Tag Archives: Sunderland

Arsenal vs Sunderland: Team news & predicted starting XI

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Arsenal face Sunderland this afternoon on the opening day of the 2012/13 Premier League season. After 97 days without competitive football, I am very much looking forward to seeing what this new-look Arsenal team have to offer. Robin van Persie has gone, Alex Song is probably on his way out, but we have three new signings who are all raring to go.

From what we saw of them in the 4-0 pre-season win over FC Koln, Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla will all prove to be fantastic additions to the squad. If Alex Song does leave for Barcelona then we will probably have to sign a new midfielder, but Wenger will deal with that later. Today is all about starting the season with all guns blazing and proving that we are a force to be reckoned with.

Predicted Starting XI

With Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny both injured expect Per Mertesacker and Carl Jenkinson to make appearances at the back. There is always the possibility of Francis Coquelin at right-back, but in my opinion Jenko is much more likely.

Given Alex Song’s apparently impending transfer to Barcelona and the fact that he is suffering from a “little knock”, I don’t expect to see him in the starting line-up. Abou Diaby seems to have gone through the entire-pre season unscathed, Mikel Arteta is an ever-present in the Arsenal starting line-up, and Santi Cazorla simply has to play.

Up front we are suffering from injuries to Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, so expect Lukas Podolski and Gervinho on the wings with Olivier Giroud as the target-man. I really hope that Giroud can settle well in the Premier League. He is 6 foot 4 and more than capable of handling the physicality of English football.

Injuries: Wilshere, Rosicky, Sagna, Frimpong, Koscielny, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Walcott, Song & Cazorla face late fitness test.

To see the full injury update given by Arsène Wenger, click here. 

Predicted Score

Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland. Arsenal had a good end to their pre-season and will be looking for a repeat of the performance against Koln last weekend. If the players want to challenge for trophies this season, then we really have to hit the ground running. There are some tough games coming up in September (against Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea) so we need to take maximum points form the opening two games against Sunderland & Stoke.

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Arsenal 2-1 Sunderland: Player Ratings

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Szczesny 7 Couldn’t do anything about the goal but made a silly mistake when he ran out in the 26th minute and completely missed the ball. I don’t see how that tactic can ever be a good idea. However, he made up for it with a fabulous save from Cattermole only moments later.

Jenkinson 5.5 Jenkinson isn’t ready to deputise for Sagna. His crossing was very good when we attacked, but when we defended, he looked inexperienced. Was dispossessed far too easily by Larsson which led to that dangerous Cattermole chance.

Mertesacker 6.5 Growing with every game, but sometimes slow on the turn. Sessegnon broke away as we tried to play a high line, and Per gave the Sunderland player a bit too much time to think.

Koscielny 7 Needs to get better at holding/not holding the offside trap, but other than that he was good. He made some excellent tackles and cleared the ball well.

Gibbs 6 Sessegnon got the better of him a few times, but Kieran had an acceptable game before he was substituted (I assume he is injured).

Song 7 Made a few sloppy passes but protected the defence admirably. Got a silly yellow card, but that is something we have come to expect from Alex!

Rosicky 7.5 Tomas is thriving in the absence of other creative midfielders. His game was full of power and even one fantastic burst of pace which saw him run quite a distance before being brought down. His trickery and vision was very pleasing to see.

Arteta 6.5 Not his greatest performance, but he kept things ticking over with a range of short and long passes (he attempted 78 passes with an 87% completion rate).

Walcott 5 Not great from Theo, once again. I truly feel he has the quality to trouble the opponent, but his decision making was woeful. And he hardly touched the ball.

Gervinho 6.5 Although he started well, he faded quite quickly. Not necessarily his fault because the midfielders kept the ball quite central, but the Ivorian should be sticking to his wide position and screaming for the ball – when he gets it, he can be very impressive. We saw as much for the goal and that wonderful first touch which opened up the Sunderland back line (shame he skied the shot!).

van Persie 9 Started the game on fire and although he wasn’t always given enough of the ball, he made it count when he was in possession. A great finish after 29 seconds was followed by an Arsenal blitz which generally involved van Persie’s mesmerising close control. He hit the post after a Bergkamp-esque turn and Cantona-esque chip, which would have surely been a contender for goal of the season even at this early stage. The winner was spectacular and hopefully he can go on to score a few more free kicks this season.

