Hazardous times ahead for Rosicky

In our eternal attempt to read between the lines and decode what goes on inside the cavernous brain cells of Mr Wenger, its guessing time again.

Moments after we were held to a frustrating draw by Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City last week, Wenger came out to uncharacteristically announce that the club was keen on making a move for Lille’s midfield starlet, Eden Hazard. He used words very similar to the ones paraphrased below:

“"Let us try to make his dream come true". We are following him. Personally I think he has real talent and the level needed to play at Arsenal. But in the offensive department we have many players. At the end of the season we'll have a look at the situation."

Interestingly, Wenger was speaking just 24 hours after the Belgian player turned 20. As strange as such an admission is, especially coming from Wenger who never speaks about potential transfer targets and is more secretive than Swiss banks when it comes to the movement of players in and out of the club, it was a major concession. The man described as an “old fox” by Barcelona’s president, Sandro Rosell during the peak of the CescFabregas will-he-go-or-will-he-stay saga over the summer, must surely know a lot that we bemused fans don’t know. Or something seismic is about to happen within the playing ranks come the next summer.

The boy who will be king.....Eden Hazard leaves Liverpool players in his wake

So as we all await the arrival of the much-hyped Hazard in the summer, methinks it is safe to conclude that his coming must signal the end of someone else at the club. A player or two will head for the exit door because as Wenger himself admitted, the offensive department is one area where the club is overloaded. In that department, we have El Capitan Fabregas leading the pack. He is then supported by the cast of Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshire, Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, the returning Aaron Ramsey and sometimes if need be, Denilson. That’s a total of seven players vying for a maximum of two spots in a game.

This season so far, we have seen Fabregas and Jack Wilshire enjoy the lion share of playing over and above the rest of the offensive players. The rest have had to settle for cameo roles as they have drifted in and out of the team for varying reasons and at different stages.

What this means therefore, as mentioned earlier is that the coming of Hazard can only further increase the population of attacking midfielders in an already-overpopulated part of the team. So, who would have to make way for the little Belgian?

My pick of the bunch for the exit door will have to be Tomas Rosicky. At 30, he is at the sunset of his career and this is no Indian summer kind of sunset. Since missing almost the whole of season 2008-2009 to ligament injuries, he hasn’t found his rhythm. He still possesses a keen eye for the pass and can still pick out teammates from a distance but those instances are very far in between and increasingly infrequent. Talk of Golden Oldies but sadly, Tomas doesn’t belong in that category.

His long and persistent battles with injuries have taken something away from his game and he avoids contact as much as a bag of sand avoids contact with water. He has lost the stomach for an old-fashioned scrap and as far as I am concerned, I count us one player short anytime he starts.

For an offensive player however, it is going forward that Wenger really rates them. The wily coach that he is, he has always, always loved to used attacking midfielders as some sort of surrogate striker. His spell at Arsenal is littered with attacking midfielders whom he has adapted to the role of strikers, thus making them difficult to pigeon-hole. Since the dawn of time (literally that is), Wenger has loved to unleash midfielders who pop up allover the pitch and ghost their way into the opponents’18 yard box to score and yet they are not strikers. Mention the likes of Ray Parlour, Emmanuel Petit, Fredrik Ljunjberg, Robert Pires, Fabregas and even the unfortunate Ramsey. They all drifted behind strikers but apart from the pass, they are onto the ball in a flash with the sole intention of hitting the net. Ljunjberg in particular was a master of such tactic.

When Rosicky,otherwise known as ‘Little Mozart’ after his musical maestro countryman was bought from Borussia Dortmund in 2006, that must have been the role he was acquired to play. Injuries however have seen to all that. His extended spells on the doctor’s table led to the eventual acquisition of Alexander Hleb to play that role, while Fabregas was being given time to mature. Hleb’s ill-advised defection to Barcelona in 2008 finally pushed Fabregas to the fore while Rosicky continued his endless battles with injuries.

Wenger humours him these days by giving him the captain’s armband anytime he starts and Fabregas is not in the side, but the truth remains that Rosicky’s days are numbered. He’s got no legs anymore and gives up the ball at the least pressure. Looking at his stats since coming back from injury at the start of 2009 season, he has played a total of 57games both as a starter and sub. In all those games, he has managed just three goals! For an attacking midfielder, whom Wenger relies on for goals to backup the strikers, those are damning figures. Considering also that this period under review coincided with the times when a key striker, Robin Van Persie was out for a total of nine months with extended injury spells, the role of an attacking midfielder like Rosicky would have been crucial. But sadly, he never took his chances, thus leaving the likes of Fabregas to carry the can and shoulder the burden of supplying goals from the midfield. No wonder Arsenal have remained trophyless till date.

