First up, and most significantly for the long-term health of the club, are the three new long-term signings we have made. Arsenal Insider, among the blogs that I trawled through today, seems to have the most insightful piece on this. It is a strongly recommended read.

The bringing in of a more professional set-up, while at the same time signifying a break from the “traditional” ownership and management of the company, is a move in the right direction. While certain traditions will hopefully continue long – the red and white, the marble busts, the clock and the cannon – certain others have to change for the club to survive and succeed. Sad as the move from Highbury was, for sentimental reasons, no Gooner could logically argue that it was not the right decision.

Similarly the ownership issue has split the Gooners into many factions. Some prefer a status-quo, other would like Kroenke, a third group prefers Usmanov and I am sure the odd supporter would like an oil rich Arab investor as well. I feel that the best form of ownership is ownership by the fans. You have thousands of people who hold shares; some would have more than the others, but there would be an upper cap set at, say, 5%. The club should then be run by professionals. Owned by fans, run by professionals. How much better than that could it be. It is an unlikely scenario though. Considering the possible options, I would prefer either a status-quo or a Kroenke take-over as I feel that in both cases, the running of the club would be left to professionals.

Finally, Wenger talks, in his Friday talk, about Eduardo, Walcott, Portsmouth, our formations, new additions to the squad and our center back pairing. You could do worse than to read Gunnerblog for a summary of that.

A full Portsmouth preview tomorrow and I promise to dust out my crystal ball. In the meanwhile,  enjoy your Friday night!

Where we probably lacked a little bit was in the incisive final pass, but I won’t nit-pick. A 2-0 away win in a REALLY important game was all that mattered. As always, you can find some excellent match reports and player ratings in blog-world – some good ones here, here and here.

Just a couple of thoughts that probably are not addressed in the  blogs, but that I found worth of airing:

– Arshavin would have divided opinion with his performance yesterday. He did seem a little lost stuck out on the left, but some of his close control, vision and passing were amazing. He also combines a superb work rate with some amazing skills. He is yet to make a decisive difference in matches – expect that to come against Man USA and Moneybags City.

– Why do Denilson and Clichy seem so prone to slip during matches – this is not an observation from yesterday, but something that I have been consistently noticing

Finally, I am no big fan of Daily Mail, but I this article by Martin Samuel was very insightful. I knew Angola was poor, but not that things were this bad!

Anyway – time to bask in another good win and nurse the battle scars before Portsmouth come visiting.

Injury news

Nasri, Rosicky, Djourou, Walcott and Fabianski are still out.

Diaby is back

Fabregas is doubtful (but >50% likely to play)

Sagna and Denilson are doubtful (> ??% likely to play)

Team

—————Almunia—————

Eboue–Gallas–Verminator–Clichy

—————Song—————

—–Diaby———-Fabregas—–

Bendtner—————Arshavin

—————Robin—————

Subs

Mannone, Silvestre, Gibbs, Merida, Ramsey, Eduardo, Walcott

Score

Celtic 0-2 Arsenal

First Scorer

Bendtner

MoM

Arshavin

Come on you reds!

All the teams have played their first matches. Sure, it is too early to big Arsenal up or write Liverpool off, but one thought lingered on till today.

I feel that more teams are more capable of taking points of each other on a regular basis this season

If you plotted the strength of each team on a scatter plot, I suspect that more teams towards the top may be bunched together than ever before. Here is why.

ManUSA, are weaker this season than they were previously. You cant lose 2 people of the quality of Ronaldo and Tevez and expect to be as strong. Sure, Rooney will play better through the middle and Nani and Anderson might have improved and Valencia and Owen are decent players. But none of that is going to bring 20 EPL goals this season! Liverpool are also noticeably weaker for Alonso’s absence. Aquilani might replace him in the long run, but he will need time to get over his injury and settle to the pace of the EPL. Chelski have probably improved over last season, with a fit Essien and a motivated Drogba giving them a slight edge, but Anelka is bound to lose his way (he cannot play with Drogba and he scored was the top scorer last season) and they will lose Essien and Drogba for the ANC. I feel Arsenal have improved from last season. I won’t go over why again, but we are better (offensively and defensively) and if we beat Celtic and qualify for the CL proper, we will surely add in another player or two. So the top 4 are a lot closer, with the slip up in standards of ManUSA and Pool and the step up by Arsenal bunching all 4 together.

