Surprises and Milestones – Part and Parcel of the Beautiful Game

In the past three seasons, the FA Cup has been won by Roberto M’s…

Roberto Mancini in 2011…

Roberto Di Matteo in 2012…

Roberto Martinez in 2013…

And probably Roberto M-Wenger in 2014

****

With no Arsenal football yesterday, I was spoilt with a plethora of options on what to do with my day. I was this close to calling a female friend of mine for us to watch a movie in Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, when I realized that there were two matches that would be of particular interest to me.

Following their welcome draw against Tottenham, Chelsea had been on my good books albiet temporarily and I wanted to see how they would pan out against an Aston Villa side on the rise. There was also the FA Cup final to watch as Wigan’s participation in the tournament ensured that Arsenal was going to wait till Tuesday to host them.

With Chelsea on the driving seat to end the season as the best London team in the land despite harboring Europa League aspirations, Arsenal still stood an outside chance of leapfrogging their West London rivals provided they dropped points at Villa Park.

Aston Villa’s top scorer, Christian Benteke didn’t help his team’s cause when he received his marching orders but the resilient Villa side was this close to salvaging an unlikely draw…then Super Frankie popped up with the goods yet again.

Frank Lampard began his career in West Ham and was a vital cog in the engine of that Hammers side that boasted of raw talent like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Frederic Kanoute and Jermaine Defoe. When that team suffered the ignominy of relegation, they were bound to lose a considerable chunk of their key players, and Chelsea swooped for Lampard, a move worth its weight in gold.

Since then, the hunchback of Stamford Bridge has been downright consistent, averaging at least 20 goals in every season he played. If that’s not amazing, then I don’t know what the word means. To top it all off, people tend to forget that Lamps is a frigging attacking midfielder blasting in more goals than your present day center forward.

In the closing moments of yesterday’s game, Lampard equalled the all-time goalscoring record for Chelsea which stood at 203 goals and if he manages to spoil David Moyes farewell party next week with a goal, he will put his name in the history books as Chelsea Football Club’s highest goalscorer of all time.

In as much as I don’t give two *coughs* about Chelsea, their trigger-happy manager-sacking chairman, Roman Abramovich, and fans, I’m a lover of the beautiful game and I’m paying my respects to a model professional for the young midfielders coming up.

Despite all the great things Frank Lampard has achieved in his trophy-laden glittering career, it’s astonishing to know that he and Steven Gerrard didn’t achieve things with the English National team.

As the saying goes, there are three certain things in life – Death, taxes and England losing on penalties.

Speaking of penalties, that would have been a way to settle the FA Cup final but judging from the lineups of both sides, everybody (me included) had already written off the relegation-threatened Latics.

This season’s FA Cup has seen its fair share of giant killing with the likes of Luton Town easing past Norwich, Oldham knocking Liverpool out and Arsenal shamefully losing at home to Blackburn.

The FA Cup is a very unforgiving tournament where you can have all the attacking verve and possession but when a ‘lesser opposition’ takes the initiative, it’s usually to devastating effect.

For instance, take Arsenal’s FA Cup campaign this season. After going a goal down through a decisive Miguel Michu finish, Arsenal had to summon Lukas Podolski from the bench and he leveled the contest with a well taken goal. Just when we all thought that Kieran Gibbs’ brilliant volley was enough to send Arsenal to the fourth round, a lapse in concentration allowed Danny Graham to earn his side a replay at the Emirates.

In the fourth round, Arsenal visited lowly Brighton and Hove Albion but they had to come back from behind twice before sealing the tie afterwards. When Blackburn came visiting, Wenger had half an eye on the Champions League encounter with Bayern Munich, so he decided to rest some of his big guns and was duly punished.

That’s the spirit of the FA Cup.

Congratulations to Wigan for tearing the script and securing an unlikely success while the club still floats in relegation waters. I sincerely hope the Arsenal should send them some more Champagne because I certainly wouldn’t mind to see some drunk and hungover players wearing a blue striped outfit on Tuesday night.

Sayonara.