This season so far, Rosicky has made a total of 24 appearances both as a starter and substitute and scored exactly zero goals. Of the 14 starts he made this season, he has been substituted in ten of them. The emergence of Wilshire and the return of Ramsey have made his absences less and less impactful.

So, with the coming of Eden in the summer, it must herald an hazard of sorts for Rosicky. He may not necessarily be judged on the altar of his goalscoring inabilities, but there can be no room anymore for someone with his handicap who due to no fault of his, has inadvertently found himself bringing little or nothing to the table.

Always willing to err on the side of youth, Wenger is one manager who would rather give a young player a chance over and above a fading star. It was why he chose Wilshire above the better-known England international Joe Cole, despite the latter being available on a free from Chelsea. Both players’ season so far has vindicated him100%.

Hazard’s coach at Lille, Rudi Garcia was quoted last year as saying about Hazard that though young at 19, he can still “make progress in all areas”. For the world’s most famous developmental coach, it must be music to Wenger’s ears if he didn’t already know that about Hazard. The ten year age difference between Hazard and Rosicky further makes the case for the Belgian water-tight.

Until the summer transfer window opens in June then, let’s keep our fingers crossed for the fate that lies in wait at Arsenal for the blossoming Belgian and the fading Czech.

Ipswich 1 Arsenal 0

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…you know the rest of the rhyme. Only a Dumpty with a hump could have crashed so dumbly as we folded and capitulated to Championship strugglers Ipswich Town in the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinal at Portman Road. We lost to a side that had no coach – after firing the highly-decorated but luckless Roy Keane. 

Of course trust Arsene Wenger to rollout the excuses and this time, he didn’t disappoint. This time, the excuse was, fatigue. Fatigue indeed! I’m having a laugh. As if his pampered wimps play everyday of every week. As if those games were played in far-flung places like Vladivostok or Arondizogu in my native Nigeria.

We simply stunk the place out as the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and Andrei ‘the Giant(!)’ Arshavin outdid each other in incompetence. Our players’ collective attempt to sleepwalk their way to a win backfired spectacularly as we were rightly put in our place by Ipswich’s battling men who had nothing to lose. You just have to hand it to Wenger though. He at least conceeded that we lacked “spark”. Cute choice of words. It may be just the first leg of the Carling Cup with the second scheduled for the home comforts of Emirates where we are always expected to annihilate the opposition – not mentioning that the likes of West Brom and Newcastle (who until recently were both campaigning in the same division with Ipswich) beat us a few months back.

Our performance doesn’t bear mention because we did nothing of note all of the 90 minutes, except to extend our lack of a goal from open play to 270 minutes. So, to save everyone unnecessary aggro, let’s just go to the ratings which are in themselves more cause for the sort of aggro Humpty Dumpty must have felt after his great fall.

No sweetness here....Arshavin ruing a poor outing

*Szczesny (7/10) – He may be just 20 and short on experience, But what he lacks in real playing time, he makes up for in ability and determination. He covered his lines well and dealt with everything that Ipswich could conjur in form of an attack. Until the 79^th minute that is. He still prevented an even more embarrassing situation by saving from Carlos Edward’s point blank shot after the speedy winger had evaded our ramshackle offside trap in the 83^rd minute. It was his second straight game in the starting eleven and if he continues this form, he won’t be overlooked for too long.

·        * Eboue (6/10) – Did well as far as his standards. Didn’t disappoint but didn’t turn the world upside down as well. Enjoyed some freedom and space to overlap in the first half especially and combined well with Walcott in front of him. Enjoying an extended spell in the side due to the suspension of Bacary Sagna and should enjoy it while it lasts before the ‘Sagman’ returns in next week’s FA Cup replay against Leeds.

·         *Koscielny (7/10) – Did well to be fair to him. I’m still mystified why people enjoy slating him. I reckon and keep insisting that he is a fine defender. To tell it as it is, I think he’s been let down a lot by his defensive partners. He is still a top man marker and makes up a lot of ground when it comes to a sprint. Wasn’t at fault for the goal.

·         *Djourou (7/10) – Everytime he files out for us, I always say a silent prayer that he doesn’t pick up an injury. He is world class, if you can describe a 22 year-old bloke who hasn’t played 50 top flight games for Arsenal in his entire career as that. He is still top class and the more games he plays, the more I admire him. If he continues his progress, he’ll soon become our answer to Barcelona’s Gerard Pique. He was directly responsible for the goal though as he was outrun by the determined Tamas Priskin. Will learn though from last night but I still rate him. Highly actually.

