0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0: What is Wrong?

I now think it's officially a deep psychological problem. How else does one explain how a team with so much quality, using the same basic formation that dominated Roma (and even perhaps an even more attacking formation) fail so badly to beat Fulham? The performance today lacked heart, lacked quality, lacked commitment, and most importantly lacked goals. Just what is wrong with us at the moment?

I'm usually an optimistic supporter of Arsenal. In fact up until today I firmly believed we would overhaul Villa for fourth place. But now my faith has been extremely shaken. This is four 0-0 draws in a row now, and that's 12 points dropped in the league. If we had won all these matches we would be four points ahead of Villa: and that's after they beat Stoke tomorrow (which they will of course do).

But instead here we sit five behind them, eight if Villa triumph tomorrow, and only two points ahead of Everton in sixth. Not only am I not sure we we will make the Champions League, I think there's a distinct possibility that we will lose fifth spot as well.

In all honesty, Fulham were just better than us today. They created far more chances, defended better, and they knew how to hang onto a result at the end of the match. Their passing around the ball in the last five minutes was extremely frustrating, but also extremely effective. This Arsenal side have now changed from a side that could comfortably beat Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage (Jan. last year) to a team that barely hang onto a 0-0 draw at the Emirates. This is despicable.

I usually try to give you, the reader, some ray of optimism in my posts, but to be honest, I don't think I can give you one today. Insofar as the league goes, I think our chances of making the Champions League are dead and buried. Our only hope now of making it in is to win the darn thing this year, and unless both Man Utd and Barcelona are somehow knocked out in the second leg of this round, I fear we won't be able to win that either. The only prise we are still very much in the running for is the F.A. Cup, and as much as I'd like to see us win it, it still would only get us into the Europa League next season.

So back to the question I posed in the title of this article: just what is wrong? Well unfortunately I think it's now psychological. And if it is, there is simply nothing Arsene Wenger or anyone else can do for the team. The only thing that will get us out of this mess is time and goals. We need first to score, and then score some more, and then, after a time, we will be back confident again.

Don't forget, we have Eduardo returning shortly, and we all know what a difference he made in his first appearance back, so all is not lost in the attacking department. But I fear that once we finally do figure it out and start scoring again, it will be too late to even have a chance at fourth. So Europa League 2009-10, here we come. Until next time,

Fab 4

One Step Into the Quarterfinals...

What a satisfying night. After the disappointment of the nil-nil draw on Saturday which I really didn't feel like reviewing, the lads have done us proud again with a quite impressive 1-0 victory over AS Roma in the first leg of this Champions League Round of 16 fight.

In truth, the scoreline didn't reflect the game at all. We had a good six or seven chances tonight that were not put away, and so it could have been four or five. In all honesty though, perhaps the chances fell to the wrong men. Three great ones came in for Bendtner, with his first touch ruining two and poor fishing causing him to miss the third. And then the other great chance fell to Eboue. Need I say more?

But despite the misses, we got the breakthrough we deserved when Van Persie was dragged down inside the area and duly slotted home the ensuing penalty. In truth it was a rather soft penalty, but after the injustice of last year's penalty decisions in our tie against Liverpool, I was never going to be one to argue. Perhaps we had gotten back what we had deserved last April.

After the penalty we just continued to dominate the game and we looked good the whole night. One may wonder how we could have had such a dramatic turnaround from how we played at the weekend, but I never doubted it for a second. First of all, our game is more suited to European football. English teams just stick 10 men behind the ball and defend for 90 minutes: European teams actually play football against us, and when we can play a proper football match, we usually win it.

Also, there was the usually raising of the game by the players. For some reason, year after year, the players seem to raise their game and play so much better in the Champions League than in the Premiership. I think this is because of simply the prestige of the event: young players are more prone to try harder when they think the match is important. And try as he might, Arsene Wenger is always going to have a hard time convincing these youngsters that a game against Sunderland is as important as a game against one of the best sides in Italy, Roma.

But now with this win, we are in the perfect position. Coming into the night, I knew that keeping a clean sheet had to be the priority. If we scored, great, and we have done, but the most important thing was not allowing an away goal. Mission accomplished.

Now in the second leg, Roma will be forced to attack us. Hopefully our defense will withstand the inevitable onslaught, but I see this as an opportunity, not a problem. When teams attack us they open up, push up, and become more stretched. When this happens, we suddenly find ourselves with so much more space to work with. And when we have space we are dangerous; very dangerous.