Below this group, Man City will be a threat – and anyone who tells you other wise is delusional. They can beat any of the Big 4 on their day. The Scum have bought well and will surely ruffle a few feathers at Shit Heart Lane. Aston Villa and Everton will recover after their opening day debacles and be there or thereabouts. As I have tipped in my predictions section, West Ham are my surprise team of the season. Zola has worked well with a limited budget on his team and they are bound to cause a few shocks. Finally Wigan and Sunderland, if the evidence of Day 1 is any indication, will not be pushovers either. This means that below the top 4 you have 6 teams who could hold their own against any other team on any given day.

What this probably means is EPL might be won this season by a record low number of points.

This is good news for the Arsenal. Because of their youth, their teams are bound to be less consistent than the others and we are sure to lose a few matches we should win. By the same token, we will surely win a few matches we are expected to lose. So if the other teams in the top 10 can help us by nicking the occasional point or 3 from all our title contenders, it will ensure we are in the mix when the business end of the season arrives in April/May.

No news of any worth to report. Some Celtic related crystal ball gazing tomorrow!

1. Bendtner through the right and RVP through the center – this still evokes a lot of comment among gooner followers. I had said this in one of my previous blogs.

“The other quirk we have noticed in pre-season is Wenger playing RVP down the middle and Bendtner on the right. I feel Wenger is doing this because (a) Bendtner is better in running at people than RVP and (b) RVP is a  better player with his back to the goal and has the ability to release a tasty pass every now and then. RVP is a explosive player – with his back to the goal, I expect him to score a few where he traps, shields the ball, turns the defender with a cute trick and fires a howitzer into the top corner. However, he does not have either great pace or a great physical stature to play well if he gets isolated. Wenger believes that the likes of Arshavin and Walcott won’t let him get isolated. Chamakh on the other hand would be able to handle a 4-5-1 much better than anyone else in our team.”

One other potential reason why Bendy is being played out on the flanks could be his height. In spite of what media might say, the long ball up front has always been an Arsenal variation (a Plan B as some may call it). Usually it is played in to the tall man up front, as it was with Adebeyor. But Wenger possibly feels that it may be more effective against a full back. Why? Two reasons – fullbacks are are usually shorter and less commanding in the air; the striker often needs to contend against only 1 full back as opposed to 2 central defenders.

2. The team spirit looks great! Cesc actually looked like a captain – I don’t know what has changed, but Cesc was actually directing operations and it has been a long time since I have seen someone from Arsenal doing that with authority. Also, everyone in the team seems to like Eboue – did you notice how he was encouraging the players when they came back on for the second half

2. How hard did we press Everton? How long has it been since we continuously defended from the front for an entire match?All the pundits say Everton were poor, but they played pretty well till the first 30 mins – we broke their will, waited for them to disintegrate with that great first goal and then tore them apart.

3. We still need either a defensive midfielder or a center-half or (hopefully but unlikely) both.

5. Looks there is going to be a lot of competition for bench spots when everyone is fit. Assuming today’s starting 11, how are you going to pick from Djourou, Silverstre, <new CB>, Eboue, Gibbs, Traore, Nasri, Rosicky, Diaby, Ramsey, Merida, <new DM>, Wilshere, Walcott, Vela, Eduardo, <Chamakh>. That is 6 positions for 16 players or 13 for 6 even with no new signings.

Season Predictions

1. Arsenal make 2 signings before the end of the transfer window. One of them happens in the last hour
2. The top 4 to become a top 5 – Man City to be a threat. The”surprise team” Wenger alluded to shall be West Ham. They shall finish 6th
3. Barca have a poor season – by their own stratospheric standards and finish without a trophy
4. Arsenal to exceed expectations of most pundits. They will win a cup (FA Cup/Champions League), finish 2nd or 3rd in the premiership and reach the final of the Carling Cup
5. Arsenal to score a record number of goals this season.
6. Chelsea to scrape through to win the EPL. Lampard to be player of the season
7. 4-5 teams to be in with a shot to win the Premiership going into the last month
8. Wenger to announce his retirement from an active coach/manager role after 2011. To be director of football at Arsenal

