Our season got off to a good start on Saturday against a managerless Crystal Palace side. It was by no means a vintage Arsenal performance and you could tell that it was an early season game, but the result is all that matters and we got the right one.
We got off to a good start and created a few half chances. Our three new boys: Debuchy, Chambers and Alexis (as he prefers to be known) all started and both the boys at the back looked solid. Alexis looked dangerous and creative although he still looks a few games off being fully fit and bedded in with the team. That said Palace marked him off the pitch on Saturday and to be fair to them were very well drilled at the back.
It came as a bit of a surprise to most when after 35 minutes Palace took the lead. We were undone relatively easily from a set piece and Brede Hangeland flicked his header across goal and in at the far post which had nobody on it. This demonstrates how important Mertesacker is when we defend set pieces, his height is such an important asset in a relatively short team and we looked vulnerable from set pieces all game. Luckily for us 10 minutes later Koscielny spun off his man and headed home to bring us level in the 46th minute.
In the second half we Palace were again solid and it looked as if we'd be denied a victory. Palace had a couple of half chances and we had a penalty appeal waved away. As we pushed and pushed, time ticked on and we looked as though we'd run out of ideas. Jason Puncheon lost his head in the 89th minute and seconds later Arsenal took the lead in the 91st minute. After a scramble of headers, Debuchy's falling volley was saved by Speroni but his parry fell to, who else, Aaron Ramsey who poked home from all of 2 yards. Harsh on Palace but we'll take all 3 points in the opener of the season. The team showed great spirit and grit to earn a result.
We now have a quick turnaround as we head to Turkey for tomorrow nights game with Besiktas. Going to Turkey is never easy for a team and after a few years out of the big time Besiktas will be well and truly up for this match make no mistake. I'm always of the idea that playing away second is a slight advantage but we'll have to make do. We have a bit of team news already and it looks as if Koscielny will be OK to play despite fears that his achilles problem had flared up again. Keiran Gibbs will not travel however after going off on Saturday having tweaked his hamstring. The Germans will not play a part in the match but the rest of the team look set to travel.
Tomorrow night is going to be a very tough one but over the two legs we have the quality to do the business and a positive result tomorrow night will put us in good stead for the return next week. I may post tomorrow but if not there will be an early post on Wednesday looking ahead to the Everton game before I head away for a couple of weeks. COYG!
Showing posts with label debuchy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debuchy. Show all posts
Monday, 18 August 2014
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Emirates Cup & Community Shield Preview
Our pre-season preparations were kicked well and truly into touch at the weekend as we took part in our inaugural Emirates Cup tournament. This years competitors were Portuguese treble winners Benfica, Ligue 1's runners up Monaco and err 8th placed Spanish side Valencia. In line with previous season each team plays twice and Arsenal took on Benfica on the Saturday and then Monaco on the Sunday.
Saturdays match against Benfica provided something of a spectacle as Yaya Sanogo netted 4 times against the Portuguese side along with Joel Campbell as Arsenal thumped Benfica 5-1. The side was an interesting one with the manager experimenting with formations and positions. Wenger handed new boy Luke Chambers a start at CB along with Nacho Monreal strangely. The loudest cheer of the day was reserved for Alexis Sanchez who came on during the second half and looks like one hell of a player and a very exciting prospect.
On Sunday Arsenal took on Monaco with a totally different looking team to the one that played the day before. There were starts for Debuchy and Sanchez along with Giroud who returned from holidays. We went down 1-0 to the French side with Falcao scoring a header. That said we were denied a clear penalty and were unlucky not to score. However I'd much rather get bad luck out of the way before the season kicks of properly. It's important to remember that these matches are no more than match fitness tools, the results are of no importance, plus Monaco's season kicks off this weekend so it was their last chance to get in some game time. This was reflected in their team which was from what I could tell near enough first choice.
