Ashburton Grove - Arsenal news and Arsenal opinion

Kroenke's PR spin on £100m transfer war chest -AOC banned from photoshoot

2012-02-23T06:04:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

If there are weeks when we as Arsenal fans need something to feel positive about, it is generally after a defeat. We've needed a pick-me-up following back to back defeats which has seen us eliminated from one competition and all but shoved through the exit door in another.

And in a week when your fiercest rival has been revealed as the new owner of the historic shares held in Arsenal by Glasgow Rangers FC, Stan Kroenke needs something to show supporters he cares about the one "franchise" which isn't doing too well at the moment.

Since the AGM when the majority shareholder stated that we'd be seeing a lot more of him in London, he's yet to watch an Arsenal game at the home of football. How committed does that make him to the cause?

And as he prepares for today's club board meeting, news trickles out through the Daily Telegraph that more than £100m of club funds are going to be made available to Arsene Wenger to rebuild the squad in the summer - double what is already available to the manager in the transfer proceeds account (TPA).

No where does it mention where this extra £50m is coming from. Is it coming from Kroenke as a loan? Is he pumping his own personal fortune into the club? Are season tickets set to rise again to pay to double the transfer kitty?

To me it reeks of PR spin on Kroenke's part. We still don't know what vision he has for the club. We still don't know what he wants us to achieve on the pitch each season. What we do know is that he is a great fan of the self sustaining financial model the club has been using which has meant he's not had to plough a penny of his own money into Arsenal since he brought into the club.

Will Arsene Wenger spend £100m on players either through the transfer market or by improving the contracts of those players who actually deserved to be paid a lot better than they are at the moment? I doubt the manager will do the first and is unlikely to do the second, considering he's always been keen on ensuring that there is no huge gaps in the squad between the highest earners and normal squad players.

And personally I don't believe the squad needs a huge overhaul. What it does need is more quality. We've seen that since Cesc Fabregas departed last summer, the team has lacked something. Now we're not going to be able to go and buy ourselves another Fabregas, because he is a one off. But had Jack Wilshere been fit this season, would we have noticed so much the departure of the said Spaniard?

The first choice 11 on its day can beat anyone. But it's when one or two of those players aren't available and we have to use on the the back ups. They just aren't as good. Even when you look at the bench this season, you can see that there are hardly any players who you think can come on and change a game for us. That is where we're lacking.

But at the moment we are where we are. It's clear our transfer strategy (if we even had one) last summer was flawed. That cannot be allowed to happen again this summer. We have no time to wait until the final days of the window. Our business must be done in a timely manner, especially with the European Championship and Olympics taking place in June and July.

In other news, the Daily Mirror report Arsene Wenger has prevented Alex Oxlade Chamberlain taking part in a photoshot for Disney because the event comes too close to Sunday's north London derby. And in other Ox related news, it's a case of which of the Richard Desmond titles you believe as to whether young Alex will be picked for the senior England side today. The Daily Star say he'll get his first senior call up, while the Daily Express say he'll stay with the under-21s.

Zenit St Petersburg want to sign Andrey Arshavin on loan until the end of the season and have made Arsenal an offer according to their general director Maxim Mitrofanov. The Russian window closes on Friday and I don't think there is any way Wenger will allow Arshavin to move.

And a bit of injury news ahead of Sunday's game. The Sun report Marouane Chamakh is a doubt with a toe injury.

That's it for today. More tomorrow.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Sack Arsene Wenger now? It's unthinkable in this of all weeks

2012-02-22T06:03:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

It's been a while, hasn't it? Unfortunately events away from Arsenal have been keeping me from blogging. But I hope things have now settled down a little, I can get back into a normal routine again.

One of the things I haven't been able to do in the last ten days is watch Arsenal too much. I only saw highlights of of Premier League win at the Stadium of Light and passing glimpses of the FA Cup match. However I did make the trip to Milan - my first experience of the San Siro no less - and what a result that was.

We've not been in the best of form since Christmas, it's clear for all to see with our results. It's made watching Arsenal painful. I've personally not enjoyed watching our team this season at times this season. Yes, the wins like the 5-3 at Chelsea make up for some of the many, many downs. But we've been so inconsistent you never know which Gunners team will turn up.

Something in Milan didn't feel right from the off - the selection of Tomas Rosicky. And I felt this when I first saw the team for the Carling Cup final, almost 12 months ago. I love Rosicky - when he's on form and pulling the strings it's a joy to watch. But that version of the Czech international hasn't been around consistently since before his injury.

At the San Siro, it felt the wrong call. Yes, he should provide more defensive cover in the space in front of the returning Kieran Gibbs than perhaps Alex Oxlade Chamberlain would. But one of the issues with playing Rosicky/Arshavin/Benayoun on the left is that they all like to drift inside and reduce the width we need to stretch our opponents game.

Personally I would have liked to have seen Arsene Wenger throw caution to the wind and have started with The Ox, who seems to be our only in form player at the moment. This was an average team playing - as much as I hate to say it - an average Arsenal team. But on paper we should have had the players to beat them.

The moments that Theo Walcott did get chance to run at them, he scared the Italian defence. But these were few and far between and if Theo thinks these are the type of performances which are going to see him awarded a new big money contract then he's very much deluded.

The defeat was very hard to take because it was easily avoidable. We made schoolboy errors. We couldn't even do the basics. Wojceich Szczesny still can't on many occasions find a team mate with a long kick up field. He said on Twitter last season he'd work on his distribution - it seems he's not got on very well with that side of his game. And if we cannot retain possession with our goalkeeper finding an outfield player, we might as well give the ball straight back to the opposition and let them take pot shots at goal.

There isn't much right at the club at this point in time. The game we really needed to win was the one last Saturday in the FA Cup. Our only real viable chance of silverware this season. But again, it seems we couldn't get ourselves up for that one.

As the results don't go our way, there is mounting pressure on Arsene Wenger. It is laughable that within hours of the defeat at the Stadium of Light, the Mail on Sunday were reporting that the club's board were lining up Pep Guardiola to replace the Frenchman. Quite why they think that Guardiola would want the Arsenal gig or that the board - who don't have any power or inclination to move Wenger on - would wield the axe now is anyone's guess.

I've seen other blogs and fans call for Wenger to go. I won't be one of them. I see little point in jumping on a bandwagon heading into one of the most important periods of our season - especially with the north London derby coming up this Sunday.

Perhaps the manager's position needs to be addressed in the Summer. But at the moment I feel everyone who loves Arsenal needs to get behind the team. They need us to be their 12th man. No time more than now do we need to be united in one voice, backing this team. Sunday's going to be tough enough as it is because our neighbours are having their best season ever, while we are having our worst for some considerable time (however they're only ten points ahead of us).

These Arsenal players are the ones who need our support. We may not like them all - a post last night about Alex Song has some interesting comments attached to it. But all these players deserve to be supported by us when they are wearing the red and white of our club.

Sunday is a massive game for us. It's the chance for these players to show what they are all about. They need to get us out of our seats. They need to put in a shift which shows they are giving 100 per cent. But as supporters we need to be there to provide them with the backing they deserve.

These players have let us down in recent weeks. In one of the most important games of the season, we need them to show that they care, that they want it as much as we do. The north London derby isn't just any game - it's one we want to win and win with pride. Let's hope that the real Arsenal turn up.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Song’s performance against Sunderland underlines his development into a world-class player

2012-02-21T21:28:00.000Z

On Inside The Formation we'll look at an individual player's performance and analyse their input into the game. Today Joss Bennett looks at Alex Song's performance against Sunderland.

Once again, the result didn’t go our way, and once again, very few Arsenal players stood out as particularly impressive as The Gunners crashed out of the FA Cup to a revitalised Sunderland side.

Alex Song, however, was one of the minority – largely excellent first in midfield and then in defence, the Cameroonian once again showed why his country’s failure to qualify for the African Cup of Nations was a real blessing for Arsenal.

One of the most clinically under-rated players in the Premier League, never-mind Arsenal, Alex Song is the perfect example to young footballers determined to live up to their potential. The midfielder has struggled for consistency and balance in the past, but this year ‘Songinho’ has come into his own and displayed traits of leadership, determination, physical strength and – to top it all – an eye for a pass.

Midway through what has undoubtedly been his best season ever in an Arsenal shirt, Song was beginning to make those who still questioned his ability reconsider. With Arsenal climbing back up the table and the midfield starting to develop an understanding, everything was on course for The Gunners to make up for their terrible start to the season and claim fourth spot.

Further defensive injuries, however, plus the loan of Emmanuel Frimpong to Wolves, meant Alex Song’s only deputy – Francis Coquelin – was no longer available to come in and allow for Wenger to rest the 24 year old.

Despite playing so regularly over the last few months, Alex Song has remained one of Arsenal’s most consistent players throughout the season. With defensive problems galore, Song has had a more restricted role of late, breaking up play and tending to drop back behind the two other central midfielders to turn a 4-2-3-1 into a 4-1-2-3 formation, although the midfield pivot has remained a key part of Wenger’s tactics.

His new role, combined with the usual tactics, is perhaps best exemplified in the game against Sunderland. Despite the performance of others around him, Song was one of the only players who looked both quick enough and strong enough to stop the Sunderland counter-attacks, and – further to that – looked lively at the other end of the pitch, too.

As Francis Coquelin (deputising at left-back), and then Sebastien Squillaci were forced off by injury, Song had twice the work to do as different defensive partnerships struggled to build an understanding. Furthermore, with Arteta and Ramsey not at their creative best, it was up to him to get things going in the final third – attempting several through-balls for the runs of Walcott and van Persie in the second half.

In an otherwise unremarkable game of few chances, and next no outstanding performances, Alex Song may be labelled “the best of a bad bunch”. However, although true to an extent, this does not give full credit to a player who has consistently given 110% for the club and who has risen through the ranks to become one of the side’s most important players.

Joss Bennett is co-editor and head writer of Arsenal blog Arsenal Report - a site for all Gooners interested in tactics, stats and the inner workings of the club. You can follow him on twitter and his read is work at Arsenal Report.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Sagna’s near-perfect performance against Sunderland emphasised his immense importance to the side

2012-02-12T20:33:00.000Z

On Inside The Formation we'll look at an individual player's performance and analyse their input into the game. Today Joss Bennett looks at Bacary Sagna's performance against Sunderland.

