The Enigma of Lukas Podolski

Lukas Podolski - lethal at one end of the pitch... a liability at the other?  The 3rd most capped, 5th top scorer for the German national team, 28 years of age, with an excellent goals per game ratio and an ability to deliver superb balls from wide on the left should surely be a key member of Arsenal's first team. So why doesn't Arsène use him more?

He certainly was a key player in his first season at the club; arriving in the same summer that the club's captain and star striker upped sticks and took his disloyal jazz hands to Old Trafford.  Along with the superb Santi Cazorla he took to English football like a fish to water and created 11 assists and scored 16 goals, including Arsenal's goal of the season; a sensational volley against Montpellier. He also seemed to settle very well into London life, proving a popular member of the squad and a hit with the fans, going hashtag mental on social media and busting out a thumbs up once every seven minutes on average.

His second season at the club has been hindered by injury as he missed around four months but despite this he has scored and assisted regularly when played. It seems clear however that since the tail end of last season, when Cazorla was moved to the left and Rosicky played centrally that he has been increasingly marginalised by his manager. Arsène first sited tactical reasons, before claiming last October that he feels Lukas only gives 80, 90 per cent, that there was more to come from him. Recently there has been a lot of talk among the press and Arsenal fans that his casual style and lack of cover for his fullback and his penchant for giving the ball or penalties away makes him a defensive liability; a high-risk player who is dangerous at both ends of the pitch.

There is some truth to this narrative; if we look at his contribution in the last two games we can clearly see that he has been in the thick of it at both ends:

• Most recently he was caught in possession against Manchester City and they broke away and scored. He also conceded a few needless free kicks in this game but assisted Matthieu Flamini's equaliser with a cross from the left. It is only fair to point out that he was just dispossessed on one occasion in this game but it proved costly.

• Against Swansea, Lukas came off the bench when his side were losing and scored the equaliser before moments later providing a superb assist for Olivier Giroud to give Arsenal the lead. He was however culpable for giving the ball away in the build up to Swansea's absurd own goal equaliser.

It is also fair to point out that he struggles defensively and does not provide much in the way of cover for his full back and a needless penalty conceded against Liverpool in the FA Cup (a game in which he also scored) suggests he can be far too rash when he is trying to defend. I do however feel that his recent run of mistakes aren't really being taken in isolation and that he's being unfairly labelled a defensive liability. He doesn't give the ball away very often, in fact his passing success rate this season of 88.4% is third amongst our midfielders and attackers only to Flamini and Arteta.  In terms of his defensive errors that have cost us goals, he is far from alone in such mistakes. Without wanting to single out players, I think its fair to say that all of our attacking midfielders have been guilty of giving the ball aways sloppily or getting caught in possession in the build up to opposition goals.

So I think his defensive shakiness is being exaggerated and isn't enough to justify leaving him out of a side that has been struggling for goals without Theo, Ramsey and Özil. That's not to say he can't or shouldn't improve defensively. Work needs to be done on the training ground to improve his defensive positioning and discipline.  But again, he is not alone in this - just look at the amount of times our fullbacks get caught miles up the field while the opposition are breaking in numbers against two or three of our players.

So what next for Lukas Podolski? It's no secret that Arsenal have been pushing hard to sign Julian Draxler and the paper talk (which has been denied) is that Lukas would be offered in part-exchange. He will be 29 in the summer and is on a high wage so it wouldn't shock me if Arsène (if he sticks around) would consider moving him on. In the past the manager has moved players on when he considers them to be past the peak of their abilities and there is also a question over Podolski's fitness. Bizarrely he has completed ninety minutes for Arsenal on just six occasions. I think it would be a great shame if he were to leave without fully showing his class; he is a player with great experience and probably our most clinical player in front of goal.

"Podolski can score goals and when you have a goal chance you want him to have it. He is a clinical finisher and he has an unbelievable short and quick backlift. He is very accurate in his finishing. He can be effective, he can score goals when he starts and when he comes on, he is always dangerous." - Arsène Wenger

Former Germany great Oliver Bierhoff accused Lukas Podolski of stagnation at national level since his move to Arsenal. Podolski reacted angrily and the national manager Joachim Loew responded by explaining that Lukas was "indispensable in his position" but a more recent "appeal and wake up call" prior to the World Cup from the manager was taken by some to be aimed at Podolski and his Arsenal colleague, Mesut Özil. With a place in the German team and a possible FA Cup winners medal up for grabs it is certainly in the best interests of both Arsenal and Lukas for him to prove his worth before the summer.


