Sunday, September 27, 2015

Feiry Flams & Stunning Sanchez: Reasons for Gunners to Rejoice

Last week's dreadful show and this week's display makes a perfect moment to recall a famous line of Al Pacino in The Godfather III movie which was, "Äs soon as I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."

Yes, this is the week to bask in immense delight for all the Goonars as Arsenal made a statement to quiet down all the doubters and put a stop to the taunts by many that a top class proven striker is what Gunners actually require to fight for the title. Well, not so much if you take in the accounts of how we played at White Hart Lane in our Capitol One Cup tie against Tottenham but last night practically shut down all the critics who has the fan drive against the Gunner's boss.

Wednesday night seemed to be a bit of stuttering approach as fresh loss to Chelsea was looming over the players and the absence of Coquelin, due to injury, saw two veterans Arteta and Flamini filling in the position with no Cazorla in the squad along with Ospina, Debuchy and Campbell coming in the line up.

Flamini Shines for Arsenal in Capital One Cup
That seemed to be working against the team until Flamini popped in the picture, scoring his first on the rebound, followed by a spectacular volley finish that completely broke down Spurs and saw them out of the competition on a night where Giroud again came a bit clueless with his approach on the goal.

However when dumping our North London rivals in a slightly fortunate manner wasn't enough, a complete assault came in at Leicester in the Premiere League fixture yesterday where the Gunners finally went in with all guns blazing on the offensive, particularly with the man in question who lead the Arsenal goal scoring stat last season - Alexis Sanchez And also especially against the only team with an unbeaten record in the League which seemed unstoppable till the very game at their home.

Alexis Sanchez is back with a Bang.
After giving away the first goal in the early minutes of the game, Arsenal had the hard work cut out against a strong team laid out in front of them by Claudio Raneiri but the counter attacking mindset paid off with Walcott equalizing due to an excellent pass by Santi Cazorla.

Then came in the dazzling Chilean with an appetite, scoring his first of the season on a Bellerin cross, then heading off an excellent Ozil lob for his second which by his his trademark long shot finish from 20 odd yards to bag his first hat-trick in the Premiere League.

Although, Jamie Vardy scored again following his first to make the Gunners nervous but Giroud came off the bench to grab the fifth and end the powerful run of Leicester City to a complete stop.

Wenger rejoiced following Arsenal's strong Comeback.
This victorious week has given great boost to the fact that Arsene Wenger had given the fans a great reason to get behind him and most importantly the team itself. Moreover, questions that loomed about having a renowned proven striker signing might be out to rest as all three designated forwards were on the score sheet.

However, the need of a strong defensive midfield back up seems to be the area that should concern Wenger the most as Flamini and Arteta could only provide limited cover for Coquelin, the man who has become the actual anchor for Arsenal since last season.

Although he would be back in a week's time to face Manchester United at home but any serious injury to him may leave Gunners on the back-foot so let's hope he stays fit along with Arteta and Flamini in the squad till January transfer window.


What's your opinion on it? Do tell through your comments and Thank you once again for reading. Till next time, Come On You Gunners!! Cheers.






Monday, September 21, 2015

A True Red Week for Gunners

Well Surprise, Surprise. If you couldn't comprehend from the post's title already, the following will give you a whirlwind round up of how Gunners fared in this past week's horrendous displays of RED on the pitch.

After setting the tone from the home victory against Stoke City, the plan was to build up the pressure over our London rivals Chelsea who had been in the dumps so far. Instead, Arsenal nose dived at Dynamo Zagreb by not only losing to the hosts but also seeing the lone striker Olivier Giroud pick up a red card with his own wrong doing.

While Walcott scored first CL goal for the season in the game, it was astonishingly confusing to see Wenger trying up numerous questionable changes in the squad despite knowing the criticality of starting strong in the UEFA Champion's League.

Leaving Ramsey, Bellerin, Walcott, Coquelin, Monreal and more importantly the only but the most vital signing of the season, Petr Cech on the bench proved to be the worst idea that the Gunner's boss could come up with in a CL opener and resulted in a disappointed loss for the team which includes Giroud's ouster. This fact was later on admitted by him at the post match press conference.

And if that wasn't enough to damage the confidence, the Saturday afternoon fixture becoming the crash landing site for the North London club at Stamford Bridge. A game which started as a see-saw attacking fiesta, ended in a total fiasco for Gunners which resulted not only in a loss but seeing two players sent off in a single game with one in particular the most talked about in this past weekend.

Costa's Antics left Gunners Speechless
Referee Mike Dean was also to be blamed for his inability to see things clearly and stood quite unfair in the scheme of things, leading to a storm of criticism in the most controversial game of this season so far where the wittiness was used by Chelsea to beat Arsenal at their home.

Although many have criticized Diego Costa for his antics and devious way to have Gabriel Paulista sent off after being clearly being the one to receive it, the Arsenal defender let him get under his skin and fell pray while not controlling his emotions in the derby.

That Red card proved to be the decider as Gunners gave away the first goal from the set-piece after Gabriel's dismissal and plunged further down as Cazorla pick up his 2nd yellow in the game to become the 3rd Arsenal player to get a red card in 2 matches. That led to the 2nd goal of the match, making it the last nail in the coffin for Arsenal.

Wenger finding more plunge than rise.
All in all, the tactical failure of Arsene Wenger in Dynamo led to a disastrous weekend which has left the team with a lot of questions to be answered as they visit Tottenham Spurs on Tuesday night in their Capitol One Cup clash.

