Leeds Preview - Henry Returns

Leeds in the FA Cup feels a little like deja-vu since we played - and struggled past - them last season. Hopefully Henry will start tonight so we can see what he can contribute to the team straight away. Anything close to this and we will have a really good option to interchange with RVP for the next two months:

It's highly unlikely that he will be able to go on those swashbuckling sprints that destroyed many-a-defence when he was at Arsenal last. But with Theo Walcott - and potentially Oxlade-Chamberlain - in the team the pace-aspect of Henry's previous style can be compensated for.

But anyway, Wenger was never looking for that when he re-signed him because what the team really needs from Henry is his sniper-like abilities in front of goal. I've bemoaned in several previous posts (Van Persie aside) the team's increasingly-crippling profligacy in front of goal and hopefully Henry will help arrest that.

In my opinion, the dream for Wenger in the next two months is that Henry provides a reliable option to rotate with - and support - Robin Van Persie, assists in getting the likes of Ramsey and Walcott amongst the goals more consistently and of course provides a few himself. Hopefully by the time Henry returns to the States, Park or Chamakh (or both) will have shown signs that they can be counted on to interchange with Robin, Gervinho and Chamakh find their touch in front of goal while away on international duty and Vermaelen, Sagna, Gibbs, Wilshere and Diaby all recover fully from there respective injuries. Its an idealistic outcome but it isn't completely out of the question either. The injured players just mentioned are all on course to come back in the next month. Chamakh will play consistently for the first time in a year at the ACN which will certainly give him a confidence boost. And Henry undoubtedly has the ability and presence to improve the team and his team-mates significantly.

It's hard not to feel positive when we have our all-time top goalscorer back at the club. It may only be a temporary fix as regards the size of the squad but it might be enough to propel the team towards the top four and maybe even engineer sustained challenges for the Champions League and the FA Cup.

So on to tonight, and the Leeds game will provide Wenger with a chance to rotate players - albeit not many considering the size of the injury-list. Van Persie and Arteta are nearly guaranteed rests after being involved in almost every Premier League game since the start of the season. The boss might consider bringing Yennaris in at the back since Djourou is suspended and Coquelin is worth another start tonight after giving a good account of himself against Fulham. Up front, it will be curious to see who gets the nod. Henry is likely to start with Arshavin and Chamberlain taking the wide-berths either side of him. What will be very curious to see is if Park plays any part in the game. He hasn't played a single minute of any of our Premier League games and wasn't even worth a place on the bench for most of those this season. If he plays no part again tonight then the situation regarding the reason for his place in the squad will become highly perverse.

As for the game, the Gooners really should ease through this one. Leeds have been struggling of late, losing three of their last four games in the Championship. However, the longer the game stays level tonight the more they will fancy an upset so the Arsenal players will have to keep their concentration and take the initiative early on in this match. I'm thinking 3-0 with Henry to score.

A Lack of Options and Outstanding Goalkeeping Hold Arsenal to Fifth

Arsenal 1 Wolves 1

So we miss out on fourth for the time being and a potential record-breaking tally for Van Persie seems to be out of sight as well. Poor finishing, a typically fantastic performance from an opposition 'keeper and ineffective substitutions contributed to a frustrating day at the Emirates as Arsenal couldn't find the solution to break down Wolves' stout resistance.

Even with a man sent-off, Wolves seldom looked more than marginally stretched. The loss of Walcott just before the game was costly as we lacked width and pace down the wings. Also the lack of proper fullbacks in the side was again found out as Vermalaen and Djourou lacked the offensive mindset of a Santos or Sagna to overlap and whip in dangerous crosses. Djourou played very well actually but his big, burly frame left him technically inefficient when trying to force the play down the wings as he took hefty touches and on one occasion he even kicked the ball out of play as he searched for Gervinho on the wing who was charging at the Wolves' defence.

Up front it was a day to forget for Van Persie as his legs simply refused to do what his mind was telling them. The seemingly impending record clearly compromised his normally cool and efficient decision-making as at certain times during the game he couldn't decide whether to go for goal or play in a team-mate. One particular incident that stands out in the mind is when he was bearing down on Wolves' penalty area in the first half. Alex Song had managed to keep up with him and was free on the inside. Van Persie simply had to roll the ball across the box as Song had a clear shot and a chance to put his team two-nil up and out of sight. Instead the Dutchman took the ball even further out wide to the left as he tried to line up his own shot but ended up being fouled by Johnson. It proved to be costly as six minutes later Wolves equalised.

If Gervinho's goal could be described as a wonderful, counter-attacking move of exceptional quality and class with Rosicky and Benayoun playing clever passes to release the Ivorian who coolly stepped past Hennessey to slot home, then Wolves' goal could be described as one of the most loathsome you are likely see at the Emirates.