Everton Match Line-up

Almunia

Sagna    Gallas    Vermaelen    Clichy

Song

Denilson*    Fabregas

Bendtner**                                  Arshavin

Van Persie**

* If Diaby was fit, he would have started; now it is a toss up between Denilson and Eboue. I think Arsene will prefer Denilson for this game
** Eduardo could have played in place of Bendy or RVP; but because DIaby’s absence, I think Wenger will want to get little more height and presence in the team

Substitutes:
Mannone, Eboue, Silvestre, Gibbs/Traore, Wilshere, Eduardo, Vela

Score Prediction

Everton 1 – 3 Arsenal

Injury news ahead of the Everton game is not too encouraging. Djourou is out for a month with a knee knack. Fabianski is out for two, with a cartilage tear. Walcott will miss the match with a side strain and Diaby is a groin doubt, but both should be available in a few days. Rosicky is 2 weeks away and Nasri is 3.5 weeks away from training. Vela is unlikely to be available after playing as a second-half substitute for Mexico, because of the long flight back.

Why am I not surprised? For the last several years, Arsenal tend to get more injuries, to more players, they seem to be out for longer and are never back on predicted dates! Le Grove did some digging up on this a couple of days back and came up with some interesting points in this piece. The gist being that, while it is not possible to prevent impact injuries,  it is the duty of the fitness coaches to be able to prevent “preventable” injuries like muscular ones ( the medics come into the picture only after you have an injury). The suggestion that the fitness coaches are not good enough or would need to up the ante in terms of their performance is certainly one that merits consideration.

However, I feel that there are a few other potential reasons why Arsenal could be more susceptible to injuries than other teams. One factor could be the type of players that are being recruited by Arsene. With the possible exception of a Vermaelen, most other players recruited are deft, skillful, quick , dexterous, intelligent and artistic, but not necessarily strong, robust or powerful. The kinds of players we recruit are more likely to get muscular injuries. If you compare Arsenal players in the early part of the decade (Vieria, Campbell, Petit, Lauren, Gilberto, Edu, Henry, Kanu, Wiltord, Parlour) to those who came in more recently (Arshavin, Fabregas, Vela, Walcott, Eduardo, Rosicky, Clichy) you might be able to appreciate where I am coming from.

The other factor could be the type of defensive training these palyers receive. A lot of injuries we receive are from when we go in for tackles and not necessary when we are at the receiving end of them.  Could the tackling technique of some of our players be flawed? Are they taught about that in the training grounds? I would be interested to know.

A third factor could be  the state of the training ground pitches. When you are used to a smooth, billiard table like football pitch, how do you  react on a cracked, frozen ground at Wigan in  a late evening kick-off? Do you have a moment’s hesitation before you go in for a tackle? That moment could be the difference between a clean tackle and one that injures you. On the subject of tackling, Arsenal are more likely to get tackled, because we are not as physically imposing and it is the opponents game plan to disrupt our keep-the-ball routine with a tackle – legitimate or otherwise.

Finally, fitness and medical science advances ever so rapidly. It is important to keep bringing in fresh blood to the team to ensure that we stay abreast of the advancements in science. I feel that scouting for a coach from abroad – the US, Brazil or Germany – areas where fitness coaches and fitness science seem to have advanced more rapidly than in the UK could help us significantly.

Anyhoooo, just one more day for the season to start… I just can’t wait!

The friendly matches have come and gone; nothing much to report except a goal for Eduardo and a minor side strain for Walcott. There is also some news of a hamstring strain for Bendtner, though I don’t remember where I read that one.  Fingers crossed, hope everyone comes back fighting fit and ready for the Everton match. The only good thing that can be attributed to friendlies at this time is that it allows the players to improve their match sharpness a little bit more. Fatigue should not really be a factor at this time.

