Ajax 1 - 2 Arsenal

I didn't manage to watch the game and as such could only draw conclusion that:

1. Freddie's 80 seconds' goal was a typical Freddie's classic which started from Flamini's good work in disposessing an Ajax player. Flamini then fed Reyes who made bursting run into the box and spotting Freddie's movement, our no.9 passed to Freddie who controlled the ball well, advanced and as the keeper went down, chipped the ball pass the keeper.

2. Reyes was again instrumental in our second goal. He was tripped by Ajax's makeshift keeper and Reyes being Reyes, he went down and the referee awarded the penalty which Pires, who otherwise didn't seem to do much, converted. Reyes probably wouldn't get the penalty if the ref is a EPL ref who knows him well but even without this goal I believe we had the quality to win this game.

3. Ajax's only reply wasn't Almunia's fault because Lehmann would probably have conceded all the same. Ajax wouldn't concede two goals if their no.1 is playing though. Well, probably. I rate him highly.

4. We earned the three points thanks to our solid defending rather than clinical finishing. Sol Campbell was again majestic at the back.

5. Flamini and Cesc didn't have excellent game but they seemed to improve as they play. Hleb was impressive but he really needs to play in the centre midfield where he will get more ball and bring more damage.

So overall, a good professional performance by our young squad inspired by our veteran fighter Freddie Ljungberg. Ajax may well be depleted but so were we. We've fought even worst team in CL and came back with one point. Let's hope that Wenger has really learned how to win CL games. The league appears to be somewhat beyond us at the moment. The cups are the only realistic hope.

By the way, the Mancunian captain seemed to be prepared to leave. He is no longer the fiery general who dominates the midfield so I don't think that makes a whole lot of diffferences. Now if only Man Utd's no.7 says he wants to leave.

West Ham Utd 0 - 0 Arsenal

It took me few days to figure out what to write as I was running out of comment. Same story, same problem. I have finally decided to make this my last blog entry with regards to my opinion on:

1. The fact that almost everyone else know how to stop us from scoring and how to exploit our defense. Alright their plan might not always work but when they are decent there is more than 60% chance and that is more than enough to see us faltering by 11 points by September.
2. The fact that Wenger has been too stubborn with his gameplan and that FA Cup Final proved to be exceptional case instead of sign of Wenger's acceptance of the need in adjusting tactic and varying attacking option. But then maybe the man just doesn't know how to play tactical game. He lives to preach the beauty of total football.
3. The fact that Wenger has developed a team of very talented players who could pass very well at times but has problem with taking the risk to shoot. We might well be the team that scored most goals last season but that was only because we played risky game by throwing almost everyone into the opponent's half most of the time. Had Man Utd got as many chances as ours last season they could probably top the table.

Against West Ham we seemed attack without any purpose. Some nice flicks and passes and we ran out of idea. Some risky passes and West Ham counterattacked the next minute. At least West Ham played well so as to help me endure the 90 minutes.
Tonight we will be facing the Ajax team who are just as troubles as we are at the moment.
Both managers have been admitting their willingness to play for a draw so unless Reyes, Ljungberg or Hleb comes up with moment of brilliance a draw is what you gonna get, a 0-0 draw probably.

An Interview with Lee Dixon

Of course I didn't interview him. This article appears in The Independent. I think the interview with Dixon is so interesting that I will just paste the content here. All right belong to The Independent.

Lee Dixon: 'Chelsea have changed every aspect of English football, for the worse'

Brian Viner interviews the former Arsenal and England defender reveals his problem with Abramovich's millions and gives a fascinating insight into the coaching skills of Wenger and Graham

Published: 23 September 2005

It ill becomes a pundit on Match of the Day to say that Premiership football is becoming harder to watch. But 41-year-old Lee Dixon is an engagingly honest Mancunian who tells it like it is. Besides, maybe he's being counter-intuitive. The way the Premiership seems to be going, maybe edited highlights will soon be all anybody wants to watch.

