Head Boy
Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Head Boy
By Eduardo
January 2 2012
Today Arsenal commence the second half of the season against Fulham. Its half time in the premiership. In Part 2 of his half term report Eduardo looks back at the high and lows of the first half of the season, and the looks forward to the next half. He considers who was the best and worst player, and which was the greatest goal. You know the sort of thing. I just hope the players show the report to their parents, no hiding it boys. Part 1 can be found by clicking on link below this report.
Head Boy
January 2 2012
Today Arsenal commence the second half of the season against Fulham. Its half time in the premiership. In Part 2 of his half term report Eduardo looks back at the high and lows of the first half of the season, and the looks forward to the next half. He considers who was the best and worst player, and which was the greatest goal. You know the sort of thing. I just hope the players show the report to their parents, no hiding it boys. Part 1 can be found by clicking on link below this report.
Awards and Other Stuff
Goal of the Half Season
RVP v Everton for me is the best Arsenal goal so far; I really enjoyed all five v Chelsea, especially the one with Terry falling flat on his face. Park’s goal was also a great finish and Arteta, Theo and Oxlade Chamberlain have all scored quality goals.
Player of the Half Season
Szczesny, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Song, Arteta, Walcott and Gervinho all get a mention but there has been only one standout candidate, RVP, so much so that he has been re-christened by some Gooners as Robin Heaven Help Us If He Gets Injured Van One Man Team Persie, (now put that on the back of your replica Arsenal kit at an Arsenal superstore and you will swell the coffers) he has continued where he started last January, with goal after goal.
Most Disappointing Player of the Half Season
Surprisingly not that many contenders, mainly because so many of the squad have been out injured for so long it has cut down the options. Add in Park not getting a game in the league and we are only left with two real contenders, the invisible man Chamakh, whose best efforts to win this category was much like his efforts to score a goal, but despite this, he fails to win it, purely because a much more talented player has been little more than a waste of time, Arshavin has to get this award, he is little more than a parody of his former magical self, he has brought new meaning to playing at walking pace and to the phrase “waste of space”, what a pity.
Revelation of the Half Season
It was Jack Wilshere last season, and the accolade this time round goes to Laurent Koscielny, just ahead of Szczesny, LK has put the CC final disaster behind him, he is now consistently very good, slowly but surely even his biggest critics have realised he is an outstanding defender.
Silliest Decisions of the Half Season
This has been broken down into two categories – off field decision and on field decision
Off Field Decision
Letting Cesc and Nasri transfer sagas rumble on and on and on has to be the worst off field decision of the half season, just beating the 6.5% ticket price hike. Not least because it left the team on a downer, ill prepared, and short in numbers for the start of the season, leading to a bad run of results that has left us playing catch up all this time.
On Field Decision
I know hindsight is 20:20 but selecting Santos for the meaningless CL game in Greece, was asking for trouble, and that is what we got, leaving us with all four fullbacks out injured long term, fielding four central defenders is not ideal, and has taken away from our attacking instincts, so that decision stands alone as Arsenal’s worst on field decision.
Gripe of the Half Season
The standard of refereeing, not only in Arsenal games, but in general in the FAPL has gone beyond a joke, “there is something rotten in the state of Denmark”, and the FAPL are unwilling to sort it out, to put it simply, at best we have a whole host of incompetent refs and officials, and at worst some decisions are so bad that fans wonder if they are corrupt ( “Fergy’s rent boy” is a chant often heard at grounds this season), and even if it is somewhere in between the two, it means the English game has some very incompetent officials, a rather damning state of affairs.
Best Performance of the Half Season
Beating Chelsea 5-3 away is the standout performance of the first half of the season. The CL games v Udinese were also worthy of mention, especially with all the distractions at that time, and the pressure of those games. The fact that so few games are even contenders for mention says a lot about the sort of team we have now, it’s more functional, less pretty patterns, more workman like, less for show. But what is wrong with that, Man United have been that way for years and it did them no harm, all the pretty stuff of the last five years has gained us little. I like this functional team, at least we can be fairly sure they will put in the effort, even if we cannot be sure this effort will get us a victory every game.
Worst Performance of the Half Season
Really do I have to inform you that the Man United game away gets this accolade without any serious competition? Although the Blackburn game, considering the plight of Rovers, deserves consideration and the shame of losing to the spuds might be the choice of some, especially London Gooners (Can I do my only team to score five goals and lose joke again? Editor. You just did. Eduardo).
