.

The philosophy they had undertaken has brought the FA popularity. The English League is one of the most popular leagues in the world. Along with that, its clubs reap success in international competitions. But looking at the big picture, it’s obvious the philosophy is still a work in progress.

Ultimately, the style which the footballers will use on the field is directly influenced by what the fans want to see. Is that good or bad? It’s subjective.

Chelsea’s Devastating Home Defeat Revives Rivals’ Title Hopes

Today, at Stamford Bridge, we found out just how important really Petr Cech is for Chelsea. The myth that Chelsea is different than the others teams from the Big Four when it comes to the presence of more than one key players in the quad was screamingly busted.

We witnessed just how important the role of the imposing goal keeper of Chelsea is, just how much influence he has on the defense, and how different the team looks without his presence.

Mancester City played it really smart. They used counter-attacks.

In one of those, it was diminutive Carloz Tevez who scored to level the earlier opener of Frank Lampard. The first half was Chelsea’s; well, at least when it came to statistics.

Not much time passed after the second half had resumed and another illogical thing happened: Craig Bellamy took full advantage of his speed on yet another counter-attack by the Blues (light blues) and made Cech’s unfortunate substitute Henrique Hilario look bad for the second time in the match.

Petr Cech’s substitution should have done better—there was no doubt.

Seventy-six minutes of statistic-defying ended when Juliano Belletti deservedly earned a red card by tripping Gareth Barry inside the penalty box. He was the last man – a red card was mandatory. Tevez further strained the nerves of the Chelsea players by materializing the penalty—3:1 for Manchester City.

The final part of the match was basically a demonstration of frustration and inability by the Chelsea side to counter the unfavorable fate that befell them on the day.

Michael Ballack’s nerves gave way, earning him another red, after a hack on double-scorer Carlos Tevez which brought the desperation of his team-mates to a maximum. It was then absolutely logical for Manchester City to score a fourth. Bellamy was the one who did it.

In the end, Mike Dean decided that two red cards were too much and presented Chelsea with a penalty. Too little, too late though. The final result 4-2 is just what Arsenal and Manchester fans (both big clubs) have been waiting for.

In case Manchester United and Arsenal succeed in their challenges this weekend, they will be one and three points, respectively, from the currently-in-pain leaders Chelsea.

The defeat was surprising, but predictable, in a way.

The statistics were firmly in favor of Chelsea, whose Stamford Bridge was like an unconquerable fortress up until now. Other teams have managed to defeat Chelsea in front of their own fans only three times in the last 97 games—defeats at the hands of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City.

These are numbers that defy the events of today, but numbers that cause both pain and joy to football fans—pain to Chelsea’s fans and joy for those who may see this as an opportunity.

It was also predictable because of Petr Cech’s absence. The stability and calmness that he offers his team-mates will be hugely missed. Chelsea’s player can only hope for his speedier recover for them to keep their title-challenging chances alive.

Chelsea must now try their best to pick themselves up after this serious blow to their confidence, and Arsenal and Manchester United have all to play for, once again.

The title race is not over. It has just began.

Will Arsene Wenger’s Avowal Lead to Changes in Arsenal’s Team for Sunday?

What a wonderful thing the truth is. It favors change for the better. What better basis to build on than the truth?

Arsene Wenger has taken a step towards building on the truth after frankly admitting he carried a significant part of the fault for the defeat at the hands of title-challenge rivals Manchester United.

The Gunners were defeated 3-1 in front of domestic crowd, but that was not the worst part for them. The worst part was they were tactically outplayed by a team that consists of, more or less, players of similar mould when it comes to talent.
Wenger stated on the club’s official website:

“I cannot say I got it right when you lose 3-0 [against Chelsea] and 3-1 [against Man United], I have to say I got it wrong,” he said. “But in terms of team selection, I’m not sure.

“We lost the games and I am responsible for the results of the team. When you lose a game, you feel responsible. Of course, I want our fans to go home and be triumphant. When they go home and cry you feel responsible.

“I don’t feel we have been overrun, I feel we have put ourselves in the position where we are open to counter-attacks.

