33 Comments »

Fans split on who should partner Cesc now but tip Ramsey for future

THE Goodplaya survey of 1,000 Arsenal fans asked who should be Cesc Fabregas’ partner in central midfield. Around two thirds of respondents cast their vote in the period after the Roma victory (when Denilson and Diaby excelled and Song only came late on) and before the Fulham game. The rest voted post Fulham.

Who should partner Cesc in central midfield?

Denilson: 438—–45%
Song: 32—–3%
Diaby: 396—–41%
Ramsey: 95—–10%
Eboue: 6—–1%
Randall: 9—–1%

So, a split. Respondents were also asked whether Denilson, Song and Diaby will make it as Arsenal players.

Denilson will make it as an Arsenal player:

Agree strongly: 212—–22%
Tend to agree: 431—–44%
Neither agree or disagree: 181—–18%
Tend to disagree: 128—–13%
Disagree strongly: 29—–3%

Song will make it as an Arsenal player:

Agree strongly: 19—–2%
Tend to agree: 99—–10%
Neither agree or disagree: 201—–20%
Tend to disagree: 381—–39%
Disagree strongly: 283—–29%

Diaby will make it as an Arsenal player:

Agree strongly: 132—–13%
Tend to agree: 428—–43%
Neither agree or disagree: 235—–24%
Tend to disagree: 159—–16%
Disagree strongly: 31—–3%

So, a fairly clear verdict. Despite only one in ten people thinking Ramsey should be partnering Cesc now, he is expected to do well.

Ramsey will make it as an Arsenal player:

Agree strongly: 389—–40%
Tend to agree: 452—–46%
Neither agree or disagree: 127—–13%
Tend to disagree: 14—–1%
Disagree strongly: 1—–0%

And finally, I asked fans to comment on the statement:

Lack of central midfielders is the biggest reason for our struggles this season:

Agree strongly: 529—–54%
Tend to agree: 302—–31%
Neither agree or disagree: 59—–6%
Tend to disagree: 72—–7%
Disagree strongly: 21—–2%

Coming next, we’ll look at Fergie’s claims that we need defenders, whether fans are too critical and whether Arsene is too indulgent.

43 Comments »

Around 90% of fans still behind Wenger

THE Goodplaya survey of 1,000 fans asked if Arsene Wenger was still the man to take us forward and whether he should go at the end of the season if we failed to win a trophy.

This is what the fans said:

Statement: Arsene is still the man to take us forward

Total votes, followed by %

Agree strongly 652 66%
Tend to agree 204 21%
Neither 80 8%
Tend to disagree 38 11%
Disagree strongly 11 1%

Statement: Arsene should go if we don’t win a trophy this season.

Total votes, followed by %

Agree strongly 18 2%
Tend to agree 33 3%
Neither 62 6%
Tend to disagree 136 14%
Disagree strongly 738 75%

Next up, I’ll post the verdict on the midfield.

34 Comments »

West Brom 1 Arsenal 3: Bendtner at his best - report and ratings

A VERY quick one as I’m writing this on Tuesday night and have to be up at 5am on Wednesday (ie six hours). I’d sat through 360 agonising minutes of league football without a goal.

Then when one finally came, I was parking the car outside the pub after getting stuck behind a particularly stubborn temporary traffic light (something London based readers will sympathise with).

Bendtner had got the goal, cutting in from the left and finishing very neatly with his left foot. It was a shot the both curled delightfully along the ground and fizzed a fair bit too.

Sadly, before long our record of not conceding went too.

And it wasn’t pretty as a low free-kick went through our wall and past the blameless Almunia, who quite justifiably assumed the wall would cover that part of the goal. I’ll give Eboue the benefit of the doubt and say it was keenness to attack the ball that saw him leave his station in the middle of the wall.

We then weren’t particularly pretty for quite a while, with very little coherence to our play. Their partnership restored, Song and Denilson were not complimenting each other, Nasri was very quiet (particularly after receiving treatment for a kick), Eboue was sporadically interesting and Bendtner was trying hard enough but scooped one great chance over. Arshavin had nice moments here or there but wasn’t seeing much of it.

Then the Clich, on one of his better forays forward, won a free-kick on the left. The marking wasn’t great and Kolo stole in to head home. But sometimes you get poor marking.

The point is that however poor it is, if the ball in is rubbish, it won’t really matter (ahem Cesc).

As it was Arshavin’s ball was a peach, pacey, curling and dipping and perfect for Kolo.

