It’s mid July and that means the Arsenal’s 2010/11 season starts at Underhill, this being my second trip to the home of Barnet FC and the Arsenal reserves for many a year. There seemed to be a greater police presence around the pubs and open spaces around Underhill than in 2009 even though very few Barnet fans were to be seen, enough to suggest that over three of the five thousand attending were following the team in the very new and natty red and white kit. Around half the away crowd were already in the yellow and maroon/burgundy away kit with a healthy proportion of Chamakh 29 shirts in evidence.
The buzz around the ground pre match was caused by how incorrect the squad list given out by the Arse.com website the previous night was – no Almunia or Eduardo despite them being included yet Mannone and Chesney (Wojciech Szczesny) were in despite not being included in the original 22, with the latter being given the number 1 shirt, perhaps a flash forward of his intended future place in the squad. Perhaps the Athletico Madrid bids for Almunia had been made after all.
The conditions were blustery and cool when the sun went in while quite warm when the sun broke through, quite comfortable for playing either football or cricket, as was being played behind the south stand as we (myself and a few of the guys from Arsenalarsenal blog) queued up to go through the old fashioned turnstiles, with actual people operating them.
There was a departure in team selection from last year in that instead having a first XI in the first half and all reserves/squad players in the second half, each half had a mixture of first teamers and reserves.
So for the first half we had Vermaelen, Arshavin, Rosicky (with newly cropped haircut) as skipper, Traore and Fabianski (who was spared any boo boy treatment) providing the experience while Wilshere, Jay Emmanuel Thomas (JET) and Jay Simpson have so far only been squad players.
Of course Kozzer (Laurent Koscielny) started as expected and having watched him carefully in the warm up, where the players were passing to each other in triangles in front of the dugouts, he definitely favours his right foot and he also played on the right side of central defence.
As for his performance, I’d compare it to Vermaelen’s last year where to my eyes Thomas looked fairly good for most of the game but appeared to be out jumped for certain headers. Similarly for Kozzer, he made some mistakes but overall he looked more steady than spectacular in defence, although a couple of thundering headed clearances were given loud cheers – it’s good to see this new boy being given every encouragement.
Once the game kicked off, pretty quickly Rosicky carved open the defence within a minute or so of the start and Arshavin was there to show his class by steering in the opener after jinking past the keeper. Andrey appeared to have lost some weight and he looked leaner than at this same fixture last year. A dipping shot by Andrey also rebounded off the cross bar soon after as further evidence of his ability to fashion a chance out of very little.
Wilshere looked lively and was full of running although whenever a pass didn’t work or he didn’t get the ball as he wanted a little petulance in his reaction could be seen. Personally I see it as a desire to win rather than anything especially negative about the player and not proof that he has become an awkward customer now. Wilshere also set up the first of Simpson’s goals, again wriggling around in the mid field area finding space to line up the goal as well as chipping in with an assist for Simpson’s second goal after a dart of speed from Arshavin released Jack into space to set up a tap in.
JET although big and strong seemed a little ungainly and clumsy to me although he didn’t lose possession as much as it appeared he should so I’m not sure if he will make it for the Arsenal.
One player who did impress was Nordtveit, looking too tall to be a right back, which is where he played, who has been on loan to Nuremberg in the Bundesliga last season, where he played as a defensive midfielder, so a versatile player. Looking composed and solid on the ball and very difficult to get past I foresee some appearances for Nordtveit this season. He even was victim of a wild sliding tackle that saw him go flying up in the air – good preparation for what to expect in the competitive games that I believe he will play in his season.
Another player to catch the eye was Frimpong, full of energy and running and seemingly all over the pitch in a “box to box” midfielder kind of fashion.
The second half saw a completely different XI start for the Arsenal with the experience provided by Nasri, Walcott and our second new signing, Chamakh. Our new number 29 showed why Wenger was so keen to bring him and while it can’t be said that a friendly against a fourth tier team is a representative test of his suitability to the Premier league, genuine class shows and in Maroune’s case his first touch and control while receiving the ball with his back to the goal was near perfect. His understanding with Walcott showed great promise and he certainly looked strong enough to hold off most of the more lumpen centre backs he will come up against.
The Arsenal support in the East terrace also premiered Chamakh’s chant, a simple:
Chamakh… Chamakh.