A Wolves' corner was cleared as far as Hunt on the edge of the box. Rosicky went to challenge and missed man and ball completely. Hunt took a shot that was going well-wide of the goal but it took a wicked deflection and flew straight to Fletcher who was standing alone seven yards out. The Scot showed quick reactions as he redirected the ball to the far corner of Szczesny's goal. The young Pole was well beaten as Wolves had their equaliser and something to hold onto for the rest of the game.


In the second half Arsenal turned up the tempo and really went for Wolves albeit without the composure necessary to pull the Wolves players out of position consistently. We were too rushed in our play and then at times to slow to release the ball. Quite a paradox but the balance in the team's offensive manoeuvres just wasn't there. The team's decision-making faltered with Van Persie's. Indeed it would be fair to say that on a day when the Dutchman wasn't having the luck or the composure needed in front of goal, the team was short on players who could be the difference between three points and one.


Saying that though, there were chances to win the game too. Mertesacker and Vermaelen had efforts well saved from the excellent Hennessey but as regards penetration from midfield, we had none. Arteta and Rosicky couldn't be faulted for their effort but they never looked like scoring. Rosicky in particularly had a few good chances but his finishing was sub-standard. Ramsey came on and failed to have an impact.

Wenger's other two substitutions were a disaster. While Arshavin had plenty of possession and tried to no considerable effect, Chamakh was abysmal. The only memorable incident he was involved in was when Van Persie headbutted him while going for a corner. After that it was as if the team was playing with ten men for all the good he did as Arsenal's chances of claiming fourth faded and Wolves claimed a precious point in their battle against relegation. And with Park yet to play in the Premier League, the need for another striker to rotate with Van Persie is becoming increasingly apparent. Chamakh, our back-up to Van Persie, has scored one goal this season to contrast with the Dutchman's 20. And while it must be difficult to play second-fiddle to a man on such form, it is still an appalling record for any striker.

And it may sound like the pleading of a simple-minded fan but Wenger needs to act in January to address this chasm of quality between his frontman options. In contrast, the teams ahead of Arsenal in the league have a plethora of choices. Chelsea have the experienced goal-machine Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres (despite his form there can be no doubting his incredible underlying quality) and the ever-improving Daniel Sturridge. Tottenham have Adebayor, Jermaine Defoe, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Pavlyuchenko who all score goals. The Russian, who is fourth choice at White Hart Lane, scored the winner against Sunderland the other week. Arsenal don't even have a recognised fourth choice striker. Then when you look at the two Manchester teams, their options are on a totally different planet to ours. Aguero, Ballotelli and Edin Dzeko make up a strike-force worth €100 million for Man City while Man United have the almost ever-present Wayne Rooney to lead their line with the youthful and potentially brilliant Welbeck and Hernandez to play with him. Berbatov, who scored a hat-trick in their match yesterday, can barely get a game in the United side.

To sum up we have nothing like those options and are only Van Persie sustaining an injury, or losing form, away from a meltdown upfront for the team. The rumours of Thierry Henry returning are encouraging but that would only be to March as the MLS season kicks off again then. Arsenal and Wenger need something more permanent. For now though, the team has another big game coming up at the weekend against QPR and the team's attention must refocus to that.

Wolves - A Win For Fourth

The Arsenal team has just been announced as I write this and despite some speculation to the contrary, Van Persie will start.

The Dutchman is just two goals from equalling Alan Shearer's record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year and with two matches to go and with the form Van Persie is in at the moment, it would be hard to bet against him reaching and possibly exceeding that tally.

Wolves are in poor form at the moment. I follow Mick McCarthy's team because of the Irish connection and I'm really surprised about their struggles. Matt Jarvis, Stephen Hunt, Steven Fletcher and of course Kevin Doyle are very good attacking players. Jarvis and Hunt are tricky wingers and will provide a good supply to any forward over the course of a season. And I think Fletcher and Doyle complement each other very well, they both work hard and they both run the flanks very well to stretch defences. The only problem I can see with them is that they don't score enough so that's something that they'll need to improve on if the team is to escape a relegation scrap.

Arsenal's form is very contrasting with the opponents today. If it weren't for the fact that all four fullbacks are injured we would probably be scoring more goals and might have even got a result against Man City the other week. The only problem that I worry about is the lack of goals outside of Van Persie. While it was great to see Yossi Benayoun come on and score the winner against Aston Villa, its an occasion that has come against the norm of Van Persie providing the necessary finesse to get the team three points. I said it a few weeks ago but Ramsey really needs to step it up along with Arteta and Gervinho. Unfortunately though, the Ivorian won't really have a chance to overcome his profligacy in front of goal until after the African Cup of Nations. The other two however don't have that excuse and really need to get in amongst the goals more.