Has the transfer policy fired back? Are Gunners habitual now to repeat their performances against major sides every season? Is Arsene Wenger still the right man to manage the team as a team besides as a club? Can Arsenal bounce back to show that they are still in the race for the title glory this season?

Tuesday night may be the night to have all of these questions answered.

What's your opinion about it? Leave a comment below and thanks once again for reading patiently.

Cheers!






Sunday, September 13, 2015

Stoke Test Cleared, Dynamo Up Next. Champion's League Dream begins "Again"

Gunners Relieved to have their names in the Scoring sheet against Stoke City .
Greetings as I write this post on almost the eve of the Europe's's greatest club football competition of this season involving all the big guns. And with delight too as Arsenal picked up three comfortable points as they won strongly.Especially after a lot of disappointing criticism made of the club's transfer handling this season following by some really nervous performances up front.

Waclott embraced on his fist PL goal of the Season
Some solid performances from Coquelin in the heart of midfield with Cazorla and it would be quite impossible not to mention Ozil and who was the caterer of the attack fest with Ramsey and Sanchez to give Walcott numerous opportunities to score. And score he did in the first half following by a strong headed finish by the much crticized Arsenal front man Giroud.

All in all, a great comeback performance by the team as for at least a few days, Arsene Wenger would find himself in a slight comfort zone and so will Giroud and Walcott. As for some fans who would still say that Gunners were not really convincing last evening winning against Stoke City at home, I would say that they expect far too much, watching far too many games of star studded opposition teams annihilating mid table to lower grade teams. 

Finally some joy for the Frenchman
Just to give them a comparison of yesterday's fixtures in the League, our London rivals Chelsea (Defending Champions - Premiere League) were crushed by Everton at Goodison Park, making it their third defeat already in total of 5 matches so far with just 4 points.

However, we now move on to the bigger stage as the battlegrounds are now being ready in Europe for the UEFA Champion's League with us drawn against Dynamo Zagreb, Olympiakos and German Champions Bayern Munich . Most importantly, all that talk of getting a star signing up front would really come into question as we visit Dynamo at their home for our first game of group stages. 

So far, Arsenal have not made it further than the last 16 in the UCL since last 5 seasons and being one of top renowned clubs among the Europe's elite, it is a huge concern for Wenger whose dream to win the Champions League has gradually transformed into a fantasy. 
Wenger not deserting hope for UCL Glory

The pressure to perform well against Dynamo in a away game shouldn't be of too much intensity for a top club but for Arsenal, there is always tons of pressure to do well in the Champion's League. Now with a shameful benchmark set by the club as per past performances in UCL, the primary objective for Arsene Wenger should be the breaking of that self created "Round 16" barrier convincingly and taking each games piece by piece. Rest is all faith

To say that the Dream can become reality for the Professor would be a far fetched idea but for sure, almost fans would get really excited to see Arsenal in the Quarter Finals at the Champion's league.

What do you think? Do leave a comment below and thanks again for reading patiently! Salud. COYG!!









Monday, September 7, 2015

Three Ws under the "Spotlight" post Transfer Window

Hello again and here is the latest post after another trademark Transfer Window for the Gunners came to a close. This time around, Gooners were given another heartache when Arsenal couldn't add an outfield player after despite a handful of players linked to us.

Especially with one news piece showing pics of Wenger flying to Paris to supposedly secure the signatures of Cavani and Rabiot which has been the recent hug rumour after Benzema links were openely rubbished by the player himself.

Wenger under fire again as Usual
Unfortunately, it all ended up in dust as no deals materialized or as most Gooners think that it is the attitude and approach of the Arsenal boss that has lead them to have see the only new face in the form Petr Cech this summer.

This may not be true but but things have gone from bad to worst as Danny Welbeck had to go through a knee surgery on the following day of the Transfer Deadline which has rules him out till Christmas. Or even further beyond till March of next year as Roy Hodgson has stated that the England striker may not be included in the squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 in France. 

The assessment on Welbeck's situation had already been known to Arsene Wenger before the transfer deadline day on as the "minor" bone injury which has kept him out since April of this year, had become a mysterious issue taking his return to action into consideration.

Welbeck's return delayed till Christmas or beyond?
That certainly puts the Gunner's boss in the shooting range and the trust has seemingly faded among the fans, considering how things have been taken care off recently in terms of getting a guaranteed goal scorer to boost our Title winning chances.

With only a single goal scored by an Arsenal player out of the three in the first 4 games in the season makes one question the tactics used by Arsene Wenger which has led in failure to sign a top new striker for the club. 

Meanwhile, hope may not be all lost as Theo Walcott starred for the Three Lions at San Marino, scoring a brace while playing on the flanks as usual two nights ago. 

Although San Marino is a team which England has fancied playing against over the last 15 months, winning every time with larger margins but Walcott must have gained some confidence after his performance and hopefully, he will work hard to restore the somewhat lost faith of Arsenal fans in him and especially Wenger.

Walcott on the score sheet for England at San Marino
Moreover, Joel Campbell's sale was also blocked to keep him as a back up so he may get a shot in the first team as well to play in the front line. That may be enough to keep the club going on for now but all depends on how Walcott and Giroud deliver up front aside from Sanchez and the ever versatile midfield possessed by Gunners till January window. 

For now, Walcott, Wenger and Welbeck - the three Ws of Arsenal would have to work individually in their paths to achieve the unified primary objective for the Club to make it stronger in the league. Waclott needs to score more, Wenger needs to gain back faith among the fans and Welbeck to get fit till December.

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment or two and thanks again for reading. Salud!