Before I start I hope all of you Gooners had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Two wins in a row. That’s right, a 60th minute header from Danny Welbeck gave Arsenal the deserved lead against West Brom on Saturday. Was it a perfect, comprehensive win? No, of course not, this is the Arsenal; however there are many positives to take from this match. Our attack is starting to click as this season goes on and the single goal hides the fact that we looked solid when pressing the West Brom defense. Danny Welbeck started on the left with Giroud in the center and Alexis on the right. Santi Cazorla took up the central attacking mid position and those 4 players seemed up for the fight. Cazorla had the kind of game we all wish we would see from him more often. If there is one position this season that we can’t seem to get right with the players we have is the one that is normally occupied by the still-injured Mesut Özil. Cazorla is obviously the natural man to fulfill this role, but he has been moved left most matches and he hasn’t been able to find his feet lately, in either position. This is unfortunate because we all know how good he is with both feet. I remember the curling shot from outside the box against West Ham in his first season or the brace he scored against Fulham in January. His tricky dribbles and slick passes have been missing from his game and on Saturday, he had his best match in a long time. He never gave up on a loose ball or a dribble and always drove the attack forward. He kept the ball from going over the line and lifted it over the defense for Welbeck to smash it in with his head. That wasn’t his only key pass either. As the holiday matches begin to flood our schedule, now is the time for Cazorla to step up and help direct the attack for more goals. Continuing with the attack, I was also pleased with the movement of Welbeck even after losing his starting spot as striker to Olivier Giroud. I never expected Welbeck to contribute as much as he has when we signed him from Manchester United. I thought he was a filler buy, something for Wenger to say, “There you go, another striker”, but he has really come and fit in quickly. He still has a lot to prove at the top level but he has won me over. His early goal scoring contributions may have a pleasant side effect as well: forcing Giroud and our other forwards to fight for the position. This is something we have been lacking over the last few seasons. Prior to his traitorous exodus, Robin van Persie was the main striker we relied on to keep us in the top four. With his vacancy, it was up to Giroud, Podolski and Walcott to compete for that coveted striker role. It quickly became apparent though that Wenger did not see Podolski or to lesser extent, Walcott in that position. This left Giroud as the only striker we had. When he gets a knock, Wenger threw Podolski or Walcott centrally and expected them to play the same way. This is a bizarre tactic as neither of those players can do what Giroud does for this side. All three of them have different skills as strikers that Wenger doesn’t seem to capitalize on. The problem is that Arsene is too set in his tactics to change it up to fit the abilities of his players. As I stated last week, Wenger seems to have a faux hands off approach to managing. By that, I mean his only direction he gives is, “this is how I want you all to play, now do it but play to your own strengths”. Throwing Podolski or Walcott centrally and asking them to hold up the ball and bring the midfield into the attack is as asinine as asking Giroud to run faster than Walcott. I will never understand our lack of a plan B or C when A doesn’t work at all. At the end of the day, this is simply my cynical view and my opinion on our tactics doesn’t matter as I am not a manager, simply a blogger for the Queen City Gooners, the best supporters club in the US. Enough negativity, as this is not the discussion today. Our defense looked so much better with Koscielny and Mertesacker as the CB pairing. Monreal has done the job when called upon but he never looked like he belongs there and why should he? He is a left back. Wenger has reported that Koscielny is still not 100% so expect some shakeup in the defense as the compact schedule comes at us. Monreal is facing a fitness test as is Gibbs so we could be looking at a void to fill for the Southampton match. We could potentially see Bellerin at right back, Flamini at left back and Chambers alongside Mertesacker. This is not what we want but such is the price we pay for not buying more defenders. The matches are coming fast and furious in the coming month and we will have to tweak our squad to deal with the fatigue and injuries. I fear the injuries the most but they are something we have to deal with as Arsenal fans. It is impossible for our players to stay healthy. The old adage of playing one match at a time is going to be par for the course for the next few weeks. I wouldn’t be able to call myself an Arsenal blogger if I didn’t mention that King Henry is looking to return to the Arsenal after his tenure at New York Red Bulls. I would love to see him return the club in some capacity. His love for Arsenal and all of us Gooners is very clear and he would do whatever it takes to see us successful (he specifically mentioned the Champions League). I know that it wouldn’t be a large role at first but I think a coaching role isn’t out of the cards to potentially groom him to be the manager. Fingers crossed that all goes well for him and the path is laid out. We have a match against Southampton and Stoke before I write again. Let’s all hope that our players overcome their injuries and be ready to take out the side that is sitting in 3rd place. As a fan of the game you can’t hope but admire the tenacity of that club. They are out to prove the pundits wrong that they would struggle losing so many players in the summer. Do I think they will remain there? No, because we are coming for the top four and they will hit a rough patch. We just need to capitalize and get some points. We have been unable to take points off the top four and that trend has to end for us to be successful. Until next time, Come on you Gunners! efore I start I hope all of