The Arsenal Kid's Blog

Well, the season is officially over and it will be at least until end July when we see out beloved Gunners again. Although it has been a long and frustrating season, it is really not all that bad because we did the minimum and qualify for the Champions League.

However, we certainly need the team to do better next year and to do that; the management needs to invest in the team. Too many summers have past where Arsene Wenger has gutted the squad without bringing in adequate and quality replacements. If you believe his post-match interview yesterday, he is beginning to see this fact and promising to bring in reinforcements in the summer. Personally I have my doubts about what he said so I will reserve judgment until the end of the summer transfer window at the end of August. If the reports about the Gunners signing Sanogo are correct, then I am skeptical about the quality of the new players. On the other hand, the club has also been linked heavily with Stevan Jovetic, Ashley Williams, Victor Wanyama and the like so it might not be that bad.

Once things for sure, it will be a major retooling for the team especially with a couple of guys from the current team possibly not returning to the Emirates next season. Bacary Sagna and Gervinho have been linked with PSG and Lyon and expected to leave. I also do not expect to see players like Diaby, Arshavin and Squillaci in the squad next season. All in all, I think this is going to be the most important summer for Arsene Wenger. Whether he last beyond his contract next season will very much be dependent on how the Gunners fare next time around.

It was an agonizing last ten minutes of the match but the Gunners got the job done in the end. Laurent Koscielny’s solitary goal gave the Gunners the win it needed to pip Spurs to the final Champions League spot.

The game was not pretty or even exciting in the very least, mainly because Arsenal was tentative in attack and Newcastle was lacking a wee bit of quality upfront. The first half was boring and the goalkeepers were hardly troubled. It was more of the same in the second half until Laurent Koscielny popped up in the penalty box to blast home a close range goal. The Frenchman has a real knack for scoring these important goals in the last match of the season because if you remember he also scored what was the winner in the final match last season against West Bromwich Albion. After that, you could see that the Gunners were playing not to lose and there were a couple of nail-biting moments towards the end but the boys held on to preserve Arsenal 16 year Champions League run.

In the end, the win was needed because Spurs also got their goal in the 90th minute to defeat Sunderland but Arsenal has done enough in the third of the season to claim our rightful place in Europe’s premier tournament.

This season has been a long, hard and frustrating one so far. From a start that showed so much promise to the middle that was totally deplorable and now towards a possible fruitful ending, all the Arsenal fans around the world are asking for just another win to seal the Champions League spot and close off the season on a good note.

Arsenal has not lost since going down at White Hart Lane and this run of form should continue tomorrow at St James’s Park. Th Gunners have not been playing at that well of late but the most important thing is the points that they continue to rake up. Even more impressive is that the Gunners have not conceded more than a goal a game during this time and none from open play. If the offense can produce at least two goals, we are almost guarantee of the points.

Personally, I believe that the one change that has improved the team as a whole is the inclusion of Aaron Ramsey in the middle and another defensive screen besides Mikael Arteta. With Ramsey and Arteta in the middle of the park, the defense just looks more stable when compared to having no defensive screen in front of the back four. Moreover, the offense has not been affected much because Ramsey and his iron lung can just run and run throughout the match.

I am sure it is not going to be easy tomorrow but I am confident Arsene Wenger and his boys will prevail in the end.

With the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Arsene Wenger will become the longest serving manager in the Premier League. However, how long he can still remain at the Emirates is still up in the air and much will depend on how the team ends the season on Sunday.

In his many years of managing the club, one proud record that the manager has is being able to guide the Gunners into Champions League football every season. Throughout the years, there were times when the club cut it pretty close and got lucky (Spurs and dodgy lasagna comes to mind) but he has prevailed. This year, after being barraged with poor performances from the players and criticisms from both fans and pundit alike, Arsene Wenger has again successfully guided the team into Champions League contention once again. Although early in the year, he mentioned the five trophies that were worth challenging every year, I am sure qualification for Europe’s Premier tournament is the manager’s primary objective. Granted, we have not been winning any trophy for the past seven years but on a personal note, I would take playing in the Champions League over the Carling Cup or Europa Cup anytime.

As said earlier, Arsenal is in the driving seat to clinch the fourth and final spot for the Champions League next season and all we have to do is to win at Newcastle this Sunday. The added bonus is that the victory would again allow Arsenal to finish above Spurs and deny them a place in the Champions League. In a way, it is similar to the situation last year, when the Gunners needed to beat West Bromwich Albion to clinch third place ahead of Spurs and automatic qualification.  Spurs eventually missed out because Chelsea won the Champions League.

Even though Newcastle has nothing else to play for, with their salvation and another year in the Premiership guaranteed, I am sure Alan Pardew’s men will not be giving the Gunners an easy time. We just have to go back to our last match last season and see how we almost threw away the match. Just thinking about it makes me pretty anxious about the match on Sunday. The Gunners definitely have what it takes to win away from home but I am worried that all the pressure will affect the players’ performances.