Chamakh, Chamakh, Chamakh
The first two repeats separated by a pause with the last three being said quicker and quicker. I’m looking forward to seeing how he links up with Robin and with a little luck maybe we could have a very potent strike force this season.
I was told later that there was a “F**k you Barca” banner in the North Terrace although your humble scribes’ eyesight was too poor to pick it out although I did hear the “Stand up if you hate Barca” chant come from the East terrace area.
Theo understandably looked fresh and scared the living daylights out of the Barnet defenders and while a few of his crosses were way off target I’m optimistic that he can have a productive season for us based on his desire to show how wrong Capello was to leave him out of the England squad. I believe things worked out doubly well for us, Theo was spared any association with the South African debacle and we now have a fully rested and highly motivated player on our hands.
While Arsenal looked quite good up front and in mid field in either half, watching Djourou dwell on the ball while the Barnet forwards snapped at his heels made me fear for our back line if the likes of Rooney or Drogba were to be pressurising him instead. Djourou seemed to want too much time to make his clearances. If I was to be pushed on this point I would not, on the evidence of that game, pick Djourou ahead of Kozzer. So does this point to the further defensive addition that Wenger wants to bring in as being the first choice partner for Vermaelen? Although I was impressed with Nordtveit surely it would be too soon to pick him as first choice, if so then maybe Wenger see something in Djourou I don’t?
The East terrace boys started the “Super, super Sam” chant for another slimmed down player, Nasri, just before a Barnet defender trod on the ball, lost control and let Nasri steal in and score the fourth.
Without the creative axis of Arshavin and Wilshere the second half lacked the excitement of the first half yet encouragingly the typical Arsenal fast pass & move game was still there. Chesney came on but unfortunately we didn’t get to see him do anything much other than come out to clear an over hit long ball over the top that the Barnet forward failed to reach. Chesney’s reputation certainly preceded him as the crowd greeted his arrival warmly and the young man didn’t appear at all fazed by the attention (yes, I know it’s only a League 2 side and a crowd of 5,000) and commanded his penalty area well during the few occasions his goal was threatened.
With the proviso that the Arsenal were playing a League 2 side I’d conclude it looks quite good up front and in the middle although the centre back and goalkeeping situations still need to be addressed.
Roll on Anfield, August the 15th.
Final whistle
Mannone and Rice
Djourou - first choice centre back?
Chamakh before the second half
Jack Wilshere in the dug out
Arsenal News 24/7
Hello all, I should have mentioned the Chamakh chant was to the tune of something called “Attack..attack. Attack, attack, attack” – sorry I don’t know the song, it’s something the youngsters listen to I believe.
July 18th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
@Chary, Not what the youngsters are listening to these days, but it sounds to me like it would fit perfectly with the first few bars of Eine Kleine Nactmusik…
Or the middle part of “Classico”, if you prefer the Tenacious D version.
July 19th, 2010 at 8:37 am
@Chary, System of a Down?
Nice write up and Thanks Chary for sharing your experience with us. I agree with your point that Djourou seemed to want too much time to make his clearances. Even i noticed that and concluded that he needs more playing time to get ready for First team action.
Seriously hoping that we add a CB with Premier league quality because Djourou and Koscielny are not upto the mark.
You’re welcome and agreed Aman, I can’t remember if he was so slow to make clearances before his injury, can you recall ?
If it’s just an after effect of the injury maybe he’ll be better prepared to be first choice than his showing yesterday would lead you to believe.
July 18th, 2010 at 9:46 am
@Chary,I do not know if its Injury or he takes long to think before making a clearance. Because yesterday it was like he could not decide what to do with ball in defense , but going forward he was okay.
July 18th, 2010 at 9:50 am
@Aman,
It’s because it’s been so long since we’ve seen him play that we’ve all forgotten his relative pace in making clearances and decision making.
Hi guys, I was at the game with chary, I agree that Djourou was really worrying – he got himself into trouble a couple of times and if that had been against a better team we would have been punished.
Maybe he was just trying to be too clever
You can only imagine what would have been the outcome if Bellamy was harassing Johan instead of a league 2 striker, Peachy.
Scarey stuff.
Excellent match report Chary.
Thanks for the thoughts Chary. I noticed Koscielny crossed with his right as well, which is odd since before he came a lot of websites indicated he was a left footer.
