Hello everyone,
Its been a while since I wrote anything of anykind, so I decided to write a season review sort of thing. Instead of reviewing Arsenal, I am going to review all our first team players and also will give my views about what they should and should not do next season. This week we will look at our Goalkeeper and our defense and the rest will be reviewed next week. So here we go...
Goalkeepers
Before our season started, there were lot of talks about our goalkeeping situation. Arsenal reportedly made bids for Reina and Schwarzer but nothing really materialized and we went into the season with Almunia, Fabianski and the young prospect Szczesny
Manuel Almunia - He started the season as our first choice goalie and performed admirably well. One of his stand out games this season was the one against Blackburn on 28th August 2010. Blackburn used all their physical power and bullying to try and knock our defense and Almunia in particular, but we came through winning the game 2-1 and he performed really well. I was really happy to see him play good but then Almunia being Almunia reverted back to his poor form. Almost a month after that game against Blackburn, Arsenal and Almunia crumbled against West Brom at the Emirates losing the game 2-3. Almunia was terrible that day and he was immediately dropped after that game and had to wait until February to get his place back. He played amazingly on his return against Barcelona but he quickly reverted back to his basics and eventually got dropped to 4th choice behind Lehmann.
So overall it has been a poor season for Almunia. He just turned 34 last month and I cant see him having a future at arsenal even as a number 3 . To be fair to him, he never spoke bad about the club or his manager even when he was dropped. So the verdict is he should move on for the goodwill of both the player and the club.
Lukasz Fabianski - Fabianski started our season as a number 2 and after the injury/dropping of Almunia, he became our first choice. I personally believe that the game that took place on September 28th against Partizan Belgrade made him realize who he actually is. That penalty save and this reactions after that was heart warming to see and never really looked back since then on. He followed that up with some outstanding performances against manchester City, Everton and Wigan to name a few. His only bad game this season was the one against Newcastle at the Emirates in which they won 0-1. Many people blamed Fabianski alone for that defeat but I am against it. Both Fab and our defense were responsible for it. Anyways, he was simply brilliant during his time as first choice this season and just when everything was going perfectly for him, he got injured and his appearance against Partizan (coincidentally) in December was his last appearance for Arsenal this past season.
I personally like Fabianski very much. He has come through a lot of pains unlike Szczesny and although he doesn't command his area as good as Szczesny, I firmly believe he should start our season as Number one. He hasn't done anything wrong to lose it to Szczesny and I hope Arsene sees it the same way.
Wojciech Szczesny - Szczesny, the Arsenal equivalent of Iker Casillas started the season as Number 3 following his brilliant loan spell with Brentford the previous season. He was our carling cup goalie this season and performed really well before the lady luck smiled at him. After the injury to both Fabainski and Almunia , Szczesny became our Number one. He was thrown straight into the limelight with his very first league appearance coming against Manchester United at the Old Trafford. He performed pretty well in that game despite Arsenal losing the game 1-0. He went on to make 24 appearance for the first team (15 in the league) and performed really well over all. He has that craziness and charisma that a goalkeeper requires. He also commands his area better than Fabianski does. Having said that, he has his own weakness. He is just 21 which naturally means inexperienced. He also has this occasional rush of blood which Lehmann had and that would naturally lead to some mistakes. His form was a bit patchy towards the end of the season. His biggest blunder this season came at that ill fated day against Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, but he is very young and surely he will go on to become one of the top goalkeepers in the world for both club and country.
Szczesny, although he performed outstandingly for a 21 year old, I wouldn't make him as our Number one yet. He has still got somethings to learn and so I would give him another season as our cup keeper and if Fabianski loses form or gets injured then I would promote him as Number one.
So our goalkeeping situation looks pretty good and I don't want us to buy a GK this season. We should sell Almunia and promote either Mannone or James Shea as our Number 3.
Defense
Our defense has been a real problem for the past few season and Arsene replaced Gallas and Silvestre and brought in Koscielny and Squillaci as their replacements.
Thomas Vermaelen - After a brilliant first season with Arsenal, a lot was expected of Vermaelen this season. He naturally started the season as a first choice alongside the new signing Koscielny and the combination looked pretty solid despite some ocassional loss of concentration from Koscielny. Then came that international break and Vermaelen got injured. It was first predicted that he will be out for only a week, but slowly weeks turned into months and he went onto miss eight months of action. Losing your first choice CB for eight months is a sickening blow for any team and it was even a worse blow for Arsenal who were mostly defensively naive. Arsenal missed that leader at the back to organize the defense and when he eventually made his return in May, the season was all but over.
Vermaelen is a classy defender to have and I seriously hope he will be free from his injuries next season. We very badly needed a player like him at the back and if he can stay away from injury next season, our defensive failures can be minimized to an extent.
