Arsenal 2 - 2 Boca Juniors - NOTHING HAS CHANGED

They KNEW how to defend

Same old players, same old formation, same old mistakes, same old throwing away leads. SAME. OLD. SH*T. "Ah, but it's only pre-season" I hear you say. Well, my answer to that is "Stop burying your head in the sand and look at what is happening at Arsenal." Today we saw everything that we've been seeing for the past four years - two lovely goals, too much meandering around the pitch and, before you know it, two defensive howlers causing us to throw away a two goal lead. Again. 
I have so much I want to complain about right now, but getting it on here in a coherent way is going to be very difficult indeed. Let me start with the week just gone and our continued inaction in the transfer market. At a time when Arsenal were going all out in their advertising campaign to try and sell tickets (unsuccessfully if today is anything to go by) for the Emirates Cup I am amazed that a marquee signing has not been made while I was away on holiday. I was convinced that at least one player would be confirmed this week. Added to the fact that we are now two weeks away from the real thing I have to further question the way the Club is run - and I don't just mean Arsene Wenger. We really must call in to question the role of Ivan Gazidis and his appointed executives. Not only have we failed to add the required quality at the earliest opportunity, but we don't even appear to be making any real attempts to sign anyone - Gazidis is the man who is supposed to be in charge of this kind of thing. I had no time for David Dein, but at least he got things moving and got players signed. And then there is the situation with Gervinho's squad number. I know it might seem a bit trivial, but with up to 120,000 people heading to the ground this weekend it is absolutely scandalous that people are being discouraged from getting his name printed on their replica kit as Arsenal haven't decided if he will actually wear the number 22 shirt. They call themselves businessmen, experts in corporate governance, yet this is so amateurish it belongs on The Apprentice. Thousands of pounds to be made, and yet Arsenal let it slip through their fingers while banging on about their "business model." These prats couldn't organise a prayer in a mosque. Like I said, I have a lot to complain about.
Now the Fabregas situation. Arsene Wenger has finally admitted that Fabregas is "unsettled." In other words, he wants to leave Arsenal. And yet he is still Captain of Arsenal Football Club. Why? Today Fabregas was in the stands but, while the other players all wore the official matchday polo shirt, the Captain sat there in a designer t-shirt. Would it really have hurt him to wear his Arsenal gear - after all, he is still an Arsenal player, is he not? I found that entirely disrespectful to his team mates, the fans, and to the Club. Ultimately Barcelona are the ones who can "rescue" Fabregas by stumping up the asking price. Until that happens no amount of sulking is going to help him. If he wants out then he should get his mates in the Nou Camp to talk less about Arsenal and get them to persuade their employers to part with sufficient reddies to force Arsenal to sell.