My thanks go to 7amkickoff, whoscored and squawka whose stats I used for the article and infographic.

Monthly Awards: March

"March is the month. We play Spurs, City, Chelsea, Bayern, Everton in the cup.  We have a great opportunity to show that we are strong, which is what I think... at the end of March we will know much more." - Arsène Wenger

If March was the month that was going to make or break our season, I'm afraid it broke it (in terms of our league challenge anyway.)  The month got off to a dreadful start with a painful and limp defeat to some stampy, inbred ogres and despite our third win and third clean sheet against Spurs this season and a superb 4-1 win over Everton, a disappointing draw against Swansea and a humiliating trouncing at Stamford Bridge on Arsène Wenger's 1000th game at Arsenal meant it was ultimately a month to forget..

Form:

Player of the Month: Tomas Rosicky. Unfortunately the Czech didn't have too much competition this month. I was delighted to see him put pen to paper on a new deal. For a 33 year old, he's still very nippy and excellent at pressing the opposition, "the great  accelerator" as Arsène called him. He started regularly in March and his fine month was capped off with a superb match-winner at White Hart Lane.

Top Goalscorer: Olivier Giroud (3 goals).

Goal of the Month: Tomas Rosicky vs Spurs. A leap out of your seat beauty, screamer of a worldie, thunderbastard to savour.  Against Spurs no less.

Runner-up: Olivier Giroud's second against Everton. A superb team move involving Cazorla, Rosicky and Özil set up Olivier Giroud to complete an impressive brace from the bench.

Best Result: Arsenal 4 - 1 Everton. Tough opposition and a genuine threat to our Champions League qualification threat were swept aside by a Mesut Özil masterclass. Mikel Arteta also shone as he hammered home to give us the lead after being made to retake by referee, Mark Clattenburg.

Worst Result: Chelsea 6 - 0 Arsenal. Urgh... I desperately wanted Arsène to get one over on the classless tool that is José Mourinho in his 1000th game in charge but it couldn't have gone worse.

Quote of the Month:

"I congratulate Arsène in reaching this momentous landmark. Having also reached the same milestone at one club, I cannot emphasise enough the level of dedication, resilience as well as sacrifice required and for that I have for the utmost admiration... Over the years we enjoyed some fantastic battles and you could say we had survived together and respected each other's efforts to play good football. I always enjoy watching Arsène's sides - Arsenal play the right way" - Sir Alex Ferguson

Talking points:

The FA Cup - Whilst it is disappointing that the FA Cup is now our only chance of silverware, the elimination of Manchester City by Wigan means we are heavy favourites for the competition. We all know that we've failed to win cups that we really should have in the past and this time nothing less than the trophy will do.

The Champions League and criticism of Mesut Özil - As expected, we exited the Champions League after a 1-1 draw in Munich. Mesut Özil picked up a hamstring injury in the second minute and played on ineffectively until he was subbed off at half-time. Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail didn't let the fact that the playmaker was injured get in the way of his extremely nasty post-game hatchet job, just days after his man of the match performance against Everton. It was pitiful journalism of the lowest order.

New contracts - A two-year deal for Rosicky showed a new-found willingness to hang onto more experienced players and to offer them deals longer than one year. The new and improved deal for Aaron Ramsey just 15 months after he signed his last deal reflects his sensational development and extensions for Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla showed a desire to hang onto our top players. A first professsional contract was also handed to extremely promising youngster Gedion Zelalem.

On the flipside of the coin Bacary Sagna looks likely to leave as his contract winds down and the prospect of signing a three-year contract with Manchester City looks far too real. And despite Ivan Gazidis' confidence that Arsène will sign on, the clock is ticking...

Arsenal's away record against the top 3 - 6-3, 5-1 and now 6-0. Appalling and an area that must be properly evaluated in preparation for next season.