"When you have a product to sell, which is less than exciting and the prices are going up, it's no wonder that people are turning their backs on it," says Dixon, who knows a bit about giving value for money. We are sitting, in glorious sunshine, on the terrace of the manifestly thriving restaurant he co-owns, the Riverside Brasserie overlooking the Thames at Bray Marina.

"There has been a distinct lack of goals," he adds, "and I've never heard so much mention of 4-5-1 so early in the season. It's as if there's so much fear of losing that teams are settling for a point, especially away from home. But the game's about players, not systems. I watched West Ham v Fulham last Saturday, and West Ham played a kind of 4-2-2-1-1, one of the weirdest formations I've ever seen. You could call it defensive, but it was a brilliant game, end to end, and West Ham had three, four, five players in the opposing box every time they attacked. It's about players, and how they interpret a system."

It is interesting, I remark, that Dixon is holding up promoted West Ham as an example to the rest, when the rest includes Chelsea, Manchester United and his own beloved Arsenal, for whom he played 623 games in 14 intermittently glorious years, scoring 27 goals. "Yeah, well, I know Arsène [Wenger] came out the other day and said that we have a duty to entertain, having a slight pop at Chelsea. But Chelsea play a style of football that's highly effective for them. Maybe, instead of having pops at Chelsea, everyone should put their own house in order."

Meaning, heaven forfend, that the Arsenal house isn't in order? "Well, last season was a transitional season, and I'd hoped they would push on from there, but it looks like this is going to be another transitional season.

"[Patrick] Vieira was a massive loss, both as a player and a role model for the younger lads. Arsène thinks the young lads can cope on their own, but I've got my doubts. I don't think we'll win the league, anyway. I think we're short in defence, lacking experience in the centre of midfield, and short of a striker. Basically, Arsenal have been blown out of the water by [Roman] Abramovich's millions."

It doesn't take long, even for an ex-Arsenal player who believes that it's wrong to take pops at Chelsea, to take a pop at Chelsea. When I ask Dixon whether he thinks that Abramovich's millions devalue the success that Chelsea have had, he does not equivocate.

"As a purist, yeah, I do. You can't deny they've bought the championship because without the money they wouldn't have won it, it's as simple as that.

"And in doing so they've completely changed every aspect of English football, for the worse. It was good to have another team to break up the Man United-Arsenal dominance, definitely, but the transfer market has been completely distorted. Everybody else is signing players Chelsea don't want.

"I know Arsène was very interested in Shaun Wright-Phillips, but he had to see whether Chelsea wanted him first. That can't be good for the game."

Could it be, I venture, that critics of Chelsea among Arsenal and Manchester United fans in particular are simply recoiling at the taste of their own medicine? After all, when Wenger was shelling out huge money for the likes of Jose Antonio Reyes, there were plenty of Premiership managers looking on with envy, unable to compete for such a hot property. The rest of us can hardly be expected to shed tears for Wenger and Alex Ferguson just because there's a bigger moneybags in town.

"No, point taken, but there's always been a bit of competition, and that's not the case any more. A monopoly situation in any industry is not good, and as a player I don't know whether I would want to be involved in that.

"Obviously it's great to get 80 grand a week, but at Arsenal we always felt that if we worked hard and played well we would be rewarded with a new contract. We had to earn the right to feel part of something, and I'm not so sure that players at Chelsea have that feeling. [Jose] Mourinho can change whoever he wants whenever he wants. What kind of security does that bring as a player?"

Dixon's career, it occurs to me in the light of yesterday's reports that the Wigan chairman Dave Whelan wants Premiership players' wages to be capped, coincided almost exactly with football's salary explosion. It is one reason why he keeps being asked if he will write his autobiography, but keeps refusing, preferring to keep his fund of stories for the golf club bar. A three-handicapper and self-proclaimed golf obsessive, he has formed a company called Back Four Productions, which specialises in small corporate golf days, at which he and one of his famous mates such as Tony Adams, David Seaman or Will Carling, will take out half a dozen businessmen for 18 holes, followed by dinner.