Ramsey has been particularly awful in front of goal. He wasted a great chance against Villa the other night and that came in a long succession of bad misses for the Welshman. He is fitter than he's ever been, being one of the first players to achieve over 100-miles of distance covered in the Premier League this season, but his position will be under very serious threat by Jack Wilshere - when he returns - if this wastefulness in front of goal continues.

By all accounts, today's game really should be a comfortable home win and if that's the case it will more than likely coincide with Van Persie equalling or even breaking Shearer's record. Wolves are a tough side despite their position in the league so the team will have to be prepared to match them physically for our passing game to overcome them. I'm going to be positive, seeing as it is that jolly time of year, and say that we'll win 3-0 with a Van Persie brace and one of the defenders to score off a set-piece.

Finally, I just want to say that it would be a fantastic achievement to go into the new year in a Champions League place. We all remember earlier in the season lingering in 17th place and being written off so it's exceptional to have turned that around so fast and to have the season back on track.

Reasonable But Disappointing

Arsenal 1 Fulham 1

So it turns out my bad feeling about this game wasn't misplaced. Although the result itself could have been worse had Vermaelen not been so determined to atone for his error because the rest of the team didn't look very threatening.

Up until the last 30 minutes we were slow and when the own goal was conceded it became apparent very quickly that we weren't going to win the game. In fact if the team was in this position earlier in the season, or even in the back end of the previous one, we would almost certainly have lost.

The Champions League hangover was a factor yesterday but with top spot secured with a game to spare in our group, the first team will have a weeks break in between our next three Premier League games before we enter the busy Christmas period.

So now the gap between us and Spurs has now extended to five points (they also have a game in hand) and while that's worth noting, I can't consider Tottenham a valid threat yet. Even if they are, fourth is more than achievable anyway with only three points separating us and Newcastle. While it's a disappointing result, the two points dropped are not irretrievable if we get back to winning ways against Wigan next weekend. On top of that, Liverpool face Man City today so by the end of the weekend we may have climbed a place in the table compared to our position before the weekend.

One of the final things I'd like to mention is to do with something I highlighted in yesterday's post. The reliance on Van Persie for goals caught up on us yesterday. Ramsey's profligacy in front of goal stood out again as he was teed up by Walcott in the first half. The winger dribbled down the right and broke into the penalty area before sliding the ball to the Welsh playmaker and he skied his attempt. It was awful to look at. Also worth noting was Walcott's performance yesterday. He was probably our best performer on the day and was unlucky to not have a greater return for his endeavour than the assist for the Verminator's equaliser.

Tuesday night we play Man City at home and while we know Wenger is going to rest nearly if not all of the team that played yesterday, it's hard to know what Man City will do. Mancini has a massive squad. He could play a team today with terrific individuals and then go out Tuesday, rest most of those who played Liverpool and pick a team of equal quality again. I suspect he won't do that though and will follow suit with Wenger to play a mix-and-match team of players on the fringes of the first 11 and youth prospects from Manchester City's academy. I really hope I'm right because I would fear for the inexperienced players that will line-out for Arsenal if I'm not and Mancini decides to field a powerful 11.

To go into detail (and this is all speculation) Mancini could go with this team today:

Hart

Richards - Lescott - Komany - Kolarov

De Jong - Barry - Toure

Silva - Balotelli - Milner

and then easily play this team on Tuesday:

Hart

Zabaleta - Kolo Toure - Savic - Clichy

Johnson - Hargreaves - Milner - Nasri

Dzeko - Aguero

More on that game though when it gets closer and we have a better idea of injuries.

Fulham Preview: Nervous is an Understatement

In half an hour Arsenal's match against Fulham kicks-off.

As the title of this post suggests, I'm not confident about this match. Fulham are a really solid side with players that can hurt most defences going forward. And these games are traditionally very tight. Last season Arsenal drew away to Fulham in the last match of the season (the game had very little meaning though). In the match at home, the team relied on two sublime goals from Samir Nasri to edge the game 2-1.

This evening we will be relying on Van Persie to fire us to three points. The man has been unstoppable in front of goal recently and we really need that to continue. While the team has been winning with relative comfort in recent games, the reliance on Van Persie's goals has been considerable.

We need other players to start picking up the slack. While its great to have one of the best strikers in the world scoring more than Brad Pitt in a brothel, the importance of the whole team contributing to our tally can't be underestimated.

Van Persie has 17 goals this season. Our next top scorer is Theo Walcott with four. And while the young winger is on course for a respectable haul in that department (on top of impressive assist numbers) the rest of the team need to get their act together. Gervinho has been very impressive on the left but 2 goals this season is not good enough, especially when you look at the chances he has missed already this season. Ramsey only has one league goal to his name and when you take into consideration his position on the field , that return is appalling. Playing in front of the solid and ever-impressive axis of Song and Arteta in midfield and subsequently behind one of the world's most lethal strikers must yield a better return than a solitary goal. Ramsey has the ability to do better and he must start soon.