Andre Marriner sent off the wrong player - Kieran Gibbs was shown red for Oxlade-Chamberlain's moment of madness. Despite neither the referee or the linesman initially thinking a penalty should be awarded, Marriner somehow changed his mind and sent off the wrong player. Whilst an apology was issued, no explanation was given and none of the officials were taken off duty for the next round of Premier League fixtures. This lack of an explanation is clearly unacceptable.

Title Challenge Over - So our title challenge lies in tatters after a disappointing couple of months but I firmly believe improvements were made this season and we gave it our best shot in six years. Essentially, injuries to key players meant that success was extremely unlikely and now our attention turns to securing a Champions League spot. A situation that will become precarious if we to take no points away from Goodison Park this coming weekend.

Injuries - Injuries to key players such as Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott meant getting our title push over the line was extremely unlikely. That's not to say that these injuries in any way excuse the level of performance against Stoke or Chelsea but Arsenal do seem to have an uncommonly high amount of injuries season after season and Arsène Wenger has recently launched an internal inquiry into why this might be.

Tim Sherwood - He threw his gilet on the floor. He's a silly billy.

Arsenal 1 -1 Manchester City - Marauding Mathieu provides much-needed redemption

An ultimately satisfying and fair result as the players showed great determination, and that mental strength Arsène is so fond of, to come from behind and take what could be a valuable point in our battle to ensure we are playing Champions League football next season.

• The first half performance was a little disappointing.  Whilst we were far more solid defensively than in recent games, yet another individual error against a big side lead to a goal. Podolski first dillied then dallied before being robbed of the ball and throwing himself on the floor to try and win a free-kick. Dzeko's shot came off the post and back to an untracked David Silva for a tap-in. It was so frustrating and irritatingly familiar. The better the opposition the more likely we are to be punished and we are making far too many individual errors at the moment.

• The penalty shout was the only time we really threatened in the first half. A good ball from Santi fed Rosicky who pushed the ball past Zabaleta and went to ground. Whilst there was some contact Rosicky probably initiated it and the fullback was clearly trying not to bring him down so Mike Dean got a difficult decision correct. Rosicky was perhaps a little lucky to escape a second yellow card for a mistimed sliding tackle.

• A lazy narrative started at 1-0 that City were cruising towards an inevitable victory and I think some Arsenal fans may have feared another capitulation but the response from the players was truly excellent. They fought back to take a point with great determination and the the discipline to not allow themselves to be caught out on the break and actually looked the more likely side to win the game.

• Lukas Podolski - what an enigma! Another good assist today following a goal and assist against Swansea but his defensive "contribution" was so poor. As mentioned, he conceded the ball in the build-up to the City goal and beyond that he rarely offered any protection to Gibbs and conceded needless free kicks. He was lucky not to concede a penalty against Swansea for needlessly barging a player in our box (as he did against Liverpool in the cup.)  I don't think liability is too strong a word but when he is on the pitch, there is always a good chance that he can create something in the final third. Surely the most high risk player in the squad.

• Santi Cazorla played extremely well in the second half. His guile, flair and creativity is needed more than ever without Özil, Ramsey and Walcott and he will need to be on top form if our push for the FA Cup and a Champions League spot are to be successful.

• Matthieu Flamini personified Arsenal's redemption this week with his own individual turnaround. He was the unfortunate man to concede the costly late own goal on Tuesday night but showed great desire and a cool finish from a difficult chance to get his team back on level pegging on Saturday. Perhaps there is an advantage to not being considered an attacking threat; you can surprise the opposition defence. I had a little chuckle at Gary Neville's description of Matthieu as a marauding midfielder as he continued to push forward after his goal and created real problems for City - clearly he was desperate to drive his side on to the win.

• Olivier Giroud held the ball up much better than he had been doing lately and gave the ball away very rarely. It was a more impressive performance that in recent games but he still doesn't look much of a goal threat against the top teams. One occasion that really stood out was his complete lack of awareness to try and get on the end of an excellent Sagna cross. He must gamble more by making aggressive runs towards goal when we get the ball out to the wings and give the wide players something to work with.

