Eduardo's Arsenal Half Term Report Part 1
Not that Eduardo
By Eduardo
January 1 2012
So here we are 19 League games played and 19 to go. We sit in 4th position in the league (first time this season by rights), into the last 16 of the CL, unlucky to be out of CC at QF stage and awaiting the start of the FA Cup. That does not sound so bad, or even very eventful, but of course we all know it does not tell the whole story.
So let’s start at the beginning, well actually before the beginning of the season, a summer that can at best be called traumatic. Cesc acted the fekwad, and Wenger let him, he would not submit a written transfer request, he declared himself unfit to play, he would only go to Barcelona, so we being Arsenal, bent over backwards, took it with a smile and let him leave for a fraction of his true value.
You would think that such occurrences would have caused uproar amongst Gooners everywhere, yes, there was dissatisfaction expressed, but no protests, no marches on the Emirates. Why I hear some ask, well simply for four reasons.
1. Much like PV4’s “will he won’t he go” summers, many were just glad to see him finally go, so we would be rid of this soap opera.
2. Cesc was loved, he had performed at a very high level for a very long time, he was going home, and he was not going for money.
3. Match going Gooners had more to worry about, the indefensible 6.5% ticket hike was the only uniting cause that was worth protesting about.
4. The biggest reason Cesc got less denunciation than would normally be reserved for a deserting favourite, was of course, due to there being a villain of much greater proportions that was the deserving target of our fury, none other than Samir Nasri.
Nasri, now for some a byword for greed, he had led us a merry dance. He had said last February he was happy with the contract offer and only minor details remained to be signed, but he refused to sign, wages that he was happy with, were no longer even close to what he wanted, then he even refused to discuss a contract. Of course he stated it was nothing to do with Man City having little chats with him.
His refusal to even consider a move to Man Utd confirmed what we all knew, City’s more than double your wages offer had brought out the true nature of the guy, greed. So eventually it was done, and for the most part Gooners are glad to see his type gone. Yes we may miss what he gave us for six months of his years at Arsenal, but we will never miss his lack of character on or off the pitch.
Now before I go any further, it has to be pointed out Arsenal FC, Ivan Gazidis, and of course Arsene Wenger, not only handled the Nasri situation but also the Cesc transfer badly. It was allowed to drag on far too long. So long, that Nasri actually ended up playing for Arsenal against Liverpool, awful management. Yes at the end Arsenal got the big fee for Nasri and a little more out of Barca for Cesc, but too late for the money to be of any real use to the club’s own transfer plans last summer. Not to mention the team had been deflated by losing two more automatic starters so close to the start of the season (actually it had started), to go alongside the sale of another regular first choice player, Clichy (at least it was done in time).
Season Start.
August
The team started the season in a real Jekyll and Hyde fashion. Very flat in the FAPL but fine in the CL. Ordinary performances v Newcastle (0-0) and Liverpool (0-2) in the league (Nasri’s one and only game for us, he did ok till Frimpong was sent off and then he did his usual disappearing act), were intertwined with CL qualification with a deserved 3-1 aggregate win over Udinese.
The four games took their toll, Song, Gervinho, Sagna, Gibbs and others were out due to suspension or injury for the trip to Old Trafford. The squad was threadbare, so much so, that Armand Traore had his transfer to QPR postponed for a couple of days so he could play left back, untested youths were thrown in, add to this several wasted opportunities such as a RVP penalty, a sending off and we got the mother of all beatings – 8-2.
The media had a field day (much like Utd had during the game), many Gooners bought into it, and relegation was all but assured.
Transfer Deadline
Luckily enough the window was not shut, and despite what some, even to this day, suggest, there was no panic buys, all deals completed had been in the pipeline for days if not weeks – confirmed by Arsenal, the players themselves and even some of the selling clubs – so Park, Santos, Mertesacker, Arteta and Benayoun all arrived. I will concede that they may not have been first choice signings, but none the less not panic signings. All experienced players, all the sort of players the squad has required for a few years, the real pity was that they, or their like, had not been added even one year earlier, before we lost Cesc and co. So overall we replaced a couple of very talented players with a batch of less talented but more solid performers.
