Arsenal Question and Answer with Luke of Only One Arsenal

Today, The Football Front talks to Luke of Only One Arsenal and Arsenal RT's. 

Thanks for coming on, My first question to you is, what did you make of Arsenal’s season? Did you view it as a success or as a failure?                  

It was a successful failure. Another year without a trophy can not be called success, however after losing both Nasri and Fabregas, and the incredibly bad start to the season, to finish 3rd, above Tottenham, is a good achievement. 

Did you find any player making significant strides of progression last season at Arsenal?

Koscielny, during his first season at Arsenal (10/11) you could see he had talent, but was quite prone to mistakes. However last season he established himself as our best CB and one of the best in the Premier League.

There have been quite a few break through players for Arsenal players, but has there been any Arsenal player who has perhaps disappointed you?

Chamakh, Park Chu Young, Ramsey and Gervinho.

Chamakh is no doubt a good striker, but whenever he played you knew he wouldn't score and I think he knew that as well. We saw little of Park Chu Young, He didn't really have any time to impress or disappoint, but it would of been nice to see more of him. Ramsey is still young; and after that horrific injury plus losing his mentor, Gary Speed who made him the Wales captain, I think some fans expect too much. Gervinho was frustrating to watch, great build up play, but a blind postman could deliver more than he did, he lacked the end product, saying that it was his first season in England and had the ACON, hopefully he will settle more this season.

Jack Wilshere was of course injured all of last season, should Arsenal and England fans be extra concerned by this? Should we be worried that injuries will effect his progression not only now, but later on in his career?

I'm no injury expert, but the fact Wilshere injury was only meant to be 'a few days or weeks' at the start isn't healthy. I think Jack was thrown in at the deep end both for Arsenal and England, I can't see him playing before the new year. Hopefully the club will be cautious, and the FA may not call him to every England game, this should mean once he is back, he's back for good.   

 

What are your thoughts on the new Arsenal signings?

All 3 signings offer new options.

Cazorla offers something we haven't had since Fabregas left, someone who can open up defences, and is a real playmaker, he is all a marquee signing, after been touted as the best player outside Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.

Podolski looks set to play LW, which will offer a new option, people have unfairly judged him on the Euro's. I hope to see him played centrally as well, as I think he would thrive there.

I haven't seen much of Giroud but he looks to be a good signing, whether he was brought to replace Van Persie, we do not know, we shall soon find out! 

Seeing Arsenal have sold Robin Van Persie, do you feel Arsenal need to be active in the market for another striker?

Yes, I feel Giroud could already of been brought to replace Robin, in that case we need a replacement for Giroud, as I don't think Park or Chamakh are up to it.

Finally, something that bugs fans of other clubs, is Arsenal fans seem to hold a strong negative feeling towards Ashley Cole and Samir Nasri, do you feel the Arsenal fans are right to feel that strongly about it?

Let's start by saying we are not the only team who hold strong  feelings against former players, the other fans that this 'bugs' probably hold grudges against footballers like Arsenal fans do, so it is hypocritical to single out Arsenal fans. 

Ashley Cole was part of the invincible’s and was a Gooner born and bread, he has gone on to be more successful, Despite having a bitter feeling at the time, since I have decided it is best for everyone to move on (including Cole himself.) 

Regarding Nasri, it's not the move which annoys me, it's more the disrespectful comments he has made about Arsenal since, he is clearly big headed and thinks he is above everyone else, this was proven at the Euro's after insulting French Journo's. I feel that every time Arsenal fans move on, Nasri will come out and say something about Arsenal himself.  

What was your favourite moment of the Premier League season?

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham, the game changed the season for us and Tottenham. It was also hilarious to see the cocky Tottenham fans turn up in the 'Mind the Gap' T-Shirts, and the rest is history. 

Off the field it was nice to see fans and players of all clubs to rally round after the Fabrice Muamba incident. 

Your darkest moment of last season?

Losing 8-2 to Man Utd. Dark, Dark days, also during Arsenal 1- 2 Man Utd when the crowd turned on Arsene like never before, replacing Chamerlain with Arshavin, I was there and at the moment I just wanted to leave, most fans still trust Arsene Wenger, I think most fans were just questioning that substitution but I am against booing our own players all together 

 The One word answer section

So in this section, you can only pick one word to respond with

1.)   Messi or Ronaldo

Messi

2.)   Tottenham or Man United

Arsenal 

3.)  Ozil or Pirlo

Ummm... Pirlo

4.)  Chelsea or Man City

Man City 

5.)   Adebayor or Nasri

The Idiot (Both) 

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this Q&A

This interview took place on 14th of August 2012. 

You can follow Luke on Twitter at @Arsenal_RT's + @OnlyOneArsenal

Check out their website too: http://onlyonearsenalblog.wordpress.com/ 

Why I got it so wrong over Mikel Arteta’s move to Arsenal

On deadline day of Summer 2011, I wasn’t sitting at home eagerly watching Sky Sports News till the transfer window slammed shut,  (which is something I dreamed of doing.) Instead, I was in the middle east, on my dad’s BlackBerry, constantly refreshing the BBC Sports website looking to see which clubs had made some dramatic last minute business. 