He only returned to action two weeks ago, but already Bacary Sagna is back to his best; stamping his authority in games in a way few players in his position do. A model professional and superb athlete, Sagna is very much the unsung hero of this Arsenal side.

Sagna had the best WhoScored rating of any starting player on the pitch (7.3) and was one of the most involved players as nearly 50% of all play came on his side of the pitch*. Further to this, Bacary Sagna had more shots (two) than any other Arsenal player in the Starting XI, made the second-most tackles (four) and won a brilliant nine aerial duels, with a 90% success-rate*.

These stats alone show how much Sagna was involved against Sunderland, and against every team he comes up against. In a rather unremarkable game (up until the opening goal in the 70th minute), Sagna was one of few players who stood out and looked dangerous in the final third. Unlike the indecisive Theo Walcott, Sagna showed far more willingness to pump the ball into the box; attempting six (and competing two) crosses and completing all three of his attempted long balls*.

Despite being a fan-favourite in many people’s eyes, Sagna still does not get the recognition his performances deserve in the media. While news outlets criticise the defensive vulnerabilities of Wenger’s side, few also point out the impact that this man has had.

Arguably the most impressive aspect of Sagna’s performance at the Stadium of Light this weekend was not his own match statistics, but the fact he received so little help from others. Per Mertesacker – the right-sided centre back – made just one tackle and two interceptions while statistically, Theo Walcott made no defensive contribution at all*.

Up against the tricky and in-form James McCLean, Sagna did phenomenally well to limit Sunderland to just two shots from the right third of the pitch (one of which was McClean’s goal, which Sagna cannot take blame for)*. In contrast, his importance further up the pitch is emphasised by the fact that Arsenal had 36% (five) of their shots from the right side*.

While players such as Francis Coquelin and Nico Yennaris have impressed after being thrown in the deep-end by Sagna and Carl Jenkinson’s injuries at the start of the season, the difference between a talented youngster and a world-class player is only now really visible. Nothing against the two youngsters, but as Arsenal approach crunch-time in the season, they will be glad to have the presence of such an experienced and consistent player.

Furthermore, Sagna’s presence in the first-team – training, playing, and just being around – will be a huge boost to all those competing to become his long-term understudy. After all, the best way to learn is to watch, and play – in Sagna, these players will have the perfect role model to watch and learn from.

With any luck, Sagna will remain free of injuries for the foreseeable future, and see his hard-work turn into success and trophies. Perhaps then Sagna will be truly recognised as one of the greats of this club.

*OPTA statistics courtesy of Whoscored.com

Joss Bennett is co-editor and head writer of Arsenal blog Arsenal Report - a site for all Gooners interested in tactics, stats and the inner workings of the club. You can follow him on twitter and his read is work at Arsenal Report.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Chamakh set to replace RVP? -Wenger won't reign in Songinho -AOC benched?

2012-02-10T05:51:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

So the trip to Sunderland marks the start of a run of games which could help us discover where we are this season. First a Premier League tie we should take something from, followed by a Champions League clash where we need to ensure we've got something to play for in the second leg and then a week Saturday another trip to the north east for an FA Cup game we have to win.

Three tough games but with players coming back from injury and perhaps a slight turning of the corner from our January dip in form, opportunities to put our season back on track.

The early team news ahead of tomorrow's clash at the Stadium of Light is good. We've got all the players who aren't sidelined with long term injuries available for selection.

The manager has revealed that Marouane Chamakh is back to full fitness and is available for selection for the first time since his stint at the Africa Cup of Nations. You would expect him to take a place on the substitutes bench for this one.

Kieran Gibbs is near to being fully fit and from the sound of it will also be on the bench. Meanwhile right back Carl Jenkinson is heading back to full fitness but he's still two weeks away from joining in at full training.

After a week without a game in midweek, I doubt there will be many changes to the starting line up. Chamakh might start ahead of RVP, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be rested, Ramsey could replace Rosicky. These are all options the manager will have.

The only other piece of team news is that Emmanuel Frimpong has undergone surgery and will be out until the autumn.

A defensive midfielder who has made us all realise how good he is by his early season absence is Alex Song and the manager has been talking about the other side to his game... playing higher up the pitch.

Wenger said:

"He is naturally a guy who tends to go forward and he always had good vision.

"He has improved his technique of transmission. When he arrived here, the passing of his longer balls was not the best.

"But he was worked on that, improved on that and now he can combine vision with technique."

For me, I would prefer the player who anchors our midfield not to venture too high up the pitch. It's not something I want to see every week - Song going walkies in the opposition penalty area. It's clear for all to see that Song can produce a fantastic final ball - earlier in the season against Borussia Dortmund is a prime example of what he can offer us in the final third.

But I would rather he played the Gilberto Silva role. Dropping back into defence when a full back attacks. Breaking up play and distributing it to one of his team mates.

However providing seven assists in all competitions is a great return for a player who is to all intents and purposes a holding midfielder. And from what the manager has said, it doesn't seem like he's going to curb Song's attacking mindset.

The manager goes on to talk about us continuing to create goal scoring opportunities.

He said

"Overall the most important thing is to create goalscoring opportunities, and at Bolton we did that quite well.

"So if you can continue to do that, one day you will score seven, one day you will score none but most of the time you will score two or three."

Personally I'd like to see us be more clinical in front of goal. We need to take every opportunity which presents itself and I always feel it's criminal that we sometimes don't even force the goalkeeper to make a save when we take a shot.

Every team will miss opportunities. But with this Arsenal team seem so reliant on Robin to score all the goals, we need to take every chance we can get.

And talking of the Dutchman, he's the subject of some tittle-tattle. Real Madrid have declaring an interest in signing van Persie. Should we be surprised they want Robin? Not really. I'd be more surprised if any top club didn't want to sign him.

So the manager's press conference is later. Normally it's held on a Thursday ahead of a Saturday away game but there has obviously been a switch around. No doubt a lot of it will be taken up with the media asking Arsene about the England job... yawn!

Until tomorrow.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger wants consistency -Vic Akers finally finds Kieran Gibbs -Park long-overdue hibernation

2012-02-09T06:30:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

A whistle stop tour of the headlines making the news this morning as I'm already running late.

Arsene Wenger has said we need "exceptional consistency" to finish the season in the top four of the league.

He said:

"We had a good week last week. We had a good result against Aston Villa and a good performance against Bolton.

"We had the same number of chances [at the Reebok] that we had against Blackburn but we scored on Saturday. We still have real hope that we can finish the season the strongest. We have a good spirit and desire within the group - and we have quality.

"We know that with the position we are in we need an exceptional consistency, so that is the challenge we have in front of us at Sunderland."

Finishing in the fourth place spot isn't beyond us. But we need to ensure we play to our strengths and not pick up injuries. I know the second of those points we have hardly much control over, but if a player is in the so-called "red zone" is it worth it?

We also have to be more consistent in our home form, especially against the big teams. We've still to face four of the other sides in the top six at home, so it is vital we take points from those games.

We've had a week of rest and recouperation ahead of Saturday's trip to Sunderland. It's also been a week of tactical planning for the next spell of fixtures. Following this weekend's trip to the north east coast we're off to Milan and then head back to face Martin O'Neill's men for a second time in a week for a fifth round FA Cup tie. Sunderland won after extra time last night, so hopefully their legs will be a little heavy for Saturday.

Our own team news is good. After his comeback against Bolton and a cameo against Blackburn, Bacary Sagna looks set to resume at right back. Whilst there will be celebrations in some quarters that we'll be able to welcome back a recognised left back in Kieran Gibbs for this weekend's match. In a long running game of hide and seek, Vic Akers finally found Gibbs in the treatment room - surprised he didn't look there in the first place!

Anyway, it's great to have Gibbs back. It could mean we'll get to see Koscielny and Vermaelen play together again. It will be interesting to see whether Gibbs starts the game or whether the boss will not want to risk him from the kick off and bring him on as a substitute, especially with the Milan game less than a week away.

Other team news is that Marouane Chamakh will be available after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, so that will mean Ju Young Park will disappear off the bench for the next few games.

Johan Djourou has signed a contract extension with the club until 2015 according to the Swiss FA. While the Daily Mirror say Andrey Arshavin will be sticking around until the summer at least.

And that's it. The manager will speak to the media later and give us all the latest team news. It'll also be interesting to hear him explain the comments he made about having to make £20m each season...

Until tomorrow.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Theo's a letdown -The Ox is a sponge -Sturridge to oust RVP?

2012-02-08T06:26:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

A quick round up because it's freezing! I haven't known it to be this cold in a long time...

We'll start with Theo Walcott who has been talking about the reasons behind our win against Blackburn.

He said:

"The boss always takes a lot of stick from everyone criticising him, but us players need to look up to him because he's been taking it all.

"We are the ones who go out there and put out the performances and sometimes they have not been good enough.

"There are so many world-class players in the dressing room, so it is disappointing when we come back from Bolton with a 0-0 draw where we had a lot of chances."

It amazes me how often footballers trot out the line about doing it for the boss. Surely they're trying to do their best every time they walk out on to the pitch? Personally, I think if every player gave 100% all the time, we'd be doing a lot better than we are now.

The problem is that this season we've been far too inconsistent, especially on the road. Why haven't we been able to recreate the form we showed away from the Grove last season this time round? You never know which Arsenal team is going to turn up when you buy a ticket for an away game this season. The only constant on the road is the passionate away fans you'll be standing next to singing your heart out for the team you love.

I guess the one thing we can all agree on is that one of the players whose form has been "not good enough" is Walcott himself. Had he finished that chance against Bolton we wouldn't have come away from there with a draw.

Personally I think Walcott is playing for his Arsenal career. There is a certain ceiling Arsenal won't go above when it comes to his wage demands and I'm sure the club will walk away and cash in on Theo if they can't compromise. It's clear that he has talent but I'm sure he hasn't developed as much as Arsene Wenger would have liked in the last couple of years. Those contract negotiations are going to be interesting.

One of the players Walcott will no doubt end up fighting for his place in the team with once Gervinho comes back from the Africa Cup of Nations is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the youngster is keen to soak up as much information as he can.

