What a season. What
an unbelievable season. It starts with
an 8-2 loss to ManU and except for Gibbs tackle would have fallen almost that
low on the last day.
I am a huge Arsenal
fan and have been for what is it now, 15 years?
Something like that. I knew of
Arsenal of course, just as one knows of ManU and Liverpool, but I am an Arsenal
fan because of one man, the Dutchman. I
saw him play in the mid 90’s on Fox Soccer and thought, what a ball player. I
have been with Arsenal ever since and will not leave.
It is a miracle that Arsenal finished third. To start the season so poorly is bad enough,
but then to fall off in the middle of the season and recover and then fall off
yet again says as much about the weaknesses of the competition as it does about
your own strengths. Which is another way
of saying, the gap between third and second is probably greater than the gap
between third and seventh (Everton’s finish) or maybe even tenth (WBA).
To the points above, can you guess which month of the year
Arsenal averaged the fewest points per game?
No it wasn’t August, it was January.
Arsenal did not get a single point in January. What month did Arsenal average the most points per game? It was February and even in our best month,
we drew a game against a relegated team (Bolton). A rolling average of points per game for the
season shows the highpoint was 1.94 points per game reached on April 11 against
Wolverhampton. The next game Arsenal
lost to Wigan in a game that ended Arteta’s season and that started a downward
trend that nearly cost Arsenal third place.
Now consider this table:
Place in Table
|
Team
|
Points for Arsenal
|
% of Available Points
|
Points from Groups of Three
|
1
|
Manchester City
|
3
|
50%
|
33%
|
2
|
Manchester United
|
0
|
0%
|
|
4
|
Tottenham Hotspur
|
3
|
50%
|
|
5
|
Newcastle United
|
4
|
67%
|
78%
|
6
|
Chelsea
|
4
|
67%
|
|
7
|
Everton
|
6
|
100%
|
|
8
|
Liverpool
|
3
|
50%
|
56%
|
9
|
Fulham
|
1
|
17%
|
|
10
|
W.B.A.
|
6
|
100%
|
|
11
|
Swansea
|
3
|
50%
|
72%
|
12
|
Norwich
|
4
|
67%
|
|
13
|
Sunderland
|
6
|
100%
|
|
14
|
Stoke City
|
4
|
67%
|
72%
|
15
|
Wigan Athletic
|
3
|
50%
|
|
16
|
Aston Villa
|
6
|
100%
|
|
17
|
QPR
|
3
|
50%
|
58%
|
18
|
Bolton Wanderers
|
4
|
67%
|
|
19
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
3
|
50%
|
|
20
|
Wolverhampton
|
4
|
67%
|
Arsenal got maximum points against only four teams. Against the top two and the fourth place team
Arsenal got only 33% of the points which includes two losses
against ManU. However, after ManU who did Arsenal perform the worst
against? Fulham! Yet, what I really want
to point out is that I grouped the bottom four together and look at that
average, 58% of the points. Are you
kidding me? The third place team did not
get maximum points against any of the bottom four teams? Know what ManU did
against these teams? 21/24. ManCity?
24/24. If Arsenal had replicated
ManCity’s record against the bottom four, Arsenal would almost, almost be in
contention for the title instead of 19 points adrift. To say it another way, Arsenal needed 19
points to compete for the title and 10 of those points were available against
the bottom four teams.
Any team’s performance in any season is affected by many
factors, but I think the most important were these.
The Injury Issues
Continue
At one point all four first team fullbacks were injured and Arsenal
played, I believe, nearly two months without a first team fullback playing the
position. Can anyone think of an
instance where this has happened to any EPL team?
How about some praise for Sagna? The young man breaks his leg, twice, in the
same season. Unheard of and this to a
player who IMO, excluding RVP, is the only Arsenal player who is arguably the
best at his position in the EPL.
Fantastic player and tireless worker.
Arteta’s injury against Wigan was huge. Arsenal had no one left to fill that void and
did not win the mid field battle in any game for the rest of the season.
Wilshire missing the whole season was huge.
Poor Diaby’s injury woes continued. In the brief moments he played one could see
the talent and skill.
The Big German misses over a third of the season from an
injury suffered on a fresh plowed field at Sunderland.
Oh, and I almost forgot about that young fellow, Frimpong.
Others were injured from time to time but those seem to be
the big ones.
These injuries resulted in points being dropped. Of that is there no doubt. Yes, Championship teams overcome injuries,
but rarely (if ever) this many.
Although the Club claimed otherwise last year, it seems that
Arsenal tends to suffer not only more injuries, but more severe injuries when
compared to other clubs. I think there
are several reasons for this.
First and most importantly, Arsenal plays more young players
than most clubs and plays them more often.
Young bodies are typically (yes, there is always a Rooney) not ready for
the week in and week out grind of the EPL against grown men. I think the club asks too much of too many
young players. Which is why, as much as
I wanted to see him play more, I was pleased that OX played relatively
little.
