The Short Fuse

Never Manage Alone on Arsenals' season, statistically

2012-05-17T21:15:51Z

Never Manage Alone on Arsenals' season, statistically

Never Manage Alone, SBN's excellent fantasy soccer site, has put together a great post on the just-wrapped season for the Gunners. Check it out!

Wojciech Szczesny: Season Review

2012-05-17T19:34:19Z

The first player under review for the 2011-12 season is goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Szczesny was a bit of an Iron Man this season, starting all 38 Premier League matches, 1 FA Cup match, and 9 Champions League matches. In these 48 starts, he had 18 clean sheets, which isn't spectacular, but in truth, Arsenal's defending as a team was often subpar, and Mr. Szczesny was often stranded. Szczesny is 22 years old, and played the last few matches of the season with a shoulder injury which curtailed his training and necessitated medicinal injections to allow him to play matches. What follows are each of our thoughts on Szczesny.

Come with us after the jump!

Ted: The common perception is that goalkeepers are nuts. Well, I don't think Szczesny is nuts, but he is certainly not lacking in confidence or a mouth, either. For the most part, his shot stopping and reflexes are excellent, and he does pretty well in the air, at least in comparison with keepers that we've had in the past after Jens Lehmann left. At times this year, his positioning and decisions were a bit off--he still backs off and gets caught in no-man's-land when an opponent is bearing down on him from time to time--but overall, for a 22-year old not named Iker Casillas, you could do much worse. According to whoscored.com, though, he has only weaknesses, so what do I know?

Grade: B

Aidan: Unlike most of Arsenal's players, Wojciech Szczesny got off to an excellent start; the penalty save against Udinese saved Arsenal's participation in the Champions League, while he made crucial saves in jittery moments against Swansea and Bolton. He suffered a dip in form in January that cost Arsenal points; against Fulham and Swansea he could've done much better, and a shoulder injury resulted in a lesser range of motion towards the end of the season. His 4th worst save percentage is cause for concern, but he does face very clear cut chances, and he's excellent on crosses. He's going to be Arsenal's first choice keeper for a long time, and perhaps the best in the Premier League. He just isn't yet.

Grade: B-

pdb: In a season that saw Arsenal rollercoaster from bottom to (near) top and hit most stops in between, Wojciech Szczesny was one of the most consistent performers on the team. When Arsenal's defense wandered, which they did oh so often - in fact, I think I just saw them walking down my street - he was generally there to clean up the mess. He may never be the flashiest keeper, he may never grab a lot of headlines, but Arsenal are lucky to have him, and if his shoulder heals and he can start next year uninjured he should become one of the best keepers in the league.

Grade: B

Thomas: I don't know if I've ever seen an athlete who cared more about his team than Wojciech Szczesny. There are the Michael Jordans and Kobe Bryants, the balls of white-hot intensity that will destroy their surroundings just to beat someone at something; then there are guys like Szczesny who live and die with the team because they're fans, because the team really is their life, not the competition. You see it when he screams his way down the tunnel after beating Tottenham; you see it when he leaps again and again to deny Kuyt and Di Natale penalty goals; you see it when he goes without training for a month and a half but still plays, full to the brim with painkillers, because the Arsenal needs him. He is a very good keeper, with potential to be world-class, but he is important because he cares.

Grade: :) !!!

We will be featuring at least one player review a day until we've gone through the entire squad over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on The Short Fuse for more! Next up will be Szczesny's fellow Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Poll

What grade would you give Szczesny for the year?

Jack Wilshere To Have Minor Knee Surgery

2012-05-17T12:54:33Z

Jack Wilshere had hoped to return to pre-season training on July 9th, but that date is now under question after it was revealed that the 20 year old must undergo minor knee surgery.

However, his ongoing rehabilitation has seen a long-standing slight issue with his patella tendon in his left knee flare up.

As a result, Jack will travel to Sweden for a minor procedure on his left knee in the next few days.This procedure is not expected to significantly affect Jack's comeback ahead of next season

The fact that Wilshere has suffered such a problem is not surprising; often, during rehab, injuries will flare up because of the time away from increased physical activity. What it does mean, though, is that Arsenal cannot rely too much on Wilshere next season. He'll be returning after an absence of 14 months, a period longer than Aaron Ramsey's return from a broken leg. A season of fits and starts is likely for Wilshere, which is why Arsenal must strengthen their midfield; he, and Abou Diaby, cannot be relied upon to consistently start games next season.