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The Battle for European Qualification Continues – Who Will Win the War?

 

The past weekend had some mouthwatering fixtures with the destinies of many Premier League teams on the balance yet again. Aston Villa’s 6-1 romp of Sunderland was certainly an eye-opener for the enigmatic and energetic Paolo Di Canio, and he will be hungry for blood when Tony Pulis and his Rugby lot come visiting tonight.

The weekend’s fixtures saw Aston Villa’s resurgence continue with a Gabby Agbonlahor-inspired win over Norwich, giving Paul Lambert the pleasure of relishing a victory over the team he managed last season. Elsewhere, there were boring goalless stalemates in the Merseyside Derby, when West Ham hosted Newcastle and when Swansea hosted Manchester City.

Since their Capital One Cup triumph, the Swans have been a shadow of a team that terrorized opposition defenses with Miguel Michu grabbing all the headlines with his goalscoring class and trademark celebrations. He and the rest of Michael Laudrup’s men have taken their foot of the pedal in recent weeks.

Despite their Les Miserables adventure in January, Newcastle United is seriously flirting with relegation which is big disappointment from a manager that was honored with the Manager of the Season award by his peers the last season. With his contract believed to have been extended to 2020, the Newcastle hierarchy will be under the spotlight if Alan Pardew screws this up in the climax of the season.

Queens Park Rangers and Reading have already suffered the ignominy of relegation, so teams above them have been fighting hard to secure their Premier League status and usual relegation dogfight customers, Wigan Athletic, took a giant stride with a win over West Brom. Reading played for pride against Fulham and went back home with three points in a game the Royal’s forward, Adam Le Fondre, made history for being the substitute with the highest number of Premier League goals in a season.

Every football lover kept half an eye on three key fixtures last weekend – Tottenham’s home clash against Southampton, Arsenal’s visit to relegation-doomed Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United’s home clash against Chelsea.

The Gunners had began the weekend in third place harboring false hopes that Southampton could cause an upset in White Hart Lane. Just when a draw seemed to be on the cards, the hottest player in English football struck a thunderbolt from that impeccable left foot of his to grant his side all three points, leapfrogging Arsenal to third place albeit temporarily.

Gareth Bale, the Man on Fire

The onus was on Arsene Wenger’s men to perform in the late kickoff against Queen Park Rangers and they got off to the best of starts with Theo Walcott hitting the 20-goal mark in the 20th second of the game. Arsenal fans had hoped that it was going to be the beginning of a rout but after 90 frustrating minutes, it was the three points that was all that mattered…

Not another abject performance…

Not another ineffectual Lukas Podolski outing in the middle…

Not Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to make changes that would impact the game…

Not the fits of despair, frustration and High Blood Pressure I was having as I had this funny hunch that Queens Park Rangers were going to snatch a crushing equalizer…

Just three bloody absolutely vital points.

Arsenal’s highest earner popped up with the goods yet again

That nervy victory was enough to propel the Gunners back to third place and many had hoped that Manchester United would at least make Chelsea drop points to pave the way for one hell of a clash against Tottenham on Wednesday but the Blues had enough in the tank to see out a side that has been a force to be reckoned with in their home ground. Prior to yesterday’s narrow loss to Chelsea, Manchester United have always scored at home since the days Adolf Hitler ruled Nazi Germany.

As expected, the game had its fair share of controversy with Rafael receiving his marching orders for a malicious challenge on David Luiz. If Chelsea had dropped any points in Old Trafford, Wednesday’s game in hand against Tottenham would have been regarded as a must-not-lose game but with Rafa Benitez men sitting comfortably in third place, a win for Tottenham would see the North London outfit go level on points with Chelsea, plummeting Arsenal into Europa League territory with just two games left.

The goal that propelled Chelsea to third place

This coming weekend, Chelsea will visit Villa Park to play an Aston Villa side still on their toes with the likes of Southampton, Norwich, Newcastle, Sunderland and even Wigan waiting for the Villans to slip up. It’s certainly not going to be a stroll in the park for the Blues but I’m tipping a squad of that quality to see out any threat Aston Villa would pose.

