Jack Wilshere was brilliant in the victory over Besiktas on Wednesday night.
He's come under scrutiny recently for not living up to his huge potential, but was instrumental in securing our passage to the Champions League proper for the 17th season in a row.
Although he missed, he carved a decent chance for himself in the first half, bursting through the opposition defence as he does so well. He also played a big part in the goal - it was his drive that forced the ball to Alexis. It was encouraging to see Jack focus on what he does best - propelling forward with the ball using his agility and athleticism - rather than spend the whole 90 minutes falling to ground under tackles.
Interestingly, Jack shone while Ramsey was suspended. With the Welshman in the side, Jack often goes under the radar and is to Ramsey what Manchester United are to a decent football team. On Wednesday night, however, he was influential. It's true that Ramsey's progression has been far greater and more noteworthy than Jack's. Arsenal fans will recall a 19-year-old lad battling it out admirably with Barcelona stars Xavi and Iniesta in a Champions League last-16 clash back in 2011. Then, much hope was pinned on the young and fiery Jack, and he's yet to become the world beater his club and country desire. If he can stay fit, though, and continue to develop, adding goals to his repertoire, then Wilshere may turn out to be the golden boy we'd all hoped for.
The resilience and professionalism on display in the 1-0 win against Besiktas continued a series of such performances in recent times.
Following a couple of years in which Arsenal regularly self-destructed under pressure (remember Birmingham in the Carling Cup final?), we're now pretty strong at keeping it together. We're experts at defending a lead. There were a number of cases last season where we scored midway through the match, and held out until the final whistle. League matches vs Tottenham, the cup tie vs Liverpool, Newcastle away (not for the first time) and Swansea away were all examples of our invaluable ability to see out games. All this is part of what makes better at defending than attacking, in my opinion, which is bizarre considering the individual talent we have going forward.
I hope we don't sell Podolski.
Even contemplating letting him leave the club is crazy, particularly with our current striker situation. Giroud has been ruled out injured until the New Year, so we could struggle to score goals. To have a successful season, you need goals. The team with the most goals generally wins the league. Take last year for example: champions Manchester City scored 102 times in the Premier League. Three of the top ten scorers played for City - Yaya Toure bagged 20, while Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko hit 17 and 16 respectively. Goals need to be shared around and at the moment we don't seem to have many players capable of scoring. We're relying heavily on midfielder Aaron Ramsey to net at least 15, and on Alexis Sanchez to adapt quickly enough to English football and produce. Maybe if Theo Walcott's return to action (after 9 months out) is smooth then he can get us goals. And hopefully Yaya Sanogo will come good, break his duck and expel his unflattering nickname of Sa-no-goals. But Podolski, for all his flaws, can guarantee you a dozen goals a season, even from the bench. Why get rid of that?
Written by Sam Whitefield (@samthegooner)
He's come under scrutiny recently for not living up to his huge potential, but was instrumental in securing our passage to the Champions League proper for the 17th season in a row.
Although he missed, he carved a decent chance for himself in the first half, bursting through the opposition defence as he does so well. He also played a big part in the goal - it was his drive that forced the ball to Alexis. It was encouraging to see Jack focus on what he does best - propelling forward with the ball using his agility and athleticism - rather than spend the whole 90 minutes falling to ground under tackles.
Interestingly, Jack shone while Ramsey was suspended. With the Welshman in the side, Jack often goes under the radar and is to Ramsey what Manchester United are to a decent football team. On Wednesday night, however, he was influential. It's true that Ramsey's progression has been far greater and more noteworthy than Jack's. Arsenal fans will recall a 19-year-old lad battling it out admirably with Barcelona stars Xavi and Iniesta in a Champions League last-16 clash back in 2011. Then, much hope was pinned on the young and fiery Jack, and he's yet to become the world beater his club and country desire. If he can stay fit, though, and continue to develop, adding goals to his repertoire, then Wilshere may turn out to be the golden boy we'd all hoped for.
The resilience and professionalism on display in the 1-0 win against Besiktas continued a series of such performances in recent times.
Following a couple of years in which Arsenal regularly self-destructed under pressure (remember Birmingham in the Carling Cup final?), we're now pretty strong at keeping it together. We're experts at defending a lead. There were a number of cases last season where we scored midway through the match, and held out until the final whistle. League matches vs Tottenham, the cup tie vs Liverpool, Newcastle away (not for the first time) and Swansea away were all examples of our invaluable ability to see out games. All this is part of what makes better at defending than attacking, in my opinion, which is bizarre considering the individual talent we have going forward.
I hope we don't sell Podolski.
Even contemplating letting him leave the club is crazy, particularly with our current striker situation. Giroud has been ruled out injured until the New Year, so we could struggle to score goals. To have a successful season, you need goals. The team with the most goals generally wins the league. Take last year for example: champions Manchester City scored 102 times in the Premier League. Three of the top ten scorers played for City - Yaya Toure bagged 20, while Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko hit 17 and 16 respectively. Goals need to be shared around and at the moment we don't seem to have many players capable of scoring. We're relying heavily on midfielder Aaron Ramsey to net at least 15, and on Alexis Sanchez to adapt quickly enough to English football and produce. Maybe if Theo Walcott's return to action (after 9 months out) is smooth then he can get us goals. And hopefully Yaya Sanogo will come good, break his duck and expel his unflattering nickname of Sa-no-goals. But Podolski, for all his flaws, can guarantee you a dozen goals a season, even from the bench. Why get rid of that?
Written by Sam Whitefield (@samthegooner)