He said:

"I’m one of the least experienced players in the squad so any player who gives me a comment always helps me, whether it is positive or constructive criticism.

"I listen to everybody. People like Thierry and Robin who score goals and are attacking players like myself, you can always learn a lot from them. That’s all I do, I listen and learn."

It's great to hear he's so keen. We can see from his recent performances that he's going to be some player... imagine him and Jack Wilshere playing together in the same team. That would be awesom.

Talking of Jack, he's been tweeting again!

And you won't be surprised that he's made the pages of the Daily Mail website, not just for going on holiday with his son but also because he's using a machine to help heal his injury. If he plays again this season I will be pleasantly surprised. It's clear he can't wait to get back on the pitch and will do everything to achieve that aim.

Couple of transfer stories. Carlos Vela wants to stay in Spain - now there's a surprise! I think Arsene Wenger would like him to stay there too, if he can get a decent fee for him.

And we're on alert because Daniel Sturridge doesn't like playing on the right at Chelsea and could be looking for a move because he wants to play down the middle, according to the Daily Mail. I'm sure we'd be interested in him. He's a relatively young player. But he's not very patient. And where is he going to play for us? It's not like he's going to come into the team and replace Robin van Persie. Perhaps his people haven't noticed that we play only one central striker and he's a world class Dutchman. There is no chance that Sturridge can oust van Persie.

And that's it. Wrap up warm today... like I said, it's freezing. Until tomorrow!

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Sell Walcott and buy Hazard -Summer tour madness -Henry's not sticking around

2012-02-07T06:19:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

The result last night was probably the best we could have hoped for. A draw doesn't allow Liverpool to leapfrog us into six place and reduces the gap between us and our north London neighbours to ten points. I'm sure that will be significantly reduced by the end of the season.

It appears the manager has started his wooing of a summer transfer target already. One who is sure to be one of our the queue marked highest priority: Eden Hazard.

Wenger said:

"I like Eden Hazard a lot, and for many reasons.

"His creative ability, his talent for unbalancing opponents, his vision of the game, and his consummate skill in making the final pass all make him an in-demand player.

"Hazard has what it takes to play for a top-level club, and Arsenal are a top-level club."

Wenger has flirted publicly with the Belgium international for a while now. Hazard has also spoken of his affection for the way Arsenal play football and said in the not so distant past that it would be a dream to play in Wenger's team.

Can a deal be struck this summer? It is going to be difficult and the price may prohibit Arsenal getting the player. All of Europe's elite clubs have been tracking the attacker. He's not an unknown talent and that's why there will be an auction. Lille stand to make a lot of money from his sale and that's one of the only areas where Wenger might be beaten to his man.

I'm sure if it were down to Hazard, he would choose to sign for us. He's still young and has only had one season of Champions League football under his belt. And if he moved to north London this summer he'd be guaranteed a starting place.

Do I think we've got a chance though? Not really. Had we signed him two seasons ago, we'd have had a clear run for his signature. This summer I think we don't have the money. The only way we'd have a chance is if we sold Theo Walcott and cleared out some of the players who have become surplus to requirements.

That would allow us to generate enough cash to pay the £25m plus transfer fee Hazard would command and to pay him wages of more than £100,000 a week.

We're certainly going to be generating some cash this summer from all the proposed overseas tours the media are being informed of.

First it was Nigeria, now we're going to Seoul, Beijing and Hong Kong as well according to The Guardian.

There can be no Emirates Cup this summer for the Olympics, so we'll be losing the cash generated by that two day tournament. But to me it does seem that the commercial team's proposal is taking things a bit two far.

The manager wouldn't have a full squad to take with him because of the European Championships and the Olympics, so there won't be that many star names involved you wouldn't have thought. Then there is the problems caused by flying between three continents and doing all the promotional work. It seems the players could be suffering from fatigue before the season has already started.

I can see the logic in having a pre-season tour in summers when there isn't a major football tournament. But to have one in a summer when there is not one but two tournaments seems madness. Anyway, I'm sure the Arsenal board would have consulted the manager and their motivations won't be purely led my the money we can generate.

Fans in these parts of the world deserve the chance to watch their team close up and in person. I just don't think this summer is the right time to be trying to spread ourselves so thinly.

One player who won't be taking part in any football until the start of next season is Emmanuel Frimpong who has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. It's the same injury he suffered in his left knee in the summer of 2010, just as he looked set to break into the first team. He's set to have surgery in the coming days.

And despite Arsene Wenger's claim that he's not thought about asking Theirry Henry to stay at the club past his initial loan spell, the player has said he'll be back to New York before the end of the month.

He said:

"They have been really good about it, so I can't take advantage of them."

It's a shame. But understandable. Let's hope he's still around at the end of the month when we play Spurs.

So after three reboots this morning already, I hope this post finally sees the light of day... Whilst my laptop night be heading for a graveyard. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger wants consistency -England want The Ox -The hard work begins today

2012-02-06T06:31:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

Well the league table makes happier reading today than it did on Friday. No matter what others will say, I still believe we've got a chance of securing fourth place. Especially if Chelsea are going to give a 3-0 lead away at home.

I thought they were being generous exclusively to us when we went shopping for goal at Stamford Bridge back in October. But going by yesterday's result against Manchester United, they had a Blue Cross sale on.

By no means is it going to be easy to take that fourth spot. We've got to find a momentum and consistency which have been lacking in our results since Christmas. But we can do it.

Arsene Wenger believes consistency can bring stability to our form.

He said:

"We need consistency. Strangely I don't feel we played very badly at Fulham, nor at Swansea, nor against Manchester United, but every time we just couldn't get the result and in the end it affects your belief.

"It was important to the confidence of the side that we won a game and get three points.

"This will help us slowly to believe again that we could win - to win 1-0 at Sunderland would be fantastic and that is what we have to prepare for, to produce a good performance."

Whilst overall performances against Fulham and Swansea weren't the worst I've seen from this Arsenal team this season, the defeats were down to individual errors which could have been avoided.

We could have won on Wednesday night against Bolton had we had a bit more cutting edge. At the moment I would bite your hand off for a series of 1-0 wins over a 7-1 thrashing.of Blackburn. We need to rake in as many wins as we can at the moment.

And whilst Saturday's victory will be remembered as Robin van Persie's second hattrick in an Arsenal shirt and possibly the last time Theirry Henry ever scores at home for the Gunners, for me it will be the day we welcomed a new great to the pitch.

I thought that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was fantastic and his inclusion in this Arsenal team is a breath of fresh air. He's not worried about trying tricks or attempting passes in the final third other players might feel uncomfortable trying. His youth obviously works with us. The Grove groans don't seem to be as loud when something he tries doesn't come off. As I mentioned the other day, there is an acceptance that things aren't always going to work out for the 18-year-old when he attempts something on the big stage for the first time but the crowd want him to go for it anyway.

You could see prior to Christmas that his all round game needed working on. But I think those few months working behind the scenes at London Colney have done this youngster the world of good. He's a far better player than the one I saw take to the field to make his Arsenal debut against Manchester United in that game we all want to forget. His all round play has improved which will help the team.

It's interesting that last season it was Wojciech Szczesny and Jack Wilshere who broke into the first 11 and helped save our season. This time round it could be The Ox doing the same thing.

It's interesting hear Robin van Persie try not to put too much pressure on his young teammate's shoulders but in the same breath say that Fabio Capello should be considering him for the England squad for Euro 2012.

The Dutchman said:

"He will have ups but also periods when he’s not playing so well. So my advice is to be aware of it and be patient."

Then adding:

"In the future, definitely he can make the England team. He has everything. If he was Dutch I would take him to the Euros. Why not?"

Personally I'd rather The Ox wasn't associating with those characters in the England national team, but I don't get a choice if he's called up. I don't think there is a doubt he won't be going to the European Championships, especially if he continues this upward curve in form for Arsenal.

We've got some difficult games coming up and this week is where the hard work begins at the training ground. With no midweek match, the manager and his staff have to get the players fully prepared for three huge games: Sunderland (A), Milan (A) and then the FA Cup fifth round game.

This team need to make sure we secure the best result possible in all three.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger to axe RVP -Almunia's having a Carlsberg experience -Eisfeld injured already?

2012-02-03T06:09:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

I don't think the mood has lifted since the draw on Wednesday. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to notice that Gooners on Twitter, Facebook and message boards were grouchy by the result at the Reebok. I agree it wasn't good enough. It was a game we should have won. But at this point in time I'm happy with any type of green shoot of recovery - especially to our league form.

We've not been at our best for quite some time. In fact I'm struggling to remember a performance since the impressive 4-0 at Wigan where we've really showed what this team is all about. But the Bolton draw was the first time in a league game since the opening match of the season where neither teams have put the ball in the back of the net.

The team put an impressive run together which saw us crash into the top four for the first time this season after the 1-0 win over Everton back in December where Robin van Persie scored the only goal on the same day as we celebrated our 125th anniversary.

But since then we've been on a downward curve where it's come to league result. Yes, we've had the odd positive result but you could call this our bad run of form. Every team goes through a dip at some point in the season - let's hope the green shoots we saw from keeping a clean sheet and creating all those chances are this team reversing course and heading back towards where we were going prior to our defeat at Manchester City.

I don't know any Gooner who doesn't want us to be in the Champions League next season. The implications for us should we fail to qualify are huge. We've had many a scare in recent years but this season really does feel like it's the biggest test for the manager to get this team back into Europe's elite competition.

And the players know what is expected of them.

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media post match after the Bolton game. He said:

"It's going to be tough to finish in the top four but I think we have the quality and desire to do it.

"I know how good we are, yet we need to start showing it and get back on a good run."

If that good run the Spaniard is talking about turns out to have started at Bolton, then the result will sit more comfortably with everyone.

A win against Blackburn is a must tomorrow and it appears that the team might well have to start the game without Robin van Persie. The Sun are under the impression the captain won't start the game because the manager feels he's played too many game recently. There are no quotes to back up this assumption - but you can see it happening.

I'd expect we'll hear more when the manager speaks to the media later.