With Arsenal’s weekend’s opponent, Wigan, gearing up for a FA Cup final against Manchester City in Wembley, the Gunners will have to wait till Tuesday evening to host the FA Cup finalists in their last home match of the campaign. This also means that Arsenal would have known the outcome of Tottenham’s away trip to Stoke, which will add a little bit of pressure at the start of the game against Wigan. The Latics would be as stubborn as they usually are but I can predict that Arsenal would ease past them with consummate ease.

On the final day of the 2012/13 season, Chelsea would host Everton, Tottenham hosts Sunderland while Arsenal visits Newcastle.

With Everton assured of a Europa League berth, they could allow complacency creep into their game, allowing the Blues to secure maximum points as well as Champions League qualification. If Sunderland manages to secure their Premier League status before clashing with Tottenham, Gareth Bale could have the chance to add to his impressive goal count courtesy of a lax display from Paolo Di Canio’s side.

This would mean that Arsenal will have to defeat Newcastle and hope for the worst for their Champions League aspiring rivals. Olivier Giroud’s return to the team would be highly welcome, as Arsenal fans have opened their eyes to see his worth to the team since he was out suspended. There are so many forwards linked to the club, but that business has do be done in the summer.

Should Tottenham fail to grab maximum points in Stamford Bridge, two wins against Wigan and Newcastle will be enough to grant Arsenal Champions League qualification, as Arsene Wenger’s men would have 73 points in the bag. If Chelsea manages to get a draw against Spurs, before beating Aston Villa and Everton, the interim manager would have secured a Champions League berth with 75 points, and should he manage to win Tottenham as well as winning other fixtures, Chelsea would finish the campaign as the third best team in the land with 75 points, with Arsenal grabbing the final Champions League spot, dooming Tottenham to the Europa League.

This ultimately means that the onus is definitely on AVB’s men and it’s fair to say that their own destiny is in their hands. Three wins on the bounce against Chelsea, Stoke and Sunderland would see the Whites grab an impressive 74 points, which would see them usurp Arsenal in fourth place even if the Gunners win Wigan and Newcastle.

The battle for European qualification has been very intense this season, but unfortunately, only two teams can win this war. The million dollar question will be; Who would miss out on Champions League qualification – Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham?

Sayonara.

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Thoughts on the Chelsea Defeat and Olivier Giroud

OG12: He misses when he wants?

Last January, Arsenal went through a very horrible run of form in the Premier League, taking one point from a possible 12.

The defeat to Fulham was a from a Bobby Zamora sucker punch, the Gunners were outclassed and outplayed by Swansea-lona, the Andrey Arshavin for the Ox substitution caused an outrage against Manchester United and the draw against Bolton was shameful to say the least.

In the transfer window, the Gunners welcomed the living legend, Thierry Henry and a relatively unknown attacking midfielder from the youth ranks of Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Eisfeld.

12 months on, the Gunners are languishing in sixth place with a solitary point gained from a possible nine. The draw against Southampton was disheartening, the defeat against Manchester City was rather unfortunate and last weekend’s defeat against Chelsea was another case of what might have been.

Fingers have been pointed at Martin Atkinson’s officiating but Arsenal failed to convert their chances in attack while being as shambolic as ever in defense. They put up a very appalling first half display and came to life in the second half, probably after some harsh words from Arsene Wenger.

In goal, Wojciech Szczesny might have done better to parry Juan Mata’s shot to safety but he was blameless in the buildup to Frank Lampard’s penalty. Abou Diaby lost the ball further up the pitch and Ramires did very well to con the ref into pointing to the spot. The Great Lizard has also admitted that he fouled Francis Coquelin in the buildup to Mata’s goal. (via Goal.com)

Arsenal’s defending has been shocking all season long, and these frailties were exposed yet again by Chelsea. Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs have a penchant for bombing forward to support the attack, but they’re caught out of position when the opposition counters. With a snail like Per Mertesacker unable to cover up in time to clear Sagna’s tracks, Mata had all the time in the world to pick his spot before firing home.

