Arsenal Half Term Report
So, we have reached the halfway point of the 2003/04 season. Although nothing has been won yet, I am sure that most Arsenal fans will agree that it has been a successful 5 months. Not only do Arsenal find themselves unbeaten in league competition, but they have also reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League, ending a difficult group as winners after a remarkable comeback. On top of this, there has been a pleasantly surprising and refreshing run to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. We may not have witnessed the level of brilliance that we were treated to at the start of last season, but Arsenal have returned from the disappointment of not winning the Premiership with an undoubtedly more resilient and determined attitude.
The Premiership
Ridiculed for being a mediocre league before a ball had been kicked, it has nevertheless been an exciting start to the season at both ends of the Premiership table. There have been some surprises: Fulham, widely tipped for relegation, seem to be up there challenging for a place in Europe, as do Charlton, while Bolton have proved that they are no longer satisfied with merely avoiding relegation. Some so-called ‘big’ clubs, namely Leeds and Tottenham, are struggling away at the bottom of the pack. This year, thanks to Roman’s millions, Chelsea are the team most likely to challenge Manchester United and Arsenal’s dominance of the Premiership. The arrival of the Londoners as title contenders has provided much excitement, as there have been three clubs battling it out for top spot. All three have held the coveted position, but it remains to be seen who will be there at the very end.
We have made a record-breaking start to the season, managing to remain unbeaten until the halfway point. Critics had suggested that Wenger’s failure to invest in a top quality centre back would prove a costly error, yet Arsenal have achieved the best defensive record in the league, conceding only 12 goals in 19 games. This is largely due to the discovery of Kolo Toure as a centre back, who has been nothing less than a revelation, and the fact that Jens Lehmann has fitted into our back five with consummate ease.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of last season was our repeated failure to hold on to a lead. This has virtually been eradicated, apart from late goals away to Leicester and Bolton recently, which cost us 4 points. Despite this, we have still won by 1 goal on no fewer than 8 occasions, which is testament to the fact that we have improved in this department. A further improvement on last season is the fact that Arsenal have been able to win when their performance perhaps warranted only a draw. This was probably the case at Man City and at Liverpool, as well as at home to Sp**s. Similarly, we have drawn games this season having played poorly; games we might have lost last season. I believe that this happened at Bolton, Charlton and possibly Man Utd, and at home to Pompey. Although there is only a point’s difference between a draw and a loss, those precious extra points all count come May.
There have still been a few convincing victories, in which we have seen the main man, Thierry Henry, ably supported by the likes of Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp. The annual thrashing of Middlesbrough at the Riverside came and went with a bang in August, Birmingham and Leeds got similar treatment to last season in November, while Wolves were beaten on Boxing Day with the disdain that a team of their quality deserves.
Arguably the sternest test of the Premiership season so far came after the Manchester United episode. I do not want to go into the incident in too much depth, and I certainly do not condone the actions of our players. However, I do believe that Ruud Van Nistelrooy had it coming to him. I think we’ll leave it at that. Unsurprisingly, the media immediately began to question the depth of our squad if it was to suffer heavy suspensions. This was a particularly testing period as Arsenal’s next three games were against Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea, and they could have fallen to pieces. But the players reacted positively and went on to beat those three teams. When the suspensions began at the end of November, it turned out that Keown, Vieira and Lauren were injured anyway and Parlour was not a first choice at the time. Those who came in did admirably though, with Cygan proving some of his doubters wrong, Edu strengthening his case for a starting spot alongside Vieira, and Gael Clichy making an impressive league debut.
The other main disciplinary flashpoint was Ashley Cole’s sending off against Leicester and subsequent three-match ban. It was a reckless and dangerous tackle, but it is not something Ashley has made a habit of over the last few years, as some have suggested. He deserved his suspension, and missed games against Bolton, Wolves and Southampton. 18-year-old Gael Clichy, a new acquisition over the summer, replaced him in these games and showed that he is a more than capable back-up.
We must not forget that for 8 of the first nineteen matches of the Premiership season, the captain and heartbeat of the team, Patrick Vieira, was missing through injury. He has since returned and is slowly returning to his best, but many doubted the team’s ability to manage without him. Once again, the strength of our squad shone through as both Ray Parlour and Edu came into the side and performed consistently well, during a period in which they won 5 and drew 3 games.
Considering all of the above, along with the fact that we could not strengthen or freshen up the squad over the summer as Chelsea, Manchester United, and even Tottenham had done, we have done remarkably well. Arsenal have six points more than they did at this stage last season, have scored four less goals, but have conceded 8 less too. On 45 points and just behind Man United, we can look forward to an enthralling run-in. I fully expect that the winners will require over 90 points and both Arsenal, Man United and even Chelsea are well on course to do this.