Hopes for the Remainder of the Season
After the woeful start we endured to the season, to now see us sitting in 4th spot only 3 points from spuds in 3rd, I see no reason why we cannot finish 3rd this season. Despite what some fans keep saying there is no good reason why we cannot pass the spuds. Before any of the doomsayers start, please consider, we have endured our worst start to a season in over 50 years, the spuds have had their best start to a season in over 20 years, yet we are within striking distance from them, its only the spuds, get real guys, it’s not an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination.
Get the cheque book out
It’s not like we are talking about overtaking City or United, but for those that want to go that route, we are only 9 points off both the Manchester clubs, It would help if the cheque book is dusted down and a couple of hefty cheques written for the quality signings that might give us that little bit extra quality we need to supplement the few quality guys we already have and the good honest squad of players the rest of them are.
I still hold out hope of a very good second half to the season, with luck we might have a good CL run, and maybe even pick up the FA Cup if the draw is kind to us and we get some overdue luck (and of course if Arsene Wenger does not sacrifice it as he has stupidly done for a few years now).
Wish For the Remainder of the Season
The one wish I have is for the team to get fit and keep fit, the vast majority of our squad, especially the key guys like Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, one of our left backs, Song, Theo, Gervinho and of course it goes without saying RVP, If this happens then anything is possible.
Legend Henry Returns
Probably by the time you read this Thierry Henry will have officially re-signed for Arsenal, on a two month loan deal. I have expressed my view on this earlier in the article, but I would like to expand on it a bit here. This is being a called a win win situation for Arsenal by many, but I actually think it may well be a lose lose one. You see if he flops we lose, not only because it would likely mean dropped points, but if he gets game time ahead of other established squad members such as Arshavin who are already unhappy about lack of game time, we may very well have several unhappy or even disillusioned players on our hands for the rest of the season, they will still be here and needed when Henry is back in the good old USA.
If he does very well, or even exceptionally well, yes we get some extra wins but then what, once he leaves we are certain to be on a downer, fans will get on some players back just because said player is not Henry or is not capable of being Henry. Jeez this might even happen while he is here, imagine if Henry is a sub and Wenger brings on Benayoun or Rosicky and they dare to make an error, it will be a moan fest at the Emirates. Same scenario if we start with Arshavin or Walcott and game not going our way, every perceived mistake will be greeted with calls for Henry; now what good could come of that.
If Henry is worth signing, then he should have been worth signing full time, 18 month contract with coaching role in-built(reserves or youths from next season). No this is anything more than a “shut up” Gooners; we gave you the legend one more time, who needs a new record fee new legend, when the cheap option will shut you up for another while.
Any Other Business
I feel I must mention Robin Van Persie and the job he is doing as Arsenal Captain. I had my doubts about him getting the armband, I do not like forwards as captains, for me a central defender or central midfielder is the place you want your captain. RVP is leading by example, the goals are flowing, I especially like how he makes such an effort to highlight to the crowd who he believes they should be praising when a goal goes in, he wants the role of the assister or the playmaker to be acknowledged. But what I like most is the other stuff he has done as captain, the players evenings out together, the bonding, the fact that the team now salute the four corners of the Emirates before kick-off, and even more importantly win lose or draw the fans are acknowledged, especially at away games.
Yes it helps him that the likes of Vermaelen, Arteta, Per know what it’s all about, and then of course the young guns like Szczesny do too, it was a great sight to see our goalie Szczesny singing "we are by far the greatest team" at away fans in Wigan.
Our team this season seems closer to the fans, a lot more rapport with each other, maybe it’s because we know they are not the most talented guys we have ever had, but we can see they know it, but are putting in the effort that many of our more talented teams of recent years failed to do.
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Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Arsenal Times (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 11:51
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:12:17:39:05 by Padre Pio.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:12:17:39:05 by Padre Pio.
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Jack_is_the_truth (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 13:42
we havent lost a single game since santos got injured so i dont know why playing him to get extra match sharpnesss has been such a disaster
other than that well written ed
other than that well written ed
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Shane1988 (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 14:15
I know Walcott divides opinion on this board but he's been shite this season, easily more disappointing than anyone else mentioned considering we actually expected positive performances from Theo.
Arshavin and Chamakh have been shite too but they haven't started 17 out of 19 league games this season and it's hard to be disappointed with them when we expect f*ck all from them in the first place.
Arshavin and Chamakh have been shite too but they haven't started 17 out of 19 league games this season and it's hard to be disappointed with them when we expect f*ck all from them in the first place.