Thomas Vermaelen didn’t put a foot wrong all game long, but he was exposed by the pace of Fernando Torres on two occasions. His goal-line clearance from Demba Ba’s shot offered Arsenal a glimmer of hope, as the Senegalese would have put the game beyond doubt after Szczesny decided to invoke the spirit of deal ol’ Manuel Almunia.

Defensive Dark Lord, Steve Bouldimort and his coaches need to go back to the drawing board to find a way to stop this team from committing those schoolboy errors that always prove costly.

Arsenal’s midfield trio of Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Francis Coquelin worked really hard to cover much ground but for a player that has been out of the game for so long, Diaby has clearly struggled with the frantic pace of the Premier League, and it’s more disheartening to know that Arsenal’s option from the dugout in Diaby’s stead was Aaron Ramsey.

No disrespect to the Welshman that works very hard for his team, but in a game of this nature, Arsenal would have fared better if there was better quality on the bench.

If the Gunners had a Demba Ba for instance, Diaby’s substitution would have seen Wilshere move to the holding role while Santi Cazorla would have returned to this playmaking position, allowing Ba to compliment the attack.

If Wenger wanted to go for a like-for-like substitution, an enforcer like Mohamed Diame (that has a release clause of just £3.5m) or Yann M’Vila (that’s about to join Rubin Kazan) would have given the Gunners that presence in midfield.

With Mikel Arteta out injured, the need for a new holding midfielder has never been more glaring, but the boss continues to keep the faith with an unreliable lanky French midfielder that’s just a game away from his next injury.

A major concern remains Arsenal’s attack.

Illnesses to Lukas Podolski and the Ox as well as having an extra body in midfield afforded Wenger the chance to deploy Santi Cazorla to the left hand side, where he was pretty much ineffectual till he drifted infield. Theo Walcott was a peripheral figure in the first half but his goal boosted his confidence and he became a thorn in Ca$hley Cuntly Cole’s flesh as the game progressed.

As for Olivier Giroud, I reserve my comments. Just read what Gunnerblog’s Gilberto Silver had to say about him and the team’s performance in general.

Who I’m I kidding? Here’s my take on Arsenal’s No. 1 center forward, Olivier Giroud.

The dinking chip against Coventry, the toe poke against West Ham, the header against Reading, the headed brace against Fulham, the sliding finish in the North London Derby and the quick-fire brace against Newcastle (almost got a hat-trick).

In 30 games for Arsenal this season, Giroud has scored nine goals and there have been some legendary misses along the way.

Replacing a world class striker like Robin van Persie is certainly a daunting task, unless you’re a Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema, Mario Gomez, Sergio Aguero, Robert Lewandowski or a goalscoring alien from Planet Krypton.

Giroud arrived at the club with Marouane Chamakh as his initial opposition for a starting berth but as the season progressed he lost his place to Gervinho and Theo Walcott.

His work rate is unrivaled, he offers Arsenal a focal point in attack, he can hold up play, he links well with his teammates and he’s a threat in the air but with each passing missed chance, echoes for a new center forward gets louder and louder.

To be honest, I was very disgusted with his miss early on. Theo Walcott’s pass was perfectly cushioned, it came to his favored left foot and he had only the goalie to beat but he spurned the chance. Seconds later, Mata showed him how it was done.

In as much as Walcott has shown how lethal he can be in front of goal, he doesn’t have all the necessary ingredients to be a center forward and his performances against Manchester City, Wigan and Southampton showed how ineffectual he can be when he gets smothered by defenses.

Giroud has to find a way to up his game and the fans are trying their best to be behind their star forward. Like the way games are judged by results, strikers are judged by goals and in this department, dear ol’ Olivier has been found wanting as he can’t come up with the goods consistently.

Right now, Giroud has proven to me that he cannot be the difference between one point and three. Deep into injury time, he received a cross in the danger area and like the Manchester City game, he still managed to nod the ball over the bar. I still haven’t forgotten those late misses against Sunderland and Chelsea (at the Emirates).