“We lacked a little bit of patience as well. Even when we came out at 2-0 at half-time, we were in a rush to go forwards. Let’s get back to 2-1 and then we see. Even at 3-1, we could have equalized in the last ten minutes”

It must have come as a shock to many football fans to see such a statement coming out Wenger’s mouth. The man has been known as being stubborn to a fault, apart from being optimistic to a fault.

Wenger’s admittance of past mistakes, gives the Arsenal fans some hope that he will probably tweak the team’s approach for Sunday’s game against current table leaders Chelsea.

Hope is also partially boosted by the fact Abou Diaby, whom is having a fitness test today, is likely to return to provide wider options in the midfield for Wenger. He can inject variety in both attack and defense with his box-to-box runs, strength, and size.

However, not Diaby but a more defensive style of play with the wise usage of counter-attacks, similarly to what United did in their Emirates conquest, could turn out to have bigger influence on a positive outcome for Arsenal.

Chelsea is a dangerous team which has a hefty number of potential match-deciding players—Frank Lampard, Diddier Drogba, Joe Cole and others— but a strong, organized defensive display rather than the usual of style of play may prove to be the more adequate approach to the game.

Potential problems might stem from individual errors of some of the Arsenal players – errors, however, which can be compensated by a strong team-work effort.
If Arsene Wenger goes into the game with the sword pointed at the right direction, the edge might as well sink into Chelsea’s heart in the end.

Otherwise, Arsenal will find themselves trailing by nine points and in a very difficult—and once again disappointing—position.

Come Sunday, Wenger will have his chance to redeem himself against another tactical mastermind—this time Carlo Ancelotti. He would certainly hope to postpone similarly baring acknowledgments of inferiority, which go inseparably with football, for other less-fortunate times.

Arsenal: Can Manchester City Result Provide the Wake-Up Call?

Just when you thought Arsenal are on their way to materialize their dream, they are thumped hard on their bottom once again. In a closer encounter than the result suggests, Arsenal lost their second match of this season’s campaign.

Goals were scored by Micah Richards, Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Manchester City, putting the match beyond doubt. A mild consolation was provided for the Gunners, in the form of two goals, by Robin Van Persie and the returning Tomas Rosicky.

Despite the surprisingly positive start of the season, this match further fuelled the doubt s that there are problems yet to be solved in Wenger’s side. What was even more worrying on the day was that the Arsenal manager allowed himself to be tactically outplayed by his counterpart.

His recently discovered 4-3-3 formation seemed worryingly ineffective. While, the reasons for that cannot be fully credited to the fine work of the opposition. It was more than obvious that Arsene would look for domination on the wings, placing the tall and imposing players, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby, there.

They are not known for their speed, and that was Wenger’s first mistake. Micah Richards outplayed the slower Diaby and neutralized him. On the left side, the Danish striker was also struggling to create chances for his team. Eduardo was left on the bench, when it was obvious that a faster player would do a lot more damage on the wings. Wenger did not see that soon enough.

Another mistake Wenger made, was when he decided to use the team’s most creative player on the right side of the midfield. Why was that needed?

Cesc Fabregas, provided with the right helping hand, can dictate the tempo of the game from midfield. So why place him on the right side and, subsequently, isolate him from the game?

He had a lot less to do there. Alex Song was preoccupied by giving a helping hand to the defence, and Denilson barely had what can be called a decent game.

The midfield looked unimaginative and dull.

Something that could not be said when Andrey Arshavin was playing. Fabregas has the quality to change that, but on that day his strength was not used by Wenger. And that was mistake number two by Wenger.

Now, while a result of 4-1 might indicate a dominating game for the winning side, it was far from that. The two sides were not that far away from each other in terms of quality.

The difference lay in defence.

The recently criticized side of Mark Hughes for their lack of defensive resources may have proved their critics wrong. The partnership at the back between ex-Gunner Kolo Toure and recent purchase Joleon Lescott looked as stable as a rock. They easily neutralized all attacks from the air. On the other side of the field, their colleagues dressed in red and white looked shakier than ever.