Substitutes

Santos 7 Great performance. He came on and made several important tackles to prevent Sunderland on the counter, and his attacking presence was also an asset.

Benayoun n/a

Arshavin 7.5 He came on and looked like he had a point to prove. That mazy run in the 72nd minute should have led to a goal that could’ve bettered Nasri’s against Porto. His running, commitment and skill could not be faltered – time for him to replace Theo?

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Arsenal 2-1 Sunderland: Analysis and Stats

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Arsenal completed their fifth consecutive home victory against a defensive but tricky Sunderland side.

The game started at a high tempo as van Persie scored the fastest Premier League goal since Doyle’s against Sheffield Utd in September 2009, which was 9 seconds faster than our Dutchman’s 29 second strike. A lofted pass to Gervinho set our winger on his way, and he ran at their back four before squaring it to our captain who took one touch and fired the ball into the net. His trademark powerful shot was far too much for Mignolet, who was on his knees, watching as the ball flew past him. It didn’t even need to be close to the corner, although placement was key for the next two goals of the game.

Arsenal were very dominant, much like they were in the first halves against Blackburn and Spurs, but probably with a little more swagger and a few more chances. The midfield trio of Rosicky, Arteta and Song performed well, but failed to feed the wingers enough. Walcott and Gervinho, for the majority of the game, weren’t nearly as involved as Wenger would have liked. Those three in the central roles managed to make over 60 passes each, with Arteta topping the list with 78 passes and an 87% passing accuracy.

Chance after chance came and went, and van Persie in particular was on fire. He took five shots throughout the game, scoring two of them, but there was one shot which could’ve been one of the best goals in Premier League history. Our captain received the ball on the edge of the box, turned the defender with a fancy bit of skill before lifting the ball in Cantona-esque style over the keeper. The delicate chip hit the post and rolled across the goal line but the onrushing Gunners failed to knock it in.

The game continued to see Arsenal take control, until about 25 minutes into the match. Sunderland began to pass the ball around in our half, but no chances of note were created. Then Arteta jumped for the ball but it hit his hand which gave our opposition a free kick opportunity in a decent position. Ex-Arsenal player Sebastian Larsson stepped up and curled the ball from centre into the keeper’s right corner. Once again we were undone from a set piece after plenty of good attacking work on our part.

The second half became a game of keep-ball – although Arsenal had over 70% possession, chances weren’t flowing as they did in the first half. However, the game ended with 21 attempts from the home side to Sunderland’s 8, so it wasn’t all bad. The problem was that only five of our attempts were on target, representing a shot accuracy of about 24%. Many of these missed shots came from poor free kicks from Arteta, Walcott and (oddly) Andre Santos. As Arsenal pressed and played quick passes around the box, Sunderland players began to fly in with rash challenges. Yellow cards were dished out by Webb, but the resulting free kicks were appalling. Something that Wenger admitted we need to improve on.

The winning goal arrived with under ten minutes of normal time to play. Van Persie stepped up to another free kick and scored with an absolute belter, beating Larsson’s in terms of both significance and skill. Despite van Persie’s supposed free kick prowess, he doesn’t actually score many. He just comes really close. He scored one earlier this year against Birmingham, but that took a heavy deflection. This free kick was pretty much perfect.

Unfortunately, a decent performance from Arsenal ended unimpressively. The crowd and the players became nervous and Sunderland took the initiative. And even on the counter attack, Arsenal had men over but failed to capitalise. This nervous streak needs to be wiped out (from fans and players alike) in order to restore confidence. Those final minutes were the most important time for the fans to be vocal, but there seemed to be mixed attitudes amongst the home crowd.

Four of the top six teams managed only one point this weekend and Arsenal moved into the top half of the table for the first time since August. We now sit only four points off Liverpool in fifth place, but with Stoke (H) and Chelsea (A) to deal with in the next two Premier League games, this is no time for Arsenal to relax.

Player ratings to follow.

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Arsenal wave goodbye to Great Dane…

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Arsenal’s Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner has made the switch from North London to Sunderland in a season-long loan. Although I have often become aggravated with his arrogance and poor ability in many matches for Arsenal, I cannot deny that, at times, Bendtner was a great asset to our club.