So I think we've got ourselves a win-win situation in the second leg. If Roma don't attack us, we win, simple as that. If and when they do, we attack them back, use the empty space, and score ourselves, thus giving us an away goal. Just one goal in the return leg, and Roma will have to score three to beat us. And with the current state of our defense, that's highly unlikely.

Time to buy a quarterfinal ticket then? Not yet: the job isn't quite finished. But we have taken a massive stride towards qualification tonight. Don't forget, you can get all the Fab 4 Arsenal news and views sent direct to your mobile phone for free, please Click Here for details on how to try out this great service! Until next time,

Fab 4

The Beginning of the Rest of the Season

Was it just me, or did you also get the feeling that yesterday night's win over Cardiff City would be a turning point in our season? There was so much that was different and fresh in the match: it felt like the beginning of the season. It was great.

Our passing and flowing football was back, and for the first time since probably Bolton or Blackburn in September we dominated the match, recording an easy victory. The stats don't lie: whilst Cardiff recorded only four substantial shots, we had over 20. And with 60% possession, this was the Arsenal of old.

There will be the pessimists who will say that it was only Cardiff: the win means nothing as it was against such an "easy" team. But was it not Cardiff who, just a few weeks ago, held us to a draw in Wales? And is this not the same Arsenal team, albeit with one new and inspirational player, who lost 3-0 to Manchester City? Yes, it is.

What could have changed so much as to let us be so dominant last night? I can come to only one conclusion: this is a turning point in our season.

Eduardo has returned triumphantly, scoring two goals in his first match back from such a terrible injury, and surely his story of recovery and his amazing return to football has and will continue to inspire the team for the rest of the season. Just as his loss to injury so shook the team so as to ruin our season last campaign, his return from injury may inspire us to silverware this.

The F.A. Cup is within our sights now. We have two home ties in a row to teams that, if we play like we did yesterday, will be fairly easy to beat. Of course, don't tell the players this, because we all know what happens when they think they don't need to put in 100% to beat a team (e.g. Hull City at the Emirates). But in all seriousness, we should have no problems making it to the semifinals, and once we do that, surely there will then be the hunger and desire necessary to make it to the final and maybe even with the thing.

But with Eduardo back, Arshavin ready (maybe he'll play against Sunderland), Walcott only a week or so away from returning, and Fabregas apparently ready to start kicking a ball again next week, who can help but be optimistic about our chances this season? Maybe our long run of bad luck, injuries, and spotty form are behind us. Remember, we now have not lost a game of competitive football since our exit to Burnley in the League Cup the first week of December.

So having gone two months unbeaten and seeing our best players inspirationally returning to the side, I think we have finally rounded a corner this season. I think from here on out we will be back to the force we were last season, or at least the force that we all knew we could have been all season long. And remember, if we have rounded a corner and set ourselves on a path of good fortune this season, you saw it here first.

Watch this space, because I think last night was the start of something amazing. Here's hoping for all the best,

Fab 4

By 2012 We Will Dominate English Football

Yes, I firmly believe that by the year 2012, we will be the dominant team in English football. In order for this to happen, a number of things will have to play out, but looking at the situation today it is entirely plausible that all the pieces will fall into place. So what do we have to complain about? In three years we'll be dominating. How?

The global financial crisis.

Yes, I know it's not a cheery subject, and your head is probably hurting enough already from hearing so many doom & gloom predictions about it all, but if there's one thing good to come from it all, it will be that Arsenal will emerge the strongest club in England.

Take a look at the clubs who are very likely to implode in just the next year. West Ham United are owned by the banks of Iceland. And in case you haven't heard, the Icelandic economy has almost completely collapsed and the government with it. West Ham know this and have been starting to sell players to survive (e.g. Bellamy). But it won't work for long, and in a few months, the club will fall into liquidation.

But who cares about West Ham you say. Well you may care about the other club in a precarious position: Liverpool. The banks who have loaned Liverpool the money to stay afloat demanded the money back last month. Liverpool were somehow able to convince them to extend the deadline until the summer, but then that's it. Unless Liverpool are bought in the next six months then they will be insolvent. The sell of Keane back to Sp*rs is the first sign that things are getting bad for them.

Chelsea are in somewhat less deep trouble, but they too will not last. Today Chelsea's chief exec. warned that Chelsea will have to sell to make money for purchases this summer. You can read all the facts and figures at the link I provided, but basically they still owe about £350m to Mr. Abromovich. When he gets bored of Chelsea (and the indications are this is very much beginning to be the case), then he will pull out and Chelsea will have 18 months to pay back £350m: sure an unrealistic expectation for any club.