The impression of Thomas Vemaelen and William Gallas collaborating well, that they managed to create so far, was stripped of its substantiality after this game. They were too far apart from each other, could not communicate well, and allowed the oppositional attacking players to out jump them far too many times.

As if to not stay behind the lone man restricted by the two posts, Almunia, also had a terrible game. He could have saved half of the four goals that he conceded. The first one would not have even gone in, if it was not for diving Almunia’s back to bounce the rebounded off the post ball inside the net.

But it’s easy to be critical of the goal keeper when the defence has not been playing well. Almunia will share the responsibly of this loss with the rest of the team.

One thing was made certain: Arsenal still have a lot more work to do to materialize their dream. It’s far too early in the season to discount them from the title race, but conceding four goals cannot be called top quality too.

We are asking ourselves the question: what went wrong in Manchester? Is Wenger going to ask himself the same question and benefit from the answer?

Time will tell.

Decide Already; Is Arsenal Capable of Winning the League or Not?

The Premier League has started. There were some surprising results as well as there were some expected results. Interestingly enough, there was one match that contained both of those things.

It was as surprising for some; expected for others. Arsenal won by 6-1 as guests to Everton. Now, the result might have been unexpected by some due to summer problems that Arsenal supposedly had.

The pundits talked and wrote millions of words; they gave thousands of opinions, explained, discussed and argued how Arsenal is about to fall apart or how they are still found wanting. The club was labelled as the fourth-place-to-give-away team this season. They have been considered as title rivals by very few.

In contrast to another team from the Premier League—Manchester City, which was also hugely debated throughout the summer, spent mind-blowing sums of money to buy players; Arsenal sold two of theirs and brought only one.

For some, that signalled the capitulation of the London club; it signalled the transformation of the club from a top European football club to a mediocre one, annually fighting for a place for the European tournaments; it signalled its inability to contest with the big teams.

They were dismissed as title contenders even before the season started. But let me ask why?

If the answer of this question is because they will get a lot of injured players sometime along this season, then I will ask you how you know that.

A lot of people have learnt that history does not lie. Arsenal has not won anything for four years now. Wouldn’t a statement saying that they will fail for another year be considered as a safe bet?

The truth is that it is exactly that.

It is a safe bet; it is safe because it has already happened in the not-so-distant past; it is still fresh in our minds; nothing has been changed, and failure for Arsenal expected to happen again.

But let me try to disrupt that up-to-date notion.

During the previous couple of years, Arsenal has been labelled as a young team without the needed experience to adequately compete in the tournaments. Well, four years of drought have passed. Aren’t the players who were considered green two years ago more experienced now? Have footballers like Denilson, Alexandre Song, Gael Clichy, and Abou Diaby matured since then?

Logically, the answer must be yes.

So, why are then Arsenal being dismissed from the title chase when the same team, only more inexperienced, finished with 84 points two years ago (82 points is usually enough to win the title in most of the cases)?

Some will say because Mathieu Flamini was in that team then, and Aliaksandr Hleb. But Song and Denilson have matured, and Andrey Arshavin cannot be disputed as an adequate replacement for Hleb.

If you remember, it was the year when just before the season Arsenal lost their captain and legendary player Thierry Henry. What were the pundits saying then? Did they expect such a performance by the Gunners? No, they didn’t.

Pundits have argued that Arsenal do not have the needed depth to challenge for the title. While this may be true, there was another team that lacked depth, and still was able to win the title—Manchester United.

Many will remember the period of the last season when Sir Alex Ferguson had to use youngsters like Jonny Evans, Rafael Da Silva and versatile players like John O’Shea, when his first-team starters Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Nemanja Vidic were either injured or suspended. But still Manchester United won the title in the end.

So why is Arsenal being dismissed? That’s a team who has the same manager who took them to three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and all that happened not so long ago.

One thing should be remembered. This is football. Sometimes it defies logic, whatever that logic it might be.

The “invincibles” were not the “invincibles” before they became such.

Who could have known that Arsenal would complete a season undefeated.

Surely, the football pundits had not expected that. But it happened.

A new season of the Premier League has started. Twenty teams will battle for one title. No-one should be dismissed, especially a club that has won it in the not-so-distant past.