Author: jamesgillesp

Should Abou Diaby be played as striker?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal17 Comments

After watching the 3-1 win in Newcastle this weekend I pondered over Diaby’s role in central midfield. Diaby scored in the match and it struck me that he might be a good candidate for conversion to striker.

Image courtesy of Wonker

There is a good case that he should be converted to play as striker. Firstly he has proven that he can find the back of the net – scoring quite a few goals in his time at Arsenal, against Liverpool in last season’s CL QF, and against Fenerbahce this season (image above), as well as many others. Diaby took his goal well at the weekend too, with a powerful and accurate shot.

Another factor is that in central midfield he can be a liability. I know that he has amazing potential for central midfield, but he takes risks with the ball which are unacceptable. His distribution is not quick enough; he doesn’t release the ball, choosing to hold on to it and try to dribble it round 3 players instead. This isn’t saying he can never play there, but merely suggesting we should always consider where we can get the most out of a player.

I know many would like to see him fill the Patrick Vieira mould, I just don’t think he has the defensive nous about him. That isn’t to say I think he is a bad player, just more of an attacking midfielder – if he is playing in midfield. We know that he likes to think of himself as an attacking midfielder, but what if we extended this idea further?

It could be argued that his attributes fit the strikers mould – he is tall and powerful, useful against the tough defences in the Premiership. He also has amazing control and can hold onto the ball in very tight positions – the urge to dribble round players which is so dangerous in central midfield could be very effective in taking on the last line of defence. He can also pass well when he wants to, and as he showed at Newcastle he has pace, and most importantly a great shot.

The state of the squad does pose a problem, as we lack big strong midfielders; Diaby fills a gap there, whilst we have plenty of players who can play up front. So for now it would seem that selection consigns Diaby to stick to learning to play in the centre of midfield. However, if the need existed for a striker then I think he could be a successful conversion. It would be very interesting to see how he would perform if Wenger deployed him up front, but he will always be a central midfielder.

What do you think Diaby’s best position is?

Phil Brown is talking rubbish – listen to his radio interview today

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup19 Comments

The BBC interviewed Phil Brown today, and he sounded rather sheepish about the furore Hull have caused. Click here to listen to the interview. There are no witnesses to the alledged Fabregas spitting incident. He is now bringing up superfluous facts about Fabregas wearing inappropriate clothing. He can’t even remember what he said last night, he sounds very uncomfortable during the interview.

Another one of his claims, that Wenger has never shaken his hand after games this season is also clearly untrue. See the photos below for proof of Wenger shaking his hand after the 2-1 defeat in the league in September. Also click here for the Eurosport photo.

He is quoted:

“He wouldn’t shake my hand when we beat them fairly 2-1 at the Emirates, he wouldn’t shake my hand when they beat us, fairly, 3-1 at the KC Stadium.”

Arsenal.com have posted Wenger’s reaction here, you can listen to his response on the BBC today. Wenger has a perfectly reasonable explanation for not shaking hands, and the spitting allegations seem to be out of the blue totally. Fabregas vehemently denies them.

This is Brown’s post match press conference:

One word is going through my head – bull***t. This is another Sam Allardyce in the making. Phil obviously learned a lot during his time with ‘Big Sam’.

The FA have now written to Hull to ask them what exactly is going on. This all seems very strange. To be honest Phil Brown sounds like he is suffering from the pressure he is under at the moment.

I think we need to know the truth, these allegations are just Hull’s bitterness towards us for winning. Look at the evidence Phil, it just isn’t there, and you sound like a very, very sore loser.

Arsenal 2 – 1 Hull City Highlights. Bitter Brown’s spitting controversy

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup5 Comments

Arsenal 2 – 1 Hull City: Barmby 13, Van Persie 74, Gallas 84. Highlights here.

Morning all! Last night provided a satisfying win in controversial fashion. Hull’s early lead, through a lucky Barmby goal, was cancelled out by typically late Arsenal goals, from RVP and Gallas. Arshavin was the all-important factor again in this win; this was the sort of game we would have lost a few months ago.

