Arsene Wenger's Jacket

Let's face it, you are looking elsewhere, try to zip your jacket up and it gets stuck - I mean that is natural.

It may happen once, or maybe twice or at worst, three times - UNLESS you are Arsene Wenger.

Every man and their dog has had a laugh at Arsene Wenger's jacket.

It started when the TV camera's got wind of it and the jokes began.  Even Ivan Gazidis had a laugh about it at one of his question and answer sessions with supporters.

Club legends have all had a laugh and so have us, the fans. Many of which have gone to the club shop, just to try the jacket and take a photo.

...and now Arsene Wenger himself has got involved and has seen the funny side.

Long live Arsene Wenger's jacket!

See the new Puma advert here

Lack Of Pre-Season Is Telling Now…..But Mesut Ozil Looks Like He Is Ready To Join The Party

What formation do we play?

How do we fit in Ramsey, Ozil and Wilshere along with Sanchez in one team?

How can we find a way of playing in big games?

All questions that are usually answered in pre season when a manager can experiment with his players, formations and try new things.

The problem was, the chance never presented itself due to the World Cup – Mesut Ozil didn’t play a pre season game and that in itself was a problem.

I think and have always thought that Mesut Ozil will come good and I was absolutely delighted to see him run the game yesterday at Villa park – he was outstanding. He passed the ball well, created a chance and scored a goal. He was always available and often got in between the lines but also dropped back to get the ball from our defence to start attacks – it was a master class.

It was obvious to see that playing slightly more centrally (but still being able to drift wide, as he did when creating Welbeck’s goal) is his best position and we saw as the game went on, his confidence increased and long may it continue.

But in all honestly, who can blame Wenger for trying to fit in Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere in the same team by playing Ozil out wide – Wenger being in Brazil during the summer would have seen a lot of Ozil playing out wide and with the amount of pressure that Jack Wilshere has been under all summer and probably all year, who can really blame the manager for trying to fit them all in? It is just a shame that pre-season was non existent and we were not given the chance to test a few systems out then.

It’s a great problem to have, and with injuries, having several players who can play across the midfield and attacking positions can only be a good thing but it will be very interesting to see who starts against Spurs next week and away at Chelsea the week after – Ozil had his best game in ages yesterday afternoon but Jack Wilshere had his best game in ages at home against City the week before – could it be Aaron Ramsey to miss out? Surely Sanchez has to come back in? Where does Theo fit in?

So many questions……this is why I’m not a football manager and a supporter on twitter!

Up the Arsenal

#ProbablyTheMostPointlessBlogPieceEver

New Season And A Different Feel

The day Robin Van Persie signed for Manchester United from Arsenal, we all probably felt as low as we ever thought we could.

Our captain, our top scorer and best player had just left for our biggest rivals over the Wenger era.

Fast forward a couple of years and Mesut Ozil was bought followed by Alexis Sanchez -  to be fair, the summer Van Persie was sold, Arsenal did some good business in terms of players coming in. Santi Cazorla arrived for a fee of 11m which in truth was genius as did Podolski, a German internationally nearing 100 caps and Oliver Giroud, a champion in France. However, the loss of the captain was the most talked about move that summer.

This year, we have lost Bacary Sagna who in my opinion, was a tremendous player who I would have loved to stay – but again, a three year contract on 90k means paying a 34 year old 90k in his final year which does not make good business sense. Seeing Bacary go was tough but seeing what we have done give me as much pleasure as the signings of Alexis or Ozil. We recruited a ready made right back who knows the country, is experienced and number one choice for his national team. In addition, we have got Calum Chambers who can play in a wide range of positions, including right back. Many had a fear that Carl Jenkinson would be thrown in but he now gets a year on loan where he will have a better chance to actually do what he is paid for – play!

The buzz of having our new signings (along with the return of Joel Campbell) and having a ft again Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain gives us plenty of optimism. The return of Theo Walcott is what excites me the most – having Theo and Alexis in the same team SHOULD frighten most teams and in my opinion, will bring out the very best in Mesut Ozil.

There is still some work to be done (replacing TV5 and perhaps adding another player or two) but the signs are good and the squad looks better then it has in years.

Whatever happens at Wembley tomorrow (without three Germans, two of which will be starting most games), win or lose, I think this team is ready to add to the FA Cup they won last year and this season could just be the one where we look back at and think, the wait was worth it.