Everton-Arsenal: A Preview of the Opening Day Match

We have waited a long time for this. The Premier League football, along with its excitement and a world of its own, resume on Saturday, after a long, long summer break of drought, to start yet another season—2009/2010.

Arsenal has the difficult task of meeting last season fifth-place-finishers Everton. The match has a special value to it as a good start will boost the confidence of either of the teams.

Let’s look into both sides just before the sparks start flying on Saturday.

Arsenal is once again tormented by injures, but that does not quite surprise anyone. Tomas Rosicky, having sustained a hamstring injury, will be unavailable for the game. Players that will keep him company tomorrow are also Theo Walcott (back problem), Abou Diaby (groin injury), Samir Nasri (broken fibula), Johan Djourou (knee problem), and Lukasz Fabiansky (knee problem).

Although, many important players will still be missing, Arsene Wenger will count on the rest of his squad, which will include last season’s surprise-package Andrey Arshavin and team-captain Cesc Fabregas, to see off the first challenge of the season. They will receive the more than qualified help of Dutch forward Robin van Persie and the towering Nicklas Bedntner.

Fortunately for the Gunners, Everton are also experiencing problems with injured personnel. Everton manager David Moyes will be void of the services of Spanish play-maker Mikel Arteta, who is out due to ruptured cruciate ligament, Phil Jagieka (anterior cruciate ligament), Victor Anichebe (knee injury), Yakubu (Achilles injury), and Jo (ankle injury).

So, things look pretty even when it comes to the number of important players missing from the first team squads.

Arsene Wenger will probably use the dynamic formation 4-3-3 against the most-probable and more reserved 4-5-1 by David Moyes, which could easily turn out to be something else due to the absence of key players.

Some key battles that could decide the outcome of the match may form between Bakary Sagna and Steven Pienaar, Tony Hibbert and Andrey Arshavin, Cesc Fabregas and Maroune Fellaini.

Arsene Wenger has opted not to use young starlet Jack Wilshere in an attempt to take some heat off him. Speaking for the Arsenal’s website, he said:

“Tomorrow no because he is not in the squad but during the season, yes [he will be involved],”

“On one side people say ‘you are too young, you do not have enough experience’. On the other people say ‘why do you not play people who are 17 and win the league?” said the Professor.

”We are already very young and Jack Wilshere will play a part in our season, but not the whole season. He is 17 years old.
This is the eighth time that the sides meet in the opening day of the Premier League. The Gunners have lost only once to their counterparts on the opening day.”

Most notable goal scorers in the Arsenal side include Robin van Persie, who has netter four goals against Everton, and Eduardo who is shortly behind with two.

Everton has met Arsenal 176 times recording 54 wins, 85 defeats and 37 draws. The last win recorded by Everton on the opening day of the English Premier League was in 1970, when Everton beat Arsenal by 1-0 at Highbury.

The big question is can Everton sustain their form from last season in which they managed to record 15 clean sheets in their last 22 matches.

It remains to be seen.

It has arrived, folks. The Premier League football is knocking on your door. Open it. Tomorrow it all starts again.

Arsenal is meeting Everton on Goodison Park at 17:30 UK time. The first match of this season is to be played at 12:45 between Chelsea and Hull City.

Four Things We Learned Form Arsenal’s Defeat at the Mestaia

“The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain”— the phrase proved to be right (well, almost, if we consider the “plain” to be the football field) last night at the friendly match between Arsenal and Valencia. The rain poured relentlessly over the heads of footballers and fans.

But we are not going to talk about the rain; we are going to talk about Arsene Wenger’s experiments; and we are going to ask ourselves this question: What did we really learn from that match.

Arsenal lost that game, their last of the pre-season preparation, with the convincingly sounding result of 2-0.

Nevertheless, that is not the important part here.

It was a result in a friendly— a match that is used to test the side that you have at your disposal, and to prepare your players for the new season.