I inevitably stumbled across the news that Mikel Arteta was on the verge of joining Arsenal.

I chuckled to myself and instantly thought, ‘oh no, Arsene has lost the plot, he’s only gone out and spent £10million on a 29 year old.’

But by the end of the season, it seemed if anything, I had lost the plot for even thinking Arteta would be a bad buy for Arsenal. 

When I arrived home from my holiday, I got back on Twitter, one of the first things I tweeted was something along the lines of Arteta is a panic buy. No one really disagreed with me, no one tweeted me in disdain arguing that he was a good buy. 

If I wrote the exact same tweet now, Arsenal fans and fans from different clubs would openly disagree with me and they would have every right to. 

Mikel Arteta has been an absolute revelation for Arsenal. 

The first time I got the chance to watch Arteta was when Arsenal was defeated at Ewood park by Blackburn. Indeed, Arsenal may have lost that game, but my eyes were fixated on the new Arsenal number 8. 

He was brilliant. 

During this defeat, especially in the first half, Arteta kept the ball fantastically and moved the ball with great ease and simplicity. But what impressed me the most about his performance that day was his positioning, movement and decision making. The Spaniard continuously picked the perfect moments to support Arsenal’s attacks, and defensively, he wise and experienced enough to stay back and control the game in the quarter back position for Arsenal. 

But that wasn’t all, in a physical affair at Ewood Park, Arteta did enforce his presence onto the game. He won every single one of this tackles in that fixture and by the end of the season, he had won 82% of his tackles. A very impressive feat. 

As the season wore on, Mikel Arteta looked even more comfortable in the Arsenal set up. It was as if he’d been at the club since a young age. 

I’ll be honest with you, I tried to look at the flaws of Mikel Arteta and indeed, there were some. But they were outweighed immensely by his strengths, such as his majestic passing, his fantastic ball retention and his ability to create within confined spaces and time. 

It became perfectly clear to me,  Mikel Arteta was the engine of Arsenal. He was on the one linked all the departments on the pitch for Arsenal, he ultimately became the heart of Arsenal. Everything went through him. He was the one who made Arsenal tick. 

The stats tell you this too. 

Last season, Mikel Atreta passed over 2200 times with a pass accuracy of 91% for Arsenal. He also made 2023 accurate passes, no Arsenal player made more accurate passes than him. It’s a real testament to his passing abilities. It also demonstrates how the Spaniard is at the core of Arsenal’s passing game. In fact,  Mikel Arteta averaged the most passes in the whole of the Premier League last season. He made 76.9 passes per game, within the space of a few months Arteta became indispensable to Arsenal’s midfield. He brought stability, composure and fluidity to the side.

Arteta became like fuel to Arsenal. Without him Arsenal often stalled, stuttered and laboured through games without him. Last season, without Arteta, Arsenal won 6, lost 6 and drew 4. Furthermore, to make it even clearer on how Arsenal stuttered, the Gunners only one once in the Premier League when the former Everton man didn’t play. 

Arsenal depended on Mikel Arteta. They depended on his passing, positioning and ball retention. But perhaps most crucially, other Arsenal player’s success hinged on him.

One of the best things about Arteta is his ability to bring out the best In the players around him. That’s what fantastic players can do, they can use their abilities to make other players better.

No player benefited more by the signing of Mikel Arteta than Alex Song.

Prior to Arteta’s arrival, some viewed Song as a limited defensive midfielder, while others even argued his best position was as a centre back. But now almost everyone agrees he is a central midfielder.

Last season, Alex Song managed a sensational 11 assists in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta’s fantastic positioning and reading of the game allowed Song the licence to roam forward and be something of a creative force for Arsenal. In the season before the Spaniard’s arrival, Song assisted just 3 times, creating 32 chances. While with Arteta joining, the Cameroonian has managed to create 45 chances. 

Indeed, when Mikel Arteta joined, I thought he was coming in as a direct replacement for Cesc Fabregas. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Arteta has not joined to be a replacement for Fabregas. Arsene Wenger has simply changed the style of his midfield make up. Now Arsenal are far more fluid, organised and perhaps one could agrue, they are even more unified. As everyone in the centre for Arsenal are playing in dual roles. 

Take this for example, Mikel Arteta created 60 chances, with 19 of those chances coming from set pieces last season. He created more chances than Walcott, Gervinho and Song. In fact, the only player who he hasn’t created more than Arteta is Robin Van Persie. 

I often ponder to myself, if Mikel Arteta was an English footballer, would everyone be raving about him? Or perhaps would Everton demanded double to what Arsenal offered for him in the summer of 2011.

Probably. 

But regardless of this, the true reality glistens like a star. 

Arteta may not be in the ilk of Nasri or Fabregas. Arteta may not be one of those typical Arsenal signings where they make a huge profit on him. But in his own way he is a glorious footballer. Arteta is the man has poured a new lease of life into this Arsenal side. Arteta is the man who has added balance, composure and desire to this Arsenal side.

Arteta is the man who has got Arsenal ticking for glory the club crave for.