Bendtner made his debut for the club in October 2005 but soon made the customary loan move that many young Gunners have to experience. He played for Birmingham in the Championship during the 2006/07 season and was pretty impressive for a young striker – scoring 13 goals and making 9 assists in 48 appearances.

The following season was again quite good, although most of Nicklas’ appearances came from the bench. He played 40 times but only started on 17 occasions, however he did manage to net 9 goals and create 4. It was clear during that season that Bendtner was an opinionated lad – he had an altercation with Adebayor when Spurs thumped us 5-1.

In the next three seasons Bendtner scored 36 goals in 113 games, but these stats are quite deceiving. It was the nature of his goals that became important to us. Firstly, his goals were often scored at key times – take the last-gasp winner against Wolves in the 2009/10 season. That goal kept us in the title race. Secondly, Bendtner’s goals were vital in terms of their type. Unlike van Persie, Bendtner offered something different – he attacked the ball from crosses and was often ready to score a in a scrappy manner as opposed to trying to make that perfect goal.

However, over time it became clear that the Dane didn’t have the skills to be a Gunner. His first touch is not good enough and neither is his close control. What surprises many of us about him is his ability to miss a sitter, but also score fantastic goals (Newcastle (A) in the Carling Cup last year or that thunderbolt against Blackburn (H) in the 6-2 win).

Fortunately, Chamakh and van Persie kept Bendtner out the team last season, which limited Nicklas’ appearances in the Premier League to 17, mostly from the bench. He managed to score 9 goals last season, but 3 of them were scored against Leyton Orient in the Carling Cup which is hardly impressive.

Inexplicably, Wenger played Bendtner on the wing during much of last season. It was clear that Bendtner was being kept out of the centre forward position due to better players being ahead in the pecking order, but I couldn’t understand why our manager chose to place him out wide. It annoyed Bendtner and it inhibited him from making any impact, although I doubt he would’ve been particularly effective anyway. His confidence has been hindered recently (although he’s still pretty cocky) and I do think Wenger must take some blame. He could have switched to a 4-4-2 when he brought Bendtner on, in order to get the best out of him.

Like many Gooners, I viewed Bendtner as very much a fringe player in our squad. He was one of those players, along with Denilson, Almunia and Eboue, who I was adamant should leave in order to reduce our wage bill. I am actually quite pleased that he has gone on loan, although it was probably only due to possible suitors for Nicklas! It means that if he manages to find his feet and start working hard, he may return to Arsenal with a better work ethic and a new found form.

But let’s not count on Bendtner, we have plenty of better strikers who can do the job. I wish our Great Dane all the best at Sunderland.

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Transfer Talk: Saturday 9th July

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Craig Gordon

The 29 year old is the third most expensive goalkeeper in the world, having transferred to Sunderland in 2007 for a fee believed to be around £7 million plus £3 million in add-ons. After Buffon and Peruzzi, this puts Gordon as number three in the all-time rankings for a goalkeeper transfer fee.

However, the promising keeper has not always lived up to expectation. He has thrice been displaced as number one, and injuries have also cost him dear. In four seasons at Sunderland, Gordon has averaged fewer than 22 Premier League games per season. We do not need another injury and error prone goalkeeper on our hands.

In April 2011, Gordon was ruled out of action for up to 6 months. This would mean that if he did make a move, he would probably be unable to play for his new club for a while. He has had injuries to his arm and to his knee, which have affected him on multiple occassions.

Sunderland have recently signed a new keeper, which means it is increasingly likely that they will want to offload one of their current shot stoppers. Mignolet has deputised for Gordon to great effect, which indicates that the Scottish international may be on his way out of the club.

Gordon has only one year left on his contract, so negotiating power will be weak. It is speculated that he will be allowed to leave for around £4 million. However, Wenger supposedly didn’t sign Schwarzer because Fulham were asking for very slightly higher than the £2 million that Arsenal offered. Perhaps Wenger feels that he shouldn’t over-pay for keepers, in which case this potential deal for Gordon will be even less likely.

With Szczesny and Fabianski having both had decent seasons under their belts, I doubt that Wenger will be searching for a new keeper. If he were to do so, I would imagine that Arsene would be looking for a cheap and experienced keeper who can pass on his knowledge to our young Poles. An expensive 29 year old from Sunderland doesn’t seem so probable.

