Partizan Belgrade 1 Arsenal 3

One very vital piece of intelligence struck me last night as we won in Belgrade against a very determined Partizan. That truism was that we cannot hope to win games without either of Fabregas or his protégé, Wilshire in the starting line-up.

As difficult and menacing a place Belgrade is to visiting teams, those two players hold the key to unlock any defence, wherever and whenever they confront them.
Watching Wilshire package the opening goal for Arshavin in the 15th minute, it struck me very emphatically that his presence from the kick-off against West Brom last Saturday would have influenced the outcome of that game.
The way Wilshire set up Arshavin’s goal was Platinisque, if there’s such a word. After collecting the return pass from the Russian, Jack rolled the ball away from the foot of an approaching Partizan defender and as two others attempted to close him down, he conjured a deft backheel that fell perfectly for Arshavin – who was now behind him – allowing the Russian space and time to rifle home the opener. It is not something that can be coached into a player. It is rather something that stems from a combination of confidence, awareness and presence of mind.
In that single move, it was clear that Arsenal as it is now set up, need Wilshire or their only other player who possesses such mix of qualities – Fabregas – to start games they hope to win.
So we exorcised the demons of the West Brom debacle at one of Europe’s most-hostile venues and cleansed ourselves of the ghost of Odemwingie and co. Emphatically too.
As with most won games, almost everyone that took part was a hero.
We had 12 attempts on goal against their paltry 4; four corner kicks against their two; and had possession for a whopping 64% of the game time, which is awesome for a team playing away and before a very hostile crowd.
Much mention and credit goes to much-maligned Lukasz Fabianksi and rightly too. As I’ve pointed out here once, no real Arsenal fan would not want a player to succeed here. For all the vitriol and ill-feeling directed at Fabianski, the bottomline was simply our collective passion and affection for the club. Since he arrived here two years ago, he has done nothing to justify the shirt and colours of the club. And that could not be acceptable to us, the suffering fans. It was never anything personal.
Last night seemed to be the turning point in his Arsenal career. And you could see the relief on the faces of his teammates who celebrated his penalty save with him. We all hope he continues the good form.



I'll have that...Fabianski redeems himself in Belgrade

Below are the ratings on what must be one of our most famous European nights on foreign soil.
• Fabianski (7/10) – As said earlier, he put up his best showing ever in an Arsenal shirt. To be frank, I expected yet another howler from ‘Flapianski’ given his deplorable record between the sticks. But he proved us all wrong and repaid Wenger’s overstretched faith in him finally, finally paid off. The penalty save apart, he looked a very different goalie altogether as he saved a clumsy Squillaci backheader and parried two goalbound shots late in the game that would have made life very awkward for us if they had gone in. Probably, who knows, the sight of bitter-rival Wojniech on the bench drummed some sense into the older Pole. Fingers crossed on him, but a good night all the same.
• Sagna(7/10) – The old, reliable Sagna that we all knew. Upped his game from the horror show against West Brom and dealt with all that came his side of the field. Linked well with Rosicky in front of him.
• Squillaci (7/10) – A survivor from the West Brom debacle and methink he acquitted himself well. Gets a high rating on account of his 82nd minute goal that sealed the game for us. Almost gifted Partizan’s Camerounian striker Pierre Boya, a cheap goal with his weak header to Fabianski, but all in all he did well.
• Djourou (7/10) – Also did well, considering this was his second start in about 16 months for us. Wenger clearly thinks highly of him and wants him to be a mainstay of the defence. Did well on the night and though found out by the pace of Cleo and Boya sometimes, he held his own.
• Gibbs (7/10) – Very surprised to see him in the starting line-up. After his Carling Cup injury scare from last week, he was the last person I expected to start this game. But start he did and surely now, there is real competition going on between him and Clichy for that leftback slot. Gave away a needless penalty late in the game which Fabianski turned away.
• Song (7/10) – His usual buccaneering self. Laid the pass that brought about the first goal from Arshavin. Apart from his DM duties, he quite fancies himself as some sort of attacking midfielder and is eager – sometimes too eager – to go forward.
• Denilson (6/10) – An average night for an average player. He was preferred to the absent Abou Diaby and frankly, I still regard him as a weak link. Gave away a needless penalty in the second half when he had all the time in the world to adjust his body and avoid contact with the ball.
• Wilshire (8/10) – Does he ever have a bad day at the office? So far, the answer remains a resounding No! This bloke is a pocket battleship in the mould of Diego Maradona at his prime. Rode and bossed the midfield like an accomplished veteran and surely now, we simply cannot do without him in games. For an 18 year-old that is quite a statement. He was instrumental to almost everything we did last night.
• Rosicky (8/10) – Our captain on the night. Surprised me with his energy and drive after the washout that was West Brom just three days earlier. Hs the West Brom defeat forced everyone of them to start fighting for their places? Looks like that in Belgrade. He almost scored a clinical goal off some good work by Arshavin.
• Arshavin (8/10) – This was by far his best game for us this season so far. He struck up a good understanding with Wilshire and they conjured all manner of tricks around the Partizan defence. Unlucky not to have added to his tally in the first half and his missed penalty apart, was our star man on the night. Not being stuck out on the left wing, I think, helped his game a lot. Hope the real Mr Arshavin has now finally arrived.
• Chamakh (7/10) – Our battering ram upfront and he seems to relish it. Goes about his job professionally and at last, it was a delight to see him score away. Has clearly settled down well into the team and will give Bendtner a very good fight for the second striker shirt.