• Much has (understandably) been said and written about Arsenal's atrocious form in the big games away from home this season but we can take some encouragement at least from not losing to the big teams at home with wins over Liverpool in the cup and league and draws against City and Chelsea at home. It's difficult to gage the gap in quality between ourselves and the sides above us as the league table and our early season form combined with the injury troubles we've had suggest that perhaps we aren't really too far off but of course our head-to-head record suggests otherwise.

Man of the Match: Matthieu Flamini - It could easily have gone to Santi Cazorla whose second half performance was extremely impressive but I just felt Mathieu's individual bouncebackability after the midweek own goal was enough to get him over the line.

Arsenal 2 - 2 Swansea - Gunners Swan-diving towards 5th place?

Well that was a roller-coaster of emotion... a roller-coaster that you get on, start building up some speed and then the person next to you is sick on you... all over you. But then the sick flies off you in the wind and you start to think "actually this is going to be ok" until right near the end of the ride when the roller-coaster implausibly and without sense crashes and you're horribly maimed... and then Paul Scholes starts kicking you. I've never been very good at metaphors.

We dominated possession early on and just as we were starting to build up some confidence we were hit by Swansea's first meaningful foray into our half. An excellent but unchallenged cross from deep by the Swansea left-back Neil Taylor was met high and powerfully by Wilfred Bony who rose above Thomas Vermaelen. It was the last thing we needed and potentially a damaging blow to our confidence.

The score stayed level until half-time as the players struggled to make any inroads through the Swansea back-line. Mertesacker headed into the side-netting, Oxlade-Chamerblain fired well wide after making some space for himself and Cazorla had a decent effort saved but we didn't really look like scoring.  We did work the ball out to the overlapping full-backs a few times but no players were making decent runs into the box and really giving them anything to aim at.

Wenger saw the need to make a change early in the second half and brought on Lukas Podolski for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Podolski offered very little defensively but was decisive going forwards. In the 73rd minute he equalised from close-range after Gibbs beat his man brilliantly and pulled the ball back to him. And just a minute later he delivered a sensational low cross into the pass of Olivier Giroud to fire Arsenal into the lead.

The End

What happened at the end of the game was farcical; freakishly bad fortune really. Mertesacker challenged Leon Britton in the area only for the ball to bounce off the on-rushing Szczesney's leg and then off Flamini into the open net. It was as cruel as it was ridiculous. Had it not have happened we would be savouring three crucial, hard-earned points but in the end we are left swallowing sadness and regret.

"The result is very disappointing but the spirit we put in and the effort we put in was great and we have to take it on the chin." - Arsène Wenger

It's a hard one to take on the chin to be fair. Arsène bemoaned the way we tried to shut up shop rather than keep attacking but I don't really agree; I just felt we needed to shut up shop more effectively and not concede a hideously unlucky goal.

Paul Scholes had some choice words for Arsenal following the match and while on the one hand it felt like being kicked while you're down, on the other I think he raised some fair points. He labelled this a typical week for Arsenal and there was a sense of familiarity after our thumping at Stamford Bridge and that very Arsenal-esque own goal last night.  He also said that Jack Wilshere has not developed since he was 17 because of a lack of role-models however I do think this is a little unfair as he has had serious injuries and Arsène Wenger's record of nurturing young players is still very good, taking Theo and Ramsey as recent examples.

As well as highlighting Arsenal's lack of physical strength and leaders he also criticised the discipline of Arsenal's midfield and I think this is where he speaks with real authority and reason:

"It's like they go out with no discipline. It's almost as if it's 'OK, you four, five midfielders, you go out there, do what you want, try to score us a goal, play some nice one-twos, a bit of tippy-tappy football, don't bother running back... Sometimes, as a midfield player, when you're up against it you just have to say 'look, come in beside me for five, ten minutes', try and stop the flow of attacks... And these [players at Arsenal], they go 2-0 down and they just carry on what they're doing. 'I'll have a wander up front, try a one-two, lose the ball'. Nobody bothers sprinting back. You wonder why they're in the position they're in?" - Paul Scholes on Sky Sports

That's pretty tough to argue with and is a damning indictment of how the manager sets up his team and coaches them.