Likeliness Rating: 1/5

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Nicklas Bendtner

Super Nick nets three as Arsenal sail through

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Nicklas Bendtner

Nicklas Bendtner grabbed three goals

A comfortable performance by Arsenal’s second string puts us through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Although this team has failed to produce on many occasions this season, they finally managed to cap off great ball retention with the ability to score goals. Too many times, we have seen Bendtner, Denilson, Chamakh and Rosicky under-achieve. They weren’t brilliant today, but it was an improvement.

In my opinion, the main problem with the second string is that they aren’t like the younger ‘reserve’ sides that Arsenal used to field in the cups.They used to be first team players (Almunia, Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Eboue etc). They were dropped over the last few years (due to new players coming through or injury). The team that beat Sheffield Utd 6-0 were young, fearless and bristling with enthusiasm. The current crop are lacking form and confidence and feel unwanted.

Bendtner scored a hattrick today. It was probably the worst Arsenal performance to have come away with three goals, but if anyone can do it, it’s our great Dane. He became the first Arsenal player to score a hattrick in an FA Cup match, since Ian Wright against Yoevil in 1993.  Bendtner made some shocking passes, and his control was worse than a rabid dog, but he did his job. In football, it’s all about results, and Nicklas scored the goals we needed. Wenger took him off to rapturous, but perhaps slightly sarcastic, applause. Maybe he was being rested for the Barcelona game. Ironically, we may actually need to start with Super Nick at the Nou Camp! Maybe he can replicate his heroics from last season…

Diaby returned from his latest spell on the sidelines, but was exactly the same as ever. He made powerful runs through the midfield, and his link-up play was good. As usual, he had no end product. After one particularly brilliant run, he found himself one-on-one with the keeper. His shot went wide – typical Abou! A bit more composure in the box, and he would be a superb attacking midfielder. Unfortunately, more than once, Diaby got to the opponent’s box, turned around, and passed it backwards. A long-range effort, or an attempt at a defence-shattering pass would be so much more useful!

Orient fought hard and tried to play passing football, but unfortunately they were not good enough, so it often ended in clearing the ball out of play. They had a few decent chances in the first half, one which had their fans believing it was in. This particular opportunity fell to the League 1 side as Arsenal’s defensive duo, Miquel and Squillaci, were caught way out of position. A low, whipped cross was met by an Orient striker, who had found himself in acres of space as our centre-backs went missing. His shot was off-target, but as it hit the net from behind, the ripples caused cheers from the away fans.

The first goal came thanks to a lung-busting run from Rosicky, and his pass was cut back to the penalty spot. Chamakh met the ball at pace, and slotted the ball into the far post. The home fans were still smarting from the cup final defeat, so cheers were hardly deafening. In fact, there were some areas of the crowd that felt the need to boo the Arsenal team when they came onto the pitch. Disgusting behaviour in my opinion, but fans do have the right to voice their views. To me, beating down the already-low morale of their own team seems rather foolish.

The second goal came courtesy of a floated cross from the ever-effective Kieran Gibbs. Bendtner out-jumped his marker and sent an impressive header into the top corner. The next goal was scored soon after, after the ball was nicked off Leyton Orient defenders as they tried to play themselves out of trouble. Bendtner grabbed the ball and ran at their back four. He dipped inside and fired a fantastic shot into the far side of the goal. 3-0 to the Arsenal at half-time, and we were almost certainly through to the quarters.

The final two goals arrived after much teasing and taunting of the opposition, but not many notable chances. A sensational run by Gibbs led to a penalty, after he was brought down in the box. Super Nick stepped up to seize his hattrick, and the match ball was his thanks to a decent spot kick. Clichy came on in the second half, and marked the occasion with his second goal… EVER. His first came in a 1-2 defeat a few seasons ago, and it got deflected. This strike was far more impressive. He took the shot first-time and smashed it into the far corner, after a cross had evaded two Arsenal players.

Overall, it was a necessary win, for many reasons. Arsenal needed to get the morale back up after the defeat in the final, because the next match against Sunderland is terribly important, especially as Utd dropped points last night. However, plenty of the players who played in the final were absent tonight, such as Song, RVP, Arshavin, Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny and Djourou. These players will probably still be pretty upset, but a 5-0 win should help to lift the gloom. In addition, Arsenal now have a quarter-final tie at Old Trafford to look forward to. It will take place only four days after the Barca game, so next week will (hopefully) be a great week to be a Gooner!

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