A twisted Phil Brown had a bit of complaining afterwards which focused on three points:
1. He claims Gallas’ goal was offside, as Djourou headed it last – this is debatable.
2. He was unhappy that Wenger didn’t shake his hand
3. Most controversial of all – his assistant Horton, claims that Fabregas spat on him in the tunnel, and he is taking this to the FA.

Firstly the Gallas goal – it looked like it did come off the goalkeeper’s fist last, so Gallas probably wasn’t offside, but it may have come off Djourou. In either case it has been given, we were looking like scoring a second at some point, and luck, which we have lacked, finally came our way. So I can understand his frustration.

Wenger saw the goal afterwards on the Setanta interview and looked very awkward, the questions asked also focused on the fact he didn’t shake Brown’s hand – this was because Brown had gone off to the away fans and players at the final whistle, that is all.

The most crazy claim is the spitting accusation. Wenger told the post-match interview that this was the first he had heard of it. A very bitter Phil Brown said that Fabregas had spat at Horton:

“I was there and I witnessed it, he spat at my assistant manager down the tunnel, that’s their club captain. Hopefully he’s proud of himself. He spat at his feet.”

Fabregas has now put out an official statement on Arsenal.com.

“I categorically deny that I spat at anybody after the match. I have never done this in my whole career on the pitch, so why would I do it when I am not even playing?

“I can understand the frustration of losing a game to a dubious goal, that has happened to me many times in my career as well. But this is not the fault of me or any of the Arsenal players.”

I can believe Fabregas, I see no reason for him to spit, but we don’t know the whole story. It may be some sort of mix up, which has been misinterpreted. It would be in our best interest to get this sorted out as soon as possible. It would be very sad it if it has happened, but equally stupid if bitter Hull have fabricated this story.

Anyway a great result, with a good performance from Song yet again. I was happy with Walcott who looked dangerous at times too, even though his delivery wasn’t the best. Our best player by far was Arshavin, he created most moves, again showing his value, whilst Nasri and Bendtner showed their class, coming on in the second half and changing the game.

Nasri is looking increasingly effective in the central role late on in games, while Bendtner can drop off into the hole, and Arshavin drift in the wide left area. Our attack looks very convincing even if we were poor in the first half, I think that was down to the suprising nature of Barmby’s deflected goal. The fact that we have so many players who can switch from attack to the flanks and midfield is very exciting. We have kept the momentum up with that win, and now we need a result at Newcastle on Saturday.

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Arsene, learn the lessons from this season. Trophies anyone?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup, Injuries, Transfers11 Comments

Arsenal’s 4-0 win against Allardcye’s Blackburn this Saturday was impressive, it was like watching the Arsenal of old, and it was just what the club needed. Arshavin seems to have brought the team out of the mire, and I hope it stays that way!

This season has been tough, the hardest that Arsenal have experienced under Arsene Wenger. We have seen a lot of inconsistent form, and a small squad stretched to the bare bones through injury. Yet now it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The way the midfield of Walcott, Song, Denilson and Nasri/Arshavin performed on Saturday was fantastic. The goals were sublime, and Eboue capped it off for me! I know there will be setbacks ahead, but now the defence has tightened up and the team aren’t taking games for granted I think that we can salvage some pride from this season.

Arsenal are in the FA Cup and Champions League QFs and 4th in the League, with the top three still to play. We should relish that, because we are good enough to beat all three, and that gives us the chance to move higher up the table than we already are. As long as we can maintain form, which has been the struggle this season, then we will finish the season with some self-respect.

Next season we will hopefully start the season injury-free, and Wenger add one or two players to the squad. Our team is very good, but Wenger needs to learn the lesson of the last few years and add some depth. Hopefully younger players like Song and Denilson will have matured further and be playing top football this season, which they have begun to show glimpses of.

In any case I don’t want to get too carried away, it’s just nice to see the team play well and score some goals. The best realistic finish I can see is 4th place and the FA Cup in our trophy cabinet. I would settle for 4th though, and that will be a big enough challenge in itself.

Arsenal are in a position now to save themselves from UEFA Cup anonymity, and allow Wenger to begin to plan for next season. I just hope he learns the lessons from this year.