Man City will likely follow the same path of Chelsea, so they won't be too much of a concern, Aston Villa are one-season wonders and will drop back into UEFA Cup places next season if not this. Man Utd seem to be in a very good financial position, but they are not. They aren't really the "richest" club in the world, as you may have read, they merely have the biggest financial turnover of any club.

But they are in massive debts that they are attempting to hide. Have you ever heard of a little company called Enron which used to exist a few years back? They tried the same thing, and just look what happened to them. Man Utd are in real trouble. Full stop.

It has been shown again and again, meanwhile, that Arsenal use a self-sustaining financial model. We don't have a rich owner, our debts are so well managed that even missing the Champions League next season will not ruin us. It may tighten the purse strings a bit, but look at the team we have in the injury room waiting to join us: we will be fine in that department.

So assuming Chelsea have collapsed from their debts to Abramovich, Man Utd have gone the Enron route, and Liverpool are insolvent and playing down in League Two somewhere, then that will leave us as the dominant force in English football. Sure, there's the possibility of Man City being around as a power still, but even if they are, that's only one major club we have to compete against.

In conclusion, there is no reason for we gooners to feel anything but optimism. Financially we are sound, and in today's world that is massive. Sure we may be at our best right now, but I would gladly give up performances & results now if it means that in a few years we are the only big four club to still exist as it is today. So keep the faith: Arsene knows, he always has, he has seen this future for years now, and he and Arsenal are already planning and executing the great survival act that will keep us afloat in these turbulent financial times.

Don't forget, you can get all the Fab 4 Arsenal news and views sent direct to your mobile phone for free, please Click Here for details on how to try out this great service! Until next time,

Fab 4

Tottenham and Eduardo...

It's been a few weeks but I'm finally back to blogging. It's been a pretty busy time lately for me, but my nagging love for Arsenal that made me start this blog in the first place came back again to make me set aside some time today to talk about the club I love.

It's been a turbulent last week or so since the 0-0 draw to West Ham. It was a game in which I saw, for the first time in a very long while, our old flair and lovely passing. It only lasted about 20 minutes, and it unfortunately didn't lead to a goal, but the fact was it was there. This is, I believe, a very promising sign of things to come. If we can be flowing without Fabregas, Walcott, Rosicky, or Eduardo, then how well will we play when they return?

Then the transfer window slammed shut and barely making it inside in in time was Andrey Arshavin. This man may be the first big-name signing Arsene Wenger has made in years and years, if ever at Arsenal. It's truly something to get us all excited, but tagging him as the saviour of our season is dangerous and unnecessary. The lad hasn't played competitive football for months now, so how can he be expected to come right in in great form? He can't, and he won't, and we need to be patient with him, and it is then that we will see the best results.

Then there was the North London derby Sunday. After seeing Aston Villa get every call their way en route to a victory against Blackburn, and Chelsea slip up at home against Hull and subsequently sack their manager, I and everyone else realised the derby would be huge. We simply had to win.

But then a certain man named Eboue had to go and ruin our chances of doing so in quite possibly the worst case of indiscipline from an Arsenal player in quite some time. We were on the back foot for the rest of the match, and though we defended well, I don't share the views of so many other gooners about the draw. I consider it two points lost, and two less points in the race for fourth place (which now seems to be three-way between us, Villa, and now Chelsea).

But there was one positive from the game, one thing that happened, actually before the game began, which had me jumping with joy. Eduardo, for the first time in almost a year, was named on the substitutes bench. This was truly a spectacular moment, and one which I am surprised has not been mentioned by more gooners out there.

Yes it was only a bench appearance, and he hasn't actually returned yet, but the mere fact that his name once again appeared on a team sheet was fantastic news. I cannot wait for the day that Eduardo finally makes his return, and if I know Arsene Wenger he'll put him on at the Emirates Stadium. I'm hoping (and judging by the fact that he was called up for Croatia, thinking it's somewhat likely) that he will return against Cardiff in the F.A. Cup.

And when he does, he will I hope, be greeted with a cheer to rival that of a goal being scored. He will be where I am, and I'm hoping those at the Emirates that day will oblige me and acknowledge the fact that we once again have our most lethal goalscorer back among our ranks.

Don't forget, you can get all the Fab 4 Arsenal news and views sent direct to your mobile phone for free, please Click Here for details on how to try out this great service! Until next time,
Fab 4