And so, to today. I've been wondering which of the various match reviews I should copy and paste in order to relate what happened against Boca Juniors. Two super Arsenal goals putting us two ahead, two defensive cock-ups throwing away that two goal lead. This is nothing new. This has been going on for far too long. It was an education listening to Martin Keown on ESPN this afternoon. It took him two minutes of analysis to show the problems Arsenal have, not only in the back-four, but in defending from the front. He identified how and why our attempts at zonal marking fail time and again (incidentally, I noticed how he picked out that Nasri found himself in the key "zone" at an opposition corner - Andy Gray picked that out in a game before Christmas last season, so it is obvious that Arsene Wenger and his staff have made no attempt to rectify the problems - they still believe there is nothing wrong for God's sake!) If Keown can do that in such a short space of time, and viewing replays from one half of one match, just imagine what he could do if given the opportunity to work with the players on putting it right. While I'm on the subject of Keown and ESPN I have to wonder how he had the restraint to not slap Robbie Savage and Ray Stubbs - what an odious pair of clowns they are.
I was pleased with Gervinho again. I thought his movement off the ball and work on it was superb. His ball across to Van Persie for the opener was pin-point. Again, I don't believe this formation plays to his (or anyone else at Arsenal's) strengths, but he has made a very encouraging start. Jack Wilshere was again outstanding. It took 50 seconds for Martin Atkinson to cheat Arsenal out of a penalty when Jack was fouled in the penalty area (and a further ten seconds for Craig Burley to accuse WilshereFrimpong was all action again, though his positional sense in this role is as bad as Song's - again this is down to bad coaching (or no coaching as the case may be). Carl Jenkinson also did well again (and was laughingly booked late on - given Wilshere's treatment in the first-half it summed up just how awful the refereeing is likely to be again this year), as did Armand Traore - he isn't good enough, but is still better than Kieran Gibbs.
Half-time saw a raft of Arsenal changes and you just knew that Squillaci's presence would lead to problems (I'll come to that shortly). However, his presence was far from the most annoying thing to happen. Samir Nasri emerged as Captain for the second-half. This was surely the final insult to the Captaincy of our Club. How can Wenger make Nasri the man to lead Arsenal, even for half of a pre-season friendly, when he wants out even more than Fabregas? It was absolutely scandalous given that Arshavin and Ramsey were also on the pitch at the time. I wonder what Tony Adams and Frank McLintock make of it all? The second-half started explosively with a tremendous goal from Aaron Ramsey. The goal came from an exciting run by Carlos Vela and was finished with a rasping shot by the Welsh midfield player. Sadly that was about the last time Vela touched the ball as he spent the rest of the game wide on the right again - another victim of this formation. Marouane Chamakh remained anonymous throughout. After the goal we reverted to type and started to mess about. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and our centre-backs did not disappoint.
I can honestly say that Sebastien Squillaci is the worst centre-half I've seen at Arsenal. People can talk about Gus Caesar, Igors Stepanovs, Pascal Cygan, Mikael Silvestre etc all they want, but this guy is the pits. Arsene tells us that he will only sign players that will be an improvement on what we have - so why the hell did he buy Squillaci last season? Kyle Bartley was forced to sit on the bench today and watch this clown try to dribble his way past the opposition, only for the inevitable to happen and the ball end up in the back of Arsenal's net. If Wenger honestly thinks that Bartley isn't better than Squillaci then the sooner he gets himself off to Rangers the better - he has no chance to play for Arsenal. The equaliser was then a certainty, wasn't it? Djourou had looked fine in the first-half, and he was our best centre-back in Vermaelen's absence last season, but he failed to deal with a simple through-ball yet again. Rather than just smacking the ball away, he chose to try and be flash, leaving Vito Mannone without a hope. Never has the need for defensive reinforcements appeared in such stark focus. Surely, now, Wenger must see it. Having said that, it almost doesn't matter who is brought in to play, if there continues to be no organisation.
Yesterday, I read some quotes from Andrey Arshavin where he said that Arsenal want to play a "pressing game" and would be better "at set pieces both in attack and defence." As ever, actions speak louder than any words. On today's evidence these are yet more empty sentiments from a member of the Arsenal team - if you get a chance to watch Martin Keown's analysis then you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.


I'm going to the game tomorrow so I will get a chance to see, properly, the way things are coming along (it's great being able to watch the game on TV when you can't be there, but it doesn't show you anything like enough). The highlight, almost regardless of the outcome, will be seeing Thierry Henry playing. I watched New York's game on telly last Sunday and it's fair to say that the MLS is not much of a standard - regardless of Thierry's performance, if Arsenal can't beat them then we have a problem that is on a completely different scale to anything we have yet imagined.