The company name, of course, refers to the great Arsenal defence of which he, at right-back, was a key component. Not that he foresaw such distinction on the day in 1988 that he sat in George Graham's car at Watford Gap service station, discussing a possible move from Stoke City.

"I went down with [his manager at Stoke] Mick Mills, who had about 159 million England caps, so I believed him when he said 'you've really made it now, you can't earn less than £1,000 a week in the First Division'. I was on £500 a week at Stoke, so those figures blew me away.

"Anyway, George was waiting there with Steve Burtenshaw, his chief scout, and when we arrived Mick and Steve went in for a cup of tea, and I got into George's car. He went into this big opportunities speech, about me being part of something he was building, and in the end he offered me 50 quid a week more than I was earning at Stoke. I was shocked. I said I was expecting a better offer, and he said 'what do you want?' Well, I'm 22, I've been to London twice in my life, I've no agent. I'm like 'come back Mick!' I said 'I want £1,000' and he burst out laughing. He said 'I've got internationals not on that'.

"Mick nearly crashed the car when I told him what the offer was. And when I got home I phoned George and said I couldn't go, I couldn't afford to move my family to London on that. He put the phone down on me. Then Steve Burtenshaw phoned Brian Talbot, who was at Stoke, and said 'we've got Lee all wrong, we didn't know he was just money-orientated', which broke my heart, because it's not true. I phoned George back and said 'I need to see you.' I'd been offered £650 to stay at Stoke, and in the end he made a revised offer of £750. So I sold my house in Stoke for £35,000 and bought one in Hertfordshire for £174,000. My mortgage went up five-fold overnight.

"I was so broke. I kept having to phone my dad and say 'I'm a bit tight this month, dad'."

Not only did Graham hate to spend the club's money, he was a notoriously harsh taskmaster. He was also, of course, a brilliant manager who delivered exactly what he had promised in the car at Watford Gap. So when Dixon later found out that the manager had been taking "bungs", he felt conflicting emotions.

"He'd made us work our socks off and earn every penny, so to learn he'd been taking backhanders, that tainted it a bit. I've never spoken to him about it. I've bumped into him half a dozen times since, and we get on well, but it's still a teacher/pupil, sergeant-major/soldier relationship. I couldn't imagine him giving me a hug."

Surely he didn't get hugs from Wenger either? "No, but you get hugs in other ways from Arsène. His bond with the players is based on total respect, both ways, which is warming. I should add that George was the best coach I ever played under. He taught me how to defend, while Arsène allowed me to become more expressive. George would never let me go over the halfway line if the ball was wide on the left. But Arsène gives you the confidence to make up your own mind. He says 'you're actually a very good footballer. If you think it's right to go, then go'. His teams pass the ball and move, and his strength is picking players to fit into that framework. Obviously he makes tactical changes but in general we used to coach ourselves."

Dixon chuckles. "That first pre-season after Bruce Rioch [Graham's successor, another hard taskmaster] left, Arsène came in and on the first day of training we did two 12-minute jogs around the pitch. And he kept stopping us because we were going too quick. Then we had a rest, then a stretch, and he said 'off you go'. We're like 'er, when do we go on the 15-mile hike up a hill and be sick?' After 10 days we pulled in Tony Adams.

"We said 'you've got to see him, the season starts in two weeks and we're nowhere near fit enough'. He told Tony [cue a convincing impression of the Frenchman], 'it will be OK'. And Tony says, 'with due respect boss, you don't really know us. We need to do more than this.' Arsène goes 'it is OK. You will be fine.'

"Then we played the Charity Shield against Man United, and on the Friday I'm saying to Tony 'there's no way I can get through 90 minutes'. I hadn't played one full game in pre-season. But Arsène kept saying everything would be fine, and sure enough we beat them 3-0. We were running for fun, and I thought 'I can't understand where all this fitness is coming from'. It blew me away, how he knew. I played in the Premiership until I was 38, and there was no way I could have done that without him."