All in all, I consider this match the most important so far in the season and one that is needed to preserve the manager’s legacy. If they lose, I am not sure if Wenger can last beyond this summer and it is definitely not how he would want to be remembered for all that he has done for the club.

Looking at the Wigan match tomorrow, I can’t help but turn back the clock to a year ago when both teams met in pretty similar situation. Wigan is fighting for their Premiership lives and Arsenal is again locked in the Champions League fight with Tottenham Hotspur. The only difference to last year’s scenario was Arsenal having some breathing space to Spurs and a few more games before the end of the season. If any of you don’t remember what happened last year, well, we lost after putting up one of the worst performances seen at the Emirates for a long time (that was before some of the performances this year).

This time around, there is no room for error and the Gunners can ill afford another debacle as what happened last year. As it is, Arsenal is two points adrift of Spurs and only maximum points from the last two games can guarantee a Champions League spot for next year. Any slip up and we will possibly miss out of the much coveted fourth spot. For Wigan, there is also no room for a defeat because that will condemn the FA Cup champions to immediate relegation. With their morale on a such a high after the unexpected victory on Saturday, the Gunners better be ready for the fight of the season.

Arsene Wenger is a great manager but one of his most glaring flaw is his inability to make adjustments to his thinking even when things are not going right. The most obvious example of this is his reluctance to adjust his game plans even when the team is losing or not doing well. How often have you seen Arsene Wenger make a substitute decision before the 60^th minute mark of the game, even when the team is down 2 – 0.

In recent days, we are seeing another fine example of Wenger’s stubbornness in deciding to continue with Lukas Podolski in the central striker’s role, in the absence of Olivier Giroud. It is pretty obvious to everyone who had watched the match that Podolski is not performing in the role. The offence in the past two games have labored and not managed to score more than a goal despite facing the one of the poorest defensive sides in the league.

Podolski has been great at times for use this season but he has not done much in the central striker’s position. Why don’t we return him to his position on the left where he has done well enough to be among the club’s highest goalscorers this season.  In his place, let’s play Walcott who has displayed good performances when playing in the center position up front. Taking the place of Walcott on the right can be Oxlade Chamberlain or Gervinho. This formation would also allow Cazorla to come back in the centre where he is most effective this season.

We are in a dog fight for the only thing remaining in the season, Champions League football next season and judging by the way we have played in the last two matches; it is going to be a struggle to win against teams also fighting for their Premiership lives like Wigan and Newcastle. Unless Wenger changes his ways, we might be the London team missing out on fourth place come the end of the season.

Chelsea getting the win yesterday at Old Trafford is a bad result for Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification. That win catapult them to third place, one point ahead of the Gunners with a game to spare. That game in hand comes on Wednesday against Tottenham Hotspurs. Even if the Blues were to lose that game, they would remain a point ahead of Arsenal.

This brings Spurs into the equation and now what happens at White Hart Lane on Wednesday would have a major impact on whether the destiny of Champions League qualification still remains in our hands. The worst scenario from that match is a Spurs win, which would put them one point ahead of the Gunners with two games remaining. This means that if all the three teams win their last two matches, Arsenal is the one to miss out of Champions League football next season. Any other result besides a Spurs win would keep the Arsenal in the driving seat for Europe. The ideal result would be a draw which makes third place reachable for the Gunners.

The season has not even ended yet and the rumors of a managerial merry go-around have already started. The catalyst for this is definitely the departure of Jose Mourinho from Real Madrid. It is inevitable that the “Special One” will not be in charge at the Bernabeu next season, unless the Los Blancos can somehow overturn the Champions League deficit against Borussia Dortmund tonight. Even that may not be enough for Mourinho since it has been three years since he took charge at Real Madrid and history tells us that he seldom last more than that time in any club.

The Real Madrid management has already made plans for his departure and Carlo Ancelotti has been strongly tipped to take over. That leaves a hole at the Parisian club and with the deep pockets of their Qatari owners, only a big name manager would do for them. Ideally, the owners would like our manager Arsene Wenger to take over the helm. Even with the troubles Arsenal has gone through these couple of years, the Professor is still held with high regard everywhere in the world. Furthermore, he is French and would be a major boost to the French club which will be contesting in the Champions League next season.

However, I do not think that Arsene Wenger will walk away from his Arsenal contract just like that. He has never broken a single contract in his time in management and isn’t likely to do so at Arsenal. He may have gotten a lot of stick from the fans (myself included) but many still feel that he is the one to for the club. Also, I think he wants to win something with this team that he has created and leave the club on a high note next year when his contract expires.  The only thing that would make him leave is if the club asks him to and that might happen should the team not make the Champions League next season.