Thanks London & Shobo I think the misconception that Kozzer is left footed probably comes from the fact that he is fairly comfortable on the left foot also.
On a slightly related note I saw Nordtveit crossed with his left foot from the right(he was playing at right back)in a way that Dixon used to, that is check back onto his left before crossing.
good article, Johann Djourou has been out for over a year and is rusty. I wouldn’t be overly worried at this stage.
Wilshere was decent and so was Nacer Barazite, hopefully he gets given a chance this year to show what he can do in the first team on a regular basis. I was surprised at how much Frimpong had beefed up and looked very good and a more impressive understudy for Song than Eastmond.
July 18th, 2010 at 11:53 am
@ads, Barazite was quite inventive and industrious in midfield, that’s true.
I would still be happier if we had a centre back in his late 20′s added to our ranks though even if Djourou does pick up his game as pre season carries on.
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/eduardo-potpisao-za-shakhtar/502402.aspx
Premier League squads this season must contain a maximum of 25 players aged over 21, at least eight of whom have to be ‘home-grown’ — that is, players trained in England or Wales for 36 months before the end of the season in which they became 21.
But Wenger, whose Arsenal squad contains 14 foreign players over 21 and just six ‘home-grown’ ones, none of whom are English, branded the rules ‘artificial’ and said having to play more English players will damage the standard of the league.
via Daily Fail
—-
Are they serious? We only have 6 homegrown players? Wtf? Can someone verify this please.
July 18th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
@Jake, Doesn’t seem right to me Jake, I can think of Theo, Jack Wilshere, Gibbs and Craig Eastmond straight off.
July 18th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Nice write up Chary. It’s good to have first hand impressions sometimes, versus the stilted reports found in the regular media.
The key to the squad quota is that 8 players do not have to be over 21. also, we can have more players than the 25 allotted as long as they are under 21.
Therefore, Bendtner, Cesc, Diaby, Clichey, Ramsey, Mannone, etc. all fall into that group.
Of all the top PL teams, arsenal are the best positioned to meet their quota without diluting squad quality.
July 18th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
@Caribkid69, Thanks mate, and I thought the Daily (Hate) Mail had got the facts muddled in their continued vendetta against the Arsenal.
As the old saying goes, “Never let the facts get in the way of a good (trumped up) story”
July 18th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Untold Arsenal has a great write up which explains the terribly convoluted quota system in rather simple terms. Anyone who feel the need to understand it more should look at
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2010/06/
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6268880,00.html
A bad omen if Blackpool are serious.
July 18th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
@ctpa, Do you mean is it a bad omen for Blackpool?
Jeffers has never fulfilled his potential and I’m not unduly concerned if he lines up against us in our first home game.
July 18th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
For Blackpool. Another promoted side showing that it lacks foresight, belief and a clue about what it will take to stay up for longer than it takes to drink a cup of tea. Jeffers is a dinosaur at 29 who is still getting clubs to sniff around him because of a Wenger mistake.
We may despise Stoke but they haven’t faded away yet because have a clue albeit limited and provincial.
July 19th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Yeah, I thought that was what you meant ctpa.
Wenger got his fingers burnt their and it seems to have put him off paying big for english players.
The “Attack Attack, Attack,Attack,Attack chant was an old North Bank favorite of the 70′s.
July 19th, 2010 at 7:44 am
Oh right Harry R, I’m an oldie but not that old ! It just sounded like a rap song or something disco-ey.
Does Arsh look a little thinner, a little happier, a little less drained? I thought he ended the season in pathetic form, classless. I was praying he’d be shipped off. World Cup years are always difficult on players, especially players who aren’t going to be competing in the World Cup. I know this was hard for Arsh to swallow, that Russia would stay home for the World Cup. I’m not saying that he’s found his right form again, or that he is now a good fit for the squad, but I was pleased with his effort in such a meaningless match. More of that and I would entertain a new opinion of him.
July 19th, 2010 at 1:08 am
We allthought that he looked leaner and perkier than in the 2009 game against Barnet.
Althoguh he is outspoken I feel that the Arsh is a genuine character and is not averse to self-criticism if his performances flag.
On Cesc:
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2010/07/who-is-lying-and-why-cesc-interview-and-translation/
Thanks god J Cole has been lapped up by Liverpool ,i would not have loved him at Arsenal because he is greedy crock.