Technically from a competitive point of view our season also kicks off this weekend in the Community Shield against Man City but once again I don't think this will serve as much more than a chance to finish pre-season preparations and give players a chance to stretch their legs. Team news ahead of this is that none of our German contingent will be back for this and some may not be back for Palace the week after either. I don't think we'll see Giroud or other players who took part in the World Cup. I think it'll be a fairly strong team that take on the current PL champions but it would be stupid to believe that risks will be taken.
As it's of little importance there will be no preview for Sunday's game, should there be any transfer news of course I will post but if not look our for the preview of the seasons opening game against Crystal Palace. Till then. Up the Gunners!
Saturdays match against Benfica provided something of a spectacle as Yaya Sanogo netted 4 times against the Portuguese side along with Joel Campbell as Arsenal thumped Benfica 5-1. The side was an interesting one with the manager experimenting with formations and positions. Wenger handed new boy Luke Chambers a start at CB along with Nacho Monreal strangely. The loudest cheer of the day was reserved for Alexis Sanchez who came on during the second half and looks like one hell of a player and a very exciting prospect.
On Sunday Arsenal took on Monaco with a totally different looking team to the one that played the day before. There were starts for Debuchy and Sanchez along with Giroud who returned from holidays. We went down 1-0 to the French side with Falcao scoring a header. That said we were denied a clear penalty and were unlucky not to score. However I'd much rather get bad luck out of the way before the season kicks of properly. It's important to remember that these matches are no more than match fitness tools, the results are of no importance, plus Monaco's season kicks off this weekend so it was their last chance to get in some game time. This was reflected in their team which was from what I could tell near enough first choice.
Technically from a competitive point of view our season also kicks off this weekend in the Community Shield against Man City but once again I don't think this will serve as much more than a chance to finish pre-season preparations and give players a chance to stretch their legs. Team news ahead of this is that none of our German contingent will be back for this and some may not be back for Palace the week after either. I don't think we'll see Giroud or other players who took part in the World Cup. I think it'll be a fairly strong team that take on the current PL champions but it would be stupid to believe that risks will be taken.
As it's of little importance there will be no preview for Sunday's game, should there be any transfer news of course I will post but if not look our for the preview of the seasons opening game against Crystal Palace. Till then. Up the Gunners!
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Snachez, Debuchy and more
Firstly apologies for being away for a while it's been a busy few weeks for myself and also for Arsenal.
Of course now we all know that we have signed Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for a fee of between £30-35m and what a signing he looks to be. Anyone suggesting he was surplus at Barcelona is very wide of the mark, he has been one of their most important players and the only reason I believe he was sold was because they were in desperate need of funds to buy Suarez. His record speaks for itself and he scored 39 goals and in 88 appearances for Barcelona and bearing in mind he was played as a winger that's certainly nothing to sniff at. It'll be very interesting to see how Wenger deploys him he could easily be played as a lone striker, as a partner for Giroud or on the flank. Seeing him in any of those roles is certainly an exciting prospect.
Our second signing of the summer comes in the shape of former Newcastle right back Mathieu Debuchy and as far as I'm concerned he's a perfect fit for us. He's an experienced and competent defender who has played alongside Koscielny for the French national team and already has 18 months of playing time in the Premier League meaning there will no "bedding in" period. Personally this deal was on the cards as soon as I first heard us linked with him, it's only been held up because that headbutting bell end Pardew hates Arsenal and Wenger so it must have hurt him to have to let him come to us.
There was a real hype this week due to the stories surrounding Sami Khedira but that seems to have been dead in the water from the start, to me all this angling seems to be due to the fact he wants a new contract at Real Madrid. Gamesmanship from his agent and a few deliberately leaked stories seem to be doing the trick. If the stories involving us and him are true and he wanted £105,000pw AFTER tax then quite frankly Madrid can keep him. He's a good player no doubt and if we signed him I certainly wouldn't complain but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it if we don't get him.
