Arsenal: Needs of Pragmatism Over Price

What a difference a week makes in football. Arsenal were riding high
in the league prior to the defeat at Goodison Park. They had gone 14
league games unbeaten since the opening day defeat to Liverpool at the
Emirates. But following in poor second half displays against Everton
and Manchester City they ended up throwing away six points from
winning positions thereby granting the initiative back to their title
rivals as both the leading pack and chasing pack all won their
matches.
Yet it all smacks of familiar failings for Arsenal as the same turn of
events as become all too common. If comments are compared with
previous seasons as regard how the team have fallen away by losing
concentration in key matches, you could find the same thing all over
again.

The argument in the past was that the team needed to spend to match
its rivals or to mount a title challenge. And that was exactly what
Arsene Wenger has done in recent seasons. The signings of Mesut Ozil
and Alexis Sanchez were a signal in the change of direction of the
club in terms of its spending power. Even when nobody was signed last
summer, the club still signed Petr Cech for £10m. Something that would
have been unthinkable when the purse strings were tight.
Coming to this summer there were huge outlay for Granit Xhaka and
Mustafi which totaled up to £65m for both players.

But despite Wenger's declaration at various times this season that his
players are now more matured in terms of their ability to come back
from difficult situations, that assertion as so far proved once again
that it is a false dawn at least for now.

With the way the league is shaping up, with Chelsea setting a high bar
with consecutive wins, Liverpool imposing their game on opponents, and
Manchester City coming back from adverse situations, Arsenal choosed
the wrong time not to pick of any point from six available in the
North West of England inside a week.

The cries of spend the money from many of those of Arsenal persuasion
has dissipated. Why because, money has indeed been spent, but old
weaknesses persist. Despite the spending, Arsene Wenger has remained
the only constant in this never ending circle of mental flakiness that
continually pervades the consciousness of the Arsenal players. They
are not tough enough to stand up to difficult situations in matches.
And Wenger's in game management leaves much to be desired these days.

When the team is under pressure, a modicum tweak or a substitution
could aid in assuaging such a pressure, but the usual 70th minute
substitution has become a theme of Wenger's era. And if not that, a
reactive step not to freshen things up, but to react to his team going
behind, when he could have taken the initiative by carrying out the
substitution much earlier.

For the match at the Etihad on Sunday, Mesut Ozil had no business
playing the full match. The German was poor on the day. If he had been
substituted, he would have had few complains. The game repeatedly
passed him by. A player like Lucas Perez could have given Arsenal
something different on the day.

Arsene Wenger would have to address the midfield conundrum going
forward. The absence of Santi Cazorla has robbed Arsenal's midfield of
its most important player. Besides, his technical ability, his two
footedness is a feature of his game that is underrated. With all of
Granit Xhaka's qualities, that is something that he doesn't have.
This is not to say that he doesn't possess something that can carry
Arsenal forward as he is becoming an integral part of a midfield that
is clearly missing the finesse of Cazorla.

Francis Coquelin's limitation in possession means Arsenal essentially
plays almost with one man down when they are faced with certain
opponents. As was evident against Manchester City, Arsenal regained a
measure of possession when Mo Elneny came in for the injured Oxlade
Chamberlain.

Arsenal the season, lack certain element to their game. They cannot
stay deep to defend when they are under pressure without Per
Mertesacker. There is an obvious lack of compactness to their game in
the absence of the German. Besides, Mustafi's absence was clearly felt
in the two defeats recently as the German's passing ability from the
back is something Gabriel doesn't possess.

For once, Arsene Wenger would have to adopt some measure of pragmatism
going forward if he is to get Arsenal's season back on track. Clean
sheets have become a rarity. And a chance for Rob Holding in place of
Gabriel as the young centre half has fare better alongside Koscielny
this season than the Brazilian.

For all the individual criticism of players, it is Wenger's duty to go
beyond saying that his squad possess the mental toughness to rise from
adversity and for the players to start translating that into
consistent performances.

Arsenal's Motions In November

For a number of years now, particularly in the Arsene Wenger era, the
month of November has always been a tricky one for Arsenal on the
pitch. For inexplicable reasons the club often suffer from a sudden
loss of form or a number of injuries to players.
Last season, the club's season technically came to an end in November
when both Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin succumbed to ligament
injuries against West Brom. Although, the club only lost one match in
December, a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Southampton, they secured
wins in the other matches played that month. But the soft underbelly
due to a dyfunctional midfield was obvious.

Though, this season has not been different in terms of the form in
November, the only difference is that the team has remain unbeaten
going into the last match for the month which is against Southampton
in the League Cup at the Emirates today.