Another player who won't be playing any part of our league campaign is Manuel Almunia - who has been removed from our 25 man Premier League squad list so we can play Theirry Henry.

So the Spaniard can enjoy his £60k a week for doing very little - although he could still see action in the FA Cup or Champions League - whilst we pay some of the highest ticket prices in Europe. Was there really no one who was prepared to buy him from us last month? Why still have him on the wage bill if he's not going to play?

At least we'll know where to find him on match days... in the new Carlsberg Lounge of course - sipping on pints costing £4.50!

I'm a bit concerned about our new signing Thomas Eisfeld. It appears he's already injured.

Reserve team manager Neil Banfield said after his team's 2-0 win over Swansea that our new German signing had taken a knock to his knee.

He said:

"I am delighted with young Thomas. He was a little bit nervous as he doesn't know anybody, but he has settled in great.

"At half time we decided to take him off - he got a little knock on his knee, so there was no need to take any chances. He had a good 45-minute run out."

It would be just our luck if our new signing was already crocked. Let's hope for the best.

The manager has his press conference later and I'm sure it's going to be interesting.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Bacary Sagna’s returning performance showed how much Arsenal have missed him

2012-02-02T19:56:00.000Z

On Inside The Formation we'll look at an individual player's performance and analyse their input into the game. Today Joss Bennett looks at Bacary Sagna's performance against Bolton.

In his first return to the starting line-up since the defeat to Tottenham four months ago, Bacary Sagna’s performance against Bolton showed the reason why Arsenal’s full-back issues have hit them so hard. When you’re used to consistency and world-class standards, anything else is never going to be good enough.

A snip at less than £10 million, Sagna is yet another example of Wenger’s much-criticised philosophy of buying cheap, under-the-radar players from abroad. Since his debut, the Frenchman has been the perfect combination of attacking flair, and defensive solidity; using his pace and strength to get up and down the wing throughout the game – apparently never tiring.

Sagna almost capped off a brilliant performance as he went as close as possible to creating the opening goal of the match – his low cross from the right finding Robin van Persie, who could only hit the post. After a broken leg kept him from playing football for nearly four months (having made his first return to action against Aston Villa at the weekend), the right-back could be forgiven for a slight drop in quality. Instead – as ever – he reacted to his set-back in the best way possible.

Given the task of handling the tricky Martin Petrov, Sagna did well to make five tackles (only less than one player on the pitch; Mikel Arteta) – although he didn’t make a single interception during the match*. This last statistic is not entirely surprising, however, given that both of Bolton’s wingers prefer to play in front of their markers and take them on rather than looking to make runs behind them; shown by the fact Petrov was caught offside just once and averages a fairly high 0.5 dribbles per game*.

Going forward, Sagna was a little more reserved than usual – perhaps to be expected considering he hasn’t had time to get fully match-fit – and attempted only two crosses (completing one)*. Despite that, he was happy to be involved when Arsenal had the ball, completing 55 passes (sixth-most in the side), with an 89% accuracy, less than only Mark Davies of Bolton*.

Sagna’s importance to the team is further emphasised by the fact that Arsenal have managed to keep clean-sheets in four of his seven appearances in the Premier League this season, while they have kept the same number in sixteen games without him so far**.

Despite a disappointing result, Arsenal can look forward to welcoming back several players from injury as we approach the run-in for the Premier League, as well as two Champions League legs against A.C. Milan and the FA Cup 5th Round.

While players like Jack Wilshere and Andre Santos will be missed, the return of Bacary Sagna was arguably most important. A player who sets examples as an ultimate professional and superb athlete is just what a young squad needs to help them through a difficult period, and Wenger will be delighted that Sagna appears to be relatively unfazed by his injury.

However, while a player of his class is always going to be needed and missed, there remain questions over whether his back-up is sufficient should Sagna suffer a second injury, suspension or simply needs rest.

*OPTA statistics courtesy of whoscored.com
**Statistic via @randomanomaly on twitter

Joss Bennett is co-editor and head writer of Arsenal blog Arsenal Report - a site for all Gooners interested in tactics, stats and the inner workings of the club. You can follow him on twitter and his read is work at Arsenal Report.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Is The Ox going to be our Messi? -Mertesacker and Szczesny save us

2012-02-02T06:10:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

Let's start with a positive - we didn't lose. And we must remember this is the Bolton team who ten days ago beat Liverpool (the conquorers of the Manchester clubs, albeit in cup competitions) 3-1 at the Reebok.

Let's have another positive - we kept a clean sheet. The first time we've done that in the league since December 31 against QPR.

And there of course is a negative - we didn't win. And we didn't bring all three points back to north London because we didn't take our chances.

We had 16 attempts at Adam Bogdan's goal but only four were on target. However Robin van Persie did hit the post and the bar. We were inches away from scoring when he had a header cleared off the line following Vermaelen's cross.

In a game where we successfully completed 475 passes out of the 580 we attempted, generally had the game by the scruff of the neck and it was ours for the taking, it's disappointing to come away from the game with nothing but a point and a clean sheet to show for it.

I thought we were the better side in the first half. We fought well to win the ball back quickly when we lost possession, were in control in midfield and in Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had two players who could get in behind the Bolton defence and cause the opposition difficulties.

I was impressed with The Ox, especially in the first half. The way he ran with the ball at the opposition, using tricks as well as his pace and then finding a final ball to a team mate or taking a shot left me feeling like we've got our own version of Messi in our team. I've always hoped that Theo would develop the skills which come so naturally to The Ox, but it's clear already in these very early days that Arsene Wenger has uncovered another gem that he needs to polish to become a star.

The amount of good will fans have got for The Ox is great to see. They want him to do well. It's just a shame their patience has run out with some other members of this squad (the booing of Andrey Arshavin's name at the Grove last weekend when the teams were announce was disgusting).

Bolton were up for this, let's not make any mistakes we were in a game where we could have very easily conceded a goal. I thought Per Mertesacker was excellent. We all know that Laurent Koscielny right now is the best central defender in the Premier League, but it is Mertesacker who saved us on a number of occasions last night - most notably in the final sequence of the game where he got an important interception in with his face.

The big German's game of sweeping up the danger has seen us concede less goals in my opinion. He reads the game so well and as we all know he's not the quickest to cover the ground, that's very important.

It was great to see Bacary Sagna return with an injury free 90 minutes of football. Looking at the statistics this morning, it's clear to see how much we've missed him. He had the third player with the most successful passes in the final third. Only Arteta and Ramsey had more than the Frenchman.

Whilst the manager introduced Theirry Henry for the final 21 minutes, it's clear that the Arsenal Legend is only here as a support player. Neither he nor fellow substitute Tomas Rosicky could provide us with the spark we needed to win the game.

And it might have been the home team who might have taken all three points at the end of the game. Wojciech Szczesny denied Mark Davis a scoring opportunity in the final minutes when it appeared he was clean though. That save can't be underestimated. The big Pole got down to his left and used his left hand to bat away the ball as Bolton came on strong at the end. It could have wrongly given as a penalty. But it just shows how vital Szczesny's save was to ensure we left with a well deserved point.

Post match Arsene Wenger said:

"We feel we have dropped two points because we had chances to win the game. But we produced a decent game against a difficult opponent who gives you the ball, marks tight and waits for their chance.

"We took all of the risks and we were a bit unlucky as well because we hit the bar, the post and missed some great chances.

"In the end we took a gamble to play four strikers and we nearly got caught in the last five minutes from a Bolton chance."

We had to ensure the losing sequence came to an end. One win from our last six league games isn't good form. We are so reliant on Robin van Persie to score because our attacking midfielders in Walcott, Ramsey and Oxlade Chamberlain can't get the ball in the back of the net. We need those three to start weighing in with goals but we've been hoping for that all season!

The manager also said that "every game in the championship is a cup final now" and whilst I like the target set by that to win every game we play, I think it's unachievable. We have to be realistic. We cannot win every game and I don't believe we are mentally tough enough to be able to do that.

We go into the game against Blackburn on the back of a win and a draw following three defeats. Saturday is a must win game. We can't aim for anything other than three points.

Elsewhere, the manager confirmed Jack Wilshere has had a set back but he's not out for the season as many might suggest. There was good news from the reserves game at Swansea last night where we won 2-0, with new signing Thomas Eisfeld making an impressive debut by the sound of it - including an assist.

The players have a day off to recover today but it's important when they return to London Colney tomorrow, they set about finding their shooting boots. We've got a score to settle with Blackburn.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Eisfeld signs and prepares the way for Gotze? -Rosicky to start tonight?

2012-02-01T06:09:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

It seems like it is pretty much a case of as you were when I return from a few days of not blogging. Yes, we've signed one player - Thomas Eisfeld from Borussia Dortmund on the ubiquitous "long term contract" - and let another leave on loan - Ryo Miyaichi going to Bolton until the end of the season - but Arsene Wenger has done no real business this transfer window.

Thierry Henry has joined of course and we all knew we needed cover for Robin van Persie while Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho were at the Africa Cup of Nations. But as I think we all except, the signing of Henry has papered over a number of cracks which we can all see in this squad.

I'm sure the manager isn't blind to the fact this squad has deficiencies. We have been hampered by injuries in the last two months especially and have been without Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby (apart from his cameo appearances against Fulham and Borussia Dortmund) for the whole of the season.

Could we have done with more reinforcements in January? Yes certainly, would be my answer. Could we afford to do those deals. Again, the answer would have to be yes. So why haven't we?

Well the manager says it's down to the fact that the global football economy has been shot to pieces by the recession.

He said:

"I don't know if you have seen the numbers in Europe but there are 1.6bn Euro losses [among football clubs, according to a Uefa report], that's not debt but losses.

"That is absolutely amazing. That means tomorrow if you had to stop your activity, half of Europe would be bankrupt.

"It means that football has to respond and I don’t know if financial fair play will come in, but it looks like economically the whole of Europe is becoming a bit more cautious."

I'm not an economist, but surely this is the best time for Arsenal to invest their cash in new players who they would be able to prize away from their current clubs for less than the market rate - especially if these clubs are in financial difficulty.

Instead of making the big money signing of Mario Gotze, we sign Esfild. Instead of bringing Eden Hazard to the club last summer, we snap up Gervinho. I'm not saying either of our two signings are bad players, but when we were linked with the creme da la creme it's a bit disappointing to end up with those who played a supporting role.