A third followed from more questionable defending. A long Kolo ball for once worked and Bendtner took it down on his knee and fired away a thumping half volley that the keeper could only palm in. Good work.

We started the second half on fire and Bendtner and Arshavin combined well, with each going close and neither guilty of any glaring misses. The Dane was particularly unfortunate when one effort cannoned off the post.

I really should go to bed so I’ll wrap up the playa ratings here: Almunia was very sharp and blameless for the goal, making a very decent low save early on and tipping one wide brilliantly near the end (8). Sagna was solid as ever (7), Kolo looked good enough and got a goal (7.5), Djourou a little rusty on his return (6.5) and Clichy fine but not at his swashbuckling best and still hit and miss with crosses. (6.5)

After the break Alex Song moved back to replace Kolo and did better in defence than in midfield (7), Denilson was solid enough and won some balls well (7), Nasri was very quiet, particularly after his kick (6) and the longer his debut season goes on the more it feels like Pires’ first. (Albeit he is five years younger).

Eboue got involved well enough but was a bit hit and miss (6.5). Ramsey replaced him on 66 and barring one disastrous backpass scrapped in a way it would do us no harm if more players did. (6.5) Diaby officially replaced Toure and despite a couple of lackadaisical moments, the vast majority of what he did was positive and he almost scored a fine goal, but for a deflection. (7)

And congratulations to Fran Merida on his Premiership debut. He did well I thought and looked a bit stronger than in the Carling Cup. (7)

Up front, Arshavin got his first assist and while he missed a few chances, the quality is obviously there (7). Bendtner didn’t just score two, he also set-up a fair bit, ran hard, jumped for headers and generally worked far more impressively than at times in the past. I can accept those who criticise him for slacking off at times (I am one) but I’ve never got those who rubbish him for his ability. (8.5)

His contributions are frequently decisive ones and last night the travelling hordes sung his name loudly and deservedly so.

All in all, a good night’s work and if we looked a little nervy late on, that can probably be forgiven.

716 Comments »

Goodplaya survey results part 4: 4,000 season-tickets possibly going spare

A COUPLE of months ago a Virgin Money survey suggested around one in four Arsenal fans were considering cancelling their season tickets.

That figures seems a little high according to the Goodplaya survey of 1,000 fans. Of those who identified themselves as season-ticket holders, 11% (18 out of 161) said they would be giving up their seat for next season. Are the Goodplaya respondents truly representative? Maybe - I don’t know. I suppose you could argue taking the survey in the first place suggests a level of dedication above the average and therefore less likelihood of giving up your seat. Who knows.

If you are a season ticket holder, will you renew next season?

Am not a season ticket holder 821 84%
Yes I will 143 15%
No I won’t 15 2%

If the figure is correct I make it around 4,000 waiting list members being bumped up, though I suspect not all of the first 4,000 on the list will take up their option. That does not include club level.

The question I asked on whether the credit crunch had affected the number of games people went to could have been far better phrased in hindsight. Here is what you said:

The credit crunch has affected how many games I go to:

Agree strongly: 93—–10%
Tend to agree: 148—–15%
Neither agree or disagree: 504—–52%
Tend to disagree: 96—–10%
Disagree strongly: 136—–14%

91 Comments »

The truth is very few people like Eboue

EMMANUEL Eboue. Long time readers will know I don’t like him. I asked Goodplaya readers what they thought of him in the Goodplaya survey.

Firstly, I asked whether his behaviour was unacceptable. The verdict was resounding:

Agree strongly: 628—–64%
Tend to agree: 217—–22%
Neither agree or disagree: 73—–7%
Tend to disagree: 57—–6%
Disagree strongly: 10—–1%

I asked exactly the same question in November 2007 and the verdict then proves that what happened against Wigan was hardly the ignorant reaction of spectators unable to realise he was unfit and out of position, as parts of the press claimed. In the original survey the splits were 47, 34, 10, 6, 2.

Over 80% of you were inclined to agree that the heavy stick I give him is merited:

Agree strongly: 520—–53%
Tend to agree: 295—–30%
Neither agree or disagree: 69—–7%
Tend to disagree: 75—–8%
Disagree strongly: 26—–3%

And finally, I asked for opinions on the booing against Wigan:

He should not have been booed and did not deserve it: 102—–10%
He should not have been booed but had only himself to blame: 524—–53%
I didn’t boo but I can understand why people did: 281—–29%
I booed and regret it: 5—–1%
I booed and am glad I did: 73—–7%

That’s yer lot on Eboue. Coming next, a bit the board might well want to look at: how many season tickets will be given up this year.