That was exactly what Arsene Wenger did. In the first half he fielded a much familiar to everyone side, although in a much unfamiliar formation.

And that is the first thing we learnt.

1) The Formation

The formation that Wenger is very likely to use this season is 4-3-3. We saw him using it almost all the matches in the pre-season so far.

One of the distinguishing marks of this formation, and it is quite interesting as well, is that Nicklas Bendtner, who is the towering striker in the Arsenal squad, will be used on the right side of the attack (he played there in every pre-season friendly so far).

Moreover, Robin van Persie could be used in the centre, battling out his first-team spot with Eduardo. An interesting though is what will happen if both of them are on the field; rarely have we seen it. On the left, Arshavin and Nasri, when he gets well, could be used.

Furthermore, placing Van Persie on the left, could release the spot in the centre for either Eduardo or Bendtner.

Another interesting distinction in that formation is the variety of the midfielder combinations that Wenger could use.

Cesc Fabregas is definitely a first-team starter, but who will partner him in the centre of the park is entirely different issue.

Rotation among Denilson, Song, Diaby, Nasri, Rosicky, and Wilshere could be used by the Professor, and we have seen that in some pre-season games of Arsenal this year.


2) The Centre-back Partnership

At the back, the choices are more clearly highlighted. There are four backs, among which Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas are the clear favourites for first team spot.

Another thing, we learnt from the game against Valencia was that Silvestre and Djourou are not the best possible choice for the back-two in the centre.

During the second half we saw them missing a hefty number of cutting through balls, going in exactly between them. A lot of the troubles for Arsenal originated from there.

In addition, Johan Djourou has a slight problem with his positioning. Fortunately for him, he also posses the pace to correct the mistakes he is making. He is stable in the air, and has some pretty impressive tackling skills.

It seems like it is only a matter of time to see him improve more.

3) The Left side

Another thing that we learnt was that Keiran Gibbs and Armand Traore, who are both left-backs, can play at the same time. How did that happen?

Traore remained on the left side of the defence and Kierran Gibbs took the more forward position in front of him.

That small trick looks like an adequate solution to keep on using Andrei Arshavin on a more forward position in the 4-3-3 formation. It remains to be seen if he young talented left-backs can improve to challenge for even more first-team football.

4) The Goalkeeper

Finally, we learnt that Manuel Almunia will have to compete for his first-team spot with Lukasz Fabianski.

The 24-year-old keeper showed great reflexes to save a couple of solid shots toward his goal and made a terrific diving save to deny David Villa’s penalty shot.

He only let a goal near the end of the match when it was clear that he had sustained some kind of injury on his leg. Almunia is in for a run for his spot this season.

To conclude, Arsenal’s loss against Valencia may be looked on as a negative by some, but it also can be looked on as a concluded test to determine Arsenal’s strengths and weaknesses.

Now, Arsene Wenger knows what to do, what is missing, and how to use to the maximum of the available resources.

The Battle of Britain Initiates: Arsenal gets Celtic in the Champion's League

The draw for the Champion’s League play-off round has been made. Arsenal will face the Scottish side Celtic to decide who will proceed to the group stages of the tournament.

Earlier this season, Arsenal had the chance to test themselves against another Scottish side in the Emirates Cup; this time they are facing Rangers’ fierce rivals- Celtic, but they will be playing for much higher stakes.

The sides have never met before in an official match.

Here are some statistics of both clubs:

Celtic

Domestic achievements: 42 times winner of the Scottish Premier League, 34 times winner of the Scottish Cup, 14 times winner of the Scottish League Cup

International achievements: one time winner of the European Cup – 1967

Manager: Tony Mowbray

Last season’s standings in the Scottish League: 2nd

Last season’s top goal scorer: Scott McDonald – 16 goals

Key players: Gary Caldwell, Scott Brown

Average age of the squad: 26.23 years

Arsenal

Domestic achievements: 13 times winner of the FA Premier League, 10 times winner of the FA Cup, two times winner of the League Cup, 12 times winner of the FA Community Shield.