Another contributing factor is the style of play. Arsenal players generally run further and
harder than most other teams. It is
beautiful to watch at times as well as frustrating, but the more tired one gets
the more likely an injury. There is also the amount of time an Arsenal
player spends with the ball at his feet in tight quarters and risking a
nasty tackle compared to say, Stoke, Sunderland, Newcastle.
Yes, I am thinking of you, Joey Barton you thug. Oh how I wish Arsenal hand signed you last
year and then loaned you out to, say, Hamilton Athletic. Why are you still allowed to play soccer you
sociopath?
Specific Player
Comments
All season I kept thinking if Ramsey scores a goal or two this game he will break out as a
scorer. So many chances and so many
misses. By season’s end he was
completely lost. May he recover over the
summer. (But that was a great goal
against Marseilles wasn’t it?)
Roscky finally and consistently showed what he could do after
years of injury and some disappointment.
Wouldn’t it be great if he could play a complete season at the level he
showed in the last three months?
Koscielny was much improved this year. It seems it takes a defensive player a year
or nearly so to adjust to the intensity and pace of the EPL. Would that Mertesacker show the same growth
in year two that Koscielny did.
We missed Vermaelen last year didn’t we?
Szczesny disappointed at times, but is trending the right
way and is an improvement over the past couple years.
A word or two for you Theo.
From time to time look like you are enjoying yourself. You are making a fortune playing a game.
Smile!
Alex, you have grown so much the last four years and I
absolutely appreciate your play, but the hairstyle is not getting better, it is
getting worse. Additionally, when in your own end make the easy pass. For all your talents you are not Cesc and he
couldn’t get away with it either.
(Remember second game against Barca a year ago?)
I loved Arteta at Everton and coveted having him in an
Arsenal uniform. I always thought he
would fit right in. He did.
Benayoun should have played more earlier in the year. (At
Fulham!) I hope Mr. Wenger buys
him. For too long the locker and
practice field has missed an older player who goes about his job in a manner
that instructs younger players.
The Manager
I have never lost faith in Mr. Wenger even though he seems
to be remarkably stubborn at times.
However, I thought he made several mistakes this year.
When looking back many will see this as the year Arsenal
lost Nasri and Cesc so late. I don’t
blame the manager for those issues. We
didn’t get full value for Cesc and while it is possible to reasonably believe Mr.
Wenger didn’t play his hand well, you never really know. Maybe he got absolutely as much value as he
could. Nasri? Whatever. He got an EPL Championship. Good for him.
Personally I don’t understand the desire to win a Championship in a
supporting role when one can be fighting for one in a starting role. I guess Sami isn’t ready to lead men and
wants to follow others.
For me the low point of the year and where I am most
critical of Mr. Wenger was the Fulham game of January 2nd. If ever a game cried out for a complete
rotation of the starting 11 it was this game.
Arsenal had recovered from a disastrous start to the season, come
through the Christmas season in decent shape and on two days rest had to play
Fulham at the Cottage. Coming into the
game Fulham had lost a heartbreaker a couple days prior and was in terrible
mental shape. A high energy team would
have run Fulham off the field, but only two changes were made. Mr. Wenger’s thinking, IMO, should have been…road
game, Fulham is down, we are up, we have played a lot, important games coming
up, let’s see how our bench performs against their tired starters. If we tie or win, those are points we pick
up. If we lose, ok, it is a road game at
the end of Christmas and we need a break.
Arsenal was slow, Arsenal lacked energy, Arsenal was lucky
to get ahead and hold it for as long as they did, but the longer the game went
the more energy Fulham got. One knew what was going to happen. Then Mr. Wenger substituted Squillaci in for
Ramsey and well, game over. Did he play
again the rest of the year?
For me this game was the low point of the season. From this point so many bad things happened
before the season was saved in February and March.
Another criticism that has been developing for the last
couple years is this: Young players have
to play. If they are not going to be
contributors loan them out and fill the supporting roles with older players
(Benayoun). In any sport if one is still playing in their 30’s that player has
figured out how to survive on the field and, just as importantly, off the
field. That discipline will flow through
a squad. IMO, Mr. Wenger has had too
many young players sitting on the bench, if there, and not enough wise old
heads on the bench and in the locker room.
However, all of the above pales when compared to the great
achievement of keeping this team together during a season with so many terrible
results. How they got it going again
after AC Milan was remarkable, tremendous achievement. Amazing. Now go spend some money.
Going Forward
Players that got to go: Arshavin (What was his preferred
drink, Vodka or beer?), Squillaci (never want to see him in Arsenal colors
again), Park, Chamackh (his style and lack of speed really hurt him), Almunia,
Bendtner (what a dolt!), Denilson (unless he has cleaned up his training),
Vela.
Needs: Lots of them up and down the field. Sure hope we sign and retain Song, RVP and
Walcott. The owners would love to see Clint
Dempsey play at Arsenal for USA marketing reasons and his ability to
score. I have seen Hazard play and would
love to see him join Arsenal.
When does the season start?
Oh yes, August…90 days and we are at it again. Can’t wait and this year I am coming over.
See you.