Arshavin is a surprise starter tonight and the teams are now out on the pitch. The Russian needs a big performance if he is going to force his way back into the starting-11 on a more consistent basis.

I'm going to go for a 2-0 win because I feel that Van Persie will deliver the end-product again tonight. However, it would be excellent to see someone else on the scoresheet too.

Hopefully my nervousness will have all been for nothing.

The Naked Hypocrisy of the PC Brigade

This is a piece I wrote for work experience in college a few months ago.

Over the last few weeks, political correctness has taken a turn for madness. Andy Gray and Richard Keys lost their jobs last week for 'sexist' remarks made off-camera about the female linesman, Sian Massey. They were sacked for a harmless jibe.

'In all fairness, women don't know the offside rule.' That's the kind of quip men make to each other when watching sport. Banter like that happens all the time, outside of sport too, between both genders.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson makes plenty of jibes about the ineptitude of women drivers. He has yet to be sacked by the BBC. There's an entire TV show, 'Loose Women' dedicated to women talking about how stupid men are. It hasn't been cancelled.

So where is the line drawn? It's not okay to say women don't understand the vaguest rule in football (some referees have yet to fully grasp it) but it's okay to say they can't even drive a car? Obviously, if this is the way, there can't be a line, only different levels of tolerance.

The sexism argument is dominated by those with the thinnest skin, they shout above the other voices and take centre stage. This is where it is taken too far: when people get offended by the slightest remark. And when it is taken too far we go into the territory of ultra feminism or ultra masculism. And either of these mean that anything anyone says about the opposite gender can be considered as sexual harassment. Society can't work that way, there is a fundamental flaw in that logic whereby an alternative opinion becomes a criminal offence. It's insane.

What's really interesting, about the latest instalment of the gender-equality debate, is the hypocrisy of those who have fuelled it. The Sun, Karen Brady and Sky Sports have all condemned what Gray and Keys said. So if the Sun is anti-sexism, then their page-3 girls were hired for their expert opinion on current affairs. Karen Brady must agree because she writes in the Sun and her columns, fighting for women to be taken seriously in the business world, would lose credibility if that were not the case. And the 'Soccerettes' of Sky Sports must obviously be brilliant football analysts.

If the sexism argument was looked at through androgynous eyes, it would appear as ideology. Men and women are simply too different to treat each other as entirely equal. That isn't the only flaw in the argument, the people that argue it with the most venom are not innocent of sexism or double-standards and there is not a clear line between what's sexist and what isn't.

Nasri Guilty As Arsenal F.C. Is Sentenced To Third

Bolton 2 Arsenal 1

Well if there were any believers left in this team's title ambitions, their hopes have been well and truly shattered now.

Nine points behind and now looking over its shoulder, the team is on course for that all to familiar collapse at the business end of the Premier League season.

Still though, with four matches left to play, it's probably too soon to start the inquisition into where it all went wrong so I'll just concentrate on this game.

Set-pieces were our undoing again today. One in either half saw us concede two goals. Typical Arsenal is all you can say about them. In the first half Song allowed his man, Cahill (just wait for the everyone to link him to us), to pull away from him far too easily. This resulted in Clichy pulling off of Sturridge to try and challenge him as he won the corner kick. Nasri (nightmare day for him) managed to clear it off the line but only to the unmarked Sturridge's head. He made no mistake from about half a yard out and Bolton were one up.

The penalty, right after the break, was a non-event really. It was the wrong decision to award it and Szczesny made a comfortable save with his feet.

Van Persie then proceeded to equalize almost immediately after. A lovely one-two between him and Fabregas (who had another very good game) saw space open up for the former to strike home his 17th goal in as many matches.

Robin has come to form in the second half of the season and he's most definitely my player of the season. The differences in fortunes between him and Nasri speak volumes. Nasri played his best at the start of the season with almost no pressure on him. Van Persie has done it when it matters the most, at the most important time of the season. If the football awards were handed out after the end of the season, he'd have won both the PFA and Football Writer's player of the year without a doubt. His goal today meant he has scored in seven consecutive away games in the Premier League, a new record, and that just says everything about how he's playing.

Nasri had a day to forget. He was put through three times and made a meal of the opportunity offered every time. Perhaps Chamakh might have made more of his header if he had went for goal rather than the tap-down on one particular opportunity, but Nasri's display in front of goal was not good enough for this level.

The winning goal for Bolton was all about Djourou. He let Cohen get in front of him and the Bolton substitute sent a terrific header in over Nasri's head. And that was it.

So we have four games left. The team needs to restore some pride and provide us with some glimmer of hope for next season. Manchester City are eight points behind us with two games in hand, and we have to go to Stoke and play Manchester United next week. So don't rule out finishing as low as 4th if this run continues. And if that happens then Wenger will have some serious reflecting to do in the summer.