FC Koln 1 - 2 Arsenal - Gervinho endears himself

Gervinho - off and running in Arsenal red

Gervinho started his Arsenal career in the grand manner this afternoon with two strikers finishes against Cologne. Jack Wilshere was instrumental in both goals - a brilliant pass over the top providing the first, and the second coming after Jack had set Theo Walcott free on the right side of the penalty area. Playing from the left side of the attacking three Gervinho showed great movement and a firm desire to get himself in the box where he could do damage to the opposition. This was in marked contrast to Marouane Chamakh who constantly drifted out wide and was never in the game - his afternoon was summed up, for me, when Theo stood a cross up to the far post and Chamakh stood and watched while Aaron Ramsey (who had a poor game with the ball at his feet) attacked the ball.
I was pleasantly surprised by Gervinho. If he performs like this when given his opportunities in the Premier League then he will quickly become a favourite with the fans. A feature of the first-half was Arsenal's pace on the counter-attack with Walcott and the new Ivorian, and then later with Miyaichi (Gervinho was withdrawn just short of the half-hour mark as a precaution). Gervinho looks quick and makes intelligent runs behind the defence. Jack Wilshere played in the Fabregas position today and was magnificent. His passing to the front men was superb, but I was most impressed by his willingness to run at the defence. When Jack was in the youths and reserves this was a feature of his game - I hope it is to return this season.
At the back Arsenal found themselves exposed far too often. Kieran Gibbs was constantly too far forward and needs to learn quickly when to attack and when to stick at full-back. I felt Koscielny was regularly the wrong side of Lukas Podolski and was bailed out more than once by an imperious Thomas Vermaelen. On the right of the back four I thought Carl Jenkinson was also outstanding - his own-goal was a complete freak, but would not have happened had he used his left foot so hopefully that's a lesson learned. The young man looked devastated as he trooped off at half-time but he has looked a promising prospect so far and should not let it concern him.
Cologne created a few opportunities in the first-half and, as much as Gibbs/Koscielny were lacking positional sense, the major problem was the lack of cover in front of the defence. Alex Song remains unchallenged for his position and continues to play like he believes he is Pele's son. He has no discipline in his role and is constantly caught out in possession (his ridiculous showboating when faced with the goalkeeper on one of his many attacking forays was embarrassing). Song has also not realised that a tackle requires you to win the ball - simply barging in to the opposition striker on the edge of your own box is only going to lead to problems. Emmanuel Frimpong came on for Song at half-time and did well again, but I would still like to see Scott Parker brought in to replace Song in Arsenal's midfield - experience counts for a lot in the Premier League.
The second-half lacked the zip of the first, particularly from the almost entirely different Arsenal team. I thought Arshavin got involved well, as did Tomas Rosicky, though the end product was non-existent. Samir Nasri and Robin Van Persie were completely anonymous, as was Carlos Vela (though I will forgive the Mexican as he once again found himself on the right-wing). At the back Djourou and Squillaci did okay, but Bacary Sagna was all over the place for the first twenty minutes - Vito Mannone bailed him out on more than one occasion before he was replaced in goal by Fabianski.
The main concern for Arsenal at the end of a hard-earned pre-season win was the injury to Conor Henderson. Ridiculously played out of position at left-back (yet Arsene says we don't need another one) Henderson was getting twisted and turned all the time (not his fault - he is a midfielder) and one twist too many saw him go over very awkwardly on his knee. Young Conor has a bad history with injury, including serious knee trouble. Cesc Fabregas has hinted on Twitter that it may not be too serious, so let's hope he is correct.
As I said above, it was another hard-earned win. The attacking play was good at times and familiarly frustrating at others - too much passing when a shot is called for (yes, Theo, I'm talking about you). The defence remains worryingly awful for the most part. It seems that there is still no organisation, and no discipline. Frankly, it won't matter who Wenger brings in to the bolster the defence unless some proper coaching is done in this area.
One other observation from today is about the travelling Arsenal fans - particularly those from Eastern Europe. From what I have been told they were a disgrace to Arsenal Football Club this afternoon as they lit flares and threw objects and beer in the lower tier of the away end. This scum should stick to watching football in their own country if this is how they will choose to tarnish Arsenal's fine reputation around Europe.


I hope to produce a post at some point tomorrow, but it's my wedding anniversary and I'm on holiday after that. If you don't hear from me until Saturday then you know why!