The same omniscience does not extend to all foreign managers of outwardly calm demeanour, however. Dixon, who won 22 England caps, believes that Sven Goran Eriksson is "a lovely bloke" without the skills required to lead England to World Cup glory. "I met him years ago when we played Lazio, in the tunnel before the game. He made a point of shaking my hand and saying that it was really nice to meet me, and nothing's changed my opinion of him as lovely bloke. But whether he can inspire a team to win the World Cup I have deep reservations.

"There have been times when the team has needed inspiration that didn't seem to be forthcoming, times he's made substitutions that staggered me. Nobody would pick different players, it's what you do with those players when the opposition are forcing themselves. I'm worried that he hasn't got an answer, and if those doubts are in my mind, in your mind, then they're in the players' minds too."

All of which is easy enough to say on a warm afternoon watching swans glide along the river, but Dixon says it articulately. He might yet prove to be as good a signing for Match of the Day as he was for Arsenal. And I don't suppose he had to quibble about the money.

Lee Dixon appears on Match of the Day tomorrow at 10.30pm on BBC1

Arsenal 2 - 0 Everton

We have scored FIVE goals from set pieces, four of which were headers. And another goal from a long pass albeit DB10's excellent technique was needed to finish off that one. I still can't believe my eyes. This is something many fans have been asking for. We are proud of the fact that we are the only top Premiership side at the moment that play football the way the beautiful game should be played. But we need to be more deadly in set pieces now that almost every other teams decide to play the boring 4-5-1 against us. Everton came with the same boring gameplan. Without Thierry, they are almost guaranteed to return home with one point in the bag, or so they thought.

But we were totally different from the side that face FC Thun few days ago. With Sol gradually regained his composure and authority, our attackers were more confident in their play. Reyes seemed determined to prove his worth this season and in this game his form eclipsed that of van Persie who was apparently still affected by the sending off. Ljungberg was fighting hard as usual despite still lacking in his finishing touch. Pires has again started the game and I believe Wenger did so by considering his seniority and experience. So it's good that he was out injured and replaced by Hleb midway. Hleb needs more game if he were to give his best this season.

There are times where we win with comfortable scoreline and yet I criticise the team. There are times where we lose and yet I applaud the team. To me it's never about the scoreline. It's about how we play. This 2-0 win is the one where we win and I applaud the team. We haven't develop that killer instinct upfront but we know unless we got a decent centre forward such as the Newcastle no. 10 everyone thought to be too lousy to play for Arsenal, we would never have that killer instinct. TH was top scrorer last season but when you look at his convertion rate you know he too has got problem with his finishing.
So stop complaining about the 'killer instinct' stuff. We were doing great for the rest of the department, even in set pieces. Things begin to look good at the moment.

Arsenal 2 - 1 FC Thun

I didn't get to see Gilberto's wonder goal (when Arsenal players score using their HEAD from a CORNER KICK, that's wonder goal). But I heard it was a powerful header allright. And our second goal came from Sol Campbell's long pass. Yes, LONG PASS!!! How I wish we carry on practicing on our set pieces and long passes. Sol Campbell's long pass wasn't an easy one to receive but Dennis, by divine intervention, was back to his old magical best for few seconds. And did you see how glad the lad was? This is his final season and definitely it's a shame that a player of his pedigree don't have a CL medal to show despite his illustrious career and achievements. But even if he does fail to win any CL medal, we know that he is and will forever be a legend.

van Persie's high boot earned him a red card many thought was too harsh a decision. I think when you play for Arsenal you should know that you are judged rather differently. If you play dangerously, though not maliciously, you know you gonna get it from the ref. Considering the amount of stitches the Thun's player got I think we should feel sorry for him instead of booing him. Of course another Thun's player's remark on how van Persie could make Bruce Lee proud goes to show that Cantona or Roy Keane weren't really famous in Swiss. All in all, a good lesson for our youngster.