To add salt to Arsenal’s injuries, Robin van Persie has come to say that he made the right choice leaving Arsenal to join Manchester United for 30 pieces of silver. The Flying Dutchman has already netted 22 goals in 28 games – one was scored against his former employers too.

According to EPL Index, van Persie has converted 25% of his chances while Giroud has converted 13%.

In fairness to Giroud, he is making a transition from a weaker league (yes, I said it!) and he needs some time to adapt unlike van Persie that had the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp who were the big guns at that point in time.

With this in mind, Arsenal has to look for a center forward that can challenge Giroud for a first team berth and most importantly, a center forward that knows how to finish.

Demba Ba would have been a great option with him available for cheaps despite having vast Premier League experience as well as a very profilic goalscoring record, but Arsene Wenger stated that Ba and Giroud are very much alike.

David Villa is about to hand a transfer request to Barcelona (via the Daily Mail) and I really hope that the Gunners would make a move for the Spanish goalscoring machine, even if it’s a short-term loan switch. At the age of 31, Villa has already accumulated 276 goals in 557 games and I really hope that he’ll add to that tally donning the Red and White of Arsenal.

Arsenal’s skipper, Thomas Vermaelen, remains confident that his team can qualify for the Champions League at the end of the campaign. A win against West Ham tomorrow would go a long way in justifying Vermaelen’s claims.

Sayonara.

Do you fancy doing some premier league betting this season? Why not come and check out the latest odds at BWin today.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1: The Gunners Lose More Ground on the Leading Pack

After the brilliant attacking display on show against Swansea in the FA Cup Third Round replay, Arsene Wenger decided to keep the faith with the same crop of players in the crunch encounter against Chelsea. Prior to yesterday’s game, the Blues weren’t that invincible in their home ground, as they had dropped points against Southampton as well as losing in the first leg of the Capitol One Cup semis to Swansea.

Arsenal almost drew first blood when Olivier Giroud showed his fantastic off the ball movement to receive an inch-perfect pass from Theo Walcott. However, his finish was shameful to say the least as it glanced wide off the mark.

The Gunners were made to rue that miss as an over the top pass from Cesar Azpilicueta found Juan Mata that controlled the ball superbly before slamming the roof of Wojciech Szczesny’s net.

Shortly after the quick match opener, Santi Cazorla fashioned a chance for himself before releasing a belter that was parried to safety by James Blunt…Petr Cech. Eden Hazard was a constant thorn to Arsenal’s flesh and he went on a mazy run before firing a shot that was blocked by Szczesny in his near post.

Arsenal conceded the second goal in typical fashion. Abou Diaby had options to release the ball but he lost it to Ramires the Great Lizard that darted to the box before slipping right in front of Szczesny. As you would expect from any Premier League referee, Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot and Frank Lampback of Notre Dame wasted no time in dispatching the spot kick.

After just 16 minutes, the Gunners were already two goals behind.

Arsenal pressed on for the next all-important goal but Bacary Sagna’s distribution was quite erratic. Maybe its just me, but Bac Man has become a shadow of the Mr. Consistency we used to know. He was uncharacteristically out of position in the buildup to Mata’s goal and his output on the pitch was quite disappointing.

Like Walcott, the Gunners should fight hard to secure his future, because he remains one of the best right backs in the business.

Jack Wilshere, who was playing as the creatice hub of the team with Cazorla drafted to the left, made a jinking run on the edge of Chelsea’s area before flicking the ball for Giroud. The French forward brought the ball under control but a pile of bodies blocked him from causing any damage.

Arsenal began the second half on a brighter note and pressed on for the vital goal that would offer them a glimmer of hope.

Wilshere swung in a free kick that was headed to safety by Branislav Ivanovic but the ball feel kindly to Per Mertesacker whose left-footed shot was easy pickings for Cech. Kieran Gibbs made one of his trademark attacking slalom runs but Giroud’s poor header didn’t match the buildup.