Arsenal are unbeaten in 19 matches since the opening day defeat to
Liverpool in the premier league. Though they have managed some tricky
fixtures in November, the unbeaten run has continued. Wins against
Ludogoret and Bournemouth in the Champions League and Premier League
has been unsetted by draws against Tottenham, Manchester United and
PSG in the League and Europe respectively.

The usual fluency that was the hallmark of Arsenal's attack in
September and October has been missing throughout November, with the
team having to abandon its free flowing style for more steel.

The failure of the team to adopt a free flowing style in recent weeks
is linked to the injury to Santi Cazorla. The 31 year old ambidextrous
midfielder who has been sidelined since October with an Achilles
problem has been a revelation since he was deployed as a deep lying
playmaker by Arsene Wenger. His two footed-ness allows him to keep and
recycle possession at close quarters and he is responsible for setting
the tempo of Arsenal's build up play after collecting the ball from
the centre halves. Incidentally, his presence always bring out the
best from Mesut Ozil as the German strives in the final third without
having to go searching for the ball in deeper positions whenever the
Spaniard is absent.
Besides the absence of Cazorla, the recent knock suffered by Alexis
Sanchez during the last international break meant he struggled against
Manchester United. But he was back to his best against Bournemouth
when he got a brace taking his tally for the season to ten goals.

The struggles reminiscent of November when it comes to Arsenal has
been reflected by inconsistent form, but not in results. With
different midfield combinations being deployed this month, with
Elneny-Xhaka, Coquelin-Elneny, Xhaka-Ramsey, Elneny-Xhaka as a
partnership either being deployed at the start of a match or during a
tweak as it was against Manchester United when Xhaka-Ramsey finished
that match in the middle.

One thing though, is that the closest midfielder Arsenal have to
Cazorla is Xhaka. The Swiss international brings a similar tempo
setting ability that the Spaniard has, and his ability to pick a pass
from deep prevents the likes of Ozil to fall deep to search for the
ball when there is an absence of a central midfielder who can pick a
pass inbetween the lines.
The 24 year old had one of his best games in an Arsenal shirt against
Tottenham, and his presence seem to bring out the best from Elneny
against Bournemouth last Sunday.

Though, its just 13 games into the Premier League season, the table is
already shaping up to be a four horse race, with a little gap emerging
in the table. But the hectic fixture list in December would determine
the direction the season takes.

With the League Cup, the least of Arsenal's prorities, a number of
players would want to go all the way in the competitons as the likes
of Martinez, Jeff, Rob Holding and a host of youngsters know it is an
opportunity to get more playing time for the club in a tight squad.

So its dateline Southampton as the Emirates on Wednesday with what
should be a completely different team from what obtains in the league.
Likely lineup should be:

Martinez, Jenkinson, Gabriel, Holding Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain,
Ramsey, Xhaka, Jeff, Iwobi, Lucas.

Arsene Wenger's Transfer Poker

Once again, Arsenal go into the new season which starts on Saturday
without the necessary signings that would strengthen the team. For a
number of years, Arsenal's goal output has significantly reduced
because of the dearth of quality strikers at the club. It was the
team's lack of scoring that has cost it valuable opportunities to win
the title, but this is not forgetting it defensive frailties that is
well documented.

And going into the new season, the team is more in need of a defensive
signing than the equally important centre forward that it needs. With
Per Mertesacker ruled out until at least the new year with a knee
injury and Gabriel's ankle injury that has ruled him out for up to two
months, Arsenal are left with the inexperienced trio of Calum
Chambers, new signing, Rob Holding and Kristian Bieliek as central
defensive options going into the match against Liverpool on Sunday.
Laurent Koscielny's extended break after his participation at the
Euros means this weekend's match would come too soon for him. The same
applies to Mesut Ozil and Oliver Giroud. All of whom only just resumed
training this Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger can still choose to feature either of Mathieu Debuchy or
Nacho Monreal in central defence, but it could largely be a risk
against a Liverpool side that would be keen to start the new season on
a high under Jurgen Klopp.

For all of Arsenal's dithering in the transfer market, they have
brought in a midfielder in Granit Xhaka way in May, who should add
much needed physicality in central midfield, and his technicality and
passing range means he would add further pose to a midfield that was
devoid of Santi Cazorla's calmness in possession last season.

From the pre-season games and his performance at the Euros, the 23
year old Swiss international has shown that he would be a quality
addition to the Arsenal squad. The presence of Mohammed Elneny, Aaron
Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, if he can
stay fit makes the central midfield Arsenal's strongest position.

However, the same cannot be said of Arsenal's current defensive and
striking options which is in dire need of an upgrade. Before the
defensive injuries in pre season, the team was in need of a central
defender. And the attempt to sign a striker has not been successful
for a number of years with failed bids for the likes of Higuain, Luis
Suarez and the recent bid for Jamie Vardy.