Kim Kallstrom came on and did fine; played one good long ball. Given our injuries, Oxlade-Chamberlian's unreliability in a deeper position and Arteta's fatigue, he maybe needed but I doubt he can significantly improve us.  The title was of course gone on the weekend and now the only relevant section of the league table is below:

Those next two games are hugely important and we will not have any key players back for them so we will need to regroup and improve quickly or "our Champions League spot" will be there for the taking...


Man of the Match: Kieran Gibbs - This is not to say he was flawless. He needs to be more disciplined defensively. I remember Tony Adams complaining that Arsenal's fullbacks play like wingers and he has a good point but it certainly worked out well for us when Kieran made an excellent assist for Lukas Podolski.

Chelsea 6 - 0 Arsenal - What a load of boll-ox

The scene was set for Arsène Wenger to take a glorious victory on his 1000th game in charge at Arsenal. He took his side, still in the title race, to Stamford Bridge to face José Mourinho's Chelsea; he has never recorded a win over the Portuguese and following Mourinho's disrespectful "specialist in failure" comment, now more than ever, he had a point to prove. A few days before the game Arséne was given a golden cannon to commemorate his staggering milestone but yesterday his players served him up a golden pile of shite.

Rather than breaking Chelsea's record of going years under Mourinho without a home defeat or getting his first win over his rival, Arsène watched his side fall to their equal worst defeat under his reign (along with that 8-2 loss at Old Trafford). The fact that it was Chelsea's biggest win under Mourinho was a damning indictment of just how bad Arsenal were.

"It was a nightmare and I take full responsibility for it." - Arséne Wenger

While the buck ultimately stops with the manager, I think the blame should be shared pretty equally between him and the players. I'll pre-empt my blame-flinging by saying that chewing over what went wrong isn't entirely productive and that the most important thing post-game is for the players and manager to put things right on Tuesday... but they were so dreadful that frankly they deserve an absolute slating. It's so easy with hindsight to say the manager should have played so and so instead of whoever but I was very surprised not to see Matthieu Flamini in the starting line-up.  I have seen Oxlade-Chamberlain impress in central midfield, notably against AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace but it is a far riskier selection than the experienced and more reliable, Flamini; a player who offers so much more defensively and is so much steadier in possession. Matthieu was not started in our hammering at Anfield either and I just feel that this was a lesson Arsène has failed to learn.

Whilst the manager is willing to take full responsibility and he no doubt got it wrong yesterday, the players should be equally willing to take the blame. The level of capitulation, the lack of focus and guts were shameful. The list of individual errors by the Arsenal players if written in size 12 font would stretch to the moon and back 4 times over. Early on, a ridiculously careless and uncharacteristic pass from Laurent Koscielny nearly resulted in a Samuel Eto'o goal. Olivier Giroud then had a chance to put Arsenal in the lead after a well-weighted Rosicky through ball but he failed to beat Cech. Moments later Eto'o scored a brilliant finish on his left foot highlighting the difference in their finishing ability. The chance came from a pathetic individual error from Oxlade-Chamberlain and sadly, he was just getting started.  The second goal saw Santi caught in possession and within seven minutes the game was over. It was painfully similar to our start at Anfield; we set up the same way, committed a litany of ridiculous errors and were punished by a more dynamic, clinical and organised team.

Whilst it was unacceptable to lose the game inside 7 minutes, what was even more disappointing was the way the team capitulated from then on. The third goal came from a penalty conceded by Oxlade-Chamberlain; with the ball travelling wide of the post for a goal kick, Alex deliberately handled the ball. It was the single stupidest moment by any Arsenal player in Wenger's 1000 games in charge. After initially not awarding the penalty, the referee consulted with his official and gave it, sending off the wrong player, Kieran Gibbs, despite protestations from Arsenal players and a clear admission of guilt from Oxlade-Chamberlain. It was embarrassing all round. Whilst some made an argument that a red card should not have been awarded as the ball was travelling wide, Oxlade-Chamberlain did try to stop a goal with his hand so I feel a red card was the right decision (were it given to the correct player.) Hazard scored the penalty and Oxlade-Chamberlain had an absolute shocker until being hauled off at half-time. As an aside, the referee and his assistants also seemed shaken by their mistake and managed to get several very simple decisions completely wrong.