Laurent Koscielny - Koscielny was bought for 10 million from the French side Lorient and went straight into the team as a first choice. His first game against Liverpool was a shaky one and he was sent off for two bookable offenses. He went onto make 43 appearances for the club and its fantastic for a player who was playing in his first season in premier league. He made some errors in his judgement during the early part of his Arsenal carrier but corrected them quickly and he came out as one of the shining light from this ill fated season. His best games of the season were against Barcelona and Chelsea, both at the Emirates where he virtually kept Drogba and Messi in his pocket for the whole game. His biggest error came during that Carling Cup final which proved very costly at the end but nevertheless he is a top defender to have in your side.
He is one of the finest tacklers you will see in the league and he also has a good pace. He is also very comfortable with both feet and is also a very good header of the ball. He will surely became a great defender for Arsenal and I would like to see him as first choice alongside Vermaelen next season. His game will go well with Vermaelen's game and I am sure they will be great partners in defense.
Johan Djourou - Djourou, the longest serving Arsenal player has performed some bit part appearance for Arsenal in the past, but was promoted into first choice this season following Vermaelen's injury. He also performed really well for the most of this season. His record alongside both Koscielny and Squillaci was very good and he is one of the finest header of the ball we have. His appearance against Chelsea at the Emirates was one of his best this season and he went onto make 37 appearance for Arsenal this season. His performance dipped a bit after his shoulder injury and he started to really struggle during our actual title run in. His performance against Bolton and Aston Villa were really poor and coincidently Arsenal's form dipped along with his. Having said that, he certainly has the talent to become a great CB and having a world class player like Vermaelen to guide him will only help him in the future.
Although he is a great talent, I will use him only as a second choice next season.
Sebastian Squillaci - He was bought from Spanish side Sevilla for 5 million. He is hugely experienced and was a league winner with Leon. He wasn't really expected to play much this season but following injuries to Vermaelen and Djourou he played 32 game for us and was decent overall. He got caught with his pace and positioning more than once and that lead to Arsenal dropping a lot of points. His partnership with Djourou is statiscally very good and I would keep him at Arsenal for one more season at least.
We clearly need to buy a CB this season. More importantly we need to bring someone in as a defensive coach. Our defensive problems are increasing year by year and we surely need to address it.
Gale Clichy - Clichy, the second longest serving Arsenal player had a very good season in my opinion. He started the season a bit shaky and corrected them very quickly and was pretty good for almost all the 44 games he played for first team this season. His pace and his skill of intercepting a opponents ball and starting a attack is one of his best qualities. Having said that, his positioning and more importantly his crossing needs to improve a lot. He provided some very good assists this season but his crossing has been a major concern and he needs to correct that asap.
The biggest worry though is his contract situation. His contract runs out next year and he is yet to sign a extension. Rumours are doing the rounds that he wont extend it and so will be sold and I really don't want to see that. He is a player I like a lot and he is a true professional who has never ever spoken bad of his fellow players or the club during his tenure. I hope and pray that he extends his contract.
Kieran Gibbs - This has been a very bad season for Gibbs. He played a few games during the end of the season due to Clichy's injury and he really struggled overall. He has the talent to become a good LB but he was really affected by his injury and lack of game time. Gibbs needs a short term loan to get back to his best and I hope he gets that next season.
Our LB situation is a big concern. If Clichy leaves, we surely need to buy a LB. Gibbs is surely not yet ready to replace him and I believe as is Traore. I believe in Arsene and hopefully he either makes Gael sign the contract or brings in a suitable replacement.
Bacary Sagna - He is one of the best Right Backs in the world and it was justified when he was picked for the PL team of the year 2010-11. He is simply great in both attack and defense and one of the most reliable and consistent player you will ever find in any league. I am sure he will repeat this great performance next season too.
Emmanuel Eboue - Eboue had a up and down season. His playing time was reduced due to the form and fitness of Sagna and he really struggled when he eventually stepped onto the field. His worst game came against Liverpool when he gave away a soft penalty at the deep end of the game which eventually ended our title challenge. His best game was against Barcelona at the Emirates. People talk a lot about Koscielny, RVP, Wilshere and Arshavin's performance in that game but Eboue was equally good taking into consideration the opposition we faced.
Eboue is a good player and I want him to stay at Arsenal next season. But he needs to correct his simply mistakes and lack of concentration though. If he decides to leave then surely we need to sign a backup for Sagna.
Correcting our defensive problems should be our number one priority this off season. A CB, a LB if Gael leaves and a RB if Eboue leaves are a must. On top of all that, a defensive coach is a must in my opinion.
Sorry for making this post a very long one and we will look at our midfield and attack next week. Until then, take care everyone.