Now, with 21 days to the end of the transfer window, Arsene Wenger
would have to deploy his best poker skills to sign the players his
team needs.
During the course of the summer, he has bemoaned the inflated prices
of the transfer market, but at other times, he has also been quick to
say it is something Arsenal have to accept as the prices are a
reflection of the huge sums avialable to English clubs because of the
new television deal.

In spite of the shortage of signings this season from Arsenal, they
have continually been linked to several players. Mustafi of Valencia,
the 24 year old German international defender has virtually been
linked every week for the last one month with reports claiming that
both clubs are still in talks to bring the former Everton defender to
the Emirates. He has valued at £25m. If Arsene Wenger intends to have
him in place against Liverpool, he must be signed and registered
before 12 GMT on Friday to be eligible to feature against Liverpool.

While the Frenchman has stated on several occasions that he is still
in the transfer market, he has also emphasised the importance of
concentrating on the players already at the club's disposal. A line of
assertion that means there is unlikely to be any new face ahead of the
match against Liverpool.

Arsenal under Arsene Wenger have always deployed an approach of being
reactive in the transfer market rather than being proactive. Little
wonder that Wenger remarked that they are waiting for an opportunity
to arise to sign certain players. Most times, such opportunity never
arises, instead it is left for the club to create such an opportunity
by putting in a bid the club would be unable to turn down. However,
Wenger always has his valuation of players so, it is not unusual that
certain deals over the years has fallen through as a result.

With the increased competition in the English Premier League, the
Frenchman cannot afford to do what he did last season when he made
Arsenal the only club not to sign an outfield player in Europe's top
five leagues. Although, he has already signed three players in Granit
Xhaka, Rob Holding and Takuma Asano this summer, the transfer window
will be considered a failure by Arsenl faithful if he agains fails to
bring in a striker and the defender his team desperately needs.

He has often compared the transfer market to playing a game of poker.
It is now left to him play it the way it would be favourable to his
team's needs.

The Triumph Of The Underdog Is What Makes Football Romantic

Football brings about thrilling moments that lives long in the
subsconcious for years.

Whether its a free kick from metres out that nests in the far corner,
a spinning dribble to create space, a sixty yard pass from deep in
midfield to set up a goal or a tackle to stop an imminent goal scoring
opportunity, football reveals different kinds of moment to different
people.

A goal scored to clinch a title or to win a tournament is always like
a signature in the memory that never fades.

Many fans would always remember Diego Maradona's hand of God goal
against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter final and his
mesmerising run and dribble that took out the entire English midfield
and defence in the same match.
This is how others would also remember Emmanuel Amuneke's goal that
clinched the gold medal in the footbal events of the 1996 Olympics in
Atlanta against Argentina. His brace two years earlier against Zambia
that won Nigeria its second Afcon title in Tunisia 94 remains an
abiding memory.

Sunday Mba's goal against Burkina Faso at 2013 Afcon which gave
Nigeria her third title is even more so, because its happened just
three years ago.

Just as there are abiding memories of joy and esctacy, so also there
are moments of anguish brought about be missing a vital goal scoring
opportunity that would have made a club or country to win a tournament
or advance to the next stage of a competition.
Asamoah Gyan's penalty miss that struck the post in the quarter final
against Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup stands as an memory of
disappointment because if that ball had gone in, Ghana would have made
history as the first African semi finalist in a World Cup. As it was
the Black Stars lost the penalty shoot out that followed.

Few would forget Victor Ikpeba's hands on head after his penalty kick
struck the under side of the bar and crossed the line, but to him it
was a miss, which handed Cameroun the Afcon title in Lagos sixteen
years ago.

There are numerous moments like this that remembers football fans of
what the game is all about. Be it moments that creates joy, or moments
that brings sadness like a Sunday Oliseh crying after the defeat to
Cameroun in the Afcon finals in Lagos in 2000, and a Buffon shedding
tears after Italy lost on penalties to Germany in one of the quarter
finals of Euro 2016.

Yet, all these moments put together whether good or bad doesn't
compare to the triumph of an underdog in football. It is such unlikely
triumphs that makes football what it is. An unpredictability that is
hinged on several factors that makes it romantic. Just like a
beautiful love story that results in a marriage.

Leicester City's run to the Premier League title last season is the
sort of thing that makes football a romantic sport. A triumph that was
never in the dreams of anybody, talk less of it happening in reality.
But it did happen, and it is a sporting triumph that would be told for
generations to come just as the William Shakepeare's Romeo and Juliet.
What made Leicester City's triumph so romantic, was that it didn't
occur by chance, they were simply the best side in the Premier League.

Leaving Leicester City's triumph, the exploits of Iceland and Wales at
the European Championships in France has provided a romantic scene to
a tournament that has been devoid of moments that will live long in
the memory.

