A Bergkamp Wonderland

By Gunner Blogger 97 (@gunnerblogger97)

Much has been expected of Theo Walcott since he burst onto the scene since signing for Arsenal for £12 million and being a shock inclusion in England’s ‘Golden-Era’ World Cup Squad for their ill-fated tournament in Germany in 2006. However, Arsenal fans have often been frustrated by the winger/wannabe striker’s inconsistency, a trait of his that has already been seen in the early stages of this season, with an excellent performance against Fulham at Craven Cottage and a near anonymous at times performance against Aston Villa in the opening game.

Walcott has been something of an enigma to Arsenal fans, sometimes poor…

His continued agitation for a consistent role up front has often been ridiculed by Arsenal fans claiming that he’ll struggle against more physical defenders like Kompany and Vidic, and against sides who play a deeper defensive line, leaving him less room to run into behind the last man. In fact, several Arsenal fans I have spoken to feel that he would have much more of an impact in cup games, where sides are less inclined to play for a draw, for fear of a replay. He has often excelled against bottom half/lower league sides that play a high line, with little pressure on the ball and slow centre backs, most notably his first goals against Reading in the Capital One Cup and Newcastle in the Premier League last season.

Other times, sensational.

With this in mind, I set about doing some research to see if this ‘myth’ about Walcott’s inability to produce his best against bigger clubs was true and if he really was a better cup player than league player. For the purposes of these stats, assists are excluded.

Walcott’s Overall Stats:
Games: 268
Goals: 63
Games per goal: 4.3
Points earned: 34
Points earned per goal: 0.54
Looking at these stats, it’s evident that his goal scoring is an area that he needs to improve on, although his 21 goals in 43 games last season is encouraging. In terms of how he earned points, I simply took his goal away from the full-time result and calculated if his goal actually earned Arsenal any points (in the interest of fairness, the same was done for cup competitions).

His league stats are more disappointing:
Games: 184
Goals: 40
Games per Goal: 4.6
Points Earned: 16
Points Earned per Goal: 0.40

For a player who is an England first team regular and wants to claim a first team berth up front, taking 4.6 games per goal is not a flattering statistic, even for a winger. His individual contribution in terms of the team’s results is also disappointing, earning 16 points in 7 seasons and only gaining 0.4 points per goal.
When we analyse his goal scoring record against clubs who finished 10th or higher in the league the season he scored against them, his % of league goals against them is actually quite impressive, 40%. However, he has earned more than double the points against sides who finished in the bottom half (11 to 5) than against top 10 teams, and has only earned 1 point for Arsenal against sides who finished in the top 4 (Manchester Untied at home last year)

However, his cup record is much more impressive:
Games: 84
Goals: 23
Games per Goal: 3.66
Points Earned: 18
Points per Goal: 0.78
In less than half of his league games, Walcott has earned more points than he has in the league, scoring at an impressive 3.66 games per goal, almost earning Arsenal a point per goal. As a winger, his games per goal is not far off Robert Pires 3.38.

Similarities?

A factor in his excelling in the cup include teams’ willingness to push for the win, whereas in the league, many sides will often shut up shop. Of Theo’s 23 cup goals, 11 of them came in the last ½ hour of the game, when the opposition is looking for an equaliser/winner.
Walcott’s late goals have proved invaluable during cup runs.

But the signs from last season, and positive performances against Fulham and Fenerbache indicate that Walcott is ready to kick on and challenge Giroud for the striker’s spot.

Follow me on Twitter : (@gunnerblogger97)

By Dyllan Munro (@goonerdyllan)

Word around the town is that Arsenal are preparing to offer a new 2 year contract for the manager. Some are overjoyed at this development whilst other consider the idea completely abstruse. I must admit that I ,as one of the former, am pleasantly chuffed if this turns out to be true.

Many will no doubt disagree with me but I am of the opinion that since Wenger excelled in the transitional period from Highbury to Emirates then he should be allowed to enjoy the rewards of an escalation in our financial fire-power. He proved that he is an apotheosis in terms of operating on budget so he should have the chance, after having his reputation besmirched and insulted, to prove that he can be the man to lead us forward into a new age of Arsenal domination.

I am aware that Arsene has his detractors and this is indeed partially his fault as his cavalier, misanthropic attitude tends to irritate even the most ardent Arsenal supporters at times. While some of his opponents proved themselves to be nothing more than a stain on society, with typical quotes like” “Wenger should get cancer if he no buy Ronaldo” others proved themselves to be fully functioning human beings capable of making intelligent points, such as “If Arsenal have the resources there why hasn’t he spent them?”.

It should be pointed out that just because you have some resources available doesn’t mean you should spend the whole lot. Also please remind me how Stoke, Aston Villa and QPR all won the league after going and blowing lots of money. The gradual build up of a cash reserve until our sponsorship deals, which were severely reduced to assist building the stadium, were up for renewal will allow Arsenal to consistently chase players of the highest quality, like Mesut Fucking Özil.