As the game got into the hour mark, the Gunners continued to probe the Chelsea rearguard and got a well-deserved goal from the hottest kid in the block, Theo Walcott. Santi Cazorla made a rear foray into the central attacking midfield position before delivering a pin-point pass to Walcott, that wasted no time in latching in his 15th goal of the season.

Francis Coquelin had a good game by his standards but he appeared to be struggling with an injury, so the boss replaced him with Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey was quickly involved in a swift Arsenal attack that was sent wide by Wilshere after some neat passing play between Gibbs and Rambo.

Fernando Torres looked so different with his new hair cut but he used his pace to great effect in the course of the game. There was a moment when he launched a counter attack using his pace to outfox Thomas Vermaelen but Szczesny was on hand to anticipate the ball. Moments later, the Great Lizard fired a shot through a pile of bodies but Szczesny did well to parry the ball to safety.

Arsene Wenger brought on Andrey Arshavin for Diaby in his bid to get something out of the game.

However, Chelsea almost put the game beyond doubt when Demba Ba made mince meat of Szczesny before sidefooting his shot goalwards. The Polish goalie had his captain to thank as Vermaelen made a brilliant interception to leave the scoreline at 2 – 1.

The captain went to the other end of the pitch to fire a free kick on the edge of the area that went wide. After a late attacking surge from the Gunners, their London rivals held firm to leave the scoreline intact.

Arsenal’s second league defeat in a row has seen them go seven points behind fourth placed Tottenham with 16 games to go. Spurs dropped points to the table toppers afterwards but Champions League football might not be possible for the Gunners this season, judging from their continuous inconsistent performances all season long.

Arsene Wenger’s post-match interview had its usual tidbits about the improved second half performance and the rest of the lot. With the Gunners struggling in the League this season, all attention must be turned to the game in hand against West Ham that comes up next tomorrow.

A win against the Hammers will see the Gunners go level on points with Everton, which would also mean that they’ll be four points behind Tottenham.

One can decide to throw further light on the selection of Walcott or Giroud for the center forward berth. While Giroud offers a physical presence and a focal point of attack, Walcott’s clinical ability in goal has been a major plus this season.

As early as the fifth minute, Walcott found Giroud with a perfect pass and with only the goalie to beat but the Frenchman blasted his effort wide. If it was the other way round, Walcott would have dispatched the ball past Cech, as he did in the second half.

In as much as I appreciate Giroud for the effort he gives on the pitch, I’m still in the opinion that Arsenal needs another profilic center forward as it’s really sad to know that they allowed Demba Ba to slip away from our fingers.

Wenger has showed great faith in Giroud and it’s high time the forward starts paying Wenger’s faith with a run of goals. Or is it too much to ask?

Sayonara.

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Licking the Wounds from the Chelsea Defeat

52 years after gaining independence from ‘em British folks, we Nigerians celebrate yet again as our proud nation adds two more years after hitting the half century mark. As expected, I’m home chilling at the moment and I’ll probably drink a pint or two to commemorate the day.

It’s also good to know that Arsenal’s denchster, Emmanuel Frimpong, had a few words for we Nigerians through his Twitter account,

Happy 52nd birthday to all the nigerian Gooners and Nigerian people.
Great day for all nigerians
#goodmorning—
Emmanuel Y Frimpong (@Frimpong26AFC) October 01, 2012

Moving over to the world of Arsenal, it’s pretty silent from everyone as it’s a default feeling that comes hand in hand with a defeat. Before the game, Arsenal gave us a million and one reasons to believe that this is our year – and it can still be. The splendid results against Stoke, Liverpool and Manchester City painted new pictures on the wall and even though we didn’t expect the team to gazump past Chelsea, anything less than a draw would have being very disappointing.

Reality check folks, we lost.

We lost to a manager that looks like Lord Voldemort if he looked pale without a nose of course, a team that has the legendary racist spouse shagger, Mr. Ca$hley Cuntly Cole and to top it all off, the defeat was by our own doing, as we shot ourselves in the foot yet again – an all too familiar feeling at Arsenal.

