Wilshere In Squad To For Spain

The England U17 squad for this month's European
Championship campaign has been announced, as John Peacock's team look
to take their first steps towards the finals in Germany next summer. The squad boasting 3 16 year-old Arsenal players: Jack Wilshere, Luke Freeman, and Emmanuel Frimpong.

The
Young Lions will face opposition from Armenia, Estonia and hosts Spain
in their group, with the top two teams progressing to the Elite
Qualifying Round which will be held next year.




Qualifying Round
22-27 October 2008
Campo los Cuartos, Tenerife, Spain

Player	Club
Ryan Allsop	West Bromwich Albion
José Baxter	Everton
John Bostock	Tottenham Hotspur
Luke Freeman	Arsenal
Emmanuel Frimpong	Arsenal
Ezekiel Fryers	Manchester United
Gary Gardner	Aston Villa
James Hurst	Portsmouth
Billy Knott	Chelsea
Keanu Marsh-Brown	Fulham
Eddie Oshodi	Watford
Tom Parkes	Leicester City
Jamie Reckord	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Jed Steer	Norwich City
Ryan Tunnicliffe	Manchester United
Jonjo Shelvey	Charlton Athletic
Jacob Walcott	Reading
Jack Wilshere	Arsenal

Stats Show Up Our Flaws Clearly

From this table taken from Sky Sports Opta analysis shooting accuracy is clearly one of the problems that Arsenal have - but this has been known for a while. Get more shots on target and we score more goals - you can't argue with those numbers.

Team	Goals	Shots	On Target	Shot Accuracy	Succ Passes
Arsenal	13	111	44	40%	3086
Aston Villa	12	60	28	47%	1636
Blackburn	8	63	27	43%	1950
Bolton	8	71	31	44%	1199
Chelsea	14	107	48	45%	3261
Everton	11	73	27	37%	1897
Fulham	5	62	20	32%	1899
Hull	10	54	28	52%	1408
Liverpool	10	94	33	35%	2797
Man City	18	74	40	54%	2457
Man Utd	8	72	33	46%	2407
Middlesbrough	7	76	35	46%	1666
Newcastle	7	53	22	42%	2208
Portsmouth	9	80	37	46%	1848
Stoke	8	45	15	33%	1046
Sunderland	7	63	28	44%	1805
Tottenham	4	74	28	38%	2479
West Brom	7	72	32	44%	2044
West Ham	14	85	35	41%	2240
Wigan	9	85	28	33%	1720

               
                           
                           
Our lack of a defensive midfielder with real tackling bite is also evident from the table below.                            
                           
       
                           

Tacklers	Team	Tackles	Success rate
Behrami	West Ham	36	67%
Butt	Newcastle	34	59%
Petrov	Aston Villa	33	67%
Malbranque	Sunderland	31	81%
Muamba	Bolton	30	83%

Fabregas is normally at the top of these two tables, however the little mystro who we have come to rely on has not quite hit top form yet. Also looks like that summer move for Alonso would have really been a good one - he is clearly making Liverpool tick.


                           

Passers	Team	Passes	Accuracy
Xabi Alonso	Liverpool	525	85%
Denilson	Arsenal	497	85%
Lampard	Chelsea	486	84%
Parker	West Ham	443	87%
Fabregas	Arsenal	417	83%

                                      
   
                           

ASSISTS	Team	Assists
Arteta	Everton	4
Ashley Young	Aston Villa	3
Barry	Aston Villa	3
Denilson	Arsenal	3
Ireland	Manchester City	3
Keane	Liverpool	3

Remedy 1 Large Slice Of Humble Pie...