you Gooners had a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Two wins in a row. That’s right, a 60th minute header from Danny Welbeck gave Arsenal the deserved lead against West Brom on Saturday. Was it a perfect, comprehensive win? No, of course not, this is the Arsenal; however there are many positives to take from this match. Our attack is starting to click as this season goes on and the single goal hides the fact that we looked solid when pressing the West Brom defense. Danny Welbeck started on the left with Giroud in the center and Alexis on the right. Santi Cazorla took up the central attacking mid position and those 4 players seemed up for the fight. Cazorla had the kind of game we all wish we would see from him more often. If there is one position this season that we can’t seem to get right with the players we have is the one that is normally occupied by the still-injured Mesut Özil. Cazorla is obviously the natural man to fulfill this role, but he has been moved left most matches and he hasn’t been able to find his feet lately, in either position. This is unfortunate because we all know how good he is with both feet. I remember the curling shot from outside the box against West Ham in his first season or the brace he scored against Fulham in January. His tricky dribbles and slick passes have been missing from his game and on Saturday, he had his best match in a long time. He never gave up on a loose ball or a dribble and always drove the attack forward. He kept the ball from going over the line and lifted it over the defense for Welbeck to smash it in with his head. That wasn’t his only key pass either. As the holiday matches begin to flood our schedule, now is the time for Cazorla to step up and help direct the attack for more goals. Continuing with the attack, I was also pleased with the movement of Welbeck even after losing his starting spot as striker to Olivier Giroud. I never expected Welbeck to contribute as much as he has when we signed him from Manchester United. I thought he was a filler buy, something for Wenger to say, “There you go, another striker”, but he has really come and fit in quickly. He still has a lot to prove at the top level but he has won me over. His early goal scoring contributions may have a pleasant side effect as well: forcing Giroud and our other forwards to fight for the position. This is something we have been lacking over the last few seasons. Prior to his traitorous exodus, Robin van Persie was the main striker we relied on to keep us in the top four. With his vacancy, it was up to Giroud, Podolski and Walcott to compete for that coveted striker role. It quickly became apparent though that Wenger did not see Podolski or to lesser extent, Walcott in that position. This left Giroud as the only striker we had. When he gets a knock, Wenger threw Podolski or Walcott centrally and expected them to play the same way. This is a bizarre tactic as neither of those players can do what Giroud does for this side. All three of them have different skills as strikers that Wenger doesn’t seem to capitalize on. The problem is that Arsene is too set in his tactics to change it up to fit the abilities of his players. As I stated last week, Wenger seems to have a faux hands off approach to managing. By that, I mean his only direction he gives is, “this is how I want you all to play, now do it but play to your own strengths”. Throwing Podolski or Walcott centrally and asking them to hold up the ball and bring the midfield into the attack is as asinine as asking Giroud to run faster than Walcott. I will never understand our lack of a plan B or C when A doesn’t work at all. At the end of the day, this is simply my cynical view and my opinion on our tactics doesn’t matter as I am not a manager, simply a blogger for the Queen City Gooners, the best supporters club in the US. Enough negativity, as this is not the discussion today. Our defense looked so much better with Koscielny and Mertesacker as the CB pairing. Monreal has done the job when called upon but he never looked like he belongs there and why should he? He is a left back. Wenger has reported that Koscielny is still not 100% so expect some shakeup in the defense as the compact schedule comes at us. Monreal is facing a fitness test as is Gibbs so we could be looking at a void to fill for the Southampton match. We could potentially see Bellerin at right back, Flamini at left back and Chambers alongside Mertesacker. This is not what we want but such is the price we pay for not buying more defenders. The matches are coming fast and furious in the coming month and we will have to tweak our squad to deal with the fatigue and injuries. I fear the injuries the most but they are something we have to deal with as Arsenal fans. It is impossible for our players to stay healthy. The old adage of playing one match at a time is going to be par for the course for the next few weeks. I wouldn’t be able to call myself an Arsenal blogger if I didn’t mention that King Henry is looking to return to the Arsenal after his tenure at New York Red Bulls. I would love to see him return the club in some capacity. His love for Arsenal and all of us Gooners is very clear and he would do whatever it takes to see us successful (he specifically mentioned the Champions League). I know that it wouldn’t be a large role at first but I think a coaching role isn’t out of the cards to potentially groom him to be the manager. Fingers crossed that all goes well for him and the path is laid out. We have a match against Southampton and Stoke before I write again. Let’s all hope that our players overcome their injuries and be ready to take out the side that is sitting in 3rd place. As a fan of the game you can’t hope but admire the tenacity of that club. They are out to prove the pundits wrong that they would struggle losing so many players in the summer. Do I think they will remain there? No, because we are coming for the top four and they will hit a rough patch. We just need to capitalize and get some points. We have been unable to take points off the top four and that trend has to end for us to be successful. Until next time, Come on you Gunners!
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