·         *Gibbs (6/10) – Did well and with his worrying injury history, we ought to err on the side of caution with him. I still consider him lightweight but he acquitted himself well and dealt with everything that came his way. Bombed forward at every opportunity and helped to neutralise the threat of the tricky Connor Wickham, who is Ipswich’s Golden Boy. Though he still has a considerable way to go before threatening the more-experienced Clichy,  Kieran is still a bundle of talent.

·        * Denilson (6/10) –Went a long way to repairing the damage he caused in the FA Cup with that penalty clanger against Leeds. Stood strong on his feet and held the middle fort well. Tackled back and front a lot; and snapped into tackles with much more gusto. He clearly was a man on a mission and methinks he accomplished it by a mile. Had a good game all round and repaired his reputation to great length.

·         *Wilshire (6/10) – Was his usual busybee self and played some nice balls.The weakness with his game though despite his precociousness, remains that he isn’t direct and penetrating enough. He can be forgiven though because at 19, he’s still learning the ropes. Did well all in all on the night and complimented Denilson well. At least he offers something refreshingly different to the tired Thomas Rosicky.

·        *Fabregas (7/10) – Did his best to lift the team and dictate the play as always but things just didn’t work out for him on the night. Almost gifted Ipswich a soft goal in the early minutes of the second half after he lost ball on the halfway line with the entire defence off their line. He never gave up though and tried to win the game almost singlehandedly, which unless your name is Diego Amando or Christiano Ronaldo, you won’t succeed. Still worked his socks off nonetheless.

·        * Arshavin (5/10) – Is it pure bad luck or bad karma? Whichever or whatever it is, I give up trying to unravel what is eating the little Russian. From the best player of the European Championships in 2008 and onto becoming one of the most-feared players in the world, the little Russian has been reduced to a walking shadow who needs three touches to control a ball and can’t beat defenders from a lower division. His confidence is at rock bottom at the moment and one wonders how much lower you can sink despite his lack of inches. His loss of form continued last night and it is now a crisis.  

·         *Bendtner (5/10) – Can’t bother to waste time and words on this one. He’s just a muppet who looks more and more clumsy everytime he wanders on a pitch. I can tell you right now, he’ll never make it at Arsenal. Not now. Not ever.

·         *Walcott (7/10) – Never short on endeavour. Ran his guts out and got on to the end of some tasty passes. Won a couple of freekicks in good positions, which if we had a reliable deadball specialist, could have yielded goals. Unfortunately, he looked like a lone ranger most of the night.

Substitutes

·         *Chamakh (5/10) – He came on in the 63^rd minute for the bumbling Bendtner but lacked any real service and ended up being swallowed by the Ipswich defence. Looks to be struggling for form after a blistering start to his season.

·         *Song (5/10) – Replaced Wilshire in a double swoop with Chamakh but found it tough to stamp his usual authority.

·        *Vela (4/10) – As long as you don’t have any expectations from this bloke, you’ll not be disappointed. He came on for Arshavin and promptly vanished amidst the 21 other players on the pitch. Typical.  

A peculiar method to madness that works

In life, there is never a hard and fast rule to success. There is no nailed-on formula to  achievement. No guaranteed route to accomplishment. What works for one, is not certain to work for others. What is good for the goose, may turn out to be very bad for the gander.

Which is why it has come as a surprise to all watchers and followers of the beautiful game over the weekend that Arsene Wenger was voted the Best Coach of the Decade by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). For the uninitiated, this body is made up of retired footballers and football egg-heads who busy themselves with endless reams of information, data and numbers that help explain why football matches are won, lost or drawn everyday and everywhere around the world. In other words, they are like a repository of information for world football.

It still comes as a surprise that Arsene Wenger is the best in the world in what he does, in the past ten years; beating the likes of Sir Alec Ferguson and the “Special One’, Jose Mourinho.

The marked difference between Wenger and the others being that he has won trophies on English football only, while the other two have succeeded not once, but severally on the European continent. Ferguson has not only almost ‘annexed’ the English premiership many times over, he has also won the ‘Holy Grail’, the Champions League twice. Mourinho has not only won the English premiership twice as well, he has won leagues in Portugal and Italy, as well as the ‘Holy Grail’ twice as well. Wenger’s two premierships and three FA Cups look like pauper’s rags beside those two men.

But the people who voted Wenger as the best, were attracted to the fact that he has perfected a specific concept of football which is pleasing to the eye and is often seen as the best pattern of the game in the world. He has remained faithful to this free-flowing style of his, while developing young, technically-adept players along the way with clockwork regularity. In layman’s language, Mourinho for instance makes use of stars to accumulate trophies, while Wenger makes stars. An almost-endless assembly line of star players around the world owe their careers to Wenger. The list stretches from Jurgen Klinsmann, Youri Djorkaeff, Victor Ikpeba, George Weah, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Luis Boa Morte, Thierry Henry onto the present crop of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshire, Johann Djourou, Alex Song.