International achievements: one time winners of European Winners’ Cup – 1994, one time winners of Inner-Cities Fair Cup – 1970.

Manager: Arsene Wenger

Last season’s standings in the FA Premier League: 4th

Last season’s top goal scorer: Robin van Persie – 11

Key players: Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie

Average age of the squad: 22.8 years


The matches will be played on August 18, when Arsenal is travelling to Glasgow, and on August 26 is hosting Celtic at the Emirates Stadium.

Kolo Toure: There are no Leaders at Arsenal

A week ago, Kolo Toure decided to join the quickly progressing side of Manchester City.

Giving his reasons for leaving, he stated:
“I came to Man City because when you look at Arsenal you see all the great players have left the club and are now in the past”

“Look at what has happened there. Thierry Henry has gone, Patrick Vieira has gone, Ray Parlour has gone.”

“These were the players that brought success to Arsenal and I believed it was right at this stage of my career to also move on.”

“We lost too many leaders at Arsenal. When we were winning the league title the spirit was fantastic, we were like a band of brothers.”
One of the main reasons he pointed out for leaving Arsenal was that City were doing what Arsenal should be doing; but it’s not:

“The best teams are at the top only because they have the best players and to get those players you have to spend a lot of money,” he said.

“You can't be successful in football without money. This is the football business. City have a project to build a big team and so it is natural it is going to cost money”

But if we look into what Toure said, we will find that there is another side of the story.

Kolo Toure has been at the club for eight years. He has experienced the influence of ex-captains of Arsenal such as Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Tony Adams, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas.

Surely, he must have solid grounds on which to compare the leadership of the different footballers.

Undoubtedly, at the moment, there is no one even close to possessing the leadership qualities of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira; leaders like them are rare for any club.

But if we look into the current Arsenal team we will find plenty of players with adequate leadership qualities.

Tomas Rosicky, for example, has been out of the action for a year and a half, and he has returned to once again challenge his football goals.

Isn’t that the spirit of a leader - to never give up in the face of hardship?

There is another man at Arsenal that can serve as an even more adequate answer to this question – that man is Eduardo.

Few would have recovered psychologically after a career-threatening injury like his.

I will never forget the look on the players’ faces when they witnessed the consequences of Martin Taylor’s brutal tackle on the short Croatian striker.

Eduardo is back now, after more than a year out, ready to challenge again. Isn’t that another inspiration for the young Gunners?

Maybe what Toure really meant was that Arsenal lacked a leader who can motivate them on the field in difficult moments.

There is a player fits those requirements too – that player is Andrei Arshavin.

We have seen him to single-handedly turn around matches with his skill. His sheer presence is assuring to his team-mates. We have seen the positive effects of his presence in more than one match.

The same could be said about the young play-maker, and current captain of Arsenal: Cesc Fabregas.

Every year he matures more and more. He has begun his transformation as a leader, and every year he is getting even better at the job.

What about another Arsenal player - Thomas Vermaelen?

The new Arsenal signing was a captain of Ajax for the 08/09 season. He has proved that he has the leadership qualities and organisational skills needed by Arsenal.
So what did Toure really meant by saying that Arsenal had lost its leaders?

Did he mean that at Manchester City there are leaders like Henry, Vieira and Adams? (He moved there, didn’t he?)

I doubt it very much.

The real reason for his decision to leave, and it is not surprising, is money. As he clearly pointed out in his statement, the most successful teams are the teams who have the sufficient resources.

Maybe he is right about that. We see a confirmation of his statement every year.
Many players that have served a team for a long period of time, that have given a team their loyalty to a team, eventually leave to seek for greener pastures.

Thierry Henry also left; when he was at almost the same age as Toure too. He knew his career was nearing its end. He wanted to taste something different; but he never, at any time, showed disrespect towards Arsenal. For that reason, he remains in the hearts of the fans.