Perhaps Wenger has chosen not to make any signings now because he wants to leave the cash for the next person who will fill the manager's hot seat at the Grove - be that in the summer or when he retires. Perhaps he knows he's got a huge rebuilding job to do this summer when Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott leave. There could be the fact that none of the players he wanted to sign were available in this window and that he will have to wait until June to do the business he really wanted to do now.

It seems we're still no closer to knowing who Theirry Henry will be taking the place of in our Premier League squad.

Anyway there is a game tonight, so we must look forward to that.

The early team news is positive. We have no new injuries from the Villa game last weekend. The manager made decide to give Bacary Sagna a start. He also has Johan Djourou, Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry available.

I expect the line up to be very much the same from the one which started at the weekend, with a couple of changes.

Szczesny - Coquelin - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Vermaelen - Song - Arteta - Walcott - Rosicky - Oxlade Chamberlain - van Persie.

I can see the manager giving Aaron Ramsey a rest and against Villa, I thought Rosicky had an excellent game. We certainly need to pick up three points tonight. Zero league points in January really isn't good enough.

Where ever you're watching the game, let's get behind this team. They need our support more than ever now.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Van Persie’s performance against Aston Villa showed why he is so important

2012-01-30T22:45:00.000Z

On Inside The Formation we'll look at an individual player's performance and analyse their input into the game. Today Joss Bennett looks at Robin van Persie's performance against Aston Villa.

As Robin van Persie fired Arsenal into the lead after a remarkable turnaround at the Emirates, you could be forgiven for thinking the moment he reached the 120 goal mark – drawing level with Dennis Bergkamp as Arsenal’s 10th all-time record goal-scorer – was somewhat of an anti-climax.

A penalty in a scrappy (though admittedly dramatic) match in which Arsenal struggled to assert themselves for much of the game is hardly the way Van Persie will want to remember this moment.

However – as has been noted by many – Van Persie has become ‘Mr. Arsenal’ this season, and perhaps also the most obvious example of his manager’s philosophy coming to fruition.

Having joined Arsenal as an unknown 21 year old with less than 60 appearances at Feyenoord to his name, and only 15 goals, Van Persie has since made 259 appearances and scored 120 goals for Arsenal. Not only does Van Persie fit the bill in terms of players Wenger likes to look at in the market, but since joining the club, the ‘Flying Dutchman’ has also epitomised the style of play Arsenal have become associated with.

Just like his Dutch predecessor at Arsenal, Dennis Bergkamp, Van Persie is the complete player. With 41 Premier-League assists*, Van Persie is still a little way off Bergkamp’s record but the latest Dutch legend does come close with his superb link-up play and willingness to bring others around him into the game.

Against Aston Villa, Van Persie had a hard time finding space behind the defence, especially in the first half. A lack of creativity and drive from midfield meant he was often forced to drop back into his own half in order to pick up the ball. It was notable, however, that once he was on the ball; the whole side were able to click into gear and began to look dangerous.

Even with the influence of Van Persie, however, Arsenal struggled to create clear chances and shooting opportunities. No matter how much they tried, the final ball was never quite right, and the Gunners went into the break 2-0 down.

Now is where the game and Robin van Persie’s 120th Arsenal goal begins to go from anti-climactic and forgettable, to dramatic and memorable.

Five simple words were all that were needed at half-time from a player who has embraced not only his tactical role in the side, but also his status at captain of the club - “We can win this competition”.

It is not just his goals that make the fans love him and the players trust him, but the fact he is a team-player.

Van Persie’s determination to be involved in absolutely everything – including, by the end of the Aston Villa game, defending a packed box at set-pieces – is what separates him from so many players. It seems that his mere presence near the rest of the players was enough to make passing crisper, and shots that much sweeter.

After a brilliant 15 second-half minutes, Arsenal had pulled level – enter stage-left, Robin van Persie (naturally, in shining armour), to win it for the Gunners. It may have just been a penalty, and perhaps it would be more special had it been a 25 yard volley against Manchester United, but – as ever with Van Persie – it was just what the doctor ordered.

Over the years, he has scored tap-ins, headers, volleys, screamers, etc. But if I may be so bold as to borrow yet another cliché, it doesn’t matter how they go in, as long as they do just that. The captain’s embrace with Thierry Henry after scoring the winner says all you need to know about the respect the Dutchman attracts from everyone affiliated with the club.

If he’s not scoring goals, he’s very rarely seen sulking, or doing nothing. Two penalties in 16 minutes against Aston Villa is not what set Van Persie’s performance apart from others. His determination to keep going and encourage others elevates his importance even more than his record-breaking goals tally.

As long as Arsenal can keep him happy one way or the other, they will have a chance of being successful and attracting more high calibre players to the club.

Joss Bennett is co-editor and head writer of Arsenal blog Arsenal Report - a site for all Gooners interested in tactics, stats and the inner workings of the club. You can follow him on twitter and his read is work at Arsenal Report.

Video produced by CWDailyGooner. Culann Davies is founder, head writer and video editor of Arsenal blog CWDailyGooner - a site for all Gooners interested in analysis of Arsenal's first teamers, youngsters and loanees in video form. You can follow him on twitter and read his work at CWDailyGooner.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger's training ground meeting -Boss says ALL his players are good enough

2012-01-26T06:12:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

Sorry for the rather short post today but I'm already running late.

The main news this morning is that Arsene Wenger has helAgaind a special meeting at the training ground to tell his players that he still believes in them.

The Sun say the boss told his players "to believe in yourselves" after a series of three league defeats on the bounce. He is also said to have told his first team squad that he believes in them all and that they shouldn't be concerned about the criticism in the media.

The Daily Express also have an insight on this meeting, which they say the manager was using to create a "siege mentality" within the squad.

We know that confidence plays an important part in professional sport, so doing anything to boost the players following this poor run of form is a good idea.

Elsewhere, the manager has said that he doesn't believe the loan market should be open to players over the age of 21. There is more on this in the Daily Mirror.

Apart from that there appears to be little else going on. Ignasi Miquel speaks to the official site and tells them he wants to play at Wembley and that the team cannot make any mistakes in Sunday's FA Cup game with Aston Villa, as they won't have a chance to put it right.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Arteta reveals what's really going on -Club in media lockdown -Rosicky off?

2012-01-25T06:11:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

Well, as you might have guessed, there is little going on this morning and that's to be expected. We've had much of the reaction from the players and football pundits yesterday following Sunday's match. Now we're left with the void before the manager speaks again to the media on Friday.

It's probably a good time to reflect on how fan we've come since the start of the season. We've hardly set the world on fire, but I suppose that was to be expected given the way the summer was completely mismanaged.

In the last seven games we've managed to take seven points from our matches, compared with 22 points from the previous eight games. Our seven games at the start of the season provided us with seven points. It's as though we're going round in circles.

But now is the time to take action. We've made a £16.6m net profit in the previous two transfer windows and not spent big in January since 2009. I think it's clear for all to see that the signing of Theirry Henry has just papered over the huge crack - the fact we need a top class forward who can either replace Robin van Persie in the starting 11 or play alongside him in one of our two wide positions.

We all saw how well Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did on Sunday - even the England manager Fabio Capello is signing his praises - but I don't think any of us really believe that a teenager can produce a consistent level of performance we need to ensure of a top four finish.

By no means am I writing off The Ox - I am one of his biggest fans - I just don't think you can place so much pressure on a player so young and inexperienced. Really he needs to be integrated into a winning side - a team who isn't under the pressure we are.

And let's not forget last summer when his signing was announced. Many were unhappy that we had spent £10m+ on signing The Ox from Southampton when he wasn't what we needed. Look at those same people who are purring over him now...

One of the reasons I'm sure the manager has held back handing Oxlade-Chamberlain his full debut is because he knows that all young players are inconsistent. There is also an unhealthy level of expectation placed on their shoulders by supporters and the media alike. I know that The Ox will be a huge player for us - better than Theo Walcott - but I'm not expecting to see a level of consistency for several years when he's producing for us week in, week out.

Let's not forget that after all those years in the first team, we haven't seen a good level of consistency from Theo Walcott. And we should remember that he's just 22 years-old.

However I expect Oxlade-Chamberlain to be handed an extended run in the first team because of the poor form of Andrey Arshavin and the missing Gervinho.

Elsewhere Mikel Arteta has spoken out following a number of press reports yesterday which said the dressing room was divided and some wanted the manager to leave.

The Spaniard told French radio station RMC Sports:

"All the players are supportive of Wenger — there are no divisions.

"When we've had bad results the fans get upset with the manager but that's normal in football.

"Wenger has done so much for the club that he deserves the confidence of the fans."

No matter how bad it gets, I don't see the manager walking away from the club before the end of the season - even though he's yet again been linked with the managers role at Real Madrid.

And finally Tomas Rosicky's agent is flying in for talks with the manager over the midfielder's future. The Czech midfielder is out of contract at the end of season. Personally I don't think he'll be around next season.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

RVP speaks out -Has Wenger lost the dressing room? -AOC was injured

2012-01-24T06:23:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

The fall out from Sunday's game continues. And it's more about the substitution of an 18-year-old player making his first league start for the club than it is about the awful run of form we're on at the moment. Let's not forget that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had been ill during the week and was injured when he was taken off - information that a normal supporter would not have been aware of when Arsene Wenger made that substitution.

What we should be talking about is how we're going to prevent a further defeat next weekend. How things could be done differently and how the manager has made brave decisions which haven't paid off. But it's the substitution of a teenager which dominated the thoughts of all Gooners.

Robin van Persie has spoken to The Sun about Sunday's game and that reaction.

He said:

"I was not having a go at the boss on Sunday — I was just sad to see Alex leave the pitch as he just gave the assist for our only goal.

"I was not questioning his judgment — I know it's not my place to challenge what Arsene Wenger does.

"He is the boss, he makes the decisions and that's it... end of story."

You can understand that Robin was disappointed. But as he goes on to say, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a calf injury. He didn't know that at the time.