Iceland's win over England was reminiscent of Leicester City's triumph
as they were the better side on the day. If a big team beats a smaller
team in a tournament, it doesn't make much of a news as it was
expected, but when a smaller team in every sphere of the word causes
an upset by beating a much more bigger team, the news reverbrates for
ages, and it becomes a tale that is told to generations which makes it
take the form of a romantic story in people's heart.

The Icelandic adventure might end or continue against France on
Sunday, but one thing is clear, the beautiful moments they have
created in football sphere will never be forgotten by the 330,000
Icelandic people. It will ring on for ages, just like the tales of the
Vikings.

The Welsh win over Belgium in the quarter finals created another
romantic sub plot to a tournament that has seen the underdogs come to
the party as the centre of attraction when many bookies and football
fans alike would have flirted with the more bigger teams.

These teams might not go on to win the tournament in France, but
looking at the story from another angle, an average football fan would
always remember what these teams did, because the triumph of the
underdogs certainly makes football romantic just like a love story.

Sunday Oliseh: A Coach Who Thinks He Is Still A Player

Sunday Oliseh has always been a combustive person that is prone to
constant bouts of emotional outburst when he was a player. As captain
of the Super Eagles at the African Cup of Nations tournament in Mali
in 2002. He was the person that stood up to Ishaya Mark Aku who was
then Minister of Sports to complain about the condition of the
players' welfare at a meeting in Bamako. It was an intervention that
led to his subsequent ban from the Super Eagles for daring to
challenge constituted authority and for that he left the national team
prematurely.

As a player to be temperamental is a part of a personality that is
easily seen on the field of play, and that Oliseh showed on countless
occasions in his playing days. His random fouling on key opposition
players and constant challenge of referee's decisions was something he
did furiously in Nigeria's defeat to Argentina at the FIFA World Cup
in USA 94.
Yet for all his combustive attitude as a player he showed his
emotional side when he was in tears after Nigeria lost to Cameroun at
the African Cup of Nations final played at the National Stadium in
Lagos in the year 2000. He was practically inconsolable.
A player who featured for some of the top clubs in Europe during his
playing career such as Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus should
have learnt a thing or two about anger management and how to deal with
critics.

Which brings me to his coaching stint so far. His recent outburst in a
Youtube post on his website was amatuerish for a coach of a national
team to say the least. A key trend amongst national team coaches in
the world is that they are never anti-establishment, because a coach
is the face of a country's football association. Sunday Oliseh has
continually displayed anti-establishment tendencies as a coach,
something you find mostly from a player, and he did that severally
during his playing days.
To have come out openly to say his players had not been paid their
allowances at the recently concluded African Nations Championship so
as a result they lacked motivation, smacked of a coach who was looking
for excuses. Contrast this with the Samson Siasia led U23 team who won
the African U23 Championships in Senegal in 2015. Those players did
not get any allowance prior to and during the tournament, but the
situations were different. It showed a coach who was able to motivate
his players at a difficult time, without necessarily coming out in the
media to complain about the fact that his team had nothing from the
NFF.
While, Samson Siasia knows the system very well, so he showed
understanding of the situation having being in and out as a coach with
the Football House, but Sunday Oliseh, who though is in his first job
with the Football House should have known better what he was getting
into. He knows how the system works here and the fact he is being owed
five months salary arrears is a reflection of that.
He was a pundit at supersports before he became coach of the Super
Eagles, as a pundit he was meant to commend and criticise players.
Being a pundit means you are part of the media.
So having being part of the media, he should be able to handle criticism.

He labelled several persons as insane in his outburst, but later
claimed it was directed as some ex-players and the media and not the
generality of Nigerians in his apology posted on his twitter handle.
His further attack on certain sections of the media who are seeking
favours from him in order for them to write favourable stories about
him should disturb anybody. And the part where he also alleged that
some persons notably ex-players want the players that they are
managing to be included in his plans so that he can get some proceeds
whenever they are transferred to a club. Rumours of this particular
practice has been rife for several years in the various national
teams. So if he is standing his ground that only players worthy of a
place in the Super Eagles will be invited to camp so be it.

Again, his outburst showed a coach who is immatured for a national
team job. That this is his first coaching job really means he is
practically learning on the job. Something that is a risk, so some of
his recent comments did not come as a surprise going by his history as
a player. Added to that is the fact that he was hand picked by the NFF
president Amaju Pinnick to be the coach, and he did not fight to get
the job whether in form of a shortlist of names or by applying for the
job. Something which is again reflected in the way in which he has
approached the job.

With his recent outburst he might have lost some allies within the
media who felt progress has been made since his appointment. Yet a
coach is judged by his results, and with that outburst he has only
increased the pressure on himself, because there won't be any soft
landing if the Super Eagles fail to get a positive result in the
double header with Egypt in the upcoming Afcon qualifiers.
At that time, it would be a case of who blinks first.