FC Koln v Arsenal Preview

Time to remove it from Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas is not going to be involved in Arsenal's friendly with FC Cologne tomorrow. He will also not be involved in the short training camp which will follow. Arsenal claim that this is due to the ongoing nature of the "injury" that kept him out of the trip to China last week. Do they think we're all stupid? There is no way that Fabregas is injured. The only reason he is not involved is due to the Barcelona situation. It is time for the Captaincy of Arsenal Football Club to be given to someone else. We can not have a man with no desire to be here leading our Club anymore. Van Persie and Vermaelen are waiting in the wings and a decision should be taken now to promote one of them - let everyone know how important an honour it is to be the Arsenal Captain. 
Even if he stays at Arsenal there is no way Cesc can be ready for the start of the season, unless Wenger wishes to make his pre-season preparations a mockery by including a player that has taken little or no part (he did it at Anfield last season with Alex Song). Frankly, with no end in sight to this situation (and that is not the fault of the Manager, or anyone else at Arsenal) and the lack of much needed additions (which is most definitely the fault of the Manager) we are in complete disarray right now. It is difficult to remember a Summer of such frustrating discontent since Bruce Rioch was dismissed on the eve of the season (we had lost every pre-season game and signed only John Lukic as the new campaign approached). 
Elsewhere in the squad there is still no place for Bendtner, Almunia or Eboue. Arsene has spoken specifically of Manuel and Nicklas but it seems they are no closer to being shipped out. Eboue, meanwhile, seems simply to have disappeared without trace for the time being. Also out is Abou Diaby and the Manager has told us he has been written off for all of August. How about we write him off for the rest of his career and pay up his contract in full? If anyone can tell me what Abou Diaby is still doing at Arsenal then I would like to know. There are very few of the current Arsenal team I have genuine warmth for. There are some whom I actively dislike, and Diaby is one of them. On his day he can be top class, but he is too often disinterested, and even more often simply unavailable due to injury. I would suggest that most of Diaby's injury issues stem from the horrific leg-break at Sunderland in 2006, but we have now been carrying him for too long. It was largely accepted that Eduardo had to move on last Summer as he couldn't really recover, so why the hell hasn't it happened with this waste of space?
Young Guns Blog reported earlier in the week that Benik Afobe was likely to travel to Cologne after being pulled out of the Reserves win at Hastings on Tuesday evening. However there has been no mention of this from Arsene Wenger. Afobe had a successful loan spell with Huddersfield last season and was prolific in the youth set-up alongside Chuks Aneke. I wouldn't mind seeing him get some opportunities over the next couple of weeks as we head towards the Newcastle game.
Among those definitely travelling will be Gervinho, who should make his debut in Germany, and Lukasz Fabianski. This is a big few weeks for the Pole. If Szczesny starts as the number one, as we would expect, I can't see Fabianski sitting on the bench for too long. I am also concerned by any goalkeeper that has suffered a serious shoulder injury and been out for six months as a result. Fabianski showed massive improvement last season, and won us matches at Wolves and Everton with some superb saves. However, he still seems to lack a certain confidence and, more importantly, the defence seems to lack confidence in him. That is not a cocktail that will often lead to success.


The game is live on Arsenal Player, and on ESPN, tomorrow afternoon. I will be trying to avoid the result and watch it "as live" when I get home from work tomorrow evening. My nephew is leading the Arsenal team on to the pitch tomorrow and has been very excited about the whole prospect since he found out a couple of weeks ago. I hope he proves to be a lucky mascot. I also hope he tells Wenger to get off his backside and make some bloody signings this week - if the advertising strategy is anything to go by Arsenal need some new faces to sell the tickets for the Emirates Cup next weekend. I'll try to post a match review late tomorrow night.