I thought we played and attacked well. Reyes was marvelous leading the line and Gilberto handled the midfield with ease. Arsenal being Arsenal, we let in another freak goal. I didn't see the goal but seems that it has got to do with Lauren or Kolo or both. Why wasn't that surpise me? Sol seemed solid and Cole seemed purposeful in that game. Freddie missed some very good chances but glad you are back, Soldier.

Next up, the troubled Everton. But with Arsenal you just know anything could happen.

Swiss Army Tonight

Nothing seems to be right for us at the moment. We are playing Thun tonight at home but my mind is elsewhere. I don't really care about our tonight's Champion League result. I'm more concerned about the long and hard league season that awaits us. TH could possibly be out for 6 week. van Persie had a bust up with Eboue who apparently tackled him quite hardly during training. van Persie should be alright for tonight's match though. He better be fit as he is the only forward with decent finishing skill among the ranks at the moment. Many claim that Bergkamp should be rested whenever TH is not playing. I think even if TH is playing we should really use Bergkamp much lesser as this is his final season. TH NEEDS to learn to adapt and work with other forwards. Otherwise he should as well be offloaded. What's the point of having the best forward in the world if he can't work well with anyone but Bergkamp and Pires, both are players who could be brilliant for one or two games and turn mediocre for the other six or seven games.

Many times the so-called 'true fans' claim that Wenger knows what he is doing and if we do know something he doesn't we would already be managing Premiership club. I think that argument is baseless and childish. The truth is Wenger has frustated many because the problems within the squad are the supposedly obvious and simple ones. Yet our manager refused to address the problems.

Example?

1. Pires CANNOT play as center midfielder or forward. He CANNOT take corners. And he CANNOT take on tough tackling opponents anymore. He CAN ONLY read Henry's movement, link with him, and get to the end of Henry's pass and score goals. Many think it's stupid to bench your midfielder who, despite did nothing much to help the team in any other area, scored 17 goals last season. Yes I agree that if you have one player who could give you 17 goals and nothing else you should try to keep him. But wait!! We have another similary type.
2. Ljungbeg. He CANNOT play as forward either because he can't really take on defenders. He is better than Pires coz he has the gut and engine to run tirelessly for 90 minutes. He also links well with other players beside Henry. But he DOES NOT cross or pass well. He is also another goalscoring midfielder who doesn't provide us with creative ideas and penetrating passes to break the opposition.
3. Reyes is dangerous as forward but he is DEADLY as winger. Playing at the left flank give him more space and chance to shoot using his left peg. He also has great vision and given time he will supply our forwards with killer passes from the middle.
Solution? Keep Ljungberg and bench Pires. We can only have one midfielde of their type in the team. Reyes should occupy Pires' position and if Henry doesn't like it he can ask Wenger to sell him.

4. Cygan will disappoint you sooner than later. He is bound to make critical mistakes. Lehmann could avoid his mistakes when he is really focused. Cygan couldn't.
5. Kolo is probably a good centreback but he could really be a great fullback. His pace and attacking sense is wasted. In fact he lacks the physical presence a Premier league's centreback needs.
6. Lauren is strong but he is slow. The problem is he is most of the times playing against wingers who are faster than him. His strength should really be used to play in the centremidfield instead.
Solution? Forget Cygan. Slot Kolo into rightback position and try Lauren in the midfield. This may not work but at least we should try given that current's setting doesn't work. Sol-Senderos partnership is worth trying and we needs another solid centreback to give them competition.

Boro 2 - 0 Arsenal

I have no complain for the team. Each and everyone of them played well. Cygan? We know he has that capability to mess things up so when your manager plays him you have to accept him making blunders. He just tried his best and we all know his best sucks.