On Saturday we witnessed what happens when overconfidence leaches over into arrogance... The Hull game was a wake-up call for players, manager and fans alike. It is all too easy to get swept up in the lyrical waxings of pundits and media after the 6-0 drubbing handed out by the B-team to Sheffield United. Players were not kept on their toes and it showed. The only remedy now is to send out a clear message by dropping some players - I would start with Gallas and follow that with Eboue and RVP, while they were not the onlyones who were poor, the represent a reasonable sample of the attack and defence which were weakest in that game. Bring in Bendtner or Vela, and Djourou (who has played well and gives us some protection from those goddam corners). I have a theory about Arsenal's Achillies heel - the corner; A) we are rubbish at taking and attacking them and B) because we suck at corners, in training our defence doesn't get a good work-out in this part of the game. A vicious cycle, bring back Tony Adams? Arsenal needs a Sol Campbel and Adebayor needs to time his jumps and attack the ball more aggressively.

In other news the golden reserves also got handed their own spoonful of wake-up medicine, loosing 4-1 to the Aston Villa team. While this should be put in context, Villa's team are far more experienced at this level than the Arsenal side, and would clearly be out to prove that they 'wouldn't be doing a Sheffield', it still hammers a similar point home about keeping these boys feet on ground level.

As Banfield later said:

"A lot of these boys think they are better than they actually are"

Arsenal pay price for negativity....again.

Ok - Arsene got what he said would be a good result (in light of historic games in Kiev). Howver, you have to say it feels like points dropped.

I had a sneaking suspicion that we would be facing a draw, or a loss, once I had a peek at the formation and team.

Firstly our game at Fulham showed the dangers of playing with such a negative midfield and our failure to effectively implement 4-5-1-/4-3-3 formation at the moment it isn't our game. RVP should never ever ever again be considered for the left wing role - the Dutchman looked frustrated all night. In that position he receives the ball but cannot do what he does best which is cut in field and unleash pile-drivers with his magical left foot. Nor should he be in the side for his defensive capabilities, he simply cannot tackle and presents little obstacle to the attacking winger or full-back. I think Vela might have been a better option for last nights game, given the absense of Nasri.

Vela and Walcott are similar players, on the left and right they could be devastating. I took the opportunity to watch Vela during his years in La-Liga. He is a busy player, not too disimilar to Nasri in his tenaciousness, his touch and finishing are excellent. In the absence of Eduardo, who I think is the partner that works best with Ade, Vela should be given a run or at least the last 30mins of games. For me if you are going to play 4-5-1-/4-3-3 it is important to have two winger-forwards who can get up to support the central striker quickly but can also get back to cover or impeed attacks going down the flanks before the midfield is overrun. All the forward need do is slow down an attack by sticking to and harrassing the man in possession.

Secondly, while song can do Flamini's job, his possessional sense is sumwhat lacking. Don't get me wrong, I think he did pretty well, actually, the best I have seen him play for Arsenal. He is certainly improving. One of the most important roles of a DM is to anticipate the correct position to be in as you are frequently covering more than one player as a break develops. Being in the right place at the right time can be the difference between helping out the defence and being a spectator.

Anyway, in a fortnight we will know if Porto are as good as they looked. I seem to remember we fairly comfortably beat them 2-0. Same again would see us on top of the group as long as Fenebache don't get beaten by a greater margin.

Bischoff Reveals Insight Into Clichy Mystry

French borne attacking midfielder, Amaury Bischoff revealed an clue as to the possible international exile of French players plying their trade aboard, such as one Gael Clichy, who has still to make his debut for the tri-color.

In an interview with the Arsenal TV, Bischoff reveals that he chose Portugal after being

“I was called up to the French Under 18’s, but when I moved to Werder the French manager called me and said ‘If you go abroad I will not select you for the team’ He only wanted players playing in France."

This is something that has cropped up a few times with a number of players, most recently pressure was put on Hatem Ben Arfa to remain in the French league. Keen to build up the status of the French league, the FFF are resorting to rather extreme measures.

Flamini and Hleb Struck With Some Arsenal Voodoo

Well the 'curse of Arsenal' is a potent thing, I don't know who they have got cooking up that particular hex (maybe Papa), but it sure works. Luckily, the cameras on Saturday missed Arsene poking needles into voodoo dolls of Flamini and Hleb...