Its been a while since I wrote anything of anykind, so I decided to write a season review sort of thing. Instead of reviewing Arsenal, I am going to review all our first team players and also will give my views about what they should and should not do next season. This week we will look at our Goalkeeper and our defense and the rest will be reviewed next week. So here we go...
Goalkeepers
Before our season started, there were lot of talks about our goalkeeping situation. Arsenal reportedly made bids for Reina and Schwarzer but nothing really materialized and we went into the season with Almunia, Fabianski and the young prospect Szczesny
Manuel Almunia - He started the season as our first choice goalie and performed admirably well. One of his stand out games this season was the one against Blackburn on 28th August 2010. Blackburn used all their physical power and bullying to try and knock our defense and Almunia in particular, but we came through winning the game 2-1 and he performed really well. I was really happy to see him play good but then Almunia being Almunia reverted back to his poor form. Almost a month after that game against Blackburn, Arsenal and Almunia crumbled against West Brom at the Emirates losing the game 2-3. Almunia was terrible that day and he was immediately dropped after that game and had to wait until February to get his place back. He played amazingly on his return against Barcelona but he quickly reverted back to his basics and eventually got dropped to 4th choice behind Lehmann.
So overall it has been a poor season for Almunia. He just turned 34 last month and I cant see him having a future at arsenal even as a number 3 . To be fair to him, he never spoke bad about the club or his manager even when he was dropped. So the verdict is he should move on for the goodwill of both the player and the club.
Lukasz Fabianski - Fabianski started our season as a number 2 and after the injury/dropping of Almunia, he became our first choice. I personally believe that the game that took place on September 28th against Partizan Belgrade made him realize who he actually is. That penalty save and this reactions after that was heart warming to see and never really looked back since then on. He followed that up with some outstanding performances against manchester City, Everton and Wigan to name a few. His only bad game this season was the one against Newcastle at the Emirates in which they won 0-1. Many people blamed Fabianski alone for that defeat but I am against it. Both Fab and our defense were responsible for it. Anyways, he was simply brilliant during his time as first choice this season and just when everything was going perfectly for him, he got injured and his appearance against Partizan (coincidentally) in December was his last appearance for Arsenal this past season.
I personally like Fabianski very much. He has come through a lot of pains unlike Szczesny and although he doesn't command his area as good as Szczesny, I firmly believe he should start our season as Number one. He hasn't done anything wrong to lose it to Szczesny and I hope Arsene sees it the same way.
Wojciech Szczesny - Szczesny, the Arsenal equivalent of Iker Casillas started the season as Number 3 following his brilliant loan spell with Brentford the previous season. He was our carling cup goalie this season and performed really well before the lady luck smiled at him. After the injury to both Fabainski and Almunia , Szczesny became our Number one. He was thrown straight into the limelight with his very first league appearance coming against Manchester United at the Old Trafford. He performed pretty well in that game despite Arsenal losing the game 1-0. He went on to make 24 appearance for the first team (15 in the league) and performed really well over all. He has that craziness and charisma that a goalkeeper requires. He also commands his area better than Fabianski does. Having said that, he has his own weakness. He is just 21 which naturally means inexperienced. He also has this occasional rush of blood which Lehmann had and that would naturally lead to some mistakes. His form was a bit patchy towards the end of the season. His biggest blunder this season came at that ill fated day against Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, but he is very young and surely he will go on to become one of the top goalkeepers in the world for both club and country.
Szczesny, although he performed outstandingly for a 21 year old, I wouldn't make him as our Number one yet. He has still got somethings to learn and so I would give him another season as our cup keeper and if Fabianski loses form or gets injured then I would promote him as Number one.
So our goalkeeping situation looks pretty good and I don't want us to buy a GK this season. We should sell Almunia and promote either Mannone or James Shea as our Number 3.
Defense
Our defense has been a real problem for the past few season and Arsene replaced Gallas and Silvestre and brought in Koscielny and Squillaci as their replacements.
Thomas Vermaelen - After a brilliant first season with Arsenal, a lot was expected of Vermaelen this season. He naturally started the season as a first choice alongside the new signing Koscielny and the combination looked pretty solid despite some ocassional loss of concentration from Koscielny. Then came that international break and Vermaelen got injured. It was first predicted that he will be out for only a week, but slowly weeks turned into months and he went onto miss eight months of action. Losing your first choice CB for eight months is a sickening blow for any team and it was even a worse blow for Arsenal who were mostly defensively naive. Arsenal missed that leader at the back to organize the defense and when he eventually made his return in May, the season was all but over.
Vermaelen is a classy defender to have and I seriously hope he will be free from his injuries next season. We very badly needed a player like him at the back and if he can stay away from injury next season, our defensive failures can be minimized to an extent.