The Champions League
There is no need for me beat around the bush. Arsenal’s start to the Champions League this year was the complete opposite to that of last season: absolutely disastrous. With one point after 3 games, it looked as though we were dead and buried. The optimistic amongst us fans held on to the glimmer of hope that, mathematically, qualification was still possible. Others had already given up. The press had written Arsenal off.
The defeat at home to Inter Milan was the heaviest defeat that I have ever been to at Highbury. I was there when Charlton demolished us 4-2 in 2001, and when Leeds beat us last season. Both games were soul-destroying. But this was even worse. I had such high hopes before the match, despite witnessing a lacklustre display against Portsmouth the previous Saturday. Inter Milan were possibly the biggest and most famous team I had seen play at Highbury. I was sure that we would raise our game against them and come away with some sort of result. I never even contemplated failure. Yet, on the night, Arsenal’s strongest XI was so comprehensively, soundly, utterly, beaten. There seemed to be so many problems. I got home and wrote down a long list about why we couldn’t perform in the Champions League. It was devastating.
The next two games were only marginally better. We drew 0-0 in Moscow when we perhaps should have won, and then lost in Kiev when a draw might have been a more fair result. Rock bottom of the group after three games with only a single point meant that only 9 points from the next three games would suffice.
On a crisp night at the start of November, Dynamo Kiev came to Highbury. For almost 90 minutes, Arsenal seemed to have the same sort of problems. We couldn’t score, we had no luck, we looked uncertain in defence; the list goes on. Yet in the 88th minute, Sylvain Wiltord dinked the ball into the box, Henry rose and flicked it on, and Ashley Cole, of all people, with a diving header at the back post, put Arsenal ahead and gave the fans hope. With hindsight, we can assert that this was a goal of gigantic proportions.
Two weeks later we travelled to the San Siro, the home of Inter Milan. If the last game had been important, this was now even more so. This game ranks as the highlight of the season so far, and that is no exaggeration. To beat a team of Inter Milan’s quality in their own back yard, under such pressure, is amazing. To beat them 5-1…. Unbelievable, the stuff dreams are made of. It was such an exhilarating game. We were missing Vieira, Gilberto, Lauren and Bergkamp who are all first-choice players. Nevertheless, those who did play were immense. Henry put in one of the great European performances, while Cygan managed to keep Vieri quiet.
We now couldn’t fail, or could we? I remember reading in the paper the sentence: “Arsenal have an uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.” This worried me, but I was still confident that we could qualify. On the night, it proved to be quite an anti-climax. Lokomotiv Moscow turned up, but never looked like winning, especially when they had a player sent off in the first half. Two great goals, from Pires and Ljungberg, put us through into the knockout stages as winners of our group. Bizarrely, Lokomotiv qualified alongside us.
A few days later, the draw was made and we duly got Celta Vigo. I look forward to welcoming back to Highbury Silvinho, who was always a favourite of mine and of many fans. All games in the Champions League are difficult, especially in the knockout stages, and I expect this to be the same. Celta Vigo, although they currently lie in the relegation zone in La Liga, are a very capable team, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. We will have to be at our best to qualify for the quarter-finals, but I am quietly confident.
Domestic Cups
The Carling Cup has proved quite fruitful for Arsenal so far this season. Wenger has used it to give the experienced professionals match practice if they needed it, as well as to give some of the reserves and youth players vital experience. It has come as a pleasant surprise to all Gooners that we have actually done very well. Although many might not admit it, if we were to lose to Middlesbrough in the semi-finals, deep down, most Arsenal fans will be very disappointed. It would be great to see some of the young players get the chance to shine on the big stage: at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Clichy, Francesc Fabregas, David Bentley, Justin Hoyte and Graham Stack have all shown great potential in the games they have featured in. But one player has stood out above these five- one Jeremie Aliadiere. He has started all three games so far, and has scored 4 goals. His attitude is exemplary; he chases down every ball, he puts pressure on the defenders and he works very hard. This attitude would be nothing without talent though, and fortunately, he seems to have been blessed with both. His second goal against Wolves is proof of this. I am certain that we will see a lot of this young man in the future.
While the Carling Cup is nearing an end, its famous and more prestigious older brother, the FA Cup, has just begun. Arsenal, despite a minor scare at the start, beat Leeds at Elland Road, by 4-1, which is becoming a very familiar scoreline. Thierry Henry was, once again, sublime, but it was a team performance and everybody played their part. The draw for the fourth round, which took place today, paired us with Middlesbrough. It would be historic if we reached a fourth consecutive final, and even more so if we won for the third time running. Well, I mustn’t get ahead of myself. It’s only the fourth round after all!
Conclusion
So, we are still in every competition, and despite widespread criticism and doubts before the season began, the Rolls Royce that is Arsenal Football Club continues to motor. Lets just hope that the full season report is just as positive.