The right kind of players, Ryan Garry

Phil Jagielka - only if he brings a friend

Sky and BBC are both backing up newspaper reports this morning that Arsenal have had a bid refused by Everton for Phil Jagielka. Arsene Wenger has been very firm in saying that he will only buy players that will augment the current squad. I would say that 100% of people connected with Arsenal (and even not connected with Arsenal) accept we need defensive additions (the "s" is important there). However, as Arsene says, they must be the "right type of player." That being the case I have to question why the hell we are in for Phil Jagielka. Don't get me wrong, I think Jagielka is a very decent Premier League footballer. Two years ago, before his serious injury problems, I would have been happy to see him join us. However, when we say that Arsenal need more defenders there is a caveat that should be added - any centre-half addition should be very good in the air. When I think of Phil Jagielka I don't think of a player who is famed for being aerially dominant. What I think of is a good ball playing centre-half, reasonably quick (though not as quick as he was - remember Nasri blasting past him at Goodison last season?) but also not particularly strong at heading. What Arsenal need is a strong defender - his ability with the ball at his feet is pretty much immaterial right now. That is why I far prefer the idea of Cahill, or even Samba, to that of Jagielka. Actually, if we signed only one central defender this Summer, I would rather we signed Sylvain Distin from Everton than Jagielka.
Despite all this Jagielka might not be a bad signing for Arsenal. Prior to becoming a centre-back he was a fairly redoubtable midfield player at Sheffield United. His signing would give us a player in the Grimandi mould, perhaps, capable of "doing a job" as a decent squad player - and competition for Alex Song. If Jagielka does come to Arsenal then he must be accompanied by someone with physical presence and the aerial strength to play alongside what we already have. In the same way that I would be happy for Samba to join us along with another centre-half, I would accept Jagielka as long as someone else came at the same time. Everton have set their asking price, now it's up to Arsenal to match it if they really want the player.


On a sad note Arsenal have announced the unfortunate retirement of our former young defender Ryan Garry. Just before the FA Cup Final in 2003 he made his debut in the six-goal demolition of Southampton at Highbury (the game where Pennant and Pires scored hat-tricks). At this point the youngster seemed to be firmly in Arsene Wenger's plans and looked to be the latest youth-team product with a good future at Arsenal. Sadly he was subsequently struck down with shin-splints, and broken legs, and his career at Arsenal (though it continued for another few years as the Club nursed him back to some fitness) came to nought. Ryan moved on to Brentford where he had some success as a player, but he has now been forced to call it a day as his legs can not cope anymore with professional football. Garry's story is one of terrible misfortune for a young lad who seemed destined for great things, but who missed out on the glory days through no fault of his own. Perhaps his story should be relayed to the likes of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in order to make them realise that not everyone gets the chance to make a career, and perhaps they ought to knuckle down and work hard and ditch the attitude. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Ryan Garry ends up with some kind of job at Arsenal - after all, such class is what we hold dear.

Any chance of a signing tomorrow?

Nothing to see here - move along Pep

Guardiola - purveyor of bull****

I was just about to leave for work yesterday when Sky Sports News suddenly revealed "breaking news" on the Cesc Fabregas situation. It seemed from the report that Arsenal had finally given in and were about to sell Fabregas to Barcelona. Guardiola had claimed that Arsenal have "agreed to negotiate" over a deal for the skipper. Naturally, I went off to work believing that things were coming to a head, and I couldn't reconcile the ideal of selling Fabregas, with four years left on his contract, but keeping Nasri, with one year left.
When I got home from work late last night I decided to look closely at what had been said by Guardiola. It became obvious that he had planted a carefully chosen form of words in his press conference, but if you choose to actually look a bit deeper then nothing has changed. The facts remain that Barcelona have yet to offer anything close to what Arsenal are looking for. All the time that remains the same Fabregas will remain at Arsenal. This was nothing more than posturing from Barcelona in order to further unsettle Cesc Fabregas. Ultimately, if they really want him, Barcelona will come up with the necessary money to force Arsenal's hand and sell. All the time they fail to do so you have to wonder if they genuinely want the boy to play for them this season. If he does go there it is unlikely he will get much further than the bench for most of the season, and certainly not for any big games unless Xavi or Iniesta are injured/suspended. 
So, you see, nothing has changed. Fabregas remains an Arsenal player and will be so until Barca offer enough. Nothing new, nothing more to say. Guardiola was merely continuing with Barcelona's very public agenda for pursuing a player from another Club.
Like everyone else I am sick of the whole saga, but there is nothing Arsenal can do about Barcelona's behaviour (though UEFA could), or the press speculation, so there is no point in getting upset about it. I remain neutral on the whole subject, but I would far rather we kept Fabregas and booted out Nasri - we hold the whip-hand on Fabregas due to his contract. With Nasri we are in a serious position of weakness as we will lose a valuable asset for nothing this time next year. Given Arsene Wenger's liking for good economics and value for money this seems a complete no-brainer to me.