There is lots of talk about things being said in the dressing room post match and you would hope there would have been given Sunday was our third league defeat on the bounce and we've not picked up a single point in January. Clearly a line needs to be drawn. This kind of form is simply not good enough. So a dressing room inquest is to be expected.

Has the manager lost the players? The Daily Star seems to think so. I very much doubt that is the case. After all, these are Wenger's players. He has brought these players to the club and, on the whole, made them better players. Even The Ox said post match that he respects every decision the manager makes - even if some fans do not.

I keep going back in my mind and think it's strange that this situation has come to a head with the manager over a substitution. I know we've been through a lot in the past year, so it seems weird to me that the culmination of all those bad times is to boo the manager's decision over the substitution of a teenager and that has felt like it's a symbolic moment.

Of course it's not down to the substitution that this outcry has happened. It's down to a trophy drought, the loss of some of our best players, the season ticket price rise and the total mismanagement of our transfer business last summer. I understand that pain - I'm going through it as well. But I feel that when you're at the ground, as I was on Sunday, you support your team - no matter what.

Now if some home truths have been said in the dressing room - I don't personally think it's a bad thing - if we turn our form around. But the players have got to be together, fighting a common cause. What we really need now is a game - instead we have to wait until Sunday when we play Aston Villa.

For that game there appears to be some good news already. Theirry Henry and Mikel Arteta will be back from injury and while it will probably come too early for them both, Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs are back in full training today with the rest of the squad.

Wojciech Szczesny says we can turn this situation around.

He said:

"We've been there before and we have reacted very well. I think we'll do the same thing again and make sure that this club goes in the right direction to finish the season where we should."

What's needed is for us to have a bit of luck come our way, some players back from injury and to get a referee who actually spots a penalty when we can all see one.

This week, I'm sure the manager will be looking at the transfer market and seeing if he can find a player who can add quality to our squad. He's been let down badly by some of these players and needs to cut them adrift. Can he do that in January? I'm not sure, but even if that means they are replaced in our squad with players who can make a different, I don't care if we're paying them to sit our the remainder of the season.

There are some tough decisions to be made, but as we saw on Sunday, the manager is brave enough to make them.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger was right to substitute AOC -Crowd reaction unacceptable -Manager must spend

2012-01-23T06:00:00.003Z

Morning Gooners.

Having played two of the top seven at the Grove this season already, we've come away with no points. This was where we were meant to catch up on the league leaders and ensure we finished in the top four.

Against Liverpool we lost after going down to ten men in the final 20 minutes. We were playing Samir Nasri in his final game. None of the deals for the five players we signed in the final days of the window had been completed. We lost to an ordinary Liverpool side which had seen millions of pounds invested in it.

Fast forward to yesterday, in the middle of the January transfer window, we were playing without our first and second choice full backs, the key member of our central midfield and one of the manager's most promising summer signings in Gervinho.

When you looked at our bench for the game, you knew the starting 11 had to win their game, because it was very unlikely any substitute would come on and make a differnce.

The manager made a brave decision in dropping the Russian captain Andrey Arshavin and handing a Premier League debut to Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. It was a call I was surprised by. The 18-year-old has only featured in 41 minutes of league since joining the club in the summer.

True, Arshavin has not performed on a consistant basis for a long time. His star has fallen at the club, but even so, it was sending a clear message that the manager was prepared to give The Ox a chance to shine in a game of this magnitude.

As I've said previously, I would have taken a point from the game before kick off. The first half was awful. If the manager had said post match the handbrake had been on, I would have believed him. We lacked energy, movement and guile. We had a few shots on target, but nothing that troubled Anders Lindegaard.

Even with the visitors losing Phil Jones early on, we weren't able to capitalise. We seem to pass sideways when a more direct game would have probably see us benefit more from the stifling game Ferguson's team were playing against us. Why we bother to hit the ball long to van Persie is anyone's guess. If no player is willing to get close to the Dutchman to recieve his knock-downs, there is little point in us attempting this.

I didn't think any player really shone in the first 45. Oxlade Chamberlain had a three passes which he didn't seem to read and we lost posession but overall was a positive, Walcott was missing in action and Van Persie was a frustrated figure as our lone striker.

The visitors seemed to find their game half way through the half and it was back the walls stuff as they exploited Johan Djourou at right back. Walcott's lack of covering was clear to see and it was down the left which many dangerous ssituations began.

Ferguson's men created their goal down this flank. Giggs crossed from the left handside to find Valencia storming through to head the ball into the back of the net. It was a body blow. But the pressure had been mounting and we weren't able to string any serious numbers of passes together to retain possession.

Even before the referee was to blow up for half time, we carves open an opportunity to go into the dressing rooms level. Rosicky capitalised on a Smalling slip and ran clear on goal. Instead of shooting himself, the Czech squared the ball to van Persie who somehow managed to miss the target all together and the ball went wide.

It was a golden opportunity for the Gunners to respond. But it wasn't taken.

Wenger made another bold decision at the break, bringing on Niko Yennaris for Djourou. It was clear to see the Swiss international hadn't had his best game at the right hand side of our defence.

The Gunners came out the fired up of the two sides. Oxlade-Chamberlain was the catalyst to our chances. Setting up Ramsey who fired over and then van Persie teed up Rosicky who had his shot blocked.

Even with an 18-year-old making his Premier League debut at right back, we were much more solid.

It was the Ox who nearly got us back into the game. His shot going wide. Had it been on target it would have been our equaliser. But at the other end, the visitors threatened to add to their lead, Mertesacker getting back just in time to hook Welbeck's shot off the line.

But Arsenal found a way back into the game with the debutant being the catalyst. Oxlade-Chamberlain raced away and played in van Persie. The Dutchman didn't make the same mistake and found the target, his left food shot found the bottom right hand corner of Lindegaard's goal.

The eruption in the crowd was certainly of the same level as of those scenes witnessed when Thierry Henry scored in his come back match against Leeds. We'd worked hard in the second half to get ourselves back into the game and van Persie's goal was reward for that.

Moments before the Gunner's leveling the scores, the manager was planning a double substitution - introducing Andrey Ashavin and Ju Young Park. That was postponed but two minutes after the goal, Arshavin made his entrance in place of the Ox.

It was a decision which was greeted by boos from the terraces. A chant of "you don't know what you're doing" was aimed at Wenger. It was a reaction that shocked me. Never in my time following Arsenal have I seen or heard a reaction like it. (More on this later).

The Russian didn't do his cause any good as Valencia ran free from the right into the box. The ball was cut back and Welbeck found the back of the net. Park was thrown on for his first taste of the Premier League as we chased the game. But it was too little, too late. Mertesacker ended up playing centre forward for the final periods - it shows how badly things have become.

We could find an equaliser and the game ended in defeat. Our third league defeat on the bounce and a set of result we've not seen since 2007.

Post match Arsene Wenger said:

"I am really disappointed because we had a difficult first half, a nervous first half. [It was] technically not at the level we want and we came back well with a fantastic fighting spirit in the second half.

"I thought we had the chances to win the game quite comfortably in the second half but you feel the Manchester United team is a bit more mature in every position than we are."

Personally I thought we very looked ordinary. But our opposition didn't look very special either. We really should have taken something from the game. I think a draw would have been a fair result. However they were playing two strikers who could put the ball in the back of the net. We have one... RVP.

As for the substitution, the manager said:

"I can understand that the fans are upset about the substitution, especially when it doesn’t work, but I made the right decision at the start of the game [in starting Oxlade-Chamberlain].

"He had started fatigue, stretched his calf and he was sick in the week."

I was shocked by the booing which greeted the substitution of Oxlade-Chamberlain. I was surprised that he'd started and we must remember that yesterday was his first ever Premier League start. Who are we as supporters to question the manager's decision. We have no inside knowledge as to what had been going on in the previous week. The manager points out that the Ox was sick. Did anyone have any idea that was the case prior to the match?

On these calls, I think the manager has to make a decision which is best for the team... He doesn't want us to lose, does he? It is up to him how he runs his team. Results will dictate whether he is successful or not. And in his 15 years at the club, I don't think he's got too much wrong.

What we really lack is recognized full backs. Vermaelen and Djourou/Yennaris were playing out of position. They can only do there best and you can argue that they were at fault (not Yennaris) for us being in a position to concede goals.

Even when Gibbs is back in the team, what's to say he doesn't have a reaction to his injury and then we are back to playing Vermaelen out of position. I think the manager should buy/loan and worry about where people fit into his team later. We need to ensure of fourth place and we're not going to do that with a large majority of our team on the treatment table.

Henry's loan signing was papering over the cracks that we really need a top class player who can play as either a central striker or on the wing. It's clear that Park doesn't have the manager's 100 per cent backing and we need someone who can score. The difference yesterday was that the visitors two strikers and two wide players are goal threats. We don't have that in our team.

The manager has said it will be a disaster if we don't finish in the top four. He has seen we're not able to beat an average Manchester United team with the players he has in his squad. He has the means to buy and the time available. He really needs to act now to avoid the worst happening come the end of the season, or he'll only have himself to blame.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Vermaelen passed fit -Henry faces late test -Gunners face fight for left-back

2012-01-22T06:34:00.000Z

Morning Gooners.

Well as we head into this afternoon's big game, we at least have some positive news on the injury front. It appears that Thomas Vermalen has passed a fitness test yesterday, according to the Sunday Mirror, and if there is no reaction will be in line to start later.

It will be a huge boost to the team if Vermaelen plays, especially in the continued absence of Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos. While Francis Coquelin and Ignasi Miquel have done as good a job as they can filling in on the left hand side, they are youngsters playing out of position.

With the Belgium international returning to the defence, we should be more solid, even if it does mean we get back to a situation where we are playing for central defenders across the back line.

I'm expecting the starting line up to be: Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Song, Rosicky, Walcott, Ramsey, Arshavin, van Persie.

I think that with Rosicky having a full week of training under his belt, he will come into the team in place of Yossi Benayoun, allowing Aaron Ramsey to return to his normal position as the player closest to van Persie.

On the bench, you would have thought the manager will delay his decision as late as he can to see whether Thierry Henry is fit enough to play a part in the game. I don't think there is any chance he'll start this afternoon, but if he can give us an option from the bench, that would be a good start. Otherwise the only other senior striking option we have is Ju Young Park - a player with exactly zero minutes of Premier League experience.