Ferguson has also fared well in that department as he must get credit for the careers of the likes of Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. As for Mourinho, it’s hard to find a player that he plucked out of obscurity and moulded into a gem.

That interestingly, seemed to be what has put Wenger head and shoulders above his peers. Indeed, the avuncular Alsatian has done well for Arsenal football club, which he has turned from a run-of-the-mill club into a formidable cash cow on the same pedestal with the Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids and Barcelonas of the world. He has also done well for football as an industry with his style and philosophy attracting appreciation and followers for the game, the world over.

In that wise, Wenger deserves to take a bow for this well-deserved honour.

However, it brings up the valid question of who is a coach and who is a manager? Is Wenger necessarily a genius as a coach or a manager? The job and image of a coach has surely exploded beyond the bloke in track suits standing by the touchline yelling at players and tearing his hair out if things don’t go his way. For the modern coach, the job is now a 24 hour occupation involving scouting, match tactics, training, diet monitoring, fitness training, data analysis and all manner of things that makes a coach look more and more like a computer geek. Which is why many coaches employ a sleuth of coaches to help them condition players and win matches.

It is no longer a job within the abilities of just one man. In this wise as well, Wenger showed the way, long before most managers thought of the intimate details that go into making a complete player and forging a successful team. His methods may not have won him trophies at Arsenal year in, year out but they have kept the club at the top of European football for a well over a decade and kept them competitive very year in the tough English premiership.

Players bring success to coaches and make them winners. Coaches as well make players who they are and utilize them to bring success to clubs. Few coaches however have devoted so much time and effort in modern football to unearthing rough stones and turning them into diamonds like Wenger. Fewer still have achieved a soaring success rate with such risky endeavour at a club the size of Arsenal, where winning trophies are seen almost as a divine right, every year.

For combining all these qualities, despite a weight of constant expectation and pressure, the Alsatian deserves this honour. As much as he has been serenaded and praised, he has equally been called mad, deluded, stubborn, ego-driven and even senile. What he may not have been able to win on the pitch, he has surely won in the hearts of all those who appreciate quality. There is, in all fairness, a method to this man’s unique madness.

Well done Mr Wenger for your different route to success. What better way to celebrate this honour than lifting a long-awaited trophy. That goal starts tommorow night against Ipswich Town as we hone in on the Carling Cup.

Arsenal 1 Leeds 1

Our FA Cup campaign got off to a very limp start when the visitors from Elland Road almost knocked us out in the third round – something that would have blighted our proud FA Cup history.
Robert Snodgrass almost became an instant hero when he scored in the 58th minute to put us to the sword. We huffed and puffed for the rest of the game and it was only the intervention of Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott that saved us from huge, huge embarrassment. Both of them rose from the bench and combined to win a late, late penalty and bury it, thus earning us a face-saving replay.


Arsene Wenger summed up the game in his uniquely Wengersque manner:
“It was a good warning what we got today. We knew before the game, Leeds went to Old Trafford last year, won and had a draw at Tottenham. We had problems passing through their lines…we were not sharp in our decision making. The rest was credit to Leeds”

I’m not too sure about the credit to Leeds bit, because it was us who simply made life difficult for ourselves. There was absolutely no need for Denilson to trip Max Gradel in the box, that led to their penalty. What on earth was he thinking? How clueless can you be? Wenger keeps indulging players like him who are simply average, but they never seem to up their game.
Anyway, we got ourselves out of jail and get a second bite at the cherry in a replay in a fortnight.