Chelsea's fifth goal was also extremely embarrassing as it constituted of two more extremely poor individual errors; first Tomas Rosicky's sloppy pass on the edge of our box gifted possession to Chelsea and then Szczesny failed to make a simple save from a tame long-range effort from Oscar. I was cross with our keeper after the Spurs game where a very poor error nearly handed Tottenham an equaliser. While you don't want your goalkeeper to dwell on his errors too much, his attitude and on-pitch selfie suggest he's got some serious growing up to do and I would suggest he is far from the world-class goalkeeper he thinks he is.

In conclusion, we were shambolic; Arsène set his team up wrong against a manager who almost always seems to get it right; the players were dire and we don't seem to be learning from our mistakes in the big games (particularly away from home.) The title looked unlikely but it is now definitely beyond our capabilities. Whilst injuries to key players have of course hindered us, that is no excuse for such a low level of performance. The manager has developed some wonderful teams and players in his time at the club and this is partly down to how much faith he places in his players - he sticks by them through rough patches of form and rarely castigates them but on his 1000th game in charge those players that he has so much faith in, let him down badly when they should have been breaking their backs to win that game.

Man of the Match: n/a.

Tottenham 0 - 1 Arsenal - Rosicky Rocket keeps Spurs in our shadows

A defensive performance more gritty than an HBO drama, with particularly heroic performances from the BFG and Koscielny was enough to secure all three points following Rosicky's 2nd minute thunderbastard.

It was our least convincing victory over Spurs this season but completed a clean sweep of three wins which will hurt for Spurs fans who've sat through 270 minutes against Arsenal without a single Spurs goal. They will be looking at Chadli for not changing that but I guess if you have players as bad as Chadli in your team, it serves you right. It was actually our first win in the league at White Hart Lane since 2007; far too long to go without a win there but it's great to put that one to bed.

Rosicky's early goal was a thing of beauty; as sweet a hit as you'll see and it continued his habit of scoring against Spurs - his third goal against them in the last two seasons - what a very good habit to pick up. The lovely, floppy-haired hero had this to say:

“It’s one of the best…against Tottenham for sure. I’m delighted by a goal like that. Most importantly, we won the game.” - Tomas Rosicky. Source: SkySports

We really should have gone two up but first the referee's assistant wrongly flagged Podolski offside when he and Giroud had a 2 on 1 against Lloris and then Oxlade-Chamberlain wasted an excellent chance on the break with a dink gone wrong. At this point Tim Sherwood suddenly realised how ridiculous his gillet looked and threw it on the floor. Perhaps he realised that it was most likely his last North London derby and he shouldn't make himself look like a bit of a boob. Something he remembered until a late handbaggy incident with a puzzled/unmoved Bacary Sagna.

In fairness to Tim Sherwood I think he did learn his lesson from the last North London derby and set his team up much better; not allowing them to get overrun in midfield. Spurs lacked incisiveness though and for all their possession and hard work they failed to create any good chances with the highly-rated Christian Eriksen anonymous. The vast majority of their shots were hopeful and Szczesny had no difficult saves to make. He did however drop two clangers in the second half in quick succession, the second of which, but for an excellent block from Koscielny, would have cost him his clean sheet. He was all smiles and selfies after the game but those lapses in concentration must stop.

The BFG. Is he really only 6'6''? He played
like he is at least 8 feet tall... at least

We weren't particularly adventurous in the second half and made some defensive substitutions as we looked to hang on to our lead rather than extend it. Mike Dean and his assistant somehow failed to see some Vertonghen grappling in the box and Podolski lashed a shot into the side-netting. Our best chance of the second half fell to Per Mertesacker whose spinning shot was excellently saved by Hugo Lloris. It was a shame as Per's performance meant he would have deserved that moment. The team worked extremely hard and whilst being unimpressive going forward were strong in the challenge. Santi Cazorla for example completed 4 tackles and 8 turnovers - an unexpected bonus.