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Jack_is_the_truth (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 14:20
what has ashavin done wrong this season exaxctly
everytime he has started he has played well
10 minute cameos here and there are hardly fair basis for critisim
everytime he has started he has played well
10 minute cameos here and there are hardly fair basis for critisim
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Padre Pio (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 14:24
We havent lost a single game since santos injured, but we have struggled to score
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Shane1988 (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 14:30
Quote:Jack_is_the_truth
everytime he has started he has played well
That isn't true at all, his shite performances heavily outweigh his decent performances when he starts.
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: djarse (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 15:15
As always, a thorough and fair report.
I was furious with the chaos of the summer and the failure to strengthen the team until the season had already begun. It remains unforgivable.
All things considered the team, led by RvP, has recovered remarkably well. And given how inconsistent all the other top teams have performed in the last few weeks, anything is possible for the rest of the season.
I share Eduardo's concern over Henry re-signing. I would prefer that we bit the bullet in this pre-season and sold Chamakh, Squillaci, Almunia and some fringe players who are clearly not going to make it, and brought in another proven striker such as Podolski and a stop gap full-back.
A good run in the Champions League and the FA Cup is entirely possible, though winning either unlikely.
In the Premiership, I think we will just take 4th place - perhaps in front of Chelski. Our remaining away games (Fulham
Swansea, Bolton, Sunderland, Liverpool, Everton, QPR, Wolves, Stoke, WBA) could easily yield 22 points. And the home games (Man U, Blackburn, Spurs, Newcastle, Villa, Man City, Wigan, Chelsea) a further 18 - which would take us to 76 points in all.
So much though will be down to injuries and how quickly those returning from them pick up their best form. We have ManU in just three weeks at home and I fear that is too early for our returnees.
The spine of another good team though is emerging:
Szczesny, Vermaelen/Koscielny, Wilshere/Song, RvP/?
One more world class striker to partner RvP and a little more quality in the back-up players might yet provide a premiership-winning team next season.
I was furious with the chaos of the summer and the failure to strengthen the team until the season had already begun. It remains unforgivable.
All things considered the team, led by RvP, has recovered remarkably well. And given how inconsistent all the other top teams have performed in the last few weeks, anything is possible for the rest of the season.
I share Eduardo's concern over Henry re-signing. I would prefer that we bit the bullet in this pre-season and sold Chamakh, Squillaci, Almunia and some fringe players who are clearly not going to make it, and brought in another proven striker such as Podolski and a stop gap full-back.
A good run in the Champions League and the FA Cup is entirely possible, though winning either unlikely.
In the Premiership, I think we will just take 4th place - perhaps in front of Chelski. Our remaining away games (Fulham
Swansea, Bolton, Sunderland, Liverpool, Everton, QPR, Wolves, Stoke, WBA) could easily yield 22 points. And the home games (Man U, Blackburn, Spurs, Newcastle, Villa, Man City, Wigan, Chelsea) a further 18 - which would take us to 76 points in all.
So much though will be down to injuries and how quickly those returning from them pick up their best form. We have ManU in just three weeks at home and I fear that is too early for our returnees.
The spine of another good team though is emerging:
Szczesny, Vermaelen/Koscielny, Wilshere/Song, RvP/?
One more world class striker to partner RvP and a little more quality in the back-up players might yet provide a premiership-winning team next season.
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Padre Pio (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 15:30
Almunia is back on the Bench as no 2 now
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: DotComrade (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 16:06
That's the right number for him
Content and conscience before technique...
Content and conscience before technique...
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Jack_is_the_truth (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 17:12
Quote:Padre Pio
We havent lost a single game since santos injured, but we have struggled to score
santos is a defender
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: eduardo (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 17:13
Quote:Padre Pio
Almunia is back on the Bench as no 2 now
ah why has Pat Rice lost out to almunia
*50 years and counting
forever in our shadow*
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Padre Pio (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 21:33
no 2 keeper eddy, but you knew that..
I never believed this team would be relegated, I never believed they could win league. I always believed thay will struggle to get into top four
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
I never believed this team would be relegated, I never believed they could win league. I always believed thay will struggle to get into top four
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: eduardo (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 21:46
PadreI'm taking the fifth on what I know or don't know
by the way today's game come the end of the season is already a prime candidate for shite performance of the second half of the season - well I hope it don't get any worse than that
*50 years and counting
forever in our shadow*
by the way today's game come the end of the season is already a prime candidate for shite performance of the second half of the season - well I hope it don't get any worse than that
*50 years and counting
forever in our shadow*
Re: Eduardo's Half Term Report Part 2 Awards etc
Posted by: Padre Pio (IP Logged)
Date: 02/01/2012 22:20
Yes santos is a defender who is expected to attack, he even scores goals.
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
The game is about Glory. It is about doing things in style with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom".
Danny Blanchflower
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