Arsenal Season Review, 2012: Utterly Insane

2012-05-17T11:00:11Z

It was utterly insane. With 3 minutes to go in Arsenal's season, protecting a 1 goal lead against West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal's defence falters as Jonas Olsson, a centre back, makes a barnstorming run, nutmegs Francis Coquelin and plays a brilliant pass for the Baggies' right back, Billy Jones. Jones is in; he's going to score, Arsenal are going to finish 4th. But Kieran Gibbs comes across, and gets the ball away. He then wins 3 headers in a row, and Arsenal finish 3rd, a point ahead of Tottenham, 6 ahead of Chelsea in 6th. This sort of haphazard play shouldn't be a surprise to Arsenal fans, but this season, it was even more apparent. This is a team that lost it's two best midfielders in Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere, and also some whiny fathead who had a 3 month purple patch (that needs to be replaced too!). This is a team that lost 8-2 against Manchester United, and 4-0 against a fairly unimpressive AC Milan. They conceded nearly half a century of goals in the Premier League, 2 less than promoted Swansea City. They went on runs of 4 points from 15 and 1 point from 12; yet they still finished 3rd. This season has been an emotional roller coaster, nerve wracking and extremely frustrating. It's also been completely brilliant, which is it's been utterly insane.

The one thing that has been clear since Arsenal went down 1-0 in Udine is that this team does have the most intangible of intangibles, mental strength. Arsene Wenger's been going on about it for years, but this year, it does seem as Arsenal's players, while not as technically strong as previous groups have, to use the vernacular phrase, lots of balls. Arsenal did go 1-0 down in Udine. They went on to win 2-1, and go through to the group stage of the Champions League. This is a team that responded to conceding twelve goals in four defeats against Liverpool, Manchester United, Blackburn and Tottenham to go on a run of seven wins in eight Premier League matches. They were often tight and tense matches, with Arsenal winning a majority by two goals or less. That seemed a result of Arsenal not having an attacking identity, as Arsene Wenger tried integrating three strikers, Gervinho, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott, into Arsenal's attack, and Arsenal kept less possession. What it did highlight, though, was the defensive stability Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta brought to the club, showing that experience isn't a bad virtue. Robin van Persie continued his evolution from a brittle number 10 to a teutonically effective 9 and a half, scoring 30 goals in the Premier League, 37 overall. Some said one man team, some said over reliant, but all said a strategy that worked because of van Persie's excellence.

Arteta, especially, made a major difference to Arsenal's midfield. He allowed Alex Song to become more creative, leaving Arteta to control the tempo of the midfield. Arteta also brought added game intelligence, which was vital as Arsenal saw out one and two goal games. His absence in January was sorely missed as Arsenal, stretched thin on the flanks because of the full back crisis, became even more stretched because of not having Arteta in the midfield and losing their shape. Arsenal were outplayed at their own game by Swansea, while the defeat against Manchester United was notable for the widespread booing Arsene Wenger received when he replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with Andrey Arshavin. It would, however, get better. Against Aston Villa in the Cup, Arsenal came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, and Arteta and Bacary Sagna made their return. Another player who played a major role in the previous round was Thierry Henry; he would score against Sunderland in a match that effectively kick-started Arsenal's revival. Blackburn were crushed 7-1, making Arsenal's goal difference much better, and a tough Sunderland were satisfactorily beaten by Thierry Henry's 229th (later 228 after the Premier League goals panel reversed his goal against Blackburn) Arsenal goal. They went with confidence into the Champions League against Milan; after all, even in their worst moments, Arsenal had done well in the Champions League, beating German champions Borussia Dortmund 2-1 and topping a tough group. It'd all go horribly wrong, though, and Arsenal were played off the park as they lost 4-0. They had one glorious chance, created by Henry, but Abiatti pushed van Persie's shot around the post. Sunderland were lost to 2-0 in the Cup, and then Arsenal went 2-0 down in the first 34 minutes at home to Tottenham, who were about to go 13 points clear of Arsenal.

Or were day? The 5-2 victory over Tottenham is an excellent microcosm of the season; Arsenal were horrendous on the defensive side for the first 30 minutes, looking nervy and disorganised. Their spirit, though, epitomised by Bacary Sagna heading home to get Arsenal a goal back despite having no reason for being in the Spurs penalty box, and their quality showed through, and goals from van Persie, Rosicky (!) and Walcott sent Arsenal into a confidence inspired run and Tottenham into a severe loss of form. A superb van Persie volley saw Arsenal steal the points against Liverpool, and Arsenal very nearly came back against Milan, but fell a goal short. No matter; they'd be back in the Champions League, winning ten out of twelve, and showing how good they can be when they press as a unit, and play with a high tempo. Laurent Koscielny, so often Arsenal's saviour at the back, was excellent, Vermaelen less so. But when Arteta went down against Wigan, and missed the rest of the season, the insecurities of the opening weeks returned. A draw against Norwich showcased these insecurities and problems, problems that mean that without serious investment, Arsenal will not challenge for the title next season and could lose Robin van Persie. On the final day, Arsenal didn't play West Bromwich Albion off the park; but, they did the dirty things, they defended strongly in the second half and they relied on two goalkeeping errors and a long shot (!) from Andre Santos to settle third place. It was, as the rest of the season was, utterly insane.

Decades of Dominance: The Early Years

2012-05-16T17:09:55Z

This is the first in a series of posts about Arsenal's history, about how they got to where they are today and what it took to get there (this whole series was inspired by this comment thread). After this one, which is about three decades' worth of stuff, each post will probably cover about a decade, and once we get to current day, there will be an Alltime Best Arsenal Players-type thing. Isn't learning fun? I think so. Let's go learn stuff!