Kolo Toure is right about one thing.

Traditions are giving way to a more effective, but also more ruthless way: the way of monetary system.

Money rules the world – football included.

The Arsenal fans cannot be angry with their last “invincible” for stating his opinion. They should not forget that he has given eight of his best years in football at Arsenal, and is entitled to his opinion.

Although, many would not agree with his opinion, including me; I wish him good luck at his new team, and with his career.

He will be remembered as one of the “invincibles” and as an influential player who has given a lot to Arsenal.

With his departure, Arsenal enters a new period: the post-“invincibles” period. A period of new success? Only time will show.

A tribute to Jesse Owens: The athlete Who Defied the Nazi Ideology

In history, men existed who with their way of life have inspired many others to act for something better.

Some used words, other actions, but all simply did not quit even when facing enormous obstacles in they way. The American athlete Jesse Owens was one of those men.

James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens was born on 12 September, 1913, in the family of Henry and Emma Owens. In the early years of his life he suffered from health problems.

In fact, he almost died while suffering from a recurrent pneumonia. His mother helped him to overcome his illness and get back to his feet.

It was a difficult time for Jesse. His family was poor and as many other black people at that time in America, they were also mistreated. His father, Henry Owens, was only skilled in farming and had difficulty finding another job which made things even worse for the family.

Jesse’s all other brothers had to work hard too in order to get by.

After his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, Jesse Owens became involved in athletics for the first time. His coach at his high school, Charles Riley, encouraged him to take up running to improve his health and to make his lungs stronger.

Jesse, intially, declined the offer because he had to work after school, but later when Riley suggested that he come one hour earlier to school to train, Jesse agreed to do it.

Gradually, he fell in love with running and began to transform into a champion on the track.

His success on the red track brought him many scholarships but Owens decided to reject them. He told his coach that he couldn’t bear living well while other members of his family lived in hunger. He took several jobs during that time to support himself.

On May 25, 1935, Jesse Owens competed at the Big Ten College Track-and-Field Championships in Michigan. He broke three world records and tied a forth.

What was even more impressive was that he did all of that while having an injury in his back.

Jesse Owens was starting to become one of the most popular athletes in America at that time. But the real success came when he competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Adolf Hitler was the head of the government of Germany and the Olympics were then organised by the Nazis to show the revival of their country after the First World War.

The Nazi ideologies had engulfed the whole of Germany and were dominating the atmosphere of the Olympics.

Adolf Hitler intended to use these Olympics as a podium to sell his ideology to the world; the ideology that a “supreme” race exists.

However, he had hugely underestimated one of the participants.

Jesse Owens, being one of the few black athletes at the Olympics, dealt a heavy blow to that Nazi ideology by winning four gold medals – in 100 m, 200 m, 400 m relay, and the long jump.

In fact, Adolf Hitler was so deeply disappointed that his German athletes did not win all of the events that he refused to shake the hand of the man causing the turmoil. His real feelings were later revealed in the memoirs of one his ministers, Albert Speer:

“Each of the German victories and there were a surprising number of these made him happy, but he was highly annoyed by the series of triumphs by the marvellous colored American runner, Jesse Owens.”

“People whose antecedents came from the jungle were primitive, Hitler said with a shrug; their physiques were stronger than those of civilized whites and hence should be excluded from future games” (Inside the Third Reich, p.73)

Jesse Owens was hardly affected by Hitler’s feelings though.

He broke two more Olympic records and tied another. He succeeded in winning the hearts of the 110,000 people in the Berlin’s Olympic Stadium and they cheered for him during his races. After the games, people sought him to ask for his autograph.

Even after this great defying act in Berlin, Owens’s battles for equality did not end.

He was appalled by the unfair way by which the black people were treated in his own country. He later became a philanthropist, giving speeches in India and East Asia, which he visited as a messenger of goodwill.