The big positive from the game was the performance of the centre-back partnership. They were under quite a bit of pressure at times, particularly from Emmanuel Adebayor who was obviously desperate to make a difference but they stood tall (bloody tall in Per Mertesacker's case). Koscielny made a crucial block from Chadli, passed the ball extremely well, made 3 tackles and 15 clearances. Per made 3 blocks and 20 clearances, including a staggering 17 with his head and he also won 7/8 of his aerial duels. It's a partnership that has grown into something rather special.

"They were exceptional for the whole game... Today you needed to be top because Adebayor was sharp and up for it, like he always is against us. He had a great game and overall we needed a good defensive performance and that of course goes through our two centre backs." - Arsène Wenger on Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Source: Arsenal.com

Elsewhere, just one word on Manchester United: lol.


Men of the match: Per Mertesacker & Laurent Koscielny. Near perfect.

Behind Enemy Lines: Tottenham - Arsenal Preview... from a Spurs perspective

I'd like to thank Toby for very bravely stepping into the firing line of the Gun Show and previewing the North London Derby for us. Please be gentle with him and remember that he chose to support Tottenham at a very young age (under the influence of his father) and despite this terrible mistake he is a really good guy! You can follow him on twitter @tobypratt where he had a very enjoyable war of words with Sir Alan "1-1 at Newcastle" Sugar.

Impressions of Arsenal

This is a hard one. At times Arsenal have looked fantastic. Despite my obvious dislike of the Woolwich Wanderers, you have a very talented squad that has the ability to play a delicate, quick and decisive game. More defensively solid this year, my worst fears have been quashed by some vital injuries, which may have cost you a Premier League title. Theo Walcott posing as a hippy signalling the end of his season was unfortunate for all concerned and as Spurs fans we can also appreciate the loss of an inspiring Welshmen.

Any Arsenal supporter who has doubts over Arsene Wenger needs to take a reality check, despite the lack of trophies, you have a set of football principles that the team abides by and can be extremely entertaining on occasion. Complaints of not signing another striker may be justified, but how many affordable players are available who would dramatically improve your squad? Consider this, Roberto Soldado cost £26million. You should appreciate what you have. Put it this way; would you rather our last nine seasons over yours? During this period we have a single Carling Cup triumph and one Champions League campaign to savour. Precisely.

From a football perspective, it’s a shame that your challenge for league glory has petered out, as it’s vital for the good of the game that sides like Arsenal and us (one day, maybe) compete with the financially doped clubs Chelsea and Manchester City – Liverpool and United do not count. From a Spurs perspective, it’s brilliant and long may it continue.

Thoughts on Tim Sherwood

Fans are split on him.

Seen by some as an opportunist, tactically inept and outspoken Harry Redknapp wannabe; I lean towards the opinion that Tim Sherwood is an ambitious, tactically flexible and honest young coach who has the potential to be successful. He’s gaining experience on the job and has made some mistakes along the way, like many a Spurs manager before him. However, I get the impression that unlike the others, he is not afraid to learn from them.

His post match press conference after our latest capitulation last week was met positively by the majority of supporters. The club has lost a bit of its soul in recent years with the Chairman focusing on financial gain over building a football side that can compete for top honours. Despite his words being a little strong for some of the more delicate members of our squad, Sherwood spelled out many of the problems the club face at this time. Although focused on the playing staff, I hope the Tottenham board were listening as he was clearly including them in his thoughts.

Despite appearing to be an Arsenal supporter in his younger days, Tim clearly cares about the club and wants to integrate academy players into the first eleven when possible, rather than selecting more established players out of position. Bentaleb and Fryers have had their critics, but the former has looked assured in the majority of games since his debut in December.

The problem for Sherwood is that the job at Spurs has come too early for him. When it was announced he would be taking over from AVB with an 18-month contract, many were shocked, but it was hardly surprising. None of our wanted men wished to take over mid season and Tim Sherwood was astute enough to secure a decent payday for when a ‘big name we’ve been crying out for’ inevitably starts in July for pre-season.

If he has the patience to work under a Van Gaal type for a spell or cutting his cloth with a Championship side, in the long term I believe Sherwood would make an excellent coach at White Hart Lane. Due to Daniel Levy’s preference to get rid of the manager rather than question deeper issues surrounding the club, we may well miss out on potentially a very capable manager.

Would you rather have Sherwood or Moyes?