Firstly Flamini at Milan would have been expected to make light work of newly-promoted Bologna on home soil, but slipped to a surprise 2-1 defeat. Mathiew played the whole game but again Milan look like a team caught between the generations, trying to rebuild without retiring their octogenerians. So to you Flamini, in the line immortalised by Nelson Muntz, I say - Ha Ha!

Secondly Helb making his league debut with Barcelona, as the Catalan giants suffered an embarrassing 1-0 reversal at Numancia. How I chuckled as I saw Hleb twist and turn and do exactly what he did at Arsenal - i.e. nothing, no goals, no assist passes. I don't know what Pep Guardiola was thinking, I really don't. Hleb is going to find that life in La Liga doesn't afford attacking players much tolerance when it comes to providing end product. His supposed 'pre-assist' pass will cut little muster with the fans of Barcelona.

With the end of the transfer window comming up fast and seemingly little interest in spending his pocket change, Arsene may be facing the prospect of another winter competing on four fronts with seemingly a lighter, younger squad than he had last season. With all the all our 'targets' now cup-tied in the champions league, or having signed new contracts, it seems like we will probably see one or two more come in from some unknown corner of the world. Either that or nothing at all.

Read more >> Options >>

Cesc-less Arsenal are a real turnoff

So there you have it. Pre-season over and our first competitive start sees the Arsenal squad threadbare as they were at the end of last season. Don't get me wrong, but Ramsey and Denilson did well no mega howlers - what more can you expect from a 17 & 20 year old midfield pair playing together for the first time. I noticed that Arsenal's normal spearhead is through the middle, it is central to our passing game. Against Twenty I could sense our 'senior' players were reluctant to give too much of the ball to Ramsey. Although Denilson did well to show for the ball and passed well, you feel he is still a year of so off being ready to hold down the position vacated by flamini. We need Cesc, he is the midfield captain. Without Cesc we are lost.

Are you worried about a tough campaign on 4 fronts? Ok, things may be eased as our injury list dribbles life into the bare bones of the Arsenal midfield by september-november. But will this be in time to prevent us falling behind the pack? I have to say, this "one body" we are supposedly short of should have been brought long ago. Why wait until the season starts, surely the money saved is only lost when you consider whoever this mystery signing could have had all summer to bed-in.

Given that Barry is non-starter. Veloso is overpriced and has no premiership experience. Could we raid Marseille again for the aggressive captain Loric Cana, a defensive midfielder from the no-nonsense school of crunching tackles? Or the probable target of Gokhan Inler, who has admitted to already being in talks with Arsenal. We will know in a week to 10 days or before home game against Twente...but then again remember what happened to the Nasri transfer.......

There's Youth Motivation You Won't Find At Any Other Club!

Wenger revealed:

"Of course I am in a position where I can spend the money. But every time, we have done such a great job with the young players that you are concerned 'Do we kill a young player or not by bringing another player in?'"

And people wondered why Arsenal have such a successful academy.... Yes it is the knackers yard for those youngsters who fail to make the grade, putting them down is the really the kindest option (rather than see them end up at Spurs).

Disclaimer: Ok, I'm joking. I wouldn't really insinuate Arsenal implemented such draconian youth training policies.

On another note, it appears that U17 France midfielder, Francis Coquelin has braved the entry into our academy. He arrives on a free transfer from SASP Stade Lavallois Mayeene MFC. Not much is known about the youngster but the Young Guns site peg him down as a Flamini type all action defensive midfielder.

Hopefully we can hang on to one rather than "kill" this time...

Promotions And Signings Required To Fill Voids

We will have most of our players back by tomorrow... Hleb and Gilberto depart. I was sad to see Gilberto leave, really thought his experience would have been useful next season.