Jesse Owens died on March 30, 1980 from lung cancer.

Jesse Owens was a man who had a dream.

That dream was of equality and of love; love towards the fellow human being. He lived that dream which was directly opposed to that one of the Nazis. And he came out on top triumphing over their ideology in the heart of the Nazi’s country then.

He had a dream that every man wishes to have, but not every man has the courage to follow. Jesse Owens was an American athlete but he was also much more that that.

He was a representative of humanity.

“May his light shine forever as a symbol
for all who run for the freedom of sport,
for the spirit of humanity,
for the memory of Jesse Owens.” (Charles Chigna)

Arsenal Snatches the Emirates Cup After Vintage Display

In front of an almost full Emirates Stadium, Arsenal and Scottish side Rangers played the last match of the Emirates Cup, to decide who the winner would be.

Despite being backed by a lively and vociferous crowd, Rangers were not able to oppose Arsenal and eventually suffered a heavy defeat: 0-3.

There was good mood on the stands as the weather was shiny and clear in contrast with Saturday’s rainy weather.

Again, Arsene Wenger went on with the experiments with the squad.

Eboue was back to his old position on the right side of the defence, Gallas and Silvestre partnered in the centre, and the left-side was Clichy’s.

Eduardo was leading the attack with Wilshere on the right and Arshavin on the left.

The match started and it was not long before the first opportunity of the match arose.

Receiving a pass from Fabregas in the box, Arshavin skilfully worked the ball and returned it to Fabregas. The Spaniard, though, fell down on the ground, and out of nowhere yesterday’s man of the match, Jack Wilshere, appeared. His shot slid beneath the diving goal keeper Allan McGregor.

Two minutes after the match has started it was 1-0 Arsenal.

Stunned, the Ranger fans did not quite down though, and went on loudly supporting their team.

Nine minutes later, they received another blow.

Fran Merida produced a through pass to Eduardo, who got it under his control, and coolly directed it towards the right lower corner of the Ranger’s keeper. The ball bounced off the post and rolled in.

From there on it was only Arsenal until the end of the first half, with Rangers threatening only once in the 27th minute when Silvestre intercepted a cross by Davis to send the ball a foot off Almunia’s goal.

Just before the half time whistle, the fans were reminded of a player from the past, by a player for the future.

Jack Wilshere dealt with two Ranger players before he chipped the ball exquisitely toward the goal. McGregor stretched to save his team.

It was like watching Bergkamp!

On the half time, both managers decided to bring in new faces.

Clichy and Gallas gave way for Denilson and Traore for the Gunners. Thompson, Lafferty and Beasly from the guests were replaced by McCulloch, Novo and Miller.

With a complete change in personnel at the back, and an improved motivation by Rangers, Arsenal started to experience difficulties.

First, Almunia was able to deflect a cross by Novo, but the ball fell to the feet of Steven Davis. It seemed as if he would score, but Song’s tackle parried the shot at the last moment.

A couple of more attacks passed fruitlessly for Rangers, when in the 62th minute they missed their golden chance.

On the counter attack, Davis was set free by Song’s mistimed tackle. After a spectacular save by Almunia and one more unsuccessful attempt by Ranger’s strikers, the danger was gone.

Then, Wenger made another three substitutions; young talents Watt and Ramsey came on for Arshavin and Eduardo.

But there was one man on fire on the field. 17-year-old Wilshere continued to terrorise with his dribbling and passes.

With the help of his ex-reserve team-mates he scored his second of the match. Twenty minutes from time, Watt battled out for the ball, won it and passed it to Ramsey on the edge of the box.

Ramsey’s cross connected with Wilshere who sent the ball into the top right corner. 3-0 to Arsenal.

Later, Tomas Rosicky was introduced into the game, taking the captain’s brand off the replaced Cesc Fabregas.

Rangers had one more chance to score a goal, unfortunately for them, unsuccessful.

The final result was meant to be 3-0.