Moyes is a bit of a non starter for me, Everton was his level and as a club we are aiming higher than that. With time Moyes should be able to rekindle some of the winning mentality instilled into a fairly average group of players by Sir Alex Ferguson last season, if only you could bottle the stuff? Let’s face it, he’s on a long contract and a trained monkey could get United challenging for silverware, with a David Gill type making sure you don’t spend silly amounts of money on Marouane Fellaini, oops.

For a Spurs fan, a far more pressing question is Sherwood or AVB? Andre Villas Boas managed to overcomplicate what is really a simple game, played by stereotypically simple folk. The excellence of Gareth Bale covered the cracks in his methods, which is clear to see now. If the second “Welsh Wizard” (with the first being Cliff Jones) hadn’t played so well last term, Andre would have been handed his P45 long before he was finally invited to leave Hotspur Way for good, with his match preparation manuals and so on in hand. Transforming Bale into a world class player was his legacy at Tottenham, but ultimately what cost him his job.

Power struggles between the coaching staff and board are commonplace at N17 and AVB, after seemingly winning support this summer, lost it big time. He wanted a Director of Football, which he got, but his chosen transfer targets weren’t secured in the summer. Villas Boas fell out with the tabloid media as well, which in British football is the equivalent of signing your own death warrant. A new face was needed, but nothing dramatically has changed.

Thoughts on Emmanuel Adebayor

I know he is not the most popular man around your way, but he is a changed man from that fateful day in Manchester. Personal and professional traumas have made Emmanuel Adebayor a leader and one of the more influential voices in the Tottenham dressing room. Since being back in the first team after a bizarre falling out with Villas Boas, he appears to have found a new lease of life and is really enjoying himself at Spurs. We will be taking over paying all of his extravagant wages from former club Manchester City this summer, so those more sceptical may point to that he is playing to save his footballing career in England.

How much are you enjoying United’s downfall?

Greatly. I have been told that traditionally we have had a respectful relationship with the Red Devils, with some memorable games from yesteryear. However, since the Premier League’s inception we have been second-best to them, like so many of the top sides. We are undefeated in two seasons against Manchester United, which should be seen as an achievement, but really highlights the end of a dominant era for the red side of Manchester.

Key battles / where will the game be won or lost?

Contrary to our coach’s sentiments, we lost the last encounter in the midfield; as in we didn’t have one. The likes of Sandro, Dembélé and Bentaleb need to be disciplined to ensure your creative, counter attacking style is nullified. With a shed load of injuries at the back, Giroud has the opportunity to put a few more past our strongest performer this season, French captain and compatriot Hugo Lloris. It will be a massive blow for us if he leaves this summer.

Hopes and expectations for the rest of Spurs season

There are very few. As fourth place is beyond us (and bearing in mind this was written before Thursday), a Europa League run or perhaps triumph [oh dear - ed] would give our supporters something to cheer for and restore some faith in the team moving forward. It would be reward for what has been another truly frustrating season for us mere supporters, or customers as many fans feel like.

Despite the negatively surrounding the club, fifth or sixth is about right for us in the league, dreams of a top-four challenge were kept alive by the media desperate for a competitive fight for Champions League qualification. Realistically this hasn’t been the case since our embarrassing performance at the Etihad, at least we weren’t the only team to concede six there [touché - ed].

As nobody is convinced Tim Sherwood will be at the club once the players return from Magaluf, Miami and other popular holiday destinations for Tottenham players; it is hard to see how much the rest of this season will go towards a better campaign next time around.

What will the game tell us about Spurs?

Not a great deal. Some of the players will be playing for their long-term futures at the club, whether they realise this in time is anyone’s guess. The atmosphere should be electric, unless we get humiliated, which in current circumstances could well happen. Despite this, a small part of me feels that the game offers a great opportunity for the squad to undo some of the damage inflicted on us in a few telling games this season.

Predictions

As we’re at home, a narrow victory for us. In recent years the goals have dried up in the North London derby, but being the optimist I’ll go 3-2 to the Spurs. If Sherwood has learnt from the FA Cup tie from earlier this year, I think we should have the edge. This is a hopelessly optimistic prediction, as I can’t face writing what I really think will happen.