Clueless...Denilson upends Leeds' Max Gradel to gift
 the visitors a penalty

Below are the ratings:
• Szczesny (7/10) – Did his case a great favour with excellent goalkeeping. He got a hand to the penalty but the power behind it from Snodgrass was too much for him to stop it. He also saved a goalbound header after the penalty that would surely have left us with a bigger mountain to climb. His kicking wasn’t initially up to scratch, but he improved as the game wore on. Will be around for a long time, now that Almunia is effectively on the way out.
• Eboue (6/10) – Started his first game since the Wigan draw. Was very effective initiating overlapping runs throughout the game as Leeds were not prominent in attack all through the first half. Has to share a blame for their goal, because he allowed Leeds’ Gradel to go past him so easily before he was fouled by Denilson. Was very visible in the second half as he bombed forward at very opportunity.
• Squillaci (5/10) – Very poor indeed all game. He is clearly the weakest link in our central defence and if he gets run around by the likes of Leeds, then he simply cannot cut it at this level. I don’t expect to see him used quite often as the season progresses especially with the imminent return of Thomas Vermaelen.
• Djourou (8/10) – He just keeps getting better and better. Tough in the air and on the ground. He stood up to everything Leeds threw at us and shackled both Alex Bruce, Sanchez Watts and David Someil, later on in the game. He is truly immense and his form is now key at the back if we are to win anything this season. I’m rubbing my hands in anticipation at he partnership he could forge with the returning TV. Formidable, if I may say.
• Gibbs (7/10) – He returned from injury to play his first game in almost two months. Was good and effective at the leftback and overlapped with ease. He has a good left peg which produces fine crosses, except that there was no one at the end of those crosses. Still too lightweight though for my liking and will take at least a couple of years before really pushing Gael Clichy.
• Song (7/10) – He was his usual busy self in the middle of the midfield and did his normal harrying duties. There seems to be no flaw in his game now as he has matured admirably and developed into a fine, all-round midfielder. Was surprised to see him substituted after the Leeds goal because he was really pivotal for us and was much more influential than a couple of other Arsenal players on the pitch.
• Denilson (5/10) – I will never understand why Wenger thinks this bloke can ever cut it as a defensive midfielder. To start with, he lacks the toughness to do the job and is often clueless in tight situations. He was plodding along until he gave away the penalty by upending the Leeds player inside the box. Managed to pick up himself for the rest of the game and actually could have won it for us with a fine, 25-yarder that Kasper Schmeichel did well to push away in the 90th minute. All in all, Denilson will always be a squad player at Arsenal.
• Rosicky (5/10) – Yet another clueless player on the day for us. To add insult to injury, he captained the side for this game but made as little contribution as possible. He has obviously lost any confidence in his game as I lost count of the number of times he lost the ball. Got himself a caution for needlessly pushing a Leeds player for a ball going to throwing and could have got himself sent off for a meaningless tackle from behind in the second half. I for one, believe this will be his last season at the club because he adds absolutely zero to the team.
• Arshavin (5/10) – Is he suffering a crisis of confidence or he doesn’t just care about the club anymore? Had to decipher which is the case with the enigmatic Russian. Found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper early in the game but was thwarted by the alert Schmeichel. His game consisted thereon of misplaced passes, misplaced runs, headless-chicken-running and general frustration. No wonder so many in the crowd were openly baying for his replacement.
• Bendtner (5/10) – I’ve never rated him and the more he turns out for us, the more he confirms how ineffective and pedestrian he is. Couldn’t hang onto balls; sluggish; slow; can’t read passes and generally a waste of space. The earlier he buggers off as he always threatens to do, the better for us Gunners.
• Chamakh (6/10) – He hasn’t found his groove for a couple of months now after starting the season like a runaway fire engine. Tried his hardest but you could see he wasn’t making a dent in their defence. Will bounce back though for sure as the season unfolds.


Substitutes
• Fabregas (6/10) – Rose from the bench to save his mates from ignominy and he delivered as expected by burying the all-important penalty that earned us a draw and a replay in two weeks. At least in times of trouble, we have Cesc to count on.
• Walcott (7/10) – His trademark pace troubled the Leeds defence and ultimately won us the penalty that got the draw. You can see he is always determined in all games he plays, which is not something you could say about most of his mates.
• Vela (5/10) – For someone who is rumoured to be on his way out via a loan move, he confirmed very much why he is out of favour here. Hardly made a ripple when he came on in the 85th minute.

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 0

Talking point...Sagna and Zabaleta see red

Arsene Wenger summed up last night’s tepid outcome in the most appropriate words possible. His words:


“They looked to me like they were set up not to lose. You look at the time their goalkeeper took on the kicks or the times their players went down and tried to gain time. For me they were happy with 0-0”.


A game that started in the most promising and vibrant manner for us, petered out into a scrappy and eventually controversial manner as Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna saw reds at almost the conclusion of the game.
Despite hitting the woodwork after fine build-ups and shots from Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, we somehow couldn’t find and extra gear needed and allowed City to dictate the dull pace into which the game settled into.
We started with what is now almost the first team squad – the same lineup that beat Chelsea and Birmingham. All eleven starters justiufied the manager’s faith in thme as we pinned City back and could so easily have been 2-3 up in the first 15 minutes. We saw so much of the ball as City yielded the midfield to us and Song, Fabregas and the effervescent Jack Wilshire overran the City middlemen of Nigel De Jong and Yaya Toure.
The goals did not come though and instead, City only had the woodwork preventing them from conceding on two occasions. Second half was an even duller affair as City dug in the trenches and preferred to sit back and defend. Despite throwing on Andrei Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner, we couldn’t break them down until things took a turn for the nasty with the double dismissal of Sagna and Zabaleta.