Subs
• Nasri (5/10) – His low rating had more to do with the fact that he came on late in the game to take pressure off Wilshire and with the Chelsea game on Sunday in mind. Steadied the ship as best as he could.
• Vela (5/10) – Came in for Arshavin, who was tiring after a yeoman’s effort on the night. Didn’t do much as nothing much was required from him.

Nobody Wants Lukasz

In case u've not seen it yet, there's a damming poll on Arseblog, which asks readers and fans alike to vote for the one man that should be our Number one goalkeeper for the rest of the season.
It lists all the four goalies we have and as at 10am(Central African Time), 279 fans had voted. An overwhelming 187 thumbed for untested, untried rookie Wojciech Szczesny.


Man of the people? Obvious

 Current number one Manuel Almunia managed a second spot with 47 votes; the same as current number three Vito Mannone. It is no surprise that Lukasz Fabianski, current number two has the fewest fans with just 2 votes. Two votes!
The surprise for me is finding anyone at all who voted for him. Those two fans must be from his own nuclear family.
These are clearly not the best of times to be an Arsenal goalie.
For a club that produced one of England's greatest and most-accomplished in David Seaman, our goalkeeping situation is a pig's breakfast. A fine mess.
Bearing in mind last Saturday's capitulation to West Brom, most fans who would have given Almunia some benefit of doubt since the start of the season, have now given up.
Szczesny's blast at Wenger last week clearly shows that strange things are happening behind the scenes. Not a man to give too much away, Wenger would surely have been hit below the belt with that tirade.
Not a man to be cowered into anything either, it may amount to a burning-of-the-bridges for the young Pole. If nothing, Wenger is as stubborn as a Texan mountain goat and would never, ever be seen to be brow-beaten into any action. Least of all by a 20 year-old upstart who owes all his footballing pedigree to Wenger himself. Interestingly and quite unlike anything we've seen since Adebayor, Wojciech looks and sounds like a very confident bloke.
But, for a man of Wenger's experience, he must know that you cannot alienate fans in an industry like football. Whatever happens form hereon, it might mean the end of Wenger's rigid hierachy structure and time to move Wojciech up the ladder.
Because whichever way you may interpret it, the arseblog poll is the fans talking.
And very loudly indeed!

Arsenal 2 West Brom 3

Opinion from the stands....Really?

Like the final result between England and the USA at the 1950 World Cup finals which read 1-0 to the Yanks, you had to look again and again to be sure this was the right result. As footballing tsunamis come, this was a vintage one.
The roof fell in big time last Saturday at the Emirates as we got found out on a day that nothing worked. As much as it would have been wonderful to mark the previous day’s announcement of mouth-watering profits from the boardroom, this was a complete kick in the teeth.
Unfancied, unheralded and a few faces apart, largely unknown West Brom came calling and left a resounding call card that embarrassed all Gunners and shook the premiership to its foundations. Even West Brom, not even the ex-Gunner, Thomas, in their midst could believe the outcome of last Saturday’s game.
We were quite simply outfought all over the park. After that soul-lifting win over Spurs in the midweek, we simply expected (and demanded as a matter of right) to kick-on from there and swamp West Brom.
Rather, the opposite happened and it was heartbreaking watching agonised fans screaming and almost begging for an equaliser as the clock ran down and the life of this most-abominable match ebbed away. 90 minutes earlier, no one in the stadium would have imagined us in the desperate position of praying for an equaliser against West Brom.
Tragically, even that was not to be as we lost all three points along with any dignity we had left. It was shades of Hull City in 2008 all over again.
Wenger, let down by his players and lost for words like we all, rightly concluded that we deserved to lose. I concur as well. There was nothing in the players’ attitude and body language that suggested they wanted a win against West Brom.
“We were not up for it, quality-wise and concentration-wise”, he pointed out. “I don’t think any of the players were up to their usual level today...we had a lack of concentration today and at this level, you pay for it”.
And how dearly did we pay.