Well, life must go on and we certainly have some ground to cover in the Premier League, but all focus must be shifted to the visit of Greek champions, Olympiacos, in Wednesday’s crunch encounter against a team we certainly have some history with.

Fingers have been pointed at Arsene Wenger for his “tactical error” in replacing Per Mertesacker with Laurent Koscielny but the manager, as intelligent as ever, had this to say,

“That is a decision which was based on the opposition we played. You can say it was a wrong one maybe, but I believe [that statement] is a lowering the quality of the players who played, they are internationals. If you do not play Koscielny or Vermaelen and cannot win the game, you will ask me the same question.”

More gooners like mdgunner1, a writer for WaZoBia Gooners, was also critical of the Thomas Vermaelen – Laurent Koscielny pairing, as stated in his match report on the derby,

…I had my worries. We keep going on about the Vermaelen-Koscielny partnership as if it is the great partnership that we’ve all been craving to see since the invincibles. We saw it last season and it was not very fantastic based on statistics…

…You can say all you want about the BFG but he gives us something we don’t have at the back- STABILITY. Vermaelen and Koscielny are like two hot-heads that can’t perform at their best when playing together in my honest opinion.

Many Arsenal fans want Koscielny’s head on a plate but I still feel that he and Vermaelen remain Arsenal’s best pairing in center back. No disrespect to Per Mertesacker, but the combined qualities of Vermaelen and Koscielny makes them a formidable force at the back.

The BFG contributes immensely to the squad with his height, composure, good anticipation skills and coordination but the Vermaelen – Koscielny pairing compliments the Arsenal defense with their guile, aggression, technique, bravery, aerial prowess, marking, tackling skills and good anticipation as well.

To crown it all, both defenders have an eye for goal as Vermaelen still holds the record for the highest scoring defender in the Premier League. From time to time, Koscielny pops up with the goods and his goals against AC Milan and more importantly, West Brom, were key for the Gunners last season.

This top-notch article by Blazing Cannon‘s Supreetkini throws some light into the statistical look of all three defenders and a lot can be taken from the piece. In his honest opinion however, he opted for a Thomas Vermaelen – Laurent Koscielny pairing as his preferred choice and when he ran a poll as well, 61.73% of the Arsenal fans that voted followed suit with the TV5 – LK6 pairing.

Koscielny was our best defender by a far mile last season…so was Johan Djourou in the 2010/11 campaign. One game doesn’t determine how good or bad a player could be but it’s more than enough to give the fans something to think about.

Vice skipper, Mikel Arteta, has come out to defend Koscielny Arsenal’s rearguard, as he has stated that the backline was not solely to blame in the wake of the defeat to Chelsea,

“It’s a hard one to take but we’ve conceded from three set pieces in the last two games. That’s cost us points and it’s not good enough.

“I don’t think it’s something to do with the defence. It’s about an individual defensive set-up in the game which is a free kick or a corner. Today we haven’t defended well enough and we’ve conceded two goals that have cost us the game.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility. You can’t fault one player on that. We have to clean the lines up quickly and you can’t just allow runners like that in the box.”

It’s okay for the fans to launch full-scale attacks on the players after disappointing performances but it’s more heart-warming to know that Koscielny can count on his teammates to back him up through the bad times. We tend to forget that he almost atoned for his putrid outing with a header that slammed the bar but the offside flag killed that attack.

Steve Bould has done some great work this season in reshaping the outlook of Arsenal’s defense but he needs to go back to the drawing board to tweak a few things because conceding three goals from set pieces is rightly disappointing, as we had felt that this issue had been rectified.

Arsene Wenger has stated that his guns will recover from the defeat and I’ll be hoping that the club sends a clear message to the fans against Olympiacos before setting sail to challenge for the Premier League title with a much better performance against a very tough West Ham side with Big Sam Allardyce in the helm of affairs of the team.

C’mon, the sulking has to stop and we need to move on.

The quote of the day goes to Gooner Tim,

Togetherness and spirit is easy in victory, the real test is in defeat. I am confident we will erase yesterday from the memory and move onwards and upwards.

Sayonara.

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