7 Comments »

Goodplaya survey results part 2: Gallas should stay and CAN play with Kolo

REMEMBER all that hoo-hah over William Gallas earlier this season?

It feels like a long time ago now. And the Goodplaya survey, which around two thirds of respondents replied to after the Roma game but before Fulham and the rest after Fulham, says as much.

He may have been stripped of the club captaincy, but just one in five fans want to see Gallas sold, with the vast majority actively against such an idea. The 62% backing him is admittedly down on the 82% who said he had redeemed himself when the last Goodplaya survey was held when we were flying high in November 2007, but it’s not bad.

Arsenal should sell Gallas

Agree strongly: 62—–6%
Tend to agree: 139—–14%
Neither agree or disagree: 175—–18%
Tend to disagree: 361—–37%
Disagree strongly: 247—–25%

The recent defensive shut-outs seem to have made a real impression on people: it’s hard to believe that back in December when we were chaotic at Villa Park, three times as many people would have been for the Gallas-Kolo partnership than against it.

Gallas and Toure can work as a partnership:

Agree strongly: 86—–9%
Tend to agree: 519—–53%
Neither agree or disagree: 158—–16%
Tend to disagree: 198—–20%
Disagree strongly: 25—–3%

And what of Djourou and Senderos? On both, it’s a complete split: there is no consensus on whether the former should start and the latter should be brought back.

Djourou should start, irrespective of who his partner is:

Agree strongly: 78—–8%
Tend to agree: 272—–28%
Neither agree or disagree: 346—–35%
Tend to disagree: 259—–26%
Disagree strongly: 28—–3%

Senderos should be brought back:

Agree strongly: 121—–12%
Tend to agree: 274—–28%
Neither agree or disagree: 180—–1%
Tend to disagree: 273—–28%
Disagree strongly: 136—–14%

But whatever happens, the fans do want a new defender:

Arsenal need to sign another central defender:

Agree strongly: 455—–46%
Tend to agree: 291—–30%
Neither agree or disagree: 100—–10%
Tend to disagree: 118—–12%
Disagree strongly: 21—–2%

And that completes part two of the Goodplaya survey results. Next, it’s Eboue.

9 Comments »

Goodplaya survey results: Over 1,000 opinions on Almunia, Clichy and Gibbs

ON FRIDAY I launched the second ever Goodplaya survey and over a thousand of you took the time to respond. Thanks.

Firstly, congrats to Stuart McKay on winning the ArsenalTVOnline subscription.

Now, onto the results. And we’ll start with the relatively uncontroversial topics of Manuel Almunia and the left-back berth.

A year ago I asked if Almunia would become a world class keeper given time. Just 11% said he would. This year I asked if he was now a top-class keeper (I should have said world class again) and most of you said he was.

Almunia is now a top class goalkeeper:

Agree strongly: 172—–17%
Tend to agree: 503—–51%
Neither agree or disagree: 192—–19%
Tend to disagree: 96—–10%
Disagree strongly: 26—–3%

As for Gael Clichy’s dip in form, the consensus is it is nothing serious:

Clichy’s dip in form is just a blip:

Agree strongly: 495—–50%
Tend to agree: 371—–38%
Neither agree or disagree: 66—–7%
Tend to disagree: 45—–5%
Disagree strongly: 6—–1%

But were it to be, there is confidence in Gibbs:

Gibbs looks a good back-up to Clichy:

Agree strongly: 388—–39%
Tend to agree: 440—–45%
Neither agree or disagree: 111—–11%
Tend to disagree: 45—–5%
Disagree strongly: 0—–0%

None of that was too controversial. But in part two, which I’ll post shortly, we look at the far less clear cut issue of central defenders.

215 Comments »

The thing about chasing fourth…

… Is that compared to going after the league title, you get a lot more leeway from those around you as we saw at Villa Park yesterday. With 17 points from 33, we’re fairly fortunate to even be in the hunt frankly, let alone in a position to close the gap to three tomorrow night.

I haven’t got too much to say this morning, but I do want to clear one thing up: Arsenalistically speaking, Man United winning was definitely what we wanted. Look at it this way: had Spurs won, they’d have had something to crow about. But United winning is totally insignificant: if they go on to win the league too (and perhaps other cup competitions), the fact they won the Carling Cup is hardly going to add greatly to the pain, even if it means completing the quidruple or whatever it is they are after. Equally, if the Carling Cup is the only thing they win, it will hardly diminish the hilarity of them collapsing completely elsewhere.