Laurent Koscielny - Koscielny was bought for 10 million from the French side Lorient and went straight into the team as a first choice. His first game against Liverpool was a shaky one and he was sent off for two bookable offenses. He went onto make 43 appearances for the club and its fantastic for a player who was playing in his first season in premier league. He made some errors in his judgement during the early part of his Arsenal carrier but corrected them quickly and he came out as one of the shining light from this ill fated season. His best games of the season were against Barcelona and Chelsea, both at the Emirates where he virtually kept Drogba and Messi in his pocket for the whole game. His biggest error came during that Carling Cup final which proved very costly at the end but nevertheless he is a top defender to have in your side.
He is one of the finest tacklers you will see in the league and he also has a good pace. He is also very comfortable with both feet and is also a very good header of the ball. He will surely became a great defender for Arsenal and I would like to see him as first choice alongside Vermaelen next season. His game will go well with Vermaelen's game and I am sure they will be great partners in defense.
Johan Djourou - Djourou, the longest serving Arsenal player has performed some bit part appearance for Arsenal in the past, but was promoted into first choice this season following Vermaelen's injury. He also performed really well for the most of this season. His record alongside both Koscielny and Squillaci was very good and he is one of the finest header of the ball we have. His appearance against Chelsea at the Emirates was one of his best this season and he went onto make 37 appearance for Arsenal this season. His performance dipped a bit after his shoulder injury and he started to really struggle during our actual title run in. His performance against Bolton and Aston Villa were really poor and coincidently Arsenal's form dipped along with his. Having said that, he certainly has the talent to become a great CB and having a world class player like Vermaelen to guide him will only help him in the future.
Although he is a great talent, I will use him only as a second choice next season.
Sebastian Squillaci - He was bought from Spanish side Sevilla for 5 million. He is hugely experienced and was a league winner with Leon. He wasn't really expected to play much this season but following injuries to Vermaelen and Djourou he played 32 game for us and was decent overall. He got caught with his pace and positioning more than once and that lead to Arsenal dropping a lot of points. His partnership with Djourou is statiscally very good and I would keep him at Arsenal for one more season at least.
We clearly need to buy a CB this season. More importantly we need to bring someone in as a defensive coach. Our defensive problems are increasing year by year and we surely need to address it.
Gale Clichy - Clichy, the second longest serving Arsenal player had a very good season in my opinion. He started the season a bit shaky and corrected them very quickly and was pretty good for almost all the 44 games he played for first team this season. His pace and his skill of intercepting a opponents ball and starting a attack is one of his best qualities. Having said that, his positioning and more importantly his crossing needs to improve a lot. He provided some very good assists this season but his crossing has been a major concern and he needs to correct that asap.
The biggest worry though is his contract situation. His contract runs out next year and he is yet to sign a extension. Rumours are doing the rounds that he wont extend it and so will be sold and I really don't want to see that. He is a player I like a lot and he is a true professional who has never ever spoken bad of his fellow players or the club during his tenure. I hope and pray that he extends his contract.
Kieran Gibbs - This has been a very bad season for Gibbs. He played a few games during the end of the season due to Clichy's injury and he really struggled overall. He has the talent to become a good LB but he was really affected by his injury and lack of game time. Gibbs needs a short term loan to get back to his best and I hope he gets that next season.
Our LB situation is a big concern. If Clichy leaves, we surely need to buy a LB. Gibbs is surely not yet ready to replace him and I believe as is Traore. I believe in Arsene and hopefully he either makes Gael sign the contract or brings in a suitable replacement.
Bacary Sagna - He is one of the best Right Backs in the world and it was justified when he was picked for the PL team of the year 2010-11. He is simply great in both attack and defense and one of the most reliable and consistent player you will ever find in any league. I am sure he will repeat this great performance next season too.
Emmanuel Eboue - Eboue had a up and down season. His playing time was reduced due to the form and fitness of Sagna and he really struggled when he eventually stepped onto the field. His worst game came against Liverpool when he gave away a soft penalty at the deep end of the game which eventually ended our title challenge. His best game was against Barcelona at the Emirates. People talk a lot about Koscielny, RVP, Wilshere and Arshavin's performance in that game but Eboue was equally good taking into consideration the opposition we faced.
Eboue is a good player and I want him to stay at Arsenal next season. But he needs to correct his simply mistakes and lack of concentration though. If he decides to leave then surely we need to sign a backup for Sagna.
Correcting our defensive problems should be our number one priority this off season. A CB, a LB if Gael leaves and a RB if Eboue leaves are a must. On top of all that, a defensive coach is a must in my opinion.
Sorry for making this post a very long one and we will look at our midfield and attack next week. Until then, take care everyone.