So, we have reached the halfway point of the 2003/04 season. Although nothing has been won yet, I am sure that most Arsenal fans will agree that it has been a successful 5 months. Not only do Arsenal find themselves unbeaten in league competition, but they have also reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League, ending a difficult group as winners after a remarkable comeback. On top of this, there has been a pleasantly surprising and refreshing run to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. We may not have witnessed the level of brilliance that we were treated to at the start of last season, but Arsenal have returned from the disappointment of not winning the Premiership with an undoubtedly more resilient and determined attitude.
The Premiership
Ridiculed for being a mediocre league before a ball had been kicked, it has nevertheless been an exciting start to the season at both ends of the Premiership table. There have been some surprises: Fulham, widely tipped for relegation, seem to be up there challenging for a place in Europe, as do Charlton, while Bolton have proved that they are no longer satisfied with merely avoiding relegation. Some so-called ‘big’ clubs, namely Leeds and Tottenham, are struggling away at the bottom of the pack. This year, thanks to Roman’s millions, Chelsea are the team most likely to challenge Manchester United and Arsenal’s dominance of the Premiership. The arrival of the Londoners as title contenders has provided much excitement, as there have been three clubs battling it out for top spot. All three have held the coveted position, but it remains to be seen who will be there at the very end.
We have made a record-breaking start to the season, managing to remain unbeaten until the halfway point. Critics had suggested that Wenger’s failure to invest in a top quality centre back would prove a costly error, yet Arsenal have achieved the best defensive record in the league, conceding only 12 goals in 19 games. This is largely due to the discovery of Kolo Toure as a centre back, who has been nothing less than a revelation, and the fact that Jens Lehmann has fitted into our back five with consummate ease.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of last season was our repeated failure to hold on to a lead. This has virtually been eradicated, apart from late goals away to Leicester and Bolton recently, which cost us 4 points. Despite this, we have still won by 1 goal on no fewer than 8 occasions, which is testament to the fact that we have improved in this department. A further improvement on last season is the fact that Arsenal have been able to win when their performance perhaps warranted only a draw. This was probably the case at Man City and at Liverpool, as well as at home to Sp**s. Similarly, we have drawn games this season having played poorly; games we might have lost last season. I believe that this happened at Bolton, Charlton and possibly Man Utd, and at home to Pompey. Although there is only a point’s difference between a draw and a loss, those precious extra points all count come May.
There have still been a few convincing victories, in which we have seen the main man, Thierry Henry, ably supported by the likes of Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp. The annual thrashing of Middlesbrough at the Riverside came and went with a bang in August, Birmingham and Leeds got similar treatment to last season in November, while Wolves were beaten on Boxing Day with the disdain that a team of their quality deserves.
Arguably the sternest test of the Premiership season so far came after the Manchester United episode. I do not want to go into the incident in too much depth, and I certainly do not condone the actions of our players. However, I do believe that Ruud Van Nistelrooy had it coming to him. I think we’ll leave it at that. Unsurprisingly, the media immediately began to question the depth of our squad if it was to suffer heavy suspensions. This was a particularly testing period as Arsenal’s next three games were against Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea, and they could have fallen to pieces. But the players reacted positively and went on to beat those three teams. When the suspensions began at the end of November, it turned out that Keown, Vieira and Lauren were injured anyway and Parlour was not a first choice at the time. Those who came in did admirably though, with Cygan proving some of his doubters wrong, Edu strengthening his case for a starting spot alongside Vieira, and Gael Clichy making an impressive league debut.
The other main disciplinary flashpoint was Ashley Cole’s sending off against Leicester and subsequent three-match ban. It was a reckless and dangerous tackle, but it is not something Ashley has made a habit of over the last few years, as some have suggested. He deserved his suspension, and missed games against Bolton, Wolves and Southampton. 18-year-old Gael Clichy, a new acquisition over the summer, replaced him in these games and showed that he is a more than capable back-up.
We must not forget that for 8 of the first nineteen matches of the Premiership season, the captain and heartbeat of the team, Patrick Vieira, was missing through injury. He has since returned and is slowly returning to his best, but many doubted the team’s ability to manage without him. Once again, the strength of our squad shone through as both Ray Parlour and Edu came into the side and performed consistently well, during a period in which they won 5 and drew 3 games.
Considering all of the above, along with the fact that we could not strengthen or freshen up the squad over the summer as Chelsea, Manchester United, and even Tottenham had done, we have done remarkably well. Arsenal have six points more than they did at this stage last season, have scored four less goals, but have conceded 8 less too. On 45 points and just behind Man United, we can look forward to an enthralling run-in. I fully expect that the winners will require over 90 points and both Arsenal, Man United and even Chelsea are well on course to do this.