The ratings below may therefore better qualify as a pimper’s procession because in all honesty, we didn’t turn up for this game.
*Almunia (5/10) – After his heroic penalty stop, it was customary for us to expect that it would be the platform to push on and claim all three points in the second half. Right? Wrong. We imploded spectacularly in the space of five, second half minutes with Almunia allowing Gonzalo Jara's shot squirm past him for the second goal. Funnily, I’m not holding him responsible because he was let down by his defenders. His penalty-stopping abilities remained unquestioned though and that was one of our very few positives from the game.
• Sagna (4/10) – Never thought he could receive such abominable rating, but there we go. Quite what overcame our dreadlocked French warrior, we’ll probably never know. Directly responsible for their first goal as he allowed himself to be skinned by the impressive Jerome Thomas on the right before he laid it on for the best player on the pitch, Nigerian livewire, Peter Odemwingie. Sagna never recovered from that and was also culpable for their last goal as he lost his bearings yet again. Arguably, his worst game in a Gunners shirt.
• Squillaci (6/10) – Not directly at fault for any of their goals but as part of a woeful defence, he shares the blame. Did well, along with Koscielny in the first period to contain the twin threats of Thomas and Odemwingie but couldn’t stem the tide when the goals started raining in, second half. Almost nicked a goal for himself off a corner kick in the second half.
• Koscielny (5/10) – Just when we thought we had unearthed a gem, he goes and have a shocker. I say that quite reluctantly though. Laurent was swept away by the West Brom tide, along with all the rest of the defence, but the signs were there in the first half. He was left for the dead by Odemwingie’s pace in the 37th, which forced Almunia out and led to the penalty. Probably, just probably, three frenetic games in seven days proved too much for him and it was not surprising that he was substituted in the 72nd minute. But he is still a fine defender all things considered.
• Clichy (6/10) – A very ordinary performance by Gael. Responsible the third goal as he got skinned too easily in the build up by Chris Brunt. It must be said though that his partnership with Arshavin on the left isn’t working. In truth, that part of our team needs looking into as in the days of Ashley Cole and Robert Pires. We need an effective leftwing outlet and in the absence of that, Clichy’s work will remain unassisted and mediocre.
• Diaby (5/10) – He wasn’t up to this game. Never got going. Never really involved. He huffed and puffed all through the 55 minutes he was on the pitch and never found his bearings. Couldn’t click with Song, his partner for the day and as the game wore on, he became more and more detached from proceedings.
• Song (6/10) – Returned from his one-match suspension to give his all. One of the warriors in the team and Saturday was no different. Sadly, the rest of his teammates did not share his enthusiasm and he was left alone to do all the dirty jobs. Almost turned into an emergency striker at some point but in a sinking ship, there’s so much a single sailor can do. Top marks though for his never-say-die attitude.
• Eboue (4/10) – Did nothing of note all game and it was no surprise at all he was the first man to be substituted early in the second half. Funny enough, I was watching a compilation of his grace-to-grass-and-back-to-grace-again saga with Arsenal fans on Youtube during the week. Looks like another compilation will soon be made to his unfolding story as an Arsenal favourite. On Saturday’s showing, the knives are out for him again.
• Nasri (7/10) – Our best player on a forgettable day. Never stopped believing in a miracle. Never stopped probing and finding a way through the black-and-white wall erected West Brom. He was our answer to the irresistible Odemwingie and his two goals culminated those spirited efforts. Sadly, his heroics were not enough to salvage something, but fans love a fighter and he cemented himself into our hearts Saturday.
• Arshavin (5/10) – A stop-start season continues for the unpredictable Russian. To start with, methinks he’s not happy on the left wing and is protesting silently by his erratic game. Wenger needs to drop this experiment and get a proper winger. Arshavin was his usual anonymous self and though this was one of the few games he started and completed in recent memory, it would have been better if he wasn’t on the pitch as regards his contribution.
• Chamakh (5/10) – Due to his newness to our team and the league, he can be forgiven for a pedestrian outing. Missed a half-chance header in the second half when we raised our game but all in all, he wasn’t at the races like most of the men around him.


Subs
• Wilshire (5/10) – He was the first off the substitute’s bench in the 56th minute and it says alot about us that we have to turn to an 18 year-old in times of crisis. By then though, we were two goals down and in danger of conceeding more. Did his best, but it wasn’t a day for gallantry as all else was crumbling around him.
• Rosicky (5/10) – Not much expected, absolutely nothing delivered. In my opinion, Rosicky is on his last season with us from all indications. He may still have some days left in the game, but his legs look to have gone and despite what may count as desire on his part, very little is seen as end product these days from the “little Mozart”. Picked up a caution for his pain.
• Vela (5/10) – I said it earlier this season that the Mexican thrives on being part of a goal frenzy – or better still a feeding frenzy. He isn’t the man to look up to if you are desperate for a single goal or a last-minute saving grace. When the going gets tough, don’t look to Vela and Saturday was a very tough day all round.


As you read this, the boys would be readying for a trip to Belgrade, where we face Partizan, Tuesday night in the Champions League. It’s not a game to look forward to with much optimism and it’s naturally hard to be positive after the events of Saturday afternoon.
Clearly, Wenger needs to do something different at Belgrade if we are to avoid another humiliation. One of the things might be to restore Vermaelen to the middle if he is fit. The sight of him sitting next to Fabregas and Walcott behind the bench on Saturday with the halftime smiles wiped off their faces in the second period wasn’t pretty viewing at all.
He’s needed in the cauldron, where warriors belong.