The manager has picked out Theo Walcott and Wojciech Szczesny as two players who can make a difference this afternoon.

He said of Walcott:

"I think he is coming back now. He had a dip over Christmas.

"I found people were a bit harsh on him at Swansea because in the first half he looked dangerous to me. In the second half he scored the goal and having seen the game again he created some dangerous situations.

"That was not the case at Fulham, for example. In training I think he is on the way up again."

I think last weekend wasn't the best example of the player Theo Walcott can be for us. I think he has improved a lot this season, especially in his defensive play. But he still frustrates me in front of goal. He also goes missing in games and doesn't try and force his presence into a match. It seems for some that whilst it's ok for Walcott to blend into the background because he's younger than say Andrey Arshavin - who rightly gets stick for his lack of tracking back.

However Arshavin is a proven talent. A player who can change a game. Walcott has yet to do that - consistently. And you could probably argue - rightly in my opinion - that Arshavin doesn't prove his talent on a consistent basis for the club. But he does have more in his locker to undo games. Walcott only has his pace.

I would love to see Walcott consistently perform for Arsenal. Whilst he is very limited as a player, he does what he does well on many occasions but still hasn't progressed as we would have all like him to have. I think the next five months are vital to him. If he can prove to the manager through his performances he deserves a new contract, then I'm sure he'll be rewarded. But at the moment I don't think you would consider giving him the money he wants because he does perform to a consistent level week in, week out.

Let's hope the manager is right and he has one of his better games this afternoon.

Meanwhile the boss has absolved Szczesny of any blame for what happened at Old Trafford in August.

He said:

"I talk to him when he concedes a goal and I think he is responsible.

"But at United you wouldn’t even consider that he had a chance to save the ball. Every time the ball went into the top corner."

I agree with the manager. The goalkeeper didn't make any mistakes during that game and I hope that none of us see a result like that one again.

A bit of transfer tittle-tattle? The People claim we're locked in a three way tussle for the signature of Southampton teenage left back Luke Shaw.

4pm kick off later. Where ever you're watching, enjoy the game

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Confirmed: Arteta out, Vermaelen doubtful, Henry 50-50 -Wenger's Arshavin pledge

2012-01-20T05:32:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

A rather short post this morning.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that barring a miracle, Mikel Arteta won't be involved in Sunday's game with Manchester United. Personally I believe that's a huge blow to the team. We saw last weekend how important the Spaniard has become to the way we play. So for him to be missing again is very disappointing.

The manager is doubtful that Thomas Vermaelen has made the required progress to take part on Sunday as well. He describes the defender as "short" of fitness but admits there may be a late fitness test to see whether he can be involved at all.

The other player we're awaiting news on is Thierry Henry. The calf problem has been confirmed and Wenger will give his compatriot a fitness test on Saturday morning to see whether he can play 24 hours later.

There is more injury news on Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Lukasz Fabianski and Andre Santos on the official site - but only Fabianski has any chance of being involved this weekend.

It looks as though we are going to have to muddle through again this weekend as we did in Wales last weekend. Injuries have taken their toll on us and it's so frustrating that we won't be able to field our strongest side on Sunday. I want payback for the 8-2 hammering at Old Trafford, but at this moment in time I'd happily take a draw.

Elsewhere the manager has said he want's to keep Andrey Arshavin at the club.

He told the official site "It is too difficult" to do without the Russian at the present time. And considering we're without Gervinho, Rosicky and Benayoun aren't pulling up any trees and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain isn't consistent enough to play for 90 minutes, selling Arshavin is not an option.

Come the summer, maybe. But as I said yesterday, that might have a lot to do with the futures of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott.

Finally, the Daily Mail has an interesting interview with Gervinho.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Arteta losing fitness battle -Chamakh staying? -Rosicky off? -Swedish Neymar handed trial

2012-01-19T06:00:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

At the moment it appears to be all about injuries. At this rate it will be a miracle if we can put together a squad of 18 players for Sunday's game.

Despite being given hope yesterday by an Evening Standard report that said Mikel Arteta would likely be fit to start Sunday's game, the Daily Express pour cold water of that idea by reporting the Spaniard hasn't been involved in training for the past two days due to the calf injury he's nursing.

They also report Theirry Henry is facing a fitness test to see what, if any, part the Frenchman will play in Sunday's game. While the Frenchman took part in light training yesterday, and a scan has not highlighted any serious damage, there still remains a doubt over his involvement against last season's league champions.

While there was some hope that Bacary Sagna would be available for Sunday's game but it appears that the game with Aston Villa the following weekend is a more realistic comeback date. However the return of Thomas Vermaelen will give us more defensive stability, if the manager feels he's fit enough to play.

With Sagna not yet available and Vermaelen expected to return our defence picks itself for the game. Midfield will be a concern without Arteta. Ramsey played the deep lying role last weekend, a position he's unfamiliar with, alongside Alex Song. You would expect the manager to stick with that pairing if the Spaniard isn't available.

That leaves us with attack. Robin van Persie is the first name on the team sheet and despite his woeful performance in Wales Theo Walcott is certain to be a starter. That leaves us with two positions to fill, which were occupied by Yossi Benayoun and Andrey Arshavin. Does the manager stick with them or make a switch?

I know we've all probably suppressed the game at Old Trafford in August, but who can forget how light-weight our bench was that day: Fabianski, Miquel, Ozyakup, Lansbury, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sunu, Chamakh.

Whilst our bench last weekend wasn't as devoid of experience, Henry apart, you wondered if any of those players (Almunia, Yennaris, Squillaci, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henry, Park) would be able to come on and change the game.

It's an area the manager will need to address before the transfer window closes.

One player set to stay at the club - until the summer at least - is Marouane Chamakh.

The Moroccan said:

"I am relaxed about my future. I've spoken with the coach [Wenger] and I'm staying with Arsenal after the Africa Cup of Nations.

"I think Wenger has confidence in me. It was that reason that I left Bordeaux to join Arsenal."

I like Chamakh and thought he did fantastically in the first five months of his Arsenal career. But since he was dropped for van Persie, he's not looked the same player. I hope the Cup of Nations can reignite him as a striker and we see the same Chamakh we signed from France when he returns next month. Whether he stays at the club in the summer will be linked with whether the manager can persuade Robin to sign a new deal. If RVP puts pen to paper you would have thought that Chamakh would be allowed to leave.

Another player who has been at the centre of transfer speculation is Andrey Arshavin. With reports linking him to a move to Italy yesterday, the Daily Star say he's on his way back to Russia in the summer. Like Chamakh, I think the Russian's future is also interlinked with whether RVP and Walcott sign new deals. If they don't, I think Arshavin will stay. If they do, he'll be sold.

And while we're on transfer speculation, the Daily Express link Tomas Rosicky with a move to Fulham.

The Daily Mail say we've missed out on signing 17-year-old Panathinaikos goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino. They say he's going to sign for Inter Milan in a £2m deal.

Meanwhile the Mail also report we've handed a trial to Swedish teenager Niclas Eliasson. The Falkenbergs FF player, dubbed the Swedish Neymar in his homeland, is at London Colney for a week to see if he can impress the Arsenal coaching set up into handing him a contract.

Some good news to end, The Guardian report Jack Wilshere is well ahead of schedule and should be back in full training next week, with a view to playing first team football again after two weeks of "conditioning".

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Henry and Arteta doubts for Sunday -Lazio want Arshavin -PHW speaks rubbish

2012-01-18T06:20:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

We might as well start with some positive news. The club are hoping that Thomas Vermaelen will be able to play this Sunday, three weeks after picking up a calf injury in the win over QPR. You would have thought the Belgium defender would slot straight back in to the defence at left back, if he is fit enough to start. However there is less than great news about Theirry Henry.

The Daily Express are reporting that Henry limped out of training yesterday after picking up a calf injury. The Frenchman has had a scan and the club are hoping it's not serious. They report that Arsene Wenger was hoping to played the Gunner's record goal scorer from the start of Sunday's match, but that plan is now on ice.

Also facing a race against time to be fit for this weekend is Mikel Arteta who missed the Swansea game with a calf strain. Both the Daily Mirror and Daily Express report he's undergoing intensive treatment in a hope that he will be ready for Sunday's clash with Manchester United.

If things weren't going badly enough for Arsene Wenger, these two players facing a fitness battle to play against Alex Ferguson's men, could leave us with yet another threadbare squad to pick from.

Sunday's bench for the game in Wales looked worrying. Who knows what it might look like this weekend coming. The manager says we've got a big squad - yes, he might be right in numerical terms - but in terms of quality, we're still very short of where we need to be.

Johan Djourou thinks it's the ideal game to be coming up next.

The defender, who celebrates his 25th birthday today, said:

"It's a fantastic game for us after Swansea which was difficult to swallow.

"It will be a bounce-back game. We have to turn up, we have the away game still in our minds so there is revenge to take.

"We have to keep working hard to try to improve."

I'm not so sure that he's right. It's going to be a tough game to win. But I suppose the main aim will be to avoid defeat. The last time we lost three league matches on the bounce was in April 2007, the first two losses were on the road and then our first league defeat at the Grove to West Ham.

We cannot fail to remember the tonking we got at Old Trafford. Another drubbing like that would see us go full circle in the same pattern we started the season. We had improved following that game but we're still very vulnerable as a team. We don't seem to have remembered especially in the last couple of games that we need to defend as a team.

If all 10 outfield players don't give 100 per cent in defending our goal, we're more than likely to concede. You can put the Fulham defeat down to a heavy festive schedule, but I personally thought there was a lack of desire in Wales. That is something the manager has to put right. We need every single player working hard for the team.

While we all appreciate that Andrey Arshavin doesn't like to defend, he needs too. And I don't see why when players are being criticised for their lack of application Theo Walcott isn't mentioned. He seems to be given more of a free ride by the media/supporters because he's English.

And talking of Arshavin, the Daily Mirror report that Lazio are interesting in signing Arshavin, if they can get him for the right money. £6m is the talked about fee. I don't see the Russian leaving in January, not when Gervinho is at the Africa Cup of Nations. The manager would have possibly allowed the player to leave last summer had the futures of Fabregas and Nasri not been so uncertain. I think it's more than likely he'll be on his way this summer, unless we face the same predicament with the futures of van Persie and Walcott.