The two goals that Jack Wilshere scored were enough to grant his second man of the match award in two days, and to draw the attention of the England manager Fabio Capello, who was watching the game.

Arsenal continues to prepare for the start of the new season. For now, it all seems to go well for Wenger’s team.

They are meeting Valencia six days from now in their last game of their pre-season preparation.

Arsenal Overcome Ateltico Madrid in a Narrow Win

Having said goodbye to the prestigious pre-season tournament Audi Cup, the football fans were happy to say “hello” to another as much prestigious tournament as its counterpart: the Emirates Cup.

In this rainy Saturday, the opening day of the Cup, Arsenal took on Atletico Madrid in the second game of the tournament.

Rangers defeated Paris Saint Germain in the first game of the tournament with 1 goal to 0.

There was plenty of enthusiasm on the stands of the Emirates Stadium as the Arsenal fans were eager to remind themselves of the drama that is to be expected during the new season.

The match started with one minute of applause for the football legend, Sir Bobby Robson, who passed away on Friday.

The first half saw the ball being passed along mostly in the centre of the field.

Emmanuel Eboue was part of the attacking trio in the formation that Wenger had chosen to use once again: 4-3-3. He started on the right side of the attack, but eventually swapped positions with Bendtner.

In the centre was today’s captain of the Arsenal team: Robin van Persie.

He attempted a few through passes, spectacular back-heel passes, and a few extraordinary dribbles.

However, the first half finished without something really interesting developing.

The second half was a completely different picture though.

Armand Traore, returned-from-injury Tomas Rosicky, and Emmanuel Eboue were replaced by Gael Clichy, Fran Merida, and Jack Wilshere, all of whom were taking part in their first game of this year’s pre-season.

It is exactly because of the latter player that the problems for Atletico’s defence significantly multiplied. The 17-year-old Wilshere, once again proved that he has what it takes to be a part of the first team.

His movement down the right flank and his cutting inside toward the centre was a constant menace to Atletico’s defence. His razor sharp passes tore the opposition into shreds, only chance lacking for his team-mates to materialize those passes.

Atletico answered by substituting one of their most threatening players, Sergio Aguero, with German Pacheco.

With twenty five minutes to go, Wenger decided to bring in the heavy cavalry.

Arshavin, Fabregas, and Eduardo came on, replacing Van Persie, Ramsey, and Bendtner.

It was near the end of the match when the drama was bound to unveil.

As it started pouring over the Emirates, Atletico began to look increasingly threatening with their attacks.

First, Juardo fired a shot from 25 yards to make life miserable for Arsenal’s keeper Mannone. The ball bounced of his hands, fortunately for him, only to pass inches from his left-side post.

Two minutes later, again Juardo found Maxi Rodriges, who was unlucky to see his shot parried by Vito Mannone.

Arsenal looked like they were on their way to crumble. But were they?

As the speakers announced man of the match award to Jack Wilshere, hardly would the announcer have known that another Arsenal player will decide the match.

Fabregas crossed the ball to Arshavin, who with a volley from eight yards sent the ball underneath Sergio Asenjo and in the net. 1-0 to Arsenal.

The fans were ecstatic. The match was over for them. But they were wrong.

Atletico still had a knife up their sleeve.

Substitute German Pacheco applied for a first team spot at Atletico after coolly finishing an attack for his team, with only 2 minutes to go until the end of the match. 1-1.

As the supporters started leaving the stadium the unbelievable happened.

It was again the short Russian play maker, Andrey Arshavin, who took advantage of a mistake in Atletico’s defence.

He nudged the ball aside from rushing keeper Asenjo before he was able to reach it, and from, practically, a zero angle sent the ball into the net.

It was a win that took Arsenal to the top of the tournament’s table, with five points, one ahead of Rangers, who beat PSG 1-0 earlier this day.

Arsenal is meeting Rangers on Sunday to decide who will be the winner of the Emirates Cup this year.