So all in all, a welcome result and another great David Bentley moment.

Finally for today, you will remember I gave away a subscription to (and shamelessly promoted) ArsenalTVOnline in Friday’s blog. If you watched their Saturday afternoon show for the Fulham game, drop them a line here to tell them what you thought of it.

Today is the final day to win that subscription. All you need to do is take the Goodplaya Arsenal survey to be in with a chance of winning. Hundreds of you already have and the results, which I’ll post from tomorrow, are fascinating. The survey is here.

907 Comments »

I wondered if maybe the booing was a good thing

Playa Ratings

1 - Almunia1 - Almunia, 7

7

Despite plenty of Fulham attacks and half chances, I don't remember him having much to do other than look sound from crosses, which he largely was.
3 - Sagna3 - Sagna, 6.5

6.5

Getting forward plenty at the moment but could work on his crossing. Seems to either just scoop it in or just put his foot in front of it and hope the pace already on the ball will do the trick.
22 - Clichy22 - Clichy, 6

6

Short of confidence at the moment and as good a reason as there is not to boo: lacks nothing for effort but just doesn't trust himself to do things instinctively. There were some good moments in fairness, but like Sagna, the crossing can improve.
5 - Toure5 - Toure, 7

7

The rear end shows no sign of deflating but the sluggishness does seem to be less than it was. A tough test against Fulham, but he did OK.
10 - Gallas10 - Gallas, 7

7

Ditto really. There was not too much arguing with Fulham's forward play but apart from a spell in the second half where I feared they were turning the screw, we never really looked like conceding. In the air we simply look far better organised. Not sure why, but we do.
2 - Diaby2 - Diaby, 5.5

5.5

Poor frankly. The handbrake was on and what came so simply on Tuesday now took a whole lot of effort. Seems incapable of stringing a decent run of form together.
15 - Denilson15 - Denilson, 6

6

Part of a midfield that just seemed overrun at times, despite Fulham playing 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1. Did OK and intercepted some things but this was not the stuff of Tuesday night.
12 - Vela12 - Vela, 6.5

6.5

Faded later on and was deservedly subbed. But looked lively on his first Premiership start initially and was stretching Fulham a fair bit. But like the others, shy in front of goal.
8 - Nasri8 - Nasri, 7

7

Quieter in the second half when moved to the wings but did keep things ticking over nicely when behind RVP. One of the few players to harass Fulham, he was nice to watch, if not explosive.
11 - van Persie11 - van Persie, 6

6

Paid to stick away chances and while he was unlucky to hit the post, the first half header and shot should really have ended up bulging the net.
26 - Bendtner26 - Bendtner [Sub], 6.5

6.5

Offered something different, which was welcome, but you do look at the likes of Johnson and wonder why Bendtner can't run like them.
27 - Eboué27 - Eboué [Sub], 7

7

A good cameo, driving forward and taking on players.
23 - Arshavin23 - Arshavin, 7

7

Clearly still not fit and flits in and out of games at the moment. But uses the ball very neatly, set up great RVP chances and looks unafraid to shoot.
ARSENAL 0 FULHAM 0
FROM GOODPLAYA AT THE EMIRATES

I LEFT the Emirates yesterday thinking one of four scenarios must have occurred:

a) We simply don’t try hard enough.
b) Our physical conditioning is abysmal.
c) Fulham are world beaters.
d) A combination of the above.

The latter seemed the most probable.

I readily accept it is only human nature to rouse oneself for our biggest challenges and to sometimes struggle to overcome life’s more mundane hurdles. To perform at 100%, 100% of the time is not human - it’s robotic.

But that said, I still can’t reconcile the yawning chasm between what we saw on Tuesday night and what we witnessed at the Emirates this weekend, last weekend and seemingly every other weekend.

How readily we reverted back to type - jockeying instead of tackling, stopping instead of going and hesitating rather than chancing.

At times late on Fulham, yes Fulham, made us look embarrassingly ordinary. Knackered after Roma? How on earth these precious souls will handle a trip to the Midlands with just a two day break, I don’t know. Had we played above ourselves on Tuesday one could more easily accept this dross.

But Roma was just a reflection of what we are very capable of delivering.

Instead, game after game, we are playing below ourselves.

So as we slip inexorably towards a diet of (if we’re lucky), the Europa League and the knock-on listless Sunday afternoon Premiership duals, for the first time a part of me pondered if the boos that rang out at the final whistle might actually not all be a bad thing.