Finally our chairman has been talking and says it won't be a disaster if we finish the season outside the top four.

Peter Hill-Wood told his favourite newspaper the Daily Star:

"From a financial point of view, not qualifying for the Champions League is quite a blow.

"We have been planning for not qualifying every year, so it is not a disaster, but it would be nice if we could."

While I agree we should not plan financially to play in the Champions League each season, I do believe that it should be the minimum goal set for the manager. And it's not all about the money anyway.

However saying the "it would be nice if we could" play in Europe's elite competition next season is hardly the message us Gooners want to hear at the moment. We want the board to demand the manager does everything in his power to achieve the minimum target he is set each season.

If that means he has to go into the transfer market this month and buy the players he feels we need to do it, then that's what he should be encouraged to do. We shouldn't be worrying about paying a few million over the odds for a player who will help push us into the top four. Our competitors are strengthening, why shouldn't we?

The January window is there to be used. We could have had the signing of Henry wrapped up on the first day of the month but we leave it until the last possible moment to sign him so he's available to play against Leeds. Why couldn't he have provided the manager with an option from the bench at Craven Cottage?

Playing against Udinese in the Champions League qualifier in August scared the life out of me. The thought of having to watch Arsenal in the Europa League left me feeling sick. I don't think Champions League football is a right for us as a club, but it shows how spoilt we've been for the past 14 years.

The board need to be pushing the manager in the right direction and I don't think the chairman is doing that. Perhaps Stan Kroenke will have a word with Arsene....

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Szczesny reveals team meeting -Henry's apology -Squillaci off? -Wilshere return pencilled in

2012-01-17T06:26:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

I think the last two league results have left me at a loss as to what is wrong with this Arsenal team. There is something which is fundamentally flawed when we play away from home. I know that in the past two games there have been individual errors which have cost us, but the team's overall composure in away matches doesn't match what I witness at the Grove.

Perhaps one of the reasons is that the manager has tried to muddle through without any recognised full backs for too long. At home they might not be over exposed like they are on the road. But I think it is telling that we've got ourselves in positions to win games, especially at Fulham and Swansea, and not been able to see the game out.

It's also been clear we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We're hardly a one-man team - but we do rely on Robin van Persie far too much. Where in previous seasons the goals would be shared around, this term especially we've seen the Dutchman get on the score sheet 18 times in league - just under half of the 38 goals we've scored in the league.

We've hardly seen any goals from midfield and I'd like Walcott, Ramsey, Arshavin and Gervinho to get on the scoresheet as well.

The players cannot come up with an idea as to why we've not performed as well on the road this season as we did last term.

Speaking after the Swansea game Wojciech Szczesny said:

"I have no idea why we can't win away from home. The results speak for themselves and we have been really poor away this season. I really can't explain it.

"We go everywhere and try to do our best but the results don't go our way. We have talked about it and cannot come up with an answer. We need to sort it out."

The manager surely has an idea of how to get his team back on track.

He said:

"That’s now twice — at Swansea and at Fulham — where we have given the game away. At our level that is frustrating and not good enough. It is down to a lack of composure and the right decision-making.

"It is alarming because at Fulham we were 1-0 up and we lost the game. [Against Swansea] We came back to 2-2 and straightaway we gave the third goal away. It is really a concern."

He's got to hope that with the expected return of Thomas Vermaelen for Sunday's important game with Manchester United that our defence will be strengthen by his return. Could we also see Bacary Sanga return? That would be a huge boost. I wonder if this weekend might be too soon for the Frenchman who has been training hard for a couple of weeks.

It's clear that Wenger isn't going to make a loan signings to cover the full back positions so if we don't have either Vermaelen or Sagna back we'll have to muddle through until they do return. It's more than likely that we'll see a defender leave, with Sebastien Squillaci wanted by his old club Monaco. I think there is no way we'll sign Christopher Samba either, he's just not we need at the moment.

Thierry Henry has issued an apology for the way he spoke to a fan after the game on Sunday. Fair play to him.

Elsewhere, Theo Walcott talks to Match of the Day magazine about not wanting to finish below Spurs this season. And Robin van Persie has revealed that the club have invited Shaqueel to train in their youth set-up.

And finally, Jack Wilshere is hoping to be back in action before we play AC Milan next month. The Daily Mail report he's hoping the Blackburn game in early February will be when he can make a return to first team action.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Individual highlights: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain v Swansea

2012-01-16T22:37:00.001Z

On Inside The Formation we'll look at an individual player's performance and analyse their input into the game. Today Culann Davies looks at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance against Swansea.

Video produced by CWDailyGooner. Culann Davies is founder, head writer and video editor of Arsenal blog CWDailyGooner - a site for all Gooners interested in analysis of Arsenal's first teamers, youngsters and loanees in video form. You can follow him on twitter and read his work at CWDailyGooner.

Follow Ashburton Grove on Twitter, chatting Arsenal throughout the day. To receive the blog everyday you can subscribe via e-mail or take the RSS feed to your favourite reader.

Wenger must wield the axe -Arshavin, Walcott and Benayoun anonymous in defeat

2012-01-16T06:35:00.001Z

Morning Gooners.

Well, what can be said about that then? Arsenal go to Wales to take on a promoted team and come away with no points. It's thoroughly depressing. Credit has to be given to Swansea, they deserved the win. We didn't do enough to capitalise on the chances we created in front of their goal and at the end of the 94 minutes paid the price.

There was also some woeful defending. Granted, there was no way the penalty should have been given. But on watching it at full speed during the game, it looked like a spot kick. Slowed down on TV replays at half time, it's clear for all to see that Nathan Dyer had stood on Ramsey's leg. Yes, the referee got it wrong but then so would many of us in the same position.

Arsene Wenger was forced into making three changes from the team which lost at Fulham. The injured Mikel Arteta was replaced by Yossi Benayoun, Ignasi Miquel came in for Francis Coquelin and Andrey Arshavin replaced Gervinho, who's at the Africa Cup of Nations.

We took the lead after just four minutes. Alex Song passing to Arshavin in the middle of the Swansea half. The Russian found Robin van Persie who dummied before shooting past Steven Caulker and Michel Vorm. It was a wonderful finish from a tight angle and the 22nd goal of the season for the Dutchman.

The home side were level with their 16th minute penalty. But their work rate and excellent passing game from the moment we scored showed we were in a game. Remember, the Welsh team had lost just one game at home prior to our visit and conceded just four goals.

It was down each flank where Brendan Roger's men were making the most of our lack of recongnised full backs. Ignasi Miquel and Johan Djourou being put to the test by the tricky Dyer and Scott Sinclair.

It was telling that by half way through the first half, seven Swansea players had completed more passes than one Arsenal player. It really showed we were being dominated in possession and that's not something we as Arsenal fans have come to expect. At half time the scores were level, but we appeared to come out to start the second half with fire in our bellies.

Dyer put the home team in the lead after our defence was caught all over the place.Ramsey was dispossessed, Miquel was caught out of position and no one was covering the left back slot and Dyer was left with the space and time needed to beat Szczesny.

Within five minutes Wenger made a double substitution with Arshavin and Benayoun replaced by Henry and Rosicky. And inside six minutes we were level. Djourou releasing Walcott on the right, the England man raced through and lifted the ball over Vorm to put us back on level terms.

Moments later the Gunners pressed the self destruct button and allowed the home team to take the lead for the second time in the game. Henry misplaced a pass and Sigurdsson played Graham into space down the left. Koscielny got the wrong side of the striker and Szczesny got all his angles wrong. It was easy for Graham to find the back of the net.

We huffed and puffed in the final 20 minutes but I never expected us to score. There were too many players having average games yesterday. We didn't seem up for the fight. I don't know whether we went into the game expecting to win because we were playing a promoted team and a side we should be expected to beat, but I don't think the mindset was right.

Post match Arsene Wenger said:

"The game was difficult because Swansea played well. It was also decided by some strange decisions from the referee, who gave a penalty that was complete imagination.

"From then on I thought there were some odd turning points, like when we came back to 2-2 and made a defensive mistake straight away. It looked similar to Fulham to me, the lack of appreciation for the ball. Our defensive performance was not good enough and that's why we lost the game.

"When we got back to 2-2 I thought we could win the game because I thought we could be dangerous. The keeper kept them in the game after too and made some great saves.

"I think we also missed some unbelievable chances that are very difficult to understand and explain. But apart from that, well done to Swansea, they played well and deserved the win."

We missed Arteta hugely. Without him in the middle of the park, making those simple but effective passes, it was clear to see by his absence that we weren't the most effective team. The other players we are clearly missing are recognised full backs. You can only go on for so long playing players out of position before they get found out. Djourou and Miquel are not full backs but tried their hardest to play those positions against tricky opposition.

I don't think it is as easy as saying the manager should have gone out on January 1st and brought two players to play left and right back. That's far too simplistic. But playing without Sanga, Jenkinson, Gibbs and Santos through injury has cost us badly in recent weeks.

Yesterday's result was down to individual errors. It was the third goal which was the final nail in our coffin. Henry misplacing a pass, Koscielny getting the wrong side of his man and Szczesny getting his angles wrong left Graham with an easy finish.

Whilst I was concerned about our defence, I think up front we were awful. Benayoun and Walcott were pretty much anonymous, apart from his goal van Persie hardly got a kick and for all his work rate against Leeds, Arshavin didn't have the best of games. Ramsey didn't have his best of games, being asked to play deeper in midfield than usual and Alex Song was therefore under more pressure to perform.

It's going to be a week of reflection. At the moment we sit four points off fourth place Chelsea and next weekend face Manchester United at the Grove. Two league defeats in Janaury wasn't how we expected to start the new year. A third consecutive league defeat would put us back in those dark August days.

The manager has to take action. It's clear that even with Henry, scoring goals is still an issue. The Frenchman is only a short term solution and even when Chamakh and Gervinho return from the Cup of Nations, will we be any better off? Some really deep thinking for Wenger to do. He'll have to make some tough and ruthless decisions, but he has to - to ensure we finish inside the top four again come the end of the season.

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