Here’s to a win against Hull tomorrow night and a Semi at Wembley!

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Every Arshavin goal! Video

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers, Video2 Comments

Arshavin scored 51 goals at Zenit, watch them all here.

Hopefully he can continue his good form at Arsenal!

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Arsenal well done! Highlights of those special goals. Wenger – keep building this team!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Injuries2 Comments

West Brom 1 – 3 Arsenal: Bendtner 4, Brunt 7, Toure 38, Bendtner 44. Highlights.

Well done Arsenal! We scored a goal! Things are finally starting go our way! 3-1 is a decent result even against West Brom, who have the worst defence in the league. I don’t care, as long as we take 3 points!

The main thing Arsenal need to do now is maintain stability within the team and become more clinical. Wenger is building something good here, Gooners need to keep the faith.

Arshavin impressed me again yesterday, he has the ability to make killer passes, and when settled in will surely be a great player for the club. Wenger went with Bendtner and he proved that he can play up front for Arsenal with two well taken goals.

One concern is Gallas, Toure and Silvestre are all out injured, but I am confident that Djourou is good enough, and Song looked so much better last night when playing at centre back, it seems to be a much more natural position for him to play.

Tonight the Villa – Man City result will be crucial, I’m praying for a City win, that would put us 3 points behind Villa, and in a very good position.

Also folks, Arsespeak is now on Twitter, you can follow our updates at http://twitter.com/arsespeak. If you haven’t signed up for Twitter then you should go and do it now!

The longest goal drought in 14 years, is Champions League happening next season?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

It was the same old story at Ashburton Grove yesterday, Arsenal showed sparks of their potential against Fulham, but ended with another 0-0 draw and just a point to show. I am seriously worried about qualifying for the Champions League now. With 11 games left we are 5th, Villa are 5 points ahead, with a game in hand tomorrow, that could be an 8 point gap. Not what you want this late in the day.

The team don’t seem to be able to grab the late goals we have depended on to pull us through hard games in the past. In the last few minutes this week against Fulham, and last against Sunderland we just allowed them to play the ball around, when we need to attack.

This is the worst season under Arsene Wenger, and he said on MOTD that he is concerned about Champions League qualification, he should be. We are unlucky that we have a lot of crucial players injured, but our poor form at the back end of 2008 is now catching up with us.

It seems that this team can either create goals but concede too many, or keep a tight defence but score none. The club has been through a very, very turbulent season, a glance at the line-ups this year hints at that, and Wenger is struggling to keep the boat from capsizing. I think he has managed to get us into calmer waters, the defence is not leaking goals, but the attack has dried up.

I’m just hoping we can really start our season now. I know it’s a confidence thing, if we can get some goals, get Arshavin to gel, plus Ade, Fabregas, Eddy, Rosicky and Theo all back, then we can push on and start taking points, but 4th place is still a huge challenge. I don’t want to be unrealistic, so lets just say that it can happen in if the team gels, and we start scoring goals.

I respect Wenger’s policies and I think he is having to rebuild this season after shoddy foundations (i.e. Gallas as captain) were exposed this year. We will improve and get better, but I hope that Wenger has learned serious lessons from what has gone wrong this season.

Almunia points to fear factor as Arsenal look to improve home form against Fulham

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Injuries

This is a guest post by sportswriter Thomas Rooney

As we all know, Arsenal’s form at the Emirates Stadium hasn’t been brilliant of late. Three of the last six Premier League games there have been drawn, with the Gunners only managing to find the net on four occasions along the way.

So, what is this down to? Well, Manuel Almunia has admitted that some of the Arsenal players feel under more pressure playing at home than they do away at the moment.

After last weekend’s draw at home to Sunderland, some sections of the crowd booed, venting their frustration at being unable to break the deadlock.

It is a frustration that comes on the back of Arsene Wenger’s men not being able to manage more than one home goal in a league game since defeating Manchester United 2-1 back in November.

Speaking about the situation, Almunia has said how a number of the players ‘feel under more pressure’ at the moment because the team ‘is not winning’.