The Germans invaded Russia before they were ready and whilst resources were focused elsewhere and look how well that turned out for them. If you aren’t up to scratch on your history I’ll fill you in, it initially went well then they ended up getting arseraped and subsequently lost the war.

Another point made is Arsene struggles to attract top-quality player to the Emirates. That particular rumour was smashed out the air by our new German, who named our multi-lingual boss as one of the primary factors in him deciding to join the Gunners. He stated that Arsene’s plans, ambitions, dreams and desires were conveyed to him over the phone and at the end of the conversation he was so hopelessly in love with Wenger he stated that “He would have joined Arsenal for free”.

Unfortunately for us, Real Madrid didn’t offer that option. Although at the time he was probably unheard of in England, when Santi joined he was very highly rated in Spain and had previously turned down Real Madrid. With a player of Özil’s quality it also makes it a lot easier to convince players to join.

Before you say that Arsenal are a big enough club to entice anyone to join regardless of the manager look at Man Utd. They are one of the biggest clubs in the world, a commercial behemoth, with a bigger stadium and the current champions with many more recent successes than us yet with David Moyes in charge they ended up with only Fellaini. Who was their 4,583,285th choice slightly ahead of Francis Jeffers and Richard The Lion heart.

We are also one refereeing travesty away from a 100% record so far this season and we don’t face anyone of note till November, with Liverpool(H) then Man Utd(A). If our squad stays reasonably fit then it is entirely conceivable that we could be top of the league come Christmas. Then lets see how many people doubted the boss and how much Suarez wants to stay at Liverpool…

Thanks for reading and feel free to share and comment.

Dyllan Out.

Follow me on Twitter : (@goonerdyllan)

By Chloe (@ChloeTheGeek)

So this is it, my very first blog and I am lucky enough to be writing it for @TheAFCPodcast! I had to find something suitable, I mean my suggestion of ‘110 things to fire at Samir Nasri from close-range’ was a great idea, just not first-blog material… Also I had to consider the response id get from animal lovers when I had a Polar Bear at #3 on my list.

As we all know, the season has kicked off and as a Gooner we were all fearing the worst as Christian Benteke (you know, the guy who handed in the transfer request only to sign a contract extension the following week for a little bit extra in the pocket…) tore us a new one, with a couple of cheeky assists from the ref.

Firstly – I totally agree that the ref had a shocker. You will probably find that ref’s for the Worcestershire U11’s league would find that performance offensive and embarrassing. We have a right to moan about the lack of transfer activity following that result. But I think there are more important matters at hand, matters evolving in our beloved midfield where we have witnessed such greats as Pires, Cesc, Petit, Vieira, Gilberto, Rocastle, Ljungberg …. Denilson.

Okay, you got the idea then I ruined it…

Every season, we hear the commentators on our televisions or the fat bald guy in the queue for the overpriced hot-dog that tastes like a warm sock saying “this is so-and-so’s season…” – maybe it’s time we look at that? England fans have already placed a huge weight on Jack, is it his season? No, I don’t think so. Of-course he will be fantastic, like any future captain of Arsenal will be. And we will all have our own individual opinions of the ‘breakthrough’ players. Frimpong? Zelalem? Gnabry? Eisfeld? Jenkinson?

How can we overlook Rambo, he has been outstanding so far. Like many great midfielders of the past he plays for the crest, he wants to earn his shirt. And sure, he has been touch-and go since that horrific injury – I know a number of people gave up hope. But every single game, you will see the lad churn out 200% for the team.

But that’s not my answer. I have spent many hours debating who will be ‘the player’ to watch this season, the one who will breakthrough and establish themselves as a hero in the clock-end. And for me, it’s the turn of our own little Czech – Tomas Rosicky.

Say what you like about his injury-prone career, but on his day Rosicky is unplayable. His passing so far this season has sent shudders down my spine, it’s almost like watching a pocket-sized Bergkamp, effortlessly stroking the ball around opponents as if they are statues. He came to us, with a lot of hype and we have seen glimpses of it throughout his time, but nothing consistent because of the injuries. He was just a number to most of us four seasons ago. My opinion – if we keep this man fit, he could be a vital cog in the well-oiled Arsenal midfield, and he is due his day of adulation from the stands. Watching him play alongside Rambo and Cazorla this season has been spectacular, and we are only a few games in!

So, that wraps up my first random outburst for the blog. Hopefully the guys at the podcast will realise my potential and keep me writing these bad boys, either that or I will have to bribe them all with sexual favours.

As always – get your comments in, who do you think will come bursting onto the stage this season?

Follow me on Twitter : (@ChloeTheGeek)