Below are the ratings for an unfulfilled night that rounded up our Christmas programme:

• Fabianski (7/10) – Kept a clean sheet for the second straight game, which is something of a record in itself. He was largely untroubled in goal as City spent most of the match defending.the one good effort they had at goal was a Carlos Tevez freekick which the Pole dealt with very well.
• Clichy (7/10) – Good game as well. Contained the threat of Tevez and James Milner very well. Had a running battle of sorts with Milner but not once was he at the receiving end of anything threatening.
• Djourou (7/10) – His he now confirmed as a starter over and above the bumbling Seb Squillaci? It looks so indeed. Wenger seems to entrust him with defensive organization at the back much more than the veteran Frenchman. He has matured indeed this season and taken his chances with both hands. Last night was another huge plus for his as he helped contain the dangerous Tevez and later Adam Johnson, when he came on. His non-effusive style is so re-assuring indeed.
• Koscielny (7/10) – It turned out to be a night for defences as we did as well as them in that department. The Kos was also clam and collected at the back and seems to enjoy playing alongside Johann. In the absence of TV, this pair must be our first choice. He hardly put as foot wrong and dealt with everything that City mustered in form of an attack.
• Sagna (7/10) – Another fine display from our all-action Frenchman but it was all ruined by that 88th minute altercation with Zabaleta that ended in red cards. He put in his normal, fighting-fit shift and hardly gave room to City’s Toure and Milner. On top of his game for sure and will now get a much needed breather over the next three games. Unlucky to have seen red.
• Song (7/10) – Did his defensive midfield duties perfectly as he put the trio of Yaya Toure and De Jong effectively in the shade. Covered acres of space with endless running and tackling. He surely, surely has attained dizzy heights in his game and is already a huge, important factor in our title charge this season.
• Wilshire (7/10) – Has enjoyed a fruitful spell alongside Song so far this season and flourished once more last night. Saw much more of the ball and used it intelligently as always. Was always available for a pass and gave the ball back effortlessly as well. Almost scored in the first 5minutes with a glancing shot with Joe Hart had to scramble away. Despite the result, he can be proud of his contribution on the night.
• Fabregas (7/10) – What else can be said about El Capitan? Nothing really and he living up to his lofty reputation comes so easily and naturally to him. Put City to the sword with his movement, vision and endless range of passing. Was unlucky not to score with his 34th minute shot hitting the post after leaving Hart for dead. He was no match for the City midfielders as he continually ran rings round all night. Clearly now, he is in the mood for a five-star performances as he seems to have gotten over his niggling injuries.
• Nasri (7/10) –Was also a thorn in the flesh for City. Ran at their defence endlessly and never shirked responsibilities to shoot. Picked up a knock early in the game but shook it off to initiate countless attacks. Unlucky not to have registered a goal.
• Walcott (6/10) – Caused problems for his marker, Jo – of all people! Did his best to keep the attack ticking over but was unfortunate not to have scored himself after hitting the post in the first half from an acute angle. Was substituted midway into the second half and the endless shake of his head showed he wasn’t impressed with the change.
• Van Persie (6/10) – Our Dutch enigma still hasn’t discovered his best form. Still feeling his way back into the game so nothing extraordinary is expected of him at this stage. Also hit the post after leaving City defenders for dead in the first half. His fitness and injury-free from will be crucial in the season run-in, so it is vital that he is not overstretched.






Substitutes
• Arshavin (6/10) – Came on in the 65th minute for an unhappy Walcott and plied his trade on the right wing this time. Did well actually in the short space of time he was expected to work wonders. At least last night, he couldn’t be accused of not showing desire.
• Bendtner (5/10) – He replaced Wilshire as we went in search of a late winner. The new father added little threat to the attack and if the truth be told, he will remain a bit-part player long as the likes of Chamakh and Van Persie are fit.

Johann is wily Wenger’s latest jewel

When Arsene Wenger allowed the bumbling Phillipe Senderos to go on loan to AC Milan at the start of season 2008-09, the obvious reason would of course be that it was prelude to offloading the big, shaven headed Swiss centreback. Senderos failed to impress at AC Milan and at the end of the season, he was back at Arsenal, unwanted by both the Gunners and the Rossonneri.

The latent and covert reason behind Senderos’s shuffling around though was another young Swiss defender  –  Johann Djourou. Wenger saw him as a much better player than Senderos and at that point in time, Senderos was higher on the team’s pecking order than Djourou. Notoriously faithful to his hierarchical system, Wenger is one of the few coaches around Europe who hardly tinkers with team line-ups match-after-match. Renowned for detesting buying sprees, he always prefers to run a tight ship; making use of a small, dedicated group of players all season and hoping for the best against things like injuries and suspensions.