Arsenal, as you may or may not know, was founded in 1886 as Dial Square. They originally played in southeast London, at Woolwich, and was populated by players from the nearby Royal Arsenal, a business so catchily named that the club changed its name to Royal Arsenal as well. In 1893, they became an actual company (as opposed to just an after-work social club for the workers), changed their name to Woolwich Arsenal, and joined the Football League. This may be hard to believe, but at the time Arsenal were the southernmost members of the League; the power in soccer at that point in time lay in the north, and the majority of clubs were in the Manchester, Midlands, and Newcastle areas.

Arsenal struggled at first - they started out in the Second Division in 1893 (their first result: a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United), and had a somewhat inconsistent season - 6-0 defeats against that same Newcastle team and against Burton Swifts were balanced out by 4-0 wins over Walsall Town Swifts and 6-0 wins over Middlesbrough Ironopolis and Northwich Victoria. At the end of the 1893 season, Arsenal were ninth out of 15 teams, with 28 points from 28 games (YE OLDE CLUBBE IN CRYSIS!).

The problem with being the southernmost club in the League in the early 1900's was that, in the early 1900's, nobody could afford to travel to see games; Arsenal survived on a shoestring budget for those first few years, but by the latter part of the first decade of the 1900's were pretty much broke. in 1910, two London businessmen, Henry Norris and William Hall, took over Arsenal and tried to sort out the financial mess that Arsenal had become, and soon hit on an idea that has been a rallying cry of sports-team owners around the world to this day; "We need a new stadium!".

They did their due diligence (they even looked in Battersea, which is where Chelsea have just applied to move), and they found a great spot - trouble was, that great spot was in North London, which was close to Tottenham Hotspur. Hall and Norris didn't necessarily want to move that close to another league club, but they were persuaded by the fact that the plot of land they were looking at was right next to an underground station, which meant they'd be able to attract bigger crowds.

The deal was done, the stadium was built - in four months! - and in September 1913, Arsenal played its first game at Arsenal Stadium (soon to become known colloquially as Highbury), a 2-1 win over Leicester Fosse. Things bubbled along nicely for Arsenal in the Second Division until 1915, when the League was suspended until the 1919-1920 season because of World War 1.

Then, the fun started. Arsenal finished fifth in the Second Division in that last season before the war, which meant - or so everyone thought - that Arsenal would start the 1919-20 season in the Second again. However! The League voted to promote Arsenal to the First Division to recognize and reward their long tenure in the pre-war League; they also voted to preserve Chelsea's First Division status despite being relegated on the last day of the prior season, after it was discovered that Manchester United conspired with last-match-day opponents Liverpool to fix their match in order to get Chelsea relegated. So, with the League voting to promote Chelsea and Arsenal despite the league's promotion/relegation structure dictating it, a team had to be relegated to maintain the League's existing size. Guess who got relegated by vote, even though their league finish meant they should be safe?

Tottenham.

Since that promotion, Arsenal have never been relegated, which is the longest unbroken streak of First Division football in English history. They finished 10th in that 1919-20 season, and labored along in mid-table obscurity until 1923-24, when they finished 19th, one mere point above the relegation places - level on points with Nottingham Forest, but a superior goal difference meant that Arsenal finished 19th over Forest (there were 22 clubs in the First Division at the time). The next season, Arsenal finished 20th, 7 points clear of relegation. Clearly, something needed to change at Arsenal; these results weren't making anybody happy, and Arsenal's First Division status was in danger.

In the summer of 1925, Arsenal relieved Leslie Knighton of management duty, after six seasons, and named Herbert Chapman as manager.

NEXT: The Chapman years. (SPOILER ALERT: AWESOME YEARS AHEAD)

Kenny Dalglish relieved of duties

2012-05-16T16:16:13Z

Kenny Dalglish relieved of duties

Despite winning this year's Carling Cup, Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool side finished well, well out of the Champions League places, had their worst normalized season in a half-century, and were generally not-great most of the time, and all this after spending a lot of cash.

Per and Gerv go camping

2012-05-16T15:34:41Z

Per and Gerv go camping

Well, in the training ground, but still. There are probably bears there, right? Or Gunnersaurus?

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott named in England squad

2012-05-16T12:51:45Z

Arsenal wingers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott have both been named in England's Euro 2012 squad. Assuming both players avoid injury, they will be traveling to Poland and Ukraine; Walcott will probably be starting, but Oxlade-Chamberlain could be an impact substitute.

And they're not the only ones selected for their nations' squads--Laurent Blanc included Laurent Koscielny in France's squad, and there are seven other Arsenal players as well. Robin van Persie will be in Holland's squad (I wonder if he'll make the final cut?), Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski are in Germany's preliminary squad, the two Poles in the Goal will be Poles in the Goal for Poland, Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, Tomas Rosicky has a chance to make the Czech Republic squad, and Andrei Arshavin has a chance to make the Russia squad for the tournament where, four years ago, he burst into the football world's consciousness.

Congratulations to all the players, and hopefully they all make the final cut!