We've got so many chances and had majority of the possession but neither win you three points. For all Bergkamp's techniques and Reyes' pace we need van Persie's finishing. Reyes was dangerous throughout. Had he started with van Persie we might have won the game. No. Reyes should've started on the left flank instead and van Persie should partner Quincy upfront. Pires' inability to return to his old form is obvious for anyone to see bar Wenger. And attention the Boro players gave to Hleb indicated that everyone now know that Hleb is the new Pires. The magician midfield who could deliver that killer pass. Rochemback was a dirty player by the way.

Same old issue, we've also suffered from our persistence to attack from the middle. Playing one-touch passes in the middle of the park the way we did against a packed 4-5-1 side proves suicidal at times but Wenger loves his way of playing too much. I've given up on believing that we will one day make full use of the flanks. I can only hope that Wenger can get players as good as Robinho and Baptista coz when you've got these players you could just destroy any opposition from the middle.

Welcome Home Martin

Just saw this BBC image link from www.arsenal-mania.com and it really seems like Martin Keown is back with us. I would love to have him imparting some basic defending skill to the young Senderos. I would love to see Senderos come back strong and tough. That Drogba would've fallen flat to the ground had Keown been playing. Anyway, here's another excellent article from Arsenal Mania.

It appears that our beloved Ice Man is really having his final season as he said that he thought the time is right to quit playing and start watching from the stand. There is only one Dennis Bergkamp. We can never replace such a genius. And he is not only about football skill, his professionalism is something his apprentice, Robin van Persie, needs to learn more. There is no one in the squad better than Robin, technically, to replace Dennis. If the lad can stay away from unnecessary off-pitch problems he will be part of a very terrifying young squad Wenger is building at the moment.

In my wild imagination, we will one day play 4-4-2 diamond with Quincy and van Persie leading the line. Cesc would play behind them while Hleb and Reyes would constantly bombard the opposition from both wings. I've yet to find a worthy holding midfielder in our squad though. Could that person be Flamini? Attacking problem? What problem?

I think Henry has come up often enough to restate his commitment to the club and therefore he deserves the right to stay silent over the latest rumour which doesn't concern me a single bit.

Things are going well with the Reserves meanwhile as Lupoli scored hattrick in our 4-2 win against Ipswich Town. I expect to see him featuring in our League Cup and FA Cup matches this season. Campbell and Garry also played in the match.

All Set For The Final Season

Finally, the end of transfer window. Another typical Wenger pre-season. We've brought in Aleksander Hleb, Alexander Song (loan) and Mart Poom (loan). I've yet to see Song playing but I can say that Hleb will go from strength to strength and despite coming from lowly Sunderland Poom is a very very reliable goalie. Bentley has again been loaned out to Blackburn for the season. I hope he will be back with us next year with whatever attribute Wenger deems necessary to be part of his plan (unless Bentley being English is a problem for Wenger). Hoyte will hopefully get his fair share of chance at Sunderland given the club's shortage in the defense.

That Poom's loan period ends next January means there is a chance we will be getting new goalie in during the January transfer window. I'd love to have Poom as our backup though. Sol was back in reserve's 5-2 win against Leicester. Few games down the road and hopefully he is back to his old best. Thank you for the brace Cygan but I'd still prefer you to warm the bench. With all four CB available we are pretty much covered now. How the midfield will cope with the hectic Premiership schedule remains to be seen though. As expected Jenas moved to Spurs instead for a 7 million pounds deal (you just know that Wenger won't buy Jenas do you?). It's always healthy to treat any rumour about Wenger buying an English player as, well, rumour.

Assuming we qualify from the CL group phase and that we are still actively competing for Premiership title, FA Cup and League Cup, things will only get really hectic starting January. I reckon Wenger is working on January transfer activity to get reinforcement just in time for our thin squad. No promise though.

Enough moaning, enough whining. If Vieira thought we will be better off without him I think we will. Wenger has spoiled us by keeping us in the top two every year since he arrived. If we end up trophyless and second in Premiership this season, I would consider it a successful season. I do, however, feel that we have what it takes to surprise the world the way we did in 97/98 double season. More thought on the season later.