Fatigue sh0uld not be a factor for our strikers as well this season. We have a fair selection of them. Continuing on from yesterday’s 3 in midfield, the 3 strikers are far more interchangeable. The formation fits in a central striker and 2 supporting from the flanks. The support strikers provide the primary width for the team (unless you have your full-backs bombing on). The 3 sets of three I have  got here is:

Bendtner/RVP/Arshavin
Walcott/Eduardo/Vela
Simpson(Sunnu)/Wilshere/Watt(Barazite)

The first two combinations are pretty tasty, though there are some fundamental flaws in both. The first set of three lack the pace and the second set of three lack the presence and physical strength to not be bullied around (though Eduardo looks much faster and stronger after his recovery from injury).  Once Walcott and Vela get match fit, I expect one of them to start most away matches, where pace will be very important.Therein lies the background behind Wenger’s chasing of Chamakh. He brings in pace and presence (and good technique) in one single package. He may not score as many goals, but he will free the others to get amongst goals. If Chamakh comes in, and I fully expect him to be an Arsenal player on deadline day in a last minute deal, then might we see Vela go for another loan spell? For there will simply be too much competition for a place in the squad, let alone in the starting 11. Of course, any loan deal may also be tempered with the knowledge that Chamakh would be missing during the ANC.

The other quirk we have noticed in pre-season is Wenger playing RVP down the middle and Bendtner on the right. I feel Wenger is doing this because (a) Bendtner is better in running at people than RVP and (b) RVP is a  better player with his back to the goal and has the ability to release a tasty pass every now and then. RVP is a explosive player – with his back to the goal, I expect him to score a few where he traps, shields the ball, turns the defender with a cute trick and fires a howitzer into the top corner. However, he does not have either great pace or a great physical stature to play well if he gets isolated. Wenger believes that the likes of Arshavin and Walcott won’t let him get isolated. Chamakh on the other hand would be able to handle a 4-5-1 much better than anyone else in our team.

I would not be too surprised to see Bendy/RVP/Arshavin/Eduardo all finish with around 15 goals each this season and Vela/Walcott to weigh in with at least 10 between them. That is 70 goals from the strikers alone and if the midfield and defense chip in a few more than usual, we will be around the 90 goal mark this season. Considering, the fragility of our defense, we may need each one of those goals if we are to seriously challenge for the title.

In summary, I think one player – an experienced hand in central midfield to shield the back-four (“screener”) – can really help us make this season a great one. I hope we get him and get him sooner rather than later. I think Arsenal might add Chamakh in as well and while I would never say no to greater depth in the squad, I would not lose too much sleep if that deal slipped through. But we really MUST get this experienced player in central midfield! Mauro Silva would be my dream player in that position, but Villarreal will never sell him. I will trust Wenger to get someone good here and I really hope we do!

And so, we inch ever closer to the start of the season. Another call to the Bangalore-based Gooners –  are you keen on catching up some place to watch the match? Ping me via the comments section and we can get in touch.

In a 4-3-3 formation, (refer to my assumptions) from what I have seen in pre-season and based on the Barcelona (and Spain?) template (that Arsene is looking to adapt – no, not adopt – to his team ) the 3 in the middle should consist of a “screener”, a “passer” and a “driver”. Let me explain what I think the three roles translate into.

A “screener” is extremely obsessed with defending and his primary role is to make interceptions, force wrong passes and if necessary tackle, foul or block. He is the insurance policy for all the offense-minded players. It is important that the attackers have confidence in this player, to enable them to perform their tasks without needing to keep a worried eye on what might be happening behind them. A “passer” is a Xavi/Fabregas kind of player. Essentially, he is the one who directs operations and sees movements and patterns others cannot. A passer should not only have the vision, but also the technical ability to execute the pass in the best possible manner, at the right time and with the  right pace. Finally, a “driver” is a Gerard (without the hollywood passes)/Essien kind of player. He is full of lung power, “box-to-box”, willing to jump into a tackle, able to take on a player or two, always surging forward and having a good shot from distance.

Can we get three sets of players that match these attributes? We can, if we get in a new “screener”. Please note that we had already allocated Song a role in defense and hence he cannot be considered here. The screener/passer/driver combinations I would recommend in order of preference are:

1. <New Mid>/Fabregas/Diaby
2. Denilson/Nasri/Rosicky
3. Frimpong or Coquelin/Merida/Ramsey

Some comments on my selections above:

• Long term, I believe Ramsey would be our best driver
• Walcott is not a midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation
• I would probably have chosen Rosicky over Diaby as our first choice “driver” if he had not been so plagued by injury. In fact, I think Rosicky is a fantastic driver and has all the qualities required in spades.
• I would have liked to find a slot for JET in our 3rd choice pairing, but Ramsey is too far ahead at the moment and I can’t place him in any of the other two slots.

So, what do you think? Let me know in the comments section