The goalkeeper went on to say that because the players know that the ‘fans deserve more than 0-0 scores’; this builds the pressure on the team when they try and break opposing teams down. He says that the attacking players are ‘spending a bit more time’ on getting their shot away.

As for how the team can rectify this, starting against Fulham tomorrow, Almunia believes that they need to find a ‘nice balance’ that results in Arsenal being ‘tight at the back but get the goals.’ That is the idea Manuel, yes!

The next game where Arsenal can search for this balance, as already mentioned, is against Fulham tomorrow. It is a must-win game if the Gunners are going to start closing the gap on Aston Villa in 4th place and another draw simply isn’t good enough.

Roy Hodgson’s side are hard to beat these days though and will fancy their chances of being the latest team to frustrate Arsenal at the Emirates.

Hopefully though, Arsenal will take their chances and cruise to a comfortable win. That would be exactly what the players, coaching staff and fans need right now. How about Andrei Arshavin grabbing his first goal as well? Perfect.

As far as team news is concerned, Abou Diaby will miss the game after injuring his calf against Roma on Tuesday. Elsewhere, there appears to be no fresh concerns for Wenger as his team look to stretch their unbeaten run to 14 games.

Denilson is the answer! Roma reaction and highlights

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League, Injuries, Video14 Comments

Well played Arsenal. A great performance on Tuesday, without Cesc Fabregas in the side, has shown that we still have the quality to win trophies. Denilson now looks like he can fill the Flamini shaped hole in midfield and the defence is full of confidence and beautifully miserly compared to last year.

Van Persie’s penalty (Mexes shove) was the difference against Roma, but it could have been much more as you all know. This shows just what happens when you don’t put 10 men behind the ball against Arsenal (read Nasri’s comments on this).

With a now steady defence, and RVP firing on all cylinders we can mount a challenge for honours this season. I know it is unlikely, but it is still possible, just not the league (see Cesc’s comments on the title here).

On the plus side, Eboue played very well on Tuesday, as well as Denilson who I thought was exemplary and deserves a lot of praise for the way he has developed this season. He was fouled very dirtily by Totti in the second half, I think that deserves an investigation to be honest. Have a look at the video here.

I know there will be setbacks ahead, but this shows you how well this team can play, add in the fact that we have many more attacking players to return from injury and you have a great side, we are close, but not quite there.

Arsenal 1 – 0 Roma, highlights here.

Wenger confirms Arshavin will make debut against Sunderland

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

This is a guest post by sports writer Thomas Rooney

The Emirates played host to a night that belonged to Eduardo on Monday night. This weekend, it is the turn of new signing Andrei Arshavin to adhere himself to the Arsenal faithful as he makes his debut against Sunderland tomorrow.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the Russian will make his debut at the Emirates, but has admitted that he has ‘not decided what to do with him yet’ in terms of whether Arshavin will start the game.

Arshavin hasn’t played a competitive game since the end of the Russian domestic season in November and Wenger admits that he is ‘still working on his preparation’.

The Arsenal boss went on to say that because Arshavin isn’t qualified for the Champions League game against Roma next week, this gives the player another week of working hard in training. This should then ensure that he is 100% ready.

With this in mind, it is probably more likely that Arshavin will be on the bench to begin with. Wenger obviously feels that he isn’t quite ready to play 90 minutes as yet, so the best option could be to use him as an impact substitute against the Black Cats.

It will be a very significant moment when he is introduced for the first time as the Arsenal fans are expecting plenty from their new £15m man. Hopefully, his ability will shine through and he can help the team secure an important victory.

As for the game itself, well it is one that has to be considered as a must-win. Arsenal are still five points off Chelsea in fourth place and they can’t afford to drop many more points. Sunderland are a decent team on their day though, so they shouldn’t be taken lightly.

In terms of team news, Eduardo is out of contention after picking up a hamstring injury. However, Emmanuel Eboue is back from suspension and Johan Djourou is back in contention after recovering from a sickness bug.

The most significant news though is that Arshavin could well make his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt. Hopefully it will be marked with an encouraging individual performance as well as a victory for the team.