The Champions League
There is no need for me beat around the bush. Arsenal’s start to the Champions League this year was the complete opposite to that of last season: absolutely disastrous. With one point after 3 games, it looked as though we were dead and buried. The optimistic amongst us fans held on to the glimmer of hope that, mathematically, qualification was still possible. Others had already given up. The press had written Arsenal off.
The defeat at home to Inter Milan was the heaviest defeat that I have ever been to at Highbury. I was there when Charlton demolished us 4-2 in 2001, and when Leeds beat us last season. Both games were soul-destroying. But this was even worse. I had such high hopes before the match, despite witnessing a lacklustre display against Portsmouth the previous Saturday. Inter Milan were possibly the biggest and most famous team I had seen play at Highbury. I was sure that we would raise our game against them and come away with some sort of result. I never even contemplated failure. Yet, on the night, Arsenal’s strongest XI was so comprehensively, soundly, utterly, beaten. There seemed to be so many problems. I got home and wrote down a long list about why we couldn’t perform in the Champions League. It was devastating.
The next two games were only marginally better. We drew 0-0 in Moscow when we perhaps should have won, and then lost in Kiev when a draw might have been a more fair result. Rock bottom of the group after three games with only a single point meant that only 9 points from the next three games would suffice.
On a crisp night at the start of November, Dynamo Kiev came to Highbury. For almost 90 minutes, Arsenal seemed to have the same sort of problems. We couldn’t score, we had no luck, we looked uncertain in defence; the list goes on. Yet in the 88th minute, Sylvain Wiltord dinked the ball into the box, Henry rose and flicked it on, and Ashley Cole, of all people, with a diving header at the back post, put Arsenal ahead and gave the fans hope. With hindsight, we can assert that this was a goal of gigantic proportions.
Two weeks later we travelled to the San Siro, the home of Inter Milan. If the last game had been important, this was now even more so. This game ranks as the highlight of the season so far, and that is no exaggeration. To beat a team of Inter Milan’s quality in their own back yard, under such pressure, is amazing. To beat them 5-1…. Unbelievable, the stuff dreams are made of. It was such an exhilarating game. We were missing Vieira, Gilberto, Lauren and Bergkamp who are all first-choice players. Nevertheless, those who did play were immense. Henry put in one of the great European performances, while Cygan managed to keep Vieri quiet.
We now couldn’t fail, or could we? I remember reading in the paper the sentence: “Arsenal have an uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.” This worried me, but I was still confident that we could qualify. On the night, it proved to be quite an anti-climax. Lokomotiv Moscow turned up, but never looked like winning, especially when they had a player sent off in the first half. Two great goals, from Pires and Ljungberg, put us through into the knockout stages as winners of our group. Bizarrely, Lokomotiv qualified alongside us.
A few days later, the draw was made and we duly got Celta Vigo. I look forward to welcoming back to Highbury Silvinho, who was always a favourite of mine and of many fans. All games in the Champions League are difficult, especially in the knockout stages, and I expect this to be the same. Celta Vigo, although they currently lie in the relegation zone in La Liga, are a very capable team, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. We will have to be at our best to qualify for the quarter-finals, but I am quietly confident.
Domestic Cups
The Carling Cup has proved quite fruitful for Arsenal so far this season. Wenger has used it to give the experienced professionals match practice if they needed it, as well as to give some of the reserves and youth players vital experience. It has come as a pleasant surprise to all Gooners that we have actually done very well. Although many might not admit it, if we were to lose to Middlesbrough in the semi-finals, deep down, most Arsenal fans will be very disappointed. It would be great to see some of the young players get the chance to shine on the big stage: at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Clichy, Francesc Fabregas, David Bentley, Justin Hoyte and Graham Stack have all shown great potential in the games they have featured in. But one player has stood out above these five- one Jeremie Aliadiere. He has started all three games so far, and has scored 4 goals. His attitude is exemplary; he chases down every ball, he puts pressure on the defenders and he works very hard. This attitude would be nothing without talent though, and fortunately, he seems to have been blessed with both. His second goal against Wolves is proof of this. I am certain that we will see a lot of this young man in the future.
While the Carling Cup is nearing an end, its famous and more prestigious older brother, the FA Cup, has just begun. Arsenal, despite a minor scare at the start, beat Leeds at Elland Road, by 4-1, which is becoming a very familiar scoreline. Thierry Henry was, once again, sublime, but it was a team performance and everybody played their part. The draw for the fourth round, which took place today, paired us with Middlesbrough. It would be historic if we reached a fourth consecutive final, and even more so if we won for the third time running. Well, I mustn’t get ahead of myself. It’s only the fourth round after all!
Conclusion
So, we are still in every competition, and despite widespread criticism and doubts before the season began, the Rolls Royce that is Arsenal Football Club continues to motor. Lets just hope that the full season report is just as positive.