In all his championship-winning teams, Wenger has always, always relied on a core of 15-16 first teamers who are entrusted with carrying the team throughout the season. Wenger has always invested a fanatical trust in his first teamers and only the emergence of a player with extra-ordinary ability can convince him to breach that trust and introduce such player into that core group of “special ones”.

A sports scientist wearing the garb of a manager, Wenger relies heavily on tonnes and tonnes of  technical mumbo-jumbo to assess his players before arriving at that core group on which his annual campaigns are entrusted with. Which is why he places a lot of faith in hierarchy.

With time on his hands and knowing he’ll never be fired if the team wins nothing at the end of each season, he concentrates on patient building and nurturing of players in an eternal process of erecting a jigsaw puzzle that the making of a team really is.

His hierarchical structure therefore is the be-all and end-all in his team building process. Gael Clichy was second to Ashly Cole for so long and only emerged as a first teamer after Cole left for Chelsea. Now, Kieran Gibbs is understudy to Clichy – preferred to another young hopeful, Armand Traore. Same applies to the right fullback position where Emmanuel Eboue is forever second-fiddle to Bacary Sagna. Manuel Almunia was also understudy to ‘mad’ Jens Lehmann for so long and Wenger was not prepared to alter the equation until season 2007-08 when the German started making blunder-after-blunder. That was the signal to promote Almunia over Lehmann and Wenger was faithful to the Spaniard despite heavy criticism of his performances.

It was only at the start of the current season, that he finally saw fit to relegate Almunia and promote his understudy, Fabianski.

Such methodical arrangement of course has its benefits because it encourages stability and disregards form which we all know can be fickle and fluctuates.

Heads I win...Djourou tussles with Arsenal's nemesis-in-chief, Chelsea's Didier Drogba

 Looking at the defensive side of things, though Wenger will not openly admit, but slowly he has promoted Djourou over and above Sebastian Squillaci despite the latter’s greater experience. It is a decision that may have a big impact on our season considering the performance of the young Swiss defender.

The starting line-up that filed out against Chelsea at the Emirates last Monday night, was the closest thing to Wenger’s first eleven. That is his dream team. The outcome of the game proved him right and confirmed his faith in those that started.

Djourou of course was part of that line-up and excelled as he has in all 12 games he’s played prior to the Chelsea game this season.After missing almost all of last season to a cruciate ligament knee injury, he seems to have come back with a vengeance to prove a point.

Three days later, when he was dropped for Squillaci, we saw how the defence gifted Wigan a goal that cost us two points. Guess who the scapegoat was? Poor Squillaci for the own goal he conceded under pressure.

Back at St. Andrews three days later, Djourou returned again and with him our first clean sheet in seven games! It wasn’t a coincidence. The youngman’s game has been on the up all season as his form has recorded a steady incline. In his first eight games for us this season, we never lost. I’m no way giving him sole credit for the team’s success in those matches, but a solid defence is always a reliable foundation on which wins are built.

Djourou so far this season has helped provide reassurance at the back. He has taken his chance with both hands since the enforced absence of the inspirational Thomas Vermaelen. The youngest of our four centre backs, he naturally would have been down at the ladder based on Wenger’s hierarchical stubbornness. But TV’s injury has opened a window for him and his performances have kept that window firmly ajar.

His composure and calm is in contrast to all around him. I particularly rate him in aerial battles where he uses his height well to intercept anything in the air. He, like TV, also loves bringing the ball out of defence and taking pressure off the backline. He hardly panics in any situation and unlike his departed compatriot Senderos, Djourou has anchored his style on reading attackers’ moves and nipping them in the bud before they strike.

Yet another jewel unearthened by the frugal Wenger? Surely yes and well polished too I daresay.

Birmingham 0 Arsenal 3

St. Andrews is a place where we’ve had nothing but grief in the past three seasons. A place filled with

bad memories for all Gooners. A place of frustration, anguish and broken bones – ala Eduardo Da Silva.

Saturday night finally, we banished all the years of pain and broken dreams on a rainy night at St. Andrews as we pummeled Birmingham before dispatching them 3-0.

As unfriendly as ever, the venue presented itself as a cold, miserable place with the rain turning the surface into a field of potholes.

Disregarding history and the elements though, Arsenal walked allover their hosts in a performance that oozed class as goals from Robin Van Persie, Samir Nasri and an own goal gifted us by the unfortunate Roger Johnson, enabled us depart St. Andrews with the three points for the first time since 2006.

It was a performance that restored pride after the same team that annihilated Chelsea was rolled out to do the business yet again.

We start the New Year on a very positive note with this win and as the league hits the home straight, the table shows us in third place – just two points behind leaders Manchester City and United – with our postponed game against Stoke in hand.

Yes, Man Utd as well have two games in hand, but who says we can’t overhaul them both with everyone fit and brimming with supreme confidence.