Back to Action
September
Adding so many players and with injuries and suspensions still affecting us, not to mention the downer we were on due to OT, it took a little while to get up and running. So September was a bit off too, Swansea was seen off 1-0, Dortmund was a 1-1 where we let slip the win with a late leveller. The Blackburn game was an odd one, for me we played with an attacking flair unseen from us up to that point, but despite all the good possession, and good opportunities created we missed far too many chances, and then gifted them two OG’s and ended up losing 4-3 (Not many teams score five and lose. Editor). Believe it or not Blackburn have only two other wins so far this season (well three wins now they beat Man Utd 3-2 at OT).
At this point we showed a few signs of recovery, Shrewsbury seen off 3-1 in CC, best remembered for the sight of Park (he actually scored a stunning goal), up to this point and since many have doubted this player actually exists, Bolton(3-0) in the league and a CL 2-1 win over Olympiacos were all worthy and encouraging.
October
If OT was bad for most Gooners we began October with what many would see as the greater shame, losing to the spuds 2-1, that we played well means nothing. Again at this point the doomsayers were out in force, relegation was still their favourite topic. But five straight wins across 3 competitions – Sunderland (2-1), Marseille (1-0), Stoke (3-1), Bolton (2-1) and of course the best of the lot, Chelsea (5-3) – finally put an end to the stupid talk of relegation, and actually gave some hope back to those lacking in belief.
November
The good run continued with Marseille (0-0), WBA (3-0), Norwich (2-1), Dortmund (2-1) and Fulham (1-1), and our only defeat of the month was in the CC 1-0 to Man City. But we had topped our CL group with a game to spare and had kept rising up the league table.
December
A very up and down month, wins over Wigan (4-0), Everton (1-0), Aston Villa (2-1) and QPR had defeat away to Olympiacos and a draw with Wolves (1-1) wedged in there too
So where are we as a Club?
Now with the games and transfers covered what has this half season meant for the club, or to be more precise, where are we now as a club. Well we all know AFC is extremely wealthy, maybe £50M to £80M could be spent on incoming players if the will was there by those in charge, Wenger, Gazidis, and Kroenke. We also know its more likely that nothing will be spent in the January window, a couple of loans, such as the PR stunt that would be the short team arrival of Thierry Henry, a real fan pacifier that, if ever there was one.
I would liken Arsenal at the moment to the sort of Old Age Pensioner (OAP) that many of us know, the sort who was brought up in real hard times, their childhood and much of their adult life was one where every penny counted, where there was real consequences to being in debt, they seen evictions, emigration, the work house, real poverty, and by the time they had sufficient funds to live a fuller life, they were so entrenched in saving for a rainy day or making sure they would never be in debt again, they just could not let it go, it had become too engrained in their whole psyche.
Arsenal with the building of the Emirates Stadium had to count every penny, now they have real money, Wenger who has worked so long with a restricted budget does not know what to do with it, and in fact looks unwilling to spend in case that rainy day comes.
As I said back when the summer window closed, there was absolutely no problem with who we bought, if we had not sold Cesc and Nasri, and that remains the case, we are two real quality inventive players from being an outstanding team. But I don’t see us spending the money, the board, or Kroenke, are too afraid to risk it.
And anyone who has dealt with an OAP with this frame of mind, knows it’s nigh on impossible to change their views, how we can get this mindset change I’m not sure, because if we don’t find a way AFC will end up like so many OAP’s do, dying from poverty but leaving mattresses stuffed with money behind them (plenty die of poverty, not too many leave mattresses stuffed full of money behind. Editor).
Just a line or two on the team, I think most of us agree they are giving their all, trying their best, yes their best may be less than the best of recent teams, but because they seem to know this, they work damn hard and we can accept their lack of quality.
A club is nothing without its fans, so where are we as fans. I think Arsenal fans are now closer in their views than they have been for some time (FOR two or three years if not more). The good results after the early disasters, the mini transfer splurge allied to a team that seem to know its limitations and who are working very hard to overcome them, has mellowed a lot of the doomers, and those on the other end of the spectrum have, with so much money clearly being held back and not being used on the team as it should, that, and the length of time since we won a tin cup, now have a little less optimism, so there is a real narrowing of the waves. It’s not all bad and it’s not all good and we know it.
End of Part 1 Half Term Report
Part 2 of the report, with Eduardo awarding end of half-term prizes and brickbats will follow.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:02:21:04:28 by Padre Pio.
Na na na na naaaaaaa
I liked it though. Good read.
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.