Could they finally lift the team from this terrible slumber? Could they shake these guys to the core, strip them of some of their ego and cliched as it sounds, take us back to basics?

After all, it’s not as if management or players seem to have any ideas.

And make no mistake, it is now a dreadful run we’re on: points wise our last five games have been WORSE than winning two and losing three, our last 11 games have been WORSE than winning six and losing five. Some undefeated run.

But the answer, as I discovered over the course of one of those rare Saturday nights where Arsenal DID impinge on my overall mood, was no, booing is not the answer. For a start, as this Online Gooner piece suggests, my hunch is that those who boo are of impure hearts themselves.

If they sung with gusto from 2.55pm to the final whistle and then vented their frustrations, fine. But the suspicion remains that the booing is the loudest they have got all day.

I also realised that equally, as Gunnerblogger alludes to, that something else is at play. We may well be lazy, but it’s got to the stage where we have developed a perfectly understandable nervousness too, particularly in front of goal.

And it is a nervousness that booing will only make ten times worse.

So while I’d love to grab each of them by the neck and shake them some urgency into them, booing is clearly not the way.

Against Fulham, we were frigid in front of goal. Everything felt so forced, so unnatural.

Of course, there were chances. But whereas RVP was previously sticking them away, his radar is now off. Where would we be without his goals, people asked after Everton. Now they know.

The chances came and went, but rarely were they part of a sustained, coherent passage of play. Instead they formed small spells where we spluttered into life.

We were at our best at 4-5-1 with Nasri flitting around, joining things up and oiling what was otherwise a slightly clunky machine. Arshavin was more peripheral, though his contributions were often telling and it was only poor RVP finishing that denied the Russian two assists.

Fulham were enterprising right from the off and had (mostly half) chances which to my mind came about largely through decent attacking play rather than poor defensive organisation. It was in the middle of the park where we struggled. Denilson was OK initially, but you can often tell so much from Diaby’s first contribution. It was poor and things got little better.

Removing Vela for Bendtner felt right, but it did us little favours. Arshavin faded and Nasri, who at least played with some bottle, looked isolated on the right wing. Despite a comedic winning of a free-kick with his first touch, Eboue was very good when sent on as a more attacking version of Sagna.

But ultimately you simply can’t argue we had a never say die spirit.

Rarely, if ever, were we left wondering how a player had managed to win a ball. At the other end Andy Johnson worked tirelessly for the Cottagers - take note Bendtner.

I’m in the States for a wedding for the Burnley and Blackburn games and right now it feels like if I had to miss anything, us trying to score at home in the league for the first time in ages against Allardyce of all people does not feel like a bad moment to be absent.

Before then, it is West Brom, where you sense things will either get very bad or else we will enjoy a bit more freedom away from the Emirates crowd.

And that’s yer lot - thanks for reading, it’s been a long one. It’s moments like this that remind me why I write this blog - a privileged opportunity to have loads of people share my ecstasy and agony.

PS. Hundreds of you have already responded to the Goodplaya survey. It’s good fun, doesn’t take long and you could win a six month subscription to ArsenalTV online. Take the survey here.

746 Comments »

Take the 2009 Goodplaya survey - another ArsenalTV subscription up for grabs

AROUND 15 months ago I surveyed Goodplaya.com readers and 600 of you kindly replied, giving a fascinating snapshot into where the fans thought the club was in November 2007. I posted the results here.

A lot has happened since then and now I’m doing it again. And one lucky person who fills it in will win a free 6 month subscription to ArsenalTV online. If you already subscribe, you will get another six months added on for free.

You may have seen a few blogs offering ArsenalTV subscriptions over the last 24 hours. I’ll let you in on a secret: Basically, we’ve all been bribed. They’ve given each of us our own subscription and one to give away and in return we promote their brand, spanking new, free for everyone (this Saturday only), better than being at the match, morally more right than streaming it, matchday coverage that you can check out here.

I may be utterly shameless, but hey, at least I’m honest about it.

The survey won’t take long to fill in and as I said last year, I’m really interested in hearing the views of everyone - including those of you who don’t normally respond in the comments section. With a bit of luck you’ll actually find it vaguely interesting and it won’t take long.

Other than the prize, there is nothing remotely commercial about it and your details will not be passed to anyone, including ArsenalTV. It is purely Arsenalistic.

So to those of you who fill it in, thanks in advance.

The survey is now closed… Thanks to all those who took part. The results will appear/have appeared on the site.