On a night that asked questions of the mettle of this team, they delivered – and with a clean sheet for once!

Target men...Van Persie and Nasri who both scored on the night

 Below are the ratings of our first game of 2011.

·         Fabianski (7/10) – Restored his reputation after the horror show at Wigan three days earlier. Clean sheets are a measure of how well the goalkeeper and his defence have performed and on this night, they recorded one in a long, long while. The Pole is now firmly established as our Number One after Arsene Wenger’s declaration on the eve of the game that Manuel Almunia could leave if he wanted. Baring any huge calamity now, the starting shirt is Lukasz’s to lose. He however did his case a world of good by blocking a goalbound Sebastian Larsson freekick in the first half and stopping everything thrown at him in the second half. I was particularly impressed with his punching and timing.

·         Clichy (7/10) – Was at his alert best all night and refused to allow Birmingham any leeway from his corner of the pitch. Didn’t do too much of his trademark overlapping runs but defending remains his primary duty and he performed without blemish.

·         Koscielny (8/10) – One of his better games since he joined us. Critics like to single him out for blame anytime we concede, but I rate him as a very good manmarker. He put every foot right on the night and frustrated the marauding Cameron Jerome all night, before the lone Birmingham striker was eventually substituted. ‘Kos’ is quite good in the one-on-ones and on this occasion, he was not found wanting.

·         Djourou (9/10) – My pick of the bunch in the defence. He outjumped the entire Birmingham attack and on a pitch which he called home some three seasons back, everything from the hosts was like meat and drink to him. Johann seems to enjoy a good partnership with the Kos and they clearly compliment each other far better than Squillaci does. Our young Swiss has matured in leaps and bounds so far this season and baring injuries, he will be a factor as we chase trophies. Picked up a knock late in the first half but recovered to marshall the backline and help silence the giant Nikola Zigic and another substitute, Alexander Hleb – remember him? 

·         Sagna (7/10) – Our tenacious French international is nothing if not a hardworker. Never gives anything less than 100% and Saturday night was no different. Ran his socks off as he tackled and shackled each of the Birmingham players that strayed into his territory. Found a lot of room as well to roam forward and deliver some tasty crosses. He is a handful indeed, this Bacary.

·         Song (7/10) – After his brilliant game against Chelsea on Monday night, repeating the same against Birmingham was like a walk in the park for him. He has really, really grown into one of the finest midfielders in the premiership and last night, he enhanced that reputation with another flawless effort. Tackled and harried the likes of Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson and Johnson with ease and still found time and space to spray some delicious passes. His all round game is very impressive indeed.

·         Wilshire (7/10) – His combo with Song is developing into a productive partnership. Jack, who turned 19 on Saturday has emerged as a force to reckon with in the heart of our team. He of course displays ability and awareness of a veteran and Saturday night was no different. Had the chance to mark his birthday with a goal after being teed up by Van Persie, but blasted wide.

·         Fabregas (7/10) – El Capitan returned from an enforced suspension to deliver yet another accomplished performance in a long, long list of accomplished performances. He was at the end of a hefty challenge from Johnson in the 6^th minute, but emerged to dictate the game with his vision and ball control. He looks happier now as we march on and results continue to fall our way.

·         Nasri (7/10) – Not at his brilliant best, but in whichever form he is, the little French maestro is still a handful for defences. His tandem with Fabregas may well be the key to our success this season as they both enjoy a telephatic relationship. They combined with delightful one-twos for the second goal in the 58^th minute, which Nasri scored to take his season tally to 13. At this range, it wouldn’t be out of place if he notches 20 goals by the end of the season. His endless movement and bag of tricks just puts him head and shoulders above anything Birmingham could offer on the night.

·         Van Persie (7/10) – Not back to his devastating best, but he’s getting there and such amounts of time on the pitch like against Birmingham surely helps. He scored a freekick for the first time in ages to give us the first goal and was involved in a lot of our attacks. His role as lone frontman on the night does not suit him perfectly but with the likes of Nasri and Fabregas providing support, he was never really alone. Did well all in all.

·         Walcott (7/10) – Didn’t score this time but wasn’t far from doing so. Troubled Scott Dann and  Liam Ridgewell with his blinding pace and in all modesty, he must be the fastest player in the premiership. It may just be that he has played his way into the starting line-up following his five-star showing against Chelsea on Monday night. Already, this has been a breakthrough season for him.

Substitutes

·         Arshavin (6/10) – Came on in the 76^th minute for Walcott as we looked to close up the game and introduce some fresh legs. Almost scored with a fierce shot which Ben Foster did well to stop.

·         Denilson (5/10) – Replaced Wilshire and slotted in beside Song as a bulwark against Birmingham’s last-minute attempts to salvage something.