More tomorrow.

One in, one out - can we have some more please?

Finally, but no fanfare

It's been a morning of announcements over at arsenal.com with the confirmation (at last) of Gervinho's arrival and Denilson's departure. I remember back in 2001 when we had a Summer of numerous arrivals there was great excitement when we added a new face. Now, with the general apathy of a number of fans towards the business of the Club, and the inability of Arsenal to get things done without a protracted debate, there is little joy surrounding the signing of our new Ivorian forward. It's unfortunate for the player himself, as it was for Carl Jenkinson, as joining Arsenal should be a massive moment. When it's met with such a lukewarm reception from the fans I imagine a certain gloss is removed.
As I mentioned above we are also seeing the end of Denilson's Arsenal career. The Brazilian is heading back to his homeland on loan for a year. Arsenal's inability to find anyone willing to pay for someone we no longer need at the Club is something that should worry the powers that be. Denilson has not been without appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League and Champions League, so not finding anyone to buy him perhaps tells us that Arsene persevered with him for far too long.


With these announcements we at least see that things might be starting to move. With both Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis out in the far-east last week we were never likely to see any signings over the past ten days. Now they are back there is no excuse for any more prevarication. The areas of the team that need to be addressed are obvious, so let's see Wenger get down to business and make some signings this week. At the same time we need to get some deals concluded for more of the dead-wood - lest we forget that Almunia and Bendtner are still around, as well as Eboue and Rosicky and Diaby. There is no game until Saturday, so there is no excuse for business not to be done. And, while I'm here, I don't count signing an unknown Costa Rican, who needs to be loaned out as he won't get a work permit, as part of the business I'm talking about.

Hangzhou Greentown 1 - 1 Arsenal

 Does RVP's expression reflect that of all Arsenal fans after opening goal?

I have to say that it's all maddeningly predictable. The first half of the match today was reminiscent of almost every game Arsenal played after Christmas last season. It seems that the method for stopping Arsenal scoring, while exploiting their defensive softness, has spread all the way to China. Given that the Premier League is shown in its entirety every weekend we probably shouldn't be surprised. Hangzhou simply strung plenty of players across their defensive line, remained organised, and invited Arsenal to pass the ball square and backwards whenever they got within thirty yards of goal. The same old formation, being put in to practise by the same old players, produced the same boring style of play whereby there was no penetration, and never looked like being, as the ball went back and forth in front of the opposition defenders - plenty of possession, but none of it in any way a threat to the goalkeeper. Meanwhile Djourou and Squillaci continued their keystone cops efforts in defence, ably assisted by Vito Mannone as we conceded from a set-piece. As for the way the two centre-backs fared in open play the less said the better. Suffice to say that Hangzhou were well worth their lead until Vela's equaliser on half-time.
The second half was much more pleasing from an Arsenal point of view, with plenty of chances being created. Sadly they all fell to the normally reliable Theo Walcott. Rather like Lloyd Bridges' character in "Airplane: The Movie" Theo picked the wrong day to start talking about playing centre-forward. The one thing to be said is that at least there was some shooting after half-time, even if it failed to beat the goalkeeper at any time. I just think we would be looking so much better with two up front.
Carlos Vela is someone I believe is not good enough to play for Arsenal. However, he has got absolutely no chance of proving otherwise all the time we persist with this system. Today he had to play wide on the right. If there is anything that Vela is good at then it's finishing. He has neither the skill, nor the pace, to play out wide for Arsenal. It's no coincidence that he got his goal after drifting in to the centre and putting away a rebound from the goalkeeper - a poacher's goal. Perhaps the reason Hernandez scored so many for United last season is that he got to play up front, with a provider of good chances. Much like Walcott (forget his bad day today) Vela needs to play in the middle with Van Persie or Chamakh. Such a change would also make it more difficult to defend against our currently predictable style of play.

Just a quick aside to finish on - apparently Thomas Rosicky played the first-half - I didn't see him touch the ball.