Naturally this has fueled talks of our attention turning to different players. Morgan Schneiderlain from Southampton seems to be one of the names and there's a lot of hype around him. I'm not so certain he's up to scratch personally and I'd prefer to see go for Bender, another name being banded around. We know Wenger is interested after having a bid rejected last year, that being said I also know that Leverkusen are very difficult to negotiate with. These two could run and run.
There are also strong links with goalkeeper David Ospina, the Colombian keeper who shined at the World Cup and reports that we could be interested in a £3m deal for him. It's no secret that with the departures of Mannone, Fabianski and Viviano returning after possibly the most pointless loan spell in history, we are now one injury away from reserve keeper and with the SZCZ prone to having an injury or a mid season wobble we need to reinforce that position. I am feeling pretty confident of this deal and I wouldn't be surprised to see it tied up within the next couple of weeks.
Finally we have also been linked with 20 year old Atletico Madrid right back Javi Manquillo. Interesting one here considering we have Jenkinson who is in essentially the same position as Manquillo getting a smattering of first team starts every season. This one doesn't really make sense to me so I can't see it happening but I suppose you never know.
Right that's it for now I'll be back with more stuff as and when, until then remember we're taking a strong side to Borehamwood today and it's available to watch free on Arsenal Player.
Of course now we all know that we have signed Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for a fee of between £30-35m and what a signing he looks to be. Anyone suggesting he was surplus at Barcelona is very wide of the mark, he has been one of their most important players and the only reason I believe he was sold was because they were in desperate need of funds to buy Suarez. His record speaks for itself and he scored 39 goals and in 88 appearances for Barcelona and bearing in mind he was played as a winger that's certainly nothing to sniff at. It'll be very interesting to see how Wenger deploys him he could easily be played as a lone striker, as a partner for Giroud or on the flank. Seeing him in any of those roles is certainly an exciting prospect.
Our second signing of the summer comes in the shape of former Newcastle right back Mathieu Debuchy and as far as I'm concerned he's a perfect fit for us. He's an experienced and competent defender who has played alongside Koscielny for the French national team and already has 18 months of playing time in the Premier League meaning there will no "bedding in" period. Personally this deal was on the cards as soon as I first heard us linked with him, it's only been held up because that headbutting bell end Pardew hates Arsenal and Wenger so it must have hurt him to have to let him come to us.
There was a real hype this week due to the stories surrounding Sami Khedira but that seems to have been dead in the water from the start, to me all this angling seems to be due to the fact he wants a new contract at Real Madrid. Gamesmanship from his agent and a few deliberately leaked stories seem to be doing the trick. If the stories involving us and him are true and he wanted £105,000pw AFTER tax then quite frankly Madrid can keep him. He's a good player no doubt and if we signed him I certainly wouldn't complain but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it if we don't get him.
Naturally this has fueled talks of our attention turning to different players. Morgan Schneiderlain from Southampton seems to be one of the names and there's a lot of hype around him. I'm not so certain he's up to scratch personally and I'd prefer to see go for Bender, another name being banded around. We know Wenger is interested after having a bid rejected last year, that being said I also know that Leverkusen are very difficult to negotiate with. These two could run and run.
There are also strong links with goalkeeper David Ospina, the Colombian keeper who shined at the World Cup and reports that we could be interested in a £3m deal for him. It's no secret that with the departures of Mannone, Fabianski and Viviano returning after possibly the most pointless loan spell in history, we are now one injury away from reserve keeper and with the SZCZ prone to having an injury or a mid season wobble we need to reinforce that position. I am feeling pretty confident of this deal and I wouldn't be surprised to see it tied up within the next couple of weeks.
Finally we have also been linked with 20 year old Atletico Madrid right back Javi Manquillo. Interesting one here considering we have Jenkinson who is in essentially the same position as Manquillo getting a smattering of first team starts every season. This one doesn't really make sense to me so I can't see it happening but I suppose you never know.
Right that's it for now I'll be back with more stuff as and when, until then remember we're taking a strong side to Borehamwood today and it's available to watch free on Arsenal Player.
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