If we don't sign a defensive midfielder (Didn't realise but Diaby
is injured), and RoSicknote is going to be injured for a while. The
squad is starting to look mighty thin... especially of proven
Premiership player (I wonder when the ones Wenger promised are going to
arrive)

The current status quo leaves us with these options in midfield.

Walcott---Fabregas/Nasri---Song/Denilson---Nasri/Vela/Traore

Given that two of those players have never seen the premiership. I
personally don't think there is any chance of Ramsey getting
premiership games this season, so I'm discounting him. I'm loathed to
consider Eboue on the Right. Nasri can play Right too and Traore is an
option on the Left of midfield. Now to me only Fabregas has real
premiership experience, going into a campaign with only one experienced
midfielder is going to be a big ask....


We will all be expecting a series of signings?? Maybe a condition of the Hleb release was a clear run at signing Yaya.


Current are the absentees from the Barnet game include:

Abou Diaby (injured)
Cesc Fabregas (Euro 2008, returns to training July 29th)
Kolo Toure (African Qualifiers)
Philippe Senderos (Euro 2008, returned to training yesterday)
Tomas Rosicky (injured)
Samir Nasri (Euro 2008, begins training tomorrow)
Eduardo (injured)
William Gallas (Euro 2008, returns to training tomorrow)
Robin Van Persie (Euro 2008, returns to training on Monday)
Alexandre Song (African qualifiers, set to represent Cameroon at Olympics)
Gilberto (reportedly undertaking a medical at Panathinaikos)
Johan Djourou (Euro 2008, returned to training yesterday)
Lukasz Fabianski (Euro 2008, returned to training yesterday)
Emmanuel Adebayor (African qualifiers)
Emmanuel Eboue (African qualifiers)
Vincent van den Berg (on trial at FC Zwolle, currently injured)
Fran Merida (u-19 Championships, currently injured)
Kieran Gibbs (u-19 Championships)
Kerrea Gilbert (on loan at Leicester for the season, could be in action against Olimpia tonight)

Nasri Gets Number 8 Shirt

Having kept most of North London waiting for the last two months, Samir Nasri finally arrived at Arsenal where he has been formally announced (even though the Olympic Marseille site still have him down as their number22 nor have they released any statement saying he has departed).

Nasri has been given the number 8 shirt, whose previous owner Lassana Diarra spent very little time in indeed.

Here's hoping Nasri can make more success of the #8 and bring the silverware back to north london.

Pictures of Pedro Bothelho Training At Arsenal

Brazilian wing-back Bothelho arrived in London on Sunday, and trained with the Reserves on Monday, before joining the first team for yesterday morning’s session. He will remain with the squad until they fly out for the annual training camp in Austria, when he will then re-join his team mates at Salamanca where he is to be their first choice left-back next season, following the departure of the previous incumbent Dani López.

Pedro Bothelho is the tall player on the far right hand side.

New signing Aaron Ramsey also present at the sessions, along with various other youngsters including Sanchez Watt, Denilson, Jack Wilshire, Nacer Barazite, and Mark Randall. One omission was Carlos Vela will not be present after competing for Mexico during the summer, he is set to return before the end of the month.

Portrait of a fool: Vincenzo Morabito

Emmanuel Adebayor has handed for the third time in as many months declared his intention to stay at Arsenal. Clearly one person not listening is his supposed agent, Vincenzo Morabito.

The Togo international has been the subject of fevered speculation all summer, with Milan having declared their interest in bringing him to Italy.

Arsenal have remained tight-lipped on the player's future but now Adebayor has come out to clarify his situation in North London.

Following the departure of Mathieu Flamini to Milan and Alexander Hleb's likely exit to either Internazionale or Barcelona, Adebayor's pledge of loyalty will be well received in the capital (ok London-Manu, Chavs and Tottenham fans excepted).

On Thursday, super agent Vincenzo Morabito stated that the forward was '80 per cent certain' of joining Milan but this prediction appears to be somewhat ill-founded. Lets all laugh at Vicenzo... Twat!